This is not a sermon on Job 6.
This is a sermon on Job 3 to 27, probably.
So you might need to be able to flick quickly.
So grab a Bible if one's there.
If not, at very least, grab a piece of paper and a pen
to be able to write down the references
so you can flick through it a little bit later.
Let's pray.
Father God, we again thank you for your revelation to us in your word
and the revelation that we have,
final revelation that we have in Christ.
Lord, when this world doesn't make a lot of sense
and we can't understand your sovereign hand,
we pray that we might, like Job, look to our Redeemer
and to realise, Lord, that you are the just God
who will vindicate in the end.
You're the God who will bring justice.
And so, Lord, I pray that in the meantime
that we might have wisdom
and that we might be people of faith.
And we ask it now as we look at your word again.
Amen.
We pray that you would come
and that you would speak
so that your people might be strengthened in Christ
and that we might treasure him above all else.
And we ask it for your sake.
Amen.
In Colorado in 1995,
a police officer arrived at a single car accident
where a car ended up on its roof
and with a baby girl pinned under the car
which was sinking into the mud.
And the officer lifted the car
and the mother pulled the girl out from the mud.
People have been known to do those sorts of things,
to lift incredible weights after an accident
and then later to collapse under the shock of what's happened.
There's also the case where the helicopter
from the TV show Magnum P.I.,
if you remember Tom Selleck from years ago.
This is a generation that will understand who Tom Selleck is.
It crashed in 1988
and it pinned the pilot in shallow water
and one of the pilot's burly friends,
a guy named Tiny,
ran over and lifted the one-ton helicopter enough
to pull the pilot out.
People have been known in that moment of tragedy
to lift incredible weights.
There's a spiritual parallel to tragedy here.
In the moment of tragedy,
when a Christian has been given the grace
to faithfully be able to say,
the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away,
blessed be the name of the Lord.
And then later on to realise what it means
in day-to-day, week-by-week existence
to in fact could collapse in dismay over time.
You see, there's one thing to bear a sudden tragedy
with your rush of adrenaline and clear thinking.
It's quite another to suffer weeks, months, years of pain.
Job 1 and 2 reveal that in one afternoon,
Job lost his 10 children and all his wealth
and shortly afterwards,
he was afflicted with a terrible disease
and in both these tragedies,
he kept his faith.
1.21 says,
The Lord gave,
the Lord has taken away,
blessed be the name of the Lord.
And then in chapter 2, verse 10,
he says,
Shall we receive good at the hand of God
and shall we not receive evil?
He affirmed God's control over everything
and he bowed in humble submission.
But Job's faith and his reverence towards God
were not rewarded with a quick healing
of his disease.
In chapter 7, he says this in verses 2 to 3,
Like a slave who longs for the shadow
and like a hailing who longs for his wages,
so I am allotted months of emptiness
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
Job's misery had dragged on for months
and now the Job who stood firm
in chapters 1 and 2
seem to be completely rocked
as you move into chapter 3.
Chapter 3, verse 1.
This is after he's been silent
and after he has said,
The Lord has given,
the Lord has taken away,
blessed be the name of the Lord.
The next thing he says,
he opens his mouth
and he cursed the day of his birth.
He said,
May the day of my birth perish
and the night it was said,
a boy is born.
That day may it turn to darkness.
May God above not care about it.
May no light shine upon it.
And then down in verse 11,
Why did I not perish at birth
and die as I came from the womb?
And 23,
Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
For sighing comes to me instead of food.
My groans pour out like water.
This is a different Job
than the one we discovered last week
in chapters 1 and 2.
It almost seems here
that his faith is gone.
He wishes he is dead.
And so now we come to the Job
who says,
Why?
Why the suffering?
Where's the justice?
Where's the vindication in this world?
And so what we're going to do this morning
is we're going to look at,
you know,
basically chapters 3 to 27,
you know,
very broadly.
And what we enter into here
is the huge section of Job
where he's debating his three mates,
the guys who turned up
at the end of chapter 2.
After hearing Job say
that he wished he'd never been born,
each of his friends
jump in to explain to Job
why he's suffering
the way he is.
So Eliphaz goes first
and then Job replies to him.
Then Bildad goes next,
Job replies to him.
And then Zophar goes last
and Job replies to him.
And the whole cycle
is repeated twice
and the debate comes to a gridlock
as both sides refuse to budge.
And so the big chunk of Job
is quite repetitive.
Job's friends
sitting a little way off
and they hear what Job has to say
when he sounds off about his grief
and his anguish in chapter 3.
And basically
you could sum up
the main section of Job
is that they all
basically say the same kind of thing.
They serve up
theologically rigid answers
seasoned with a bit of a condemning spirit.
That's kind of what they do.
They are partly correct
and so they are unwise.
What we discover here
is in our search for wisdom
a lack of wisdom.
Their basic position
is summed up nicely
by Eliphaz
in chapter 4
verse 7 to 8
where he poses a question.
Consider now
who being innocent
has ever perished?
Where were the upright
ever destroyed?
As I have observed
those who plough evil
and those who sow trouble
reap it.
See his idea?
Job
you've done something wrong
to deserve
this sort of suffering.
Their basic position is
you reap what you sow
and there is truth in it.
We looked at it last week.
That is proverbial wisdom.
That is the wisdom
of the Proverbs.
But it is never meant
to be applied
as a rigid rule.
There are plenty of people
who sow evil
and never seem to reap it.
They just go on
from strength to strength
and there are those
who never seem
to get a break
from misery.
Good people
who seem to never
get a break
from misery.
And Job's friends
have taken this
generalization
and have made it a rule.
They have concluded
that because Job
is reaping over here
then he is sowed
over there.
So let me illustrate
it for you.
I did this very quickly
last week.
I'll do it again.
Proverbs 24
verses 33 and 34
says this.
A little sleep
and a little slumber
a little folding
of the hands to rest
and poverty
will come on you
like a bandit
and scarcity
like an armed man.
basically
if you are lazy
then you can expect
to be poor.
That's a fairly
general principle.
It's a fair enough
kind of principle.
However,
it's totally at a place
to conclude
that just because
somebody is poor
then they must have
been lazy.
Just because
they are reaping poverty
doesn't mean
that they've sown it
through laziness.
and you know
take refugees
for example.
That would be a really
inappropriate application
for those
who are living
in a shantytown
somewhere
escaping war
from another country.
And this is what
Job's friends have done.
They have reduced
God and his actions
to their ability
to grasp order
in the world.
They forgot to take
into account
the mystery of God.
We don't know
everything.
We can't know
everything.
We won't know
everything.
Which is one reason
why humility
is a really good
stance to take
day by day.
And Job's friends
also show
little compassion
in the way
they spoke
of his character.
Eliphaz makes
a sly swipe
of Job
in chapter 4
verse 5.
But now trouble
comes to you
and you are
discouraged.
It strikes you
and you are
dismayed.
You see this is
what he's saying
is Job
the sufferer.
You used to be
Job the righteous
man who used
to offer advice
and help people
who were suffering.
And Eliphaz's charge
here is more than
one of just
inconsistency.
In verse 6
he says,
should not your
piety be your
confidence
and your blameless
ways your hope?
If you put both
those verses together
what Eliphaz is
saying here
it's a real
nasty sarcasm.
It's even more
than a nasty
sarcasm.
He's actually
accusing Job
of rank hypocrisy.
But there's also
a note of
self-righteousness
as he accuses
Job of rank
hypocrisy.
In chapter 5
verse 8
Eliphaz says,
but if it were
I,
I would appeal
to God.
I would lay
my cause
before him.
In other words
I would make
the same mistake
you're making
Job.
I would recognise
God as the one
who is capable
of restoring me.
I would shut
my mouth.
I would confess
my sins and I
would plead for
my deliverance.
And you see
more of it in
chapter 5
verses 17
and onwards.
Blessed is the
man whom God
corrects.
So do not
despise the
discipline of
the Almighty.
In other words
Job,
if you just
confess your
sin and
plead for
God's mercy
then you
will be
restored.
