GOD'S SERVANT JOB "is great at the theological, aesthetic, and audience level"

[Unsolicited review by Emmanuel Boston]
Douglas Bond and Todd Shaffer collaborate to present you and the young ones in your life with “A Poem with a Promise”: God's Servant Job. Bond reworks the Ancient Near East verse into a readable, bouncing poem for children of all ages. The meter is easy and true—except for a few notable breaks when sinful dialogue is prominent, ultimately leading to better poetry and influence. Bond follows remarkably well to the text we’d find in modern translations, putting new words to ancient ideas that had me thinking: I’ve heard this before! And of course, what else would we want from a book that attempts bring Scripture to the hearts of little ones? Bond is sure to add a poetic exposition of what he believes to be the central thrust of the book of Job: “I know that my Redeemer lives!” and to relate it to the fulfillment of this truth in Jesus. He also includes a “Big Words,” “Quiz,” and “Let’s Think!” section which will aid parents and Sunday school teachers in discipleship, or even the self-motivated learner. (There are several ‘chapter’ divisions as well.)

Shaffer contributes excellent artwork to partner along the text. If you look at the cover picture, you will get a grasp of the overall style: angular, an almost ‘sketched’ look which seems to remind us of the temporal gap between this world and theirs. The color palette ranges, though, finding appropriate hues to show us the spectrum of the story: from bright heaven, to Satan’s technicolor; from dusty potsherds to the vast mysteries of God’s creation—the mood fits.

All in all, this book is great at the theological, aesthetic, and audience level. I do have a few recommendations for the author, and one disagreement.

First, the least controversial: I think the Big Words section could have included a few more (e.g. covenant, cornerstone, Redeemer).

Second: just preferentially, I would have liked to see an extra stanza devoted to Christ as the fulfillment of the Job typology.

Third: I do not believe that Elihu was condemned in concert with the three other friends of Job. Scripture itself is silent on this matter, but the author says, “My servant Job has seen the light, / But you, his friends, go nothing right.” The illustration likewise includes Elihu amidst the others. The author seems to recover from this when in the “Let’s Think!” section he highlights a parallel between Elihu’s words, Job’s words, and the message of the book. [*Author note: We discussed this in editorial and production stages of this book. There were supposed to only be three 'friends' in the

illustration for this page, thus making clear that Elihu was not condemned by God along with the others. The poetry itself in the section when Elihu is speaking makes this very clear]

Those recommendations notwithstanding, this is an excellent addition to any children’s library; even an adult’s. It accurately retells the story found in Job including some of its most famous lines, with simple, up to date poetry, showing forth the message of our Redeemer and the hope his children have of righteousness, justification, and forgiven sins. It’s easy to talk to adults, and oh so difficult to communicate the same things to children, but Bond and Shaffer have done just that.

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Camp Bethel Men's Retreat, Sheridan Wyoming -- JOB

March 4-6, 2011. Lots of snow! I’m sitting at the tiny airport in Sheridan, Wyoming, snow falling steadily since Saturday evening. My flight has been delayed three times now, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m going to make it home tonight. “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

I have been graciously and colorfully hosted by two wonderful families, both headed by elders at First Baptist Church, Sheridan. Paul VanDyke, custom saddle maker extraordinaire, has been my contact guy since last fall, and he’s done a fantastic job of setting everything up and making me feel comfortable and welcome. Paul and his good friend, Nathan Mullinax, concrete and irrigation dude extraordinaire, picked me up at the airport Friday afternoon and drove me up the mountain to about 8,500 feet at Camp Bethel, a former logging camp turned Bible camp, a collection of log cabins full of rustic charm. Matt the camp director and his family put on great meals for us. The dining hall feels to me like a back-country hunting lodge, surrounding us with log walls and beams, a massive bull elk trophy, a mull deer head, snarling black bear rug hanging up in the log-beamed rafters above us, and a classic steam-bent canoe suspended overhead.

I felt a bit worn out from the bumpy ride on the puddle-jumper turbo prop flight from Denver, and so I think I was a bit lethargic and off balance on round one of Job. Saturday I had three 1 ½ hour sessions. I felt more freedom and was blessed by the attention and good comments and questions of the men gathered for some pretty comprehensive (42 chapters of Job in four sessions) study of God’s Word, Job’s Ruin and God’s Redemption: Discovering Christ in the book of Job, or The Gospel According to Job.

