The Word of Truth Ministries
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God's
Strange Work
(Isa. 28:21 & Job 3:23-26) |
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"God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16)
People talk much about the love of God. Indeed, God is love. But to say that God is love is not to define all that God is; God is love and so much more. And it is certain that God will not allow human beings to define him into a box of actions that restrict His actions. He alone can and has defined himself. The Apostle Paul, possibly the most scholarly of the apostles--certainly one who wrote the most--stated that the depth and the riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God are unsearchable as to his judgments and ways--they are beyond our finding out. (Rom. 11:33) There are aspects of God that are fearful, indeed, scary, when they are seen in their full dimensions. That is why Paul said, knowing the terror of God, we persuade men. (2 Cor. 5) God does a work that is beyond that warm and fuzzy image Christians love to cast God. Isaiah 28, calls the work of God his work, his strange work; his action, his strange action. It is strange to humans, but not to God. Whenever a person engages in an activity regularly, that person thinks it normal, but when someone else comes along and engages his/herself in an activity that is not normally engaged in by those around him, those around him think his behavior is strange. As an example, some years ago, Vietnamese came in large numbers to this nation, and for some they killed a few stray dogs and ate them, or so the story is told. Resultantly, a number of US citizens were outraged; there were protesters in the small neighborhoods with signs reading, "We love our dogs, we don't eat them." And these older US citizens thought it quite strange behavior that these new US citizens would eat dog meat. However, we do know that there is nothing at all toxic or harmful about dog meat; it is just a custom that we do not eat certain foods. This is much like those who find it strange that Americans eat cow meat, while others feel that cows are sacred. Whenever other people involve themselves in a custom that we do not engage in, we think they are strange. And so it is when God's behavior does not comport to our expectations, to our understanding of his word, to our neatly tucked away view of God, we consider that strange behavior. It is ironic that most Christians, in their characterization of God, have actually forgotten their own purpose in relations to God. Human beings were made for the pleasure of God, a truth God still keeps for himself. (Rev. 4:15) So forgetting, when God extracts the pleasure for which he created man, since it is not always in ways human beings think are appropriate, we see his behavior as strange. God said, My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts; as high as the heaven is from the earth, so are my ways from your ways and my thoughts from my thoughts. (Isa.55) The case of Job is one case that speaks to this seemingly strange work of God as it relates God to human beings. But Isaiah said that God will do his work, his strange work, and his act, his strange act. (Isa. 28: 21) A work of God that does not always comport with what human beings think is correct and/or normal for God; oddly, human beings have attempted to bind God by their own standard of His righteousness, viz., God must do the things that humans think are correct and right, and if He fails to comport himself according those standards or their definition of God, then His action is strange. Hence, Isaiah, knowing the fearfulness of God and the unfettered actions of God, wrote that God will do his work, his strange work, and his act, his strange act. This was written, no doubt, to characterize that God will behave in manners that do not subscribe to our ideas of what God should do and who God is. Job was the wisest man of the East, he was a perfect man in the sight of God and others: he gave to the needy, he taught in the market place; he bound up the wounds of the afflicted; he sacrificed to God for himself and his children, peradventure they inadvertently cursed God or sinned against Him in some way; Job made a covenant with his eyes, he wouldn't look at his female (or male) servants with amorous desires. But although he had committed himself to God, the fear of God, the avoidance of evil, and perfection in the sight of God as a way of life, destruction and devastation came to his house. That devastation was not because of any wrong or sin he had committed. Sadly, many Christians have accepted the idea that no one is perfect and that God would not harm His people; as a result of that acceptance, they have diligently attempted, much like Job's friends did (Job 4:8), to find fault with Job, even in the face of God's repeated word that Job was a perfect man. (Job 1&2) Furthermore, God showed us exactly how Job's devastation came about. It was not about Job; it was about what God wanted to do at that time. Yes, God has a way of working all things to His end, as we shall see in this discussion, but this was a case of God and Satan in a controversy about the nature of righteousness and unrighteousness. One day, when the sons of God came together, Satan was among them; in God's discussion with Satan, God asked him if he had considered Job who was perfect--in right standing with God as God wanted him to be. Satan answered that Job was righteous because God rewards righteousness and protects the righteous, but were one stripped of all those rewards and without anything, inclusive of his health, that person would curse God. God used Job to show that Satan's contention was totally wrong. And that one is righteous not because of rewards but because that is the way a righteous person behaves--with or without rewards righteousness is normal behavior. (Job 1 & 2) Job was not unaware of the workings of God, even though his awareness went beyond that of his friends. He, however, as did the Apostle Paul, knew the terror and prerogatives of God. Indeed, Job greatly feared the very thing that God would do. That is why he said the thing I most greatly feared has come upon me. (Job 3:23-26) He plainly spoke about that fear when he stated that God destroys the perfect and the wicked. (Job 9 22) Even with that knowledge, Job chose to be perfect still. Job's friends, however, although wise, had not seen this aspect of God. So when they came, as friends are supposed to do, they sat with him without words in his hour of pain, as friends are supposed to do. But when they opened their mouths, they voiced syllogistic ideas of Job's situation that did not comport with the factual situation. They argued that the fire that fell from heaven was God; the wind that blew the house down, killing his children, was from God, and generally, Job's undoing was clearly an act of God not an act of man. Their second premise (in this case an enthymeme, for you students of locic) in their syllogistic reasoning was that of Gen. 18, The God (the judge) of all the earth will do right--this was an unspoken premise (enthymeme). Their next stated premise was that whatever you sow you will reap. (Job 4:8 & Gal. 4) They arrived at the same conclusion, through their syllogistic reasoning, as many Christians do today: Job must have engaged in some hidden sin for God to devastate him! So the tenor of their discussion with Job was to unearth his sin. This was, however, a case of a valid syllogism with an incorrect conclusion. The problem was that their underlying assumptions were wrong, so they came up with incorrect premises (although right and factual statements about God and human behavior), and although their conclusion was not true, the premises were flawless, their conclusion was still wrong. Although Job was perfect and had done all that God required of him and more, Job knew that God, in his own pleasure, had the option of doing what He did to him. That was the knowledge his friends did not have--God had not shared it with them. So Job contended with his friends that another principle, other than one plowing iniquity and reaping it was at work in him. And because they were ignorant of God's righteousness, they only attempted to convince Job of sin. There is a point that should be made: we see that Satan's torment of Job was a God-approved action. Satan would never have done it unless it was allowed by God. Paul said that all powers must be in subject to the higher power; the powers that be are ordained of God. In Tort Law, we call this act of delegation of power agency. If I designate one to act on my behalf, that one, if not an employee of mine, is an agent of mine. If one sues, one would sue the principal, not the agent, because the principal is responsible. God is always the principal and never the agent. This concept comes as a shock to many because it departs from the warm and fuzzy feelings we have of God; instead, we see Him as a man of war. This depiction is not inconsistent with who God is. Through the prophet Amos, God is shown to be the principal of destruction in a city: Can there be evil in a city and God has not done it? (Amos 3) And through Isaiah, God says, I make peace and create evil. (Isa. 45) Paul knew the terror of God, so he persuaded all men to turn to God. Humans have a one-sided concept of God that is false. This one-sided view is what Jeremiah faced as he prophesied harsh words to the children of Israel--a type of church. They wanted to hear pleasant things and deceits, instead, the prophet said that a strange thing has happened; the prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own means, and the people love to have it that way. And as it was then, it is today. So, to talk about the terror of God defies what many think about God. It is certainly not what they want to hear. (Jer. 5:31) Nevertheless, God creates evil, but to human beings, they tend to think that God only does good. And they have attempted to bind Him to that, but God will not be bound to that limited aspect of His nature. He has reserved unto himself the pleasure of doing good and creating evil; God is love, but He is also a man of war, and He will do as He wants to do. The Apostle Paul cites that before the brothers Esau and Jacob were born, hence, before there was good or evil that either could do, God said, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. They did not dictate God's disposition toward them; His behavior was about what He wanted to do. Likewise, the situation of Moses and Pharaoh was not so much about the behavior of Pharaoh--he did not fashion God's behavior toward him. That type of reasoning would place man before God; hence, it would make God responsive to man. To the contrary, God is the principal mover, not the responder. The disposition of God toward Pharaoh was about God's glory and might being made known to the entire world. "For this cause have I raised thee up, that my name might be made known...." the Scriptures say. (Rom. 9) Paul
explained that Scripture by saying that it is not of him that
runs nor him that wills, but of God that lets! This
position is the prerogative of God, and He will not surrender
that prerogative to human beings because of our imprecise notion
of what God will and won't do and what is right and what is wrong
for God to do. Who are we to say to the potter, Paul asks,
why have you made me thus? Has not the potter power
to make a vessel to honor and another to dishonor? And having
made a vessel to dishonor, Paul further asks, can't He still find
fault with it, even though He has made it a certain way? This
potter lesson is the same lesson God gave to Jeremiah to give
to the House of Israel. God can make a vessel as he wills and
find fault with it if he wants to. He is God, and all things were
made for his glory--yes, human beings too. (Rev.
