[MUSIC PLAYING] The Bible From 30,000 Feet,
Soaring Through the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. [MUSIC PLAYING] Please turn in one of
the most depressing books in the world, the Book of Job. You'll notice that
Job has 42 chapters. And actually, that's
sort of tongue in cheek. It would be the most
depressing book in the Bible if you've just read the first
part and not the last part. You get to the last part,
and you see how things change and what God brings Job through. It's vastly different. I love what I do. I love pastoring a church. I love pastoring this church. And I love walking with people
through the full spectrum of life's experiences from
birth all the way to death. I love when I dedicate
babies, and then they grow up, and they bring their
babies to be dedicated. And that cycle continues. I love watching them
as they grow up. Some I get to
watch as they date. Some I get to marry
after they date and then work through their
problems in life and marriage-- some of them. Others deal with-- maybe
even the same ones-- deal with disease, pressure at
work, relational malfunction, and even death. So I have the
privilege of seeing people when they are born,
when they are born again, when they've suffered
through life, and then when they
die and go to heaven. I consider it a holy honor
and a holy privilege. But with that comes
the ability to see a lot of suffering, which I do. Every pastor does. Sometimes we'll do four
funerals a week at this church. So there's a lot of suffering
and a lot of sorrow with that. People that we know and love
that are the picture of health get diseases and
suffer through them. Some get out the
other end OK, healed. Others die. Eventually, all die. So far, it's been one to one. Every one person dies. And sometimes people ask me,
how can you see all of that pain and all of that suffering
and still be a pastor? My answer is, I don't think
I could see all that pain and suffering unless
I was a pastor. It's because of what I know
and whom I know that carries me and them through those periods. But there are a lot of
questions about life. Everybody has them. And there is one
book in the Bible that I would say has a
disproportionate amount of questions. And it is the Book of Job. There are 330 questions in
the Book of Job, 330 of them-- question, after
question, after question in 42 chapters of this book. If you were to compare that
to the book of Genesis, Genesis has 160 questions,
the Gospel of Matthew 150 questions, the Book of Psalms-- the longest book in
terms of chapters-- 150 chapters-- has
only 160 questions. Job has 330 questions. Now, it's easy to
understand why. Because the main theme of the
Book of Job is human suffering, loss, tragedy, pain. And with those things
naturally come the question why and several others with it. The story of Job, if
you're familiar with it-- and by the way, I had a roommate
that was not familiar with it. He refused to read the book. He was unemployed at the time. And he goes, I refuse
to read the Book of Job, because I don't have one. I said, David, it's
about a person named Job. It's not about having or
not having employment. It's not a job book. It's Job. The name Job may not
have been his real name. It may have been, but
it may not have been. The name Job means
hated or persecuted. It could have been
a nickname given by those friends
of his that show up after the first
couple of chapters. They could have nicknamed
him that after seeing what he went through. But Job is-- it's
like the opposite of a rags-to-riches story. We all love those story, how a
guy started hard times, poverty stricken, but he worked
hard, or she worked hard. And they went from rags to
great wealth, great riches. We love stories of success. This is the exact opposite. This is from riches to rags
done behind the scenes to Job. And Job has no idea why. In fact, we're not even
told why in the story. Job was a righteous man. That makes it harder for us. If he was wicked,
we'd read it and go, good, he's getting
what he deserves. But we read about Job, and we
are unnerved by what we read. We're bothered by it. Because he's a good
guy, a righteous man. Somebody asked C.S.
