58. Introducing Elihu

Meditations in Job : 58.  Introducing Elihu

Job 32:1-3 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him

We come to a major turning point in the book which is spelled out simply for us: “So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.” The tirades against Job have finally come to an end because the three ‘friends’ have run out of words in the face of Job’s intransigence. Job has refused to give way in his determination to declare that he is righteous.

Then Elihu is introduced: “Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram.” Elihu means “God is Jehovah” and Barakel means “God blesses”. Buzite suggest from the family of Buz who was the son of Nahor, brother of Abraham.  We are also told that he is younger than the others: “Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he.” (v.4). Some have suggested that because so much information is given about him that he may be the author of the book, but it may just be that the others were well-known and he wasn’t and so more detail had to be given to identify him.

As we read on we see his response: “But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.” (v.5)  It is when he sees that the others come to a halt and the situation has not been clarified that his anger arises and our verses above indicate that his anger focuses on two things.

First he becomes angry at Job because he has been justifying himself rather than God. This young godly man is passionate for the glory of God and in all that has been said, generally God has not been glorified!  Job has been more concerned with his own righteousness than he has with God’s. Perhaps the best Job could have come up with might have been, “Well, I don’t understand why this has all happened but I trust God. I know that He always has good reasons and if this is of Him then I am certain that He has a good reason for it.”  The nearest he came to that was his reaction after the first wave of disasters, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (1:21) and his response to his wife who called him to curse God: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (2:10)

For us today we can hold on to that promise spoken by Paul: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28)  Our response in the face of lack of understanding needs to be, “Lord, I don’t know what is going on here, but I trust that you are working for my good in it because of what Jesus has done for me on the Cross.”

Second, he becomes angry at the three friends: “He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him.” A note in the margin of your Bible suggests that an alternative may mean ‘have condemned God.” In other words these men hadn’t been able to puncture Job’s arguments but had nevertheless condemned him and in so doing had condemned the work of the Lord.  This is what the modern atheist does – blame God, IF there is one.  Very often they don’t so much put up reasons why there can’t be a God (that very rarely happens!), as they say why they don’t like God, and therefore reject the God who they think is revealed in the Bible.  They condemn what they don’t like but it’s not the real God described there!  These three friends misrepresented God!  At the conclusion of the book we find, “After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” (Job 42:7)  That’s rather a bad assessment of them!  But how do we represent God?  When we speak of Him, when we witness about Him, are we faithfully representing Him or do we attribute things to Him that the Bible doesn’t say?

Before he moves into his speech properly, Elihu explains why he hasn’t said anything before, even though, apparently, he has been sitting in the background listening to it all:  “So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said: “I am young in years, and you are old; that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know. I thought, `Age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom.” (v.6,7)  Herein is humility!  The young giving way to the old – exactly according to Scripture but not very common in the modern world! He graciously acknowledges that wisdom should come with age, which is why he simply sat listening to those older than himself – but he was disappointed!

So next he turns to an alternative source of wisdom, the Lord Himself: “But it is the Spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.” (v.8)  i.e. the Holy Spirit can communicate truth and wisdom and, by inference, this is what Elihu relies on, the Lord Himself. Where this is true, where there is such a relationship with the Lord, then, “It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.” (v.9). There is a profound truth here: wisdom should be learnt with the experience of the years, but a living relationship with the Lord opens the individual up to a source of wisdom that is not found otherwise. James said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.” (Jas 1:5)  James later describes this wisdom that is available to the children of God: “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (Jas 3:17)  Will we see that in what Elihu says?  We’ll see!  To close this particular meditation we may ask ourselves, have I learned the wisdom that comes with the experience of the years, and am I open for the Lord to share His wisdom to me through His Spirit?  May both answers be able to be in the affirmative!

57. My Cause

Meditations in Job : 57.  I can justify my cause

Job 31:5,6 If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit– let God weigh me in honest scales and he will know that I am blameless

In his closing words in this final chapter of his speeches, Job goes through his life and justifies his actions to show that he is righteous. This is his central concern, that he has not strayed into unrighteousness. He starts with what he had determined: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.” (v.1) He had determined a life of purity and righteousness. He explains his thinking: “For what is man’s lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high?” (v.2) After all, he says, our lives will be what God determines as He looks on who we are and what He sees in us. He deals with us according to what He sees: “Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?” (v.3) I know that is what He does, so I determined to avoid that sort of life.  Indeed, “Does he not see my ways and count my every step?” (v.4)  God looks on me and knows this is true.  That’s why, going on to our verses above, he asks the Lord to weigh his life and determine and declare that he is blameless.  He is so certain of this that he is willing to lay a curse on himself if it is not true: “if my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled, then may others eat what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.” (v.7,8) i.e. may others take what I have if I have been untrue!

