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Archive for the ‘Job’ Category

Job is Restored

Posted in Job, Knowing God on May 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

10The LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the LORD increased all that Job had twofold.

12The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had 14,000 sheep and 6,000 camels and 1,000 yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys.

 13He had seven sons and three daughters.

 14He named the first Jemimah, and the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.

 15In all the land no women were found so fair as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritance among their brothers.

 16After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations.

 17And Job died, an old man and full of days. Job 42:10, 12-17

God was upset with Job’s friends because they had not spoken well of God the way Job did.  So God said that He would accept Job’s prayer on their behalf and would not deal with them according to their folly.  Job prayed for his friends and when he did God restored everything that Job had lost – giving him a double portion.

Job was more blessed in his later years and got to live a long life.  He was so wealthy that he was even able to leave his daughters an inheritance which was not common.  God had truly blessed Job.

In the story of Job we are never given the reason why God allowed Satan to destroy all that Job had and make him sick in his body.  It was not because of any sin that Job committed.  God said from the beginning that Job was a righteous man that feared God and shunned evil.  We do know that in the end God restored everything Job had lost.  God was able to show that Job was a man of integrity and did not only seek God for his possessions.  Job was also a changed man.  Prior to all that happened, Job only knew God by what he heard.  Now Job had seen God and experienced God’s blessings.  Job now knew that everything that he had was a result of the goodness of God and not based on anything Job achieved.

Job’s encounter with God changed his life and his circumstances.  The same is true for us.  When we have a real encounter with God it will change us for the better.  We should not just be satisfied in knowing God based on what we just hear but we should diligently seek God and desire to spend time in His presence.  It should be our daily act of worship to spend face to face time with God.

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Job Repents

Posted in God's Glory, Job, Knowing God on May 11, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 1Then Job answered the LORD and said,
 2“I know that You can do all things,
    And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
 3‘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.”
   4‘Hear, now, and I will speak;
    I will ask You, and You instruct me.’
   5“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
    But now my eye sees You;
   6Therefore I retract,
     And I repent in dust and ashes.”  Job 42:1-6

Job had said things about God based on things he did not understand.  Job did not understand why he suffered the way he did.  He thought he knew it all and knew God well.  Job based what he knew on what he had heard about God.  When God finally answers Job and declares His glory, Job realizes that he really did not know God.  Job sees God’s glory and how wonderful He is.  Even though Job has heard about God now Job has seen God.  So Job repents and changes his mind about God. 

Many of us base our beliefs about God on what we have heard.  Churches even religions have based their doctrines and theologies on things they have heard and believed.  Many of us need an encounter with God like Job.  Job was reminded of God’s majesty and glory.  God never answered Job’s questions, God simply showed Job who He was.

We may not know why we suffer, or why tragedy or calamity comes into our life.  God does not always give the answer.  What we can know is that God is God and there is no one like Him.  He is the one that sets everything in motion and in place.  He is the creator of all.  Even Satan is subject to God.

Job did not suffer because of sin.  We don’t really know why God allowed Satan to do the things he did to Job.  We can take comfort in knowing that God was always in control of Job’s life.  God never stopped loving Job and Satan was not able to snatch Job out of God’s hand.  God has us in His hands and He will never let us go no matter what happens in our life.  We may not have all the answers or fully understand the “why” in life but God is always there holding us up even in the times of trouble.

In the time that Job saw God his circumstances no longer seemed important.  God was bigger and better.  It is the same with us.  Whatever you are going through God is bigger and better.  The best is yet to come.

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God Alone Justifies

Posted in Job, Knowing God on May 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 7″Why do the wicked still live,
         Continue on, also become very powerful?
    8″Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
         And their offspring before their eyes,
    9Their houses are safe from fear,
         And the rod of God is not on them. Job 21: 7-9

6Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said,
    7″Now gird up your loins like a man;
         I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
    8″Will you really annul My judgment?
         Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?
    9″Or do you have an arm like God,
         And can you thunder with a voice like His?
    10″Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity,
         And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.
    11″Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
         And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low.
    12″Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him,
         And tread down the wicked where they stand.
    13″Hide them in the dust together;
         Bind them in the hidden place.
    14″Then I will also confess to you,
         That your own right hand can save you. Job 40: 6-14

Earlier Job complained that God had turned His anger on Job when Job did nothing wrong.  Job also complained that God seemed to let the wicked prosper.  Job argued that he was justified because he always did what was right, and God had no justification for “punishing” Job.

