May 21, 2025 • 47 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Wednesday Bible Study. Hello, I'm Rick Burgess,
host of The Rick Burgess Show, which is a daily
talk show that has tons of content everywhere, live and archived.
If you want to find out all that it tails
about that, go to rickburgesshow dot com. But today we
are in a Bible study through the book of Job.
Today we'll be in Job chapter fourteen. If you'd like
(00:23):
to go back and catch any of this Bible study
that you missed, are any of our past decade of
Bible studies. Archives for those can be found at themanchurch
dot com. Themanchurch dot com. Just choose the media button.
You'll see a little drop down menu. You can either
watch or listen to the archives and also some other
things we want to make you aware of. Okay, right now,
(00:45):
if you're catching this anywhere near when it was actually
done live, it would be in the month of May,
around May twenty first. It actually is May twenty first,
a twenty twenty five. Let me give you some things
that are going on. Okay. First of all, we have
a brand new resource out and it's called Men Don't
Run in the Rain. It is a brand new book.
This is a book that I have been thinking about
and had really wanted to do. There's no way I
(01:08):
could have released this book while my father was still living,
because he would have stopped it. But he went on
to be in the presence of the Lord in December
of twenty twenty three. So we release that now and
all the wisdom that I got from this very unique man,
and then biblical principles that tie to some of the
(01:30):
things that he taught. You'll laugh and just enjoy the
fun of this true original You'll also be encouraged. You'll
be challenged as he loved to do. And so if
I can help you in anyway, let me know. But
if you want to get a sign copy of that book,
you need to use the link right there at the
Manchurch dot com. And it's easy. It's right on the homepage.
(01:51):
Click on that you'll see the option just to purchase
it or you can get a sign copy. You choose
the one that you want to and if you don't
care about getting a sign copy or it there. It's
also available wherever books are. It's in audio form, it's
in ebooks, and of course the hardcover. So just want
to make you wear that something else that is brand
new We have a brand new podcast called Strange Encounters.
(02:14):
This is a podcast about spiritual warfare. One of the
things that many times we are not very educated on
is something that the Bible talks about quite a bit,
and that is spiritual warfare. Angels and demons, they are real,
So there is a supernatural, a cosmic forces and things
like that that scripture speaks to. But it's not ghosts,
(02:36):
it's not space aliens, it's not bigfoot. But it's really serious.
And what we hope to do with the podcast is
to educate you on spiritual warfare, not to obsess over it,
but also not to ignore it, because you don't have
a choice about being in the spiritual battle that is
raging around us. You're in the battle, no choice there.
It's just whether you know how to fight it properly.
(02:58):
So we will train ourselves to what the Bible has
to say as our source. And there's two episodes that
are already available to you. If you would like to
find those, you can go find those wherever you get podcasts.
Just look for Strange Encounters with Rick Burgess, or you
can go to the Rick Burgess Show Facebook page or
our podcast channel as well and it's there. So why
(03:21):
don't we open up in a word of prayer and
let's jump right into Job Chapter fourteen. Lord, thank you
for today. May you give us the discernment required to
really really take everything away that you're saying through this
incredible historic moment involving Job. Lord, we look forward to
the day that we are in your presence along with
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our brother Job, and what a conversation that will be
and we don't have to rush it because we can
talk for eternity. Thanks to you. Thank you for this
wonderful time together today, and thank you for the grace
and mercy that you offer all who are willing to repent,
leave faith in themselves and put their faith and you,
Lord Jesus, and to confess you as our ultimate authority,
(04:04):
and then abide in your power to be transformed into
something unlike anything else that we've ever known in this
life and the life to come. And your name, we pray. Amen. Okay,
So we're talking about Job, and Job's kind of on
a monologue right now. In thirteen, he was talking more
about how he felt about his friends and how they
(04:27):
had let him down and how he didn't care for that,
and how he was hurt, and how he would just
take his case to God himself because they were of
no value for what he had seen right now, they
weren't very helpful. So what you're gonna find here in
fourteen it's kind of that shift. I'm gonna take my
case to God. This is gonna be fascinating because you're
(04:50):
literally gonna see job. As we kind of touched on
last week, he's beginning to search for what I would
call on the other side of the New Covenant, new theology.
He realizes that the theology of his friends and even
of himself, it's incomplete. There's something's not right here because
(05:10):
what they've always thought is not really it's not working
right now. Because he knows that he's blameless doesn't mean
he's sinless. I want to drive that home. Every time
we say blameless, it means he doesn't have any sin
that he hasn't repented of. There's nothing he hasn't dealt
with between him and God. He stands before God blameless,
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meaning I have no unconfessed sin. And of course we
know he's upright. He's someone who lived his life serving
God and glorifying God, and so he's suffering and wanted
to me personally. One of the most fascinating things about
the whole narrative of Job is never once has he
blamed Satan for it. He knows God's in charge, and
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he knows the sovereignty of God. He just can't figure
out what God's doing, and he's searching for that answer
and he's gonna get it, but he keeps asking for it.
He gets a little bolder with it here in fourteen,
but he starts out just realizing I can't before God.
I'm nothing. What can I do? I'm helpless in this situation.
(06:14):
I'm Unfortunately, he leans a little on I'm hopeless in
this situation. That's not true. But really the point he
is making, and he's made this point before, but he's
gonna drive it home again. As a human being, I
can't stand against God. He's gonna do whatever he wants
to do, and there's really not a whole lot I
can do about it. So watch him here and he's
(06:35):
gonna he's gonna start out and he's gonna talk about
the sovereignty of God, meaning man is helpless to control
his own affairs. The first two verses here, here's what
he says, Man who is born of a woman, is
few of days and full of trouble. He comes out
like a flower and withers. He flees like a shadow
(06:58):
and continues not Now, let me give you the summary
of these very uplifting words. And the summary here is,
our lives are amazingly brief. We are victims of our circumstances.
These short years are filled with problems and pain. Our
days are too few, and our problems are too many,
(07:20):
and uh and that and that, So job would not
be hired as a motivational speaker right now. You go, hey,
thank you for that uplifting message there, Job. Have you
ever felt that way? Yeah, you know, it seems like
this life is short, and it seems like it's got
more trouble than it's had than it's had blessings. Now
we are all Rick Burgess included. We are the absolute worst.
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And when we think about our lives, will take all
the grace and mercy and blessings that God has given
us in our time of trouble. We can't remember any
of them. That's this is all there's ever been. Every time,
it's always something I've said that here, It's always something
you just moved from one thing to the next thing,
(08:05):
and so and then I forget all these wonderful days
that God has given me and the wonderful peace I
have that He solved my biggest problem. I'm redeemed. And
by the way, I got an email this week just
answered it a minute ago, and I got to be
careful of this and just kind of give you guys
a little something too. This guy's really it's kind of
a seeker. He's kind of new to the faith, and
(08:26):
I know we've been guilty of this before. I got
an email. Friend. I don't think he would buy me
a share, and I'm not going to share his name
because we're working it out and we talked about it
and he's in great place. He said, you keep talking
about being redeemed. I don't know what that means. I thought, why,
he said, to explain to me what you mean by that.
He goes, I think sometimes those of you that have
been a little further down the road than the rest
(08:47):
of us, you think we know what all these words mean,
and we don't know what it means. Well, the bottom
line is we have to be redeemed because we all
stand guilty before a holy God. I mean even if
we just have a speck of sin, then we deserve
the wrath of a perfect and holy God. So in
our sin state, we're not redeemed. We have to be redeemed,
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meaning we have to be made fully righteous. And the
only way that we can be made fully righteous is
the righteousness that God himself provided in his own son.
Since we couldn't resolve this problem, he took on human flesh.
He then became fully man while remaining fully God, and
that's crucial. Anybody that messes with that, we got a problem.
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So then he goes to the cross because God's wrath
demands the debt be paid, and we would rightly be
destroyed if somebody doesn't justify us, bring us salvation or
redeem us. We got to be made right. This has
to be redeemed. We're unredeemed until Jesus provides that redemption
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by taking the wrath of this holy God on himself,
paying the debt that we owe, going to the grave,
defeating our sin, and then coming out of the tomb
defeating death because sin equals death. So now Jesus said,
anybody want to be made right with God, are redeemed.
If you do, you repent, you turn from your sin,
(10:20):
saying I need to be redeemed. You got to recognize
that first, you got to say you're guilty, and I'm guilty.
And Jesus says, how would you like to be made
not guilty? Yes, and then he says, well, come to me.
Repent of your sin. Leave faith in yourself, put faith
in me, because you can't pay the debt that's got
to be done by me. I put my faith in you.
And oh, by the way, you need to leave your
(10:40):
own authority and make me your new authority. I leave
my own authority and I confess you as lord. Only
you can redeem me. There is no other way for
me to be made not guilty, which is really what
that means. And so then if you do that, Jesus
goes before this holy holy God, his father, and he says,
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look at this person who now has repented of their sin,
left faith in themselves, but their faith in me, and
they've confessed me is their lord. They now I bought
them on the cross. I paid their debt their mine now.
