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The Book of Job Like You_ve Never Seen Before(M4A_128K) · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Before Christ walked on water, before Daniel faced lions, before
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  David's slay giants, there was Job, a man whose story
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  prophesies the greatest suffering servant of all time. What you're
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  about to witness isn't just ancient history. It's a divine blueprint.
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  Every tear Job shed, every prayer he cried, every moment
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  of abandonment he felt, echoes through eternity to Calvary's cross.
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  This is the story that reveals God's heart when heaven
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  seems silent, when prayers feel empty, when the righteous suffer
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  while the wicked prosper, Job's ashes become the altar where
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  human pain meets divine purpose. His resurrection from ruin foreshadows
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  the ultimate victory over death itself. Prepare yourself, You're about
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  to see the gospel hidden in the oldest book ever written.
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  In the Land of Uz lived a man whose name
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  would echo through history. Job. Chapter one opens with a
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  disa description that seems almost too good to be true.
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  Job was perfect and upright, one who feared God and
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  turned away from evil. His wealth was absolutely staggering. Seven
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  thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen,
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  and five hundred female donkeys. His household was enormous, making
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  him the greatest man among all the people of the East.
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  But Job's true treasure wasn't his possessions. It was his family.
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  Seven sons and three daughters filled his home with joy
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  and laughter. These children loved each other deeply, taking turns
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  hosting elaborate feasts in their homes. After each celebration, Job
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  would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings
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  for each of his children, thinking, perhaps my children have
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  sinned and cursed God in their hearts. This he did regularly,
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  showing a father's heart that constantly sought God's favor for
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  his beloved family. Then something absolutely incredible happened that would
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  change everything forever. The sons of God came to present
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  themselves before the Lord, and Satan came among them. When
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  God asked Satan where he had come from, Satan answered
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  that he had been walking back and forth on the earth,
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  roaming throughout it. Then God said something that would alter
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  the course of history. Have you considered my servant Job,
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  that there is none like him on the earth, a
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  blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil.
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  Satan's response cut straight to the heart of every question
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  about faith and suffering that has ever been asked. Does
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  Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a
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  hedge around him, around his household, and around all that
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  he has? On every side? You have blessed the work
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  of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
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  But now stretch out your hand and touch all that
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  he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.
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  The Lord's answer would shock any one who was listening. Behold,
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  all that he has is in your power. Only do
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  not lay a hand on his person. In that single moment,
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  a cosmic wager began that would test the very foundations
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  of faith itself. The first test came swiftly and brutally,
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  like a series of devastating hammer blows. In a single
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  horrific day, messengers ran to Job with news that completely
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  shattered his world. The Sabeans had attacked and stolen his
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  oxen and donkeys, killing his servants with the edge of
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  the sword. Fire from heaven, had burned up his sheep
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  and more servants, consuming them completely. The Chaldeans had formed
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  three bands, raided his camels, and killed even more of
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  his people. With brutal efficiency. But the worst news of
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  all came last. A great wind from across the wilderness
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  had struck the house where all his children were feasting together,
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  and the house collapsed, killing every single one of them.
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  Job's response was absolutely remarkable and completely unexpected. He tore
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  his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground
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  in worship, saying these unforgettable words, naked, I came from
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  my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there? The
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  Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be
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  the name of the Lord. In all this devastating loss,
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  Job did not sin nor charge God with doing anything wrong.
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  But Satan wasn't finished with his assault. Chapter two shows
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  him returning to God's presence once again. When God pointed
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  out that Job still held fast to his integrity despite
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  being moved to destroy him without any cause. Satan's reply
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  was absolutely chilling. Skin for skin, yes, all that a
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  man has, he will give for his life. But stretch
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  out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh,
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  and he will surely curse you to your face. God
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  gave Satan permission to touch Job's body directly, with just
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  one important condition. He must spare Job's life. Satan immediately
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  struck Job with painful boils from the soul of his
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  foot to the crown of his head. Job sat among
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  the ashes and scraped himself with a piece of broken pottery,
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  trying to find some relief from the constant, burning pain.
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  Then came perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of the entire ordeal.
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  Job's wife, watching her husband's unbearable agony day after day,
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  spoke words that were born from her own desperate pain.
