Divine Sovereignty in Suffering: Insights from Job’s Trials (Part 2)

Richard Belcher explores the theme of divine providence as demonstrated in Job’s life, focusing on the deeper theological implications and personal applications. Belcher discusses how God’s governance and sovereignty manifest in times of suffering and trials, offering insights into understanding and trusting in God’s purposes during difficult periods.

The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.

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Turn in your Bibles tonight to Job 40. Somebody might say, well, we didn’t get but to chapter two last night. It’s kind of like the man I invited to preach through the book of Revelation one week for me some years ago. He came on Sunday morning. We went all week, and on Friday night we were still in chapter two. So at least I’m going to get you out of chapter two tonight. Job, chapter 40. A few verses there, and then jump over to chapter 42.

¹ Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said: ² “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.” ³ Then Job answered the Lord and said: 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 40:1-5, NKJV)

Then jump to chapter 42.

¹ Then Job answered the Lord and said: ² “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. ³ ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ⁴ Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ 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 42:1-6, NKJV)

Pray with me before we speak. Father, we thank you for the rain. All comes by your sovereign hand, and even in your providence, you’ve blessed us through the rain.

Now may the word of God rain upon our hearts, watering our soul. And may there flow from that place in our hearts which so often can be dead before you, new growth and new life of spirituality and commitment. Thank you for what you’ve been doing in this conference. We pray for freedom, authority, and power, for the ministry of the word, for your glory tonight as we speak and as we pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Matthew Henry said the God of Israel is sometimes a God who hides himself, but he is never a God who absents himself. Did you get that? He hides, it seems, to us, but he does not leave us. He hides, yes, but he will never forsake us. And this is something that Job has yet to learn. As we pick him up where we left him last evening. Remember the theme that we set before you last night for the book of Job? Here is the theme.

The sovereign providence of God puts each of his elect into a certain context of history. And then, that providence of God governs and orchestrates the unfolding of that elect individual’s life for the glory of God and for the good of that elect person himself. Certainly, this orchestration includes salvation, and then it extends to every aspect and every event of every one of the elect’s lives. And that which God wants from us, that which God wants to teach us, is recognition of himself and submission to his will and his authority.

Did you get that from all of God’s working with us, His sovereign providence, governing and orchestrating and unfolding His events for our lives? He is teaching us recognition of His person and submission to His will or His authority. Now, it appears when we left Job last night that he had learned these lessons of recognition of God’s person and authority and submission to God’s sovereign providence. Remember how he acknowledged in those two severe tasks, his possessions were taken, his family was taken. But what did he do?

He bowed and worshiped, submitted to God, and said,

²¹ And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord .” (Job 1:21, NKJV)

A statement of sovereign providence. And then when his health was taken, what did he do? He said to his wife, “God gives to us both good and evil.” Another statement of sovereign providence, evidencing his submission to the authority of the God that he recognized. But the battle’s not over. If you only read the first couple of chapters of Job, you’ll miss the battle. In fact, the battle has only begun.

The lesson is that the great truths of theology, though learned initially in our hearts and minds, and though applied perhaps for a moment, they’re evidenced in our lives, but they must be learned and tested more deeply in the crucible of the reality of life. Thus we now turn to see Job’s further experience and education in the doctrine and reality of the sovereign providence of God. And, oh, how deep God must take us at times for us to learn experientially the deepest truths concerning himself and his ways. And thus the heart of the book unfolds.

And we see Job battling, and he’s battling in two areas as he’s trying to maintain his submission to his providential gods. Area one, he’s battling a very severe bodily condition. Area two, he’s battling a false theological position. So he’s battling a bodily condition, and he’s battling a false theological position. And the question of why begins to loom large in Job’s life in light of the bodily condition he’s in, and in light of the theological battle that he’s waging with his friends. I want us to do several things tonight.

I want us to understand these two factors. I want us to analyze these two areas or factors. I want us to see some clarity of thought in Job’s mind as he wrestles and struggles. And then I want us to see his final submission and God’s final vindication of his servant as he has stood and struggled for the truth.

First of all, let us understand the two areas in his struggle: the bodily condition. His health is gone. His family is gone. His wife is against him. His wealth is gone. His friends are gone. Except for the theologians who come. His respect is gone. No one wants to see job anymore. No one cares about job anymore. No one would honor job anymore with his presence. His help from other people is gone. He could have smacked his fingers throughout most of his life, and someone would have been there to help him. That’s all gone. His house is gone. His daily food is gone.

He sits alone all day and all night on the ash heap where the fire burns the garbage, where the dogs come as scavengers for food, where his bathroom is his bedroom, and his bedroom is his bathroom. That’s not a very pleasant thought. And he can find no rest or sleep. There is no medicine to relieve him of his pain. There are no sleeping pills to knock him out for a while, and he is in constant pain. Furthermore, he has no Bible to turn to.

He has no pastor to come and read scripture and hold his hand and pray with him. He has no christian radio station to lift him up. He has no cassette tapes of preaching or music to challenge him. He has no songs to sing, no books to read. The Puritans are a long way down the road, and journey and grace is even further down the road. He has no history of the past saints to read about, Adoniram Judson, David Brainerd. He has no friends but his accusers. He has no hope for tomorrow.

He has no peace for today. He has no rest for his body and no solace for his soul. Who can understand or explain the agony of his whole being stemming from his bodily condition? But second, understand introductorily the false theological position. This comes as a result of his three theologian friends and a theological neophyte who claim to have the answer to Job’s question of why. Beware of people who claim to have all the answers. The fellow who has the answer doesn’t have the problem, and the fellow who has the problem doesn’t have the answer.

It would seem to us the last thing Job needs at this time is a theological controversy, mental debate, false accusations. You know, talking theology can be tedious when you’re well, but it’s unbearable when you’re sick. The names of his theologian friends are given in Job 2:11: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. And they’re probably older men than Job; the scripture seems to indicate. And then there’s Elihu the neophyte. It rhymes with Shuhite. So I call him the neophyte.

And the purpose of his theological friends is to mourn and comfort him, to mourn with him. But when they come on the scene looking for Job, somebody said, “Well, Job’s out there at the dump.” And so they go out there and they look, and when they see him, they don’t recognize him. “And then could this be Job?” And when they first see him, they wept loudly. I don’t know exactly why they wept. Was it sympathy for his condition or sympathy as they thought of the implication of their theology? “He’s here because he’s a sinner.”

He’s done something terrible. Is that why they wept? He’s fallen. He’s an apostate. And they tore their mantles and sprinkled dust upon their heads towards heaven, and they sat down for seven days and seven nights, and they didn’t speak a word. His agony was so great, it very well could be that comforters in this situation were not allowed to say a word until the mourner opened the conversation. So, those are the two factors in his struggle: his bodily condition and a false theological problem that’s going to be thrown in his face.

But let me analyze these two a little further. His bodily condition, his bodily condition causes him to say some things that we say. Job, how could you say that in chapter three? Verse three,

³ “May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’ ⁴ May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it. ⁵ May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; May a cloud settle on it; May the blackness of the day terrify it. ⁶ As for that night, may darkness seize it; May it not rejoice among the days of the year, May it not come into the number of the months. (Job 3:3-6, NKJV)

Take that day of my birth off the calendar. It’s a curse of day. It’s an awful day. It’s a terrible day. Verse ten. It’s a horrible day. Take it off the calendar.

¹⁰ because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes. (Job 3:10, ESV)

Have you ever been to that place? I’ve never been to that place where I cursed the day I was born. I’ve never been there. And maybe you have. And in chapter three, he goes further in verse eleven,

¹¹ “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? ¹² Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? ¹³ For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; Then I would have been at rest (Job 3:11-13, NKJV)

It would have been better for me to die at birth and never know life. Never breathe, never see this world. My condition is so horrible.

And then in chapter three, verses 20 through 23:

²⁰ “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, ²¹ who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, ²² who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave? ²³ Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? (Job 3:20-23, NKJV)

In chapter six, the idea is the same. Verses 8-10:

⁸ “Oh that I might have my request, and that God would fulfill my hope, ⁹ that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! ¹⁰ This would be my comfort; I would even exult in pain unsparing, for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. (Job 6:8-10, NKJV)

I’ve never been there. Have you? Where you want to die? Not only wish you’d never been born, but now that I’m alive, I want to die. And in chapter seven, verses three and following, he complains of long unending nights. Have you ever had some of those? Verse three:

³ So I have been allotted months of futility, And wearisome nights have been appointed to me. ⁴ When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, And the night be ended?’ For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn. (Job 7:3-4, NKJV)

Perhaps sometime when you were sick and the fever was burning in your body, and you couldn’t sleep, and you just tossed and turned and wondered, when will morning get here? That’s where Job is. There is that word bitterness again.

