Job 9 - The Greatness of God Vs. The Futility of Man

The Greatness of God vs. The Futility of Man (Job’s Response)

Hold on to your hats saints! This is going to be a wild ride! Wow! When we read this chapter where Job speaks up after Bildad’s comments, we are surely going to cringe a bit. We need to keep in mind what we learned yesterday about being quick to hear and slow to speak and slow to wrath. This would be good advice for Job and for all of us. Surely the Lord is great. Job agreed with what Bildad had said about God, but the problem we see in this chapter is that he went beyond agreeing with his friend into accusing God of being an unjust Judge and one who is unfair even to the innocent!

If you look at this in the AMPC version and then look at it in the MSG and ERV, you will start to sit back in your seat, and just be startled at what starts coming out of Job’s mouth. He had already complained and become quite bitter as we had previously discussed. He had his heart set on staying in the misery and self-pity pot. He was not coming out. Now we see him continuing down that same dark path, and things are getting worse. He knows his friend had spoken wisely about the Lord, and Job recounts what he understands about the greatness and strength of God.

When we look at the first few verses about how the Lord has such great power over the earth, the sea, the mountains, the planets, the heavens and the stars, it can humble a person real quick. I mean who are we compared to Almighty God, right?

Psalm 8

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen—even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.  O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!

The psalmist certainly understood God’s greatness and had appreciation for how big and powerful God is compared to a man made of the dust. Job knew that no man alive could ever oppose God and survive. True as that may be, verse 10 reminds us that He does things too marvelous for us to comprehend and miracles too numerous to count. As we go along with Job, he seems to be doing OK with what he says through verse 14.

When we get to verse 15 Job considers himself innocent still, yet he realizes that he cannot answer God, but rather that he can only cry out to Him for mercy. That’s a good realization right there! Going on, Job thinks that even if he were to cry out to God that He would not listen. Not a good assumption. You remember a couple of days ago we discussed the fact that a person needs to confess their sin to God before He will hear their prayers? The Bible says this…

Hebrews 4:14-16

Seeing then that 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 cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Even though Job did not yet know Jesus, He was there, waiting for Job to call on Him, confess his sin and ask for help in this great hour of his need. And what was Job’s greatest need at that moment? He needed help from the temptation that was about to overtake him. What temptation is that? Let’s go on. In verse 16 we see that Job had no confidence that God would listen to him, and at this point, rightly so. He was justifying himself before the Lord while all the time he knew in his heart his self-justification would never stand.

By the time we arrive at verse 17, Job slides further into sin by accusing the Lord of being unjust and sending him storms for no reason. Friends, this is what he was being tempted to do – accuse God! And who do you think was behind these thoughts of accusation? Yes, you guessed right if you said satan! He is an accuser, and nothing makes him happier than when he can deposit thoughts into the human mind that accuse God of being unfair in His punishments and determinations. By succumbing to these thoughts and voicing them, it is bringing more sin to Job’s already guilty account, and he is storing up wrath for himself. Look at this verse about the sinner…

Romans 2:1-10

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?  But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.

Friends, it is like someone who received a fine for breaking the speed limit law. They get a fine and they know they have to appear in court to plead their case. But instead of changing their ways, they keep on driving over the speed limit, and they continue to receive more fines. They are storing up a pile of fines for their day in court, and it is making their case worse instead of better, make sense? Of course it does. And that is what we see Job doing in this chapter. Instead of going to the God he had known and enjoyed and thought so wonderful for so long, he just sank down deeper into his pit and started sinning worse when the enemy all the while was having a field day with Job’s thought life.

That’s what happens to us when we give our minds over to the whims of the enemy. When evil thoughts come, anything that goes against our good God, then we know those thoughts are coming from a wrong spirit, not the voice of truth – Holy Spirit. What should Job have done in this case? As those thoughts were entering his mind, he needed to cast them down like a filthy rag, and quick! Look at this…

2 Corinthians 10:3-6

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

There was a battle going on in Job’s mind and he needed to get ahold of those thoughts quickly and toss them out. Didn’t he know God well enough to know that He would not slay the innocent? Had he not had enough experience in his life to know that God is good all the time? Did he not realize that he could come boldly to the throne of grace to get the help he needed in this battle? Saints, how many of us does this describe? How many people forget the goodness of God the minute they face a challenge? Like I have said before it seems that Job was having a case of spiritual amnesia. How often do we do the same when trouble comes a callin’ in our lives? Are we like the Israelites who saw God part the Red Sea but forgot about His power the minute they heard anything about a few giants? Hmmm, something to think about isn’t it?

