Audio Transcript
Joyful Reformation Day everybody. I hope you joined our Right here We Stand collection this month and are having fun with it. It’s a outstanding present to have the Bible in our personal language in order that we will learn it for ourselves — and to learn the e-book of Job for ourselves, which we start tomorrow within the Navigators Bible Studying Plan.
Right here’s a query in regards to the early chapters of Job, from Lisa, a listener to the podcast. “Pastor John, hiya and thanks for APJ. We regularly concentrate on how Job responded to struggling. ‘The steadfastness of Job,’ as James says in James 5:11. However we frequently don’t concentrate on Job’s spouse’s response in Job 2:9–10. Are you able to expound on her response and inform us what classes we will take about how not to reply to private struggling?”
Each within the Outdated and the New Testomony, amazingly, God makes use of Devil to serve his personal purifying, strengthening, preserving functions within the lives of his treasured youngsters. In different phrases, God baffles Devil by making him the instrument of the very factor he hates — specifically, belief in God and holiness in life. I point out this simply to make it possible for none of us thinks that Devil’s involvement with Job’s struggling is in some way distinctive within the Bible and may be marginalized, as if it weren’t going to occur to us.
“God makes use of Devil to serve his personal purifying, strengthening, preserving functions within the lives of his treasured youngsters.”
Bear in mind how Paul describes his personal thorn within the flesh and why it was given to him in 2 Corinthians 12:7: “To maintain me from changing into immodest due to the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me within the flesh, a messenger of Devil to harass me, to maintain me from changing into immodest.” Now, Devil’s function in our lives is to not preserve us from changing into immodest. His function is to make us immodest, make us proud and smug and self-sufficient. However this thorn was given to maintain Paul humble, preserve him trusting God. It was despatched from God, however the messenger that God used to ship it was Devil.
If we see Devil’s hand in our struggling, it doesn’t imply that the struggling has no good design from our loving Father.
Two Responses to Struggling
So, we’re not stunned once we learn in Job 1:11–12 that God makes Devil the instrument of the horrible struggling that he used to check his servant Job. Devil says to God, “‘Stretch out your hand and contact all that he has, and he’ll curse you to your face.’ And the Lord mentioned to Devil, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Solely in opposition to him don’t stretch out your hand.’” Devil goes out and, with God’s permission, takes all of his oxen, all of his camels, all of his donkeys, after which kills all ten of his youngsters.
Job’s astonishing response that magnifies the price and trustworthiness of God is that this: “Bare I got here from my mom’s womb, and bare shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.” He didn’t say Devil has taken away. “The Lord has taken away; blessed be the title of the Lord” (Job 1:21). He pays no consideration to Devil in any respect. For all we all know, he doesn’t even know what occurred within the heavenlies with regard to Devil, however he goes straight to the last word supply of his ache and blesses God, trusts God, casts himself totally on God.
Devil makes yet another problem in opposition to Job and in opposition to God, and says, “Pores and skin for pores and skin! All {that a} man has he’ll give for his life. However stretch out your hand and contact his bone and his flesh” (Job 2:4–5). After I learn that, I couldn’t assist however take into consideration Eve: “This ultimately is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). Might this additionally embrace his spouse — his bone and his flesh? “And he’ll curse you to your face” (Job 2:5). God is keen to take this take a look at one step additional and takes Devil at his phrase and says, “Behold, he’s in your hand; solely spare his life” (Job 2:6). So, he goes out and, beneath God’s sovereignty, he strikes Job with horrible sores. Job 2:7: “So Devil . . . struck Job with loathsome sores from the only of his foot to the crown of his head.”
Then comes Job’s encounter along with his spouse. Job 2:9–10: “His spouse mentioned to him, ‘Do you continue to maintain quick your integrity? Curse God and die.’” Now, that’s precisely what Devil needed Job to say. “I curse you, God, and I’m accomplished with life.” So, Job’s spouse had lined up with Devil and turns into a part of his temptation — bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh changing into a part of what Devil desires him to do.
What Job’s Spouse Teaches Us
What’s the writer’s function in telling us about Job’s spouse’s obvious despair? I believe it has a double function. One is to indicate that, in our struggling, our most treasured pal or beloved one could flip in opposition to us (no less than, it could appear so). Our flesh and bone, a part of our very self, could turn out to be a part of Devil’s take a look at.
“If we see Devil’s hand in struggling, it doesn’t imply that the struggling has no good design from our loving Father.”
The opposite function, I believe, is that we not let checks embitter us — to indicate that Job didn’t let the take a look at embitter him — however quite convey out of us a responsive hope to the very beloved one who has turn out to be a part of the satanic temptation, and that we convey readability to that beloved one about God. And I believe that’s what Job fashions right here. He says, “‘You communicate as one of many silly girls would communicate. Lets obtain good from God, and lets not obtain evil?’ In all this Job didn’t sin along with his lips” (Job 2:10).
So, he says two issues. One, let’s be clear about God. He has the precise to convey consolation and calamity into our lives. He owes us nothing. We don’t deserve something from him. We will’t negotiate with him. He has accomplished us no incorrect, spouse. His methods are excessive. We’ll perceive by-and-by, even when we don’t now. And the opposite response is hope — hope that his spouse just isn’t settled in her opposition, however solely weakened for a second.
4 Tips that could Hope
Now, I believe that the writer of this e-book desires us to see this. Individuals don’t all the time catch this, however I believe the writer suggestions us off in a number of methods. I see no less than 4 tips that could the hopefulness of her state of affairs that Job sees first.
1. Up thus far within the story, despite the fact that all ten of her youngsters had died, there’s no point out of her despair or bitterness when Job says, “The Lord took away” (see Job 1:21).
2. On the finish of the e-book, when Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar are rebuked, she’s not amongst those that get rebuked (Job 42:7).
3. When Job explains to her that God has a proper to convey good and evil, consolation and calamity, there’s no pushback.
4. Most significantly, Job doesn’t say, “You’re a silly lady.” He says, “You communicate as one of many silly girls” (Job 2:10). In different phrases, he’s not but keen to place her in that class. “I don’t see you but, pricey spouse, as one of many silly girls, however as briefly giving method beneath the horrible losses you will have endured.”
So, I believe the rationale Job’s spouse is launched on this story just isn’t primarily to sentence her however to spotlight once more the triumph of Job’s religion and hope and love.
Belief God and Dwell
You could bear in mind, Tony, and perhaps a number of of our listeners do — I doubt it, however perhaps — that I wrote a cycle of 4 lengthy poems about Job. I attempted in the second to seize this hope. It was all in regards to the encounter with Job’s spouse. I assumed it is likely to be good to finish this APJ by crawling inside Job’s head in an imaginary dialog along with his spouse to see how they could have resolved this collectively. So, right here we go — only a few strains from this poem:
He pulled himself up from his place,
And by some energy of grace, he stood
Beside his spouse and mentioned, “I might,
Little question, in your house really feel the identical.
However, spouse, I can not curse the title
That by no means handled me unfair,
And simply at the present time has answered prayer.”
“What prayer? What did you bid him do?”“That I ought to bear this ache, not you.
O Dinah, don’t communicate like these
Who can not see, as a result of they shut
Their eyes, and say there isn’t a God,
Or fault him when he plies the rod.
It’s no sin to say, my love,
That bliss and ache come from above.
And if we don’t perceive
Some dreadful stroke from his left hand,
Then we should wait and belief and see.
O Dinah, would you wait with me?”
“I’ll strive,” she mentioned, “I didn’t imply
That you need to die. I’m extra unclean
Than you with all of your sores.” She knelt,
And located, between a boil and welt,
A spot to place her kiss. “Is there
Some proof that God might care
For corresponding to me?” Job touched her hair:“You might be one other answered prayer.”
