July 9, 2025 • 30 mins
We can only go so long without encouragement before we feel like we’re going to break. Christians are children of God, but we are human. We need encouragement from likeminded people. We need the support of others, especially when we’re down. “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad” (Prov. 12:25).
But sometimes we must face trials without encouragement for a while. This is what Job experienced. He felt all alone. Elijah the prophet felt the same way in I Kings 19 when he was on the run for his life. But there were many others who would have supported him had they been with him. In Job’s case, his friends are with him, but all they can do is criticize him, and his relatives and other acquaintances have turned their back on him. But Job held on to his faith—even though he felt that God had forsaken him as well! Learn from this great man’s example of perseverance as we delve deeper into this story.
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- Scriptures: Job 6-21
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(00:00):
Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My Godin My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
Bible College, where we see the Bibleas not just another book, but the Book.
Join us in a study of the inspiredWord to strengthen your faith and to
share what you've learned with others.
Job lost everything.
He lost his workers.
(00:21):
He lost his livestock.
He lost his 10 children.
Then he lost his healthdue to a terrible disease.
Then his three friends came,the Bible says, to mourn
with him and to comfort him.
And yet when Job began to complainin Job chapter three and wish that
he were dead, the Bible says thathis friends began to criticize him.
(00:42):
They began to judge him, andin Job chapter four, the first
one to speak was Eliphaz.
Eliphaz said in Job chapter four,verse eight, “They that plow iniquity
and sow wickedness, reap the same.
He is implying here (00:57):
Job, you are a sinner and you are reaping what you have sown.
So all the way through the Book of Job,you find that there is a serious argument
between Job and his three friends.
His three friends try to convincehim that he ought to admit that he's
a sinner and then God will forgivehim and God will restore his health.
(01:20):
Job said I can't plead guilty tosomething that I'm innocent of.
Now Job knew that he was not a perfectman in the sense of being sinless.
He knew that he had made mistakesin his life, but Job said I cannot
agree with you that God is punishingme because I have been such a
hypocrite and such an evil man.
So in Job chapter six, Jobresponds to what Eliphaz has said.
(01:46):
And in Job chapter six, hebegins to talk about his grief.
Job chapter six, verse two (01:50):
“Oh, that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my
calamity laid in the balances together.
For now it would be heavierthan the sand of the sea.
Therefore my words are swallowed up, forthe arrows of the Almighty are within me.
The poison whereof drinks up my spirit.
The terrors of God do setthemselves in array against me.”
(02:13):
Now notice here that Job againthinks that God is doing this to him.
He does not consider that Satanmight be involved in this.
You and I know that Satan was behindall this, but Job doesn't know that.
So the first thing he thinksof is: Why is God doing this?
And I believe that manytimes that's our tendency.
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We are prone to think when somethingbad happens that God is doing it.
So why is God doing this to me?
Sometimes we don't evenentertain the possibility that
the devil might be behind it.
Job said in Job chapter six, verseeight, “Oh, that I might have my
request, and that God would grantme the thing that I long for.”
(02:56):
What is your request Job?
What is it that you're longing for?
He tells us in verse nine (03:00):
“Even that it would please God to destroy
me, that he would loose his handand cut me off.” Job wants to die.
He is asking God for his death.
Now again, he's not the firstone or the only one that we
read in the Bible who did that.
Moses asked God if he could die.
Elijah wanted to die andhe prayed to God for that.
(03:22):
Job is in such pain, he is in suchmisery, that the only kind of relief
that he thinks he can get is to die.
In Job chapter seven, here'show he describes his suffering.
He said in Job chapter seven, verse three: “So I am made to possess months of vanity (03:34):
undefined
and wearisome nights are appointed to me.”
I can't get any rest.
I can't sleep at night.
This is going on continually.
And the Bible says in Job chapter seven,verse 11 that he said these words,
“Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth.I will speak in the anguish of my spirit.
(04:00):
I will complain in the bitterness of mysoul.” You see, what his friends were
trying to get him to do was to be quiet.
They were telling him to shut up.
They were telling him to humble himselfbefore God and to say I'm guilty and to
repent, and then God would forgive him.
But he goes on to say that God is afterhim here in verse 12 of chapter seven.
(04:22):
He says, “Am I a sea, or a whale, that youset a watch over me?” Are you hunting me?
In other words, like men hunt whales.
That's what Job is saying to God.
Now after Job gives his defense inchapter seven, Bildad is the second
one to speak, and the Bible says inJob chapter eight, verses one and two:
(04:42):
“Then answered Bildad the Shuhite andsaid, How long will you speak these
things, and how long shall the wordsof your mouth be like a strong wind?”
What he's saying is: you're just full of wind. (04:53):
undefined
You're just full of hot air job.
Quit talking and dowhat we tell you to do.
You just need to admit that you'rewrong and you need to repent.
And notice again how cold andcalloused these men who are
supposed to be his friends are.
Remember that Job haslost his 10 children.
Look at what Bildad says to his friendhere who is suffering more than Bildad
(05:17):
had ever, or probably would ever, suffer.
In Job chapter eight, verse three: “Does God pervert judgment? Or does (05:19):
undefined
the Almighty pervert justice? If yourchildren have sinned against him,
and he have cast them away for theirtransgressions, if you would seek unto
God be times and make your supplicationto the Almighty,” he says, and goes on
to explain, then God would restore you.
Notice that he says in verse four (05:42):
Look, if your children have done something
wrong and God has punished them for that,you just need to admit you're wrong.
You need to admit that you are out ofplace and then God will restore you.
In chapter nine, Job responds to him,and when he responds, he cannot figure
out why God will not answer him.
(06:03):
You see, Job has been pleadingwith God: answer me, help me.
But God won't say anything andJob is getting frustrated here.
Now any of us would.
Any of us in his situation probablywould've done worse than what Job did
because Job was a man that God saidthere was none like him in the earth.
And so Job chapter nine shows us thatJob is getting frustrated, and in Job
(06:26):
chapter nine, verse 32, he says, “For heis not a man,” that is, God is not a man
“as I am, that I should answer him, andwe should come together in judgment.”
In other words, he's saying I can'tjust go to God, walk up to him and say
I need to sit down and talk with you.
It doesn't work thatway with the Almighty.
(06:47):
And not only that, he says, “But,”in verse 33, “neither is there any
days man betwixt us, that mightlay his hand upon us both.” By a
“days man” he means a mediator.
He means what we would call anumpire—somebody that would be a
go-between between himself and God.
So Job is saying I'm trying to find God.
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I'm trying to find out why He'sdoing this to me, but I just can't
walk up to him like I would a man.
