The Book of Job Bible Study - May 27, 2008

The Book of Job
Session IV
May 27, 2008


Job 2
Attack on Job’s Health
One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ 3The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason.’ 4Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. 5But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.’ 6The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life.’
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die.’ 10But he said to her, ‘You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.


Review Chapter 1 and 2. Find a partner and then continue the dialogue between Job and his wife with your partner. One person is Job and the other person is Job’s wife. After a few minutes, switch roles and try continuing the dialogue again.




Read the commentary by Bill Long and then consider the discussion questions:

1. What word should the translation use? Bless or Curse?

2. How does using the word “Bless” change or not change your understanding of what Job’s wife was telling him to do?

3. What does it mean to have integrity in this situation? For Job? For his wife?



Other discussion questions:

In a play about Job, there is a line that says we can only see God from the Ash heap. What do you think this means? Do you think it is true?




How does our suffering affect those around us?




Who do you think has the harder road? Job or his wife?












The Reaction of Job's Wife by Bill Long
After she and Job have suffered the loss of their ten children and their wealth, and after Job's body breaks out in sores, she is quoted as saying (according to the NRSV):
"Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God, and die (2:9)."
A footnote in the NRSV after "curse" tells us that the Hebrew word actually says "bless." Thus the literal translation of 2:9 is "Bless God, and die." But what might this mean? And why have the translators changed the word "bless" to "curse?" What is Mrs. Job really trying to say to her husband?
The Scholars Weigh In--Total Confusion
The major reason why most translations and all scholars render the verse "Curse God, and die," is that the verb "bless," used here, is also used in 1:5; 1:11 and 2:5 and, in all of those cases it seems to be used euphemistically. For example, in 1:5, Job is seen as the efficient (and officious) parent, sacrificing for his children "lest they bless (i.e. 'curse') God in their hearts." It is almost as if the word "curse" was too unholy a word for Job to utter; hence he uses the opposite word "bless" with the understanding that "curse" would be meant. For why would he sacrifice for his children if they were literally "blessing" God? Using this example and the others in 1:11 and 2:5 (where the Satan is speaking), scholars have argued that Job's wife's use of "bless" in 2:9 should also be rendered as "curse." Thus, she would be saying to Job, 'Stop being so holy and righteous and pure by blessing God all the time. Curse him. That is really the only way to show your integrity. You will die, but that is your condition anyway. Your integrity, therefore, means that you must curse God now."
With this kind of understanding, most scholars have therefore been either critical of Job's wife (she is a "temptress" who is, possibly like Eve, trying to take her husband's faith from God) or cautiously supportive of her (by telling Job to curse God, she has recognized far earlier than he has that blessing God in this instance is incompatible with personal integrity). But I would like to suggest another interpretation, which takes the word "bless" seriously as "bless" and not "curse," such as it is used in 1:21 where Job says, "the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Keep "Bless God" in 2:9
If we take seriously the fact that "bless" in 2:9 should be translated as it is in the Hebrew ("Bless God, and die"), and if we take seriously the fact that the second verb ("die") is in a Hebrew construction that can be rendered "you will die," then our translation of 2:9 is "Bless God, and you will die." [The Hebrew word "die" is in the imperative mood, but most scholars believe that the action contemplated by the command is meant to follow the first verb. Hence, "bless God and die," is really "bless God, and you will die.] The meaning of Job's wife's words would then be as follows:
'Job, if you continue to bless God as you have been doing, when you said, 'the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord,' it will be too much for you. Your words will contradict your heart. They will be nothing more than the mechanical utterances of a man who has experienced devastating loss. Thus, if you continue on your path of blessing God, you simply will die. There will be such a tension, an inconsistency, between your confession of faith and the way life has hit you that the dissonance will be fatal. Thus, 'bless God, and you will die.'
Seen in this light, Job's wife is not only portrayed as a person who has deep insight into her husband's character and practices, but one who can see that if he persists in his current method of blessing God it will kill him. It is sort of like the advice we have all heard many times from our mothers--'if you continue to do that, it will kill you.' By giving this example, I do not mean to trivialize Job's wife's advice. I think she is giving him clear-headed insight into his current plight.
Conclusion
If we adopt this interpretation of Job's wife's words, she then becomes not a shadowy character who is given one throw-away line before exiting from the stage never to return, but she assumes a more major role in the Book of Job.

The Book of Job Bible Study - May 13, 2008

The Book of Job
Session III
May 13, 2008

In Blackwater Woods – a poem by Mary Oliver

To live in this world

You must be able
To do three things:
To love what is mortal;
To hold it

Against your bones knowing
Your own life depends on it;
And, when the time comes to let it go,
To let it go.



Job 1:1-22 The First Test
Job 1:6-12 Scene 2: A dialogue about Job


A Dialogue About Job
6 One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ 8The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.’ 9Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? 10Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.’ 12The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
The Test-Destruction of “All That He Has”
13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14a messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ 16While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ 17While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.’ 18While he was still speaking, another came and said, ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.’
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshipped. 21He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.


Who is Satan? The word Satan is used to describe both human and heavenly beings who act as adversaries or accusers. The noun describes a function. See the following 1Sam 29:4; 1Kings 5:4, 18; Ps 109.6; Numbers 22:22; Zech 3:1.

What kind of God subjects his believers to these kinds of trials?


Why does God allow Satan this kind of power?


What gets destroyed and how does it get destroyed?



What is Job’s reaction?



How does this relate to the opening poem?





Questions for our own reflection.

What losses have we experienced in our lives?



Where did we find God in these experiences?




What have we learned about ourselves from the loss?


Emily Dickenson Poem
After great pain, a formal feeling comes
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Toombs
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?
The Feet, mechanical, go round 
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought 
A Wooden way 
Regardless grown, 
A Quartz contentment, like a stone
This is the Hour of Lead--
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons recollect the Snow--
First--Chill--then Stupor--then the letting go--

The Book of Job Bible Study - April 29, 2008

Here are the notes from our first Bible Study on the book of Job. We split up into groups to discuss the questions below and then we had a teaching session on Evil. Don't worry if you have missed a session. Join us any time!

Job 1:1-22 The First Test
Job 1:1-5, Scene 1: Introduction to Job
Job 1:6-12 Scene 2: A dialogue about Job

Job 1
There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 4His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, ‘It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.’ This is what Job always did.

1. What kind of man is Job? (See also – Psalm 25:21; Psalm 37:37; Prov. 3:7, Prov. 14:16, Prov. 16:6, and Prov. 16:17.)







2. What does it mean to be blameless?



3. What does it mean to be upright?


4. What does it mean to fear God?



5. What does it mean to turn away from Evil?





6. What is Evil?



Group Discussion:
1. Job is blameless (Hebrew = tam).
Tam means whole, complete, sound, lacking in nothing, fully integrated, blameless, perfect. The focus is on human nature. It describes the perfect fulfillment of the purpose for which a human being exists. It describes the perfect fulfillment of the natural needs that define human nature. Humanity at its very best.
Tam means innocence with the connotation of personal integrity, of something finished, complete, perfect and therefore exemplary. It also conveys the meaning “just”.

2. Job is upright (Hebrew = yashar).
Yashar here means just, righteous, honest. Acceptance of ethical norms. Practices justice in his life.

3. Job fears God (Hebrew = yare Elohim)
Have the proper awe, reverence and honor a human being should have towards Almighty God.

4. Job turns from evil. (Hebrew – Sara ra)
Means avoiding evil, keeping oneself far from it in the first place.

The Problem of Evil
A Dialogue About Job
6 One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ 8The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.’ 9Then Satan answered the Lord, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? 10Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.’ 12The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Ethical Definition of Evil (The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics):
The Nature of Evil – there is moral and nonmoral evil. Moral evil consists in transgressions of moral law or, when faith is present, disobedience to the will of God. Nonmoral evils comprise those ills which do not proceed directly from human sin.
A human act can have evil effects without itself being evil in the moral sense. An act is morally evil only if it is a voluntary infringement of a moral law that is known to the agent. When the agent is invincibly ignorant of a law, or when he or she acts involuntarily, the act is not morally wrong, or sinful; so that any eveil effects it may produce fall within the nonmoral category.
Nonmoral evils are various. Human suffering produced by physical disorders by earthquakes, famine or disease.
What is the nature of evil in itself?
Aquinas held that it is wholly negative – a “privation of good.” It is a defect in a person or a thing. The human organism fails to actualize its nature and achieve its good.
So how can evil exist is a world made by a Holy God?
God is limited in wisdom or knowledge or power? (Diagram)
Christian theism asserts God made the world ex nihilo. God is not omnipotent that God can do anything for some things are contrary to reason or morality. Be God is omnipotent in the sense that he controls all things by his creative word.
1. Sin – According to the doctrine of the fall, sin entered the human race through Adam’s disobedience. So if Adam was made in the image of a Good Creator, how could he make a sinful choice? Some theist say sin is an inevitable consequence of free will.
2. Human suffering – can be a powerful obstacle to believing in a Christian God. Unmerited suffering is often justified on three grounds. 1. Purifies the sufferer by affording an opportunity to strengthen character. 2. Suffering can produce virtues that would not otherwise be shown. 3. Examples of suffering endured with courage and faith can afford moral and spiritual inspiration to others.
However, some suffering does not ennoble, but degrades.
Theist make the following additional claims:
1. Insofar as suffering is caused by sinful acts, it is justified by the freedom that God has given us.
2. Insofar as suffering is caused by nature, we must accept it on the ground that God constantly intervened miraculously to prevent it, nature would be come wholly unreliable.
3. We must see this life in the light of the next, when unmerited suffering will be both rectified and transformed by eternal joy.
Theist admit that evil is not now fully explicable when it is set against belief in an omnipotent God of love.
The cure of evil – God in Christ has saved them from the ravages of sin and suffering through his perfect sacrifice whereby he made of both a pathway to the heavenly world.
For the Christian, evil is characterized by a double paradox. On the one hand, its presence in a world created by a holy God cannot be fully explained. On the other hand, God as expressed in his incarnate Son, has conquered evil and enabled us to share by grace not merit in his victory. Again, evil is fully real. Through the Spirit of the risen Christ, the greatest evil can become the occasion of the greatest good-if not of a good that is manifest here and now, then of a good that will be manifest hereafter.
Christian reaction to evil is distinctive. Christians do not seek to escape from it. They do not preach a stoic indifference to it. They have two duties a) to combat it by every means and b) to believe that God will vanquish it according to the perfect but hidden wisdom of his providence.

New Dictionary of Theology
The origin of evil – God created the fact of freedom, people perform the acts of freedom. God made evil possible; creatures make it actual.
Evil is not yet defeated.