Then his
mate Bildad
has a crack
in chapter
8
verse 6
He is saying
that because
God has not
restored you
Job
to your
rightful place
that is the
place where
a righteous
person
lives the
good life
again the
proverbial wisdom
coming out here
and because
he has not
restored you
then you are
clearly impure
and unrighteous.
Again
a crack on
his
integrity.
Then number
three
Zophar stands
up and
weighs in
and he
really weighs
in.
He reckons
Job's
suffering is
much less
than he in
fact actually
deserves.
Take it on
the chin Job
because you
deserve a lot
worse than
this.
He's saying
that Job's
sin is so
great that
God has
forgotten some
of it.
He says
this in
chapter 11
verse 11
Surely he
God is
recognises
deceitful men
and when he
sees evil
does not he
take note?
So Job
is deceitful
and evil.
He really
just tears
his character
to shreds
and so
in chapter
6 which
was just
read out
to us
Job
responds
to his
friend
Eliphaz
Job
never
throughout
the book
never
claims
sinless
perfection.
In
verses 1
to 13
of chapter
6
are Job's
declaration
of his
innocence
and his
desire to
die.
Such was
his torment.
Such was
the load
he felt.
He just
wishes he
was dead.
And in
the second
half of
the chapter
verses 14
to 30
are Job's
words to
his careless
friends.
Job
actually
resents
his
friend's
lack of
compassion.
So verse
14
a despairing
man
should have
the devotion
of his
friends
even though
he forsakes
the fear
of the
almighty.
But my
brothers
are
undependable
as
intermittent
streams
as the
streams
that
overflow.
flow.
They
are
fickle.
They
are
undependable.
I
cannot
trust
the
words
coming
out of
my
friends
mouths.
Job is
saying
no matter
what I
say and
what I
do
you are
my
mates.
But he
says you
are like
those puddles
of water
that form
really
quickly in
the heavy
rain but
which disappear
in the
sand.
They're
gone.
They're here
one moment
gone.
The next.
Instead of
being dependable
and a
source of
hope and
life in
a desert
you're
fickle and
you bring
no hope
no comfort.
And Job's
plea here to
his friends is
quite emotional
and quite
pitiable in
verse 28.
But now be
so kind as
to look at
me.
Just
look at
me.
would I
lie to
your face
that is
by hiding
this evil
and sinful
life that
you accuse
me of?
Relent.
Do not
be unjust.
Reconsider
for my
integrity
is at
stake.
He's
saying to
his friends
guys you've
got it all
wrong.
Your
understanding
of God
is too
neat.
You've
taken away
all the
mystery.
And so
the result
is their
counsel is
both naive
and cruel.
The God
of their
neat theology
would not
allow someone
to suffer
unless they
deserved it
and because
Job is
suffering he
must have
deserved it.
Something
happens with
Job from
chapter 3
right
throughout
the course
of this
debate
with his
friends
which is
quite profound
here.
We know
in chapter
1 and 2
the Lord
gave the
Lord has
taken away
blessed be
the name
of the
Lord.
Chapter
3
he says
I wish
I was
dead.
He cries
out against
the wisdom
of God
in giving
him birth.
The duration
of his
disease
and his
tragedy
has almost
defeated
the initial
stand of
faith
in chapters
1 and 2
but
from chapter
3
all the way
through to
chapter 19
there is
this little
by little
gaining and
regaining of
the faith
of Job
until
you get
to chapter
19
and his
faith
breaks out
in victory.
In every
speech
up until
then
Job
has
expressed
the
conviction
that
he
would
certainly
die
in
misery.
He
longs
for it
but then
there is a
gradual
change in
the way
he talks
about his
dying.
At first
in chapter
7 verses
9 to 10
during his
response to
Eliphaz
he is sure
that death
is the end
of everything.
as the
cloud
vanishes
and is
gone
so one
who goes
down to
the grave
does not
return
he will
never come
back to
his house
again.
That's it
death is
what waits
me
and death
is the
end.
That is
there is not
even anything
good to look
for after
death.
And as he
responds to
Bildad in
chapter 10
verses 20
to 22
he is still
sunk in
despair about
death.
Are not
my few
days almost
over?
Turn away
from me so
I can have
a moment's
joy before
I go to
the place
of no
return.
