Page 11 - Job

comes along and he says, okay, which one of you have said, “where is
God?” You see, they had left God out of the whole discussion and that
was the main point. After Elihu prepares the way, can you guess who ends
it?
God Himself begins speaking in Chapter 38 and it says He answered Job
from the whirlwind, from a tornado. And when God speaks, He fires
seventy-two questions at Job in a row. Seventy-two questions that the
scientists have still not answered to this present day. They are still
scratching their heads over it. Tremendous section! Okay, then the book
ends in chapter 42:7 through the end. This is the great conclusion which
shows the results of all his suffering. Those are the basic facts of the book
which really doesn’t do much for your heart, but at least it gives you an
idea of what the book is about.

THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE

Now let me give you the Spiritual Outline. It begins the same way, with
the first two chapters which gives God’s partial explanation of the
mysteries of life. Now, I call it mysteries in the sense of that which is
unrevealed or not yet known. I used to say the book of Job told about the
sufferings of life, but it is bigger than that. It tells about the mysteries of
life. That includes suffering. Why do the righteous suffer? But that is only
part of it. It also answers the question: Why do some righteous prosper?

You see, that is another part of the mysteries of life. Why are some
Christians rich? Some are exalted and others are not? So we will call it the
mysteries of life. It begins with God’s partial answer, and the book ends
with God’s full answer to the mysteries of life. Notice how the book
starts. It starts with God. Notice how the book ends. It ends with God.
And you can guess what is sandwiched in between. In between is man’s
futile attempt, chapters 3-37, to figure things out himself.
Now one of the joys I had this week was reading the book of Job in two
sittings. It was a little long for one sitting, so I did it in two sittings. And
as you go through it, and especially as you go through this section, how
rational, how reasonable, how logical their arguments seem. Yet how far
short they fell, from God’s real answers.
The book begins with God’s key; the book ends with God’s key. And, in
between, man is trying to open the door with a thousand keys that don’t
fit! He is trying to figure out the combination. Why does this happen to
the righteous? What have I done that this should happen to me? And
man’s keys never seem to turn the latch, never open the door. Reminds me
of Luke 11:52

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