1. Read Job Chapter 38:1 – 42:6 together. It’s a long one! Consider assigning a few different readers as you go through this text together.

a. What do you notice? Did anything stand out to you as the passage was read?

b. What questions do you have about this passage?

c. Did you find anything encouraging? Surprising? Confusing? Challenging?

2. Consider the following translations of 42:6

“Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (NIV)

“Therefore I reject, and am comforted concerning dust and ashes” (Dr. Ellie Paley)

a. How do these translations impact your understanding of Job’s response to God?

b. Consider the following verses (in each case, the same word translated as repent in 42:6 is translated as comfort)

Job 7:13; 16:2; 21:34; 29:25; 42:11

          i. In what ways does translating 42:6 as ‘comfort’ fit well in the broader storyline? In what ways does it bring a sense of resolution?

3. What evidence do you see in the text that can help you to understand how God’s whirlwind speech could have the power to bring comfort to Job?

a. God repeats words, phrases, and ideas that Job spoke of earlier in the book. What does this tell us about God?

b. In what ways does God’s speech display his sovereignty and power?

c. Consider chapter 41. Knowing the Leviathan is a mythical sea creature that symbolizes the chaos and darkness of evil, what truth is God expressing throughout these verses?

4. Job had been eager to hear from God because he was longing for an explanation; an answer to why he was suffering so greatly.

a. Can you relate to that longing? Can you think of a time when you would have liked to hear from God to help you understand something that was happening in your life?

b. In what ways did God answer Job’s request?

c. In what ways did God not answer Job’s request?

d. In the end, do you think God gave Job what he needed?

5. God spoke to Job out of the storm. He didn’t come to Job in the way that we might have expected.

a.     What did this ‘theophany’ (physical representation of God’s presence) reveal about God?

b.    Why would God have chosen to reveal himself to Job in this way?

6. In what ways do you think the book of Job has the ability to offer comfort in times of suffering? (consider the summarized points below that can be drawn out of God’s speech)

a.     God is imminent – He is nearer than we realize

b.    God is transcendent – He is more powerful and wholly other than we realize

c.     God understands things that we cannot even comprehend

d.    God has dominion over His creation – he has put limits and boundaries on the darkness and chaos in our world, and it is not beyond his control

7. Which of the truths listed above do you struggle to believe are true? Which of them do you think you most need to know today?

Pray for each other out of the items discussed. Pray that you would each be comforted by the truths of who God is, the knowledge of his presence with you, and the hope found in His unfathomable goodness, power, and grace. Pray this also for those that come to mind who are facing difficulties and need to know these truths.