Job 38-42---- The Soveriegn plan of pain
Notes
Transcript
Spades
Spades
I remember playing cards in the airport in Tanzania.
We played for hours.
I like spades and I think I am fairly good at it.
We were playing one hand my partner went zero, so you play the biggest you can play to cover them or let them sluff off cards
We were doing great and we get to the last 2 cards
Then, the guy beside me says we got them.
He was right
He knew the suit I had in my hand and even told me what my last card was.
I was bumfuzzled- I wanted to know how he knew my exact card.
The next hand, I go zero
We get the end and we get set with a 8-9 of hearts
Of which the guy beside me said, we got them.
He saw my partner ran out of hearts early
To cover me, he played all his best cards and had no spades or hearts left
So when my opponent laid down a 6 of hearts, I was in trouble
My partner had nothing, the other opponent had no hearts.
So the 8 won the suit and we lost the hand and the game.
I played everything right, so did my partner, except for possibly knowledge of who played what card.
We just didnt know who was holding what cards.
Life is often like that- you can feel like you are living your life as faithful as you know how.
Reading, praying, serving as best you can
Working hard, raising kids, paying bills
Then out of nowhere- here comes a situation..... here comes life.
Tragedy, heartache, disease
You begin asking the same questions
How did this happen? Why did this happen?
What I really like about the bible is the way it shows the characters as they really are not like Facebook uploads
Im not saying we need to air our issues on Facebook to be real.
Id much rather advocate to talking to people in person about issues not use Facebook as public waste recycling center of words and ideas.
But I digress, the bible shows people for who they are
Warts and all so to speak
I have been reading through Job again and my favorite chapters are still the ending ones
Job lost his family, his home, his possessions and in all things Job grieves and did not sin
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
If thought Job was just some superhuman who didnt even feel pain
After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, but trouble comes.”
Job will have friends who come to him and remind him of how God will not let evil prosper and Job must have done something to provoke Gods hand
Job will quickly defend himself and declare himself innocent
Its as if Job says I know my cards and this isnt how they should play out
All he wants for chapters is for God to explain to him why
If he is wrong he will say, kill me but he seeks hard for his vindication
He wants to know why
As time goes on, Job rest overall in the hand of God
“Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
Job knows God character has not changed and neither has his statutes
Jobs hope rest in God and God alone
His life may expire and rot but his hope is steadfast
By the time you reach the end, Job gets his request to hear from God
But the one who demanded to ask of God why and what not never asks a question
As I read the book, it felt as if Job thought God must have gotten it wrong with him
That God slipped up in the events of his life
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
By verse 2, you know Job was thinking, I take it back- I have no more questions
Job had away that his hand in life should have gone- but it didnt
We will probably have multiple times were we like it or not God will allows things to come about that we dont want
I think we are safe to call this time in Jobs life the discipline of God
The other day Benji and I were discussing his sermon and I think he is right concerning discipline
God is perpetually disciplining the ones he loves
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
The presence of situations in our life may need to viewed more often than not as the disciplining hand of God
Not always for sin- albeit I think we may need to assume it is clearly that first
but that God is training us in holiness
I think Job missed that
I dont think Job ever lost hope in God- I think Job missed Gods purpose of holiness in his life
In my study bible, I read this
The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Characteristics and Primary Themes
When his eyes have seen the Lord, and he has repented in dust and ashes, Job has come to understand that God on His throne is sovereign, and He rewards those who belong to Him despite times of pressure and pain. The reader learns that Job suffered, not because he was one of the worst of men but because he was one of the best, and that his ordeal glorified his God.
From chapter 38-41- God reminds Job of his finiteness and His sovereignty
That God never at one moment lets anything go past his desk without the purpose of
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Without
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
He waste nothing
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 uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known 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 says I thought I had the cards should have been played differently but Im not holding all of them
We all can probably say I see the disciplining hand of God in a punitive way
But the disciplining of Gods people has always been for their personal holiness
Job isnt the same fella at the end of this as he was going in
Joseph isnt the same fella in Gen 50 as he was being tossed in the pit by his brothers
Even Joseph gets the idea as he tells his brothers
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Its was chaos, it was terrible, it was painful— but God didnt waste one moment- It was always for their good and ours
Its not always punitive in nature but its always disciplining for holiness
Benji had some very good thoughts that I want to share upon this.
It seemed to fit into this perfectly
Sometimes Discipline is for our correction
It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
Sometimes discipline is for protection/prevention from sin
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
It could be as simple as our personal quiet time
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Sometimes its for our instruction/refining
Clearly what we see in Job
Job has cleared himself of wrong doing but Job missed the heavenly courtroom scene
Sproul wrote-
Job is given the high calling of remaining true to God even when everything is taken away and grim suffering becomes his daily lot. Will Job do as the Adversary predicts and curse God to His face? This is the question that drives the moving drama of the book as Job loses his initial confidence and sinks into despair. If Job remains faithful, God will show through Job that the Adversary is a liar.
Satan touted God people would fall and make him a liar, God knew this would only refine them and declare the Prince of this world the liar
And he does it day in and day out in lives of believers everywhere
Its always Gods wrath- its always discipline and its always gracious- not an easy lesson, but a needed one
John MacArthur says this about discipline and punishment
In punishment, God is the judge; in discipline, He is the Father. In punishment, the object is His enemy; in discipline, the object is His child. In punishment, the goal is condemnation; in discipline, the goal is holiness.
Job missed that. You and I will miss that if we are not careful
Pain/suffering/struggle isnt punitive but all situations are disciplinary for his people
For one purpose
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Every act of discipline isnt punitive, but it is gracious for he only disciplines those He loves.
