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JOB
(Part III)
Outline By; Rev. Daniel K. Corbett
{Some select thoughts, suggestions, and commentary revised and borrowed from:
Fleming James, Personalities Of The Old Testament.}
Introduction: What we have seen in our former studies;
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Job was a wise and righteous man who saw his life suddenly broken.
Job remained worshipful in his calamities.
Job’s friends interpreted his calamity as Divine punishment.
Job knew he was free from deserved punishment, so he rebuked his friends and
struggled to understand God’s providence.
Job desired to present his case personally, before God.
Job rebukes his friends who continue to use their faulty theories to defend God,
when they know they are in error. (Desiring to serve God does not justify
theological ignorance nor error.)
Tonight, we learn some last lessons from the life of Job.
I. DESPITE HIS GREAT CALAMITY AND SORROW, DESPITE
HIS INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND GOD’S PROVIDENCE, JOB
TURNED TO GOD AS HIS ONLY TRUE FRIEND.
“In the midst of his outcries his heart was reaching out to God.” Fleming James
“In his second speech he checked his lament over his miserable days now passing
swiftly to the grave and made a sudden appeal to God:…” Ibid.
A. Job Begs His Great Divine Friend To Remember Job’s Mortality.
“O remember that my life is wind: mine eye shall no more see good. The eye of
him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am
not.” 7: 7,8. Job thus proves himself wiser than many modern men.
B. Job Begs His Great Divine Friend To Remember Job’s Identity As One
Of His Creations.
“Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost
destroy me. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and
wilt thou bring me into dust again.” 10: 8,9.
Of course God does not forget such things. Job speaks from the depths of his
soul. He desire to know God’s reasons for His providence. It appears that even a
wise and righteous man such as Job, poor flesh that he is, can be stretched to the
point where he believes that God has forgotten how fragile man is.
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C. Job Begs His Great Divine Friend To Let Him Die and Enjoy The Bliss
Of Eternal Fellowship And The Glories Of The Resurrection.
“O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret,
until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember
me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I
wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have
a desire to the work of thine hands.” Job 14: 13-15.
Note: “There one sees Job’s “heart’s desire.” What he wanted most was God,
the restoration of fellowship with God.” “He was not saying that he would get
this-indeed, he despaired of it the next instant. But the ravishing rhought was
destined to reappear.” Ibid.
D. Job Begs His Great Divine Friend To Be His Omnipotent Advocate.
“O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place. Also now,
behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. My friends scorn me:
but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.” Job 16:18-20.
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not
another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19: 25-27
Note: “Here Job knew,…that it was to God he must look for his vindication, not to
men;…Job turned to God only, and to God as his champion, vindicator, redeemer.” Ibid.
“So far only men had spoken. It remains to inquire what God had to say.” Ibid.
II. GOD GRANTS JOB’S REQUEST; HE APPEARS AND MAKES
AN ANSWER TO JOB.
A. God Accepts The Challenge And Inquires By What Right Man Critiques
The Work Of God.
“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that
darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a
man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.” 38: 1-3
1. suffering does not give us the right to question God.
2. even God’s pride in Job does not stay Him from rebuking Job.
3. even the most eloquent words of mankind can be; “words without knowledge.”
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B. God Accepts The Challenge And Inquires By What Wisdom And Power
Man Can Question The Providence Of God.
“There follows a series of ironical questions aimed to bring home to Job his lack
of “wisdom”; that is, of the knowledge and power necessary to create and sustain
the world. And the point of them all is plainly that Job had gone beyond his
capacities in criticizing God’s government of mankind. He had been talking as if
he knew exactly what God ought to do if He were a just God. That was the
retribution dogman involved. Prosperity, it said, ought to follow goodness, and
calamity overtake sin. God’s answer was to direct Job’s attention from his own
life and from human society in general to the divine ordering of nature and the
divine provision…”
Here the great folly of the charismatic prosperity theologian is seen and rejected.
Here the great folly of all who believe that they can better direct God’s universe is
seen and rejected.
1. God’s providence cares for the physical universe.
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if
thou has understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or
who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof
fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” 38: 4-7.
2. God’s providence cares for the animal kingdom.
”Knowest thou the time when the wild goats f the rock bring forth? or canst thou
mark when the hinds do calve? Canst thou number the months that they fulfill? or
knowest thou the time when they bring forth?” 39:1,2.
3. God’s providence punishes the wicked according to His own pleasure.
“Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and
beauty. Cast abroad the rae of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and
abase him. Look on every one that is proud and bring him low; and tread down
the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in
secret. Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save
thee.” 40: 10-14.
Note: God does not explain to Job the exact purpose of the calamities, i.e., the attack and
charge of Satan and God’s confidence in and knowledge of Job’s character. God does
not have to explain everything to us. He is not a schoolboy who comes to the head of the
class and makes an answer to all our inquires, as we sit in the “seat of wisdom.”
“Not a word was said of what the friends were waiting for so anxiously-Job’s sin
previous to his calamity.” Ibid.
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CONCLUSION:
Job’s shows us the proper reaction for the servant of God who trusts God’s
providence.
1. Job is reduced to complete silence before God.
“I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be witholden from
thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered
that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” 42:2,3.
2. Job declares that his only desire now is to learn from God.
“Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou
unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth
thee.” 40:5.
Job shows us the proper attitude of the servant of God who is under the providential
hand of God.
“Despite the rebuke it was an honour that we being done Job. He was being singled out
as alone worthy and being thus talked to by God. They two were on the heights together,
the rest of men lost to sight beneath them.” Ibid.
We also are lead down a unique and providential path. God, by His grace and His
strength, is able to guide us in this path and thus glorify Himself. None other in the
whole universe has the personal opportunity to know God as you do, on your individual
path. None other can fit that unique niche in this universe that completes God’s great
cosmic plan. But remember, you cannot do it in your own strength or wisdom.
Remember also, God need not explain every detail to your satisfaction.
Job shows us the proper joy that the servant of God experiences in God’s great
providence. A joy which the worldling cannot understand.
“And Job was satisfied. There can be no slightest doubt of that….Nor did it matter to
him that God’s hand was still laid upon him; that his fatal disease was not taken away nor
his possessions, children and honour restored. This was not necessary. He had seen God
on his side and not as a stranger. It was enough.” Ibid.
In Job’s case, God did restore much to him. However, it was not necessary to Job’s joy
in God that this be done. Thus, Satan was proved wrong. Thus, it was shown that a man
who loves God can do so whether things are pleasant or dismal.
Job shows us that God will reward His servants according to His perfect wisdom.
Why shouldn’t Job be singled out for these unusual blessings. God had allowed Job to be
singled out for special calamity. Now God allows Job to receive special blessings.
God is, and He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.
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