What Sufferers Expect
Job 16-17
November 15, 2015
If you’ve been following along with us in our study of the book of Job,
The main problems are becoming increasingly evident.
Job was suffering even though he was righteous.
And his friends were absolutely no help.
• They lacked compassion
• They condemned without evidence
• They misrepresented God
And we know at the end of this book
They are going to get a major rebuke from God.
In fact, God is going to make them humble themselves before Job
And ask for his intercession on their behalf.
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.”
If you’re paying attention, you’ll realize that at the end of this book
They are going to find themselves needing from Job
What they weren’t willing to give to him.
How many times did Job ask them for mercy and they wouldn’t give it?
And they will have to ask Job for it.
Fortunately for them Job was merciful.
Job 42:9 “So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job.”
The fact that Scripture says, “the LORD accepted Job”
Implies that Job did not rebuke his friends or belittle them
Or tell them that they were getting what they deserved.
Job instead prayed for them and God answered Job’s prayer.
In an unmistakable turn of events Job gave his friends what they needed
When they continually refused to give Job what he had needed.
Now obviously we are not there yet,
But the passage we study today is one of those passages
That certainly helps set the stage for that day.
For in our text tonight we get a very clear and heart-felt appeal from Job.
Job actually reveals for us 5 things that he wanted from his friends.
I called this sermon “What Sufferers Expect”
It should really be called, “What Sufferers Have The Right To Expect”
Because those who are suffering not only need these 5 things,
But honestly, they have a right to them.
We saw last week how a failure to offer mercy
Is not at all acceptable behavior for a believer.
We are those who have petitioned God
For the greatest amount of mercy imaginable.
And God said, “Yes”
We are recipients of a tremendous amount of mercy.
And that means that no one should be more merciful than a believer.
• Christians should jump at the chance to forgive.
• Christians should jump at the chance to be merciful.
Tell me when in your life you can feel more like Christ
Than when you forgive someone else?
We should be merciful.
And that means that from a believer,
One who is suffering has every right to expect mercy.
• Because we all suffer at some point
• Because we all need forgiveness at some point
• Because we all reach points of despair at some point
• Because we are all looking for hope at some point
We should never be those who refuse to give it to someone else.
AND THIS IS PART OF JOB’S POINT TO HIS FRIENDS.
Tonight Job is still on a tirade.
He is still obviously upset.
His language is strong.
And the reason is because Job is not receiving from his friends
What he expected to receive.
Job had himself been very merciful to others:
Job 31:16-23 “If I have kept the poor from their desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, Or have eaten my morsel alone, And the orphan has not shared it (But from my youth he grew up with me as with a father, And from infancy I guided her), If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, Or that the needy had no covering, If his loins have not thanked me, And if he has not been warmed with the fleece of my sheep, If I have lifted up my hand against the orphan, Because I saw I had support in the gate, Let my shoulder fall from the socket, And my arm be broken off at the elbow. “For calamity from God is a terror to me, And because of His majesty I can do nothing.”
Job was a merciful person.
When he saw people in need he met that need.
And so he certainly expected mercy in his suffering.
And yet that is not what has been happening.
• Instead of comfort he has received condemnation
• Instead of encouragement he has received a rebuke
• Instead of prayer he has received scoffing
• Instead of a defense he has received insults
And tonight he is going to express that.
He will show you 5 things he wanted from his friends
That he did not receive.
(I’d write this list down in the front of your Bible)
5 things Job expected to receive from his friends, but did not.
#1 PROPER COMFORT
Job 16:1-5
It’s not hard to tell that Job and his friends are at odds with each other.
After Job responded to Eliphaz the first time, Bildad said:
Job 8:2 “How long will you say these things, And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?”
After Job answered him, Zophar responded:
Job 11:2 “Shall a multitude of words go unanswered, And a talkative man be acquitted?”
Job responded to him in sarcasm:
Job 12:2 “Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die!”
To which Eliphaz said:
Job 15:2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge And fill himself with the east wind?”
And now Job responds again by saying:
(3) “Is there no limit to windy words?”
It’s been quite a cycle.
They are each taking their turn telling the other that they are full of hot air
And don’t know what they are talking about.
And Job’s point to his friends is a clear one.
YOUR WORDS AREN’T HELPING
(1-3) “Then Job answered, “I have heard many such things; Sorry comforters are you all. “Is there no limit to windy words? Or what plagues you that you answer?”
