Lesson 32 - I Know That My Redeemer Liveth - JOB

Lesson 32: “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth”, Old Testament Gospel Doctrine

Learning Objective

To develop strength to face adversity by trusting the Lord, building testimonies of him, and maintain personal integrity. To insure that your testimony is strong enough to withstand the trials that we are dealt.

Attention Activity

President Monson Quote:

Centuries ago the man Job—so long blessed with every material gift, only to find himself sorely afflicted by all that can befall a human being—sat with his companions and uttered the timeless, ageless question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” Job spoke what every other living man or woman has pondered.

The setting for my final example of one who persevered and ultimately prevailed, despite overwhelmingly difficult circumstances, begins in East Prussia following World War II.

In about March 1946, less than a year after the end of the war, Ezra Taft Benson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, accompanied by Frederick W. Babbel, was assigned a special postwar tour of Europe for the express purpose of meeting with the Saints, assessing their needs, and providing assistance to them. Elder Benson and Brother Babbel later recounted, from a testimony they heard, the experience of a Church member who found herself in an area no longer controlled by the government under which she had resided.

She and her husband had lived an idyllic life in East Prussia. Then had come the second great world war within their lifetimes. Her beloved young husband was killed during the final days of the frightful battles in their homeland, leaving her alone to care for their four children.

The occupying forces determined that the Germans in East Prussia must go to Western Germany to seek a new home. The woman was German, and so it was necessary for her to go. The journey was over a thousand miles (1,600 km), and she had no way to accomplish it but on foot. She was allowed to take only such bare necessities as she could load into her small wooden-wheeled wagon. Besides her children and these meager possessions, she took with her a strong faith in God and in the gospel as revealed to the latter-day prophet Joseph Smith.
She and the children began the journey in late summer. Having neither food nor money among her few possessions, she was forced to gather a daily subsistence from the fields and forests along the way. She was constantly faced with dangers from panic-stricken refugees and plundering troops.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks to months, the temperatures dropped below freezing. Each day, she stumbled over the frozen ground, her smallest child—a baby—in her arms. Her three other children struggled along behind her, with the oldest—seven years old—pulling the tiny wooden wagon containing their belongings. Ragged and torn burlap was wrapped around their feet, providing the only protection for them, since their shoes had long since disintegrated. Their thin, tattered jackets covered their thin, tattered clothing, providing their only protection against the cold.

Soon the snows came, and the days and nights became a nightmare. In the evenings she and the children would try to find some kind of shelter—a barn or a shed—and would huddle together for warmth, with a few thin blankets from the wagon on top of them.

She constantly struggled to force from her mind overwhelming fears that they would perish before reaching their destination.

And then one morning the unthinkable happened. As she awakened, she felt a chill in her heart. The tiny form of her three-year-old daughter was cold and still, and she realized that death had claimed the child. Though overwhelmed with grief, she knew that she must take the other children and travel on. First, however, she used the only implement she had—a tablespoon—to dig a grave in the frozen ground for her tiny, precious child.

Death, however, was to be her companion again and again on the journey. Her seven-year-old son died, either from starvation or from freezing or both. Again her only shovel was the tablespoon, and again she dug hour after hour to lay his mortal remains gently into the earth. Next, her five-year-old son died, and again she used her tablespoon as a shovel.

Her despair was all consuming. She had only her tiny baby daughter left, and the poor thing was failing. Finally, as she was reaching the end of her journey, the baby died in her arms. The spoon was gone now, so hour after hour she dug a grave in the frozen earth with her bare fingers. Her grief became unbearable. How could she possibly be kneeling in the snow at the graveside of her last child? She had lost her husband and all her children. She had given up her earthly goods, her home, and even her homeland.

In this moment of overwhelming sorrow and complete bewilderment, she felt her heart would literally break. In despair she contemplated how she might end her own life, as so many of her fellow countrymen were doing. How easy it would be to jump off a nearby bridge, she thought, or to throw herself in front of an oncoming train.
And then, as these thoughts assailed her, something within her said, “Get down on your knees and pray.” She ignored the prompting until she could resist it no longer. She knelt and prayed more fervently than she had in her entire life:
“Dear Heavenly Father, I do not know how I can go on. I have nothing left—except my faith in Thee. I feel, Father, amidst the desolation of my soul, an overwhelming gratitude for the atoning sacrifice of Thy Son, Jesus Christ. I cannot express adequately my love for Him. I know that because He suffered and died, I shall live again with my family; that because He broke the chains of death, I shall see my children again and will have the joy of raising them. Though I do not at this moment wish to live, I will do so, that we may be reunited as a family and return—together—to Thee.”

When she finally reached her destination of Karlsruhe, Germany, she was emaciated. Brother Babbel said that her face was a purple-gray, her eyes red and swollen, her joints protruding. She was literally in the advanced stages of starvation. In a Church meeting shortly thereafter, she bore a glorious testimony, stating that of all the ailing people in her saddened land, she was one of the happiest because she knew that God lived, that Jesus is the Christ, and that He died and was resurrected so that we might live again. She testified that she knew if she continued faithful and true to the end, she would be reunited with those she had lost and would be saved in the celestial kingdom of God.
(President Monson – April 2009, General Conference)

Question: What can we learn about enduring adversity from this story?

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin Quote:

“Many farmers in the hot desert of northwest Mexico “grow varieties of corn and beans that are unusually hardy and drought resistant. These varieties survive and flourish in a harsh climate where other plants would wither and die. One of these plants is the white tepary bean. Its seed will sprout and the plant will grow even when very little rain falls. It sends its roots as deep as six feet into the rocky, sandy earth to find the moisture it needs. It can flower and fruit in the 115-degree (Fahrenheit) desert temperatures with only one yearly rainfall. Its foliage remains remarkably green, with little irrigation, even in the heat of mid-July.”

