Reading Job (Part 1)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. Mike Abendroth here, and we are starting a new week, a new life, new shows. We've got to get Cooley back on here, don't you think? Anyway, you can email me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.

The Cancer Is Not Your Shepherd book is out now on Amazon, and the revised, updated, and expanded Sexual Fidelity on Amazon as well. Just go there. If you want to order more than 10 copies of each, or just 10 copies of one, email me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com, and I'll get you a discount, drop ship them to your place.

I'm hoping that the Lord will use this book in the lives of many. I saw on Instagram that there was a young lady, and she was getting an infusion, a cancer chemotherapy, and sitting there reading the book at the same time.

So, if it was only for that young lady, that young mom, that would be worth it. Before I get into the show today, the topic of the show, at least, we're already into the show. So, Kim and I, my wife and I, drove up to Burlington, Vermont, over the weekend, or late Sunday night, rather, and that was in the path of totality for the, as I always say, the eclipse.

I'm not going to say eclipse, I'm going to say eclipse. And then, Monday morning, we got up early and drove to Jay Peak, which is close to the Canadian border. And there's some skiing there that day. And then at 2 .15, when the eclipse started, there was a live band playing the Pink Floyd album, Dark Side of the Moon.

And then at the 3 .27, or whatever the time was for the three minutes, that you could just stare at the sun. And I mean, that was no glasses or anything like that. I was thinking, ah, this is kind of all, you know, no big deal, right?

I just see the moon, you know, I've got my special glasses and see the moon starting to eclipse, eclipse the sun. But then when it was, you know, that moment, that was pretty amazing. Dark, it was dark and weird.

All that to say, Charles Barkley probably wouldn't like it that I enjoyed the eclipse. I'm sorry to say, if you weren't in the path of totality, it really wasn't that impressive. Be that as it may. The Bible is a big book.

Sixty-six books, of course, in the big book, the Bible. And according to one website, in the Bible, 1 ,189 chapters in the Bible. 31 ,103 verses, 807 ,361 words. That's a lot of chapters, a lot of verses, and a lot of words.

So, how do you get your mind around so many Bible verses? It is important to understand the Bible. Obviously, it is not an exaggeration to say life and death hang in the balance. Eternal life and eternal death, that is.

Heaven and hell. How you can be reconciled to God. How you can be right in God's eyes.

How you can be forgiven.

How can you know God? Who is God? I mean, there are lots of questions that the Bible answers. Now, certainly, God wants you to know the answers to these questions. Otherwise, why communicate at all? So, it's in the Bible.

The question is, how do we interpret the Bible? Now, when it comes to interpretation of the Bible, I don't want you to say to yourself, well, we interpret it like any other book, because it's not like any other book.

In the sense that there is a genre of wisdom, and there's poetry, and there's apocalyptic, and whatever the genre is, you try to interpret it in light of that genre. Well, I think that I'd be closer to saying something that you would just repeat from maybe other podcasts you've heard in life.

Oh, it's just like any other book. You interpret it just like any other book. But not every other book is inspired, God-breathed, etc. But my question is coming to the fore again. Where do you think you'd find help to interpret the Bible?

Where would you look? A non-inspired commentary? It's like Walter Keiser. You can't look at any subsequent revelation to translate antecedent revelation. You can't go to the New Testament to say, well, Adam and Eve sinned, because sin isn't used.

The word sin isn't used in Genesis 3. Or the word Satan isn't used in Genesis 3, so you can't go to Revelation or other passages in Romans. I think he's called Satan in chapter 16, is he not? Or maybe serpent.

I don't know. My point is the Bible should help us interpret the Bible. That's my ploy today. That's my tact. That's my... That's my... Good thing I'm not the one who helps you interpret the Bible. And I wonder which book of the Bible would help us to interpret the Bible.

I mean, if there's going to be an answer key, a helper, hermeneutical helper, where would that be? And you're right. It'd be in the very first book of the Bible. No, not Genesis. The first book ever written, and that is the book of Job, J-O-B.

Job probably could be the earliest book ever written. And we're going to see today on No Compromise Radio kind of a hermeneutical template by seeing some clues in Job that will help you appreciate, understand, and be thankful for later scriptures.

Job kind of telegraphing a pass. In basketball, you're not to telegraph a pass. You're not to look at the guy you want to pass to on your team. You're supposed to look someplace else to try to trick the defender, the opponent.