Not only that, I can't find anybodyon earth that would represent me
to God and let me talk to him.
So in Job chapter 10 he says again[Job chapter 10, verse one], “My soul
is weary of my life.” He's tired ofliving. “I will leave my complaint upon
(07:30):
myself. I will speak in the bitternessof my soul.” And then he begins to talk
about what he thinks God has done tohim, and he uses all these figures.
He says in Job chapter 10, verse 10[he's talking to God]: “Have you not
poured me out as milk and curdled melike cheese?” In verse 16, he says, “You
(07:51):
hunt me as a fierce lion.” And you'llnotice that this book is full of images
and illustrations and figures of speech.
Remember, this is in a section thatmany people call Hebrew poetry.
It doesn't mean that it rhymesas far as sound is concerned.
It means that it has a specialway of expressing itself.
So think about what Job has saidabout God and what he thinks
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God is doing to him so far.
Just in this lesson, he said thatGod was shooting arrows at him
like a man would have a bow andarrows shooting them at a target.
He says that God is huntingme like a whale at sea.
He says that God haspoured me out like milk.
He says that God is hunting me like alion, and he again asks the question,
“Why, God?” Why? [verse 18] “Why thenhave you brought me forth out of the
(08:39):
womb? Oh, that I had given up theghost and no eye had seen me.” I wish
that I had died before I was born.
So he says in verse 20, “Are not mydays few?” And that's how he felt. Job
felt that he didn't have very long tolive and he didn't want to live much
longer. And so he says, “Let me alone.”Sometimes people get to the point to where
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that's the very feeling that they have.
Just leave me alone and let me die.
Leave me alone “that I may take alittle comfort before I go whence I
shall not return, even to the land ofdarkness and the shadow of death, a
land of darkness as darkness itself.”And no sooner does he make his case
than Zophar steps up to the plate.
(09:24):
Now remember, it goes in this order.
Eliphaz speaks.
Job responds, Bildad speaks.
Job responds.
Zophar speaks.
And what does Zophar far have to say?
Really, not anything differentfrom what Eliphaz and Bildad said.
The Bible says in chapter 11, verseone, “Then answered Zophar the
Naamathite and said, “Should notthe multitude of words be answered.
(09:46):
And should a man fullof talk be justified?
Should your lies make menhold their peace?” So he says,
you're just full of talk.
You're full of hot air, andnot only that, you're a liar.
You're lying about this.
And to really make his point aboutreaping what you have sown, he goes
beyond what Eliphaz and Bildad said.
(10:08):
Now, Eliphaz said Job you'regetting what you deserve.
You brought this on yourself.
But Zophar in verse six says this.
He says he wished that God would showhim “the secrets of wisdom, that they are
double to that which is. Know thereforethat God exacts of you less than your
iniquity deserves.” In other words, Godis not giving you as much as you deserve.
(10:33):
You deserve more than this.
If God really punished you, you wouldbe suffering worse than you are.
And it's hard to see how he could besuffering any worse than what he was,
but that's what Zophar is saying here.
You see, the longer the argumentgoes, the worse it gets.
The more they argue, the more intenseit gets, and the more exaggerated
they are in what they say, themadder they get at each other, and
(10:56):
it just gets more and more serious.
It just continues to go downhill.
And we're just gettingthe start of that here.
Verse 14 of chapter 11—Zophar said toJob, “If iniquity be in your hand, put
it far away.” In other words, you justneed to repent. And then he says in verse
15, “Then you shall lift up your facewithout spot.” Then you're going to be
(11:17):
restored and things will be well with you.
Job again answers in Job chapter 12.
And here's what he says inJob chapter 12 verse two.
“No doubt but you are the people,and wisdom shall die with you.”
He's saying (11:29):
you think you're the only wise people on the earth.
You think that when you die there won't beany wisdom left because you have it all.
You've got the market cornered onwisdom, so no doubt but you're the
people, you're the wise ones, andyou're supposed to be instructing me.
So they've criticized Job.
They have cut him with words.
And now job is cutting back.
(11:50):
He's using sarcasm, and that's oftentimesthe way that a disagreement goes when
two people don't listen to each other.
Instead of using plain talk,they start cutting each other.
They start using sarcasm, and that'swhat happens here in Job chapter 12.
But Job reminds them in verse three,“I have understanding as well as you.
(12:10):
I am not inferior to you.” Job issaying I know all this that you're
talking about, that a man reaps whathe sows, but that does not apply to me.
And then in chapter 13, verse two,he says, “What you know the same do I
know also, I am not inferior to you.”
Then in verse four he says, “But you areforgers of lies.” You three are lying
(12:32):
about this. You're lying about me. Andthen he says, “You are all physicians
of no value.” You're here to fix me.
You're here to help me.
You're here to straighten meout, and you're making it worse.
You're like doctors who are worthless.
You are worthless physicians.
In verse 13, he says to thesethree friends, “Hold your peace.
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Let me alone that I may speak andlet come on me what will.” Verse 15:
He says, “Though he slay me,” [he'stalking about God] even if God kills
me, “Yet will I trust in him; butI will maintain my own ways before
him.” In verse 21, he pleads withGod, “Withdraw your hand far from me.”
(13:15):
And in verse 23, he somewhatchallenges God here.
That is, if I'm wrong, show me.
In verse 23 (13:22):
“How many are mine iniquities? Make me to know my
transgression and my sin.” Tell me andshow me why You're doing this to me.
If I have done something wrong todeserve this, then show it to me.
And the implication is if I haven'tdone anything wrong to that level,
then why are You doing this to me?
In verse 24 not only is he pleadingwith God to show him why he's
(13:46):
doing this, but he wants to knowwhy God will not answer him.
Verse 24 (13:50):
“Wherefore do you hide your face and hold me for your enemy?” You
keep me at arm's length, you won't letme talk to you and you won't answer
me. And he says in verse 26 “Foryou, write bitter things against me.”
And what that means is you are justholding something against me here.
It can't be because I'm such a bad man.
(14:10):
Now, it must be that, he says, “youmake me to possess the iniquities
of my youth.” Maybe that's it.
He's saying I know Ihaven't done anything.
Now I know I'm not perfect, butI know I'm not an evil hypocrite.
So maybe You're getting back at me forsomething that I did when I was young.
He's looking for anything tomake sense of his suffering here.
(14:30):
And in chapter 14, he says about lifein general something that is very
true in Job chapter 14, verse one.
“Man that is born of a woman is a fewdays and full of trouble. He comes forth
like a flower and is cut down. He fleesalso as a shadow and continues not.”
