Latest / The Bread of the Word Podcast / Job 27:8-12 - Listening for God's Voice

Transcript

Job 27:8-12 - Listening for God's Voice · The Bread of the Word Podcast

• 0:14
  Blessed is the man
• 0:16
  who walketh not in the council the ungodly
• 0:19
  Nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth
• 0:22
  in seated the scornful
• 0:24
  but his delight is on the law of the LORD
• 0:28
  and on his law
• 0:30
  doth he meditate day and night
• 0:38
  and he shall be like a tree
• 0:41
  planted by the rivers of water
• 0:43
  that brings forth his fruit and his season
• 0:47
  his weaf also shall not weather
• 0:50
  and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
• 0:53
  Welcome
• 0:54
  to the Bread of the Word Podcast,
• 0:57
  a podcast striving to feast on god's Word
• 1:01
  and let the Bible speak to us all
• 1:04
  let us, as a former generation said
• 1:07
  go add fontaise
• 1:09
  to the fountain
• 1:10
  and be nourished and sustained by all that God is
• 1:15
  let's dig in together
• 1:26
  hello
• 1:27
  and welcome back to the Bread of the Word Podcast,
• 1:29
  where we go adfantes to the fountain
• 1:31
  to the Word of God.
• 1:32
  To be nourished and sustained by all the God is
• 1:34
  as he's revealed Himself to us.
• 1:35
  My name is Tyler,
• 1:37
  and we are continuing to March
• 1:38
  verse by verse to the Book of Job.
• 1:41
  Now coming to
• 1:43
  verse 8
• 1:45
  I will be reading through to verse 12.
• 1:47
  These are the words of God
• 1:50
  for what is the hope of the hypocrite
• 1:52
  though he hath gained when God taketh away his soul
• 1:57
  10 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him
• 2:00
  will he delight himself in the Almighty?
• 2:02
  Will he always call upon God?
• 2:04
  I will teach? You by the hand of God
• 2:07
  that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal
• 2:10
  behold all ye yourselves have seen it.
• 2:13
  Why then are ye thus all together vain?
• 2:17
  And we have been working through some statements of job
• 2:21
  as he returns
• 2:23
  an address from Bildad
• 2:26
  as he returned
• 2:26
  some statements from Bildad about god's holiness
• 2:29
  and job's implied unholiness,
• 2:32
  and Job said last week, God is not his enemy
• 2:34
  that's where we left off was that' God is not my enemy
• 2:37
  let my enemy be the wicked,
• 2:39
  let my enemy be god's enemies essentially
• 2:43
  but here he says, what is the hope of the hypocrite
• 2:45
  though he has gained when God taken away his soul
• 2:48
  the may of us who grew up in the church
• 2:50
  may be familiar with the verse in Luke.
• 2:52
  This is what does it profit a man
• 2:53
  if he gains the whole world
• 2:55
  it forfeits his soul and I believe that is a reference
• 2:59
  to this
• 3:00
  believe that Jesus is quoting Job when He says that
• 3:04
  and that this is something that
• 3:05
  hearkens back to the Book of Job.
• 3:08
  But the idea here being is that there are people
• 3:11
  that don't have this
• 3:12
  there are people that do not have hope in God
• 3:15
  that God is very much an enemy to them
• 3:18
  and what are the sort of people?
• 3:20
  What do they do
• 3:21
  is the question that Job is asking he says do they
• 3:26
  will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon
• 3:28
  him will he the wicked people, the hypocrites
• 3:32
  will they delight in God?
• 3:35
  Will they always call upon God?
• 3:38
  Will God hear their cry when trouble comes upon them
• 3:42
  and this
• 3:43
  is something that is
• 3:45
  difficult to articulate? I'll be honest
• 3:48
  because I've heard this abuse I've heard this idea
• 3:51
  twisted and contorted to be something that's not
• 3:54
  and I've heard people say that God doesn't hear sinners
• 3:58
  and if that is the case,
• 4:00
  I'm in trouble
• 4:01
  though I profess Christ. I am by definition as sinner
• 4:04
  and so we make a
• 4:05
  blanket statement that God does not hear the
• 4:07
  prayer of sinners.
