…The
Faith of Job…
Job 1:1-12
There
was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was
Job. And that man was perfect and upright, and one who feared God and turned
aside from evil. (2) And there were born to
him seven sons and three daughters. (3) And his
possessions were seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels, and five
hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household,
so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. (4) And his sons went and feasted in the house of
each one on his day. And they sent and called for their three sisters to eat
and to drink with them. (5) And when
they had gone around the day of feasting, Job sent and sanctified them, and
rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job
said, It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. So Job
did always.
(6) And a day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before
Jehovah. And Satan also came among them.
(7) And Jehovah said to Satan,
From where do you come? Then Satan answered Jehovah and said,
From going to and fro in the earth, and from
walking up and down in it.
(8) And Jehovah said to Satan,
Have you set your heart against My servant Job, because there is none like him in the earth, a perfect
and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil?
(9) And Satan answered Jehovah and
said, Does Job fear God for nothing?
(10) Have You not made a hedge
around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You
have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the
land.
(11) But put forth Your hand now,
and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.
(12) And Jehovah said to Satan,
Behold, all that he has is in your
power. Only do not lay your hand upon him. And Satan went forth from the
presence of Jehovah.[1]
There is a place in which all of us
should have to wander, a place, a time, a season of disquiet, of trial and
testing. Call it the fire, the crucible, the cauldron; call it by any name you
want, but the result is the same: you will be tried; you will be shaken. This
is the place, as J. Vernon McGee was famous to say, “this is where the rubber
meets the road”.
Carl Jung , noted psychologist, once
wrote “Is it worth the lion’s while to terrify the mouse?” This line aptly
describes the prologue of the story of Job. Job, is a hard read. It is the
oldest book of the Bible, estimated to have been written 1500 years earlier
than the Torah of Moshe. To most contemporary theologians and scholars,
the book of Job (to them) represents that grand struggle of how to answer the
age old question “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It, they also muse,
speaks to the divine justice of God and how He always balances out things for
believers in the end. Now, I have expounded on the theme that Yahvey is a God
of just weights and scales. We can see this in various Scriptures: Pro_16:11, Pro_20:10, Pro_20:23;
Lev_19:35-36; Deu_25:13-16; Hos_12:7;
Amo_8:5-6; Mic_6:10-11.
But truly what does that
mean? It is not necessarily so that Yahvey will give measure for measure; For
what will Yahvey give to a man who has lost his arm or leg? Will He grow the
limb back? (He could…) What of the one
who has lost their sight? Will new eyes grow in their head? (They might…) No,
it cannot be a measure for measure, but more the concept of integrity, of
honesty. Surely you can have honest scales without God, but without honesty and
integrity you cannot have God at all; He will not inhabit such a place. Let me
clarify this statement a bit: (excuse me while I jump down a rabbit trail….).
There are a lot of places out there that say they are “Christian”, or let us be
a bit more generic “faith based”… The work that they do is supposed to be in
line with the religious principles, but we all know that isn’t always true.
Their honesty and integrity is lacking, yet surprisingly, good things do
happen. The caveat is this: just because God uses a place doesn’t mean He’s in
that place. Sometimes, men and women go into these organizations and soon
realize that they aren’t quite what they’ve said they were, but in spite of the
facilities shortcomings, God shows up and works miracles in the individual’s
life. This is the testimony to God’s greatness, not an organization. I say this
to put things in perspective. Now, back to our narrative..
Yahvey
does not necessarily balance out all scales this side of eternity. Bad things
happen to good people; horrible things happen to God’s people. Sometimes there
just isn’t any assurance to a person that God will deliver them from their
situation. Many God fearing people have suffered and died as a result of
lingering illness or disease. Some have tragically been the victims of
violence, rape, murder. All of this begs the question “Where were You God?” and
the answer to that question is elusive, and might just not be able to be
answered at all.
And then
there are those who, when these tragedies strike, come out of the wood work
with all of their favorite pet theories:
1. You
must of sinned and God is punishing you (chastising you, correcting you, just
fill in that blank…)
2. Oh
no, it wasn’t God that brought this upon you, it’s satan!
