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God Answers Job in a Whirlwind - The Book of Job · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more
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  Speaker 1: than his beginning. For he had fourteen thousand sheep, and
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  Speaker 1: six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and
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  Speaker 1: a thousand she-asses. Job 42.12 Heavenly Father, as you appeared
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  Speaker 1: to Job and spoke to him as a father to
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  Speaker 1: a child, I thank you that you desire to speak
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  Speaker 1: to me in the same manner. when I lose sight
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  Speaker 1: of your glory in perfect ways. I now know that
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  Speaker 1: my lack of understanding doesn't take away your sovereignty, but
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  Speaker 1: instead it causes me to lean in to your presence
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  Speaker 1: more so I can receive the answers my heart longs for.
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  Speaker 1: I confess that even though I'm in pain, I will
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  Speaker 1: not give myself permission to doubt your plans for my life.
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  Speaker 1: You are the God of the universe, the creator of
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  Speaker 1: all things, the one who puts air in my lungs. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: I will acknowledge you and acknowledge that all your ways
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  Speaker 1: are perfect and flawless. Through the evidence of my past
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  Speaker 1: victories and through the life of Job, I know that
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  Speaker 1: if you allow something to exit my life, it's only
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  Speaker 1: because you are making room for more. In Jesus' name, amen.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for
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  Speaker 1: an incredible Bible story brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Click the link in the description to grow closer to God.
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  Speaker 3: God Answers Job in a Whirlwind In our last story,
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  Speaker 3: we learned of Job's great sorrow. Boils covered his skin,
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  Speaker 3: and misery followed him every step. His wife told him
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  Speaker 3: to curse God and die, while his friends offered vain
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  Speaker 3: philosophical explanations as to why Job must be suffering. However,
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  Speaker 3: Job maintains his integrity and trusts in God, despite the
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  Speaker 3: upheaval of his life. In this story, Job begins to
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  Speaker 3: ask God about his faithfulness, and sorrow leads him to
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  Speaker 3: subtle doubt. God meets Job in a whirlwind and questions
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  Speaker 3: him beyond his human comprehension, as inspired by the book
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  Speaker 3: of Job.
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  Speaker 4: I'm so glad you've joined us on the Bible in
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  Speaker 4: a Year podcast today. But before we get to today's episode,
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  Speaker 4: I want you to know that I would absolutely love
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  Speaker 4: to send you my daily devotional, that will give you
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  Speaker 4: fresh encouragement every single morning and day. From the moment
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  Speaker 4: we wake up to the moment our head finally hits
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  Speaker 4: the pillow, there are thousands of things demanding our attention.
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  Speaker 4: But it's in the midst of all this crush and
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  Speaker 4: hustle and bustle that you and I need peace and
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  Speaker 4: truth in God's Word. That's why I want to help
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  Speaker 4: you spend time each day growing in God's life-giving, life-changing Word,
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  Speaker 4: by sending you my free daily email devotional, PowerPoint Today.
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  Speaker 4: So visit JackGraham.org to sign up for your PowerPoint Today devotional.
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  Speaker 4: That's JackGraham.org. JackGraham.org. In our last time together, we heard
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  Speaker 4: how God allowed Satan to attack Job's physical health. Job
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  Speaker 4: was diseased with painful boils and sores that covered his
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  Speaker 4: entire body. Yet even in this excruciating pain, and despite
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  Speaker 4: the urging of his own wife to curse God and die,
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  Speaker 4: Job remained steadfast in his trust of God. When his
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  Speaker 4: friends showed up and sat with him, helpfully at first,
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  Speaker 4: just to sit with him in silence and in his suffering,
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  Speaker 4: we discover that Job trusted God and said nothing. But
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  Speaker 4: then those friends began to say that Job had hidden
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  Speaker 4: his own sins. that he was being judged and punished
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  Speaker 4: by God. Job dismissed their claims because he knew it
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  Speaker 4: wasn't true. He knew that he was good before God,
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  Speaker 4: righteous before God. But even though he was perplexed and
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  Speaker 4: didn't understand why all of this had happened and wanted answers,
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  Speaker 4: he trusted in God. And so he took his problems
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  Speaker 4: straight to the Lord. He took his questions to God himself.
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  Speaker 4: And today we'll hear that exchanged. what Job says and
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  Speaker 4: how God answers him through a mighty, powerful storm. Let's
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  Speaker 4: listen to today's reading to find out what God has
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  Speaker 4: to say and what it leads Job to conclude.
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  Speaker 3: Job was through defending his honor to his friends. They
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  Speaker 3: assumed that some sort of wickedness had brought this sorrow
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  Speaker 3: upon him. Yet Job could not fathom why God would
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  Speaker 3: cause such terrible things to happen to him all at once.
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  Speaker 1: Was he not righteous?
