A Suffering Servant
Introduction
Job is said to be the oldest of the writings of scripture. This does not indicate that it should precede Genesis in our canon of scripture. No, it rightfully finds its place in the poetical books. But it is interesting that before God had penned down the event of creation, He had penned down an examination of the condition of human suffering; perhaps to show that "We are weak, but He is strong."
The book of Job is the classic account of human suffering. And Job himself is the epitome of a suffering servant.
Someone asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied. "They're the only ones who can take it."
Helen Keller said, "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." (Helen Keller quoted in: Barbara Rowes, The book of Quotes)
This is the account of Job.
Sometimes we want to deny or cover up the fact that we suffer. I read this story that reminds us of that fact...
Driving through Texas, a New Yorker collided with a truck carrying a horse. A few months later he tried to collect damages for his injuries. "How can you now claim to have all these injuries?" asked the insurance company's lawyer. "According to the police report, at the time you said you were not hurt." "Look," replied the New Yorker."I was lying on the road in a lot of pain, and I heard someone say the horse had a broken leg. The next thing I know this Texas Ranger pulls out his gun and shoots the horse. Then he turns to me and asks, 'Are you okay?' " (Reader's Digest, July 1994, p. 64)
And it's one thing to hear about the suffering of others, but it's quite another thing to suffer personally. I read about a newspaper reporter who had phoned a story into his editor about an empty truck that rolled down a hill and smashed into a home. The editor seemed unimpressed and told the reporter that he didn't want to run the story. The reporter then said, "I'm glad you're taking this so calmly. It was your house."
Job had probably seen others suffer. But then it happened to him.
I. In This Account Of A Suffering Servant, There Is A Man Of Holiness
A. Look At The Detailed Assessment Of Job
(Job 1:1) "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil."
1. Notice The Details Of His Stainless Character
perfect - Hebrew OT:8535. taam; complete, morally innocent, having integrity (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon)
upright - Hebrew OT:3477. wyaashaar; right, pleasing to God, straightforward, just upright (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon)
2. Notice The Details Of His Spiritual Character
feared (God) - Hebrew 3373. yare', yaw-raw'; from H3372; fearing; mor. reverent:--afraid, fear (-ful). 3372. yare', yaw-ray'; a prim. root; to fear; mor. to revere; caus. to frighten
eschewed - Hebrew 5493. cuwr, soor; a primary root word meaning to turn off. It is also translated in the Old Testament as "decline, depart, put (away, down), turn (away), withdraw, be without.
evil - Hebrew 7451. ra'; from H7489; bad
7489. ra'a', raw-ah'; a primary root meaning to spoil (lit. by breaking to pieces); fig. to make (or be) good for nothing, i.e. bad
He had a reverence for God and a repulsion for evil and that which would spoil him and break him. Such a man seems to good to be true. But he was from Uz, not Oz. He is not a fictional personality.
B. Look At The Divine Assessment Of Job
(Job 1:8) "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?"
1. God Said That Job Was His Servant
servant - Hebrew OT:5650. 'ebed; a slave, a servant (a) a slave, a servant, a man-servant, (b) subjects, (c) servants, worshipers (of God) (Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
2. God Said That Job Was Superlative
there is none like him - (God said that Job was) "the very highest example of virtue and piety on earth." (Barnes')
God's assessment is repeated again...
(Job 2:3) "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? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause."
C. Look At The Devil's Assessment Of Job
(Job 1:9-10) "Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? {10} Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land."
1. Satan Observed That God Had Protected Job
hedge - Hebrew 7753. suwk, sook; a prim. root; to entwine, i.e. shut in (for formation, protection or restraint):--fence (make an) hedge (up).
2. Satan Observed That God Had Prospered Job
blessed - Hebrew OT:1295. beeraktaa; To bless in the Old Testament means "to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity, etc." (From Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament)
increased - Hebrew 6555. parats, paw-rats'; a prim. root; to break out (in many applications, direct and indirect, lit. and fig.):-- X abroad, (make a) breach, break (away, down, -er, forth, in, up), burst out come (spread) abroad, compel, disperse, grow, increase, open, press, scatter, urge.
II. In This Account Of A Suffering Servant, There Is A Multitude Of Heartaches
A. Job's Life Had Brought Him Heartache
Notice The Drastic Suddenness Of His Trial- Job 1:13- 19
Notice The Deep Sorrow Of His Trial- Job 3:1-11
B. Job's Lord Had Brought Him Heartache
He Felt Like The Blessings Of God Had Been Discontinued
(Job 19:7-9) "Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment. (verdict) {8} He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. {9} He hath stripped me of my glory (honour), and taken the crown from my head."
fenced - to wall in or around
"He hath stripped me of my glory" - I am reduced to such circumstances, that I have lost all my honour and respect. (From Adam Clarke's Commentary)
2. He Felt Like The Battle With God Had Been Declared
(Job 19:6) "Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net." overthrown - Hebrew 5791. 'avath; to wrest:-- turn upside down.
