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Job 6:28, Isaiah 40:1-2

Seeing The Pain Of Others

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 29, 2024

With all that Job has been through, he must have been hard to look at. But in Job 6:28, Job calls for his friends who are preaching to him to just “look at me.” Piper observes, “According to Job 7:5, Job was covered with boil-like sores that opened and ran with puss and then got clogged with dirt and infested with worms. It was not a mild case of measles. It was a horrid thing from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.”[1] If Dr. Mayhew is correct, Job is suffering from an extremely advanced form of Leprosy. It is sometimes referred to as “black leprosy.” It so distorts one’s appearance that a diseased person becomes grotesque and often unrecognizable, which was the case with Job.  He’s repulsive, and it’s difficult to maintain eye contact with him.

Being unable to look at him, Job’s friends resort to an intellectual debate over the cause of his situation rather than ministering to Job in the midst of his suffering. Job answers, “Do you think your words are convincing when you disregard my cry of desperation?”  Job is crying out for help, comfort, and support as he struggles for life at the bottom of the pit of despair. His friends stand around the edge of the pit and talk about how Job got into the pit in the first place when what he needs is help at the moment. Job’s cry for them to look at him was a cry for compassion and comfort. His friends didn’t care about his pain. It’s like the blind man who cried out for Jesus. The disciples told him to be quiet. He was making a scene. They were unconcerned about his plight. There was no compassion.

Finally, Job shouts, “Look at me!” But they don’t want to. He’s too repulsive. He’s too hard to look at. He wanted them to see his suffering, to acknowledge his pain, to empathize with his situation. He knew if they would open their hearts, then open their eyes, they would recognize his need is not intellectual debate but compassion and comfort. But he gets none! Israel as a nation was suffering in unimaginably repulsive ways. Unlike Job, they may have brought the suffering on themselves because of their rebellion and disobedience to God. But Isaiah doesn’t focus on the cause-effect reasoning but tells them there will come a great comforter who will be their Messiah. Isaiah writes what this Messiah will do and say. “Comfort, comfort ye, my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her that her iniquity is pardoned.” (Isaiah 40:1-2) In his suffering, Job needed comfort. So do we! We need the Messiah, Jesus. Who will come and sit next to us in the pit of despair. The “man of sorrows” who is “well acquainted with grief” will take our hand in his own nail-pierced hands and comfort us in our pain, and He will lift us out of the pit.

[1] Job: Reverent in Suffering | Desiring God

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Job 6:14, Isaiah 53:3

The Great Comforter

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 28, 2024

After preaching on the book of Job one Sunday, a member of the church came up to me and told me a Joke. He asked if I knew why Job had such a bad time sleeping at night. I told him that I didn’t, and he replied, “It’s because he had such miserable comforters.”  Take a minute! Well, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Elihu, Job’s friends, were definitely miserable comforters. They began their dissertations on “Retribution Theology” in Chapter 4 and continued through most of the rest of the book. Eventually, God gets tired of it all and speaks on behalf of Job. Their finger-pointing and caustic remarks contribute even more to Job’s suffering. In his first reply to them, he addresses their lack of kindness and consideration at the time he needs it most.  He says to them in Job 6:14, “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”

Like Job, when we suffer, we don’t need a theological dissertation on God’s goodness nor a rational explanation of our situation. No, we need comfort. We need kindness.  We need compassion and understanding. Once, during Queen Victoria’s reign, she heard that the wife of a common laborer had lost her baby. Having experienced deep sorrow herself, she felt moved to express her sympathy. So she called on the bereaved woman one day and spent some time with her. After she left, the neighbors asked what the queen had said. “Nothing,” replied the grieving mother. “She simply put her hands on mine, and we silently wept together.” This is the kind of thing we all need when we suffer.

After all the suffering that Israel had endured, God tells Isaiah in 40:1 to “comfort, comfort ye, my people.” It is the prophetic proclamation regarding the coming of the Messiah, who will do just that. Jesus never pointed his fingers at sinners; rather, he turned pointed fingers back at the ones pointing them and said things like, “Let the one without any sin cast the first stone.” He never rejected the defiled but touched and healed them. He fed the hungry and gave sight to the blind and sound to the deaf. He never turned away the hurting, but he comforted and restored them. He never condemns the sinner. He saves them.  Job dumped his pain on his friends in Chapter Three. They responded with accusations and theological discussions. They could not personally identify with his suffering. They had not suffered like Job. But Jesus is the one person who will never preach a theological treatise when we dump our hurt on him. Regardless of the reason for our suffering, he will open his arms wide, take your hand, and weep with you. You see, Isaiah 53:3 describes Jesus for us who need a comforter in all our sufferings. “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief.”

