Day 1 Job 1-5
Day 2 Job 6-9
Day 3 Job 10-13
Day 4 Job 14-17
Day 5 Job 18-21
Day 6 Job 22-24
Questions and Thoughts for the Week
Keep two primary questions in mind as you read Job:
1. Does Job love God for who He is or for what He does for him? Much of the story of Job centers around this question. Ask it of yourself. Do you love God for being God or do you love Him because He gives you things? How will your personal answer to this question affect your opinion of God during hard times?
2. Where does true wisdom lie? As the reader, we are in on the setup from the beginning – that is, we know why things are happening to Job. Job and his friends, on the other hand, have no idea of the debate between God and Satan; they are just using their human senses and wisdom in an effort to make sense of Job’s misfortune. Many of the arguments made by Job’s friends are ones that we still hear today when something bad happens to someone. Note the danger of relying on human wisdom to interpret life's events.
Other questions/thoughts:
1. Do you think it is fair that Job gets used as something of a guinea pig in a cosmic experiment? Why or why not?
2. Some have suggested that Job may have been a fictional character that was simply used to illustrate a point (kind of like characters in Jesus' parables). Would the story of Job be less upsetting if he was fictional?
3. Does God have a responsibility to insulate the righteous (not sinless, just saved) from pain? Since Job is not being punished for wrongdoing, is the pain that God allows Satan to inflict upon him unfair?
4. The frankness of Job. Job is very blunt when speaking to God about his situation and anguish over it. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything and doesn’t restrain his comments. Do you think that God appreciates this honest line of communication or is He just indulging a creature He loves? Do you have honest talks with God? How often? Is there any point in hiding your true feelings (good or bad) from God? Why or why not?
Brilliant intro to Job, Gary! I love it. The "Why do bad things happen to good people" sign really hits the nail on the head with the story of Job. I will be answering your questions during the week. I love this blogging about our readings. It brings great dialog and insight! I am very excited about learning more of the Bible through the readings and conversations.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Job delivers the answer to question one quite firmly. This man is directly attacked by Satan. Through it all, he is still an amazing example of faithfulness. He loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God.
ReplyDeleteMany times in my life, I looked at my predicament and wanted to wallow in self-pity (and yes, I do head in that direction once in a while, but I have noticed I do it less and less as I continue a closer fellowship with God). I wanted to blame others and even God for what occurred. But I learned God's sovereignty is not for me to question.
God himself declines to present a rational explanation for the unfair distribution of blessings among men. He boasts to Job, “Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this” (Job 38:18). God suggests that people should not discuss divine justice since God’s power is so great that humans cannot possibly justify His ways.
Job 40:8-9 has God asking Job, “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?" The whole ending of Job from Chapter 38 on is God simply putting it to Job - Who the heck do you think you are? In other words, God wants us to just shut up and sit down. Praise Him, worship Him, fellowship with Him, believe on Him, and live for Him. This is all we need to do. The rest we are to leave up to Him - His divine Sovereignty, Mystery, and Objective.