Crossing The Line
Job 9-10
October 18, 2015
Ok, I know we’ve had some other things going on lately
Which means it has been now three weeks
Since we have looked at the book of Job.
So first, let me put you back in the flow
And see if we can engage our minds again with the story.
• Job was a righteous and blameless man.
• Because of his righteousness he was selected to suffer.
• Job lost everything
• But still Job refused to turn on God
• However after a couple of weeks Job did open his mouth and curse the day of his birth stating that it would have been much better if he could have just died in the womb.
• It was at this point that Job’s three friends decided to chime in.
• Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
• Eliphaz basically told Job that he was suffering because he was a sinner.
• Job responded to that with a heartfelt appeal that his friends back off and show a little compassion.
If they had only stopped to realize exactly what Job was going through, then perhaps they would have been a little more sympathetic.
• And then Job returned to his lament.
• Then last time we met Bildad spoke up.
And if you’ll remember,
Bildad actually said some things that sound really true and right.
Things like, “Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?”
Or things like “God will not reject a man of integrity, nor will He support the evildoers.”
Those statements taken by themselves are true.
But they are misapplied to Job.
Bildad’s point was that
It would be unjust for God to do this to Job if he was righteous
And so therefore Job must not be righteous for God is always just.
And we talked about how Bilidad had a wrong view of God’s sovereignty.
We don’t get to define justice, God does.
If God does it, it’s just, even if that means you need to change your definition.
We also saw Bildad misrepresent God’s mercy, timing, work, and favor.
To put it simply, Bildad basically believed as Eliphaz did;
That Job must have been sinful,
For God would not have done this to a righteous man.
As we have said many times over,
They represent the fall-out of the prosperity gospel.
The prosperity gospel is that “health, wealth, and happiness teaching”
That basically states that if God is pleased with you,
He will bless you and if He is not, He will curse you.
That means that when a person is suffering,
The prosperity gospel is very cruel.
It only has one answer for suffering and that is that
It must be the fault of the victim.
And that is what has been preached to Job both by Eliphaz and by Bildad.
Well, tonight Job is going to answer Bildad’s accusation.
But first we need to introduce another important truth to the book of Job.
Up until now we’ve kept things pretty simple
In regard to who is right and who is wrong.
We’ve read the verse at the end of this book several times.
Job 42:8 “Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
And we’ve used that passage as a measuring stick
To help measure what we read.
We know, based on that verse that the theology of the three friends is wrong whereas the theology of Job is correct.
That has been tremendously helpful to us in discerning what we read.
But that is only part of the equation.
I say that because by the time we end this book
You are going to find that God is pretty severe with Job as well.
In fact, there is a 4th man sitting among Job and his friends.
He is a young man and by his own admission he is not yet speaking because he believes that the old should speak first.
This young man’s name is Elihu.
Now he is important because he is the only player in the book of Job
Who does not get rebuked by God.
Many have assumed then (and it’s hard to argue)
That Elihu was sort of a human messenger on God’s behalf.
And let me show you what Elihu thinks of Job and his 3 friends.
Job 32:1-3 “Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God. And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.”
Elihu is pretty angry at everyone.
And Elihu will go on a 6 chapter rant primarily against Job.
One example:
Job 33:8-12 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the sound of your words: ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent and there is no guilt in me. ‘Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy. ‘He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.’ “Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, For God is greater than man.”
When you read statements like this from Elihu (and there are others)
You are left with the sense that Elihu doesn’t disagree with Job’s doctrine
So much as he has a problem with his attitude.
It seems to Elihu that Job has forgotten his place
And is failing to treat God with the respect that he should.
Now I bring this up because this is the very thing
That God will rebuke Job for later in the book.
Job 38:1-3 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!”
Job 40:1-2 “Then the LORD said to Job, “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it.”
Job 40:6-8 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said, “Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. “Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?”
So to read this book and pretend that God is going to give 100% assent
To everything Job says is obviously wrong.
God is going to give Job the worst brow beating in the whole of Scripture.
God will confront him to such an extent that Job will actually say:
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
So Job is going to repent before this book is over.
• It is immediately following this repentance that God will announce that Job should pray for His 3 friends who did not speak what was right about Him.
• And God will also say that Job did speak what was right.
SO WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF ALL OF THIS?
Let me sort of untangle it a little.
1) Job was righteous and blameless
2) Job did not suffer as a result of his sin
3) Job’s friends blamed his suffering on his sin, hence they spoke what was wrong.
4) Job clearly speaks what is right and yet still gets rebuked by God
5) Job’s problem was not his theology, it was his pride
What Elihu and God both eventually call Job down for
Was not that he said anything wrong about God,
But that he got a little big for his britches in the way that he said it.
And I bring that reality up to you this evening because you are about to see your first instance of Job starting to cross the line.
What you are going to see is
• Job explain doctrine regarding God that is true,
• But then you are going to see Job put a negative spin on it so as to make himself look good and consequently God look bad.
And this is the danger.
Any time we walk through suffering we can reach a point of frustration and despair that tempts us even to begin to question God’s wisdom.
You’ve seen it before.
• It was seen in Moses when he struck the rock.
• It was seen in David when he numbered the people.
• It was seen in Elijah when he ran to Sinai and questioned God.
1 Kings 19:14 “Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Do you hear Elijah there?
What are You doing!
It was seen in the disciples when they woke Jesus up in the storm.
To which Jesus responded, “You of little faith…”
It was seen Martha and Mary when they questioned Jesus for not healing Lazarus.
“Lord, if You had been here, our brother would not have died”
Those were all instances of people in difficult circumstances
Who entertained the notion that while God was certainly God,
He might not be doing what is right.
The reason those people were so confused was because
Each of them knew they were living the way God had commanded.
So when hardship came their way, they didn’t understand it
And at times even took their frustrations out on God.
They allowed their view of what they deserved distort their view of God.
And in their frustrations they crossed the line.
And they all received a rebuke for it.
Listen to Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 15:15-18 “You who know, O LORD, Remember me, take notice of me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away; Know that for Your sake I endure reproach. Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation. Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable?”
He accused God of lying to him.
Listen to God’s rebuke:
Jeremiah 15:19-21 “Therefore, thus says the LORD, “If you return, then I will restore you — Before Me you will stand; And if you extract the precious from the worthless, You will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, But as for you, you must not turn to them. “Then I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; And though they fight against you, They will not prevail over you; For I am with you to save you And deliver you,” declares the LORD. “So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.”
This happened with many of the heroes of the Old Testament
They obeyed God and suffered for it.
• Were they suffering because of their sin? No
• Was their understanding of God’s sovereignty wrong? No
• Did they turn away from God? No
But just for a moment they got a little big for their britches,
And God dealt with it.
Well, perhaps that helps you understand where Job is.
He is a righteous man. He is blameless and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil. There is no one like him on the earth, and he is not suffering as a result of his sin.
But, in his confusion, he is about to cross a line
And allow his pride to step in.
Let’s work through these 2 chapters and I’ll show you what I mean.
Each of these 2 chapters forms a distinct point
And we’ll break them each down a little more.
#1 JOB’S NEGATIVE TAKE ON GOD
Job 9:1-35
First let me just show you three attributes that Job ascribes to God here.
And incidentally they are all 100% accurate.
TRANSCENDENCE – (excelling or surpassing) it is the understanding that God is above and beyond us in every possible way.
Isaiah said:
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Paul said:
Romans 11:33-36 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
And this is the first attribute Job is going to ascribe to God;
And it’s absolutely accurate. God is transcendent.
OMNIPOTENCE – (all powerful) it is the idea that God has all power and can do anything He desires.
SOVEREIGNTY – (total authority) it carries the idea of God being the supreme ruler who is in charge of all things.
So Job is simply going to ascribe to God that
He is transcendent, omnipotent, and sovereign.
And he is speaking what is right about God.
The problem is that Job (because of his suffering)
Is going to put a negative spin on each of these realities.
Let me show you.
1) GOD IS TRANSCENDENT (1-12)
Here Job is talking about the reality that
God is above and beyond us in all things.
Now this is a good thing since we certainly want someone wiser than us in control of all things.
But Job really seems to put a negative spin on this.
According to Job, because God is transcendent:
• None can DISPUTE Him (read vs. 3)
• None can DEFY Him (read vs. 4-10)
• None can DISCERN Him (read vs. 11)
• None can DETAIN Him (read vs. 12)
Job says, “He’s transcendent so I can’t talk with Him, I can’t do anything but what He wants, I can’t understand what He’s doing, and I can’t keep Him from doing it.”
That really sort of paints God more as a bully than a Father.
Job is clearly put out with God for being so hard to understand.
He’s got a second attribute he’s a little frustrated with.
2) GOD IS OMINPOTENT (13-24)
Here again we find a true attribute of God,
But from Job’s perspective that only works against him.
Job doesn’t see it as the strongest God in the world is for me,
Job sees it as the strongest God in the world is against me
And there is nothing I can do about it.
(13-15) “God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab. “How then can I answer Him, And choose my words before Him? “For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge.”
Job knows God is all powerful and so that means
Even if I’m right there isn’t anything I can do about it.
The strong man wins every time.
And according to Job this is bad because
God is afflicting him even though he doesn’t deserve it.
(16-19) “If I called and He answered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice. “For He bruises me with a tempest And multiplies my wounds without cause. “He will not allow me to get my breath, But saturates me with bitterness. “If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong one! And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?”
Job clearly says that God has no cause to do what He is doing.
And if that is not bad enough God won’t seem to let up.
Job will go further:
(20-24) “Though I am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; Though I am guiltless, He will declare me guilty. “I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I despise my life. “It is all one; therefore I say, ‘He destroys the guiltless and the wicked.’ “If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair of the innocent. “The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?”
Job is actually saying that God is all powerful
And yet He is doing wrong things with His power.
(or at least things that Job thinks are wrong)
• He sees God destroying “the guiltless and the wicked”
• He sees God giving the earth “into the hand of the wicked”
• He sees God covering “the faces of its judges”
And then Job throws his hands up to his scowling friends and says,
“If it is not He, then who is it?”
If God (the omnipotent) isn’t doing these things than who is?
Who is stronger than Him?
And let me tell you from a doctrinal level, Job is pretty well right on.
In fact the issues he raises are some of the very issues that
Non-believers use against God to this very day.
See, Christians say that God is sovereign and omnipotent and in charge
And non-Christians then say, “So why does this good God kill all these innocent people?”
• Look at the 2 tsunamis…
• Look at Hurricane Katrina…
• Did only non-Christians die in those events?
Or what about those God has allowed to rule the earth?
Are we to assume that our government is made up of believers?
Would we not agree that our judges are blind to the things of God?
And yet we know God appointed them.
Romans 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
What Job is saying about God’s role in the universe is not necessarily wrong here. The problem is that Job is asserting that God is wrong in what He is doing.
One more
3) GOD IS SOVEREIGN (25-35)
In other words God is the supreme authority,
He has the right (and the power) to do whatever He wants.
Did you catch what Job is saying?
• My life is wasting away. (25-26)
• Now, I could try to make the most of it (27)
• But it won’t work because God has already determined to make it bad for me (28-31)
• And what is worse…He is sovereign, so there is no court that can make Him do otherwise (32-33)
• So I wish this sovereign God would just leave me alone (34-35)
Job knows that God is sovereign, and he knows that God can fix this.
Job’s problem is that God isn’t fixing it and no one can make Him.
He is frustrated that God is afflicting him.
Job says God is TRANSCENDENT but for Job that means UNAPPROACHABLE.
He says God is OMNIPOTENT, but for Job that means UNYIELDING.
He says God is SOVEREING, but for Job that means UNACCOUNTABLE.
Do you see how he is viewing God in a negative light?
And we tend to do that somethings in our suffering if we aren’t careful.
We tend to think that God is somehow wronging us
And actually grow frustrated with Him.
You can see where he is starting to cross the line.
But that is Job’s negative view on God.
#2 JOB’S NEGATIVE TAKE ON HIS CIRCUMSTANCES
Job 10:1-22
Here we run into Job’s view on life
(It is a bi-product of his negativity toward God)
Job has become a full-blown pessimist
(Now, I don’t know of any of us who could condemn him)
We all tend to do this, I just want you to understand that
God is going to later rebuke Job for it.
Again, let’s break the chapter down a little further.
Three main points that reveal Job’s negative view of his circumstances.
1) I AM RECEIVING INJUSTICE (1-7)
You can hear the brashness here can’t you?
(1-2) “I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. “I will say to God, ‘ Do not condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me.”
That’s pretty bold directly to the face of God.
Then Job actually questions God’s decision to afflict him.
(3-7) “’Is it right for You indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Your hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? ‘Have You eyes of flesh? Or do You see as a man sees? ‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal, Or Your years as man’s years, That You should seek for my guilt And search after my sin? ‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty, Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.”
“Is it right..?”
Job knows that God is sovereign and powerful and transcendent
Job is just questioning whether God is doing what He should.
I’ll get honest here with you for a moment.
A few years ago during a particularly dark moment when we just couldn’t seem to get any relief with Carrie’s treatment for her depression. We had been years and still nothing seemed to get better.
I distinctly remember falling over the ottoman in our living room and telling God, “If I was God I would have fixed this by now.”
That’s not any different than what Job is doing.
• He knows who God is.
• He knows God is in charge.
• He just can’t fathom why God would be doing what He is doing
• And in his moment of pride and arrogance he actually begins to question if God knows what He is doing.
I am receiving injustice and I don’t deserve it.
Receiving Injustice
2) I AM REELING HOPELESSLY (8-17)
Now Job starts out by recounting that God created Him
And that it was indeed mercy and love that caused God to give him life.
You see that in verses 8-12
Especially 12, “You have granted me life and lovingkindness; and Your care has preserved my spirit.”
Job knows how good God has been to him.
Job’s problem is that he thinks
God has now decided to quit being that way toward him.
(13) “Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You:”
That is to say, “I know you are loving God, You just seem to be choosing not to be to me right now.”
And because of this Job has lost all hope.
(14-17) “If I sin, then You would take note of me, And would not acquit me of my guilt. ‘If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery. ‘Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion; And again You would show Your power against me. ‘You renew Your witnesses against me And increase Your anger toward me; Hardship after hardship is with me.”
I’m in a lose-lose situation.
• If I’m wicked, You’ll destroy me
• If I’m righteous, You’ll destroy me
You can feel the despair can’t you?
I’m receiving injustice I’m reeling hopelessly
3) I AM REQUESTING RELIEF (18-22)
Relief is actually a nice way to put it.
Job is back to wishing he could just die.
“I should have been as though I had not been, carried from womb to tomb.”
He wants it all over.
• Why would you afflict me when I’m innocent?
• Why would you create me just to destroy me?
• Why would you give me life to make me hate it?
Job looks at the transcendent, omnipotent, sovereign God
And says, “Based on these realities, I think You’re a little cruel.”
Job doesn’t think God is doing right by him.
It is statements like this that will have Elihu all fired up later in the book.
It is statements like this what will prompt God to address Job directly.
Job is crossing the line.
Now, let’s see if we can’t wrap this all up with a little application tonight.
Again Job is not suffering because he sinned.
God is never going to ask him to repent of some sin that caused his pain.
Job is a righteous man whom God is using to demonstrate to Satan
That a relationship between Him and His child cannot be severed.
And Job will faithfully demonstrate that.
Job is angry, Job is confused, but Job at no time will ever turn on God.
In fact Job, from the midst of his pain and his awful circumstances,
Will repent in chapter 42 and re-declare his commitment to God
Before his circumstances ever get any better.
The point of the book is clear.
However, we get the opportunity to learn here from Job
That accusing God of being unfair or unjust in the midst of our pain
Is a road you don’t want to travel.
I realize that things in this life happen all the time that seem wrong to us,
But that doesn’t mean they are wrong.
• We have to remember that in Adam we all fell and deserve nothing but the wrath of God.
• Paul reminds us both in Romans 5 and Ephesians 2 that we enter this world as enemies of God.
In fact:
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
In Titus Paul wrote:
Titus 3:3 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”
But God has chosen to be overwhelmingly merciful and gracious to His enemies.
Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Titus 3:4-6 “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,”
That means that regardless of the hardships we face in life
We will forever be on the plus end of this deal.
One of the hardest things we are called to do as believers
Is to continue to trust that God is right
Even when everything around us seems wrong.
Transcendent doesn’t mean “unapproachable”
It means God knows what He is doing, even when you don’t.
Omnipotent doesn’t mean “unyielding”
It means that God will always be able to accomplish His perfect plan.
Sovereign doesn’t mean “unaccountable”
It means that God has everything perfectly under control.
Don’t cross the line and start blaming God
When all that is required is for you continue trusting Him.
Habakkuk 3:16-19 “I heard and my inward parts trembled, At the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, And in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, For the people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, And makes me walk on my high places. For the choir director, on my stringed instruments.”
Habakkuk said that’s actually a song you should learn
So that you can sing it when you suffer.
It’s a good reminder not to cross the line when you are in pain.
