Bible Study 19/8

Broken Praise (Job)

The song for this week was about Job from the album Music Inspired by the Story. Here is a link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5cKV8G3WMg

At the beginning of class, students formed sentences in English to describe what they already knew about Job. Students added to the list after reading the text about him.

The passage that students read in class:

Job 1

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. ² He had seven sons and three daughters, ³ and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

⁴ His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

⁶ One day the angels^[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^[b] also came with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

⁹ “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ¹⁰ “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹ But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has,and he will surely curse you to your face.”

¹² The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

¹³ One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

²⁰ At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship²¹ and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
    and naked I will depart.^[c]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
    may the name of the Lord be praised.”

²² In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job 2:9-10

⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰ He replied, “You are talking like a foolish^[a] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job 42:12-17

¹² The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. ¹³ And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

¹⁶ After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. ¹⁷ And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

The worksheet students filled in while listening to the song:

Broken Praise (Job) Lyrics                                                   By Todd Smith

If one more person takes my _________
And tries ______they understand
Tells me there’s a ______ plan
That I’m not meant to see
If one more person dares suggest
That I held something unconfessed
Tries to make the dots connect
From righteousness to easy street

Well I, I won’t deny
I’ve relied on ________ assumptions
A man’s honest life entitles him to something

But who am I
To make demands
Of the God of Abraham?
And who are _______that You would choose
To answer me with mercy new
How many more will wander past
________ me here among the ashes
Will you hold me? Will you stay?
So I can raise this _________ praise to You

Who else will   _______ my suffering
As one _______ opportunity
To educate; to __________ me see
All my flawed theology
If one more well intentioned friend
Tries to tie up my loose ends
Hoping to, with rug and broom
Sweep awkward moments from the room
But I, I ________ forget
I have begged just like a madman
For my chance to die and never have to face the morning

But who am I
To make demands
Of the God of Abraham?
And who are ________ that You would choose
To answer me with mercy new
How many more will wander past
_________ me sitting in this ash
Will you hold me? Will you stay?
So I can raise this ________  praise to You

But ______ were the One who filled my cup
And _______ were the One who let it spill
So blessed be your Holy ______ if you never fill it up again
If this is where my ________ ends, just give me one more breath to say
____________, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, ____________
Hallelujah, ____________

The vocabulary lists from the Bible passages and song:

Vocabulary from the Passage

To shun: afastar-se

Oxen: bois

To feast/a feast: festejar/banquete

A hedge: um tipo de arbusto que simboliza 

proteção

Flocks and herds: rebanhos e manadas

Do not lay a finger: não toque

To plow: arar

To graze: pastar

To make off with __: sair com (robar) ____

Put to the sword: matar com espada

A raiding party: um grupo de ataque

Womb: ventre

To charge: cobrar

The latter: o segundo

The former: o anterior

Vocabulary from the Song

“To connect the dots”: descobrir a história completa atraves de “ligar os pontos”

Assumption:  suposição

To be entitled to ______:  ter o direito de ______

To make demands: fazer exigências

To wander: vaguear

Ashes: cinzas

To raise: levantar

Flawed: imperfeito (com erros)

Well intentioned friend: amigo com intenções boas

“To tie up my loose ends”: colocar tudo em órdem; terminar alguma coisa

Rug and broom: tapete e vassoura

Awkward: incómodo

To beg: suplicar, pedir

To fill: encher

To spill: derramar