October - Week Two

Please read the disclaimer from last week’s post. The same applies this week.

Fenced In

Job 42:10-17

October 14, 2012

Read Scripture

10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. ¹²The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. ¹³He also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. ¹⁵In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. ¹⁶After this Job lived for one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. ¹⁷And Job died, old and full of days.

With the new season of TV shows having started recently I’m sure you’ve seen at least one show that starts with a scene of celebration where the characters are reminiscing about some recent success. Then at the bottom of the screen you see the words…three months ago…and we flashback to the events that led up to the final celebratory scene. The rest of the hour we are transported through all the trials and tribulations our favorite characters must go through before they come out on top. That is the approach we are taking this morning. We just read the end of the book of Job and find that Job has been blessed with twice as much as he had before and lived a long and full life. But when we flashback to the events that preceded this ending we see a story full of heartbreak and despair. The book of Job is about suffering. Often we view this story and ask the question, “Why do good people have to suffer?” Perhaps though the underlying wisdom this book provides us is “How to good people suffer?” To truly appreciate all this book has to offer I want to once again look at the historical background of the story of Job. Who wrote the book? When did it take place, etc? My research has concluded that we don’t know exactly who wrote the book or exactly when Job lived and endured these trials. However, neither is vital to the reader benefiting from the message. Best estimates however, place Job as living during the time of the patriarchs somewhere around Abraham, between Noah and Moses. Clues in the book such as the mention of a flood, but no mention of a Mosaic law leads me to believe a time around 1500-2000 BC is probably accurate. Who are the characters in the story? God, Satan (the Adversary), and Job are the main characters. We will also discuss four friends of Job that come to comfort him during his suffering as well as his wife and servants who play a part, but the story is really all about Job.

The book begins with an introduction to our main character, Job. He is credited as a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. It then lists his family and all of his possessions which go to show how blessed and successful he is. Then we read of a heavenly gathering before the Lord which includes Satan. Verse 7 begins; ⁷The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” ⁸The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” ⁹Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” ¹²The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. There are a couple of things to notice here. Satan’s approach is different this time than when he came to Adam and Eve. Then he approached the humans and challenged them to rebel against God. This time his method is to approach God in an effort to discredit His sovereignty and love for creation. It is God though that challenges Satan. Satan believes that Job only loves and fears God because it is in his best interest. By doing so God has provided him with a large family and many possessions. Satan’s words are that God has fenced him in and shields him from hardship. In essence Satan is saying that God is bribing Job to be righteous. Of course God knows this isn’t true but allows Satan the power to inflict loss on Job, but not harm him personally. Satan accepts the challenge and immediately begins to disrupt Job’s life. There is one loss after another. First he loses his oxen and donkeys to the Sabeans who attack and kill all the servants but one and carry off the animals. While the lone survivor is telling Job another servant comes to tell him that fire from heaven, probably lightening has struck and killed all the sheep and the shepherds watching over them, except him. Before he finishes speaking, another servant comes to tell him his camels were taken by the Chaldeans and the servants that were with them were killed, with the exception of him. And finally, another servant comes to tell him that all of his children are dead because a great wind came across the desert and collapsed the house they were in, killing them all. Job’s response is written in verses 20-22; “²⁰Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. ²¹He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” ²²In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong-doing.

Chapter two begins with the heavenly beings again gathering before the Lord. God points out to Satan that even with all the calamity thrown upon him, Job continues to persist in his integrity. Satan basically says that men will give everything they have to save their own lives so Job hasn’t really proven anything yet. So God allows him again to inflict whatever illness he wants, but he must spare his life. It isn’t clear exactly what Job comes down with but we read that his body was covered in sores and he would take broken pottery and scrape his skin off as he sat among the ashes. Finally, his wife says to him, “Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God and die.” They believed back then that if you cursed God you would be instantly killed so she was encouraging him to do just that. His response to her is that she is talking foolishly. He says they should accept the bad things happening to them just as they had accepted the good things God provided. Job is at an all time low, but he still hasn’t cursed God.