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  Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God?
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  And die? But Job answered her with words that have
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  inspired countless sufferers throughout history. You speak, as one of
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  the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God?
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  And shall we not accept ay? In all this terrible suffering,
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  Job did not sin with his lips. When Job's three friends, Eliphas,
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  the Timanite, bil Dad, the shoe Height and so Far
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  the Namathite, heard about all the trouble that had come
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  upon him, they made an appointment together to come and
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  mourn with him and comfort him in his grief. But
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  when they saw him from a distance, they could barely
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  recognize the man they had known. They wept loudly, tore
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  their robes, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven.
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  Then they sat with him on the ground for seven
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  full days and seven long nights, without speaking a single
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  word to him, because they could see that his grief
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  was extremely great. After seven complete days of absolute silence,
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  something finally broke deep inside Job's heart. Chapter three records
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  words that shocked everyone who heard them and continue to
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  shock readers to day. John opened his mouth and cursed
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  the day of his birth with language that was raw
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  and desperate. These weren't the calm, measured words of a
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  patient sufferer. They were the desperate cries of a man
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  who had been pushed far beyond his breaking point. May
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  the day perish on which I was born and the
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  night in which it was said a male child is conceived.
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  Job's overwhelming pain poured out in vivid, almost frightening language
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  that revealed the depth of his anguish. He wished that
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  day had been complete darkness, that God above had not
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  sought it out, that no light had ever shined upon it.
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  He wanted darkness and the shadow of death to claim
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  it completely, Clouds to settle on it, and the blackness
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  of the day to terrify it with overwhelming gloom. His
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  words grew even more intense and desperate as he continued
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  speaking about that night. May that night be barren, May
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  no joyful shout come into it. May those curse it
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  who curse the day, those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
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  May the stars of its twilight be dark. May it
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  look for light but have none, and not see the
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  dawning of the day, because it did not shut up
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  the doors of my mother's womb, nor hide sorrow from
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  my eyes. But Job's deepest wish was actually much simpler
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  and more heart breaking than his dramatic curses. He wished
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  with all his heart that he had died at birth.
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  Why did I not die at birth? Why did I
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  not perish when I came from the womb? Why did
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  the knees receive me? Or why the breasts that I
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  should nurse? He painted a beautiful but tragic picture of
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  death as a place of complete rest and peace, where
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  the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are
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  at rest. The most painful and piercing question came at
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  the very end of his lament. Why is light given
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  to a man? Whose way is hidden, and whom God
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  has hedged in the very hedge of divine pre de
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  tection that Satan had complained about in chapter one, now
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  felt like an inescapable prison to Job. His size came
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  before his food each day, and his groaning poured out
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  like water continuously. Job's explosive outburst was met with genuine
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  concern from his first friend, Eliphaz. The Temanite Chapter four
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  shows Eliphas trying to be gentle and diplomatic at first,
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  almost apologetic for daring to speak at such a sensitive time.
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  If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
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  But who can withhold himself from speaking? He reminded Job
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  of how he had been a source of strength to
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  others in the past. Your words have upheld him who
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  was stumbling, and you have strengthened the feeble knees. But
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  now it comes upon you, and you are weary. It
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  touches you, and you are troubled. But then Eliphaz asked
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  the crucial question that revealed exactly what he was thinking.
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  Is not your reverend, your confidence and the integrity of
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  your ways, your hope? Remember now, who ever perished being
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  innocent or where were the upright, ever cut off? In
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  Eliphaz's theological worldview, suffering always indicated sin. Good righteous people
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  simply didn't suffer like this without having done something wrong. First,
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  to support his point and give weight to his argument,
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  Iliphaz shared something absolutely extraordinary, a supernatural vision that he
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  claimed to have received directly from the spirit world. Now
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  a word was secretly brought to me, and my ear
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  received a whisper of it in disquieting thoughts from the
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  visions of the night when deep sleep falls on men.
