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Then I saw Joe Biden. I got to do this before I get in trouble.
Collect yourself, bro.
Yeah, let me settle down here. Come on, man.
Pause.
All right, go back to, let's go back to the chapter. Oh, my goodness. Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know you could do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?
Therefore, I have uttered what I do not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I do not know. Listen, please, and let me speak. You said, I will question you, and you will answer me. And I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.
Therefore, I applaud myself and repent in dust and ashes. And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job that the Lord said to Eliphaz, the Temanite, my wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me, what is right, as my servant Job has.
Now, therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. And my servant Job shall pray for you, and I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of me, what was right, and my servant Job has.
So Eliphaz, the Temanite, Bildad, the Shuite, and Zophar, the Naamanite, went and did as the Lord commanded them, for the Lord had accepted Job. And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends.
Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. And all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintance before, came to him and ate food with him in his house, and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord has brought upon him.
Each one gave him a piece of silver and a ring of gold. Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had 14 ,000 sheep, 6 ,000 camels, 1 ,000 yoke of oxen, and 1 ,000 female donkeys.
He also had seven sons and three daughters, and he called the name of the first Jemima, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Kareem Habuch. In all the land were found no women as beautiful as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
After this, Job lived 140 years, and he saw children and grandchildren for four generations, and Job died and was full of days. Jackie, could you close that door, would you mind?
Thank you.
It might sound so loud.
Yeah, it'll muffle it a little bit. So it's interesting how this summary is brought out, and there are some things that I think we could consider. As I said, his great question is now answered. It's interesting to me, and let me just point this out, how was God angry because of the words that his friends spoke to Job?
That's not what it says, and it's interesting how it says it, right? Because God was angry because they had not spoken of God in the right way, and it wasn't necessarily the thing, although they targeted Job with those words, it wasn't necessarily that, but it was rather the fact that his three friends, and I think this is a lesson for us, his three friends assumed that they understood what the providence of God was doing, and that's where I think many times we can go off the tracks.
In other words, we see situations, whether it's in our own life or in other people's lives, and it's hard not to make an assumption, and that assumption sometimes is based on solely externals, as it was with his friends, because they saw Job's situation, and in their mind, they were quick to react, and they said, your situation is because you've sinned, and we've looked at and talked about it a number of times.
Great afflictions are not always a result of great sin, and some of God's greatest servants have been afflicted in the greatest of ways, and certainly you can think of the apostle Paul, how he was, and that's why I think in part he had to defend himself so often, even as we've been talking about in 2 Corinthians, that Paul was accused of not really being an apostle because how could an apostle possibly be, you know, left shipwrecked and thrown in prison and be beaten and all those things, and so people made these assumptions, and that's one of the issues.
God is angry with his friends because they have incorrectly spoke about him, and I think that's a good object lesson for us, that we be careful when we speak for God. Many times we speak about things for ourselves, and we need to be careful with that, but in reality, if we're gonna be those who speak about God and his truth, we really need to be careful.
Remember, that's why it says, let every man be what? Slow to read, slow to speak, and what? Quick to hear, and again, even as you think about it in the outworking of whether you're a teacher or a preacher or whatever way you have in ministry, that you really need to be careful about what you're saying because again, God doesn't just say, oh well, oops, they made a, they're bad, but God holds us into account for what we do.
Now, in this final chapter, I've noticed how Job's attitude seems to have drastically changed. Let me just read the first seven verses, well, first six verses, because I think this, let me go back to, go back to chapter 40 real quick.
Like I said, we're gonna finish this morning. Look at chapter 40. This is after the first time that God calls Job into question, and says, moreover, the Lord answered Job and said, shall one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
And he who rebukes God, let him answer it. Now, look at the response to Job in verse three. Job answered the Lord and said, behold, I'm vile. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth once I have spoken, but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.
Now, I take that to be an act of, if you will, a confession on Job's part, that he has spoken incorrectly, that he's spoken out of turn, that he has, in a sense, miscalculated what God has been doing in his life.
But when you get to chapter 42, and we read these first six verses, to me, there seems to be a much deeper and much more sincere confession on Job's part. So look at chapter 42, verse one. Job, this time, he answered the Lord and said, I know you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.
You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? And I have uttered what I do not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I do not know, listen and please let me speak. You said, I will question you and you shall answer me.
And he says this in verse five, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes seize. Therefore, I abhor myself and I repent in dust and ashes. And there seems to be a level, to me, of sincerity on the part of Job, and I think that's partly why God, in that sense, questioned him twice and said, stand up.
