But The Wicked Do Prosper!

Transcription

1 But The Wicked Do Prosper! February 25, 2018 Job 21 We come this morning to our last speech of the 2 nd round, Job s reply to Zophar in Job 21. As you may remember from last week, there has been a heavy emphasis in round 2 on the prosperity of the wicked. It makes sense that this is a primary issue in Job since the whole rationale of Job s demise is that he must have been wicked. And we all know that God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked. Right? According to Job s friends, that is just how things work, and always have. Oh yes, they proclaim, there may be the briefest of moments when the wicked seem to prosper, but just as quickly, in an instant, God brings calamity into their lives. He is not content to see the wicked prosper. That is their perspective. But there is a problem with this perspective: any honest, observant person will see that the exact opposite actually happens. Let me put it to the test for you. Think of the people around you, or people that you know, or who you see on tv. Is it true that the wealthiest are also the godliest? Is it true that the poorest, the most miserable are also the most wicked? Or, let s look at it from a different perspective: who lives longer, the good or the bad? Who dies early? Now, granted, this past week we marked the passing of one of the most influential, godly men of our time, Billy Graham. He was 99 years old. It is reported that he preached live before 215 million people. That s just a few more than me. I still have time, I could catch him in the next decade or so. Invite your friends! But Billy Graham would be seen as the best example of conventional Christian wisdom: a godly man lives to 99 years. But is this what we most often see? Are tragic deaths most often happening to the worst among us? The students that were gunned down last week in Florida, were they among the worst? Their gunman who lived, was he more righteous than they were? Of course not! Don t be ridiculous! Yes, the sad truth is that the wicked often live lives of long luxury, while the righteous are often poor, and die all too young. The truth is that all too often, the wicked seem to live long lives of prosperity,

2 and that s a problem for students of Scripture. It goes directly against the notion that God blesses His own and punishes those who oppose Him. Listen to Job as he lays out his case that the wicked do often prosper. READ Job 21. Main point: In this life, the wicked do often prosper. And the converse is true as well: in this life, the righteous often suffer unjustly. If what Job s friends maintain is true, that it is only for the briefest of moments that the wicked prosper, then we need a new definition of the briefest of moments. Some briefest of moments seem to be lasting for whole, long lives, or even for multiple generations. So you ll know where we are going this morning, the case Job is building here for the reality of the prosperity of the wicked in this lifetime also means that he is building a case for the unjust suffering of the righteous. He is building a case for himself, that he is suffering unjustly. He is pointing us to Jesus. So, you can see why this issue is so vitally important. If such injustice never happens, then Job has lost his case, then Jesus must have deserved to die. (3 parts) I. As we look around, we see wicked people who live long lives of increasing prosperity. vv. 1-16

3 Despite the pithy, proverbial wisdom of Job s friends, any honest observation will show that the wicked often do prosper their whole lives. God does not automatically strike them down for their wickedness. Then Job replied: 2 Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me. 3 Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. By now, we are used to the pattern. Job begins with a snide comment toward his friends. In this case, he tells them they were more consolation when they just sat there quietly for 7 days. If they would return to that form of consolation and just quietly listen to him, that would be good. After that, they can return to mocking him with their speech. 4 Is my complaint directed to man? Why should I not be impatient? 5 Look at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth. 6 When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. Job recognizes that his problem is not with his friends, but ultimately with God. The dialogue is with his friends, but the real target is God. He is questioning the way God has set up His world. It makes no sense to Job that upright people like himself suffer (just look at him!), while wicked people prosper. This makes no sense. In fact, as he contemplates this group of truths, he is sent into uncontrollable trembling. He is suffering, despite doing what is right, despite having His God in control of everything, while wicked people, who have no time for God, prosper. This is totally, patently unfair. He has a point.

4 7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? There it is, the issue in a nutshell. Why is it that wicked people keep living, living full lives, and ever increasing in the supposed signs of God s blessing. Pause for a second: We can all appreciate Job s frustration. We all know that God blesses His own. Right? We talk that way all the time. I know that I am blessed by God, far more than I ever dreamed, and certainly way, way beyond what I deserve. This IS true. But there is also a whole host of people who are enjoying equal if not exceeding blessings who thumb their nose at God, who oppress the poor and take advantage of people. There ARE those people as well. We know them, we see them. They don t tithe. They have more money to spend on themselves! Why does God allow such a thing? If He is in control and He promises to bless those who serve Him, then why does He seem to bless even more those who mock Him? It makes no sense. It is frustrating. ***If blessings come to those who have no place for God, why be good?*** Can you see that this is the central issue of satan s plot? Satan contends that people are only good to receive the blessings of God. Take away the blessings, and His people will turn against Him. The testing of Job was designed to put this issue to the test. And right here, we are in the thick of it. Job and his friends are wrestling with the issue of perspective on the prosperity of the wicked. RESUME 8 They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them. 10 Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. 11 They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. 12 They sing to the music of tambourine and harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute.