To the
land of
gloom and
utter darkness
to the
land of
deepest night
of utter
darkness and
disorder where
even the
light is
like darkness.
Then in
his response
to Zophar
in chapter
14 verses
7 to 14
he again
faces the
certainty of
death in
suffering and
he cries
out to be
released to
die in
verse 13.
But this
time he
asks a
question in
verse 14.
If someone
dies will
they live
again?
All the
days of my
hard service
I will
wait for
my renewal
to come.
And again
in a second
response to
Eliphaz in
chapter 17
verses 13
to 16
the reference
to the
place of
the dead
is one
of question
rather than
despair.
And then
in chapter
19
verse 25
Job reaches
an answer
and the
victory comes.
I know
that my
redeemer
lives.
God
and that
in the
end he
will stand
on the
earth and
after my
skin has
been destroyed
yet in my
flesh I
will see
God.
I myself
will see
him with
my own
eyes,
I and
not another,
how my
heart yearns
within me.
There's the
victory.
My redeemer
lives and I
will see God
face to
face.
Death is
not the
end.
Job is
finally sure
that beyond
the grave he
will meet
God as
his vindicator
and not
as an
angry judge.
He will be
vindicated from
all his
suffering.
Even if it
will only be
after death,
even if it's
to suffer for
the rest of
his life,
he knows that
vindication will
come in the
end.
There will be
life and
light and not
death and
darkness.
The victory
for Job is
in his
redeemer,
in his
vindicator.
Someone who
can stand
before God
and plead
his case.
He realized
his friends
weren't going
to do it.
No one
else will
stand with
him.
He even
raised the
possibility of
a need for
a mediator
between God
and himself
back in
chapter 9
verse 33.
And then in
chapter 17
verse 3,
Job thought
that he
himself might
be the
person who
will stand
before God
and vindicate
himself.
And now he
realizes he
needs someone
else.
Someone else
who won't be
crushed by God's
awesome power.
Someone that
can approach
God without
fear that
their sin is
going to exclude
them from the
presence of God.
Someone who can
present to God
Job's struggles
and to ask God
to have mercy
on Job.
Someone on
the inside
who pleads
with God
for Job.
Who took
his struggles
to God
and who
represented
Job to
God.
And Job
says,
that is my
only avenue
to God's
justice
is my
redeemer
who lives.
God
is my
love.
God
is my
love.
Interestingly
enough though,
this confidence
in a redeemer
does not
answer all
of Job's
questions about
his suffering.
It doesn't
solve all of
his theological
problems.
He is still
totally confused
as to why
he should have
to suffer
as he
does.
And even
though he has
a confidence
in his
redeemer,
his suffering
goes right
on.
But Job's
confidence of
new life
after death
does enable
him to hold
on to three
of his
convictions.
The sovereign
power of
God,
the goodness
and justice
of God,
and the
faithfulness
of his own
heart.
God
and with
those convictions
he holds
out against
the simplistic
doctrine of
justice from
the mouth of
his three
friends.
I was in
a library the
other day,
Bible College
library,
and the
section on
Job was
huge.
So I
feel quite
encouraged to
be able to
not cover all
the bases
when I
looked at the
section on
Job.
And so
there's at
least a couple
of things that I
want us to
pick up,
acknowledging that
it's not
everything and
not that I
can nail
everything.
Let's just
pick up a few
things.
Firstly,
there is
order in this
world, but
we don't
see it all.
We don't
see it all.
And so
suffering and
prosperity are
not distributed
in the world
in proportion
to the evil
or good
that a person
does.
And so
to be wise
is not to
judge one
another before
the time.
That's one
element of
wisdom.
To not
judge one
another before
the time.
And the
time is
the end
of time.
That's the
time.
Those who
suffer may
be the best
and those
who prosper
may be the
worst amongst
us.
Secondly,
God reigns
over all the
affairs of
people, from
the greatest
to the
smallest.
and one
of the
most common
means used
by people
today to
solve the
mystery of
suffering,
inevitably, is
the limitation
of God.
That's how we
generally solve
it.
Particularly the
limitation of
God's sovereign
control over
all things.
