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895. Bible Study: Job 1 (When Bad things Happen to "good" People) · Faith by annm2705

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We are starting a new book, the Book of Job.
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This one's a little bit special to me because this was the first
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book of the Bible that I read. When I opened it up randomly and
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it was like God was speaking to me because it was exactly what I
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was going through. Not exactly, but it was a time
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of testing that I was going through and I didn't realize
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that. I didn't understand why and I
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see this as the way God answered me, answered my prayer.
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I was praying and then I opened this book and the Bible and it
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opened a book to Job. So this was the first book I
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read and it was, gosh, it was I think it was like around in May
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of 2019. But then I didn't read the whole
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Bible until the fall of 2019. So anyway, this one is just
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special to me. So I'm going to go through this
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and start with what the Study Bible says about the
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introduction to this book, and then I'm going to read through
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the book or read through the chapter.
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Then I'm going to talk about a lot of insights that I had, and
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then I'm also going to read what the Study Bible says in that
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order. So Job the introduction.
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Why read this book? To explore the most difficult
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questions of life, questions most people ask at some time or
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another. Why is there evil in the world?
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Why do pain, suffering, and heartache exist?
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Why do the righteous suffer? How can the just nature of an
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almighty God be defended in the face of evil, especially human
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suffering, and even more particularly the suffering of
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the innocent? If you've puzzled over such
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questions, or perhaps been disappointed by simplistic
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answers, you'll appreciate the honest way the book of Job looks
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at God's mysterious ways. I think we could all.
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I mean, that's like a such a common question.
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Those questions that the study Bible just mentioned are such
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common things for so many people about God.
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Like why does God let this happen?
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So who wrote this book? Probably an unknown Israelite,
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though no one knows for sure. Scholars have speculated about
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many possible authors. Job, though he was not an
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Israelite. Ilihu, Moses, Solomon, Isaiah,
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Hezekiah or Baruch the prophet Jeremiah's friend.
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So nobody really knows who wrote this book.
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Interesting enough. When was it written?
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The cultural and historical setting seem to reflect the
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times of Genesis, chapters 12 through 50, the second
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Millennium BC. Some think the story of Job was
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passed down orally from generation to generation and
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only later put into writing. Why was it written to?
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Address the question of suffering.
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The writer tells Job's story in a way that allows readers to
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identify with his spiritual and philosophical struggles.
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Like a counsellor to those who suffer, the writer of Job
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vividly illustrates the inadequacy of human logic to
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explain the reality and nature of evil in the world.
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What to look for in Job? Consider carefully the various
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voices found throughout the book.
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Job's friends, for example, make profound statements, but they
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also make some classic errors in judgement.
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Also watch for the wide range of literary tea techniques used in
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the book. Dialogue, proverbs, riddles,
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laments, curses, and word pictures.
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Some parts read like court proceedings, as if Job were on
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trial. As you read, keep in mind the
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context of the book as a whole, the voice of the narrative
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narrator. Chapters one through 2 and 42
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allow us to know things that Job and his friends did not, which
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is so true. This gives us some insight and I
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don't know when you think about it, how this came about.
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It had to be. I mean, it's incorporated in the
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Bible and it tends to seem like it holds true and it's
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supported, not tends to. I mean, everything in the Bible
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is true. So.
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But I guess I'm thinking back of how it was accepted into the
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Bible originally because they had to determine which books
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would be part of the Bible, and obviously if things that were
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stated in here didn't. Test out true, it wouldn't be in
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the Bible. So it is in the Bible.
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So therefore we can trust it. It's from this time period.
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So there's in the study Bible that I have, which is I think is
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helpful is it gives these timelines.
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And so it's showing that the historical setting of Job comes
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about somewhere around Joseph's lifetime.
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The Joseph who was the son of Jacob and he was the one who was
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sold into slavery and became Pharaoh's right hand man.
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So it's around that same time that this is written.
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So Abraham already had this. Abraham had Isaac, and then
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Isaac had, he might have overlapped shows like he might
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have, you know, his existence may have overlapped, but there
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was Abraham and Abraham's son was Isaac, and one of Isaac's
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sons was Jacob, and then one of Jacob's sons was Joseph.
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And so right about that time, the same time of Joseph's life
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is the historical setting of Job, and it's around 1900 to
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1700 BC. Now this is before Moses.
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So to me, that helps knowing those things.
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So let's get started first with the prayer.
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Dear Lord, please open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to hear
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what you have to say. And so that we have discernment
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and we can apply these things. To what we read to our lives, we
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ask this in Jesus name, Amen. So in the land of Ooze there
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live there lived a man whose name was Job.
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This man was blameless and upright.
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He feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three
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daughters, and he owned 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 yoke of
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oxen and 500 donkeys, and had a large number of servants.
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He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
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His sons used to hold feast in their homes on their birthdays,
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and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink
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with them. When a period of feasting had
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run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be
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purified. Early in the morning.
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He would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them,
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thinking perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in
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their hearts. This was Job's regular custom.
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One day the angels or another translations, they're called the
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sons of God, came to present themselves before the Lord and
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Satan or also in some versions is called the Adversary also
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came with them. The Lord said to Satan or Satan,
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where have you come from? Satan answered the Lord from
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roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.
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Then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant
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Job? There is no one on earth like
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him. He is blameless and upright, a
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man who. Fears God and shuns evil.
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Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied.
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Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and
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everything he has? You have blessed the work of his
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hands so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the
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land. But now stretch out your hand
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and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to
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your face. The Lord said to Satan.
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Very well then, everything he has is in your rapport, but on
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the man himself do not lay a finger.
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Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
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One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and
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drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, a messenger
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came to Job and said the oxen were plowing and the donkeys
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were grazing nearby, and the Sabians attacked and made off
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with them. They put the servants to the
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sword. And I am the only one who has
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escaped to tell you. While he was still.
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Speaking, another messenger came and said, The fire of God fell
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from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants.
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I am the only one who has escaped to tell you.
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While he was still. Speaking, another messenger came
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and said The Chaldeans formed 3 raiding parties and swept down
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on your camels and made off with them.
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They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who
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has escaped to tell you. While he was still speaking, yet
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another messenger came and said. Your sons and daughters were
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feasting and drinking wine in the oldest brother's house, when
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suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the
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four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they
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are dead and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you.
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At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head.
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Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, naked, I came
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from my mother. 'S womb and naked I will depart.
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The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.
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May the name of the Lord be praised in all this.
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Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
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And that's the end of chapter 1. So there's a lot here to talk
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about. First of all, I thought it was
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helpful to kind of understand where the land of ooze was.
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And the study Bible actually answers the answers this.
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So what was the east? The East refers to the region
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east of Canaan, often called the Near East.
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This area includes modern day countries of Jordan, Saudi
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Arabia, Syria, Iraq and Iran. So.
