It’s in the Bible!\u00a0 II Timothy 3:16-17<\/p>\n
Many people associate the book of Job with grief and hardship. People who don’t know much about the bible understand that Job dealt with a tough situation. People associate Job with hardship the way they associate Judas with betrayal.<\/p>\n
Many people who have at least some bible knowledge think of grief and hardship when they think of Job. This year our annual theme is going back to the basics. If we think of the aspect of Job that deals with grief and suffering, we are aware that these are things every person deals with. This is a common ground we share with people in the world who we are trying to reach, teach and influence.<\/p>\n
You don’t have to wait until you are “over the hill” to experience grief and suffering. What we define as “suffering” is different for each of us, and it changes as we grow older as well. As we grow older, stronger in our Christian walk, and wiser, we continue to experience suffering. It does not leave us while we are in this life. Like taxes, we simply can’t be rid of it.<\/p>\n
Although people quickly associate the book of Job with grief and suffering, these things are\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0what the book is primarily about. It obviously contains grief and suffering, but the theme is something else entirely. So what could this be?<\/p>\n As we progress through the book and the class we should come to the realization of some themes other than grief or suffering. I have my own idea of what the book is primarily about so I don’t want to influence anyone’s thinking so early on as to what I think it is.<\/p>\n Very many!<\/strong><\/p>\n 7 sons, 3 daughters<\/p>\n In verses 3 through 10 Job curses his day of birth. Job does this in a number of ways but the bottom line is that he wants the day to be forgotten, removed from history and the calendar.<\/p>\n Possibly referring to people who perform rituals or ceremonies with elements we would recognize as witchcraft. I don’t believe Job is literally asking for this type of person to actually carry this thing out. It may be that his frustration and utter devastation is influencing him to use language extreme in severity to convey his desire to have never been born. It could be similar to someone saying the phrase “I would do anything for\u2026” but it ends up not being the literal case.<\/p>\n Job sees the world as a whole and can’t help but wonder why people in misery are burdened with life while the release of death eludes them.<\/p>\n To a person in misery, death is better than any treasure<\/p>\n Do we ever wonder why a fabulously wealthy person who “had it all” would commit suicide? Do we think they are crazy or selfish? Are we inclined to say things like “I would never take my life if I had their money” or “How bad could it have possibly been?” Remember Robin Williams.<\/p>\n Introduction to Job Why study Job? It’s in the Bible!\u00a0 II Timothy 3:16-17 Many people associate the book of Job with grief and hardship. People who don’t know much about the bible understand that Job dealt with a tough situation. People associate Job with hardship the way they associate Judas with betrayal. Many people who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":6604,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6607","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22511,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-job\/","url_meta":{"origin":6607,"position":0},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Job","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Job Text: Job 1:6-12 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The book of Job dates back to the era after the flood \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It takes place in Uz - Job 1:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the area of Edom, southeast of the Dead Sea - Lamentations 4:21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eliphaz is from a city of Edom\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6682,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/job\/final-notes\/","url_meta":{"origin":6607,"position":1},"title":"Final Notes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Final Notes for the Class on Job There is simply no way to cover the book of Job in 13 weeks spending 45 minutes per week in class and hoping to gather all the information that\u2019s there. We can scratch the surface and make some important observations. We can see\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6657,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/job\/job-and-bildad\/","url_meta":{"origin":6607,"position":2},"title":"Job and Bildad","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Class 7, Chapters 24-27 Chapter 24 Job 24:1\u2014When does God EVER judge the wicked? Why do the righteous never seem to see this happen? The plight of the poor and weak 24:2-4\u2014The wicked take what isn\u2019t theirs. They lie, cheat and steal. They extort people who don\u2019t have any help.