Job

Big picture

“Did you notice my servant Job?’ the Lord asked. ‘There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is.’” (Job 1:8 – GN)

“You did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did.” (Job 42:7 – GN)

Satan’s challenge

“When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, ‘What have you been doing?’ Satan answered, ‘I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.’ ‘Did you notice my servant Job?’ the Lord asked. ‘There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.’ Satan replied, ‘Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. But now suppose you take away everything he has—he will curse you to your face!’ ‘All right,’ the Lord said to Satan, ‘everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself.’ So Satan left” (Job 1:6-12 – GN).

Trial #1 – loss of family and wealth “One day when Job's sons and daughters were eating and

drinking wine in their oldest brother's home, a messenger came to Job. He said, ‘While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, men from Sheba attacked. They took the livestock and massacred the servants. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, ‘A fire from God fell from heaven and completely burned your flocks and servants. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.’ While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three companies and made a raid on the camels. They took the camels and massacred the servants. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.’

“While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, ‘Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine at their oldest brother's home when suddenly a great storm swept across the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It fell on the young people, and they died. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you.’ Job stood up, tore his robe in grief, and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother, and naked I will return. The LORD has given, and the LORD has taken away! May the name of the LORD be praised.’ Through all this Job did not sin or blame God for doing anything wrong.” (Job 1:13-22 – GOD’S WORD)

God: 1 Satan: 0

“When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, ‘Where have you been?’ Satan answered, ‘I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.’ ‘Did you notice my servant Job?’ the Lord asked. ‘There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil. You persuaded me to let you attack him for no reason at all, but Job is still as faithful as ever.’ Satan replied, ‘A person will give up everything in order to stay alive. But now suppose you hurt his body—he will curse you to your face!’ So the Lord said to Satan, ‘All right, he is in your power, but you are not to kill him’” (Job 2:1-5 – GN).

Trial #2 – Physical suffering

“Then Satan left the Lord’s presence and made sores break out all over Job’s body. Job went and sat by the garbage dump and took a piece of broken pottery to scrape his sores. His wife said to him, ‘You are still as faithful as ever, aren't you? Why don’t you curse God and die?’ Job answered, ‘You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?’ Even in all this suffering Job said nothing against God” (Job 2:7-10 – GN).

Job’s depression

“I hate my life; I do not want to live forever. Leave me alone because my days are so brief.” (Job 7:16 – GOD’S Word)

This earth is a “spectacle for the whole world of angels…” (1 Corinthians 4:9 - GN)

“God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms” (Ephesians 3:9,10 – GN).

“God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand” (1 Peter 1:12, GN).

“Though everyone else in the world is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say, ‘He will be proved right in what he says, and he will win his case in court’” (Romans 3:4, NLT).

Trial #3 – The “friends”

“While they were still a long way off they saw Job, but did not recognize him. When they did, they began to weep and wail, tearing their clothes in grief and throwing dust into the air and on their heads. Then they sat there on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how much he was suffering” (Job 2:12,13 – GN).

Eliphaz speaks

“Once a message came quietly, so quietly I could hardly hear it. Like a nightmare it disturbed my sleep. I trembled and shuddered; my whole body shook with fear. A light breeze touched my face, and my skin crawled with fright. I could see something standing there; I stared, but couldn’t tell what it was. Then I heard a voice out of the silence…” (Job 4:12-16 – GN).

“But you – you terrify me with dreams; you send visions and nightmares…” (Job 7:14 – GN).

Eliphaz

“Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God or be pure before his Creator? God does not trust his heavenly servants; he finds fault even with his angels. Do you think he will trust a creature of clay, a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth?” (Job 4:17-19 – GN).

“Can human beings be really pure? Can anyone be right with God? Why, God does not trust even his angels; even they are not pure in his sight. And we drink evil as if it were water; yes, we are corrupt; we are worthless.” (Job 15:14,15 – GN)

“God doesn’t trust anyone”“We are worthless”

But yet, hadn’t God just declared Job as “good”?; “Perfect and upright” (Job 1:8 – KJV).

