'All is well that ends well "?"' (Job 42:7-17)

In a talk at Moody Bible Institute Professor Charles Cooper told of the early days of his marriage.

When he was four months married his wife had been away on a trip.  He went with his mother-in-law to collect her at the airport.  As the plane pulled up they saw ambulances and police cars closing in on the back of the aircraft.  Charles’s focus was on the front, where his wife was to disembark.

All of a sudden, his mother-in-law clasped his arm and pointed to a stretcher that was being removed from the back door of the plane.  The body was covered with a white sheet.  Hanging from the stretcher was a purse they recognised as his wife’s.  Despite having no previous history of a condition his young wife had suffered a heart attack shortly before landing.

Charles Cooper told those listening of his journey through the pain.  He said the cards, the letters, the phone calls, the embraces, and the love of friends all played a part in helping him to survive.  “But what kept me going more than anything else was my confidence in the character of God.”[1]

Before we look at the closing verses of Job let’s remind ourselves of some of the lessons that we have learned from this book.

‘Bad things do happen to faithful people.’  The book opens telling us that Job was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil (1:1).  He was about to endure a nightmare he had done nothing to deserve.

God remains in control.  It is only with God’s permission that Satan can torment Job (1:12; 2:6).  Job acknowledges this sovereignty when he declares, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away” (1:21a).  This truth is reaffirmed here at the end of the book, those who had known him before comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him (42:11).  While God’s responsibility for suffering may be an uncomfortable truth if he’s not fully in control then our lives are the subjects of chance, chaos or the authority of the Evil One. 

Although God is responsible for suffering we must not charge him with wrongdoing.  At the beginning of the book we read, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (1:22 see also 2:10).  Despite his suffering he knew that God’s ways are perfect.  Sadly, as we read on, bitterness gets the better of Job and he claims that God has acted unjustly (27:2).

‘The fear of the LORD—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding’ (28:28).  Wisdom is not about having the answers to all the questions of life; it is about knowing and following God.

God teaches us in our pain.  The young Elihu, whose words are a frustrating mix of truth and misunderstanding, was surly right when he declared, “. . .  those who suffer [God] delivers in their suffering, he speaks to them in their affliction” (36:15).  As one preacher explained, ‘there are dimensions of godliness and faith which righteous people learn only through suffering.’[2]

There remains mystery to suffering.  When God addresses Job he does not put him in the picture about the conversations he had with Satan.  But God does something more important than answer Job’s questions, he restores their relationship.  After God teaches Job that as creator he knows better than him, Job is humbled and can reply, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you” (42:5).  Knowing God intimately is more important than receiving answers to the questions that personal suffering raises.

Finally, Jesus is God’s ultimate solution to suffering.  This fact will be reinforced as we study the closing verses of this book.

A mediator brings forgiveness (7-9)

The LORD addresses Eliphaz, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”  Job’s three ‘comforters’ believed that if something bad was happening to you then you must have done something awful to deserve it.  As a result they spoke heartlessly to Job.  More seriously they misrepresented God’s rule.  Truth matters!  Wrong beliefs about God can damage others and they misrepresent him.  We are accountable for what we say. So let’s be careful, seeking to believe and speak only truth.

God is angry with them, but he also merciful.  He shows them how they are to be forgiven.  Grace is God’s unearned and undeserved favour.  This passage is full of grace.  In grace God offers forgiveness to these three who had not spoken of him what is right.  In grace he will bless Job—it was not as if Job had earned the reversal in his fortune he is going to experience!  We even see grace in Job granting an inheritance to his daughters—which was not the practice of the day.

The LORD gives Eliphaz an unusual instruction.  He is to take seven rams and seven bulls to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves.  It wasn’t those animals who have spoken wrongly about God!  Here is forgiveness based on the death of an innocent.  Where does that point us?  To Jesus of course!

I am sure it has something to do with the onset of midlife, but I recently thought about getting a tattoo.  I wasn’t contemplating being very brave, I would have had it somewhere very discrete, like on my ankle.  As I thought about what I would have inscribed I reckoned the words ‘It is finished’ would be good.  As Jesus died on the cross he cried those words showing that he had completed what he had come to do.  The death of rams and bulls could never have paid the price for sin, but they pointed ahead to the sacrifice that would.  In God’s grace he offers each one of us forgiveness because of the death of an innocent, Jesus Christ.

