Archive for February, 2009

Gehazi’s Greed

February 23, 2009 at 4:42 pm · Filed under Materialism, Old testament, worship ·Tagged , , ,

Elisha refusing Naaman’s gift

by Pieter de Grebber

 

2 Kings 5:15-27

 In our last sermon we heard of Naaman, a proud commander of the Syrian army who was healed of his leprosy when he humbled himself and washed in the river Jordan. Today we shall see the continuation of the story – and what a contrast! The story moves from the nobility and faith of Naaman to the grasping and money-grubbing of Gehazi the servant of Elisha.

 

 Gratitude

It starts, however, with gratitude. As soon as Naaman realised he had been cured of his leprosy, he went back to Elisha and said:

Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Please accept now a gift from your servant. The prophet answered, As surely as the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing. And even though Naaman urged him, he refused. ( 2 Kings 5:15b-16)

Now this seems churlish of Elisha . Why couldn’t he accept the gift with good grace and then give the money to the poor? (In fact, you might think that Elisha behaves churlishly all through this story.) But there is a reason for his refusing the silver and fine garments. True, Elisha was a poor man and he could have lived much more comfortably if he had accepted Naaman’s gift, but Elisha’s poverty was voluntary. He had no desire for gold and silver, fine clothes and a comfortable life-style. What Elisha wanted to do was to convey a message – that Gods blessings were gifts of grace. You can’t buy them. He wanted Naaman to realise this fact. He didn’t want Naaman to think that he had paid for God’s favour with his money – it was a free gift.

It appears that Naaman was not offended by Elisha’s refusal. He was so thankful that he resolved only to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. Never again would he offer sacrifices to any other God.

Please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD. (2 Kings 5:17)

So what did he want this soil for? It wasn’t for his garden! No, he wanted to worship the God of Israel upon the soil of the Holy Land. In his way of thinking, you worshipped a god on his own turf. Each god was restricted to a particular area or nation. So if he wished to worship the God of Israel, then he would need some of the Land of Israel on which to stand while he worshipped. Naaman had not yet come to the realisation that there was only one true God, and that he could be worshipped anywhere.

We might be amused at Naaman’s simplicity – our conception of God is so much more sophisticated. But then, we have the revelation of the whole Bible, Old Testament and New. We have the words of Jesus telling us that God is spirit and that he is to be worshipped in spirit an in truth. He can be worshipped anywhere. Any land can be the Holy Land, any ground is holy ground to the child of God. Naaman did not realise this – his conception of God was more primitive. He wanted to take his mule-loads of soil home so that he could spread it out on the floor in his private chapel. And there he could worship the God of Israel upon the soil of Israel.

Elisha is not averse to this plan. No doubt he hopes that Naaman will find true salvation in worshipping the God of Israel in his own way. But then, Naaman says something which sounds suspect:

But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also— when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this. (2 Kings 5:8)

“Go in peace,” says Elisha. He does not condemn Naaman for what would seem to us to be a total compromise of his faith. To go into a pagan temple and to bow down to the idol there! How can this be countenanced? But then Elisha knew the situation better than we do. Naaman was chief military man of the King of Syria. He had important official and ceremonial duties. One of these was that the had to accompany his master into the Temple of Rimmon. His master leant on his arm and, together, they were supposed to bow to the statue of the god Rimmon. How could Naaman avoid doing this? How could he remain upright while the King bowed? How could he refuse to go into the Temple? How could he fail in his ceremonial duties? To do so would anger the King and possibly result in Naaman’s death. At the very least he would lose his position. I think Elisha saw how important it was for a man like Naaman to retain his official position. So he refrained from judging him.

We must realise that at this stage Naaman is not a strong believer in the God of Israel. He knows very little about his new God except that he had been healed through his power. In time, perhaps, he will come to a deeper understanding of discipleship. So he sets off in peace.

 

Greed

But all this was too much for Gehazi, the servant of Elisha . He couldn’t bear to see all that lovely money disappearing.

Gehazi, said to himself, My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him. ( 2 Kings 5:20)

“My master’s a fool. This man wants to give us money and he refuses it! At the very least I’ll get some for myself.” To those of a worldly frame of mind Gehazi’s way of thinking seems quite justifiable. Why not make a quick buck while you can?  I can’t help thinking that it is that kind of attitude on the part of certain people in the world of high finance that has got us to our present economic crisis.

I read recently about an evangelist in South America who held a huge evangelistic campaign in a certain town. Thousands of people came, hundreds were converted and many were healed or delivered of evil powers. But the local pastors criticised the evangelist for not taking up a collection at these meetings. He was, they thought, missing a God-given opportunity. The people were really grateful, they were willing to give. It would be criminal not to take money. But the evangelist had the same kind of attitude as Elisha. He didn’t want to charge people for God’s grace. It was a free gift.

Gehazi might have thought he was being reasonable but by his actions next he jeopardised the good name of his master Elisha and even brought the name of the Lord into disrepute. So Gehazi hurried after Naaman.

When Naaman saw him running towards him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. Is everything all right? he asked. Everything is all right, Gehazi answered. My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’ By all means, take two talents, said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. ( 2 Kings 5:21-23)

Naaman is still grateful – he offer two talents of silver (about 150 pounds weight of silver). This was quite a sum of money – enough to buy a house or an olive grove. But Naaman is only to glad to pay for his healing. Imagine now, some of Naaman’s servants going back home and being asked, “How much did your master pay for his cure?” “Two talents of silver”, they would say. “That seems very reasonable,” the other servants would say – thinking that Elisha had charged for God’s gift. That was exactly what Elisha had wanted to avoid.

Notice also how Gehazi compounds his sin by lying. He makes up some story about two needy servants of God from the back country who need financial help. He plays on Naaman’s generous nature. And that’s what happens today sometimes. It’s not unknown for missionaries to exaggerate the need so they can get more money for their mission. Sometimes the whole thing is a scam, a made up story to get money. How such scams dishonour God. And this is just what Gehazi was doing – he was scamming. He didn’t intent to give any of this wealth to any other person. It was pure greed.

And now we have an anomaly. As far as we know, Gehazi had been an exemplary servant before this time. He served is master well and did everything he was supposed to do. But his heart was not right with God. He lived in the household of a man of God but he himself was not converted. He had even had a part to play in the performance of a mighty miracle when Elisha had raised a boy from the dead. Gehazi had seen God’s power at work but his heart had not been changed. It’s a solemn thought that you can see God’s power at work in people’s lives and not be moved. You can hear the gospel and not respond to it. You can be a member of a church, or even a church officer or minister, and still not be truly converted. You can grow up in a godly household and still not be a child of God. Gehazi was that kind of person – an unspiritual man.

 

Punishment

Gehazi accepted the silver and then took steps to hide it away. And then he went and stood before his master, as if nothing had happened.

Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha. Where have you been, Gehazi? Elisha asked. Your servant didn’t go anywhere, Gehazi answered. But Elisha said to him, Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants? Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants for ever. Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow. (2 Kings 5:25-27)

 Gehazi thought he was so clever, and his master was so stupid. So heavenly minded he was no earthly good. But Elisha could see, he was no fool. He had the gift of knowledge from God. He was far more wise and discerning and shrewd than Gehazi. He knew what his servant had been up to and pronounced God’s judgement on him.

We might think Gehazi’s punishment was severe but it seems to have only been a mild form of leprosy. (In later chapters he is at he court of the King of Israel recounting the mighty deeds Elisha had done. So the punishment could not have been that severe.) It probably had a salutary effect on his spiritual state. (It might not have even been leprosy as we know it today. In Hebrew the word for leprosy was used for a variety of skin diseases which made people ritually unclean.)

 

A lesson

Surely, the main lesson from this sorry incident is that it’s all to easy for us to be worldly-minded. The worldly individual always thinks he is wiser than the spiritual person. Just as Gehazi thought his master was stupid. But in the end it was Gehazi who was the fool. In the end it will be the spiritually minded people who will inherit eternal life. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans:

To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6 (AV)

Or in a modern version: The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; (NIV)

And as the hymnwriter John Newton puts it:

Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show; solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion’s children know.

Greed and the love of money can cause great spiritual harm, as Paul tells us:

People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9-11)

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Naaman the Leper

February 15, 2009 at 12:15 am · Filed under Old testament ·Tagged , , ,

 

2 Kings 5: 1-14

A servant’s tale

I am a servant of the great lord Naaman who is commander of the army of the King of Syria. It is a great honour to serve Naaman because he is so highly regarded. Even the King thinks highly of him – for God has given some mighty victories to Syria through him. Now, I have a strange and interesting story to tell of my master, a peculiar incident which shook us to our foundations but also lifted us to great heights of faith in the true God.

It started some years back when a young girl was captured from the land of Israel. She was perhaps about ten years old and I think her parents were killed in the raid. Very sad for her – she had lost her family and now she was  a prisoner of war, a slave. (At that time we were engaged in a low level conflict with Israel. We didn’t send full scale armies into the field, but we sent raiding parties over the border. They were very profitable in terms of plunder: livestock, valuables and, of course, slaves.)

Well, in the course of time Lady Naaman took a interest in this girl. She felt sorry for her and she promoted her from being a skivvy to becoming her personal attendant. When this girl had got over her bereavement a bit she became devoted to her mistress and her master. They had shown kindness to her and she reciprocated.

 

Dreaded skin disease

One day we all had a terrible shock in Lord Naaman’s household. It was discovered that our master had contracted leprosy, the dreaded skin disease. It had not spread far yet, but it would and my Lord  would have to retire from public life. his career would be over. Eventually the leprosy might kill him.

We were all devastated when we heard, for we all loved our master. Such a good, and courageous, and kind man.

Well, when she heard if it the young girl from Israel said to our mistress:
“If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”       (2 Kings 5:3)

This was good news and Lord Naaman went immediately to the King and reported what he had heard.

“By all means, go,” the King of Syria said. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel”.    (2 Kings 5: 5)

So off we went, in convoy, to Samaria in Israel. The mules were loaded up  with all kinds of gifts: 750 pounds weight of silver, 150  pounds weight of gold, ten sets of the most magnificent garments.

 

Hope of cure

So it was with hope in our hearts that we arrived at the court of King Joram in Samaria. But our hopes were soon to be shattered.
My Lord Naaman had a letter for King Joram from our king. This is what it said.

 ”With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”  ( 2 Kings 5: 6)

 When the King of Israel heard this he hit the roof!  He rent his garment ( he was good at doing dramatics) and he cried:
“ Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”     (2 Kings 5: 7)
In other words: this man wants war with Israel again – it’s just a pretext for a quarrel.

As you can imagine, it was very awkward for my master and for all of us in his retinue. We had to retire from King Joram’s court. And we didn’t know what to do then. If the king couldn’t help us, who could?  I think we had forgotten what the young girl had said: “There is a prophet in Samaria who can heal my master”. A prophet, not a king!

Anyway, we didn’t have to wait too long. After a while a message came to the King from the prophet Elisha.
“Why have you rent your garment? Make the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”  (2 Kings 5:8)

So, off we went again, with hopes renewed. We were a splendid sight as we rattled in our chariots up to the door of the prophet Elisha.

But what a disappointing welcome! The prophet himself stayed in his inner room and sent his manservant with brusque message:
“Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”       ( 2 Kings 5: 10 )

 And so, for the second time, that day, someone hit the roof! I don’t think I’ve ever seen my master so angry.
“I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.”  (2 Kings 5: 11)

Treated with disdain

 I think we servants all understood this. Lord Naaman was the second most important man in he Kingdom of Syria. He had come on a semi-official visit to Samaria. He had brought rich gifts to reward the prophet. Already he had been at he receiving end of King Joram’s wrath, and now he was treated with disdain by this tin-pot prophet who lived in a two room hovel.
The Lord Naaman expected to be treated with some ceremony – perhaps to undergo a cleansing ritual in the name of the God of Israel. He didn’t want to be told to just go off and wash in the muddy waters of the Jordan

“Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” he said. And he turned and went off in a rage.     ( 2 Kings 5: 2)

 I understood what my master felt like. But I also realised that the prophet was testing him. This was the test: was my master humble enough to do what Elisha told him? It required a great step down,  he would have to swallow his pride. He would have to submit to a command from the manservant of a poverty-stricken man of God.

 

Humble obedience

The other servants and I had a bit of a confab about this, and they chose me to approach the master.
“My Father,” I said. Yes, “Father” – I always called him that, he was that kind of man. We were like sons to him.

“My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’? “    (2 Kings 5: 13)

After all, Elisha wasn’t asking our master to travel to some distant land, or to perform some mighty feat. He wasn’t asking for half his wealth. He wasn’t asking him to do anything difficult – except that it was very difficult. How easy is it for a man of standing, a proud man, to humble himself? But that’s what my master did. Strange as it may seem, we never felt more proud of him than when he humbled himself. It takes a great man to be prepared to do that.

He went down to the River Jordan – which is just a large stream at that point. We all stood on the muddy bank and peered into the somewhat murky waters. My master stripped off all his fine robes until he was only in his loincloth. Then he went right into the water. He went right under, just to make sure the cure was total.

And as he came up we all looked eagerly, expecting to see some improvement to his loathsome leprous sores. No change.

He went under again: no change.

And again: still no change.

But, of course, the prophet had said “seven times”. Better do exactly what he said.

 

Divine cure

Then, as my master came out of the water the seventh time we all looked and, yes! He was cured!  Where there had been loathsome sores was all new, clear skin, just like that of a young boy!

We all rejoiced and celebrated and praised the God of Israel who had worked such a miracle for our master.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

A very human story

You know, I think this is one of my favorite Old Testament stories -  it’s so full of human interest, warmth, pathos and hope.

  • First, we have the little captive girl from Israel and her love and concern for her master and mistress.  They were Syrians, enemies of her people. Their army had captured her, and probably killed her family, and made her a slave. But Naaman and his wife showed kindness to the little Israelite captive, and she reciprocated. She had heard of the man of God in Samaria and she told her mistress about him.

 

  • Then, we have the reaction of the King of Syria. He thought so well of Naaman that he even sent him to the land of Israel to be healed. ( Imagine if it was modern day Syria and Israel! )

 

  • And then, there’s the reaction of the King of Israel – entirely human.
    “I might be a king but I am not God. Even I can’t cure a man of leprosy. It’s just a pretext for war!”

 

  • Then we have the prophet’s stern, and perhaps rather self-important, words. “Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.”
    And the shocking way he treated Naaman – he didn’t give him the respect he thought he deserved. (Imagine if the Prime Minister of France came to visit Ten Downing Street and was shown in by the tradesman’s entrance! ) But it was all to test Naaman’s resolve and his faith.

 

  •  Then, there’s Naaman’s reaction – again completely understandable. And the concern of his servants – how much they loved their master!
    But in the end reason prevails over rage, faith over fury, humility over highhandedness, and obedience over obstreperousness.
    And Naaman was healed!

In our lives too

So with us also. God wants to do some great things in our lives. But we must be cleansed of the leprosy of our sins. We must be made new, not in our flesh, but in the spirit. We must be born anew. We must trust in the power of God. We must commit ourselves to Jesus.  We must humble ourselves.

And for some people it’s too much – they won’t humble themselves beneath the mighty hand of God. They prefer the waters of Pharpar and Abana to those of Jordan, and they never get right with God. What a tragedy that is.

How much better to be like Naaman, to repent of our sinful pride and to submit to God’s ways.

