Sermons
Vander Kam on Job 9:2,33
Sermons
Vander Kam on Job 9:2,33Job 9:2 – "In truth I know that this is so,
But how can a man be in the right before God?"
Job 9:33 – "There is no umpire between us,
Who may lay his hand upon us both." (New American Standard
Bible)
Beloved in the Lord, the book of Job may be the oldest book of the Bible. It is, of course, bound up with Psalms and Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, according to my literature. But nevertheless it is one of the oldest, if not the oldest of all the books of the Bible, because Job lived in the days of Abraham. And as a result of that, we are also dealing with a man here who has very little of the revelation of God, if any. And those are the things that we are always to remember in trying to understand what he has to say to us.
And then we are to see it in this way that He has put in the middle of life and that you are there standing in the middle of this life and you don't know what is happening, you don't know what is happening to you, and you are not able to understand and you do not have the revelation of God. You do not have the Old Testament nor the New Testament; you have nothing of this as yet, and then you see all the waves and the billows of God going over you as they have gone over the man Job, and you begin to wonder.
And this is the man who is now seeking to come to grips with all the various problems of life outside of the Word. Who is seeking to come to grips with this, "is God just?" He is coming to grips with this, is God great? Am I guiltless? How can I ever stand before the living God? if there is a God – how can I ever stand before Him?
Now these are the kind of problems wherewith he is dealing. And it is, of course, the problem of suffering that is very much on the surface, and those are the things that are also dealt with in the Bible time and again. You have it, for example, in Psalms 73, you have it in Jeremiah 12, you have it here in the whole book of Job, you have it throughout the Scriptures. Where it is dealt with in such a way so that we must say why it is that God causes some people to suffer and not others. And that if you are able to come to an understanding of it, that you will then also praise Him and magnify His Name, because He does all things well.
He does everything according to a pattern, the pattern that He Himself has set, and that is the way in which He has revealed Himself now to us. But Job does not even read Psalm 73, and he does not read Jeremiah 12; he doesn't even read the first two chapters of his own book, and therefore is not able to understand why it is that God is dealing with him in the way in which He does. Why is it that God deals with him in this way, that He gives him everything at first and then takes it away from him so radically? This he is not able to understand, he is not able to understand these things. And think now of a man that is standing in the midst of life, knows that there is a God, is aware of this, that He is mighty, that He is almighty, that He has everything under His control, and that that is the God that he has to deal with.
And then why does He deal with him in the way in which He does? This is something that is an impossibility for this man Job, and you read it again in every chapter. These are the things whereby; Oh there are ever so many who have looked upon this book of Job and they have wondered because it goes to the very depths. These are the things whereby, you see, that he is dealing with great things, things so deep that they are virtually un-understandable. Science has wondered about the book of Job, philosophy has wondered about the book of Job, and here you see it as a revelation of God. And now he says, how can man be just with God? Oh, that there were an umpire between us, who could lay his hand upon us both.
We speak to you on "Job's Cry For A Mediator." Noticing in the first place; the problem – and secondly, the solution.
The problem is occasioned by this, that it is spoken to in the previous chapter. Sometime when you have a few moments, sit down and read the whole book of Job in one sitting, and then you see the flavor of the whole book. And then it is this, that the one of the friends of Job speaks and Job answers. Then another one speaks and Job answers. And they are trying to get farther into this mystery, why God deals with men in the way in which He does. Why does He deal with Job in the way in which He does, and does not deal that way with others. He has blessed him far greater than He has blessed anyone else, and He has also smitten him more than He has anyone else. Why is that! What has he done?
And Bildad has come to the conclusion that Job is a sinner, and that he is a sinner of great proportion, and that it is because of very specific sins that God has done this to him, "God is just," says Bildad, "and He is not going to do things the way you think, but He is going to do things justly, and it is because you are a sinner, you're a great sinner. There are ever so many sins that you have not confessed, and ever so many sins that nobody else knows about, but God sees them. And as a result of that, all of this terror has come upon you."
And Job says, "That's not so; I do not have that kind of a sin. I do not have that kind of a sin in my life, in my background, in my heart; it's not there." Oh, of course, he recognizes that he is a sinner, of course. Just like Bildad, and Eliphaz, and Zophar, and all the others. He is a sinner, but not in that sense, that God would now so deal with him and turn completely around, where He has favored him so greatly in the beginning, and now has turned around and has become his enemy. That He will not agree to.
He says that is not the case and therefore this is not comfort. And he says at one point, "Ye are miserable comforters." You don't bring with him this kind of comfort whatsoever. You say it is because of my sin that I am lying here like this! That I am sitting here on this ash heap, and that I am scraping myself because I can't stand it. God has dealt with me, He has taken everything away, and now my whole body rebels. And you say, that's my own fault!
And not only that, but Bildad has gone into it even farther than that. And he has said, "Now you have lost those ten children of course, Job, in one blow; they must have been bad." Now this is more than the man can take. Here is the man who has brought up his children in a way that was beautiful, people of these Scriptural times, and now Bildad says, "They were sinners," in other words, "God wouldn't have done this." That He took them all away in one blow. Now then, ye are miserable comforters. Say to a parent who has just lost his child, "that was a bad one, that was a bad one." Say to him when he has lost several in an accident, "they had it coming." That's what Bildad does.
And Job says, "that cannot be!" They were sinners like all the others, of course, and therefore Job also made sacrifices for them again every month. Whenever they had finished their feasting he would call them together and he would make sacrifices for each one, and he would bring the prayers before the throne of grace, and seek forgiveness for anything that they had done amiss; "for it may be," says Job, "that they have sinned, I don't know, but it may be. And that they have cursed God in their heart."
"Well," said Bildad, "they did, they did." Bildad knows. Now these are the miserable comforters that Job is dealing with, and these are the bright, discerned men from the East; these are his friends. These are the ones who have come now in order that they may comfort him, and instead of comforting, of course, they are making the matter a whole lot worse than what it was.
And that's why he cries out at this time. He cries out because there is no way out. Think of yourself without having any knowledge of the Scriptures, having no knowledge of the cross, having no knowledge of the communion table, and then be faced with this, that you have lost everything in life, including your family, and your wife says to you, "curse God, and die, man." And this man wonders. But how can man be just with God? That is the plea; that is the cry that comes from the heart: "How can a man be just with God!" Because, he says, I can defend myself. And if we were on an even plane, or as they say today, if it would be an even playing field; then I would testify, and I would make it clear to Him that I am innocent. But He won't listen! What do you do!
I cry to Him, I pray to Him, and He doesn't listen. The heavens are like brass, there is nothing that comes through. So what are you going to do? How can a man be just with God? And Job feels that is the requirement, that is the thing that is necessary, that a man must be just with God. He has to be in on a basis with Him so that God is going to see justice satisfied, but that at the same time, that through His justice, this man is also going to be acquitted; this man Job is going to be acquitted.
Now finally he is, as we know from the sequel; but nevertheless, he is not yet at this time. And at this time he is right in the middle of all of his agony, and he cries out of that agony, "how can man be just with God! And I don't see," he says, "how it can be done. I honestly don't. I don't see how a man can ever justify himself."
We hear ever so much today, of course, of court cases, ad nauseam; but then it is also, according to the legal experts, this, that a person who has himself as his attorney, has a fool for a client. And that, Job feels, how can he ever defend himself before Him? Talk about strength, he says, He has, and he overturns the mountains. He hangs the Milky Way, He hangs the stars, He covers the sun; it's nothing to Him; He can do anything, and everything.
