Job is not about you. Job is not about me. Job is about Jesus. So when we come to this book we need to say, “Show me Jesus.” It is about Jesus and his righteousness, Jesus and his curse-bearing, Jesus and his defeat of the devil, Jesus and his acquisition of glory. That’s what Job is all about.

Outline:
I. The God-Fearer Blessed
II. The Debate in Heaven
III. The God-Fearer Cursed
IV. The Debate on Earth
V. Fire-Tested Righteousness
VI. The Foolishness of Wisdom

Turning your Bibles to Job. When I became a new Christian 50 years ago, I was leafing through the Bible and I saw the book of Job. I said, boy, that sounds pretty good. I’m 18 years old. I think I could benefit from that. It had nothing to do with jobs. So I’ve learned a lot about what it is about since then. The Lord Jesus Christ, in his resurrection, said that the Old Testament was fundamentally concerned with him in his suffering and glory. And the book of Job is so nicely laid out for us in its beginning with suffering and its ending with glory. as its typological anticipatory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So this morning, this first sermon will be on the accenting the suffering. And then the later lecture after lunch will be accenting the glory of Job and, of course, its anticipation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Read through Job chapters 1 and 2. where we are introduced to this righteous man and his profound afflictions. There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. They were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with him. When the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Thus Job did continually. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, from where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it. And the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. And Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for no reason? If you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has on every side, you’ve blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has and he will curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. Now there was a day when His sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, the oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabaeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants at the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, the Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servant at the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you. While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in your oldest brother’s house and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house and it fell upon the young people and they are dead. And I alone have escaped to tell you. Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. He said, naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, from where have you come? Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down on it, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant, Joe? There’s none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. And Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, all the man has he will give for his life. but stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh and he will curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, behold, he’s in your hand. Only spare his life. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. And his wife said to him, do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. But he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women who would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? And all this Job did not sin with his lips. Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place. Eliphaz, the Temanite, Bildad, the Shuhite, and Zophar, the Namathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept. They tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights. And no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask now for the illumination of thy Holy Spirit, that we would track with thy word and find in thy word a sight of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So reveal Christ to us through thy word this morning to our hearts, that we might be bound to him, the bonds of the new covenant. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen. Some people say that Job is the oldest book in the Bible. That’s not true. Job was probably written sometime around the flourishing of the wisdom era following Solomon, the time when the wisdom literature flourished in Israel, their high point. Job was probably written sometime around there. If you want to read more about it, you can check Kyle and Dalish Old Testament Commentary Series. They have quite an extensive statement on the dating of Job. But the other thing about Job is this, is Job is not about you. Job is not about me. Job is about Jesus. So when we come to this book, we need to say, okay, show me Jesus. Stop looking for me, start finding Jesus. Because it’s about Jesus and his righteousness, Jesus and his curse bearing, Jesus and his defeat of the devil, Jesus and his acquisition of glory. That’s what Job is all about. As we read this book in these first two chapters, we read about his two enormous afflictions, as they’re often called. These two afflictions are directly tied to the curse sanctions in Deuteronomy 28. It’s often thought that these are just differentiated problems and heartaches and suffering that landed upon him by God’s sovereign intent, just like you. That’s not correct. These are intentional curse sanctions following from the book of Deuteronomy that outlines that if you obey God, you’ll be blessed, and if you disobey God, you will be cursed. And so when we are introduced To Job, in these first two chapters, we need to, right out of the chute, recognize what is happening here. And what is happening is a righteous man who merits blessing is cursed instead by God. Let’s look a little bit here. You have an outline in your bulletin there, and I noticed Tony put that in there. The God-fearer blessed. We notice the very beginning of the book, it starts out stating Job’s character. He was blameless, upright, feared God, and turned away from evil. And not only is that the statement of the author of the book, but even God himself in the storyline affirms that that’s his assessment of Job. And he was consequently blessed because of his godliness. We find here in this very first chapter, as we read about this godly man, Job, that his godliness is challenged. It says, the angels, the sons of God, came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came, the adversary, the word Satan means adversary, came to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord asked Satan, you know, what have you been up to? And there’s a boast there, you may not have noticed it, going up and to, back and forth around the earth, surveilling my dominion, my new acquired property called planet Earth. God says, well, that’s interesting. Did you notice in this devilish domain of yours, That little bright shining campfire over there of my servant, Joe, that doesn’t quite fit your program. There’s none like him. He turns away from evil, blameless. The devil can’t take it. You see, God is drawing him in. Martin Luther says, the devil is the Lord’s devil. And you can see that the Lord’s playing him right now, bringing him in. inciting him, bringing him into the conflict. As he draws him in and Satan says, well, no wonder, you know, you’ve blessed him so much. It’s no wonder he’s not playing along with your blessing. You know, little cheap religious theater is all he has to offer to acquire a blessing from you. But guess what, if you turn up the heat a little bit in his life, I think the impurities that are laying there below the surface will be seen for all, just as I myself notice about him. So the debate then in heaven commences. Debate over is he or isn’t he? St. Augustine said that we were created by God to love God and use things. But due to our corruption, we love things and use God. And that’s the question for Job. Which is he? Does he love God and use things, like God says? Or is it just all of an act and he really uses God and loves things? Well, let’s find out, the devil says. Let’s put him to the test, because if you put him to the test, the truth will come out. The heat will bring it to the surface. What he really does, love, what he really is all about. And so the test comes. Now the nature of this test that comes upon Job to find out the truth about him is a test I call switching the sanctions. Sanctions are what follows obedience and disobedience. If you obey, the sanction will be blessing. If you disobey, the sanction will be cursing. That’s Deuteronomy 28. That’s what the Bible says. You turn back there to Deuteronomy chapter 28, you can see that the ESV begins with blessings for obedience. And verse 15, it says curses for disobedience. And under the blessings and cursings, we have verses 14 and 15, where he says, if you do not turn aside from the words that I command you today to the right and to the left to go after other gods to serve them, he said that you would receive a great blessing from God. But then in verse 31, the author to the Hebrews, the author to the book of Deuteronomy, I’m preaching through Hebrews, I guess I got that in the back of my mind still. The author of Deuteronomy, Moses says, he says, if you disobey and depart from God’s covenant, break his commandments. Verse 31, he says what? Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes. Your donkey shall be seized before your faith. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies. Well, if you compare what Deuteronomy says, this very order of ox, donkeys, and sheep being dispossessed as God’s curse for disobedience, this is exactly what happened to Job. Those animals were taken away from him as God’s curse was falling upon him. Later on in this List of cursings, we come to verse 32. It says, your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but you shall be helpless. And so again, Job is dispossessed, not only of his flocks, of his possessions, but of his progeny. Just like the curses said will happen to those who break covenant with God. But Job hasn’t broken covenant with God, and yet he’s suffering the Deuteronomic curse. And this is his test. The sanctions are switched. He who had merited blessing and enjoying the blessing of God, the fruit of his hands, is now the recipient of God’s cursing. And what is the truth about this man? What is his response to such ill treatment from heaven? He falls down and he worships. The Lord’s given, the Lord’s taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And then we’re introduced to this second affliction. The idea here is gonna turn up the heat even higher. In verse seven of chapter two, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Deuteronomy 28.35 states that you will suffer and be smitten, same Hebrew word that is here, from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. The second even more severe curse sanction falls upon this righteous man, And again, he’s not being afflicted just by the mysterious administration of life’s sufferings and difficulties. No, that’s not what’s happening here. He is the target of covenant sanctions being switched so that what he had coming, he didn’t get. And what he didn’t have coming, he did get. Job is cursed without cause. Cursed without cause. Even as verse three in chapter two says, he holds fast his integrity, God speaking here, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause. There was nothing within Job that had it coming, there was the exact opposite. And yet Job was the recipient of that curse. And we move from heaven to earth. Debate in heaven, debate on earth. Chapters 3 through 25, now what? We who live here below and not privy to what’s happened above, we who do not know why this is happening to Job, what do we make of it? Over half the book? 42 chapters in Job, 22 chapters are debating back and forth this question. It looks like God is angry with Job. He is a just God. He doesn’t punish without cause the innocent. When Eliphaz, the first one, spoke, this is exactly what he argued. This is how God works covenantally. This is how the covenant works. In chapter 4, verse 7 through 9, says, remember who that was innocent ever perished. Where were the upright cut off? As I have seen, those who plow iniquity, those who sow, reap the same. By the breath of God, they perish, and by the blast of His anger, they are consumed. That’s how the Lord works in our lives. Those who fear him are blessed and those who don’t are cursed because that’s his covenant. And that’s the ancients have taught us that and we continue to believe that. But he does go on to say with his qualification, he wounds but he binds up, he shatters but his hands heal. There is mercy reserved by the Lord for the repentant. Yes, indeed, he will afflict with punishment, but he does restore in mercy. That’s the kind of God he is. And it’s this that shapes the debate of the three friends of Job throughout. God is just, therefore he becomes provoked at sinners and brings cursing and affliction. Yet, God is also merciful. Those who repent, he restores them. Now many people have interpreted the three friends of being like mini Pharisees. They got this little self-righteous approach to Job and all they could do is bear down upon him. But this is not true. The three friends are just good covenant theologians. They understand how the covenant relationship works and they’re simply applying how it works. Blessing is due to obedience. Cursing is due to disobedience. That’s the way the covenant works. Our ancients have taught us that and we continue to understand it. And we must understand that when they posture themselves in this way, that this is how God is true to his covenant relationship with people. Job does not dispute their theology. He agrees with them. He agrees with them on this very issue. And Job also agrees with them that God is angry with him. Chapter 6, verse 4, the arrows of the Almighty are in me. My spirit drinks their poison. The terrors of God are arrayed against me. So they’re all agreed on how God works with people. They’re all agreed that Job is the object of God’s anger. But Job disagrees. that he has it coming. Job disagrees that he’s guilty. I’m innocent. And Job turns down their offer of mercy. I don’t need mercy. Mercy is for sinners. I have not sinned. What I want is vindication, correction. And so later on in chapter six, he says, oh God, show me my error. I can understand when I’ve gone away. I have a conscience that works. And this debate goes back and forth for 20 chapters. Now, how many people here have read Job at least two times in your life? OK, so you know. It’s work to read through Job. It’s not like reading collages, right? But the debate that goes on and on and on is essentially one thing, not a whole lot of things. The one thing, Job insists he’s innocent, though cursed by God, and his friends insist that’s impossible. That would be unjust if God cursed the innocent. So therefore, since you’re cursed, you got issues. Confess them, God will have mercy. The sun will shine again, old Job. He will restore you to your former condition. Back and forth they go along those lines. Job even says, look, my condition, in chapter 16, he says, my condition and the state of my body right now testifies against me. I know it. But God knows the truth about me and my condition. And as you continue to read, you find that no progress is made. Your free friends just keep insisting. Job, come on, man, you’re making God out to be unjust. God cursing a righteous person? That’s contrary to the covenant relationship. That’s crazy talk. That’s evil. Just repent, man. Job says, no, really, I’m righteous, yet God has cursed a righteous man. Friends come back, no, that’s impossible. God’s not an unjust God. He curses the evil. He blesses the good. Job says, well, I agree with your theology. I can’t argue it. But apparently in my case, it’s not been panned out that way. I’m the exception to the rule. They had the correct doctrine of God. God was a holy God before even the angels stand with charges, clear as they may be. They had the correct doctrine of the covenant relationship. They had the correct doctrine of man’s sinfulness. They had the correct conclusion. If you sin, you’re cursed. You obey, you’ll be blessed. All these things all lined up between the two sides. Except one thing. One little thing. I haven’t sinned. But I haven’t sinned. By the time you get to chapter 25, the friends are all gassed out. You’ll notice chapter 25 is the end of the friends. It’s Bill Dad. Six verses. They’re gassed out. Look, Job. Chapter 25 is Bildad’s last gasp. Dominion and fear with God. He makes peace in the high heavens. Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not shine? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of a woman be pure? In other words, if you’re born of a woman, it means you’re a human. So if you’re born of a woman and a human being, how can you be pure? Behold, even the moon is not bright. The stars are not pure in his eyes. much less man who is a maggot than the son of man who is a worm. Come on, Joe. You’re just like us. You’ve got plenty of material to work with, man, to come up with a confession. We’re all ears. We’ll help you out here. In chapter 26, you’ve got the most sarcastic text in the Bible. Job answered and said, how you have helped him who has no power. How you save the arm that has no strength. How you counseled him who has no wisdom and plentifully declared sound knowledge. With whose help have you uttered these words? What kind of a God has given you such wisdom in this situation that I’m in? Man, you guys are just unbelievable. Whose breath has come out from you? It’s dripping sarcasm. He’s unwilling to budge an inch. Chapter 27, Job digs in. As God lives who’s taken away my right, and the Almighty who has made my soul bitter, As long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood. My tongue will not utter deceit. Far be it from me to say that you are right. Till I die, I will not put away from me my integrity. I hold fast my righteousness, will not let it go. My heart does not reproach me for any of my days. Job says, look, I’m not gonna trump up a phony confession for you like some Catholic schoolboy in the confessional before the priest. I’m not gonna do it. The truth is, I’m standing with my righteousness for all my days. My heart does not reproach me. Like Martin Luther, right? I can do no other. Chapter 28 is the center of the book of Job. Where can wisdom be found? Apparently the author of the book inserts this big question in chapter 28. Men should seek for wisdom, but where do you find it? Where do you find wisdom in Job’s situation to explain what’s going on? Chapter 29, Job talks about his life as it used to be. He says, my steps were like walking in butter. I had the respect of my friends. God was my friend. Chapter 30, he says, now everything has suddenly changed. I’m in the stocks. God is my adversary, and people disrespect and despise me. They can’t stand to be around me. Why has my psalm turned to mirth? Why? And in chapter 31, the end of Job’s speeches, he takes 14 oaths of self-meldiction to his own righteousness. 14 oaths of self-meldiction to his own righteousness. You see what Job is saying here? I know how it looks, but listen. Though it may look this way, may I take this covenant document with 14 oaths of self-meldiction and sign my name to it that I am indeed righteous and there’s nothing deserving God’s curse in my life. Now at this point, I’d like to say that if you’ve bought into the theory that Job is a manual on how you are to endure suffering, The next time when your life is slammed, take those 14 oaths of self-meldiction to your own righteousness. Me? I’m running the other way. But Job’s standing his ground, you see. This is the uniqueness of the book. Verses 21 through 23, just by way of a simple sample from chapter 31 where he takes all these oaths. If I’ve raised my hand against the fatherless, against the orphans in the gate, he was in the gate and made legal decisions for people. If I raised my hand against the fatherless because I saw my help in the gate, because I noticed some other guys were going to side with me and really tighten the screws in this poor kid. If I’ve done that, then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder and let my arm be broken from its socket. There’s the oath itself, Mel Dixon. If I’ve stumbled in what is fair and just in my rule. Really going out on a limb. In verse 35a, after Job pronounces all these curses that would fall upon him if he had violated anything, he says, oh, that I had one to hear me. Of course, he’s referring to God. Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me. See, Job is verbally saying, here’s the covenant document. Here’s the affidavit. Here’s my name. Backing up everything I’m saying. May I submit it as it is to God. You think this guy is really out there You sure that’s in the Bible? Yeah, it’s right there. And he goes on to say, oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary. You see what Job is saying? Here’s my 14 oaths, this affidavit to my righteousness. May God give me his indictments of why the grounds of why he’s treating me the way he’s treating me. Maybe there’s a stop there. And if he would, if he would do that, verse 36, I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it on me as a crown, I would give him an account of all my steps like a prince, I would approach him. Job says, like a prince who has offended his sovereign, he says, I would come into God’s presence with the paperwork of his indictments, and I’d wear it like a robe, and I’d put it as a crown on my head, and I’d walk right into his presence, and he and I would go over every step of my life together, and I’d get a reverse verdict. Who does this? What creature of clay, born of a woman, takes this on like this? Who bears God’s curse unjustly and yet is righteous through and through with this kind of confidence? Who is righteous enough to bear the indictments of God into his own presence, his own holy, fiery presence? where those paper documents and indictments would be burned up in judgment and he would go free. Who, really? You see, this is Jesus, previewed. This is Jesus Christ anticipated. Job is a reenactment of Adam. He’s tested of the devil. What’s he gonna do? But not only is he a reenactment of the Adam, he’s a precursor of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. A