3. Uhh,
well, maybe it was God, He’s making you suffer for His glory…
4. Ummm,
nope, it’s neither God nor the devil, you just ran into a spat of bad luck
there.. wrong place at the wrong time…[2]
Where do these “theories” leave the hurting
souls they encounter? Usually disappointed with God. For when we struggle, when
we hurt, we all want answers as to why this happened, and we want someone to
blame. That is just our human nature. Philip Yancey writes:
“…The problem of pain is not one you can
neatly solve then file away… We are born slathered in blood and bodily fluids,
amid tears and cries of pain; we die in like manner; and in between birth and
death we ask, Why?...”[3]
Job is
almost universally looked upon as a book of suffering, and taken on its face value,
this is a truthful assessment, yet if we look at it from un-jaded eyes, with
the hope that we can find some new insights and not just deal with the
suffering, a quite different theme evolves. Actually, there are two major
themes in Job that tie in with one another that bring about the over-riding
idea of Job.
The
first theme is found in chapters 1 and 2 of Job: a glimpse of the supernatural
that takes place every day around us. Here is the conflict that John speaks of
in the Book of Revelation:
Rev 12:7-10
And
there was war in Heaven. Michael and his angels warring against the dragon. And
the dragon and his angels warred, (8) but did
not prevail. Nor was place found for them in Heaven any more. (9) And the great dragon was cast out, the old
serpent called Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (10) And I heard a great voice saying in Heaven,
Now has come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority
of His Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, who
accused them before our God day and night.[4]
It is also what Peter spoke of:
1Pe 5:8-9
Be
sober, vigilant, because your opponent
the devil, as a roaring lion, doth walk about, seeking whom he may swallow up,
(9) whom resist, stedfast in the
faith, having known the same sufferings to your brotherhood in the world to be
accomplished.
This warfare has affected every soul who has ever lived
on this planet, up to today. Have the events in Revelation 12:9 occurred yet? According
to the Word, the answer is no; so the accuser is still in the heavenlies,
accusing the brethren day and night…
The idea
that a “good” God wouldn’t allow suffering in His people has been the mainstay
of Christian theology since the 19th century. Just as Job’s friends
argue this point with him from chapter 3 through 37, theologists have argued
this point for the last 2 to 3 centuries. We lean heavily on what Paul spoke:
Rom 8:28
And
we have known that to those loving God all things do work together for good, to
those who are called according to purpose;
And what was said again in:
Mar 10:27
And
Jesus, having looked upon them, saith, `With men it is impossible, but not with
God; for all things are possible with God.'
Mar 11:24
Because
of this I say to you, all whatever--praying--ye do ask, believe that ye
receive, and it shall be to you.
But what if “all things” turned out to
be not quite what you and I believe them to be? The prevailing idea is that God
has to follow certain rules here on earth that says He needs or has to reward
those who do good and punish those who do evil. Tell this to the believer that
is lying in the hospital dying of cancer, or the believing parents whose only
child was struck and killed by a drunk driver… Ask the Jewish survivor of the
Holocaust what he or she thinks of this. The list goes on and on.
So what is really going on? The story
is older than Job, older than Adam, it goes back to the creation of the one
spoken of in Isaiah:
Isa 14:12-17
How
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations! (13) For thou
hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in
the sides of the north: (14) I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (15) Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to
the sides of the pit. (16) They that
see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and
consider thee, saying, Is this the man
that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; (17) That
made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?[5]
This
war shakes all of creation, waiting for the Son of Man to conquer all his
enemies and place them under His feet. Till then, the true test of Job is
revealed; the battle is for our faith, our trust, our belief, our commitment to
the Word of God. The cosmic drama that is played out in heaven day and night
becomes each man or woman’s personal drama here on this earth.
Just
as a cake in the sum total of all its ingredients, so is this faith that we
claim to walk in. Most, I dare say, just toss the word about and do not really
understand exactly what it is they claim to have. Most of us don’t even have
mustard seed faith; when was the last time you moved a mountain?
