Job 4

And a messenger came to Job and said the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them When the Sabians raided them and took them away indeed They have killed the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you While he was yet speaking another came and said the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants Consumed them and the servants and consumed them and I alone have escaped to tell you While he was yet speaking another also came and said the Chameleons formed three bands Raided the camels took them away Yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you while he was still speaking another also came and said your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and Struck the four corners of the house and it fell on the young men and they walk They are dead and I alone have escaped to tell you then Job arose tore his robe shaved his head Fell to the ground and worshipped and he said naked.

I came from my mother's womb Naked shall I return there the Lord gave the Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord In all in all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong so you remember now last week we had a We had a conversation and we considered some thoughts about the whole presenting of the The sons of God and remember we talked about that whether the sons were God were literally To be thought of as men or they or is this angels and and and I said to you that that I believe you could find in the scriptures that sometimes the sons of God are mentioned as men those that trust in God and that also the The angels are considered sometimes as the sons of God and we looked at some scriptures about Angels in and the thought and I had a conversation with brother Mike Even this week about this and he asked me a question.

And so I just want to ask this thing about this for a second when when the angels come before God and Present themselves and Satan is summoned Was it are we to consider it is only the good angels and Satan or is it good angels bad angels? and Satan Satan being in that sense the the Prince over those that had fallen and I thought I was in it.

We had an interesting conversation and my thought is this I lean towards the thought that the angels that presented themselves before God were the good angels and Yet and yet remember we read the scripture in first Kings 22 where it talked about Again a scene if you will in heaven and how there was some on the right hand and some on the left And that gives me somewhat pause about whether it was only good angels versus Good angels on the right side and bad angels on the left side because you remember as you go through the scriptures What do we see at times we see God has again some on his right hand some on the left and who would be on? the right hand Yeah, and and even as far as the children of men the sheep are always where On the right hand, right and the left hand is always for the goats and So that's why all you lefties are really in trouble But it is what it is, you know, they say left-hand people are in their right mind.

So don't Don't throw too many rocks at it.

Okay.

So anyway, we're gonna come up again with this conversation as we get into chapter 2 But so Satan has if you will Accused God in the sense of saying the only reason why job is serving him is because God has put this great hedge about him and And God gives him permission and we considered that that is the thought of permission to go about and to touch all the job has now Just that thought alone is staggering to me that God gives him permission to do This and yet God says why in in chapter 1 says you can't touch his life That's the one thing you can't do and so I want to pick it up there because in verse 13 now Satan goes out and He goes back to roaming back and forth on the earth because that's his domain And I said to you and I will continue to say the devil is the most unsettled creature there is he he is He just roams back and forth.

He goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom you may devour And so now he goes out has permission from God and then in verse 13 now There was a day when his sons and daughters were eating drinking wine in their oldest brother's house And I assume this to be the oldest brother's birthday because you remember we looked at that and I suggested to you That these days that they had feasts and they gathered together it was it was the families all the kids getting together and And even there's a thought it had to be kids involved.

I would think there would be wouldn't you in other words? there's ten kids seven sons and three daughters and they all get together and They feast and I would assume that there's kids involved in this Anybody disagree or anybody have any thoughts about that? What you think that at this time there must have been some kids I Think so.

All right, so Satan goes out and Here's the interesting.

Here's an interesting thought just to think about wonder how long it took from the time that Satan came before God and If you touch him, he'll what? Okay, he said if you touch if you touch if you take that hedge away, he will he will curse you to your face God gives him permission and now we see the beginning of the outworking of this and and there must have been some time involved I don't know how much Scriptures don't tell us but just the thought of the Sabeans that enter into this and then the Chaldeans I mean it had they were roams of Marauders, they just went from place to place And all they did was pilfer and steal and destroy and take for themselves but there must have been a time from when God gave the the evil one permission to do that and Then the outworking of it and I'm gonna suggest it's a rather short period of time But here's a thought to think about as we go through this That By God's permission The devil has great access to move people to create havoc to Hurt harm and destroy and so he goes and he incites the Sabeans and the Chaldeans and and that's where we see that as they gathered together at the oldest brother's house verse 14 and a messenger came to Job and said the Oxen were plowing and donkeys feeding beside them when the Sabeans came now Sabeans would have been Those from from like Arabia the Chaldeans would have been from more of Babylon Area, but anyway, there's these two separate groups and they come in in the first group.

I guess they're after Thereafter certain things because they take the oxen And the donkeys so when the Sabeans raided them in verse 15 They took him away and indeed they have killed the servants With the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you a couple things in that I so you got to believe that Job has a pretty good enterprise going on I mean he has people working for him I don't think this is the thought of of slaves rather than hired help that he has a certain group of people that he's hired to take care of the the camels and the donkeys and that the Sabeans come towards them and raid them and destroy them and and kill the servants and I think that's interesting because Remember what God said you could take all that he has but you can't touch his life But he never forbid he never forbade the evil one from touching other lives.

Did he? And and and we're gonna see that that's how it works out he kills he winds up killing the servants and and stealing the donkeys and the and the camels and for all of that the One one escapes and I think that's interesting.

Why do you think one of them was allowed to escape? So he could share the bad news, all right Who would you say allowed him to escape God or the evil one? What does it means why why you said it bro Okay, I just wanted I wanted to clean the deck.

Yeah, I mean Ultimately God is the sovereign over the affairs of life, right? I was reading my own reading this morning and saw him Psalm 49 and it talks about how God knows all the birds on every mountain and I've always enjoyed Thinking of something like that.

Just think about that.

God owns the bird on every mountain anyway, I would agree that God ultimately led him, but I also will say Remember what what what is the desire of Satan to entice Job to do what? Curse God so I would also suggest that this was also a Maneuver on the part of the evil one to allow this servant to come to Joe and to tell him the bad news and that in that It would cause discouragement to Job and it would cause him Ultimately at least in the mind of the evil one to curse God What the Sabine's rated and they took that and while he was yet speaking in verse 16 another came and said the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and Consumed them and I alone have escaped to tell you again We talked about this just a little bit, but one emergency in a day is probably more than we can all handle Two emergencies in a day Three emergencies in a day in the world's coming to an end, right? and yet As Job hears about death and he hears about theory and he hears about Destruction while he is still Kind of trying to digest that Another one comes and it's interesting in verse 16 And I just ask you to think about a little bit that the servant who escapes says the fire of God Fell from heaven So, let's think about that a minute was it the fire of God I'm gonna wake you up one way or another Come on was it the fire of God? What do you think he comes and he says the fire of God has fallen and You say brother that everything's under the disposition of the sovereign God, right? Does the servant misunderstand us here, bro Okay But this is not Job saying it this is the servant look in verse 16 Well, he was yet speaking another also is another one of the servants and he says the fire of God fell from heaven Burned up the sheep and the serpents servants and consumed them and I alone have escaped to tell you Does everything even like you said when Joe came to the conclusion that God gives God takes away The service under Joe their view of God whether they was Joe's God or whatever They saw all things when we see his friends.

They assume God is doing this They never say that the enemy is doing this.

They never say they say God is doing this to you So they assume the wrong on the part of humanity and they also assume God is just a just God They have no really concept Okay Let me ask you a question just to think about Today right now not just in the Old Testament, but for people today.

Do you think people have that same thought? When a hurricane or a tornado blows through that The fire of God has fallen from heaven It seems that there more see God as a judge and When we come to today's society We see this overreacting God is love and anything that is bad is not so I think it's a perception of a view of God from then and but those of us who Know God and know his attributes from his word It's sad.

We know this but we don't say that we don't we don't ever say that God Is because of fear man, I think that's that's a little sad in itself.

Yeah Yeah, and and here's the reality and as we get to think about it as we get to go through the book more and more we'll we'll examine this thought but Again God rules overall But at the same time it does appear as if the evil one has a certain domain That he is allowed to use to accomplish his purposes which are always what Destructive but I want to show you something and it's in the book of Job and go to job chapter 37 a second Job 37 I want to read something to you In this context or in this thought What Where is my scripture here Huh, oh That's because I'm in the book of Psalms I'll never find it in the book of Psalms.

All right job chapter 37 and Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Look at verse 10 and we'll come back to this at some point, but it says this by the breath of God ice is given Also with moisture he saturates the thick clouds He scatters his bright clouds and they swirl about being turned by his guidance That they may do whatever he commands them on the face of the whole earth Now look at verse 13.

He causes it to come whether for correction or for the land or for mercy Let's think about that for a minute.

What is that saying to us? Is that saying to us that although God is the ruler overall? It's not always easy to discern the purpose that's behind The things that take place and here in job 37 and actually in job one We were looking now It's it's talking about the works of of creation or the things of nature That the things of nature are not always easily discernible Like in other words and I think you brought it up if there's a tornado God wouldn't do that right because God is love Well, then we have to even expand that thought a little bit Why things take place sometimes it's for judgment, isn't it? I mean certainly if you look especially in the Old Testament drought Famine one day not visible signs of God's judgment upon people Sure was But at the same time it says it could come for judgment.

It could come for the land What does that mean? Is that saying that that? God actually sends rain for the sake of the land that he created.

I Think so.

Yeah, right and and who or for mercy and That God again, it's not always easy friends to discern the the signs of the times and that as As this servant comes and I agree with your brother to to an extent that as he comes he sees it as it is under the hand of God and God did this and God did that and Ultimately when you think about it It really was the working of the evil one is the one that that incited the Chaldeans he has been given permission by God to do these things So even then that thought I'm not sure it's always easy to discern again Devastation and why these things take place Sometimes it's for correction.

Sometimes it's for judgment.

Sometimes it's for mercy, right? I think that's two different things.

And then the second one is perfect.

I Agree, you know the secret things belong to God.

We don't know the purposes except for those that he reveals That's so right purpose is this different than cause and I guess my biggest point was I just think that Because we live in a time to where we don't give God glory for all things that If Theology is more war and it makes room for I mean when you think about this Chaldeans and all the hands and all those It's easy to just become ethnically Racist prejudice.

Yeah, I have you as this tried to See that, you know, this is the hand of God What and I think Job's? What a view is correct Joe when all this happened to him, he doesn't point the finger we never hear him talk about These people or anything he deals with God and I think that's that's there's a lesson whether good or bad or whoever hands that it comes instead of trying to Assign blame to know that all things come from God and now we as God's creatures in God's creation The best thing for us to do is to get along with self and deal with God and I think at least for me that's that's what I You know took away is to understand that hey I need to be more open and more Understanding of the true concept of God that nothing happens outside of his will and there's a purpose in everything So instead of me blaming you for something that happened to me I need to know God allowed it and then I need to seek the purpose for which he allowed.

Yeah Yeah, and The thought is God is the cause of all right? We would all agree God is the cause of all and trying to understand because we ought to try to understand Wouldn't you agree that we ought to try to understand not only? the will of God for each of us in our lives but also the outworking because again to your point so many people they'll see something and they'll say it's a result of Serendipity, it's a result of chaos.

It's a result of the The way to cookie crumbles it's the roll of the dice I mean you just think about all the things that people throw out there as as trying to if you will Make sense of what takes place the reason why I wanted to show you that verse in chapter 37 at this point was to try to say it's not always as clear-cut as you might think it to be and Now when this servant comes and he says the fire of God has fallen from heaven in his mind He truly thinks it's the fire of God.

It's the lightning of God but just so we understand it really was Although God Gave permission for it.

It really was a tool of the evil one and That he uses this to crush Job because that's his in that's his purpose, right? That's why he came before God Why are you what where you been? Have you considered my servant job? And of course that that whole back and forth so something that we'll touch upon again, but I wanted to bring that out it also wanted to bring out the fact that while he's Job is being if you will bombarded with these things again, even in that whoever gives permission to this servant to escape He then comes and he relates to him now the sheep and the servants are burned up again more death Verse 17 while he's still speaking another came and said the Chaldeans Formed three bands raided the camels and took them away and killed the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you I thought about something.

I also thought about how Evil comes from many different places Think about it evil comes the civilians are really from from one area and they are a group of thieves and scoundrels and marauders and and In it for themselves and so were the Chaldeans and and I don't believe that they were they didn't come together and say okay You go get the sheep in the oxen and we're gonna go get the the camels It's just that the ways in which Trials come the ways in which God Manifests himself to us whether it be in weather nature In the workings of man, it's there's a whole lot out there and in that thought I think it's good for us to understand that We always got to be ready for anything We really have to we have to wake up in the morning and say Lord I'm not sure what today will bring.

I'm just thankful that you're the one that's gonna bring it, but you never know What's gonna come to you in any given day? Do you and that it could come from many different quarters and it could be Ultimately, we know this that all things work together for good to them that love God, right? That's our hope.

That's the anchor That's the thing that keeps us steady But at the same time we are to to redeem the time we are to walk.

What does it say? We ought to walk? Circumspectfully, we are we ought to be ready for anything at any time because in in In so many diverse ways Things will come into our path and again if you will just consider Job for a second and and what a What a horrible thing to have happen to you, but it's not it's not over yet, right So verse 18 while he was still speaking Another came and said your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house and Suddenly a great wind came from across the world the wilderness.

Maybe it's a sandstorm Maybe it's a tornado.

I'm not sure whatever it was.

It was a great wind and Struck the four corners of the house and it fell on the young men and they are dead and I alone have escaped to tell you again, I Can't even begin to imagine What's taking place in Job's mind at this point ma'am Right Not to say that, you know, God promises that every Christian on this side of the earth or in your hardships By understanding that Matthew 6 that our treasures are ultimately in heaven Yeah, so I think it was a good correlation to see that, you know, sometimes the wicked We hear we could pinpoint something bad happening and they're saying oh this was God that made this bad thing happen And on this side of the earth, we're looking at it as like, okay You're like, you know famous people who aren't saying like Yeah Absolutely, and really the thought is that most people Most people's concept of life So, let's just say this is the veil this is the veil between this life and the next life, okay most people Is where they live, right? Not it is where they live is where they think right, and even No, we're all spiritually minded.

But even as the children of God How much of our thought pattern stays here? And the whole point of it and I think one of the themes of the book that we'll get into is that God's gonna reveal to Job things that Job If he understands he doesn't understand it the way he needs to understand it, right and and the point is all of us Need to go here, right? We need to think about this Because On this side of the bill, it's clearly confusing what you just said, right the prosperity of the wicked Hey, Job is gonna bring that up.

And and here's the other part his friends are Really stuck here In a sense because they are looking at his his life Which seems to be falling apart and they're making that they're gonna make an accusation Against him that the only reason why his life was falling apart because he said Right and ultimately jobs gonna say What we'll see over and over again Job's gonna say hey, I know I'm a sinner But I still trust see Job's trust is ultimately here.

The problem is Job's life is here That's it.

And that's the situation with us, right? Yeah, remember what Paul said to be with Christ is what far better Because Paul knew In a in a very intimate way what was on this side of the veil? But Paul realized he lived here and then you can get into even Paul's desire to Press on and he says I haven't come to where I ought to be So so yeah, I'm glad you brought that point because it's gonna be a theme throughout the book Because his friends keep telling him if you will only repent Joe, you'll get everything you had.

God will bless you and That's even what the evil one said, didn't he? He said you put a hedge around him That's why he serves you and God knowing Exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it God understood I mean, there is no veil with God, right? The light and the darkness are both the same to him So something to think about but yeah, that's a that's a good point.

And so he continually goes through these I Don't know after the third one.

I probably would not have wanted to see a servant coming down the road No more no more don't come turn away And yet His sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house and now they're gone And again, I'm gonna suggest that there were children involved I'm gonna suggest that it wasn't just kids his grandkids bro It's like the false teachers of the day and prosperity thinking they will teach you they will teach you and they'll say hey if you're Sinning, that's why you're not getting blessed And jokes same difference and look how many thousands of years later still got the same old devil Yeah, because what he wants to do is Keep everybody here, right? To me it's like gravity Just sucks you in and less and again Job has An understanding of God But it's it's really incomplete.

His friends have an understanding of God and this is incomplete but as we go through it, you'll see and I would say that as we read this final statement of Of job, but before I said it Interesting that he killed all the kids God never said not to kill the kids Interesting he killed the servants Interesting to me we've seen nowhere.

He killed his wife and I'm gonna bring this up as we go through it further and further because I don't believe he took his wife's life Matter of fact, I think his wife stayed with him and I'll show you that as we go through the book I will show you what I believe that the reason why Job's wife said curse God and die might not be what we think and That ultimately because later on in the book I know I'm just I keep reading from back and forth so I'm later on in the book and I'm sorry for but Later on the book job says my wife hates my breath And me and Mike were talking about that too Mike said yeah, he was a rich guy with stank breath There are many many people who will say that Job's wife Was not Was not saved Yeah, there are some people that would suggest that if she didn't die that she kind of just Left the scene left home said I'm out of here.

I can't deal with this no more I was just yeah, but I do think it's interesting and that Satan Takes the kids takes the the servants and Spares the wife in that sense because mother God says you can you can touch all his possessions You just can't touch him and yet there's this somehow the wife is never taken So just something to think about all right, so as we Come down it and and I will say that this probably is one of the greatest statements in the Bible What he says in verse 21 and 22 Again imagine the four people have come and Have basically told you your life is over dude.

It's gone.

You got no possessions Your kids are all gone Everything that you thought you had you no longer have and Then Job arose and tore his robe shaved his head fell to the ground and worshipped Wow, I Would I would ask you to think that this might be the high point in the book of Job? Other than at the end when God ultimately reveals himself Because from here on Job goes a little bit downhill Sometimes friends when things are darkest we think the clearest In other words, just think about this all these things have come upon him and That's if you will that's things of darkness and it Job has clarity of mind and integrity of heart to say naked came I from my mother's womb and naked shall I return and that sometimes it's easiest to see the the stars Well, it is easy to see the stars on a dark night And this certainly is a dark time for Job and yet he could turn and say that The Lord gave and the Lord takes away blessed be the name of the Lord and that is If you will the very thing That did the evil one.

See I don't like saying Satan.

I always said evil one.

That's the very thing that the evil one Said to God would not happen.

Remember what he said you take away the hedge.

He'll curse you to your face God allowed him to take away the hedge and what is Job do he worships is he struck is he is he if you will Weak Joe Burroughs tore his robe shaved his head which was a picture of his sorrow and and and his Situation and he fell to the ground and he worshiped man.

That's that's an amazing statement and The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord in all this in all this Job did not sin nor charge God With being unjust And that word charge is interesting work because it really means to in a sense Ascribe to someone so all these things come upon Joe His life basically he's had the carpet pulled out from underneath him The evil ones true hope is that now Joe will turn around and say God Curse God and for all that he doesn't well, what about us? How do we handle situations? Where there's a system or whatever, I think the important thing for me that stood out is that What Joe did there? That will never happen.

If that's not your lifestyle usually if you're not worshiping in private and if you're not worshiping when times are good and then when things happen Yeah, no, absolutely We understand that all things come from God Joe worship when times good Job's house is Miss church, we we yeah, we don't read because we're busy, you know things but then our child gets sick or something happens And we wake up Because we haven't been worshipers and I think that's Job's house is built on a rock, right? many many people's house is built on sand and when He retains his integrity because because ultimately his integrity is the manifestation of God's grace to him and that in that He will not ultimately be removed But he will and again we talked about this but just we only got a second or two a minute or two You never find Job in the book of faith in that great chapter of faith in Hebrews 11 Just think about it think about all the people that are mentioned in chapter 11 of Hebrews you got Samson Jethro and and Many many of the great heroes if you will or characters of the faith, but Job is never mentioned But Job is mentioned in James because of what? his perseverance his pressing on And and and this is one of the things that stands out to me about this book In Joe of Joe is that yeah, Job is gonna be shaken at some points He he downright complains and don't don't get this picture that Job is just Job is a lot at this point He's like Eliza on Mount Carmel Man, he's calling down fire from heaven.

He's burning the The false prophets, but don't we forget what happened to Elijah? What happened to Elijah after the conquest on Mount Carmel? Right that old Jezebel says I'm gonna get you and he goes he runs and hides So in in that sense and even in that way our lives sometimes are like that.

Sometimes we're on Mount Carmel Sometimes we're running from Jezebel But but the reality is if we're founded on the rock And I agree with you Tim ultimately the only ones that will endure Are the ones that are on the rock and the only reason they're on the rock is why because God put him on a rock right, we believe I Read a statement a while ago, and it's been sticking in my mind And it has to deal with what God is going to do with Job and his friends, by the way But but the the quote was omnipotence, which means all-powerful Omnipotence can take its time because omnipotence is assured of success Just think about that Omnipotence can take its time because omnipotence is sure success When devil comes and he says to God you you remove the hedge and God says Go ahead.

Take the hedge and then we're going to begin to see in chapter 2 that that Satan still doesn't understand.

He doesn't under Just this one word And remember we've brought that up I said to you that the angels they don't understand the grace of God matter of fact They're looking down.

We looked at that verse in first Peter.