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  Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my
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  bones shake throughout my entire body. The vision itself was
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  absolutely terrifying in its supernatural manifestation. Then a spirit passed
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  before my face, the hair on my body still, it
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  stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. Clearly
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  a form was before my eyes. There was silence. Then
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  I heard a voice saying, Can a mortal be more
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  righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than
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  his maker? If he puts no trust in his servants,
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  if he charges his angels with error? How much more
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  those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is
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  in the dust, who are crushed before a moth. The
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  spirit's message seemed to provide strong support for Elephaz's belief
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  that Job must have sinned. Even the angels aren't considered
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  perfect in God's sight, so how much less are human
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  beings who live in fragile houses of clay and can
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  be crushed as easily as moths. Eliphaz was using this
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  dramatic supernatural experience to suggest that Job's terrible suffering was
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  clear proof that he wasn't nearly as righteous as he
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  had always claimed to be. Eliphaz continued his lengthy speech
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  in chapter five with what he sincerely thought was helpful
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  and encouraging advice for his suffering friend. He painted a
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  vivid picture of what inevitably happens to foolish and wicked people.
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  I have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I
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  cursed his dwelling place. His children are far from safety.
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  They are crushed in the gate, and there is no
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  deliverer because the hungry eat up his harvest, taking it
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  even from the thorns, and a snare snatches their substance.
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  But his main message was simple, direct and meant to
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  be encouraging. Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore,
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  do not despise the chastening of the Almighty, for he
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  makes sore, but he binds up, he wounds, but his
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  hands make whole. Eliphaz genuinely believed that Job's suffering was
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  simply God's way of teaching him something important, a divine
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  educational process that would ultimately benefit him greatly. He promised
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  that if Job would seek God and earnestly and make
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  his prayer to the Almighty with a humble heart, absolutely
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  everything would be restored to him and more. The restoration
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  that Eliphaz described was incredibly beautiful and comprehensive. For he bruises,
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  but he binds up, he wounds, but his hands make whole.
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  He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven,
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  no evil shall touch you. In famine. He shall redeem
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  you from death, and in war from the power of
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  the sword. Elif has painted an amazing picture of complete
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  security and divine protection. You shall be hidden from the
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  scourge of the tongue, and you shall not be afraid
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  of destruction when it comes. You shall laugh at destruction
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  and famine, and you shall not be afraid of the
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  beasts of the earth. For you shall have a covenant
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  with the stones of the field, and the beasts of
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  the field shall be at peace with you. He promised
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  that Job's tent would be secure, his dwelling completely safe,
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  and when he visited his habitation, he would not sin.
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  His descendants would be numerous, like the grass of the earth.
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  Job would come to his grave at a full age,
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  like a sheaf of grain gathered in its proper season.
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  Eliphaz ended his speech with complete confidence. Behold this we
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  have searched out. It is true. Hear it and know
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  for yourself. Job's response in chapters six and seven revealed
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  just how deeply his friend's well meaning words had actually
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  hurt him. He began by wishing that his overwhelming grief
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  could somehow be measured and weighed. Oh, that my grief
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  were fully weighed, and my calamity laid with it on
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  the scales, For then it would be heavier than the
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  sand of the sea. Therefore my words have been rash.
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  His words seemed extreme because his spirit was being crushed
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  under this completely impossible weight of suffering. Job felt like
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  God himself was directly attacking him with super natural weapons.
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  For the arrows of the Almighty are within me? My
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  spirit drinks in their poison. The terrors of God are
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  arrayed against me. He wasn't complaining about nothing or being
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  overly dramatic. Even wild animals don't cry out unless something
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  is genuinely wrong. Does the wild donkey bray when it
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  has grass? Or does the ox low over its fodder?
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  His overwhelming pain had made everything in life taste completely
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  wrong to him. He couldn't eat because food had become
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  absolutely disgusting. Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or
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  is there any taste in the white of an egg?
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  My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food
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  to me. What he really wanted was simple, but completely impossible. Oh,
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  that I might have my request, that God would grant
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  me the thing that I long for, That it would
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  please God to crush me, that he would loose his
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  hand and cut me off. In chapter seven, Job turned
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  his attention directly to God with some of the most
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  brutally honest words ever spoken in prayer. He described all
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  human life as constant warfare. Is there not a time
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  of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days?
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  Also like the days of a hired man, like a
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  servant who earnestly desires the shade, and like a hired
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  man who eagerly looks for his wages. So I have
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  been allotted months of futility, and wearisome nights have been
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  appointed to me. His physical body was completely breaking down.
