Ash Wednesday 2022

If any of you have ever sat down and read through the book of Job you’d know that it can be quite the daunting task. It isn’t an overly difficult book, but it is filled with conversation. We see conversation happening between Job, his friends, and even God. That’s what makes this book somewhat difficult for some, it’s a lot to follow and you can often find yourself lost in the details. So, let me help.

To begin, we know that the book of Job is about who?

Right, Job!

Chapters 1-2 of Job act as the epilogue of the story. Here we discover that Job is a righteous man who is tested by Satan. Satan wants to prove to God that Job really isn’t righteous and that, given the right circumstances, Job would turn on God. So, God first allows Job’s external life to be afflicted. He loses his children, his property, and the animals that he owned. All of his wealth was gone.

Still, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

Satan returns and say, “ahh, but if he were physically afflicted, Job would curse you.” God says, “he’s in your power” to Satan, “but only spare his life.” This is when Job is covered with sores, sits in the ashes, scrapes the sores, and listens to his wife advise that he “curse God and die.”

Well, Job stays true to God here and does not sin with his lips. Finally, Job’s three friends appear and sit with him on the ground for seven days and nights, saying not a word, and mourning with him.

This brings us to the meat of the book of Job. From chapters 3-37