A good man who lost everything, argued with God, and was answered out of the whirlwind.
Blameless
Grieving
Honest
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.”
Go deeper
Introduction
Job was blameless and upright, the greatest man in the east, with ten children and huge flocks. In a single day he lost almost all of it. Then he lost his health. He sat in the ashes and scraped his sores with a piece of broken pottery, and he still did not curse God.
Three friends came to comfort him and stayed to accuse him. Job protested his innocence and demanded a hearing with God. When God finally spoke out of the whirlwind, he did not explain Job's suffering. He showed Job himself, and that was enough. Job repented, prayed for his friends, and was restored.
“
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
Name means
Uncertain; sometimes linked to “where is the father?”
Home
The land of Uz
Role
A wealthy, righteous man of the east
Read in
The Book of Job;
Job's story
Sitting in the ashes
Beginning
Blameless and blessed
A righteous man with ten children and great wealth.
Turning point
Everything taken
He loses his children and flocks in a day, and worships.
Low point
Ashes and friends
Struck with sores, he sits in the ashes and curses the day he was born.
Turning point
Out of the whirlwind
God answers him, not with reasons, but with himself.
Ending
Restored
He repents, prays for his friends, and the LORD restores his fortunes twice over.
Starts as a righteous man who had everything. Ends as a humbled man who had seen God.
Where Job lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
The book names only the land of Uz.
How Job is wired
The Reformer
Enneagram 1, Helper wing
To be right before God and to have that known.
This one is debated. Here's why we land here.
At their best, toward 7 Under stress, toward 4
Why we think so
1
He guards his integrity. He refuses to say he deserved this: “Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.” ()
2
He is careful. He offered sacrifices for his children just in case they had sinned. ()
3
He wants justice. He lays out a long oath of innocence and asks God to answer. ()
The 2 wing shows in his care for the poor, the widow and the fatherless. ()
The Enthusiast. At his best he lets go of being right and simply worships. ()
The Individualist. Under stress he grows bitter and accuses God of wronging him. ()
The case for 6
Some read Job as a Loyalist: anxious, sacrificing for his children just in case, and saying what he feared has come upon him ().
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Genesis.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: Principled, honest, intense
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Job
Blameless and upright; he feared God and turned from evil (). Worshiped in loss (). Refused to curse God (). Honest in his lament instead of pretending (). Generous to the poor and the widow ().
Where Job struggles
In his pain he insisted on his own righteousness and accused God of injustice (). He spoke of things too wonderful for him ().
What Job wanted most
A hearing before God, to make his case ().
What Job feared most
“For the thing that I fear comes upon me” ().
Job's people
The Lord
The LORDAllowed his testing, answered him from the whirlwind, and restored him ().
Tension
His wifeTold him to curse God and die ().
Eliphaz, Bildad and ZopharCame to comfort him and ended up accusing him; Job prayed for them ().
ElihuA younger man angry with Job and his friends ().
Opposed
SatanClaimed Job served God only for what he got ().
Family of Faith
See where Job fits
AbrahamJesus
c. 2100–1960 BC (debated). No recorded connection yet.
Job longed for a Redeemer to stand on the earth and plead his case. Jesus is that Redeemer.
Job wished for an arbiter who could lay his hand on both God and man (). There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (). Job was a righteous man who suffered; Jesus was the truly righteous one who suffered for the unrighteous ().
Questions to sit with
1
Job's friends had answers but no comfort. Who in your life needs you to sit with them rather than explain?
2
God answered Job with himself, not with reasons. Could that be enough for you right now?
Study Job with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
