We live in a world filled with pain & suffering.

The Book of Job was likely written during the time of The Patriarchs, thus making it the earliest written book in The Bible. It takes place in the “Land of Uz”, which is somewhere in Arabia…with many scholars still debating the exact location

Purposes of The Book of Job To demonstrate that God is worthy of love apart from the blessings He provides To explain that God may allow suffering as a means to purify and strengthen a person To emphasize that humans are unable to view life from God’s vast perspective To explore the justice of God, who allows the righteous and innocent to suffer To address mankind’s wrestling with suffering which defies human explanations

Job 1: 1-3 1 “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.”

Job 1: 4-5 4 “His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.  5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom.”

Job experiences his “worst day ever”. Had all his donkeys & camels stolen Had a meteor shower kill all his sheep Had almost all of his servants killed Had all his children die in a house collapse

Job 1: 20-22 20 “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;     may the name of the Lord be praised.’ 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

Behind the scenes of our suffering, there is often an Enemy at work. * Job 1: 6-12 & Job 2: 1-7 He is given a degree of freedom until His final day of judgment comes… along with all who chose to live and die in rebellious sin towards God. (Rev. 20: 7-15)

Job 2: 7-8 7  “Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.”

Imagine if… You lost your job, Your car broke down, Had all your home appliances & phone break, Broke out into an incurable rash of hives, and then hear that all of your children (or loved ones) died in a tornado?

in the world…neglecting the existence A continuing flaw in the theology of individuals in the Book of Job comes from the idea that (because God is sovereign) He is behind EVERYTHING that occurs in the world…neglecting the existence of Satan & demons, human free will, and a sin-stained Creation.

2 Corinthians 11: 23-28 Like Job, the Apostle Paul suffered much while making the hard choices to honor God. Unlike Job, Paul had the benefit of viewing such suffering as being in solidarity with Jesus, who also was an innocent.

which perishes even though refined by fire— 1 Peter 1: 6-7 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may be proven genuine and result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

“Job #1” for Today: Struggles are not always the result of personal sin, but they are always an opportunity to show the genuineness of our faith; to God & to those around us.