MENU

Where the world comes to study the Bible

Appendix 2: Reflection Questions

Related Media

Writing is one of the best ways to learn. In class, we take notes and write papers, and all these methods are used to help us learn and retain the material. The same is true with the Word of God. Obviously, all of the authors of Scripture were writers. This helped them better learn the Scriptures and also enabled them to more effectively teach it. In studying God’s Word with the Bible Teacher’s Guide, take time to write so you can similarly grow both in your learning and teaching.

  1. How would you summarize the main points of the text/chapter? Write a brief summary.
  2. What stood out to you most in the reading? Did any of the contents trigger any memories or experiences? If so, please share them.
  3. What follow–up questions do you have about the reading? Are there parts you do not fully agree with?
  4. What applications did you take from the reading, and how do you plan to implement them in your life?
  5. Write several goals: As a result of my time studying God’s Word, I aspire to . . .
  6. What are some practical ways to pray as a result of studying the text? Spend some time in prayer.

Copyright © 2020 Gregory Brown

BTG Publishing all rights reserved.

Pingo Jo Muye Kricito Limo Can

Related Media

Acakki me ginacoya man

Pingo an? Pingo kombedi? Man kono Lubanga tye ka timo ngo? Can obedo yo acel ma Lubanga tiyo kede me gamo tamwa dok bene me tyeko yub pe ikwowa. Can kono ki yubo me medo genwa i kom Lubanga matwero ducu, ento can miteni wabed ki lagam ma tye atir wek yub ducu pa Lubanga otum maber ikwowa. Can kwanyo tetek genwa ma watye kede i kom jami ma tye botwa dong weko wakwo ki gen i kom jami pa Lubanga.

Can pire kene pe obedo yo matye atir, dok bene pe tye yo me nyutu ni wan waleng bot Lubanga. En bene pe tye yo me nongo gin mo ki bot Lubanga, onyo yo me bwoyo miti me komwa (kwero miti me kom weng). Ento ka larre, can myero dano pe olim. Kricito pe obedo ka limo can atata nio ka weko en pe lubo miti pa wonne.

“Ikare me berbedo bed ki yom cwiny, Ento ikare ma piny rac ber ipo ni—Lubanga aye ma omiyo dano gibedo maber onyo marac wek dano pe onge gin ma bitimme lacen ma nongo dong guto woko” (Latit-lok. 7:14)

Lapeny magi tye maki yubo wek okonywa “wapo pire” ikare ma piny rac:

(1) Atye ka tero ne ningning?

(2) Myero ater ningning?

(3) Atye mono ka pwonye ki i iye?

(4) Dok yo ma atye ka terone kede mono nyutu niye, mar i kom Lubanga ki jo mukene, kit atir calo pa Kricito, ber kit, keto cwiny, miti ma atir, ki mapol ata.?

(5) Lubanga twero tic kede ningning ikwona?

Gonyo Te Lok Man Me Can

Gin ango ma Lubanga keto i yo me kwowa ma miyo ber ni wapo pire? Gonye i yo mayot ni, can tye gin ma timo jami malit ikomwa onyo miyo arem. Iyub pa Lubanga, en bene tye gin ma weko wan watamo matut. Obedo yo ma Lubanga tiyo kede me gamo tamwa dok bene tiyo kede me tyeko yub ma en tye kede pi kwowa i yo ma no pe lare labongo can onyo arem meno.

Lanyut Me Can

“En romo bedo two me kancer onyo dwon malit. En romo bedo arem me kom onyo too pa dano ma cok kwedwa. En romo bedo tic matum marac idok okoriwa onyo poto peny i gang kwan. En romo bedo lok anii ma oywek i gang tic onyo gang lega, ma balo nying matek, makelo tam ki lit cwiny.”1 En bene romo bedo gin matidimo calo ayella pa obe onyo rwatte ki labwor i borone calo ma otime bot Daniel (Dan. 6).

Jami Makelo Can

(1) Wa limo can pien watye ka kwo i lobo ma opoto kama bal keken opong icwiny dano.

(2) Wa limo can pi mingowa. Gin ma dano ocoyo en aye bene en bikayo (Jo Gal. 6:7-9).

(3)Ikare mukene wa limo can pien ni Lubanga tye ka pwonyo wa. “Pien Rwot pwonyo jo ma en maro, pwodo latin acelacel ma en gamo” (Jo Ibru. 12:6).

(4) Wa romo limo can me ayelayela pi niyewa—makato ki wan wacung i kom lok atir me baibul ma tyene tye ni walimo can pi ada (2 Tem. 3:12).

Iya ada, jami magi ducu pe time ikare acel cutcut. Can ducu pe tye, calo pi labol, adwogi me mingowa, can amita ,onyo bal.En tye lok ada, bene, ni can pol kare nyutu kama jami orem , kama goro tye i iye, ki tam ma ogom mamite ni  ki kwany woko calo cetta jabu ma giliyo ki i kom jabu wek odong jabu maleng    (cf. 1 Pet. 1:6-7).

Pi man wubed ki yom cwiny, kadi bed kombedi pi kare manoknok, gwok nyo,komwu ryange pi aoma cwiny mapatpat, wek ada pa niyewu, ma pire dit kato jabu ma pe rii nakanaka, kadi bed gitemo ki mac, myero okel pak ki deyo ki woro ikare ma Yecu Kricito binen iye; (1 Petero 1:6-7)

Kit Can Mapatpat

(1) Can Lit. Can obedo gin ma tek adada; en pe yot matwal. Kadi bed ni wan wangeyo can doki bene waketo ki tek ngec man itic, en pud kelo arem (cf. 1 Pet. 1:6—“ryange kom” = lupeo, “me kelo arem, kumu, cwer cwiny”).

(2) Can Weko Tamwa Cung Woko. Can obedo gin ma kite pat tutwal. Wa romo ngeyo tyen lok me ada i kom can ma tye i ginacoya maleng, ento pud ka can opoto, wuur moni pud bedo tye. Pingo kombedi? Ngo mono ma Lubanga tye ka timo ne? Can ki yubo me medo genwa i kom Lubanga matwero ducu.

(3) Can Tye Ki Tyene. Can pe obedo gin matime labongo tyen lok mo kadi bed ni en tye gin me wuur. En tye ki yub madit me weko wan wanywako kit pa Kricito (Jo Roma. 8:28-29).

Doki wangeyo ni Lubanga weko gin ducu tiyo pi ber pa jo ma gimaro Lubanga, jo ma en olwongogi kit macalo en oyubo. 29 Jo ma yam en ongeyogi con, omoko bene ni myero gunywak cal pa wode wek omi wode obed latin kayo i kin utmego mapol; (Jo Roma 8:28-29)

(4) Can Nyutu Ada (temo) Wa. “Atematema” i Yakobo 1:2 ileb Grik peirasmos ma gonye ni gin ma ngiyo, temo, ki nyutu ada kit onyo atir pa gin moni. “Temo” ma tye i wang kwan acellu tye dokimion ma tye ki tyen lok acel bene. Gonye ni gitemo ma ki yubo me nyutu ada onyo moko. Can obedo gin ma nyutu ada pa kit ngat moni ki atir ki bene kacel ki niyegi waki pekke weng. Po 1 Petero 1:6-7 kama leb Grik acellu ki tiyo kede kacel ki lok ma tye  dokimazo ma gonye ni, “keto wek ki tem,” “kit ma ki temo ki jabu ni.”

(5) Can Obedo Gin Ma Woto Korekikore. Macalo gin ma woto korekikore, en cwalo karre. Adwogine ma Lubanga miti ocobbe ki i yo me can me kwo mite karre ki bene, diyo cwiny.

Jo Roma 5:3-4 3 Doki makato meno, ento wabedo bene ki yom cwiny i can ma opoto i komwa, kun wangeyo ni bedo ki can kelo diyo cwiny me ciro can; doki diyo cwiny me ciro can, kit ma gipwoyo; doki kit ma gipwoyo, gen;

Yakobo 1:3-4 3 Pien wangeyo ni temo niyewu kelo diyo cwiny. Doki wek diyo cwiny okel adwogi ma atir, wek onyo wubed jo ma atir ki jo muteggi, mano gin mo pe orem botwu.

(6) Can Obedo Gin Ma Lonyo Wa. Pi kit tyen lok mo keken, kadi pe bed pwony pa Lubanga pi tic me kom, en tye lalony wa pien pe tye ngat mo ma bibedo atir labongo roc mo i kwo man.

Jo Pilipi 3:12-14 12 Pe atye ka waco ni dong anongo, onyo ni dong adwogo ngat matir, ento pud amedde anyim wek amak gin ma Kricito Yecu omaka pire. 13 Utmegina, pe atamo ni dong atyeko makone; ento tye gin acel ma atimo: wiya bedo ka wil i gin mukato angec doki alaro gin ma tye anyim, 14 Aringo akemo wang golo wek anong mot me lwong ma malu pa Lubanga i Kricito Yecu.

(7) Can Miyo Kare. Can miyo kare bot deyo pa Lubanga me nyute, alokaloka ikwowa, caden, ki tiyo tic pa Lubanga, ki madwong ata. (Nen pingo can poto ma gicoyo piny kany.)

(8) Can Mitte Ni Wabeddu Luwiny. Can mitte lagam matye atir wek yub pa Lubanga ocobbe iye. “Wan weng wamito adwogi maber, kit matir; ento pe wamito gin makelo, limo can.”2 Pien calo kit ma gicweyo wa kede, pe waromo bedo ki acel manongo mukene ni pe.

(9) Can Tye Mok Ma Yam Onyo Kiyer Ma Yam.

1 Petero 1:6 Pi man wubed ki yom cwiny, kadi bed kombedi pi kare manoknok, gwok nyo, komwu ryange pi aoma cwiny mapatpat,

1 Petero 4:12 Luwota ma amaro, pe wuur can ma rom ki mac matye i kinwu, ma bino i komwu pi temo wu, calo gin mo mapat tutwal tye ka time i komwu;

(10) Can Obedo Gin Ma Pe Genge. Lapeny ma myero wan weng wagam pe obedo, ‘kace wabibedo ki aoma i kwo man, ento kit ma wabi tero gi kede?

1 Jo Tecalonika 3:3 wek dano mo pe kome oryange ki can magi; wun kikomwu wungeyo ni kiyerowu pi gin man.

1 Petero 4:19 Pi meno, wek jo ma bene limo can i yo ma Lubanga mito gumi tipo gi i cing Lacwec ma genne i tiyo gin ma atir.

(11) Can Obedo Tutte. En bibedo lweny nio i agikki ne. En omiyo gilwongo ki ni “aoma” ki “atema.” Kadi bed ni waniang tyene ki kit can, doki wangeyo cikke pa Lubanga me mar ki paro piwa matye i Lok pa Lubanga i kit me tero can, tic ki aoma me kwo pe yot pien can lit. Aoma miniwa tek me lubo kit ma jami tye ka wot kede (Yakobo. 1:4). Giye ki jami me tic doki yee botwa me nongo kuc me cwiny ki yom cwiny i akina aoma cwiny man.

Wek water can ki yom cwiny me ada ki yweyo muromo, myero wabed ki keru me neno anyim i kom yub pa Lubanga doki niang pingo can man tye ka time. Man mitte niye i kom ada pa Lubanga ma rii nakanaka.

Poro lwak gum me can calo ma nen i caden pa lawer i Jabuli. 119:

Ma nongo can pud pe

Rwenyo ata ki kwanyo tamwa woko ki i kom lok atir (wange. 67a)

Ikare me can

Pwonye ki lokke cwiny (wange. 71, cf. wange. 59)

Ikare ma watye ite can myero watimo gin magi:

(1) Ngino ki niang gin ma okelo can man kace watwero (En tye mono pi gin mo an atimo?)

(2) Ngino ki niang gin ango ma can miti ocobbe (Gin ango ma Lubanga mito timone i kwona onyo i kwo pa jo mukene?)

(3) Ngino ki niang lacang ango (Lubanga mono miti ater can man ningning?)

Inge Can

(1) Ngeno ki lokke cwiny (wange. 67b, 97-102)

(2) Yweyo ki lwodo ber (wange. 65, 72)

en bene omoko con i tamme me tic ki can pi kelo teggi i cwinywa. Kace inen wan wabi ciro can ki aoma me kwo, ento bene, myero waniang ki wayeyo i kom yub ki tyen lok pingo wa limo can mukene kit ma gi tiyo kacel ki yub maditti.

Yub Ki Tyen Lok Pingo Wa limo Can

(1) Wa limo macalo caden, macalo gituco (2 Tem 2:8-10; 2 Jo Korint. 4:12-13; 1 Pet. 3:13-17). Kace jo muye tero can ki yom cwiny doki ki labongo yenge, en doko caden madit me moko teko ki kwo pa Kricito ma wan wa moko doki wa waco. Can miyo kare madit me nyutu kamaleng ki ilo malu teko pa Lubanga nio ki i luticce wek ki niang maber doki ki mok atir pa lakwena ki kwena ne weng. En miyo kare me nyutu atir wa macalo luwang Kricito (1 Luker. 17:17-24; Jon 11:1-45). Man kwako jami magi:

a. Me miyo deyo bot Lubanga i nyim lumalaika (Yubu 1-2; 1 Pet. 4:16).

b. Me nyutu kamaleng teko pa Lubanga bot jo mukene (2 Jo Kor. 12:9, 10; Jon 9:3).

c. Me nyutu kamaleng kit pa Kricito i akina can macalo caden me lono dano mukene bot Kricito (2 Jo Kor. 4:8-12; 1 Pet. 3:14-17).

(2) Wa limo can me medo kerowa ki nyutu cwiny me kica i kweyo cwiny jo mukene (2 Jo Kor. 1:3-5).

(3) Wa limo can me dwogo awakkawa piny (2 Jo Kor. 12:7). Lakwena Paulo oneno okuto ma tye i komeni calo gin ma Lubanga oye me konyo en me bedo ki cwiny mamwol doki me jenge i kom Rwot pi niyabo ma en oneno calo ngat ma tamme gimako woko i polo.

(4) Wa limo can pien tye gin ma pwonyo wa. Lubanga i mar ki gen tiyo ki can me ilo leng cwiny wa, teggo wa, ki i wot wa kede (Jo Ibru. 12:5f; 1 Pet. 1:6; Yakobo. 1:2-4). Kit man, can ki yubo me:

a. Calo lapwony pi bal me dwogo wa cen me ribbe iyo me tito bal me ada (Jab. 32:3-5; 119:67).

b. Calo lalwer jangwa me kwanyo yen muto woko ki i kwowa (goro, bal me kwiya piny, tam ki yo me tino, ki mapol ata.) Adwogi ma mite tye me medo nyako nyigwa (Jon 15:1-7). Aoma cwiny romo bedo kiyo me lajuk me nyutu kamaleng ka bal ki goro mukane woko (Jab. 16:7; 119:67, 71).

c. Calo gin me dongo wa ki yubo me weko wa jenge i kom Rwot ki lokke. Aoma temo niyewa doki weko wa keto itic cikke ki ada pa lok pa Lubanga (Jab. 119:71, 92; 1 Pet. 1:6; Yak. 1:2-4; Jab. 4:1 [Ileb Ibru ginacoya man Gonye ni, “Imiya niang matut, iweko adongo madit nio ki i can ma alimo”]). Can onyo aoma pwonyo wa ada me Jabuli 62:1-8, ada me pwonye me “kuro i kom Rwot keken.”

d. Calo yo me pwonye i kom ngo ma bedo lawiny obedo. En doko calo gitemo i kom ada wa (Jo Ibru. 5:8). Macalo: Ki won latin mo owaco ki wode me timo gin ma en maro timone (calo., camo pii ma omakke ma lim calo cukari) ki en bene timo, latin meno obedo lawiny, ento en pud pe yaa oniang gin mo i kom bedo lawiny. Kace wone, ento, openye me gero piny, eno ni doko latem doki pwonyo gin mo i kom lok man me bedo lawiny. Kom lok madit tye ni, winyo lok pol kare weko wajalo jami mogo doki timo bene tek. En romo mito mine kenwa, tek cwiny, woro, ki niye i yeyu ni Lubanga ber doki tye i cwinye pi ber bedowa kadi bed ni jami pe ka nen maber tutwal. Kadi bed ni Lubanga yee ki can me donyo i kwowa pi tyen lok mapol ata, pol kare en nyutu kamaleng kama jami orem, goro, tam ma ogom, ki mapol ata., calo kit ma otime i Yubu.

Can pire kene pe obedo gin ma kelo niye onyo teggi i cwiny wa. En tye gin ma Lubanga tiyo kede me kelo wa bote wek walokke bote ki wawiny lokke. En telo wa tetek weko walokke ki i keto gen i jami ma watye kede nio i kwo ki niye i jami pa Lubanga. En weko wa keto jami ma okwongo namba acel. Adada, lok ki cwiny pa Lubanga aye kelo niye ki teggi ikit calo pa Kricito (Jab. 119:67, 71).

Yakobo 1:2-4; 1 Pet. 1:6-7: Lok madit tye “moko ada pa niyewa.” “Moko” tye  dokimion ma neno tyen lok me temo ma lonyo wa, ki adwogi, mok ada ma tye odong inge atema man. Rwot tiyo ki aoma me temo niyewa i yo me lonyo ne, me kelo ne iwii cere, wek otel wa me keto niyewa itic.

(5) Wa limo can me kelo jenge i kom kica ki teko pa Lubanga. Can ki yubo me weko wa woto ki twero pa Lubanga, teko, ki konye ento pe i yo wa (2 Jo Kor. 11:24-32; 12:7-10; Jo Epec. 6:10f; Nia. 17:8f). En weko walokke ki i kom jami wa nio jami mamege.

(6) Wa limo cam me nyutu kwo ki kit pa Kricito (Nyig ma nyak pi Cwiny Maleng) (2 Jo Kor. 4:8-11; Jo Pil. 1:19f). Man romaroma ki tyen lok me angwen (4) ma gicoyo maluni kun en keto tek i kom yo ki nyutu pingo ne, ki kelo kit pa Kricito.En tye ki lakwany wa ki lamed bene:

a. Lakwany: Can konyo me kwanyo cilo ki i kwowa calo bedo ki cwiny ma pe ki tam mo i kom Lubanga, gene kenwa, miti ma pe atir, paro pi komwa keken, kit ki miti ma pe kakare, ki kero pa dano me gwoke ki yo ma wa yubo me bwot ki i kom can ma wayenyo me cobbo pekowa (yo me cobbo peko ma dano aye oyubo). Can pire kene pe kwanyo cilo, ento obedo gin ma Lubanga tiyo kede wek wa ket niyewa itic i kica pa Lubanga. En tye kica pa Lubanga i Kricito (kit wa manyen i Kricito, lok pa Lubanga ki cwiny maleng) ma loko wa. Yo man me kwanyo cobbe i yo aryo: (1) Ikare ma wa pe i ribbe ki rwot: Can doko calo lapwony ki bot wonwa ma tye i polo (Jo Ibru. 5:5-11; 1 Jo Kor. 11:28-32; 5:1-5). Man kwako bal ma wangeyo, jemo ki tamwa ma pe tammo gin mo i kom Lubanga. (2) Ikare ma wa tye i ribbe kede: Can bedo calo tic cing me mara ki kwiri pa lagwok poto olok miyo wa nyako nyigwa mapol. En kwako bal mokane woko ki botwa, kama pe wa romo bedo ki ngec iye, ento kun bal meno juko woko dongowa ki nyako nyigwa bene. Iyo man, can pol kare tye kiyo me juk botwa (Jon 15:1-7).

b. Lamed: kace inen jo muye kwo ite can ki yom cwiny (meno waco ni., gi ciro doki ki bedo ka tic ki cikke ki ada pa niye), Kwo onyo Kit pa Kricito obibedo ka medeameda ki nyute ka gin dongo nio ki can man (2 Jo Kor. 4:9-10; 3:18). En tye gen, kuc, yom cwiny, cung matek, kit me baibul, ada, ki winy mekaka tam me col piny, kelo koko i kom jo mukene, ringo woko, koko, ki pyem ki Lubanga ki dano.

(7) Wa limo cam me nyutu kamaleng kit me col piny pa jo maraco ki atir pa Lubanga i ngolo kop ka poto i ngolo koppe (1 Jo Tec. 2:14-16). Limo can icing dano (aun, tim gero) Lubanga tiyo kede me “medo pek pa bal ki.” En nyutu kit maraco pa jo ma giuno jo mukene ki ngol pa Lubanga ma tye atir ka poto i kom gi.

(8) Wa limo can me nyayo tic pa Lubanga ma wa tiyo pire (cf.  Jo Pilipi 1:12-14 ki 4:5-9). I yo me kelo kit pa jopa Kricito ki medo caden wa bot jo mukene, can pol kare yabo doggola me tiyo tic pa Lubanga mano pe watwero tammone. Tweyo Paulo i mabuc (gitweyo en ki nyor nino ducu bot lumwony pa jo Roma i ode) omiyo lok me jiri onya ikin askari lukur piny me gang ker madit me praetoria. Lakwena Paulo omeddeameda ki bedo ki yom cwiny i rwot, ento kace inen en obed kakoko, lingalinga ki cwer cwiny, ki kec cwiny cadenne ono konye bedo lam.

1 1 Ron Lee Davis, Gold in the Making, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1983p. 17-18.

2 2 Davis, p. 19. See also p. 32.

Related Topics: Suffering, Trials, Persecution

Lesson 1: Job 1-2

Related Media

Introduction

Let’s begin by addressing the title I have chosen for this brief, three-lesson, series on the Book of Job. Is it too much of a stretch to try and link the message of the Book of Job to our current pandemic? I think not. The current pandemic gives us a bit of a handle, a connection if you would, with Job and this book. After all, Job was likely written early in Old Testament history. It was a different time, a different place, something long ago and far away. Living in the 21st century we may have difficulty fixing our minds on the setting and the message of such an ancient text.

The Covid-19 pandemic can serve as a kind of lens, through which we can view the Book of Job. I believe we will see that Job’s circumstances way back in time and our experience with the Corona Virus have a number of similarities, which will help us identify with Job and with his suffering. Because of the current pandemic many people have lost their jobs, and find themselves economically devastated. Job unexpectedly lost all of his wealth in a very short period of time. He, too, was broke. This Corona Virus has taken the lives of friends, neighbors, and relatives, and so there is much grieving going on, around the world. Job lost all of his children in a moment of time. He, too, had much to grieve over. And finally, many of those who are currently infected with the Corona virus are suffering greatly. So, too, with Job, whose suffering took him to the very edge of death. I don’t believe many today could claim that they are suffering as much as Job did, centuries ago, but many are suffering the physical effects of this virus.

The long and the short of all of this is that the adversity Job experienced on an individual level is similar to that which we are now experiencing globally. It was the apostle Paul who wrote these words about comfort and hope:

For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope (Romans 15:4, NET1).

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

Simply put, Job’s comfort is meant to comfort us in our time of adversity, and to promote our hope and endurance. As God gives us comfort, He expects us to share this with others who are also suffering. So let us listen well to the message which God has for us in the Book of Job.

My Approach In This Brief Series

I do not intend to conduct an in-depth, verse-by-verse exposition of this book. Rather than to dwell on the “gnats” (the minute details) of this book, I intend to focus on the “camels” – the main points of emphasis – of Job (see Matthew 23:23-24). I will seek to summarize the message of Job in three lessons. This first lesson will deal with the first two chapters of Job. The second lesson will be much more challenging, because we will deal with chapters 3-37. And the third lesson will conclude this study by concentrating on chapters 38-42. I believe that this study will be helpful for those who are dealing with suffering. It will also lay a foundation for a more extensive study of this great book.

An Overview Of The Book Of Job

Chapters 1 and 2 set the stage for the rest of the book. The reader is taken up into the heavens to witness a meeting God has with the “sons of God,” the angelic host,2 and particularly Satan. Bear in mind that the details of what we read here are not known to Job at the time of his suffering. We are provided with information that was not given to Job,3 making the testing of his faith an even more difficult experience.

In His conversation with Satan, God calls attention to Job and his righteousness. Satan scoffs at this, contending that anyone would worship and serve God if divine blessings, like those Job experienced, were showered on them. Satan then set forth a challenge: Let God take away all of Job’s material blessings, which included his children, as well as his worldly wealth, to see if Job will continue to worship the Lord. Job’s faith held firm, as described in chapter 1. Satan then proposed an even greater test: attack Job directly with great physical affliction. God granted Satan’s request, but with certain limits prescribed. His power to inflict Job with physical suffering could not bring about Job’s death.4 Once again Job responds in faith (chapter 2). It is only when Job’s suffering appears to be endless that Job begins to complain and to question God’s purposes. His protests and complaints commence in chapter 3, and continue through chapter 31.

