Overview of the Book of Job

Moore's Corner Church

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So, the overview of the week for this Sunday is the book of Job. The book of Job.

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If you've ever read that and you think it's Job, it's not Job, it's Job. If you think it's

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Job, you need to come to church more, okay? So this is the first of the wisdom books of the

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Old Testament. We don't know the date that it was written or the author, but it is believed that Job was a contemporary of Abraham.

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So, this is very, very old. Some have speculated it may be the oldest of the books written.

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We're not exactly sure. But the theme of Job is that of theodicy, or the problem of evil and suffering.

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The book begins with these words. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared

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God and shunned evil. So Job, we know, was blessed by God. He had wealth.

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He had a big family. And then we read what basically amounts to a wager in heaven between God and Satan.

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The Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? And Satan then says to God, basically the only reason

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Job serves you is because you've blessed him. So, take away all that he has, and just watch, he will curse you to your face.

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So the Lord allows Satan, gives Satan permission to afflict Job. Job is unaware of all of this.

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So he's trying to understand why are all these bad things happening. So again, this is the problem of evil and suffering.

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And there's an assumption because Job's friends, we remember, show up to try to comfort him, and the assumption is,

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Job, this must be your fault. The reason you're suffering, there must be some sin in your life.

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But of course, that really wasn't the case. Sometimes it is. Sometimes that's the reason. Not always.

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So there's so much to say in just like a three minute overview, but in the end,

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Job, he wants an answer from God. And God responds to Job, basically, who are you to question me?

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And people really struggle with this, and struggle with the whole book, and the problem of evil in general.

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If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world?

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Especially, why do the righteous seem to suffer so?

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A few important points to take away from the story. Number one, God is sovereign. God is sovereign.

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He's the one in control. Not Satan. Satan had to get permission to do all of these things.

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That's number one. Number two, we often don't know why God allows. We want answers, but oftentimes, we just don't know.

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We may never know in this life. That leads us to trust in God. That's the whole point, to trust in the

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Lord by faith. And number three, as to the question some people ask, why do bad things happen to good people?

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Well, ultimately, there has only been one who was without sin, and that was the

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Lord Jesus Christ, and he willingly suffered on our behalf.

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And Job, it seems that he knew something about Christ, or the promises of God, because he said in chapter 19, verses 25 and 26,

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Job said, For I know that my Redeemer lives, and he shall stand at last on the earth, and after my skin is destroyed, this

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I know, that in my flesh I shall see God.

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So how does the book end? God wins, Satan loses, and all that Job lost was restored.

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In fact, the Lord gave Job, restored him twice as much what he had before.