The Patriarch Job and Suffering

Different ministers have ways to prepare their messages for the congregation. After a long period in the ministry, I always want to wait for God's inspiration. Sometimes it comes through people, sometimes through circumstances, sometimes by getting on your knees and asking God for it. I always like to prepare the messages so they are fresh. I don't like to give what they call canned messages, which a person recycles. Older ones. I like to prepare just the ingredients right off of the pan, right out of the oven. But that takes a lot of work of preparation to do that week after week after week. And so it was interesting that just in the past couple of days, two persons have brought up a subject that got my attention because they did it independently. But both were going through different circumstances, and they brought up the book of Job, the book of Job in the Bible. And they wanted to hear about that book because when you go through trials and sufferings, there is a book about trials and sufferings, and God put it in the Bible to give us comfort, to help us in the time of need, because certainly Job was one of the persons that suffered the most. He went through one of the worst illnesses, and it just wasn't for a couple of days or a couple of weeks. It was months of agonizing pain. It was so horrible that he couldn't even sleep in his own bed at night. The only thing he could do was sleep on this ash heap because the ashes were soft and that he couldn't have anything hard underneath his body. Have you ever had something like that? Maybe just a terrible ulcer and a boil that you just didn't want anything touching it. Well, this was a circumstance with Job, and he went through it, like I mentioned, not for days or weeks, but for months. And so Job is a book about the problem of why we go through suffering, why God allows people to suffer. Many times when it doesn't have to do with sin, when it doesn't have to do with anything obvious that has happened, and so just like in the New Testament, we have the epistles of Paul, which explain to us in a much more personal way the sufferings that the Christians went through and how Paul had to go through such beatings and difficulties and insults and persecutions. He went through three times shipwrecked, and he went through, like I said, beatings, and it comforts us when a person that went through all of that encourages us. Well, in the Old Testament, the equivalent of Paul's epistles, in my understanding, is the book of Job. I would also add the Psalms are very comforting, but the book of Job really helps us to explain why there is suffering when sometimes it's not apparent what the cause is of all of this.

The importance of the book of Job, as we're going to go through the different lessons, is knowing that in life, not everything is black and white. Not everything is cause and effect, what some people call a cash register religion. In other words, you put down a certain sum, push the button, you get the same equivalent.

Of the cost of something, you get the same equivalent with the payment of it. No, it's not black or white in this sense. And God placed the book of Job to help us understand. Life is far more complex. You can't put everything in a neat little box and say, Oh, I know exactly why I'm going through this or why this person went through different things.

And so it is an inspired book. It's mentioned in the book of James as the patience or the endurance of Job. And certainly it's an example for us. And so we're going to go through the lessons of this book to help us understand that pain and suffering doesn't necessarily come from sin or for something evil that has happened. There are many different reasons that can occur. I've been going over the book of Ecclesiastes as well, and it's a good compliment in a sense to the book of Job.

Notice in Ecclesiastes as way of a background to the book of Job, Ecclesiastes chapter 8. And as we get older, we're going to go through more suffering, more illnesses. Sometimes you ask, why did I go through this? What happened? What did I do? Did I do something wrong? Is this a cause of some problem that I've had? And in the book of Ecclesiastes, we start with these philosophical questions. In Ecclesiastes 8 verse 12, Solomon says here, And so in a sense, Solomon is accepting that sometimes sinners can multiply their sins, and it looks like they're getting away with it.

It says also that even if he seems to days are prolonged. But the point is that there is a system of righteous justice in this life. And usually you're going to reap what you sow, but it isn't black and white. It's not absolutely that case. This is what is being brought up here. Most of the time, sinners pay with the consequences. They reap what they sow in this life. That is the norm. But that doesn't mean there aren't exceptions to the rule.

There are times when God doesn't just visit them with some punishment. Sometimes they are prolonged. But eventually what it says here is they are going to get their just desserts either in this life or the next life.

You can be sure of that. Notice in the same chapter, a little bit more down, going down, in verse 16, it says, Even though one sees no sleep day or night, even if he studies, becomes this philosopher to try to work and solve what are all the meaning in life, it says even if you spend all your time reading all these philosophy books, it says, All the work of God that a man cannot find out, the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it, yet he will not find it.

Moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it. Solomon, in a period later in life when he separated himself from God, he did not have God's inspiration and the Holy Spirit working with him directly. So he could not figure out what was the meaning of life. He was disconnected from God. And that can happen to any of us. We can just try to reason on our own. And we're not going to find the answer.

It only comes through God, through the Holy Spirit, inspiring and opening up and understanding. I would not know what this life is all about. If I would have just stayed in my former life and gone on with my physical pursuit, I would not have known what this life was about. I could have read all kinds of philosophy books and books on self-help and all of this wisdom that comes from psychology.

But those don't give you the ultimate answers. It was when I surrendered to God, when I admitted my ignorance and yielded to him, that then He started giving me His answers, not the answers around me in this world and in this society. That has happened to all of us who have come into the Church. So this is a summary that even though people try to discover the real meaning in life, if God does not reveal that through His Holy Spirit, a person is not going to find it on his own. We're going to be covering this subject a little later in this message. Notice in chapter 9, the next chapter over, in verse 11, He says, Now He is declaring something that is true, that not always the fastest wins the race, or the battle to Him who is the strongest.

Goliath, defeated by this lad, named David. And Goliath was far stronger, far more experienced, and yet David beat him. So again, you can't just put all of life's experience in these neat little boxes that, yes, if you're the fastest, you're going to win all your races. Or if you're the strongest, you're going to win all the battles.

No, that's not the case. At the same time, we should understand that the fastest usually does win the race. And the strongest usually does win the battle. Look at somebody like Michael Phelps. We just had the Olympics last year, and he had over 20 Olympic medals. Well, he was the fastest swimmer on earth. Did he win every one of the races? No, but he won the great majority of them. So what Solomon is saying again is there are exceptions to the rules. The runner can be the fastest and yet trip, or he might have indigestion that day. There are all kinds of things, so you cannot just calculate and forecast with 100% certainty what is going to happen.

That's what he is getting to, and that is part of the lesson in the book of Job as well. Life is more complex than simply math. It's not just 2 plus 2 equals 4, and everything is neat, and every circumstance is going to be with a forecast of the exact result. You can't deal with life as you do with numbers.

So one of the lessons of Job is sometimes we don't know why illnesses and tragedies happen. They could have many different reasons, and this is one of the problems that Job's friends, those three friends that showed up, they thought, oh, we've got it all resolved. We know, Job, why you lost all your wealth, why you lost all your children, why you're so sick.

Oh, we know for sure. See, these are the religious people that they say they have an answer for every situation. And God says, no, you don't. You're a human being. You can't figure everything out in this life. So you must be humble. You must take into account that God has many things working out that we have no idea what they are about. So let's go to the book of Job, because we need to have humility and recognize we don't have all the answers. We shouldn't claim to have all the answers. We shouldn't act like we have all the answers.

Some people like to presume they do, but the Bible condemns that. The book of Job condemns that. So let's start in the book of Job in chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. And of course, it's challenging to cover such a complex book in just a sermon. But I will just highlight the most important lessons as I see it. It says, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Also his possessions were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen. Can you imagine having 500 of these big, heavy cows for plowing? This man would have been a multimillionaire, if not a billionaire, in his days.

He had 500 female donkeys and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. He was just very wealthy. He was a good businessman, very prosperous in everything that he had done. And his children, they'd get together and meet, as it says in verse 4. And yet, in verse 5, Job was so careful that he said, well, perhaps my children, when they're all feasting, maybe they overdid it, maybe they drank too much, or maybe they used the wrong language. So he would offer a sacrifice, a sin offering before God, to have forgiveness for his sons. And it says, verse 5 at the end, thus Job did this regularly. So it looks like this was an upstanding man. He was following God's commandments. Now, Job is mentioned in Genesis 46.13. You don't have to turn there, but it's part of the chronology. And he was part of God's people. So he knew the commandments of God, and he put them into practice, and things had turned out quite well. But what he didn't know was what was happening up in heaven. And so this happens to every human being because God created all of us. He is the Father of all of us. And sometimes, up in heaven, there's a discussion about us. And Satan also reports to God, and God sometimes singles out different people. This is what happens in verse 6. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? So Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it. So yes, this is his domain right now. He has not been removed from his authority. The Bible says he's like a roaring lion looking for some weak person that he can influence and weaken further.

