Why Job Was Singled Out

Over the years we have frequently featured devotionals from Charles Price, Minister at Large for The Peoples Church in Toronto. You’re encouraged to click this link if you wish to follow these teachings. Or click the header which directly follows to read today’s devotional at source.

As Gold

Job 28-29

Acts 13:1-25

“But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…and refine them like gold and silver.” — Malachi 3:2-3

One of the things that God does—which some may argue is one of the best things God does—is bring us under pressure, because then, we begin to understand what our hearts are really like. For Job, when he was met with trial, although he worshipped, he also fell into a deep depression.

Job’s three friends tried to help him understand his calamity. Even though Job was a righteous man, his friends believed he must have done some secret sin that caused such tragedy to befall on him. Job’s friends kept urging him to confess his sins and ask God to restore him. Yet Job retorted,

“If I have sinned, what have I done to You, You who see everything we do? Why have You made me Your target? Have I become a burden to You? Why do You not pardon my offences and forgive my sins? For I shall soon lie down in the dust; You will search for me, but I shall be no more”  — Job 7:20-21

Job could not think of a secret sin that he committed.

Some of us may resonate with Job’s situation. We may feel that some hidden sin has caused the current predicaments in our life. We may have confessed our sins a million times and find that nothing has changed. The reality is not Job’s unrighteousness that was the reason why he was attacked by Satan; on the contrary, it was Job’s righteousness that was the very reason he was attacked. Like Job, our problem may not have been caused by us at all.

Yet, how did Job manage to survive all this?

Job 23:8-10 reveals Job’s attitude and understanding of God:

“But if I go to the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Job points to all directions but does not find God. Job’s security, however, is the confidence that God knows where he is and the path he will take, no matter the circumstance. Job’s belief, when he was tested, was that he would “come forth as gold.” When we are placed in difficult situations that we do understand, may we remember that God is not breaking us, He is making us. Like Job, may we come forth from God’s testing as gold.

Prayer: Sovereign God, I pray, as I face difficult circumstances in my life and I do not understand why things are happening the way they are, may I remember that You are not breaking me but You are making me. Thank You, Lord.

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Where most of our readers live, today is Independence Day, the annual 4th of July holiday in the United States. Here are some related articles just for you:

• July, 2019: Worshiping God vs. Worshiping Government
• July, 2014: The Pattern of Nations
• July, 2014: Where is America in Bible Prophecy (from Thinking Out Loud; links to four other articles)

The Book of Job and Worship Song Theology

If today is controversial to some of you, remember this is Christianity 201, not 101, and look at it on that basis.

Earlier today I was preparing a response to a friend concerning the Matt Redman song, “Blessed be the Name” which contains the line, “You give and take away.”

In checking what others have written on this, I came across the blog of former pastor Dr. Paul Ellis who lives in his native Australia currently, and has also resided in Asia and California. His site is called Escape to Reality (or E2R.) There were a number of more recent articles, but on discovering that we’ve only covered this once here (rather superficially in 2011) I decided to share with you the piece which got my attention earlier this morning.

As always, send some traffic to our contributors by clicking on the header which follows.

Does God Give and Take Away?

The entire Bible is good for you, but you won’t get much out of it unless you know Jesus Christ. To understand the written word, you need to know the Living Word. Try to read the Bible without an appreciation of Jesus – who he is and what he has done – you may end up taking someone else’s medicine. Some verses will appear to contradict others and you will get confused.

In the first part of this study on God’s gifts, we looked at a sincere lady in the Bible who mistakenly believed that God gives us bad gifts like death and poverty. Today I want to look at a man who had a different problem. He believed that God gives us good gifts only to take them away again. You can probably guess that I’m talking about Job. Job had this one really bad week when his livestock were stolen, his servants were slain, and his kids were killed when a house fell on them. For some reason, Job thought God was behind his loss for he said:

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. (Job 1:21)

If there was ever a scripture that has led to some screwy notions about God’s character, it’s this one. Anyone who has suffered loss has probably heard this verse. It’s quoted at funerals. We sing songs about it. For some strange reason people seem to find comfort in believing that God is responsible for their loss.

Now don’t get me wrong – I love Job’s attitude. He’s saying that whatever happens in life, he’s going to praise the name of the Lord. But Job said some dumb things about God. Later on Job would come to regret his choice of words. “I spoke of things I did not understand” (Job 42:3).

The question stands: Does God give and take away?

Any picture we have of God needs to be informed by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of his being” (Heb 1:3). To get a good understanding of God’s character, we need to look to Jesus, not Job. Can you imagine Jesus stealing or killing? Of course not. So how is it that some people think that God was responsible for Job’s loss?

“But Paul, it’s in the Bible, it’s right there in black and white.” Let me put it to you like this. If you want the very best insight into God’s character, are you better off looking at:

(a)    Jesus, who said “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), or
(b)    Job, who had only heard of God but did not actually know him  (see Job 42:5)?