Talk about strength, He has it. The strength of all the things that are here on earth don't begin to compare; He's made it. It's His playing field, He can do with it whatever He wishes. But how can man be just with God, if God doesn't answer him; and He doesn't have to. Then how would he ever be able to get through. How would he ever be able to claim that he is just. How would he ever be able to make it plain before God; he can't do it. And therefore he speaks of that in the previous verses, "He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together." No, that's not the case. Were that only the case, would I only have the power of subpoena, then I would call in witnesses, and I would make them say under oath, the truth of God, and He would have to listen. But that's not the case.
He is in a realm by Himself, and He can do whatever He wishes. And here I am groveling on this earth, suffering; suffering untold agony and misery. And what can you do about it! That's the situation! Then we begin to understand just a little bit about it, what it means that there is now a fuller revelation. And that we can go to men who suffer so, and that we are able to say that "all things shall work together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to His purpose." Job didn't know that.. How shall a man be just before God? There is One who is going to bring that justice about. Job didn't know that! But he is standing before the facts, and as he stands before these facts he is driven almost out of his mind, not being able to understand which way to go. That's what we have, beloved, when we are divorced from the Word that had not yet been given.
That Word of God that had not yet come to such a development, so that there was already a clarity on this because Luther, later on, comes with the same question; "how can man be just with God?" But he knew the answer; Job didn't. Luther says, "how can man be just before God? Not through works, but man is justified by faith." Oh, and that is not an invention of Luther, of course. The apostle had spoken of that in Romans 5. But long before the apostle had spoken of that in Romans 5, Habakkuk had already said, "And the just shall live by faith." That's the way it comes.
Well, Job has a faith, he has a faith in a God, a God of might, a God of power, a God of brilliance; if He asks a question, He says, I cannot answer one in a thousand. And that's failure, you realize, that's utter failure. You are in school, you better be able to answer more than three out of four; in other words, you fail. But I can't answer one in a thousand... So there I stand. And what He does with me, He doesn't have to give an account to anybody. He can do as He pleases. That's my situation. And then a Bildad comes and says, "You must be an awful sinner. Your children must have been awful sinners." Job says, "No... But how can man be just with God?" Looks hopeless!
Secondly; notice also the solution.
Now the solution to this problem, beloved, is rather long in coming, and because of the fact that the man is here groping, and that he is groping about because of the fact that there is no revelation, and that the revelation is very scarce, if there is any that he has had. And the Lord has spoken to him and that is the revelation that he has, no doubt about it. But he is not able, for example, to go to the books of Moses, he is not able to go to the prophets. Certainly not able to go to the New Testament, certainly not able to go to Calvary, not even able to go to Bethlehem. And as a result of that you are very restricted.
But he says the one thing that is wanting, the one thing that is necessary is this, that there would be an umpire between us. You know what an umpire is; a referee, a third party. That is the only way a game can be played, of course. And otherwise, everyone is a law unto himself. There has to be an umpire, there has to be a referee, and otherwise there is no possibility of going forward. But so, says Job, is it also in life. If He deals with me in this way, and He gives no account to anybody, who's going to stop Him? But if He deals with me in this way, what's going to become of me? I am going to be crushed, utterly crushed. There's going to nothing left. There is no umpire between us.
That is the thing that he missed, and that is his cry; for an umpire between them. One who is able to call upon God, and who is able to call upon Job, an umpire between them. And now it goes to a far greater extreme, and he says, "An umpire between us, the kind who is able to lay His hand upon us both." That is, one who is equal to me, but is also equal to God, and otherwise you don't lay a hand on him.
Such insight, this must be the God-man. That is the kind of an umpire, no other umpire is going to be sufficient. But it will have to be one who is able to lay his hand upon us both. No, it took the church of Jesus Christ many, many years, many centuries, before they ever came to that conclusion, that Job was right on that score. And they had the New Testament as well as the Old, and they had seen all the revelation of God. And now finally they come to the conclusion that Jesus is divine, that Jesus is God. "Now why must He be," says the Heidelberg Catechism, "both God and man." Why must He be man? So that He is going to be able to take up our cause for us. Why must He be God? In order that He will not succumb under the blows of God's wrath against sin. That's the reason.
