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Sermon Audio is Going Strong and Sermon Outlines for Entire Book of Job Thus Far

Our Sermon Audio.com page is going and over the last month has had over 455 sermons downloaded from it. We are very happy about this. Almost every state in the U.S. and many foreign countries have visited and downloaded from the site. This is where all our sermons will be from now on. Be sure to visit! www.sermonaudio.com/antiochchurch

Instead of giving the sermon outlines for August and September by date, I am just going to list them as a whole. I will try to take out redundant information and thus they will be a bit choppy.

Introduction:

• Today we embark on what I believe will be the richest, most glorious study we have ever engaged in at this church.
• Today we will begin an expository series through the entire book of Job.
• The book of Job is one of the most glorious books in all of Scripture. While every book in the Bible is a wonderful, powerful and glorious book, some seem to have more of an impact on a greater number of people than others. The book of Job is one such book.
• The reason for Job’s timeless and great impact is that it deals with a subject that every person can relate to, suffering. The subject of suffering is a universal condition of mankind and any book that gives explanation to such a topic is going to be popular.
• Further the book of Job is the one book in the entire Bible that reveals the nature of God’s dealings with His creation in general, and mankind in particular in more detail than any other. No other book gives us such knowledge of God’s ways. No other book therefore is more relevant for our time then than Job.
• In the 17^th century, during the time of the British Civil War, the Puritan Independent minister Joseph Caryl began preaching through the book of Job. Caryl would go on to preach over 400 sermons on this book over the course of 24 years. The sermons were collected and in written form they make up a 12 volume commentary on the book. Along with the 159 sermons on Job by Calvin, they are the most profitable studies on Job available.
• In the preface to the first volume of his sermons Caryl gave the reason for his embarking on a study of Job. The reason he gave was the relevance of the book to the trials of the English people during the English Civil War. The suffering they underwent necessitated that they hear a word from God to comfort them through this time of war.
• Caryl said, “These meditations upon this Scripture, well digested and taken in, may be, through the blessing of God upon them, a help to our patience in bearing these afflictions upon the land, a help to our faith in believing, and to our hope in waiting for the Salvation of the Lord. Whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning, but this book was purposefully written, that we through patience and comfort of this Scripture might have hope. Nor do I doubt, but that the Providence of God, without which a sparrow falls not to the ground, directed my thoughts to this book as, not only profitable for all times, but especially seasonable for these times. It is a word in season, and therefore should as a word upon the wheels, make a speedy passage into all our hearts: And how should it not? While we remember that these wheels are oiled with blood, even with the heart-blood of thousands of our dearest friends and brethren.”
• Much like England in Caryl’s time, America is in a time of suffering. Thus the same can be said today about Job’s relevance to us. America is going through a time of terrible war and Islamic terrorism. Islam is seeking to destroy us. Our politicians seem to be clueless as to even who the real enemy is, let alone how to defeat them. Religious pluralism and political correctness is making it impossible for the church to carry out its mission without suffering legal persecution and prosecution, while at the same time these humanistic philosophies make it all the more easy for false religions to make dramatic headway in reaching their own ungodly goals. The attack upon the nation and our leader’s resultant illegitimate and fruitless response is leading to economic disaster and more suffering. Most cultural and economic analysts are predicting that these are but the beginning of America’s sorrows. This is indeed a time of trial for God’s covenant people in this nation.
• Keeping this in mind what book could be more relevant than the Book of Job to our situation today? So, in consideration of these things, it is my desire to proclaim God’s truth and comfort, from this book, so that we may be equipped for our dark times as well as those to come.
• But before we begin to examine the text of Job in its particulars it is important that we have a proper overview of the book as a whole. This is true anytime we try to expound on a book verse by verse. Often times we get so focused on the particular verses of a book in Scripture that we forget the grandeur of the book as a whole, not taking in the whole context, purpose, and design of the book. (Shenandoah Valley vs. woodpecker holes/Grand Canyon) The same can be said of Scripture.
• The reason we must study an overview of the book is so that we have the proper perspective to begin examining the book. This must be seen as three-fold: 1.) We have to understand the purpose, theology, and message of the book as a whole before we can understand the particular contents. This is true of any book and of the Bible as a whole. The very theology of the Bible and each book of the Bible is the standard for interpreting it. That is why when someone has an askew theology he cannot understand hardly any verse of Scripture properly. This can be seen in the fact the Dispensationalists, Arminians, and others do not know how to interpret Scripture properly.(Ever try to debate these types/Not speaking the same language) 2.) We must understand the basics of the book such as its structure, date, author, place of composition, themes, and other related matters so that we understand the context in and by which it was written. The circumstances leading to the writing of a book are key to understanding it properly. 3.) We must set in order the interpretive methodology for understanding the book. Job is a unique book with a unique literary composition. We must recognize this or we will never understand the book. In short, To fulfill our goal of gaining a proper and profitable understanding of the contents, message, lessons, teachings, and doctrines of the Book of Job, we must first learn to study it with the proper interpretive methodology and thereby gain an understanding of the Book as a whole.
• So today and for the next few weeks we will study the book of Job as a whole. In doing so we will cover four ways we must study this book. We must have the proper Attitude, Aim, Appreciation, and Approach when studying this book.
• Our sermon today will deal with the subject of Attitude. The point of today’s sermon is that: Proposition—Because Our Goal is to Rightly Study and Gain a Profitable Understanding of Job, We Must Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book.
• Attitude is key when studying a book. Our Attitude is our disposition or mind-set and is very determinative concerning how we view the book. Our Attitude determines our feelings toward the book. If we come to a complex book like Job with the wrong Attitude we will not grasp its contents and message. Job’s complexity makes this necessary more than most other books.

              I.      To Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book of Job We Must Be Content with what is Concealed. (There are certain matters about the book of Job that are concealed from us. They are uncertain. God has not chosen to reveal to us the facts concerning these matters and we should be content with this.) There are three basic matters that God has chosen to conceal from us. They are: 1) Who wrote the book, 2) when it was written and took place, and 3) where it was written and took place.

A.     The first thing Concealed concerning Job is WHO wrote Job? (i.e. Authorship)

                                    1.            The Fact is we do not know who wrote the Book of Job.

a.       No Author is given. Unlike many books of the Bible (e.g. Paul’s Epistles, The Revelation of John, many of the Prophets, etc.) the Book of Job does not give us a record of it’s authorship.

b.      The literary style does not coincide exactly with any other writer of Scripture. The language of Job is a strange dialect resembling Arabic & Aramaic and containing many Aramaisms & Arabisms and is unlike any other Book of the Bible in this regard.

c.       There is no unanimity with regard to tradition as to who wrote the book as there is with other portions of Scripture (e.g. Moses—Pentateuch; Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

                                    2.            There are many theories as to the authorship of the book.

a.       Lowth, Magee, and Lee regard Job as the author.

b.      Lightfoot and others ascribe the work to Elihu.

c.       Luther, Grotius, and others think Solomon wrote the book.

d.      Warburton ascribes it to Ezra.

e.       Others say it was written by a poet at the time of Solomon or to one after the Jewish exile.

f.        There as many theories as there are scholars it would seem.

                                    3.            The most conceivable and feasible theory is the rabbinic tradition that Moses wrote Job. The Syriac Peshitta places Job after Deuteronomy to honor this tradition. This is in fact the oldest of the rabbinic traditions. Many other scholars such as Caryl, Beza, Kennicott, Michaelis, Dathe, and Good share this view. This is very possible for a numer of reasons:

a.       The author of Job appears to have had firsthand experience of Egyptian culture, geography and literature as Moses would have had being raised in Pharaoh’s court as his nephew.

b.       The author of Job had extensive knowledge of the arts, sciences, and wildlife. He seems to have traveled a lot and become familiar with multiple countries and cultures. He was familiar with the world literature of his day including that of Syria and Mesopotamia. The author thus appears to be among the intellectual elite of his day. Moses fits this description being educated as royalty by the Egyptians, most assuredly traveling with them, and later, after his exile to Midian being an outdoorsman and shepherd he would be familiar with all the wildlife in the area as well. 

c.       The author was also familiar with nature in such things as storms and various topographies and climates such as mountains, seas, and deserts. He also was very knowledgeable about the stars and constellations. These things would fit with both Moses’ early education and his later learning while wanderings as a shepherd in the wilds of Arabia.

d.      The author of Job is familiar with the creation of man. He speaks of it in chapters 4, 10, 27, 32 and 33 in almost identical terms as Moses in Genesis 2 and 3 probably before Genesis was even written. Therefore it is likely that the same author wrote the two books because the author of Job would not have had Genesis to use as a reference.

e.       In 31:33 of Job the fall of Adam is mentioned. He is described as hiding just as in Genesis 3 probably before Genesis was written.

f.        In 16:18 an allusion to the murder of Abel can be found. Similar language is used.

g.       The description of the patriarchal times Job lived in coincide exactly with Moses’ account in Genesis showing familiarity with the contents of Genesis probably before it was even written.

h.       The names used for God coincide with the Genesis account of the Patriarchal times composed by Moses, such as Shadai, El, Eloah, and Elohim. Yahweh is not used in the dialogue of the book’s characters but is used in the prologue and epilogue and by Job himself. This would coincide with Moses writing most of the book before God’s revelation of His covenant name to Moses at the burning bush. Moses then, after God revealed himself to him more fully, probably completed the book after this revelation, thus using the name Yahweh to refer to God by name in the prose portions. In other words he updated the work. This completed the work and made it apply more specifically to the Hebrews.

                                    4.            All of these lead us to the probable solution that Moses wrote the book of Job while in his forty year residence in Arabia. Moses probably used the widely known story of Job and possible written records composed by Job or someone else to write the literary masterpiece we have today. If so, he took these documents, compiled them, edited them under God’s guidance and inspiration and poeticized them to give them a literary beauty. Moses could have come into contact with these documents through Jethro, his father-in-law who was a priest in Midian. Moses most likely wrote the book to provide for the Hebrew people an explanation for their suffering and comfort in their trials during the Egyptian bondage. In this book, if he was the author, Moses represented to the Hebrews in their trials the duty of submission to the will of God and to furnish the assurance that He, God, would yet appear to crown with abundant blessings his own people, however much they might be afflicted. This theory of authorship is further bolstered by the following facts:

a.       Moses spent forty years in various parts of Arabia in an area where the story of Job would have been well known. Thus he would have been quite familiar with the facts surrounding the history of Job’s life.

b.      His education in Egypt as a nephew to Pharaoh would have equipped him with the education and genius to write such a literary masterpiece.

c.       Moses would have been the most likely person to write a book about the righteous suffering undeservedly due to his Hebrew countrymen’s trials in Egypt.

d.      The events of Job took place very near to Midian where Moses resided for forty years with his father-in-law Jethro.

                                    5.            So in conclusion, while we cannot say dogmatically or with absolute certainty who wrote the book of job, the author of Job was probably Moses. And while all of  this is important, it is not absolutely necessary for our study and understanding of the book. If knowing the identity of the author of Job was absolutely needed for the study of the book to be profitable, God would have revealed to us who the author was. The most important thing for us to remember is that whoever the human earthly author of Job was, we know with absolute assurance who the heavenly author was: God the Holy Spirit. He is the true author of Job. He inspired and superintended the human author to record His words, His story, His record of the events surrounding Job’s life and trials. God is the author and we can know this with certainty. As for the human author, we must be content to leave it in the hands of God, and not insist upon certainty with regard to its authorship.

B.     The second thing Concealed concerning Job is WHEN Job was written and WHEN did the events occur? (i.e. Date)

                                    1.            The fact is, just like with Job’s authorship, we cannot be certain when Job was written or exactly when the events took place. However, there are many indications that give us a general idea on these matters and relative certainty concerning Job’s dating.

                                    2.            Date of Composition—WHEN Job was Written: Early (Pre-Exodus) Times.

a.       Some of the evidence for the early composition of Job is found in extra-Biblical literature. The Qumram scrolls (Dead Sea Scrolls) include only the Pentateuch and Job in Paleo-Hebrew script. This form of script was an archaizing invention to distinguish these books as the oldest compositions in the Old Testament. This means that this Jewish tradition held that Job was one of the oldest books in the Bible.

b.      The suffering of the righteous was a topic of much ancient literature. Many ancient compositions resembled Job both in subject matter and structure and are of a very ancient date. This points to Job being written during the same time because of the popularity of this subject matter and way of structuring literary works in that time period. It would make perfect sense for Job to have been written contemporary with these others Near Eastern texts.

                                                                                                         i.            “I will praise the Lord of Wisdom” i.e. The Babylonian Job ca. 1600-1150 B.C.

                                                                                                       ii.            Some Akkadian texts like the former are even earlier.

                                                                                                      iii.            A Sumerian text that is even more like Job dates from about 2000-1700 B.C.

                                                                                                     iv.            The Babylonian Theodicy dates to around 1400-1000 B.C.

                                                                                                       v.            The Egyptian texts: “Dispute Over Suicide” dates to around the end of the 3^rd Millennium B.C and “The Protests of the Eloquent Peasant” dates to around the early 2^nd Millennium B.C. (More about these Texts Later)

                                                                                                     vi.            The conclusion we need to draw concerning these texts is that it is most feasible to conclude that Job was written during the same time. It is amazing how so many scholars refuse to admit that Job was written during the same time as these Ancient Near Eastern texts while at the same time insisting on these other texts ancient origin. This is a major inconsistency and shows a preconceived bias on the part of so-called scholars to reject the ancient composition of Job. It is not based on textual and historical evidence but evolutionary and humanistic philosophy that doubts God’s word implicitly without even examining it.  

c.       Another evidence for the early composition of Job is that there are so many similarities between Job and the other Biblical books, especially Proverbs and Psalms that it is almost certain that the writers quoted Job. This puts Job before the time of David and Solomon. Moses most likely alluded to the book of Job in the Pentateuch too.

d.      Isaiah alludes to Job many times in his prophecies of the Suffering Servant thus Job was written before 740 B.C.

e.       Ezekiel knew of the account of Job by 600 B.C.

f.        Another evidence for the early date of Job is the Books literary features. The language of Job is ancient. Its literary style and linguistic form are that of an archaic epic. The poetry of the book only includes the simplest form of Hebrew parallelism which was used in the oldest books of Scripture; the later books have more complex poetry and parallelism. It contains more unique vocabulary than any other Old Testament book. It has more hapax legomena than any other book of the Old Testament. It is ancient Hebrew with many elements of Arabic, Ugaritic, and Aramaic. The spellings and word forms are primitive. It is very unlikely if not impossible that a later author could have “faked” it and wrote in this ancient language and dialect.

                                    3.            Date of Circumstances: We have a little more information on when Job took place. We are not absolutely certain when Job took place but we are relatively sure it was in the Patriarchal Times. There are many reasons for this conclusion.

a.       The theology of the people recorded in Job was a very simple monotheism. Idolatry does not seem very prevalent during Job’s time. This indicates that the time was very early.

b.      There is no written revelation from God mentioned in the book but instead oral tradition and direct revelation through dreams and other immediate means. This means Job was probably written before any other Biblical book.

c.       Some of the most convincing evidence leading to the Patriarchal times is the conditions surrounding Job and his lifestyle.

                                                                                                         i.            Job’s name was very common around the 2^nd millennium B.C.

                                                                                                       ii.            Job’s wealth is measured in terms of flocks and herds (1:3).

                                                                                                      iii.            He is the head of, and priest for, his family and household (1:5).

                                                                                                     iv.            His offerings are of the earliest form and are Pre-Mosaic (1:5).

                                                                                                       v.            The attacks on Job by the Sabeans and Chaldeans occurred while they were nomads which was true during the Patriarchal age (1:5, 17).

                                                                                                     vi.            The term for money used in 42:11 is only used elsewhere in reference to Jacob (Genesis 33:19; Joshua 24:32).

                                                                                                    vii.            The names for God (El, Eloah) are generally pre-Mosaic. Shaddai is used 31 times in Job but only 16 times in the rest of the Old Testament. This points to a time when Yahweh had not been revealed fully as God’s special covenant name.

                                                                                                  viii.            Job’s great age and long life are indicative of the lifespan of the patriarchs.

