Perhaps one of the most amazing men in the Bible and the one we can learn the most from, especially in today’s world, is the man named Job.
There are two ways to look at this man’s life. One from an earthly perspective and the other is from God’s perspective.
How many of us can say from one moment to another, what is going on in heaven? What is God doing? Who is he talking to? We simply cannot know and so much of what goes on in the spiritual realm is a mystery and hidden to us.
Let’s first look at Job from an earthly or human perspective.
Job 1:13-15 (NASB)
13 Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,
14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
15 and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Not the kind of news you want to hear while your family is having dinner and you are probably doing some last minute things before joining them.
Job 1:16 (NASB)
16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
So first all Job’s field animals and servants are killed and now all Job’s sheep and the servants who tended them. Wow! What are the odds
Job 1:17 (NASB)
17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Oh come on. First the field animals, then the sheep and now the transportation animals and more servants killed?
Job 1:18-19 (NASB)
18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,
19 and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you."
There is probably not one member of our family here at South Shore, who is not going through some form of difficulty. Some more serious than others to be sure.
Financial, job related, relational, physical or spiritual struggles.
At times they can become quite overwhelming.
I mean we all know difficult times are a part of life but at times it seems we get far more than our share and we just don’t think it’s fair.
I remember after my two sisters died that my mom went through a period where she was extremely angry with God. It was not until years later that she admitted, that each night, instead of her regular prayer time, she would scream at God.
It’s just not fair. One daughter would have been devastating but losing both is just more than I can bear. How dare you. Wasn’t there anyone else you could have brought such sorrow to besides me?
First the one half of his income is taken. His crop animals and all his servants. And then his second source of income – the sheep whose wool brings a good amount of money and more servants.
Then I guess God figured, since Job has no produce he can do without the animals he uses to take them to market.
But then you take his entire family. Sons, daughters, their spouses. All gone in an instant. What would be your response?
What would you say to God?
Job 1:20-22 (NASB)
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
21 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."
22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
Now I can understand the tearing of his clothes. Often it is called renting. It is a sign of something so terrible that has been said or done that this is the only adequate response.
The shaving of the head was a sign of extreme mourning and grief and he is so dejected that finally he collapses to the ground.
But then we read something interesting. Job worshipped God. WHAT!
Worship is a sign of giving worth. Showing the precious value you hold for something or someone.
It is a reverence and awe directed toward someone we highly value and honor. Would that be our response? Could we praise the God that could have stopped everything that has just happened.
We are not talking a period of many years here. Each message ends with, while he was still speaking and then the next devastating news. Bam, bam, bam, bam.
"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."
I find that amazing. Today we all seem to have this sense of entitlement. Like God owes us anything/everything we desire.
We know that there is nothing we can take with us when we die but we still want as much as we can get our hands on while we are here.
After all -He who dies with the most toys wins, Right?
We like that the Lord gives but are bewildered when it is taken away. And most of us would not fall down and worshiped and praised God if we lost our jobs, security, children or were just told we had cancer and a month to live.
But this man not only worshipped but proclaims blessed is the name of the Lord.
If all this were not enough…… Job 2:7-8 (NASB)
tells us that Job was smoted with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
Thankfully when such disaster hits we have family and friends we can rely on. They comfort us and are there to console us in our darkest hours. So what about Job?
Job 2:9 (NASB)
9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!"
Don’t you just love that verse? Clearly she was suffering the same loses as Job except for the sore boils but this is hardly a comforting wife.
Her question implies why do you still cling to God with everything that has happened. Just curse God and die and be done with it.
It’s like so many who, when things go wrong, leave the church or go back to the way things were before
But what about friends. Surely such a successful man had friends he could rely on in such a dark hour?
Job 2:11-13 (NASB)
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.
12 When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky.
13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.
Now that’s more like it. We should be able to depend on friends at times like this. Their sorrow for their friend seems genuine as they wept for and with him and raised their voices in wailing and mourning.
They tear their robes showing just how detestable they found this whole situation. They sit on the ground and throw dirt on their heads as a sign of mourning and grief.
And for a full week kept silent and just sat with their friend in his time of need. Oh had they merely stayed that way.
I won’t go into it today, you can read the book at home this week, but these so called friends, such a comfort at first, then go into a litany of accusations as to why Job must have deserved all this calamity.
You must have sinned a great sin. You must have screwed up somewhere. Certainly God wouldn’t treat a righteous man this way.
You must have broken the rules in one way or another. It has to be your fault Job.
His wife can only say to curse God and die
His friends eventually have only accusations and criticisms
From Jobs perspective he must be at a total loss as to why all this is happening to him. His perspective is the same as ours. We see only the physical and the corporal. We see the pain and the suffering but not really what’s behind it or what initiated it.
Let’s go back to the beginning again to see just what happened here from a heavenly view. Was this Jobs fault? Did he break some rules? Did he commit some great sin he is now paying for?
Job 1:1 (NASB)
1 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.
Well that certainly is no help. If Job were in fact blameless, upright and God fearing and always turning away from evil why has all this happened? Let’s look further.
Job 1:6-8 (NASB)
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God (those are angels) came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
7 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."
8 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."
So it seems that not just the author of Job felt this way about him but God also saw Job as a righteous man. God even holds him up before Satan as an example of a godly man. Let’s keep reading
Job 1:9-12 (NASB)
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, "Does Job fear God for nothing?
10 "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.
11 "But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face."
12 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 is the accuser. He brings charges against man before God. And he is a liar. That is what he does. But the only thing he has here is that Job is blessed and successful.
You’ve given him everything a man could want, why wouldn’t he serve you. But you let me take all that away and watch how fast he curses you.
So God allows Satan to do just that, and that is what we saw earlier in this message. One catastrophe after another on everything Job had. But God would not allow Satan to touch Job himself.
Well, as we saw Job never cursed God, but in fact Job praised His name. So we continue reading
Job 2:1-7 (NASB)
1 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.
2 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."
3 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."
4 Satan answered the LORD and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
5 "However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face."
6 So the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."
7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and smote Job
Losing all that he had. His means of financial support, his servants and even his children did not shake Jobs faith and so now Satan wants to strike him physically and the Lord allows it.
Why? Is that any way to treat someone who has remained faithful?
Why would God allow Satan such a free hand in afflicting such a righteous man?
Have you ever asked that about yourself?
How could God allow this to happen to me? Why would God allow this or that in my life. I’ve been faithful. I go to church every Sunday. I tithe. I attend Wednesday evening study, I sing in the choir, prepare communion, visit the sick and on and on. WHY ME?
The whole book of Job from chapter three onward tries to explain this question for us.
After all the accusations from his friends, Job then encounters God because of his WHY questions.
And God answers.
Job 38:1-3 (NASB)
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
2 "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
3 "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
I guess a good paraphrase would be, who do you think you are to question God, so now I have a few questions for you.
Job 38:4-11 (NASB)
4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?
6 "On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 "Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
9 When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,
11 And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'?
The questions go on but the bottom line is how can you, one of my created being, challenge Me, the creator? Can the clay tell the potter how to form him?
From your perspective and this would include us as well, you only see the situation you are in, whether it is a blessing or a curse and no more.
You do not see what is going on in the throne room of God. You do not see the whole picture. You cannot see the end from the beginning.
All you see is your situation and many times you are not happy with it. But as God has allowed us to see, there was far more going on.
Job while not even being aware of it was God’s example before the angels of heaven and before Satan himself of what a righteous man looked like.
It wasn’t punishment as his friends tried to convince him.
It was not a time to surrender and curse God, or to give up, as his wife tried to tell him.
It was a testing or refining that would make job even more righteous. Like gold or silver coming out of the refiners fire.
Perhaps one of the greatest apostles was a man named Peter. Jesus had named him the rock for his strength and perhaps his endurance.
Peter had some weaknesses. Some flaws that needed shoring up.
The apostles often argued about who was the greatest in the kingdom. One day during one of these arguments we read this
28 "You are those who have stood by Me in My trials;29 and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Luke 22:28-30 (NASB)
Well That’s pretty cool! We get to banquet in God’s kingdom and we get to sit on thrones and judge our fellow Jews. But such responsibility comes with a price
31 "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."33 But he said to Him, "Lord, with You I am ready to go both to prison and to death!"34 And He said, "I say to you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me." Luke 22:31-34 (NASB)
We all know what happened. Satan was able to get Peter to deny the Lord. But that testing made Peter a much stronger apostle than we see before the test. And to add to that he was given the Holy Spirit to make sure he stayed that way
Paul was perhaps the greatest evangelist and church planter the world has ever known. But by his own words we read this
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." 2 Cor 12:7-9 (NASB)
This was right after telling the Corinthians that he was taken up into heaven and shown things perhaps no man had ever seen.
Peter had a problem with exalting himself. Paul had a problem with exalting himself and so both had to be humbled.
Job was greatly blessed with riches and family and land and servants. Perhaps, and I say this because we are not told, perhaps Satan saw in this a weakness he could exploit and God allowed him to take it all away.
Peter passed the test. Paul past the test. And as we see Job passed the test.
The suffering and trials were insignificant compared to the coming rewards.
It was not punishment! It was refining or purification to rid them of things they didn’t really need.
It brought them to a point where they had only one thing they could rely on. GOD!
Yes we go through things that at times seem unbearable. Certainly uncomfortable and definitely undesirable. We do not always know why. There seems no clear reason from an earthly perspective
But God knows and God is with us regardless of what we go through. It may be from Satan or may very well be from God for our own good. Or perhaps the most unexplainable, it may simply be for His glory.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Lean on Him, rely on Him but even more, know that he has promised to go through with us, whatever it is we are suffering and bring us through to the other side if we remain faithful and steadfast.