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I think that's I I want to double check too to see.
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What is the land of us in the the Bible?
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Today. So according to Wikipedia it
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says US or UZ has often been identified as either Arum in
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modern day Syria or Edom in modern day Jordan.
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So kind of like the. Syria, Jordan area, I guess just
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the land of the east. So anyway, I don't remember it
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like verse 3, it says he was the greatest among the man of the
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people of the east. So he's in an area of ooze.
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Let's see this says a region east of Canaan, probably the
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land east and. South of the Dead Sea.
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Some of which was eventually called Edom.
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So it's basically the Middle East is is where this is taking
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place. And that's to me is always
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helpful. So it's in this land.
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That's where he lived and he was blameless and upright.
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He feared God. And shunned evil.
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So I thought this was really interesting too, because Job
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wasn't Hebrew. So I'm going to read the Job is
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widely considered by scholars not to be Hebrew or an
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Israelite, but a non Israelite, gentile patriarch or a legendary
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figure from the land of Ouz. While the book of Job is part of
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the Hebrew Bible and written in Hebrew, the character as is
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depicted as living outside Israel, likely in Edom or
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northern Arabia. He lived in Oz, which is
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generally located to the east of Israel, associated with Edom or
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the Arabian desert. While not an Israelite, Job
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worshipped the same God as the Patriarchs, using both Yahweh
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and Should I should I am. Some interpretations, such as
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those in the situagent Wikipedia suggest he was a descendant of
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Esau, making him a distant cousin of the Israelites, while
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others see him as a gentile sage.
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So this is there's debate on who he is, or many rabbis and
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scholars have historically debated whether Joe Job was a
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historical person or a literary figure or a parable used to
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represent the righteous sufferer.
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He was often placed around the time of Abraham, largely because
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of the patriarchal nature of his wealth and his role as a family
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priest. So when they say he was a family
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priest, he was doing offerings on behalf of his family, and
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that's what the priest did. Ultimately, Job represents a
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universal figure of faith rather than specifically a Hebrew 1.
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So I thought that was really interesting that, you know, this
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just places him. He wasn't really one of the
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Israelites, but he was in the Middle East.
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And yet he feared God and he he would do it says like in verse
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5, when a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make
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arrangements for them to be purified.
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Talking about his children so early in the morning, he would
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sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking perhaps
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my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.
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This was Job's regular custom, and that's kind of what they
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made offerings on behalf of people.
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The Study Bible does address this and in some way, and so I,
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I want to read what it says. Can we repent for someone else?
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No. In the ancient times of the
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patriarchs, the setting of this book of Job, the father acted as
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priest for his family. Here, Job served as a priest by
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offering sacrifices on behalf of his children.
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So let's see some things to note here are just the numbers that
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are used and we see this repetition throughout the Bible
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about the seven days of creation, the seven days of the
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week. The I think it's the shabuim are
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the seven sevens in the book of Daniel.
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Let's talked about and how time was kept that there would be
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certain segments of seven, like 7 years, 7 * 7 would be 49
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total. And so I think those are
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shabuing. But anyway, or maybe I'm wrong
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about that word. So I'm learning some of these
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things and there's a lot sometimes words that sound the
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same, I get mixed up. So double check on that for
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sure. Anyway, it talks about seven
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sons. And so I, you know, wanted to
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just see like other times in the Bible where 7 is and what does
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that signify? What is that symbolic of?
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Because sometimes things are literal, sometimes they're
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symbolic, sometimes they're both.
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And if it's a parable, then it also has even more significance
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in a symbolic way because the parables are there to teach us
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truths. So if it is a parable, then 7 is
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important. And if you notice in the
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scripture, it says that he owned 7000 sheep, then it says 3000
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camels, 500 yoke, 500 donkeys. So it gives these like numbers
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357 and they're repeated. And seven is, as I look this up
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it and we noticed too, through the rhythm of the Bible that 7
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refers to something complete. It even talks about Jesus, the
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lamb having seven eyes, like complete, like all seeing and
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the and then you know, through the and there's also the seven
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spirits that stand in front of the Lord of God.
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And, and I almost wonder if the this is like so symbolic where
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the seven spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb and the seven
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eyes are the spirits that roam throughout the land of the earth
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to report back to God. Because it does show us in a lot
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of the prophets that we read about how spirits are
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symbolically shown in the Bible as horses, and they go
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throughout the earth searching to take a look at things and
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reporting back to God. And that also, this applies with
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what we hear in the book of Job about Satan doing the same
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thing. He roams the earth and he's
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looking around also. And these are like insights that
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I think we can learn from because in Ephesians it tells us
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we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the
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spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly realms.
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So there's there's darkness in the heavenly realms until they
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are kicked out of heaven where they no longer have access.
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But we see at this time in the period of Job that the evil one,
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Satan, the adversary of God, has access to the earth and to
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heaven, and he goes back and forth all the time.
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We'll see that in this book. So anyway, Job was considered
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the greatest man among the people of the East.
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So he's really important. It shows because of like it said
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in that summary was that he had a lot of property and this is he
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had great wealth and that's what it was showing us as well.
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So one day the angels are the sons of God.
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It's interesting that angels are also called sons of God.
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That goes back. That reminds me of the book of
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Genesis. I think it might be chapter 3 or
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chapter 6, Chapter 6 maybe where the sons of God and children
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with women on the earth. This is like angels commingling
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or having you know intercourse with women and creating these
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beings called Nephilim, which is really crazy.
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But it's things like that that and these were the Nephilim were
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the giants and then the giants are talked about like Ogg and
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Sion. If you look at them, they were
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considered giants. Goliath was a giant too and they
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were talked about. Sometimes they had like 6
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fingers or some of that. That's really interesting when I
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just thought of this now, which is.
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I don't know if this is where my mind goes, but a lot of AI
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messes up with hands when it's showing realistic and it'll show
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people with six fingers. I wonder if that's God's way of
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revealing something evil behind there.
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I don't know, but just interesting.
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That just popped into my mind just because of thinking that.
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I think it was Goliath had six fingers or six toes and stuff
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like that. So that's kind of interesting.
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But anyway, getting back to Job and these sons of God, that so
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one day the angels are the sons of God came to present
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themselves before the Lord. And Satan also came with them.
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So here we see that God is still in control.
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Like when bad things happen, we should know, especially from
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this, it's reinforced that God is still in control.
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But we do have questions like why does this stuff happen?
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But the book of Job answers that.
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So the Lord asked Satan. Obviously the Lord knows where
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Satan is, but sometimes these things just like Jesus did, he
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asked to see what they would say.
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I think it's also the Lord testing Satan.
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So the Lord actually created Satan.
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There was description in the Bible that he was like just
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beautiful, full of wisdom. There were all these like great
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attributes that are spoken of about him.
