Teaching Notes

TH1080: JOB

The events of Job chapter 3 come on the heels of some tragic events in Job's life. In one day Job, one of the wealthiest men in the area, lost all his material possessions. Everything gone in just one day. Not only that, but his 10 children, whom he loved very much, were all killed in the same day. And yet, in all this tragedy, Job was still able to worship God for who He was.

Some time after these events Job's health is taken away. He developed blisters from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. And these blisters itched so bad that he tried to ease the itch by scratching them with broken pieces of pottery. They hurt so bad that he was spreading animal waste upon them so that it might ease some of the pain he was having. He was lonely, having now to live outside the city, all alone, poor, and his health deteriorating. And yet in all this Job did not charge God foolishly or blame God for this. He said to his wife who told him to "...'Curse God and die!'...'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?'..." Job 2:9-10.

But now, as we move into chapter 3, we are going to see Job curse the day he was born, which seems a little strange after all he has said. Understand this, no ones faith is where it should be and God was showing Job some of the things that were in his heart so that his faith can grow as this garbage is purged. I truly believe that is what we are seeing here, the heart of Job, some of the things that needed to be removed, but first Job needs to be aware of them, and that is what God is doing here.

One last thing before we move into our study this evening. After the study last week we talked about how unfair it seemed for Job's children and servants to be killed so that Job's faith could be tested. We must understand this, all we see is God focusing on Job's life, to increase his faith, and to show Satan that Job's worship of God is not dependent upon the blessings that God has given him. But that is just one dimension of what is going on. We don't know what God was doing in the lives of Job's children or his servants. All we can say is that God is in control and He is righteous, thus, His actions were appropriate for it was the perfect time for them to go home.

Now lets jump into Job chapter 3, as Job's 3 friends; Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar gather around this man. And they are silent for 7 days. We don't know how long Job was in this condition prior to their arrival, but in any case Job looks so bad that they almost did not recognize him, and when they did, they could not even speak, but sat and mourned with him for 7 days. And now Job is going to speak from his heart, and some of the things that come up I bet will surprise even him!

JOB 3

VERSES 1-7

1. Job is cursing the day of his birth, wishing it would be wiped off the face of the calendar. He is not cursing God but it does sound like he is questioning why he was even born if he was going to have to live a life like this. Job is not a stoic and God is not allowing these things to come upon his life to see if Job can just sit there unmoved, emotionless. God has a purpose for all this, to increase Job's faith. James 5:10-11 tells us "My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord; that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful."

VERSES 8-10

1. Job can't understand why he was even born. Many of us, if not all of us have probably said something very similar to this as we were going through difficult times. And when we have gone before God we have seen the foolishness of statements like that, that we really did not mean it. And understand, like Job, that as we go through times like this, that God does extend His grace to us, but we don't have to accept it. If we don't, then we can easily become bitter and angry at God instead of resting in His peace. As Paul said in Philippians 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

2. An example of this grace being applied into ones life is the response of the couple from Illinois who were traveling to Wisconsin to visit their son at school. And the whole family was with them, as they traveled up to the school. But on the way their van hit a piece of metal debris on the road and their car caught on fire and soon became a raging inferno, killing all 6 of their children. And even though they hurt, even though they mourned the death of their children, they were still able to worship God and give Him the glory knowing that their children were with the Lord. That faith was displayed in newspapers and televisions across America. They let God's grace flow through their lives and the country saw what God can do in the face of tragedy. The saw the love and peace of God flow through their lives. What a witness!

VERSES 11-19

1. Job was wishing that he was born dead, for it would be far better than this, he was saying.

2. Job is saying that in death there is peace not only for the righteous, but also for the wicked. Now the Seventh-day Adventist and the Jehovah Witnesses formulate their doctrine for soul sleep and annihilation of the wicked from this Scripture. They say that the righteous will be resurrected when the Lord returns, but until that time, in death, the soul is asleep. Also, for the wicked they are asleep in death until the Lord returns and then He will cause them to cease to exist, to be in a state of nothingness, no punishment at all. This even goes for Satan. First of all we must understand where Job is coming from. He is speaking out of frustration and not out of revelation. And don't think that this is just my own personal bias, for God said to Job regarding this issue in Job 38:17-18 "Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this." Job did not understand what he was talking about regarding death for he had never experienced it. In Revelation 20:10 we read "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." No soul sleep or annihilation there. Also, in Mark 9:43-44 we read "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched; where 'Their worm does not die, And the fire is not quenched.'" Again, eternal punishment, not nothingness!

