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<h1><keyword>Book of Job</keyword></H1>
<title>Why do men suffer</title>
<AUTHOR>BoBobBrain contributor</author>
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<H2>PART ONE </H2>
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous," says scripture.ÿ "I am the
Eternal.....
I create evil," says Isaiah 45:5,7.ÿ How can this be?ÿ Did Satan thwart
God's purpose?ÿ Was God unable to prevent it?ÿ The real meaning of the book
of Job brings the true answer.
ÿÿÿ Thousands of years ago, there was a man named Job.ÿ He lived, as you
live today, for a purpose.ÿ And the solution of this question is made clear
by the life experiences of Job.ÿ Many know the story, but few understand its
meaning.
ÿÿÿÿ Job was a wealthy man - the wealthiest in all the East.ÿ Solomon may have
possessed greater wealth.ÿ But, as Solomon was the wisest man who ever
lived, so Job was the most righteous.ÿ
ÿÿÿÿ "There was," begins the scriptual record, "a man once in the land of Uz,
whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared
God and shunned evil.ÿ He had seven sons and three daughters; also in
livestock
he possessed seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five
hundred pair of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, besides a very large
household;
so that this man was the greatest man in all the East"ÿ (Job 1:1-3, Moffatt
translation and Authorized Version).
ÿÿÿÿ "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves
before the Eternal, and Satan came also among them."ÿÿ And the Eternal said
unto Satan, Whence comest thou?ÿ Then Satan answered the Eternal ,and said,
From going to and fro the Earth, and from walking up and down in it.
"And the Eternal said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that
there is none like him in the Earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that
fearest
God and escheweth (shuns) evil?"ÿ (Verses 6-8 A.V., except "Eternal" from
Moffatt)ÿÿÿÿ "Satan answered, "But is it for nothing that Job reverences God?
Have you
not hedged him safely in, his house and all he has?ÿ You have prospered him,
his business, and his flocks are teeming on the land.ÿ Only put out your hand,
touch whatever he possesses, and see if he will not curse you to your face!"
(Verses 9-11, Moffatt, except "Job" and "Satan" from A.V.)
ÿÿÿÿ Notice that Satan couldn't point out one imperfection in the man's
righteousness.ÿ Even God said it was perfect.ÿ Yes, undoubtedly Job was the
most righteous man who ever lived.ÿ But Satan tried to get around it.ÿ He
argued
that it paid Job to be righteous.ÿ Satan argued, just take away from him what
he has, and the man will lose his temper and start cursing God.ÿ Then God
deliberately permitted Satan to take away Job's possessions and put him
to the test.ÿ "Then said the Eternal to Satan, "There !ÿ I leave allÿ he has
within
your power; but lay no hand upon the man himself"ÿ (Verse 12, Moffatt).
Notice that Satan did this with God's permission.ÿ Satan was the active agent,
but he did it with God's express permission.ÿ He could go just as far in
inflicting
evil as God permitted, and no further.ÿ God set a limit on how far Satan could
go.
There is no contest here between God and Satan, no equality.ÿ He gives the
orders, grants permission, and sets the limitations.ÿ "So, away went Satan
from the presence of the Eternal."
ÿÿÿÿ Then one day a servant came running to Job with the startling news that
Arabs in a foray had carried off all his oxen and asses.ÿ Even while he was
still talking, in dashed another servant shouting that lightning had just
struck
and burned up all the sheep, goats, and shepherds.ÿ While he was yet
speaking, another rushed in breathlessly announcing three parties of Chaldeans
in a raid upon the camels had carried them off, slaying all the servants
except
the one who escaped to bring the news.ÿ And even while he was yet speaking
in burst another.ÿ "Your sons and daughters" he exclaimed, "were eating and
drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, when a whirlwind swept
across
the desert and struck the four corners of the house, till it fell upon the
young
folk; they are dead; and I alone escaped to tell you" (verses 12-19, Moffatt).
Now Job was stripped of all his great wealth, and all his children were
killed.
