JOB: Lesson 3

As the story continues, we find Job lying in unrelieved misery with open sores all over his body. During the past months, he bore the grief of seven dead sons and three dead daughters. All of his wealth had vanished in one afternoon. He had become repulsive to his wife, loathsome to his brothers, and even little children despised him as he lay on the ash heap outside of town.

At first Job bore these calamities with amazing submission: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord...Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?" (1:21)

But as the misery drug out over the months, Job wavered in his confidence that God was for him. He said things about God that were not true. He began to insist on his own righteousness at the expense of God's justice. "Make me know my transgression and my sin. Why dost thou hide thy face, and count me as they enemy?" (13:24)

God Speaks to Job: God has been questioned by Job long enough. Now it is time for Job to be put on trial. It's time for God to be the questioning attorney. 
"And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:" (38:1) 
"Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me." (38:3)

The backdrop for God's two separate discourses with Job is a violent storm--a whirlwind. This is no Sunday afternoon picnic. God showed up in full force with nature at a boiling point. He obviously wanted Job to see his mighty power.

God ask Job nearly 80 questions that can be broken down into three basic categories.

1. Do you comprehend my creation? (38:1-38)

God begins by laying out for Job the intricacies of His creation. God's purposeful sarcasm is because man simply does not possess the ability to understand the wisdom involved in the creation of the world.

2. Can you care for my creation? (38:39-39:30)

God brings up six animals and five birds and lays out how they operate in life and are cared for. Then Job is asked if he could deal with all these animals. Does he even have the slightest idea of all of there needs?

3. Can you control my creation? (40:6-41:34)

God then selects two animals that man would consider to be at the top of the creation chain; the Behemoth and the Leviathan. God's point is that He has the power and wisdom to control these two magnificent animals. Do you Job?

In between God's two discourses, He stops to allow Job an opportunity to respond (40:1-5). In Job's first response he considers himself vile; unable to answer, he will speak no more. God has gotten Job's attention, but has yet to hear him repent and acknowledge God's power. So God continues with discourse #2. God, again, tells Job to "prepare yourself like a man. I will question you (again) and you will answer me." (40:7) Obviously, God is not done with Job yet!

I can imagine Job trembling in great fear saying, "No! No! I will speak no more!" God says, "YES YOU WILL! YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME, AND YOU WILL ANSWER ME!"

Finally, after God describes His Holy and Purposeful Might, Job gives his second response to God. This time, it is obvious that Job has had an encounter with the Almighty, living, God. Here is Job's response to God:

Then Job answered the Lord and said: "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, 'Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer Me.' I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (42:1-6)

Job's encounter with God could have gone one of two ways. If you'll remember, in Job's first response it was all about Job. Different translations use different adjectives: "I am vile..." "I am unworthy..." "I am speechless, in awe--words fail me." Job justifies himself, but not God. This was Elihu's chief critique (32:2). If God had not continued His questioning, Job would not have gone to the next level--repentance and acknowledgement of God's sovereign, purposeful might. Going to the next level is where Job was set free from his pride.

Healthy spiritual growth is always about three things: TRUTH, ENCOUNTER, and ACTION. Job was given the truth through an encounter with God. After his fresh encounter with God, Job acted in repentance and humility. As he stated, "...now my eye sees You."

The nature of holiness is transformation through consecration. Repentance is turning away from what is wrong and being consecrated, or giving ourselves to God for what is right.

Job has taught us how we are to suffer, but more importantly, the story of Job has taught us the need we all have for a fresh encounter with Holy God! We must not let the modern culture poison us into becoming casual Christians who are no longer seeking an encounter with the living God. As Jesus said, we are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13). We are to be set apart (Romans 12:2); a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). We must not be double-minded (James 1:8), but singlemindedly seeking God's will and purpose for our lives. In all we do we must glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Just as in Jeremiah's letter to the Exiles, God said, "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord..." (Jeremiah 29:12-14)

Next week we will complete the Book of Job with chapter 42. Our next Book in the Wisdom Series will be Psalms.

JOB: Lesson 2

Job & The Friends: Beginning in chapter three, after seven days and nights of silence, Job debates with his three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) for twenty-five chapters (3-28). It is a long debate that goes back and forth as the friends try to make sense of Job's suffering. Job's friends eventually conclude that since God is just--and would not do anything that was unjust--Job must deserve what is happening to him. A forth friend, Elihu, shows up and spends six chapters (32-37) trying to clear up the confusion. By the end of chapter 37, Job has been beat to a pulp by his friends and demands an answer from God. In our next lesson God finally shows up in a whirlwind to give Job His response.