It’s easy to tell where Job is coming from isn’t it?
• You just keep on talking, “I have heard many such things”,
• But what you say doesn’t help.
• You are “sorry comforters”
Then he asks “Is there no limit to windy words?”
Which is to say, “Are you not finished yet?”
“Or what plagues you that you answer?”
Which is to say, “Why do you feel the need to keep on talking?”
You aren’t helping, but you don’t seem to let that stop you.
And then listen to Job’s rebuke:
(4-5) “I too could speak like you, If I were in your place. I could compose words against you And shake my head at you. “I could strengthen you with my mouth, And the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.”
If our roles were reversed I could kick you in the teeth too.
• I could do just like you’re doing.
• After all, who can’t kick a man when he is down?
• Who can’t rub salt in an open wound?
Anyone can spot the obvious short-comings or failures of another person
And tear them up with it.
Job says, “I could do that too”
But I’ll tell you what else I could do:
“I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips could lessen your pain.”
I could have made you feel better.
And that is what they have failed to do for Job.
We can all remember back to the day when this all occurred and Job sat down in the ash heap and began to scrape himself with a potsherd.
Job 2:11 “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.”
And I can’t help but think their presence must have given Job a boost.
Think about the tough times in your life,
What it meant for you to have someone show up and show that they care.
And think how good it felt when they offered you words of comfort.
And I can’t help but think that
That was precisely what Job thought he was going to get from his friends.
But boy was he wrong.
He wanted comfort, he received condemnation.
He wanted his friends to say, “We love you”
Instead they said, “You made your bed, now lie in it.”
He wanted proper comfort but that is not what he received.
Friends when we see people who are suffering,
They have every right to expect that from us.
Galatians 5:14-15 “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”
Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Your suffering friend may not deserve mercy,
But they have every right to expect it from you
Because you expect it from them.
Proper Comfort
#2 POSITIVE ENCOURAGEMENT
Job 16:6-17
When you read those verses, it is obvious that
Job is still in a state of confusion regarding his circumstances.
• Remember he did not have the luxury of reading Job 1&2
• He doesn’t know anything about that conversation in the heavenlies.
And that is typically the way it is.
Most of the time people don’t know why these things happen.
And Job is smack dab in the middle of that confusion.
(6-9) “If I speak, my pain is not lessened, And if I hold back, what has left me? “But now He has exhausted me; You have laid waste all my company. “You have shriveled me up, It has become a witness; And my leanness rises up against me, It testifies to my face. “His anger has torn me and hunted me down, He has gnashed at me with His teeth; My adversary glares at me.”
Again we are allowed to see where Job is crossing the line a little.
Here he likens God to a wild beast that has
Hunted him down and gnashed his teeth at him.
Job seems to think that God is angry at him.
(Many think that during times of suffering)
Look down to verse 12
(12-14) “I was at ease, but He shattered me, And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces; He has also set me up as His target. “His arrows surround me. Without mercy He splits my kidneys open; He pours out my gall on the ground. “He breaks through me with breach after breach; He runs at me like a warrior.”
Those are some harsh analogies aren’t they?
• God is like a giant who is wringing my neck.
• God is like an archer that keeps shooting at me.
• God is like a warrior that keeps charging at me.
Job thinks God is really angry at him.
And the confusion is that Job doesn’t know why.
(15-17) “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin And thrust my horn in the dust. “My face is flushed from weeping, And deep darkness is on my eyelids, Although there is no violence in my hands, And my prayer is pure.”
• Job knows there is no violence in his hands.
• Job knows that he isn’t praying in hypocrisy; his prayer is pure
• Beyond that, he has humbled himself before God.
• He’s wearing sackcloth, he’s sitting on the ashes.
• He’s weeping continually
I mean, it just doesn’t add up.
I didn’t do anything wrong, and even if I did, I’ve humbled myself.
I just don’t understand why God is so angry at me.
Now, obviously this is an area where Job is a little off.
• We’ve read the first two chapters.
• God is not angry at Job.
• If anything God is proud of Job.
Job is missing it here a little,
But as I said, that is not uncommon for people who suffer.
But in the middle of this confusion it is clear
What Job hoped to receive from his friends.
He wanted some POSITIVE ENCOURAGEMENT
He wanted them to come and tell him how this was going to be ok.
He wanted them to come and offer encouragement that this too would pass.
But that is NOT what he received.
