“Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.” (Job 21:22)

Many times man’s judgment of any given situation that a child of grace is in, is blamed on that person’s sin. So it was in Job’s case in the Bible. Job’s three friends were totally convinced that Job’s deplorable state, wherein he had lost his family, his wealth, and his health, was because of some hidden wickedness of Job.

Job gave his three friends many defenses of his state. One of Job’s defenses is found in Chapter 21; Job related to his three friends that you cannot judge a man’s outward status, whether it be health or wealth, as to whether he is wicked or righteous. Job told his three friends in verses 23-26:

(Job 21:23-26) “One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. (24) His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. (25) And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. (26) They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.”

The truth of the matter is in verses 30-31, “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall  be (not may be) brought forth to the day of wrath. (31) Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?”

The same Pharisaical attitude of judgment is found in the New Testament in Christ’s disciples in John 9:1-2, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. (2) And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” Then Jesus gives the answer that only God could know the reason (verse 3), “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

The same truth is in John 11:1-4, concerning Lazarus’ sickness of death. “…This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (John 11:4).

It is not that God’s children never sin, for they do; not as a practice, but as a lack of growth and submission to God. But everything that happens to them that is adverse does not mean that they are liars and false prophets. But they may be in a test, in a trial, in the Potter’s House; and it is all for God’s glory and their good, as it was in Job’s case. Job admitted in Job 42:6, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” But if you read Job 1 and 2, you will find, in this entire matter, God was in the center of it all and in control of the situation to manifest God’s glory of His grace. Then in Job 42:7, “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.”

            The lessons to be learned are:

First, to be quiet and see how the matter will fall. Unless God reveals the reason to those who set themselves up as judges, they must wait on this revelation of God.

Second, what the Bible teaches us we are to do is found in Luke 10:27-37, the story of the Good Samaritan. He did not judge or question the wounded man, but only helped him to the healing process; he had mercy on him.

The third lesson is in Matthew 7:1-5. All judges must first examine self, before judgment of others. Also the judgment of the brother must be to help the brother to cast the mote (a tiny speck) out of his eye that he might be edified and built up in Christ. To do this, judge self and point the brother to the Word of God.

For the fourth lesson, we go to Galatians 6:1-2. (Verse1) “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” The key word in verse one being “restore.” This process of restoration involves evidence of repentance, confession, and forgiveness; and thus restores (or brings back into) fellowship. When you do this, “(2) Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

Who is to say? Judgment belongeth to God, the revealer of all secrets.

Where are you today? Are you a judge or a burden-bearer? Are you a judge or a restorer? Are you a stone-thrower or a mercy-giver?