The Untold Story of Job
“I will fetch my knowledge from afar and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.” Elihu
Job 36:3
Have you heard of
the patience of Job? Perhaps you read the story. Some say it's the oldest book
in the Bible. And yet, Job's story is not well understood at all.
Job, you may
remember, was a rich man. He had lands and cattle, a loving wife, seven sons,
and three daughters. Job was a God-fearing man who was faithful in worship and
honest in his dealings with others.
Then one day Satan
said to God, "Job praises you because he is rich. Let me take his riches, and he
will curse you to your face."
Whereupon, God did
something that may seem strange to us. He said, "Take what you will," and gave
Satan permission to torment Job. Though this may seem cruel to us at first, we
shall see, in the long run, God used it to bless Job in a very special way, and
if you’re willing to learn something new about the story of Job, God will give
you a special blessing also. God has a way of turning bad things into blessings,
if we are willing to see with new eyes.
Job lost everything
including his health. Some say he wasn't dismayed by his reverses, that he
remained patient under the most extreme conditions of his misery. Many praise
Job for being patient, as if that were the central message of this oldest book
in our Bible. These people do not know the story of Job at all. They miss the
point entirely. They are like so many who learn from others, without checking
the facts for themselves. Anyone who believes the point of Job’s story is to
encourage people to be patient in conditions of adversity hasn't read the book
with an open mind. There’s a much more important message to be found, if you are
willing to open the eye of your spirit and see the truth that remains hidden
only from those who refuse to understand it.
I won't tell you
about Job's patience. Let others preach about it. It's been told ten thousand
times already, and no doubt it will be told ten thousand more – with all its
errors.
I prefer to tell you
about a wonderful discovery Job made, a discovery God wants us all to make. You
see, the real story of Job is about a unique enlightenment that came to Job in
the midst of his troubles. The lesson Job learned has nothing to do with
patience, or any other human virtue.
Indeed, Job's
discovery is the purpose God had when He permitted Satan to torment Job. God
knew how the story would turn out. God knew Job would make this wonderful
discovery. God knew that Job would be blessed in the end, but God also knew Job
needed to learn a few things about himself before those blessings could come.
Job was tested so the mystery of God’s grace could be revealed in Job. If you
are wise you will allow the mystery to be revealed in you.
Job’s discovery is
about relationships: man to man and man to God.
Job's discovery, if
you will accept it for yourself, will change you. To be changed, however, you
cannot remain as you are. If you allow the discovery, you will never be the
same.
All of us can profit
from learning Job's lesson -- hopefully without enduring Job's trials. The
University of Hard Knocks is a tough row to hoe. No one knew this better than
Job. There is an easier way. Reading works like this can help, but even the
easier way requires some effort on your part. You not only need to read. You
need to open your mind and dare to think thoughts you’ve never thought before.
It is the only way you can grow.
Please read (and
think) on.
Until we learn what
Job learned, we can't be truly born again.
Now many, no doubt,
will take issue with this statement. There are salvation brokers, pastors and
priests who preach an easy way to Heaven. They select their texts, like John
3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life," and
preach ideas in isolation. They seldom if ever define their terms, and they lead
many innocent souls astray.
They ask their
anxious followers, "Do you believe?"
The anxious
followers anxiously answer, "Yes."
Whereupon the
preachers pronounce, "Then you are saved!" The anxious followers relax. A few
become preachers themselves, and the process is multiplied over and over again.
Too often, believers
do not know exactly what is meant by the word believe. Job’s story reveals truth
about this most important word. Study and learn.
The word believe
means far more than we were taught as children. There are complex implications
of this all-important term that reach beyond our simple, common, everyday usage
of the word. Without understanding these implications, it is impossible to fully
see the true meaning of John 3:16. God hides the truth from those who will not
learn. This is part of the gospel mystery the Apostle Paul writes about, a
mystery that remains hidden from too many today simply because they are not
being told the complete truth about God’s central message in the Bible.
You can learn as Job
learned, or you can learn by submitting your mind to receive truth.
The word believe can
mean many things. Job believed. But, Job lacked understanding. His was not the
belief mentioned in John 3:16, "whosoever believeth in Him ...". Job did
believe, but Job did not believe correctly. Our Bible tells us the devils
believe – and tremble. It is the source of belief that makes the difference, and
our relationship to that source. Job did not discover the belief that saves our
souls until the last chapter of the book when he saw God in the spirit.
