Esther
Esther occurs between Ezra and Nehemiah at the chronological end of the Old Testament. It doesn’t contain the name of God. Whenever the groups met to canonize the Bible, Esther was always put out to the side. It was included because it shows God’s providence. God’s providence is shown even though it is not mentioned. He saved the race of Jews living at that time. That’s the book of Esther—God intervened. It’s a beautiful story. Any questions about Esther? No. OK, on to Job.
We have finished the Old Testament. I’ve been telling you this for several weeks. We really finished it with Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. The next book is Job. This starts a series of books (Job through Malachi) that were written during the times we’ve already studied. This morning we’ll cover Job.
The Poetic Books
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon are referred to as the Poetic Books. They contain a lot of poetry. When I say "poetry," understand that Hebrew poetry is not like our poetry. It’s not like, "Roses are red and violets are blue. I look happy and so do you." It’s not like that. It does not rhyme. It contains thoughts held together from one saying to the next saying to the next saying. Those thoughts are usually in parallel, meaning one thing is said and then the same thing is said in different words. Or it could be opposite. In other words, one thing is said and then the opposite is true. It’s like, "The Lord will bless those who are righteous, but He will judge those who are evil." There is an opposite thought. Another type of poetry is imagery. For example, the 23rd Psalm starts with, "The Lord is my shepherd." That’s imagery with the Lord being the shepherd.
Hebrew poetry is thought. This is evident in Psalms and Proverbs more than any other books. That’s Hebrew poetry. You’ll see it again this morning in Job. You’ll read it and say, "But nothing rhymes." Well, look at the thoughts and track the thoughts. That’s what Hebrew poetry is all about. We’re going to be looking at these five books over the next few weeks.
Reading Psalms and Proverbs
I want to give you an assignment for next week. Today is the 6th of April. Tomorrow is the 7th. There’s a way of reading Psalms and Proverbs that I like. It’s easy to keep up with and do. I want you to do this this week because I want you to get a sample of Psalms and Proverbs. We’ll talk about them next week. Read the chapter in Psalms and Proverbs corresponding to the date (e.g., on April 7th, read Psalm 7 and Proverbs 7). It’s very hard isn’t it? No. But you don’t stop there. This gets a little tricky—hold onto this. In addition to Psalm 7, I want you to add 30 and read Psalm 37. Add 30 more and read Psalm 67. Do this two more times and read Psalm 97 and 127. You’ll end up reading 5 Psalms and one Proverb every day. By the end of the week, you will have read 35 Psalms and 7 Proverbs. If you started on the 1st of the month, by the end of the month (or the 30th), you will have read all of Psalms and all of Proverbs.
This is what I recommend as an easy and interesting way to get through Psalms and Proverbs. Read five Psalms and one Proverb every day. I will challenge you to do this. If you do this, God will bless you during the week. I don’t mean that He’ll give you material possessions. He will bless you with peace, joy, or insight. He’ll give you something that you might need during the week. That is your assignment for next week when we’ll cover Psalms and Proverbs.
The Books of Wisdom
We are now getting into the Books of Wisdom. We introduced wisdom with Solomon. Here is the spiritual, scriptural, biblical definition for "wisdom":
That pretty well summarizes what Godly, spiritual wisdom is. We think of worldly wisdom as someone who can navigate the stock market well, can manipulate people well, or whatever. Godly wisdom and the wisdom that we’ll be discussing is, "living according to the way God created the universe." What that means is that God said, "I’m going to set up for people how to relate to one another. I will tell you how to relate to one another: male and female, husband and wife, parent and child, etc." If you’ll recall, a lot of things we’ve read are things that parents are to do with children, what children are to do, the Ten Commandments—all kinds of commands, decrees, and laws. God said, "For you to live spiritually, scripturally, with full health and joy, you would live in wisdom and live in accordance with the way God created the universe.
One of the interesting things about the New Testament Christian (you, if you’ve accepted Jesus Christ) is that God has given you the Holy Spirit. When He gave you the Holy Spirit, He also says, "I give you wisdom with the Holy Spirit. I want you to have the mind of Christ, which means that you have all the wisdom anyone could possibly ever have." You have that now. You are to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. Jesus said that (Matthew 10:16). We are supposed to be wise today. We are supposed to be able to discern right from wrong as a New Testament Christian. God has given it all to you. Whether or not you use it is something else. So we’re going to keep using that definition as we go through the Books of Wisdom.
