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.