Job’s Grace Encounter
Tradition teaches that Job endured unimaginable suffering with poise and noble patience. He was a giant of the faith who never said anything wrong, and he is a great example for us all to follow.
Baloney.
Read the Bible and you will see that Job was a self-righteous whiner who complained to high heaven. He blamed God for his troubles and accused the Lord of being unjust.
Yet somehow this makes me like Job all the more because I have gone through tough times and when I did I wrestled with the same sorts of thoughts he had.
“God where are you? Lord, do you hate me? Why have you forsaken me? Do you even care?!”
Silly stuff, but understandable. In our moments of weakness we are all tempted to speak like this.
The Book of Job records the dumb things people say when they go through hardships, ignorant statements like “God gives and takes away.”
Sadly, we have paid more attention to the words of a hurting man than the healing words of the Lord, and what he says in the Book of Job is simply amazing.
What did God say?
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:8, KJV)
Job was far from perfect, yet God calls him “a perfect and upright man.” Job was fearful and superstitious, yet God says, “That’s my guy.” A few verses later the Bible makes one of the most outrageous statements in history:
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:22)
Are you kidding?!
Job charged God with wrongdoing again and again. He said God was unjust (Job 27:2), had shot him full of poison arrows (Job 6:4), and made his life bitter (Job 27:2).
Job said so much dumb stuff that Elihu called him a nonsense-spouting ignoramus (see Job 34:35 and 35:16, especially in the Message Bible).
Yet the official verdict, according to the Judge of all and as recorded in scripture for all to see, is that Job said nothing wrong. According to the Bible Job didn’t blame God, even though he did.
What’s going on?
Was God mistaken in his assessment of Job?
Is the Bible in error?
Grace rewrites history
God sees all things from the perspective of eternity. He sees the end from the beginning. God knows in advance that Job is going to come through his trial and be changed by grace.
Job is not righteous and perfect because his behavior is impeccable or because he speaks well or sacrifices animals. Job is righteous because God says so and what God says comes true.
Think of Gideon cowering in the wine-press. “Mighty warrior,” says the angel of the Lord, and even though it’s not true it becomes true because God says so.
Why does God’s Word say Job did not sin even though he sinned again and again?
Because love speaks to our eternal identity rather than our present circumstances. Clothed with the righteousness that God gives, Job is not judged a sinner but a righteous man, even though his deeds were far from righteous.
(If you find this hard to swallow, the Bible does the same thing in Hebrews 11 when it looks back on a bunch of murderers and adulterers and calls them heroes of the faith while making no mention of their sins. Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5)!)
Job did not sin… (Job 1:22)
This verse says little about the flawed character of Job and much about the gracious character of God whose story this really is.
God does not treat Job as his sins deserve but he relates to him on the basis of grace. This is good news for those of us who have sinned, like Job, and missed the mark.
Your story may be one big disaster movie – one epic fail after another – but grace will change your story and give you a better ending than the one you deserve.
Religion versus grace
Not once through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame God. (Job 1:22, MSG)
There are two ways to read this passage. DIY religion says, “See Job. Study Job. Be like Job.” But that way lies self-trust and disaster. Job wasn’t the self-made hero religion makes him out to be and neither are you. You’re simply not strong enough to face life’s trials on your own.
But read this passage through the lens of grace and the message is, “See the love of God! Look what God does for sinners like Job!”
It’s important that you get this because if you put Job on a pedestal you’ll miss the grace of God.
Sadly, that is what has happened in much of the church. By turning Job’s story into a flesh-glorifying pep talk, we have cut ourselves off from Christ and positioned ourselves for failure.
To the degree we exalt Job we diminish grace.
If Job was a perfect man, he would have had no need of God’s aid. But Job was an imperfect man with a very great need. When he finally saw this – after 40 long chapters of introspective pity-partying – he was greatly blessed. What the devil stole, God restored twofold.
Don’t you love this?
The devil knocked Job down, but God lifted him up. The devil sifted Peter, but God made him an apostle.
The devil may take your job, your health, your life, but God has the last word and ALL THINGS work out good for those who know his love.
