Show Notes
The Gospel of John is structured around seven signs that build toward an eighth—the resurrection of Jesus. To understand what John means by a "sign," David and Christine walk through the biblical story, tracing where and how signs appear in Scripture. From the heavenly lights of creation to the plagues that fell on Egypt, John shows that Jesus' signs reveal that he is God in the flesh who has come to bring new creation and salvation to humanity.
More from Spoken Gospel
After nearly thirty chapters of accusations, a new voice enters the debate. Elihu claims to speak for God, but he twists Job's words just like the serpent in the garden, until God himself answers from the whirlwind with a question: who darkens my counsel?
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar arrive to comfort Job and spend thirty chapters insisting that his suffering is proof of hidden guilt. Everything they say about God is true, and they aim all of it at an innocent man.
The accuser always offers a shortcut. He tells Eve she can have maturity without waiting, tells Job he can end his suffering by cursing God, and tells Jesus he can have the nations without a cross.
In the land of Uz, out in Gentile wilderness, a blameless king-priest tends a pocket of paradise—a flourishing household he rules and intercedes for, keeping the snakes out. Then the accuser appears in God's throne room and takes every good gift Job has been given and twists it into an indictment: remove the hedge, and this man will curse God to his face.
Job is not the only ancient book about a righteous man who suffers for no nameable reason. Cultures across Sumer, Babylon, and Egypt wrote about pious sufferers who lamented, searched their lives for a hidden crime, and found nothing—and every one of them eventually traded away either their innocence or their god to make the pain stop.