Greetings listeners and welcome to our talk today, talk number 8. In the last talk, we presented on Psalms and Proverbs. Today we shall complete our review of the books of Old Testament wisdom by covering Job, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Unlike Psalms and Proverbs which are collections, each of these books we cover today deals with a main theme. But each main theme is dealt with in such a way that many aspects of life and human experiences are brought into view. And many different perspectives are considered.

So let's begin with Job. Job aims to answer the big question, why do the righteous suffer? Now note the question. It is not why do people suffer? It’s also not why do human beings suffer. It is why do the righteous suffer? The book is structured around three extensive cycles of debate and dialogue between Job and those who sought to counsel him. There is an introduction and a conclusion to these three cycles. The introduction presents Job as the most upright and blameless man. But Satan argued that Job was only righteous because God protects and blesses him.

God then allowed Job to be suddenly struck by three tragedies that took away first his wealth and possessions, next his sons and daughters and then his health and peace of mind with painful boils all over his body. Now within the cycles are different points of view as to why Job was suffering. Job insisted on his innocence so that his suffering could not have been due to sin. His friends take the opposing view that there must be some sin in Job's life that he is not admitting to or repenting of. In the debate, Job went so far as to suggest that God had made a mistake in so afflicting him in spite of his innocence.

In the conclusion Job learned that he was in no position as a finite man to question the infinite God. It reviewed a deep hidden pride in himself that needed to be surrendered to God. In so repenting, God restored him and ask him to pray for his friends so that they too may be forgiven and restored. God then blessed him with double his wealth and family size and the full restoration of his health. God molded Job and won the argument against Satan. Because Job was a man who would honor God as God, not just because of what he obtained from God, this is what we should aspire to be and do.

So, Job is an example of a human being who truly worships God for who He is. And in that way he is an example to us all. And the book of Job shows how even in the face of many reverses and adversities and what we may perceive as injustice in life, we are in fact, to honor God as God. If not, if we fail to do so, then Satan would be right. We only honor God for how God blesses us. Now, obviously, we should follow Job’s example and not justify Satan’s argument.

The next book is the book of Ecclesiastes, and it is an atypical book among the books of the Bible and among the books of wisdom. It is unlike the others in that it is not set on the basis of knowing God’s Word and living by it which would be the basis of all the other wisdom books. Indeed, you could say of all the books of the Bible that we are called to know God's Word and live by it. So Ecclesiastes is exceptional in the sense that it starts from a different perspective.

It explores how life can be meaningful by trying out many human and worthy ideas of what makes life meaningful. One by one, achievement, wealth, power and happiness. And such approaches are found to have one conclusion, a point that is repeated many times throughout this book; that nothing lasts. Many contradictions in life are pointed out, such as how the wealthy and powerful often end up with nothing. Some who are without these gained them instead. The best insights are gained in the face of death and tragedy, laughing all the time and endless enjoyment lead to meaninglessness. Living wisely is the best way, yet in the face of death, nothing lasts. So in the course of this surge, it gradually discovers and asserts that the best way to live life is to thankfully accept our place in God's plan and provision for us and live it out day by day. There is nothing better than doing so or living in this way, everything else, every other way leads to futility and meaninglessness. So in a time roundabout way, Ecclesiastes starts from a very human worthy perspective of what makes life meaningful, but ends up by affirming that in fact, we need God and His provision and guidance and purpose for us. And it is only by living life in that way or in God's way and to serve Him that we actually find lasting meaning in life.

The third and final book in the three we are covering as well as among the five books of wisdom is the Song of Solomon. And this book is also called the Song of Songs. It is an extended poem on marital love and the joy of physical union and delight between the lover and the beloved. And this may actually make some uncomfortable, but in that sense, it's a celebration of marital love, even the sexual union of marital love as something to be celebrated.

It is told in a story of love between Solomon and his Shulamite bride whom he was to bring home to him in marriage. It celebrates the beauty of conjugal love and tenderness, but it also reflects the desires and fears that accompany such a union. It declares that love is as strong as death and this is can be said to be a preliminary to what in the new testament is the message of God through Christ, that life conquers death in the resurrection, or you could say God's love conquers death through the resurrection of Christ.

But in the framework of the Old Testament and in this book of the Song of Solomon, it declares that love is as strong as death in the sense that death is as strong as strength can be. But love is as strong as death. It therefore acknowledges and comments marital love as something powerful, meaningful and wonderful. It may be seen as a human reflection of the love of God for His people, or of the love of Christ for the church. And in that sense, it carries a deeper symbolic message that mirrors God's love for us as His people, whether in terms of Old Testament Israel or the New Testament church as the bride of God, or as the bride of Christ.

So there is therefore a double layer of meaning. At the human level, it celebrates marital love, but there is a deeper message of God's love for His people. Hence Old Testament wisdom; all the five books are written to instruct us on how to live life God's way by being true to His law and His revelation to His people and by putting Him first above all, so as we continue into our next talk, we will present the next category of prophecy.

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