The Bible Series Job
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Transcript
We have grappled with and discovered the 14 books of the old testament designated as the historical books including the Pentateuch. A time frame spanning approximately 4000 years. We will soon be looking at the prophetic books that will deal with messages to people during those periods but also look ahead to promised truth. The wisdom and poetry of the next 5 books will serve as a hinge between the two sections.
Unlike the historical books the poetical books do not advance the story of the nation Israel. Instead, they delve deeply into crucial questions about pain, God, wisdom, life, and love—all in the present tense.
Wilkinson, B., & Boa, K. (1983). Talk thru the Bible (p. 139). T. Nelson.
These truths are just as relevant today as they were when they were written. Maybe even more so as we have the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Job is a wonderful study as we begin to look at pain, suffering, life, love wisdom… and ultimately the deep waters of who our great God is and the truths we find in these powerful books!
Pain & Suffering
Pain & Suffering
As we think on pain and suffering I would like for us to get a perspective from a letter Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:21-24
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
A study of Job is fitting. The fingers of pain, and the grip of suffering has touched each one of us on some level.
Countless books have been written
Many are the vices man has pursued to escape it
The reasons given over the centuries is limitless
Blame is often tossed in order to find the purpose or reason
EMOTION… swallows us up as we struggle through it
Anger, bitterness, justification, hopelessness, grief, numbness
Satan (The Accuser) thrives on our pain and suffering
Satan wields it as his cruel vise to cause mankind to lash out at God and direct their hurt, emotion, and questions at Him.
The emotion that pain and suffering brings with it, often causes us to fail to see the truths in scripture as we should and causes us to make assumptions based on our small sphere of understanding and insight.
This is where we find the individuals in the book of Job. We see emotion, mix with assumptions, and fueled by moments of indignation… YET in the end we see and hear God respond with a righteous indignation, in absolute truth and wisdom, fueled by His love, majesty, mercy, and His grace…
Overview of Job
Overview of Job
Job is broken into four distinct sections
A narrative that crates a dilemma for readers and sets the scene (the reader gets a Heavenly perspective here that Job and his friends do not...
A great portion of the book encompasses three debates that go in a cycle of Job - friend … there are MANY QUESTIONS presented and MORE ASSUMPTIONS offered up in this portion!
The third section is my favorite as we see God respond to the feeble logic and wisdom of man… GOD IS AMAZING in this section
The last section deals with a great deal of things and God gets the final word… BUT the overwhelming answer to the question of WHY??? is never addressed.
Let’s begin with an understanding of the dilemma presented...
The Dilemma
The Dilemma
We read in Job 1:1-2 that Job is an amazing man of integrity...
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
We discover God has blessed him with riches and great blessings
He is a Godly man and an amazing father
The Dilemma comes in Job 1:6-12 in a conversation between God and Satan (accuser) the reader is aware of but not Job
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
Satan has a field day with all Job possesses including his children and servants (ALL he has is destroyed) except his wife
Job has a powerful response… Job 1:20-22
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
Satan is still not satisfied… Job 2:1-6
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
Look at Job’s response once again!!! Job 2:7-10
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
*** As a side note here… as a husband or wife you have an amazing opportunity to be your spouse’s greatest strength and partner in reminding them to look to God… or as we see in this case you can be the greatest hindrance and weakness… ***
We see three friends come to Job in his suffering. They sit with him quiet for seven days…
Their names are Eliphaz, Bildad, & Zophar
Then comes to the surface the QUESTION WHY???
The Debate Cycle
The Debate Cycle
Each Debate tries to determine “is God Just?”
Friends say God is just
Therefore God runs the world according to justice
Wrong receives punishment
Good receives blessing
Their logic turns God into the God of Karma
Therefore God is punishing you Job
Therefore Job has sinned
Job is declaring his innocence
So his suffering cannot be justice
God must run the world on some other basis other than Justice
OR… God is unjust!
Job makes some amazing statements of God and his innocence
But in his innocence he allows pride to come in...
Job demands a presence before God to plead his case and call God to give account
Job wants an explanation from God Job 31:35
“Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; Let the Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has written,
Elihu comes to the front after all of them speak
He is younger so has remained silent
He expresses his wisdom and gives reason he should speak
He has listened close enough to even quote them
He is angry at the three friends for a baseless accusations
He is angry at Job for
seeking to justify himself and not God
Upset that Job claimed God was wrong
CAUTION: do not defend yourself in such a way as you have to accuse God!
GOD SPEAKS
GOD SPEAKS
God comes in some form of a whirlwind and then He speaks… Job 38:1-4
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
God now is questioning these men!!!…Job 38:12;31-32;34 or even nature... Job 39:1;19; 26;27
“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place,
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? “Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?
“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you?
“Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer?
“Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?
“Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south?
“Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high?
ANSWER ME JOB 40:1-5
Then the Lord said to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.” Then Job answered the Lord and said, “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”
We see a humbleness but not a repentance yet… God then Questions Job 40:6-9
Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said, “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. “Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? “Or do you have an arm like God, And can you thunder with a voice like His?
God uses two powerful and formidable creatures the Leviathan and Behemoth to illustrate the power and majesty of Himself… his ability to control what is considered uncontrollable!
We see in this book that we serve a God who is SOVEREIGN!
Job does not ever understand nor is he told the WHY… he learns to trust in God’s goodness, power, … Job’s GOD and CONCEPT OF GOD MUST BE BIGGER!
God is all powerful but He is working on a grander scale than you or I can imagine
Our suffering is not always associate or related to our sin… God uses it to test and teach us as well.
Remember Jesus Christ Himself suffered… and He was perfect!
We see Job not only humbled but repentant Job 42:1-6
Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
God then scolds the three friends YET commends Job and states that the things Job spoke were right.
We also see Job restored back all he lost two -fold
To Summarize
To Summarize
WHY… do good people go through suffering?
The short answer is sin… we live in a sin tarnished world
But even more so we need to realize that is not the question to be asked
Is YOUR GOD able to be trusted, is He powerful enough to go through the suffering with you and do you trust His control of the things we cannot understand?
I love how Job declares his need for a redeemer… Job 19:25-27
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!
Now consider this… Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
We have a high priest, we have a redeemer, and He KNOWS, He UNDERSTANDS the suffering and pain we go through…
In our suffering and pain we need to stop looking to the WHY and begin looking to the WHO, and when we look to our Great God we can but only “STAND IN AWE OF HIM!”