Wednesday
Evening Bible Study
June 11, 2003
Introduction
God had been bragging about Job, how Job was a mature man who always
followed God. When Satan challenged God
and suggested that Job only followed God because God was so good to him, God
allowed Satan to touch Job. And so Job
lost just about everything. He lost all
of his wealth. He lost all of his
children. He’s lost his health.
His friends showed up and for seven days they sat in silence with Job. When Job finally spoke up, he began by
wishing he had never been born. He
poured out his complaint, that he didn’t know why he was having such
troubles. And this seems to have
bothered Job’s friends because they had apparently already figured out why Job
was having trouble. It was obvious. Job
must have sinned and brought all this trouble on himself.
We’ve been through one round of debates.
Each of Job’s friends has spoken and Job has answered their accusations.
Job 15
:1-16 Job is clueless
:1 Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,
This begins the second round of debates between Job and his friends.
Eliphaz is the kindest of Job’s friends and is also probably the eldest. He’s not going to be so kind this time.
:4 Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.
Your talk is keeping people from trusting God and praying to Him.
:7 Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the
hills?
(Job 15:7 NLT) "Were
you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made?
Eliphaz is questioning Job’s wisdom in his complaining. He’s challenging Job in his assumptions,
saying that Job is acting like he can tell God what to do, yet he’s actually
very small and knows nothing.
This will be pretty much the same thing that God will initially challenge
Job on as well.
(Job 38:1-7 KJV) Then the
LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, {2} Who is this that
darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? {3} Gird up now thy loins like a
man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. {4} Where wast thou when I
laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. {5} Who
hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line
upon it? {6} Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the
corner stone thereof; {7} When the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy?
Lesson
Even those who hurt us wrongly may
speak truth
We tend to want to make everything black and white.
If a person is hurting us or misunderstanding us, then everything they say
we can throw out and categorize as worthless.
But that’s not correct.
We must continually be asking ourselves, “Is there something I can be
learning here?”
Statements aren’t truth because a nice person is speaking. Statements aren’t false because the person
speaking is a jerk.
When the Jews were making their plans to have Jesus arrested and killed,
one of the worst men made an amazing statement:
(John 11:47-52 KJV) Then gathered the chief priests and the
Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
{48} If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans
shall come and take away both our place and nation. {49} And one of them, named
Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing
at all, {50} Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die
for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. {51} And this spake he
not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus
should die for that nation; {52} And not for that nation only, but that also he
should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
If any of the disciples had been in that council at that
time, and heard Caiaphas say what he said, how many would have paid much
attention to what he said?
Yet he actually spoke truth.
:10 With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy
father.
Eliphaz is reminding Job that these three friends are all older than he
is. He ought to respect them and be
paying attention to them.
Lesson
Wisdom and age
If you have to remind people how old and wise you are, there’s a problem.
Someone once said, “When an older man and a younger man are together, the
older man should never bring up his age and wisdom, and the younger man should
never forget it.”
:11 Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing
with thee?
(Job 15:11
NLT) "Is God's comfort too little
for you? Is his gentle word not enough?
Lesson
God’s comfort is enough
What Eliphaz is saying is absolutely true.
God’s comfort IS enough.
The problem is in how he probably is saying it.
Lesson
Cheap sweet talk
Eliphaz is implying that he and the others are the ones that God has sent
to bring Job comfort.
He’s claiming that they’ve spoken “gently” to Job.
We don’t hear the tone of voice that Eliphaz speaks with. He may be speaking with a gentle tone of
voice, but the words are very, very harsh.
I hate it when people speak quietly and condescendingly to you, as if they
have it all figured out, but they are totally wrong.
:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not
clean in his sight.
saints – qadowsh – sacred,
holy, Holy One, saint, set apart.
Eliphaz may be referring to angels here.
Eliphaz has already said something similar to this:
(Job 4:18
KJV) Behold, he put no trust in his
servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
There are some other similar passages to this in Scripture:
(2 Pet 2:4 KJV) For if God
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
(Jude 1:6 KJV) And the
angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the
great day.
:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity
like water?
Lesson
Reasons for trouble
What Eliphaz is saying is absolutely true.
Man is abominable and sinful.
(Rom 3:9-12 KJV) What then?
are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews
and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; {10} As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one: {11} There is none that understandeth, there is none
that seeketh after God. {12} They are all gone out of the way, they are
together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
(Rom 3:23
KJV) For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God;
It is also true that evil things exist in this world because of our sin. We call this the “curse” that came upon
mankind as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin:
(Gen 3:16-19 KJV) Unto the
woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow
thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he
shall rule over thee. {17} And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in
sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; {18} Thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the
field; {19} In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return
unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return.
But the problem with Eliphaz’ reasoning is that he too falls into that
category. And if Job is going through
his tough time simply because he is a sinful man like everyone else, then how
is it that you can say that Job’s problems are caused by his sin when Eliphaz
isn’t going through the exact same thing?
The concept that all difficulty is a result of our sin was also prevalent
in Jesus’ day.
(John 9:1-7 KJV) And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which
was blind from his birth. {2} And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who
did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? {3} Jesus answered,
Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him. {4} I must work the works of him that sent me, while
it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. {5} As long as I am in the
world, I am the light of the world.
The disciples thought that the man’s blindness was a
result of sin. Jesus said that the man
was born blind in order for God’s work to be manifest through him.
{6} When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay
of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, {7}
And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation,
Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
:17-35 The wicked will perish
:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid
There may be some wicked people who are terrified of what the future holds,
but I don’t think this is a thing that is common to all wicked people.
:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his
bucklers:
The wicked thinks he can even get away with fighting with God.
(Job 15:26
NASB) "He rushes headlong at Him
With his massive shield.
:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of
fat on his flanks.
(Job 15:27
ICB) "The evil person's face is
covered with fat. His waist is fat with flesh.
:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity …
This is a pretty low blow. Eliphaz
is accusing Job of being the very cause of all his troubles. He’s saying that Job is the “hypocrite” (vs.
34) that is resulting in the destruction around him.
Lesson
God will judge the ungodly
What Eliphaz is saying is absolutely true as objective truth.
God will one day judge the world.
Even though an ungodly person may prosper and become rich and fat in this
world, they will one day stand before God in judgment.
The problem is that this truth does not apply to Job.
Lesson
Don’t count on it now
If you think that a wicked person is always going to be caught and brought
down in this life, you are going to be disappointed.
This is why the Psalmist had such a struggle:
(Psa 73:3-4 KJV) For I was
envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. {4} For there
are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
There are going to be some people who will live comfortable, luxurious
lives in their wicked wealth, and you’re going to wonder how this could be
fair.
The truth is that the judgment will come, but for some, it may not come
until after they die.
One of the things Eliphaz is trying to say is that if you turn from your
sins, then life will be happy and wonderful and you will have no problems.
But this is false.
This is the very thing that Satan was challenging God with, that Job only
served God because God blessed Job.
Concept: We shouldn’t serve God because life will be
better. We should serve God because He
is God.
Lesson
How do you look at suffering people?
I’ve been starting to find myself looking at suffering people a little
differently now.
At the Pastors’ Conference you find yourself in all sorts of
conversations. Sometimes it’s with old
friends that you catch up with.
Sometimes it’s meeting new friends at lunch and hearing their story.
I noticed my reactions starting to change when I would hear stories of
sorrow and suffering.
I spend some time with one old dear friend who has gone through much since
I last talked with him a few years back.
He had already gone through some pretty traumatic things in his life in
ministry. The last I’d heard, he had
been pastoring a small church with a lot of senior adults. He’s a guy my age. His wife is a talented musician and was his
worship leader. She left him to join a
rock band and find fame and fortune in the world. She’s left her relationship with God, and her
family. She has ended up marrying the
guitar player in the new band. Devastated,
my friend resigned as pastor.
As he shared all this with me, I couldn’t help but think
of the things we’ve been looking at in Job.
Though a part of me wants to analyze his story and find out what he did
wrong to cause all this trouble, I sensed the Lord showing me that he was going
through things just like Job. I couldn’t
help but wonder if this wasn’t a man that the Lord was proud of, a man who
could stand great troubles. He has a
wonderful attitude about it all. He
isn’t bitter towards his ex-wife or the Lord.
He just wants to serve Jesus.
Job 16
:1-5 Miserable comforters
:2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.
miserable – ‘amal – toil,
trouble, labour; mischief
comforters – nacham – to
be sorry, console oneself; (Piel) to comfort, console
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
:3 what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
Why do you keep on saying these things?
:5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips
should asswage your grief.
strengthen – ‘amats – to be strong, alert, courageous,
brave, stout, bold, solid, hard; (Piel) to strengthen, secure (for oneself),
harden (heart), make firm, make obstinate, assure
asswage – chasak – to
withhold, restrain, hold back, keep in check, refrain
Lesson
Ministry to others
Job tells his friends what he would do if he were in their shoes.
Exhortation – our words should
bring hope to others. They should stir
up courage and strength in those we speak to.
Comfort – our words should act
as a dam for the flood of grief the other person is feeling.
:6-16 Surrounded by wicked people
:7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
It seems that Job is addressing God here:
(Job 16:7 NLT) "O God,
you have ground me down and devastated my family.
:8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles
(Job 16:8 NLT) You have
reduced me to skin and bones--as proof, they say, of my sins.
:13 His archers compass me round about
God has His archers aiming at me.
:15 defiled my horn in the dust.
The “horn” was a symbol of power.
Perhaps the idea is that the “power” is humiliated.
(Job 16:15
NLT) Here I sit in sackcloth. I have
surrendered, and I sit in the dust.
:17-22 Struggling to trust God
Lesson
God and friends
Job is learning a valuable but difficult lesson.
