We are into our last sermon on Job.
We've done three weeks of it so far.
And you've probably discovered much about Job's life,
which aligns with your own in terms of suffering.
Also discovered there another link between me and Job
and that he had three, the most beautiful daughters in all the land.
And so I'm happy to claim that one as well.
Well, it's been a great journey for three weeks.
We've been growing in wisdom as we have journeyed with Job,
particularly in the face of suffering.
It has helped us see the pathway to wisdom
when the world is not as we would want it to be.
I said right at the beginning of this series
that wisdom is knowing how to live well in God's world.
It's knowing how to live well in every situation.
And last week we turned in Job 28
and discovered the nature of wisdom,
of what it means to live well in God's world.
And it said there right at the end,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
The fear of the Lord is not a psychological
or an emotional response to God.
It is in fact a total commitment to God
within the boundaries of the relationship
that he has set up between us and him
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is what it means to fear the Lord.
It's a total commitment to the God
who has established relationship with us
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so I would suggest to you
that to treasure Jesus,
as our mission statement says,
is in fact the wise life.
That is wisdom.
To treasure Jesus is wisdom.
Because wisdom is not knowledge,
it is relational.
We will see that the wise life
is demonstrated in these final chapters of Job.
Chapter 28,
which is where Sam was with us last week,
is part of the final protest
that Job makes against his three mates
and their cruel and naive reasoning
to why he is suffering.
Job's protest goes from chapters 26 to 31.
And in his protest,
he almost demands that God show up
so he can talk to God himself about his suffering.
And instead of God showing up,
we hear from a young man named Elihu
who appears in chapter 32
for the very first time
and he speaks all the way to chapter 37.
He's got a lot to say.
Elihu says that he has been listening for some time
to Job and his three friends,
dialoguing and arguing and backing
and toing and froing.
And he says that because he's younger,
he doesn't want to be disrespectful to his elders
and jump in.
But he soon forgets that and he jumps in.
Finally, in chapter 38,
after Elihu's gone on this long monologue,
God himself speaks.
And in chapter 38, verse 2,
he criticizes those who have spoken words
without knowledge.
And in one of the most remarkable descriptions
of his work of creation,
God paints a picture
of his unique and sovereign power.
In these chapters,
he considers the many things he has made
from the sea to the stars,
from the ostriches to the oxen.
And then at the beginning of chapter 40,
God speaks to Job directly.
Will the one who contends with the Almighty
correct him?
Let the one who accuses God answer him.
In other words,
who are you to question me?
Did you put the stars in their place?
Did you create the oxen?
And Job's response to that is very simple.
Have a look there in chapter 40,
verses 4 and 5.
I am unworthy.
How can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
I spoke once,
but I have no answer twice.
But I will say no more.
God replies to him in verse 8,
Would you discredit my justice?
This is the very thing
that Job's been crying out for
the whole way through the book.
Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me
to justifying yourself?
Do you have an arm like God's?
And can your voice thunder like his?
Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
Unleash the fury of your wrath.
In the remainder of chapters 40 and 41,
God continues to instruct Job
and the others about who he is.
Have a look there in chapter 41,
verses 10 and 11.
This is sort of the summary of it.
Who then is able to stand against me?
Who has a claim against me
that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
You see what he's saying?
I am the owner of it all
and I am no man's debtor.
I don't owe anyone anything.
And at the beginning of chapter 42,
very last chapter,
we have Job's response
to God's mighty self-revelation.
And notice there at the beginning of chapter 42,
Job doesn't say,
Oh, now I understand.
Oh, now I get it.
Now all the questions have been answered
and I get the big picture now.
Verse 2,
I know that you can do all things
and no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You see, Job is finally assured
that God's power and justice are in fact established
across all of the creation.
Even though his specific questions of why
have not been addressed by God,
he is content with what he has heard
from the mouth of God.
His contentment is revealed
as he summarizes God's argument
and throws it back at God.
In verse 3,
You asked,
Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge
and without even trying to justify himself at all?
Job responds in the second half of verse 3
See what he's saying there?
Even if you answered my questions,
you are so great,
I would not understand the answers.
Even if you told me the reason,
I couldn't comprehend it.
And his contentment comes from who God is,
not from God's explanation of himself.
Now there is no doubt
that God's reply to Job's questioning
is powerful and it is overwhelming.
But,
it is not destructive.
There has been a massive self-disclosure by God
and as a result of God's revelation,
Job now sees
that human events are part of a cosmic whole.
Job now sees the intimate connection
between God and his world.
He has a new appreciation of the scope
and the harmony of God's creation,
of which he is but just a teeny, teeny part.
The world is both beautiful and terrifying
and God is in it everywhere,
seen to be powerful and wise.
He now sees God's careful
and detailed superintendence of his world.
And so all mechanical views of God
and his power and his sovereignty
have been pushed aside by Job.
God's sovereignty is not something to be argued about
and theologized about.
It is the very basis of his survival.
Job now knows God differently.
You see it there in verse 5
of chapter 42.
You see Job here contrasts his presence,
seeing of God
with what he had only heard of God in the past.
There is a greater knowledge
and intimacy with God.
Do you remember what Job's hope was back in...
I know it's a long way to think back.
Back into chapter 19.
Job's hope back in chapter 19 was this.
Let me read it to you.
He says,
His heart was burning to see God.
And here in chapter 42,
he says,
Now I have seen God.
His desire to see God
is partly fulfilled here in chapter 42.
You see, he longs to see God in the flesh
and he will through his Redeemer.
His Redeemer means that
when his flesh rots,
when he dies
and his Redeemer brings him into the presence of God,
he will see God physically.
But right now he says
that he has seen God
through God's self-revelation
by his word.
God has spoken to Job
and he has seen God
in his word.
Job has been overwhelmed
by the gracious presence of God
through his word
and what he has revealed about himself
and his purposes.
Ironically,
now that God has revealed himself to Job
and that God has made himself known,
he is much more mysterious to Job now
than what he was before.
much more mysterious
than when he was dimly discerned
and theologized about.
It's interesting,
when I first became a Christian
and, you know,
I knew the gospel
because I knew two ways to live
and I figured that was
kind of all that you need to know.
And so when I read passages
about the mystery of Christ,
I used to think,
what mystery?
I know Christ,
I know what he's done,
there's no mystery there.
And 18 years later,
there is a whole lot more mystery there
as God has slowly
and gradually revealed himself
through his word to me.
There's a lot more mystery now
than what there used to be.
Job has received
a great revelation of God
and he is delighted to see God.
But,
he is also ashamed.
He has seen the magnificence of God
and so he bows in humility
in verse 6.
Therefore,
I despise myself
and I repent
in dust and ashes.
That verse,
right there,
that is the wise life.
He's finally arrived at wisdom.
Job has grown in wisdom.
He has grown in wisdom
because he has grown
in relationship with God.
He sees God for who he is
and with that now,
he understands himself
and so,
the response is
repentance.
That's wisdom.
He, in fact,
treasures God
more than the answers
that God will give him.
Now,
let's not get confused here.
Job's three mates
weren't right after all.
Job is not now
finally admitting
to a life of hidden sin
that resulted in his suffering.
What he is repenting of
is the demanding
that God give him
a thorough answer
to the reason
for his suffering.
It was a fault
to be corrected,
not a sin
that need punishing
because Job
doesn't actually
confess any sin here.
A better way
to understand it
is instead of
Job repented,
a better use
is Job
relented
is, in fact,
a better translation
of the word.
It's like
I'm at a bakery, right?
I'm there to buy
some bread
and in the corner
of my eye
I see an apple slice
and it's $3
and I get a glint
in my eye
and I start justifying
the fact it's $3,
that's a good deal
and it's only one slice,
it can't hurt you.
I mean,
it's apple after all,
we're meant to eat fruit.
But there's a lot
of sugar in it as well
and that's not good
for a diabetic.
But surely it's balanced out
by the goodness
of the apple.
And then I think,
no, stop,
enough.
I'm not going to get it.
I relent
of the course of action
I was heading towards.
I hadn't done
anything wrong
up until that point.
But I was edging
towards a decision
that would have been
bad for me
and it's that kind
of idea
when it talks
about Job
repenting.
Job relented,
if you like.
He realized
that he was walking
down a path
that would have led
him to conclude
that God
has done wrong.
But what Job
has realized
is that he's dealing
with a God
who speaks
about planets
and stars
like they are
decorations
on a Christmas tree
to be arranged
and played
with
at his will.
Job has finally
seen God
for who he is
and he's saying,
he's not saying here,
I haven't been
beaten into submission.
I have just
finally realized
who it is
that I'm dealing
with.
And Job
finally finds
comfort.
It's as if
the contentment
which has eluded
him for so long
has been found
in submitting
himself to
this God.
Job has found
peace with God
and it's through
humble submission
to God.
and that's
wisdom.
That's wisdom.
And Job's mates
are about to
grow in wisdom
too.
Have a look
there in verse
7.
After the Lord
had said these
things to Job,
he said to Eliphaz,
I am angry
with you
and your two
friends because
you have not
spoken to me
what is right
as my servant
Job has.
So now
take seven
bulls and seven
rams and go
to my servant
Job and
sacrifice a
burnt offering
for yourselves.
My servant
Job will pray
for you and
I will accept
his prayer and
not deal with
you according
to your folly.
You have not
spoken of me
what is right
as my servant
Job has.
