Job 42:10-17
Job Series #16
S-1599
Explain Job series.
All these painful days, now Job broken and friends restored because of mercy.
READ JOB 42:10-17.
Restored twofold.
So – boils blown away. Gets health and home and finally gets family back.
Prayer
We were fascinated from childhood by the stories that seemed larger than life. They all began with the same four words:
“Once upon a time…” The time really didn’t matter. All referred to kings and queens, prices, might and fight and love and war and romance and usually marriage and they all finished with the same six words,
“…and they lived happily ever after.” Oh, that that were true.
We grow up with the same hope in our hearts.
Build “dream” house and it’s not…roof leaks, toilets stop up….
Dream job, it’s not, unfortunately, we bring ourselves with us to the new job and the people we work with are a lot like the old people we left.
Dream baby – wonderful. Then with the baby comes sights, sounds, and smells that weren’t there before.
New car – nothing smells like a new car – soon, looks just like old car.
Reminds me of little four year old girl who said to mom after she’d spent the day at day school. “Mom! I just heard the greatest story. There was this wonderful princess and she fell into a deep trance and along came a charming prince and he kissed her and she came back to life and then, do you know what?”
“Sure,” said mother, “they lived happily ever after.”
Child said, “No, they got married.”
Truth is no one really lives happily ever after – even in Bible Stories
Noah – great things, flood, naked and ashamed.
David’s life has a dark side – murder, hypocrisy and jealousy marking his life.
King Saul – born to be a king, dies a suicide.
John the Baptist – beheaded.
Peter crucified upside down
Now before you get too depressed. Some do live happily ever after.
Daniel
Joseph
and Job
Well, maybe on this earth, no one lives “happily ever after.” That will come in the hereafter.
But how about fulfilled and satisfied? How about growing and learning? How about contented and with few regrets. Yes, Daniel, Joseph and Job all had that.
Look at how he died: READ Job 42:17: “old and full of years.”
Old and full of years are not the same. “Full of years” refers more to fullness of life: contented, satisfied, few regrets.
The Message – “Then he died, an old man, a full life.”
The Living Bible – Then at last he died, an old man, after living a long good life.
Read about Abraham’s death. Genesis 15:15; 25:8.
“He breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man, and he was satisfied with age and he was gathered to his people.” Probably a reference to joining ancestors in afterlife – Heaven.
One day we will all die. Death will come. I want us all to die under the patriarchal formula.
A new consultant breezed into the Human Resources Office and asked, How many of the company’s employees were approaching retirement age.
“All of them. Not one of them is going the other way.”
Thomas Cole (1801-1848) “Stages of Life: Childhood“
Safe and secure for many. Great start.
Gus Bess, “I feel like I was born at 9. Sister born at 7. Remember flashes of memory. Mom going through screen door. Me too. Something bad happened, we don’t know what.
Never too late to have rich full life, old and full of years.
▓SLIDE #17: “Stages of Life: Youth“
▓SLIDE #18: Focus on dreams. Not all dreams come true. One of keys to successful life is how you handle it when your dreams are not going to come true. Pastors hit this in 40s.
Hard youth. Never to late to have a rich, full life, old and full of years.
▓SLIDE #19: “Stages of Life: Adulthood“
▓SLIDE #20: Rough waters ahead. God is watching, we are praying. We all live through this.
READ Job 23:10 gives a helpful perspective throughout the stages of life. In the midst of his sufferings Job proclaimed: “But He knows the way I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” And so he did.
I wonder if Job remembers saying this to Eliphaz.
Back when sores were still with him, friends against him, family gone away, children had died, he was bankrupt. Sitting in garbage dump on the outskirts of the city. Job says, “It will be worth it.”
It would be a great gift if we could be in Job’s position at the end of the book without going through that he went through throughout the book. The knowledge without the suffering. But realistically, it can’t happen. It takes fire to refine gold.
▓SLIDE #21: “Stages of Life: Old Age“
▓SLIDE #22: Ready to die: angels beckoning.
The roman scholar, Cato, began to study Greek when he was over eighty. Some one asked why he tackled such a difficult task at his age.
Cato said, “It is the earliest age I have left.
JOB REceived four gold-like blessings from the hand of God.
Your rewards might be different because your trials are different. The blessings that come to you are not necessarily the same as Job’s. But take heart. They will come.
▓SLIDE #23: 1. Job’s possessions are doubled (Job 42:10, 12).
