8/28/09 Leader's Guide

Torn

Job 38 - 42

The Week of August 28th

Getting Started

On Sunday we played songs in which the title asked a question (example – Should I Stay our Should I Go). Think of another song that asks a question.

Reviewing the Book of Job

1. What did you learn about God from the book of Job? Maybe it was new insight, or something that was reinforced.

2. What did you learn about how to respond to suffering from the book of Job?

3. Has the book of Job changed how you view the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”.

Digging Deeper

4. God challenges Job by asking at least three kinds of questions: (1) “do you know” questions, (2) “were you there” questions, and (3) “can you do” questions. Answer the following related questions:

• What are the things that God points out to exalt His knowledge and wisdom (38:4-5, 18-20; 39:1-4, 26-27)? How should God’s wisdom help us when we’re suffering?

• After God asked a series of tough questions about the origin and operation of creation, in 38:21 He sarcastically adds, “Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years?” What’s the point of this sarcasm? How might we succumb to a youthful arrogance even in an older age?

• In 40:4, Job declares, “I am unworthy-how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth?” How are silence and humility linked (Eccl. 5:5; Pro. 18:2)?

5) In 40:2, Job declares that God “can do all things” and that no plan of his “can be thwarted?” If God’s plans can’t be thwarted, does this mean that everything that happens is God’s will? If so, how does that help with human suffering? If not, how does that help with human suffering?

6) In Job 42:3 Job recognizes that what was happening was beyond his understanding. Can you think of something that happened to you that looking back, still doesn’t make sense. What response should a Christian have to something like that? For example, let’s say a parent loses a child, and several years later is wondering, “what possible God can come out of this?” What advice would you give them?

7) Job 42: 11 says that Job was comforted “over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him.” Was it God or Satan that brought the trouble on God? What was God’s role? What part did Satan play?

8) In Job 42:12, it says that God blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. Compare the number of sheep, camels in Job 42:12, to the numbers in Job 1:2. What do you notice?

Putting it Into Practice

9) Thinking over the book of Job as a whole, what the one lesson that has impacted you the most? How will this lesson impact your life?

8/24/09 Leader's Guide

Torn
Job 3 - 37
The Week of August 24th

Getting Started

1) We’ve had some hot days this summer. What’s the hottest place you’ve ever visited?

2) Who is your one? – We’re inviting each of our members to have one person they are reaching out to. Who is that person for you? What have you done to share with them? How can we best pray for them?

Digging Deeper

In Job chapters 4 through 37, the advice of Job’s “three friends,” or “comforters,” is recorded, as well as Job’s responses. These men took the position that Job’s suffering was the result of sin in his life. Read these verses listed below and answer the following questions: 7:20, 13:3, 13:24, 19:7, 23:3-5, 23:8-9, and 30:20.

3) How is Job’s response different here than in chapters 1 & 2? What does this difference tell you about some of the emotional and theological turbulence we face in suffering?

There does seem to be a shift in Job’s posture towards God. It was one that moved God to address him in the later chapters of the book. It was also that for which he repented of (Job 42:1-7). Yet all things considered, God rebukes Job’s friends saying, “they have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has” (42:7). Job was on good ground, but his position was less than perfect and worthy of some face time before God. This reminds us that we can hold good ground in a way that may deserve better.

4) Job wonders whether God is absent, or passively observing him, or purposely opposing him. Have you ever experienced a similar feeling? How do we maintain our faith when God seems to be something different than a kind Father in Jesus?

On the authority of God word as he testifies of himself that he is all love and no anger towards those who are in Jesus Christ. We must resist what experience may strongly suggests, and affirm that in such experience, we conquer through Jesus (cf. Romans 8:28-39).

5) Job seeks to state his case to God. What does he hope to accomplish? Was this a bad request by Job? Compare this with Hebrews 4:16. What does it mean that we are to boldly approach the throne of grace? Can we rudely approach the throne of grace?

He hopes to receive a clear explanation for how he can be innocent and suffer the way he does. Since God never gives him an explanation, it seems that God would rather have Job trust that there is an explanation rather than trying to get one.

As one studies the dialogue between Job and his friends (chapters 4-37), some principles regarding God’s character emerge. Read the verses listed below and answer the following question: Job 9:14-15, 10:8, 12:10, 14:13-14, 16:19-21, 19:25-26, 21:22, and 23:13.

6) God is Judge, Creator, Sustainer, Advocate, and Sovereign. What do these attributes of God mean? How do God’s attributes affect Job in trouble? How should these realities affect you and I?

