The Character of God is Revealed by His Judgement Pt.3
JOB 12:1-5
1 ¶ And Job answered and said, (We remember that Job’s three friends had been judging him falsely – they thought they knew all the answers about why Job was being punished)
2 No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you. (Job here is using stinging sarcasm to push back against their condescending tone. They have been acting as though the knowledge and wisdom of all things dwell exclusively in them)
3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you (Inferiority and superiority feelings can often be involved when there is a perceived difference of status between people, whether it’s money or education or religious beliefs or even when someone is going through some great misfortune or trial – people look down with contempt upon others that they perceive are in some way less than them, and this is not the character of Christ): yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
4 I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn. (Some people enjoy it when someone who they perceive as a just person falls into some hardship)
5 He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
(In other words – it is common for those who are at ease to look down and despise those who are in distress - and this is the type of judgement that God doesn’t like, and we saw that last week in the example of when Brother Branham judged the “down and out” woman in the dinner, because God was not happy with his thoughts and attitude towards her)
JOB 42:7-8
7 ¶ And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you (Notice – both sacrifice and Job’s prayer): for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
PSALM 9:16a (This has been our theme verse from the last two services)
16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth:
We have paraphrased this verse of scripture for our subject title of - “The Character of God is Revealed by His Judgement”
The Character of God is Revealed by His Judgement Pt.3
Last week we ended with the story of how the Lord was not happy with the way that Brother Branham was judging an elderly and immodest looking woman at a dinner that he had gone into – and the Lord dealt with him about that by showing him a vision of his own sins that the Lord was forgiving him of and showing mercy towards him, and yet he was acting unmercifully towards this woman by condemning her.
PSALM 18:25a
25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful;
MATTHEW 5:7
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
LUKE 6:36
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
EPHESIANS 2:4
4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
*And so we have been taking this study from the message “The God who is Rich in Mercy” preached the 19th of January 1965 in Phoenix Arizona.
And we have been speaking about how that the way a person judges another person reveals a lot about their character.
And so when we look at Job’s three friends, we find that they were completely misunderstanding Job’s situation of how God had been dealing with Job, and so they were judging him very wrongly insomuch that God was displeased with them, because at the end of the book of Job we see that God would have punished them had Job not prayed for them.
JOB 42:7-10
7 ¶ And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
10 ¶ And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends (We want to notice something very important here - Job’s captivity is turned around at the time of when he prays for his friends who had previously hurt him, because this was the last part of the test for Job of how he was going to deal with his three friends after that it was declared by God that he was and his three friends were wrong, and so God was looking for the right response from Job of what would please Him so that the flow of blessings could be opened up again upon Job’s life.)
: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Job’s health was fully restored. He got back twice his possessions of what he had had before, he also received back seven sons and three daughters, the number of his children were doubled because the others were waiting for him on the other side, and he also recieved a revelation of the resurrection of what He hadn’t had before – and so he had gained so much more by going through this trial.
And this is what trials do for us also – we gain so much more after going through a trial. We gain a knowledge and a depth of revelation that we never had before as well as material blessings, because that is what the bible shows us that our trials do for us, because this is what Job’s trial did for him.
JOB 42:12-17
12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. (God is so able to turn the material tap on for you any time He wants – but he is looking for the right character to be in you first)
13 He had also seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.
15 And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. (In ancient culture, property and inheritance were usually passed down exclusively to sons, but Job granted his daughters an inheritance alongside of their brothers – in other words, there was not one family member left our of the blessing of what God had blessed Job – this is why your trials are also for the purpose of bringing blessings for others down the line – look at the suffering that Joseph went through, but then after the trial look at the great blessing that it brought about on his family and thousands of others, in fact on the whole known world at that time)
16 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations.
17 So Job died, being old and full of days.
In other words, Job and his wife and family lived happily ever after – THE END.
*When Job prayed for his three friends that had hurt him, then that’s when everything changed for Job, because Job could have simply refused to pray for his three friends on account of how they had treated him knowing that God would have punished them, because it was a way that he could have “paid them back” and got revenge for their meanness towards him during the time of when he needed comforting.
This is showing us something about humanity, and even us as believers, because at the time of Job’s life of when he was at his greatest need for comfort, all that his three friends did was to condemn him and falsely accused him of being a secret sinner, and this was the attitude of what Brother Branham was also expressing towards the lady in the dinner, and so God had to straighten him out about this also – and He has to straighten us out about this also.
JOB 42:8b
8 …and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
*Job could have refused to pray for his three friends knowing full well that God would have punished them for how they had treated him, but he chose to pray for them, and that is what annulled the judgement of God toward them, and that is what made God please and of what changed everything for Job.
JONAH 3:10 (We remember how that Jonah had preached to the Ninevites and they had repented – but then Jonah was not happy with God having mercy upon them because of all the evil that they had committed toward his people in the past, and so Jonah wanted to see the Ninevites destroyed, but Jonah also knew how merciful the Lord was in his nature.)
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
JONAH 4:1-2
1 ¶ But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
Jonah knew that God was rich in mercy, and that was the reason he didn’t want to go and preach in Nineveh on the account that they might repent and then God would show mercy towards them, and Jonah didn’t want God to show mercy, and so because Jonah wasn’t reflecting the right attitude of that same richness of mercy back to God, then that was when the blessings stopped for Jonah.
