Category: Job

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

In verse 9, Job told his friends that he had prayed that the LORD would kill him, cut him off. The cruelty and unfairness of all that has happened overwhelmed him. His words are all black. God never condemned Job for how he felt. We must live by faith in our present broken world. Job did not deny the Holy One (6:10).

SJA Notes

* God of Righteousness, please help us be meek, as our Lord Jesus was.

“For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.”

Job loves God.

Job seeks righteousness.

God Himself testified in the first chapter that Job was a man who turned away from evil.

But here. Here we see the depths of Job’s anguish and turmoil through his experience and the situation he found himself in.

From a spiritual perspective (the heavenly council), Job is suffering persecution.

Jesus Himself tells us in John 15 that we will experience persecution because the world hates God.

This is important for us to keep in tension as we struggle with our own experiences and situations.

And while the world hates our King, we have the wonderful truth of Immanuel – God with us! He is on our side!

That even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, as in Psalm 23 we read,

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

This was true for Job.

This is true for us His people today.

We have a Good Shepherd who tends and cares for His flock!

* Gracious Lord God,

Please write Your word on our hearts today and each day, as we walk this life and face trouble and turmoil.

Lord please save us from the evil one, for we cannot save ourselves!

Amen.

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

Verse 7 contains the heart of what Eliphaz believes – good happens to good people, bad to bad. Eliphaz can say such wonderful words eg 5:17, yet heap false guilt upon his friend. Eliphaz sees God disciplining Job for sin, not Job suffering because he lives in a world broken by sin.

SJA Notes

* Mighty God Above, please bring Your comfort speedily to those of us Your people who are mourning.

“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?”

Eliphaz, the first of Job’s friends to speak, does so with passion and power.

Imagine that for at least seven days you have been thinking this situation through – and now the great debate begins.

Why did these terrible things happen to Job?

For Eliphaz, at the core of his response is that bad things only happen to people who do bad things.

If you are innocent and upright, you will be free from any sorrow or loss.

“As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.”

This is a very limited and frail theology, one that is not true to scripture.

What does Eliphaz do with truths such as what the psalmist wrestles with in Psalm 73,

“For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked,”

And,

“Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.”

How does the reverse-prosperity doctrine of Eliphaz hold up with the suffering and persecution of the saints?

Eliphaz is forgetting the spiritual realities, those that we cannot see, but that are true and real.

The psalmist knows the truth of the matter, we read down further in Psalm 73,

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

We have this hope, founded in our King Jesus, God the son who won us an inheritance like no other – An eternal hope beyond what we see!

* Father God,

You are our strength and portion forever – Thank You!

You work for the good of Your people, us – Thank You!

And You work good through bad, which we see most clearly at the cross, where You saved us.

Thank You Lord!

Amen.

Reading

Audio, Visual

SAA Notes

Job’s three friends might have woeful theology, but they do feel for him. The reasons for Job’s cursing his birth are revealed in verses 20-26. What did Job fear? What do you fear?

SJA Notes

* Holy God, please help us to be poor in spirit – Your word tells us that theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights,”

Whatever may come later with these friends of Job they did care for him.

We might have friends like this.

They sat with Job for a whole week without speaking, seven days! That is a good long while, showing a dedication to their friendship.

Because Job is low. Very low.

“Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?”

He has suffered the brutal loss of his children, along with complete business bankruptcy and physical breakdown (affecting his mental state without a doubt).

Job sits in ashes and scratches his sores with a broken piece of a pot.

Job is miserable.

Job is heart-broken and he cries out to the Lord.

This first set of words from Job is full of bleakness, questioning why he has lived all these years for such a time of sorrow.

His questions are valid, his thoughts are important – They show us a person wrestling with terrible experiences.

The book of Job is for us today, as we ourselves go through life and the suffering that we experience.

* Loving God,

Your love is steadfast, Your faithfulness without end.

Please remind us of what You have done for us.

Please remind us of our need for Your salvation, that You gave at the cost of coming here Yourself to pay our debt.

Please remind us of our great hope in You of eternal life, in glory where there will be no more suffering.

Amen.