And then God looks at those that are with Jesus
and says, I see you as redeemed. I see you
as fully righteous because of my son. So if you
(11:21):
want to just simplify it, I'm guilty and only Jesus
can make me not guilty. So really that's it. So
thank you for that question, though, because so many times
you're right. We move on using these phrases and just
assuming that everybody knows what that means. So here is
job and what he's saying now, and then he moves on,
and he's going to talk about this in verses three
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through five, that despite you know, the helplessness and the
limitations of our human condition, God seems to judge human
beings for failing, and these failings seem to be beyond
our control. He seems to be upset with us about
something we can't control. So here we go. Of course
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that's not overly true, but because we can, we are
allowed to decide whether we want to sin or not.
But anyway, he says, and do you open your eyes
on such a one, meaning us as human beings verse three,
and bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean There is not one.
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Since his days are determined and the number of his
months with you, and you have appointed his limits. He
cannot pass verse three. So, knowing how frail we are,
are you still going to bring this kind of judgment
on me? Where's your pity for me? Don't you know
this situation I'm in? Do I even have control over this?
(12:49):
You're going to judge me for something that seems to
be a given that they were all just we all
we none of us seem we can't get this right apparently, which,
by the way, foreshadowing foreshadowing verse three, I mean verse four.
It does Job know about Adam? That's one of the
kind I read about three or four commentaries on this.
(13:09):
Why does Job seem to know that we're all born
into the original sin? How does he know that? You know?
When everybody tries to get the time frame on when
this was written, Job seems to know something about our
sin nature, that it's inherited. I don't know how he
knows it, but he seems to know it. No one
else does either. They're saying, is it possible he knows
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about the falls? Has he has he learned this somewhere?
I think that's probably likely. And he says, so, if
we all sin and you ever felt this way, then
why are you singling me out? If we've all done this,
I don't understand why I'm the focus of all your
wrath right now. Of course he's not, but he feels
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like he is, okay, so then he then he goes
to one of the things. You got to be careful
with this. Man, and ladies who watch and listen, be
careful with this, because I've said it in a number
of Bible studies. But I never want to assume. You know,
we got to rep everything. I don't know about you.
I don't get things to our repid a few times.
This is one of the things the sovereignty of God
(14:13):
should bring us all peace. Now right here, it's not
bringing Joe peace. He's going the other way with it,
and the adversary loves for you to go the other
way with it. See. I rest in God's sovereignty. I
like knowing that he's in control. But the adversary or
the demons or your sin nature will come to you
and say, well, if he's sovereign, he's also allowing you
(14:36):
to be miserable right now. He's in charge of that too.
So you believe that God's all knowing? I do. Do
you believe he's in charge of is God? In control,
rick Yep, So he's doing this to you. Uh yeah,
I guess he could stop it, couldn't he? He could,
he could, So you got to watch. You gotta watch
that game you got. That should bring us peace because
it means he's gonna limit it. It means he's controlling it.
(14:58):
But the adversary or the demons are your send nature
sometimes will try to get you to turn on God
and start thinking, well, I don't know this. Doesn't say
I don't know that. I like you're doing this. So
you just having fun with me? You like this misery
I'm in But we know No, he's teaching, he's refining,
he's creating steadfastness. Because we've heard a lot of scripture
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about this job. Doesn't know a lot of this yet.
So he's going to take sovereignty right here and actually
go negative with it. So look at five. Since since
his days are determined and the number of his months
is with you, and you have appointed his limits, he
cannot pass. You're doing this. How can I even get
myself out of this? You know what he is understanding though,
I can't get out of this to you, let me out.
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But he's actually complaining right here now he's not doing
anything that's going to give Satan the wind in this,
but he is getting into this. He's pointing to despair,
and he's saying that your sovereignty is not really bringing
me comfort right now. It's not bringing me the peace
by the way that it's good job, it seems right now,
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it's actually taking me into a place of despair. I
just think maybe you've picked the wrong person. I think
you're expecting too much of me. You know everything about me.
I don't agree with what you seem to think about me.
I think this is too much. Now. God knows that
it's not. But have you ever had God know something
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about you that you didn't agree with? You ever had
a call put on your life that you're like, why,
I'm not cut out for that. You must think you
know something about me that I don't necessarily agree with.
If God knows it, then it's right. What we got
to do sometimes is to go where God is. We
need to see ourselves the way God does sometimes to
(16:48):
be convicted, but you know what, sometimes to be encouraged.
If God sees something in you, he made you, so
have confidence that he'll always provide what you need to do. It.
I look, I can't think of anything that I'm doing
for the Kingdom right now that I'm capable of doing.
(17:09):
I'm not good at any of this. But he still
keeps saying, well, this is how you do it. This
is I don't know where it comes from other than him,
you know, because I don't have that. I mean, you
talk about I know a lot of people that you'd
want to give these assignments to that would do a
much better job. But I guess God says, well, I
know I'll get glory out of putting him on it
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because nobody will believe he can do it. So let's
go to six. And that's not false humility. I know
that to be true. So let's go to six. So
now in six he says, look away from him and
leave him alone, that he might enjoy like a hired
hand his day. Now this is he's speaking about himself
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in third person. He's talking about all mankind. He almost
sounds like a very successful athlete who begins to speak
about themselves like Muhammad Ali was the first I ever
saw to do it, speak about themselves in third person,
which is I always laugh about the humility of that.
Scott Dawson tells this great story about Muhammad Ali. He
had just defeated I think it was Fraser, and he
(18:12):
was on an airplane and the flight attendant came to
first class and he was holding cord about how grade
he was and all this, and she said, hey, you
need to sit down, get seat belt, don't We're about
to take off. And he says, Superman, don't need no
seat belt. And the flight attendant said, Superman don't need
no plane, So have a seat, you know it. So
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sometimes we have to get put in our place there
a little bit. So he's starting now the analogy and
he's done this before of a hired hand or a slave.
He's done this before. He's doing it again. But now
keep in mind right here now he's about to tiptoe
the line a little bit. This analogy he's using. He's
also starting to kind of drift. If I'm the If
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I'm the hired hand and you're the master, I kind
of think you're an overbearing task master. Give me a break.
You're overworking me. This is too much. At least a
hired hand can look forward to take getting a break
or getting a day off, you know, at least give
me that because you know he's already asked for God
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to remove you when we was cutting the deal. I
want to talk to you about this, but you've got
you got to ease up, you gotta let you got
to let me out of this as opposed to the
proper attitude that we talked about many times in here. Hey,
hold me in here until I learned what you're teaching,
so then it's gonna be over fear. We have to
be real careful sometimes. And you've heard me tell the
story of Rich Wingo, who taught me that we got
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to be careful sometimes for calling God to end something
before we've learned what we need to learn. You know,
do do you have enough faith in God to say,
keep me in this until I've learned everything you need
me to learn and and then release me. Job's kind
of he's kind of getting tired of what he's in,
which is understandable. It is I don't want to be
unfair to Job. Here seven for there is hope for
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a tree. If it be cut down, then it will
sprout again. Here comes a tree analogy that is going
to once again kind of do a Debbie downer. There's
hope for trees, but there's no hope for humans. Okay,
it's gonna be a little bit of You give them hope,
but you destroy our hope. Because what he's saying is
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even a tree, if it gets cut down, it's it's
it's got some hope. We've seen this happen. You ever
seen this. I've got it going on in my backyard
right now. Tree gets cut down. You look, a little
green sprout start coming out, and it's got a new life.
He's going to with trees. Get that. We don't get that.
You don't even give us that. And again he's he's
he's kind of ranting a little bit right now. Verse eight.
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Though its root grow old in the earth and it's
stumped dye and the soil go to dine, yet at
the scent of water, bud and put out branches like
a young plant, even a plant. A plant sometimes appears
to be dead, but it still has hope for life.
It can still sprout. Even those roots that you think
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are done, Just those roots, if they can just get
a hint of water, they can still come alive. Anybody,
hear Jesus right here. If you drink water out of
a well, you're just gonna be thirsty again. Let me
tell you who I am. I'm the living water. Think
about the foreshadowing here. Joe's trying to figure it out.
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We need something that can give us hope, just like
a tree has hope. There's got to be something that
changes this state of mankind before you God. And all
I can hear is he's using the analogy of water.
And I can just hear Jesus screaming through the pages
of Scripture in the foreshadowing of Job, saying, I'm gonna
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provide the water. I'm going to give you that hope
that you're looking for. I am the hope that you're
looking for. Though you will be dead in your sin.
I will offer you the living water. And when you
sense that I'm there, drink of me and live again. Amen.
Anybody want to go revival? Just excite y'all, don't you know?
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Job's glad all this is over. But anyways, so, because
he's living right now, isn't he? But then comes Debbie Downer.
But unlike a tree, here comes ten But a man
dies and is laid low. Man breathes his lass. Where
is he? Job? Not a lot of fun to be
around right now? We aren't trees. We can't have such vitality.
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We have no such hope. But he does, and he
doesn't know it. He doesn't know it. Verse eleven, As
water fell from a lake and river, and a river
waste away and dries up twelve. So a man lies
down and rises not again to the heavens or no more.
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He will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.
