3. Job-Song of Solomon: The Poetical Books
Scope of this lesson
Types of poetry
Overview of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
Game
Delve into Psalms

5. Breakdown of Christian Old Testament

6. Breakdown of Jewish Tanakh

7. The Scope of this Lesson
Hebrew Tanakh & Christian OT
Same books, different groupings
Lots of poetry in the prophetic books
Some prophecy in the poetic books
Lamentations
Christians group this with the major prophets since Jeremiah wrote it
Anders groups it with the prophetic books
It’s really poetry
Benware groups it with the poetic books
We will cover Job-Song of Solomon

8. Hebrew Poetry Types Lyric – to be accompanied by music (some Psalms)
Didactic – instructional (Proverbs)
Prophetic – the prophets
Elegiac – expressing human grief and sorrow (Lamentations)
Dramatic – like modern plays (Job, Song of Solomon)
Literary techniques
Parallelism – various forms
Figures of speech

9. Hebrew Poetry Some references: Introduction to Hebrew Poetry
Major Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry: Parallelism
Characteristics-Hebrew
Biblical poetry

10. What is your favorite poetical book?
Psalms?
Proverbs?
Or other?

11. Job

12. Job Suffering of Job His friends God’s rebuke Lost his possessions
Lost his children
Inflicted with sores
Kept his wife!
His friends
They wept, tore their clothes, threw dust on their heads, sat with him for 7 days (Job 2:11-13)
God became angry with them for misrepresenting him (Job 42:7)
Job intercedes for his friends (Job 42:8-9)
God’s rebuke
“Brace yourself like a man” (Job 38:3; 40:7)
4 chapters worth (Job 38-41)
“Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Or will he spend the night at your manger?” (Job 39:9)

13. Job God’s sovereignty God restores Job with even more than before
It’s a spiritual war (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7)
“I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2)
“…I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6)
God restores Job with even more than before
Job’s Redeemer:
“And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth” (Job 19:25)

15. Proverbs

16. What is your favorite proverb?

17. Proverbs The fear of the Lord Wisdom
It is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7)
It is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10)
It leads to life (Proverbs 19:23)
Nick’s definition: “The degree to which you fear God is the degree to which you acknowledge, in truth and deed, His sovereignty.”
It compels us to come to our sovereign God, and from there, God reveals Himself and his goodness to us in truth.
Wisdom
Personified
A type of Christ
31 chapters in Proverbs – 1 for every day of a long month

19. Ecclesiastes

20. Ecclesiastes Written by Solomon, probably at the end of his life
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."
What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
- Eccl 1:1-3
Written by Solomon, probably at the end of his life
Solomon fell away from God toward the end of his life (1 Kings 11:1-8)
Hopefully this his acknowledgement of God at the very end
Expresses the futility of life (“vanity of vanities”) on earth alone (“under the sun”) apart from God

21. Ecclesiastes 1:9

22. Ecclesiastes 1:9

23. Ecclesiastes 1:9

24. Ecclesiastes It is futile to seek fulfillment in:
Knowledge (Eccl 1:12-18)
Pleasure & wealth (Eccl 2:1-11)
Hard work & material possessions (Eccl 2:12-23)
God has “set eternity in their heart” (Eccl 3:11)
Lots of observations about life “under the sun”
The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Eccl 12:13-14)

26. Song of Solomon

27. Song of Solomon
Also called Song of Songs, Canticles, and Canticle of Canticles
A poem of human love
Sex is awesome when practiced as God intended
God ordained marriage before the fall (Gen 2:21-25)
Only in the context of marriage between one man and one woman
Mutual respect, love, and submission to each other (Eph 5:21-33)
Sex when practiced apart from God’s plan results in brokenness
“You can look, just don’t touch” – NOT! (Matt 5:27-32; Job 31:1; Prov 4:23)

30. Bible Jeopardy – Poetical Books
Finding Wisdom
Name the Author
Finding Love
Name the Speaker
100
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;" What is the book of Psalms? (111:10)
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Who is David? (Psalm 23:1)
"I love You, O Lord, my strength" What is Psalms? (18:1)
"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." Who is the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem? (Eccl 1:1-2)
200
"Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an advantage to those who see the sun." What is Ecclesiastes? (7:11)
"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Who were the sons of Korah? (Psalm 46:10)
"I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me." What is Proverbs? (8:17)
"I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted." Who is Job? (Job 42:2)
300
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." What is Proverbs? (9:10)
"Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth." Who is Asaph? (Psalm 73:25)
"Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun." What is Ecclesiastes? (9:9)
"Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Or will he spend the night at your manger?" Who is God? (Job 39:9)
400
"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding." What is Job? (28:28)
"Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born, Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God." Who is Moses? (Psalm 90:1-2)
"How beautiful you are, my darling, How beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil; Your hair is like a flock of goats That have descended from Mount Gilead." What is Song of Solomon? (4:1)
"The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old." Who is Wisdom? (Proverbs 8:22)

31. Psalms

33. What is your favorite psalm?

34. Psalms
Psalms are heartfelt poems, spanning the spectrum of emotions, primarily directed to God
Some types of Psalms (Benware, pp ):
Messianic Psalms (Pss 2, 22, 110)
Lament Psalms (Pss 7, 26, 60)
Testimonial Psalms (Pss 30, 34)
Pilgrim Psalms (Songs of Ascent – Pss )
Imprecatory Psalms (Pss 58, 109)
Penitential Psalms (Pss 32, 51)
Wisdom Psalms (Pss 37, 73)
Historical Psalms (Pss 78, 105, 106)
Nature Psalms (Pss 8, 19, 29)

35. Psalms
The fear of the Lord - recognizing that God is sovereign and that he is the one that we direct all of our prayers to.
Engage the Lord regularly:
Not “throw a prayer up to the Man Upstairs”
Realize/enter His presence (Ps 23:6; 27:4)
Wait for Him (Ps 27:14; 62:1,5; 130:5-6)
Hope in Him (Ps 31:24; 38:15; 39:7; 130:7; 131:3)
Pour out your heart before Him (Ps 62:8)
Praise/thank Him (Psalms)

37. Psalms The New Testament instructs us to direct it all to God:
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises (James 5:13).
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Phil 4:6).
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Col 3:17).
And more…

38. Psalms
Psalms is full of gut-wrenching honesty directed toward God: O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD--how long?... I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; It has become old because of all my adversaries. (Ps 6:1-3, 6-7) Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? (Ps 10:1) And more…

39. Psalms
And if you need to raise your fist to God and curse him, then do it
Just don’t do it behind his back – do it to his face!
If someone else is angry with God, encourage them to express it to Him
Offer to help them, pray with them, walk with them
REAL is more than an acronym
God knows where you are anyway, share it all with Him
Let Him handle the issues, you just bring everything to Him (Heb 4:15-16)
It’s all about a REAL - not surface - relationship with a God who identifies Himself as our Father and who gave everything He had for us