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  My flesh is caked with worms and dust. My skin
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  is cracked and breaks out afresh. My days are swifter
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  than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. He
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  reminded God that human life is incredibly brief, like a
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  breath that quickly disappears. Whoever goes down to the grave
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  doesn't come back up to see his house again. Then
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  Job asked God a question that pierced straight to the
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  heart of his complete confusion. What is man that you
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  should exalt him, that you should set your heart on him,
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  that you should visit him every morning and test him
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  every moment? How long will you not look away from
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  me and let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
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  He felt like God was watching him far too closely,
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  testing him constantly and relentlessly. When bil Dad the Shoe
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  Height finally spoke in chapter eight, his approach was completely
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  different from Eliphaz's mystical supernatural vision. Bil Dad relied heavily
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  on traditional wisdom that had been carefully passed down through
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  many generations. He started with a pointed question that must
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  have stung Job deeply. How long will you speak these things?
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  And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind.
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  Bildad's theology was remarkably simple and absolutely direct. Does God's
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  subvert judgment or does the Almighty pervert justice? In his mind,
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  God was always completely fair and just in all his dealings.
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  If Job's children had died so tragically, it could only
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  be because they had sinned against God. If your sons
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  have sinned against Him, he has cast them away for
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  their transgression. But bil Dad did offer genuine hope if
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  Job would completely change his approach, If you would earnestly
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  seek God and make your supplication to the Almighty, if
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  you were pure and upright, surely now he would awake
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  for you and prosper your rightful dwelling place. Though your
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  beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly.
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  To prove his theological point conclusively, Bildad appealed directly to
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  ancient wisdom. For inquire, please of the former age, and
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  consider the things discovered by their fathers. For we were
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  born yesterday and know nothing, because our days on earth
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  are a shadow. He genuinely believed that the ancestors had
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  completely figured out how God works, and their accumulated wisdom
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  was far more reliable than current personal experience. Bildad used
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  incredibly vivid word pictures to make his point crystal clear.
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  The godless person was like a plant that grows luxuriously
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  in wet, marshy soil, but dies quickly when the hot
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  sun comes out. While it is yet green and not
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  cut down. It withers before any other plant. So are
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  the paths of all who forget God, and the hope
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  of the hypocrite shall perish, whose confidence shall be cut off,
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  and whose trust is a spider's web. He painted another
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  detailed picture of someone who trusts completely in his house,
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  holding fast to it desperately, but having it collapse anyway
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  when real pressure comes. But Bildad's final conclusion was genuinely
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  meant to encourage and give hope. Behold, God will not
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  cast away the blameless, nor will he uphold the evil doers.
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  He will yet fill your mouth with laughing and your
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  lips with rejoicing. Those who hate you will be clothed
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  with shame. The dwelling place of the wicked will come
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  to nothing. Job's response in chapters nine and ten showed
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  clearly that his friend's simple, straightforward answers weren't helping him
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  at all. He actually agreed with part of what Bildad
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  had said. Truly, I know it is so, But how
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  can a man be righteous before God? The real problem
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  wasn't that Job disagreed with God's perfect justice. The problem
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  was that God was far too powerful for any human
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  being to argue with successfully. Dut Job painted an absolutely
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  incredible picture of God's overwhelming power. He removes the mountains,
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  and they do not know when he overturns them in
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  his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place,
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  and its pillars tremble. He commands the sun and it
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  does not rise. He seals off the stars. He alone
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  spreads out the heavens and treads on the waves of
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  the sea. God's creative power was completely beyond human imagination.
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  He made the bear Orion, and the Pleiades and the
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  chambers of the South. He does great things past finding
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  out yes wonders without number. If he goes by me,
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  I do not see him. If he moves past, I
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  do not perceive him. If he takes away, who can
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  hinder him? Who can say to him? What are you doing?
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  But this overwhelming power made Job feel completely helpless. Though
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  I were righteous, I could not answer him. I would
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  beg mercy of my judge. If I called and he
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  answered me, I would not believe that he was listening
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  to my voice, for he crushes me with a tempest
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  and multiplies my wounds without cause. Job's frustration grew exponentially
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  as he imagined trying to argue his case. If it
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  is a matter of strength, indeed he is strong. And
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  if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
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  Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me.