So God asks Job if he discredits God’s judgment.  Why does Job condemn God to justify himself?  God then asks Job if he is like God, can Job bring down the wicked, if so, and then God will admit that Job can save himself.

Job’s justification is not reliant on his works but solely rests on who God is.  God is the only one who can bring a proud man low and judge the wicked.  We are never justified by our works but by our faith in God.  God counted Job righteous because of Job’s faith in God.  Job feared God and shunned evil.  Job counted all of his good works and thought he was justified based on what he had done and how he stayed away from evil.  Job thought God was unjust since he believed God turned on him without cause. 

God demonstrates His glory and power to Job and shows Job that God is just and no one is like Him.  All creation is subject to God, and God deals with creation according to His will and purpose.  God can show mercy to whomever He wants including the wicked.  It is God alone that justifies man.

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God’s Glory Revealed

Posted in God's Glory, Job, Knowing God on May 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 12″Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,
         And caused the dawn to know its place,

13That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
         And the wicked be shaken out of it?

 16″Have you entered into the springs of the sea
         Or walked in the recesses of the deep?
   
19“Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
         And darkness, where is its place,
20That you may take it to its territory
         And that you may discern the paths to its home?

 24″Where is the way that the light is divided,
         Or the east wind scattered on the earth?
 25″Who has cleft a channel for the flood,
         Or a way for the thunderbolt,
 26To bring rain on a land without people,
         On a desert without a man in it,
 27To satisfy the waste and desolate land
         And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

Job 38:12, 13, 16, 19, 20, 24-27

God asks Job a series of questions about creation and whether or not he can do the things God does.  God displays His power to Job.  God is the one that commands the morning.  God is the creator of all things.  There is no one like God.  There is no one greater or above God. 

Have you ever marveled at the things of this world?  Do you think about how God brings forth day and night?  It is amazing how all the seasons work together.  God brings sunshine, rain, snow, hail, thunder and lightning.  These are things that simply demonstrate the awesome power of God.

We never have to be afraid of the things that happen in our lives because God is in control.  Even if things do not go our way today, God will command a new day tomorrow and things will be renewed.  So let us not worry about things that are not in our control, but rest in knowing they are in God’s control.

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God Answers Job

Posted in Job on April 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Job Says:

3“Oh that I knew where I might find Him,
  That I might come to His seat!
4“I would present my case before Him
  And fill my mouth with arguments.  Job 23: 3-4

God Says:

1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,
2“Who is this that darkens counsel
   By words without knowledge?
3“Now gird up your loins like a man,
  And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!  Job 38: 1-3

Job wanted to argue his case before God and show that God was not justified in turning against Job.  Job was mistaken that God brought calamity in his life and was angry toward Job.  So God finally answers Job. 

In God’s response to Job, God asks Job if He is like God.  God knows that Job’s complaint against Him is wrong.  God is merciful toward Job and does not point out Job’s weaknesses and sins, but instead God points to Himself and justifies who He is.

God is supreme.  There is no one like Him.  He is the Alpha and Omega.  We all live and have our being because of God.  He is just.  God is Holy.  No one can argue against God.  Above all, God is love and full of mercy.  He could have dealt with Job according to Job’s folly.  God could deal with all of us according to our folly.  God chooses to demonstrate His greatness to Job, by reminding Job who He is.  God begins to present Himself before Job in a series of rhetorical questions.  Through these questions God shows us all His sovereignty.

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Job Pleads His Case

Posted in Job, Uncategorized on April 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

18“Behold now, I have prepared my case;
  I know that I will be vindicated.
19“Who will contend with me?
   For then I would be silent and die.
20“Only two things do not do to me,
   Then I will not hide from Your face:
21Remove Your hand from me,
  And let not the dread of You terrify me.
22“Then call, and I will answer;
  Or let me speak, then reply to me.
23“How many are my iniquities and sins?
  Make known to me my rebellion and my sin. Job 13: 18-23

Job wants to plead his case before God.  Job does not believe that he has done anything wrong that would cause God to punish him.  Job spends the next several chapters justifying himself and accusing God of turning His anger and wrath toward Job.  Job’s friends argue that Job must have sinned and must repent so that God would restore his health and wealth.  They tell Job that God would not punish an innocent man.  They also tell Job that he cannot condemn God and justify himself.  However, Job continues to claim his innocence and requests to argue his case before God.  If Job has done something wrong, then Job wants to hear it from God directly.  Job tells his friends that they are in no position to judge him or point out his sins.

Job is wrong to believe that God is the cause of all his problems.  He is also wrong in thinking that God is angry with him and that he has lost favor with God.  Job is righteous and innocent but not because of what he has done but because of God.  Deep down Job knows he cannot justify himself before God but still he wants to know why God has turned on him.

Have you ever felt this way?  Have you ever felt like God has forsaken you and you wanted to know what you have done to lose favor with God?  Job never lost favor with God.  God did not forsake Job.  After Job’s lament and his friends’ arguments, God finally answers Job.

Next:  God’s response.

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We Need an Arbitrator

Posted in Jesus, Job on April 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 29 Since I am already found guilty,
       why should I struggle in vain?

 30 Even if I washed myself with soap
       and my hands with washing soda,

 31 you would plunge me into a slime pit
       so that even my clothes would detest me.

 32 “He is not a man like me that I might answer him,
       that we might confront each other in court.

 33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us,
       to lay his hand upon us both,

 34 someone to remove God’s rod from me,
       so that his terror would frighten me no more.

 35 Then I would speak up without fear of him,
       but as it now stands with me, I cannot.  Job 9: 29-35 NIV

Job really wanted to confront God about what He had done.  However, Job believed that he had no chance to argue his case before God and plead his innocence.  Job questioned whether or not anyone is innocent before God.  He concluded that God treats the blameless and the wicked all the same – He judges them equally.

Job understood that there really is nothing we can do to cleanse ourselves of sin and stand before God blameless.  There is no work we can complete on our own that would allow us to claim righteousness.  Job knew that none of his righteous acts saved him in the eyes of God.  Job says that we need an arbitrator, someone that is between us and God; as Job states “someone to remove God’s rod from me…”  Job saw the need for a savior.

Job was wrong about God treating us with judgment and wrath, because out of His love for us God sent an arbitrator – Jesus.  Jesus stands between us and God the Father.  It is because of Jesus we can stand before God and argue our case just like Job wanted to do.  We can stand before God and not be afraid because Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness.

We are righteous before God because Jesus paid our debt of sin and death.  Even when we sin Jesus still arbitrates our cases before God.  It is in Jesus that we have the confidence that God will forgive us of our sins and return us to our righteous state.

Job is right – without Jesus no one can stand before God and claim his innocence.  We are all guilty and have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  There is no human act that can justify us.  It is only the shed blood of Jesus that saves us.  Jesus is the only one that can stand between us and God; declare our innocence, and ask God to have mercy upon us.  Praise God for Jesus our Arbitrator.

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God is Just

Posted in Job, Uncategorized on April 24, 2010| 2 Comments »

3“Does God pervert justice?
   Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
4“If your sons sinned against Him,
  Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.
5“If you would seek God
   And implore the compassion of the Almighty,
6If you are pure and upright,
   Surely now He would rouse Himself for you
   And restore your righteous estate. Job 8:3-6

When the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001, some people said that God was judging the United States.  When Katrina happened in New Orleans, some said it was God judging New Orleans.  When the earthquake in Haiti happened some said it was because of the past sins of Haiti and the curse of the nation.  There are some that when tragedy strikes they believe it is God’s way of punishing them for their sin.  Job’s friend Bildad believed that God was punishing Job and his children because of their sins.

When Jesus died on the cross God judged sin then and there.  It is finished.  Jesus paid it all.  God declared Job righteous, therefore, God was not punishing Job for his sins.  God loves us and abounds in mercy and love.  He is not looking to punish us or destroy us because we don’t measure up.  God loves us so much.  He is full of kindness, mercy and grace.  He is not looking down on us waiting to punish our sins; Jesus already endured the punishment of sin.

In times of trouble, God will arouse Himself for us and deliver us.  It is not contingent on whether or not we are right with God.  If we are in need He will meet us where we are at.  God has already delivered us from sin and death through Jesus Christ, so now we can rest in the knowledge that He will deliver us in the days of trouble. 

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Wrong Theology

Posted in Job, Knowing God, Satan on April 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 17“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves,
    So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
 18“For He inflicts pain, and gives relief;
    He wounds, and His hands also heal.  Job 5: 17-19

 3″Does God pervert justice?
    Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
  4“If your sons sinned against Him,
    Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.
  5“If you would seek God
    And implore the compassion of the Almighty,
  6 If you are pure and upright,
    Surely now He would rouse Himself for you
    And restore your righteous estate. Job 8:3-6

Job had lost his children, his livelihood and his health.  Since, Job was suffering and sick his friends concluded that it must be a result of sin.  They encouraged Job to return to God and repent.  They thought that God would not punish the innocent, only the wicked get punished.  So Job must have done something wicked and God was correcting him.  This is wrong theology.  God does not punish us to correct us.  Even if Job had sinned God would not have destroyed Job’s life to teach him a lesson.  Too often, we attribute sickness and disease as punishment from God.  God loves us and would not use sickness and disease to  teach us a lesson.  Yes God disciplines us but not at the expense of our lives.

We know that God did see Job as a righteous man so there was no need for Job to get right with God.  Job did not lose his righteous state, he was attacked by Satan.  Satan is responsible for all that has happened to Job.  Satan did this to try and discredit Job and get Job to curse God.

The last thing Job needed from his friends was judgment.  Job was looking for comfort and they did not offer any.  Also, they thought they were defending God by explaining to Job why he was suffering and why his children died – all because of sin.

We should never judge another person’s situation when we do not understand all that is going on.  None of us know why all this happened to Job.  We are never given an explanation as to why God allowed Satan to inflict such pain on Job.  We do know it was not due to Job’s sins, because God said Job was righteous.  So let’s just mourn with those that mourn and stand in faith that God will see them through.  We are not to judge others, but to love and build them up.  This is what friends do.

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Job’s Bitter Complaint

Posted in Job on April 20, 2010| Leave a Comment »

11“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
    I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,
    I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

16“I waste away; I will not live forever
    Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
17“What is man that You magnify him,
    And that You are concerned about him,
18That You examine him every morning
   And try him every moment?
19“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,
    Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
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?
21“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
    And take away my iniquity?
    For now I will lie down in the dust;
    And You will seek me, but I will not be.” Job 7: 11, 16-21

Job is not aware that Satan has done all these things to him.  Instead Job believes that God is the cause of his calamity and begins to complain and ask God what he has done.  Many times we find ourselves in this situation when the worst happens we question where God is in it all.  We even wonder if God has brought us to this situation.  What Job failed to realize and what we often fail to realize is how God sees us.  We know that God did not bring this calamity upon Job and we know that God believes that Job is a righteous man.  God has nothing bad to say about Job.  Unfortunately, Job begins to believe that God has targeted Job for destruction.

We must remember that we have an enemy who seeks to destroy us just like Job.  That does not mean that God has forsaken us.  God fights our battles for us.  We know in the story of Job that God limited Satan to what he could do to Job.  We also know that God will deliver Job from the hand of the enemy.  God will deliver us from our enemies.

Job also begins to wander what sin he did to cause God to turn on him.  Many times we believe that when we sin God punishes us.  But Jesus died and our sins have been judged and forgiven.  God never uses sickness and disease to punish us for our sins or correct our behavior.  Job was accused by Satan; God brought no accusations against Job.  Matter of fact the bible says Job did not sin.  So sin is not the cause of Job’s troubles but Satan himself is the cause.

So our response should always be to thank God for His loving-kindness and acknowledgement that He will never leave nor forsake us.  He will never turn His gaze from us.  His mercies are new every morning and He takes great delight in us.

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