4. The Lord answered Job out of the storm The Answer to Everything - in the End. Answers to the Ultimate Questions the Story of Job

Transcription

1 4. The Lord answered Job out of the storm The Answer to Everything - in the End

2 The Value of Suffering: The servants of God in all ages will meet the same problems, find the same loving response from God, and experience the same complex of human joys and sorrows. Brother R. T. Lovelock, Job, 1957, page 97. The value of suffering is not the mere endurance of pain, in whatever form. There is no merit in endurance for its own sake. We are meant to learn from every experience of life, happy or sad, joyful or distressing. God is working in us (Phil. 1:6; 2:12-13). God's discipline s us is to train us (Heb. 12:11), to make us holy (Heb. 12:10).

3 The Value of Suffering: Paul had to learn to live with his 'thorn in my flesh' to keep him from becoming conceited (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Trials can protect us from something even worse. Trials should have an educational effect on us. God is all-powerful, and is in control of everything. God is great, as evident in creation. God is pure, in contrast to our grubby natures. God is gracious, much more than we are.

4 Job's Hope of Resurrection: Job's belief in the resurrection is clearly seen in 14:14; 19:25-27 and 23:10. This belief is not an anaesthetic for present pain, but is the ultimate answer to all our problems (John 11:21-24). We also need the assurance that God is with us now, and this Job fervently believed as evidenced in his frequent prayers. Although he could not understand why his sufferings had come upon him, and God remained silent, he never rejected God, or his hope in Him.

5 Job's Hope of Resurrection: Finally, the fact that Job prays for death is not consistent with a belief in the law of works which would have justified him, but is consistent as we shall see later with a belief in the resurrection. Brother Cyril Tennant, The Book of Job, 1991, page 42. It is a very moving chapter (14) and it shows that a belief in the resurrection, even though it gives hope for the future, does not take away the fear of mortality. Mortality is the punishment for sin and it must be suffered by all; whilst it is made more bearable by a knowledge of the resurrection, its suffering must remain. Brother Cyril Tennant, The Book of Job, 1991, page 49.

6 God's Answer Accepting His Supremacy, and His Terms of Salvation: We have a choice: Elihu's part (ch ) is to prepare Job for the fuller teaching which will come from God. It is to make him aware of God's absolute supremacy and of man's complete dependence upon Him; to show that each stands condemned before God, but that He is a God of compassion and willing to show mercy to all who seek it. Brother Cyril Tennant, The Book of Job, 1991, page 32.

7 God's Answer Accepting His Supremacy, and His Terms of Salvation: Elihu prepared the way for God's answer by referring to the power of God as seen in a storm (Job 36:27-37:16). (cf 1:16, 19; 9:17; 30:22) Then God spoke out of the storm (Job 38:1; 40:6). Be careful what you ask for because you may get it. Job finally got to see God and talk to him as he wanted. But he regretted his words, and had nothing to say! Brace yourself (NIV) Job 38:3; 40:7 prepare to fight or wrestle! We can t wrestle or box with God because our arms are too short!

8 God's Answer Accepting His Supremacy, and His Terms of Salvation: He describes His power in the earth (Job 38:4-7), the climate (Job 38:8-38), and various animals (Job 38:39-39:30). If considering animals cause us to tremble, what of God? God s power is frequently referred to as a way to reinforce our faith in Him: Psalm 77 Isaiah 40 Romans 1 After Job's confession of unworthiness God again speaks of his power in the hippopotamus and the crocodile (Job 40:15-41:34). God (and Jesus) do not always directly answer our questions, but They do tell us what we need to know.

9 The Climax: As this speech draws to its close, the climax of the book is reached: Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him answer it (40:1). Before such a revelation Job is completely mortified, and in true character with all God's great men pours out his confession: Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? (40:4) He is now in the right frame of mind to receive the final blow which is given through a series of questions, each of which leads to further humiliation by showing how even the best of men, as indeed Job was, is very small when compared with God:.