¹¹ “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 7:11, ESV)

I want to die. I hate life. Verse 16. I would not live. Always let me alone. For my days are vanity, futile, worthless. Verse 15,

¹⁵ So that my soul chooses strangling And death rather than my body. ¹⁶ I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, For my days are but a breath. (Job 7:15-16, NKJV)

And then again in chapter nine, he complains and charges God as being greater and more powerful than he is. And I’m no match for that kind of a God. He complains in verse twelve of chapter nine. I can’t ask God questions. I can’t ask God, “What are you doing?” He’s God, and I can’t answer God if he were to ask me questions.

I can’t try to justify myself before God. I cannot reason with God. Verse 14. I cannot catch my breath against God. God’s outrunning me. It’s like I’m an individual trying to run a race. He doesn’t say this, but to illustrate it to us, trying to run a race with one of those Indianapolis 500 cars, and I just can’t keep up. I’m out of breath. I got out of breath running from my car through the rain tonight. I sure can’t keep up with God. He complains that he cannot speak of strength. I have none.

God is stronger. I’m no match for God. I can’t talk about justice. Verse 19. There’s no opportunity to talk about justice. God’s not here. He says he cannot speak of his own justice because his own mouth would condemn him. He seems to realize that I’m saying things that’s good to say. In verse 22, he says, God destroys the godly man as well as the wicked. In verse 23, God laughs at the trial of the innocent. Verse 35, he says, I actually fear God. I’m afraid of him.

Again, in verse nine, he complains that God will not let him bring his case before him and give him answers. God’s not like a man that I could go into the court and sue him. I can’t get any presence of God. Couldn’t there be a meat eater between me and God? I can’t even get that. In chapter ten, he complains that God knows he’s not wicked, yet God still assails him.

Verse seven of chapter ten,

⁷ Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand? (Job 10:7, NKJV)

He’s full of confusion in verse 15 from all the above. And he says, in verse 16, God hunts me just like a fierce lion. God’s after me, and I can’t get away from him. It’s pretty tough. And in the passage our brother read, chapter 23, verses three through five,

³ Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! ⁴ I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵ I would know what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. (Job 23:3-5, ESV)

Bodily factors have led to a man who is struggling. He wishes he had never been born. He wishes he could die. Now he’s praying to die. He’s complaining of unending nights of God’s dealing with him. He’s complaining that God won’t answer him. God won’t do what he wants.

Let us kill him. He indicates God’s dealt with him unfairly. He doesn’t know where to find God. I’ve never been there. Oh, I’ve done my complaining to God, but not from the depth of bodily sorrow and agony. Be careful if you have some desire to criticize.

Joe, one of my former students who’s a pastor in the United States, took a missionary trip. He came back with a virus and, or maybe both, a bacterial infection in his body. He spent a year of agony taking antibiotics to kill it. Had never killed it. Excruciating pain.

Then it finally attacked his gallbladder, and they removed his gallbladder, and again he almost died. And in that moment, this godly, spiritual man, one of the most godly brothers I’ve ever known, a man who preached holiness of life and walking with Christ in great depth, was so crushed. And he said things, thought things that he thought he would never say or think. When I was talking with him just recently, he said, I don’t know who that man was back there who acted that way, except it be the true depravity of my heart.

And he said, God revealed so much to me about my depravity and corruption. Easy to praise God when everything is going well, but I don’t know who that man was, and yet that man was me. That man was not the preacher that got in the pulpit and talked about holiness. That man was not the preacher that got into the pulpit and challenged others to live for Christ. That was the depravity of my own heart. As Job goes through all of this, I’m sure the question of, why did you get it here?