So Eliphaz,
Bildad and
Zophar did
what the Lord
told them
and the Lord
accepted Job's
prayer.
You see
right through
this book
from chapter
three onwards
Job's longing
was for his
day in court
so that he
would be
vindicated
and in those
verses Job's
vindicated.
It's finally
come.
In verse
eight we see
that God
still regards
him as he
did back in
chapter one
and two.
He calls him
here my
servant.
verse seven
has God
saying that
it is Job
who has in
fact spoken
right of
him.
No matter
how foolish
he may have
said it,
Job was
looking for
a God
big enough
to comprehend
his suffering
experience.
And on the
other hand,
however eloquently
they have
spoken,
his friends
were upholding
a God
small enough
to conform
it to their
minds.
And there
is one
very subtle
but very
big difference
between Job
and his
friends.
Get this.
His mates
were always
talking about
God.
But Job
in talking
about God
keeps turning
to God.
God
is
the
difference
between
theologizing
and
relationship.
God's
assessment
is that
they had
not spoken
what is
right about
him.
And my
friends,
let's be
very clear
about that,
that statement
right there
ought to
come crashing
down on us
right now.
Right now.
As we are
gathered in
the middle
of corporate
worship,
right now,
in the
last 55
minutes,
we have
spoken of
God and
to God
in corporate
worship and
how easily
we babble
stuff about
God without
giving any
thought to the
fact that our
words will be
weighed by
God.
God
is
weighed by
God.
And what is
weighed is not
just the
correctness of
what we say
and what we
sing and
what we
pray.
speaking of
God demands
great care of
us so that
we do not
distort,
trivialize,
or pervert
what is
true about
the God
who will
weigh our
words.
His
mates were
wrong about
God with
their simplistic
tit-for-tat
merit theology.
theology.
They have
not allowed
for the
mystery and
the majesty
of God
and crucially
their tit-for-tat
view of God
leaves no
room for a
forgiving,
gracious,
and merciful
God.
That's the
thing that gets
dropped out
in their
theology,
the grace
of God.
The roles
are now
reversed as
Joe's
vindication
goes public
in the
course of
their speeches.
Not one of
Joe's mates
ever hinted
that they
might be
the object
of God's
anger and
in need of
his grace.
And it is a
delightful
irony that
they now
need grace
from the
God who
in their
theologizing
was not
big enough
to be
gracious to
the wicked.
And it is a
further
delightful
irony that
grace must
be mediated
by the
very one
that they
had treated
as in
such need
of their
spiritual
resources.
And so
here is
Job's final
trial in
the book.
This is
Job's final
trial of
wisdom,
his last
test.
Will he
lay down
the weapons
of revenge
and accept
the terms
of God's
treaty and
extend forgiveness
and fellowship
to his three
friends in
the way that
God has?
Will he
say,
you got
what you
deserved?
And play
into their
tit-for-tat
theology?
And reveal
that he's
learned nothing?
Or will
he find
his vindication
in God
and humbly
intervene for
his friends
who have
treated him
so badly?
There's a
whole lot of
application just
there.
We see at
the end of
verse 9 that
Job has in
fact grown in
wisdom.
The Lord
accepted Job's
prayer.
The drama
ends with
the massive
restoration of
Job.
His wealth
is restored.
He is given
a new family
and all the
old honour
which is
held previously
is restored.
And in fact,
everything is
increased dramatically
for Job.
Don't you just
love the
happy ending
of Job?
It's like a
Hollywood ending
except for those
movies like
Arlington Road
which don't have
the Hollywood
ending where
the bad guys
win and the
good guys
don't.
You go,
oh that's
bad.
It makes
you feel
awful.
But don't
you think
there's something
really strange
about the
way this
book ends?
The ending
of Job is
frustrating,
happy and
confusing all
at the same
time.
It is
frustrating
because there
are so many
loose ends
that need to
be cleared
up.
You see,
Job's three
mates get put
in their
place but what
about the
young punk
Elihu?
Nothing's
ever said of
him.
And what
about Satan?
He's such a
major player
there in the
first couple
of chapters,
he doesn't
even get a
mention at
the end.
None of
Job's questions
about suffering
ever get
answered and
let's be honest,
they're the
sort of
questions that
we have and
want answers
to.
But it is
also a happy
ending because
things work
out the way
we want them
to work
out.
You see it
there in
verse 12,
the Lord
blessed the
latter part of
Job's life
more than
the first.
Family,
wealth,
health,
they're all
back and
the last
sentence leaves
us with a
feeling of
just completeness
of life and
so he died
old and full
of years.
happiness.
But the
happiness of
the ending
contributes to
the confusion.
Up until
now the
book has
been saying
that Job's
mates are
wrong because
their life is
so neat,
their theology
is so neat,
innocent
suffering can
happen and
good people
don't necessarily
have good
things happen
to them.
