The Book of Job exists in part to help us suffer well, as well as to offer hope to our lost world.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.
At some point in your pilgrimage to heaven, you will need the Book of Job. Jesus, the greatest friend your soul has ever had testifies solemnly, “In this world, you will have trouble.” That is guaranteed. As you sail through the turbulent storms of this world, your ship will most certainly be slammed and buffeted by wave upon wave. Rogue waves fifty feet high will come, threatening to capsize your soul in an abyss of despair. You will be gulping water desperate for air. No one on earth makes it through unscathed.
In his kindness, God sent you the Book of Job.
Why? Because God wants you to suffer well. It is to his glory and to the benefit of your soul and the souls of all who are watching you that you suffer well. What does that mean? More than anything, it means to cling to God more than ever before. It means that the buffeting waves bring you ever closer to him, never farther. It is to trust God while the storm rages, to say with Job, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). It is to glorify God with the thoughts of your heart and the actions of your body, including your mouth. To refrain from speaking harsh words about God, questioning his nature… his justice, love, or wisdom… or even his very existence, as so many have done before as they were making shipwrecks of their souls.
So, God sent you the Book of Job, so that you would know you’re not passing through the storm alone. The Book of Job is a partial fulfillment of God’s magnificent pledge to his chosen people in Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” The statement “I will be with you” is the greatest commitment God could ever make to his storm-tossed children. The storm rages—the loving God is with you. The storm rages more—the omnipotent God is with you. The storm rages unabated for a seemingly intolerable duration—the wise God is with you. The storm does not disprove his existence. Rather, when it finally subsides, the child of God is more convinced of his existence and his perfections than before the storm began. Because God was with you every moment and revealed himself to you through it.
But the Book of Job is only part of his commitment to be with his people in their suffering, and not even the best part. The words “I will be with you” are incarnate in Jesus’ precious name, Immanuel. Jesus, the man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Jesus, the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling with us. Jesus, who was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Jesus, who drank to the bottom the cup of God’s wrath and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” so that we would never be forsaken by God. Jesus, who said to us, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
By Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has forged hope as an unbreakable anchor for our souls in every storm. He promises you, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26). Job never had that hope as clearly as we do. Without Christ’s promise of our own resurrection into a life eternally free from all suffering, the statement “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” is vain. But Christ’s promise, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). is essential to a “hope that does not put us to shame” (Romans 5:5)
- The Problem of Pain
- A World Groaning with Pain
- The future world is described unforgettably in these words
Revelation 21:4 There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
- But this present evil age is the exact opposite: a world characterized by death, mourning, crying and pain… every single day!
- People Demand Answers from God
- As the world groans with pain and stares into the grave of a loved one, or sees hopes go up in flames, the world demands from God one word: WHY???!!!
- True believers in the God of Bible are challenged to defend God to those who doubt his existence and roll this issue out as the top proof that an all-powerful, all-knowing, compassionate and loving God cannot possibly exist
- The logic seems inescapable
C.S. Lewis: “If God were good, he would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy; and if God were almighty, he would be able to do as he wished. But his creatures are not happy. Therefore, God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.”
Tim Keller, The Reason for God: “If a good and powerful God exists, he would not allow pointless evil, but because there is so much unjustifiable pointless evil in the world, the traditional good and powerful God could not exist.”
- Sometimes the Questioning Raises to the Level of RAGE
David Hart wrote these powerfully angry words in the Wall Street Journal after a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December of 2004:
When confronted by the sheer savage immensity of worldly suffering—when we see the entire littoral rim of the Indian Ocean strewn with tens of thousands of corpses, a third of them children’s—no Christian is licensed to utter odious banalities about God’s inscrutable counsels or blasphemous suggestions that all this mysteriously serves God’s ends.
A visit to the Holocaust museum in Washington
The exhibits brought to my mind a very real sense of the evil of the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews in World War II. I will never forget a pile of baby shoes confiscated from victims at Auschwitz.
Worst of all, a quote from Elie Wiesel’s Night:
Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am consigned to live as long as God Himself. Never.
Human evil “murdered God” in Wiesel’s mind. As he wrote in another place:
Blessed be God’s name? Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death?… But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man.
- Believers Have to Fight their Own Battles Over This
- We have to answer such rage-filled questions as we share the gospel with a lost and dying world
- But then we have our own battles with suffering… and with doubts
- The Book of Job exists in part to help us suffer well, as well as to offer hope to our lost world
- The Challenges of the Book of Job
- Goal: rightly divide the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15)
- Time setting and author?? [No idea, and it doesn’t really matter]
- Timeless and transcultural… but definitely BEFORE CHRIST!!
- What is most important is to see God the Holy Spirit as the ultimate author
- Difficult language and genre
- Both poetry AND history?
- God’s rejection of the words of Job’s friends, and indeed, of some of Job’s words as well (but not all!)
- Job’s vacillating, flickering hope… and seeming hopelessness
- Progressive revelation
- A Better Hope
Here is my central discovery in this Book of Job: Job was a better man than any of us will ever be, but we have a better hope than he ever had.
- The Timeless Lessons Summarized
- Suffering is Inevitable, But Don’t Live in Fear [Realism]
- Delight in Your Earthly Blessings, But Don’t Make Them Idols [Contentment]
- Understand Satan’s Relentless Hatred, But Also God’s Protection [Security]
- When Suffering Comes, Respond Like Job Did (Initially) [Perseverance]
- Counsel Better Than Job’s Friends Did [Compassion]
- Chronic Suffering Deeply Probes Our Souls and Exposes Sin [Repentance]
- Develop a Deep Sense of the Overpowering Majesty of God [Reverence]
- Don’t Ever Question God’s Justice, Love, or Wisdom [Submission]
- Don’t Expect an Earthly Explanation [Acceptance]
- Know that Christ is a Perfect Mediator, Intercessor, and Redeemer [Faith]
- We Have a Better Hope Than Job Ever Did [Hope]
- Look Forward to Heaven’s Radiant Display of the Glory of God [Glory]
- The Opening Drama
- Job’s First Wave of Sorrow
Job 1:1-22 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. 4 His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 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.” 8 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.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 12 The LORD said 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.
13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!” 18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 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.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job 2:1-13 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And 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.” 3 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. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” 4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” 6 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” 7 ¶ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. 9 ¶ His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. 11 ¶ When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
DQ: How does the text describe Job before anything happened to him?
DQ: Why is Job’s blamelessness so vital to the story?
DQ: What are the different categories of suffering that Job went through?
DQ: How does Job’s level of suffering help us endure our own?
DQ: What is Satan’s role in this suffering?
DQ: How did Job respond initially? How should we imitate that initial response?
DQ: How can the book of Job help us answer the hard challenges of a skeptical world?
