I hope you have a great July 4th!
John
Announcements
Neighbor Nights in July
Please continue to emphasize Neighbor Nights (see flyer). Maybe your group can plan a special activity in which you either invite neighbors to a fellowship or help them with some type of ministry project. Discuss with your group ways to make this happen. Consider tying this to your study this week as well.
Bible Study Session
THE TARGET
Focus on what adults should leave knowing, understanding, and doing.
Adults will consider the possibility that painful circumstances could be God's discipline and determine how to evaluate and respond appropriately if it is His discipline.
Resources to Consider Using
- MyStudyBible.com: Difficult words - Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite.
- Sermon by John Piper. This was recommended to me by Michael Norton. It provides some very good insight and a different perspective on the chapters we are studying this week. I hope it will help you as you prepare to teach. Link to Sermon.
- Handout: Why Suffering? I will place a copy in your box in case you want to use it.
- Consider using the following PowerPoint Slide for the "Look Up" and the "Look Out" steps: Boy Eating Soap & Why Suffering slide.
Look Up: "Soft Methods" to draw attention to the study as adults are visiting and gathering for Bible study.
Option One:
- Display PowerPoint slide provided or write on the board, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you."
- Ask the group to discuss when they have heard or used this statement. What does the statement communicate? Discuss experiences with disciplining children.
- Discuss how God might discipline us. What does His discipline communicate with us?
- If using ETB Discovery Study Guide: Once most adults have arrived, direct the group to read the story on page 42.
- Ask: What would your reaction be to the question posed by the deacon in the story? Should the question have been voiced? Did it have merit?
Our focus today is on a suggestion that Job's suffering was God's discipline.
Look In: Supplemental ideas for unpacking the text.
Context:
The spectacle of the region’s most affluent man—devastated by tragedy, sitting on an ash dump, and passionately debating with his friends—evidently attracted an audience. One bystander was a young man named Elihu. When the older friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar ceased their condemnation of Job, Elihu felt compelled to speak out against Job’s line of reasoning. In four speeches, he attacked Job and Job’s complaint that God was not treating him fairly. Elihu presented the most systematic and persuasive argument of all Job’s detractors. However, his contention is neither approved nor condemned in the Scriptures as a whole.
As discussed over these past few weeks, we know that the friends weren't completely wrong. Suffering is sometimes due to God's judgment on sin. But, with Job this was not the case. When Elihu speaks, he deals with the discipline of God. As with his other friends' advice, there is an element of truth that can be discerned from Elihu's analysis.
The truth that God disciplines his followers is evident throughout Scripture (see Hebrews 12:5-8; Revelation 3:19). We want to consider, as we hear from Elihu, the possibility that painful circumstances could be God's discipline and how we should respond to such discipline.
Listen When God Speaks
Someone Read Job 33:13-16.
Discussion options:
- What did Elihu accuse Job of doing in verse 13? (Job wanted his day in court to vindicate himself but he felt God had refused to hear his case. -- remind the group of last weeks study when Job used the word "If" to prove his case)
- What did Elihu say was the reason for Job's struggles? (He wasn't listening to God when He spoke)
- Verse 14: Have you ever failed to hear God when He clearly was speaking to you? Why did you fail to recognize Him? What did you learn from the experience?
- Verses 15-16: Notice how Elihu describes how God spoke in those days. How does God warn people today to turn from sin? Are any of the ways listed applicable to today?
- How is being terrified by a warning a good thing? (verse 16)
- When has heeding a warning from God spared you pain or trouble?
- Discovery Study Questions, p43: If you ever belatedly realized that God was trying to tell you something, why do you think it took so long to recognize His voice? If you've ever experienced a time when you thought God was silent, do you still agree with that assessment? If not, what ways did He speak that you ignored?
- Was God really silent with Job? In what ways was God speaking? (God was using the circumstances and people around him to teach him more about intimacy with God. Job was driven to talk with and understand God in ways he had never experienced before. God was speaking, just in a different way)
Elihu insisted that God had been speaking repeatedly to Job and warning him, but Job had refused to listen. While Elihu was correct in the assumption that we sometimes don't notice when God speaks, his conclusion about Job was wrong. Next Elihu reasoned that God had warned Job, but Job had failed to comprehend God's message.
What Illness May Tell You (Recognize God's Reasons)
Read Job 33:17-22
Elihu reasoned that God had warned Job, but Job had failed to comprehend God’s message. According to Elihu, Job’s sin was rooted in pride. Job’s defiance was moving him into rebellion against the Almighty.