We read this quote last week…
THE.GOD.WHO.IS.RICH.IN.MERCY_ PHOENIX.AZ V-19 N-2 TUESDAY_ 65-0119
38 "You once, in times past, dead." You were dead. Even many here tonight, one time, can look back and know that you were dead. But now why aren't you dead tonight, as you were then? You deserve to be that way, because you was a sinner, "but God Who is rich in mercy." That's the--that's the thing, "God Who was rich." All these things that we were, "but God"! That made the change right there, "God Who is rich in mercy"!
39 Oh, I'm so glad for that, that He being rich in mercy. If He was just rich in money, if He was just rich in materials, which He is, but yet the greatest thing is being rich in mercy. Oh, what a great word that is, how that we were once dead.
**The trap that was set for Brother Branham regarding the disrespectful couple in the back of the church.
*God had giving him power to speak whatever judgement he felt to speak over them, yet he chose to forgive them, and that was what the Holy Spirit wanted Him to say. Because by choosing to forgive them, God could see His own character of being rich in mercy being reflected back to Him through His prophet, because Brother Branham had to also be rich in mercy in order to be able to choose to forgive those young people who were acting that way in his church service after that he had asked them more than once to please stop what they were doing – and you can’t fake it under those circumstances.
*But then in contrast to that event, there is also this story of the woman in the dinner that Brother Branham had condemned.
And so these events that God allowed the prophet to experience in life and then tell us about in the message of the hour - there are great truths laying under these stories that God is trying to convey to us.
THE.UNCERTAIN.SOUND_ BLOOMINGTON.IL SATURDAY_ 61-0415E
E-15 And I looked up there, and my--my book was open. Now, that's a vision, just like I see here in the building, only these are just ones that you 'cause. That was one God gave. And I noticed that there was my name on a book, and all kinds of sins was wrote against me on that book.
And I said, "Lord, did my sins make You suffer like that?" And He was crying; the tears was in his face, and--and he looked so weary, His poor drooped-down eyes. And I seen my sins had caused Him to suffer. I said, "Lord Jesus, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my sins caused You to--to have to suffer for me. Will You forgive me? I promise that I--I'll be good, and I'll do everything I can, if You'll just forgive me."
And He touched his side with his hand. And He wrote across that book, "Pardoned," pushed it over his back in the sea of forgetfulness, to remember it no more against me. And I fell on my knees, and I said, "O Lord, I can never live long enough to express to You my gratefulness for You forgiving my sins."
He said, "Now, I freely forgive you of everything you done, and you want to destroy her."
There is a story in the bible of a rich king – and this king was very rich in mercy.
MATTHEW 18:21-35
21 ¶ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. (It would take have taken over 300,000 years for this servant to have earn 10,000 talents at the rate of what their wages were back then)
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him (Only God is to be worshiped, and so this king can only be one person - God Himself), saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. (This word "pence" refers to the Roman denarius. A single denarius was known to be around the standard daily wage for a labourer, therefore 100 pence (denarii) represented around 100 days, or a little over 3 months of labour)
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
In other words – we are forgiven by God in the same way that we forgive others. God expects us to forgive those who have trespassed against us on the account that he has had to forgive us of far more that what we will ever have to forgive anyone else that comes across our lives. And so this is why that sometimes God gives you trials that will allow you the opportunity to be like Job of how he had to forgive his three friends.
MATTHEW 6:11-12 (The Lord’s prayer)
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
**As you forgive others of their hundred pence debt to you, then that is the same way that you will be forgiven by God of your debt of ten thousand talents.
**And so true forgiveness from the heart takes the character of a person to be rich in mercy – a person that is willing to take a loss on the account of someone else’s injustice that they have done to them.
*Job could have refused to pray for his three friends on account of the evil that they treated him by during the time of his greatest need for comfort – but then he would not have reflected the richness of God’s mercy in his life, but when he prayed for his three friends, then he reflected the character of God back to God by showing mercy toward His three friends. And this is the message that God is trying to convey to us.
RUTH 4:4-6
4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it. (This man was a rich man, and so he was able to do this work of redemption because of his wealth – but then the story takes a turn that reveals something not just about his wealth, but also about his character. We know this man was rich in wealth, but was he rich is his character of mercy?)
5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.
He abdicates his role in order to protect his own inheritance, because by redeeming Elimelech’s land he was also required to marry Ruth and produce an heir for Elimelech who would then legally own that land thereby marring his own inheritance – in other words, he wasn’t prepared to take a personal loss on behalf of his fellow kinsman, but Boaz was, because often mercy requires taking a personal a loss - and so this was showing the difference in their characters.
DEUTERONOMY 25:5-6
5 ¶ If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her.
6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
*Look at the blessing of life that came out from the selflessness of God’s great character being reflected through the character of Boaz, of Boaz not only being rich in wealth but also rich in mercy.
RUTH 4:21-22
21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.
*Brother Branham was rich in mercy toward the disrespectful young couple in the church.
*Job was rich in mercy toward his three friends that had treated him wrong.
*And most of all, God is very rich in mercy toward us.
EPHESIANS 2:4-7
4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
God has been training us by the struggles of life for the great purpose of reflecting his great character of mercy toward others.
THE.REPROACH.FOR.THE.CAUSE.OF.THE.WORD_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-16 SUNDAY_ 62-1223
13-1 … Every man that comes to Christ must first be child-trained for the--for the purpose that God has ordained you for.
... And trials will come up and seem every way to you. But remember, God has a purpose, and it all will work right.
The Character of God is revealed by His Judgement, and so the way that we judge others in mercy – like God, our character is also revealed by the way we judge.