No 21  He Did ―  I Didn't 

 

Somebody Changed

And there was a day . . . (Job 1:13). Was it on a Monday? A Tuesday? A Thursday? Well, of course, the Bible doesn’t give the name of the day. But, just for our study, just for illustration’s sake, I’m going to say, it was on Wednesday. This is being done just for the purpose of helping us understand the flow of time in Job’s story.

So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great (Job 2:13). Grief is usually vented in tears. Job cried. So I’m going to call this particular Wednesday―”Weeping Wednesday”―(just for illustration’s sake, and because my high school English teacher taught me the beauty of alliteration―that’s when a number of words in quick succession begin with the same letter).

(1) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them (Job 1:6).

(2) And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking (Job 1:13). How much time elapsed between day #1 above and day #2 is not given. The time between must have been short because short on time is the way Satan runs. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time (Rev 12:12).

 

The time of day must have been well into the morning, because the oxen were plowing (Job 1:14). Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house (Job 1:18). People in old time typically ate two meals a day. (Three meals a day is a modern invention.) The second meal was eaten in mid-afternoon. So, sometime between mid-morning and mid-afternoon, the evil happened. Job’s three friends recognized all the bad stuff that happened to Job as being evil. Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place (Job 2:11).

 

The purpose for this exercise is point out the time in a day in the life of Job. Monday was a day as always. Tuesday was a day not unlike all Tuesdays before it. And Wednesday began as all Wednesdays begin. Upon awakening, Job did his personal toiletries, greeted his family, and gathered them for and led them in morning prayer. Breakfast was served. The work-day begins. The oxen are taken into the fields to begin plowing. And then the evil starts.

 

Nothing in Job’s life has changed. On this Wednesday morning, he was the same righteous man as he was in all days previous. He had not committed some great and secret sin. The Bible says Job was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil (Job 1:1). To eschew evil is to turn from evil and not do evil. On this Wednesday morning, Job was not acting in any self-righteous manner or displaying self-righteous behaviors. God would not call Job righteous if he was self-righteous. A person cannot be both. A person is one or the other. Job had done nothing for which all this evil was deserved. AND HE KNEW THAT! A believer must live his life in such a way that daily, and in any instance of that day, he knows where he stands with God. Job knew he was right with God because that is the way Job wanted to live his life―being right with God. The believer makes that decision and God makes it happen. 

 

Job lived his life conscious that he was not harboring known sin. Nothing in his life had changed up to this particular Wednesday morning. Job was astounded by the events of this evil day. And his conclusion? In Job's mind, GOD WAS THE ONE WHO HAD CHANGED this Wednesday morning. God was the One who was acting out-of-character. Job had no idea what had caused God to make such a dramatic and obvious turn in His relationship to himself. But Job was assured of one thing: he had not changed in his attitude or behavior toward God.

 

And at the end of the evil day, Job declared,

               Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head,

               and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

               And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb,

               and naked shall I return thither:

               the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;

               blessed be the name of the Lord.

               In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly (Job 1:20-22).

 

God Said It Wasn't Job

God Himself acknowledged that Job had not changed or done anything differently. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause (Job 2:3). God took the blame for destroying Job. We, the reader, know that God didn’t. We know who did. Yet God knew He would have to take the blame for what happened to Job. God said to Satan: You moved Me against him and destroyed him without any reason (2:3 paraphrased). 

 

Notice how other translations treat this clause:

Christian Standard Bible―to destroy him for no good reason

Darby Translation―to swallow him up without cause

Easy to Read Version―to let you destroy, without reason

God’s Word―trying to provoke me into ruining him for no reason

Legacy Standard Bible―to swallow him up in vain

Lexham English Bible―to destroy him for nothing

New Catholic Bible―to ruin him without the slightest justification

The Voice―to wreck him for no particular reason 

 

Mystery Mystery Mystery―All is Mystery

From our viewpoint, we who read, there is no mystery. But to Job everything is mystery. We know what is going on. Job doesn’t. Job never knows. We read from the perspective of having critical understanding. Job faces having to make a critical walk in faith. In this sense, the Book of Job is a study of faith. And since it is a study of faith―it becomes a study of God. And God was Job’s concern, as He had changed in his attitude and relationship to him.

