Sermon # 181 Through The Bible Series
Title: Job
Why do the righteous suffer?
Text: Job
23:10
Subject: The
Suffering of God’s Saints
Introduction:
The Apostle Paul tells us
that “tribulation worketh patience.” The fact is, we are all such sinful
and hard-hearted creatures that we cannot and will not learn patience by any
other means. If I should ask you to give me an example of patience, what is the
first name that pops into your mind? – Job. No man is more famous for the
exercise patience (James 5:11).
(James
5:11) "Behold, we count them happy
which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of
the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."
But patience was no more
natural to Job than it is to you and me. It was something he had to learn by
tribulation, great tribulation. It was a hard lesson, but a lesson he learned.
He expressed that patience the Lord taught him, displaying confident faith in
God’s the wisdom and goodness of God (23:10).
(Job
23:10) "But he knoweth the way that
I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
Poetic
Books
This is a gripping story, a fascinating drama. But it is much
more. The Book of Job is an inspired narrative of the life and trials of a righteous
man in this world.
Here we begin a new section of Scripture. Genesis through
Deuteronomy, the five Books of Moses, are commonly referred to as “the Law.”
Joshua through Esther are “Historic Books.” In these we have seen, in the
events of history, living parables, designed and worked out by God’s good
providence, that explain and illustrate what is going on in our own lives.
In the Poetic Books (Job through the Song of Solomon, and the
little book of Lamentations) we see God’s saints in worship. Perhaps that is
what makes them the most commonly read portions of the Old Testament. In these
Books, we are allowed to go with God’s saints into their private closets, as
they pour out their hearts to their heavenly Father, and put into words the
very things we often want to say, but simply cannot find either the words or
the honesty to speak before the throne of grace. That makes them both precious
and instructive as well as comforting and inspiring.
The Book of Job is a great poem. Tennyson called it, “the greatest
poem whether of ancient or modern literature.” Martin Luther considered the
Book of Job “more magnificent and sublime than any other book of Scripture.” It
reads like a drama, an epic drama much like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
But the book of Job is also historical. Job was an actual, living
person and these events actually took place, but God recounts them for us in
this beautiful style so that we might have an answer to the age-old, haunting
question, "Why do the righteous suffer?"
Job suffered by the assaults of Satan. He suffered by the words of
his wife. And he suffered by the accusations of his friends. But if you asked
Job why he suffered as he did, what the source and cause of his sufferings was,
he looked past all those secondary sources to the Lord his God.
Proposition: At
the very beginning of the Book, we see clearly that the righteous suffer by the
hand and will of the God we worship, trust, love and serve.—Everywhere we turn
in these 42 chapters, when Job speaks of that which he suffered, he declares
that he suffered because the Lord God ordered it.
(Job
19:21) "Have pity upon me, have
pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me."
(Job
23:10) "But he knoweth the way that
I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
God’s Book
Though the Word of God is neither a book about science or history,
whenever it speaks of scientific and historic matters, it is always precise and
accurate. We have before us, in the Book of Job, that which is probably the
very first Book of the Bible to be written. Job lived during the days of the
patriarchs, probably about the time of Abraham. So this Book was written more
than 3000 years ago, slightly before the invention of modern scientific
technology. Yet, no other
Book of the Bible contains as much scientific data as Job.
§
(Job 26:7) "He stretcheth
out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon
nothing."
What could more accurately describe the position and stability of
our planet in space?
“Job's contemporaries all believed that the earth was flat, and
that it rested on the shoulders of one of the gods, or the back of an elephant
or giant sea turtle. Think of it! Startlingly accurate scientific statements
written more than 3,000 years before the discovery of America!” (Paul VanGorder)
§
(Job 38:7) "When the
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
No
one in the world of “all-wise” scientists ever dreamed that rays of
light give off sound that no human ear can hear, until modern times; but Job
declared it, and it was written down in the Book of God, more than 3000 years
ago by the inspiration God to whom the morning stars sing praise.
§
(Job 38:24) "By what way is
the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?"
Reading
those words, you would think Job had distinct knowledge of spectrum analysis.
But this was written more than 3000 years ago.
§
(Job 38:31) "Canst thou
bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?"
Pleiades
is a group of seven stars in the constellation of Taurus. But I wonder how Job
knew that. Remember, he did not have a telescope. This was written more than
3000 years ago!
Pleiades
and Orion no man can control. Contrary to the modern environmentalists’ proud
thoughts, the seasons are not to be altered by men. Job was taught by God that
it was not in his power to make any change in the dispensations of Providence;
to turn the winter of adversity into the spring of prosperity, or the spring of
prosperity into the winter of adversity. Providence is God’s dominion, not
man’s. All we can do is submit to God’s work and quietly wait before him.
What you have in your hand is the Word of God. That fact cannot be
denied by any reasonable person.