Job believed he
believed. Many people believe they believe. Dead churches are filled with people
who believe they believe. But, until we discover the mystery of God’s purpose,
we do not believe as we ought to believe. Look what it cost Job to discover this
truth.
Stay with me as we
examine this powerful and complex word.
Do you believe in
me? I wrote the words you're reading. You know or should know that I existed
when these words were being written and, hopefully, I may at this very moment
still be writing in some quiet place, hoping to teach new truths to others.
Certainly, these words did not get written by themselves. They had to have an
author, and they did have an author. Me!
But, do you believe
in me? It all depends on what one means by the word believe, doesn't it? Surely
I existed at the time of writing this, but to say you believe in me is saying
something more, isn’t it? Do you see how a word can mean different things when
applied in different ways?
Do you also see that
the word itself is not changed by our application of it. The word still stands
for itself and is not moved, no matter how we choose to use it. We should not
forget that a word means what it means -- no matter what we think it means.
Let me show you.
Do you believe in
rainbows? Do you believe in chocolate? Do you believe in fossils, cows, the
Eiffel Tower? These are things you can see. Do you, therefore, believe in them?
Perhaps you haven't seen the Eiffel Tower, but you've heard so many people talk
about it you’re convinced it's real, so you "believe" in the Eiffel Tower. And
surely you believe in rainbows, though of course you’ve never actually touched
one, and they are difficult to capture in a jar. Chocolate may be far easier to
believe in, especially when it gives you a tummy ache.
How about celestial
black holes, the center of the earth, or next Tuesday? These are things no one
has seen. Physicists assure us black holes exist, based on evidence from radio
telescopes, but do you believe in black holes? Geologists claim to know what’s
at the center of the earth, but no one has ever been more than a few miles
beneath the surface, so how can you believe in the center of the earth? What of
next Tuesday? Do you believe in next Tuesday? What assurance do you have that
next Tuesday will happen? Most of us have lived long enough to testify that
Tuesdays have a way of coming along reliably on schedule, but do you believe in
next Tuesday?
What do you
believe in?
Do you believe in
things you cannot see? You may say you believe, but can you believe in the same
way you believe in things you can see, touch, taste, and smell? Is there a
difference?
Now for some tougher
things to believe in. How about love? Do you believe in love? Do you believe in
freedom? Do you believe in the principles of government set forth in our United
States Constitution? Do you believe in capital punishment or the income tax?
These are intangible
things: ideas, principles, spiritual things. They can't be seen. They can't be
touched. They won't be analyzed by scientific instruments or explained by
mathematics. Yet most of us would proudly say, "I believe in freedom," and a few
might even admit, "I believe in income tax." It is certain we mean something
altogether different when we say we believe in these things. We aren't affirming
they exist, as we affirmed the Eiffel Tower. Rather, we are aligning ourselves
with ideas. We are putting ourselves into relationship with intangibles. When we
say "I believe" in this context, we are using precisely the same word we used
when we said, "I believe in chocolate," and yet the word comes across with quite
a different meaning. Are you beginning to see what Job might have missed?
Part of modern
society's unwillingness to believe in un-seens and infinites results from our
misuse of the word believe. We want to say we believe, but we aren’t certain we
know what we’re saying when we say it. We don’t understand the word.
This failure to
understand the meaning of words contributes to much human misery.
Our modern word
“belief” derives from the Anglo Saxon geleafa, which includes the ideas
of confidence and permission. We believe when we give ourselves permission to
have confidence which, in turn, is a word meaning to have faith (fide)
with (con).
When we believe in a
person (like Christ Jesus), we have faith with that person (Jesus). We trust.
And, importantly, we trust not because we have merely decided point blank to
trust, but because we have given ourselves permission to trust. Our
belief rests on evidence, and from that evidence we allow ourselves to have
confidence, i.e., “faith with”.
The beautiful
mystery of this truth about the meaning of the word “believe” is that none of us
can believe until we have faith. Faith comes first.
As will be more
fully explained, faith is a gift from God.
Faith comes to us.
We aren’t required to manufacture it on our own. Indeed, we cannot manufacture
it on our own. God doesn’t ask us to manufacture it.
The gift of faith
comes slowly to some precisely because they do not realize it is a gift.
