Job 15-31 - Job and His Friends Talk (Part 2)

Welcome to Through the Bible with Pastor Paul from Life Bible Ministry. Journey from Genesis to Revelation as Pastor Paul guides you through every verse, leading you to a deeper understanding of the scriptures that will strengthen your faith and transform your life. Now let's get started with today's teaching as we open God's Word together.

Job chapter 15. This is our third installment of our study through the book of Job. For those of you that might be joining us kind of mid -study here, the Bible tells us that Job was a great man. He was also incredibly wealthy. Wealthier than anyone else in the East at that time. But more than all of that, the Bible tells us that he was blameless. and he was upright. And it says he was one who feared God and turned away from evil. And that is the most important element of Job's character that we need to remember as we go through this because it plays into the entire book. You'll remember in chapter 1 that we're told Satan challenged Job's attitude to God. Saying basically that the only reason he

loved God was just because he'd been blessed so greatly and if all the blessings Earthly blessings that job had been given in his life were to disappear Satan said that job would curse God to his face and so God allowed Satan control over all that job possessed and I hope I said that right God gave Satan control. I got all those names right in the right order, okay? over all that Job had.

And in one day, all of his wealth was wiped out, but even more than that, all ten of his children died a tragic death. And it was a terrible situation, but Job did not curse the Lord. And when he did not curse the Lord, Satan appeared another time before God. assuring the Lord that if the man himself were afflicted somehow physically, it's like you can take everything away from a man and he's willing to part with it. But the moment you touch him at the level of his own flesh, oh, that's when he'll turn on you in a second.

So once again, God allowed Satan to afflict Job, this time touching him physically, so that Job's entire body was covered with painful boils. Job's suffering was so great, so terrible, that when his three friends arrived on the scene to console him, we're told that they saw that his suffering was so intense that they couldn't even speak a word for a full seven days. They just sat there.

Just sat with him. And that was the smartest thing they could have done. In fact, we found out as we continued our study that where they made their critical error was when they started talking. But after seven days, actually, Job was the first one who began to speak. And he never did curse God for all of the trouble that he had endured. However, after that seven days of sitting with his friends, Job did finally curse the day of his birth. And that began a conversation between Job and these three men that has lasted up until the chapters that we've seen and we're dealing with tonight. And what we saw in the first kind of installment of the conversation between Job and his three friends is that they assumed that Job was being punished

for some evil behavior that he had committed before God. And he was guilty. It's crazy to think that they would say such a thing to a man who had endured such loss and now was dealing with such intense and painful suffering and yet that's what they did. They kept coming back and saying to Job over and over and over, Job, you're getting what you deserve. It's so important that we keep referring back to the first couple of chapters. the book because we're told there in no uncertain terms that Job was blameless in fact God said that Job was blameless and now that doesn't mean perfect It just means without blame and so we know that the assumption of Job's friends was was wrong That's what makes though

the book of Job so difficult to read and understand and we talked about this last week Many of the things that Job's friends say are in fact true They're simply a misdiagnosis of Job's issues and Job's personal situation. It's easy to read through the book of Job and kind of wonder whose side you should be on because Job says something that sounds completely plausible and then one of his friends speaks up seemingly to debate or contradict what Job has just said and you read it and you kind of go, well, he's got a point. And in many cases, these men do speak truths that would stand, you know, in most circumstances, but in Job's particular situation, they didn't apply because these men made an assumption. Job,

you're guilty. You're a guilty man. You're guilty of sin, and this is what happens to people when they're guilty of sin. They suffer. This is, this is, and so Job begins to argue with these men about number one, his own innocence. Related to these events. He never claims. He's sinless, but he does believe he's innocent of Deserving the circumstances that he's in and he's right by the way He also argues with them about their conclusions their conclusions are the wicked always suffer in this life and job is like What planet do you guys live on because on? the planet that I'm on I often see the wicked prospering.

