Job's Faith: Trusting God Amidst Suffering

this is our fourth session on the book of Job we have just seen him stunningly pass the first test here in verses 20 and 22 of job one when he heard that his children were dead and that he had lost all of his camels and oxen and sheep and donkeys and his servants had died he arose tore his robe shaved his head fell on the ground and he worshiped he admitted that he had brought nothing into the world naked I came from my mother's womb he would take nothing out of the world as Paul put it later in first Timothy and therefore the Lord was the one who gave him everything that he had and now the Lord has taken it away the Lord has taken it away not ultimately Satan ultimately the Lord even though Satan is the one who asked for permission to do this and then he pronounces the word of worship praised blessed admired loved treasured honored revered be the name of the Lord [00:05:43]

the inspired writer not just job in the story the inspired writer of this book adds in all this job did not sin this this theology that attributes to God the taking of the way of his children through lightning and wind and Chaldeans and sabaeans and all of his possessions that sovereign view of God is not sin it's righteousness he did not charge God with wrong God does no one wrong in King what he has given so he passes stunningly his first test [00:01:31]

have you considered my servant job meaning as he'll explain now have you considered the effect of your first attempt to ruin his faith that there is none like him on the earth blameless upright fears God turns away from evil he still holds fast his integrity although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason there's a reason in job no sin in job that you can accuse him of he has settled all accounts with me he is a good man he and I are friends [00:02:38]

in fact we see in this passage and the previous ones that God sets the limits on Satan God rules Satan God could dispatch Satan out of this setting anytime he pleased he could shut his mouth like he did the demons in the Gospels when Jesus said to be silent he doesn't have to listen to Satan he's not incited in the sense that Satan stirs up God to do what God doesn't think it's wise to do God did think it was wise indeed he thought it was good and merciful and compassionate [00:03:35]

the great goal of this book is to show that God even if he touches bone and flesh and skin and children and possessions he's not worthy of being cursed he's worthy of being worshipped skin for skin I don't know whether it's animal skins for human skin here or the skin of his children for his own skin but something like this all that a man has the skin of his children the skin of his cattle that he might sell he's willing to give all that lose it all in the fire of heaven and the civilians and child deeds and the wind let it go because I'm not hurt [00:05:13]

that's how low Satan is gone to say that job is really just in love with his own health and his own life and as far as he's concerned his kids can go for his own skin his animals can go for his own skin but now we'll really find out where his heart is you touch his bone and you touch his flesh and now he'll curse you because you will have taken from him the one thing that he really cherishes above everything including you God [00:06:01]

this book is about the value of God is God to be valued above children valued above oxen valued above bone and flesh and life his Psalm 63 3 true the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life that's what this book is about and so God desiring to show the truth about job and about his own Worth says the Lord said to Satan behold he is in your hand only limits Satan God controls this situation not Satan he tells him how far he can go before he had told him not to touch him now he says you can touch him but you can't kill him [00:06:36]

Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck job now that's the first time in this book that it says explicitly Satan did it in the first chapter it never said Satan killed the children Satan killed the servants Satan stole the donkeys Satan asked for permission that he might do all that but it never says Satan did it in fact it says the fire that came down was the fire of God and and we just saw that God is the one who says you Satan cited me against him God was the final decisive power [00:08:34]

now it says explicitly he went out from the presence of the Lord and Satan struck Joe with loathsome source from the Soler's foot to the crown of his head and job took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes so how will job now respond to this will he attribute again will he say the Lord has taken away when it says Satan struck him what will the passing of this test look like [00:09:27]

he arose tore his robe shaved his head fell on the ground and he worshiped he admitted that he had brought nothing into the world naked I came from my mother's womb he would take nothing out of the world as Paul put it later in first Timothy and therefore the Lord was the one who gave him everything that he had and now the Lord has taken it away the Lord has taken it away not ultimately Satan ultimately the Lord even though Satan is the one who asked for permission to do this and then he pronounces the word of worship praised blessed admired loved treasured honored revered be the name of the Lord [00:00:08]

the inspired writer not just job in the story the inspired writer of this book adds in all this job did not sin this this theology that attributes to God the taking of the way of his children through lightning and wind and Chaldeans and sabaeans and all of his possessions that sovereign view of God is not sin it's righteousness he did not charge God with wrong God does no one wrong in King what he has given so he passes stunningly his first test [00:01:31]

have you considered my servant job meaning as he'll explain now have you considered the effect of your first attempt to ruin his faith that there is none like him on the earth blameless upright fears God turns away from evil he still holds fast his integrity although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason there's a reason in job no sin in job that you can accuse him of he has settled all accounts with me he is a good man he and I are friends [00:02:38]