The Book of Job
Acknowledgement: My first serious work on Job was Hebrew exegesis on chapters 1-2 and 42 at Moore College under Barry Webb in 2001. But in 2008 some pastoral situations at St Paul's Shellharbour while I was locum provoked me to put together a 5 week series. As I was doing some hospital visiting, I was reminded that a number of Christian ministers actually didn't hold to God's omnipotence and sovereignty over evil. God only sends good, not suffering. This view of God is pastorally devastating, firstly because it is untrue, and secondly because it renders God benign but powerless in the face of evil. I believe the Christian response is very different, that the sovereign God brings good out of the evil he allows, and sends suffering on those he loves for his own good purposes. The great example of this is our Lord Jesus Christ, whose death was at one and the same time the work of wicked men and Satan, but also the act of a sovereign and omnipotent God to provide a propitiation for our sins. However, Job also provides an important example of this, in that the sufferings he endured were both provoked by Satan and allowed by Yahweh. In 2018, I had the opportunity to revisit the book of Job studying Advanced Pastoral Care with Anglicare.
For small group Bible study, I have used the Matthias Media Interactive Bible Studies, In the Eye of the Storm, by Bryson Smith. Though there are 6 studies in the booklet (compared to my 5 sermons), Bryson's take on the book is essentially the same as mine.
The translation provided is that of the New Revised Version, which is the Revised Version of 1885, modernised, modified, and revised in the light of modern English usage and the MT.
1. Job 1-3: Innocent Job's Inexplicable Suffering Explained [SS, ET]
2. Job 4-27, 29-31: Job's Insistent Innocence In The Face Of His Friends [SS]
3. Job 28
4. Job 32-41
5. Job 42