Lesson/Chapter Two:
Story Two: God is always with you.
Being a pastor is often a very lonely occupation. You must be careful about who you become friends within your congregation, because you do not want to be known as that person who plays favoritism I often spend many days alone on the farm with only the animals and God. However, there is never a time that I am truly alone, because I house the Holy Ghost and God says he will never leave us or forsake us. (found in Hebrews 13:5) He is the best friend that we’ve ever had.
Have you ever gone through something and your friends just were not much help? It seems that every time you try to explain to them the situation, they just didn’t get it. They just didn’t want to listen, or they just didn’t understand. Perhaps they immediately started to ask advice and try to fix the problem?
How did that make you feel?
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How did you respond to them?
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Well, there is a great happening in the Bible. You may have guessed the book already? The book of Job. He is the main character, and his experiences are the worst that earth has to offer. At first, his friends seem to be great companions, but as we continue to read the scripture, they are his friends, but his friends turn out to be awful supporters.
Let’s identify the characters:
Job: He is the male character of the story who is sanctified and set apart for the use of God. He is the main character who never turns against God.
Zophar the Naamathite: He resides in somewhere in the far East from Job and is also a male who is in the friend circle of Job.
Eliphaz the Termanite: Is a male friend of Job and the Bible reports he lives in the city called – wisdom.
Bildad the Shuhite: Is also a supporting character in our story and the Scripture reports he lives in Arabia.
Elihu’s (Job32)
Elihu’s arrival is marked by his strong emotions and his decision to speak up after observing the exchange between Job and his companions. He felt that Job’s self-justification was inappropriate and that the three friends had not adequately addressed Job’s situation
According to the scripture, Job and his friends lived in approximate distance from each other. According to the book of Job he lives in the “land of Uz,” (Job 1:1-3) which is thought to be in northern Arabia, near Edom, and possibly close to the Syrian Desert. The exact location is debated, but it was east of the land of Israel and not far from the Arabian desert. The land of Uz would be considered relatively close to Arabia.
The genre/content:
When looking at the Bible, there is a definite wisdom collection of books and one of those books is that of Job. The book of Job is all about human struggles. For me, the book answers the following question: “Why does bad things happen to good people?” We need to be like Job, because he goes out of his way for God, he never goes against God, and he does what is right.
We see that Jobs entire family was killed and this shattered his world. Satan sent thieves to steal his livestock and then murder all of his employees. The Lord said that the Devil could not take his soul; therefore, Satan put sores all over his body. I don’t know if I could’ve made it through all of that, how about you?
Even the people that’s closest to us kind of turn when we have a decision to make and that’s what happened to Job, because his wife told him to curse God and Job refused. Job suffered alone on this earth, but God was always with him. I only hope that Job felt the presence of God and he must have, because he responded by trusting God.
Now, let’s turn to Job 2:11-13 (KJV) “11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came everyone from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.”
Review Questions:
Who were Job’s three friends and where were they from?
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Why did they come to visit Job?
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How long did they sit with Job and what did they do during that time?
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What does this passage reveal about the initial intentions of Job’s friends?
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How did Job’s friends respond?
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If you were Job’s friend, how would you respond?
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Why is it difficult to give advice to friends who are hurting or sick?
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As we see here, and sometimes in our own life, we see that Job’s friend started off well with encouragement and participation. They were sorry that misfortune had come his way. They did the custom at the time which we see that they tour their robes and clothing. Here, at first, the friends didn’t offer advice or try to fix everything that was wrong, but they simply visited with Jobe and listened to him. I can see that there are at least three important ways that we respond to the suffering of a friend.
First, we show up.
Secondly, we emphasize with them.
Third, we listen to them.
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We should also offer advice if it comes from God and prays with them.
This Bible story models God’s behavior, because we see that God hears and knows all about the problems of job. He even comes close to his servant Job. If you know the story of Joe, you know that God says: “I have seen you with my own eyes.” (Job 34:21) God knows all about our struggles and our cares. However, God offers us, in the New Testament far more than any friend could ever give us. What does the following scripture say?
Romans 8:21-23
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Revelation 21:4
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Just in case you missed it:
The Romans passage describes creations, groaning, and its anticipation for the redemption of all the evil it has caused. It also calls for the redemption from corruption and the decay of the world that sin has caused. Then, in Revelation God will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, or more pain.
It’s unfortunate that in the story, that the friends of Job did not stay quiet. Throughout the chapters and verses, they offer some gross advice; which tried to fix things but would’ve only made matters worse. This teaches us that we shouldn’t complain and sometimes evil does cause us suffering. We live in a fallen and broken world where the wise and innocent do suffer, but the presence of God that meets us in our suffering and comfort us. With God‘s help we can undergo trials of suffering. We don’t have to depend on bad advice or quiet, companionship, because we have the Holy Ghost, which helps us endure all things, and God’s leads us into perfection. (Glory-land)
Let’s end today’s lesson with a prayer!
Know the points!
- Don’t count on earthly friendships but lean into the friendship you can have with God.
Then, be a good friend to someone else as Jesus is a good friend to us!
Can you identify a friend who is struggling right now?
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Take time to reach out to them.
How can you reach out to a friend?
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Send a Facebook message.
Call them on the telephone.
FaceTime them on your iPhone.
Write them a friendly letter through the format of a card and snail mail it to them.
Make a delicious meal and deliver it to them.
Use GrubHub and send them something to eat.
Now that look up some Memory Verses:
Genesis 25:2
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Genesis 25:6
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Exodus 3:7-8
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Jeremiah 49:7
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John 11:35
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Second Corinthians 1:3-4
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