SCRIPTURE: Job 1-2 (ESV)
DATE: 5-29-22
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or are joining us at our North Main campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Last week we returned to our Finding Jesus series. This is a series where each week I introduce you to a book of the Bible that you may or may not be familiar with, I give an overview of the book, and then we focus on a section of it. Finally — and this is what I hope is most helpful — each week I show you how to find Jesus. I show you how to find the one story the whole Bible is telling — the story of Jesus — because the whole Bible is ultimately pointing us to him.
And in this iteration of our Finding Jesus series — we’re looking at five books in the Old Testament often called the Wisdom literature. And — today — we’ll be looking at the book of Job. So if you have your Bible, please turn with me to Job chapter 1.
Last week we looked at the book of Psalms and in the coming weeks we’ll look at Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and we’ll end this series on Father’s Day — looking at the book called the Song of Songs. And that final week — parents — you’ll either want to be prepared to have “the talk” with your children — or — make sure you drop them off in Kidway. And my hope — for this series — is that you’ll grow to know and love these books and spend time in them — finding Jesus — and the joy that’s found only in him.
Two final things. First, I mentioned that we’ve returned to this series. I say that because this is a series we’ve been doing for a few years now.
In previous years we’ve looked at the Pentateuch — the first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses. We’ve looked at the Major Prophets — the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. We’ve looked at the group of twelve books known as the Minor Prophets. And — on our website — you can find a sermon on each of these Old Testament books.
The second thing I want to mention is the reasoning behind us thinking that the whole Bible’s actually about Jesus. Why do we think we can find him in all of Scripture?
In the gospel of John we find an account where Jesus is being questioned by some religious leaders. These are folks who were experts in the Old Testament and were constantly going after Jesus for not meeting their understanding of the Old Testament. In response to them and their misunderstanding of the Old Testament, Jesus said, ““You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!”
Jesus says that the Scriptures — meaning the Old Testament — points to him — thus we should expect to find him in the Old Testament.
Additionally — in Luke’s gospel — after his resurrection — two of Jesus’ disciples are walking on a road and — suddenly — Jesus appears walking with them — but they don’t know it’s him. And the two disciples are in a discussion about all that had happened. And Jesus asks them what they’ve been talking about — so they try to explain to him the whole situation — everything that had happened over the past few days.
And here’s Jesus’ response to them. “Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” 27 Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
This passage from Luke also makes it clear that all of the Old Testament is about Jesus. Luke even mentions the writings of Moses, the prophets, and then tells us that Jesus explained from “all the Scriptures” that he’s the point of the Old Testament. And this is why we do our Finding Jesus series. For the whole Bible — all of Scripture — is about Jesus — and I want you to know how to find him in all of Scripture.
BACKGROUND OF JOB
And — now — let’s take some time to get our bearings in the book of Job — and I hope you’ll see that the book of Job is one you’ll want to go read for yourself.
First, what do we know about the book of Job? To begin, many scholars believe that a man named — wait for it — Job is the author of the book. Though there are some who’ve suggested that maybe one of Job’s friends — that we find in the book — is the author — while others — from the Jewish tradition — have thought Moses is the author.
But there’s no verse — in the book — that says, “I, so and so have written what you’re about to read.” But — if it matters to you — know that I agree with the majority view that Job is the author of the book named after him.
What about when the book was written? Job’s been called the “oldest book in the world.” Though we’re not certain as to exactly when the book was written — we can tell — by looking at details in the book — when the events took place that are being described. And — most likely — Job lived during the time of the patriarchs — that’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is based on the length of Job’s life, how his wealth is described, the people groups mentioned, and so on. All that to say — the internal evidence — what we find in the book itself — would indicate that Job lived during the patriarchal period.
And what’s the point of the book? Well — we’ll hold off on the point of the book until we get to our passage — for the book’s point is also how we’re going to find Jesus today.
OVERVIEW OF JOB
So that’s the bird’s eye view of what’s going on. Now, let’s turn to the book itself. The book is divided into 42 chapters with a total of 1,070 verses. And the book can be outlined in the following way.
Chapters 1 and 2 are what we’ll be looking more closely at — but you should know that these chapters set up the rest of the book. More to come on these chapters in a moment.
Chapter 3 is Job’s response to what happens in chapters 1 and 2. And his response is one of lament — deep sorrow and grief over what he experiences.
Chapters 4 through 27 is where we find a back and forth dialogue between Job and three of his friends. And this is the tricky part of the book — because — his friends sound really smart and — if you’re not careful — you’ll think they’ve got everything figured out. They say things that’ll make you think they know how to fix Job’s problems — but — as someone’s said —
“Sufferers attract fixers the way roadkill attracts vultures.” And the twist in Job is that — at the end of the book — you find out his friends’ advice and wisdom is bad. I mean really really bad. Twenty-three chapters of Job’s friends having a lot of confidence in their bad wisdom.