The
author of Job reveals the conflict in the beginning of the book; it is the
response of Job that will take up the remaining chapters through chapter 37.
Yet, strangely, this story written, by most guesses almost 5000 years ago, is
our story. How many of us have cried out to God “This isn’t fair! I’ve done
everything you’ve asked! Why me?” How many tears have been shed in trying to make sense of a
tragedy? How much suffering have we seen and no answer or explanation falls
into the realm of reason. Such was Job’s complaint, such is ours. Contrast this
with one who knew he had done wrong:
Luke 23:38-43
And
an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek and Latin and
Hebrew,
THIS
IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
(39) And one of the hanged
criminals blasphemed Him, saying, If you are Christ, save Yourself and us.
(40) But answering, the other
rebuked him, saying,
Do you not fear God, since you are in the same condemnation.
(41) And we indeed justly so, for we receive the due reward of our deeds,
but this Man has done nothing amiss.
(42) And he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.
(43) And Jesus said to him, Truly I
say to you, Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.
Faith.
All we are, all we believe hangs upon this word and its proper understanding.
I’ve told you before what faith truly is; it is the trusting, believing and
committing wholly unto the Word of God, the Risen Word. Let us explore what
each of these mean.
What
is trust? The word translated as “trust”
is first found in the Bible in Judges 9:15(KJV) and is the word: H2620 חָסָה chacah
(khaw-saw') v. meaning “…1.
to flee for protection 2. (figuratively) to confide in [a
primitive root] KJV: have hope, make refuge, (put)
trust…” [6] It comes from the root word:
Original: בּטח
- Transliteration: Batach
- Phonetic: baw-takh'
- Definition:
1. to trust
a. (Qal)
1. to trust, trust in
2. to have confidence, be confident
3. to be bold
4. to be secure
b. (Hiphil)
1. to cause to trust, make secure
2. (TWOT) to feel safe, be careless
- Origin:
a primitive root
- TWOT entry:
233
- Part(s) of speech:
Verb [7]
In
the Messianic Writings, it is first translated as “trust” in Matt 12:21; the
original language word is:
G1679 ἐλπίζω elpizo (el-pid'-zo) v.
1.
to expect or confide
[from G1680]
KJV: (have, thing)
hope(-d) (for), trust
Root(s): G1680
[8]
Which comes
from the word:
G1680 ἐλπίς elpis (el-pece') n.
1.
expectation
2.
(abstractly
or concretely)
confidence
[from a primary elpo "to
anticipate, usually with pleasure"]
In the King
James Version, Judges 9:15 reads as such:
Jdg 9:15 And the bramble said unto the trees, If in
truth ye anoint me king over you, then
come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble,
and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
But in
Young’s Literal translation it reads:
Jdg 9:15 And the bramble saith unto the trees, If in
truth ye are anointing me for king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow; and if not--fire cometh out from the
bramble, and devoureth the cedars of Lebanon.
Matt 12:21-
King James:
Mat 12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
YLT:
Mat 12:21 and in his name shall nations hope.'
So what’s the point you ask? Trust is not “Oh
I believe You are going to take care of me, I trust You…”; trust is “I need
shelter Father, I need refuge, I need a place I can run to…” By mixing the old
with the new, we can see that “trust in God” is an expectation of safety. Is
that trust violated by a tragedy, or if something horrendous happens? No… it is
in these times that we need that expectation of safety even greater than in
times of quiet and peace.