There are going to be times when all the people that you have learned to
count on won’t be there for you.
“You’ll never know the Lord is all you need, until the Lord is all you
have.”
Corrie Ten Boom
Lesson
Jesus will plead for you.
He is the one who can plead with God (vs. 21).
He is our advocate, our “defense attorney”.
(1 John 2:1-2 KJV) My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: {2} And he is
the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of
the whole world.
Some of you may have been following the Laci Petersen case. The husband, Scott, has been arrested and
charged with the murder of his wife and unborn son. It’s a horrible, tragic case. Up until a month ago, it seems that Scott was
already tried and found guilty in the press.
Every report made it sound completely obvious that he killed his
wife. But when this attorney Mark
Garregos decided to help Scott out and become his defense attorney, things have
turned around in the media. Whether or
not you think that Scott is guilty, he is now a man with an advocate. He has someone working hard to defend him.
As our advocate, Jesus won’t be lying or doing anything inappropriate. But He will plead for you before the
Father. He will tell the Father that
even though you are guilty, the price has already been paid in your case. Jesus has paid the price for us.
He continually prays for us, interceding with the Father on our behalf.
(Heb 7:25
KJV) Wherefore he is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them.
Job 17
:1-9 Job prays
:1 My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.
Job doesn’t mean that he has bad breath.
breath – ruwach – wind,
breath, mind, spirit
corrupt – chabal – (Pual)
to be ruined, be broken
:3 Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike
hands with me?
(Job 17:3 NLT) "You
must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.
Job is praying again.
:5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children
shall fail.
speaketh – nagad –
(Hiphil) to tell, declare; make known, expound; to publish, declare, proclaim;
to avow, acknowledge, confess
flattery – cheleq –
portion, share, part, territory; smoothness, seductiveness, flattery
(Job 17:5 NLT) They denounce
their companions for their own advantage, so let their children faint with
hunger.
:6 He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a
tabret.
tabret – topheth – act of
spitting, spit
(Job 17:6 NKJV) "But He
has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face men
spit.
:8 Upright men shall be astonied at this
astonied – shamem – to be
desolate, be appalled, stun, stupefy; astonished
Good people will be astonished at the things that have happened to Job.
:9 The righteous also shall hold on his way
Lesson
Keep going
Good people will be astonished, but they will keep doing what is right.
When we see righteous people suffer, we get confused.
We need to keep doing what it right.
:10-16 I’m hopeless
:10 But as for you all, do ye return
Job tells his friends to go home.
Lesson
Learning graciousness
We talked earlier about how to survive trials.
One of our points was that we must learn to be gracious to those who hurt
us.
But Job is having a hard time being gracious at this point.
He’s being mean right back to his friends.
Yet there will be a day when God will ask him to pray for his friends.
:16 They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in
the dust.
A lovely note to end on. Not!!!
Lesson
Our hope is in Jesus
We need to be careful as to where we put our hopes.
If we put our hopes in our circumstances getting better or changing to be
what we dream they could be, we may end up being disappointed.
But if our hope is in Jesus, we’ll never be disappointed.
We need to keep our eyes on the rewards that Jesus has for us, knowing that
He will make everything worthwhile, but not necessarily in this life.
(2 Cor 4:7-18 NLT) But this precious treasure--this light and
power that now shine within us--is held in perishable containers, that is, in
our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is
not our own. {8} We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not
crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. {9} We are
hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up
again and keep going. {10} Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly
share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our
bodies. {11} Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be obvious in our dying bodies. {12} So
we live in the face of death, but it has resulted in eternal life for you. {13}
But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist
had when he said, "I believed in God, and so I speak." {14} We know
that the same God who raised our Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and
present us to himself along with you. {15} All of these things are for your
benefit. And as God's grace brings more and more people to Christ, there will
be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. {16} That is
why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being
renewed every day. {17} For our present troubles are quite small and won't last
very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last
forever! {18} So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we
look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be
over, but the joys to come will last forever.
Illustration
An old missionary couple had been working in Africa
for years and were returning to New York
to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated,
discouraged, and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as
President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting
expeditions.
No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that
accompanied the President’s entourage, with passengers trying to catch a
glimpse of the great man.
As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife,
“Something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for
God in Africa all these many years and have no one care
a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody
makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us.”
“Dear, you shouldn’t feel that way,” his wife said.
“I can’t help it; it doesn’t seem right.”
When the ship docked in New York,
a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were
there. The papers were full of the President’s arrival, but no one noticed this
missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East
Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a
living in the city.
That night the man’s spirit broke. He said to his wife, “I can’t take this;
God is not treating us fairly.”
His wife replied, “Why don’t you go in the bedroom and tell that to the
Lord?”
A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was
completely different. His wife asked, “Dear, what happened?”
“The Lord settled it with me,” he said. “I told him how bitter I was that
the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as
we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his
hand on my shoulder and simply said, ‘But you’re not home yet!’”
-- Ray Stedman, Talking to My Father