Overview of Job, Adult Discipleship Class

show on the road with our study of Job. Let’s pray. Lord, thank you so much for your word. Lord, no matter where we are in scripture, there always are truths that impact our lives today. That Lord, though Job was during the time of the patriarchs, We can learn so much in our practical life about suffering, about your sovereignty, and about how we should respond in difficult times. We pray for eyes to see the wonderful things in your word. We pray that your spirit would illuminate us as we continue our study of the Old Testament. It’s in your name we pray these things.

Amen. So if you would, please turn to the book of Job. It’s right after Esther. I was thinking of how providential it was when I was teaching Esther last week about preaching Esther, because preaching Esther had been the plan all along, and that was really not coincidental, which is pretty nice. Very providential. But today we’re gonna be in the book of Job.

Now, it’s very likely, I bet, in this room, all of us have heard of Job to some extent. Job is a very important part to not only an Old Testament understanding, not only a Hebrew understanding, but also our New Testament context understanding of suffering.

Every single one of us experiences suffering in some way. We’ve all experienced death. We have loved ones who pass away, we have physical trials, we live on a planet that has been corrupted by the fall. And sin came, sin and death entered into the world, and now the creation is groaning until Christ returns and makes all things new. And so, as we live in a post-fall world, we wrestle with questions.

And the wisdom of the Old Testament helps us in our understanding. Proverbs says that generally speaking, the wise prosper and the foolish suffer, or the righteous prosper generally and the wicked suffer generally. Ecclesiastes says that’s not really always the case. And then the book of Job says we may never know why, but in the midst of all of it, God is still good and he deserves our worship.

So, if you’ll take a look at your sheets that I handed out, I have sort of a little bit of a cheat sheet for Job. The theme for Job is the God who is worth serving, and that will be particularly apparent in the first couple of chapters. And if we were to divide it up, there’s really three main sections. The majority is the debates of Job, as you’ll see. But narrative-wise, we have the disasters of Job and the deliverance of Job. And I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time on the debates of Job today just because of our time constraints, but I’m going to reference them briefly. So let’s take a look at Job. Job chapter one, verse one. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. He was during the era of the patriarchs. So think of Abraham’s time.

And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 pairs of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants. And that man was the greatest. of all the sons of the East. I mean, he had 7,000 sheep.

I mean, he had a majority share in a Fortune 500 company, if you will, in our modern terms. He had 3,000 camels. He had the Rolls Royce. He had the Bentley, which, like, you know that off-road Bentley you were showing me last week? I mean, he had three or four of them, right? I mean, he was doing very well successfully. He was prospering in the business back then, world, and just in general with his incredible wealth, so much so that verse three lists him as the greatest of all the sons of the East.

Verse four says, his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day. So seven sons, seven days, sons would have a feast each day. And they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. Now it happened when the days of feasting had completed their cycle, that Job would send and set them apart as holy. He would rise up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all.

For Job said, perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus Job did continually. This is the era of the patriarchs, before the Levitical system. He’s the one who offers sacrifices, burnt offerings, just in case his children have sinned.

He cares very much about serving the Lord, even though he is so successful. And it really is, it’s interesting. I mean, you know, Job, the question we normally ask is, you know, how easy is it? It’s very difficult at times to serve the Lord and seek to be faithful and trying times. But sometimes that’s the case when things are going really well. And when things are going really well, the Lord has blessed Job and Job still continually depends upon the Lord. But now we get the perspective and the view that none of us get in our own lives with our suffering, but it’s very informative for our suffering when we look to upward to see what was really going on behind the scenes in his suffering. Verse six.

Now, it was the day that the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. Pause. Sons of God is a really interesting study. There’s been a lot of work into who are the sons of God. Some think they’re the Nephilim. I asked my professor an Old Testament survey at my seminary. I asked him, I said, hey, Dr. Twiss, who are the sons of God?

And he turned and he looked at me, and he laughed, and he continued his lecture. Like that, I’m not going to go into the sons of God, but just kind of something of note. We see verse seven, and the Lord said to Satan, from where do you come? Pause. Who initiates the conversation? God does. God initiates it. God’s the first one who brings all of this to pass.

And Satan answers and said, from roaming about on the earth and walking around on it, I kind of interpret that to be him being smug after the fall. Oh yeah, post-fall world. You know, just enjoying my time on earth. And then the Lord said to Satan, have you set your heart upon my servant Job?

For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. Who said that? God said that. Can you imagine God saying that? I mean, of course, everything in our life, all the good things are products of His grace, but man, if God were to say something like that, it’s like the equivalent of well done, good and faithful servant. It’s very clear in Job’s life and in God’s eyes, there’s nothing that Job has done that is going to warrant punishment for a particular sin. And so Satan answers the Lord in verse nine and says, Does Job fear God without cause?

Have you not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. But send forth your hand now and touch all that he has. He will surely curse you to your face.

Most people view this as a challenge to Job’s character, which it is. It’s Job’s character. You really think Job will still worship you? But there’s something else that’s more subtle in here. It’s just a challenge to Job. It’s a challenge to who? To God. You really think you’re worth serving, God? You really think people will actually serve you? You’ve given him everything that he could want, but you take those things away? You’re not worth serving.

No, Job will curse you to your face. And so, What does the Lord say to Satan, verse 12? Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only do not send forth your hand toward him. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Take a step back real quick. Who initiated the conversation? God did. Who spoke first, God or Satan? God did.

I think it’s interesting, like Job in Genesis 3, that Satan, the emphasis is on him being in the form of a serpent, which emphasizes his creatureliness. Satan and God are not equals. This isn’t like the force and the dark side, right? The good side of the force and the dark side of the force, and there’s these two competing forces, and who knows who’s gonna win? No, the Lord is sovereign, and he orchestrates even Satan towards his own purposes, though not the author of evil. Martin Luther famously called the devil God’s devil, and it’s really true, because Satan can’t do anything that’s outside of the sovereign plan of God. He takes what Satan means for evil and means it for good. So we see the result in verse 13 through 22. Verse 12, 13, sorry.

Now it happened that on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn, a messenger came to Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabaeans fell upon them and took them. They also struck down the young men with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. Now, we see a similar pattern again and again. Its first is the oxen and donkeys stolen and servants killed. I mean, it says in verse 16, while this one was still speaking, not coincidence, there are other things going on behind the scenes, behind these trials. It’s very clear.

Another also came and said, the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the young men and consumed them. And I alone have escaped to tell you. Like, what are the chances? I mean, maybe this is a little dark, but I imagine Job kind of thinking like, well, at least it doesn’t get any worse than this, right? Then he gets to verse 17.

While this one was still speaking, another also came and said, the Chaldeans set up three companies and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the young men with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you. Your camels have been stolen, they hotwired, your Rolls Royces, they’re all gone, and your servants, your valets have been killed. While this one was still speaking, verse 18, another also came, and this is the hardest of all of them. He said, your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their brother, the firstborn, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and touched the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you. Now we see Job’s response, and this is very, very inspiring and also important for the narrative. We read in verse 20, it says, then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshipped.

The goal of our suffering as Christians is not to become Stoics, you know, Stoicism, the idea that We just don’t feel anything. We don’t emote at all. We just are just completely constant because we aren’t independent. We’re dependent creatures. We’ve been created to have emotions.

Jesus wept and Jesus was without sin. And so I think it’s particularly informing to see that Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground in sorrow, and also simultaneously worshiped. And so, whenever we are suffering, know that the goal is not stoicism, the goal is not to not feel anything, but the goal is for God to direct us to himself in those times. In verse 21, Job speaks, and this is what he said. Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there.

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Not God forgetting his circumstances, not God, I know this one just must have slipped out of your fingers. No, you were the one who gave, and you were the one who took away. And because of that, I will bless your name. Much easier said than done, but certainly inspiring. And we read in verse 22, through all this, Job did not sin, nor did he give offense to God. So now, at the beginning of chapter two, we transition from the earth back to upward to see the spiritual realm behind what’s going on.

In verse one, it said, again, it was the day that the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to stand himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, where do you come from? Again, who initiates in this conversation? God does, who speaks first? God does, right?

