Job 2

I try to make some opening remarks about things like who wrote the book, when was the book written, where is the land of Uz, can we trust that Job was a real figure, a real character and not just some name used in some sort of parable.

And I think those are the two things at least I would ask you to consider is that we showed from Ezekiel, remember we looked at Ezekiel 14 and we also looked in James and how Job is quoted as a real person so that there's no real doubt in my mind, the authority of the scriptures that Job was a real person who lived at a real time in a real place and had some real issues.

And the other thing that we said was as we go through the book and you might even see it a little bit as we begin to look at the text this morning that some of the quotations of the book of Job are repeated again further on in the scriptures.

I was reading through Lamentations from my own, just my own soul and I began to see there's a great similarity to some of the statements that Job makes and the statements that Jeremiah makes, particularly in the book of Lamentations.

And certainly as Job has his, if you will, I'm going to say, his complaining and we're going to look at that because although it says Job was an upright and blameless man, Job was not ever to be considered as a sinless man and Job does complain and there's no doubt about it and as we go through the book we'll see it.

But especially in Lamentations you could pick up that some of the, almost verbatim, some of the statements that Jeremiah makes were made in the book of Job. And I'm going to say that Job predates Jeremiah, although some, as I said to you last week, some even think that the book has a setting in after the exile, which I think is pretty far out, but nevertheless.

So we did consider some things and remember I tried to lay out to you that, so I said to you that the book of Job was a little bit different and one of the reasons why is because in many ways it's written in poetic form and sometimes that's a little bit hard to understand.

It's not as, it's not like many of the other books of the Bible where it's a narrative, right? And it just describes this event and that event and this event and it goes on and on and on. But that Job is written in many places in this kind of poetic and remember, who were the three friends?

Anybody remember the three friends? Because they're going to come up again and again and again. Little Dad, Little Dad. These are real common names anyway, so you know. Everybody names their kids. And then who's the fourth friend that's going to enter in?

Yeah. Whatever way you want to pronounce that is fine with me. I'll call him Joe and that'll suffice. So the book of Job is really a series of speeches and what happens is you will see it as we get further into the opening of the text.

Eliphaz is the first one to speak and he has this whole argument that he sets before Job and then Job answers his argument. And remember last week I actually had the chapters that these, each of these so-called friends speaking.

So Eliphaz has a speech towards Job. Job responds to Eliphaz. Then Bill Dad jumps in and Bill Dad has a speech that he gives it to Job and then Job responds to Bill Dad. And then Zophaz jumps in. And there's actually three series of speeches that comprise the bulk of the book, right?

So Eliphaz, Bill Dad, Zophaz, Job responds. Then Eliphaz comes back again. And then so does Bill Dad and Zophaz. And then there's a third, if you will, set of speeches. And then Eli who jumps in later in the book and then ultimately who's the great speaker of the book of Job, God himself.

So keeping that in mind as we go through the text, I think it'll help us. And one other thing, what did we, did we establish a theme for the book? Can we at least begin to think about what's the driving theme of the book of Job?

Anybody? Ma 'am? Okay. Let's put it up on this side. So you're saying one of the themes is God is sovereign, right? Any argument with that? No argument? Praise the Lord. Otherwise we'd have to have a different discussion.

All right. But God is sovereign and can we expand that a little bit? Not only the fact that God is sovereign, and he absolutely is, but that God is sovereign, how about this, in all affairs of life, kind of the definition of sovereign, right?

But what if we would do this? To me is one of the keys of understanding the book of Job, that if you remember what we looked at last week, and I want to get to the text, but good things happen to bad people sometimes.

And if you will, bad things happen to good people sometimes. And it's very, very hard at times to interpret God's sovereignty in the affairs of life because we don't see, well, two things. First of all, we don't know God's purpose, right?

And the other thing is we are seeing from this side of the veil or this side of eternity, and many times we gauge things by this side. In other words, if we see someone prospering in this life, we assume that, well, they're just a person of prosperity.

And it could very well be, but does that mean that ultimately he's a prosperous man or a prosperous woman or a prosperous family? Well, when you expand it out into eternity, it doesn't always hold true, right?

And then we talk about it, and I know you and I talked about it, the prosperity of the wicked, right? That many times people, if you will, and even in the Psalms and in other places, says that people die and they have more than abundance, that they have more than they could ever use, and we see that in life.

And one of the themes in the book as we get to it now is that Job's friends basically, to me, are very one-sided because they basically wind up accusing Job of sin and that because of sin, the consequences are just, and that if Job would only repent, then Job would be blessed again, okay?

Job's contention as we go through this is that although he knows he's not sinless, he knows he's right with God. And again, that good things sometimes will happen to evil people or wicked people who basically being wicked means what?

Evil, right? We would say the unbeliever is considered in the Bible as wicked. Doesn't mean as wicked as they can be, but they're wicked. And that bad things sometimes, at least by our perception, happen to good people.

And how do we work through that? Like I said, these three buddies are not really buddies, and as we get further on in the book, Elihu becomes, he actually turns on these three and say that their words weren't right, and he does a better job, but it's not until we get to the end of the book, and you'll see it, that when God comes in, then Job truly understands.

And ultimately, which is interesting, God requires his friends to ask forgiveness and ask Job to offer a sacrifice for them. And if not, then God's going to deal with them. So again, I know I'm kind of still high, flying high, but I wanted to at least get us to set our mind in that direction.

Job’s Integrity, Prosperity, and the Test of Satan

Okay, so let's look at the book. We're gonna read the first chapter. I'm gonna try to get through the first chapter this morning, and I hope we will see some things. I read New King James again. If yours is different, then you just need to read New King James.

All right, Job chapter one. 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.

And his possessions were 7 ,000 sheep, 3 ,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. Now, his sons would go and feast in their houses each on his appointed day and would send and invite the three sisters to eat and drink with them.

And so it was when the days of feasting had run their course that Job would send and sanctify them. And he would rise up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all.

For Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job regularly. 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 whence 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. 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.

So Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household and around all that he has on every side and you have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land.

But now stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will surely curse you to your face. So the Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person.

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Now, there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house 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 still speaking, another also 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.

And while he was still speaking, another also came and said, the Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away. Yes, and 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, 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 are dead and I alone have escaped to tell you.

And Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell to the ground and worship and he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job did not charge God. In all this, Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. And all I can say is wow. I mean, we talked about this just a little bit last week.

You get a flat tire and a toothache in the same day and sometimes you think the world's coming to an end. Right? And then if something else, actually I could relate to this. It just happened to us a little bit.

One of our grandsons was flown by helicopter to Wilson's Children's Hospital and they determined his sugars were at 350. He's now been diagnosed as a type one diabetic. So my son was there, he stayed all night with him and then as my son was coming home, because when he was in the service, he was in different places and he's had bouts with MRSA and as he was coming home, he said he had to go to the doctor because his arm was all blown up with again MRSA breakout.

He goes to the doctor, the doctor says you need to run to the ER and he goes to the ER and he calls me and I said, are you on your way home, buddy? Because he had been at the hospital. He says, no, I'm on my way to the emergency room.

And me and Kenny, we were handling phones and calling the other kids and I said, what's next? I mean, hope the tornado don't knock the house down because you begin to think about that and as you look at this opening chapter and you begin to think about some of the things that Job experienced, man, this is catastrophic.

This is not some easy thing and to make this statement that he makes at the end after all these things when he says, naked came I from the womb and naked shall I return and in all of it, he didn't sin, that that is one of the most amazing statements to me in all the Bible, especially in the light of the circumstances.

Again, it's easy to say that when you're on the calm ocean, isn't it? Well, this is God's ocean and I enjoy God's creation. It's another thing when there's a water spout headed at you, right? Then all of a sudden it's like the disciples in the boat, save us, master, don't you care that we perish?

So again, I wanna make sure that we try to enter into the, if you will, the mind of Job and his wife, which we're gonna have to have some discussion about. But let's just walk through the narrative a little bit and see what we can glean out of it.

So there was a man in the land of Uz and again, we discussed where Uz was, I do believe it's Southeast of the Dead Sea, I do believe it's in the land of Edom and his name was Job. His name, anybody have any idea what his name might mean?

Not too many people are named Job in our time. As much as I can glean from the scholars who look at these names in the original language, it really means to be one who's disliked or even hated because of the situation he finds himself in.

So in other words, some have interpreted it as Job means a weeper, or Job means someone who is despised or hated and again, because of the circumstances. And there is some truth to that as we go through this because that's exactly what his friends wind up doing.

They despise Job. As much as they were so-called friends, remember we talked about it, I said to you, they must have had some interaction and that even Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophaz must have been very rich as much as Job was rich and they probably had some, I believe that they had actual face-to-face interaction because as we start to unwind this, they don't even recognize him after when they first come to him because his life has changed so dramatically, even physically, his life has changed.

But that's the best I can do with his name that it means in some way, someone who is persecuted, someone who's disliked, someone who's hated. Yeah, brother.

Yeah, I don't think we're a people of God because the person that despised him, they point out that Satan hates the people of God and he always seeks to tempt them and that's how, that was one of the things, it was about Satan hating the people of God and God's blessings that he has.

Yeah, and then certainly whatever takes place in the physical realm, there's a shadow or there's a reality in the spiritual realm and yeah, that's, so I guess we're on the right track at least. Yeah, I would say that.

Thanks for the support, brother, I appreciate it. So that's the best I could do with this. But what's interesting as it opens, 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.

So how are we to understand that? And we'll get through the whole chapter, I believe. But how do we understand this idea of him being blameless and upright? Because in the first couple of chapters, it continually mentions how Job was this perfect and upright man.

So when you think of someone as perfect and upright, what do you think about? That they're what, sir? All have sin. Yeah, that's the rebuke, right? No, that's the disclaimer. So it doesn't mean sinlessness, right?

But I wanna make sure we understand this. Job never is either spoken of by God or by himself as being sinless. But he is, so then if that's not what it means, then what does it mean? Brother? Nothing in his desire to do what was right.

Yeah, and it's He was complete in his upright. And that's the way we really should understand perfect, right? That perfect doesn't mean absolute perfection, but perfect means, if you will, mature in the sense of having the right desires and trying to implement those desires.

In other words, when it says that he was blameless and upright, it kind of defines it in the rest of that verse, right? It says, it's one who feared God and shunned evil. That's really the definition of being blameless and upright, is to fear God.

And if you fear God, then what are you gonna do? You're gonna seek to please God, right? And so that whole thought is kind of helps us define what it means by blameless and upright. And so, again, there's this misconception, and I just wanna mention it, that many people still insist that you can get to that, That place of

Perfection. Perfection in the sense of sinlessness, right? And we would say that is, sir, that's heresy, right? That's no other way to dress that up. That's what it is, to say that because, well, I don't wanna spend too much time on that.

But nevertheless, so that's the opening statement, that Job was this man who feared God. Job was this man who was not sinless, but he was one who desired to please God, which is interesting when you think about it, because as we begin to read through, Job was really rich.

And so if your mind is thinking through the scriptures, what does it say about rich people? It is easier for what? A camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven?

And I'm gonna try to show you as we look at this, that there's a different perspective that needs to be had to understand this under the old covenant in the Old Testament versus the New Testament, because one of the signs of God's blessing in the Old Testament was, in that sense, prosperity.

And that in many ways, and that's why I do think it gives us a description, right? Verse three, his possessions, it names them, 7 ,000 sheep, 3 ,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys. And you guys were talking about maybe having some farmland.

Would you like to have 7 ,000 of this and 3 ,000 of that? I mean, I know Brother Chuck and Sister Kelly have their little thing, but I don't think Chuck wants to deal with 7 ,000 camels. But my point is, and as we think about it, there's a different aspect, or at least this is my understanding.

And now, so I ask you to either agree with me or throw rocks at me. But would you agree that in the Old Testament, that was one of the ways in which people were, was a demonstration, and not always, again, always remember, you can't just make this an ironclad thing, right?

Because of that whole concept of the prosperity of the wicked. But would you not agree that in many ways, God's outward sign of his approval on someone was their outward possessions? You contrast that from what, what did Jesus say in the New Testament?

Man's life, what? Consists not in the abundance of things which he possesses. Is that contradictory? Or do we need to understand it in its right application? That much, I'm really trying to stay to my notes, but I can't, I know, it's kind of hard.

But here's the perspective. Let's be careful not to try to force New Testament understanding and application into the Old Testament. And because guess what? In some way, it's gonna try to be look, it's gonna be like trying to put a round peg in a square hole.

It's different. And could we spend time on understanding all that? Absolutely. Even as, and we talked about this when brother Mike and I were teaching through the God who is there, we talked about how the application of the spirit of God, and even we looked at it when we were in judges.

The application of the spirit of God is different. Does that mean that the spirit of God has changed? No, because God, the Holy Spirit is God, and he's sovereign. But the application and outworking in the lives is, there's a difference.

Would you agree that there's a difference in the application of the working of the spirit of God under the Old Testament and the New Testament? Anybody wanna throw rocks? Okay, good. So, as we read this, and so in verse two, he had seven sons and three daughters, and my fleshly first reaction was, man, that's a lot of potatoes.

Right, that's a lot of mouths to feed. And yet, again, and I'm gonna say it again, in many ways, that was also a sign of God's favor in that just like a woman who was not able to bear a child was considered under the Old Covenant in the Old Testament, what?

Almost as a reproach. It was a reproach. It was, she was barren, and remember the story of Hannah and Penina and all those different ones, and even Sarah and Hagar and all those. So there's a different thing, but here it specifically states that, again, he has great blessings, and not only that, but he has great, a big family, to say the least, and he didn't have to worry about the economy in that day because, again, looks like he's pretty well off, right?

I don't know how many cars, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys, and I don't know what that all relates to, but all I know is he had plenty. And so as the book opens, we see Job in, if you will, in a good spot, and that's the very thing that the devil, Satan, is gonna do what?

That's the accusation he's gonna hurl at Job, and he's gonna tell God, if you take what you hedged him in with, if you take that away, he'll curse you to your face. Much to be thought of in that because, to me, that's a very vivid demonstration that the evil one, Satan, the devil, has no real understanding of the grace of God, and he's a liar, he's the father of lies, there is no truth in him, and every time he speaks, it's nothing but a lie.

So, as we begin, like I said, we are given the picture, if you will, the curtain is pulled back, and then in verse four, now his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite the three sisters to eat and drink with them.

That's pretty cool, 10 kids. I'm gonna suggest they must have lived somewhere near each other. They must have been close enough to travel, right? Let's think about this a little bit. It says they went to feast in the houses, each on the appointed day.

So, how could we understand that, the appointed day? You say it's his birthdays, okay. I would agree that it's basically, if you look. It's once a month. Yeah, yeah, that weekly thing ain't gonna work, that refrigerator will shake to no end.

But I want you to just flip over to chapter three real quick. Because I want to show you, I do believe what he's saying is that the kids would get together on the birthdays. In Job chapter three, it says, after this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

That word, birth, is the same word that's used when it talks about the appointed day in Job one. So, I do believe what he's saying is that the kids would get together. And remember now, they gotta be grown up, right?

And I'm gonna suggest, they've got families too. And so, you get the picture. Every time somebody's birthday came around, with 10 birthdays, you're pretty busy, right? Every time a birthday came, whoever's birthday it was, would invite the brothers and sisters, and they'd have a barbecue, they'd have a gathering.

And it wasn't something that, you know, just come over for two hours. They got together. And again, life was a little bit different. And I would assume they had to travel a little greater distance. It's not, it would be foolish to travel nine hours to stay an hour, right?

So, I believe that that's exactly what it's saying. Yeah, the sons would go and feast in their houses, each on appointed day. And thankfully, they seemed to be a happy family, right? It wasn't like, I'm gonna invite three brothers and two sisters, but I can't stand the other brothers and really don't want nothing to do with the other sister.

That's not, and you gotta look backwards to that. Well, how did they get to that point? Well, I'm gonna suggest that Job was not only an excellent man before God, but he was an excellent father. And I'm gonna also suggest to you that the mother must have been also one that raised her children well.

Now, you could, might wanna disagree with me on that when we get a little further on. Yeah, ma 'am. It seems like. No, no, they didn't want daddy there. Nor was the wife. At least we don't have any evidence that the wife was.

So, it was something that the kids did. And it's funny you should say that because, so as you get a little bit older, right, and your kids get a little bit older, you could at times have a tendency to say, man, kids got together and didn't even invite us, baby.

And I've caught myself saying that to my wife. Imagine that, they had dinner together, they didn't invite us, what's the matter with them? And that's not really the right way to think. It's rather foolish to think that way.

But they must have had a good relationship. And so, I wanna at least mention that it's good that they had a good relationship and that they were willing to enjoy one another. And so, it was in verse five, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, verse five, and he would rise up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings, according to the number of them all.

For Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts, and thus did Job do regularly. Now, I think that's worth a little bit of time. I think that's worth a little bit of a thought.

And why I say that is, if you had any thought in your mind that Job was going to set himself up as one who is sinless, I think this would be something that would correct your thoughts. Because Job realizes, what, about his kids, right?

And that they are, sin is just like everyone else. And it's interesting that, to me, that Job would do this. And so, if we, let's assume we go back and say, okay, we're talking about birthdays, and they would get together everybody's birthday.

Then, it would almost seem to me that Job had this, if you will, special offering in his mind after the cost of the 10 birthdays, right? Maybe you would say once a year. But I'm going to say, I believe there's more to it than that.

I believe that Job did this on a much more regular basis. Maybe not to the extent of offering, because if you think about the burnt offering, just, I wanted to make sure that we at least understand a little bit about the burnt offering.

The burnt offering was, it was one of the continual offerings in the Old Testament, right? Of all the different offerings that was set, the sin offering and the free will offering, and all those, the burnt offering was one that was continually repeated over and over again.

It was actually offered every morning and every evening. And what was interesting about the burnt offering, it was to be completely consumed. In other words, some of the other offerings were given in part to who?

The priest, right? For their sustenance. The burnt offering wasn't. It was to be completely burned. And it was to be something that rose up to God as a sweet-smelling aroma. And so in that sense, it was not only an offering that was wholly given over to God, but it was one that was to be glorifying God.

Now, think about this also. And it was voluntary, by the way, in many ways. And I can't help but think of what a principle that is for us in our lives. And why I say that is, not only did Job realize the need that his kids would have, but Job also realized that in this need that the kids had, he had a responsibility.

Let me ask you to think about this. Maybe if your kids are still in your house, maybe you might not be able to consider it, but it's well to consider. Just because our kids move out from us, they're still our kids.

And we still are responsible for them. To an extent, out on their own, absolutely, right? And you know my statement I always kind of say, because I always repeat, and if you don't think I always repeat, ask my wife, she'll tell you I always repeat.

But little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems. And we're responsible for, they're always our kids, aren't they, right? And as a parent, just because my kids are in their, well now they're getting into their late 40s, that doesn't mean that I'm not responsible to intercede on their behalf, does it?

No, I have this responsibility as a parent to be one who, in a sense, steps in the gap for them, especially when I know not only are they also just like me and they're a mess just like I am, but that I have been given the blessing of being able to approach God on their behalf.

That's a glorious thing, friends, is to be able to not only just pray for your kids, and in that sense, your extended family, but to know that you actually have, well, God is sovereign. We're not gonna dethrone God in any way, right?

But we are also responsible, and that we have an impact. Right, brother?

I think that goes back to the question that you asked us earlier. It's like when it says what it means to be blameless and upright, it all goes back to being a person of character. And when you look at Joe, even though he was rich, and even though, you know what I'm saying, and he was responsible, he prayed for his kids, and you see the respect that his kids had because they had to come when he sent for them.

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? To consecrate them, no matter how old he was, they understood his role and his responsibility. And then, as you're gonna go obviously on in the text, when everything was taken away, that didn't change Joe's disposition towards God.

So that shows his character and what it means to be a person that is upright and pure or perfect, whatever, his character, his integrity.

Right, that's the word, right? Integrity, and that's what it is. Job was not sinless, but Job had, Job was a man of character. And if we look for Job for positive examples, this certainly is one of them.

And to what you just said, brother Tim, even behind the curtain, he was, even behind closed doors, Job was a man of integrity. And he prayed and he offered sacrifices. And in that sense, he pleaded with God that God would be gracious to his own kids.

And if that's the case, then you and I can take that as an example. And again, I say to us all, if any of us think that just because our kids are gone or we're removed from them by maybe miles or geographically or whatever way you wanna, even if the relationship isn't right, and let's just say it's not, let's just say, because if you remember what Jesus said, he said he, in some ways, he came to divide a house.

So if I have unbelieving children or grandchildren, does that mean that I should just not pray for them? No, it means I must even pray for them with great earnestness, right? So when you think about it, and we're never gonna get through this morning, but at least we could at least get through this and there might be a good place to stop because now we're gonna, the next thing we're gonna see is this whole thing with Satan coming before God, what does that mean?

What does it mean when it says that sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord? And then this whole conversation that takes place with Satan coming before God. If you read much of the Puritans, which again, I kind of was brought up on the Puritans in my own conversion, the Puritans had as little saying about the devil.

They said, they used to say all the time that the devil was an ape on God's leash. And I always liked that because it always to me reminded me that the evil one has absolutely no rule or reign other than what he is permitted, allowed to do.

And we're certainly gonna see that. So as we finish this up this morning, just think about this. And again, now that we read in the whole chapter and we begin to look at it, Job goes from the mountain to the valley and he stays in the valley.

And by the way, I think we have to keep in mind there's some time between chapter one and chapter 42. Now I don't specifically know how much time but I'm gonna say it's at least a good number of months.