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James 5:11, Job

Why Do We Suffer?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 27, 2024

Beginning with Chapter Four of the Book of Job, as if he hasn’t suffered enough, Job is called on to endure another form of suffering. His closest friends (I assume) accused him of having brought the suffering on himself through some unknown sin. If the physical and emotional trauma he suffered wasn’t enough, he now must face the accusations from so-called friends. First, he lost all possessions. He lost all his children. He lost his health. The wife of his youth, the mother of his children, sharing in the suffering in many ways, unwittingly adds to Job’s suffering by suggesting he end it all. Now, he’s greeted by three friends who blame him for his situation with harsh, critical, negative words. Suffering to them, is always the result of some sin. The greater the suffering, the greater the sin must have been. Thus Job, in contrast to God’s commendation of Job as upright and blameless, he is addressed as the worst sinner imaginable. His friends did the unthinkable. They added insult to his injury.

Billy Graham suggests that there are at least six different reasons that people may be suffering.  First, there are times when we bring suffering upon ourselves.  This is the simple law of sewing and reaping.  Second, Sometimes God is taking corrective action because of sin and disobedience. God will correct and discipline His own.  Third, God may permit suffering so we learn to respond to problems in a biblical way. Scripture tells us that Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered.” Fourth, Sometimes God permits us to suffer to teach us that pain is a part of life. Everyone suffers! Everyone dies. Nowhere does the Bible say that the Christian will not suffer adversity!  Fifth, God may permit suffering for our well-being. Only through adversity are some of the deeper lessons of life learned. The sixth reason for suffering is probably one of the best with respect to Job’s situation. Billy suggests, “Sometimes God permits suffering to speak through our life and testimony to comfort others.”[1] The world has been reading about Job’s sufferings for thousands of years. We all struggle with inexplicable suffering in our lives as well as the lives of those around us. Job’s story has been a great comfort and encouragement to every generation.

James gives us another reason that God allows suffering in the world. He does so in order to reveal through it all his love, compassion, and mercy on everyone in the end. James focuses on the end, not the beginning or the middle, and tells us that God will ultimately deal with all suffering once and for all because of his Love. He writes in James 5:11, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” The issue isn’t a rational explanation for suffering. The issue is trusting God’s goodness in the midst of suffering. May we all learn to say through it all, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away! Blessed be the name of the Lord!”

[1] Galaxie Software. 2002. 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.

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Job 1:9, Ephesians 6

Talk To Ourselves

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 26, 2024

Satan is a very busy figure in the Bible. In the New Testament, we see him using both Judas and Peter in different ways to discourage Jesus from the accomplishment of His mission on Earth. But, much earlier than this we see that God had allowed Satan to test Job’s faith thoroughly. He destroyed Job’s wealth, his family, and even his body. Satan had done his worst and Job held on to his trust in God through it all. But Satan wasn’t finished with Job. The worst was yet to come. We find Job’s health destroyed as well at the hands of Satan. At the end of chapter 2, we find Job covered in leprous boils, scraping himself with a piece of broken pottery while the dogs licked the sores on his legs. But Satan is still not finished. He will stop at nothing to get Job to curse God.

Just as Satan used Peter, Jesus’ closest friend, to discourage Jesus from carrying out His divine mission, Satan spoke evil words to Job through his suffering wife. The one companion who shared in his success and failure, who was there through all the ups and downs of his life, who suffered the loss of her children and had no reason left to continue living, points out Job’s miserable situation and in great despair tells Job to curse God and die! Some even suggest that her words to her husband in Job 1:9, “Curse God and die,” contain a suggestion that he commit suicide. One might even argue that it’s her suggestion that they go together. They lost everything they had labored for together over the years. Their children were gone and we would assume that the grandchildren were gone also. If there weren’t any, all prospects of having any were gone. No wonder she was in such despair.

But Satan is still not finished. Satan begins to work on Job’s thought life. Job begins to listen to himself. In chapter 3, after seven days of silence, Job lets us and his three friends know what he had been thinking. Satan had used the seven days of silence to plant more pain and suffering in Job’s head. Ephesians, Chapter 6, speaks of Satan’s attack as “flaming darts.” Paul often tells us that our thoughts can also be our enemies. Satan not only uses others to speak to us, he uses “ourselves.” Job had been listening to himself (or Satan speak to him through himself) and exploded with wishes he’d never been born. “The world would be better off without me.” “God is against me.” “My family and friends would be better off without me.” “I am a waste of space.” “The only difference between me and a bucket of slop is the bucket.” You could probably add your own thoughts to these. Like us, Job should be talking to himself instead of listening to himself, as the Psalmist did. “Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why so disquieted within me? Hope in God!” He is addressing himself. We often listen to ourselves when we should talk to ourselves. Satan plants negative little voices inside us, playing discouraging tapes in endless loops. We need to eject those tapes, take ourselves in hand, sit ourselves down, and give ourselves a talking to. As Jeremiah reminded the suffering slaves in Babylon, God has a wonderful plan for your future. Trust it!