Verse 8, Then 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, one who fears God and shuns evil? And you think Satan was in a good attitude? Of course not. He is the term devil, is slander. He always looks at the negative. And so immediately he answers why Job is this way? Verse 9, So Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, a protection, around his household and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. So, yes, again, the general principle is that God will bless. He will put a hedge around his people that love him and obey him. But sometimes there can be exceptions that God chooses to test a person in a certain way.

And so in verse 11, Satan says, But now stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has in your power is in your power, only do not lay hand on his person. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. And so Satan used certain powers of nature. A tornado went through and killed his children, and then he used human instruments like raiders to plunder all of the different flocks that Job had.

So all 10 children were killed. And of course today, here in the Midwest, where you have tornadoes go through, you can lose a whole family in just a blink of an eye with these tornadoes that land and destroy a whole house and kill many people. That's what happened. So God took his hedge around Job and his family. Now some will say, well, that's not fair. Job deserved to be protected. Why did God allow this to happen? And again, God has the final word on things. He's working a plan here below that is not just black and white. It's not all, if we do this, then automatically we're going to get the protection and we're going to get all of the blessings. We're never going to get any cursing. We're never going to have any terrible afflictions or tragedies that happen. See, life is far more complex, and the Bible accepts this. This is why one of the reasons the book of Job is in the Bible, to help us not put God in this little box and, well, he has to do everything in a certain way.

In chapter 2 it says, again, verse 1, There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? So Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it. Now, he's not going to confess to all the mischief he's doing. He just says, Well, I'm just strolling around. No, you're not. You're a roaring lion waiting to see what weak person you can destroy. And he prays on people in the church and outside the church. There are all kinds of people that just are weak and available for Satan to destroy. We see that more and more.

Verse 3, Then 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, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause. See, there wasn't any sin here involved that Job deserved that punishment. Verse 4, Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. He said, Well, all of these other trials, they affected others in possessions, but he will protect his skin above all. And if you touch him, he will curse you.

Verse 5, But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse you to your face. And God allows that to happen. And so, verse 7, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a pot sure with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.

This was about the most humiliating thing that a person could do, because outside of the city, where they would take all the trash, it would eventually pile up and it would smell bad. So what they did is they would put a light to it, and then all the trash would burn and become ashes.

And then they would pour more garbage on top of that and would burn it. So eventually you had a pretty high mound of ashes. Well, this was the worst place to stay, but this was the place where Job sat on top of this, not in his house. And he would scrape himself with this little pot shard or the shard of pottery to stop the itching. And then Job's wife, she finally gave up after all of these tragedies. Verse 9, then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast to your integrity?

Curse God and die. And so she just felt nothing could get worse than this. And God had broken his covenant with Job and with her because they were both upstanding citizens. They had done things as God had wanted. And look where they ended up. Impoverished, no children, just the loss of one children is a huge tragedy. I'd like to lose 10 of your children in just one day and have to maintain that trust and relationship with God. She said, look, just give it up. It's not worth it. Just turn your back on God and curse him for all that he has done and then just die.

That's about the best that you can get out of this experience. Verse 10, Job was different. He said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and we shall not accept adversity? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. He didn't curse God.

Now, the first commandment says that you shall honor God. You shall love him. You shall retain that relationship with him, no matter what. The first commandment is between you and God. That's the most important of the Ten Commandments, and nothing in life should destroy that relationship. And so Job was strong enough in his faith that he did not curse God.

And he never did curse God through all of these chapters that we go through all of the arguments. And again, this is high theology. This is very important things because it talks about the things that happen in life, and people question why things happen. And then in verse 11, it introduces us to the three friends of Job. It says, Just a little aside, here you have the name, build at the shoe height. And so they talk about who is the smallest person in the Bible. Well, they say build at the shoe height because he is only the height of his shoes.