The allusion (of the net) may be to an ancient mode of combat practiced among the ancient Persians, ancient Goths, and among the Romans. The custom among the Romans was this: "One of the combatants was armed with a sword and shield, the other with a trident and net. The net he endeavoured to cast over the head of his adversary, in which, when he succeeded, the entangled person was soon pulled down by a noose that fastened round the neck and then despatched. (From Adam Clarke's Commentary)
(Job 19:10-12) "He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree. {11} He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies. {12} His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle."
destroyed - Hebrew 5422. nathats; a prim. root; to tear down:--beat down, break down (out), cast
down, destroy, overthrow, pull down, throw down.
enemies - Hebrew 6862. tsar; an opponent (as crowding):--adversary, foe.
raise up - Hebrew 5549. calal, saw-lal'; a prim. root; to mound up (espec. a turnpike); fig. to exalt; reflex, to oppose (as by a dam):--cast up, exalt (self), extol, make plain.
C. Job's Loved Ones Had Brought Him Heartache
1. He Felt Like A Stranger In His Household
(Job 19:15-17) "They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight. {16} I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I entreated him with my mouth.
{17} My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated for the children's sake of mine own body."
To His Servants - vs. 15-16
stranger - Hebrew 2114. zuwr; a prim. root; to turn aside (espec. for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane:--(come from) another (man, place), strange (-r).
alien - Hebrew 5237. nokriy; strange, in a variety of degrees and applications (foreign, non-relative, adulterous, different, wonderful):-- foreigner, outlandish, strange (-r, woman).
To His Spouse - vs. 17
The idea is, that there had been such a change in him from his disease, that his breath was not that which she had been accustomed to breathe without offence, and that she now turned away from it as if it were the breath of a stranger. [I entreated her] I appealed to her by all that was tender in the domestic relation, but in vain. From this it would seem that even his wife had regarded him as an object of divine displeasure and had also left him to suffer alone. (Barnes' Notes)
2. He Felt Like A Stranger In His Hometown
(Job 19:13-14) "He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me. {14} My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me."
estranged - Hebrew 2114. zuwr; a prim. root; to turn aside (espec. for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane:--(come from) another (man, place), strange (-r).
forgotten - Hebrew 7911. shakach; to mislay, i.e. to be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention:-- (cause to) forget.
(Job 19:18-19) "Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me. {19} All my inward (closest) friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me."
Not only did Job struggle with being a Stranger, but he struggled with being Sick.
(Job 19:20-22) " My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. {21} Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me. {22} Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?"
He said in verse 20 that he was "skin and bones."
Poole observes, quaintly enough, that it means, "I am scarcely sound and whole and free from sores in any part of my skin, except that of my jaws, which holdeth and covereth the roots of my teeth. This being, as divers observe, the devil's policy, to leave his mouth untouched, that be might more freely express his mind, and vent his blasphemies against God, which he supposed sharp pain would force him to do." (Barnes' Notes)
Adam Clarke wrote...
[And are not satisfied with my flesh] Will ye persecute my soul, while God is persecuting my body? Is it not enough that my body is destroyed? Why then labour to torment my mind? (Adam Clarke's Commentary)
There is a lot of speculation as to what his physical infirmity actually was: some form of leprosy, scurvy, elephantiasis, or something else. Whatever the case, it must have been terrible.
III. In This Account Of A Suffering Servant, There Is A Moment Of Hope
Notice what he said earlier...
(Job 19:10) "He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
But for a moment, hope removed becomes hope restored!
(Job 19:23-24) Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! {24} That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
I'm glad God answered this prayer.
A. A Moment When Job Saw The Hope Of A Redeemer
(Job 19:25) For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
redeemer - Hebrew 1350. ga'al; to redeem (according to the Oriental law of kinship), i.e. to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etc.):-- X in any wise, X at all, avenger, deliver, (do, perform the part of near, next) kinsfolk (-man), purchase, ransom, revenger.
This is the concept of the kinsman redeemer that we find in the book of Ruth.
Job has a Goel, an Avenger, who will plead his cause and deliver him from his trouble. (The Pulpit Commentary)
1. God Is Not Dead
He seems now to have forsaken me as if he were dead, but my faith is unwavering in him as a living vindicator.
