Job Chapter 1
Mark Eddison 15th April
Is Might Right?
The most famous words in Job are in chapter 19 ‘I know that my redeemer lives’, the words from Handel's ‘Messiah’.
Cast your minds back to 2002, was it right to invade ? Saddam Hussein was in power, we were told that weapons of mass destruction were ready to fire in 45 minutes, Robin Cook resigned, there were mass demonstrations, and of course the invasion of Iraq. Our government used military power to get rid of another power which was perceived as a problem. This method has been used since time began.
Is might right? Could there be a more credible way to get things done?
Now think about the year AD30, the year of Jesus’ crucifixion. God did not use might or force to solve his problem, he used sacrificial love. Not might but benevolence. Some of the people of the time just couldn’t understand it.
Has God ever forced you to do anything? Probably not. Pressure is not the same as force which is impossible to resist. For example if you’re in a Christian meeting and you think you ought to share something, is the rapid heartbeat and the sweaty palms resistable? Yes. Do you feel guilty if you don't share it? Probably not.
The story of Job is about how God's way of operating affected one person.
Does Job fear God for nothing?
Chapter 1 gives some extraordinary insights into the workings of this world. If Satan has the ability to cause havoc, why does God tolerate him? Why does God even talk to him if he's the enemy? But because with God, might is not right, he won't deal with him as we would.
Job's character is that of a blameless and upright man, not blaming God. This implies not that Job never sinned, but that he is acceptable to God. Where Job lived is not , he's a gentile, probably in what is now . Righteousness is implied even though he's not a Jew. In Job 32 he talks us through his life which has been full of integrity.
If a nasty vindictive person is pitted against a good person, the bad person will attack the reputation of the good one. It happens all the time. When we become Christians we take on the vindictive enemy of Satan. Satan attacks Job's character, saying he only fears God for what he can get out of him. This implies we can never truly love and truly worship God because we are only being selfish.
Ask yourself why you follow God, is it because of who he is, or because of what we get out of him. When life gets tough and we don't appear to be getting anything out of God, do we, will we, still follow him. We are not persecuted in this country but many Christians are terribly persecuted.
We are unlikely to survive pressure if we only follow God for what we can get out of him.
Mark gave us the illustration of Jane’s dog who Mark believes loves her for who she is, not just because he is fed and walked. If dogs can do it, so can we!
Suffering is a human affliction from which we recoil.
How much potential is lost through suffering, for example the recent killings in
London
.
Suffering reminds us of our own mortality, and the thought of our mortality causes us suffering. What others do to us causes suffering, how we deal with others can cause suffering, corrupt governments cause suffering to their own people, natural disasters cause suffering.
We don't understand why the world contains these things which can cause suffering. But 'natural' and 'disaster' don't have to go together, the suffering happens because people get in the way of hurricanes etc, and it's usually the poor who are in the way. We humans have made the suffering worse by the way we do things.
Job is suffering not for any of these reasons but for a heavenly principle. He is in a battleground in which God's love principle being staked on him against Satan's accusation that Job is only selfish.
Mark believes that we will all get tested on this principle at some point in our lives. We will all face suffering and feel that we're not getting anything out of God. Will we love & worship him anyway.
We usually come to God in the first place for selfish reasons, we need forgiveness and hope. God accepts us as we are. But when the going gets tough hopefully we will still love and worship him.
The qualities of God
Exodus 34 v 2-3 and 5-8 - the qualities of God: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, forgiving, just, serious about sin.
Compassion is not wishy washy. Wilberforce had compassion and it led to real and purposeful action. Our God is compassionate and it leads him to act.
Graciousness takes mercy to a different level, gives us what we don't deserve. Empowers us to do something we couldn't do beforehand. We are empowered to make a contribution to this world.
Slow to anger: Not ‘no to anger’ but slow to anger. He is not passive but can get riled, but there is a controlled reaction and a measured response.
Abounding in loving kindness: The little things which make the day go better, like someone helping a mother & buggy up some steps.
Forgiveness: The removal of an obligation incurred by breaking the law.
Justice: Punishing the guilty. Necessary requirement of good government. Fair, impartial.
Serious about sin: Because it's destructive to benevolence. Love in our culture easily loses its meaning, we use the word in all sots of contexts. God's love is benevolence.
These characteristics and qualities are compelling. What a God. How can we but love and follow and worship him, the more we get to know him the stronger we will become, the more we will know him.
Questions to ponder & discuss:-
Why do I love God
Do you know God or only know about him
How would you fare under persecution
How should you counsel suffering people
How do we communicate this aspect of suffering to those outside the church
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