Job

Message Theme & Verses: Job

Memory Verse: Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

The book of Job addresses some of the biggest questions in life. The story begins in heaven with God on His throne. Satan, the accuser visits and doubts Job’s faith and loyalty to God. God allows Satan to test Job.

Job is a wealthy man with many children and is kind and generous to those around him. Satan takes all of this away from him and even though Job’s wife tells him to “curse God and die,” Job remains faithful. Next, Job gets sick and is covered in boils. His friends come to comfort him, but begin to blame him for his suffering, telling him to repent of his sin. Job claims he is righteous and starts to wonder if God is his enemy.

Job wonders if God can be trusted and we begin to struggle with the justice of a sovereign God in a world filled with suffering. Job’s friends misapply the wisdom of the Proverbs and suggest that the only reason for Job’s suffering is that he must have sinned. The friends say many true things about God, but they don’t understand God or the role of suffering in the world. The reader knows that God is actually using the suffering of Job to display His own power and to show Job’s faithfulness, proving Satan to be a liar.

Eliphaz asks the main questions in the book, “Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?” Job knows that he cannot stand before his Holy God and he searches desperately for a mediator. Somehow, Job knows that he needs and has a Redeemer

God finally speaks from the mighty storm and reveals Himself as Job’s friend. God poetically describes His majesty through creation and displays His sovereignty in goodness and power. While repenting in dust and ashes of his accusations against God, Job finally finds his comfort.

Job suffered not because he was one of the worst men, as his friends say, but because he was one of the best. Of course, Job was not perfect and still sinned, but God had graciously forgiven him. We too can expect suffering in the Christian life and we can be comforted by a holy, good, and powerful God, who is glorified even in our suffering. We can remember as Hebrews 4:15 says “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Job is a wonderful book of beautiful poetry, revealing God in His power and glory, and comforting those who suffer for His name’s sake.

Read Job 42:1-17

Jesus in Job

Job reminds us that was have an enemy, Satan, the accuser. It also reminds us that we have a Savior infinitely more powerful than our adversary. We can learn from Job to be a true comforter and not a false friend, as Job’s friends were. We like Job need to understand that we cannot fully understand the mysteries of God and we cannot stand in God’s holy presence as sinful people. We, like Job, need a mediator. We need an advocate. We need Jesus to say, “Yes, they sinned. But I took their punishment and I gave them my righteousness. Therefore, they cannot be condemned. They are innocent and must be set free.” Job can even been seen as a type of Christ. He is an innocent man given over to suffering.

Questions:

1. Job lost everything that he had. What is your most precious possession that you would hate to lose?

2. How do you think you can best comfort a friend who is suffering?

3. In the book of Job, God explains how powerful He is by talking about many wonderful things in creation such as animals, the sea, and the stars. What in nature always makes you think of God and glorify Him?

4. Job complains that the wicked people prosper on this earth and are not punished. Do you see that still today? (Christians do not believe in karma, that people will be reincarnated and be better or worse off in the next life depending on how they live in this life. We have Grace which is much better than karma. First of all, we believe that once we die in this life, we go either to heaven to be with God or hell, a place of eternal torture and punishment. Grace recognizes that we can never do enough to earn our place in heaven, but that God loved His people so much, He sent His only Son to take their punishment, die in their place, and give them His righteousness so they could go to heaven. Because God is perfectly just, we do not have to have perfect justice in this world. Sometimes, bad things will happen to good people and sometimes, the wicked will live long and seemingly happy lives. But, no one will escape the justice of God, who we can trust to make all things right in the end.)

5. When you face suffering or injustice, how will you remind yourself that God is good?

6. If God is all-good and God is all powerful, why is there suffering in the world? (This question has been difficult for philosophers to answer since the dawn of time. The Bible explains that there is some mystery in suffering. We would expect that good things would happen to good people and bad things would happen to bad people. The true is, there are no good people. The Bible says “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We also learn that “the wages of sin is death.” All who sin must be punished. Sin affects everything in the world and the world is now fallen and broken and people suffer. Praise God, the Bible also teaches us that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus took the punishment for all those who believe. Suffering will still occur in this world and suffering is promised to Christians. However, God uses suffering for our good. It makes us depend on God, it identifies us with Christ and draws us closer to Him. Suffering produces patience and endurance, purges sin from our lives, causes us to pull away from this world and long for heaven.)

7. Can you describe a time in your life when God was glorified in your suffering?