 

Let’s note some of the ways Job perceived a change in God’s attitude toward him.

He Now Hates Me 

Whereas, He used to love me, now He

         hateth me (Job 16:9).

         breaketh me (Job 9:17) 

         multiplieth my wounds without cause (Job 9:17).

         thou dost destroy me (Job 10:8).

         broken me asunder (Job 16:12) 

         shaken me to pieces (Job 16:12).

         destroyed me on every side (Job 19:10).

         kindled his wrath against me (Job 19:11) 

         counteth me unto him as one of his enemies (Job 19:11).

 

Now He's Cruel to Me

The change in God’s attitude toward him is summarized in his cry, Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me (Job 30:21).

 

He is Silent―He is Absent―He is Hiding

Whereas God was always present in his life, now God is absent.

        ―Job’s issue wasn’t just the suffering.

        ―Job’s issue was that he was suffering alone.

        ―Job’s issue was the absence of God.

        ―Job has a hard time accepting God’s silence about it all.

        ―Job has a hard time accepting God’s absence from it all.

 

Job Could Not Find God―Job Could Not Talk to God

Job longed to take his case before his Master and talk with Him about it. But he could not find Him. Oh that I knew where I might find Him! (Job 23:3). If Job could talk with God, he knew he would understand what he would say unto me (Job 23:5). Job could accept that evil comes from God (in that, God permits it to come). But Job never expected silence to come from God. Job never expected God to be absent. His real problem was the fact that God was hidden from him. He did not get a response from God when he called (prayed) as he was used to receiving. His feeling of abandonment, separation, alienation, helplessness and loneliness overwhelmed him and made this―the horrible Weeping Wednesday.

           Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not:

           he passeth on also, but I perceive him not (Job 9:11).

        

           Wherefore hidest thou thy face (Job 13:24).

           Behold, I go forward, but he is not there;
           and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
           On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him:
           he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him (Job 23:8,9).

           I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me:

           I stand up, and thou regardest me not (Job 30:20).

 

The Great Request

The cry of his heart was to be able to talk to God.

          Oh that I might have my request;
          and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! (Job 6:8).

          Surely I would speak to the Almighty,
          and I desire to reason with God (Job 13:3).

Summary

Job was desperate for God to reveal Himself.

Job trusted the Lord

         ―to listen to his concerns (Job 23:4)

         ―to offer him a response (Job 23:5)

         ―take seriously his plea for justice (Job 23:6)

         ―hear his arguments (Job 23:7)

Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book (Job 31:35). Job was wanting God to write down all His complaints with himself. Surely, there must be a lot of them―enough to fill a book! Then Job could look at all the things God had written for him to look at.

 

Little did Job realize that a book would be written. And the name of the book would be called “Job.”

 

I want to have such trust in God as Job. Don't you? 

 

God Did Not Forsake Job

God leads His children by a way that they know not, but He does not forget or cast off those who put their trust in Him. He permitted affliction to come upon Job, but He did not forsake him (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 129),

 

 

 

Please send questions or comments to Will Hardin at P O Box 24 Owenton KY 40359.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  No 20 The Bad Stuff Must Look Like It Came from God

Satan’s Challenge to God 

But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face (Job 1:11).

God Reply to Satan

And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand (Job 1:12).

Satan Exits Heaven

So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord (Job 1:12).

Whose Hand Did It?

Notice God’s careful reply to Satan. “You put forth your hand. I want all history to know whose hand does the bad stuff. He’s in your hands―only don’t kill him.” Upon receiving permission to go do his bad stuff, Satan got out of God’s presence. He does not like to hang around God any longer than he has to. He was gone. He wasted no time in exiting the grand session. He was not interested in the rest of the agenda. He got what he wanted. Now he had Job where he had wanted him for a long, long time. Now was his day! Satan really, really, really, really, really, really believed what he had said about Job! Why? Because that’s the way he believes! Satan returns to earth. It would be consistent with his methodologies for him to act immediately.