Abraham: “But you, Israel my servant, you are the people that I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, my friend” (Isaiah 41:8 – GN)

“The LORD would speak with Moses face-to-face, just as someone speaks with a friend” (Exodus 33:11 – GN)

David is referred to as “a man after his own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14, KJV)

“Daniel, you are very precious to God” (Daniel 10:11, NLT) How damaging to hear this in a parent-child relationship

“God doesn’t trust anyone”“We are worthless” Jesus: “I do not call you servants any longer because

servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends…” (John 15:15).

Jesus: “When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and everyone said, ‘Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!’” (Matthew 11:19 – GN)

Jesus: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me!” (Matthew 23:37 – GN)

Worthless to God?

Bildad: “Then what about a human being, that worm, that

insect? What is a human life worth in God’s eyes?” (Job 25:6 – GN)

Job: “Who inspired you so speak like this?” (Job 26:4 – GN)

God: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son”

(John 3:16 – GN)

Eliphaz again

“Good people are glad and the innocent laugh when they see the wicked punished” (Job 22:19 – GN). “The people I love are doing evil things” (Jeremiah

11:15 – GN) “How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon

you?” (Hosea 11:8 – GN) “Tell them that as surely as I, the Sovereign LORD,

am the living God, I do not enjoy seeing sinners die. I would rather see them stop sinning and live. Israel, stop the evil you are doing. Why do you want to die?” (Ezekiel 33:11 – GN).

Is suffering evidence of God’s curse?

Eliphaz asks Job: “Think back now. Name a single case where

someone righteous met with disaster” (Job 4:7 – GN) “Happy is the person whom God corrects! Do not

resent it when he rebukes you” (Job 5:17 – GN) Is God correcting or testing Job in this story?

Job: “You have gone far enough. Stop being unjust. Don’t condemn me. I’m in the right” (Job 6:20 – GN)

Do good people ever suffer loss?

Abel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus, James, Peter, John, Paul, Wycliffe, Tyndale

“For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil” (Matthew 5:45 – GN).

Job asks: “Was a wicked person’s light ever put out? Did one of them

ever meet with disaster? Did God ever punish the wicked in anger and blow them away like straw in the wind or like dust carried away in a storm?” (Job 21:17,18 – GN).

Rich/healthy = blessed by GodPoor/sick = cursed by God “Teacher, whose sin caused him to be born blind? Was it

his own or his parents’ sin?’ Jesus answered, ‘His blindness has nothing to do with his sins

or his parents’ sins’” (John 9:2,3 – GN). “How hard it is for rich people to enter the Kingdom of

God! It is much harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. The people who heard him asked, ‘Who, then, can be saved?’” (Luke 19:24-26 – GN).

“Happy are you poor; the Kingdom of God is yours” (Luke 6:20 – GN)

You are being punished Job “Put your heart right, Job. Reach out to God. Put away evil

and wrong from your home. Then face the world again, firm and courageous. Then all your troubles will fade from your memory, like floods that are past and remembered no more” (Job 11:4-6 – GN).

“But now you are being punished as you deserve” (Job 36:17 – GN)

“God is punishing you less than you deserve” (Job 11:6 – GN)

“Any sensible person will surely agree; and the wise who hear me will say that Job is speaking from ignorance and that nothing he says makes sense. Think through everything that Job says; you will see that he talks like an evil man. To his sins he adds rebellion; in front of us all he mocks God” (Job 34:34-37 – GN).

Job questions God “You think you are better than I am, and regard my troubles as

proof of my guilt. Can’t you see it is God who has done this? He has set a trap to catch me. I protest his violence, but no one is listening; no one hears my cry for justice. He has taken away all my wealth and destroyed my reputation. God has made my own family forsake me; I am a stranger to those who knew me; my relatives and friends are gone. Those who were guests in my house have forgotten me; my servant women treat me like a stranger and a foreigner. When I call a servant, he doesn't answer— even when I beg him to help me. My wife can’t stand the smell of my breath, and my own brothers won't come near me. Children despise me and laugh when they see me. My closest friends look at me with disgust; those I loved most have turned against me. My skin hangs loose on my bones; I have barely escaped with my life. You are my friends! Take pity on me! How I wish that someone would remember my words and record them in a book! Or with a chisel carve my words in stone and write them so that they would last forever” (Job 19:5-7,9,13-21 – GN).

Job questions God Was God offended by Job’s accusation and complaint? Was Job

about to renounce God? Job continues:

“But I know there is someone in heaven who will come at last to my defense. Even after my skin is eaten by disease, while still in this body I will see God. I will see him with my own eyes, and he will not be a stranger” (Job 19:25-27 – GN).