Moving on to verse 18 Job thinks if he were to approach God that He would just assign him more trouble. It doesn’t sound like Job knew God as well as he once thought, does it? He goes on in the following verse to say that he could not even defend his old innocent self before the Almighty because He is too strong, so Job slips back into his pity pot and says in essence, “So what’s the point?” Yikes! Have you ever been there saints? Have you ever forgotten all the wonderful things that God has done for you in the past and just given up hope? I believe all have done this a time or two right? But this lesson is not meant to make us feel bad or guilty, it is meant to teach us and bring more light to the understanding of our hearts. The Lord wants us to always remember how good He is and how strong He is. He wants us to remember how much He loves us no matter what is going on around us and that He always has good plans for us for our future and hope…

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Job thinks himself innocent and that he just doesn’t stand a chance before God because he thinks that God will destroy the innocent and laugh at their calamity! Can you imagine thinking that way about our good God? But how many do on the planet today? They look around at the starving men, women and children on the earth and they blame God. They see murder, hatred and strife, and they blame God. They see wars and rapists and people who live a lie, and they blame God. Of all the things that go wrong in the world today, the majority of people on the planet blame God for all of it. It sounds hideous, but sadly, it is true. People say things like, “Where was God when that newborn baby died?” or “Where was God when that beautiful 16 year old girl who was such a good kid got killed instantly in that car accident?”

What they don’t know is a lot more than what they see. It is sin in the world that brings death and destruction and while we live on this planet and satan still has rule of this world, there will be all these wicked things going on. But for those who turn to God and make a commitment to live His way, this will not be so. The Lord will not let the righteous ever be forsaken…

Psalm 37:25

I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.

The Lord loves His people and wants only good things for them. He has proven it by sending Jesus to pay for our bloody sins so that we could enter into a lasting and loving relationship with the Father. Look at what Jesus said when He was in Jerusalem… 

Luke 13:34

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

The Lord loves His people and the Bible is full of His pleas for us to turn to Him and live right so that we can receive His blessings…

Psalm 81:8-16

“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me!

There shall be no foreign god among you; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

“But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels.

“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies,
and turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

In remembering our study from yesterday, Job’s best choice here would have been to put those two half-moons on the side of his head to work and close the gaping hole on the lower portion of his face while allowing the Lord to give him wisdom about his situation, amen? Two ears, one mouth; hence, more listening than talking. When will we get it? While Job continues to hate his life, he is feeling (living by feelings is always a place of defeat!) like there is not one thing he can do to make things right with God. He thinks that even if he put a smile on his face and changed his countenance it would be futile. Is this true saints? Absolutely not! Job thought that if he changed his attitude that God would still slam him back down in the dirt.

By now his attitude had gone too far. He is continuing to accuse God of being wrong – not good! In verse 33 Job cries out wishing that there would be a mediator for him with God but assumed there to be none. What he didn’t know was really hurting him. How wrong it is for us to make assumptions about things we cannot possibly fully understand. The Mediator is God. Even though Job knew not the name of Jesus, God would prove to be all the Mediator he needed, because Jesus is God and He was always there with God…

1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

Aren’t we glad that we live in the New Testament saints? We know Jesus and we know that He is the one who allows us entry into the presence of God. It’s because of the price He paid that we can go boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find the grace we need in times of temptations, amen! All Job had to do was to turn to God, confess his sins of pride and seek Him for wisdom in the situation, and then sit down with his heart wide open and his mouth firmly shut. He would have had his breakthrough far quicker that way.

But it looks like he was giving place to the devil, thus prolonging his own misery. Have you ever done that? I know I did. I kept making some poor choices in that marriage from hell. I tried to get away but I would go back to something I knew was not a good thing. And this is what the Lord said to me about that…

Jeremiah 4:18 NIV

“Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”

AMPCV

Your ways and your doings have brought these things upon you. This is your calamity and doom; surely it is bitter, for surely it reaches your very heart!

I remember the day I opened my Bile and these words jumped off the page to me. I knew of course that the Lord was right and that He was telling me why I was continuing to suffer. I had not yet reached the point where I was brave enough to walk away, alone, into the unknown. It would come months later when I would be facing homelessness yet again that it would be the final breaking point for me. I really felt like I had nowhere to go. It was terribly frightening for me. I had been with my husband for about 24 years, and married for 22 of those years. I had raised two very wonderful daughters and I had lived in a nice home with a vacation home in northern Michigan.

Even though my marriage had its problems, they now seemed to pale in comparison to what I was going through. When the Lord would not allow me to escape the pangs of this life through death, I had to get up and keep on walking through my trial until I would come to realize that I would have to step out into unknown waters in order to break free of the curse I was living in. If I didn’t it was going to swallow me alive – I just knew it. I had to go, but where?

It was only by the mercy and goodness of God that He had put it on my brother-in-law’s heart way down in Naples, Florida to have my sister, who was very angry with me because of my choices, call me and ask me to come down and help them with their businesses. They were struggling for help and had a hard time maintaining faithful employees. I knew this was an act of God because there would be no way my sister would call me at that time and literally beg me to come to their aid.

She, like everyone else I knew, had lost all hope with me. She thought I was a lost cause and wanted nothing to do with me. I couldn’t blame her for feeling that way.

Getting in my car and making the drive to Florida was both upsetting and frightening. I knew where I would be staying, but I had no idea of what would lie ahead for me in life. It would be almost 1400 miles from the place I had called home for so many years. It would be a great divide between me and my daughters. But I knew it was time for me to shut my mouth and open my ears to the voice of God. I was desperate and He was the only one I could turn to.