In the verses that follow, he applies the same thinking, going through a series of wrongs that he is sure he has not done, and declares judgments if such things can be found against him. “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbour’s door.” (v.9) and “If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me.” (v.13) and “If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary,” (v.16) and “if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless.” (v.17) and “if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment,” (v.19) and “if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court,” (v.20) and “If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, `You are my security,’ if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained,” (v.24,25) and “If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him.” (v.29) and “if the men of my household have never said, `Who has not had his fill of Job’s meat?” (v.31) and “if I have concealed my sin as men do, by hiding my guilt in my heart,” (v.33) and “if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears, if I have devoured its yield without payment.” (v.38,39)

Thus he lists off all the things that he can think of that in his mind constitute unrighteousness, things he is certain he has not done! This is a very moral list and many of us might be challenged to wonder whether we could say such things.  All of these things he puts under a curse, so sure is he of his own right doing.

In it he makes a cry for God to come and give him an answer: “Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defence–let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing. Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown. I would give him an account of my every step; like a prince I would approach him.” (v.35-37) i.e. if only God would come and lay out His claims against Job, then Job would be able to give an account for everything he had done and thus be able to show that he had not strayed from the path of righteousness.

Now if we ever go down this same path, we are on dangerous ground.  Job is going to be chided for speaking without knowledge. He has focused on his righteousness but this hasn’t been about that.  He has misunderstood because he doesn’t have the counsel of heaven.  If there is a wrong in Job, this is it, but he doesn’t realise that yet.

Perhaps our biggest difficulty in the Christian life is that spiritual realities are invisible and we are used to operating in a material visible world.  That’s why the apostle Paul declared, “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:7). So much of the time our walk has to be purely on the basis of what we believe we have heard from God so far, and that is not always easy.  If we start focusing on our behaviour we fall into a variety of traps. There is the trap of only partial truth, so we think we are all right but in reality we are blind to bad thinking and bad behaviour and it needs to Lord to reveal it to us. There is the trap of pride whereby we start thinking how good we are – especially in comparison to others – and we don’t realise that that pride is a sin. There is also the trap of self-effort whereby, just like the apostle Paul before he was saved, we work at what is, in fact, self-righteousness and that is a form of ungodliness as we forget about God in our endeavours.

Job has been speaking rightly about his life, but wrongly about what has recently been happening to him. His words may be right – but not in this context! He would have done better to have said nothing. Solomon understood this when he wrote, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Prov 10:19). The more we speak, the more likely we are to get it wrong. Listen up!

56. Where is Wisdom?

Meditations in Job : 56.  Where is Wisdom and Understanding

Job 28:12,13 But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living.

In this final discourse from Job we have noted his cynical challenge to his friends (26:1-4), his acknowledgement of the mystery of God (26:5-14), his claim to righteousness (27:1-6) and his acknowledgement that God deals with the wicked (27:7-23).  Next he challenges the very basic premise of these friends – that wisdom and understanding can be found this side of heaven.

In chapter 28 he ponders on where wisdom comes from. In 28:1-11 he simply speaks about man’s activity in mining gold (v.1), iron and copper (v.2), and sapphires (v.6). He majors on the great endeavours that are needed to dig deep into the earth to find these things of great worth, and he does this to contrast the finding of wisdom.  In our verses above he asks where wisdom can be found.  Man doesn’t value it, he maintains, so it is in very short supply. It’s not in the natural world (oceans, v.14), it cannot be bought (v.15,16) and yet its value far exceeds that of precious stones (v.17-19).  Where therefore does it come from, he asks again (v.20), for it is hidden from us (v.21) and even the afterlife hasn’t got it (v.22).  No, he concludes, “God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells,” (v.23).  Why? Because, “he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.” (v.24)  i.e. because the Lord knows everything and sees everything and therefore knows how everything works (v.25-27).   Moreover, He has declared to man that, “The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” (v.28) i.e. wisdom comes with a right relationship with the Lord and a life that flows out of that relationship. This is what wisdom is all about.

