• Job II (21-42)

    Job was suffering tremendous pain. Emotionally, he had lost his children and possessions. Physically, he was in a terrible state. His wife had told him to curse God and die. His friends would begin to accuse him of sin. How would your faith hold up under such circumstances?

    Job’s friends appeared to have good motives (how many of us would sit for seven days without saying anything in order to comfort one in pain?). But it was Job who broke the silence. He spoke agains the day he was born, expressing his deep turmoil. This opened the door for the friends to speak up. The pattern is that the friends speak, then Job answers. There are three rounds in which this happens.

    The “theological” position of the three friends is that one suffers personally because of some sin in his life. Because Job was suffering so much, then he must have committed some terrible sins. It only made sense to them that this was the case. Job, however, knew better. He defended his innocence. Though he expressed continued faith in God, he questioned God’s justice and wondered why God had allowed this to happen.

    Elihu, a younger man listening to the discussion, stepped in to defend God and rebuke Job. Finally, God Himself appeared and spoke, showing that none of them knew as much as they thought they did. He humbled them all.

    The book deals with the problem of suffering, but does not give us all the answers we may like to have. Essentially, God tells Job that he doesn’t know all the factors and reasons why God may allow certain things to happen. So we need to just trust God in His wisdom and power to do what is right. In the end, Job repented of his false conclusions, and he was restored to a greater position than before.

    Discussion
    1. What concept did the friends have regarding the relationship between suffering and sin? Is this correct? Discuss this relationship.

    2. In what way did Job misspeak? Why did he need to repent?

    3. Who was Elihu? What did he have to say?

    4. Discuss God’s answer to Job in ch. 38ff. What should tell us about God? How should one respond to all of this?