Wyoming men are a diverse and colorful gang. I learned about saddlery, irrigation, concrete, coal mining, engineering, big-rig trucking, ranching, optometry (got an initial ad hoc screening for laser surgery), bear hunting (or roping), moose attacks, and saw a herd of 50 elk, lots of mull deer, and pronghorn—and every Mullinax irrigation pivot between Sheridan and Camp Bethel! Checked in to the Holiday Inn and took a nap while Paul fed his horses (Nathan probably installed a dozen or so pivots in those two hours), before dinner at the VanDyke ranch with both families. Amber (Paul’s wife) and Sierra (Nathan’s wife) were gracious hostesses. And what beautiful children, each so different but each a gift and blessing from the Lord. We talked over dinner and into the night about bringing the gospel to our children, courting when theirs get a bit older, and had an all-around wonderful evening of rich fellowship. Stepped out the door to snow, snow, and more snow.

Saturday night I slept well—when I was sleeping. But at 3 am there was a cowboy fight in the hall, complete with lots of yelling and thumping of bodies against the wall. It was like being in a saloon in the old west! Pretty sad, but so out of character with everything else I experienced with the good folks that welcomed me so warmly to their much-loved state. I felt the Lord’s gracious presence and hand as I preached at First Baptist Church, Sheridan Sunday morning. We sang the hymn It is Well With My Soul, which tied in well with my sermon, All’s Well That ends Well, II Chronicles 26:1-23, soon to be posted in audio on their site and www.bondbooks.net.  

And I just got the word that the Great Lakes Aviation squirrel plane landed (in the snow), and we’re getting ready for boarding. May God be with us as we bounce back to Denver in the snow. “Be anxious for nothing…” “He will give his angels charge concerning you.” I’m planning to curl up and take a snooze for the hour and a half to Denver.  

Speaking at Men's Conference, Sheridan Wyoming, March 4-6, 2011

JOB’S RUIN & GOD’S REDEMPTION: Discovering Christ in the Book of Job.

Topics for the four sessions are:

God Sees Job (Friday night)      

Job’s Contrary Comforters (Sat. Morning)

Job’s Confronting Comforter Sat. Morning)

Job Sees God (Sat. afternoon

Registration fee: $50.00*

Attendance will be limited to the first 100 paid registrations received

Camp is rustic and has central bathing facilities.  Please bring your own towel, washcloth, toiletries, pillow and sleeping bag.

Check in anytime on the afternoon of the 4th.  Dinner served at 6:30.  Late arrivals are always welcome. Retreat will conclude at 3:00 pm Saturday afternoon

Questions --  John Tollakson 307 752 0423 (cell)  or Nate Mullinax 307 751 0260 (cell)

Thoughts on Job and Christ

I've been meditating on Job again (finalizing a childrens book in verse on Job), and as I was reading Sinclair F with my son Desmond tonight, it struck me. Maybe I'm wrong, but there's heaps more going on in Job than what appears at early readings (for me anyway--I've been known to be sort of slow on the uptake). Is it valid to say that Job is a prototype and foreshadowing of the humiliation and suffering God the Father would afflict on his own Son when he sent him to earth to offer up himself in our place? 

Job was upright, righteous, fearing God, turning away from evil, wealthy even. Of course no human being is these things perfectly--by a long shot; we all fall short of the glory of God. They are, however, perfect attributes of Christ. And remember that God initiates the humiliation and suffering of Job, offering Job up, as it were, to Satan. Furthermore, the set-up is all about cursing: will Job curse God when he is afflicted or will he bless God? Though Job curses the day of his birth, and is deeply perplexed, Satan was wrong: Job never curses God; nor did Christ, though he became a curse for us, our vicarious curse-bearer. Rather Job worships in suffering (chapter 2, and especially in chapter 19). Yet he does feel very much forsaken by God, who seems far off, doesn't seem to hear or care, so Job thinks, and he feels God is not being just with him, making him suffer consequences more in keeping with others offenses than any he had committed. Whereas with Christ, his Father actually does forsake his Son, who experiences Job's anguish and heaps more, bearing his people's sin and the wrath of God for us, that is, suffering for others crimes. 

Finally, God raises Job up from the ashes, restores him, lavishes wealth on him again, and commands the sorry friends to have Job be their prayer advocate, their go-between to God himself. All things that are not ordinary in a fallen world for most of us, yet all things that God did for his Son whom he highly exalted and gave a name above every name. 

If this is the sense of the big picture of Job, I'm sure others have worked this out far better, and these are rough notes, but I wonder. Job sees God, actually talks with him, repents (Jesus of course never needed to repent of or pay for sins, though he as our sin-bearer suffered under the weight of our load on our behalf. If this fits Clowney's box, then Job would be a type and foreshadowing of Christ, though I've never heard or read him being understood as such. Maybe I need to read more. Am I all wet here?