In chapter 14, he begins to talk aboutthe fact that as long as a man lives,
(14:53):
he has hope on this earth, but when hedies, he's not coming back to the earth.
And that is the chapter whereyou find these words that
are familiar to many people.
Job chapter 14, verse 14 (15:02):
“If a man die, shall he live again?” Now, the thing
to remember about this is the context.
Job has been talking about thefact that once you die, you're
not coming back to the earth.
You're not going to get a second chanceon the earth to live and to prosper and to
correct things, and to have a good life.
(15:22):
Now, there were people that wereraised from the dead, but Job is
stating a general truth here thatwhen you die, you don't come back.
You see, in Job chapter 14verse 14, Job is not asking
this question to get an answer.
He is not asking this questionbecause he doesn't know.
He's not saying, “Well, I wonderif a man will live after he dies.”
That is not what he's talking about.
(15:43):
He's already given the answer.
This is what we would calla rhetorical question.
It is a question that answers itself.
It is a question thatactually makes a statement.
What he's saying is, if a mandies, he will not live again, and
that applied to his situation.
So he's longing for death.
He doesn't have a time that he's goingto come back and live on this earth.
(16:03):
That's how he's looking at this.
So chapter 14 ends with Job holding hisground, and that is the end of the first
round or the first cycle in this argument.
So when we get to chapter 15, wefind the second round begins with
Eliphaz again the first speaker.
Notice how similar they are inthe way that they describe Job.
(16:24):
In Job chapter 15, verse one, “Thenanswered Eliphaz the Temanite and
said, Should a wise man utter vainknowledge and fill his belly with
the east wind?” You’re a windbag Job.
You're full of hot air.
Instead of talking, you need to listen.
He says in verse three, “Should hereason with unprofitable talk?” He
(16:44):
says in verse five, “For your mouthutters your iniquity, and you choose
the tongue of the crafty.” As amatter of fact, he says in verse six,
Job, your own mouth condemns you.
And he says beginning in verse seven,“Are you the first man that was born
or were you made before the hills?
Have you heard the secret of God?
Do you restrain wisdom to yourself?
(17:04):
What do you know that we don't know?
What do you understand,which is not in us?
With us are both the gray headed and veryaged men, much older than your father.”
He tells Job again you're reapingwhat you sown because this is
what happens to bad people.
In Job chapter 15, verse 20,Eliphaz said the wicked man
travails with pain all his days.
(17:25):
He's talking to a man who's in misery.
He's talking to a man whois in all kinds of pain.
In verse 24, Eliphaz says to him, “Troubleand anguish shall make him afraid.
They shall prevail against himas a king ready to the battle.
For He stretches out his hand againstGod and strengthens himself against
the Almighty.” Eliphaz is accusingJob of stretching out his hand against
(17:49):
God, of rebelling against God, offighting against God, and he says
he's going to suffer because of it.
“He shall not be rich, neithershall his substance continue.” This
is exactly what happened to Job.
He lost all that he had.
In Job chapter 15, verse 34,Eliphaz uses the word hypocrite.
He says, “For the congregation ofhypocrites shall be desolate, and
(18:12):
fire shall consume the tabernacles ofbribery.” So he's saying by implication
here, Job, you are a hypocrite.
And then Job responds to him in chapter16 and chapter 17, and the argument
continues in Job chapter 16 verse one.
Job answered and said, “I have heardmany such things: miserable comforters
(18:34):
are you all.” Do you remember whythese three men came to see Job?
The Bible says in Job chapter two, verse11 they made an appointment together to
come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
So Job is saying if you're here tocomfort me, you're doing a miserable job.
You are miserable comforters.
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He's cutting them.
He is tired.
He's getting very frustrated.
He knows he is right,but they won't listen.
And on top of that, Godwill not answer him.
So here are some things that hesays about God in Job chapter
16, beginning in verse nine.
“He tears me in his wrath who hatesme. He gnashes upon me with his
teeth. My enemy sharpens his eyes uponme.” In verse 11: “God has delivered
(19:20):
me to the ungodly and turned meover into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, but hehas broken me asunder.
He has also taken me by my neck and shakenme to pieces and set me up for his mark.
His archers compass me roundabout, and he cleaves my reins
asunder and does not spare.
He pours out my gall upon the ground.
(19:41):
He breaks me with a breach upon breach.
He runs upon me like a giant,” andagain, he emphasizes in verse 17 that
it was not because he was at fault.
In verse 17, he says all this is notfor “any injustice in my hands.” I
didn't do anything to deserve this.
Then in verse 20, he says, “My friendsscorn me, but my eye pours out tears unto
(20:03):
God. Oh, that one might plead for a manwith God as a man pleads for his neighbor.
When a few years are come, then I shallgo the way whence I shall not return.”
In chapter 17, he talks about whatGod has done to him in his thinking.
This is what God was doing.
Verse six (20:21):
“He has made me also a byword of the people and aforetime I was as a
tabret. Mine eye also is dim by reasonof sorrow.” In verse 10: “But as for
you all, do you return and come now,for I cannot find one wise man among
you”. I can't find a reasonable personamong you friends of mine.” “My days
(20:42):
are past, my purposes are broken off.
Even the thoughts of my heart,they change the night into day, the
light is short because of darkness.
If I wait, the grave is my house.
I have made my bed in the darkness.
I have said to corruption,you're my father.
To the worm, you are mymother and my sister.
And where is now my hope?
As for my hope, who shall see it?
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They shall go down to the bars ofthe pit, when our rest together is
in the dust.” Now that is what Jobsaid to Eliphaz about his accusation.
That brings us to chapter18, and now Bildad speaks.
He says in verse two, “How longwill it be ere you make an end
of words? mark, and afterwards wewill speak.” He begins to try Job.
(21:24):
He begins to accuse him and warnhim that his suffering is what
happens to people who are evil.
In verse five, he says yes, “the lightof the wicked shall be put out.” Verse
seven (21:35):
“The steps of his strength shall be straightened and his own counsel shall
cast him down, for he is cast into anet by his own feet, and he walks upon a
snare.” In verse 15, he gets even rougher.
“It shall be in his tabernacle, becauseit is none of his: brimstone shall
be scattered upon his habitation.”
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Then he says in verse 19, “He shall haveneither son nor nephew among his people,
nor any remaining in his dwelling”. Inverse 21, he warns Job, “Surely such are
the dwellings of the wicked, and this isthe place of him that does not know God.”
That ends Bildad's case in chapter 18.
(22:16):
Now in chapter 19, Job respondsagain and he will not agree
with what they're saying.
He defends himself.
Chapter 19 is a sad story becausehere job is expressing his grief.
He's crying out tothese people in a sense.
He's asking them for mercy, and one of thethings that you'll find here in chapter 19
is that he's beginning to feel all alone.
(22:38):
He's felt that before, but he comesright out and talks about it here.
In Job chapter 19 verse one (22:42):
“Then Job answered and said, How long will you vex
my soul and break me in pieces with words?
These ten times have you reproachedme.” And then he says in verse six,
“Now know that God has overthrownme and has compassed me” or
surrounded me, that is, with His net.
(23:02):
So here he definitelysays God is doing this.
God has cast me down.
God is punishing me, and of coursein the background of his mind
is that he can't figure out why.
In verse seven he says, “Behold, Icry out of wrong, but I am not heard.
I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
He has fenced up my way that I cannotpass, and he has set darkness in my paths.
(23:25):
He has stripped me of my gloryand taken the crown from my head.
He has destroyed me on every side.”
Now this is what he says about Godin verse 11: “He has also kindled
his wrath against me.” Then hebegins to talk about the fact that
nobody wants anything to do with him.
Even his relatives and his servantsand his friends have forsaken him.
(23:46):
He feels isolated.
He feels all alone.
Look at verse 13.
“He has put my brethren far fromme, and mine acquaintance are verily
estranged from me. “My kinsfolk,” hesays in verse 14, “have failed, and
my familiar friends have forgottenme.” Verse 15: “They that dwell in
my house and my maids count me for astranger. I am an alien in their sight.”
(24:10):
“I called my servant and he gaveme no answer. I entreated him with
my mouth.” Verse 17 (24:15):
“My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated
for the children's sake of my ownbody.” In verse 18 he said yes,
“Young children despise me. I aroseand they spoke against me.” Verse 19:
“All my inward friends abhorred me.
They whom I loved are turned against me.
(24:35):
Any one of the sufferingsthat Job went through would
be overwhelming for any of us.
But think about what he endured (24:40):
financial loss, the loss of his children to
death, a chronic, devastating illness.
So he had financial stress, he had thegrief to go with it, he had physical pain
and emotional trauma, and now he talksabout the fact that no one helped him.
Evidently, nobody said acomforting word to this man.
(25:02):
In fact, they criticized him.
They disrespected him.
And we're talking about, as he sayshere in chapter 19, his kinfolk, his
friends, his servants that he paid.
By the way, children were allashamed of him, and there's not
one supportive thing his wife saidto him, at least in this book.
So he's suffering financially,he's suffering physically,
(25:24):
he's suffering emotionally, andnow he's suffering socially.
In verse 21, you read theseheartbreaking words, “Have pity
upon me, have pity upon me.
O you my friends, for thehand of God has touched me.
Why do you persecute me as God andare not satisfied with my flesh?
Oh, that my words were now written, O,that they were printed in a book, that
(25:46):
they were graved with an iron pen andlead in the rock forever.” But even though
he is very angry, he is very depressed,he still says that he believes in God
and he still puts his faith in the Lord.
In verses 25 and 26, you haveone of the greatest faith
statements anywhere in the Bible.
And remember the kindof shape this man is in.
(26:07):
He's not in good condition at thispoint in any way whatsoever, and
yet he's pledging his faith in God.
This is Job 19:25 and 26, andyou'll recognize some of these
words from a song that we sometimessing at church in verse 25.
He said, “For I know that my redeemerlives, and that he shall stand at
(26:28):
the latter day upon the earth. Andthough after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh I shallsee God.” So job held on to his faith.
He would not turn his back on God.
He would not turn against God.
He does say some things here in thisbook that were wrong, that crossed
the line, because of his anger.
But as far as his overall faith isconcerned, he holds onto that faith.
(26:52):
How many people would give upon God and maybe even become
atheists if they went through justone of the things that Job did?
How many Christians would turn theirback on God if they went through
what Job has experienced here?
This man is a great example ofsuffering and patience and suffering.
That's why the Bible says in Jameschapter five, verse 11: “You have heard
(27:14):
of the patience of Job.” Many timeswe think that patience means that you
never lose your cool about anything.
And that's an element of it.
That's an aspect of it.
But if you really want to seewhat patience is all about,
just look at the life of Job.
Sometimes he lost his cool.
Sometimes he said somethings that were sarcastic.
But overall, he never quit.
(27:34):
He endured.
That's what patience is in the Bible.
It means to endure, and Christiansneed this kind of example.
Do you remember that Jesus warnedabout falling away in times of trial?
In Matthew chapter 13, verse 21, hetalks about the seed that fell on
the stony ground, and he describedpeople like this in the following way.
In Matthew 13 verse 21, he said, “Yethe has no root in himself, but endures
(28:00):
for a while. For when tribulationor persecution arises because of the
word, immediately he is offended.”Sometimes Christians do well in the
Christian life for a while, but whenhard times strike, then they fall away.
We need to be like Job.
He would not give up his faith.
He said, “I know that my Redeemerlives,” and those words need to be on
(28:22):
the lips of Christian people to this day.
Zophar does not like what Job has said.
And he says these words in verse two.
“Therefore do my thoughts causeme to answer, and for this I make
taste.” In other words, I'm upset.
I feel very strongly aboutthis, and I'm in a hurry.
I'm anxious to say what's on my mind.
And beginning in verse four,he says the same old thing.
(28:45):
In other words.
This is what happens, Job, to evil people.
You've been bad, you've been wicked.
He says that wicked people havethis kind of trouble in their
life [verse 19] “because he hasoppressed and forsaken the poor.”
Now Job didn't do that, but they'rebeginning to make accusations that
have no foundation whatsoever.
The Bible says in verse 23 that Zophardescribed a wicked man's life like this.
(29:09):
“When he is about to fill his belly,God shall cast the fury of his
wrath upon him.” And in verse 29, heends by saying “this is the portion
of a wicked man from God, and theheritage appointed unto him by God.”
When he ends, Job responds.
He says in chapter 21, verse two,“Suffer me that I may speak. And after
that I have spoken, mock on.” In otherwords, let me say some things about
(29:32):
this and if you want to make fun ofme after that, go ahead and do it.
So what Job does here is to talkabout the fact that sometimes in
this life, wicked people prosper.
But he also adds thatthey pay for their sins.
So Job is saying in effect: Yes, it is true that wicked (29:43):
undefined
people suffer in this lifetime.
It is true that bad things happen to badpeople, but that doesn't apply to me.
So this ends round two of this greatargument in the Book of Job, and when
we get to round three, we're going tosee that it gets even more intense.
This is the problem of evil thatthese men are talking about.
(30:06):
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
Stay connected with our podcast onour website, and on Apple, Spotify,
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in Cookeville, Tennessee, offersundergraduate and graduate programs.
(30:26):
Study at your level.
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Hi, I'm Kerry Duke, host of My Godin My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee
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Join us in a study of the inspiredWord to strengthen your faith and to
share what you've learned with others.
Job lost everything.
He lost his workers.
(00:21):
He lost his livestock.
He lost his 10 children.
Then he lost his healthdue to a terrible disease.
Then his three friends came,the Bible says, to mourn
with him and to comfort him.
And yet when Job began to complainin Job chapter three and wish that
he were dead, the Bible says thathis friends began to criticize him.
(00:42):
They began to judge him, andin Job chapter four, the first
one to speak was Eliphaz.
Eliphaz said in Job chapter four,verse eight, “They that plow iniquity
and sow wickedness, reap the same.
He is implying here (00:57):
Job, you are a sinner and you are reaping what you have sown.
So all the way through the Book of Job,you find that there is a serious argument
between Job and his three friends.
His three friends try to convincehim that he ought to admit that he's
a sinner and then God will forgivehim and God will restore his health.
(01:20):
Job said I can't plead guilty tosomething that I'm innocent of.
Now Job knew that he was not a perfectman in the sense of being sinless.
He knew that he had made mistakesin his life, but Job said I cannot
agree with you that God is punishingme because I have been such a
hypocrite and such an evil man.
So in Job chapter six, Jobresponds to what Eliphaz has said.
(01:46):
And in Job chapter six, hebegins to talk about his grief.
Job chapter six, verse two (01:50):
“Oh, that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my
calamity laid in the balances together.
For now it would be heavierthan the sand of the sea.
Therefore my words are swallowed up, forthe arrows of the Almighty are within me.
The poison whereof drinks up my spirit.
The terrors of God do setthemselves in array against me.”
(02:13):
Now notice here that Job againthinks that God is doing this to him.
He does not consider that Satanmight be involved in this.
You and I know that Satan was behindall this, but Job doesn't know that.
So the first thing he thinksof is: Why is God doing this?
And I believe that manytimes that's our tendency.
(02:34):
We are prone to think when somethingbad happens that God is doing it.
So why is God doing this to me?
Sometimes we don't evenentertain the possibility that
the devil might be behind it.
Job said in Job chapter six, verseeight, “Oh, that I might have my
request, and that God would grantme the thing that I long for.”
(02:56):
What is your request Job?
What is it that you're longing for?
He tells us in verse nine (03:00):
“Even that it would please God to destroy
me, that he would loose his handand cut me off.” Job wants to die.
He is asking God for his death.
Now again, he's not the firstone or the only one that we
read in the Bible who did that.
Moses asked God if he could die.
Elijah wanted to die andhe prayed to God for that.
(03:22):
Job is in such pain, he is in suchmisery, that the only kind of relief
that he thinks he can get is to die.
In Job chapter seven, here'show he describes his suffering.
He said in Job chapter seven, verse three: “So I am made to possess months of vanity (03:34):
undefined
and wearisome nights are appointed to me.”
I can't get any rest.
I can't sleep at night.
This is going on continually.
And the Bible says in Job chapter seven,verse 11 that he said these words,
“Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth.I will speak in the anguish of my spirit.
(04:00):
I will complain in the bitterness of mysoul.” You see, what his friends were
trying to get him to do was to be quiet.
They were telling him to shut up.
They were telling him to humble himselfbefore God and to say I'm guilty and to
repent, and then God would forgive him.
But he goes on to say that God is afterhim here in verse 12 of chapter seven.
(04:22):
He says, “Am I a sea, or a whale, that youset a watch over me?” Are you hunting me?
In other words, like men hunt whales.
That's what Job is saying to God.
Now after Job gives his defense inchapter seven, Bildad is the second
one to speak, and the Bible says inJob chapter eight, verses one and two:
(04:42):
“Then answered Bildad the Shuhite andsaid, How long will you speak these
things, and how long shall the wordsof your mouth be like a strong wind?”
What he's saying is: you're just full of wind. (04:53):
undefined
You're just full of hot air job.
Quit talking and dowhat we tell you to do.
You just need to admit that you'rewrong and you need to repent.
And notice again how cold andcalloused these men who are
supposed to be his friends are.
Remember that Job haslost his 10 children.
Look at what Bildad says to his friendhere who is suffering more than Bildad
(05:17):
had ever, or probably would ever, suffer.
In Job chapter eight, verse three: “Does God pervert judgment? Or does (05:19):
undefined
the Almighty pervert justice? If yourchildren have sinned against him,
and he have cast them away for theirtransgressions, if you would seek unto
God be times and make your supplicationto the Almighty,” he says, and goes on
to explain, then God would restore you.
Notice that he says in verse four (05:42):
Look, if your children have done something
wrong and God has punished them for that,you just need to admit you're wrong.
You need to admit that you are out ofplace and then God will restore you.
In chapter nine, Job responds to him,and when he responds, he cannot figure
out why God will not answer him.
(06:03):
You see, Job has been pleadingwith God: answer me, help me.
But God won't say anything andJob is getting frustrated here.
Now any of us would.
Any of us in his situation probablywould've done worse than what Job did
because Job was a man that God saidthere was none like him in the earth.
And so Job chapter nine shows us thatJob is getting frustrated, and in Job
(06:26):
chapter nine, verse 32, he says, “For heis not a man,” that is, God is not a man
“as I am, that I should answer him, andwe should come together in judgment.”
In other words, he's saying I can'tjust go to God, walk up to him and say
I need to sit down and talk with you.
It doesn't work thatway with the Almighty.
(06:47):
And not only that, he says, “But,”in verse 33, “neither is there any
days man betwixt us, that mightlay his hand upon us both.” By a
“days man” he means a mediator.
He means what we would call anumpire—somebody that would be a
go-between between himself and God.
So Job is saying I'm trying to find God.
(07:07):
I'm trying to find out why He'sdoing this to me, but I just can't
walk up to him like I would a man.
Not only that, I can't find anybodyon earth that would represent me
to God and let me talk to him.
So in Job chapter 10 he says again[Job chapter 10, verse one], “My soul
is weary of my life.” He's tired ofliving. “I will leave my complaint upon
(07:30):
myself. I will speak in the bitternessof my soul.” And then he begins to talk
about what he thinks God has done tohim, and he uses all these figures.
He says in Job chapter 10, verse 10[he's talking to God]: “Have you not
poured me out as milk and curdled melike cheese?” In verse 16, he says, “You
(07:51):
hunt me as a fierce lion.” And you'llnotice that this book is full of images
and illustrations and figures of speech.
