Memory Text: Job 2:10 NIV “He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”

Sunday, August 26 The Story of Job
Job 1:1-2:8 NRSV “1 ¶ There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.
4 ¶ His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, "It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." This is what Job always did.
6 ¶ One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil." 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!" So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
13 ¶ One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you." 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you." 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you." 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you."
20 ¶ Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 He said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong-doing.
2:1 ¶ One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 3 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason." 4 Then Satan answered the LORD, "Skin for skin! All that people have they will give to save their lives. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face." 6 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, he is in your power; only spare his life."
7 ¶ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and inflicted loathsome sores on Job from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 Job took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the ashes.”
Job 1:13-19 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY His dearest and most valuable possessions were his ten children; and, to conclude the tragedy, news is brought him, at the same time, that they were killed and buried in the ruins of the house in which they were feasting, and all the servants that waited on them, except one that came express with the tidings of it. This was the greatest of Job's losses, and which could not but go nearest him; and therefore the devil reserved it for the last, that, if the other provocations failed, this might make him curse God. Our children are pieces of ourselves; it is very hard to part with them, and touches a good man in as tender a part as any. But to part with them all at once, and for them to be all cut off in a moment, who had been so many years his cares and hopes, went to the quick indeed.

Monday, August 27 Remember Job’s Wife
Job 2:9 KJ21 “Then said his wife unto him, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die!"”
Job 2:9 Clear Word His wife came to see him and said, “It’s God who has done all this to you! Why don’t you just curse Him and die?”
Job 2:9 COMMENTARY BY JAMIESON, FAUSSET, AND BROWN Nothing makes the ungodly so angry as to see the godly under trial not angry.
Job 2:9 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY Foolish.Not weakness of reason but religious and moral insensibility.
SDA Bible Dictionary, Art. “Book of Job” On the basis of the tradition that suffering is punishment for sin, Job’s wife gives the situation up as hopeless.
COMMENTARY ON JOB’S WIFE There is another side, however, to Job's wife. She had endured her husband's affliction, even the loss of all their children and all their material possessions, and had survived these trials. Like her husband, she was bewildered amid so much calamity. Such a piece of advice as she gave him in his affliction could have been inspired by sympathy and love. Probably she would rather have seen him die than endure such great suffering….Though Job's wife is not mentioned in the closing chapters, we learn in 42:14 that three daughters, Jemima, Kezia, and Keren-happuch, as well as sons, were later born to him. Probably Job's wife arose to new joy, just as he did, and regretted her own lack of faith when she had advised him to "curse God, and die." (from http://www.momof9splace.com/jobswife.html)
COMMENTARY BY ROY STEDMAN Satan was trying to get Job to say: "Curse God, and die." He used Job's wife as his instrument, and, just as Eve became the instrument to get at Adam in the Garden of Eden, the assault upon Job's emotional life comes through his wife. She advises him to do two things: "Give up your faith, apostatize. Curse God." (Actually, in the Hebrew, the word is "bless" God, but it is properly translated "curse" because the word "bless" is dripping with sarcasm.) "Bless God, and die." She is clearly suggesting suicide: "It would be better for you to take your life than to go on like this." So poor Job, bound by physical pain, sits in humility with a disfigured body, and suffers from a sense of emotional abandonment by his mate….I do not know if women fully understand how much their husbands depend on them. I think husbands often draw emotional strength from their wives far more than either they or their wives realize. Here was a severe attack addressed to the very soul of Job, in which he felt his wife abandoning him, advocating that he turn from his faith and renounce his God. (from “The Pressure of Pain” http://www.pbc.org/library/files/ html/3541.html)

Tuesday, August 28 Satan’s Temptresses
Genesis 3:1-13 NLT “1 ¶ Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. "Really?" he asked the woman. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?" 2 "Of course we may eat it," the woman told him. 3 "It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die." 4 "You won’t die!" the serpent hissed. 5 "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil." 6 ¶ The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. 7 At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves. 8 Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees. 9 ¶ The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?" 10 He replied, "I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked." 11 ¶ "Who told you that you were naked?" the LORD God asked. "Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?" 12 "Yes," Adam admitted, "but it was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit, and I ate it." 13 Then the LORD God asked the woman, "How could you do such a thing?" "The serpent tricked me," she replied. "That’s why I ate it."”

Thursday, August 30 Supporting Each Other
Job 2:10 Holman ““You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.”
Job 2:10 Clear Word Job answered in a weak voice, “You talk like a fool. When God sends us something good, we praise Him. When He permits troubles to come, shall we curse Him? Is that right?” So in spite of his pain, Job did not sin by cursing God.
Job 2:10 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE The Targum, who calls this woman Dinah, translates thus: "Thou speakest like one of those women who have wrought folly in the house of their father." This is in reference to an ancient rabbinical opinion, that Job lived in the days of the patriarch Jacob, whose daughter Dinah he had married….Shall we murmur when He afflicts us for a day, who has given us health for so many years? Shall we blaspheme his name for momentary privations, who has given us such a long succession or enjoyments? His blessings are his own: he never gave them to us; they were only lent. We have had the long, the free, the unmerited use of them; and shall we be offended at the Owner, when he comes to reclaim his own property? This would be foolish, ungrateful, and wicked. So may every one reason who is suffering from adversity. But who, besides Job, reasons thus? Man is naturally discontented and ungrateful.
COMMENTARY BY ROY STEDMAN Job's rebuke is a very gentle one… he is suggesting that this is a temporary lapse of faith on her part, and that, for the moment, she has begun to repeat the words of stupid, foolish women who have no knowledge of the grace and glory of God.