The Sin of a Judgmental Spirit - Job 12-13

Job 12:1-4 (ESV)

Then Job answered and said:

“No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

But I have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know such things as these?

I am a laughingstock to my friends;

I, who called to God and he answered me,

a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

In the story of Job we must constantly remember the reason his three friends showed up.   Note:

Job 2:11 (ESV)

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

Their version of “comforting” him is suspect, however.   Each one of them, up to this point, has taken a turn to tell Job why he is in such pain.  They have each taken the stage and told him basically the same thing:  God ONLY does this to people who are deep sinners and He does not do this to the righteous.  

We also have to remember how this book opens:

Job 1:1 (ESV)

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

This is why Job says what he says in the opening of chapter 12.  He is, in essence, mocking his three friends.   Zophar, the third friend, has just given Job a scathing rebuke that he is suffering because of his terrible sins.   Zophar was not kind in his delivery.   Job, in turn, addresses all three of them in a mocking and sarcastic tone.   To paraphrase his opening taunt lets read it in the Amplified Version:

Job 12:2 (AMP)

No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world], and wisdom will die with you!

Since they have been addressing Job as though they are smartest people in the room Job returns with this sarcastic statement.  Job uses this thought to launch his own “I am equally as wise as all of you” statement.   Job even agrees with them that “God does punish the wicked.”   But this is not Job’s issue.   He thinks they are coming across as no-it-alls, but he has no issue with a philosophy that is born our in all Scripture:  God does punish the ungodly.   That is NOT Job’s argument.  He has no desire to go against the observations and knowledge he has about the character of God.  BUT he also knows HE IS INNOCENT.  This is the part that does not square with these pompous wind bags and his own knowledge of God’s retributive judgment.   At this point neither Job nor his friends had a place for the suffering of the innocent.   Job wants to go to court to argue his case before God:

Job 13:3 (ESV)

But I would speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to argue my case with God.

He wants to prove to God (and maybe these three men) that he has no reason to be suffering IF THE SUFFERING WAS DUE TO SIN.   Perhaps the hardest thing in the human spirit is to understand suffering.  It is even more complex and confusing when it is the “innocent” who are suffering.   In the book of Job this topic is not really ever addressed.   God never addresses the suffering of the innocent.  But what is addressed is the mocking, human reasoning that condemns all who suffer as though they have sinned.  This is a theme of the book of Job.  These three friends were not comforting him.  They were judgmental of him.   This is a major theme of the book.   We might not completely understand why Job suffered.  But we can see the sinfulness of a judgmental spirit toward his suffering.  Something that is still happening today.   And that is sinful and deserves God’s retributive judgment.  In the end of the book these three men are judged for this judgmental spirit they bring in their “comfort.”  

God Always Confronts the Oppressor - Psalms 15-17

Psalms 17:10-13 (ESV)

They close their hearts to pity;

with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

They have now surrounded our steps;

they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.

He is like a lion eager to tear,

as a young lion lurking in ambush.

Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!

Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,

The above lines, from King David, are a plea to God for relief from those who deny God and persecute His children.    They seemingly go about in life without a care in the world and act as though God does not see or care about their life style.  We have many examples of this throughout God’s Word:

1. The Pharaoh of Egypt thought he could live as though God did not exist or see his worship of false Gods.   God did see him and God did confront him (Exodus 7)

2. King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel’s day.  God did see him and did confront him and he started eating grass like a cow (Daniel 4)

3. King Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar.   God confronted him with handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5). 

4.  The king of Nineveh.   God confronted his wickedness and destroyed his city (Nahum)

God does not allow wicked people to continue to be wicked.   God will eventually intervene to care for the righteous and confront the wicked.  God outlines what they did to experience His justice:

1. They have no pity.

2. They speak arrogantly. 

3. They oppress the righteous.

4. They are like lions who destroy and deceive. 

Read Nahum 3 and you will see these exact areas being confronted by God when.   God always confronts the world’s sins. It might not be in our timing but it is always in God’s timing.   

Who Do You Love More Than God? Genesis 20-23

 Genesis 22:11-12 (ESV)

But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

The above verses are from the section describing Abraham taking his son Issac up to a mountain to sacrifice him.   God had told him to do so:

Genesis 22:1-2 (ESV)

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Abraham knew that Issac was a promised child to him from God.   Therefore Abraham had no apprehension to sacrifice Issac.  This is were “reason” comes into our faith.  Abraham’s mindset was, “If God promised that through Issac I would have a nation and God is telling me to sacrifice Issac, than God must be going to do a miracle by raising Issac up from the dead if I do sacrifice him.”   Here is the evidence of that faith-reasoning:

Hebrews 11:17-19 (ESV)

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Abraham’s faith was based upon a promise.   So Abraham went through the sacrifice and God stopped him from actually killing Issac.   God now knew that Issac did not mean more to Abraham than his obeying God and loving God.   This is always a test for parents.  Do we believe and obey God and His promises more than we worship our children?   Notice how Jesus addressed this:

Matthew 10:37 (ESV)

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

Luke said it this way:

Luke 14:26 (ESV)

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

We are to have such love for Jesus that, in comparison, it looks like hate for our family.  Jesus is not telling us to have animosity toward our family in order to love Him.  He is telling us that our love for Him is so great that the love of our family looks like hate.  

