The Point Of Pain & Suffering Series

Hey everyone. I’m Josh, one of the leaders here, and it is great to have you with us today. Happy Father’s day to all the Dad’s. It is really cool for me this weekend to have my Dad in town, so that is always nice.

Let’s pray as we move on this morning.

If you have your bibles, you can open them to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 11. It is on p. 134 if you grabbed a bible in the lobby. Deuteronomy is 1 of the first 5 books of the Old Testament, those first 5 books are known as the Torah. These 5 books are believed to be written by Moses to pass on the history of the nation of Israel, but also the laws that were to guide them as a people. When Jewish children were growing up, these were the first books they learned. In fact, every Jewish person through the time of Jesus would have had these 5 books memorized.

This is what it says in chapter 11, verse 13: 13"And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. 15And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

What Moses is trying to get across here is not only the reality of when rain comes, so that is when you are to plant your crops, but also the reminder of where that rain comes from. Who controls the weather.

Flip over to the book of Job. It is in page 360. We will start by looking at chapter 1. The book of Job was the first book written in the Bible, it is believed to be written by Moses. I think that is interesting that the first thing God would communicate to humans, the first thing he would want them to know is a story of pain and suffering. Instead of giving laws or rules, he gives them a story to show how to handle hard times. This is what it says in Job chapter 1, verse 1: 1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

Obviously, Job is a wealthy guy. He has a lot, but he is also a guy who fears God. Someone who is blameless. It goes so far to say that he is the greatest man in the area he lives in.

Verse 6: 6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. 7The LORD said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." 8And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 9Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? 10Have you not put a hedge around 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. 11But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face." 12And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

So Satan comes to God in heaven and says, the only reason Job follows you is because you have blessed him. He would not follow you if you didn’t protect him and if he lost everything. So God gives Satan permission to do whatever he wants to Job, but he can’t stretch his hand out against him, which is another way of saying, you can’t kill him. What is also interesting is that Satan tells God to do it, but God says no. He says in verse 12 for Satan to do it, but that God knows it is going on. It is the same thing we talked about a few weeks ago when we said that everything doesn’t come from the hand of God, but everything passes through the hand of God.