Page 81 - Job

The wicked suffer. Job suffers. Job must be wicked. That was their
reasoning and the premise of all these debates.
This attitude toward suffering was challenged by the Lord Jesus in Luke
chapter 13:1–5 where we read about Pilates’s murder of some Galileans
while they were offering sacrifices. “He answered and said to them, ‘Do
you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than the other
Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no.” And then in
that same chapter, He tells about a tower that fell down and killed
eighteen men. Luke 13:4. Jesus said, “Or do you suppose that those
eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed, were worse
culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no.” That is
what Jesus said. Just because the tower fell on them and killed them, that
does not mean they were worse than those who escaped the bricks from
the tower.
In John 9 we find the story of the man born blind. Chapter 9:3 Jesus
answered, “It was neither this man that sinned nor his parents; but it
was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” And so,
Job’s friends never saw that side of suffering. They said the tower fell on
those men because they were wicked, and Pilate killed those men because
they were evil. That man was born blind because of sin. God says, no.
Indeed no. That is not why. It is deeper than that. Satan is presented in
Job as the instrument of Job’s afflictions. The manner in which the
affliction comes makes it look like the wrath of God. God was the One
that was blamed for this. Job wanted to know the riddle of life. He wanted
to know what life was all about, and is there a Savior?
Remember, now, these three men are not strangers. They are not
philosophers who came in from the local university to debate with Job.
According to the Scriptures, these are his best friends. Everybody else
forsook him except these three! And his best friends were shocked
because they thought they knew Job. The fact is, Job had a reputation
throughout the known world for his godliness. And because these three
men come with this idea that Job must be wicked – these men come
because they are shocked. They say, Job, we cannot believe it. What have
you done to deserve this? They have only one conclusion. He must be
wearing a mask of hypocrisy. God looks through the mask. And so those
men were broken- hearted when they came to Job, because they said you
have deceived us. You pretended you were a holy and righteous man. And
now look! God has judged you! What have you done? Tell us! Show us!
We are your friends. You can let us know. We love you; we want to pray
for you; we want to pray with you. Why have you played the hypocrite?
Why have you tried to deceive us?

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