And yet all
of a sudden,
here at the
end of the
book, Job
repents or
he relents
and good
things happen
to him
again.
So were
Job's
friends right?
Job has
been vindicated
by God and
now we see
God doing
good things for
a good person.
I mean,
come on!
God
and so
with the
end of the
book,
we are
left with
the same
confusion
that we
had at
the beginning
and such
is the
experience of
life.
It is the
mysterious
aspect of
life that
takes us
right to
the heart
of what
the whole
book of
this Job
is about
and so
what we
need to
do as
a final
point,
we need
to see
the end
of the
book of
Job in
light of
it all,
the whole
lot.
What was
Job's
major issue
in the
book?
It wasn't
so much
tell me
why I'm
suffering,
his major
issue,
give me my
day in
court that I
might be
vindicated.
my integrity
is at stake.
That's his
issue.
And one
of the
points that
we find
here at
Job is
it's finally
brought to
bear,
in the
end the
people of
God are
vindicated.
God is
a just
God.
Life has
purpose and
meaning,
life is not
random,
God is a
merciful God
and he
does not
ask his
people to
suffer without
vindication.
He doesn't
call us
into self
denial and
sacrifice
without the
promise of
heaven.
Evil might
be mysterious
right now
but the
point of the
end of Job
is that it
won't be
triumphant
in the
end.
Evil
won't be
triumphant.
Christians are
not spiritual
masochists who
find pleasure
and fulfilment
in suffering.
If there is
any delight in
suffering,
it is that we
delight in
following the
Lord Jesus
who suffered.
Even the
Lord Jesus
did not
delight in
suffering.
Hebrews 12
tells us that
the pioneer
and the
perfecter of
our faith
was the
one who
for the
joy set
before him
endured the
cross scorning
its shame
and sat down
at the right
hand of the
throne of God.
The joy that
was before him
was the
presence of
his father
in heaven
and that
is why he
endured the
suffering of
the cross.
Suffering was
not the
end and
the end of
Job confirms
that suffering
will not be
the end.
Justification and
vindication and
restoration will
come and it
will be better
than before.
It will be
final.
It will be
complete.
It will be
eternal.
The end of
Job does not
promise that
it will
happen now
but it
does confirm
the character
of a good
and compassionate
and merciful
God
who will
restore
all things.
James 5
tells us
what the
stance of
the Christian
should be
while we
wait for the
day of
vindication.
it is to
stand firm
in faith
in the
one who
has perfected
our faith.
Be patient
then brothers
and sisters
until the
Lord's coming.
See how the
farmer waits
for the land
to yield
his valuable
crop and
how patient
he is for
the autumn
and spring
rains.
You too
be patient
and stand
firm because
the Lord's
coming is
near.
Don't grumble
against each
other brothers
or you
will be
judged.
The judge
is standing
at the
door.
Brothers
as an
example
of patience
in the
face of
suffering
take the
prophets
who spoke
in the
name of
the Lord.
As you
know
we consider
blessed
those who
have
persevered.
You
have heard
of Job's
perseverance
and have
seen what
the Lord
finally brought
about.
The Lord
is full
of compassion
and mercy.
Both Job
and James
call us
to stand
firm in
Christ in
the face
of suffering
and one
of the
important
lessons here
is the
need for
us to
turn to
God in
the face
of suffering.
Don't just
theologize
about him
but to
turn to
him
turn to
his word
to seek
his face
to seek
his revelation
of himself
to cry
out to
him in
tears
until you
are able
to say
we Job
I see
him
I see
him
oh that
we might
see him
until we
see him.
May the
Lord grant
us grace
to learn
that while
his ways
may not
be our
ways and
his thoughts
may not
be our
thoughts
yet they
are the
wisest of
all and
his ways
are full
of mercy.
So stand
firm
persevere
be patient
until the
Lord comes.
Job
affirms
that in
the confusion
and the
uncertainty
of life
and the
pain
and the
tears
the Lord
is in
fact
good
and to
live well
is to
fear him
because the
Lord is
full of
compassion
and mercy.
Let's
pray.
Father who
am I to
say these
things about
you?
Father we
pray that
we would
cling to
you in
the moments
of trial
we pray
Father that
you would
rescue us
if we are
trivialising
you
perverting
you
and what
you have
revealed about
yourself
Lord we
pray that
you would
rescue us
from babbling
and theologising
about you
we pray that
we might be
a church that
speaks true
things about
you
that we
might humbly
submit to
you
that we
might treasure
you
that we
might turn
to you
Father we
pray that
you would
grow us
in wisdom
that we
might fear
you the
Lord of
compassion and
mercy and we
ask it for
your glory
Amen