I often see them doing well, actually. So anyway, there it goes, back and forth, this conversation. We also noted something else that's important for us to just kind of revisit momentarily before we get into the chapters we're going to be dealing with tonight, and that is that Job was in the chapters we dealt with, speaking largely and will continue to speak from his pain. And we talked about how when someone gives voice to their pain, many times they will say things that they probably wouldn't say otherwise. Sometimes it can bring out the truth, which might have been hidden, but just never expressed. Sometimes it can bring out things that just are outrageously false. But whatever comes out of someone's mouth

who is going through intense suffering, it is really folly on the part of his friends to answer whatever, frankly, Job is saying. Because when somebody is dealing with suffering, they're going to say things that are just kind of off the top of their head, or should I say, off the top of their pain. And as I said, sometimes they'll be true, sometimes they won't. but to correct someone in the midst of their pain for saying something that isn't just theologically down the line. There's a time for correction. Don't get me wrong. I'm a teacher and I have to be careful myself when somebody says something that is theologically incorrect because by nature teachers are sharp. There's a sharpness which

we have to be very, very careful about because we can leave a trail of blood if we're not careful. going around correcting people. And like Paul says, if things aren't done in love, we're just making noise. So gotta be careful. Well, these men aren't careful at all. I mean, they are just slicing and dicing Job throughout the course of this entire conversational process and assuming to correct him with their false assumptions.

And it's just a train wreck. We're going to actually see tonight that as cruel as they were in the first Several chapters that we dealt with they will actually increase in that cruelty Tonight and job for the most part although he will answer them Job began in our last study and will continue in this study to talk to God He will speak many times to God here and yet these men will presume to answer for God another fundamental error when you are answering out of assumptions. Anyway, all right. As we start chapter 15 here, Eliphaz the Temanite is going to speak once again, and I want to remind you again as we go through this, that we're not going to be reading every single verse in each chapter, but I'm going to trust

that we'll cover enough that you'll get a sense of what they're saying here. Job chapter 15. Eliphaz speaks. He says, verse 2, Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge and fill his belly with the east wind? Essentially, Eliphaz is accusing Job of being kind of a windbag, you know, hot air you might say today. Verse 3. He says, should he argue in unprofitable talk or in words with which he can do no good? Skip down to verse 17. Now here's again where we learn about Eliphaz and his sense of authority. Notice what he says here in this verse. He says, I will show you, hear me, and what I have seen I will declare. You'll remember when we looked at these men last time, we talked about how they spoke

to Job and on what they based their authority. And you remember that that this man is an experiential truth person, for lack of a better term. In other words, he gains truth from experience. Now, experience can be a great teacher. Don't get me wrong. But when it comes to theological truth or truth about God, we have to be very careful, because experience can actually deceive. And if I assume that because I've experienced something that it is in fact true, I am stepping onto very thin ice as it relates to asserting an understanding of what is true or what is false. Because our experience is often skewed. Our understanding of even what we are experiencing is often skewed. Don't ever forget the fact that God is very, very gracious.

Sometimes, even when we are stepping out in wrong areas, God's grace is such that He may choose to bless you in the midst of some really creepy decisions in your life. Can you relate? I have to admit to you here tonight that When I have made some of the most serious errors in my life, I have found some of the most incredible blessings from God. Now, if I were to be an experiential Christian and say that because God blessed me, that equals truth or good or something like that, or this is the way God wants me to walk, then you see, I would be creating all kinds of doctrines and belief systems Predicated simply just simply on my experience. I've told you guys, you know for 25 years the back when I was about 14 15

years old I started kind of Just having an interest in spiritual things and the Bible and that was right about the time I know this dates me but that was in the early 70s when the rock opera Jesus Christ superstar came out and I I Got this thing in the mail that allowed me to order some albums for free if I you know would sign up for this record club, yeah, records, okay? And, you know, back in the day. And you had to then buy one every month, you know, after that. So I thought, okay, so I bought Jesus Christ Superstar and I think I bought the Jackson 5 or something like that. What a great mix, huh? But I listened to Jesus Christ Superstar over and over. I mean, I wore out the vinyl on that record. And you

know what? God used that record, that album. to cause me to get into the Bible and start looking up things to see if, well, I wonder if that's true. I would hear a song and I'd read the lyrics on the sleeve and I would think to myself, huh, I wonder if that's true. So I actually opened up a Bible and started looking to see if the writers of this rock opera had held to the truth somewhat because... You know, and it got me into the Scriptures. It got me, and eventually God used that to bring me into some Bible studies, and by about age 15 or so, you know, I heard the gospel and responded to it and, you know, it was all very cool. Now, if I'm an experiential Christian, I'm going to say, hey, Jesus Christ

Superstar, you guys, pick it up. We're going to give out free copies to everybody tonight because... Look what God did in my life now the fact of the matter is you may have never heard the rock opera before it was not biblically sound it was not very correct and they only hinted at the idea of his resurrection they never even came out and said that he rate was raised from the dead and and there was a great deal that was very unbiblical about it, but you see if I'm an experiential Christian then it doesn't matter. All those things don't matter because my experience was good, you see. Right? God blessed me. God used it in my life. So it's good. Right?

And that's just one rather poor example. But I think you know what I'm saying. So this is the kind of a man that Eliphaz is. He says, let me show you. Let me tell you what I've seen. Let me tell you what I've experienced. Job, because that is the basis of the authority that I'm going to speak now to you. And then here's his declaration.

Look down at verse 20. You ready for this? Here's what he's experienced. The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, just kind of like you, Job. Right? Through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. You see what he's saying to Job? He's calling him wicked and ruthless, and he says, Job, the reason you are covered with soars, boils from the top of your head to the soles of your feet is because you're a wicked man. And because God is punishing you for your wickedness. Now, there's nothing new in the argument here. We heard this last time. But based on assumption and predicated upon experience, Eliphaz makes his declaration. Now, Job's chapter 16. That's essentially what you're going to get out of that

chapter. 16 now, Job is going to answer. And he says in verse 2, I have heard many such things, and we know that because we've heard them already saying this very accusation. But he says, miserable comforters are you all. Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? That's a poetic way of saying, what is up with you guys that you even open your mouths at me?

He says in verse 4, I also could speak as you do. If you were in my place, I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. Kind of that wagging the head and so forth. He said also, you know what else I could do? Verse 5, I could strengthen you too with my mouth and the solace or comfort rather of my lips would ease your pain. You see the point of what Job is saying? You know, I could do this too if I were in your place and you were the one who had suffered all this difficulty. I suppose I could slice and dice you, you know? Cut you up into nice little pieces. But I could also use my mouth to bless and encourage you. And now Job is going to turn his attention to the Lord. Skip down

to verse 7. Surely now God has worn me out. He has made desolate all my company. I was at ease and He broke me apart. He seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces. He set me up as His target. His archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare. He pours out my gall on the ground. Job feels about God. He feels like he's been filleted. He feels like he's been tortured by God. Chapter 17. He continues, My spirit is broken. My days are extinct. The graveyard is ready for me. Skip down to verse 11. My days are past. My plans are broken off. The desires of my heart They make night into day. The light, they say, is near to the darkness. If I hope, verse 13, for Sheol as my house, the grave, if

I make my bed in darkness, if I say to the pit, you are my father, and to the worm, my mother or my sister, where then is my hope? Who will see my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together, meaning me and my hope into the dust? And you can see where Job is at by what he's saying. I know it's poetic language. I know it's not the kind of thing you and I say when we're hurting on the inside. But what he's saying here is, there's nothing left for me but just to die. There's nothing left for me but the grave. And all my hopes and all my desires are going to descend together. to the dust along with me. Now, I want to stop for just a moment to say that we've got to be careful

when we're reading the book of Job not to read into his comments, born out of pain, some kind of doctrinal insights. We've got to be very careful here. Job is not a doctrinal book necessarily. There are some elements of it that we can compare with other verses in the Bible and say, yeah, that squares. This is a poetic book expressing pain. The pain of living in a fallen world. The pain of life when it collapses all around us.

How we view our pain. How we view others who view us in our pain. And most importantly, how we view God in the midst of our pain and how our pain often skews our understanding of who God is and how He treats people. Job 18. Then Bildad the shoe -height answered and said, How long will you hunt for words? Consider, and then we will speak. Take a look at that just for a moment, that verse that we just kind of read.

What's wrong with it? Well, first of all, Job is complaining to God. And yet, These men are presuming to speak up and answer Job, which I think is not wise. Verse 3, he says, Why are we counted as cattle? Why are we stupid in your sight? Verse 5, Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine. See what he's saying? He's talking to Job. He's saying, You're treating us like we're stupid, like we don't understand things. We do understand things. And what we understand is that the light of the wicked is snuffed out.

And your light is being snuffed out. Ergo, you're a wicked man. Right? It's simple. Verse 21, look what he goes on to say. Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous. Such is the place of Him who knows not God. Wow! Now they're going on to assume and to comment and accuse related to Job's relationship with God. They've been accusing him of his own evil actions. Now they're presuming to say, you obviously don't know God. Because this is happening to you. People who know God don't live like this. They don't have these things happen to them, Joe. Don't you understand that?

Do you see the cruelty? Do you see the arrogant assumption? I mean these guys are just absolutely going overboard with their comments. Job 19. Then Job answered and said, how long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words? Verse 4, and even if it be true that I have erred, my error remains with myself. Isn't that an interesting statement? Kind of reminds me of something David said after he committed adultery of Bathsheba when he said, against you and you only have I sinned. In other words, God, it's between me and you. This is if there's if there's sin if there's transgression, it's between me and God Verse five if indeed you magnify Yourself against me and make my disgrace an argument against me

know then that God has put me in the wrong and Close his net around me. Well, that's gonna give fire them up behold I cry out violence, but I am not answered I call for help but look at this look at this there is no justice. Now, this is Job's argument with God. He believes that he is not being treated fairly. He believes that he is being treated unjustly. And since he is suffering in this way without deserving it, he, you know, he believes, you know, yeah. And essentially, you know, I mean, he's right. Verse 11. He has kindled his wrath against me and counted me as his adversary or enemy. Now, think about that statement for a moment. We know that's not true.

Job doesn't know that. He believes it, I think, with all of his heart. But we know that it's not true. What does it say? He says he's kindled his wrath against me. Is this God's wrath against Job? I ask you. No, it's not, is it? And then, what else? He says he counts me as his enemy or his adversary. Is God Job's enemy? He's not, is he? No, God loves Job. So, notice the assumptions now on Job's part. Now, this is so common when people are going through a hard time. They assume, God hates me. God hates me. You know, people say things like that to me a lot when they've been praying and they don't feel like they're getting an answer or when bad things are happening to them. I've had people come up and say to me,

what did I do to deserve this? Which is a crazy question to ask, but it reveals that that individual has a relationship with God that is based or predicated upon performance. They believe that if they're good, then good things will happen. And they think that if they're bad, then bad things will happen. And now that they're going through a bad thing, they want to know what it is they did. What did they do? So, Pastor Paul, tell me, what did I do to deserve this? What did I do? Why is God mad at me? Why is He not hearing my prayer? Why is He punishing me in this sort of a situation? This is a very, very common sort of a refrain, and we're seeing it here in Job. Skip down to verse 20. He says, My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh, and

I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. You, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me. Why do you, like God, pursue me? Why are you not satisfied with my flesh? And that means kind of like with your pound of flesh or something similar to that. Verse 23, oh that my words were written. Look at this. Check out these two verses.

Oh that my words were written. Oh that they were inscribed in a book. Job got his wish on that one, didn't he? Here we are. We think, we think, about 4 ,000 years after these events took place. And here we are reading it. And Job says, oh that my words were written in a book. And we're reading them. Oh, that with an iron pan and lead they were engraved in the rock forever. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will stand upon the earth." What is this?

What is this statement by Job? In the midst of everything that he is saying, in the midst of this cry of his pain, the cry of bitterness, and disappointment and the accusations against God of injustice, what is now this? Well, you know what? He's not done. I think this is an incredible expression of clarity and faith. He goes on to say in verse 26, And after my skin has thus been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. whom I shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another." And then he says, my heart faints, or that means yearns within me for that time. What is Job doing here? What is he saying in these verses? This is an amazing expression of faith from a man who is in the

midst of great suffering. Remember something about Job. Don't be so... Don't let his pain and his bitterness and his anger so color your opinion of him that we forget something about Job He was a very godly man very close to the Lord and a man of great faith and and and a wonderful relationship Between himself and the Lord and in the midst of all of this pain and the giving voice to it Suddenly what comes from his mouth is this incredible expression of faith? He just it just it just kind of bubbles out and he says, you know, I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth and then he goes on to make this statement about his body.

He's covered with boils I'm sure it's a condition with which he believes he will you know expire Because of this illness and yet what does he say about his physical condition? He says, even after my skin is destroyed, in other words, after my flesh is completely decimated, I know that in the flesh I will behold my God. Now, he's saying something here theologically, which is very interesting. First of all, you have to understand something about what he refers to or means when he talks about his flesh. When he first talks about his diseased flesh, he's talking about the body. that he is in right now. But when he goes on to make reference to seeing the Lord in the flesh, he has to be talking about a resurrection

body because those are the only bodies that will ever be given that can stand the presence of the Lord and with which we can behold His glory. You with me? So this is a statement of faith from Job once again in the midst of his trouble. that just comes forth in a very beautiful prophetic sort of a thing in the midst of his pain where he says, I know that my Redeemer lives and one day He'll stand on the earth and one day I will stand and behold His glory in a new resurrection body. Now this seems really odd doesn't it I mean doesn't it seem out of place because the man has been just lamenting up to this point and and and we've even been skipping a lot of it and Yet we can tell wow this man is in pain.

He's speaking from his pain. He's he's angry at his friends He's hurt he's wounded and yet out comes this beautiful statement of faith. Where did that come from? Well it came from the Lord It came from the Lord. I've actually experienced this one time. It was in the very first probably six months that Sue and I were living here in Ontario, Oregon. We'd moved here, you know, a little over 25 years ago to start this fellowship.

Came from the Seattle area where we owned a home, sold it, moved down here only to find out that the sale up there went belly up. And now we're renting a house, and we started this little church, and it was just a few people. I mean, there wasn't enough money to support a pastor. And we had between our house payment up there, which was like $850 a month, which may sound really, really low. I mean, it's 25 years ago. And then our rent payment, which was somewhere in the 700s, we weren't making that much yet. here and it was a very very distract financially distressing time in our lives and it takes a lot to distress me just because I'm kind of a bozo when it comes to money and not terribly affected by it but

but Sue was feeling it very passionately and our two oldest kids were very very small at the time like six and four and they were in bed and Sue and I were sitting out on the couch and and and I knew that Sue was very distressed and she was crying about this thing because It just didn't look good. It looked, in fact, very, very bad.

We got this house up there that we can't afford. We're living in a house here that we can't afford. What in the world are we going to do? So I said, we need to sit down and pray. So we sat down on the couch, and we began to pray. And Sue was just very, very distressed. And what came out of her mouth was great negativity. Very much kind of like Jobe except she wasn't cursing the day of her birth or or anything like that I mean that wasn't going on, but she was very much kind of like we're gonna die sort of a you know that was that kind of sums it up right there and As we're sitting there just praying and I'm holding her hand the Lord laid on my heart that he had a word to speak through her prophetically and

So she's just like you know sobbing and can hardly get a breath. And I finally said to her, Sue, God has a word that He wants to speak through you. And she was like, no. She just fought it. Just like, no, I'm not going to. And finally I just said, hey, you be obedient to God. If He's got a word, you speak it. And remember, nothing but negativity had passed her lips for the last, you know, whatever, 20 minutes, half hour we've been sitting there. And suddenly she stops, swallows hard, and she begins and says, the Lord would say to you, your day of trouble is not a day of trouble. And out came, out of her own mouth came the most incredible comforting blessing from God that said I see your issue

do you think this took me by surprise I love you and I will take care of you stop worrying give it to me trust in me I am the Lord your God pretty tough to cry after you kind of just you know that came out of your mouth you know sort of a thing but So I've experienced this sort of a thing firsthand, hearing someone issue forth just complaints at the speed of light and then suddenly stop and with the heart and voice of faith prompted through the Holy Spirit begin to speak words of hope and life and truth. And it's a beautiful thing. And that's what we're seeing here as Job is just bringing forth this this beautiful, beautiful statement. Chapter 20. Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,

you'd think he would say, Job, that was really good. No. Verse 2, therefore my thoughts, he says, answer me because of my haste within me I hear censure or rebuke. In other words, he says, I think I hear you rebuking us. And that insults me, I just want to tell you right now. I'm insulted, Job, okay? And look what he says in verse 3, out of my understanding a spirit answers me. This is the man who is the intellectual of the group and he says, out of my deep cavern of understanding I am now going to speak to you my friend. He says, do you not know this from of old since man was placed on earth that the exalting of the wicked is short? And the joy of the godless is but for a moment. What's he saying to Job? You deserve this. Verse 29. He

says, look at what he's saying here, you guys. This, in other words, Job, you're sitting in an ash heap. You're scraping your boils with a piece of pottery. Your kids are dead. Your belongings are gone. Now look what he says in verse 29. This is the wicked man's portion from God. Okay? Look around, buddy. This is what you get. It's the heritage decreed for him by God and you deserve it and you've got it so you better own it Chapter 21 then Job answered and said keep listening to my words and let this be your comfort bear with me And I will speak and after I've spoken go ahead mock on as For me is my complaint against man in other words am I talking to you guys? Why should I not be impatient verse

7? Why do the wicked live, reach old age and grow mighty in power? Their offspring are established in their presence and their descendants before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear and no rod of God is upon them. What's Job saying? He says, you guys are arguing that the wicked always suffer? I don't see that. I sometimes see the wicked people prospering. Verse 13. They spend their days in prosperity and in peace.