Job then begins to protest and to complain due to his intense and extended suffering. He sees death as preferable to life and wishes that he had never been born, or at least that God would take his life. This opens the door for Job’s three friends to intervene with their “words of wisdom.” From chapters 4 through 31, Job’s friends take turns accusing Job of sin, and urging him to repent, while Job defends himself by maintaining his righteousness. When Job’s three friends give up their accusations, the mysterious Elihu steps in for the next 6 chapters (32-37), rebuking not only Job, but also his three friends.

Finally, beginning in chapter 38 God speaks, for the first time in the book. His focus is primarily on Job, and His lessons come from creation and from nature. By this God humbles Job, till he comes to the realization that he is neither all-wise nor all-powerful, and thus he has no right to speak to God as he has. Job’s final words in 42:1-6 are a humble expression of his repentance. After this, God focuses on Job’s friends, contrasting what they have wrongly spoken of Him, with those things Job has rightly said of Him. Job becomes a mediator for his three friends, so that their sins are forgiven (42:7-9). Finally, God multiplies Job’s material and physical blessings (42:10-17).

The Focus Of This Message

In this message I have purposed to focus on four main subjects: Job, Satan, the angelic host, and the “mystery” of what God is doing in Job’s life.

Job: The Man

Spiritually, God Himself presents Job as the godliest man of that day:

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And that man was pure and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil (Job 1:1).

So the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8).

Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred me up to destroy him without reason” (Job 2:3).

As if this were not enough, listen to these additional commendations of Job elsewhere in Scripture:

Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign LORD (Ezekiel 14:14).

Think of how we regard as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy (James 5:11).

In Ezekiel, Job is named as one of the three greatest men in all of the Old Testament. In the New Testament, James tells us that Job is known for his endurance (steadfastness is the main theme of the Book of James). Obviously, Job is viewed as one of the greatest saints in the Bible, which is what God had called to Satan’s attention.

One evidence of Job’s godliness is to be seen in his role as a father. (You and I know that many of the great men of the Old Testament were far from model fathers.)

4 Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice (Job 1:4-5).

It would seem that Job’s children enjoyed the benefits of having a wealthy and influential father. One of the ways they spent their time was having family banquets. One of the sons would host the event, and the other siblings would attend, apparently on a fairly regular basis. It does not appear that Job necessarily attended all of these banquets, but he was well aware of them. Job seems to have sensed that in such a setting it was possible that one or more of his children might have sinned. So, after each banquet, Job would send for his children and “sanctify” them. This involved the offering of a burnt offering for each child. Job believed that these sacrifices would atone for any misconduct which might have taken place. As a father, Job is more than passively concerned about the spiritual well-being of his children.

The reader is also given an accounting of Job’s prosperity, assessed in terms of how wealth was appraised in those days. He had 7,000 sheep. That, my friends, is whole lot of wool (or lamb chops). Then we are told that he possessed 3,000 camels. Wow! So, what use made camels valuable in those days? I think of them in terms of the way they provided transportation. One example would be their use in caravans that transported goods for trade. For example, Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Midianite traders whose camel caravan was on its way to Egypt (Genesis 37:25-28). In today’s terminology, I think of camels as the “long haulers” of ancient times. That’s a whole lot of trucks!

We are also informed that Job possessed 500 yoke of oxen (2 oxen per yoke?). Think of these oxen as the tractors of that day. 500 tractors could do a great deal of farming. Next Job owned 500 female donkeys. I look at these as the “short haulers,” the FedEx vehicles of a delivery business. You could deliver a lot of packages with 500 donkeys.

Finally, we are told that Job had “many servants.” We don’t really know the number of servants, but if you think of their number in terms of the animals which would require care and handling, this would be a very large number. (Perhaps it was such a large number that no precise accounting could be made.)

The sum of this is that Job was not only a very godly man, and a godly father; he was also a very wealthy man. Beyond this (or perhaps because of this) he had great status and influence in the community. He was, indeed, the “greatest of all men in the East” (Job 1:3).

Satan: The Adversary

7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” And Satan answered the LORD, “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” 8 So the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil.” 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God? 10 Have you not made a hedge around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land. 11 But extend your hand and strike everything he has, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” (Job 1:7-11)

3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred me up to destroy him without reason.” 4 But Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! Indeed, a man will give up all that he has to save his life! 5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” (Job 2:3-5)

Satan is no stranger to anyone who is familiar with the Bible. His origins are described in Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28. We are first introduced to him in Genesis chapter 3, where he deceives Eve, resulting in the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. It would seem that some of Satan’s fallen colleagues are involved in the corruption of the human race as described in Genesis chapter 6. In 1 Chronicles 21:1 Satan prompts David to number the Israelites. And in Zechariah chapter 3 he makes accusations against Joshua the high priest.

In the New Testament we find Satan at the temptation of our Lord (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). In John 13:25-27 Satan entered into Judas, prompting him to betray the Lord Jesus. In Acts 5:1-11 Satan corrupts the hearts of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, so that they lie about the amount of their contribution to the church. In 2 Corinthians we read of Satan’s schemes (2:11) and later in the book we are told how Satan works through others, and also disguises himself as an angel of light (11:3-15). In 1 Thessalonians 2:18 Paul writes that Satan hindered his attempts to visit the Thessalonian saints. Peter likens Satan to a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Finally, in the Book of Revelation Satan appears as God’s adversary at the end of this age. At last, Satan is defeated and cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7-10).

Satan’s Travels

7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” And Satan answered the LORD, “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it” (Job 1:7).

And the LORD said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it” (Job 2:2).

Satan’s travels must be important if they are mentioned twice in these first two chapters of the book. They are also important because some translations don’t necessarily convey the full meaning of the term employed here. Consider, for example, the rendering of the New American Standard Version:

The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” (Job 1:7, NAU).

While not frequently used today, the expression, “cruising,” would capture the sense that we take away from “roaming about.” It refers to a kind of non-strategic wandering about that has little or no purpose – hanging out. But that is not the way this word is frequently used in the Old Testament.

I prefer the rendering of the New Living Translation:

“Where have you come from?” the LORD asked Satan. Satan answered the LORD, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on” (Job 1:7, NLT).

Consider these Old Testament instances where the same word speaks of a much more deliberate and strategic, kind of traveling.

The king told Joab, the general in command of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba and muster the army, so I may know the size of the army” (2 Samuel 24:2).

“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars” (2 Chronicles 16:9, NAU).

Neither the process of numbering the Israelite warriors (something like a census), nor the penetrating scanning of the earth by the searching eyes of God are presented as casual or thoughtless deeds. They are deliberate and focused. This helps us to see Satan’s “travels” in Job as much more purposeful, and thus more in line with Peter’s description of him:

Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

I believe that Satan travels about the earth, with the goal of identifying the most vulnerable targets for his opposition to God by deceiving the nations and attacking the saints. I would therefore expect that Satan had already obtained a considerable amount of “intelligence” about Job, because he would likely be one of his primary targets.

Satan’s Theology

9 Then Satan answered the LORD, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God? 10 Have you not made a hedge around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land. 11 But extend your hand and strike everything he has, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” (Job 1:9-11)

4 But Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! Indeed, a man will give up all that he has to save his life! 5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” (Job 2:2-5)

From Satan’s perspective, Job’s commitment to trust and obey God was easily explained on a human level. Who would not serve God if this was rewarded by good health and wealth? (Prosperity gospeleers, beware!) And so Satan challenged: “Let Job’s prosperity and easy life be taken away, and then see how faithful he is.” Satan was convinced that Job would curse God when his enjoyment of the good life was taken away.

When the first test (taking away all of Job’s wealth and children) failed to prove Satan right, he is not dissuaded. No, Satan maintains that God has not yet directly harmed Job enough. Let Job’s health be taken away and then, Satan contends, Job will curse God.

It should not be overlooked that Mrs. Job served as Job’s “Eve.” She urged her husband to do exactly what Satan expected. It would seem that she embraced Satan’s perspective as to why people worship God. Job’s wife, urged Job to renounce his relationship to God and die.

I am reminded of our Lord’s response to Peter, when he adamantly opposed Jesus’ suffering and death at Calvary:

21 From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s” (Matthew 16:21-23, emphasis mine).

In the final chapter of this book, God will indict Job’s friends for not speaking rightly about Himself (Job 42:7-8). Satan, too, is guilty of speaking wrongly of God. Think about what his declaration implies about God. In effect, Satan is saying, “God, the only way you can attract and keep a following is to bribe people with prosperity and ease.” What kind of a God has to buy His friends?

The saints should worship and serve God because of who He is. Satan insists that men worship God only because of what He gives. When the saints worship God, what do they worship Him for? Let’s take a look:

1 Come! Let’s sing for joy to the LORD!
Let’s shout out praises to our protector who delivers us!
2 Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving!
Let’s shout out to him in celebration!
3 For the LORD is a great God,
a great king who is superior to all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come! Let’s bow down and worship!
Let’s kneel before the LORD, our creator!
7 For he is our God; we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns. Today, if only you would obey him! (Psalm 95:1-7)
6 The LORD does what is fair,
and executes justice for all the oppressed.
7 The LORD revealed his faithful acts to Moses,
his deeds to the Israelites.
8 The LORD is compassionate and merciful;
he is patient and demonstrates great loyal love.
9 He does not always accuse,
and does not stay angry.
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve;
he does not repay us as our misdeeds deserve.
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so his loyal love towers over his faithful followers.
12 As far as the eastern horizon is from the west,
so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on his faithful followers (Psalm 103:6-13).

God is to be worshipped for who He is, for His character, His mercy, His grace, and His forgiveness. And when God takes the physical blessings away, it even more dramatically shows His goodness and greatness when men continue to worship and praise Him.

Isn’t what Satan is saying to God in our text what he really believes? Compare his words in these first two chapters of Job to what he says when he seeks to tempt our Lord:

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9).

In effect, Satan reveals his own limitations. How does he seek to get Jesus to follow him? Offer a bribe. In some ways, Satan took the same approach with Eve, and Adam in Genesis 3. God had given Adam and Eve complete freedom to partake of any plant in the garden, save one – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From what God has forbidden, Satan implies that God is not good, because He has withheld something which Eve saw as good and desirable (Genesis 3:6). So, by following Satan Eve, and Adam, can have something they would not otherwise receive. In the Garden of Eden, Satan is followed because of what he offers, not because of who he is.

So, Satan proposes taking away all of Job’s prosperity, family, and health, expecting that this will terminate Job’s devotion to God. Job’s response reveals that Satan’s thinking is faulty.

In both tests, God allowed Satan a certain degree of freedom to carry out his request, but these came with limits. Satan was always “on a leash,” and God was holding that leash.

Satan’s Peers: The Angelic Host

Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD– and Satan also arrived among them (Job 1:6).

Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the LORD (Job 2:1).

It is very easy to fix our attention on Satan, and forget the angelic host that has been summoned by God. It wasn’t just Satan who came to present himself to God – it was the angelic host, identified as the “sons of God.” The use of this expression, “sons of God,” in Genesis 6:2, 4; Job 38:7; and Luke 20:36 verifies that in Job, “sons of God” refers to angels, or the celestial host.

This gathering seems as though it were some kind of “inspection” or “scheduled review,” where the angels give account of their actions to God, or where God gives out their assignments. The reason why I am making a point of calling attention to the presence of many angelic beings is that we may mistakenly read chapters 1 and 2 as though God were having a private conversation with Satan. But this is surely not the case. We know that angels (fallen and unfallen) are very much interested and involved in the affairs of men.

In the Old Testament it appears to be fallen angels (“sons of God”) who intermarry with the “daughters of men” and produce a hybrid race that will need to be wiped out by the flood (Genesis 6:1-4). Then, we read of an angelic host (of unfallen angels) that is made visible to Elisha’s servant, so that he need not fear the vast army that has come to attack Elisha (see 2 Kings 6:8-23). In Daniel, chapters 9-12, we find that the affairs of men on earth are somehow related to angelic activity in heaven.

In the New Testament angelic activity is even more prevalent. The angels are greatly interested in what God is doing on earth, and so they eagerly watch, while God instructs them through His church:

7 I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power. 8 To me –less than the least of all the saints– this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan– a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ’s faithfulness. 13 For this reason I ask you not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, which is your glory (Ephesians 3:7-13, emphasis mine).

For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels (1 Corinthians 11:10, emphasis mine).

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. 11 They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory. 12 They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven– things angels long to catch a glimpse of (1 Peter 1:10-12).

We know from these Scriptures and others that the angels are eagerly “watching” what is happening on earth, and particularly in the church. We also know that the angels who did not stay within their proper domain are being kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up until the judgment of the great Day (Jude 1:6). From Luke 8:31, it would seem as though demons in Jesus’ day could be cast into the abyss. Also, when we take Revelation 12:4, 9 into account, there may still be a number of angels who will even yet choose to follow Satan, to their own destruction (Matthew 12:41).

From all that we know about angels, fallen and unfallen, it is not difficult to conclude that God has chosen to confront Satan in front of all of the assembled heavenly host, in order to instruct the angels for their own good. Does God anticipate teaching Satan anything at all? I think not. But by proving Satan a liar and a deceiver I believe God is teaching those angels who are able to grasp what He is doing:

Flog a scorner, and as a result the simpleton will learn prudence;
correct a discerning person, and as a result he will understand knowledge (Proverbs 19:25).

I was reminded of an incident that occurred in one of my theology classes at Dallas Seminary. The professor had asked his students a question, and a rather arrogant fellow spoke up to answer. But rather than speaking in a humble, student-like way, he chose to pontificate in a way that irritated not only the class, but the professor. The professor took the bait and proceeded to question this fellow in greater and greater detail. At every point, the student-scholar dug himself into an ever-deepening hole. I have to tell you that the other students were listening intently, and those as carnal as I were enjoying every moment of it. Finally, the professor “buried” the student, much to my delight. (The professor was more spiritual than I because the next day he apologized to the pompous student before the entire class.)

But can’t you see how this conversation between God and Satan would rivet the attention of all of the angels, so that they were very much engaged in the discussion, and most interested to see the outcome? Hopefully, the angels were instructed, at Satan’s expense.

The Mystery: What Job Didn’t Know

Let us remember that Job handled adversity very well in these first two chapters, in spite of the fact that he had no knowledge, at the time, of what God was doing, or why. The author has clued the reader in, but as yet Job has not been informed of the celestial / angelic / satanic dimension of his adversity. Indeed, Job cannot know what is taking place in the heavens, because that would make his suffering easier to deal with, and thus would make the “test” Satan proposed much easier to handle.

How I’m tempted to wish that the book ended right here, but if that were so I would be tempted to conclude that Job was another one of those Old Testament superstars, who, unlike me, always seemed to do the right thing at the right time. I know better than this because there really are no Old Testament superstars. To conclude Job with a “happily ever after” ending just wouldn’t seem right. Rather than being an encouragement to me, so prone to wander and fail, it would discourage me.

I don’t think Satan wanted it to end here, either, though we do not hear from him again in the book, as we have in these first two chapters. Since the heavenly conversation ends in chapter two, one might conclude that it was not Satan who chose to prolong Job’s testing, but God. What if God wanted to increase the “level of difficulty” for Job in order to show the magnitude of Job’s endurance of faith? What if God did this, not only to amplify His own glory here, but also to increase Job’s faith and obedience? Perhaps the answer will become clear as we continue to study the rest of the book. But for now, let’s consider some applications from what we have learned thus far in Job.

Conclusion

What We Learn About Satan In Our Text

First, we learn that Satan is the great destroyer, who takes great pleasure in destroying all that is holy, pure, and right. He delights in the destruction of human life (John 8:44). He is also a liar, a deceiver (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 2 John 1:7; Revelation 12:9; 20:7-10), and an accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). I personally believe that Satan also deceives angels to become his followers. How else did angels become fallen angels?

Satan is no one’s friend. While he may present himself as our advocate, he is really our adversary. In the Garden of Eden Satan presented himself to Eve as one who was on her side, seeking to help her pursue what was in her best interest. He was “a friend,” seeking to help Eve achieve the good life, even if that meant disobeying God because He withheld something from her which seemed good (Genesis 3:6). We find the same approach when Satan tempted our Lord at the outset of His earthly ministry (Matthew 4; Luke 4). He was trying to get Jesus to help himself to food which was, for the moment, forbidden. He sought to tempt Jesus to achieve His kingdom the easy way, rather than God’s way. My friends, Satan is never our friend. He is never to be trusted. He is a liar and a deceiver, one who seeks only to destroy God’s work and God’s people. When we seek our own interest, we are actually living according to Satan’s schemes.

There is no greater advocate of “the prosperity gospel” than Satan, who seeks to convince us that God is not really good, especially when He withholds something we desire or delight in. When Satan (ultimately God)5 took away “the good life” from Job, with all of its material and physical blessings, he believed that Job would forsake his faith, and curse God. Satan could not comprehend why men and women would follow God, even when He brought them into great suffering and adversity. He could not grasp that God is worthy of our trust and obedience because of Who He is, rather than because of what He gives.

What We Learn About God In Our Text

One thing we learn about God is that, contrary to the thinking of Job’s friends (and many more today), God sometimes purposes for His saints to suffer because they are righteous. Job was the most righteous man on the face of the earth, and yet God brought great suffering into his life – because he was righteous. When you stop to think about it, it is not just Job’s faith that is being tested, but God’s faithfulness, and His commitment and ability to finish what He started:

For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set and I am convinced that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me until that day (2 Timothy 1:12).

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, 2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence, 25 to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25)

It is God’s faithfulness that serves as the basis of our faithful endurance in suffering:

So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good (1 Peter 4:19).

To do so is to imitate our Lord Jesus:

21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls (1 Peter 2:21-25).

Also, we learn that when God brings suffering and adversity into our lives, it is because He purposes good things to be the outcome.

5 The LORD said to me, 5 “I, the LORD, the God of Israel, say: ‘The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon are like those good figs. I consider them to be good. 6 I will look after their welfare and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land and will not uproot them” (Jeremiah 24:4-6).

1 Now as Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man or his parents?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the acts of God may be revealed through what happens to him” (John 9:1-3).

1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:1-5).

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. 7 Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold– gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away– and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:3-7).

12 Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad (1 Peter 4:12-13).

God is glorified when we persevere in our faith and bless Him in the midst of suffering:

14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name (1 Peter 4:14-16).

Job 1 and 2 teaches us that God is in complete control. While Satan may exercise authority and apparent control in certain areas, his power and authority is never outside God’s control. Even Satan’s opposition is used by God to achieve His purposes (such as Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and His subsequent arrest and crucifixion).

14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).

What We Learn From Job

If Job were to be graded on his perseverance at the end of chapter 2, he would be given an A+. He passed both of Satan’s tests with flying colors. He did not curse God; instead, he praised and worshipped God (see Job 1:20-22; 2:9-10).

Job believed in substitutionary atonement, that is he believed that God forgave sins on the basis of the offering of an innocent sacrifice. (He offered sacrifices for each of his children, in case they had sinned, and he believed his sacrifice would atone for their sin.)

Job knew that his suffering came from God’s hand (1:21), and thus he would not accuse Him of wrong doing.6 He also seemed to recognize that a saint may experience both prosperity and material blessings, as well as adversity and suffering: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” Job recognized that God was worthy of praise, whether He brought material blessings or not. In other words, God is worthy of our praise, whether we are experiencing ease and prosperity, or adversity and suffering.

So, to recap the message of these two introductory chapters of the Book of Job, what do we learn from this introduction that sets the stage for what is to follow? Allow me to summarize:

  • There is a real person, Satan, who actively opposes God and His saints.
  • There are many (some might say countless) angelic beings with whom both God and Satan have contact. They are always observers, and sometimes participants in what God, or Satan are doing on earth.
  • God is sovereign – in complete control. At no time is Satan free to act independently of God. He is always subject to the permissions and limitations God places on him.
  • God does purpose to use suffering and adversity in the lives of righteous saints, for their good and for His glory.
  • Job’s relationship with God is based on faith, and not his works. Job must trust in God because of who He is, rather than because of what He gives.

So why doesn’t the book end here? Job has remained faithful, in spite of the suffering God has allowed Satan to bring into his life. Satan is wrong; God is right. But 40 more chapters remain ahead of us. Let us continue our study, with the goal of learning what is still to be accomplished by Job’s prolonged suffering, some of which comes by means of his “friends” and their counsel.

What Do We Learn That Can Help Us During This Covid-19 Pandemic?

There is nothing here for Satan to learn, but there is much for the Old Testament saints to learn, and much for us that applies to the current pandemic. Let’s ponder a few points of application.

It should be obvious that Satan is intent on attacking the righteous, as he is here in Job, and elsewhere:

Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1, NAU).

Next I saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him (Zechariah 3:1).

Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? (Lk. 13:15 NET) Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 13:16, emphasis mine)

The good news is that Satan can only harm the Christian within the boundaries God establishes. And even when he is allowed to afflict us, his attempts to destroy the believer will lead to our growth in Christ, and the fulfillment of God’s purposes.

8 Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering. 10 And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (1 Peter 5:8-10).

31 “Simon, Simon, pay attention! Satan has demanded to have you all, to sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:31-32).

7 Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me– so that I would not become arrogant. 8 I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Satan almost certainly has his own plans to use the Corona virus for his own purposes. But this virus will only persist within the limits God sets for it (and for Satan). God’s purposes for this virus (and our suffering) will be accomplished, and we, like Job must confess, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).

We should also be cautioned regarding the ever-so-popular “prosperity gospel,” which alleges that those who do good and trust God will not suffer, but will most certainly prosper. Job suffered because he was righteous, not because he had sinned. But Job’s suffering ultimately brought him closer to God, and his example has been recorded in Scripture to instruct us, as we deal with Covid-19, and with all the adversities that we will encounter in this life.

In the midst of our present trials and tribulations, let us never forget God’s promise:

31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all– how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31-39).


1 Unless otherwise indicated, all quoted Scripture will be from the NETBible.

2 In addition to Job 1:6 and 2:1, see Genesis 6:2, 4; Job 38:7.

3 At least they were not made known to Job until after his repentance and restoration.

4 Since Satan is a liar, a deceiver, and a murderer, this was a necessary prohibition (see John 8:44; Revelation 12:9).

5 So far as Job knew at the moment, it was God that took away his material blessings. And, in the final analysis, it is always God (see 1 Chronicles 21:1; 2 Samuel 24:1).

6 I’m not altogether satisfied with the rendering, “nor did he blame God” (see NAU, NAS, NLT). He did see his affliction as coming from the hand of God, but he found no fault in God for having done this.

Related Topics: Christian Life, Suffering, Trials, Persecution

Job, Suffering, and the Covid-19 Pandemic

Is it too much of a stretch to try and link the message of the Book of Job to our current pandemic? I think not. The current pandemic gives us a bit of a handle, a connection if you would, with Job and this book. After all, Job was likely written early in Old Testament history. It was a different time, a different place, something long ago and far away. Living in the 21st century we may have difficulty fixing our minds on the setting and the message of such an ancient text.

The Covid-19 pandemic can serve as a kind of lens, through which we can view the Book of Job. I believe we will see that Job’s circumstances way back in time and our experience with the Corona Virus have a number of similarities, which will help us identify with Job and with his suffering. Because of the current pandemic many people have lost their jobs, and find themselves economically devastated. Job unexpectedly lost all of his wealth in a very short period of time. He, too, was broke. This Corona Virus has taken the lives of friends, neighbors, and relatives, and so there is much grieving going on, around the world. Job lost all of his children in a moment of time. He, too, had much to grieve over. And finally, many of those who are currently infected with the Corona virus are suffering greatly. So, too, with Job, whose suffering took him to the very edge of death. I don’t believe many today could claim that they are suffering as much as Job did, centuries ago, but many are suffering the physical effects of this virus.

The long and the short of all of this is that the adversity Job experienced on an individual level is similar to that which we are now experiencing globally.

I do not intend to conduct an in-depth, verse-by-verse exposition of this book. Rather than to dwell on the “gnats” (the minute details) of this book, I intend to focus on the “camels” – the main points of emphasis – of Job (see Matthew 23:23-24). I will seek to summarize the message of Job in three lessons. This first lesson will deal with the first two chapters of Job. The second lesson will be much more challenging, because we will deal with chapters 3-37. And the third lesson will conclude this study by concentrating on chapters 38-42. I believe that this study will be helpful for those who are dealing with suffering. It will also lay a foundation for a more extensive study of this great book.

Related Topics: Christian Life, Suffering, Trials, Persecution

Lesson 2: Job 3-37

Related Media

Introduction

Years ago, a friend recommended an excellent book to me, entitled Shantung Compound. It was written by a man named Langdon Gilkey. It took place in China during the Second World War, when the Japanese invaded China. Westerners (primarily those from English speaking countries) living in China at the time were interned in various camps. Langdon Gilkey was among these Westerners. He was interned at a former Presbyterian encampment in the province of Shantung, China. His assigned task was to oversee housing for the numerous detainees that were relocated to this camp.

