110605

WHEN LIFE CAVES IN
Respond with Faith
Job 1, 2



Job 1:1-3 (Monday)
“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” (NIV)
1) A couple of days ago, I was reading my Bible and ran across this passage in Acts 27:13-15, “When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.” Oh, dear ones, enjoy those gentle, soft breezes, but just know that as a child of God, like Job, we are going to have those hurricane force winds coming at us right behind them! Don’t be “driven along!” Have your feet firmly grounded in God’s truth and on the ROCK, the Lord, Jesus Christ so you may be able to stand, just like our dear brother Job!
2) Read over the passage above. On what basis would you consider this man, Job, “great?” How did God?
a) Job was called “blameless” and “upright.” The NLT (from this week’s Transformation) says he was a man of “complete integrity.” The KJV says Job was “perfect!” Okay, so just what do all these terms refer to?
i) Strong's Dictionary translates the word “blameless” differently when speaking of God. God is blameless in that He is entire, complete! He is integrity and truth! The KJV says God is without spot or blemish, full, perfect, sincere, sound, undefiled, upright, whole! He is!
ii) The word translated as “blameless” when referring to man, often means to be (or make) clean, to acquit, to cleanse, to clear, to free, to be held guiltless, to hold innocent, unpunished--utterly, wholly! Blameless also can be translated to indicate that we are not in a state of constantly being led into sin! In the New Testament this word is translated as unaccused or irreproachable!
(1) Who accuses us (Revelation 12:9-10!)
(2) How about reproach (Isaiah 51:7-8!)
(a) Why are we accused and reproached (Jeremiah 15:15; Jeremiah 20:8!)
iii) It is very important to note that no man is without sin, but, through the blood of Jesus Christ, man is made or accounted as blameless—righteous, in right standing with God (Romans 3:20-26; Galatians 3:5-9!) Big, big difference!
(1) None of us are without sin (Proverbs 20:9 and 1 John 1:8!)
(2) There has only been one man who lived on this earth, was tempted in all ways as we are, yet, was without sin—Jesus Christ, the God Man (Hebrews 4:15!)
3) So, Job was cleansed, made free, declared innocent, without accusation and irreproachable! Why was that important for Job and why is it important for us to be blameless, or to be declared righteous?
a) God! God cannot look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13!) This is important because if God looks upon us and sees only our sin, there can be no relationship (Hebrews 9:22!) Sin always brings judgment and death (James 1:15!) God’s wrath would be upon us all! What does Exodus 12:1-13 tell us that God looks upon when He sees us? Oh, God sees the blood when we walk in faith in His Son, Jesus Christ! Dear child, His righteous, holy judgment passes over you! Rejoice!
i) Relationship—the very heart of God’s desire for Himself and for you, precious child! The entire book of Genesis, the Book of beginnings, speaks of our God reaching out to individuals, mere men and women—sinners, much like ourselves, in a loving and holy desire to relate and make Himself known to them. His intent was, is and has always been to show them, and us, His glory (Exodus 33:15-18!) Please know that these accounts are not fables! Not “made up” stories about “made up” individuals put in the Bible for our reading enjoyment! Sisters, Job was a real live breathing man! His story and other biblical stories are living testimonies—actual occurrences that are meant to point us to the truth of God’s great love, mercy and grace! His desire, His longing is to become real and active in the lives of His children! These inspired scriptures speak of how God walked with His children in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8!) How God initiated covenant (a blood binding contract or agreement) with us in order to deliver us from His sure and coming wrath upon sin (Genesis 6-9 and Genesis 12-15!) God desire has always been to dwell among His people and to be known by them intimately (Isaiah 7:14!) Immanuel—God with us (Revelation 21:3-4!) Amen! God gave us actually patterns of His divine purpose and plan:
(1) God dwelt with His people in a tent (tabernacle.) A place where His glory, or Presence lifted and fell (Exodus 25:8 and Exodus 40:34-38!)
(2) God dwelt with His people in the temple built by King David’s son, Solomon (1 Kings 5:3-5; 1 Kings 8:1-12!)
(a) What was God’s desire and purpose for dwelling with the people?
(i) Never leave or forsake us and to turn our hearts toward Him (1 Kings 8:57-60!) Glory!
4) In last week’s study, “Being Holy in and Unholy World, Follow God’s Example,” we learned that the tabernacle and temple limited the people and/or their access to God. With regard to the tabernacle, a tent dwelling, the people could only move out when the Presence of God lifted. With the temple, a dwelling made of stones, the people were limited in that they had to serve and worship where God’s Presence dwelt. Tent and stones! Patterns! Don’t miss that! Where does God dwell today (Colossians 1:27!)
a) Scripture refers to our bodies as:
i) Tents (2 Corinthians 5:1, 4!)
