Job s Friends Job 4:1-37:24 Justin Deeter August 28, 2016

Transcription

1 Job s Friends Job 4:1-37:24 Justin Deeter August 28, 2016 Introduction When a tragedy strikes us, we are often shell shocked. We can t speak, we can t move, and we can t do much of anything. Yet, as the numbness wears off, the haunting begins. One little question haunts us: Why? Why did this happen? Why did God allow this? Why am I suffering? Why am I in pain? Why did God permit this? It is normal for such questions to come up in our lives, and we see that the same question will come up in an extended dialogue between Job and his friends. The group debating about the origin and purpose of suffering. As we turn our attention to this passage today, I hope that God will teach us that we can trust him in the mystery of suffering. An Overview of the Dialogue The bulk of this book centers around a series of conversations between Job and his three friends. Job, who had lost everything, sat in silence in the presence of three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. They came to comfort their friend, and like sensitive friends they just sat with Job in his grief for a week. In Job 3, Job opens his mouth and curses the day of his birth and longs for God to take his life. His anguish is great. Hearing their mute friend finally speak, begins a series of conversations debating over God s purpose in suffering, and the cause of 1

2 Job s suffering. The conversations begin innocently enough, but quickly they escalate into a heavy debate between Job and his friends. Since the dialogue is so lengthy, there is no way we can cover every word of it, so before we summarize the conversation, let s take a look at the literary structure of the conversations. The conversation occurs in three cycles. The structure of the cycle is very similar except for the third cycle. The content of each cycle is similar. Eliphas, the first friend, speaks, Job responds. Bildad, the second friend, speaks, and Job responds. Zophar, the third friend speaks, and Job responds. That s the first cycle. The second cycle occurs in the same fashion. However, cycle three is cut short. As Bildad, the second friend begins to speak, he s only six verses in when Job cuts him off and effectively ends the conversation. Over the course of the three cycles, tensions between the friends escalate as Job and his friends disagree over the cause of his suffering. Job gives his final argument to his friends in chapter 31. We are left at the end of chapter 31 waiting for God to come and settle this debate between the friends, but God doesn t speak yet. Instead a fourth friend arrives named Elihu. He is a suspense building figure that takes the conversation on the right track, but awaits the word of the Lord. Elihu contributes his wisdom the conversation in chapters So that s the birds-eye view of the passage before us this day. It s a type of wisdom literature that we are a bit unfamiliar with in our day and age as these group of men debate about the cause of Job s sufferings. So as we summarize what these chapters have to teach us today, I want to examine to themes: The Friend s Folly and Job s Wisdom. 2

3 The Friend s Folly If I had to boil down the main point of debate among the friends, I think it can be found in chapter 4:17, Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? (Job 4:17, ESV). The friends insist that there must be some hidden sin in Job s life that causes him to deserve the sufferings in his life. There is no way the God would just allow Job s children to die or his wealth to be taken away. There must be some sort of reason in Job that causes his suffering. He must have done something wrong. He must have angered God in some way. Now, Job s friends are wrong, as we will see why, but we must confess they at least understand their must be some sort of purpose to human suffering. Those who reject the existence of God see no purpose at all! An atheist will look at the world and tell you that the world is chaotic and random. If suffering comes on your life, you just got a bad hand. There is no meaning in your pain or hope in your suffering. So Job s friends don t believe in chaos, they believe in a God who rules and reigns over everything and everyone, including human suffering. So they try to figure out why God would bring this suffering into Job s life, and the only conclusion they can muster is that Job must have done something to anger God. In many ways this is the attitude of the Ancient Greek pagans. Job s friends think that Yahweh, the one true God, is nothing but a petty deity in the same likes of Zeus or Poseidon. You may remember reading in high school the Odyssey, and how the hero Odysseus offended the god of water Poseidon during the Trojan war, and by the killing of Poseidon s son the cyclops. As a result the pagan god wrecks havoc on Odysseus in order to get revenge. In some ways, Job s friends thought that God must be like that. Job must have done something to anger God, and God must be lashing out on Job for his wickedness. 3

4 Though their accusations begin gently, as the conversation goes back and forth, Job s friend get increasingly incessant that Job must have done something wrong. In fact, as the third cycle begins in chapter 22, Eliphaz gets quite insistent the Job is wicked and that he must repent. Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself. Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless? Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you? Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities. For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed. Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you, or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. (Job 22:1 11, ESV) You see the friends begin to insist that Job is guilty in some way, that his actions deserve what has happened to him. As a result, Job must repent of his hidden evil. Yet, Job refuses to believe that his actions warranted this suffering. Job insists on his innocence. By the end of the three cycles Job insists on his integrity. And Job again took up his discourse, and said: As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity 4