How do I know? Because God said so.
The Book of Job isn’t about a good man going through bad times, but a good God who loves us through thick and thin and who desires to bless us no matter what we’ve said or done.
That’s the real message of Job and that’s the good news of grace.
___________
More articles about Job.
Escape to Reality 
Think of Gideon cowering in the wine-press. “Mighty warrior,” says the angel of the Lord and even though it’s not true it becomes true because God says so.
– mind blown! That just make sense. because God says so! thanks Paul. I thank the Lord for using you continually in His ministry.
another “hard verse” removed from the pile.
This one is pure GOLD! I’ve been struggling to reconcile Job 1:21 (God gives, God takes away) vs. Job 1:22 to no avail. Now I found the answer. I’m so blessed. Thank you Paul!
I just want to thank you for showing me Gods grace, despite the historical beliefs and twisted lies I grew up with. Grace abounds! Thank you.
Thanks Paul. I believe the Lord looks at us with eternal eyes of grace as you have described. What is your take on Job 2:3 “…And he (Job) holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” NASB I suppose one needs to understand what the words “incited Me against him to ruin him without a cause.” means in this context. What do you think about this statement? Thanks!
It’s the same as Job 1:8, which I talk about in this post. The traditional view is that the Lord did Satan’s dirty work when the scripture plainly says Satan tried to manipulate the Lord into harming Job – something the Lord would never do.
What about Job 2:3? Five verses earlier the Lord says to Satan “Job is in your hand,” so if he is here saying “I destroyed him,” he’s saying “I am Satan” or “I do Satan’s work,” which is obviously nonsense. Read it in context and the message you’ll get from Job 2:3 sounds more like this: “You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn’t work” (Job 2:3, MSG).
Yes for sure the liar of all liars even told God that God had a hedge of protection around Job therefore he (satan) couldn’t touch Job. But God just said, ” Behold……” God wasn’t falling for any tricks. You would think the Wanna be trickster would stop his lying and tricking…but nope. Man oh man satan just really wanted God to incite evil against Gods beloved creation with whom satan was sooo jealous. And just think about it satan thought he could be higher than God his creator……just where did he get all these silly ideas…..wow jealousy and pride can sure mess a created being up!
Great question, Bruce! How can God take credit if God indeed does NOT “give and take away”, especially “good” things?
Could it be that Job, in God’s silence, was merely being “human”? Parents with teenagers understand this. David said many things we wouldn’t advocate or prescribe believers to do. Yes, Job said a lot of things, but he never turned or gave up on God, like his wife seems to have unfortunately done; could that maybe be “the line” beyond which God would’ve had to agree that Job “crossed over” into “charging Him with wrongdoing”?
Was Job a righteous man. Based on Job 40:8 some argue job went thru all the ills because he was not righteous. He may be upright or perfect but not righteous. Paul your thoughts.
I have written numerous articles on Job. You can find them listed by scripture here.
Paul I read your last article on Job and this one as well. I truly get that we are under Grace now…., but just not really getting how you dispute what God said of Job. Job followed the mosaic law at that time he wasn’t doing all that he did under superstition he was doing what the law was at that time. He was not yet under Grace. Just sharing my thoughts on why I can’t quite get on board with your view on this. I thank you for giving your perspective as I am always open to different views that may bring enlightenment to scripture.
Kristy, I don’t dispute what God said of Job; I marvel at what he said.
Job followed the Mosaic law? There was no Mosaic law pre Sinai.
Job wanted merited favor, something Joseph Prince is not opposed to for children and like situations. But the devil was robbing Job. How do we fight the devil. It’s not so much screaming at him as resting in Christ. It’s replacing lies with truth of grace, okay, Jesus! really. amen.
And whether merited or unmerited favor, our victory comes through having a confident expectation of good. Yes we might be hurt, but God never hurts or wants trouble. for anyone! And Jesus came for no less. Stuff Jesus Never Said, a collection of sayings on paintings will really transform you into the new man and new woman God gives free righteousness for. lovely. It’s everything job would use to see Christ overcome through, in, and for him and us.