5 They live fairy tale lives. Everything works out well for them. They do not suffer under the hand of God as Job does. Their businesses flourish, their children live lives of joy, they sing and dance to happy songs. This is what Job s sees when he looks around him. Is it accurate? It is quite accurate. Looking at the wealthy, you would not see difficulty, pain, problems. Their biggest issues are: BMW or Mercedes?, lobster or crablegs?, Harvard or Yale?, beach or mountains?, Super Bowl this year?, fly for the weekend to New York?, Los Angeles?, Paris?, or London?, a third home in the Hamptons? Or Aspen? Such are the struggles of the rich and famous. They are not trying to figure out how they re going to pay the electric bill this month. They are not struggling to buy their medications. They are not doubting whether they ll ever get out of debt. Admit it, if what you saw as you looked around reflected people s actual standing before God, then we have a pretty messed up situation. Wealth and godliness do not seem to go hand in hand. Are Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Jeff Bezos really better people than the rest of us? 13 They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. 14 Yet they say to God, Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. 15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him? 16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked. Not only do they live in prosperity, but it seems to last their whole lives, and the lives of their children, and grandchildren. And they seem to have no time for God! They don t need God. They certainly do not bow before Him, or pledge themselves to serve Him. Even when they establish foundations, I don t see them going to fund Christian missions, or help the poor, or give a new life for ex-felons. No, they buy sports teams, or build opera houses and art galleries, or erect grand monuments to themselves. No, they have no time for God, no sense of recognition that their blessings have come from the hand of God.

6 Now, lest you think I am singling out certain groups of people, I would remind you that Christian celebrities are as bad as all the rest. In fact, the IRS has had to wrestle with how much of a clergy tax advantage can be claimed by the super-rich celebrity pastors. Yes, our guys are just as disgusting. The phony, conniving, slick pastor prospers, while the faithful, integrity filled, patient rural pastor spends his life in obscurity, faithfully serving his little flock. He could write an important book, but no one would read it. Tell me how this is fair? Job is right! II. As we look around, we don t see that death comes early for the wicked. vv Here he looks at it from a different perspective, longevity of life. 17 Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? 18 How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? As we look around, do we see calamity falling on the wicked or the righteous? Or, even during calamity, are the rich or the poor most affected? What are the conditions in Haiti, now years after the earthquake? Wouldn t it be different if it were that way, that the wicked s lives were cut short? I suspect we d watch the news with glee, anxious to see which evil person faced disaster today. We d live lives of See, I told you so! Too bad, so sad, I warned you. Truthfully, I think we d turn into them and God would have to strike us down next. But our observation is that the wealthy wicked are not blown away like chaff in this lifetime as described in verses such as Psalm 1:4, Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. The truth is that the wind may blow them away like chaff, but not necessarily in this lifetime. The next verse references judgment and the gathering of the righteous. It is in that

7 setting that they will be blown away like chaff. During this lifetime, they may just continue to prosper. 19 It is said, God stores up a man s punishment for his sons. Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it! 20 Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 For what does he care about the family he leaves behind when his allotted months come to an end? Perhaps God s wrath is poured out on the next generation. But even if the sins of the fathers fall on the next generations, that too is not fair. How does it show the wicked man the foolishness of his ways if the punishment comes upon his children after he is dead? God should punish on the spot, punishing the one who is actually responsible. That s what Job thinks. It makes sense to me. III. Therefore, this whole idea of being able to tell a person s status before God by his level of wealth is just nonsense. Vv Job s conclusion on this issue is that you cannot jump to conclusions based on wealth and prosperity. Rich people s graves and poor people s graves are side by side. It is the same for all. 22 Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?

8 No mortal man is in a position to tell God how He must do things. He is the highest judge there is. How He chooses to operate is just the way it is. 23 One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, 24 his body well nourished, his bones rich with marrow. 25 Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. 26 Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both. Even though one man lived the fat life, the good life right up to the end, and the next guy suffered to the very end ending up as just skin and bones, still in death they are the same. If death is the measurement, then we are all equal. A dead body is a dead body is a dead body. In the end, we are all just worm food. 27 I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. 28 You say, Where now is the great man s house, the tents where wicked men lived? His friend s position is that the destruction of Job s house and property is proof that he lived a wicked life. They were drawing a conclusion based on one incident. But as we see here, Job invites them to look around and see if their conclusion works elsewhere. 29 Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts 30 that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, that he is delivered from the day of wrath?

9 If you just looked around, you would see that people all over the place are spared from calamity even though they are evil. The wicked do not always suffer the wrath of God. Everywhere is evidence that the wicked prosper. 31 Who denounces his conduct to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? 32 He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. 33 The soil in the valley is sweet to him; all men follow after him, and a countless throng goes before him. No one stands in the face of such people and pronounces judgment on them. When they die, good things are said about them at their funerals. They are laid to rest in the peaceful valley just like all the rest. Lightning bolts do not come down and blow up their graves so that all visitors for all time will know God s view of their lives. They lived out their long full lives with no rebuke. Such is Job s conclusion regarding the life of the wicked based on observation of this life. 34 So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood! O friends! This is what I see wherever I look. This is the real world. Your world of pithy platitudes and phony falsehoods does not stack up to reality! Don t give me this the wicked only prosper for the briefest of moments garbage. It s nonsense! Now, you know people who have come to the same conclusion from the opposite perspective. We all know people who have given up on God because

10 He has failed us when we have done our best to live a life pleasing to Him. We were committed to doing things God s way and look what happened! And then we look at our neighbors who are doing all sorts of wrong things and look what has happened to them. Yes, we all know people who are angry at God (or worse) because He failed to bless them with the results they wanted. Folks, this is a real issue. This is the world in which we live. And the truth is that the judgment we yearn for, where the wicked get what they deserve and the followers of God receive their reward, this judgment comes after death, not during this life. When we die, we must die in faith, that God WILL be true to His promises. He WILL bless His own. Right? He will punish those who reject Him. Right? But for now, we endure the injustice and live by faith. Right? If we believe this passage is the Word of God, then what should be different about our lives? 1) We will allow God to judge as He sees fit, in His timing. 2) We will resist the urge to compare our lives with those who ignore or reject God. 3) We will live by faith in spite of what we see as we look around us. 4) We will live lives of thanksgiving that God has a place in His plan for unjust suffering. Thank you, Jesus!