THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Job: The Great Lesson Of Submitting To God

Part III: Submitting To God If He Lets Us Lose All We Have Without Ignorantly Criticizing Him

(Job 2:11-42:6)

I. Introduction

A. The problem of suffering by the righteous is likely one of the biggest theological problems known to man.

B. When Job, the most righteous man on earth in his era, lost all he had, though he did not curse God to His face as Satan had claimed he would (Job 1:11; 2:5 with 1:20-22 and 2:10), Job still sinned in Job 2:11-42:6.

C. We take an overview of that long section to learn the lesson Job learned [We do not study this long section in multiple lessons, for it contains errant human reasoning that engender unedifying questions in need of being countered with God's truth that is given only at the end the long section. We do this to heed 1 Timothy 1:4.]:

II. Submitting To God If He Lets Us Lose All We Have Without Ignorantly Criticizing Him, Job 2:11-42:6.

A. After Satan had struck Job's possessions and health so that he was in a state of great suffering (Job 1:12-2:10), Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar visited him to mourn with him and to comfort him, Job 2:11.

B. When they arrived and saw Job, they were so shocked at Job's sufferings that each man rent his mantle, sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven and sat down with Job for seven days and seven nights, Job 2:12-13.

C. Then, from Job 3:1 to Job 42:6 is a long poetic section of dialogues between Job and his three friends (Job 3:1-31:40), four speeches from a younger man named Elihu (Job 32:1-37:24), two speeches by God (Job 38:1-41:34) and two short, moving responses to God by Job in Job 40:3-5 and 42:1-6, and we summarize them:

1. The dialogues Job had with his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar involved these friends trying in various ways to convince Job that he must have sinned to produce God's judgment in the form of his suffering, and of Job's repeat responses to these friends' speeches claiming he had not sinned to the extent that would make him deserve the great suffering he faced, Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Job 32:8-9.

2. Elihu, a younger man who witnessed these dialogues between Job and his three friends then spoke out of anger since the older men who had spoken had failed to convince Job his suffering was due to sin, Job 32:1-33:7. Elihu also challenged Job's exaggerated, untrue and at times nearly blasphemous statements about God in his suffering (Ibid., ftns. to Job 3:1; 33:8-13) and urged him to accept God as being good and righteous without question due to the greatness of God as revealed in creation (Job 37:14-24; Ibid., ftn.) Essentially, then, Elihu indicated that God as Creator is so far above man in greatness and wisdom, mortal man even in Job's station of suffering has no right to question God's character simply because he suffers.

3. God accepted Elihu's words as upright, for He did not critique them in His later evaluation of the dialogues in Job 42:7-9. Indeed, God's words that follow Elihu's words first expose His great knowledge (Job 38:1-40:2) and then His great power (Job 40:6-41:34) to show how wrong it was for Job and his three friends to try to explain from human insight what was humanly inexplicable about God in the face of Job's trials.

4. Job was utterly silenced by God's first speech on his infinite knowledge, admitting in Job 40:3-5 that he was vile and would not speak any more, and after God's second speech on His infinite power, Job in Job 42:1-6 gave a simple, moving confession of his wrong in having not submitted to God in his suffering:

a. Job admitted that he finally realized God could do everything, that no thought could be withheld from Him, and repeating God's Job 38:2 question to him of "Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?", Job admitted he had spoken things he did not understand, things to lofty for him, Job 42:1-3.

b. Job also cited God's Job 40:7 charge, "Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me," admitting he had heard of God by what he had heard from others, but now he "saw" God via God's revelation to him, that he now understood the Lord in His revealed greatness as the Creator.

c. Accordingly, Job stated he abhorred himself, and repented in dust and ashes of his lack of submission to God and of his ignorant demands for explanations from the Lord about his sufferings, Job 42:6.

Lesson: Job learned in his intense trials that regardless of the great pain he faced under trial, he could not explain his Creator, for God is too high and mighty for any created man fully to explain, let alone understand, so Job repented of his unrighteous demands that God explain his suffering, and of his disrespectful words about the Lord.

Application: (1) If we face great trials, may we NOT try to explain WHY we suffer APART FROM God's revelation TO us: He is too great and His ways are too far above our ways for us to explain Him apart from HIS revelation unto us! (2) If we have failed in this matter, may we like Job repent and (3) submit to God without criticizing Him!