And then the next one is Nehemiah because he would be as high as his knees. So this is the shoe height. Now, I guess you've heard that joke before. Verse 12, And when they raised their eyes from afar and did not recognize them, they lifted their voices and wept. Couldn't recognize them with all the boils and all the bad shape that he was in. He couldn't even have clothes on. He just had probably just a loincloth. That's all he could stand. If you've ever had a bad boil, if you ever had any skin condition where it's just itchy and swelled up and all kinds of liquids are coming out and it's very painful.

And they lifted their voices and wept, and each one tore his robe in a sign of anguish and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. This is a sign of somebody dying. Well, when they saw Job this way, they were just heartbroken. So they sat down with them on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very grave.

They didn't dare say anything. He was just there wailing and his grief and his pain. And they waited seven days to talk with him. And then Job started. Now he didn't curse God, but he did curse almost everything else. It says in verse 1, After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke and said, May the day perish on which I was born. And the night in which it was said, a male child is conceived.

He just felt so miserable. He couldn't find any solace, any comfort. And so he goes on just feeling sorry for himself. And let's say, have you ever felt that way? Boy, I have. Have you ever had bad sciatica where you just couldn't move and everything was painful? And that's happened to me. And I'm sure a lot of people have it to the point where they're, Boy, I don't know if it was worth it living after going through this pain. And so he goes on in chapter 3, talking about all the miseries he's going through.

And then Eliphaz, who was the oldest of the three friends. Now, he had a perspective on religion that a lot of people have. And we can see here three different perspectives on religion. And basically, you can categorize most of the world's religions in these three false perspectives on it. We can call Eliphaz the voice of tradition. Remember in the fiddler on the roof where the father says tradition, and he was the one that had to give the go ahead for his daughters to marry. And he said tradition overall. Jewish people are very big on tradition.

And most of the religions are very big on tradition. And Eliphaz starts out and he brings up Job. Now, I come from a long line of these leaders, the tradition of our fathers. And I am looking at your condition. And according to our traditions, there's only one reason for this. And that is that you have sinned, and you have hid your sin, and because of that, all of these catastrophes have happened.

So he goes on here, and you can classify many of the world's traditions in this tradition. Hinduism is based on traditions. The caste system, where everybody that's born, is placed on this certain category, all the way to the last ones which are called untouchables. And those are the ones that are just born into the extreme poverty. And so you're classified according to the classes of people. Why? Because that's a tradition. That's the way it has been established, and you shouldn't question it.

And so they have this idea of the karma, which means that, well, in this life, everything you do is eventually going to be weighed, and you're going to receive in your next life, which is a reincarnation, you are going to be punished or rewarded according to what you did.

And so again, this cause and effect. You see, a fly is actually a person who has reincarnated as a fly because he was an evil person. So he ended up being subhuman. And they consider cows as the most divine of all creatures. And so if you get reincarnated as a cow, then you have this special treatment.

Cows are really worshipped and taken care of. That's why they call them the sacred cows. So again, tradition teaches you these things. You shouldn't question them. Tradition is based on authority. Authority imposes its way. When you're born into a Hindu religion, you don't have a choice. Just like Islam is another tradition. If you're born into it, if you try to leave Islam, that is a sin that is worth being killed about. And so everything here is black or white. And so it all depends on every effect has a cause that you can pin why it's happening.

Notice it says here in verse 7 of chapter 4. Remember now, whoever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off? Even as I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. Hint, hint. Job, you're paying for your sins. By the blasts of God they perish, and by the breath of his anger they are consumed. And then he goes on to mention in chapter 5 in verse 2, it says, And so he's hinting again, Job, look, all 10 children died.

And this only happens with a wicked. And so your sins have come to view, and you have been punished by God for them. Now, this is one of the most inane and lack of tact that you can imagine. Just going and because somebody's going through something and just say, well, that must have been something wrong with that person. This must be because of some terrible sin. That's not the case. God put this book of Job, and Job was innocent.

