Before we jump into this book of Job, we need to pause and recognize that we are now entering a whole new territory: All the previous books that we journaled through followed the story of the people of God as it happened in history. This book takes a different approach, and it is about a different nation.  

For a broader view of this book of the Bible, we encourage you to watch this video:

Bible Journaling Tip:

In the book of Job, we find a characteristic of God that was not apparent earlier in the Bible: He welcomes questions if they are brought to him in humility. He wants people to bring their emotions to Him. When you read about a characteristic of God, it is always an opportunity to quickly write it down in the margin of that page: “Our God is compassionate” / “God welcomes (humble) questions”.  

LOOK UP (information): encounter God through the Scripture 

Author:

The authorship of this book is disputed. This book could have been written by Job himself, one of his friends, or an eyewitness. The point is not who wrote the book, but rather who is this book about? This book tells the story of one man’s complete dependence on God despite extremely difficult circumstances. It is also different from what we read so far in another important way: Job is not even an Israelite. The whole setting of the story is completely unexpected. 

Audience:

The purpose of this book is to remind us that God is in control, even when our life circumstances feel messy and uncertain. Job is a sort of prototype of the worst possible life events - and how to remain full of faith and trust in God despite them. It also does not shy away from big important theological questions. This is a question to ponder: How does God feel about it when we have questions about Him?

History:

This book is not strictly part of the story development as we’ve been reading through the Old Testament so far - In other words, this is not a continuation of what we read about in the book of Esther. Rather, this book is poetic in nature. 

Genre:

This is the first book in our journey of journaling through the Bible that is not historical in nature. This means we need to put on different lenses when reading this book. The book of Job is part of the category called ‘Wisdom Literature’ - this just means that it was intended to be used to instruct the people of God how to live. It is written in a poetic style which is often missed by modern readers.

LOOK IN (revelation): contemplate / reflect on our own lives

Key verse:

Job 38:1-4 NIV

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.”

Inspiration:

In the final part of the book of Job, God finally responds to Job’s questions and all that he and his friends had pondered about the meaning of suffering in this life. It is interesting how much bigger God’s perspective is than Job’s. What other differences can you identify in how both speak about human suffering? How would you define human suffering?

LOOK OUT (transformation): respond with creative worship action  

Drawing prompt:

This book is a dialogue between Job, his three friends, and God. Design your own symbol for each of these characters and add it in the margins next to their speech. You can use a color that is meaningful too, e.g. Gold for God; Grey for Job because he is hopeless. Note the pattern of the conversation and see how this indicates the poetic nature of this book. 

Bible Journey with JournalOwl:

Here are some questions / prompts provided by the JournalOwl community. 

• Where did Job say people search for wisdom in these verses of this book? (Job 28:1-19)
• What is wisdom and where can it be found? (Job 28:20-28)

Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.

 Writing prompt:

This book is about an age-old question: Why do bad things happen to good people?

The three friends responding to Job’s questions each come with their own “wise” worldview to provide answers to this question. Make a summary of the differences and similarities between their worldview, Job’s perspective, and how God responds. 

Imagine yourself being one of Job’s friends - How would you respond to what he said? What have you believed about God’s justice? Do you think God’s answer to this question has changed over the years as the world changed? 

Prayer:

God, I want to thank you for the book of Job. Help me to see that you are good and kind and trustworthy even when my situations do not look great. Show me how I can have faith that can not be shaken. Let my response to this text be worship unto you!