Reformed & Expository Preaching

Job’s friends, the counselors, are now beginning to interact with Job. They grieved with Job, they failed to recognize their friend, and Eliphaz has interacted with Job’s speech or attitude. Job questioned the wisdom of God, and Eliphaz questioned whether Job really understands God. How will Job respond? We noted that the counselor was not consistent with the Lord’s wisdom. Will Job finally see through this trial and clearly see the Lord?

The ridiculous claim that the Lord made was that Israel was going to plunder the Egyptians. This sounds ridiculous because how can a people who are in slavery, have been in slavery for centuries, and are still very much in slavery when the Lord finds them going to triumph over their slave masters? Our understanding is rather simple: if a people have been enslaved for centuries then it is very likely they will remain in slavery. However, the Lord promised that the Lord would deliver his people with a mighty hand. Is the Lord really able to do such a thing? What does this deliverance-exodus teach us about God’s redemption?

We heard Job’s frustration of his life in this age. He is one who does not see the value or the purpose of his life right now. His speech is asking the Lord to blot him out of existence. This is not something that is appropriate or correct, and how are his friends going to encourage this man? We would think and hope that they would provide a counter point to Job’s previous speech. Eliphaz speaks up, he challenges Job’s speech, and is laying out his view of suffering. Is this view correct?

Job finally breaks the 7 day silence to express his perception of things. Job does not see the purpose of his life. Why is this so wrong and how does this show that we too need redefine meaning in terms of the Lord’s bigger picture? How does Job’s speech fail to see the bigger purpose of life that we might fail to perceive?

There is little doubt that Pharaoh claiming not to know the Lord is basically Pharaoh saying that the Lord of Israel is no match for him. The reality is that the Egyptians have held the Israelites for 400 some years and their God has not acted on their behalf so what can their God really do? Pharaoh heard the Lord’s warning through Moses, and should know that God means business. So, how much business does the Lord really mean? Is the Lord really ready to deliver his people from the Egyptian bondage? What can such a message declare about the Lord’s Sabbath rest?

The Lord has promised that His people will dwell in the land of Canaan. There have been a few problems along the way. First, the couple that God called to build His Sabbath people were a barren couple. How is the Lord going to continue the biological seed of the woman? Second, Jacob fleeing to Laban and leaving the land. How can a divided family unite to bring in the promised heir? Third, the immorality and the strife in Jacob’s family. Now, fourth, we arrive at the problem of God’s people being enslaved in Egypt. Can the Lord deliver His people from such an empire?

The Adversary, or Satan, had his chance to remove Job’s hedge that sheltered him from the heat of life under the sun. Satan is not happy with the result because Job did not, “curse God to His face.” Is Satan going to drop his accusation against God at this point? Will the Lord allow further testing to show Satan that the new humanity does love God because of God?

The story of Job opens with a man who is righteous, fears God, and turns from evil. This is a man who lives out the wisdom of the gospel as he even sacrifices a burn offering in case one of his children cursed God in their heart. This is a man who is worthy of blessing and a man who deserve blessing from the hand of God. So, what sort of wisdom is being communicated to us when Job receives the exact opposite of what he deserves? What is the driving force of Job’s suffering? Does Job really love God because of who God is or does Job love God because of what God can do for Job?

Jacob is on his deathbed and now has the opportunity to prophetically speak about the future of his 12 sons. Will he abuse his prophetic gift and try to put his favored son ahead of the other sons? Or has this man really learned from this wrestling match that the wisdom of God is manifested through weakness? How does the Lord show the irony off the Messianic line by coming through a very unlikely son? Why is this son such an unlikely candidate to bring forth the messiah?