Jump Start # 3658

Job 1:8 “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the face of the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’”

This fall I have been teaching the book of Job in several places that have invited me to speak. Job is a unique, fascinating and complex dive into the mental, emotional and spiritual insides of a man that is hurting. Job is one of the oldest, if not the oldest books of the Bible. Job is not about suffering. If it were, what a huge failure the book becomes. Job doesn’t know why he is suffering. We do. Job is not told what to do when suffering. We know. Job has no comfort. His friends are worthless. His wife gives up. And, God is mostly silent through the majority of the book. The book gives us little help for suffering.

What Job is about is faith. Satan got it when he asked, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Does Job trust God because God is God? What if all the blessings were taken away? What if Job could not sing, “I’m happy today, O, I’m happy today”? In other words, has God bought Job’s faith?

And, of course, we cannot look at that and wonder about ourselves? Is this true of us? What if life slapped me in the face? What if there was little to smile about? Is God worthy to be worshipped and praised because He is God or does He have to entice my faith by sending goodies my way. Do I like God because He is God, or do I like God because He’s been good to me? Suffering happens to be the test tube in which this experiment was to take place.

I’ve heard people say, “My life is like Job.” No, it’s not. It’s not even close. You have an amazing fellowship of brethren worldwide. Job didn’t. He didn’t have his friends, his wife or a church to pray for him. You have the entire N.T. Job didn’t. You have a resurrected Savior. Job didn’t know about that. You have the book of Revelation that tells the end of the story and the defeat of Satan. Job didn’t. You even have the book of Job. Job didn’t have that. So, while your life may be hard, it’s so much better than Job.

Our verse today, the word of God, His description of Job to Satan. This reminds us that Job wasn’t randomly drawn from a list of names. God picked Job out. Job was not only one of the best, he was the best. The words, “no one like him on the earth,” uniquely shows how faithful, dedicated and special Job was. If God had a trophy case, Job would have been front and center in that display.

God didn’t present someone struggling in their faith. God didn’t choose a weak believer. Like the story of the big, bad wolf, Satan would just huff and puff and that weak believer would have fallen over. No, God chose the best. And, Satan hit him hard. All fastballs, right down the middle.

Now, some thoughts:

First, I wonder if God looks over the planet today and says “there is no one like him on the face of the earth”? I tend to doubt that. Across this land in so many congregations, there are blameless and upright men serving as shepherds of God’s flock. Godly men and women assemble every Sunday to praise and exalt the God that they love dearly. Great sacrifices are being made to help people walk righteously. Daily blogs, podcasts and deep studies in God’s word are broadcast throughout the world. I am honored to know some of the most amazing preachers of our times. Men who will not bend or compromise. Men who passionately speak with love and conviction. Men who walk closely with the Lord.

No one else like him on the earth…I’m thankful that the army of God is so massive, with living examples among us.

Second, the disciples of Jesus got into arguments about which one was the greatest among them. The very idea that they were discussing this shows that none of them were the greatest. When we start thinking, “I’m better than you,” we best just stop talking. We are heading down a road that the Lord doesn’t want us to go down. That step into pride, like stepping into mud, is hard to get out of and it will just stain our insides.

Did Job know that there was no one like him on the earth? I doubt it. Did he know that God saw him that way? I doubt it. He just lived and walked with the Lord every day. He was doing what he was supposed to do. Everyone should have been just like him. He excelled.

Third, both the Lord and Satan took note of Job. God thought Job would do well. Satan believed he could crush Job’s faith. And, the Lord and Satan take notice of you. God is helping you. Satan wants to trip you. God is forgiving. Satan wants to focus upon your failures. And, in the end, our choices, our faith, determines who we will be with.

No one like him on the earth. Can you imagine meeting Job in Heaven? Can you imagine Job asking you, “Tell me your story.” We know Job’s. We might feel intimidated. We might want to walk away. But, we’d run into Noah. Then, Timothy. Then, Shadrach. Then, Rahab. Then, Abraham. Then, Paul. And, we might think, what are we doing here? We may feel out of place. But, the Lord will tell you that you are here because He invited you. He wants you here. And, your story doesn’t matter much. It’s HIS story that opened the door for us. And, it is HIS story that made all the difference.

No one like him on the earth. Not really Job’s story, but it is the Lord’s story. Immanuel, God among us. Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word.

Roger

Jump Start # 3275

Job 1:8 “And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’”

In the 1990s Gatorade made a series of commercials with basketball superstar Michael Jordan. The catch phrase through those commercials was, Be like Mike. “If I could be like Mike for just one day…” so went the advertising. It was a smash hit.

Using that concept, what would it be like to be Job? The quick and easy answer is, “painful.” That’s how we remember him. He hurt. He hurt on the inside and he hurt on the outside. He hurt in his wallet and he hurt in his heart. He hurt in his marriage and he hurt in his friendships.

But what would it be like to walk in Job’s shows before the pain? There are some great lessons there.

First, he was a man of great moral fiber and a deep conviction for the Lord. His faith did not begin with the pain. The faith was there before the pain. Our verse today is the Lord’s description of faithful Job. Blameless. Upright. Fearing God. Turning away from evil. That’s how God saw Job. Those things don’t come over night. They don’t come from just sitting in a church building once in a while. They come from deep within the heart. Without knowing details, we conclude that Job was honest in business. How do we know that? God says he was blameless and upright. Someone that cheats and is dishonest is not going to be called that. Job is one who has walked a while with the Lord. Job is someone who knew the Lord.

Second, Job was concerned about the spiritual well-being of his children. The first chapter says that he would make sacrifice for them. Much too often the spiritual is sacrificed so our kids can make the team, get the scholarship, get on stage and be something great. While we are so concerned about their GPA, and the MVP, we forget to teach them about G-O-D. A child’s attitude about God and His word will be reflected on the ballfield and in the classroom. Attitudes, the way he treats others, respect for those in authority, ambition are all influenced by what we think about God and ourselves. Job was concerned about his children’s faith. Job actually took some action steps in regard to his children’s faith.

Third, God brought Job’s name up to Satan. We often get this reversed. We get the idea that Satan suggested. But it was God. I don’t see God throwing Job to the dogs. I don’t see God sacrificing Job. God must have thought that Job is strong enough, faithful enough that he could handle the devil. Would this happen today? Would it happen to us? Would God pick one of us out as an example of faithfulness? Would the devil turn us down, saying, “I already have him.” Satan hit Job hard. He did about everything possible except take his life. He was stepped on. He was crushed. He was flattened. Satan must have thought, there is no way Job’s faith is going to survive this. Punch after punch and ole’ Job won’t go down. Battered. Bloodied. Beaten. Yet, he remains standing. Remarkable. His own wife threw in the towel. She was done. Not Job.

Fourth, we know more about the background story than what Job was ever told. He didn’t know about this discussion between God and Satan. He didn’t know the “whys” behind all of this. He didn’t understand. He was in the dark. Yet, onward with God he traveled.

Job had such a way and influence that his three friends traveled from great distances to see him. That speaks of Job’s character. That speaks of what they thought about Job. That speaks of the type of friendship that they had. Not everyone would hop in a car and drive across town, or, get on a plane and fly across the country to see a friend who was struggling.

At the end of the story, God asks Job to make sacrifice for his friends. Similar to what he did at the first of the book for his own children, Job now does for his friends. God sees value, faith and hope in Job.

We need to see that Satan didn’t randomly pick Job out from a group of pictures. His character, his faith, his conviction, before the trials tell us what kind of person Job was.

If I could be Job for one day…I’m not suffering as he was, but am I connected, faithful and devoted to God? Am I diligently following the Lord? Am I making the right choices in my life? Job was doing these things BEFORE the troubles.

Job before the trials—that makes for an interesting study.

Roger

Jump Start # 134

Job 1:8 “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’”

  Our verse for today introduces the book of Job. Job is found in our Bibles in the poetry section, along with Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. Job is one of the oldest books of the Bible. We say that because of the nature of the book. It takes place during the time when God talked directly to the fathers, like Abraham, Noah and Adam. There are no references in the book to the Law of Moses, the priesthood, Abraham, Moses, or the tabernacle. It is as if Job came before all of those.

  Job is a long book and it is difficult to read. It unfolds much like a play. If you can imagine Job and his three friends as the main characters and the dialogue is a verbal exchange back and forth between Job and these three friends.

  Often when we hear of the book of Job our immediate thought is, “That is a book about suffering.” And in some ways that is true. Job suffered. He suffered hard and long. He suffered emotionally, mentally, physically, socially, financially, and even spiritually. Few people have gone through what Job did. Most who have, did not fare well. But the book really isn’t about suffering. It is about faith and God. The premise is “why does man serve God?” God’s contention is that man serves God because of who God is. Satan’s point is that man only serves God because of the blessings man receives from God. Man is spoiled and selfish and God has bought his devotion by blessing him. This is a great thesis for a debate. So Job is used as the test. A good man who had been richly blessed. Take it all away and see what he will do. So in many ways, Job is placed in a test tube and suffering is poured in and the test tube is shook very rapidly. Job is poured out and we watch his response and reaction to all of this.

  We understand and know more of the background than Job was ever told. Our verse today introduces the beginning of this debate.

  This verse is interesting. First, God brings Job up to Satan, not the other way around. Second, God is talking to Satan. The Bible has nothing kind to say about Satan. He is called the enemy, a liar from the very beginning. I would expect God to have nothing to do with Satan, but here He is approaching Satan. Third, God allows but Satan does. All the terrible suffering that Job goes through are the result of Satan. God put limits on what Satan could do.   And who can look at our verse and not see the powerful compliments God has about Job. It is as if Job was centerpiece in God’s trophy case. God tells us that Job is “My servant.” There was a relationship and fellowship between Job and God. Further God identifies four characteristics of Job: blameless, upright, God fearing and turning away from evil. God summed it up by saying, “There is no one like him on the earth.”

  This reminds us that God is aware of our hearts, motives and actions. God knows. God was pleased with Job. God was bragging to Satan about Job. Parents do that about their kids. They do that because they are so proud of their kids. God is feeling that way about Job.

  God’s feelings toward Job makes us struggle with why God allowed Satan to afflict him so harshly and severely. You’d think God would protect Job, shelter Job and keep these things from happening. But just the opposite. Because Job meant so much, God said to Satan, “Have you considered…”  It seems God knew how Job would act. Parents know how their kids will do. God knew.

  One final thought. Does God and Satan have conversations today about us? Does God tell Satan about you? I don’t know. It’s hard to find Scripture to answer that either way. It does present a thought for us to consider. The God of Heaven and earth being so pleased with us that He tells Satan to consider you. That would change how we look at suffering and the whys of suffering. It would also stop us from blaming God so often.

  God is in charge. He always has been. That is a blessing!

Roger