And then they go down to Sheol. They say to God, depart from us. We don't desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? And what profit do we get if we pray to Him? Chapter 22. Is it for you, your fear of Him, that He reproves you and enters into judgment with you? In other words, is it because you fear God and love Him that you're now going through these things, Job? Look at this, guys.

Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities, Job, for you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry. Guys, Job did none of that. But it's all part of the assumption process that you're suffering, therefore, You've done these things. I know it. You've done this. You've done wrong. You've done evil. Verse 9. He goes on to accuse. You've sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.

Therefore, snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you, or darkness, so that you cannot see, and a flood of water covers you. And so he goes on, he says in verse 21. So just agree with God, would you? He says that you're a sinner, so just agree with Him. And then be at peace. Therefore good will come to you. I'm telling you job things will get better What he really means is agree with me because God already said job was blameless, right? verse 23 If you return to the Almighty you will be built up boy What a thing to say to somebody going through that kind of stuff if you remove injustice far from your tents if you lay gold in the dust and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent

bed, then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver." In other words, he's saying to Job, if you just renounce your love of worldly wealth and make God your focus, then things will be better. 23. Skip down to verse 11. My foot is held fast to his steps, Job says. I have kept His way and have not turned aside." He's answering now these accusations. I have not departed from the commandments of His lips. I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food. Right? He says, I cared more about God's word than my next meal or if I ever have another meal again. Verse 16, God has made my heart faint.

The Almighty has terrified me, yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face." Chapter 24. Job continues now here. Listen to what he says. Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty? And why do those who know Him never see His days, meaning His days of judgment? You know what Job is saying?

Why doesn't God ever judge people? He says, he talks about judgment. Why doesn't he actually get around to doing it? Of course, his friends are telling him, he is, but he's doing it to you. This is an interesting statement and Job is expressing in it his belief that God is unjust. Let me read this verse for you. First of all, out of the NIV, it says, Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know Him look in vain for such days? And then even a little clearer, perhaps, in the New Living Translation, listen to this. Why doesn't the Almighty bring the wicked to judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain? And that is the question that is haunting Job, and that is the

essence of what he says in that chapter. Skip down now to chapter 25. Bill Dadd now is going to speak for the third time. Verse 4. How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Have you heard that? Before in this argument they've made yeah, they're just repeating the same stuff verse 5 Behold even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes. How much less a man like you job Who is a maggot and the son of a man? who is a worm. Wow, aren't these guys just delightful? With friends like this, who needs the enemy? Chapter 26. Okay, at this point, Job is going to start his final discourse, right?

Then Job answered and said, how have you helped? How you have helped him who has no power? How you have saved the arm that has no strength? A little sarcasm there. How you have counseled him who has no wisdom and plentifully declared sound knowledge and Whose help have you uttered words and whose breath has come from you now?

That's a great question job is challenging them and saying just exactly whose word have you given me? God's word Well, that's a great question to ask when we believe that we are speaking for God, which is a pretty heavy thing to do unless we're quoting scripture. And even then it has to be applied properly. But to say to somebody, so who are you speaking for here? By what spirit are you speaking? Verse 7. He's going to talk about God now, and I want you to hear what he says here in verse 7. because this is an amazing statement. He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. Do you know that that right there is a scientific statement written approximately, we think, 4 ,000 years

ago, approximately 2 ,000 years before the birth of Christ. Job makes a statement here about the earth hanging on nothing. Isn't that interesting? Yeah. Verse 8. He binds up the waters in His thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it His cloud. He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. You might be reading this and going, what is the point, Job, that you're saying all this? Hang on, I'll give you the point in just a second. Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at His rebuke.

By His power He stilled the sea. By His understanding He shattered Rahab. By His wind the heavens were made fair. His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. Behold, these are but the outskirts of His ways. And how small a whisper do we hear of Him. But the thunder of His power. Here's the question. Who can understand? And that's the point. of Job's remarks to his friend. He earlier asked them the question, by whose spirit do you speak and whose words are you uttering? Now he begins to speak of God's immensity and greatness and power. And he says, do you really believe you understand all the ways of God? That's what he's saying to his friends. Now, there's some of this argument Job needs to point back to himself.

And sometimes we're really good at that, aren't we? You know, we're good at preaching to others sometimes, and yet Job is making his own assumptions. He's assuming God's his enemy. He's assuming that God's wrath is upon him. He's assuming, right, that God is unjust. He is assuming God is unfair. He's assuming that, and we saw this last week, he said, remember he said this? He said, even if God were to give me an audience, I don't think he would listen to me. Now that's an assumption born out of pain, but it's an assumption nonetheless, and it's a wrong one. Right? So, Job could be learning from his own preaching here, but what he's saying is absolutely true and it's something we all need to take into consideration.

Hey, this is God you and I serve. He's incredible. I mean, he's amazing. This is that echoing of Isaiah chapter 55 where God says, my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. People want to believe that that is not true. They will judge God's actions by themselves, and they'll point to something that they say God did. They'll say, I'd never do that. And you know what they're saying to you? They're saying, my ways are equal to his ways. And then they're saying, and then he did this, and I don't get it, so that makes it dumb. And what they're saying by that is, my thoughts are equal to his thoughts. Right? And God all the while says, my ways are so far above your ways. My thoughts

are so far above your thoughts. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways. Higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. That strikes at the heart of man's prideful arrogance. That demands God to answer for the things that I think he did wrong, or that I don't happen to agree with. Right? You get flush just thinking about someone. It's like, what kind of human arrogance does it take to make a statement like that? I mean, just exactly, how full of yourself do you have to be to say something like that?

To say, God, you're wrong in this case. We don't have all the information do we? We only have us whoa What did Paul say we see through a mirror darkly or a dim mirror? That's the best we can see today It's like it's kind of like those mirrors in the rest stops. You know the ones they don't want you to break you ever seen those you walk in there you look at it you're like your your Reflections like you know it's like am I at the fair looking at the you know in the mirror thing you know That's the way we see life, and yet we pound our fist and we demand God answer for the crimes with which we accuse Him. You know, it's like you flee, you know, sort of a thing.

Anyway, chapter 27. Job continues to assert his innocence here. And Job again took up his discourse and said, as God lives, who has taken away my right, The Almighty who has made my soul bitter as long as breath is in me and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils My lips will not speak falsehood in my tongue will not utter deceit Far be it for me to say that you are right till I die I will not put away my integrity from me talking to his friends here now. I hold fast my Righteousness look at there, and I will not let it go My heart does not reproach me for any of my days." What he's saying is, my conscience is clear when he says, my heart doesn't reproach me. Chapter 28. Now in this chapter, Job discourses

on wisdom. He says in verse 9, man puts his hand to the flinty rock and overturns mountains by the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks and his eyes see every precious thing, meaning in the in the earth. He damns up the streams so that they do not trickle, and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light. Verse 12. But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its worth, and it is not found in the land of the living. What is Job saying here? He's saying, man's done some pretty, and we can say that too.

Every time I drive through canyon roads, like going up into the mountains, I think to myself, how incredible it is that I'm driving on this road where a mountain used to be. I mean, they had to blast away part of the hillside and then get in here with their machinery and build a road. Then you go through those tunnels, which are amazing. They had to tunnel through the rock to get through here. Who knows what all stuff they found when they were tunneling through there, maybe even some ores and special stuff, you know, and that's what Job was saying. Man has done this. But he says, even with all the incredible things man has done on the earth, where is wisdom found? Where are you going to dig to find that?

Where are you going to dig up wisdom? Right? He says, it doesn't come from the land of the living. Verse 16, he says, it cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir. In other words, you can't measure it with financial sorts of things, so forth. Verse 20, From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?

It's hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air. Abaddon, which is basically, you know, the place of punishment. And death, say, we have heard a rumor of it with our ears. God understands the way to it. He knows how to get there. He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth, and He sees everything under heaven. Skip down to verse 28. Look at this. And He said to man, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. And to turn away from evil is understanding. It's just a great chapter.

Because, you know, He makes this point. You know, man has just done so much on the earth. He's dug through the crust of the earth and found amazing things. He's done amazing things. But where does he go digging for wisdom? He says, I'll tell you where wisdom comes from. It comes to the man who fears God. And he's making a statement about his friends. And it's an accurate statement.

You, my friends, do not fear God. For all of your piety, for all of your long -winded words, you do not fear God. Because you have done nothing. but try to wound me ever since you got here. Ever since you opened your mouth, you have done nothing but try to hurt me. Do you really think that's the heart of God? Do you really believe that's the wisdom of God? To take someone who is down and to kick him and to beat him with your words. Chapter 29. Chapter 29 is just a recollection of the past. He's just saying, oh, verse 2, he says, Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as the days when God watched over me, when His lamp shone upon my head, and by His light I walked through the darkness. I was in

my prime when the friendship of God was upon my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me. My steps were washed with butter. Your Bible may say cream. It's a poetic way of saying, you know, things were good. Blessing. The rock, look what he says, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil.

Let me ask you a question. Do rocks pour out streams of oil? No, they don't. This is a poetic statement to say, God blessed me even in places where there shouldn't have been a blessing. Verse seven, when I went out to the gate of the city, When I prepared my seat in the square, the young men saw me and they withdrew. That means they moved aside when I entered. And the aged rose and stood. The princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth. The voice of the nobles was hushed and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. When the ear heard, it called me blessed. And when the eye saw, it approved. Because I delivered the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to help

them the blessings of him who was about to perish came upon Me and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy people understand job is not commending himself here. He's setting the record straight I Did not do all the things you guys have accused me of in fact I? Fought for the poor I fought for the homeless I fought for the widow So Look at chapter go to chapter 30, but now They laugh at me Men who are younger than I whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock Well, that's an interesting statement isn't it these kids are laughing I wouldn't have had their dads go out and take care of my sheep with my dogs and Yet these guys are laughing at me. They're mocking me verse 9 Now I've become

their song I'm a byword to them. They abhor me. They keep aloof from me. They don't hesitate to spit at the sight of me. So apparently other people shared the opinion of Job's friends. Verse 15. Terrors are turned upon me. My honor is pursued as by the wind and my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. Verse 19. God has cast me into the mire. and I have become like dust and ashes."

Verse 21. Look at this. Look at this. You have turned cruel to me. With the might of your hand, you persecute me. You lift me up on the wind. You make me ride on it. And you toss me about in the roar of the storm. Job is talking to God here. What is he saying? He says, God, you've become cruel to me. You lift me up. You exalt me, you give me all sorts of wonderful things.

And then right about the time that I'm enjoying them, you throw me down like an unwanted doll to be dashed on the rocks. Verse 25, Did I not weep for Him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? But when I hoped for good, evil came. And when I waited for light, darkness came. Skip down to verse 5 of chapter 31. If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit, fine. Let me be weighed in a just balance and let God know my integrity.

If my step has turned aside and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, then let me sow and another eat. In other words, let me plant my fields and somebody else take it all. And let what grows for me be rooted out. If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door, a reference to committing adultery, then let my wife grind for another man. Fine. Let others bow down on her. For that would be a heinous crime. That would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges. For that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon, and it would burn to the root all my increase. If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant

when they brought a complaint against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When He makes an inquiry, what shall I answer Him? Go to verse 16. If I have withheld anything from the that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone." Instead of sharing it, he means. And the fatherless has not eaten of it. Skip down to verse 19. If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, verse 21. If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder. Let my arm be broken.

from its socket, verse 24, if I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much, if I have looked at the sun when it shone or the moon moving in splendor and my heart has been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand. He's talking about if I have worshipped even in the privacy of my own heart, the sun or the moon, which was a common pagan thing in those days. He says in verse 28, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges for I would have been false to God above if I have rejoiced at the ruin of Him who hated me or exalted when evil overtook Him. Verse 33, if I have concealed my

transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity, In my heart, verse 35, oh, that I had one to hear me. Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me. Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary, verse 38. If my land had cried out against me and its furrows have wept together, if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breathe their last, Fine then, let thorns grow instead of wheat and fowl weeds instead of barley. And the words of Job are ended.

And that is the conclusion of Job's argument. And next week when we finish the book of Job, we're going to hear the words of a young man named Elihu who's going to talk and essentially kind of defend God. And that's all he's pretty much going to do, although he's going to use a lot of words to do it. And then God's going to speak up. And that's always cool. But it is abundantly clear from what we've read tonight, what we dealt with last week, that Job has brought charges against God. He has not cursed God, as Satan said that he would, but he has allowed his pain to cast a very negative light upon the person and nature of God. He is bitterly disappointed.

And next week we are going to see how God responds to Job in his disappointment and how he deals with it. You've been listening to Through the Bible with Pastor Paul from Life Bible Ministry. For the complete library of Pastor Paul's teaching and full transcripts, visit LifeBibleMinistry .com. We hope today's teaching has encouraged and inspired you. We look forward to you joining us again as we continue our journey through the scriptures.

Job 15-31 - Job and His Friends Talk (Part 2)

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