Satan vs. Job . . . Round Two │ Msg 3/22

0:01 If you brought a Bible with you today, would you open it toward the center section of the book of Job? Just before the large book of Psalms, you'll find Job. Locate the second chapter and may I read for you the first ten verses as we focus on Satan versus Job, round two. Job 2, verse 1. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, Where have you come from? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it. The Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth.

0:57 A blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity. Although you incited me against him to ruin him without cause. Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. however put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh he will curse you to your face so the lord said to satan behold he is in your power only spare his life Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.

1:53 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God. and die. but he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips.

2:31 When bad things happen, it seems they often happen to the wrong people. johnny gunther was a handsome teenager who was a straight-a student at deerfield academy he had high hopes and great dreams though young in age he had already thought about tomorrow he was majoring in math and chemistry and everything looked bright on the horizon for Johnny until the dark shadow of brain cancer crossed his life. During the 14 months after the diagnosis, he endured two serious operations. And even after the second operation, he passed the grueling entrance exams to Columbia University. Two weeks after being accepted to Columbia, young Johnny Gunther died.

3:33 The character of this brave young man was revealed after the first surgery. The parents, John and Francis Gunther, were alone with the physician who told them the grim prognosis, and they struggled wondering what they should say and how much they should say. And Francis said, I know my son well enough to know that he is so curious and he is so bright.

4:05 I know he will want to know everything, but how should we tell him? they decided that the surgeon would be the one who would go to Johnny and explain to him the whole story. So all alone, he slipped into Johnny's room and the two of them talked.

4:28 And the surgeon told him the seriousness of the malignant brain tumor. the boy listened with rapt attention and hardly blinked when the physician finished the young man's only response was doctor how shall we break this news to my parents when bad things happen they seem always to happen to the wrong person we're always left with that three-letter word, why? Why did such a terrible thing like brain cancer invade Johnny Gunther's life? that question is being asked in every major hospital, in every major city around our nation this day.

5:27 In some of the rooms, that question is on the lips of some of the people. Every large community has within it a home or two where that question is still being asked without an answer. Somewhere in all of this, there is room for the story of Job.

5:54 For as we have learned, a better man never lived until this time. he was a good man, he was a godly man, he was a faithful husband, he was a loving and devoted father. He was a good employer. His hard work and integrity had led to a prosperous closing number of years of his life, which he was to enjoy, with plenty of livestock and sufficient camels to pay the dreams that he and his wife had for the future, and it looked as though it was all a downhill slide. And then the bottom of his life dropped out. We call it unfair suffering. seemingly senseless tragedy invaded the life of one who didn't deserve it and he's left to pick up the pieces he and his wife he's lost most of his servants, all but four.

7:09 He's lost all of his means of making a living, and he's lost all ten of his grown children. And to make matters worse, we know a lot more than Job knew. He had no idea of this plan that was being laid behind the scenes against him. So to him, it just was like a bolt out of the blue.

7:38 Just like those workers on the 10th of September, 2001, who left late in the evening after a busy day in the World Trade Center, planning for tomorrow, putting their notes on their Palm Pilots, adding their thoughts for the day, for the 11th, the to-do list of things that needed to get done. and so many came in early, early the morning of the 11th to begin their work and before 8 o'clock they had no idea that American Airlines flight number 11 was heading directly for their tower in the North Tower and it struck so surprising and shocking was it that not even those in the South Tower knew of it and had no idea that a plan was underway for that tower. And only 18 minutes later at 9.03, the South Tower was struck by Flight 175 United.

8:45 We couldn't believe it. It was out of the blue. Why them? Why that? what kind of plan is underway? And Job thought that when all of his oxen and donkeys and servants and sheep and servants and camels and servants, and now his ten children, gone.

9:12 We sit in this somewhat comfortable place and we try to imagine what we would have done. Eugene Peterson captures the scene in the paraphrase of the message. Job got to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell to the ground and worshipped. Naked I came from my mother's womb. Naked I'll return to the womb of the earth. God gives, God takes. God's name be ever blessed.

