IS IT RAINING ON YOU?
Job
21:1-34
Is it raining on you?
What has this past season
brought you? Has it been filled with sadness,
happiness or a bit of both? Does your suffering or level
of discomfort determine your position in Christ? Does your lack of suffering
and prosperity determine your position in Christ?
I
want you to think about those questions as we go through this text this
morning. Christopher Ash in
his commentary on Job sparked my series of questions by the questions he asks
as it pertains to this chapter. And this is what he asked “Do those who
live morally good lives enjoy pleasurably good lives? Because
the flip side to that question is “Do those whose
lifestyle is bad have a miserably bad time in life?” Well
the answer to those questions is that you can say “Yes, to both.”
See! Job’s
three friends would disagree with that statement. Eliphaz said
“The wicked man writhes in pain all his days.” Job 15:20. Bildad agrees with Eliphaz when he said “Indeed the light of the
wicked is put out.” Job 18:5. Zophar also agrees with his counselling friends when he said “…the exulting of the wicked
is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment.” Job 20:5. But this isn’t true!
The wicked often do prosper in this world. Temporal
blessings do accompany their lives, sometimes more than God’s adopted children. I can attest to that, can
you? See! This
is contrary to what Job’s counselors had told him; that sinners will always
suffer in this life and never succeed.
Then what do you say about…..
Bill Gates….
American businessman,
founder of Microsoft. His net worth is estimated at $76.8 billion.
Steve Jobs….Credited
with turning around Apple, and overseeing the development of iPod, iPad and
iMac revolution, which saw Apple become one of most successful companies.
Richard Branson….
British entrepreneur.
Founder of Virgin. Richard Branson set up his business from a small record shop
and has since successfully expanded into a variety of industries, such as
trains, air flights and personal finance.
J K Rowling….
British author of Harry
Potter series, which has become the best-selling series in history – selling
over 400 million copies. When she began writing Harry Potter, she was living on
state benefits, but now is a multi-millionaire, with a net worth of over $1
billion.
Stephen King…..
Best-selling American
author. Selling over 350 million copies of his horror genre books.
The
list is endless when
it comes to unregenerate man or women, who are living better than most
Christians, according to worldly standards. So
this de-bunks the three friend’s
biblical argument to suffering. Because!
This is their only argument to Job’s suffering. And can I say “That’s a terrible argument
and has no biblical foundation to back up such a terrible claim of so-called
wisdom.”
Look how Job responds in this chapter to his friend’s claims.
(v1-v2) Because
Job in this moment has now shut the mouths of Zophar. He
does it by not being silent before his accusers. Job
didn’t just sit there and take it; he spoke the truth by exposing their lies
and deception. Job
starts by summarizing their argument for his suffering this way. Let me get this straight! “You say
that bad things happen to bad people.” To
which Job and anyone would agree that bad things will happen to bad people. But
you only have to look around to see that in this life, very good things often happen to bad people. See
what Job is going to do in this chapter is destroy their false view of
suffering.
What do I mean! “If the wicked do not yet get
the judgement they deserve, then is it not possible that the righteous may
experience in this life bad things they do not deserve before their ultimate
justification?” This
means that Job’s suffering has nothing to do with whether he is righteous or
unrighteous. Bad
things happen to all people,
because according to the Scriptures we are all bad “The fool says in his heart,
"There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there
is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned
aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good, not even one.” Psalm 14:1-3. Paul wrote “as
it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one
seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no
one does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12
Remembered what Job said previously “Who can bring a clean thing
out of an unclean? There is not one.”
Job 14:4. We
cannot deduce the spiritual state of a man or woman from their current happiness,
prosperity or suffering. This
is where we need to be extremely careful as believers as to believe as Job’s
friends do.
Many see suffering as
a sign of failure.
But
that couldn’t further from the truth. God
uses suffering for our good, even if it should end in death. Think about! We
carry around within us the death of Christ daily. We
will never know the power of Christ’s resurrection if we don’t enter first into
suffering. Paul penned these encouraging words “We are afflicted in every
way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always
carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also
be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to
death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our
mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” 2 Cor 4:8-12. This
is where we need to be extremely careful as believers as to believe as Job’s
friends do.
Because what did Jesus say “…For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the just and on the unjust.” Matt
5:45
See!
In the agricultural society, good weather was vital. The picture we see here is this! There are righteous farmers
(who would be considered God’s friends) and unrighteous farmers (those who
would be considered God’s enemies). Regardless of the farmer’s disposition
toward God, God gives sunshine and rain to all the farmers in equal portion. God
makes no distinction between the evil and the righteous in this instance—He
gives good gifts to both of them.”
This
truth debunks the bad theological argument that many use. That only the wicked suffer. According
to Jesus, His goodness fell on the just, as much as it did the one who cursed
His Name. Why do I say that? Job
reminds his friends with these truths. Truths
that de-bunk this type of thinking.
Wicked People Are Often Happy (v7-v16)
Job
ponders their claims; but ceases to see their biblical foundation when the
unrighteous see old age as the righteous. (v7). Let’s get this straight!
How is it that I should die at a
relatively young age, while the wicked are seemingly growing old and unceasing
in power? See
this would have stung a bit for the three friends! Why?