I would go to God’s throne and I would ask, “Why, God? What are you doing?” But I can’t find God. The bodily condition. But let me analyze a little further. The false theology. The false theology, his friends as they come. And there’s so much here, and I just have to give a very brief, and you can’t do justice to it in such a brief time, but it’s a mechanical theology. Their theology was, “God punishes sin, period. God rewards the righteous, period.” Right now in this life, if you sin right now, God will zap you.

Right now, if you live righteously, God will bless you right now. And if a man is suffering, he must be a sinner. And if a man is full of blessings, he must be living righteously for all. Know that God has set up certain laws. Do good and be blessed in this life. Do evil and suffer. This is it, period. No other possibilities, no exceptions, no arguments possible, no openness to debate. That’s it. I call it a vending machine theology.

Like, you put a buck into a vending machine and punch the right button, and you get a Coke; punch another button, you get a Seven Up. And so, in this vending machine theology, you live a good, righteous life. Blessings come out of the machine of God. If you sin, then judgment will come upon you. And so these friends come, and they pound Job for three rounds, and it all boils down to this: Job, you’re a sinner. Job, you’re in this condition because of sin.

Job, you can be delivered from this horror by confessing your sin and changing your ways. There’s no mystery of pain and suffering to these men; suffering is the punishment of sin, and not suffering is the reward of not sinning. Do good and be blessed. Do evil, and the blessings will be taken away. There’s no mystery to pain and suffering. It all comes because of your own sin. And clearly, God is bound by his moral character and code. He can never allow the godly to suffer, and he could never allow the ungodly to prosper.

And so Job is dumped on by these men while he’s in this horrendous bodily condition. And the word why in Job’s mind, even grows larger. Why God? He argues with them and says, no, you men are wrong. But still the question of why? Grows larger. I was preaching down in Florida a couple of months ago. I preached on Ephesians 2,

¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1, ESV)

D E A D, dead. Capital D E A D, dead, bold. D E A D, dead. Fahrenheit 85. Dead, dead.

So we kind of pictured that way next. The next night, somebody put across the front of the pulpit, just about to cover up the pulpit about that size, D E a D. There it was, font 285 or something, and it was bold here in Job’s mind. Why bold? Font 85, underlined, why God? Why God? Why God? Am I going through this? And again, you would probably have done the same thing.

And yet, as we’ve seen these two conditions, the bodily condition and the theological problem, we must understand that in the midst of Job’s struggles, there are moments of great theological clarity and victory. Notice a few of those. Job 12:9 and following, he notes clearly the wisdom and sovereignty of God. He’s struggling now. The Bible makes it clear that we, too, will struggle. Remember Romans 7. There’s nothing wrong with struggling. It’s not sin to struggle. But here he recognizes the wisdom and sovereignty of God. Chapter 12:9.

⁹ Who among all these does not know That the hand of the Lord has done this, (Job 12:9, NKJV)

Or Job 12:13,

¹³ “With Him are wisdom and strength, He has counsel and understanding. ¹⁴ If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt; If He imprisons a man, there can be no release. (Job 12:13-14, NKJV)

Job 12:17,

¹⁷ He leads counselors away plundered, And makes fools of the judges. ¹⁸ He loosens the bonds of kings, And binds their waist with a belt. (Job 12:17-18, NKJV)

That’s sovereignty. My God is sovereign, you say? Job 12:21,

²¹ He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong. (Job 12:21, ESV)

Not only does he recognize the sovereignty of God, but he declares his commitment to whatever he is suffering. And there’s been mention in this conference, Job 13:15,

¹⁵ Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. (Job 13:15, NKJV)

Now I wonder if you are ever able to say that in your trials. Though they fire me, still I will trust him. Though they falsely accuse me, yet still I’ll trust him. Though they lock me out of the church in my office, yet still I will trust him. Though they vilify me, yet still I will trust him. And though the church splits over the truth, yet still I will trust him.

Though he slays me, one of the high points of Job, yet I’ll still trust him. But he also declares his confidence in a time when he will be vindicated. So he recognizes God’s sovereignty. He shows a trust and a faith and a commitment, and he recognizes a vindication.

For I know this is Job 19:25-27. Again, another high point in the book, and perhaps the highest point in the book of Job.

²⁵ For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; ²⁶ And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, ²⁷ Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27, NKJV)

You talk about a strong theological statement, or even a New Testament writer. Here is Job in his situation: “I know my redeemer lives. I know that he’ll stand at that latter day upon the earth, and though my skin worms destroy me, yet in my flesh, resurrection. I shall see God for myself, whom my eyes shall behold.

