Read Job 1:6-2:10. What caused Job’s suffering?

There is something astonishing here. The angels come to see God, and Satan comes with them. God asks Satan where he has been, and Satan replies that he has been “roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it” (Job 1:7, NIV). Then God poses this question: “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8, NIV). The question itself is not remarkable; what is remarkable is the One who asks it.

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It isn’t Satan who points out Job as a subject for examination — it’s God. Knowing exactly what is going to follow, God calls Job to Satan’s attention. Down on the earth, Job has absolutely no idea how hot his crucible is about to become. And though it’s very clear that it is Satan, not God, who causes Job’s suffering, it is also clear that it is God who gives His explicit permission for Satan to destroy Job’s possessions, children, and his own physical health. If God is giving permission for Job to suffer, what difference does it make whether God or Satan is personally inflicting the suffering? How can God be righteous and holy when He actively allows Satan to cause Job such pain? Is this situation a special case, or is it characteristic of the way God still deals with us today?

In Job 1:20-21 , how does Job respond to the trials?

It is possible to respond to such suffering in two ways. We can become bitter and angry, turning our backs on a God we believe to be cruel or nonexistent, or we can hang on to God more tightly. Job deals with his catastrophe by staying in God’s presence and worshiping Him.

In Job 1:20-21, we see three aspects of worship that may help when in anguish. First, Job accepts his helplessness and recognizes that he has no claim to anything: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart” (Job 1:21, NIV). Second, Job acknowledges that God is still in total control: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away”(Job 1:21, NIV). Third, Job concludes by reasserting his belief in the righteousness of God.

“May the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21, NIV).

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Key Thought: This lesson helps us through Biblical examples to understand the “whys” of suffering and the “hows” of overcoming evil and suffering.
July 30, 2022

1. Have a volunteer read Hosea 2:1-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What methods does God say He will use to pull Israel back to Himself? What would these experiences have felt like?
3. Personal Application: Ask the Holy Spirit if you have been running from God in any area of your life. If you have, why wait for pain and suffering? Surrender it now. Share your thoughts..
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “How can I believe that trials and trouble might be God’s way of getting me back on the right path? It’s hard to see any good come out of pain and misery.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Job 1:6 – 2:10.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What caused Job’s suffering? How does Job respond to the trials?
3. Personal Application: How can Job’s response to his trials help us as we go through ours? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why would God let Job go through all that just to prove a point? What about his innocent servants and children who died during this test? Wouldn’t his wife be naturally upset?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read 2 Corinthians 1:4-9.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. To what extent might suffering be a call to ministry? How can we be more alert to this possibility?
3. Personal Application: What can we learn from Paul that can help us from falling into self-pity amid your own struggles? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Why is it that many people who have gone through a certain trial or overcome a tragedy are the first ones to reach out and try to start programs or give help and counsel to others in the same situation? It seems like once they get through their trial, they wouldn’t want to revisit it in any form again.” How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read Isaiah 43:1-7

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. List the different ways God assures His people of comfort during times of water and fire. How does this portray God in your mind?
3. Personal Application: What promises or ways of comfort do you look to when you face your trials? Share your thoughts?
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Having scanned through the lesson quarterly, there are so many hymns from which to choose a theme. In effect, there is a commencing theme hymn which changes through the quarter to the finale theme hymn. To start with, we could use:
Hymn 552 – The Lord’s My Shepherd or 
Hymn 545 – Savior, Like a Shepherd.

Somewhere in the middle of the quarter one could change the theme and add in
Hymn 159 – On a Hill Far Away which is where we complete our studies in Lesson 13.

The review of Abraham’s life on Sunday shows the testing time given revealed devotion to God. Therefore, praise was given to God with the beautiful outcome of the sacrifice of the ram: 
Hymn 11 – The God of Abraham Praise.

Hosea’s story shows in the first point, “God was working for their salvation”: 
Hymn 339 – God Is My Strong Salvation. In the second point on Monday there is love: 
Hymn 79 – O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go and 
Hymn 79 – O Love of God, How Strong and True!.

The final points in Job’s story on Tuesday, give us Job dealing “with his catastrophe by staying in God’s presence and worshipping Him”: 
Hymn 6 – O Worship the Lord. His story finishes with Job 1:21: 
Hymn Praise to the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:9 in Paul’s story on Wednesday, gives us: 
Hymn 279 – Only Trust Him and 
Hymn 510 – If You But Trust in God to Guide You.

As the Red Sea and the Jordan crossings “paved the way to a new life” for Israel, we are reminded on Thursday 
God Will Take Care of You – Hymn 99.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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The story of Hosea has some powerful lessons to teach us. Hosea’s situation is remarkable. His wife, Gomer, runs away and has children with other men. Though she is sexually unfaithful, God calls Hosea to take his wife back and fully show his love to her again. This story is meant as a parable about God and Israel. The Israelites had left God and were prostituting themselves spiritually to other gods, but God still loved them and wanted to show His love to them. But just look at God’s methods!

Read Hosea 2:1-12. What methods does God say He will use to pull Israel back to Himself? What would these experiences have felt like?

Hosea 2:2-3, 

Hosea 2:5-7

Hosea 2:8-9, 

Hosea 2:10

This story raises two important issues about the way we experience God when He is bringing us to repentance.

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First, we risk not recognizing that God is at work. When Israel went through such hard and painful experiences, it might have been hard for them to recognize that their God was working for their salvation. When our path is blocked by sharp thorns or we are walled in so that we don’t know where we are going (Hosea 2:6) — is this God? When our basic necessities disappear or we are embarrassed (Hosea 2:9-10) — could our Father be in the middle of it all? The truth is that whatever we feel, God is always working to bring us to repentance, because He loves us so very much.

Second, we risk misunderstanding God when He is at work. We may recognize that God is at work, but we don’t like what He’s doing. While we are feeling hurt and embarrassed, it is easy to blame God for being cruel, for not intervening, or for not caring. But God is always working to renew us through His covenant of love.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Read Genesis 22:1-24. Out of nowhere and without explanation, God suddenly calls Abraham to offer his own child as a burnt offering. Can you imagine how Abraham must have felt? It was a totally revolting idea that a holy God should request that you sacrifice your own son. Even if Abraham thought that this was acceptable, what about God’s promises of an inheritance? Without his son, the promise would be gone.

Why did God ask Abraham to offer this sacrifice? If God knows everything, what was the point?

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God’s request and its timing were not random. Indeed, it was calculated to exact the deepest possible anguish, for “God had reserved His last, most trying test for Abraham until the burden of years was heavy upon him, and he longed for rest.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 147. Was this the test of a mad God? Not at all, for “the agony which he endured during the dark days of that fearful trial was permitted that he might understand from his own experience something of the greatness of the sacrifice made by the infinite God for man’s redemption.” — Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 154.

This was just a test — God never intended for Abraham to kill his son. This highlights something very important about the way God sometimes works. God may ask us to do something that He never intends for us to complete. He may ask us to go somewhere He never intends for us to arrive at. What is important to God is not necessarily the end, but what we learn as we are reshaped by the process.

Jesus may have been thinking about Abraham’s experience when He said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56, NIV). Abraham could have missed out on this insight, dismissing the instructions as from Satan. The key to Abraham’s surviving and learning through the whole process was his knowing God’s voice.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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