Jesus tested Peter, as well, by asking if Peter loved fishing (his occupation) more than loving Jesus?  

John 21:15 (ESV)

Jesus and Peter

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

God wants us to trust His promises and put nothing between Him and us.   Everything else, by comparison should be hatred.  

God’s Gospel - The Cause and the Means! (Romans 9-11)

 Romans 10:14-17 (ESV)

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

This is such a powerful passage. To fully appreciate it you have to recall what Paul has previously written in chapter 9.   He has been teaching us the theological concept of “election.”  Paul has told us that the “elect” (those whom God chooses for salvation) are in contrast with those God does not choose to give mercy.   A key teaching truth in chapter 9 is:

Romans 9:15-18 (ESV)

For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

This truth obviously makes it sound like salvation is totally on God’s side.   But, as John MacArthur states:

Only lopsided and unbiblical theologies put everything on God’s side or everything on man’s side. In order to produce salvation, God’s unmerited grace demands man’s positive response. Inherent in God’s eternal plan of salvation is man’s obedient faith. In perhaps the most concise and beautiful statement of the gospel, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever “believes” in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16, emphasis added).

The above passage tells us that God has designed the mystery of Salvation to include someone preaching the Gospel and someone “believing” Gospel as the “tool” for receiving God’s grace.   God’s “grace” (His unmerited favor) is the “means” of salvation, but the preaching the Gospel by men and the believing the Gospel by men is the “cause.”  We are all outside the circle of God’s holiness.  We all deserve His wrath. We all deserve His justice.  But God reaches from within His holiness to extend grace on those whom He will.   To do that He sends men to preach the Gospel and requires belief from men to receive the Gospel.   That is salvation.   The “cause” and the “means” are not opposed to each other.   They are simultaneously working on concert to make the mystery of salvation glorifying to God.   

In The End, God Will Sort It Out! Matthew 11-13

Matthew 13:24-29 (ESV)

The Parable of the Weeds

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.

What does this all mean?   Jesus helps us out ... 

Matthew 13:36-43 (ESV)

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Pretty simple!   We might not know who is faithful to God and who is just pretending to be faithful to God.  But God knows.  In the end He will sort it out.  If you have an ear for Him, hear this!!! 

God Covers the Oppressed - Isaiah 23-28

Isaiah 25:3-5 (ESV)

Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;

cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

For you have been a stronghold to the poor,

a stronghold to the needy in his distress,

a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;

for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

like heat in a dry place.

You subdue the noise of the foreigners;

as heat by the shade of a cloud,

so the song of the ruthless is put down.

Isaiah has a tall task.  As a prophet of God he is being asked to deliver message after message (call “oracles” in his line of work) to the surrounding nations and to the nation of Israel (northern tribes) and Judah (southern tribes).   He is God’s mouthpiece for both doom and gloom and destruction as well as blessing and good tidings of great joy.  But Isaiah does not get to determine which message he delivers.  He is being instructed by God concerning who gets what message.  He knows it will either be cursing or blessing, but not who gets which one.   

In the above passage we read about the character of God behind these message Isaiah is to deliver.   God will send blessings to those who are oppressed, downtrodden and who have faith in Him.  God will send cursing on the oppressor, the captor, and those who reject Him.   We must let the poetic langue of the above verses diminish the power they portray.   God is going to destroy “ruthless nations.”   Like a shelter from the storm and the shade on a hot day God is going to be a “stronghold for the poor” and a “stronghold for the needy in his distress.”   God, like heat that is subdued by the covering of a cloud, is going to reduce those who are experiencing the hot breath of the oppressor.  God subdues the “noise of the foreigner” (those who reject God).  Their “song” will be put down.  

This is Isaiah’s message.   As hard as it must have been to deliver, it is still good to be Isaiah and not the oppressor receiving that message!!

Tough Love? Job 11

Job 11: Job 11:14 (ESV)

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

The above words flow from the mouth of Zophar! There is a Zophar in everyone's life. In chapter eleven we learn much about Job's "friend." When Job's previous friends (Eliphaz and Bildad) had confronted Job they used the wrong logic and reason for Job's suffering, but they still practiced some form of mercy and grace in their verbal offerings. Zophar, however, is from the University of Hard Knocks. He majored in the latest edition of, "tough love." His argument is very similar to Bildad's in that he attributes Job's suffering to his sin. That is what the above verse is implying. However, Zophar is blunt in his delivery and coarse in his words. Imagine the scene being painted by the Holy Spirit before us. We have Job laying on the ground on a bed of affliction (not some nice hospital room), scraping his sores with pieces of a broken pottery pot. Flies are swarming about. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar are sitting about him. When the other two speak there is much pause and a careful tone of delivery, leaning forward and encouraging Job, even if their doctrine is wrong. But, now we have Zophar. He sits back in his chair, arms crossed and nose in the air. He simply bashes Job. He lays it on the line and "tells it like it is." His thought process is that you have to be blunt and hard to get these "type of people" to correct their behavior. Zophar is the drill sergeant we never wanted but got anyway. Tough love might be a good philosophy but it must be based upon real love. Tough love does not have to be delivered in an unloving manner. Zophar is neither right in his assessment (Job was not suffering due to sin) nor correct in his delivery. We all have Zophars in our lives. However, we should never be one in someone else's life. (ESV)

If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.