It’s noteworthy that four times in verses 7-8 God refers to Job as my servant.  He is affirming Job, and perhaps pointing us ahead to the one who came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

The LORD tells Eliphaz that after he and his friends have made their sacrifice, my servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.  Job is to be a mediator between themselves and God.  That’s striking!

Do you remember when Job was telling those same three friends of the mediator he hoped in?  Job had declared:  ‘He [God] is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.  If only there was someone to arbitrate between us, To lay his hands upon us both’ (9:32-33) and Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.  My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friends (16:18-21).  Job is now going to be ‘a living picture’ of the mediator he had tried to tell them about.

That mediator is Jesus!  In Hebrews we read, Therefore he [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (7:25).  1 John 2:1, My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 

      

I can’t imagine it was easy for Job to act on behalf of his three friends.  It is difficult to forgive those who hurt us with their words.  ‘Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words trample me into the ground.’  Yet Job knows what it is to receive grace—he had accused God of being unjust and the LORD had sought to restore their relationship.  The proper response to receiving grace is to show grace to others.  That was the case for Job and that is the proper response for us, if we have received God’s grace for ourselves.      

The end is better than the beginning (10-17)

In the end things turn out well for Job.  The LORD blessed the latter part of his life more than the first.  Those who had ostracised him now comfort him and bring him gifts.  He ends up with twice the size of herds that he had at the beginning, with new sons and daughters, and twice the three score and ten lifespan.

We might ask, ‘do these verses promise that everything will turn out well in the end for Christians?’  I suppose the answer to that question is ‘no and yes!’

It would fly in the face of the evidence to say that ‘all works out well for Christians in the end, in this life.’  Think of the Apostle Paul—the last we read of him he is in jail anticipating death.  Think of the Apostle John—he ends up in exile on Patmos.  Clearly all does not turn well for Christians in this life.  But both Paul and John looked forward beyond this life, to something better.  ‘All does work out well, in the end, for Christians, in heaven.’  There our experience will not only be twice as good as before but infinitely better.

I listened to a sermon in which the preacher suggested the book of Job should remind us of the whole picture of the Bible when it comes to suffering.[3]  At the beginning we are told that Job is from Uz, which is clearly a land of plenty.  We are also told that it was in the east.  This might remind us of Eden, which Genesis 2 describes as a plentiful garden in the east (Gen 2:8).  Like Eden Satan enters the picture.  While there are differences between what takes place in Eden and in the book of Job, the result of Satan’s presence is suffering and hardship.  At the end of the Bible, in book of Revelation, we have a new garden that is better than Eden.  Likewise in this book Job ends up with more than he did at the beginning.

There are many mysteries surrounding the presence of evil and the reality of suffering.  But this we can know: what was lost at the beginning is replaced by something even better in the end.  What was lost at Eden is replaced by something better in the new creation.  All things have worked for the glory of God, and the ultimate good of those who are his in Christ.

James 5:11b, ‘You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.’   Job had not suffered perfectly.   He had even accused God of being unjust.  But he had persevered.  Satan had claimed that Job’s relationship with God was superficial, that if he was made suffer, he will surely curse you to you face (1:11).  As we finish studying the book of Job, let us persevere.  Let us cling on to God when troubles come, and trust in his compassion and mercy, as we look forward to what he will finally bring about for us.

Conclusion

A life-long Bible teacher found his faith troubled in his final years.  A degenerative nerve disease confined him to bed.  His thirty-nine-year-old daughter battled a severe form of diabetes.  Financial pressures mounted.  During his most severe crisis, he composed a Christmas letter and mailed it to others in the family.  Many things he had once taught he now felt uneasy about.  What could he believe with certainty?  He wrote these three things: ‘Life is difficult.  God is merciful.  Heaven is sure.’[4]  

Life is difficult.  God is merciful.  Heaven is sure.’  This morning, if we are someone who has put your trust in Jesus, we may know the reality of these truths.

Bad things do happen to good people.  Being a faithful follower of Christ will not make us immune from tragedy in life. 

