Jump Start # 1240

Job 4:7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed?”

  Yesterday in our Jump Start, we looked at a passage from Habakkuk where the prophet had a hard time understanding how God could use a more wicked nation to punish Israel. He simply could not figure God out. Today, we continue with that thought. People often try to guess what God will do or like. Thinking that they have God figured out, allows them to do things that are not found in the Bible. “I know God likes this,” actually means, “I like this,” and if I like this, then God must like this.

A classic example of this are the three friends of Job. They did some wonderful things. They heard that their friend Job was suffering and had his entire family had been wiped out, except for his wife. They didn’t send a card. They came. There is something powerful about presence. I’m certain, like with most of us, they had things to do, however, a friend was hurting. They came. They sat with Job for a week without saying a word. That’s some of the best things that they did. There are times when no words are necessary and no words ought to be expressed. They came and they sat. To sit a week implies that they had to eat. They were there to take care of Job.

The problems with Job’s friends began when they tried to reason why these things happened. They thought they knew. They thought they had God figured out. Our passage today is just one of many examples, of the foolish, wrong, and even hurtful things that the friends said. In the verse, “who ever perished being innocent,” drives a stake into the heart of Job. Who perished? All his children. All of them. There was a storm and all ten young people died. Ten fresh graves on the hillside was a reminder of what he felt and experienced. The statement, “who ever perished being innocent,” is saying, “your dead children, were sinners and God punished them.” “Your dead children are not going to Heaven.” “Your dead children, got what they deserved.” “God was not pleased with your children.” Can you imagine? It is a statement of extreme judging. It lacks compassion, feeling and more than anything else, understanding of God.

Who ever perished being innocent? How about the babies killed by Pharaoh? How about babies dying in childbirth? How about David’s baby? How about the babies when Herod ordered the slaughter in the days of Jesus? Do the innocent perish? Yes, they do.

He adds, “Where were the upright destroyed?” Hebrews tells us that many Old Testament worthies were “stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword” (11:37). These people “gained approval through their faith,” and we are told were men who the world was not worthy. Upright? Absolutely. Destroyed? Yes. The prophets were killed. John the Baptist was beheaded. The apostle James executed. Page after page in our Bibles illustrate the suffering saints.

The friends of Job were wrong. They thought they had God figured out. They didn’t. Here is where they missed it:

1. They based their assumptions upon observation. What they have seen and experienced became the standard and the way it is. The problem with observation is that our view is limited. We cannot see the whole picture. We cannot see what God is doing in other places. We cannot see what is happening on the other side of the world. When we speak generically, we often reveal our ignorance. I’ve read articles and heard preachers proudly proclaim, “Brethren think…”  Some might. Others might not. Or, “churches today…” Some might. Others might not. “The greatest threat facing the church today…” is generally based upon our limited travels and what we see at the home congregation. Some may declare, “the church isn’t growing today.” Probably true in their part of the world, but in other parts it’s exploding. “Young people simply are not interested anymore.” Really? You should have seen Sunday worship at our place last week. The front row, I mean THE FRONT ROW, was so packed with young people that they spilled over to another pew. They were turning to passages, taking notes and engaged. Not interested? Maybe in your part of the world, but not mine. “Brethren do not come out to hear preaching anymore?” Might be true in your world. I’ve been places where deacons were running to find chairs to sit out because the church building was packed.

It is easy for us to make conclusions based solely upon what we observe. That was Job’s friends. Their observations were small, and limited. Their observations made them come to some wrong conclusions.

2. Their statements did not leave room for the trying of our faith nor the discipline of God. The righteous suffer. They did not even understand their friend Job. God held him up as a blameless and upright man. God knew Job. God used Job as a test case against Satan. God had confidence in Job. These friends had no place in their faith for what God did. That simply wouldn’t make sense to them. God would never do that, yet He did.

3. Their limited observations led to some false conclusions and the consequences were false ideas, hope and teaching. Anyone who suffered, in the minds of these friends, was a sinner. If you didn’t suffer, you must be righteous. Psalms 73, the blind man in John 9 illustrate the problems with their thinking. The blind man in John 9 was not blind because of anyone’s sin. In Psalms 73, the wicked prospered and the righteous suffered. Just the opposite of how Job’s friends were thinking. They were wrong about God. This led to being wrong about what they thought God stood for and taught. The same happens today. When we are wrong about God, our conclusions about worship, salvation and even Heaven can be wrong. Most folks have no room for Hell in their theology today. They’ve moved on and have outgrown a God who punishes. That view leads to the assumption that being good is all that God cares about. They think the specifics of what the Bible teaches really do not matter all that much, as long as one is good. How one worships, what the agenda of a church is, are not things to fuss about these days. Gone are the days when folks opened the Bible and discussed differences. Some would engage in debates trying to prove what the Bible said. Rarely do we hear of such things today. Just be good. Worship however it fits you. Find a church, like a car, that has the options that you are looking for. Have fun. Casual is in.

All this modern thinking and relooking at God has left little room for obedience. It doesn’t matter, just love. Just be good. Be nice. Wrong thinking leads to wrong believing. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the author of salvation to all those who obey Him. The Lord said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Over and over in John’s epistles, obedience to the commands is stressed and taught. And yes, Hell is still on the books. Jesus believed in it. He warned about it. Because a person says, “I don’t like Hell, so I’m not going to think about it,” doesn’t make it disappear. Out of sight, out of mind, does not lead to out of the book. It’s still in the book.

The only way we truly know God is through the Bible. It is in the Bible that He has revealed Himself. No one knows the heart of a person, Paul told the Corinthians, expect the spirit that reveals. God reveals. A God different than what is revealed, is not the true God. Our observations cannot contradict what the pages of the Bible tell us.

Job’s friends were wrong. This led to wrong statements that hurt Job. Job’s friends are alive and well today. They author books about God. They stand in pulpits making grand statements about God. They teach in college classrooms, declaring things about God that no one knows.

Can you know God? Absolutely. Not only can you know God, you can become a friend to God. Abraham was. You’ll note that Abraham also did what God told him to do. His relationship, faith and hope was built around a God that he knew, not one he manufactured.

Do you know God? Really?

Roger