Why is this happening to me?

This is not a sermon on Job 6.

This is a sermon on Job 3 to 27, probably.

So you might need to be able to flick quickly.

So grab a Bible if one's there.

If not, at very least, grab a piece of paper and a pen

to be able to write down the references

so you can flick through it a little bit later.

Let's pray.

Father God, we again thank you for your revelation to us in your word

and the revelation that we have,

final revelation that we have in Christ.

Lord, when this world doesn't make a lot of sense

and we can't understand your sovereign hand,

we pray that we might, like Job, look to our Redeemer

and to realise, Lord, that you are the just God

who will vindicate in the end.

You're the God who will bring justice.

And so, Lord, I pray that in the meantime

that we might have wisdom

and that we might be people of faith.

And we ask it now as we look at your word again.

Amen.

We pray that you would come

and that you would speak

so that your people might be strengthened in Christ

and that we might treasure him above all else.

And we ask it for your sake.

Amen.

In Colorado in 1995,

a police officer arrived at a single car accident

where a car ended up on its roof

and with a baby girl pinned under the car

which was sinking into the mud.

And the officer lifted the car

and the mother pulled the girl out from the mud.

People have been known to do those sorts of things,

to lift incredible weights after an accident

and then later to collapse under the shock of what's happened.

There's also the case where the helicopter

from the TV show Magnum P.I.,

if you remember Tom Selleck from years ago.

This is a generation that will understand who Tom Selleck is.

It crashed in 1988

and it pinned the pilot in shallow water

and one of the pilot's burly friends,

a guy named Tiny,

ran over and lifted the one-ton helicopter enough

to pull the pilot out.

People have been known in that moment of tragedy

to lift incredible weights.

There's a spiritual parallel to tragedy here.

In the moment of tragedy,

when a Christian has been given the grace

to faithfully be able to say,

the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away,

blessed be the name of the Lord.

And then later on to realise what it means

in day-to-day, week-by-week existence

to in fact could collapse in dismay over time.

You see, there's one thing to bear a sudden tragedy

with your rush of adrenaline and clear thinking.

It's quite another to suffer weeks, months, years of pain.

Job 1 and 2 reveal that in one afternoon,

Job lost his 10 children and all his wealth

and shortly afterwards,

he was afflicted with a terrible disease

and in both these tragedies,

he kept his faith.

1.21 says,

The Lord gave,

the Lord has taken away,

blessed be the name of the Lord.

And then in chapter 2, verse 10,

he says,

Shall we receive good at the hand of God

and shall we not receive evil?

He affirmed God's control over everything

and he bowed in humble submission.

But Job's faith and his reverence towards God

were not rewarded with a quick healing

of his disease.

In chapter 7, he says this in verses 2 to 3,

Like a slave who longs for the shadow

and like a hailing who longs for his wages,

so I am allotted months of emptiness

and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

Job's misery had dragged on for months

and now the Job who stood firm

in chapters 1 and 2

seem to be completely rocked

as you move into chapter 3.

Chapter 3, verse 1.

This is after he's been silent

and after he has said,

The Lord has given,

the Lord has taken away,

blessed be the name of the Lord.

The next thing he says,

he opens his mouth

and he cursed the day of his birth.

He said,

May the day of my birth perish

and the night it was said,

a boy is born.

That day may it turn to darkness.

May God above not care about it.

May no light shine upon it.

And then down in verse 11,

Why did I not perish at birth

and die as I came from the womb?

And 23,

Why is life given to a man

whose way is hidden,

whom God has hedged in?

For sighing comes to me instead of food.

My groans pour out like water.

This is a different Job

than the one we discovered last week

in chapters 1 and 2.

It almost seems here

that his faith is gone.

He wishes he is dead.

And so now we come to the Job

who says,

Why?

Why the suffering?

Where's the justice?

Where's the vindication in this world?

And so what we're going to do this morning

is we're going to look at,

you know,

basically chapters 3 to 27,

you know,

very broadly.

And what we enter into here

is the huge section of Job

where he's debating his three mates,

the guys who turned up

at the end of chapter 2.

After hearing Job say

that he wished he'd never been born,

each of his friends

jump in to explain to Job

why he's suffering

the way he is.

So Eliphaz goes first

and then Job replies to him.

Then Bildad goes next,

Job replies to him.

And then Zophar goes last

and Job replies to him.

And the whole cycle

is repeated twice

and the debate comes to a gridlock

as both sides refuse to budge.

And so the big chunk of Job

is quite repetitive.

Job's friends

sitting a little way off

and they hear what Job has to say

when he sounds off about his grief

and his anguish in chapter 3.

And basically

you could sum up

the main section of Job

is that they all

basically say the same kind of thing.

They serve up

theologically rigid answers

seasoned with a bit of a condemning spirit.

That's kind of what they do.

They are partly correct

and so they are unwise.

What we discover here

is in our search for wisdom

a lack of wisdom.

Their basic position

is summed up nicely

by Eliphaz

in chapter 4

verse 7 to 8

where he poses a question.

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.

See his idea?

Job

you've done something wrong

to deserve

this sort of suffering.

Their basic position is

you reap what you sow

and there is truth in it.

We looked at it last week.

That is proverbial wisdom.

That is the wisdom

of the Proverbs.

But it is never meant

to be applied

as a rigid rule.

There are plenty of people

who sow evil

and never seem to reap it.

They just go on

from strength to strength

and there are those

who never seem

to get a break

from misery.

Good people

who seem to never

get a break

from misery.

And Job's friends

have taken this

generalization

and have made it a rule.

They have concluded

that because Job

is reaping over here

then he is sowed

over there.

So let me illustrate

it for you.

I did this very quickly

last week.

I'll do it again.

Proverbs 24

Proverbs 24:33

verses 33 and 34

says this.

A little sleep

and a little slumber

a little folding

of the hands to rest

and poverty

will come on you

like a bandit

and scarcity

like an armed man.

basically

if you are lazy

then you can expect

to be poor.

That's a fairly

general principle.

It's a fair enough

kind of principle.

However,

it's totally at a place

to conclude

that just because

somebody is poor

then they must have

been lazy.

Just because

they are reaping poverty

doesn't mean

that they've sown it

through laziness.

and you know

take refugees

for example.

That would be a really

inappropriate application

for those

who are living

in a shantytown

somewhere

escaping war

from another country.

And this is what

Job's friends have done.

They have reduced

God and his actions

to their ability

to grasp order

in the world.

They forgot to take

into account

the mystery of God.

We don't know

everything.

We can't know

everything.

We won't know

everything.

Which is one reason

why humility

is a really good

stance to take

day by day.

And Job's friends

also show

little compassion

in the way

they spoke

of his character.

Eliphaz makes

a sly swipe

of Job

in chapter 4

verse 5.

But now trouble

comes to you

and you are

discouraged.

It strikes you

and you are

dismayed.

You see this is

what he's saying

is Job

the sufferer.

You used to be

Job the righteous

man who used

to offer advice

and help people

who were suffering.

And Eliphaz's charge

here is more than

one of just

inconsistency.

In verse 6

he says,

should not your

piety be your

confidence

and your blameless

ways your hope?

If you put both

those verses together

what Eliphaz is

saying here

it's a real

nasty sarcasm.

It's even more

than a nasty

sarcasm.

He's actually

accusing Job

of rank hypocrisy.

But there's also

a note of

self-righteousness

as he accuses

Job of rank

hypocrisy.

In chapter 5

verse 8

Eliphaz says,

but if it were

I,

I would appeal

to God.

I would lay

my cause

before him.

In other words

I would make

the same mistake

you're making

Job.

I would recognise

God as the one

who is capable

of restoring me.

I would shut

my mouth.

I would confess

my sins and I

would plead for

my deliverance.

And you see

more of it in

chapter 5

verses 17

and onwards.

Blessed is the

man whom God

corrects.

So do not

despise the

discipline of

the Almighty.

In other words

Job,

if you just

confess your

sin and

plead for

God's mercy

then you

will be

restored.

Then his

mate Bildad

has a crack

in chapter

8

verse 6

He is saying

that because

God has not

restored you

Job

to your

rightful place

that is the

place where

a righteous

person

lives the

good life

again the

proverbial wisdom

coming out here

and because

he has not

restored you

then you are

clearly impure

and unrighteous.

Again

a crack on

his

integrity.

Then number

three

Zophar stands

up and

weighs in

and he

really weighs

in.

He reckons

Job's

suffering is

much less

than he in

fact actually

deserves.

Take it on

the chin Job

because you

deserve a lot

worse than

this.

He's saying

that Job's

sin is so

great that

God has

forgotten some

of it.

He says

this in

chapter 11

verse 11

Surely he

God is

recognises

deceitful men

and when he

sees evil

does not he

take note?

So Job

is deceitful

and evil.

He really

just tears

his character

to shreds

and so

in chapter

6 which

was just

read out

to us

Job

responds

to his

friend

Eliphaz

Job

never

throughout

the book

never

claims

sinless

perfection.

In

verses 1

to 13

of chapter

6

are Job's

declaration

of his

innocence

and his

desire to

die.

Such was

his torment.

Such was

the load

he felt.

He just

wishes he

was dead.

And in

the second

half of

the chapter

verses 14

to 30

are Job's

words to

his careless

friends.

Job

actually

resents

his

friend's

lack of

compassion.

So verse

14

a despairing

man

should have

the devotion

of his

friends

even though

he forsakes

the fear

of the

almighty.

But my

brothers

are

undependable

as

intermittent

streams

as the

streams

that

overflow.

flow.

They

are

fickle.

They

are

undependable.

I

cannot

trust

the

words

coming

out of

my

friends

mouths.

Job is

saying

no matter

what I

say and

what I

do

you are

my

mates.

But he

says you

are like

those puddles

of water

that form

really

quickly in

the heavy

rain but

which disappear

in the

sand.

They're

gone.

They're here

one moment

gone.

The next.

Instead of

being dependable

and a

source of

hope and

life in

a desert

you're

fickle and

you bring

no hope

no comfort.

And Job's

plea here to

his friends is

quite emotional

and quite

pitiable in

verse 28.

But now be

so kind as

to look at

me.

Just

look at

me.

would I

lie to

your face

that is

by hiding

this evil

and sinful

life that

you accuse

me of?

Relent.

Do not

be unjust.

Reconsider

for my

integrity

is at

stake.

He's

saying to

his friends

guys you've

got it all

wrong.

Your

understanding

of God

is too

neat.

You've

taken away

all the

mystery.

And so

the result

is their

counsel is

both naive

and cruel.

The God

of their

neat theology

would not

allow someone

to suffer

unless they

deserved it

and because

Job is

suffering he

must have

deserved it.

Something

happens with

Job from

chapter 3

right

throughout

the course

of this

debate

with his

friends

which is

quite profound

here.

We know

in chapter

1 and 2

the Lord

gave the

Lord has

taken away

blessed be

the name

of the

Lord.

Chapter

3

he says

I wish

I was

dead.

He cries

out against

the wisdom

of God

in giving

him birth.

The duration

of his

disease

and his

tragedy

has almost

defeated

the initial

stand of

faith

in chapters

1 and 2

but

from chapter

3

all the way

through to

chapter 19

there is

this little

by little

gaining and

regaining of

the faith

of Job

until

you get

to chapter

19

and his

faith

breaks out

in victory.

In every

speech

up until

then

Job

has

expressed

the

conviction

that

he

would

certainly

die

in

misery.

He

longs

for it

but then

there is a

gradual

change in

the way

he talks

about his

dying.

At first

in chapter

7 verses

9 to 10

during his

response to

Eliphaz

he is sure

that death

is the end

of everything.

as the

cloud

vanishes

and is

gone

so one

who goes

down to

the grave

does not

return

he will

never come

back to

his house

again.

That's it

death is

what waits

me

and death

is the

end.

That is

there is not

even anything

good to look

for after

death.

And as he

responds to

Bildad in

chapter 10

verses 20

to 22

he is still

sunk in

despair about

death.

Are not

my few

days almost

over?

Turn away

from me so

I can have

a moment's

joy before

I go to

the place

of no

return.

To the

land of

gloom and

utter darkness

to the

land of

deepest night

of utter

darkness and

disorder where

even the

light is

like darkness.

Then in

his response

to Zophar

in chapter

14 verses

7 to 14

he again

faces the

certainty of

death in

suffering and

he cries

out to be

released to

die in

verse 13.

But this

time he

asks a

question in

verse 14.

If someone

dies will

they live

again?

All the

days of my

hard service

I will

wait for

my renewal

to come.

And again

in a second

response to

Eliphaz in

chapter 17

verses 13

to 16

the reference

to the

place of

the dead

is one

of question

rather than

despair.

And then

in chapter

19

verse 25

Job reaches

an answer

and the

victory comes.

I know

that my

redeemer

lives.

God

and that

in the

end he

will stand

on the

earth and

after my

skin has

been destroyed

yet in my

flesh I

will see

God.

I myself

will see

him with

my own

eyes,

I and

not another,

how my

heart yearns

within me.

There's the

victory.

My redeemer

lives and I

will see God

face to

face.

Death is

not the

end.

Job is

finally sure

that beyond

the grave he

will meet

God as

his vindicator

and not

as an

angry judge.

He will be

vindicated from

all his

suffering.

Even if it

will only be

after death,

even if it's

to suffer for

the rest of

his life,

he knows that

vindication will

come in the

end.

There will be

life and

light and not

death and

darkness.

The victory

for Job is

in his

redeemer,

in his

vindicator.

Someone who

can stand

before God

and plead

his case.

He realized

his friends

weren't going

to do it.

No one

else will

stand with

him.

He even

raised the

possibility of

a need for

a mediator

between God

and himself

back in

chapter 9

verse 33.

And then in

chapter 17

verse 3,

Job thought

that he

himself might

be the

person who

will stand

before God

and vindicate

himself.

And now he

realizes he

needs someone

else.

Someone else

who won't be

crushed by God's

awesome power.

Someone that

can approach

God without

fear that

their sin is

going to exclude

them from the

presence of God.

Someone who can

present to God

Job's struggles

and to ask God

to have mercy

on Job.

Someone on

the inside

who pleads

with God

for Job.

Who took

his struggles

to God

and who

represented

Job to

God.

And Job

says,

that is my

only avenue

to God's

justice

is my

redeemer

who lives.

God

is my

love.

God

is my

love.

Interestingly

enough though,

this confidence

in a redeemer

does not

answer all

of Job's

questions about

his suffering.

It doesn't

solve all of

his theological

problems.

He is still

totally confused

as to why

he should have

to suffer

as he

does.

And even

though he has

a confidence

in his

redeemer,

his suffering

goes right

on.

But Job's

confidence of

new life

after death

does enable

him to hold

on to three

of his

convictions.

The sovereign

power of

God,

the goodness

and justice

of God,

and the

faithfulness

of his own

heart.

God

and with

those convictions

he holds

out against

the simplistic

doctrine of

justice from

the mouth of

his three

friends.

I was in

a library the

other day,

Bible College

library,

and the

section on

Job was

huge.

So I

feel quite

encouraged to

be able to

not cover all

the bases

when I

looked at the

section on

Job.

And so

there's at

least a couple

of things that I

want us to

pick up,

acknowledging that

it's not

everything and

not that I

can nail

everything.

Let's just

pick up a few

things.

Firstly,

there is

order in this

world, but

we don't

see it all.

We don't

see it all.

And so

suffering and

prosperity are

not distributed

in the world

in proportion

to the evil

or good

that a person

does.

And so

to be wise

is not to

judge one

another before

the time.

That's one

element of

wisdom.

To not

judge one

another before

the time.

And the

time is

the end

of time.

That's the

time.

Those who

suffer may

be the best

and those

who prosper

may be the

worst amongst

us.

Secondly,

God reigns

over all the

affairs of

people, from

the greatest

to the

smallest.

and one

of the

most common

means used

by people

today to

solve the

mystery of

suffering,

inevitably, is

the limitation

of God.

That's how we

generally solve

it.

Particularly the

limitation of

God's sovereign

control over

all things.

That is, God

couldn't have

willed that

sickness or

that explosion

or the death

of that child.

He must not

be in control.

He's a

limited God.

Let me tell

you that for

Job and his

three friends,

that never

occurred to

them as an

option.

On either

side of the

camp, it

never occurred

to them.

The common

ground of

Job and his

three friends

is that God

reigns.

He's

sovereign.

And no

solution to

the problem

of suffering

that questions

this, that

is God's

sovereignty, will

ever satisfy

in the long

run.

But we

tend to limit

God in an

attempt to

alleviate the

pain of

suffering.

We think

that if we

can comprehend

why suffering

happens, then

by default,

that will

limit or

alleviate the

pain of

suffering.

And so in

an attempt to

explain suffering,

ultimately we

limit the

sovereignty of

God or the

goodness of

God.

And it

will never

alleviate the

pain of

suffering.

suffering.

You bring

God down

and all of

a sudden we

are just

random.

And that

never alleviates

the pain of

suffering.

Thirdly,

true theology

should lead to

love and

humility.

If you

take most

of the

statements of

Job's

friends

separately,

it sounds

like good

theology.

And on

most part,

it is.

But their

application is

shallow and

insensitive.

In fact,

the proverbial

wisdom that

they lean on

itself warns

against such

an application

of proverbial

wisdom.

wisdom.

It says

this in

Proverbs

Proverbs 26:9

26,

verse 9,

like a

thorn bush

in a

drunkard's

hand is a

proverb in

the mouth

of a

fool.

His

mates

weren't

wise.

Their

advice

wasn't

trustworthy.

There is

a wrong

application of

proverbial

wisdom,

so let us

be warm

friends.

Good

theology

does not

make you

wise.

Good

theology

can be

made

false and

destructive

in the

way it

is applied.

Good

theology

does not

make you

wise and

it does

not make

you

trustworthy.

Knowledge

puffs up

and love

builds up.

All our

correct theology

is meant to

result in

humility and

love,

not arrogance.

love.

God

should help

us to

see that,

that we

only know

in part.

We are

limited.

Even after

the revelation

of Christ,

we are still

limited.

Wisdom is not

knowing everything,

it is in

relationship with

the God who

knows everything.

humility and

love must be

the application

and it must

accompany the

application of

our theology.

Job's friends

would have done

well to practice

the old saying,

let love stand

as a watchman at

the gate of your

mouth.

love.

1 Corinthians

13 tells me

that even this

side of the

cross we do

not see clearly.

Verse 12 of

1 Corinthians

13.

Knowing of

course 1

Corinthians 13

is the great

chapter of

love.

Now we

shall see,

now we see

but a poor

reflection as

in a mirror,

then we shall

see face to

face.

Now I know

in part,

then I shall

know fully even

as I am fully

known but

now these

three remain,

faith,

hope and

love and

the greatest

of these is

love.

We don't see

clearly,

we don't know

everything and

so I'd love us

to be known as

a church that

holds theological

conviction with

humility and

love, with a

steadfast faith

and a redeemer in

the face of

uncertainty and a

firm hope for

the future in

the middle of

calamity.

There is one

thing that we

can say with

certainty and

that is that

our redeemer

lives.

Over it all,

hold fast to

the redeemer,

look to the

redeemer,

treasure the

redeemer who

knows and

will bring

vindication and

justice and

in the end,

faith in the

redeemer and

wisdom go

together.

and so in

the middle of

calamity and

we're standing

beside someone,

may we put our

arm around them

and say I

don't know why

this happens but

let me point you

to the redeemer

because he

lives.

Cling to the

redeemer, he

lives and he

will bring

vindication in

the end.

So let me

finish with the

words of

Hebrews 4.14.

Therefore, since

we have a

great high

priest, a

great advocate,

a mediator, a

redeemer who

has gone through

the heavens,

Jesus the

Son of God,

let us hold

firmly to the

faith we

profess for we

do not have a

high priest that

is a mediator, a

redeemer who is

unable to

sympathize with

our weaknesses

but we have one

who is being

tempted in every

way just as we

are yet was

without sin.

Let us then

approach the

throne of grace

with confidence

so that we may

receive mercy and

find grace to

help us in our

time of need.

Amen.