1

God Is God And You Are Not – Part 2 (Job 40:6-42:6 November 27, 2016)

In 1966 the missionary Elizabeth Elliott published her one and only work of fiction – No Graven Image. The book centres on an American missionary, Margaret Sparhawk, who at 25 chooses to devote her life to translating the Bible into the language of an indigenous South American tribe – the Quechua people – up in the mountains of Ecuador. It is a real struggle. Setback after setback. Little progress. Finally, she meets one man, Pedro, who knew the language she needs to reach the tribe. He became the key to translating the Bible for the tribe. Together they began the painstaking work of translation. Pedro, she believes, was the answer to her prayer. Margaret begins to imagine the possibility of bringing the Bible to a million people in remote regions of the mountains. God seems to be blessing her work. Then one day, after years of struggle, just when real progress was being made, Pedro cuts his leg and develops an infection. Margaret gives him a shot of penicillin – but it turns out he is allergic – and he has a severe anaphylactic reaction. She prays fervently. She cannot believe that God would let this one man – the key to her work there – die. She prays – God I cant believe You would let Pedro die. But despite her fervent prayers, he does die. The family and the tribe blame her and turn on her. They destroy her years of work. She wrote, “It seemed, on the night of Pedro’s death, as though Finis were written below all I had done.” Then the book ends.

2

There is no miraculous happy ending. No miracle breakthrough with the tribe being converted. Years of faithful struggle led to death and great loss. If you have read the book – you may or may not like this tragic ending. But what is extraordinary is that Elizabeth Elliot wrote about the amount of hate mail she received concerning her novel. Christian after Christian – including many who should have known better – lined up to tell her – she just didn’t understand God. God does not treat His faithful servants like this. A young woman who gives up her life to serve God will not suffer such treatment. The question for us this morning is this. Is this unfair? Is this unjust? And thus, we come to the heart of Job’s issue. Job is a man who lived many years ago. He loved God – served God – and God repaid his faithful service with a season of unrelenting suffering and misery. God painted a bullseye on His back and allowed Satan to decimate him. He lost all ten of his beloved children. He lost his wealth, and health. He was an outcast. Job was adamant – it was unfair. It was wrong. Job wanted an audience with God. Job demanded an audience with God. He wanted God to tell him – why? What about you? What about me? I suspect that every one of us sitting here this morning has a litany of things that we perceive as unjust and unfair. If I am honest – my list is long … really long:

3

I think it is unjust that my mother had such a hard life. I think it is unjust that some of the finest people I know have such painful marriages and family lives. I think it is unjust that some wonderful Christians I know want to marry but don’t, what to have children but can’t or do have children who are handicapped, sick or have wandered far from the faith. I think natural disasters, financial inequality, discrimination ... are unjust.

And I am just beginning. If the truth be known – the things that really cause me to question the justice of God are when people close to me – that I know are godly and serving the Lord whole-heartedly suffer:

I think it is unjust that my daughter got cancer. I think it is unjust when a missionary is killed.

Don’t get me started on suffering and death in children. And I know I am the only one here who struggles with a litany of perceived injustices. Job was the godliest man of his day yet he felt the way his life went was manifestly unjust. He wanted God to explain things. After many pleadings – a prophet of God did come to him in chapter 32. Elihu gave Job a great answer to the question of suffering. It wasn’t enough. Job wanted two things and he wanted them from God Himself: He wanted an explanation. Why? Why me? Why like this? But even more than that: Job wanted vindication. He wanted the world to know – Job was innocent. Job is suffering unjustly.

4

Job has no great hidden sin. He hated that everyone thought there must be sin in his life. Then, last week we saw that God did appear. God could have and His justice said should have incinerated Job on the spot. God owed Job no explanation or vindication. God owed Job nothing. But in love the Lord spoke to Job from the whirlwind. God did not give Job a detailed answer. What Job got was a revelation. He was given a vision of the majesty and glory and goodness of God. If you go back and analyse all of Job’s questions – he was really asking two related questions. First he asks God: How can You be good if evil is unrestrained? God how can You be good and yet allow evil and suffering in the world? We looked at God’s response to this last week. The second question Job asks is this: How can You be just if evil is unrestrained? How You be just and let drug dealers live in luxury and allow children to die in agony? How can You be just and let godly Job suffer such assaults? Again and again Job cried out to God to answer these questions. Last week we saw that when Job did hear from God – this encounter was not at all what he envisioned. He picture himself plying God with questions. Didn’t happen. He pictured God being on trial – but Job was on trial. God gives two speeches which are in effect a series of penetrating questions. Each one answers one of Job’s two burning questions.