Christians don’t have all the answers to the questions that arise with personal suffering.  But we can have something better than answers—we can know God our trustworthy and merciful God intimately, even as we suffer.

And for his people, because of Christ’s suffering on the cross, heaven is sure.  There is an eternal hope beyond our pain.  Something far better than we have ever experienced before.  There God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (Rev. 21:1-4).

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[1] Story taken from Ravi Zacharias (1998) Cries of the Heart, Word.

[2] David Turner, speaking at All Souls, Langham Place.

[3] Michael Reeves, preaching at All Souls, Langham Place.

[4] Taken from Philip Yancy, Disappointed with God.

Brace yourself (Job 32-41)

Stephen Williams is Professor of Systematic Theology in Union College, Belfast.  He is an extremely cleaver man.  I think he did his PhD in Yale University.  He is also a nice guy.  I remember going to him for advice one time when I was suffering anxiety, and he was very caring.  When I was studying theology, he took us for a class on apologetics.  Apologetics is basically about defending the faith in face of people’s objections.  

At the end of the course Stephen gave us a role play.  You had to go into his office, and he would pretend to be someone who was antagonistic towards Christianity.  In character he would present you with all sorts of difficult questions.  He ran rings around me.  I remember being glad that at least he had thought through all the questions he was presenting me, and that they didn’t rock his faith.

One day Professor Williams said something that I wasn’t sure about.  He said that when it comes to defending Christianity, the issue of suffering is our weak point.  I must have been of the opinion that we should be able to give perfect answers to every question!

‘If God is both perfectly good and all-powerful why doesn’t he bring an end to suffering?’  That’s how many put it! 

We might reply: ‘We live in a world that is under God’s curse because of human rebellion, a world where everybody is subject to sickness and death.  That one day God will bring an end to suffering for those who have put their trust in him.’ 

However, when the questions get more personal answers are more difficult to come by.  ‘Why did that person suffer so much?’  ‘Why does God allow some of his own people go through such agony?’  At this stage we may be left scratching our heads.

Some people have looked at suffering and concluded that if God is all-powerful he could not be very good.  Other people have said God is good but not all-powerful—like the deaconess, at a clergy conference, who passionately argued for what she called ‘a weak God’, saying that it gave her comfort to think that God was busy struggling with life and getting it wrong just like the rest of us.  Or you could be like Job’s friends, who explain personal suffering with a simplistic formula: ‘bad things don’t happen to faithful people, so they must have done something awful to deserve it’—but how come some very wicked people prosper in life and some very godly people have to endure terrible troubles?

In this evening’s passage God speaks to Job.  What will he say in response to Job’s questions?  What light might his words bring to our pain?  Before we see, let’s look at the chapters that lead up to God’s verdict.

God is all powerful and he teaches us through our suffering (32-37)

Job is so impressive at the beginning of this book.  When he loses his wealth and his children, he grieves.  But he also worships: ‘The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised’ (1:21).  We read, ‘In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing’ (1:22).  After he is covered in sores from head to toe his wife urges him to curse God and die.  Job replies, ‘Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’  Again, we are told, ‘In all this, Job did not sin in what he said’ (2:10).  He knows that God is all-powerful and perfectly good, even if he is left in the dark about why he is suffering.

Yet as we read on we can see bitterness getting the better of him.  For example, in chapter 27 he declares, “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul ... (27:2).     Don’t get me wrong.  It was not that Job was wrong to cry out to God in anguish—we should tell him how we feel but Job overstepped the mark when he accused God of being unjust.  But the end of the day we need to remember that he is God and we are people, he understands all things and we only understand some things, and his ways are perfect even when they are a baffling mystery to us.

In chapter 32 we hear a new voice.  A rather arrogant young man called Elihu speaks.  Like Job’s three ‘comforters’, Elihu’s words are a frustrating mix of truth and error.  He rightly defends God’s righteousness, but, like the others, he claims that Job must have some secret sin that needed to be confessed. 

One of the interesting things Elihu says, that is attested elsewhere in the Scriptures, is that God teaches us through suffering.  ‘But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction’ (36:15). 

