Job

 Chapters  1  –  3  Notes  
 
Background  and  Setting  
 
Scholarship  varies  widely  on  the  understanding  of  the  history  of  Job,  but  the  
foundation  of  this  study  rests  on  2  Tim  3:16,  that  “All  Scripture  is  breathed  out  by  
God  and  profitable  for  teaching,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  and  for  training  in  
righteousness.”  I  believe  that  the  book  of  Job  is  as  true  as  God  is  and  that  it  recounts  
historical  events.  Job  is  not  myth.  
 
Nothing  in  the  Bible  specifies  when  Job  lived,  but  a  few  clues  from  the  text  helps  
narrow  the  timeline.  Job  lived  140  years  plus  enough  years  to  have  ten  [grown]  
children  (Job  42:16,  1:2-­‐4).  If  you  were  to  plot  human  lifespan  through  the  
genealogies  in  Genesis  through  Judges,  you  would  see  that  they  start  very  high  
(Adam  lived  to  be  930  years  old),  start  dropping  precipitously  after  the  flood  and  
level  out  to  our  expected  age  range  by  the  time  Israel  moves  into  the  Promised  Land.  
Job’s  age  fits  in  the  curve  around  the  time  of  the  Patriarchs—Abraham,  Isaac  and  
Jacob.  Other  historical  clues,  such  as  names,  lifestyles  and  level  of  technology  
corroborate  that  Job  lived  around  2,000  BC.  
 
Using  some  of  the  same  clues  to  date  Job,  we  may  estimate  the  approximate  area  in  
which  he  lived.  Being  a  man  “of  the  East”  (Job  1:3),  that  means  he  lived  East  of  the  
Jordan  River,  and  he  was  likely  bordered  between  Assyria  and  Edom.  The  blue  box  
highlights  this  area:  
 

 
 
  
Job  was  likely  written  significantly  after  the  events  happened.  Common  for  the  day,  
the  story  would  have  been  passed  down  through  oral  tradition  until  it  was  written  
into  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Proximity  with  Abraham’s  family  would  have  allowed  
them  to  witness  the  struggles  of  Job  and  inform  their  understanding  of  God.  The  
book  is  written  as  Hebrew  poetry  and  is  part  of  the  wisdom  literature.  The  most  
probable  scenario  is  that  the  Hebrew  people  kept  Job’s  story  until  God  inspired  its  
author  to  write  the  book  as  we  know  it,  and  much  of  the  Bible’s  wisdom  literature  
was  written  between  the  time  of  King  Solomon  and  King  Hezekiah  (971  –  687  BC).  
 
Outline  
 
1:1-­‐1:5,  Job  and  his  character  introduced  
1:6-­‐1:12,  Satan  challenges  God,  God  accepts  
1:13-­‐1:19,  Satan  takes  Job's  servants,  livestock  and  children  
1:20-­‐1:22,  Job's  response:  worship  
2:1-­‐2:6,  Satan  challenges  God  to  a  second  round,  God  accepts  
2:7-­‐2:8,  Satan  attacks  Job's  health  
2:9-­‐2:10,  Job's  wife's  exasperation,  Job  responds  about  receiving    
good  and  evil  
2:11-­‐2:13,  Job's  friends  arrive  at  sit  with  him  for  a  week  
3:1-­‐26,  Job  speaks,  curses  the  day  he  was  born  
 
Study  
 
As  we  start  the  book,  the  first  thing  we  encounter  is  Job:  a  man  unparalleled  in  his  
wealth—both  physically  and  spiritually.  The  first  verse  of  the  book  extols  Job’s  
character,  and  this  is  important  to  remember  going  through  the  book.  Job  really  
does  nothing  to  merit  the  suffering  he  encounters,  and  it  can  be  easy  to  forget  this  
point  as  we  struggle  with  Job  and  his  friends’  through  the  darkness  and  through  the  
arguments.  
 
The  antagonist,  Satan  (lit.  The  Accuser),  is  then  introduced.  He  is  contrasted  with  the  
“sons  of  God”  (they  may  be  angels,  but  this  phrase  is  usually  used  when  referring  to  
God’s  covenant  people—those  whom  he  has  saved).  God  initiates  a  conversation  
with  Satan  and  tells  him  to  consider  his  servant  Job.  Satan  claims  that  Job  only  
follows  God  because  Job  has  been  blessed  with  material  possession—if  those  things  
were  taken  away,  Job’s  attitude  about  God  would  change.  God  gives  Satan  
permission  to  take  those  things  away.  With  a  synchronicity  that  could  not  be  
coincidental,  Job  loses  everything:  his  servants,  his  livestock  and  his  family.  
 