Lakes can dry up, rivers can waste away, And as
far as Job knows, during this time, when we die,
we die. This is interesting that this is this is
something all commentators talk about when dealing with Job. Does
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he not know about the resurrection of the dead. He
doesn't seem to, you know. He he's going to talk about,
you know, she all here in a minute. He's going
to understand this place of the dead. But but there's
they don't. He doesn't seem to understand what God does
with us, even if we're right with him after we die.
He doesn't seem to know. He has a faith that,
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you know, he wants to be right with God and
that there's something, but he does not. He doesn't he
has he has zero concept, it seems, of the resurrection
of the dead because he never references it, and he
talks about when we die, we just die. You know,
even even lakes and rivers could be filled again, but
we can't be roused out of this death, out of
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this sleep. So then he does talk about here she
all that he knows. He says, oh, that you would
hide me and she all that you would conceal me
until your wrath be passed, that you would appoint me
a time and remember me. There it is again. So
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he seems to think that the dead goes somewhere until
God's doing what he's doing, and then he'll go get them.
So there's a little bit of there there, but it's
not it's kind of hard to understand what he really believes.
He does believe he's going to this place that they
all talked about where the dead go. You even see
this throughout a lot of the Psalms and the Old Testament.
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But he is saying, right now with his men, let
me have the peace of death until this is over.
Whatever you're upset about, let me go ahead and go
to sleep till it's over, and then just think about
the foreshadowing. When your wrath is over, remember me. He
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realizes something has got to deliver me from God's wrath.
I hope that God will remember me when his wrath
has been satisfied. How does the wrath get satisfied? Jesus? Remember,
don't don't have bad theology. God did not decide not
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to hand out his wrath on No, he had to
pour out his wrath. That's he was. He was, He
was just to pour out his wrath. His wrath is
going to be poured out on one or two things
already pulled, poured out on Jesus, by the way, that's
where you need to be, or it's going to be
poured out on you if you reject Jesus. Remember what
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we said about the cross. It got real exclusive right there.
You're either redeemed by the cross or you're condemned by
the cross, one or the other. So here's job. He
seems to understand, and he's yearning for something that can
just end God's wrath. And I just soon be asleep
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till it's over. Foreshadowing of the New Covenant. There it
is again. He's looking for it. He knows there's something
that needs to be done, and he yearns for it.
Do you yearn for that day? When God's wrath is
completely done, all who oppose him, and the supernatural and
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human beings, all who oppose him are eradicated, and we
finally go into the New Heaven, the New Earth, the
New Jerusalem, and all this is over. God's wrath is
no more because we have been saved from his wrath
by a son, Jesus, who now illuminates the new Heaven,
the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem. And we're done
with all this. Have you ever sometimes thought, I just
(27:10):
like to go to sleep till we get there. But
that's not what we were called to do. As the
apostle Paul kept telling the church over and over again,
we don't go sit up on a mountain and wait
to die. We're supposed to be making disciples. We're supposed
to be teaching people all that God commanded, and we
do that until he returns. Our body finally gives out.
(27:34):
What did Paul say, I am straining for the finish line.
I press on. I don't look back to the way
I used to be. I press forward to what's next.
That's not about justification. He doesn't need to strain for
justification or press for justification. That's the obedience. That's the
work that he's been called to. That's let me be
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found in your favor, let me hear a will done.
He even goes far as to say, if you take
my life here in prison, that'd be great. I'll be
in your presence. If you think these people need me,
then you let me out and I'll serve them. Either way,
I'm going to be fine. So but right now, Job
just wants to die, understandably, But it's not the right
(28:18):
attitude to have. Fourteen. If a man dies, shall he
live again? You see what I'm talking about. He doesn't quite.
I don't think he understands it. All the days of
my service, I would wait till my renewal should come.
Foreshadowing again, it's clear that Job isn't sure about this
resurrection of the dead, but he does seek an answer. Now,
(28:40):
what is this word? Service? Is interesting? Here? All the
days of my service, I would wait. The word here
in Hebrew actually is reserved for military service. It usually
is talking about military service. I don't know whether Job
is saying I have worked hard for you, I have
(29:01):
served you. But look at the bigger, the bigger statement here,
till my renewal shall come what is he talking about? Hey,
how about a new life? How about a new beginning?
Can you deliver me from this and just renew me?
Who renews us, Jesus, who gives us the new life? Jesus?
(29:26):
He is just saying, give me that, this what I
have right now, it's got to be better than this.
Give me something new, renew my life. He's really crying
out to the question in the email, redeem me, make
me write with you. I want to be back in
the proper place with you. Fifteen. You would call and
(29:50):
I would answer you. You would long for the work
of your hands. I would like an answer. I would
like an answer. Now, what does he mean by you
would long for the work of your hands? He's talking
about himself. You made me? This sounds a little bit
like the Garden of Eden, doesn't it. You're the one
(30:10):
who made her. Why did you make us? If you
made me, you know me? And if you made me,
then why won't you give me an answer? Why would
you make me to be silent and not answer me?
I would Hey, if you call, I'll come. I'll listen
to you. Call me in front of you. He's going
to call me in front of you and I'll listen.
(30:32):
You made me so, why won't you answer me? Sixteen
for then? Meaning if he can get that to happen,
you would number my steps. You would not keep watch
over my sin. He's changed you. Remember when he said
he felt like God was a hunter, hunting him like pray.
(30:54):
He says, I don't want that. I don't want that.
This is what I want, then, this is moving. I
want you to be my father. I want you to
love me, and I want you to just tell me
what to do. I want you to lay out my
steps for me. I'd be fine with that. I'm confused.
I don't know what to do. I wish you would
(31:14):
just tell me what to do and lay out my
steps like a father would, a son was a son.
And here's what I would like. Because I thought I
was blame us. I thought we dealt with everything. I
want to get to a place where you remember my
sin no more. Woo, there it is again. I wish
you just whatever's bothering you about me. I wish you
(31:36):
would just finally be done with it. I want to
be made right with you. I want you to be
my father again. I want to be your son. Show
me what to do. Go with me, Walk with me.
I feel like you've left me. You ever felt like
God left you? Even though you know that's not true.
You're just looking for something. Give me some reassurance. I
always get it every time I'm asking for it. I'll
(31:56):
get it now. I may not get it as quick
as I want it, but I get it. Could you
love when you get it? Sometimes it'll be what It
didn't even have to be, this big, miraculous moment. You
want to tell everybody, how many times have you been
praying to God trying to get an answer on something
and you just simply open up the Bible and there
it was. It just pointed your right to it. Is
this what you're looking for? Meaning, by the way, I'd
(32:19):
already answered this, you just must have forgot. I've already
told you what to do. Right? Can you imagine? Have
you ever have you ever had your children do that?
At likely that they don't recall anything you said. You're like,
I think we've covered this and so but God does
provide that answer. But in this a beautiful moment where
we see such a foreshadowing of the New Covenant, how
(32:43):
about this? How many of you are glad that you
you were created in the time of the New Covenant.
These things he's yearning for, we got see. We wouldn't
have to ask ask these questions because we would know them.
And if we didn't know them, one of God's people
could tell us, could show us job doesn't have that
job's working all this out as he goes seventeen, look
(33:07):
at this, My transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity. My goodness, Jesus.
You ever heard anybody say the whole Bibles about Jesus,
It certainly is now this bag analogy. I couldn't believe
it was here when I was studying this because this
is something that I've been convicted of in the last
few years of my sanctification process, and it's this analogy
(33:33):
of my sins being in the bag. But it's not
a bag that Jesus has yet. It's a bag that
Jesus is asking for me and I still have it.
You go, what you mean, Rick, have you not confessed
your sin? Yeah? But I've given Jesus most of the
back and Jesus said, I want the whole bag, and
I'm like, I still got a few things in the back.
(33:53):
And Jesus is like, give me the whole bag, and
I'm like, and then I'll reach in the bag and
I'll give him one more. There's that, give me the bag.
If you want us to be right with everything? Why
is there still things in the bag that you still
seem to love more than me? Yeah, but I don't.
It's not like I love them more than you. I
just I'm just not quite done with him yet. And
(34:14):
what Jesus is saying, just what Job's saying. I can
put every sin you have in a bag, and if
you repent and hand it all to me, I'll conceal
it and we'll be done with it. But we're not
gonna be done with it as long as you keep
things in the bag. I want the whole bag. I
don't want you to hand them out to me individually.
Have you ever been that when you were redeemed? I
got a lot to work out, and we're gonna work
(34:37):
it out one by one, as opposed to saying, let's
get it all done right now. And I don't. I'm
not cleaning to anything. I'm all in. I'm all in,
and uh and I will tell you that, you know,
my bag is almost empty but it ain't empty. I
hadn't given. I still got to give more to it.
(34:57):
You know, I'm still working it out through the same notification.
And in all fairness, there's some things. Most of the
things that were obvious and I knew were wrong, they're gone.
What's happening is I didn't know I still had some
in the bag, and Jesus could show me that I do. Oh,
you're right, I didn't know that was in there. And
so he's still working it out, right, amen by about this,
(35:18):
But he's working it out. I ain't where. I'm not
there yet, but I ain't where I was, right, Okay,
So little Calhoun County English there for you. So let's
go to Let's now go to eighteen. But is that
not Jesus right there? I just wish my transgressions could
be selt up in a bag and you would just
cover my inequality. You talking about like Jesus did eighteen.
