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WHEN LIFE CAVES IN
Carefully Evaluate Explanations


Job 4:1-8 (Monday)
“Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied: "If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking? Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands. Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees. But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope? "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.” (NIV)
1) Sisters, the exchanges between Job and his three “friends” reveal some truths and some misconceptions about our God! The problem with Job’s “friends” were that even when they were speaking truth, they did not speak in love (Ephesians 4:15 !) These men were not sympathetic to the deep pain in Job’s heart. Rather, by their very words they brought condemnation ( Proverbs 10:11 -12 , 21, 32!) Imagine being told that your sin resulted in the loss of your family, never mind all your worldly possession. Who could bear the pain of such an accusation? As you read this week’s lesson, ask yourselves, could jealousy and a maybe a bit of self-satisfaction been at work in the hearts of these men?
2) Let’s back up and review last week’s lesson. In God’s sight, Job’s greatness did not come from his earthy possessions. Rather, Job’s greatness was the direct result of Go!, In the richness of God’s mercy and grace, God declared Job to be in right standing and blameless before Him! This was not Job’s own misguided perception. God even acknowledged Job’s blamelessness before his accuser, satan! Job was a man under the complete and full blessing of God! For reasons still unknown and unrevealed to us, or even to Job, God gave permission for satan to smite Job, and in one day, Job lost everything—children, property, possessions! As if that were not enough, God again allolwed satan to attack—this time, against Job’s own flesh, or body! We ended last week’s lesson, with Job sitting in an ash pile, scrapping the sores covering his body with broken pieces of pottery—still honoring and trusting his God! Blameless, indeed!
3) This week, we find Job still sitting in that ash heap! We’ve already witnessed Job’s wife telling him to curse God and die (Job 2:9!) Now, his “friends,” Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar come to “comfort” him in that heap. With friends like these, who needs enemies? Can anybody relate? Okay, in plain English, Eliphaz is telling Job, “Look, you have given godly counsel and even helped to lift others out of their sin, yet you are unwilling to even acknowledge your own sin and repent! Surely, you know that nothing bad ever happens to good people. Only the wicked receive evil for evil!” Oh, I’m sure satan has placed that thought in our heads a time or two (I know he has in mine!) Remember, last week, we discussed how others, quite often those closest to us, and not just satan, can come against us? Well, this is exactly what is happening to God’s blameless Job! As far as Eliphaz was concerned, Job, the accused, has been found guilty and is receiving his just punishment! Been there? Please share!
4) Perceptions and assumptions! Let’s look at Eliphaz’s perceptions and assumptions a little closer, less we ever become guilty of “consoling” our friends in such a manner:
a) Job had obviously stumbled and sinned!
b) Job was wrong to complain about his troubles since he brought them upon himself by sinning!
c) Job was being punished!
d) Job was a hypocrite!
e) Job was unrepentant!
f) The wicked are always punished in this life
i) Not true! Look around you! Quite often, the wicked live in great prosperity and even die peacefully (Ecclesiastes 8:10 -14!) Can you think of someone around you that is prospering and still unrepentant? Share how this effects your view of God.
g) And, oh, yes, people who are right with God never suffer!
i) Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 ! Still think godly men and women don’t suffer?
h) Suffering is always the result of sin!
(1) Not so! Scripture tells us, “Each heart knows its own bitterness (Proverbs 14:10 !) This is why Jesus chose to “share in our humanity (Hebrews 2:14 !) Did Jesus suffer as a result? Yes, more than we will ever know in this life! Jesus, the God Man calls us to trust and suffer with Him! Some of the reasons for our suffering include:
ii) The awesome display of God’s mighty works and power (John 9:1-3!)
iii) Suffering is sometimes the avenue God chooses to teach us to trust in Him, not ourselves or our circumstances (2 Corinthians 1:8-10; Hebrews 11:17 -19 !)
iv) Suffering deters pride, causing us to lean upon the all sufficiency of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:7-10!)
v) Suffering can actually be the tool that God uses to pull us away from sin (Job 33:19-22, 26-30!)
vi) We are called into the fellowship of Christ’s suffering (Philippians 1:29 !)
vii) Suffering shapes us into the image of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:3!)
viii) It is in our own sufferings, that we learn how to comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:1-4!)
(1) If God tests us through suffering, or in any other way, is that testing for the sake of God, or for us? Does God need to know if we have genuine faith? No! God wants us to know the depth of our own faith (Job 23:10 !)
Job 8:1-9 (Tuesday)
“Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: "How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin. But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty, if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place. Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. "Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow. " (NIV)
1) Now, not only has Job been misjudged, here we find another of Job’s “friends,” Bildad, misjudging. Yes, Bildad is also making a few assumptions, only this time they are about God’s purposes and motives! Let’s see how some might misunderstand God’s ways:
a) Why, it is unthinkable that God would allow a blameless person to suffer! It would be against His holy nature—an injustice! In fact, that would make God unrighteous!
b) God purpose is always to come to our aid and lift us up—you know, of course, it’s all about us!
c) Right standing with God always brings prosperity (watch out for this one, because it’s all over the TV and radio today!)
d) We can’t possibly know what God is about in our lives—we’re much too immature in our faith!
e) God always works in our lives the exact same way He does in others!
