INADEQUATE THEOLOGY

Job 9:1-35

Like Job, every one of us, at some point in time has said deep down in their heart “What did that person do to deserve this? It must have been something terrible for that to happen to him or her!” Example:  A child sees dad sleeping on the couch when he gets up in the morning. A wife sitting across the room from her husband, when there is an empty seat beside him.

Your friend didn’t call you this morning as they usually do. A close friend who sits by themselves away from their friends a lunch. A man sentenced to 10 years in prison for a vehicle accident that involved the unfortunate death of 16 people. The first thing that comes to our mind is, “Whatever they did to deserve this, it must have been really bad and justifiable.” We do the same in the Christian life….hence the title “Inadequate theology”. We sometimes assume something must be wrong because of what is happening in their life. We at times are no different than Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar who will speak shortly.

We assume the worst in people and have this inadequate idea about God and justice and the levels of punishment. We sometimes assume this by the level of pain with sin and how God deals with us. The type of disaster and its death toll give us an indication to how angry God is with us. 

Do you want to know how angry God is with us?

The bible says “God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalm 7:11

R C Sproul said “But in many ways, anger is not a strong enough word. He is actually furious,…Were the Lord not graciously slow to manifest this anger fully, no sinner could live for even a second.”

Do you want to know how God deals with us and our sin?

Do you want to know what the least to the greatest of sins did for God to respond?

Isaiah wrote “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.” Isa 53:10

Apostle John reminds us of this truth “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10

He crushed His Son so that we wouldn’t be crushed. Our smallest of sin to the largest of sins held Him there on the cross. Our rebellion and shame is what crushed the Son of God as God poured out His wrath to please His holy anger. God see’s sin as sin! And we need to do the same. We are all guilty before a court of Heaven’s Law. Are there degrees of punishment for the ungodly? Yes, but God see’s sin as sin. We need to be extremely careful how we view one another and the level of suffering we go through. We need to be careful not to pass judgment upon someone who is suffering or the degree of their suffering as if they deserve it or did something to make God angry.

Suffering as we have been talking about….is a part of life. But knowing and understanding that, shouldn’t deter us away from the grace that God gives us in the midst of our suffering. See! Job knows he thought the same way as his friends did before this happened. Meaning! That suffering is a result of sin…. This is what we call ”inadequate theology” John MacArthur said this about the dangers in the church “You know when you look at the present-day church, I would say to start with the problems that exist in the church, and there are many, start with an inadequate understanding of God. We have a superficial, shallow, truncated, popularized, sort of personalized understanding of God. This is a massive problem. Because we don’t know the truth about God, we really don’t know the truth about anything else in its fullness and its richness. The infantility, I guess you could say, of the church, the immaturity of the church, the superficiality of the church, the cheesiness of the church, the cheapness of the church, the shallowness of preaching is related to an inadequate understanding of the greatness and the glory of God.” Like Job’s friends they came a great distances with a shallow, inadequate theology. They came with a superficial understanding of God as they counselled Job with their shallow theological and understanding of God in our suffering.

See! Job knows he didn’t do anything wrong and I think this momentary moment of suffering has opened his eyes to a greater understanding of God. An understanding that he once believed like his friends “it must have been sin for this to happen” But Job realizes that isn’t true. God allows suffering for the upright, just as much as He does for the ungodly. Job knows that mortal human being is inherently sinful. (v2-v3) This course of events has opened Job’s eyes to see the glory of God and the greatness of God. Despite the foggy lenses he is viewing out of at the moment. See it’s in our suffering where God grows and stretches His children for Heaven. It’s not comfortable, and may be painful, but it draws us closer to Him. It draws us closer to lament to Him for relief even though we might not receive any at this moment. 

I was reading an article from “The Gospel Coalition” and this person had this to say about lamenting “Lament is more than tears and sorrow. It turns to the Savior who promised to return. Lament vocalizes the longing for the day when “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4). Christians believe in the goodness of God, and they know the arc of the plan of redemption: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Simply stated, lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust.” Job’s pain and suffering is making very hard to understand why this is all happening. Job responds to his friends with the truth that he is unware of any present sin in his life, so this suffering has become a riddle he cannot solve. It’s a riddle that Job cannot solve, because it’s unsolvable. What do I mean by this? Job has no way to examine and debate God. (v4-v10) What Job is saying “How does one take God to court to plead your case that you are innocent in all this?” One would have to ask the question! How can you debate such a God? How can we demand answers from the Creator and Sustainer of the entire existence of all things? And to make matters worse or harder; the Creator is Invisible so we have no clue if he is here or not! (v11) And if that wasn’t enough who can tell God that he is doing a terrible job at my life (v12-v19) The essence of this portion can be summoned up in the last two lines (v18-v19) Which could be restated “Who can force God to explain Himself?”