The Book of Job and Psychology
It’s a fascinating book. This book is probably read by more secular, lost people than any other book in the Bible. I hope you’ll see why after we discuss it. Not only do Christians and Bible scholars read it, but you will find it in some college curriculums. You’ll find the Book of Job studied, not just in poetry or literature, but in the field of psychology. They would use the Book of Job to analyze the counselors who came to help Job. They’ll study what they said, how they said it, etc. So it’s a very interesting book from that viewpoint.
The Author and Date of Job
The author of Job is unknown. It doesn’t tell us exactly when it was written. It does give us the time period during which it was written. The events take place around the time of the descendants of Abraham. You have to go back to Genesis, chapters 23-36, to find the references to these counselors. You will find Bildad—if you’re looking for names for your children, that’s a great one. You will find Eliphaz and Zophar. So no one knows exactly when it was written but the events take place around the time of Abraham’s early descendants.
Who was God at this time?
I want you to think about that because you know the Old Testament. If I told you that this book was written during the time of Jacob and Esau, you tell me the spiritual understanding of God at this time. I know it’s been a few months—tell me the spiritual understanding of God at this time. He was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If we’re at the time of Jacob and Esau, Abraham received the promise and these are his grandsons. Not a lot of time has gone by. Is there a temple? No. Is there a Nation of Israel? No. See? I want you to start thinking about that. If Job wanted to learn about God, what is there to learn about Him? Not a lot. Only what God revealed to him. You have to keep that in mind as you read Job. It will give you an insight into how people obtained an understanding of God.
They did not have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy. Job didn’t have them. This is during the time of Genesis. Of course, he didn’t have the New Testament either. He didn’t have the structure of the Hebrew Nation or the stories of going through the Red Sea, God delivering them, the pillar of fire, etc. That has not occurred yet. It’s almost like I have to say, "Wipe out everything you’ve learned." Go way back and think about, "How did they know about God at this time?" Do you remember? How did Abraham find out about God? How did Isaac? How did Jacob? You have to go back and look at that. It was personal revelation and the individual dwelling on His Creation. That understanding will help you with your study of Job.
The Big Question
The big question in Job is:
This is why you’ll find Job studied in a lot of colleges and secular schools—that very question. It’s a book about suffering.
Summary of Job
God converses with Satan and says, "Satan, you can do anything you want to this man who lives on earth named Job. You can do anything around him but you cannot touch him." Job was one of the most famous people in the Mideast at this time. He was rich. He had all kinds of servants. All of it was wiped out in one day. All of it was wiped out completely. We see the response of Job, "I’m still going to honor God." This is amazing. He still honors God.
Satan and God
So Satan went back to God and said, "Well, God, you are still protecting him." God said, "OK, Satan, you can do anything you want to him except take his life." Job develops all kinds of sores and boils all over his body—from the bottoms of his feet (so he couldn’t walk) to the top of his head. This has all developed on him. He sits in ashes outside of town. This was something people did back then when mourning—covered themselves in ashes. He had lost everything. His health was terrible. And now it’s between Job, this pitiful, poor, nothing of a human being, and God.
Three friends arrive
Off in the distance come three of his friends. They sit down with him in this ash heap. They wait seven days for Job to say something—a whole week. They don’t say a word. Whenever you study this in a psychology course, they really focus a lot on that waiting period. They say, "Look at the quiet, patient restraint the counselors used!" Anyway, the friends wait seven days before speaking. I can’t help but get a kick out of people using this for psychology.
Job speaks
Finally Job opens his mouth. He talks. As soon as he talks, guess what the three friends/counselors do. They start kicking in. Up to chapter 40, the rest of the Book of Job is a dialogue between Job and his friends. Job will speak, a friend will speak, then another friend will speak, and then they’ll start over. That’s a repetition you’ll see in here.
Why me?
What do they discuss? Job will say, "Why is this happening to me?" Wouldn’t you ask the same question? Job doesn’t know what I’ve just told you. When you read the book, the God-Satan incident occurs in heaven. God calls an accounting for the angels. Satan comes and there’s an incident in heaven. Job is not aware of it. Job is fat, dumb, and happy. Everything is great. He looks over and sees the feasts and livestock and family. He says, "Everything is just great here on earth." Then one day, it all gets wiped out. What does he start thinking?
