What's that? No walk up. Good morning. How's everybody doing? Great. Pastor Mike, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to get some good feedback and to just have a time to read from God's word as brothers and sisters. A little more prayer, please. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. God, thank you that you desire for us to know you and you've preserved what may be known about you here in scripture. And so I pray, Lord, that as we get into this text this morning, that you would strip away everything that is not of you. Father, for me, I pray for a clear mind and a clear head and a clear voice to be able to speak the words that you would have for us to hear. Father, encourage us from your word. Convict us where necessary. And I pray that you would encourage us in your spirit to go and live in light of these wonderful truths. Lord, let nothing come from my mouth except that which is glorifying and honoring to you and edifying to myself and my brothers and sisters here. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Good morning. So if you could go ahead and turn to Job, please. We're going to be looking at Job chapter 1. And this is probably a familiar passage to the majority of us, so I won't belabor too much providing background context at the front, but I think it would be helpful for us to have a little bit of background. So Job is part of the wisdom literature as found in scripture. It's going to precede Proverbs and the Psalms. What we have here is a narrative about this man named Job, who we're going to get introduced here to in Chapter 1. And Job lived most likely during the time of the patriarchs, somewhere between the flood and the calling of Abraham. Scholars are kind of at odds as to when exactly that may have been. But what is known is that the author is unknown. There's no definitive source other than the Holy Spirit, clearly, as to who the author is. Although, we have good reason to believe that the author was an Israelite. And we know this by the mention consistently of the covenant name of God, Yahweh, all throughout the book. And as a matter of fact, we're going to find that ten times here in this first chapter. So, the events of the book themselves probably take place sometime during the time of the patriarch. So let's get into the text. Job chapter 1, verse 1 says, There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And 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 sisters to eat and drink with them. And 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 continue. 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, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him in his house, and all that he has on every side? You have 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. And 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 the 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 beating beside them. And the Sabaeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with 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 servants with 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 their oldest brother's house. And behold, a great wind came across the wilderness, 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." Then Job arose and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell on the ground, and worshipped. And he said, naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. So, due to time, we're not going to delve particularly deeply. We're going to take kind of a 30,000 foot view of this chapter, but what I believe God has for us to see here is His sovereignty. Namely, His sovereignty as the purpose in our suffering. Our suffering should always point to the glory of God, and that is His purpose. He's sovereign over everything, the good and the bad, as we're going to see here through Job. So our text is broken up really into three main sections. We got verse one through five, in which we're introduced to Job, given a description of his character and wealth. It says he's a man in the land of Uz. So Uz is situated in modern day Jordan. It's kind of between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, near the Gulf of Aqaba. So when it's referring to him being a man from the east, that's referring most likely to being east of Palestine. So you can think of the topography or the geography of that area of the world, a pretty arid high desert. So people, especially during the time of the patriarchs, were nomadic. They moved around to different places in search of food, water. But Job seems to be a little bit different in that It says that he has these massive flocks. He has 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, so 1,000 oxen since yokes are pairs, and 500 female donkeys. And the fact that he had oxen yoke toxin implies that he was probably working the ground. And elsewhere, as we read further in the Book of Job, we'll actually see that he's within a town. So at this time, there has been some settlement of the area. Job is well known, and he's actually the wealthiest man there. But it's interesting to note that it doesn't open just talking about how rich he was. That might be kind of the first inclination of most people to talk about, well, what do you do? I mean, how many of us, when we meet somebody new for the first time, what's our first question? Especially men. What do you do? How do you make your money, right? But exactly, and what do you bench? Yeah. But the author of this book doesn't do that. He immediately opens up talking about Job's godliness. In verse 1, it says that he was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. And I love the way that the CSB puts it out there, where it says, blameless. The CSB says, complete in integrity. He had complete integrity. integrity. So we see, not that Job was sinless before God, we're going to find that out later as well if we were to keep reading in