(35:41):
But the mountain falls and crumbles away and the rock
is removed from its place. Now, I mean, he gets
to This is the thing about job that every time
he and I visit and we're going through this, I
just watched this rhythm that he's got He goes from
I'm looking for hope, I'm almost found hope, and it's
(36:02):
all hopeless. And then I just why would I even
hope for that? He said everything he wished would happen.
He's asking, God, you're going that's hopeful, that's hopeful. Job.
Then he goes, but that ain't gonna happen. Did I
tell you about the It reminds me. And we talked
about him on the on the radio show, and we
got a big laugh out of him. I know, Adler
remember this. It was a guy that I he was
(36:23):
the most negative man I ever sat next to an airplane.
I mean, he was completely negative. And his statement every
time he would say something negative like that he wished
he could, he would go, of course that's over. And
he just kept doing all the flight, all the way home.
Tell you what I wish that. You know, when I
(36:43):
was younger, I could, you know, go go go to
the ball games and I'd get season tickets and I'd
go and enjoy myself. Of course that's over, and just
everything was over. I mean it was like every little
thing I used to be but eat anything I wanted to,
didn't have any problems at all. Of course, that's over.
And he just did that all the way back to Birmingham,
(37:06):
and I got to where I just I got his
rhythm going. I was just like, okay, he would bring
some hey, hey, you know with us. So I'm just
say you, so I really used to enjoy that. You
enjoy that. I really did. Of course that's over. And
so anyway, this is kind of job he gets, kind
of he gets right there, I'm going to sell. Hey, man,
you're talking about you're talking about the New Covenant. But
(37:28):
that's over. There's no hope. He said. All mountains fall away,
rocks fall one by one. Before you know it. You
look over the cliff and what's at the bottom, debris.
It's just falling apart, crumbling away, just like we do nineteen.
The water wears away the stones, the torrents wash away
(37:49):
the soil of the earth. So you destroy the hope
of man, just like that, just like erosion. God, you
wipe away all my hope. Just a minute ago, he's
asking God for hope, and now he's saying, of course,
you just wash it all the way. You just wash
it all the way. Twenty you prevail forever against him
(38:11):
talking about mankind and himself and he passes. You change
his countenance and send him away. You take away all
hope God you get how about this? You get me
set right, and I get myself together. I get just
a little bit of hope. And right when I'm joyful,
(38:33):
you take my joy. This is what the Hebrew word
says here, and you turn my joy into a twisted
face of death. I was happy, I had it, just
like I liked it. Of course that's over. Say do
what he's saying. You change my countenance, meaning what my
countenance one time was joyful, but it's not now you've
(38:57):
changed that. And really, like I said, the Hebrew word
here is into a twisted face of death. Twenty one
now this is here comes a mourning father. Now his
son's come to honor, and he does not know it.
They are brought low and he perceives it. Not if
(39:17):
a man's sons are destroyed, it's probably better off that
I didn't see it. But what if they were honored?
What what if somehow they're being honored right now? It's
also sad if I miss that. He basically said, you
know you just took you just took my sons away
(39:38):
from me, and I don't really know why you did that. Remember,
he's not saying Satan did it. I don't know why
you did that, And you know, and if there was
something wrong there, you know, I guess it's better that
I didn't see what the deal was. I didn't see
how they died. But also it's also just as sad
(40:00):
as if a man has sons that are being honored
and he misses out on that too. So whatever was
going to happen to my sons, I don't know now,
because you didn't allow me that. I didn't get to
see it through. You know, have you ever had people
what he's doing? Did you ever have people say, which
I've been there. Sometimes if one of your children go
(40:22):
on to glory before you and praise God, we hope
they're redeemed, and somebody will say, well, you don't know
what God kept them from experiencing. Yeah, and you can
find hoping that there might have been grace and mercy
and the shortness of their life of something horrible that
was coming. And Job says, so, I guess that's okay.
I don't know that, But what about all the things
(40:43):
I didn't get the experience that might have been wonderful.
That's sad too. Now he's a little off there when
you talk about the sovereignty of God. And I told
you that I had God speak so sweetly to me
through the Holy Spirit, not in the audible, but just
it was so it was such a correction. Some of
you know this story. But after my son went to heaven,
(41:06):
he was the youngest of all of them, but he
still had, you know, siblings that were still involved in things,
and even two brothers that were, you know, six and eight.
And so I remember being a little league game for
the six year old and I was coaching third and
Browner had not been gone very long. He had gone
(41:28):
to heaven and winter and this was that spring and
I'm standing on third base. And those of you that
don't have children, and every dad would admit this, not
that playing sports makes any kid more successful than another kid,
but as men, there's something really cool and maybe from
almost two, the first time you see your last name
on the back of a jersey, it's a cool little thing.
(41:51):
And so I'm on third base and six year old
comes to third and he looks up smiling in this
little bat in helmet. It was coach pitch. You know.
And he turns around and I see his name on
the back of the Jersey Burgess and I was sad,
and I thought, I'll never see that, I'll never see
Brown or play little League. And just as quick as
(42:13):
the sadness came, I was so reminded he was never
gonna play little league when I wove him together in
Sherry's womb. He was never gonna play little League. That
was not my plan. You're not missing anything that was
never gonna happen. You got to trust that though his
life was short, it was perfect, and he showed us
(42:35):
that over and over over. If you have read Cherry's book,
you know how many times he did and so and
in that instant, I had a peace, you know, a
reminder God's in control. And that didn't bring me sadness.
That actually brought me peace, which is what it should
bring us. So twenty two he feels only the pain
of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.
(43:00):
This is that thing where you try so hard God
tries to get you to look beyond your circumstances, and
Job said, I just can't. Right now. All I know
is what I'm in. I can't see past this. You
ever been in a time of difficulty and you can't
see past it. Everybody keeps saying one day this is
gonna be over. You just can't see past it, and
then you can't remember all the times that it delivered
(43:21):
you all you can do. I'm just stuck right here.
I can't get out of this. I can't see behind this,
I can't see in front of this. I just see this.
That's all right. God understands that. And Job says that
all I know is my body and my soul, and
I just know my situation, and my situation is pain
(43:45):
and misery. So all I know is I'm mourning for
no one else right now but myself. Not the best ending.
But Job's view of life in the afterlife, remember, they're dim.
He doesn't have the New Testament, he doesn't have the
(44:07):
New Covenant. He is going through all this with an
incomplete vision. He's dim. Even Paul says, we're still dimed
to a degree, and there's things that we don't understand
until we're finally glorified. But Job's view of all this
is even more dim than ours because he doesn't have
the New Covenant. His view of the afterlife, he doesn't
seem to understand that or know the things that we
(44:29):
know compared to the New Testament. See Job right now,
he doesn't have one Corinthians fifteen. He didn't have it.
He didn't have old death wears your sting. He doesn't
have that. You know, the body is going to die
and it's going to be renewed with the glorified body.
He didn't have that. He didn't have first Peter, you
know three and four where Peter's talking about don't worry
(44:49):
about the difficulty you're going through because the day is
coming when all this is going to be made right.
He doesn't have the revelation. He doesn't see, you know, John,
the revelation he sei. He doesn't see chapter seven, He
doesn't see chapter twenty one. He doesn't see any of that.
He doesn't know all this is going to be made new.
He doesn't have any of that. So what's happened is
(45:11):
Job has simply gone into and be careful that we
don't do this. He's simply gone into the library of
his own prison. Now as we get ready for next week,
Job has gone into that library of his own prison,
of his own knowledge. He's prepared his case he's presented
(45:32):
his petitions, he's presented his arguments before the Judge of
the universe, and a verdict is coming. He keeps calling
out to the Judge of the universe, and his day
in court is coming. But first I'm going to start
(45:53):
that next week. Job's accusing friends have decided that they'd
like to have their say one more time, and we'll
jump into that next week. Let's pray, Lord, thank you
for today. I pray Lord that for all of us
that have the opportunity now to hopefully coming up on
(46:15):
the long weekend when this Bible study was happening, live
to have some time to rest and reflect, and for
our countries we go into thinking about something called Memorial Day,
when we thank people who gave their lives to pay
the lease on the freedoms that we enjoy. May it
be also a reflection of a thank you to you
(46:39):
for giving up your life and suffering on our behalf.
Not just for some temporary freedom, but you gave your
life for eternal freedom, for freedom that can never be
taken away, for freedom that no longer needs a lease
to pay because you have paid it all. Thank you,
(47:03):
Thank you that we have the hope that job can't
see right now. Thank you Lord, and forgive us from
when we knowing the things we know still act a
lot like Job, just acted as if we don't have
that hope. Unlike Job, we know it and may we
never take it for granted, and we thank you for it.
(47:23):
In the name of Jesus. We pray Amen. Thank you guys,
and thank all of you.
Welcome to the Wednesday Bible Study. Hello, I'm Rick Burgess,
host of The Rick Burgess Show, which is a daily
talk show that has tons of content everywhere, live and archived.
If you want to find out all that it tails
about that, go to rickburgesshow dot com. But today we
are in a Bible study through the book of Job.
