Job’s Aha Moment

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

For all practical purposes, Job was considered “righteous” by God for the way he lived and most importantly, for his faith and trust in God. Without that trust and faith, his life and the way he lived it would have meant nothing. He would simply have been guilty of trying to “earn” salvation.

His lifestyle choices and actions flowed from a heart that trusted God. In that sense then, he was not earning salvation, but simply endeavoring to live a life that fell in line with what he believed about God. That is the essence of what it also means to be a Christian. We don’t endeavor to live rightly because we are somehow trying to earn salvation because we cannot earn it. Our salvation is a free gift, given to those who exercise faith in the Living God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is that faith that compels us to at least attempt to live in keeping with the label God has given us: righteous.

But let’s be clear about something else too. Because we have sin natures, we will never live perfectly righteous lives in the here and now. That is true of all authentic believers as was also true of Job. Try as he might, he could not live up to the reality of his stance before God.

1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. (Job 1 NKJV)

He was blameless before God because of his faith in God. He feared God and because of that, he hated evil, to the point where he would live in a way that opposed evil. He directed his steps to be in keeping with what he believed about God.

Do we Christians do the same thing? Do we have a of healthy fear of God? Do we, because of that fear, do whatever it takes to make our life’s actions (words, thoughts and deeds), line up with our fear of God or do we simply relax ourselves and focus on other things because we are saved? If we end up living in a way that brings glory to God, that’s well and good, but if we simply coast through life, never working out our salvation with fear and trembling (our sanctification; Philippians 2:12), is that fine too? I hope you’d agree that it is not fine.

But what I find completely fascinating about Job is that, while he was absolutely not perfect, he endeavored to do what he could to cover his bases and make the most of his life, ensuring that the way he lived brought glory to God, which is why he was said to have been blameless. I would like people to say about me that I live a life built on a healthy fear of God that evidences a righteous lifestyle.

Throughout the entire book of Job, Job is faced with ridiculous (and wrong) accusations from people who were supposedly his friends. Some of those accusations are downright belligerent in their origin.

Job seemed to understand that he was not perfect, but he still clearly lacked something. That something is, in my opinion, what every authentic believer lacks to some extent; some believers more than others.

Job had been labeled righteous by God because of Job’s faith and trust in Him. That faith and trust prompted Job to live in a way that resembled the righteousness that God said Job was in all his ways. Again, his lifestyle choices grew out of his fear, faith and trust in Yahweh.

But when we go to Job 38, we see something very remarkable happen. After all of Job’s alleged friends vent their spleens and Job himself has opportunities to defend himself against their false accusations, God steps up to the plate from the batter’s box and makes some very startling revelations. When we read this section – Job 38 – 41 – we see into the workings of the Omnipotent mind of God Himself and we see how easy it was for God to question Job, leaving Job with absolutely no ability to respond in kind and on God’s level.

Job is left with one very major reality. He is now far more aware of just how small, puny and impotent he stood before the Living God who only questioned Job with a few key points. Yet, even in these key points, Job is truly left dumbfounded and without any ability to answer God. Even though Job had been demanding an audience from God, when he got it, he reacted completely differently from what he had originally thought he would. In essence, we see Job’s humility rise to the surface, while his “self” is put down.

The tone we get throughout the book of Job is that Job wanted to talk to God like a man talks to another man; on the same level with the ability to question God about why he was suffering the way he suffered. Job’s mind was still focused solely on himself.

What Job actually got was something completely different and it is very interesting that in the four chapters where God speaks directly to Job, not once does God take the time to explain to Job why he had undergone such tremendous upheaval in his life. He never said anything to Job about the arrangement God had with Satan and how Satan had deployed one trick after another all to bring Job to the point of denying God (which Job never did). In spite of Job’s physical, emotional and spiritual pain, he never thought about retreating from God. In fact, his trials and difficulties pushed him toward God because he wanted answers, though for selfish reasons.

One of God’s first statements to Job is this: “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” (Job 38:3) Seems like Job was in for a bit of a rough ride with what was to come. I think Job knew it immediately.

For the remainder of Job 38-39, God hits Job with one question after another, questions God knew Job could not answer. God was pointing out Job’s inferior and finite state compared to God’s. Yet, at the same time, God was lifting Job up with these questions. At the beginning of Job 40, God asks Job this very important question.

“Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.” (Job 40:2)

Job’s response is simple, direct and truthful.

4 “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth.
5 Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.” (Job 40:4-5)

Compare this statement with the previous part of the book. It is here that Job ultimately begins to realize just how small and insignificant he is compared to God. Deep humility is starting to grow within Job. He has no answers and realizes he has no right to question God about anything.

This is the very essence of what should also illuminate every authentic believer. We should all come to a point where we begin to see our own wretchedness before God Almighty. For some it may be overwhelmingly large during a specific moment. For others, it may be like a river slowly filling a pond. The end result is the same.

This does not mean we should dwell on our sins and failures. It means we should have a correct view and understanding of our sin (even though forgiven), compared to God and His absolute perfection and sinless nature. This only occurs when we begin to see who God truly is compared to ourselves and that only happens when we begin to understand the actual weight of our sin. Job had begun to see just how vile he was before God. It actually pushed him onto God that much more because though he was vile, he was not condemned by God.

Now I fully realize that there are those Christians who believe that we should not think about or dwell on our failures and sins. We should not “waste time” in thinking about the weight of our sin. They make a point because this too can actually be due to feeling sorry for ourselves (evidence of Self). However, I would like to suggest that our sin was/is so tragic, so heavy, so egregious that the only way God could save anyone on this planet is for Him to come into this life as a human being (the God-Man), live life completely without sin of His own and offer Himself as the sinless, perfect Lamb of God for the sins of humanity. The fact that God reaches out to us at all should tell us something and He does this when we are filled with sin.

Sin results in our spiritual and physical death. God – as Jesus – took it upon Himself to become identified with the sin we created, though remaining completely and personally sinless. Our sin, individually and corporately as a human race put Jesus voluntarily on the cross. There, He fully paid the penalty for our sin. His death was so victorious as the perfect without blemish slain Lamb of God, that His spilt blood is enough to cover the sins of every human being who ever lived, is living now, and will yet be born into this life. His death has the ability to fully cover and pardon all sin. Yet, it is only applied to those who come to Him in faith, trusting that He is who He says He is and His death provides the righteousness that we enjoy in Him. This is true even if we do not “feel” as though it is true.

Job was a sinner. His faith and trust in God saved him as it saves us. But the book of Job reminds us that even though God labeled Job righteous, Job was not as humble as he could have been in this life…and neither are we. That is what the process of sanctification seeks to yield within us.

As soon as Job met God in the whirlwind, he instantly became more aware of his own sin. He immediately realized that all his words, all his complaints were bluster stemming from a heart that was still holding onto pride and self-preservation. Hearing God immediately began to destroy that pride and self-preservation. Job knew that God would be completely righteous if he even slayed Job.

Job began to understand in far greater measure just how much he had admired himself. In hearing God, this fell away to the point where he understood that he really had nothing to say at all. In fact, to keep him from blurting out more stupidity, he said, “I lay my hand over my mouth.” I’m sure Job wished he could take back things he had said, complaints he had made. He was seeing much more clearly now even though not once did God tell Job why he had suffered as he did. Not once. Yet, it becomes clear that Job is strangely satisfied even if it did bring him much lower. Sanctification was doing its work.

Compared to God, Job is nothing. Compared to God, we are nothing. Yet, because we are made in His image, He loves us dearly and that love prompted Him to take on the marks of humanity so that He could live a life of purity and perfection that allowed Him to present Himself as the perfect Lamb of God, offering His own impeccably perfect life in exchange for our faulty, sin-torn lives. Who among us can understand that level of love? I cannot.

In Job 40:7-8, God again remonstrances Job and continues asking him questions that he cannot answer.

7 “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me: 8 “Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?

Notice God tells Job again to act like a man and be prepared to respond. Job cannot do it. All he can do is grovel in the dirt and sit in abject awe of God who has the power of life and death. Job knows he is beat and embraces it. He knows he has acted out of self-interest and admits it. He knows all of this and more beyond doubt and will likely never forgot it for the rest of his life.

In Job 42, the very last chapter of Job, Job denounces himself and turns in full adoration to God. Job turns away from himself and sees God alone. Remember, he still has no idea why he went through what he went through, yet he has come to a point where he now much more fully understands just who God is, how fair He is when it comes to humanity and how no one has any right to accuse or question God at all.

Job comes to terms with his own fallenness, his own sin, his own inability to be what he thought he was and it happened because he heard God speak to him. Because of that, he came to understand that God does not have to explain His reasons for doing anything because God is always fair, always right, and always bringing glory to Himself (the three members of the Godhead).

What Job went through was, in essence, his sanctification. Rather than rely on his own righteousness, he understood that if he was righteous at all, it was all God’s doing, not his own. He began living in absolute awe of God. Are you? Am I?

Being a Christian has an upside and a downside. The upside of course is our salvation, our ongoing and continual relationship with God through Jesus to eternal life. The downside of being a Christian is our inability to actually live righteously 24/7, something the Bible calls our sanctification (Colossians 3:1-10ff). It is the cross Jesus speaks of in Matthew 16:24.

Job’s sanctification seems very harsh to us yet it had the sought-after effect. It brought Job to the end of himself so that all he could see was God. The remainder of Job’s life was lived far differently than he lived it before all these events took place. He had come to the point of knowing who God was in life.

In fact, the very last thing Job says to God proves this to be true.

 5“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6)

Job’s supposed sin had not brought on the situations that created such horror for Job in life. However, those situations helped eliminate a sincere self-centeredness that resided within Job (and resides within us as well).

Prior to all these events in the book of Job, Job had heard of God, told to him by others (whoever they were, we do not know). When God chose to speak to Job out of the whirlwind, Job admitted that he now “saw” God and certainly heard Him. Because of Job’s meeting with God, the only righteous reaction was for Job to “abhor” himself and to “repent in dust and ashes.”

Doesn’t this remind you of Jesus’ words when He said, “…whoever hates his life will keep it for eternal life,” (John 12:25). It’s the same thing. Job came to the point of hating his own life because he saw such sin in it when compared to God and His holiness. This is what each and every authentic Christian needs to realize. Understanding the weight of our sin has a wonderful effect. It helps us realize just how much God gave that we might have life eternally. Without this growing realization, we will continue to cater to Self continually. With this growing understanding, humility will replace our self-centered satisfaction.

This is the heart of our sanctification in Him. If you are excusing your sin, you are not losing your life in Him. You are actually holding onto your life. The more we spend time with God in His Word and through prayer, the more we will begin to realize just how repugnant and vile our sin is to God. We should be repenting of our sin daily because we cannot go through a day without sinning.

Growing humility in this way brings us closer to God and further away from our selfishness and sin. Did Job live life perfectly following this encounter with God? I’m sure not, but he did have a far greater understanding of God and realization of his own sin that kept him from becoming even more humble. He was likely more aware of his own sin, yet was even more willing to throw himself on God’s mercy because of it.

Job saw the Light. He spent the remainder of his days more God-focused, living in a way that created a more humble spirit within him. We need to do the same.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective