Know: Review the character of Job before he suffered, using what we can glean about him in various passages throughout the book.
Feel: Marvel at Job as a person who lived a life in consistent harmony with God, putting his faith into tangible action.
Do: Resolve to live a sanctified life of practical faith in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Learning Outline:
Know: A Blameless Life
A How blameless is blameless? When you look at Job’s life, how would you answer this question?
B What are the traits in Job’s character that are most appealing to you, and how are they relevant to your current situation?
Feel: A Consistent Life
A How do you feel about a person like Job who seems to be consistently good and righteous in all aspects of life?
B What are the elements in Job’s character description that communicate this impression of consistency?
Do: A Sanctified Life
A What is the secret for success to living a spirit-filled and sanctified life?
B How does our sanctification impact our social interaction with a world around us that is full of physical and spiritual needs?
Summary: A closer look at Job before his suffering, as pieced together from various passages in the book, reveals a personality that is consistently in harmony with God, which translates itself into a practical faith. High ethical values, personal integrity, and a heart for the socially vulnerable in society characterize this faith.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Job 29:12–16, 31:16–22
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: Important aspects of Job’s righteousness are his high ethical and moral values that become visible in his dealings with the socially vulnerable. Righteousness needs to translate itself into tangible acts of goodness in our interactions with the people around us. God has placed us right into the midst of this world in order to lessen the suffering of the people around us. While we should not be of this world, we should be active Christians in this world.
Just for Teachers: As a church, we need to take our social engagement seriously. Sometimes we delegate social responsibility to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), thinking that its workers are the professionals who should respond to the suffering in our world. While ADRA’s work is of utmost importance, it does not exempt us as individual church members from interacting with the socially vulnerable in our community. Look around the area where your church is located. In what ways is your church interacting with this community?
Opening Discussion: In 2008, an archaeology student who was participating in the excavation of the site of Khirbet Qeiyafa, in Israel—the biblical Shaaraim mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:52—came across a big shard of pottery that was inscribed with ink in ancient Hebrew letters. The exciting find turned out to be the oldest Hebrew inscription found up to that point and was dated into the 10th century b.c., the time when King David reigned over Israel.
Once the significance of the find was understood, the shard was sent to various labs for spectral imaging and further analysis, as some of the ink had faded, making it impossible to read the complete inscription. The result was that a number of scholars suggested different readings, trying to glean the meaning of this ancient inscription. Each of the different translations has a number of words in common, easily understood from the extant inscription, that give the general idea of the document: “protect the poor and the slave,” “plead for the widow,” “judge the orphan,” “rehabilitate the poor,” “plead for the infant,” and “support the stranger.” All these fragmentary sentences point to the fact that already during the 10th century b.c., Old Testament Israel had very high ethical values when it came to the protection of the socially vulnerable.
Job exemplified this lifestyle hundreds of years before the inscription was written onto a piece of pottery. Why is it significant that the oldest Hebrew inscription talks about caring for the poor, treating the widows and orphans with justice, and protecting the stranger who lives among us?
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: It is interesting to create a character profile for Job, based on the passages selected for this week’s lesson. It is also a bit scary, because after continuously being exposed to the retribution theology speeches of Job’s friends for the last couple of weeks, some might have begun to wonder if there really weren’t some secret sin that Job harbored. That assumption is wrong, of course, as this lesson clearly shows. But this fact is the scary part. Job was consistently good, maybe to the extent that it scares us, because we could never dream of reaching this level of perfection. Or perhaps our idea of biblical perfection is a distorted one.
Bible Commentary
Job’s character, as discussed this week, raises a couple of important theological questions, one being the issue of biblical perfection that frequently causes animated discussion in our churches. Can we attain a perfect character here on earth? Is it possible, especially in the face of continual personal failure and falling into sin?
Biblical Perfection (Review Job 1:1, 8 and Matthew 5:48 in the class.)
Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 5:48 (“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect,” NKJV) often has caused consternation among believers. How could I ever attain this? What did Jesus mean by this statement? Is it an admonition or a promise?
The words in the Old and New Testaments that are translated as “perfect” in our modern Bibles have in their original languages slightly different meanings. The Hebrew tamim means “complete, right, peaceful, sound, wholesome, or blameless,” whereas the Greek teleios means “complete, perfect, full-grown, mature, fully developed, and having attained its purpose.” These connotations already evoke different ideas of a sinless state as the expression of biblical perfection. If one takes further into consideration that biblical characters such as Noah and Abraham clearly showed some imperfections (Gen. 9:21, 20:2), one realizes that ideas of biblical perfection as a sinless state and the eradication of our sinful nature might not be that biblical after all.
As a matter of fact, our ideas of biblical perfection are deeply connected to how we see Christ’s role in the work of salvation. If Christ’s role as our model is overemphasized, then our task must be to assimilate this pattern to the utmost and try to achieve a sinless state, as Christ did, which makes us vulnerable to a work-oriented form of Christianity.
If, on the other hand, we accept Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross as impacting on both our redemption and sanctification, we can accept His perfection as our perfection. Though we must always be careful not to fall into the idea of “cheap grace,” a person who has fully committed his or her life to Christ is perfect in Him. This union is salvation by grace alone, and through our daily union with Christ we participate in His holy life. We have reached our perfection, our goal and objective, as the Greek work teleios expresses (compare with John 15:5; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 3:19; 4:13; Phil. 2:12, 13).
II. Christianity in the Public Sphere (Review Job 29:8–17, 31:1–24, Isaiah 1:17, Psalm 72:4, and Exodus 23:3 with the class.)
Much has been written and said about the role of Christians in the public sphere, referring to the place where Christians and non-Christians meet. The concept of the public sphere, or square, is an old one. Most ancient cultures boasted a public place where the citizens (and others) of the community interacted. In Spanish-speaking countries, each town had, and still has, a plaza. In ancient Israel, the gate area was the public place where business, law cases, and other important public issues were handled (compare Ruth 4:1, 2).
Some forms of Christianity, however, have chosen to follow a fortress mentality. This mind-set is centered on the belief that their church needs to be defended against any intruders from the world, leading to a very exclusivist idea of church with minimum social interaction. They have very little, if any, connection with the communities in which they are located.
However, the Bible strongly and consistently suggests that followers of God need to be socially sensitive, especially with regard to the vulnerable groups of society. These groups are repeatedly mentioned in Job, demonstrating that Job had strongly engaged with his environment. He “delivered the poor” and “fatherless” (Job 29:12) or provided for them (Job 31:16); he supported the “widow” (Job 29:13, 31:16) and upheld the rights of his male or female servants (Job 31:13). Righteousness is measured in the Old Testament by such acts. In contrast, when things go wrong, the prophets consistently denounce sin (for example, the book of Amos, which denounces Samaria’s social wrongdoings). Christianity needs to be tangible. Our impact on these traditional groups (poor, widows, orphans, strangers) or modern additions to them (migrant workers, asylum seekers, HIV/AIDS sufferers, drug abusers, the racially oppressed, and so on) is a good measure for our practical Christianity.
Consider This: What does our interaction with the above-mentioned socially vulnerable groups have to do with our righteousness?
Intercessory Prayer (Review Job 1:5, Hebrews 4:14–16, John 17, and Ephesians 6:18 with the class.)
One of Job’s less mentioned pre-suffering characteristics was his intercessory prayer on behalf of his children. His prayers and sacrifices opened the door for the Holy Spirit to work more powerfully in the lives of his children, stemming back the powers of evil. This is how intercessory prayer always works, and our intercessory prayers are modeled on Christ’s.
Consider This: What are some of your experiences in intercessory prayer?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: Job made a covenant with his eyes (Job 31:1). The amount of visual data that enters our minds through the eyes every day is almost incomprehensible and certainly almost impossible to process. We need some filters. We need a covenant.
Thought/Application Questions:
How would a modern “covenant with [one’s] eyes” look practically?
What are some ways you could reach out as a class to the socially vulnerable in your community?
