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.