Job: Bad Advice with Good Intentions

Missio Church - Bismarck

Verses Used:

• Assorted Job References
• James 1:2-4

Takeaways:

Friends with good intentions can give bad advice.

Eliaphaz Speaks to Job:

• False Idea #1: There is no Satan behind suffering.
• Satan is truly the one to blame here. But without an understanding that there are evil forces in the world out to harm us, we oversimplify things.

Bildad the Shuhite:

• False Idea #2: There is no final judgment.
• The Bible teaches that we will reap what we sow - but not immediately, because what we sow has to grow until harvest.

Zophar the Naamathite:

• False Idea #3: There is no innocent suffering.

Job’s friends made three mistakes; three lies they were trying to get Job to believe:

• There is no Satan behind suffering
• There is no final judgment
• There is no innocent suffering

There are some things only God has the answers to (we’re just guessing).

Discussion Questions:

• Why do you think understanding suffering with a connection to Satan is important?
• Can you think of a time that you lost perspective in your life while suffering? What was it?
• How does the final judgment change the way we see and understand suffering?
• Why is it good news for us that God doesn’t immediately judge us in real time? That there is a final judgment.

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