Question: What can we learn from this analogy that can help us endure adversity?

Elder Wirthlin suggested: “Perhaps members of the Church could emulate the example of these hardy, sturdy plants. We should send our roots deep into the soil of the gospel. We should grow, flourish, flower, and bear good fruit in abundance despite the evil, temptation, or criticism we might encounter. We should learn to thrive in the heat of adversity” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, 7; or Ensign, May 1989, 7).
Today’s lesson is about Job, a man whose faith and righteousness helped him endure severe adversity.

Some scholars do not believe Job was a real person. They think the book of Job is simply a story. Others think it was a great proverb and still others a parable.

We do not know who Job was nor when he lived nor how long the story takes place.

Ezekial believes he was real: “Through these 3 men, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 14:4)

James believes he was a great man: “Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lrod for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience, Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end fo the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.”

In the Doctrine & Covenants 121:10, the Lord told Joseph “Thou are not yet as Job.” (liberty jail)

Question: What type of man was job? (Job 1-2)


o a. He was a good man who feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1).
o b. He was wealthy but not caught up in wealth (Job 1:3, 21).
o c. He had integrity (Job 2:3).
o d. He strengthened the weak (Job 4:3–4).
o e. He walked in the Lord’s paths and esteemed the Lord’s words (Job 23:10–12).
o f. He was compassionate to the widow, the poor, the lame, and the blind (Job 29:12–16).
o g. He was concerned for his enemies and forgave them (Job 31:29–30).

Question: What trials did Job experience?


o a. Loss of servants, property, and income (Job 1:13–17).
o b. Loss of children (Job 1:18–19).
o c. Physical illness and pain (Job 2:7; 7:5; 16:16).
o d. Restless sleep filled with nightmares (Job 7:4, 13–14).
o e. Cruel accusations and loss of support from friends and family (Job 2:9; 4:1, 7–8; 11:1–6; 19:13–22).
o f. Confusion about why he was asked to go through these trials (Job 10:15).
o g. Mockery by those who delighted in his downfall (Job 16:10–11; 30:1, 8–10).
o h. The feeling that God had forgotten him or was not listening (Job 19:6–8; 23:3–4; note that the word him in Job 23:3–4 refers to God).
Question: Why do bad things happen to Good People?

President Spencer W. Kimball said:
“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.
“… 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 all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith” (Faith Precedes the Miracle [1975], 97).

Questions: How did Satan predict Job would react when his wealth and other blessings were taken away? (See Job 1:11; 2:4–5.)
How did Job react when this happened? (See Job 1:20–22; 2:10.)

What can we learn from these reactions?

(Some people charge God foolishly when sorrow, misfortune or tragedy hits. They may blame God or question his wisdom or providence, feeling that he does not understand or love them. Some may even question his existence.)


Questions: How did Eliphas and Bildad, two of Job’s friends explain his suffering? (Job 8:6)

What should we do to comfort others in their trials?

Key Lesson Point – Job’s strength was in the Lord. Job knew God:
Question: How do we know this?

Job 19:25-26

25 For I aknow that my bredeemer liveth, and that che shall dstand at the latter day upon the earth:
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this abody, yet in my bflesh shall I csee God:

Question: What evidence did you discover in your study of Job, that Job finds strength in the Lord by personal righteousness & integrity




Job 27

4 My lips shall not speak awickedness, nor my tongue utter bdeceit.
5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not aremove mine bintegrity from me.
Discuss Recent Talk By Clayton Christensen’s Commencement Address in the most recent Harvard Business Review.
Title: How will you measure your life?
In this talk he addressed three questions:
1) How can I be sure that I will be happy in my career
2) How can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse & family become an enduring source of happiness?
3) How can I be sure I’ll stay out of jail (how to live a life of integrity)
In this last area, he spoke of the potential damage of the “just this once” decision we make so often…It is easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than 98% of the time. You need to define for yourself what you stand for and draw the line in a safe spot. (Turning point moment of truth – basketball championship where he refused to play because it was Sunday). He called this the marginal costs mistakes.
If we make such decisions, what will be the results in our lives? Long term?
Ask: Do you search for inspired questions when you study the scriptures? Here is a classic example?
Job 28
12 But where shall awisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
Reading further, verse 28 gives us the answer:
And unto man he said, Behold, the afear of the Lord, that is bwisdom; and to depart from evil is cunderstanding.
Ask Diane to explain the “purity paradigm.”
The most famous inspired question of all is found in Job 14:14 and is the scripture we began with today in President Monson’s quote:
If a man die, shall he alive again?




Elder Orson F. Whitney said: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven” (quoted in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 98).

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, … knocking off a corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 304).

Conclusion: We can receive strength to endure our trials by trusting in the Lord, building our testimonies of him, and maintaining our integrity so we can know our lives are pleasing to him.

Elder Richard G. Scott said: “When you face adversity, you can be led to ask many questions. Some serve a useful purpose; others do not. To ask, Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer this now? What have I done to cause this? will lead you into blind alleys. It really does no good to ask questions that reflect opposition to the will of God. Rather ask, What am I to do? What am I to learn from this experience? What am I to change? Whom am I to help? How can I remember my many blessings in times of trial?” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1995, 18; or Ensign, Nov. 1995, 17).

Doctrine – Principles – Application

Doctrine is the plan of happiness, Principle is obedience. Application is to endure to the end. If we can think long term and decide now what our actions will be, we will have a much stronger testimony – one that is able to face adversity.