Pastor s Wednesday Night Bible Study Job: Wrestling with God Lesson 9 - Job 35; 36:13-16 Songs in the Night Pastor Kevin Henley, Sr. Introduction The world has its night. It seems necessary that we should have one. Night is one of the greatest blessings men and women enjoy; we have many reasons to thank God for it. Yet night is, to many, a gloomy time. There is the pestilence that stalks in darkness; there is the terror by night; there is the dread of robbers and of sudden disease, with all those fears that the timid know when they have no light with which they can discern objects. It is then they imagine that spiritual creatures walk the earth; though, if they really knew the truth, they would find it to be true, that Millions of spiritual creatures walk this earth, unseen, both when we sleep and when we are awake, and that at all times they are all around us not more by night than by day. Night is the time of terror and alarm to most men and women. Yet even night has its songs. Have you ever stood by the seaside at night, and heard the pebbles sing, and the waves chant God's glories? Or have you never risen from your bed, and opened your bedroom window, and listened? Listened to what? Silence except now and then a murmuring sound, which seems like sweet music. And have you not imagined that you heard the harp of God playing in heaven? Didn t you conceive, that the distant stars, those eyes of God, looking down on you, were also lips of song that every star was singing God's glory, singing, as it shone, its mighty Maker, and his lawful, well-deserved praise? Night has its songs. We don t need much poetry in our spirit, to catch the song of the night, and hear the planets and stars as they chant praises which are loud to the heart, though they are silent to the ear the praises of the mighty God, who holds up the arch of heaven, and moves the stars in their courses. Man, too, like the great world in which he lives, must have his night. C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892) 1
Everyone one of the speeches given by Job and his friends is relevant to us as Believers. They are important to change and direct our attitudes towards God. a) Why live a Righteous Life? Elihu begins his reply back in chapter 32. He is the youngest. He offers another alternative to suffering other than sin. Job s friends believe that sin is the cause of suffering, seemingly exclusively. In the branch of linguistics known as pragmatics, a presupposition is an implicit assumption about the world or background belief relating to an utterance whose truth is taken for granted in discourse. Example of presupposition is: Jane no longer writes fiction. Presupposition: Jane once wrote fiction. b) We are to live righteous lives because God has commanded us to. OH!...You better watch out, You better not cr. You better not pout, I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town. God s sovereignty and righteousness is not based on our behavior and faithfulness. He is Righteous. c) Who is Elihu? He is not listed as one of Job s three friends. God rebukes Job, Chapter 38-42, and his friends, Chapter 42, but not Elihu. In rebuking Job, God does not address justice and righteousness but that of divine freedom and sovereignty. 7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. 2
8 So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job s prayer. NLT. This is what the Lord says the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands? Isaiah 45:11 a) Suffering is for our Good Suffering, in the hand of God, is for the good purposes that God has planned for it. The devil means it for evil but God means it for good. It warns and instructs us. It turns people away from wrongdoing. It keeps us from pride and arrogance. It prevents death. Suffering is for our Good 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. KJV Jude 24-25 3
There Are Blessings in Obedience 7 Don t be misled you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. Galatians 6:7-9 There Are Blessings in Obedience 9 So let s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don t give up. NLT. Galatians 6:7-9 b) There Are Blessings in Obedience Blameless = fear of the Lord = rewards Not blameless = no fear of the Lord = punishment and no rewards. We are to be God s witnesses. When We Become The Potter (9-16) When We Become The Potter (9-16) a) When we become the potter all power becomes ours and we lose. Instead of changing his worldview, I am wrong in my attitude towards God, Job instead blames God. b) God directed Satan to Job, why? For Elihu suffering is not an adversity but a vehicle. God directed Satan to Job, why? even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud NLT. 2 Corinthians 12:7 4
a) Are we looking and listening? The wicked are faithful to their master and we have to be faithful to ours. God Is Neither Blind Or Silent (13-16) Are we looking and listening? Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. NLT. Ecclesiastes 11:5 Conclusion Conclusion 1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: 2 Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? 3 Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. A paradigm /ˈpærədaɪm/ is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitutes legitimate contributions to a field Job 38:1-3 5