Job’s  response  was  to  worship,  “Then  Job  arose  and  tore  his  robe  and  shaved  his  
head  and  fell  on  the  ground  and  worshiped. And  he  said,  “Naked  I  came  from  my  
mother’s  womb,  and  naked  shall  I  return.  The  LORD  gave,  and  the  LORD  has  taken  
away;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  LORD”  [Job  1:20-­‐21].    The  next  verse  says,  “In  all  
this  Job  did  not  sin  or  charge  God  with  wrong.”  Satan  lost,  God  won.  
However,  the  challenge  did  not  end  there.  Satan  comes  back  in  a  similar  way  as  
chapter  one  and  God  asks  Satan  to  consider  his  servant  Job  once  again.    Satan  wants  
to  increase  the  stakes  and  claims  that  while  Job  has  his  life  and  health,  he  would  be  
okay  losing  everything  else  to  save  himself.  If  God  took  away  his  health,  surely  Job  
would  curse  God  (Job  2:5).  Again,  God  gives  permission  for  Satan  to  take  from  Job—
this  time  Satan  takes  Job’s  health.  
 
Job’s  wife  plays  into  Satan’s  plan  and  tempts  Job  to  curse  God,  but  Job  replies,  “Shall  
we  receive  good  from  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil?”  [Job  2:10].  The  next  verse  
reiterates,  “In  all  this  Job  did  not  sin  with  his  lips.”  Many  people  ask  why  God  allows  
bad  things  to  happen.  How  many  people  ask  why  God  allows  good  things  to  happen?  
We  start  as  rebellious  sinners  against  God,  and  it  is  a  wonder  that  God  should  have  
any  mercy  on  us  at  all.  Job  recognizes  this  and  knows  that  God  is  the  king  over  his  
creation—that  we  receive  from  him  what  he  gives  us.  
 
After  this  round  of  heavenly  challenge,  we  do  not  hear  from  Satan  again.  Apparently  
he  cannot  show  his  face  after  defeat  (a  mark  of  pride),  though  the  book  is  far  from  
over.  Even  though  we  see  that  Job  has  maintained  his  integrity,  he  does  not  know  
about  this  arrangement  (he  can’t,  or  it  wouldn’t  be  a  legitimate  test).  The  rest  of  the  
book  looks  at  how  Job  and  his  friends  process  this  calamity  without  any  insight  
about  what’s  really  happening.  So  Job’s  friends  come  to  mourn  with  him.  
 
For  a  whole  week  after  Job’s  friends  arrive,  they  sit  in  silence.  This  is  broken  as  Job  
bursts  out  in  lamentation  and  curses  the  day  he  was  born.  He  starts  by  wishing  he  
had  never  been  conceived  (Job  3:3).  If  not  that,  then  he  wishes  he  had  been  
miscarried  (Job  3:16).  If  not  that,  then  he  wishes  he  had  died  soon  after  birth  (3:11-­‐
12).  Job’s  honest  heart  is  that  he  wished  he  had  never  been  born.  
 
Job  lived  his  life  fearing  that  something  like  this  might  happen  (3:25).    He  indicates  
that  the  situation  seems  unfair,  “Why  is  light  given  to  a  man  whose  way  is  hidden,  
whom  God  has  hedged  in?”  What  Job  means  is,  “Why  does  God  give  life  and  safety  to  
those  who  are  evil  (‘whose  way  is  hidden’),  and  why  is  it  taken  from  those  who  are  
good  (Job  in  this  case—who  is  blameless  and  upright)?”  Despite  this  challenging  
question,  it’s  good  to  remember  that  Job  does  not  directly  blame  God  or  sin  (keep  
42:8  in  mind  through  the  study).  
 