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Job 1:21, James 5:11

Never Surrender

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 25, 2024

Job is a remarkable man of faith! Notice the four reports he receives in Chapter 1. His sheep, flocks, herds, and children were all destroyed; some by what might be described as a natural disaster, an act of God, a tornado and a fire, and some stolen by terrorists, or invaders. Just one of those reports would have been enough to send us into a tizzy, but the cumulative effect of all four must have been devastating.  Yet, Job, our hero, replies with a verse we all should memorize. In Job 1:21, he says, “Naked I came into the world, and naked from it, I will go. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

You’d think things would get better for Job after such an expression of faith in light of the circumstances and that God would protect him. But then the Lord allows Satan to strike Job once again, and now his health is gone. He’s described as having boils and sores all over, and of course, he’s even unable to sleep. His regular practice was to get up early to do his worship time with God, but now He cries out to God all night long for relief but doesn’t get it! In a day when there was no morphine, Prozac, or anything for physical or emotional pain like we have today, Job felt the entire experience in a way we probably will never have to. I understand how he finally arrived at the point that he says in Job 7:10, “I hate my life and don’t want to go on living.” He even gives up all hope. 7:6 says, “My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle. They end without hope.” Yet, amidst all the suicidal language, He hangs on. He doesn’t let go and “curse God and die,” as his wife suggests.

Thousands of years later Job is still talked about. James reminds us of the outcome. He writes in his epistle, Chapter 5 and verse 11, “you have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about…”  I think the operative word in that verse is “finally.” It took a long time, but the verse goes on, “…the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” Tim Allen, who plays Peter Quincy Taggert as the Captain of the Star Ship in Galaxy Quest, is famous for saying, “Never give up! Never Surrender!” The movie makes that sound as corny as ever, but that seemed to be Job’s motto. They don’t sound so corny, however, when you are facing a trial or a hardship in real life. Winston Churchill spoke words like these as England faced a potential invasion by Nazi forces. He said, “We shall go to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”[1]

[1] Tan, Paul Lee. 1996. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

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Job 1:5, Various

Blameless and Upright

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 24, 2024

God calls Job “blameless and upright.” That’s quite a commendation! God even brings up Job’s goodness in his discussion with Satan, saying, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”  What is it that makes Job “blameless and upright?” There are probably too many things to mention, but one thing that Job does stands out to me. Actually, this one thing seems to be the only thing about Job’s life’s routines that is described. It’s something, however, that is shared by many biblical characters. And it seems to be commended always. Did Job tithe? We don’t know. But we do know that Job had the habit of rising early in the morning to worship God. Job 1:5 says, “He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings …Thus Job did continually.”

Have you ever noticed that the heroes of the Bible often met with God at daybreak to seek His leading? For example, Abraham got up very early to stand before the Lord (Gen. 19:27). Jacob woke up with the first light of the morning to worship God after having seen a vision of angels in the night (Gen. 28:18). Moses went early to meet the Lord at Sinai (Ex. 34:4). Joshua got an early start when he prepared to capture Jericho (Josh. 6:12). Gideon made his way at dawn to examine the fleece he had placed on the ground to discern Jehovah’s will (Jud. 6:38).  And in the Book of Job we learn that he left his bed at an early hour to offer sacrifices to the Lord in behalf of his children. We can also glean that this was Jesus’ practice as well. Mark tells us about how Jesus would rise before the sun to have private time with the Father.

Most of the people I know commend the early riser. I’ve always been a morning person. That’s probably because of my years in the Navy when I didn’t have any choice. Therefore, for me, it’s best to follow Job’s example. I get up early and do my reading, devotion, and praying before the rest of the household is awake. It helps me start my day. I agree with David Jeremiah. He writes, “If we put prayer at the beginning of the day, it sets the tone for the day. You may not consider yourself a ‘morning person.’ But then again, you are a person, and you do have to get up in the morning. And if you begin your day by communing with your God, it will change the nature and character of your waking hours.”[1] But this is not for everyone. Max Lucado admits that he works best at night when everyone is asleep. He says, “I tried the early morning hours, which for some reason seemed more righteous—but the tow truck I needed to pull me out of bed couldn’t make it up the stairs.”[2] So, Max regularly spends his evening hours after everyone else is in bed with God. I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter. What is important is the end comment in Job 1:5, “Thus Job did continually.” Whatever is best for us, we should make it a habit.