Eliphaz said
“The wicked man writhes in pain all his
days..” Job 15:20
Bildad said
“Terror frightens him on every side…”
Job 18:11
Zophar said “exulting of the wicked is
short..” Job
20:5
But
what do we observe here? (v7-v16) It
appears the unrighteous are very happy and joyful, their children dance their
animals reproduce without any misfortunes for the farmer. Life
seems to be good for the evil, so where is his suffering? Job
rejects the theory offered by his friends that the wicked do not prosper.
Wicked People Are Rarely Punished. (V17-V26)
Here
we see that Job acknowledges that death awaits the good and the bad, the rich
and the poor. Bildad is sure that
“the light of the wicked is put out.”
Job 18:5. According to Zophar there is a “day of
wrath” But as we see here it’s not while they are living. Because
everything seems to be going quit well for the unregenerate man, despite how
Job’s friends explain it. Very often Job’s friend’s said that the wicked are “worthless creatures, weightless before God, even blown away by the
wind of God’s judgment. (v18). Psalm One it says very much the same thing “The wicked are not so, but
are like chaff that the wind drives away.” Psalm 1:4. But
as Job explains what he has seem through his experience in dealing with
outsiders of God’s grace, that doesn’t
seem to be happening this side of Heaven. Job
does believe that the wicked are like chaff and God will deal with then in the
end.
In Matthew’s gospel we read “He put another parable before them, saying,
"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his
field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among
the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the
weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said
to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have
weeds?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' So the servants said to him,
'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, 'No,
lest in gathering the weeds you root up
the wheat along with them. Let both
grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers,
Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the
wheat into my barn.'" Matt 13:24-30
God will send His angels to separate the righteous
from the wicked, but not yet!
And that is the point Job is
making here.
Why
because in their end, they will try and defend themselves that God’s judgment
hangs over their family not them. (v19). It’s like the person is saying “It is no
skin off my nose if trouble comes to my family after I die, as long as I’m
okay.”
“Wicked people” by definition only care
about one thing and is “Self”. (v20-v21)
So your argument that wicked suffer is false claim because
Job compares two deaths. The
first person dies a wealthy man in “full
vigor” having enjoyed retirement and quietly going off into eternity. The
second person dies “in bitterness of soul” This is something that Job expects at the end of his life “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in
soul,” Job 3:20
As we can see…..one had a great life, and the
other a miserable life.
Who had the better life?
Neither person!
If their hearts are far from God and
His gospel. How
you live or die in this life does not determine your judgement or your eternal
state. Your
success or lack their off, is not the determining factor to your eternal state
before a Holy and Just God.
The Gospel is!
Even In Death The Wicked Prosper. (V27-V33)
Job
concludes that the wicked often prevail in life and buried with great honor. Job
says that even the soil that covers his body is sweet to him. (v32-v33). What Job says here is that “if you
took time to walk around and observe the world, you would see that your
theological argument has too many holes in it.” (v29-v30) Job’s
friends would notice that the wicked don’t always die a violent death. According
to what Job describes here their funerals are a big spectacle and many will
follow in their foot-steps. Why? Men
and woman by their natural disposition lead evil lives that they call “the Good Life”. And
many will follow this path to destruction. (v33) They
might have their “Best Life Now”, but
in the end they will regret every second of it for all eternity, as the
Judgement of God comes upon them.
As Jesus said
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads
to destruction, and those who enter by it
are many….” Matt 7:13-14
The
wicked will surely perish and suffer the consequences of their evil lifestyle, They
will not be delivered from the day of wrath and that is for sure. (v30)
Understand as we go through, and watch others who go through
seasons of suffering!
“When we walk by sight rather
than by faith,
our assessments of life is
always going to be skewed.”
As
we see in Job even and his friends, they only see the present suffering and
this present suffering has clouded their position in God’s grace over a sinners
life. Suffer
has a way of disrupting our theology and our outlook on others. We
need to keep Heaven focused at all times. What can we learn from this
passage for our own well-being?
Minimize The Temporal Viewpoint.
In
the times of circumstances we may lose hope in God and find ourselves living in
despair. Often
when tragedy strikes we can lose focus of our Heavenly position in Christ and
fall into a sort of depression. We are never to lose heart, even in the pain and suffering of
this life. Paul
wrote “So we do
not lose heart. Though our outer self is
wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light
momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison,” 2 Cor 4:16-17
Maximize The Eternal Viewpoint.
We
are to remain strong during our sufferings, because our eternal glory far outweighs
what we go through here in the physical, present sufferings. Maintain
your eternal perspective by keeping your eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ and His
finishing work of the Cross. Heaven
is all that matters, that is the big picture over your life. An eternity with
the transcendent holy God. When
we maintain that upward look, we can endure life’s trials. Keep
looking to what is “unseen” not to
what is seen in the present.
There will be a time of judgment in the future, but, until
then, God graciously gives good things, even to those who hate Him. He
gives the blessing of rain to the just
and the unjust alike. Wicked people who
mock Him, and even deny His existence, still get to enjoy good weather, good
food, the love of family, and a great many other things. God
does not withhold all His blessings until a person comes to Him in repentance
and faith in Christ.
This
is the truth that destroys the false teaching of Job’s friends. The
gospel destroys our view of suffering,
because the only way to make sense of suffering is to look to the Cross. Not
your wallet, job, education, marital status, your investments, your material
goods, not even your funeral arrangements.
But in Christ alone
our hope is found, He is my light,
my
strength, my song!
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