Today we'll be in Job chapter fourteen. If you'd like
(00:23):
to go back and catch any of this Bible study
that you missed, are any of our past decade of
Bible studies. Archives for those can be found at themanchurch
dot com. Themanchurch dot com. Just choose the media button.
You'll see a little drop down menu. You can either
watch or listen to the archives and also some other
things we want to make you aware of. Okay, right now,
(00:45):
if you're catching this anywhere near when it was actually
done live, it would be in the month of May,
around May twenty first. It actually is May twenty first,
a twenty twenty five. Let me give you some things
that are going on. Okay. First of all, we have
a brand new resource out and it's called Men Don't
Run in the Rain. It is a brand new book.
This is a book that I have been thinking about
and had really wanted to do. There's no way I
(01:08):
could have released this book while my father was still living,
because he would have stopped it. But he went on
to be in the presence of the Lord in December
of twenty twenty three. So we release that now and
all the wisdom that I got from this very unique man,
and then biblical principles that tie to some of the
(01:30):
things that he taught. You'll laugh and just enjoy the
fun of this true original You'll also be encouraged. You'll
be challenged as he loved to do. And so if
I can help you in anyway, let me know. But
if you want to get a sign copy of that book,
you need to use the link right there at the
Manchurch dot com. And it's easy. It's right on the homepage.
(01:51):
Click on that you'll see the option just to purchase
it or you can get a sign copy. You choose
the one that you want to and if you don't
care about getting a sign copy or it there. It's
also available wherever books are. It's in audio form, it's
in ebooks, and of course the hardcover. So just want
to make you wear that something else that is brand
new We have a brand new podcast called Strange Encounters.
(02:14):
This is a podcast about spiritual warfare. One of the
things that many times we are not very educated on
is something that the Bible talks about quite a bit,
and that is spiritual warfare. Angels and demons, they are real,
So there is a supernatural, a cosmic forces and things
like that that scripture speaks to. But it's not ghosts,
(02:36):
it's not space aliens, it's not bigfoot. But it's really serious.
And what we hope to do with the podcast is
to educate you on spiritual warfare, not to obsess over it,
but also not to ignore it, because you don't have
a choice about being in the spiritual battle that is
raging around us. You're in the battle, no choice there.
It's just whether you know how to fight it properly.
(02:58):
So we will train ourselves to what the Bible has
to say as our source. And there's two episodes that
are already available to you. If you would like to
find those, you can go find those wherever you get podcasts.
Just look for Strange Encounters with Rick Burgess, or you
can go to the Rick Burgess Show Facebook page or
our podcast channel as well and it's there. So why
(03:21):
don't we open up in a word of prayer and
let's jump right into Job Chapter fourteen. Lord, thank you
for today. May you give us the discernment required to
really really take everything away that you're saying through this
incredible historic moment involving Job. Lord, we look forward to
the day that we are in your presence along with
(03:43):
our brother Job, and what a conversation that will be
and we don't have to rush it because we can
talk for eternity. Thanks to you. Thank you for this
wonderful time together today, and thank you for the grace
and mercy that you offer all who are willing to repent,
leave faith in themselves and put their faith and you,
Lord Jesus, and to confess you as our ultimate authority,
(04:04):
and then abide in your power to be transformed into
something unlike anything else that we've ever known in this
life and the life to come. And your name, we pray. Amen. Okay,
So we're talking about Job, and Job's kind of on
a monologue right now. In thirteen, he was talking more
about how he felt about his friends and how they
(04:27):
had let him down and how he didn't care for that,
and how he was hurt, and how he would just
take his case to God himself because they were of
no value for what he had seen right now, they
weren't very helpful. So what you're gonna find here in
fourteen it's kind of that shift. I'm gonna take my
case to God. This is gonna be fascinating because you're
(04:50):
literally gonna see job. As we kind of touched on
last week, he's beginning to search for what I would
call on the other side of the New Covenant, new theology.
He realizes that the theology of his friends and even
of himself, it's incomplete. There's something's not right here because
(05:10):
what they've always thought is not really it's not working
right now. Because he knows that he's blameless doesn't mean
he's sinless. I want to drive that home. Every time
we say blameless, it means he doesn't have any sin
that he hasn't repented of. There's nothing he hasn't dealt
with between him and God. He stands before God blameless,
(05:30):
meaning I have no unconfessed sin. And of course we
know he's upright. He's someone who lived his life serving
God and glorifying God, and so he's suffering and wanted
to me personally. One of the most fascinating things about
the whole narrative of Job is never once has he
blamed Satan for it. He knows God's in charge, and
(05:52):
he knows the sovereignty of God. He just can't figure
out what God's doing, and he's searching for that answer
and he's gonna get it, but he keeps asking for it.
He gets a little bolder with it here in fourteen,
but he starts out just realizing I can't before God.
I'm nothing. What can I do? I'm helpless in this situation.
(06:14):
I'm Unfortunately, he leans a little on I'm hopeless in
this situation. That's not true. But really the point he
is making, and he's made this point before, but he's
gonna drive it home again. As a human being, I
can't stand against God. He's gonna do whatever he wants
to do, and there's really not a whole lot I
can do about it. So watch him here and he's
(06:35):
gonna he's gonna start out and he's gonna talk about
the sovereignty of God, meaning man is helpless to control
his own affairs. The first two verses here, here's what
he says, Man who is born of a woman, is
few of days and full of trouble. He comes out
like a flower and withers. He flees like a shadow
(06:58):
and continues not Now, let me give you the summary
of these very uplifting words. And the summary here is,
our lives are amazingly brief. We are victims of our circumstances.
These short years are filled with problems and pain. Our
days are too few, and our problems are too many,
(07:20):
and uh and that and that, So job would not
be hired as a motivational speaker right now. You go, hey,
thank you for that uplifting message there, Job. Have you
ever felt that way? Yeah, you know, it seems like
this life is short, and it seems like it's got
more trouble than it's had than it's had blessings. Now
we are all Rick Burgess included. We are the absolute worst.
(07:45):
And when we think about our lives, will take all
the grace and mercy and blessings that God has given
us in our time of trouble. We can't remember any
of them. That's this is all there's ever been. Every time,
it's always something I've said that here, It's always something
you just moved from one thing to the next thing,
(08:05):
and so and then I forget all these wonderful days
that God has given me and the wonderful peace I
have that He solved my biggest problem. I'm redeemed. And
by the way, I got an email this week just
answered it a minute ago, and I got to be
careful of this and just kind of give you guys
a little something too. This guy's really it's kind of
a seeker. He's kind of new to the faith, and
(08:26):
I know we've been guilty of this before. I got
an email. Friend. I don't think he would buy me
a share, and I'm not going to share his name
because we're working it out and we talked about it
and he's in great place. He said, you keep talking
about being redeemed. I don't know what that means. I thought, why,
he said, to explain to me what you mean by that.
He goes, I think sometimes those of you that have
been a little further down the road than the rest
(08:47):
of us, you think we know what all these words mean,
and we don't know what it means. Well, the bottom
line is we have to be redeemed because we all
stand guilty before a holy God. I mean even if
we just have a speck of sin, then we deserve
the wrath of a perfect and holy God. So in
our sin state, we're not redeemed. We have to be redeemed,
(09:11):
meaning we have to be made fully righteous. And the
only way that we can be made fully righteous is
the righteousness that God himself provided in his own son.
Since we couldn't resolve this problem, he took on human flesh.
He then became fully man while remaining fully God, and
that's crucial. Anybody that messes with that, we got a problem.
(09:32):
So then he goes to the cross because God's wrath
demands the debt be paid, and we would rightly be
destroyed if somebody doesn't justify us, bring us salvation or
redeem us. We got to be made right. This has
to be redeemed. We're unredeemed until Jesus provides that redemption
(09:56):
by taking the wrath of this holy God on himself,
paying the debt that we owe, going to the grave,
defeating our sin, and then coming out of the tomb
defeating death because sin equals death. So now Jesus said,
anybody want to be made right with God, are redeemed.
If you do, you repent, you turn from your sin,
(10:20):
saying I need to be redeemed. You got to recognize
that first, you got to say you're guilty, and I'm guilty.
And Jesus says, how would you like to be made
not guilty? Yes, and then he says, well, come to me.
Repent of your sin. Leave faith in yourself, put faith
in me, because you can't pay the debt that's got
to be done by me. I put my faith in you.
And oh, by the way, you need to leave your
(10:40):
own authority and make me your new authority. I leave
my own authority and I confess you as lord. Only
you can redeem me. There is no other way for
me to be made not guilty, which is really what
that means. And so then if you do that, Jesus
goes before this holy holy God, his father, and he says,
(11:01):
look at this person who now has repented of their sin,
left faith in themselves, but their faith in me, and
they've confessed me is their lord. They now I bought
them on the cross. I paid their debt their mine now.