Do you remember the account of Peter when he denied the Lord, right? And you remember, in the first part of it, he had actually come to the point of cursing about God after he was questioned by the girl, and aren't you a Galilean, and you were with him, and all that, but it wasn't really until far later on in Peter's life that I think he truly understood, although he did leave and go and he was weeping and he was sorrowful, but I do think there's times in our lives where things are not truly settled until a later point.
In other words, there are things in our life where we might have initial sorrow, and we might even have initial repentance, but at times, later on in our lives, things come back in a much deeper, we regret much more, and I think it's after we grow, and there's a time lapse, maybe I could say it that way, in that you and I need to try to act in a way that is truly submissive to God, and I do see this in Job, and his words seem much humbler more, less complaining.
Now, I know none of you complain, but I do, and if I said I didn't, then not only would I be a complainer, I'd be a liar, but we all complain, we all mutter and utter things in our own mind, in our own heart, about our situation, about somebody else's situation, and why does this, and why does that, and go on and on and on, and God has finally brought Job to, I think, a much deeper relationship, and I don't know about you, but a deeper relationship with the Lord is worth a thousand tribulations, because if you think about it, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, loses his own soul?
And I think at times, we consider the lives of those that we love, and that we care about, and honestly, our prayer would be, Lord, whatever it takes to get them to a right place with you, isn't that worth much more than just, you know, Lord, give them a prosperous life?
A prosperous life is great, and I'm not opposed to it, I mean, I'm one that could say I would like to have a prosperous life, but a prosperous life only if it comes with a knowledge of the Lord, right?
Because again, just like the fool who built his bonds, and you know, you fool tonight, your soul will be required of you. And I'll bring it up, and even as my son got into an accident last week, and the first thing was, are you okay?
And it really was the mercy of God, because if you saw how his car was totaled, I mean, at 75 miles, he blew a tire, went right over the ditch, the embankment was deep, he flipped over, he's on his roof, he's sliding down, he hits the trees, and he said to us, he said, the first thing I saw when I woke up was the Red Cross in front of the Baptist Hospital on Dunn Avenue, because he was right there.
And he walked into the hospital, actually, but the fact that he only had muscular issues, and no bones broken, and again, all these things that come upon us, friends, they come for a purpose, and we don't always know the purpose, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a purpose.
So as God has worked with Job over this time, and by the way, I don't know how long this all took. I've never been able to figure out how long Job suffered, but I know it wasn't a week or a short period of time.
It was an extended period of time. And it's interesting, if you look at the last verse, verse 16 in chapter 42, he lived 140 years in sorrows. This is after it's all done. He lived 140 years, saw his children and his grandchildren for four generations.
So not only did God bring him through the fire and test him, but when God finished with him, he allowed him, I mean, by the way, I think this is a timestamp for when this book was written, if you think about it, that this was written, I think, in the early patriarch, or the late patriarch time zone.
Because again, it's not normal to live 140 years after, and we don't know how old he was when he started this gig, right? So he could be 200 years old. And again, I think that takes us back to when it was written, because if some are right, that he was a descendant of perhaps Nahor or somewhere along the line in the descent, the ancestors of, or the ones that followed Abraham, that's the time zone in which this book was written.
And there are things that are missing in the book that would really help us understand that he understood a whole lot about what was going to take place. But nevertheless, he lived 140 years, he saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.
And so if you think about it, some say a generation is 30 years, some say a generation is 40 years, but nevertheless, he died, and then it says he died in old and full of days. And by the way, in case you don't know, Mary McCrae went home to be with the Lord Saturday night.
So just, we need to pray for No, it wasn't, I think it was Saturday morning, sister. Yeah, yeah, it was either, I believe it was, it was Saturday morning. So we need to pray for Karen and Darlene, her daughters as, you know, although I think, how old was Mary?
Mary had to be what? Oh, she was, yeah, definitely, baby. Yeah, she was 91, 92, somewhere in there. She wasn't a spring chicken. I'll always remember her because of what she told me, that she was called in high school, sample size, because she was so small.
And she was a little nut, but she was a feisty little thing, and she loved the Lord, there was no doubt about it.
Yeah, I bet she dealt with that.
She told me she dealt with that in school and everything. But you know what? She has her reward now, right? No more issues, her fullness of days have ended. Nevertheless, going back to what we read, so God knew from the beginning, remember what I said, that God had said, have you considered my servant Job?
And God called him an upright and just man. God knew what he was doing with Job, and that God was going to bring Job and that's the great thing about Job. Remember, I've said that to us a number of times.