the book, Job isn't without sin, but the trajectory of his life is Godward. His moral center is to honor God in all that he does. With his wealth we see that he has the 7,000 sheep 3,000 camels I mean more wealth than anybody in that area to the point where his sons and daughters again a blessing seven Sons all often in Scripture. We see the number seven recurring as a measure of completeness, to describe or illustrate completion. And Job's seven sons in a patriarchal society would have been something highly coveted, something greatly desired. Seven sons to carry on the family name, seven boys with which to carry on Job's line, as well as three daughters, so ten kids. And they had enough wealth that the kids could go and hold a feast in the house of each one on their day. Now, there's some debate as to what that means when it says each one on his day. It could mean seven sons, seven days of the week. Monday there was a feast. Tuesday there was a feast. Wednesday there was a feast. And sure, Job probably had enough wealth to do so. But looking at his character contextually, it probably doesn't really fit Job's character that he would live with such excess. So more likely, this is referring to each one on their birthday. Job would throw a feast for his sons and daughters, each one on their birthdays. And then when the time of feasting and merrymaking was done, what would Job do? He would send and consecrate his kids, rising early in the morning, offering burnt offerings according to their number, for, he said, it may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. So here we see Job fulfilling, much like the other patriarchs in scripture, the priestly role within his family, going to God on behalf his children interceding on behalf of his children for God on the chance that they Dismissed him in their hearts and this word here that's translated Cursed it's it's kind of funny in the Hebrew. It's actually the same exact word that's used for blessing and But contextually here, it's being used as a play on words to dismiss or disregard God. So Job says it's possible that in their merrymaking and their enjoyment and their feasting, my children have forgotten or dismissed God. Therefore, offerings to God. So one thing that I think we should see here is Job acknowledges the sovereignty of God, the authority of God, even in the good times. And that's so hard for us today. It's very easy to look at ourselves when things are going well, I don't really need God, I don't really have a reason. to pray, like we'll pray and thank Him maybe, but how easy is it to just get caught up in the day-to-day, the hustle and bustle? That's not what Job did. And that's not what he allowed, by extension, his kids to do. He interceded on their behalf, making offerings to God. So, brothers and sisters, we ought to recognize God, especially in the good times. And what a welcome and joyous reprieve that is from the difficulties of life. Amen. So, moving on into verse 6. 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, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for no reason? Have 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. Stretch out your hand, 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 don't touch him. So what we see now is this dialogue between Yahweh and evil incarnate. Satan up to his same old wily ways that he's been up to since the beginning, right? First John 3 says that the devil has been sinning since the very beginning. Well, that should prompt in our minds, what's the beginning? We can go back to Genesis. Genesis chapter 3 and Satan tempts Eve in the garden. He seeks to undermine God's authority, asking these questions, throwing these barbs. Did God really say if you ate of that fruit of that tree that you wouldn't surely die? No. He just doesn't want you to be like him. He doesn't want you to have your eyes open so that you'll see his flaws. Eat it, it's good. You're not gonna surely die. Did God really say that? Over and over again throughout scripture, this accuser, Satan, seeks to undermine and belittle and usurp the authority of God in various different ways, and he is doing the same things today. So, when it says here in verse 6 that there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, That's an interesting phrase, the sons of God. It's not referring specifically to people other than Jesus, as if he had begotten other sons, but this is a reference, a literary reference to So in the book of Hebrews, New Testament, the author quotes Psalm 104, stating and reminding us of the role and work of angels as God's ministers. He says, are not all God's angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire? So they are giving in this account here, they're giving an accounting of their ministry here on earth. So we see the author of Job here, referring to angels as sons of God, not putting them on the same level as Christ, but referring to their otherness from humanity. They are a category separate from humans in majesty, in likeness to God in certain ways. And the Lord begins to ask Satan these questions, and these questions are not because God doesn't know, right? God is omniscient, he's all-knowing, he knows exactly what he's up to. Rather, this is an opportunity for us to gain understanding and gain some background and see what's going on here behind the scenes. Namely, that Job has no idea what is about to befall him, and the purpose of all this calamity that's about to come upon Job is so that God's glory might be shown forth, even in Job's suffering. Satan is trying again to usurp and undermine the authority of God. So God, knowing Job's heart, the Lord discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Knowing his servant, he says, Satan, do your worst. Have at him. You're going to see that you're wrong yet again. I know his heart. I know his character. He desires me. It's not because of the things that I've given him. Yes, I've given him 7,000 sheep. Yes, I've given him 3,000 camels. 