(1) What does Hebrews 11:9-16 say about people who live in tents? Oh, sister! God has got houses for us!
ii) Living stones (1 Peter 2:4-5!)
iii) God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16!)
b) Oh, I pray you are getting the awesome picture of the strongest desire of God’s heart! In seeking relationship, He has desired to dwell with you—you are His temple—one that is free to go out into the world as His ambassador, making God’s urgent appeal to lost mankind (2 Corinthians 5:20) and your are free to be in His Presence, worship any time and any place you so desire (Hebrews 4:16!) In fact, if you have received Christ as your Savior and Lord, it is impossible for you to ever be without Him! Behold, God makes all things new (Revelation 21:5!)
c) So, what should be our response to God’s invitation to dwell with us (Revelation 3:20-22!) Oh, let us dine with Christ!
Job 1:4-8 (Tuesday)
“His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom. One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." (NIV)
1) Look at Job’s tender heart for his children! Job was acting as priest for his family. Sacrificing for them, should they have sinned (does this remind you of Someone (John 3:16?) Don’t ever miss your opportunity to see God and Jesus the Christ in scripture!
2) What are we called in Revelation 1:-4-6? You are a priest of the Most High God! Are you making regular intercession for your family? for others? Share!
3) While Job and his family were having their traditional family reunion, probably a birthday or anniversary, what was taking place in the heavenlies?
4) Enter your accuser—satan! Does it surprise you that satan had access to God’s throne? What did he tell God he had been doing? What do you think his purpose was in going back and forth throughout the earth (1 Peter 5:8?)
a) One of my commentaries says satan does this by:
i) Attacking the Word of God (Genesis 3:1!)
ii) Snatching away God’s Word before it can seek down into someone’s heart (Matthew 13:19!)
iii) Sowing unbelievers among the true believers, seeking to cause confusion (Matthew 13:37-40!)
iv) Blinds or darkens minds (2 Corinthians 4:4!)
v) Placing temptation before us (1 Corinthians 7:5!)
vi) Opposing God’s purposes for earth and man (1 Thessalonians 2:18!)
vii) Spreading of false teaching or doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3)
viii) Persecuting Christ’s church (Revelation 2:10)
ix) Deceiving the whole world (Revelation 16:14!)
5) I hope you noted that God asked satan, “Where have you been?” Oh, rest assured, God knew where and what satan had been up to! Note the difference when God confronts one of his children!
a) Where are you? (He invites us to come out from the darkness of our sin and into His glorious light—Genesis 3:9!)
b) Where have you come from and where are you going? (God draws us to Himself by having us examine our direction in life—Genesis 16:8!)
c) Abraham! (He calls us by name! He calls us out to a new life—Genesis 22-1!)
d) Moses! Moses! (He calls us out for worship and service—Exodus 3:4-10!)
6) Reading these scriptures, it is almost as if God is intentionally drawing satan’s attention to and on Job. For what purpose? What does Job say in Job 2:8-10, 23:10? Have you ever been in God’s refining fire? Share!
7) Oh, don’t you wish God would look upon us and be able to say such worthy things? What does God specifically point out about Job? Why do you suppose God did not mention Job’s tithing, his charitable activities, his service in his church, his kindness to others, etc. (Psalms 49:16-20; Romans 4:1-5; 2 Corinthians 10:17-18; Galatians 6:14-15 and Ephesians 2:8-9?) Oh, let Jesus do the boasting for us!
Job 1:9-12 (Wednesday)
“Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.” (NIV)
1) Exactly what is satan “accusing” God of? Yes, he accuses God, too! There’s also an accusation or charge directed against Job in satan’s comments. What is it? No one is safe from satan’s accusations!
2) Dear one, I pray that you are able to grasp the absolute sovereignty of Almighty God! Nothing, absolutely nothing, can come against you unless it is divinely filtered by the hand of God (John 19:10-11!) As with Job, satan must always ask permission! Oh, one glorious day, we’ll all be able to fling every evil thought, word and deed committed against us right back into his evil face (Isaiah 54:17!) That is part of our inheritance in Christ Jesus—count on it!
3) Who attacks and who permits? Please be clear in your minds about this truth!
4) What specific limitation did God put on this attack against Job?
