Wrestling in the Darkness: Job and His Friends’ Quest for Meaning in Suffering

In Job 3-27, Job enters into a deep dialogue with his friends about the nature and meaning of suffering. They offer counsel that is, in one way, true, but is divorced from the context of Job’s life and God’s permission. We will talk about when to speak and when to be silent, how we comfort one another in suffering and also how we search out meaning together before God in suffering.

(Job 3-27)

Sermon Outline

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.” (Job 19:25)

Job’s Lament (Job 3:1-26)

• Darkness can be _________________________
• Darkness can seem _________________________ (Job 7:2-3)
• Darkness brings _________________________

The Dialogue (Job 4-Job 27)

• Theology of Suffering
  • Eliphaz
  • Bildad
  • Zophar
• Change in Job’s Friends
  • Silence to _________________________
  • Compassion to _________________________
  • Patience to _________________________
  • Sympathy to _________________________
• Change in Job
  • Despair to _________________________(Job 19:21-27)

Wrestling in the Darkness

• People of God are not ________________________________ (James 5:10-11)
• Suffering as a Community
  • Be slow _________________________ and quick _________________________
  • _________________________over _________________________
  • _________________________ > Understanding
• Understanding Suffering can be Beyond our Comprehension (John 9:1-3)
• Holding on in the Darkness

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. The Book of Job contains one of the most difficult stories of suffering in the Bible. As we look at this story of suffering lets be aware that many people in our church, city, and world are suffering mightily. Take time as a group to pray for people and groups of people that are experiencing suffering.
2. This is week #2 of our series entitled “Finding God in the Darkness,” which draws from the book of Job and is part of a church-wide journey toward Easter. Take time and begin study by reading Job’s lament in Chapter 3.
   1. What stood out to you in this passage?
   2. Why do you think Job asks so many questions?
   3. How would you describe the faith of Job in this passage?
   4. If you were in Job’s shoes, how do you think your response would compare?
3. The friends of Job (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) enter the story at the end of Chapter 2 to comfort Job. How do they suffer with their friend?
4. Unfortunately for Job, after his lament, there is a change in his friends. It begins in Job 4 and continues through Job 25.
   1. Why do you think the friends have such a drastic change?
   2. How does Job respond to the growing attacks as they become more personal and more vicious?
   3. Have you ever had a friend that turned from being compassionate to judgmental? How did you handle that situation?
   4. What lessons can you learn from Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar about being a friend with another person in the darkest of times?
5. Read Job 19:21-27. Contrast where Job is in this passage to where he was in Job 3. What might be causing the change from hopeless desperation to a place of trust in a Redeemer?
6. The people of God are not exempt from suffering. Why do you believe this is the case?
7. How can your group become a group that suffers together? Are you honest with one another about the struggles of life? What keeps you from being truthful and open with one another?
8. The reality is that suffering happens for reasons we might not ever understand. How can we hold onto faith in Jesus during the darkest of times? (Read John 1:1-5 as a group and close in prayer.