He quickly learned that this was no easy task. In one instance there were two identical rooms. Thirteen men were living in one of these rooms; in the other there were 11 men. That looked like a simple problem to solve – simply relocate one of the men in the 13-person room to the room with only 11 residents. Gilkey found out that the 11 men were not impressed with his mathematics. They were not inclined to make room for another roommate. Their reasons were shoddy and self-serving; nevertheless, their opposition was strong.

In another instance, there was an apartment with the luxury of having two bedrooms. There was a family with several children who hoped to be assigned to these accommodations. There was also a pastor and his wife, who likewise hoped to live in this apartment. The pastor was aware of the other family and its needs, and yet he strongly argued that he and his wife should be given this apartment, because “his ministry was such that he needed to have a study.”

There were many such stories in this excellent book, but Gilkey’s overall thrust was to show how people’s true character is revealed when they are forced to live in adverse circumstances. I could not help but remember Gilkey’s excellent book when I considered Job’s response to his prolonged adversity in the chapters we are studying in this lesson.

Job came out looking very good at the end of chapter two. He did not curse God, as Satan contended, even though his wealth, and later his health were taken from him. Satan’s proposition (that men only serve God because of the good gifts He gives) was proven false, while Job’s faith was proven to be genuine. One might expect the Book of Job to end here, but it does not. In fact, these first two chapters of Job only serve as a prelude to this book; 40 chapters remain to be read.

At the time I first preached this message in Job, the Covid-19 pandemic was in its beginning stages. Now, we are six months into our battle with this virus, and it looks as if it will still be some time until the danger is over. We, like Job, are now having to deal with our affliction as something which must be endured for a good while yet. We are already seeing a change in attitude by those who are “sick and tired” of this pandemic, and whose impatience is showing (and growing!). We certainly are at a place in time when we can identify with Job, and when we can, like Job, learn to trust God. So let us come to this lesson with open hearts and minds to learn about sustained faith and obedience in the midst of prolonged suffering.

Observations

Here are a couple of observations to keep in mind as we commence our study of the major portion of the Book of Job.

First, there is no further reference to the heavenly (angelic) gathering, or of any additional conversations between God and Satan. It would not have been surprising to find yet another objection raised by Satan, something that went like this: “Sure, you took away Job’s wealth, and then his health, but he has not suffered that long. Extend the length of his suffering and then he will surely curse you.” No such words are found.

Second, Satan is silent after chapter 2. So what is the reason for this extended period (seemingly months – see Job 7:3; 29:2) of suffering? I think this is God’s doing; Job’s continued suffering seems to be at God’s initiative. Yes, Satan has been shown to be a liar, but Job’s faith is greater than what we have seen thus far. And so (I am supposing) God extends the period of Job’s affliction, not at Satan’s suggestion, but as His own decision. He raises the “level of difficulty” much higher, so that Job’s faith will be even more dramatically demonstrated. If God proved Satan wrong in chapters 1 and 2, He will show Satan to be really wrong in the chapters (and suffering) that follow.

Third, while Job’s wife took up Satan’s theme (curse God and die) in chapter 2, it is now Job’s friends who become Job’s adversaries. Job’s friends, early on his sympathizers, who silently suffered with him at the beginning (Job 2:11-13), now attack him with accusations of guilt and call for his repentance.

Fourth, Job’s responses in this section are not nearly as pious sounding as we have seen in chapters 1 and 2. What we read about Job’s friends, and even what we read about Job, is not encouraging.

Finally, let’s face it, the chapters we are about to consider are those which we might actually be tempted to skip over. Our text is not “a happy text” as some might prefer. I confess, it might be tempting to simply pass by these chapters and avoid the Job’s complaining to God and his arguing with his three friends. It would also be tempting to pass over the error of Job’s friends. I recall years ago, when a well-respected preacher suddenly ended his “chapter by chapter, verse by verse” exposition of Job. He, like many in his audience, grew weary of the accusations of Job’s friends, and Job’s response to his affliction.

But God has placed these chapters in this book for us to read. So, let’s keep in mind what we would miss if we were to skip our text for this lesson.

  • We would miss Job persevering much longer than with his suffering in chapters 1 and 2.
  • We would miss seeing the benefits and blessings which resulted from Job’s extended suffering.
  • We would not see the basis for Job’s righteousness as clearly as we do in our text.
  • We would not see the error of Job’s accusers, and of their theological system of works.
  • We would not gain the instruction that is found here regarding how to comfort and counsel those who are suffering.

Two more observations may prove helpful as we commence our study:

First, Job is poetry. I am indebted to Ray Stedman for reminding me of this fact. Esther is the last of the historical books. When we come to the Book of Job, we begin the poetry section of the Old Testament (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs). Even the words of angst that Job expresses are set forth as poetry.

Second, because there is so much repetition of content in our chapters, while there are only a few “themes,” we are able to capture the essence of what Job and his friends are saying, without going into a very rigorous and minute examination of each chapter. Thus, we are seeking to discern the essence of what Job and his friends are saying here without examining every detail carefully.

How I Plan To Approach This Message

  1. I plan to begin with an overview of this entire passage.
  2. Then we will focus on Job’s “friends,” their message and their methods.
  3. We will next consider Job’s response to his circumstances, and to the rebuke of his friends.
  4. After this, we will look at the counsel of Elihu.
  5. Finally, we shall seek to identify some areas of application for all of us.

An Overview Of Our Text

Our text begins in chapter 3 with Job’s lament over his extended suffering. His wish to be dead is couched in terms of lamenting the day of his birth: Oh, if only he were to have died at birth, or even before! Job’s friends take his response to his extended suffering as an invitation to share their counsel with him. They are convinced they can help him find an end to his suffering. With ever-increasing severity, they accuse him of having sinned. In their minds, the way for Job to be restored is for him to confess his sin and to begin anew to live according to God’s commands. The accusations against Job come in three cycles,1 using a kind of tag-team approach. First comes the attack by Eliphaz, followed by Bildad, and then Zophar. Interspersed are Job’s rebuttals to each indictment. The first cycle looks like this:

Eliphaz (chapters 4 and 5)

Job’s rebuttal (chapters 6 and 7)

Bildad (chapter 8)

Job’s rebuttal (chapters 9 and 10)

Zophar (chapter 11)

Job’s rebuttal (chapters 12-14)

The third cycle ends prematurely, it would seem, with only Bildad’s comments taking up one chapter, which contains only 6 verses. Job’s rebuttal to Bildad’s accusations requires a full six chapters (26-31).

Then, out of nowhere, Elihu appears in chapters 32-37, where he rebukes both Job and his three friends. Chapter 38 begins the text for our third and final message on Job (Job 38-42). Here, God finally speaks directly to Job. Job repents, God provides atonement for Job’s friends, and Job’s prosperity is renewed and enhanced.

Job’s “Friends” And The Great Debate

I have difficulty calling these three men Job’s “friends.” I know that’s the way most of the translations render it, but in fact the original word that is used for them is found 183 times in the Old Testament. 91 times it is rendered “neighbor,” while it is translated “friend” only 49 times. These men are obviously not the kind of folks you or I would want for our closest friends.

It would appear that these men met together and agreed in advance on the approach they would take with Job (2:11-12). To their credit, they empathized silently with Job for seven days, but now that Job has expressed his desire to be dead, they begin to carry out their plan of action. At first, they attempt to give Job the benefit of the doubt, leaving him room to voluntarily repent of his sin (which they were sure was the cause of his suffering). Eliphaz, the oldest of the three, took the lead. He first claimed that his words of counsel came from a vision from the Lord (4:12-17). After all, it’s not easy to argue with a man who claims to have gotten his message straight from God.

Here is how the counsel of Eliphaz began:

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job: 2 “Will you be patient and let me say a word? For who could keep from speaking out? 3 “In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak. 4 Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees. 5 But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you. 6 Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope? 7 “Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed? 8 My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same (Job 4:1-8 NLT; see also Job 11:13-15).

Eliphaz and his two colleagues are committed to the principle: “You reap what you sow.” In their minds, when you do good, you are blessed; when you do wrong, you are punished with suffering So, given this premise, Eliphaz concludes that Job’s suffering is the consequence of his sin. When I read what Eliphaz is saying here it reminds me of the song which Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music :

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

This could be Job’s friends theme song. Given this assumption, his suffering would require lyrics that go like this:

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever had
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something very bad.

Sadly, the accusations intensify as the debate goes on. Job’s friends no longer give him (or his children) the benefit of the doubt; Job is assumed to be wrong, even to the point of identifying the sins of which they believe him guilty:

If your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin (Job 8:4).

5 Is not your wickedness great and is there no end to your iniquity? 6 “For you took pledges from your brothers for no reason, and you stripped the clothing from the naked. 7 You gave the weary no water to drink and from the hungry you withheld food. 8 Although you were a powerful man, owning land, an honored man living on it, 9 you sent widows away empty-handed, and the arms of the orphans you crushed. 10 That is why snares surround you, and why sudden fear terrifies you (Job 22:5-10).

I want to deal with Job’s defense in just a moment, but before I do, I’d like to call your attention to Bildad’s final words, as recorded in chapter 25. Listen to what he says:

3 “Dominion and awesome might belong to God; he establishes peace in his heights. 3 Can his armies be numbered? On whom does his light not rise? 4 How then can a human being be righteous before God? How can one born of a woman be pure? 5 If even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, 6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot– a son of man, who is only a worm!” (Job 25:3-6, emphasis mine)

Job’s friends are wearing out. In this third and final round of attacks on Job’s character, Eliphaz speaks in chapter 22, followed by Job’s response in chapters 23 and 24. Now, in chapter 25, Bildad speaks his final words of accusation against Job. This attack is but six verses long. Bildad seems to sputter here, his case against Job runing out of gas, so to speak. Zophar is speechless, so far as any recorded response from him is concerned. He remains silent. But Job’s defense is lengthy (chapters 26-31). It seems that as time drags on, he becomes stronger and more forceful in his own defense.

But this is not the only significant thing to note about Bildad’s words, few though they are. Listen to what he is saying:

4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure? (Job 25:4, emphasis mine)

As I think through the argument that has developed over these chapters, Job’s friends have concluded that the only explanation for Job’s suffering is that he must have sinned, for which he must repent. Job has insisted that he has not sinned. And now, Bildad blurts out (my paraphrase), “Job, how you say that? God is so great and so holy, that no one can measure up to His standards. No one born of a woman can be without sin.”

Think about the theological implications of Bildad’s statement. His premise, and that of his two colleagues, is that ‘a person reaps what he sows’. When Job insists that he has not sinned, Bildad hastily disputes this, saying, in effect, “How could you say such a thing, Job? No one can be righteous in God’s eyes, for we are all sinners.” But if man is an unworthy sinner and can do nothing to deliver himself from his sinful state, then how can anyone ever attain righteousness and God’s favor by means of their works? It is on this very note that the “counsel” of Job’s three friends ends. Bildad has run out of things to say, and he says it in six verses. Job will have much to say in response, so much that it will take six chapters.

Job’s Final Defense

Job stands firm against all the accusations his friends have made against him. Based upon his knowledge of how one is justified before God, he is convinced of his innocence:

10 “But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. 11 For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside. 12 I have not departed from his commands, but have treasured his words more than daily food (Job 23:10-12, NLT; emphasis mine).

It is not Job’s words to his friends that are problematic; it is the challenge he puts to God, questioning the way that He has orchestrated the events of his life. In short, in his mind, God has dealt harshly, even cruelly, with Job.

18 With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.
20 “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.
21 You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.
22 You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm (Job 30:18-22, NLT; emphasis mine).

There is a note of arrogance that comes through in these words of Job:

35 “If only someone would listen to me! Look, I will sign my name to my defense. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write out the charges against me. 36 I would face the accusation proudly. I would wear it like a crown. 37 For I would tell him exactly what I have done. I would come before him like a prince (Job 31:35-37, NLT; emphasis mine).

Job has now become the accuser. As his friends accused him, he now accuses God. Here is a man, standing with his hands on his hips, demanding that God explain His actions.

The Unexpected Intervention Of Elihu
Job 32-37

Elihu appears out of nowhere. He has waited, patiently, for the older men to speak, and now he sees that they have nothing left to say. He is not interrupting; he is speaking because there is silence, and because both Job and his friends deserve a rebuke.

Opinions differ greatly about Elihu and his words, but I have chosen to agree with those who see his words as those which need to be taken seriously. In the text, his words immediately precede God’s words to Job in chapters 38 and following. So here are some of the reasons why I, along with others, find Elihu’s words worth heeding.

  1. Elihu rebukes both Job and his friends. Elihu appears to be impartial in this matter. He speaks for God, and he does not take sides, either with Job, or with his three accusers.
  2. Elihu’s rebuke is based upon what these men have actually said, rather than on whatever wrongs he supposes these men to have committed. Job’s friends, on the other hand, condemned Job on the basis of what wrongs they assumed he had committed.
  3. While Job was quick to dispute what his friends said, he never seeks to defend himself against anything Elihu said. Indeed, it would seem that Elihu invited Job to give a defense, if he was able to do so.
  4. Job’s friends did not seek to defend themselves against Elihu’s rebuke.
  5. Elihu’s rebuke is God-centered. Neither Job, nor his three friends, view his suffering from a divine perspective. Job and his friends are man-centered in their thinking and emphasis, rather than God-centered. Elihu rightly accuses Job of seeking to justify himself, rather than God.
  6. Elihu seemed to be very astute in following what would be proper protocol for what he said.
  7. God speaks immediately following Elihu, yet He does not have any word of correction for him. He does, however, rebuke Job and his three friends.
  8. Elihu is granted six chapters to present his case, paving the way for what God will say next.
  9. Elihu’s rebuke is reasonable:

2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. He was angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 3 With Job’s three friends he was also angry, because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty (Job 32:2-3).

8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing (I heard the sound of the words!): 9 ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean and have no iniquity. 10 Yet God finds occasions with me; he regards me as his enemy! 11 He puts my feet in shackles; he watches closely all my paths.’ 12 Now in this, you are not right– I answer you, for God is greater than a human being. 13 Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person’s words? (Job 33:8-13)

Here is one last (but very important) observation regarding Elihu. I cannot help but believe that he is looking forward to the coming of Christ2 when he says,

23 “But if an angel from heaven appears-- a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright-- 24 he will be gracious and say, ‘Rescue him from the grave, for I have found a ransom for his life.’ 25 Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s, firm and youthful again. 26 When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing. 27 He will declare to his friends, ‘I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not worth it. 28 God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light.’ 29 “Yes, God does these things again and again for people. 30 He rescues them from the grave so they may enjoy the light of life (Job 33:23-30, NLT; emphasis mine).

Conclusion

Before we talk about the applications which should flow from our text, let’s be sure that we summarize what it is that this text has said to us about God, and about Job and his friends.

First of all, God was present, and He was paying close attention to what Job and his friends were saying. He was also listening to Elihu, and He had no words of rebuke or correction for him. We know this because we are given God’s appraisal of what Job and his friends said about Him in chapter 42.

After the LORD had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has (Job 42:7; see also verse 8).

I believe that we must conclude that what Job said about God was true, but that his attitude was not commendable, because it was irreverent. We see this in Job’s protests addressed to God:

8 With a strong hand, God grabs my shirt. He grips me by the collar of my coat.
19 He has thrown me into the mud. I’m nothing more than dust and ashes.
20I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.
21 You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.
22 You throw me into the whirlwind and destroy me in the storm (Job 30:18-22, NLT; emphasis mine).

Elihu points out Job’s irreverence when he rebukes Job:

14 “Pay attention to this, Job. Stop and consider the wonderful miracles of God!

15 Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds?

16 Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill?

17 When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies down and everything is still,

18 he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Can you do that?

19 “So teach the rest of us what to say to God. We are too ignorant to make our own arguments.

20 Should God be notified that I want to speak? Can people even speak when they are confused?

21 We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.

22 So also, golden splendor comes from the mountain of God. He is clothed in dazzling splendor.

23 We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty; but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us. 24 No wonder people everywhere fear him. All who are wise show him reverence” (Job 37:14-24, NLT; emphasis mine).

When we get to chapter 38, where God begins to speak to Job, God will also rebuke Job for his arrogance, and He does this by calling attention to truths that will humble him.

I am reminded of Jonah, when he protests against what is true and praiseworthy about God. Instead of praising God for His mercy and grace, Jonah protests:

1 This displeased Jonah terribly and he became very angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD and said, “Oh, LORD, this is just what I thought would happen when I was in my own country. This is what I tried to prevent by attempting to escape to Tarshish! – because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and one who relents concerning threatened judgment. 3 So now, LORD, kill me instead, because I would rather die than live!” (Jonah 4:1-3, emphasis mine)

Job’s friends are also wrong for a very significant, reason. They insist that God must deal with men on the basis of legalism alone, no more and no less. They believe that God deals out suffering and adversity or blessings and prosperity in direct proportion to man’s deeds, good or evil.

4 Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees.

5 But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you.

6 Doesn’t your reverence for God give you confidence? Doesn’t your life of integrity give you hope?

7 “Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed?

8 My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same.

9 A breath from God destroys them. They vanish in a blast of his anger (Job 4:4-9, NLT; emphasis mine).

In their kind of legalistic system, God really has no discretionary options. He must deal with men as their actions require. In the minds of Job’s friends, there are no exceptions to this “legalistic” rule of life. That is why they persist in seeking to convince Job that he as sinned, and needs to repent. There are no other options which might explain Job’s suffering. If he repents and does good, then God’s blessings will return. To Job’s legalistic friends, it’s that simple.

So what is the problem with this kind of legalistic theology? As God Himself said, they did not speak rightly about Him:

7 After the LORD had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7-8, emphasis mine).

Legalism leaves no place for grace. Legalism insists that “you reap what you sow.” Blessings come to me, or to others, because of the good things I have done. Therefore, I deserve credit for the blessings I have received from God. God is obliged to bless me when I do good. I’ve often wondered at those who reject the gospel because it is a matter of grace, and not law. I have heard people say or infer that they don’t want salvation on the basis of God’s mercy and grace because this does not allow them to take any credit for their salvation. The gospel is offensive to a legalist because it is a manifestation of God’s grace.

So how does legalism (what you sow you must reap) constitute saying something wrong about God? How have Job’s friends spoken about God in a way that is not right? The way they have spoken about God denies that He is a gracious God, who deals with men on the basis of what He has done in Christ, rather than on the basis of what we have done.

When Moses asked God to “learn His ways” he did so in order that he might find grace from God:

“Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people”
(Exodus 33:13, NKJ; emphasis mine).

A little later in Exodus, Moses asks to see God’s glory, and God speaks of His glory as His goodness. He also links his goodness to His sovereignly bestowed grace:

18 And Moses said, “Show me your glory.” 19 And the LORD said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the LORD by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:18-19; emphasis mine).

6 The LORD passed by before him and proclaimed: “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7; emphasis mine).

Think of how important grace was to Moses, and to the people of Israel. They had just committed a grievous sin by worshipping the golden calf, a sin for which God could have justly wiped out the entire nation. Moses knew that God’s presence with him, and with Israel, could not be based on his performance, or on Israel’s futile efforts to do better. They were a stiff-necked people, predisposed to sin. Their only hope was to trust in God’s grace and mercy, and in His provision of forgiveness. God’s delight is to save unworthy sinners by means of His grace, rather than by man’s works. By adhering to legalism, Job’s friends denied God’s goodness, as manifested by His grace. Legalism would prohibit God from showing grace to unworthy sinners because they would not get what they deserve. If God’s grace is both His glory and His goodness, then denying the grace of God is to speak very badly of God, which is precisely what Job’s friends did.

But there is a flip side to this coin. On the one hand, God is completely free to graciously bless unworthy sinners. But on the other hand, since men do not deserve, and cannot earn, God’s favor, God does not owe His blessings to anyone. Thus, God is as free to withhold His blessings as He is to bestow them. That is the part that Job was struggling with. Withholding blessings Job did not earn was completely consistent with God’s sovereignty, just as sovereignly bestowing them on one who is undeserving is consistent with His grace.3

But we are not done yet. The error of Job’s friends has even more sobering implications. They were convinced that there could be no such thing as “innocent suffering.” If there is no possibility of “innocent suffering” then there can be no such thing as substitutionary atonement – an innocent animal that is sacrificed to pay the penalty for the sins of someone who is guilty. We know that Job believed in substitutionary atonement because he offered burnt offerings for each of his children, in case they had sinned (Job 1:5). He rightly believed that the sacrifice he offered in behalf of each of his children would atone for sins they may have committed.

If there can be no such thing as “innocent suffering,” then there is no possibility of “substitutionary atonement.” Given this premise, salvation through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus could not happen, because Christ could not take on sinless human flesh and then die in the sinner’s place on the cross of Calvary. Therefore there could be no such thing as “substitutionary atonement.”

Legalism appears to promote justice, but in reality, it prohibits grace, because justice is thus divorced from mercy. But the gospel of Jesus Christ inseparably joins justice and mercy:

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, so our land will be filled with his glory.

10 Unfailing love and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed! (Psalm 85:9-10, NLT).

“Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others (Matthew 23:23; emphasis mine; see also Exodus 34:6-7).

Job’s friends did not believe in grace. Job believed in grace bestowed; what he did not like was grace withheld, without explanation.4 Faith is best tested and grown in times of adversity, especially when God’s reasons are not revealed to us.

Other Applications

Righteous people are not perfect people. I believe that Job was a righteous man, in chapters three through forty-two, as well as in chapters one and two. I believe that Job’s faith was tested by his tragic losses and his physical suffering in the first two chapters of Job. And, I believe that God intensified Job’s suffering in chapters 3-37, demonstrating to Satan and to the heavenly watchers that Job’s faith and endurance was even greater than what was first displayed.

But this is not to say that Job’s righteousness meant that he lived a flawless life. Job’s complaining in our text was not the ideal for every Christian to follow. Job’s protests about God are such that God Himself will speak strong words to him, rebuking him for his lack of reverence.

I think that there are some Christians who believe the Christian life is – or should be – a life of continual joy, praise, and undiminished confidence in what God is doing. Job is, by God’s declaration, the most righteous man on the face of the earth, but he is not perfect. Neither was any other saint that we find in the Bible. But when all is said and done, righteous people believe in God, even when they don’t like where He has put them at the moment.

Adversity is God’s means of purifying our faith. Extended suffering is part of God’s instruction to deepen our faith and expand our witness.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. 7 Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold– gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away– and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:3-7).

3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons? “My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you. 6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.” 7 Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 8 But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? 10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it (Hebrews 12:3-11).

2 My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything (James 1:2-4).

The path of extended suffering is the path which our Lord Jesus chose as an example for us to follow.

For it was fitting for him, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10).

For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:18).

7 During his earthly life Christ offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered (Hebrews 5:7-8).

Those who are blessed with prosperity and earthly ease need to be very careful not to assume that their performance (good deeds) is the determining factor. My wife and I have been greatly blessed by our godly children, but I know of many godly parents whose children are not walking with the Lord as they should. It is not the good parenting of my wife and I that brought about godly children; in the final analysis it is the grace of God. Let us be very careful not to assume that God’s apparent blessings are the fruit of our godliness and good works, rather than the gracious gift of a merciful and compassionate God.

God sometimes allows the wicked to prosper while the righteous suffer. Job knew this, and so did Asaph, as we read in Psalm 73. This almost caused Asaph to stumble, and to question why he should continue to live as a godly man, until he looked at life through an eternal lens. Sometimes our own suffering and affliction becomes even more painful when we see the wicked prospering. We must see our current suffering through an “eternal lens,” rather than a merely “temporal lens.”

16 Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison 18 because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

I believe that while we have passed the initial stages of this global pandemic, it will likely linger on (and perhaps even intensify) as time goes on. Thus, our suffering will be extended, just as Job’s suffering was. Let us pray that we might live rightly, trusting God, and speaking rightly of Him, if our adversity and afflictions persist. Like Job at the end of chapter two, our testing is not over until God Himself ends it. In our sufferings, let us be found faithful and joyful, to the praise and glory of our God, as we contrast our present afflictions against eternal glory.

When we successfully endure our present suffering and adversities, our faith and confidence in God are strengthened:

3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:3-5).

Finally, the truths about God which Job’s friends found unacceptable are actually the “good news” of the Gospel. God is not only righteous and just, He is also gracious and compassionate. God does not delight in dealing with lost sinners as their sins deserve. He delights in showing mercy and granting forgiveness. Indeed, mercy is God’s preference. He is able to be both just and merciful through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ added sinless humanity to His undiminished deity, and came to live on this earth, to speak for God, to reveal man’s sin, and to demonstrate that He is without sin. He became the sinless sacrifice that bore the penalty for our sins, which provides righteousness for all who trust in Him. My friend, you do not want God’s justice (as Job’s three friends did); what you want and need is God’s grace, through the gift of salvation that comes from the work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, rather than from your works. The salvation which God provides in Christ will persevere and endure, in the worst adversities of life. If you have not yet trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of eternal life, trust in Him and be saved.


