7-24-14. Job 13:1-28. Hope In God At Any Cost – my devotional

Job 13:1-28                                                                                          Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 13:15a                                                                                7-24-14

“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;…”

Dear Lord heavenly Father, thank you for sending people into our lives to help lift our burdens and ease our anguish. They are peacemakers. They see others’ burdens and their sufferings and they step up to sacrifice some thing of themselves to ease the burden of their neighbor. I experienced that today. A nurse gave up her slot in an education session for me and literally saved me from three weeks of worry and anguish. Thank you Lord, for sending this nurse into my life at this time. I realize, Lord, that you came to into this world, to those who are weary and burdened. You give us rest as we put your yoke upon us. Thank you for this gift. When the opportunity comes to ease the burden of others around us, help us to step up and do what we can do, in the strength we have been given. Use us to bring peace and calm to the world around us. Please come and calm my heart and mind with your word. I pray in the calming and peaceful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Part 1: A Desire To Talk To God About Righteousness (1-19)

Verses 1-19, “My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it. 2 What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. 3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God. 4 You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you! 5 If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom. 6 Hear now my argument;  listen to the pleas of my lips. 7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him? 8 Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God? 9 Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal? 10 He would surely call you to account  if you secretly showed partiality. 11 Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you? 12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. 13 “Keep silent and let me speak;  then let come to me what may. 14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? 15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. 16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him! 17 Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears. 18 Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated. 19 Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die.” (NIV)

Job experiences something that most new believers experience, persecution because of their desire to know God. Job answers his friends and asks Zophar to be quiet. Look at Job 13:1-3, “My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it. 2 What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. 3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.”   Zophar does not need to speak for God. He and his friends are like worthless physicians. Later, God rebukes them for misrepresenting him (42:7-9). Job did not shrink back at their oppression. He stood his ground. He stood firm on his desire to know God. He held onto his personal integrity and declared his faith. Job, I applaud you.

I think most Christians can identify with Job. When we become Christians, so often we experience persecution. People think that they have gone crazy. They may say that we “have gone too far!”. The saddest things is that those who oppose new Christians can be the closest to us, our own friends and even our family members. It amazes me that a new Christian can have several degrees and be filled with wisdom from a variety of life experiences, but all of that is null and void in the eyes of the persecutors. Just because they hold onto faith in Christ and the Gospel, then their opinions holds no validity. How unreasonable! Christians believe in Jesus for good reasons. They think about why they believe in something. Their conclusions about Jesus have a basis. Why not respect the new believer’s experiences and seek to learn and understand instead of dismissing them? Maybe the new believer knows more than the persecutors do and all they are doing is seeking God, who created both believers and nonbelievers and is the Father of all.

There are those who are willing to argue with God about how they deserve to go to heaven. Job sought to speak what is on his mind to God, no matter what the consequences. Look at verses Job 13:14-15, “14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? 15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face ” If Job were an unbeliever, he would not come to God. He may not have known everything about himself and about God, but he had one great desire, to come before the Lord and talk about things. He has prepared his case before God like a lawyer. He is ready to die if he is proved guilty.

I, personally would never stand before God to defend my ways to him. I know myself. I know my life before the holy God and how I fall short of the glory of God. How can I defend myself when I know that my life in indefensible? My only hope and my only plea is Jesus Christ my Lord. He is my advocate. He is my High Priest. He is my righteousness. Because of him I can stand before the throne of God and be declared right with God. It is through faith in Jesus that I can have a living hope in the kingdom of God. With Christ I can confidently pass through the judgment all the way into the Kingdom of God. If I was to stand before God, I would not try to convince God to let me into heaven because of all the good things that I have done. No. I would say that, on my own I should not be allowed in, but because Jesus died on the cross for my sins, I can enter the Kingdom of God. That is enough. Thank you Lord.

God is so great and a relationship with him is so wonderful, that even if he slays us, hoping in him is still the best thing. Those who do not know God easily reject God. They may say, “God never answers my prayer and so I won’t have anything to do with him.” or “If God allowed this or that type of suffering to occur, I don’t want anything to do with that God.” Such people do not know the God of the Bible, for if they did, they would be like Job and desire to see his face and want to talk to him, even if he slay them. Those who know the Lord will always hope in him.

