Lesson 2: The Great Controversy (Job 1)

by | Feb 12, 2022 | Old Testament Studies

Introduction: A famous Christian book starts out, “It’s not about
you.” Job teaches us this understates the situation. Not only is life
not about us, but it is about being willing and able to give up our
interests to advance the Kingdom of God. The interesting thing about
Job, and “giving up our interests,” is that Job both started and
ended as the richest man around. Let’s dive into our study of the
Bible and learn more!

  1. Learning About Job



    1. Read Job 1:1. What do we learn about Job’s walk with God?
      (He was blameless and upright!)



    2. Read Job 1:2-3. What do we learn about Job’s family and
      his wealth? (He was the wealthiest man in the East. Ten
      children! Seven sons and three daughters. He owned
      thousands of animals.)



      1. Notice something about the numbers. The number of
        children add up to ten. The number of animals are
        related to ten (seven thousand sheep, three thousand
        camels, etc.). Do you think this means anything? (Ten
        is a complete number. Job is a complete man:
        spiritually and materially.)



    3. Read Job 1:4-5. Was Job a family man? (He had a great
      concern for the spiritual welfare of his family.)



  2. The Controversy



    1. Read Job 1:6. The NIV translates the Hebrew “sons of God”
      as “angels.” What do you think the Hebrew means?
      Specifically, are you a son or daughter of God? (Yes!)



      1. Is the NIV correct to translate “sons of God” as
        “angels?”



      2. Why is Satan included? (We call ourselves the
        “children of God” because we are His creation. This
        is also true for the angels. Thus, it makes logical
        sense to call them “sons of God.” Since Satan is a
        fallen angel ( Revelation 12:7-9), it makes sense to
        include him as a “son of God.”)



      3. We can understand why Satan is called a “son of God,”
        but why would he be included in this meeting? (Read
        John 12:31-32. When we gave our allegiance to Satan,
        he became the prince of this world. Thus, Satan comes
        to this meeting as the representative of earth.)



      4. What do you think is the purpose of this meeting?
        (They came to “present themselves before the Lord.”
        It sounds like a business meeting in which the angels
        report to God their progress is doing great things.
        Like a “staff meeting” at work!)



    2. Read Job 1:7. Do you think God knew from where Satan came?
      (Of course God knew.)



      1. So, why did God ask?



      2. Do you ask your children what they have been doing
        when you know that they have been doing something
        wrong?



      3. Does Satan recite all the bad things that he has been
        doing? (No. Instead, he says he has been “roaming”
        the earth. He reminds God that he has dominion over
        the earth.)



        1. What do you think is Satan’s motive in
          reminding God of his dominion?



    3. Read Job 1:8. Would you like God to say this about you?
      (What a wonderful compliment! God’s judgment about Job is
      extremely positive. “No one on earth like him!”)



      1. Why would God say such a thing to Satan? How does
        this fit into their conversation? (Consider two
        points. Satan says that he has dominion over the
        earth. God responds that He does not have complete
        dominion because God has His followers, one of which
        is Job. Second, God suggests that when Satan was
        “roaming” the earth, he was either doing a lousy job
        of paying attention to his “subjects,” or that Satan
        probably noticed that there were “subjects” who did
        not follow him.)



    4. Read Job 1:9-11. Has God done Job a favor by mentioning
      his great righteousness?



      1. What is the goal of our lives? (To give glory to God.
        To advance the Kingdom of God. In this sense Job is
        God’s warrior. He is the one vindicating the name of
        God.)



    5. Let’s focus on Job 1:9. What is Satan saying in this
      response? (First, this is a challenge to God’s character.
      Job does not obey God because God’s way is best. Rather,
      Job obeys because God gives him stuff. Second, it is a
      challenge to Job’s character. Job obeys not because he
      loves, but because he is greedy. God bribed Job.)



    6. Read Job 1:12. This gets us to the heart of last week’s
      lesson. Job wants to know why all of these terrible things
      happened to him. Last week we learned that God tells Job,
      “I’m God and you are not, sit down and shut up.” Would Job
      ever, in a million years, have guessed the real reason for
      his suffering?



      1. What does this challenge and God’s response teach us
        about God’s character?



      2. What does this challenge and God’s response teach us
        about the nature of our work for God?



      3. What does this challenge and God’s response teach us
        about the great controversy between good and evil?
        (It teaches us that we are in the middle of the
        controversy. Our job is to advance the Kingdom of God
        by how we live. God vindicates some challenges to His
        character through us.)



    7. If Sampson had been alive, would God have pointed him out
      to Satan? (I think the answer is a very clear “no.” Yet,
      Sampson is in the Hebrews 11 Faith Hall of Fame (Hebrews
      11:32-33). This teaches us a very important lesson about
      faith and works. Sampson will, because of his faith, be in
      heaven. But, he let God down in the works department. Part
      of the reason why God wants us to live righteous lives is
      to vindicate His name and His character.)



  3. Satan’s Attack



    1. Read Job 1:13-15. If you were Job, is this one of the
      hazards of business life – that the Sabeans might steal
      your stuff?



    2. Read Job 1:16. What are you thinking now, if you are Job?
      (This is nothing you should normally expect. This seems to
      be a divine judgment. Certainly the servant thinks it is
      from God because he calls it the “fire from God!”)



      1. Why didn’t Satan use the Sabeans again? (He wanted
        Job to reach the obvious conclusion that God was
        punishing him.)



    3. Read Job 1:17. When we recall the recitation of Job’s
      wealth ( Job 1:3) what does this mean to Job? (All of his
      herds are gone. His wealth disappeared in just this short
      period of time.)



      1. What does this say about your wealth?



      2. Should we fear Satan? (Satan is a fearsome being, but
        note that he had no power over Job unless God
        consented to it ( Job 1:12).)



    4. Read Job 1:18-19. If you were Job, would the death of your
      children be your only concern when you heard this terrible
      news? (Re-read Job 1:4-5. These feasts were a reason for
      Job to be concerned that his children had sinned. Job may
      be thinking that his children might have died while they
      were sinning, and he had not yet sacrificed for them!)



      1. Put yourself in Job’s place. How would you feel?



    5. Read Job 1:20-21. Would you feel like this?



    6. Read Job 1:22. Last week we learned that Job wanted to sue
      God. Why? Because he wanted to show God that he had been
      obedient and he did not deserve what was happened to him.
      Is that “charging God with wrongdoing?” Does Job later
      change his attitude? (I don’t think so. At least I hope
      not. My view of this story is that God wants us to come to
      Him when we think we have been unfairly treated. He wants
      us to come to Him with our complaints. The worst thing is
      for us to simply turn away from God because we no longer
      trust Him.)



    7. Job lost nearly everything. Do you agree with what
      happened to Job? Do you think this was a loss worth
      suffering? Or, did this happen just to prop up God’s
      pride? (I think this is a replay of the temptation of Eve
      ( Genesis 3:1-6). Eve trusted Satan and distrusted God. Job
      trusts God so much that Job is sure that if he gets a fair
      hearing, God will vindicate him. Sampson, with all of his
      defects in behavior, also trusted God.)



    8. Friend, have you had terrible things happen in your life?
      If so, will you trust God regardless?



  4. Next week: “Doth Job Fear God for Nought?” (KJV)