I was just getting to know Him and He had shown Himself to be mighty in the months preceding my move to Florida. I had become head over heels in love with Him and I knew He could and would do mighty things for me if I would listen and obey. But it took time to get acclimated to the idea of being alone. He was with me, I knew that. But to be alone in the flesh after raising a family for all those years was a hard pill to swallow. It would pay off though.

Look at what Jonah said about the Lord after he had tried to run from God when he had been called to go preach in Nineveh…

Jonah 4:2-11 AMPC

And he prayed to the Lord and said, I pray You, O Lord, is not this just what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and [when sinners turn to You and meet Your conditions] You revoke the [sentence of] evil against them.

Therefore now, O Lord, I beseech You, take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.

Then said the Lord, Do you do well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city, and he made a booth there for himself. He sat there under it in the shade till he might see what would become of the city.

And the Lord God prepared a gourd and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his evil situation. So Jonah was exceedingly glad [to have the protection] of the gourd.

But God prepared a cutworm when the morning dawned the next day, and it smote the gourd so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah so that he fainted and wished in himself to die and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

And God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the loss of the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die!

Then said the Lord, You have had pity on the gourd, for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.

And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons not [yet old enough to] know their right hand from their left, and also many cattle [not accountable for sin]?

Do you see the resemblance of Jonah’s situation to Job’s? Jonah had run from God, not wanting to do things His way and now when God catches up with him, (and He always does), he begs God to let him die. Like Job who was turning away from God in his distress despairing even of life, a lesson needed to be learned. God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and full of kindness when sinners repent. Job needed to realize that just like Jonah. And I needed to learn that about the Lord as I walked out of my trial into His loving arms. It was like jumping off a cliff when I came to Florida. I had no idea where my feet would really land. I never experienced anything like this ever before and fear often got the best of me. In spite of it I walked into what God would show me step by step.

Once in Florida, I started working for my family. As a refuge I would go out to the beach where I could be away from everyone and walk with God looking for seashells and spend time thinking. I received a phone call one day while there at the beach from the lady who had mentored me when I was in Michigan. She had given me $120 to make the drive to Florida. She knew in her heart that God was calling me to come here so she helped me to get to my sister’s house. I stood there, with my cell phone against my ear and I walked up to the water and placed my feet into the gently rolling waves of the Gulf of Mexico.

I told my sweet friend where I was standing and all of sudden she said to me, “Hanny, that is Jesus. He is washing your feet!” I began to sob. I knew it was true and it touched my heart so deeply. Oh what love He has for us. Coming to Florida had been the right decision. Jesus was showing me more than I realized that day. He was lavishing His rich love on me as He washed the dirt of my past off of my feet, and He was showing me that one day, He would use me use me to wash others with His word so they could also be cleansed from the daily ‘dirt’ of life! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God forever!

In conclusion, I think, we can see that God is so great, mighty and powerful. We can also see that He is gracious, loving and compassionate when we turn to Him and repent of sin. He will never turn a repentant heart away – never. It doesn’t matter what we have done. There is no crime that Jesus didn’t pay for. The only thing we could ever do that would keep us from His loving presence is to deny His free gift of a blood bought salvation that came free of charge straight from the Master’s heart, and hands and feet. It isn’t our sins that keep us out of heaven. It is denying what God did through His Son Jesus Christ to pay for them that will.

I feel like Paul when he said he considered himself to be among the worst of sinners. I did so many wrong things in my life and there was nothing that could take away the sting of those memories except the Water and the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us – hallelujah!

Questions:

What did Job understand about God?

What did Job feel about his situation?

In what way was Job sinning by what he was saying?

Who was controlling Job’s thoughts at this point?

What should Job have done at this point in the trial?

Who is our Mediator that enables us to go before God in our time of need?

What are you going through right now that you consider to be a great trial? How will you approach God in your situation? 

Psalm 51

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.  Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise. Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

If God is big enough to remove mountains, command the earth and shake the sun, He is big enough to deliver you from trouble

We cannot afford to let the enemy control our thoughts

God is rich in mercy in that He gave us a Mediator – the Lord Jesus Christ

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your tender mercy and graciousness even in my most difficult moments. Father I praise You for loving me enough to give me an opportunity to come back to Your throne of grace in my hour of need. You are faithful and all Your plans for me are good – my soul knows that full well. Lord I ask that You would expose any sin in my life that I need to repent of and I will be quick to come clean and confess my iniquities to You. Thank You for sending Jesus Christ who is the only one that can testify on my behalf in Your courtroom. I praise You for the life that is ahead to bring praise and glory to Your name by sharing with others who are struggling in their sins so they can see Your goodness in me and turn to You for help. In Jesus name, amen!

Have you gone to the Lord with an open ear and a closed mouth to hear what He has to say about your situation? 

And God Said… You fill in the blanks. 

 Psalm 48:1

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.