Book of Job Chapters 4-7: The Dialogue Begins!

Dear Friends, Family and Fellow Students,

Here is the class outline from last week. I am still trying to get the audio files uploaded - they are a little too large right now. Next week we will be studying the Bildad/Job dialogue.

September 12, 2010

The Book of Job

Chapters 4-7: The Dialogue Begins! (Eliphaz and Job)

Class Outline:
• Discuss Joni Eareckson Tada’s Article: “Hope – The Best of Things”
-Parallels to Job’s plight?
-Joni’s focus in re-gaining hope
• Chapters 4-7: Eliphaz and Job
• -Read aloud
• -Divide into teams/take sides
• -Key messages from dialogue
• Wrap up: Is there hope for Job? If so, where or in whom?

Key Themes:

Eliphaz:

• Starts by comforting Job, wanting a richer relationship for him with God.
• All creation is sinful, even if he cannot see specific sin in Job. Therefore, he should repent.
• Emphasizes the doctrine of retribution because he is fearful that Job’s attitude will bring on more calamities.
• Without realizing it, he is beseeching Job to fall into Satan’s trap, and prove that he serves God’s for the benefits that piety brings.
• His error is not strictly in his doctrine, but in his specific counsel – He tempts Job to seek God for personal gain, not for God himself.

Job:

• Defends his curse-lament from chapter 3 and charges his counselors to be failing to live up to their responsibilities toward him.
• He suggests that Eliphaz’ counsel has been too general and indirect for it is founded on the premise that suffering and sin are inextricably bound together, the premise that Job cannot accept in his own case.
• Job decides to argue with God and thereby takes his first steps on the path that will lead him to seek a resolution to his misery in an encounter with God himself.
• His mood becomes less caustic than in Chapter 3 as he begins to ponder the possibility of relief.
• In the retributive justice framework that he uses, Job accuses God of being too harsh with him.