Job 1:6–22
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Prayer: Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (Psalm 136:1). Amen.
Praising God Amid Earthly Sorrows
In Christ Jesus, who sees our sorrows, dear fellow redeemed!
It’s one thing to say something, it’s another thing to do something. It’s one thing to know a truth, it’s another thing to apply it in a concrete situation. Every one of us can recognize that it’s much easier to know something in theory, but a lot harder to do it in practice. For instance, I know that I should not react in anger when I stub my toe or when something unpleasant happens, but that’s easier said than done. I tell my children to be patient with others, but then I find myself in the same situation and I find that hard to do.
This is also true in our lives as Christians. We know many biblical truths. Yet, sometimes, they are much more difficult to understand in practice than in theory. Before us this morning we have one of the most difficult questions we face in this world—the problem of evil. We know God is love. We know he is good and merciful. But when bad and horrible things happen, people will always ask this question: “If God is good, why did he allow this to happen?” or maybe more pointedly, “If God loves me, why did he let this happen to me?”
The book of Job presents us with a fascinating account of a man named Job who was blameless and upright, “who feared God and shunned evil.” He had seven sons and three daughters. God had given him many earthly blessings and possessions. Scripture describes him as “the greatest of all the people of the East” (Job 1:3). We don’t know for certain, but Job could be one of the first books of the Bible recorded. Since Job offered sacrifices on behalf of his children, it indicates that temple worship had not been instituted, and his old age suggests that he could have lived at or before the time of Abraham.
After a pious description of who Job was, we learn about Satan’s appearance before the Lord. When Satan tells the Lord that he had come “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it,” we are reminded of the Apostle Peter’s warning, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8).
Scripture doesn’t tell us explicitly why the Lord mentioned his servant Job to the devil, but he did. Ultimately, the devil accuses Job of only being faithful to God because there was a hedge around him—this not only alludes to how God limits evil, but also how Job had been so physically blessed. In essence, the devil was saying, “If you didn’t treat him so nicely, he would forsake you.” And so, the Lord consents to letting the devil attack Job. However, he was not to physically harm him.
The devil wasted no time. In one day, Job lost his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, and many of his servants. A messenger comes with the horrible news that Job lost his children to a great windstorm that caused the house to collapse on all his children who were gathered. In one day, Job lost everything.
Can you imagine? Any of these tragedies would set any of us on our back. But to lose all your children? We can’t even imagine or want to imagine what that would be like. I think if any of us found ourselves in a situation like this, our first reaction would be, “Why me?” It would be to get angry and curse God like Job’s wife would later suggest. Yet, what does Job do? How does he respond?
Scripture records, “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’”
What a profound confession of faith. Job recognizes that all he had was not his. They were God’s gifts to him. If God gave it, he has the right to take it away. Instead of cursing God, he praises him. Although Job’s faith would be tested as we see through the rest of the book, his initial response is remarkable. He praised God even in a moment of despair and sadness. Wow. What faith. What trust in our gracious and good God despite his outward circumstances. What hope in things not seen!
But how could Job praise the Lord? How could he not blame God for his troubles? We can ask the same question for ourselves. How can we love and trust in God, even when life gets terribly tough? It’s when we realize that all we can learn about God is from the scriptures, not our experience. If we let our experience be our teacher about God, then we will be left frustrated and angry with God. Our experience is limited and subjective. Just because our experience might make us feel a certain way towards God, that doesn’t mean that what we think about God is true. We can only know the truth about God based on the Bible. As soon as we start to use anything else for our basis of truth except the Bible, we will be led astray.
Only the Word of God teaches us the truth about God. God did not create evil. He does not cause evil. Scripture states, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5). When God created the world—it was good. When God created man—it was very good! He created a beautiful, perfect, and holy world. Yet, when Adam and Eve sinned it all changed. The fall into sin brought anger, jealousy, disbelief, shame, and death. There was no sorrow before the fall. The beauty and perfection that God created—the good, was turned over for evil.
The evil that you and I see and experience in this world is not from God. It is a result of sin. James writes, “God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). The reason we can praise God even in hardship is because we know that he does not intend evil for us. He does not cause it. Evil, suffering, and hardship are a result of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.
Yet, here is the amazing thing. God uses evil for good. This is why Martin Luther even described the devil as God’s fool because he turns the devil’s wiles into great blessings. This might sound strange, but it is the truth. What the devil and man mean for evil, God means for good (Genesis 50:20).
In our Gospel lesson today, we hear about ten lepers going to Jesus, but only one returns after being healed. Who was it? A Gentile—a non-Jew. Normally, this Gentile would not have been in contact with other Jews, but leprosy brought Jew and Gentile together. It was through these other Jewish lepers that he learned about Jesus—the great miracle worker. Yet, this Gentile would come to see that Jesus was not just a miracle worker, but his Savior from sin and death who came to bring eternal healing. His leprosy saved his soul.
The devil believed that his attacks would cause Job to reject God. He thought his suffering would lead him away from the Lord. Yet, here is the great irony—his suffering taught Job to trust in his Creator and Redeemer even more, and to see that we human beings cannot always understand the ways of God. And Job’s suffering brought his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, to a right understanding of God. Job ended up offering sacrifices on behalf of them—pointing them to their coming Savior. The book of Job is as much a book about suffering as it is about Evangelism. God used the devil’s wiles to save Job and his three friends. Certainly, what Scripture says is true: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).
Yet, the greatest example of how God used evil for good was in the suffering and death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For it was through his suffering, that Jesus saved us from eternal suffering in hell. His shame was for our glory. He took our blame so that we could be named children of God through faith in Christ. As Jesus took his last breath, the devil was certainly filled with glee. But Jesus gave up his breath, so that he could give us the breath of life, the forgiveness of sins, and immortality. What looked like defeat was truly his victory. On the cross, Jesus crushed the head of Satan and by the power of his resurrection, he has banished death from us forever.
And to think, that Jesus did that all for me and you. We didn’t deserve it—we were his enemies who had sinned against him. But he saved us anyway. He died for liars, thieves, murderers, adulterers, abortionists, and sinners. He died for me and for you because he loves us. Because he is a gracious and merciful Lord, full of compassion and grace. He did it because he wanted to deliver us from this fallen evil world and to give us peace everlasting. He wants us to repent of our sins and believe in him.
When we go through troubles, sometimes we can feel like crying out, “Why me?” But when we realize how God feels about us and what he has done for us despite our sin, we instead call out, “Why me!” We don’t deserve anything, but God gives us everything.
Yet, you and I both know that we don’t always feel like praising God. We can get frustrated and saddened by our sin and this evil world. We fail to praise God as we should. We sin. Yet, this is why the book of Job is such a comfort. God’s saints aren’t perfect. Even the most faithful have moments of doubt and weakness. But God is patient. He calls us to repentance and faith in him. He knows our weaknesses, which is why he sent a Savior—a Redeemer. Jesus is our righteousness, and he is our strength.
This is why it is so good for us to sing great hymns like the one we sang before our sermon. They teach us and encourage, so that when we do face troubles, we don’t forget God’s love for us. Ηe even turns suffering for good. So, let our crosses drive us to Jesus, who loves us and gave himself for us. As we sing,
In God, my faithful God,
I trust when dark my road;
Though many woes o’ertake me;
Yet He will not forsake me.
Amen!