1 Cycle 1: Job 4-14; Cycle 2: Job 15-21; Cycle 3: Job 22-31.

2 Intentionally or otherwise.

3 I need to make it clear that sovereignty and grace are inseparably linked. Because no one deserves God’s blessings (God’s grace) then men’s blessings don’t depend on their works, but on God’s sovereign choice (Romans 9:9-13, 30-33). God sovereignly bestows unmerited blessings (grace) on men, and He can sovereignly withhold unmerited blessings. Since Job’s “blessings” were not the fruit of his efforts, or worthiness in and of himself, God was not obligated to bless him. Job’s suffering was sovereignly bestowed by God, just as his prosperity was.

4 In reality, Job’s suffering was a manifestation of God’s grace, because it deepened his faith, and strengthened his relationship with God. If “the nearness of God is our good” (Psalm 73:28), then whatever draws us nearer to God is gracious, even though it may not appear so at the moment.

Related Topics: Christian Life, Suffering, Trials, Persecution

Lesson 3: Job 38-42

Related Media

Introduction

James Herriot was a veterinarian in Scotland and the author of a number of books, including All Creatures Great and Small.1 In this book he tells the story of how he was greatly humbled at the age of seventeen. James had been a student at the Veterinary College in Scotland for just three days. Today he had attended his first class in animal husbandry and he was euphoric. His professor was one of those exceedingly talented men who could bring the subject of horses to life. James felt he had come to know everything there was to know about these magnificent creatures. To fully embrace his persona as a veterinarian James went to a clothing store and bought a brand-new riding mac with a full array of snaps and buckles which, he said, slapped against his legs as he walked.

Stepping out onto the street in front of the college, what should his eyes behold but a massive horse, standing passively before a coal cart, which he pulled about the streets of Scotland. This horse was not a beautiful specimen. It was old and its back was swayed, but it was a horse. James stepped up to the animal, surveying it with what he believed to be the highly trained eye of a veterinarian. He identified the various parts of the creature’s anatomy, which he had just been taught the previous hour. The crowds passed by, oblivious to his extensive knowledge of horses. Having completed his visual assessment, James started to walk away, and then turned to make a parting gesture which he believed this creature would welcome as a token of his appreciation.

James reached up, intending to pat the great beast on the neck, but the horse acted with unexpected speed, clamping his teeth firmly into the material of James’ new mac and lifting him off the ground. James confessed that he dangled in mid-air like a lop-sided puppet. The passers-by, once uninterested and unimpressed by his attire, or his superior knowledge of horses, now pushed and shoved to get a better look at this bizarre spectacle. Some older ladies took pity on James and pled for someone to come to his aid. To James’ chagrin, the younger ladies giggled. James was mortified. Not only was he overcome with shame, but his breathing was now cut off by his new coat, and saliva from the horse’s mouth was running down his face.

Just then, a little man pushed his way through the crowd. He was a coal dealer, and the horse’s owner, who quickly sized up the situation and commanded his horse to drop James. When the horse hesitated, the coal dealer jabbed his thumb into the horse’s belly. Quickly the horse dropped James to the ground, gasping for air. As soon as he could get to his feet, James tried to disappear into the crowd, but he could not help but hear the advice of the horse’s owner, who shouted after him, “Dinna meddle wi’ things ye ken nuthin’ aboot!

This is virtually the same lesson Job is about to learn from God’s words, recorded in the final chapters of the Book of Job. Earlier in the book, Job has been speaking as one who has great knowledge and authority, concerning a matter he knows nothing about. The humbling lesson which Job learns in our text is one which is vitally important to every Christian, so let us listen carefully to the words of our text, to learn what God’s Word has for us.

A Reminder Of Where We Are In The Book Of Job

In this third and final lesson we have come to chapters 38-42, the closing chapters of the Book of Job. Mark Dever2 has outlined the major sections of the book in this way:

Chapters 1 & 2:

God has good things to say about Job.

Job has good things to say about God.

Chapters 3-37:              Job has bad things to say about God.

Chapters 38-41: God has bad things to say about Job

Chapter 42:

God has good things to say about Job.

Job has good things to say about God.

That pretty much sums it up.

The Structure Of Our Text

Job 38-39

God Uses Nature To Challenge Jobs Wisdom

Job 40:1-5

Jobs Initial Repentance

Job 40:6-41:34

God Challenges Jobs Authority Over Nature

Job 42

Jobs Repentance (Vss. 1-6)

Jobs Intercession For His Friends (Vss. 7-9)

God Restores Jobs Prosperity (Vss. 10-17)

Observations

The purpose of this message is not to analyze every detail in these five chapters, but rather to gain a sense of the overall flow of the argument, and the primary message that is here for Job, his friends, the angelic watchers, and us. To accomplish this, we should note several important observations from our text.

First, we see that God speaks directly to Job here, for the first time in the book. It is amazing to realize that God has not spoken directly to Job for 37 chapters. Oh, there’s been a lot of talk – on the part of Job and his three friends – but not any direct revelation from God. Job himself realizes the significance of what is now taking place:

“I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen you” (Job 42:5, NET).3

Second, we cannot miss the fact that God does not answer Job’s questions here; instead, he has some questions for Job to answer. Put differently, Job asked God questions He would not answer, while God asked Job questions he could not answer.

Third, we should take note of what God does not say to Job. In the account we are given, God does not tell Job about the celestial gathering and the ensuing conversation between Himself and Satan, as we find it recorded in the first two chapters of Job. Neither is Job informed about God’s purposes for his suffering. Thanks to the observation of Rev. Robert Rayburn,4 we can add that God does not even tell Job that a book will be written about his faithfulness in affliction, which will serve to comfort many.

If one were to summarize Job’s questions in one word, it would be “WHY?” Job will not receive the answer to this question before the conclusion of the book. He will have to be content with the “WHO?” of his affliction, and not the WHY.

Having said this, I am indebted to my fellow-elder and friend, Gordon Graham, who reminded me that someone did write the Book of Job, and whoever this was received the information recorded in it. Surely Job is a likely candidate for being the author of this book. If so, we would conclude that God withheld the answers to Job’s questions until after he repented.5 Job must first trust God, even when he does not understand what God is doing. And having trusted Him, God may then answer Job’s questions (though He is not obliged to do so).

Fourth, we can take note of what God does say to Job in these chapters. In essence God asks, “Who are you, Job, to question the Creator of the Universe?” Job’s attitude and God’s response sounds similar to that of the objector and Paul, who responded to his objections in Romans chapter 9:

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 20 But who indeed are you– a mere human being– to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” (Romans 9:19-20, emphasis mine).

Job has forgotten his place in God’s universe. Job foolishly stands in judgment of God and His management of this world. Job is seated in the prosecutor’s chair (maybe even the judge’s chair), and he has placed God in the defendant’s chair. If I could sum up God’s words to Job, they would be, “Job, why don’t you leave the running of the universe to Me?”

Fifth, we should take note of the fact that God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind.

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2 “Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge? (Job 38:1-2, emphasis mine; see also 40:6)

Elijah was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1, 11). God’s judgment is spoken of as coming in a whirlwind (Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23; Ezekiel 13:13). This is the very opposite of the “still, small, voice” with which God spoke to Elijah in1 Kings 19:12. I believe that this was to remind Job of the greatness and power of God, much like God impressed the Israelites in the giving of the Law from Mt. Sinai:

18 All the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking– and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:18-19).

Sixth, God has not forgotten Satan and the angels, which were mentioned in chapter one:

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! 5 Who set its measurements– if you know– or who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone– 7 when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7, emphasis mine)

Stop and think about it for a moment. When God speaks of His creation of the universe, it is obvious that Job was not there, guiding the hand of God as to just where a certain star should be hung. But the angels were there, not guiding God, but celebrating His majesty and wisdom. They were applauding God’s work of creation.

I can imagine the celestial response to these words. No doubt, the angels were looking on and listening to this conversation between God and Job. Can you imagine how their angelic “ears” would have perked up at God’s reference to them being present at creation? Lest they forget about the greatness and the goodness of God (something Satan sought to encourage), let them recall what they saw, heard, and celebrated at the creation of the universe.

Seventh, I have been persuaded by several friends (and the biblical text) that the reference to Leviathan in chapter 41 is not to be limited to an earthly creature, such as the crocodile. As one friend put it, this creature sounds more like a dragon:

18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the red glow of dawn. 19 Out of its mouth go flames, sparks of fire shoot forth! 20 Smoke streams from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning rushes. 21 Its breath sets coals ablaze and a flame shoots from its mouth . . . . 33 The likes of it is not on earth, a creature without fear. 34 It looks on every haughty being; it is king over all that are proud” (Job 41:18-21, 33-34, emphasis mine).

When Leviathan here is compared with its occurrence in other biblical texts, it certainly seems that this creature symbolizes Satan himself:6

1 At that time the LORD will punish with his destructive, great, and powerful sword Leviathan the fast-moving serpent, Leviathan the squirming serpent; he will kill the sea monster (Isaiah 27:1).

7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. 9 So that huge dragon– the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world– was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down. 11 But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. 12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them! But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!” (Revelation 12:7-12, emphasis mine)

Leviathan is vastly more powerful than Job, and Job should rightly fear him. But in the end God will destroy this creature so that his destructive and hostile power will end. Even now (as we have seen in chapters 1 and 2), Satan is subject to the authority of God. If Job is to withstand the “wiles of the devil” it will ultimately be by God’s enablement.

Eighth, take note of the sarcasm and humor which lightens up the correction of Job a bit. Surely this is an example of sarcasm:

“In what direction does light reside, and darkness, where is its place, 20 that you may take them to their borders and perceive the pathways to their homes? 21 You know, for you were born before them; and the number of your days is great! (Job 38:19-21, emphasis mine)

Catch the humor that we find here in Job:

“Can you catch Leviathan with a hook
or put a noose around its jaw?
2 Can you tie it with a rope through the nose
or pierce its jaw with a spike?
3 Will it beg you for mercy
or implore you for pity?
4 Will it agree to work for you,
to be your slave for life?
5 Can you make it a pet like a bird,
or give it to your little girls to play with?
6 Will merchants try to buy it
to sell it in their shops?
7 Will its hide be hurt by spears
or its head by a harpoon?
8 If you lay a hand on it, you will certainly remember the battle that follows.
You won’t try that again! (Job 41:1-8, NLT; emphasis mine)

Nineth, the central theme of these chapters of God’s rebuke is the lesson Job should learn from God’s creation. The first half of the rebuke contrasts God’s creative wisdom and power with Job’s ignorance and lack of participation in creation:

2 “Who is this who darkens counsel with words without knowledge? 3 Get ready for a difficult task like a man; I will question you and you will inform me! 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding! (Job 38:2-4, emphasis mine)

When one reads these verses about God’s creation of the universe, and the heavenly realms, it is impossible to miss a sense of awe at the wisdom and power of God. Conversely, this divine challenge makes man look very small, and Job’s protests very ignorant and ill-founded. As we noted a moment ago, the angels were there, but Job was not. He had no hand in creation. And even if he were there at the time, he would not have anything to contribute to the event. It was all of God.

I believe God’s use of His creation of the universe here should give us pause when dealing with the subject of the earth’s origins. To the degree that one puts God at arm’s length from the creation of the universe, he or she tends to undermine the force of the argument God is making in our text.7 We dare not lose sight of this in the midst of our scholarly debates over the origins of the earth.8

The second half of God’s interrogation of Job concentrates on the animal kingdom and what it has to teach Job, and us.

13 “The ostrich9 flaps her wings grandly, but they are no match for the feathers of the stork.10
14 She lays her eggs on top of the earth, letting them be warmed in the dust.
15 She doesn’t worry that a foot might crush them or a wild animal might destroy them.
16 She is harsh toward her young, as if they were not her own. She doesn’t care if they die.
17 For God has deprived her of wisdom. He has given her no understanding.
18 But whenever she jumps up to run, she passes the swiftest horse with its rider
(Job 39:13-18 NLT).

As I read it, this is an almost comical description of the ostrich. It cannot fly, and yet it makes a dramatic display of flapping its wings,11 even though it will never clear the ground. In addition to this, the ostrich is presented in a less than flattering way. She lays her eggs on the ground, in plain sight. Placed here, unprotected, these eggs may get walked on, or devoured by some other creature. She has no affection for her offspring, and seems not to care whether they survive or not. If they do, it is no thanks to her.

So far, we have a rather demeaning description of this “big bird” (actually the world’s largest bird). But wait, there’s more:

18 But whenever she jumps up to run, she passes the swiftest horse with its rider (Job 39:18).

This unlikable, unlikely, creature is the fastest animal on two legs. (I confess, that I had to Google it to learn this.12) I learned that ostriches are superb runners that can sprint at speeds of up to 45 mph on average, with a top speed as much as 60 mph for short bursts. Its stride is about 12 feet, but a large ostrich, at full speed, may take steps as much as 25 feet apart! What compensation God has given this unusual creature!

Strangely, perhaps, I am reminded of Paul’s words to the Corinthians regarding spiritual gifts:

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor in turn can the head say to the foot, “I do not need you.” 22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, 23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity, 24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another (1 Corinthians 12:21-25, emphasis mine).

Is the ostrich an example of this same principle in the animal kingdom? By the way, we are told that the ostrich has a brain the size of a walnut.

During this pandemic and its “stay at home” requirements I would like to make a suggestion to parents. Years ago, while teaching school, I used the Moody Science Series in my teaching. This series focuses on the wonder of God’s creation, pointing out the wisdom of God, the Creator. One such video is “The City of the Bees.” You can find it on YouTube.13 What a great way to teach your children about God’s wisdom as seen in the creatures He has made. In some ways it is similar to what we find in the last chapters of Job.

There is yet another lesson to be learned from God’s creatures. Job did not design or create them, and yet they live well, without Job’s presence or control. Take, for example, the wild donkey:

5 “Who gives the wild donkey its freedom? Who untied its ropes?
6 I have placed it in the wilderness; its home is the wasteland.
7 It hates the noise of the city and has no driver to shout at it.
8 The mountains are its pastureland, where it searches for every blade of grass (Job 39:5-8).

Yet another example is the wild ox:

9 “Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?
10 Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow? Will it plow a field for you?
11 Given its strength, can you trust it? Can you leave and trust the ox to do your work?
12 Can you rely on it to bring home your grain and deliver it to your threshing floor? (Job 39:9-12 NLT)

At creation God instructed Adam (and thus mankind) to take control over the creatures He made:

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28).

But this did not happen, at least completely, due to the fall of man. And Job is just one example of this. He does not rule over the wild donkey or the wild ox. Indeed, Job does not rule over creation at all – but God does, and it runs in amazing ways. So, who is Job to be questioning God’s actions with regard to His creatures (including man)? Job talks as though he expects God to “jump through his hoops.”

So, when nature (God’s creation) is pondered, God comes out looking like God: omniscient, omnipotent, wise, and in control (among other things). Man comes out looking greatly inferior:

3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place, 4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them (Psalm 8:3-4).

In the final analysis, Job get’s it. His silence is the proper response, rather than his endless questions.

Tenth, let us briefly consider the restoration of Job’s prosperity.

10 So the LORD restored what Job had lost after he prayed for his friends, and the LORD doubled all that had belonged to Job. 11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. 12 So the LORD blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers. 16 After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, old and full of days (Job 42:10-17).

After his repentance, God doubled the wealth of Job from that which he was said to possess in chapter 1 – with the exception of Job’s children. In the beginning, Job was said to have “seven sons and three daughters” (1:2). Now we are told that Job has another “seven sons and three daughters” (42:13). Why not fourteen sons and six daughters, doubling their number as God did with the cattle Job owned? To me, the answer is that while Job permanently lost his cattle, he did not “lose” his children in the same way. Job believed in the resurrection of the dead (Job 19:25), and it is at the resurrection that he will once again be united with his children who had died. And thus, God did double the number of Job’s children, from ten to twenty.

I find the account most interesting when it comes to the daughters of Job. Clearly, they receive more attention than the sons of Job. Notice that the names of the daughters are given, but not the names of the sons. Furthermore, we are told that the beauty of these daughters surpassed that of any other woman in the land. And finally, we are told that Job gave them an inheritance, the same as their brothers. Why is so much said of the three daughters, but not any such details regarding the 7 sons?

Especially in Old Testament times, women were treated differently than men, at times, almost like second-class citizens. For example, if an Israelite woman gave birth to a female child, she was unclean for fourteen days, but if the child was a male, the mother was unclean for only seven days (Leviticus 12). Lot was willing to offer his virgin daughters to the wicked men of Sodom, to spare his apparent “male” guests from harm (Genesis 19:6-8). Why this partiality toward males? And what does this account of Job’s daughters have to say about that?

It seems to me that Job’s daughters’ status is elevated on account of Job, especially when viewed from an Old Testament frame of reference. Why would this be? I’m inclined to say that this is prophetic, looking forward to the coming of Christ. As a result of Christ’s saving work on the cross of Calvary, men and women, slave and free, Jew and Gentile have the same identity in Christ (Galatians 3:28). They certainly have the same inheritance. I did not say that they have the same earthly roles, but in terms of their identity in Christ, they are equal. I believe Job’s daughters foreshadow this.

The Elephant In The Room:
Where Was Job Right And His Friends Wrong?

7 After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, FOR YOU HAVE NOT SPOKEN ACCURATELY ABOUT ME, AS MY SERVANT JOB HAS. 8 So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the LORD commanded them, and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer. 10 When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before! (Job 42:7-10, NLT; emphasis mine)

So, the question must be, “In what way, then, was Job right while his three friends were wrong in what they said about God?”

I am approaching this question on the basis these assumptions:

One: Job’s righteousness was not conditional; it was based upon his faith, and not upon his performance. Ultimately, Job was righteous because God declared him to be righteous, period! Job’s righteousness was not the result of his good works, and his suffering was not the consequence of his sin.

Two: If Job was righteous because God declared it so,14 then Job was righteous throughout his suffering and throughout the book. Job was not just righteous in chapters one and two, he was also righteous in chapters 3-37 (albeit there were some things for him to repent of). And he is still righteous when it all ends in chapter 42. Job is consistently righteous because his righteousness comes as a gracious gift from God, and not as a result of his works.

Three: Job believed in substitutionary atonement.15

4 Now his sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one in turn, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 When the days of their feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice (Job 1:4-5).

Think about what we have been told here. Job was concerned for his children’s spiritual well-being. He did not urge his children to “do better,” or to “work harder” in order to be spiritual. He offered a sacrifice, one per child (verse 5), on behalf of each of his children. The sacrifice of this guiltless animal was assumed to atone for any sins his child may have committed. My point here is that Job does not see righteousness (right standing before God) as a human achievement, but as the result of the sacrifice of another being, offered in place of the sinner.

Four: If Job’s suffering was not God’s punishment for his sin, then God must have another (good) purpose for his suffering. Since God is good to His saints, God’s purposes for Job’s suffering must be good.

Five: The test was to see whether Job would persevere in his trust in God, or whether he would “curse God.”

“But extend your hand and strike everything he has, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” (Job 1:11, emphasis mine)

“But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” (Job 2:5, emphasis mine)

Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” (Job 2:9, emphasis mine)

I believe the key to understanding the Book of Job is to grasp how Job’s declaration about God differs from that of his three friends. What is it, in particular, that Job has spoken about God that is right, and what is it that his friends got wrong? We are told that in both cases it has to do with what they have spoken about God:

7 After the LORD had spoken these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede for you, and I will respect him, so that I do not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7-8).

What words do we find Job speaking that are, as God indicates, speaking rightly about Him? I believe these words are most clearly spoken in the first two chapters of the book.

He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. May the name of the LORD be blessed!” (Job 1:21, emphasis mine)

9 Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” 10 But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said (Job 2:9-10, emphasis mine).

In chapter 1, we read that Job lost virtually all of his material wealth, and then he lost his family. In chapter 2, Job experienced great physical suffering. Job’s response to these horrific events reveals this about his view of God:

GOD IS SOVEREIGN, AND THUS ALL OF JOB’S CIRCUMSTANCES ULTIMATELY CAME FROM GOD’S HAND. We can see from our text (chapters 1 and 2) that Satan has played a role in initiating Job’s sufferings, but ultimately Job’s suffering has come from the hand of God. This is exactly what Job acknowledged:

He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The LORD gives, and the LORD takes away. May the name of the LORD be blessed!” (Job 1:21, emphasis mine)

God is in control of what is given and what is taken away, of apparent blessings and of adversity.

GOD IS RIGHT WHEN HE GIVES, AND RIGHT WHEN HE TAKES AWAY. God is righteous when He bestows earthly blessings on men, and He is no less righteous when He withholds them. It is possible to acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our prosperity and in our poverty, but it is something else to say that God is right in so doing. Thus, Job can say, “May the name of the LORD be blessed!” (Job 1:21).

How could anyone praise God for doing what they believed to be evil? How could Job continue to be faithful to God if he did not consider God righteous?

THE SUFFERING JOB EXPERIENCED MAY HAVE APPEARED AT THE MOMENT TO BE CRUEL, BUT IN REALITY IT HAD COME TO HIM FROM THE HAND OF A KIND AND GRACIOUS GOD. JOB’S SUFFERING WAS ULTIMATELY FOR HIS GOOD, AND FOR GOD’S GLORY. The righteous may very well experience suffering from the hand of a loving God, even when they don’t understand God’s purposes for it. I believe this can be inferred from the first two chapters of Job, but it is also clearly evident in the final chapter of the book. I can think of others, like Joseph, or Daniel and his three friends, whose suffering was divinely designed to produce a blessing.

JOB IS RIGHT WHEN HE SPEAKS ABOUT GOD AND HIS DEALINGS WITH HIM FROM AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. The author of the Book of Hebrews tells us that every Old Testament saint viewed their lives, and their relationship with God from an eternal perspective:

13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return (Hebrews 11:13-15).

We see that this eternal perspective is evident from Job’s own words:

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, 27 whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me (Job 19:25-27).

JOB IS RIGHT WHEN HE DECLARES THAT GOD IS WORTHY OF HIS WORSHIP, REGARDLESS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES HE HAS BROUGHT HIS WAY. This affirmation directly opposes Satan’s assessment of why Job would worship God. Satan believes that men worship God only as long as He pours out material blessings on them. Job believes that God is worthy of his worship, even when He takes all his material “blessings” away.

Now let’s turn to Job’s friends, to see where they were wrong. What was it that they said, which revealed they were not speaking rightly about God?

JOB’S FRIENDS HAVE NO EXPLANATION FOR JOB’S SUFFERING, OTHER THAN TO ACCUSE HIM OF SIN.

7 “Stop and think! Do the innocent die? When have the upright been destroyed? 8 My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same. 9 A breath from God destroys them. They vanish in a blast of his anger (Job 4:7-9, NLT).

AS ELIHU POINTS OUT, OTHER THAN TO FIND SIN IN JOB’S LIFE, HIS FRIENDS HAD NO EXPLANATION FOR JOB’S SUFFERING, AND NO BASIS FOR COMFORTING HIM.

With Job’s three friends he was also angry, because they could not find an answer, and so declared Job guilty (Job 32:3).

THEIR SOLUTION WAS FOR JOB WAS TO REPENT OF HIS SIN AND DO GOOD:

5 But if you will look to God, and make your supplication to the Almighty, 6 if you become pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself for you, and will restore your righteous abode (Job 8:5-6).

THE PROBLEM THESE MEN MUST FACE (AND RELUCTANTLY CONFESS) IS THAT NO ONE IS GOOD ENOUGH TO MERIT GOD’S BLESSING. Ironically, these are the very last words spoken by any of Job’s three “friends”:

3 “Dominion and awesome might belong to God; he establishes peace in his heights. 3 Can his armies be numbered? On whom does his light not rise? 4 How then can a human being be righteous before God? How can one born of a woman be pure? 5 If even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, 6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot– a son of man, who is only a worm!” (Job 25:3-6, emphasis mine)

JOB’S FRIENDS APPROACHED JOB’S SUFFERING FROM AN ENTIRELY EARTHLY PERSPECTIVE, RATHER THAN FROM AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE. I am reminded of Asaph’s lament over the prosperity of the wicked, and over his own afflictions in Psalm 73. It is only when Asaph looks at his circumstances from an eternal perspective that he views matters rightly (Psalm 73:15ff.).

Job’s friends were wrong in the ways suggested above, but in what ways did they speak wrongly about God?

