Seven is an important number in Scripture.
There are seven miracles in John,
all called “signs.”
We come to the seventh sign,
The last sign before the cross,
the raising of Lazarus.
After my husband died, I saw the
connection between the seventh sign
and a passage in Job,
and it comforted me as nothing else had.
Let me tell you a story.
Most of you have experienced the death of a loved one, and you know death, as Paul tells us, is “an enemy.” It is the last enemy for a believer, but still, it is an enemy. You may, as I did, have seen cancer tear the one you love apart, and finally, take him. I wanted to have the coffin opened and see Steve’s body once more before he was buried and the coroner had my son tell me that I must not, for Steve’s body was “not the same.”
A sword in my heart. You cannot wax elegant about death.
IT IS AN ENEMY!
When pain is deep, you either back away from God (which is what the enemy is rooting for) or you press in with all your heart. Like Peter, I thought, Lord, where else can I go?
The Lord led me to the sermons of Tim Keller, and I began to listen (repeatedly) to his sermons on Job. Job never knew why so much suffering was coming into his life, but we do. We know that it was God’s proof to Satan and the world, that there are those who love God for God and not just for His gifts. Keller said, “God could never say to Job:
This is going to be really rough, my child, but hold on, for one day I will make you famous, name a book after you, and you will comfort millions.
For if God told him that, Job would be suffering for something.”
Job had to be in the dark about his suffering.
But because Job truly loved God, he didn’t back away. He lamented, which is what we are taught to do when we do not understand what God is doing. And three times, God comes to Job with comfort in the midst of one of Job’s laments. God never tells Job why he is suffering, but He does give him comfort.
It is the first time that God comes to Job that I want to share with you, for it is linked to the seventh sign in John.
I want you to discover this with me, rather than my simply telling you. You will remember it better.
Sunday:
- What stands out to you from the above and why? What questions or comments do you have before we begin?
- If you have been through a traumatic death of one you deeply loved, what helped you the most?
Monday: The Lament
In a typical lament, there are three parts:
- The Lament — you honestly tell God of your pain and how you are feeling about Him.
- The pause or question — you ask God a question and allow Him to speak into your heart.
- The resolve — His Spirit reminds you or shows you a truth and you resolve to trust Him.
3. Read Psalm 5 and see if you can identify the three parts of the lament using verses numbers.
4. This is a bit more challenging, but so meaningful. Even Jesus lamented before the cross.
A. How do you see a lament in his pleas to his friends? (Matthew 26:38)
B. Can you see a question, a plea, in Matthew 26:39? What is it?
C. Can you see a resolve in that same verse? What is it?
5. If you soul is troubled, practice the lament here.
Tuesday: Job: Getting Honest
Keller pointed out that Job seems very strong in the beginning.
6. How do you see this in Job 1:2-22?
But Keller said it isn’t until his friends “sit shiva” for him that Job begins to be really honest. “Sitting Shiva” is Jewish custom that when a friend is hit with tragedy you go and sit seven days (seven meaning perfection, or, as long it takes) in silence, mourning with those who mourn. Job’s friends did this outwardly, but inwardly they were planning to attack him when the seven days were over. This painting is by Tissot.
A. How do you see his friends “sitting shiva” outwardly, if not in their hearts?
B. Job doesn’t know what they are thinking yet, for they have not spoken. And now,
Keller says, Job gets honest. What do you see in the opening of Job 3?
8. Why is it, do you think, that when someone truly mourns with you, that you are more likely
to become honest about your pain?
9. How did Job’s friends fail him? How did Jesus friends, likewise, fail him in Gethsemane?
Wednesday: God’s First Speaks To Job
10. What two things does Job ask of God in Job 13:20-21?
11. How does Job continue his lament in Job 14:1-2?
12. Why does Job think a tree is better off than a man according to Job 14:7-12?
13. We see the turn with a plea and a question in Job’s lament in Job 14:13 and the first line
of 14:14. Find them,
14. The Spirit of God now speaks to Job’s heart, showing him truth. Find at least four truths God impresses on Job’s heart to comfort him in Job 14:14-17.
Thursday: You Will Long for The Creature Your Hands Made
All things were made by Jesus, John tells us in his prologue.
He knit each of us together in our mother’s womb.
God showed Job that He loved him, and that when Job died, and his body decayed,
that Jesus would “long for the one his hands made.”
15. Again, what does Job realize from the Spirit of God in Job 14:15?
16. How do you see Jesus’ grief in John 11:33-38?
17. How do you see Jesus doing for Lazarus what God promised Job He would one day do for him in John 11:43?
18. Imagine the day that Jesus will do this for your loved ones in Him and for you! What names will He be calling? And what will we be like?
19. Jesus had brought others from death to life, but this is the first time He had done it so
publicly. What was the reaction according to John 11:53?
20. In order to raise Lazarus, what did it mean for Jesus?
21. What do you think is the spiritual meaning behind the 7th sign?
Friday: Keller Seminar or Other Devotional
22. Share anything you learned from the Keller Seminar or other devotional.
Saturday:
23. What is your take-a-way and why?
118 comments
Catching up here.
. READ JOB 2:11 THROUGH 3:3
A. How do you see his friends “sitting shiva” outwardly, if not in their hearts?
They sat on the ground close to him and did not say anything. They wept and they tore their robes and throw ashes on their heads.
B. Job doesn’t know what they are thinking yet, for they have not spoken. And now, Keller says, Job gets honest. What do you see in the opening of Job 3? Job cursed the day of his birth- he did not mince words.
8. Why is it, do you think, that when someone truly mourns with you, that you are more likely to become honest about your pain?
Because you feel like they understand and you feel safe with them.
9. How did Job’s friends fail him? How did Jesus friends, likewise, fail him in Gethsemane?
They tried to explain Job’s problem instead of just groaning with him over his situation. Jesus’ friends were limited in their physical bodies, therefore, they were not mentally present with him. Since they were asleep, they could not offer comfort.
4. This is a bit more challenging, but so meaningful. Even Jesus lamented before the cross.
A. How do you see a lament in his pleas to his friends? (Matthew 26:38)
It moved me to read this verse in various translations–ESV “very sorrowful”, NIV: “overwhelmed”, CSB: “deeply grieved”
Jesus was our wounded, bruised reed.
B. Can you see a question, a plea, in Matthew 26:39? What is it?
He pleads with the Father, ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”
C. Can you see a resolve in that same verse? What is it?
“Yet not as I will, but as you will”
5. If you soul is troubled, practice the lament here.
Lord, You know the weights of my soul, and You know the ways I have made futile attempts to make things better, right. You know my pain and you enter into it with me. Yet because You took the only pain that could truly destroy me, upon Yourself, I know that nothing on this earth, no trial, no burden, can ever separate me from You. I trust the outcome of my life, my burdens, to Your hands. Not mine, but Your will be done.
6. How do you see this in Job 1:2-22?
In vs. 20, 21-“Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
7. Read JOB 2:11 through 3:3 A. How do you see his friends “sitting shiva” outwardly, if not in their hearts?
2:13 “And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him”
B. Job doesn’t know what they are thinking yet, for they have not spoken. And now, Keller says, Job gets honest. What do you see in the opening of Job 3?
“Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth”
8. Why is it, do you think, that when someone truly mourns with you, that you are more likely to become honest about your pain?
When they enter into your mourning, you know you can drop any masks. You don’t have to worry anymore about how you appear or what they think, or that your mess is too big, because they give you a sense that they care, they understand, and they want to enter in.
9. How did Job’s friends fail him? How did Jesus friends, likewise, fail him in Gethsemane?
They did not want to enter into his pain. To enter in to another’s pain, to carry the burden with them, means we get dirty too, we get tired and worn, and we begin to share in it—and that takes a selfless, sacrificial love.
So true from Lizzy:
They did not want to enter into his pain. To enter in to another’s pain, to carry the burden with them, means we get dirty too, we get tired and worn, and we begin to share in it—and that takes a selfless, sacrificial love.
10. What two things does Job ask of God in Job 13:20-21?
Withdraw your hand far from me
Stop frightening me with your terrors
11. How does Job continue his lament in Job 14:1-2?
How brief life can be; like fleeting shadows, full of trouble and do not endure
12. Why does Job think a tree is better off than a man according to Job 14:7-12?
New shoot s come from a cut tree and even if it is a stump, it will grow again if watered but not man. Once gone, then gone.
