Let us turn once again to the
Word of God in that portion of Scripture we were reading, the
end of the book of Job. And there in the final chapter,
Job 42, and drawing your attention this morning to verses 5 and
6. Job 42, 5 and 6, I have heard
of thee by the hearing of the ear, that now mine eyes seeth thee,
wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." As
I say, we just read the closing words, the final chapter of this
remarkable book. Last Lord's Day we were reading
the first two chapters and we sought on that occasion to speak
from the words that we have in the epistle of James in James
chapter 5 and verses 10 and 11 where you may remember the apostle
speaks of the example of the prophets and of Job as a pattern
of patience or endurance and so we sort of say something with
regards to the endurance of Job as we have it unfolded in this
remarkable part of Holy Scripture. We read there then in the opening
chapters and there of course the whole scene is set, the sad
history of the man, the great losses that he sustained in the
mystery of the Lord's ways, how Satan was permitted to assault
that great patriarch in such a fashion that he lost everything,
he lost all his possessions, he lost all his family, and yet
still he remained his integrity, he would not curse God. And in the following chapters,
chapters 4 through to 31, we read about those friends of his
who came, he life has, Bildad and Zophar, they speak by turn
and Job answers and the book is made up of those various cycles
of speeches. And finally, in chapter 32, through
to 37 we read of another man coming and speaking with him,
a man called Elihu. And then right at the end it
is God himself who speaks to Job and Job answers the Lord. That's something of the outline
then of the book and it's that book of which the reformer Martin
Luther says that it is magnificent and sublime as no other part
of Holy Scripture. It is truly a quite remarkable
portion of the Word of God and with the Lord's help this morning
I want to try to say something of the answer or the confession,
the confession that Job is making in the words that I've read as
a text here in verses 5 and 6 of this final 42nd chapter. I have heard of thee, he confesses,
by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore
I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. First of all,
He speaks of the presence of God. He's in God's presence. And he utters those words, Now
mine eye seeth. But what is the eye that sees
God? He's not here speaking of some vision of God. God cannot be seen. Previously
remember in chapter 11 we have those words, Canst thou by searching
find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is high as heaven, what canst
thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst
thou know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth and broader than the sea. Oh God is that One who
is omnipresent, He's in all places. God is a Spirit. And isn't Moses
told there shall no man see me and live? He is that one who
is the eternal. He is that one who is the mighty,
the sovereign, the omnipotent, and the omnipresent God. who
only hath immortality dwelling in lights to which no man can
approach, we're told, whom no man hath seen nor can see." We're
familiar with these various statements in Scripture that set before
us something of the greatness and the glory of God. No man
hath seen God at any time. When we come to the New Testament
we have those words in the opening chapter of John. No man hath
seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father he hath declared ultimately God is pleased to
reveal himself and he reveals himself in him who is the God-man
even the Lord Jesus Christ but there's no evidence that Job
saw God in a visible form How did the Lord answer him? There
at the beginning of chapter 38. The Lord, we're told, answered
Job out of the whirlwind. All the Lord is in the whirlwind.
We can think of another like Elijah. there in 1st Kings chapter
19 when he's in the cave and the Lord appears to him. Remember how it was that the
Lord God came, he was not in the wind on that occasion nor
was he in the earthquake nor was he in the fire. But God there
comes and makes himself known in that still small voice. No man can see God, Job doesn't
see God. What is he saying then here in
the words of our text? I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. He is acknowledging
that previously he had very indistinct views of God's. Very indistinct
views of God's. Though he was a believer in God. What does he say at verse 3? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not." When
we consider Job at the very beginning, and as I say we were reading
there in the opening chapter, last Lord's Day, concerning this
man, there was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and
that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and understood
evil. He is a true child of God, he
is perfect, he is upright, and he is none of those things in
himself, of course. There is not a just man upon
the earth who doeth good and sinneth not. He was perfect,
he was upright, in that he was a justified sinner. And we see
the reality of his faith of course is as we read through the various
answers that he gives to his friends. Amongst other things
he declares, I know that my Redeemer liveth and he shall stand at
the latter day upon the earth. He was very much a man of faith. And yet how sorely that faith
was tested and that faith was tried. And yet by and through
all of this experience he is coming to a clearer understanding
and a greater appreciation of all that God is. That's what
he's acknowledging here in the words of verse 5. God has been
dealing with this man. Again, look at the language that
we have in chapter 36 and verse 22. Behold, God exalteth by his
power, who teacheth like him. how this man was being taught
remarkable truths and all of these truths centering in God
and the doctrine of God that vital doctrine that we have a
right understanding of the greatness of the God with whom we have
to do at the end of the 23rd chapter Job says he performeth
the thing that is appointed for me And many such things are with
him. Therefore am I troubled at his
presence, when I consider I am afraid of him. For God maketh
my heart soft, and the Almighty troubles me." How he was made
to understand something of the presence of God in his life.
