Finding Christ in Job

"Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant me the thing that I long for! That it would please God to crush me, that He would loose His hand and cut me off! Then I would still have comfort; though in anguish I would exult, He will not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One."
— Job 6:8–10

Many biblical scholars believe that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, likely written before Moses recorded the Pentateuch. Although we cannot determine the exact dates of Job's life, his unusually long lifespan suggests that he lived after the Flood (Postdiluvian) but before the Exodus. It is possible that Job was a contemporary of Abraham or Isaac, making him one of the great patriarchs.

The absence of the completed written Scriptures did not leave Job and the other Old Testament saints ignorant of God's redemptive plan. Before the Bible was written, God frequently revealed Himself through direct revelation. In this article, I want to highlight several ways the book of Job points us to Jesus Christ, particularly through Job's suffering.

Suffering with a Greater Purpose

Job's suffering served a purpose far greater than his individual sanctification. Through his affliction, God glorified Himself, humiliated Satan, and provided encouragement for believers throughout history.

Shortly after the Fall, God gave the first promise of the gospel in Genesis 3:15, often called the Protoevangelium. There He declared that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. This promise would have been faithfully handed down from generation to generation, and Job almost certainly knew it. Although he understood that God would send a Redeemer, he knew very little about the Messiah's suffering and atoning death.

Yet, in God's providence, Job's own suffering became a prophetic shadow of Christ. Long before Calvary, Job experienced anguish that foreshadowed the greater suffering of the Savior.

"That It Would Please God to Crush Me"

Job 6 opens with a heartfelt lament. He longs for God to grant the request of his soul—to bring his suffering to an end.

This yearning anticipates Christ's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke records Jesus praying:

"Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." (Luke 22:42)

Job struggled to submit his will to God's providence. Christ, however, perfectly submitted His human will to the will of His Father.

In verse 9, Job cries out that it would please God to crush him. The Hebrew word dākaʾ ("to crush," "bruise," or "break") appears again in one of Scripture's clearest Messianic prophecies:

"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief." (Isaiah 53:10)

Job was crushed emotionally under overwhelming sorrow. Christ was crushed both physically and spiritually beneath the weight of divine judgment.

Before the cross, His sweat became like great drops of blood as He contemplated the Father's wrath. The nails, thorns, scourging, and spear were horrific, but they were not His greatest suffering. The deepest agony came as He bore the curse due to sinners, enduring the full weight of God's wrath so that His people might receive peace and forgiveness.

"Cut Me Off"

Job continues:

"...that He would loose His hand and cut me off." (Job 6:9)

Job desired death because life had become unbearable. Yet God did not grant his request. Instead, He restored Job's health, family, and possessions beyond what he had previously enjoyed.

Christ's death was altogether different.

Jesus did not seek death as an escape from suffering. He already possessed perfect fellowship with the Father and eternal glory in heaven. He willingly embraced death so that sinners might receive eternal life.

Isaiah again uses language remarkably similar to Job's:

"For He was cut off from the land of the living." (Isaiah 53:8)

To human eyes, Christ's crucifixion appeared to be a sudden and tragic execution. In reality, it was the fulfillment of the eternal covenant of redemption (Pactum Salutis), established by the triune God before the foundation of the world.

Job's longing for death arose from overwhelming grief. Christ's willingness to die arose from perfect love and mercy. Suicide seeks relief from personal suffering. Christ embraced suffering in order to relieve His people's eternal misery and reconcile them to God.

"I Have Not Concealed the Words of the Holy One"

Despite his affliction, Job could still declare:

"For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One." (Job 6:10)

Job faithfully proclaimed God's truth to those around him. Yet even his faithfulness pointed beyond itself to One infinitely greater.

Job served faithfully within God's house. Christ rules over God's house as the eternal Son.

Where Satan distorted God's Word, Christ perfectly revealed it. Job could only testify according to the revelation he had received. Jesus revealed the very heart of the Father.

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples:

"No longer do I call you servants... but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)

Everything Christ did revealed God's truth. His perfect obedience, miraculous works, compassionate ministry, faithful teaching, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection all displayed the character of God.

He remained perfectly faithful to every person He encountered. He loved Peter, though Peter would deny Him. He showed kindness to Judas, though Judas would betray Him. Nothing in Christ's life was wasted or insignificant.

The Greater Job

Jesus is the greater Job.

His suffering was infinitely greater. His death possessed infinite worth. His revelation was perfect and complete.

Job served as an unwitting prophet whose life pointed forward to the coming Redeemer. Christ came as the fulfillment of every Old Testament shadow—the final Prophet, our Great High Priest, and the reigning King.

Job longed for a mediator, and that Mediator was Christ.

In many ways, Job's life became a living preview of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah centuries before Isaiah put his quill to the parchment. Through both his prosperity and his affliction, Job proclaimed the gospel before the Savior entered the world.

Peter reminds us that even the Old Testament prophets were ultimately ministering to future generations:

"To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into." (1 Peter 1:12)

The book of Job is not merely the story of a righteous man who suffered. It is a divinely inspired portrait that prepares us to behold the suffering Servant who would accomplish redemption once and for all. In Job's cries we hear faint echoes of Calvary. In Christ, those echoes become the glorious reality of the gospel.