“The Mysterious and Inscrutable Ways of God” 2012

Job 38:1-7, 40:6-8, 42:1-3 Romans 11:33-12:3

Job 38:1-7, 40:6-8, 42:1-3

38Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 2“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone 7when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? 6Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 7“Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me. 8Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? 42Then Job answered the Lord: 2“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

Romans 11:33-12:3

33O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34“For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35“Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?” 36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. 12:1I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

In a recent email, a friend asked me a question:

Hi Norm,

I recently got back in touch with an old friend via Facebook. The other day, my friend posted, “Praise God! My wife is 3 years cancer-free!” The comments written by his friends were all along the lines of “God is great!” and “Our God is an awesome God!”

I am, of course, very happy for him and his family. But the original post and comments would seem to blame God for giving people cancer, or crediting him with taking it away. It would appear that Our Awesome God took her cancer away, but not someone else’s. If that’s the case, what about the people who die from it? I’m trying to understand God. Any thoughts?

In my reply, I explained

that the book of Job grapples with that a similar concern,

the age-old question,

why is life unfair and why doesn’t God fix it?

The book of Job reflects Israel’s defeat and Babylonian Exile,

and their struggle to explain and understand the role of God amid that terrible suffering, destruction and loss.

Jerusalem and the whole Jewish nation had always assumed

they could count on receiving God’s special protection …

… so how could God allow such terrible things

to happen to them, the chosen people of God?

The destruction of Jerusalem and being taken into captivity

were incredibly brutal and seemed way out of proportion

to any wrong-doing that they might have done ----

--- and the book of Job was their way

to explore possible explanations and how to understand

why God permitted such tragic and cruel injustice.

How could a good and powerful God allow and permit

so much terrible suffering and tragic loss to the innocent,

and shouldn’t life be far more fair and reasonable?

We’ve all thought about that question in some form or another –

we try to do right, and seem to get slammed for it,

while we see someone else far worse than we

who gets away with it or even prospers for it.

We could all recite a litany

of the injustices & underserved suffering we’ve endured.

The story told in the book of Job begins with God

praising the faithful righteousness of a man named Job.

Then Satan, here called the Accuser challenges that assertion,

and explains that Job lives a righteous and obedient life,

only because God takes such good care and favors him…

… and if God stopped the flow of blessings and puppy treats,

that in no time God’s spoiled pet

would quickly learn to bark and bite back at God.

In the story God accepts the Accuser’s challenge,

and permits him to have his way and do what he wants to Job …

… and so it is

that item by item all is painfully stripped away.

-- his flocks and herds, his wealth and prosperity;

they are all gone.

-- his precious children, his beloved sons and daughters,

while they were gathered and celebrating the joy of life,

the tent they are in collapses and kills each of them;

they are all gone.

--then Job's own body fails and he suffers physical affliction;à

his pain and despair so severe that he sits in ashes

scraping his sores and boils with broken pottery.

Truly he has lost everything. It is all gone-

-- except for his wife, who offers her best advice and comfort,

vs. 2:9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still persist in your integrity? Better to curse God, and die."

Then three of Job's friends come by

supposedly to encourage and comfort him ----

- and offer their reasons for why he is suffering.

Since God is obviously good, powerful and just,

then the only reasonable explanation for suffering must be

that Job had done something truly terrible and sinful,

some evil commiserate with his loss and suffering.

As his friends explained to Job,

this world as God’s creation is certainly fair and rational,

and bad things simply do not happen to righteous people.

But Job repeatedly insists that, no, he has done nothing wrong,

that he doesn't deserve all this misery, disaster and grief,

and that there must be some other explanation for it.

Job suggests that maybe

the universe is not necessarily well-ordered and rational,

but rather it’s arbitrary and a matter of random chance.

Or maybe God is at fault –

Job is suffering all of this - because God has made a mistake,

or doesn’t care about injustice or human suffering.

Maybe it just doesn't matter to God

that Job and his family have been battered and broken.

Maybe his suffering just isn't an important enough issue

for it to concern or to receive the attention of God.

Confident that he’s done nothing wrong to deserve this suffering,

Job complains to God and demands an explanation,

to which God responds, vs. 38:1-4

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Then for the next three chapters, speaking from the whirlwind,

God asks Job questions, to explain the mysteries of Creation.