righteous man that bears God’s curse, indictments not his own, that he would bear into the fiery presence of God’s justice. You see the point here? You see the point here of Job is not about how do I get through suffering in life? That’s a good question, but that’s not what Job is about. Don’t look to Job as your example, unless you want to take 14 oaths of self-malediction to your own righteousness. I don’t recommend that for anybody. But look at Job as a type of your Jesus. In the Old Testament, in the wisdom literature, not your pattern, but your champion, the one who is able to defeat the devil. Job points you, you see. Not to you and to me, he points to Christ. For it’s Christ who has borne God’s curse, even though he is righteous. It’s Christ who received The reverse sanction of the covenant of works relationship with God. Cursed though he had merited blessing by his righteousness. You see it’s in this principle we detect and begin to see another kind of wisdom. There is wisdom in fearing the Lord, turning away from evil and walking close to him in holiness. There’s wisdom in this. There’s wisdom saying no to temptation when it comes your way. But what kind of wisdom is this? What kind of wisdom is going on here in the book of Job? It’s another kind of wisdom. Because you see, Job is arguing throughout this book that God can and does curse a righteous man. And his friend is saying, that’s crazy talk. Matter of fact, that’s impossible. Matter of fact, that’s insane. Matter of fact, you’re saying God’s unjust if he would curse a righteous man. That would be utter foolishness to argue that, you see. And old Job smoked upon that ash heap, I beg to differ. God can and does curse a righteous man. And when you get to the end of the book of Job, chapter 42, when God comes upon the scene and gives a correction to Job, doesn’t deny that Job is his servant and his champion, but does detect that He’s a weak and frail man, made some mistakes. But in verse seven of chapter 42, it says, after the Lord has spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Liphaz the Timonite, my anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. What did God mean by that? They did not speak right, but Job did speak right. What was the debate about? The debate was about this. Job says God can curse a righteous man. The free friend said God cannot and will not ever curse a righteous man. That’s crazy talk and is making God unjust. There’s no fear of God in such an idea. And God says, well, boys, My wrath is on you. My servant Job has spoken right about me. God can and does curse a righteous man. And because of Job’s righteousness, he was directed to mediate at the altar to reconcile his three friends who were under wrath before God. That’s right. See, we must understand something about this. What we must understand is the redemption itself is at stake. If God cannot curse a righteous man, then kiss redemption goodbye. You’re all on your own. Do your best and commit the rest. May it fare well with you in the day of his fiery presence. It might sound foolish, but it is the wisdom of the gospel that God can curse a righteous man. Job did not need their help. They needed Job’s help. They needed the help of a righteous man who would bear God’s curse and mediate at the altar for them. Because what happens at the altar, the very principle of the book of Job is carried out. The innocent bears the guilt of the sinner. Job, he’s the shadow, you see, of Jesus. He’s the shadow of Jesus that through righteousness, he defeats the devil. Adam didn’t. Jesus did and Job anticipated it. Job is a shadow of Jesus that through righteousness he’s qualified to mediate at the altar and reconcile those under wrath to God. Job is the shadow of Jesus because through his righteousness he wins glory. Come back this afternoon for section two. If Job is Jesus in this story, where are you and I? We are the three friends. We are the three friends that think we are wise in morality and how it works and how it’s gonna get us there. We are the three friends who need to hear the foolishness of the gospel. that we who are unrighteous need the righteousness of another to step in between us and God and mediate at the altar to reconcile us to heaven. So if you want to find yourself in the book of Job, align with the three friends, because that’s who you are. No, don’t align yourself with Job. You see, he didn’t deserve the curse. You do. I do. We praise God that Job, long before Jesus was ever born, typologically, symbolically, looked forward to him as that great redemptive historical ball from Genesis chapter 315, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, though he would crush his heel. was seen in a glimpse in Job as it progressed to be realized in our Lord Jesus Christ, our righteous one, who was born our curse to reconcile us to heaven. Yeah, foolish in terms of the law and its covenantal application, but it’s the wisdom of God in the gospel. Without it, there is no salvation. And with it, there is glory. There is forgiveness. There is the defeat of the devil. There is life forevermore. Amen? Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you that in this glorious book of wisdom, we detect the wisdom of the gospel portrayed ahead of time to your servant, Job. We thank you for this view. It plants our eyes on Jesus, the only unique righteous person who ever lived and wrongly received the curse, our curse. Indictments not his own, but our indictments. And he took them away forever. And we thank you. We fall down before you upon our knees because of it. And we give this gratitude to you this morning, in Jesus’ name, amen.