[0:00] Take your Bibles, go into the book of Job. The book of Job. Job chapter 1. I'm going to pick up where we started. We left off Sunday night.
[0:11] We started the message, but we did not finish it. So we started in verse 6. We got down to about verse 12. We're ready for verse 13 through 22. But I'm going to go back and read verses 6 through 12 just to kind of get us in context.
[0:26] So we're in Job chapter 1. Our verses this evening will be verses 6 through 22. But our focus will primarily be verses 13 through 22.
[0:38] I'll catch some of you up to where we are as we kind of look very briefly at what we did Sunday night. And then we will move forward from there.
[0:49] But before we do, let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this day. Lord, what a joy it is together, together. What a joy it is to be able to fellowship with our church brothers and sisters and to share a meal with one another, to share fellowship and encouragement with one another.
[1:07] So, Father, we praise you for this day. We praise you for this opportunity and the place you've provided us to do so. We pray that you lead now in this time when we open up the pages of your word and we come seeking to hear a word from God.
[1:21] not just to read the words or the thoughts or opinions of man, but rather it is the word of God that we need to hear so desperately. So, Father, as we study it and we read it, we pray that you would speak to us clearly, to every heart and to every mind, that you would reveal more and more of your character, more and more of your ways.
[1:43] Lord, that it would be a revelation of our faith, a testing and a trying of our steadfastness. And Lord, may our dependence be upon you.
[1:55] As always, we pray for the work that is going on with the children and the youth and those that are laboring alongside them. We ask that Christ would be magnified, that throughout this building tonight, that the name of Jesus Christ would be lifted on high.
[2:13] And Lord, we pray that in our own eyes that we would see you in that matter as well. Lead us in our reading and lead us in our understanding and we ask it all in Christ's name.
[2:25] Amen. The Word of God says in Job chapter 1, starting in verse 6. Now, if you weren't here a couple of weeks ago, we need to settle the reality that in the first five verses we are introduced to the man of Job.
[2:43] Our introduction into Job is very intentional. It is, there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that first five verses introduce us to the historicity of the book.
[2:57] That is, it is an actual event that historically took place. Now, there are great Bible scholars, great theologians throughout the years, great commentators, some of which I have in my office, and I trust them for a number of passages that would declare that this is one long parable.
[3:23] It is given to you as a story, as a metaphor, to teach us a spiritual truth. There are matters in which we need to settle.
[3:34] We need to have that. I know I keep coming back to this refrain, but it is because it is of utmost importance for interpretation throughout the book of Job. For if this is a parable, or a metaphor, or a grand tale, then these matters are just theoretical instead of historical.
[3:52] It is not something that actually did happen, but something that could have happened. And that changes the scene dramatically. Just for your own purposes, you know that we base the historical reliability upon the text, on the fact that we not only meet a particular man, that God himself declares that Job is an actual being in the book of Ezekiel.
[4:12] And he references him along with two other individuals who absolutely existed. And then again in the book of James, in James chapter 5, James writes, being moved by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, that Job was an actual being.
[4:29] And he references him alongside another actual being, namely Elijah. Elijah. In Ezekiel, it is the Word of God, the voice of God.
[4:41] And in James, it is the Word of God, the leader of the church in Jerusalem and the half-brother of the Lord Jesus himself, who declared the reliability of this individual.
[4:53] The further we get into the text, we meet the friends of Job who are from particular places. We meet people who raid them. We'll see that in just a moment. And it's not just that some raiders came.
[5:05] There are particular people who came and took the animals. So there is much that distinguishes it and sets it apart from parables or stories. If we want to see what a grand parable is, we would go see the teachings of Christ.
[5:20] And this is so different than that. The grand argument for the fact that it cannot be historical usually rests on the fact that it is such perfectly written.
[5:31] It is a perfectly written book of poetic form starting in verse 3. I mean chapter 3. You have the first two chapters which introduce the book to us.
[5:44] And then you have the conclusion of the last chapter. But in between, are chapter after chapter of beautiful poetry.
[5:55] We don't garner it as much in the English language. It is not only one of the oldest books in scripture. Some have called it the oldest book in history.
[6:06] And yet it exists in perfection. Now, the argument would be how could it be in existence in such a perfect form?
[6:18] And that's not for us to argue. That's not for us to consider. It is up to us to acknowledge the reliable text before us and say these matters did happen. Which leads us to verse 6.
[6:31] Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.
[6:45] And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job fear God for nothing?
[7:00] 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 and he will surely curse you to your face.
[7:16] 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. We looked at this Sunday night, this portion of the first chapter.
[7:30] And I'll catch you up on it very quickly because what chapter 1, verses 6 through 22 tell us is the beginning of the trial. Just so we understand, the trial of Job is not the losing of all of his possessions.
[7:44] The trial of Job is really not even the losing of his possessions and his health. The grand trial of Job is the doubt of his friends and all around him that he is righteous.
[7:55] It is remaining steadfast in the midst of that. But this is the beginning of the trial. And as we notice the beginning of the trial, the one thing that we looked at Sunday night was the revelation that is given to us.
[8:07] And the revelation that is given to us is that the courtroom of heaven is in control of all things. I'm kind of giving it to you in a nutshell. That there is a day, we don't know which day, but there is a time when the sons of God, the angelic beings, stand before him.
[8:25] And along with them is also Satan, the adversary. Now that confounds us a little bit because we don't see how that would be possible. And we acknowledge Sunday night that anything at all that we know about the realities of heaven is only possible because of the revelation given to us through the word of God.
[8:45] The only reason that we know that there is a crystal sea is because the word of God tells us so. The only reason we know that the thing which we count so near and dear and valuable to us is used as asphalt in heaven is because the word of God tells us so.
[9:01] The only reason for you King James people and New King James that we know that there are mansions in heaven for the New American Standard that says dwelling places in heaven, the only reason we know that there are dwelling places in heaven is because the word of God tells us so.
[9:15] All that we know considering heaven is a matter of revelation. And this is much the same way that we see also in the courtroom of heaven there is an accounting of the Lord God Almighty as he sets upon his throne for all of his angelic beings including our adversary.
[9:36] And in that accounting we see that Satan must answer when God says where have you been? And a further revelation was the reality that Satan is limited in scope.
[9:48] He can only go here and there and to and fro roaming about seeking whom he may devour. He is not omniscient. He cannot be everywhere all the time which was good news for us.
[10:00] Satan cannot be wreaking havoc in your life and wreaking havoc in my life if we are not in the same location. Now his angelic hosts the fallen angels and the effects of that fall may be wreaking havoc in our life but just sometimes what we attribute to the work of Satan may very well just be the reaping of the seeds we have sown.
[10:27] It is much easier to say well I'm being tempted of Satan rather than being tempted as the book of James says when I am carried away by my own lust. And I have to take ownership of that for Satan is limited.
[10:40] He cannot be everywhere all the time. We've also saw in this revelation where God says have you considered we say well look there God brings up Job we acknowledge the reality that in the wording language the original language what God says is have you set your heart on my servant Job and so he's asking a pointed question to Satan are you in your heart considering my servant Job and we know the answer to that is yes indeed Satan already was because look at the answer that Satan gives.
[11:11] He gave a very detailed description of Job's life did he not? and he said well he's only faithful because you've put a hedge around him and look at all the blessings he had and if he had not been considering him and he is limited in his position then this answer would not have been given so quickly.
[11:29] And so that brought comfort to us because we know that when Satan sets his crosshairs on us God knows it before it happens. God in his omniscience even knows before we are attacked by our enemy.
[11:45] It is Jesus himself who said to Peter Satan has asked permission to sift you but I have prayed for you. And then we saw that Satan can only do what God permits and allows him to do.
[11:59] And so we've seen and acknowledged the reality that there is a sovereign on the throne and it is not Satan but it is the Lord God Almighty. That was the revelation we had.
[12:10] Now starting in verse 13 it says Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their Otis brother's house a messenger came to Job and said the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them and the Sabaeans attacked and took them.
[12:27] They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking another also came and said the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them.
[12:40] And I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking another also came and said the Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you.
[12:54] And while he was still speaking another also came and said your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house and behold a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and it fell on the young people and they died and I alone have escaped to tell you.
[13:13] Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell to the ground and worshipped. He said naked I have come naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return there.
[13:29] 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.
[13:45] Here as we look at the beginning of the trial once we see the revelation that we are given the revelation by the way that Job is not given the revelation that the friends of Job do not see.
[13:58] It is a revelation given to us so that we can interpret the matters in an accurate way as we read the account. It is a revelation that is hidden from Job. It is a revelation of which his friends know nothing of and yet Job finds himself in the middle of this trial and it begins very rapidly for after the revelation we see the devastation that comes upon him and it is a devastation that comes wave after wave after wave.
[14:27] The scripture is given to us in an intentional manner and to show us that this is a rapid succession of devastation all that he owns has been given into the hand of the enemy for the Lord God has said all that he has is yours only do not touch his life and all that he has will be taken away from him in a single day and it will come in a repeated fashion that while this one is speaking the next one shows up and while this one is speaking the next one shows up and while this one is speaking the next one shows up and it is in various means and in various manners we have paid particular attention when we were looking at the historical reliability of it the fact that the Sabaeans and the Chaldeans are named for if this was not an actual event it would be very unfair to call out two groups of people for crimes they did not commit but since it is a historical event and we look at those two people it is absolutely in alignment with the reality of how the Sabaeans and the Chaldeans lived and existed in the land that Job was at and we notice that once it begins it begins very rapidly it is on that day when the oldest brother is holding his feast if we were to go back to the first five verses we would notice that this is an annual event that on their day that is more than likely their birthday they would have a celebration and all the brothers and the sisters would gather together and they would have it and at the end of the year when all birthdays had been celebrated then Job would call his sons around him and he would consecrate them he would set them apart it tells us in verses four and five and he would offer sacrifices for each one of them in case they had sinned against the Lord God unintentionally and there are sacrifices given for unintentional sins and he sanctifies them and sets them apart and it's fulfilling the role of the priest of the home and if we look at that reality that if he had just done that this is the very first time they gather together again and as they gather together
[16:34] Job does not know it but the world is about to fall out from underneath him and this devastation that he experienced is a rapid succession of loss and complete loss and it is the enemy trying to validate what he has declared about Job's faith the declaration of Satan is have you not placed a hedge about him and therefore he is blameless and upright and fearing the Lord God because of his blessings because of the favor you have shown him because of the goodness that exists in his life and to try to show that that is the only reason Job is walking blameless and upright and integrity the enemy is going to seek to take those blessings away and we are overwhelmed about the reality that they happen so quickly for many may be able to hold on to their faith if the loss comes little by little or many may be able to hold on to their faith if they lose it all in one manner but in such different ways in such rapid succession
[17:51] I mean in this we have the Sabaeans we have lightning strikes we have the Chaldeans making raids and we have more than likely a tornado coming across the wilderness and in all of these manners Job loses everything don't miss the devastation he experienced it is utter devastation it is complete loss and it is unexplainable by any human measure I mean how does that happen sure the Sabaeans and the Chaldeans exist in the same territory but on the same day they're making different raids and the lightning not only killing but consuming all of the sheep and the tornado at that particular house Satan uses varying means to bring his attack against Job as he does in my life and in your life and it is devastating each and every one of them so we pay special attention to the devastation that Job experienced which brings us to the final portion of this starting there in verse 20 the evaluation that Job offers us for how do we evaluate this how do we assess the reality that we know that there was a day in the courtroom of heaven when Satan longed to test his theory that Job's righteousness was based upon his favor and blessing standing before God and yet Job has no idea about that
