December 10, 2025 • 61 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome into the Wednesday Bible Study. My name is Rick Burgess.
In case we have not met a host of the
Rick Burgess Show. That is my day job. I do
that Monday through Friday for about well about twenty five
hours during the week. So if you want to find
out more about that and you can go to the
Rick burgesshow dot com. It's a much different experience than this,
(00:22):
even though we certainly don't shy away from this. Somebody
asked me one time. They're saying, well, you do a
radio show. Of course, now that means radio, podcasts, apps,
streaming apps, YouTube, all these things.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We do.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Content providers is what we are now. But I was
a kid who always wanted to be on the radio.
And then somebody said, well, so you do Christian radio,
And I said, well, no, I'm a Christian who does radio.
So do we deal with a biblical worldview? We do,
but completely secular show.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I hate that.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Word, but you understand what I mean, and it's heard
on various radio stations and various platforms. We try to
kind of take the notion that our Lord and Savior
told us to go to not be of the world,
but we are to go into the world. And is
that an easy line. It isn't And do we always
get it right? No, But as our intention to go
(01:17):
in and be followers of Christ and to earn the
right through entertainment to then share the most important news
of all time, that's what we do.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So I just want you to know what you're getting into.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
If you go to the day job, there's not as
much of this, and there's a lot more goofiness, but
that sets up moments for this, just like so many
people that found this Wednesday Bible study because they first
were people who listened to the show. So if you
want to find out about that, you can now. Also
we do men's ministry that this was part of a
men's strategy. It continues on a decade later, and then
(01:50):
about five years ago we started, you know, let's organize
all this and take it out to the rest of
the country and around the worldtrategy of high challenge nothing
new there, but then followed by high equipping and discipleship.
We provide the strategy, we provide the speakers, we provide
the curriculum, we provide individual resources for men. All that
(02:14):
you can find by going to Themanchurch dot Com. You
also can find archives of these Bible studies there using
the media button and there's about ten years worth of
Bible studies there, so if you desire to do that,
so go back and catch up on this series on
job or any of the past studies. If you would
like for us to come alongside your community or your
(02:35):
church and help you with a sustainable state strategy to
reach and disciple men, we would love to help you
with that. And there's about twenty three hundred and something
churches around the country and even in our parts of
the world that are doing our strategy, and we'd love
to help you if there's any way we could some notes.
(02:56):
We have conferences that we do as well, which can
kind of get you into our strategy. We have two
of those coming up next year in January. It's a great,
great I mean, it's so much more impactful than a
pair of socks to get someone, you know, some tickets
to these conferences because it literally could have eternal consequences.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
We are selling out.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
If you'd like to go find out how to get
those tickets great gift ideas at Themanchurch dot com. Also,
you can get a sign copy up until December the sixteenth,
of the newest resource that we put out as far
as a book called Men Don't Run in the Rain.
It's a book that I wrote about my earthly father
and how many times he reflected my heavenly father. And
(03:38):
if you would like to get that book, it's available
anywhere you get books. But if you want to sign copy,
use our link there at the Manchurch dot com. We
are finishing the provocative.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Book of job.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Wow, what a year we have gone through every single
word and today is the big moment.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
What has this all been about.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Let's jump into that and spend some time applying it
to our own lives today.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Let's open first in a word of prayer. Lord, thank
you for.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Today, help us, help us to take everything away from
this you intend, Lord, Here's what I want to pray against.
And I'm, you know, being someone who can sometimes be
easily distracted during these final moments of this book to
this all important lesson today. I pray against distractions. I
pray against wondering minds. I pray against a teacher like
(04:36):
me that is flawed and at times is not you know,
rambles and chases rabbits. Let me be clear, help me
to communicate clearly the message that comes from your power
through the discernment of the Holy Spirit as we open
your spirit inspired word that you've allowed us to learn
as much as we can comprehend about you.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But we need your help. So be with us today,
and your name we pray Amen.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So this is really what it's all about. We get
down to the end. We know that Job was considered
at the beginning of this to be a man living
in the world compared to the world in which he lived.
He was called blameless and upright. You can go back
to chapter one and find that out. But then we
also discovered some things that might have made us uncomfortable,
(05:25):
and that was that there appears to be a conversation
between the one and only living God, who is holy, holy, Holy,
and one of his created beings, Lucifer, that rebelled against him,
was cast out of heaven down to earth, lives in
rebellion against God and all who are with him, and
(05:47):
this loving, merciful, gracious God who is also holy, just
wrath he seems to I'm just saying that, I don't
know why. I guess maybe even I am a little
bit afraid to say what's really happening here? It is
obvious is a better way to say it. That he
brings Job to the attention of the accuser, Satan himself,
(06:12):
the devil, our adversary, and God says, what do you
think about this guy? And Satan says, impressive, But I'm
not overly impressed because you bless him so much. I'd
love you too, But if you took away the blessings
and you allowed me to go after him, he would
turn on you. And the Lord God Almighty allowed it
(06:35):
and even started this conversation, and Job went on to
a miserable existence. We don't know how long it's gone on.
We we think somewhere around four months. He's had friends
come on the scene. They have not been overly helpful.
They keep telling him that there's something he's done wrong.
(06:55):
Certainly he's not sinless, but he was blameless. Meaning there's
nothing in my life that I have not got right
with God. So why in the world would God allow
this to go on? That's been the big question, hasn't it?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Well?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
As my beautiful wife that I love so much, when
she felt called to write a book about God, certainly
not replacing the scriptures, but the book is full of
the scriptures. She just went to find out what God
has said about himself when it comes to suffering and
difficulty and pain, and she discovered, as we all have
(07:32):
in this, that God has not been silent on this
and today I would go as far as to say
God explains himself as best as we can understand. Now,
you may not like what God's conclusion is, but I
would suggest that we adhere to it. And there's a
little lesson that's being taught to here. I see this
(07:53):
going on even in as we're recording this and doing
this live. It's happening right now. I just left a
conversation a few moments ago. Something else that we do
is another standalone podcast called Strange Encounters. It's just a
podcast about spiritual warfare, angels and demons, of what scripture
has to say about these things. And one of the
(08:14):
things we'll take on this week is someone who I
have great respect for, and I certainly am not going
to do anything other than say I'm concerned as his
brother in Christ, and that's Kirk Cameron. Watching the conversation
that's going on and the considerations, and that's all it
is right now with Kirk Cameron is that he's having
(08:35):
a hard time with God's wrath. And the thing that
bothers me is as I watch he and one of
his sons to discuss this, I think he has multiple children.
It is his son. I don't know if he has
more than one son or not. I'm just assuming, but
he's talking to his son and they're carrying on. The
problem they have in this latest podcast is that they
(08:59):
begin to talk to God like he's one of us,
Like like he's just a really super version of us.
The gap between us and God is enormous, Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
The way and and and all of it is that
this this notion again of not taking sin serious, uh,
and and not understanding and the thing they're arguing about,
he's starting to drift a little bit where he doesn't
believe in and you know, a conscious eternal punishment. He's
starting to go over to the annihilation theory that God
(09:36):
just kills you. He wouldn't just let you go on
and suffer for eternity and and and all of that,
because I mean that that just seems to not be
very nice, and it doesn't seem like his character of
mercy and grace and love. Of course, then you're conveniently
leaving out that that the part of his character that
is just as strong and just is part much a
part of him is his wrath and his judgment and
his holiness.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
And that's what we're gonna learn today. And and I'm.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Not gonna that's another conversation. I guess that's a good
way to promote the other podcast. Go catch the next edition.
I had a blast last week on that one involving
the six seven thing that kids are doing.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Well, that's going well. People just love that.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So anyway, we'll go catch that one if you haven't
seen it. But anyway, let's start with verses one through six.
This is what we're gonna hear. Job's now he's heard
God's entire resume. We just talked about Leviathon last week
and all the theories involving that. I have an ESV Bible.
It's the one I prefer as a study Bible. I'm
(10:37):
not saying it's the only English translation you should use.
I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that
it is my favorite when I'm studying the Bible because
of how literal it attempts to be as best it
can with the limitations of our English language. But my
title that I see in the final chapter of Job
says Job's confession. And here's the key key word, repentance. Now,
(11:01):
why in the world is Job repenting? What's he got
to repent of? I thought he was blameless and upright
well to stay with me. So so so God has
finished the resume and Job's finally saying I got it.
Remember remember he tried to stop this resume a little
while ago, and he said he regretted what he had
said about God. He regretted, Well, regretting your sin and
(11:25):
repenting of your sin, that's not the same thing. So
God says, I will now continue. The regret is not
what I'm looking for. I'm looking for you to repent.
I'm looking for you to realize where you stand compared
to me. So, which has been the whole reason this
resume has been given. Let me remind you who I am,
(11:46):
because apparently you've forgotten. I'm not just one of you.
I'm not an impressive human. Okay, I am the creator
of all things. Nothing exists before or me, you ever,
you ever just wrapped your mind around that I'm the beginning. Yeah,
but yeah, but what where where did you come from?
(12:08):
Everything comes from me. I didn't come from anybody or anything.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I am.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I have always been. That'll be a mind blower today.
But Job answers the Lord, I wouldn't. I wouldn't let
that go. So Job is calling him yahweh. Then Job
answered the Lord, uh and uh, and he says this,
which is something he These are the concluding words of Job.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
About half these quotations.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
We're about to unpack their quotations from what God has
already said about himself.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Job's now agreeing with all this.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Uh. It's important, uh that that Job is not gonna
confess anywhere in here some overt sin, because you know,
remember Eliphaz has accused him of that that what is
this sin? You're not infesting. Job doesn't do that, and
so he's not gonna be talking about that. He's also
(13:07):
not going to confess of any covert sin. So no
overt sin, as Lafaz was looking for, no covert sin
that Bill Dad was looking for.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
The text.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
As a matter of fact, I hate to tell you this.
If you're looking for it, it does not specify what
Job is actually repenting of.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So just know that. But I'm going to give you
a hint that that's not really important.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
But you know how we are as people because what
we want to if job was in our church, I
got to know the dirty details so I can pray
for you, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
What I mean. So I went through that just recently.
I just went through this recently.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I had everybody praying for something that I was dealing with,
and you wouldn't believe the number of people that were
starting to get agitated with me.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Well, I need you to tell me what it is,
and I said, it's not my story to tell.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And uh, well, I could really pray for you if
you just go aea and tell me exactly what's going on.
And I'm like, I think we're leaving praying and we're
wanting to gossip. Now you really want to know? And
I was guilty of as anybody. I mean, you know
when I hear something like, I'm like, wow, I wonder
what happened. And then when somebody says it's not important
when happened? Do you love me enough to pray for
me and distrust that. I'm not withholding anything from you
(14:23):
out of my own pride. I'm withholding it because that
is the situation I'm in right now, I would be
violating something to give any more information. Well, let's face it,
we are going job, but I just wish you'd tell
us what you did. Well, you know, he's saying I
didn't really do any specific thing. Hang on to that
because that's important. So we're not going to see that.
