Enjoy God, Embrace People, Experience Growth
SUNDAY SERVICES – 8:30am & 10:30am

Know What You Know

Know What You Know
June 24, 2018

Scripture: Job 12-14

I. You need to know God is not tame to suffer well.

A. Job opens chapter 12 with some sarcasm directed toward his friends (vs. 2). Job knows that God is sovereign. He knows that God is in control of all things. But where Job disagrees with his friends is in how God uses His kingly power. How does God use His power? In vs. 14 Job says, “If he tears down, none can rebuild.” God is wild. He is dangerous. And he cannot be kept in a box by a nice and tidy system. Job lets his friends know that God is not tame. God is in fact scary.

B. We see how scary in how God treats the leaders of this world in Job 12:16-21. What happens to these leaders? Counselors in vs. 17 are led away stripped and judges are made fools by God. The same kinds of bad things happen to kings, priests, the mighty, elders, and princes. And in vs. 22-25 our dangerous God does these things to entire nations. In short, Job says, God is dangerous. Do you know who God is especially dangerous with? He is especially dangerous with people like Job’s friends who think that they have God and the universe all figured out.

II. You need to know God is righteous to suffer well.

A. Like the talking beaver says in The Chronicles of Narnia: God is not safe, but He’s good. He’s righteous. The fact that God is a powerful king who knows everything about us does not cause Job to cringe in fear before this God. Notice what Job says in Job 13:3: “But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.” If God is so dangerous and powerful, why would He want to stand before God? Because Job has faith that God would be fair and just with him. God is righteous. He would treat Job right.

B. In spite of all his suffering Job was sure that God is good. God would be good to Job in protecting Job’s reputation. In vs. 13 he says, “Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may.” I am going to talk to God, Job says, no matter what. He recognizes how dangerous this is (vs. 14). Job says, remarkably, in vs. 15: “though he slay me, I will hope in him.” God might kill me, but I am so confident that I am innocent and that God is righteous that I will take the risk to make my case to this dangerous God. That’s faith!

III. You need to know God resurrects to suffer well.

A. When we read the book of Job, we see that in his suffering Job seems to go back and forth between hope and despair. Despair is found in vs. 10 and vs. 12 where Job thinks about the inevitability of death. Why do all people die? Sin. Our sin offends the holy God and produces wrath within Him that Job refers to in vs. 13. Job seems to know that only resurrection is the answer for sin, suffering and death. See verse 14-17. Job’s wish for a resurrection and the forgiveness of sin is no pipe dream. It’s not pie in the sky wishful thinking. The resurrection and the forgiveness of sin are real. Forgiveness is pictured in the ark of the covenant in which the law of the 10 commandments is covered over by God’s mercy seat. And the resurrection is pictured in the events of Good Friday and Easter when the innocent Jesus suffered for us and died but was raised to life by God after three days.

Application:
If you want to suffer well, you need to know what you know about God.

Sources:
The book of Job
Commentaries on Job by Christopher Ash and Francis Andersen
“For the Love of God” by D.A. Carson