Friday: Further Thought – Some Lessons From Job
Through the centuries, the book of Job has thrilled, enlightened, and challenged readers in Judaism, Christianity, and even Islam (which has its own variant of the biblical account). We say challenged because, as we have seen, in and of itself the book leaves many questions unanswered.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
On one level, this shouldn’t be so surprising. After all, from Genesis to Revelation, what book of the Bible doesn’t leave questions unanswered? Even taken as a whole, the Bible doesn’t answer every issue that it raises. If the topics it covers, the fall of humanity and the plan of salvation, are subjects that we will be studying throughout eternity (see The Great Controversy, p. 678), how could one finite book of it, even one inspired by the Lord (2 Tim. 3:16), answer everything for us now?
The book of Job, though, doesn’t stand alone. It’s part of a much greater picture revealed in the Word of God. And, as part of a grand spiritual and theological mosaic, it presents us with a powerful message, one with universal appeal, at least for all the followers of God. And that message is: faithfulness amid adversity. Job is a living example of Jesus’ own words: “ ‘He who endures to the end shall be saved’ ” (Matt. 24:13, NKJV). What believer in Jesus, seeking to do right, hasn’t at times faced inexplicable wrong? What believer in Jesus, seeking to be faithful, hasn’t faced challenges to faith? What believer in Jesus, seeking comfort, hasn’t faced accusations instead? And yet, the book of Job presents us with an example of someone who, facing all this and more, maintained his faith and integrity. And as by faith and by grace we trust in the One who died on the cross for Job, and for us, the message to us is, “ ‘Go and do likewise’ ” (Luke 10:37, NKJV).
Discussion Questions:
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Job had a connection with God (relationship ).
He had a clear understanding of the plan of salvation.
He understood the evil forces were working through
His friends and family.
He knew that his redeemer lived ,was with him
and would come to walk on this fallen world.
He had a great reverence for God.Job was able
to see he was a sinner that needed to repent&Pray
For himself &others. I know the holy spirit had to be with him the entire time of his trials.
His faith made him blameless.
Job's story teaches us to not lean our own understanding especially when things are not going right in one way and/or another in our lives. Instead we should take EVERYTHING to God in prayer.
My first Question to Job will be;"did you have any thought that Lucifer was on your tail? And did that drive you on to stay the course?"
The main spiritual concept that I gain from this book, is to stay the course at all cost. Do what is right because it is right and leave the consequences in God's hands.
I would like to thank all of you for your powerful thoughts through out this whole study.
During this time period we need to have a good relationship with God. Job was a good christian, he did not let his friends interfere between him and his God. He was a strong believer. In 2017 the only thing I ask God I want to be closer to Him. This semester we learned a lot of things about the Job's story. May God help us to use this story in our lives.
I learned through Jobs Speech that he knew Satan (lucifer)was causing his trials .Job3 :17,18 There the wicked cease from troubling and there weary be at rest.18:There they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
He never blamed god ,he kept his Faith just as Jesus was tempted by Satan
he never waivered.
I learned that the devil uses people of all kinds to get you to turn from
God especially people that are close to you. Prayers during these times will make
the devil flee. I would ask Job did you tell your friends that the oppressor (Satan) was responsible for all of these terrible things that were happening to him?
Most of us who have had anything to do with thistles don't like them very much. I grew up on a farm and the phrase, "thorn in the flesh" has a painful experiential ring to it. I know what it is like to pick up a bale of hay that has a thistle plant in it - and spend hours getting rid of the prickles embedded under my skin. Yet for all that, a thistle has its own special beauty. A couple of days ago I was out photographing birds and noticed this thistle flower on the edge of the path. My instinct told me that there was a beautiful picture in it so I quickly photographed it.
This morning I thought that the photograph summarized my experience with the lessons from the book of Job. We see a plant covered in painful thorns representing the the imposition of evil on God's creation. But we see goodness shining through in the pattern, symmetry and color of the flower.
God has not created pain and suffering. That is the result of rebellion and selfishness. But God allows us to see though the pain and suffering to his purpose and love.
It is not our place to explain pain and suffering, but we are encouraged to relieve suffering where we can. We are to be God's "flower" in the midst of the thorns of life.
Look forward with joy to the challenges of 2017.
Maurice, I think this is a beautiful analysis of the reality of Job's story and the plan of salvation. If we can ensure the thorns and thistles of life, we will enjoy the blooms of life, the beautiful aroma that come with the maturity of the flowers.
Ah, but who doesn't love a good artichoke?!! Blessings reside among the curses that we have often brought upon ourselves. They teach us to exercise diligent, persevering effort in order to receive the blessings that are ours in return. We need this in our present world or it will swallow us up.
Yes, thistles are beautiful(and tasty) while painful. God's touch is found everywhere.