[1] Jeremiah, David. 1998. God in You: Releasing the Power of the Holy Spirit in Your Life. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers.

[2] Lucado, Max. 1987. God Came near: Chronicles of the Christ. Portland, OR: Multnomah Press.

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Job 1.1

Ancient Wisdom

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 23, 2024

The Book of Job in the Old Testament is most likely the oldest of all the books. It’s supposed to even pre-date Genesis. I like what Lindsay says, “The book of Job is one of the most fascinating books in the Bible. It is a masterpiece in literature that has intrigued readers throughout the generations of time. Though the book is ancient and is considered to be the oldest book in the Bible, its insights are remarkably relevant to today.”[1]  The storyline of Job is simple. Job, a blameless worshiper of God, experiences a series of devastating tragedies. Three friends come to comfort him but end up arguing that since God is good, Job must have done something terrible to deserve his intense suffering. Job refutes them and, in the process, points to injustices God permits in His world. A young observer suggests that God may have other purposes in suffering than to punish. Then God Himself speaks to Job. The Lord gives no reason for what has happened to Job, but Job realizes he must submit to God rather than question Him. Job is restored. His three pious friends, who have so forcefully held to their “retribution theology” as the only explanation for suffering, are rebuked by the Lord. Job goes on to live a long and blessed life. Job is part of the biblical literature we call “The Wisdom Literature.” Like Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, Job gives us insights to manage our lives in this world.

Most scholars agree that the book was written before 2000 BC.  Courson says, “This would make it not only the oldest book in the Bible but one of the oldest books in human history. I find this intriguing because one of the oldest books in the Bible, one of the oldest books in human history, deals with the question we still ask to this day: Why do bad things happen to good people?”[2] The Book introduces us to Satan, the adversary, in the first chapter and details his desperate attempts to get Job to curse God. Even though Job is vindicated in the book, God never explains Himself to Job. He just calls for faith.

That’s the way it is! God doesn’t always explain himself.  Life doesn’t always make sense, and God doesn’t give us the answers for all the suffering in the world. He doesn’t give us the answers to why the wicked prosper in our world, either. Like Job, we must realize that it is our duty to simply submit to God’s plan and program for our lives without questioning Him. This is what faith is: Trusting God in all the confusing, painful, and threatening situations of life.  No matter what happens today, this week, this month, or this year, we must never forget that God always has our best interest foremost in mind, and His good plan and purpose for our lives will find complete fulfillment in the end.

[1] Lindsay, Dennis Gordon. 1998. Harmony of Science and Scripture. Creation Science Series. Dallas: Christ for the Nations.

[2] Courson, Jon. 2005. Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

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Revelations 19:1

Much People!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 22, 2024

We usually use the word “much” as an adverb. It adds intensity to an action as we laugh too much, or the opposite, it doesn’t matter too much. In the days of the King James Bible, the word much was also used as an adjective in the same way we use the word “many.” It appears 25 times in the KJV, referring to people. When Joshua went out to go to battle, he had armies that consisted of “much people” (Joshua 11:4). The NIV calls this a “huge army.” In the Gospels, “much people” is now translated with the phrase “great crowds” or something like that. There are many more references like this. But the one I’m interested in this morning is from Revelation 19 and verse 1. It says that there will be heard a “great voice of much people…” who will be worshipping and praising God in heaven. The English Standard Version puts it all this way, “After this, I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, ‘Hallelujah!  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just…’”

Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Was Jesus telling us that there wouldn’t be very many people going to heaven?  Although we don’t know how many people will be in heaven, Augustine speculated that it would be the same percentage as the angels who fell (one-third; see Rev. 12:9), but the Bible nowhere says this. Others take Jesus’ words in Matthew 7 to be teaching that only a small fraction of all the people who ever lived will be in heaven.

Some scholars argue that this takes the passage out of context. B. B. Warfield, for example, says that Jesus is referring to “the immediate and local response to Jesus” message, not to the ultimate and universal statistics of heaven.” Geisler also argues, “Indeed, granting that all who die in infancy go to heaven, that life begins at conception, and that the mortality rate before the age of accountability down through the millennia has been roughly half of those conceived, it would seem to follow that there will be more people saved than lost. This is to say nothing of much of the world’s population since the time of Adam being still alive at this time; a great revival before Christ’s return could sweep even more souls into God’s kingdom.” Also, if we keep Augustine’s analogy, there are two-thirds of faithful angels, there will also be two-thirds of all adult humans who will be saved. This is just speculation, but since we know that God does not “want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance,” we can be sure that there will be “much people” to sing God’s praises along with the faithful angels.

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