And Job already feels it. There has to be an umpire between us, otherwise we're never going to get together. Because he is arguing here, beloved, from this date here upon earth, and God is in His heaven, and never the twain shall meet. There has to be an umpire to bring them together. And that is not any third-party that you may find. No! No! Any third party may do in regard to certain difficulties, but not here. The only umpire that will do is one who is able to lay His hand upon me, but is even able to stretch His hand and lay it upon God, and subpoena Him! Yah.
So that, here now the truth is to be told. So that they are brought together, because it is all because of this, "how can man be just with God?" See, that is the fundamental question. That is the question about which the Reformation turned. That is the question about which so many human hearts have turned. "How is it ever possible that we are going to be just before God?" How is it possible that I am going to be declared just, righteous, when I am a sinner? How is it ever going to be a possibility? Well, it will not, if I only believe that there is a God of power, that there is a God who changes not, but is like stocks and blocks. But it is a God who is a Father, that it is a God who sent His Son, that it is a God who Himself provides that umpire. Because, look wheresoever he will, of course, Job is not able to find that kind of an umpire. Look through this whole world, and he won't find it. And he won't find it among his friends, not even an Elihu, who speaks later. And even though an Elihu is able to say later on, "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth."
And that an Elihu leads him a whole lot closer that nevertheless, it is only God who is able to provide the umpire. The One who is to bring them together; that's the purpose. So that a man may be just before God, because this is the depth of it all. You may believe in election; fine; and you may believe that God is great and greatly to be praised; alright. You may believe that He is almighty and omniscient and omnipotent; fine. Job believes that too. And he said, "But I don't know where to go with it." He is omnipotent, man, He overturns the mountains, He does anything and everything. He is the omniscient One, He knows everything.
And, oh, when you read the whole book, then you see the insight that he has into all of creation. That he is very much aware of how all the creatures move. And yet, at the same time, this doesn't help him. Because, "how can man be just before God?" And that's why, even though Catholicism believes in election, might believe in the almighty power of God, might even believe in the divinity of Christ, and thereby has come a long ways; nevertheless, does not believe in justification by faith. That's what it's about.
And Job stumbles in this, and Luther stumbled in that, and you and I have the benefit, that we are sitting here, after ages and ages of revelation, ages and ages of the church's reflection upon the truth of God, that we say "how can man be just with God?" Because, two weeks from today we will celebrate the glorious fact that there is an umpire; there is an umpire who is able to lay His hand upon us both, and bring both together. And then, with Job, say "I heard of Thee, with the hearing of the ear." I called your attention to that, once last year, on a communion Sunday, too. "I heard of Thee with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. And I repent in dust and ashes." Um-huh!!
That's where Job has to be. And Job has suffered, and we feel sorry for him. Who would not feel sorry for a man that has sustained such loss as has this man, Job. But that doesn't get you very far. And feeling sorry for him certainly is not much comfort for him. But this, that there is now, "man can be just before God," because there is that umpire. That is Christmas. It is the most stupendous thing that has ever happened. Job would have given up everything for it; anybody would. God has chosen His umpire, to bring Himself and man together. And it couldn't be done in any other way, and we saw it this morning, at His table. That's where it was fulfilled; the death of Jesus Christ.
"How can man be just with God?" Oh, a child here in this building would be able to tell it, how. And there this philosopher, this scientist, this brilliant man isn't able to understand it because, he says, there is no umpire. And we now say there is, man is able to be just with God because there is an umpire, and God has given him, and that one never rules wrong. Amen.
We give thanks to Thee, heavenly Father, for Thy Word, for Thy Word of grace, Thy Word of love. Thy Word wherein Thou dost instruct us. And we pray, Lord God, that it may be applied unto our every heart, in order that we may also realize what has happened when Thou hast sent Thy Son into this world, and that Thou hast given Him up on Calvary. Bless us then further, cause Thy face to shine upon us, be gracious to us. Forgive our sins, and hear us, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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