Dear Friends, Family and Fellow Students,
Here are four themes from the prologue of Job and also four questions to reflect on:
Key Themes from the Prologue of Job:
1. Job is a man of character and righteousness – a priest to his family (vs. 1-5)
2. God is an absolute sovereign, ruling over the sons of God (angels), the Satan and evil, mankind and his suffering. (vs. 6-10)
• Does man serve (or invent) God just to receive blessings from him?
• Or, does he serve God because he is really there and worthy of our worship?
• God delights in his servants . . .although . . .
• God allows suffering, struggle and testing in their lives as part of his redemptive plan.
• The Satan is a created, subordinate being.
• Satan moves in the lives of God’s servants through a variety of means: disaster, sinfulness of others, disease etc. (vs. 13-19)
3. Our right response to suffering should be both grief and worship. We should count/mourn the loss and look to the LORD for comfort and answers, because he is both good in his intentions towards us and in control of our every circumstance.
• God determines the exact extent of our suffering, sometimes allowing deeper suffering after we have passed through initial fires. (vs. 2:1-6)
4. Friends love at all times and brothers are made for adversity (see Prov. 17:17, 18:24) – their intentions can be right in the beginning, but their impact can be mixed. (vs. 11-13)
Discussion Questions:
1. How would you describe God's sovereignty from this passage?
2. How do God's sovereign actions functionally impact your life? What alternatives to God's sovereignty do we often turn to, both "Christian" and "non-Christian"?
3. How do you see Satan active in and around you today?
4. How is Job's response to calamity a model for us in suffering well?
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