Chapter 28 contains a song about wisdom and sets up chapters 29 through 31 where Job claims his innocence.
Then — beginning in chapter 32 — Job’s fourth friend speaks up and shares his wisdom — which also isn’t good — for five chapters before God speaks up — beginning in chapter 38 through the end of the book — which concludes with a picture of God blessing Job at the end of this incredibly difficult experience. I appreciate what one author’s said about the end of Job’s story. He writes, “This [final] chapter assures us that, no matter what happens to us, God always writes the last chapter. Therefore, we don’t have to be afraid. We can trust God to do what’s right, no matter how painful our situation might be.”
May that be an encouragement to you if you find yourself in a difficult situation — maybe a season of suffering — know that God’s not done writing your story yet. For the last chapter — the best chapter — if you believe in Jesus — is still to come.
MAIN PASSAGE
And — now — hopefully you’ve had time to find Job chapter 1. We’ll begin in verse 1 as we discover a way to find Jesus in the book of Job — and in all of the Bible.
“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. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 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. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 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?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 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. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 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. 13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 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.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 3 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.” 4 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” 7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 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. 11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. 13 And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.” (Job 1:1-2:13 ESV)
A BIBLICAL VIEW OF SUFFERING
What are your thoughts on suffering? Do you view suffering as punishment for having done something wrong? Is suffering something to be avoided at all costs? Is it something that — if it’s happening to you — you need to find a way to quickly escape it? How do you view suffering?
Now — obviously — suffering can be self-afflicted. And I know this is also obvious — but there are times when suffering is caused by others. And then — most disturbing — is the kind of suffering we experience that’s caused by no one.
And — here’s more unsettling news — suffering is normal — it’s unavoidable. And this can be so disturbing that — for most of us — avoiding suffering is the only natural choice. And this isn’t always a wrong response — God’s put this natural response in us — of fleeing from suffering — to protect us from the harm of others.
Yet — try as we might to avoid suffering — as I said — suffering is normal. So normal — in fact — that much of society focuses on alleviating suffering in people’s lives — from doctors and nurses to therapists and psychologists to people in education and first responders — even pastors. Yet something often unaddressed — when it comes to suffering — is the fact that suffering reveals something obvious about us and the world we live in. What does it reveal? It reveals that something’s gone terribly wrong.
Have you ever wondered why we can all imagine a world in which there’s no suffering when a world of suffering is all we’ve ever experienced?
Christian or not — you can imagine a world without disease, without violence, without trauma caused by others and the self-inflicted pain we cause to ourselves. We can imagine a world without suffering — we can imagine living a life without suffering — which both gives us a longing for that life while also revealing to us that something’s gone seriously wrong. As someone’s said, “Suffering cannot adequately be dealt with by pretending that it doesn’t exist. It’ll do no good to try to minimize it or ‘talk’ it out of existence. [Suffering] does exist and it does hurt.” It reveals that something’s wrong.
Enter the Christian faith into the conversation and maybe not how you’re expecting. Meaning, we’re not going to go down the path of the promised eternal life for all who turn to Christ in faith. When we’ll live in the New Heavens and New Earth where there’s no more suffering or pain — we’re not taking that path today. Instead, let’s explore another path the Christian faith offers in helping us to understand suffering. The biblical path that teaches us that suffering — in the life of God’s people — has great value. How about that as a shocking headline in a world that tries to avoid suffering at all costs.
The Christian faith teaches that suffering offers great value to the lives of the people of God. And — I bet you’re wondering — “How?”
For starters, suffering wakes us up to the reality that this world is not as it should be. And God uses this awakening — in his people — not so we run from suffering but so we run to him. For those are our two choices when we suffer — we can try to run from our suffering or we can run to God. And — yes — sometimes in running to God we find that we’ve escaped suffering. But — often — we find there’s great comfort found in running to God even though suffering’s not been avoided. And this is because of what Jesus accomplished for us in his suffering.
But — before we get to Jesus — let’s return to Job.
Earlier — I didn’t tell you the point of the book of Job. The point of Job is an argument against the view that suffering is always due to something we’ve done.
If you’re not a religious person — you may think of suffering being a result of a bad choice someone’s made — if you’re a religious person — you may think of suffering as a result of a sin someone’s committed. This is what Job’s friends all assume and they go on and on and on for much of the book trying to convince Job that this is why he’s suffering. But — as readers — we’re given insight into what’s really going on — insight that Job and his friends don’t have.
What insight? That God’s wisdom and sovereignty — meaning God’s plan and his ability to execute his plan — can be trusted even during seasons of suffering. God is both wiser than we are and is perfectly capable of making his wise plan come to pass — a reminder for us to trust God at all times — especially during times of suffering.