Thanks Paul for such clear teaching and correction on traditional teaching on Job’s demise!! What a God of Grace and love we serve – If God be for us (and He is!!), who can be against us – Trevor
This divine insight is most encouraging!
One of your readers complained that God didn’t really restore everything because Job lost his original children.
But I’ve heard tell that the book of Job has a fairy tale structure like “Once upon a time there was a handsome prince” … so it could easily be a STORY.
And you’ve handily illustrated for us that it’s a grace story.
Vow! Great! God is awesome!
thank you Paul, I needed the encouragement
Hallelujah. ..God bless you more Ptr Paul as you continually become His channel of blessings to us in enlightening our Christian life. What an awesome,crystal clear unveiling of Job’s life for me. Thank you so much.
We’re taking a lot of heat in our little grace church here in the Southeast U.S. One of the local mega-churches recently called us out as “hyper-grace”. I can’t thank you enough for your grace-focused teaching. It offers churches like us, who often find themselves very alone in the religious culture, hope … and grace! Blessings from Grace Café, Carrollton, Georgia.
I don’t know about you, Dan, but I’d wear that hyper-grace label with pride. Be blessed!
What a new way to think about this story! Thanks for your encouragement to see how Grace wins and that all things work together for those who know His love!
When we consider, focus on, are extra sensitive to; paying more attention to the words of hurting men (political-correctness gushing from what we see & experience from our natural-man) – we are more likely not believe on God or His word – no wonder, the healing (miracle) of man today is rarely seen in the west. Further consider: when we allow our heart to express the word “amazing (means: surprised, shocked)” through our lips to describe God or His word – we’d be careful to better consider believing & using “awesome (to declare: magnificent, majesty, yes & amen!)”, in it’s place. [S. Wigglesworth employed this truth early on & by God, the power that brought Jesus back from the dead was in him] The former (to be amazed) comes by way of our natural-man, the latter (awesome) our supernatural-man. If we choose to be surprised, shocked at God’s word, how much room is left for God to be God? God is Grace, He is Person Peace, Person Love… Grace provided the platform on which Job’s heart might land – in this case, Grace is a given (love keeps no record of wrongs 1 Cor 13:5) because of our nature is falle. The awesome thing here is is God pre-determined to call this man who (in the natural) was destined to die twice – from that point, God could not see sin in Job. The very thing God is after is a mans heart; He captured Job’s. King David was another of these. Listening to, being sensitive to the words of hurting men, empathizing with (natural-men) the DIN of the politically-correct – gives room to unbelief which will nullify our faith & keep the miracle of healing unseen on the earth. Thanks for inviting me on your journey – Steve M.
So, “I’ve never been a sinner, I never sinned; I’ve got a friend named Jesus” ?
locknut – are you being coy or is your tone typical – having be born into a fallen world; you get it….otherwise, you would not be able to recognize (use “sinner” to describe yourself) be careful not to let cynicism too deep into your heart__ w/ love…
Steve M., I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking.
These are the lines of a song from the 60s/70s that I would think most God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians would difficult time singing along to. Yet this is what Paul Ellis is saying of Job:
[Grace Rewrites History] “Why does God’s Word say Job did not sin even though he sinned again and again? Because love speaks to our true identity rather than our circumstances. Clothed with the righteousness that God gives, Job is not judged a sinner but a righteous man, even though his deeds were far from righteous.”
“Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbalm…I’m not a sinner, I never sin, I got a frien in Jesus, so ya know that when I die I’m goin up to the Spirit in the Sky. We do sin but don’t live in it and because of Jesus God looks aat us through the lens of grace. It’s awesome. Some, not understanding, consider the mentality to be licentious but the prophet Paul is very clear on this in Roman’s Chapter 7. I would say that since Satan likes to copy everything that God does that Satan’s copy of grace would in fact be licention. This idea of licention vs. Grace can be seen in an analogy in 2 Chronicles 12 with King Rehoboam replacing gold shields that were stolen with bronze ones. If you polish bronze it looks very similar to gold but is in reality only a cheap copy, such is licention, a cheap copy of grace.
Awesome Saint Paul.