They, like Job, are so busy trying to manufacture their own righteousness to
please God, as if God were some demanding parent, they don’t see the gift of
faith when it’s being offered to them for their salvation. God’s giving and our
receiving the gift of faith is what creates and sustains our relationship with
God. If we believe otherwise we are in darkness, as Job was in darkness when
Satan began to tempt him.
Salvation in Christ
Jesus is relationship.
Salvation is not status ... and it certainly is not an accomplishment of the human will.
Job, you see,
suffered from a common malady of blindness that affects us all. Indeed, in Job’s
case, the poor man almost died before he saw the truth. He suffered terribly,
and God permitted him to suffer because it was only by suffering that Job would
learn. Because you have the Bible to teach you, it may not be necessary for you
to suffer as Job did. If you refuse to see what Job learned, however, you will
surely suffer. God wants you to learn.
Job’s friends came
to visit him when he was suffering. Some challenged him. They said, “Can you not
see, Job. It is your unrighteousness that has brought calamity upon you.”
Job refused to see
his blindness. Job was steadfast. He denied that he had fallen short. In the
eyes of the world, i.e., as the world sees things these days, we might have to
agree with the poor old fellow. Even the Bible says Job was a perfect man (in
the eyes of the world). He was an "upstanding" citizen (in the eyes of the
world). And, when Job countered his detractors, he was perfectly justified (in
his own eyes), for Job was indeed a "perfect" man (in the eyes of the world).
But, Job was a man
for all of that. Herein lies the incisive message we can discover in the Book of
Job.
Job was a man.
Only the Lord is
God.
It took Job a long
time to see this simple truth. Perhaps his friends saw it. Perhaps they didn’t.
They were good friends, or they wouldn’t have bothered to visit Job. They talked
to Job. Each offered his own ideas why Job had been stricken.
Of course, Job
replied to each. Job always held to his claim of an unwavering faith in God,
proclaiming himself righteous.
Then, after
answering all his friends, Job was visited by God Himself. God challenged him
with concepts Job had not before considered. God asked Job difficult, probing
questions. Job had shown himself so wise when answering his neighbors. Now he
struggled in vain to answer God.
In the process, Job
made a miraculous discovery. He saw The Light -- literally!
God allowed Job to
see the mystery Paul writes about in his epistles. The mystery that is hidden
from those who perish.
This is the
paramount lesson of Job. It's a lesson that can benefit all who seek to discover
it for themselves. It is essential for those who seek God. Without it we're all
totally ignorant, blinded by our pride, living in a dark and hopeless realm of
our own imagining, cut off from true life and true love ... indeed, cut off from
truth itself.
The lesson Job
learned about himself and his relationship to God is far and away more important
than his patience. It amazes me that Job is noted for his patience, while the
vital lesson God taught him at the end of the story is understated or ignored
for the most part. We learn about "the trials of Job" and "the patience of Job".
Indeed, these are clichés. Yet we hear surprisingly little about "Job's
discovery", the lesson by which God brought a "perfect" man (in the eyes of the
world) into a more perfect relationship with Him (in God’s eyes).
So, here follows the
story — straight from the Bible.
Job was a man from
the city of Uz, faithful and honest in his dealings with others. The Bible tells
us he was "perfect and upright", that he "feared God and eschewed evil".
Now, this is not to
say Job was perfectly perfect as Christ Jesus is perfect. In Hebrew the word
perfect means complete, balanced. Job was a complete man, a balanced man. As Dr.
Morgan puts it in his The Answers of Jesus to Job, he was "an all-round
man". He was "upright". He was honest, straightforward, and trustworthy. He
obeyed the law.
He was also rich. He
had a wife, seven sons and three daughters. He had 7000 sheep, 500 yoke of oxen,
500 donkeys, and a large staff of servants. In fact, he was one of the richest
men in all the world (about 1520 BC).
When Satan said to
God, "Job praises you because he is rich. Let me take his riches, and he will
curse you to your face," God gave permission with a reservation that Satan would
not touch the man himself but only his possessions.
Then Satan caused
Job's children to be killed along with his cattle and servants. Job was upset,
to say the least. He tore his clothes and shaved his head, but the Bible tells
us he worshipped God in the midst of his calamity, saying, "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."
The Bible tells us,
"In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."
Satan then said that
for good health a man will worship God. He asked to prove his point by having
Job inflicted with disease, and Job was smitten "with sore boils from the sole
of his feet to the crown of his head". Job sat in ashes and scraped his itching,
festering sores with the sharp edge of a piece of broken pottery.