(Barnes' Notes)
The April 8, 1966 edition of Time Magazine had these words on the cover, "Is God dead?" The great preacher from San Diego, S. M. Lockridge, challenged the "God is dead" philosophy of that era by saying, "Well, if God is dead, who assassinated him? What coroner was called? Who signed his death certificate? Who was so well-acquainted with the One pronounced dead that he could identify the deceased? In what obituary column did you find his name? And why wasn't I notified? I'm one of the next of kin!"
2. God Is Not Defeated
He will stand up, as one does who undertakes the cause of another. (Barnes' Notes)
stand - Hebrew 6965. quwm; a primary root word meaning to rise. It is translated elsewhere in the Old Testament as "abide, confirm, continue, endure, get up, (help to) lift up (again), (a-) rise (up) (again, against), rouse up, set (up), (e-) stablish, (make to) stand (up), stir up, strengthen, succeed.
Some take this statement to refer to Christ's first advent; some relate it to His second advent. Either way, it applies to Him.
B. A Moment When Job Saw The Hope Of A Resurrection
(Job 19:26) "And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:"
1. Job Realized That Death Will Be Coming
"after my skin worms destroy this body"
John Gill wrote...
The worms in his ulcers would consume what was left of his body, which scarce deserved the name of a body, and therefore he points to it, and calls it "this", without saying what it was; but that when he should be entirely stripped of his skin in the grave, then rottenness and worms would strip him also of all the rest of his flesh and his bones; by which he expresses the utter consumption of his body by death, and after it in the grave; and nevertheless, though so it would be, he was assured of his resurrection from the dead:
2. Job Realized That Death Will Be Conquered
"yet in my flesh shall I see God" Martin Luther said...
If we consider the greatness and the glory of the life we shall have when we have risen from the dead, it would not be difficult at all for us to bear the concerns of this world.
Job believed what Paul said...
(Romans 8:18) "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
C. A Moment When Job Saw The Hope Of A Recognition
(Job 19:27) "Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me."
1. Job Said That He Is Suffering Today
"though my reins be consumed within me" This phrase indicates kidney failure.
2. Job Said That He Would Be Seeing Then
He Will See Him Contemplatively
see (for myself) - Hebrew 2372. chazah, khaw-zaw'; a prim. root; to gaze at; mentally to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); spec. to have a vision of:--behold, look, prophesy, provide, see.
He Will See Him Clearly
behold - Hebrew 7200. ra'ah, raw-aw'; a prim. root; to see
The word that Job uses in verse 27, "another" is the Hebrew word zoor, which very expressively means "stranger" or "foreigner." Job is basically saying that when the time comes for him to see his Redeemer, Job will be recognized as himself. He will not be forsaken or forgotten but familiar.
Job was singing this old song before it was written...
I'll not be a stranger when I get to that city; I'm acquainted with folks over there.
There'll be friends there to greet me, There'll be loved ones to meet me
At the gates of that city four square. Through the years, through the tears,
They've gone one by one. But they'll wait at the gate Until my race is run.
I'll not be a stranger when I get to that city I'm acquainted with folks over there.
(Copyrighted by James B. Singleton, Stamps Quartet Music Co., Inc., 1956)
This all teaches us that it may be bad now, but it won't always be this way. There's a better day coming.
God's ultimate purpose in Job's suffering was to bring him into a deeper relationship with Himself. As Job said...
(Job 42:5) "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." Conclusion:
A famous evangelist told the following incident: I have a friend who in a time of business recession lost his job, a sizable fortune, and his beautiful home. To add to his sorrow, his precious wife died; yet he tenaciously held to his faith-the only thing he had left. One day when he was out walking in search of employment, he stopped to watch some men who were doing stonework on a large church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of rock. 'Where are you going to put that?' he asked. The workman said, 'Do you see that little opening up there near the spire? Well, I'm shaping this stone down here so that it will fit in up there.' Tears filled my friend's eyes as he walked away, for the Lord had spoken to him through that laborer whose words gave new meaning to his troubled situation.
(Our Daily Bread)
David, a 2-year old with leukemia, was taken by his mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman who specializes in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman's prognosis was devastating: "He has a 50-50 chance." The countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear and pain-the mother's ordeal can be almost as bad as the child's because she must stand by, unable to bear the pain herself. David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him, he hustled in ahead of his mother with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got. When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap-a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. "If it hurts, remember it's because he loves you," Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, "Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting."
(Monica Dickens, Miracles of Courage, 1985)