I like how you refer to sin (Job’s and ours) as “miss the mark” on our true identity, which is ultimately satan’s attack against Job, and us, and everyone ever born (including Jesus). To get us to doubt our identity (what God says about us, and what He has accomplished through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus) is to Miss The Mark (Sin).
Blessings,
Warren (South Carolina, USA)
…and since identity is ultimately defined by relationships – specifically our relationship to our heavenly Father – we could say that all sin is rooted in the broken or distorted understanding we have of the Lord and his love for us. Adam fell, not because he ate from a tree, but because he distrusted God his Father. And much of Job’s speech reflects that same distrust, for he saw the Lord as anything but a good Father.
The opposite of sin is righteousness, which can be defined as living out of right relationship with the Lord. At the start of the book Job thought he was righteous, but it was a self-made righteousness which is no righteousness at all (because it’s unrelational). But the Lord prophesied true righteousness and that’s how it is at the end of the book. “I’ve heard you, I’ve seen you” is Job’s way of saying “I know you.” Finally he gets it. Which to me makes this yet another tale of the prodigal son, but this time it’s the elder brother – the do-gooder – who’s in the pig pen.
Thank you Paul. This Grace-lens on Job 1:22, the illustration of an angel telling Gideon who he really was, and your link with the works-driven elder brother in Jesus’s parable of the dysfunctional siblings and our ever-loving father….All taste, smell and feel alive with his love and constantly ‘for us’ grace 🙂
Yes!!! Righteousness is right relationship with God as you described it, Paul. That is the objective of His grace.
After a long, fraught wrestle with what it really means to believe, where I agonised over whether I really qualified as His child, I discovered by His grace my Gospel. There is only one Gospel; the Gospel of Christ Jesus, but He personally gives it to each of us and it is ours. Mine is this:
“I can trust that You accept me in spite of me because You have made everything about me alright because Your Son, Jesus, has dealt with everything that’s wrong with me for me because You love me.”
It’s longer than ten words but it’s everything I need to know. He wants me! And He wants to be everything for me! ‘I’ am no longer a problem and ‘I’ no longer need to be my solution. ‘I’ can step aside and rest in what He has done, be confident of what He is doing, and joyfully declare that it is no longer ‘I’ who live, but Christ lives in me! He is my Life and He has done it all!
Love this comment. So insightful. Thank you for sharing Rachelle.
These comments are warming me to your perspective, Paul. Thanks. Sin is not (only?) breaking a specific command but a mistrusting inclination. [Legal?] self-righteousness, disconnected from relationship vs. “Now I’ve heard you, now I’ve seen you” / right relationship / identity. Older brother in the pig pen.
That’s IT! Paul, in a nut shell. ‘The elder brother’ that just tied it all together perfectly!
Anyone know about a church…
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Please see the Archives > Subject Index. Thanks.
Excellent. ( but why blue eyes?!)
Because he’s sad. 😦
It has to be relational because we can’t even understand Scripture correctly without His light. Thanks for another great post.
Great insight!
Paul, this spectacle of grace in the new testament that you share with us changes the way we look at the old testament all over the world especially here in Africa. Thank You.
Paul, thanks so much for these posts on the Book of Job, I feel refreshed and revitalized after reading them. These posts are straight from the fountain of pure grace! Thanks for giving us more reasons to worship Jesus because of His great love for us!
I had a wee revelation about the ending of the book where Job SEES God a while back and never really had an opportune situation to share it with anyone, but this seems as good a place and time as any. It’s the verses at the end in chapter 42: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6)
Originally I guessed this was just Job changing his mind from thinking that God was unrighteous and out to get him to seeing that God was good and loved him therefore repenting (as you would). But one day I suddenly thought about it in a different light. Job perceived himself to be innocent in his sufferings. “Job says, ‘I am innocent, but God denies me justice.” (Job 34:5) So Job couldn’t understand how he could be SO INNOCENT (in his own eyes) and still suffer HORRENDOUSLY.