But, when
challenged, Job's answer was, "We receive good at the hand of God. Shall we not
also receive evil?"
And the Bible says,
"In all this Job did not sin with his lips."
Then Job's friends
came to see him: Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu. These were good friends,
for we are told they were so moved by Job's distress that they wept for him,
tore at their own clothing, and sprinkled dust on their heads. 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". That's friendship!
Job spoke first,
cursing the day he was born. "Why died I not from the womb?" he complained.
What
about this demonstrates patience?
This is not patience at all.
Eliphas, a man of
spiritual insight, told Job not to despise things God has done but to be
encouraged. He tried to console Job. "Man is born unto trouble," he said, “as
the sparks fly upward.” But he added that he and the others were convinced that
Job would be restored and live to a good old age. He prophesied, "Thy seed shall
be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy
grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." He
explained that "we have searched it", i.e., it was spiritually discerned.
Eliphas assured his friend Job, "So it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy
good."
Job answered only
with a further wish that God would let him die. This is not patience or faith.
Like all of us do when self-occupied with our own ills and calamities, Job
seemed not to hear the encouragement of Eliphaz. Job complained that a true
friend would show him pity. Job insisted he was a righteous man. Job asked, "Is
there iniquity in my tongue?"
Think, dear reader.
Think!
Learn from Job so
you need not suffer as Job suffered.
Then Bildad charged
Job as a hypocrite saying, "God will not cast away a perfect man."
Job insisted that
God "knowest I am not wicked." All the while, however, Job continued to complain
bitterly and wished for death to end his agony. Where is the patience is this?
Why have others taught you Job was patient? Why did you listen to them instead
of reading the story for yourself?
Then Zohar spoke,
challenging Job's claim to righteousness. Zohar insisted that Job would respond
differently if God, Himself, "would speak, and open His lips against thee."
Job replied with
sarcasm. "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you." That’s
about as sarcastic a comment as ever was heard by man.
Job rebuked them
all, saying he was just as smart as they. He told them nothing they said was new
to him or, for that matter, unknown to others. He insisted he was a just and
upright man. He attacked his friends, accusing them of attacking him.
Then, as if to
justify himself further, he made that now famous pronouncement: "Though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him."
But, immediately
thereafter, he revealed error when he said, "I will maintain my own ways before
him." Job held on tenaciously to that persistent claim of righteousness in self.
Job held to the view that in Job’s power was the strength to be good in God’s
sight.
Then Eliphaz spoke
again. He charged that Job's own speech revealed his error. He asked, "Hast thou
heard the secret of God? What do you know that we do not?" Then Eliphaz asked,
"What is he which is born of woman that he should be righteous?"
Eliphaz was
wiser than Job.
Job now railed in
anger! He called his friends "miserable comforters". He said if he were in their
shoes and they in his, "I would strengthen you with my mouth." He complained
that if the tables were turned his words would "assuage your grief". He grumbled
sourly how God had done such terrible things to him, and he continued to insist
it was "not for any injustice in my hands".
Are you beginning to
see what the story of Job is truly about, dear reader?
Added to this proud
pronouncement he said to those who’d come a long way to visit him in his
affliction, "I cannot find one wise man among you."
Poor Job.
Then Bildad asked,
"Why are we accounted beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?"
Job then threatened
them to have pity on him. He warned that punishment is reserved for those who
bring wrath on others. Isn’t it wonderfully curious that Job couldn't see his
own wrath?
"Be ye afraid of the
sword," he cautioned them, "for wrath bringeth the punishment of the sword, that
ye may know there is a judgment." Job was on thin ice, now.
The four friends
argued as husbands and wives often do, deaf to the replies of their opponent,
waiting for a moment of silence to attack again with more of the same, dishing
it back and forth, unaware of the blunders on both sides.
Zohar, driven beyond
reason perhaps, gave a weary discourse on the fate of wicked men.
Job, of course,
disagreed. We imagine he would disagree with any statement not his own. He
adopted the view that wicked men do well in the world. "They spend their days in
wealth," Job said. Then he actually accused his friends of concocting lies to
substantiate their vile arguments.
Where is the
patience in this? Why were you told Job is patient? Why were you not told the
truth that has power to change your own life? Read on and spare yourself Job’s
suffering.
Eliphaz pointed out
that Job had "not given water to the weary to drink", that he had withheld
"bread from the hungry", that he had sent "widows away empty".
