Overview of Job

The first chapter deals with God’s discussion withSatan, and what happens to Job as a result.The second chapter deals with the physical afflictionvisited on Job.Affliction - 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from thesoles of his feet to the top of his head.

Then Job tooka piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it ashe sat among the ashes.Note: Satan is not a name in this story, it is a title,which means

accuser

. The Character in this story ismore like a spy who goes out and checks on people tosee if they are fermenting revolt or evil toward theking. His job was to report it to the proper authorities.

Job’s suffering was realBut Job is not a patient sufferer. He is defiant in hisopposition to God.So Job is concerned about suffering and evil in theworld. Job’s friends address

WHY

his suffering, and Jobis concerned with the

HOW

of responding to the crisiswe are in. What follows are some conclusions andobservations from the book, with reference toscripture.

A sense of isolation during a severe trial can beoverwhelming

We want to make sure that God knowsbecause when He finds out, surely He’ll do somethingabout it! In Job we are given a behind-the-scenes lookat events of which Job was completely unaware. God,however, was very much aware of Job. In fact, GodHimself called Satan’s attention to Job. Christ remindedHis disciples that God, who even takes detailed note of the sparrows, is much more deeply interested in theaffairs of His own children. The Father is aware of everything about us down to the smallest detail. Eventhe hairs of our head are numbered.When we are struck with personal tragedy orpersecution, we can be sure that God knows. This isvitally important to keep in mind to counteract thesense of isolation and loneliness that will often besetus at such times. “No one understands what I’m going

through,” we think. But Jesus Christ does! We have afaithful High Priest who was tested in all ways like usand is therefore able to empathize and give us theneeded help (Hebrews 4:15–16).

Humanly, we like everything to be neat

. We want theworld and events to make sense. But when we try togive an explanation for everything, we sometimes missthe point.This is the way it was for Job’s friends.The first of Job’s friends to speak was Eliphaz. Hedeclared, “Remember now, whoever perished beinginnocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off?Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sowtrouble reap the same” (4:7–8). Eliphaz, Bildad andZophar, Job’s three friends, were all sure that Job musthave had some dirty secret at the root of his newfoundtroubles. They “knew” there had to be a reason. So,they badgered poor Job to confess this suspectedsecret sin.Job knew there was no hidden scandal in his lifecausing his trials. He was defensive in the face of hisaccusers, but he also wondered—’ ‘Why?” One of thedifficult things for us to accept is that many of thesufferings we go through simply cannot be neatlycategorized. The why is often elusive. Bad things do notonly happen to bad people. Job recognized that manytimes the wicked live to reach old age and even appearto prosper (21:7–13).Many times events demonstrate that I am completelyincapable of grasping the big picture. Qoheleth saysthat God put eternity on our hearts. I have the abilityto be

intrigued

by the eternity written on my heart, butI certainly don’t have the ability to comprehend it. Thatis often why we don’t understand why we are in thissituation. We don’t have the full perspective.Regardless, often times suffering and the presence of evil makes no sense, and there is no explanation.How do we keep a proper focus on the questions? It isnot

WHY

I am suffering, but my response or focuswhile I suffer or experience evil; it is

HOW

I respond.What is my response?33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,and all these things will be given to you as well.