The Outcome of the Lord’s Dealings
Job 42
April 17, 2016
Well tonight we come to the end of the book of Job.
I must admit that this book has at times felt like quite a marathon to study,
I hope I haven’t exhausted you as we worked our way through it.
As I have said, however, I do think that any book that covers the topic of suffering like this must be a little exhausting to study.
After all, there is nothing easy about suffering in our own lives.
It typically becomes harder and lasts longer than any of us desire.
So any study that seeks to carry us into the heart of suffering
Is going to have to be a somewhat grueling study.
Well tonight we come to the long awaited conclusion.
Namely because we finally get to see the end.
(That is what everyone wants to see in the midst of their suffering)
• What was God doing?
• Did it work?
• What happens next?
Basically we want the outcome of the entire ordeal.
You may remember that
James actually uses Job as an example of this very thing.
James 5:10-11 “As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.”
James says that when we read the book of Job and finally finish this 42nd chapter that we should walk away with two major convictions about God.
1) That He is full of compassion
2) That He is merciful
And quite frankly were it not for chapter 42
I’m not sure any of us would walk away with those convictions.
We’d probably all speak to God’s holiness,
Especially after the interrogation He gave Job in chapters 38-41
But James says it is not God’s holiness that you should leave most convinced of, it is His compassion and His mercy.
Why?
Because of the way God ends this whole thing with Job.
Tonight we see the outcome of the Lord’s dealings.
We see what God was up to.
Now, at least on a basic level you should already know this answer.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah reminded us that regardless of how difficult things get,
God’s plan for us has not changed.
He is not seeking only pain or suffering or chastisement.
God’s ultimate goal is welfare and a future and a hope.
Everything He does or allows in our lives still falls under that heading.
You are also familiar with Paul’s famous statement:
Romans 8:28-30 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Paul reminded us that everything God does in this life
He causes it for 1 purpose and that purpose is glory.
He loves His children and He refuses to let them fall short of glory,
And He is willing to do whatever it takes
To make sure we reach His intended end for our lives.
Those are basic truths and you are familiar with them.
Tonight we actually learn that Job’s story ends well.
And I want to take you through three things that we would call
“The Outcome” of the Lord’s dealings with Job.
Outlined for us here are 3 things God did for Job
And it is so good for us to see them
So that we do not lose heart in the midst of our suffering.
3 things God accomplished
#1 SANCTIFICATION
Job 42:1-6
Of course you remember that
God just gave Job the brow beating of the century.
• Job had begun to question God’s character, God’s justice, God’s righteousness, God’s decisions, God’s ways, etc.
Elihu had certainly stepped up to tell Job he was not right in this,
1. Stop Complaining, God is Great!
2. Stop Complaining, God is Just!
3. Stop Complaining, God is Righteous!
4. Stop Complaining, Start Worshipping!
But before Elihu could even finish his sermon
God showed up to put Job back in his proper place.
God reminded Job of two main things:
1) Things you don’t know
2) Things you can’t do
And the idea was to make 1 solid and major point to Job.
WE ARE NOT EQUALS – I AM GOD, YOU ARE NOT
Just because the ways of God don’t make sense to us,
That does not give us the right to knock on the door of the heavenlies and give God our two cents.
We must come to God in humility
We must come to God in gratitude
We must come to God in reverential awe
Job had forgotten those things.
• Partly because his suffering was intense
• Partly because he had been given a lot of bad information regarding God from his other three friends.
Job has now endured 10 chapters of steady rebuke.
What is important to see here is that Job clearly learned his lesson.
His answer is absolutely beautiful!
• There is adoration
• There is humility
• There is praise
• There is submission
• There is repentance
• There is awe
Job is at a spiritual level like no other at this point.
(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.”
It is easy to see that Job has repented.
The point?
Job is now more pure than he was when all this began.
Granted it took quite a bit to bring Job’s pride to the forefront,
But God knew it was there all along.
And after exposing it, God crushed it,
And Job is more like God today than he was when all this started.
AND THAT IS A GOOD POINT TO REMEMBER.
We read about Job way back in chapter 1.
• We read how Job was “upright and blameless and fearing God and turning away from evil.”
• We read how there was not another man on earth like Job.
In short, Job was better than any other human on the face of the planet.
BUT…
JOB WAS STILL NOT AS GOOD AS JESUS
Too much of the time
We gauge how much we need God’s discipline
By how we are doing as compared to other people.
But God doesn’t gauge our need for discipline by comparison to others. God gauges our need for discipline by comparing us to Christ.
The goal is perfection and God is passionate about it.
Hebrews 12:9-11 “Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
• God is in the process of making us righteous.
• God is in the process of conforming us into the image of His Son.
The temptation is to look around and say,
“Well so and so needs it worse than I do, so go get them.”
We tend to think that we should only be corrected when we are sort dragging at the back of the pack, but that is not how God looks at it.
Imagine this whole thing as a race.
• A mile race.
• And God’s goal is for you to run that race in 4 minutes.
And so we all start off in the pack
And we are all sort of running a race at 10 minute pace.
Some are at the front of our pack and some at the back,
But we are all running way slower than God’s intent.
God’s focus then isn’t just on the runner in dead last,
God’s focus is on all the runners
Because they are all missing the mark.
It may not have appeared that Job was the one who needed discipline,
And you may not think that you are the one who needs it,
But rest assured God knows what He is doing.
He was sanctifying Job.
Job’s pride was effectively crushed.
CAN I ADD ONE MORE OBSERVATION HERE?
God won.
Remember the little argument at the first of this book?
Job 1:9-12 “Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? “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 put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.”
Job 2:4-6 “Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. “However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.” So the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
Satan just knew that he could turn Job against God with a little suffering
But Satan was wrong.
The relationship stood.
Did Job complain? Yes
Did Job question? Yes
Did Job argue? Yes
But Job never turned away from God
And once confronted, Job ran quickly back.
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The point of the book stands.
There is no level of affliction this world can conceive
That can sever the relationship between God and His child.
You cannot undo it.
As Paul told the Romans
Romans 11:29 “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
God didn’t drive Job away.
In the end Job is closer to God than he has ever been.
The outcome of the Lord’s dealings with Job was SANCTIFICATION
#2 VINDICATION
Job 42:7-9
And we all love this part.
After the massive confrontation of Job,
God now calls to the three friends of Job.
(I figure they were hiding behind a rock)
And God goes after them.
• It is not rebuke
• It is not correction
• It is certain judgment if they don’t immediately repent
And how fitting it is that God makes those men seek their forgiveness
Through the hand of Job.
We call that vindication.
It reminds me of the story of Haman and Mordecai.
• Haman being the official of the king in Persia, Mordecai being a Jewish scribe who refused to bow to Haman.
• Haman promised Mordecai that he would bow and then had gallows built to hand Mordecai on them.
• Haman then went to the king to ask for Mordecai’s head.
• Unbeknownst to him, the king was already seeking to honor Mordecai. Here is how the story unfolded.
Esther 6:5-11 “The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman is standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” Then Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king desires to honor, let them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed; and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.'” Then the king said to Haman, “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.” So Haman took the robe and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.”
That is what you call vindication.
Only topped perhaps by the fact that in just a short while
Haman would be hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai.
This is what we want isn’t it?
We want people to know that our service is for God
And our intentions are pure.
Remember Elijah’s prayer?
1 Kings 18:36-37 “At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.”
Elijah wanted God to be glorified and he wanted himself to be vindicated.
God did both.
And here we find that God does that for His children.
Psalms 31:23-24 “O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful And fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.”
Do you remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus?
• Lazarus humiliated daily as he begged for crumbs off of the rich man’s table.
After death came the vindication.
Luke 16:22-25 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”
Rest assured, vindication is coming for all of God’s children.
In the Matthew 10 when Jesus outlined the suffering that was coming for His followers, He said:
Matthew 10:24-26 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”
Jesus said, it will all come out in due time.
When Paul wrote to the Colossians they were a group of believers who were being harassed by the religious community because they didn’t keep all the religious ceremonies.
They were even mocked as not being true followers of God.
Colossians 2:20-3:4 “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
Paul said that their life was “hidden with Christ in God”
That word for “hidden” is KRUPTO (cryptic)
The world couldn’t see right now that they were the true followers of God,
But someday they would.
When Jesus returns in all His glory,
He is going to reveal those who are His.
We think of all the heroes of faith in Scripture who did seemingly foolish things in obedience to God.
• Imagine the harassment Noah received while building that ark…
• We listened as Goliath mocked David for being a boy…
• I can hear the jokes told about John the Baptist…
• We read the scorn Jesus took upon Himself…
And like them there are many even today who obey God at great cost to their personal reputation, but God promises vindication.
The day of vindication is coming.
It came for Job, it will come for you.
What God is putting you through now is not for eternal embarrassment.
It is for the purpose of making you holy,
But some day God will place you on a pedestal
And show everyone that you are His.
He always does that for His children.
So the outcome of the Lord’s dealings were: Sanctification, Vindication
#3 RESTORATION
Job 42:10-17
You see those descriptive words in there.
“restored”
“increased”
“consoled”
“comforted”
“blessed”
Job had a daughter who came to have a very profitable syrup business
(Aunt Jemimah)
The culmination statement is amazing.
(17) “And Job died, and old man and full of days.”
The final 8 verses drip of prosperity and restoration.
And yes, it’s true that we do not believe the prosperity gospel.
That is, we do not believe that all suffering is a result of sin and God’s only desire is for His children to be healthy, wealthy, and happy.
We see the necessity and purposes of suffering.
HOWEVER…
Do not let that lead you to believe that
God has a final desire for you
That is anything short of absolute prosperity.
The outcome (even if not realized until eternity)
Is very good for you and me.
We read passages like:
James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”
Psalms 103:1-5 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”
Psalms 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Psalms 34:9-10 “O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.”
Psalms 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
I mean it is over and over and over.
And while I hate the prosperity gospel,
I so want you to get this thought through your head.
Sometimes we actually fear to allow God to have His way in our life.
We ponder the notion of telling God
He can do whatever He desires with our lives.
And the fear is that now
He is going to do something terribly awful to us.
Can I remind you who the thief is?
Can I remind you who the Savior is?
• God’s plans for us are good.
• God’s desire for us is good.
• God is loving and generous and merciful and full of compassion.
• God was not out to harm Job or rob Job or ruin Job.
• God was out to sanctify Job and ultimately bless Him.
Look at how it all ended for Job.
Now some would say, “Yes, but he never saw those children who died again.”
Stop and think about it a second.
• I don’t know how old Job was when all the affliction hit him,
• But he had 10 grown children
• So can we assume at least 50.
So let’s say he lived 90 years after the death of his children.
That means he spent 90 years without them,
And now going on somewhere around 6,000 with them in eternity.
Job’s ways ended in restoration and prosperity and so will yours.
Just stop thinking in terms of God having to
Accomplish every promise right here and right now.
I can promise you this in regard to God’s dealings in your life
At the end, when He is finished, you’re going to be thrilled!
Because that’s who God is.
And so, there you have the book of Job.
• The Woeful World of Uz
• The upright man who suffered like no other
And yet when seen in its entirety,
We learn that James had it figured it a long time ago.
James 5:11 “We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