“I still rebel and complain against God; I cannot keep from groaning. How I wish I knew where to find him, and knew how to go where he is. I would state my case before him and present all the arguments in my favor. I want to know what he would say and how he would answer me. Would God use all his strength against me? No, he would listen as I spoke. I am honest; I could reason with God; he would declare me innocent once and for all” (Job 23:1-7 – GN).

We can talk to God as a Friend Moses: “Lord, why do you mistreat your people? Why did you send

me here? Ever since I went to the king to speak for you, he has treated them cruelly. And you have done nothing to help them!” (Exodus 5:22,23 – GN).

‘Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors?...I can’t be responsible for all these people by myself; it’s too much for me! If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer.’” (Numbers 11:10-14 – GN)

Abraham: “Surely you won’t kill the innocent with the guilty. That’s impossible! You can’t do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly” (Genesis 18:25 – GN).

The Psalms

What was most painful of all for Job?

Where is my Friend? “I have searched in the East, but God is not there; I have not

found him when I searched in the West. God has been at work in the North and the South, but still I have not seen him. Yet God knows every step I take; if he tests me, he will find me pure” (Job 23:8-10 – GN)

“If only my life could once again be as it was when God watched over me. God was always with me then and gave me light as I walked through the darkness. Those were the days when I was prosperous, and the friendship of God protected my home” (Job 29:1-3 – GN)

“I call to you, O God, but you never answer; and when I pray, you pay no attention” (Job 30:20 – GN)

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15, KJV).

Job’s conclusion

“Will no one listen to what I am saying? I swear that every word is true. Let Almighty God answer me. If the charges my opponent brings against me were written down so that I could see them, I would wear them proudly on my shoulder and place them on my head like a crown. I would tell God everything I have done, and hold my head high in his presence” (Job 31:35-37 – GN).

Elihu “The three men refused to reply further to Job because he

kept insisting on his innocence. Then Elihu…became angry because Job refused to admit he had sinned and to acknowledge that God had just cause for punishing him. But he was also angry with Job’s three friends because they had been unable to answer Job’s arguments and yet had condemned him.” (Job 32:1-3, Living Bible)

“My knowledge is wide; I will use what I know to show that God, my Creator, is just. Nothing I say to you is false; you see before you a truly wise man.” (Job 36:3,4 – GN)

“Certainly, my words are not lies. The one who knows everything is speaking with you.” (Job 36:4 – GODS WORD)

Elihu

“God corrects us by sending sickness and filling our bodies with pain. Those who are sick lose their appetites, and even the finest food looks revolting. Their bodies waste away to nothing; you can see all their bones; they are about to go to the world of the dead.” (Job 33:19-22 – GN)

Elihu “Have you ever seen anyone like this man Job? He never

shows respect for God. He likes the company of evil people and goes around with sinners.” (Job 34:7-8 – GN)

“Job, have you confessed your sins to God and promised not to sin again? Have you asked God to show you your faults, and have you agreed to stop doing evil? Since you object to what God does, can you expect him to do what you want? The decision is yours, not mine; tell us now what you think. Any sensible person will surely agree; and the wise who hear me will say that Job is speaking from ignorance and that nothing he says makes sense. Think through everything that Job says; you will see that he talks like an evil man. To his sins he adds rebellion; in front of us all he mocks God.” (Job 34:31-36 – GN)

“But now you are being punished as you deserve” (Job 36:17 – GN)

Elihu “Remember how great is God’s power…Everyone has

seen what he has done; but we can only watch from a distance. We cannot fully know his greatness or count the number of his years” (Job 36:23,25,26 – GN)

Chapter 36 and 37 – God’s power. He describes God as like a storm!

“I won’t ask to speak with God; why should I give him a chance to destroy me? God’s power is so great that we cannot come near him…No wonder, then, that everyone is awed by him, and that he ignores those who claim to be wise.” (Job 37:20,23 – GN)

God comes with power “Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job. ‘Who are you to question my wisdom with your ignorant,

empty words? Now stand up straight and answer the questions I ask you. Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. Who decided how large it would be? Who stretched the measuring line over it? Do you know all the answers? What holds up the pillars that support the earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world?’” (Job 38:1-6 – GN).

