Feeling Hopeless

If you've been here for the past three weeks, you'll know that we've looked at chapters 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3.

And what we learned there is that by God's own admission, Job was a blameless and an upright man,

who, God himself said, fears God and shuns evil.

And so God gave Satan permission to take away from Job his wealth, his family, and in the end, even his health.

To show that Job really, as God said, is like no other man, and that his faith is genuine.

And Job proved God right.

He responded to all of this with the words, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

May the name of the Lord be praised.

And the Bible says that in all of this, Job did not sin in what he said.

And we're now in the main part of the book after that prologue, which is all written in poetry,

from chapter 3 that we looked at last week, all the way to the last chapter in the book, 42.

Rather than narrating events, the author uses poetry to report to us the words of Job,

the words of his friends, there's four of them, and the words of God himself.

And what we saw last week in chapter 3 was Job's desperate first speech.

And today we start looking at his friends' speeches.

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, to begin with, will all have something to say to Job.

And the way it works is that one of them speaks, like we saw with Eliphaz in chapters 4 and 5,

and then Job will reply, like he does today in chapters 6 and 7.

And there are three, sorry, two full cycles with the three of them and Job going back and forth.

And then there will be more speeches with a fourth friend and that God himself will speak.

Seven days and seven nights his friends sat with Job.

They were in shock.

They couldn't even recognize him when they saw him.

They wept, they tore their robes, and they sat with him.

And no one said a word, not one word, for seven days,

because they could see, the Bible says, how great his suffering was.

But now Job has spoken.

He's let out all of his pain,

and he's cursed the day that he was born,

in his lament, in chapter 3.

And so now the friends are going to give their two cents.

The friends who were supposed to act as wise counselors,

but will in fact prove themselves quite the disappointment for Job.

To the point that God himself at the end will tell them that he is not pleased with them.

Above all, what is missing in these dialogues

between Job and his friends is one thing.

Hope.

There is no hope, you might have noticed in the wisdom that Eliphaz has to offer.

And there is no hope in Job's reply to him either.

So today I have three points for us,

as we look at these four chapters.

All without hope.

Hopeless religion.

Hopeless friendship.

And hopeless suffering.

Let's begin with hopeless religion.

Job's friends have a very clear view of the world,

which is in line with the Jewish tradition.

And it's basically determinism.

Determinism means that everything that happens

was already determined by events that happened before that.

And so in this case, they have a very simple equation.

You are faithful, you prosper.

You sin, you're afflicted.

Which isn't too different from today's prosperity gospel.

Eliphaz makes it clear that he embraces this worldview

in chapter 4, verses 7 and 8.

Read with me, 4, 7, 8.

Consider now who being innocent has ever perished.

Where were the upright ever destroyed?

As I have observed,

those who plough evil and those who sow trouble reap it.

So Eliphaz is reminding his friend Job

of these deterministic truths

that probably Job himself had believed in up until this point.

Job, you reap what you sow.

Remember?

And Eliphaz allegedly even received a vision about it.

A revelation that we see in chapter 4, verses 12 to 16.

He describes what seems to be a very scary vision that came to him.

He struggles to sleep.

There's even a spirit gliding past his face.

It's a chilling experience, he says,

that makes his hair stand on end.

But he builds all this tension as he retells the vision.

But when the revelation finally comes in verse 17,

it's quite disappointing, don't you think?

It says,

Can a mortal be more righteous than God?

So all the vision reveals is that man cannot be more righteous than God.

In fact, he goes on to say in the following verses,

man is weak, is fragile, and God cannot put any trust in him.

So man is mortal, basically.

We don't know where Eliphaz thinks this revelation comes from.

He doesn't really say.

And if he really had a vision in the first place at all.

But it wouldn't seem like a vision that would come from God

because of how hopeless it is.

What it does achieve is making Eliphaz's position clear.

He thinks that Job is in trouble because he sinned.

So you, Job, must stop declaring your innocence

because no innocent was ever destroyed.

