Skip to main content

2. Hopelessness



 Job 9:32-35
Key Verses
“If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God’s rod from me, so that His terror would frighten me no more.”
Job 9:33-34

What would life be like for you if you had no knowledge of a loving Savior, as Jesus, to appeal to when faced with the hard times?  I believe that one of the reasons the story of Job was placed in the bible is to give us a glimpse of just how desolate life can be without Christ.

No one really knows much about Job.  He lived in the land of Uz, which means that he was probably a descendant of Noah’s son Shem.  This would make him a Semite, related to the family of Abraham, but Job has no direct connection with the messianic line as far as we can tell.   It is suggested that he probably lived around the time of Babel, and before Abraham.  The flood would be a part of his recent history.  There is no formal worship center, no collection of believers coming together to encourage and pray for one another.  It is a picture of a mundane existence with little to look forward to outside of work, family gatherings and death.

In the book of Job, we learn of how pious Job was.  He sacrificed and worshiped, but there doesn’t seem to be any relationship, personal or otherwise between Job and God.  Job is just a man, going through the futile motions, hoping to spare his family from doom, as Noah had been spared for his devotion to this all powerful God, out there, somewhere. 

In the story of Job, we see hopelessness and utter despair.  We see him longing for the solution that had not yet come: a mediator between him and God.  We see how desperately Job needed what we enjoy, Messiah.  We see how, without Christ, there is no hope. 

What would life be like if everyone in your town, in your family, in your country, knew the same despair?  It is obvious that Job’s friends really knew no more than he did, thus their counsel was not helpful.  God knew what we needed.  He saw our hopeless state, and began to lay the groundwork for a solution.  Here, we see Job's utter frustration that there is no one to appeal to for help.  He knows that he cannot approach God on his own.  If only there were someone to bridge the gap between God and man.  If only there were someone who understood both sides, the hopelessness of man and the Holiness of God and could help the two sides meet!

Hymn:      Be Still My Soul

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...
Post a Comment
Read more

These Boots are Made for Walking

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-15 These Boots are Made for Walking. Of course, I picked that title because it has a reference to popular culture, and it connects with our text today about “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I was tempted to play the video of that song, but it’s really not amenable to worship. If you remember that old song, it was quite confrontational. The singer had a righteous complaint against a boyfriend or spouse who was cheating on her. She’s not going to put up with that, and the song goes on to say, “One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you!” And that “take a stand” bravado made her a hero! It was a #1 hit in 1966. I mention it because it has one interesting parallel and one major contrast with the message of grace and forgiveness. That parallel is this. God has a righteous complaint against the entire human race for cheating Him out of the loving relationship He desires with us. As the God who created us, he h...
Post a Comment
Read more

186. Ten Healed, Or One?

Luke 17:11-19 Key Verse: Then He said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." Luke 17:19 At last, Jesus has left the crowd behind and again is continuing His journey toward Jerusalem. His path takes Him and His disciples along the border of Judea and Samaria, between the pure Jews, and the hated half breeds of the day. On His way, Jesus encounters an interesting group of people. We only learn the nationality of one of them and, though we don't know the nationality of the others, because Jesus sends them to the priests in Jerusalem we can probably assume that at least some of them are Jews. Isn't it interesting that through leprosy, a disease that causes much suffering, the dividing wall of hatred has come down for the sake of companionship? We encountered one leper earlier on our Journey. Lepers were the dreaded untouchables of the day. Their disease cut them off from all they loved. It was a very lonely life. No wonder these people had ...
Post a Comment
Read more