Satan’s Overarching Goal

The goal of greatest importance is to make the bad stuff look like it came from God Himself. Why is this so? The first reason: If it looked like it came from Satan, Job would have run to God saying, “Help me, help me, the devil is doing bad things to me.” This would have ultimately drawn Job closer to God (realizing his need and dependence upon God). The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe (Prov 18:10). The second reason: If it looked like it came from God, then Job would have to stop and think this stuff through. Job would have to stop and do some considering. The logical response on Job's part would be to ask “WHY”―why, God, are You doing all this stuff to me?"

The Bad Stuff

In no time at all, and in a single day, Satan does his stuff.

First Calamity

And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee (Job 1:13-15).

Second Calamity

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee (Job 1:16).

Third Calamity

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee (Job 1:17).

Fourth Calamity

While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee (Job 1:18,19).

How quickly Satan whips up the Sabeans and the Chaldeans to do his dirty work! And how Satan can work the elements of nature! He has studied the secrets of the laboratory of nature long enough to use all his available power to control the elements as far as God allows. How quickly Satan can work! 

NOTICE―Everything―in a few moments―is gone. 

NOTICE―How closely Satan can impersonate (act like) God. 

NOTICE―How Satan can act and make it look like God is acting. 

There are deep implications of this truth for our lives today. On an even grander scale, Satan will attempt to fool the entire world in the end of time with his sophistries and lies. Job was one man. The world today has billions!

In order for Satan's stuff to look like God's stuff, things must be

        1) quick in succession

        2) powerful in delivery

        3) pervasive in scope

        4) look like it comes from above / the sky / His place / God’s domain

Did Satan accomplish his objective?

        1) The Sabeans and Chaldeans from “out of nowhere," so to speak.

        2) The fire of God is fallen from heaven (Job 1:16)

        3) there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house (Job 1:19). Where does the wind come from? The sky (from heaven). The wind smote the four corners of the house. A wind from the east, from the west, from the north, and from the south (at the same time)―how could this be? The house was imploded.

What was Job's Conclusion?

Job can draw no other conclusion than that God is doing this to him. We, the reader, know that God didn’t. Satan used instrumentalities people believed only God employed. Lightning. A tornado. Physical malady. These were believed to be acts of God alone. Forces of nature and the violence of men alternating with each other to destroy in one day Job’s family and wealth (with exactly one survivor to carry the deadly news back home) seems preposterous.

Job's losses were sudden, phenomenal, complete, unexplainable and way beyond coincidental. Nowhere else in recorded history are we asked to accept so incredible a series of coincidences.

        The parting of the sea was one thing…

        The sundial going backward one day was one thing…

        The ram caught in the thicket by the horns was one thing…

        Hungry people finding manna on the ground for forty years was one thing...

Job hadn’t absorbed the magnitude of the first loss before the next was thrown upon him. Each wave of tragedy was horrible. All the previous losses fade into insignificance in wake of the news of the loss of his children. The quick and brutal sweep of the devastations reduced this godly man to brokenness and grief. Wave after wave of calamity crashed over him. One mind-numbing trial comes after next.

Why such rapid succession? The rapidity was designed to prevent Job from having the time to recover and recoup his sensibilities. The quick succession was calculated to prevent him from catching his breath, so to speak. Part of Satan’s strategy is to strike when the man is down. Job got up one morning as usual. Before night had come a tempest had descended on him that would have seemed greater than he could bear. And he thought God had done these things to him. For He breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause (Job 9:17). The storm which had raged without now raged within.

Let's Ask Job

Let's ask Job whether Satan accomplished his objective. While there was clear discussion between the Lord and Satan concerning whose hand would be doing the bad stuff, Job understood it to be God's hand who did the smiting. Notice these two verses: 

What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10). Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me (Job 19:21). While it was Satan's hand that did the smiting, Job thought it was God's hand. While this verse may well summarize his many statements, it may aid the reader to see (and hear) the scope of his assertions:  

