Ruth: 1:20-21; The doctrine of bitterness, part 21 – not being bitter in a bitter existence, ex. Job.

Title: Ruth: 1:20-21; The doctrine of bitterness, part 21 - not being bitter in a bitter existence, ex. Job.   

 

We noted on Sunday that the Lord is righteous and just. He cannot be otherwise. Due to a long exposure to intense suffering, Job had forgotten that. But, thanks be to God, he will be reminded.

 

No matter how painful life gets, we must always fall upon the justice and righteousness of God, as well as His mercy and grace.

 

JOB 10:1 "I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

 

JOB 10:2 "I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; Let me know why Thou dost contend with me.

 

You could almost weep for Job here.

 

"Do not treat me like this without at least showing me why."

 

I would think that every Christian who has striven with God for some years can completely identify with this. There is always some comfort in knowing why something is happening, even if the why is not good, it is better than not knowing. Yet there will be times when suffering has no reason.

 

As for Job, we who sit in the audience watching this time in his life play out, know that Satan has challenged his faithfulness and that God has allowed Satan to test him. Job cannot state the reason with any surety and over and above the pain, he just wants to know why.

 

And then, though he has already stated that he cannot bring a case before God, he does so anyway. Have we not all done this? We put a situation in His hands and then we take it right back. We are perplexed about a situation and we ask Him, but receive no reply, and we do the right thing and defer to Him that He knows what He’s doing, and we find peace for a while, but then, as the confusion or pain persists, we again demand to know why.

 

JOB 10:3 'Is it right for Thee indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Thy hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?

 

Job calls himself and his spiritual life the labor of God’s hands.

 

Job knows that he has worshipped God. He therefore presents a question in bitterness: "You made me, and made me righteous. Is it right that You would then oppress me?"

 

He shouts at God, "Did You go through all the trouble of making me and commanding me and showing me Your way, only so You could torture me?"

 

Does God do such things? Can you and I be brought to a place where we might entertain the fact that He could?

 

PSA 37:23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord;

And He delights in his way.

 

PSA 37:24 When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong;

Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.

 

PSA 37:25 I have been young, and now I am old;

Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

Or his descendants begging bread.

 

PSA 37:26 All day long he is gracious and lends;

And his descendants are a blessing.

 

PSA 37:27 Depart from evil, and do good,

So you will abide forever.

 

PSA 37:28 For the Lord loves justice,

And does not forsake His godly ones;

They are preserved forever;

But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

 

How does this apply when a believer is under prolonged suffering, when it seems (vs. 25) that he has been forsaken?

 

Job's friends believe it is obvious that he has been forsaken by God.

 

1PE 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

 

1PE 1:4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

 

1PE 1:5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

 

1PE 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

 

1PE 1:7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ

 

JOB 10:3 'Is it right for Thee indeed to oppress, To reject the labor of Thy hands, And to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?

 

If Job's accusation was true than God would be like a man, as all the pagan religions make their gods out to be.

 

JOB 10:4 'Hast Thou eyes of flesh? Or dost Thou see as a man sees?

 

JOB 10:5 'Are Thy days as the days of a mortal, Or Thy years as man's years,

 

Are You limited in life and so You want to afflict me before You die?

 

JOB 10:6 That Thou shouldst seek for my guilt, And search after my sin?

 

Job knows that God is not like a man, but his bitter frustration is demanding anything in order to get an answer.

 

JOB 10:7 'According to Thy knowledge I am indeed not guilty; Yet there is no deliverance from Thy hand.

 

JOB 10:8 ' Thy hands fashioned and made me altogether, And wouldst Thou destroy me?

 

Vv. 7-8 are despair. Job doesn't claim perfection, but he knows he's not wicked, yet he is afflicted anyway, and who could deliver him? He feels completely lost and hopeless. 

 

If God is not the God of the Bible, if He is not Jesus Christ, then we should all feel like this. If life has no meaning that is good and just and there isn't a God to defend it, then we are all doomed and we might as well just do what we want, if we can, before we die.

 

I think it is significant that this seems to be the first written book of the Bible. It is a treatise on the Person of God [Theology Proper] and His overall dealings with men. He is Sovereign, all powerful, and also just and righteous.

 

Yet mankind has distorted the revelation of the Person of Yavah and they have projected Him as humanistic. A humanistic God doesn’t give us much hope. The suffering and despair that we all face would find no relief in a God that behaves like a man.

 

God is not a man that His word, His promises, His covenants should change.

 

NUM 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent;

Has He said, and will He not do it?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"

 

MAL 3:6 "For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed."

