Series: When Life Comes Unraveled, #1 Text: Job 1:1-22 Valley Community Baptist Church April 14/15, 2012 Pastor Jay Abramson

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1 Series: When Life Comes Unraveled, #1 Text: Job 1:1-22 Valley Community Baptist Church April 14/15, 2012 Avon, CT Pastor Jay Abramson Is God Really Worthy of Praise? We begin this week a study of the book of Job. What do you know about this book? Most people know that there are seven main characters God, Satan, Job and Job s four friends. Most people would say that the theme of the book is suffering and because they think that s the theme, most people avoid this book! Job is a book about suffering, but as we ll see in this first chapter, that is not the only theme. In fact, suffering is more of a secondary theme. The primary theme is relationships the relationship between God and Satan, the relationship between God and Job, the relationship between Job and His friends and finally, the relationship between Satan and all people. Suffering is a lens through which all these relationships are observed and tested. So, let s begin by first observing I. Satan s Accusation The first five verses of Chapter 1 establish Job as an historical character. This is not a book of fiction. It is history as Ezekiel 14:14 and James 5:11 prove. In these five verses we are presented the facts of where Job lived, what kind of a man he was and we re introduced to his family. Job lived in the land of Uz which is basically the land of Jordan today. He was a very, very wealthy man: Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump all rolled into one. But he was also a godly man. He wasn t perfect, but he was a seeker after God. Verse 1 says: (Job 1:1) This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. But it says in verse 5 that he offered sacrifices for his ten adult children, which is simply to point out that he was concerned about sin being dealt with in the right way and regularly led his family in worship. Now, beginning in verse 6, after seeing this very mundane snapshot of normal life on earth, we are given a fascinating peek behind the materialistic veil to see normal life in the spiritual realm. Verse 6: One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. Does this surprise you? Did you know this happened on a regular basis? Did you know that Satan has conversation with God? Did you know he has to ask permission before he does anything? What should we remember from this scene? Well, before we answer that last question, let s take the DVD off pause and let the story play out a little further. The LORD said to Satan, Where have you come from? Satan answered the LORD, From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it. Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied. Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have 1

2 blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. (Job 1:7-11) The name Satan means, accuser. Do you see here the real tension in this book? Yes, Satan is out to deflate the success and reputation of Job. Yes, it irks him to see a God-follower satisfied, comfortable and happy. But Job is not the main target of Satan s accusation. As much as he is accusing Job, he s also accusing God. Satan is telling God, You aren t so great! You aren t really worthy of being praised! Job doesn t really love you, he loves what you ve done for him. If you were really great, Job would praise you even if you took all his blessings away. Do that, and he ll curse you to your face! Try it! I dare you! You ll see what kind of man he is. Do you see it? Job s not the main target. He s just a pawn in Satan s scheme to accuse God. It s one thing for Satan to accuse God Himself, but if he can get Job to accuse God, then he will really have something to celebrate. So, the primary battle isn t between Satan and Job. It s between Satan and God. Until Christ returns and throws Satan into the Abyss, this world will be a battleground between God and Satan. C. S. Lewis says: There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan. i Why did Satan pick Job to accuse? Because God clearly took delight in Job. Why do kidnappers take children of the rich? They know their parents take delight in them and will do anything to get them back. Commentator Elmer Schmick writes: It is the adversary s ultimate challenge. For if the godliness of the righteous man in whom God delights can be shown to be the worst of all sins (self-serving egotism), then a chasm of alienation stands between them that cannot be bridged God s whole enterprise in creation and redemption will be shown to be radically flawed, and God can only sweep it all away in awful judgment. The accusation, once raised, cannot be removed, not even by destroying the accuser. So God lets the adversary have his way with Job (within specified limits) so that God and the righteous Job may be vindicated and the great accuser silenced. Thus comes the anguish of Job ii Now, do you see another context for the issue of suffering in this world, especially the suffering of Christians? Everything in this world is not about you not even temptation! Satan s view of you is that you are a loser, that you are incapable of doing anything right and that you certainly are incapable of doing anything honorable; especially if doing so will cause you pain. God s view of you is 180 degrees different. God is putting His reputation into Job s hands. What does that tell you about His view of us as humans? God s not the one sitting in heaven believing that you re going to fail and anxious to zap you when you do. God s the one in heaven cheering you on and believing the best about you. There is no one like our God! Which brings us to the second lesson in chapter one. We see next II. Job s Adversity 2

