Daniel Whyte III
This podcast is designed to help you better understand the Word of God — both the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is the story of the Covenant which God made with His chosen people Israel. And the New Testament is the story of the Cross which signifies the fulfillment of the Old Covenant with Israel and the formation of a New Covenant with redeemed people from many nations.
We always like to start out with the Word of God, and today’s passage of Scripture is Job 1:1-3 which reads: “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.”
Today’s quote about the Bible is from C.S. Lewis. He said: “The value of the Old Testament may be dependent on what seems its imperfection. It may repel one use in order that we may be forced to use it in another way—to find the Word in it… to re-live, while we read, the whole Jewish experience of God’s gradual and graded self-revelation, to feel the very contentions between the Word and the human material through which it works.”
Our topic for today is titled “The Story of Job” from the book, “The Promise and the Blessing” by Dr. Michael A. Harbin.
Another carefully crafted book from an early period is the book of Job: Where to include it in our survey of the Old Testament is problematic. First, Job was not an Israelite, so he really does not fit into our overall historical structure. Second, the dating of the book is debated. A number of its characteristics, including the archaic language, suggest that the book was written at an early date and that Job himself lived at about the same time or shortly after the time of Abraham. We see described in the book a similar culture that counts wealth in terms of animals, and Job himself seems to have been semi-nomadic like Abraham. Furthermore, Job personally offered sacrifices on behalf of his family, serving as a patriarchal priest. With these details in mind, we will view Job as a contemporary of Abraham’s son or grandson and place his account here. If this setting is correct, it may suggest that the book of Job was part of the original canon that the nation of Israel took with it from Mount Sinai.
Why was this account included in the canon? There seem to be three key reasons. First, the book of Job addresses a crucial question we all ask: Why do bad things happen to good people? As we follow the patriarchs, we find that while they are viewed as very human, they are also portrayed as “good people.” So the question lurking in the back of the minds of the people listening to what Moses had to say about Abraham and his descendants would have been, If God chose our ancestors, why did they end up in slavery in Egypt? This question would have arisen especially in connection with the story of Joseph. The premise of Job is that much of what happens in this world involves issues far beyond moral cause and effect.
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Before we close, dear friend, I want to remind you that the most important thing you should know about the Bible is that it is the story of God working to save humanity from sin and the consequences of sin. He did this by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins and take the punishment that we deserve on Himself. Romans 5:8 says, “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you want to get to know Him today, all you have to do is believe “that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” and you will be saved. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Pray and ask Him to come into your heart and He will.
Until next time, remember the word of God is the foundation to a successful life. God bless.
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in over twenty-five foreign countries. He is the author of over forty books. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry which publishes a monthly magazine called The Torch Leader. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts/podcasts, which include: The Prayer Motivator Devotional, The Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report, the Second Coming Watch Update and the Soul-Winning Motivator, among others. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, a Master’s degree in Religion, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Theology degree from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica for over twenty-seven years. God has blessed their union with seven children. Find out more at www.danielwhyte3.com. Follow Daniel Whyte III on Twitter @prophetdaniel3 or on Facebook.