 

Yet, people have taken the despair that occurs in every man who is without God, and has put a pretty bow on it, and have actually called it a religion. Man without God has become some kind of romantic struggle and achievement by man alone. He is evolving, He is saving the planet, He is removing all suffering, and yet, none of those things are true. The reality is that man will kill all who raise opposition to this human religion. Communism, national socialism, and the current leftism are all clear testimonies to its evil.

 

The proponents of the human religion have fooled a great portion of the population into believing that it is the best they are going to get.

 

JOB 13:15 "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

 

"I will hope in Him." Job shows that though the mature may become bitter, they do not always lose all of their trust and wisdom.

 

He doesn't know what's going on. He doesn't say this from a heroic position. He is hanging on to his faith white-knuckled, knowing that if he were to die, that he will enter his salvation, for his redeemer lives.

 

JOB 13:16 "This also will be my salvation, For a godless man may not come before His presence.

 

JOB 13:17 "Listen carefully to my speech [he says to his friends], And let my declaration fill your ears.

 

JOB 13:18 "Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I will be vindicated.

 

JOB 13:19 "Who will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.

 

He has set his case before God, so no one can contend with him. He will say no more to his friends and simply die before he argues with anyone who contends with him, however, he is not done with God.

 

JOB 13:20 "Only two things do not do to me, Then I will not hide from Thy face:

 

JOB 13:21 Remove Thy hand from me, And let not the dread of Thee terrify me.

 

In other words, if God will take away his suffering and fear then he can make a proper case before God with an unencumbered mind. Nice try!

 

“If You’ll take the pain away, then I’ll be able to make a better case, and maybe I’ll understand a bit more.” God does not make deals. He knows what is best for us and for all of human history, in which we find ourselves in a portion of it, and there is more at stake than our individual lives. I may suffer so that someone else can see something. I may face a trial for many reasons other than myself. There is no way we could understand it all. All we can do is trust Him explicitly.

 

JOB 13:22 "Then call, and I will answer; Or let me speak, then reply to me.

 

JOB 13:23 "How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin.

 

JOB 13:24 "Why dost Thou hide Thy face, And consider me Thine enemy?

 

JOB 13:25 "Wilt Thou cause a driven leaf to tremble? Or wilt Thou pursue the dry chaff?

 

JOB 13:26 "For Thou dost write bitter things against me, And dost make me to inherit the iniquities of my youth.

 

“Are the faults of my past finally catching up with me?” It is natural to imagine this, but God tells us to forget what lies behind us. It would contradict Him to make us suffer today for a past iniquity.

 

I may have trouble because of past sins, but we are not talking about natural consequences, which are usually physical. We should be able to easily discern that. This is about suffering for which we do not know the cause. It is undeserved. We would naturally wonder if God had been disciplining us for mistakes we made years ago, in our youth, but God clearly reveals that He doesn’t do that. He is not like a man.

 

JOB 13:27 "Thou dost put my feet in the stocks, And dost watch all my paths; Thou dost set a limit for the soles of my feet,

 

JOB 13:28 While I am decaying like a rotten thing, Like a garment that is moth-eaten.

 

We must remember that Job lost all of his wealth, the servants that he loved, the children that he loved, and on top of that, he was afflicted with a hideous and painful skin disease. Satan kept his miserable wife alive and his friends, whose initial intent, when they came to him as he resided outside the city with the lepers and beggars, was to comfort him, couldn’t help their own curiosity as to what sins Job had committed that brought all of this upon him. This is an enormous amount of suffering and for a very long period of time. He certain feels like a decaying rotten thing.

 

However, he has no right to accuse God of anything. This is obvious, but how often do we do it when we are burdened with excessive suffering?

 

God does not change though our circumstances do, therefore our trust should also not change.

 

Remember, even if you have to be reproved:

 

JOB 38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

 

JOB 38:2 "Who is this that darkens counsel

By words without knowledge?

 

JOB 38:3 "Now gird up your loins like a man,

And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

 

JOB 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding,

 

JOB 38:5 Who set its measurements, since you know?

Or who stretched the line on it?

 

JOB 38:6 "On what were its bases sunk?

Or who laid its cornerstone,

 

JOB 38:7 When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

 

It would be great if we didn’t need reproof to come to the right conclusion, but I think we all know that wisdom will not come to us without it. After God goes on in a similar fashion for many, many lines…

 

JOB 42:1 Then Job answered the Lord, and said,

 

JOB 42:2 "I know that Thou canst do all things,

And that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted.

 

JOB 42:3 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'

"Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know."

 

JOB 42:4 'Hear, now, and I will speak;

I will ask Thee, and do Thou instruct me.'

 

JOB 42:5 "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear;

But now my eye sees Thee;

 

JOB 42:6 Therefore I retract,

And I repent in dust and ashes."