The Christian children's book, Job's Good News, was released in late 2023. Here is the foreword from the book which explains more of the backstory behind the writing of the book. I have followed it with a few pictures from the interior as well as sample pages for the supplemental workbook. Both are available for purchase on Amazon.com.
JOB'S GOOD NEWS WORKBOOK
Job was a righteous man, yes, but he also was fully aware of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We see that he understands the concept of animal sacrifice handed down thru the ages, beginning with the brothers, Cain and Abel, Noah, and pre-law patriarchs1. Job himself said that he had heard of God with his ears, but after the encounter in the whirlwind, he knew him with his eyes.2 Job had the ‘blind faith’ that Jesus speaks of when He says, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”3
We can be assured of the reality of Job’s existence, as he is mentioned in both the Old Testament, “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.”4 and the New Testament “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.5”
Furthermore, the text of Job is paraphrased three times in the New Testament:
Job 5:12-13 12He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. 13 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Job 5:9 Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number:
Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Job 35:7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?
Romans 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
We can surmise that the expansive knowledge that Job has of His God comes from several sources. First through the spoken word; generations of God fearing persons passing down through the ages their understanding and wisdom learned from ancient children birthed of Adam and Eve.
Secondly, God has written His story in the heavens, the stars above our head, which have been studied by scholars and understood as common knowledge since the beginning of time. Job speaks about the glory of God’s creation, “By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.”6
The original names for many of the Constellations were Hebrew and do indeed tell the story of the the virgin Virgofrom Latin which is Bethulah from the ancient Hebrew with the same interpretation of virgin. This fortells what is written in Matthew, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”7 The branch the woman holds is an ear of wheat, the star Spica or Tsemech in Hebrew. This word for branch is used in the Old Testament to refer exclusively to Messiah as in Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Isaiah.8
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”9
Lastly, as we see with the visit of Job’s four friends, travelers carried knowledge and information throughout the Eurasia. In the absence of books, caravans of merchants brought their culture and their beliefs to the lands around them. There can be no doubt that Job heard and believed as a result of any combination of these three sources.
In The Book of Job we begin with a man who is tried and true, whom his creator touts as being “perfect, upright…one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.”10 After the encounter with his maker, Job has a much better understanding of the nature of His God. Roger N. Carstensen says, “Past the veil of mighty words, Job caught the vision of God himself.”11
Scriptures warn us not to try to lift ourselves up, not to elevate ourselves above God,
Isaiah 10:15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.
Isaiah 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
As Carstensen continues, “In seeking God, men are able to emerge in their spirit, released by holiness of faith.” 12 Tim Mackie, in loosely quoting Hebrew Bible scholar John Walton, reminds us that “God asks for trust, not understanding and states the cosmos is founded on His wisdom, not His justice.” 13
Even prior to his face to face with The Father of the universe, Job had confidence in his eternal fate. Job spoke of an intercessor, a redeemer, and eternal life.
Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. 14
O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!15
For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:16
Finally, he calls for a daysman, or intercessor,
Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.17
As Herbert Lockyer exhorts, “Thank God, we have our Daysman in Jesus, who, as the Mediator, lays a pierced hand on us and on God, and makes us one.”18 He goes on to encourage us with, “The world is ever watching us as we weep…. Let us not sorrow as others who have no hope!”19
In addition, we are comforted with Lockyer’s words, “Painful riddle of life is capable of a blessed solution… sufferings of the righteous are not necessarily due to their own sins, the inequalities of this life are to be redressed in the life to come. Justice will be done somehow, sometime, somewhere.”20
As we read and study The Book of Job, let us remain cognizant of the Biblical truths that God is working for our good,
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”21
For other’s blessings,
“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” 22
And for His Glory.
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”23
I will end this with a quote from Isaiah. These words remind us of this good man, Job, of whom we, along with Lottie and friends, learn so much. I trust that when he did meet his Jesus, that he heard the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”24
6But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. 7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. 9And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.”25
My Love,
Marion W. Richardson
Here are other important quotations that I found while studying about The Book of Job:
Job was written to prove that God can be loved for His own sake. Goodness may be unselfish and disinterested, righteousness can serve God for naught and trust in Him even when he seems to be an enemy. 26
Human pain and suffering does not always happen as a clear consequence of anyone’s sin. There may be a reason, but there may not be. God himself said that Job’s suffering was not warranted for “any reason” (Job 2:3) The conversation with the satan certainly did not provide a reason. That dialogue simply set the stage for the real question of the book: Does God operate the universe according to the principle of retribution? 27
If Job serves God for nothing, or beyond this if he serves Him in spite of everything, he asserts the sovereignty of a Force that moves independently of coercion.
Job is a pilgrimage book. It can be read at any station in man’s journey through life.
The Book of Job belongs to today’s Bible because it is evocative. In its artistic and formal nature, it draws something from the reader in order to bring something to him.
To know the Book of Job will not forestall anguish and despair, but it may direct the experience of tragedy toward the arms of faith.
The Christ who found himself in God fulfills every role which man, in his struggle toward God, has created for himself. He is prophet without gibberish, priest without incense, and king without scepter.
A change in life occurs, not simply because it is needed – which the sinner already knows – but because man derives from the love of God an identity which begins to express itself in radical new decisions.
Honor is not natural to him; he can easily be forgiven uneasiness with a new vocabulary and unfamiliar new weapons. Yet the first struggling motion upward when the spiritual novice meets God, the first impulse toward beauty and wholeness, are prophetic of mysterious grace and awesome power.
Like Moses of old, who bore from the presence of God a radiance of which he was unaware, honorable men unknowingly illumine the earth when they struggle up from their knees to battle dragons visible only to their integrity.
They illumine the earth because so far as they are concerned they do what is necessary for them to do. Their devotion, born of intent concern with ultimate right, interprets the character of God by the brightest colors of the human spectrum and brings rapture side by side with judgment to bear on human insufficiency. 28
- Genesis 4:3-4; 8:20; 5:9-11; and 12:1-3
- Job 42:5
- John 20:29b
- Ezekiel 14:14
- James 5:11
- Job 26:13
- Matthew 1:23
- Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12; Isaiah 4:2
- Jeremiah 23:5-6
- Job 1:8
- 11. Roger N. Carstensen, Job: Defense of Honor (New York, New York: Abingdon Press), 1963.
- Roger N. Carstensen
- Tim Mackie, Book of Job: God Gives Job a Virtual Tour of His Wise World, https://bibleproject.com/blog/gods-gives-job-tour-wise-world/ (March 2022).
- Job 16:19
- Job 16:21
- Job 19:25
- Job 9:33
- Herbert Lockyer, All The Books and Chapters of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House), 1964.
- Herbert Lockyer
- Herbert Lockyer, All The Men of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House), 1964.
- Romans 8:28
- Genesis 50:20
- 1 Corinthians 10:31
- Matthew 25:21
- Isaiah 61:6-7, 9-10a
- Herbert Lockyer, All The Men of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House), 1964.
- Tim Mackie, Book of Job: God Gives Job a Virtual Tour of His Wise World, https://bibleproject.com/blog/gods-gives-job-tour-wise-world/ (March 2022).
- Roger N. Carstensen, Job: Defense of Honor (New York, New York: Abingdon Press), 1963.
From the supplemental workbook:
