Job 1:1-8
Job Was Blameless and Upright
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three
thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. 4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and
they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them,
thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Job 9:14-20
God Has Complete Understanding
14 “How then can I dispute with him?
How can I find words to argue with him?
15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
16 Even if I summoned him and he responded,
I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
17 He would crush me with a storm
and multiply my wounds for no reason.
18 He would not let me catch my breath
but would overwhelm me with misery.
19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty!
And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him?
20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me;
if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
Job 42:1-17
The Epilogue of Job
1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.
16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.
How can we argue with God and win?...Job knows that God has a Complete Understanding of things...How can we sit on the witness stand and tell a Judge that He is the accused?...Job has ask these questions...“How then can I dispute with Him?...How can I find words to argue with Him?...Though I were innocent, I could not answer Him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy...Even if I summoned Him and He responded, I do not believe He would give me a hearing...And from early on we know that Job is the essence of a good and moral man...Job is a blameless and upright man, who feared God and shunned evil...Even God said that there was no man like Job on all the earth...So we know that Job is a good and moral man...
God is Spirit and much greater than us, and Job realizes this in his earthly and human wisdom...God is not on trial...But Job wants God to meet his Judge and have a trial...But Job knows even if he summoned God and God responded, he does not believe God would give me a hearing...But Job wants to know from God why he has to suffer like he has been suffering...
It is difficult to make a Paradigm Shift in life anytime in life...So it maybe more difficult to make a Paradigm Shift, while we suffer...After Job meets God, he has a Paradigm Shift in how he thinks about God...He learns that God can do all things; and that no purpose of God's can be thwarted...Job realized this as he suffered...And when God met Job, He asked Job, ‘Who is this that obscures My plans without knowledge?’...Job learns about the Complete Understanding and the Power of God, as He listens to God speak...So Job had been speaking and asking about things that he did not or could not understand...Job learned that as man, we are flawed in the fact, that God's Complete Understanding and Power make us very, very difficult to communicate with Him - in the sense of having a conversation with Him...Thus, we can only plead to our Judge for mercy...So Job and all of us can learn there are things too wonderful for us to know...Job, in his dialogue throughout the Book of Job, in a sense accuses God of things, which are about his suffering...How can our Judge be both the Accused and be a Perfect Judge?...And if Job is accusing God of some act that should not be, then is Job accusing God of having a flaw, a problem, or an imperfection...God is not the accused...God has none of these attributes...God has no flaws, no problems He cannot solve, and He is Perfect, with no imperfections...And Job sees the inconsistency of his argument, when he meets God...So there are things that are sacred and holy...There are things that are beyond earthly and beyond human wisdom...God told Job to, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’...Job told his God, "My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You...Therefore, after feeling God's Presence, Job despised himself and he repented in dust and ashes."...
God has more than just earthly wisdom...God knows all the ins and outs of our sufferings and He completely understands suffering...God has Divine Wisdom...God is the Perfect Judge for eternity...God is Complete Understanding...Complete Understanding is LOVE, Mercy, and full of Grace...