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Social ethics are the livelihood of the Old Testament prophets. They preached about it again and again. Likewise, our Christianity needs to become tangible in deeds of kindness and generosity.
Class/Individual Activities:
Plan a social outreach event with your class. Consider participating in a soup kitchen, volunteering at an orphanage, helping in a disaster situation, collecting essential items for the economically challenged, or visiting a shelter for homeless people. Make sure that this effort is not going to be a one-time event!
Adjust My Preferences
Welcome! Please set your reading preferences below.
You can access this panel later by clicking the
preference icon
in the top right of the page.
Key Texts: Job 1:1, 8
The Student Will:
Learning Outline:
Summary: A closer look at Job before his suffering, as pieced together from various passages in the book, reveals a personality that is consistently in harmony with God, which translates itself into a practical faith. High ethical values, personal integrity, and a heart for the socially vulnerable in society characterize this faith.
Learning Cycle
STEP 1—Motivate
Spotlight on Scripture: Job 29:12–16, 31:16–22
Key Concept for Spiritual Growth: Important aspects of Job’s righteousness are his high ethical and moral values that become visible in his dealings with the socially vulnerable. Righteousness needs to translate itself into tangible acts of goodness in our interactions with the people around us. God has placed us right into the midst of this world in order to lessen the suffering of the people around us. While we should not be of this world, we should be active Christians in this world.
Just for Teachers: As a church, we need to take our social engagement seriously. Sometimes we delegate social responsibility to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), thinking that its workers are the professionals who should respond to the suffering in our world. While ADRA’s work is of utmost importance, it does not exempt us as individual church members from interacting with the socially vulnerable in our community. Look around the area where your church is located. In what ways is your church interacting with this community?
Opening Discussion: In 2008, an archaeology student who was participating in the excavation of the site of Khirbet Qeiyafa, in Israel—the biblical Shaaraim mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:52—came across a big shard of pottery that was inscribed with ink in ancient Hebrew letters. The exciting find turned out to be the oldest Hebrew inscription found up to that point and was dated into the 10th century b.c., the time when King David reigned over Israel.
Once the significance of the find was understood, the shard was sent to various labs for spectral imaging and further analysis, as some of the ink had faded, making it impossible to read the complete inscription. The result was that a number of scholars suggested different readings, trying to glean the meaning of this ancient inscription. Each of the different translations has a number of words in common, easily understood from the extant inscription, that give the general idea of the document: “protect the poor and the slave,” “plead for the widow,” “judge the orphan,” “rehabilitate the poor,” “plead for the infant,” and “support the stranger.” All these fragmentary sentences point to the fact that already during the 10th century b.c., Old Testament Israel had very high ethical values when it came to the protection of the socially vulnerable.
Job exemplified this lifestyle hundreds of years before the inscription was written onto a piece of pottery. Why is it significant that the oldest Hebrew inscription talks about caring for the poor, treating the widows and orphans with justice, and protecting the stranger who lives among us?
STEP 2—Explore
Just for Teachers: It is interesting to create a character profile for Job, based on the passages selected for this week’s lesson. It is also a bit scary, because after continuously being exposed to the retribution theology speeches of Job’s friends for the last couple of weeks, some might have begun to wonder if there really weren’t some secret sin that Job harbored. That assumption is wrong, of course, as this lesson clearly shows. But this fact is the scary part. Job was consistently good, maybe to the extent that it scares us, because we could never dream of reaching this level of perfection. Or perhaps our idea of biblical perfection is a distorted one.
Bible Commentary
Job’s character, as discussed this week, raises a couple of important theological questions, one being the issue of biblical perfection that frequently causes animated discussion in our churches. Can we attain a perfect character here on earth? Is it possible, especially in the face of continual personal failure and falling into sin?
Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 5:48 (“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect,” NKJV) often has caused consternation among believers. How could I ever attain this? What did Jesus mean by this statement? Is it an admonition or a promise?