Lewis, the great scholar, why do the righteous suffer? His answer-- why not? They're the only
ones who can take it. Job takes an awful lot. Job, we discover as we read--
and I'm giving an overview. Obviously, we won't be able
to look at all 42 chapters. A lot of them, I'm going
to really breeze over. Job had seven sons. He had three daughters. He had 7,000 sheep, 300 camels. He had 500 yoke of
oxen and 500 donkeys-- wealthy guy, had a
lot going for him. But then we read when we
get to chapter 2 verse 8 that he ends up like this. He took for himself a
pot shard, a little piece of broken pottery, with which
he scraped himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. And then his wife
said, do you still hold to your integrity
curse God and die? A man who had so
much going for him to hear this in
that condition is a man who has seen the
bottom drop out of his life. Now, the Book of Job
should put an end to the false idea,
the inaccurate notion that righteous
people don't suffer. Again, I'm underscoring the fact
that Job was a righteous man. God brags about him as a
righteous man-- blameless, upright. And yet, he suffered greatly. And yet, for some
unknown reason, except that they don't
read their Bibles, there are some churches,
some pastors, some preachers, some doctrines that teach,
if you are righteous, you won't suffer. You won't have pain. You won't get diseases. And when those faith teachers
get diseases, they hide it. And their press agents tried
to hide it from the public. But like everybody else, they
often die of diseases, as well. Job was a righteous man. No one deserved
suffering less than Job. And I would say few people
have suffered more than Job. We don't actually know
who wrote the book. I'm not going to
get much into that. I covered that in my
book, 30,000 Feet. But we don't even
know when it was read, except I believe
it was written, as most conservative
biblical scholars believe-- it was written during
the patriarchal period. In fact, it may well be the
oldest book in the Bible next to Genesis, or written
around the same time, or the events
happening concurrently with the patriarchal age of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And I say that
for a few reasons. Reason number one,
Job's wealth is measured in terms of
the number of animals he possessed like Abraham was-- not in talents or
measurements of coinage but the size of his flocks. Number two, there
is no reference whatsoever in the Book of
Job to the law of Moses. We can infer it didn't
exist at the time. There is no
reference in the Book of Job to the history of
Israel or the Israelites. Reason number--
I've lost track-- four is some of
the place names we have found in
archaeological records that date back from the
time of the patriarchs. And number five, the name
of God most frequently used in the book is El
Shaddai, the almighty God, frequently used during
the patriarchal age. Oh, there's the sixth reason. Should I just throw it out? Job lived to 140 years of age
like the patriarchs who lived to a hefty age before the age
started getting down to a more normal-as-we-know-it
age after the flood. Well, as I mentioned,
there's 42 chapters. But let me give you the
genre of literature. It begins with prologue
and ends with epilogue. Do you know what that means? There's a beginning
and an ending. There's an introduction. That's the prologue. And there's a suitable
little ending. That's the epilogue. In between prologue and epilogue
is dialogue and monologue. You know what those are. Dialogue is two people
talking back and forth or a few people
having a conversation. A monologue is a speech. So we have prologue,
dialogue, monologue, epilogue. Those are the genres. That's how it is laid out. But that's not a good way
to outline the Book of Job. So I've outlined the Book
of Job in four sections. But those aren't the sections. Section number 1, physical
melody, physical melody. Chapters 1 and 2 record
the trials of Job, the physical suffering of Job. That's number 1. Number 2, spiritual reality-- that's also chapters 1 and 2. Behind the Earthly
scene in the heavenly realms is a spiritual reality
happening at the same time Job experiences physical
suffering on Earth. Job has no clue
that it's happening. But there is a spiritual
reality that interfaces over the physical malady. Do you follow? The third section
is mental agony. And that's from chapter 3 on
to chapter 37, the tortured talk between friends
of Job and Job himself as he suffers
more and more. And then finally, number
4, eventual victory-- God steps in as
his own monologue with Job and his buddies. And the book will end. We're going to begin at the
beginning with physical malady. And I'll spend more time at
the beginning than the end or in the middle. You'll see why. There was a man, verse 1,
chapter 1, in the land of Uz-- it's an old name for Northern
Arabia or Southern Edom-- what we would say today is the
southernmost part of Jordan. If you have ever
traveled to that region, you know that desolation. There was a man in the land
of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was
blameless and upright, one who feared God
and shunned evil. And seven sons and three
daughters were born to him. Now, when it says
he was blameless, it means he was
morally innocent. He wasn't perfect. But he was morally upright. He was a man of integrity,
a man who could be trusted. Also, verse 3, his possessions
were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and
500 female donkeys, and a very large household so
that this man was the greatest of all the people in the East. The word greatest,
the Hebrew word, means heaviest or the largest. Now, that is not a
description of his physique. He was not physically obese. It just means he was reputable. He was heavy, man. We used to say in the
'60s, that dude's heavy. We're not speaking
necessarily that he's obese. We just mean he's awesome. In this case, he's
reputable, great. Job is an historical character. He's a real person. This is not just a
story or a fairy tale. He is mentioned in
the Book of Ezekiel right up there with Noah
and the prophet, Daniel. The book of James
also mentions him as a real person who
struggled and got victory through his trials, a man
of spiritual endurance. He's used as an example
in the Book of James. Verse 6-- "There was a
day when the sons of God, the bene elohim, came to present
themselves before the Lord"-- sons of God meaning
the spiritual rankings of angelic beings. When we answered the
question at our last session, we mentioned what
the bene elohim were. That's a term for
the angelic beings. "The sons of God came to present
themselves before the Lord. And Satan also came among them." Now, just watch what
we get revealed here. It shows us just
by this sentence that Satan has an
accountability to God. He's not running
rampant, running free. He's presenting himself and has
to give an account of himself before God. "And the Lord said to Satan,
from where do you come? So Satan answered
the Lord and said, from going to and
fro on the Earth and from walking back
and forth on it." Now, that little phrase
is also revelatory. We learn about Satan. What do we learn? Well, we learn he
is not omnipresent. He's not everywhere at one time. It's not like, well, the
devil's following me, and the devil's after me-- probably not accurate. You're really of
no concern to him. His demons may be after you. He may have his
minions dispatched to follow you and
overturn your faith. But I would just say he's
got bigger fish to fry. Make sense? There is a demon world. But it's not like Satan takes
personal interest in you. He's not everywhere at one time. He's confined to a place. But he has a network of demons-- don't have time to really
flesh that out much. But good news. He's not omnipresent. He's not omniscient. He doesn't know everything. And he is accountable
before God. Also, he has to operate under
permission, as you'll see. "Then the Lord said
to Satan, have you considered my servant Job
that there is unlike 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? You have bless the
work of his hands. And his possessions have
increased in the land." Now, you and I right now have
information Job didn't have. Job didn't know that
Satan and God were having a conversation about him. We know about it. But he didn't. He was completely in
the dark about this. But now, verse 11-- "Stretch out your hand,
and touch all that he has, and he will surely
curse you to your face." Basically, Satan is accusing
Job of being a mercenary. Job only follows you, God,
because you bless him. Who wouldn't follow you with
what you've given to him? Anybody would mind their
Ps and Qs, and obey God, and obey his laws,
and be upright if he got all that cattle,
and all that livestock, and all that plot
of land, and family. He has impure motives. Take them away, his possessions. And I'll show you. He'll curse you to your face. "The Lord said to Satan, behold. All that he has
is in your power. Only, do not lay a
hand on his person. So Satan went out from
the presence of the Lord." At this point, four rapid-fire
disasters occur in Job's life. And they take out,
they destroy, they eradicate his livestock,
his servants, and all 10 of his children. It's impossible to imagine the
overwhelming nature of that. Any of us-- our plate would
be full with the loss of one-- something we would
never recover from. All 10 are gone. Four servants survive to
tell Job, to inform him of what he has lost. In the second chapter,
as we're going to see-- we're going to touch on that-- he gets physically stricken. And let me just give you a
composite of several verses that will display his
eventual condition. Chapter 2, verses 7 and 8 shows
that he is inflamed by lesions. And with the lesions itching. It says, "Painful boils
from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for
himself a pot shard with which to scrape
himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes." I had just read
that verse to you. In chapter 7, verse 5, it seems
to indicate there are maggots in the ulcerations of his skin. It says that "My body is
clothed with worms and scabs. The skin is broken
and festering." In chapter 30, he describes
osteopathy, pain in his bones. He says, "The night
pierces my bones. My gnawing pain never rests." In chapter 30, verse 30, there
is the darkening of his skin and a sloughing off of his skin. "My skin grows black. It peels. My body burns with fever." Chapter 7, verse 14 seems to
describe night terrors when Job says, "You
frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions." So get the picture. Job-- safe, comfortable,
rich, a fat cat, trusting God, loving God, honoring
God, perfect, upright. Suddenly, tragedy strikes. He loses everything and everyone
except his wife to comfort him. [LAUGHTER] Some of you are laughing,
because you know of this story. And I just read that
one verse to you. What unnerves us is this. If Job is vulnerable,
then surely I am. And you would be right. None of us has any guarantees
that because we commit our life to Christ that we're going
to have a hedge of immunity our entire life. Oh, there will be
seasons of blessing. And yes, God does preserve life. But you don't have a
walking, ongoing guarantee of perfect health, of awesome
wealth, of no problems, of God just carrying
you if you're in the center of his will. Our relationship with God does
not guarantee an easy life. Verse 20-- "Then Job arose,
tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground,
and worshipped." Now, notice his grief. He tore his robe, shaved his
head, fell to the ground. That's expected. You expect that. When somebody does that after
all this happens, you don't go, I can't believe he did that. No, I can believe he did that. That kind of grief
is to be expected. Job was not some
stoic, hyper-spiritual, praise the Lord,
hallelujah kind of a guy. He lived in reality. He was grieved. There is such a
thing as good grief. And a person who doesn't
grieve at a funeral or a loss is holding it inside. And it will wreck that person. Because it eventually will
come out in unhealthy behavior Job is grieved. This is expected-- tears
his robe, shaves his head, falls to the ground. But then what comes
next is unexpected-- and worshipped. And he said, "Naked I came
from my mother's womb. Naked I shall return. The Lord gave. The Lord has taken away. Blessed be the
name of the Lord." That shows you that grief
and worship can commingle. You can be going
through total loss and still mix that with worship. In all this-- verse 22-- Job did not send nor
charge God with wrong. Pain does something for us. And here's what it does. Pain quickly removes the
veneer of who we are. You know what I mean by veneer? Veneer is just a very, very
thin coating of whatever. And pain removes
the veneer, and gets down to the core of who you are,
and reveals who you really are. Pain reveals who you really are. Pain moves us in different
directions, it seems-- either toward God or from God. Anybody can say, the Lord gives. The Lord takes. I think another
level to say, blessed be the name of the Lord. Now, Job does that. He doesn't sin. He praises God. He goes, praise God. Bless the Lord. The Lord has blessed
me and given. And because it's
from Him, the Lord has decided to take it away-- incredible statement
of mature faith. Sometimes God will calm
the storm around you. But other times, he'll calm
you in the midst of the storm. The storm still rages. It doesn't stop. But you're peaceful. You're calm. Now, again, Job knows
what has happened. He doesn't know why or how. So that moves us
to the second phase that is spiritual reality. So far, Job really is the main
character on Earth-- certainly, he is. But the camera once
again pans backstage. And we get a behind-the-scenes
conversation. Chapter 2, verse 1-- "Again there was a day
when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Lord. And Satan came also among
them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan,
from where do you come? So Satan answered
the Lord and said, from going to and
fro in the Earth and from walking back
and forth on it." I wonder how many of
you still have the naive idea that Satan is in hell. Newsflash, he ain't. To put it in proper
English, he ain't there. He will be there one day. That's his eventual consignment. But until then, he's roaming
around the Earth going to and fro, it says, on it. This is why-- 2 Corinthians 4-- he has
called the God of this world. You may ask, what is he up to? Short answer-- he's
a people watcher. You ever get nervous when
people are watching you? You're in a restaurant. And it's like, gosh,
they've been, like, looking to me for there
for, like, 10 minutes, just staring at my-- it's weird, isn't it? You've got somebody
studying you. You go, why would
Satan watch people? He and his demons are studying
weak points, vulnerabilities, best way to attack, strategy. The Lord said to
Satan-- now watch this. Here it is again-- "Have you considered
my servant, Job?" The way it's worded would
be better translated, you've been considering my
servant, Job, haven't you? And the word considered
is a military term of a general who would study a
city before he would attack it. You've been watching. You've been studying. You've been looking,
strategizing. "That there is none
like him on the Earth, a blameless and upright man, one
who fears God and shuns evil. And he still holds
fast to his integrity, although you have
incited me against him to destroy him without cause." Think how Peter felt
the day Jesus said, Simon, Satan has been
asking about you. What would you think
if somebody said, Antonio, Tamera, Satan
has been asking about you? You'd go, oh. Well, what did he ask? And what did you tell him? Satan has been asking
for you, Peter. He wants to sift you like wheat. Now, Satan does only
operate by permission. He can only go so far,
whatever God allows him to do. Why God allows this to
happen, and we're not told-- but if you remember
in the gospels, the demons wanted
to enter the pigs, because of the demon possessed
man was the temporary house of those demons. They asked Jesus to cast
him out to go into the pigs. And Jesus permitted
them to do so. But they only operate
by permission. What that means is
Satan has a leash. Though, I've often
wondered why it is so long of a leash, why God
allows him to have such reign. But whatever the
Lord allows Satan to incite against you, whatever
God allows for his purpose to strengthen you
to do whatever, he has his eye on you. And he has his hand
on the thermostat. He's not going to let you
become a crispy critter. He's watching you in the fire. But he's not going to walk
away and go, oh, I forgot. He's still in the oven. Psst. Paul says, he won't allow
you to be tempted above what you're able to endure. So verse 4-- we
got to move along. So Satan answered the Lord
and said, "Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has,
he will give for his life." That's the law of
human preservation. I think Satan was an astute
observer of human nature. I believe this is true. People will do almost
anything to preserve life-- fight or flight mechanism. Skin for skin, all that a man
has he will give for his life. "But stretch out your
hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh. And he will surely
curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan,
behold, he is in your hand. But spare his life." Verse 7 and verse 8 talk
about the boils that he had. And he sat in the midst of
the ashes and scraped himself. Verse 9-- "Then his
wife said to him"-- what an encouragement
she turns out to be-- "do you still hold
fast your integrity? Curse God and die." Thank you, sweetheart. God bless you, too. [LAUGHTER] What he said to her-- "You speak as one of the
foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed
accept good from God, and shall we not
accept adversity?" You'd do well to
study that verse. Meditate on that. In all of this, Job did
not sin with his lips. So here's the deal. We look at the world, but
we only see part of it. We don't see what's happening
in the really real world, behind the scenes, in
the spiritual realm, in the realm of God, and
the Angels, and the demons. We wrestle not against
flesh and blood, Paul said, but principalities,
powers, workers, the darkness of this age. Remember when
Daniel was praying, and an angel was dispatched to
him to give him a revelation? He said, as soon as
you started praying, I was dispatched from God. But the prince of Persia-- I had to fight with
him-- the spirit prince of Persia-- for 21 days. Finally, Michael had to
come and bail me out. Now I got to tell you what
God wants me to tell you. And I got to go back and
fight the prince of Persia. That's a spirit entity. That's an angelic force. And here is an angel fighting
a demon who has great powers so that he needs the help of
an arc angel to win the battle. If the prince of
Persia was that bad, I wonder what the prince
of Las Vegas might be like or the spirit prince
of San Francisco. Or we could name any place. So after a physical melody
and spiritual reality, the bulk of the book
is the mental agony that comes to Job when he
wrestles with this-- not knowing why it has happened. But his friends come
along to offer advice. You're not alone
when you suffer. People are watching you. You're on stage. Chapter 2, verse 11-- "When Job's three
friends"-- you may want to put quotes around that-- "heard of all this adversity
that had come upon him, each one came from his own
place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and
Zophar the Naamathite, for they made an
appointment together to come and mourn with
him and comfort him." Oh, that's beautiful. I want to mourn with you. I want to comfort you. That's good, and that's noble. And it was awesome until
they opened their mouth. Verse 13, "They sat on
the ground for seven days. No one spoke a word to him." They should have
left after that. They should have
just been with him. Don't try to persuade,
or argue, or preach at people in suffering. Just be with them. Just hug them. Offer a word of encouragement
from time to time. But let them lead. Chapter 3 through 26 begins
the dialogue between Job and his friends, his buddies. There are three cycles of
speeches by these three men. I'm just giving you a summation. The first cycle of speeches
is chapters 4 through 14. All three of them
give their speeches. The second cycle is
chapters 15 through 21. And the third cycle
in this dialogue is chapters 22 through 26. We are going to dip down and
notice a couple of things. Chapter 3 verse 1 says, "After
this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke and said, may the
day perish in which I was born. And the night in
which it was said, a male child is conceived." You know what that's called? Honesty. It's called venting. You know what venting is. Sometimes my wife
will just talk to me. And she said to
me the other day, thanks for letting me vent. Sometimes a person
just needs to vent. And Job is venting. After all the loss,
he's just rar. He's pouring it out. He's venting. He said, I wish
I was never born. So Eliphaz the Temanite
starts in and basically says, "Job, the bottom line
is you're a sinner. That's the good news. And the bad news is God
is punishing you for it." Chapter 4, verse 7-- "Remember now, whoever
perished being innocent. Or where the upright
ever cut off? Even as I have seen those who
plow iniquity"-- that's sin-- "and so trouble reap the same." That's the best Eliphaz
could come up with. Chapter 6, verse 1
is Job's rebuttal to the speech given by Eliphaz. Job answered and said, "Oh,
that my grief were fully weighed and my calamity laid
with it on the scales, for then it would be heavier
than the sand of the sea." In other words, what I'm feeling
is far weightier and far worse than what you're
hearing or seeing. Therefore, my words
have been rash. In chapter 6 and 7, Job
responds to Eliphaz. After that, Bildad the Shuhite
comes and offers his advice. He is even more
insensitive than Eliphaz. Bildad basically says,
Job, you're a hypocrite. And the reason your kids died
is because they were sinners. How'd you like to hear that
as a parent losing a child? They sinned, and
God punish them. I won't read it. I don't have the time. He responds-- Job's retort,
chapter 10, verse 1. "My soul loathes my life. I hate life. I will give free
course to my complaint. I will speak in the
bitterness of my soul. I will say to God,
do not condemn me. Show me why you
contend with me." And he says to God,
"Does it seem good to you that you should
oppress, that you should despise the work
of your hands and smile on the council of the wicked?" In chapter 11, Zophar,
who's just been standing around saying nothing-- Zophar, so good. [LAUGHTER] Now Zophar, so bad
chimes in and says, repent in chapter
11, versus 13 and 14. His message is,
look, you just need to turn around and
go God's direction. You're going the wrong way. You need to repent. Now, when you have this kind of
stuff happening to your life, with friends like this,
who needs enemies? They are Monday morning
quarterbacking Job's suffering. Day no nothing, like
Job knows nothing, of why this has happened. In chapter 13, verse 13, Job-- his response is, "Hold
your peace with me. Let me speak. Then let come on me what may." Here's a high point. He does have high
points-- verse 15. "Though he slay me,
yet I will trust Him." You'd do well to
meditate on that verse. Though it kills me, I'm still
going to trust in the Lord all the way to death,
even if I lose it all, even if it costs my life. Though he slay me,
yet I will trust. "Even so, I will defend
my own ways before Him. He also shall be my salvation,
for a hypocrite could not come before Him." Look it, he's lost everyone
and everything except his wife. He's thinking, might
as well have lost her. I don't know if it was a
blessing to hold onto her. But I have her. But I basically lost
everything and every one. But I still have God. And I'm going to hold on to him. Mother Teresa once
said, you'll never know if Jesus is all you need
until Jesus is all you've got. If everything goes except
Him, that'll be the test. I hope none of you ever get
to that point in a test. Eliphaz's second speech
is in chapter 15. Basically, he says,
Job, you're a fool. Now Job has had enough. Chapter 16 verse 1-- "Job answered and said,
I've heard many such things. Miserable comforters
are you all." Amen. You could call
yourselves counselors. "Shall words of
wind have an end"-- you big windbags-- "or what
provokes you that you answer." You see, Job's friends have
reduced his suffering down to clever little
laws and formulas. If you did this, then
this would happen. If you wouldn't have
done that, then that wouldn't have happened. It's all a formula. I'll never forget a couple who
came to our church years ago. And they came because
they left a church that was a "faith church," a
health, wealth church. And the reason they
left is because they had a little girl taken to
the hospital who was sick. The parents prayed. They had faith that God was
going to heal the little girl. They brought the elders in. They prayed. And the baby died in the
hospital in the emergency room. The elders of the church then
said to the parents, today your daughter would be alive
if you had enough faith. That's being punched
in the gut after being laid completely low. And they just thought,
we feel so guilty. We didn't know what to do. I said, first of all, it has
nothing to do with your faith. And they got back
to spiritual health. They got back on
their feet again. But this is what Job's
friends are like to him. Cardinal rule, walk softly
around a broken heart. Walk softly around
a broken heart. Don't say, I know how you feel. Even if you've also
lost somebody-- not a good thing to say. I'm sorry. Weep with them-- but
not, I know how you feel. It's going to be OK. They're in heaven. Those things are not helpful. Listen patiently. Be unshockable. Here's the rule. Be a walking ICU. They see you coming-- oh, I'm glad you're here. Well, Job wrestles with this. He has great flashes of
insight from time to time. His defense to Bildad-- chapter 19, verse 23-- the dialogues continue,
chapter 19, verse 23. "Job says, oh, that my
words were written,"-- little did he know-- "oh, that they were
inscribed in a book,"-- here we are reading it-- "that they were engraved
on a rock with an iron pen and led forever, permanence. For I know"-- boy,
there's a lot you don't know when you're suffering. But watch what he does know-- "I know that my Redeemer lives." This is before the gospels. This is patriarchal, folks. This is before
psalms, and Daniel, and any prophetic utterance
of the coming messiah. Here's this sufferer who
gets this incredible flash of insight. "I know that my
Redeemer"-- of course, it could be translated
defender, lawyer. But watch what he says about
his Redeemer, defender, lawyer-- "I know that my Redeemer lives. And He shall stand
at last on the Earth. And after my skin is destroyed,
this I know, that, in my flesh, I shall see God,"-- that deserves a
sermon right there. And I've done one on it,
so I won't do another one-- "whom I shall see for
myself and my eyes shall behold and not another
how my heart yearns within me." This is Christ in
the Book of Job. If you want to know where the
gospel is, you're reading it. Job pierces visually
behind the grave. And he sees into the future. And he expresses a
hope in immortality. How? He knows he's going to die. He believes he's going to die. But he also believes,
after he dies, he's going to live again and
see God, see his Redeemer. How is that possible? There's only one answer
to that, Resurrection. Here is Job, perhaps
the oldest figure or one of the oldest figures
in biblical history, saying, I'll tell you what I know. I know that, when I
die, there's going to be a physical
Resurrection and that I'm going to be able to see God-- incredible statement of faith. Chapter 23, Job's reply to
Eliphaz's third speech-- remember they're giving these
cycles of speeches, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3. There's retorts back to them,
1, 2, and then retort back. Job is now responding
to Eliphaz's third part of his dialogue, verse 1. "Job answered and said, even
today, my complaint is bitter. My hand is listless
because of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where
I might find Him"-- capital H, God. Oh, that I knew where I might
find God-- ever prayed that? Where's God in this? I prayed. I've sought. I've worshipped. It feels empty, dry. I hear nothing. Where's God? "Oh, that I knew where
I might find Him, that I might come to His seat. I would present
my case before Him and fill my mouth with
arguments"-- verse 8. "Look, I go forward, but
he's not there, backward, but I can't perceive Him. When he works on the
left, I cannot behold Him. When he turns to the right
hand, I cannot see Him." What truths are Job
bringing out here? Simple-- God is not
apparent all the time. You know what I mean by that? God is not apparent. You don't always see him. You don't always hear him. You don't always feel him. He's not apparent when
you go into a situation. But he's always aware. He's not apparent,
but he's always aware. Because notice
what he says after. "I look for Him. I can't find Him"-- verse 10-- "But He knows the
way that I take. And when he has tested me, I
shall come forth as gold"-- amazing insight, again. I don't know where God is. I don't know what God's up to. But God knows where I am. And God knows what I'm up to. Can you live with that? I hope you can. There's great comfort in that. I don't know what God's up to. I don't know where He is. He knows where I'm at. And He knows what I'm up to. This is Job's view
of sovereignty. Job's view of
sovereignty is this. What is hidden to us
is not hidden to God. What is hidden to you, what
you can't see, or hear, or know right now-- God is not in the dark
about those things. If you hold on to that,
if you can grasp this, I believe this will change
your episodes of pain, and suffering, and sorrow. You're going to have more. You may be in one right now. But this will
revolutionize your pain. What's hidden from me
is not hidden from God. Horatio Spafford--
you know the story-- a lawyer in Chicago, lost
his family out at sea. He was going to
meet them in Europe. They took a boat over. The boat sunk. All of them were killed. He lost everything like Job. He took an ocean
liner, the story goes. And when the boat
went over in the ocean where this ship previously had
gone down, the captain said, this is where that
ship went down. This is where your wife
and children are below. It was on the deck of that
ship that he wrote the words that we have sung before. "When peace like a
river attendeth my way, when sorrows like
sea billows roll, whatever my lot now has
taught me to say, it as well. It is well with my soul." This is hidden from me. It is not hidden from Him. He knows the way that I take. Well, in all of that,
Satan is finally silenced. And I love it, because
God proves to Satan through the life of Job-- I would say, Job proves
to Satan in that-- that God can be worshipped
apart from his blessings and his gifts. Whether God blesses
you outwardly, whether God gives you
gifts-- it's not like, well, if God didn't bless me, I'm
not going to praise him. Your faith is worthless. [LAUGHTER] God can be worshipped
apart from his gifts and apart from his blessings. Job left with nothing from this
ordeal so far except with God. And he has already
stated, I'm going to follow God no matter what. Though he slay me, I will trust. I'm going to follow God when
God strokes me with blessings. I'm going to follow God when
he strikes me with pain. Chapters 27 through 42 are
monologues, three of them, one by Job, then Elihu,
which is a character we haven't looked at yet-- I'm just going to mention him. I'm not going to
really read him-- and then God. Chapters 27 to 31 is
the first monologue. Job speaks-- five chapters. Job in his poetic fashion talks
about his past, his past life experiences, and his present
calamity, his pain and sorrow. Chapters 32 through 37 are six
chapters spoken by a young man by the name of Elihu
or Elli-hu, depending on how you'd like to say
it, depending on what part of the country you're from. This young man, of all
of the four friends, is the most unique,
because there is some semblance of wisdom. He gets angry at
the three friends for bloviating against Job-- not too happy with Job himself. Because he's saying, Job,
look, I know you're suffering, but you served
yourself above God. So this young man--
younger in years-- but points Job upward and
basically says, look up. Trust God. Look to the heavens. Look to God. So after physical malady,
and spiritual reality, and mental agony, let's
close with ultimate victory, chapters 38 through 42. Now God has a monologue. Now God is going to speak. He ends the debate. And He restores Job. Chapter 38, verse 1-- let's
just get the beginning of it. "Then the Lord answered
Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this
who darkens council by words without knowledge?" All of these opinions of people
who know absolutely nothing at all-- sounds so much like the media. [LAUGHTER] "Who is this who darkens council
by words without knowledge?" They cloud the truth
with ignorant words. Verse 3-- "Now, he says to Job,
prepare yourself like a man. I will question you. And you will answer me. Where were you when I laid
the foundations of the Earth? Tell me if you have
understanding." Now, what God does here-- don't get too hard on God. I know Job is suffering,
been through a lot, had to listen to his friends. But God's word is God's word. It's true whether you're
feeling good or not. So God silenced
him and basically gives him a science quiz in
the next couple of chapters, ask him all of these
questions that Job really has no adequate answer for--
questions him about the Earth, and about the heavens, and about
different beings and creatures that God has created. Verse 5-- "Who has
determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched
the line upon it?" Like, look, I'm the
creator and the maintainer of the physical world, not you. There's things I know
that you have no-- you can't even
scratch the surface. So that goes on through
chapter 38 and 39. Job finally gets it--
chapter 40, verse 3. I'm going to show
you how Job gets it. Chapter 40, verses 3-- "Then Job answered the Lord
and said, behold I am vile. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken. But I will not answer yes twice. But I will proceed no further." But God continues through
chapter 40 and 41. Look, I'm sovereign. I alone control what
is uncontrollable. And here's the biggest point
God wants to make with Job. Job, I've asked you all
these science questions about the physical world. If you can't understand my
way in the physical world, what makes you think
you can understand my ways in the spiritual world? If in the seen, visible world
you can't unwind and unravel what I've done, how
could you possibly be able to conjecture about
what goes on in a realm you have no purview over? It's very logical
and theological. Job is humble. He's submissive. Chapter 42, verse 1-- "Job answered the Lord. And he said, I know that
you can do everything and that no purpose of yours
can be withheld from you. You asked, who is this who
hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered
what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me
which I did not know know. Listen, please. Let me speak. You said, I will question
you, and you will answer me. I have heard of you by
the hearing of the ear. But now my eye sees you. Therefore, I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes." It sounds familiar, doesn't it? Isaiah saw a vision of God. The first words out of
his mouth-- woe is me. Wow is you. Woe is me. When Peter finally
understood Jesus was divine, he said, depart from me. I'm a sinful man. In seeing God, Job saw himself. Therefore, I abhor myself, and
I repent in dust and ashes. This is repentance
and compliance. Verse 10-- "And the Lord
restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends." Woo, Job, go pray
for those friends that gave you rotten council. You heard a testimony tonight. Kim gave it before the study--
so powerful about that prayer of forgiveness and releasing
those things from her captors, the rapists. I forgive you--
pouring that out. "The Lord restored Job's losses
when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice
as much as he had before." He doubles up on
everything except kids. He gets 10 more kids. And so he doubles up on
everything else but the kids. And you think, if
you have 10 kids, double that really wouldn't
necessarily be a blessing. So God blessed him. Verse 16-- "After this,
Job lived 140 years and saw his children
and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died old
and full of days." As we close, how about this? Never let what you don't
understand about God and his ways rob
you from the love and care that God
has towards you. Never let what you
don't understand rob you of what you do understand. When you don't understand
things, instead of going and fixating on it-- I don't understand this. I don't understand why this. I don't care why this. OK. What do you know? What do you understand? Now pivot to what you
know and understand. Job-- I know my Redeemer lives. Live there. I don't know why
this is happening. But I know my Redeemer lives. I know, at the last day,
I'll see him on the Earth. So when you don't understand,
pivot to what you do understand about God. And understand this. Suffering in the
hands of a loving God can bring about great good. If I were to have open mic
night and have you share your testimony about your
periods of suffering-- which I would recommend you
do in home fellowships-- a lot of you would say, this
is what I learned through it. This is how my faith
deepened through it. This is where I am
now because of it. That's what you would do. There's fruit from it. Never underestimate
the tool that suffering can be in the hands of a loving
God who will not let the fire fry you but come
back and pull you out of the oven in the nick of time. No temptation has taken
evil, which is common demand. God is faithful, won't
allow you to be tempted of what you're able to endure. With the temptation, also
make a way of escape. The best illustration
I heard of it is this. A bear is trapped in
a cage by a scientist. The scientist simply wants
to study the bear in order to make the bear's life and
other bear's life better. But the bear doesn't understand
the motive of the scientist. The bear just knows
he's in a cage. So the scientist comes
up to the cage, probes, and pokes the bear, puts
a hypodermic needle in it to take blood and do some tests. And the bear is thinking,
that's a hostile creature. I need to kill it. It's trying to destroy me. That's not the motivation
of the scientist. Finally, the scientist
wants to let the bear go but has to tranquilize the
bear to spring the cage so that everybody else
is safe around there. So when the tranquilizer
goes into the bear again, the bear is thinking the very
worst instead of the best. This creature is out to kill me. That bear does not
know the truth. The truth is the scientist
is trying to help the bear and other bears. You don't know what
God's up to any more than the bear understands
what the scientist is up to. Fair enough analogy? So when you come up against the
wall and you don't understand, just think, the scientist does. Somebody smarter than me knows. He knows the way that I take. And when I come
out of this cage, I will come forth as gold. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father, you are a good God. And we've said it before. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. And so we say it again. As we've swept over
this Book of Job and considered this man's
suffering, Satan's scheming, your permitting, his
friends miscalculating, and finally you restoring,
may we rest in the fact that what is hidden from
us is not hidden from you. And what's more, you have
our best interests at heart. And what's more,
you cause all things to work together
for good to those that love God and are called
according to his purpose. Thank you for that promise. In Jesus' name, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING] We hoped you enjoyed this
message from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. For more resources,
visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from The Bible from 30,000 Feet.