                                                                                                     ix.            There is no mention of such major events as the Exodus, the judgment of Egypt, the Sinai legislation, or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, all of which would have been very useful in the argument over justice and God’s judgments and ways as found in the dialogue of Job.

                                                                                                       x.            There is no mention of the people or nation of Israel, thus they had not become a nation yet.

                                                                                                     xi.            The method of sacrifice was patriarchal and not centralized in the Levitical Priesthood, Tabernacle, or Temple. Fathers sacrificed on behalf of their families. This would be condemned after Sinai.

C.     The third thing Concealed concerning Job is WHERE Job was written and WHERE did the events of the book take place? (i.e. Location)

                                    1.            Location of Composition

a.       We really cannot say with any certainty at all where Job was written.

b.      However, if we accept the theory defended earlier about Moses writing the book we can assume he wrote it in Arabia and Egypt.

c.       Most likely Moses wrote the majority of the book while living in Midian before the Exodus of the Children of Israel out of Egypt.

                                    2.            Location of Circumstances

a.       We have a little more assurance about the location of the events recorded in Job.

b.      We are told in the opening verse of the book that Job lived in the land of Uz. This area as far as we know was located in what is today Northern Saudi Arabia or possibly Jordan and maybe including Syria.

                                                                                                         i.            Genesis 10:23 says that Uz, the man who the land of Uz was most likely named after, was one of the “sons of Aram”. Therefore see that Uz is associated with the Syrian and Arabian land of the OT Arameans.

                                                                                                       ii.            This is further reinforced by Gen. 22:20-21 we see that Abraham’s brother Nahor named one of his sons Uz, thus this family name was quite popular. The Arameans kept naming their children in this way.

                                                                                                      iii.            Further, Gen. 36:28 says that one of the chiefs of the Horites who inhabited the land of Edom, and who were descendents of the Aram, was named Uz. Thus Edom is associated with Uz.

                                                                                                     iv.            We will probably deal with this more fully when we examine the text of Job itself in months to come.

Conclusion to Section 1

• Today we have dealt with the Who, When, and Where of the book of Job and the one thing we have learned is that there is much that we cannot know concerning these things with absolute certainly.
• The lesson to take to heart here today is that we are to have an Attitude of Contentment concerning these uncertain matters. I have made an attempt to give us some information and evidence for a certain viewpoint on the Date, Authorship, and Location of the book of Job. However, I want to stress that no matter how convincing the arguments I have presented might be, it is still to a degree, speculative.
• We cannot be dogmatic on these issues. A good rule of thumb on these issues is found in Deuteronomy 29:29—The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. There is much that is Concealed about God’s Word. There is much that is secret. God has chosen not to reveal these things to us and we need to just accept this. We need to be Content.
• These things do not belong to us, they belong to God. We need to be content with leaving the secret things in God’s hands. There is plenty that is revealed, and does belong to us to keep us busy. The things that are revealed are more than adequate to give us everything we need that pertains to life and godliness, “through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
• Let us be content with both what is Concealed and what is Revealed, and if we do this we will be equipped for what the rest of Deuteronomy 29:29 says is the purpose for which God revealed His Word to us: “that we may do all the words of this law.”

Introduction to Section 2

• So we began last week with a study of the book of Job as a whole. We will continue this overview for many weeks to come. In doing so we will cover four ways we must study this book. We must have the proper Attitude, Aim, Appreciation, and Approach when studying this book.
• As with last week our sermon today will deal with the subject of Attitude. The point of today’s sermon is that: Proposition—Because Our Goal is to Rightly Study and Gain a Profitable Understanding of Job, We Must Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book.
• Attitude is key when studying a book. Our Attitude is our disposition or mind-set and is very determinative concerning how we view the book. Our Attitude determines our feelings toward the book. If we come to a complex book like Job with the wrong Attitude we will not grasp its contents and message. Job’s complexity makes this necessary more than most other books.
• Last week we covered one of four elements of a proper Attitude for studying Job. These four elements are 1.) Contentment with what is Concealed, 2.) Confidence in what is Contained, 3.) Compliance with what is Commanded, and 4.) Being Cautious with what is Controversial.
• Last week we were only able to cover the first. We learned how we are to be Content with what is Concealed from us about the book of Job. We saw how Job’s Authorship, Date, and Location are not revealed to us by God and therefore we can never be certain about them. It is therefore very important not to have an Attitude of dogmatism concerning these matters, but rather be Content that if God wanted us to know these things, He would have revealed them to us in His Word.

•  A good rule of thumb on these issues is found in Deuteronomy 29:29—The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. There is much that is Concealed about God’s Word. There is much that is secret. God has chosen not to reveal these things to us and we need to just accept this. We need to be Content.

• These things do not belong to us, they belong to God. We need to be content with leaving the secret things in God’s hands. The reason we can do this is due to the truth of today’s sermon: God has revealed much more to us about the book of Job than He has concealed from us. These revealed things do belong to us and our children forever. While we might not have certainty regarding the “Who, When, and Where” of Job, we can have absolute confidence in the “What” of Job.
• This leads us to the topic of our sermon today:

           II.      To Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book of Job We Must Be Confident in what is Contained in the Book.

A.     First, we Must Be Confident that Job is Revelation (i.e. its Inspiration).

                                    1.            Job is an inspired record of God’s revelation. Job’s Inspiration is questioned by many so-called scholars and commentators who try to rework Job’s structure because of difficult passages in the book. These scholars cannot see how the various portions of Job line up together as a coherent whole because they are biased. This bias is not based upon a legitimate attempt at interpreting the book to see if it is coherent but is due to their own autonomous and humanistic modern literary standards. Rather than accept the canonical structure of Job, many of these so-called scholars try to rework the book to coincide with their own autonomous theological ideas and humanistic standards of literary criticism.

a.       First, it is believed that the prose narrative and the poetic dialogue had two different authors with two different purposes and stories. However there is no evidence of this and much that argues against it.

                                                                                                         i.            For one thing, neither portion can stand on its own. The prose narrative is only a portion of a story, the opening and conclusion. Without the dialogue it makes no sense. The same is true of the dialogue. It makes no sense at all without the opening and closing narrative which gives its context.

                                                                                                       ii.            Also without the opening narrative we can have no understanding of why Job suffered nor can we know that his claim to innocence is true. Without the scene in Heaven between Satan and God, the story gives no answers at all to the issues it addresses.

                                                                                                      iii.            Moreover, the rebuke of God against the three friends for their sinful speech has no reference without the dialogue that records the speeches that caused the rebuke.

                                                                                                     iv.            These are just a few of the problems with denying either the prose or poetic portions of the book. Lose either one and the entire story falls apart.

b.      A second distortion of the structure of Job is the claim that the Third Cycle of Speeches is corrupted. This view states that because the cycle is not complete—Bildad’s speech is said to be too short and Zophar does not give his third speech and this is not acceptable to these scholars—portions of the cycle must have been misplaced. Some are given to Zophar, some taken from Job, some given to Bildad. This error misses one of the most important elements of the story’s plot.

                                                                                                         i.            The reason Bildad’s third speech is so short and Zophar doesn’t give one is that the debate had degenerated to the point where the three friends had nothing more they could say. They had lost the debate. Job vanquished them and his last long speech was the final blow.

                                                                                                       ii.            This explains the disputed elements and also why chapter 28 comes into play at this point. Chapter 28 is the author’s commentary and meditation upon the dispute thus far and how the failure of the friends resided in their not having God’s wisdom which begins with the fear of the Lord.

                                                                                                      iii.            This explanation also sets us up for the angry young Elihu to enter the debate. He realized that the men had not refuted Job and he decided to give what he saw as the true solution.

c.       A third distortion of Job’s structure is the view that the Hymn to Wisdom—Interlude/Meditation in Chapter 28 does not fit the story and was a later addition.

                                                                                                         i.            The truth is that this chapter is one of the most important features of the entire book.

                                                                                                       ii.            It serves in many capacities. First it is a transitional passage from the dialogue portion of the book to the monologue portion of the book.

                                                                                                      iii.            Second, it serves as the author’s commentary upon the failure thus far of the debate between Job and the friends and the necessity for God to intervene.

                                                                                                     iv.            It declares that the answer to the book’s dilemma is the wisdom of God which begins with the fear of the Lord.

                                                                                                       v.            Thus this meditation serves as preparation for the arrival of God to solve the problem. Without this chapter the book would not be complete, it would be missing a very integral part.

d.      Some deny the speeches of Elihu and claim that they are a later edition to the book.

                                                                                                         i.             However, these speeches are also integral to the plot. They serve as another preparation for the arrival of God as he comes to silence this angry young man from his foolish discourse.

                                                                                                       ii.            Elihu is comic relief for the audience reading Job. The failed debate has led to a lot of tension and Elihu’s coming and making a fool of himself is an amusing interlude.

                                                                                                      iii.            Also it is in the midst of Elihu making the point that God does not visit men directly but reveals himself to men through various intermediate means, when God shows up. Elihu is illustrating his case by referring to a storm when God shows up in the very storm itself. This again is comic relief.

e.       Lastly, even the Lord’s Speeches are denied by some.

                                                                                                         i.            The ridiculous nature of this can be seen by the fact that if God doesn’t answer Job, none of the book makes any sense at all.

                                                                                                       ii.            Job’s cries for an audience with God go unanswered.

                                                                                                      iii.            God makes no verdict on the debate. His appearing in the prose epilogue would be truncated. In short the book would lose all meaning.

f.        It is clear that Job is a story, a narrative. It has a plot and the dialogue is simply a portion of the plot. It is a part of the narrative itself. To divorce any part from the whole would destroy the entire story of Job. Job undeniably has all the features of a completed text. While many attempts have been made to reduce, edit, or restructure the book by either rearranging the material or cutting some of it out altogether, none of these attempts has succeeded in providing a unified and coherent story. All have failed miserably. It should also be noted that we have no such restructure of Job in any of the ancient manuscripts of the book. There is thus no proof for these modern theories. Anyone without a preconceived bias against the book based upon modern humanistic literary criticism can easily see that the book of Job is a unified and well constructed story. It stands strong as we have it today.

g.       One thing that should be pointed out about all these attacks on the unity and inspiration of Job is that all of them are based upon the theory that multiple authors wrote the book rather than one.

                                                                                                         i.            However, the fact is that while we who hold to Job’s inspiration and current structure as valid do believe that one main author wrote the book, we do not deny that he may have used other written documents in constructing the book. In fact I contend that he most likely did as I said last week. But this is no argument against its inspiration or its unity.

                                                                                                       ii.            The truth of the matter is that even if there were multiple authors of the book this is still not any proof against its inspiration. Many of the books of the OT had multiple authors and editors or compilers so this would not mean anything even if it were true of Job.

h.       It is ironic that with regard to the book of Job (itself a study in irony), which teaches the mysterious nature of God’s ways, man attempts to judge this divine book by subjective human standards. To fall into this trap is to miss one of the main teachings of the book. We may not judge God, His works, or His truth by human standards. We need His wisdom coming from a hearty fear of Him.

i.         The truth is that not until recent scholarship began to question Job’s authenticity did anyone ever question Job’s inspiration and place in the canon of God’s inspired revelation.

                                    2.            The only evidence we really need concerning Job’s Inspiration that it is attested to by other inspired authors of Scripture.

a.       Ezekiel mentions Job in Ezekiel 14:14 (We will examine this text later)

b.      James mentions Job in James 5:11 (again more later)

c.       Jesus attests to the inspiration of Job when he refers to the Scriptures in the form of Jewish canon that existed in His day. He refers to the Old Testament inspired Scriptures by calling them those “written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” These three sections of the Jewish Canon always included the book of Job either in the section Jesus calls the Psalms (i.e. the Writings or Hagiographa) or the Prophets.

d.      The Apostle Paul quotes Job as Scripture in two of his epistles.

                                                                                                         i.            Romans 11:35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” is a quote of Job 41:11. This quote is given in the context of many other quotes from the Old Testament. Paul simply includes it as just another inspired text.

                                                                                                       ii.            1 Corinthians 3:19 “As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” is a quote of Job 5:13. Notice Paul says “It is written”. This obviously refers to the Old Testament Scriptures as it does in every case when he uses this phrase.

                                    3.            Now, some clarifications must be made concerning the inspiration of the book.

a.       First, just because the book is inspired, this doesn’t mean that every speech and action of its subjects is inspired.

                                                                                                         i.            The important thing is that the record is inspired. The author was inspired to record the events as they actually took place and did so without error.

                                                                                                       ii.            This does not mean that everything he recorded the characters saying or doing was inspired however.

                                                                                                      iii.            For instance we know Satan was not inspired.

                                                                                                     iv.            This is important because we must distinguish between the true things the speakers say and the things that are false. We must be very careful here, especially with the speeches of the three friends and Elihu where there is much falsehood mixed with the truth. Most of what these men say is false ultimately but there are some truths within their speeches too.

                                                                                                       v.            We have to refine the silver from the dross, to separate the wheat from the chaff.

b.      Second, we need to be careful about how we view the inspiration of Scripture. It seems that the historic Reformed understanding of this doctrine is often misunderstood by many in the church today.

                                                                                                         i.            Inspiration is unfortunately understood by many today, even in Reformed churches, to be the falsehood of dictation. This is the view that Scripture was dictated by God and the human authors were mere secretaries who took down for inscripturation what God spoke, and thus were passive rather than active agents in the process. This falsehood is dishonoring to the Scriptures in that it is indefensible.

                                                                                                       ii.            It is clear that God used men, their personal faculties, character, talents, dispositions, experiences, knowledge, and personalities to write His Word. To deny this is to make inspiration indefensible and a joke.

                                                                                                      iii.            Inspiration is not just revelation. In fact the two are quite distinct. Revelation actually precedes inspiration.

                                                                                                     iv.            Inspiration has to do with the method of inscripturating divine revelation whether what is written came to the writer by either direct communication from God, from the writers own research, from his own experience, or from preexisting (i.e. extant) records (as I maintain Job was).

                                                                                                       v.            Inspiration includes the superintending work of the Holy Spirit, but the human writers of Scripture were not mere automatons. Man is not a word processor and God the typist.

                                                                                                     vi.            Each writer of Scripture had his own style. Each one used the Hebrew or Greek language according to his own unique gifts and educational background. At the same time God used human authors in harmony with their gifts, He also communicated His own Word and thus Holy Scripture is His Word and Not merely man’s.

                                                                                                    vii.            But we must understand that Scripture is both the Word of God and the words of men. Inspired men, specially chosen by and moved upon by the Holy Spirit, but men nonetheless.

                                                                                                  viii.            This dynamic view of Inspiration, allows for the use of human faculties and at the same time assures that God secured His predetermined ends so that in the fullest sense, the Bible is the Word of God written. Therefore, because this Inspiration extends to the entire corpus of Scripture, the Bible, while the written product of fallible men, is plenarily and verbally God-breathed, and thus infallible and inerrant.

                                                                                                     ix.            This is the historic, Reformed and orthodox doctrine of Inspiration, not the modern idea of dictation we see it extremist fundamentalist circles.

B.     Secondly, We Must Be Confident that Job is Reliable (i.e. its Historicity)

                                    1.            Job’s Historicity is proved by the Nature and Contents of the Record Itself.

a.       Job is expressly stated to have existed, there is no indication from the narrative that it was meant to be allegorical.

b.      The narrative of the book is simple and straightforward and obviously a historical record of an actual occurrence.

c.       Other records comparable to Job in other portions of the Bible are historical and not allegorical.

d.      The specifications of places and names in the book are not such as would occur in an allegory. Had it been merely a “supposed case” to illustrate some great truth, these specifications would have been unnecessary, and would not have occurred. Examples:

                                                                                                         i.            Job, his country of residence—Uz— and his second group of daughters, among other things are all named.

                                                                                                       ii.            His wealth and stature are described in great detail including the number of his livestock and children.

                                                                                                      iii.            The three friends and Elihu are all named as well as their origins.

                                                                                                     iv.            Not only robbers are mentioned in the book but Chaldeans and Sabeans.   

e.       These minute specifications are not in the known and recognized parables of Scripture. For example:

                                                                                                         i.            The Prodigal Son is not named, neither is his brother or father, or the place where it occurred.

