Just Wait, Change is on the Way!!! Job 14:11-17
Let me start off this morning by asking you a question. Has anything CHANGED in your lifetime? I know that’s a silly question. Someone put on FACEBOOK the other day a picture of a phone booth and how that their mama always made sure they had a quarter in case of an emergency. I replied, “I remember when the phone company changed from a DIME to a QUARTER.” That was great because we would check all of the coin return holes for people who forgot to get their QUARTER instead of their DIME. Our kids will never know the THRILL of going down the line checking the pay phones for leftover change!!!There have been a lot of changes in my lifetime and most of you would agree with that statement.
Do I believe in CLIMATE CHANGE? ABSOLUTELY. The argument is, what causes it. I believe it’s cyclic and I believe GOD is in control of the WEATHER. The so-called “smart guys” tell us we have GLOBAL WARMING. All of the ICEBERGS and GLACIERS are going to melt and the sea is going to rise and flood Florida and 1/2 of Texas. I remember 40 years ago the “smart guys” told us we had GLOBAL COOLING. I honestly remember people talking about the 2nd ICE AGE that was coming. Well, I guess you figured out by now that it never happened.
But looking at the world today, I can say I don’t remember anytime in my life when there has been SO MUCH CHANGE in just a 2 year span. Our children have lived through these last couple of years and this PANDEMIC is something that they will never forget.
And so that is one thing I can guarantee you. Things are going to keep changing. Nothing stays the same here in this world. GOD IS THE ONLY ONE WHO NEVER CHANGES.
I’ve talked to a lot of folks in the hospital that were going through some really hard times. Some of them were in a lot of pain. And I’ve told them that some of the best words in the Bible are 5 simple words, “And it came to pass.” “It didn’t come to stay, it came to pass.” Because everything changes.
I love the book of Job because Job was a man who lived 4000 years ago but yet we can relate to him today. Here’s a guy who was living his life, doing a good job of it. Job 1:1 says a lot about him.
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” ESCHEW means to avoid something. Job AVOIDED EVIL.
But yet BAD THINGS still came didn’t they? So let’s turn to the 14th Chapter of the Book of Job. If you remember I preached out of this passage 2 weeks ago. Verses 1-10.
But this morning I want to continue on by beginning at Verse 11 and then we’ll read through Verse 17. Let’s do that.
“As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:
12 So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.
13 O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!
14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.
15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.
As we read these Verses we hear a man who was #1, terribly depressed and for good reason. He had lost everything of value. His children and his possessions. His wife and friends were of NO COMFORT.
And #2, we hear a man who is in SEVERE PAIN. Boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. No pain killers. No relief in sight. Just AGONY. But by his LOSS, DEPRESSION, and AGONY, God is able to speak to us through this man who lived 4000 years ago.
So before we get into the message let’s go to the Lord in prayer. Brother _______, would you lead us?
When it comes down to it, there is really NO HOPE for this PHYSICAL BODY. It is going to die and IN ITSELF it will never live again. Now listen, I do believe in the RESURRECTION. Jesus BOUGHT that for us on the Cross of Calvary. He HIMSELF rose again defeating DEATH, HELL and the GRAVE.
But when that RESURRECTION OCCURS it’s not gonna be this body. It’s gonna be a glorified body. I’m THANKFUL for that. Just look at this thing, wouldn’t you be thankful?
So in the first 12 Verses of this Chapter, it seems that Job has lost all hope. He basically says, that the TREE has more HOPE than we as humans do. When you cut one down it will continue to live. The stump will grow saplings out of it. But when we as HUMANS DIE, there is NO HOPE that we will live again.
But in Verse 13, we see a CHANGE start to take place. Job basically begins to think of the GRAVE as a place just to wait it out. Get some relief from the PAIN of this life and wait for the appointed time. “Just let me die and go to the grave but GOD, don’t forget me. Don’t forget I’m down here.”
Now we’re down to Verse 14 and this is what I want to preach on today,
“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.”
I. “If a man die, shall he live again?”
Now that’s the question Job asked. And before we come down too hard on Job, remember that this is the Old Testament.
Look at 2 Timothy 1:10, “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”
The understanding that we have that our SOULS are immortal is kind of CLOUDY in the Old Testament, but it is so much clearer in the New Testament. In John 14, Jesus gives us a glimpse into Heaven and what eternity will be like there for you and I. And then in Matthew 25, He gives us a description of EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT.
Paul tells us about the CROWN of RIGHTEOUSNESS that is awaiting us. John the Revelation in Revelations 21 talks about the Streets of Gold and the Gates of Pearl. You see, we mainly rely on the New Testament for our understanding of what it’s going to be like after we die. JOB DIDN’T HAVE THIS!!!
And listen, just because Job questions whether there will be life after death doesn’t take away the TRUTH of the BIBLE. What is TRUE ... is the fact that JOB wasn’t sure. He didn’t know so he asks this question.
And I hope that this is a question that all of us will ask ourselves. It’s an important question. WHEN YOU DIE, will you live again? And the answer is YES!!! Yes you will. There is NO DOUBT ABOUT IT. These SOULS are ETERNAL. They will live on.
The SOULS of the APOSTLES live on today.
The SOULS of the Great PATRIARCHS like Abraham and Moses live on today.
The SOULS of the Great World Leaders live on today.
And the SOULS of the MOST VILE HUMANS ever born, live today. Like Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Mao Si Tung and Pol Potts.
Jesus PROMISED EVERYONE everlasting life. But where you spend that ETERNAL LIFE is up to you.
“If a man die, shall he live again?” And the answer is, “Yes he will.”
II. And then Job goes on to say, “all the days of my appointed time will I wait”
The NIV puts it like this, “All the days of my hard service I will wait”
The AMP Bible says this, “I will wait all the days of my struggle”
That was really the only thing that Job could do. JUST WAIT.
ILLUS: I talked to two different folks from our church this week who spent quite a while in the Hospital. Sister Mary Brazeal shared with me that all she wanted was to go home. She said she just couldn’t stand one more day in that Hospital. And I get that!!!
I was up at the Hospital with Sister Rebecca Childress when the nurse came in and told her she was going home that day. I thought she was gonna jump out of that bed. She was so happy. She said, “Today? Like Today?” And that nurse said, “Yes today” And I thought she was gonna cry she was so happy after 4 weeks and two days in that hospital.
You see, up until this time all these two ladies could do was WAIT. And that’s all JOB could do. WAIT!!!
And folks, there are times in our own lives where that’s all we can do. I don’t know who I’m talking to today, but you’re STRUGGLING just to keep your head above water.
You’re struggling to HOLD IT ALL TOGETHER.
You may be struggling against a BAD MARRIAGE.
Struggling against a HEAVY FINANCIAL LOAD.
Struggling with a BROKEN HEART.
“all the days of my appointed time will I wait”
“All the days of my hard service I will wait”
“I will wait all the days of my struggle”
You know what, sometimes that’s all you can do. Just wait.
Psalms 37:7-9 “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
Psalms 27:14 “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Sometimes waiting is the hardest thing to do. And as Job set there in his PAIN and DEPRESSION all he could do was WAIT.
And I’ll be honest, I don’t always understand why we have to wait. And why we have to ENDURE HARDSHIPS while we wait. But there are reasons.
Sometimes it takes years for HEALING to occur.
40 years passed between the time that Jacob stole Esau’s birthright and when he returned to Canaan and met Esau again.
22 years passed between the time that Joseph’s brothers SOLD him into slavery and they met again in Egypt.
ILLUS: I remember two really good men that I knew who had a disagreement years ago. It was over something silly. It shouldn’t have caused problems. Both of them should have let it go but they didn’t. And it took years of waiting before the rift was mended. But it finally was and once again they were friends. I thought to myself of the wasted years but I think they both had things they needed to learn.
And sometimes there are things we need to LEARN. There are times that we need to GROW.
Abraham had to wait 25 years from the promise of Isaac’s birth until he was born.
Moses spent 40 years working for his father-in-law as a shepherd before God called him to lead His people out of Egypt.
From the time David was anointed KING until he actually became king was 15 years. I’m sure there were times he may have thought it would never happen. But he had things he needed to learn.
And in all of these situations, the CHANGE FINALLY CAME.
Job said in Verse 14, “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, TILL MY CHANGE COME.”
III. That’s what I started off talking about. CHANGE is COMING. Everything CHANGES. Nothing stays the same.
And so we looked at the QUESTION that Job asks.
“If a man die, shall he live again?” THESE BODIES? NO. BUT OUR SOULS? YES!!! In either Heaven or Hell.
“If a man die, shall he live again?” THESE BODIES? NO. BUT if we’re trusting in Christ. YES!!! A GLORIFIED BODY?
And so JOB WAITED.
I thought about this. Job was SO DOWN. SO DEPRESSED. IN SO MUCH PAIN that, I BELIEVE, he thought the ONLY CHANGE that would give him any relief was DEATH. Look at Verses 15 - 17.
“Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
16 For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.”
He thought DEATH was coming. His STEPS were numbered and he had used them all up. His days were over and his SINS were ADDED UP, SEALED UP in a BAG to be taken care of later. JOB HAD COME TO THE END. HIS CHANGE WAS ABOUT TO COME!!!
BUT DEATH WASN’T GOD’S PLAN WAS IT?
In Chapter 40 of Job, God answers him out of a whirlwind. And in Verses 7-10 this is what God tells Job to do.
“Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?
9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty.”
And then in Job 42, Verses 10 -17 it tells us,
“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
12 So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.
15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.
16 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.
17 So Job died, being old and full of days.”
So old JOB did die but NOT how he expected it. He died in his old age. After being DOUBLE BLESSED. Having twice as much WEALTH. Having TWICE as many children. (He had 10 kids on the other side and ten more kids on this side.)
I like to think he died in his sleep. HAPPY and at PEACE.
THE CHANGE CAME BUT NOT HOW HE EXPECTED IT.
And you and I WAIT. We WAIT while we sometimes Struggle.
We WAIT while we LEARN.
And we WAIT while we GROW.
And THEN the CHANGE will come. And many times it’s NOT what we expect. I KNOW that Job didn’t understand what was going on as he WAITED and STRUGGLED. He didn’t know what the PURPOSE WAS for everything he went through. But we do. It was so that you and I and MILLIONS of others can LEARN from JOB.
God has a PLAN and we may think we understand. We may think everything is laid out for us. But then, everything CHANGES and we wait for it to CHANGE AGAIN. And then AGAIN. And AGAIN. But there is something that JOB learned and you and I must learn. GOD IS IN CONTROL. And we just need to put out trust in Him as we live in this CHANGING WORLD. Because HE is the only one who never changes.
Malachi 3:6 “"For I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT;”
He is THE ROCK that you can trust in.
Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”
This world is changing. None of us know what tomorrow holds. None of us have a guarantee of tomorrow. So have you put YOUR TRUST in Jesus? You can do that today.
Let’s Pray
