He Maintains His Integrity

Any man, God is so good! Awesome! Hey, while you're standing, don't be seated. Take out your Bibles. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one.

We are in the Old Testament of our Bibles, which is the first two-thirds of the Bible. If you open to about the halfway point of your Bible and turn a little bit to the left, you'll be in the book of Job. Job chapter 2 is where we're going to pick it up.

Last week, we started in the book of Job. In Job chapter 2, we read, "Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord." The Lord said to the Satan, "From where do you come?" The Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, from walking back and forth on it."

Then the Lord said to the Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause."

So the Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand now and touch Job's bone and his flesh, and surely he will curse you to your face."

The Lord said to the Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life." So the Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.

As we consider this passage of Scripture and your servant Job, I pray, God...

That you would give us wisdom and understanding, not just into what the text says, but what it reveals about You. What it reveals to us about Your nature and the way in which You work. I pray that we would have a proper understanding of who You are and how You work. God, that proper understanding would draw us closer to You. As we draw near to You, You draw near to us. I ask that You would continue the work of transformation in us, that we would begin more and more every single day to take on Your nature and characteristics. We would be transformed as Your sons and daughters, more and more into the likeness of Your children— the way that we think, the way that we act, speak, and respond. God, do that work in us, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

Last week, we began here in the book of Job. From time to time, as a preacher, you know that you have squarely hit the right note with a message by the amount of feedback that you get as a result of that message. I had a fair bit of feedback on the message last week, partly because I suggested an alternate reading of the characters presented to us in Job chapters one and two, mostly this individual referred to as the Satan.

But mostly, the feedback I received from last week's message was because of the topic of suffering, which is a very important topic. We'll talk more about the characters presented here and the alternate reading of those characters in Job 1 and 2 in a moment. But let's begin first with this topic of suffering. It's important to acknowledge that everyone suffers. Suffering is not the exception; it is the rule. We live in a broken and fallen world. It's worth acknowledging that everyone suffers because there are those in our own country who purport to be preachers of the Bible and say that Christians do not suffer.

True, none of us is a Christian because we all suffer; everyone suffers. It has been referred to as the human reality. Suffering is not the exception; it is the rule. The challenge for us, as it relates to suffering, is that living in a modern and highly privileged culture, we are fortunate to live in a place where we have, in many ways, mitigated suffering. Relatively speaking, we do not suffer in the same way that other people have suffered throughout human history or are suffering at this moment in other places. I think we all would be at least honest enough to admit that.

The challenge for us, living in a culture where we have highly mitigated suffering, is how we respond to suffering. Now, you may say, "Well, I'm not sure that we really live in a place where we've mitigated suffering." So, I want to give a minor reality check. I have good friends, and we have good friends who we’ve partnered with, who serve the Lord in Mozambique, Africa, which is in Sub-Saharan Eastern Africa. Luke Ryder and his wife are actually here in the States right now, but we’ve had an opportunity to go and minister with them in Mozambique many times. I’ve been there a couple of times, and I remember one time I was with Luke a number of years ago. He was sharing with me that he was invited to be a part of the naming ceremony of a child.

This was a really important event for him because this family had chosen to name their child Luke after him, due to the impact he had had on their lives. Here’s the interesting thing about this naming ceremony: it took place when the child was one year old. They didn’t name the child until the child was one. Why? Because infant mortality is ten times higher than it is here, and you’re not entirely sure if that child is going to make it to their first birthday. We can’t even fully comprehend that. Why? Because we live in a place where you basically know the sex of the child six months into the pregnancy, and you’ve chosen to paint the nursery pink or blue. You’ve probably chosen a name, and for some of you, you already know the university that child is going to attend and the job that child is going to have. Why? Because we have a default assumption.

Of life, we don't have to worry if that child is going to make it through the first year. We don't have to delay the naming of the child until they turn one. That's a great illustration of the fact that we've mitigated suffering. Now, I don't think anyone would argue that that's a good thing. No one likes to suffer. In fact, we would very much like to ease that kind of suffering in the world. It is wonderful to know that infant mortality has been reduced by more than a hundred percent in some of these places. It is phenomenal to see what's happening.

However, we still live in a place where we have mitigated suffering. Our normal experience here in the United States of America, which we have all grown up under, is abnormal compared to most of human history and for most of the people in the rest of the world. We are insulated from a lot of suffering, which is great. No one likes to suffer, but insulation from suffering also has the effect of amplifying our experience of suffering when it comes.