God does, showing that the Lord is sovereign over Satan. Satan can’t speak to God without God initiating. Satan doesn’t have that power. And so often, it seems like there’s this emphasis and suffering in other circles outside the understanding of the sovereignty of God. You know, Satan just got the best of us on this one. Satan’s so powerful. Or to think of, I even think of it sometimes. I’m like, man, we must have a target on our back and the devil and the demons, whatever, must be coming after us.

But who is sovereign? God is. Who is the one that ultimately chooses to bring about these trials in our lives? God. So whenever we’re suffering, it’s important for us to remember to not look at Satan and the demons as if they’re somehow independent or somehow operating outside of the ultimate divine will to bring about all things for his glory and the good of his people. But instead, we must remind ourselves, the Lord gave, the Lord took away.

It’s him. And so the Lord says to Satan, where you come from? Satan again is smug. He’s like from roaming about on the earth and walking around on it. And we know from the book of Genesis that things, there was a downward spiral. So Satan is acting very smug.

And the Lord said to Satan again, Have you set your heart upon my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity. So you incited me against him to swallow him up in vain.

And so Satan, again, challenges God. It’s not just Job, and this is the part why the main theme is the God who’s worth serving, because the question is not an affront to Job’s character so much as it is to God’s glory. Satan, again, is saying, yeah, you know what? You take away his health, he will not continue to worship you. He’ll, again, curse you to your face. And so what the Lord ends up saying is behold, he’s in your hand, but in verse six, what does he say?

Only spare his life. God has the hairs of Job’s head numbered, which might actually fall out with his suffering and physical maladies, which I don’t know. That’s a bit reading between the lines, but he has the number, the hairs of his head numbered. Not one sparrow falls without it being part of his plan.

And so if God tells Satan, go ahead, but only spare his life, is Satan gonna be able to take Job’s life? Is he gonna even be able to come close? No. So we read in verse seven, then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with terrible boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. And then in verse nine, it said, then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.

Now, yeah, and I know, I was about to make a joke about, you know, Satan didn’t decide to remove his wife. So, I don’t know about that. Maybe that’s part of the suffering. But, maybe not, maybe not. And you have to be sympathetic with Job’s wife too, right? You have to be sympathetic. Because she just lost her kids. She just lost all their finances, all sources of stability, and so even though she’s not a good example in this moment, I don’t know. I think that they’re certainly, she’s not just all bad. I think that some of this is also her processing wrongly. But what does Job say to her? He said, you speak as one of the wickedly foolish women speaks.

Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept calamity? And again, in all this, Job did not sin with his lips. And so eventually Job’s three friends come. They hear of this calamity that had come and their names are Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. They’re all part of the debates of Job and they made an appointment together to come to console him and comfort him.

Verse 12 says, then they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him. And they lifted up their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads towards the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.” His friends aren’t doing anything wrong here. In fact, they’re doing the right thing. In fact, things would have turned out a lot better for the friends in Job if they just stayed quiet.

And I think there’s some, you know, application that we can take from this that we’re called to weep with those who weep. that yeah, God is sovereign. Yeah, we give the theological reasons, and that’s what the people need. But sometimes, knowing the timing of when to say that, and that’s where true wisdom is. It’s not a matter of telling them something that’s theologically right or not. No, we need to tell them the truth, but we need to do so in love and also weep with those who weep. And so, if they would have just been quiet, we wouldn’t have the debates of Job, but then again, we wouldn’t have divine revelation. God’s sovereign.

He even uses evil for good. And so Job curses the day of his birth, that’s the title of chapter three that I see here. We get to the beginning of the debates of Job, and I’m not going to get into the specifics of each one, of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, but what they all do espouse in different flavors is something called retributive theology. So it’s, I’m just gonna put retributive, which we think of retribution, Is that right? Retributive, oops, not retributive. Anyway, pretend that it’s a you, not an I. Retributive theology, which is good things happen to the righteous, bad things happen to the wicked, right? Like I said, Proverbs says, generally speaking, those wise tend to prosper and the foolish tend to suffer. and not prosper.

And so Job continually debates with these three friends saying, look, I haven’t done anything wrong. This has come, I don’t know why. And the friends continually again and again say, no, there has to be some sin. No, no, no, no, no, no. All you have to do, Job, is repent. Just repent and everything will be right. Imagine how terrible that would be if you were Job. Man, you don’t have anything to repent of specifically with regards to your suffering, and yet your friends are just saying, hey, this is it.

Modern application of retributive theology is prosperity theology. Something that we see very common, that if you just believe enough, God will heal you, God will prosper you financially, health, wealth, all of that, if you just have enough faith yourself. And what they end up doing is they misinterpret Old Testament texts in the book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus that are conditional for the Mosaic Covenant, for Old Testament Israel, blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, and say, hey, it’s the same for us today. We will be blessed physically, we will be blessed financially if we obey, and if we disobey, we will be cursed.

Many problems with that, right? That’s why context is so important. That’s why our study of the Old Testament and knowing the Mosaic Covenant is so important. Because if we detach ourselves and just randomly insert ourselves as the original audience in any book, we’re going to get the wrong meaning of the text.

And all it takes is one little contextual error that leads to horrible, horrible theology that not only has shown the wickedness of many people greedy for financial gain, but also has really damaged a lot of people, a lot of people suffering. And so all the debates of Job, it’s this continual retributive thought.

And Job, he kind of gradually starts to want an answer. I want presence with God. I want him to judge. I want him to tell me what’s going on. And I’m summarizing tremendously. I mean, yeah, there’s just so much. But he wants God to come and to tell him what’s going on. He knows nonetheless that his Redeemer lives. He knows that though God slays him, he will trust him, but yet he still feels like he deserves a reason. You know, Lord, why? Why are things like this? And then we get to chapter 38, which is the deliverance of Job. Sorry, that’s a big jump. It was just a summary of 3 through 37. Right? Yeah.

I think so, and I think part of it, and it’s one of those things where it’s like I want to sympathize with Job because he’s been through a lot, but at the same time, none of us are owed an answer for anything that goes on in life. And that’s exactly where we get God’s answer to Job or what he ends up saying in the following chapters in 38 onward is really answering to that. So yeah, great observation, absolutely. She said, was it kind of prideful, perhaps, for Job to demand an answer? And I would say, yeah. I mean, Job went through a lot, but we aren’t owed an answer. And that’s part of the message of Job.

But real quick, before we get to chapter 38, there’s one other person that comes in, his name’s Elihu. He’s a young person who didn’t talk through all the debates because he thought, you know, these people are older, they know more, but oh, none of these people know anything, really? Now I’m being a bit facetious, but he rebukes not only the three friends, but he also rebukes Job.

And then eventually, right after Elihu, The Lord answers. So chapter 38, verse one, it says, then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, oh, I know, Job, I’m really sorry, I’ve been busy lately. I just missed this one. You’re right, you deserve an answer and I’m really sorry for getting here late.

No, what does he say? Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? You don’t know what you’re talking about. Now gird up your loins like a man, square up. And I will ask you and you make me know, where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you know understanding. If you know anything, tell me, where were you? Come on, tell me how everything was created.

Again, we see the different angles in human suffering. On the one hand, you look at Job’s friends and it would have been good for them to be quiet, right? For them to just not say anything. And then what they ended up saying, retributive theology, But then you look at God’s perspective, and one of the greatest things we need when we suffer is for God to remind us of His holiness. I’m God, you’re not.

There’s a sovereign grace song called, I think it’s Christ Our Wisdom, at the very end of one of the verses is, give me grace to see more clearly that you are God and I am not. And it’s so true, we need that reminder every day. God’s the one who created everything. God’s the one who’s omniscient, who knows everything. God is benevolent.

He’s good. He’s completely good. There’s no mixture. There’s no darkness in him. He’s light, right? It’s not like us, where even the best things that we do sometimes are mixed, right, with our motives. No, God is worthy to be trusted. He is sovereign. He doesn’t mess up. He doesn’t mess up on anything. we’re called to submit to him.

And so God continues a series of questions, humbling Job, reminding him that he is God and Job is not. And so we get to chapter 40. And so God eventually asks Job, verse two, will the fault finder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it. And what does Job say? Job said, behold, I am insignificant.

What can I respond to you? I place my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, I will not answer. Even twice, I will add nothing more. Lord, I demanded an answer from you before. I retract that. I put my hand over my mouth and I’m not gonna say anything else.

But God isn’t done. So in verse six, the Lord answered Job and he said in verse seven, now gird up your loins like a man. I will ask you and you make me know. Round two, ding, ding, ding. Talks about behemoth and Leviathan, about these amazing creatures that he’s created. Asking Job again.

Yeah, you know all the ins and outs of this, right? What’s crazy is thinking about the omniscience of God. I heard someone say recently, it’s like God’s playing chess knowing everything that’s going to happen, all the way to checkmate, but also knows all the other moves he could have made. Not just the moves he did make. Mind boggling. Our knowledge is so, so finite compared to that. And so Job responds in chapter 42. Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. God, I know you’re sovereign. I know that you’re God. And he quotes the Lord. He said, therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand. Things too marvelous for me which I did not know.

And again, he says, therefore, I reject myself and I repent in dust and ashes. Now it’s worthwhile noting after this that the Lord is angry towards Job’s friends. The Lord doesn’t take this lightly, which makes me shiver for those who are putting forth this prosperity junk. that takes advantage of people in weak times. And so he tells, he ends up, says to Eliphaz, verse seven, that his anger burns against him and his two friends because of what they spoke about him wasn’t right, as my servant Job has. Even though Job demanded an answer, Job still wouldn’t concede that it was because of something wrong that he did. He recognized that the Lord was sovereign and that he didn’t have an answer. And so then ultimately Job prays for them and the Lord ends up forgiving them because of that, it seems like.

And so what’s interesting here too in verses seven through nine, Elihu isn’t mentioned. This is significant for our interpretation of why Job, what he got wrong. Elihu, the young guy who said, hey, Job, you don’t have the right to demand an answer. Also, you three friends are wrong. He’s not condemned here even though Job’s three friends are by the Lord, which the implication is Elihu wasn’t necessarily wrong.

And we see at the end in verses 10 through 17 that the Lord restores Job’s fortunes. Now notice, he didn’t do it because Job necessarily changed anything. Sir Job repented. The Lord did it because it was part of his sovereign pleasure. And it’s the same with our blessings, through hard times and good times, as mentioned earlier about the providence of God, all come from a benevolent Father’s hand. And so we close Job. And I want to contrast with one other person that we’ve studied so far.

Remember Joseph? Book of Genesis, right? The Joseph narrative, it’s about suffering. And his suffering was for the good of other people. But Job is different. Did Joseph get an answer for why he suffered? Joseph did. What you meant for evil, God meant for good. Joseph suffered so that people wouldn’t starve in the time of famine, so that his family would be preserved, so that Egypt would be preserved. And the Lord worked that to make him the second most powerful man in Egypt. But was Job given an answer? No, he wasn’t.

And it’s a humbling reminder to all of us that sometimes we see things of God’s providence, and it’s like, man, sometimes I feel like I can see why the Lord brought that in my life. It grew me in this way. But we’re not always promised an answer with our suffering. And it’s important to remember, in light of Job, that even in those times when we don’t get an answer, and especially in those times, we need to remember that God is worth serving, whether we get an answer or not. and that everything will be made right, we might never get an answer, but that he is still worth serving. Let’s pray. Lord, thank you for the book of Job. Lord, it certainly is a heavy book. It’s a big book, there’s much in it, and it would certainly profit us to study it more, to spend more time in the debates.

But Lord, our natural human tendency is to think in this retributive way. that if somehow we have enough faith or if somehow we’re doing things right, then we’re owed good things to happen to us. But we know, Lord, that by nature we’re children of wrath, that we deserve nothing other than condemnation, and that, Lord, you sustaining us and you preserving us is a gift of your mercy and grace. And so, Lord, we ask that you would remind us of these things, that we would be reminded of your sovereignty overall, that in the good times that we would be humble, that we would still seek you as Job did when he was doing well. And Lord, when the difficult times come, we pray that you would use that to draw us closer to yourself. Lord, both are difficult apart from you, because apart from you, we most certainly will be lost in good times or in bad times. And we just pray for your continual grace in pointing us to yourself until we can see you face to face. We love you and praise you. It’s in your name we pray these things. Amen.