Posts Tagged with "Job"

On July 23, 2015, Wade Stephenson passed away after a fatal car crash. He was an SGCL member, a community group leader, a friend, husband, and father. Last Sunday, his wife Becca shared a moving testimony of how God's faithfulness has sustained her and her family over the months since that tragedy. Click here for a PDF transcript of the testimony. Becca Stephenson Test...

"About 95 percent of the book of Job is poetry. Chapters 1,2 and part of chapter 42 are prose. Almost all the rest is poetry. But so what? Well, poetry does not speak to us in the same way as prose. Poems 'are always a personal take on something, communicating not just from the head to head but from heart to heart' (J.I. Packer). A poet can often touch us, move us, and uns...

"After nearly 40 chapters of tempestuous poetry, the return to the simplicity of prose and the idyllic setting in which the book had opened rounds off this masterpiece, one may feel, to perfection." Derek Kidner "In some deep way it is necessary for it to be publicly seen by the whole universe that God is worthy of the worship of a man and that God's worth is in no way de...

Review Job suffered because of his blamelessness, not because of his sin. It was to show that God is worthy of the worship of a man even when worldly goods are lost. Job did not suffer because of his sin, but he sinned in his suffering. Job's why questions lose their power when he encounters the greatness of God. "I had a million questions to ask God, but, when I met him...

The Complaint Job has come to the conviction that he does not live in a well-run world. What begins as a general lament before God in prayer gradually becomes a sinful complaint or charge before God, accusing him of mistreatment. If you, like Job, have suffered severely and even at times presume that you can better run the universe than God, lean in. The LORD has mercy fo...

"'Had I been present at creation I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering of the universe.' Those words are attributed to King Alphonso the Tenth, King of Spain in the thirteenth century, nicknamed 'Alphonso the Learned.' Alphonso was not the first human being to think he could run the universe better than God. The learned and wise Job has come to the c...

"The artistic skill of the author of these chapters in sustaining the tension in Job, and also in preparing us carefully for the final word from the Lord, is unsurpassed." David Atkinson "We have heard Job's passionate last stand. We are waiting for the Lord. These chapters give us space between Job and Yahweh. They illustrate, just by being there, that Yahweh is not forc...

This devotional is based on Jeff Purswell's sermon, Job's Final Stand, given on November 15, 2015. For a PDF version, click here. Day 1: "When will we get there?" Read Job 29 Quotes/References: "The prolonged lament and grief in the book of Job is not wasted manuscript. It's a compassionate reflection for people whose own suffering is also prolonged, whose own suffe...

Introduction CJ begins by recapping how far we have come in Job. In short: Job's suffering Job's "why question" Job's friends' accusatory (wrong) explanation for his suffering and Job's disagreement Chapter 28 interrupts the arguments between Job and his friends. It effectively ends the ongoing debate between them and allows the author to address Job's (and our) "...

This devotional is based on CJ Mahaney's sermon, When God Doesn't Answer Your "Why" Question, given on November 8, 2015. For a PDF version, click here. Day 1: Human Futility Quotes/References: Elmer Smick sets the context for this chapter: "Since the dialogue has reached an impasse, the author now makes his own comment on the powerlessness of man's effort to penetra...

"This is not the question of the armchair religious or philosophical dilettante, enjoying a stimulating debate. This is the agonized question of the wheelchair sufferer who feels he or she desperately needs an answer. In chapter 28 we stand back from the pain and the debates to ask why God will not answer the question, 'Why?'" Christopher Ash "The debate is done. Nothing ...

This devotional is based on CJ Mahaney's sermon, The Protest of Job, given on October 18, 2015. For a PDF version, click here. Day 1: Long Suffering Quotes/References: Christopher Ash: "Job is forty two chapters long. We may consider that rather an obvious observation.. But the point is this: in his wisdom God has given us a very long book, and he has done so for a ...

"Job is forty two chapters long. We may consider that rather an obvious observation... But the point is this: in his wisdom God has given us a very long book, and he has done so for a reason. It is easy just to read or preach the beginning and the end and to skip rather quickly over the endless arguments in between as if it wouldn't much mater if they weren't there. Far fr...

This devotional is based on Jeff Purswell's sermon, The Wrestling of Job, given on October 11, 2015. For a PDF version, click here. Day 1: Job's Perseverance Quotes/References: Jeff quote: "The book of Job shows us that times of suffering are to be expected, it shows us that such times are normal even for believers in a in a fallen world." Jeff quote: "Wrestling a...

Introduction Cyclical Discussions From chapters 4 to 19, the book of Job has been a series of three cyclical discussions between Job and his friends; each cycle has the same theology. His friends come with rigid, cold, cause-and-effect theologyyou do good, you prosper; you do bad, you suffer. In reality, a man's relationship with God cannot be determined by his circum...

Several weeks ago, we began a series on the book of Job. In conjunction with the study of this book on Sunday mornings, we also want to provide you with an additional resource for studying Job. To that end, we have created short devotionals to supplement the Sunday teaching. Our prayer is that these will serve and equip you as you study personally or as you walk your famil...

Summary: CJ began by recapping Job 1-3. He highlighted Job's vividly described agony and explained how Job should humble us when we find ourselves complaining. Job's lament captures his fear that the worst has come to fruitionGod has abandoned him. But despite all of Job's suffering to this point, the worst may be yet to come. Satan slithers away and Job's closest compani...

"We might think the testing of Job is over. But alas, there is one final test, perhaps the toughest. Satan slithers away, while Job's closet companions cozy up." Douglas O' Connell "These friends came unto him under pretense of consolation, and yet they tormented him more than did all his sufferings." 1560 Geneva Bible "The theology that underlies all three friends is ve...

Summary C.J. explains that we are about to venture into one of the darkest chapters in scripture (not the darkest). It lets us into the heart and mind of Job, a man undergoing unbearable misery. We transition from Job's obedient suffering to his lament before God. Job 2:11 13 Job's friends were legitimate friends. Little did they know, they would eventually be of no h...

"Job 3 is a very important chapter for contemporary Christianity. There is a version of Christianity around that is shallow, trite, superficial, 'happy clappy'. It is a kind of Christianity that, as has been said, 'would have had Jesus singing a chorus at the grave of Lazarus.' We have all met it-easy triumphalism. We sing of God in one song that 'in his presence our probl...

"The book of Job tells the story of a good man overwhelmed by troubles. He is stripped of his wealth, his family, and his health. He does not know why God has done this to him. Only the reader knows that God is trying to prove to the Devil that Job's faith is genuine. Upon this simple plot an unknown writer of superlative genus has erected a monumental work. The most persi...