Job and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Part 2
Job 1:1-22 (13-22)
August 23, 2015
Well last week we began this study of “The Woeful World of Uz”
It is a book that certainly takes an in depth look at suffering.
But we also discussed last week how this book also
Deals a death blow to the prosperity gospel.
The prosperity gospel is that train of thought that says
It is God’s will for His children to be “Healthy, Wealthy, and Happy”
For years it was outlandishly and arrogantly portrayed by television evangelists who dressed in expensive outfits all while promising riches to people if they would just offer a little “seed” faith money.
It was a scheme to say the least.
The only people getting rich off of this ministry was the ministers who proclaimed it.
But the prosperity gospel became more
Than just a few television evangelists
Asking for money and promising wealth.
It wasn’t long before it jumped over into the world of health and blessing,
Proclaiming that not only should a person be rich,
But healthy and blessed as well.
While the initial problems certainly robbed many people of their MONEY,
This last problem has been robbing people of their HOPE.
See, the prosperity gospel at its core says that
God blesses the righteous and curses the wicked.
Certainly this is true in an eternal sense,
But it is very dangerous to apply this in a temporal sense.
Take for example the infamous 73rd Psalm.
TURN TO: PSALMS 73
Here you have Asaph who is on the verge of having his faith wrecked
All because he has believed the lies of the prosperity gospel.
You can say that the righteous will be blessed and the wicked will be cursed,
But you’ll have trouble applying that when you take an honest view of the world.
Asaph did and it nearly wrecked his faith.
(READ VS. 1-12)
Do you see Asaph’s problem?
The prosperity gospel isn’t proving true.
He didn’t see the wicked being cursed, he saw them being blessed.
This caused him to question the value to seeking righteousness.
(READ VS. 13-14)
And those two verses accurately describe
The fallout to the prosperity gospel.
The idea is that the prosperity gospel should encourage righteousness by telling people that their righteousness will be rewarded with prosperity.
In reality, all it does is discourage righteousness because it doesn’t seem worth the effort when the immediate prosperity doesn’t happen.
That is where Asaph was.
He nearly left the faith completely.
But Asaph had a revelation (similar to what we’ll have through the book of Job)
(READ VS. 15-20)
Asaph was allowed to see “the end”
And this is where all things are evened out.
• “the end” is where the righteous are rewarded and the wicked are cursed.
• “the end” is where true justice is played out
And when Asaph learned that, his faith was absolutely renewed.
Prompting one of the most inspiring statements of faith and contentment in all of Scripture.
(READ VS. 21-28)
And perhaps that helps you understand
The dangers of the prosperity gospel a little more clearly.
You cannot take promises meant to be fulfilled in eternity
And try to force their application today.
If you do, it will wreck your faith.
Instead we focus on eternity, not today
• We store up our treasure there
• We look for justice there
• We anticipate comfort there
• We seek glory there
And we understand that until then, we may in fact suffer.
The Bible does in fact make promises to the righteous
About how the consequences of their righteousness on earth.
2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
Suffering does not always indicate God’s displeasure.
We are learning that suffering is not a time to feel abandoned by God.
Suffering is a time to trust Him all the more.
And we could give many other examples:
Take Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as they faced suffering:
Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Take Habakkuk who was told in his lifetime the Chaldeans would come and destroy Israel:
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.”
Take countless other saints of old who suffered in their righteousness:
Hebrews 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”
You see example after example of times when the righteous suffered.
And perhaps the greatest example is that of Job.
So we study the book of Job,
Not only to learn about grief and comforting those who suffer,
But also to learn the absolute heresies of the prosperity gospel.
This book is meant to strengthen your faith in the Sovereign God
Who promised that He will cause all things
To work together for good to them who love Him.
Now we started this study last Sunday night, let me quickly recap what we saw:
#1 THE CHARACTER OF JOB
Job 1:1-5
I want to stress again the importance that
You understand the first two chapters of the book of Job.
If you fail to grasp them
You will not be able to rightly discern the rest of this book.
One thing you must grasp is the character of Job.
We won’t rehash it all, but last week we saw:
• HIS PIETY “that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
• HIS PROSPERITY – we noted how impressed we were that he maintained piety in the midst of prosperity.
• HIS PATERNITY – we saw his concern for the atonement of his children
• HIS PERSEVERANCE – “thus Job did continually”
And if you missed last week, I would invite you to
Make this note in your margin to sum up the first 5 verses.
NO ONE DESERVED TO SUFFER LESS THAN JOB.
If the prosperity gospel is true
Then Job would have never suffered a day in his life.
He was a righteous man.
#2 THE CONSPIRACE OF SATAN
Job 1:6-12
And here I remind you again what we learned last week.