Job now changed the
subject, not surprisingly. Isn’t that what often happens when we are called to
answer for our faults. It’s easier to change the subject than to admit the
truth.
Job confessed he did
not know how to find God, yet he continued to maintain that if he knew where to
argue his case his argument would be so worthy of reward that God would respond
with complete restoration of all Job had lost. Think about it, dear reader.
Think!
Job persisted, "My
foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept."
Bildad asked how
"can man be justified with God?" So simple a question, yet the answer to this
dynamic question is hidden within the mystery of the gospel.
Job did not
understand.
Job was jealous. He
envied his friends' wisdom. He made many pompous pronouncements of knowledge of
the ways of God, things a wiser man might have known were obvious to others. As
if he were enlightening his friends, he said, "He hath compassed the waters with
bounds, until the day and night come to an end," and, "The pillars of heaven
tremble and are astonished at His reproof," and yet more proud proclaimings
like, "He divideth the sea with His power." These are clearly things his friends
well knew. But Job, in all his profound pronouncements of knowledge of God,
admitted he did not understand God and did not know how to find God.
He clearly didn't
understand, for he says haughtily, "I will not remove mine integrity from me. My
righteousness I hold fast." Whose righteousness was Job clinging to? Please
think!
Job needed the
proverb, "Get knowledge but, with all thy getting, get understanding."
Job had knowledge,
but he had little understanding. He didn't understand understanding. He
instructed his friends with information they already had. Many people do this.
He said things like,
"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom." Correct, Job!
He said, “To depart
from evil is understanding." Correct again, Job!
Yet for all his
profession of knowledge, Job showed he’d not yet learned it is God who
determines what is evil and what is good. It is God who sets the boundaries, not
we.
Job defined good and
evil, as we all are also tempted to do, in terms that kept him safely on the
side of good. Perhaps he succeeded in departing from evil, but if he only
departed from the evil he himself chose to define as evil, then how much evil
did he not depart from?
We are all like Job.
That's why we need justification from a source outside ourselves.
Job, however, did
not see this … yet.
Instead, Job droned
on about the good deeds he’d done in the past. He said, "I put on righteousness,
and it clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the
blind. I was feet to the lame. I was father to the poor. The cause which I knew
not I searched out."
Job was a do-gooder.
And bully for him!
Better a do-gooder
than a do-badder!
But what of the
causes Job "knew not", causes he was unable to "search out"? What did he do
about them? What did he do for the wretched homeless to the south, the freezing
nomads of the north? What did he do for those who struggled for life's comforts
in neighboring cities? What did he do for those who died before he was born or
those who were yet to be born and die long after he was dead? What could he do
for a numberless multitude of souls in terror of death's sting, gasping for that
one last breath, straining to hold onto the only reality they know, hoping for a
miraculous last moment reprieve to snatch them back from the edge of eternity?
What did Job do for these?
Job is intent upon
justifying himself.
He said, "I put on
righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem." Job's
righteousness is his own, you see.
Whose righteousness
are you trusting in?
The Bible tells us,
"So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own
eyes."
Then spoke Elihu, a
younger man. He was angry, not only with Job but also with the other three.
Elihu saw that the wisdom of the older men omitted something in which Elihu put
great confidence. Elihu recognized the mystery that remains hidden from too
many.
Elihu told them, "If
any say I have sinned and perverted that which was right," a statement none of
the others could bring themselves to make, "He will deliver his soul from going
into the pit, and his life shall see the light." Elihu taught wisdom. How great
a victory for Jesus if only more modern age churches would teach this simple
wisdom and proclaim it in the streets!
"God is greater than
man," Elihu said. "Far be it from God that he should do wickedness." Elihu told
them all, "For he will not lay upon man more than right."
Elihu incisively
examined Job's error. "Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were
without wisdom." Listen, dear friend. Think carefully about what this young man
told the others. “Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without
wisdom.”
Elihu accused Job of
rebellion against God ... a difficult sin to detect in one's self!
Job had spoken as if
to say his righteousness was more than God's, for did he not say God had brought
calamity upon him undeservedly?
Elihu hit the mark.
How wonderful if more evangelists and preachers would straighten their aim and
reveal this truth for the multitudes who remain in error to this day!
The younger man
added, "Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on
God's behalf. I will fetch my knowledge from afar. I will ascribe righteousness
to my Maker."