10 The Climax: Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? (40:8-9) These questions are followed (verses 10-13) by instructions for Job to do things which, whilst commonplace for God, are impossible for Job: Deck yourself with the special attributes of my character. Control your own wrath. Control every proud man. Control and destroy the wicked. Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own hand can save thee (40:14) if you can compare with me in all these things, then I will confess that you can save yourself! Brother Cyril Tennant, The Book of Job, 1991, pages

11 The Climax: God's supremacy is clearly taught in the book of Job. But that supremacy is not purposeless: it is used to lead Job to greater fruitfulness as was noted in James' commentary upon this book (5:11) we 'have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy'." Brother Cyril Tennant, The Book of Job, 1991, page 3. "Man is alienated by his sins from God, and can therefore only be accepted by His grace and upon the terms which He so generously offers." Brother Cyril Tennant, The Book of Job, 1991, page 32.

12 God's Grace, Mercy and Compassion: Job is not condemned or humiliated. He was and is God s servant 1:8; 42:7-8 (4x) Job was then restored to his former prosperity, and indeed received twice as much as he had lost. Our own resurrection to immortality will seem infinitely more than twice anything we have lost or sacrificed in this life! "True belief in the miracle of salvation can only be demonstrated in a changed way of life." "The blessings came when Job prayed for his friends (42:8-9), not because he prayed, but when he prayed. It was when Job had learned the lesson of salvation by grace, and consequently understood the need of his friends, that he prayed for them. It was this belief, which by his works was proved to be sincere, that provided the turning point." Brother Cyril Tennant, The Book of Job, 1991, page 22.

13 God's Grace, Mercy and Compassion: "And so the repentant Job is accepted, and he is granted what bro. C. C. Walker beautifully called the 'sweet revenge' of offering sacrifice on behalf of the three friends. In spite of his wild words, with implications which he had not fully recognized, Job s honesty was less dishonouring to God than his friends 'whitewashing' of hard facts, and there was in him that deep core of enduring faith in God for His own sake which made spiritual education possible. Pride in his own integrity had led Job to traduce God, and pride had to be broken down, first by the arguments of Elihu and then by the demonstration of Divine wisdom. Job s restoration shows the 'pity and tender mercy' of the Lord, and his renewed happiness and prosperity illustrate in the only way possible within the compass of the narrative that God does not wilfully afflict. Job has never asked for the return of his wealth but for God not to treat him as an enemy; now, when with spirit humbled Job worships God for what He is in Himself, the cynic s query in the prologue is disposed of finally and utterly." Brother L. G. Sargent, Ecclesiastes & Other Studies, 1965 (The Christadelphian, 1958), pages

14 Conclusions: 1. We are so insignificant, and God is so big, that He doesn t have to explain Himself to us. 2. We are so significant to God, that He has revealed to us His purpose, and so He occasionally gives us insights into His working with individuals, such as Job, Joseph, Moses, David, Paul, and above all His Son Jesus Christ. 3. Your calamities are not usually a punishment for a particular sin. Occasionally they may be (e.g. David), but only you can tell, although not with certainty. 4. Can we question God s apparent unfairness? No! 5. Will God explain His actions to us? No! Although the examples in Scripture reassure us that He knows what He is doing, and that it is for the best.

15 Conclusions: From our studies we have seen: 1. How to deal with our and another s sufferings. 2. That God s discipline and providence always works for our salvation. 3. The importance of faith/trust and prayer. 4. To appreciate God s grace and mercy. 5. That the end is infinitely better than now. Of the endurance of Job, ye have heard, And, the end of the Lord, have ye seen, That, of much tender affection, is the Lord, and full of compassion. James 5:11, Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible.

16 The Death of Lazarus: Every fibre of our being rails against it, shouts out at apparent injustice, but we need to remember that the higher purpose in these things is that God should be glorified. This should be an end to all bitterness, resentment and self pity.. Time and again John brings us to this point, that we may not understand, perhaps should not expect to understand, all the purposes of God as expressed in His Son. But we do need to press on in faith confident in the Son of God s ability to deal with all human conditions to the glory of God even if this means passing through the jaws of death. Brother David Nightingale, Come and See The Gospel of John Revisited, 2005, page 157.