We know why
You see, we’re given something up front. We know the answer. We know Satan is involved. But you have to train your mind when reading Job’s response. He doesn’t know. He has no idea why this has happened to him. He has had a great life. All of a sudden, his 9 or 10 children are killed along with all his flocks and herds. (His wife isn’t killed—and we’ll find out why later.) Do you get the picture? He is there. He is suffering. That’s why it’s a book of suffering. He is in misery. He has to ask, "Why is this happening to me?"
I want you to think about any of the really hard times of suffering you’ve experienced. I know you weren’t sitting on the outskirts of the city on an ash heap, throwing ashes all over yourself. But you were probably doing something similar to it in your own home—throwing a pity party, feeling sorry for yourself, asking "why," wringing your hands, going to the doctor to get some kind of sedative, etc. Something was going on in your life, saying, "How do I live through this suffering? How can I get through it? How can I possibly continue to survive and exist?" This is Job.
The friends "know"
His friends arrive and say, "We have the answer. We know what your problem is: you are a sinner. You haven’t repented so God has judged you." Job sits and considers this and says, "No. I haven’t. I’ve done this and that for God. This has all been good. I haven’t done this or that." You discover how well they know (or don’t know) God as you read this. All three of them come at him, like, "No. You have something in your life. You don’t understand. A righteous God will not allow you to suffer unless you have something wrong with you."
What about you?
Do you all see the reasoning behind that? Have you ever in your life thought that either for yourself or someone else? Because you’re going through something, you say, "OK, God. What did I do wrong?" Do you hear me? That’s a thought that comes to our minds, "What did I do wrong? Why are you punishing me?" This is the argument that you’ll find the friends/counselors telling Job. You will see Job’s response to these friends.
If you had friends like that, what would you say to them? "Get out of my ash heap. I don’t like you." We’re going to see that Job says something like that. He calls it like it is. You’re going to see Job live as a person and talk as a person. You’re going to say, "I hope I have half the courage and conviction that Job has over whom God is and what He’s done for me."
Elihu arrives
After the three friends’ discourses, another person comes along named Elihu. He’s a younger person. He comes in after all the others have talked. It gets quiet again. He’s respectful. He must have been sitting in the second row behind the other counselors. He wasn’t up front, in the center of the ash heap. He was in the second row. He starts talking and gives his perspective. "Wait a minute. Job, maybe you didn’t do anything wrong, but right now, look at you. Right now, you are trying to defend yourself to God."
That is the first 39 chapters of Job. Can you believe that?
God owes me
Job has been asking, "God, what have I done? What have I done? I know I’m suffering. Why, God?" And here’s Job’s bottom line—"God, you owe me an explanation for why I am suffering." That is Job’s bottom line. "God, you owe me an explanation." Have any of you been there? You’re going through something and you stop and demand, "God, I want to know why I’m going through this. I need to know now."
Where were you?
In chapter 40, God speaks to Job. God starts talking to Job and says, "Job, I have some questions for you. I’ll answer your question in just a minute. Where were you when I created everything? Where were you when I created the oceans and the seas? Where were you when I created the birds of the air? Where were you when I set the stars in heaven?" He goes through all these things. When He gets through, do you know how Job felt about his little question about suffering? He felt very, very small. He heard the awesome, majestic creation of everything from the Creator. Job had gotten to the point in his suffering that he was saying, "The God who created everything and deals with everyone can forget all that. God owes me an explanation." God says, "I don’t owe you an explanation. I am who I am. Is that sufficient for you?"
The Bottom Line
That’s the bottom line in Job. When you get to the end of Job, you’ll see something that should speak volumes to you about your life. Do you have God contained within a box or within a structure or within a certain criteria that you limit Him? It may even be large criteria ("Yeah, He created the universe and everything"), but when it comes to living and you doing things and making your own decisions, how do you live with this God, the Creator of all? Has it still got some "me" in it? Or can you turn completely loose of the "me" and self and say, "It’s God and God alone," and trust that whatever’s going on in your life, God is in control. That’s the bottom line.
The Outcome
That’s what Job is going to realize. He’s going to confess it to God. We’ll read his confession. And then God is going to have some retribution against the three friends. He tells them what He thinks of them. To Job, God grants him more than he had before. He gives him more children, more herds, etc. God blesses Job.
That is the Book of Job. Any questions?
Discussion
Now that you’ve heard the story, what do you think?