“Do you know where the light comes from or what the source of darkness is? Can you show them how far to go, or send them back again? I am sure you can, because you’re so old and were there when the world was made!” (Job 38:19-21 – GN).

God comes with power After many verses of God detailing his great power, he turns

to Job: “Job, you challenged Almighty God; will you give

up now, or will you answer?” (Job 40:1, 2 – GN). “I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer? I will

not try to say anything else. I have already said more than I should” (Job 40:3-5 – GN).

Admission of wrongdoing? Isaiah – “There is no hope for me! I am doomed because

every word that passes my lips is sinful, and I live among a people whose every word is sinful. And yet, with my own eyes I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5 – GN)

Daniel – “Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me. For my beauty was turned within me to corruption, and I kept no strength.”(Daniel 10:8-9 – MKJV)

Paul – “I am less than the least of all God’s people” (Ephesians 3:8 – GN)

John – “When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man.” (Revelation 1:17 – GN)

God comes with power

“Then out of the storm the Lord spoke to Job once again. ‘Now stand up straight and answer my questions. Are you trying to prove that I am unjust— to put me in the wrong and yourself in the right? Are you as strong as I am? Can your voice thunder as loud as mine? If so, stand up in your honor and pride; clothe yourself with majesty and glory.” (Job 40:6-10 – GN)

“Can you catch Leviathan with a fishhook or tie his tongue down with a rope? Can you put a rope through his snout or put a hook through his jaws?...Touch him once and you’ll never try it again; you’ll never forget the fight! Anyone who sees Leviathan loses courage and falls to the ground. When he is aroused, he is fierce; no one would dare to stand before him. Who can attack him and still be safe? No one in all the world can do it.

“Let me tell you about Leviathan’s legs and describe how great and strong he is….

“His pride is invincible; nothing can make a dent in that pride. Nothing can get through that proud skin-- impervious to weapons and weather…” (Job 41:15-16)

“Even angels* run for cover when he surfaces, cowering before his tail-thrashing turbulence.” (Job 41:25) *gods, or “the strongest”

“His stony heart is without fear, as unyielding and hard as a millstone. When he rises up, even the strongest are frightened; they are helpless with fear. There is no sword that can wound him; no spear or arrow or lance that can harm him. For him iron is as flimsy as straw, and bronze as soft as rotten wood. There is no arrow that can make him run; rocks thrown at him are like bits of straw. To him a club is a piece of straw, and he laughs when men throw spears.

“Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud." (Job 41:33-34 – NIV)

“On that day the LORD will use his fierce and powerful sword to punish Leviathan, that slippery snake, Leviathan, that twisting snake. He will kill that monster which lives in the sea.” (Isaiah 27:1)

“You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters. You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces…” (Psalm 74:13-14 – NKJV)

God comes to Job with power “Then Job answered the Lord and said. ‘I know that You can do

all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

Hear, now and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.* I have heard of You my the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You.” (Job 42:1-5, NASB)

* You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak. I will ask you, and ⌊ ⌋you will teach me.’ (Job 42:4, GOD’S WORD)

“Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:4-6, NRSV)

A sudden twist!

“After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, ‘I am angry with you and your two friends, because you did not speak the truth about me, the way my servant Job did. Now take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer them as a sacrifice for yourselves. Job will pray for you, and I will answer his prayer and not disgrace you the way you deserve. You did not speak the truth about me as he did.’ Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what the Lord had told them to do, and the Lord answered Job's prayer” (Job 42:7-9 – GN).

An important principle involved

God “uses” his friends to bring the universe to a better understanding of his true character:AbrahamMosesJob

Jesus

“But Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples came to him and begged him, ‘Send her away! She is following us and making all this noise!’ Then Jesus replied, ‘I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel’” (Matthew 15:23, 24 – GN).

“At this the woman came and fell at his feet. ‘Help me, sir!’ she said. Jesus answered, ‘It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs’” (Matthew 15:25, 26 – GN). ‘That’s true, sir,’ she answered, ‘but even the dogs eat

the leftovers that fall from their masters' table.’ So Jesus answered her, ‘You are a woman of great faith! What you want will be done for you.’ And at that very moment her daughter was healed” (Matthew 15:27, 28 – GN).