(1) Job as a fallen man.

Transcription

1 JOB 1:20-22 Beloved brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ, guests, the book of Job enjoys a lot of attention. There s something about this account of the man who had everything and lost everything, yet kept faith in God, and then got lots again, that appeals to people. As we begin a series of sermons on Job which, by the way, will probably span more than a year we first ask ourselves the question, what is the book of Job about? If I were to ask a number of you to answer that question, I m sure I d get very different answers. Most people would probably say, Job is about suffering. Job is the story of a man that experiences terrible suffering. And for the redemptive historical approach, Job is a type of the Christ who suffered more than any other. And yes, suffering is an important theme in this book. But if Job is about suffering, then it s a book filled with questions, not answers. It s an account which tells us a person can suffer terribly, but does not tell us why such suffering exists. It tells us that suffering exists, but not why. And the redemptive historical link to Christ s suffering is problematic as well. For Job suffered but not on account of his sins, while Jesus did suffer for our sins. Some people react to the idea that Job is about suffering by noting that this is rather horizontal. Job is a book found in the Bible, so it must be about God. Hence they argue that Job is about the justice, the righteousness of God. Job is a theodicy, to use the technical term. It s a defence of God s activity in this world. Job is the Bible book which will prove to us that God is just, that God is fair also when people suffer seemingly for no reason. But this too is problematic. If this account is indeed the justification of God s actions, why am I, the reader allowed to know about Satan and why is Job not? Careful reading of this book in fact makes clear we don t even have a self-justification by God. God does not defend himself. On the contrary, he simply passes by the whole issue. God does not resolve the matter for Job. And while we know about Satan we do wonder too: was it fair of God to give Satan permission to do what Satan did? That s why yet other people will posit, Job is about the sovereignty of God. Job is the Bible book which makes clear that God is the boss, he is the Ruler Supreme. He rules the animals, that s what he tells us himself in the closing chapters of this book. And because he s the boss, he can allow suffering to take place in this world. Suffering, you have to accept it. It s as we may sing: Be still! What God in his good pleasure to you in wisdom may impart is given you in perfect measure; thus be content within your heart. Now that s all true. But if Job s is about God s sovereignty and power, Job 1-37 is nothing but an introduction to God s speeches. That seems rather odd. Let me note yet one other opinion. Some consider Job to be a book on the source of wisdom. Job s suffering raises the question Who can explain life and this world? As the account develops, it becomes clear Job cannot, nor can the three friends. The fourth, Elihu comes close, but cannot either. In the end, it is God who indicates he knows. Job 28 is a central chapter: who knows where wisdom is to be found? There s something to this approach, but it ignores the first and last chapters of this book. It s not easy to determine what the book of Job is about. There s the theme of suffering, the justification of God, God s sovereignty, the search for wisdom. But the book Job is not about suffering, about the justification of God, God s sovereignty, or wisdom. What is it about? Of course, it s about God s dealing with man, pointing the way to the Christ. But that can be said of every book in the Bible. What specific role does the book of Job play in the revelation of God? What theme covers this book from start to finish, and everything between start and finish? To answer that question we need to read the book

2 from start to finish, and let it speak for itself. Our problem is that we reflect on this question when we know the whole story. It s hard for us to pretend we don t know how it will all end. But when you take it as it is written down, the question of Satan comes to the fore: Is the faith of God s servant real? This book begins with describing the faith of Job. It is Job s faith which is drawn into question by Satan. And subsequently it is this faith which is put to the test. Job s closing words to God are about how he trusts God. Furthermore, there s only one reference to Job in the New Testament, and it touches this: how Job persevered in faith. We read in the epistle of James, You have heard of Job s perseverance, and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. (James 5:11). The book of Job is about the reality of faith. That s still a little too unfocussed. For, if we simply leave it at a book about faith, we focus more on the human side to it all. Then Job becomes a hero of faith whom we are to match. Then Job is not about patience in suffering, but about faith in life. But if that were so, Job might just as well have been a pagan. This approach puts faith central as something we do. The book would then be about how we relate to God. But the Bible is the revelation of God. In the pages of Scripture we come to know God. Job is about how God relates to people. Job 1 makes this clear already. It is God who boasts about Job. It is God who gives Satan permission to cause Job to suffer. And when Job responds to it all, it is God who stands at the centre of it all. The discussions between Job and his friends are all about what God does to people. And in the end, God himself responds to it all. Beloved, the book of Job reveals to us the Triune God, how God relates to human beings, whom he has created and who exist in a fallen world. And yes, it does point us to the Christ. For just as God had Job persevere in faith during his trials, so God had the Christ persevere in his trials. As we read in Hebrews about the Christ: Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. (Hebrews 5:8-9; cf. Job 42:7-9). We listen to God s Word with this theme: Blessed is the man who has faith in God. We will consider Job (1) as a fallen man, (2) as a believing man, and (3) as a sanctified man. (1) Job as a fallen man. Job. Who was he? A rich man who lived east of Canaan in, well, we re not sure when. Scholars are agreed it s before Israel lived in the Promised Land. But they are not agreed on how long before. Some figure Job was a contemporary of the patriarchs, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It s also quite possible that Job is only three or four generations removed from Noah. And some figure that Job may have lived before the Flood. The long and short of it is, we can t really date the historical account of Job. This warrants the conclusion that we should not get too hung up about dating this account. What is helpful for us, is to know what Job was like. And there s no question mark there. For Job 29 basically forms a CV for Job, a curriculum vitae, a description on the course of Job s life prior to his suffering. Job was not only a rich man, boys and girls, Job was also a righteous man, a fair man. Job was not only a mighty man, but also a humble man. Job was and this is the testimony of none other than God himself! Job was blameless and upright, he feared God and shunned evil. Job was a wise man. He knew how God wanted him to be and he did his utmost to be just that. The report on how Job acts when his children have thrown a party illustrates it well. As a true father-priest he concerns himself with atoning for the sins of his children.

3 One day Job is preparing such a sacrifice. For his children are feasting that day. They re having a party at the house of the oldest son. And while Job is busy doing this and that, there comes a slave. He s out of breath and all but faints when he comes to Job. Job looks at him. What s wrong? My lord, the slave replies, my lord, I, I can t Speak up man, what s wrong? My lord, your oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing close by, and then robbers came. They killed all the slaves, took all the oxen and donkeys. Only I escaped, to tell you. Job swallows hard. All his oxen, 500 yoke. That the ancient equivalent of 500 tractors. And 500 donkeys. That s the ancient equivalent of 500 delivery vans. This is quite the blow. The agricultural firm Job of Uz just lost everything. It s not hard to imagine that Job would have become unsteady on his feet. But the first slave is still speaking when another comes. He s blackened by soot, his clothes are singed and torn. He too, is out of breath. My lord, he cries, My lord, fire came down from heaven, a huge lightning strike, and all your slaves and sheep were burned. Just like that, all at once. It was terrible. Only I escaped sheep. That s an awful lot of sheep. Job has lost all his livestock. Another slave comes running. A third one. Out of breath he too bears an evil message. My lord, the Chaldeans set up an ambush. They killed all your slaves and took off with all your camels. Only I escaped to tell you. Camels. If donkeys are delivery vans, camels are the ancient equivalent of small trucks. Job s transport business is no more. Picture Job sitting down, his head in his hands as he tries to make sense of it all. Then there s a fourth slave. One who is scared to death. My lord, it s terrible, it s terrible. What is? Could it be worse yet? My lord, your children. They were feasting. Then there came this tornado. The house is gone. Your children and all the slaves that were there are dead. There s just me left, to tell you. My lord! No children. At this point, brothers and sisters, something snaps inside of Job. You know, we speak of the patience of Job. But there s no patience in our text. At this Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground. Because of his immense grief, Job rips his clothes to shreds. His life has gone to pieces. His clothes go to pieces. He shaves of all his hair. Hair was a sign of stature in ancient cultures. Job debases himself. He looks ridiculous. He looks wild. He looks ruined. He looks miserable. Job is sad. No. Job is broken. In Bible translations we read that Job fell on or to the ground, but the original Hebrew actually says that Job threw himself on the ground. He didn t just kneel down carefully. He threw himself down, the way a little child can when it is upset. There lies a broken man. An intensely sorrowful man. He s lost all his possessions. He s lost his children. He s got almost nothing. Four slaves. And his wife. Job is a fallen man. Job is a fallen man. Not just in the sense that he has lost his wealth and his status in society. Not just in the sense that he s fallen of his VIP-pedestal, has been downgraded to poverty. Job is a fallen man in many more ways. As Christians we like to push on to verse 21. But we should stop a little longer with verse 20. The broken Job as he lies there on the ground. It helps us understand Job better. It helps us understand God better. There s Job, on the ground. His head shaven, his clothes torn. There lies a little pile of misery. A little pile of misery. Here we have an illustration of the brokenness of all creation. Job is distraught. And his distress confronts us with the consequences of sin. Here is Job, the mightiest man of the East. Here is Job, the most Godfearing man on earth. Life favours him, God favours him. And yet, there s this. And yet, there s this. Brothers and sisters, man does not control his destiny. If there had ever been a person who was ready for anything, it would have been Job. Wealth in abundance, and an upright man. But even he feels the scourge of the world s brokenness. It s not true that misery and evil only happen to the poor and godless. Job too, falls prey to the claws of the devil.

4 Man is powerless. Man, created and called to be God s vice-regent in creation. Man has become a victim of his own lust for power. However mighty a man might be, he cannot prevent his own downfall. The broken Job, as he lies there on the ground, calls for restoration, calls for salvation. A broken man calls for redemption. A redemption which would, one day, be brought about by the Christ, the Son of God. But Job barely knows about that. Redemption is not in the picture yet. What we get to see here, is the image of a groaning creation, of a beaten man. Job, a fallen man. Just like any of us, brothers and sisters. We re no better than Job. Even if we were as rich as Job, as pious as Job. Wealth and piety will not protect you against evil. What happened to Job could happen to us, does happen to us. Okay, there s this difference. We have more knowledge of redemption, we know the Christ. But redemption is not yet reality. We ourselves still await a new creation, in which death and destruction will not exist, where there will be no disappointment, no frustration, no lamentation. We live in the same groaning creation that Job lived in. Every baptism we say it, this life, which is nothing but a constant death. A constant death. Fallen man. Broken man. A little pile of misery on the ground. All seems lost. The tension in the account increases. For the question is, will Satan be right? Will Job now curse God to his face? 2) No. Satan is not right. For, while Job has lost lots, he has not lost everything. He still has his faith. He still has his God. That s our second thought: Job as a believing man. Both the NIV and the ESV permit themselves the liberty to add to verse 20 the words in worship. It s true that the Hebrew word used here usually refers to worship. What makes it different in verse 20 is that we also find the word ground here, or dust to be more literal. He threw himself down in the dust is the more graphic translation. However, there is indeed something double here. Job throwing himself down in the dust is not only an act of despair. It s also an act of worship. Very moving are the words Job then speaks. They are so well known, they may have even lost their flavour. But when you dwell on them, they are bizarre words. Given Job s situation, would you say something like that? Naked I came from my mother s womb, and naked I will depart. A brief aside, there are some issues with understanding the second line. Both the NIV and ESV ignore one word, though the NIV does note it in the footnote. For Job adds the word there. Naked I came from my mother s womb, and naked I will depart there. Some scholars trip over this, is Job saying he will return into his mother s womb. Others argue that mother s womb is a figurative way for referring to the earth. To my mind, there s a much simpler solution. Picture Job lying on the ground. He groans Naked I came from my mother s womb and naked Job now raises his hand and points to the cemetery I will depart there. These bizarre words, congregation, form a confession of helplessness. Here we have a confession of man s inability. Man is not able to make something of his life, only to break down his life. Man begins with absolutely nothing and ends with absolutely nothing. You re born naked and, as I once read somewhere, there s no U-haul trailer behind a hearse. A man s efforts are eventually for another. Our Lord Jesus once said: Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:27). Job acknowledges the limited value of his wealth and possessions. Job is not attached to his wealth, never was. Even though he was the wealthiest man on earth, he lived by grace. Everything he had was not essential to him. He could do without. And the words that follow make perfect sense. Yahweh has given and Yahweh has taken. Praised be the Name of Yahweh. Remarkable. Not human, it would seem. Job does not rage at the Sabeans or the Chaldeans,

5 the lightning or the tornado. No, Job acknowledges what many people often do not dare or want to acknowledge. Everything, both good and evil, come from God s hand. It is God who gives wealth and children. It is God who takes away wealth and children. Job understands that he is but a human being and that God is Ruler Supreme of all creation. Job knows his place. This world is not about Job but about God. And as your mercy falls, I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away. And I ll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands, You are who You are, no matter where I am. But, brothers and sisters, don t take this too far. As if Job is like a Moslim who can only say Allah achbah, Allah is greater, who effaces himself for Allah s will has to happen. No, pay close attention to what Job actually says. First of all, Job uses the covenant Name of God. Yahweh. The ever-present God, the faithful God, he s always there. Job does not feel abandoned by God. Secondly, Job does not rage at God, the way pagans can rage at their gods. Kind of like, What is Baal doing to me now? No, Job praises the Name of God. In spite of his misery, Job clings to God, confessing that God holds him fast. He is Yahweh, right? He is to be praised, right? Job has no doubts. The distressed Job looks through his tearful eyes towards the throne of God. He s got a shaven head, he s got torn clothes, he s got dust between his teeth. He is a little pile of misery. And yet, he looks for God s honour. Job knows, it s not about me, it s about God. And Job knows, God cares, he is Yahweh. Things will be okay. God is there, in good days and bad, in prosperity and in adversity. Dear brothers and sisters, do you understand how here we have the heart of this account? Satan had said Job serves you because you are good for him. You ve simply bought his service with gifts. You re paying Job to serve you. Job s faith isn t real. It s a business transaction. It s bribery. There s no love, no loyalty. Job s faith is fake. Well, Satan, have a look at Job now. See him lying there, a broken man, a fallen man? A little pile of misery? You had it done, you got your way. It s all your doing, bringing chaos into the world the way you do. God has taken everything away from Job. His wealth and his future. Job understands that. He even says himself that God has taken everything away from him. But Satan, do you see that? Job has lost everything. But Job does not let go of God! Actually, that s not quite the right way to say it. Not Job does not let go of God. But God won t let Job let go of God. For consider, beloved, what is happening here. What is the source of faith? Is it not God? When Satan casts doubt on Job s faith, he is casting doubt on God s work of faith in Job. Satan is not questioning Job s faith, but the Holy Spirit s work of faith in Job. And Job s confession. It shows us how strong the faith of Job is. But when we put it that way, we need to realize that it is God who has made that faith so strong. Job is struck by grief. He is a beaten man. A pile of misery in the dust. But he s not just a fallen man. He s a believing man at the same time. He throws himself on the ground there s the fallen man and worships there s the believing man. He worships the Lord God Almighty. Job fears God for nothing. Job serves God because God is God and Job is a human being. By human reasoning, crazy, bizarre, not normal. But this is reality for those who believe in God truly and uprightly.