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The message of Job

February 1, 2009 at 1:12 am · Filed under Jesus Christ, Old testament, Suffering

 

Job 1:6-22, 2:1-10,  16:1-21

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil”. ( Job 1:1)  

  And Job was very healthy, wealthy and wise.  He was a happy man blessed with seven sons and three daughters. But days of evil were soon to come upon him.
In the book of Job  we hear his cry of anguish of the godly man when tragedy strikes him. We learn something  of the nature and  cause of suffering.

The heavenly drama

Satan asks to test Job   (Job 1 1-22)

One day the angelic beings are before God and Satan also appears.
God: Where have you come from?
Satan: From roaming through the earth and going to and fro in it.
God:  have you considered my servant Job – there is no one like him, blameless and upright
Satan: Why shouldn’t he be good? You pay him well enough! You have fenced him round with a hedge of protection -  look how rich he is. No wonder he “worships” you! But just take away all he has and, you  see, he will curse you to your face.
God: Behold – all that he has is in you power Satan, but don’t harm him physically.

And so a series of tragedies hit Job, one after another. In one day, according to the book of Job, he received the news that: 
·  the Sabeans had taken all his oxen and asses and killed his servants.
·  his sheep had been struck by lightning, along with the herdsmen.
·  the Chaldeans had taken all his camels and killed the servants.
·  a freak storm had hit the house where all his children were feasting and they had all died when the house collapsed.

How did Job react to all these disasters?
Job arose and rent his robe in grief, fell on the ground and worshipped God. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord ( Job 1:20-21)


And so Job did not curse God.

Round one is over -  Satan has lost this one. What about round two?

 

Satan asks to test Job again  (Job 2:1-1)

God: Where have you come from?
Satan: From roaming through the earth and going to and fro in it.
God: have you considered by servant Job – no one is like him blameless and upright  – he still maintains his integrity even though you incited me to ruin him without any reason.
Satan: Skin for skin (ie. a man will be prepared to lose even his loved ones to save his own skin). A man will give anything for his life. Just touch his body with sickness and he will curse you to your face.
God gave Satan permission for this:  “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

And Satan went forth and struck Job with “Egyptian boils” – a particularly foul illness which inspired horror in all who saw it . Like leprosy, or like AIDS today it was thought by many to be a sign of God’s judgement. And so Job is sitting on the ash heap, scratching his boils.  His wife says, “Curse God and die!” But Job will not curse God.

 

Job’s sorrow

Job’s three friends came to comfort him.  When they saw him they did not recognize him. They wept, tore their robes, threw dust on their heads and sat with him on the ground for seven days, in accordance with the custom of that day. No one spoke a word to him  for they saw that his suffering was very great. (This is the best thing, and sometimes the only thing, to do in situations of tragedy.)

At last Job opened his mouth and he cursed the day he was born. He asked God why he had not died at birth. He cried out in his agony. The speeches of Job , which last many chapters, reveal a soul in torment. He can not understand why. “Why me, O Lord?” he says, “I know I am not sinless, and yet I have tried to live a godly life. O why does God punish me?”

Part of Job’s suffering stems from the fact that he does not know about the heavenly drama, he has no idea of what has been going on behind the scenes. He does not know that God has allowed him to be tested by Satan. It’s not because  of his sins, but actually because of his righteousness, that he is suffering. However, Job does not know that.

 

Job’s “comforters”

Job’s comforters now speak – and with friends like this, who needs enemies!  The speeches of Jobs friends reveal a complete  lack of understanding, sensitivity and imagination. They can not put themselves in his shoes. They assume that he must be a gross sinner or all this would not have happened to him. Why doesn’t he repent and beg for mercy, then surely everything will go well with him.  One after another they imply that God is punishing him for his sins.

By the end of their  “comforting” they are making direct accusations against him.   If only those three friends had remained silent. They did well then – when they sat in the dust with Job and just empathized with him. But the moment they tried to make sense of what was happening they increased his sorrows greatly.

Job in his reply becomes sarcastic. No doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you ( Job 12:2) Now he is really scathing – and who can blame him?