9:45 Not once through all this did Job sin. not once did he blame God. Remarkable. and I'm sure in the struggle of a fitful night trying to sleep after burying all ten of the children with his own hands, and the groaning and the weeping and the grieving alongside his precious wife who had also lost the ten. he had no idea that more was underway. He couldn't have imagined it any more than those in the Pentagon who were now busily engaged in dealing with the details of the northeastern Atlantic shoreline and the harbor in New York where obviously the terrorist was striking would have any idea that there was now another plane on another evil mission soon to plunge into the very side of the building where they're working on this other tragedy.

10:48 Having spoken to some of those officers who were in the building at that time, one even admitted to his own embarrassment, it never dawned on me that the Pentagon was next. But that plane circled and not being able to find the White House, which they were convinced it was heading for, because of the foliage of mid-September. The pilot, in his maddening plan, turned and found this five-sided building. He knew what it was and tore a hole 200 feet wide as there was a double explosion. First the plane crashing into the building and then the igniting of the fuel that sent fire down the hallway.

11:34 It's like Joe. it just it just wasn't fair it just wasn't fair from our perspective he had stood in his integrity he had blessed his father he had worshipped him and Satan couldn't stand it he lost round one the second chapter begins as ominously as the first chapter had continued. Remember how you marked it? Verse 1 of chapter 1, there was a man. Chapter 1, verse 6, there was a day. Chapter 2, verse 1, again, there was a day. We're not told how long. I don't think very long. It's like Satan to hit us with a double blast. The first one a surprise, the second one an absolute shock.

12:34 He had a plan when he stood before the Lord God, along with his emissaries, and the Lord, verse 2, said to Satan, Where have you come from? Satan answered the Lord and said, From roaming about on the earth, walking around on it, the Lord said to Satan, remembering their earlier conversation, Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. And he adds this time, he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to ruin him without a cause. See the word ruin? The Hebrew word means to swallow. It is in the Piel stem, P-I-E-L, which is the stem that intensifies the verb. And in that sense, it's the idea of a barb, the scraping away, the gagging, if you will. You plan for me to ruin him without cause.

13:32 Satan, not one to be outclassed, answered rather impudently. Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. You've still got that hedge around him. He still gets penthouse treatment. He may not be able to make a living with the former animals, but he's got his health and he can go on living and they can have more children. But you touch him at his lowest level, his flesh and blood, and he will curse you to your face.

14:07 I think he said some of this out of irritating anger. He lives his life in anger. And he makes his prediction, he will curse you to your face. Verse 6, so the Lord said to Satan, think about this, behold, he is in your power. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine your name connected to verse 6? All right, Lucifer, go back, but don't kill him. He set the boundary, preserved his life, but he's fair game. And as shocked as those in the Pentagon were, Job awoke the next morning feeling sore.

14:53 Unusually sore and feverish. Why? Because verse 7, Satan went out from the presence and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He felt the pain under his arm and then he felt one at his neck. Something was inside his mouth swelling.

15:17 And then across his eyes and even in his scalp and of all things, he couldn't get his sandals on. and his fever began to rage and he had lost his appetite. It's like he was coming apart. He says something to his wife. She looks and notices. He asks her to check his back. She observes. There are swollen marks all over and they are called here sore boils. Medical doctors down through the centuries have been curious about this particular ailment, this skin malady.

16:03 In my research, I found a number of comments made in their guesswork, and they may have gotten on to something. One said it was smallpox, another one elephantiasis, another chronic eczema, another leprosy. One suggested psoriasis, another pitiriasis, another keratosis. One even said for sure it was pemphigus foliochus.

16:35 I'm sure I said it wrong. And of course, a number of them suggested it was a melanoma, advancing form of skin cancer. This man, this man, as Satan noticed how quickly it reads, went out, smoked. They're almost brought in juxtaposition. He went out and smoked Job. Hit him while he was down. What he thought was maybe just sore muscles from the bearing of ten children, he realized was now an eruption of skin ulcers. And to the pathetic man's dismay, he now realized he had a disease that would make him miserable. I have studied the 42 chapters of Job, and I have made note of every reference to the symptoms that accompanied this ailment.

