So maybe you’ve heard it said, ‘read your bible’ so you tried and failed. Our hope as leaders is that all of us will pick up God’s word and come to understand the true nature of God. After all, the bible is God’s Word curated over centuries detailing His nature, His will, the meaning of life and humanity’s historical interactions with Him. The Bible details the hidden keys to the Kingdom. Hence, the reason we are reviewing a new book each week.
Last Sunday, we learned how the book of Esther, while it does not directly mention His Name, it does remind us that God’s use of a young minority woman and an older Jewish man in a male dominated culture to spare thousands of lives, points to Jesus' love for all of us.
It’s not a random act by those who curated the Old Testament to place Job after Esther. The story of God’s love for his people, often assumes God’s perfect love comes with justice. And while true, we often only see justice from our personal and limited human view point. This of course causes all kinds of misunderstandings that lead to erroneous conclusions about what God is doing in the world. Much like Job, we want answers and there are plenty of experts willing to fill in the blanks for us.
Remember a few years ago, when someone claimed the earthquake in Haiti was the result of God’ judgment on the Haitian people for their mixing of Christianity and Voodoo. Or the time when a world leader stated the continued persecution of the Jews was divine wrath for their unwillingness to accept Jesus. The pundits and prognosticators will always be present to give their opinions and there will always be others willing to espouse them.
The book of Job four main themes:
Trusting God’s wisdom in human suffering
The goodness of God’s world
The relationship (or lack thereof) between suffering and punishment
The mystery of God’s justice
All of which gives us pause to contemplate our own understanding of God and ultimately the meaning of life. The themes are timeless. It’s no wonder the book of Job is considered by scholars to be the oldest book in the Old Testament and the most referenced.
Humanity has always longed to know why a good God would allow suffering and injustice. We know God values justice. Just take a listen to these scriptures:
“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
“The King in his might loves justice.” (Psalm 99:4; see also Psalm 33:5)
“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!” (Revelation 15:3)
“Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” (Revelation 16:7)
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory.” (Matthew 12:20)
We are commanded to care about the justice of our God and Savior:
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
“By the help of your God . . . hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” (Hosea 12:6)
“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)
“Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God.” (Luke 11:42)
I believe those who point to a world of suffering and injustice to say, “there must not be a God” have an incomplete understanding of God and their role in the universe. How arrogant must a human be to think God doesn’t see the injustice or the suffering? God sees and hears the cries. God’s answer to Job is not only a serious reminder of Job’s place in the universe but ours as well. If you are struggling with these issues, just take some time and read chapters 38-41. Three of my favorites lines from God are:
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Job 38:4
“What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Job 38:19
Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his? 10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. 11 Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low, 12 look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand. 13 Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Job 40:9-13
God is God and we are not. When this is truly established in our hearts, we all fall to our knees in serious repentance for thinking we were on an equal plane as God. Job 42:1-6 says it best,
Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job realizes that he does not have sufficient knowledge to understand or pass judgment on God’s reasoning regarding allowing injustice and suffering, especially of the righteous. Even without full knowledge of how God orders the universe, we, like Job, tend to choose to trust God’s wisdom and good character. Job's reaction to His encounter with God is grief. He needs to let go of His view, accept God’s and repent for ever thinking he had equality with God.
Finally, I'd like to point us to verse 42:7-8.
7After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job?has.
8So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job?will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job?has.”
9So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
10After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes
In the verses, we see an interesting phenomenon, God alerts one of Job's friends to the need to be forgiven for their poor advice. An act that needs forgiveness from Job which in turn unleashed God's restoration power in Job's life.
Job teaches us our awareness of injustice and suffering are catalysts for joining God in bringing a foretaste of heaven to earth through our willingness to endure in spite of ourselves for another.
In the same way Jesus endured our world, healing along the way and ultimately acting on our behalf on the cross and praying for us, we are sent to assist Him as He redeems others who are suffering at the hands of the world in which we live.
In so doing, we demonstrate an assurance that God is in control and He will always write our last chapter. We don’t have to be afraid. We can trust God. Like Job, our greatest blessing comes through knowing God better and understanding Him even more intimately.
Creative: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/job/ stop at 6:03
References: Quest Bible Overviews p705-760 , Warren Wiersbe Commentary p 80-82, https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-job/#conclusion-to-the-story-of-job
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