Job: Man of Sorrows

By Samuel de Roa

The world may never look the same way at Job and his mysteries again. After seven intense years in the making, a completely different vision of this ancient book has been born, one that may mark a turning point in how we understand it. Whether you are a scholar or lay person, we introduce you to the person of Job as he has never been introduced to you before. And, who knows? It may just match the vision of him you have kept in the depths of your heart.

 

May the strangest man

become the closest one?

• Language: English
• Publisher: marronyazul
• Release date: Jan 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9788494856983

Book preview

Job

Man of Sorrows

Imagen

—Samuel de Roa—

Original title: Job: Hombre de Tristezas © 2019 Samuel de Roa

1st English text revision: Rebecca Reddin ([e-mail])

Translation, layout & cover illustrator © Samuel de Roa

First edition: March 2020

Separators designed by rawpixel.com / Freepik.

ISBN: 978-84-948569-8-3

MARRONYAZUL®

www.marronyazul.com

You may contact author in this email address:

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BIBLE VERSIONS used in this work, in alphabetical order:

ACV (A Conservative Version ‐ translated by Dr. Walter L. Porter; public domain), AMP (Amplified Bible ‐‐ Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission), ASV (American Standard Version; public domain), DARBY (Darby Translation; public domain), DRB (Douay‐ Rheims Bible; public domain), ESV (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved), GNB (The Good News Bible © 1994 published by the Bible Societies/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd UK, Good News Bible © American Bible Society 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992. Used with permission), GW (God’s Word®, © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Godʹs Word Mission Society), HNV (Hebrew Names Version; public domain) , ISA (Interlinear Scripture Analyzer 3 © 2015 Scripture4All Publishing, all rights reserved), ISV (The Holy Bible: International Standard Version. Release 2.0, Build 2015.02.09. Copyright © 1995‐2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.), LEB (Lexham English Bible, copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software), NAB (New American Bible © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved), NABRE (New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved), NASB (New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission), NET (New English Translation, the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved), NIV (New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™), NLTse (Holy Bible, New Living Translation second edition, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. All rights reserved), NRSV (New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved), PHILLIPS (The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission), RSV (Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved), TLV (Tree of Life Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society), UPDV (Updated Bible Version; (Version 2.17) Copyright © 2003‐2018 by Greg Abrams), WESLEY (Wesley Study modification of King James Version, which in turn is public domain), YLT (Young’s Literal Translation; public domain).

Copyright of this work:

—Up to ten thousand (10,000) characters of this work may be copied or cited in other (for profit or not for profit) works without prior authorization, provided they are not used in numbered or serial works, or in works printed in parts or chapters. They must be in a single standalone work that is totally independent from any other work. This original must always be cited in the bibliography. To use larger portions of the book, express authorization must be obtained from this publisher.

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to J.M.R., M.I.M. and N.D.R. for your review and advice,

I am indebted to you.

to M.B.K. and her home church

for challenging me to write and for fighting to make this a reality,

I am indebted to you.

to G.E. and P.S., for their companionship and encouragement,

I am indebted to you.

to all the scholars who have helped me present this message,

I am indebted to you.

to all our brothers by whose prayer we are sustained

(and you know who you are better than even I do),

I am indebted to you.

to you, Lord, for every day,

my Debt is great with you even though you have cancelled it.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introducción

Part I (Job 1:1-2:6)

Deciphering the Riddle

The Key That Opens the Chest

Seven Sons and Three Daughters

The Beginning of Sorrows

Pesach

Adoration

A Second Meeting

Part II (Job 2:6-2:-7)

Abandoned

Annas' House

Religion and Love

The Slap

Why Do You Strike Me

Evil Generation

Jonah

The Question

Guilty!

Before Rome

The Revolutionary

Is it Yours?

The Kingdom

Straight Answers

Innocent

Silence

Royal Garments

Blameless

Barabbas

Crucify Him!

Son of God?

Power From Above

Decision

The Voice

Pleasing Men

Simon of Cyrene

Sorrow

Part III (Job 2:7-38:3)

Malignant Ulcer

Foolish Woman

Blood...