(14:44):
But it does seem obvious. The God of the universe
and the creator of all creatures is greater, more grand higher,
and wiser than any mortal can imagine.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Much less challenge. We have no standing.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You know, you hear people sometimes say, you know, God's
not afraid of your questions. Well, I know he's not
afraid of them, but that doesn't mean he's not angered
by them.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Okay, that's different.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
He's not afraid of your questions let it rip and yeah,
but I never thought he was afraid of them.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
What I do want to know is he angered by them.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
By my lack of faith, by my fear that he
told me not to have my anxiety that he said,
you know, when you get to the point where you
realize I'm not talking about things that involving health and
things you can't control. I'm talking about when you're perfectly
healthy and your mind and your brain's working perfectly right
and we're in our right standing. I don't know whether
(15:59):
you've done've done this before, because I went through it
not long ago.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I'd never really experienced anxiety.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I really had never. I rememberh people would say that
to me. I'm like, I don't even know what you're
talking about. And of course, you know, somewhere in my dad,
if he can speak from heaven, would say, yeah, the
one thing that would never struggle with was anxiety. And
he said, I'd like to see him care a little
more about anything, and uh. And so I was a
bit of a free spirit, and so I was always
(16:26):
perplexed when somebody said, well, I'm just.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Anxious about something.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
I'm like, really, I mean like like I'm I'm almost like,
I'm almost stymied by how anxious I am. And I'm like,
I can't understand. Then all of a sudden, of course,
God lets you experience some of that. And I remember
I went through a time where I was I was,
I was, I was almost paralyzed by anxiety a few times,
and it was and I didn't even know why. I
didn't even know what I was anxious about. And I
(16:49):
guess it was one of these many things with aging
and and and I'm and I repented of it. And
because I began to read Scripture, and I realized that
my anxiety was sinful, my worrying about things were sinful,
especially when I couldn't eve identify what I was worried about.
And uh and I realized that I was I was
moving out of step with God a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Now.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
I'm not saying that if you're worried about something, whatever
you're you're not right with God. I'm just telling you.
The Scripture tells us that the answer to our worries,
in our and being anxious.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
It is Him.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And we're even told to think of things differently than
what you're thinking of right now. So uh so, now
we've got God hearing from job really a repeat of
what he's.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Already said about himself Verse two.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I know that you can do all things and that
no purpose of yours can be thwarted. I understand God
what you said about yourself. And uh he's he knows
now that no plan of God in the future can
be stopped. And it's more than he's just acknowledging. You
(17:57):
know what God has said in the past past have
you got your if you got your Bible, and you
can flip real quick go to Daniel Daniel chapter four.
Now we do know, I mean, I'm not comparing job
to Nebuconezzer. We know Nebuconzzer had problems, and we know
that nebuc and Azer was really really arrogant and prideful
(18:18):
and thought that all the things he'd accomplished, he did
it not God, and God laid him low. But when
he was restored, and that's what's happening in Daniel four.
After God let him live like he was a beast
for seven years. Seven years. Hey, let me say you
seven years. You don't think he could have turned me
around in seven days if I'm eating grass and laying
(18:40):
out and sleeping on the ground and thinking that I'm
some kind of livestock, which by the way, is a
mental illness when you think you're an animal. And it
appears that God put that on nebucon Azer, no doubt
about that. So nebucan Azer has been restored because he
came to himself.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
And if you will look, uh.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Look at look at four thirty five, all the inhabitants
of the earth are accounted as nothing and he does
according to his will among the host of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand and say to him, what have you done?
(19:20):
Nebu said, I've learned that he does whatever he wants,
and I got no standing. And Nebucan was a pretty
influential dude and was considered to be one of the
most wealthy, most powerful men in the world at the time.
And he said, I have no standing against God, and
I have no right to question him and ask him
(19:42):
to explain to me what he's doing. So, because I
think sometimes we got to be careful to say, Lord,
would you show me some answers? Would you reveal to
me what you're doing? Nothing wrong with that. I've done
it even my life to a degree, did that in
writing this book. I want to know everything about you.
(20:04):
You'll tell me any why you can answer, I'll take it.
That's one thing. It's quite another to say I demand answers.
I demand that you tell me what you're doing. I
demand that you explain yourself right now now. I'd be
real careful with that. That goes back to the he
ain't afraid of your questions and your demands, but it
(20:26):
doesn't mean he's not angry by them, and honestly he's
anger by the way Job has acted in some of
this by questioning him.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So now we go to verse three.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And he says, who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand? Things
too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Now Job says, oh, by the way, when you came
out of that storm back in chapter thirty eight, verse two,
and your first words to me was who is questioning me?
I was guilty as charged? And that's important to hang
on to this. I'm guilty as charged. He had spoken
out of ignorance. He acknowledge of that. He said, I
spoke about things beyond my ability to understand them. And
(21:14):
I want you to think about this. This is a
charge that God leveled against Job. And one of the
things I took away from studying this when I hear
these words, I have uttered what I did not understand.
Who am I to try to give counsel to God?
Who am I to these things because of you were
(21:35):
too wonderful for me?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Think about that.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
He did say, they're too horrible, they were too wonderful
for me. I just didn't know I was ignorant when
I made these charges against you. You know what, I
believe that the entire world.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Would be guilty of this indictment.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I know I would. I certainly would. There have been
times I would be guilty of that indictment.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Verse four. Another quote from God.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
This is back from thirty eight to three, and God
again in chapter forty, verse seven. Here he is regurgitating
it back here, and I will speak, I will question you,
and you make it known to me that this is
him doing the quote God said. It's not him questioning
God again. What he's saying is I remember saying that.
(22:21):
I remember you saying to me, Hey, I'll tell you
what I'll be. I'll be asking the questions now you
won't be asking me any questions. I acknowledge that that's
what you did, and you were gonna make it known
to me. And look at look at five. I had
heard of you, and this is the big eie. I
have heard of you before this day, and before I
(22:42):
went through everything I went through, I had heard of you.
By the hearing of my ear. People taught me about you.
I had learned about you. I thought I had it,
I had heard with my ears. But now and understand
now because I want to talk about what now is.
But but now my eyes see you. What's the now?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I know? We don't like it. I was limited to
what I could know about you until you caused me
to suffer, until you took everything away from me. Then
and only then I finally saw you with my eyes.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
It took the suffering for Job to get to the
point that he asked for the resume of God, and
God gave it to it.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Everybody okay with that?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
So until I suffered, I was limited to what I
could know about you. It kind of makes you see
suffering in a different way, doesn't it. Look you've heard
me talk about this, and I've gone through some suffering
again recently. There's nothing quite like it. I don't like it.
(24:01):
It's not enjoyable. I don't ask for it, but unfortunately
I need it because it strains me out every time.
And you go, what, you got some big thing you
need to be straightened out about. No, but I got
a lot of little things I need to be straightened
out about. And they anger God just as much as
(24:24):
the biggies, because he wants me to be completely right
with him. He wants me completely submissive to him. He
wants me completely in line with him. And what he
does if I start getting out of the trail a
little bit? What the Lord is my shepherd? And what
is he hearing with him? Your staff and your rod
(24:44):
they comfort me, and you go well, and that Rick
the twenty third time, it's just talking about that. That staff
and the rod means that Jesus the shepherd, our Lord
keeps all the predators from us. It does serve that purpose.
But that ain't all that staff as used for. It's
not all the rods used for. It also keeps the
sheep in line and gets in the back where they're
supposed to be. And so that's part of it. And
(25:10):
what does he say, what do we say about this
perfect shepherd? I don't want for anything. I sleep under
the peace of your observation. You lay me down in
places that are RESTful and peaceful. I have found that
when I'm right with God there I am at a
peaceful deal. But when I'm kind of trying to do
it my own way, or I tell him hey today
i'm good, it's not very peaceful at all. And so
(25:34):
he says now after the suffering, which means before the suffering,
he did not see him as clearly now my eyes
see you, and here come here it comes verse six.
And so when I finally see you for who you are,
not who I tried to make you, everybody listen, because
we're all guilty of this as follow human beings. When
(25:57):
I finally saw you as you you actually are, not
the version I created, that made me a little more comfortable.
You know, we all tend to create a version of
the one and only living God, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. You know, we're so uncomfortable with
who God really is. Even our Western denominations pick part
(26:18):
of the try you and God that's their favorite. You
got denominations where the Holy Spirit is everything. You got
a denomination that the Father is everything. And you got
denominations where it's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus the Son, the Son,
the Son. We don't want to hear about the Holy Spirit,
and we don't want to be reverend about the Father.
(26:38):
But you know what God says, But I'm Father's Son
and Holy Spirit, I am a try you in God,
you can't pick a favorite. And you know what he says,
he says, you know what, when I realize this about
you and how holy you are, a man that was
(27:01):
called blameless and upright compared to the rest of the
world in.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Which he lived, I despise myself.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
And I repent underlying that three times and dust and ashes.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
What in the world is job repenting of? Well?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Because he was called blameless and upright. I think what
we have to understand and we better be careful with this.
I can go find me some places to stay, and
I can run in groups where I look pretty good,
not as bad as them. I used to be that
person for most people. Spend time with Rick, you'll feel
(27:47):
better about yourself. But what we tend to do is
what we tend to do is we tend to, using
a sports analogy, find the weakest conference we can find
so we can become for his champions. I'm I'm around
people that I know more than they do about God,
(28:07):
and I live better than they do. So in this group,
i'm I'm by far the holiest. But then you start saying,
but you know that's not the standard. Do you realize
that there's not a human being on this.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Planet that is our standard? None? You can think about
the best person.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
You know a lot of times people have and rightfully
so when when I when I read the humility of
Charles Spurgeon, when he was asked how he felt and
if you've ever had a public platform, you will feel it.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
How do you feel? I can't.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
He didn't even have social media, and somehow he still
heard bad things that were being said about him.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Somebody asked him and said, how does it? How does
it feel when people say horrible things about you? Charles
s virgin He.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Said, I'm just grateful that I don't know how bad
I really am. So so even the person you think
is the best of the best, you don't know what
goes on in the times where they're by themselves. You
don't know the thoughts that come into their minds. You
don't know the things that get in their heart and
their falling state and that sanctification process and what God
(29:19):
is correcting. Job bone, as he said, Job you may
be blameless and upright compared to other people, but compared
to me, you're filthy. And Job said, when you reminded
me who you were, I started despising myself. I kind
(29:44):
of left the poor, poor, pitiful me and started thinking
I deserve worse than this. And I repent of my complaining,
repent of thinking you were aloof I repent for thinking
(30:05):
you had abandoned me. I repent for demanding that you
come into my courtroom and tell me what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
That's not the standard.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
And this is the problem that we run into when
we take our sins so lightly, because we think to
ourselves compared to some of these wicked people. I know
the things I do aren't a big deal, but you're
not sinning against other human beings. You can sin against me,
my goodness, I don't deserve to be treated well by
any of you, but you're not sinning against me. I'm
(30:43):
not sinning against you, And I think we get that mindset.