The late Professor Sir Norman Anderson was both a legal giant and a Christian.  He was a lay preacher at All Souls, Langham Place.  He and his wife knew grief, they lost all their children.  Their son Hugh died of cancer, when he was 21.  Norman later wrote, ‘people would continually ask us why a young man of such promise and with such a zest for life should be allowed to die so young.  To this the only reply we both feel is that we do not, cannot, know.   The vital question to ask God in such circumstances is not ‘why do you allow this?’—to which he seldom, I think, vouchsafes to answer—but ‘what do you want to teach me through this?’ 

The striking thing about the words of Elihu is the emphasis he places on the sovereignty of God: God is great beyond our understanding (36:26), almighty beyond our reach (37:23), and in absolute control of his creation (see 36-37).  This sets the stage for God to enter the discussion!

Who are we to question God? (38-41)

Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm (38:1).  What is God going to say to the many questions that Job has been asking?  Will he tell Job about the conversation between himself and Satan?

“Who is it that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?  Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you will answer me” (38:2-3).  Wow!  The tables are turned.  God is going to be the one to do the questioning.

‘Job if you think you can run the universe better than me, can you explain my creation?’

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? ...”  (38:4)

“Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?  ...” (38:18)

“Can you bring forth the consolations in their seasons ...?” (38:32)

“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom ...?” (39:26)

He mentions the ostrich.  ‘It has wings yet can’t fly.  But boy can it run!  What an odd creature.  Explain that to me?’

‘Job, consider the vastness, the complexity, and the wonder of my universe.  Consider how little you understand and that I created and sustain it all.  Do you think you know better than me?’  “The LORD said to Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him.  Let him who accuses God answer him!” (40:1-2)   

What could Job say, he has just been taught about the vastness there is between man and God?  Job is humbled! 

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” (40:4-5).

Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm: “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.  Would you discredit my justice?  Would you condemn me to justify yourself?” (40:6-8).

God mentions the behemoth.  There is some debate about what this might be, but it is certainly impressive.  Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?” (40:24).
  
There is the leviathan—another awesome creature whose identity is debated.  “Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?” (41:1)

Then Job replied to the LORD:

“I know that you can do all things;

no plan of yours can be thwarted.

You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know.

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you shall answer me.’

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (42:1-6).

Job repents!  It is not that he had done anything to deserve his suffering, before his suffering God had said he was blameless and upright.  But in his suffering he had been foolish.  He had thought that he knew better than God.  He had questioned God’s justice.  He had acted as if God owed him answers!

We enjoy great intimacy with the God who invites us to know him as our Abba.  In Christ we can approach his throne of grace with confidence (Heb. 4:16).  But we are never to be presumptuous.  He is the creator and we are the creatures.  We are always to treat him with awe and reverence.          

Conclusion

Stephen Williams was right.  When it comes to defending our faith, suffering is the weak point.  It is not the weak point because God is not in control, or that he is not good.  It’s the weak point because we are people and God is the Almighty.  He is beyond our understanding.  We are dependent upon what he has revealed to us, and he has chosen not to give us all the answers when it comes to personal suffering.

Indeed, it exposes the arrogance of humankind that we demand answers from him.  Who are we to call God to account?  He is the creator and we are a part of his creation.  He is infinite in understanding and we are limited in knowledge.  He is perfectly good and even our best deeds are tainted with selfishness.

God did not tell Job about the conversation between himself and Satan.  But he did do something more important: he restored their relationship.  We need God more than we need answers.  Having listened to God’s words Job declared, ‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you’ (42:5).  He now knows God better than he had before.  
  

Finally, I was struck by a question I read in a study-book: ‘What are some of the practical things we can do which might help prevent us from becoming embittered when we suffer?’

We need wisdom.  ‘The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding’ (28:28).  Wisdom more than answers!  Knowing the one who knows all things more than knowing all things!  God’s wisdom has been given full expression in Jesus, and in particular through his death on the cross.  It is through Jesus we are brought into a relationship with God and so can be wise.

We need to remember that our suffering is not purposeless.  As one preacher explained, ‘there are dimensions of godliness and faith which righteous people learn only through suffering.’