Another insight we gain is the reminder that we’re all engaged in a spiritual war and we’re all affected by this war — probably more than we realize. The Bible’s clear — there’s the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. The kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. One is a kingdom of truth and is waging war against a kingdom of lies.
And that right there is a simple enough example to show how caught up we all are in this spiritual war and how blind we are as to how this war is affecting us. The words we say, the words we tweet, the words we post, the words we listen to, the words we read are all words being used in a spiritual war.
Every lie is from the Enemy — Satan. Every truth comes from God. Every lie we tell, share, believe, and so on is a win for the Enemy. Every truth we tell, share, and believe is a win for God. And our enemy is a deceiver — captivating us with lies so sweet to our eyes, ears, and desires that we believe them to be true, share them as if they’re true, and fight for them as if we’re fighting for God’s truth when we’re defending a lie for our enemy. We’re all engaged in a spiritual war and Job’s story reminds us of this.
But what a story Job has, right? It starts off so well! One of my Bibles titles the opening verses as “Job’s Good Life.” And it is a good life. Job’s described as a man who’s blameless and upright. In fact — Job’s referred to as blameless six more times in the book.
Blameless doesn’t mean perfect — he’s not a perfect man — he’s not a sinless man — but he’s a man of spiritual integrity — he’s spiritually mature — he’s someone who recognized sin in his life and regularly confessed it. We might say he’s a spiritually wealthy man.
And not only is he spiritually wealthy — he’s physically wealthy. Like Elon Musk wealthy. And he’s a caring father. He’s concerned for his children’s well-being — especially their spiritual well-being. He’s “man of the year” material.
So we meet a man who’s living the good life, who’s living a godly life, and who’s blessed by God. And then the book takes a sudden turn and pulls the rug out from all of us as we find ourselves in the presence of God and his angels are coming before him to give an account of their work.
And Satan’s present — how about that for a shocker! And God asks Satan what he’s been up to and — I’m sure for some of us — Satan’s response of “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on…” reminds us of Peter’s warning when he writes, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
And — talk about uncomfortable — but God asks Satan if he’s considered Job. “Hey Satan, seems like you’re not having much luck finding someone to devour. Have you considered Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless — a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
Uncomfortable, am I right? So from the beginning of the book — we see what it means for God to be sovereign over all things — including Satan — including our suffering. If you want a biblical view of suffering — you need to really wrestle with what it means for God to be sovereign — for God to be in control over all things.
And Satan says, “Yeah, I’ve considered Job. But we both know he only loves you because you bless him so much.” And that’s a dig. Essentially Satan’s made the claim that Job doesn’t love God — he loves what he gets from God. And — honestly — there’s nothing like suffering to really present this test to us.
Many have walked away from the faith during suffering and — not always — but many times the reason is because the suffering revealed what they loved most — and it wasn’t God — it was something they got from God. A warning to all of us to prepare now — decide now — to not be complacent but test our heart’s desire and what we really love so we don’t fall away when suffering comes upon us. Is God enough — that’s the question before us. Do we love God or do we love what we get from him?
And God tells Satan to have at it. “Do what you want, but you can’t touch him.” And though the rug’s pulled out from all of us — this is nothing compared to Job’s experience. For Satan does have at it. And all of his wealth and all of his children — are gone.
And Job visibly shows signs of his grief and sorrow. He tears his robe in grief — symbolizing that his heart’s been torn in two. He shaves his head to show that the favor of God has left him. And he falls down to the ground and does the most surprising thing — at least it’s surprising to me: He worships God. And he says words used in a worship song that was popular for many many years. Here are the song’s lyrics.
Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name
The song weaves in and out of the highs and lows of life — beginning much like Job’s story with wealth and a family. Then the song follows Job’s tragic loss.
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
And — for those familiar with the song — these words take on deeper meaning when connected to Job’s story.
God you give and take away
Oh you give and take away
But my heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be your name
But Satan’s not done. We’re back in heaven before God. And — again — God asks Satan what he’s been up to and — again — if he’s considered Job — “I mean — he’s still being faithful to me even after what you did to him.”
And Satan’s all like, “But you didn’t let me touch him. I know people — God — and they’re so selfish that as long as I can’t touch him — as long as you protect him — he’ll remain faithful.” Now it’s an “It’s not you God that Job loves — it’s himself — Job’s just looking out for himself.” And — once again — God says, “Have at it. You just can’t kill him.”
Now — there’s no need — I’m sure to repeat what I said earlier about how uncomfortable this all is and whether or not your view of God’s sovereignty is big enough to make room for an account like this taking place. We’ve already covered all that. So — back to our verses. Satan attacks Job. Strikes him with sores all over his body. Sores so painful that — for relief — Job takes a piece of broken pottery and uses it to scrape at his sores.
