Job Pt 16 – Double for Your Trouble

In our last declaration about Job we talked about recycled arguments.  You know the type, those lukewarm and/or heated discussions that one or both parties won’t put to rest.  The Three amigos, Elihu and Job were masters at it by now because that’s pretty much what they did from Chapters 4-37, complete with anger, harsh words, insults, hurt feelings and misperceptions, at least primarily on the part of the Amigos and Elihu.  

But the tables are about to turn as we will see in Chapters 38-39 when God makes a decision to speak to Job.  God can and uses various ways to speak to us.  Personally most of my experiences of God speaking to me have been in the form of a peaceful quiet voice.  In this instance though God spoke to Job through a whirlwind.  I am sure most of you are familiar with a whirlwind as I am, but I decided to review the definition to see if there were any descriptions I was unfamiliar with. 

According to dictionary.com a whirlwind is described as air moving rapidly; moving in violent action or destructive force; to move or travel quickly.  As I meditated I tried to imagine the sound.  Natural whirlwinds are very loud and destructive, generally speaking they will drown out the sound of a human voice and pick up anything in its path causing even more noise.  I imagine God speaking so loudly that it must have scared the “I don’t know what out of Job.”  Consider this; Job had mentioned more than once that he felt abandoned, but he went on and on about the desire to present his case before God.  God showed up unannounced so large that it had to be almost unbearable, like a tornado that cannot be controlled or opposed.  Whirlwind appearances are common for God:

·       God brought Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1-11)

·       God's presence is in the whirlwind (Psalm 77:18; Nahum 1:3)

·       God's coming is like a whirlwind (Isaiah 66:15; Jeremiah 4:13 and 23:19)

·       God appeared to Ezekiel in a whirlwind (Ezekiel 1:4) 

·       Job's troubles began when a “great wind” killed his children (Job 1:19). The Lord was in that storm, and now He speaks from the storm.  What an amazing entrance.

God was not obligated to respond to Job, however, I believe he does because of his love for Job, to vindicate him before his enemies and as a witness of his sovereignty, wisdom and concern for us.  Remember, God was proud of Job, he bragged about him to the accuser which is why he was in this situation in the first place.  God allowed it because he knew what Job was made out of even if Job didn’t know himself. 

In Chapter 37 Elihu ends his monologue but in Chapter 38 God begins with a question:  Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Some scholars believe he is speaking to Elihu who had just ended his monologue completely off track and others say he was speaking to Job.  Regardless to whether it was either of them, it is clear that all of them (Job, the Amigos and Elihu) spoke without accurate knowledge of God’s purpose as we understand it according to Job 1 and 2.  Obviously we shouldn't think that God expected them to know what they could not know; but he could expect them to appreciate that there were aspects to the matter known to God but hidden to man, and these aspects made sense of what seemed to make no sense.   In other words, they could have decided to trust God and the process versus to question and/or speak for him. 

Job wanted an opportunity to question God so God told him to man up because he was gonna interrogate Job and Job had no alternative but to answer.  I won’t take the time to read the beautifully phrased questions that God asked Job in Chapters 37-38 but I will invite you to read those chapters on your own because they will absolutely make you ponder at the greatness of our God.

The irony of God’s questions to Job is that they were unanswerable and were meant to show Job he wasn’t in a position to demand answers from God.  God wasn’t putting Job on blast (or trying to make him look ignorant) in his form of questioning as some might think.  Remember, Job's greatest agony was that he felt God had abandoned him, and now he knew he was not abandoned. Like any true revelation of God there were plenty of elements that would make Job feel small before the greatness of God; yet it could not take away from the massive comfort Job felt in simply being once again consciously in the presence of God.  Wow!!!  I would imagine that this moment made the suffering worth it for God which enabled and empowered Job more than he realized he had the capacity for.

By Chapter 40, God asked Job if he still wanted to argue and Job conceited.  He said: “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say. Job 40:4-5 (The Message).  The questions from God continue through Chapter 41 but something amazing happens in Chapter 42.  Job sees his error of questioning God and he wholeheartedly repents, he realizes his error for mistrusting God through this process and restoration takes place.  But that’s not the end of it.  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.  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 (The Message).  The Amigos did exactly as the Lord commanded and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

Points to consider:   After all the false accusations, the Amigos are rebuked by God himself for lying on him.  He could have caused suffering in their lives for a just cause up to killing them but instead they were made to offer sacrifices for their sins to Job.  Can you say S H A M E!!  After Job prayed for his friends God fully restored everything he lost, in fact he gave him double for his trouble along with seven more sons and three daughters who were drop dead gorgeous, the most beautiful in all of the nation  Man, MJ was a beast.  Assuming she was his baby momma for this new set a kids, she had 20 kids!!!

We have the privilege of studying/reading about Job’s life to better understand that the righteous suffer as well as the wicked but we always win if we don’t quit.  I’m out of time and this concludes the series of Job.  

In closing, I want to further substantiate the "double for your trouble" I believe is a promise for us: Instead of shame, their[a] portion will be double; instead of disgrace, they will rejoice over their share. They will possess a double portion in their land; everlasting joy will be theirs.  Isaiah 61:7 (CEB)

In His New Excellence,

Tania Not Tanya