Study Charts for Job Chapter 32 and 33
Chapter 32 begins a major new section in the Book of Job, the words of a new character, Elihu. Upon the conclusion of Job’s final defense, Chapters 27 – 31, there is no further response from any of Job’s three friends. This causes us to consider the question: why not? Were they persuaded by Job’s final defense? Did they remain unpersuaded but had nothing further to add to their arguments? Had they finalized their judgment of Job as “guilty” and now in an utterly hopeless, unfixable condition?
This question raises again the question we could ask of the three friends when they first spoke after seeing Job’s condition with their own eyes (end of Chapter 2) and hearing Job describe his inner, suffering state (Chapter 3): what words of comfort can you, should you, offer to Job, and on what basis? We are still developing that answer in these week-by-week charts. However, at this juncture it is helpful to read the essays of two contemporary Christian scholars, John Piper and Michael Horton.
The (revised) charts for this week’s study follow below:
The obscured captions read:
Mistakes: It could be the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.
Wishes: When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it’s a meteorite hurtling to the earth which will destroy all life. Then you’re pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless its death by meteor.
Source: despair.com
The study charts that are a review of Job Chapters 1 through 32 are here:
The charts for our next study, Week #33, are here: