I think we are having our lesson on Job tomorrow in Gospel Doctrine. This book of pitiful punishment used to be a drudgery for me to read every four years. But this time through has been much more enjoyable since I went to BYU's Education Week and learned some fascinating principles from my good friend, David Bokovoy.
Now I may get kicked out of class tomorrow for my opinions on Job, but with some help from Hebrew scholars, I present my case for Job in the context of a jury trial in a divine council setting.
The Divine Council
There are many examples of the divine council of the gods in scripture. I have to warn about the unpopularity of this concept among many Christian denominations, but we should have a handle on this as Latter-day Saints. Let's look at some divine council imagery.
"God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods . . . I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High" (Psalms 82:1,6).
This is a council of the gods, where Elohim presides as the "most High" God. When we see this imagery we can be certain someone, somewhere is in trouble, needs heaven's assistance, and a verdict (or judgment) will be issued by the divine council. In the psalm above the calamity is clearly stated, "But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes" (v. 7).
As Latter-day Saints we are good at linking up these verses with premortal councils, but such divine councils are ongoing throughout scripture and even Church history. There is an interesting story about Heber J. Grant and the assurance of his calling as an apostle, in which President Grant saw and heard from a council where his father, Jedediah Grant, Joseph Smith, and the Savior were present. He said Joseph Smith and his father recommended him for one of two vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve. I have inserted the link if you're interested: https://www.lds.org/manual/presidents-of-the-church-student-manual/heber-j-grant-seventh-president-of-the-church?lang=eng
The council's verdict was that a mistake had been made in not filling these vacancies earlier.
Another example occurs when Jeremiah describes the test for determining true prophets. He describes how to detect true messengers from the divine council.
"For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked (observed) his word, and heard it?" (Jeremiah 23:18).
It should be noted here that the word counsel is the Hebrew word cowd and means a "council or an assembly," so it should be translated as "council of the Lord." The seeing and hearing (see above verse) becomes important as witnesses for the divine council. Heber J. Grant said it was as if he was actually seeing and hearing the council.
Is Satan Present at the Divine Council?
Now comes the part where I may get thrown out of Sunday School. In the first chapter of Job we read, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them" (Job 1:6). What? Satan present at the divine council? I don't think so! In the next chapter "Satan" obtains leave to afflict Job, and it almost seems like the Lord and "Satan" have a wager on Job's integrity. I will go out on a limb here and say this is not Satan, as in Lucifer, the devil, etc.
I believe in the eighth Article of Faith and believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. But I have firm beliefs in some basic premises:
1. Satan was cast out of heaven a long time ago (D&C 29:37; 76:25).
2. He (Satan) is probably not being invited back to the council.
3. God doesn't need to make bets with Satan to prove His superior intelligence.
4. Satan, a non-glorious being, cannot stand in God's presence (see Moses 1:14).
5. God doesn't make wagers when souls are at stake.
The Hebrew word satan means simply "an adversary." Now I don't profess to be fluent in Hebrew, but I have heard others who are say that there is an article in front of the word "satan" here in Job, so it should be translated as "the satan," meaning it's not a person's name, but rather an adversary, or someone who opposes. In other verses, the same Hebrew word is translated as "adversary."
When Balaam was bent on pursuing his own will, contrary to God, "the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him" (Numbers 22:22). The word adversary is translated from the Hebrew word satan. Nor do I believe that Jesus was calling Peter a devil when he was merely trying to defend his Lord, and Jesus says, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me" (Matthew 16:23). Jesus was prophesying His crucifixion, and Peter says, in effect, "Don't worry. We won't let this happen to you." But Peter unintentionally acts in an adversarial role here, as he tries to defend Jesus, but in reality his plan would block the Atonement. Thus, he is acting as an adversary to Jesus' mission.
Creation, Fall, and Atonement
So who is this adversary who steps forward to confront Job? Perhaps, like in the case of Balaam, it could be a messenger from the divine council whose mission is to help Job come to a certain realization. In another divine council reference, the council of the gods determined to "make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:24-25). "And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth" (Abraham 4:1).
So Job is on trial here, awaiting verdict from the divine council. And you and I are on trial too.
Because it is based on the themes of Creation, Fall, and Atonement, the Book of Job is filled with temple imagery. The Lord asks Job creation questions like, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof . . . Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?" (Job 38:4-6,8).
Like Adam and Eve, Job begins to see his fallen state and realizes, "Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither" (Job 1:21). Like Adam and Eve, Job sees his eventual return to the dust, and states, "Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?" (Job 10:9). Like Moses, who said, "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed" (Moses 1:10), Job replies, "My soul is weary of my life" (Job 10:1). Like Adam and Eve, Moses, and the brother of Jared, Job has a confrontation with darkness as he exclaims, "Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death." And "He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths (Job 10:21; 19:8).
Then Job asks questions of the Atonement, such as, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). And he asserts, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God" (Job 19:25-26). This becomes dual prophecy for Job, for he later says, "Now mine eye seeth thee" (Job 42:5). Like Moses, he sees man's nothingness, but has hope in his glorified state, as he exclaims, "Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6).
Before Job can come into God's presence, he has a dialog session with the Lord through the veil of a whirlwind. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind" (Job 38:1). The funnel cloud of a tornado would hide the presence of the Lord just as the thunder and lightning and thick cloud upon the mount protected the people of Moses from the radiant glory of God's presence at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 19:16).
An Abundance of Stars
Bible scholars have seen a connection with the stars in the heavens and divine council imagery. Lucifer (the real one) vowed, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14). Notice that the terms congregation, heights of the clouds, and most High all denote a divine council setting.
The stars represent members of the divine council--"children of the most High."
The Book of Mormon opens with a theophany as Lehi "saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses (an assembly or council) of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God" (1 Nephi 1:8). Then he goes on to describe members of the divine council by saying, "And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament" (v. 10).
The divine council in Abraham chapter 3 begins with a description of stars and their relative "greatness." Then a comparison is made:
"Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end (like gods), they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal" (Abraham 3:18).
Then the Lord says,
"These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all" (Abraham 3:19)
The word stars appears five times in Job, including these two significant passages:
"Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!" (Job 22:12).
Notice the height of stars being compared with the highness of God.
Then, in a rather famous verse dealing with premortal councils:
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:7).
The morning stars of the heavenly council are the sons (and daughters) of God.
We'll tackle more of this with Isaiah, the whole book being constructed in a divine council judgment.
I will let you know if I get kicked out of Sunday School.
Good luck in class! I think you'll be safe.;)
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