Next, belief…
What is it? In his book “Fossilized Customs” Lew White writes:
“…BELIEF
A mental act or habit of placing trust or confidence in an
opinion, or the acceptance of something as true or real. To expect or suppose. When
something believed-in is exposed as being false, a reaction is
aroused. How an individual reacts depends on how well-equipped they are, and
the degree to which they want to believe the falsehood. Dresden James wrote “A
truth’s initial commotion is directly proportional to how deeply the lie was
believed. It wasn’t the world being round that agitated people, but that the
world wasn’t flat. When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to
the masses over generations, the truth will
seem utterly preposterous, and its speaker a raving lunatic”….” [10]
What is belief? In its simplest understanding it is
becoming convinced that something is true. Scripture speak of this :
Rom 4:16-22
Therefore
it is of faith so that it might be according to grace; for the promise
to be made sure to all the seed, not only to that which is of the Law, but to
that also which is of the faith of
Abraham, who is the father of us all (17) (as it
has been written, "I have made you a father of many nations")
--before God, whom he believed, who makes the dead live, and calls the things which do not exist as though
they do exist. (18) For he who beyond hope believed on hope for him
to become the father of many nations (according to that which was spoken,
"So your seed shall be"). (19) And not
being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead (being about
a hundred years old) or the deadening of Sarah's womb. (20) He did
not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, (21) and being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was also able
to perform. (22) And therefore it was imputed to him for
righteousness.
“…being fully persuaded…” Convinced. All who believe must walk out our belief; we
learn to walk through our unbelief. We have to be convinced, fully and totally
in our minds that Yeshua is God and what He has said, He will accomplish..
Rom 8:35-39
Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? (36) As it is written, For thy sake we are killed
all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. (37) Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. (38) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, (39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The word used for “persuaded” in the Greek is the word G3982 πείθω peithō pi'-tho
defined in Strong’s as:
“…A primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy to pacify
or conciliate (by other fair means); reflexively or passively to assent
(to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty): - agree,
assure, believe, have confidence, be
(wax) content, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield…”[11]
Thayer defines it as:
Thayer Definition:
“…1) persuade
1a) to persuade, i.e. to induce one by words to
believe
1b) to make friends of, to win one’s favour, gain
one’s good will, or to seek to win one, strive to please one
1c) to tranquillise
1d) to persuade unto, i.e. move or induce one to
persuasion to do something
2) be persuaded
2a) to be persuaded, to suffer one’s self to be
persuaded; to be induced to believe: to
have faith: in a thing
2a1) to
believe
2a2) to be
persuaded of a thing concerning a person
2b) to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with
3) to
trust, have confidence, be confident…” [12]
Note the highlighted section in Thayer’s definition;
belief then, the act of being persuaded or convinced, ties in with our third
description of faith – commitment.
What is commitment to the Word of God? Isn’t it nothing
more than being willing to obey? What does the word say:
[ Note: I’ll give you a lot of Scripture here; please
read it in context…]
From the Tanakah:
1Sa 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat
of rams.
Exo 19:5-6 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be
a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: (6) And ye
shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the
children of Israel.
Exo 23:20-22 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep
thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. (21) Beware
of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your
transgressions: for my name is in him. (22) But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and
do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an
adversary unto thine adversaries.
Deu 11:26-28 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing
and a curse; (27) A
blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you
this day: (28) And a
curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn
aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods,
which ye have not known.
From
the Messianic Writings:
Rom 6:16-17 KJV Know
ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are
to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (17) But God be thanked, that ye were the servants
of sin, but ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
2Co 10:4-6 MKJV For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds, (5) pulling
down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought into the obedience of Christ;
(6)
and having readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your obedience is
fulfilled.
Heb 5:7-10 MKJV For Jesus,
in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with
strong cryings and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was
heard in that He feared, (8) though
being a Son, yet He learned obedience by
the things which He suffered. (9) And being
perfected, He became the Author of
eternal salvation to all those who obey Him,
(10)
being called by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek;
And here
is where we draw the matter all together; “…yet
He learned obedience by the things which He suffered…” Here, this is faith; trust, belief,
commitment. He trusted God; He believed God, He committed Himself to the Work
of God through the Word of God, so that all Scripture might be fulfilled, Php
2:8 MKJV And being found in fashion as
a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
What usually happens
though?
There is a famous cartoon, that shows three monkeys holding there hands over their ears, eyes and mouth; we all know it :
"Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil"
Change this around and you'll see a different picture:
"Hear no Torah, See no Torah, Speak no Torah"
We as a body have become Torahphobic.
And unfortunately, like the
monkeys, most won’t obey.
