Route 66 Understanding Job. Dr. Stephen Rummage, Senior Pastor Bell Shoals Baptist Church April 27, 2016

Transcription

1 Route 66 Understanding Job Dr. Stephen Rummage, Senior Pastor Bell Shoals Baptist Church April 27, 2016 Structure of Job I. Prologue: Job's Distress (Job 1-3) A. Prosperity (1:1-5) B. Adversity (1:6-2:13) C. Perplexity (3:11-12) II. Dialogue: Job's Defense (Job 4-37) A. The First Round (4-14) B. The Second Round (15-21) C. The Third Round (22-37) III. Epilogue: Job's Deliverance (Job 38-42) A. God Humbles Job (38:1-42:6) B. God Honors Job (42:7-17) 1. Job's Favor Life's Hardest Question Job 38:1-7, 40:1-5, 42:1-7 Job 1:1 (ESV) There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Job 1:2 (ESV) There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. Job 1:3 (ESV) He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. 2. Job's Fall Job 1:9 (ESV) Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for no reason?

2 Job 1:10 (ESV) Have You not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. Job 1:11 (ESV) But stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face. Job 1:12 (ESV) And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Job 1:21(ESV) And he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 2:3 (ESV) And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. Job 2:4 (ESV) Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. Job 2:5 (ESV) But stretch out Your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face. Job 2:6 (ESV) And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life. 3. Job's Faithfulness Job 2:9 (ESV) Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die. Job 2:10 (ESV) But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips. 4. Job's "Friends" Job 5:17 (ESV) Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. Job 5:18 (ESV) For He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal. Job 8:3 (ESV) Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?

3 Job 8:4 (ESV) If your children have sinned against Him, He has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. Job 8:5 (ESV) If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, Job 8:6 (ESV) if you are pure and upright, surely then He will rouse Himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. Job 11:13 (ESV) If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward Him. Job 11:14 (ESV) If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents. Job 11:15 (ESV) Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear. Job 11:16 (ESV) You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. Job 11:17 (ESV) And your life will be brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. Job 32:2 (ESV) Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. Job 32:3 (ESV) He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. Job 32:4 (ESV) Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. Job 32:5 (ESV) And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger. Job 32:6 (ESV) And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you. Job 32:7 (ESV) I said, Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.

4 Job 32:8 (ESV) But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. Job 32:9 (ESV) It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right. 5. Job's Frustration Job 23:3 (ESV) Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat! Job 23:4 (ESV) I would lay my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. Job 23:14 (ESV) For He will complete what He appoints for me, and many such things are in His mind. Job 23:15 (ESV) Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider, I am in dread of Him. 6. Job's Folly Job 38:4 (ESV) Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 38:12 (ESV) Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, Job 38:17 (ESV) Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Job 38:31 (ESV) Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Job 38:32 (ESV) Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Job 38:33 (ESV) Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? Job 38:34 (ESV) Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Job 38:35 (ESV) Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, Here we are? Job 38:39 (ESV) Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

5 Job 38:19 (ESV) Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, Job 39:26 (ESV) Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Job 41:1 (ESV) Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? 7. Job's Faith Job 42:5 (ESV) I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You; Job 42:6 (ESV) therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 1:21 (ESV) And he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 19:25 (ESV) For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. Job 19:26 (ESV) And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, Job 23:10 (ESV) But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold. Job 42:10 (ESV) And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Job 42:17 (ESV) And Job died, an old man, and full of days. James 5:11 (ESV) Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

6 Understanding Job Meaning: Job means Persecuted One in Hebrew and Repent in Arabic Author: Uncertain. Suggestions include Job, Elihu, Moses, and Solomon. Text may indicate Gentile authorship Audience: Uncertain Date of Writing: Uncertain. The time of Job is likely contemporaneous with that of Abraham and the patriarchs ( B.C.). Theme: Why does a loving and righteous God permit the godly to suffer? Key Verses: Job 38:1-7, 40:1-5, 42:1-7 Structure of Job IV. Prologue: Job's Distress (Job 1-3) D. Prosperity (1:1-5) E. Adversity (1:6-2:13) F. Perplexity (3:11-12) V. Dialogue: Job's Defense (Job 4-37) D. The First Round (4-14) E. The Second Round (15-21) F. The Third Round (22-37) VI. Epilogue: Job's Deliverance (Job 38-42) C. God Humbles Job (38:1-42:6) D. God Honors Job (42:7-17)

7 How to Comfort the Suffering Wrong Ways Right Ways Pre-judge a situation Empathize with the sufferer (Rom. 12:15). Have a know-it-all attitude. Pray for yourself (James 1:5). Try to solve the problem of the one Pray for others (Phil. 4:6, 7). suffering. Assume the cause of suffering is sin. Listen to the sufferer (James 1:19). Consider causes other than the sin of the sufferer (Job 42:7; John 9:2, 3; Heb. 12:5-11). How to Endure Suffering Wrong Ways Demand to know WHY. Right Ways Be content to know WHO is in charge (Rom. 8:28-30) Withdraw from God. Acknowledge that He is with you (Heb. 13:5). Pray all the more (1 Pet. 5:6, 7). Withdraw from others. Keep fellowship with believers (Heb. 10:24, 25) Decide the limits to your own endurance. Know that God sets and knows your limits (1 Cor. 10:13). Be impatient with God. Wait for His perfect timing (Ps. 31:14, 15). Seek your own remedies (Prov. 14:12). Trust in the Lord to guide (Prov. 3:5, 6). Give up to despair. Wait upon the Lord (Ps. 27). Delude yourself. Seek the truth (John 8:32). Indulge yourself. Keep pure (1 Pet. 2:11, 12). Become angry. Master the anger (James 1:19, 20). Become depressed (Ps. 73). Hope in the Lord (Job 13:15). Job's "Comforters" Eliphaz Bildad Zophar Elihu Sought to uphold the holiness, purity, and justice of God; became uneasy when Job questioned this understanding of God (Job 2:11ff). Expressed the belief that all suffering is the direct result of one's sin; had little patience with the searchings of Job (Job 8:1-22, 18:1-21; 25:1-6). Accused Job of wickedness and hypocrisy, urged Job to repent, and claimed God was punishing Job far less than his sins deserved (Job 11:1-20; 20:1-29). Spoke to Job after the three friends failed to give convincing answers to Job's questions; repeated the views of Job's three friends (Job 32-37). Sources: Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson (1995). Woman's Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997.