This Is Us - Job 3-31: Righteous Questioning

The book of Job tells the story of a man named Job as he wrestles with God and his friends regarding God’s justice and human suffering. We are told that Job is from an unknown land far from Israel called Uz and is a man of great wealth and prosperity. The reader is not given a time period when this book took place or even the author’s name. Many scholars believe this omission of historical detail is intentional, which forces the reader to focus solely on the story of Job and the difficult questions that Job is dealing with. At the beginning of this book, God declares Job the most righteous man on Earth with flawless character and perfect integrity. Satan argues that Job will curse God and turn away from Him if Satan is allowed to take away all that Job has been given. Satan takes away Job’s children and all of his wealth in chapter 1 and then afflicts Job with terrible boils in chapter 2. Chapter 2 ends with Job and his three friends sitting in the dust, mourning his suffering together with torn robes.

Chapters 3-31 in the book of Job consist entirely of conversations between Job and three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. The format of these chapters is this: Job speaks, his friends respond, Job responds, his friends respond, etc. This cycle occurs three times with each friend except Zophar speaking three times - it goes on for a while.

Job’s Friends’ Explanation for Job’s Suffering: Job’s friends believe that God is just and orchestrates the world according to the strict principle of justice. Job’s friends believe that if Job were truly righteous, he would not have gone through this immense suffering. They believe that he should admit to sin, repent, and be blessed by God. This line of thinking is very common, even today. For example, the United States Department of Justice (in principle) is designed to ensure everyone operates according to the nation’s laws and is punished when laws are broken. Humans understand this concept easily: If you break the law, you will be punished, or in other words: Bad things should happen to bad people. Job’s friends, as well as many people today, believe that God operates the world in this manner. Friends’ Conclusion: God is just and runs the world according to justice; therefore Job is being punished for his sin.

Job’s Struggle: Job knows that he is a righteous man (1:8, 2:3), and Job also knows that his suffering is not a punishment for sin (1:9-11, 2:4-5). Job is human and is limited to a human's understanding of justice that was mentioned above. Therefore, Job believes that there are only two options that can explain his suffering. Either God is not just, which Job himself states is not possible, or God does not rule the world in a just manner. Job challenges how God shows justice in the world multiple times, asking God why wicked people prosper during their life while the righteous are humiliated and defeated by evil. Job struggles and refuses to give in to his friends and ultimately decides that he needs to take his grievance to God directly. Job’s Conclusion: I don’t understand how a just God allows the righteous to suffer. I want an answer from God.

God explains later in the book that His purposes are never for evil, but they are often beyond a human’s ability to understand, which can lead to doubts. Many Christians believe that doubt and questions are a sign of weak faith. Job clearly shows that wrestling over these questions happens to even the most mature believers (God literally called Job the most righteous man in the world). I believe that this book invites the believer to take every question, doubt, and fear to God personally. God is not intimidated or scared by any question that humans can pose. Often, we will not understand the big picture because we inherently lack the wisdom and understanding of the God of Creation; however, He is willing to give answers to those who seek Him. Let’s not avoid or internalize doubts that will inevitably arise during our time in this sinful world, but rather let us take our righteous questions to the only One who truly knows the answers.

Kingdom Living

The seventh chapter of Matthew is the culmination of the famous Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is a sprawling passage of nothing but the words of Jesus, three full chapters of some of His’ most famous teachings. They are theologically rich, beautifully structured, and culturally stunning in their opposition to the religious teachers of Israel at the time. At the core of Jesus’ teachings was the idea that religious tradition and superficial, outward displays of piety were meaningless, and undermined the original Law God had provided for His people. Instead, the more important focus had to be on the heart behind the actions. 