17:33 Sit and listen to them. Don't try to turn to the verses. This is what he suffered. Inflamed ulcerous sores, 2-7. Persistent itching, 2-8. Degenerative changes in facial skin, disfiguration, 212. Loss of appetite, 324. Fears and depression, 325.

18:02 Purulent sores that burst open, scab over, crack, and ooze with pus, 7-5. Worms that form in the sores themselves, 7-5. Difficulty in breathing, 918. A darkening of the eyelids, 1616. Foul breath, 1917. Loss of weight, 1920. 3321. Excruciating continual pain, 3030. Also high fever with chills and discoloring of skin. Mixed with anxiety, diarrhea, 30, verse 27. Delirium, sleeplessness, rejection of friends. and all this lasting for months, 7-3, 29-2.

18:52 In short, Job became the personification of misery. I failed to mention in verse 8 of chapter 2 that all of this resulted in his being isolated and sitting at the city dump, we would call it today. the ashes were the places where was the place where they burned the garbage and the rubbish and the human excrement of the city became his abode. Warren Wiersbe writes there the city garbage was deposited and burned and there the city's rejects lived begging alms from whomever passed by. At the ash heap, dogs fought over something to eat, and the city's dung was brought and burned. The city's leading citizen was now living in abject poverty and shame. All that he humanly had left were his wife and three friends, and even they turned against him.

19:54 complete confusion, total isolation, no hope of change. You're doing exactly what you should be doing, sitting in silence. His friends, as we will see next time, did that for seven days and nights, didn't even recognize him.

20:19 Have you ever had a boil? ever those of us with white hair would have to say among the men white hair uh whatever color your hair is ladies if you're this age uh if you've if you've had if you've had a boil you'll never forget it i threw a paper route as a kid i think i was about 11 12 when i had my first route and i had a boil just below my elbow on the left arm i'm left-handed so i would throw the papers with my left hand. And I rode on my bicycle and had the papers in the bag behind the seat. And I'd reach back and sling the papers. I took delight in landing them in the flower beds. No, on the porch of the people who were on my route. But as this boil grew, and then one formed on my wrist. Never knew to this day why they formed there. But one was here and one was there. And they got so sore, I had to throw with my right hand because I couldn't eat just two boils.

21:21 My mother said to me, oh, it's okay, son. It'll go away. That's kind of the way we treated them back then. And she didn't tell me it would take three months, but she said it would go away. She was right. But they became so swollen. And on occasion, we would prick them and try to get the pus, the core out, it was called, those two boils. Can you imagine? Covered with boils. And sitting in this filthy place, away from friends and the comforts of home, it all finally overwhelmed Mrs. Job. And she came to him one day for a visit and as she asked do you still hold fast your integrity remember God when he said to Satan have you noticed my my servant Job he still holds fast his integrity unknowingly she put her very finger on the one the one lasting thread that God used in answering Satan. And she challenges his need to do that any longer. And then she uses Satan's line when she says to him, curse God, curse God. Satan was never closer to a smile than at that moment as he and his minions sat staring, waiting, hoping, say it, Job, say it, say it.

23:04 I want to pause here and say something regarding Job's wife. I want to confess to you that for too long in my ministry, I've taken unfair shots at her.

23:25 I think it was probably immaturity on my part. furthermore hadn't been married long enough to know better than to do that and I cannot leave this one snapshot of Mrs. Job without saying some things in her defense so hear me on this I want to say four things about Mrs. Job and why she would do this first she too had lost 10 children until you or I have lost 10 children let's stay quiet about criticizing Mrs. Job.

24:03 Who knows what you would do in the backwash of that kind of grief. I can't even imagine. So she too was lost in her grief and in the weakening struggle of that grief she blurted this out. Second, she too had suffered the loss of their wealth and possessions and as every wife here knows whose husband may have made it financially, there are benefits and pleasures that come in a home like that.