READ JOB 42:10 – All doubled over the passing of time.
Job 1:2-3 is exactly one half of these figures. Plenty of land and animals and food. 6000 camels. Freight trucks.
On occasion the Lord chooses to bless certain individuals with more than is enough. Let it be. Let it be. Guard yourself from envy.
God’s children who are blessed with more than enough are often the first to say that it all came from His grace.
If you are not financially blessed like some others, applaud their good fortune rather than resent it.
▓SLIDE #24: 2. His relatives and friends supported him (Job 42:11).
READ JOB 42:11.
Where were they before he won the lottery?
Someone said, “You always know who your friends are if you win the lottery or own a pick-up truck.
Weren’t around in his sufferings. See Job 6:14-15. They all deserted him.
In a fast paced world like ours it’s easy to lose our roots and live just for ourselves.
One person stood by his side through it all: For better or worse. You have to hand it to Mrs. Job. She stuck it out. She’s not painted in a good light, I’m sorry to say. She had great qualities.
Standing beside ten fresh graves on a windy hill, his wife heaving in sobs beside him, having lost all Job says in faith, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” His wife bitterly whispered, “Just curse God and die.” Those were her children, too.
Stayed with him all the way – as confused as he was, watching her husband dwindle to a shell of what he’d once been must have been terribly difficult. She was there!
Hey, stick it out, stay together. This is your best friend. Hang in there. They had a lot to talk about as they went to bed alone and all was quiet.
I love that when the family finally came around, they comforted and consoled him. Maybe he told them about the night he lost all hope. Maybe he had a few scars remaining. These are the kind of stories that make a family reunion deeper and more meaningful.
All gave him pieces of silver and ring of gold. Maybe this was early after he lost it all and they put him back on his feet. Sold all the rings to live on in early days.
Remember, no one ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”
▓SLIDE #25: 3. Job’s children are all replaced (job 42:13-15).
READ JOB 42:13-15.
Let’s say “they did.” She’s up in years. Let’s just say they’re 70. “You won’t believe this but I think I’m pregnant!” “What?!”
Not one pregnancy or even 2. 10 pregnancies.
In West Virginia there is the story of the couple who called for a doctor late one night as the wife was about to deliver a baby. The country physician turned the rustic farmhouse into a makeshift delivery room. The husband was told to hold the lantern where the doctor could see.
After a healthy boy was born, the man lowered the lantern. The doctor shouted for the new father to get the lantern back up because there was another baby on the way, this time a girl. Dad lowered the lantern to look at the second child.
Dad was shocked when the doctor told him to lift up the lantern again. Another one was on the way. The shaky father asked the doctor, ‘Do you think it’s the light that’s attracting them?”
Mr. and Mrs. Job had 10 more children. Thank God it wasn’t 20!
They are raising children again! That will keep you young! They got to enjoy the blessing of parenting with the wisdom of grandparents. “I wish I knew then what I know now. I’d have been such a better parent.” Well, they got that second chance. They don’t make the mistakes of the first time.
Some of you are raising little children.
I remember the precocious ten-year-old who asked her grandmother, “How old are you?” “Well, honey, when you are my age you don’t share your age with just anybody.”
“Please, I won’t tell.” “No, it’s my secret.”
Twenty minutes later the little girl bounced in and said, “You’re 62 and you weigh 140 pounds.” The astonished grandmother said, “How in the world did you know that?” “Easy. I looked at your driver’s license. I also saw you got an F in sex.”
READ JOB 42:14
Not much significance to names.
“Karen” means “darkness at corner of eyes”. Like mascara. They named her “Karen”. That’s better than “Mascara”.
READ JOB 42:15
They’re beautiful = “fair” means more than outside beauty. They had the inner beauty of character and personhood. Why? Mom and dad knew what they were doing. They gained knowledge from wise parents that was ahead of their years.
▓SLIDE #26: 4. Job received the Patriarchal Blessings of a long and satisfying life (Job 42:16-17).
READ JOB 42:16-17.
Add 140 to 70 and get 210 years of life. Great for him!
And then he died, “old and full of years” I—a completely fulfilled life.
Job did not dying a struggling, broken, cranky old codger who every one tried to avoid. He enjoyed his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. He relived much of life and passed on so much of what he has learned.
▓SLIDE #27: Jewish proverb: “For the ignorant old age is as winter. For the learned it is a harvest.”
It’s wonderful to be around an enthusiastic person who is older than you. Great to see them have goals and visions and dreams that excite them from the time they awaken until bedtime.