I'm just going to get out there in the world
and I'm going to try to be a pretty decent
person compared to other people. Let me tell you the
world right now, the standard is really really low.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Okay, it's a week conference.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
But see what we don't need to forget, Like job, Oh,
I'm sinning against you, I'm sinning against perfection. I'm sinning
against holy, holy Holy, And when I think about that,
(31:26):
I despise myself and I'm so grateful for the mercy
that you're shown me.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I repent. Maybe it's time for all of us.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I've had things that I just got on my face
with the Lord through the difficulties that I've just been through,
and I was just like, Lord, you know, I repent
of getting comfortable. I repent of thinking I have arrived.
I repent for even the teaching and the speaking that
I do. I repent of it becoming routine. I repent
(32:05):
of me being able to pull it off even if
I'm unprepared. I repent of all this because I've stopped
being dependent on you completely, and I'm too many times
dependent on me.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Because of the way you made me.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
But no matter what gifts He's given us, they're only
here to glorify him. And for a moment that we
think we don't need him, that alone.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Is enough to consider ourselves do repentance.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
When was the last time you truly repented of your
sin and stopped taking it so lightly? And I'm saying
that to myself, not just to you, sin always matters.
And I started thinking about that even with this thing
now with you know, what happens to the unredeemed that
(33:08):
I won't pretend to understand all these things, but I
know what the Bible says.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
This is that once.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Again, where we tend to find God unreasonable, we tend
to decide that we're going to make him into something
we're more comfortable with. Can I give all of us
some advice today that I've had to give myself. Maybe
it's time for us to stop trying to make God
something we're more comfortable with, and get on our face
(33:37):
and repent and beg him to make us something he's
more comfortable with.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
I don't think he's in need of a pr agent.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
So what happens after this repent is what's God's response
to Job's repentance?
Speaker 2 (33:56):
He rebukes his friends.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Are we ready for the big question? Which I do
not have the answer to. I'm so sorry Alia, who
is never addressed. I don't know whether Sherry and I
talked about this, and I said, where are you on this?
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Wife?
Speaker 1 (34:12):
She said, well, apparently he didn't get rebuked, So maybe
he might have said some things that you know, he
could have said better. But I think the Lord has
discovered that though he may have said some things better,
he never said anything sinful. Because here's what he says
about the friends, and he doesn't say this about Ali who.
(34:32):
After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the
Lord said to Eliphaz the timnight, my anger burns against you,
by the way, that's not good news. My anger burns
against you and against your two friends. For you have
not this is it.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
This is key.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You have not spoken of me what is right, as
my servant Job has. Now, Wait a minute, there's times
I thought Joebe said things about God that got him
in trouble, And I think what we're seeing here is
Job was trying to figure it out and realize that
(35:11):
your theology was wrong. He was trying to figure it out,
and y'all kept coming in and doubling down on theology
about me that was incorrect.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
You wouldn't listen, you wouldn't have this discussion.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I was trying to show y'all that some of the
things y'all say about me, you've just made me some
kind of I go after the wicked and then I
bless the righteous, as if I'm not deeper than that.
When you can plainly look around, as Job pointed out,
and see that that's not true every time. Now, in
the end, that's all true but in the process of
(35:46):
working it out, I'm doing all kinds of things that
are much more complicated than what y'all said. Y'all kind
of dumb me down to something that was palatable and
something you could consume, and I'm angry about that.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
So here's the thing I want to ask.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
And we've asked this, by the way, if you're new
to our study, we've uncomfortably asked ourselves this question through
this entire study for one full almost a full year.
Who are we more like Job or his friends? You know,
because you know how we are, all of us are.
Even when you don't think you're arrogant, we always tend
to put ourselves well, I'm Job, blameless and upright, and
(36:27):
God is testing me so he can use me more.
And then all of a sudden, god'say, now you're actually
elaphast your bill dad, And I'm like, what you say
things about me that aren't right all the time, or
how about worse? You say things about me that are right,
but the way you live makes people think they get
confused because you said something about me that you're not
(36:49):
even living. That's another way of saying things about God
that aren't true, Confusing people by saying one thing and
living another.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
So he says to them, you said things about me
that were not right. Now, therefore, so we've seen God's holiness.
We certainly seen God's anger. But here comes God's mercy.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Now, therefore, take seven bulls in seven rams and go
to my servant job and offer up a burnt offering
for yourselves. And my servant job is going to pray
for you, for I will accept his prayer and not
deal with you according to your folly. Now this I
would have loved have been there for now they have
(37:36):
been wearing Job out. Okay, I mean wearing job out.
Job has finally repented to God. And can I tell
one of the things his repentance was that I left
out I want to go back to you know what?
He also included in this repentance to God the death
of his own opinions. That's worth writing down. I repent
(38:01):
and I am now dying to my own opinions. I'm
gonna worry about your opinion, and your opinion only my
opinions are now dead because they do not matter. So
the friends made false accusations. Okay, but this confrontation with
a God did reveal to him how sinful he was.
(38:26):
They didn't have it right, but God had it right.
But now we have a call for the friends to
repent for the way they treated Job. And I want
you to imagine you've been rough on somebody. I mean,
you've really been rough on somebody. And God stands here
and this guy you've been wearing out. He says, I
(38:48):
want y'all to go do a sacrifice, but it's up
to Job whether y'all get forgiven or not. He's gonna
pray for y'all and whatever he prays, that's what I'm
gonna do. How many of you wouldn't and being in
that position. But what Job does shows you. Remember way way, way,
way way way back in the first couple of chapters,
(39:09):
when the suffering first started and Job did not have
a typical reaction. Do you remember that, we said he
had a supernatural reaction, which showed his character. Now, over
the four months he started struggling, we can understand that,
but his initial reaction was correct and it was not normal.
Remember always be leary. We've talked this for ten years,
(39:32):
but let's do it again. Let's wrap it. Be real, real,
leery of giving yourself a pass by saying, well, I
know I probably shouldn't have this attitude or I shouldn't
behave this way, but this is a perfectly natural and
normal reaction. And that's what's wrong with it. That's what's
wrong with it. Don't ever give yourself a pass to
(39:55):
have the wrong response. Well, but Rick that my response
wouldn't great, but perfectly understandable, perfectly natural.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Well, that's what's wrong with it.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
What we're supposed to do is the power of the
Holy Spirit is supposed to give us the power to
respond in front of the world in a way that
isn't natural, isn't normal, and isn't expected. And that's what
Job did. Well, here he goes again, because I'm gonna
tell you what normal would be. Aha, I've been waiting.
(40:28):
I told y'all that if God showed up, he would
vindicate me and he would get on y'all. I've been
telling you about this. Well, I guess y'all heard from
God himself. I was right, y'all were wrong, and now
it's up to me whether God's gonna forgive y'all or not.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Well, isn't this convenient? Didn't this come together? But look
what Job does?
Speaker 1 (40:49):
So he says, for you have not spoken to me,
and what is right as my servant, Job passed, so
he doubles down on that. So Ela fast the temanite,
and build Dad the shoe height, and Zoe so far
Namathite went and did what the Lord had told them.
Let's give them credit for that. And the Lord accepted
(41:09):
Job's prayer. Well, if they were made right, then Job
prayed something that sounds very familiar, foreshadowing they didn't realize
what they were doing, and I asked that you forgive them,
(41:30):
accept their sacrifice.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
To their credit, they went and did exactly what God
said to do. So they seemed to be repenting as well.
And Job did not say it's too late God to
go ahead and punish them. Don't forgive them, don't accept
that sacrifice. What he said was accept their sacrifice, don't
hold it against them, which also tells us that Job
(41:55):
surely forgave them.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
That men he liked it. They may have never hung
out again.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
You know, some people think that that forgiveness means you
go right back and you're chumming around with the people
who've done you wrong and some sort of whatever. Doesn't
mean that what it means is you don't hold the
bitterness in your heart against them, and you don't withhold
forgiveness for them that Christ didn't withhold from us. It
does not mean that you pick back up on that
monthly lunch again and y'all start still keep going on
(42:22):
vacation together.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
It doesn't mean that.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Sometimes, you know, because sin always matters, Sometimes there's an
insult that says, I don't hold anything against you, I
just don't desire to be around you anymore. Now you
know I've said this before. Say somebody was stealing money
from you in a business deal or something. You find
it out, they confess, and you go to the Lord
and say forgive them for what they did and all that,
(42:44):
and the person comes back and says, so we still
continue in this relationship, and you're like, no, no, no, no,
I know I've forgiven you. I hope the Lord has
forgiven you, but I'm on need a little space before
I get into another business deal.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
We then probably won't do that again. That's not a forgiveness.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
It's probably just being smart, you know, are not putting
yourself in that situation again for them either. So so
in this case, I don't know that if they remain friends.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Whatever didn't tell us perfectly, okay, if they did.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
All I know is that Joe did not withhold forgiveness,
and he told God that he did.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
He wanted them to be forgiven.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
And I can honestly tell you this is one of
the areas that I have come a million miles thanks
to the power of sanctification. I can tell you that
I have finally learned that withholding forgiveness are being bitter
toward people that have wronged you in any way. It's
just what we said in here before. It's like drinking
poison thinking they're gonna die.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
I can honestly tell you that I do not withhold
forgiveness and I do not hold resentment. I may say
something to what I didn't really like that. Oh, by
the way, that wasn't true. Nothing wrong with all that,
But I don't have to be vindicated, and I certainly
don't wish bad things on other people because I know
what I deserve and I and I and I have
(44:04):
gotten to the point that I can honestly say to
even people i'm at odds with, I hope the Lord
continues to bless them. I hope that they continue to
move forward in their lives, and I wish them no
ill will. And that seems to be what Job is doing.
So what happens? What's what's God's response to the mercy
(44:25):
and and and and the fact that he gave them
a chance to atone for their sin. He did not
seek vindication. They did it, and Job's prayer was heard
and everybody was forgiven. And now we're moving forward to
the response of the Lord. Now the Lord restores Job's fortunes.
(44:48):
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he
had prayed for his friends. I'd underline that when he
had prayed for his friends.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Hmmm.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Kind of sounds like God was watching how he was
going to handle that too, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
And the Lord gave Job.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
Twice as much as he had before, So God's gonna
double it. And now hang on, got a big one coming.
Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and
all who had known him before, and ate bread with
him in his house. I don't have the answer for you,
but I'm going to notice something here. I don't see
his wife in here. Is it just assumed? Maybe had
(45:26):
she died the last time we heard from her. She
told Job to curse God and die. She was very,
very upset about what had happened, which we certainly understand.
But do we just do you see that? You know,
the Word of God says brothers and sisters. Now, that
(45:48):
could be siblings, It could be the people in the community,
because it said and all who had known him. So
I think that's a different category. So I assume those
are brothers and sisters of his and all who had
known him before and ate bread with him in his house,
and they showed him sympathy and comforted him.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
For all the evil, oh, that the Lord had brought
upon him. Well, well, well, what now?