6.4        For the arrows of the Almighty are within me

6.4        the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me

9.17      for He breaketh me with a tempest

9.17      and multiplieth my wounds without cause

9.18      He will not suffer me to take my breath

9.18      but filleth me with bitterness

9.34      Let Him take His rod away from me

9.34      and let not His fear terrify me

10.8      Thine hands have made me and fashioned me

10.8      together round about

10.8      yet Thou dost destroy me

10.16    Thou huntest me as a fierce lion

16.9      He teareth me in His wrath

16.9      who hateth me

16.9      He gnasheth upon me with His teeth

16.11    God hath delivered me to the ungodly

16.11    and turned me over into the hands of the wicked 

16.12    I was at ease

16.12    but He hath broken me asunder

16.12    He hath also taken me by my neck

16.12    and shaken me to pieces

16.12    and set me up for His mark

16.13    His archers compass me round about

16.13    He cleaveth my reins asunder

16.13    and doth not spare

16.13    He poureth out my gall upon the ground

16.14    He breaketh me with breach upon breach

16.14    He runneth upon me like a giant

19.6      Know now that God has overthrown me

19.6      and hath compassed me with His net

19.8      He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass

19.8      and He hath set darkness in my paths  

19.9      He hath stripped me of my glory

19.9      and taken the crown from my head

19.10    He hath destroyed me on every side

19.10    and I am gone

19.10    and mine hope hath He removed like a tree

19.11    He hath also kindled His wrath against me

19.11    and He counteth me unto Him as one of His enemies      

19:17    He has no reason to treat me as He does

23.15    Therefore am I troubled at His presence

23.15    when I consider I am afraid of Him

23.16    and the Almighty troubleth me

30.21    Thou are become cruel unto me

30.21    with Thy strong hand

30.21    Thou opposeth Thyself against me

30.23    For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death

30.23    and to the house appointed for all living

31.23    For destruction from God was a terror to me

31.23    and by reason of His highness

31.23    I could not endure

Conclusion

Job believed God was the source of his misery. Job knew his circumstances were not outside of God’s sovereignty or control. He just did not know why.

Job will work through his misfortunes. He will come to understand God's bigness and his own littleness. While he may not have understood WHY, he never lost sight of WHO. Through it all Job kept right on trusting God. He never stopped loving. He never stopped serving. He followed adversity with adoration. He followed woe with worship.

By the grace of God, I wish for my life to bear the same testimony. Don't you?

Please send questions or comments to Will Hardin at P O Box 24 Owenton KY 40359.

 

 

   No 19  Somebody Forgot to Tell Job

Readers of the Book of Job notice something peculiar right from the outset―Job was never told what was going to be happening to him. No one told him about the conversations in heaven between the Lord and Satan, and the part he would be playing in their controversy. It would seem vitally important for Job to know the plot of the story since he was the main character. Did someone forget to tell him? Was silence on the part of all intentional?

Notice when reading the accounts of the two Heavenly Sessions (Job 1:6-22 and 2:1-8), that there is much talk about Job, but no talking to Job.

God Could Not Warn Job

What if God had secretly taken Job aside (and whispered in his ear) to warn him what was going to be happening to him? What if God had said―”Job, look. Some really bad things are going to happen to you. Terrible things. You’re going to be overwhelmed by everything. But I want you to know that if you will just hang in there and keep your faith in Me, you will come out of this victorious. Just know there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Trust Me, Job. Everything is going to be alright at the end. I’ll take care of you. I’ll make it alright at the end. All this will have a good ending for you. Just keep your faith."

What if God had made such an appeal to Job? It would have destroyed the test. Right from the gitgo it would have proven Satan’s accusations to be true. No contest! Satan could have charged God with stacking the cards and cajoling Job to remain faithful. Had Job agreed and gritted his teeth in acquiescence and went through the test knowing that God was “going to make it alright at the end,” it would have been enough evidence alone to prove that Job was, in fact, serving God for selfish and wrong reasons. Satan’s charge of faith for hire would have been demonstrated.

Satan was Not Going to Tell Job

Why? It’s obvious. Satan is not going to reveal his strategy (how this contest was calculated to strike God at the heart of His character). What general could ever win a battle when revealing his battle strategy? Had Satan done so, this would have caused Job to run to God for protection. Job would have pleaded to God for His intervention.

The Loyal Angels Could Not Tell Job
Why? They knew what would be at risk to do so. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

 
The Beings of the Unfallen Worlds that Were Present Could Not Tell Job
Why? They were observers―not participants in this controversy. Their role was to witness. As witnesses, their role is crucial.

