Objective

In this study, we’ll see that Job is a godly example of patience, faith, and hope.

Key Verse

Job 13:15: Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.

Introduction

The book of Job addresses one of life’s most difficult questions: Why do righteous people suffer? This ancient story takes us into the heart of human pain and shows us how faith can survive even when everything else is lost. Job was a real man who faced real suffering, yet his story speaks to every person who has ever wondered where God is during their darkest moments.

We don’t know exactly when Job lived. Some scholars believe he lived during the time of Abraham because of the way he offered sacrifices and the length of his life. Others place him later in history. What we do know for certain is that Job was a godly man who loved and served the Lord faithfully. The Bible tells us he was “blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” Yet terrible things happened to him—things that would make most of us question everything we believe about God.

The book of Job pulls back the curtain between heaven and earth, giving us a glimpse into the spiritual realm that we rarely see elsewhere in Scripture. We witness conversations between God and Satan. We see how our battles on earth connect to battles in the heavenly places. Most importantly, we discover that God remains sovereign even when Satan attacks, and that our suffering has meaning even when we cannot understand it.

In this lesson, we will explore what Job teaches us about three vital areas of our spiritual lives:

• Spiritual warfare and Satan’s attacks on believers
• Suffering and how we should respond when life doesn’t make sense
• The nature of God and His absolute sovereignty over all things

Spiritual Warfare

Not every bad thing that happens to us comes from spiritual warfare. We live in a fallen world where bodies get sick, accidents happen, and natural disasters strike. Jesus Himself taught us this truth when He spoke about the rain and sunshine:

Matthew 5:45: He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Christians experience cancer, car accidents, and earthquakes just like everyone else. Living in a broken world means facing the consequences of that brokenness. But sometimes—and this is what makes Job’s story so important—the troubles we face come directly from Satan’s attacks upon us.

The opening chapters of Job reveal something remarkable about the spiritual realm. We see Satan appearing before God’s throne along with the angels. This might surprise us, but Scripture teaches that Satan still has access to God’s presence in our current age. He uses this access to accuse believers before God day and night. Listen to how Satan challenged God about Job:

Job 1:9-11: “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Satan essentially argued that Job only loved God because of the blessings he received. Take away the blessings, Satan claimed, and Job’s faith would crumble. This is the same strategy Satan uses against us today. The book of Revelation calls him “the accuser of our brothers and sisters”:

Revelation 12:10-11: Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

To understand why Satan has such hatred for God’s people, we need to know his history. Satan was not created evil. In fact, he was the most beautiful and powerful angel God ever made. The prophet Ezekiel gives us a glimpse of Satan’s original glory:

Ezekiel 28:14-15: You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.

But pride filled Satan’s heart. He wanted to be like God Himself. Isaiah records Satan’s five “I will” statements that led to his fall:

Isaiah 14:12-15: How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

Even though Satan fell from his position, he still has limited access to God’s throne room in this present age. We see this not only in Job but also in other passages:

Job 1:6: One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.

Zechariah 3:1-2: Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

(Notebook Moment: Why do you think God allows Satan to have access to His presence and to accuse believers? What does this tell us about God’s confidence in His plan of redemption?)

This access will not last forever. When Christ returns to judge the world, Satan will be permanently cast out:

Revelation 12:9: The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Luke 10:18: He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

With God’s permission, Satan attacked Job with devastating force. In a single day, Job lost everything:

Job 1:13-19: One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

But Satan wasn’t finished. When Job remained faithful despite losing his wealth and children, Satan attacked his body:

Job 2:7-8: So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

The story of Job proves that God sometimes allows Satan to test and attack believers. This truth might disturb us, but Scripture gives us wonderful promises about God’s protection during these attacks. God will never allow Satan to push us beyond what we can bear. Paul experienced this personally when he dealt with what he called “a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan”:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10: Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God promises to provide a way of escape when we face trials:

1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Suffering

Nobody wants to suffer. When pain enters our lives, we immediately look for answers. We ask “Why?” We wonder what we did wrong. We question whether God has abandoned us. Job asked these same questions, yet remarkably, he did not sin against God in his suffering:

Job 1:21-22: and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job’s response reveals incredible spiritual maturity. He recognized that everything he had was a gift from God, and God had the right to take it away. But maintaining this perspective wasn’t easy. Job didn’t have answers for why this was happening to him. His wife didn’t have answers either, and her response was far different from his:

Job 2:9-10: His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job’s wife spoke from deep pain. She had lost her children too. She watched her husband suffering with horrible sores covering his entire body. In her grief and frustration, she suggested that Job should just curse God and end his misery. But Job understood something profound: if we gladly receive good things from God’s hand, shouldn’t we also accept difficult things? This doesn’t mean God causes evil, but it does mean He remains sovereign even when evil touches our lives.

Soon three of Job’s friends arrived to comfort him. Their names were Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. When they first saw Job, they were so shocked by his appearance that they wept aloud. Then they did something beautiful:

Job 2:11-13: When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

For seven days and nights, these friends simply sat with Job in silence. They shared his grief without trying to explain it. If only they had continued in this ministry of presence! But eventually they felt compelled to explain Job’s suffering, and their explanations caused even more pain.

Eliphaz spoke first, and his basic argument was that Job must have sinned. After all, Eliphaz reasoned, God doesn’t punish the innocent:

Job 5:13: He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.

Bildad took a similar approach but was even harsher. He essentially accused Job of being godless:

Job 8:13: Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.

Zophar was perhaps the most cruel. He accused Job of boasting and told him that he was actually getting less punishment than he deserved:

Job 11:2-6: “Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated? Will your idle talk reduce others to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock? You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.’ Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.”

Later, a younger man named Elihu joined the conversation. He came closer to the truth when he spoke about God’s goodness and justice:

Job 33:24: and he is gracious to that person and says to God, ‘Spare them from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for them’—

(Notebook Moment: Have you ever had friends who tried to explain your suffering with simplistic answers? How did their words make you feel? What would have been more helpful?)

Here’s something important to understand: many of the things these men said were technically true. They spoke accurate theology about God’s justice, His hatred of sin, and His power. In fact, the apostle Paul even quotes Eliphaz in the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 3:19: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”

But even though Eliphaz spoke truth, he applied it wrongly to Job’s situation. This is a vital lesson for us. We can know true doctrine but completely misunderstand how it applies to real life. We can have all the right answers but use them in ways that hurt rather than heal. This is why we desperately need the Holy Spirit to guide us:

1 Corinthians 2:10-13: these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

God was not pleased with how Job’s friends ministered to him:

Job 42:7: After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”

Throughout all his suffering and despite his friends’ accusations, Job held onto hope. He maintained his faith that God would ultimately vindicate him. In one of the most powerful passages in all of Scripture, Job proclaimed his confidence in the resurrection:

Job 19:25-27: I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Think about how remarkable this statement is! Job lived centuries before Christ, yet he knew that his Redeemer lived. He believed that even if his body was completely destroyed, he would see God with his own eyes. This is resurrection faith!

We have this same hope in Christ. This is why we can glorify God even in our suffering. Paul and Silas demonstrated this when they were beaten and thrown into prison:

Acts 16:25: About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Paul understood that our present sufferings cannot compare to the glory that awaits us:

Romans 8:18: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Peter reminds us that we should follow Christ’s example of patient suffering:

1 Peter 2:20-25: But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

The Nature of God

After thirty-seven chapters of human speeches and debates, God finally spoke. But instead of answering Job’s questions, God asked questions of His own. Through a series of powerful questions, God revealed the vast difference between His infinite wisdom and Job’s limited understanding:

Job 38:2-7: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

God’s questions covered the entire scope of creation. He asked Job about the foundations of the earth, the boundaries of the sea, the storehouses of snow and hail, the constellations in their seasons, and the habits of wild animals. Each question reminded Job that there were countless things he didn’t understand about the physical world. If Job couldn’t comprehend these visible things, how could he expect to understand God’s invisible purposes?

The Lord’s speeches reveal several crucial truths about His nature. First, God is all-powerful. He created and sustains everything that exists. Second, God is all-knowing. Nothing escapes His notice, from the birth of mountain goats to the flight path of eagles. Third, God is absolutely sovereign. He reminds Job that God alone controls everything:

Job 41:11: Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

(Notebook Moment: When you face situations you don’t understand, how does remembering God’s infinite wisdom and power help you trust Him? What specific attributes of God comfort you most during trials?)

Job’s response to God’s revelation shows us what true humility looks like:

Job 42:1-6: Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Notice Job’s transformation. Before, he had heard about God. Now, he had encountered God personally. This encounter didn’t answer all his questions about suffering, but it answered the most important question: Could he trust God even when he didn’t understand? The answer was yes.

Job’s submission to God’s sovereignty demonstrates what the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord.” This isn’t terror but rather a profound reverence that recognizes God’s absolute authority and our complete dependence on Him. When we truly understand who God is, we stop demanding explanations and start trusting His character.

God rewarded Job’s faithfulness abundantly:

Job 42:12: The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

God gave Job twice as much as he had before. He also gave him seven more sons and three daughters. Job lived to see his children and grandchildren to the fourth generation. But the greatest blessing wasn’t the restored wealth or the new family—it was the deeper knowledge of God that Job gained through his trials.

Conclusion

Job stands as one of the Bible’s greatest examples of patient endurance. His story teaches us that righteous people do suffer, sometimes terribly. But it also teaches us that God remains sovereign over our suffering and that He can be trusted even when we cannot understand His purposes.

James points to Job as our model for patience:

James 5:11: As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Patience like Job’s doesn’t come naturally to us. Our human nature wants immediate answers and quick relief from pain. But patience is a fruit of the Spirit that God develops in us through trials:

Galatians 5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness

The book of Job ultimately points us to Jesus Christ. Job’s innocent suffering previews Christ’s innocent suffering. Job’s confidence in his living Redeemer points to our living Redeemer. Job served as a priestly mediator for his friends, just as Christ mediates for us. And just as God restored Job after his suffering, God raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him to the highest place.

Our prayer should be to have the same unwavering faith and hope in God that Job demonstrated. Even when everything goes wrong, even when friends misunderstand us, even when God seems silent, we can declare with Job:

Job 13:15: Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.

Job 23:10-12: But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

The story of Job reminds us that our trials have purpose, our suffering has meaning, and our God is trustworthy. We may not understand what God is doing in our present circumstances, but we can trust who He is. And that is enough.

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