5

The Lord answered Job’s accusation – How can You be good if evil is unrestrained? – in Job 38:1-40. We looked at this last week. He answered Job’s question with His own question. Is your might able to create and govern the universe? This question was actually an answer. Job could not do this. It is God who created and runs the universe. I control every part of My creation – including evil – for good. Job – you can’t even understand simple stuff like how I created the universe – let alone more complex stuff like who lives – the lion cub or the zebra. So how could you ever comprehend the place of evil and suffering in the lives of men? God says to Job – I know you are suffering – but let My greatness and My goodness be enough. Let Me run the world and trust that I will work all things together for good. Job’s response was: Repentance. I am small compared to You. I won’t question your goodness again. Now, this morning we are going to look as the Lord answers Job’s second question: How can You be just if evil is unrestrained? – in Job 40:6-41:34. What we are going to see this morning is this: Trust that God judges every part of His creation – including evil – and works it for good. So turn with me to Job 40:6–7:

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.

Here we find the answer to Job’s Question: How can You be just if evil is unrestrained? If evil gets to do what it wants – have its way with good men and women – how can God be just? Which of us has not thought this from time to time?

6

Once again, the Lord speaks from the whirlwind. Remember that the word here speaks of a storm of unbelievable power and fury. The only response men have to such power is the response of Isaiah.

I am done for. Woe is me! Then God says:

Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. Job – who are you to question My justice? You wanted Me to answer – well gird up your loins and get ready. But notice the end of verse 7. Once again the Lord says – I will question you, and you make it known to Me. Remember – in Job’s mind this encounter was going to run very differently. Job would ask the questions and God would answer. No God asks the questions. Basically, the Lord asks: Is your justice able to subdue evil and save? God starts with the crucial question – verse 8:

Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

Job wanted vindication. Job wanted the world to know he was being punished unjustly. But if Job is being punished unjustly – that makes God – the One doing the punishing – unjust. If we are done wrong by – ultimately it is God who does the wronging. If God is sovereign over all things – then the buck stops with Him. If something happens that is actually unjust – then that does make God unjust. But what Job has done is to skip one crucial step.

7

Job has already decided that what is happening to him is in fact unjust. Job has decided that he knows better than God what is just and unjust. Brothers and sisters – I do this. You do this. So many times I have heard – this just can’t be fair – this just can’t be right. If we can’t work out how something can be just – we label it unjust – and we want an explanation. Death of a child, wife with cancer, natural disaster. This is what Job did. So God says – fine – if you are so good at deciding what is just – why don’t you take a turn at judging the world? Verses 9-10:

Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

Job why don’t you take on the arm and voice of judgment. Why don’t you dress yourself with the robes and splendor of divine judgment? Then – verses 11-13:

Pour out the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below.

Let your righteous anger flow on the wicked. Smite them where they stand and send them to the world below. God is saying – fine – Judge of the universe Job – will you decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell? Here is God’s point – if you are the final arbiter – the ultimate judge – if you decide what is just and unjust – then you have to decide on what basis someone goes to heaven or hell. Is heaven for Bill just or unjust? Is hell for Mary just or unjust? How many good works are enough to save someone? How many evil works condemn someone?

8

Do good works cancel out evil ones or not? Then a key verse – verse 14:

Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. You tell me the basis of your judgment and then I will tell you if your right hand can save you. You tell me how righteous you have to be and I will tell you – if you have met the standard. There are men and women out there who say – if I was the judge – I would let everyone into heaven. No one is perfect – so let everyone in. And yet – if those same people were sinned against. If a criminal broke into their home and raped and murdered their children and they went before a human judge awaiting justice – what if the judge said?:

None of us are perfect – let’s give this poor criminal yet another chance – release him.

They would cry – injustice! We know sin must be punished. That is just. We know that God never clears the guilty. Here is the Lord’s own statement about Himself. Exodus 34:6–7:

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.