Discussion Options:
- Describe some real-life examples of how God may use pain or suffering to bring someone back to Him. (For example, losing a job that has become an idol could be a form of discipline.)
- Personal Discovery Guide, p44: Do you find it easy or difficult to accept the idea that illness or other kinds of pain may be a direct result of sin or a need to draw close to God?
- How does God sometimes speak to us through sickness? Why is illness often an effective way to get our attention? (NOTE: Be sure to emphasize that not all sickness is due to God's discipline. Job was not being disciplined for sin in his life or warned for straying from God.)
- When we experience periods of sickness or injury, what should we ask ourselves and God?
- If using Discovery Study Guide, call attention to the Key Word phrase for "disciplined on his bed" (p41). Point out the verses that illustrate this picture - Psalm 6:2; 38:3; Hosea 7:14. Read Proverbs 3:12 aloud. What is the difference between punishment and the redemptive nature of God's discipline, which results in a renewal and restoration?
- Verses 21-22: What was Elihu emphasizing to Job by describing his condition as being on the brink of death? (Job's first three friends had employed Job’s condition only as evidence of his guilt, Elihu insisted it was proof that God was answering Job’s petition. However, time was running out for Job. If he did not respond to God’s provision soon, he would go into the grave. When he died, it would be too late. Elihu insisted that an afflicted man should not insist that God committed injustice. Instead, he should praise God’s mercy and patience for not striking him with the mortal blow.)
The remainder of chapter 33 emphasizes that God's discipline is redemptive, not just punitive. His purpose is to save us from our self-destruction and restore us to a right relationship with Himself. In chapter 36, Elihu begins his fourth and final speech to Job.
Respond to God's Discipline (Respond to God's Refining)
Read Job 36:8-12. Instruct the group to identify the conditional ("if") statements Elihu presents as you read. Lead discussion using the following.
Discussion Options:
- Verses 8-10 "If": How would you paraphrase what Elihu is saying in this first conditional statement? How are God's actions described? (God tells them what they have done; He opens their ears to corrections; He insists they repent) What does this say about how God deals with His people? Can someone not respond to God, even if "their ears have been opened?"
- Verse 11 "If": Assuming someone repents, what did Elihu say would be the result? (prosperity and happiness) How is his view flawed? (Elihu expressed the same flawed idea held by the three friends. The view has truth in it, but it is incomplete. It fails to allow for exceptions and for the impact of satanic evil in the world. God does bless those who repent of their sins and are faithful to Him. However, God’s blessings do not always take the form of material prosperity or good health.) How would you explain the benefits of repentance to someone?
- Verse 12 "If": What was Elihu saying to Job? (Don't wait, take care of this now.) What was flawed about his assumption? (Job had nothing to repent of.) What was accurate about his statement? (Refusing to repent robs believers of abundant life now. We take our sin to our grave. There is no need to live like this. If we don't know Christ, our refusal to repent affects us eternally. Heeding God's correction may or may not make us prosperous and pain-free, but it can protect us from many sorrows in this life and from judgment in the next.)
- How would you define biblical repentance to a friend who asked you to explain it?
Looking for the source of suffering will serve you well, even if you eventually reject the idea that God is using a megaphone of physical pain or other circumstances to get your spiritual attention. No matter why you suffer, any situation can be used as discipline to a closer relationship with God, and obedience always brings God's blessings. (Discovery Study Guide, p46)
Look Out: Hitting the target and applying it to daily living.
Job's friends outlined two possibilities for suffering - judgement and discipline. Job took the correct steps to look into his heart and consider all of these possibilities. Yet, for Job, neither of these were true. Job's suffering was not initiated as divine judgement or discipline but eventually served the purpose of teaching him about God in ways he didn't know before. His suffering did draw him into more intimate conversations with the God he knew and loved.
Distribute the Handout: Why Suffering? or display the corresponding PowerPoint slide. Ask the group to identify times in their lives when they felt that they were suffering for one of these reasons. How did you respond to God? What did you learn about God through the process?
Discovery Study Guide, p46:
- If you're presently experiencing any health problems, would you be willing to undergo a spiritual checkup? What is God teaching you about yourself and Him during this time?
- List people you or others in your Bible study group know who are dealing with illness. What can you do to encourage them and help them draw closer to God?
