Job: A Poem of Pain (Part 1)

Job (selected verses)

Job: A Poem of Pain (Part 1)

The Silence of God

I. Tips for READING Job
A. REMEMBER the BACKSTORY (Job 1-2)
B. Allow the TEXT to be VAGUE
C. This is a SCENARIO, not POLICY

II. SATAN and SUFFERING
A. The ACCUSER… ACCUSES (Job 1:9-11, 2:4-5)
B. Satan BRINGS about the SUFFERING (Job 1:12-19, 2:6-7)
C. God ALLOWS it (Job 1:8-12, 2:3-6, Luke 22:31-34)

III. With FRIENDS like THESE… (Job 16:2)
A. Job’s STRUGGLE to UNDERSTAND (Job 3, 9:14-20, 13:20-27, 21)
B. WORDS that WOUND (Job 4:7-9, 8:3-7, 11:6, 15:17-35, 18:5, Prov. 12:18)
C. How has God STRUCTURED the UNIVERSE?

IV. A Truly BIBLICAL STORY for TODAY
A. Satan’s LIE about LOVE (Genesis 3, Zechariah 3:1-2, Revelation 12:10)
B. A Truly INNOCENT SUFFERER (Job 19:25)
C. The SILENCE of GOD… (Psalm 13, 22, 28, 44)

Questions for further reflection:
1. When is the last time you read the book of Job? What has been your general takeaway from reading Job?
2. Job is such a difficult text for us to understand, for several reasons. How might a reading of the text that doesn’t prioritize understanding, but instead listening, be helpful?
3. What questions do you have about suffering?
4. What questions does this encounter between Satan and God provoke?
5. While we may be relieved to see that Satan is responsible for bringing about the suffering, what is your response to God’s role in this story?
6. What situations in life have been difficult for you to understand? Ultimately, how did you move on? Through finally understanding it? Helpful friends? Trusting God?
7. Job is harmed by his friends more than he is helped. Can you remember a time when someone’s assumptions or advice did more harm than good?
8. Job’s friends are mostly motivated by a felt need to protect God. Have you ever felt more of a need to protect God than to care for another?
9. Job and his friends are asking difficult questions about the way the universe works. What do you think is wrong with their approach?
10. In what ways can we see Jesus present in this story?
11. How have you experienced the silence of God?