So if the guilty must be punished – what is the standard? There are some out there who say – if I were God – I would judge on the curve. More good works than evil – they get in. Is this just? Consider our criminal who breaks in and rapes and murders those children. What if he eludes capture for ten years – but he develops a guilty conscience – so he spends that ten years selflessly helping the poor. When he is caught – would it be just for the judge to say?:

What you did was evil – but your good works have erased that debt – I think that makes it just – let him free.

9

Again, we most of us would cry – injustice! God asks – so Judge Job what is your standard? Is it more good works than evil? But then God says – before you answer that Job – there is something else I want to point out. Before you can judge evil – you actually have to subdue it and restrain it and show you are mightier than it before you can judge it. God’s Answer to Job is: I judge every part of My creation – including evil – for good. So to this end – God says – consider Behemoth and Leviathan. Deep breath Craig. Many trees have given their life for essays and learned papers on the identity of Behemoth and Leviathan. What is clear is that these are two mighty beasts. But there is a lot that is not clear. Basically, there are two major views as to who these two mighty beasts are:

1. Flesh and blood beasts 2. Symbolic beasts

There are a number of reasons to see these beasts as flesh and blood. In verse 15 God speaks of Behemoth and says – I made him – just as I made you Job. In verse 19 we are told he is the first of the works of God – the mightiest of the animals. God seems to be referring to them as creatures created to live in this world.

Flesh and blood beasts

Symbolic beasts

10

So many commentators try and line up these beasts with animals that literally lived on the earth. If you go with flesh and blood – there are many guesses as to what animals we are dealing with. In terms of Behemoth – the three most common guesses are: The hippopotamus, the elephant or a now extinct animal such as a brachiosaur. I also want to say – there are a lot of other options too. I am just going to read the description and you can see if you think it lines up with any of these: Verses 15–24:

“Behold, Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength in his loins, and his power in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like bars of iron. … Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened.

I won’t ask for a vote by a show of hands – you just make your own mind up. But, as hard as Behemoth is to pin down – Leviathan – a water dwelling creature – is even harder. Most go for: The crocodile, the whale or a now extinct creature like a plesiosaur. See what you think. Chapter 41 verses 12–34:

I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. … Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. … In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable. … He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired. On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear.

On one level they seem to be flesh and blood. Behemoth is some form of land animal that spends time in rivers and marshes and Leviathan seems to be a mighty ocean creature.

11

So why do many see them as more than flesh and blood beasts – as symbolic beasts – mythic beasts? The first reason is that neither portrait fits particularly well with any known creature. They are hard to nail down. That is why there are so many guesses. For example, Behemoth has a tail stiff as a cedar. It is hard to see that fitting a hippopotamus or an elephant – or most animals. Although the elephant people claim this word can refer to a trunk rather than a tail so they do feel it fits their beast. The dinosaur people think only theirs truly has a cedar-like tail. Or consider that Leviathan is described as dwelling in the ocean – this is not true of the crocodile. Even harder – he is a fire-breathing monster which doesn’t fit any known creature. Not many people would work at or visit Australia Zoo if the crocodiles there breathe flames. You have to see this as hyperbole if you want to say these are flesh and blood creatures – but nothing else in these chapters is really hyperbolic. A second reason is that it is hard to see how Job’s inability to catch and tame a hippo/elephant and a crocodile/whale – really addresses the question of his inability to administer cosmic justice. It is hard to understand the argument God is making. These creatures were hard to catch – but men did catch them. This speech indicates only God can do this. So, it seems clear that more is going on here. These creatures point to a more powerful reality. Look at Leviathan in chapter 41 verses 18–21:

His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

When you read this – what comes to mind? Sounds an awful lot like a dragon.

