Job's quest ... God the same for all? DIY God?

I am often amazed, and frankly heartbroken, when interacting with people in hospitals. They explain that "their" God brought them there to "teach them a lesson," to "slow them down," or to refine their families through sickness, accidents, and physical pain.

Wait... what?

These are often people who identify as believers. It makes me ask: Are we even worshipping the same God?

This is not the Abba I know! My Abba is a loving Father, full of compassion, merciful, gracious, patient, and overflowing with goodness and truth. He declared this Himself in Exodus 34:6, and Yah'shua (Jesus) proved it by every act of healing and restoration He performed.

The Holy Spirit reminds us of the goodness, love, and truth of Christ when we read the book of Job, we see a shift from the burdensome "Old Covenant" mindset of self-righteousness to the "New Testament" reality of grace.

The Modern Day Relevance of Job

The book of Job is essentially the story of the modern-day self-righteous "church" and its doctrinal deception. It is the story of the brain-washed believer in despair, trapped by the legacy of man-made religion.

Who was Job? God describes Job as "...a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" (Job 1:8). This is how God sees man—perfected by His own hand. Yet, Job’s own self-righteousness (his "DIY" justification) gets the better of him when tested (we know who is the “tester”).

Finding Meanings Behind the Names

To understand the journey of Job, we must look at the Hebrew roots and context:

• Job (אִיּוֹב - Iyyov): His name literally means "Hated" or "The Persecuted One."

• Uz (עוּץ): Means "Wooden." By analogy, Job is dwelling in the "wood, hay, and stubble" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:12. This represents a wrong belief system—self-righteousness—that must be tested and burned to ashes so that only the gold of Christ remains.

• Escheweth: The Hebrew word means to "turn aside."

The "God" of Religion vs. "Yahweh" of Grace

Job knows there is a God, but he primarily refers to Him as El or Elohim. These are generic terms that can refer to any "deity" or judge, not any specific god. Job was missing the intimacy of the New Testament relationship.

During his trial, three "doctrinal friends" offer advice based on man-made traditions:

1. Eliphaz the Temanite: "My God is fine gold" (a molten image/idol of his own making).

2. Bildad the Shuhite: "Confusing love" from a place of "sunken wealth."

3. Zophar the Naamathite: "Early departure" from "vanity."

None of these religious philosophies could heal Job or restore him. Religion always leaves you cripple and sick and hoping you "did enough," but it never secures the heart.

Enters the One Who Sticks Closer Than a Brother

In Job 32, God Himself intervenes through Elihu. Let’s look at the ancient Hebrew beauty of this name:

Elihu (אֱלִיהוּא): "He is my God" or "Who God is." He is the son of Barachel ("God blessed") from Buz ("Despised").

Does this not describe the Gospel of Yah'shua? Our Risen One (Ram) was despised and rejected of men (Isaiah 53:3) so that we could be blessed.

Elihu is the only one who condemns self-righteousness. He declares that God does not use sickness to "teach"; rather, He is the Redeemer! Elihu points Job away from his own works and toward the majesty of YHVH (the Covenant-keeping God).

In His reasoning, for the very first time the name of God, YHVH is used for the. Now it is not just some generic reference to (a) "God"!

Elihu is the only friend who condemns self-righteousness and declares the majesty of the One True God, YHVH ... the one Jesus fully revealed as Abba, our Good Father! HalleluYAH!

Ancient Hebrew Aleph-Bet Insight: In the name YHVH (יהוה), the pictographs reveal:

• Yod: Hand

• Hey: Behold/Grace

• Vav: Nail

• Hey: Behold/Grace

"Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail." The entire Old Covenant was pointing to the finished work of Yah'shua on the cross!.

From Hearing to Seeing

Now, only when the Spirit of Truth reveals the Truth, can Job finally repent and admit:

"... therefore have I uttered that (that) I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." (Job 42:5)

This is the very core message of the book of Job. If you plan to read the book of Job, DO NOT stop until you have read this verse. The whole of the book moves towards Job's revelation.

Paul says it well: "let God be true, but every man a liar; ..." Rom 3:4

The mind-altering revelation comes from the Spirit of Truth Himself. Job finally realized that his "good works" were like the "shadow" of the Old Covenant rituals—they couldn't truly purge the conscience. They are filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6

Yah'shua is our "Better High Priest" who entered the Holy of Holies by His own blood, obtaining eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12). He is our cloak of righteousness. Isaiah 61:10

The Finished Work:

• Our sins aren't just covered; they are removed as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

• The "handwriting of ordinances" (the law that accused us) was nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14).

• We are already right with God, perfected forever by one sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14).

God is not who religion says He is. He is not a sender of sickness; He is the Giver of Life. God is not who we think He is ... God is who He says He is!

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee." 

HalleluYAH!