I’m guessing now that when Job SAW God in chapter 42, he saw an INNOCENT Lamb, SLAIN; the innocence of the Lamb infinitely surpassing his own perceived innocence, and the horrendous suffering of the Lamb, also infinitely surpassing his own suffering. Therefore Job despised himself, and repented in dust and ashes. Just a thought.
Thanks Euan. Something about Job’s revelation reminds me of what Jesus said about another Old Testament figure who lived long before the cross. “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”
Yes to “relationship” comment Saint Paul. Righteousness to me is defined “as it should be”. Jesus came to restore our relationship to the Father as it should be. We are now as we should be.
He did it, rejoice saints!
Blessings,
Warren (South Carolina, USA)
Love it. You are a connoisseur of words. 🙂 Nice and simple and to the poin,t and easy to understand. Thank you. 🙂
His is forever faithful. JP’s sermon “learn to see how God sees” came alive when I began reading this episode. It was like God saying He has not observed any iniquity in isreal. Thank you Paul
When I was young in years and in faith – Job freaks me out. Now I am a lot older and have gone through my own valleys and mountain tops — Job encourages with the message that everything will work out if we trust God and have faith in his love. Job had no intercessor and Jesus had not yet defeated the devil and redeemed us… Now that the cross is behind us, we walk with even greater confidence as sons of God wearing our robes of righteousness and covered by the blood of The Lamb
Simply awesome! Jumping up and down here, reminds me of that verse:
“God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did”
Thank you & God bless!
HI Paul,
Thank you for your blog. I’ve been reading the old testament over the past year and have changed so much, learning how much God loves us. However, I just got to jeremiah 16:5 where God says he is taking away his peace and his chesed from his people because of persistent idolatry. This troubled me a lot because it goes against what Ive come to believe. Could you clarify a bit?
Li
You will find a lot of stuff like that in the old covenant – punishments for bad behavior, rewards for good. Thankfully we live in a new and better covenant based not on our obedience but Christ’s obedience. More here.
Perhaps Job 1:22 is a statement of how Job handled the events of verse 13-19, the loss of all he had. The Message also says – he did not blame God in this verse. Job goes on to say all kinds of “interesting” statements with a challenging thought from God in Job 42:7 : Job spoke the truth about God but his friends did not. I don’t think this pertains only to the final interaction between God and Job because his friends didn’t speak then. I do like your bringing the much forgotten fact of grace into so many of the Bible stories and reminding us of the Father’s heart and not man’s understanding of His ways. It really helps the Holy Spirit to reveal the Father’s ways and passion for us.
Excellent, simply excellent and very liberatating in every area. Praise God for giving such insight and interpretation of the word of God.
The problem with the Christian who tries to assert that God seeks our un-doing, our unraveling, is that that particular claim forces that particular Christian to “land” within the same set of incoherent claims which the philosophical naturalist is stuck within – and that is that there are (in effect given the Christian’s error here) no final causes, no “true end of Man such that perfection in “being human” is the proper end of Man. The naturalist cannot find any such ontological real estate and the Christian in question finds (again, given the nature of his error) something akin to God fighting God’s Own ends for Man, so to speak, or, God defining “ultimate reality” differently, contingently, inconsistently, so to speak. If there is such a thing as “the proper ends for Man”, then there is “that” which is – inside of all contingent state of affairs – nothing other than “that”. Now, disease, destruction, death, and all the other metaphysical contours of Man’s painful privation are, obviously and undeniably, not those “proper ends” or those “final causes”.
On Christianity’s *actual* premises, the state of affairs called “perfection” (speaking of Man’s final felicity) and specifically the perfection of “Being Human” referents factual means and factual ends, such that should reason herself contradict such paradigmatically irreducible (non-eliminative) contours she (reason) shall be thereby factually *un*reasonable, factually contradicting the constitutional shape of “Reality”. It is always *un*reasonable to ascribe “goodness” to that which contradicts the very contours which constitute the designed ends which the immutable love of God has ascribed to the Adamic Man. A house divided against itself, so to speak. Granted, suffering for God, and for obeying/following Him is a valid reality – but that is very, very different than this notion of God ripping off one’s limbs to make one a better human being. We must force ourselves to do the hard intellectual work of clarifying our terms – of defining reality based on the Necessary (God) rather than by the contingent (Man, Man’s painful privation)…
One more thought:
Asserting that God’s finger is the cause of our physical / mental / psychiatric unraveling forces one to assert something akin to God defining “good” inconsistently. There *is* such a thing as “the proper ends for Man” and “that” is – inside of all contingent state of affairs – nothing other than “that”. Disease, destruction, death, psychiatric unraveling, and all the other contours of Man’s painful privation are, obviously and undeniably, not those “proper ends” and yet God must call such events “g-o-o-d” if His Finger demands such.