15) This was the knowledge that Job had. And as a result of that knowledge, Job said that he greatly feared a certain action of God--that He will, in His own pleasure, destroy the perfect and the wicked. Destruction and devastation aren't always because of sin. Of course, sin is in much of it, but not all of it. Jesus asked whether those Galileans who Pilate mingled their blood in his sacrifices were sinners above all the rest, or if those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell were sinners above all; then he said no, they were not. (Lk.13) But
in spite of that fear and Job's knowledge of what God would do, Job
maintained his integrity, because, to him, he was willing to receive
good and evil at the hand of God. And he knew that God took pleasure
in man to do with him as he willed. So
the Book of Job is not about Job so much as it is about God taking
pleasure in Job and using him to prove Satan wrong about the nature
of righteousness and unrighteousness. Yes, in the long view of
God, the judge of all the earth will do right because it
is in his nature, but we may not always be around to see that
long view of God. If Satan rushes in like a flood and takes all
that one has, even that person's health, it is not always about
sin. It could be about God and His own good pleasure with
that person. After all, we were made for his glory and
His pleasure. The Bible says that when Satan rushes in like a
flood, the Spirit of God will lift up a standard against him.
(Isa. 59) That standard
may be the same as it was for Job--an elevation of his abilities
to endure the flood and still say, I have received good at
the hand of God, and I will receive evil as well. God can
make us stand. (Rom. 14:4) Another
important point about this strange work of God is this: God uses
people who are perfect--Job
was perfect, and because he was, God recommended him to Satan. Job
wasn't struggling to become perfect, he was already perfect. Today,
we have the idea that perfection is not attainable in this body--this
is a paradigm of our modern world that sees sin everywhere and
unavoidable, and perfection is nowhere and unattainable. But wasn't
that implied in Satan's argument with God? Why would we carry
that disproved notion on? (Eph. 4) God
said Job was perfect, but many Christians have tried to
find fault with Job even though God declared repeatedly that Job
was perfect. This attempt to find fault with Job is because
of two concepts: we have accepted the carnal notion that perfection
is not attainable while we live; second, we attempt to justify
why God would do the tremendous evil to Job that he did without
the recognition that God created evil and will use it according
as He will. Perfection
is God defined, not human defined. When God says perfect, His
definition is different from human beings. Humans define perfection
in terms of physical features and a supposed proper attitude or
disposition. This certainly does not come near to God's definition.
Yet God has repeatedly commanded his people to, "Be perfect,
even as your father in heaven is perfect; Let us leave the principles
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection…. Be perfect
in all manner of conversation…. As many as be perfect be thus
minded…. Perfect are his saints…." God would not command
us to do or be that which we can't do or be. So he expects perfection
of his saints. (Eph. 4 & Heb. 6) There
is a definition of perfection that God gives through Paul: Not
as if I have attained, either were already perfect, but this one
thing I do; forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
for those things that are before, I press for the mark of the
high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus. And we who are
perfect be thus minded. This is the mindset of the perfect
saint (Phil. 3) Notice that
this is not a physical description of what it means to be perfect.
