God, the World, and Me

Robert Watson, in his treatment of the book of Job, says the book is “all theology, and all humanity, no less.” What Watson is getting at is that the book of Job is more than, though certainly not less than, human response in the face of suffering. That is, I think, the general view of the book of Job.

It is a book primarily about how human beings, and in particular human beings who are followers of God, respond to intense suffering. However, such a narrow view of this book of 42 chapters will miss so much soul-nourishment.

If I could provide an analogy, it would be the equivalent of savoring the juice of the perfect steak without taking a bite of the steak. The book of Job, I believe we will see, is far richer, far more encouraging, far deeper than you may have ever known.

Prayerful reading and studying of the book of Job will open your eyes to the power, the wisdom, the grace, the kindness, the gentleness, the patience, the righteousness, the justice, the anger, and the holiness of God.

Contemplative and reflective examination of the book of Job will broaden your understanding of the ways of the world in which we live. It will help you make sense of the senseless, to grapple, even if but faintly, the ways of God in this life.

Finally, introspective and Scripture-based meditation will also draw you into further fellowship and worship of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as greater awareness of your own sinfulness increases, enhanced apprehensions of God’s greatness abound in your soul, and of the settling of the immense, unimaginable grace of God in your being.

It is for these, and many more reasons that we will see on our journey, that I have subtitled this exposition as “the Bible within the Bible.”

In our overview sermon, I want to consider three important parts, and really, these are the key parts of our lives. We will consider God first, as the Creator and Sustainer of all, and the role He plays in the book. Next, we will look at the world as it is presented in the book. Both for Job and his three friends, there were key truths of which they were unaware or simply refused to consider. Finally, we will, without detrimentally harming our interpretation and application of Scripture, consider ourselves in light of this marvelous book.

If we could summarize our goal this morning, it would be,

In studying the book of Job, our knowledge of God and our experience and understanding of the world will be increased, and our place in it will be understood for His glory and our good.

I. God

A. God is one who is to be feared- 1:1, 8, 9

Job 1:1 “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.”

Job 1:8–9 “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?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?”

In the book, Job struggles with his apparent unsettled relationship with God. He had, after all, truly feared God. Now, in the wake of disaster after disaster, Job is afraid of God, but for an entirely different reason.

Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar also fear God, albeit in a mechanical sense as we will see on our journey through this book.

B. God is in control- 1:6; 4:9

Throughout the book of Job, Job and the three friends recount marvelous deeds of the sovereign control God has over His universe.

More clearly than anywhere in the book of Job, chapters 38–41 detail God’s intimate, detailed, and absolute control of all things, from the smallest to the greatest.

C. God knows His people- 1:8

Job 1:8 “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?””

We can also see this logically throughout the book of Job. God knows both His chosen people and those sinners who reject His sovereign rule.

D. God is holy- 4:17; 6:10

Job 4:17 “‘Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?”

Job 6:10 “This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.”

E. God is both transcendent (1:6; 2:1) and immanent (38:4; 38:16; 38:21)

“God’s bigness does not mean he is too great to care, just like his nearness does not mean he is too weak to help. Instead, the right inference to draw in all of life’s afflictions is that the God of transcendent glory and personal immanence is too good to forget and too great to fail.” Kevin DeYoung, Daily Doctrine, 60

II. The World

Two points, or perspectives, are offered in the book of Job with regards to how the world works. They share a similar view, albeit slightly different (or, perhaps significantly different is more appropriate considering God’s response to Job and to Job’s friends).

A. A Mechanistic View

Both view the world in a mechanical way, and by that I mean that if A is true, then B follows. In fact, this way of thinking has muddled its way into present Christian thought.

For example, consider Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I have heard several preachers say that this proverb is a promise. If you train up a child in the way he should go, then on the authority of God’s Word they will stay true to God’s way!

Experience proves this to be false, most easily observed in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. He is perfect, and perfectly proclaims the way of God, and yet one of His disciples, Judas, departed from it (even though he was not old).

This is a mechanical view of the way the world works, not unlike those of Job and his three friends. In their minds, if they did right (whether worshipping right, or doing good deeds), then God would bless or, at the very least, not punish. Any suffering was observed to be a judgment, a discipline, from God.

From Job’s perspective, God was wronging him (Job 19:6 “know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me.”)

From Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar’s perspective, Job had sinned and was enduring the judgment of God.

Eliphaz, Job 4:17 “‘Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?”

Bildad, Job 8:3 “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?”

Zophar, Job 11:4–6 “For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God’s eyes.’ But oh, that God would speak and open his lips to you, and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom! For he is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.”

Elihu, Job 34:11 “For according to the work of a man he will repay him, and according to his ways he will make it befall him.”

Perhaps this way of life has weaseled its way into your own heart. Maybe you are experiencing some hardships or trials, and you are questioning God and His goodness.

Or, maybe you do not think it is fair that you are going through something while others seem to have it easy. You are in good company, for many in the heritage of our faith, including Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, Elihu have struggled with the same thing.

However, there is another view of the world at play, and that is a naturalistic view.

B. A Naturalistic View

Although it is not a part of the view of Job’s story, we do struggle with this today. There are many supernatural, spiritual proceedings in the book of Job.

Easiest to observe is the interaction with Satan, the “sons of God,” and God himself in the beginning chapters of Job and God’s direct interactions toward the end.

But in between, there are also many references to the spiritual realm. This should not surprise us in the least, for there is a spiritual realm filled with myriads of angels or spirits, both good and evil.

The two greatest of these are Michael and Satan, good and evil respectively. Paul’s words tie in well here,

Ephesians 6:10–18 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”

That brings us to “me.”

III. Me

What is my place in the book of Job?

Am I in Job’s place, enduring the unknown cause of suffering?

Am I one of Job’s three friends, beginning as helpful and encouraging and ending as heartless and seemingly-uncaring?

Am I the spouse of Job, who, after watching a loved one suffer for so long, calls for the abandonment of the faith?

Am I Elihu, quiet for a long time, and then stirred to challenge everyone?

I would argue that we all find ourselves in each one of these individual’s positions at one point or another throughout our earthly journey.

In studying the book of Job, our knowledge of God and our experience and understanding of the world will be increased, and our place in it will be understood for His glory and our good.

The way that it would be understood for His glory and our good is through the work of our Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, as we patiently learn these lessons from the book of God, the Bible within the Bible.