6 Now, brothers and sisters, we compared ourselves with the fallen Job. The bad things that happened to him, they can happen to us all. What about Job the believer? Would you compare yourself with him? My experience is that people don t dare. If what happened to Job happened to me, I wouldn t talk like that. I probably should, but I wouldn t. I ll praise you in this storm, is that indeed us? But the book of Job is not about how Job is a super strong believer whom we are to match. It s about the faith of Job, but about that faith as a gift of God. And the God whom we worship today is the same God Job worshiped. If we figure we couldn t say what Job said, why is that? The Lord Jesus said, If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move this mountain. Faith is God s work in us. It s not our contribution to salvation, but it s God s gift of grace. Do not doubt God s work inside of you. You don t have to become like Job. You are like Job. You are like Job. You can be beaten and defeated like Job. Be totally broken by everything that happens to you in life, also the many things that are beyond your control. You also can make the same confession as Job. James speaks of us having heard of the perseverance of Job. Perseverance, worked, as we confess with the Canons of Dort, not by man but by God. God will not let those who are his fall away. 3) This brings us to our third thought: Job as a sanctified man. Satan had said that if God would take everything away from Job, that Job would curse God. Satan figured the relationship between God and Job was not one of love, but one of blackmail and bribery. Job s response to what happened to him proved Satan wrong. Indeed, in all this, Job did not sin by charging God with any wrongdoing. Again, brothers and sisters, don t think now Job could be like this because he s such a super believer. Don t think that Job has an elephant s hide and a heart of stone. Job is a fallen man. He tears his clothes and shaves his head. Job is a sinner, like everybody else. Job acknowledged this. He had his struggles like anybody else. He was a man of flesh and blood. In Job 31(:1) he tells how he made a covenant with his eyes so as not to look lustfully at girls. I m sure most men here can identify with something like that. Job knew about struggles. Job was a sinful human like you and I. And now note. Here came a prime opportunity to sin. Job could have cursed the Sabeans and the Chaldeans. Job could have decried the violence of nature. In false piety, Job could have bewailed the fall into sin, which had called God s curse upon this earth. But Job does none of this. In all this, Job did not sin. Job does not even charge God with wrongdoing. What a superhuman power we see at work here in Job. This is not normal for fallen man. True. This is God s work. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who is stronger than sin. In the power of the Spirit Job resists the temptation and remains blameless. By means of Job God proves that he is trustworthy and powerful. If God is involved with somebody you can rest assured God will accomplish his purpose. God does not let go the works of his hands but brings them to completion. When there are storms in life, God won t let you drift on your own. When there are lions and bears on the road, God will not let them kill you. God is Yahweh, he is an ever-present stay in trouble. He guides his own through the valleys of the shadow of death. He will preserve you, even against the temptation to bid God farewell. Look at Job. Job was a sanctified person, the Spirit was stronger than the dark powers of Satan. And you, my brothers and sisters, are no less sanctified than Job. It is the God of Job who said to you, when you were baptized, that he would care for you, that he would cleanse you of your sins and sanctify you to live a holy life. In Job you can see what this means. Read the book of Job in that way. Look at what God does in Job.

7 Job is not a book which tells us, Here s a model believer. Believe like Job and you re good. Job is a book which tells us, Here s a typical believer. What God did for Job he ll do for you as well. You don t have to become like Job, you already are. You live by the same promises as Job. In one sense, you are more than Job. For Job brought sacrifices while we have knowledge of the sacrifice of the Christ. Job could know that nothing would separate him from God s love. We know it too, for we have seen that love displayed in Christ Jesus. It is impossible for those whom God has chosen to fall away from God. Indeed, blessed is the man who has faith in God. Maybe Job does sparkle for you now. How good it is to know that Job, just like you, is a fallen and broken man. Job knows what it is like to weep tears of sorrow. Job was a beaten man. And yet, through those tears, Job smiled. For he knew that he was still connected to God. The bond with God will never break. We hear a confession of faith, and Job did not sin. What a blessing it was for Job, to have such a God. What a blessing it is for us, to have such a God. Job, a typical believer. But, brothers and sisters, this is only chapter one. This is but the beginning. There is a lot to come yet. Job is already a broken man. But it will get worse. He ll lose his health. He ll lose his wife. And he ll struggle with doubts when it comes to God. We haven t yet seen how deep Job, the typical believer, will sink. We haven t yet seen how powerful God s work in Job is. Chapter one already fills us with amazement. But there s more to come yet. More struggles. And God will show us how robust Job s faith is. The hope of faith shall not deceive us. For, all that God s love and grace endeavour, shall him his power not deny. Amen.