12

And don’t forget that this is not the only place in Scripture where Leviathan is spoken of. We already met Leviathan in Job 3:8 where Job laments that Leviathan did not destroy the sun and prevent his birth. In Babylonian myth Leviathan is a dragon who destroyed the sun. As well – Leviathan is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture as a sea monster, a dragon – as Satan: For example, in Isaiah 27:1 we read that on the day of judgment – the Lord will finally destroy Leviathan:

In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

When you read this in context – Satan is in view. Psalm 74:12–14 says:

Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

Only the God who saves – only the God who parted the sea in the Exodus can subdue Leviathan. Leviathan is beyond a mere sea creature – he is the dragon who opposes God and only God can subdue. The book of Revelation takes the imagery of beasts and dragons and serpents and applies it explicitly to Satan. He is the embodiment of evil and opposition to the Lord. So it seems that Behemoth and Leviathan are in the first place great beasts – a land and river based beast and a sea beast. Whether one particular creature was in mind or just powerful creatures in general is hard to say. But more than that – they embody the most powerful opposition to God and His people. They represent the most powerful forces opposing God which must be subdued before they can be judged. While Scripture explicitly links Leviathan to Satan, what about Behemoth? He is not mentioned elsewhere in Scripture.

13

Since Leviathan is Satan – some see Behemoth as the second beast in Revelation 12 and 13. The two beasts (one a land beast, one from the sea) do embody the forces opposed to God – so this view is very possible. Others such as Robert Fyall have argued that Behemoth portrays death himself because of the echoes in the description of the Canaanite god Mot – the god of death. On balance – I think this is the most likely option. Behemoth and Leviathan were two great creatures – who in the mythology of the day embodied death and Satan – the great forces opposing God. This makes sense of what the Lord says to Job. The main point God makes in this is that before you can judge Behemoth and Leviathan – you have to be powerful enough to subdue them. Which man can subdue death and Satan? Can you Job? Job 40:19:

Let him who made him bring near his sword! Job 40:24:

Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare? God then asks Job whether he can subdue Leviathan all the way throughout Job 41. He point is that as hard as it is to catch and subdue Leviathan – it is far harder to deal with Satan. Can you catch him with a hook or harpoon or spears? Can you capture him and sell him in a market? Can you make a covenant with him? Can you play with him like a bird? There is no way to contain Leviathan. You can’t hurt him, contain him, domesticate him. He is no mere animal to subdue. You don’t put a hippo or an elephant on a leash and think your little daughter is safe. But Satan is far worse.

14

I love this question – will you put him on a leash for your girls? One of my favourite memories is when we bought our dog max home for the first time. He could fit in my hand. He was a cute as you could get. But Steph was petrified of him. She wouldn’t come downstairs. Worried this ferocious six inch monster would devour her. Max – you do put on a leash and let your girls walk with him. Not Satan. No one messes with him. You cannot – domesticate the dragon of old. He would actually devour my girls – and me – and you.

Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again! If you try and subdue this beast – you do it just the once.

No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Think of the fiercest animal you can. A ravenous wolf. A great white. A tiger. A rampaging elephant. You don’t stir them up. You can’t contain them. You can’t stand before them. They are nothing compared to Satan. He devours nations and the souls of men. But here is the real point. The end of verse 10:

Who then is he who can stand before me? No one can tame Satan – but God can. If you fear Satan – fear God more. Satan can only kill the body – God can cast body and soul into hell. As fearful as Satan is – He is nothing compared to the awful fury of a holy God. Job does not know that Leviathan – Satan – is the one causing his pain and suffering. Job can’t stop Satan – so how could he ever judge him?

15

Only God can. There are very evil men who lived out their days in power. Stalin – Pol Pot – Kim Il-sung. No one could subdue them – so no one brought them to judgment. But God will judge them. I have met some bad men and women – I have never met a truly evil man or woman. A psychopath, a serial killer, someone with no conscience. The thought frightens me. Then I imagine a whole new level of evil and power. Demons – Satan. They really frighten me. But – our God controls them, limits them and the day will come when He will judge them and there is nothing they can do to stop it. Verse 11:

Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

God owes no one. No one earns favour with this God. You don’t earn brownie points with God that mean He will temper His justice. Job thought his righteousness meant God owed him. Who questions the justice of this God? We saw last week that evil is not unrestrained. God does limit it. Today we see that a day is coming when God will judge evil. Revelation 20:10:

The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:14:

16

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

God’s arm is mighty enough, His voice of judgment strong enough, His majesty powerful enough to judge this universe. He will destroy death. He will judge men, demons – even the serpent of old. The devil is God’s devil. God is so mighty that even Satan’s evil becomes good through the outworking of the sovereign plan of God. We have seen that in the case of the death of Jesus. Can Job’s justice accomplish salvation? The point here is that before you can question the judge – you have to have the power and right and sovereignty to judge. This judge is beyond reproach. Finally, Job realised this. Here is Job’s response. Repentance. Job 42:1–6:

Then Job answered the LORD and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Remember – Job had decided that his treatment was unjust. Basically, he decided that he knew better than God what was fair and unfair. Unfortunately, I’ve done that a few times myself. Job’s problem was that his view of God was not big enough. He could not imagine a God whose power could work good through evil.