5 from me. I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days. (Job 27:1 6, ESV) Now we who read this account know that Job speaks the truth! As readers of this book, we know what s really going on. Indeed, we have more information about the cause of Job s sufferings than either of the friends do and even than Job himself! We know that Job s sufferings are not because he s done evil, but because he s pleased God! We read in chapters 1 and 2 of the contest between God and Satan, a showdown for God s glory, and Job s life and faith is the arena that this contest happens. So as we read the words of Job s friends we see clearly that their counsel is folly. They are miserable comforters! Yet, how often do we think as those foolish friends! When we come across a man homeless on the street, we say to ourselves, what miserable sin has this man committed to find himself in such an estate! He must be lazy or he must be a drunk. How often have we spoken those foolish, unbiblical words to one another, God helps those who helps themselves. You see so many Christians talk more like Hindus than Christians. We tend adopt that incorrect teaching of Karma: what goes around comes around; if you sow good seed in life, you get good in return; if you sow bad seed, you get bad seed in return; anything good in your life comes through your actions, and any bad, suffering in your life comes also because of your actions. We talk this way, but this is not the way a Christian ought to speak, because it is not the way the world works. You see, many of us think that God is like the popular characterization of Santa Clause. If you are a good boy or girl, God gives you get presents. If you are bad boy or girl, you get coal. That s the way Job s friends think, and that s the way many of us think. But, such a vision of God s rule and providence over our lives is superficial and infantile. We must grow up into maturity, and understand that 5

6 God often wills the righteous to suffer, not because they committed some sin so that they deserve it, but because God mysteriously ordains and permits the suffering for the glory of his name. We must understand that God permits the innocent to suffer, for his often mysterious purposes. In John 9, we see Jesus passing by a blind man. Seeing the man, the Disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? The disciples made the same mistake as Job s friends. We often make the same mistake. Oh that guy is blind, well his parents must of sinned or the blind man himself must have sinned in some way. The only explanation for this disability is someone s sin. But, Jesus response to his disciples is a response Job s friends needed to hear, that we need to hear. Jesus said, It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jesus tells his disciples, you ve got it all wrong. This man is not blind because of sin in the man or his parents! This man is blind so that God s glory might be shown through his life! God ordained this man s blindness so that God could be glorified in his life, through his blindness. After Jesus said this to his disciples, he spit into the ground, mixed some mud from his saliva, and put it on the man s eyes and commanded the man to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. When the man did, he could now see. So if your suffering today, it may be a result of a consequences of your sinful actions, indeed that is a possibility, but not necessarily so. Sometimes our sinful actions lead to direct consequences. If you get caught embezzling from you company, then you re going to go to jail. So you re in jail not as an innocent sufferer, but because your a criminal. But often the innocent do suffer, a random suffering can come into your life disconnected from any sinful action you take. God didn t give you cancer because he s angry with you. You were not laid off from work because you had some secret sin in your life that you are unaware of. 6

7 Don t listen to the pagan and wrong council of Job s friends, or even the friends around you. God permits the righteous to suffer for mysterious reasons, a point we will see as we look at Job s wisdom. Job s Wisdom Job is not without fault in this dialogue, indeed he s attitude, grumbling, and accusatory tone toward God is not always helpful. But through his dialogue with his friends, Job insists on his innocence, and though he doesn t understand the mystery of God s will, he trusts in God none the less. Now when we say that Job is innocent, we do not mean that he is sinless. Job would surely attest to his sinfulness as a man. After all, what do we see him doing at the start of the book? Well, he is making sacrifices for himself and his family. Job knows that he is a sinner. So when Job says he s innocent, he means that his profound suffering is unwarranted by his actions. There are several points in this dialogue where Job makes powerful statements of trust in God. For example in Job 13:15 he states Though he slay me, I will hope in him (Job 13:15, ESV). Job questions yes, but he never abandons his trust in God. He tells us later on in chapter 19:25 27, For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25 27, ESV) We too must cry out in a similar way in the mystery of our own suffering: God I don t know what you are doing, in fact I have no idea what you are doing, but I know you are God. You may slay me God, but my hope is still in you. I don t know why your slaying me, but I know your good God. I know you love me. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that Christ is alive; he s resurrected for my hope and 7

8 my joy. And though my skin is destroyed, because of Jesus my flesh will see God! I m going to know you and be restored in you God, because of Jesus! You see, here is why Job s friends are so miserably wrong. Our entire faith, our entire hope rests on the fact that God allows the innocent suffer! If God didn t let that happen, then Jesus would have never come and he would have never died. The unjust execution of the innocent son of God is our hope. If God didn t ordain his son to suffer, we would have no redemption, no forgiveness, no hope. Yet, God not only permitted, but he willed for Christ to suffer. He willed for Christ to endure the flesh-ripping lashes. He willed for Christ to carry the splintered cross on his oozing back up Golgotha s hill. He willed the naked Messiah to be nailed in his hands and feet. He willed the mocking cries of the crowd as Jesus hung gasping for a breath. What did this man Jesus do to deserve such a horrific, such a painful, such a humiliating death? Nothing. He didn t deserve the nails. He didn t deserve the cross. The cross is not what he deserved, but it is what you and I deserve. So why did God allow the innocent Jesus to suffer a criminal s death? Well, so that the glory of God might be displayed as Jesus substitutes himself in your place. At the cross, Jesus bore the punishment of our sin; he paid it all for us. It is through the crushing of the God-man, that salvation can be extended to us! In the mysteries of the divine will, God used the sinful actions of wicked men to accomplish his redemptive purpose and so bring glory unto himself! So if God uses our suffering to accomplish his divine purposes, what then is the purpose of your innocent suffering? Well, from our limited perspective sometimes it is hard to ascertain the specifics of why. All will be revealed in the 8

