Before Reading / Listening Points
Job 21: Job replies to Zophar. Does he complain as much as he did previously? What does he say about the punishment / prosperity of the wicked?
Job 22: Eliphaz speaks again. Are the things he says true?
Job 23: Job stops answering his friends, and addresses God. There are many tensions in Job’s words. What is he struggling with?
Narration/Handwriting:
Job says evil people can live happy lives, but God will judge them in the end. Job wishes he could talk with God about his suffering. Job resolves he will follow God no matter what.
Observations and Questions
Job 21: The fundamental question discussed continues to be: is outward prosperity a mark of the true believer, and outward ruin a mark of the hypocrite? What does Job answer? Does God punish evildoers on earth? [Sometimes, but not always. Job says commonly He allows even the worst sinners to live all their days in prosperity with no visible sign of God’s wrath.] Where does Job point to God’s punishment? [As being in the world to come.]
Job 22: What are Eliphaz’s accusations of Job? [injustice, unfaithfulness to God]. Are they right? [no] Eliphaz’s exhortation of vv. 21-30 is excellent, notwithstanding its misdirection in Job’s case.
Job 23: Job is struggling with his flesh and spirit, fear and faith. He complains of his suffering and of God’s silence, his inability to get understanding or relief. But he comforts himself with assurance of God’s deliverance and his own integrity.