God was such a reality to this man, increasingly so, in the
midst of all those trials and all those troubles. And as I
said, it is so vital that we have right views of God. Isn't
that what a religion, if it's a real religion, will center
in? The very being of God, and the mystery, the mystery of all
that God is. He is a Trinity, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit and when we contemplate that blessed truth it is altogether
beyond our comprehending that God is one and yet God subsists
in three persons the great doctrine of God. Here is Job then, he
has been taught and he's been taught to some prophet by the
Lord's dealings with him. What does he know? Well, God
has made known to this man something of his great power. And when
God speaks to him, there in chapter 38 following, the Lord very much
speaks in terms of his power demonstrated in creation. God is the One who is the Creator,
the Maker of all things. There in chapter 38 how the Lord
answers Job out of the whirlwind. Verse 4, Where was thou when
I laid the foundations of the earth declared if thou hast understanding? Who hath laid the measures thereof
if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line
upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid
the foundation stone thereof? He speaks of his great power,
his great works in creation. And doesn't Paul remind us of
that in the opening chapter of that epistle to the Romans? He
speaks of those Gentiles who had nothing of the Word of God
and yet how they were culpable in their sin because God had
revealed something of himself to them He had, as it were, written
His image upon the heart of all men, although that image is marred
and disfigured by the Fall. All He says there, the invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead. God is that One who is the Creator
of all things. And how He has revealed Himself
and His great Majesty in the works of creation. We see all the doctrine of God
in creation, by the word of the Lord, says the psalmist, were
the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of
His mouth. Who is the word of the Lord?
Isn't that the Eternal Son of God in the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God? All things
were made by Him, without Him was not anything made that was
made. You're familiar with the language there in the opening
verses of the Gospel according to Saint John. By the word of
the Lord, by the second person in the Godhead, creation was
brought into being. And the breath of His mouth or
the spirit of his mouth. Because in the Old Testament
those words breath and spirit they are the rendering of the
same Hebrew word. It depends on the context as
to how that word is to be understood. But the breath of his mouth is
the spirit of his mouth. The Holy Ghost who proceeded
from the Father and from the Son. In creation, then, God reveals
Himself. We see something of the doctrine
of the Trinity. And how God creates? Oh, He creates
simply by fear. He speaks. He spoke, and it was
done. He commanded, and it stood fast. God simply says, and it is so. Let there be light, and there
was light. or the power of God, and this
is what God is reminding Job of when he speaks here at the
end of the book. His friends have come, they've
made their various speeches, and they've said many wonderful
things, but they've not really understood Job at all. They've
been poor comforters. Elihu has come and made a remarkable
speech. But when God speaks, what does
he do? He speaks in terms of his greatness and his power in
the works of creation. We see that in chapter 39. But
then he goes on to speak of remarkable creatures. Look at what he says
there in chapter 14 concerning Behemoth. Verse 15, Behold now,
behemoth, which I made with thee, he eateth grass as an ox, lo,
now his strength is in his loins, his force is in the navel of
his belly, he moveth his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his
stones are wrapped together, his bones are as strong pieces
of brass, his bones are like bars of iron, Now, the margin
says that some think this is a reference to the elephant. It's interesting. John Wickham,
and you may remember the name Wickham, he was together with
Henry Morris, of course, and he was responsible for that book
that made such a stir on the Genesis flood. Wickham and Morris
wrote on the Genesis flood and the actuality of that event. Well, Wickham reckons that what
is being described in those verses that we just read in chapter
40 is the dinosaur. Behold now behemoth which I made
with thee. Job saw dinosaurs. That's how
Wickham understands and interprets that particular statement. Remarkable
words, you see. God's greatness. He creates these
remarkable creatures. He goes on, doesn't he, in chapter
41, to speak of another creature, Lothiathan. Canst thou draw out
Lothiathan with an hook, or his tongue with a cord, which thou
lettest down? Canst thou put a hook into his
nose, or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Who and what is
Lothiathan? Well, again, there's some debate.
Some say the reference is to the whale, that great mammal.
