“IT’S SINFUL TO QUESTION TO QUESTION GOD” IS NOT THE WHOLE TRUTH by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: Lots of Venezuelans have been rejoicing in the streets since yesterday over the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the President of Venezuela since 2013. For quite some time, international bodies like the European Union, United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and many Latin American countries had called him a dictator and refused to recognize his government. Maduro was not only involved in drug trafficking, narco-terrorism, and collaborating with nations like Iran and Cuba, he was also dismantling democracy in Venezuela (in keeping with the evil legacy of his predecessor and mentor Hugo Chavez). He was responsible for rigging elections, causing severe food and medicine shortages, killing anti-government protestors, forcing mass exodus of Venezuelans from the country, and other human rights violations. If you’ve been watching the news, under President Trump’s direction, the special forces along with many other agencies including the DEA successfully carried out an amazing operation within hours with no casualty. I do find it amusing though that the same institutions, nations, and some US politicians that had condemned Maduro not so long ago are questioning the action by President Trump. They forget or are oblivious to the fact that even President Obama had declared Venezuela a national security threat back in 2015. By the way, Maduro’s wife was also captured in the operation. She was part of the tactical command for the Revolution that was responsible for bringing Hugo Chavez to power. Besides drug trafficking and corruption chargers, she had been banned from Columbia, Panama, Mexico, Canada, and Switzerland. I find it amusing that people think it’s only about oil. Make no mistake that the nationalization of oil and other policies led to the horrible economic disaster of Venezuela. The reason I am opening today’s message with this current event is because the history of our world has seen such dictators time and time again. They use whatever means necessary to secure and hold power and silence anyone who would dare question or challenge them. Unfortunately, many people view God as a dictator. They feel that it is morally and spiritually wrong to question or challenge him. In fact, some feel that doing that would cause more punishment from him. In our series on the book of Job, we’re going to see how questioning or challenging God is not sin. Job was not afraid to brings his doubts to God. In fact, it lead to a breakthrough for him. We’re going to see how in the process of questioning, Job caught a glimpse of God’s coming Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Job 19 (page #799) 6 Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net. 7 If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice. 8 He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths. 9 He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head. 10 He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree. 11 He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies. 

Context: Last weekend, we learned that Job was wise enough to recognize that his friends were giving him the wrong schema (deep help core beliefs). We learn from Eliphaz’s own admission in the first dialogue in Job 4 that he had been visited by a spirit. At first, it seemed that this spirit was from God, but, on further examination, it became clear that this was actually an evil spirit, maybe even Satan himself. Job seemed to have picked up on this and rejected his counsel and that of the other two; but Eliphaz did not stop here. He brought up the vision again in the second dialogue cycle in Job 15 (page #795) 14 “What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous? 15 If God puts no trust in His saints, And the heavens are not pure in His sight, 16 How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, Who drinks iniquity like water! 17 “I will tell you, hear me; What I have seen I will declare…” Here, Eliphaz was repeating the same vision to Job. Not only was the tone of the statement very denigrating and hateful of human beings, it seemed to be a parody of certain psalms: 

• Psalm 8        3 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.”
• Psalm 14        1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. 2 The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
• Psalm 53         1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.

Again, Eliphaz’s statement seems to be very similar to the psalmists, but it has a twist. It has a sense of hatred and dislike for human beings. It says that “You can never be pure enough for God. God doesn’t trust you. You are abominable and filthy.”

Principle: Never forget that Satan hates you and me. Although there are several reasons for that; one reason is found in Psalm 8, which we just read – “For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor…” Even though we have been made a little lower than the angels, God sent his Son, Jesus, to die for us, not for the angels. He has crowned us with glory and honor, not the angels. In fact, by receiving Christ, we are made sons and daughters of God. We can now come boldly to the throne of grace and find help in time of need. We have the right to call him “Abba Father.” To the contrary, no such redemption exists for Satan and the fallen angels. No such relationship exists for them. No such access exists for them. That’s why Satan hates human beings.