VERSES 20-21

1. Job was at the point where death itself was more precious to him than all the treasures of the world.

VERSES 22-26

1. Those in the positive confession movement point to verse 25 and say that because of his negative confession, his fear, all this has come upon him. That is foolishness. David, in I Samuel said "...'Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul...'" I Samuel 27:1. And we know that did not take place even though it was a negative confession. In fact this whole idea of power in words is occultic and we as Christians must distance ourselves from it. The only power comes from God, and not our words!

JOB 4

VERSES 1-2

1. Now, after all these words by Job, wishing to be dead, Eliphaz wants to interject some of his own thoughts regarding this situation. And it seems that Eliphaz can't hold back, he just has to speak to Job about what Job has said and about what Job is experiencing.

VERSES 3-5

1. Very comforting words? Eliphaz is saying to Job, "Look, you have helped others through difficult times, but now you, the great counselor, can't even handle the difficult times you are going through. What's your problem Job?" Job needed compassion not condemnation!

2. Even though Job did not need to hear this at this time, I think we do. We find it very easy to go and encourage others and then we don't practice what we preach. Live what you believe because you will never lead people to where you are not willing to go. That does not mean that others can't comfort you in difficult times, in fact it is very helpful to have someone there, a friend who can listen to your hurt, your pain, not that they will have the answers, but they will have a shoulder to lean on.

VERSES 6-7

1. Talk about a knife in the back. Eliphaz is saying that the only reason Job is going through this is because he is not innocent. Only those that sin will go through times like this. A very humanistic and simplistic approach that is not scriptural. But for the next 36 chapters, his friends are going to tell Job this very thing, "Your sins have brought this upon you, Job!"

2. The Bible has many examples of the righteous suffering, but the best, of course, is that of Jesus Himself. Peter said in I Peter 3:18 "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit." Also, in John 9:1-3 we read "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.'" That was the philosophy of the day, that you get what you deserve. But as we have seen, even the innocent do suffer.

VERSE 8

1. Now there is a measure of truth in that, punishment will come for the wicked but it is not always immediate. And notice that Eliphaz is coming across as being so spiritual "even as I have seen." But the reality is he was letting his personal experiences formulate his doctrine which was wrong. You must go back to the Word of God!

VERSES 9-11

1. "God will blast those who are evil just as He is doing to you Job!" That was Eliphaz's response and his comforting words to a man who was in pain, a man who was hurting.

VERSES 12-17

1. Look how mystic Eliphaz is getting so that he can justify his words. And as he is building up to the climax, and the spirit speaks to him, the words are really base, of course God is more righteous than man, it doesn't take a theologian to figure that out! Many people try to come off as spiritual, they may even speak in the old King James English, and like Eliphaz, it is much to do about nothing. A lot of fluff and no real substance.

VERSES 18-21

1. "If God doesn't put His trust in the angels how much less is He going to trust us. Job, don't claim that you are innocent, for you are not more righteous than God!"

JOB 5

VERSE 1

1. "Who are you going to turn to now Job, for your sin has separated you from God? Who is going to listen to you?"

VERSES 2-3

1. Again Eliphaz is drawing his doctrine from human experience, how he has seen the wicked cursed by God, in fact he has even seen the results of those that he has cursed.

VERSE 4

1. No wonder Job called these guys miserable comforters. Eliphaz is blaming Job for the death of his children. God has crushed them because of you!

2. Here is an important lesson for us to learn from Eliphaz. When people are going through difficult times, it is not time to preach our sermons to them. In fact, the best thing to do is sit there and listen to them, comfort them and just show them you care. Giving pious platitudes is of no help to them and will only bring them lower as Eliphaz was doing to Job.

VERSE 5

1. Not only does Eliphaz blame the death of his children upon Job, but also the loss of all his possessions. "The wicked lose everything and Job you are an example of that!" Wrong again because God told us that Job was a good man.

VERSE 6

1. Again, all this calamity does not come out of nothing, but it is a direct result of your sin was the reply of Eliphaz.

VERSE 7

1. When we look at the world and try to draw our conclusions about God from that picture, we get a distorted view of God. The reason for that is simple. The world we are living in now is not the world that God created. When God created the heavens and the earth it was all very good, but then sin entered the world and things became clouded. And man is not doing the things he was created to do. Thus, the reason we see evil is because of sin. The answer to the question of "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is because there are no good people. And so bad things happen to bad people. Romans 3:10-18 says "As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.'"

VERSE 8

1. Here Eliphaz is coming off as super spiritual again. He is saying that if he was going through the things that Job is going through, he would repent before God. How easy it is to preach to others that are suffering and how spiritual we can sound. But that is not helpful to that person.

VERSES 9-16

1. Eliphaz again rationalizes that it is Job's craftiness, his cunning, that has brought all this upon him. He is telling Job to get right with God - turn back to Him! If Eliphaz was totally correct, that the unjust would suffer, so too would he suffer. But because of his super spiritual beliefs, he doesn't see it that way.

VERSE 17

1. This is a true statement, that God does chasten those He loves. Hebrews 12:5-8 says "And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons." The problem here is that Eliphaz is assuming that Job is guilty of some sin and that is why God is chastening him. But we have already been told in Job chapter 1 that this is not the case, Job was a very good man.

VERSES 18-27

1. God's chastening comes upon our life to get us back on track and not to destroy us or drive us away from Him. And Eliphaz says that God will deliver you from death and famine, from the power of the sword, the scourges of the tongue, the fear of destruction, from the destruction of famine, from fear of the wild beasts and in death you will be at peace.

2. Here is a very important point - we see Eliphaz mix truth with error, and that is always very destructive. Satan did that in the garden of Eden and he is still doing that today. And you can understand when the world does it, but when the church does it, look out. We see it in the health, wealth and prosperity doctrines - where you have truth and then they tell you that you are a god! You see it in the legalistic churches where they tell you the truth and then mix it with error - how long your hair should be, smoking is a sin, women should wear dresses and no make-up, and-so-on. Make sure that what is being said is according to the Word of God and not out of your own personal conviction or the philosophies of the world, because they won't benefit you. As Peter said in II Peter 3:17-18 "You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."

JOB 6

VERSES 1-3

1. Job responds by saying that his grief, if weighed against all the sand of the sea, would be far greater. A little exaggeration, but he has been through a lot, and thus, his words, as harsh as they were, came from a broken man who was not getting any comfort from his friends.

VERSE 4

1. Job has allowed the situations of life, and maybe even some of the words of his friends, to cloud his picture of God. For he now thinks that God is his enemy. The fiery darts of the enemy, of Satan, can be very destructive if we are not protected. But how can we protect ourselves from these fiery darts? Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:16 that we are to do the following. "above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Job's faith was wavering because his shield of faith was not protecting him. Job had never experienced anything like this in his life, and now God was showing him, exposing him to his weakness so that his faith may grow from these things.

VERSE 5

1. The animals, when they are feed, when their needs are met, don't cry out. Thus, the reason that Job is crying out is because he is hurting, he is need of comfort, and he is not getting any from his friends.

VERSES 6-7

1. "Your counsel was worthless, it did nothing to comfort me, so why even speak?" Job is telling them.

VERSES 8-9

1. Job is so miserable, so disheartened at this point, that he asks God to just finish him off, to end his life.

VERSES 10-11

1. We have echoed these words before in times of despair, "I have nothing to live for anymore, nothing to hope for, just take me home Lord!" If our hope is in this world, if we are living for ourselves, then you are right, there is not much to hope for, nothing to live for. But as David said in Psalm 39:7 "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You." Our hope is and must be in the Lord, and He will never fail us!

VERSES 12-14

1. "Just because you think I'm not perfect, does that give you the right to condemn me? Instead of condemning me, show me comfort through these difficult times that I am going through." That was Job's response to this foolish counsel.

VERSES 15-20

1. Job tells them that "You think you are helping me but you are not helping at all! In fact you guys are like streams in the winter, when nobody needs you, then you are there to help. But when the summer comes, when things heat up, when things get tough, your help dries up like the rivers do, and you offer no real help."

VERSES 21-23

1. Job never asked for help from these 3 guys, they just freely gave it, and yet it was not help that they were giving, but just their self-righteous opinions.

VERSE 24

1. If they would speak something that was worth listening to, Job would have been more than willing to listen, but they were not speaking the truth. He was looking for them to show him his error, but they could not show him is error, for God said Job was a good man.

VERSES 25-26

1. The words of these guys are nothing more than hot air, there is no real substance to them.

VERSE 27

1. They were trying to understand the things that were happening to Job by human wisdom, and they were wrong. In fact they were coming against Job's integrity.

VERSE 28

1. They knew Job, they heard his words, and now, all of a sudden they think he is lying to them.

VERSES 29-30

1. Job is going to continue to speak of his innocence. The problem with his friends counsel is that it seemed so logical, and yet they were wrong in what they were saying. In fact, God is going to rebuke them in Job 42:7-8. We read "...the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, 'My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.'" Be careful not to judge a situation to quickly, because what may seem logical to you, may be totally wrong. Be compassionate to others just as God has been compassionate to you!