<It drove me nuts—the friends constantly harping on Job.>
<I wish the epilogue hadn’t been there—where God gave Job everything back, two times over. He didn’t deserve that. We don’t deserve that.>
But it was God’s will. It was His sovereign will. You will find out that God is sovereign in the Book of Job. What else did you think of the story?
<I liked the beginning—the Devil has to talk to God. He can’t do anything without God’s permission. God didn’t send Satan. God allowed Satan. I liked the struggle between God and Satan.>
Again, God is sovereign over the angels, over Satan, over world events, etc. God is sovereign. He rules.
<I benefit from comparing what Job went through versus what we go through and how well Job took it. There are so many little, petty things that we might complain to God about.>
We know the purpose of suffering. God tells us up front the purpose for suffering. Job wants to know why.
<He had to know something was going on. It’s not just random luck that all your cows are stolen, the house caves in and kills all your children, your sheep are blown away, etc, all in the same day. He had to know that something was going on other that the physical world.>
Why does he have to know? Why do we have to know? How does it help with suffering?
<It’s cause and effect. We want to know. If you do this, that will happen. He’s thinking in reverse. This happened so what caused it?>
It comes down to Faith.
Yes. It’s a typical, normal, human reaction, "What caused this?" Now I have told you the story. What was the answer? How did God answer Job? This is the heart of it. We’re right at the heart of what Job is. You don’t have to understand everything. "Do you trust me or don’t you? Do you know who I am? Do you know all I’ve done? How dare you ask me to explain anything to you?" That’s hard. We don’t like to hear that. That’s the heart of it.
<God permits suffering but doesn't do it Himself. Why do we blame Him directly? Nowhere does Job blame Satan. He puts it all on God, "Why did you let this happen to me?">
<God will not give us more suffering that we can handle.>
God is in control
It comes back to: God knew everything. God knew what was going on. He never lost control of the situation. We want to identify with Job to empathize with how he felt. Out of that, we should realize that the story of Job will help us the next time we go through suffering. It should help you, but it may not. You may say, "No. I like to know why I’m suffering. I can’t live without knowing why I’m suffering." Do you see the "I", "I", "I"? What are you doing? You’re focusing on yourself, "There is no God. God’s not in control. Look at all this suffering I’m going through." Go and read Job again.
<This also serves as a warning to us when we counsel other people. Are we judging what we see and trying to counsel without God?>
<It is the natural man’s response.>
Yes. We are too quick to do that. You’re right. It is the natural man’s response. Are we "natural" people in here, as New Testament Christians? No. It is something we always have to struggle to overcome. It is here and we need to work on it. We need to have the mind of Christ in us. We need to know God. Job knew God, didn’t he? How well did Job know God? He knew Him well. He puts to shame Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc., because of his knowledge of God. Job is really a special, special guy and God pointed him out to Satan.
Does everybody see the book of suffering, Job, now? If you haven’t read it, do you now see the idea behind the Book of Job—just from this little discussion? Now I want to read some of it. I want to read enough to you so that when you get home this afternoon, you will say, "I don’t want to take a nap. I have to find out more about Job." That is what happens with the Book of Job. I say, "Man, I want to see what he says and what’s going on."
Job 1:1-5
In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom.
That’s Uz, not Oz.
So how is Job? Man, he is good. He loves his children, doesn’t he? He’s taking care of them, looking out for them, and having them purified. They had to submit to that (purification) but he did the burnt offering, just in case. It was atoning for sins.
Job 1:6-7a
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"
Now don’t get too metaphysical on me here. When we read this, this is a spiritual event that occurs in heaven. There are not many of those in the Bible—where we have a glimpse of heaven. This is just an aside here. If you read the scripture we’ve been reading, it’s mostly on earth. Well, here’s one that happened in heaven. The author of Job, whoever it was, said, "The Holy Spirit has shown me this and I’m giving it to you. This is what happened in heaven." You can get all kinds of things out of these little, short verses here. But basically what it says here is that God has control of the angels, of Satan, and of everything and anybody. If God says it, they have to do it. I want you to see that before we get into this episode.
Job 1:7b
Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
That is a New Testament verse also. Satan is going back and forth on this earth. He is the "Prince of the Air" on this earth. This earth is not under God’s sole influence. It is under God’s control but He is allowing Satan, right now, to have his way on this earth. That is one of those foundational, biblical truths that you may have to work through. If you don’t accept it, read the Bible. It’s there. Satan is here and that’s why we have all the stuff we have going on in this world. God allows it.