Job is never mentioned in Hebrews 11, which is the great chapter of faith. But Job is mentioned in James as an example of what? Patience, endurance, long suffering. And so you and I have to think about it.
We have to be able to press on and realize that one day, someday, we'll get our reward. And that all that comes in between our birth and our death, if we are a child of God, is God working in us, number one, for his glory, and number two, to prepare us, if you think about it.
The things that we go through in this life prepare us to be with the Lord. And until God is done in that preparation, we're about as invincible as anything or anyone. Again, we're immortal until God is done with us.
And so interesting that he allowed Job all these years to live upon the earth. And I'm just making random comments, but just to tie things together, look at verse 15, well, verse 13. And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
How many sons and daughters did he have at the beginning? Seven sons and three daughters. So this dude had 20 kids, at least. And here's the thing, I don't know if this is from the same wife. There's no real clear indication, because you remember what the first wife had said, right?
She said, curse God and die. And then he said, you speak like a fool. And then there's only one other time, and I believe it's in chapter 37, where it says, my breath is an offense to my own wife. But nowhere in the book do we get a detailed understanding of the status of his marriage.
And so I don't know, and I don't wanna speculate whether this was the same wife, or if this is a second wife, or what the situation is, but I do know this, because it's there. God not only restored to him what he lost, but if you consider it, although he gives them the same amount of kids that he had, in verse 12, it says, the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.
And he had 14 ,000 sheep, in the beginning he had 7 ,000. 6 ,000 camels, in the beginning he had 3 ,000. 1 ,000 yoke of oxen, in the beginning he had 500, and 1 ,000 female donkeys, and God doubled everything.
Now, and I think we talked about this.
Just a little bit last week.
Does this prove what his friends had said? Because if you remember what his friends had said, they said, if you will turn and repent, God will bless you. And that was the great issue with the friends, saying, you've been evil, therefore, in that sense, God's judgment's coming, you need to repent, and if you repent, God will restore what you've lost.
Is that, is this a vindication of his friends' speech? I think not. I don't, was God under obligation to restore these things to Job? No, and the reality is, God's not under obligation to restore anything to any of us, right?
God does whatever he pleases to do, in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, and none can say, oh, what are you doing? And so, when you think about it, I would think that even his friends would misunderstand the fact that God had blessed him, but what also is extremely interesting, and just look at it, in verse seven of chapter 42, and so it was that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, basically, God deals with Job first.
Then he said to Eliphaz, the Temanite, my wrath is against you, is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me, what is right, as my servant, Job. And remember, I asked you last week, if you thought this was, was this an audible session?
Did others, did Eliphaz actually hear the voice of God that says, my anger is aroused against you?
I don't know.
I do think there must have been some manifestation, because if you remember, even in the beginning, when God appears, it says God came out of the whirlwind, and usually, when there was a whirlwind, there was a display, whether it was the Shekinah glory crowd, or whatever it was, but I don't know if God said this to them audibly or not.
Nevertheless, he communicated in such a way to Eliphaz, who was basically the spokesman for the three so-called friends, that God wasn't pleased with them. And verse eight is, again, pivotal in our understanding.
This was God's instruction to the friends. Now, therefore, take for your soul, or take for yourselves, seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant, Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant, Job, shall pray for you.
God required them to go to Job, and this had have been, I believe, this had have been extremely humiliating to them, that they thought that they had the upper hand, and they come to find out that God's not been pleased with anything that they said.
And they spoke a lot of truth, didn't they?
Sure they did.
They spoke about the creations, and the outworkings of God, and the providence of God, and the heart of man, and they said a lot of things that were true, but God was not pleased with them. And to me, that even is an indication that we not only have to speak the truth, but I think we need to be really concerned about how we think about the truth.
In other words, do we just spit out the word of God, and just, with a heart that doesn't, that isn't equal to the words that we speak? And so, as God, he sends them to his servant, Job, and it's interesting that he calls Job his servant.
And you know why?
If you think about it, everyone and everything is God's servant. And we realize that. And you can take this, and you can open it up further and further. I mean, you can go to something like Romans 9, where even that is brought up, where it says that God, in that sense, he used Pharaoh, for what?
Why did God raise up Pharaoh? Remember what it says in Romans? It says, even for this purpose I've raised you up, that I make my power and my wrath shown. So God uses everyone and everything, and in the providence of God, and I don't even know how we can begin to understand, how does God do all this?
Just think about it.
God was merciful to Job's friends.
Yeah, he didn't cut them off. Yeah, he could have certainly cut them off, because it says that God was angry with him, right? He wasn't happy with these guys.
He said, if they do these things, then I will accept his praise.