Hallelujah! This
wise young man did not ascribe righteousness to himself as Job did.
Elihu explained that
God "sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know His work," and "He
respecteth not any that are wise of heart."
Then a whirlwind
descended into their midst, and out of that wind the Voice of the Lord spoke to
Job and said, "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and
you will answer me!"
God challenged Job
to admit his hopeless ignorance. God challenged Job to reveal how all our pride
is lost within our own mortality. God challenged Job to confess that it was God
who made creation, that God is alone Creator, and God alone knows every thing!
"Where was thou when
I laid the foundations of the earth?" God asked Job.
"Where is the way
where light dwelleth?" God demanded.
God asked Job if he
could capture light and hold it within boundaries.
God asked, “Who
makes the rain to fall where no man is? Who guides the stars in their courses?
Who makes the tender buds spring forth?”
God asked, "Who hath
put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the heart?"
These last two
questions were keys that began to unlock Job's limited human awareness of God's
Character and God's Purpose.
Job would soon be
free.
God asked Job who
provides the food for ravens, who colors the wings of peacocks, who feathers the
ostriches, who gives strength to the horses?
God asked if Job
taught the hawks how to fly or commanded the eagles to soar.
"Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him?"
Then Job took that
first step all must take who wish to be truly born again. There is no other way,
no substitute, no alternative. It matters not what denominations teach. It
matters not how many books are written. This step is essential for all of us, or
we have no place with God.
Job said, "I cannot
answer."
"Will you condemn
me so that you may be righteous?" the Lord asked Job.
"Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine," the little man's Maker proclaimed.
Then, at last, Job
repented.
This is the story of
Job.
Repentance, not
patience.
Job repented, "I know that thou
canst do every thing,” Job admitted, “and that no thought can be
withheld from thee.”
Job is almost free.
Job then confessed
to God, “I have uttered things I did not understand. I have said things too
wonderful for me, things I did not truly know."
Job is beginning to see the
light.
Job said, "I have
heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees thee." Job finally
saw God with the eye of his spirit, i.e., by spiritual awareness in the heart
and not by man’s knowledge that fills our heads with things too wonderful for
us, things we only think we know.
Job finally is
silent when he says, "Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."
And at once Job was
saved from his calamity. At once God restored his health. His disease was gone.
His poverty was gone.
Most importantly,
however, his pride was gone.
Dr. G. Campbell
Morgan, in his book, The Answers of Jesus to Job, explains that Job's
word "abhor" derives from a Hebrew word that means to disappear. Job gave up. He
disappeared. He relinquished his pride. He resigned himself to being human, like
the rest of us. He was shown by God that no matter how wonderfully righteous we
may seem to ourselves, we are hopelessly weak when compared to God's Power and
wretchedly evil when compared to His Holiness.
Dr. Morgan tells us
that in submission Job's "greatness was revealed", but I think Job’s message to
the world is that there is no greatness in us except the greatness God gives us
freely by His grace. Job’s submission was, in fact, the sole design and unaided
work of God. God alone ordains that we submit to Him. Our “greatness” only
interferes with God’s purpose.
It must be thus,
lest we get credit to ourselves for some perceived virtue in submitting. We are
in error when we ascribe righteousness to ourselves in any degree. It nearly
cost Job his life to learn this lesson. What will it cost the churches of this
modern age to learn?
Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter
in his Explore The Book, writes that Job came to "the end of his
self-ism", that he responded to God and in that response he was freed of pride
and enabled by God's Grace to "find his all in God." I agree. For all his
haughty insistence upon self-worth and personal integrity, Job discovered, as I
hope we may all discover completely someday, that every good gift is from God --
and that means every good gift.
Whatever we perceive
to be some goodness within ourselves is really the gracious power of God alive
within us to work out His own pleasure according to an eternal plan.
We may deny this, of
course, as Job did. We may bring calamity upon ourselves. We may lose
everything, even our lives, if that’s what it takes to learn this lesson.
God gives us freedom
to believe or not to believe. We only choose to do so. We can claim the goodness
in us is of our own making. That's our nature, as it was Job's nature. But
someday, when at last our name is called and we step forward from the crowd of
souls assembled to receive eternity's decree, when we kneel at the nail-pierced
feet of Jesus to be judged by the Lamb of God according to His Mystery, when the
Book of Life is opened and we wait with the angels to learn our fate, then each
of us will discover the ultimate reality of God -- and we will finally know, if
we have not already learned, what Job discovered back in the city of Uz.