Jesus said to be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect--no
physical descriptions involved. It
is because saints lack perfection that we see the sluggish nature of
today's Christendom. Many churches are overflowing, and some are not,
but perfection is the first step in the process of invigorating the
Church of God. Paul exhorted and taught the Church at Ephesus and
Philippi about God's methodology for perfection. In
Ephesus 4:11, he writes: He has given some, apostles; he's given
some, prophets; he has given some, evangelists, pastors and teachers;
for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying of the body of the body of Christ until we all come into the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of Man unto the
fullness of the statute of the measure of Christ…. Notice that
the perfection of the saints is first before there can be the
real work of the ministry and so on. I repeat for emphasis, perfection
is required before there can be a working of the ministry; the working
of the ministry is required before the body can be edified; edifying
of the body is required before the saints can come to the unity of the
faith…. And God has given apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors
and teachers for that purpose--to perfect the saints. He
ordained perfection of the saints so that there can be the work
of the ministry; when the ministry is working the body is edified;
when the body is edified, we can all come to the unity of the faith. This
is the progression that God has ordained. If
we, however, are of the mindset that no one is perfect,
we will never see perfection or the attributes of that perfection
manifested in our lives. And if we never see perfection, be assured
God will not use us to work his strange work or any other type of
work. Job was an allegory of the strange work of God that he would do in Christ. It pleased the Lord to bruise him, Isaiah said. (Isa. 53) As it pleased God to bruise Job for a particular point God was making to Satan, unknowing to Satan and to Job was a greater lesson that God was giving. In God's strange work, He took a man and through a factor of a metaphor showed the world how he would redeem the world. Isaiah 53, delineates the Job situation, as Isaiah talks about Christ, while he is talking about something else. "Oh the depth of the riches both of wisdom and knowledge of God are unsearchable as to his judgments and ways--they are beyond our finding out." (Rom. 11) God has done this action before because God's word is layered with meanings and metaphors that are almost beyond our comprehension. Example, David escaping from Saul's rage against him--a rage God used although David was a man after God's own heart--David penned from that experience the words of Jesus on the cross. David didn't think he was a metaphor or an allegory at that time; his fear of Saul was real and great, but God can use us any way He wants to. So God moved on Saul to be enraged at David so that David would be so distressed he would write, My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? And those were the very words of Jesus on the cross years before they occurred. Job as other characters in the Bible only pointed to God's most mysterious and strange work--Jesus. God took the man Jesus, who was His only begotten son--a man approved of God, in whom the fullness of the Godhead rested bodily, a man whom God said pleased Him perfectly in all his ways--and the Bible says in Isaiah 53, it pleased God to bruise Jesus. For this one perfect man in whom the fullness of God inhabited was made by God into a sin sacrifice for the entire world. Indeed, this is the strange work of God that could not be understood by Satan, the Jewish nation at that time, or the entire of the Roman Empire. That a man so perfect in the sight of God, yet God would put him to death for all others who were not perfect in the sight of God. This behavior of God toward Jesus is what the Book of Job analogized about. What God did to Job was primarily about what God would do to Jesus. As it pleased God to destroy Job in God's controversy with Satan, it pleased the Father to bruise Jesus for our sakes, as God thoroughly confused Satan and the princes of this world--for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord from Glory. (Isa. 53:10; 1 Cor. 2:8) The Book of Job was about Jesus, as God spoke in multi-layered messages; for He speaks in types and shadows, metaphors and similes, analogies and allegories, symbols, coded language and dark expressions often hard to understand. David said, "Once has he spoken but twice have I heard..." (Psa. 62:11) Jesus said search the Scriptures for they are they that testify of me. (John 5:39) That included the Book of Job. The secret to understanding the Old Testament is to know that it prophesied of Christ--It was prophetic. Was it not Jesus who said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, I am come to fulfill it." (Mat. 5:17) Hence, the Old Scriptures were our schoolmaster to lead us prophetically to Jesus. (Gal. 3:24-25) The strange masterwork of God was done on Calvary over 2000 years ago. There God took a man He had personally begotten of a woman and put that perfect man to death specifically because he was perfect and capable of dying for others. The others whom he died for were the ungodly that were imperfect. He was put to death by God so that ungodly and imperfect mankind could be made godly and perfect. That is a strange and ironic work of our God foreshadowed in Job and other Scriptures. A study of Isaiah 53 and other Prophets will show how much of a metaphor Job was for Christ. Although God worked a strange work on Job, He knew Job would stand, and He knew what He would do for and to a person who would stand in the gap and make up the hedge. The latter end of Job's life is what God will do to such a one who is perfect and will endure the pleasure of God to do His work, His strange work and His act, His strange act. []
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