In chapter 29 he looks back on how things had been, before these calamities had come upon him. He remembers how God had been with him and he had been blessed (29:1-6). In those days he had been respected in the city (29:7-11) because of all his good works in helping the poor and needy (29:12-17).  In those days he had felt utterly secure (29:18-20) and his counsel had been gladly received by all who sought him out (29:21-25).

In chapter 30 he faces what has happened.  Now all that has changed!  He had counseled and sought to help those who were the dregs of society (30:1-8) but now their sons mock him (v.1,9), they detest him (v.10), they throw off restraint (v.11), they attack him (v.12-14) and he is left in a place of terror (v.15).  Now he is in a place of physical anguish (v.14-19) and although he cries out to the Lord he gets no answer (v.20).  Indeed it seems like the Lord attacks him (v.21-23).  It’s like it’s all been turned upside down. “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress.” (v.24)  That’s what you’d expect!

He thinks back to those he has responded to in similar situations: “Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?” (v.25) Might he not have expected similar?  But, “Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness. The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me. I go about blackened, but not by the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.” (v.26-28)  Part of the awfulness of this trial is the absence of help, the failure to be given comfort. Instead of comfort he’s just received accusations (darkness) and ongoing anguish continues as he has to defend himself (churning inside) and his character has been blackened and he’s left crying for help.  He feels a total outcast, “I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of owls,” (v.29) and his physical affliction has just got worse: “My skin grows black and peels; my body burns with fever,” (v.30) and his inner anguish just gets worse: “My harp is tuned to mourning, and my flute to the sound of wailing.” (v.31).

As we have quickly scanned these three chapters of Job’s outpouring, we have caught again a little of the awfulness of what has happened to him, the terrible contrast between what was and what he now is.  We have also seen the awfulness of the lack of help, encouragement and solace.  It has been said that the Christian army is the only army that shoots its wounded.  Perhaps this is the original example of that.  When he needed comfort, all he received was criticism.  When he needed compassion all he received was condemnation. His afflictions are far more than merely physical, or even the loss of his family and life; his afflictions include that lack of understanding and feelings from his friends. How do we stand up under such scrutiny? How do we measure up in the light of our responses to the fallen around us?

55. I am Righteous

Meditations in Job : 55.  I am Righteous

Job 27:5,6 I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity. I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.

We now come to a long discourse by Job that runs from chapter 26 through to 31. Starting at the beginning of chapter 26, Job chides the friends with cynicism: “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!” (26:2) which of course means exactly the opposite – you haven’t helped one bit! And when he goes on, “Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?” (26:4) it’s like we might say, “Wherever did you get all this drivel from? When he continues, “The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.” (26:5) it’s like he is saying, “Well you have really comforted the dead, writing off all of their previous existence by the way you put down their lives!

Look, he says, moving into a longer section that exalts God’s greatness, “Death is naked before God.” (26:6) i.e. God sees everything, the dead included. In verses 7 to 13 that follow he extols the Lord who has created all things and is Lord over all. He concludes, “Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” (26:14c) In other words, God is so great you’ll never be able to understand it all, so (implied) your attempts to rationalize His activity will fail.

In chapter 27 he maintains his integrity and his righteousness. When he says, “As surely as the Lord lives,” it is like an oath, and he moves in to the strong words we have as our verses today. In this he is quite remarkable. This is the heart of his cries – I am righteous; this is not because of my sin – THAT IS the truth!

Verses 7 to 10 are a call for justice, for God’s wrath to come down on those who are against him: “May my enemies be like the wicked, my adversaries like the unjust!” (27:7) Is this a reference to his ‘friends’ who have become his adversaries? He wants those who are against him to know the hopelessness that is usually associated with the godless: “For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?” (27:8). He wants them to experience the same awfulness that he has known of crying to God and not being heard: “Does God listen to his cry when distress comes upon him?” (27:9). He wants them to know the experience of almost coming to the point when he virtually gives up even calling out to God: “Will he find delight in the Almighty? Will he call upon God at all times?” (27:10) Within these words there is, indirectly, the reminder of the anguish that he himself has been going through.

Look, he says, you clever people, “I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.” (27:11) You want to know about the reality of all this? I will tell you! “You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?” (27:12) I’m the one who has been going through all this, I’m the one who knows the reality of it, so why have you been uttering meaningless words that don’t come from experience (implied)?