Part 2: Can We Really Handle Seeing All Our Sins? (20-28)

Verses 20-28, “20 Only grant me these two things, God, and then I will not hide from you: 21 Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. 22 Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me. 23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. 24 Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? 25 Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff? 26 For you write down bitter things against me and make me reap the sins of my youth. 27 You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet. 28 “So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.” (NIV)

We can learn something about human suffering through Job’s quest to speak with God. In Job 13:20-22 Job asks two things of God: that God withdraw his hand of punishment, and that God speak with him directly. “20 Only grant me these two things, God, and then I will not hide from you: 21 Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. 22 Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me “ Job is interpreting his suffering wrongly. God is not causing his suffering and inflicting him with frightening terrors. It is Satan who was doing that.

This brings to mind the questions as to what is the source of all of our suffering? Is it from God or from the devil or from some other source? I don’t want to belittle someone’s suffering. People endure so much suffering every day. If I had to endure what some people had to endure for even one minute, I would crumple and fall to the ground. I have great respect for those who bear up under great suffering.

I think that the amount of our suffering is affected by how we interpret it. I know that when we are persistently worshipping idols in our hearts God may lift the hedge of protection from around us and allow us to taste some of the fruit of our wandering hearts. Romans 1:21-24a, “21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts…”  In this case the suffering we experience is because of our own sins, such as idol worship. So often we are our own worst enemies.

Sometimes our suffering is like training. Think of an Olympian. They suffer a lot, training to be the best. They experience pain on a daily basis. But they have a goal. They know why they are suffering. They embrace their suffering in their quest to win the prize. How we interpret our suffering makes a huge difference. The Apostle Paul suffered a lot as he serves the Lord. But he interpreted it from a spiritual perspective. 1 Corinthians 9: 21-24 reads, “24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (NIV)

There is a hope we have in the midst of our suffering. God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. We must hold on to Jesus in the midst of our suffering. And when we do, Peter says in 1 Peter 5:9, “10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (NIV) God will grant us grace to bear up under the weight of our suffering. He will make us strong, firm and steadfast.

In Christ there will be deliverance of some form. Jesus was made perfect through what he suffered. Hebrews 2:10, “10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.” (NIV) We can grow and become more Christ-like through our suffering, if we embrace it with faith. In the past two years I have had to face depression and anger and relational issues within the family. I suffered emotionally. But I hung onto Jesus. I did not let go of my faith. I continued to serve the Lord. God brought me through it. And as I got through it I learned so much about Jesus, Christian mission, marriage, being a father and a friend, as well human emotions.  I was set free by the power of God and catapulted into the next season of my life with more emotional and spiritual strength. I came to know Jesus more deeply. It all came through tearful suffering. And now I am actually thankful for what I was going through. I learned that God will not protect you from what he wants to use to perfect you.

Becoming aware of our sins can either strengthen us or cripple us. Job asks God to reveal to him how many wrongs and sins he has committed. Job 13:22-23 reads, “22 Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me. 23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.” (NIV)  He asks that God put him on trial and show him his offense. This is a hard request to bear. I know that Job can not handle it if God revealed all of his wrongs and sins. How many people has he hurt? How many people has he neglected? How much bad fruit has been born over the years because of his sins? How much has he hindered the work of God around him because of his sins? There would be too much guilt laid upon him if God revealed everything. The Holy Spirit does convict us of our sins. John 16:7-11 reads, “7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (NIV) God convicts, but God protects us from feeling the full ramifications of our sin. If he did we would be so overwhelmed. Like a good pharmacist, God allows us to be convicted of our sins at exactly the right dose, so that we can repent and come to Jesus for forgiveness and restoration. (Grace) Satan tries to make us aware of all of our sins at once so that we are filled with crippling guilt and fear of condemnation. He tries to render us helpless and useless, like a person who cringing in a dark corner in the fetal position. But God protects us from Satan’s tactics. He uses conviction of sin as a tool to draw us closer to himself and not cripple us.

He has become like a windblown leaf or dry chaff because he has lost direction. God’s punishment is hard for him to endure, but in spite of his complaints, Job seeks God’s face.

Prayer: Lord, my hope is in you. I have no other hope. I can stand before you by faith alone.”

One Word: Seeking God at all costs.