He had not caused any sin. And God just wants us to quit judging people in this way, as the traditionalists do. I remember when I was growing up as a Catholic, I would classify my Catholic religion as a traditionalist. Why do I believe? Because of the authority. And I'm going to burn in hell if I don't go to Mass on Sunday. That's a mortal sin. So I went every Sunday to Mass because my mother told me, look, this is what's going to happen to you. And it's based on tradition and authority. And so it was based on fear.

It was based on threats. Eliphaz would have been a good preacher there. He just said, look, this is the way it is. You've got to respect authority and tradition. Don't question things. Job, don't question your elders, the tradition. You're guilty. You're just being stubborn about it. You've got to confess. And so this world's religions are that way. You can study the writings of Augustine, like the one in the city of God, where he says that the Catholic Church is the kingdom of God here on earth. And people have to join it if they want salvation. Salvation can only come from being part of the Catholic Church.

And that's part of the tradition that they have. And Thomas Aquinas as well, they came to the conclusion, man is wretched. Only God can save them, and it's through the seven sacraments that you can receive salvation. There's no other way. So they've got seven different sacraments that you have to follow if you want salvation. And if you want to be a good Catholic and make it into heaven, you have to follow what the Pope says. He should not be questioned.

It's based on tradition and authority. So you see, Eliphaz was telling this to Job, and Eliphaz was wrong. Eliphaz was not teaching what God said in his work. There are many other reasons a person can be suffering. In Job 6, verse 14, when Eliphaz quit talking, Job had this simple comment. He said, to him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

You say, look, Eliphaz, you're telling me I have departed from God. I'm a sinner. That's why all these things have happened. But look, if you're practicing true religion, you would be kind. You wouldn't be accusing me of all these things. You wouldn't be just judging me in this way.

And so, don't believe that tradition is over Scripture. Scripture is over tradition. As it says in Acts 5, 29, we should obey God above men. That's what helped me break from being chained to a religion and said, I've got to follow the Scriptures. The true explanation. What Job was going to understand later, that this world's religions do not understand. So now we come to the second of Job's friends, Bildad.

Now, he was a bit younger than Eliphaz, so he waited his turn. In Job chapter 8, in verse 1, it says, So basically, he's saying, Job, you're just a big windbag.

You don't know what you're talking about, Job. You're maintaining your innocence, and it's clear that you're guilty. It's clear that you're hiding terrible sins. Verse 3, he says, You don't think you deserve what you've gotten?

So again, this is the second perspective on religion.

We can call this the prosperity gospel, which is, again, based on natural laws of cause and effect, that the righteous will just prosper, and that those that are wicked are just all going to be impoverished. Notice what he says here. Verse 5, If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awake for you and prosper your rightful dwelling place. Don't you know? This is an automatic law. You would start obeying God while he's immediately going to start prospering you. That's not the case. It's far more complex. Maybe the person with prosperity would leave the church if he just started prospering too much. See, God knows much more than what we know, what is good for us. Sometimes it doesn't work out just in this black and white, 2 plus 2 equals 4, type of a formula. Verse 7, Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly. Even if you started small, God's going to prosper you, and it's going to show.

It says, For inquire, please, of the former age, and consider the things discovered by their fathers. For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on the earth are a shadow. Will they not teach you and tell you, in utter words, from their heart? So again, he just thinks, Look, it's already been set up.

The prosperity gospel, a couple years ago they had a big fad about the secret and what was the great secret to success? Well, positive thoughts produce positive results. Negative thoughts produce negative results. So it was all about just positive thinking. That's going to be the rule. Well, sometimes you can think positively if you're in a plane, and the plane loses its engines, it doesn't do you much good, does it?

You're not going to have positive results. And so you sometimes can't change circumstances. It's not just this Pollyannish idea that everything is seen through rose-colored glasses, everything's going to be working out fine. If you just follow God, everything's going to turn out always right. Many times there are curves along the way. There are obstacles. Now, this prosperity gospel about the righteous being prospered and the wicked being impoverished, a lot has to do with Calvin's idea, John Calvin back in the 16th century with predestination. And he said that a person that is saved by God, you're going to see by the results, just material results.

