Lessons From Job
Job 1:6-12 (12/13/23)
December 13, 2023 • Benham Brothers • Job 1:6–12
* Satan is our adversary who makes accusations for our agreement. * Accusations are negative thoughts in the mind. * Accusations against ourselves. * Accusations against others. * Our job is to refuse to agree with the accuser. * We see this played out in the book of Job. * Backstory - war in heaven - Satan was thrown to earth. * God created man in His image “lower” than the angels. * God wanted to not only defeat Satan, but humiliate him. * God would show Satan that He could do more through lesser when that lesser was devoted to Him than He could through greater when that greater was not devoted to Him. * But Satan still has access to God. * Vs 6 - “One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.” * Satan also knew Jesus before God sent Jesus to earth. * Vs 7 - “The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” * 1 Peter 5:8 - “Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” * Satan is looking for the “easily edible.” * A believer who’s not actively engaging in their relationship w/God is “edible.” * If you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, Satan can’t eat you. * Why? Because he can’t stand the taste! (tapioca pudding) * Vs 8 - “Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” * God offered Job up - it wasn’t Satan’s idea to go after Job. * Remember - God wants to defeat Satan through someone not as strong as him. * Job wasn’t aware that this was a spiritual battle between God and Satan. * Vs 9-11 - “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” * The accusation - “Job only serves you for what you give him.” * This was true of Satan - he projected onto Job what was true about himself. * In heaven, Lucifer only served God for His blessings. * The truth - Job served God for who He was. * If you love God for what He gives you then you’ll hate Him for what he takes from you. * Vs 12a - “The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger…” * Job was now in the game - God wanted Job to prove to Satan that Job loved Him for more than His blessings. * Proving this would rebuke Satan. * Job didn’t know what was on the line! * Vs 12b - “…Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.” * You have to leave God’s presence if you want to do your own thing. * Satan lost against Job - but now he sets his sights on us!
Job 1:18-22 (7/25/19)
July 25, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* Job’s attitude in the midst of his struggle is what we should all ascribe to have. * He did not see his stuff or his family as his own. * He was poor in spirit - this is someone God can use because He can trust you. * Notice two aspects of Job’s response: * 1) His heart-set (vs 20) - he had a heart to worship. * Worship is “reverence and adoration of a diety.” * 2) His mind-set (vs 21) - everything I have is borrowed. * Two parts to this: * ** Birth - I came with nothing. * Imagine a woman trying to give birth to a kid with a backpack. * ** Death - I leave with nothing. * Imagine an old man packing a suitcase so he could bring it with him when he died. * Neither will work. * This is the greatest business example we could have - be naked to it! * Don’t wrap your emotions up with your success. * Don’t find your identity in what you do. * You can’t bring anything with you because you brought nothing with you. * Now be free, work hard, and let the chips fall where they may.
Job 1:21 (7/25/18)
July 25, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* Job shows us how to properly handle pain. * In the midst of pain don’t ask how you can get out but what you can get out of it. * Our reaction to pain can be either positive or negative: * 1) Positive - this is about ACCEPTANCE. * Job accepted the fact he was not Creator and he was subordinate to Him. * He also accepted his lot in life. * 2) Negative - this is about CONTROL. * If we don’t accept God being in control then we try to assume control when we experience pain. * If we blame God we’re acting as though He owes us an explanation - He does not. * If we love God for what He gives us we’ll hate Him for what He takes from us.