If Job Had Known What We (the Readers) Know . . . 

It may seem unfair that Satan and all his legions should be concentrated and unleashed against one lone man. Job was completely in the dark about the challenge made in heaven. He had no idea he had been selected to be the principal player in a great contest between God and Satan. He had no idea why he was facing such fire. He spends his time trying to discover what we know. If Job had known the reasons behind his severe testing, he could not have proven his full devotion to God for God’s sake?

What If He Had Been Told?

I have a friend who has a favorite expression that goes like this: "Anybody can stand on their head for a year." Job could have endured anything if he knew God was going to fix it all at the end. Telling him would have tainted the outcome. Had God done this it would have proven Satan’s point that Job serves God because of what God did for him. Satan had asserted that "Job doesn’t serve You because of Your holy character, but because he’s getting richer and richer by the day. He doesn’t do it because of love. He does it because of greed. If You stop doing all this good stuff for him, he will turn his back on You faster than he could slam a door in Your face. He knows he’s living in a tub of honey. He knows he’s protected by the hedge of Your watch care."

It would have won Satan’s argument against God―that Job did in fact serve God for rewards.

Job Must Never Never Never Know

Job must never know about these conversations which occurred in heaven. He had to be in the complete dark about what was happening―what was going on. And even when the Book of Job closes, Job still never knows. No one ever told to him. But we know. The reader of the Book of Job knows. We have the advantage. If we fail to understand this point and appreciate its significance, we will miss the teachings of the Book of Job right from the outset. That Job didn’t know is one of the keys in understanding the Book of Job.

How much easier it would have made Job’s experience if someone could have told him the truth. If only he had had the backstory. If someone could have whispered in his ear, “Job, what is happening to you is not punishment for your sin. God still looks upon you as a perfect man. This trial in not because God has turned against you. God is just the same toward you today as He was yesterday. He has not changed. This is all the work of Satan. You are being permitted to be an object lesson for the whole universe for all time. You must not fail God now.”

What a difference those few words would have made to Job! But, at the same time, it would have spoiled his wonderful testimony and the comfort and courage he has brought to millions upon millions of believers since that day!

Though it was God’s purpose that Job should pass through his hard experience trusting where he could not trace, we, each, today, are privileged to bring the comfort of Job’s victory to our own hearts and our family, friends and neighbors in the hour of their trial! We can tell them that God is not punishing them and that He loves them with such an unchanging love! That His love surrounds them in their hour of dire need.

And in the hour of incomprehensible trial that we may find ourselves facing, we may find infinite comfort and strength in remembering that it is not God who is afflicting our soul. It may be He has permitted this trial to come to us because He knows we will bear it bravely, and live to witness His sustaining grace.

We know whence our trial comes.

We are fortunate.

Job never---knew---yet he triumphed!

Summary

If Job had known about the conversations between Jesus and Satan

        It would have negated all.

        It would have ruined everything.

        It would have answered nothing.

If Job had known about the conversations between Jesus and Satan

        The Book would never have been written.

        The Book would have been pointless.

        The Book would have been worthless.

If Job had known about the conversations between Jesus and Satan

        It would have caused greater problems.

        It would have backfired and hurt God Personally.

        This is the reason WHY Satan is there in heaven in the first place.

        He wants to put a crack in God’s character.

        God’s own character would be in crumbles at His feet.

        God’s government would have fallen apart.

        Satan would be victorious in the Great Controversy.

        He could never be ultimately destroyed.

        God would have to have made provisions for him to live somewhere eternally.

It would be pointless to have a whole universe of beings in open rebellion against God and God not being able to do anything about it. So this universe with our world would have had to be “put down” (destroyed). God would be a failure.

Job did not save the universe. Job saved nothing but his own soul, as, we, each, must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). And even this is through God's grace. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Phil 2:13). What Job did do was stand for God though the heavens fell around him. And God knew he would do just that. That is why the Lord drew Satan's attention to Job when he said, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:8).

In the near future, and soon it shall be, that each one of us will face remaining true to God though the heavens around us are falling. By His grace, I wish to so stand. Don't you?

Please send questions or comments to Will Hardin at P O Box 24 Owenton KY 40359.