Lesson 14 (Dec 24-30), Some Lessons from Job

How By Faith and Not by Sight

1. Would have it been unfair for Job to have known about the wager between God and Satan?
2. Why is "seeing" "believing" for humans? What are some realities that cannot be seen? What are some things that we see that are not real?
3. What enables a person to believe without seeing?

Evil Being

1. If, as we believe, the book of Job was the first of the Bible books to be written, what themes might have deemed it important to be the first?
2. How much does nature reveal God? How much does nature reveal Satan?
3. How does order in the universe buttress belief in the justice of God?

With Friends Like These

1. What made Job's friends believe like they did--that suffering was because of sin?
2. How much of the character of Job would the three friends have been aware of?
3. Why did God condemn the three friends for speaking wrong about him? What did they say about God that was wrong?

More Than Thorns and Thistles

1. Did Satan create thorns and thistles, the mosquito, etc?
2. Why would God permit Satan to mar nature?
3. How much can science wipe out thorns, thistles and creatures like mosquitos?

Jesus and Job

1. Why didn't God place Job in the Garden of Eden instead of Adam? Would history have been different?
2. Assuming that Satan tried his hardest to hook Job and Jesus what made their trials the severest?
3. If you were arranging the rewards for Job's success would you have made it any different?

Lesson 13 (Dec 17-23), The Character of Job

Does the Bible intend for us to understand that Job was a real historical figure, or is it an inspired parable intended to teach us important lessons?

The Man from Uz

1. Does the absence of any known site indicating the geographic location of Uz which means "wisdom," prove anything either that the story is not meant to be understood literally or that further research could discover the location?
2. Does the fact that the names of the characters in Job mean nothing significant suggest that the story is not a parable but meant to be taken literally? 
3. What do the words "blameless" and "upright" really mean considering that these words have been used for Noah, Abraham, Joseph and David?
4. What should we understand from the terms "feared the Lord" and "shunned evil?"

Steps Bathed in Cream

1. Is it easier to have the right relationship with God in prosperity or in adversity?
2. Who has more to do with a person's prosperity in life--Satan, God, or the individual?
3. What can a prosperous person do to provide for a time in later life when adversity strikes?

Heart and Eyes

1. Is it possible for others to know enough about individuals to make basic judgements about their characters--whether they are  generally good or bad enough to deserve blessings or curses?
2. At what point if any does "seeing with the eyes" and "sinning in the heart," become as bad as actually committing sin?
3. How much of a duty does a prosperous person have towards those less fortunate? How much less-fortunate should a person be to deserve help from another person?

A House on the Rock

1. What does the "house" stand for in the parable of the men who built on the rock and on the sand? What does the "rock" and the "sand" stand for?
2. What is it that a person can be credited for that enables them to remain faithful and obedient through prosperity and adversity? 
3. How much adversity is required in order to prove the character of a person? Why do some get more than their fair share?

The Manifold Wisdom of God

1. What benefit is it to God when humans remain faithful to him either in prosperity or in adversity?
2. What does it matter to God if one individual fails?
3. What are things that an individual can do to attract God's transforming work?

Lesson 12 (Dec 10-16), Job's Redeemer

My Redeemer Liveth

1. What are things that people redeem? What makes it necessary for a person to be humanly redeemed?
2. Why do you think God chose to reveal himself in the book of Job through a cyclone/hurricane/typhoon/whirlwind?
3. Why did God point out himself as creator to Job? What is the connection between "creator" and "redeemer?"

The Son of Man

1. Why did God feel it necessary to experience the travails of human beings personally?
2. Did the fact that Jesus preserved his divinity even during his incarnation dilute the value of his assuming human nature?
3. Could we have become sons and daughters of God without Jesus becoming the Son of Man?

The Death of Christ

1. Can the perfect life of Christ serve as a practical example for us since we do not have the divine nature he had? Did Jesus have an advantage over human beings in living in obedience to God successfully?
2. Is Jesus' perfect life less important for the salvation of humans as is his death?
3. Considering that Job was blameless and upright, did he need a redeemer?

The Sufferings of the Son of Man

1. What does Isaiah mean when he says that "He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows?" Aren't we still bearing them? What griefs and sorrows of mine is Jesus bearing?
2. What made Satan in the book of Job accept God's role in the story?
3. How did God remind Job that he understood the sufferings of creation?

Satan Unmasked

1. Did God unmask Satan and his role to Job?
2. What purpose did God have in describing the behemoth and leviathan to Job? What indicates that those are earthly creatures? What characteristics of those creatures inform us that those are describing something supernatural?
3. Why was it necessary for Job to understand the great controversy? 
4. How does a knowledge of the existence of Satan help us to understand life on  earth?

Lesson 11 (Dec 3-9), Out of the Whirlwind

Out of the Whirlwind

1. Do we need a voice to know God's power and might through a cyclone?
2. Does a cyclone appear suddenly or is there warning?
3. Could Job's friends also hear the voice that Job heard?
4. Why did God not answer Job earlier?

God's Question

1. Why does God ask humans questions? What did he hope to achieve through questioning Job?
2. Were God's questions for Job's benefit or for the friends' benefit?
3. Does God expect humans not to question him?

The Lord as Creator

1. Why would God discuss creation with Job rather than justice and fairness?
2. Does order in creation, the physical universe prove order in the moral universe?
3. Does it make any difference that Satan was present when the world was created?

The Wisdom of the Wise

1. Do we today know more than any other generation in the history of the universe?
2. Is the Bible supposed to be accurate in everything that it says about science?
3. Will God allow humans to migrate to other planets?

Repenting in Dust and Ashes

1. What did Job mean by saying he repented?
2. What did God communicate to Job that silenced him, or was it just being in the presence of God that quieted him?
3. Are the Leviathan and Behemoth real animals or symbolic?