JOB’S FRIENDS LOOKED AT BLESSINGS AND ADVERSITY THROUGH A LEGALISTIC LENS. In short, they believed that what a person sows in life determines what they reap in life. Thus, they expect God to bestow material blessings as a reward for good works. Conversely, they expect God to bestow suffering and adversity as the consequence for sin. They would probably go a step further to say that the magnitude of one’s blessings or suffering is directly proportionate to the magnitude of one’s goodness or to one’s transgressions.

This error of legalistic thinking has a long history in the Old Testament. In Psalm 73 Asaph was greatly troubled by the fact that the wicked were prospering, while the righteous (which included Asaph) suffered. He was greatly distressed that God did punish those who were wicked with suffering and adversity.

We find this error evident in the New Testament as well. Jesus’ disciples assumed that because a man had been born blind, he (or his parents) must have done something very wrong (John 9:1-3). In the Gospel of Luke, we are told that certain people assumed that because Pilate had mingled the blood of certain Galileans with their sacrifices, they must be greater sinners than others. Jesus made it clear that such was not the case (Luke 13:1-5). Thus, Luke’s Gospel calls our attention to Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man lived a very comfortable life, but was assigned to eternal suffering when he died, while Lazarus, suffered greatly in life, but went to Abraham’s bosom (eternal blessings) after death. The Pharisees were astounded that Jesus would associate with sinners, and bless them through His ministry (Matthew 9:9-13; Luke 7:36-50).

In other words, in this life, we should not expect (or insist upon) a direct correlation between one’s works (good or bad) and one’s circumstances in life. Now, when it comes to eternal rewards or punishment, there is a direct correlation between one’s actions in life and their eternal outcome (see, for example, Matthew 25:14-30; note especially verses 21 and 23). This is why heaven and hell are necessary for true justice to be fulfilled. For many, the punishment that is well deserved in this life may only be carried out in eternity.

THE LEGALISM OF JOB’S FRIENDS FOUND NO PLACE FOR GRACE, WHICH IS A PROMINENT PART OF GOD’S CHARACTER.

In the Book of Exodus, Moses is given a vision of God’s glory. You probably remember the story. God has miraculously brought His people out of slavery in Egypt. They have come to Mt. Sinai, where God gives Moses a “hard copy” of the Law. While Moses is up on the mountain, receiving the Law, the people persuade Aaron to make them an idol in the form of a golden calf, which they worship as the “God who brought them out of Egypt.” God sends Moses down to the people where he demolishes the stone tablets, and where God threatens to wipe out the entire nation, and to create a new nation from Moses.

At Moses’ intercession, God grants Moses’ petition and forgives this sinful nation. Now, the question is whether or not God will go up with Moses and His people to the Promised Land. Eventually (again, at the intercession of Moses), God tells Moses that He will indeed go up with Moses, and the people.

But Moses needs assurance. He has no hope that this people will ever “do better.” He knows they are predisposed to sin. So, what assurance does Moses have, if he leads this people toward the Promised Land? The answer is the goodness and the glory of God. In short, his hope is in the character of God. His hope is based upon the grace of God, not the good works of the Israelites.

And so Moses makes these requests:

12 Moses said to the LORD, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people” (Exodus 33:12-13, ESV; emphasis mine).

18 And Moses said, “Show me your glory.” 19 And the LORD said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the LORD by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:18-19, emphasis mine).

And here is God’s response to Moses’ request to know God’s ways, and to see His glory:

6 The LORD passed by before him and proclaimed: “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7, emphasis mine).

In this crucial moment in Israel’s history, their fate as a nation seems to hang in the balance. Humanly speaking, apart from the intercession of Moses, Israel was hopelessly condemned. But Moses never appealed to God on the basis of Israel’s conduct. Moses knew that Israel’s fate rested on the character of God. That aspect of God’s character which was most needed was grace. When he asks to know God’s ways, and to see His glory, Moses asks God to reveal His character, which alone is Israel’s hope – and his. And God calls this declaration of His character the revelation of “all His goodness” (Exodus 33:19).

“But wait,” one might object, “what about the declaration that God ‘by no means leaves the guilty unpunished’? Doesn’t grace undermine or nullify justice?” This tension will only be solved by the cross, for the cross of Jesus Christ is where grace is bestowed and justice is satisfied.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed– 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. 26 This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness (Romans 3:21-26).

God was gracious in providing the Lord Jesus, whose death on the cross of Calvary provided atonement for sin. Thus, salvation is a manifestation of God’s grace. But Paul says that at the cross, God was both Just and the Justifier. There was justice at the cross because our sin was punished there. The grace of God was manifested in Christ’s sacrifice, which paid the penalty for our sins. And so, the description of God’s character as both gracious and just, as declared by God in Exodus 34, is perfectly displayed at the cross of our Lord. Job’s friends insisted upon justice, but did not embrace grace.

Why is it that grace is so often resisted or rejected? I believe the answer is simple. Justice (which was really legalism, as Job’s friends defined it) meant that if a person was prosperous they could take credit for it. Suffering, likewise, could be explained by pointing to sin in a person’s life. Grace requires that God must be given the credit, and not us. Man’s pride and arrogance does not embrace God’s grace.

JOB’S FRIENDS’ VIEW OF JUSTICE DID NOT ALLOW FOR GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY. If you stop to think about it, bestowing grace requires sovereignty; legalism prohibits it. In the Book of Romans, the question is raised (my paraphrase), “If God promised salvation to the Jews, why is it that so many Gentiles are being saved, and yet so many Jews are not?” Paul’s initial answer (not to neglect what will be said in Romans 10) in Romans 9 is this:

6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, 7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” 8 This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9 For this is what the promise declared: “About a year from now I will return and Sarah will have a son.” 10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our ancestor Isaac– 11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling)– 12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” 13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” (Romans 9:6-13).

Paul explains the salvation of some and the rejection of others as being the sovereign choice (determination) of God. In chapter 10, Paul will further explain that man’s salvation or condemnation must also be explained in terms of man’s choice or rejection of salvation in Christ. But if salvation is not based upon man’s works, then how can salvation be bestowed? Besides works, what basis is there for bestowing grace? The only basis is God’s sovereign choice.

But Job’s friends believed that his prosperity or suffering was the direct consequence of his works. Thus, Job’s fate is the consequence of his works, not God’s grace. If this is true, God’s sovereignty is both denied and prohibited. In their way of thinking, God is a kind of vending machine, who deals out blessings or adversity in direct proportion to man’s deeds. Sovereignty is not needed, or permitted. It is all about works, man’s works. But where grace is bestowed, it cannot be granted in direct proportion to man’s works, since works are contrary to grace. Grace can only be distributed on the basis of God’s sovereign choices. In effect, then, Job’s friends may talk of the greatness of God, but they must deny His sovereignty. That is not speaking well of God.

JOB’S FRIENDS COULD NOT ACCEPT THE POSSIBILITY THAT A PERSON COULD SUFFER BECAUSE THEY WERE RIGHTEOUS. PUT DIFFERENTLY, THEY COULD NOT ACCEPT INNOCENT SUFFERING. Later on, Joseph and Daniel, would serve to refute this error of Job’s friends. Beyond that, the whole sacrificial system God would establish would operate on the basis that an innocent victim could somehow make atonement for the sin of the guilty. When the Lord Jesus came to the earth as the “Lamb of God,”16 He would make atonement for sin, once for all. Innocent suffering, denied by Job’s friends, was foundational for God’s saving work through the person and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Thus, to deny innocent suffering as a possibility, was to deny Christ’s work at Calvary. That, my friend, is not speaking well of God.

INNOCENT SUFFERING AS A PATTERN FOR CHRISTIAN CONDUCT

It would be easy, even tempting, to deal only with the subject of the innocent suffering of our Lord Jesus. But the Scriptures will not allow us to do this. Innocent suffering is not only the means (the only means) by which guilty sinners can be made righteous, it is also the pattern which Christians should follow if they are to live out the gospel to the glorify God:

2:18 Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are perverse. 19 For this finds God’s favor, if because of conscience toward God someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. 21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

3:1 In the same way, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Then, even if some are disobedient to the word, they will be won over without a word by the way you live, 2 when they see your pure and reverent conduct. 3 Let your beauty not be external– the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes– 4 but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight. 5 For in the same way the holy women who hoped in God long ago adorned themselves by being subject to their husbands, 6 like Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so. 7 Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers (1 Peter 2:18-3:7, emphasis mine).

This particular text is one that is very strongly rejected by our culture. It is also frequently and skillfully ignored or set aside by Christians. But what is clear is this: Jesus suffered as one who was truly and totally righteous. Jesus suffered innocently.17 And this example of innocent suffering is to be followed by Christians, not just Christian slaves, but every Christian, by both wives and their husbands. In a day when the mere mention of the word “abuse” seems to be a mandate to do what God has forbidden, let us take the words of Peter seriously. This is the Peter who most strongly opposed the mention of our Lord Jesus suffering innocently (Matthew 16:21-28). Am I saying that we should not take genuine abuse seriously, and deal with it decisively? I am not! But what I am saying is that if Jesus suffered innocently so that we might be saved, and He calls us to “take up our cross and follow Him,” then we had better spend more time and energy seeking ways to obey the Scriptures, than we do seeking a way to set them aside.

This book (of Job) should help us gain a clearer view of what true spirituality looks like in earthly terms. It certainly denies the popular teaching of the “prosperity gospel.” According to God, Job was the most righteous man on the face of the earth. Did that mean that he would assuredly enjoy a life of ease and prosperity? Not necessarily. Did it mean that he would not have times when he was totally mystified as to what God was doing in his life? It did not. Did it mean that there would not be times when godly saints have unanswered questions, and press God for the answers? If so, then there were a number of unspiritual psalmists, who poured out their hearts to God when life was a mystery and when God did not seem to be answering.18 True spirituality is trusting God, especially in those times when His hand seems harsh, and when we have no idea what God is doing.

A final word to those who may be reading this who have not yet come to trust in Jesus Christ as God’s only means of forgiveness of our sins, and of gaining entrance into His heaven. Christian faith is not fair-weather faith, which only holds up when things are going our way. Christian faith is rooted in the character of God and the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. This saving faith is such that it will endure difficulties and suffering which is beyond human imagination – suffering like that of Job. If you want a faith that will survive the tests and trials of life, then only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will do.

At this moment we are in the midst of a global pandemic. While there are many speculations as to the reasons for this dilemma, the fact is that we know two things or certain: (1) God has purposed to use it for our good and His glory, and (2) We can trust Him to enable us to persevere in the midst of these current trials and adversities. Saving faith, rooted in the grace of God and the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ, endures all things.

1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation (Romans 5:1-11).

Job’s struggles with God greatly increased the longer his suffering persisted. I believe that we are now at the point in the Pandemic where our faith should be most evident. May we acknowledge God’s hand in this, and trust that He is doing this for our good, and His glory.


1 I have shared this story before, but it is worth repeating since it nicely introduces the story of Job’s humbling in our text.

2https://www.capitolhillbaptist.org/sermon/jobs-god/

3 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible.

4 https://www.faithtacoma.org/job/2012-06-10-pm

5 The same thing could be said of Jonah, as it regards the authorship of the book bearing his name.

6 I am reminded of Isaiah 14:12-20 and Ezekiel 28:11-19 where the initial reference is to a king (the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14:4, and the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28:12), but quickly the description of the person addressed changes to Satan himself. So, too, this “dragon” seems to personify Satan himself, who is surely at the root of Job’s suffering.

7 We should also remember that the first creation is but the “first act,” and that God will bring about a “new creation” (Isaiah 65:17) that is clearly His handiwork.

8 Compare Proverbs 8:22-31.

9 The ostrich may have been something Job had spent some time observing, based on Job 30:29.

10 Some translations differ here (from stork), but for our purposes, it is of little consequence.

11 Actually, this appears to be a part of a mating ritual. We might not be impressed, but the female ostrich will be.

12 See, for example, https://www.livescience.com/27433-ostriches.html; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK1ll8e017k

13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwSkczlAuvY

14 I do not wish to be misunderstood here. Job’s righteous deeds, as described in chapters 1 and 2, are not the root, the source, of his righteousness, but these are the fruit of his righteousness. This is what we see in Ephesians 2:8-10.

15 The theological term, “substitutionary atonement” simply means that someone or something else can atone (pay the penalty) for the sins of a person. The animal sacrifice which Job offered for his child atoned (covered) the sins of that child. Substitutionary atonement means that a substitute may bear the penalty for one’s sins (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).

16 See John 1:29, 36.

17 See 1 Peter 1:18-19

18 See, for example, Psalm 4:2; 6:3; 13:1-2; 35:17; 74:10.

Related Topics: Christian Life, Suffering, Trials, Persecution

Coronavirus And Cyber-Shepherding In The Church: Resources To Help

We have collected together some of the best resources from around the internet on the Coronavirus as it relates to the church and ministry.

Read This First

Bob Deffinbaugh on Bible.org

  1. The Christian's Perspective And The COVID-19 Pandemic
  2. What Paul Can Teach Us About Social Distancing
  3. What Covid-19 Can Teach Us About Evangelism
  1. Lesson 1, Job 1-2
  2. Lesson 2, Job 3-37
  3. Lesson 3, Job 38-42

The Gospel Coalition

John Piper

Mark Dever – 9Marks.org

White Horse Inn

Randy Alcorn

Randy Alcorn’s Blog: https://www.epm.org/blog/

Ravi Zacharias Ministries

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

J. C. Ryle

Humanitarian Disaster Institute – Wheaton College

Christianity Today

David Jeremiah

Related Topics: Christian Life, Cultural Issues, Suffering, Trials, Persecution

1. The Birth of the Church at Philippi (Acts 15:36-16:40)

Introduction

When I was growing up, I had an English teacher named Clyde Riddell. Mr. Riddell had served in the army during World War II and had some very fascinating stories to tell about his part in that war. He also spoke some German. To be honest, I’m not sure how much, but he certainly had some expressions he used frequently. Incidentally, years later, while I was a student at Dallas Seminary, my summer job was teaching high school classes in a Washington State Penitentiary, which was located in my home town. Mr. Riddell was teaching there as well, so I was able to relate to him as a colleague, as well as a teacher.

One thing sticks out in my mind when I think of Clyde Riddell, something that contributed to his great skill as a teacher. Mr. Riddell could virtually change his personality in a split second. Usually, Mr. Riddell was a very jovial fellow, making jokes and taking a very lighthearted approach to teaching. But there were times when my classmates and I would get unruly, requiring Mr. Riddell to bring the class back under control. When such times occurred, Mr. Riddell’s face would suddenly darken into a frown, and that look was enough to stop bad behavior in its tracks. No one wanted to take on this “Mr. Riddell,” not even me. But when things were once again under control in the classroom, the old “Mr. Riddell” emerged, much to our relief.

I have always thought of the Apostle Paul in similar terms, except that Paul has several “faces” which are evident in his epistles. For example, there is “Paul, the theologian.” You can see Paul’s very logical reasoning in the Book of Romans, as he meticulously works his way through the doctrine of salvation. In 1 Corinthians, for example, we see “Paul, the troubleshooter.” As Paul writes to the Corinthians, he deals with questions they have asked him, and with the problems he has discerned through his communication with others. In 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, we see a very “fatherly Paul.” Here, Paul is a mentor, giving wise counsel to younger men in ministry. In Galatians, we find a very different Paul. Let’s call him “Paul, the warrior.” Here, Paul reminds me a great deal of Clyde Riddell in his “mad mode.” As we read Galatians, we see a very animated and even angry apostle, incensed by the fact that some are turning from the true gospel of salvation by grace alone and embracing another “gospel,” a gospel of works. This “other gospel” does not save, but condemns. Here is a Paul that we really don’t want to face.

How different is the Paul of Philippians! He is just the opposite of “Paul, the warrior” in Galatians. Let’s call him “Paul, the optimist.” Paul is never more upbeat, never more joyful and triumphant than he is in the Book of Philippians. This is not because of any great success or due to the lack of difficulties in his life. Indeed, many things are quite the opposite of pleasant. Paul is not writing from the penthouse of a fancy hotel; he is writing from a prison cell. Some disagree over where this prison is located, but it seems clear that Paul is waiting for his trial, and his future is uncertain. He may even face execution. Paul is therefore not free to go about preaching the gospel and establishing churches as he once did. Some are using his imprisonment as an opportunity to gain a following at his expense, as we shall see in chapter 1. There is also some kind of disagreement between two women, as we find in chapter 4. At the time of his writing, Paul has only one person whom he can trust to send to Philippi—Timothy—who will seek the Philippians’ best interests, rather than his own (2:20-21). In spite of these circumstances, Paul is jubilant, joyful, optimistic.

Many of us need a good dose of whatever it is that inspires such joy in the Apostle Paul. I don’t know why, but there are all too many saints in the church with long faces and sour spirits. There is a book, written by an unbelieving psychiatrist, entitled, Whatever Happened to Sin? The church desperately needs another book, which might be called, Whatever Happened to Joy? Actually, that book does exist. It is the Book of Philippians, the book we have chosen as our study for this series of messages. It is a book that, if taken to heart, can radically transform our outlook and sweeten up some sour saints, not to mention pointing others who have not yet met Him to Christ, the source of all true joy. Let us listen well to the words of Paul in Philippians, and seek to learn why “to live is Christ.”

The Uniqueness of Philippians

It is my conviction that every book of the Bible has a unique contribution to make to the Bible as a whole—something that no other book accomplishes or contributes. So as we commence our study of Philippians, I would ask this question: “What is the unique contribution of Philippians to the Bible as a whole?” Allow me to make some preliminary suggestions.

First, the Philippian church is the first church to be planted in Europe. We shall see in this lesson how God providentially and more directly guided Paul and those with him to Macedonia, and specifically Philippi. Here, a number were brought to faith by the preaching of the gospel. Here, the first church in Europe was planted.

Second, the church at Philippi is the only church I am aware of in the New Testament that is used as a model for other churches to follow. The Philippian church was used by Paul as an example of generosity, so as to stimulate the Corinthians to follow-through with their commitment to give to the needy saints in Judea (2 Corinthians 8:1-5; 9:1-5). Paul indicates in this letter that the Philippians were the only ones to stand behind him financially in his times of need (Philippians 4:10-19). Here is a church committed to support the proclamation of the gospel. Here is a church we would do well to imitate. While Paul is a man we should all seek to imitate individually, the Philippian church is a church we should seek to imitate corporately.

Third, Philippians is an epistle that gives us an entirely different standard for giving and fund-raising. The Apostle Paul seems to have written this epistle as a “thank you” letter in response to the gifts1 that were sent to him in his time of need. As Dr. Haddon Robinson once remarked, this epistle does not come with a tear-out contribution card and a self-addressed, stamped envelope, with the hope of getting yet another gift from the Philippians. Elsewhere we see a fair amount of instruction concerning the giving of gifts, but in this great epistle Paul gives us a unique perspective on the receiving of gifts, one that is both rare and refreshing.

Fourth, the Book of Philippians helps us to define biblical fellowship. All too often the term “fellowship” is used almost synonymously with “friendship” or some similar term. Some think that standing around at church eating refreshments and making small talk is “fellowship.” This is not the case for Paul or for the other New Testament writers. True “koinonia” or fellowship will be defined in Philippians.

Fifth, Philippians is a book that helps us get a proper perspective on unjust suffering, persecution, and even death. I have chosen Paul’s words in chapter 1, verse 21, as the title for this series: “To live is Christ.” When this is our perspective, and we now have the right perspective toward life, we will also have a proper perspective toward adversity and even death. This is why the apostle can add, “…and to die is gain.” The Book of Philippians spells out just how this expression should define our perspective. And if it does, we shall never be grouchy Christians again.

The Birth of the Church at Philippi

Part I: Divinely Guided to Philippi (Acts 15:36–16:12)

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord to see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 38 but Paul insisted that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 They had a sharp disagreement, so that they parted company. Barnabas took along Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters. 41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

16:1 He also came to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 4 As they went through the towns, they passed on the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers to obey. 5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day.

6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia. 7 When they came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to, 8 so they passed through Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 A vision appeared to Paul during the night: a Macedonian man was standing there urging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 After Paul saw the vision, we attempted immediately to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. 11 We put out to sea from Troas and sailed a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for some days.

God seldom does things the way we would expect. Amazing as it may seem, the church at Philippi began as the result of two heated arguments. The first debate—that of Paul and Barnabas with the Judaisers—was over the gospel itself. On this issue, Paul and Barnabas stood together against those who sought to require Gentile converts to Christ to become Jewish proselytes. They insisted that Gentiles must become Christians by also becoming Jews. They demanded that Gentile converts undergo circumcision, and by this symbolic act, to place themselves under the Old Testament law. Acts 15:1-35 describes the way the apostles and the elders of the church in Jerusalem handled this debate. They concluded that Gentile converts were not to be subjected to Judaism and laid down only minimal requirements of these converts.

The second was a debate between Paul and Barnabas over their next missionary journey (Acts 15:36-41). They had completed their first missionary journey some time before, and Paul felt strongly that they should now make a return visit to the churches that they had established. Barnabas agreed, but wanted to take John Mark along with them. The problem was that Mark had deserted them on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:13). Paul was not willing to risk yet another failure, and so he refused to take Mark along with them. Barnabas wanted to salvage this young man and his ministry and insisted on taking him along. They strongly disagreed, and the result was that Barnabas took Mark along with him and went to Cyprus, while Paul chose Silas and set out from Syria and Cilicia.

I have dealt with this matter in my exposition of the Book of Acts,2 so I will not deal with it in detail here. I will say that I believe both Paul and Barnabas were right. Barnabas was acting consistently with his gift of encouragement (see Acts 4:36), while Paul was right in refusing to take Mark along on a mission in which he was likely to fail again. While these two men strongly disagreed, their friendship endured, and the result was that there were now two missionary teams, rather than one. Barnabas had done his work well with Paul, and it was time for the two to venture out on their own. So often today, men “split” ministries in a way that creates animosity and division. I do not believe this happened with Barnabas and Paul, and later history bears this out.

What is very interesting to me is the way God providentially used the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas to prepare the way for a new and unexpected thrust of missionary activity. From what we read in Acts 15:36-41, neither Paul nor Barnabas anticipated a new missionary thrust into Europe. At most, they expected merely to return to those churches they had established on their first journey. But God had much bigger things in mind. The second missionary journey of Paul would be even more dangerous than the first, and therefore taking John Mark along would be ill advised. On the other hand, because Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus, Paul did not need to concern himself with returning there, even though it was a part of his first missionary journey. This division of labor worked out well for everyone and paved the way for a new penetration of the gospel, beyond what anyone might ask or think.

Acts 16 begins with the arrival of Paul and Silas at Derbe and Lystra in southern Galatia. It is in Lystra that Paul first encounters Timothy. This young man had a Jewish mother and a Gentile father. Paul had him circumcised so that his ministry would be more broadly accepted. It is apparent that no one was demanding that he be circumcised, as was the case with Titus (Galatians 2:3-5), or Paul would never have circumcised him. Luke makes it very clear to the reader that Timothy was already a combat-proven disciple. If Paul would not take John Mark along because of the dangers they would face, he surely would not have taken an unproven Timothy along, either. But Acts 16:2 indicates that Timothy was already one who had proven his faithfulness in ministry.

As Paul, Silas and Timothy made their way to the churches that had been previously founded, they delivered the decree of the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, which greatly encouraged the saints. Had Paul and Barnabas not separated, they would likely have retraced the steps of their first missionary journey. But that would have taken them to Cyprus. Barnabas is already there with Mark, and so Paul must now decide where to go from Galatia. They could either turn south and head back to Antioch, or he could go north to Bithynia or Asia. The Holy Spirit would not allow Paul and those with him to preach either in Asia or Bithynia. They had traveled as far to the northwest as they could, to the seaport city of Troas. Where were they to go from here? It was at this point that God guided this small missionary band by means of a vision—the so-called Macedonian vision.

The vision was given to Paul in the middle of the night. A Macedonian man appealed to Paul to “come over to Macedonia and help them” (16:9). Paul immediately told the others about it. It is interesting to note the change in our text from “they” (Acts 16:6, 7) to “we” (Acts 16:10). From this, we conclude that Luke joined Paul and the others in Troas, and then remained on in Philippi when the others left (see Acts 16:40f., where we find “they” once again). The missionary party now turns northwest, taking the gospel into Europe. They sail from Troas some 60 miles or so to the island of Samothrace, and then they sail the rest of the way across the Aegean Sea to the port city of Neapolis. It is yet another ten-mile trek from Neapolis to Philippi, where the first church in Europe is soon to be founded.