One  final  point  to  ponder  is  that  blameless  and  upright  is  not  the  same  thing  as  
sinless.  Job  was  not  a  perfect  man.  But  he  did  have  right  standing  with  God.  It’s  clear  
that  Job  knows  something  of  the  system  of  sacrifice  (Job  1:5)  and  thus  atonement.  
He  knows  he’s  a  sinner  in  need  of  reconciliation  with  God  (this  is  in  next  week’s  
study,  but  you  can  look  it  up  at  Job  7:20-­‐21).  It’s  also  clear  that  God  regards  Job  
favorably  (Job  1:8).  Job  was  a  man  who  had  faith  in  his  God  and  found  forgiveness  
because  he  lived  a  life  of  repentance  and  faith.  Job  was  a  child  of  God,  a  man  saved  
by  faith  and  living  in  faith.  Even  though  he  does  not  know  of  Christ  directly,  he  trusts  
what  God  had  revealed  to  that  point—the  types  and  shadows  that  did  point  to  Christ  
(Heb  8:1-­‐6).  
  
 
Gospel  Glimpses  
 
One  of  the  goals  of  this  study  is  to  see  Christ  and  his  gospel  as  it  appears  in  the  book  
of  Job.  Here  are  a  few  for  this  chapter:  
 
1) Good  News  Comes  Out  of  Bad  News  
 
Even  though  we  do  not  have  an  explicit  gospel  message  in  these  chapters,  we  see  the  
need  of  the  gospel:  we  are  sinners  in  need  of  a  savior.  There  is  a  tremendous  chasm  
that  separates  man  and  God.  We  see  that  God  is  holy  and  that  we  need  to  be  made  
right  with  him.  We  know  that  this  happens  through  our  redeemer,  Jesus  Christ,  and  
we’ll  see  Job  crying  out  for  just  such  a  redeemer  through  our  studies.  
 
2)  Sacrifice  
 
Not  a  lot  of  detail  is  given,  but  we  can  see  from  Job  1  that  offerings  were  given  as  a  
means  of  reconciliation  to  God.    “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’”  (Job  1:5).  The  idea  of  sacrifice  appears  as  early  as  Genesis  3  and  is  a  part  of  
the  lives  of  God’s  covenant  people  until  Christ  (the  greatest  and  final  sacrifice).  
Sacrifice  was  God’s  provision  for  reconciliation,  allowing  a  substitute  to  take  
punishment  our  sin  deserves.  It  finds  its  greatest  fulfillment  in  Jesus  as  he  could  be  
the  once-­‐for-­‐all  sacrifice  that  we  needed.  
 
3) Skin  for  Skin  
 
In  Job  2:4-­‐5,  we  see  Satan  claim  that  Job  is  willing  to  trade  all  he  has  if  he  can  keep  
his  health  and  his  life.  It’s  not  enough  to  take  away  everything  around  Job  to  see  its  
impact  on  his  relationship  with  God  because  [in  Satan’s  mind]  Job  is  so  self-­‐centered  
that  all  those  things  are  a  fair  trade  if  he  can  keep  his  life.  
 
This  gospel  glimpse  comes  by  considering  what  God  was  willing  to  give  in  order  to  
give  us  life.  Jesus  Christ  was  willing  to  trade  “skin  for  skin”:  he  gave  up  his  skin  to  
save  ours.  Christ  has  the  opposite  motives  to  Satan—he  is  selfless  instead  of  selfish.  
And  because  of  this,  the  outcome  is  the  opposite  too:  he  is  willing  to  give  his  life  to  
bring  life.    By  Jesus’  blood  we  are  healed.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Questions  
 
1)  Why  is  there  suffering  in  the  world?  
 
 
         1a)  Why  does  Job  suffer?  
 
 
         1b)  Is  God  just?  
 
 
         1c)  Does  it  cause  you  to  doubt  God  or  his  goodness?  
 
 
2)  What  is  the  central  issue  of  Job?    
 
 
 
 
3)  Do  you  have  the  same  fears  of  impending  suffering  as  Job  did  (Job  3:25)?  
 
 
4)  Are  you  spiritually  prepared  for  suffering?  
 
 
5)  Knowing  what  you  know  about  Job's  suffering,  how  would  you  approach  him?  
 
 
         5a)  How  would  you  comfort  others?  
 
 
         5b)  How  will  you  suffer  in  the  midst  of  others?  
 
 
6)  After  reading  Job  1-­‐3,  what  are  your  big  questions  that  you  hope  will  be  answered  
by  the  end  of  the  book?