Job Chapters 1 3 Notes

Transcription

1 Job Chapters 1 3 Notes Background and Setting Scholarship varies widely on the understanding of the history of Job, but the foundation of this study rests on 2 Tim 3:16, that All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. I believe that the book of Job is as true as God is and that it recounts historical events. Job is not myth. Nothing in the Bible specifies when Job lived, but a few clues from the text helps narrow the timeline. Job lived 140 years plus enough years to have ten [grown] children (Job 42:16, 1:2-4). If you were to plot human lifespan through the genealogies in Genesis through Judges, you would see that they start very high (Adam lived to be 930 years old), start dropping precipitously after the flood and level out to our expected age range by the time Israel moves into the Promised Land. Job s age fits in the curve around the time of the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Other historical clues, such as names, lifestyles and level of technology corroborate that Job lived around 2,000 BC. Using some of the same clues to date Job, we may estimate the approximate area in which he lived. Being a man of the East (Job 1:3), that means he lived East of the Jordan River, and he was likely bordered between Assyria and Edom. The blue box highlights this area:

2 Job was likely written significantly after the events happened. Common for the day, the story would have been passed down through oral tradition until it was written into the Hebrew Scriptures. Proximity with Abraham s family would have allowed them to witness the struggles of Job and inform their understanding of God. The book is written as Hebrew poetry and is part of the wisdom literature. The most probable scenario is that the Hebrew people kept Job s story until God inspired its author to write the book as we know it, and much of the Bible s wisdom literature was written between the time of King Solomon and King Hezekiah ( BC). Outline 1:1-1:5, Job and his character introduced 1:6-1:12, Satan challenges God, God accepts 1:13-1:19, Satan takes Job's servants, livestock and children 1:20-1:22, Job's response: worship 2:1-2:6, Satan challenges God to a second round, God accepts 2:7-2:8, Satan attacks Job's health 2:9-2:10, Job's wife's exasperation, Job responds about receiving good and evil 2:11-2:13, Job's friends arrive at sit with him for a week 3:1-26, Job speaks, curses the day he was born Study As we start the book, the first thing we encounter is Job: a man unparalleled in his wealth both physically and spiritually. The first verse of the book extols Job s character, and this is important to remember going through the book. Job really does nothing to merit the suffering he encounters, and it can be easy to forget this point as we struggle with Job and his friends through the darkness and through the arguments. The antagonist, Satan (lit. The Accuser), is then introduced. He is contrasted with the sons of God (they may be angels, but this phrase is usually used when referring to God s covenant people those whom he has saved). God initiates a conversation with Satan and tells him to consider his servant Job. Satan claims that Job only follows God because Job has been blessed with material possession if those things were taken away, Job s attitude about God would change. God gives Satan permission to take those things away. With a synchronicity that could not be coincidental, Job loses everything: his servants, his livestock and his family. Job s response was to worship, Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, Naked I came from my mother s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD [Job 1:20-21]. The next verse says, In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Satan lost, God won.

3 However, the challenge did not end there. Satan comes back in a similar way as chapter one and God asks Satan to consider his servant Job once again. Satan wants to increase the stakes and claims that while Job has his life and health, he would be okay losing everything else to save himself. If God took away his health, surely Job would curse God (Job 2:5). Again, God gives permission for Satan to take from Job this time Satan takes Job s health. Job s wife plays into Satan s plan and tempts Job to curse God, but Job replies, Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? [Job 2:10]. The next verse reiterates, In all this Job did not sin with his lips. Many people ask why God allows bad things to happen. How many people ask why God allows good things to happen? We start as rebellious sinners against God, and it is a wonder that God should have any mercy on us at all. Job recognizes this and knows that God is the king over his creation that we receive from him what he gives us. After this round of heavenly challenge, we do not hear from Satan again. Apparently he cannot show his face after defeat (a mark of pride), though the book is far from over. Even though we see that Job has maintained his integrity, he does not know about this arrangement (he can t, or it wouldn t be a legitimate test). The rest of the book looks at how Job and his friends process this calamity without any insight about what s really happening. So Job s friends come to mourn with him. For a whole week after Job s friends arrive, they sit in silence. This is broken as Job bursts out in lamentation and curses the day he was born. He starts by wishing he had never been conceived (Job 3:3). If not that, then he wishes he had been miscarried (Job 3:16). If not that, then he wishes he had died soon after birth (3:11-12). Job s honest heart is that he wished he had never been born. Job lived his life fearing that something like this might happen (3:25). He indicates that the situation seems unfair, Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? What Job means is, Why does God give life and safety to those who are evil ( whose way is hidden ), and why is it taken from those who are good (Job in this case who is blameless and upright)? Despite this challenging question, it s good to remember that Job does not directly blame God or sin (keep 42:8 in mind through the study). One final point to ponder is that blameless and upright is not the same thing as sinless. Job was not a perfect man. But he did have right standing with God. It s clear that Job knows something of the system of sacrifice (Job 1:5) and thus atonement. He knows he s a sinner in need of reconciliation with God (this is in next week s study, but you can look it up at Job 7:20-21). It s also clear that God regards Job favorably (Job 1:8). Job was a man who had faith in his God and found forgiveness because he lived a life of repentance and faith. Job was a child of God, a man saved by faith and living in faith. Even though he does not know of Christ directly, he trusts what God had revealed to that point the types and shadows that did point to Christ (Heb 8:1-6).

4 Gospel Glimpses One of the goals of this study is to see Christ and his gospel as it appears in the book of Job. Here are a few for this chapter: 1) Good News Comes Out of Bad News Even though we do not have an explicit gospel message in these chapters, we see the need of the gospel: we are sinners in need of a savior. There is a tremendous chasm that separates man and God. We see that God is holy and that we need to be made right with him. We know that this happens through our redeemer, Jesus Christ, and we ll see Job crying out for just such a redeemer through our studies. 2) Sacrifice Not a lot of detail is given, but we can see from Job 1 that offerings were given as a means of reconciliation to God. Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts (Job 1:5). The idea of sacrifice appears as early as Genesis 3 and is a part of the lives of God s covenant people until Christ (the greatest and final sacrifice). Sacrifice was God s provision for reconciliation, allowing a substitute to take punishment our sin deserves. It finds its greatest fulfillment in Jesus as he could be the once- for- all sacrifice that we needed. 3) Skin for Skin In Job 2:4-5, we see Satan claim that Job is willing to trade all he has if he can keep his health and his life. It s not enough to take away everything around Job to see its impact on his relationship with God because [in Satan s mind] Job is so self- centered that all those things are a fair trade if he can keep his life. This gospel glimpse comes by considering what God was willing to give in order to give us life. Jesus Christ was willing to trade skin for skin : he gave up his skin to save ours. Christ has the opposite motives to Satan he is selfless instead of selfish. And because of this, the outcome is the opposite too: he is willing to give his life to bring life. By Jesus blood we are healed.

5 Questions 1) Why is there suffering in the world? 1a) Why does Job suffer? 1b) Is God just? 1c) Does it cause you to doubt God or his goodness? 2) What is the central issue of Job? 3) Do you have the same fears of impending suffering as Job did (Job 3:25)? 4) Are you spiritually prepared for suffering? 5) Knowing what you know about Job's suffering, how would you approach him? 5a) How would you comfort others? 5b) How will you suffer in the midst of others? 6) After reading Job 1-3, what are your big questions that you hope will be answered by the end of the book?