So far, we have found that Job helps us understand that sometimes bad things happen to good people because of a cosmic conflict between God and Satan which spills over onto this planet. This also explains why God allowed Satan to afflict Job—because “the Sons of God,” representatives of the larger kingdom of God—still had not decided who was right. Explaining those two things is an accomplishment. But none of this explains why this book is included in the canon, when it has no obvious connection with the rest of scripture.
Since it may be the oldest all the books written, it may well have been the first book included. That’s a big part of the Job enigma. What do we do with this book which has always been part of the Bible, yet has no direct or clear connection to any of the other books? To use the mural analogy, how can Job be part of this grand mural, if it does not appear anywhere within the picture? I suggest that Job serves as the frame for the entire picture.
What does a frame do for a picture, and how does that apply to Job as a frame for the rest of the Bible?
A frame brings unity and focus to a picture. According to Gene Karraker, frame conservator at the Getty Center, a frame separates the picture from the many images outside, and thus “defines where the art ends and the rest of the world begins.” By doing so, a frame tells you what the artist intended you to see, it assists the viewer —or in this case the reader—to identify the most significant features within the picture itself. In other words, Job alerts us to recognize how this cosmic conflict plays itself out through the many narratives in the rest of the Bible.
Viewing the rest of Scripture through the frame of the cosmic courtroom scenes reveals questions we did not even know to ask. For example, why were there two trees in the garden of Eden? There was a tree of life, but there was also the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Why the opportunity for the serpent — clearly an agent of Satan, an agent of disorder in Genesis — why did he have an opportunity to employ his lies on our first parents? We naturally answer, “Because there is free will.” But the unasked question which Job’s cosmic courtroom scenes answer, is why would the serpent be given an opportunity to sway our free will? Because to remove the opportunity to make a choice—even a bad choice—undermines free will. And that is the substance of Satan’s accusation of God before the rest of the universe. To persuade “the sons of God” and every other thinking creature that He is just, God must allow Satan to have a place, a platform, from which he can make his case.
Tragically, as they had in heaven, Satan’s lies prevailed — partially, and in the short term, that is. Humanity chose a path of disorder which led to the chaotic situations in which we find ourselves today. Understanding it as the frame for the Grand Mural of the plan of Salvation, unravels the enigma of the book of Job, explains why so many evil things continually happen to the righteous, and sets the stage for a new and richer understanding of the rest of Scripture. God is continually on trial, and responds to our betrayal with compassion, mercy, and abounding faithfulness.