• 4:09
  We got issues,
• 4:11
  but the context here
• 4:12
  the greater scope of what's going on here
• 4:15
  is not so much that God doesn't' hear
• 4:17
  because they're sinners'
• 4:20
  as much as it is that there's not a relationship
• 4:23
  component here,
• 4:24
  because
• 4:25
  often times we've seen' that God
• 4:28
  begins the dialogue he doesn't respond,
• 4:30
  but he begins it
• 4:33
  who can believe that they have not heard
• 4:36
  this is Paul and Romans.
• 4:39
  Likewise, we have all these
• 4:41
  passages in the Old Testament that talk about being
• 4:43
  silent before God
• 4:45
  about listening to God,
• 4:48
  and I believe what is implied here
• 4:50
  is that the relational content
• 4:53
  of walking with God
• 4:55
  begins by listening, not by speaking
• 4:58
  and that that is the picture that Job is painting here
• 5:01
  is not so much
• 5:02
  that God doesn't' hear sinners because of sinners
• 5:04
  as much as my sheep hear my voice.
• 5:09
  The God speaks first and we listen
• 5:11
  and that the relationship starts with God,
• 5:16
  and so they
• 5:17
  the God doesn't' hear them because He doesn't' know them
• 5:20
  there's not a back and forth.
• 5:22
  They don't hear His voice, they're not listening for Him
• 5:27
  and so there's a relational deficit
• 5:30
  when the hypocrites cry out to God
• 5:33
  if we look over at Psalm 29,
• 5:41
  this is a passage that my pastor preached last Sunday.
• 5:47
  It says The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.
• 5:49
  The God of glory thundereth the
• 5:51
  the Lord is upon many waters.
• 5:53
  The voice of the Lord is powerful,
• 5:54
  the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
• 5:57
  The voice of the Lord braketh the cedars
• 1:00:00
  yea, the Lord braketh the cedars of Lebanon
• 1:00:03
  so we've got this picture here
• 1:00:04
  of the voice of Lore that it thunders
• 1:00:06
  it is powerful, it is intense it is strong
• 1:00:10
  it is noticeable.
• 1:00:14
  It says he maketh them also to skip like a calf,
• 1:00:18
  Lebanon insiden Assyrian like a young
• 1:00:22
  unicorn, as the King James says
• 1:00:24
  or others might say something else
• 1:00:26
  the voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire
• 1:00:30
  the voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness
• 1:00:31
  the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Cadish.
• 1:00:33
  The voice of the LORD maketh
• 1:00:36
  the hinds to calve
• 1:00:39
  the voice of the lore causes smaller things
• 1:00:41
  like the birth of a child.
• 1:00:45
  So it's not all of thunder it's not all
• 1:00:48
  extravagance, but there's something smaller something
• 1:00:52
  we can know,
• 1:00:56
  and the overarching call of
• 1:00:58
  Psalm 29 is listen to the God who is both
• 1:01:02
  listen to his voice.
• 1:01:04
  This goes throughout the Old Testament.
• 1:01:06
  This idea that we have to listen to God
• 1:01:10
  go back to Genesis 3
• 1:01:12
  when God is dishing out punishments. After
• 1:01:15
  Adam and Eve eat the fruit,
• 1:01:17
  he says to Adam
• 1:01:18
  Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife
• 1:01:22
  because you have listened to some
• 1:01:24
  to a voice other than mine.
• 1:01:28
  And then we get to Deuteronomy
• 1:01:30
  and there's that famous phrase in Deuteronomy 6
• 1:01:32
  here Israellisten, Israel
• 1:01:38
  and then he feeds them
• 1:01:43
  and so in Genesis Adam and Eve do not listen and eat
• 1:01:47
  but in Deuteronomy they listen and are fed by God,
• 1:01:52
  and so part of the
• 1:01:53
  unveiling of himself that God is enacting
• 1:01:56
  through the Old Testament is this idea of listening
• 1:01:59
  and I go on that tangent
• 1:02:01
  because it's relevant here
• 1:02:02
  because Bildad EliphazZofar has spent a lot of time
• 1:02:06
  speaking for God,
• 1:02:07
  speaking on behalf of God, speaking authoritatively
• 1:02:11
  speaking authoritatively my
• 1:02:13
  mistake about
• 1:02:15
  God,
• 1:02:17
  this is what God would do
• 1:02:18
  this is what God would be like this is this is this is
• 1:02:23
  and they spend a lot more time talking about God
• 1:02:26
  speaking on behalf of God than they seem to spend
• 1:02:28
  listening to God.
• 1:02:33
  I've said it before and I'll say it again
• 1:02:35
  the wisest thing that
• 1:02:36
  these 3 did in this entire book thus far
• 1:02:39
  has been when they sat down in silence with Job for.
• 1:02:42
  7 days when they sat down beside him and said nothing
• 1:02:45
  because once they started talking it all goes downhill
• 1:02:49
  because they show themselves to be men without wisdom
• 1:02:51
  men with knowledge but not wisdom
• 1:02:54
  they know a lot of stuff.
• 1:02:55
  They know a lot of things that are
• 1:02:57
  objectively true
• 1:02:59
  but they're not relevant here
• 1:03:01
  they don't have knowledge that they're sharing, at least
• 1:03:05
  that is
• 1:03:06
  useful
• 1:03:07
  and that's
• 1:03:08
  the difference between knowledge and wisdom is
• 1:03:10
  wisdom is useful,
• 1:03:11
  useful as wisdom is relevant.
• 1:03:15
  And so they spend a lot of time speaking for God,
• 1:03:18
  but I don't think they spend as much time listening
• 1:03:21
  to God, listening for the voice of God,
• 1:03:24
  that shakes the theaters
• 1:03:25
  and causes the deer to give birth.
• 1:03:32
  And this
• 1:03:34
  jope says these are the people
• 1:03:36
  that are the hypocrite
• 1:03:38
  that God take of the way their soul.
• 1:03:39
  These are the people that do not delight themselves in
• 1:03:42
  the Almighty
• 1:03:43
  that God does not hear them when troubles come because
• 1:03:46
  they have not been listening to God
• 1:03:47
  when things are going
• 1:03:48
  well
• 1:03:50
  when the troubles arise,
• 1:03:51
  they cry out to God
• 1:03:52
  without having that ongoing relational
• 1:03:54
  depth with God,
• 1:03:58
  and so God
• 1:04:00
  in some sense doesn't hear
• 1:04:01
  not so much that He is unaware
• 1:04:03
  but
• 1:04:05
  He withholds that
• 1:04:07
  experience. He withholds that
• 1:04:11
  and they don't delight themselves in God
• 1:04:14
  in the Almighty as it says
• 1:04:16
  in HebrewEl Shaddai
• 1:04:17
  that is the overpower.
• 1:04:18
  They don't delight themselves in the God who is
• 1:04:22
  powerful in the God who is more powerful than they
• 1:04:25
  that is not a delight
• 1:04:27
  to these people that Job is describing,
• 1:04:30
  and I think it is safe to say that
• 1:04:31
  the people he's describing
• 1:04:33
  are the people he's been talking with
• 1:04:34
  this entire book
• 1:04:35
  that this is a picture
• 1:04:37
  of Eliphaz Bildad and Zophar as they are hypocrites
• 1:04:40
  he's called them
• 1:04:42
  counselors of no value.
• 1:04:43
  He's called them all kinds of things
• 1:04:45
  throughout this book
• 1:04:46
  and to say that they're hypocrites at this point
• 1:04:47
  it tracks
• 1:04:50
  to say that they do not listen for God
• 1:04:53
  tracks to say that they
• 1:04:55
  do not delight themselves
• 1:04:57
  in the might of God
• 1:05:00
  seems to track
• 1:05:02
  and so will they.
• 1:05:04
  The hypocrites delight themselves in the Almighty.
