Chapter 9 God Speaks to Job
Most people I know have never read the book of Job – it is a daunting 42 chapters long and majors on the theme of suffering – that in itself puts many people off trying to understand this major piece of literature. I do not intend to do a major study of Job, but just enough to give us a flavour of what the book is all about and then to look at how God communicates with Job.
How old is the book of Job? Many Biblical scholars reckon that it is the oldest piece of written material in the Bible. Why then is it found in the middle and not at the beginning of the Old Testament? The Old Testament is artificially, but logically, drawn up into different segments:
- The first five books are the books of the Law and very much books that are concerned with beginnings.
- The next large segment of books depict the history of the Hebrews from the time they enter the Promised Land until the time they come back from exile.
- Then we have the 5 books of Wisdom Literature, beginning with Job, the oldest of these books.
- This is then followed by the Prophets.
What is the main thrust of Job? It might be better to ask who it is about. It is principally about two people – Job and God. The first few verses tell us a great deal about Job:
“1 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. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 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.
4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be 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.” Job 1:1-5
What does this passage tell us about Job?
First of all he was blameless. There are few people that we can say this about. He was considered to be a man who took his relationship to God and to life very seriously and he tried [and to a great extent, succeeded] to live a life that was right.
Second, he is described as a man of integrity. What is integrity? It describes a fully integrated life. He did not say one thing and do another. People could look at him and see consistency in his words and actions and within his heart.
Third he was a man who feared God – perhaps this is the basis of the first two things that are said about him. This is not language about God that we moderns are comfortable with, but it is essential that we have an understanding of God for the great and awesome person he is. We are to have the most profound respect for God otherwise we will treat him as we would do anyone else and that would never be appropriate. The concept of “fear” is that of having a profound respect for our Creator.
Fourth, he stayed away from evil. He deliberately and consciously kept sin at arm’s length. This fourth descriptor of Job’s character stems from the first three ways that he is portrayed in this small biography of his character.
When I read this potted biography I am awe struck by the character of this man, but the opening introduction wants us to know more. He is a very wealthy man – indeed the wealthiest in the region where he stays. Being rich can often be a trap that prevents us from developing a healthy relationship with God, but this is not always the case. It is, as Paul says, the love of money that is the root of all evil. The poor man can love money every bit as much as the wealthy man and believe that all his happiness will become possible if only he had money. Obviously Job’s incredible wealth had not impeded his relationship with God.
Job loved his family. He loved to celebrate with his family – especially their birthdays. He was a man who cared deeply for his children and prayed for them and interceded for them too. We have therefore a picture of a very good man who is known by God for his goodness and integrity. However, God allows him to be subjected to a time of incredible suffering, where he loses his wealth, his family and his health. What was Job’s response?
“20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 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.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Job 1:20-22
There is integrity in all of Job’s initial responses. Job also had good friends who came to be with him and initially comfort him. They are essentially good men and history has been far too hard on them. They were appalled at his suffering and at first they simply sat with their friend and said nothing. But every person has their breaking point and Job eventually cursed the day he was born! Notice that I did say everyone had their breaking point and this was just as true of Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, there was a breaking point where Jesus wanted escape from his potential suffering – “If it is possible take this cup from me!” On the Cross he showed great forbearance and grace and then came another breaking point when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” To break like this is not a sin and a lack of integrity on the part of Job or Jesus – it is simply to be confused and hurt and human.
A long conversation then begins between Job and his three friends. The friends were genuinely trying to find an answer to Job’s suffering but the longer the conversation goes on the more they are concerned with their own correct opinion than with Job as a person. Job gets increasingly frustrated with them and so the conversation goes on chapter after weary chapter between Job and his friends as they try to get to the bottom of Job’s suffering. There is one bright moment of faith and insight from Job in chapter 19, roughly half way through the book:
“21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,
or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19:21-27
This is one of the most astonishing passages in the Old Testament because it very clearly speaks of the final condition of every believer. I have just been listening to it being sung as part of Handel’s “Messiah” and it still sounds as majestic today as it did when I first heard it as an agnostic teenager. Here is a man who believed that he might die. He has been torn apart by doubts about himself and his relationship with God, and through the clouds there comes a shaft of light. Listen to what Job is telling us – hold on to these words the next time you find yourself in a dark place. This is God speaking to Him and to us.
“I know my Redeemer lives.” What a wonderful description of who God is. A Redeemer is one who sets us free and who pays a personal price to do so. This is surely an anticipation of Christ at least 2000 years before his coming. Job recognised that the world always needs a redeemer. Job realised [despite his own personal goodness and righteousness] that he still needs a redeemer – someone who will pay a price for his sins. What powerful and beautiful language – does that part of verse 25 not simply lift you up and bring joy to your heart? Is it not an apt description of the third day when the Redeemer who went to the Cross to die for our sins, now lives!!