…and Water

New Birth

The Three Friends

Loneliness

Oath of Innocence

The Intruder

The Last Breath

Part IV (Job 38:4-final)

The Whirlwind

No Irony

God Asks

God Speaks (I) (Job 38:4-40:2)

Job Responds (I) (Job 40:3-40:5)

Dios Speaks (II) (Job 40:6-40:14)

God Speaks! (III) (Job 40:15-41:34)

Job Responds (II) (Job 42:1-6)

The Restoration of the Soul (Job 42:7 to the end)

Farewell

Introduction

While you need not wear the suit of erudition to wade in Biblical waters, our technology in this day and age has given us instant access to a swimming pool of information that, until recently, only select libraries and well-versed men had. We live in the era of the democratization of knowledge, with powerful tools such as the indispensable Strong Dictionary, interlinear versions of the Bible, and innumerable resources available online. If I have misused them, I entrust the responsibility and joy of correction to learned men.

In my endeavor to express the essence of the original text in my own words, I have, at times, paraphrased Biblical quotations in line with my inner vision as I have received it; in other occasions I chose to translate straight from the Hebrew language. I highlight these instances with a bold asterisk (*) so that reader can find and further access the text in his/her favorite version of the Bible or deeply analyze it for him/herself.

I am aware that this is an intense and condensed journey with very few good places to stop and rest, but my only desire is that this work be of service where my hearing has been effectual, and that it be inoperative where it has emerged from my own self. May the Lord endow each of you with fine discernment that upholds what is good and rejects whatever is bad from the text that follows.

Beloved Job, may this message reach your people everywhere insomuch as you give me the words to express it, a heart to receive it, and the courage to abide in it.

—S.D.R.M. (2012-2019).

Part I

Loss

On the one hand, Job and his unjust suffering;

on the other, an overwhelmingly simple whisper.

Job 1:1-2:6

Deciphering the Riddle

A difficult fit among the sacred books of the Bible, the scroll of Job remains a great mystery. No one knows for sure who wrote it, or when, or even why, to such extent that some consider it a genre of its own.

In response to the ambiguity surrounding its precise age, a significant number of academics coincide with popular opinion, affirming that it is the oldest of the books of the Bible and that it was composed during the age of the patriarchs, around 1700 BC.¹Although we are accustomed to saying from Genesis to Revelation, chronologically speaking, it would be correct to say from Job to Revelation in light of the dates when each text was written and how difficult they are to interpret.

Highly intellectual debates about Job’s book continue at Jewish universities and many tons of paper have been printed that capture diverse interpretations of the vision of the Book of Revelation. Some fascinated scholars have devoted their entire lives to these books. An English Puritan named Joseph Caryl (1602-1673) gave sermons on the book of Job in his London parish for 23 years in a row, in addition to authoring a ten-volume encyclopedia!² Certainly, they are difficult and strange books that have attracted the attention of both learned and profane scholars for centuries.

But to use the word difficult is ambiguous. We need a more effective and precise term to correctly define the nature of these books, and that term is parable. Contrary to common understanding, parable means neither metaphysical nor impossible to understand. It is actually a literary tool for purposefully hiding something.

Did you know that one of children’s greatest pleasures is playing hide-and-seek? Little ones love to hide, to be looked for, and to be found by others! The Creator courts us through the game of the parable, whose main function is to hide information precisely so that the child will have the courage to seek and the comforting joy of discovering what is hidden.

Among many other names, God calls us scribes. The scribe sells everything he has to buy a field. Then he searches in that field to unearth a treasure. Job and Revelation are enormous parables. The first book describes a man subject to tribulation, suffering, and temptation; the second shows him triumphant and powerful. But both parables seek to reveal someone hidden from our physical eyes yet naked before the eyes of the Spirit.

As a result, the strange halo of mystery hovering between these two writings points to a secret pact, a bond forged at the Eternal’s behest:

Job shows the Messiah before the cross.

Revelation shows Him after the cross.

Although each book undeniably steps into the other’s territory, they both primarily hinge upon the resurrection: this event is the red line that separates these epiphanies on God’s map and timeline.

When asking myself how I had not been able to see something that was now so obvious to me, I remembered how He reprimanded His disciples. Something similar had happened to me with Job.

—O foolish, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

(Luke 24:25-26 // WESLEY)

Why foolish and slow of heart? Because by wasting my precious time embracing my own justice and contemplating my navel, I had overlooked His justice and righteousness. It turns out that the savior is not scattered here or there.³

Job is the Man of Sorrows,

and the treasure to be discovered.

Dear reader, I have served you the main course before sitting down to dinner so that you can decide whether to participate or to leave the