Faith
is perfected in suffering; Job would come to learn this. That message would be
repeated in the Torah:
Deu 8:1-3 The
Scriptures 1998+ (1) “Guard to do every command which I command
you today, that you might live, and shall increase, and go in, and shall
possess the land of which יהוה [YHVH]
swore to your fathers. (2) “And you
shall remember that יהוה [YHVH] your Elohim led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to
humble you, prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you guard His
commands or not. (3) “And He humbled you,
and let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor
did your fathers know, to make you know that man does
not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth
of [YHVH] יהוה[13].
Deu 8:1-3 KJV All the commandments which I command thee
this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and
possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. (2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the
LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep
his commandments, or no. (3) And he
humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou
knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that
man doth not live by bread only, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
To have faith is to trust in something or someone, to
believe in that something or someone and to commit to what it is that something
or someone expects of you. James
is a book of faith; Job is a book of faith. James says :
Jas 1:22-25 KJV But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers
only, deceiving your own selves. (23) For if
any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding
his natural face in a glass: (24) For he
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of
man he was. (25) But whoso looketh into the perfect law of
liberty, and continueth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed
in his deed.
And:
Jas 2:14 What doth it
profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can
faith save him?
Jas 2:17-20 KJV Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone. (18)
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and
I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my
faith by my works. (19) Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and
tremble. (20) But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works is dead?
James is
not a book about how to be made forensically righteous; it is about how to live
your faith in a practical manner. To just say “I believe” has no practical
value. Obedience is the key. Job is a book about how that obedience, that faith
is tested and tried by God. Sometimes suffering is the tool He uses.
If you knew
the answer to the question “Why do good people suffer?” how would it affect
you? If you had an understanding of every bad thing that occurred, what would
it do to your perspective? If suffering was explainable, what would happen?
I dare say
the answer to these questions would surprise you. We would accept suffer if we
understood it, and that would make us just a bit less compassionate, a bit less
prone to help, it would alter our perspective enough that we would walk by…
Don’t believe me? How many people notice the homeless person on the street? How
many of us dig into our wallet at that intersection and give the panhandler a
dollar? How many of us turn away from the cries at night, the tears, the pleas
for help? How many change the channel rather than be stirred by images of
starving children? How many say “There is nothing I can do..”
Jas 2:15-16 KJV If a brother or sister be naked, and
destitute of daily food, (16) And one
of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are
needful to the body; what doth it
profit?
What is easier, to help those that suffer, or say “…Depart in
peace, be ye warmed and filled…”? When you suffer, who comes? Who helps?
Does not the suffering you have experienced make you more likely to reach out
than not? There are no easy or comfortable answers to these questions. You
either feel the compassion and are moved by it or you are not. Doesn’t make you
a bad person, means we just all have more to learn about the compassion of
Christ…
Here is the
fire of faith:
Mar 4:35-41
And
the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. (36) And when they had sent away the multitude,
they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other
little ships.
(37) And there arose a great storm
of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
(38) And he was in the hinder part
of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
(39) And he arose, and rebuked the
wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
(40) And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
(41) And they feared exceedingly,
and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the
sea obey him?[14]
So in the
crucible of the trial is our faith tried. Like Job, how we respond may change
the world; no, let me correct that. How we respond will change the world. The
twelve turned it upside down, or right side up, depending on your point of
view. Their faith was born in the suffering of Messiah, and perfected in the
fire of persecution and their own deaths, yet they loved Him more than life,
and held on to spread the good news of salvation. Day and night the accuser
rails against the brethren, and day and night the Father allows them to be
tried and tested. In the unknown agony of tragedy, someone cries out to God,
either in pain, anger, or humble submission. Here their faith or lack of it is
tested; here they cry out either “…Master,
carest thou not that we perish?…” or
as Job:
“…Job
13:15-16 KJV…”
Though he slay
me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before
him.
(16) He also shall be my salvation: for an
hypocrite shall not come before him.
In the cosmic realm you and I are but bits of dust; but
the test of our faith shakes the heavens and if we hold on, will shame the
devil. The friends of Job, Bildad, Eliphaz, Zophar and Elihu, all believed in a
God that rewarded good for good, and evil for evil. They were seeing in the
dark; just like most believers today.
They acted as if God needed them to defend Himself against the railings
of Job, things like:
Job 7:19-21 MKJV Until when will You look away from me, nor
let me alone until I swallow down my spittle?
(20)
I have sinned. What shall I do to You, O Watcher of men? Why have You
set me as a target for You, so that I am a burden to myself? (21) And why do You not pardon my transgression,
and take away my iniquity? For now I shall sleep in the dust, and You shall
seek me in the morning, but I shall not
be.
Job 10:18-22 MKJV Why then have You brought me from the womb?
Oh that I had given up the spirit, and no eye had seen me! (19) I should have been as though I had not been;
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. (20) Are not my days few? Cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a
little, (21) before I go, and I shall not return, even to
the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
(22)
a land of obscurity, the darkness of the shadow of death, without any
order, and the shining is as darkness.
Job
16:9 His anger has torn and hated me; He gnashes on me with His teeth…
The answer to this is to go back to Job 13:15. No matter
what Job goes through, he does not give up on God. The cosmic wager between God
and satan is finished when Job refuses to deny God. He may be angry and
perplexed, but he shrinks not from his faith that God will one day justify him
again. The parallel to this is found in the Messianic Writings:
2Co 4:7-10 KJV But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (8) We are
troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are
perplexed, but not in despair; (9)
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; (10) Always bearing about in the body the dying of
the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
Is there suffering without meaning?
Does God simply step aside and let the enemy rage, kill and destroy at whim,
with no aim in sight? I cannot answer this in all assuredness, yet this I can
say as a man: all the ills and misfortunes of the world demand a response: we
either curse or we humble ourselves before that which we understand not. How we
respond will change the world. We either give satan a victory or we snatch it
from his evil hands and give the crown to Yeshua. Either the blood of Messiah
is sufficient or it isn’t. That is the true issue at stake in all suffering, in
every test of faith. We are being trained for the day when the storm hits and
we can lay our heads down, knowing that He is with us, even if He is sleeping
in the back of the boat. One day our faith may demand our lives; where will you
stand?
We live now in peace,
though we may not die that way. May we finish well, though, our faith as Job’s,
faith intact.
May God richly bless you
my beloved
Amein
[1] Modern King James Version, electronic
edition, eSword ver 10.1.0, ©Rick Myers, 2000-2012
[2] Concepts adapted from Philip Yancey’s “The
Bible Jesus Read”, ©1999, Zondervan
Publishing House, pg 45, with editing by David Robinson; All glory to Yahvey
for His leading, and thanks and credit to Mr. Yancey for his insight.
[3] “The Bible Jesus Read”, by Philip Yancey
©1999, Zondervan Publishing House, pg 46
[4] King
James Version, electronic edition, eSword ver 10.1.0, ©Rick Myers, 2000-2012
[5] King James Version, electronic edition,
eSword ver 10.1.0, ©Rick Myers, 2000-2012
[6] Mickelson's Enhanced Strong's Greek and Hebrew
Dictionaries, Copyright
© Jonathan K. Mickelson 2005, 2008 All Rights Reserved.
[7] Mickelson's Enhanced Strong's Greek and Hebrew
Dictionaries, Copyright
© Jonathan K. Mickelson 2005, 2008 All Rights Reserved.
[8] …Ibid…
[9] …Ibid…
[10] Fossilized Customs: The Pagan Sources of
Popular Customs, by Lew White STRAWBERRY ISLANDS MESSIANIC PUBLISHING,
Sixth Edition
[11] Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, by James Strong, ( electronic edition), e-Sword®,
v. 10.1.0, copyright ©2000-2012 by Rick
Myers
[12] A
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Joseph H. Thayer, Copyright ©1977, Baker Book House Company
[14] King James Version, electronic edition,
eSword ver 10.1.0, ©Rick Myers, 2000-2012