17

I began this sermon speaking of Elizabeth Elliott’s book No Graven Image. After it was published, Elizabeth gave some lectures on her book and she said the key to the book was this line right at the end of the book – where Margaret says:

“God, if He was merely my accomplice, had betrayed me. If, on the other hand, He was God, He had freed me.”

If God was her accomplice – if His role was merely to support her in her work – to make sure things ran smoothly as long as she was faithful – then He had betrayed her. But if God is God – if He does what He does for His own purposes – if He decides what is right and fair – if my suffering makes me realise this – then this tragic ending to the book had shattered her false notion of God and in so doing freed her. The God who always blesses and never sends suffering is a false God, a God of our own creation, a counterfeit god. He is an idol. The book’s title refers to the second commandment. But what is unexpected is that the graven images – the idols – in this book turn out to not be the ones the natives made – but the ones that exist in the heart of Christians. The book’s message is this: as Christians, we engrave in our minds, images of how we think God should act if we serve Him. But – telling God what is right is idolatry. Telling God – Joseph should not rot in prison – Daniel should not be carted off to Babylon – Ezekiel’s wife should not die – this is idolatry. Telling God you are running my life and this world wrong – this is idolatry. But – accepting that God is greater than our notion of right and wrong – this is worship. This book is fiction – but it is based on many of the events in Elizabeth Elliot’s own life – and it contains the lessons she had to learn through deep suffering and loss. She had to move from God as accomplice to God as God. He is God and she is not. Job has to learn this lesson. For 41 chapters Job had viewed God as his accomplice. Now, finally, God had freed him and he came to worship the God who is God.

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

18

You are so mighty – You can work justice even when I can’t see how it is just. I know that your purpose for this world will not be thwarted. I should let You run Your universe. I spoke things of which I did not understand. I said you were unwise in Your governance and unfaith in Your justice. I was a fool. Your ways are too wonderful for me. I am so limited. I cannot see the beginning from the end. Now I will serve You. I will speak only what You say – so make Your will known to me.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. I had heard of how great you were – it was not enough – not nearly enough. Now I have seen You – I see in full how majestic and powerful and good You are – I will not question Your ways again.

I despise myself. I repent in dust and ashes. Job is not repenting because he suddenly found some secret sin. He is repenting because his view of God was woefully inadequate. He says – Instead of trying to make You get on board with my plan – I will get on board with Your plan – whatever it is. God works all things – including the timing, the scope and the execution of His justice – of men and demons – such that it accomplishes His good purposes in redemption and salvation. Do you believe that? Do you believe that God is mighty enough to be able to work His good purposes through the evil of men – and perceived injustice of man? Some of us here this morning need to repent of our inadequate maybe almost blasphemous thoughts and words about God. The idolatry of thinking we know better than God. Thoughts about how He should run the universe and execute His justice.

19

Thoughts about how He should not allow suffering in the lives of good men and women. Let God be God. He knows what He is doing. The lesson Job learns is that he has to trust the Lord based on an understanding of who God is not an understanding of why He acts. One purpose of God in suffering is to lead us to see his compassion and mercy. How He has a plan that reaches beyond this world. James 5:11:

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

God’s purpose is awesome. In closing I want to connect a couple of the dots in this passage. Chapter 40 starts with God pointing out that Job wanted vindication. Job wanted the world to know he was being punished unjustly. In verse 14 God had said:

[Tell Me the basis by which you judge] then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you.