                                                                                                       ii.            The same could be said about the parables of the Ten Virgins, the Unjust Steward, the Good Samaritan, and most others.

                                                                                                      iii.            Even in the one Parable where a man is mentioned by name, Lazarus and the Rich Man, only one character is mentioned by name.

                                    2.            Job’s historicity is proved by Ancient Texts from Surrounding Cultures Contemporaneous with Job. (We mentioned these texts last week when determining the book’s date of composition)

a.       Egyptian: “The Protests of the Eloquent Peasant”.

                                                                                                         i.            This work has a similar format to Job in that it is poetry between a prose prologue and epilogue.

                                                                                                       ii.            It also deals with the subject matter of an innocent sufferer.

b.      Egyptian: “Dispute Over Suicide”.

                                                                                                         i.            This text also deals with undeserved suffering.

                                                                                                       ii.            It also has elements like Job. The prose and poetry structure is the same. The character in the story desires death like Job, laments over injustice like Job, and desires defense from God and a mediator like Job.

c.       Egyptian: “The Admonitions of Ipu-wer”.

                                                                                                         i.            This text deals with some of the same issues as Job.

                                                                                                       ii.            It deals mainly with issues related to injustice and social upheaval.

d.      Babylon: “I will praise the Lord of Wisdom” i.e. The Babylonian Job.

                                                                                                         i.            This text is the most famous parallel with Job and is very much like it.

                                                                                                       ii.            It deals with the case of a man of high rank, much like Job who suffers undeservedly.

e.       Other works include a number of Akkadian texts including “A Dialogue about Human Misery” as well as Sumerian texts.

f.        The point of all this is that the case of a very famous and righteous man, most likely of high rank in society who suffered undeservedly, was very well known in the ancient world. It was so well known that many written works were penned about it by every major culture and nation. This would be very unlikely if there was no actual historical case to base it on. Therefore we can rest reasonably sure that the basic events in Job actually took place.

g.       However Job is unique. When it is compared with these other works it is seen to be much more detailed, more profound, and more realistic. It also deals with the issues it covers, such as human suffering, in a way that actually explains and answers the questions posed. No other ancient text in this genre does so. While the Ancient Near Eastern works contemporary with Job do deal with Theodicy, the answer they give is the opposite of Job. They take the position of Job’s three friends, which God condemns.

                                    3.            Job’s historicity is proved by other Inspired Authors of Scripture Declaring Job to be a Historical Person.

a.       Ezekiel 14:14, 16 “Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD…As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.”

                                                                                                         i.            In this text Ezekiel compares Job to two other historical men recorded in the Bible: Noah from Genesis and Daniel the prophet. It is certain that Ezekiel regarded Job as much a real person as the other two.

                                                                                                       ii.            All three are referred to as real men, with real souls, who were truly righteous and were intercessors. Their children are referred to. Thus Job’s intercession for his children and the three friends is used as a historical example.  Only true and real persons could be referred to as examples like Ezekiel uses them here. Fictional persons could not be examples of true righteousness.

                                                                                                      iii.            A parallel example of a text like this one is Jeremiah 15:1 “Then the LORD said to me, ‘Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people’.”

a)      This is the same type of text as that in Ezekiel 14. It is a good guide for us in interpreting the former.

b)      Just as Ezekiel compares three historical figures—Job, Daniel, and Noah—Jeremiah compares two historical figures: Moses and Samuel. He does so in the same way and with the same intent—to show that their righteousness would not be enough to intercede for the gravity of Israel’s sins.

b.      James 5:10-11 “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

                                                                                                         i.            James here compares Job to the prophets as great examples of patience and endurance in suffering. The prophets are real historical figures and Job is put in the same class as them.

                                                                                                       ii.            A fictional character would not be a proper example for those who suffer to emulate; a true person would be the only proper example. These examples are given to provide hope to the people of God. How could fictional characters do this? If fictional characters were mentioned the obvious response would be, “Those people never existed; I am a real person suffering.”

                                                                                                      iii.            Six verses later James refers to Elijah, another historical example, in a similar way as Job.

c.       In all these examples true historical figures are referred to exclusively. If Job is a fictional character this would be an anomaly in these references. Why would these biblical authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit confuse their readers by including Job exclusively with true historical figures if he was a fictional character? This would make no sense at all.

                                    4.            Objection: The Poetic Nature of the Account

a.       There is only one objection to Job’s Historicity worthy to even mention. However, it is an objection that carries enough weight with some scholars to merit a refutation. This objection is that the poetic nature of the dialogue portion of the book makes it unlikely that it is an actual historical account. It is argued that no one speaks in such a poetic way and nor could they have done so during a heated debate without ample time to prepare their speeches. The answer to this objection is two-fold.

                                                                                                         i.            First it must be recognized that this objection is based upon a false assumption about the various speeches in the dialogue.

a)      There is no indication from the book itself that this debate took place on a single day or that the speakers did not prepare their speeches in writing before they gave them orally.

b)      In fact the opposite is true. It is just as natural to read the account of the dialogue in Job is to see it as taking place over many days, not just one. It is clear from all the things said in chapter 30 that Job’s sufferings went on for a long period of time (maybe months) before the friends came to visit.

c)      Also 2:13 says that the friends sat for seven days in silence before the debate ever even began. Why should we think of the dialogue as happening in one day when the rest of the account happened over a very long time?

                                                                                                       ii.            Second, while the previous answer is adequate, it is not likely; there is a better solution. We need to recognize that the author of Job probably took what was a true historic dialogue and reworked it into a poetic form.

a)      For a record to be actual and accurate history, the only thing needed is that the substance of the words spoken be retained, not every word in the exact way originally given. Most history is recorded in this way.

b)      The substance, i.e. the concepts and meaning of the dialogue were retained but were communicated it poetic form to give the dialogue the character of a poetic literary epic. Also poetry was used to make it have more literary beauty, and most importantly to be more memorable and easier memorized. Poetry is one of the most used forms in the Bible, especially the Old Testament to make its contents memorable and easy to memorize. We do the same thing with songs today, yet we do not question their historicity. Do we doubt that, “In 1492 Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue”?

c)      Rarely do we see examples of history where the exact speech or account is given without some form of condensation, summarization, or systemization. And where the Bible is considered this type of record is the norm rather than the exception.

d)      For example the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord’s Prayer, the Parables of Jesus, and many other discourses of our Lord were most likely summarized. Does this mean that the account of them is not accurate?

e)      We see this same kind of poeticizing in such things as the Magnificat of Mary, the Prophecies of Zachariah, Simeon, and Anna in the book of Luke. It is a regular feature in historical and biographical books of the Bible. The Old Testament has too many to name.

f)        So in conclusion, Job is historically reliable and no objection given can make us lose confidence in this.

C.     Third we Must Be Confident that Job is Relevant (i.e. it is Applicable)

                                    1.            Job is Relevant because of its focus on a universal subject.

a.       Job is a unique book in that unlike every other book of the OT it focuses on a truly unique subject: a saved Gentile.

b.      The fact is that Job was not a Jew. He was a Gentile. Therefore this book is not just for the Jew. It applies to all peoples of all times and cultures.

c.       Unlike the other OT books, Job is not a book dealing with the Covenant people of God. Even a book like Jonah which involved the pagan city of Nineveh was about Jonah, a prophet of Israel. Job is a book about a Gentile. Job was not part of the covenant line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No one from the covenant line ever show up in this book.

d.      In dealing with a Gentile, the book of Job is the one book of the OT that is truly universal, applying to all men everywhere. No one can ever charge the book of Job as being a book only for the Jews. 

e.       The book of Job was intended for all people of all times. In his selection of an ancient non-Israelite hero, his deliberate avoidance of the usual Israelite names for God, and his lack of allusion to any known historical events relating to a particular people group or time, the author of Job has created a universal and timeless perspective. The book does not address a particular historical situation or even a theological issue relevant only to a specific time. It is timeless, it is universal.

                                    2.            Job is Relevant because it deals with universal issues.

a.       Job is no ivory tower book. It is not just some theological treatise written for the academy. The book of Job is relevant, it is applicable, and it deals with subjects that are universal in scope and relevance.

b.      All people suffer, all people deal with the mysteries of God’s providence, all people question, doubt, and search for answers to the questions posed by this powerful book.

c.       The book of Job deals with some of the deepest problems of mankind and directs us to the existence of a sovereign God for their solution. It treats these problems not in a doctrinaire fashion, but wrestles with them and gives us answers to proclaim to a troubled age, to a generation that recognizes the antinomies of life, but cannot find a meaningful solution for them on their own.

                                    3.            Job is Relevant because of the universal scope of its contents.

a.       The book of Job speaks to almost every topic imaginable.

b.      The book covers the arts, science, wildlife, political issues, family life, child rearing, righteous living, civil law and the magistracy, among so many other topics.

c.       The book of Job is a clear presentation of the Gospel of Salvation, and contains all the major doctrines of the Bible. It speaks to the nature of God and the Trinity, eschatology, death, the afterlife and the resurrection. It contains teachings about the creation of all things, the fall of man, and the doctrine of original sin and the depravity of mankind.

d.      In short, the book of Job is a complete body of Divinity, an almost exhaustive book of doctrinal and practical theology. Thus it is relevant in all matters concerning the Christian life.

Conclusion to Section 2

• So in conclusion, as I said last week, we need not worry about the uncertain things related to the book of Job, because the most important things about the book are certain. These things do belong to us and our children forever, as Deuteronomy 29:29 says and we can have absolute Confidence in them.
• God does not leave His people in doubt concerning these most important issues in His word. God’s people can always be Confident and assured that all of His Word is Revelation, Reliable, and Relevant.
• When God says that an event happened we can be ever confident that He inspired the record of it in His Word, that the record is historically true and that what is recorded will always be applicable to us in our daily lives. 

Introduction to Section 3

• Proposition—Because Our Goal is to Rightly Study and Gain a Profitable Understanding of Job, We Must Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book.
• Attitude is key when studying a book. Our Attitude is our disposition or mind-set and is very determinative concerning how we view the book. Our Attitude determines our feelings toward the book. If we come to a complex book like Job with the wrong Attitude we will not grasp its contents and message. Job’s complexity makes this necessary more than most other books.
• There are four basic elements of a proper Attitude for studying the book of Job. These four elements are 1.) Contentment with what is Concealed, 2.) Confidence in what is Contained, 3.) Compliance with what is Commanded, and 4.) Being Cautious with what is Controversial.
• Today we will conclude this first of our Introductory sermons, the subject of the Proper Attitude for Studying the Book of Job, with the last two elements of this proper Attitude.
• Today we will learn how we are to have an Attitude of Compliance with what is Commanded, and an Attitude of Caution with what is Controversial.

         III.      To Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book of Job We Must Be Compliant with what is Commanded in the book.

A.     There are many lessons taught in the book of Job that we are obligated to put into practice and obey. While we cannot cover all of them in this introduction we will cover a few of the major lessons. The way to grasp these fundamental lessons of the book of Job is to discover the key to unlocking the argument of the book of Job.

B.     The key to understanding the book of Job, particularly the dialogue portion of poetry, is found in chapter 42:7—After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” The key found in this verse is to grasp the following truth: Job maintained a good case and spoke the truth about God and his own suffering but he argued his case very poorly, while the three friends and Elihu had a bad case and spoke falsehood about God and Job’s situation but argued their case very well. (Repeat) Job was right in what he said. He knew that God does not always afflict men according to the measure of their sins, but instead He has secret judgments of which He does not give an account to men, and that we must wait on God to reveal to us why He acts the way He does, if He chooses to do so. The three friends insisted that Job was mistaken and that God’s judgments were exact and “tit for tat” in accordance with the measure of a man’s sins. Job knew that he was not a wicked man rejected by God like the friends falsely accused him of being. Job was correct, the friends were wrong. But Job argued His case in language that was heated and extreme at times, while the friends maintained what sounded more reverent and orthodox. This is the key to unlocking the argument of Job. In this key to unlocking the book of Job we learn four of the most important and basic lessons of the book:

                                    1.            First, the book teaches us that we must speak only truth about God and be careful to do so.

a.       The error of the three friends and Elihu is a very grave matter. God was very displeased with them for their words and rebuked them for their not speaking “what was right concerning God”. (At least he did the three friends/We will discuss Elihu later)

b.      God was so displeased that they had to have Job sacrifice and intercede for them before God would even forgive them for their sin and folly.

c.       We all must be very careful not to fall into the same trap. We may only speak about God what is right. And the only way to do this is to always speak in accordance with God’s revelation of himself in Scripture.

d.      We must never engage in words of gross and outrageous speculation about God. We cannot under any circumstances go beyond the Word of God, what God says concerning Himself and His ways. We must remain silent where Scripture does not give us a reasonable justification for a belief or statement about God. Scripture alone must be our sole ground and foundation for all our speech concerning God. If a statement concerning God is not warranted by Scripture through either a direct statement or may not be deduced from a reasonable and necessary consequence of Scripture, we must remain silent.  

                                    2.            Second, the book teaches us that we must not add to God’s Word our own opinions nor go beyond what He was revealed.

a.      Again, as we have learned over and over in this sermon series, we must heed the words of Deuteronomy 29:29—The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.

b.      We are not to try to pry into the secret things. They belong to God alone, but the Lord has revealed to us in Scripture all that we need to know about Him. These things belong to us and our children; they are ours forever. If we follow these things, if we heed to the words of this inspired, infallible, inerrant, written Revelation of God alone when speaking of God, we can have absolute assurance that we will indeed speak only those things that are right.

                                    3.            Third the book teaches us that we must not misapply the actual truths of God’s Word to bolster our own pet beliefs or teach falsehood.

a.       As John Calvin said, “God of His grace may give us a good case and yet we may be so provoked by our enemies, that we can not hold ourselves within our bounds, nor simply follow that which God has enjoined us, without adding some trick of our own.” This is a good lesson to heed. We all are prone to try to misuse the Word of God to prove our own pet doctrines and man made moral standards.

b.      Often Christians will take the truth of a doctrine of Scripture and draw false implications from it. This is an example of the wisdom of men circumventing the truth of God. There are so many cases of this that I barely know where to begin. Let me give just one example:

                                                                                                         i.            The doctrine of the Sovereignty of God is often used for the wrong purposes.

                                                                                                       ii.            Whether it is misusing God’s sovereignty to neglect evangelism, or to condemn the use of medications, or to condone the neglect our duties to work for our own provision, or to condone acting in a reckless or careless fashion: all under the banner of, “God is sovereign and I just need to trust Him”, all are grievous errors that must be avoided.

                                                                                                      iii.             The idea that because God is sovereign we should just take what we get and not plan or think through matters of life or our future is utter nonsense.

                                                                                                     iv.            God is not only sovereign over the destinies of our lives but he has also ordained the means to His sovereign ends, including the God given common sense and light of nature He created us with.

c.       The same can be said about our lifestyles. Our morals and ethics. How many times have we all been confronted with those who try to make us submit to their own illegitimate standards with regard to things like sexual standards within marriage, family planning and living, alcohol and tobacco use and many other things. The list is endless.

d.      Most of the time these legalistic ideas are caused by misapplications of Biblical truth. For example:

                                                                                                         i.            Drunkenness is condemned in the Bible, so even though moderate alcohol drinking is allowed in Scripture, some folks condemn all alcohol use because of the possibility that it could lead to drunkenness.

                                                                                                       ii.            The same kind of illogic and slippery slope reasoning is used in so many areas that they cannot be numbered. This was the very cause of the Pharisees’ condemnation. They added to God’s law the traditions of men. Their Rabbi’s and traditions hedged in the Law of God and added commandments in an attempt to curb even the possibility of breaking God’s commands.

                                                                                                      iii.            The Book of Job, like Jesus in the Gospels, exposes and rails against this religious hypocrisy, particularly those subtle distortions of Biblical truth used to bolster the ploys of the self righteous in their attempts to bring the people of God into the bondage of their legalistic traditions.

                                                                                                     iv.            The fact is that if the Bible does not condemn an activity, we have no right to add to the Law of God and set our own autonomous legalistic standard and thereby enslave the conscience of man.

e.       In summary, we need to heed the words of the WCF, “God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in any thing, contrary to His Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.”

                                    4.            Fourth the book teaches us that we should not presume upon God’s providence. We must not presume that we know His reason for His acts, especially those involving suffering.

a.       As we will learn in the future, one of the main purposes of the book of Job is to refute the doctrine of Exact Individual Retribution.

b.      Exact Individual Retribution: The doctrine that righteousness always brings prosperity and wickedness misfortune, in this life, and that prosperity is proof of divine favor and misfortune of sin.

c.       Job teaches us that we must reject this view in all its forms. As we will learn in weeks to come, this doctrine is more entrenched within the church, and especially in Presbyterian churches, than one might think.

        IV.      To Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book of Job We Must Be Cautious with what is Controversial.

A.     The book of Job is one of if not the most controversial books in the whole of Scripture. Rarely does any other book (inspired or not) deal with the level of controversial subject matter that Job covers. While it is impossible in a brief overview to cover all these controversial topics, I want to point out the four (4) that are most pivotal to help us study and interpret the book properly: The Issue of Theodicy, The Language of Emotion, The Presence of Mythology, and The Identity of the Monsters.

                                    1.            We Must Be Cautious with the Issue of Theodicy.

a.       Theodicy is what is commonly referred to as the “problem of evil.” Theodicy asks the question, “How can an omnipotent, omniscient, and good God, allow evil to exist in the world?”

b.      The fact is that while Job is often presented as the answer to this question, the book of Job is really not the kind of answer people are asking for in the “problem of evil”. The answer that Job gives is one of controversy.

c.       While most philosophers are asking for all the purposes of God allowing evil and suffering in the world Job only answers the issue with the ultimate reason, not with the particulars that men want.

d.      The answer that Job gives is that “God allows evil to exist because He chooses to, and the book doesn’t tell us why he so chooses, except that it is for His glory.” This of course is very controversial because it is not the kind of answer that man wants to hear.

e.       God is God. He will do as he pleases, when He pleases, with whom He pleases, without consulting His creatures, and He will do so for His own glory and the ultimate good of his people. Whether man likes it or not, this is the truth, and this is the ultimate and really the only answer God gives. He didn’t even have to give this.

                                    2.            We Must Be Cautious with the Language of Emotion

a.       As was pointed out earlier, though much of Job’s, words are spoken with extreme emotion and often sound irreverent and even blasphemous at times, God says Job was right.

b.      This is hard for us to take considering Job said many things toward God like the following:

                                                                                                         i.             6:4—For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
   my spirit drinks their poison;
   the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

                                                                                                       ii.            7:11—I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

                                                                                                    iii.            13:3, 15—I would speak to the Almighty,
   and I desire to argue my case with God. Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope, yet I will argue my ways to his face.

                                                                                                    iv.            In these statements of Job (and these aren’t necessarily the most outlandish) we see a man challenging and questioning God. This seems blasphemous to us. However we must remember God said that Job spoke correctly!

c.       We must not try to rationalize this away. We must not be tempted to tone down or spiritualize or sentimentalize the language we encounter in these controversial passages of Job, even where they offend (as the book very often does) and seem at times strident, improper, or even blasphemous. Job was a real sufferer and his complaints against both God and the three friends who came to counsel and console him, are real and bitter. If we get into the habit of saying, “What Job really meant was this”, and keep coming up with some kind of substitute or excuse that sound pious and balanced and only deals with generalities, and in doing this, squeeze out all the bite and emotion of Job’s outlandish and controversial words, we will most certainly miss the entire point of the book.

                                    3.            We Must Be Cautious with the Presence of Mythology.

a.       One thing that makes scholars uncomfortable about the book of Job is the presence of ancient pagan mythology in the book. The fact is that this type of mythology is quite prominent in Job. The question is, “How are we to understand it and respond to it?”

b.      First we must see a few examples of this type of mythology:

                                                                                                         i.            The pagan sea deity Yamm, along with Leviathan, and maybe Tannin are referred to in chapters 3 and 7—Let those curse it who curse Yamm, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan… Am I Yamm, or the monster Tannin, that you set a guard over me?

                                                                                                       ii.            In chapters 9 and 26 the pagan deity Rahab is mentioned—God will not turn back his anger; beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab…By his power he stilled Yamm; by his understanding he shattered Rahab.

c.       When we reach these texts I will give a more detailed explanation of what the author of Job is saying in these controversial statements. I will also probably dedicate an entire future sermon on the subject of mythology in the book of Job. But for now it is sufficient that we simply note that our response to this element of Job should be two-fold. We should avoid two errors in regard to this mythology.

                                                                                                         i.            First we must not ignore or try to explain away the fact that these mythological elements do indeed exist. Many scholars are guilty of this because they just don’t want to deal with this controversial subject matter. They seem to feel that if they acknowledge the existence of this mythology, they will be somehow discrediting the inspiration, historicity, or authority of the book.

                                                                                                       ii.            The second error we must avoid is to attribute to the book an endorsement of this mythology as if it were true or that the book has pagan overtones in its makeup.

d.      In short, we need to just recognize this mythology for what it is, interpret it properly, and not make more of it than the author meant by including it.

                                    4.            We Must Be Cautious with the Identity of the Monsters.

a.       Related to the problem of mythology is the identity of the monsters Behemoth and Leviathan in Chapters 40-41. These monsters also have mythological origins. Leviathan is a mythological name. Behemoth might also be.

b.      However, these great beasts are not myths; they are animals who are probably named in this way because of the epic nature of these names. The question is which animals are they.

c.       This is where we need to be cautious with regard to these beasts. The fact is we just don’t know for certain which animals these two are. Many theories have been espoused:

                                                                                                         i.            Hypopotamus & Crocodile

                                                                                                       ii.            Elephant and Whale (Most likely)

                                                                                                      iii.            Dinosaurs

                                                                                                     iv.            Figurative for Satan, Death, etc.

d.      Recently the option that seems to appeal to many within Fundamentalist and Reformed circles is the dinosaur theory.

                                                                                                         i.            Personally I believe this is merely wishful thinking, is very novel, and is based upon a faulty Fundamentalist hyper-literal hermeneutic that would be rejected by most Reformed scholars and preachers in any other portion of Scripture.

                                                                                                       ii.            Further, because this view lacks hardly any credibility at all, it actually succeeds in the exact opposite goal for which the theory was created to achieve.

a)      This view came to be because of Christians’ embarrassment over the fact that the Bible doesn’t seem to mention dinosaurs directly. They wrongly saw this as a legitimate challenge to the Bible by atheists. It isn’t. We should just leave it at that.

b)      Instead they conjured up a theory having no credibility or sound exegetical basis and have in the process made it seem that advocates of the Bible are desperate to find a solution to this problem.

c)      Because of the lack of credibility of this interpretation by overzealous Bible believers, the credibility and reputation of the Bible itself has suffered.

d)      God’s word does not need us to make excuses for it. Never, ever, give in to the atheists’ own standards for credibility and bring God’s Word to account to those standards.

e)      Never, ever conjure up a novel, illegitimate interpretation of Scripture to try to give it credibility in the world’s eyes. This type of apologetic will always fail. Why should we care what the world thinks anyway?

e.       Again, we just do not know what these creatures were. While I will be dealing with these two creatures in detail when we get there, I believe that our best option is to just call them by their names and descriptions, not speculate too much on their identity, and just not be dogmatic about them either way. In other words, we should be cautious.

Conclusion:

• In conclusion to our studies over the past three weeks on the subject of the Proper Attitude for studying Job, I believe you should be able to discern one overarching theme throughout these sermons: our attitude must be one of faith and humility. The fact is Job is a hard book. Job is possibly the most difficult book in the whole Bible and is definitely the toughest in the Old Testament. It is difficult due to its contents and subject matter; it is difficult due to its language and grammar, it is difficult due to the conclusions one must draw from the book that will inevitably overturn many deeply held, yet erroneous, beliefs concerning the Bible and God.
• Therefore we must come to this book humbly. We must not overshoot and think we can just jump into this book haphazardly and run roughshod through its pages. If we do so we risk missing one of the books most important messages and end up being guilty of the major sin it confronts: speaking what is wrong concerning God. We should all be weary of doing this for we do not want to end up like Job’s three friends.
• I say this because, among other reasons, I will be treading very carefully in this book as we study it together in the years to come. At times I will be very cautious with the text of this book. At times I will be very meticulous about the translation of the book. In fact there will be times that I will be using other translations of certain passages than the common ones we are most familiar with including my own. While our sermon texts will be read from the ESV, at times we will read the marginal variants instead of the main text of the translation. This means that at times many of the most beloved passages in Job will be read in a way that overturns the commonly held opinion of them. I do this because I must speak what is right concerning God. I must carefully read and faithfully expound upon the Hebrew text of this book. If I do not, I will make shipwreck and incur God’s displeasure.
• When I started this series I mentioned Joseph Caryl in the first introduction to the first sermon. He was the Purutan who wrote the greatest commentary on Job you might remember. He preached 424 sermons on the book over 24 years and began because of the relevance of the book to the sufferings of the English people during the British Civil War. Another man, Theodore Beza, in a time much like Caryl’s and much like our own time preached through the book of Job. He recognized the danger of coming to this book with the wrong Attitude and ending up like Job’s friends: making shipwreck, speaking ill of God and incurring the wrath and displeasure of the Almighty.
• This is what Beza said, “Seeing the troubles of these times and the dangers wherein this commonwealth now stands, I am minded to expound the histories of Job, in which, as in other books of the holy Scripture, there are many dark and hard places, insomuch as I must here of necessity sometime sail, as it were, among the rocks: and yet I hope I shall not make any shipwreck.” (Beza)
• We too are going to be sailing among the rocks these coming weeks, months, and years while we seek to learn from this wonderful book of God’s Word. It is my hope that none of us will make any shipwreck upon these rocks. If we come to this book with the correct Attitude—a humble Attitude of faith that is content, confident, compliant, and cautious with God’s word—we will avoid these rocks and sail smoothly through our studies.

Introduction:

• Last week we concluded our first study on the proper Attitude for studying Job and so now we must continue on with the next way that we must study Job: the proper Aim. Proposition—Because Our Goal is to Properly Study and Gain a Profitable Understanding of Job, We Must Have the Correct Aim When Studying the Book.
• What is meant when we say Aim is, “What is the proper goal or goals for studying this book?” We must set in order the basic information we are trying to learn about the book and then study the book with the Aim or goal of acquiring this information.
• Our Aim when studying the book of Job is fourfold: 1) We must Discover the Contents, 2) We must Determine the Structure, 3) We must Discern the Themes, and 4) We must Define the Purpose(s) of the book of Job.
• Now, just like with our previous study on the proper Attitude for studying Job, we will not be able to cover all four of these points today. We will only be able to cover one of these points: To Have the Proper Aim When Studying the Book of Job We must Discover the Contents of the Book.

I.                    To Have the Proper Aim When Studying the Book of Job We Must Discover the Contents of the Book. (In Discovering the Contents of the book of Job there are two basic things to Discover: The Characters and the Context of the Book)

A.     First, We must Discover the Characters of the Book.

                                                            1.            Job—Job is the main character of the book. He is revealed to be the greatest men of all the east both in his status and character. He is called perfect and upright, a God fearing man who shuns evil. This righteous servant of God looses everything, including his prosperity, family, status and popularity, as well as his health when God allows Satan to afflict him. Job goes through many trials, temptations, doubts, and extreme suffering. At times he is on the verge of losing all hope and faith in God but ultimately he holds on to his integrity and is approved of God as speaking that which is right. As such Job is revealed to be a perfect example of a steadfast man of God during trials and temptations. The person of Job can be summed up with two verses of the book: 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil” and God says in 42:7 that Job was His “servant” who “spoke what it right concerning me.”

                                                            2.            Satan—The arch-villain of the book is Satan, one of the sons of God, or angels who is revealed to have great power which he uses sadistically against God’s people. He is portrayed in the first two chapters of the book as roaming to and fro throughout the earth, just as Peter says in his He takes a special interest in Job and with God’s permission all but destroys this righteous man. Satan’s person is best illustrated by his bold and challenging reply to God’s inquiry, “Have you considered my servant Job?” We see Satan’s character revealed in no better place than his arrogant challenge in 1:9: “Does Job fear God for nothing.”

                                                            3.            Three Friends

a.       Eliphaz—The chief and oldest of Job’s friends who comes to console him in his time of trial. He seems to be more reserved and less zealous to condemn Job than the other two but eventually goes so far as to falsely accuse Job of specific sins to prove his erroneous “retribution” doctrine. Eliphaz is big on tradition but relies more on what he believes was direct revelation from God in a dream. He could be compared to today’s Charismatic or Pentecostal in many ways.

b.      Bildad—The second of Job’s comforters is more indignant and harsh than his elder companion. He is an ardent traditionalist who bases his views almost exclusively on the beliefs of his elders handed down through history. He also reiterates Eliphaz’s position as though it were absolute truth. Bildad is a good exaple of the ignorant man who believes what he believes because he believes it. His dad believed it, his grandfather believed it, his great grandfather believed it so Bildad believes it. Tradition is the important thing. Think Fiddler on the Roof. Bildad would have fit in well with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes of Jesus Day.

c.       Zophar—This man, the third and most ardent of Job’s false accusers is a rude, curt, and blunt moralist and dogmatist. He assumes his beliefs to be true without question though he is poor at defending them. He is unbending, unrelenting, and disrespectful. He is less than profound in his arguments and lacks originality, relying upon his companions positions. He is basically a yes man for the other two. He also would have made a good Pharisee.

                                                            4.            Elihu—Elihu is an arrogant, angry, foolish young man who buts into the debate without being invited. Elihu tries to be the moderator for the debate between Job and the three friends. He is a longwinded, know-it-all who makes a complete buffoon of himself. He claims to be perfect in understanding and boasts of being full of hot air, not realizing this is an insult. In my opinion he pays for it with his life, but we will have to get to almost the end of the book before I explain why I think this way. The main thing to realize about Elihu is that he was the ignorant, overzealous, young, arrogant, comic relief of the book of the Job who paves the way for God to appear and settle the debate between Job and the three friends.

                                                            5.            God—God is revealed as the great sovereign creator and governor of the universe. He is transcendent, immanent, and incomprehensible. Yet he is also merciful and gracious. We will learn about this further when we examine the themes of Job.

B.     Second, We Must Discover the Context of the Book.

                                                            1.            As we learned in our study about the proper Attitude when studying Job, we cannot give with absolute certainty the context of Job.

                                                            2.            However, with relative assurance we can guess the main points of context that we covered in these previous sermons. Let us review them quickly.

a.       Job was probably written by Moses during his forty year residence in Midian with Jethro his father-in-law.

b.      Moses probably wrote the book to give the Jews understanding and comfort during their afflictions in Egypt.

c.       The events of the book most likely took place during the patriarchal times, sometime between the time just before Abraham to right before Moses and probably in the earlier of the two.

d.      The events took place, somewhere in Arabia between Old Testament Edom and Syria or Haran. Today it would be Saudi Arabia, Jordan, or Syria.

e.       If we are correct in this assessment of Job we can, along with the tradition of the Jews, come to the conclusion that Moses wrote the book of Job to show the Israelites that their own covenant God had also shown favor to other people, not in their covenant line. In doing so, Moses under the inspiration of God’s Spirit wrote the book to be used as an exhortation to the Hebrews to obey God’s Law. If such a pagan man, outside of the covenant line of Jacob was so perfect in keeping the Law of God, a law that he had only by the light of nature and tradition, how much more should the very people to whom the written Law came obey God’s commands.

                                                            3.            Keeping this Context in mind, we Discover four of the most basic and most important lessons of the book of Job:

a.       First, we Discover that no matter how ungodly a land or culture might be, God will always have someone there to honor His Name and worship Him. As the old saying goes, “There never was any air so bad that a servant of God could not breath in it.”

                                                                                                         i.            This is a truth we learn from Job’s land of residence. You see, Uz, while apparently not being as idolatrous in Job’s day as it came to be later, was still a pagan land full of falsehood and superstition. It was not the land of the covenant line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

                                                                                                       ii.            Yet even in this ungodly land, we find an exemplary servant of God and the true religion. This is and always will be the case.

