During this session we will continue through our study of Job with Francis Chan with the RightNowMedia video.

SESSION GOALS
Every session has specific goals—things you want your group to walk away knowing, feeling, and committing to do.

Main Idea: The more we glimpse God’s true majesty and splendor, the more our relationship with him will be transformed.

Head Change: To know that God is the central figure in history and our life—not us.

Heart Change: To feel sorry for when we speak foolishly, without a true understanding of God.

Life Change: To treat God as the rightful authority over our thoughts, actions, and relationships by approaching him with humility and reverence.
OPEN
What experience is on your “bucket list”—that once-in-a-lifetime event you dearly wish to have?

Many of us keep a mental or written list of unique adventures or experiences we long to make a reality. Some will take us to beautiful locations, others take us on heart-pounding excursions or long-dreamed encounters. Job’s once-in-a-lifetime experience involved encountering God, but the encounter was not the kind he wanted to repeat.

In today’s session, Francis will show us how humility is the natural result of meeting God in all his glory.
READ

¹ And the Lord said to Job:
² “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
Job Promises Silence
³ Then Job answered the Lord and said:
⁴ “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
⁵ I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further.”
The Lord Challenges Job
⁶ Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
⁷ “Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
⁸ Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
⁹ Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
¹⁰ “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
¹¹ Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.
¹² Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low
and tread down the wicked where they stand.
¹³ Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.
¹⁴ Then will I also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can save you.
¹⁵ “Behold, Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
¹⁶ Behold, his strength in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
¹⁷ He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
¹⁸ His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
¹⁹ “He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
²⁰ For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beasts play.
²¹ Under the lotus plants he lies,
in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.
²² For his shade the lotus trees cover him;
the willows of the brook surround him.
²³ Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.
²⁴ Can one take him by his eyes,
or pierce his nose with a snare?
¹  “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook
or press down his tongue with a cord?
² Can you put a rope in his nose
or pierce his jaw with a hook?
³ Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak to you soft words?
⁴ Will he make a covenant with you
to take him for your servant forever?
⁵ Will you play with him as with a bird,
or will you put him on a leash for your girls?
⁶ Will traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him up among the merchants?
– Job 40:1-42:6 ESV

Before viewing the session, here are a few important things to look for in Francis Chan’s teaching. As you watch, pay attention to how he answers the following questions.

• What is Job’s instant reaction to hearing God speak from the whirlwind?
• What happens to us when we see God clearly for who he is?

Watch RightNowMedia Job Session 7: Job 40:1–42:6 (11 minutes).

DISCUSS

Job 40 opens with God answering Job’s questions with a challenge. Read Job 40:1–5. When have you felt a sense of your insufficiency or unworthiness? To what degree was your experience justified because you truly did not measure up to the situation or competition?

Being humbled by someone else can provoke defensiveness or resentment, or we could admit we deserve it. How do you react when you are humbled?

Recall that Job spoke extensively with his friends while he was grieving. His words were careless, driven by emotion rather than thoughtful reflection. How closely do you watch your words when you are in emotional or physical pain?

Job immediately acknowledged God’s innate superiority by putting his hand over his mouth. He suddenly realized that his complaints had been poorly spoken. Think back to angry words you have spoken, shouted, or otherwise directed to God. What kind of posture did you have toward him? Which complaints do you regret making, and what would you change about your prayer?

Francis compared Job’s reaction to seeing God with two other biblical men: Isaiah and John. Read Isaiah 6:1–5. What is going on that Isaiah feels compelled to cry, “Woe is me!”? Why is his reaction appropriate? How does his reaction compare to Job’s?

Read Revelation 1:12–18. John was caught up in a vision of Jesus when a voice spoke to him. When he turned and saw who was speaking, he “fell at his feet like a dead man.” As Francis said, when faced with God himself, we don’t have to work at being humble. Why do you think it is difficult to express humility now? What makes it easy to be humble in God’s presence?

Job, Isaiah, and John saw the living God, and they all fell back in utter submission, fear, and reverence. The God they had served and loved for many years revealed part of his glory and majesty to them—and they were floored. When you think about speaking with God, to what degree are you in awe or fear of him? How familiar or casual do you get in your prayer times? How do you handle the tension of approaching God with reverence versus a spontaneous, friendly conversation?

Note: Talking with God takes many forms, such as a free-flowing conversation, reciting a psalm, repeating ancient prayers, and more.

Read Job 42:1–6. This time when God asks Job a question, Job responds by admitting, as paraphrased by Francis, “I said things I didn’t mean because I didn’t know what I was saying. My mouth ran ahead of my brain. I said stupid things.” To what degree can you relate to Job? When you realize you’ve said foolish things to God, what do you do?

When we are in pain or emotional distress, our thoughts shrink to center on our circumstances. The outside world seems distant in comparison to our ordeal. Job’s complaints reflected a similar posture, demanding answers from God as if God owed him a response. But, as Francis said, when we see God clearly, we will be driven to humility—not arrogantly believing the world should revolve around us but acknowledging that God deserves center stage. What can you do this week to realign your perspective with the reality of God’s sovereignty?

LAST WORD

God’s answer to Job caused him to shut his mouth, repent, and seek forgiveness. No longer did he consider God obligated to answer him or to explain his behavior. God’s presence and words proved overwhelmingly that Job didn’t truly know God as well as he thought. He said in 42:3, “Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wondrous for me to know.” Job’s encounter with the living God humbled him as nothing else could. May we take Job’s lesson to heart and approach God with meekness, respect, and reverence.