“And that in the end he will stand on the earth.” Wow! It just gets better and better. Here is the Incarnation and the Second Coming of Christ in one phrase! God, our Redeemer in the Person of the Son, stands upon the earth. Hope stands upon the earth. Life stands upon the earth. Freedom stands upon the earth. Forgiveness, mercy, grace all stand upon the earth. He has come – the Kingdom has come! It also speaks of the certainty of the Second Coming of Christ – he will come again and he will stand upon the earth and every knee will bow before him and every tongue will confess him as Lord. O what a glorious day when the King shall return – a day never to be feared by the children of God!
But, it gets even better! “26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another.” What is Job saying? Even after his skin has been destroyed – after his body has been long dead – he will see his Redeemer stand upon the earth. As part of the host of heaven did he rejoice at the events of Bethlehem, wonder at the Cross and rejoice in the victory of the resurrection? Yet a greater day will come for Job and for us – in a real, risen, body, he with all of the people of God will see the glorious return of Jesus – what a day it will be!
As I thought on these things my heart came to the same conclusion as Job – “how my heart yearns within me!” Something burns within me, uplifts me, fills me with hope and longing. What has happened here? A gift has been given to Job in the midst of his suffering [he will return to his suffering] that takes him outside of his immediate experience. God is speaking to him in his own mind true words of hope and inspiration. The next time you find yourself in a dark place, ask the Spirit to bring back to you, the hope of what you have committed yourself to. Go to passages like this and speak them over and over to your soul. Let God speak hopefully to you!
For another 18 chapters we listen to Job in his unenviable suffering and his friends as they speak back and forth and try to understand what is happening. Then God speaks and he speaks in an unmistakable manner. I would love to quote every verse of chapters 38-42, but instead allow me to summarise with a few verses:
God Speaks:
1 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy? [38:1-7]
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years! [38:16-21]
1 The LORD said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the LORD:
4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”
6 Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm:
7 “Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
8 “Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendour,
and clothe yourself in honour and majesty. [40:1-10]
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I take back everything I have said
and repent in dust and ashes.” [42:1-5]
God is unrelenting in his rebuke of both Job and his friends. In this remarkable passage God is shouting very clearly – “I am God, in all of my glory and majesty – I am not to be brought down to your level or have my will questioned! Your place is to trust me whatever you are called to experience in life.”
There are times when we simply have to be humble and stand before God in awe and listen to the majesty of his voice. I remember when I became a Christian I wanted to know everything and so I devoured my Bible and Christian books. I was excited about going to university in order to spend years exploring God and the meaning of life. Then I began to realise that God was not an idea, concept or reality simply to be explored! He is a person to be loved, valued, adored, worshipped and followed. Indeed I arrived at a place where there was nowhere my mind could go – it was like standing at the edge of a precipice and realising there was nowhere left to go – God was God in his infinite majesty and I was Iain Greenshields, a poor, limited sinner who knew much, but in knowing much became aware of how little I really knew – the chasm was not just great, it was infinite. What a release. What a good place to be in – to stand as a humble man before the great Redeemer!
It makes me laugh when I hear the endless speculations of agnosticism or scientific atheism speaking with such confidence, yet relatively such ignorance. How many universes are there? What like is a black hole? What is it like to see a star implode? What lies beyond the far reaches of the universe? What is the human heart like? How can we ever understand the mind? What is the future? Is there life after death? What like is heaven? We speculate – He knows! He knows and is certain about the future he has prepared for us with greater things that we can ever imagine.
There are times that God humbles us by speaking to us and he does so because he loves us. But there is one more wonderful part of this story and it is not the restoring of Job’s fortunes, but how they were restored. We are told that God is angry at Job’s friends for the way they misrepresented both Job and Himself. Did Job feel a sense of personal justification and satisfaction that he had been vindicated and they had been humbled?
“My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.” [42:8-10]
What confidence God had in Job – not for a minute did he doubt that he would pray for his friends. I would love the Lord to have that same confidence in me!!! Could Job have refused? Yes, but he would have become like the Unmerciful Servant in Jesus’ parable. Notice that when Job prayed for his friends that it was then he Lord restored his fortunes.
One last thought from this man’s experience. Is God speaking to you and asking you to forgive and pray for someone in your life? Your failure to forgive and pray for that person is blocking God’s blessing from coming into their life and your life.