Jesus closes this message with two important directives for His followers. As we have explored Kingdom living in our most recent sermon series, let us take a brief look at these two sets of instructions:

1. Ask, Seek, Knock (Matthew 7:7-12)

Jesus here challenges the listener not to be a passive observer of what God is doing on earth, but to be active participants in His work. The verbs here indicate an ongoing action, a continued effort of repeated petitioning of God to act and provide. He also encourages us to trust that He alone truly knows how to grant the most wonderful gifts to His children, beyond what we could possibly imagine for ourselves. Beyond simply the courage to ask God to meet our needs, however, a primary obstacle to this command is to allow our hearts to be fashioned after God’s own, so that our requests and petitions become less about self-indulgence and superficial material possessions and more about the well-being of our fellow man. Rather than viewing this passage as an invitation to some sort of heavenly Walmart, we should read it as a paradigm shift, in which our needs become secondary to the will of the Father, and our prayers and petitions grow to mirror His own desires for His children.

2. Building on Solid Ground (Matthew 7:24-27)

After warning his listeners about the broad path to destruction and the imminent danger of false teachers, Jesus closes his sermon with an appeal to wisdom. Being both fully God and fully man, Jesus was more aware than anyone ever of the tendency of humankind to hear a message and promptly dismiss it, or to pick only the parts that we want to hear and apply to our lives. The analogy He provides is of two men who build their homes on very different foundations: the wise man (the one who heeds Jesus’ message) builds his house on rock, while the foolish man (who hears but fails to respond or change after encountering Jesus) has built his house on sand. Jesus then completes the analogy by describing a great storm, a time of chaos and destruction, and the very different outcomes for the two builders. Our application for Kingdom living in this passage is perfectly clear: to not only engage with God’s word as consumers, but to put it into practice and make it a very literal “foundation” for our life decisions. 

These verses reveal the heart of Jesus, and the invitation He offers to each of us: to partner with Him in helping to advance his Father’s Kingdom here on earth. May we as individuals and as a church family make this a priority in 2020. And may we encourage others at every opportunity and recognize that this is not something we have to do on our own.

Too Familiar with Christmas

Luke 1 is quite an impactful opening of the Gospel.  It opens with snippets from the life of Zacharias.  Zacharias is such a great example of many Christians today, I being no exception.  The story of Zacharias and his interaction with the angel Gabriel is a beautiful reminder of what happens in our hearts as we walk with the Lord. I’d encourage us to read this story with fresh eyes and open hearts (perhaps for the hundredth time).  If we look closely, we might discover that the Holy Spirit is seeking to awaken us to the true meaning of Christmas that we can easily treat too casual. 

What I noticed quickly in Luke 1:5-7 is that Zacharias and Elizabeth were blameless but barren.  They were doing the right things, but yet experiencing the undesirable results.  That might be one of the greatest ways the Lord leads us to being more faithful.  We may constantly find ourselves in situations where we are challenged to do the right thing, knowing that we will experience undesirable results.  Yet, in those moments we can be confident that God is watching and will one day be more important than that temporary result we were longing for.  The story of Christmas is sometimes best appreciated during times when we are blameless but still barren. 

However, the observation that really connected with me is found in verses 8-20. Zacharias is serving in the temple of the Lord. He had been chosen to burn incense before the Lord which was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Zacharias is praying and there is a multitude outside praying at the same time.  He enters the temple and becomes troubled by what he saw.  Have there been prayers you have been praying for so long, that you really don’t expect God to answer any more?  You still pray them, maybe sometimes with a little more fervor than others, but you really have given up.  That is Zacharias.  He is the guy heavily involved in service to the Lord but really kind of going through the motion.  He is certainly a Godly example worth following and one you’d want your daughter to marry.  He is still passionate but beneath the surface there is a level of unbelief. Now this not a salvation issue, but it is likely an area where the disappointment is too heavy to face so we bury it.  I connect with Zacharias because I am he.  There are seasons of unbelief that sneak up unaware.  I still believe that God is able, but I wonder if He wants to do it for me. Yet through the pain, God shows up and does something that surpasses our expectations.

Christmas is about God showing up at the perfect time to do something so much greater than what you and I were asking for.  That is what God does in Zacharias life and perhaps is doing in yours.  There is more I’ll share later but ponder that for a moment for now.