(10-11) “They have gaped at me with their mouth, They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt; They have massed themselves against me. “God hands me over to ruffians And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.”
Instead of words of encouragement
“They have gaped at me with their mouth”
Instead of an understanding response
“They have slapped me on the cheek with contempt”
Instead of running to my aid
“They have massed themselves against me.”
Job summed it up like this:
“God hands me over to ruffians and tosses me into the hands of the wicked.”
Wouldn’t it have been nice is those friends
Would have come to Job and encouraged him in his pain.
• If they had assured him that God wasn’t angry at him…
• If they had encouraged him that God was accomplishing something great…
• If they helped him look at what is unseen, instead of what is seen…
But that is not what they did.
Instead of encouragement they gave him a rebuke.
Proper Comfort and Positive Encouragement
#3 PRODUCTIVE PRAYER
Job 16:18 – 17:5
You notice that Job begins by making a request of the earth.
“O earth, do not cover my blood, and let there be no resting place for my cry.”
• He’s actually appealing that the earth not cover up the evidence.
• He’s actually hoping that the earth can help him out.
Next he appeals to his heavenly help.
“Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my advocate is on high.”
Now that is a great statement!
We’ve studied all about how Jesus is our advocate and great high priest.
Job seemed to understand that.
But the point here is that Job appeals
To the earth for help and to heaven for help.
WHY?
(20) “My friends are my scoffers;”
Job had to look at the earth for help…
Job had to look to the heavens for help…
BECAUSE HE RECEIVED NO HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS
What did he want from them?
(20b-22) “My eye weeps to God. “O that a man might plead with God As a man with his neighbor! “For when a few years are past, I shall go the way of no return.”
Pray
James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
That is all Job was hoping for.
That is his friends would pray for him.
I promise we don’t have the time to take on this subject like it deserves,
But I assure you this is an area where God has burdened me.
Prayer is so vitally important.
That’s why we pass out those cards with the names of our young people on them.
I could not be prouder or more grateful
For those who faithfully gather with us on Wednesday nights to pray.
From the outer perspective it looks like nothing.
From the outer view it looks insignificant.
But I assure you there is not more intense battle field than this.
Paul said:
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Again he said:
2 Corinthians 10:3-4 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
I shared with some of you this past week, that when a hawk attacks a snake, the first thing it does is pick it up into the air.
There is no way the bird is going to fight the snake on its terms.
That is what prayer is. We take the battle to where the battle can be won.
If we do all our fighting on earth, we’ll never win the battle.
Job had every right to expect that his friends would pray for him.
But they didn’t pray, they mocked.
(17:1-2) “My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me. “Surely mockers are with me, And my eye gazes on their provocation.”
Instead of interceding for Job, they mocked him.
That is why Job appealed directly to God.
(3-5) “Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor? “For You have kept their heart from understanding, Therefore You will not exalt them. “He who informs against friends for a share of the spoil, The eyes of his children also will languish.”
Did you catch that?
• Job’s friends are those who don’t understand.
• Job’s friends are those who are informants for the enemy so they can get a share of the spoil.
In short Job’s friends are friends.
They are traitors, they are back-stabbers, they are enemies.
Job can’t trust them to pray for him or to intercede on his behalf.
So, he appeals to God. Look at it again:
(3) “Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself; Who is there that will be my guarantor?”
• There was no one who would stand in the gap with Job.
• There was no one who would take Job’s burdens upon themselves.
• There was none who would tell Job, I will fight this battle with you.
So Job asks God to do it instead.
“Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Yourself:”
That is to say, “God would you please give whatever it is you require?”
My friends won’t fight for me, would You?
How sad it is that Job suffered with the expectation that his friends would offer productive prayer on his behalf, but they would not.
Proper Comfort Positive Encouragement Productive Prayer
#4 PASSIONATE SUPPORT
Job 17:6-9
There again we are reminded of Job’s horrific condition.
“But He has made me a byword of the people, and I am one at whom men spit. My eye has grown dim because of grief, and all my members are as a shadow.”
Despite Job’s innocence and purity, he is suffering immensely.
This upright man has become a “byword”
This man of integrity is the object of scorn and spitting.
How should a righteous man respond to such injustice?
A righteous man…
A good friend…
WOULD BE INFURIATED AND WOULD RUSH TO HIS FRIENDS DEFENSE
That is what Job says:
(8) “The upright will be appalled at this, and the innocent will stir up himself against the godless.”