13. We see the turn with a plea and a question in Job’s lament in Job 14:13 and the first line of 14:14. Find them.
Job asked God to remember him. Job asked God if he dies, will he live again? I saw a flicker of hope here.
14. The Spirit of God now speaks to Job’s heart, showing him the truth. Find at least four truths God impresses on Job’s heart to comfort him in Job 14:14-17.
God will call out to him
Count my steps
Not keeping track of my sin
God will cover all of his sins
These truths are pieces of evidence of God’s personal care and attention to Job. And the comfort of His forgiveness.
15. Again, what does Job realize from the Spirit of God in Job 14:15?
God would long for Job as one of His beloved.
16. How do you see Jesus’ grief in John 11:33-38?
He was moved in spirit and deeply troubled and He wept.
17. How do you see Jesus doing for Lazarus what God promised Job He would one day do for him in John 11:43?
He would call Lazarus and Job from the grave.
18. Imagine the day that Jesus will do this for your loved ones in Him and for you! What names will He be calling? And what will we be like? Oh, that would be the day when I would hear my Savior call me by name! He will say, “Mine!” We will all be new!
19. Jesus had brought others from death to life, but this is the first time He had done it so publicly. What was the reaction according to John 11:53?
They plotted to kill Jesus.
20. In order to raise Lazarus, what did it mean for Jesus?
He would need to die in order to be raised.
21. What do you think is the spiritual meaning behind the 7th sign?
That even if we die physically, we will be made alive in Christ in the end. When Jesus comes again, He will call us out of the grave and we will have a resurrected body never to be subject to decay again! Wow-thank you, Lord!
15. Again, what does Job realize from the Spirit of God in Job 14:15? That death won’t separate him from the love of God, as Paul writes in the NT. I think that’s pretty strong wording to be able to say that God will long for him…..a longing is like a deep ache. 16. How do you see Jesus’ grief in John 11:33-38? Jesus is an eyewitness to the devastation of death. He sees Mary and others weeping, and He feels and experiences their emotions, only (I believe) on a much deeper level. He is deeply moved, troubled, and He also weeps. 17. How do you see Jesus doing for Lazarus what God promised Job He would one day do for him in John 11:43? Job says, “You will call and I will answer….” and here, Jesus calls to Lazarus who is dead in his tomb. 18. Imagine the day that Jesus will do this for your loved ones in Him and for you! What names will He be calling? And what will we be like? This week my dad and I took flowers to the cemetery and put them on the graves of my mom, her parents, and her aunt and uncle, who are all buried next to each other. Whenever I go, I look at some of the other markers; some were born in the 1800’s. There’s likely nobody left to visit a lot of the graves there. It’s comforting to think that God doesn’t forget them – their bodies lying in the ground. But when we die, our souls go to be with God…..it’s a little weird to think of just how we’re going to be put back into our earthly bodies. 19. Jesus had brought others from death to life, but this is the first time He had done it so publicly. What was the reaction according to John 11:53? The chief priests, Pharisees, and the high priest met together and plotted to kill Jesus. 20. In orders to raise Lazarus, what did it mean for Jesus? To give Lazarus life meant death for Jesus. 21. What do you think is the spiritual meaning behind the 7th sign? That in order for us to have life (spiritual and eternal life), it required a death? There is no way for us to attain life except through the death of Jesus, and His resurrection.
So good, Susan:
some were born in the 1800’s. There’s likely nobody left to visit a lot of the graves there. It’s comforting to think that God doesn’t forget them – their bodies lying in the ground.
15. Again, what does Job realize from the Spirit of God in Job 14:15?
He realizes that he can speak to God.
16. How do you see Jesus’ grief in John 11:33-38?
He is angry; he cries.
17. How do you see Jesus doing for Lazarus what God promised Job He would one day do for him in John 11:43?
Jesus called out to Lazarus to “come out” of the tomb. Not sure what God says to Job though? Job mentions that God would call and he would answer. Is this what you mean by God promising something to Job?
18. Imagine the day that Jesus will do this for your loved ones in Him and for you! What names will He be calling? And what will we be like?
He will call us to Him and we will respond by going.
19. Jesus had brought others from death to life, but this is the first time He had done it so publicly. What was the reaction according to John 11:53?