You tell me the basis for deciding which men are deserving of blessing and which are not and then I will tell you if your right hand can save you. Job assumed that the standard was being better than most men. It is not. The only acceptable standard is complete holiness. Habbakuk tells us that God’s eyes are too pure to look upon evil. Jesus tells us we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. Job didn’t meet God’s standard – he never went close. Job only met Job’s standard. Job was a good man – about as good as a man can get – but He was a sinner. What Job failed to realise is that all the suffering, all of the pain – everything he had endured – it is far less than He deserved.

20

When sinful Job saw holy God in that whirlwind – justice would have been for Job to be incinerated and banished to hell for his crimes. Here is the reality. One day every man and woman will stand before the Great White Throne and the books will be opened. On that day – no one – absolutely no one – will say – Oh Judge – before You judge me – I would just like to point out – I was unfairly treated in my life – You owe me – I deserve a little lenience here. Not going to happen. There have been many godly men and women who suffered intensely. Crippling illness, family tragedy, persecution, martyrdom. They would all say:

I deserved far worse. What happened to me was never unjust. But there is more. There is a dot here that is only joined when we come to the New Testament. In chapter 40 God asked this crucial question in verse 8:

Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

Must I be condemned that you might be justified. Once Job saw God his answer is emphatically no! I spoke rashly – of course You are not condemned that I might be justified. But then Jesus comes and He tells us this. The only way for Job – or you – or me – to be justified – to be made right – to be clean before God – is for God to be condemned! This is stunning. You want to talk injustice – here it is. Jesus – God Himself came – the only innocent man who ever lived – the only One who did not deserve suffering – He humbled Himself and went to the cross. There He became condemned – the wrath of God fell on Him. The sinless One became sin for us. He is the only man to ever truly suffer unjustly.

21

Why? So that we – the guilty ones might be justified – made clean. Job felt hard done by. But by the end – he is rejoicing in awe. The truth is that if God ran the universe according to the laws of Job – not only would Job be incinerated and banished to hell forever – because he got what he deserved – but Jesus would not die on the cross – because there would be no innocent suffering – and therefore there would be no salvation. But God is condemned that we might be justified. The gospel is built on the reality of innocent suffering. If you are here this morning – thinking you are hard done by – thinking God is not doing a great job running the universe – thinking the world is unjust – then your view of God is too small. God is your accomplice. Here is the reality – God is so great and so good and so gracious – that He works all things – these perceived injustices and evils – for good – and God has done something about this fallen world. He sent His Son – the only One who could have complained about injustice – to save You. When you realise this – it frees you to worship – it makes sense of this world – and if you trust it – you will receive what you can never deserve – eternal life.

22

God Is God And You Are Not – Part 2 (Job 40:6-42:76 November 27, 2016)

Main Point: Trust that God judges every part of His creation – including evil – and works it for good. 1. What is it about Job’s situation that seemed unjust to him? 2. What events in your life or the world seem unjust to you? 3. Why does saying something is unjust in your lives actually reflect on the justice of

God? 4. By what measure do we decide if something is just or unjust? By what measure

should we decide if something is just or unjust?

5. If you were Judge of the universe – what would be your criteria for deciding who gets to heaven and who goes to hell? What is God’s criteria?

6. Discuss the identity of Behemoth and Leviathan. Do you agree that they ultimately

reflect the evil that opposes God – probably death and Satan? Why or why not? 7. What is the point God is making by asking Job if he can subdue them? 8. Since only God can subdue them – what does this teach us about our right to

question God’s justice and judgment? 9. In Job 42:1-6 – what is Job repenting of? 10. In Elizabeth Elliot’s book – what does Margaret mean when she says:

“God, if He was merely my accomplice, had betrayed me. If, on the other hand, He was God, He had freed me.” In what ways can we see God as merely our accomplice? In what ways can pain and suffering free us to worship? What is the idolatry of the heart suffering can break us from?

11. What is the lesson Job had to learn concerning God’s justice?

12. What does Job 42:5 teach us about God and us? 13. Why do we struggle to believe that God works all things – including the timing, the

scope and the execution of His justice – of men and demons – such that it accomplishes His good purposes in redemption and salvation?

23

14. What is the standard by which Job through God should judge men? Why is this inadequate?

15. How does God invert the truth of Job 40:8 to provide salvation for us? 16. In what ways is innocent suffering the heart of the gospel? 17. In what ways do the questions of God demonstrate His perfect justice?