The rest of the chapter is given over to his agreement that God does indeed judge the wicked (but that doesn’t include him!)  He speaks about the wicked and ruthless (v.13) and how their sin will bring judgment down on their families to the next generations (v.14,15). It doesn’t matter what the wicked save up, it will be taken away (v.16,17). He may think he is building security in his great house but it will all be taken (v.18,19) All this, his very life, will be snatched away in the twinkling of an eye (v.20-23). Oh yes, Job has orthodox beliefs about what will happen to the wicked, but the only thing is that he is absolutely certain that that doesn’t include him. Yes, he subtly agrees that this is all that has happened to him and so (implied) he understands where they are coming from. It is an understandable mistake, because that is how it usually works – the Lord does judge the wicked and take away what they have. Yes, that is a truth, but he has just maintained his crucial belief – I am righteous! This has not happened to me because I have sinned.

Now we may think Job is going over the top in this but he is doing no more than speaking the truth. We know from the Lord’s earlier description of him – blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil (1:8 & 2:3) – that he had NOT sinned. This test was not about his sin. It was all about whether he would remain faithful to God in the face of all that Satan could throw at him this side of death. There is a strong lesson here about not letting the enemy dump guilt upon you when you are not guilty!  Don’t let him do it!

54. Righteous?

Meditations in Job : 54.  How can a Man be Righteous?

Job 25:4 How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?

Job has been protesting his righteousness and the three ‘friends’ have been struggling with that!  Bildad comes in, for the last time, with an attack on that assertion. It is in fact the last of the words from the friends. In the remainder of the book we will see Job speaking, then Elihu an outsider speaking, and then the Lord.

To start this last argument, Bildad exalts the Lord: “Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven. Can his forces be numbered? Upon whom does his light not rise?” (v.2,3) i.e. God is the supreme ruler who brings peace (implied)  and order to heaven. He calls upon countless angels to serve Him and His glory shines on all of creation. This is the God with whom we have to deal. So far, so good! Implied within all this is God’s perfection, perfection in His being and perfection in all He does. Before Him, Bildad continues in our verse above, how can any man stand righteous? How can any human being claim to be righteous?

He then sets up a strange comparison: “If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is but a maggot– a son of man, who is only a worm!” (v.5,6) If the moon and the stars are not bright in comparison to His glory (implied), how much less be a mere human being, who is but a maggot in God’s order of things?  I have heard the same being said in the sceptical derision of modern day atheists: If God is so great how could he possibly worry about such mundane and minute figures such as we are? And there is a great mystery – the love of God!

When we seek to examine Scripture as a whole, we come across two amazingly different pictures of mankind. The first puts us down:

• For instance the apostle Paul wrote, “death came to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom 5:12) and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23)
• David said, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me,” (Psa 51:5) and “All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one,” (Psa 14:3) and, agreeing with Bildad, “no one living is righteous before you.” (Psa 143:2).
• Jeremiah spoke similarly: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” (Jer 17:9)

So, this first position shows mankind as utterly sinful and in that respect, in their original state, there is nothing good about them. But there is a second view of mankind:

• “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honour and put everything under his feet.” (Heb 2:6-8 quoting Psa 8) – this is mankind who God made to rule over the earth.
• Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” (Prov 8:30,31) i.e. God delighted in mankind when He made us!
• “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (Jn 3:16,17) i.e. God still loved this world – the people on it – even though we are sinners.

This latter position shows that we were created to a position of authority and rule and honour and even though we are fallen, God still loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. So, can we be righteous? That is Bildad’s concern. Can we be righteous apart from Jesus, we might add?

Consider: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” (Gen 6:9) and “Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God.” (Deut 24;13) and “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” (Psa 1:5) and “But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God” (Psa 68:3) and “Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.” (Prov 2:20) and “The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry” (Prov 10:3). ‘The righteous’ in all of these cases (and very many more in the Old Testament) are those who walk with God and follow His ways and are morally upright.

Let’s move on a step: “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:6) and “to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” (Rom 4:5). Here we see ‘righteousness’ clarified as that which God declares over a person when they simply believe Him! Where there is faith, there is righteousness.  Can we be righteous? Yes, by walking with God – by receiving His salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, and being led by His Holy Spirit. This IS righteousness. We could say so much more on this subject but space forbids for the moment. Bildad, you’ll  need to see the wider testimony of Scripture and realise that although we are fallen, we are loved and, being loved, we can enter into a living relationship with God whereby He declares us righteous for believing what He has done for us and then for what He is doing in us.

53. Why Evil?

We pick up again the meditations in Job for the final run to the end of the book

Meditations in Job : 53.  Why Evil?

Job 24:1,2,12b Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? Men move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen….. But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

In this present speech we’ve seen Job bemoan the fact that he wants to speak with God but can’t find him (23:1-12) and also acknowledge it is a fearsome thing to be under God’s hand of discipline (23:13-17). While he’s wanting to talk with God, he now thinks of other associated questions that he has, especially why it is that God seems to let people get away with unrighteous behaviour (when he hasn’t been unrighteous – implied). Thus his opening questions that we have above: i.e. why doesn’t God come and sort out those who are doing wrong?

He then categorises some of the wrongs he is aware of – moving boundaries (v.2a), stealing animals (v.2b,3), putting down the poor and not caring for them (v.4-12) – and wonders why God doesn’t hold people responsible (v.12b). He goes on about those who sin in darkness (v.13) – the murderer (v.14), the adulterer (v.15) and thieves (v.16) – all of whom make use of the darkness to carry out their wrongs (v.17) and who (implied) get away with it!.

Yet, he is aware that their lives are transitory, they are like the foam that appears on the surface of rivers and which gets blown away (v.18), or the snow which gets easily melted and soon vanishes (v.19a). Yes, death comes to such people (v.19b) and soon they are forgotten (v.20). Yes, they may prey on the weak (v.21) but God deals with them (v.22). He may allow them to rest apparently feeling secure for some time (v.23a) but He is watching them (v.23b) and although they are exalted for a while, they will soon be gone (v.24). He finishes with a challenge, that if this is not so, then tell him (v.25).

This subject or theme regularly crops up in the minds of thinking people. In fact it perhaps seems THE great mystery. How can a holy God make a world that goes wrong, where people rebel against Him and do wrong and harm other people? Why doesn’t He step in and deal with such people and minimise the suffering that the poor have to put up with? It needs a little thought but I believe the answer is wrapped up in the whole subject of free will. It is impossible to imagine a human being without free will. There are secular philosophers who are determinists and they maintain that we have no free will; we are locked into life and have to go with what comes. The Christian equivalent is the ultra Calvinist who maintains God’s sovereignty is such that He determines our every act. Both groups maintain we don’t have free will in reality, yet that is the clear implication of Scripture. When God tells Adam and Even not to do something and they do it,  that is free will in operation. When He told Israel not to do something and they did it, that is free will in operation. To say it is God making them do wrong is a nonsense! The other side of the coin is that God knows what will happen, knows what we will do and so works accordingly, (see Acts 2:23, 4:27,28) i.e. He took our sinful acts and used them to bring salvation to the world.

The big problem with free will is the fact that God has to limit Himself and allow men and women to do what they choose – even though He may speak to them and strongly encourage them to behave otherwise. Yet they choose to sin, they choose to reject Him and rebel against His laws. As they do this they harm other people. Does God just put up with this? No He speaks to them and to others. Sometimes His words restrain them, sometimes His words stir others to speak up for justice, for the Lord uses people to restrain people. Parliament makes laws to restrain wrong doing, the police seek to uphold those laws and restrain wrong doers, and the courts see that wrong doers are punished. In these ways the Lord restrains evil. But sometimes He steps in specifically deals with an individual. Sometimes we see that individual being exposed and dealt with by the Law. Sometimes they die. There is no clear formula to work this out – but there is the Lord, and He decrees what He sees is right for every situation. That may appear confusing for us, this side of heaven, but one day we will understand and then we will be satisfied, for we will know that the wisdom of God was perfect and is fault-free.

Thus it is that sometimes when wrong doing is right in our face, we question and query, just like Job. Sometimes our emotions are stirred, just like Job, and once our emotions are stirred, we question and query. It is only then, as we think through the reality of these things and see the teaching of Jesus, that we realise that God has given mankind free will and does allow us to act as we will, but He is also sovereign and so He acts into lives and situations and exercises His supreme will. If the wrong doer appears to be getting away with it – for the moment – that is God allowing it, but He may step in and act, so the wrong doer should never feel safe! We would do well to heed these things.

52. Where is He

Meditations in Job : 52.  Where is He?

Job 23:3,4 If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.

I have noticed that Jesus approved at the saints ‘bothering’ God, as seen in his parable of the persistent widow (Lk 18:1-5).  Job wants to ‘bother’ God but just can’t seem to make contact with him.  That is the gist of chapter 23.  He starts out, “Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.” (v.1,2)  He would have thought that, seeing his anguish, the Lord would have drawn near, but the burden upon him remains just as heavy. Thus we come to our verses today when he makes this statement, that if only he could find God he would bring his situation before Him.  If only he could find Him, “I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say.” (v.5).  i.e. then at least I would be able to get His side of all this!  “Would he oppose me with great power? No, he would not press charges against me.” (v.6)  i.e. if I were able to get to see Him I’m sure He wouldn’t slap me down, I’m sure He wouldn’t condemn me!  Why?  Because I am sure of His righteous judgment: “There an upright man could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge,” (v.7) and I am sure He would acquit me of wrong doing!

Yet, I can’t find him: “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.” (v.8,9) i.e. He’s nowhere to be found!  Wherever I turn there is no sense of His presence, is what we might say.  But then comes a remarkable testimony of awareness with a confidence in his own responses in what has been happening: “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” (v.10-12)  i.e. yet I  trust in Him, that He knows what is happening to me and when He’s finished with me I’ll come out victorious for I have kept to His way and His word.

Rather like David in the psalms, Job concludes this section by an affirmation of the Lord’s sovereignty: “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases. He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.” (v.13,14)  Yes, He is at work in all this and, no doubt, has still more to do.  But that isn’t a comfortable thought! “That is why I am terrified before him; when I think of all this, I fear him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.” (v.15,16)  This is a terrible experience and if the Lord has yet more to do in it, that is not something to be accepted easily.  He concludes with a word of determination: “Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.” (v.17)

As we look back over this chapter now, there are a couple of things that stand out. First, times of anguish come and it seems that we are utterly alone in them. As James was wont to say (Jas 1:2-4,12), we are to see such times as tests and Job affirms that here. But there is a specific feature of these sorts of tests, and that is that the Lord seems to have vanished. We seem to be utterly alone and however much we cry it, it seems some while before He seems to make His presence felt again. It is almost as if He says, “I want you to see that you can stand with the resources I have given you. I want you to remain faithful even though it seems that nothing else of my reality is real.” As David once wrote, “weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psa 30:5) There may appear a ‘night’ of anguish, but the morning will eventually come.

The second thing to note is that such times ARE SERIOUSLY DIFFICULT and, if we are honest, we find the thought of God disciplining, training and testing us to be something that is really scary. Now that is reality! Everything about us shies away from pain and difficulty and worry and anxiety. Normally those emotions act as a protecting force to keep us away from danger, but sometimes, the Lord in His love for us, disciplines us and that is far from pleasant (Heb 12:5,6,11).  Beware the superficial Christianity that preaches that life will always be wonderful and everything will always go well. It won’t! We live in a Fallen World and things go wrong.  We live in a hostile world and have an enemy who wars against us.  We are redeemed sinners that God is sanctifying.  Now the truth is that the Lord IS always with us, even when we don’t feel His presence (Heb 13:5) and He is always working on our behalf (Rom 8:28).  It may not feel like it, but that is the truth and part of God’s training is to bring us to the place when we can declare these truths, which ARE true, even when we don’t feel them. Beware of letting feelings reign! Learn of Job.

51. A Sinner

Meditations in Job : 51.  You ARE a Sinner!

Job 22:4,5 Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?

I have noticed that there are those who only look for the negatives in mankind and constantly go on about our sin. Eliphaz seems to be one of those people. As he comes back on Job again he starts by asking what benefit God gets from us being good: “Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise man benefit him? What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?” (v.2,3) The implication is that God doesn’t bother with us when we are good, because he goes on with our verses at the top today, saying that it is not for our goodness that He rebukes us but for our sin – so Job, you must be a sinner!  Well actually God does bother with us when we are righteous – He loves us and blesses us, even if we don’t realise what is going on!

When he asks “Are your sins not endless?” he is assuming that Job must have sinned and so he reels off a list of possible things that Job has done – demanded of the weak and poor (v.6), failed to help the needy (v.7,8), disregarded widows and orphans (v.9).  This he concludes, “is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you, why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.” (v.10,11).  This is his logic; he doesn’t know that Job has sinned but the fact of everything is going wrong brings him to that conclusion.

