Job 1–3; 12–14; 19; 21–24; 38–40; 42 – “Yet I Will Trust in Him”

Job saw his afflictions as a call to look to God, to seek his voice, and to trust him. 

“Job: The Man and His Message,” L. La Mar Adams, Ensign, March 1982

We accept that Job was an actual person, and the book is not merely a message. The book of Job asks why the righteous suffer and how that suffering can be reconciled with a just God. One answer is that enduring afflictions well is a step that leads to exaltation, as the Lord said to Joseph Smith.  

“Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job?” John S. Tanner, Ensign, December 1990

“That the Lord finally speaks to Job holds forth hope to the hopeless, who feel called to believe in spite of their afflictions rather than because of their blessings.” This article what the Book of Job can teach us about the doctrine of retribution, about our relationships with God and our suffering fellowmen, and about the need for revelation to solve crises of faith.

“‘Hast Thou Considered My Servant Job?’” John S. Tanner, Sperry Symposium Classics: The Old Testament, 2005

Job is a unique book: uniquely disturbing and uniquely empowered to deepen our faith. Both its answers and its questions about the problem of suffering help clarify gospel truths and are themselves illuminated by the Restoration’s light. (This article is different from the Ensign article but has some points in common.) 

“Lying for God: The Uses of the Apocrypha,” Stephen E. Robinson, Apocryphal Writings and the Latter–day Saints, 1986, 133–154

The principle that all fortune or misfortune is a direct and immediate reward or punishment from God is called the Deuteronomic Ideal. Jesus rejected this idea in Luke 13:1–5 and John 9:1–4, just as the author of Job rejected it in his day. When Job’s three comforters maligned his integrity, they did so for reasons rooted in their theology. At the end of the book, God condemned them in these words: “My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath” (Job 42:7).

“Withstanding the Evil One,” P. Scott Ferguson, Religious Educator 12, no. 2 (2011)

Job was “a just and perfect man,” yet Satan obtained “leave from the Lord to tempt and try Job” (Job 1 chapter heading; emphasis added). The Lord, knowing Job’s integrity, allowed the opposition. Even though Satan sought Job’s demise, it was with the Lord’s watchful eye. The Lord knew that Job, like Abraham, would pass the nissah [test] challenge. We, like Abraham and Job, will fare better as we learn to discern between our God–given nissah challenges and Satan’s attempts to see us fail.

“The Old Dead Book of Job,” Rebecca Cornwall, Ensign, July 1974 

In reading Job, the author “felt a kinship to all the souls over the centuries who had found solace here.” Job is “a leader, forced by life to question the traditional dogma, groping for reasons and finding more than he sought, writing out of profound feeling and faith and inspiration.”

“The Book of Job as a Biblical ‘Guide of the Perplexed’,” Raphael Jospe, Revelation, Reason, and Faith: Essays in Honor of Truman G. Madsen

Maimonides points out that Job is described in the beginning of the book as being moral and righteous in his behavior but is not described as “wise,” “understanding,” or “intelligent.” Job’s error was intellectual, not moral, and therefore Job had to be able, on his own at the end of the book, to arrive at a proper theoretical understanding of divine justice. (Find this article in the list of articles in this book.) 

Job: A Come, Follow Me Interfaith Conversation, John A. Widtsoe Foundation (video) 

The John A. Widtsoe Foundation presented a discussion between a Jewish and a Latter-day Saint scholar on Job 1-3, 38-40. The discussion is hosted by BYU Chair of Religious Studies Dr. Shon Hopkin, interviewing Dr. Sarah Emanuel, Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. Here are the links to the YouTube and podcast versions.