We need to keep the lines of communication open.  Job was right to be honest about how he felt.  But as we come to God with freedom and openness don’t forget the awe and respect he is due.

And we need remember that Jesus is the ultimate answer to suffering.  He is the perfect example of innocent suffering, he is the friend we need in times of trouble, and because of his pain his people will one day be brought to a place where they will suffer no more (Rev 21:4).

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[1] Rupert Higgins, preaching at All Souls, Langham Place.

Why You? (Job 4-31)

Brian Callan attends Cork Methodist Church.  I could say a lot about him.  He has a doctorate in chemistry.  He used to be a Jehovah’s Witness.  He is a local preacher and an accomplished poet.  However, if you were to meet him, I guess what would strike you is his warmth and friendliness.

Brian and his wonderful wife Jan have had much pain in life, including a number of miscarriages, the death of their son Robert, when he was just five days old, and their daughter Nicola, when she was only eight months.  In a poem entitled Miscarriage, which Brian dedicates to Jan, he writes of the pain:

“Was it wanted”

The epitaph of our age,

A nurse’s necessary suggestion

An automatic suggestion

A dream spilled down your cheek

At the knowledge of your loss

And the thought of all the love to give

To another child who will not live.

Questions floated between the fears and tears

Above the faintly fathomed pain,

“Why me Lord, what did I do?

Didn’t I trust you enough?”

Hard to hope, hard to cope,

Time to hold hands and cry,

Dividing platitudes and prayer,

Cherishing those who truly care.

In the midst of the pain one of the obvious questions is ‘why me Lord?’  Job’s friends think they know the answer to ‘why him?’  But are they right?  Job doesn’t think so!  In chapters 4-31 we have a long debate between people who think they know why some people suffer so much and someone who is living with that suffering.  We will answer two questions as we look at this passage: ‘Do bad things really happen to faithful people?’ and ‘Is there something more important than answers?’  

Do bad things really happen to faithful people?

After seven days and seven nights Job cried out in anguish.  He has lost his wealth and his children.  He is covered from head to toe is sores.  He says it as he feels it.  ‘Why could I not have died at birth?’  He despairs of life itself.  ‘I have no peace, I have no rest, but only turmoil’ (3:26).

His words prompt a reply from his three friends.  Words can bring comfort, but the words of Job’s friends are crushing.  They think that they know why he is suffering.  They believe that what they say is important and true.  Yet what they say suggests that they neither understand Job nor the ways of God!

‘Bad things don’t happen to faithful people!’  That’s essentially what they say!  ‘You must have done something awful to deserve this.  You had better confess your sin and turn back to God.’  

But we know that Job has done nothing to deserve this nightmare.  In the first chapter God declared to Satan that Job ‘is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil’ (1:8).  Now, in response to his friends’ accusations, Job defends himself.

It is worth noting what Job says about himself.  I would like to be able to say these things about myself! 

‘Though he [God] slay me, yet will I hope in him . . .’ (13:15a)

‘My feet have closely followed his steps;

I have kept his way without turning aside.

I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than daily bread’ (23:11-12)

‘Because I rescued the poor who cried for help’ (29:12)

‘I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl’ (31:1)

‘. . . my door was open to the traveller' (31:32)

What does it look like to follow God faithfully—to be a person who is blameless and upright, to fear God and shun evil?  These verses give us a glimpse.  Here is holiness that is not dry and legalistic, but holiness that seeks to hold on to God—even when life is tough; that looks to God’s word for direction; that is passionate about our heart—guarding what we look at and think; and that shows kindness to others—including those who are desperate and marginalised.  It is not that Job is perfect, but there is certainly much about him that we would do well to imitate!

Faithful believers really do suffer.  While at times the Bible does speak of God disciplining his people (see 1 Cor. 11:27-32; Heb. 12:1-13) it also speaks of suffering, like that of Job’s, that is not related to any act of immoral behaviour (see John 9:1-12; Luke 13:1-5).  Simplistic formulas, like those of Job’s ‘comforters’, simply won’t do.