He then turns Job’s words back on himself, “Yet you say, `What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness? Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.” (v.13,14).  Look, he replies, God’s above the darkness and sees everything: “Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars!” (v.12) You’re just doing what sinners of old have always done, “Will you keep to the old path that evil men have trod?” (v.15) “They said to God, `Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?” (v.17) and suffered because of their foolishness: “They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood,” (v.16) not realising that it was God who had blessed them in the first place: “Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.” (v.17) (and here he is quoting Job back to himself – see 21:16) “The righteous,” he concludes, “see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying, `Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.” (v.19,20)  i.e. the righteous see how things go wrong for the wicked and mock them for their stupidity.

In the remaining verses of this chapter, Eliphaz makes what, in any other circumstances, would be a good call to repentance, but that is based on the assumption that Job has sinned – and of course we know that he hasn’t.  His sin is not the cause of his present difficulties!  But what he now says does so often apply: “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.” (v.21,22) Good advice!

“If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you,” (v.23-25) which might be summed up as don’t put your trust in riches but in God – also good advice! “Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows. What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.” (v.26-28).  Yes, in those circumstances that would be a good and right outcome.

“When men are brought low and you say, `Lift them up!’ then he will save the downcast. He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.” (v.29,30)  Yes, when the righteous are in a good place before God they can be used by Him to be a blessing to others. Yes, all of this is really good advice – if it was being given to a different person!  This is the problem here.  Job’s afflictions are not coming from sin.  We need to reiterate this again and again.  At the outset the Lord declared him blameless.  At the end the Lord chastises the three ‘friends’ and says that they have not spoken rightly as Job has.  He says it twice! (42:7,8)  Job has not sinned.  He has misunderstood what is going on and has flapped around trying to find an answer but that is not sin!

The warning that comes here again and again, as we consider these attempts of the ‘friends’ to get to grips with what is happening to Job, is beware of applying answers when you don’t know the truth of what is going on!  That surely must be a truth that applies when we encounter so many people.  Do we know everything that is going on in them?  No!  Do we know why they are in difficulties – really what has caused it?  No!  No, in every case we need the revelation and the wisdom and the compassion and the grace of God.  Without those we need to shut up!

50. The Wicked

Meditations in Job : 50.  The Wicked Live On

Job 21:7 Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?

Job has listened to this outpouring of only partial truth and now asks for another opportunity to speak: “Bear with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.” (v.3) He then indirectly suggests his complaint is with God: “Is my complaint directed to man? Why should I not be impatient?” (v.4) and goes on, “Look at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth.” (v.5) i.e. be amazed at what has happened to me – and then keep quiet!

Then he expresses something of his righteous attitude to the world and in v.7 asks the question we have above, but before it he declares, “When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body.” (v.6). That’s what he feels about what he sees in the world. It is a similar cry to that of Habakkuk: “Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.” (Hab 1:3)

This seems a mystery in the world, that God tolerates and allows the wicked to prevail and even, sometimes, to live long and prosperous lives! This is exactly what Job says in v.8-13, yet, he says, “they say to God, `Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?” (v.14,15)  They are utterly godless these unrighteous people. But, he goes on, “their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.” (v.16) i.e. they are only prosperous because God allows them to be so, but they are foolish and don’t realise this (implied) so I’m not going to have anything to do with their foolish thinking.

Because of what follows, it seems that verses 17 & 18 really suggest that so often the wicked seem to get away with their wickedness, because in verse 19 he points out a saying, that God brings the punishment, or effects of a man’s sins, upon his family who follow: “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them.” (v.17a) and “It is said, `God stores up a man’s punishment for his sons.” (v.19a)

Job isn’t happy with that; he wants the man to carry his own sin: “Let him repay the man himself, so that he will know it! Let his own eyes see his destruction; let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.” (v.19b,20). Otherwise, he thinks that wicked man will not bother about what he does or what will happen to his family who follows him: “For what does he care about the family he leaves behind when his allotted months come to an end?” (v.21). Job is left with questions and the final one is, “Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?” (v.22) i.e. no, God is above being taught because He is above everyone else!

Look at life, is what Job then implies: “One man dies in full vigour, completely secure and at ease, his body well nourished, his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both.” (v.23-26) i.e. there appears no rhyme or reason why one man dies happy and rich and another doesn’t. It is a mystery of life.