3 So, because God delights in Job, because He knows that He has equipped Job to deal with adversity, because God trusts that Job s faith is in Him and not just His blessings, God says to Satan: Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger. Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:12) In verses we then see the stone-hearted actions of Satan. He wipes out all of Job s wealth and kills all his adult children. It happens all in one day! Can you imagine the shock? It s reminiscent of a similar scene in the movie Saving Private Ryan. [Show the clip] There s a country house at the end of a long dusty road. The mother is at the kitchen sink fixing dinner when she looks up and sees an olive-drab sedan coming down that long, winding road. She stops and stares. The closer it gets, the more obvious it is this is an official government vehicle. There are four stars in her window, representing her four sons serving in the defense of their country. Now terrified, she clutches her apron to her face. Army officers step out of the car. Kindly, but firmly, one of them begins, We regret to inform you, Mrs. Ryan As she hears of the death of three of her four sons, she drops to her knees in unbearable anguish. iii This and more was the beginning of the suffering of Job. In one day his world began to unravel. But it wasn t just the visible losses. It was also the invisible losses, the invisible pain. Some of you in this room have stood in Job s shoes. You know, unfortunately, exactly what this feels like. As a pastor, I ve seen it, I ve observed it up close, but being in close proximity to this level of suffering and actually feeling it are two totally different things. Remember that in this true story of Job, he knows nothing of the conversation and accusations of Satan toward God. He has no idea how Satan has tried to embarrass and challenge God with his insinuation that Job s love for God is insincere and self-serving. He also is completely unaware how unique this attack by Satan is. For example, when Job calls out to God for help, for relief, as he has undoubtedly done hundreds of times before, God is now prohibited from answering him. Why? Because if God intervenes and reduces Job s suffering, God will have to acknowledge to Satan that he was right, that Job wouldn t praise Him when life hurt but only when life was easy. Which all means that Job is forced to suffer the worst kind of pain, the suffering that comes from meaningless pain. If Job only knew the truth that there was a direct challenge of God by Satan that brought this about, he would ve been able to see his duty and by faith, muscle through. But there was nothing but radio silence from God. It all had to seem so meaningless. Chuck Swindoll points out that at this point, the only one who is happy is Satan. Job is suffering from the attack of Satan. God is suffering because His son is suffering. Only Satan takes delight in the situation. Swindoll writes: The only one taking delight in the scene is the supernatural creature who caused it to happen. Satan and his demonic hosts are on the edge of their seats in the invisible evil empire, watching anxiously, anticipating the venom that is certain to burst from that father s lips. He can t endure this without cursing his God, spoiled man that he is. We ve taken it all, and he s left with nothing to hold on to. Just wait; we ll see the real Job now! iv 3