• 1:05:06
  Will he always call upon God,
• 1:05:10
  and the answer would be no
• 1:05:12
  psalm 37 says delight yourself in the Lord
• 1:05:15
  and he will give you the desires of your heart
• 1:05:19
  and that's another phrase that' has' been
• 1:05:21
  abused and twisted into something
• 1:05:23
  made to be something it's not
• 1:05:25
  is this idea that if you delight yourself in God
• 1:05:27
  he'll give you what you want
• 1:05:28
  but the reality is if we delight ourselves in God,
• 1:05:32
  if God is our delight He gives us
• 1:05:35
  what we delight in which is
• 1:05:37
  Him.
• 1:05:41
  If we delight ourselves in God,
• 1:05:43
  he gives us more of himself
• 1:05:44
  that is the picture in Psalms, so we delight in God.
• 1:05:48
  There is none in heaven that
• 1:05:50
  I desire besides thee
• 1:05:55
  but the
• 1:05:55
  hypocrite does not have that he does not delight
• 1:05:59
  in God. He doesn't delight in
• 2:00:01
  the might of God.
• 2:00:02
  That is not a delight to him
• 2:00:03
  that that is something to be celebrated and to be
• 2:00:05
  enjoyed, that God is powerful
• 2:00:09
  because to the hypocrite God is something to be
• 2:00:12
  manipulated. God is a thing to be profited from
• 2:00:16
  god is something to be extorted when it's convenient,
• 2:00:20
  and that has been the testimony of these 3 friends
• 2:00:24
  is that the only reason
• 2:00:25
  God would be punishing Joe would be
• 2:00:28
  dishing out. Suffering. Would be of Joe of sin
• 2:00:31
  the
• 2:00:31
  only reason
• 2:00:34
  that Joe would be suffering
• 2:00:35
  as if he was in a wrong standing with God,
• 2:00:38
  and ultimately in their analysis
• 2:00:41
  God could only do what he's doing
• 2:00:43
  if Job was in the wrong
• 2:00:47
  and that is,
• 2:00:49
  as we said this is, not wisdom this is, not true
• 2:00:52
  because we have access to job one and 2
• 2:00:56
  that lays out that this is
• 2:00:58
  for a design that
• 2:01:00
  Joe doesn't know.
• 2:01:01
  There's a reason for this and rather than trying to
• 2:01:06
  rest in the fact that God is wiser than they
• 2:01:09
  they have tried to prove themselves wiser than Job
• 2:01:14
  that this is your problem. This is what you need to do
• 2:01:16
  here's your here's your 12 step program
• 2:01:18
  to get back on the right track
• 2:01:20
  rather than sitting there in silence with Him
• 2:01:26
  to meet with God.
• 2:01:28
  They've not been listening for God
• 2:01:30
  they've been speaking on behalf of
• 2:01:31
  God without all the facts
• 2:01:36
  and these sorts of people.
• 2:01:38
  Job says what hope do they have
• 2:01:40
  because they don't delight in God.
• 2:01:41
  They don't listen to his voice,
• 2:01:44
  but he says, I will teach you by the hand of God.
• 2:01:50
  That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal
• 2:01:53
  that is
• 2:01:55
  with that which is with
• 2:01:56
  El Shadai I will not conceal. I will let God be God
• 2:02:00
  dude army 2929
• 2:02:02
  says that the secret things belongeth to the LORD
• 2:02:04
  our God, but that which hath been revealed
• 2:02:06
  belongeth to us and to our children for what purpose,
• 2:02:09
  so that we may
• 2:02:10
  do things in this law.
• 2:02:13
  That there is value to what God has made known,
• 2:02:16
  and so let it be known is
• 2:02:17
  essentially what Job is saying
• 2:02:19
  let the things
• 2:02:20
  that are true of God that He is revealed to me
• 2:02:24
  be available to you.
• 2:02:25
  Let me share what God has taught me with you.
• 2:02:28
  That is job's mindset. Here
• 2:02:32
  he says that he will do this
• 2:02:33
  by the hand of God
• 2:02:35
  that he will teach from
• 2:02:36
  the hand of God that it is God who enables him
• 2:02:39
  to teach to share to speak
• 2:02:44
  and that's only possible because Joe has'
• 2:02:47
  listened because Joe has walked with God.
