Is This a Test?

Job 1:1, Job 2: 1-10

This sermon is the first in a series on the book of Job (rhymes with probe).  Job is a wealthy man and reportedly a righteous man.  In one day, he loses everything he has–all his wealth, and even his children.  Then he is afflicted with a disease which gives him sores all over his body.  Three of his friends hear of his suffering and come to him.  They sit in silence for seven days, and then Job begins to speak.  Neither Job nor his friends are part of the tribes of Israel.  Job is from Uz, a land “in the East.” His friends are Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.

Job struggles to understand his affliction.  By his example, he shows us how to stay in relationship with God in the midst of great pain and suffering.  Because he stayed in relationship with God, God reached out to Job.  As a result, Job is changed.