Remember, this is in a section thatmany people call Hebrew poetry.
It doesn't mean that it rhymesas far as sound is concerned.
It means that it has a specialway of expressing itself.
So think about what Job has saidabout God and what he thinks
(08:13):
God is doing to him so far.
Just in this lesson, he said thatGod was shooting arrows at him
like a man would have a bow andarrows shooting them at a target.
He says that God is huntingme like a whale at sea.
He says that God haspoured me out like milk.
He says that God is hunting me like alion, and he again asks the question,
“Why, God?” Why? [verse 18] “Why thenhave you brought me forth out of the
(08:39):
womb? Oh, that I had given up theghost and no eye had seen me.” I wish
that I had died before I was born.
So he says in verse 20, “Are not mydays few?” And that's how he felt. Job
felt that he didn't have very long tolive and he didn't want to live much
longer. And so he says, “Let me alone.”Sometimes people get to the point to where
(09:03):
that's the very feeling that they have.
Just leave me alone and let me die.
Leave me alone “that I may take alittle comfort before I go whence I
shall not return, even to the land ofdarkness and the shadow of death, a
land of darkness as darkness itself.”And no sooner does he make his case
than Zophar steps up to the plate.
(09:24):
Now remember, it goes in this order.
Eliphaz speaks.
Job responds, Bildad speaks.
Job responds.
Zophar speaks.
And what does Zophar far have to say?
Really, not anything differentfrom what Eliphaz and Bildad said.
The Bible says in chapter 11, verseone, “Then answered Zophar the
Naamathite and said, “Should notthe multitude of words be answered.
(09:46):
And should a man fullof talk be justified?
Should your lies make menhold their peace?” So he says,
you're just full of talk.
You're full of hot air, andnot only that, you're a liar.
You're lying about this.
And to really make his point aboutreaping what you have sown, he goes
beyond what Eliphaz and Bildad said.
(10:08):
Now, Eliphaz said Job you'regetting what you deserve.
You brought this on yourself.
But Zophar in verse six says this.
He says he wished that God would showhim “the secrets of wisdom, that they are
double to that which is. Know thereforethat God exacts of you less than your
iniquity deserves.” In other words, Godis not giving you as much as you deserve.
(10:33):
You deserve more than this.
If God really punished you, you wouldbe suffering worse than you are.
And it's hard to see how he could besuffering any worse than what he was,
but that's what Zophar is saying here.
You see, the longer the argumentgoes, the worse it gets.
The more they argue, the more intenseit gets, and the more exaggerated
they are in what they say, themadder they get at each other, and
(10:56):
it just gets more and more serious.
It just continues to go downhill.
And we're just gettingthe start of that here.
Verse 14 of chapter 11—Zophar said toJob, “If iniquity be in your hand, put
it far away.” In other words, you justneed to repent. And then he says in verse
15, “Then you shall lift up your facewithout spot.” Then you're going to be
(11:17):
restored and things will be well with you.
Job again answers in Job chapter 12.
And here's what he says inJob chapter 12 verse two.
“No doubt but you are the people,and wisdom shall die with you.”
He's saying (11:29):
you think you're the only wise people on the earth.
You think that when you die there won't beany wisdom left because you have it all.
You've got the market cornered onwisdom, so no doubt but you're the
people, you're the wise ones, andyou're supposed to be instructing me.
So they've criticized Job.
They have cut him with words.
And now job is cutting back.
(11:50):
He's using sarcasm, and that's oftentimesthe way that a disagreement goes when
two people don't listen to each other.
Instead of using plain talk,they start cutting each other.
They start using sarcasm, and that'swhat happens here in Job chapter 12.
But Job reminds them in verse three,“I have understanding as well as you.
(12:10):
I am not inferior to you.” Job issaying I know all this that you're
talking about, that a man reaps whathe sows, but that does not apply to me.
And then in chapter 13, verse two,he says, “What you know the same do I
know also, I am not inferior to you.”
Then in verse four he says, “But you areforgers of lies.” You three are lying
(12:32):
about this. You're lying about me. Andthen he says, “You are all physicians
of no value.” You're here to fix me.
You're here to help me.
You're here to straighten meout, and you're making it worse.
You're like doctors who are worthless.
You are worthless physicians.
In verse 13, he says to thesethree friends, “Hold your peace.
(12:54):
Let me alone that I may speak andlet come on me what will.” Verse 15:
He says, “Though he slay me,” [he'stalking about God] even if God kills
me, “Yet will I trust in him; butI will maintain my own ways before
him.” In verse 21, he pleads withGod, “Withdraw your hand far from me.”
(13:15):
And in verse 23, he somewhatchallenges God here.
That is, if I'm wrong, show me.
In verse 23 (13:22):
“How many are mine iniquities? Make me to know my
transgression and my sin.” Tell me andshow me why You're doing this to me.
If I have done something wrong todeserve this, then show it to me.
And the implication is if I haven'tdone anything wrong to that level,
then why are You doing this to me?
In verse 24 not only is he pleadingwith God to show him why he's
(13:46):
doing this, but he wants to knowwhy God will not answer him.
Verse 24 (13:50):
“Wherefore do you hide your face and hold me for your enemy?” You
keep me at arm's length, you won't letme talk to you and you won't answer
me. And he says in verse 26 “Foryou, write bitter things against me.”
And what that means is you are justholding something against me here.
It can't be because I'm such a bad man.
(14:10):
Now, it must be that, he says, “youmake me to possess the iniquities
of my youth.” Maybe that's it.
He's saying I know Ihaven't done anything.
Now I know I'm not perfect, butI know I'm not an evil hypocrite.
So maybe You're getting back at me forsomething that I did when I was young.
He's looking for anything tomake sense of his suffering here.
(14:30):
And in chapter 14, he says about lifein general something that is very
true in Job chapter 14, verse one.
“Man that is born of a woman is a fewdays and full of trouble. He comes forth
like a flower and is cut down. He fleesalso as a shadow and continues not.”
In chapter 14, he begins to talk aboutthe fact that as long as a man lives,
(14:53):
he has hope on this earth, but when hedies, he's not coming back to the earth.
And that is the chapter whereyou find these words that
are familiar to many people.
Job chapter 14, verse 14 (15:02):
“If a man die, shall he live again?” Now, the thing
to remember about this is the context.
Job has been talking about thefact that once you die, you're
not coming back to the earth.
You're not going to get a second chanceon the earth to live and to prosper and to
correct things, and to have a good life.