The words in the Old and New Testaments that are translated as “perfect” in our modern Bibles have in their original languages slightly different meanings. The Hebrew tamim means “complete, right, peaceful, sound, wholesome, or blameless,” whereas the Greek teleios means “complete, perfect, full-grown, mature, fully developed, and having attained its purpose.” These connotations already evoke different ideas of a sinless state as the expression of biblical perfection. If one takes further into consideration that biblical characters such as Noah and Abraham clearly showed some imperfections (Gen. 9:21, 20:2), one realizes that ideas of biblical perfection as a sinless state and the eradication of our sinful nature might not be that biblical after all.
As a matter of fact, our ideas of biblical perfection are deeply connected to how we see Christ’s role in the work of salvation. If Christ’s role as our model is overemphasized, then our task must be to assimilate this pattern to the utmost and try to achieve a sinless state, as Christ did, which makes us vulnerable to a work-oriented form of Christianity.
If, on the other hand, we accept Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross as impacting on both our redemption and sanctification, we can accept His perfection as our perfection. Though we must always be careful not to fall into the idea of “cheap grace,” a person who has fully committed his or her life to Christ is perfect in Him. This union is salvation by grace alone, and through our daily union with Christ we participate in His holy life. We have reached our perfection, our goal and objective, as the Greek work teleios expresses (compare with John 15:5; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 3:19; 4:13; Phil. 2:12, 13).
Much has been written and said about the role of Christians in the public sphere, referring to the place where Christians and non-Christians meet. The concept of the public sphere, or square, is an old one. Most ancient cultures boasted a public place where the citizens (and others) of the community interacted. In Spanish-speaking countries, each town had, and still has, a plaza. In ancient Israel, the gate area was the public place where business, law cases, and other important public issues were handled (compare Ruth 4:1, 2).
Some forms of Christianity, however, have chosen to follow a fortress mentality. This mind-set is centered on the belief that their church needs to be defended against any intruders from the world, leading to a very exclusivist idea of church with minimum social interaction. They have very little, if any, connection with the communities in which they are located.
However, the Bible strongly and consistently suggests that followers of God need to be socially sensitive, especially with regard to the vulnerable groups of society. These groups are repeatedly mentioned in Job, demonstrating that Job had strongly engaged with his environment. He “delivered the poor” and “fatherless” (Job 29:12) or provided for them (Job 31:16); he supported the “widow” (Job 29:13, 31:16) and upheld the rights of his male or female servants (Job 31:13). Righteousness is measured in the Old Testament by such acts. In contrast, when things go wrong, the prophets consistently denounce sin (for example, the book of Amos, which denounces Samaria’s social wrongdoings). Christianity needs to be tangible. Our impact on these traditional groups (poor, widows, orphans, strangers) or modern additions to them (migrant workers, asylum seekers, HIV/AIDS sufferers, drug abusers, the racially oppressed, and so on) is a good measure for our practical Christianity.
Consider This: What does our interaction with the above-mentioned socially vulnerable groups have to do with our righteousness?
One of Job’s less mentioned pre-suffering characteristics was his intercessory prayer on behalf of his children. His prayers and sacrifices opened the door for the Holy Spirit to work more powerfully in the lives of his children, stemming back the powers of evil. This is how intercessory prayer always works, and our intercessory prayers are modeled on Christ’s.
Consider This: What are some of your experiences in intercessory prayer?
STEP 3—Apply
Just for Teachers: Job made a covenant with his eyes (Job 31:1). The amount of visual data that enters our minds through the eyes every day is almost incomprehensible and certainly almost impossible to process. We need some filters. We need a covenant.
Thought/Application Questions:
STEP 4—Create
Just for Teachers: Social ethics are the livelihood of the Old Testament prophets. They preached about it again and again. Likewise, our Christianity needs to become tangible in deeds of kindness and generosity.
Class/Individual Activities:
Plan a social outreach event with your class. Consider participating in a soup kitchen, volunteering at an orphanage, helping in a disaster situation, collecting essential items for the economically challenged, or visiting a shelter for homeless people. Make sure that this effort is not going to be a one-time event!