(Psalms
19:1-3) "The heavens declare the
glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. {2} Day unto day
uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. {3} There is no
speech nor language, where their voice is not heard."
But it is not my purpose
tonight merely to demonstrate the veracity of Holy Scripture. I want us to see
Christ in the Book and learn the lessons he has for us in this Book.
Behind
the Scenes
In the first two chapters of
Job (1:1-2:8), we are allowed to look behind the scenes to see what was
happening and why. Remember, when you read these chapters, that Job did not
have this luxury. It is written here for our learning.
1. Here we are told, and told
by God himself, that Job was a righteous man, a believer, a saved sinner.
Many have misjudged Bro. Job, asserting that he was a lost, self-righteous hypocrite, as his three friends accused him of being. But the Lord God asserts otherwise (1:1, 8; 2:3).
(Job
1:1) "There was a man in the land
of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one
that feared God, and eschewed evil."
(Job
1:8) "And the LORD said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the
earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth
evil?"
§
Ezekiel 14:14, 20
Job was not a righteous, or perfect man by nature. And we see clearly that he was not perfect in his personal conduct and behavior. He was, just like you and me, a sinner saved by grace.
§
Imputed Righteousness
§
Imparted Righteousness
Job was a man who had been
greatly blessed of God with grace and one to whom God had given greater wealth
and honor than any other in the East (v. 3). He worshipped God and interceded
for his sons and daughters at the throne of grace continually (1:5).
2. The Lord God is the absolute
Monarch of the universe, ruling and controlling all things in heaven, earth and
hell, even Satan.
I do not know what to make of or how to explain everything written here; but I do know that this passage is an assertion of God’s dominion and sovereignty.
§
The angels came to give report to God; and Satan came among them.
§
It was God who took the initiative in challenging Satan, regarding his
servant Job, not Satan (vv. 7-8).
§
It was God who gave Satan permission to do what he did to Job and God
who told him exactly what he could not do. The devil was allowed to roar
against him and afflict him tremendously, but not to harm him.
Satan accused Job, as
believers are always accused, of serving God for gain. And the Lord turned the
fiend of hell loose on him both to prove otherwise and to improve his beloved
servant Job (vv. 9-12).
Job’s
Trials
As we read the first two
chapters of this Book, it is impossible for us to put ourselves in Job’s place
and form any right idea of what he felt.
(Job
1:13-22) "And there was a day when
his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house: {14} And there came a messenger unto Job,
and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: {15} And
the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the
servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
{16} While he was yet speaking, there came also
another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up
the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to
tell thee. {17} While he was yet speaking, there
came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon
the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the
edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. {18} While
he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons
and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest
brother's house: {19} And, behold, there came a great wind from the
wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young
men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. {20} Then
Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the
ground, and worshipped, {21} And said, Naked came I out of my
mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. {22} In all this
Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."
(Job
2:1-10) "Again there was a day when
the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also
among them to present himself before the LORD. {2} And the LORD said
unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said,
From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. {3} And
the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is
none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth
God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou
movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. {4} And Satan
answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he
give for his life. {5} But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone
and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. {6} And the LORD said
unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
{7} So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore
boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. {8} And he took him a
potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. {9} Then
said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse
God, and die. {10} But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the
foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and
shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job’s
Friends
Beginning at verse 11 in
chapter 2 and going through chapter 31, we see Job’s conflict with his friends.
Wonderful friends they were. We’ve all had some like them.
(Job
2:11-13) "Now when Job's three
friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from
his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn
with him and to comfort him. {12} And when they lifted up their
eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they
rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
{13} So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights,
and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very
great."
Satan’s work was nothing
compared to the work of these three, self-righteous, reformed legalists. Job’s
name means persecuted, and they made sure he lived up to his name.—It was not
their doctrine that was wrong, but their attitude!
§
Eliphaz (My God is Fine Gold) was the first to speak. He had a vision, and
assumed that his vision gave him authority to sit in judgment over God’s
servant (4:12-16).
§
Bildad (Confusing Love) thought himself a scholarly intellectual, and backed
his words with the authority of a long list of forefathers, who could not be
mistaken (8:8).
§
Zophar (Sparrow) was described by someone as one of those irksome people we
all hope never to meet again, fresh out of seminary, who knows everything about
everything.
Job described them
considerably more pleasantly than I would, as “miserable comforters.”
They were all fully convinced that Job was a hypocrite and that he suffered
divine judgment because he was, after all, a man with secret sins God was
determined to expose by his afflictions. There are multitudes like them around
the world in every age and in every church.
“These three men stand as
lasting reminders of the need to handle suffering friends with great care and
to refrain from giving quick and easy solutions to complex and trying
problems…to speak little and listen much in our dealings with those stricken by
calamity.” (Roger Ellsworth)
§
Elihu (He is my God) comes on the scene in chapter 32 (32:1-37:24).