Part II: Two Women and a Warden (Acts 16:13-40)

13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to speak to the women who had assembled there. 14 A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearing woman, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded us. 16 Now as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. She brought her owners a great profit by fortune-telling. 17 She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out of her at once. 19 But when her owners saw their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion. They are Jews 21 and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice, since we are Romans.” 22 The crowd joined the attack against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had beaten them severely, they threw them into prison and commanded the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the rest of the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds of all the prisoners came loose. 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, because he assumed the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out loudly, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell down trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”3 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with all those who were in his house. 33 At that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized right away. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set food before them; and he rejoiced greatly that he had come to believe in God, together with his entire household. 35 At daybreak the magistrates sent their police officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36 The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. So come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to the police officers, “They had us beaten in public without a proper trial—even though we are Roman citizens—and they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? No way! They themselves must come and escort us out!” 38 The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, 39 and came and apologized to them. After they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly to leave the city. 40 When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house; and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed.

We know from Acts 16:18 that Paul and those with him went about preaching for “many days.” We also know that when Paul and Silas left Philippi there were a number of “brethren” (16:40). It is safe to assume, then, that the three people whom Luke has chosen to include in his account in chapter 16 are but a sampling of the converts who came to faith due to Paul’s preaching. And a rather unlikely bunch they are. If you or I were to hand pick those whom we would like to see saved and used as the nucleus of a new church, I doubt we would select those whom God chose.4

The first convert in Philippi seems to be Lydia. This city was certainly different from those Paul had visited earlier, as there appears to be only a few Jews living there. Some have explained this by the fact that this was not really a great trading city, where we would expect to find many Jewish businessmen. It would seem from the text that the people of Philippi had a great deal of racial prejudice toward the Jews. This would well explain why so few Jews were to be found there, so few, in fact, that the city did not even have a synagogue. This may be why Paul had to seek a Jewish audience on the riverside, where he supposed there might be a place of prayer (16:13). No men seem to have been present when Paul and the rest came upon a small group of women who had gathered for prayer.

Several of the women who gathered there may have come to faith, but Luke focuses his attention on one woman—Lydia. She was a businesswoman who dealt in purple fabrics. Luke simply tells us that the Lord “opened Lydia’s heart” to respond to the gospel which Paul proclaimed (16:14). I have always regarded this statement about Lydia’s salvation as being of great significance because it indicates that the Lord is the “first cause” of salvation. It is God who opens the hearts of men, so that men may believe (see John 6:37, 44, 65). Having said this, it had not occurred to me until now that this statement is of particular significance because it is said in reference to the one person whom we might suppose to be “the most likely to believe.” Think about this for a moment. If Luke had said this about the Philippian jailer, we would have expected it. Apart from the Lord opening his heart, we know that he would not believe the message Paul preached. But Lydia was a God-fearer. I would understand her to be an Old Testament saint. We might even think that for a person like her, conversion was virtually automatic. But it is of this woman that Luke writes, “the Lord opened her heart to believe…” This is most significant to me. If God must open the heart of the one person in our text who is “most likely to believe,” then surely He must open the hearts of all who believe. And so He does: “When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and praise the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

In Acts 16:15 we are informed that Lydia and her household were baptized.  Since she and others were at the river when Paul arrived it would be easy to understand her baptism as being much like that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8. Luke informs us that she immediately insisted that Paul and his associates stay at her house. You and I may have some difficulty appreciating the significance of this, but I doubt that Luke did. This past year I spent several weeks in Indonesia, where I was preaching in a local church. I cannot tell you how much easier it was for me because a Christian brother put me up in his apartment. Paul was a “foreigner” in Philippi, and no doubt these folks tended to be suspicious of folks like him and his friends. Having a place to stay met a very practical need for “bed and breakfast,” and it also provided these Jewish preachers a measure of protection. By the salvation of Lydia, God had not only given them their first convert in Macedonia, He also provided them with a place to stay.

It was on one of their trips to the riverside place of prayer that a demonized young woman encountered Paul and his colleagues. In a manner similar to the way we see demons announcing the presence of our Lord in the Gospels (see Mark 1:24, 34; Luke 4:34), the fortuneteller served as the “town crier,” telling all within hearing distance who Paul and his team were. But like our Lord, Paul did not wish this kind of publicity. He endured this woman’s announcements for some time,5 but eventually he became so annoyed by her that he cast the demon out of her.

This young woman was a slave girl. She was the property of her owners. The demon that possessed her really did give her great powers, and consequently she provided a good income for her owners. Paul delivered this woman from her bondage, and she may have rejoiced, but this was not true of her owners. Their whole business had just collapsed before their very eyes. While Paul’s Jewish opponents were prompted by religious differences, these Gentiles were driven solely by economics. They had lost considerable wealth, and they were angry. They cared nothing for their slave, but only about their profits. Now, their business was gone, and they intended to make Paul pay for it, if not with his money, then with his body.

As you read through the account of the arrest, beating, and imprisonment of Paul and Silas, I want you to do so with an eye to what this tells us about the attitude of the people of Philippi towards the Jews. Paul and Silas were dragged before the civil authorities and charged with: (1) being Jewish, and (2) advocating practices which were illegal for Roman citizens (16:20-21). There is no “due process of law” here, no inquiry into the charges, no opportunity given to Paul or Silas to speak in their own defense. And, so far as we are told, no opportunity is given Paul to assert his rights as a Roman citizen. The crowds as well as the civil magistrates were willing to believe the worst.

Paul and Silas were summarily pronounced guilty and then beaten severely and cast into prison. I have been to a lot of prisons in my life (in prison ministry), and I have seen some pretty miserable places. I doubt that any of the worst prisons I have seen would compare to this Philippian prison. In prison jargon, we would say that Paul and Silas were thrown into “the hole.”6 It would be in the deepest part of the prison and behind as many gates and bars as possible. From what Luke has told us, we know that Paul and Silas were being kept in “maximum security.” Security was so high that even though Paul and Silas were deep within the prison, their feet were still placed in stocks (16:24). Their situation must have looked bleak. How could these Jewish foreigners possibly find any forum where they could protest their arrest and treatment? They certainly had no way to escape. At that moment, it must have looked as though they might spend the rest of their lives in that terrible place.

For the jailer and the long-term inmates of that prison, this night offered nothing new. It was a scene that had been played out countless times before. I am sure that they had become calloused to the cries of pain, and the curses which came from the lips of beaten and bloody felons. Everyone knew what to expect, but this night something different was in store for all. This was a night no one would ever forget.

As Paul and Silas were roughly thrown into the inner chamber of that prison and their feet were secured in stocks, no angry words came from their lips. The two new inmates began to sing. These were not songs of sorrow—“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen…”—these were songs of joy and of praise to God (16:25). I can almost see one of the older prisoners turning to a cellmate and asking, “Which God are they singing about?” The response of these two “foreigners” was so unusual that everyone in that prison must have strained to hear the words of each song.

By the way, this incident gives us a fairly good test of “good Christian music.” This is a hotly debated topic in many churches. I would like to ask you to consider the impact of this night on those prisoners if certain types of contemporary Christian songs were to have been sung by Paul and Silas. Would the prisoners have learned much about God? Would they have heard about the forgiveness of sins? Would they have come to know about the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary? This would not be a bad test for any music, old or modern.

It was not just singing that these inmates heard on this occasion. There were also prayers. Were there prayers of praise? Without a doubt! Were there prayers for the salvation of those who had beaten them, and prayers for their fellow inmates? I would expect that there were. Were there prayers of petition, asking for their release? Perhaps. The other prisoners had never seen nor heard anything like this before in their lives. They listened intently, and perhaps they wondered what would come of all this. They would know before long.

Just as the songs of Paul and Silas provide us with the opportunity to ponder the value of our music, the prayers of Paul and Silas present us with an occasion to consider the content of our prayers. These inmates had “seen it all,” or so they thought, but when they witnessed the response of Paul and Silas, they listened. I wonder how the prisoners in that penitentiary would have responded if it were our prayers that were being offered up. What would they learn about God? What would they learn about the Christian’s response to suffering? What would they learn about the gospel?

I wonder if there was a growing sense of anticipation as midnight approached, and as the prayers and praises of Paul and Silas drifted throughout that prison. These inmates were about to witness an event that they would talk about for the rest of their lives. As we consider this earthquake and its aftermath, I want you to keep one thing in mind—the purpose of this earthquake was not to give Paul and Silas the chance to escape, and it was not God’s intent that any of the prisoners escape. This earthquake is about salvation coming to the house of the jailer and to others deep within that prison. The release of Paul and Silas would be a legal matter, brought about by the very magistrates who had illegally confined them.

For reasons of security, the prison would almost have to be constructed of stone. Paul and Silas are in the deepest part of that prison, so in order to release them it was necessary to “shake up” the entire prison. Having witnessed more than one earthquake, I can imagine what it would have been like to experience this event from deep within that ancient prison. What a terrifying experience this must have been. No doubt all the prisoners expected to be crushed under tons of falling stone. But as the walls moved about violently, the gates snapped loose, and every prison door popped open. Every chain that secured a prisoner to the wall or to the floor was broken loose (16:26). So far as we know, no one even suffered an injury.

It is almost certain that the jailer lived in the same building, probably upstairs. (I have a friend whose father was a sheriff for many years, and he tells me that his family lived in the jail building. I think something similar was the case in this Philippian prison.) He certainly seems to have realized that the prison doors had been opened. As he quickly surveyed the damage, he assumed the worst.

From what I know about prisons, one of two things was likely to have happened. First, the prisoners would have attempted to escape from their confinement. After all, if you were a prisoner on death row, living in horrid conditions, what would you do if all the prison doors popped open and your chains broke loose? In the middle of the night, in the cover of darkness, and in the midst of great confusion, it would have been relatively easy to make your escape. By the way, unless God divinely restricted this earthquake to one building, the entire city was severely shaken. I wonder if there was a message in this for those who had falsely accused Paul and Silas.

The second thing that happens in prisons is that the prisoners may choose to use even momentary freedom to carry out violent acts toward one another. In the prison riots that have occurred in this country, at least, prisoners have murdered and maimed fellow-prisoners, venting their pent-up hatred. Just this past week in Texas, a couple of death row inmates were able to overpower a woman guard and to hold her hostage for a few agonizing hours. The article in the newspaper said that the other death row inmates called out to the two men who held this woman hostage, urging them to injure the female guard in very cruel ways. The jailer was right to assume the worst. Under normal circumstances, there would have been a great escape. His job—and quite literally his neck—were on the line.

When the jailer rushed into the prison, he apparently saw no one and assumed the worst—that every prisoner had already fled. We know that it was dark inside that prison, because the jailer had to call for a light (16:29). In addition to not seeing any of the prisoners, the jailer must not have heard any noise, either, or he would have known that the prisoners were still inside. I think what he found was too good to be true. Every prisoner remained in their cell, even though their cell door was open and their chains had fallen loose. And every prisoner seems to have been calm and quiet. To the jailer, all this seemed to verify his conclusion that there was no one left inside the prison.

It was Paul who first broke the silence. He either saw the silhouette of the jailer, who was about to kill himself, or he was divinely informed of his intentions. Either way, Paul called out to the jailer, urging him not to harm himself, and informing him that all the prisoners were present and accounted for. I have often wondered what prompted the jailer’s next words: “What must I do to be saved?” We do not know. Perhaps Paul had already witnessed to this man. Perhaps he had overheard Paul and Silas, praying and singing in their cell. Or perhaps the other inmates were gathered about Paul in the inner part of the prison, asking him what they must do to be saved. Perhaps the jailer overheard their cries for salvation and includes himself, so that the sense of his words might be, “I hear these men asking you what they must do to be saved, and I would like to know for myself as well, what I must do to be saved, too.”

Whatever prompted the jailer’s words, Paul had a ready answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). For a one-sentence definition of the gospel, this is probably as good as it gets. But let us not suppose that this is all that the jailer was told about salvation. He may have known something from what Paul and Silas said or sung earlier in the evening. In addition, we know that he received a more thorough definition of the gospel later that night in the jailer’s home: “Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with all those who were in his house” (Acts 16:32). The jailer and his entire household heard the good news of the gospel and came to faith in Christ. One indication of this is that they were baptized. Another is that they immediately (much like Lydia) sought to show hospitality to Paul and Silas. The jailer not only fed these two men, he also attended to their wounds. What a time of rejoicing that must have been (16:34). What a difference a day made to this man and his family.

I am sure that the jailer wondered what he would do with his prisoners, now that he had come to faith. He had no great cause for concern, for the very next day police officers arrived, sent by the magistrates who had illegally sentenced Paul and Silas. They gave the jailer orders to release Paul and Silas. The jailer was ecstatic. He was no longer required to incarcerate those who had brought the gospel to him. He could hardly wait to tell Paul that he and Silas were free to go.

I suspect that Paul’s response to the jailer’s “good news” shocked him. He might have thought that Paul and Silas would leave quickly and quietly, eager to get out of town as fast as possible. But Paul would have none of this. He was not about to let these magistrates get away with their violation of the law. Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. Their rights as Roman citizens had been violated, and these magistrates were not going to be let off so easily that they would be tempted to do so again. They would have to come personally and release them.

Luke informs us that the magistrates were shocked to learn that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. This indicates that they had never heard Paul claim to be a Roman citizen. It tells me that they were manipulated by the slave girl’s owners, who did not give them all the facts, and who had in fact brought false charges against Paul and Silas. The magistrates had been deceived, but they had also failed to carry out their job according to the law. They were willing to assume that because these men were Jews they were also criminals. They had not listened to Paul or Silas, but only to those making accusations against them. It was a lesson they would not soon forget. And because Paul could have made things very unpleasant for them, they would certainly think twice before they harmed any members of the church in Philippi. God not only established the church in Philippi, He did so in a way that insured its safety in the days to come.

The magistrates were afraid of what Paul or Silas might do to them, since they had broken the law in the way they violated the rights of these Roman citizens. If I were Paul, I would have some pleasure in watching these magistrates “eat humble pie” (as we would say). Paul’s concern was not just with his rights, but with what was right, and also for the future of this church. The magistrates begged Paul and Silas to leave their city, which Paul did, but only after he took the time to meet with the new believers. Having encouraged these new Christians, Paul and Silas moved on to Thessalonica, where they would once again be persecuted, but this time by the Jews.

Conclusion

What an amazing story this is! The church having started as it did, I have to smile when I read Paul’s letter to the Philippians. They knew, of course, that Paul was in prison, and that there was the chance that he might be condemned to death. I can imagine what it was like when this letter was read aloud in church. I can see Lydia sitting there in the front row, along with others of her household who came to faith through the preaching of Paul. It is possible that the young slave girl was there as well. But the one who comes to my mind is the jailer. Can’t you see him sitting there in church, beside a few of the inmates from his prison? When there is mention of Paul’s imprisonment, I can almost hear one of the inmates as he punches the jailer in the side, and with eyes rolling says, “Wow! In prison again, huh? I wonder how many of those fellows will be getting saved? Do you think God will shake them up with an earthquake, too?”

In a day when “homogeneous grouping”7 is the watchword for churches, the church at Philippi is a refreshing contrast. We see three very different people who are impacted by Paul’s ministry at Philippi: a Jewish businesswoman, a slave girl, and a jailer. I don’t know for certain that the slave girl was saved and became a member of that church, but Lydia and the jailer surely did. The unity that we see in the church at Philippi is not the result of uniformity, but is the result of becoming one in Christ. That is the kind of unity that manifests the love and power of Jesus Christ to a lost world.

The story of the birth of the church at Philippi is also a lesson to us regarding divine guidance. We should all see that it was God who divinely directed Paul and Silas and the other members of this team to Philippi. It was God who directed Paul to the riverside, where Lydia and others gathered. It was God who directed Paul to the Philippian jailer. God directed these men in a variety of ways. He directed through Paul’s disagreement with Barnabas. He directed through Paul’s desire to revisit the churches that had been planted earlier in his ministry. He directed also through the prohibition of the Holy Spirit (however that worked itself out on two occasions) and through the vision that Paul was given in Troas. He even directed through the evil actions of the slave girl’s owners and the injustice of the magistrates. God saw to it that there was a church planted in Philippi.

The account of the birth of the church at Philippi also instructs us regarding suffering. The legalistic Jews of Jesus’ day were wrong to conclude that the only reason for human suffering was sin (see John 9:1-3). Sometimes men and women suffer because they are righteous. Paul and Silas suffered because they delivered a young woman from demon possession. Innocent (and righteous) suffering may, indeed, result in the salvation of others. It was our Lord’s suffering and death on the cross of Calvary that provided for the forgiveness of sins. It may be through our suffering that others come to faith. Paul and Silas suffered, and because of this, the Philippian jailer and his household were saved.

I would like to suggest to you that the way Paul and Silas suffered played a significant role in the salvation of others, including the jailer and his family. Suppose that Paul and Silas had moaned and groaned and cursed because of their pain. I doubt that anyone would have fallen before them, asking what they must do to be saved. It was the sinless, righteous, suffering of Paul and Silas that God used to testify of His grace and saving power to all who looked on. I wonder how many would be drawn to Christ by the way we suffer?

Often, it is suffering which prompts the unsaved to come to Christ for salvation. The self-righteous scribes and Pharisees objected that it was the sinners with whom Jesus associated. They could not understand why He did not give them the attention they thought they deserved. Jesus told them that He came to heal the sick, not to heal the well. By and large, it was those who were suffering who came to Christ for mercy and grace. Their afflictions showed them that they could not heal themselves, but that they needed someone else—the Messiah—to heal them. Has your suffering shown you how helpless and needy you are? I pray that your suffering may cause you to “turn your eyes to Christ,” who alone is able to save, who has come to seek and to save those who are helpless and lost.

Luke’s account of the birth of the church at Philippi is one of the most extensive accounts of the planting of a church in all of the New Testament. It prepares us for what we are about to read and study in the Book of Philippians. As we prepare to commence this study of Philippians, my prayer is that God will use this great book to transform your perspective, so that you and I can say with the Apostle Paul, “for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”


1 This would also seem to include the “gift” of Epaphroditus (2:25-30), who was sent to minister to Paul.

2 http://bible.org/series/acts-christ-work-through-his-church

3 There are those who might infer from these words that if the jailer himself believed, this would suffice not only for his salvation, but also for the salvation of his entire household. The text does not teach this. Paul makes it clear that the offer of salvation is not only for the jailer, but for his entire household. Luke then informs us that Paul explained the gospel more fully, not only to the jailer, but to his entire household (16:32). Acts 16:32-33 indicates to the reader that both the jailer and his entire household believed in God and were baptized. It was not the jailer’s faith that saved his household; each member of his household had to hear and heed the gospel message for themselves, and this they did.

4 I should say at this point that there are some who assume that the demon possessed fortune teller was saved, and this might be the case, but the text does not really tell us that she came to faith. We know for certain that Lydia and the jailer were saved.

5 Even a man as great as the Apostle Paul did not hastily take on the forces of evil. We should be no less cautious. It may have to be done, but it should not be done without due consideration.

6 This is the term the inmates use. The official designation is “administrative segregation.”

7 In short, it is the belief that “birds of a feather stay together.” Homogeneous grouping means that a church selects a certain slice of society and caters to it. Church members feel greater unity and comfort because everyone else is pretty much like them.

Related Topics: Ecclesiology (The Church), Introductions, Arguments, Outlines

2. The Law of Burnt Offerings (Leviticus 1:1-17)

Introduction

For many of us, the most we know of “burnt offerings” is from the jokes which are told by husbands pertaining to the “burnt offerings” of their wives. The ancient Israelite knew much more about burnt offerings, much thanks to the Book of Leviticus. The burnt offering is the first, and one of the most significant offerings.

The burnt offering, along with the others described in Leviticus 1-7, was offered on the bronze altar of burnt offering, the plans for which God gave Moses in the Book of Exodus:

And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. And you shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. And you shall make its pails for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its fire pans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. And you shall make for it a grating of network of bronze; and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. And you shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the altar, that the net may reach halfway up the altar. And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. And its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall make it (Exod. 27:1-8; cf. also 38:1-7).

The altar for the burnt offerings was thus made of acacia wood, overlaid with bronze, being nearly 8 feet square and about 4 and a half feet high.21 It was a very large altar indeed, but certainly not too large considering the large number of sacrifices and offerings which it was required to facilitate.

As one entered the courtyard of the tabernacle through the gate, the altar of burnt offering would be the first of the tabernacle furnishings to be encountered as one approached the tabernacle proper. To the left of the altar would be the ash heap, where the ashes from the altar were placed (cf. Lev. 1:16). Between the altar and the tabernacle doorway was the bronze laver (30:17-21; 38:8), where Aaron and his sons cleansed themselves. Then, there was the doorway to the tabernacle. Since the altar was located at the approach to the tabernacle, the sacrifices enabled men to draw near to God who dwelt in the tabernacle, and who spoke to Moses from within it (Lev. 1:1).

The purpose of this lesson is to study the first of the sacrifices regulated by chapters 1-7 of Leviticus. We will first make several observations about this sacrifice; then we will attempt to pursue the meaning of the burnt offering for the Israelite, and then we will seek to determine its meaning and application to the New Testament Christian.

As we seek to study the sacrifices of Leviticus, we will focus on two aspects of each. First, we will seek to see the continuity of one sacrifice to the rest. That is, we will seek to learn how a particular sacrifice is like the others. Secondly, we will seek to discern the unique contribution of each sacrifice. That is, we will attempt to determine how each sacrifice is distinct and unique from the others. I believe this two-fold approach will provide us with the key to understanding the sacrifices.

Observations Concerning the Burnt Offerings

The following observations will provide us with the raw material necessary for understanding the significance of the burnt offering of Leviticus chapter 1 (cf. the “law of the burnt offering” in Lev. 6:8-13):

(1) The burnt offering does not originate in Leviticus, but is found early in the Book of Genesis. It is incorrect to suppose that the burnt offering originates in Leviticus. Consulting a concordance will show that the first occurrence of the burnt offering is found in Genesis chapter 8. The first “burnt offering”22 was that offered by Noah after the flood waters had subsided, at which time he offered “burnt offerings” of all the clean23 animals (Gen. 8:20). God instructed Abraham to offer up Isaac as a “burnt offering” (Gen. 22:2ff.), and so the ram which God in Isaac’s place was offered by Abraham as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:13). When Moses told Pharaoh that Israel must take their cattle with them into the wilderness to worship their God, it was because they needed them to offer burnt offerings (Exod. 10:25-26). Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, offered a burnt offering to God in Exodus chapter 18 (v. 12). The Israelites offered up burnt offerings in conjunction with their meeting with God and receiving His covenant on Mt. Sinai (Exod. 20:24; 24:5, etc.). Unfortunately, when the Israelites worshipped the golden calf they offered up burnt offerings as a part of their false worship (Exod. 32:6).

It is my contention that it is these earlier references to the burnt offering in Genesis and Exodus which provided the Israelites with the key to understanding the meaning and significance of the burnt offering regulated in Leviticus chapter 1. We will demonstrate this fact a little later in this message.

(2) The burnt offering regulated in Leviticus chapter 1 was viewed primarily as a personal offering, done voluntarily by the individual Israelite.24 Elsewhere, the burnt offering is often a corporate offering, but as it is regulated in Leviticus 1 it is viewed as a personal, private offering. Thus, verse 2 reads, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock’” (Lev. 1:2). From here on, the personal pronoun “he” is employed, referring to this individual Israelite, who comes with the burnt offering. It is also apparent that it was only the males who could make these offerings to the Lord. It seems that they represented their families (cp. Job 1:5).

(3) The burnt offering is one of the most common offerings, which is offered on a great variety of occasions, often in conjunction with another sacrifice or offering. The major purpose of Leviticus 1 is to instruct the Israelites how the burnt offering is to be offered, but they also needed to know when it should be offered. We find the answer to this question elsewhere in the Pentateuch. I will summarize the occasions on which the burnt offering was appropriate or required.

There were the regularly scheduled times for the burnt offering. Burnt offerings were to be made every day, in the morning and the evening (Exod 29:38-42; Num. 28:3, 6, cf. 2 Chron. 2:4, etc.). An additional burnt offering was to be offered up each Sabbath day (Num. 28:9-10). Also, at the beginning of each month (Num. 28:11), at the celebration of Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month (Num. 28:16), along with new grain offering at Feast of Weeks (Num. 28:27), at the feast of trumpets, on sacred day in the 7th month (Num. 29:1ff.), and for the celebration of the new moon (Num. 29:6).25

A burnt offering was often offered in conjunction with another sacrifice. Among these were the guilt offering (Lev. 5:7, 10, 17-18), the sin offering (cf. Lev. 5:7; 6:25; 9:2-3, 7; 12:6, 8), the votive or freewill offering (Lev. 22:18), the sheaf offering (Lev. 23:12), and the new grain offering (Lev. 23:15-22, esp. v. 18).

There were a number of occasions when a sacrifice was required for cleansing, of which the burnt offering was one of the sacrifices offered. The burnt offering was required in the cleansing of a woman’s uncleanness as a result of child-bearing (both a sin offering and a burnt offering were required, Lev. 12:6-8), of a leper (Lev. 14:19-20), of a man with a discharge (with a sin offering, Lev. 15:14-15), of a woman with an abnormal discharge (with a sin offering, Lev. 15:30), and of a Nazarite who was unintentionally defiled by contact with a dead body (Num. 6:11, 14). When the congregation unwittingly failed to observe one of God’s commands, and was thereby defiled, a burnt offering was required for the purification of the congregation (Num. 15:22-26). A burnt offering was required for the purification and consecration of Aaron (Lev. 16:3, 5, 24), as well as the Levites (Num. 8:12).

In addition to this, there were special times at which the burnt offering was appropriate. Then, there were times when this sacrifice could be offered voluntarily. The bottom line is that this sacrifice was the most common of all sacrifices in Israel:

The reason for describing the burnt offering first is that it was the commonest of all the sacrifices, performed every morning and evening, and more frequently on holy days. … This makes it plausible to suppose that the sacrifices in chs. 1-5 are arranged according to their various theological concepts, so that it is easier to remember their distinctive features. It may be that they were grouped in this way to help the priests learn their tasks.26

(4) The burnt offering was a whole “burnt offering,” which was totally consumed on the altar. Most of the sacrifices benefited the offerer and the priests, in addition to being pleasing to God. Sometimes, the offerer would eat some of the meat of the sacrificial animal, and most often the priest received a portion of it. Thus, when one offered a sacrifice to God, one’s mouth would water, knowing that he would be able to partake of the sacrifice. Not so in the case of the burnt offering, however. Neither the offerer nor the priest partook of any of the meat, for it was all burned in the fire. The hide of the animal was the priest’s only remuneration (cf. Lev. 7:8).

Incidentally, in verse 2 the Hebrew word used for an offering is “corban,” which is referred to by our Lord in Mark 7:11, providing us with an interesting and helpful insight into the evil practiced by the scribes and Pharisees when they called a possession “corban” to keep from having to provide for their parents in their old age.

(5) The regulations for the burnt offering (as well as the other offerings) are very important, and violations are taken very seriously. The way in which one offers any of the sacrifices described in chapters 1-7 must follow God’s regulations precisely. One need only read of the death of Nadab and Abihu in chapter 10 to have this point vividly underscored (cf. also Lev. 17:8-9).

(6) There are three types of animals to sacrifice in the burnt offering.27 The three types of animals, and the specific regulations pertaining to each, provides the structure for chapter 1: (1) Offerings from the herd (bull), vv. 3-9. (2) Offerings from the flock (a sheep or a goat), vv. 10-13. (3) Offerings of birds (turtledoves or pigeons), vv. 14-17. It would seem that the principal reason for providing several sacrificial animals is that the poor could not afford to sacrifice a bull (cf. 14:21-22, 31, where being poor is given as basis for reduction in sacrifice demanded by God).

(7) The animal to be offered in the burnt offering was always to be of the highest quality. A bull, a sheep, or a goat, were all livestock of considerable value.28 With the exception of the birds which could be offered for a burnt offering, the animal must be a male of the flock (v. 10) or the herd (v. 3).29 The animal was to be young, not a old, unproductive, useless creature, fit only for soup or for the proverbial “glue factory.” In fact, it is my impression that the animals were just at the point where they would begin to “pay for their keep.” It truly would be a sacrifice to offer up an animal which one had raised, which was about to be productive, and was thus valuable.

(8) There is an alternation between the activity of the priest and the offerer. As you read the regulations in Leviticus 1 pertaining to the burnt offering you notice an intermingling of involvement between the offerer and the priest(s). While the offering of the birds is somewhat different (it is not nearly so complicated a process), the offerer generally puts the animal to death and cuts it up, while the priest handles the sprinkling of its blood and its burning on the altar of sacrifice. The offerer is much more involved in the process of sacrifice than we might think.30 Sacrifice was, for the offerer, a very personal experience. This was intended, I believe, to make an impression on the Israelite who was making his sacrifice.

(9) The purpose of the burnt offering was to make atonement for the sin of the offerer and thus to gain God’s acceptance. The offerer laid his hands upon the animal, identifying with it.31 More specifically, he identified his sins with the animal. Thus, when the animal was slain (by the hand of the offerer) it died for the sins of the offerer. It is not so much for the offerer’s specific sins (which are dealt with by other sacrifices), but rather for the offerer’s general state of sinfulness.32

The burnt offering was required by, and served to remind the offerer of, his depravity. The burnt offering was thus not so much to gain forgiveness for a particular sin, but to make atonement for the offerer’s sinfulness. It was not just a certain sin which required men to remain separated from God, but the individual’s sinful state. The burnt offering seems to provide a divine solution for man’s fallen condition.

Burnt Offerings and the Ancient Israelite

When we come to the point of trying to discern the meaning of the burnt offering (or any other offering, for that matter) to the Israelites of Moses’ day, we tend to forget a very important fact: they understood this sacrifice in the light of what they already knew about it, not in terms of its future fulfillment. We often impose our viewpoint and interpretation on the Israelites of old by interpreting the meaning of an Old Testament text in the light of the coming of Christ. We must remember, however, that Christ’s coming, life, death, and resurrection is a past event for us, but a future event for the Israelites. They (like Christians today) had to interpret God’s Word in the light of what God had already said and done.

Thus, the key to understanding the meaning of the burnt offering for the ancient Israelite was what had already been revealed about it before the regulations of Leviticus. Leviticus 1 informed the Israelite how the burnt offering was to be offered, not what it meant. I believe that the two major interpretive keys to the meaning of the burnt offering are to be found in the “burnt offerings” of Noah in Genesis 8 and of Abraham in Genesis 22.

In Genesis chapter 8, after the flood has destroyed all life on earth (except for what was in the ark), and after the water has subsided, we read:

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease” (Gen. 8:20-22).

The relationship between this text and that of Leviticus can be seen by several lines of correspondence. First, the term “burnt offering” found in Genesis 8:20 is the same as that of Leviticus 1. Second, “clean” animals and birds are offered by Noah (Gen. 8:20). It is Leviticus which defines the difference between what is clean and what is not. Third, the offering is said to be a “soothing aroma” to God (Gen. 8:21), which is an expression similar to that found frequently in Leviticus, and more specifically in Leviticus chapter 1 (vv. 9, 13, 17).

The sacrifice which Noah offered was the basis for the covenantal promise of God that He would never again destroy every living thing by a flood again (Gen. 8:21). This promise was not due to the fact that all sin had been destroyed from the face of the earth. The fact of man’s depravity (as will soon be manifested in Noah and his family) is still present, for God can still say, “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21), a statement very similar to that of Exodus 32:9, where God told Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.”

The basis for God’s promise to Noah is not the goodness of man, for man’s depravity is specifically stated. This basis for God’s covenant promise is the result of the burnt offering offered up by Noah. Thus, the Israelites saw that the burnt offering was a means of avoiding God’s wrath and of obtaining God’s favor. God’s blessing was the result of a burnt offering, not of man’s good deeds.

The second interpretive key is found in the burnt offering of Abraham in Genesis 22. God summoned Abraham with this command: “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you” (Gen. 22:2).

We know from the account given by Moses that Abraham did as God commanded him. We know from the New Testament accounts that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son because he believed that God would raise him from the dead (cf. Rom. 4:19-21; Heb. 11:19). In God’s grace, He stopped Abraham from slaying his son, and provided a ram in his place (Gen. 22:13).

In what way did this account of the offering up of Isaac as a burnt offering instruct the Israelites about the meaning of the burnt offering? I believe that it taught them several important lessons. First, they could have seen that the promise of God’s blessing to all the earth, the promise of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3), involved the death and resurrection of Abraham’s offspring. Secondly, the Israelites saw that in the “burnt offering” the sacrificial animal died in place of the man. Isaac didn’t die because God provided an animal to take his place. So when the Israelite place his hand on the head of the sacrificial animal, he should have known that this animal was dying in his place, just as the ram died in the place of Isaac. He should also have seen that something must take place in the future, so that the death of Isaac, which was prevented by the sacrifice of the ram, could be carried out in some greater way.

All of this has become clear to the New Testament saint, but it was obscure to the ancient Israelite, who knew that God was at work in some mysterious and, as yet, unknown way. Until the time when this purpose was made known, the Israelite offered up his burnt offering, so that God’s wrath could be avoided, and so that God’s blessings could be received.

The Burnt Offering and the New Testament Saint

Regardless of what the ancient Israelite understood of the symbolism of the burnt offering in terms of its future fulfillment in Christ, Christ was the ultimate fulfillment, the antitype of the burnt offering. John the Baptist indicated this at the very outset of our Lord’s ministry, when he greeted Him with the words, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).33

We must agree with the theology of the Book of Hebrews (in particular) and of the New Testament (in general) that now that Christ has come as the Lamb of God and died “once for all” there is no longer any need for the burnt offering, the type of which our Lord is the ultimate and final antitype.

It might seem that if the burnt offering is no longer necessary, we must conclude that the burnt offering is no longer relevant, since the future meaning of that sacrifice has been realized in Christ. There is a sense in which this conclusion is absolutely correct. There is another sense in which this conclusion can be carried too far. Let me press on to show the importance and the applicability of the burnt offering to New Testament saints today.

The burnt offering (and the others, too) was symbolic in the sense that it represented and portrayed, in advance, the ultimate burnt offering, Jesus Christ. The burnt offering also symbolized the Old Testament saint’s faith in God’s provision for his sins, and for his access to God. The burnt offering symbolized the Old Testament saint’s faith in God, and his intention to love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love his neighbor as himself.

The Israelite’s worship often deteriorated to mere ritualism when the sacrifices were offered, but then the faith and obedience which they symbolized did not follow. When this happened, the prophets sternly rebuked the Israelites for their hypocrisy:

With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8).

It is my contention that the faith and obedience of the Israelite, which the sacrifice of the burnt offering symbolized, and which was required by God of the Israelites, is the same faith and obedience which the death of Christ is to produce in all who profess Him as Savior, and which God requires of us. These acts of faith and obedience are described by the New Testament writers by the use of the same sacrificial terminology as is employed in the Old Testament.

Christian service, in church and in the community, is compared to sacrifice: “Through him let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. … Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Heb. 13:15-16; cf. Phil. 4:18; 1 Pet. 2:5). In that the only burnt offering that can atone for sin has been made by Christ, Christians no longer have to bring their lambs to the altar to receive forgiveness of sins. But bringing a sacrifice involved praising God for his grace and declaring one’s intention to love God and keep his commandments. Now that animal sacrifice is obsolete, praise and good works by themselves constitute the proper sacrifices expected of a Christian.34

Thus far, we have seen that the burnt offering and the other Old Testament sacrifices apply in the fulfillment of Christ as the “once for all” sacrifice for sinners, and in the faith and obedience of the offerer which the sacrifices symbolized. There is yet another way in which the sacrifices apply to us. The same principles which the sacrifices were intended to teach the Israelite and those which these sacrifices teach us, these principles still apply today, as much as in the days of the Israelite. Let me identify a few of these principles and suggest some of their practical implications to New Testament saints. As our study of Leviticus continues, we shall pursue these principles in greater detail.

(1) The principle of man’s depravity The burnt offering was not an offering for a specific sin, but was associated with other offerings, and with various occasions, from mourning and repentance, to celebration and joy. The purpose of this sacrifice, I believe, was to be a reminder to the Israelites of man’s depravity. As God Himself put it in Genesis 8:21, “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” In any instance when an Israelite wanted to approach God, to worship Him, to be accepted by Him, he had to come with a burnt offering, thus acknowledging and making provision for his sinfulness. We ought not forget our own depravity.

The principle applies equally to Christians today. While it is true that Christ died for our sins, once for all, it is also still true that we will not be freed from sin’s presence until we are in the presence of God, with transformed bodies. Our present condition is the reason why we must die, and to enter into heaven in a different form (cf. 1 Cor. 15). Because we are still corrupted by sin, we need to suspect and scrutinize our every motive and action. We need to realize that whether we are witnessing, preaching, or serving, our actions can appear to be pious, but can be prompted by the basest motives. We need to realize that we are in need of the present intercession and mediation of Christ, that we need Him every hour, yes every moment. The only reason why we can approach God is due to the sacrificial work of Christ.

(2) The principle of particularity. If the Israelite learned anything from the meticulous rules and regulations which God laid down for the burnt offering and all of the rest, it was that He is very particular about the way men approach Him. The rebellious nature of fallen man inclines him to want to approach God his own way. The song, “I did it my way,” illustrates this tendency. God did not allow men to approach Him their own way, but rather only in accordance with the means He Himself established. Men could only approach God by means of the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the sacrifices. Today, men can only come to God God’s way, through the person and work of Jesus Christ, who, as the sacrificial lamb, died for our sins, making a way of approach to God. Our Lord conveyed the exclusiveness of His death as the way to God when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

If you wish to approach God, to be assured of the forgiveness of your sins, and to dwell in His presence forever, my friend, you can do so only through faith in the person of Jesus Christ, who came to earth and died in your place. No other way is acceptable with God. In no other way can you be found acceptable in Him.

(3) The principle of acceptance with God. Closely related to this is the principle of acceptance with God. There is a great deal of emphasis these days on self-acceptance, or self-esteem, most of which is wrongly oriented. Contemporary self-esteem looks inward for acceptance, while the Bible tells us that the ultimate acceptance we must seek is God’s. People today want to “feel good about themselves” by looking for the good which is in them, while God’s word tells us that we are not good, in and of ourselves, but must look for God’s favor which is occasioned by something outside ourselves, ultimately in something which we put to death. Today we are told, even from the pulpit, that we must first feel good about ourselves, we must first love ourselves, and then we will be able to love God. The Bible tells us that we cannot, that we should not, accept ourselves until God has accepted us.

The bottom line is that the Bible portrays God’s acceptance as the highest good of all, and that making great sacrifice is worth the price to attain God’s favor. Let us see God’s approval as our highest good, and let us forsake all, including self-seeking and self-love to attain it. It is in our death, in Christ, that God is well pleased. It is in giving up our life that we gain life. And as Christians, no motive should be stronger than that of pleasing God, of hearing Him say to us in that day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

(4) The principle of atonement through the shedding of blood. The sinful state of man is dealt with by the shedding of innocent blood, the blood of a sacrificial victim. The burnt offering communicates and illustrates this principle of atonement.

(5) The principle of identification. The one who was to benefit from the death of the sacrificial victim had to identify with that animal. It was, first of all, his animal, one that he had either raised or obtained at a price. Then the offerer placed his hand upon the victim, symbolically identifying himself with the victim, which he killed in his place. Apart from identifying with the sacrificial animal in this way, the sacrifice had no benefit for the individual Israelite.

We, too, are redeemed, and atonement is made, when we identify ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism is the rite which God has established, whereby men identify personally with the work of Christ. Baptism does not, in and of itself, save men, but identification with Christ (which is symbolized and expressed by baptism) is the instrumentality God has ordained so that we may be delivered from the judgment we deserve. Those who have failed to be baptized may either fail in their understanding of the importance and urgency of this public act of identification, or they may not have personally identified with Christ by faith.

(6) The principle of sacrifice. One of the unique contributions of the whole burnt offering is that it illustrates sacrifice in its purest form. A very valuable animal is given up wholly to God. Neither the offerer nor the priest gains much from the offering, other than the benefit of being found acceptable to God, which, in the final analysis, is the ultimate benefit.

This kind of sacrifice is seldom practiced, and even when it is we may wonder at the wisdom of such waste. The widow who gave her last two mites might be criticized today for her lack of prudence in failing to plan and prepare for the future. The woman who poured out her expensive perfume, anointing the feet of the Lord, was accused of wastefulness. And so we tend to give our worn out old things to God, while we keep what is new and best for ourselves. We know little of giving our best to God, with no hope of anything beyond His approval.

But this kind of sacrifice is what God calls for from those who would be true disciples. Disciples are those who give up all to follow Christ. They are to count the cost of discipleship, and then to gladly pay it. When we give ourselves to God, as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1-2), we are to do so totally, without reserve, so as to be pleasing to Him. May God enable us to practice this kind of sacrifice in our own lives.


21 “Outside the tent was found the large altar for burnt offerings, 7 ft. 6 inches (2.2 meters) square and 4 ft. 6 inches (1.3 meters) high, which is described in Exod. 27:1-8.” Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), pp. 52-53.

22 When I refer to the term “burnt offering” here I refer specifically to that offering which is designated by the same Hebrew term as is found in Leviticus chapter one.

23 It is noteworthy that in this first account of a “burnt offering” the term “clean” appears, a term which is greatly clarified in Leviticus. Also, the sacrifice of the “burnt offering” offered by Noah was said to produce a “soothing aroma” to the Lord (Gen. 8:21), an expression frequently employed (at least in very similar terms) in Leviticus (e.g. 1:9, 17). This suggests that many of the practices which are regulated in Leviticus are not initiated here, but have their origin much earlier in the history of God’s dealings with men.

24 “The following laws deal with offerings made by private persons. The public national sacrifices offered each day and at the festivals are listed in Num. 28-29. But here it is a question of a personal act of devotion or atonement.” Wenham, p. 50.

25 Special times of offering burnt offerings are summarized in 2 Chronicles 8:13: “And did so according to the daily rule, offering them up according to the commandment of Moses, for the sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths” (cf. also 2 Chron. 31:3).

26 Wenham, p. 52.

27 Leviticus 1:2 makes it clear that only domesticated animals may be offered, and not wild game, which is (too) easily obtained.

28 “Furthermore, only perfect animals were acceptable in worship (Lev. 1:3, 10; 22:18ff.). Only the best is good enough for God. The prophet Malachi later told those who offered second-rate animals that they were despising the Lord’s name and polluting his table … Meat was a rare luxury in OT times for all but the very rich (cf. Nathan’s parable, 2 Sam. 12:1-6). Yet even we might blanch if we saw a whole lamb or bull go up in smoke as a burnt offering. How much greater pangs must a poor Israelite have felt.” Wenham, p. 51.

29 Wenham agrees that the male species is more highly valued: “Male animals were also regarded as more valuable than females. For example, in the case of purification offerings a ruler had to bring a he-goat, but an ordinary person was expected to offer only a she-goat (4:22-31). Except for the burnt offering and reparation offerings, animals of either sex could be offered: the limitation to male animals shows the high status of these two sacrifices.” Ibid., p. 55.

Harrison, however, disagrees: “Here and in 5:18 alone a male animal is specified for sacrifice. The choice of a male may reflect the dominance of that sex in other than matriarchal societies, but it may well have embraced a more pragmatic purpose also. Where a choice was involved, male animals were more expendable than females in a society in which livestock was equivalent to both capital and income. Fewer males than females were necessary for the survival of the herds and flocks, since the male was utilized only periodically for purposes of breeding. By contrast, the female functioned as a continual provider of milk and its by-products in addition to producing new livestock from time to time.” R. K. Harrison, Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980), pp. 43-44.

I find Harrison’s reasoning hard to accept. The rarer animal (the male, by his admission) is the more expensive. Due to his role in the reproduction process, the male could reproduce many offspring, while the female would produce (normally) but one offspring. To give up a female was some loss; to give up the male, great loss. In either case, however, since the animals sacrificed were young, neither had yet produced for its owner. The owner was to sacrifice the animal just at that point in time when the animal was gaining value, after a period of what we might call “negative cash flow.” This really was a sacrifice, then.

30 “The ancient worshipper did not just listen to the minister and sing a few hymns. He was actively involved in the worship. He had to choose an unbelmished animal from his own flock, bring it to the sanctuary, kill it and dismember it with his own hands, then watch it go up in smoke before his very eyes. He was convicted that something very significant was achieved through these acts and knew that his relationship with God was profoundly affected by this sacrifice.” Wenham, p. 55.

31 Wenham stresses this when he writes, “Lay is perhaps a rather weak translation of the Hebrew (samak); ‘press’ might be preferable (cf. Isa. 59:16; Ezek. 24:2; 30:6; Amos 5:19). The worshipper was not just to touch the animal; he was to lean on it.” Wenham, p. 61.

32 Wenham seems to agree when he writes, “… the burnt offering makes atonement for sin in a more general sense.” Ibid., p. 57.

33 The words of John the Baptist are especially relevant, since he did not say, “who takes away the sins (plural) of the world,” but rather, “who takes away the sin of the world.” Christ as the Lamb of God, as the antitype of the burnt offering, deals with the depravity of man, with man’s sinfulness in general, as well as his sinfulness in terms of specific sins.

34 Wenham, pp. 64-65.

10. The Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)

Introduction

I have always loved to see the spring come each year, with all that it brings, with one notable exception—spring cleaning. You married men know that dreaded day as well as I do. Your wife gets that certain restlessness and a peculiar look in her eye. She wants to throw out half of the treasures you have gathered over the year. Worse yet, she wants you to help her move things around, and around, and around.

Israel’s annual Day of Atonement was something like a spiritual spring cleaning, except for the fact that this sacred day came in the fall of the year, in September-October, six months after the celebration of Passover. According to the Israelite calendar, it came on the tenth day of the seventh month (cf. Lev. 23:26-32; Num. 29:7-11).

In one sense, Israel did not look forward to the coming of this day any more than I look forward to spring cleaning. Unlike the other Jewish holidays, the Day of Atonement was no festive event. It was a day of national mourning and repentance. This was a Sabbath day celebration, which meant that no work could be done (Lev. 23:26-32). Anyone who did not observe this Sabbath was to be cut off from his people (Lev. 23:29), which is a euphemism for being put to death. Beyond this, this was a day when the people were to “humble their souls” (cf. Lev. 16:31; 23:27; Num. 29:7), which, according to many, included fasting. This would thus be the only religious holiday which was characterized by mourning, fasting, and repentance.

Relationship of Chapter 16 to the Preceding Chapters

There is a very logical development of the argument of the Book of Leviticus evident in the first 16 chapters. Chronologically chapter 16 should follow directly after chapter 10, for the first verse of chapter 16 informs us that God gave the instructions of chapter 16 to Moses “after the death of the two sons of Aaron,” which, as we know, is recorded in chapter 10. The first section of Leviticus, chapters 1-7, outlines the sacrificial rituals the priests must follow; chapters 8-10 records the inauguration of the Aaronic priesthood, who will offer the sacrifices; chapters 11-15 distinguishes the clean from the unclean, and proper procedures for dealing with uncleanness. In short, we have:

Leviticus 1-7: Ritual (Offerings)
Leviticus 8-10: Religious Officials (Priests)
Leviticus 11-15: Reasons for Sacrifices (Uncleanness)
Leviticus 16: Repentance and Restoration (Day of Atonement)

Leviticus 16 builds upon the preceding chapters by outlining the sacrifices of the great Day of Atonement. This instruction is directed primarily toward Aaron and the priests (vv. 1-25), but not exclusively so, for the people have a role to play as well (cf. vv. 26-31). No other sacrifice in Leviticus more clearly anticipates the future, greater, atonement of Israel’s Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. And no other sacrifice provides a better backdrop against which to see the vast superiority of our Lord’s atonement over that of Aaron. Let us learn well from this chapter.

The Structure of Leviticus 1668

 

Verses

Content

1-2
3-5
6-10
11-28
11-19
20-22
23-28
29-34

Introduction
Animals and priestly dress needed for the ceremonies
Outline of the ceremonies
Detailed description of the ceremonies
the blood-sprinkling rites
the scapegoat
cleansing of the participants
The people’s duty

The chapter is not strictly chronological in its organization. Verses 6-10 serve as a preliminary summary of the offering of the bull and the two goats, but this is then taken up in greater detail in verses 11-22.69

Background of the Day of Atonement
(Exodus 30:1-10)

The first reference to the Day of Atonement comes in the Book of Exodus, chapter 30. The first nine verses detail the plans for the Altar of Incense. There is then a special word of warning, followed by a brief reference to the Day of Atonement: “You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a libation on it. And Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD” (Exod. 30:9-10).

It is noteworthy that in this passage, the warning about offering “strange incense” immediately precedes reference to the Day of Atonement, just as Leviticus 16 introduces the instructions concerning the offerings by referring to the death of Nadab and Abihu, who were smitten of God for offering “strange fire” (cf. Lev. 10:1).

An Overview of the Day of Atonement

Before we discuss the significance of some of the events of the Day of Atonement, let us pause to “walk through” the entire ceremony which is outlined in Leviticus chapter 16. This will enable us to get a feel for the ceremony as a whole, before we move to an examination of its parts.

From all appearances, the rituals outlined in our text do not begin the day’s activities for Aaron, but come after the exercise of some of his regular duties. The day would seem to begin as usual with the offering of the morning sacrifice, the burnt offering of a one year old lamb (cf. Exod. 29:38-42; Num. 28:3-6). After these duties were performed, the High Priest would commence the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement, as prescribed in our text:70

(1) Aaron was to take off his normal priestly garments, wash, and then put on the special garments which were prescribed for the sacrifices which took him into the holy of holies (v. 4; cf. Exod. 28; 39).