Look one way, pass another. That is, don't telegraph a pass. But the Bible, I think, purposely telegraphs a pass on hermeneutics, and it is because God wants you to understand the Bible. And I think Job, as you'll see today, is kind of a Rosetta Stone to help you understand the Bible.

Now, in literature, in just regular literature, there's something called foreshadowing. It's not telegraphing like I just said. It's called foreshadowing, and it is a device in literature where the author gives little clues and little hints early on that help you understand things later as the story develops.

Quote, foreshadowing is often used in the early stages of a novel or at the start of a chapter as it can subtly create tension and set readers' expectations regarding how the story will unfold. For instance, a mystery novel might use foreshadowing in an early chapter by mentioning something that seems inconsequential but is actually a clue.

End quote.

Maybe you could think of Agatha Christie or something like that. You are drawn, your attention is drawn to something that will help you later figure things out. And sometimes people call this art of foreshadowing.

It's like a layer that's created, or you're telling the story to the audience in a wave, one wave after another after another. But for me, foreshadowing might be difficult. Telegraphing, not so difficult.

But since I'm from Nebraska, I'll make it easier. I'll make it TV-related, pop culture-related. When I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s, there were lots of police shows, detective shows.

Kojak, right? The bald Telly Savalas who loves your baby with a lollipop. Mannix, Joe Mannix. Beretta, Tony Beretta with Robert Blake. I think he got convicted of murder later in life. Dennis McLeod. I think it was Dennis.

Dennis Weaver was McLeod. I don't know McLeod's first name. The Rockford Files. But the one that we liked a lot was Columbo. And he was a disheveled detective. And he was a lieutenant. Homicide. LAPD.

And he always walked around with like a rumpled coat. A raincoat, overcoat. And he'd smoke a lot. And as one writer was saying, he pestered people. Side note, 1971 Columbo episode Murder by the Book directed by Steven Spielberg.

It was ranked number 16 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. Anyway, he was a detective looking for clues. And he'd say things as he'd walk out of the room and pop his head back in. Just one more thing.

Or there's something that bothers me. I just can't get it out of my mind. Oh, I'm sorry. I just have a few more questions. Today on No Compromise Radio Ministry. Let me give you three detective-like questions.

Columbo-like questions found in Job. Designed to help you read your Bible well. Three foreshadowing clues. And I'm going to put them in the form of questions. Questions. Now when I first heard about this approach, I was in the car with my son.

Driving on the 99, just north of the 99 in California on Interstate 5. Going north, the grapevine. And my son had a class at the Master's University on Job with Abner Chow. And so credit to our credits due.

Now Abner and I might have a difference or two on Christ-centered preaching. But here he was helpful and he helped me want to explore this all the more. And it helped me understand the Bible better and look for things in the Bible.

And so now I want to help you in my Abendroth-like fashion. So today we're going to look at the book of Job today and next time. And I want you to see what Job does. So that you can read the rest of your Bible with great joy, with thankfulness.

And you can read it better. But you know what we should do? Because most of us don't know much about Job. I don't think I knew much about Job. I mean, of course, I know that he was prosperous and that he loses his family.

He's got all kinds of sores and boils. His wife says, curse God and die. You know, the Lord gives, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Satan's like, you know, you're protecting him.

That's the only reason why he's worshiping you. We have at the beginning prose and then poetry in the center. And then prose at the very end. You know, the so-called comforters of Job. Elihu, you know, Elihu shows up.

I mean, I've got the general gist of it. I think you do too. But I want to just let you appreciate Job all the more as we understand this passage and topic together. Let me give you seven things about Job that will help you understand Job before we get into the three questions.

Does that make sense? So we've got the seven and the three. I probably shouldn't even say the seven. I should just say, let me give you some introductory thoughts because you're thinking about the outline three right now.

So these are just introductory comments. This book is recognized by believers and even unbelievers as an incredible and awesome book. Victor Hugo, the book of Job is perhaps the greatest masterpiece of the human mind.

He also said tomorrow, if all literature was to be destroyed and it was left to retain one work only, left to me to retain one work only, I would save Job. Tennyson said Job is the greatest poem, whether of ancient or modern literature.

Daniel Webster, the book of Job taken as a mere work of literary genius is one of the most wonderful productions of any age or of any language. Thomas Carlyle, call this book one of the greatest things ever written.

There is nothing written, I think, of equal literary merit. David Klein's, the most intense book theologically and intellectually of the Old Testament. And even Martin Luther, he called it magnificent and sublime as no other book of scripture.

So it's worthy to be studied for certain because it's all that and it's in the canon. Secondly, where in the canon is it? It's in the poetical section. So you have the Pentateuch in the Old Testament, the first five books.

You have historical books from Judges to Esther. At the end, you have prophetical books, Isaiah to Malachi. And thirdly, you have poetical books, Job through Song of Solomon. And big picture, we call this poetic, these poetical books, wisdom literature.

And of course, within the wisdom literature, you can have things like lawsuits and dialogues and debates and lament. And so that's all in there. Some people think this is such an amazing book. It's a genre all in its created its own literary genre, the author did.

And there's kind of a didactic element to it as well. It's a teaching tool. Well, when do we place Job? Where do we place Job in terms of timing? Probably in the patriarchal time period, right around Abraham.

So he would have been alive when Abraham was alive. He doesn't say anything about Jewishness. He doesn't say anything about Mosaic law. He doesn't say anything about Exodus or Passover or temple or anything like that.

He acted as a priest in his family, which would coincide with the patriarchal time period. And he had a lot of health.

I have the health problems.

He had a lot of wealth. And back in those days in the patriarchal period, if you had a lot of wealth, that would be not necessarily gold, it would be livestock. And that was the situation here.

How old was he?

After his trials, he lived 140 years. So that kind of sounds like Abraham's life or Isaac's life, 175, 180 years old. So that fits also in the patriarchal period. His daughters were given inheritance with the brothers, which was not done in Mosaic law.

So it must be pre-Moses. And when you talk about money, piece of money in Job 42 .11, that's only found with the same kind of language in the life of Jacob in Genesis 33. So probably during the patriarchal period.

Who wrote it?

That's another good question. Well, the title gets its name from the central character. And maybe he wrote it. We don't know who did write it. The word Job, different nuances in terms of what it means, his name.

His name could mean hated, persecuted, enemy, or sometimes people think, where's my father, a derivative for that. The Jews thought that it could have been Moses who wrote it, Job, Solomon, Elihu, Jeremiah, Baruch.

We don't really know. We do know, though, that it's a legit book because Paul quotes from it in 1 Corinthians 3 and in Romans 11. So Paul took it as inspired. And if you want an outline of the book, it's pretty simple.

The outline of the book is, according to Weersbe, Job's distress, Job's defense, Job's deliverance. That's good. Or Job's former state of integrity and then speeches and dialogues about the problem and solutions.

Did you know that Job is mentioned in Ezekiel 14 .14? Did you know that? Well, he's mentioned along with Noah and Daniel in Ezekiel. And James, the half-brother of Jesus, talks about Job as an example of perseverance in James 5.

So we have a historical man living around the patriarchal period, and it's the oldest book in the Bible. Now, the question that we're going to talk about a little bit now is, what was the purpose of the book?

Why was it written? Now, most say, and there's some truth to this, of course, that it's talking about suffering. How should righteous people suffer? Why does God allow righteous to suffer? Some think about it's, you know, maybe some problem of evil theodicy, testing God, God defending himself in his glory.

How to be patient under suffering. I think we can talk a little bit about all those and how they might contribute. But I think comfort is a big theme in the Bible. And when you suffer, you ask for comfort.

And when you suffer, you start to ask questions that are really real. When I'm in the hospital dying of COVID, I thought I was dying of COVID 16 days. And they keep turning up the oxygen so high until it can't really be turned up anymore.

My only other option is a ventilator. And you ask the right questions when you suffer. You don't concern yourself with Joe Biden's policies, nor sports scores, nor family squabbles. You ask real important questions.

And you say things like, God, I need comfort. Do you care? Do you love me? Do you notice me? Will you do something about it? And through the medium of suffering and theodicy, the right questions are asked.

What are those questions? I'm glad you asked because those are the three big questions today. Three detective-like questions, Columbo-like questions found in Job designed to help you read your Bible well.

And they could be the most important questions of all time. The most important questions of all time. And these will help you read your Bible. You should ask yourself questions like, what should I be looking for when I read the Bible?

The answers to these questions. It will tell you why the Bible was written. So you begin to look for these very things. And this is not like Jeopardy, where you are given the answer first, then you give the question.

You're given the question first. Question one, does God forgive sin? Question one. True comfort would be realized if God forgave sin. You would know God cares if He forgave sin. And when you're suffering, you want to know, does God love me?

Does He care? Where can I receive comfort? Answer. Question.

Answer.

You know, sometimes I just want the truth.

You want answers?

I think I'm entitled.

You want answers!

