Job 1-5

Hey, hey, welcome to Coffee and Devotion. Whoa. There we go. Hey, hey, welcome to Coffee and Devotion. This Saturday morning, January 2nd, is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2020, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature from Job to Song of Solomon. This morning we are at, this afternoon sorry, we are at Job chapter 1 verses 13 through chapter 5. Now remember what I told you yesterday, the book of Job is not to be read bit by bit, preset by preset, ripped apart, but it is one full story to work through. And so why don't we go ahead and jump in. I'll just be making comments as we go. Here we go, Job chapter 1 beginning at verse 13. Let me bring up the text for us real quick. There we go. Alright, here we go. Job chapter 1. Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house.
And a messenger came to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them. Then the Sabians raided them and took them away. Indeed, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While I was still speaking, or sorry, 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, and I alone escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, another also came and said, the Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. while he was still speaking another came and said your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young people and they are dead and I alone have escaped to tell you Then Job arose, tore his clothes, and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshipped. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there.
The Lord gives, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And all this Job did not sin, nor charge God with wrong. Everything Job has is gone. His children are gone, his wealth is gone, and his first instinct is to turn to God. After this comes chapter 2, again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
And the Lord said to Satan, where have you come? This is like deja vu, this just happened in chapter 1 and you know how bad this turned out for Job. Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it. Then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? Of course he's considered a servant, Job, right?
He's just incited the Chaldeans to kill his children. He's just incited the Sabaeans to steal his cattle. He's just had fire come down from heaven and consume his wealth. What does he say that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil, and still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause? So Satan answered the Lord and said, "'Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh and he will surely curse you to your face.'" What is Satan saying here to God?
God's saying, you tried. You tried and he still won't curse me. Why? Because he's an upright and devout man. But yet here now you're trying to, now Satan says he's gonna touch his flesh, take away his health, and see how much he'll stand by God. And the Lord said to Satan, behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life. God's gonna prove something here. When he gives a person faith, Satan can do nothing to take it away. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Then his wife said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. What a good wife. But he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks.
Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not also accept adversity? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips." Job is going to come forward here, and we're going to see Job's heart. But Job understands that it's God who made him, it's God who's sovereign, it's God who is still going to care for him. He's going to bring both prosperity and adversity. But he's never going to leave him or forsake him. We'll find that more as we keep going through this book. But on comes the scene of this long section now where his three friends come on the scene. And we're going to have to put up with these horrible counselors as they try to talk to Job. But first, let's read here.
Now, when Job's three friends heard all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place. Eliaphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shahite, and Zophar the Nemethite, for they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar and did not recognize him, they lifted up their voices and wept, and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
And then I want you to hear now Job's heart. We remember, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But sometimes we forget what Job says in three and four. Listen to the mourning heart, the difficulty that Job has here. After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Notice he does not curse God here, but cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke and said, May the day perish on which I was born and the night in which it was said a male child is conceived.
May that day be darkness. May God above not seek it, nor the light shine upon it. May darkness in the shadow of death claim it. May a cloud settle on it. May the blackness of the day terrify it. As for that night, may darkness seize it. May it not rejoice among the days of the year. May it not come into the number of the months. O may that night be barren, may no joyful shout come into it, may those curse it who curse the day, those who are ready to arouse Leviathan. May the stars of its morning be dark, may it look for light but have none, and not see the dawning of the day, because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide sorrow from my eyes. Why did I not die at birth?
Do you hear Job's heart? He is grieving even his very life. It's so hard. The pain is so real. The affliction is so deep. His body is covered with boils and he's saying, why was I even allowed to live? There are people, some of you right now might be feeling that. Job is not sinning by expressing this to God. Sometimes we get so overly pious and we think we can't ask these things of God. But here Job's not sinning with his lips, but he says these things. Let's keep going.
Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? Why did the knees receive me, or why the breasts that I should nurse? For now I would have lain still and been quiet. I would have been asleep. Then I would have been at rest. with kings and counselors of the earth who built ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold who filled their houses with silver. Why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like infants who never saw light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners rest together. They do not hear the voice of the oppressor. The small and the great are there, and the servant is free from his master. Why is light given to the womb, to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter soul?
Do you hear what he's saying here? Why was I ever born? Why wasn't I just left in the grave? Why couldn't I have a peace beforehand? He's saying every good thing that I had is gone. Why do I even have light in my eyes now or food to eat now? Hold on, what does he say? Life to the bitter of soul. who longed for death but it does not come and search for it more than hidden treasures who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they can find the grave? Why is light given to man whose way is hidden and whom God has hedged in? For my sighing comes before I eat and my groaning pours out like water. For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet. I have no rest, for trouble comes.
For some of you, maybe you feel that way. When have you opened your mouth and made these deep, hard things known to God? And you confide in your Savior, Jesus Christ, who has suffered in every way in which you have, who has been tried, who has faced Satan head-on, who knows what it's like to count his bones and have Satan touch his body.
But here comes his friend, Eliaphaz. Job has sinned is the title. Then Eliaphaz the Temanite answered and said, If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary? But who can withhold himself from speaking? Surely you have instructed many, and you have strengthened weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have strengthened the fabled knees. But now it comes upon you, and you are weary. It touches you, and you are troubled.
Is not your reverence your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope? Remember now whoever perished being innocent, or where were the upright ever cut off? What is he essentially saying? You used to talk to people about stuff like this all the time and now it's happened to you and you can't take your own medicine. That's what he's saying to him. reap the same.
By the blast of God they perish. By the breath of his anger they are consumed. The roaring of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions are broken. The old lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
Now a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear received a whisper of it in disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night. When deep sleep falls on men, fear came upon me in trembling which made all my bones shake. Then a spirit passed before my face. The hair on my body stood up. It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes. There was silence.
I heard a voice say, Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his maker? If he puts no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before a moth? They are broken in pieces from morning till evening. They perish forever with no one regarding. Does not their own excellence go away? They die even without wisdom." Right? What is a life essay?
He's saying, I heard a voice and it's telling me, you're wrong, buddy. Here's a voice and he's saying, you're not better than God. You're not better than the angels. Job hasn't charged God with sin here. And yet Eliphaz jumps down his throat. What a friend. But Eliphaz keeps going, right? Call out now, is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?
For wrath kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one. I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. His sons are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate, and there is no deliverer, because the hungry eat up his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and a snare snatches their substance. For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble, and the sparks fly upward.
But as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause. Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number? He gives rain on the earth." Right, this stuff is going to sound real orthodox, but a lot of fans are saying this with a pompous, self-righteous heart, not with a heart of compassion. those who mourn, but it's almost like he puffs up his chest here and he says, he gives rain on the earth and sends water on the fields. He says, on high, those who are lowly and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
He frustrates the devices of the crafty so that their hands cannot carry out their plans. He catches the wise in their own craftiness and the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them. They meet with darkness in the daytime. They grope at noontime as it was night.
But He saves the needy from the sword, from the mouth of the mighty, and from their hand. So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts her mouth. Behold, happy is the man who corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty." Oh, what a great friend Eliaphaz is, right? Are you kidding me, man?
This is like Jesus going from Matthew chapter 5, "...Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." And then when Jesus is mourning himself upon that cross, you know what I'm saying, let him bring himself down. Let Elijah come down and bring him down. He said he can save many, let him save himself.
Eliaphas is this anti-Christ here, this anti-type. He's telling him, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. Brothers and sisters, it is not fun to be chastened by the Almighty. When we see our brothers and sisters struggling with stuff, don't be an Eliaphaz.
For he bruises, but he binds up. He wounds, but his hands make whole. He shall deliver you in six troubles. Yes, in seven, no evil shall touch you. In famine, he shall redeem you from death. And in war, from the power of the sword, you shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue. You shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. You shall laugh at destruction and famine. and you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth for you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you you shall know that your tent is in peace you shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss you shall also know that your descendants shall be many and your offspring like the grass of the earth you shall come to the grave at full age as the sheaf of grain ripens in its season behold this is we This we have searched out.
It is true. Hear it and know yourself." This is one of these interesting things. I'm gonna go ahead and pull this up here, right? This is one of the interesting things. There's so many things that Eliaphaz says that are true. But there's a principle of wisdom here.
A word said in an untimely season, though it might be theologically true, can be straight from the pits of hell. Let me say that again in a different way. You might have right theology, but if your heart is hard and cold towards someone and you take your right theology and you shove it against someone, you're not bringing them bread, you're bringing them a stone. Right theology is needed and much of what Eliaphaz says is true. but he's basing it off on a wrong premise. He's assuming that Job has sinned and that Job is cursing God for this affliction. He goes into this long theological triad.
That's not what's going on here. There's so much to clean from this. So much that we can see that we can pour out our hearts to God and yet not sin with our lips. We can tell God, God, I don't know why I'm going through this. This is hard and it hurts. The Lord hears you. Wait until a few weeks when we get into the book of Psalms and we're going to see some real honest things that come from the Christian heart towards God. But we also see that even though we might have correct theology, correct theology on a wrong assumption or brought at the wrong time is unwise. Why don't we go ahead and pray.
Lord we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the book of Job. We thank you that you give and you take away but your name is blessed for you are the great I am. We pray that you would care for us, give us wisdom when we speak, let us mourn and let us comfort. Father, we pray that you would teach us as we go through this book of Job, and we thank you so much for Jesus Christ who has suffered in every way, and yet is our compassionate and loving King. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today, and may you have a great Saturday, and I hope that you get to worship with God's people tomorrow. Bye.