Many of us find rest and comfort in having good health, secure jobs, and a vibrant community. Of course we do. But what happens when that is taken away, like it was for Job? Some of us, while stuck in our homes during the coronavirus pandemic, may have started to ask some questions about the way the world works and how God could let this kind of a thing happen. Well, we’re not the first to ask those questions and the book of Job is about someone doing just that. 

John Walton is an Old Testament scholar and he leads us through the book of Job with an eye toward our current situation. Walton walks through three elements of the story of Job that might help us today: rest (our ability to rise above tumultuous circumstances), peace (freedom from our feelings of fear), and coherence (finding order among confusion). The episode was recorded digitally with a live audience and so we were also able to take questions from the audience, which you’ll hear throughout. 

John Walton is a professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He has published dozens of books, articles and translations, both as writer and editor, including his popular book The Lost World of Genesis One. Among his other books, he’s also the editor of the NIV Cultural Background Study Bible, and the author of a commentary on the Book of Job, and a shorter book co-authored with Tremper Longman, How to Read Job, which helped to frame our conversation for this episode.

Walton’s Lecture Series on Job 

A list of Walton’s many books

Walton’s Resources from Biologos

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