Slideshow image

I’m not a fisherman. My son, however, loves to fish. He has fishing rods, hooks, lines, flies, and lures for different seasons, for different water (freshwater or sea), and for different fish.

Some fish are small. Only a lightweight rod, line, and small hook are needed. If the rod is too heavy, the person fishing cannot sense when the line is pulled. If the line is too heavy, a small fish will see it and avoid it. If the hook is too big, it will not fit in the fish’s mouth.

Other fish are larger. A lightweight rod, line, and hook will not be strong enough to catch them.

We’re familiar with the fact that Jesus’ first disciples were fisherman. Of course, they didn’t use rods, lines, or hooks. They used nets. Nevertheless, the picture of a fisherman with a line and hook is found in the Bible. It comes in a conversation God has with Job in Job 41:1-11.

Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.

Job, you’ll remember, is suffering. He’s lost his family, his livelihood, his health, and the support of his wife. None of this is because God is punishing him, but try telling that to his so-called friends. Chapter after chapter is a theological debate between him and these “friends” about whether suffering is always punishment for personal sin or not. During this debate, Job demands that God answers his plea and reveals the truth. Finally, God does answer. But it’s not the answer Job expects.

God challenges Job with a series of questions, including a challenge to pull in Leviathan with a fishhook. Bible teachers are not sure what animal Leviathan is. Is it a dragon-like creature (Job 41:19-20 say it spits fire from its mouth and smoke pours from its nostrils)? Is it some kind of large sea creature? Or is it a large crocodile? Whatever Leviathan is, a fishing rod, line, and hook are useless to trap it. No one in their right mind would attempt to use fishing equipment to subdue Leviathan.

So it is with God’s sovereignty – which is the point of God’s questions to Job. The presence of suffering and evil is hard to understand. But God is sovereign. He can defeat evil; he can conquer suffering; he can trap Leviathan. How? Well, we must look beyond Job to find the answer. The answer is God’s sovereign plan of salvation demonstrated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When we don’t always understand what is happening around us or to us, we can be sure God is more than able to deliver us and, ultimately, be victorious. He can do what we cannot, as Job realizes in Job 42:2. So, we place our lives into God’s sovereign, yet crucified, hands.

I’m not a fisherman. But I know to catch the right fish requires the right equipment. And even though I can’t always understand why someone suffers, I know that no matter the size of the enemy or the depth of suffering, God’s sovereignty is bigger. The cross and resurrection prove this.

視頻大意翻譯(video Chinese translation):

大家早。

我不是漁夫。我雖曾在淡水釣過於幾次魚，但，我不是漁夫。但是，我的兒子很喜歡釣魚，他有不同的釣竿、魚鉤、魚線、魚餌，適用於不同的季節、不同的水域和釣不同的魚。

有些魚很小。只需要一根輕便的釣桿、魚線和小鉤。如果魚竿太重，釣魚的人感覺不到魚在拉線。如果魚線太重，小魚看到就會避開它。如果魚鉤太大，就裝不進魚的嘴裏。

其他更大的魚。輕巧的桿、魚線和鉤子的強度不足以抓住它們。

我們都熟悉耶穌的第一批門徒是漁夫。當然，他們沒有使用魚桿、魚線或釣鉤。他們使用網。儘管如此，在聖經中還是可以找到一個有線和魚鉤的漁夫的圖片。它來自神與約伯的對話。

請聽約伯記41:1-11.

你能用魚鉤釣上鱷魚麼、能用繩子壓下他的舌頭麼。你能用繩索穿他的鼻子麼、能用鉤穿他的腮骨麼。他豈向你連連懇求、說柔和的話麼．豈肯與你立約、使你拿他永遠作奴僕麼。你豈可拿他當雀鳥玩耍麼．豈可為你的幼女將他拴住麼。搭夥的漁夫、豈可拿他當貨物麼、能把他分給商人麼。你能用倒鉤槍扎滿他的皮、能用魚叉叉滿他的頭麼。你按手在他身上、想與他爭戰、就不再這樣行罷。人指望捉拿他、是徒然的．一見他、豈不喪膽麼。沒有那麼兇猛的人敢惹他．這樣、誰能在我面前站立得住呢。誰先給我甚麼、使我償還呢、天下萬物都是我的。

你會記得，約伯是受苦的。他失去了家人、生計、健康和妻子的支持。這一切都不是因為神在懲罰他所犯的任何罪，而是試著告訴他所謂的朋友。一章又一章是他和這些「朋友」之間的神學辯論，苦難是否總是對個人罪的懲罰。在這場辯論中，約伯要求神回應他的請求並揭示真理。最後，神確實回答了。但這不是約伯所期望的答案。

神用一系列問題挑戰約伯，包括用魚鉤拉住利維坦(Leviathan)的挑戰。聖經老師不確定利維坦是什麼動物。有人說它是一種像龍一樣的生物，因為約伯記41：19-20說它從嘴裏吐出火，從鼻孔噴出煙霧。其他人說這是某種大型海洋生物。還有一些人說利維坦是一條非常大的鱷魚。無論真正的含義是什麼，魚竿、魚線和魚鉤都無法困住它。沒有一個頭腦正常的人會試圖用捕魚的設備來制服利維坦。

神的主權也是如此—這是神向約伯提問的重點。有時痛苦—就像一般的邪惡一樣—是很難理解的。但神是至高無上的。他能戰勝邪惡;他可以戰勝苦難;他可以困住利維坦。如何做到？好吧，我們需要超越約伯來尋找答案。答案是神主權的救恩計劃，這在耶穌基督的死和復活中得到了彰顯。

當我們並不總是了解在我們周圍或發生在我們身上的事時，我們可以肯定神完全有能力拯救我們並最終得勝。他能做我們不能做的事，正如約伯在約伯記42：2中意識到的那樣。因此，我們把生命交托在神至高無上、但被釘在十字架上的手中。

我不是漁夫。但我知道要釣到合適的魚需要合適的裝備。儘管我並不總是能理解為什麼有人受苦，但我知道無論敵人的大小或苦難的深度，神的主權都是更大的。十字架和復活證明了這一點。

讓我們禱告…..

Grace and peace

Pastor Callum