I think there is nothing crueller than to say to a person in pain that it is their own fault, or the result of their sin. And this applies even when you think it might be true – it might indeed be their own fault. It might actually be the result of their own sin. Even if that is the case, you can never say it to the person who is in anguish.  In Job’s case it definitely was not true – the pain was not the result of his sin and he was suffering illness and bereavement as well as poverty. It was particularly cruel for his friends to speak in this way.

In some sections of the Christian Church you find the doctrine of health and wealth. “God want’s you rich: God want’s you healthy.  If you give financially to his work you will never be poor. If you pray with faith you will always be healed.” The corollary of this is: if you are poor, or if you are not healed, then it must be your own fault; you don’t have enough faith;  you are not right with God. This doctrine is not only untrue, it is cruel. It was exactly this kind of teaching in which  Job’s comforters believed.

 

Job cries out

Job feels that it is so unfair – he needs someone to mediate between himself and God:    If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his  hand upon us both.  (Job 9: 33)

Job is asking for the seemingly impossible – an umpire between himself an God. Someone who could bridge the gap between the  human and the divine. Can such a thing be possible?  Yes, there is one such person, who is both human and divine, and can lay his hand on both.  Job senses the reality of this, even though he does not know the name of his Advocate.

Even  now my Witness is in heaven, my Advocate is on high. My Intercessor is my friend, as my eyes pour out tears to God. On behalf of man he pleads with God as a man pleads with his friend. ( Job 10: 16-21)

(These are amazing words for something in the Old Testament.)

 

 Yes, Job there is an Advocate – his name is Jesus Christ, our High Priest, Son of God and Son of Man. He pleads with God as a man. He atones for our sins and  bears our sorrows.

·  “a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.”  (Isaiah 53:3)

·  He has been tested in every way as we are, and yet without sin                       ( Hebrews 4: 15)

·  There is one Mediator between God and Man – the man Christ Jesus               ( 1 Timothy 2: 5)

God’s answer

When Job and his three comforters have had their say Elihu comes along. He is a young man who thinks he knows all the answers. He attempts to portray the wonders of God’s creation to Job. Nevertheless, all he has to offer is words.

Then God himself speaks  – out of a whirlwind.

Who is this who darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man, I will question you and you will answer me.
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand…
Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place…
Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?  …
Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?  …
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.            (Job 38)

And so on, for several chapters. As one commentator says: God doesn’t explain, he explodes

 Job is quite incapable of knowing the answer to these questions. How then can he hope to know why he is suffering? And God gives no answer – not even to explain Satan’s role in all this. He simply points to the wonder of his creation,  so that Job is astounded.

In the film Keeping Mum, Rowan Atkinson plays a vicar who has to address a conference on the theme: God’s Mysterious Ways. He ends his address saying something along the lines of: “When it comes down to it God says to us: I am mysterious – live with it!” 

It’s quite funny when said in Rowan Atkinson’s voice -  but it is so true also. And this is  what Job found. Even with all this sorrow he found he could live with the mystery of suffering. Job is satisfied with his encounter with God – even though God gives no explanation

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’  My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.   ( Job 42:3-6)

Job’s reward

Job had found satisfaction,  not in the logic of his friends’ arguments, but in an encounter with God himself. God does not reprimand Job after his repentance – but he does reprimand Job’s friends:

After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.    ( Job 42: 7 -8)

Here is a reprimand to all purveyors of the health and  prosperity teaching.
Although, in the end, Job was richer than before and had more children. “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first”, we are told. (Job 42:12)

Our reward for patient endurance may not be the same as Job’s. God does not promise to reward us in this life. Job knew very little about the hereafter. For him, the reward in this life was a vindication of his righteousness, after  all he had suffered. We know that in the life of the world to come all will be put right. There will be vindication for those those have been treated unfairly in this life. In the life of the Resurrection:  [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.  (Revelation 21:4)

Job did not know all this, but even in the depth of his sorrows and grief he grasped some inkling of it:

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
 I myself will see him with my own eyes— I, and not another.   (Job 19:25-27 )

This is our hope also!

As the Apostle Paul says:   this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

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