Identity and Faith in the midst of Trials
Notes
Transcript
Opening: Review of Last week Eliphaz speaks again:
Opening: Review of Last week Eliphaz speaks again:
-Calls Job a helpless Windbag who speaks evils against God
-Lays out that Jobs fate is proof that Job has been hiding some grievous sins and needs to repent and be restored
-Eliphaz turned to His tradition as an understanding of God and accuse Job in accordance with His own Knowledge (My Pastor Said)
17 “I will show you; hear me,
“I will show you; hear me,
and what I have seen I will declare
18 (what wise men have told,
without hiding it from their fathers,
19 to whom alone the land was given,
and no stranger passed among them).
-In Short In Eliphaz Spech last week we saw him tear Jobs character apart and in doing so say that the words of God about Job were wrong
“Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
Transition: This week Job will defend His character, going almost section by section refuting Eliphaz’s claims and in so doing so point to the only Hope he has in his situation: God Himself.......
Transition: This week Job will defend His character, going almost section by section refuting Eliphaz’s claims and in so doing so point to the only Hope he has in his situation: God Himself.......
For in this section we see Job Defend the words that God has said about him in chapter 1 and wrestle through how his current situation meshes with his understanding of God’s character
-A few things to remember: This not an act of God’s wrath against sin
God is the one who described Job as he did in chapter one
Job has not shown any indication that his character has changed in the course of a week (only his mind has begun to turn inward beginning in ch 3)
The friends came of their own accord to bring comfort to Job
-So with this we see what Job believes has transpired and defends his Upright character
I. The Upright Should Bring Godly Comfort (16:1-5)
I. The Upright Should Bring Godly Comfort (16:1-5)
Then Job answered and said: “I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all. Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
-Job begisn by responding to Eliphaz’s words that Job is full of unedifying Hot ait that doesn’t nourish the souls but dries up all it touches
-Job turns the tables by pointing out that they came here of their own accord to be comforters, and yet it is them who bring hot air that does not nourish his soul but dries it up
-He did not go seeking their counsel
Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.
-11
-What began as sympathy has turned to wrath against Him
-The friends need to defend God in their minds has lead them to lose sight of actually being a comforter and seeing clearly the events transpiring (They came to bring comfort and have turned into theological judges who in the end rather than vindicating God are put under God’s judgment)
-Job claims he would not be like them if the roles were reversed (in so doing making the claim they are in the wrong)
Paul seems to echoe the reality of suffering and true comfort from the upright in 2 Corinthians
2 Cor 1:3-
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
the Godly see suffering not as punishment against sin (always) but as a part of the nature of the fallen world, for Paul he sees himself in Jesus steed able now to comfort rightly because he has seen his suffering in light of Christ
So those who are upright would bring comfort that points back to God and to hope
Job’s characterization of how he would act seems to lead to a direct reflection of his character. He is an upright man who would seek to easy the suffering of his friends not heap a greater suffering on them.
Because Job is upright he sees that his comfort would reflect that, he would see their character and be able to point them in the right direction
So again he will take issues with how Eliphaz has characterized his speeches:
II. The Upright Should See Innocent Suffering as a reality of God (16:6-17)
II. The Upright Should See Innocent Suffering as a reality of God (16:6-17)
“If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it leaves me? Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company. And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face. He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. Men have gaped at me with their mouth; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me. God gives me up to the ungodly and casts me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, and he broke me apart; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target; his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin and have laid my strength in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness, although there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.
Job 16:6-
-Eliphaz accused Job of attacking God and laying charges against him, But Job will lay out that it is byu God’s hands that these disasters have struck
In this Job will lay out illustrations of God attacking him (this is how he feels)
Wild Animal (9-10)
A Traitor (11)
A Wrestler (12)
An Archer (12c-13a)
A Swordsman (13b-14)
-These actions have been confusing to Job, life was Good now it is in shambles and if everything comes from God then this to is his work, but why?