500 yoke of oxen. 500 donkeys. 10 kids. All this wealth so that he's the greatest man in this location, but that's not the reason that Job serves me. Job serves me because he loves me. He recognizes who I am. I am Yahweh to him. I am his God. So we see God giving authority to Satan to test Job. And that brings up something important for us because, again, Job never finds out, at least in the book of Job, what the reason was for his suffering. He suffered and endured all of this without ever being told why. But we get a glimpse into why. And we should confront, then, this notion that we tend to hold that our bad times that we experience are the result of bad behavior, necessarily. Yes, that might be true. We may be disciplined. Scripture says that God disciplines those whom he loves. Our sin requires discipline, but it's always for the purpose of restoration. It's always for the purpose of reconciliation, never because God is capricious, standing up there with his arms folded, wanting to cause punishment and wreak havoc. But secondly, we should be reminded that there might not always be an identifiable or discernible reason for our suffering. And in that, we need to recognize again that God is sovereign and His intentions toward us are always good. The Apostle Peter reminds us in the New Testament that it is not God's will that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. All should reach repentance. So moving forward, verse 13. Now there was a day when his sons, his referring to Job, 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 Sabeans fell upon them, and took them, and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword. And I alone have escaped to tell you." So some time has passed here, since this dialogue was saying he's been allowed to be unleashed, and to start wreaking havoc in Job's life. And we see this first thing that he does, his plot. unfolding and he allows the Sabians to come up from the the south and to raid Job's livestock and the the text here uses the euphemism put to death with the edge of the sword but what I want to realize is that this is murder this raiding party came up took Job's livestock and murdered his servants in the field and Satan in his Twisted way decided to leave one person to go and tell the tale if you think of those You know mafia movies or the cartel movies where they always leave one guy alive to go and tell a story That's what Satan is doing here And it's only gonna compound. This is just the first messenger while that messenger is still speaking another one says that the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the all the sheep, and the servants. Man, the servants are just not, not doing so hot. Do not want to be a servant of gentlemen. Kind of rough. But the fire of God. So in my studies, a lot of the commentators that I read mention that this is probably a poetic way of referring to lightning. So natural disasters in a wide open area, not a whole lot of cover, not having the modern amenities that we have, exposure is a big deal. But we see, again, God granting Satan authority to deal with Job in this way. None of this could happen apart from God allowing it. I should mention as well. So while that messenger is still speaking, so the first messenger, all the livestock taken, the donkeys and the oxen taken, servants murdered. Fire of God falls from heaven, consumes the sheep and the servants. The third messenger, while he's still speaking, the third messenger comes up. The Chaldeans form three groups, made a raid on the camels, took them, and struck down the servants. with the edge of the sword. So again, all his wealth at this point, gone. His sheep, his servants, his donkeys, his oxen, now the camels. Especially in a society such as his, a camel would have been extremely valuable. Going through the desert, one of the nicknames for camels that I came across in my studies is the ships of the desert. Because of their ability to store water, they're able to make long treks across the desert. And they can subsist on very little, given a naturally desert climate. They aren't really going to find a whole lot of green to eat. So Job was ruined, financially speaking. All of his wealth is stripped away from him in an instant. But what is his response so far? We can infer from the text that he's just taking it in stride. He's seated because it's not until this fourth and final messenger that we see Job arise. Verse 18, while he, the third messenger, was yet speaking, there came another and said, your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their 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're dead. And I alone have escaped to tell you." So God gave Satan the authority to deal with Job in an incredibly harsh way that Job's character and integrity might be revealed. He goes for the jugular. You can take my wealth. You can take my money. You can take my houses, my servants, all of that. And then he takes his kids. Horrendous. And what's Job's response? Job finally gave it up and cursed God? He started throwing a pity party for himself and feeling badly as he would be justified to do? No, the text says in verse 20, Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, all signs of grief consistent with Israelite culture, and then he fell on the ground and worshipped. Job fell on the ground after receiving the terrible news, this horrible cherry on top, that his kids have now been killed. Again, unbeknownst to him as to why, he's sitting and, you know, just offering to the Lord his thanks and, you know, offering to God for his kids one day, and the next day, everything, camels, livestock, donkeys, sheep, kids, dead. So he expresses his grief, and he falls to the ground and worships. And he recognizes the fact that Yahweh is the one who gives. Naked, I came into the world. Naked, I left my mother's womb. And naked shall I return. He recognizes that everything that he's enjoyed, everything that he's experienced, everything that he has, he has to hold loosely because he had nothing to do with any of it. Scripture says that man cannot receive even one thing unless it's given to him from where? From heaven. From the Lord. And Job recognizes this. He says, Yahweh has given and Yahweh has taken away, lest be the name of Yahweh. And in all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. So we see here, just in the first chapter, and this is only the beginning of Job's ordeal. In chapter 2, he's going to be personally afflicted. from the top of his head to the bottom of his foot. His wife telling him, OK, things are pretty rough. Why don't you just go ahead and curse God and die? And then his three worthless friends who give him advice and try to tell him that it's all because of his fault. Somewhere along the way, he has sinned and brought this calamity on himself. It's just the beginning. But we see Job's response is to worship. So why is that? able to be his response and then by extension how in the world are we to deal with suffering because the fact of the matter is we don't have a reason necessarily to understand why our kid gets cancer. We don't have a reason necessarily, it's not always punishment that we go bankrupt, that we lose our job, that we lose our home, that we lose our cars, that our marriage is in shambles. We go through suffering in various ways and for various reasons. Sometimes God in his grace will make known to us the reasons for our suffering, but other times he won't. So what do we do with that? Well, I think like Job, we recognize that we're not going to receive good from the hand of the Lord and not also accept the ill that comes. It's God's sovereign authority. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His intentions are always good. If Exodus 34, 6 is true, that the Lord, the Lord, our God, is gracious and steadfast, abounding in steadfast love and mercy, slow to anger that's true and that's how he describes himself and we must recognize that even in our suffering there is a purpose God gives and God takes away and looking at Joe again he was by all accounts innocent he did nothing egregious to deserve this punishment to deserve this suffering for us on this side of the cross that should have send us running to Christ, the true suffering servant. We should be seeing how Job is pointing us to Jesus. If we remember on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, Jesus walking with the disciples, they're dejected because their Lord had just been crucified, and he appears to them, concealing himself, and says, why are you sad and downcast? And they say, are you the only person in this entire region who doesn't know what just happened? crucified our Lord. He's dead. He was innocent. He was our Messiah. He was the one who was going to save us, and now he's dead. And what does Jesus say to that? He says, oh, you foolish ones and slow apart to believe. Was it not written that the Christ had to suffer these things? And then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the scriptures and how they pointed to him. How Job points to him, the suffering servant who becomes the centerpiece of the display of God's authority and God's glory. unbeknownst to him, how that really meant to point us to himself. The true suffering servant who received the punishment that he never deserved, the punishment that in fact we deserve. All our sin, all our burdens cast on him for the purpose of God being glorified. So we can say with Job then, God gave. And what, brothers and sisters, has God given greater than himself on the cross? What in the world greater gift could we ever ask for? And what has God taken away if it's not our sins and the enmity that we ought to have with God? Yahweh gave, and he is taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And we, brothers and sisters, can say that because of what Christ has done. In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul says, there's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. All things, everything, good, bad, horrendous, all things work together for the good of those who are in Christ and who are called according to his purposes. So with Job, I want to encourage us, whatever it is that we're going through, Whether we're in a time of extended blessing, praise God. If we're enduring difficulty, if our marriages are in shambles, if work is rough, if we don't know how we're going to pay our next bills. God gives and God takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Because of what Christ has done, this, this earth is as bad as it gets for us. We have heaven to look forward to. For the joy that was set before him, Jesus Christ adored the cross and scorned his shame. In him we can do the same. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word and thank you, thank you Lord. for sending your son to die in our place as a curse for us to receive the punishment that we should deserve so that we can have a life that we never, ever deserved. Lord, I pray that you would allow us to recognize in every situation that you're sovereign and that your intentions are always pure, always good, always right. Lord, we may never understand the reasons for which we suffer, but I pray, Lord, that we would suffer towards glory, that we would suffer towards glorifying and honoring you, recognizing that you do have a purpose in it. There is no such thing as meaningless suffering for those who are in Christ. Whatever we may be struggling with, Lord, I pray for your spirit to be at work in us, that we would recognize it and that we would take the time to spend with you in your word and in prayer, casting those things on you, knowing that you care for us. Father, we thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.