24:36 Those were her possessions too. Those were her livestock and source of income, and she was reduced to the same level as he economically. Third, I would add, she had enjoyed for a long time being the wife of the man who, verse 3 of chapter 1, was the greatest of all the men of the East. There's prestige with that. There's honor with that. There is some sense of popularity and pleasure in that. She is no longer the leading lady of the community. She's the tragic wife of a man who's finished. Let me add forth, she's lost her companion. She no longer has her beloved to enjoy in quiet give and take of conversation, no longer lovely and private moments of romance and lovemaking, no hope that that will ever change or that he will ever be okay again.

25:38 Job, let's just pull the plug. Don't go on like this. I can't stand it. Curse God. He'll take you. Now with that as a background, and you've listened patiently to me as I have given you another side of this, let me say a couple of practical comments to you who are wives. Can I do that? just think of it as little counsel from Mars to Venus if that'll help I want to give you something always to do and never to do and I really mean this sincerely first of all always always guard your words when your husband is going through terribly hard times I want to tell you a little bit about men in a minute because I know very little about women but I know a lot about men and so I want to tell you about us men but the point I want you to get is always guard your words when you know your husband's going through a terribly hard time hard times weaken men for some reason they seem to strengthen women and we admire you for that but we men are weakened when times stay very hard for us.

27:06 In our weakened condition, we lose our objectivity and our stability. Our discernment is also skewed. Our determination lags. We become vulnerable. We don't quite know how to handle ourselves in a vulnerable state. you women do very well with vulnerability but we men do not and we are curse the thought for me to say it we are afraid when men become afraid strange things happen inside us we don't understand ourselves we entertain alien thoughts that are very unusual for us so in light of all of this hear me, we need your wisdom and perspective and spiritual strength. Hear that as prayer, as you've never prayed for us before. We need your prayers.

28:07 we need your emotional support, actions always better than words. We need that. We even find it hard to say, I need you right now. My wife could tell you that she lived with me for 10 years before she ever thought I had a need for her.

28:32 I say that to my shame. In hours of great trial, nobody's words mean more to us than our wives. That is one of the God-given reasons you and your partner were called to be together. When we men lose our way, you wives help us find our way back.

28:57 Now, never, never suggest that we compromise our integrity. even if it would provide temporary relief. Don't ever do that. Because we may. We may be so weak, we'll believe you.

29:17 Since we haven't the strength at that time, in Job's case, that kind of trial, which I can't imagine, and a lot less than that, when we are weakened, we are temptable. we are easily seduced by words that offer relief because for a man, relief is the most important thing when time's really hard. That's why many a man under a time of testing will begin an affair.

29:49 Not justifying it for a moment, I'm just saying that's why. God had said he holds fast his integrity and she of all things said to him, Why do you want to keep doing that? No, no, no, no, Mrs. Job. This is your moment, Job. Whatever we do, stand fast. I'll go with you wherever we have to go. I'll endure whatever we have to endure. But don't compromise your integrity. Stand with God in this. now job has a magnificent response he said to her verse 10 you speak as one of the foolish women speaks i got to tell you hats off in his weakened state and sitting there in the pain of those sores not knowing if that would ever change he stood and and he reproved her uh and he said to his wife I need to correct the course of where you're going with this conversation.

30:55 Don't go there. second he has a great response to his condition shall we indeed accept good from god and not accept adversity magnificent theology so strangely heard these days rarely rarely said never in the secular system what kind of a god is that that'll treat you like this after you have lived like that why in the world would you stand fast when this so-called loving God who loves you so much he would not do anything to hurt you. Wait, wait a minute. Look at this. I love this statement. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity? The Hebrew sentence reads, the good shall we accept from God and the trouble shall we not accept? Emphasizing the good and the trouble.

31:55 It's a rhetorical question, not asked to be answered, but asked for the purpose of thinking. Doesn't he have the right? Isn't he the potter? Aren't we the clay? Isn't he the shepherd and we the sheep? Isn't he the master and we the servant? Isn't that the way it works?