One of the things that makes studying the book of Job so unique is that
In Job we actually get a peek into the spiritual realm.
(This doesn’t happen for us)
But here we are allowed to see what Job never even got to see.
There is no evidence that Job ever knew about this encounter.
But we are allowed to see the spiritual cause to Job’s suffering.
To sum it up,
• Satan (the roaming lion) had completely struck out concerning Job.
• Despite Satan’s efforts, Job had remained righteous.
• When God brought this fact to Satan’s attention, Satan fired off an accusation against Job.
(9-11) “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.”
Satan basically said that the only reason Job
(or any of God’s children for that matter)
Serves God is because it has been beneficial for Job to do so.
“Why wouldn’t he worship you? You pay him to do it.”
And then Satan asked for something.
• Satan didn’t ask for God to simply quit blessing Job.
• Satan asked for God to actually afflict Job.
“If you’ll make worshiping costly instead of beneficial,
Then Job will quit worshiping.”
And the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Satan is operating under the assumption that
It is possible to sever the relationship between God and His child.
Satan is challenging the security of the believer.
And according to Satan, all you need to sever the relationship
Between God and His child is suffering.
And that is a real issue isn’t it?
After all, suffering is going to happen.
If our worship of God is only because of the good God has done
Then it is a very real possibility that when the good stops,
So will our worship.
Our worship has to be rooted in who God is.
Our worship has to be like Asaph who could say, “the nearness of God is my good” even when the prosperity of God is nowhere to be found.
Our worship has to be like Habakkuk who could say, “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”
Our worship has to be like those Hebrew boys who could say, “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
But you see the issue.
Satan says Job will stop worshiping if God will afflict him.
And then the real shocker – GOD SAID “YES”
(12) “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.”
And we recognized that the suffering of Job
Was up to the sovereignty of God.
I told you not to fall into the trap that blames all the bad on the devil
As though God had absolutely no hand in it.
If you do that, it will wreck your faith, for it puts Satan in power over God.
Rather, you should understand that
God is sovereign even over your suffering,
And that your suffering is always allowed for a purpose.
Even though we seldom know that purpose.
We have seen that at times suffering can be for:
• Leading God’s people to repent (as the exile was for Israel)
• Providing salvation for God’s people (as it was for Joseph)
• Sanctifying God’s people (as it was for Moses)
• Bringing glory to God (as it was for the man born blind)
• Or even proving a point to the enemy (as it was for Job)
We don’t always know what the purpose to our suffering is,
But we do understand that God is sovereign over it
And He promises that the end result will be good.
Romans 8:28 “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.”
So that catches us up in our story from where we left off last week.
Let’s move on:
The Character of Job, The Conspiracy of Satan
#3 THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE
Job 1:13-19
Well we called this sermon,
“Job and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”
And these verses certainly show you why.
This was a terrible day.
Let’s look at it a little closer.
(READ VS. 13-15)
I first want you to understand the day that was selected.
(13) “Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house.”
I hope you remember what we learned in verse 4 about this.
(4) “His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day…”
Whenever it was your birthday, you held a party at your house.
Job’s bad day was none other than the birthday of his firstborn son.
OUCH!
And first we learn that on that day, the Sabeans attacked Job’s farming crews and killed everyone save one servant who was a messenger.
(READ VS 16)
Of course we pick up on the “while he was still speaking” revelation.
All of this news hit job in a matter of minutes.
And here we learn that fire fell from heaven
And consumed all his sheep and shepherds save the one messenger.
(READ VS 17)
Then Job received word that the Chaldeans raided his merchant transport.
They stole all his donkeys and once again killed all his merchant traders,
Save the one messenger.
(READ VS. 18-19)
And now we find that a violent wind destroyed the house of his oldest son
And killed all of his children.
There we have four afflictions, all of them on the same day.
All of them coming to Job in a matter of minutes.
Of the four judgments.
2 WERE NATURAL (The attacks of the Sabeans and Chaldeans)
Which certainly would have caused the question as to why God allowed it.
2 WERE DIVINE (fire from heaven and a great wind)
Which would have caused the question as to why God did it.
Satan told God to personally afflict Job, and that is what happened.
Perhaps Satan can tempt the Sabeans and Chaldeans to attack,
But verse 16 clearly relates that the fire was “the fire of God”
Are you ready for another harsh pill to swallow?
GOD AFFLICTED JOB
God reached out and touched all that Job had.
And God did so in a manner that we would say was “EXCESSIVE”
To say the least.
And if you are following along in the story
Then you understand what is at stake.
• If Job’s worship of God is only because of blessing, then Job is finished.
• If Job (as Satan implicated) only worships because it is beneficial to
worship, then Job will now stop.
In a temporal sense Job’s decision to worship God has not been worth it.
It is like Asaph lamented earlier:
Psalms 73:13-14 “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning.”
The tension couldn’t be higher.
Can Satan sever a relationship between God and His child?
Will suffering cause Job to curse God to His face?
Well, let’s see
The Character of Job, The Conspiracy of Satan, The Circumstances of Life
#4 THE CULMINATION OF EVENTS
Job 1:20-22
“Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.”
Satan promised that Job would respond with cursing,
Job responded with worship.
And just in reading that verse is your understanding of worship broadened?
We live in a day when worship
Has almost entirely been relegated to an emotion.
People think good worship is likened to a pep rally.
I’ve seen it more times than I care to remember someone in a “worship service”
Purely seeking to prompt an emotional response from people.
They should jump higher
They should shout louder
They should cry harder
They should chant longer
And when something like that occurs, someone says –
“Now that’s worship!”
Job might disagree.
• There were no pep rallies happening here.
• There were no “chills” running up Job’s spine from musical key change
• There was no jumping occurring from Job
But the Bible unequivocally states that Job was worshiping.
HOW?
WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE?
(21) “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.”
You won’t find a more humble spirit anywhere in Scripture.
Did you catch what Job said?
“Naked I came…naked I shall return”
What does that mean?
• It means that God has not cheated me.
• I don’t have any less now than what I started with.
That’s perspective isn’t it?
Was Job born with children?
Was Job born with camels or oxen or sheep or servants?
NO
All of those things were gifts from God to Job.
God has now taken those things away,
But as far as Job is concerned that only makes he and God even.
We don’t view it like that do we?
We read the excessive affliction applied to Job and say, “That’s just wrong.”
Job didn’t.
“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
(You’ll sing that hymn differently now won’t you)
According to Job, God only did
What was well within His prerogative to do.
Job knew that God is God, and He had the right to do everything He did.
And look at the culmination.
(22) “Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”
I do have to tell you that the translation of this verse is a little regrettable.
It is true that “Job did not sin” and for the sake of the rest of the book,
You must remember this.
But the last of this verse is a little misleading.
It says “nor did he blame God”
That almost sounds like Job didn’t credit God for having done any of this.
Like Job said, “God didn’t do this to me…the devil did.”
But that isn’t true.
Job 6:4 “For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, Their poison my spirit drinks; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.”
Job 7:20 “Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am a burden to myself?”
Job 10:1-3 “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. ‘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?”
Job 13:15 “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.”
Job very much attributed all this to God.
He knew God did this to him.
If he hadn’t known it was God who did it, then Satan’s point would have been muted. Job had to suffer at the hands of God for Satan’s point to put into effect.
So what does it mean “nor did he blame God”?
“blame” in the Hebrew is actually two words.
NATHAN – which means “to give” or “to put” or “to set”
TIPHLAH – which means “unseemliness” or “unsavoriness”
Literally the Scripture says that Job did not put unseemliness on God.
Job did not ascribe wrongness to God.
Job didn’t say that God didn’t do this.
Job said that God wasn’t wrong to do this.
God wasn’t outside of His right.
Do you want to sum up Job’s worship in one word?
SUBMISSION
Job was fully submitted to the God of the universe.
Job fully understood who was God and who was not.
Job clearly worshiped, not for what God did for him, but for who God is.
And so, we quickly find that SATAN WAS WRONG
• Affliction could not cause God’s child to turn away from God.
• Satan could not cause God’s child to fall away from Him.
Even in the midst of affliction that bond stood strong.
Romans 8:31-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 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.”
Romans 14:4 “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
Jude 24-25 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
The ones who fall away in the midst of affliction
Are the ones who were never truly worshipers of God.
The ones who fall away were the ones who
Never truly worshiped God for the right reason.
They only came to God for the promised prosperity
And quickly left when the affliction came.
They are like the rocky soil.
Matthew 13:20-21 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”
True worshipers are secure and Job was a true worshiper.
So, let’s make sure we understand the essentials of chapter 1.
• Job was righteous
• Job’s affliction was not a punishment for his sin
• Job’s affliction was at the hand of the Sovereign God
• Job’s affliction did not turn his heart away from God
You really need to know that.
In fact as we start to hear from Job’s wife and Job’s friends
You will need to remember that
So that you don’t start to think they are correct in their assessments.
Believe me there will be times when they will sound right (Satan’s deception and the prosperity gospel are that tricky), but because of chapter 1, we’ll know they aren’t.
Now let me encourage you to reevaluate your suffering.
It may not be your fault at all.
But God is doing something remarkable with your life.
Beyond that, let me encourage you to reevaluate your worship of God.
Why do you worship?
“Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 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.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.”
