Job 1-3

Day 4: Job 1-3 Notes & Takeaways

Job notes on my Bible, @myrenewedfaith

“As you read Job, analyze your life and check your foundation. May you be able to say, “when all is gone, but God, He is enough”” (Life Application Study Bible, 3rd Edition, NLT, p.1055)

Scholars do not agree when the book of Job took place, so we don’t know the exact date of the book of Job. The book itself does not tell us who exactly the author was either or give us any historical information to date it. Some study Bibles say it was Job, Moses, Solomon.

The Zondervan NASB Study Bible notes that “we may be sure the author was an Israelite, since he (not Job or his friends) frequently uses the Israelite covenant name for God (Yawheh; NASB “the LORD”)".”

Job 1:1 mentions Job was a man who lived in the land of Uz. Gen 10 mentions Uz in Shem’s genealogy, which we read yesterday, the land is what is later called Edom.

Job was a blessed and wealthy man (Job 1:1-3) He was wealthy due to his livestock, not his land. Donkeys that produced offspring were very valuable.

Job 1:6 Who are the sons of God? Heavenly or angelic beings who came as the heavenly counsel and present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also tags along. (1 Kings 22:19, Ps 89: 5-7, Jer 23:18,22)

Job 1:7, when satan answers that he’s been roaming the earth, it reminded me of 1 Peter 5:8.

Satan doesn’t believe that Job would still praise God if he wasn’t blessed, and goes as far as striking his body. What is notable is that Satan asks for permission to curse Job, he can’t do it without God’s permission. Which shows us that even in the worst, God is in control. He doesn't give us more than we can handle (1 Cor 10:13).

Look at the accuser doing what he does best by accusing God, the righteous one. How ironic (Job 1:9-11)

Job 1:20-21 shows us that the first thing Job did was realize that everything was given from God, not earned himself, and therefore, even if it was taken away, he can still praise God, because no matter what, God is always good.

Job 2:9-10 why was Job’s wife spared when everyone else died? We don’t know, but maybe God may have graciously spared her so he’d have something left when everything else was gone and eventually restore children to them. Or maybe, he allowed her to be a part of the test for Job. Note that, satan is using Job’s wife to tempt Job to sin as Eve did Adam.

Either way, his wife wasn’t listening to God’s interest. As wives we need to make sure we are always empowering our husbands, especially in the darkest of moments, and giving wise counsel. A partner should lift the other one up instead of helping to tear them down. We should strive not to be the nagging wife that Proverbs mentions time and time again (Proverbs 21:9)

As we move on to Job chapter 3 see see that although Job wishes he was dead and curses the day of his birth, he does not curse God. He goes on to the end of the chapter stating all of his emotions, which are completely okay for us to have. God made us with emotions and he understands, as Jesus too, lived the human life and had his own set of human emotions. We must always bring our thoughts and feelings to the Lord, as he says to cast our burdens onto Him (Psalm 55:22). But even in our anguish and anger, we must make sure not to sin (Ephesians 4:26)

“Job was driven back to the basics of his faith in God, he had only two choices: he could curse God and give up, or he could trust God and draw strength from him to continue” (Life Application Study Bible, 3rd Edition, NLT, p.1064) Which do you choose in times of trouble?

Tomorrow we move on to chapters 4-6 in Job. We will finish Job and come back to where we left off in Genesis on January 18. I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying it all at the same time! Make sure to follow RF on Instagram, and join our FB Group to stay up to date for our upcoming weekly zoom sessions!