And —then — the one surviving member of his family — his wife — tells him to curse God and die. She’s a grieving woman. She’s experienced the same losses he has. “So Job, why don’t you just give it all up — why don’t we just give it all up?”
To which Job replies, “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” And that — right there — is another question we all need to wrestle with before suffering enters into our life. Is worshiping God only worth it as long as it results in you living a “good life”? Or said another way, “Will worshiping God not be worth it when life goes bad?”
Now — something we do learn theologically — from Job’s story — is that suffering’s always a result of sin — even when the sufferer is innocent. As mentioned earlier — if you read through the book you’ll find that Job’s friends have a narrow view of suffering and sin. There’s no room in their theology for the one suffering to be innocent. Not sinless — but innocent.
So — for example — Job’s friends don’t have space in their theology of suffering for someone who exercises regularly and eats a healthy diet to die of a heart attack.
Job’s friends would try to find the one cheat meal the person ate or the week they took off from exercising in order to put them at fault. When — and we all know this — sometimes there’s a medical condition that no amount of exercise and healthy eating can overcome.
Job’s friends have no space in their theology of suffering for the person who gets lung cancer though they never smoked. The person’s innocent of being a smoker — they’re not guilty. Yet they suffer the consequences as if they were a smoker. In this world we live in — a person who’s never smoked a cigarette in their life — can still get lung cancer.
And — maybe most revealing of all — is to wonder how Job’s friends would have responded to Jesus — who was both innocent and sinless — and yet — he suffered because of sin.
JESUS, THE ONLY INNOCENT AND SINLESS SUFFERER
We’ve seen that Job suffered — due to no fault of his own — he was innocent. Yet — though innocent — Job was not sinless. Just like all of us — Job was in need of an innocent and sinless sufferer to atone for his sins. And the Good news of the Christian faith is that Jesus is that innocent and sinless sufferer. And this is how we find him in the book of Job — through his suffering. One example of this — is found in Luke’s gospel. We’re in Luke chapter 22 beginning in verse 39.
“And he (Jesus) came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”” (Luke 22:39-46 ESV)
Just before being arrested and falsely accused of crimes he didn’t commit — just before being found guilty and sentenced to death on a cross — Jesus recognized the agony before him — the suffering he was about to experience in order to pay the penalty for the sins of all who will turn to him in faith.
And I think you can feel the emotion of this moment of Jesus’ life. He’s wrestling with the suffering he’s about to endure. He’s agonizing over it. He shows us that ignoring suffering isn’t how we get through it — we must face it honestly — honestly before God and others. If you’d have asked Jesus — in this moment of his life, “Jesus, how are you doing?” He wouldn’t have given the classic twenty-first century American response of “I’m fine. Everything’s good” Yet many of us are suffering and — instead of following his example — we’ve fallen for the lie of our enemy that the only response we can give is, “I’m fine.” It’s OK to acknowledge the pain of suffering.
CONCLUSION
But — in times of suffering — be sure to look to the only innocent and sinless sufferer — Jesus Christ — who — as Job reminds us — gives and allows both the good and the bad in our lives. Jesus is the One who we’re to bless the name of every single day — both on the days of rejoicing and the days of suffering. We — the people he suffered for on the cross — are to praise and bless his name on the good days and especially on the bad days.
Similar to Job’s inspiring response to the suffering in his life — “God gives and he takes away — blessed be the name of the Lord” — one pastor has said, “You don’t really know [that] Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.” And this is an unexpected blessing of suffering — it strips us of everything but the one person it can never take from us — Jesus. For — as someone else has said, “In times of [suffering], our first question must not be, ‘How can I get out of this?’ but ‘What can I get out of this?’”
And the opportunity for all who follow Jesus — even in the midst of suffering — and maybe especially so in suffering — is that what you can get out of suffering is Jesus. For the One who suffered for you knows what you’re going through. And he cares for you. And he’s using even our suffering to draw us to him so he can be our source of comfort, healing, hope, and joy all the days of our life — both during the days of rejoicing and the difficult days of suffering. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for this gift we’ve been reminded of about suffering. We’re not alone. We can find comfort and peace. There is hope. For suffering — as painful as it can be — is not outside of your sovereign control — but is an instrument you use for our good.
Spirit of God, give us the strength to run to you in times of suffering. We’re going to run — it’s only natural — but instead of running away from suffering — may our instinct be to run to you — our only comfort in this life when we experience suffering.
And — Jesus — our innocent and sinless suffering Savior — we praise your name and say “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” On the days of rejoicing — blessed be your name. During the days of suffering — blessed be your name. On the good days and on the bad days — may we be a people who say, “Blessed be your name.” In your name we pray. Amen.
BENEDICTION
With your eyes fixed on your Savior — whether these are days of rejoicing or days of suffering — may you go saying, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.