The Book of Job (1 of 4) | Learning Community

Introduction

Open the session by painting the relevance of the questions introduced in the book about the reasons for suffering and evil, God’s justice, and our ability to trust him.

Intro to the Book of Job

Authorship

Date written

Genre

Purpose of the Book

Structure / Outline

About this study

Goal: 4 week overview, flying down into some verses, flying back up to a high level view to see what the meaning and application of Job is for our lives.

Format: Read, Observe, Interpret, Apply

Each week, I want to give you the opportunity to actually interact with Job for yourself. So you will have time to read a portion of text, observe key words and ideas, and then together we will begin to interpret its meaning. That’s where I will teach.

READ: Job 1:1-5 | Meet Job

Job 1:1–5 ESV

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.

OBSERVE: Job 1:1-5

Take a few moments around your tables to discuss what stands out to you. What key words or characters are there? What ideas seem important that the author wants you to see? Underline and circle and mark up your sheets.

Have people share observations for a few moments.

INTERPRET: Job 1:1-5

This is where we’ll jump into teaching.

What we learn:

Job is not an Israelite, and does not live in Israel, yet he knows and worships the God of Israel

Job is righteous

Asserted in how he is blameless and upright, fears God and turns away from evil

Job is wealthy — really wealthy

How his family indicates material blessing

How his possessions translate, wealth-wise

Job is devout in his faith

Demonstrated in how he intercedes for his children

Did this come at a cost for his children?

APPLY: Job 1:1-5

Application will become more apparent as we go week by week, but we might make the following applications:

True greatness is defined not by your possessions, but by the integrity of your life.

Godly parents act as priests for their children, regularly and urgently interceding for them before the Lord.

Conclusion

Gospel connection: In Job we are introduced to a righteous sufferer. It can’t help but to draw our attention back to the only truly righteous sufferer — the one who came to earth from a far away country, the heavenly places; the one who was truly great — the owner of all things in the universe, the sovereign ruler over all things in existence; the one who would suffer great personal cost to atone for the sins of His Father’s children, in order to bring them back in relationship with Him again.

The Book of Job begins, “There was a man.”

Next week we will move into verse 6, where it moves from “there was a man,” to, “Now, there was a day.”

A day that, unbeknownst to Job, would change his life forever.

Pray to close.