Application: When you get a feeling or thought that you are utterly worthless and unlovable or even that God hates you, just remember that it is not God who is sending this feeling of condemnation. It is Satan. When you feel that God does not want to hear from you, it is Satan who is influencing you, not God. When you feel that there is no hope in the future, it is Satan who is influencing you, not God. Again, remember 2 Corinthians 10:5 “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…”

By the way, Bildad was also influenced by Eliphaz’s vision. Listen to his words in the second dialogue cycle in Job 18 (page #798) 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: 2 “How long till you put an end to words?” In other words, “Stop talking Job, and do as we say – ‘Admit your guilt before God.’” What was Job’s response? Job 19 (page #799) 1 Then Job answered and said: 2 “How long will you torment my soul, And break me in pieces with words? 3 These ten times you have reproached me; You are not ashamed that you have wronged me. 4 And if indeed I have erred, My error remains with me. 5 If indeed you exalt yourselves against me, And plead my disgrace against me, Job is telling his friends that it’s not him who he is on the wrong side, but it’s them who are on the wrong side. Once again, he rejects their schema. Instead, he voices his questions and doubts to God – Job 19 (page #799) 6 Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net. 7 If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice. 8 He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass; And He has set darkness in my paths. 9 He has stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head. 10 He breaks me down on every side, And I am gone; My hope He has uprooted like a tree. 11 He has also kindled His wrath against me, And He counts me as one of His enemies. 12 His troops come together And build up their road against me; They encamp all around my tent. 13 He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. What is Job saying here? He is questioning God’s hand in his suffering.

To begin with there is truth in that we should be careful about questioning God.

• Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
• Ecclesiastes 5:2 “Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.”
• Habakkuk 2:20 “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”
• Zechariah 2:13 “Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!”

Yes, we need to have a certain awe, fear, and reverence in the presence of God. We need to recognize that God is God and we are not. Having said that, when we face difficult times (trauma, pain, suffering), it is not a sin to question God. We struggle with certain questions against God, and he is not some dictator who will punish us for challenging him. Instead, he wants us to bring our doubts and questions to him.

• Psalm 74:1 O God, why have You cast us off forever? Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
• Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
• We can also quote many of God’s people who in the midst of difficulties questioned God:
• Abraham questioned God as to how he will inherit the land when he doesn’t even have a son.
• Moses questioned God how he would feed the vast multitude of people in the wilderness.
• David cried in Psalm 22    1 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.”
• Martha told Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
• Thomas told the other disciples in John 20:25 “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
• Paul pleaded for God to remove the thorn from his flesh.

Many of God’s people throughout the ages have struggled with questions and doubts.

Illustration: Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta by Brian Kolodiejchuk. Mother Teresa in her letters. She is saying these words as she is serving the downtrodden in Calcutta.

• There is so much deep contradiction in my soul. Such deep longing for God – so deep that it is painful – a suffering continual – and yet not wanted by God – repulsed – empty – no faith – no love – no zeal. Souls hold no attraction – Heaven means nothing – to me it looks like an empty place – the thought of it means nothing to me and yet this torturing longing for God. Pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything. For I am only His – so He has every right over me. I am perfectly happy to be nobody even to God.
• For the first time in this 11 years–I have come to love the darkness–for I believe now that it is a part, a very, very small part of Jesus’ dakness and pain on earth. You have taught me to accept it [as] a “spiritual side of ‘your work””
• Do not think that my spiritual life is strewn with roses- that is the flower which I hardly ever find on my way. Quite the contrary…I need much grace, much of Christ’s strength to persevere in trust…
• “If I ever become a saint, I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from heaven — to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”

I believe that she was sharing what many of God’s people like Job have gone through.

In the midst of the questionings, Job gets a glimpse of Jesus. Job 19 (page #800) 23 “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! 24 That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever! 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, 27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Better Translation (See Garrett): Redeemer = goel – a family member who will fight for/vindicate like in Ruth; stand on the earth = rise over the dust, refers to domination; after my skin is destroyed = enclosed my body in a burial shroud; in my flesh = from my flesh (not as some spirit); not another = he will not be a stranger.

So also, in the midst of our questionings, God gives us a glimpse of Jesus. That is the most important thing that we need.

Are you saved?

As we take part of communion in a few minutes, ask God to make the person of Jesus real to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to Christ.