The Hopelessness of Job

11/6/2011 8:15:09 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  The hopelessness of Job

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Job 14

                Message of the verses:  “1 ¶  "Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil. 2  "Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain. 3  "You also open Your eyes on him And bring him into judgment with Yourself. 4  "Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one! 5  "Since his days are determined, The number of his months is with You; And his limits You have set so that he cannot pass. 6  "Turn Your gaze from him that he may rest, Until he fulfills his day like a hired man.

   “ 7 ¶  "For there is hope for a tree, When it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And its shoots will not fail. 8  "Though its roots grow old in the ground And its stump dies in the dry soil, 9  At the scent of water it will flourish And put forth sprigs like a plant. 10  "But man dies and lies prostrate. Man expires, and where is he? 11  "As water evaporates from the sea, And a river becomes parched and dried up, 12  So man lies down and does not rise. Until the heavens are no longer, He will not awake nor be aroused out of his sleep. 13  "Oh that You would hide me in Sheol, That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You, That You would set a limit for me and remember me! 14  "If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait Until my change comes. 15  "You will call, and I will answer You; You will long for the work of Your hands.

    “16 ¶  "For now You number my steps, You do not observe my sin. 17  "My transgression is sealed up in a bag, And You wrap up my iniquity. 18  "But the falling mountain crumbles away, And the rock moves from its place; 19  Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope. 20  "You forever overpower him and he departs; You change his appearance and send him away. 21  "His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it; Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it. 22  "But his body pains him, And he mourns only for himself.’”

                In Job 11:13-20 Zophar was telling Job that there was hope for him if he only would confess to the Lord that he had sinned, and that is what had caused all of the trouble that came upon him.  Now we see in verse fourteen that Job does not agree with this assessment and so he believes that his life is hopeless.

                In the first part of this chapter Job will use some metaphors to show the hopeless of life, things like a flower that fades away quickly, of a shadow that moves away quickly.  Job seems to wondering why God would fill a man’s short life with pain and suffering, after all if life is only like a fleeing flower should not God not cause man to have so much pain, but of course Job is mistaken about this view of life, for man is born a sinner, an d man lives on a earth that has been cursed because of sin. 

                Job even speak of a tree that is cut down and then the stump dies for lack of water, but when water comes the stump will produce some sprouts to live again, unlike man who when he dies it is over.  This is another thing that Job is mistaken of.  “37  "But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB. 38  "Now He is not the God of the dead but of the living; for all live to Him.’”  (Luke 20:37-38)  It seems that Job does get the right answer to this question in Job 19:25-27 “25  "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26  "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; 27  Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!’”

                In verse nineteen Job says, “Water wears away stones, Its torrents wash away the dust of the earth; So You destroy man’s hope.”  Job is mistakenly saying this about God because he did not know God as well as he should have, but we must remember that the Lord revealed Himself slowly to man, for when the Lord Jesus Christ came he told Philip that if you have seen Me you have seen the Father, and now all believers have the blessed Holy Spirit living in them and a full Bible to read, so we cannot be too hard on Job, for most of us probably do not take advantage of all that God has given to us at this time.

                Believers today have hope, for Paul wrote to Titus that the second coming of Christ is our hope, and hope helps us go through the tough times, but Job did not have this kind of hope, but things will get better for him.

                Let me finish this part of this SD with the words of Paul that he wrote to the Roman church:  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

                Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I mentioned that as believers living in today’s society, after the cross, and in days when we can have the Bible on CDs and listen and watch great sermons, and have all kinds of wonderful helps to study the Word, there are many times when I don’t take full advantage of this in order to learn more of God’s Word and do more things that the Lord wants me to do. 

                I also do not want to give up the hope that I as a believe have, even when times get hard, for God is sovereign and has full control of my life, and has promised to work things out for my good and for His glory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1.    1John 4:18.

2.    Philippians 4:11b.

3.    Romans 12:1-2.

4.    Proverbs 3:5-6.

5.    Ephesians 6:10-18.

6.    Romans 15:13.

11/6/2011 8:56:03 AM