Did Job blame this ill-fortune upon God?ÿ Did he lose his temper and curse
God?
Did he sin, as Satan expected?ÿ "Then Job rose, tore his tunic, shaved his
head, and dropped upon the ground in humble worship, crying, Naked I came
from my mothers womb, and naked I must return: the Eternal gave, the Eternal
has
taken - blessed be the Eternal"ÿ In all this Job did not sin, nor did he give
offense
to God" (verses 20-22, Moffatt)ÿ Notice that Job attributed all to God.ÿ The
wealth
he had, God gave.ÿ The good, the prosperity, all came from God.ÿ Also "The
Eternal has taken"ÿ The Eternal was responsible for the disaster.ÿ Nothing
happens contrary to God's purpose.
ÿÿÿÿ One day the sons of God again came to present themselves before the
Eternal, and among them came Satan.ÿ "Where have you been ?, said the
Eternal to the Adversary; and the Adversary answered, "Roaming here and there,
roving about the Earth."ÿ "Then the Eternal said to Satan, "Have you noticed
that
there is no one like my servant Job on the Earth, a blamelessÿ and an upright
man, who reverences God and shuns evil?ÿ He still holds to his loyalty; it was
idle of you to entice me to undo him"ÿ But the Adversary answered, "He has
saved his own skin!ÿ A man will let all he has go, to preserve his life.ÿ Only
put
out your hand, touch his flesh and bones, and see if he will not curse you to
your face" Job 2:1-5, Moffatt.)ÿÿ "So the Eternal said to Satan, He is in your
power;
only, spare his life!" (Verse 6 Moffatt)ÿ Satan could go no further than God
specifically authorized.ÿ God did permit this evil, we shall soon see why.
So, "Away went the Adversary from the Eternal's presence, and he smote Job
with painful ulcers from the sole of his foot to to the crown of his head,
till Job
took a potsherd to scrape himself.ÿ "As he sat among the ashes, his wife said
to him, "Still holding to your loyalty?ÿ Curse God, though you die for it!"
But Job
retorted to his wife, "You are talking like an impious fool.ÿ Are we to take
good
from God's hand, and not evil too?"ÿ Is this a sin to charge the evil, as well
as
the good, to God?ÿ "In all this," answers God's Word, "Job sinned not with his
lips."ÿ Charging this evil to God was no sin, just the truth.ÿ "Now, when
Job's
three friends heard of all the trouble that had befallen him, they came, each
from
his own home, Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Maan;
they arranged to go and condole with him, to comfort him.ÿ But when they
caught
sight of him at a distance and could not recognize him, they wept aloud; every
man of them wore his tunic and flung dust on his head.ÿ For seven days and
seven nights they sat beside him on the ground ; none said a word to him, for
they saw how terrible was his anguish" (Job 2:9-13 Moffatt)ÿ Here is anguish
almost beyond description.ÿ Satan inflicted it, and God permitted it, and
therefore
is responsible.ÿ In the long conversation that followed between Job and his
three friends, a conversation occupying the next 34 chapters in the Bible,
Job's
friends blaimed it all on Job.ÿ Their idea was was a good deal like many
people
believe today.ÿ Since God is good, it was impossible to attribute this evil to
God.
But Job continually denied his friends' allegations.ÿ Continually his own
righteousness he upheld and maintained.ÿ He attributed it all to God, without
imputing any blame or fault to God.ÿ Job understood God's great purpose being
worked out here below.ÿ And it is important that we understand .ÿ For here
Job,
as one individual is used as an illustration for our learning today, typical
of
all the mass suffering we see about us in this world today.
ÿÿÿÿ After all these long conversations run themselves out, God Himself takes
a hand in the conversation.ÿ Now we begin to see why this afflictionÿ had come
to Job.
ÿÿÿÿ Then the Eternal answered Job out of a storm, saying, "Who darkens my
designs with a cloud of thoughtless words?ÿ Confront me like a man; come,
answer these My questions'" (Job 38:1-3).ÿ Some authorities believe that Job
was the architect and director of the of the building of the Great Pyramid,
still
one of the largest buildings on earth, and prior to the construction of the
Woolworth
building, the tallest.ÿ That Job was proud of his righteousness is obvious.
That
he also might have been puffed up over constructing the world's greatest
building
clears up much that God says now to him.ÿ Job was well aware of his
righteousness.ÿ God now proceeded to deflate his ego.ÿ Can it be possible God
now compares his creation of the earth to the comparatively insignificant
accomplishment of building the Great Pyramid?ÿ Its interesting to keep this
possability in mind.
ÿÿÿÿ "When I founded the earth," God opened up on Job, "where were you then?"
Answer me that , if you have wit to know!ÿ Who measured the earth?ÿ Do you
know that?ÿ Who stretched the builders line on it?ÿ What were its pedestals
placed on?ÿ Who laid the cornerstone, when the morning-stars were singing,
and all the angels chanted in their joy?" (Verses 4-7)ÿ It is significant that
a
pyramid is the only kind of building on earth where the cornerstone is the top
stone, the last stone laid at the completion of the building.ÿ And here God
represents the symbolic "cornerstone"ÿ of the earth as being laid at its
completion
when the angels shouted for joy.ÿ And so God continued to deflate poor Job.
Job may have been the most righteous man on earth, yet how insignificant he
was compared to God.
<H2>PART TWO</h2>
ÿÿ Man was created to need God.ÿ Man cannot live his full life, fulfill his
mission,
or be happy, unless he keeps himself in his right relationship with God.ÿ That
is the first lesson man needs to learn and keep ever in mind.
ÿÿÿÿ A first principle in character, in the purpose of our existance, is to
exhalt and
worship only God, to humble the self, to realize man's utter helplessness, and
his total dependence on God.
ÿÿÿÿ " Who helped shut in the sea," God asked, "...when I swathed it in mists,
and
swaddled it in clouds of darkness, when I fixed its boundaries... saying, Thus
far,
and no further!ÿ Here your proud waves shall not pass!" ( Job 38 Verses 8-11)
"Have you ever roused in the morning, given directions to the dawn?...What
path
leads to the home of Light, and where does Darkness dwell?ÿ Can you conduct
them to their fields?... Have you grasped earth in all its breadth?ÿ How large
is it?
Tell me, if you know that! (Verses 12-18.)ÿ "Can you go up to the Pleiades
(cluster
of stars) in a cluster, or loose the chains of Orion?ÿ Can you direct the
signs of the Zodiac, or guide the constellations of the Bear?ÿ Can you control
the skies?ÿ Can
you describe their sway over the earth? (Verses 31-33)ÿ God does all these
things.
How weak, impotent and insignificant is man, even the most righteous man- Job.
How Job must have begun to shrivel up in his own estimation.ÿ Smaller and
smaller
Job shrank, as God continued.ÿ Job didn't seem too important now.
ÿÿÿÿ "Who then," God is not through yet- " is able to stand before ME!ÿ Who
hath
prevented me, that I should repay him?ÿ Whatsoever is under the whole heaven
is mine..." (Job 41:10.11ÿ A.V.) .ÿ And so God continued to bring down Job's
self righteous importance,ÿ to show the unmatched, awesome magnitude of God,
through four chapters, before He finished.ÿ By the time God finished, Job's
estimation of himself was nil.ÿ All through his conversations with his three
friends,
Job stoutly maintained his own righteousness, his self importance.ÿ Even
though
Satan had taken away his wealth, his children, even though reduced to a
pitiful
sight, covered with nauseating boils, Job's own righteousness he maintained.
Job was able to maintain his case against Satan and his friends.ÿ But now he
could
not answer God.ÿ Job's trouble was not what he had done, but what he was--
self righteous.ÿ The self in Job had never died.ÿ In just five verses of Job's
conversations, he used the personal pronoun 15 times (Job 27:2-6); and in the
29th chapter he used it 50 times.ÿ Now, for the first time, he began to
realize the truth, he began to catch a vision of God.ÿ "Then Job answered the
Eternal and
said," I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be
witholden
from thee.ÿ I thoughtlessly confused the issues; I spoke without intelligence
of
wonders far beyond my ken...I had heard of thee by hearsay, but now mine eyes
have seen thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job
42:1-3, 5-6 A.V. and Moffatt).
ÿÿÿÿ That was Job's surrender to God, a surrender every human must make before
he is converted, before God's purpose in him can be fulfilled.ÿ A man may be
naturally good, but even the self righteousness of a Job, God says, is like a
filthy rag to Him.ÿ The only righteousness that is really good is the
righteousness
of God, imparted to us by faith.ÿ Job had at last learned his lesson.ÿ Just
human goodness is not enough.ÿ The only goodness that is good is God's own
goodness,
imparted, through God's Holy Spirit, within us.ÿ All true righteousness comes
from God.ÿ We all have this great lesson to learn.ÿ It's the one supreme
lesson of life.
To learn it, and conform to it is the purpose of human existance.
to be continued........
<H2>PART THREE</h2>
Job's calamity and great suffering proved a great blessing to him in the
end.
Double prosperity and eternal happiness came of it. For, after he repented,
and
came to really know God, he was given another seven sons and three daughters,
and twice the material possessions he had before. "So the Eternal blessed the
latter end of Job more than his beginning," (Job 42:12, A.V.) And verse 11
speaks of "all the evil that the Eternal had brought upon him." Satan had
never
upset God's program, never altered God's purpose. In Job 42:2, the alternate
marginal translation of the original inspired Hebrew words is: " no purpose of
thine can be restrained." Almighty God is supreme in the universe. Supreme
not only in love and in power, but in wisdom. There is divine wisdom in God's
permitting Satan to afflict Job. Out of all this experience of suffering, Job
was humbled, his ego deflated, his self-pride removed. It hurt to have these
things torn
out of his character. Job suffered, even as you and I suffer today. But he
was
brought to repentence, surrender and dependence upon God, a filling of God's
spirit, without which he never could have known real happiness, never could
have attained eternal life.
All Job originally had was material wealth, possessions and more human
righteousness. Now Job had double the material possessions, but infinitely
greater, he now had the supreme security of the faith of God, and that true
source of happiness, reliance upon the Supreme One and the indwelling of all
His attributes. God's spirit in us is the only thing that will satisfy the
heart-hunger.
The only thing that can warm, fill, and energize with happiness and joy,
the human soul.
Now we are ready to see and understand the true answer to our questions.
The real answer was brought out by Job during his conversion, even as it is
illustrated by the experience of his life. "If a man die, shall he live
again?" asked
Job. (Job 14:14) Here is the answer to all our questions: " All the days
of my
appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will
answer
thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands" The part of what
Job said
that is most often overlooked is the part that answers the questions of this
story.
" THOU WILT HAVE A DESIRE TO THE WORK OF THINE HANDS". Job knew
he was merely the work of God's hands. Merely a clay model, which God, the
Master Potter, was to mold, fashion and reshape. Let Isaiah explain it: "We
are
all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we
all
do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away....But now,
O Eternal, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we
all
are the work of thy hand" (Isaiah 64:6-8).
Our own righteousness will not save us. We must repent, surrender
unconditionally to God, come to Him through Jesus Christ as personal Savior.
Then God promises to beget us with His Holy Spirit, actually put His Spirit
within
us. His Spirit is His very life, love, understanding, wisdom, power, faith
and
righteousness. We drink in, through His Spirit, His nature and His character.
Through a long life of overcoming self, of growing spiritually through
the very
power of God imparted to us, we develop spiritually ready to be finally Born
of
God. By a resurrection, or instantaneous conversion from mortal to immortal.
From human to divine, from weakness to power, from dishonor to Glory.
( I Cor. 15:50-54; I John 3:1,2).
What about all these human sufferings which work character within us?
The Apostle Paul settled that: "For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present
time not worthy to be compared with the Glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the mainfestation of
the
Sons of God" (Romans 8:18-19)
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