Over the next four weeks, we are going to be doing something a little bit different. Tonight, we’re going to allow Job to show us the Source of Suffering. Next week, we’ll see the Purpose in Suffering. After that, we’ll see how we should respond When Others Suffer around us. And we’ll finish the series by seeing how we should respond when we suffer. Now, this isn’t going to be a verse-by-verse exposition like we’re used to. But we will be in the Text. And the Texts that we look at will be representative of each part of our survey. Tonight, to give us the foundation that we need, we’re going to read a very long passage. I’m going to read from 1:1-2:10, so bear with me.
JOB 1:1-2:10
Now, like I said, this isn’t going to be a technical overview of the book. We did that a couple of years ago on a Wednesday night and we don’t need to do that again. But I do think that we need to have a basic idea of the structure of the book. It can be divided into three main parts—the prologue, the dialogue, and the epilogue. The prologue is in the first two chapters. The epilogue is the last 11 verses of the book. So that tells you that the vast majority of the book is the dialogue. In that dialogue, there are four rounds of speeches between Job and his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. In the last round, Zophar has apparently had enough, because he chooses not to speak. Then after the four rounds, the fourth friend comes into the picture. His name is Elihu and he gives four speeches, one right after the other. Job never responds to him. Then comes the climax of the book. That’s when God finally speaks. Starting in chapter 38, God speaks to Job in two rounds. God speaks a whole lot and Job just says a few words. I wanted to read the prologue tonight, because it sets the stage. We get to see the behind the scenes action that Job never got to see. All that Job saw was that everything in his life was almost immediately turned upside down. I know that everyone of us in here have suffered. None of us have experienced what Job experienced, but that doesn’t make our suffering any less real. By the same token, I may have never experienced what you have, but that doesn’t make your suffering any less real than mine. Suffering—no matter what it is—if you are suffering, it is real. It’s not trivial. It’s not something that we can just say, “That’s no big deal.” We might not understand it. We might not have ever experienced it, but to the one who is suffering, it is real suffering. Each of us either is suffering or have suffered. And I know that each of us in here isn’t finished with suffering. Suffering will hit us sometime in the future. Probably in the way we least expect it. And when we either see or experience suffering, we always ask questions. I want you to know that throughout this book, Job asked questions. And do you know what? God never admonished him for those questions. It was only when Job accused God of being unjust and began to demand that He justify Himself, that God admonished Job. Job asked God questions. Abraham asked God questions. Moses asked God questions. David asked God questions. The Psalms are full of questions. God the Son even asked God the Father questions. God is not afraid of your questions. Your questions will not anger Him. So when we either see or experience suffering, it’s okay to ask questions. We’re going to ask one of those questions tonight. And it is a difficult question. The question is, Where does suffering come from? In other words, What is the source of suffering? When we ask that question, we can come up with three answers. The first answer is that the source of suffering is our own sin.
In a lot of cases, that bears with the testimony of what we see, doesn’t it? If somebody smokes three packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years and gets lung cancer… they have been the cause of their suffering. If somebody drinks a 12-pack of beer every day and gets cirrhosis of the liver… they have been the cause of their suffering. If someone eats all the wrong foods and never exercises and ends up with heart disease and a stroke… they have been the cause of their suffering. Or what about this? If a person spends their whole life being a jerk to everybody they meet… they have been the cause of their suffering when they die a lonely old person. That only makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean, the Bible even seems to say that, doesn’t it? What does Galatians 6:7-8 say? “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” That was the argument that Job’s friends gave. In Job 4:8, Eliphaz argued, “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.” Bildad blamed the sinfulness on Job’s kids. In 8:3-4 he said, “Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice? If thy children have sinned against him, and [then] he have cast them away for their transgression.” Job, God killed your kids because they sinned. Zophar followed right along, except he said that Job’s sin was hidden. It was secret sin that nobody knew about. But God knew that he was wicked and was going to pay him back for it. In 20:27-29 he said, “The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.” But is that the answer to the question of suffering? It’s obvious that sometimes it is. But when a lady is raped, is her suffering because of her sin? When a child is beaten to death by his daddy, is it somehow because of that child’s sin? When a mother is cursed and abused by her wayward child, is it because of her sin? When a wife suffers in silent shame as her husband spends his time fantasizing over pornography, is it somehow her fault? Of course not. Jesus told his disciples as much in John 9. One time they passed by a man who had been blind from birth. I think that we would all consider that to be suffering. The disciples certainly did. And they wanted to know what he was getting paid back for. They asked Jesus, “Whose sin caused this man to suffer this way?” “Was it because of his own sin, or did his parents’ sin do this to him?” Do you remember what Jesus said? John 9:3 says, “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” So, let’s boil this down. Sin always brings suffering—make no mistake about it. But not all suffering is cause by sin. So, when Job’s friends said that he was suffering because of sin (either his sin or his children’s sin)… when they said that, they were wrong. They were wrong, because even though sin causes suffering, their answer was insufficient. It was incomplete. So if that answer is insufficient and incomplete, what’s another answer? The second answer is that the source of suffering is Satan.