This statement reminds me what Paul wrote to the Roman believers. “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE COMPASSION." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I HAVE RAISED YOU UP, THAT I MAY SHOW MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MAY BE DECLARED IN ALL THE EARTH." Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” Romans 9:14-24

What Job is saying is “Who can judge the Judge?” Like Job this can be very frustrating that we have no power to control circumstances, because we are not omnipotent and sovereign as God. There is no courtroom for Job to get His justice for this suffering. There is no specific place to get answers to his “Why questions?” and that can lead us to have a clouded outlook on our lives. It is almost as if Job is asking God

“Do You get some kind of pleasure out of my pain?”

“Is this why you are putting me through all this?”

But let’s be clear about this! God takes no pleasure in suffering and especially in the death of His children and even the death of the ungodly. Ezekiel 18:23 we read “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? “ In Ezekiel 33:11 we read “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” Like Job, we too, look for meaning in our suffering and when we can’t figure that out, it seems that our suffering is magnified (x3).

So what do we try and do? We seek a defense or want justice for our suffering and become frustrated with God’s none answers. This all boils down to this! It comes down to an inadequate theology of God and His grace, and His perfect plan as we go through suffering. Job is stuck with dilemma, he still proclaims his innocence to God and his friends. (v20-v35) Job knows we are all sinners if you compare humanity with a holy and transcendent God. If you put every man and ever woman’s righteousness and works on one side of the scale, and God on the other, we won’t make the scale move at all.

Isaiah said “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6

Paul said “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” Romans 7:14

David wrote “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:5

Though Job understands this truth he desire that day in court. That day in court where he would find justice once and for all to prove to his friends he is innocent in all this. That God would remove His rod of affliction from him, so that he would not be terrified of God in this suffering. See! Moments like this cloud our judgement on God’s goodness in our suffering; and this can do serious harm to the mind and the heart of the child of God. And this scares Job to death! “So what does he lament out?”

Job is so determined for God to hear his case and whip his record clean of this suffering. (v32-v33) So he pleads and laments that if only there was someone who could plead His case for him. If only there was someone who would speak on behalf of God’s created children. Because the separation between earth and Heaven is too far away for this case to be heard. If only there was someone who could remove God’s rod of affliction from him and plead his case in God’s courtroom. God’s courtroom must be a place where only the righteous could stand and be defended. So! if God will not bring His courtroom to earth, and Job cannot ascend to Heaven and enter it, there must be one who can represent him in Heaven.

Now understand what Job is pleading for here! Job hopes for this and pleads that if there is someone out there who can do this, please do. Job is begging for this person to come forward and stand on his behalf before a holy God. And what Job laments and hopes for in his suffering, is something we have seen revealed to the church age through the gospel. What we know that Job doesn’t know at this point in his life, is that we, do have a mediator between us and the Father. (v33)

His name is Jesus Christ.

John wrote “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2

Paul said “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Rom 8:34

Paul told Timothy “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Tim 2:5

Hebrews 7:23-27 we read “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Preach this truth to yourself ever day! 

What Job is pleading for, is a reality for the child of God in the gospel. We may feel like a child waiting outside the room while others decide our fate. But know this, the one on the throne is our Father and the one who speaks for us is Jesus Christ our Lord. And this is the place where justice is done and truth prevails for Job and for you and me through the grace that flows through the gospel.

Do you recall what Stephen saw as he was being stoned to death?

He saw the Heavens open up and caught a glimpse of the place to which he was about to go. But something else he saw that is more precious than a place called Heaven. Acts 7:56 we read “And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Stephen saw his advocate who intercede with the Father saying “My child is coming home, who I have defended him with my life”. The sinless man, having paid for our sin, rose to be enthroned at the right hand of God. The only one, Jesus Christ, who can plead our case to the Father in Heaven’s courtroom. Jesus is our advocate, mediator, our great High Priest. We read “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb 4:14-16 This is where we go! Not to find justice , but more mercy and grace.