Key word: Suffering
The key word is suffering especially suffering of the righteous. Everyone thinks of suffering and trials when they think of Job, but the actual theme is the sovereign work of God in our lives. The Lord is always at work shaping and forming us into the people He wants us to be.
When the story begins, we learn immediately that Job is the greatest man alive. He has it all: wealth, honor, respect, a loving family, and a deep viable relationship with God (see vv. 3-4, 8). Satan challenges God to strip Job of all his pleasures and the Lord would discover that Job was a “paid lover” as J.V. McGee frames it. Over the first two chapters, Satan is allowed to remove all of Job’s props, including his health and the support of his wife. In all of this, Job trusted the Lord had the right to do what He wants with His own (2:10), and he continued to worship Him (1:21).
The rest of the book is taken up with dialogue between Job and four friends who come to comfort him (2:11-37:24). Each of the “comforters” bring with them a faulty view of life and God, and Job’s own distorted theology is revealed in the process. Finally, God Himself speaks, revealing truth about Himself and humanity previously unknown to Job and his friends (38:1- 41:34). Chapter 42 tells us that Job ultimately has new understanding of God and repents of his former attitude (42:1-3, 6). God then chooses to restore to Job all that he had lost and more (42:7-17).
There are many excellent verses in Job, which could be used for our key verse, but 1:21b captures the essence of the book and the attitude God desires from us.
Key verse: Job 1:21b – “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