                                                                                                      iii.            Sodom had its Lot, Egypt had its Joseph, Midian its Jethro, Jericho had its Rahab, Moab its Ruth. The very Beast of the book of Revelation, Nero Caesar, even had believers in His own household as Paul tells us in Philippians 4:22.

                                                                                                     iv.            Throughout the book it is clear that Job was a servant, not just of God as an abstract principle, but a servant of Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. Job served the true and living, the only God in a pagan land.

                                                                                                      v.            This truth, that God will always have His own, in all places, even the worst of places is a direct Biblical endorsement of our WCF 25:5—there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according to His will.

                                                                                                     vi.            We have so many examples of this truth from church history. Even during the dark times of the Medieval Church, when the superstitious idolatry of the Roman Papacy held the people of God in bondage, there were men like Wycliffe and Hus, and groups like the Albingensians and Waldenses.

                                                                                                    vii.            God will always have a visible people on earth to worship and serve Him. Nothing will ever snuff out His church completely and ultimately His church will be triumphant. As Jesus Himself said in Matthew 16:18, “the gates of Hades will not prevail against His church.”    

                                                                                                  viii.            (We must reject Restoration theology. Examples: Stone-Campbell, Pentecostalism, Yahwists and JW’s, Dispensationalism—Basic premise is God’s church was lost/ceased to exist)

b.      Second, we Discover that God gives special honor to those who live righteously among the wicked.

                                                                                                         i.            No other man is exemplified in the entire OT like Job. He is called God’s servant, upright, perfect, righteous, one who feared God and shunned evil. Job is revealed to be a jewel of Godliness among the wicked coal of the world, a diamond of righteousness in the sinful rough.

                                                                                                       ii.            We see by this that God holds those in high regard who behave in holiness among the profane. Job was honored with a high reputation, a great posterity and a great prosperity. Job was a man high in class, and respected as a magistrate in the land. God raised this righteous man to very great heights.

                                                                                                      iii.            It is a most glorious and excellent thing to be good among those who are not, to worship God among the unbelieving, to fear God among those who have no fear of god before their eyes, to be perfect and upright among unjust hypocrites, to shun evil among those who wrap themselves wholly and entirely within evil’s grasp.

                                                                                                     iv.            This is the commendation of Job and what we should imitate in our own unrighteous and rebellious culture: To keep ourselves pure, sincere, and without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, to shine as the light of the world in the midst of darkness. This brings honor to God and God’s honor to us.

c.       Third, we Discover that God’s grace is so powerful that it will preserve itself even in the midst of the greatest opposition.

                                                                                                         i.            Grace is irresistible, indestructible, and indefatigable.

                                                                                                       ii.            God’s Sovereign grace is a fire that no amount of water can quench.

                                                                                                      iii.            True grace will keep itself sound and clean among those who are leprous and unclean.

                                                                                                     iv.            Grace is such a thing that it overcomes and masters all the evil that surrounds it.

                                                                                                       v.            God has put such an almighty power in Grace, that if it but once possesses the heart in truth, though there be just a small bit of it, even the size of a mustard seed, all the wickedness in the world nor all the devils in Hell can destroy, defile or dispossess it.

                                                                                                     vi.             True Grace, God’s almighty sovereign Grace, will always bear itself up and hold up its head forever.

                                                                                                    vii.            We should all take heart in this and learn from it. (Despair over America/Elections/Abortion/Persecution etc.—The Church only grows through opposition/The blood of the saints is the water and fertilizer of the tree of God’s church)

d.      Fourth, we Discover what a high standard of righteousness God holds His covenant people to when such a pagan lived as righteously as Job.

                                                                                                         i.            Considering these three truths, how much dishonor must we have from God if we live ungodly lives among those who are good? What greater shame comes to us who, unlike Job, are the covenant people of God, do have His Law written in our Bibles, and dwell in a land that, although is wicked, has millions of God’s people and thousands of His churches throughout?     

                                                                                                       ii.            Righteous Job, living in pagan Uz, should prompt us, God’s people who have been given such favor as to be gathered from out of the world, and received His Word and Covenant promises, to be all the more diligent to keep God’s righteous standard.

                                                                                                      iii.            We have no better mirror to give us a pattern for the righteousness God desires of us than we find in this righteous, yet pagan man.  

                                                                                                     iv.            In Job we see how we ought to keep the doctrine of salvation that has been given to us by God’s special revelation, seeing that this man who even though of a pagan nation, kept himself in this salvation with such purity.

Conclusion to section 1

• In conclusion we have Discovered today the basic Contents of Job: the book’s characters and the book’s context.
• These Contents of the book, as we have seen today, teach us a great deal about what the Holy Spirit meant to accomplish by inspiring the author of the book of Job.
• As we continue to study this wonderful example of God’s revelation to us, let us keep these lessons in mind. They will guide us as we learn about the case of Job, a righteous man in an unrighteous pagan land, who persevered in the grace and salvation of God, through all kinds of adversity and suffering.  

Introduction to section 2

• Last week we began our second of these studies: the proper Aim. We learned last week that—Proposition—Because Our Goal is to Properly Study and Gain a Profitable Understanding of Job, We Must Have the Correct Aim When Studying the Book.
• What do we mean when we say Aim? We are asking: “What is the proper goal or goals for studying this book?” We must set in order the basic information we are trying to learn about the book and then study the book with the Aim or goal of acquiring this information.
• Our Aim when studying the book of Job is fourfold: 1) We must Discover the Contents, 2) We must Determine the Structure, 3) We must Discern the Themes, and 4) We must Define the Purpose(s) of the book of Job.
• Last week we began this second lesson on the proper Aim when studying Job and we covered one of the four goals we must have to study Job with the proper Aim.
• We learned last week that to have the proper Aim when studying the book of Job, we must Discover the Contents. We did this by discovering the Characters and the Context of Job and how these things relate to us in our daily lives.
• Today we are going to continue our lesson on the proper Aim for studying Job by Determining the Structure of the Book of Job.

II.                 To Have the Proper Aim When Studying the Book of Job We Must Determine the Structure. (In Determining the Structure of Job we must first take a look at the Many Alternative Options and then Determine the Most Acceptable Option: MAO)

A.     There are Many Alternative Options that we may choose for the Structure of Job. They can be divided however into two main groups: Structures based upon Theological frameworks and those based upon Temptation—let us look at a few samples.

                                                            1.            Some of these Alternative Structures are Theological

a.       The first of these Theological Structures is based on the Plan of Redemption: Man’s Original Estate, Fall into Calamity, and Restoration.

                                                                                                         i.            Job is a perfect typological picture of God’s plan of redemption.

                                                                                                       ii.            Just as Job began in an estate of righteousness and prosperity and the favor of God, Adam (and thus mankind within him) began in the paradise of the Garden of Eden in a state of glory, having stamped upon his nature the integrity and purity of original righteousness in being the image of God.

                                                                                                      iii.            Just as Job was brought low by the savage hatred and malice of Satan’s evil deeds, Adam and his posterity were brought into ruin by the temptation of Satan. Just as Job lost his prosperity and health, Adam, and mankind within his loins, lost the original righteousness, immortality and purity of nature, being plunged into the depths of original sin and total depravity as well as the penalty of decay and eventual physical death.

                                                                                                     iv.            Just as Job was restored by the grace of God to a better estate than he had before, his prosperity and life being doubled, so was Adam’s sinful race and the creation of God restored to a better more glorious estate by the divine grace of Christ’s work of redemption in the salvation of God’s church as it will be glorified in the perfected eternal state. 

b.      A second Theological Structure is based upon Christ’s Mediatorial Estate: Glory, Humiliation, Exaltation.

                                                                                                         i.            Much like the former typological picture of man’s estate, the life of Job is also typological of Christ in His estate as Mediator.

                                                                                                       ii.            If we compare Job’s estate and the progress from his state of prosperity to suffering to restoration and exaltation we see a perfect picture of the estates of Christ in His states of Glory, Humiliation, and Exaltation.

                                                                                                      iii.            Christ like Job (though in a much greater and glorious sense) began in a state of Glory, having perfect communion with God as an eternal and equal member of the triune God-head. He was brought low through His incarnation, suffering, death, and burial in the state of Humiliation, and was ultimately brought to the estate of Exaltation by the resurrection, ascension, and session at the Father’s right hand of power and glory as the Lord and Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over all heaven and earth as its Mediatorial Ruler.

c.       These lessons from the structure of Job and the way they point typologically to the Plan of Redemption and Christ the Mediator should illustrate to us the unity and divine origin of Scripture. Think of the implications of this truth: that the first and oldest book of Scripture reveals by its very structure the entirety of God’s revelation to man in miniature form. This is truly amazing, God’s word is so perfectly ordered and constructed that its very structure points to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If this isn’t an argument for the divine inspiration of Scripture, I don’t know what is.

                                                            2.            Another Alternative option for viewing the Structure of Job is In accordance with Jobs Temptations.

a.       A very practical and useful option for viewing the structure of Job is according to his temptation and triumph over it.

b.      The story of Job can be divided into three main sections: Job’s estate before his temptation, the temptation itself and his triumph over the temptation.

c.       Further, the temptations of Job were threefold.

                                                                                                         i.            First was the temptation of losing his children and prosperity.

                                                                                                       ii.            Second was the temptation of losing his health.

                                                                                                      iii.            Third is the temptation of the challenge to his piety by the three friends.

a)      It is often ignored that the false accusations and challenges to Job’s righteousness were part of the temptation Job faced.

b)      What Satan could not succeed in accomplishing with trying to provoke Job to curse God by the destruction of his prosperity, family, and health he attempted to accomplish by sending the three friends to provoke Job even more by their self righteous and presumptive accusations.

c)      Satan sent these men to dispute with him and cause him to believe that he was a sinful hypocrite forsaken by God and that he was self deceived to believe that God would be merciful to Him.

d)      This stage of Job’s temptation was really the hardest of all. Job could deal with his loss. He could deal with his pain and suffering. But to assault his faith in God, his righteousness and service to God was to pierce even his heart. To insinuate that he was a hypocrite and that God was judging him, that God had forsaken him was to assault the very fabric of who Job was.

e)      This is an important lesson for us to take away from the structure of Job. This ploy of Satan is one of his favorite techniques in trying to cause us despair. In this type of temptation Satan, as Calvin said, “Comes to put a toy in our head, that God is our deadly enemy and that it is not for us to resort any more unto Him, but rather to assure ourselves, that henceforth He will not show us any mercy.”

f)        This is the hardest kind of temptation the devil can assault us with. (Doubts about our salvation/assurance)  We can overcome this temptation of the devil if we are diligent to attend to God’s means of resisting Satan in this matter.

1)      First we need to recognize that even Jesus went through this very kind of temptation. Remember that when the devil tempted Him in the wilderness it was with these words of doubt. “If you are the Son of God.” Over an over he used this challenge against Jesus. This “Satanic if” was also the challenge of the devils servants, who were much like Job’s friends, when they challenged Jesus with the same words: “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, I am the Son of God.” (Matt. 27:40-43) This horrible temptation of Christ climaxed in His anguish cry, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” So first and foremost we must take comfort that even our Savior, our Great High Priest who intercedes for us, understands our frailty and how awful this type of temptation can be. Thus He sympathizes with our sufferings.

2)      We should respond to this kind of temptation the same way Jesus did—with the Sword of the Spirit: The Word of God. There are many pecious promises in God’s word that should give us absolute assurance of God’s grace, love and mercy toward us, His people. Here are just a couple of the numerous examples that could be given.

a.       Rom. 8:38-39—For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

b.      Phil. 1:6—And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

c.       Heb. 4:15; 7:25—For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

B.     There is one Most Acceptable Option for Determining the structure of Job: According to the Book’s Literary Features.

                                                            1.            Prologue of Preparation: This section of the book is found in Chapters 1-2

a.       This prologue to the story is a prose narrative, the first of such a narrative in prose form, which along with the prose narrative of the epilogue, gives us a framework for the poetic dialogue in between. These prose sections “sandwich in the poetic dialogue”.

b.      This prologue Prepares us by setting the stage in both heaven and earth for the events to occur later in the story. We are introduced to all but one of the stories main characters and the basic facts about them are given.

c.       In this prologue we are given a number of facts that give us a “behind the scenes” look at the situation Job finds himself in. We the readers are let in own the fact that Job’s trials were not due to any sin of his own, a fact that the three friend did not know.

                                                                                                        i.            First we see the divine declaration of what kind of person Job truly was, a man who was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil”, and one who was considered to be “the greatest of all the people of the east.”

                                                                                                       ii.            We see Job as a godly father who serves faithfully in leading his family in the righteous ways of God. He is so meticulous in his service that he even sacrifices for his children for even sins they might have committed.

                                                                                                      iii.            We are next Prepared by seeing the scene in heaven where Satan, among the other angels, comes to give an account to God. In this scene, God brings Job, who he calls his “servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil” to Satan’s attention. Thus we are prepared by the shocking realization that God initiated the trials of Job by bringing him to the adversary’s attention.

                                                                                                     iv.            We are further prepared by Satan’s challenge to God about Job, a challenge to both Job’s righteous character and God’s wisdom, justice, and holiness. “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will bless you to your face.” Satan sarcastically challenges God that if he were to stop showing Job his kindness, Job would “bless you to your face.” God’s shocking response of letting Satan afflict Job on two separate occasions is the result.

a)      In this challenge of Satan, “Does Job fear God for no reason?”,  we learn of one of the core issues dealt with in the book of Job: The question of whether man will serve God for the sake of serving God, not for personal gain? Is it possible for man to hold onto faith in God without receiving benefit? Satan’s charge is that there is no such thing as genuine, unselfish love for God among men, that even in the best of men, godliness is motivated by self interest—an attitude of “What’s in it for me?”

b)      Job’s two responses to his trials of losing everything answer the question of this core issue:  “Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” and “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” The answer is yes: a truly godly man can and will serve God no matter the benefit or lack there of to himself. The Holy Spirit attests to this when the author of Job writes, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Satan’s challenge against man and God is met with defeat.

                                                                                                       v.            We are also introduced to the three friends of Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar who come to comfort and console Job in his trials. A job that they failed miserably in. The end of the prologue records them sitting in silence, offering nothing to comfort Job at all.

                                                                                                     vi.            In this Prologue of Preparation we are given the ultimate answer to the question of retribution theology that will be raised throughout the rest of the book. Remember what we said about the false doctrine of Exact Individual Retribution?

a)      Exact Individual Retribution: The doctrine that righteousness always brings prosperity and wickedness misfortune, in this life, and that prosperity is proof of divine favor and misfortune of sin. The prologue of Job refutes this from the very beginning. A few weeks ago I said that we would deal with this doctrine in detail. We will because it comes in many forms, but today I want to give you just one: The Prosperity Gospel (a.k.a. Name it and claim it/Word of Faith) Kenneth Hagin for instance taught that God guarantees believers 4 things: protection of self and property, promotion in your Job, prosperity in material things, and perpetuity in all this success. Job lost all four.

b)      This form of retribution theology says that God always wills his faithful people to be prosperous and healthy and if they are not it is due to a lack of faith. But no one ever had more faith than Job and yet it was God’s will that he suffer loss of all his wealth and health. This is a death blow to the Word of Faith/Prosperity Gospel version of retribution theology.

                                                            2.            Dialogue of the Debaters: this section is found in Chapters 3-27

a.       This debate or Dialogue of the Debaters is between the three friends and Job.

b.      The same three friends who had nothing to say at first have a lot to say when Job laments his sufferings, curses the day he was born, and claims that he is suffering undeservedly. This lament of Job in chapter three sets the friends on edge because it challenges their view of Exact Individual Retribution.

c.       This debate has three cycles with each of the friends giving a thesis and Job then giving his refutation. Finally the debate degenerates in the third cycle with Zophar not even giving a response, thus admitting that the friends could not refute Job.

d.      We learn from this Dialogue of the Debaters the futility of finite man being able to explain the incomprehensible nature and ways of the transcendent sovereign God.

                                                            3.            Monologues of the Meditator, the Moral Man, the Moderator, and the Maker: this section is found in Chapters 28-41

a.       This section is divided into four Monologues.

b.      First we have the Monologue of the Meditator, that is a philosophical meditation by the narrator himself (and thus the Holy Spirit) upon the debate thus far which is found in chapter 28.

                                                                                                         i.            This meditation is a Hymn to Wisdom exalting the wisdom of God and showing the futility of limited human wisdom.

                                                                                                       ii.            This is the authors own commentary and assessment of the debate and how it has degenerated because the three friends did not begin as Job did, according to 1:1 with the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom.

                                                                                                      iii.            That is the main point of chapter 28, The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and as we will earn later, is one of the main themes of Job.

c.       The second, the Monologue of the Moral Man is in chapters 29-31. This is the monologue of Job himself.

                                                                                                         i.            In these chapters Job first, in chapter 29 relates his prosperity and health before his trials.

                                                                                                       ii.            Then in chapter 30 he relates how much he has suffered and contrasts his current state with that previous to his trials. He longs for a return to his previous glory.

                                                                                                      iii.            Lastly Job gives in chapter 31 what could be called an oath of innocence, declaring himself free from the wrongs he is accused of and declaring himself guiltless and undeserving of his suffering. He calls forth a curse upon himself if he is guilty of any of the things he denies. This is what we call a self-maledictory oath. Job calls upon God to answer him and come in person so that Job can argue his case before God.

d.      The third Monologue is by the Moderator: Elihu.

                                                                                                         i.            In this Monologue, covering chapters 32-37, Elihu, the angry young man, comes as a self appointed moderator for the debate.

                                                                                                       ii.            He believes he has the answers and that he is perfect in understanding. One of his main points is that God does not condescend to man and appear in person to him as Job is requesting.

                                                                                                      iii.            He instead points to what he believes are the many ways God speaks to man and reveals His ways to his people such as a powerful storm that is brewing as Elihu speaks.

                                                                                                     iv.            Elihu’s long winded Monologue ends with God interrupting Elihu doing the very thing Elihu claimed He would not do. God shows up in the very storm Elihu is pointing out. Thus God refutes Elihu’s speeches.

e.       This leads us to the last, the Monologue of the Maker: God Himself in chapters 38-41.

                                                                                                         i.            In this Monologue, God comes in person to answer Job’s challenge.

                                                                                                      ii.            He does not give Job the answer he was desiring but ultimately shows Job that He, God, was in control and that unless Job could see things from His divine perspective, it was His duty to submit and trust in God. God answers Job’s challenge with a challenge of His own asking, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth, tell me if you understand?” Job in effect gives Job the choice to submit and continue in his righteousness or reject God’s counsel and be guilty of all that Satan, the three friends and Elihu accuse him of. Job must accept, God is God and Job is not.

                                                                                                      iii.            Job does indeed submit to God and admit his lack of knowledge and wisdom in comparison with God. He responds in 42:6 that, “I melt in reverence before you and I have received my comfort, even as I sit in these dust and ashes.”

                                                            4.            The Epilogue of Exoneration, Exultation, and Exaltation: this section is found in Chapter 42. In this epilogue, which like the prologue is in prose rather than poetry, we see three things happen. 1) Exoneration by Ratification, 2) Exultation by Rebuke, and Exaltation by Restoration.

a.       First is Job’s Exoneration as God Ratifies Job’s claims to innocence. In verse 7 God calls Job his servant who has spoken rightly. God Exonerates Job not only for his life prior to his trials but also for all that he has said during his trials. All of the emotional heated and extreme remarks are Ratified as being right concerning God.

b.      Second we have the Exultation of Job by the Rebuke of the three friends. Job is Exultant; he is victorious over his friends. Job Exults over his friends as God Rebukes not him, but them, for speaking wrongly. He further has the victorious joy of being called upon to sacrifice on behalf of the friends before God forgives them.

c.       Lastly, Job is Exalted by being Restored to his previous wealth and even more. God rewards Job by Exalting him to an even greater condition than he had before his trials. He is Restored in his family, having a new set of children to replace those who died, and his wealth is doubled.

Conclusion to section 2

• In conclusion today we need to point out what should be somewhat obvious: in this sermon today, we have for the most part just covered factual information in Determining the Structure of Job.
• While there has been some application, it has been quite limited.
• However, I want you to realize something: all of these introductory sermons are application. They are application to how we are to study Job.
• This Structure of Job according to its literary features is how we are going to study this book in the future, so as for application, keep this in mind as we go further into this book.
• We are going to study the prologue, then the dialogue, then the monologue and then the epilogue. We are going to divide our studies into four basic sections after this introduction for a total of five sections to our studies in Job.
• So as you take your notes on this book over the next weeks, months, and years, take them down in these five sections. In the future I might be able to give you a brief outline of our studies to help you along. In the mean time let’s just keep the structure of Job which we have determined in our view for the remainder of our lessons in this wonderful literary masterpiece.

Currently Reading Words of Delight,: A Literary Introduction to the Bible By Leland Ryken see related

Sermon Outline 8/17/08

Introduction:

• Today we embark on what I believe will be the richest, most glorious study we have ever engaged in at this church.
• Today we will begin an expository series through the entire book of Job.
• The book of Job is one of the most glorious books in all of Scripture. While every book in the Bible is a wonderful, powerful and glorious book, some seem to have more of an impact on a greater number of people than others. The book of Job is one such book.
• The reason for Job’s timeless and great impact is that it deals with a subject that every person can relate to, suffering. The subject of suffering is a universal condition of mankind and any book that gives explanation to such a topic is going to be popular.
• Further the book of Job is the one book in the entire Bible that reveals the nature of God’s dealings with His creation in general, and mankind in particular in more detail than any other. No other book gives us such knowledge of God’s ways. No other book therefore is more relevant for our time then than Job.
• In the 17^th century, during the time of the British Civil War, the Puritan Independent minister Joseph Caryl began preaching through the book of Job. Caryl would go on to preach over 400 sermons on this book over the course of 24 years. The sermons were collected and in written form they make up a 12 volume commentary on the book. Along with the 159 sermons on Job by Calvin, they are the most profitable studies on Job available.
• In the preface to the first volume of his sermons Caryl gave the reason for his embarking on a study of Job. The reason he gave was the relevance of the book to the trials of the English people during the English Civil War. The suffering they underwent necessitated that they hear a word from God to comfort them through this time of war.
• Caryl said, “These meditations upon this Scripture, well digested and taken in, may be, through the blessing of God upon them, a help to our patience in bearing these afflictions upon the land, a help to our faith in believing, and to our hope in waiting for the Salvation of the Lord. Whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning, but this book was purposefully written, that we through patience and comfort of this Scripture might have hope. Nor do I doubt, but that the Providence of God, without which a sparrow falls not to the ground, directed my thoughts to this book as, not only profitable for all times, but especially seasonable for these times. It is a word in season, and therefore should as a word upon the wheels, make a speedy passage into all our hearts: And how should it not? While we remember that these wheels are oiled with blood, even with the heart-blood of thousands of our dearest friends and brethren.”
• Much like England in Caryl’s time, America is in a time of suffering. Thus the same can be said today about Job’s relevance to us. America is going through a time of terrible war and Islamic terrorism. Islam is seeking to destroy us. Our politicians seem to be clueless as to even who the real enemy is, let alone how to defeat them. Religious pluralism and political correctness is making it impossible for the church to carry out its mission without suffering legal persecution and prosecution, while at the same time these humanistic philosophies make it all the more easy for false religions to make dramatic headway in reaching their own ungodly goals. The attack upon the nation and our leader’s resultant illegitimate and fruitless response is leading to economic disaster and more suffering. Most cultural and economic analysts are predicting that these are but the beginning of America’s sorrows. This is indeed a time of trial for God’s covenant people in this nation.
• Keeping this in mind what book could be more relevant than the Book of Job to our situation today? So, in consideration of these things, it is my desire to proclaim God’s truth and comfort, from this book, so that we may be equipped for our dark times as well as those to come.
• But before we begin to examine the text of Job in its particulars it is important that we have a proper overview of the book as a whole. This is true anytime we try to expound on a book verse by verse. Often times we get so focused on the particular verses of a book in Scripture that we forget the grandeur of the book as a whole, not taking in the whole context, purpose, and design of the book. (Shenandoah Valley vs. woodpecker holes/Grand Canyon) The same can be said of Scripture.
• The reason we must study an overview of the book is so that we have the proper perspective to begin examining the book. This must be seen as three-fold: 1.) We have to understand the purpose, theology, and message of the book as a whole before we can understand the particular contents. This is true of any book and of the Bible as a whole. The very theology of the Bible and each book of the Bible is the standard for interpreting it. That is why when someone has an askew theology he cannot understand hardly any verse of Scripture properly. This can be seen in the fact the Dispensationalists, Arminians, and others do not know how to interpret Scripture properly.(Ever try to debate these types/Not speaking the same language) 2.) We must understand the basics of the book such as its structure, date, author, place of composition, themes, and other related matters so that we understand the context in and by which it was written. The circumstances leading to the writing of a book are key to understanding it properly. 3.) We must set in order the interpretive methodology for understanding the book. Job is a unique book with a unique literary composition. We must recognize this or we will never understand the book. In short, To fulfill our goal of gaining a proper and profitable understanding of the contents, message, lessons, teachings, and doctrines of the Book of Job, we must first learn to study it with the proper interpretive methodology and thereby gain an understanding of the Book as a whole.
• So today and for the next few weeks we will study the book of Job as a whole. In doing so we will cover four ways we must study this book. We must have the proper Attitude, Aim, Appreciation, and Approach when studying this book.
• Our sermon today will deal with the subject of Attitude. The point of today’s sermon is that: Proposition—Because Our Goal is to Rightly Study and Gain a Profitable Understanding of Job, We Must Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book.
• Attitude is key when studying a book. Our Attitude is our disposition or mind-set and is very determinative concerning how we view the book. Our Attitude determines our feelings toward the book. If we come to a complex book like Job with the wrong Attitude we will not grasp its contents and message. Job’s complexity makes this necessary more than most other books.

              I.      To Have the Proper Attitude When Studying the Book of Job We Must Be Content with what is Concealed. (There are certain matters about the book of Job that are concealed from us. They are uncertain. God has not chosen to reveal to us the facts concerning these matters and we should be content with this.) There are three basic matters that God has chosen to conceal from us. They are: 1) Who wrote the book, 2) when it was written and took place, and 3) where it was written and took place.

A.     The first thing Concealed concerning Job is WHO wrote Job? (i.e. Authorship)

                                    1.            The Fact is we do not know who wrote the Book of Job.

a.       No Author is given. Unlike many books of the Bible (e.g. Paul’s Epistles, The Revelation of John, many of the Prophets, etc.) the Book of Job does not give us a record of it’s authorship.

b.      The literary style does not coincide exactly with any other writer of Scripture. The language of Job is a strange dialect resembling Arabic & Aramaic and containing many Aramaisms & Arabisms and is unlike any other Book of the Bible in this regard.

c.       There is no unanimity with regard to tradition as to who wrote the book as there is with other portions of Scripture (e.g. Moses—Pentateuch; Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

                                    2.            There are many theories as to the authorship of the book.

a.       Lowth, Magee, and Lee regard Job as the author.

b.      Lightfoot and others ascribe the work to Elihu.

c.       Luther, Grotius, and others think Solomon wrote the book.

d.      Warburton ascribes it to Ezra.

e.       Others say it was written by a poet at the time of Solomon or to one after the Jewish exile.

f.        There as many theories as there are scholars it would seem.

                                    3.            The most conceivable and feasible theory is the rabbinic tradition that Moses wrote Job. The Syriac Peshitta places Job after Deuteronomy to honor this tradition. This is in fact the oldest of the rabbinic traditions. Many other scholars such as Caryl, Beza, Kennicott, Michaelis, Dathe, and Good share this view. This is very possible for a numer of reasons:

a.       The author of Job appears to have had firsthand experience of Egyptian culture, geography and literature as Moses would have had being raised in Pharaoh’s court as his nephew.

b.       The author of Job had extensive knowledge of the arts, sciences, and wildlife. He seems to have traveled a lot and become familiar with multiple countries and cultures. He was familiar with the world literature of his day including that of Syria and Mesopotamia. The author thus appears to be among the intellectual elite of his day. Moses fits this description being educated as royalty by the Egyptians, most assuredly traveling with them, and later, after his exile to Midian being an outdoorsman and shepherd he would be familiar with all the wildlife in the area as well. 

c.       The author was also familiar with nature in such things as storms and various topographies and climates such as mountains, seas, and deserts. He also was very knowledgeable about the stars and constellations. These things would fit with both Moses’ early education and his later learning while wanderings as a shepherd in the wilds of Arabia.

d.      The author of Job is familiar with the creation of man. He speaks of it in chapters 4, 10, 27, 32 and 33 in almost identical terms as Moses in Genesis 2 and 3 probably before Genesis was even written. Therefore it is likely that the same author wrote the two books because the author of Job would not have had Genesis to use as a reference.

e.       In 31:33 of Job the fall of Adam is mentioned. He is described as hiding just as in Genesis 3 probably before Genesis was written.

f.        In 16:18 an allusion to the murder of Abel can be found. Similar language is used.

g.       The description of the patriarchal times Job lived in coincide exactly with Moses’ account in Genesis showing familiarity with the contents of Genesis probably before it was even written.

h.       The names used for God coincide with the Genesis account of the Patriarchal times composed by Moses, such as Shadai, El, Eloah, and Elohim. Yahweh is not used in the dialogue of the book’s characters but is used in the prologue and epilogue and by Job himself. This would coincide with Moses writing most of the book before God’s revelation of His covenant name to Moses at the burning bush. Moses then, after God revealed himself to him more fully, probably completed the book after this revelation, thus using the name Yahweh to refer to God by name in the prose portions. In other words he updated the work. This completed the work and made it apply more specifically to the Hebrews.

                                    4.            All of these lead us to the probable solution that Moses wrote the book of Job while in his forty year residence in Arabia. Moses probably used the widely known story of Job and possible written records composed by Job or someone else to write the literary masterpiece we have today. If so, he took these documents, compiled them, edited them under God’s guidance and inspiration and poeticized them to give them a literary beauty. Moses could have come into contact with these documents through Jethro, his father-in-law who was a priest in Midian. Moses most likely wrote the book to provide for the Hebrew people an explanation for their suffering and comfort in their trials during the Egyptian bondage. In this book, if he was the author, Moses represented to the Hebrews in their trials the duty of submission to the will of God and to furnish the assurance that He, God, would yet appear to crown with abundant blessings his own people, however much they might be afflicted. This theory of authorship is further bolstered by the following facts:

a.       Moses spent forty years in various parts of Arabia in an area where the story of Job would have been well known. Thus he would have been quite familiar with the facts surrounding the history of Job’s life.

b.      His education in Egypt as a nephew to Pharaoh would have equipped him with the education and genius to write such a literary masterpiece.

c.       Moses would have been the most likely person to write a book about the righteous suffering undeservedly due to his Hebrew countrymen’s trials in Egypt.

d.      The events of Job took place very near to Midian where Moses resided for forty years with his father-in-law Jethro.

                                    5.            So in conclusion, while we cannot say dogmatically or with absolute certainty who wrote the book of job, the author of Job was probably Moses. And while all of  this is important, it is not absolutely necessary for our study and understanding of the book. If knowing the identity of the author of Job was absolutely needed for the study of the book to be profitable, God would have revealed to us who the author was. The most important thing for us to remember is that whoever the human earthly author of Job was, we know with absolute assurance who the heavenly author was: God the Holy Spirit. He is the true author of Job. He inspired and superintended the human author to record His words, His story, His record of the events surrounding Job’s life and trials. God is the author and we can know this with certainty. As for the human author, we must be content to leave it in the hands of God, and not insist upon certainty with regard to its authorship.

B.     The second thing Concealed concerning Job is WHEN Job was written and WHEN did the events occur? (i.e. Date)

                                    1.            The fact is, just like with Job’s authorship, we cannot be certain when Job was written or exactly when the events took place. However, there are many indications that give us a general idea on these matters and relative certainty concerning Job’s dating.