I want answers, but I want the three questions first. Does God forgive sin? Job 7. Let's pick it up there. Remember in verse 7, Job 7, 7, that my life is a breath. Job's talking. I will never again see good.

The eye of Him who sees me will behold me no more. While your eyes are on me, I shall be gone. As the cloud fades and vanishes, so He who goes to Sheol or goes down to Sheol does not come up. He returns no more to His house, nor does His place know Him any more.

Desperate pleas, resignation, hope needed, hurting, suffering. I mean, if you lost all your children, if you lost one child, one miscarriage, let alone all ten. Fading away. Do you notice God? Do you see me?

Do you know how much I'm hurting? Verse 20. If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind? Why have you made me your mark? Why have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?

For now I shall lie in the earth. You will seek me, but I shall not be. I'm hurting. I'm suffering. My life is fleeting away fast. You notice me. Why don't you forgive me? Why will you not pardon me? If you did, that means I know you care.

I know you love me. I know there'd be real comfort if that would be the case. I would understand how gracious you are and how merciful you are and kind you are and loving you are if you would forgive sins.

Many times people, in the midst of their suffering, have to deal with God. And maybe they start off by being angry with God or yelling against God, at God. But you ask the right questions when you're suffering.

COVID, like I said, 16 days. You ask the right questions. Am I going to heaven? Sometimes I ask the wrong questions, like, is my faith a saving faith? Is my faith good enough faith versus is Jesus a good enough Savior?

When you read the Bible, one of the things you should be looking for in a hermeneutical template is, does God forgive sins? So right from the very beginning, oldest book ever written, chapter 7, what about God forgiving sins?

Wasn't that David's cry in Psalm 51 after he slept with Bathsheba? When you read your Bible, you'll realize quickly that God is holy and men are sinful. And how does a just God let a sin go? And if you begin to think about that question, when you read the Bible, you just see how it unfolds and you'll think, oh, that's right.

He, God, is not an indulgent father who just says, all right, my child, come back all as well, Lloyd-Jones says. God doesn't say, let bygones be bygones, no big deal. He can say, let there be light, but he doesn't say, let men be forgiven.

Why? Because there's justice and the wages of sin is death and God is righteous. Let there be light, let there be forgiveness. God's standards, God's law, his holiness burns against evil and sin and unrighteousness.

Abraham, I'm but dust and ashes when he sees God for who he is and when he sees himself for who he is. I abhor myself later, Job would say in Job 42. Woe is me, I'm undone, Isaiah chapter 6. I don't have any strength, Daniel would say, Daniel chapter 10.

So, when you read the Bible, early on we're taught in Job with this foreshadowing, with this telegraphing, that there has to be forgiveness for God to care so that we're not driven off to despair. And how does God show forgiveness in the Bible?

Well, you'll start reading the Bible and you'll say, oh, in Genesis chapter 3, the penalty for sin is death and God killed an animal. As he made skins and clothed Adam and Eve from another animal. I mean, from an animal, I don't mean another animal, I don't mean Adam and Eve were animals, I don't mean that.

Sin must be dealt with, every one, every sin. And when it's dealt with, isn't that comforting? Does God care when that's dealt with? And so you see the pattern of substitution in the Bible. You're looking for it, you're looking for Passover, where the lamb is killed.

It's without blemish, it's a male, one-year-old, or it could be from the goats. And you kill it at twilight and you take the blood and put it on the two doorposts in the middle of the houses in which you eat.

And you're teaching the wages of sin is death and so something has to die. And so this whole sacrificial system in the Old Testament. And then for the Day of Atonement, it's the same thing. It's all pointing to there has to be forgiveness, there has to be blood, there has to be a substitute.

That's how you should be reading your Bible. There's a hint early on in Job 7, does God forgive sin? And you start watching, you start looking, you start appreciating because you know where this is all ending.

It doesn't end in Leviticus, although Leviticus is awesome because the sin offering and the guilt offering, they're talking about impurity and debt. And it's like the passive obedience of Jesus, the penalty of the law.

And then there's what? A burn offering and a grain offering. They're totally burnt up, a consecration of life unto God. This is active obedience. And then because of that, you have the peace offering, where you have fellowship between the two.

And you're like, yes, that's true. And then when you read, surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, we have esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions.

And then you say, yes, in Isaiah 53, I see what's happening now. When you read your Bible, you should be looking for, does God forgive sin? And how does He forgive sin? Because that's going to magnify the work of the Lord Jesus.

Part 2 next time, Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry.