Job 1 – Th – 9/17/2009
Job was a godly man. This book of God’s wisdom, written within the context of tremendous human suffering starts off with this important point. Here was a man of moral integrity, a worshipper of God, who turned away from all evil. This man would suffer greatly, and it would be tempting for others to conclude that the reason for his suffering was his own secret guilt. While there may be things that God would teach Job through this horrible chain of events, we should not see it as our place to conclude that the reason why this man suffered was his own sin. This wrong opinion has to be excluded from the very first verse of the book.
Not only was Job morally upright, he was also greatly blessed by God up until the time of his disaster. He had a big family and much livestock, so in terms of his possessions, there was no one in his place and time greater than Job. He did not take any of this for granted, but was aware of the danger of sin in his family, and sought to come before God in appropriate ways concerning the possibility of even secret sins among his sons and daughters. We might imagine in our day a modern-day Job, some very godly man, known by the Lord alone to be faithful in his life of prayer on behalf of his adult sons and daughters. We are told that Job did this continually. There was nothing that Job did that triggered all the misfortune that came to him.
God himself spoke glowingly about Job in the heavenly council, when all the angels appeared before the Lord. We should remember throughout this book that it was God who brought up the matter of Job to His adversary Satan. He must have had some good purpose in doing this. God boasted of Job to an enemy; a deceiver and accuser of the brethren. What Satan would do with malice, God must have somehow meant for good. This was not a divine accident, nor can we conclude that God was maliciously toying with his beloved servant Job.
Whatever might have been going on in the plan of our good and powerful God, we know something from these opening verses that Job never knew, that Job’s trouble proceeded from a contest between God and Satan. Satan was surely only able to operate within the bounds established by the First Cause of all things. This angelic enemy would not yet be permitted to touch Job personally. What was already permitted was enough of a horror story.
Satan’s challenge against Job before the face of God was very formidable. His accusation was that Job did not do all his acts of devotion and obedience for nothing. Job, he claimed, was just like everyone else. He was not motivated by the love of God, or by the recognition that good is better than evil, or by the fact that God is superior to all His creatures. He did what he did in order to get what he wanted. If he had lost God’s protection, and lost the substantial blessing of God over his life, then he would have cursed God to His face. This was what the accuser contended, and this was the test that was approved of in heaven.
We are left to understand that all of the disasters that follow in the remainder of this chapter were somehow accomplished through the agency of Satan. They occurred through the work of ruthless raiding parties, through fire from heaven, and through a great wind, but we know that Satan’s fingerprints were on everything, as a workman might leave his mark on his tools. Yet above all of these other beings and forces, and above this accusing angel, there is one God who is over all. The tragedy was unfathomably terrible, as if the Lord and all secondary agents and causes brought together in one moment a concerted attack of power against this great man. His property was gone, his servants were dead, and finally, far worse than anything else, all of his descendants were consumed in one great disaster. The only ones who were left alive were those who arrived at the same moment from all directions to tell this great man the awful news.
The response of Job was real. He grieved with signs that fit his place and time, tearing his robe, and shaving his head, and then he bowed down before God in worship. His words were simple and true. He knew he came into this world with nothing, and that he would one day leave this world with nothing. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord.” He refused to charge the Almighty with any wrong, and he did not sin against God.
This was an awful test brought upon a godly man. Yet what could Job do? He could not change anything. He could not bring his children back. He could not restore all his possessions. He could not get his hands on any man or angel for retribution. Centuries later, there came a man far more righteous than Job, and He too was tested, but His test was more severe. When He was nailed to a cross, He could have changed everything. Job could not reverse His troubles. Jesus could have come down from the cross and destroyed His adversaries. He did not do this. If He had, we would have been lost, and God’s honor would have been attacked by His own Son.
How is it that God works His purposes of grace through the hands of evil men and angels, and even through the horror of His own Son’s death? Think of the greatness of the one who suffered for you. He came from heaven, not from Uz. He always did what was right in the fullest possible way, and He ordered His life according to His Father’s good pleasure continually. He saved His children from destruction at the cost of His own life. He did not suffer because He was evil, but because we were. His great losses were full of meaning, and the way of our salvation through this wretched humiliation of the Son of God has somehow become for us a thing in which we glory. Through the willing loss of the richest life ever known among men, our poverty has been erased, and we have been granted an incomparable gift of the greatest worth. God’s adversary has now been defeated, though we still feel his anger for a brief time. There were evil hands raised against the most righteous Man of all time in order that we might be saved, and God, who is the first cause of all things, meant it all for good.
Job 2 – Th – 10/1/2009
We have come again to the heavenly council of God, and to a second encounter between the Lord and Satan concerning the Lord’s righteous servant Job. Once again it was the Lord who was bringing up the name of His beloved servant who had suffered so deeply, losing all his possessions, and especially facing the death of all his sons and daughters. Still this righteous man would not turn against God, and the Lord brought this matter to the attention of Satan, and we wonder why? We are in a poor position to ask this question. We have not entered into the heavenly counsel. We do not understand the things that matter most there. Were we to judge God, we would be foolish. The Lord is above all. We should listen and learn.
Satan was in that council and he did dare to speak. He claimed that the test had not been severe enough to discover what was really in Job. He challenged the Lord with these words, “Skin for skin!” We imagine that we would give up our life and our health for many noble purposes. Many parents suppose that they would gladly suffer great physical pain so that their children will be spared discomfort, and I suppose that there may be some truth in these assertions. Yet it was the attack against Job’s body that Satan claimed would be the worst challenge, and would finally reveal the truth about him, a truth that was not unearthed even when his children were killed. The second round of the testing of Job was thus commenced. Job’s health would be in Satan’s hands, with the one condition that the man’s life would be spared.
Satan went out from the presence of God and set to work against Job, and the great man was filled with sores all over his body, sores so bad, that he used a broken piece of pottery to scrape his skin. Here was a man who was the picture of greatness brought low. Full of disease by some hand that touches him, but that he could not touch, he sits in ashes, in deep humility before the God he continues to know, and even to defend. It must have seemed to others that it would have been better for Job if he had died. This was his wife’s suggestion to him, maybe even through some foolish sense of care for her man. “Curse God and die,” she said.
Job did not take this awful bait. Like Jesus, when Peter tried to turn Him away from the cross, Job utterly rejected the evil suggestion. It would have been the way of foolishness to turn against the Almighty. Job accepted his life as coming from God, whether the experience might at one moment feel good, and at the next moment feel very bad, it all came from the Lord, and it all needed to be received with faithful patience. Thus Job took even the great trouble of physical pain, and still hung on to his integrity. He would not curse God. He would not sin with his lips.
What followed then set the stage for the remainder of the book. Job had passed the awful test of the loss of his possessions and his progeny. He had bourn up under the test of the marring of his flesh. But now his friends came to show his sympathy, and this would be the challenge that would finally require the most patience. In this chapter there was no obvious sign that Job’s friends would be anything but a comfort to him. When they saw him, they had trouble recognizing him in all of his misery. They wept. They tore their robes, and had the dust of mourning on their heads for their friend. They sat on the ground with him. They didn’t say a word. Apparently he did not say a word either. They were all made silent by this spectacle of great suffering.
The problem would come when Job spoke, as we will see. They were not prepared for the depth of his emotions and his suffering. They could not take the cry of a man who cried out to God something like this: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Job had been a man who was above them, but now he appeared to be below them, and they presumed to be his judges.
Jesus came very low when He was born. He left behind all His heavenly riches, and the society of another world where He was visibly and obviously the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was a great trial, but He also faced all the physical suffering leading up to His crucifixion. In the story of Job, the Lord placed a limit on what could be done to that righteous man. He could not have his life taken from him, but there was no such limit upon the sufferings of Jesus. His death was required for our life, even the shameful death of the cross.
At various points along the road that He walked to atone for our sins He had many friends, and the admiration of large crowds. But when the end came, one of His friends had betrayed Him, another denied Him, and all of them were scattered like sheep when their Shepherd was struck. He had friends that seemed to sympathize with Him, but who could not understand what He alone had to face, as the Father would place upon the eternal Son our filthy sins. This Savior had more than the patience of Job. He knew what was in a man. He kept on going to the end. He did this for our salvation, and He has accomplished our full redemption. In Him our sins are forgiven.
Job 3 – Th – 10/15/2009
Job lost all his possessions. All his children died. He lost his health and comfort. In all of this he did not curse God. But after his friends sat without words mourning with him for seven days, he did finally speak, and he began by cursing his “day,” that is, the day of his birth.
His speech was full of the godly grief, the inspired poetry of a man of sorrows. There is a clarity of vision that can come to a man at such a time, though he may not see everything well, yet he sees and feels the loss of this age, and he mourns. Job wished that he had never been born. More than that, he wanted that day entirely removed from the providence of the Almighty. Somehow it should have been reclaimed by the darkness of non-existence, losing its place forever among the days of the year, so that when that month came in its season from this time forward, the day before it would proceed directly on to the day after it, lest it have any time allotted to that one dark day where someone might mistakenly let forth a joyful cry.
There are those who seem to curse anything which is light. Job suggested that they be employed as experts in this task to curse this day when he was born. Let those who were angry and foolish enough to scream into the ears of some gigantic vicious beast, rousing up that Leviathan, let them scream to one who could bring destructive anger upon that day. Let there be such darkness over the stars, so even if people were gathered at the edge of the horizon waiting for the sun to come up, they would see no glimpse of light off in the distance on that day. Why should that day be so dishonored? Because it was on that day when the womb that contained the tiny child that would be Job was not shut forever to keep the young one from seeing the light of the morning, and because of that fact, the eyes of this godly man had seen much trouble.
Job continued in his meditation with the word that so often brings no acceptable answer to the mourning soul: “Why?” He did not even say, “Why did I lose my possessions, my children, my health?” His question was deeper than that: “Why did I not die at birth?” Why were the knees of my mother there, providing me the first place to rest my living form in the world outside of the womb, her resting legs bent so that my frame could stretch out upon that couch of limbs, where my mother smiled at my eyes and I gazed in infant wonder at her face? Why were her breasts there for my nourishment and comfort that I might live and grow, only to face the miseries of this age that would one day come upon me so suddenly? Why did I not die soon after leaving the womb, to be in the place of the dead who are at rest, the place where even the greatest men go despite their great endeavors and achievements? Even more, why did I not die prior to leaving the womb, an infant who would never have seen the light? I would have just gone immediately where the departed live. There the wicked are finished oppressing people, and the weary find rest. Prisoners are not facing the lash of men or even the barking orders of someone in authority over them. Whether they were small or great on this earth, they make their way to that place of death, where even the slave is free of his master.
Why is anyone given the light of mortal life, only to face a destiny of misery here? Why are people kept alive who are looking for their own death more than for hidden treasure? This kind of despair can come upon a person who has faced great loss, and can see nothing good ahead, so that his time on this earth seems to have come and gone, but he is still here, and he cannot understand why. God seems to have trapped him in life, in a world of misery, where memory has lost its sweetness through bitter association. He can’t eat with joy. He has his tears and his groans. He is not at ease. He’s in trouble. Why does such a man still live?
We must not be too quick to answer Job’s questions. There is much danger in answers that are too quick by half. First we should take a moment to hear what he is saying, and to agree with him. While we live in a world where there are many wonderful displays of a Creator who is powerful, wise, and good, there is no doubt that there is something wrong here. We should agree with that observation and not hide from it.
Then we may be able to eventually add this one thought: This world cannot possibly be the end of the story. From our recognition of misery and grief, and from the insight of some true hope beyond this world, we wait for the Voice of God to come. That Voice came through the words of the prophets of old, and then finally and perfectly that Voice came in person, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Our Savior came into this world of despair, and he tented among us in mortal flesh. His death was the end of death for His beloved children, and His resurrection was the beginning of an eternal age of resurrection for those who have been redeemed by His blood. If this world of mortality and misery were the end of the story, we would have no good news to proclaim. But Christ has died for us and risen from the grave, enabling us to live now with both grief and grace.
Job 4 – Th – 10/29/2009
Job was in horrible trouble, and some of the things that he said probably seemed extreme to his friends. This is not unusual. Our listening ears and open hearts are normally the best gifts that can be given to our suffering friends when no words will help.
Much of this Old Testament book of wisdom is taken up with the cycle of speeches that begin in the previous chapter of the book, when Job spoke against the day of his own birth. This was a word from a man brought low, a word that needed no response. But now in the fourth chapter, Eliphaz the Temanite does venture something of a reply, as he indicates that he simply cannot hold back from sharing his insights.
Eliphaz knows that Job has a record as a great man. He has instructed many people, and strengthened those who were weak during their own days of difficulty. Now his own time to suffer has come, and he seems to Eliphaz to be unduly impatient, as if he could be censured for having advice for others that he could not now heed.
This friend directs Job to God in such a way that the first hints are given concerning his opinion of the great man’s trials. He asks, “Who that was innocent ever perished?” The suggestion is clear, but will become more obvious as the book continues. “Job, this must be about the sin of your children. Job, your own pain must have something to do with your own secret failures.”
Eliphaz appeals to his own consideration of the lives he has observed among his people. He hints at the conclusion of his theological reflections. People perish by the breath of God. Surely this must have something to do with God’s wise judgments. Surely it must have something to do with a man’s sin. If Job and his family appeared righteous, that was only because there are things about them that are beyond our view…. This all sounds quite reasonable to those who have not been greatly humbled by afflictions that they simply cannot understand.
But Eliphaz has more to add based on a different source beyond his own ruminations. Yes Job was a lion among the people, and he has been brought low by the hand of God, but more than his own thoughts on Job’s situation, Eliphaz considers what he believes to be revelation on this matter that has come to him from the land of spirits. He says that a word was brought to him that he believes to be spiritual insight. He receives it as a sure word, a word that was given with some palpable sense of fear and trembling, a word from some unusual spirit-form that moved before his eyes from some unusual source that he decided to trust.
That unusual spiritual revelation had two important components, both of which were false and destructive, though Eliphaz received them as gospel. The first was stated in the form of a question: “Can a mortal man be in the right before God?” This is a very important question. At first it appears that the answer must be “No.” We know that God is great and perfectly holy. We also know that there was only one man who had no sin, and He lived long after Job’s death. We know that we need God in our lives. Yet this question: “Can a mortal man be right before God?” deserves some further consideration. Could it be that God Himself, with all His holiness and love, could make a way for people to be judged as righteous in His sight? Stated this way we now know that the answer is emphatically “Yes!” While no man except Jesus can be right before God in one’s own merit, Jesus has provided all the merit necessary for us to be seen as right before God on account of His righteousness and His death for us. The spirit leading Eliphaz toward a humble-sounding suggestion that no one can ever be right before God is actually a horrible and deadly lie. God has made a very important way for us to be right before Him through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The second assertion of the lying spirit who instructed Eliphaz was based upon this idea: “If God finds fault in angels, and we know that He did find fault with the angels that fell, then surely He must have no real concern for his fleshly creature, mankind. They came from dust, and they return to dust. How could God actually be expected to care about such low beings?” In this second supposed revelation we hear something of the over-reaching that often betrays evil. There is a rush on the part of this spirit to be defensive of fallen angels, and to express a strange disgust of people, claiming that they die without wisdom, and perish forever without anyone caring.
Once again we must protest. Man is created in the image of God. Angels are ministering spirits who are destined to serve men, who are the heirs of salvation. Speaking of salvation, there is no redemption for angels, but God shows that He loves mankind by this: God became a man in order to save men. Christ’s incarnation, suffering, death, and resurrection show forth the wonder of the Lord’s great love for His people. Christ did not die for angels. He died for men.
This experience of Eliphaz and the advice that proceeds from it is not spiritual in any good way, but demonic. The fact is that the love of God for men has been supremely displayed in the cross of Christ. It is through this cross, and through all the excellencies of Christ offered up to the Father on our behalf, that we are rightly judged as justified in the sight of God. The suffering of one perfect man will ultimately be shown to be, not a point of evidence in some claim that God considers men to be hopeless worms, but the most important proof that God loves us, and has made a way for us to be counted as right in His sight. He gave His only-begotten Son up to a life of the greatest suffering and a death that was the only way to defeat death, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish, but would have everlasting life.
Job 5 – Th – 11/5/2009
We continue with the first speech of Eliphaz as he brings a word that he may sincerely think that Job needs to hear. We discovered in the prior chapter that the spiritual advice that he has received in some special experience in the night is nothing other than the doctrines of demons. He told Job two things: 1) There is no way for a man to be right in God’s eyes, and 2) God could not be bothered with a creature as low and miserable as man. In the process of pressing these points upon Eliphaz, the spirit that spoke showed a defensiveness toward fallen angels in this accusation against God, saying “His angels He charges with error.”
The words of Eliphaz are not only discouraging, they are deeply wrong, no matter how sincere anyone might be who brings them to this suffering man, Job. God has made a way for us to be right in His eyes through the gift of His Son. This fact alone proves that both statements are lies. We can be counted as righteous through the righteousness and death of Jesus, and God must have a great regard for man if He became a man to die for men. Eliphaz is not yet finished. He unfortunately has more to say.
Eliphaz has heard from a spirit that he takes to be a “holy one.” He now issues a subtle taunt to the man of God. “To which of the holy ones will you turn.” The question assumes that Job in all his troubles has been rejected by any heavenly helper. Why is he rejected? Eliphaz quotes a proverb: “Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.” Is Job a simple fool who has given in to jealousy and anger? We remember the Lord’s assessment of this great man of righteousness from the opening verses of the book. “There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” Here is one of the key concepts that we must consider throughout this book. Job’s counselors are less righteous than Job, yet they have presumed to enter into judgment against their friend. Though their claims become more obvious as the speeches continue, we can already see the subtle insinuation here that the reason why Job has suffered is because of his secret sin.
Job is a fool (one who does not really attend to the Lord’s Word), Eliphaz seems to hint, and that is why his children are far from safety, that is why his possessions have been taken, and that is why he has affliction. All of this would not be so wrong were it not for the fact that Job was actually the most righteous man of his day, and Eliphaz considered himself above Job. He says, “As for me, I would seek God.” Eliphaz thinks he understands what he would do if all his possessions were suddenly taken, if all his children died, and if he had lost all his fleshly comfort? Of course, no one can know what they would act like in such a situation until he was visited by such overwhelming affliction. All boasts of how godly any of us would be in theoretical situations of testing are very empty.
So much that Eliphaz says here is actually true. It is just completely out of place coming from his mouth as a reminder or correction to Job. Yes, God is great in all He is and all He does, but it is not the time or place for that reminder, and Eliphaz is not the man to give it. God does catch the crafty. God does rescue the needy. Yet His mysterious providences are so difficult for us to understand, and they could easily be misinterpreted by outsiders who do not know what He alone knows.
Consider the most amazing example of this kind of mistaken assessment, when those who were truly foolish and most unrighteous considered themselves perfectly qualified to pass judgment on the only completely righteous man, the man who was facing the end that one might only associate with God’s wrath and curse. Was that man who went to the cross put in that exposed position in order to profit from the advice of lesser men? What if the passersby from priestly ranks had said to Him their best words of spiritual advice? “Blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.” Could any of them have been in a position to really understand the cross and to counsel the Son of God? “Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear, and know it for your good.”
The truth is that the full reproof that Jesus faced was for our sake. Jesus would be blessed in the end, but not before facing the curse we deserved. Through it all, our Savior never despised His Father or the ways of our God. Jesus would have more than a ripe old age, since He would show forth the eternal power of a divine and indestructible life. But first He would have to be cut off from the land of the living. Who can speak to such a man and presume to tell Him the right thing to think and do. “Come down from that cross, if you are the Son of God.” His reply to them: Nothing. And He stayed His ground. Therefore, by His stripes we have been healed, and we who are united with Him are with Him not only in His death, but also in His resurrection. It is not our place to correct Him, only to receive His love, to praise Him, and to thank Him.
Job 6 – Th – 12/3/2009
Job has faced great difficulty in the loss of his possessions, his children, and his health. To hear the critique of a man like Eliphaz at such a time as this is an extra burden to bear, yet this too is somehow from the hand of the Almighty. Job is well aware of the sovereignty of God in suffering. He has faced things that are evil, yet he is not content to blame the secondary causes for his misfortune, as if these losses were somehow outside of the Lord’s decrees. Job knows that he is ultimately facing the arrows of his almighty Lord. The terrors that he must live through, including the indignity of the ill-timed advice from an advisor who was less righteous than him, still comes from the Lord who commended Job for His righteousness.
Job acknowledges that some of his words have been rash, but he rightly suggests that the reason for this failing is that the calamity he has faced is heavier than the sand of the sea. It would be best for us not to judge Job in this situation. He has faced providential trials that he cannot fathom. His words reflect the depth of his misery. To expect him to say all the right words now would be like expecting a starving animal to make no noise at all. It would be a very unnatural demand that Job would simply smile silently through these troubles. Even the sinless Son of God in the day of His deepest distress acknowledged before everyone that He felt forsaken by God. This was perfectly consistent with His fullest statements of faith in His Father to deliver Him from trouble.
But now Job feels as if he has no reason for living. The banquets of earth’s bounty he has no taste for. All he can desire in his pain and grief is that the Lord would crush him and his life would be over. Is it that surprising that Job would express such an honest sentiment? Who, when facing their worst fears, does not have very similar feelings? If the Lord should return today that would not be a moment too soon for those who are in extreme pain. We are waiting for the heavenly world that Christ has won for us.
Eliphaz’ wicked suggestions that Job is facing these troubles because of His own sin completely misses the work. Job has been unusually faithful. He has listened to the Word of God fully, and has not denied the instruction of the Holy One.
There is a limit to what anyone can take. Job’s heart is not made of bronze. His body does feel pain. His sense of resourcefulness to fix his own miserable condition is completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of his loss and his great discomfort. Now must he be insulted as well? Is it actually the will of the Lord, in some way, that this servant should suffer more than he already has? Will Job’s friends withhold kindness from him in his hour of greatest need?
There is a way of offering spiritual advice that is far from behaving as the light of the world. When Jesus was touched by a woman who had been bleeding for years, He did not lecture her on the biblical legislation concerning clean and unclean. He healed her just based on her outrageous action. He saw the faith coming from the heart of despair, and not the broken law that reached forth an unclean hand toward the Messiah. What do we hear in the words of those who are in despair? Is there a cry of faith somewhere under all the confusion? Is there something of more value that we can communicate beyond our desire to see a suffering saint be able to move past his troubles?
The friends of Job have nothing for him of any value, though they may think of their words as apples of gold in settings of silver. Perhaps they would understand Job better if they had suffered as he had. We have a great High Priest in the heavens who is able to sympathize with the most pitiful suffering saint. He faced the extremity of divine punishment for us, and He is able to bring us words of comfort that come from One who understands. His promises concerning the future are not mere wishful thinking. He has conquered sin and death and secured for us a full world beyond our miseries.
There is nothing that Job’s friends can pay to change his calamity. He does not want their money. The price that overturns misery this deep is far above all the gold in the world. It is the precious blood of Christ that is the cost of our redemption.
Job does not need his rash and honest words to be corrected by men. He needs the security of a world beyond his current losses, and that can only come through the death of the Messiah. Consider the difference between the love of the cross and the reproof of our cries of agony coming against us from men who are less righteous than we are. There is no comparison. In the midst of the worst pain that men can face, we can truly say that Jesus knows, and the He understands. Perhaps through the lens of the cross and in the light of God’s promise of a resurrection kingdom we can begin to see in brighter light the outlines of His promise that He is working all things together for our good.
Job 7 – M – 1/11/2010
God does not hide from us the fact of misery which is a part of this life. He does not ask us to lie to Him and to say that our lives are perfectly easy. Throughout this book, as we consider the complaint of Job, we must remember that at the conclusion of this difficult ordeal the Lord corrects those who were Job’s critics with these words: “You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” Because this is, at least on some level, the Lord’s assessment of Job, we should be looking for what is right in Job’s words before we rush to discover what might be wrong.
Man’s service on earth is hard. His days here are like the days of one who has a term as an indentured servant. He counts them, waiting for the time when he will be free. Job was despised, rejected, distressed, and afflicted. Every moment was like a month of emptiness at best, or like a night of misery and sickness when someone looks for the dawn to come. Yet help did not come with the day, and the troubles of his waking hours were not solved when the sun went down. There was no escape for him on earth.
Job found it very difficult to have any sense of hope in the world where we live under the Lord’s heavens. It was hard even to imagine that there would be hope for him beyond the earth, though he would stretch forth his soul toward an eternal resurrection hope in a later speech. For now, he simply acknowledges the problem of the human condition, not as a mere observer of the sufferings of others, but as a righteous servant of the Lord participating in the most horrific afflictions.
At least for the moment it does not seem to him that his eye will ever again see good. This perspective is easy to correct from the sidelines, but Job is not on the sidelines, he is very much in the thick of the brutality of a life fully lived. Though the span of mortal life is truly a breath, there is a way to live it fully, and that way takes a man through suffering and loss.
Our sense of being able to rejoice in sufferings is not today’s story for this great hero of the Scriptures. Our word for Job is not encouragement, but the silence of one who mourns with the man who mourns. He has a correct assessment of the futility of his existence. He speaks to the One who holds the key to all life, the great God of providence who does all things well, all that pleases Him. Job has a question for this God in His depression and anguish. “What are You doing to me? What kind of man am I that You feel like You need to treat me this way? Am I some dangerous sea monster who has to be stopped? Is that it?” There is no answer to this kind of forthright inquiry. It is important that we not supply one.
Job has more to ask the Lord. Let him speak for now. Later he may despise his words, but that is between him and God. For now, it is apparently the plan of the Almighty that we should hear his cry to God. He says, “Isn’t it enough that I have suffered these losses in my real life. Is it necessary that you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions in the night?” Again, no answer.
Job has not changed his mind about life. He longs to be done with it. He is not asking for length of days today. He simply asks that the Lord leave him alone. No heroic measures to extend life are desired by this man. Only that God would look away from him so that his life could be over. Job feels the battle, and he knows who it is who raises these weapons against him. He does not make a reviling accusation against any fallen angel who cannot be seen. He speaks to God.
“Yes, man sins,” he says, “but how have I hurt you so badly that you have made me your mark? Why do you seem to be fighting against me? Why am I not simply pardoned? I am ready to die.”
Centuries later the perfectly righteous Servant of the Lord would come. He would live without sin, yet with an awareness of sin, since He was willing to be a sin offering for us so that we might be pardoned forever. He became God’s mark, a target for His wrath. He did this so that we would be released from bondage to our iniquity and to the divine judgment that we deserve. He is our answer, and He has become our freedom and our hope.
Because of His suffering for us, it has become possible for us, not only to have the expectation of a resurrection life in heaven and beyond, but even to rejoice in our sufferings. This does not preclude our honest assessment of the miseries of this life, and it does not prohibit our complaint to our benevolent Father in heaven concerning the intensity of His decrees touching our own bodies and souls. Yet, because of the cross of Jesus Christ, and because of His resurrection, we do not ultimately grieve as those who are without hope, though it may take us some time in the midst of struggle to remember what we know and believe.
Until then, the Lord hears the cries of His afflicted servants, and the One who sits at the right hand of the Father is able to sympathize with us in our suffering, and to help us in our time of questioning. As we search for what we might say to the one who suffers, it might be best for us to simply agree with him in his despair. Have we been permitted to watch this confusing drama of difficulty as outside observers? Let us maintain quiet hearts of sympathy with a silent expectation that the Lord will surely rescue His suffering servants, so many of whom are more righteous than we are.
Job 8 – T – 1/12/2010
There are three cycles of speeches that go back and forth between Job and his three friends in this wisdom book on the subjects of suffering and hope. We are in the first cycle, which gives us our opening opportunity to hear the wisdom of each of Job’s three friends. We have already heard from Eliphaz, and considered Job’s reply to him in the presence of God. Now we hear from the second friend, Bildad the Shuhite.
Whatever we might imagine concerning these three friends, we know this: They were not as righteous as Job. We also know that they did not speak rightly about God. That does not mean that everything they said about God was wrong. We should look for Job to identify some of the right things they said, and we should keep our eyes open for their errors.
One of their most significant errors was their attitude toward the suffering righteous man Job. As we move from Eliphaz to Bildad to Zophar we are not getting better but worse, and as we move from speech one to speech two to speech three for each man (Zophar is not even given a speech three) we see more and more evidence of their poor attitude toward Job.
Bildad begins by calling this amazing suffering man’s complaint a “great wind.” He would step in between Job’s words and the Almighty in order to defend God. It is not that Bildad is wrong about God’s justice, righteousness, and mercy, yet Bildad does not need to instruct Job on these matters. Furthermore, there are many things that happen under the sun that are not right and good. Our understanding of God’s complete sovereignty over all things does not imply that all things that He decrees are good. Some things that happen are very bad, and are in some sense against the will of God.
Specifically Bildad seems to have figured out why Job’s children died. That is what his words suggest: “If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.” Bildad, like a false prophet, believes that He can answer questions that only God can know, things that the Almighty has chosen to conceal for His own glory. Bildad is pretty sure he knows what has happened here. He also knows how to fix the problem: “If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation.”
Of course, it is not that easy. Some things cannot be restored. The order of life and death in this world after the entrance of sin insists that death cannot be overturned. The Lord does not bring about a resurrection every time a righteous mother and father asks for the return of their child. That is a fact. The Lord’s compassion fails not, but His ways are very difficult to interpret. Some events that look like the worst disasters can be great moments of God’s mercy, but not so plainly that anyone should even say so.
Bildad also calls Job to listen to what wise and holy men of old have found out about these matters. There is something to this kind of advice. People have thought about the problems of misery and death for centuries. Even some who have spoken words of mere human wisdom have been keen observers of natural revelation. Yet Job was not a man to be lectured on this point. As the “greatest of all the people of the east,” he surely had awareness of what previous interpreters of the existence of man had concluded concerning the ways of the Almighty.
What has happened to Job’s children, and therefore to their father, is a devastating event. Yet, as Bildad points out here, these troubles do not spring out of the air without some source. Papyrus grows where there is a marsh. Something makes the plants grow, but something makes those plants die before other plants, as if they were cut off before their time. This is true, and Job certainly knows these things, as he himself will say in the next chapter, but Bildad suggests that he is able to say something more about Job’s children. Were they godless? The hope of the godless shall perish. Did they forget God? Such men and women trust in something that is no more secure than a spider’s web is for a fly. His house may fall on him, even if his beginning was very promising.
Bildad ends with words that he must have thought to be an encouragement about the future, but there really is no replacing lost loved ones. Such consolations about better days ahead are only a deeper wound to the grieving heart.
But here is help for the children of God based on the deep wounds of the Son of God for us: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Here is love for us and for our children: Not that they are without sin before God, or that we are perfect in holiness, but that Christ is without sin, and His righteousness is perfect before His Father, and that this same Jesus died for us. We can say this: “The promise is for you and for your children.” We can proclaim this fact: “All who call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” The message of suffering and hope that brings healing to our bones cannot be about our merit, or about the merit of our children. It must be about the worthiness of the only-begotten Son of God who suffered and died for us, and who lives forever to make intercession for the unworthy.
Job 9 – W – 1/13/2010
Bildad, Job’s second friend, has just completed his first speech. He seemed to suggest that the problems that Job’s children faced were a result of their sin. Amazingly, Job does not appear to be immediately offended by this suggestion. We should be able to easily admit that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. Job does have something to say in response. He asks one of the most important questions that any person can ask. “Can a man be in the right before God?”
This is not the first time that this question has entered upon the pages of this book. The Spirit that spoke to Eliphaz had brought up this very question with an anticipated answer of, “Absolutely not!” There is something to that answer, though it is very wrong. It needs more words. We should say, “Absolutely not! Not in ourselves.” But a way has been revealed whereby people can be declared righteous before God in the Lord’s gracious provision of a Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. God has provided a sacrifice for us. The blood of an animal would not do. A perfect man was required, a man without sin.
If you consider the Old Testament, there had to be a way for man to be right before God, since God had promised His people a heavenly home full of beauty and eternal glory. Yet God had also said that He would be no means clear the guilty, and from Adam all the way to the children of Job and beyond, everyone was guilty. The only solution had to come through substitution. We needed someone who would provide all the righteousness that God required who would stand as our representative, taking the penalty that we deserved, and providing the righteousness that we needed. This is the only way for a man to be right before God, but this one way is a good way, and we gladly embrace it. This is what the eternal Son of God did for us.
In ourselves there is simply no way that we could contend against God. We cannot expect to do battle against His holiness and succeed. He rules the entire universe. He put the stars up in the skies. Who are we to match wits with Him? Though every suffering servant of the Lord might question His God concerning the horrors of providence in this world of decay and death, by what right can we demand an answer from the Almighty? We may still shake our fists, but there is no sanity in this. He shakes the earth, and He will win.
We do well to remember what Job says here about God: “He does great things beyond searching out.” Job Himself may not be able to take in this good advice yet. He is plainly overwhelmed. What is it that is so hard for this man to accept? It is not apparently the enormity of his loss, the pain that has come upon his body, or even the words of correction that come from those who are not his match. What is most infuriating to Job is that he is sure that he is in the right, and though he knows it is a foolish request, he would like to have his day in court against the Lord.
Job says, “I am in the right,” and in some sense he is, at least concerning what He says about God. We know this because God insists on it. Could it be that Job is technically right, but he still should not seek to prosecute a case against the Being who is the source of all being?
Maybe we should not take Job’s words too seriously, but they cannot be ignored, and there is at least the chance that we do not take them seriously enough. Maybe it is true that God is crushing Job with a tempest of sorrow. Maybe it is a fact that the Lord has multiplied this man’s wounds without a cause, at least not any cause that this greatest man of the east, or any lesser man, could ever have rightly discerned. But just try to win a debate with God on this or any matter. Job knows that the very thought of such a contest is absurd, though he still seeks his day in court.
We struggle for answers. We wonder whether these troubles of life are randomly distributed by the Lord. But no, that cannot be correct. How could we suggest it? That is just pain looking for some help in unbelief. The soul will never be satisfied with that kind of solution. But what is the reason that all of this has happened to Job? Is God mocking Job? No, that cannot be right either. Could it be that we are just to ignore the pain and act as if it did not even exist? Can we imagine it away? Impossible. There is simply no way out of this. Job cannot get beyond this suffering. He must get through it. He must lean into it. He must find the full life intended for him in it. Ultimately he must find the God who loves him in the midst of this deliberate pain.
When the one man came who could make it possible for us to be right before God, He also encountered unimaginable suffering and affliction. He was not willing to run away from it, which would have destroyed the glory of the grace of God. He had to yield Himself up to it. He had to trust the Father in it. He lived the fullest life that a man could ever live, not because He had length of days, or so many descendants, though in a sense He had both of these, eternal life, and many children in those He redeemed. The measure of His life was in the depth of His purposeful suffering. He felt the weight of the sins of His people, and He deliberately leaned into it. Now He has become the one Mediator between God and Man. There is something in this that Job was longing for. He wanted a Mediator who would stand up for him before God. Yet the cost to our Jesus in taking upon Himself this holy office was far more significant than anyone could have ever imagined. Because of Him, we are counted as right before God. We are as white as snow because He faced the dark pit of the penalty that we deserved. His perfect love for us has delivered us from all fear of eternal torment. Now we lean into our own suffering with some measure of confidence, and even with joy, if we are able, and we receive the fullness of a life that includes grief, knowing that in Jesus Christ we are counted as the beloved children of God.
Job 10 – T – 1/26/2010
When we face substantial suffering, our common impulse is to run from it. We have been considering the fact that the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth may be calling us to lean into the trial that we face, to feel it, and eventually to profit from it. To do this well as worshipers of God, it may help us to honestly speak to God as we go through even the deepest despair.
Job says here, “I loathe my life.” But he goes on to address the Lord directly from the bitterness of his own soul. God is not asking us to pretend that everything is alright. It is not alright. A horrible road is being travelled by the Lord’s servant, and he need not wear a fake mask with a smile on it. That kind of hypocrisy will not do. Above all, we need to be honest with God, who already knows our emotions more fully than we do ourselves.
Job asks the question that everyone seems to ask in our worst moments of horror: “Why?” Yet he does not ask in some impersonal way, as in, “Why did this happen to me?” His understanding of these events and his words to the Almighty shows forth his understanding that God is a personal being, and that these events have come somehow from His throne personally. He says, “Let me know why you contend against me.”
Job understands himself to be the work of God’s hands, and not an inherently evil bit of matter, but good, just as all the creation of God is good (1 Timothy 4:4). For the Lord to hurt him, he thinks, is to favor the designs of the wicked. Job has questions for God, genuine questions that flow from the anguish of his soul, questions that he does not know the answer to. Some of these questions take the Lord’s servant from the topic of his own pain and loss to a consideration of who God is. This can be a good thing. In Job’s pain, he is wondering whether God is somehow like a man. Does God see as a man sees, or is it something different altogether? Is God pretending to learn something through this, since the Lord must know that Job is not guilty of the things his friends increasingly insinuate against him?
One fact is central to of all Job’s thoughts: “God, you made me.” Then another fact follows close on the heels of the first: “Are you just going to destroy me altogether now?”
God was the creator of Job’s body. He was also the maker of Job’s excellent character. Are both his frame and his spirit to amount to nothing? God gave Job steadfast love. Will all of that be swallowed up in despair? Will it all turn to bitterness? Surely the Lord had a purpose in His own Almighty heart. Will everything with Job end in this broken and sad lament?
Job cannot see a way out of this. He cannot find a path that will lead to his vindication. Should he sin like a madman now after living what he honestly believes to be a righteous life? No, he knows that the One he speaks to in his cries is watching him, and God will not acquit him of iniquity. As he is now, he is already on display before the world as if he were a disgraced man. Even if his health and position were somehow restored, can Job know that the Lord will not do this to him again, working wonders against him.
“What is the meaning of my life?” This is not some passive question from Job in a quiet moment of reflection. It is personal. This is the life that God has given to him at this moment. If it is to have some meaning, only God can say. Job has no answer. He concludes this speech with the same desire he expressed earlier, for God to rewrite the past, to take him from the womb to the grave. If not, he asks God to leave him alone. Bring on the darkness. What else is there?
The depth of darkness for a man who is publicly exposed as guilty depends on the character of the man. Because Job’s character is so great, for him to be brought so low before the eyes of the gaping world is repulsively dark. But it was a far darker day when the Son of God is nailed to the cross. Was He guilty? Not in the least. Was He publicly humiliated before the world? Yes, His title, “King of the Jews,” was mockingly written in three languages. The cross speaks a word of the worst disgrace. This was the darkest day. And on that cross, the Son of Man cried out to God. Was he heard?
Yes, He was heard. And early on the first day of the week after that darkest day, a new era dawned. Somehow in the light of the cross and the resurrection, a better light shines on the troubles of Job, the righteous servant of the Lord. This Job was saved by Jesus. Though he could not understand what was happening to him, Job called upon the Name of the Lord, and he was saved. Now we see his losses from the vantage-point of that brighter New Testament day. Yet the day of our own despair may still be amazingly hard for us to understand. Let us continue to call on the Name of the Lord, knowing that a still brighter and eternal day has been won for us through the darkest suffering ever known to man.
Job 11 – T – 1/26/2010
We have heard from Eliphaz and Bildad, and we have heard the reply of Job to each of these men, but we know that there is one more friend who joins in these speeches, and we also know that something about a downward trend. As we come now to Zophar that Naamathite, we need to brace ourselves for a difficult and subtle attack against this great suffering servant of the Lord.
We have been able to mine gems from the words of Job, words that he himself later seems to regret. Wise men are even able to learn from fools, and Job is no fool. Yet Zophar says that Job’s speeches are babble, the speech of a mocker, and just a lot of words. Again we are reminded that the Lord Himself, at the conclusion to this book will say concerning the three friends of Job, “You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
Job is already, at least in part, aware of the ridiculousness of his desire to defend himself in the face of the Almighty. He knows that he could not stand in such a situation. Yet Zophar will use this occasion to press upon Job what this good man knows far better than Zophar. The Lord is wise. His knowledge is beyond us. God is merciful. These things Job knows. He knows that he cannot really compete with the Almighty God in any contest that could be imagined, but this man who regularly sacrificed on behalf of his children that they might be forgiven by God, now speaks out of his horrible loss because he cannot understand what God has done. Do not tell him that God is beyond his understanding. That is what Job has been saying, though his way of expressing himself may not seem polite to someone who is not facing his pain. He is saying that he cannot understand God, and he is calling out to Him in the strongest way, not as a detached observer, but as a crushed lover of the One who gives life and who takes it away.
Yet Zophar says more than this. He says that God knows worthless men. What is his point? Why is Zophar talking about worthless men? Is Job worthless? Is that the answer to the deep questions of the Lord’s discipline of those He loves? Is that the message behind the mystery of the cross of Christ? Are men just worthless workers of iniquity, just like stupid donkeys? Is our problem that we just will not accept how worthless we are?
This doctrine of Zophar is not biblical. It certainly does not deal rightly with the account of our creation in the image of God with dominion over the creatures in a world that was very good. It does not even do justice to the account of the fall, when God announced not only our judgment, but also our rescue at great cost to a certain Seed of the woman who would come one day to crush the head of the serpent. It certainly is not a correct understanding of the birth and death of Jesus Christ, since God gave His one and only Son for our salvation. Man is not a worthless blob or a fruitless donkey. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, and among all men, Job is surely one of the greatest. Zophar is talking like this in the context of a great man’s extreme suffering. This is surely not the right message to bring healing and hope to the downcast.
Job is not a stupid man, nor a man that others should refer to as a person of iniquity. It may seem humble to talk about the depravity of someone this way, but the situation that Zophar speaks into must be examined. Who is speaking? Who is he speaking to? How are his words likely to be received? What is going on in the life of the person he is speaking to? Isn’t it natural to assume that Job will get the real point of Zophar here, a point that is not all that hard to figure out? Something like this; that Zophar is able to correct Job in Job’s evident state of being cursed by God as the worthless man that he apparently is, a man exposed as stupid and full of iniquity by the very troubles that he has faced. Zophar can administer the necessary correction to the secretly ignorant and immoral Job, and set him on a path that will lead to healing and prosperity, if only Job will listen, and put away all his sinful behavior of which there is no outward evidence.
This argument is a complete denial of everything that everyone knew about Job. When we have an inkling that we know something about a suffering person, and yet we have no proof, we too quickly place ourselves in the posture of God, who alone knows the heart. What did people plainly know about Job? What was Job’s past, the real evidence that men really did know? How did he raise his family? How did he treat the poor and the weak? Was he a man of powerful love? Was he someone sought after for truth and wisdom? Yes to all of these questions.
What about Jesus then, the suffering Servant of the Lord dying on a cross? Was he a genuinely righteous? Was his teaching true? Were His works of healing real? Did He give sight to a blind man? Did He successfully call Lazarus out of the tomb? Was He good in all His ways, and merciful to those in need? Did anyone have a right to instruct Him when He was dying on the cross for us? Yet even Peter thought that the cross was a bad idea, and no one really seemed to understand why He had to suffer. But now we see that He was dying for people that we too often judge to be worthless. If we will see our Savior rightly, we will begin to measure the worth of a redeemed human being in light of the depth of what it cost to save a man. He has saved us. We are not worthless. Through Him we have found hope that goes beyond our final breath.
Job 12 – T – 2/2/2010
Wisdom begins with God. His gifts of knowledge, discernment, and godliness in making good choices for living are not equally distributed among the sons of men. Some people have much more of these blessings then others do. Job has more than any in his time and place, but during these days of severe tribulation, lesser men have presumed to be Job's advisers, and have suggested that the great man has hidden secrets of evil that have led to his downfall, a claim for which they have no real evidence. They think that the evidence is plain for all to see. Job is suffering horribly. Since God is just, this trouble Job faces must be a reflection of his depravity. This tempting error in thinking is not true, discerning, wise, or charitable.
Some of the advice that they would give to Job is as obvious as it is inappropriate to his own situation. Yet it is presented as something special to the suffering man, and he cannot resist this retort: “No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.” Job is rightly aware that these advisers are not wiser than he is. Not that Job is above learning from someone who is beneath him, but the teaching must be more than error, presumption, and pious platitudes in order to command his respect.
He does have more to say about his situation, and if they would consider the facts that he shows them, they might be moved in the direction of sympathy, which would be far more appropriate than guesses at baseless accusations. After all, who was Job, this man who had suddenly become everyone's joke. It was just the other day, before all this trouble came upon him that no one would have dared to treat him with disrespect unless they wanted to be exposed as an obvious fool. Job had habitually cried out to God, and He had been heard many times in the past. He was known by everyone to be a just and blameless man. What happened to this man between one moment and the next? How did he go so quickly from being known as one of God's obvious favorites to suddenly being one who would be rightly condemned by God and man? Could this actually be?
Not only that, those who would think that the man's troubles were all the evidence necessary to establish his guilt before God, were they actually willing to affirm the other side of that wrong theology of providence? Are all men who live safe and secure in their riches always the most righteous among men, or is the truth more complicated than that? Is it not the case that some well-known thieves seem to be safe and happy? The person who has never faced significant trials, is he always the most virtuous among men? Such people, if they are religious, may think that their blessing is a direct reward for their obedience, and they may have a contempt for those who are facing misfortune. Remember that Christ came to suffer great tribulation for those who were low and hurting. He did not come from heaven to condemn them, but to serve them.
These would-be advisers to Job might seem wise for a second, but they miss the true righteousness of the suffering servant of the Lord. They will not acknowledge the obvious facts about him, but would teach him things that all creation declares. Ask the animals. Talk to the birds and the fish. Even the bushes that cover the earth are aware: The Lord is God. He has life in His hand. He is wise, and His power is far beyond anyone. We cannot stop the Lord. Talk to the farmer who depends on the rain and the sun. He knows the truth. God is above all. Powerful and wise men do not make God afraid. What does anyone have that has not been given to him by God?
Is there some king, priest, counselor, elder, that can teach the Lord a thing or two? He can sweep them all away in a moment. It is the murkiness of Job's case that should be the only clear fact to any observer who is truly wise. It is the lack of any sensible answer that is the only thing that should make sense. Everyone should be able to see that of all the people they have ever observed, this should not be happening to Job.
When Christ came to die for us, certain facts should have been obvious, so clear that if little children had not been willing to acknowledge them, then the rocks would have had to cry out. Jesus was good. Line up all the men who think of themselves as something, and who labor to convince others that they are worthy of attention. Gather them all together and put them on a scale with only the weight of the goodness of Jesus of Nazareth on the other side. All the pompous people of this creation are light as a feather compared to Him. His horrible suffering and death could not possibly testify to His own secret evil. One moment He is raising the dead as He prays to God, and in the next moment He appears to be forsaken of His Father. If people thought they understood His suffering, if they thought it must be a sign of His secret evil, this much was clear. Wisdom did not begin with them. No, He died for us. The wisdom of God come in person died for us, and both the wisdom and the power of God rose from the grave.
Job 13 – Th – 2/4/2010
It is one thing for a man who lives in comfort to speak of God's sovereignty. It is something else when someone who is at his lowest moment says the very same thing. A suffering man has an opportunity for good that others may never know. He does not have to do his good part with a smile on his face. He does not have to be as eloquent as Job. He may have no words, or very few words, as was the case with our Lord in His greatest trial. His being communicates, and the few words he utters will have a special power. Job says more than most would have the heart to say. We cannot ignore his teaching. We need to sit at his feet and learn.
Job would speak to men, and he does have something to say to them, but he would especially speak to Almighty God. He would ask the Lord questions about things that Job, and we, simply cannot understand, as we wonder, “Why?” Others may think they know the answers behind Job's tragedy, but this great man himself knows that he does not understand, and he knows that only God could ever explain what all this is about. The simple answers of men are lies, though each of their statements might seem true. Put them all together, and they do not really explain the depth of the problem, and they certainly do not heal the gaping wound of grief and pain.
Better to keep silent! Those who seek after godliness and wisdom know that this is the way, but we find it very hard to stop talking. But now we need to listen to Job, rather then attempt to instruct him. He is telling us some simple things that are worth hearing. He says that wisdom cannot be a lie. We may think we speak for God, but if our words add up to lies, then what we have to say is not from God. We cannot think that we are rightly defending God when we are unwilling to deal with the truth. Silence would be a much better defense of Him if we know that we do not possess the key that would unlock all of life's painful mysteries.
What if God should suddenly speak to us about our defense of Him? What if He should meet us and uncover our errors? He knows of Job's righteousness. He knows that the change in Job's fortunes from one day to the next did not proceed from the man's secret sins. How would the Lord treat those who were so quick to falsely accuse His servant Job? Just one glimpse of God in His wrath, or even in His loving discipline, would be so dreadful. Our great web of syllogisms would fall to pieces before Him, and so would we.
But Job has something to say, and he suggests that he understands the danger of opening his mouth at this time. What is his good word? “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” There is so much wisdom in these words. They affirm that God is in charge as the One who brings about all things, even this episode that Job cannot understand, but they teach us something more. Even if Job's life is ended by God's own hand slaying him for an offense that he did not commit, even in such a case where God's servant cannot understand what has happened at all, he will trust God. His trust in God will be stronger than his weak understanding of the events of his life.
We need to see that this resignation of soul is not a quiet peace in the face of adversity, but words of faith from the bottom of an ugly well of what seems like unjust suffering. Job still wants to talk to the Lord directly about this. He takes comfort that only the godly man could appear before the Lord Almighty, even to bring a complaint against Him. Despite Job's understanding that no man can stand in His presence, yet Job wants God. But for Job to be able talk to God, the Almighty would have to take away this awful discipline of pain, and the overwhelming dread that men face if they come before God Himself with an inquiry.
Job wants the truth. He feels pain that he knows ultimately comes to him from the very Being that he trusts? Where has he gone wrong? What happened here? Is it something from long ago that now Job has to pay the price for, some old sin of his youth? We think about such things when we suffer, and we find no reliable answer.
When the Servant of the Lord, the eternal Son of God, the Son of Man came to die, He knew what His suffering was about. He had the answers that Job was longing for, so His suffering, though marked with loud cries and tears, was finally the obedience of a dreadfully quiet resignation. There was so little to say. Jesus did not need to ask the Father whether His troubles were the product of the iniquities of His youth. He had never sinned. What was the answer behind the misery of the cross? Jesus died for the sins of Job's youth. If there was any sin in Job's words at this age of more mature torment, Jesus died for those sins too. He was slayed for our iniquities, Through it all, as He faced what He always knew would be His terrible day, He trusted God. Because of this, we live. And if we suffer, even if we are slayed by the Almighty, yet we may trust Him whose love for us is unwavering, even when our bodies seem to be wasting away in front of our eyes.
Job 14 – T – 2/9/2010
Life is serious and challenging. We have a real sense that something is very broken, and that this can't be the end of our story, but without the revelation of God telling us what we could not possibly figure out by our own observing and thinking, we are left wondering whether we have any firm foundation for hope. And what would a good ending be to the eternal plans of God, anyway? Through much of life we may ignore these kinds of big questions, but tragedy may insist that we search more fervently for a satisfying answer.
Job has certainly felt serious trouble. He feels the brevity of a life that can at the same time suddenly feel way too long. Others have died too soon. Must we live on in pain for many more years? Their lives were too short. Ours may feel like they will never end. But when it is all over, it is shown to be a very brief life, and since the fall of Adam, it is certainly full of trouble.
In comparison with the fleeting flower of a man there is the towering permanence of our unseen God. Will God judge man? How can we live for even a moment in His presence. There is simply no comparison between man and God. He is from forever and is unto forever by His very nature, and we seem to be a mist. That's the wisdom that comes to us from honest observation. Precious people come and go. It is hard enough to lose a great dog after ten years; so how can we make our peace with the loss of a child? Yet God has numbered the days of mankind, not just in general, but the specific number of days for every individual. He is is truly the Almighty One. He must number the days of His creatures.
If we are to compare our holiness and purity with His, the contest is just as laughable. Job asks what any sensible person should ask if he knows of God's glory and cannot see a way to rightly be in His presence: “Look away from me, and leave me alone.” How many people have gone far enough in their spiritual thinking to reach this point, but have seen nothing else that makes sense beyond this point? They rightly sense the unbounded greatness of the Lord, and they see their own limits like a prisoner in a cell with some fascinating entertainments, but it is still a cell. The bars are there. There are limits beyond which a man cannot pass. With this kind of insight it is easy to imagine a person's desire to be left alone to eat his bread in whatever peace can be his.
It's different for a tree. A new shoot can somehow sprout from a dead stump. How many times can that tree seem to pull new life out of the jaws of death? No one knows. A little sunlight and water, and suddenly there may be a bud, and then a branch, and a new fresh beginning. But man has too much in him that does not appear to be a continuously renewable resource. Where is the courage of youth? Even if someone finds courage, eventually he may not know where to find the energy he needs to do something good with the courage he has. Eventually he dies, and then what? Where do we see resurrections happening? We don't see them. People can say what they want to about souls, but we can't see them either. This is all very distressing and depressing.
But the suffering servant of the Lord hopes for something more than this. He has to, because He knows of the greatness of God, and the love of the Lord, and he reasons that tragedy and death must give way somehow to a better day. He may be afraid to say it, but he has a longing to be concealed by God from the waves of death that seem inevitable. He wants to live again, in a place of renewal and relief. He is happy to serve now in the land of death, if only a reasonable hope could be discovered. He will not be satisfied with a myth. There must be a real basis for the heaven he desires, a world where people live again. He will wait for the call of God, bringing Him up to that higher ground, but is there any fact that establishes the undeniable reality of what he longs for? Is there some way to remove our transgressions so that we can have life forever with God?
The righteous man scans the earth and the skies for that one fact of hope, and he sees instead much evidence of decay. Mountains crumble, and even solid rock is not forever. Is there a fact of hope that can stand? Death is everywhere. Even if sons continue to live, fathers die, and what do those fathers know of anything then, whether good or bad about their sons? What does such a man feel when the soul is removed from the body? What does he rejoice over? What makes him mourn? Is their one fact that can give a suffering servant hope?
Jesus Christ is the one fact we seek. In Him we have a rational basis for the joy of heaven. Job longed for Jesus; for His provision of the solid ground of God-satisfying justice, and man-loving salvation. In the cross we have a rock. In His resurrection we have a solid point of satisfying evidence for a wonderful and full hope. Even before the fact of Christ was revealed to man, true servants of the Lord hoped in God. The answer for us is not a denial of the futility of this world, but an honest and true consideration of an end that would be worthy of the glory of our great God. In Christ we have the ground of our every hope, and the perfect display of the glory of God now revealed for man to see, and even to worship.
Job 15 – Th – 2/11/2010
When people try to comfort those who are suffering deeply, they may wonder if there is anything worthwhile that they can say. There is, of course, the danger that a person may mean well and still say some regrettable thing that is not well received. Sometimes in life less is more, and nothing may be best of all. There is a difference between heaven and earth. Earth can be very murky, very cloudy, and situations of deep confusion may require silence as we wait for an age of clearer skies.
The three friends of Job have listened to a somewhat lengthy speech from the Lord's suffering servant. It is their turn to say something. That can be almost irresistible. Eliphaz begins, and he accuses this great man of doing away with the fear of God. He has not been listening carefully enough. Job does fear God. Listen to his speech with a sympathetic ear. Do not accuse him. He is a broken man.
Once you make a mistake of speaking when you should be silent, it seems all the more difficult to stop. The words that flow from the lips of Eliphaz are like stray rocks tossed in every direction. They may miss the mark, but they still may cause damage. Iniquity, crafty, condemned,... Are these words that you really want to use when you are speaking to a suffering man of eminent godliness?
Most of all, Eliphaz seems to have decided that Job is an arrogant and self-righteous man who has spoken as if he were God. He has decided that it is time to take Job down a notch, rather than to come alongside him in an attempt to lift him up. He makes his points with question after question that might be right for God to ask Job. For Eliphaz to speak this way seems inappropriate. Not every word that may come from the mouth of God should make its way out of our lips.
Eliphaz wants Job to admit that the great man has not had appropriate deference before the Almighty. He makes one other point: that Job is actually no better than many of them. They have perhaps felt something of Job's great wisdom in the past, but now the events of his life has brought the mighty man low, and one wonders whether some are too ready to admit that this providential humbling is perhaps well-deserved.
“What do you know that we do not know?” They see their own words as the comforts of God, words that deal gently with Job, and they are apparently stung by Job's rejection of what they see as apples of gold in settings of silver, words fitly spoken. They seem to have concluded that the kind of lament that Job has been expressing is obviously out of place, and that it needs correction. Job has thought too highly of himself, they want him to see, since he is just a man, and a man cannot be pure.
Eliphaz repeats here his earlier insights about how God does not trust in the beings that populate the heavens, and that man is certainly below any one of those angels. There is an unseemly despising of humanity in his words, as if he were offended by his own species. Who has convinced Eliphaz that he should think so little about those who have been created in God's image, beings who will one day judge angels?
The problem here is that Eliphaz has decided to take offense on account of the words of a man more righteous than him, a man who is almost overwhelmed in grief, pain, and trouble. In allowing himself to become offended by Job's unwillingness to acknowledge sin as the root issue behind his trials, Eliphaz has somehow thrown off all restraint and self-control. Abominable, corrupt, unjust, wicked,... Can there be any doubt that Eliphaz is suggesting that these words are accurately applied to Job? He follows this all up with his own graphic conclusion that the end of Job will be much worse than the beginning. Job is marked for the sword. Why? Because He actually is a godless man, though no one suspected it in earlier days when he was doing so well.
It is something for us to consider that at the very center of God's plan for His own glory was the Trinitarian determination that God would become man. This would no doubt have been a shock to Eliphaz. It is certain that the words of Jesus of Nazareth were deeply offensive to many who heard Him. Their response against Him eventually showed an unbridled lack of self-control. Here was a man who was far more righteous than Job, and they hated Him, so much so that they wanted to see Him brought down and taken out. In the midst of this suffering, the response of the spotless Lamb of God was one of perfect restraint. Here was the divine Son of Man doing what had to be done to save us. He is the one who calls us to come alongside the suffering with lovingkindness, and not with undue censure.
Job 16 – Th – 2/18/2010
The thought that bad comforters bring are not unique. Baseless accusations are well-known to the grieving. They regularly accuse themselves of the things that the most insensitive person might say. In the case of Job, we have a man who was apparently unwilling to do this to himself. He would not let the wrong ideas of his accusers stand unchallenged. He spoke against the words of Eliphaz, because he was unwilling to agree with a lie.
It is easy to be a bad critic. It is harder to build someone up in the right way. Job tells his accusers that there is a way for the good comforter to speak. Baseless accusations can inflict unjust wounds, but words of wisdom can be used to heal. Strengthening someone with your words is not an easy thing to do. Job is truly a wise and godly man. He could have used his lips to take away pain, and to help a man who might be overcome with familiar words and thoughts of condemnation.
But now Job has been made tired and weary, not just by his friends, but by God and His providence. There is no friend who is able to bring the right words that would strengthen and bless him. Job sees his own condition, he looks at what he has lost, and he considers the way that others stare at him, and he cannot help thinking that God is deeply against him.
What might a helpful healing word have been? I am nervous to even make a suggestion. I would rather Job were here with us. He would know the right thing to say for such a moment. I hear what Job speaks in his sufferings, and I wonder what I should say to him. I move first in one direction but then I immediately want to backtrack going off in the opposite way.
Should I just affirm the horror of this situation? Will that actually help, or will it just encourage self-pity? Should I speak of how great a man Job truly is? That would be true, but it would be uncomfortable, and he might not want to hear what I had to say. Should I offer a mild corrective, that surely God would not leave Job in this condition, and that there must be some other answer that we might never know or understand behind these sad assaults? “Job, please don't allow yourself to conclude that God is ultimately against you. I don't understand what has happened, but God hating you cannot be the solution to this mystery and misery.” Would that help? Would it be the right word given at the right time?
But what if the man I am trying to comfort is far more righteous and wiser than me? What if the trial is so insanely severe, that no one could really know what to say? What if the facts seem like what Job speaks of here? He says that people are gaping at Him with complete disrespect. Somebody hits him in the face. Now there is a whole crowd there, and they are all against him. The godly man is given up to the ungodly, but it is not just what men have done to him, since we are told that it is God who gives him over to the wicked.