Then he turns back to himself: “I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me. You say, `Where now is the great man’s house, the tents where wicked men lived?” (v.27,28)  i.e. I know that you’re looking at me and what has happened to me and are assuming I’ve done wrong.  Talk around, he goes on, and ask those who have travelled and who have a wider knowledge of the world: “Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts– that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, that he is delivered from the day of wrath?” (v.29,30) i.e. they would tell you that they know of plenty of wicked people who appear to get away with it!  Oh, no, they get away with it all right: “Who denounces his conduct to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? He is carried to the grave, and watch is kept over his tomb. The soil in the valley is sweet to him; all men follow after him, and a countless throng goes before him.” (v.31-33).  i.e. who tells them off and rebukes them for their lives?  No one! He is buried with honour and crowds accept what he has done!

So, look at the folly of what you have been arguing: “So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!” (v.34)  No, this whole business of trying to attach sin to a person who is suffering falls down in the face of the evidence in life.  It just doesn’t happen like that!!!  We saw in the previous meditation the wider teaching as to why God works like this, so will simply refer you back to that at this point.  Never try to lump the whole world together to justify your arguments or doctrine or philosophy of life.  It’s normally not that simple!

49. Wicked Punished

Meditations in Job : 49.  The Wicked Punished

Job 20:4,5   Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since man was placed on the earth, that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

It’s Zophar’s turn to come back again on Job. His message of this chapter can be summed up: “surely it’s the wicked that God punishes” – and that has a logical conclusion in respect of Job, but he doesn’t actually spell that out!

His opening is a justification for speaking: “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed. I hear a rebuke that dishonours me, and my understanding inspires me to reply.”(v.2,3) This is disturbing, this is dishonouring, he says, and needs a response.  He then appeals to history as we see in our verse above and essentially declares, “The wicked don’t get away with it; it will only be short lived,”  and the rest of the chapter is an expansion of that.

Look, he goes on, he may esteem himself and look a big man (v.6) but he’ll soon disappear (v.7)  Like a dream in the night, he will soon be gone (v.8) and whoever looks for him won’t be able to find him (v.9). God (implied) will make him give back his ill-gotten gains, or if not him, his children will have to do it (v.10) but all the energy he shows will soon be gone (v.11).  He will enjoy evil like he enjoys tasty food (v.12,13) but it will turn sour in him (v.14a), indeed it will become like snake poison in him (v.14b,16)  but will eventually kill him, and he’ll have to give up all the riches he obtained (v.15).

He won’t be able to enjoy any of this (v.17,18b) but will have to give it back (v.18a). Why because all his wealth came by oppressing the poor and leaving them poorer still (v.19).  Despite his yearnings, none of his riches will help him (v.20,21) for in the midst of his apparent prosperity calamity will come (v.22).  It will be God bringing His judgment on him (v.23) and although he dodges about pain, fear and terror will overwhelm him (v.24,25), darkness will surround him and fire will consume him (v.26).

This will all be the combined work of the wrath of heaven and the reaction of the people on earth (v.27)  and it will be like a flood carries off all he has on the day of God’s anger (v.28) because this is what God does for the wicked. (v.29)

Now of course there is an implication behind all this.  Look at the thrust of what he has been saying: the wicked will get their just deserts and that will be seen in the form of all their goods and possessions being taken from them. Now that, of course, is exactly what had just happened to Job.  The implication is that what has happened has, therefore, been the work of God as an act of judgement on Job’s wickedness.

When we hear this sort of thing, we think, yes that is so, for we can think of evil men to whom this happened. Yes, there are public names that we can think of that have been exposed for what they are and have lost everything, but it doesn’t always work like that.

Jesus once told a parable that illustrated this: “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 13:47-50) In that simple little story, the fish were only separated out at the end and although there will be a sorting out of the good from the evil, it will happen only at the end of time.  Sadly, from our point of view, the Lord allows wicked people to continue to live and carry on doing wrong.  Peter tells us why: “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9)  Jesus reiterated this principle in another parable, the parable of the weeds, which he concluded by saying, “Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.” (Mt 13:30) i.e. we’ll sort them at the end.

This isn’t to say that people completely get away with their wrong doing for Paul taught, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.” (Gal 6:7,8).  The other side of this coin, to be thought about, is that bad does come to good people sometimes.  Again Jesus pointed this out when he was questioned: “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Lk 13:1-5)  No, we are all sinners living in a Fallen World and sometimes things go wrong and we get affected. The answer is simply to make sure that we have come into a right relationship with God and so we can trust Him to care for us and work for us, even when things appear to go wrong (see Rom 8:28).  No Zophar, you have an incomplete picture here!