Others say the reference is to crocodiles. But what we see in
all of those words, in all that God is answering in those chapters,
is that God directs Job to consider his greatness. He is the creator
of all these things. The great God who made the greatest
and the mightiest of the creatures. Or there in verse 9 of chapter
14, hath thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a
voice like him? How did God create those things?
As I said, He simply spake the word. That's how God created. He spake and it was done. All the greatness of God, and
this is the God who is coming now and speaking with Job. That's a fearful thing to consider,
even when we think of the coming of God incarnate in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. and the work that Christ comes
to accomplish. One thinks of the language that
we have right at the end of the Old Testament, there in the prophecy
of Malachi, in that third chapter. Who may abide the day of his
coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth?
For he is like a refiner's fire, and like full of soap. And he
shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify
the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they
may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Who may abide
the day of his coming? Oh, the Lord God was in all those
things that came upon Job. Although in the mystery of the
Lord's dealings it is Satan, of course, who is behind these
things. But God directs Satan to Job,
as thou consider my servant Job, he says. And as we said last
time, in Job we see quite clearly that the devil is no free agent. Although God is not the author
of sin. God is not the author of sin.
He is of eyes too pure to behold iniquity, he cannot look upon
sin. We must not think such blasphemous thoughts as to imagine that God
is the author of sin. There's a mystery in these things.
But Satan is clearly subject to the sovereignty of God and
the Lord God himself is in all that that has come upon Job. And now in the midst of all his
trials we see his faith. For Job's a man of faith. He
knoweth the way that I take. The language there in chapter
23. He knoweth the way that I take. Christ Jo, when he hath tried
me, I shall come forth as gods. Oh, I have heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear, but now mine eyes seeth thee. Wherefore I
abhor myself, he says, and repent in dust and ashes. This is what the man is ultimately
brought to then. He's brought to true repentance. He has real faith. He has true
repentance. But as I said, as God is in all
that is, and as before on this man, we have to recognize the
purpose of God we really thought to say something of this last
time in the words there that we have in James chapter 5 you
have heard of the patience of Job literally the endurance of
Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very
pitiful and of tender mercies or the end, the end of the Lord
does it not remind us that God has a purpose to fulfill that
the God who is a sovereign God will accomplish all His goodwill
and pleasure He has ordained all things when we consider the
world in which we live all the time seems to be so much confusion
It's all around us. And yet, if we're those who really
believe in the sovereignty of God, can we not find some encouragement
there? How David had to encourage himself
in the Lord, his God, there at Ziglag, when he seemed to have
lost everything. He'd lost everything, hadn't
he? And yet, when his faithful followers
turned and threatened to stone him to death, he encouraged himself
in the Lord his God. And all these things in the Old
Testament, what we read concerning David, what we read concerning
Job, are they not written for our learning? That's what Paul
says there in Romans 15, they're written for our learning that
we through patience, endurance, again that's the word, it's the
same as we have there in James 5, the patience of Job, the endurance
of Job, all these things are written for our learning that
we through endurance and comfort of the scriptures might have
hope. All there is, you see, a gracious
purpose that God is fulfilling in all His dealings, and He will
ensure that all things will work together for good to them who
are the called according to His purpose. There in Jeremiah 29,
what does he say? I know the thoughts that I think
towards you thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an
expected end the end of the Lord an expected end we read there
in Jeremiah 29 and of course in the context there what what
is the Lord doing? well Jeremiah is minishing at
the time of the captivity Judah has been taken, Jerusalem
has fallen, the temple has been destroyed, and the people have
been taken into exile. Everything's gone, all's lost
again. But what does the Prophet say
as he speaks as the mouthpiece of God? I know the thought and
I think towards Thee. thoughts of peace and not of
evil to give you unexpected end there will be a restoration there
must be a restoration because the promised Messiah
was yet to come and so Jerusalem will be people to gain the people
will return as they did when Cyrus issued his great decree
Cyrus the Persian and Ezra returns and there's a rebuilding of the
Temple of the Lord and then Nehemiah returns and there's the rebuilding
of the walls of Jerusalem. All there was to be a restoration. And what do we see when we come
to the book of Job? We see the same truth. There
in those earlier, those opening chapters, we see all the wicked
malice of the great adversary, Satan, or the evil of that wicked spirit. God says there in chapter 1 at
verse 8, Hast thou considered my servant Job? There is none
like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth
God and astuteth evil. Then Satan answered the Lord,
and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an
hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But
put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he
will curse thee to thy face. Oh, the wicked malice! the hatred
that the devil bears towards poor Job and the Lord in his
mysterious dealings answers Satan behold all that he hath is in
thy power only upon himself put not forth thine hand so he goes
and as we said everything is destroyed all his property his
very family is taken away from him but still the devil is not
satisfied, he comes back in chapter 2 and there at verse 4, skin for
skin, yea all that a man hath will he give for his life says
Satan but put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his
flesh and he will curse thee to thy face and so the Lord answers,
he is in thine hand but save his life He can't kill the man,
but he'll do everything he can against his own person then.