Though my heart be consumed, I will see him, and in his presence I will melt. But it will be glorious.” It speaks of vindication. He will be vindicated someday.

But again, he declares confidence in God’s fairness and justice and his own godly life. Job 23:10-14,

¹⁰ But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. ¹¹ My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. ¹² I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food. ¹³ “But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does. ¹⁴ For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such things are with Him. (Job 23:10-14, NKJV)

God’s the one that’s orchestrating all of this, is what he says. These are statements of sovereign providence, vindication, the justice of God, sovereign providence of God working in his life. You see, theology does matter. Job couldn’t have made it without this truth. Theology does matter. Every once in a while, someone in one of my theology classes will say, well, I don’t want this theology.

Just give me Jesus. Just give me Jesus. I just want to love Jesus. And I always say, which Jesus do you want? There’s about a 1001 of them out there in people’s minds. Just give me Jesus. Which Jesus theology matters. And these counterfeit revivals that are floating around, they’re trying to say that Jonathan Edwards would be in agreement with what’s going on in their revivals. Not that Jonathan Edwards. I know one of these fellows might say, don’t you know who Jonathan Edwards is? I don’t know the Jonathan Edwards you’re talking about.

They don’t preach on sin. Jonathan Edwards preached on sin. And one of the leaders was asked, well, why don’t you all preach on sin? He said, well, people already feel so icky. So the doctrine, the doctrine of ickiness has replaced the doctrine of sin. That’s deep theology. Deep. It’s kind of a shame that laypeople will sometimes fall for anything. I remember a fellow that I heard preach one time, he said, we know that God is trinitarian God, because the word God has three letters in it. And everybody said, oh, that’s deep.

I never realized that before. That’s deep. Icky. And when somebody preaches on hell and judgment in these meetings, they laugh, they do; they turn loose, laughing all over the place. Ha ha ha. Laugh. Holy laughter. When hell and judgment are preached on, it’s not Jonathan Edwards. And these men are more confident of their own revelations than they are of their supposed revelations, than they are of God’s revelation. Theology still matters. Every once in a while, somebody will say, where do you go to church? And I tell them, oh, you go to that theological church.

And I never have said it, but one of these days I’m going to say, well, that’s better off than going to that empty-headed church. Grace prevails. But there he is, clear theology in the middle of that bodily condition, in that false theological position, clear theology in his struggles. But let me move to his final submission. We must understand what brought Job’s final submission to the puzzling events he had faced within God’s sovereign providence. We’ve understood the bodily condition, the false theological position.

We’ve analyzed them, we’ve seen something of his struggle, and we’ve seen the clarity of theology that God gave him in these moments. But what brought his final submission? Well, finally, what Job wants takes place, but when it takes place, he’s not so sure that was what he really wanted in Chapter 38. Chapter 38, finally God appears. Remember, this is the man who said, oh, if I could just find God’s throne, I would stalk into his presence and I would arm my mouth with words and I would tell God and I would demand from God.

And so God appears. Chapter 38:2. God says,

² “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? (Job 38:2, NKJV)

Now, that’s quite a statement. The highest man can go and try and explain the sovereign providence of God is just to muddy up the waters. Whenever I think of muddying the waters, it’s when I hit my ball into the lake and I see it out there and I try to fish it out.

But whether I’m using something to pull it out or whether I’m using a golf club, I just muddy the waters and I can’t see it anymore. And so it is with the sovereign providence of God and others of the truths of God. The more you poke around at them, the more you muddy the waters. If the Bible reveals it, may we believe it. And so God says, who’s this fella muddying the waters? And then God says, Job, I’ve got some questions for you. You say you have wanted to ask me some questions.

Let me ask you some questions. First, verse four. Job, where were you when I created the earth? Perhaps he’s saying, Job, were you at my right hand? Were you my helper? Were you one of the members of the Trinity? And Job, what are the dimensions of the earth? If you know, you know so much, Job, and you think you can probe all of these problems and questions. Okay, tell me the dimensions of the earth. Verse six. Where are the foundations of the earth fastened? This whole earth. What holds it together? What holds it down?

And Job, who keeps the seas and its boundaries? Verse twelve. Job, have you ever brought forth a new day? Job, did you ever say, let there be light and there it was. Verse 16,

¹⁶ “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? (Job 38:16, ESV)

Man can’t even walk past 6ft without some kind of an instrument to give him breath. Verse 17. Have you any revelation of the gates of death? Do you know what death’s all about? Verse 18. Do you know the size of the earth? Verse 19. Explain to me darkness and light, Job.

Verse 22. Can you explain to me snow and hail? Verse 24. Can you explain to me the east wind, whatever that is, it’s on your face. Where does it come from and what is it? Verses 25 and 26. Can you explain to me lightning, thunder, and rain? Verse 33. What do you know about the heavens, Job? Verse 37.

³⁷ Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, (Job 38:37, NKJV)

Verse 39. Can you give food to all the animals of the earth? Do you know all about how the animals give birth? Can you explain birth? Can you control the wild ox? I’m just making some choices here. Did you give wings to the peacocks and feathers to the ostrich? Did you give the horses strength? Can you make the horse fearful like a grasshopper can? Does the hawk and eagle fly at your command? Then Job 40:1-2,

¹ Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said: ² “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.” (Job 40:1-2, NKJV)

And it seems to be we could add, should the one who argues with the Almighty and muddies the waters, should he give instructions to the Almighty God? Let him that reproves God answer. Here’s your chance, Job. Speak up. your turn, Job. you’re in my presence now. Fill your mouth with arguments. Fill your mind with all of your problems and burdens. Accuse me like you did before. State for me the questions that you wanted to ask. Give me your best shot, Job. Give me your best reason.

Now, I want you to notice here, God never answers Job’s question of why. In all of what he has said, he never answers the question, “Job, this is the reason I allowed this to come upon you.” His message simply is that I am the Almighty God. Job, who are you? And in light of who God is and who Job is, there is only one conclusion Job can come to. He is to submit. And that’s what happens in Job 40:3-5. When he’s finally got his time in God’s presence, he has no arguments.

He demands no answers from God. He doesn’t even ask why. But in verse three, oh, behold, I’m full of sin. How can I answer you, God? What can I say to you? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Well, I will say this much more, God, once I have spoken, but I have no answers or words. Now one more thing, God. Twice I spoke, but that’s it. Should not that be our attitude towards our gracious, loving, all-knowing, sovereign, providential God concerning whatever he would bring into our lives? Submission.

And you would think, well, God encouraged Job. Now, but Chapter 40, here comes God again. Job, stand up. Stand up like a man. I’ve got some questions for you, Job, and I want some answers. Would you set aside my will for your life and condemn me so you can be right? Would you reject my will so you can be right by telling me what my will ought to be? Do you have power in your arm, Job? Power like mine? Verse 9, can you thunder like my voice? Job?

⁹ Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? (Job 40:9, NKJV)

Come on, Job. Verse 10.

¹⁰ Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, And array yourself with glory and beauty. (Job 40:10, NKJV)

Poor old Job is probably just cowering in the presence of God. Verse eleven. Let me see you cast judgment on the wicked. Let me see you bring down the proud. Verse 14. Job, if you can do that, I’ll listen to you. And then verses 15 through 24 tell him, take a look at a large animal that I created.

Job, you couldn’t even begin to control that animal. Chapter 41. Same thing. And through all of this, why, the whole message is Job, I am God. I’m the sovereign God who’s working his own providence. And Job, I ask from you recognition and submission.

In Chapter 42, Job answers God again with humility and repentance. Verse two.

² “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. (Job 42:2, NLT)

I know that no thought can be hidden from you. Oh, God, you know my every thought. You know all those things. I thought you asked why I talk so much. I’ve uttered that which I don’t understand. I’m ignorant. I’ve been talking about things too wonderful for me, things I know nothing about. You told me to listen to you, verse four, and answer your questions, verse five. I confess now I only heard about you from others. Now I’ve seen you with my own eyes. That’s why I hate myself when I sit here in dust and ashes to show my sorrow, broken before God, pride gone, no demands on God. Recognition and submission has finally come.