Judge – God is morally upright / God will deal righteously with Job.
Creator – God made all things / God has the authority over Job.
Sustainer – God upholds all things / Job existence is always God-dependant.
Sovereign – God controls all things / God has a handle on good and bad things.
Advocate – God is for us in Jesus. / God is for Job.

Chapters 32-37 record the words of another “friend” named Elihu (32:6). He told Job that he needed to humble himself before God and see “trials” as a purification process. He concluded that suffering is God’s method to “chasten” us (33:12-28) and to “teach” us (35:10-11). After reading 33:12-28, answer these questions:

7) Was Elihu’s conviction that God uses pain to purify us a sound conviction? Did it apply to Job, who is called upright and blameless? Does it apply to us?

Though Job was “blameless,” was still sinful (Romans 3:23). We are to consider trouble in life as a way that God gets us more like Jesus and less like ourselves (Hebrews 12:3-11).

8) Was the timing of Elihu’s pronouncement good or bad? Discuss the importance of saying the right things at the right time. What are some sensitive ways of encouraging people in their faith when they’re struggling with faith?

Read Job 9:32-34 and answer the following questions.

9) Job asks for someone to arbitrate between him and God. Do we have someone to arbitrate between God and ourselves? (Read 1 Timothy 2:5). In what way does Jesus serve as a mediator?

Putting Into Practice

10) Silence is golden. Can you think of a person who needs someone simply to listen to them without offering explanations and solutions? Find that person and listen.

11) Review the attributes of God covered earlier. Pray that this week you would have an appropriate response to the “Godness” of God.

8/17/09 Leader's Guide

Torn

Job 2

The Week of August 17th

Getting Started

1) As we head toward the end of summer. What’s did you do this summer that was the most fun?

2) Bible Reading Challenge – We’re inviting each of members to read a chapter of the Bible each day. How are you doing in the area of personal Bible study?

Digging Deeper

3) “When it rains, it pours.” With one storm after another, difficulty poured into Job’s life. Describe a time in your life when it poured? How did you cope?

4) In verse 1, it says that “on another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord.” Do fallen angels have unlimited access to God? In what sense are they “fallen” angels? Why do you suppose fallen angels would present themselves to the Lord?

We shouldn’t think of “fallen” in terms of geography, like “my 5 year old fell from the top bunk.” We should think of the term relationally and morally. The angels that are referred in this passage are fallen morally and relationally from God, but not necessarily geographically from God. Consider other instances in which Satan or demons have access to God.

*The angel who volunteered to deceive Ahab (1 Kings 22:19-23).

*Satan’s accusation against Joshua the High Priest before the LORD (Zech. 3:1).

*Satan seeks permission from God to sift Peter like wheat (Luke 22:31).

*John says that Satan is the accuser of the brothers, “who accuses them before our God day and night” (Rev. 12:10).

5) In verse 3, God asks once again (1:8), “Have you considered my servant Job?” Why does God bring Job to Satan’s attention again?

God used this opportunity to vindicate Himself and Job. The reminder to Satan of his failure incenses Satan, moving him to bellow, “Skin for Skin!” Some commentators say that Satan is suggesting that Job maintained his integrity because it cost him only the “skin” of his livestock and family. So Satan downplays his failure by downplaying Job’s suffering.

God also uses this question to incite Satan’s next request, and therefore moving towards a deeper vindication of God and Job.

6) In verse 3, God says that Job “maintains his integrity.” In verse 9, Job’s wife asks, “Are you still holding on to your integrity?” What is integrity? How do you get it and keep in the midst of adversity?

“Integrity” is from the same root as “blameless” (2:9; 27:5; and 31:6). In other words, despite the losses he incurred, Job still did not tarnish his perfect record (Alden, R. L.). How did he get it and keep it in the midst of adversity? This continued right-standing with God was due to grace through faith (Jude 1:24 & 25). This grace created in Job a love for God that eclipsed everything else, so that if everything in life should be taken, that love would remain. Note Jesus’ comments on this topic: Matthew 6:19-33.

7) In verse 4, Satan says, “A man will give all he has for his own life.” What are you willing to sacrifice to keep your life? What would move you to sacrifice your life?

We’ve heard stories about how sudden poverty or tragedy brings out the worst in people, moving them to betray and even kill those closest to them. Yet, we also have counter-examples of people who with selfless disregard put themselves in harms way for strangers. What do you think makes the difference in those two extreme environments?

Jim Elliot, “He is no fool to give up that which he cannot keep (his life) in order to gain that which he cannot lose (his life).”

8) In verse 4, Satan says that if Job’s health were taken, surely Job would “curse” God. What does it mean to “curse” God? Are there subtle ways of cursing God that we might be in danger of?

Remember, the challenge to Job’s faith was to maintain that God was simultaneously completely sovereign and completely good, even when circumstances strongly suggested otherwise. Since Job affirmed God’s complete control, to “curse” seems to refer to “charging God with wrongdoing” (1:22). That is, affirming that God is all-powerful but not all-good. Here are some subtle ways that we may come close to this:

*Affirming God’s hand in our difficulties, but not equally affirming that God is accomplishing righteous and praise worthy goals through these difficulties. Put differently, we’re loud when it comes to the first, and silent when it comes to the second.

*Attempting to appease God through good works + faith in Jesus. In so doing, we are suspecting that God isn’t really fully for us in Jesus Christ. The idea is that Jesus may temper God’s displeasure towards us, but to really get God off of our back, we have to perform various activities. If we don’t, God will use his power against us. This makes God guilty of double jeopardy: punishing sins twice. This is charging God of wrongdoing.

There’s also another way to charge God wrongly. Instead of questioning his goodness, one may question is power. So the issue isn’t that something is morally wrong with God, but something is “spiritually” wrong with God. Here are some ways we can come close to this:

*Emphasizing the power of freewill to determine the realities in our lives.

*Understating the power of God’s will in controlling creation.

*Overstating Satan’s power in controlling creation.

*Asserting that God’s knowledge of future events is uncertain.

9) Compare verses 6 & 7 with the prior assaults? How are they the same? How are they different?

We have (1) natural evil (when natural phenomena interact with humans), (2) human evil, (3) the unexplained, and (4) the loss of health. Whereas Satan was involved with 1-3, verse 7 shows him as particularly active in inflicting sickness on Job.

10) In verse 9, Job’s wife counsels Job “to curse God and die.” Do you think that the greatest temptations come from our friends or enemies? Give some Scriptural examples.

Significant temptation may come through those closes to us:

*Adam and Eve (Gen. 3)

*Samson and Delilah (Judges 16)

*Solomon and his Wives (1 Kings 11:4)

*Peter and Jesus (Matt. 16:22-23)

It might be good to discuss some practical ways friends can ensure righteousness in their relationships.

11) In verse 10, Job responds to his wife, “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” Do you have a hard time (1) accepting good from God or (2) accepting trouble? Give some examples of “trouble” that you’ve accepted?

Some people have difficulty believing God would be kind to them. Others have difficulty believing God could ever have been angry with them. In the gospel, God is always kind to us, and so we should maintain a humble confidence in our relationship with God. Outside of the gospel, God is angry at our rebellion against him. We should be driven to Jesus as a result.

12) Verses 11-13 describe the response of Job’s friends to his suffering. In what ways did they seek to comfort him? Were their efforts sincere?

Putting into Practice

13) Notice the power of a small group in verses 11-13. Take some time and consider if there is someone that your group can extend grace and kindness towards this week. Plan it and do it!.

8/10/09 Leader's Guide

Torn

Job 1

The Week of August 10th

Getting Started

1) In 1981 Rabbi Kushner wrote a book called “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”

Drawing on Scripture, reason and experience, what do you make of the book’s title?

It might be good to talk about how we feel when we see the innocent suffering or being victimized. Perhaps you can relate some tragedy that moved you recently.

It may also be good to counterbalance the above discussion with the following questions: Are there truly “good” people to whom bad things happen (cf. Romans 3:10; Job 25:4; Jer. 13:23)? If not, could we rename the book, “Why do bad things happen to bad people?” Or better yet, “Why don’t worse things happen to bad people.” Or, “Why do good things happen at all to bad people?”

Digging Deeper

2) Using verses 1-3, discuss some of the ways Job is presented as an amazing guy. If someone were to write a description of you, how would you do in the areas that Job excelled?

He was morally upright (vs.1).

He was religiously upright (vs.1).

He was an excellent businessman (vs.3).

He was an excellent parent (vs.5).

3) In verse 8, the Lord says to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” Is the Lord suggesting that Satan consider Job as someone to afflict? How does this scene affect how you view of God’s control of the universe? Does this trouble you? Does this encourage you?

Its does appear that Satan was looking for some opportunity to cause havoc (vs.7) and that God suggested Job as a possible candidate for turmoil. Some people cringe at the idea of God being intimately involved in Job’s affliction. Some have even charged God with evil, which Job might have been tempted to do (1:22). However, consider that Satan’s intentions were very different than God’s. Satan intended Job’s apostasy; God intended Job’s ultimate vindication; one act, two very different intentions. We see this dynamic with Joseph’s suffering (cf. Gen.50:20) and Christ’s crucifixion (cf. Acts 2:23; 4:27-28).

4) In verse 9 Satan asks, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” According to Satan, what’s motivating Job’s righteous behavior? What tends to motivate you to live for God: fear of displeasing God or the fear of God removing good things from your life?

The idea is that some people are “religious” because of the benefits they think they’ll get: lots of pleasure and little pain (e.g. the prosperity movement). Remove these benefits and they’ll cease to fear God. Put differently, if some people could have their sin without being threatened with pain (e.g., hell), they would choose sin over God every time.

In reality, Christians have a bit of both motivations in their hearts. However, the more they grow in Jesus, the purer their motives become; the more they pursue righteousness out of love for God instead of a fear of pain.

Consider John Calvin’s comments:

“The wicked do not fear God from any unwillingness to offend him, provided they could do so with impunity; but knowing that he is armed with power for vengeance, they tremble in dismay on hearing of his anger. And they thus dread his anger, because they think it is impending over them, and they every moment expect it to fall upon their heads. But believers, as has been said, dread the offense even more than the punishment. They are not alarmed by the fear of punishment, as if it were impending over them, but are rendered the more cautious of doing anything to provoke it” (John Calvin).

C.S. Lewis once said that it doesn’t compliment God to choose Him instead of hell.

5) In verse 12, the Lord gives Satan permission to afflict Job in order to display Job’s motives. If God already knows the purity of Job’s motives, why does God want to convince Satan? Can you think of others that God might have wanted to demonstrate Job’s true motives to? Spend some time talking about how difficulties display who we really are. Was there a time when your response to pain surprised you?

God wanted to demonstrate Job’s true motives for everyone who has read this book.

God might have intended to demonstrate Job’s true motives to Job’s friends.

God might have intended to demonstrate Job’s true motives to Job (cf. 1 Cor. 4:4).

6) In verses 14 & 17, suffering comes through evil men (and their evil activities) who are incited by Satan and permitted by God. In verses 16 & 19, suffering comes through “natural disasters” which are incited by Satan and permitted by God. How does this scene affect how you view Satan’s power in this world? Can we blame the devil for all bad behavior and all natural disasters?

We must be careful not to underestimate his power, nor to over estimate his power. Some Christians fall into the trap of believing that Satan is irrelevant, and others almost ascribe him with powers equal to God. Scripture teaches that Satan is the “god” of this world (2 Cor. 4:4) and that Jehovah is the “God” of this world (Psalm 24:1).

7) In verse 20, Job mourns and worships at the same time. Have you known someone who lost his or her faith due to catastrophe? Have you known someone who displayed amazing faith through catastrophe? How do you explain the difference? How would you react in catastrophe?

8) In verse 21, Job says “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart.” What is it about our origin and our death that should move us to worship God regardless of our quality of life now?

Cf. Isa. 40:7; Psalm 8:3-4; Job 7:17.

9) In verse 21, Job also says, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” How does the conviction that “the LORD” in control of our difficulties help us to cope with them? If the LORD takes comfort away from us, why should the reality that “he gave” it to begin with keep us humble in our trials?

The name of God (‘LORD’ or ‘Yahweh’) implies God fatherly kindness towards us. A scalpel that is going to be applied to your flesh will suggests different things depending on whether the one using it intends evil or good (e.g., a murderer or a doctor who happens to be your daddy). The fact that it’s the LORD who holds our circumstances and allows pain to enter in our lives should give us confidence that such pain is for our good and his glory.

Also, the reality that all the good that we experience in life is unearned and undeserved should help us to forgo the attitude of entitlement if God were to remove some good from our lives.

10) In verse 22, it says that Job did not sin “by charging God with wrongdoing?” Is it okay to complain to God about how life is going? How can we complain to God in a sinful way? How can we do so in a righteous way?

The Bible is filled with numerous examples of ways to honestly complain to God and ask questions of him (open up the book of Psalms and chances are the first place you land will be one). And yet there is a line that can be crossed which is sin (Psalm 73:1-16).

Putting into Practice

11) Share with one another the difficulties in your life that are particularly stressful. Discuss some ways of (1) drawing comfort from God’s sovereignty, (2) displaying gratitude for the good you do enjoy, (3) treasuring God more than God’s treasures, and (4) worshipping God when it hurts.