He'd done it against his property, against his family. All the malice
of Satan. And yet, God has a blessed end
in view. The goodness of God. Verse 12, The Lord blessed the
latter end of Job, we're told. more than the beginning for he
had fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand camels and a thousand
yoke of oxen and a thousand she-asses he had also seven sons and three
daughters why the Lord actually gave him twice as much as he
had before it says in verse 10 and that is so when we compare
the numbers in the opening chapter and here in the last chapter.
He received twice as much as ever he had before. What does the wise man say or
the preacher say there in the book of Ecclesiastes? Better
is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And doesn't
the history of Job prove that very point? Though thy beginning
was small, Job, thy latter end shall greatly increase. And it's not just a question
of him receiving everything as it were double, in the sense
of the restoration of all his property. How this man is so
prospered in his own soul, that's the important thing. Eli says in chapter 36, Behold
God exalted by His power, who teaches like Him? Oh, the Lord
is teaching this man. The Lord is teaching this man.
Like, as He said, by these things men live, in all these things
is the life of my spirit. He has to experience these things.
in order that he might be prospered in his own soul that's the way
of the Lord with his people and we have to live to prove that
in the midst of all our trials, all our troubles or there's always
that secret that sweet secret that the Lord is in these things that secret thing that sweetens
everything when we know that The Lord is that God who is sovereign
and will never allow that his people should be tried above
that they are able, but with the temptation he makes that
way of escape, that they are able to bear it. Or how God exalts
him by his power. This is the purpose of God. As we see something of God's
power, so we see God's purpose, it's to exalt this man. not just
with regards to material things, but to prosper him in the very
depths of his soul. It is the Lord who has to teach
us. Is it not written in the Prophets, they shall be all taught
of God. And Christ said, Every man that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto mine. Isn't that the great end that
God really has in view to bring us to the Lord Jesus Christ I
wondered whether we should sing that second hymn I don't think
I've ever chosen that hymn before one of Beridge's remarkable hymns
891 I thought, well, is this really
a hymn that we should simply use in our own private devotions? But when I read through it, I
thought, well, no, because ultimately it all brings us to Christ, and
surely that's what we all desire in the end. And Berridge, of
course, is dealing with that remarkable vision that Ezekiel
was granted there in chapter 8 of his prophecy. the image
chamber fell which met Ezekiel's eye points out the breast of
every soul where lurking idols lie we have to be delivered from
all those idols and then the last verse may Jesus Christ disclose
the plagues within my heart all the idols that are within our
hearts and we need to be delivered from idols like those Thessalonians
May Jesus Christ disclose the plagues within my heart, and
as my soul more humble grows, the brighter faith impart." And
so in the end I thought, well, it seems fitting in view of what
one wanted to attempt to say this morning concerning the experience
of this man Job, as we have it recorded here at the end of the
book. Well, having said something with
regards to the way in which he was brought, as it were, into
the presence of God, though he doesn't see God with the eye,
with the natural eye, it's all to do with the eye of faith,
he sees with the eye of faith, he's confronted by the great
power of God, but God has a great purpose, a great end in view.
Last of all this morning, let me attempt to say something with
regards to how Job was profited in all of this we know all scripture
is given by inspiration of God says Paul and is profitable when
we come to the Word of God we should desire to find something
profitable for our souls profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of
God may be perfect, truly furnished unto every good work you know
the language there in 2nd Timothy 3.16 there's profit in the word
of God there's profit in all the Lord's dealings with his
people I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit
says the prophet Isaiah and how this man was profited how in
that he was so humble Observe the opening word there in verse
6, wherefore. Oh, there's a conclusion, you
see. There's a deduction. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, confronted by God. What does he come to, wherefore?
I have all myself, and repent in dust and ashes. O Job was humbled O Job was humbled
O the Lord does humble His people and the greatest of His people
O a man like Paul was humbled the thorn in the flesh and what
does he come to at the end there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12
He utters those words, though I be nothing. Though I be nothing. A zero, a cipher. The Lord humbles
his people and Job was humbled. And how do we see his humility?
