There is a temptation when reading or studying the book of Job to want to get to the end of the book. We are people who just want to get to the bottom line. We will be tempted to cut out the middle of this book and run to chapter 38 where God shows us or to chapter 42 where the resolution is offered. But the discussion that Job and his three friends have in chapters 4-27 are really important to understanding God and suffering. One of the reasons it is important to read these chapters is because these four people are talking about why Job is suffering. They are trying to come up with answers for suffering. They are trying to explain why Job is going through this trial. I want us to think about how this is exactly what we do. When trials come, what we also try to do for ourselves and for others is to explain why the suffering has come. We try to explain what God is doing. We are trying to make sense of our faith in God and how that relates to the suffering we are experiencing. We noticed in Job 3 from last week’s lesson that Job thinks that God has hedged him in (cf. Job 3:23). Job believes that this suffering indicates that God has turned on him and they are no longer friends with one another, but enemies (cf. Job 13:24; Job 29:2-4). So the friends now open their mouths and they are going to try to explain to Job why he is suffering. They are going to give Job the answers they think he needs to hear…
To read more of this lesson click here.