What do I mean? Well, if the death of a child in that first year of life or the first five years of life is somewhat normative, then when the death of a child occurs in a place like Mozambique, it is less impactful than it would be in a place like where we live, where we have the default assumption of life. When we are insulated from suffering, the experience of suffering is amplified for us to the point that even minor sufferings become major events in our lives. We even name them "hashtag first world problems."

For example, when the Wi-Fi is not working or the power company turns off the power for a couple of hours, we might think, "Good gracious, life is coming to an end!" So, when major suffering does come, it is almost entirely debilitating in our culture. All of this becomes a real challenge regarding the issues of suffering if you believe in a higher power.

An all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God—that is, if you're a Christian. Christians have traditionally believed in an all-powerful, omnipotent, all-knowing, omniscient, all-loving, omni-benevolent God. We wrestle with the issues of suffering in light of the existence of that God. This is something that Christians have been grappling with for centuries. It is often referred to under the heading or title of the theological term "theodicy." Theodicy is the vindication of divine goodness and providence in light of the existence of evil and suffering.

We live in a world that is filled with evil and suffering. We see it all around us, and we believe in a God who is all-loving, all-powerful, all-good, and all-knowing. The challenging question we face, point number one on your outline, is: If God is all-loving, all-powerful, and all-knowing, then why do we suffer? This is likely a question that you have been confronted with, or perhaps someone in your family has asked this question before. Most people wrestle with this question; it is a good question to ponder. If God is all-loving, all-powerful, and all-kind, then why do we suffer?

This question has very good theological answers that date back centuries. You can read volumes of books from figures like Augustine to Thomas Aquinas and many others throughout the centuries of Christian history. There are substantial theological discussions about the issues of suffering and the nature of God.

As a side note, when I mention that there are good theological answers going back for centuries, I want to make this really clear: theological answers are almost completely worthless to someone who is suffering. They are not the answer for the person who is in pain; compassion is the answer. You learn this in a significant way when you do the work of a chaplain, which I have been doing for many years. You come into situations where people are suffering, facing crises, or dealing with tragic deaths.

This happens unanticipated, and that's not the time though the question will be asked. You can be certain I have received the question many times before: "Why?" My default answer every time that question comes to me in that circumstance is that no answer I could give you at this moment will take away the pain. So, you minister to the hurt and the pain. That doesn't mean there aren't good answers; I think there are good theological answers, but that's not the time or the place. We're going to have that illustrated perfectly in the coming weeks.

Now, the question is, if there is a God, why is there suffering? The Book of Job illustrates one of the oldest theological answers to that question. Not only is it one of the oldest theological answers in writing, but it is at least 3,500, maybe 4,000 years old, because we have it here in this book. It's probably older than that, but it persists today. This answer exists virtually everywhere on the planet and in virtually every culture.

If we go back 3,500 years or 4,000 years ago to the ancient Near East, where this story took place, the theological answer for suffering in the world is called the law of retribution. What is the law of retribution? The law of retribution believes that you are suffering because you deserve it. That's what we're going to see. Job has three friends, and we will be introduced to them next week. What is their worldview? What is their theological answer for Job's suffering? They indicate that Job is not upright; he is suffering because he deserves it. That's called the law of retribution.

Now, if you move from the ancient Near East to the Far East, it has a different name: it's called Karma. In Buddhism and Hinduism, what is karma? Karma is the principle that what you are experiencing right now has come upon you because of your actions in this life previously or in another existence. You are going through all these things right now because of karma, because of everything that you've done in the past.

Here's the kicker: I can't help you in your suffering because you have to go through this. If I help you, it's only going to hinder you from progressing in the next life. So far be it for me to intervene in your suffering. That's challenging; it gives you a lot of...

Understanding why things are the way they are in India now, the Christians sitting in 21st century America might say, "See, we don't have any of those archaic principles, like the law of retribution and karma. We don't believe in that kind of stuff." However, hold on a second. We do have a very clear Western idea of this, which is built upon a New Testament principle called the principle of sowing and reaping. You reap what you sow, or as we sometimes refer to it, the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

So, we have a karmic principle, a law of retribution. Every culture—West, Mideast, and East—has this view and has had it for centuries. This is often the default assumption when we see someone suffer. Whether we like it or not, we begin to think, "Hmm, they must have done something bad." This is beautifully illustrated in the story of Paul when he came to the island of Malta. He was rescued from a storm and a shipwreck, and then he got bitten by a snake. All the people on the island concluded that he must be some wicked sinner because this wouldn't happen otherwise. He was saved from the storm, but then he got bitten by the snake, leading them to believe he must be a really wicked person.

We think that way; the law of retribution and karma, the principle of sowing and reaping, is ingrained in us. We will be addressing these concepts as we go through this discussion.

Back to our story: if you were here last week, you know that in Job chapter one, Job was described as the most righteous, the most wealthy, the most blessed, and the most pious man of his day. According to God, Job was the most upright man on the earth. However, an issue was brought before God, and this is where I have an alternate view of a character called the accuser. The Hebrew word "hasatan" means "the accuser."

The accuser comes before God, and God says, "Have you considered my servant Job? He is the most wealthy, the most righteous, and the most pious man on the whole earth." The accuser replies, "That may be true, but it could be said that Job only serves you because you are really good to him. It could be said that Job is a mercenary."

So, we have to test that question: Is he truly righteous, or is he just a mercenary? How do we test that? We have to take everything away from him that you blessed him with.

In response to the accuser's question, God gave Job up to be tested. One day, he loses his fortune, his business, and his children—seven sons and three daughters. How did Job respond?

In Job chapter 1, verse 20, it says, "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped God." He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." In all of this, Job did not sin nor charge God with any wrong. Spoiler alert: we will see something very similar at the end of our text in chapter 2, verse 10, where it states, "In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips."

Job loses everything—everything that was gained to him in this life: his wealth, his business, and his children. In today's text, we will see that he also loses his health. The loss of everything he endures apparently has nothing to do with any wrong that he has done. What does the law of retribution say? It suggests that he is deserving of this suffering. However, the Scripture tells us very clearly in Job chapter 2 that his suffering was undeserved. He did not receive this suffering because of his unrighteousness; rather, he received it in response to his righteousness, to test his righteousness. The suffering he experiences is a test of his uprightness.

Now, two things we need to note. First, that Job suffered to test his righteousness does not mean that every suffering we go through is a test of our righteousness. Just because that happened to Job in this story does not mean that we can apply that conclusion to every person suffering.

Second, we need to consider Job's response to his own suffering and the response of others in his life, particularly his friends, as we will see in the rest of the book. Job's response to his own suffering indicates a very important consideration. Biblical writers do not hold God responsible for suffering, or perhaps another way of saying it is that they do not...

Judge God wrong for suffering? In all of this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. He did not accuse God of injustice. That is a really important thing to consider.

Think about it like this: we live in a time and in a place where we have mitigated suffering more than any other culture or time in all of human history. Suffering, in many respects, that most of the world goes through is foreign to us. I'm not saying that's a bad thing; I'm happy about that. Is anyone else happy about that?

And yet, in the culture where we have mitigated suffering so much, we are far faster to accuse God of wrong when suffering comes than Job, who suffered more than any of us will ever suffer. At the very least, that's worth considering. I would suggest that it indicates he had a better understanding of suffering and God than we do. We could learn a lot from him.

The biblical writers and those they write of do not charge God with wrong or hold Him responsible, even when there is every indication that God is responsible. Job chapter 2, verse 1 states, "Again there was a day when the sons of God"—that's angels—"came to present themselves before the Lord, and the accuser, or the Satan, came also among them to present himself to the Lord."

The Lord said to the Satan, "From where do you come?" He said, "I've come from going to and fro on the earth, walking back and forth on it." The Lord said, just like He did in chapter 1, "Have you considered?" That word "considered" means to weigh in the balances or to consider like a military officer considering a battle plan.

"Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil." Underline this: "And still he holds fast to his integrity." He maintains his innocence; he maintains his uprightness. He holds fast to his integrity, although you, the Satan, accused him.

God says against him to destroy him, "Circle us without cause." You've called upon me to destroy him without cause. The question was: Was Job righteous according to God? Yes. Did Job do anything worthy of his excessive suffering? No. Who caused Job's suffering? What does the text say? "You, Satan, incited me that I would destroy him without cause." God was the cause of Job's suffering.

Now, again, we shouldn't read into this that God is the cause of all suffering; that would be the wrong interpretation. But in this situation, God certainly allowed Job's suffering, or at the very least, He did not stop it. He apparently limits it in Chapter 1 and He limits it in Chapter 2, but He does not stop it. God moved against Job to destroy him without cause. Does that bother anyone else other than me? That bothers us. We feel that is unjust; we feel that's wrong to the point that we would even consider charging God with injustice.

Yet in all this, Job, the guy who suffered, did not charge God with wrong. So if it seems wrong to me, perhaps I have a misunderstanding of a circumstance or I have a misunderstanding of God. We assume that if God is all-loving, all-powerful, and all-knowing, then we should not suffer. That's our assumption, right?

Point number three: Our suffering, according to what we read in the Scriptures here, is not an indication of God's injustice or inability to intervene. But why doesn't He intervene? Well, here's the part we have a really hard time with: We don't always know the answer to that question, at least not now.

Why does God not intervene? We don't know, and we don't like that we don't know. As we read through the Scriptures and get to know God, whether it's through Job or other passages in the Bible, we still don't understand why He doesn't intervene. However, we can trust that God is not unaware of our suffering. He knows.

Maybe that doesn't help you much. It feels frustrating to think, "Wait a minute, You know what I'm going through, yet You're not doing anything. Why?" Again, as God has revealed to us in the Scriptures, we should believe that God has a purpose in our suffering. This is clearly presented in the book of Job. Even if we don't like the purpose, there is a purpose, even if I don't like it.

Here's one other thing to consider. Following the logic of C.S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity, our desire for a world without suffering indicates that there is a future world without suffering. Let me read to you from Lewis's book, Mere Christianity, on page 136: "Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

Why do you have a desire for a world without suffering? According to Lewis, and I think he's right, it indicates there is a world without suffering—a world with no more death, sorrow, sickness, or war. No more malaria, no more tuberculosis, and no such thing as infant mortality. The Bible predicts that world. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, contains predictive prophecy that says, "He shall wipe away every tear, and there shall be no more war, and no more sorrow, and no more sickness." "Behold, I have made a new heaven and a new earth."

If there is within me a desire that this world does not satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was created for another world. I don't know about you, but I think that's really good news. The Apostle Paul in Romans 8 would say that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. We are in that future world, and it's going to be glorious. That's the hope of the Christian.

I want to suggest that this is also the hope of Job. We will see that later as we go through this book. Job's hope is clear: I know that my Redeemer lives, and I will stand with Him on that day. Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. Still, he maintains his integrity, although you incited Me to destroy him without cause. Job maintains his innocence and his uprightness.

Then Satan answered the Lord in Job chapter 2, saying, "Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. You stretch out Your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face." Previously, in Job chapter 1, all of Job's suffering had been external to him, but now it is coming close to home—his own body. Earlier, God had said to Satan, "You are not allowed to touch him. Take everything he has, but you can't touch him."

Now, Satan says to God, "Listen, we still have a problem here. Yes, he has not buckled; he has not cursed You with his lips. But it could still be said that he is a mercenary because he still has his health. You take his health, and the wording here is so strong that one commentator points out it is as if the accuser says, 'If You take his health, I'll be damned if he does not curse You to Your face.'"

The Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life. Don't kill him. You can take him right up to the edge, but don't kill him." Biblical writers do not hold God responsible for suffering, not even the sufferer Job. However, it is clear that God is responsible here; He is behind Job's suffering.

Not accusing Him of injustice, they don't say He's wrong in this. Therefore, we must conclude point number four: if God does not forestall our suffering, He must have a purpose in it. Clearly, God was not powerless to prevent Job's suffering; He allows it. Either God is not powerless—He could stop it, but He doesn't—or God is an arbitrary brute who just randomly fires His gun at any old passerby. Alternatively, we have to conclude He has a purpose in what is happening and what is going on.

This is a really important reality because the ruling philosophy, and the increasing philosophy of Western society in a postmodern age, is existential nihilism. What is that? It means nothing has a purpose; there's no purpose to any of it.

In verse 7, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He took for himself a piece of broken clay pot with which he scraped himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Oh man, can it get any worse? Oh wait, enter Job's wife in verse 9. You wondered where she was when we talked about his seven sons and three daughters last week, but for dramatic effect, she's held back until now.

Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your innocence, your integrity, your uprightness? Curse God and die!" Now, a lot of grief has been given to Job's wife—let's call her Jobina—but remember, she has experienced the death of her children right there with Job. She has experienced the loss of everything, just as he has. Now she's watched her husband suffer, someone she believes to be upright. She knows him better than his friends; she knows him better than anyone else. And she says, "Do you still hold fast?"

To your integrity, then, blaspheme God and die. End it, end it now. This is too much, Job. Now, as much as I'd like to spend more time with Jobina, we don't have to this time. It is more important for our purposes to look at Job's response to her.

Look at what he says in verse 10: "But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.'" Now note this; this is really great. Job does not accuse her of foolishness. He knows she is not a foolish woman. He says, "No, no, you're speaking like one of the foolish ones. That's not you."

Then comes this amazing statement: "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all of this, Job did not sin with his lips. He gives the right response of an upright individual, a righteous individual, in the face of adversity, suffering, and pain. Shall we indeed accept good from God only and not accept adversity also?

Point number five on your outline: the righteous sufferer. Job, in this situation, the righteous sufferer, trusts that God knows what He has permitted and why He has permitted it. Job doesn't know everything, but he trusts. He takes it by faith that God knows what He has allowed. He trusts that God knows what is going on, and he believes God knows why He has allowed it. I may not know why He has allowed it, but God knows why He has allowed it.

Now, from the perspective of Job's wife, the suffering was purposeless; it was arbitrary, and God was to blame for it. Because if her husband is upright and has integrity, then her only conclusion can be, "God, you're wrong." She believes her husband to be righteous and upright, so her only conclusion can be, "God, you're to blame for this." She sees God's treatment of Job as an injustice, and Job ought to curse God for it and call Him to account for what He has done. But Job would have...

Nothing of it. The righteous and pious Job believed God to be just, and therefore he believed that God, who has permitted this, must have a reason for it, even if he did not know what that reason was. Four thousand years ago, there was a righteous man named Job who suffered in a seemingly unrighteous way, in a way that seemed arbitrary and random, in a way that seemed unreasonable and without a purpose—needless suffering. Through all of it, Job maintained his integrity in adversity.

Two thousand years ago, someone far more righteous than Job, far greater than Job, suffered righteously in a way that seemed random, in a way that seemed unjust. He suffered unrighteously for the unrighteousness of others on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem. Through all of it, he maintained his integrity in the midst of adversity. The greater than Job, Jesus Christ, maintained his integrity in adversity until the end. His eye was not on his Redeemer; his eye was on Redemption.

When we go through adversity, we are exhorted and counseled to keep our eye on Him. The author of the Book of Hebrews says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily ensnare us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Even if it's through trial, pain, and suffering, let us run this race with endurance, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured suffering. He knew there was a purpose in it. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners.

Against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. The prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before he was crucified was, "Father, if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me." In his humanity, did Jesus desire to suffer? Does anybody desire to suffer in their humanity? No. But what did he say? "Not my will, but yours be done." Why? Because God had a purpose in and through the suffering, and the purpose was a world without suffering.

One of the ways that we consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself is to remember through the broken bread and the cup of communion. So, I’m going to invite Anthony and our worship leaders to come back up, and we’re going to partake together today of communion as we remember the suffering of Jesus, the passion we sometimes call it. To an outside observer, it may seem kind of arbitrary, kind of unjust, but there was a purpose in it. His body was broken for us, and his blood was shed for us so that we can have hope of a world without suffering in his presence, where there is fullness of joy at his right hand and pleasures forevermore.

We were created for that world, and this world is broken because of sin. He came to break the back of sin. Father, as we prepare our hearts for communion today, I pray that you would minister your grace to those who are here this morning, who are themselves suffering or walking with somebody else through the midst of suffering. The fact is, living in a broken and fallen world as we do, suffering is normative; it is reality. But God, you have made us for a world that no longer has that. Because of what you accomplished on the cross, which seems unjust, we who have sinned are given your grace.

Righteousness is found as you take our sin upon yourself so that we can have hope for a life and world without suffering. God, we rejoice in you. We rejoice in your work on the cross. We thank you that you suffered for us, the just for the unjust, that we might receive righteousness. We praise you today. That's why it's in your name we pray.