4 We need to make note of a couple of things here. First, do you notice the source of these tragedies? The raiding Sabeans and Chaldeans were sent by Satan. The storm that knocked the house down, killing Job s children, was caused by Satan. The fire that came down and killed the sheep was sent by Satan, even though the servant who told Job about it called it the fire of God. God is capable of sending catastrophes upon the earth: the worldwide Flood and the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira would be examples. But clearly, Satan, having secured permission from God, is also capable of directing such natural disasters. This would mean that the insurance industries propensity to call things like hurricanes acts of God, is not totally accurate. I heard this week that, when Mike Huckabee was governor of Arkansas, he refused to sign an insurance bill that spoke of acts of God until they changed the phrase to acts of nature. Which leads me to ask, Have you ever fallen into Satan s trap and accused God of destroying your life with some disaster? How do you know what was behind those events? It s tough enough just dealing with the cruelties of this life. As God followers, let s not make it worse by giving Satan and his wicked hordes something to laugh about as well. Secondly, did you notice that Satan had to ask permission of God to jump the hedge, the hedge of protection, which God had placed around His servant Job? Verses 10 and 12: Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything that he has? The LORD then said to Satan, Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger. (Job 1:10, 12) We will see beginning next week that Satan comes back to get permission to lay a finger also on Job. But do not ignore this process. Satan must ask permission to do his dirty work in this world and in your life. Alan Redpath writes: There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment, but as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is. v Some people think this is a reason to accuse God. Why on earth would God EVER allow Satan to touch any of His children? Again, doesn t this reveal a rather inflated ego? Doesn t that presume that we are all immediately obedient and anxiously growing toward spiritual maturity? Jesus was obviously the most spiritually mature person to ever walk the earth and He suffered greatly. Our goal is not to suffer but to follow Christ, even when it means suffering - which it will! Oswald Chambers explains it this way: To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God s will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God s will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. vi 4

5 Job s adversity was caused by Satan, it was devastating and it produced real pain. And as we ll see beginning next week, it wasn t the end, it was only the first round. But today we must also see III. Job s Response to the First Assault Job had no warning of what was coming. This was the original Shock and Awe disaster with all the horrible news coming in one day. His response is just as aweinspiring. Before we read it, let me just say, as the suffering continues over time, he doesn t always display the same remarkable composure. But his first response is amazing. Verses 20-22: At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. (This would be a typical and culturally appropriate means of displaying his grief). Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: Naked I came from my mother s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised. In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:21-22) We need to notice two things. First, Job gave his grief honest, authentic expression. He didn t put on a happy face and say, Isn t God good to wipe out my family! That s not real. That s not honest. Job was real about his pain and he expressed it. He tore his robe and shaved his head. He did not hide his grief. But secondly, Job did not use this emotional tsunami as an excuse to sin. To accuse God of murder would be sin. To charge God with evil intent would be sin. As emotionally distraught as Job was, he did not curse God and by not doing so, he shot Satan down from his arrogant perch. In the way he dealt with his own pain, he accomplished an enormous victory in the spiritual realm. On Friday, we held a memorial service here for my friend, Tim Herr. Tim died of a brain tumor at the age of 56 leaving his wife Debra and three sons, two still at home. Tim was less than two years old spiritually when he died. He never in my hearing ever came close to cursing God or accusing Him of ruining his life with cancer. In fact, on his web blog, Tim actually called the tumor a blessing. Listen: If you go back to the beginning of the journal entries on this site, you will be reminded that sixteen months ago I had brain surgery to remove a tumor While admittedly my life seemed to be turned upside down and inside out this past year and a half has been one of the most rewarding and fulfilling periods in my life. I have learned a lot about myself and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have fallen so much more deeply in love with my wife than I ever thought possible. So, what, if anything, does the suffering of a Christian accomplish? Listen again to Dr. Elmer Schmick: At stake in the suffering of the truly godly is the outcome of the struggle in heaven between the great adversary and God, with the all-encompassing divine purpose in the balance. Thus, the suffering of the righteous has a meaning and value commensurate with the titanic spiritual struggle of the ages. vii Is God really worthy of praise in all things? How deep is your trust in Him? Amen. 5

6 i C. S. Lewis, Christian Reflections (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967), p. 33 ii The NIV Study Bible, Introductory Notes to the Book of Job (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985) p. 732 iii Description of this scene from Charles Swindoll, Job: The Man of Heroic Endurance (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004), p. 21 iv Charles Swindoll, Job: The Man of Heroic Endurance (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004), p. 22 v Alan Redpath as quoted on the website: PreachingToday, Alan Redpath on Trusting God s Will. vi Oswald Chambers in R. Kent Hughes, 1001 Great Stories & Quotes (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1998), p. 405 vii The NIV Study Bible, Introductory Notes to the Book of Job (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985), p