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Be careful This word here we're using for evil does
not mean that God did something evil. Now there is
something we can't get away from here, though, which I've
been We've been talking about for a year. What that
evil means is all the horrible things that happened to Job.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
It does not mean that God anything.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
It really means disaster would be a better interpretation of that,
and that is one option. In the original Hebrew it says,
like you know, it was these things felt evil to
Job because they were hard. Disease and death of his
children and loss of everything. That what they're talking about is.
(46:56):
But here's what you got, don't We're not going to
shy away from this. They comfort him. What for all
the disaster that the Lord.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Had brought upon him? Who brought it? Well, the Lord,
he says, the Lord brought it on him.
Speaker 1 (47:13):
So the devil did it. But the Lord set up
the arrangement, and the Lord set the boundaries, and the
Lord allowed the devil to do what was done, and
the prayer was and they comforted him. They said that
the Lord brought this upon him. Well, this kind of
(47:38):
gets in those semantics, doesn't it. Well, I'm okay with
the Lord allowing it, I'm not okay with the Lord
causing it. Well, I've actually shown you placing in scripture
where the Lord actually causes horrible things to happen to people,
to refine them as well, not just the wicked and
and law and whatever he does. We've learned through this
(48:00):
is right. The Lord brought the disasters in, either indirectly
or directly, because he could have kept all that from
happening to job right, So did y'all think that all
of a sudden the adversary just ran wild and God
couldn't do it. I don't know he got away from me.
He's completely under God's control the whole time. He's a pawn.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
In all this.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
God also knew Joe well enough to know what the
end result would be, and each of them gave him
a piece of money and a ring of gold. So
they're now donating to the cause, even though God's got
that handled. Interesting that the human beings begin, it's almost
like it's a wonderful life, isn't it. It's almost like
Job right now is George Bailey, and everybody's bringing in
(48:46):
the money and trying to restore him and all this.
And look later, twelve latter days, and the Lord blessed
the latter days of Job more than his beginning. Well,
how about it, old fellows. That feels pretty good, doesn't it.
The latter days for Job were better than the beginning.
And we think Joe was somewhere around seventy right here,
(49:06):
and we'll get into that here in just a minute.
And he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels. These
are all double numbers from what he had to begin with,
one thousand yoke of auction and one thousand female donkeys.
If you go back to the beginning, that's a doubling
of all of that. He also, now here's where it
gets real interesting. He also has seven sons and three daughters.
(49:30):
Well wait a minute, that's just ten. He's doubling everything.
But Joe had ten children that were killed. Why is
he only getting ten? Shouldn't it be twenty? What is twenty?
Because he still has the original ten. These are not animals,
(49:56):
these are his human children. They're not with him on earth,
but he still has them, all ten of them from
what we can gather. So when you see the doubling
of livestock, the doubling of everything, and you get to
the children and you only see ten, not twenty, this
(50:17):
ten now makes twenty. I hope for those of you
like me that have children that have gone on ahead
of you, I hope that's comforting.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
Even when David said to the baby that.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
God actually caused to be ill and brought that child
to him, David said that the child would not come
back to him on earth, but he would go to
the child.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
The child's still there.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
And so we see here that this is an indication
all ten of them are also with job in eternity.
But isn't this interesting that the daughters we get their names?
And he called the name of the first daughter looks
like it's a Gemma Jimia. And the name of the
(51:02):
second one is Keziah. And the name of the third
is it almost so such it's a it's a Karen,
but it's not. It's Korene. And then I'm not sure
how to pronounce that hah pooch or something.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
Look at this, look at fifteen and in all the land,
there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. So
he gave him three more daughters. And he said, I'm
not even gonna make him ugly. You've been through enough.
And uh, of course, I don't know if any of you.
Sometimes beautiful daughters can bring even more trouble. So so anyway,
(51:38):
but but no, I you know that no one really
knows why God wanted to be sure that we knew that.
But we get the names of the daughters, not the sons. Uh,
and it and and it says that you know they're
they're they're not just beautiful. But notice what happens next.
And this was not part of the normal culture by
(51:58):
the way, and their father gave them an inheritance among
their brothers.
Speaker 2 (52:04):
That was not done. The daughters never got an inheritance.
Speaker 1 (52:07):
They had to go marry with somebody in order to
have wealth, and then obviously they'd be worth something that
he would even give to the son's family the value,
you know, to go with his daughter. But these daughters,
arrangement was made that they would have an inheritance just
like their brothers. So you see, God just continues to
(52:28):
take care of everything and just continues to heap on
top of all of this. Sixteen and after this, Job
lived one hundred and forty years. Now they thought he
was around seventy. And the commentators are saying, are we
saying that there was another one hundred and forty years
or is it saying that he lived one hundred and
(52:49):
forty total, we doubled another seventy For it likely that's
it because he's doubling everything, and he saw his sons
and his sons sons four generations, and Job died an
old man and full of days. So sometimes when you
see going that far, that may lend itself that was
(53:11):
actually another one hundred and forty as well, whatever the
case may be. We know that he lived a very
long time, and does anybody, especially if you've been with
us on another Bible study we did. Who else did
we hear that they died an old man and full
of days? Abraham?
Speaker 2 (53:31):
Yeah, same exact phrase.
Speaker 1 (53:35):
So job's in the company of Abraham that God decided
that the latter days will be better than the beginning days.
And that when you see what it says when you
see this phrase, because we researched this member back in
our study of Gymesis in Genesis, full of days is
(53:55):
an indicator that he never lost his mind, he never
had to minsia, he never had Alzheimer's. He was as
sharp on the day that he died as he was
when he was a young man. Can you imagine that blessing?
Raise your handfe you like that with my hands up.
Speaker 2 (54:14):
I mean, can you.
Speaker 1 (54:15):
Imagine that that you're sitting there, living over one hundred
and something years and you're not losing a step, You're
not losing your mind, you're sharp and full of days.
That younger people y'all don't know what a blessing that is.
That's a big deal, because I know right now you
(54:36):
think you'll feel the way you feel for the rest
of your life. You won't if you live long enough,
but take care of yourself, you'll be glad you did.
So what's what's the final takeaway as we as we
finish up this provocative study of Job. Well, there's one
theme that ran the entire gamut of this, and that
(54:59):
is that God knew that he could trust Job because
he knew the outcome, while at the same time allowing
choices to be made. And I know that this is
tension that the Church has argued about forever. I don't
get involved in that argument because I know Scripture tells
me that God is all knowing. Scripture tells me that
(55:20):
God is sovereign. And throughout Scripture, I see God allowing
people to make decisions and choices that he already knows
what choice you're gonna make.
Speaker 2 (55:30):
Can I grasp that not fully? Do?
Speaker 1 (55:34):
I believe it and trust it by faith? Absolutely good
enough for me. Whatever God says about himself, I'm fine
with that, And I think my mind would probably explode
if he said, well today, I'll tell you exactly how
this works.
Speaker 2 (55:47):
I know my finite mind my brain could not take that.
Speaker 1 (55:50):
So I think we find out in this that God
is very serious about sin. I think that one of
the things that we need to learn because all this
is a foreshadowing of Jesus. I think once again we're
learning that the best of us is still wretched and
(56:12):
filthy rags, as scripture tells us before a holy, holy God.
I think we have to be very careful to pretend
that God is just, you know, a really really advanced
version of us. We got to be real careful when
the created begins to think that we have some kind
of standing with the Creator, that we can stand in
(56:36):
his presence.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
And make a case for ourselves.
Speaker 1 (56:40):
And I'll tell you the one thing that I have
learned loud and clear is don't question God. Don't don't
think he owes you an explanation, and be real careful
if you start asking him to reveal himself to you
and give you his resume, because he just might.
Speaker 2 (57:01):
He just might.
Speaker 1 (57:03):
And we also see the beauty that if we are
willing to repent. And what does repent mean? I don't
want you to lose this. I hope you underline verse six.
Repentance is despising yourself and despising your sin. You've heard
it said before. It's not thinking less of yourself as
(57:25):
far as your value is. Just thinking about yourself less
and understand that none of us have standing before a
holy God without Jesus.
Speaker 2 (57:37):
Boy, we need Jesus.
Speaker 1 (57:41):
We desperately need Jesus because we bring nothing to the table,
nothing but the beautiful thing is is here's this God
that could have said so easily to job. I taught
you the lesson. You finally learned it. Now get on
back to the rest of your life. He said, you
know what I'm gonna I'm going to show your friends
(58:04):
that you did. We're not hiding some secret sin from me.
I'm going to forgive them as well, and I'm going
to restore all these things to you, including I'm going
to give you ten more children. We still we don't
know whether this these ten children with another wife or
whether it was the same wife, because we're not We
don't get.
Speaker 2 (58:23):
An explanation on that. We don't get an explanation on
the Lihu. So that'd be.
Speaker 1 (58:27):
Something we can look forward to in heaven. You know,
whenever we run him down, we'll say, so, what was
the deal? Because I'm not going to ask God about it,
because I've already learned not to do that, But I'm
going to ask you about it. Why did God let
you leave? Did you did you wonder off and they
didn't ask you to come back? Did you get bored
during the resume? I mean, were you there?
Speaker 2 (58:45):
We don't know? And how about this?
Speaker 1 (58:48):
Why in the world doesn't God want us to know
what happened to Liehu. I don't know, but I'm not
about to question the moment. You know what good enough
for me? And so I would ask all of us
the question, what is our takeaway from this? Because can
I tell you what I have learned throughout life? Go
ahead and learn these lessons that other people had to learn,
(59:09):
so you don't have to learn them the same way.
Accept this, and maybe today, if we don't take anything
else away, maybe today we need to say to God,
compared to other people, I thought I looked pretty good,
but today I was reminded that compared to you, I
(59:32):
need to repent whatever it is. Repent because if we
were willing to repent, turn from our sin, despise our sin,
hate our sin, and see sin the way God sees it,
he will forgive us. He will make things right, He
(59:56):
will restore us to him Because the wrath. It needs
to be poured down. All of us has already been
poured out on Jesus. But we got to make sure
that we don't have some sort of elevated view of
ourselves that for some reason, Jesus's sacrifice wasn't necessary because
(01:00:19):
I'm so wonderful. God's going to love me just like
I am compared to other people, maybe compared to God.
We're in desperate need for grace and mercy, and we're
in desperate need for Jesus to make us more like God,
because that's the standard. Let's pray, Lord, thank you for today,
(01:00:43):
thank you for the grace of mercy you've shown us all.
We worship who you are and your holy name. We
pray Amen. Next week we'll do a standalone message and
then we'll get into a new series in twenty twenty
six
Welcome into the Wednesday Bible Study. My name is Rick Burgess.
