Key Verse for 2025, “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” 1 Timothy 4:16
Opener: We will finish reading Job by the end of this week. It tells the story of suffering, struggle, faith, and, ultimately, the profound weight of God’s glory. Job recognizes his own insignificance and dependence on God, compelling him to worship despite the mystery surrounding his pain.
Don’t overlook the “weight of God’s glory” in the story of Job and throughout the rest of the Bible. We can sing about God’s glory, read about it, and easily move right past it without much consideration. This is a mistake. “The glory of God is the magnificence, worth, loveliness, and grandeur of His many perfections, which He displays in His creative and redemptive acts.” (Christopher Morgan) In short, God’s Glory is God revealed.
Here’s a Brief Overview of Job: He endures inexplicable suffering and goes back and forth with his friends about the reasons for his suffering. Finally, God speaks, Job responds to God’s Word, and Job’s fortunes are restored.
Discussion: In today’s discussion, we will look at some of what God says to Job in Chapters 38-40 and Job’s response in Chapter 42 and then make an application to our own lives.
- Before we read our passage, let’s discuss some of the ways we see God’s glory displayed in creation, his actions in history, like the Exodus, and his glory displayed in his people. Remind your members how many in the Bible respond to God’s revealed glory (like Isaiah 6).
Note: Don’t make these too complicated; just have your group members think about how God has made himself known and how he has revealed himself to us in the Bible and share their thoughts. It could be helpful to use the Morgan quote in the opener to guide their thoughts.
Q1: God finally speaks. In chapter 38, read verses 1-11. What is the rebuke he gives to Job, and why does he do this? Look at the Questions God asks in his response. What is God doing in asking these questions? Encourage group members to talk about what they see in the text
Note: Encourage group members to discuss what they see in the text. Notice how God provides details about His power and glory in creation. You can read more of the chapter if you’d like, and you’ll discover even more poetic expressions of His power and glory.
Q2: Now read 39:19-25, notice how God is clearly proud and delights in his creation. He does this throughout the chapter. What is this telling Job about God’s glory?
Note: Terry noted that God is providing Job with facts, but He is doing so in ways that connect with the heart, not just the mind. He’s not doing so in a scientific way. Chapters 40 and 41 do more of the same. You can talk about Behemoth/Leviathan in these chapters if you want. But remember, the main point is the same: God controls the creatures, and if Job can’t even contend with them, how will he be able to contend with God, who made them?
Q3: Read Job 40:1-9. What is God’s rebuke of Job, and what is Job’s response? What is the text telling us?
Note: For context, remember what we’ve already read up to this point. Job repeatedly asserts that he has not sinned and, therefore, his suffering is seemingly unjust, essentially saying that if he is blameless, then the hardship must be solely from God.
Q4: Read Job 42:1-6. What is Job’s response to God, and how does he acknowledge the limitations of his understanding in comparison to God? In what ways does Job’s repentance exemplify humility, submission, and genuine worship of God?
Note: Job genuinely desired a relationship with God, but he was perplexed about why God had seemingly “turned” against him. He believed he needed to comprehend “why” God acted as He did before he could truly connect with God. This is not the case; thanks be to God. If we had to fully understand God to have a relationship with Him, we would all be without hope.
Q5: Paul wrote, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:17,18) This is an important passage in the New Testament regarding suffering. How can we maintain the two tensions presented in this passage?
Main Takeaway: Even in suffering, we should trust God’s goodness and justice, keeping our faith amid life’s challenges. There is mystery in the suffering, and there is mystery in the blessing, and in the midst of both of these mysteries we are to train for godliness – we watch our life in doctrine closely. We must continually repent, and we must continually worship. Remembering that “God demonstrated his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Application: After reflecting on this passage and the sermon, is there anything that needs to change in your life? How can we together train for godliness?