• 2:02:51
  It says in the book of Acts
• 2:02:54
  of the disciples
• 2:02:56
  that though people did not believe what they
• 2:02:59
  were preaching,
• 2:02:59
  it says that they noted that they had been with Jesus
• 2:03:03
  and the case seems to be true here with Job
• 2:03:07
  that this is a man who has been with God
• 2:03:09
  who has walked with God
• 2:03:11
  and though he has suffered
• 2:03:13
  and though he is continuing to suffer
• 2:03:15
  Job seems to recognize that to speak
• 2:03:19
  of what is in God
• 2:03:22
  requires him to be imbued with the power of God
• 2:03:26
  with the Spirit of God.
• 2:03:28
  That is the whole concept of this chapter right now
• 2:03:32
  is that Job has the Spirit of God within him
• 2:03:35
  god is within Job, and he recognizes that
• 2:03:38
  it says by this I will teach
• 2:03:43
  that which is with God.
• 2:03:44
  I will not hide, I will not conceal.
• 2:03:48
  In verse 12
• 2:03:50
  all ye yourselves have seen it.
• 2:03:52
  You have seen
• 2:03:53
  these things that are true of God because they are
• 2:03:57
  out there they are not hidden
• 2:04:01
  it says Why then are ye thus altogether
• 2:04:04
  vain?
• 2:04:05
  And that word in Hebrew is
• 2:04:08
  Hevel
• 2:04:09
  and I point that out
• 2:04:11
  because that is a key
• 2:04:13
  word in the book of Ecclesiastes
• 2:04:17
  oftentimes we read that is vanity
• 2:04:19
  or meaninglessness or something like that
• 2:04:22
  this idea of emptiness
• 2:04:26
  to be painfully literal with Hebrew.
• 2:04:27
  It's vapor, it's wind, that that's the word,
• 2:04:31
  you are all together. Wind.
• 2:04:33
  You can't hold it, you can't
• 2:04:36
  count it. You can't you can't measure it. It's
• 2:04:40
  it's wind, it's unattainable,
• 2:04:43
  and that is what you are says Job.
• 2:04:45
  That is what you 3 are
• 2:04:48
  you are useless councillors, you are vain people,
• 2:04:52
  you are hypocrites
• 2:04:55
  claiming to be wise,
• 2:04:57
  ye have.
• 2:04:57
  Shown yourselves to be fools.
• 2:05:02
  This is the the parallel between Job and these 3
• 2:05:09
  is that they claim to speak for God, but Job hasn't
• 2:05:12
  at thus far has tried to listen for God
• 2:05:15
  and he's going to say some pretty bold things
• 2:05:17
  as we continue through the book
• 2:05:18
  and God is going to
• 2:05:21
  sort out some business.
• 2:05:24
  But at the end of the day
• 2:05:25
  Job desires
• 2:05:28
  to walk with God.
• 2:05:30
  Job desires to let God be God let Job be Job
• 2:05:35
  and to sit at his feet
• 2:05:37
  says, as in one of the prophets,
• 2:05:39
  the Lord is in his holy temple
• 2:05:42
  let all the earth keep silent before him
• 2:05:45
  there is a place for being silent before God,
• 2:05:49
  and Job acknowledges that and these 3 have not
• 2:05:53
  they've done a lot of talking
• 2:05:54
  and not a lot of listening
• 2:05:59
  that
• 3:00:01
  speaks magnitudes to how we relate to God,
• 3:00:03
  how much time do we spend talking for God, and
• 3:00:06
  how much time do we spend listening for God,
• 3:00:09
  getting alone with God
• 3:00:12
  being silent and letting God speak
• 3:00:15
  how much at that time
• 3:00:17
  do we
• 3:00:19
  use?
• 3:00:23
  Because
• 3:00:24
  it doesn't say in John 10 that my sheep
• 3:00:28
  preach my words, it says my sheep hear my voice,
• 3:00:34
  are we the sheep they hear His voice?