And since Job cannot answer and Job cannot explain

even the simple wonders of creation, then how could he grasp

or possibly understand ways and wisdom of the Creator?

If what God has created baffles and exceeds Job’s capacity,

how much more beyond understanding, the One who created it?

Suddenly Job gets it, “don’t tug on Superman’s cape”, vs. 42:3

I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

You can ask God your questions, even demand an explanation;

but God is in no way obligated to tell us why or what for,

the Creator does not have to give us all the answers we seek…

… and in fact,

if God did fully explain life’s mysteries and uncertainties,

mortal and finite creatures that we are,à

we would still not be able to understand

the infinite wisdom of our Creator…

… for God is God, we are not; God is infinite, and we are not…

… for God is always up to something more than we can conceive.

1996 hurricane Bertha swept through our tiny coastal community…

… and I had never seen such destructive force before.

At first I stood out on our sun porch watching,

impressed and amazed to see such power in nature first hand, but by nightfall, Kathy and I

were huddled around a candle in the living room

… wondering if our windows, doors and roof would survive

and if the raging-howling storm outside would ever end.

The next morning, it looked like a battlefield around our house,

and rather than face our own storm repairs and clean-up,

we went to visit and comfort our battered congregation –

- huge trees had blown over through lots of roofs and into houses,

- along the beach, homes, even the land where they once stood

had been all swept away by the storm and surging waves

- one of our families with three little boys found the remnants

of their house floating in the Inner Coastal Waterway ---

… and the book of Job was mentioned several times that day.

Then a month and a half later just as things

were finally starting to get cleaned-up and repaired,

another storm, hurricane Fran swept through our area,

an even more powerful storm following the same path

that hit with a 12 foot storm surge causing

terrible flooding, loss and destruction.

The next week an editorial appeared in our local paper,

that began, “Who would have thought six weeks ago

that we’d be writing, ‘thank God for hurricane Bertha’.

The article continued,

“Bertha, the first hurricane in more than 35 years

cleared away much of the old trees and debris,

which helped make Fran a far less destructive storm.

We also learned from Bertha how to prepare and endure.

We know first-hand that we will pull together,

and that we’ll get through this hurricane too…

… so thank God for hurricane Bertha.”

The Apostle Paul would agree and go along with that reasoning.

The verse proceeding the passage we read from Romans,

Paul is writing about the Jews rejecting Jesus,

and the terrible persecution that has caused.

In these verses, Paul describes how he sees their rejection

and their persecution as possible benefit and advantage,

and explains why God has allowed such suffering & struggle.

Specifically addressing his gentile readers,

Paul points out that the persecution that came from the Jews

was what drove missionaries out into the gentile world,

which actually helped create room and opportunity

for the gentiles to hear the Gospel truth

and receive God’s gracious love by faith…

… all as a part of God’s larger plan and purpose. vs. 11:11

… through their stumbling salvation has come to the Gentiles

Paul goes on to explain that God is still mysteriously at work

and God will surely fulfill His purpose including

all His covenants promises to the Jewish people.

Paul’s point:

God isn’t done yet, so don’t be deceived by appearances…

… but rather, consider the gracious loving nature of God

-- as revealed in Scripture, and in the life & ministry of Jesus.

If you ever think you’ve been abandoned by the Lord,

Jesus would say, “But don’t you know me and who I am?”

One time my sister got a phone call from her credit card company;

wondering if

she had really ordered the 200 bullet proof vests that were to be shipped to an address in Afghanistan.

Apparently somebody in their security and fraud division

was suspicious, since that charge didn’t match

her normal suburban housewife buying pattern.

In response to trying to understand our God and human suffering:

God is way beyond our explanation or human understanding. God is good and God is awesome whether someone’s cancer is cured or not. We thank God for the cure just as we say grace before eating, and if the cancer goes badly, I pray for God’s strength to endure. Either way, God is still God and God is still loving, for that is the nature and pattern of the God I have come to know.

God and God’s will are mysterious, and our understanding is very limited. My comfort is that I am loved by God and I trust God’s will in my life, even when I don’t understand. In the end nothing in this life is so conclusive that it takes away all the mystery or answers our every doubt. But when I die I will know for sure, and I believe and trust that it will be into the loving arms of a God I already know. My faith is at least in part, a decision to trust.

From Job I learn,

try not to utter what I do not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I do not know.

Or as the Apostle Paul explains it,

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.