If you've been predestined to make it into the heaven, you're going to see it by the results of a person's life. They're going to be prosperous. Everything's going to be fine. And the way Calvin changed the Old Testament law, which is what now Presbyterians and many of these Methodist type churches, what they teach you is that the Old Testament law has now been transformed into a spiritual law.

So now you don't have to keep the Sabbath because now the Sabbath has been transferred to the first day of the week. Sunday is the new Sabbath. That's why the pilgrims used to call Sabbath Sunday, because everything was transferred over. The Old Testament law now has been changed. And who determined? Changed to what? Well, the Calvinists would tell you. They would figure out, okay, now it's Sunday. It could have been Tuesday. It could have been Wednesday. They were going to spiritualize the law into a certain day of the week. So people that are in this type of mentality, they just say, well, we don't have to worry about the Old Testament law because it's now been spiritualized.

It's been moved over to different things. See, we don't have to keep the food laws because now it's spiritualized. It's only what's inside of us that God is concerned about. You can eat pork. You can eat serpents. You can eat cockroaches, whatever. It doesn't matter because it's the spiritual element that is important. So they went from food laws to eating anything they want.

Now Luther, on the other hand, he didn't spiritualize the Old Testament law. He did away with the Old Testament law. This wasn't transferring the spiritual. He just cut it off. Boom! This Old Testament is gone. Now we just have the New Testament laws based on the Gospel. And what are those Old Testament, what are those New Testament laws now? Well, we determined that. We Lutherans, that's why it's called the Lutheran Church, just Luther set it up. And he also chose Sunday as a day of worship. But he said it's not sacred.

It's convenient to meet. Because you see, he didn't transfer anything about the spiritual. He just said, we're going to meet on Sunday. We're going to meet on Christmas Day. We're going to do all of these things because the Old Testament law has been abolished. So again, these are all kinds of messages about substituting and replacing God's laws with something else. Now, the Church of God is the fourth perspective on God's law. We have the Catholic, which is based on authority and tradition.

We have Calvin, you spiritualize the law. You have Luther, you abolish and replace the law. That's why it's called replacement theology. And you have the Church of God, which says God's laws are still binding, but not only the letter, but the spirit of God's law. They go together. We just can't keep it physically. We need to keep them spiritually. And of course, Christ's sacrifice did eliminate and substitute for all of the ritual and sacrifices. But again, it's because Christ fulfilled that.

So in the Church of God, we don't have this spiritualizing element nor this abolishing element. Now, the third friend, Zophar, in Job chapter 11, he's the one that's the black and white. He doesn't have any variations here. It's either good or bad. And Job, look at the results. Therefore, things that were bad were done by you, and this is why you're in this pickle. Job 11, verse 1, it says, Job said, look, it isn't anything terrible that I've done that brought these curses.

They're the exacts from you less than your iniquity deserved. This is the worst one. At least the other ones were a little more patient. This one says, Job, you should be thankful that you're sitting in this heap. You deserve a lot worse for your sins. Boy, with friends like these, who needs enemies, right? They weren't comforting him at all.

And the only thing Job brings out is that he examines his life. He doesn't see any real reason for all of the calamities that have happened. And he insists on having a mediator. If he could just have a mediator. Notice what it says here in chapter 9, verse 32. It says, For he is not a man, as I am, talking about God, that I may answer him, and that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both.

So Job was withholding a certain judgment that he didn't know exactly why he was going through this. But he said, if I just had somebody as a mediator that would come and be a lawyer on my step, the defense, because he says, Well, with God, I can't face him directly, but if I just had somebody that understood my situation and would go before God in this way.

And then in Job, they have this big debate, but basically it's these three perspectives. Job, listen to tradition, listen to authority. Or Job, remember about the part here, the prosperity gospel, that you're not being blessed. So you're doing something wrong. And then the other one, everything's black and white. You either have to, if you're going through tough times, there's a reason you have to confess. So then the fourth friend shows up, La-Hew. I have to pardon my voice. I've got a little bit of a summer cold today. Job 32, verse 1, says, So these three men ceased answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes.

In a sense, he insisted he had done anything wrong to deserve all the calamities. But at the same time, he had a pretty high opinion of himself. In Job 33, verse 9, it says, La-Hew says about Job, he says, I am pure without transgression. I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me. Yet he finds occasions against me. He counts me as his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks. He watches all my paths. And so La-Hew says, Job, you're judging God now, that he's just doing this because he wants to humble you and he wants to hurt you and he wants to humiliate you.

In Job 35, verse 1, we can see the conclusion here. La-Hew says, If you sin, what do you accomplish against him? Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you're righteous, what do you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects a man such as you and your righteousness a son of man.

So all of the four friends saw that Job was insisting on his innocence. La-Hew is the only one that's not criticized later on because he wasn't just pressing Job to confess. Yes, you're guilty. You deserve what you're going through. And so God answers Job in chapter 38, verse 1, So God starts saying, Job, I'm bigger than what you have figured out about me. Sometimes our God is too small. We have limited him to a point where we don't realize his majesty, his power, his wisdom, and all of these things.

In Job, chapter 40, verse 1, Then Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer. Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further. And God continued showing Job that he is perfectly in charge. He knows what he is doing. And that Job did have self-righteousness because he compared himself to others and found himself superior.

But he didn't compare himself to God. He didn't have a big enough God to look to. And the final part in Job 42, verse 1, This is the conclusion of the book. After God explained all the things he has done, verse 1, Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. So now he didn't have God in this little box, all figured out why God does things.

He understands God is so much higher, as it says there in Isaiah 55, My thoughts are not your thoughts, as the heaven is higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than yours. So Job got another perspective on things. Verse 3, he says, You asked, Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak. You said, I will question you, and you will answer me.

I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, who was kind of in charge of that small group, My wrath is aroused against you, and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. So all of these ideas, well, you just have to follow tradition, blindly follow authority, don't question, don't examine things for yourself, that's false.

Also, this idea that religion is packaged, this prosperity gospel, that if you follow God, everything's just going to turn out right. Many times we're going to go through difficulties, just like Job did. But God knows what he's doing. Sometimes we're not going to have neat answers. Sometimes I just can't say anything about what a person's going through, and just comfort them, love them, help them, but not try to explain every little thing that's going to happen, or why things have happened.

God knows. I don't. I want to learn the lesson from Job. I want to learn that we don't have all the answers. Going on, it says, Now therefore take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams. Go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him lest I deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has.

So he could have struck them with a similar disease, having all of them, the three of them, sit on these ash heaps because you can't put God in a little box. You can't put religion and what to do in this cause and effect and everything you can figure it out.

You can't. Verse 9, So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and so far the Nemethite went and did as the Lord commanded them, for the Lord had accepted Job. And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. And indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before came to him and ate food with him in his house, and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him.

Each one gave him a piece of silver and each ring of gold. You notice where were they when he was going through everything? Well, when you're going through things, it's only your true friends that stick by you. Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had 14,000 sheep, twice as many, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He called the name of the first Jemima, the name of the second Keziah. It says in verse 15, And in all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them as an inheritance among their brothers.

After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died old and full of days. But Job learned a lesson to walk humbly before God and man. Let's go over it real quickly the four lessons here. The first is that Job learned about compassion, because while he was rich, he didn't realize how many people were suffering, how many people were there scraping their sores.

So he learned to console those that were in a worse condition. Number two, Job learned about a mediator. We have a mediator between God and us, Jesus Christ, who came, who suffered. Worse than Job, to be able to present us before God, blameless.

Number three, Job learned about the dangers of self-righteousness, of comparing himself with others and not with God. And finally, Job learned something. Sometimes we don't have all the answers. We need patience. We can complain to God for what we're going through, but not curse God. Someday we'll have to wait till the kingdom of God comes, where he will wipe away every tear and explain every tragedy, why it happened. He knows. We don't know all the answers. Let's finish in James chapter 5. James chapter 5 talks about Job here.

It says in verse 8, You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. And then he says, verse 10, My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure.

You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. So it's a wonderful lesson. God cannot be put in a box. Neither can true religion be placed in a box as well.