Look to God for Wisdom - Job 22-29

The scope of this lesson covers seven chapters in Job and requires you to read carefully through the material and search for the highlights; that is, the parts that are of most interest to you. In these chapters, the dialogue between Job and his three friends continue into the third and final cycle and actually there is little difference in their argument from that made in the first two cycles. Their criticism of Job becomes more severe and when they fail to get a confession of sin from him they seem to become more frustrated. The speeches this time actually deliberately and openly accuse him with specific crimes. In line with the subject of this lesson today, Job has become more rational and indicates that he has learned his lesson the hard way—and that is, he must look only to God for his wisdom.

Let us digress for just a moment and think about the “total wisdom” of our OMNISCIENT GOD. Some who were in my presence have wondered out loud about this book of Job. To any that have wondered; just remember that God has at least ten awesome attributes, three of which are OMINISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT, and OMNIPRESENT. The word Omniscience means that God knows everything there is to know about everything. He always has, does now, and always will know all of everything. Man is limited by time, but not God—He was when time began and he sees all that will happen in endless time to come. Job understood this when he said, “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from the” 42:2.

God has all power and he is all power and there are no limitations to the power of God. Genesis 18:14 says there is not anything that is too hard for the Lord to handle. His power is innate. It was there in the beginning to create all the worlds and all things therein and set them in motion and keep them moving throughout all the time there is. He is omnipotent and that simply means there are no limitations in him. Finally, He is omnipresent—and this characteristic alone is mind-boggling. He has been present with each and every person that has ever lived or that will live in the future—and he is never absent from any of his creation for even one moment throughout the eons of time. Since God is present with all knowledge and all power, there is nothing transpiring at any moment that is outside of his ability to control. God is our pilot and we will land safely—when we trust and obey.

You may not have a problem with some of the things that Job said about God but it gets close to the edge sometimes—and slightly indicates that Job’s faith has grown weak. My question is—can it be that his strong faith has weakened, but has never left him or failed him completely? Because of this uneasy feeling, I have gone to B. H. Carroll’s Interpretation of the English Bible to obtain a better insight into the time and place in history and have found some interesting thoughts that may help us understand this book of Job.

Carroll thinks that Moses wrote the book of Job, who was from Uz which was the same territory as Edom. That is probably why the Jews accepted it and it was never questioned by them when it was made a part of the inspired word of God. It deals with the same period of time as the patriarchals, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore there was no Bible or authoritative written standard clearly defining men’s relations and duties toward God and no written word regarding divine government. Job prayed for a revelation in 31-35. This book was written before God set apart a nation that he called “My people.” In every nation descended from Noah—God was worshiped according to tradition or revelations. Two incidents place Job in the patriarchal days. The form of idolatry cited in 31:26 was the worship of the heavenly bodies and he lived to be more than 200 years old as did the people in Moses’ day.

Moses lived in Midian for forty years and this was close by Job’s country. The problem of the book of Job is the undeserved afflictions of the righteous, which was the same problem suffered by Moses’ people. This was the first book of the bible to be written, and God had several specific reasons for it to be made a part of his Holy Word. 1. Before this time there was no written word. In 31:35 Job states a need for a written word when he calls for someone to put in writing the things that show his guilt. 2. Job was written to establish the necessity of a mediator or redeemer—in 9:33 he states a need for the intercessor. There was no bible at the time but Job shows that there was a desire to study about God and his plan for man.

When we realize that Job had no written word about God and that God had not established a program of worship it is even more amazing that Job had such strong faith. So far as I can see, Job obtained his knowledge and developed his faith because of his inherited desire for a God and through his observations of God’s creation. Since this was the first book written that became canonized, it presents an even greater need for faith in our lives. You ask why I think so; and I say that it is not by chance that God presented us with the first written word and made it to cover the importance of a man’s faith throughout all stages of life—when he is up and when he is down.

As you read this lesson you will note that the friends are talking less and Job is doing more of the talking. Zophar seems to be the angriest of the three and he abstains from speaking altogether. The charges remain about the same thing—Job has sinned. This time they actually name some of his specific sins and this makes it appear that they are even more vindictive than before.

In 22, Eliphaz accuses Job of specific sins against the needy and the poor, and he charges Job with thinking that God does not see his sins or even care about his sins. In verses 23 and 24 he concludes his final discourse by suggesting that Job should repent of his sins and submit to God. He did imply that Job had once been a Godly man—by suggesting that when he returns to the Almighty he will be restored. The assumption is that he must have been a good man in God’s presence at one time…for one can not return to a place they have not been.

It is obvious that the three counselors [friends] are trying to convict Job of his sins and get him to repent. They may not have realized it, but they were trying to take the place of the Holy Spirit—in trying to convict Job, they were usurping the position and power that belongs solely to the Spirit…for He alone can convict any man of his sins. There have been several noted Baptist preachers in our convention that were and are able to hold an audience spellbound but their influence ends at the ear drum—if the word travels on from the ear to the heart—only the Holy Spirit can make it happen.

These men made a second mistake that we should never make as we attempt to counsel our friends—they were Judging Job on his outward appearance. We know that the Bible has already warned us that man looks on the outward appearance while God looks on the heart. In the 4th chapter of first Corinthians Paul said that he cared very little about people [even a court] judging him—he said “I do not even judge myself.”

In the commentary by Matthew Henry he said, “The injuries men do to us should drive us to God, for to him we may commit our cause.” The question that arises in Job 23 is—where is God? Everyone in this story including Job had begun to wonder if God had forsaken him. Well, the answer to this question is one of the bibles most basic truths—because God is everywhere—He is omnipresent. Even though Job has some doubts and questions the presence of God in his life—He still affirms his obedience to God, whom he believes is testing him to purify his life.

In chapter 24 Job has a real problem trying to understand why God allows the unrighteous to go unpunished; then he actually reaffirms that God will eventually bring judgment on everyone. In the first verse he wonders why god does not set special times or dates for the judgments. This reminds us of a famous sermon given by the pastor of Belleview Baptist in Memphis; there will be a “Pay-day Some-day.” There was a farmer who was an unbeliever, who worked his crops in the field adjoining church property. He plowed while Christians were in church. When their crops were gathered his yield was greater than those of the church attendants. The farmer made note of this while talking to his banker who he thought would agree that work is worth more than prayer. He was stunned when the banker reminded him that God does not settle all of his accounts in October.

Bildad, in chapter twenty-five let his tongue become caustic when he called Job a “maggot” which the scripture always uses to describe a scavenger of decaying flesh. Thomas Manton said that “A tongue that is set on fire from hell shall be set on fire in hell.” The bible says a tongue renders poison as a serpent. Truth is, man is made in the image of God—just a little lower than the angels of heaven and we do not have to crawl like a worm to our God.

Job retaliates in chapter twenty-six telling Bildad that his God is incomprehensible. He rebukes Bildad and his friends by asking whom they have helped by their counsel and inferring the answer to be no-one. Just as here in this chapter, there are other implications throughout the bible that confirms that if we [man] could fully understand God—we could not worship him.

The next two chapters deal with Job’s reaffirmation of innocence and his call for God’s wrath against his enemies. Then Job returns to the subject of God’s wisdom which only comes when we fear Him.

Acknowledge That Life Seems Unfair - Job 15-22

Life here on earth was fair until sin entered the Garden and messed things up; however, when man disobeyed God—that changed everything. God is honest and fair and in him there is no sin. He has provided the Law of old and Grace in this dispensation that directs us to a time and place where sin will not abound and all life there will be treated perfectly fair. So long as we are in the confines of a world that disobeys God, He will have to continue to punish [in some cases allow Satan to punish] his people. There may be actions that indicate a particular cause; however, the root always traces back to a person or nation that has DISOBEYED God. Man does not fully understand the ways of God and for this reason there will always be incidents in some lives that do not seem fair.

It is very important that we learn that life will never seem completely fair to everyone. It is even more important that we develop a sound basis for our faith and refuse to let disappointments dull, dim or destroy our little faith. Those of us that have become completely dependent upon the goodness of Jesus Christ and have secured our faith in Him have nothing to fear. When our way gets rough, and burdens seem too heavy to bear we may suffer even more that seems to be our share—but we will never come to a point that we will curse God and die. Our greatest asset is our absolute security purchased by Christ and paid for with his own blood.

There is no place in the bible where God promises not to discipline his children—the opposite is true. A song that was popular some years ago emphatically told us that no one had promised anyone a rose-garden. That is a true statement [both secularly and spiritually] and it applies to everyone—whether Christian or not. The bible teaches us that it rains on both the just and the unjust. I believe there is more than one side to this statement. It rains on the crops, gardens and lawns of both the just and the unjust, and this furnishes helpful moisture that promotes growth and is welcomed by all. Then there are the rains that come in torrents of several inches and homes are flooded, property damaged, lives lost and Christians living in the flooded areas are going to suffer just as the unjust will suffer.

The lesson plan for this Sunday starts with chapter 15 and goes through number 21. It can be summed up by saying that this unfolding drama now comes to the second round of Job’s dialogues with his three friends. During the first 14 chapters Job has been answering his friends, and they have heard very little that Job has said; instead they have stayed busy reformulating their same arguments to be used in this second round. They have demonstrated very poor bed-side manners in at least two main ways. First they refused to listen to Job…and when they did appear to listen they were not hearing what he had to say. Secondly, they all enjoyed hearing themselves talk and they used their conservations to condemn Job of sin, and to complain because he would not admit his sin.