And then God looks at those that are with Jesus
and says, I see you as redeemed. I see you
as fully righteous because of my son. So if you
(11:21):
want to just simplify it, I'm guilty and only Jesus
can make me not guilty. So really that's it. So
thank you for that question, though, because so many times
you're right. We move on using these phrases and just
assuming that everybody knows what that means. So here is
job and what he's saying now, and then he moves on,
and he's going to talk about this in verses three
(11:42):
through five, that despite you know, the helplessness and the
limitations of our human condition, God seems to judge human
beings for failing, and these failings seem to be beyond
our control. He seems to be upset with us about
something we can't control. So here we go. Of course
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that's not overly true, but because we can, we are
allowed to decide whether we want to sin or not.
But anyway, he says, and do you open your eyes
on such a one, meaning us as human beings verse three,
and bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean There is not one.
(12:26):
Since his days are determined and the number of his
months with you, and you have appointed his limits. He
cannot pass verse three. So, knowing how frail we are,
are you still going to bring this kind of judgment
on me? Where's your pity for me? Don't you know
this situation I'm in? Do I even have control over this?
(12:49):
You're going to judge me for something that seems to
be a given that they were all just we all
we none of us seem we can't get this right apparently, which,
by the way, foreshadowing foreshadowing verse three, I mean verse four.
It does Job know about Adam? That's one of the
kind I read about three or four commentaries on this.
(13:09):
Why does Job seem to know that we're all born
into the original sin? How does he know that? You know?
When everybody tries to get the time frame on when
this was written, Job seems to know something about our
sin nature, that it's inherited. I don't know how he
knows it, but he seems to know it. No one
else does either. They're saying, is it possible he knows
(13:29):
about the falls? Has he has he learned this somewhere?
I think that's probably likely. And he says, so, if
we all sin and you ever felt this way, then
why are you singling me out? If we've all done this,
I don't understand why I'm the focus of all your
wrath right now. Of course he's not, but he feels
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like he is, okay, so then he then he goes
to one of the things. You got to be careful
with this. Man, and ladies who watch and listen, be
careful with this, because I've said it in a number
of Bible studies. But I never want to assume. You know,
we got to rep everything. I don't know about you.
I don't get things to our repid a few times.
This is one of the things the sovereignty of God
(14:13):
should bring us all peace. Now right here, it's not
bringing Joe peace. He's going the other way with it,
and the adversary loves for you to go the other
way with it. See. I rest in God's sovereignty. I
like knowing that he's in control. But the adversary or
the demons or your sin nature will come to you
and say, well, if he's sovereign, he's also allowing you
(14:36):
to be miserable right now. He's in charge of that too.
So you believe that God's all knowing? I do. Do
you believe he's in charge of is God? In control,
rick Yep, So he's doing this to you. Uh yeah,
I guess he could stop it, couldn't he? He could,
he could, So you got to watch. You gotta watch
that game you got. That should bring us peace because
it means he's gonna limit it. It means he's controlling it.
(14:58):
But the adversary or the demons are your send nature
sometimes will try to get you to turn on God
and start thinking, well, I don't know this. Doesn't say
I don't know that. I like you're doing this. So
you just having fun with me? You like this misery
I'm in But we know No, he's teaching, he's refining,
he's creating steadfastness. Because we've heard a lot of scripture
(15:18):
about this job. Doesn't know a lot of this yet.
So he's going to take sovereignty right here and actually
go negative with it. So look at five. Since since
his days are determined and the number of his months
is with you, and you have appointed his limits, he
cannot pass. You're doing this. How can I even get
myself out of this? You know what he is understanding though,
I can't get out of this to you, let me out.
(15:40):
But he's actually complaining right here now he's not doing
anything that's going to give Satan the wind in this,
but he is getting into this. He's pointing to despair,
and he's saying that your sovereignty is not really bringing
me comfort right now. It's not bringing me the peace
by the way that it's good job, it seems right now,
(16:03):
it's actually taking me into a place of despair. I
just think maybe you've picked the wrong person. I think
you're expecting too much of me. You know everything about me.
I don't agree with what you seem to think about me.
I think this is too much. Now. God knows that
it's not. But have you ever had God know something
(16:24):
about you that you didn't agree with? You ever had
a call put on your life that you're like, why,
I'm not cut out for that. You must think you
know something about me that I don't necessarily agree with.
If God knows it, then it's right. What we got
to do sometimes is to go where God is. We
need to see ourselves the way God does sometimes to
(16:48):
be convicted, but you know what, sometimes to be encouraged.
If God sees something in you, he made you, so
have confidence that he'll always provide what you need to do. It.
I look, I can't think of anything that I'm doing
for the Kingdom right now that I'm capable of doing.
(17:09):
I'm not good at any of this. But he still
keeps saying, well, this is how you do it. This
is I don't know where it comes from other than him,
you know, because I don't have that. I mean, you
talk about I know a lot of people that you'd
want to give these assignments to that would do a
much better job. But I guess God says, well, I
know I'll get glory out of putting him on it
(17:29):
because nobody will believe he can do it. So let's
go to six. And that's not false humility. I know
that to be true. So let's go to six. So
now in six he says, look away from him and
leave him alone, that he might enjoy like a hired
hand his day. Now this is he's speaking about himself
(17:51):
in third person. He's talking about all mankind. He almost
sounds like a very successful athlete who begins to speak
about themselves like Muhammad Ali was the first I ever
saw to do it, speak about themselves in third person,
which is I always laugh about the humility of that.
Scott Dawson tells this great story about Muhammad Ali. He
had just defeated I think it was Fraser, and he
(18:12):
was on an airplane and the flight attendant came to
first class and he was holding cord about how grade
he was and all this, and she said, hey, you
need to sit down, get seat belt, don't We're about
to take off. And he says, Superman, don't need no
seat belt. And the flight attendant said, Superman don't need
no plane, So have a seat, you know it. So
(18:35):
sometimes we have to get put in our place there
a little bit. So he's starting now the analogy and
he's done this before of a hired hand or a slave.
He's done this before. He's doing it again. But now
keep in mind right here now he's about to tiptoe
the line a little bit. This analogy he's using. He's
also starting to kind of drift. If I'm the If
(19:00):
I'm the hired hand and you're the master, I kind
of think you're an overbearing task master. Give me a break.
You're overworking me. This is too much. At least a
hired hand can look forward to take getting a break
or getting a day off, you know, at least give
me that because you know he's already asked for God
(19:22):
to remove you when we was cutting the deal. I
want to talk to you about this, but you've got
you got to ease up, you gotta let you got
to let me out of this as opposed to the
proper attitude that we talked about many times in here. Hey,
hold me in here until I learned what you're teaching,
so then it's gonna be over fear. We have to
be real careful sometimes. And you've heard me tell the
story of Rich Wingo, who taught me that we got
(19:45):
to be careful sometimes for calling God to end something
before we've learned what we need to learn. You know,
do do you have enough faith in God to say,
keep me in this until I've learned everything you need
me to learn and and then release me. Job's kind
of he's kind of getting tired of what he's in,
which is understandable. It is I don't want to be
unfair to Job. Here seven for there is hope for
(20:08):
a tree. If it be cut down, then it will
sprout again. Here comes a tree analogy that is going
to once again kind of do a Debbie downer. There's
hope for trees, but there's no hope for humans. Okay,
it's gonna be a little bit of You give them hope,
but you destroy our hope. Because what he's saying is
(20:30):
even a tree, if it gets cut down, it's it's
it's got some hope. We've seen this happen. You ever
seen this. I've got it going on in my backyard
right now. Tree gets cut down. You look, a little
green sprout start coming out, and it's got a new life.
He's going to with trees. Get that. We don't get that.
You don't even give us that. And again he's he's
he's kind of ranting a little bit right now. Verse eight.
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Though its root grow old in the earth and it's
stumped dye and the soil go to dine, yet at
the scent of water, bud and put out branches like
a young plant, even a plant. A plant sometimes appears
to be dead, but it still has hope for life.
It can still sprout. Even those roots that you think
(21:15):
are done, Just those roots, if they can just get
a hint of water, they can still come alive. Anybody,
hear Jesus right here. If you drink water out of
a well, you're just gonna be thirsty again. Let me
tell you who I am. I'm the living water. Think
about the foreshadowing here. Joe's trying to figure it out.
(21:36):
We need something that can give us hope, just like
a tree has hope. There's got to be something that
changes this state of mankind before you God. And all
I can hear is he's using the analogy of water.
And I can just hear Jesus screaming through the pages
of Scripture in the foreshadowing of Job, saying, I'm gonna
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provide the water. I'm going to give you that hope
that you're looking for. I am the hope that you're
looking for. Though you will be dead in your sin.
I will offer you the living water. And when you
sense that I'm there, drink of me and live again. Amen.
Anybody want to go revival? Just excite y'all, don't you know?
(22:21):
Job's glad all this is over. But anyways, so, because
he's living right now, isn't he? But then comes Debbie Downer.
But unlike a tree, here comes ten But a man
dies and is laid low. Man breathes his lass. Where
is he? Job? Not a lot of fun to be
around right now? We aren't trees. We can't have such vitality.
(22:49):
We have no such hope. But he does, and he
doesn't know it. He doesn't know it. Verse eleven, As
water fell from a lake and river, and a river
waste away and dries up twelve. So a man lies
down and rises not again to the heavens or no more.
(23:11):
He will not awake or be roused out of his sleep.
