Job Chapter 1
Please read: Job 1 –
If you have ever read the book of Job previously you may have been tempted to think that this is all about human suffering, but that is not the case. It is in fact a book about the character of God and all that He is. To put it in other words, just when Job and his friends think that they have God all figured out, they learn that there is more to God than they realized. God is God.
The book is considered to be very ancient literature and contains beautiful Hebrew poetry. It is not a story that fits into the timeline of the history of Israel in the way that we would expect. Some Bible scholars believe that Job possibly lived in the days of Abraham. Even though we do not have an exact timestamp of when Job lived or an exact knowledge of where he lived, we know that God has much to teach us about Himself in the narrative and He purposed for this book to be a part of our Bible. Job is referenced in other parts of scripture as God saw fit to use Job as an example.
Let's Reflect
1. What is the first thing we learn about the character of Job?
2. We learn that Job seemed to have everything that a person could want. He had a beautiful large family, and he had lots of animals. He was wealthy. Since he was a loving father and a man that revered God in his life, what did he do on behalf of his children when they had feasted together?
3. In verse 6 we learn that angelic beings and Satan are reporting to God. These beings are under the authority of God. We know that one day, God will use His full authority to send Satan and his demons to the pits of hell. What did Satan tell God that he had been doing?
4. Satan thinks that Job was righteous and obedient to God because God protected him and gave him everything a man could want. He thinks that Job would not fear (respect) God so righteously if God were to take it all away from him. What did God say to Satan in verse 12?
5. When given permission to exact evil upon Job, Satan wasted no time. It all came crashing down around Job. According to verses 13-18 how long did it take for everything to be taken away from Job?
6. Even with all that had just happened to him, it is shown that God was right about Job. What did Job not do that might be expected of anyone who just experienced what Job did?
7. According to verse 21, what did Job believe about God?