In short, the sufferer has every right to expect his friends
To come to his aid and to stand up for him.
But that isn’t what Job got.
Instead of his friends defending him, Job’s friends insulted him.
They joined forces with the wicked.
This should not be.
• Watch Jesus come to the aid of the woman caught in adultery…
• Watch Jesus come to the aid of the tax collectors and prostitutes and crippled and blind and lame…
Remember this story?
Luke 7:36-48 “Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.””
The whole point is that this woman probably didn’t deserve mercy.
Everyone in the room knew what type of woman this was.
But she was broken and she was humble
And did you see how Jesus rushed to her defense?
He didn’t say, “Ooh, you’re right, get away from Me!”
Instead, in the presence of all these people, He came to her defense.
We’ve talked a lot about this with the youth.
They face bullies and mockers and people that make fun of you.
In short, they do like Job’s friends.
They take your obvious short-comings and use them to beat you over the head.
And we talk about the importance of
Coming to that person’s aid and defending them.
Now that will probably get you ridiculed too,
But that is what brothers and sisters in Christ do.
And that is what Job had every right to expect from his friends.
But instead they joined the side of the bullies.
And yet, even though they continued to wrong Job, he did not fold.
(9) “Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.”
You won’t defend me, but I’m still not giving up.
Job expected:
• Proper Comfort
• Positive Encouragement
• Productive Prayer
• Passionate Support
And he received none of it.
#5 PRACTICAL HOPE
Job 17:10-16
He just rebuked his friends for failing to give the comfort, encouragement, prayer, and support he expected.
And now he says, “But come again all of you now…”
That is to say, “I know you’ve got nothing good to say, but go ahead, let’s hear it all again”
“For I do not find a wise man among you.”
And here is his point.
(11-12) “My days are past, my plans are torn apart, Even the wishes of my heart. “They make night into day, saying, ‘The light is near,’ in the presence of darkness.”
• Job says, for me life is over “My days are past”.
• I’m not looking for good in this life “my plans are torn apart”
• But these guys keep telling me “The light is near”
But Job had fixed his hope on the next life.
Job had fixed his hope beyond the grave.
And we talked about how that is part of the goal of suffering,
It teaches us to fix our hope on God who raises the dead.
But Job’s friends don’t want him hoping in eternity,
They want him to repent and have his problems fixed immediately.
IN SHORT, THEY WERE OFFERING A FALSE HOPE.
They could promise it, but they couldn’t deliver it.
Their hope wasn’t practical, it was fantasy.
So Job says:
(13-16) “If I look for Sheol as my home, I make my bed in the darkness; If I call to the pit, ‘You are my father’; To the worm, ‘my mother and my sister’; Where now is my hope? And who regards my hope? “Will it go down with me to Sheol? Shall we together go down into the dust?”
My hope is in eternity.
• I am actually looking towards “Sheol as my home”
• I tell the pit “You are my father”
• I tell the worm you are “my mother and my sister”
(those are all pictures of death)
The reason is because Job has lost things
That he cannot regain in this life.
God can certainly bless him again, but Job’s children aren’t coming back.
Job has no hope of restoration in this life.
Hence “Where now is my hope?”
“Where is the hope in that?”
Job could repent, but his children weren’t coming back.
There was no hope of that kind of restoration in their promises.
His hope is in death and resurrection and so he asks his friends, “Shall we together go down into the dust?”
In other words, can your promises transcend the grave?
No they couldn’t.
Job’s friends made all sorts of promises to Job
As to how if he would repent God would take it all away.
But none of their promises would bring Job’s children back.
None of their promises would bring his deceased servants back.
Their hope wasn’t practical.
Job says my hope is beyond the grave.
My hope is in eternity, and you have yet to encourage me there.
In fact, Job’s friends only discouraged him there,
Because they continued to tell Job that eternity
Wouldn’t be pleasant for him because he was such a sinner.
In short, they didn’t help.
They didn’t offer practical hope.
Now, obviously we could and probably should
Go deeper into each one of these areas,
But in one sense it is good to see them all at once
To give some closure to the entire thought.
People who are suffering have the right to expect:
• Proper Comfort
• Positive Encouragement
• Productive Prayer
• Passionate Support
• Practical Hope
Job’s friends would not give these things to him,
Even though he had many times given them to others.
Make sure you treat those who suffer as you would seek to be treated.
Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