• 3:00:37
  One? Are we sheep? Are we the sheep? Of God and 2
• 3:00:41
  are we listening for His voice?
• 3:00:44
  Are we getting acquainted with His voice?
• 3:00:47
  Because when we get acquainted with the voice we don't
• 3:00:49
  say dumb things
• 3:00:50
  like what Bill that elephasm Zofar have said
• 3:00:53
  that have no bearing on the present situation
• 3:00:57
  when we know what truth sounds like
• 3:01:02
  that changes things
• 3:01:06
  and so ultimately the picture that Joe paints
• 3:01:09
  is that they are hypocrites
• 3:01:12
  claiming to be wise, they become full. This is a picture
• 3:01:15
  of his counsellors of his accusers of his Satans.
• 3:01:20
  We went from having Satan
• 3:01:22
  the accuser at the beginning of this book to adding 3
• 3:01:24
  others to adding multiple accusers
• 3:01:28
  and he has had multiple people
• 3:01:30
  accusing him of various things that are not true
• 3:01:36
  they have shown themselves to be every bit as
• 3:01:39
  unwise in this story as the devil himself
• 3:01:43
  they have
• 3:01:46
  not show themselves to be friends.
• 3:01:50
  Proverbs 17:17says that a friend
• 3:01:52
  loveth at all times
• 3:01:54
  and a brother is born for adversity
• 3:01:57
  but Job is not the better off in its adversity
• 3:01:59
  because they are here
• 3:02:03
  he does not have wise counsel.
• 3:02:05
  The only one that he has
• 3:02:07
  is God. His friends are of. No benefit.
• 3:02:12
  The only
• 3:02:13
  character in this story that is in job's corner
• 3:02:16
  that is working for his good that is to his benefit
• 3:02:20
  is God,
• 3:02:23
  and so Job endeavors to listen for His voice
• 3:02:29
  may we be people who listen for his voice?
• 3:02:36
  May that be the cry of our hearts
• 3:02:38
  to hear his voice?
• 3:02:39
  Maybe not audibly maybe not with our ears
• 3:02:44
  but to know what God desires of us
• 3:02:48
  you long to have that question. Answer what
• 3:02:51
  do you desire of me?
• 3:02:54
  What do you want me to be God?
• 3:02:58
  To ask of God
• 3:03:02
  to ask God
• 3:03:05
  to know
• 3:03:06
  God,
• 3:03:09
  not just to know of God, but to know Him,
• 3:03:12
  to hear His voice, to walk in His ways
• 3:03:16
  Jeremiah 6 says,
• 3:03:17
  ask for the old path where the good way is
• 3:03:22
  and walk in them,
• 3:03:24
  and ye shall find rest
• 3:03:26
  for your souls,
• 3:03:28
  and I leave you once again
• 3:03:31
  with the words of Jesus,
• 3:03:34
  come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden
• 3:03:39
  and I will give you rest.
• 3:03:42
  Take my yoke upon thee and learn of me
• 3:03:45
  for I am meek and lowly at heart,
• 3:03:47
  and ye shall find rest for your souls
• 3:03:54
  thank you for listening.
• 3:03:55
  This has been the Bread of the Word podcast.
• 3:03:58
  Bread of the Word is a podcast ministry
• 3:04:00
  striving to feed people
• 3:04:01
  the wonderful words of God.
• 3:04:03
  Book by book
• 3:04:04
  chapter by chapter
• 3:04:06
  verse by verse
• 3:04:07
  striving to let the words speak for itself
• 3:04:10
  this ministry is also a member of The Truth and Love,
• 3:04:13
  a diverse fellowship of fellow podcasts of different
• 3:04:16
  theological backgrounds
• 3:04:17
  united in the Gospel of God for more.
• 3:04:19
  From the Bread of the Word Podcast
• 3:04:21
  or the Truth and Love Network.
• 3:04:22
  Check out the links below
• 3:04:24
  and follow us on social media
• 3:04:25
  until next time
• 3:04:27
  god Bless Matthew 44.