The more that I study the Old Testament, the more I love it! It reveals such a profound picture of God! This past fall my kayak friends and I dove headfirst into the book of Job. The study we used was by Elizabeth Bagwell Ficken, And The Lord Blessed Job. Last year we went through her Ezekiel study, That You May Know The Lord, and it was fantastic.
I had always been intimidated by the book of Job, even just when reading it. I wasn't sure how it all fit together since it didn't mesh with my idea of who God is. The beauty of this study and book is that it really cleared up some of the confusion. Here are my top takeaways.
God's chosen men will be tested. God allows that to happen. Job foreshadows Jesus. If I'm going to be shaped to look more like Jesus, I can expect testing, as well.
The devil only has so much access to my life-only what God allows. However, he can use people and nature to carry out his evil plans. It was so interesting how the devil had access to everything that Job had and he destroyed all his possessions and children, but left Job's wife alive. Job's wife was the one who encouraged Job to curse God. The devil observed her character and left her to try and trip Job up.
Only God knows the whole story. Job's friends thought they knew what Job's issue was, but they were presuming to know God. The messenger who came and told Job about the fire of God falling from heaven on the sheep and servants thought he knew what had happened, but this falling fire wasn't from God. God has allowed the devil to use the weather for destruction. We see this happen twice here, once with the falling fire and once with the mighty wind that destroyed Job's children.
Job's friends did a great job of comforting Job: right up until they started talking. The lesson for me was that I need to lay my hand over my mouth more often. I also want to be aware of listening to the voice of the enemy. I think that's why this book had seemed so intimidating, because so much of it was CLOSE to truth. God tells us His side of the story in chapters 38-41.
All of Job's friends were wrong about God, but they also were jealous of Job. That envy and bitterness flowed through their words, adding their condemnation on top of the suffering Job already was going through.
There were so many little nuggets. I hadn't noticed before how much the Lord reveals of His boundaries in this book. I hadn't noticed that the storehouses of hail are reserved for times of trouble, see Job 38:22-23 and Exodus 9:18 and 24, plus Joshua 10:11.
If I believe that the devil can use the weather, how should that affect my response to it? If it's cloudy or snowy and I respond by grumbling, am I stepping right into the snare of the enemy? This concept deserves some more expansion beyond what I want to do here.
The Lord wants me to know Him so that I can trust Him. I don't believe that you can really know God if you're only studying the New Testament. God's heart and faithfulness is revealed through the older books, as well. If you've done an Old Testament study that grew your faith, share it in the comments!
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