Job 29-31
Keep the Right Perspective
When we began this book we read of Satan challenging God’s claim that Job was a righteous man. Satan was allowed by God to take away everything Job had. Satan believed that Job would curse God if he lost everything. Job held his ground but then his three friends showed up. Their message was that God blesses the righteous and He judges and punishes the wicked. Since Job suffered such a great tragedy surely he must have some hidden sin, and since his children were taken, they were sinners as well.
It is clear that the battle between Satan and God has not ended. Job did not curse God so Satan sent three men to get Job thinking that, since God blesses the righteous, then, God owes him. This long battle has indeed moved Job from his early declarations in 1:21 and 2:10 to wanting to present his case before God, and Job, in his righteousness, will be his own advocate. Satan has worn him down with the wisdom of his three friends. But where did their wisdom really come from?
Eliphaz was really a mocker of God. Bildad got his wisdom from the generation who had gone before him. Zophar seemed to source his wisdom from his own observations. His wisdom is new. To be sure all three of them spoke of God and had right things to say about God. But overall their wisdom failed because they built their wisdom on shifting sand. In fact we can see them contradict themselves as they argued with Job.
I do not believe that these three men were intentionally letting Satan use them. I do believe Satan took advantage of what they believed knowing they were in error and misled. He knew they would counsel Job based on what they believed. This they did and they succeed in moving Job into a dangerous place in his thinking where man becomes exalted in his own eyes and God becomes more like an idol to go to in order to be blessed. The boys could not convince Job that he had some hidden sin. But from his arguments with them Job has become convinced that God owes him, at the very least, an explanation. Job wants to know why. So as he prepares to present his case before God he is really attempting to put God on trial.
It is important for us to understand what it means to reverence God. It is also important for us to remember that there is an enemy that does not want us to reverence God and he is very cunning. He will send the wolf in sheep’s clothing among us. He will attempt to corrupt our thinking with his wisdom. He will try to get us to focus on ourselves and our problems. He will always attempt to elevate man in his own eyes to the point where man is the initiator and reduce God to the responder. When man takes this path, even though he speaks of God he is on the wrong path.
The reality is that God is the initiator and man is the responder. We must be careful that we never allow our “wisdom” to move us away from our reverence for God. We must also remember that there is a spiritual battle going on and we are the target of the enemy. So what do we do? Here are some verses to study.
Ephesians 6:10-20
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
1 Corinthians 10:5
Here are two more we need to consider when getting counsel from others.
1 Corinthians 15:33
Philippians 3:18
Your best counsel is the Word of God. I encourage you to read it daily and take God’s Word to heart.
Pastor Dave