The next several chapters deal with the dialogue between Job and his friends. The Bible tells us that as they approached Job they didn’t even recognize him he looked so bad. It was a week before they would even speak to him in his suffering state. They were waiting for him to speak first which was the custom of the time. If someone was suffering because of the loss of a family member, you would wait for the grieving person to speak first. Job finally does. What he says is that he curses the day of his birth. Now this isn’t the same as cursing God. He is stating that he just wishes he wasn’t even born. He would be better off having died in childbirth than to live this life of suffering. Even considering the riches he had before this he still wishes for death.  He feels fenced in by God. His friends then take turns speaking to him and his response to each is recorded. Basically they try to get him to repent for whatever sin is causing this suffering. They believe that his suffering is directly related to some sin he has committed. They along with most people during that time believed that all suffering was because of a sin and that suffering was proportional to the sin committed. Clearly because of the suffering Job was experiencing he had committed a serious sin. Job maintains his innocence. Job recognizes himself as a sinner, but also realizes that he has not done anything that approaches a good enough reason for him to be suffering this much.  His friend’s words were meant to comfort him and help explain why this was happening, but in fact, all they did was cause even more pain for Job. Throughout all the dialogue Job begins to seek an audience with God. He wants to bring his case before the Lord and needs an Advocate or Mediator. This points to the future incarnation of Christ who now serves as our Mediator which is what allows us to come before God with righteousness, with Christ’s righteousness. As we move forward in the book we then hear from Elihu, a younger man who can’t hold his tongue any longer. His speech goes on to say that all parties involves here are wrong. Job has it wrong as well as the other three men. He feels that Job is justifying himself instead of God and the three friends are providing no real answer and are only condemning Job. Job’s suffering should be viewed as discipline and it is used as a means to steer Job away from hell. He claims that God is just in everything He does and is not accountable to man. Elihu’s speech prepares the way for God to speak to Job.

Chapter 38 begins with the voice of God coming from the whirlwind challenging Job to answer a few questions himself. ⁴“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. ⁵Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? ⁶On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone ⁷when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? ⁸“Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?— ⁹when I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, ¹⁰and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors, ¹¹and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stopped’? ¹²“Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, ¹³so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? ¹⁴It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment. ¹⁵Light is withheld from the wicked, and their uplifted arm is broken. ¹⁶“Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? ¹⁷Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? ¹⁸Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. ¹⁹“Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, ²⁰that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? ²¹Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!” This type of questioning goes on through chapter 41. About halfway Job speaks and declares that he is of small account and has spoken once but will not speak again. He realizes his inadequacy to understand the workings of the Lord. When God finishes speaking Job does finally speak again and admits that God can do all things and that no purpose of His can be thwarted. He admits to uttering what he did not understand and he repents. The Lord then address the friends and rebukes them for what they had said and tells them to take a burnt offering to Job and have him pray on their behalf that He will not deal with them according to their folly. One thing to remember here is that we as the reader know the whole story. That is that God allowed this to happen as a challenge to Satan. Job never knows this. His possessions are restored and in fact doubled, and he has seven more children. An interesting viewpoint on why he only had seven more children and not fourteen since everything else was doubled, is that he will be reunited with his first seven children in heaven and thus his family will have doubled. As this story concludes and we find our main character on top again it is appropriate to point out that this poem is considered one of the greatest writings ever, secular or Biblical. Consider these quotes:

“Tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to me to retain one work

only, I should save Job.” (Victor Hugo)

“…the greatest poem, whether of ancient or modern literature.” (Tennyson)

“The Book of Job taken as a mere work of literary genius, is one of the most wonderful

productions of any age or of any language.” (Daniel Webster)

http://executableoutlines.com/pdf/job_sg.pdf

So how can we use this beautiful work to help us in times of suffering? There are a few things we can take from this story. One is that even righteous people suffer. When you consider how upstanding a person Job was and the level of suffering he had to endure, we have to accept that we too are going to go through difficult times. And those difficult times are not proportional to any sin we have committed. The New Testament writers never tell us that accepting Christ is going to turn our lives into nothing but good times. In fact, we are told just the opposite. We can expect to be persecuted for our beliefs.

I’m reminded of the story of Chippie the parakeet. "Chippie never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage, sending a song into the air; the next second he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over.

"His problem began when his owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum. She had stuck the nozzle in to suck up the seeds and feathers at the bottom of the cage when the nearby telephone rang. Instinctively she turned to pick it up. She had barely said hello when--ssswwwwwpppppp! Chippie got sucked in. She gasped, let the phone drop, and switched off the vacuum. With her heart in her mouth, she unzipped the bag.

"There was Chippie--alive but stunned--covered with heavy gray dust. She grabbed him and rushed to the bathtub, turned on the faucet full blast, and held Chippie under a torrent of ice-cold water, power washing him clean. Then it dawned on her that Chippie was soaking wet and shivering. So she did what any compassionate pet owner would do: she snatched up the hair dryer and blasted him with hot air.

"Did Chippie survive? Yes, but he doesn't sing much anymore. He just sits and stares a lot. It's not hard to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over! It's enough to steal the song from any stout heart." Life is like that sometimes. You never see it coming, but life just sucks you up, washes you up and blows you over.

http://www.sermonnotebook.org/old%20testament/job%202_7-13.htm

Another lesson learned from this story is that we, as humans, cannot fully understand God’s mind and how each event in our lives relates to another. When you read the questions God asked Job that were intended to qualify him to understand why this was happening we can see that we don’t even approach the ability to understand. Some questions just won’t be answered on this side of heaven.

And finally, suffering allows God to be glorified by not only the person suffering, but those around him. You know the saying, “Boy, winning the lottery really changed him.” Did it? Or did it change those around the man that won? Both could be true. It’s the same with suffering. No one really suffers alone. People are affected when someone they love is battling difficult times or health issues. How those people respond as well as how those around them respond can bring honor and glory to God. We are not expected to sit quietly and “grim and bear it” when we are in suffering. God expects us to cry out to him, to cry out to those around us for support. We are not expected to face struggles alone.

I’m wearing three bracelets this morning and have since school started back this year. All three represent someone I know who has glorified God in suffering. This blue one was given to me when Hannah Sobeski was battling cancer as a teenager. She later entered into God’s glory ending her battle but never losing faith along the way. This yellow one is for Austin Simpson, who many of you contributed to a fund raiser Allison organized on his behalf a few year ago right here at our FLC, who as an eighth grader continues to battle Duchenne muscular dystrophy. And this green one is for Jacey Bagwell who many of you know, who has battled and overcome cancer, but continues to deal with the life changing effects of that struggle. None of these kids or their families sinned so great as to deserve this struggle. But what each of them and their families has done is glorify God in the midst of this suffering. What this community has done in support of them glorified God. Why did this have to happen? I don’t know. But God in His infinite wisdom has a plan for each of us. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-9 “³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Jesus says in John 10: 28-29, “²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” It doesn’t matter what the struggle is, how great or small it is, or how it ends. God chose us. He will not let us slip through his hands. And even when we don’t know why we have to suffer, we can look to the book of Job for an example of how the righteous suffer. When we feel fenced in and nothing but pain and suffering is around us we can do as the Psalmist said, “I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2.)

Let us pray.

*The following was not a part of the sermon but I am including it in the blog post.

If you are a football fan at all then you know that the month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The reason football fans know this is because of all the pink you see NFL players wearing during this month. I’m gonna take this time to tell you something I think some of you are aware of and some of you might not be aware of…(Journey fans will appreciate that)

September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Did you know that, according to the American Childhood Cancer Association, childhood cancer is the number one disease killer of children -- more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS -- combined? Forty-six children and adolescents are diagnosed every single day. One in every 330 children develops cancer before age 19. One in every five children diagnosed with cancer will die. The federal budget for National Cancer Institute is $4.6 billion. Of that, breast cancer receives 12 percent, prostate cancer 7 percent, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined receive less than 3 percent of all funding. [Emphasis mine]

Despite the increased number of cases of pediatric cancer, 80 percent of childhood cancer cases are treated successfully. While most childhood cancers are considered highly curable, survival often comes with a "cost." Two-thirds of childhood cancer survivors face at least one chronic health condition and many survivors will receive on-going monitoring and continued physical and psychological care throughout their lives. In addition to the lifelong health implications, treating childhood cancer often comes at a great financial cost to families. The average out-of-pocket cost for a family with a child battling cancer is more than $9,700. Even in cases where health insurance is available, expenses can add up quickly. In addition to the cost of cancer diagnosis and treatment, the hidden costs of food, transportation, and accommodation often add to the financial burden for these families.

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sherri-bushong-maxey/childhood-cancer-awareness-month-_b_1878906.html)

Other Childhood Cancer Facts

Did you know?

• On the average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer. The average high school has two students who are current or former cancer patients.
• Childhood cancers affect more potential patient-years of life than any other cancer except breast and lung cancer.
• The causes of most childhood cancers are unknown. At present, childhood cancer cannot be prevented.
• Childhood cancer occurs regularly, randomly and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region. In the United States, the incidence of cancer among adolescents and young adults is increasing at a greater rate than any other age group, except those over 65 years.
• Despite these facts, childhood cancer research is vastly and consistently underfunded.

(http://www.alexslemonade.org/resources/facts)

I wanted to bring this to your attention because there are many worthy causes out there vying for your tax deductible donation. Reputable organizations use those funds wisely and make sure they help those that you are intending to help. I certainly don’t want anyone to stop giving to a cause they believe in. However, maybe the next time you see a fund raiser designed to help out a family who has a child battling any one of a number of childhood cancers or diseases, you might take the time to donate whether or not you get a deduction on your taxes. It also won’t matter if you know the family or not. They will appreciate it more than you will ever know.

Sonny