Yeah, and isn't it interesting that he says, I will accept Job's prayer. He doesn't say, I will accept your prayer. He says, I will accept Job's prayer. So what does that help us understand? That in this sense, Job had to act as the priest on behalf of the three friends.
He's the one that has to approach God, because he's the righteous one, and God has vindicated him, and so he says to the friends, your prayer, and I'm saying it, that your prayers are not gonna get it.
You need Job's prayers, and so he does act as a priest.
If they didn't do some sort of humility and all that, they missed the mark.
Yeah, I'm sure their heads were hanging. I don't think that they could have thought anything else at this point, other than the fact that, in that sense, they have done harm to Job, and now God is, in that way, vindicating Job, and God's telling them that, you got this all wrong, boys, and you need to go to Job, and it's interesting how they, he says, I will accept him, in verse eight, lest I deal with you according to your folly.
So again, Job has to be the intercessor of the three friends, and in that sense, I can say that I believe that Job is a picture of Christ, because who makes intercession for us? Have we not all sinned?
Have we not all committed folly? And if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ, who makes intercession for us? Remember, in John 17, I pray for them.
I pray not for the world,.
But for the ones that you've given me. If it wasn't for the intercession of Christ,.
Where would we be?
We have no inherent right. We have no inherent integrity or righteousness to approach God, so we need someone in between, right? And so certainly, Job, to me, in some ways, is a type of the Lord Jesus, in that he himself has to make intercession, because God will only accept Job's prayer, just like God will only accept his son's righteousness, because we have no righteousness, right?
We have nothing like the hymn. Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling, right? Nothing in and of myself worthy of God looking at me. And so basically, if you think about it, everyone apart from Christ is what?
Under the wrath of God. And it's no different to me than what was in Egypt, on that night of the Passover. What was it that saved them from the wrath of God? Was it simply because they were Jewish? Think about it.
I say no. What saved them was the blood that was sprinkled on the doorposts. That was the only thing, because were they not guilty? Sure they were, they were sinners, and they were, the blood allowed the angel of death to pass over them.
So in that sense, that's a picture, right? Of the work of Christ, that he is the one, and it's his blood that keeps us from having the wrath of God poured down on us. And so that's why, when you think about it, when we talk to people about, if you will, Christianity, the essence of Christianity is the person and work of Christ and that without him, there is nothing that we have.
What are we gonna claim? Remember that's, even Jesus said that in Matthew. He says, many are gonna come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, haven't I done this? And haven't I done that? And I can even cast out demons and I've done many wonderful works.
And what was the response? Depart from me, I never knew you. So again, God points us to Job, God points his friends to Job, and God points us through Job.
To Christ.
Also interesting, I've only got a few minutes left, is that God never really deals with Elihu.
Think about that.
And I think there's a reason why, or at least partial reason for us that we can glean from, is that Elihu did not take the same road that the three friends did. The three friends were absolutely certain, Job, you've sinned, and you're getting what you deserve.
Elihu took a different road and he actually promoted the glory of God. And he actually treated Job with more care. Because remember what he had said to Job, Job, listen to me, I'm trying to help you. I'm acting as an intercessor, which ultimately, of course, no one could be the intercessor but Christ.
But nevertheless, God never charges Elihu with folly. And so again, to me, it helps me understand I'm never gonna do everything perfectly, right?
Agree?
None of us are. But the closer we come to truth, the better it is, not only for us, but for those who hear us. And that's why truth is so important. People have that thought, I don't really need doctrine, I need experience.
And my answer to that is baloney, right? Because God has not given us a spirit of fear, but what? Power, love, and a sound mind. I was reading in Romans the other day, and I was reading in Romans 10 where Paul says how he cares for his countrymen, the Jews, being a Jew, and he says, I declare to you, they have a zeal, but not according to knowledge.
And so when you think about that, and I look up that word zeal because I didn't know what the original word meant, and it really meant they were hot with desire.
And you know what?
That's another thing. Being zealous for the Lord is great, but we need to be zealous with knowledge, right? Again, that's the whole problem with this experience movement that's out there. Doesn't matter whether it's attached to knowledge, it just matters whether I experience it, right?
The problem with that is experience, most of the time, comes from feeling.
Yeah, absolutely, right.
You know what I mean?
Emotions, feelings.
Emotions and heart and all that, and you know what the Bible says about following your heart, you know?
The heart is deceitful, right? And so when you think about that, again, there are so many things in the book of Job, if you think about it, which was written millennium ago, that we can actually glean from.
Now, not every single word, and we can't fully understand this situation, but there are things that we can extract out of it.