-However it is clear to see in the end; these events have not changed Job’s character. He in the midst of it all turns to sorrow and weeping, he comes to God in pure and righteous prayers not with violence against Him.
-His righteous suffering is confusing to his mind (for as his friend seemed to indicate those who suffer are sinners, much like the prosperity gospel preaches today)
-He feels forsaken much like Christ at the cross ()
-For us we see the solution clearler than Job becuase we have the totality of scriputre we can hear the words of Peter and be comforted
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
TR; Job knows who he is and is suffering in his righteousness, the torn that is inciting him further is the hot air coming form those claiming to be his friends, so now he turns to God
III. The Upright Know Who They Are & Where Their Hope Remains ()
III. The Upright Know Who They Are & Where Their Hope Remains ()
“O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place. Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor. For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return. “My spirit is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me. Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their provocation. “Lay down a pledge for me with you; who is there who will put up security for me? Since you have closed their hearts to understanding, therefore you will not let them triumph. He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property— the eyes of his children will fail. “He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men spit. My eye has grown dim from vexation, and all my members are like a shadow. The upright are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless. Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
-Job now knowing turns back to God praying that his blamelessness & uprightness will be vindicated
-Eliphaz said that all that job had said and did proved that he was guilty of sin and deserving of the punishment of the wicked, Job will defend his innocence, but not with Eliphaz
-He asks God to Argue his case with himself (that God would become the arbiter between man and himself) this is seen in fullness with Christ
-Job again pleads for an advocate
-On earth cover not my blood traces throughout the OT as a call for justice
-Cain And able ()
-This shed in Jerusalem during the exile (eze 24:7-8)
Isaiah speaks of the day when these realities will be laid bare and all things brought to justice
For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.
For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.
Isaiah 26:21
So Job seeks his vindication by asking God to Argue his case with himself (that God would become the arbiter between man and himself) this is seen in fullness with Christ )
-Job again pleads for an advocate
-He in this moment sees the reality of his short life and in so doing takes stock of the fact that he will be wrongly perceived
-He makes some serious charges against his friends character and asks God again to prove him to be right and true
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
He appeals to God as one who loves him and worships him, not as a wicked man seeking relief from consequences
Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
-But his friends will continue with their empty words to dis-way him from the truth
IV. The Upright Don’t Fear Death (Job 17:10-16)
IV. The Upright Don’t Fear Death (Job 17:10-16)
But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man among you. My days are past; my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart. They make night into day: ‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’ If I hope for Sheol as my house, if I make my bed in darkness, if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’ where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?”
-As he draws his argument to an end he lets the reality of his short life set in and in so doing does not fear death as a wicked man, but accepts God as supreme and the vindicator of his life
-His death would not signal they were right, He does not fear death as a wicked man as Eliphaz states
-His Hope is in the one that is beyond this life and beyond this death
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call insight your intimate friend,
-He resigns himself to the reality of death as home, as an end of sorts, but the fear is not there there is a resignation that it is all in the hands of God for good or ill.
-He has asked God to make a pledge with him and secure him against their attacks
-In Life Or Death it is God himself who Job fears that will be his only hope of vindication
-He will not cease to be a man of character and uprightneous, he will trust the Lord
Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
The beautiful ending for us again is that we see the picture in full we see our vindication, we see our savior who went to the cross for us, we see the one who suffered at the hands of unrighteous men for us, we see the one who took on the wrath of God in our place so that we may become sons and daughters of the almighty, we have the beautiful gift of Seeing his Resurrection and ascension that brought hope for the forgiveness of sings, and for those who have repented and believed have recieved the sealing of the holy Spirit that ensures that reality.
It is in this assurance that we can stand like Job knowing that it is our God who advocates for us, It is He who wills and works all things for his good pleasure and for our eternal ends, It is in this vein that no matter what befalls us. Or redeemer lives and”
Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
Job