(15:22):
Now, there were people that wereraised from the dead, but Job is
stating a general truth here thatwhen you die, you don't come back.
You see, in Job chapter 14verse 14, Job is not asking
this question to get an answer.
He is not asking this questionbecause he doesn't know.
He's not saying, “Well, I wonderif a man will live after he dies.”
That is not what he's talking about.
(15:43):
He's already given the answer.
This is what we would calla rhetorical question.
It is a question that answers itself.
It is a question thatactually makes a statement.
What he's saying is, if a mandies, he will not live again, and
that applied to his situation.
So he's longing for death.
He doesn't have a time that he's goingto come back and live on this earth.
(16:03):
That's how he's looking at this.
So chapter 14 ends with Job holding hisground, and that is the end of the first
round or the first cycle in this argument.
So when we get to chapter 15, wefind the second round begins with
Eliphaz again the first speaker.
Notice how similar they are inthe way that they describe Job.
(16:24):
In Job chapter 15, verse one, “Thenanswered Eliphaz the Temanite and
said, Should a wise man utter vainknowledge and fill his belly with
the east wind?” You’re a windbag Job.
You're full of hot air.
Instead of talking, you need to listen.
He says in verse three, “Should hereason with unprofitable talk?” He
(16:44):
says in verse five, “For your mouthutters your iniquity, and you choose
the tongue of the crafty.” As amatter of fact, he says in verse six,
Job, your own mouth condemns you.
And he says beginning in verse seven,“Are you the first man that was born
or were you made before the hills?
Have you heard the secret of God?
Do you restrain wisdom to yourself?
(17:04):
What do you know that we don't know?
What do you understand,which is not in us?
With us are both the gray headed and veryaged men, much older than your father.”
He tells Job again you're reapingwhat you sown because this is
what happens to bad people.
In Job chapter 15, verse 20,Eliphaz said the wicked man
travails with pain all his days.
(17:25):
He's talking to a man who's in misery.
He's talking to a man whois in all kinds of pain.
In verse 24, Eliphaz says to him, “Troubleand anguish shall make him afraid.
They shall prevail against himas a king ready to the battle.
For He stretches out his hand againstGod and strengthens himself against
the Almighty.” Eliphaz is accusingJob of stretching out his hand against
(17:49):
God, of rebelling against God, offighting against God, and he says
he's going to suffer because of it.
“He shall not be rich, neithershall his substance continue.” This
is exactly what happened to Job.
He lost all that he had.
In Job chapter 15, verse 34,Eliphaz uses the word hypocrite.
He says, “For the congregation ofhypocrites shall be desolate, and
(18:12):
fire shall consume the tabernacles ofbribery.” So he's saying by implication
here, Job, you are a hypocrite.
And then Job responds to him in chapter16 and chapter 17, and the argument
continues in Job chapter 16 verse one.
Job answered and said, “I have heardmany such things: miserable comforters
(18:34):
are you all.” Do you remember whythese three men came to see Job?
The Bible says in Job chapter two, verse11 they made an appointment together to
come to mourn with him and to comfort him.
So Job is saying if you're here tocomfort me, you're doing a miserable job.
You are miserable comforters.
(18:54):
He's cutting them.
He is tired.
He's getting very frustrated.
He knows he is right,but they won't listen.
And on top of that, Godwill not answer him.
So here are some things that hesays about God in Job chapter
16, beginning in verse nine.
“He tears me in his wrath who hatesme. He gnashes upon me with his
teeth. My enemy sharpens his eyes uponme.” In verse 11: “God has delivered
(19:20):
me to the ungodly and turned meover into the hands of the wicked.
I was at ease, but hehas broken me asunder.
He has also taken me by my neck and shakenme to pieces and set me up for his mark.
His archers compass me roundabout, and he cleaves my reins
asunder and does not spare.
He pours out my gall upon the ground.
(19:41):
He breaks me with a breach upon breach.
He runs upon me like a giant,” andagain, he emphasizes in verse 17 that
it was not because he was at fault.
In verse 17, he says all this is notfor “any injustice in my hands.” I
didn't do anything to deserve this.
Then in verse 20, he says, “My friendsscorn me, but my eye pours out tears unto
(20:03):
God. Oh, that one might plead for a manwith God as a man pleads for his neighbor.
When a few years are come, then I shallgo the way whence I shall not return.”
In chapter 17, he talks about whatGod has done to him in his thinking.
This is what God was doing.
Verse six (20:21):
“He has made me also a byword of the people and aforetime I was as a
tabret. Mine eye also is dim by reasonof sorrow.” In verse 10: “But as for
you all, do you return and come now,for I cannot find one wise man among
you”. I can't find a reasonable personamong you friends of mine.” “My days
(20:42):
are past, my purposes are broken off.
Even the thoughts of my heart,they change the night into day, the
light is short because of darkness.
If I wait, the grave is my house.
I have made my bed in the darkness.
I have said to corruption,you're my father.
To the worm, you are mymother and my sister.
And where is now my hope?
As for my hope, who shall see it?
(21:04):
They shall go down to the bars ofthe pit, when our rest together is
in the dust.” Now that is what Jobsaid to Eliphaz about his accusation.
That brings us to chapter18, and now Bildad speaks.
He says in verse two, “How longwill it be ere you make an end
of words? mark, and afterwards wewill speak.” He begins to try Job.
(21:24):
He begins to accuse him and warnhim that his suffering is what
happens to people who are evil.
In verse five, he says yes, “the lightof the wicked shall be put out.” Verse
seven (21:35):
“The steps of his strength shall be straightened and his own counsel shall
cast him down, for he is cast into anet by his own feet, and he walks upon a
snare.” In verse 15, he gets even rougher.
“It shall be in his tabernacle, becauseit is none of his: brimstone shall
be scattered upon his habitation.”
(21:55):
Then he says in verse 19, “He shall haveneither son nor nephew among his people,
nor any remaining in his dwelling”. Inverse 21, he warns Job, “Surely such are
the dwellings of the wicked, and this isthe place of him that does not know God.”
That ends Bildad's case in chapter 18.
(22:16):
Now in chapter 19, Job respondsagain and he will not agree
with what they're saying.
He defends himself.
Chapter 19 is a sad story becausehere job is expressing his grief.
He's crying out tothese people in a sense.
He's asking them for mercy, and one of thethings that you'll find here in chapter 19
is that he's beginning to feel all alone.
(22:38):
He's felt that before, but he comesright out and talks about it here.
In Job chapter 19 verse one (22:42):
“Then Job answered and said, How long will you vex
my soul and break me in pieces with words?