Job 11:13-17 (Wednesday)
“Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.” (NIV)
1) Oh, this sounds so good, doesn’t it? This is coming from Job’s third friend, Zophar! Oh, there is great truth to be found here. Over and over in His word, God promises blessings for those whose hearts pant after Him, and since it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18 ), we know God will be faithful in keeping His promises and in blessing us! What we must grasp and come to terms with is that these blessings are not always immediate! They were not for Abraham, and many of God’s great men and women of faith (Hebrews 11!) We may be called to patience in receiving our blessings, even if they are fulfilled beyond the grave! Oh, are you willing? Back to Zophar. He, too, is speaking from the position that Job has somehow sinned against God and was getting his just desserts! “Life will be brighter than noonday!” Oh, did you ever think that once you turned from your sin and became a Christian, everything would be perfect? That’s what Zophar is trying to say to Job! Sisters, nothing could be further from the truth! The moment you accept Christ you enter into the battle of your life (Ephesians 6:11 -18!) Know this, if you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s, then satan cannot touch your soul and drag you into the pit of hell with him. Glory! However, that doesn’t mean he takes his gloves come off! No, now he wants to make you miserable! He has several purposes behind every attack:
a) to thwart God’s will and purpose in your life
b) to tempt you and bring sin into your life
c) to use your transgressions (sins) to bring shame upon the name of Christ
d) to damage or destroy your testimony
e) to use you to cause others, particularly, your brothers and sisters in Christ, to stumble or become weaken in their faith
f) to hinder your intercession(s)
g) to rob you of God’s blessings in your life
h) to rob you of God’s promises
2) 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 13:20-27 (Thursday)
“Only grant me these two things, O God, and then I will not hide from you: Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply. How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff? For you write down bitter things against me and make me inherit the sins of my youth. You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.” (NIV)
1) Job has had enough of his “friends!” He has time and time again refuted their assumptions and at last they are silent! They are wrongly judged Job, but I want you to know that Job had wrongly judged the very heart of God! He felt God had imprisoned him, actually shackling him, without just cause, as if God needed to explain Himself or His ways to anyone! Here, we find Job taking his lament to God Almighty!
2) What are Job’s two requests?
3) In these passages we find several things going on in the heart of Job:
a) Questioning God’s purposes and/or motives!
b) Self-examination!
c) A willingness to repent!
d) A plea for mercy!
e) Fear!
i) of further, perhaps more intense judgment!
ii) of sins Job may not be aware of!
iii) of God forsaking him!
iv) of past sins returning to haunt him!
Job 32:1-5; 33:31-33 (Friday)
“So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.” (NIV) 33:31-33 “"Pay attention, Job, and listen to me; be silent, and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me; speak up, for I want you to be cleared. But if not, then listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom."
1) Finally, Job’s three “friends” run out of nasty, hateful things (well, at least self-righteous) things to say—they were silent! God is also silent, finding no reason to justify His actions—HE is God! In these passages, we learn that there was at least one more person on the scene—Elihu, the son of Barakel!
2) Admittedly, from all appearances it would seem that Barakel’s young son would not be the wisest of Job’s counselors. However, Elihu, speaks truth to Job, thus, preparing him to listen to what God has to say! Job was very wise to not despise this young man’s youth (1 Timothy 4:12 -16!)
3) Read verse 2. What had aroused Elihu’s anger? Was this justified? Explain.
4) Elihu, who silently stood by listening to this exchange, realized that Job’s “friends,” Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar had already condemned Job! Elihu, wisely discerned that their understanding of God’s purposes in allowing suffering were incorrect! Note Elihu words, “I want you to be cleared.” Job’s three accusers were coming from a position of feeling they were more righteous than Job—pride! Here, we see the sincerity of Elihu—only he wanted Job cleared! From what or from who?
a) Oh, you have to read a little further on and read this entire chapter. Elihu reminds Job that God doesn’t need to listen to man—man needs to listen to God! Elihu assures Job that God does speak—it many different ways, so that man will turn to Him. The problem is man doesn’t or worse, won’t listen!
b) Read verses 23-28. Who is our Mediator before God?
5) We already know God declared Job “blameless.” Trouble is, Job thought he was without blame and God was being unjust! Scripture tells us that there is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10 !) When we come face to face with the awesomeness of our God, we know instantly the magnitude of His holiness and depth our sinfulness (Exodus 3:1-6, 13-15; Exodus 33:18-23 ; Exodus 34:5-8 ; Isaiah 6:1-8 , Ezekiel 1 ; Acts 9:1-6 and Revelation 1:10-18 !) Sisters, no matter how good we think we are, we are sinners—and we must approach God fully aware of His awesome holiness and our sinful nature! There is a difference and Job needed to learn this!. Oh, come and worship the LORD!