In case we have not met a host of the
Rick Burgess Show. That is my day job. I do
that Monday through Friday for about well about twenty five
hours during the week. So if you want to find
out more about that and you can go to the
Rick burgesshow dot com. It's a much different experience than this,
(00:22):
even though we certainly don't shy away from this. Somebody
asked me one time. They're saying, well, you do a
radio show. Of course, now that means radio, podcasts, apps,
streaming apps, YouTube, all these things.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We do.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Content providers is what we are now. But I was
a kid who always wanted to be on the radio.
And then somebody said, well, so you do Christian radio,
And I said, well, no, I'm a Christian who does radio.
So do we deal with a biblical worldview? We do,
but completely secular show.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I hate that.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Word, but you understand what I mean, and it's heard
on various radio stations and various platforms. We try to
kind of take the notion that our Lord and Savior
told us to go to not be of the world,
but we are to go into the world. And is
that an easy line. It isn't And do we always
get it right? No, But as our intention to go
(01:17):
in and be followers of Christ and to earn the
right through entertainment to then share the most important news
of all time, that's what we do.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So I just want you to know what you're getting into.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
If you go to the day job, there's not as
much of this, and there's a lot more goofiness, but
that sets up moments for this, just like so many
people that found this Wednesday Bible study because they first
were people who listened to the show. So if you
want to find out about that, you can now. Also
we do men's ministry that this was part of a
men's strategy. It continues on a decade later, and then
(01:50):
about five years ago we started, you know, let's organize
all this and take it out to the rest of
the country and around the worldtrategy of high challenge nothing
new there, but then followed by high equipping and discipleship.
We provide the strategy, we provide the speakers, we provide
the curriculum, we provide individual resources for men. All that
(02:14):
you can find by going to Themanchurch dot Com. You
also can find archives of these Bible studies there using
the media button and there's about ten years worth of
Bible studies there, so if you desire to do that,
so go back and catch up on this series on
job or any of the past studies. If you would
like for us to come alongside your community or your
(02:35):
church and help you with a sustainable state strategy to
reach and disciple men, we would love to help you
with that. And there's about twenty three hundred and something
churches around the country and even in our parts of
the world that are doing our strategy, and we'd love
to help you if there's any way we could some notes.
(02:56):
We have conferences that we do as well, which can
kind of get you into our strategy. We have two
of those coming up next year in January. It's a great,
great I mean, it's so much more impactful than a
pair of socks to get someone, you know, some tickets
to these conferences because it literally could have eternal consequences.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
We are selling out.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
If you'd like to go find out how to get
those tickets great gift ideas at Themanchurch dot com. Also,
you can get a sign copy up until December the sixteenth,
of the newest resource that we put out as far
as a book called Men Don't Run in the Rain.
It's a book that I wrote about my earthly father
and how many times he reflected my heavenly father. And
(03:38):
if you would like to get that book, it's available
anywhere you get books. But if you want to sign copy,
use our link there at the Manchurch dot com. We
are finishing the provocative.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Book of job.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Wow, what a year we have gone through every single
word and today is the big moment.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
What has this all been about.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Let's jump into that and spend some time applying it
to our own lives today.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Let's open first in a word of prayer. Lord, thank
you for.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Today, help us, help us to take everything away from
this you intend, Lord, Here's what I want to pray against.
And I'm, you know, being someone who can sometimes be
easily distracted during these final moments of this book to
this all important lesson today. I pray against distractions. I
pray against wondering minds. I pray against a teacher like
(04:36):
me that is flawed and at times is not you know,
rambles and chases rabbits. Let me be clear, help me
to communicate clearly the message that comes from your power
through the discernment of the Holy Spirit as we open
your spirit inspired word that you've allowed us to learn
as much as we can comprehend about you.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
But we need your help. So be with us today,
and your name we pray Amen.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
So this is really what it's all about. We get
down to the end. We know that Job was considered
at the beginning of this to be a man living
in the world compared to the world in which he lived.
He was called blameless and upright. You can go back
to chapter one and find that out. But then we
also discovered some things that might have made us uncomfortable,
(05:25):
and that was that there appears to be a conversation
between the one and only living God, who is holy, holy, Holy,
and one of his created beings, Lucifer, that rebelled against him,
was cast out of heaven down to earth, lives in
rebellion against God and all who are with him, and
(05:47):
this loving, merciful, gracious God who is also holy, just
wrath he seems to I'm just saying that, I don't
know why. I guess maybe even I am a little
bit afraid to say what's really happening here? It is
obvious is a better way to say it. That he
brings Job to the attention of the accuser, Satan himself,
(06:12):
the devil, our adversary, and God says, what do you
think about this guy? And Satan says, impressive, But I'm
not overly impressed because you bless him so much. I'd
love you too, But if you took away the blessings
and you allowed me to go after him, he would
turn on you. And the Lord God Almighty allowed it
(06:35):
and even started this conversation, and Job went on to
a miserable existence. We don't know how long it's gone on.
We we think somewhere around four months. He's had friends
come on the scene. They have not been overly helpful.
They keep telling him that there's something he's done wrong.
(06:55):
Certainly he's not sinless, but he was blameless. Meaning there's
nothing in my life that I have not got right
with God. So why in the world would God allow
this to go on? That's been the big question, hasn't it?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Well?
Speaker 1 (07:08):
As my beautiful wife that I love so much, when
she felt called to write a book about God, certainly
not replacing the scriptures, but the book is full of
the scriptures. She just went to find out what God
has said about himself when it comes to suffering and
difficulty and pain, and she discovered, as we all have
(07:32):
in this, that God has not been silent on this
and today I would go as far as to say
God explains himself as best as we can understand. Now,
you may not like what God's conclusion is, but I
would suggest that we adhere to it. And there's a
little lesson that's being taught to here. I see this
(07:53):
going on even in as we're recording this and doing
this live. It's happening right now. I just left a
conversation a few moments ago. Something else that we do
is another standalone podcast called Strange Encounters. It's just a
podcast about spiritual warfare, angels and demons, of what scripture
has to say about these things. And one of the
(08:14):
things we'll take on this week is someone who I
have great respect for, and I certainly am not going
to do anything other than say I'm concerned as his
brother in Christ, and that's Kirk Cameron. Watching the conversation
that's going on and the considerations, and that's all it
is right now with Kirk Cameron is that he's having
(08:35):
a hard time with God's wrath. And the thing that
bothers me is as I watch he and one of
his sons to discuss this, I think he has multiple children.
It is his son. I don't know if he has
more than one son or not. I'm just assuming, but
he's talking to his son and they're carrying on. The
problem they have in this latest podcast is that they
(08:59):
begin to talk to God like he's one of us,
Like like he's just a really super version of us.
The gap between us and God is enormous, Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
The way and and and all of it is that
this this notion again of not taking sin serious, uh,
and and not understanding and the thing they're arguing about,
he's starting to drift a little bit where he doesn't
believe in and you know, a conscious eternal punishment. He's
starting to go over to the annihilation theory that God
(09:36):
just kills you. He wouldn't just let you go on
and suffer for eternity and and and all of that,
because I mean that that just seems to not be
very nice, and it doesn't seem like his character of
mercy and grace and love. Of course, then you're conveniently
leaving out that that the part of his character that
is just as strong and just is part much a
part of him is his wrath and his judgment and
his holiness.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
And that's what we're gonna learn today. And and I'm.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Not gonna that's another conversation. I guess that's a good
way to promote the other podcast. Go catch the next edition.
I had a blast last week on that one involving
the six seven thing that kids are doing.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Well, that's going well. People just love that.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So anyway, we'll go catch that one if you haven't
seen it. But anyway, let's start with verses one through six.
This is what we're gonna hear. Job's now he's heard
God's entire resume. We just talked about Leviathon last week
and all the theories involving that. I have an ESV Bible.
It's the one I prefer as a study Bible. I'm
(10:37):
not saying it's the only English translation you should use.
I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that
it is my favorite when I'm studying the Bible because
of how literal it attempts to be as best it
can with the limitations of our English language. But my
title that I see in the final chapter of Job
says Job's confession. And here's the key key word, repentance. Now,
(11:01):
why in the world is Job repenting? What's he got
to repent of? I thought he was blameless and upright
well to stay with me. So so so God has
finished the resume and Job's finally saying I got it.
Remember remember he tried to stop this resume a little
while ago, and he said he regretted what he had
said about God. He regretted, Well, regretting your sin and
(11:25):
repenting of your sin, that's not the same thing. So
God says, I will now continue. The regret is not
what I'm looking for. I'm looking for you to repent.
I'm looking for you to realize where you stand compared
to me. So, which has been the whole reason this
resume has been given. Let me remind you who I am,
(11:46):
because apparently you've forgotten. I'm not just one of you.
I'm not an impressive human. Okay, I am the creator
of all things. Nothing exists before or me, you ever,
you ever just wrapped your mind around that I'm the beginning. Yeah,
but yeah, but what where where did you come from?
(12:08):
Everything comes from me. I didn't come from anybody or anything.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I am.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I have always been. That'll be a mind blower today.
But Job answers the Lord, I wouldn't. I wouldn't let
that go. So Job is calling him yahweh. Then Job
answered the Lord, uh and uh, and he says this,
which is something he These are the concluding words of Job.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
About half these quotations.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
We're about to unpack their quotations from what God has
already said about himself.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Job's now agreeing with all this.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Uh. It's important, uh that that Job is not gonna
confess anywhere in here some overt sin, because you know,
remember Eliphaz has accused him of that that what is
this sin? You're not infesting. Job doesn't do that, and
so he's not gonna be talking about that. He's also
(13:07):
not going to confess of any covert sin. So no
overt sin, as Lafaz was looking for, no covert sin
that Bill Dad was looking for.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
The text.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
As a matter of fact, I hate to tell you this.
If you're looking for it, it does not specify what
Job is actually repenting of.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So just know that. But I'm going to give you
a hint that that's not really important.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
But you know how we are as people because what
we want to if job was in our church, I
got to know the dirty details so I can pray
for you, you know.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
What I mean. So I went through that just recently.
I just went through this recently.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I had everybody praying for something that I was dealing with,
and you wouldn't believe the number of people that were
starting to get agitated with me.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Well, I need you to tell me what it is,
and I said, it's not my story to tell.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And uh, well, I could really pray for you if
you just go aea and tell me exactly what's going on.
And I'm like, I think we're leaving praying and we're
wanting to gossip. Now you really want to know? And
I was guilty of as anybody. I mean, you know
when I hear something like, I'm like, wow, I wonder
what happened. And then when somebody says it's not important
when happened? Do you love me enough to pray for
me and distrust that. I'm not withholding anything from you
(14:23):
out of my own pride. I'm withholding it because that
is the situation I'm in right now, I would be
violating something to give any more information. Well, let's face it,
we are going job, but I just wish you'd tell
us what you did. Well, you know, he's saying I
didn't really do any specific thing. Hang on to that
because that's important. So we're not going to see that.
(14:44):
But it does seem obvious. The God of the universe
and the creator of all creatures is greater, more grand higher,
and wiser than any mortal can imagine.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Much less challenge. We have no standing.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
You know, you hear people sometimes say, you know, God's
not afraid of your questions. Well, I know he's not
afraid of them, but that doesn't mean he's not angered
by them.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Okay, that's different.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
He's not afraid of your questions let it rip and yeah,
but I never thought he was afraid of them.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
What I do want to know is he angered by them.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
By my lack of faith, by my fear that he
told me not to have my anxiety that he said,
you know, when you get to the point where you
realize I'm not talking about things that involving health and
things you can't control. I'm talking about when you're perfectly
healthy and your mind and your brain's working perfectly right
and we're in our right standing. I don't know whether
(15:59):
you've done've done this before, because I went through it
not long ago.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
I'd never really experienced anxiety.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I really had never. I rememberh people would say that
to me. I'm like, I don't even know what you're
talking about. And of course, you know, somewhere in my dad,
if he can speak from heaven, would say, yeah, the
one thing that would never struggle with was anxiety. And
he said, I'd like to see him care a little
more about anything, and uh. And so I was a
bit of a free spirit, and so I was always
(16:26):
perplexed when somebody said, well, I'm just.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Anxious about something.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
I'm like, really, I mean like like I'm I'm almost like,
I'm almost stymied by how anxious I am. And I'm like,
I can't understand. Then all of a sudden, of course,
God lets you experience some of that. And I remember
I went through a time where I was I was,
I was, I was almost paralyzed by anxiety a few times,
and it was and I didn't even know why. I
didn't even know what I was anxious about. And I
(16:49):
guess it was one of these many things with aging
and and and I'm and I repented of it. And
because I began to read Scripture, and I realized that
my anxiety was sinful, my worrying about things were sinful,
especially when I couldn't eve identify what I was worried about.
And uh and I realized that I was I was
moving out of step with God a little bit.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Now.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
I'm not saying that if you're worried about something, whatever
you're you're not right with God. I'm just telling you.
The Scripture tells us that the answer to our worries,
in our and being anxious.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
It is Him.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
And we're even told to think of things differently than
what you're thinking of right now. So uh so, now
we've got God hearing from job really a repeat of
what he's.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Already said about himself Verse two.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
I know that you can do all things and that
no purpose of yours can be thwarted. I understand God
what you said about yourself. And uh he's he knows
now that no plan of God in the future can
be stopped. And it's more than he's just acknowledging. You
(17:57):
know what God has said in the past past have
you got your if you got your Bible, and you
can flip real quick go to Daniel Daniel chapter four.
Now we do know, I mean, I'm not comparing job
to Nebuconezzer. We know Nebuconzzer had problems, and we know
that nebuc and Azer was really really arrogant and prideful
(18:18):
and thought that all the things he'd accomplished, he did
it not God, and God laid him low. But when
he was restored, and that's what's happening in Daniel four.
After God let him live like he was a beast
for seven years. Seven years. Hey, let me say you
seven years. You don't think he could have turned me
around in seven days if I'm eating grass and laying
(18:40):
out and sleeping on the ground and thinking that I'm
some kind of livestock, which by the way, is a
mental illness when you think you're an animal. And it
appears that God put that on nebucon Azer, no doubt
about that. So nebucan Azer has been restored because he
came to himself.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
And if you will look, uh.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Look at look at four thirty five, all the inhabitants
of the earth are accounted as nothing and he does
according to his will among the host of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand and say to him, what have you done?
(19:20):
Nebu said, I've learned that he does whatever he wants,
and I got no standing. And Nebucan was a pretty
influential dude and was considered to be one of the
most wealthy, most powerful men in the world at the time.
And he said, I have no standing against God, and
I have no right to question him and ask him
(19:42):
to explain to me what he's doing. So, because I
think sometimes we got to be careful to say, Lord,
would you show me some answers? Would you reveal to
me what you're doing? Nothing wrong with that. I've done
it even my life to a degree, did that in
writing this book. I want to know everything about you.
(20:04):
You'll tell me any why you can answer, I'll take it.
That's one thing. It's quite another to say I demand answers.
I demand that you tell me what you're doing. I
demand that you explain yourself right now now. I'd be
real careful with that. That goes back to the he
ain't afraid of your questions and your demands, but it
(20:26):
doesn't mean he's not angry by them, and honestly he's
anger by the way Job has acted in some of
this by questioning him.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So now we go to verse three.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And he says, who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand? Things
too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Now Job says, oh, by the way, when you came
out of that storm back in chapter thirty eight, verse two,
and your first words to me was who is questioning me?
I was guilty as charged? And that's important to hang
on to this. I'm guilty as charged. He had spoken
out of ignorance. He acknowledge of that. He said, I
spoke about things beyond my ability to understand them. And
(21:14):
I want you to think about this. This is a
charge that God leveled against Job. And one of the
things I took away from studying this when I hear
these words, I have uttered what I did not understand.
Who am I to try to give counsel to God?
Who am I to these things because of you were
(21:35):
too wonderful for me?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Think about that.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
He did say, they're too horrible, they were too wonderful
for me. I just didn't know I was ignorant when
I made these charges against you. You know what, I
believe that the entire world.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Would be guilty of this indictment.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
I know I would. I certainly would. There have been
times I would be guilty of that indictment.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Verse four. Another quote from God.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
This is back from thirty eight to three, and God
again in chapter forty, verse seven. Here he is regurgitating
it back here, and I will speak, I will question you,
and you make it known to me that this is
him doing the quote God said. It's not him questioning
God again. What he's saying is I remember saying that.
(22:21):
I remember you saying to me, Hey, I'll tell you
what I'll be. I'll be asking the questions now you
won't be asking me any questions. I acknowledge that that's
what you did, and you were gonna make it known
to me. And look at look at five. I had
heard of you, and this is the big eie. I
have heard of you before this day, and before I
(22:42):
went through everything I went through, I had heard of you.
By the hearing of my ear. People taught me about you.
I had learned about you. I thought I had it,
I had heard with my ears. But now and understand
now because I want to talk about what now is.
But but now my eyes see you. What's the now?
Speaker 2 (23:05):
I know? We don't like it. I was limited to
what I could know about you until you caused me
to suffer, until you took everything away from me. Then
and only then I finally saw you with my eyes.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
It took the suffering for Job to get to the
point that he asked for the resume of God, and
God gave it to it.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Everybody okay with that?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
So until I suffered, I was limited to what I
could know about you. It kind of makes you see
suffering in a different way, doesn't it. Look you've heard
me talk about this, and I've gone through some suffering
again recently. There's nothing quite like it. I don't like it.
(24:01):
It's not enjoyable. I don't ask for it, but unfortunately
I need it because it strains me out every time.
And you go, what, you got some big thing you
need to be straightened out about. No, but I got
a lot of little things I need to be straightened
out about. And they anger God just as much as
(24:24):
the biggies, because he wants me to be completely right
with him. He wants me completely submissive to him. He
wants me completely in line with him. And what he
does if I start getting out of the trail a
little bit? What the Lord is my shepherd? And what
is he hearing with him? Your staff and your rod
(24:44):
they comfort me, and you go well, and that Rick
the twenty third time, it's just talking about that. That staff
and the rod means that Jesus the shepherd, our Lord
keeps all the predators from us. It does serve that purpose.
But that ain't all that staff as used for. It's
not all the rods used for. It also keeps the
sheep in line and gets in the back where they're
supposed to be. And so that's part of it. And
(25:10):
what does he say, what do we say about this
perfect shepherd? I don't want for anything. I sleep under
the peace of your observation. You lay me down in
places that are RESTful and peaceful. I have found that
when I'm right with God there I am at a
peaceful deal. But when I'm kind of trying to do
it my own way, or I tell him hey today
i'm good, it's not very peaceful at all. And so
(25:34):
he says now after the suffering, which means before the suffering,
he did not see him as clearly now my eyes
see you, and here come here it comes verse six.
And so when I finally see you for who you are,
not who I tried to make you, everybody listen, because
we're all guilty of this as follow human beings. When
(25:57):
I finally saw you as you you actually are, not
the version I created, that made me a little more comfortable.
You know, we all tend to create a version of
the one and only living God, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. You know, we're so uncomfortable with
who God really is. Even our Western denominations pick part
(26:18):
of the try you and God that's their favorite. You
got denominations where the Holy Spirit is everything. You got
a denomination that the Father is everything. And you got
denominations where it's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus the Son, the Son,
the Son. We don't want to hear about the Holy Spirit,
and we don't want to be reverend about the Father.
(26:38):
But you know what God says, But I'm Father's Son
and Holy Spirit, I am a try you in God,
you can't pick a favorite. And you know what he says,
he says, you know what, when I realize this about
you and how holy you are, a man that was
(27:01):
called blameless and upright compared to the rest of the
world in.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
Which he lived, I despise myself.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
And I repent underlying that three times and dust and ashes.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
What in the world is job repenting of? Well?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Because he was called blameless and upright. I think what
we have to understand and we better be careful with this.
I can go find me some places to stay, and
I can run in groups where I look pretty good,
not as bad as them. I used to be that
person for most people. Spend time with Rick, you'll feel
(27:47):
better about yourself. But what we tend to do is
what we tend to do is we tend to, using
a sports analogy, find the weakest conference we can find
so we can become for his champions. I'm I'm around
people that I know more than they do about God,
(28:07):
and I live better than they do. So in this group,
i'm I'm by far the holiest. But then you start saying,
but you know that's not the standard. Do you realize
that there's not a human being on this.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Planet that is our standard? None? You can think about
the best person.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
You know a lot of times people have and rightfully
so when when I when I read the humility of
Charles Spurgeon, when he was asked how he felt and
if you've ever had a public platform, you will feel it.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
How do you feel? I can't.
Speaker 1 (28:43):
He didn't even have social media, and somehow he still
heard bad things that were being said about him.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Somebody asked him and said, how does it? How does
it feel when people say horrible things about you? Charles
s virgin He.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Said, I'm just grateful that I don't know how bad
I really am. So so even the person you think
is the best of the best, you don't know what
goes on in the times where they're by themselves. You
don't know the thoughts that come into their minds. You
don't know the things that get in their heart and
their falling state and that sanctification process and what God
(29:19):
is correcting. Job bone, as he said, Job you may
be blameless and upright compared to other people, but compared
to me, you're filthy. And Job said, when you reminded
me who you were, I started despising myself. I kind
(29:44):
of left the poor, poor, pitiful me and started thinking
I deserve worse than this. And I repent of my complaining,
repent of thinking you were aloof I repent for thinking
(30:05):
you had abandoned me. I repent for demanding that you
come into my courtroom and tell me what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
That's not the standard.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
And this is the problem that we run into when
we take our sins so lightly, because we think to
ourselves compared to some of these wicked people. I know
the things I do aren't a big deal, but you're
not sinning against other human beings. You can sin against me,
my goodness, I don't deserve to be treated well by
any of you, but you're not sinning against me. I'm
(30:43):
not sinning against you, And I think we get that mindset.