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But the problem was that he was like one of the greatest of the
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creation, that of the angels that God made.
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And but the problem was he wanted to be God.
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He wasn't satisfied with having God above him and, and so he
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constantly is. I mean, ultimately this battle
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is for territory and, and that's what and he thinks he can
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because of his wisdom, he thinks he can outsmart God and he keeps
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trying and trying and God's giving him a time frame, but
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unfortunately for him, for Satan, he doesn't ever choose
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God. And so his future was told from
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long time ago. So we know that God's adversary
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is never going to change. He's going to hold true to that
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because the Bible tells us that he's going to be thrown into the
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lake of fire. That's where his destination is.
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He's not going to be with God in the end.
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And I don't know. I mean, maybe I don't know, we
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don't know a lot of things about the spiritual realm.
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And Jesus said that to Nicodemus in John chapter 3.
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He said, like I'm trying to tell you, referring to Nicodemus, I'm
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trying to tell you about earthly things and you don't understand.
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So I can't tell you about the spiritual things because you're
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definitely not going to understand that.
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So we don't get all of the information because it's not
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really important for us right now.
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That's the way I look at it is God reveals what he needs to
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reveal to us and the things that He doesn't reveal are things
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that we don't need to be concerned about.
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We have enough things to focus on.
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We don't need that extra information because it's not
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important to what we're here for.
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So anyway, it the point is that Satan does go back and forth on
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the earth and we know that Satan is the accuser.
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And here's where we see that in action.
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When the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant
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Job? Now that's something we should
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look at is that, well, a couple different things.
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I kind of skipped over God asked Satan where he came from.
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And this is a question in my mind was, was God doing this for
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Satan's benefit? And you're going to say, why
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would he do that for Satan's benefit?
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Because God is, is challenging Satan.
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You know, he's, he's saying like he knows where he came from.
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And, and so he is. Roaming the Earth and is Satan
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in his process of roaming the earth trying to prove God wrong?
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Is that what he's trying to do? And and God is, you know, maybe
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questioning him like, you know, what are you up to?
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What are you doing? And Satan's trying to look
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around to see how can I, how can I maybe gain this inheritance?
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Or how can this is speculation. So this is not in the Bible.
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We don't know state Satan's motivation.
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We do know that he seeks to steal, kill and destroy.
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We know that, but why? Maybe it's just out of jealousy
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of God. Maybe he just wants to destroy
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what God, who God loves, which is all of us, all of his
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creation. Maybe Satan is just, I mean,
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that's something we do know from the Bible that he seeks to
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steal, kill and destroy. So if you look around the world
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and you see evil that happens isn't, doesn't it usually
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reflect some of that? It's stealing, it's killing,
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it's destroying. Where does that come from?
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That's what Satan does. And we're ignorant of the
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spiritual realm. So God is good.
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God doesn't do those things, but God allows us to be tested.
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We will see that here. And but this is showing us, you
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know, we shouldn't blame God for these things.
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There's something in us that God needs us to know when these
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things happen to us. It says that God disciplines his
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children. We talked about that in Malachi
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chapter 3, the last one we just did.
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And and so God does it for our benefit.
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It's not punishment, it's discipline.
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And the discipline is to wake us up, to get us to align with God,
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to reconcile with God. God is good, He gives good gifts
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to his children, but when we are stubborn and rebellious, he's
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going to let things happen to us with the hopes that we will come
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to repentance. And the hopes of us coming to
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repentance is because God gave us free will.
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He's not going to force us to repent.
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He's giving us that option. You can either choose what
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you're doing or you can repent and get close to me.
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And he always says choose. Life don't choose death because
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unrepentance equals death. OK going back to Satan being in
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front of the Lord and in God asking him, you know, what are
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you doing? Where are you coming from?
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And he tells them he's roaming around the earth.
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And the then the Lord says, maybe God's trying to and I
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don't, I shouldn't probably say this, but this is just what my
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mind was thinking. And and don't take this as truth
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because this is just my thought, but maybe.
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Maybe God's saying, you know, look at Job, he's good, you
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know, why are you not like this? I mean, it doesn't say that, but
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you know, he fears God and shuns evil.
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So maybe God is using Job as an example because God knows how
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Job is going to respond. And maybe God was trying to
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reveal this to Job, who's a cubic.
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I mean, reveal this to Satan, who is accusing Job of all these
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things. Maybe God's trying to open the
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eyes of Satan because God is so loving.
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Maybe that's why he gave Satan so long, to make him.
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Not make him, but allow him to have the opportunity for his
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eyes to be open. Because God is just.
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He doesn't just. He doesn't like to condemn
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anything. He created Satan, but he gave
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Satan free will and Satan chose to rebel against God.
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So God can't force him to reconcile to be what God had
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intended him to be. So that's that's just, you know,
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things that seem very clear as I read Scripture.
28:46
So then Satan just says back to God, OK, He's like God points
28:50
out Job and he says Job fears God and shuns evil.
28:54
And then Satan basically says, well, yeah, of course, because
28:59
you protect. Him and you bless everything he
29:02
does, so he's got lots of wealth.
29:04
And you protect him from all evil.
29:07
And that's something else that shows us what God does when
29:10
there is a strong relationship. That Job was, you know,
29:16
worshipping the Lord, and he was close to the Lord.
29:19
He was a righteous man. He had a good connection with
29:22
God. And God did have a hedge of
29:26
protection around him and God did bless him.
29:30
So then Satan says, OK, well then strike everything he has,
29:34
like destroy it. So the testing is suggested by
29:38
Satan. So he's challenging God.
29:41
And maybe this is something like, again, this doesn't
29:44
explain this, but maybe Satan and God are having this
29:48
discussion. Like God's trying to open his
29:51
Satan's eyes. Like look at Job.
29:54
He's a human being and look at how he is.
29:57
And Satan's like, well, only because you're good to him, but
30:01
wait until something bad happens and he won't be like that.
30:04
Like Satan's probably trying to justify himself in front of God,
30:08
like his reaction and God's trying to open Satan's eyes.
30:11
But obviously this isn't working because Satan is hard headed and
30:17
we know the end of what's going to happen with him.
30:20
So obviously he never came to repentance or he will not come
30:23
because he's still around today. So the testing of Job was
30:27
suggested by Satan. So God's actually letting Satan
30:31
kind of see this for himself. Like look at how God is just
30:35
kind of allowing this to unfold so that Satan can see the
30:40
results of the things he challenges.
30:43
The Lord said to Satan, very well then everything he has is
30:46
in your power, but on the man himself, do not lay a finger.
30:50
So again, Satan is under the authority of God.
30:54
Satan doesn't get to do anything he wants.
30:57
He gets to do what God allows him to do.
