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Chapter
1
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Main Page
Chapter
1
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AUTHOR'S PREFACE
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After a study of the relationship of Bible to Science since 1960, the author felt that the Scriptures assume a greater place in the science world than normally they are given today. He felt also that the Gospel should be directly applied to the actual experimentation in science. He originally left the parish ministry to develop interest in better relationships between the Gospel and science. Finally, he felt that the wisdom literature of the Bible would give the best answers, even if many feel that answers for science should not come out of the Bible, but only out of experimentation with nature. |
Then he observed that the chief of the wisdom books of the Bible, which include Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Songs, is Job. Thus in 1983 he began a serious and exhaustive study of the book of Job, and found answers in it that are very important both for better and more initiative science, and for stronger Christian faith. The doubling of blessings in a material way to Job, in Job 42, is more than just a nice story. When one learns to use the Gospel as a power to regenerate material things as well as spiritual things, then actually there is a doubling of the use of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins, and this truly doubles the use of the power of the Gospel.
Not only the doubling of material blessings at the end of Job indicates this but in Job 33:25, in which Elihu brings Job into the deeper Gospel and speaks about the Messenger above a thousand that would ransom his soul from the pit, he says that because of this the flesh of Job would be made as fresh as a child's. The sickness of Job, probably the worst anyone has ever suffered, with the exception of what the Savior suffered for us in His Passion, was the big problem for Job. And this material flesh would be regenerated because of this ransom from the pit. And it happened, when Job's life was doubled from what appears to have been 70 years old at the time of his experience to 140 more years, or a total of 210 years. Since the Gospel here is given such material regenerating powers as well as spiritual, it is a serious mistake to eliminate the Gospel from science, just because science deals with material things. Many use the creation approach to science with its age of 6000 years or less to establish a foundation for the Gospel, in what is called preevangelism, but this does not yet show the value of using the actual forgiveness of sins, the greatest power in the universe, directly in a material way, and directly in the sciences.
This commentary is not written to be a novel, even though the story of Job is one of the greatest dramas ever, but it is written to be an exhaustive, critical, thorough commentary, closely based on the Hebrew of the Old Testament. However, it has been so written, that even those who do not know Hebrew, can follow, since the Hebrew words are not only written in Hebrew but are also written in English letters, and always explained. The commentary is made first of all for thorough study of the text. For those who want something lighter and easier to read other books are available, and more will be made available, to indicate the comfort in Job, the evangelism in Job, the counseling in Job, the poetry and drama in Job.
With a book as exhaustive as this and with so much Hebrew in it perfect proofing of the first edition is almost impossible, even though strenuous efforts have been directed toward proofing. Thus we welcome suggestions so that we send out an errata later.
Reverend Walter Lang, 1992
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