Lakes can dry up, rivers can waste away, And as
far as Job knows, during this time, when we die,
we die. This is interesting that this is this is
something all commentators talk about when dealing with Job. Does
(23:33):
he not know about the resurrection of the dead. He
doesn't seem to, you know. He he's going to talk about,
you know, she all here in a minute. He's going
to understand this place of the dead. But but there's
they don't. He doesn't seem to understand what God does
with us, even if we're right with him after we die.
He doesn't seem to know. He has a faith that,
(23:54):
you know, he wants to be right with God and
that there's something, but he does not. He doesn't he
has he has zero concept, it seems, of the resurrection
of the dead because he never references it, and he
talks about when we die, we just die. You know,
even even lakes and rivers could be filled again, but
we can't be roused out of this death, out of
(24:14):
this sleep. So then he does talk about here she
all that he knows. He says, oh, that you would
hide me and she all that you would conceal me
until your wrath be passed, that you would appoint me
a time and remember me. There it is again. So
(24:35):
he seems to think that the dead goes somewhere until
God's doing what he's doing, and then he'll go get them.
So there's a little bit of there there, but it's
not it's kind of hard to understand what he really believes.
He does believe he's going to this place that they
all talked about where the dead go. You even see
this throughout a lot of the Psalms and the Old Testament.
(24:58):
But he is saying, right now with his men, let
me have the peace of death until this is over.
Whatever you're upset about, let me go ahead and go
to sleep till it's over, and then just think about
the foreshadowing. When your wrath is over, remember me. He
(25:21):
realizes something has got to deliver me from God's wrath.
I hope that God will remember me when his wrath
has been satisfied. How does the wrath get satisfied? Jesus? Remember,
don't don't have bad theology. God did not decide not
(25:45):
to hand out his wrath on No, he had to
pour out his wrath. That's he was. He was, He
was just to pour out his wrath. His wrath is
going to be poured out on one or two things
already pulled, poured out on Jesus, by the way, that's
where you need to be, or it's going to be
poured out on you if you reject Jesus. Remember what
(26:05):
we said about the cross. It got real exclusive right there.
You're either redeemed by the cross or you're condemned by
the cross, one or the other. So here's job. He
seems to understand, and he's yearning for something that can
just end God's wrath. And I just soon be asleep
(26:26):
till it's over. Foreshadowing of the New Covenant. There it
is again. He's looking for it. He knows there's something
that needs to be done, and he yearns for it.
Do you yearn for that day? When God's wrath is
completely done, all who oppose him, and the supernatural and
(26:47):
human beings, all who oppose him are eradicated, and we
finally go into the New Heaven, the New Earth, the
New Jerusalem, and all this is over. God's wrath is
no more because we have been saved from his wrath
by a son, Jesus, who now illuminates the new Heaven,
the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem. And we're done
with all this. Have you ever sometimes thought, I just
(27:10):
like to go to sleep till we get there. But
that's not what we were called to do. As the
apostle Paul kept telling the church over and over again,
we don't go sit up on a mountain and wait
to die. We're supposed to be making disciples. We're supposed
to be teaching people all that God commanded, and we
do that until he returns. Our body finally gives out.
(27:34):
What did Paul say, I am straining for the finish line.
I press on. I don't look back to the way
I used to be. I press forward to what's next.
That's not about justification. He doesn't need to strain for
justification or press for justification. That's the obedience. That's the
work that he's been called to. That's let me be
(27:57):
found in your favor, let me hear a will done.
He even goes far as to say, if you take
my life here in prison, that'd be great. I'll be
in your presence. If you think these people need me,
then you let me out and I'll serve them. Either way,
I'm going to be fine. So but right now, Job
just wants to die, understandably, But it's not the right
(28:18):
attitude to have. Fourteen. If a man dies, shall he
live again? You see what I'm talking about. He doesn't quite.
I don't think he understands it. All the days of
my service, I would wait till my renewal should come.
Foreshadowing again, it's clear that Job isn't sure about this
resurrection of the dead, but he does seek an answer. Now,
(28:40):
what is this word? Service? Is interesting? Here? All the
days of my service, I would wait. The word here
in Hebrew actually is reserved for military service. It usually
is talking about military service. I don't know whether Job
is saying I have worked hard for you, I have
(29:01):
served you. But look at the bigger, the bigger statement here,
till my renewal shall come what is he talking about? Hey,
how about a new life? How about a new beginning?
Can you deliver me from this and just renew me?
Who renews us, Jesus, who gives us the new life? Jesus?
(29:26):
He is just saying, give me that, this what I
have right now, it's got to be better than this.
Give me something new, renew my life. He's really crying
out to the question in the email, redeem me, make
me write with you. I want to be back in
the proper place with you. Fifteen. You would call and
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I would answer you. You would long for the work
of your hands. I would like an answer. I would
like an answer. Now, what does he mean by you
would long for the work of your hands? He's talking
about himself. You made me? This sounds a little bit
like the Garden of Eden, doesn't it. You're the one
(30:10):
who made her. Why did you make us? If you
made me, you know me? And if you made me,
then why won't you give me an answer? Why would
you make me to be silent and not answer me?
I would Hey, if you call, I'll come. I'll listen
to you. Call me in front of you. He's going
to call me in front of you and I'll listen.
(30:32):
You made me so, why won't you answer me? Sixteen
for then? Meaning if he can get that to happen,
you would number my steps. You would not keep watch
over my sin. He's changed you. Remember when he said
he felt like God was a hunter, hunting him like pray.
(30:54):
He says, I don't want that. I don't want that.
This is what I want, then, this is moving. I
want you to be my father. I want you to
love me, and I want you to just tell me
what to do. I want you to lay out my
steps for me. I'd be fine with that. I'm confused.
I don't know what to do. I wish you would
(31:14):
just tell me what to do and lay out my
steps like a father would, a son was a son.
And here's what I would like. Because I thought I
was blame us. I thought we dealt with everything. I
want to get to a place where you remember my
sin no more. Woo, there it is again. I wish
you just whatever's bothering you about me. I wish you
(31:36):
would just finally be done with it. I want to
be made right with you. I want you to be
my father again. I want to be your son. Show
me what to do. Go with me, Walk with me.
I feel like you've left me. You ever felt like
God left you? Even though you know that's not true.
You're just looking for something. Give me some reassurance. I
always get it every time I'm asking for it. I'll
(31:56):
get it now. I may not get it as quick
as I want it, but I get it. Could you
love when you get it? Sometimes it'll be what It
didn't even have to be, this big, miraculous moment. You
want to tell everybody, how many times have you been
praying to God trying to get an answer on something
and you just simply open up the Bible and there
it was. It just pointed your right to it. Is
this what you're looking for? Meaning, by the way, I'd
(32:19):
already answered this, you just must have forgot. I've already
told you what to do. Right? Can you imagine? Have
you ever have you ever had your children do that?
At likely that they don't recall anything you said. You're like,
I think we've covered this and so but God does
provide that answer. But in this a beautiful moment where
we see such a foreshadowing of the New Covenant, how
(32:43):
about this? How many of you are glad that you
you were created in the time of the New Covenant.
These things he's yearning for, we got see. We wouldn't
have to ask ask these questions because we would know them.
And if we didn't know them, one of God's people
could tell us, could show us job doesn't have that
job's working all this out as he goes seventeen, look
(33:07):
at this, My transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and you would cover over my iniquity. My goodness, Jesus.
You ever heard anybody say the whole Bibles about Jesus,
It certainly is now this bag analogy. I couldn't believe
it was here when I was studying this because this
is something that I've been convicted of in the last
few years of my sanctification process, and it's this analogy
(33:33):
of my sins being in the bag. But it's not
a bag that Jesus has yet. It's a bag that
Jesus is asking for me and I still have it.
You go, what you mean, Rick, have you not confessed
your sin? Yeah? But I've given Jesus most of the
back and Jesus said, I want the whole bag, and
I'm like, I still got a few things in the back.
(33:53):
And Jesus is like, give me the whole bag, and
I'm like, and then I'll reach in the bag and
I'll give him one more. There's that, give me the bag.
If you want us to be right with everything? Why
is there still things in the bag that you still
seem to love more than me? Yeah, but I don't.
It's not like I love them more than you. I
just I'm just not quite done with him yet. And
(34:14):
what Jesus is saying, just what Job's saying. I can
put every sin you have in a bag, and if
you repent and hand it all to me, I'll conceal
it and we'll be done with it. But we're not
gonna be done with it as long as you keep
things in the bag. I want the whole bag. I
don't want you to hand them out to me individually.
Have you ever been that when you were redeemed? I
got a lot to work out, and we're gonna work
(34:37):
it out one by one, as opposed to saying, let's
get it all done right now. And I don't. I'm
not cleaning to anything. I'm all in. I'm all in,
and uh and I will tell you that, you know,
my bag is almost empty but it ain't empty. I
hadn't given. I still got to give more to it.
(34:57):
You know, I'm still working it out through the same notification.
And in all fairness, there's some things. Most of the
things that were obvious and I knew were wrong, they're gone.
