Job 16-20 Tensions

Summary 16-20: Job is locked in this battle with his three friends, himself, and God. The friends are consistently blaming Job a sin that he has not committed and Job is shocked by the audacity of his friends to come with such claims. The two times that Job speaks he starts by wondering when their accusations and torments will stop. (16:3 Will your long-winded speeches ever end? 19:2 How long will you torment me and crush me with words?) At this point the battle seems hopeless for Job as he cries out for comfort from them, only to receive calls to be sensible from his "friends".

1. If you were in Jobs situation with three "friends" sitting with you, how long would you let them go on with the accusations?

2. In chapter 16 verses 6 through 14 Job goes off on how he feels God has treated him. Is this right of him to call out God, is it good for our spiritual being, or should he have just endured the trials with unwavering patience and faithfulness?

3. How often do you lament to God? So often are my prayers of thankfulness, and asking him to help in times of need, and praying for others, but how often do you cry out and weep toward God with your complaints and frustrations?

Interesting Points:

There is a second reference, I think, to Jesus in Job's words. CH 16 19-21.


I may be wrong but in chapter 20 when Zophar is speaking he says that he "hears a rebuke that dishonors" him. It seems as if he being hypocritical.

Job Eleven - Fifteen: "Personal"

Summary of 6-10:

It's getting personal.  Zophar the Naamathite claims that Job is too proud and defying God by not admitting his sin.  He also describes how much more powerful and good God is than man.  He insists that if only Job will turn to God, his "life will be brighter than noonday."  Job slams back with his best sarcastic statement in the whole book: "Doubtless you are the people and wisdom will die with you."  He goes on to say: "Duh! I know all this that you're telling me!"  He lists God's powers and goodness and then begs more and more to meet with God and put his case before him.  He becomes pessimistic and cynical about God's treatment of men, saying that He "erodes" their hope.  Eliphaz then callously describes the fate of the evil man in ever more terrifying terms, implying that it is Job's fate.  This is not the kind of thing you want to hear from a "friend" after you've lost your family, wealth, and health.

Questions:

1. Is wisdom simple or complex (11:6)?  What makes it simple or complex?  

2. Why does Job want so badly to meet with God in person to argue his case in chapter 13?  

3. Do 14:18-22 bother you at all?  Can you be faithful or a role model, as Job is held up to be, and still think the depressing, hopeless thoughts that he does here? 

4. Why is Eliphaz the Temanite convinced that evil men suffer constantly on earth?

5. Are Job's friends motivated by concern for him or love for him in the things they say?  If not, what motivates them?

Cool Things:

"True wisdom has two sides." (11:6)  Everything takes patience because it takes time to understand.

"Men at ease have contempt for misfortune." (12:5)  This is a great challenge to anyone because we all fight for security and wealth in this world and despise those who want to take it from us, or so we think when we see someone in need and feel that urge to give to them.  It is especially good for us in America to meditate on what this means as we bask in the highest level of wealth in human history.  A good question would be: should we seek not to be at ease or should we simply strive to pierce the illusion of ease?

15:27 describes a fat face and a bulging belly and the fact that even with those things, an evil, rich man will fail.  Back then, those were signs of prosperity.  Now we honor thin, strong bodies so much because we all have relatively equal access to good nutrition in America (compared to ancient times that is; there is still great disparity), but thinness is a signal of self-control and will power which we idolize.

Job 6-10: "Defensive"

Summary of 6-10:

Job answers Eliphaz the Temanite with utter disgust for life and his friends.  He calls them "intermittent streams," places where a man goes to find a drink on his journey that were once mighty rivers and are now dry rock beds.  He defends himself against their accusations that the reason God is punishing him is that he has sinned.  Bildad the Shuhite repeats the accusation trying to use logic: "Does God pervert justice?"  In his time of need they are putting him down.  Job comes back with the question, how can I reason with God?  God is beyond him and there is no hope of standing up and defending himself to God: "If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion."

Questions:

1. How are Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar like "intermittent streams?"  

2. How does the word "complain" in verse 11 of chapter 7 affect your view of Job?  Is he complaining?  

3. Why does Bildad think Job is suffering?  

4. Does God pervert justice in the way He treats Job?  Does He in the way he treats everyone?

5. Of whom do verses 32-35 in chapter 9 make you think?

6. Do you think God is controlling every aspect of your life, all your losses and gains?  Why or why not?  Do you blame Him or praise Him for them?  Do you talk to Him about them?

Cool Things:

Verse 9 of chapter 9 mentions the Big Dipper (called the Bear), Orion, and the Pleiades.  The person who wrote "Job" saw the same stars that we see about 3,000 years ago.

RE-INTRODUCTION

Hey guys!  Thus we begin.

As you read Job circle key images and ideas.  Own the text.

Point out the interesting names (of people and places) and arresting images for the rest of us.  I have found that Job has the best poetry in the whole Bible.

As we try to absorb Job, let's consider these overall questions: what relationship is there between Job's suffering, Christ's, and our own, why is there so much dialogue and so little action in this story, and what the heck is God's deal?!?!

Job One - Five: "Lost"

Summary of 1-5:

In a great assembly of spiritual beings, God points to Job as an example of righteousness in man.  Satan claims that Job is righteous only because God provides for him.  God allows him to take away all of Job's blessings.  Job loses his wealth, his family, and his health.  His three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar come to sympathize with him.  Job's despair is so deep that he prefers death over life.  Eliphaz speaks to him first saying that God punishes foolishness but will forgive those who turn to him.

Questions:

1. What is Satan's role?  

2. What is noble and what is disappointing about Job's response to his suffering in chapter 3?  

3. Why does Eliphaz think Job is suffering?  

4. If you were Job, what would God take away from you? In other words, what do you hold dear or what are your measures of success, security, and comfort?

Cool Things:

Job has the same haircut that most of us have had at one time or another.

Before anyone speaks, Job's friends sit with him silently for SEVEN days, and then he gets to speak first.  That's a good pattern to follow when someone is grieving.  Presence is all that counts.

Eliphaz sees and describes a ghost.  He even describes his hair standing on end.

Instructions

This is an experiment at community, an attempt to reconnect with long lost . . . cousins, a shrill cry against the ravages of time and distance, a resurrection of the past and a slog toward the future; you might call it "Digital Cousin Camp!"  

Here's how it works:

Each week we will read 5 chapters of Job.

On Sundays Ian or I will post a preview summary of those 5 chapters and several questions (later we will rotate this responsibility through all the cousins).

During the week all of us will comment our thoughts on those questions to the post and add any others we may have.  The goal is conversation.

This should take 8 weeks or 2 two months (whichever comes first).  So we will finish around the middle of April.

WE WILL BEGIN FEBRUARY 15.

If you have any questions you can comment them on this post.  Thanks!