But I do think experience has a place, right?
Oh, sure it does. Yeah, sure it did.
Everybody has what they experienced coming to the knowledge of God, you know? But totally based on experience, and getting your, I don't even know what the right word for it is, basing your understanding, basing your life, basing what you.
Your assurance is never gonna come from emotion.
You're right.
Right, from experience. Our assurance comes from the settled truth of the word of God, that when Jesus said it is finished, it was finished.
Doctrine, theology.
Yeah, and again, not dry doctrine, but a doctrine that is practical in our lives. And that's why you think. If you think about, I know I'm off track, but I'm finishing up, so. If you think about the epistles, in particular Paul's epistles, and if you think about how they're set up, they're framed, in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, the Thessalonians, almost all of those, and even in some of the other ones.
What always is coming first? What always comes first?
Doctrine.
Matter of fact, even in the book of Romans, Paul takes 11 chapters, and then he lays out doctrine, doctrinal truth, doctrinal truth. And then in Romans 12, Paul says, therefore I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God.
He then turns to the practice. So, knowledge is necessary for there to be right practice. And again, in Ephesians, the first couple of chapters, the doctrine, doctrine, doctrine, especially in Ephesians, right?
It's the sovereignty of God and his predestination, and then in chapter four of Ephesians says, therefore, brethren, I beseech you to walk worthy of the call, and then he goes on into all those situations, right?
And then he deals with kids and anger and marriage, and same thing in the other epistles. So, doctrine will always precede, or doctrine should precede practice. And so, nevertheless, I think that's even the way this is set up, only in a very brief way.
So, we only got a few minutes left. I wonder what Job reflected on, again, in these, I mean, 140 years, 140 years. I don't care if their bodies were stronger. Apparently, his body was stronger than normal to have 10 kids after, I mean, think about Abraham.
Abraham, it said that Abraham was past, and Sarah was past age of having children, and yet, old Job, I mean, that's a different story. He's still in that situation. He's still popping them out. I know that doesn't sound right on Mother's Day.
But, he didn't pop them out anyway, so. But you get my drift, even though it's not a good drift. So, God accepts Job's prayer, and God prays, Job prays for them, and I do believe that that was the very thing that caused God's anger to be nothing else delayed, because I don't know the state of the three friends, do you?
I don't know if these three friends were believers. It doesn't really give us clear, you might say, well, they spoke so much truth, but listen, a lot of people speak a lot of truth that don't know the Lord.
Because it's not about knowing about the Lord. It's knowing the Lord, right? And that was the very thing that God was bringing out in Job. He persevered. Again, I don't know about you, but if you think about all the things that Job suffered, his loss of his wealth, his loss of his health, his loss of his wife, his loss of his children, his loss of his integrity in the world, his loss of being esteemed, a great person.
I mean, he took a deep dive. And yet, at the end, God rewarded him in a way that it allowed him to prosper and have those things that he lost restored. And I guess I'll end it this way. God is not obligated to give us an easy life.
Right?
But God, and I'll say it this way, God is obligated through Christ to keep us until that day. And he does. God is faithful. That's what it says in Philippians. God is faithful who began this good work in you and will what?
Complete it until the day of Christ. And so you and I, as the saying goes, some by the fire, some by the flood, some through great trial, but what? All through the blood. And so we'll leave that as a summary.
I've enjoyed having time together to look at this. And so next week, we'll go in there with Dr. Collier and jump into Daniel and then Revelation. I will say this, it's gonna be crowded in that room. So you come late, you might be standing.
And one more time, be careful, those microphones are all lit up. Up, they're hanging from the ceiling.
Thank you for your studies.
Good, good. I've enjoyed doing it. I hope we can, I think after Revelation, we'll consider adding a different study so we have some options. But if I know Brother Mike, it's gonna be a while before he finishes Daniel and a while before he finishes Revelation.
And I'm sure Revelation is gonna be real interesting. Yeah, yeah. So, okay, let's just close with a word of prayer and we're done. Father, thank you for our time together, Lord. Thank you that you're the great God over heaven and earth and Lord that you do it all and that we simply need to trust you no matter what in our lives, whether it be good times in our mind or bad times or hard times or happy times.
Lord, one day, someday, we'll see you as you are and we will enjoy forever through the finished work of Christ. Now be with us this morning, be with the mothers that are here, be with those who have not a mother now, Lord, and there are those that are suffering, Lord, because of this situation and that situation in their lives.
So bless us and may we grow in the grace and knowledge of the one who so loved us that he gave himself for us.
Amen.