A good number of years ago I read a book that influenced me more than almost any other.  It’s called ‘How long, O Lord?’ by Bible-scholar, Don Carson.  In it Carson warns, ‘Practically speaking ... it is almost always wrong, not to say pastorally insensitive and theologically stupid, to add to the distress of those who are suffering illness, impending death or bereavement, by charging them with ... some secret sin they have not confessed ... [this] charge wrongly assumes that there is always a link between a specific ailment and a specific sin.’  In sickness—as at all times—we should be examining our consciences but ‘we should not necessarily expect to find a specific sin that has caused this distress.’      

Is there something more important than answers?    

The first study in the Christianity Explored course begins with the following question: ‘If you could ask God one question, and you knew it would be answered, what would it be?’  As you can imagine, that leads to some interesting discussions!  I suppose one obvious question would be ‘why does God allow suffering?’  To which we might answer, ‘suffering is a part of living in a fallen world.  Because humankind has turned its back on God we live in a world that is subject to his curse, a world where all people are subject to sickness and death.’ 

However, what if the person who asked the question is not really thinking about suffering in general but of a particular instance of suffering?  The question they are really grappling with is ‘why does my aunt have to have Alzheimer’s?’, ‘why did my brother die so young?’, ‘why did it have to be them and not someone else?’, or ‘why do I have to go through this pain?’

At this stage it might be worth holding up our hands and simply saying, ‘I don’t know.’  There is a mystery with suffering!  There aren’t easy answers that explain each person’s pain.  We don’t know why some people suffer so much.  Job’s suffering remained a mystery to him.  He did not get to look behind the curtains at the conversation between God and Satan.  While he was certain it was undeserved suffering he had no idea why it was him who had to go through that nightmare.

While Job may not know all things, he does speak of the importance of wisdom.  That’s the theme of chapter 28, which comes in the middle of his final response to his friends.  This theme of wisdom is one of the keys to understanding the book of Job.

In the Bible wisdom is not about knowing all things but knowing the best way to live.  At the end of chapter 28, having asked where wisdom might be found, Job declares, ‘The fear of the LORD—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’  As one study book explains, ‘true wisdom is not a matter of knowing why suffering happens; rather, true wisdom is a matter of knowing the God who knows why suffering happens ... The wise person cannot necessarily explain why everything in life happens, but the wise person is in a right relationship with God.’  When we go through times of pain and anxiety we might cry out for answers, and there may be none.  However, there is something more important that having answers—that is trusting God in the midst of all we go through in life.   That is wisdom!

The theme of wisdom points us forward to Jesus.  In Jesus, and his especially his crucifixion, ‘we also see the supreme example of God’s wisdom, for in defiance of all worldly wisdom, God chose to save people and bring them to know himself through the suffering and death of his Son on the cross (1 Cor. 1:8-2:10).  When we know Jesus, we are at the heart of God’s plan and goal for his creation.  This is why Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God.’

Other themes in Job point us forward to Jesus. 

Jesus is the perfect example of undeserved suffering—he knows what it is like to feel anguish and pain.  

A couple of verses that jumped out at me as I read through this section were the following: ‘He [God] is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.  If only there was someone to arbitrate between us.  To lay his hands upon us both’ (9:32-33).  Jesus is that arbitrator between us and God, who intercedes on our behalf (see 1 John 2:1 and Hebrews 7:25).

And in the face of the fickleness and faithlessness of his friends Job declares that a despairing man should have the devotion of his friends (6:14).  That ought to challenge us.  What sort of friends will we be to people we know who are going through hardships—will we helpful, caring and wise with our words and our presence?  As for Job’s desire for a faithful friend, we have the greatest of all friends, Jesus Christ.  In the midst of our pain we do have the sort of friend that Job longed for.    

Conclusions

The book of Job is more concerned with the ‘how?’ of suffering than the ‘why?’ of suffering.  Job’s suffering remains a mystery to him.  We couldn’t the family whom I mentioned at the start of the last sermon why they lost two sons—we don’t know!  We couldn’t tell Joan Wilson (who I also mentioned in the last sermon) why she lost her daughter Marie, and later her son Peter and husband Gordon—we don’t know!  We couldn’t tell Brian and Jan Callan why they lost two children and suffered miscarriages—we don’t know!  Neither did Job’s three friends know why he was suffering—even though they thought that they did!  Despite what they thought bad things do happen to faithful people.  Even a man who is described as upright and blameless, who fears God and shuns evil, can suffer like Job.