I'm just going to get out there in the world
and I'm going to try to be a pretty decent
person compared to other people. Let me tell you the
world right now, the standard is really really low.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Okay, it's a week conference.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
But see what we don't need to forget, Like job, Oh,
I'm sinning against you, I'm sinning against perfection. I'm sinning
against holy, holy Holy, And when I think about that,
(31:26):
I despise myself and I'm so grateful for the mercy
that you're shown me.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I repent. Maybe it's time for all of us.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
I've had things that I just got on my face
with the Lord through the difficulties that I've just been through,
and I was just like, Lord, you know, I repent
of getting comfortable. I repent of thinking I have arrived.
I repent for even the teaching and the speaking that
I do. I repent of it becoming routine. I repent
(32:05):
of me being able to pull it off even if
I'm unprepared. I repent of all this because I've stopped
being dependent on you completely, and I'm too many times
dependent on me.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Because of the way you made me.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
But no matter what gifts He's given us, they're only
here to glorify him. And for a moment that we
think we don't need him, that alone.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Is enough to consider ourselves do repentance.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
When was the last time you truly repented of your
sin and stopped taking it so lightly? And I'm saying
that to myself, not just to you, sin always matters.
And I started thinking about that even with this thing
now with you know, what happens to the unredeemed that
(33:08):
I won't pretend to understand all these things, but I
know what the Bible says.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
This is that once.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
Again, where we tend to find God unreasonable, we tend
to decide that we're going to make him into something
we're more comfortable with. Can I give all of us
some advice today that I've had to give myself. Maybe
it's time for us to stop trying to make God
something we're more comfortable with, and get on our face
(33:37):
and repent and beg him to make us something he's
more comfortable with.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
I don't think he's in need of a pr agent.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
So what happens after this repent is what's God's response
to Job's repentance?
Speaker 2 (33:56):
He rebukes his friends.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Are we ready for the big question? Which I do
not have the answer to. I'm so sorry Alia, who
is never addressed. I don't know whether Sherry and I
talked about this, and I said, where are you on this?
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Wife?
Speaker 1 (34:12):
She said, well, apparently he didn't get rebuked, So maybe
he might have said some things that you know, he
could have said better. But I think the Lord has
discovered that though he may have said some things better,
he never said anything sinful. Because here's what he says
about the friends, and he doesn't say this about Ali who.
(34:32):
After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the
Lord said to Eliphaz the timnight, my anger burns against you,
by the way, that's not good news. My anger burns
against you and against your two friends. For you have
not this is it.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
This is key.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
You have not spoken of me what is right, as
my servant Job has. Now, Wait a minute, there's times
I thought Joebe said things about God that got him
in trouble, And I think what we're seeing here is
Job was trying to figure it out and realize that
(35:11):
your theology was wrong. He was trying to figure it out,
and y'all kept coming in and doubling down on theology
about me that was incorrect.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
You wouldn't listen, you wouldn't have this discussion.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
I was trying to show y'all that some of the
things y'all say about me, you've just made me some
kind of I go after the wicked and then I
bless the righteous, as if I'm not deeper than that.
When you can plainly look around, as Job pointed out,
and see that that's not true every time. Now, in
the end, that's all true but in the process of
(35:46):
working it out, I'm doing all kinds of things that
are much more complicated than what y'all said. Y'all kind
of dumb me down to something that was palatable and
something you could consume, and I'm angry about that.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
So here's the thing I want to ask.
Speaker 1 (36:02):
And we've asked this, by the way, if you're new
to our study, we've uncomfortably asked ourselves this question through
this entire study for one full almost a full year.
Who are we more like Job or his friends? You know,
because you know how we are, all of us are.
Even when you don't think you're arrogant, we always tend
to put ourselves well, I'm Job, blameless and upright, and
(36:27):
God is testing me so he can use me more.
And then all of a sudden, god'say, now you're actually
elaphast your bill dad, And I'm like, what you say
things about me that aren't right all the time, or
how about worse? You say things about me that are right,
but the way you live makes people think they get
confused because you said something about me that you're not
(36:49):
even living. That's another way of saying things about God
that aren't true, Confusing people by saying one thing and
living another.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
So he says to them, you said things about me
that were not right. Now, therefore, so we've seen God's holiness.
We certainly seen God's anger. But here comes God's mercy.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Now, therefore, take seven bulls in seven rams and go
to my servant job and offer up a burnt offering
for yourselves. And my servant job is going to pray
for you, for I will accept his prayer and not
deal with you according to your folly. Now this I
would have loved have been there for now they have
(37:36):
been wearing Job out. Okay, I mean wearing job out.
Job has finally repented to God. And can I tell
one of the things his repentance was that I left
out I want to go back to you know what?
He also included in this repentance to God the death
of his own opinions. That's worth writing down. I repent
(38:01):
and I am now dying to my own opinions. I'm
gonna worry about your opinion, and your opinion only my
opinions are now dead because they do not matter. So
the friends made false accusations. Okay, but this confrontation with
a God did reveal to him how sinful he was.
(38:26):
They didn't have it right, but God had it right.
But now we have a call for the friends to
repent for the way they treated Job. And I want
you to imagine you've been rough on somebody. I mean,
you've really been rough on somebody. And God stands here
and this guy you've been wearing out. He says, I
(38:48):
want y'all to go do a sacrifice, but it's up
to Job whether y'all get forgiven or not. He's gonna
pray for y'all and whatever he prays, that's what I'm
gonna do. How many of you wouldn't and being in
that position. But what Job does shows you. Remember way way, way,
way way way back in the first couple of chapters,
(39:09):
when the suffering first started and Job did not have
a typical reaction. Do you remember that, we said he
had a supernatural reaction, which showed his character. Now, over
the four months he started struggling, we can understand that,
but his initial reaction was correct and it was not normal.
Remember always be leary. We've talked this for ten years,
(39:32):
but let's do it again. Let's wrap it. Be real, real,
leery of giving yourself a pass by saying, well, I
know I probably shouldn't have this attitude or I shouldn't
behave this way, but this is a perfectly natural and
normal reaction. And that's what's wrong with it. That's what's
wrong with it. Don't ever give yourself a pass to
(39:55):
have the wrong response. Well, but Rick that my response
wouldn't great, but perfectly understandable, perfectly natural.
Speaker 2 (40:02):
Well, that's what's wrong with it.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
What we're supposed to do is the power of the
Holy Spirit is supposed to give us the power to
respond in front of the world in a way that
isn't natural, isn't normal, and isn't expected. And that's what
Job did. Well, here he goes again, because I'm gonna
tell you what normal would be. Aha, I've been waiting.
(40:28):
I told y'all that if God showed up, he would
vindicate me and he would get on y'all. I've been
telling you about this. Well, I guess y'all heard from
God himself. I was right, y'all were wrong, and now
it's up to me whether God's gonna forgive y'all or not.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
Well, isn't this convenient? Didn't this come together? But look
what Job does?
Speaker 1 (40:49):
So he says, for you have not spoken to me,
and what is right as my servant, Job passed, so
he doubles down on that. So Ela fast the temanite,
and build Dad the shoe height, and Zoe so far
Namathite went and did what the Lord had told them.
Let's give them credit for that. And the Lord accepted
(41:09):
Job's prayer. Well, if they were made right, then Job
prayed something that sounds very familiar, foreshadowing they didn't realize
what they were doing, and I asked that you forgive them,
(41:30):
accept their sacrifice.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Now.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
To their credit, they went and did exactly what God
said to do. So they seemed to be repenting as well.
And Job did not say it's too late God to
go ahead and punish them. Don't forgive them, don't accept
that sacrifice. What he said was accept their sacrifice, don't
hold it against them, which also tells us that Job
(41:55):
surely forgave them.
Speaker 2 (41:57):
That men he liked it. They may have never hung
out again.
Speaker 1 (42:00):
You know, some people think that that forgiveness means you
go right back and you're chumming around with the people
who've done you wrong and some sort of whatever. Doesn't
mean that what it means is you don't hold the
bitterness in your heart against them, and you don't withhold
forgiveness for them that Christ didn't withhold from us. It
does not mean that you pick back up on that
monthly lunch again and y'all start still keep going on
(42:22):
vacation together.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
It doesn't mean that.
Speaker 1 (42:24):
Sometimes, you know, because sin always matters, Sometimes there's an
insult that says, I don't hold anything against you, I
just don't desire to be around you anymore. Now you
know I've said this before. Say somebody was stealing money
from you in a business deal or something. You find
it out, they confess, and you go to the Lord
and say forgive them for what they did and all that,
(42:44):
and the person comes back and says, so we still
continue in this relationship, and you're like, no, no, no, no,
I know I've forgiven you. I hope the Lord has
forgiven you, but I'm on need a little space before
I get into another business deal.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
We then probably won't do that again. That's not a forgiveness.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
It's probably just being smart, you know, are not putting
yourself in that situation again for them either. So so
in this case, I don't know that if they remain friends.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
Whatever didn't tell us perfectly, okay, if they did.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
All I know is that Joe did not withhold forgiveness,
and he told God that he did.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
He wanted them to be forgiven.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
And I can honestly tell you this is one of
the areas that I have come a million miles thanks
to the power of sanctification. I can tell you that
I have finally learned that withholding forgiveness are being bitter
toward people that have wronged you in any way. It's
just what we said in here before. It's like drinking
poison thinking they're gonna die.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
I can honestly tell you that I do not withhold
forgiveness and I do not hold resentment. I may say
something to what I didn't really like that. Oh, by
the way, that wasn't true. Nothing wrong with all that,
But I don't have to be vindicated, and I certainly
don't wish bad things on other people because I know
what I deserve and I and I and I have
(44:04):
gotten to the point that I can honestly say to
even people i'm at odds with, I hope the Lord
continues to bless them. I hope that they continue to
move forward in their lives, and I wish them no
ill will. And that seems to be what Job is doing.
So what happens? What's what's God's response to the mercy
(44:25):
and and and and the fact that he gave them
a chance to atone for their sin. He did not
seek vindication. They did it, and Job's prayer was heard
and everybody was forgiven. And now we're moving forward to
the response of the Lord. Now the Lord restores Job's fortunes.
(44:48):
And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he
had prayed for his friends. I'd underline that when he
had prayed for his friends.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
Hmmm.
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Kind of sounds like God was watching how he was
going to handle that too, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
And the Lord gave Job.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
Twice as much as he had before, So God's gonna
double it. And now hang on, got a big one coming.
Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and
all who had known him before, and ate bread with
him in his house. I don't have the answer for you,
but I'm going to notice something here. I don't see
his wife in here. Is it just assumed? Maybe had
(45:26):
she died the last time we heard from her. She
told Job to curse God and die. She was very,
very upset about what had happened, which we certainly understand.
But do we just do you see that? You know,
the Word of God says brothers and sisters. Now, that
(45:48):
could be siblings, It could be the people in the community,
because it said and all who had known him. So
I think that's a different category. So I assume those
are brothers and sisters of his and all who had
known him before and ate bread with him in his house,
and they showed him sympathy and comforted him.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
For all the evil, oh, that the Lord had brought
upon him. Well, well, well, what now?
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Be careful This word here we're using for evil does
not mean that God did something evil. Now there is
something we can't get away from here, though, which I've
been We've been talking about for a year. What that
evil means is all the horrible things that happened to Job.
Speaker 2 (46:35):
It does not mean that God anything.
Speaker 1 (46:36):
It really means disaster would be a better interpretation of that,
and that is one option. In the original Hebrew it says,
like you know, it was these things felt evil to
Job because they were hard. Disease and death of his
children and loss of everything. That what they're talking about is.
(46:56):
But here's what you got, don't We're not going to
shy away from this. They comfort him. What for all
the disaster that the Lord.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Had brought upon him? Who brought it? Well, the Lord,
he says, the Lord brought it on him.
Speaker 1 (47:13):
So the devil did it. But the Lord set up
the arrangement, and the Lord set the boundaries, and the
Lord allowed the devil to do what was done, and
the prayer was and they comforted him. They said that
the Lord brought this upon him. Well, this kind of
(47:38):
gets in those semantics, doesn't it. Well, I'm okay with
the Lord allowing it, I'm not okay with the Lord
causing it. Well, I've actually shown you placing in scripture
where the Lord actually causes horrible things to happen to people,
to refine them as well, not just the wicked and
and law and whatever he does. We've learned through this
(48:00):
is right. The Lord brought the disasters in, either indirectly
or directly, because he could have kept all that from
happening to job right, So did y'all think that all
of a sudden the adversary just ran wild and God
couldn't do it. I don't know he got away from me.
He's completely under God's control the whole time. He's a pawn.
Speaker 2 (48:23):
In all this.
Speaker 1 (48:25):
God also knew Joe well enough to know what the
end result would be, and each of them gave him
a piece of money and a ring of gold. So
they're now donating to the cause, even though God's got
that handled. Interesting that the human beings begin, it's almost
like it's a wonderful life, isn't it. It's almost like
Job right now is George Bailey, and everybody's bringing in
(48:46):
the money and trying to restore him and all this.
And look later, twelve latter days, and the Lord blessed
the latter days of Job more than his beginning. Well,
how about it, old fellows. That feels pretty good, doesn't it.
The latter days for Job were better than the beginning.
And we think Joe was somewhere around seventy right here,
(49:06):
and we'll get into that here in just a minute.
And he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels. These
are all double numbers from what he had to begin with,
one thousand yoke of auction and one thousand female donkeys.
If you go back to the beginning, that's a doubling
of all of that. He also, now here's where it
gets real interesting. He also has seven sons and three daughters.
(49:30):
Well wait a minute, that's just ten. He's doubling everything.
But Joe had ten children that were killed. Why is
he only getting ten? Shouldn't it be twenty? What is twenty?
Because he still has the original ten. These are not animals,
(49:56):
these are his human children. They're not with him on earth,
but he still has them, all ten of them from
what we can gather. So when you see the doubling
of livestock, the doubling of everything, and you get to
the children and you only see ten, not twenty, this
(50:17):
ten now makes twenty. I hope for those of you
like me that have children that have gone on ahead
of you, I hope that's comforting.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
Even when David said to the baby that.
Speaker 1 (50:30):
God actually caused to be ill and brought that child
to him, David said that the child would not come
back to him on earth, but he would go to
the child.
Speaker 2 (50:39):
The child's still there.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
And so we see here that this is an indication
all ten of them are also with job in eternity.
But isn't this interesting that the daughters we get their names?
And he called the name of the first daughter looks
like it's a Gemma Jimia. And the name of the
(51:02):
second one is Keziah. And the name of the third
is it almost so such it's a it's a Karen,
but it's not. It's Korene. And then I'm not sure
how to pronounce that hah pooch or something.
Speaker 2 (51:14):
But here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
Look at this, look at fifteen and in all the land,
there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. So
he gave him three more daughters. And he said, I'm
not even gonna make him ugly. You've been through enough.
And uh, of course, I don't know if any of you.
Sometimes beautiful daughters can bring even more trouble. So so anyway,
(51:38):
but but no, I you know that no one really
knows why God wanted to be sure that we knew that.
But we get the names of the daughters, not the sons. Uh,
and it and and it says that you know they're
they're they're not just beautiful. But notice what happens next.
And this was not part of the normal culture by
(51:58):
the way, and their father gave them an inheritance among
their brothers.
Speaker 2 (52:04):
That was not done. The daughters never got an inheritance.
Speaker 1 (52:07):
They had to go marry with somebody in order to
have wealth, and then obviously they'd be worth something that
he would even give to the son's family the value,
you know, to go with his daughter. But these daughters,
arrangement was made that they would have an inheritance just
like their brothers. So you see, God just continues to
(52:28):
take care of everything and just continues to heap on
top of all of this. Sixteen and after this, Job
lived one hundred and forty years. Now they thought he
was around seventy. And the commentators are saying, are we
saying that there was another one hundred and forty years
or is it saying that he lived one hundred and
(52:49):
forty total, we doubled another seventy For it likely that's
it because he's doubling everything, and he saw his sons
and his sons sons four generations, and Job died an
old man and full of days. So sometimes when you
see going that far, that may lend itself that was
(53:11):
actually another one hundred and forty as well, whatever the
case may be. We know that he lived a very
long time, and does anybody, especially if you've been with
us on another Bible study we did. Who else did
we hear that they died an old man and full
of days? Abraham?
Speaker 2 (53:31):
Yeah, same exact phrase.
Speaker 1 (53:35):
So job's in the company of Abraham that God decided
that the latter days will be better than the beginning days.
And that when you see what it says when you
see this phrase, because we researched this member back in
our study of Gymesis in Genesis, full of days is
(53:55):
an indicator that he never lost his mind, he never
had to minsia, he never had Alzheimer's. He was as
sharp on the day that he died as he was
when he was a young man. Can you imagine that blessing?
Raise your handfe you like that with my hands up.
Speaker 2 (54:14):
I mean, can you.
Speaker 1 (54:15):
Imagine that that you're sitting there, living over one hundred
and something years and you're not losing a step, You're
not losing your mind, you're sharp and full of days.
That younger people y'all don't know what a blessing that is.
That's a big deal, because I know right now you
(54:36):
think you'll feel the way you feel for the rest
of your life. You won't if you live long enough,
but take care of yourself, you'll be glad you did.
So what's what's the final takeaway as we as we
finish up this provocative study of Job. Well, there's one
theme that ran the entire gamut of this, and that
(54:59):
is that God knew that he could trust Job because
he knew the outcome, while at the same time allowing
choices to be made. And I know that this is
tension that the Church has argued about forever. I don't
get involved in that argument because I know Scripture tells
me that God is all knowing. Scripture tells me that
(55:20):
God is sovereign. And throughout Scripture, I see God allowing
people to make decisions and choices that he already knows
what choice you're gonna make.
Speaker 2 (55:30):
Can I grasp that not fully? Do?
Speaker 1 (55:34):
I believe it and trust it by faith? Absolutely good
enough for me. Whatever God says about himself, I'm fine
with that, And I think my mind would probably explode
if he said, well today, I'll tell you exactly how
this works.
Speaker 2 (55:47):
I know my finite mind my brain could not take that.
Speaker 1 (55:50):
So I think we find out in this that God
is very serious about sin. I think that one of
the things that we need to learn because all this
is a foreshadowing of Jesus. I think once again we're
learning that the best of us is still wretched and
(56:12):
filthy rags, as scripture tells us before a holy, holy God.
I think we have to be very careful to pretend
that God is just, you know, a really really advanced
version of us. We got to be real careful when
the created begins to think that we have some kind
of standing with the Creator, that we can stand in
(56:36):
his presence.
Speaker 2 (56:37):
And make a case for ourselves.
Speaker 1 (56:40):
And I'll tell you the one thing that I have
learned loud and clear is don't question God. Don't don't
think he owes you an explanation, and be real careful
if you start asking him to reveal himself to you
and give you his resume, because he just might.
Speaker 2 (57:01):
He just might.
Speaker 1 (57:03):
And we also see the beauty that if we are
willing to repent. And what does repent mean? I don't
want you to lose this. I hope you underline verse six.
Repentance is despising yourself and despising your sin. You've heard
it said before. It's not thinking less of yourself as
(57:25):
far as your value is. Just thinking about yourself less
and understand that none of us have standing before a
holy God without Jesus.
Speaker 2 (57:37):
Boy, we need Jesus.
Speaker 1 (57:41):
We desperately need Jesus because we bring nothing to the table,
nothing but the beautiful thing is is here's this God
that could have said so easily to job. I taught
you the lesson. You finally learned it. Now get on
back to the rest of your life. He said, you
know what I'm gonna I'm going to show your friends
(58:04):
that you did. We're not hiding some secret sin from me.
I'm going to forgive them as well, and I'm going
to restore all these things to you, including I'm going
to give you ten more children. We still we don't
know whether this these ten children with another wife or
whether it was the same wife, because we're not We
don't get.
Speaker 2 (58:23):
An explanation on that. We don't get an explanation on
the Lihu. So that'd be.
Speaker 1 (58:27):
Something we can look forward to in heaven. You know,
whenever we run him down, we'll say, so, what was
the deal? Because I'm not going to ask God about it,
because I've already learned not to do that, But I'm
going to ask you about it. Why did God let
you leave? Did you did you wonder off and they
didn't ask you to come back? Did you get bored
during the resume? I mean, were you there?
Speaker 2 (58:45):
We don't know? And how about this?
Speaker 1 (58:48):
Why in the world doesn't God want us to know
what happened to Liehu. I don't know, but I'm not
about to question the moment. You know what good enough
for me? And so I would ask all of us
the question, what is our takeaway from this? Because can
I tell you what I have learned throughout life? Go
ahead and learn these lessons that other people had to learn,
(59:09):
so you don't have to learn them the same way.
Accept this, and maybe today, if we don't take anything
else away, maybe today we need to say to God,
compared to other people, I thought I looked pretty good,
but today I was reminded that compared to you, I
(59:32):
need to repent whatever it is. Repent because if we
were willing to repent, turn from our sin, despise our sin,
hate our sin, and see sin the way God sees it,
he will forgive us. He will make things right, He
(59:56):
will restore us to him Because the wrath. It needs
to be poured down. All of us has already been
poured out on Jesus. But we got to make sure
that we don't have some sort of elevated view of
ourselves that for some reason, Jesus's sacrifice wasn't necessary because
(01:00:19):
I'm so wonderful. God's going to love me just like
I am compared to other people, maybe compared to God.
We're in desperate need for grace and mercy, and we're
in desperate need for Jesus to make us more like God,
because that's the standard. Let's pray, Lord, thank you for today,
(01:00:43):
thank you for the grace of mercy you've shown us all.
We worship who you are and your holy name. We
pray Amen. Next week we'll do a standalone message and
then we'll get into a new series in twenty twenty
six
Host
Rick Burgess
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