The Jewish leaders plotted His death.
20. In order to raise Lazarus, what did it mean for Jesus?
He went “public.”
21. What do you think is the spiritual meaning behind the 7th sign?
Jesus raised Lazarus and He will raise us!
19. Jesus had brought others from death to life, but this is the first time He had done it so publicly. What was the reaction according to John 11:53? The Pharisees began their plot to put Jesus to death. The Pharisees way of life, their place of prominence as well as their nation was being threatened…they either had to submit or fight…they chose to fight.
20. In order to raise Lazarus, what did it mean for Jesus? I think it strengthened His resolve to go to the cross…it crystallized His purpose in coming to earth…to bring His creation back to life! He knew that this miracle or sign, done so publicly, would set in motion His crucifixion.
21. What do you think is the spiritual meaning behind the 7th sign? I think that the spiritual meaning is that the time had come when God began His redemptive process…He had promised in Genesis that He (her seed) would crush the enemy (death) which resulted from Eve and Adam’s rebellion…the raising of Lazarus was a foreshadowing of His own death and resurrection.
Love your answer to 21!
22. Share anything you learned from the Keller Seminar or other devotional.
My sin nature is much more like that of a Pharisee than a Prodigal…and this week’s readings have been convicting in that regard. See below 2 excerpts from The Valley of Vision readings this week that have touched me…
Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find thy mind in thy Word, of neglect to seek thee in my daily life. My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ. (Confession and Petition)
Yet, in my lostness, Thou hast laid help on the Mighty One and He comes between to put his hands on us both, my Umpire, Daysman, Mediator, whose presence is my peace, whose righteousness is my strength, whose condemnation is my freedom, whose Spirit is my power, whose heaven is my heritage.
Grant that I may feel more the strength of thy grace in subduing the evil of my nature, in loosing me from the present evil world, in supporting me under the trials of life, in enabling me to abide with thee in my valleys, in exercising me to have a conscience void of offense before thee and men.
In all my affairs may I distinguish between duty and anxiety, and may my character and not my circumstances chiefly engage me. (Contrition)
23. What is your take-a-way and why? My take-away this week is that in a new way God has spoken to my heart and said…that He so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. This was His intent from Genesis to Revelation and even though evil seems to be prevailing…it has already been defeated.
15. That God loves him. That God created him and wants him.
16. Jesus wept. He was greatly troubled, I think more troubled at Lazarus’ family suffering than Lazarus being dead for he knew Lazarus would rise again. He did not weep at any of the other deaths He reversed…perhaps this one was very symbolic and close to His heart …
17. He called for the one whom He had made.
21. What do you think is the spiritual meaning behind the 7th sign?
That even if we die physically, we will be made alive in Christ in the end. And when Jesus comes again, He will call us out of the grave and we will have a resurrected body never to be subject to decay again! Wow-thank you, Lord!
My take away:
Jesus has conquered death-the last enemy! That Jesus will call me by name when He comes again.
10. What two things does Job ask of God in Job 13:20-21?
“withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me”
11. How does Job continue his lament in Job 14:1-2?
Man’s life is short, fleeting and “full of trouble”
12. Why does Job think a tree is better off than a man according to Job 14:7-12?
A tree that is cut down, will sprout again.
13. We see the turn with a plea and a question in Job’s lament in Job 14:13 and the first line of 14:14. Find them,
He pleads with God to protect him, to remember him—and then he considers and asks if there might be life after death for man?, “If a man dies, shall he live again?”
15. Again, what does Job realize from the Spirit of God in Job 14:15?
I love this: “You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.”
16. How do you see Jesus’ grief in John 11:33-38?
“He was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled…He wept”
17. How do you see Jesus doing for Lazarus what God promised Job He would one day do for him in John 11:43?
He calls to him, and he responds.
19. Jesus had brought others from death to life, but this is the first time He had done it so publicly. What was the reaction according to John 11:53?
They made plans to put Him to death.
20. In order to raise Lazarus, what did it mean for Jesus?
He would be attacked and crucified.
21. What do you think is the spiritual meaning behind the 7th sign?
Jesus removed the sting of death. He showed Himself to have power over death and to be the One who grants resurrection. He showed His believers what He grants to each of us—resurrection from death and eternal life.