Job 1:8
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
God is saying this about Job! Would that be a nice thing to say about you? Would you love that?
Job 1:9-10a
"Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?
Now let me tell you something about that "hedge." We read that in other places that God has put a hedge around you. When you accept Christ, you have a hedge around you. You have a spiritual hedge around you. That hedge means that nothing can get to you unless God permits it. God has you protected from the time you accept Christ until the time you die and go to be with Him. He has you protected on this earth. He will allow certain things to happen (just like with Job). Why? So that we can grow in Christ. It’s not to punish us but to grow us and mature us. That’s the point of suffering.
If we had three hours, we could talk about suffering in the New Testament. Christ suffered on the cross. We are to fellowship in the sufferings of Christ. We are to have joy in our sufferings and treat them as momentary and light. That’s New Testament thinking.
Job 1:10b-11
You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
This is Satan. Satan is the "accuser" here. That’s another word for Satan—accuser, deceiver. He’s actually arguing with God.
Job 1:12a
The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
That speaks volumes for God controlling everything. God said, "Satan, you can do this but you can’t do that." Guess what Satan can’t do. Whatever spiritual power there is, Satan cannot do what God tells him not to do. You keep that in mind. When you think this world is out of control and you think Satan has had his way, remember that God is in control. This says it. God said, "You can’t do this, Satan." God knew Job and He and only He knew the outcome.
God knows you too, doesn’t He? And He knows your outcome too. God knows what you need to grow in Christ. Job had an imperfection. Job thought everything was great. Realize that. Everything was great and Job thought everything was great. But God saw something else in his heart, saying, "If push comes to shove, it’s going to get to a point where Job respects me and does everything for me, but he’s still going to push me a little with his suffering."
Job 1:12b-14a
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said
You can read that.
Job 1:16a
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said
Job 1:17a
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said
Job 1:18a
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said
Do you see how this happens? It was one day. Wham! Wham! Everything is gone. Crash! Burn! Everything is gone.
Job 1:20-21a
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
Don’t miss that. You could read through this and miss that. In your mind, you could think, "Job fell down in despair," or, "Job fell down crying, weeping, and mourning." No. What does it say? "Job fell down in worship."
Listen to this. All this stuff has happened. He’s lost his kids who he saw daily. He’s lost his wealth. Everything is gone. And he says…
Job 1:21b-22
"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." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job is looking at it as "living in accordance with the way God created this universe." This is what Job accepted. He said, "I accept it. Naked I came in and naked I will leave." What kind of maturity is that? Huge spiritual maturity. Is this not great!? (Job’s response to losing everything.)
Chapter 2 is another incident in heaven. You can read that.
Job 2:6
The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."
In other words, "OK. Now you can take his health away from him. You took all his possessions away." Satan accused, "Maybe his possessions didn’t mean that much to him—he still praised you."
Job 2:7-8
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
Phew!
Job 2:9
His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"
His supporting, loving wife responds, "Curse God and die!" Isn’t that great!? Do you now know why his wife wasn’t taken away from him earlier? <Yeah. It was to make him suffer even more. Ha ha> Yes. What does Job have after his wife says this? Think about it. What does he have? He has his mind and that’s it. He doesn’t own a thing. His children are gone. His wife has turned against him and is asking him to die.
Job 2:10a
He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"
Wow. Here’s the New Testament preaching on "if you accept Christ, your life will be like a rose garden." That’s what this is saying. It is not. It’s not at all.
Job 2:10b-13
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
This begins the cycle. We don’t have time to read all the cycles. I hope you now want to read the cycle on your own.
Job 3:1-3
After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, `A boy is born!'
In other words, he’s saying, "I wish I’d never been born." It’s kind of like the movie "It’s A Wonderful Life."
Job 3:26
I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."
Job 4:7
"Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
Eliphaz chimes in. This is hinting at, "Job, you’re not righteous. You’re not upright. You’re not innocent."
Take a look at chapter 40. We’re going to cover this more next week but I wanted to tease you a little with it.
This is after all the cycles of talks. This is why you’ll find Job in college curriculum—Psychology and Psychoanalysis.
Job 40:1-2
The LORD said to Job: "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!"
That should be enough to tell you how God is approaching Job. We’ve already discussed it but this is God’s response to Job.