Well we see it in his penitence. I abhor myself, he says, and
repent. in dust and ashes now remember
at the beginning his afflictions brought him to ashes when he was afflicted in his
own person when he was covered from the soles of his feet to
the crown of his head with with putrefying sores and boils some
sort of leprous disease it would seem he takes he takes a pot
shirt and what does he do? he sits amongst the ashes that's
what we're told there in chapter 2 he goes to sit in the ashes and bemoan his condition his
afflictions brought him to that but now here in verse 6 it's
that sense of his own sinnership that brings him to ashes I have all myself, he says, and
repents in dust and ash. There's something different here
with what we have previously there at chapter 2 and verse
8 where we see him in the ashes. Now he's really brought to a
spiritual abhorrence of himself. He's feeling so much his sin.
and Matthew Henry remarks here the true penitent mourns for
sins as heartily as for afflictions or we might bemoan our plights
the trials, the troubles, the difficulties, the things that
come into our lives we bemoan them but do we mourn over our
sins? in the same way that's what Job
was brought to and that's profitable previously there were occasions
when he did seek to justify himself look at what we are told back
in in chapter 32 where this man
Elihu begins to make a very long speech after the others had stopped
speaking. Beginning of chapter 32, these
three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his
own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of
Elihu, the son of Barakel, the Buzite of the kindred of Ram. Against Job was his wrath kindled
because he justified himself rather than God. He justified
himself rather than God. But all that's gone now, so far
as Job is concerned. Verse 3 of chapter 4, Job answered
the Lord and said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my
mouth. In other words, I'm not going
to say another word. He silenced. all we know what
things so ever the law says it says to them who are under the
law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty
before God his mouth was stopped he felt what he was he felt the
awful nature of his sin and that's what we have in our text of course
I have heard of them by the hearing of the ear but now mine eyes
seeth them Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and
ashes." And what we've said, it's not just Job, it's the experience
of so many, isn't it, of the people of God, the Lord's dealings. There's a certain sameness really
in the way in which the Lord deals with his servants, be it
Job or David or Moses. And we see it also with regards
to others. Think of Isaiah. when he is granted
some some vision of the glory of God
in the year that the King Uzziah died there in chapter 6 he is
in the temple and he sees the throne of God and what does he
say? Woe is me! Woe is me! I am undone! Oh I am a man of
unclean lips I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips mine
eyes have seen the King the Lord of hosts He announces woe upon himself. When we come to the New Testament,
that remarkable experience of Peter in Luke chapter 5, when
the Lord performs a miracle, that great draft of fishes. And
what does Peter say to Christ? Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord. And the Lord does come and reveal
Himself and His power, His greatness, His glory, His holiness, His
righteousness. Depart from me, for I am a sinful
man, O Lord. And when John there on Patmos
sees the glorified Christ, the opening chapter of the Revelation,
I fell at his feet as dead, he says. He's overwhelmed. And then the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, he lays his right hand upon him, puts him on his feet, fear not,
he says, fear not. I am Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am
alive forevermore, and have the keys of hell and of death. You know, these men, you see,
they're brought to feel what they are. They're brought to
feel their sinnership. That's why John falls at his
feet as dead. That's why Peter says, depart
from me. I'm a sinful man. That's why
Isaiah says, woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of sinful
lips. And this is Job. I have heard
of them. by the hearing of the ear, but
now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes." How he has profited, profited in
his soul, brought to a real repentance. A repentance not to be repented
of. It's not the sorrow of the world. No, it's a godly sorrow that
works repentance to salvation. not to be repented of, as the
Apostle says. But then also we see here he's
profited in that he's brought to pride. He's brought to pride. The Lord turned the captivity
of Job, we're told in verse 10, when he pried for his friends. The Lord turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friends. And what were they? They were miserable comforters. They didn't understand him really.
They might say many remarkable things but they don't comfort
Job. They don't understand his situation. When he answers there in chapter
16. I have heard many such things.
Miserable comforters are you all! Shall vain words have an
end? For their words were like vain
words, they were no help to Him. But He prays for them. He prays
for them. The words of the Lord Jesus,
there in His Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5, in verse 44, I say unto you, love them that curse you do good
to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use
you and persecute you that's the precept of Christ pray pray
for them which despitefully use you and persecute you and the
Lord turns his captivity oh and so in the end how is this man
profited why he's prospered he's prospered in every sense the Lord's turned the man's captivity
and the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning
or that we might be profited then today in the word of God
all scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable. Is that what we come to chapel
for? That we might, in the goodness
and the mercy and the grace of God, find some profit for our
souls? Well, the Lord be pleased to
bless these words to us today, even the confession of Job. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Amen.