Jesus is the better choice! Jesus came to reveal God the Great Giver. Have you been given something good? Then see God as your source:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (Jas 1:17)

Who’s robbing you?

But what if you have suffered loss, like Job? He lost his health, his wealth, and his family. The temptation may be to blame God for your loss, as if God had a change of heart. But God is not fickle. He does not change like shifting shadows. He is an extraordinary giver who never takes back his gifts.

God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty – never canceled, never rescinded. (Romans 11:29, MSG)

So if God is doing the giving, who is doing the taking? Again, Jesus provides the answer:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

We ought not to be confused about these two different roles. One is a giver, the other is a taker. If you have been given something good, give thanks to God. But if you’ve been robbed, don’t blame God. He’s not behind your loss. And Satan is not his sheepdog.

Humans are spectacularly slow learners. From the beginning of human history the devil has been trying to steal or ruin everything God gave us and yet there are still some who think that God is the thief. God gave us authority over a planet and the devil took it. God gave us freedom and the devil somehow got us to choose the way of slavery. God gave us eternal life, health and glory, and we lost it all. But thank God for Jesus who took back what the devil stole.

Karma versus grace

If you think that God gives and takes away, you’ve missed the point of Jesus. Jesus came to reveal a generous Father and to destroy the work of the thief (1 John 3:8). Jesus came that we might have life to the full, not to the half.

If you think God gives and takes away, you have more faith in karma than grace. Karma says what goes around comes around. If you’re healthy now, you’ll be sick tomorrow. If you’re prospering now, poverty’s waiting around the next corner. When disappointments and hardships come, you won’t be surprised. You’ll just throw in the towel and say, “I knew it was too good to last.”

The world works according to the principle of give and take, but God just gives. The only thing he’ll take off you – if you let him – is your sin, your shame, your sickness, your worries, and your fears. He takes away those things that harm us and gives us good things that bless us.

Are you Job or David?

Both Job and David were robbed. Both were greatly distressed and surrounded by foolish men who gave bad advice. But unlike Job, David did a Jesusy-thing and took back what was stolen. Why did David fight back when Job quit? Because David “encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Sam 30:6). In his pain David considered God’s goodness and realized that God was not behind his loss. He understood that it was not God’s will for him to suffer and, so strengthened, he fought back and prevailed.

I wish I could go back in time and get to Job before his friends did. I would say, “God didn’t kill your kids! He didn’t steal your livestock and make you sick. You’ve been robbed! The devil is having a go at you. Don’t sit there in the ashes and cry about it, get up and fight! Are you a victor or a victim?”

The church will never see victory if we think God is behind our suffering. If we think God is robbing us we won’t even resist. We’ll let the devil waltz in and plunder our families all the while singing “He gives and takes away.”

Funny, but I can’t imagine Jesus or David doing that.

 

The Lord Giveth, The Lord Taketh Away, Right?

The book of Job is complicated.

Several years ago a manufacturer of Christian giftware created an entire themed line (or range as the British say) for men based on Job 1:10–

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

There were work gloves, and a measuring tape, and other items all inscribed with

You have blessed the work of his hands

And everything was going fine until my wife pointed out that the speaker in this passage wasn’t God, wasn’t Job, wasn’t Job’s friends; it was the devil.  They were selling merchandise with a quote from the devil.  I mean, it’s possible for Satan to speak the truth in a situation, but it is rather unsettling.

I mention that because on the weekend, we had a discussion about the popular worship song, Blessed Be The Name (of the Lord).  The line that came up was,

You give and take away

and the individual pointed out that God allows things to happen, but doesn’t specifically cause things to happen.

The song lyric is based on Job, but this time we can’t blame the devil.  Chapter one, verse 20 and 21 reads:

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” (NIV)

The statement reflects Job’s understanding of how things work, but it’s a limited understanding; this being chapter one and all.

We do however see similar themes; such as I Samuel 2: 7,8

The LORD makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts. (NASB)

and Psalm 75: 6,7

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. (KJV)

But the causality appears slightly different in the NLT

For no one on earth—from east or west,
      or even from the wilderness—
      should raise a defiant fist.
 ⁷ It is God alone who judges;
      he decides who will rise and who will fall

and is closer to the idea of God allowing but not actually doing.  And certainly, to believe in the sovereignty of God is to believe that nothing that takes place happens without his rubber stamp on it.

So what do you think?  Can you stand and sing that line of Blessed Be The Name with confidence?  Or do you shy away from it?

I think it’s important that our overarching belief is that God working to bring all things toward the good.  As Romans 8:28 reminds us:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who arecalled according to His purpose. (NASB)

He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.  (w/ vs. 27; The Message)

And furthermore, we can adopt an unconditional allegiance to God regardless of the circumstances or even regardless of their source.  Job reaches this point twelve chapters later, in 13:15:

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…(KJV)