And God never answers the question, why? Never? And anyone who says, “well, the theme of the book of Job is why God sins and allows difficulties on godly people.” There’s no why answered here. No why. It’s simply recognition and submission. Job, you were right. You were right. When all of this began, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

²¹ And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord .” (Job 1:21, ESV)

Don’t you know that God allows good and evil? He never answers the question why? His message is, recognize my person. Bow to my almighty sovereignty and authority. Submit to my providence.

Be still and know that I am God. Sit down and shut up and enjoy letting me be God and stop trying to be God yourself. And then finally, we have seen the two factors he wrestled with: the confrontation, the submission. Now we must understand God’s vindication of his servant. This is my most favorite part of the book of Job. Job is vindicated. God restores it. He’s vindicated before his friends.

Chapter 42, verses seven,

⁷ After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. ⁸ So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.” (Job 42:7-8, NLT)

God recognizes the clarity of theology that Job had even in his struggles. It doesn’t mention Elihu the neophyte. And he did say some good things. He just was arrogant. And the Lord accepted Job, and he was vindicated before his friends. God said, Job was right. You guys were wrong. The truth was vindicated. But notice, he’s vindicated before all the world with a full restoration.

Job 42:10-16. He got all of his possessions back doubled. The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. A thousand sheep, 6000 camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, a thousand donkeys. And he got a new family. There came to him all of his brethren, all of his sisters.

¹⁰ And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. ¹² Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. (Job 42:10-12, NKJV)

Verse eleven. All of his previous acquaintances, they ate bread with him in his house. I think if I was Job, I would have said, where have you guys been? But Job didn’t. They comforted him over the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. They each had a piece of money, an earring of gold. He had seven sons and three daughters. God didn’t double the number of children, just gave him the same amount. In all the land, there were no women as fair as the daughters of Job.

¹⁵ In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. ¹⁶ And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, four generations. (Job 42:15-16, ESV)

And Job died, being old and full of days. And I would add, vindicated by God to be the godly man that he was. The truth was vindicated, and so it is true. The truth of God will always be vindicated, as the people of God stand for the truth.

The Lord Jesus Christ died. It appeared the enemy had won. What was the vindication? The resurrection. Paul died forsaken by men. What was his vindication?

His life and his writings shape the church for ages to come. In Hebrews 11, just very briefly, as we come down towards the end, Hebrews 11, there’s a verse that indicates that God will vindicate his people either in this life or in eternity. Notice Hebrews 11:32.

³² And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. (Hebrews 11:32-35, NKJV)

They’re vindicated while they’re alive. They wrought righteousness, they obtained promises, they stopped the mouths of lions. Their vindication came in this life, by the power of God upon them. It all took place in this life. Women received their dead, raised to life again. But notice. And others. Others were tortured, and they didn’t accept deliverance. They died. Where’s their vindication?

³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:37-38, NKJV)

Others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tested, they were slain with a sword. Where’s their vindication? They wandered about in sheepskin and goatskins, being destitute of flesh, inflicted, tormented. Where is their vindication? Of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and dens, in caves of the earth. Where is their vindication?

³⁹ And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39-40, ESV)

Their vindication is in eternity. Whatever you suffer for, the Lord Jesus Christ will either be vindicated on this earth or in eternity. Men may oppose you, but you’ll be vindicated someday, either upon this earth or in eternity. Men may seek to kill you, but you will either be vindicated someday on this earth or in eternity. They will try to defeat you, break your heart, falsely accuse you, even cause your family great grief.

But God will vindicate it, the situation, if you’re standing for the truth. If it’s the truth, God vindicates the truth, and he’ll vindicate his servant who stands for the truth as well, either in this life or someday in eternity. Can I close with a very personal note? I was born and bred as a Southern Baptist, saved and baptized in the Southern Baptist church in 1943. Somebody said, oh boy, you’re old. Well, I’m 65 years old. And as a boy growing up, I attended Sunday school, BTU, VBS.

Some of you don’t even know what BTU is anymore. Baptist training union remember, I was called to preach and surrender to preach in a Southern Baptist church in 1952. As a senior in high school, I attended a Southern Baptist junior college. From 52 through 54, I pastored Southern Baptist churches for 20 years. I’ve begun in my lifetime four Southern Baptist missions, which are now churches. But back in those days, in the fifties and the sixties, I sensed in those early years that I was not the kind of Southern Baptist some people wanted me to be.

I was very conservative in my theology. I asked questions. People told me I shouldn’t be asking. I didn’t do everything the denominational leaders said I needed to do. I was told twice that if I didn’t cooperate as I should, I would not be given opportunities to advance. And one said, you will be blackballed. I went to the wrong schools. After junior college, I went to Wheaton College, Covenant Seminary, three degrees there in Concordia Seminary for the doctorate. And then along the line, I committed the crime of all crimes.

In the mid-sixties, I became a Calvinist. And then, because there were no spiritual schools, I sent my son to the wrong school, according to some people. And always there was a question, if you’re a Southern Baptist, how can you do all these things? You went to the wrong schools, and your son to the wrong schools. And always there was the indication you’ll never advance in the Southern Baptist convention. your ministry will never have the full blessing of God without the full blessing of certain men.

And then I went to teach at an independent school in 1976, partly because in 1975 a Southern Baptist school shot me down. A man got up. The denominational leader got up and said, he’s not a Southern Baptist. Baptized Southern Baptist, saved in a Southern Baptist church, baptized in southern. Southern Baptist Church, called to preach at Southern Baptist Church, licensed by Southern Baptist church, pastor only Southern Baptist churches, plan to four southern baptist missions. I don’t know what you got to do to be a Southern Baptist.

I was asked by some, even if you’re a Southern Baptist, what are you doing at that school? Well, I know what I was doing at that school, but they didn’t. And I would have been very thoroughly content to serve God in obscurity and see His vindication in eternity. And it’s with some hesitation that I stated, but it seems to me that God has vindicated His servant even in this life. By our writings going into all the world, we ship the journey books everywhere.

Three of the journey books have been translated into Russian, and they’re going everywhere by the speaking opportunities in the states and out of the states and even in India. And in the last ten years, there have been several contacts about the possibility of teaching at a Southern Baptist school. It’s about a year, two years, it’ll be two or three years. This December, one of the more prestigious schools called and said, would you consider the possibility? I said, well, it’s kind of tough to make a career change at 63.

But when I hung the phone up, I said, yes, Lord, your servant has been vindicated. My encouragement to each of you: Serve him faithfully regardless. I will trust him though he slay me. Serve him faithfully in obscurity. He may hide and seem to have forgotten you. He is not absent. He has not forsaken you. Serve him faithfully in difficulty and trial, in opposition and hatred, in pain and suffering, when rejected of men, when everything around you seems to be crumbling. Serve him faithfully with submission to his sovereign providence.

Someday, as you suffered for the truth, he will vindicate you either in this life or in eternity. And it’s not that our vindication is what we’re looking for, but it’s the vindication of the truth that we stand for, which has brought us into the problems so often. And if you want a man to read about whose life testifies of God’s vindication, I would point you to Arthur W. Pink. Lived in obscurity, published a little magazine.

Nobody wanted him to preach. He published a little magazine for 30 years to a thousand people, but the most God got it through the mail. He died in obscurity in Stornoway, Scotland, on the Isle of Lewis. But ten years later, Arthur Pink’s writings were resurrected by the sovereign providence of God and His faithfulness.

All those years of being true to God were rewarded, as his books have been published into the hundreds of thousands, and as Arthur Pink, as much as any other man, along with the writing of the Puritans published by Banner of Truth, has been responsible for the revival of Calvinism among independents and Baptists of our day. Because back in those days, in the sixties, every Baptist you came across who was a Calvinist, you’d say, where did you hear that message? Arthur W. Pink. Arthur W. Pink. Arthur W. Pink, be faithful.

You are serving your God, not men. And with your eyes on him, stand for the truth regardless. Let’s bow our heads and hearts in prayer.

Thank you, Father, for your grace that saved us, your grace that keeps us even through the sovereign providence, that you might send the impossible moments of providence. It seems to us, Lord, focus our eyes upon you, and may we be faithful, not listening to men and what they might say, but following you. Yes, counsel from godly men, so valuable, but the counsel of so many is not godly counsel. Help us to follow you, love you, recognize you, and submit to you in every situation of life, and we trust you to do with our lives what you see fit. And we will praise you though you slay us.