So how can we keep going when our world is falling apart?  How can we suffer in a way that honours God?   
By knowing God!  We may not know why we are suffering but we can know the one who does know why we are suffering—that is wisdom!
We can go through suffering with the help of the person that Job longed for.  Jesus has promised to be with his people.
Finally, we ought to trust God.  What amazing words: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him ...’ (13:15a).  How difficult, yet important, this is!  Let’s pray for the strength to do just that!

When bad things happen God's people (Job 1-3)

A friend of mine lost two brothers.  The first brother was mugged when he was in Germany.  The other brother died a couple of years later.  They were both twenty-three when they died.  My friend is a Christian, and her parents are salt-of-the earth people.  They have strong faith.  Why would this happen to them?  How do they keep going?  These are the sort of questions that we bring to the book of Job. 

The book of Job doesn’t present us with a series of abstract thoughts on the issue of suffering.  It doesn’t offer all the answers to the questions raised by my friend’s suffering or our own.  It’s more of a case study of the suffering of one man.  Yet through it we will learn about God, and how God’s people should or shouldn’t respond to the hardships that we face in this life.

In these three chapters we are going to be introduced to a man who gets what he doesn’t deserve, yet he remains faithful.  In his response to his suffering we will learn something about the God he worships.

A man who gets what he doesn’t deserve (1:1-5)

Job lived in the land of Uz.  He was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.  He is a believer who takes his faith in God seriously.  He is a family man, with seven sons and three daughters.  He is a wealthy man—in those days it was not your property portfolio or bank balance that measured your wealth but the size of your herd.  He was the greatest man among all the people of the east.  He is someone who was concerned about the spiritual well-being of his children.

The writer of this book wants us to be absolutely clear that this is a good and faithful man.  Job is going to suffer, but it is not because he has done anything to provoke God’s anger.  Right throughout history people have looked at those who have endured tragedy and said things like ‘they must have done something awful to deserve that (e.g. Luke 13:1-5 and John 9:1-12)?’ but the book of Job says that such generalizations can’t be assumed.  Job is about to endure a nightmare that he doesn’t deserve!

God is responsible, but he does no wrong (1:6-22)

As we move on, we get a look behind the scenes at a conversation between the God and Satan.  God invites Satan to consider Job, ‘There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”  To which Satan replies saying something like, ‘He’s only interested in you because you are good to him.  You have blessed him and made his life easy.  But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and surely he will curse you to your face.’  

The name ‘satan’ means ‘the accuser’.  That is what he is doing here—he is accusing one of God’s people.  What if Satan were to make a similar accusation about us: ‘their faith is only skin deep, they’re only in it for how it makes them feel, they’ll turn against you if life gets tough’?  As we embark on these studies in the book of Job we are going to be remembering that life as a Christian can be very tough.  With this in mind let’s commit ourselves wholeheartedly to God.  Let’s be people who want to please God whatever we face in life, and ask God to help us be people who stick by him even when tragedy strikes.

God takes up the challenge concerning Job and puts everything that Job has into Satan’s hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.  Notice that God remains in control.  Yes, Satan will torment Job but only with God’s permission.  Indeed, the parameters of what Satan can or can’t do to Job are laid down by God.

When it comes to suffering don’t let God off the hook too easily!  It might be tempting to attribute everything bad in life to satan and everything good to God.  The book of Job won’t let us be so simplistic.  Yes, Job will be the victim of evil men who attach his family; yes, he is under attack from the Devil, but God remains in control.  Indeed, the devil can only do what God permits him to do.

Having heard about the loss of his wealth and the death of his children Job tares his robes and shaves his head.  These were signs of intense grief and mourning.  Then Job does something amazing.  He falls to the ground and worships, saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.  He acknowledges the LORD is in control and the LORD is to be praised.  The word translated LORD, Yahweh, is the covenant name for God, a name that reminded the people of God’s faithfulness—even in the midst of his troubles Job recognises the faithfulness of God.

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing—even though he knows that God is ultimately responsible for what has happened he knows that God is perfect in his actions.  Even though God permits suffering, he is never morally compromised, he does no wrong.

On 8^th November 1987 an IRA bomb exploded at the cenotaph in Enniskillen.  Two of the people who were gathered for the Remembrance service were Gordon Wilson and his daughter Marie.  Gordon’s wife went to the hospital after hearing that he had been hurt.  After some time, she was to be informed that Marie was gravely ill.  She prayed out loud, saying “Oh Lord, thy will be done.”  When Marie got out of theatre Joan set off to Intensive Care begging God to give her the strength to cope.  She arrived to find her daughter dying.  She kissed Marie and saw her eyelids flicker.  Then the nursing sister whispered very gently, “Mrs. Wilson, Marie’s heart has stopped beating.”  Her daughter, Julie Anne, took her hand and said, “Mum, it is better this way.”  Joan says she could only utter, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

God is responsible, and Job says it how he feels it (2:1-3:26)

At the beginning of chapter 2 we have another conversation between God and Satan.  Again, God invites Satan to consider Job: ... he still maintains his integrity, tough you have incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

Satan is sceptical: “Skin for skin! ... A man will give all he has for his own life.  But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”  So, God permits Satan to torment Job.  Again, God remains in control, even setting the boundaries of the test— you must spare his life.

Satan afflicts Job with boils and sores from head to toe.  In his agony his wife gives him some lousy advice.  ‘Stop holding on to your integrity, curse God and die.’  She doesn’t seem to understand that the most important thing in life is not being free from pain.  The most important thing in life is to honour God—something Job is doing in the midst of his suffering!

Job says to her, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman.  Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”  Although it was Satan who afflicting Job, he recognises that God is the one who is in control.    In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.  Despite his suffering, Job will not accuse God of wrongdoing.

At the end of chapter 2, we are introduced to Job’s three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar.  They have come to sympathise with him.  They mourn with him for seven days and nights.  No-one said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was.  Oh, for the wisdom to know when to speak and when to remain silent!  If only Job’s comforters were always so wise!

Then, in chapter 3, Job opens his mouth.  He won’t curse God, but he does curse the day he was born.  Job is a man who says it how he feels it.  He is honest with his feelings.  When he was bereaved he tore his clothes and shaved his head.  He expressed his sorrow as he sat in the ashes.  Now he cries out in his pain.  Don’t imagine there is any merit in a stiff upper-lip!  These words remind me of the many psalms where the psalmists cry out to God letting him know exactly how they feel.  Isn’t it comforting that in his word God has shown examples of people telling it as they feel it, that God understands and can handle our expressions of grief?

Conclusion:

As we think of a righteous man who suffers, let’s not forget the only perfectly righteous man who suffered for our sake, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the only one who never sinned.  It is because he has taken the punishment of our guilt that Job and you and me can be considered blameless in the sight of God.  We live in a word where there is pain and suffering, but he will bring his people to a place where there will be no more crying or pain (Rev. 21:1-4).  Jesus is ultimately the answer to suffering.  However, we have to wait until our time of pain is ended.

The challenge of these chapters is ‘how will we react to the pain that we endure?’  

We start by remembering that God is in control.  Job suffered at the hands of evil men, he suffered in the hands of satan, but he ultimately, he recognised that God is in control.    The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised . . . Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?  This is a hard truth.  It might tempt us to be bitter with God.  However, I would rather know God is ultimately in control than think we are the subject of chance or chaos, or that the evil one had ultimate control to cause suffering.

We refrain from charging God with wrongdoing.  Even though Job knows that God has permitted these things to happen to him he does not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.  He knows that the LORD is faithful.  He is aware that God does no wrong.  God’s ways are perfect!

We need to acknowledge that there is mystery.  Job never gets to see what we see.  He never gets to look behind the curtains at the conversation between God and Satan.  The reason for his suffering remains a mystery to him.  We can’t tell Joan Wilson why her daughter died.

We are free to be honest about how we feel.  We should be free to be honest with each other and with God.  Job was open about how he felt.  As a church we should have a caring environment where we can be open and where we can comfort.  Remember that God allows us to be open with him about how we feel.      

So, let’s pray that God would give us the strength to remain faithful to him no matter what the years ahead have in store for us!