Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job

The first proverbs showed us that God is wise and just

Yeah we learned that God has ordered the world so that it's fair

the righteous are rewarded the wicked are punished

in other words you get what you deserve.

But then we meet Ecclesiastes who observes people don't always get what they deserve

Yeah he said the world isn't always fair.

The life is unpredictable and hard to comprehend just like smoke.

And this makes you wonder okay well is God wise and just?

Exactly and so it's that question that is being

explored in the final book of wisdom Job.

Alright let's dive in.

So Job begins with the strange story that takes place up in the heavens which are described

something like a heavenly command center.

So God is there with these angelic creatures called the sons of God and

they're all their reporting for duty.

And God points out this guy Job his servant showing our righteous and good he is.

Then one of these angelic creatures approaches He's referred to in Hebrew as

The Satan.

The Satan, who is this?

Well, this word is actually a title which literally means the one who is opposed.

So out of this whole crew he is the one questioning how God is running the world.

And he proposes that Job might not actually love God

that he's only a good person because God rewards him.

If God were to take away all of the good things he gave to Job then

we would see his true colors.

So he thinks Job is just working the system?

That's exactly right. Maybe he's obeying just to get what he wants.

So God agrees to this experiment and allows the Satan to

inflict suffering on Job.

And Job losses everyone and everything that he cares about. It is devastating.

And remember he deserves none of this God himself said so

The remarkable thing is that in the midst of all this suffering,

Job still praises God.

At least for chapters one and two.

But then in chapter 3 we find out how he's really feeling inside.

He unleashes this palm that reveals this devastation.

It's a long elaborate curse on the day that he was born

After this some of Job's friends come to visit him

to offer their help and all of them are like

Job, you must have done something horribly wrong to deserve this.

After all, we know God is just and we know the world is ordered by God's justice and fairness

so you must be getting what you deserve.

And for the next thirty four chapters the friends and Job go back and forth

in very dense Hebrew poetry.

His friends keep speculating about why God might have sent such suffering

and even start making up lists of hypothetical sins that Job must have committed.

But after each accusation Job defends his innocence.

And Job is innocent.

He is! He's also on an emotional roller coaster

At some moments he's very confident that God is still wise and just.

Yet another moments he's doubting God's goodness.

He even comes to accuse God of being reckless unfair and corrupt.

So by the end of the dialogue Job demands that God come and explain himself in person.

And God does so he comes in the form of a great storm cloud

Now God doesn't give Job a direct answer.

He doesn't tell Job about the conversation with the Satan

Yeah he does something very different . He takes Job on a virtual tour of the universe.

He shows Job how grand the world is.

And he asked him if he's even capable of running it or

understanding it just for a day .

He shows how much detail there is in the world.

Things that we might see every day but really don't understand at all.

But God does he knows it all intimately.

He pays attention to the beauty and operations of the universe in ways that we haven't even imagined

and in places that we will never see.

Then to conclude God shows Job two wonderous beasts and

brags about how great they are.

Yeah they are dangerous.

I mean they would kill you without even thinking about it

And God says they're not evil.

They're actually a part of his good world.

And then that's it that's God's whole defense.

It's kind of weird. I mean what was this all about?

It seems to be this. From Job's point of view it looks like God is not just.

But God's perspective is infinitely bigger.

He is dynamically interacting with a whole universe of complexity when he makes decisions.

And this is what God calls his wisdom.

So Job asking God to defend himself is actually kind of absurd.

He couldn't comprehend this kind of complexity even if he wanted to.

So where does this leave us?

Well, leaves Job in a place of humility. He never learned why he suffered.

And yet he's able to live in peace and in the fear of the Lord

But that's not where the book ends because after this God restores to Job double everything he had lost.

And this again is surprising. I mean, is this a reward, is God saying

"Congratulations Job you passed this elaborate test."

No I mean the whole book just made the

point that Job losing everything was not a punishment and so now getting it back isn't a reward.

So why is he gonna get back?

Apparently God in His wisdom decided to give Job a gift

we don't know why but what we do know is that

Job is now the kind of person who no matter what comes

good or bad he can trust God's wisdom

And that's the book of Job and the end of our wisdom series.

These biblical books of wisdom are amazing.

Each one offers a unique perspective on the good life.

And you need to hear all of them together

as you learn to live with wisdom and in the fear of the Lord

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