Why is Job categorized as "Wisdom Literature"?
First of all, what is wisdom literature? Generally speaking, I like to think of wisdom literature in the Bible as scripture that isn't primarily concerned with giving us universal rules for all times and places. Rather, these scriptures are presented and written in a way that invites us to think deeply about how to live in a complex world, before the face of God. Life is complicated, right? I think it is a pretty cool thing that God does not give us explicit commands to direct us for every conceivable situation, but instead he invites us to grow in wisdom. We grow in wisdom by understanding who we are before God (the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Proverbs 1:7), listening to our teachers, and taking time to think deeply about how God's way is to be applied. Wisdom literature helps us in all three of these ways.
So why is Job categorized as wisdom literature? I think that it is because of the way it is written. As we will find this week, the majority of Job is an extended debate between Job and his 3 friends. What is truly fascinating about this book to me, is that we have already been given the true nature of Job's life situation, it explains it to us in the opening chapters. We know what really happened to Job, but Job and his friends do not. And as they debate, their confusion, frustration, and even despair, grant us insight into our own hearts as we walk through our own lives which are often confusing and difficult to understand.
It's a long book, may God grant us growth in wisdom as we read it!