                                    2.            Date of Composition—WHEN Job was Written: Early (Pre-Exodus) Times.

a.       Some of the evidence for the early composition of Job is found in extra-Biblical literature. The Qumram scrolls (Dead Sea Scrolls) include only the Pentateuch and Job in Paleo-Hebrew script. This form of script was an archaizing invention to distinguish these books as the oldest compositions in the Old Testament. This means that this Jewish tradition held that Job was one of the oldest books in the Bible.

b.      The suffering of the righteous was a topic of much ancient literature. Many ancient compositions resembled Job both in subject matter and structure and are of a very ancient date. This points to Job being written during the same time because of the popularity of this subject matter and way of structuring literary works in that time period. It would make perfect sense for Job to have been written contemporary with these others Near Eastern texts.

                                                                                                         i.            “I will praise the Lord of Wisdom” i.e. The Babylonian Job ca. 1600-1150 B.C.

                                                                                                       ii.            Some Akkadian texts like the former are even earlier.

                                                                                                      iii.            A Sumerian text that is even more like Job dates from about 2000-1700 B.C.

                                                                                                     iv.            The Babylonian Theodicy dates to around 1400-1000 B.C.

                                                                                                       v.            The Egyptian texts: “Dispute Over Suicide” dates to around the end of the 3^rd Millennium B.C and “The Protests of the Eloquent Peasant” dates to around the early 2^nd Millennium B.C. (More about these Texts Later)

                                                                                                     vi.            The conclusion we need to draw concerning these texts is that it is most feasible to conclude that Job was written during the same time. It is amazing how so many scholars refuse to admit that Job was written during the same time as these Ancient Near Eastern texts while at the same time insisting on these other texts ancient origin. This is a major inconsistency and shows a preconceived bias on the part of so-called scholars to reject the ancient composition of Job. It is not based on textual and historical evidence but evolutionary and humanistic philosophy that doubts God’s word implicitly without even examining it. 

c.       Another evidence for the early composition of Job is that there are so many similarities between Job and the other Biblical books, especially Proverbs and Psalms that it is almost certain that the writers quoted Job. This puts Job before the time of David and Solomon. Moses most likely alluded to the book of Job in the Pentateuch too.

d.      Isaiah alludes to Job many times in his prophecies of the Suffering Servant thus Job was written before 740 B.C.

e.       Ezekiel knew of the account of Job by 600 B.C.

f.        Another evidence for the early date of Job is the Books literary features. The language of Job is ancient. Its literary style and linguistic form are that of an archaic epic. The poetry of the book only includes the simplest form of Hebrew parallelism which was used in the oldest books of Scripture; the later books have more complex poetry and parallelism. It contains more unique vocabulary than any other Old Testament book. It has more hapax legomena than any other book of the Old Testament. It is ancient Hebrew with many elements of Arabic, Ugaritic, and Aramaic. The spellings and word forms are primitive. It is very unlikely if not impossible that a later author could have “faked” it and wrote in this ancient language and dialect.

                                    3.            Date of Circumstances: We have a little more information on when Job took place. We are not absolutely certain when Job took place but we are relatively sure it was in the Patriarchal Times. There are many reasons for this conclusion.

a.       The theology of the people recorded in Job was a very simple monotheism. Idolatry does not seem very prevalent during Job’s time. This indicates that the time was very early.

b.      There is no written revelation from God mentioned in the book but instead oral tradition and direct revelation through dreams and other immediate means. This means Job was probably written before any other Biblical book.

c.       Some of the most convincing evidence leading to the Patriarchal times is the conditions surrounding Job and his lifestyle.

                                                                                                         i.            Job’s name was very common around the 2^nd millennium B.C.

                                                                                                       ii.            Job’s wealth is measured in terms of flocks and herds (1:3).

                                                                                                      iii.            He is the head of, and priest for, his family and household (1:5).

                                                                                                     iv.            His offerings are of the earliest form and are Pre-Mosaic (1:5).

                                                                                                       v.            The attacks on Job by the Sabeans and Chaldeans occurred while they were nomads which was true during the Patriarchal age (1:5, 17).

                                                                                                     vi.            The term for money used in 42:11 is only used elsewhere in reference to Jacob (Genesis 33:19; Joshua 24:32).

                                                                                                    vii.            The names for God (El, Eloah) are generally pre-Mosaic. Shaddai is used 31 times in Job but only 16 times in the rest of the Old Testament. This points to a time when Yahweh had not been revealed fully as God’s special covenant name.

                                                                                                  viii.            Job’s great age and long life are indicative of the lifespan of the patriarchs.

                                                                                                     ix.            There is no mention of such major events as the Exodus, the judgment of Egypt, the Sinai legislation, or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, all of which would have been very useful in the argument over justice and God’s judgments and ways as found in the dialogue of Job.

                                                                                                       x.            There is no mention of the people or nation of Israel, thus they had not become a nation yet.

                                                                                                     xi.            The method of sacrifice was patriarchal and not centralized in the Levitical Priesthood, Tabernacle, or Temple. Fathers sacrificed on behalf of their families. This would be condemned after Sinai.

C.     The third thing Concealed concerning Job is WHERE Job was written and WHERE did the events of the book take place? (i.e. Location)

                                    1.            Location of Composition

a.       We really cannot say with any certainty at all where Job was written.

b.      However, if we accept the theory defended earlier about Moses writing the book we can assume he wrote it in Arabia and Egypt.

c.       Most likely Moses wrote the majority of the book while living in Midian before the Exodus of the Children of Israel out of Egypt.

                                    2.            Location of Circumstances

a.       We have a little more assurance about the location of the events recorded in Job.

b.      We are told in the opening verse of the book that Job lived in the land of Uz. This area as far as we know was located in what is today Northern Saudi Arabia or possibly Jordan and maybe including Syria.

                                                                                                         i.            Genesis 10:23 says that Uz, the man who the land of Uz was most likely named after, was one of the “sons of Aram”. Therefore see that Uz is associated with the Syrian and Arabian land of the OT Arameans.

                                                                                                       ii.            This is further reinforced by Gen. 22:20-21 we see that Abraham’s brother Nahor named one of his sons Uz, thus this family name was quite popular. The Arameans kept naming their children in this way.

                                                                                                      iii.            Further, Gen. 36:28 says that one of the chiefs of the Horites who inhabited the land of Edom, and who were descendents of the Aram, was named Uz. Thus Edom is associated with Uz.

                                                                                                     iv.            We will probably deal with this more fully when we examine the text of Job itself in months to come.

Conclusion to Section 1

• Today we have dealt with the Who, When, and Where of the book of Job and the one thing we have learned is that there is much that we cannot know concerning these things with absolute certainly.
• The lesson to take to heart here today is that we are to have an Attitude of Contentment concerning these uncertain matters. I have made an attempt to give us some information and evidence for a certain viewpoint on the Date, Authorship, and Location of the book of Job. However, I want to stress that no matter how convincing the arguments I have presented might be, it is still to a degree, speculative.
• We cannot be dogmatic on these issues. A good rule of thumb on these issues is found in Deuteronomy 29:29—The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. There is much that is Concealed about God’s Word. There is much that is secret. God has chosen not to reveal these things to us and we need to just accept this. We need to be Content.
• These things do not belong to us, they belong to God. We need to be content with leaving the secret things in God’s hands. There is plenty that is revealed, and does belong to us to keep us busy. The things that are revealed are more than adequate to give us everything we need that pertains to life and godliness, “through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
• Let us be content with both what is Concealed and what is Revealed, and if we do this we will be equipped for what the rest of Deuteronomy 29:29 says is the purpose for which God revealed His Word to us: “that we may do all the words of this law.”

Currently Reading Systematic Theology By R. L. Dabney see related

Sermon Outline 8/10/08

Introduction:

• There are a number of essential doctrines that define the Christian faith. Without these doctrines, there is not Christianity. They include among others the Trinity, the full Humanity/Deity of Chist, the Atonement, Justification by Faith Alone and the Second Coming. Today we are going to study one of these essential Christian doctrines: the Resurrection of Christ.
• The resurrection of Christ is at the very heart and core of our faith in Him. Without it the Christian faith is null and void. Without Christ rising from the dead our faith is in vain. (Paul deals with its denial in 1 Cor. 15:12-20- READ)
• Notice vs 14. “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Without the resurrection our faith is useless. Useless. Why is this?
• According to Roman’s 1:4 it was by the resurrection, that God declared Jesus to “be the son of God.”
• Jesus was always the Son of God.
• God showed him to be so and proved it by the resurrection. Without the resurrection we have no reason to believe Jesus is God’s son.
• Without the resurrection of Christ we have no reason to believe He is Lord.
• He would have died like any other man.
• His own prediction of himself concerning His resurrection in Matthew 20:19 would be false, making him either a lunatic or a liar.  
• The apostle’s testimony concerning His resurrection and ascension to heaven all throughout the NT, especially the book of Acts would be false.
• Without the resurrection of Jesus we have no reason to believe in a High priest at the right hand of the Father who according to Heb. 7:25 “is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
• Without the resurrection of Christ we have no basis for the expectation of our own resurrection.
• In Short without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have no Christianity.
• Over the centuries many false explanations of the Resurrection have surfaced, the humanistic theories of God hating man to excuse their unbelief in the resurrection.
• Stolen body theory.
• How did fearful disorganized disciples role the stone away without alerting an entire Roman guard?
• How could an entire Roman guard fall asleep under threat of severe punishment?
• Why would the apostles die for the gospel if they stole Jesus body and thus it was a lie?
• The swoon theory.
• If Jesus swooned on the cross, how did he survive the spear into his side?
• How did he role the stone away in this terrible shape let alone get by the Roman guard?
• How did he convince his disciples that he rose if he was in this terrible shape.
• These theories require more faith than the resurrection. The only way to explpain Christ’s body disappearing is what the Bible reveals. Christ rose from the dead. This is the most undeniable fact of history.
• So in seeing the resurrection of Christ as an undeniable fact of history, I want to take this sermon time to declare to you the implications this even has upon history itself.

Proposition: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the focal point of all history, therefore we should trust in, proclaim to others, and look forward to all that this blessed event means in history.

I.                    Christ’s Resurrection is the Focal Point of the Past. V. 21-22—For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

A.     Christ’s Resurrection is the Focal Point of the Past from the time of the Fall to the Resurrection of Christ.

1.      When Adam fell into sin, plunging all of his posterity into depravity and the resultant wrath of God, God made a promise of a coming redeemer who would crush the head of Satan and free man from the clutches of sin.

a.      Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

b.      From the time of this promise, mankind has looked for its fulfillment. All of history from the time of this prophetic promise focused upon one event. And it was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

2.      All of the OT sacrifices and the intricacies of the OT form of worship within the tabernacle and temple were shadows or types which focused upon the one who was to come: Jesus Christ.

3.       All the prophecies of the coming Prophet, Priest and King who would suffer and yet reign were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. They found their focus and fulfillment in Christ.

B.     Our Look to the Past.

1.      However, this is not the only past history we must speak of. While in the ancient past of OT times, others looked forward to the coming of Christ, we must now look to our past and see within it the focus of the Resurrection.

2.      All of our modern history looks to Christ’s resurrection as its focal point. Even our calendar is divided into two eras; one before Christ and the present one after his coming. In other words people who deny Christ cannot even make sense of their own history, not even the very calendar they use, without referring to Christ.

3.      History has been affected by this event more than any other.

a.       The spreading of the Christian religion has caused the uprising of liberty, peace, and justice in our world and has done much to destroy tyranny, slavery, and all forms of civil injustice.

b.      But more importantly than all these is the Christian’s look back to the past event of the resurrection and the proof and assurance it gives us of eternal life if we believe in it.

c.       Christ, in rising from the dead has proved to us, once and for all, that he is without doubt the savior and that he alone is able to save. By his resurrection, he has given us an undeniable basis for our faith in Him.

II.                 Christ’s Resurrection is the Focal Point of the Present V. 23-25—But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

A.     Christ’s Resurrection is the Focal Point of the Present Christ’s Present Reign. Notice v. 25 again “For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”

1.      By the resurrection, God has declared Christ to be his representative ruler over all creation. Christ has dominion and authority over all of heaven and earth. In Matt. 28:18 Jesus says, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

2.      We find the full implications of this from the second Psalm verses 7-9; a passage of the OT that the Apostle Paul taught referred to the resurrection of Christ in Acts 13:33: This he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. You might remember when we studied this Psalm a few months ago. Let’s review it. (Turn with me to this passage: Psalm 2:7-9)

a.       In this passage we see that after declaring Christ to be His only begotten Son by the resurrection, God gives the nations to Him to be his inheritance and possession. The entire world and all the governments of the earth belong to him and are under his rule.

b.      Of those nations who revolt at his rule it says that they will be broken under his rod and shattered like pots of clay.

3.      Christ rules his world by “a rod of iron”. We read of this rod of iron in Rev. 19:15 “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”

a.       This rod is his word and his mighty sovereign power. Jesus rules over this world by his law word and the powerful preaching of it by His church.

b.      We learn that Jesus uses his church to exercise this rule by His word in Rev. 2:26-27 “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father.”

c.       Notice from this text (which quotes the second Psalm) that Jesus gives the same authority he receives from the Father to those in the church who overcome. These receive authority over the nations and rule with the rod. These are those by whom he will break his enemies like potters’ vessels.

d.      What power the church has from Christ in the preaching of his word.

B.     Our Present Work.

1.      Due to this rule of Christ given to him at his resurrection, we the church, have work to do. To understand this work we must read the rest of Psalm 2: verses 10-12. (Read with me)

a.       The text says that all nations must pay homage to the Son. If they do not, his wrath will be upon them. But all that trust in Him as King will be blessed. The response of the church to these truths is that we must declare the present Crown Rights of King Jesus to the world.

b.      This is the message of the church in one sentence: Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.”

c.       Our primary duty is to make disciples of the nations according to the Great Commission. Involved in this discipling of the nations is the teaching of them to observe all the commands of Jesus.

2.      The Church’s response must be to declare the rule of Christ and to call for all the nations to bow to His lordship. Our assignment is to carry the message of God’s decree and Christ’s rule to them. It is to proclaim the rule of King Jesus.  This is primarily done by the preaching of the gospel, but it is also accomplished by calling the nations to obey the Law of God.

a.      Much is said today in the debate over church and state. However the debate has degenerated into irrelevant peripheral matters.

b.      It is very Biblical and very Constitutional for the state and the church to be separate entities. That is the way God designed it.

c.       Contrary to popular opinion, church and state were separate even in Old Testament Israel. This is seen very clearly in the sad case of Uzziah which we find in 2 Chron. 26:16-21. (Relate Story)

i.)                  We see from this what happens when the state tries to mix with the church.

ii.)                 Uzziah was king and as king he had no right to interfere with the church of the OT. Church and state are not to mix. They may work in cooperation with one another, working in this way together toward a common goal, based on a common law, but must never mix.

3.      However, even though Church and state must never mix, God’s law is transcendent over both. God holds all governments accountable to His law.

a.       The US constitution only forbids the government from interfering with the Church. It never mentions the separation of religion from government nor the Law of God as not being the standard for civil law. It never says that the civil government cannot consult the Church for advice. It never says that the civil government cannot protect the true churches of Christ, or that it cannot enforce laws to keep idolatry and false religion out of the land. Nevertheless, when someone like me advocates Biblical law for our government all we hear is the tired refrain: “Separation of Church and State”.

b.      (George Orwell 1984 Illustration: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances).

c.       Now does this say separation of church and state? Does this say that prayer cannot be publicly practiced in state institutions? Does it say any of the things we are told that it prohibits? NO! Further the only restriction of this amendment is on the U.S. Congress. It does not restrict the church. It doesn’t even restrict state legislative bodies. It has no authority on state legislators. The truth of this is established by the fact that most of the individual state constitutions did establish religion within their bounds and they coexisted with the U.S. Constitution with no tension at all.

d.      Lastly, let me briefly add that the word religion as it was used during the late 18^th century America referred to Christianity, not religion in general as it is thought of today including all religions. The word religion was not used to refer to these false religions. They were not considered religion. Only Christianity was true religion. Therefore the constitution does not restrict the government from outlawing and removing Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any of the other idolatrous systems we allow in America today.

e.       The fact is that our nation was founded as a Christian nation and it is the church’s present responsibility and right to call our nation back to this heritage. The church must declare God’s law, his gospel, and the rule of His Son to all nations, including our own, or see our nation perish under the wrath of God.

c.       No nation, including the U.S.A. will receive the blessing of God unless it acknowledges his Son as King.

d.      No nation will be blessed if it does not obey the law of God, even in judicial matters.

e.       John Calvin summed up all this very well in the following: “Let this, therefore, be held as a settled point, that all who do not submit themselves to the authority of Christ make war against God. Since it seems good to God to rule us by the hand of his own Son, those who refuse to obey Christ himself deny the authority of God, and it is vain for them to profess otherwise. For it is a true saying, ‘He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which has sent him,’ (John 5:22.) And it is of great importance to hold fast this inseparable connection, that as the majesty of God hath shone forth in his only begotten Son, so the Father will not be feared and worshipped but in his person.”

