Distance Devotions – April 25, 2020
Job 42:5, 6 – But Now Mine Eye Seeth Thee
Job 42:5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Job is a revelation of God’s hands moving behind the scenes. We have the advantage of knowing the whole story as it is available to us in the Holy Bible. Job lived it minute by minute. We know from the beginning that there is a contest of sorts between God and Satan. The only possible variable in the account is Job. He is a human being with all the faults and weaknesses that attend to that condition. However, the Lord knew Job better than Job knew himself. He knew that the relationship between Him and Job would withstand any assault by the devil. Job learned that as he suffered through a horrific time in his life.
Job is not without fault though God called him a perfect and upright man. The word perfect does not mean without flaw, but it means complete and mature. Job was certainly that. His three friends, upon hearing of the tragedies Job and his wife endured, come to comfort him. They sit for seven days mourning and grieving with him, or so Job thought. What follows next is hard to describe. His three friends tell him his children are dead because they were wicked (Job 8:4), they accused him of lusting after other women, of being self-righteous, and a myriad of other sins. Job does defend himself against their verbal attacks and in doing so reveals some faults, but also making some of the greatest statements in all the Word of the living God. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him (Job 13:15). 25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. (Job 19)
Still, God has some instruction for his servant, Job. Starting in chapter thirty-eight, God begins to question Job. 1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2 Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? (Job 38) In fact, the Lord asks Job about fifty or so questions, putting Job in his place, while rebuking Job’s three friends. Don’t faint when the Lord questions you. We all need the searching of the Holy Spirit in our heart lest we become carnally secure in our spirituality. None of us is above this searching. Remember, Job was called by God Himself, perfect, upright, one who feared God and avoided evil. When the Lord calls us into question through His Word in a sermon, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we pray, or as we read the Word and the searchlight is suddenly turned on, it is not to hurt us, but in order to strengthen and mold us into His image. Job was a better man at the end of the book. We are to be better at the end of our life than we are now.
Pastor F. J. Weems III