The Judgments of Job, by Joseph Brickey

August 1–7

Job 1–3; 12–14; 19; 21–24; 38–40; 42

“Yet Will I Trust in Him”

What truths did the Holy Ghost help you learn as you studied the book of Job? What do you want to share with your class?

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Class members who studied Job this week may have discovered truths that were meaningful to them. To prompt them to share, you could write on the board I learned from Job … and ask class members how they would complete this sentence.

Teach the Doctrine

Job 1–2; 12–13; 19:23–27

Our trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can help us remain faithful in all circumstances.

• The first two chapters of Job, which describe Satan questioning the reasons behind Job’s faithfulness, could help class members evaluate their own reasons for being faithful to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Class members might start by listing some reasons a person might choose to obey God’s commandments. They could then search Job 1:6–12; 2:1–6 to find out what Satan said about Job’s faithfulness. Why would it be dangerous to obey the Lord solely for the reason Satan suggested? What does Job’s response in Job 1:20–22; 2:9–10 reveal about Job? Class members could talk about why they choose to remain faithful to God.

  

  Job, by Gary L. Kapp

• While Job had times when he struggled with doubt and despair, ultimately his trust in the Lord sustained him in his suffering. To learn from Job’s example, class members could search some of the following verses to identify some of Job’s positive responses to his trials: Job 1:21; 2:10; 12:9–10, 16; 13:15–16; 19:23–27. What can we learn from these responses that can help us be spiritually strong when we face trials? Why is it dangerous to assume that trials are punishments for sin?

• Job’s declaration in Job 19:23–27 could inspire class members to ponder and share their own conviction that the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, lives. You might start by inviting class members to quietly ponder Job’s words in these verses. They could then discuss questions like these: Why is a testimony of our Redeemer so valuable during times of trial like those Job suffered? How has our testimony sustained us in our trials? Singing or reading the lyrics of a hymn about Jesus Christ, such as “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” (Hymns, no. 136), could add insight and spiritual power to your discussion.

Job 38

God’s perspective is greater than ours.

• Much of the book of Job (chapters 3–37) involves Job and his friends wrestling with the question “Why do bad things happen to righteous people?” While the Lord does not answer this question completely in the book of Job, He does provide an important message. You could help class members discover this message by inviting them to read the questions the Lord asked Job in Job 38:1–7, 18–24. What do we learn from these questions?

• The restored gospel of Jesus Christ provides additional light that can help us understand some of the reasons for suffering in the world. Class members could share truths they know because of the Restoration of the gospel that have given them greater perspective and understanding about suffering. They could find some of these truths in the scriptures and statement found in “Additional Resources.”

Additional Resources

Latter-day insight on the purposes of suffering.

The following scriptures provide insights about the purposes of suffering:

• 2 Nephi 2:11–14

• Ether 12:27

• Doctrine and Covenants 58:3–5

• Doctrine and Covenants 122

• Moses 5:10–12

Spencer W. Kimball taught:

“If we looked at mortality as the whole of existence, then pain, sorrow, failure, and short life would be calamity. But if we look upon life as an eternal thing stretching far into the premortal past and on into the eternal post-death future, then all happenings may be put in proper perspective.

“Is there not wisdom in [God’s] giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified? …

“If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 15).

Improving Our Teaching

Follow the Spirit. You can’t predict how every lesson will go, but the promptings of the Spirit will guide you. When you are spiritually prepared, the Lord will give you “in the very moment, what ye shall say” (Doctrine and Covenants 100:6), and it may be just what class members need to hear. (See Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 10.)