32:16 Robert Alden, in his fine work on Job, writes very practically, This is a hard lesson for some believers to learn, especially if they have been promised health and wealth or have misunderstood that God's wonderful plan for their lives involves only pleasantness and not trouble. Believers on this side of the cross, hear this, have many more examples from both the Bible and church history of God's people who have suffered. Job was much more in the dark, yet out of that darkness his strong belief in the sovereignty of God shone forth all the more brilliantly. Somehow he already knew that the clay does not ask the potter what are you making?

33:02 No, no, no, no, no, sweetheart. Let's don't go there. We serve a God who has the right to do whatever he does and is never obligated to explain it or ask permission. Shall we receive only good? Is that the kind of God we serve? He's a heavenly bellboy who waits for our phone call and we ring up for room service and he brings it and says, my pleasure. Whatever. What kind of God is that? That's a capricious imagination.

33:38 The God we serve has a game plan that is beyond our comprehension. Such times as this notwithstanding. One of my daughters said to me, since we're all these days in the Swindoll home, sort of going through the dregs of trials, she said to me, Daddy, now again, how long are you going to be on Job? I thought about an answer. I think we're going to do Job in segments. We're going to end with this message, and 10 years from now, we're going to take up the next section.

34:15 I told you, and I'm now a living example of it, not asking for pity, asking for prayer, however. it's hitting us from all sides. Nothing like this. This was an unbelievable past week for us. And I think for a number of you.

34:38 And one thing follows another, which follows yet another, which follows yet another. Enough already. And I love his last line, which is a resolve. In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. There's absolute trust there. There's faith there. sweetheart we can't explain it we would never have wanted it our hearts are broken over the loss we are we've lost everything but we've not lost a faithful god who has a plan that is unfolding and cannot be explained i began this message by referring to johnny gunther i i closed this message by referring to you. And I want to share with you what I think will be three lessons, three principles, if you will, and some advice that I believe will be helpful for you, if not now, soon. Number one, since our lives are full of trials, we need to remember there are always more to come. Isn't that a fun thought?

35:52 since our lives are full of trials, Job himself said it, we are born into trouble as the sparks fly upward. Since our lives are full of trials, we need to remember there are always more to come. They are inevitable. Don't be surprised. Stay awake in the Pentagon. Be aware wherever you are that because one place was hit, it doesn't mean this place is immune. It means this may be next. Peter wrote this way, 1 Peter 4, 12. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you.

36:36 Don't think it strange. Since our lives are full of trials, there are more to come. Here's the second. This is not just for the wives. This is for all of us. But I draw it from the story of the wife. Since our world has fallen, we need to understand that there are those who love us but will give us wrong advice. Since our world has fallen, those who love us may give us wrong advice. I lived my life these 65 plus years having received wrong advice on a number of occasions from people who love me greatly. They were just simply wrong. They didn't mean to be wrong, but they were. So don't be fooled.

37:29 There's the advice. Don't be fooled. Just because he is your husband and advises you of such and such doesn't mean that advice is good to follow. Just because he or she is a partner in your business and advice is given doesn't mean that's good advice. Square that with the principles of the book. This is the standard. This is our guide right here. This is what we use. This is the part that's inspired. If it contradicts this, stop it. You speak as one of the foolish women. Sweetheart, I love you, but I can't go there. Good point for me to say, choose your words real carefully. Say less when you're around a person going through a lot. Just say less. it's amazing what a wonderful warm hug embrace just simple words like i i've never been there but i i'm loving you through this those are just about the best things you could say and if god does reveal something to you that you think needs to be shared try not to share it as a lecture just say i'm wondering if maybe this will help because i will say on the other side i have received advice very casually from individuals who love me that has just turned the corner for me.

38:52 And we long for that, don't we? How great it would have been if his wife had simply embraced him and loved him through this and said, I'm going to be here till the last day of your life. I'm here with you through this. I don't understand it any more than you do, but I'm here. There's a third principle.

39:17 Oh, this is so valuable. Since our God is sovereign, we must prepare ourselves for blessing and adversity. he's unpredictable. Don't be disillusioned. Because our God is sovereign, we must prepare ourselves for blessing and adversity. Don't leave that last part out. And adversity.

39:45 He's unpredictable. Don't be disillusioned. In my research for this message, I came across the writings of one Francis I. Anderson, spelled S-E-N. Francis Anderson is a medical doctor, an archaeologist, biblical scholar, and author from Australia.

40:10 And his words just sort of jumped off the page and landed right in front of me yesterday. I raced into the bathroom, Cynthia was getting dressed, and I said, honey, you've got to hear this. And I read her exactly what I'm going to read you. Listen to these words.

40:31 Job finds nothing wrong with what has happened to him. It is equally right for God to give gifts and to retrieve them, round one. It is equally right for God to send good or evil, round two. Receive is a good active word implying cooperation with providence, not mere submission.

40:55 Such positive faith is the magic stone that transmutes all to gold. For when the bad as well as the good is received at the hand of God, every experience of life becomes an occasion of blessing. But the cost is high. Listen to the last sentence. But the cost is high. it is easier to lower your view of God than to raise your faith to such a height.

41:25 Some theologians today have done that. It's called open theism. Because bad things are happening to these good people, then God did not know they were going to happen. He could never send such a thing. And so God is learning in the process as a result of how we respond, what to do next. omniscience doesn't learn that's heresy omniscience doesn't discover you'll never hear the words in god's throne room I didn't know that.

42:05 Look, look, Gabriel, look. Whatever. Our god is in the heavens he does whatever he pleases our god has no obligation to explain himself Our god does not ever have to invade a hospital room and say now let me explain five reasons This has happened to your son and I do not mean to present in any way a cruel God. He is full of compassion, but his plan is beyond our comprehension. Our ways are not as high as his ways, and our thoughts are not his thoughts. As the heavens are high above the earth, so are his ways above ours, and his plan beyond our ability to grasp. Isaiah 55. And so I say, oh God, I trust you. I don't know why I've gone through this.

43:05 If there's something I can learn, wonderful. If there's something someone else can learn, great. Just get me through it. Just hold me close. Deepen me. Change me. Job, shall we not accept good from God and not accept adversity?

43:33 He's God. that's one of the reasons I believe heaven will be such a delightful place I really do we step into his presence for the first time we get the panoramic view and we're the ones who go so that's the reason Jay Kessler at Taylor University for so many years good friend said the first sound you'll hear in heaven when we get there is oh Should have had a V8. Of course. Absolutely.

44:22 And to think I had fought that. Look at how it worked together. Look at the message it delivered. Look at how it honored God. Look at how the world stood with their mouths open and watched as we went through this. Not complaining, but trusting. It is easier to lower your view of God than to raise your faith to such a height. And he adds, we shall watch the struggle as Job's faith is strained every way by temptations to see the cause of his misfortune as something less than God.

44:57 He is totally and completely and absolutely in charge. If he wipes out every member of your family, he is in charge. if he ends your business in abysmal bankruptcy he is in charge if the x-ray returns and it couldn't be worse he is in charge get that get that teaching and how magnificent it is to find those who trust him to the very end of this veil of suffering, saying, and may his name be praised, and may his name be praised. Don't understand it, can't explain it. May his name be praised. That, that is worship.

45:55 at its highest. Amen. Now, Lord, we pause here on the cusp of this message, and my voice trembles a little as I wonder what you have planned for us next, what you have planned for our country, what you have planned for our church, what you have for our families, and what you have for my family. lord god forgive us for the wasted hours we have spent trying to squeeze you into our frame of thinking humanizing your work and defining and describing it in terms of how we or someone we know would have handled something when you are not at all anywhere near those categories I pray that you will guard us from lowering our view of yourself you will assist us as we raise our faith to a height it has never gone before help us Lord through these hard times and now to him who is able to guard us from stumbling and present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding great joy Okay.