This encounter reminds me of an incident that is supposed to have happened in the office of Socrates, the noted philosopher. A young man once came to Socrates requesting help in improving his oratory. He introduced himself and immediately began to talk constantly with only a pause to catch his breath. Socrates soon became impatient and placed his hand over the man’s mouth signaling for silence, and he said, “Young man I will have to charge you a double fee.” “Why” asked the pupil. “Because I will have to teach you two sciences,” Socrates answered—“First, the science of holding your tongue; and then the science of using it correctly.” God knows that I should have been this student; and Job’s three friends should have been there too. It is very difficult to listen with proper attention and even more challenging to be able to always say the right thing at the appropriate time.

Someone asked one of our class members how it would be possible to understand what is going on in this book. His answer was great and I will use it to instruct those who are studying Job. You can not just start anywhere in this book and understand what is going on. There is a series of conversations involving God, the Devil, Angels, and the men that claim to be Job’s friends. In order to understand what is taking place—you must begin at the first verse and read the book in its entirety.

Today we have come to the place where round one of the argument has ended and now Eliphaz, who spoke first in round one, was the first to speak in round two. This friend, Eliphaz, was more sympathetic than the other two friends in the beginning but now he also has become impatient with Job and what at first was a discussion about the causes of Job’s problems has now turned into disputed argument. Eliphaz launches his argument in the second round using strong words condemning Job for the sin that is in his life and maintaining that he was being punished for his sins. He told Job that he was acting foolishly. He condemned Job’s line of reasoning and his approach to life. He accused Job of thinking that he had more wisdom than his friends—even more than God. He continued by placing all the blame on Job and asked, “Why has your heart carried you away and why do your eyes flash?” In this statement he was actually accusing Job of losing his mind…and it appears to me that the friends are the ones that are beginning to lose touch with reality.

I have tried to find something from these conversations that would be applicable to Christian friends today that are visiting the ill. The mistakes that Eliphaz made help us with our insight into bedside manners. He talked too much and too long, so we need to control and limit our part of the visit. He was abrupt and abrasive and we should have learned to season our words, express kindness and appear tenderhearted. Act and talk in a way that will help the ill to understand that your came out of love and compassion. Actually, Eliphaz was incorrect in his thoughts on the judgment of the wicked. We can not afford to speak untruthfully—think about what you will say and be sure that you know that you are right. This is especially true when you are using an example from the bible—make sure you know the meaning of the Word [bible example] that you are using.

A brief look at chapter sixteen shows that Job let his emotions spin out of control and his deepest levels of frustration are with his friends and God—and he even indicates that he needs a moderator or spokesman to intercede for him in heaven. He told the friends that they were miserable counselors and asked if their long-winded speeches will ever end. Then he turns and accuses God of tormenting him—he said, “Surely, O God, you have worn me out.” It would appear that Job should have known that God would be his perfect advocate in heaven and that he did not need a person there to speak for him. However, we must realize that he did not have the New Testament and the promise it holds for us stating that Christ is our go between—always upholding and protecting us.

This seems to be a good place to make a point as to the relevance of this lesson to our lives today. Answer this question…if you could hear Christ in the room next to you praying for you by name…would that make any difference in how you feel about his protection? The fact is, whether he is in the next room or in heaven—Christ is interceding for his people, representing them before the Father in heaven. He is there NOW pleading our case before God and is making sure that his perfect plan for our lives is carried out according to his will. How do I know? By faith, I believe his Word [The Holy Bible] to be truth—it is either all truth or total fiction. These promises are found in 1 John 2: 1-2 and 1 Timothy 2:5.

We are not sure what tomorrow will bring. The bottom may fall out and all aspects of life come crashing in on you, or me, or us. If it does we may be frustrated, physically and emotionally drained, and even our faith may be tried. If this happens—we can learn from some things that did not happen in the story of Job. First, we should never listen to bad counsel. Job did listen and let his friends upset him…when the truth was he knew they were all wrong and bad counselors. Secondly, we should look for counsel that is dependable, truthful, and willingly available. This person must have a background of faith orientated biblical knowledge—they must know what God says about our situation and what He says we should do about it. Third, and most important—keep your anchor in the rock…don’t question God as Job did…turn to Romans 8:28 read it and believe it. Consider it done.

In seventeen, Job lost ‘almost’ all hope. When hope is gone there is nothing left. Hope is what keeps our hearts alive, it is the fuel that makes us go forward and upward. Any time a Christian starts wondering instead of hoping; he is running out of fuel and needs to refill his tank. There is only one brand of fuel—one station. God remains in control over all of life. He is Sovereign! He has the fuel [strength, stability, encouragement, answers] that you need—don’t just stop at his station—PARK THERE. When your faith is weak and hope dims it is time to focus on God’s wisdom. He is sovereign, yes, but he executes his sovereignty with perfect wisdom. In his wisdom he has made a perfect plan for you…so why worry? Most important, focus on God’s love! Why would he love you so much that he died for you and then neglect to give you hope and strength?

Skimming over eighteen reveals that Bildad had started thinking about death—and in this chapter he addresses Job’s problem the second time. He has not changed his thinking regarding Job’s sins as the cause of his problems. You can imagine how well Job received his second speech when it centers on the fact that Job is facing sure death and he attempts to make it a dim future for the wicked. Bildad details the awful death of the wicked because he believes that Job is suffering for his sin. Making it even worse, he surmises that the wicked will die without hope, and will not escape the judgment. The death of the wicked is a horrible sight, however Job was not wicked. Bildad’s message was right but directed toward the wrong person. He had lost patients with Job and let his voice inflections make it known. If we are caught in the same circumstances we should remain gentle and be more discerning about our choice of subject and presentation. We should never assume that our sick friend is beyond any hope of survival—and most assuredly, we do not want to cause the loss of any hope that is left.

The 19th chapter is about a faith that did not fail. Take a moment to think about how disappointed the devil is by this time in Job’s trials. Job’s faith has worked against the devil in the same way that unbelief does against God. I heard the story of a trapper from Louisiana that decided to try his trade in Canada where animals were more plentiful. He was doing well until late winter when he became ill and needed medical attention. He would have to walk to the nearest settlement which was on the other side of a large river that had recently frozen over. He was not familiar with ice and the strength it has, so he got on hands and knees and slowly crept out from the bank. He was afraid he would break through the ice and would be carried under by the current. Shaking from the cold and trembling from his fear he made it to the middle of the river when he thought his demise had come. He heard a loud noise that sounded like cracking ice and his faith and hope hit the low bottom. Then he looked up and saw a team of horses pulling a wagon loaded with fire wood passing across the river. At that moment his faith went from hope to pure knowledge because he realized he was very safe.

This story of the river crossing pictures Job crossing his river of trials…and we can visualize him at least half way across and headed for the shore as we read verses 23 through 29. He now knows that his redeemer is alive and that one day He would stand upon the earth. He said, “And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.” He said, “I will see Him with my own eyes.” This is the measure of faith that causes death to loose its sting.

The 20th chapter contains Zophar’s second and final speech to Job. He was even blunter than before and more critical than the other friends. He reaches a repulsive and loathsome point when he refers to Job as Godless and assured him that the Godless will “Perish like his own dung.” It seems obvious that Zophar was venting his anger in trying to intimidate Job into confessing his sins using pressure tactics. Zophar was correct in declaring what would happen to the wicked—but wrong in judging Job to be one of them. Paul admonishes us to speak the truth—but to do so in love [Eph.4: 15]. And the love chapter, Cor. 13:1 makes it seem that Zophar was a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal—because he did not show any love.

Two truths were taught by Zophar that should cause us to stop and thank Christ for our assurance we have in Him. 1. Judgment is sure and 2. Hell is real.

Chapter 21 is a great way to end this lesson on a much brighter note than the first chapters have been. It addresses the subject of how we should react when good things happen to bad people. Someone has said that the goodness of God is as curious as His disappointments. There is no doubt that many nonbelievers become wealthy while many believers remain homeless and lack for food and clothing. In this case the rich may be wealthy but miserable and the poor may be homeless here but will inherit a heavenly home and are living the life of joy and peace.

Job understands and explains to his “fiends” that they have been completely in error in telling him that only the wicked are punished. He tells them that death awaits both the good and bad—both the rich and poor and they have spoken in error. He says that it is not unusual for the wicked to prevail in life and even be buried with great honor. He was correct. The bible teaches that wealth or lack of it, nor honor or power, or being born to believing parents has nothing to do with our life after death.

Briefly, we must remember; God initiated these test and not Satan. The test was not to break Job down spiritually—it was brought on him because he had a faith that God could depend on—He knew Job would prevail. This must have been a more severe loss than any other man has ever or will ever witness. The reason Job suffered was to provide the ultimate example of horrible suffering that a man can endure and still keep the faith. You and I may have to suffer—but it will never be as severe as it was with Job. We are to know that and remember that he prevailed and in the end he was restored. We know that we are saved by faith and now we can be assured that our obedience will prove that we love God and we too shall prevail.