III.               Christ’s Resurrection is the Focal Point of the Future. V. 26-28—The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For God has put all things in subjection under his feet. But when it says, all things are put in subjection, it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

A.     Christ’s Resurrection is the Focal Point of the Future because of the Return of Christ: The Resurrection of the Dead.

1.      Because of the resurrection of Christ, we look forward to the resurrection of the dead.

a.       The return of Christ is the most important event in our future.

b.      No one knows of the day when this will occur. But all need to be ready for it.

c.       At the end of history Christ will return, he will raise the dead, and he will judge all men.

2.      We learn from v. 24 that when Christ comes and the dead are raised, THEN, NOT LATER, the end occurs.

a.       Then Not Later he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father.

b.      Then Not Later all enemies will have been abolished and subdued.

c.       Then Not Later the Son Himself will be subject to the Father.

d.      Then Not Later God will be all in all.

e.       We learn from this that we must reject any doctrine that places a division of time between the resurrection of the dead at the return of Christ and the eternal state. (Expound slightly/Refute Premillennialism)

B.     Christ’s Resurrection Establishes Our Hope for the Future.

1.      This resurrection of the dead is our hope for the future.

2.      Our enemy is death. We all dread it somewhat. We all fear it. None of us truly desires it. But because of the resurrection of Christ and our own resurrection, we can have assurance that at Christ’s return: DEATH WILL DIE. V. 26 “The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

3.      This is our hope. This is what we are to long for. Paul expresses it so powerfully in verses 51-55 of our chapter: “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

Conclusion:

• I have a very short conclusion for you today.
• I simply want to ask you all something?
• Are you focusing upon the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?
• Is His resurrection the thing you look back upon to give you assurance of salvation? Dou you trust in Him as resurrected Lord for your Salvation?
• Are you presently focusing upon the implications of His resurrection in our world? Do you proclaim and uphold his person and will in your life? Do you acknowledge His kingship in your life?
• And lastly do you look forward, into the future hope of the resurrection of your own body, which is only possible because of His?
• Is Christ and His resurrection your past, present, and future?
• If not make him so today. Believe in Him.

Currently Reading Maximizing Your Effectiveness: How to Discover and Develop Your Divine Design By Aubrey Malphurs see related

Been a while...

It has been quite a while since I have written for this blog. I added some sermons to the audio blog, check them out. One is on Semper Reformanda and the other is a defense of Sprinkling in Baptism.

We had a new member join us the 13th of July, Nita Edgar. She is the mother of another member, Steve Gibbs. Nita has been attending for quite some time and took her vows with joy. We praise and thank God for her commitment and fellowship.

I have been studying a movement going on in Lakeland Florida lately. It is known as the Todd Bentley Healing Revival or Outpouring. Todd Bentley is a self-proclaimed prophet. This "revival" has been going on for some time and has made many claims of healings. It was brought to my attention by a customer of mine in the part time job I work through the week. He was lauding the "revival" as a "mighty move of God's anointing" and such Charismatic catch phrases. So I checked it out on God TV. My assessment is that it is a bunch of delusion, falsehood, heresy, and deception. Todd Bentley is a tattooed, body pierced, lying false prophet who claims oodles of healings, visions of God, Christ, angels, the Apostle Paul, and a host of other nonsense. Quite frankly I wonder if the man is sane. There are no healings taking place in these meetings. There are no people raised from the dead as Bentley claims. No evidence of these things has ever been established and attempts to do so have all been proven fallacious.

This movement is just another offshoot of the same kind of emotional anti-intellectual fanaticism found in the Toronto Blessing, Brownsville Revival, East Calhoun Church of God Outpouring, Trinity Brompton Revival, and the Argentine Revival among others. These "revivals" of falling down, "holy laughter", and other nonsense is really getting old. You would think these deceivers would think of something new. But instead we get "slain in the spirit", "holy laughter" gold dust, fillings, etc. Same old same old. What breaks my heart is that people like my customer who are ignorant of the Word of God and who lack discernment are continually deceived by these false prophets like Bentley. Furthermore, when these charlatans are exposed (Bentley has already been proved to be a convicted child molester) and the events proved to be fictitious, those carried away by this movement will often times become disillusioned and leave the faith. It happens over and over again. May God deliver us from these wolves and their falsehood. Pray that he would remove and expose these heretics for what they truly are and protect His true Sheep.

As I sit here writing this I am watching a rerun of one of these so-called "revival" services. It is chaos. Some girl is running, jumping, dancing, thrashing, jerking, screaming and who knows what else in what can only be described as an out of control frenzy, while "leading worship". If this is worship I can honestly say I have never worshipped. God is not honored by this kind of insanity. It is a rock concert. I expect a "mosh pit" to form soon. I truly wonder if this poor girl is sane. Really! I am not exaggerating, it looks like Avril Lavigne singing to Jesus her Skater Boy songs. And the people in the....hmmm?? ....congregation??....are as bad or worse. The songs are the same near meaningless words being repeated over and over and over again. There is no content, not substance, no theology, no Biblical content, no expression of the glory, attributes, works, or person of God. I am probably going to hear this nonsense in my sleep tonight because it is like of those terrible songs that gets stuck in your mind and you cannot get it out. About seven words, repeated about seventy or more times, sung to three simple cords played over and over again to a simplistic drum beat. Garbage! If Alanis Morissette shows up I'll vomit. Postmodernism at its best, isn't it wonderful?!?!

This kind of behavior only needs open sex to be an orgy. Now I know some might think this harsh but historically revivals like this (Cane Ridge for instance) have involved gross sexual immorality. I would be curious to know how many forced marriages, illegitimate births, and premature births (from forced marriages) come out of this "revival" in a year from now. While mom and dad are making fools of themselves in the "worship service" the teenagers are out fornicating often times. Now I do not know if this is the case at Lakeland but the behavior is the type to charge things up for this kind of environment. (By the way now they are doing a rock version of "Joy Joy Joy")

Now, before anybody chastises me for saying these things without being down there, let me remind everyone that I grew up in Pentecostalism and actually spent over a year in one of these "revivals" at East Calhoun Church of God. This church had many if not most of the same kind of things going on, having had the Brownsville movement spread to it, and I can say that everything I am complaining about happened there too. The teenagers were involved in drunkenness, partying and fornication. It was all rampant and very few remained in the faith that were supposedly "converted" by this "revival". Most were spurious. What one needs to understand is that when you are in this type of highly suggestible atmosphere, along with the emotionally charged element that causes one to lose their inhibitions, this suggestibility and loss of inhibitions carries over to peer pressure to sexual activity and other debauchery. No wonder it almost always leads to this.

I truly hope none of my family gets caught up in this stuff. My mother's sister and her children are for the most part Charismatic/Pentecostal and are prone to this kind of deception. Every other time I have warned them of the error of this kind of movement in the past I have been ignored or criticized by them. This time I am not going to even bother. I'll leave it in God's hands. They won't listen any way.

Sermon Outline 6/29/08

Introduction:

• One of the most controversial matters in the modern church, particularly in the South is the issue of the proper and Biblical mode of baptism.
• Since we are the only Reformed Presbyterian church in Cartersville we are going to face criticism from our neighboring churches because we do not believe in or practice immersion when we baptize.
• In fact I had a woman well known in the Christian community confront me, scoffing at Presbyterianism, saying “But you don’t baptize”. She could not conceive that we baptized but not by immersion. To her, no immersion meant no baptism to her.
• This is ignorance and it is common in our community. Most people do not realize that immersion has been the minority position throughout most of Church history.
• Not until the growth of the Baptist movement did immersion become so widespread and this wasn’t until the 19^th century and mostly within America, particularly the South.
• Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Methodists, Anglicans, Catholics, and many other groups do not immerse.
• However, the Baptists and their offshoots do immerse and often deny membership in their churches to those not baptized by this mode. In fact the Stone-Campbellites deny salvation to anyone not immersed.
• We need to be able to answer the criticisms brought against us on this matter. Our confession of faith says “Dipping of the person into the water is not necessary; but Baptism is rightly administered by pouring, or sprinkling water upon the person.” Thus we refuse to practice immersion. We do not believe it to be Biblical.
• Examining church history will not help us much. Sprinkling has been practiced but so has immersion. But immersion has never been an exclusive mode. And even in times when it was the norm, in the early church, it was due to superstition. It was believed that the body had to be totally covered in water for the soul to be regenerated and thus the recipient had to be nude. Immersionists rarely mention that fact. They do not like to admit that their mode was brought about by the seeds of the Roman Catholic superstition of baptismal regeneration. I wonder why?
• So Church History doesn’t help us. The only source to help us is Scripture. We need to examine the Bible to see what it says concerning the mode of Baptism. Today we are going to examine the immersionist case and then our own proof for sprinkling/pouring.

Proposition: The Biblical mode of baptism is sprinkling/pouring of water from above, therefore we are to practice this proper mode and not succumb to the un-biblical and un-reasonable demand of immersion.

We will attempt to prove Sprinkling/Pouring as the Biblical mode of baptism in two ways. First we will show the weakness of the immersionist position and secondly we will give the basic evidence for sprinkling/pouring. There are 3 basic lines of argument against the immersionist position of the mode of Baptism and 2 basic arguments for sprinkling/pouring.

I.       The first weakness of the immersionist position is that it is based on an incorrect translation and meaning of the Greek word for “baptize”: baptizw.

A.     The immersionist insists that the definition of the Greek word for baptize, baptizw, is immerse or dip. This is not true. No true scholar would ever take this position if he has done his homework. It is not historically or Biblically accurate.

                                                                              1.            A detailed study of the word baptizw will show that it never refers to any definite act or mode.

                                                                              2.            To baptize an object is to bring it under a “controlling influence”, and this influence may be accomplished by a host of different acts or modes as well as a host of different physical or ideal agencies. When an object is baptized according to Classic Greek it is brought under the controlling influence of the agent that baptizes it.

                                                                              3.            According to the dozens of works in the Greek language we find that to baptize an object brings this object into many different conditions as well.

                                                                              4.             In fact these conditions of controlling influence can even be accomplished without any physical act or agent at all.

                                                                              5.            Allow me to give you a few examples.

a.       Josephus, Philo, Plato, and others use the word to denote the condition of drunkenness produce by drinking wine.

b.      Josephus and Philo as well as the author of Hebrews in Heb. 9:13 refer to baptism as a condition of purification accomplished by the sprinkling of heifers’ ashes. This is the common Jewish usage of the word baptizw and is the most important usage for our understanding of the NT usage of the word. Baptizw, Biblically speaking, refers to the OT ritual purifications found in the Levitical ceremonial Law. (more on this later)

c.       Achilles Tatius calls the condition of being drugged by drinking opium a baptism.

d.      Siculus uses baptism to denote the oppression of people or a city by taxation.

e.       Even in cases where an immersion does take place when something is baptized, the immersion itself is distinguished from the baptism. Example: in one Classic Greek work to baptize means to pickle something and the word baptw is used to denote the immersion or dipping and baptizw is used for the pickling.

f.        Also it must be noted that in cases when baptizw does involved the envelopment of the object baptized, the object is not removed by the baptism. Baptizw does not take out what it puts into. The modern practice of momentarily dipping a person into water is totally contrary to the concept of baptizw. Baptizw is permanent, not momentary or cursory. It is not a dipping.  

g.       Further, and most importantly, when baptizw is used with reference to a person being immersed into water, the word means “a drowning” not the mode effecting it. No one was ever baptized into water in Classical Greek and lived through it. This phraseology “baptizw eis udato~” never occurs in the NT.

h.       If NT water baptism means immersion of a person into water, it would be an anomaly, the only use of the word in this way in the whole of Greek language. It would be the only time the word is ever used this way not involving a drowning. 

i.         Literally dozens more examples could be given to prove the point and are in fact available in a work by James W. Dale. It is a four volume work totaling over 1800 pages. It is the most exhaustive treatment of one word in the history of human language.

j.        The undeniable fact is that baptizw does not mean immerse. The Greek word for baptism does not necessarily refer to any definite act, mode, substance, or object. It is a myriad-sided word.

II.    The second weakness of the immersionist position is that the proof texts used to prove immersion actually argue against it.

A.     The first groups of texts are those that are accounts of baptisms that took place in the NT: Main Example: Matt. 3:16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water.

                                                                              1.            The problem with the text centers on the Greek phrase anebh apo: “ came up from”

                                                                              2.            The phrase “Jesus came up immediately from the water” is used by immersionists to prove that Jesus must have been immersed because he came up out of the water.

                                                                              3.            The problem with this is three-fold: First, anebh (came up) does not mean to emerge from under the water but means to walk up in the sense of “ascending a flight of stairs” or as in this case, to ascend the river bank. Second, apo (from) does not mean “out from under” or “out of” in the sense of emerging from under the water. The word just doesn’t carry with it that meaning. It simply means “away from” in the sense of Jesus walking up the bank and away from the river. Third, the tense of the verb for baptize (baptisqeis) is in the past tense. Jesus had already been baptized so his coming up from the water had to take place after the baptism, whatever mode it might have been, and thus can only refer to his walking away from the water.

                                                                              4.            (explain)Analogy of Faith: Acts 8:26-39 This passage is explanatory of the Gospel accounts of baptism. This text shows very clearly that coming up out of the water does not refer to emersion from under the water after an immersion into it.

a.       First, the best way to translate this passage is that they “came upon a certain or little water”. There was a little amount.

b.      Second, it was upon,(Greek epi), literally over the water. In other words it was probably a stream and they parked the chariot over it.

c.       Third, notice that both of them went down into the water and both came up. This cannot be an immersion because if it was both the baptizer and the one baptized would have both been baptized.

d.      Fourth, the baptism took place after they went down into the water so the going down into the water cannot refer to an immersion. It occurred before the baptism.

e.       Fifth, after the baptism was over, they both came up from the water, so this could not be a part of the baptism. It took place after the baptism. The language, much like that in Matthew, clearly refers to them climbing back up into the chariot from the water.

f.        Last, we must ask the question: How did baptism come into the discussion? What was it about Philip’s explanation of the OT Prophecy in Isaiah that brought up baptism to the Eunuch causing him to desire to be baptized? Vs. 35 says that Philip was explaining Isaiah 53:7-8 to proclaim the Gospel. This section the Eunuch was reading actually begins in 52:13, and we know that Philip as a faithful expositor would have explained the entire context in his sermon. 52:15 says concerning the Messiah that he will “sprinkle many nations”. So we see how baptism was brought up in Philip’s discourse to the Eunuch and it was by sprinkling that it was described.

g.       In summary, they came to some spring crossing the road and parked over it. They climbed down from the chariot to the water. He then sprinkled some water on the Eunuch. Then they climbed back into the chariot. This is not immersion and neither is the Matthew text that it clarifies.

                                                                              5.            I would add only this; that even many Baptist commentators agree with me here. Craig Blomberg for example, who has written a very recent and scholarly Baptist commentary on Matthew, and who believes in immersion, admits that this text gives no proof for immersion at all. If one is basing his belief in immersion on this text, his belief is a house of cards.

B.     The second group of texts are those that tell of typological baptisms in the OT.

                                                                              1.            First, is1 Cor. 10:1-2: For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

a.       First, the people were not baptized into the sea or cloud according to the text but into Moses; i.e. they were untied to him by the baptism by the cloud and sea.

b.      Second, the idea that this was an immersi