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  Speaker 3: Was he not worthy of blessing? He trusted God, yet
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  Speaker 3: did not understand him. The ringing of Job's friends' bickering
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  Speaker 3: reached the ears of the Lord, as did the questions
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  Speaker 3: of Job. They traveled to his presence like a stench.
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  Speaker 3: He would endure no more vain questioning of his goodness
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  Speaker 3: or sovereignty. In an instant, Job was surrounded by a whirlwind.
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  Speaker 3: The tempest surrounded him in every direction, causing Job to
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  Speaker 3: cower where he stood. Lightning seemed to be striking in
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  Speaker 3: every direction, and Job heard a booming voice descending upon
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  Speaker 3: him with great force. Who is it that darkens my
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  Speaker 3: counsel without knowledge? Job looked around him, realizing that the
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  Speaker 3: voice was coming from God. The voice roared through the wind, saying,
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  Speaker 3: Prepare yourself like a man, for now it is I
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  Speaker 3: who will be asking the questions. Job had wanted to
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  Speaker 3: hear from God, Yet now he began to regret everlasting.
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  Speaker 3: God spoke to Job in poetry, so fierce that Job
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  Speaker 3: feared his life may end. As the winds howled around him,
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  Speaker 3: the Lord spoke. Where were you when I established the
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  Speaker 3: earth's foundation? If you know, please tell me. Who determines
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  Speaker 3: the world's measurements and lays its cornerstones? Who is it
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  Speaker 3: that sung the morning stars into existence or draped the
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  Speaker 3: clouds over the seas like a garment? Was it you
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  Speaker 3: who commanded the sun to rise and the dawn to
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  Speaker 3: know its place? Have you entered into the depths of
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  Speaker 3: the oceans or explored the recesses of the deep? Have
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  Speaker 3: you gazed upon the gates of death and the depths
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  Speaker 3: of darkness? Do you know the expanse of the universe
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  Speaker 3: and where the light emanates? Can you direct the stars
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  Speaker 3: and tighten the straps of Orion's belt? Please tell me
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  Speaker 3: if you have known these things, for of course you know.
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  Speaker 3: You were born then, were you not? Job was trembling
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  Speaker 3: as he listened to the voice of God. He said nothing,
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  Speaker 3: but God continued his torrent of questions. Is it you
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  Speaker 3: who understands the hawk's flight patterns and allows the wind
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  Speaker 3: to carry it? Are you the one who commands the
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  Speaker 3: eagles to mount up and make their nests on high?
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  Speaker 3: Who is it that contends with the Almighty? He who
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  Speaker 3: argues with God should answer. Job was shaking in his place.
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  Speaker 3: God was silent as he gained his composure. He stuttered,
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  Speaker 3: doing his best to create coherent sentences. How shall I
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  Speaker 3: even answer you? Job said. His knees were caving in
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  Speaker 3: on him. The sores on his feet were agonizingly painful.'
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  Speaker 3: I cannot answer you, O God,' Job said with his
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  Speaker 3: hands on his face. God's thundering voice arose again, saying,'
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  Speaker 3: Will you prove me wrong? Will you condemn me and
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  Speaker 3: make yourself right? Do you speak in thunder as I,
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  Speaker 3: or is your arm as strong as mine? Adorn yourself
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  Speaker 3: with dignity, be draped in absolute glory and splendor.' Take
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  Speaker 3: dominion and control over the earth you see, and maybe
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  Speaker 3: then I will acknowledge you. God had made his point
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  Speaker 3: to Job. He spoke of mighty beasts that were immense
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  Speaker 3: in power and glory, yet still in control by God.
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  Speaker 3: He spoke of the expanse of space and time, light
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  Speaker 3: and darkness, all to reveal to Job his vastness. In
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  Speaker 3: all God's questioning there was an undertone of love. God
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  Speaker 3: wanted to bring Job outside of his circumstances. He wanted
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  Speaker 3: him to see that the universe operates on God's will
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  Speaker 3: and does not bend to Job's comforts. Job once again
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  Speaker 3: bowed before the Lord and said, I know that all
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  Speaker 3: things are possible for you. Your will cannot be denied.
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  Speaker 3: You have uttered what I could not possibly understand. I
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  Speaker 3: repent before you, Lord. After Job repented, God turned to
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  Speaker 3: his friends. My anger God said, Job's brothers and sisters confessed,
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  Speaker 3: So the Lord had them repent, and Job made offerings
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  Speaker 3: for them. God kindly restored Job to greater health. Job's
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  Speaker 3: brothers and sisters came alongside him, and together they laughed
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  Speaker 3: and prayed with one another. Unlike Job's friends, they understood
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  Speaker 3: that comfort came not in vain philosophy or discourse. Rather,
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  Speaker 3: it came from friendship and true acknowledgement of God's goodness. Slowly,
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  Speaker 3: Job accumulated greater wealth. and was reconciled to his wife.