Job's story is often viewed by Christians with confusion and fear. The thought that God would allow such horrible things to come upon such a righteous man is befuddling. But what we don't often see is that Job had a warped view of God. Job and his three friends followed a flawed creed that was fundamentally based on good works. They all believed that God prospers and blesses the upright man who trust Him while the man who is not upright will not prosper.

Job defined his life by his good deeds. In chapter 29 Job lists all his good works as a defense as to why he did not deserve to suffer. Again in chapter 31 he denies having done anything wrong. Job's friends never did understand the true reason for Job's suffering, and as we will see in our last lesson, God rebuked the three friends for speaking wrongly about Him.

The #1 thing God is looking for--in all of us--is a relationship with Him. God saw that Job had wandered off track and had become prideful about what he had done and was doing for God. God used Satan to get Job's attention. I find it interesting that God practically offered Job to Satan on a silver platter when He said, "Have you considered my servant Job..." Within God's defined boundaries, Satan was allowed to, as God told Satan: "...go and do it." God had complete control of Job's life the entire time. God used all of the situations that Job encountered to get him back on track. This will become clear in our last lesson (chapter 42).

The Book of Job is a warning to Christians (those who desire to follow Christ) that in our religious activities we can become so lost in pride and self-worth that our souls become poisoned--unable to trust God and walk with Him. Our spiritual lives can become muddled, at best. We lose our way. God has made us in His image to be His representatives to humanity. We can only do this when we walk in oneness with God. It is all about our relationship with God/Christ that concerns God the most.

Next week we will look at God's Response to Job (38-41). In the following lesson, we will conclude the Book of Job with a short lesson on Job's deliverance and changed heart. In that last lesson I also want to allocate time to discuss the takeaways from our study of Job as we talk about the applications to our own life.

Our next book in The Wisdom Series will be Psalms.

Foster Fest - Local Outreach Ministry

The You & Me Class had a fantastic turnout for Foster Fest last night where we manned the Comfort Station provided by the Columbia Baptist Association. Each person who used the station filled out a contact card that we plan to use for followup. Thanks to everyone who showed up to make it a big success and a great time of fellowship for our class.

Sadly, many who helped are not in the pictures below. Thanks to Ray, Kirk, and Brittan who worked with Jeff to unpack the trailer and set up the tent and station. Shay, Dustin, and Gabe (welcome back Gabe and Jamie Crook) stayed to help us put the monster back in the bag and load the trailer. Thanks to all!

JOB: Lesson 1

The Book of Job is our first book in the Wisdom Book Series. Today we introduced the Prologue of the Book of Job where we began to explore the dilemma that is presented to the reader: "Why does God allow the righteous to suffer?" or as many people ask "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

Animated Video of Job 

During the next few weeks we will explore the story of Job's crisis. Questions we must answer are: "Is God just?" and "Does He run the world according to justice?"

MARRIAGE BUILDER: Lesson 8

The conclusion of the Marriage Builder Series focused on the three building blocks for oneness in marriage: GRACE, COMMITMENT, and ACCEPTANCE.

GRACE: In all of our relationship trials, turning despair into hope can only be done through the truth we find in the grace of God. There is no event in life for which God's grace is not sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

COMMITMENT: Having the desire to fulfill the marriage commitment is found in the goodness of God (see slide 43). It is not something you can decide to do but rather a desire that God gives you when you delight yourself in Him (Psalm 37:4).

ACCEPTANCE: We are commanded to accept our spouse (Romans 15:7). Acceptance is not always accompanied by the feeling of enjoyment and will often require forgiveness in order to reach oneness. Only one who appreciates God's forgiveness can truly forgive others.

Real COMMITMENT requires GRACE, and it is impossible to reach ACCEPTANCE without COMMITMENT. The ability to overcome relational despair is not possible through the power of our soul (mind, will, or emotions) but is only possible through the power of God through His Holy Spirit which resides in the believer.

Next week, Patrick will give an introduction to the wisdom books--one of which is Job. The wisdom books show us that God values and responds to our myriad questions and prayers. We can take comfort that no experience in our lives, whether wonderful or terrible, can place us outside the love and understanding of a gracious God. We will dive into Job the following week.

One of the most famous characters in the Bible, Job is the archetype of the “suffering saint”—a God-fearing man who experiences terrible trials and sufferings, and calls out to God for an explanation. The book does not offer an easy or simplistic answer to the problem of suffering, but finds solace in God’s sovereignty.