There are fundamental differences within the metaphysical claims upon reality within A) “God ripped off my legs Himself for the sake of X” verses B) “Evil exists within Mankind’s volitional privation and God uses that evil for the sake of X”. What shall we tell the world is the “thing” that redeems, finally, the “glorious ruin of creation”? Is it Evil? Whence cometh life? Does God n-e-e-d e-v-i-l to redeem Man? Evil cannot and does not redeem the ontological real estate of “being human” (it seems we’re always re-learning the lesson of Law, of that Ministry of Death) but, rather, God alone can and does house the “Necessary and Sufficient” to redeem that ontological real estate and such He does in and by Christ, in and by the Holy Spirit. In short – the solution is Himself. Such is the love of a Groom for his Bride.
Hello Paul, I have taken a few days off from reading your posts, only listened to Joseph Prince a coupe/few times. My daughter just moved here so I was going to see her and trying to set up times to a doctor for what has turned out to be a torn upper bicep tendon, then I get in a car accident yesterday. I worked at church today, stopped in to see the pastor, I have missed like 5 weeks of church and he tells me he see’s Satan attacking me and speaks poorly of Pastor Prince. Job was mentioned and he said it was about “though He slay me yet will I praise him”, I actually left feeling a bit condemned, though he told me, upon my mentioning it, he did not intend that. I had problems with some things you said about Job at first to but after reading this it’s like watching a movie you don’t understand untill the end. I don’t blame God for my shoulder injury or the accident, it’s not his fault just as it was not God that caused all those things to Job but regardless of Job being upset at God and saying the things, same basic things we all do in similar circumstances, God remained faithful as it’s his nature to do so, He is the faithful one, swearing upon himself-there is no greater. God is good.
I do appreciate the notes in the article about the accuser and what it really said about the reality of where Job was – the accuser accusing God of putting a hedge around Job, when, in many ways, Job was really in the accuser’s hands. It is worth considering to see Elihu, not as another accusing “friend”, but as giving him the gospel. I’d also had some understanding that it all turns on God’s word proving true/prevailing, so this is an interesting take. I think where people might see Job as still not sinning (or, at least, so I’ve seen it) is in part given in Hebrews, where he is seen as persevering through faith, and also in Job 42, where, after Job’s confession (in response to God questioning his ability to curse the day he was born), God says that his friends had not said what is right, but Job had, and it was Job’s face that God would receive, so they needed to make sacrifices, and Job’s prayer for them would be accepted (v 7-8).
Thanks I get this is interpretation it’s amazing but is that summing up the whole message ? When it’s says “God gives and takes away” even though Job is saying that I still feel like it’s the word of God, I do accept that God showed Grace on Job despite his failings but what about his friends ? Other articles I have read say that his Friends were telling Job that only unrighteous people suffer but we do know that God rebukes those whom he loves. For me personally when I started reading Job without taking any hints from other people’s commentaries, I felt like God was saying to me that he is still righteous even if he takes what I have away from me and I have no righteousness..(I guess that ties in with grace aswell) but what I’m trying to say is it’s clear that Job was whining, it’s also clear that God lavished his Grace on Job but God rebuked his friends also ? I feel like there’s something I’m missing… As I write God has blessed me with a certain number of things but when I began reading Job it made me realise that I’m not righteous because God blesses me 😕, God is righteous because he blesses me ! I get it now I think it makes sense now think I just answered my own question 😂
Another thing that Job teaches us is unconditional love. Remember how the devil accused Job of only loving God for what He gave him and did for him? We often tend to think of God that way. But regardless of what we do, God will always love us no matter what.