That is, God
couldn't have
willed that
sickness or
that explosion
or the death
of that child.
He must not
be in control.
He's a
limited God.
Let me tell
you that for
Job and his
three friends,
that never
occurred to
them as an
option.
On either
side of the
camp, it
never occurred
to them.
The common
ground of
Job and his
three friends
is that God
reigns.
He's
sovereign.
And no
solution to
the problem
of suffering
that questions
this, that
is God's
sovereignty, will
ever satisfy
in the long
run.
But we
tend to limit
God in an
attempt to
alleviate the
pain of
suffering.
We think
that if we
can comprehend
why suffering
happens, then
by default,
that will
limit or
alleviate the
pain of
suffering.
And so in
an attempt to
explain suffering,
ultimately we
limit the
sovereignty of
God or the
goodness of
God.
And it
will never
alleviate the
pain of
suffering.
You bring
God down
and all of
a sudden we
are just
random.
And that
never alleviates
the pain of
suffering.
Thirdly,
true theology
should lead to
love and
humility.
If you
take most
of the
statements of
Job's
friends
separately,
it sounds
like good
theology.
And on
most part,
it is.
But their
application is
shallow and
insensitive.
In fact,
the proverbial
wisdom that
they lean on
itself warns
against such
an application
of proverbial
wisdom.
It says
this in
Proverbs
26,
verse 9,
like a
thorn bush
in a
drunkard's
hand is a
proverb in
the mouth
of a
fool.
His
mates
weren't
wise.
Their
advice
wasn't
trustworthy.
There is
a wrong
application of
proverbial
wisdom,
so let us
be warm
friends.
Good
theology
does not
make you
wise.
Good
theology
can be
made
false and
destructive
in the
way it
is applied.
Good
theology
does not
make you
wise and
it does
not make
you
trustworthy.
Knowledge
puffs up
and love
builds up.
All our
correct theology
is meant to
result in
humility and
love,
not arrogance.
love.
God
should help
us to
see that,
that we
only know
in part.
We are
limited.
Even after
the revelation
of Christ,
we are still
limited.
Wisdom is not
knowing everything,
it is in
relationship with
the God who
knows everything.
humility and
love must be
the application
and it must
accompany the
application of
our theology.
Job's friends
would have done
well to practice
the old saying,
let love stand
as a watchman at
the gate of your
mouth.
love.
1 Corinthians
13 tells me
that even this
side of the
cross we do
not see clearly.
Verse 12 of
1 Corinthians
13.
Knowing of
course 1
Corinthians 13
is the great
chapter of
love.
Now we
shall see,
now we see
but a poor
reflection as
in a mirror,
then we shall
see face to
face.
Now I know
in part,
then I shall
know fully even
as I am fully
known but
now these
three remain,
faith,
hope and
love and
the greatest
of these is
love.
We don't see
clearly,
we don't know
everything and
so I'd love us
to be known as
a church that
holds theological
conviction with
humility and
love, with a
steadfast faith
and a redeemer in
the face of
uncertainty and a
firm hope for
the future in
the middle of
calamity.
There is one
thing that we
can say with
certainty and
that is that
our redeemer
lives.
Over it all,
hold fast to
the redeemer,
look to the
redeemer,
treasure the
redeemer who
knows and
will bring
vindication and
justice and
in the end,
faith in the
redeemer and
wisdom go
together.
and so in
the middle of
calamity and
we're standing
beside someone,
may we put our
arm around them
and say I
don't know why
this happens but
let me point you
to the redeemer
because he
lives.
Cling to the
redeemer, he
lives and he
will bring
vindication in
the end.
So let me
finish with the
words of
Hebrews 4.14.
Therefore, since
we have a
great high
priest, a
great advocate,
a mediator, a
redeemer who
has gone through
the heavens,
Jesus the
Son of God,
let us hold
firmly to the
faith we
profess for we
do not have a
high priest that
is a mediator, a
redeemer who is
unable to
sympathize with
our weaknesses
but we have one
who is being
tempted in every
way just as we
are yet was
without sin.
Let us then
approach the
throne of grace
with confidence
so that we may
receive mercy and
find grace to
help us in our
time of need.
Amen.