All goodness is of
God.
Everything we do in
our name, every act we hope others will praise as a good deed, every kindness
intended to demonstrate our generosity, every sacrifice given to secure a place
in the memory of those around us, and even the charitable works we do in the
hope God will be pleased with our goodness is, according to the Bible, only
"filthy rags" in the sight of God. This may seem difficult to accept. You may
prefer to reject it, to insist that you or someone close to you is a "good"
person, but this was the error of Job.
Jesus said, "There
is none good, no not one."
We are the sheep of
His pasture. He is The Good Shepherd.
He is the potter. We
are but clay.
If we confess our
shortcomings to God, if we admit that God created us in His image, if we
recognize that our only "good" is the good God does through us, if we ask God to
forgive us for the bad things we’ve done and for the bad things we may yet do,
if we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and live through us to do His will in us
by the power of His Holy Spirit compelling us by His love to be conformed to His
image, and if we will confess to others that we have made this decision,
praising and thanking God for performing His miracle of grace within us so that
now all our good works are the labors of God working through us by the power of
His Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus, then we will discover in our spirit the very
truth that Job discovered.
Indeed, we shall be
saved.
We shall be "born
again".
Don’t be surprised
if this sounds rather silly at first. God made it that way to confound the wise.
Jesus said, "Except ye be as little children ye shall not enter the Kingdom of
Heaven." We are to be as little children, trusting God, asking Him to come into
our hearts and work out his will through us by His power. Then we will be saved.
If you wait till you
"understand" it, you'll never be saved.
Give God the glory –
for the glory, all glory, is His alone.
Count Him wonderful
– for He is truly wonderful, magnificent, complete, and merciful to those who
call upon Him in repentance.
This is the message
of Job. Repentance, not patience.
It is truly amazing
God brings us to this so we can see His majesty and discover our own weakness –
for these are certainly not things we can bring ourselves to see. To believe in
a god we have created for our own convenience is easy. To believe in God as God
truly is runs contrary to our nature. It goes against the grain … for God is all
in all, while we are nothing at all but what He allows us to be.
This is the only
path to salvation, however few there be that find it.
This is the new
birth and the hope of the world in Christ Jesus.
Some, of course, see
God as cruel taskmaster demanding our allegiance and subservience. They condemn
the One who gives them life because they cannot live as gods themselves. They
hate God because they cannot live forever by the exercise of their own wills.
Rather than confess their imperfection and mortality to Him who is forever and
rest in His promise of life for those who will repent, they perish.
We should admit that
from time to time we wish God would give us more and expect less in return. We
long to have our own way. We wish to do as we please, where we please, whenever
we please. But, as we discover the mystery Job learned the hard way, we find
God's love is far beyond our mortal comprehension. God's love reaches down to us
when we reach up to Christ Jesus the Crucified One. He wants only what's best
for us. He will give us every good gift. First, however, we must establish
ourselves by confessing His righteousness and not our own.
God's love is much
broader than our vain ideas of it. We learn only by submitting to His divine
authority. Only then are we truly free. This is the meaning of liberty.
God is only good.
God wants only good
for us.
We, on the other
hand, are not good -- no matter how much to the contrary we may have convinced
ourselves and others. Do not fall in the trap that captured Job. We are not
righteous. We can't define what's good and bad for ourselves then live within
the boundaries of our own self-defined goodness and proclaim, as Job did, "I am
not wicked."
God is not mocked.
Consider the Cross
of Calvary, whereon the greatest price that love could pay was freely given so
you and I might know God's love in a way we can understand, so we can realize
that we will never earn God's favor by our deeds.
God wants but one
thing from you—all of you.
Job gave in, after
an unnecessarily long struggle.
Why suffer when you
can live in victory today?
The Bible tells us,
"The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before." We read, "So the Lord
blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning."
The story ends with,
"After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his
sons' sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days."
And, we might add,
full of wisdom … not his own wisdom, but the wisdom given by God.
- # -
Our wills are ours, we know not how,
Our wills are ours to make them thine.
... Lord Tennyson
Morgan, G. Campbell; The Answers of Jesus to Job; Marshall, Morgan &
Scott; Edinburgh; 1961.
Baxter, J. Sidlow; Explore the Book; Zondervan; Grand Rapids; 1967.
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