Wonderful to have mentors when you are young who are still walking with God. It’s wonderful to see people into their 70’s, 80s, and 90’s who still are loving Jesus.
Let me say to you who have older parents and family members – remember them. Take care of them. Love them. If they’re away write to them. Continue to nurture that relationship.
It is tough to get old. You know you are getting older when:
You sit down in a rocking chair and you can’t get it started.
All the names in your little black book end in “M.D.”
You get winded playing chess
You watch a pretty girl go by and your pacemaker opens the garage door.
The female flight attendant offers Coffee, Tea, or Milk of Magnesia
You try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks and you realize you aren’t wearing any.
You sink your teeth into a juicy steak and they stay there.
Let’s learn from this passage the value of helping those who are aging enjoy a more satisfied life. They are worth it.
Some wag has said, “Older folks are worth a lot more. They have silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys, lead in their feet, and natural gas in their intestines.”
▓SLIDE #28: HOW CAN WE LIVE TO RECEIVE THE PATRIARCHAL BLESSING FOR A LONG AND FULFILLED LIFE?
What do I learn from Job’s model?
If I were Richard’s age, what would I be worried about?
▓SLIDE #29: Find Forgiveness And A Right Standing With God At The Foot Of The Cross.
Found right standing with God by sacrifice Job 1:5; and 42:8-9.
Confessed sin to keep relationship with God close and intact
Tape or CD find Justice and Mercy meet at the foot of the cross.
▓SLIDE #30: Stay Committed To God And To Your Relationship With Him At Any Price
Refused to turn his back on God (curse God) Job 1:11
Job 23:11-12
Stay with God even when life seems unfair.
Book of Job ends—Was this really fair? No, to us it would have been fair if all this never happened.
▓SLIDE # 31: God is not under the law of fairness. But He is always just.
▓SLIDE #32: Wrong view: There is a law of fairness or justice that is higher and more absolute than God. It is binding even for God. God must act according to this law in order to be fair. We appeal to this law for fairness.
▓SLIDE #33: Upon accepting an award, the late Jack Benny once remarked:
▓SLIDE #34: “I really don’t deserve this. But, I have arthritis, and I don’t deserve that either.
▓SLIDE #35: Correct view: God Himself is the standard of justice. He always acts according to His own moral perfection. Thus whatever He does is fair, even if we don’t understand it. We appeal directly to God.
By the way, God never reveals to Job about the deal between Him and Satan. He leaves Job in the mystery of it. And Job simply acknowledges his inability to understand why. That is just.
Doggedly stay with God no matter what happens in life.
Hebrews 12:4-12
Mike Kollin, former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins was asked by his coach to do some scouting: “Sure coach, what kind of player are you looking for?”
“Well, Mike, do you know the kind of player who gets knocked down and stays down?” Mike said, “We don’t want him, do we?” “No, we don’t want him. Then there is the kind of player who gets knocked down and gets up and gets knocked down again and then stays down?” “We don’t want him either, do we?”
“No. And then there is the player who gets knocked down, gets back up, gets knocked down again, and gets back up again and again.” Mike said, “That’s the guy we want. Right?”
“No, Mike, we don’t want him either. I want you to find the guy who’s knocking everybody down. That’s the guy we want.
“Polycarp 86 years have I served him….”
▓SLIDE #37: Process Properly The Hurts And Pains Of Life.
He was honest with God; told God the truth about his feelings (psalms)
Job 16:1-5: aren’t any of you going to comfort me?
Job 42:11
Clara Null relates, “It was one of the worst days of my life. The washing machine broke down. The telephone kept ringing. I had more bills than I had money to pay. My head ached.
Almost to the breaking point I lifted my 1-year-old into his highchair, leaned my head against the tray and began to cry.
Without a word, my son took his pacifier out of his mouth and stuck it in mine.
Tapes and CDs on comfort.
▓SLIDE #37: Maintain Your Integrity
Job 2:3,9; and 6:29
Consistency of character.
Bob barber, my core values.
Gus Bess came to town. Heard: “Casas is always the same in reputation and character.”
Teenagers multiple masks: Self Choose Who I am
Get person hood and values intact.
STORY of calling myself out in men’s softball game: Mr. Fox, “what did you expect?”
I wish for all of us a full life that is marked not by living happily ever after – impossible – but satisfied, fulfilled, challenged, useful, godly, balanced, reasonably sweet.