9 age to come, but many aspects of God s will is veiled to us. Yet, we do know that God is good, bringing glory to himself through the lives of his saints. So even though God may never tell us the why in this life, we do now that our suffering IS purposeful. Your pain, heartache, and sorrow, it is NOT meaningless. Your suffering is doing something, accomplishing something far greater than you can see from your finite perspective. God in his glory is stripping you from flesh, and through your pain you can more clearly see the face of God. God hides this treasure of joy in the Gospel in jars of clay. We are afflicted but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; structure down, but not destroyed (2 Cor 4:8 9). Do not lose heart in the midst of your suffering though cancer eats away at your bones, though a drunk drive takes away your firstborn child, though your back throbs in chronic, unrelenting pain we do not lose heart. Why? Well Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:16 18, Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor 4:16 17). Your sufferings are not meaningless. Though tears cloud your eyes, you see the face of God more clearly. Though the bitterness of tears numbs your tongue, it whets your pallet for the sweet fruit of heaven! So hold on to God in your questions. Do not let go of God through the storm. Though he slay you, hope in him! For your redeemer not only died for you, but now lives! He has risen from the grave, and this fallen world will be made new at Christ s return. As Christians, we do not have a dead hope, but a living hope! For Christ in power stands resurrected ruling and reigning over the heavens, and he has his eye on you. If you ve put your faith in Jesus, you are his brother, his sister. He is the shepherd that watches over your soul. God is doing something in you, through your suffering, that s more glorious than without it. 9

10 Do you believe Christ loves you? Do you believe he is indeed working all things together for good? Do you believe that you are more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ? Do you believe that because your redeemer lives, though your flesh fails your eyes will see the face of God? Will He who did not spare his own son for you, abandon you in this suffering? Surely not! For the sovereign will of God will not be thwarted by Satan s schemes, and the God who rules over the serpent, sabotages his evil schemes. That which satan means for evil, God uses for your good! Friends, God s ways are not our ways. We see through this glass darkly, like a boat traversing through the ocean fog. But the light of God s love will lead us safely to shore. Though we can t see the purpose, sail towards the beacon of light in the love of God in Christ Jesus. All will be revealed in time, but will you trust him in the unknown now? You see that s just what Job had to do. He didn t have his why answered. He doesn t know why he lost everything, and guess what God never tells him why. Even when God speaks to job starting in chapter 38, God never tells him about the challenge of Satan. True faith trusts in the unknown. It clings though we don t know why. Our trust in God is grounded in his character, not our circumstance. If you are here this morning and your not a Christian, I have a question for you. What do you do in the sufferings of life? Who do you trust when the storm comes? You see, the life of Job, points us the the ultimate innocent suffer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus endured the sufferings of the cross for you, so that you can have hope, forgiveness of your sins, and life everlasting. If your not a Christian this morning, I urge you to trust in this Christ. He is the anchor to our soul, grounding us in his sure promises. Receive forgiveness from sins and a permanent hope in Jesus by turning from your sins and calling out in faith to Jesus Christ. May the call of the Spirit awaken your heart to the glories of Christ and the joys to be had in him. 10

11 If you are a Christian, remind yourself of God s goodness and power. Job s fourth friend, Elihu, begins to point us the conversation in the right direction. He tells Job, Hear this, O Job; stop and consider the wondrous works of God (Job 37:14). If your struggling with that difficult little question, why? Then pause today and consider the wondrous work of God. Consider the extravagance of God s love for you, that God would crucify his own son for you. Consider the power of the blood that was he you clean from sin. Consider the power of the Spirit that raised Christ from the grave, a Spirit that now resides in you. Though he slays you, trust him, because his wondrous works have proven he is trustworthy! Final Thoughts The musicians, Shane and Shane, wrote a song called Though You Slay Me, reflecting on the book of Job. Here are the lyrics to that song: I come, God, I come I return to the Lord The one who's broken The one who's torn me apart You struck down to bind me up You say You do it all in love That I might know You in Your suffering Though You slay me Yet I will praise You Though You take from me I will bless Your name Though You ruin me Still I will worship 11

12 Sing a song to the one who's all I need My heart and flesh may fail The earth below give way But with my eyes, with my eyes I'll see the Lord Lifted high on that day Behold, the Lamb that was slain And I'll know every tear was worth it all 12