Who is this man? What if this is real, and not Job's melancholy imagination? Who is this man that God breaks apart? God made him to somehow be the target of His wrath. He is brutally attacked, and somehow the Lord is behind it, but for what purpose. How could it be that God would send His wrath upon this good man? What could make sense of this story? It is not the fault of the victim. He is crying so much that it affects his complexion and his eyelids. He did not do anything wrong. His prayer to God was pure, and this is happening to him.
There is something going on in this passage. The facts seem to match the story of a different suffering servant and not Job. We need a witness from heaven to explain this to us. Are we imagining what is not really there, or is it not Jesus who is being described in the wise words of Job? Is this part of the answer to all that Job faces? Is Job living out some gross miscarriage of justice that prepares us for the most complete satisfaction of the justice of God that would one day be accomplished for our sake, when the righteous one would suffer for the ungodly.
Let the story of that righteous blood be told as long as this age continues. Send us a witness from heaven to turn this horrible drama into good news. Send us someone who would have the right words for a situation in which my words might get me into trouble. The friends of Job could not possibly tell that story. But there is now a man at the right hand of the Father who knows this story best of all. He sends forth messengers of the truth who speak His word everywhere. We hear it and believe. Somehow everything begins to make sense, and in just a little while we will be in the place of eternal life with him, and despite the difficult sufferings that we have faced in this life that we cannot make sense of, on that day we will have the fullness of joy in knowing the Father and the Son.
Job 17 – T – 2/23/2010
We understand what a broken bone is readily enough. We may have been through the difficulty of that kind of injury, or at least we have seen others with a cast on an arm or a leg, so we are not entirely unfamiliar with such troubles. But what is a broken spirit? Job says here, “My spirit is broken,” and he goes on to say, “My days are extinct,” and “The graveyard is ready for me.” A person with a badly broken spirit is convinced that his life is already over, though his body is still alive. This is a very empty feeling for a man to have. We are made to be people of hope, people who look to the future with some real sense of confident expectation, but tragedy and grief do something to us where the misery of the present seems eternal, and there is no sense in our hearts of life beyond loss.
How does Job know that he is still alive? He feels the pain of his body, and he knows the grief of his broken heart, but there is one other thing that occupies him. He sees the mockers who are around him, taunting him, and he dwells upon their provocation. Do they realize that they are tormenting a great man? Do they hope to cheat him out of something, or is it simply good entertainment to see the once respected man in such a low condition? They will not ultimately prosper in this kind of evil, and Job knows that.
Who is responsible for this deplorable situation? We can blame the criminals who stole this great man's property. We can point to these three advisers who are such miserable comforters. Yet Job knows too much to end his complaint there. Job knows that God is above all, and that God rules. Therefore he speaks of God in his sorrow and confusion. He says, “He has made me a byword of the peoples.”
Job is honest about his situation. The disrespect of the jeering mob is a horrible insult. Yet he is determined to face this aspect of his trial as a righteous man. He will hold to his ways. It is not easy to do this, to continue to hold to righteousness when it would appear from all the visible evidence that the day for righteous living has apparently come and gone. Yet Job knows that God can renew the strength of the righteous man. But can Job really believe that now? Apparently he holds to the righteous way under the most formidable stress, and yet he is not showy in his claims, only strangely resolute.
Job does not pretend that there is any merit in the chorus of the ungodly who find his afflictions entertaining. He admits plainly, “I shall not find a wise man among you.” How does someone ever say something that blunt? There is only one way for a man to speak this way without incurring guilt. His words must be true and just. Job knows himself to be more righteous than his three companions who are falsely accusing him. He knows himself to be more godly than the mocking crowd that is abusing him.
In this true assessment, Job is a great suffering servant. As Christ spoke the truth about the Sadducees when He plainly said that they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God, Job spoke the truth about people in his own generation, and his words were recorded for us by the Lord, so that we might forever have their presumptuous attacks against him available for our consideration as an example of a way that we must avoid and reject.
In Job we have a man who speaks the truth, who feels his life is over, whose spirit is broken, who would like to find a reason to hope again, but who cannot yet remember where that hope can be found. He has more righteousness than all those around him, but he is falling under the weight of some limitation. He cannot see hope, at least not yet. He does not seem to know something that he seeks to find. The Lord is not done with Job yet. There is more suffering, and more indignity for this beloved servant of God, but there will also be more knowledge and there will be more hope that he will soon discover.
He will not simply sink into the dust, but he will feel the weight of his own limitations more accurately before this trial is over. Jesus, the greatest Servant of God was willing to suffer. He had perfect knowledge of the power of His death for us and a full measure of hope that the promises of God would be fulfilled. Because of Jesus, Job truly has a future even when he does not seem to have any hope left that he is aware of. Jesus has secured our future with His dying love. His hope was perfect, and His knowledge was true and complete, therefore we are kept safe even in our worst moments of despair.
Job 18 – Th – 2/25/2010
People have only so much patience, even when they are trying to make extra efforts to show self-control. When they are insulted by a person that they have some reason to despise, that's a hard thing to take. It is very tempting in the heat of self-pity to return evil for what surely feels like evil. The friends of Job feel insulted by the great man. It is Bildad's turn to speak, and he has something to say to Job.
“Why are we stupid in your sight?” Loving mothers don't like to be thought of as cold-hearted people. Successful entrepreneurs don't like to have have to shut down their own struggling enterprises. And intelligent and accomplished teachers don't like to have their wisdom treated as stupidity by those that they have been speaking to. When these things happen, a person just might lash back at the people that he was trying to serve. Bildad apparently thought that he, Eliphaz, and Zophar had made some important points, diagnosing Job's secret problem, and suggesting a way back into the good graces of God. Job has responded by saying to them, “I shall not find a wise man among you.” That's too much for Bildad to take, so he points to Job's wounds and mocks him: “You who tear yourself in anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you?”
Job does look ridiculous. He has been scraping at his sores with a piece of broken pottery. No doubt he would bear the scars of this insane experience for the rest of his life. Now they are perhaps his shame. One day they would rightly be thought of as badges of glory, for he would be the man who was brought low for some unknown reason, and who was then met directly by God, and was declared to be righteous in the midst of those who had lost their patience with him.
This is not how Bildad had thought that Job's story would end when he spoke his indignant mind to God's suffering servant in Job 18. He was convinced that Job's troubles would be incurable, unless Job would humbly listen to the godly advice of his friends and would repent of his secret sins, for which these friends had the seemingly certain evidence of Job's horrible suffering.
Yet Job had showed no signs of the listening ear and repentant humility that they were looking for. Therefore, it would appear that he would only move from current disaster to final doom. Like all the wicked, his light would eventually go out, a victim of his own secret and evil schemes. Bildad expresses this expectation of a horrible end with very colorful language. Job's heel is caught in a trap. Calamity is consuming his skin. Some offspring of death is eating his limbs. He is like a man dragged from his tent by a vicious beast in the night, who is then taken to some cruel master for his final condemnation. Job will have nothing left at all, and people will not even want to remember him, lest they seem to be in league with a man who was so obviously cursed. He will have no survivors and no future generations. The community that once honored him will be afraid to invoke his memory, last they catch his horrible guilt by association.
Bildad closes his second speech with suggestions of two sweeping accusations against Job. Though he does not say directly, “Job I am talking about you,” there can be little doubt that he means to connect all these remarks about a wicked man to his earlier words, “You who tear yourself in your anger.” His two charges against his friend in the final verse of the chapter are these: 1. Job, you are unrighteous, and 2. Job, you do not know God.
Of course, these charges were false. Job was the most righteous man of his day, and his knowledge of God was far above that of his neighbors and friends. Those who think of themselves as more righteous than they really are, can only take so much. When they are stung painfully enough by a remark that hits them at their point of presumed identity and excellence, they will eventually reveal what is on their minds.
Why did Jesus have to die? From the vantage point of the lawless hands that were raised against him among the self-righteous who had put up with about all they could take of Jesus, he had to die because He had fatally provoked them. His evil had to be publicly exposed. He had to be put to shame as an example for others who would presume to speak against the traditions of the elders, and to publicly teach against leaders who firmly held to their righteous superiority in those traditions. But there is a bigger and better story here which must be granted the final word. From the standpoint of Almighty God, Jesus had to die as the perfectly righteous man, the one who knew the Father from before all time. He had to die in order to satisfy the demands of the Lord's justice against us. He had to die to procure our redemption with His spotless blood. He was the only man who could do this. The cross was once His shame, but now His wounds are eternal reminders of His glory and our forgiveness. This story of God's love has now become our good news. We have received this Word with hope, and we worship God through Jesus the Messiah.