What's happening is I didn't know I still had some
in the bag, and Jesus could show me that I do. Oh,
you're right, I didn't know that was in there. And
so he's still working it out, right, amen by about this,
(35:18):
But he's working it out. I ain't where. I'm not
there yet, but I ain't where I was, right, Okay,
So little Calhoun County English there for you. So let's
go to Let's now go to eighteen. But is that
not Jesus right there? I just wish my transgressions could
be selt up in a bag and you would just
cover my inequality. You talking about like Jesus did eighteen.
(35:41):
But the mountain falls and crumbles away and the rock
is removed from its place. Now, I mean, he gets
to This is the thing about job that every time
he and I visit and we're going through this, I
just watched this rhythm that he's got He goes from
I'm looking for hope, I'm almost found hope, and it's
(36:02):
all hopeless. And then I just why would I even
hope for that? He said everything he wished would happen.
He's asking, God, you're going that's hopeful, that's hopeful. Job.
Then he goes, but that ain't gonna happen. Did I
tell you about the It reminds me. And we talked
about him on the on the radio show, and we
got a big laugh out of him. I know, Adler
remember this. It was a guy that I he was
(36:23):
the most negative man I ever sat next to an airplane.
I mean, he was completely negative. And his statement every
time he would say something negative like that he wished
he could, he would go, of course that's over. And
he just kept doing all the flight, all the way home.
Tell you what I wish that. You know, when I
(36:43):
was younger, I could, you know, go go go to
the ball games and I'd get season tickets and I'd
go and enjoy myself. Of course that's over, and just
everything was over. I mean it was like every little
thing I used to be but eat anything I wanted to,
didn't have any problems at all. Of course, that's over.
And he just did that all the way back to Birmingham,
(37:06):
and I got to where I just I got his
rhythm going. I was just like, okay, he would bring
some hey, hey, you know with us. So I'm just
say you, so I really used to enjoy that. You
enjoy that. I really did. Of course that's over. And
so anyway, this is kind of job he gets, kind
of he gets right there, I'm going to sell. Hey, man,
you're talking about you're talking about the New Covenant. But
(37:28):
that's over. There's no hope. He said. All mountains fall away,
rocks fall one by one. Before you know it. You
look over the cliff and what's at the bottom, debris.
It's just falling apart, crumbling away, just like we do nineteen.
The water wears away the stones, the torrents wash away
(37:49):
the soil of the earth. So you destroy the hope
of man, just like that, just like erosion. God, you
wipe away all my hope. Just a minute ago, he's
asking God for hope, and now he's saying, of course,
you just wash it all the way. You just wash
it all the way. Twenty you prevail forever against him
(38:11):
talking about mankind and himself and he passes. You change
his countenance and send him away. You take away all
hope God you get how about this? You get me
set right, and I get myself together. I get just
a little bit of hope. And right when I'm joyful,
(38:33):
you take my joy. This is what the Hebrew word
says here, and you turn my joy into a twisted
face of death. I was happy, I had it, just
like I liked it. Of course that's over. Say do
what he's saying. You change my countenance, meaning what my
countenance one time was joyful, but it's not now you've
(38:57):
changed that. And really, like I said, the Hebrew word
here is into a twisted face of death. Twenty one
now this is here comes a mourning father. Now his
son's come to honor, and he does not know it.
They are brought low and he perceives it. Not if
(39:17):
a man's sons are destroyed, it's probably better off that
I didn't see it. But what if they were honored?
What what if somehow they're being honored right now? It's
also sad if I miss that. He basically said, you
know you just took you just took my sons away
(39:38):
from me, and I don't really know why you did that. Remember,
he's not saying Satan did it. I don't know why
you did that, And you know, and if there was
something wrong there, you know, I guess it's better that
I didn't see what the deal was. I didn't see
how they died. But also it's also just as sad
(40:00):
as if a man has sons that are being honored
and he misses out on that too. So whatever was
going to happen to my sons, I don't know now,
because you didn't allow me that. I didn't get to
see it through. You know, have you ever had people
what he's doing? Did you ever have people say, which
I've been there. Sometimes if one of your children go
(40:22):
on to glory before you and praise God, we hope
they're redeemed, and somebody will say, well, you don't know
what God kept them from experiencing. Yeah, and you can
find hoping that there might have been grace and mercy
and the shortness of their life of something horrible that
was coming. And Job says, so, I guess that's okay.
I don't know that, But what about all the things
(40:43):
I didn't get the experience that might have been wonderful.
That's sad too. Now he's a little off there when
you talk about the sovereignty of God. And I told
you that I had God speak so sweetly to me
through the Holy Spirit, not in the audible, but just
it was so it was such a correction. Some of
you know this story. But after my son went to heaven,
(41:06):
he was the youngest of all of them, but he
still had, you know, siblings that were still involved in things,
and even two brothers that were, you know, six and eight.
And so I remember being a little league game for
the six year old and I was coaching third and
Browner had not been gone very long. He had gone
(41:28):
to heaven and winter and this was that spring and
I'm standing on third base. And those of you that
don't have children, and every dad would admit this, not
that playing sports makes any kid more successful than another kid,
but as men, there's something really cool and maybe from
almost two, the first time you see your last name
on the back of a jersey, it's a cool little thing.
(41:51):
And so I'm on third base and six year old
comes to third and he looks up smiling in this
little bat in helmet. It was coach pitch. You know.
And he turns around and I see his name on
the back of the Jersey Burgess and I was sad,
and I thought, I'll never see that, I'll never see
Brown or play little League. And just as quick as
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the sadness came, I was so reminded he was never
gonna play little league when I wove him together in
Sherry's womb. He was never gonna play little League. That
was not my plan. You're not missing anything that was
never gonna happen. You got to trust that though his
life was short, it was perfect, and he showed us
(42:35):
that over and over over. If you have read Cherry's book,
you know how many times he did and so and
in that instant, I had a peace, you know, a
reminder God's in control. And that didn't bring me sadness.
That actually brought me peace, which is what it should
bring us. So twenty two he feels only the pain
of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.
(43:00):
This is that thing where you try so hard God
tries to get you to look beyond your circumstances, and
Job said, I just can't. Right now. All I know
is what I'm in. I can't see past this. You
ever been in a time of difficulty and you can't
see past it. Everybody keeps saying one day this is
gonna be over. You just can't see past it, and
then you can't remember all the times that it delivered
(43:21):
you all you can do. I'm just stuck right here.
I can't get out of this. I can't see behind this,
I can't see in front of this. I just see this.
That's all right. God understands that. And Job says that
all I know is my body and my soul, and
I just know my situation, and my situation is pain
(43:45):
and misery. So all I know is I'm mourning for
no one else right now but myself. Not the best ending.
But Job's view of life in the afterlife, remember, they're dim.
He doesn't have the New Testament, he doesn't have the
(44:07):
New Covenant. He is going through all this with an
incomplete vision. He's dim. Even Paul says, we're still dimed
to a degree, and there's things that we don't understand
until we're finally glorified. But Job's view of all this
is even more dim than ours because he doesn't have
the New Covenant. His view of the afterlife, he doesn't
seem to understand that or know the things that we
(44:29):
know compared to the New Testament. See Job right now,
he doesn't have one Corinthians fifteen. He didn't have it.
He didn't have old death wears your sting. He doesn't
have that. You know, the body is going to die
and it's going to be renewed with the glorified body.
He didn't have that. He didn't have first Peter, you
know three and four where Peter's talking about don't worry
(44:49):
about the difficulty you're going through because the day is
coming when all this is going to be made right.
He doesn't have the revelation. He doesn't see, you know, John,
the revelation he sei. He doesn't see chapter seven, He
doesn't see chapter twenty one. He doesn't see any of that.
He doesn't know all this is going to be made new.
He doesn't have any of that. So what's happened is
(45:11):
Job has simply gone into and be careful that we
don't do this. He's simply gone into the library of
his own prison. Now as we get ready for next week,
Job has gone into that library of his own prison,
of his own knowledge. He's prepared his case he's presented
(45:32):
his petitions, he's presented his arguments before the Judge of
the universe, and a verdict is coming. He keeps calling
out to the Judge of the universe, and his day
in court is coming. But first I'm going to start
(45:53):
that next week. Job's accusing friends have decided that they'd
like to have their say one more time, and we'll
jump into that next week. Let's pray, Lord, thank you
for today. I pray Lord that for all of us
that have the opportunity now to hopefully coming up on
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the long weekend when this Bible study was happening, live
to have some time to rest and reflect, and for
our countries we go into thinking about something called Memorial Day,
when we thank people who gave their lives to pay
the lease on the freedoms that we enjoy. May it
be also a reflection of a thank you to you
(46:39):
for giving up your life and suffering on our behalf.
Not just for some temporary freedom, but you gave your
life for eternal freedom, for freedom that can never be
taken away, for freedom that no longer needs a lease
to pay because you have paid it all. Thank you,
(47:03):
Thank you that we have the hope that job can't
see right now. Thank you Lord, and forgive us from
when we knowing the things we know still act a
lot like Job, just acted as if we don't have
that hope. Unlike Job, we know it and may we
never take it for granted, and we thank you for it.
(47:23):
In the name of Jesus. We pray Amen. Thank you guys,
and thank all of you.
Host
Rick Burgess
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