31:00
And again, there's the spiritual laws that we don't know all the
31:04
details about, but there are some limitations on what God
31:09
will allow him to do. And so God gives him permission.
31:14
He says everything he has. So all of Job's possessions now
31:19
are under the power. Of Satan and I think we can
31:22
learn something from this because you know, Job is he
31:27
cares about his sons and daughters and he's they are
31:32
celebrating a birthday, I guess, or I don't know if it was just
31:35
feasting and drinking the wine at the other.
31:37
This is something that they usually would do.
31:39
They'd get together, have family celebration and they're eating
31:43
and drinking wine and while they're off and away somewhere,
31:46
his kids are having fun together.
31:49
Job gets messengers and he got 4 messengers coming to him telling
31:54
him about destruction and it was all while his sons and daughters
31:59
were at this at the oldest brother's house and they're
32:04
having a feast, they're eating and drinking and while they are
32:09
away 4. Messengers so this is all in one
32:12
day. So I think this also shows us
32:15
something that when we see like when we have these times in our
32:21
life where first this happens, then this happens, then this
32:25
happens, then this happens, and there's just like this
32:27
accumulation of bad things happening in our life.
32:32
Can we therefore from this? Maybe it's Satan doing this,
32:39
Maybe it's testing from God if we can apply this example?
32:45
To our own personal lives. And if we see rapid fire of bad
32:50
things happening over and over and over again, it's probably
32:54
from the evil 1 the adversary of God.
32:56
God is. Allowing it, there is a purpose
32:59
behind it. So we need to immediately
33:03
connect with God and pray to Him and say, what do I need to learn
33:07
from? This.
33:08
Like because God is getting our intention in some way when we
33:12
have multiple bad things happening over and over and over
33:16
again, God wants our attention on something.
33:20
So then. So first of all it says like the
33:27
Sabians attacked. The second thing was fire fell
33:30
from the heavens and burned up sheep and servants.
33:33
Then the Chaldeans had three raiding parties and took off all
33:39
their camels and then the sons and daughters there was this is
33:44
interesting too. I'm going to get in detail on
33:46
that. A mighty wind swept away the
33:48
house that they were in, struck the four corners and it
33:51
collapsed on them and they are dead.
33:53
So these four things happened right away.
33:57
Boom, boom, boom, boom. And and so Joe is.
34:03
Just distraught when he hears these things that happened.
34:07
So I had a question like who are the Sabians?
34:10
And so I want to read that to you.
34:13
The Sabians were an ancient, wealthy Semitic trading people
34:18
from the southwestern Arabia or modern day Yemen associated with
34:24
the Kingdom of Sheba. Remember the Queen of Sheba came
34:28
to visit Solomon. So some of these things are are
34:32
like interrelated. And I think it's kind of
34:35
interesting when you look at a little bit deeper into these
34:39
things, rather than skipping over like the Sabians, who were
34:42
the Sabians are mentioned. So you could search a lot of
34:45
things about the Sabians. So they are mentioned in Job,
34:49
Isaiah and Joel. They were known as quote men of
34:53
stature who engaged in commerce and occasionally armed raids
35:00
their capital. Was likely Merib, which
35:02
flourished from 1200 BC to AD 275.
35:09
And that's according to gotquestions.org.
35:12
They were renowned traders. They controlled trade routes
35:15
dealing in luxury goods like frankincense, myrrh, gold and
35:19
precious stones. And that's from Bible Gateway.
35:23
They were men of state stature. Isaiah 4514 describes them as
35:29
tall and impressive in presence, noted in Nave's Topical Bible
35:36
Concordance Online and Bible Hub.
35:40
Sabians are depicted as Raiders who stole Job's livestock and
35:45
killed his servants, and Isaiah 4514 predicts their submission
35:54
to God and the wealth of the Sabians coming to Israel.
36:00
Joel three verse 8 refers to them as a distant nation to whom
36:05
Judah would sell captives, and that's from gotquestions.org,
36:11
often linked to genealogies of Cush or as descendants of
36:16
Abraham's son Jokshan from Genesis 25.
36:21
Three, the Sabians were polytheistic.
36:25
Their pantheon included gods like Almaca, the hearing God Ath
36:32
Tar, a protective male form of Ashtaroth that was something
36:37
else that was worshipped in the biblical times, and solar lunar
36:41
deities like Shams and Sin, according to Jewish
36:45
Encyclopedia. Their civilization was
36:48
characterized by advanced irrigation, notably the great
36:53
Dam at Merib, notes Bible Gateway.
36:56
That's really interesting too, because this is going to get
37:00
into the Book of Enoch. But the Book of Enoch said that
37:03
the angels gave information about plant cuttings and
37:07
basically kind of like garden advice, like how to do things
37:10
with that. So kind of interesting.
37:12
You wonder the interplay between the spiritual realm and humans
37:17
and what happens. OK so then the other group that
37:21
were had the three raiding parties that came after Job were
37:24
the Chaldeans so I want to read about them.
37:27
The Chaldeans were a Semitic semi nomadic people living in
37:31
southern Mesopotamia or modern day Iraq who ruled the Neo
37:38
Babylonian empire. In the Bible they are portrayed
37:41
as a fierce warlike nation that conquered Jerusalem and as wise
37:47
men or astrologers in Babylon. Particularly in the book of
37:52
Daniel, the Chaldeans are associated with the city of Ur,
37:58
Ur of the Chaldeans or Chaldeas, the birth place of Abraham in
38:02
lower Mesopotamia. They gained independence and
38:06
rose to power under Nabo Pulisar and later his son Nebuchadnezzar
38:13
the Second, who destroyed Jerusalem in 586.
38:17
They are described by the prophet Habakkuk as a bitter and
38:22
hasty nation that brought judgement upon Israel.
38:27
In the book of Daniel, the term Chaldean specifically refers to
38:31
the class of Babylonian astrologers, sorcerers, and wise
38:35
men consulted by the king. By the time of the exile, the
38:40
term Chaldean was used interchangeably with Babylonian,
38:45
representing the ruling elite of the empire.
38:49
They are mentioned in several biblical books, including
38:53
Genesis, Second Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.
39:02
So that kind of gives a little background on these groups that
39:05
are coming. These are like.
39:06
Anti God people like Job is a godly person and so Satan is
39:11
inciting these people who are worshipping all these other
39:14
gods. And again, this is my theory
39:16
that the angels presented themselves as God, and so all
39:20
these polytheistic religions were actually seeing angels and
39:26
thinking they were gods. They were being deceived by it.
39:30
So Satan's using his people essentially to come against
39:35
God's job person. So kind of interesting there.
39:42
The other thing that is very interesting when you look in the
39:45
Hebrew that in verse 19 it says when this is talking about Job's
39:51
daughters and sons who were in the oldest son's house there
39:55
when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and
40:00
struck the four corners of the house.
40:02
Well, the way I read that, I think about.
40:04
Oh, it's probably like a tornado or something.
40:07
And that was what I thought. And it can, that word can mean
40:11
that. But here's something really
40:13
interesting and I don't have the answer to this, but it if you
40:18
look it up, what the mighty wind is, the great wind is a great
40:23
Rua, and Rua means spirit. There's another Hebrew word
40:29
called SA R SA-AR which means a Tempest storm or like a
40:37
hurricane or a tornado or something like a whirlwind.
40:41
So why did the Hebrew word say Rua instead of that say R which
40:49
is a Tempest destroying wind? Seems like this is something.
40:55
Spiritual that happened could have been a mighty spiritual
40:59
force that came and did this wasn't really a tornado the way
41:05
I'm looking at it. This was something spiritual
41:07
because God let Satan have that power.
41:10
And so Satan had his spirits come and destroy this place.
41:15
And you know, it doesn't. I mean, it's, it's about the
41:19
story. It doesn't say like there was
41:20
mass destruction all over. And it probably wasn't that
41:24
populated either, but but I just this something that, you know,
41:27
it's kind of interesting to ponder because we really don't
41:31
have the answer to that. But we do see that all of these
41:36
things. Are steal, kill and destroy.
41:39
And that's what Satan does and that's what we can learn from
41:42
this is when we see these things and if they are stealing,
41:46
killing or destroying us, it's probably from God's adversary,
41:50
Satan or his, you know, his spiritual people, not people,
41:56
his spirits who have aligned with him and rebelled against
41:59
God. Because it says 1/3 of the
42:01
angels in heaven were taken by Satan to the earth in the Book
42:07
of Revelation. So that's chapter 12 I believe.
42:12
And because Satan is kind of empowering the dragon, the
42:15
dragon is Satan in that chapter and he sweeps 1/3 of the stars.
42:20
The stars are symbolic of angels in the Book of Revelation.
42:26
So Job's response, he certainly has grief.
42:29
He tore his robe and shaved his head and felt it.
42:32
So first of all, he just like was in complete grief.
42:35
But here's what he did, being in complete grief.
42:39
He fell down down to he fell to the ground in worship, worship.
42:46
Think about that. Is that our natural reaction to
42:50
bad things happening to us? Do we worship God?
42:55
It's just like in the Bible that we should praise and also give
42:58
thanks and praise in all circumstances.
43:01
Paul says that. So here's what Job says when he
43:05
falls down to worship. He said naked I came from my
43:08
mother's womb and naked I will depart.
43:11
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
43:14
May the name of the Lord be praised.
43:18
So it says you know he didn't sin by charging God.
43:21
So if if Job would have charged God with wrongdoing, if he would
43:25
have just been mad at God and said you did this God you know
43:28
and started complaining to God, not complaining but accusing God
43:33
of doing something. Obviously Job didn't know, but
43:37
he still praised God when all this disaster this shows us like
43:43
he had to have had the Holy Spirit in him.
43:45
He had to have had God's presence or God's connection
43:49
because that's not a natural human response to praise God
43:55
when suffering comes on us. Think about how many people just
43:59
get angry with God and say, I don't want anything to do with
44:02
him because of this. Well, that's not what Job did.
44:05
And Job had some pretty severe things happen.
44:09
And, and so it's just, I think this opens our eyes to seeing
44:15
what is behind bad things happening to us.
44:18
God wants our attention, but what does he want us to know?
44:21
And so probably the best thing we can do is immediately praise
44:24
God and ask God to reveal what is it you want me to know by
44:30
putting me through this test. That's what this is.
44:33
This is a test. God is testing Job.
44:38
God knows how Job's going to reply.
44:41
He he because he knows everything, but Satan doesn't
44:48
he? Satan is not all knowing.
44:50
And so Satan thinks I got God on this.
44:52
He's going to he's going to not pass this test.
44:58
So God does test us. And so I wanted to read some
45:01
things, some verses about testing because I think it's
45:04
important to know when we get tested, it occurs over 60 times
45:09
in 59 verses for the NIV version.
45:12
I'm not going to read all of those, but I do have some that
45:15
were that are selected to read to you and I don't know if it's
45:19
important for me to give. I'll give references, I guess
45:22
Exodus 20 verse 20. Moses said to the people, do not
45:26
be afraid. God has come to test you so that
45:31
the fear of God will be with you and keep you from sinning.
45:36
So the Bible tells us why things happen to us.
45:42
First of all, Moses is saying to the people, don't be afraid.
45:45
This is God, God's coming to test you and he's testing them
45:52
so that the fear of God. Now this is when the 1010
45:55
commandments were given and there was like thundering and
45:58
lightning and darkness. That was, I guess clouds, I
46:02
don't know if it was darkness, but clouds that were at Mount
46:05
Sinai when the 10 commandments were given.
46:08
And and God also forewarned Moses about the preparation and
46:14
that they should not come near the mountain.
46:17
The ones he had not called like he called Moses.
46:20
Moses was OK to do it, but the rest of them shouldn't come near
46:23
it. If they even touched the ground,
46:25
they would die because sin cannot be in the presence of
46:31
God. It'll just like be devoured.
46:33
I think that's why those who reject God go into the burning
46:37
lake a sulfur, because they just get by.
46:40
You know, God is a consuming fire.
46:43
And so that's what happens if you reject God and you try to
46:47
come into his presence unless he allows it.
46:51
So God is saying or Moses is saying God has come to test you
46:57
and he wants the fear of God in people.
46:59
Like the fear of God is a good thing to know the power of God.
47:04
That's what it is like God to know that God is the most
47:07
powerful, to know that God is in control of any, everything, and
47:12
so that will be inside of us. It's good to have the fear of
47:16
God, not the fear that God's out to destroy me.
47:20
God isn't. Satan is God.
47:23
If he does anything, he disciplines, but only to bring
47:26
us close to him. So we wake up.
47:28
We're doing something that's not right in the eyes of God, and
47:32
God wants to correct us. And in so correction, it's so
47:36
that we become better people when he disciplines us.
47:39
But Satan on the other hand, no, his, his is just inflicting
47:45
punishment, steal, kill and destroy.
47:47
So we can also look at what's happening to us and probably see
47:51
also, is this from God or is this from Satan?
47:53
But God allows it all. So we have to know that even if
47:56
God allows Satan to do something, there's something God
47:59
wants us to talk to him about. So, but here it says so that the
48:05
fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning, keep you
48:11
from sinning. It's not being restrictive, it's
48:15
sin. The wages of sin is death.
48:19
God's trying to preserve life. So if He keeps us from sinning,
48:24
he's preserving our life. OK then in Judges 2 verse 22 I
48:31
will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the
48:37
way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.
48:42
So God will test to see if people will be obedient.
48:50
These are the judges 3 verse one.
48:53
These are the nations the Lord left to test, all those
48:57
Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in
49:00
Canaan. So sometimes in life experiences
49:03
we go through a testing and we learn something from it, but
49:06
then there's others or subsequent generations that
49:09
didn't experience it. So sometimes they need a new
49:12
test. That's probably why history
49:15
repeats itself, why we have these cycles of good and bad
49:18
times because of the population. New people coming in have not,
49:25
you know, having not experienced testing yet.
49:29
Judges 3/4 it says they were left to test the Israelites to
49:34
see whether they would obey the Lord's commands which he had
49:38
given their ancestors through Moses.
49:40
The 10 commandments, again, the 10 commandments are guardrails
49:45
so that we don't commit sin. If we can abide by those the
49:52
commandments that God gave, then we will not be sinning against
49:57
God if we can't. Thankfully Jesus provided the
50:01
Holy Spirit to strengthen us and to give us self-control so that
50:06
we can have the power from God to overcome any kind of sin.
50:13
So first Kings 10 chapter chapter 10 verse one, when the
50:18
Queen of Sheba remember this is where modern day Yemen is and
50:22
this is the the Group One of the Raiders that came through.
50:27
That was the. Sabians.
50:28
So when the Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and
50:33
his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with
50:38
hard questions. The whole Queen of Sheba is
50:41
really interesting. I talked about this or wrote
50:44
about this and either my website, I don't even remember
50:47
what article it was because I talk about so many things.
50:49
But it's interesting because the the Queen of Sheba paid Solomon
50:54
666 talents. Is that a clue that maybe
50:59
there's something evil behind that?
51:01
Is this a clue that the Sabians were from this Yemen area and it
51:06
was the Kingdom of Sheba? And now we have the Queen of
51:09
Sheba who came to test Solomon. Did God allow evil to come and
51:18
test Solomon and she's giving him wealth?
51:22
Do you think that's trying to lure Solomon, who is the wisest
51:26
of the kings to get him to prioritize wealth over God?
51:31
Is that was that Solomon's test? I don't know, but just makes me
51:36
think that in First Chronicles chapter 29 verse 17, I know my
51:41
God that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.
51:47
All these things I have given willingly and with honest
51:50
intent. And now I have seen with joy how
51:54
willingly your people who are here have given to you that
52:00
Queen of Sheba's talked about again in Second Chronicles
52:03
Chapter 9, verse one. When the queen of Sheba heard of
52:06
of Solomon's fame, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard
52:11
questions. Arriving with a very great
52:14
caravan with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold
52:19
and precious stones, she came to Solomon and talked with him
52:24
about all she had on her mind. Who was influencing her mind.
52:29
I wonder that sometimes I connect the queen of Sheba with
52:33
Satan. So Second Chronicles 32, verse
52:37
31. But when the envoys, envoys were
52:40
sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous
52:43
sign that occurred in the land, God left him to test him and
52:49
know everything that was in his heart.
52:53
So this was, let's see, when the envoys of the rulers to ask him
52:59
about the miraculous sign that occurred in the land.
53:01
I'm trying to see like who this is talking about Hezekiah.
53:06
And yeah, so Hezekiah had great wealth and honor, and he was.
53:14
Succeeding. But when the envoys were sent by
53:18
the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that
53:21
occurred in the land, God left him, Hezekiah, to test him and
53:26
to know everything that was in his heart.
53:30
So that's kind of interesting because it says to know
53:36
everything that was in his heart.
53:37
Like, wouldn't God know that? Or are we not understanding
53:42
Scripture correctly? Like God can use whatever our
53:46
free will is. He could force us to do that,
53:50
but does and I think he does know our intentions.
53:52
Like Jesus knew the thoughts of people.
53:55
But this is just kind of an interesting thing to know
53:57
everything that was in his heart.
54:00
So I guess that's what you know, Is it just God or He wants
54:07
Hezekiah to see what was in his heart?
54:11
So Job 7 verse 18 says that you examine them every morning and
54:16
test them every moment. So this is right, this sentence
54:23
before that. What is mankind that you make so
54:26
much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you
54:30
examine them every morning and test them every moment?
54:36
That's showing the value that God has on us, that He's always
54:40
looking at us. He sees what we go through and
54:43
He sees how we respond to the testing.
54:46
Psalm 17, verse three, Though you probe my heart, though you
54:50
examine me at night and test me, you will find that I have
54:55
planned no evil. My mouth has not transgressed in
55:00
Psalm 26. Two test me Lord, and try me.
55:03
Examine my heart and my mind. And then Psalm 139 verse 23
55:11
Search me God, and know my heart, Test me and know my
55:15
anxious thoughts. Ecclesiastes 2 verse one.
55:20
Now this is Solomon who wrote Ecclesiastes, and here's what
55:23
Solomon says. I said to myself, Come now, I
55:28
will test you with the pleasures.
55:31
I let's see. I said to myself, Come now, I
55:37
will test you with the pleasure to find out what is good, but
55:41
that also to me to be meaningless.
55:46
Solomon figures out that everything is really meaningless
55:49
and then his end result is in the last book in the last
55:53
chapter. I think it's like to serve God
55:57
and do his will is what he comes back with.
56:01
Jeremiah says I have made or not he does in Jeremiah it's
56:04
document. I believe this is the Lord that
56:06
says this to him. So I got to, yeah, this is what
56:10
the Lord says in verse 21 and it says, I have made you a tester
56:18
of metals and my people the ore that you may observe and test
56:23
their ways. So God uses Jeremiah to test the
56:28
people of Judah. And then in Chapter 9, verse 7,
56:32
therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says.
56:34
See, I will refine and test them for what else can I do because
56:40
of the sin of my people. So again, this is like God is
56:45
maybe this is it because, you know, all of our courts are
56:48
based on God and about His law and order.
56:53
So what if God is actually testing people to build a case
57:01
for them against their accuser Satan?
57:08
Interesting thought that just popped into my head.
57:10
Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says.
57:12
See, I will refine and test them for what else can I do?
57:17
Because of the sin of my people. So to me this sounds like we get
57:21
tested because of sin because because God wants us to know
57:26
this is sin. You're getting tested because of
57:29
sin and this is going to be something used against you if
57:35
you don't get it out of your life and if you thankfully,
57:39
that's why God sent his Son Jesus to die for us so that that
57:46
is our way that we can not die because of the sins committed
57:54
because Jesus is our intermediary and Jesus gives us
57:58
the Holy Spirit so that we can overcome sin.
58:03
Jeremiah 1120 says, but you Lord Almighty who judge righteously
58:07
and test the heart and mind. So it's not only it's you, it
58:11
heart in our mind, everything like inside internally, we might
58:15
fool other people, but God knows what's in our hearts and our
58:18
minds. Let me see your vengeance on
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them for to you I have committed my cause.
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So it says that the Lord Almighty who judges righteously
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and tests us. Jeremiah also says, Yet you know
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me, Lord, you see me and test my thoughts about you.
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Drag them off like sheep to be butchered, sell them apart, set
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them apart for the day of slaughter.
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Jeremiah's expressing some things to God there.
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And Zechariah 13, verse 9, the third I will put into the fire.
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This is God saying, I will refine them like silver and test
58:53
them like gold. They will call on my name and I
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will answer them. They are my people and they will
59:01
say the Lord is our God. So Jesus did say we're not
59:07
supposed to test God, God test us, but we don't do that to our
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Creator. Jesus answered him.
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It is also written do not put the Lord your God to the test.
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And that's Deuteronomy 616. So I will read that.
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Deuteronomy 616 says do not put the Lord your God to the test as
59:30
you did at Massa. And then 18 verse 18 says do
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what is right and good in the Lord's sight so that it may go
59:39
well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the
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Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.
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So God has all these blessings that if we follow what he says,
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if we obey what he says, there's a lot of blessings that go along
59:55
with it, blessings he gives us, but also it's showing God that
1:00:00
we love him because Jesus said, if you love me, obey my
1:00:03
commands. So then it says in in
1:00:07
Deuteronomy, it says in the future when your son asks you,
1:00:11
what is the meaning of the stipulation decrees in the laws,
1:00:14
The Lord God, the Lord our God has commanded you.
1:00:18
So in the future, when your children say, why do we have?
1:00:22
These 10 commandments. Here's what he there's.
1:00:25
I skipped down a few verses to 24.
1:00:27
It says the Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to
1:00:32
fear the Lord our God so that we might always prosper and be kept
1:00:40
alive as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey
1:00:46
all this law before the Lord our God as he commanded us, He
1:00:51
didn't just suggest, He commanded as he commanded us,
1:00:54
that will be our righteousness. So we can see that that God has
1:01:00
a purpose in all of these things, like why he does these
1:01:04
things. And Luke documents the same
1:01:07
thing. Jesus answered it.
1:01:09
He said do not put the Lord your God to the test.
1:01:13
And then in First Corinthians chapter 3, verse 13, it says
1:01:17
their work will be shown for what it is because the day, the
1:01:22
day of the Lord, we talked about that in Malachi, The day will
1:01:26
bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire
1:01:31
and the fire will test the quality of each person's work.
1:01:37
So we will be tested especially on it says like the day of the
1:01:42
Lord, He's going to test those. And then in second Corinthians
1:01:48
chapter 13, verse 5, it says examine yourselves to see
1:01:53
whether you are in in the faith. Test yourselves.
1:01:59
Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless of course
1:02:06
you fail the test. Isn't that interesting if you
1:02:11
fail the test and he says after that and I trust that you will
1:02:17
discover that we have not failed the test.
1:02:22
So the verse before, let's read that for to be sure he was
1:02:27
crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power.
1:02:33
We are so we don't acknowledge God's power, the power of God,
1:02:39
the Holy Spirit. Likewise, we are weak in Him,
1:02:45
yet by God's power we live with Him in our dealing with you.
1:02:53
So it says, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the
1:02:57
faith test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ
1:03:01
Jesus is in you? Unless of course you fail the
1:03:04
test. So I think that's pretty
1:03:07
interesting. So faith, what is faith?
1:03:11
Faith is I'm just going to read what it says in the faith is.
1:03:20
Let me see. I don't know how it's
1:03:23
pronounced. The Hebrew word PISTIS strong's
1:03:28
G41O2, pistus pistus, OK, pistus.
1:03:34
That's what the faith is G41O2. So it says the conviction of the
1:03:40
truth of anything, belief in the New Testament of a conviction or
1:03:46
belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine
1:03:49
things generally, with the included idea of trust and holy
1:03:54
fervor born of faith and joined with it, relating to God.
1:03:59
The conviction that God exists and is the Creator and ruler of
1:04:04
all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation
1:04:08
through Christ, and then relating to Christ a strong and
1:04:12
welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah
1:04:17
through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the Kingdom of God.
1:04:23
Faith is also the religious beliefs of Christians.
1:04:26
The belief with the predominant idea of trust or confidence,
1:04:31
whether in God or Christ, springing from faith in the same
1:04:36
fidelity or faithfulness. The character of one who can be
1:04:39
relied on so strong's definition says persuasion.
1:04:44
For example, credence. Moral conviction of a religious
1:04:48
truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious leader,
1:04:52
especially reliance upon Christ for salvation.
1:04:55
Abstractly Constance, consistency in such profession.
1:05:01
By extension, the system of religious gospel truth itself.
1:05:06
Assurance, belief, I believe faith, fidelity and let's see,
1:05:15
there are I kind of got into some other things about let's
1:05:26
see, that was Rua. I had more definitions about
1:05:28
that and Sahar, The Tempest wind.
1:05:30
I did look that up, but we talked about that.
1:05:33
The land of ooze. We did read about that.
1:05:37
I think that is probably all that I have.
1:05:41
I did not read the study Bibles, questions and answers, so I'm
1:05:44
going to go through those very quickly and we'll wrap this up.
1:05:47
So we talked about some What do we know about heavenly councils?
1:05:52
Not much though there are other examples in the Bible, for
1:05:56
example First Kings chapter 22 verse 19, Psalms 89 verse 5,
1:06:03
Jeremiah 23 verses 18 and 22. Some think this may be
1:06:07
figurative language using images from ancient culture to describe
1:06:11
spiritual realities in terms that human can understand.
1:06:14
God is king, and all spiritual beings answered to him.
1:06:19
Why did God draw Satans attention to Job?
1:06:22
The text does not reveal why, but it is clear that God held up
1:06:26
Job as an example of a blameless servant.
1:06:31
Was God giving Satan permission to hurt Job?
1:06:34
Not Job's physical body, but anything Job had.
1:06:37
God allowed Satan to destroy Job's wealth, family, and
1:06:41
health, but God sets limits on what Satan could destroy, thus
1:06:45
demonstrating his sovereign control.
1:06:48
It isn't until chapter 2, verses 4 through 6 that God allowed
1:06:52
Satan to hurt Job himself. But even then, Satan was not
1:06:56
allowed to take Job's life. Why would God do this?
1:07:01
Perhaps God was giving Job a greater opportunity to honor him
1:07:05
through his allegiance. If so, the testing of God's
1:07:08
servant was also a greater opportunity for God to prove.
1:07:12
His faithfulness. And maybe God was using a
1:07:15
righteous person to actually state a case against Satan too.
1:07:22
I don't know. So why did Job tear his clothes
1:07:26
and shave his head? These were symbols of grief and
1:07:28
mourning in Job's culture. His actions demonstrated not
1:07:32
only his overwhelming grief, but also his total resignation to
1:07:36
God. 'S sovereign will.
1:07:39
Then here's something. This is a question I had right
1:07:41
when I was first coming to faith was are people just pawns in
1:07:45
God's chess game? It sometimes seems that people
1:07:49
are caught in events beyond their control, events
1:07:51
manipulated by God or Satan. They may feel forced into
1:07:55
situations they would not choose if they were given a choice.
1:07:58
While this seems unfair, there is another way, a higher way to
1:08:02
interpret the circumstances of life.
1:08:05
We can see them as God-given opportunities to cooperate with
1:08:08
God's purposes and plans that allow us to participate in
1:08:12
something far more significant than our own schemes.
1:08:15
We are more than pawns in a chess game.
1:08:18
We can honor Almighty God by the way we live and die.
1:08:22
Still, many unanswered questions remain.
1:08:25
Only God knows why dozens of bystanders had to die.
1:08:29
In this unfolding drama between Satan and God, we struggle with
1:08:34
the fact that some who are righteous have short tragic
1:08:38
lives, while others who are wicked enjoy wealth and long
1:08:42
life. I want to stop right there
1:08:44
because I do hear that a lot. But that is so short sighted and
1:08:49
it seems like it's it's faithless to think that way.
1:08:54
And I don't mean to be accusational or anything, but I
1:08:57
just want to open people's eyes to the reality of being in the
1:09:03
presence of God. If we when we die, if we believe
1:09:08
in God and if we acknowledge Jesus Christ, then we are in the
1:09:14
presence of God when we die. There's no more pain, there's no
1:09:17
more suffering. It's only good and beautiful
1:09:20
things. Now that still means that the
1:09:21
people here on earth who miss the person that is gone are
1:09:27
experiencing the grief and everything, but if you stop
1:09:32
being selfish about it and think about the person who is gone,
1:09:37
they are in a wonderful place in the presence of God.
1:09:42
It could not be any better. I mean, that's what we all, if
1:09:44
you are a believer, that's what we all look forward to someday,
1:09:48
being in the Kingdom of God in his presence.
1:09:51
That is like the goal, the true goal.
1:09:54
If you are a true Christian, that's your goal to get to God
1:09:58
and to be in God's presence and to have this perfect
1:10:02
relationship with God. That's even what Jesus prayed
1:10:04
for before he went on the cross was make them one with with us
1:10:09
as we are one like that with God, the unity and love.
1:10:14
The people who have had near death experiences talk about
1:10:17
this in, I mean, they can't even describe the love they feel and
1:10:22
they don't really want to come back because it's so wonderful
1:10:27
when they have this near death experience.
1:10:29
And so there should be No Fear in death because death if we're
1:10:35
right with God, if our relationship is good with God,
1:10:38
because it's only going to be a good thing afterwards.
1:10:41
So think about it from the person who is gone's perspective
1:10:46
and rejoice when a believer goes to be with God.
1:10:51
It's like they get to go to the party first and then we're going
1:10:54
to come later. So think about it in that way.
1:10:57
Don't think about it in AI mean I shouldn't be telling people
1:11:00
how to think. I'm sorry about that.
1:11:02
I didn't mean that, but try try thinking about it in a positive,
1:11:07
not a negative way. Now, if somebody is not a
1:11:10
believer, that is scary and that is sad and that is very
1:11:15
troubling when someone dies and they are not a believer because
1:11:18
they will be eternally separated from God.
1:11:21
So that would cause lots of sadness.
1:11:26
But if so, the most important thing is everybody that you know
1:11:30
and love, try to make sure that they are believers so that you
1:11:34
are with them someday in the Kingdom of God and get to
1:11:38
celebrate eternity with them forever and ever.
1:11:41
I'll go back to what the Bible says.
1:11:43
There is one thing we can affirm, however, that what seems
1:11:46
unfair in this life will be made right in eternity.
1:11:50
Our problems will be resolved and many of our questions
1:11:53
answered. God has permitted Satan certain
1:11:56
freedoms. Satan is.
1:11:57
Called the Prince of this world in John chapter 4, verse 30, and
1:12:03
the ruler of the Kingdom of the heir in Ephesians chapter 2,
1:12:08
verse 2. For he sometimes uses
1:12:12
sicknesses, plagues, wicked people, and the forces of
1:12:17
nature. Though God dealt A fatal blow to
1:12:20
Satan through Jesus's death and resurrection, Satan continues to
1:12:27
struggle against God and will do so until the end.
1:12:31
Romans, chapter 16, verse 20. There are two sides to the
1:12:36
suffering of the righteous, the earthly and the heavenly.
1:12:39
The apostle Paul understood the the tension of living in a
1:12:43
corrupt world, he placed. His trust in God and things
1:12:47
eternal. God's justice, mercy and love,
1:12:51
not in the temporary things of the world, Success, wealth and
1:12:55
fame. Paul recognized that our
1:12:57
struggle struggle is not against flesh and blood.
1:13:01
Ephesians 6 verse 12 and took courage in knowing that our
1:13:06
citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3 verse 20 so and
1:13:13
again this is how Job reacted. Naked I came from my mother's
1:13:18
womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has
1:13:24
taken away. May the name of the Lord be
1:13:27
praised. So all good things come from
1:13:31
God. They are gifts from God.
1:13:35
And we came into this world with nothing, and we are going to
1:13:38
leave with nothing. The important part is what is
1:13:42
the condition of our soul? Where are we going to be
1:13:48
eternally? Is our spirit aligned with God?
1:13:52
Do we become one with God when we receive the Holy Spirit?
1:13:56
Do we have the Holy Spirit? Jesus said we need the Holy
1:14:00
Spirit. We need to be born again to be
1:14:02
in the Kingdom of God. John chapter 3, if you want to
1:14:05
check that out Anyway, so the book of Job tells us a lot and
1:14:10
explains to me a lot because I was going through a testing
1:14:15
period and it helped me understand that God wasn't my
1:14:18
enemy, Satan was, and I needed to learn something from it.
1:14:23
So if you're going through hard times, God's not your enemy.
1:14:27
God wants you to learn something.
1:14:28
So ask God, what do you want me to learn from this?
1:14:33
So if you're not subscribed, please do so.
1:14:35
If you found this beneficial, please share it with somebody
1:14:38
else. So someone else's eyes are open.
1:14:41
And if you want to stay in the Word, that's when you subscribe
1:14:44
because I try to do a chapter a day and most days and just stay
1:14:49
in the word because that's how we stay connected to God as well
1:14:52
as prayer. So thank you for hanging on to
1:14:55
this long podcast again.