A Great Book on Job

I have been reading Beyond Suffering by Dr. Layton Talbert. This book is a study on the book of Job. The author makes the point that so many of us know only the beginning and end of the book and rarely do anything with the bulk of the book other than mining it for pithy sayings and proof texts. He explores these conversations between Job and his friends to help us understand the true message of Job. Below is are a few quotes from this book to whet your appetite for reading a truly enlightening study.

“Here is the core of comfort in the message of Job: beyond suffering, past our pain and loss, is a God Who is not only all-knowing and omnipotent, sovereign and free to do as He chooses but also always good and just, loving and wise, purposeful and perfect in all that He chooses to do or to allow—and intimately aware of all its effects on us” (Preface, xi).

“Robert Bell notes perceptively, ‘Satan would have us believe that God is not fair, yet we seldom consider the cruelty of the devil. I have never met anyone bitter about what Satan has done to him, but I have met many who were bitter toward God’” (p. 39).

“At the root of God’s dealings with fallen people is His intention to display dimensions of His character to a spiritual world that we never see and rarely consider” (p. 42).

“Job suffered to prove, among other things, that there are people who serve God “for nothing” other than for Who He is, people who worship God “without cause” (1:9) even when they suffer “without cause” (2:3)” (p. 45).

The book is full of helpful insights into our own lives and to the character of God that help to give meaning to experiences that seem to contradict what the Word so clearly teaches us about God. This book is available through Bob Jones University Press or on Amazon.com.