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  Speaker 3: Together they had more children. Job sat among his new family,
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  Speaker 3: cherishing the memories of his old family. Job was spilling
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  Speaker 3: over with joy and gratefulness to God, and he lived
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  Speaker 3: a long and prosperous life.
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  Speaker 4: Today's story begins with Job walking away from his friends
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  Speaker 4: because they were toxic. In other words, Their tenacious accusations
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  Speaker 4: against Job's character were silly and senseless because God knew
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  Speaker 4: that he had done nothing wrong, that God was not
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  Speaker 4: punishing him. He knows that he has not sinned against
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  Speaker 4: God in any way that would demand God's justice. Surely
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  Speaker 4: he's done nothing to deserve this terrible fate, so much loss.
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  Speaker 4: Job does not accuse God, but he is filled with doubts.
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  Speaker 4: He wants to hear from God and to know why,
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  Speaker 4: why this suffering. God knows, of course, everything that's been
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  Speaker 4: going on between Job and his wife, Job and his friends,
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  Speaker 4: and the questions that Job is asking himself and God.
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  Speaker 4: So now it's time for God to say something, for
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  Speaker 4: God to speak. And he comes to Job in a whirlwind.
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  Speaker 4: How terrifying that must have been for Job. He must
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  Speaker 4: have been thinking, what's next? All these blows that have
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  Speaker 4: come against me, and now this wind is blowing against me.
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  Speaker 4: Maybe Job thinks to himself, well, perhaps God is trying
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  Speaker 4: to kill me. But death wasn't what God had in
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  Speaker 4: mind for Job. God was about to teach Job and us.
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  Speaker 4: God says get ready and unleashes a barrage of questions
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  Speaker 4: for Job to answer. These are questions from God that
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  Speaker 4: Job cannot answer. Only God himself can answer the questions
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  Speaker 4: of suffering and pain in life, and that's the whole point.
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  Speaker 4: God says to Job, where were you when I laid
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  Speaker 4: the earth's foundations, when I hung the moon and the stars?
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  Speaker 4: God references all of creation from the distant stars and
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  Speaker 4: celestial bodies to the deepest oceans to the animals that
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  Speaker 4: roam the earth. God knows the when and the how
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  Speaker 4: and the why of everything. As you listen to the
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  Speaker 4: questions from God, ask yourself, what is God asking me?
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  Speaker 4: God's questions put Job in his place, and he knows
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  Speaker 4: he cannot offer an answer, and he admits this to God.
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  Speaker 4: But God isn't finished. He challenges Job to answer if
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  Speaker 4: he can match God's might and power. Humbled, Job answers God,
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  Speaker 4: beginning in Job 42, verses 1 through 3. Then Job
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  Speaker 4: answered the Lord and said, I know that you can
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  Speaker 4: do all things and that no purpose of yours can
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  Speaker 4: be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore,
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  Speaker 4: I have uttered what I did not understand, things too
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  Speaker 4: wonderful to be, things that I do not know. God
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  Speaker 4: hears the humble heart of his servant and the repentance,
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  Speaker 4: and he accepts it. He then turns to Job's friends
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  Speaker 4: and rebukes them for assuming that they knew God's thoughts
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  Speaker 4: and ways. They too repent, and Job offers sacrifices for
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  Speaker 4: his friends, returning to his priestly and godly role. Job
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  Speaker 4: has withstood the test, never turning from his trust and
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  Speaker 4: faith in God. And what does God do? In time,
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  Speaker 4: God restored his health and increased his wealth and his
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  Speaker 4: family line beyond what he had lost. The book of
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  Speaker 4: Job is all about how we handle the question of
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  Speaker 4: suffering in life. All the pain, all the heartache, all
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  Speaker 4: the tragedies that we see around us, what does God
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  Speaker 4: have to say about these? And this powerful story of
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  Speaker 4: Job reminds us that God is in control, and that
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  Speaker 4: while we can certainly ask questions of God, we should
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  Speaker 4: never question God. Let me say that again. You can
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  Speaker 4: ask God questions, any question, but do not question God.
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  Speaker 4: Do not question his faithfulness, his trustworthiness, his love for you.
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  Speaker 4: And if you know that, if you know that God
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  Speaker 4: loves you with an everlasting love and that his love
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  Speaker 4: will never let you go, then you can persevere through
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  Speaker 4: any trial and even life's greatest tragedies. Thank you for
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  Speaker 4: listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Jack
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  Speaker 4: Graham from Dallas, Texas. And before we go, I want
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  Speaker 4: you to know that I would love to send you
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: my daily devotional to give you fresh encouragement every single day.
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: So visit jackgraham.org to sign up for your PowerPoint Today devotional.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: That's jackgraham.org.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: If today's reading moved you, the Pray.com app is where
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  Speaker 2: you can go deeper with daily prayers, Bible plans, and more.
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  Speaker 2: Download it free. Link in the description.