Job knew he was a creature a creation of God, he had stewardship of an amazing family and a lot of riches on earth. His and our whole trust has to be in a God that loves us and knows us better than we know ourselves. And in that we need never question HIS decisions in this temporary world.
Having lost a daughter to drowning at the age of 2, I now see that I lost stewardship but God lost her, in my own selfish human nature I can be angry and discontent but I choose to accept Gods loss and know that HE has eternity mapped out. Never question the creator , children afterwards could never have replaced Jobs children killed in his trials, but the fact that God had Jobs dead childrens future in his hands would have allowed him to accept the blessings of more family and wealth later on
The book of Job is inspired by God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. It is a treasure house of Truth and will be a great blessing to all who give it diligent, prayerful study. I'd be interested to know the specific questions the lesson author is referring to that Job does not answer. In Job we are given a view with the veil drawn aside that usually hides the adversary from the view of most people. Satan wishes to remain hidden to the world so they will continue to blame God for bad things. The wisdom gained from the study of God's Word will lead the student of scripture to recognize the workings of the Adversary, while many continue to question God's goodness in the face of evil. Easy to understand why this book is one of the first written down for those who will seek the Lord with all their heart, making His Word the lamp for their feet and light for their path.
Discussion questions:
1. I believe God has always revealed the truth to those seeking to know it. All others are open to Satan's lies. They had the understanding of the Redeemer in the sacrificial Type provided by God to teach them. The commandments, statutes and laws of the LORD were passed down to each generation of the faithful(Gen 26:5), along with the Hope of Salvation promised through the Seed of the woman, and finally written for the world through Moses and others.
2. Did he know of the Adversary, or did he think God was the Author of the evil that fell upon him(as some seem to think)?
4. Main spiritual concept(s) from Job: a) There is an adversary who's purpose is to destroy faith in God, thus robbing his victims of eternal life, and he hides himself in order to deceive the ignorant concerning the goodness of God. b) Also, that a knowledge of God is not enough if we would have a right understanding Him. c) And no matter what comes our way, we can trust God to keep His promises.
Job’s experience reminds me of the experience of those in brainwashing “re-education” camps where they are faced with hearing and rehearsing the same “reforming” ideas day after day for weeks, months and years. Much like the Serpent in the garden and the “Angel” that appeared to Christ after forty days in the wilderness, Job’s friends were promulgating images of God that were nothing like the reality. This is more than a faith destroying experience. It is an attempt to deceive Job into worshipping the Beast and his image, supplanting his true worship for false. To fall for this deception would truly have been “cursing” God. The Lord confirms this when he speaks to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” [Job 42:7]
We are no less at risk in our society as was Job in his. Bombarded everyday with media messages to conform to the images of advertising agencies and cultural norms, we would be “re-educated” but for the grace of God. Like Job, we must seek God with holy boldness (Job 13:3) to obtain mercy and find grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Otherwise, we may find the god that we are worshipping is not God in reality.
No doubt, I, like everyone reading this, belong to a remarkable group in God's creation (Gen 1:26-27). There's literally a "zillion" things about our physical nature we can, and should, give thanks to our Creator for; like the little glands that produce tears, and the tiny ducts with their tiny openings that transport the tears to our eye to keep them moist. None of us think continuously about these tiny parts of our bodies, some don't know, most are too busy to care...until there's a malfunction and our eyes become either too teary or too dry to serve us as effectively as our Creator intended. Perhaps each Sabbath, the memorial of God's creation, we should set aside five minutes to celebrate our original design (Ps 139:14) in view of all things we observe that can and does go wrong with our physical bodies. The study of Job reminded me that we presently occupy a world in chaos, not by the Creator's design or by our individual choices. Scripture reveals that we all occupy a place under the tyrannical rule of a deceptive despot (Jn 12:31). That rule was typified by the relationship between Pharaoh and God's people in Egypt. He MADE God's people build HIS cities (Ex 1:11) under duress (Ex 5:6-7). Satan remains the same despot today as he was before the time of Job, Moses and Jesus (Mt 2:16).
I learned during this quarter's study that I need to walk humbly (teachable) with the omniscient God. I gained a deeper sense of awareness of just how vulnerable I could become to the despot's design when there are gaps in my knowledge I'm not aware of (Job 4:7; 19:21-22; Rev 3:17-19). It was reinforced, that I could be "forced"(Job 2:9; Mt 16:21-23) into the despot's "building program" but for God's unmerited favor (Job 1:12; 2:6; Lk 22:31-32). Regardless of where we are in our walk with God, I encourage all to embrace "blameless/perfect" Job's (Job 1:8) attitude of being "teachable" when God brings us "new" light (Job 40:4; 42:3-6; Jer 17:9-10). May God alone be praised who makes "all things new"! (Ps 51:5,10; 2 Cor 5:17; Rev 21:4-5)