That’s a very popular view today, isn’t it? How many times have you heard a person who is suffering say, “Satan is really attacking me hard and causing me to suffer.”? There is a very prominent theology today that says that if you just bind Satan and have enough faith and tell him to flee, you won’t suffer any more. Well, what happened in Job’s case? We get the benefit of seeing what happened behind the scenes, don’t we? In the book, Satan makes two appearances. By the way, in the original, his name is preceded with a definite article. In other words, every time you see the word “Satan” in your text, in the original it says, “The Satan”. Satan is not just a force. He is not just a personification of the presence of evil. Satan is a real, living, created being. The Bible says that he was created just like all the other angels of heaven were created. But for some reason that we will never know, God allowed pride to creep into the heart of Satan. And when pride crept into his heart, he wanted to be like the most high God. He wanted to be worshipped. He wanted to be recognized as having the characteristics of God. He wanted to be recognized as sovereign. And God cast him from heaven, because He will have no one assigning His worth to anyone or anything else. God is a jealous god and you will have no other gods before Him. But even though Satan has been cast out of heaven, he must come before God when he’s called. And God calls all of the angelic beings He’s created to give an account of their activities. And when Satan appeared before God, a conversation ensued. We’ll look more at that conversation in a little bit. But for now, I want you to notice the result. 1:12 says, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.” Then the second time in 2:6, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.” Now, I want you to notice something in particular in the next verse. 2:7 says, “So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” Who does that verse say smote Job? It says that Satan did. So does that make Satan the cause of our suffering? I would say that it makes him a cause—not the cause. As a matter of fact, I would say that it makes him a secondary cause of our suffering. He definitely has a hand in it. But his hand is not THE hand in it. Why do I say that? Because Satan is not sovereign. Satan isn’t in charge of anything. He is not the ultimate cause of anything. Oh, he would like us to think that he is. Because when we think that he is, then we are giving him exactly what he wants. What does Satan want? He wants to be recognized as being and doing things that only the Most High God can do. And when we recognize him as holding any measure of control or sovereignty, then we are crediting him with something that only can belong to God. That is assigning Satan a worth that he doesn’t have. And what is it called when we assign worth to something? It’s called worth-ship—worship. And God is the only one who is worthy of worship. So, if we say that Satan is the source of suffering, it’s only true in a sense. Because he is A cause and not THE cause. So, if it is incomplete and insufficient to say that our sin is the cause of our suffering… and it’s incomplete and insufficient to say that Satan is the cause of our suffering… what is the source of our suffering? The only completely sufficient answer to that question is that the source of our suffering is God.
And silence fills the room. That makes us uncomfortable, doesn’t it? It makes us uncomfortable because God is good and loving and benevolent—and He is. Let’s look back at the conversations between God and Satan. Who called the meeting in the first place? 1:6 says, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.” 2:1 says, “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.” The picture here is of a King on His throne. The King demands a periodic accounting of His messengers. The messengers respond to His demand by appearing individually before His throne to give an account of their activity. They come because they are called. God is the one who called these meetings. And then when the meeting happened, look at who controlled the conversation. In 1:7 God asks a question and Satan answers. “And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” In 2:2 the same thing happens: “And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” Who is in control here? God asks the question and Satan is obliged to answer Him. Then I want you to notice what happens next. From out of the blue, God presents Job to Satan as a test. In both 1:8 and 2:3, God says, “Have you considered My servant Job?” Notice that Satan did not come to God with a big idea that he came up with to attack Job. God is the One who brought up the idea. And why did God bring up the idea to Satan? We’ll get into that much deeper next week when we talk about the purpose of suffering. But the short answer is, to test him. To test him with the full expectation that Job would pass the test. And when Job passed the test, I believe that all of heaven rejoiced. Why? Because when Job passed the test, God was glorified! Satan couldn’t take credit for that, could he? Just like Satan couldn’t take credit for hanging Jesus on the cross. What does Isaiah 53:10 say? “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” Was God the Father the ultimate source of God the Son’s suffering? Oh, there were other secondary sources. Satan was having a field day. Roman soldiers were driving the nails. The crowds were shouting, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” The Jewish leaders and the High Priests were making a mockery of Him. Pilate and Herod were involved in their own way. But the fact remains that Scripture says that it pleased the Father to crush His Son. Why? Because God has a plan. It is a plan that has existed since before the beginning of time. And it is a plan that will be fulfilled. It is a plan that will result in Him receiving the most glory imaginable. None of us in here know what that plan is. None of us understand His ways. But we do understand His promises. And all of God’s promises can be summed up in this: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” You see, the only way that all things can work together for good, is if there is One who is good who is sovereignly guiding all things. And there is. And it pleased Him to inflict unimaginable suffering on His only begotten Son. Why—because of His Son’s sin? No, because His Son is the only one ever to walk this earth who lived a sinless life. Well then, did Jesus have to suffer because of Satan? No, the very first promise of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15 says that the serpent would bruise the Seed’s heel. But the Seed would crush his head. Jesus has crushed Satan’s head. He’s not in control of anything. God is in control. He is even in control of your suffering, just the same way he was in control of His own Son’s suffering. Why? So that all things will work together for good. The question is, do you believe Him. Even when you don’t understand His ways, do you believe Him? Even when you want to cry out, “Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?”—do you believe Him? When God says, “Have you considered my servant…” and puts your name in there… will you believe Him?