Elihu was a young man, but a man with a message from God. He rebuked Job’s miserable, tormenting comforters for their accusations, and rebuked Job for spending more time justifying himself before them than in justifying God before them.
Elihu spoke of God’s
incomparable greatness. In chapter 33, Elihu gives us a marvelous picture of
God’s method of grace, by which he delivers chosen sinners from going down to
the pit (vv. 13-30).—In Salvation—In Chastisement.
(Job
33:13-30) "Why dost thou
strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
{14} For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth
it not. {15} In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep
falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; {16} Then he
openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, {17} That
he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. {18} He
keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing
by the sword. {19} He is chastened also with pain upon his
bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: {20} So that his
life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. {21} His flesh is
consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were
not seen stick out. {22} Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave,
and his life to the destroyers. {23} If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his (GOD’S
NOT MAN’S!) uprightness: {24} Then he is gracious
unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have
found a ransom. {25} His flesh shall be fresher than a
child's: he shall return to the days of his youth: {26} He shall
pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face
with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. {27} He
looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that
which was right, and it profited me not; {28} He will deliver his
soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. {29} Lo,
all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, {30} To
bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the
living."
§
Psalm 107
God
Confronts His Servant
In chapter 38 (38:1-42:17),
the Lord God himself confronts his servant out of the whirlwind, by the
irresistible, convincing power and grace of his Holy Spirit. Here, the Lord God
effectually applies to Job what his messenger, Elihu had declared (Rom. 10:17).
The Lord graciously showed Job his greatness, glory, and solitary majesty as
God.
§
Job repented of his own sin.
(Job
40:3-5) "Then Job answered the
LORD, and said, {4} Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will
lay mine hand upon my mouth. {5} Once have I spoken; but I will not
answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further."
(Job
42:1-6) "Then Job answered the
LORD, and said, {2} I know that thou canst do every thing, and that
no thought can be withholden from thee. {3} Who is he that
hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood
not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. {4} Hear, I beseech
thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. {5}
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth
thee. {6} Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and
ashes."
§
Job forgave and made intercession for Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar (42:7-9)
§
The Lord blessed Job (42:10-17). When the gold was refined, God took
him out of the furnace. His riches and honor were doubled. His children were
added in the same number—(7 Sons and 3 Daughters)—as before.
(Job
42:10-17) "And the LORD turned the
captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice
as much as he had before. {11} Then came there unto him all his
brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance
before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and
comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man
also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. {12} So
the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had
fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen,
and a thousand she asses. {13} He had also seven sons and three
daughters. {14} And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the
name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. {15} And
in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and
their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. {16} After this
lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even
four generations. {17} So Job died, being old and full of
days."
Gospel
Doctrine
Though mistaken in many
things, Job’s doctrine was pure, gospel doctrine.
§
Divine Sovereignty
§
Need for a Mediator a Kinsman Redeemer (9:20, 32-35)
(Job
9:20) "If I justify myself, mine
own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also
prove me perverse."
(Job
9:32-35) "For he is not a
man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come
together in judgment. {33} Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that
might lay his hand upon us both. {34} Let him take his rod away from
me, and let not his fear terrify me: {35} Then would I speak, and not
fear him; but it is not so with me."
§
Redemption and The Resurrection of The Dead
(Job
3:17) "There the wicked cease from
troubling; and there the weary be at rest."
(Job
14:13-15) "O that thou wouldest
hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be
past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! {14} If
a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I
wait, till my change come. {15} Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee:
thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands."
(Job
19:21-28) "Have pity upon me, have
pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. {22} Why
do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh? {23} Oh
that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! {24} That
they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! {25} For
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth: {26} And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: {27} Whom
I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my
reins be consumed within me. {28} But ye should say, Why persecute we
him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?"
Why do the righteous suffer?
(Hebrews
12:5-11) "And ye have forgotten the
exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou
the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: {6} For
whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
{7} If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son
is he whom the father chasteneth not? {8} But if ye be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
{9} Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and
we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto
the Father of spirits, and live? {10} For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit,
that we might be partakers of his holiness. {11} Now no
chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are
exercised thereby."
(Job
3:3-4) "Let the day perish wherein
I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child
conceived. {4} Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from
above, neither let the light shine upon it."
(Job
3:13) "For now should I have lain
still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,"
(Job
3:17) "There the wicked cease from
troubling; and there the weary be at rest."
(Job
23:10) "But he knoweth the way that
I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
1 Date: Tuesday Evening—June 10, 2003
Todds Road Grace Church, Lexington, KY (Wednesday PM – 06/11/03)
Rescue Baptist Church, Rescue, CA (Wednesday PM – 07/02/03)
Tape # X-63a
Readings: Bob Pruitt and Rex Bartley