Job 1:21 (12/20/23)
December 20, 2023 • Benham Brothers • Job 1:21
* The trials of life are simply a reminder that we are not God. * They are an essential ingredient in spirituality. * Trials are the pathway to growth, but they involve pain. * And pain, according to Skip Moen, “… re-establishes the order of subordination.” * In Job, we see there are two ways to respond to pain - positive and negative. * Positive = acceptance / Negative = rejection. * Acceptance = submission / Rejection = control. * Positive - Accepting pain grounds you with reality. * Reality - You are not God, you are not in charge, you need to align yourself “under” Him. * Accepting pain recognizes that God has the authority to do what He pleases with His creation. * Acceptance is true obedience - “cooperation without explanation.” * Acceptance brings peace and builds faith. * EX: Jake’s back - “accept it” - Proverbs 18:14 - “A man’s spirit sustains him in sickness.” * vs 21 - “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” * Job properly accepted the pain, and this is why he was commended for his faith. * There’s also a negative side to pain: * Rejecting pain leads to a desire to control. * You refuse to accept your role as a created part of someone else’s universe. * It begins with the denial that life should include suffering. * It is egocentric and demands an explanation like an unruly child. * It pushes you more and more into a spirit of domination. * You seek to become god rather than accept God. * In the West, pain is wrong! * Pain is anti-human and I must do all I can to bring it into submission. * In this kind of world, I must become my own god. * But Job reminds us that we are not God and since we are not, we must learn what pain has to teach us. * EX: Jesus said we’ll always have the poor w/us. * Key - when pain comes, submit to God and accept the pain. * Don’t reject it in a desire to control your situation. * Otherwise, you’ll become a god unto yourself.
Job 2:2 (7/23/15)
July 23, 2015 • Benham Brothers
Twice we see God asking Satan where he’s been. He essentially said, “I”m looking for a man to entice and draw his heart away from you.” Knowing this, God offered up His best man. He had faith that Job could whip Satan. When the game is on the line the coach pulls out his best athletes. Here’s the cool part - in Ezekiel 22 we see that God is also looking for a man. God and Satan often show up at the same time, and only those who have eyes to see will tell the difference. The question is, whose man will you be?
Job 2:2 (8/28/14)
August 28, 2014 • Benham Brothers
vs 2 - Satan was out roaming the earth - he was looking for a man. In Ezekial 22 we see that God is also looking for a man. Satan wants a man to be faithful to him / God is looking for a man who will be faithful to Him! When God's presence enters the equation people have one of two reactions: 1) They want to remain in it as long as possible. 2) They want to leave it as soon as possible. When God's presence is inside of you then those around you will have these reactions as well. Satan had ill-intent toward Job, but in order to accomplish it he had to leave God's presence to do it. The same is true with us - if we cultivate the wrong attitude toward another we have to leave God's presence to do it. We are to love God and love people - and to not love people is to not love God.
Job 2:7 (12/20/23)
December 20, 2023 • Benham Brothers • Job 2:7
* The greatest thing we can have in our lives is the presence of God. * Moses knew this well in Exodus 33 - “If your presence doesn’t go with us…” * Moses wanted the presence more than the promise. * EX: Would rather have $1M or the ability and wisdom to earn $1M? * God’s presence gives us: * Peace - in the midst of life’s storms (security). * Power - to do the thing God has called us to do. * Provision - He’ll take care of our every need. * Protection - He won’t allow harm to come our way. * Backstory - Satan was given permission to attack Job. * But Satan couldn’t do it until something happened: * vs 7-8 - “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.” * You would think that when someone was in God's presence they would naturally want to stay there. * When people experience God’s presence they will have one of two reactions: * They want to stay there. * They want to leave as fast as possible! * EX: the same boiling water that softens the carrot hardens the egg. * EX: Jesus - some loved Him and others hated Him (but nobody ignored him). * KEY - Having God’s presence in our life is a gift & a choice. * God gives it to us freely as we submit to Him. * But if our thoughts about someone don’t line up wtih His, we lose His presence. * EX: Make fun of my kids while at my house for dinner and see what happens. * Purity & Presence are linked. * Our motives must be pure if we want God’s presence. * The reverse is true as well - if we want our motives and attitudes toward others to be pure we must be in God's presence. * This is why Jesus summed up the Law so simply: * Love God & Love others. * You need both to experience His presence. * When you get His presence, you have His peace, power, provision, and protection.
Job 2:11-13, 16:1-6 (7/25/19)
July 25, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* Jobs friends traveled a long way to simply sit with him. * They sat with him for a week and never said a word. * They were good friends. * Job then voiced his complaint (which he most likely should have kept private between him and God). * Then his buddies jumped in. * Job 16:1-6 - Job’s friends make a big mistake. * Look at Job’s response. * They should have focused on WHO - simply sit with Job and let him know they are in it with him. (Job 19:21 - look in pity, empathy) * People unite over love but separate over belief. * Empathy Grid: * Don’t focus on WHAT, WHY, or HOW (theology, belief, behavior) - this aims at the head. * Focus on the WHO (the hurting person and God) - this aims at the heart. * THEN, at the right time (when the person is emotionally stable) you can talk about the what, why, and how.
Job 3:1 (7/27/17)
July 27, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* In the first two chapters we see the best example of how to respond when trials hit. * In chapter 3 and moving forward, we see what happens when we verbalize what’s going on in our heads for all to hear. * Job’s friends didn’t chime in until Job showed all his cards. * It’s extremely important we keep “venting” just between us, God, and a few spiritually mature people. * Key - only share with those who are a part of the problem or a part of the solution. * God wants to speak to you in your pain, but Satan will distract you with other voices. * So the best thing to do is not blast our issues all over the place for lots of voices to chime in. * Job 6:2-3 - Job admitted his words were rash.
Job 4:1 (7/30/15)
July 30, 2015 • Benham Brothers
Job’s buddies had some really good advice, but it was based on false theology. Here was their reasoning (taken from Warren Wierbe commentary): 1) God blesses the righteous but makes the wicked suffer. 2) Job is suffering. 3) Therefore, Job is wicked. This was reasonable, but God’s ways aren’t man’s ways. They were looking at the outside of things but ignoring the heart. The test of Godly character is not what happens to you but what happens in you when bad stuff happen to you. If external blessings was a sign of holiness, then Jesus wasn’t holy. Their theology was shallow - Job’s was deep and penetrated the deep things of God.
Job 4:7 (7/25/18)
July 25, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* Eliphaz had the wrong theology, so he arrived at the wrong conclusions. * He believed good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. * This is WRONG. * God uses trials and tribulations to test us and strengthen us. * Eliphaz based his argument on two things: * 1) experience (Job 4:12-16) - he had a dream. * He based his thoughts off this dream. * You have to start with God’s Word first and then wrap your experience around that, not the other way around as Eliphaz did - otherwise you’ll end up at the wrong conclusion. * vs 17 - it appeared that the angel tried to get Eliphaz to stop focusing on being perfect. * His theology was “be good and God will bless,” but the angel reminded him that nobody is good before God - we need His grace. * 2) Observation - (Job 5:1) - Eliphaz hits Job hard with this - he tells him his prayers won’t be answered, but he’s the one who got the divine download. * vs 8:3 - Bildad used Eliphaz’s vision.
Job 7:21 (7/27/17)
July 27, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* Sin is referred to in two forms: * Transgression & Iniquity. * Transgression is outward sin - when we give in to temptation and engage in sin. * Iniquity is inward sin - when we have a regard for sin in our heart. * Iniquity can be conscious or unconscious. * Psalms 66:18 - “if I regard iniquity in my heart, You would not hear my prayer.” * Matthew 5:21-48 - Jesus lists a host of transgressions that are wrong, but then He moves further to talk about iniquity. * When you pray, don’t just think about your external sin. * Try to get to the internal “bents” you have - do business there.
Job 9:21 (7/27/17)
July 27, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* Job was a humble man. * Humility is not thinking less of yourself. * Humility is thinking of yourself less! * This is what Job said in this verse. * He never lost sight of God nor denied his faith, even in the worst trial of his life. * One of the main reasons was because of his humility. * God gives His grace to the humble (James 4:6). * God gives grace to those who don’t take themselves into consideration.
Job 13:15 (7/25/18)
July 25, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* If you love God for what He gives you you’ll hate Him for what He takes from you. * Job shows that He loves God for who He is, not what He’s given to Him. * This is what true faith looks like. * “Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.” * What a great statement. * Even though Job had great faith, he would still bring his complaint to God. * But Job failed when he didn’t do it in private - he did it for all his buddies to hear.