These ten times have you reproachedme.” And then he says in verse six,
“Now know that God has overthrownme and has compassed me” or
surrounded me, that is, with His net.
(23:02):
So here he definitelysays God is doing this.
God has cast me down.
God is punishing me, and of coursein the background of his mind
is that he can't figure out why.
In verse seven he says, “Behold, Icry out of wrong, but I am not heard.
I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
He has fenced up my way that I cannotpass, and he has set darkness in my paths.
(23:25):
He has stripped me of my gloryand taken the crown from my head.
He has destroyed me on every side.”
Now this is what he says about Godin verse 11: “He has also kindled
his wrath against me.” Then hebegins to talk about the fact that
nobody wants anything to do with him.
Even his relatives and his servantsand his friends have forsaken him.
(23:46):
He feels isolated.
He feels all alone.
Look at verse 13.
“He has put my brethren far fromme, and mine acquaintance are verily
estranged from me. “My kinsfolk,” hesays in verse 14, “have failed, and
my familiar friends have forgottenme.” Verse 15: “They that dwell in
my house and my maids count me for astranger. I am an alien in their sight.”
(24:10):
“I called my servant and he gaveme no answer. I entreated him with
my mouth.” Verse 17 (24:15):
“My breath is strange to my wife, though I entreated
for the children's sake of my ownbody.” In verse 18 he said yes,
“Young children despise me. I aroseand they spoke against me.” Verse 19:
“All my inward friends abhorred me.
They whom I loved are turned against me.
(24:35):
Any one of the sufferingsthat Job went through would
be overwhelming for any of us.
But think about what he endured (24:40):
financial loss, the loss of his children to
death, a chronic, devastating illness.
So he had financial stress, he had thegrief to go with it, he had physical pain
and emotional trauma, and now he talksabout the fact that no one helped him.
Evidently, nobody said acomforting word to this man.
(25:02):
In fact, they criticized him.
They disrespected him.
And we're talking about, as he sayshere in chapter 19, his kinfolk, his
friends, his servants that he paid.
By the way, children were allashamed of him, and there's not
one supportive thing his wife saidto him, at least in this book.
So he's suffering financially,he's suffering physically,
(25:24):
he's suffering emotionally, andnow he's suffering socially.
In verse 21, you read theseheartbreaking words, “Have pity
upon me, have pity upon me.
O you my friends, for thehand of God has touched me.
Why do you persecute me as God andare not satisfied with my flesh?
Oh, that my words were now written, O,that they were printed in a book, that
(25:46):
they were graved with an iron pen andlead in the rock forever.” But even though
he is very angry, he is very depressed,he still says that he believes in God
and he still puts his faith in the Lord.
In verses 25 and 26, you haveone of the greatest faith
statements anywhere in the Bible.
And remember the kindof shape this man is in.
(26:07):
He's not in good condition at thispoint in any way whatsoever, and
yet he's pledging his faith in God.
This is Job 19:25 and 26, andyou'll recognize some of these
words from a song that we sometimessing at church in verse 25.
He said, “For I know that my redeemerlives, and that he shall stand at
(26:28):
the latter day upon the earth. Andthough after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh I shallsee God.” So job held on to his faith.
He would not turn his back on God.
He would not turn against God.
He does say some things here in thisbook that were wrong, that crossed
the line, because of his anger.
But as far as his overall faith isconcerned, he holds onto that faith.
(26:52):
How many people would give upon God and maybe even become
atheists if they went through justone of the things that Job did?
How many Christians would turn theirback on God if they went through
what Job has experienced here?
This man is a great example ofsuffering and patience and suffering.
That's why the Bible says in Jameschapter five, verse 11: “You have heard
(27:14):
of the patience of Job.” Many timeswe think that patience means that you
never lose your cool about anything.
And that's an element of it.
That's an aspect of it.
But if you really want to seewhat patience is all about,
just look at the life of Job.
Sometimes he lost his cool.
Sometimes he said somethings that were sarcastic.
But overall, he never quit.
(27:34):
He endured.
That's what patience is in the Bible.
It means to endure, and Christiansneed this kind of example.
Do you remember that Jesus warnedabout falling away in times of trial?
In Matthew chapter 13, verse 21, hetalks about the seed that fell on
the stony ground, and he describedpeople like this in the following way.
In Matthew 13 verse 21, he said, “Yethe has no root in himself, but endures
(28:00):
for a while. For when tribulationor persecution arises because of the
word, immediately he is offended.”Sometimes Christians do well in the
Christian life for a while, but whenhard times strike, then they fall away.
We need to be like Job.
He would not give up his faith.
He said, “I know that my Redeemerlives,” and those words need to be on
(28:22):
the lips of Christian people to this day.
Zophar does not like what Job has said.
And he says these words in verse two.
“Therefore do my thoughts causeme to answer, and for this I make
taste.” In other words, I'm upset.
I feel very strongly aboutthis, and I'm in a hurry.
I'm anxious to say what's on my mind.
And beginning in verse four,he says the same old thing.
(28:45):
In other words.
This is what happens, Job, to evil people.
You've been bad, you've been wicked.
He says that wicked people havethis kind of trouble in their
life [verse 19] “because he hasoppressed and forsaken the poor.”
Now Job didn't do that, but they'rebeginning to make accusations that
have no foundation whatsoever.
The Bible says in verse 23 that Zophardescribed a wicked man's life like this.
(29:09):
“When he is about to fill his belly,God shall cast the fury of his
wrath upon him.” And in verse 29, heends by saying “this is the portion
of a wicked man from God, and theheritage appointed unto him by God.”
When he ends, Job responds.
He says in chapter 21, verse two,“Suffer me that I may speak. And after
that I have spoken, mock on.” In otherwords, let me say some things about
(29:32):
this and if you want to make fun ofme after that, go ahead and do it.
So what Job does here is to talkabout the fact that sometimes in
this life, wicked people prosper.
But he also adds thatthey pay for their sins.
So Job is saying in effect: Yes, it is true that wicked (29:43):
undefined
people suffer in this lifetime.
It is true that bad things happen to badpeople, but that doesn't apply to me.
So this ends round two of this greatargument in the Book of Job, and when
we get to round three, we're going tosee that it gets even more intense.
This is the problem of evil thatthese men are talking about.
(30:06):
Thank you for listeningto My God and My Neighbor.
Stay connected with our podcast onour website, and on Apple, Spotify,
YouTube, or wherever finepodcasts are distributed.
Tennessee Bible College, providingChristian education since 1975
in Cookeville, Tennessee, offersundergraduate and graduate programs.
(30:26):
Study at your level.
Aim higher and get in touch with us today.
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