[19:39] Job is walking blamelessly and upright according to the testimony of the Lord not according to the testimony of man the Lord God himself has said there's no one like him on the face of the earth and he's doing it during the time of the patriarchs so there is no tabernacle there is no temple there is no Levite priesthood there are no Pharisees there are no Sadducees there's no teachers he's walking according to the righteous standard of the Adamic covenant that we find leaving the Garden of Eden where God had instituted that they should offer sacrifices there's no day of atonement there's none of the laws there's no ten commandments there's none of that and yet he's walking blameless in a time when a multitude of people are not I was asked the question Sunday night and I probably need to address it here because I know that some of your translations say that he's perfect this is where we lose some of the weight of the word in our English language because Job is not perfect and he is not blameless in the way that we think he is the word just literally means he's complete he's the same person publicly and privately he is a complete man before the Lord God
[20:49] I like what we are told at the end of chapter 2 where it says in all of this Job did not sin with his words because that's a particular word choice there he gets angry God rebukes him and says were you there by the end of the book we see that he is not a perfect man but he's a complete man he's walking faithfully and just let your mind set on this reality God describes Job with such favor that he never ascribes to Abraham Abraham is never called complete blameless upright yet Job is and so in our mind we say how in the world could this be permitted to happen how could one there's no one like him on the face of the earth and in his completeness or in his blameless state he's not walking in pride but rather in humility and then in a day it is all taken away we evaluate that our natural response is that is not fair there's no way that should not have happened this cannot be an actual event by the way
[22:14] I think this is one of the reasons why so many people read this and say surely this is not historical because we want to say that because we say why would God let that really happen how could he permit that what kind of loving God would let such loss come upon one individual in one day well the good news is is we do not have to assess that because Job does the one who walked through the trial and the devastation the one who felt the pain and the misery more than any one of us can he gives us an evaluation of it and the first thing that we notice about Job is that Job is truly broken I mean it hurts look at what the word of God says it says that when this happened then Job arose and he tore his robe and he shaved his head it was a public demonstration of mourning and grief by the time we get to the second chapter and Satan is permitted to touch his body he will scrape the sores his friends his three friends will show up and when they see him from a distance they will be appalled they won't even recognize him and they'll say surely that's not Job and they'll sit in his presence for seven days and seven nights not saying anything why?
[23:42] people say that can't really happen it can if you're so overwhelmed by how bad someone looks I mean it truly hurts and he grieves and he mourns and he feels the weight because the temptation is to think well maybe he didn't really feel it as much in that time maybe it wasn't as important to him we have a tendency to think that people are cold and people are kind of put off a little bit but here's Job who really loves tenderly loves his family cares for his family consecrates his sons and his daughters every year offers sacrifices for them and now he hurts and he mourns and he grieves and it's a real pain but it doesn't stop there because it says after he arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and he fell on the ground and notice it says and he worshipped he worshipped that is probably the most profound statement in the first chapter that after displaying his grief and his mourning his very initial reaction is to fall on the ground and worship and in that worship he declares the goodness of the name of the Lord
[25:18] God I hope you notice the name of God that is used repeatedly in the passage it is capital L capital O capital R capital D Lord it is Yahweh it is the covenant name of God it is a God that you are in covenant relationship with it is the name that God revealed of himself that he walks with his people and Job declares the goodness of his name he says the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away blessed be the name of the Lord and he does this in worship and we ask the question how could he do that how could this be his evaluation of such a tragic time of something that really and genuinely hurt and the answer is found in the phrase right above it naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return it is the understanding that each and everything Job has ever possessed was a gift from the
[26:27] Lord God almighty the one sitting on the throne of heaven which we have already seen a revelation of but he in his mind and in his heart understood it that all that he possessed was a gift of the Lord God almighty it was not his due it was not his earning it was not his it was not something that was due him but rather it was something that was entrusted to him his livestock his children everything he had all of his riches had come from the Lord God for on his own he was naked and brought nothing to the table and the understanding that everything he possessed was given to him as a gift from the Lord God also is settled with this reality that since God in his goodness has given it to me and this is the other side of that coin then God in his equal goodness can take it from me we love to proclaim the goodness of God when he gives but can we declare the goodness of God when he takes if God in his grace and his mercy and his astounding love for me has entrusted me with these things and the character of God does not change then when
[27:45] God the giver of the gifts takes them back then we have to say it is because he is good and loving and merciful and kind in all of this though the attacks came in varying ways Job did not blame the Sabaeans Job did not blame the Chaldeans Job did not get mad at the weather Job did not curse Satan Job did not even acknowledge the presence of the enemy for in the mind of Job there is but one to consider it is to consider in the favor and it is considered in the fire it is one to consider when the blessings are present and it is one to consider when the devastation is real he says God has given it and God has taken it blessed be his name too often we try to take ownership of that which we have only been given stewardship of and it is a hard reality but when we begin to take ownership of something when we begin to take ownership of something then we get mad when we no longer possess it but when we realize that we are simply stewards of that which God has entrusted to us for a season then stewardship is an opportunity of enjoyment for a season and when the season ends and God takes it back and that does not impede our worship rather it leads us to a different form of worship we worship him in the abundance and we worship him in the empty
[29:30] Job evaluated the situation by realizing that the one in control was not circumstance it was not situation it was not man this was just a bad day rather God gave and God took work and if we cannot worship him when he takes then friend we dare not try to worship him when he gives because that makes us nothing but greedy coming to him as a genie in a bottle saying God I will worship you if you bless me if you give me favor if you enlarge my territory if you do this what if he doesn't there's a phrase in the book of Romans Romans chapter 9 that much of us read over because it's kind of a secondary phrase it is speaking of
[30:39] God's election and all the will and the way God moves within the life of Pharaoh and here's the phrase I'll never forget when it hit me and I heard a gentleman preaching actually I heard him preaching it at Moody Bible Church in a conference in Chicago it's this phrase it's called the what if it is what if God raised him up for destruction he doesn't say in Romans that God did raise him up for destruction but the phrase that Paul uses is what if God raised him up for destruction and the weight was could you still worship God then some say I will never worship a God who would raise up someone in this world for the purpose of destroying him to show his own glory and to show his own might it doesn't say in the Bible he did the question is posed but what if he did you say well that changes the character of
[31:44] God does it or does that highlight the failure of man and we have to wrestle with those things because what if we have a day like Job when everything is taken away will we fall on our face and worship or will we shake our fist and high hand at heaven and curse him it is the reality that God is on the throne that settles our evaluation of the moment and if he's on the throne when the blessings come he is still on the throne when the blessings go and as long as he's on the throne he deserves our worship do I think these things literally happened in one day yes why because Satan is trying to prove a point and God permits it but God knows a greater truth he's the giver of the gifts and therefore he can take them back back so be careful if we say how in the world could
[33:07] God permit that is it not a better question to ask how in the world could God bless Job like that you know the most amazing thing to me and I know I'm kind of on the side note here because I've had people come to me and say well if there are some who are not saved or never going to be saved I just can't reconcile that in my mind and it's the grandest reason and I try to help people refocus you know what the most amazing thing to me is the most amazing thing to me is that any are ever saved because how could God bless any one of us when we are so imperfect and sinful and fallible we don't deserve it Job didn't deserve it even in his completeness because none are righteous no not one yet God blessed him but God took it back but he's still God that's what we have to wrestle with when the trial begins because the greatest trial is really will I stay steadfast through it all will I remain true that's the greatest trial some of us like Job sure I'll stay fast because I've read the end of the story
[34:45] Job gets double full back Job stayed steadfast not knowing the end not knowing the end and by the way in Christ we have more than double back what we lose what did Jesus say whoever gives up mother or father brother sister or home or farm will get ten times as much in this life and in the life to come we get an overflowing abundance back in Christ that promise has already been given to us doesn't mean we'll get the land back or this back or that back these things back but we get an abundance of blessings back in Christ that promise is already extended to us so we enter the trial and we say yes Lord I'll be faithful and we find that in Job chapter 1 verses 6 through 22 thank you my brothers
[35:50] Thank you.