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/job\/god-speaks-with-job-and-his-friends\/","url_meta":{"origin":6607,"position":3},"title":"God Speaks with Job and His Friends","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Class 12, Chapters 41-42 Chapter 41, God 41:1\u2014will you catch Leviathan with a fish hook as some ordinary fish? 41:2\u2014can you take him captive? 41:3-5\u2014Leviathan isn\u2019t some animal that needs to \u201cbargain\u201d with a human. He\u2019s not some pet. 41:6\u2014you won\u2019t have Leviathan scales for sale any time soon 41:7\u2014You\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6610,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/job\/eliphaz-and-jobs-response\/","url_meta":{"origin":6607,"position":4},"title":"Eliphaz and Job’s Response","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Class 2, Chapters 4-7 Job Chapter 4\u00a0- Eliphaz 4:3-4\u00a0\u2014 Eliphaz praises Job for the help and encouragement he has given to many others. In verse 4 Eliphaz specifically mentions the words Job has used to help people in trouble in the past. This is a reminder to us that our\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6613,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/job\/bildad-jobs-response-and-zophar\/","url_meta":{"origin":6607,"position":5},"title":"Bildad, Job’s Response, and Zophar","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Chapter 8 Bildad Despite Job\u2019s pain and incredibly tough situation, Bildad is already tired of hearing him speak. 8:2\u2014Wrap it up Job, seriously. Your words amount to nothing. Probably not what Job expected Bildad to start off with. Bildad is already harsher than Eliphaz was. 8:4\u2014Bildad implies Job\u2019s children have\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6607\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Confirmation bias<\/h3>\n
About the book of Job<\/h2>\nThe land of Uz
\nLamentations 4:21
\nProbably somewhere in the Edomites’ land
\nWhen was it written
\nWidely varying estimates, many between 1800 and 2000 B.C.\nWhen did the events in the book occur?<\/h3>\nPossibly around the time Abraham was alive
\nJob carries out priestly duties\u2014Job 1:5
\nBefore the law was given to Israelites
\nSee genealogy chart for more details\nJob’s wealth<\/h2>\n
7,000 sheep<\/h3>\nSheep produce wool, milk, meat, cheese
\nFeta cheese and ricotta cheese are from sheep’s milk
\nHow much do sheep eat?
\nUsing a 130lb. ewe as our baseline each sheep would need between 3 and 3.5 lbs of food per day
\nAlfalfa or clover hay, or grass with mixed hay
\n24,500 lbs of food per day
\n100 sheep need 30 to 100 acres depending on grazing availability
\n2100 acres = 3.28 square miles
\n7000 acres = 10.93 square miles\n3,000 camels<\/h3>\nCamels provide milk, meat, hair for textiles, human transportation, bearing loads, materials for tents, clothing, bedding, and accessories as well as yarn
\n3,000 camels need 1500 acres or 2.34 square miles
\nCamels eat up to 9lbs of vegetables per day
\n27,000 lbs of food per day\n500 yoke of oxen<\/h3>\nLikely means 1,000 oxen, 2 per yoke typically
\nA Virgate is the amount of land able to be plowed by a pair of oxen in a plowing season. This is equivalent to 30 acres
\n23 square miles could be plowed by this many oxen per season
\nOxen eat up to 30 lbs of food per day
\n30,000 lbs of food per day\n500 female donkeys<\/h3>\nDonkeys guard sheep, assist in breaking young calves, provide recreational riding, are able to carry heavy loads, and are a good companion animal.
\nDonkeys eat up to 5% of their body weight in food daily
\nA typical weight for a donkey is 400 to 500 lbs
\n16 lbs of food per day
\n8,000 lbs of food per day
\nDonkeys don’t need as much space to themselves as they are more social
\nOne-third of a square mile\nServants<\/h3>\n
Children<\/h3>\n
Job Chapter 3<\/h2>\n
Verse 8<\/h3>\n
Verses 11-19<\/h3>\nWhy wasn’t I given the luxury of dying at birth?
\nWhat’s the benefit of having that happen?
\n3:13<\/strong>\u2014rest
\nCompare to 3:26\u2014Job has no rest
\nJob would be around people who accomplished impressive things
\n3:17<\/strong>\u2014There is no more trouble from the wicked, no tasks to complete, slaves are free\n3:20-23<\/h3>\n
3:21-22<\/h3>\n
Point to Consider<\/h3>\n
3:24-26<\/h3>\nI have no rest; what I fear has happened.
\nImagine everything you have insurance for going away.
\nMost of what we fear\u00a0does not happen\u00a0<\/strong>in our lives. But for Job, it did.
\nChapter 3 is not the ramblings of a crazy person. Job is utterly crushed and speaking out of the bitterness of his misery. He does not blame God.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJob\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"