Lesson 5: Introduction to Genre
OT Genres: Job & Ecclesiastes
Job and Ecclesiastes are for when life does not seem to fall in line with the wisdom of Proverbs.
Life does not always go the way of Proverbs. Sometimes, lazy people get rich while hard-working men and women struggle to get by (see Prov 10:4). We cannot always trace direct lines of cause and effect concerning either the blessings or the trials of life. Enter the books of Job and Ecclesiates. Some have branded these books the “anti-Proverbs” because they present the other side of the story. But Job and Ecclesiastes do not simply provide the counter-balance to Proverbs. Job reveals God’s perspective on the suffering of his people, and Ecclesiastes calls us to think wisely about life in a fallen world.
The Interpretative Challenge
To interpret Job and Ecclesiastes rightly, we must rightly discern the perspective of the speakers. Consider the following quotes:
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: “How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind? Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great.” —Job 8:1–7
I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” —Ecclesiastes 1:12–18
In Job 8:1–7, Job’s “friend,” Bildad, speaks some granules of truth, but they are distorted, presented with presumption, and applied simplistically. In the second quote, what the Preacher observes about life is accurate—if taken from a perspective of life without regard to God’s sovereign hand and the reality of eternity.
These books enter us into the struggle of faith surrounding all that we do not understand. However, both books also provide the necessary color correction, helping us to restore our trust in God and see ourselves and the world we live in rightly. Job concludes with God’s gracious rebuke and instruction (chs. 38–41). By holding God’s instruction as the defining paradigm, we can rightly discern where Job’s friends (and sometimes Job himself) have gone awry. Likewise, Ecclesiastes concludes with wisdom by which we can reframe the observations made throughout the rest of the book,
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. —Ecclesiastes 12:13–14
Keys for Interpreting Job and Ecclesiastes:
- Allow yourself to sit awhile in the expressed frustration or despair of each passage. This is necessary to truly understand and appreciate the resolution found in the broader context.
- Connect the passage to its surrounding context and the book’s conclusion.
- Ask about the speaker. “What is the speaker getting right about life?” and “What is the speaker getting wrong?” “Which truths does he see and which is he forgetting?”
- Ask about God. What truths about God’s character and his ways does this text reveal? Be alert that these books often reveal truth about God because it is missing in the words of the speaker.
- Ask about the wisdom of Christ. What dilemmas does this text present that are ultimately solved in and through the gospel of Jesus Christ? (See Lesson 7.)