Comfort and Affliction V
Job's Affliction and Comfort
Job chaps 1, & 42
Death is a part of life:
In the Bible
there is a man named Job--Above all others, he knew what it was to suffer.
There some important lessons to learn from deaths in his life.
1. An Intro
to Job
Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz,
whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared
God and shunned evil. 2 And seven sons and three daughters
were born to him. 3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand
camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very
large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the
East.
2. An Intro
to His Family
4 And his sons
would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send
and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
3. Job's
Familial Concern
5 So it was, when the days of feasting
had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify 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
sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.
4. The Plot
Thickens--the unseen world is as real as that which we see
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 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered
the LORD and said, “From going to and
fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
5. What the
LORD thinks of Job
8 Then 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, one who fears
God and shuns evil?”
6. Satan's
Perspective
9 So Satan answered the LORD and
said, “Does Job fear God for
nothing? 10 “Have You not made a
hedge around him, around his household, and around 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 now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will
surely curse You to Your face!”
7. The LORD
Gives Permission
12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power;
only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of
the LORD.
Tragedy #1--1,000 Oxen, 500 Donkeys and Servants
13 Now there was a day when his sons and
daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; 14 and a messenger came to Job and
said, “The oxen were plowing and the
donkeys feeding beside them, 15
“when the Sabeans raided them and took them away — indeed they have
killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to
tell you!”
Tragedy #2--7,000 Sheep and Servants
16 While he was still speaking, another
also came 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!”
Tragedy #3--3,000 Camels and Servants
17 While he was still speaking, another
also came and said, “The Chaldeans
formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the
servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Tragedy #4--Seven Sons and Three Daughters
18 While he was still speaking, another
also came and said, “Your sons and
daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 “and suddenly a great wind came from across
the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the
young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Left are Job
and four servants. He had his donkeys and oxen stolen. There goes his ability
to work his farm. The raiders took a large part of his livelihood away.
Fire came
down, caused a great fire that burned his sheep and his workers. Another large
part of his resources gone. Then the Chaldeans raided his lands and took off
with the camels. Poor Job, now he can’t travel elsewhere to get a new start.
And, finally, his children for whom he prayed and sought God’s favor were
feasting at the eldest brother’s home when a powerful wind came and blew the
house down.
It all
happened on one day: the sudden seizure and death of animals, friends and
family. What a day it must have been. What tremendous suffering must have been
like a cloud around Job-- but, remember God’s opinion of Job?
We read: 8 ...“Have you considered My servant
Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one
who fears God and shuns evil?”
What was
righteous Job’s reaction to such calamity?
He grieved--it is a good thing to grieve and deal
with the pangs of suffering and death. Pain, suffering and death is a part of
life. Yet, they are preternatural--not an original part of the creation. They
came into this world due to sin. Wewe see the effects of sin and death must
face them and react in some way. We are not called to a Stoic Fatalism.Because
the sin of one man, sin passed to all.
The Bible tells us there is death and suffering because of sin.
So how can a man from over 3,500 years ago help
us understand affliction and comfort? Let’s look at what he did:
20 Then Job
arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and
worshiped.
This is what
happens at many memorial services and funerals today. This is why those who
believe in the Bible have them. We come together to worship God because it is
the right thing to do. It is always right to worship God who has acted for the
good of his people and to glorify himself. Many put on the Sunday best as we
used to call it and they go to wherever the service will be held. The entire
family: Children, grandchildren, other extended family, friends and
acquaintances have assembled in one place as we seek to be worshipful before
God and one another.
Job also
expressed what was deep in his heart:
21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother's womb, And
naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed
be the name of the LORD.”
He did not
fully understand all that was going on or what purpose was behind these great
tragedies, but he knew no matter what, he would bless the name of the LORD in
worship. He would give spiritual service to the One who took all that he had
away. The LORD was still worthy to be honored, revered and worshipped. Job
would not murmur or complain.
An
interesting question is put to God by one of the early patriarchs in the Bible.
In the first book, the book of Beginnings, Genesis Chapter 18, Verse 25, we
read: Shall not the Judge of all the earth
do right?”
We should
have no doubt that the one who knows all things, the one who made all things,
the one who sustains all things and the one who will judge all things by his
own righteous standard only does what is right. He can do no wrong. The problem
of human emotion is that it swallows us
up and takes away our rational hope.
One day we
must all pass from this life. Death is an enemy that will never be conquered by
mankind. We need another to defeat our greatest foe. What we deserve is what we
get. As the righteous judge, The Lord God dispenses justice perfectly.
Job was the
best of the saints on earth. He was in a class of his own. He did not claim
that life was unfair. Even when he did not understand, he blessed God as a
righteous man. He knew that he got what he deserved--God allowed all of that
trouble for a greater good.
What we
deserve is God's justice. The Bible says, Rom.
3:10 As it is written: “There is none
righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There
is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They
have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not
one.” 13 “Their throat is an open
tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their
lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of
cursing and bitterness.” 15
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are
in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their
eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God.
The worst of
suffering is an approaching death. We die by divine appointment:
Heb. 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.... And all the while God
knows what he is doing.
There are
some who do not get justice, but they get mercy instead. God withholds from
them what they truly deserve. The Bible tells us God is rich in mercy, in Eph. 2:4. This mercy is for those who are
found with faith when God comes or calls them from this life.
Our problem
is that God already considers us as being dead spiritually. We don't like that
in our natural man. We need the powerful Lord we find way back and Job who is
still the only and true God today to make us alive. The Apostle Paul wrote to
the Christians in Ephesus, 5 even
when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace
you have been saved)....
The death of
another ought to help us see the frailty of all flesh--one day it will be me,
it will be you. We don’t know what troubles a day may or may not bring. But, if
believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s remedy for spiritual death that we
might have spiritual life and in the end be able to bless God, we had better
listen to him and cry out for grace to be found on that straight and narrow
way.
Jesus came to
live a perfectly holy life and to die for the sins of men and women.
Forgiveness and hope are in him alone. That’s why some can look at the ugly
beast of death and say, I don’t fully understand, but this I know, The Lord
gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Some get
justice, some get mercy, but there is no injustice with God.
God will use
these things in many ways. My confidence is it will be for good in some and
perhaps to make others think.
Flip over to
the last Chapter of this wonder-filled book. Job 42:10. This doesn't happen to
everyone, but God knows the struggles of the faithful and may ease their
suffering in his timing.
10 And the LORD restored
the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave
Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then came to him all his brothers
and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in
his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the
evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a
piece of money and a ring of gold.
These appear to be very ordinary things in the ancient world.
The LORD directed so Job's people would have sympathy on him and help him in
his time of difficulty.
12 And the LORD
blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000
sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
Twice as much as he had before.
13 He had also seven sons
and three daughters.
Just what he had taken from him….
Over to Vs. 16 And
after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four
generations.
17 And Job died, an old man,
and full of days.
When times
look contrary, that is all the more reason to trust in the Lord.
May the
Heavenly Father bless his Word and point us to the savior of men, the Lord
Jesus Christ--the World’s glorious hope. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment