The Bible OverBrew - Bible in a YearSample

Week 32. Day 1. Job 1-8.

Introduction to Job.

In the book of Psalms, we have already seen that God’s people sometimes wrestle with great suffering and deep questions. Both these receive extended treatment in Job. The book of Job is unusual in the Bible, in that much of what is said (in particular the words of Job’s friends) is actually incorrect – as the Lord’s words at the end of the book will make clear. Their words may sound pious, but they come from a wrong view of God, and a wrong view of how God works. Job doesn’t receive answers to all his questions and suffering, but what he receives is an encounter with God himself.

Job 1-8.

Job 1-2 Prologue

It is worth going slowly in these two chapters, as they set up the rest of the book – even if you then skim read later chapters more briefly.

What do we learn of Job in 1:1-5?

What is Satan’s role in the suffering of Job? What is the LORD’s role?

It is vital that we see at the start of the story that Job is righteous:

‘blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil’ (1:1)

‘in all this Job did not sin’ (1:22 and 2:10). Job is a righteous sufferer. This is the perplexing situation that the rest of the book explores.

Note: we are given an insight into what God is doing, but Job is never given this perspective. The point is to teach us that whilst God always has good purposes, often we cannot see exactly what he is doing, and like Job we need to live by faith.

Job 3-25 Cycles of speeches

Ch 3 begins the central sections of the book, where Job laments how hard his life is, and protests his innocence. His friends try to give ‘answers’ to his suffering, which usually revolve around suggesting that Job had done something to deserve it:

“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?” (4:7)

"Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?" (4:17)

NOTE: Days 1-5 of each week contain the scripture reading for that week. Day 6 has just the 'key chapters'. If you want a briefer version of this plan that still takes you through the whole Bible, you could just read the key chapters featured on day 6. Day 7 has the podcast video where we discuss the week's reading.