Christian Formation for October 28 - Job 42:1-17; A Job Trilogy

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

Sundays 9:15 am to 10:15 am

 

Oct 28, 2012, 22 Pentecost

Job 42:1-17

Job Is Humbled and Satisfied

Job’s Friends Are Humiliated

Job’s Fortunes Are Restored Twofold

 

Background: Job is considered the first of the Wisdom books. It has been argued to be the climax of Hebrew Scripture. A central theme of the book is the possibility of “disinterested righteousness” and a secondary theme is innocent suffering. This book of Job does not refer to anything outside itself, thus has no definitive composition date but has patriarchal overtones.

 

Theme: This passage, the last in the book of Job, reports Job’s concession that he was wrong to have demanded an audience with God and that he had overstepped his bounds as a part of Creation. Yet God demands sacrifice from Job’s three friends to atone for their transgression, offered by Job. Finally, we see an accounting of God’s restoration of all Job had before Satan’s attack.

 

Questions to Ponder

* Please read all of Job 42:1-17

* In the opening 6 verses it appears that Job admits his error of demanding an audience with God. Do you think this is the case? What might have caused Job to admit his folly?

* In verse 2, Job states that he (now) knows that God is in charge of all things and cannot be stopped. Do you think that Job now thinks his affliction were right and just in God’s eyes? Why or why not?

* In verse 5, Job realizes that he had only heard God before and now he had actual experience of God’s might and power. Do you think that Job actually saw God in their exchange or might Job finally recognized God’s plan and power over all creation? Does it make a difference in our interpretation of the passage?

* Why might God have singled out Eliphaz as the focus of his anger against the three friends? Do you think Eliphaz was more culpable for the errors of the three friends?

* Why do you think God told Eliphaz to have Job offer the sacrifice and prayer for the friends?

* By all appearances, the friends display Deuteronomistic overtones and Job does not. What might the implication be of the apparent impeachment of the Deuteronomistic proscriptions by having Job offer sacrifice for the friends?

* Verse 10 may imply that Job finally warranted restoration after he prayed and offered sacrifice for his friends. How might Job’s prayer and sacrifice restored Job to relationship with God? Do you think it was essential for Job to make the offering for his restoration? Why or why not?

* Why might Job have been restored double in all things except children once he prayed for his friends? Is there significance in the double repayment?

* For what reason might there be no indication of the mother of Job’s new children?

* What is the hope for us in this passage today?

* What is the application of the story of Job for us today?