(2) Aaron secured the necessary sacrificial animals: a bull for his own sin offering and two male goats for the people’s sin offering; two rams, one for Aaron’s and the other for the people’s burnt offering (vv. 3, 5).

(3) Aaron slaughtered the bull for his own sin offering (vv. 6, 11).

(4) Before entering into the Holy of Holies with the blood of the bull, Aaron had to create a “cloud” of incense in the Holy of Holies, covering the mercy seat, to “veil” the glory of God so that he could enter in (vv. 12-13). The best approximation to this in my experience is what a bee-keeper does, smoking the hive of the bees, before he begins to remove the honey. In the case of Aaron, he was to offer only the prescribed incense so as to create an obscuring veil of smoke, thus dimming the glory of God’s presence and sparing his life.

(5) Aaron then took some of the blood of the bull and sprinkled it on the mercy seat seven times (v. 14).

(6) Lots were then cast for the two goats, to determine which would be slaughtered and which would be driven away (vv. 7-8).

(7) The goat for slaughter, the goat of the people’s sin offering, was sacrificed, and its blood was taken into the Holy of Holies and applied to the mercy seat, as the bull’s blood had been (v. 15).

(8) Cleansing was then made for the holy place (v. 16), seemingly by the sprinkling of the blood of both the bull and the goat. The atonement of the holy place is done alone, without anyone present to help, or to watch (v. 17).

(9) Next, outside the tent, Aaron was to make atonement for the altar of burnt offering,71 using, it would seem, the blood of both the bull and the goat (vv. 18-19).

(10) Now the second goat, the one which was kept alive, had the sins of the nation symbolically laid on its head, and was driven from the camp to a desolate place, from which it must never return (vv. 20-22).

(11) Aaron then entered the tent of meeting, removed his linen garments, washed, and put on his normal priestly garments

(12) The burnt offerings of rams, one for Aaron and his family and the other for the people, was now offered (v. 24)

(13) The earlier sacrifices of the bull and the goat were completed. The fat of the sin offering was burned on the altar (v. 25), and the remains of the bull and the goat were taken outside the camp, where they were burned (v. 27).

(14) Those who had been rendered unclean by handling the animals on which the sins of Aaron or the people were laid were to wash themselves and then return to camp (vv. 26, 28).

The People’s Role in the Day of Atonement
(Leviticus 16:29-31)

The people were not to be passive in the Day of Atonement, although they (and those dwelling in their midst) were to observe a Sabbath rest. They were commanded to remember this ordinance as a permanent statute, by “humbling their souls” (v. 29).

Observations Concerning the Day of Atonement

There are several features of the Day of Atonement which are worthy of our attention, which prepare us to consider the meaning of this text. Let us briefly consider each of these.

(1) God’s instructions to Aaron concerning the offerings of the Day of Atonement begins with a reminder of the death of his two sons, as recorded in chapter 10. This serves as a chronological clue, indicating that the commandments given here must have come shortly after the death of Aaron’s sons. There is also the logical connection. Aaron’s sons died while in the tabernacle, specifically while they were burning incense. In the course of Aaron’s duties on the Day of Atonement, he too will offer incense. This note thus serves to underscore the importance of Aaron’s very meticulous obedience to these instructions.

(2) The priestly garb which Aaron was to wear on this one occasion was very different from that which he normally wore in the course of his duties.

Beautiful colored materials, intricate embroidery, gold and jewelry made him look like a king. On the day of atonement he looked more like a slave. His outfit consisted of four simple garments in white linen, even plainer than the vestments of the ordinary priest (Exod. 39:27-29) … On this one day the high priest enters the ‘other world,’ into the very presence of God. He must therefore dress as befits the occasion. Among his fellow men his dignity as the great mediator between man and God is unsurpassed, and his splendid clothes draw attention to the glory of his office. But in the presence of God even the high priest is stripped of all honor: he becomes simply the servant of the King of kings, whose true status is portrayed in the simplicity of his dress. Ezekiel (9:2-3, 11; 10:2, 6-7) and Daniel (10:5; 12:6-7) describe angels as dressed in linen, while Rev. 19:8 portrays the saints in heaven as wearing similar clothes.72

In the course of his daily sacrifices, Aaron, the High Priest, represented God, and thus his garments were of great beauty and splendor. But when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies in performing the atoning ritual of the Day of Atonement, he went before God in simplicity and humility. One cannot help but think of the 13th chapter of John’s Gospel, where our Lord took off His garments, and stripped down to the garb of a slave, so as to cleanse His disciples. On both these occasions (John 13 and the Day of Atonement) there is a symbolic representation of the kenosis, the setting aside of our Lord’s glory and splendor, so that the work of atonement could be accomplished (cf. Phil. 2:5-8).

(3) The ceremony of Aaron’s offering the bull for his sins and his family (especially among whom were the priests) is similar to that described in 4:3-12, but is also different. In both offerings, a bull is sacrificed, and in the same way. In chapter 4, the blood of the bull is sprinkled only on the horns of the altar of incense, but in chapter 16 the blood is also sprinkled on the mercy seat itself. The offering of the Day of Atonement is more extensive than the normal offering of the priest.

(4) The ceremony of offering the bull in chapter 16 is also similar to, yet different from, the offering of the bull which was a part of the ordination of Aaron and his sons. In this case, too, the offering on the Day of Atonement was similar to the former offering, but was greater in that there was an entrance into the Holy of Holies.

(5) The sin offering for the people is both unique and compound. With the exception of the two birds (Lev. 14:3-9, 49-53), there is no other sacrifice quite like this, which involves both a dying and a living animal. There has been a great deal of discussion as to the term “Azazel,”73 associated with the goat which lives, but there is no totally satisfactory answer, and the discussion is hardly needed to understand the ritual.74

As a rule I think that most of us are inclined to look at the slaughtered goat as paying for the sins of the people, while the living goat lives, as though it symbolizes the forgiveness of the people. This is not the case, however. The goat which was “the LORD’s” was sacrificed for the sins of the people, like the bull, and the blood was applied in the same ways. The fate of the goat which lived (Azazel) is, in my opinion, worse than that of the one which is slain. On this goat, the sins of the people are placed, and then it is handed over to an Israelite (Azazel?), whose task it is to drive the goat into the wilderness, so that it will never return.

Can you imagine the impact on the people if the goat somehow found his way back to the camp? This thought must have haunted the one in whose charge the living goat was placed. I am sure that he was most diligent to take the goat far away. Jewish tradition has it that the goat was led to a high cliff, and then pushed backward, over the precipice. The possibility of these goats returning to the camp is just one more indication that this Day of Atonement was not permanent,75 and that there was a tentativeness about what was accomplished on this day. To have killed this second goat, as the Jews may later on have done, would have made the people feel much more secure about this sacrifice. To leave the goat living, roaming about the wilderness, must have caused some uneasiness and insecurity.

(6) The Day of Atonement is the cleansing of a place and of a people. I have always had a certain mental picture of the Day of Atonement, and I have just now discovered how partial and incomplete it was. I thought that the sole purpose of this annual sacrifice was to cleanse the people from their sins. I have always visualized individual Israelites waiting anxiously outside the tent, wondering if Aaron would return, if the sacrifice he offered would be accepted, and if penalty for my sins of the past year would be delayed yet longer. This is one of the things which the Day of Atonement accomplished for the people. God said, “For it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you shall be clean from all your sins before the LORD” (Lev. 16:30).

Even more emphatic in this chapter is the fact that the Day of Atonement was provided by God to cleanse His holy dwelling place, the Tabernacle, and the holy things associated with it.76 That for which atonement is made is that with which God came in contact, that which had become defiled over the past year, due to the sins of the people and their priests: “And he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions, in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities” (Lev. 16:16).

So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and make atonement for the holy sanctuary; and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly (Lev. 16:32-33).

The issue at stake is whether or not God will continue to abide within the camp, in the midst of His people. The uncleanness of the people contaminated the dwelling place of God, and the Day of Atonement was provided to remove these sins. The most dreaded evil for Israel was the absence of God’s presence in the midst of the people. This is that for which Moses eloquently and passionately pleaded, after the apostasy of the nation, when they worshipped the golden calf (Exod. 33-34). God promised to dwell with His people, and the Tabernacle, along with the priestly system and the offerings was the provision for Him to do so. Their highest use was seen on the Day of Atonement.

Note that there were two kinds of impurity atoned for on the Day of Atonement: “And he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel, and because of their transgressions, in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities” (Lev. 16:16).

The first “impurity” was that with which contaminated every Israelite by virtue of being a child of Adam and living in a fallen and corrupted world. Thus, God spoke of the “impurities of the sons of Israel.” In addition He referred to “their transgressions, in regard to all their sins.” This was the impurity resulting from disobedience to the commandments of God—personal sin. The Day of Atonement cleansed from both kinds of impurity.

(7) The Day of Atonement foreshadowed and anticipated a greater, permanent cleansing of God’s people and of His dwelling place, which was to be accomplished by a better priest, who offered a better sacrifice. I believe, for example, that both Israel’s goats for her sin offering symbolize the death of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, in the years to come. The dying goat signifies the death which Christ died, as did the other sacrificial animals. The goat which is driven away from the camp, into the wilderness, never to return, symbolizes the even greater agony of our Lord, His separation from the Father, due to the fact that the sins of all men were borne by Him. This is the agony which caused Him to agonize in the Garden of Gethsemane. This is the one Old Testament sacrifice which reflects one of the most gruesome aspects of our Lord’s atoning work as our substitute.

The New Testament, particularly the Book of Hebrews, stresses the superiority of the death of our Lord, in contrast to the Old Testament sacrifices, of which those of the Day of Atonement are most prominent. Our text clearly indicates the superiority of the person of Christ to Aaron. Aaron was a sinner, if we had not already figured this out (cf. Exod. 32). Our Lord, Christ, was (and is ) sinless. He did not need to make an offering for Himself. As the Scriptures put it,

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever (Heb. 7:26-28).

Further, Aaron died, but Christ lives forever (Heb. 7:15-25). Christ is vastly superior to Aaron, and to all the high priests of Israel.

The place of Christ’s ministry is also superior to the place of Aaron’s ministry. Aaron ministered in a small earthly sanctuary, entering into the Holy of Holies but once a year. The people could never enter into this privileged place. Christ “tabernacled” among us in His flesh, during His earthly ministry (cf. John 1:14; Heb. 3:14; 10:5, 11). And after He offered Himself once for all, He entered into the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 8:1-2; 9:1-10).

The sacrifice of Christ was superior to those offered by Aaron. Aaron and all the other priests could but offer the blood of bulls and goats, but Christ offered His own precious blood:

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11-12, cf. also vv. 13-14).

The superiority of Christ’s one offering to that of Aaron’s many offerings is also seen in the fact that the results of Christ’s sacrifice are greater. The best that one could hope for with the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement was that the impurity of sin would be put off for another year. Christ’s death put away sin altogether:

For all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed (Rom. 3:23-25).

Aaron’s offerings could only produce forbearance; Christ’s offering brought forgiveness.

The last aspect of the superiority of Christ’s atonement to Aaron’s (which we shall consider here) is that Christ’s sacrifice brought better access to God. Aaron himself could only “draw near” to God, that is to the Holy of Holies, but once a year. The people could not come this near ever. But when our Lord was crucified and His blood was shed for the sins of the world, the veil which formerly kept men apart from God was torn asunder, signifying that every believer has full and unlimited access to God. Thus, the writer to the Hebrews can say,

Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb. 10:19-22).

(8) Just as the Israelite awaited that which the Day of Atonement anticipated, so the Christian awaits that which the atonement of Christ has accomplished.

In the laws of clean and unclean, we saw how the fall of man in the Garden of Eden brought suffering and adversity to the Israelites. Israelite women, for example, were afflicted with 40 or 80 days of separation and ceremonial uncleanness for having a child (see Leviticus 12).

Romans chapter 8 deals with the spiritual life of the believer and describes the present difficulties and adversities of life. In the development of Paul’s argument in the book, the atonement of Christ has won forgiveness of sins and justification for the one who believes (Romans 1-5). It has also accomplished the sanctification of the believer (chapters 6-8). Nevertheless, the lot of the Christian is present difficulty (cf. 5:3-5; 7:14-25; 8:18-39).

Nevertheless, there are a number of schools of thought which do not take the teaching of Romans (especially chapter 8) seriously enough. These various schools of thought have one error in common: they suppose that since the death of Christ has accomplished many wonderful things, the full realization of His victory in every area of life can be claimed and experienced now.

For example, some say that the death of Christ made physical healing a possession for all to claim.77 This simply is not true. It flies in the face of biblical revelation and of practical experience. Satan was defeated on the cross of Christ (John 12:31; 16:11), and yet he is still very much alive and at work, resisting the work and the people of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; 6:11-12; Rev. 12:9). It is not until the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ that Satan will finally be put out of circulation forever (cf. Rev. 20).

So, too, the believer is saved and sanctified through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, but the suffering, sickness and struggles resulting from sin will not be eliminated until Christ’s return. Thus, Romans 7 describes the struggles of a Christian and chapter 8, which speaks of our victory in Christ, also speaks of our present frustration, along with all of creation (cf. Rom. 8:18-25).

The Holy Spirit does not miraculously deliver us from these “groanings,” but intercedes for us in order to bring us through them safely (Rom. 8:26-27). Knowing that God is both good and sovereign, Paul assures us that God is able to use even the present evils of this world to bring us to the perfection which only heaven will bring (Rom. 8:28-30), thus none of those destructive and damaging present evils can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:31-39).

(9) The Day of Atonement was a time for dealing with unknown sins, for which no offering had been made in the past year.78 The text does not specifically state this, but the inference of the text is that there were so many sins which might go unnoticed, that these, had they been neglected beyond the year, would have produced intolerable contamination. It was not those sins for which atonement had already been made that the Day of Atonement was given for, but for those which had not been recognized, and for which a sacrifice had not been offered.

Remember, too, that the sacrificial system was provided to atone for unintentional sins, not intentional sins. The offerings of chapters 4-6 were those which were made for sins unintentionally committed (cp. 4:13, 22, 27; 5:15, 18). Willful sins could not be atoned for by these sacrifices, no was there any sacrifice for them (Num. 15:27-31). The sacrificial system God established assumed that some sins which were not recognized as such at the time they were committed would come to the attention of the individual at a later time (Lev. 4:13-14, 27-28; 5:2-5). I believe that the Day of Atonement is based on the assumption that some sins never come to the attention of the sinner.

This matter of unknown sin was one that concerned godly Israelites. David prayed, “Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults” (Ps. 19:12). Knowing this led him to pray elsewhere, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way” (Ps. 139:23-24).

Moses, the author of the Pentateuch, was also the author of this psalm, in which he prayed, “Thou hast placed our iniquities before Thee, Our secret sins in the light of Thy presence” (Ps. 90:8).

Unknown sins are hidden sins, those transgressions which we, in our fallen state, are either unable or unwilling to acknowledge. Proverbs has much to say about the unseen evils in our lives:

There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death (Prov. 14:12).

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel (Prov. 12:15).

All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the Lord weighs the motives (Prov. 16:2).

These passages tell us that fallen man is not capable of seeing many of his own sins. Thus, a godly man must seek the knowledge of his sin from God and from the wise counsel of others.

New Testament Christians are not as concerned about unknown sins as they should be. Some seem to think that “ignorance is bliss.” It is not true. I am convinced that it is often our unconscious sins which are the most damaging to ourselves and to others. These sins are not so deeply hidden that they cannot be discovered. Indeed, these sins, while unknown to the sinner, are blatantly obvious to those who are close to him (or her). Marriage has been designed, in part I believe, so that we cannot say there was no way of being informed of our sins. Our mates know our sins all too well.

The wonder of this matter is that often our “secret” or “unknown” sins are often sanctified by us by the use of spiritual terminology and biblical texts. Let me briefly mention how this can work, and then leave the reader to ponder the implications. A man who is domineering and dictatorial may very well justify this sin in his life as a real strength. He may see this as “taking a stand for the truth or for what is right.” He might justify domineering over his wife as “assuming his biblical place of headship.” Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.

The wife, on the other hand, may have learned early in life that the way to please her father was to totally bend to his every whim. She would do nothing to offend or to lose his approval. Then, when she marries, she continues the same kind of blind conformity. And she commends herself for her “submission.” The evil here is not in being “submissive,” but in the woman’s self-seeking desire for approval, at any cost. She sacrifices her convictions and her unique contribution in the name of submission. True submission is seeking the best interest of the other, rather than our own interest. Some seek self-interest by domineering, while others seek it by “door-matting.” In either case it is evil, by whatever label we name it.

The Day of Atonement was a time for each Israelite to reflect on his own sinfulness, and to respond appropriately with mourning and repentance. I urge you to follow the example of the saints of the Bible, especially the psalmists, and to make your unknown sins a matter of priority. These are very likely sins which greatly hinder our fellowship with God and men.

(10) The Day of Atonement was a time for the priest to confess before God the sins of the nation. I have wondered to myself how long Aaron’s confession for the people’s sins, briefly mentioned in verse 21, actually took. One could imagine him confessing for hours. No doubt the confessions of Moses (Exod. 32-34), Ezra (Ezra 9), and Daniel (Dan. 9), among others, provide us with an idea of what the high priest’s prayer might have included.

Since we who are New Testament believers are priests (1 Pet. 2:5, 9), we need to make intercession for our nation as well (cf. 1 Tim. 2). How, then, should we pray? What should we confess? These are not easy matters, for we are a part of the evil fabric of our country. We find it difficult to stand back from our culture and see its sins. Many times our national sins are concealed by government or the press. It is good to confess those obvious sins, such as the legalization of abortion, but we need to become much more sensitive to the more subtle (unknown?) forms of sin as well.

Doing this will have great personal benefits. You see, the evils of our nation are those practices and pressures which constitute our “world” (as in, the “world,” the “flesh,” and the devil). To become sensitive to the evils of our age is to become sensitive to the evils which press upon us and tempt us.

As I conclude this message, I want to urge you to act upon the truths of which you have been convicted by the Holy Spirit. In particular, I would encourage you to read through the Book of Hebrews in the next day or two, seeking to see those ways in which Christ’s death surpassed the sacrifices and ministry of the Aaronic priesthood.

Furthermore, I want to urge you to take that first step of application which the writer to the Hebrews urges his readers: “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith …” (Heb. 10:22a). It may be that you need to draw near in personal faith and commitment. In other words, it may be that you need to be born again, to be saved. Have you had a day of atonement in your life, when you repented of your sins and trusted in the sacrifice of Christ? You need but one such day to be saved, but you must have one. Let Leviticus chapter 16 be the point in your life when you come to experience God’s atonement in Christ.

For those of you who are saved I must admit that I have no idea of what “drawing near” may mean for you. I am convinced, however, that every one of us has many ways in which we need to continue to draw near. I urge you to meditate upon the Book of Hebrews, and to pray the prayers of the psalmists concerning hidden sins. I encourage you to ask God to show you what drawing near means for you, today.


68 This is the structure as outlined by Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979), p. 228. As a result of my study of this chapter, I have come to break the chapter up somewhat differently: I. Introduction—Requirements: Verses 1-5; A. Caution required, vv. 1-2; B. Materials required—animals and clothing, vv. 3-5. II. Survey of the Sin Offerings: Verses 6-10; A. Aaron’s sin offering, v. 7; B. Israel’s sin offering, vv. 8-10. III. Detailed Description of the Day of Atonement Rituals: Verses 11-28; A. Aaron’s role, vv. 11-25; B. The role of others, vv. 26-31; 1. Those who have had contact with the sacrificial animals, vv. 26-28; 2. The people of Israel as a congregation, vv. 29-31. IV. Provisions for the Perpetuation of the Day of Atonement: Verses 32-34.

69 The rituals outlined in verses 6-10 are reiterated in greater detail in verses 11-22, with the exception of the process of casting lots for the goats, which is only mentioned in verses 7 & 8. I believe that the omission of this process in verses 11-22 is significant. Some of those who insist that there is a mere duplication of material press the matter to demonstrate their hypothesis that there are multiple authors of the Pentateuch. The one author of this book, Moses, did not feel that it was necessary to repeat the casting of lots for the goat in verses 11-22 because he had already sufficiently covered the subject in verses 6-10.

70 The exact order of events is not certain in some cases, but this is at least the general order of the ritual.

71 There is a difference of opinion at to whether the “altar” in verse 18 is the altar of incense inside the veil or the altar of burnt offering outside. Noordtzij argues forcefully for the latter: “(1) The term ‘altar’ in verse 20 must clearly refer to the altar of burnt offering, yet it would have no previous reference apart from verses 18 and 19. (2) Verses 20 and 33 speak of atonement for the ‘Holy Place,’ the ‘Tent of Meeting,’ and the ‘altar.’ Since the ‘altar of incense’ is a part of the ‘Tent of Meeting’ there is no need to specify it, while there would be a need to specify the altar of burnt offering, outside the tent.” A. Noordtzij, Leviticus, trans. by Raymond Togtman (Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1982, pp. 167-168.

72 Wenham, p. 230. Bush adds, “There were eight different garments belonging to the altar of the high priest, four of which, called by the Jews ‘the white garments,’ and made wholly of linen, are here mentioned as to be worn on this day. The remaining four which are mentioned Ex. 28.4, were called ‘the golden garments,’ from there being a mixture of gold in them. Inasmuch as the day of atonement was a day of sorrow, humiliation, and repentance, the high priest was not to be clad in his rich pontifical robes, but in the simple sacerdotal vestments which were thought to be more appropriate to this occasion.” George Bush, Leviticus (Minneapolis, Klock and Klock Publishers [reprint], 1981), pp. 144-145.

73 The difficulty of this term is reflected by the variety of ways it is translated: “The translation of this word [Azazel] has varied considerably, and includes such renderings as ‘that shall be sent out’ (Wycliffe), ‘for discharge’ (Knox), ‘Azazel’ (RSV), and ‘for the Precipice’ (NEB). The idea of ‘precipice’ seems to have been derived from Talmudic tradition, where … was translated by ‘steep mountain.’ The allusion appears to have been to the precipitous slope or rock in the wilderness from which in the post-exilic period the goat was hurled to death.” R. K. Harrison, Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980), p. 170.

74 Bush goes into a lengthy discussion on the various explanations for the meaning of Azazel, associated with the scapegoat. He surveys and critiques these views and concludes with his own. In short, these are: (1) The name of the place the goat was led. (2) The name of the goat itself. (3) The one goat symbolized Christ’s death, the other His resurrection. (4) The scapegoat is offered to Satan or demons, as Christ allegedly was. Bush’s view, which I find hard to grasp, is that the second goat typifies Israel, who, due to their disobedience and rejection of Christ, had their sins heaped upon themselves. Cf. Bush, pp. 145-158.

75 Harrison states, “In view of this injunction [Day of Atonement to be a permanent statute, v. 34] it is curious that no specific reference to the day of atonement occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament, despite the periodic occurrence of certain significant events in the seventh month (cf. I Ki. 8:2, 65-66; Ezr. 3:1-6; Ne. 8:17-18).” Harrison, p. 175.

76 Wenham goes so far as to say that the main purpose of the day of atonement was not to cleanse the people, but to cleanse the holy place: “The main purpose of the day of atonement ceremonies is to cleanse the sanctuary from the pollutions introduced into it by the unclean worshippers (cf. 16:16, 19). … The aim of these rituals is to make possible God’s continued presence among his people.” Wenham, p. 228. Wenham also says that the purpose of the day of atonement was “… to prevent Aaron, in theory the holiest man in Israel, suffering sudden death when he enters the tabernacle (vv. 2, 13).” Wenham, p. 236.

77 Many of the Bible scholars with whom I am familiar would choose to argue this matter on the grounds of what is meant by the expression, “by His scourging we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). I would differ. I would grant that whether the text proves it or not, the death of Christ remedies all of the consequences of the fall (cf. Rom. 5), which includes sickness. The issue is not whether or not there is physical healing in the atonement, but rather when we can expect the full manifestation of healing. In my understanding of Romans 8 and the rest of Scripture, we cannot expect (and certainly cannot demand) the full realization of any aspect of Christ’s work (salvation, sanctification, healing, etc.) until He comes again, destroys and renews the earth, finally and fully limits Satan, and transforms our physical bodies.

78 Bush writes, “The idea of the institution seems to have been, that inasmuch as the incidental and occasional sin-offerings had, from their very nature, left much sin for which no expiation had been made, there should be a day in which all omissions of this sort should be supplied, by one general expiation, so that at the end of the year no sin or pollution might remain for which the blood of atonement had not been shed.” Bush, p. 164.

Pages