5) There are a couple of scripture verses that can and should comfort us in our tribulations:
a) What is meant by others for our harm, God turns around and uses it for good (Genesis 50:19-20!)
b) God works all things out for our good (Romans 8:28!)
Job 1:13-22 (Thursday)
“One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!" At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” (NIV)
1) In a single day, Job lost everything—family, possessions, servants, herds! Disaster upon disaster! Talk about a gentle, soft wind becoming a hurricane! I personally can relate in a small part to Job’s anguish. The Lord moved me away from my hometown a couple of years after becoming a Christian. I never thought I would return! However, again, in God’s great sovereignty, circumstances changed in one day to bring me and my husband back—just in time to learn that my father was terminally ill. Please hear me, this was a blessing—I will never be able to thank God enough! I saw then, and I see now how He showed His love for me and my father in miraculous ways—almost moment by moment! I would not trade that experience for anything on this earth! God is good! Still, every day going back and forth to my father’s home, I wrestled and argued with God over my father’s life It was not until I heard the sound of the heart monitor going to a flat line that I was able to accept my father’s inevitable passing! The pain was crushing—hammering against my chest. I couldn’t breathe! I truly felt the pain would kill me. When I left my father and joined those outside in the waiting room, (this is not to bring glory to myself) but the only thing I could utter was “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away!” Looking back on it now, how I wish I had continued that verse to its completion, so I will do so now: May the name of the LORD be praised forever and ever--Amen!
2) I’m sure most of you have similar heartbreaks. A child of God is not immune to suffering! Jesus told us in advance that in this world we would have trouble (John 16:33) and He told us this so that we might have peace! Have you experienced God’s peace during a storm in your life? Please share!
3) I came across a passage the other day, Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” Now, we cannot add anything to what Christ has already suffered on the cross—it is complete, finished, but do you realize that what you are going through right now is actually a part of what His experienced and suffered on the cross? This makes your passion, your suffering—my passion, my suffering—indeed, the suffering of the entire church body, even those yet to enter in—Christ’s passion and suffering!
4) I wonder how many of us have not, or would not blame God, at least in some part, for the grief(s) we bear on this earth! Yet, in all this, Job did not sin! I tremble at how I might respond if God allowed satan to come against my loved ones. I tremble because I know my weakness in this area. God forbid, I would speak one word against my God! I pray that we all would be as Job and remain faithful! Let me ask you, would your response be lesser or greater if the attack were personal or against your beloved ones?
5) Beloved of God, I pray you caught the fact that grief is NOT sin! Grief has many stages! Anger, denial, bargaining, acceptance—I’ve experienced them all! I’m sure you have, too. We can be angry and sin not (Psalms 4:4!) Please know that you are not alone, God shares in your grief and in fact, He bears them for you (Isaiah 53:4!) As if that were not enough, He has place godly brothers and sisters around you to mourn when you mourn and to help carry your burdens (Romans 12:15 and Galatians 6:2!) Remember, God has promised to turn give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for our spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3!) Glory and praise to His name!
Job 2:1-10 (Friday)
“On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” (NIV)
1) Now, the sons of God (KJV), or angels, are ministering spirits sent by God in our behalf (Hebrews 1:14!) God does not need them to tell Him what is happening in the world! No, he sends them out to serve us! They stand before God as witnesses to predestined events—not judges, not initiators, but servants of the Living God! Apparently, they presented themselves on a regular basis before God, quite probably each and every day. Remember, Jacob’s ladder/stairway dream (Genesis 28:1!) Again, we are witness to the haughtiness, the pride, the audacity of satan—how dare he enter into God’s throne room! Can’t wait to see God make a spectacle of him (Ezekiel 28:14-17!)
2) What accusation does satan raise against God and Job this meeting?
3) Who is this testing, or trial for? God, satan, Job or the world? Explain your answer.
4) Boy, to have a husband or wife like Job’s! With friends like that…. I often wonder why God allowed her to live and Job’s blessed children to die. What about you? Seriously, this is probably a very good example that satan is not personally behind every attack that comes our way—sometimes its our very own family and friends (Matthew 5:11; John 15:20!) Acts 9:1-5 makes it very clear that our persecutions very much affect our Lord! In fact, they are personally against Him!
5) Are you like Job, ready to take the bad along with the good that God gives you? Jesus reminds us in Luke 14:25-30 to consider the cost! Oh, press on! I pray none of us will allow the world ridicule Christ because we were not able to run and complete the race set before us!
6) Yesterday and today we witness two distinct ways Job did not sin. What are they? How does Colossians 3:17 speak to Job’s behavior?