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Lamenting in Loss, Worshipping in HopeLent 2021 Week 3The Suffering of JobJob 1:1-3, 13-22In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. 13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" 16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" 17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" 18 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, 19 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!" 20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.QuestionsHow did Job react to the news? How must he have felt?What did he say to God? Job 3First Lament3?After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.?2?He said:3?“May the day of my birth perish, ????and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’4?That day—may it turn to darkness;????may God above not care about it;????may no light shine on it.5?May gloom and utter darkness?claim it once more;????may a cloud settle over it;????may blackness overwhelm it.6?That night—may thick darkness?seize it;????may it not be included among the days of the year????nor be entered in any of the months.7?May that night be barren;????may no shout of joy?be heard in it.8?May those who curse days?curse that day,????those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.9?May its morning stars become dark;????may it wait for daylight in vain????and not see the first rays of dawn,10?for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me????to hide trouble from my eyes.Job 29Second LamentJob continued his discourse:2 “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me,3 when his lamp shone on my head and by his light I walked through darkness!4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,5 when the Almighty was still with me and my children were around me,6 when my path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.7 “When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,8 the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;9 the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;10 the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,12 because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist them.…25 I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.Job 301 “But now they mock me, men younger than I,whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs…9 “And now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.10 They detest me and keep their distance; they do not hesitate to spit in my face.11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence….16 “And now my life ebbs away; days of suffering grip me.17 Night pierces my bones; my gnawing pains never rest.18 In his great power God becomes like clothing to me; he binds me like the neck of my garment.19 He throws me into the mud, and I am reduced to dust and ashes.20 “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.21 You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me.22 You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; you toss me about in the storm.23 I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living.QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSIONClearly God has not abandoned Job, but it feels like it.Is Job guilty of wallowing in nostalgia, or self-pity or self-justification, or just being honest and real?Is it ok to reminisce like Job does? Job 4210?After Job had prayed for his friends, the?Lord?restored his fortunes?and gave him twice as much as he had before.?11?All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before?came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the?Lord?had brought on him,?and each one gave him a piece of silver?and a gold ring.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.?13?And he also had seven sons and three daughters.?14?The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch.?15?Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.16?After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.?17?And so Job died, an old man and full of years. ................
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