You, Job, have to stop declaring your innocence

because a mortal cannot be more righteous than God.

If God is afflicting you,

then it must mean that you are in the wrong.

How dare you think you know better than God?

You're basically saying that God is wrong.

Now, there's one thing that we have to be careful about

as we look at the words of Job's friends today

and over the next few Sundays.

And it's that we must not assume

that everything they say is wrong.

Because many of the things that they say

are actually biblical truths.

But as we'll see, it's how they say them

and it's also what they don't say

that ultimately betrays a lack of wisdom

that then will lead God to say in chapter 42,

I am angry with you and your two friends

because you've not spoken the truth about me

as my servant Job has.

So if we think about this vision, for instance,

the central message of it is not wrong.

It is true that man is not more righteous than God.

And the Bible misses no opportunity really

to remind us that God is sovereign,

God is just, God is righteous, God is perfect,

and that we are nothing more than broken sinners.

But if the message stops at that,

then you're only left with a hopeless religion.

What is missing?

God's love is missing.

That love that makes us,

these useless broken sinners,

his very own children.

Not acquaintances, not close friends.

We are his beloved children

who are loved no matter what.

There's one other thing that Eliphaz gets right

in chapter 5, verse 17.

He says,

Blessed is the one whom God corrects.

And he says that Job should not despise

the discipline of the Almighty.

The obvious reference here would be

Proverbs 3, 12.

The Lord disciplines those he loves,

as a father the son he delights in.

But again, the problem here is that

Eliphaz is jumping to conclusions.

He assumes that what is happening to Job

is the result of the Lord's discipline.

Which means that what he's offering to his friend

at this specific point in time

is utterly hopeless religion.

Now imagine with me,

you are Job.

And you know that you are right before God.

And that isn't because Job isn't a sinner.

But it's because he didn't deny God.

He wasn't hiding sin from God.

He wasn't actively living in sin.

And so imagine being him in that position

and hearing that you lost everything

because you are being disciplined.

And you must repent of your sin

if you want God to restore you.

What hope is there for Job?

Absolutely none.

And so the truth is that Eliphaz

has a simplistic and a short-sighted view

of how God operates.

It's a simplistic view of God

because it assumes that there is this

direct correlation between our relationship with God

and our material blessings.

in the here and now,

determinism, as we said.

And it's a short-sighted view of God

because it assumes that the harvest is now.

Because while it's true

that we will reap what we sow

and we know that the Bible

talks about rewards and punishments

but it's called the judgment

and it isn't until the end of times.

We know that for as long as we are in this world

there is hope for any of us

to become children of God.

And that's why the harvest

will only happen then, not now.

And ultimately, Eliphaz is offering

a hopeless religion

because he tells Job

that it all depends on him.

God's favor will come back

if Job accepts

his alleged discipline.

And so on the one hand

he's saying that man is weak

and on the other

he seems to think that man's fate

depends on his own strength

to please God.

That's why Job himself says

I have no more strength

what are you asking of me?

Do you see the contradiction?

And it's a hopeless religion

because all that seems to matter

to Eliphaz really

is that Job's wealth

is restored.

If you look at chapter 5

verses 24 to 26

you'll see that

it's those same blessings

that Satan argued

were the only reason

that Job feared God

that Eliphaz is now listing

as reasons for Job to fear God.

How ironic.

So what this hopeless religion

of Eliphaz does

is project on God

human behaviors.

God is like this teacher

who will give you a sticker

if you behave well

but will send you

to the naughty corner

if you don't.

But if we go to the Gospel of John

in chapter 9

when the disciples ask Jesus

whose fault it was

that the blind man was blind

was it because of his own sin

or was it because of his parents' sin?

Jesus says neither.

He was blind

so that the works of God

might be displayed in him

is what Jesus says.

And on Jesus goes

to perform a miracle

and then be praised for it.

Nothing to do with anyone's sin.

And Paul tells us

in 2 Corinthians

that when he asked God

to take his suffering away from him

his proverbial thorn in the flesh

God says

my grace is sufficient for you

for my power

is made perfect

in weakness.

So the truth

not the truth of Eliphaz

but the truth of the Bible

is that God

works

in mysterious

ways.

There will be times

when

what happens

on this earth

is a direct consequence

of where we're at

with God

and we know

we know from our own experience

day in, day out

that sin has

negative consequences

even here.

But let's not make

Eliphaz's mistake

of judging

all the people's worth

or faith

or our own

worth or faith

for that matter

based on our material blessings

or based on our

misfortunes

in this life.

If we are struggling

to make ends meet

if we are disabled

if we're fighting

an illness

that is not

what defines us

not before God.

it says nothing

to God

and it should say

nothing

to any of us

about our worth

as a person

let alone

about our faith.

Because good for good

and bad for bad

is not

how the God

of the Bible operates.

That would be

a hopeless religion

and it would be

a hopeless religion

because

the hope

of the cross

is missing.

Because

the God

of the Bible

truth is

is a loving God

is a God

who wants

what is good

for us.

Is a God

who gives us hope

in the cross

of Christ

and calls us

to fixate

our eyes

on heaven

not on this earth.

Asks us

a God

who asks us

to take comfort

in his plan

of eternal

eternal salvation

for us.

Not in a house

not in a family

not in

good health

which are

amazing blessings

if we

get them

but they are

only for a time.

Our second point

is

hopeless

friendship.

Job

is

disappointed

by his friends.

It's as simple

as that

and he does

not

hide it.

He tells

Eliphaz

loud

and clear

and in

beautiful

poetry.

He uses

this image

of unreliable

rivers.

He says

in verse 15

in chapter 6

but my brothers

are as

undependable

as

intermittent

streams.

He's talking

about those

rivers

that overflow

and destroy

in the winter

and dry up

and stop running

altogether

in the summer.

And so

to describe

his deep

disappointment

he says

that he feels

like a

traveler.

A traveler

who leaves

his route

to go

and find

this river

that he knows

of so that

he can get

water to

continue

on his

journey.

And he's

confident

that he'll

find the

water

that he so

desperately

needs to

keep going.

But he gets

there

and there's

no water

and he

perishes.

Verses 20

and 21

in chapter 6

they are

distressed

because they

had been

confident.

They arrived

there only

to be

disappointed.

Now you

too,

he says

to Eliphaz,

have proved

to be

of no

help.

So what

is wrong

with the

way that

Eliphaz is

trying to

be a

friend here?

There's

three things

I'd like

to mention.

I think

in his

friendship

there is

no kindness,

in his

friendship

there is

no truth,

and of course

in his

friendship

there is

no hope.

The

opening

itself

of

Eliphaz's

speech

already shows

that there

is no

kindness

in his

words.

It really

feels like

he must

have been

biting

his tongue

for those

seven days

while everyone

was silent.

You can

picture him

just getting

more and

more eager

to finally

break the

silence

and say

what he

says in

the first

six verses

of chapter

four.

So Job,

you,

the one

who always

encouraged

those who

were struggling,

the one

who strengthened

faltering

knees,

now trouble

comes to

you and

you are

discouraged?

And then he

immediately

attacks,

should not

your piety

be your

confidence

and your

blameless

ways,

your hope?

So if you

paraphrase,

you've done

something wrong,

Job.

If you

can't find

hope in

your

blameless

ways,

then maybe

they're not

as blameless

as you'd

like us

to think.

And so

again,

try and

put yourself

in Job's

shoes.

You have

lost so

much that

you don't

even know

what you

are mourning

anymore.

Are you

mourning

your family?

Are you

mourning

your houses?

Are you

mourning

your health?

Your servants?

Or maybe

as Job

thinks,

it's not

the truth,

but he

thinks that

God has

turned against

him.

Is that

what you're

mourning?

You don't

even know.

There's so

much happening.

Even your

wife isn't

helping with

her advice

to just

curse God

and be

done with

it.

And so

the one

source of

relief,

that refreshing

water that

you're looking

forward to at

this point can

only be your

friends.

And here

they are.

They finally

open their

mouth and

the first thing

that they say

is,

eh,

you made

it look

easy when

it wasn't

you.

Not as

easy now,

is it?

And Job

calls him

out.

In verse

14 in

chapter 6

he says,

anyone who

withholds

kindness

from a

friend forsakes

the fear of

the Almighty.

Very strong

words again.

By being a

bad friend,

you Eliphaz

are not just

letting me

down,

you're letting

God down,

you're forsaking

the fear of

the Almighty.

So there's

no kindness

in what

Eliphaz says

and there is

no truth.

His response

to his

friend being

in distress

is so

insincere.

Instead of

acting with

love and

kindness,

instead of

mourning with

him and

trying to

encourage him,

he seems to

feel like

what he needs

to do is

prove himself.

Job says

in verse 21,

still in

chapter 6,

you see

something dreadful

and are

afraid.

Job realizes

that Eliphaz

is scared

of what he

sees and

reacts in

line with

that.

So this

fear leads

him to

start just

dishing out

this half-baked

wisdom,

these unlikely

visions,

these dogmas

of this hopeless

religion that

he is trying

to sell.

And again,

Job pushes

back.

He says

in chapter

5,

verses 24

and 25,

teach me

and I

will be

quiet.

Show me

where I

have been

wrong.

How painful

are honest

words,

but what

do your

arguments

prove?

He's saying,

Eliphaz,

I understand,

I've been

speaking very

honestly,

my words

are painful,

but what

do your

arguments

prove?

You've done

a lot of

talking,

but clearly

not much

listening.

Job opened

his heart

in chapter 3,

but Eliphaz

was not

listening.

He wasn't

listening like

a friend.

He was just

waiting for

his time

to talk

and say

just what

he had

already set

his mind

on.

Did any

of what

Eliphaz

say

prove that

Job was

indeed guilty

in front

of God?

No,

it didn't.

Did this

stop him?

No,

it didn't.

He just

went ahead

anyway,

but there

was no

truth in

his accusations.

And so

finally,

his friendship

lacks hope.

It lacks

hope because

not only

is Eliphaz

not showing

Job his

own love,

he's also

failing to

point Job

to God's

love.

He is

pointing Job

to a

calculating,

an eye

for an eye,

a disciplining

kind of

God.

There's

nothing wrong

with what

Eliphaz says

about God

at the end

of chapter 5,

where he

describes

him as

the one

in control

of creation,

the one

who wounds

but also

binds up.

But again,

it's what's

missing from

his description

of God

that is the

issue.

Because he's

pointing Job

to this God

who will be

kind to you

if you are

to him.

He's not

pointing Job

to a God

who loves

you no

matter what,

a God who

knows you

intimately,

who understands,

God understands

what you're

going through,

a God

who is

the refuge

in the

time of

need.

And so

Eliphaz,

unfortunately,

in his

friendship to

Job,

offers no

hope to

him whatsoever.

And so

as a simple

application for

us here,

let's be

friends who

offer kindness,

who offer

truth,

not our own

truth,

but the

truth of the

Bible,

people,

and who

offer hope,

the hope

of the

cross.

I don't

know if you

find that it

can be quite

tempting to

feel like you're

sitting at

test when

you're called

to comfort

a friend.

We might

feel like we

have to prove

that we know

the right thing

to do,

that we know

what God

would want

them to

do.

Maybe we

feel like

God's

spokesperson

like Eliphaz

did here.

But in

doing so,

we risk

getting it

all wrong.

Because the

main thing we

have to make

sure is that

we're acting

out of love

and not to

prove ourselves

as friends.

We are not

there to

recite Bible

verses,

let alone

confuse our

friends with

thoughts,

visions,

dreams that

we thought we

might have

had and are

not quite

clear on

ourselves.

We are

there to

show them

the love

of Christ.

We are

there to

remind them

that the

only secure

hope that

we have

in this

life is

God's

love for

them.

But God's

love for

them as

it is

described in

the Bible.

Everything

else can

disappear in

an instant.

And our

hope is not

just on God

restoring our

material blessings

in this

life, as

Eliphaz seems

to think.

Our hope

is in

spending

eternity

with God.

And so

whether our

friend who

is struggling

is a child

of God

or not,

it's his

love that

we want to

point them

to.

But,

and here

comes the

difficult bit,

in order to

do so,

we have to

know and

we have to

be experiencing

that love

ourselves.

So we need

to be sitting

with our

Bibles,

we need to

let the

Spirit equip

us in

order to

be kind,

truthful,

hopeful

friends.

I have

been an

Eliphaz

when my

mum came

to me in

distress while

fighting her

cancer.

If I had

been more

in communion

with God

through his

word,

chances are

in my

conversations

with her,

I would

have talked

a bit less

about how

lucky she

was actually

having it,

that there

were people

in worse

situations

than hers,

that she

should toughen

up a bit.

And I

would have

probably

prayed with

her more,

I would

have probably

comforted

her more

by reminding

her that

she is

loved by

the God

who created

her and

sent his

son to

die for

her sins.

Finally,

our third

and last

point is

hopeless

suffering,

as we look

at Job

now.

Job is

in

absolutely

agonizing

pain.

pain.

He told

us in

chapter 3

and he

keeps

telling

us

here.

And I

think,

I know

it's been

a long

reading

already,

but I'd

like to

look again

at some

of the

words that

he uses

to describe

his pain

because the

whole point

of Hebrew

poetry in

here is

to help

us feel

the pain

that Job

is feeling.

So chapter

6,

verses 2

and 3,

if only my

anguish

could be

weighed and

all my

misery

be placed

on the

scales,

it would

surely

outweigh

the sand

of the

seas.

And then

in verse 4,

the arrows

of the

Almighty

are in

me.

My spirit

drinks in

their poison,

God's

terrors

are marshaled

against me.

Verses 8

and 9,

all that I

may have

my request

that God

would grant

what I

hope for,

that God

would be

willing

to crush

me,

to let

lose his

hand and

cut off

my life.

And finally

in chapter

7,

verses 15

and 16,

which we

just read,

I prefer

strangling

and death

rather than

this body

of mine.

I despise

my life.

I would

not live

forever.

Let me

alone.

My days

have no

meaning.

He doesn't

even attempt

to hide

that his

pain is so

great that

he just

wants it

all to

end.

He would

rather be

dead than

keep suffering

the way he

does.

That's

why he

says in

verse 3

of chapter

6,

no wonder

my words

have been

impetuous.

What were

you expecting,

Eliphaz?

And it's

not because

I've become

a fool

like you

think,

it's because

of the

utter misery

that I

find myself

in.

This

anguish

and misery

that's

heavier than

all the

sand in

the world.

And that's

heavy.

But his

suffering is

hopeless,

hopeless,

and it

is hopeless

because he's

unable to

see beyond

what is

happening to

him.

And so he

thinks that

God is at

war with

him.

His arrows

are in me,

he says in

verse 4.

And then in

verses 19 and

20 in chapter

7, he's

speaking directly

to God and

he says,

will you

never look

away from

me?

Or let me

alone even

for an

instant?

Why have

you made

me your

target?

Job

misunderstands

why he's

suffering.

He thinks

that God

is attacking

him.

He doesn't

think that

there is

something

bigger at

play here,

that God

in his

infinite wisdom

as part

of his

cosmic

plan

knows

better.

And the

truth is

that we

don't know.

We don't

know why

God made

Job suffer

like this.

But we

know that

God wasn't

attacking

him.

We know

from the

first two

chapters that

God thought

highly of

Job and

loved him.

God is

not against

him.

But Job

cannot see

that in

his pain.

So what do

we learn from

Job's

suffering?

I think one

thing that we

learn is that

we can

suffer, we

can mourn,

we can be

in communion

with God

at the

same

time.

The

Bible is

full of

examples of

godly people

honestly talking

about the

pain that

they're going

through.

Many of

the Psalms

are all

about that.

And as we

see here,

that pain

can be so

great that

it makes

you wish

you'd

rather die.

And so if

any of us

are feeling

like the

pain is

just too

much and

we don't

want to

suffer

anymore,

God is

not calling

any of us

to put a

smile on

our faces

no matter

what.

He's not

telling us

go around

and tell

the world

that the

moment you

become a

Christian,

all the

problems

disappear.

There's no

more suffering.

Never does the

Bible lie to

us and pretend

that life is a

stroll in a

park the

moment you

become a

Christian.

And so I

personally find

it liberating

to see an

upright man

like Job

show us that

we can be

honest about

what we're

going through.

We can

take it to

God and

ask him

why.

As far as

we can see

Job doesn't

contemplate

suicide as

an option

here.

He does

ask to

make it

stop.

Jesus

himself

asked to

be spared

his suffering

but your

will be

done,

not mine

is what

he said.

So if

you're ill,

if someone

you know

is ill and

you feel

powerless as

you watch

them suffer,

if life is

tough because

of broken

relationships,

because of

loneliness,

we all go

through difficult

stuff at

some point,

but some

of us much

more than

others.

Well, no

one is asking

us to pretend

that we're

okay.

Talk to

God, talk

to friends,

scream if

you need

to.

You're not

being a good

Christian by

smiling and

saying fine

when people

ask you how

are you.

And if

you're not

a Christian

and you've

been led

to believe

that Christians

are deluded

people,

we think you

pray and

problems go

away.

And that's

not what we

believe.

It's not what

the Bible

teaches us

either.

So please

go check for

yourself in

the Bible.

Please come

speak to us.

And the

Bible, as you

investigate it,

will show you

something that

we learn, I

think, from

Job's suffering

to here.

And with

this we'll

conclude.

And it's

that in our

suffering we

should run

to God,

not away

from him.

Job asks

God to

look away

from him,

to leave

him alone.

But God

takes no

pleasure in

seeing us

struggle.

He is our

loving creator

and saviour

who promised

not to leave

us.

Jesus says

in Matthew

28,

and surely

I am with

you always

to the very

end of the

age.

When we are

suffering, there

is no better

refuge than

the cross.

Because the

cross is the

ultimate proof

of God's

love for us.

Our suffering

is for a

time.

It's terrible

pain.

No one

pretends it

isn't.

It's extremely

difficult.

But the

fact itself

that we have

a book,

like the

book of

Job,

in our

lives,

tells us

that God

knows about

that pain,

that he

understands it

intimately.

And so we

can be sure

that in our

suffering,

he is there

with us.

And he is

the one who

gives us

hope that

suffering is

not all

there is to

life.

Suffering only

features in

this broken

world for a

time.

And so in

our suffering,

let's run to

the cross and

let's ask

God to be

with us and

give us

the strength

that we

so terribly

need every

day to

keep going

when everything

seems too

much to

deal with.

Let's ask

his spirit to

remind us of

the certain

hope that

one day it

will all be

over and

we will be

in the

presence of

our good

and loving

God.

Let's

pray.

Lord, we

thank you

because at

the cross

we find

hope.

Hope that

one day

we'll be

with you.

Lord, we

thank you

because at

the cross

we find

love.

Love like

no other

because you

sacrificed

your son

out of

love for

every single

one of

us.

Father, we

thank you

because at

the cross

we find

refuge.

We find

comfort in

our suffering.

And so

Lord, we

pray that

by spending

time in

this beautiful

book, by

the power

of your

spirit, we

will learn

how to

suffer well

and how

to comfort

well those

who suffer.

We pray in

Jesus' name.

Amen.