January 12 2014 Steve Rahter Job 38 42 audio

Sunday January 12thJob 38-42So now we are nearing the end of the book of Job. We’ve seen terrible tragedy come into Job’s life and we’ve listened to Job’s three friends try to explain to Job WHY these things happened. They all agreed that Job MUST have deserved these terrible things because God is FAIR and it would be UNFAIR to let bad things happen to good people. Job defended himself each time against their accusations, but at some point he started drifting into a sort of self-righteous “I can do no wrong” attitude. Then a young man, Elihu, came along and said basically, “Job, you don’t know even the tiniest fraction about who God is and how He operates! You’d be better off praising God instead of questioning Him!”Before Job even has a chance to argue back against Elihu, an interesting thing happens in Chapter 38 Verse 1:“And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:“Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about?Pull yourself together, Job!    Up on your feet! Stand tall!I have some questions for you,    and I want some straight answers.Where were you when I created the earth?    Tell me, since you know so much!Who decided on its size? Certainly you’ll know that!Who came up with the blueprints and measurements?How was its foundation poured,    and who set the cornerstonewhile the morning stars sang in chorus    and all the angels shouted praise?Who took charge of the ocean    when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb?That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds,    and tucked it in safely at night. And said, ‘Stay here, this is your place’.Have you ever ordered the Morning to, ‘Get up’?As the sun brings everything to light,the cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked--    they’re caught in the very act!Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,    explored the caves of the deep ocean?Do you know the first thing about death? Do you have one clue regarding death’s mysteries?Do you have any idea how large this earth is?Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer.Do you know where Light comes from and where Darkness lives so you can take them by the handand lead them home when they get lost?Why, of course you know that.    You’ve known them all your life!Have you ever traveled to where snow is made, where hail is stockpiled?Can you find your way to where lightning is launched, the place from which the wind blows?Who do you suppose carves canyons    for the downpours of rain, and charts    the route of thunderstorms?And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,ice and frost?You don’t for a minute imaginethese marvels of weather just happen, do you?Do you know the first thing about the sky’s constellations and how they affect things on Earth?Can you get the attention of the clouds,    and commission a shower of rain?Can you take charge of the lightning bolts    and have them report to you for orders?Can you teach the lioness to stalk her prey    and satisfy the appetite of her cubs?And who sets out food for the ravens    when their young cry to God,    fluttering about because they have no food?Who do you think set the wild donkey free,    opened the corral gates and let him go?I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in.He grazes freely through the hills.Are you the one who gave the horse his shimmering mane?Was it through your know-how that the hawk learned to fly?Did you command the eagle’s flight?Now what do you have to say for yourself?Are you going to haul me, the Mighty One, into court and press charges?Job Answers God Job answered:“I’m speechless, in awe—words fail me.    I should never have opened my mouth!I’ve talked too much, way too much.    I’m ready to shut up and listen.”God’s Second Set of Questions I have some more questions for you,    and I want answers.Do you presume to tell me what I’m doing wrong?    Are you calling me a sinner so you can be a saint?Do you have an arm like my arm?    Can you shout in thunder the way I can?Go ahead, show your stuff.    Let’s see what you’re made of, what you can do.Unleash your outrage.Target the arrogant and bring them to their knees.Stop the wicked in their tracks! I’ll gladly step aside and hand things over to you--you can surely save yourself with no help from me! Look at the beast, Behemoth. I created him as well as you.Just look at the strength of his back,    the powerful muscles of his belly. His skeleton is made of steel,    every bone in his body hard as steel.He’s the most magnificent of all my creatures,    but I still lead him around like a lamb!Or can you pull in the sea beast, Leviathan, with your fishing pole?Can you lasso him with a rope,    or snag him with an anchor?Will you play with him as if he were your pet goldfish?    If you so much as lay a hand on him,    you won’t live to tell the story.What hope would you have with such a creature?    Why, one look at him would do you in!If you can’t hold your own against him,    how, then, do you expect to stand up to me?Who could confront me and get by with it?    I’m in charge of all this—I run this universe!42 Job answered God:“I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything.    Nothing and no one can upset your plans.You asked, ‘who is this person ignorantly second-guessing my purposes?’I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me.I made small talk about wonders way over my head.You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking.    Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’I admit I once lived by rumors of you;but now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise!God Restores Job After God had finished addressing Job, he turned to Eliphaz and said,“I’ve had it with you and your two friends. I’m fed up! You haven’t been honest either with me or about me—not the way my friend Job has. So here’s what you must do. Take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my friend Job. Sacrifice a burnt offering on your own behalf. My friend Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer. He will ask me not to treat you as you deserve for talking nonsense about me, and for not being honest with me, as he has.”Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did what God commanded. And God accepted Job’s prayer.After Job had interceded for his friends, God restored his fortune—and then doubled it! All his brothers and sisters and friends came to his house and celebrated. Each of them brought generous housewarming gifts.12-15 God blessed Job’s later life even more than his earlier life. He ended up with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand teams of oxen, and one thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first daughter Dove, the second, Cinnamon, and the third, Dark-eyes. There was not a woman in that country as beautiful as Job’s daughters. Their father treated them as equals with their brothers, providing the same inheritance.16-17 Job lived on another 140 years, living to see his children and grandchildren—four generations of them! Then he died—an old man, a full life.It’s certainly comforting to see Job not only restored to what he once had, but actually receiving DOUBLE for what he had lost!Keep in mind that Job maintained his faithfulness to God, and NEVER cursed God as Satan claimed he would, even in the midst of the worst of it.Keep in mind also that Job really never does find out WHY all of this happened. There is no indication that Job was ever given the details of Satan’s accusations against him, or the fact that God had ALLOWED Satan to test him.God vindicates Job be clearly rebuking the three friends who wanted to blame all of Job’s misfortune on his sinfulness, which definitely was not the reason. But ultimately Job learned that we have to simply trust God no matter WHAT is going on around us.Although these words were not yet written, Job came to understand, by living them out, the truth of these words from Romans 8:28“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”There’s another important element to Job’s story that we need to remember when struggles and difficulties have entered our lives. The biblical truth is found inPsalm 30:5Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.There are going to be hard times in all of our lives. I wish that wasn’t true, but it is. Jesus said “In this world you WILL have tribulation.” But he also said “be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world”! (John 16:33)Job was an overcomer. And in that way he was a foreshadower of Jesus, who overcame the cross and overcame death itself. Hebrews 12:1-3 reminds us:Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.As we run this race of life, we have Job as our witness, we have Jesus as our witness, we have hundreds of thousands of faithful believers watching us, cheering for us, and saying “you can overcome temptation and hardship and trials! We did it, and you can too!”That’s why John wrote these words to us in his first letter:1 John 2:13 I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. 1 John 2:14 I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.1 John 5:5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?As Pastor Bob Sorge explained, God could have done a worse thing to Job than allowing Satan to attack him twice…“God Could Have Left Job Alone”!Then Job would have never known God in the deep, true way that he did as a result of his tragedy.