This is soooooo good! I’m in the doctors office with my son and I feel the Holy Ghost as I read this! My God what a great read. Life was literally coming off the screen. I love to be reminded of Truth. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve heard that a key of biblical study is that the first time something is used in the bible, it’s very significant. There are scholars that believe Job is the first book written. Which makes the book very intriguing to me and I’ve been pondering it for months on and off. I love this post because it pretty much sums up what Father has been settling into my head about this book.
So true. A wonderful post. I just heard a quote from the owner of Aunt Annie’s Pretzels. “I thought life was good and God was hard then I realized the truth is that life is hard and God is good” that is not an exact quote but close. It is true but somewhere along the line we sometimes forget that God is the good one in all of this.
Paul someone asked me that if God does not bring about sickness and afflictions, what about 1 Cor 11:29-30?
Good scripture. Check out the Archives > Scripture Index.
This was the best teaching I have heard on the Book of Job.
Thanks.
Oh Paul, I have thought these same explanations of Job for years but had only one person I could ever express them to. Now she has married and moved on and I am once again alone with my thoughts.
I am so grateful that Holy Spirit led me to Escape to Reality The points you are bringing out are reality. I am so tired of the unreality of religion. I stepped out and wrote a book on some of these issues and was almost afraid to publish. When I read your comments, I was so relieved — it was like confirmation to me. I know what you are teaching is so Holy Spirit revealed! I went to a teaching on healing last night and it was so horrible that I left in tears. All I could think of is my people perish for lack of knowledge! I feel so helpless trying to get these points across to help others who are so confused about why God is beating them up, but I have to keep on trucking! God Bless you Paul!!!
I
This post came to me at the right time, thanks for posting this
Awesome. Thanks for the feedback.
“To the degree we exalt Job we diminish grace” you have a noble desire to exalt grace, I understand. But there is not need to rewrite the story of Job. Job was not a sinner before his sufferings as you want to rewrite the story Job. The story starts by saying that he was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil…and the greatest man of the East.
“The devil knocked Job down, but God lifted him up. The devil sifted Peter, but God made him into an apostle”. Job was not knocked down by the devil in the same way when Jesus went through the suffering of the cross. And as Jesus interceded for his friend Peter, Job interceded for his friends too.
Trying to exalt grace is like trying to brighten the sun. Not sure how you’ve come to the conclusion that I’m rewriting the story of Job. I have listed scriptures for every claim made. I encourage you to check them out.
Forgive me if I am wrong, but I think you’re using Job 1:22 wrong. You’re saying that God called Job righteous after all the accusations he said. But Job had not yet made any accusations against God up until 1:22. When it says “in all this”, it sounds like its referring to everything that has happened thus far, not what will happen.
Love this!! Job 1:22 NEEDS to specify that the statement is thru the eyes of grace though!! It would’ve cut back on so much confusion! 🙂
Good article; always wondered about satan asking God’s permission to go after job. Have heard many sermons about God not being the cause of Job’s trouble, but definitely “allowing” it. To me, it’s the same.
I confess I’m a little jaded about interpretations of Job having heard so many over the years. The book is not the easiest to read and the characters are juxtapositioned in such a way that I (at least) have to keep rechecking and reading passages to overcome my confusion as to who said what to whom and why. So I’ve concluded that Job 32:1-3 is the most accurate summary of the account to that point, and thereafter, Job confesses his stupidity from chapter 38.
After all this God replies in 42:7 “And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
So as you’ve pointed out more eloquently, God seems to totally ignore Jobs failures. THANK GOD! And what a relief that is for those of us on our knees with the trails and tribulations of life, because however low we go; however battered we become; whatever loss we suffer, God has an inexplicable Grace to restore us.
If I learn anything from Job, it’s to face God like a man (40.6) and not to runaway and turn my back on Him thru exasperation, guilt or hopelessness. I may be completely exhausted and ‘washed-up’ but He will restore. I also suspect (though the a account does not state it) that Job never feared again!
Well said, Ian.