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  Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse. In
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  chapter ten, Joe Ube decided to speak directly to God.
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  Despite the overwhelming odds, I will say to God, do
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  not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me.
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  Does it seem good to you that you should oppress,
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  that you should despise the work of your hands and
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  smile on the counsel of the wicked. Job reminded God
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  that he had made him. Your hands have made me
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  and fashioned me an intricate unity, Yet you would destroy me.
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  The silence was broken by the harshest voice Yet Zophar
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  the Namathite had been listening to everything, and his patience
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  had run out completely. Chapter eleven shows him speaking with
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  no gentleness at all, cutting straight to what he believed
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  was the heart of the problem. Should not the multitude
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  of words be answered? And should a man full of
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  talk be vindicated? Zophar wasn't going to dance around the
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  issue like his friends had done. His attack was direct
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  and brutal. For you have said, my doctrine is pure,
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  and I am clean in your eyes. But oh, that
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  God would speak and open his lips against you, that
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  he would show you the secrets of wisdom, for they
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  would double your prudence. Know therefore that God exacts from
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  you less than your iniquity deserves. In Zophar's mind, job
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  was getting off easy. His suffering wasn't too much. It
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  was actually too little for whatever he had done wrong.
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  Zophar painted a picture of God's infinite wisdom that made
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  human understanding look foolish. Can you search out the deep
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  things of God? Can you find out the limits of
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  the Almighty. They are higher than heaven. What can you do?
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  Deeper than she all? What can you know? Their measure
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  is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.
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  The implication was clear. Job couldn't possibly understand what God
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  was doing, so he should stop complaining. Then Zophar delivered
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  his diagnosis with surgical precision. For he knows deceitful men
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  he sees wickedness also, will he not then consider it?
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  For an empty headed man will be wise when a
• 24:05
  wild donkey's colt is born a man. According to Zofar,
• 24:09
  Job was empty headed, and God could see right through
• 24:12
  his pretense of righteousness. But so far also offered a
• 24:16
  way out, though it came wrapt in condemnation. If you
• 24:20
  would prepare your heart and stretch out your hands toward him,
• 24:24
  If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it
• 24:27
  far away and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents,
• 24:31
  then surely you could lift up your face without spot. Yes,
• 24:34
  you could be steadfast and not fear. The solution was
• 24:38
  simple in Zofar's mind. Confess your hidden sins and everything
• 24:42
  will be fine. He promised restoration if Job would just
• 24:46
  admit his guilt, because you would forget your misery and
• 24:50
  remember it as waters that have passed away, and your
• 24:54
  life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark,
• 24:58
  you would be like the morning, and you would be
• 25:00
  secure because there is hope. Yes, you would dig around
• 25:04
  you and take your rest in safety. But his final
• 25:07
  words carried a warning, But the eyes of the wicked
• 25:10
  will fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope
• 25:14
  loss of life. Job had heard enough. Chapter twelve opens
• 25:18
  with words dripping with sarcasm that showed just how fed
• 25:22
  up he was with his friend's lectures. No doubt you
• 25:25
  are the people, and wisdom will die with you. The
• 25:27
  bitterness in Job's voice was unmistakable. He was tired of
• 25:31
  being treated like a fool by people who thought they
• 25:34
  had all the answers. His frustration poured out as he
• 25:37
  described his situation. But I have understanding as well as you.
• 25:42
  I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not
• 25:45
  know such things as these? I'm one mocked by his
• 25:49
  friends who called on God, and he answered him, the
• 25:52
  just and blameless, who is ridiculed? Job pointed out the
• 25:56
  cruel irony he was being mocked by the very people
• 26:00
  who should have been comforting him. Then Job made an
• 26:03
  observation that must have stung his friends. A lamp is
• 26:07
  despised in the thought of one who is at ease.
• 26:10
  It is made ready for those whose feet slip. The
• 26:13
  tents of robbers prosper, and those who provoke God are
• 26:16
  secure in what God provides by his hand. He was
• 26:21
  pointing out that their simple theology didn't match reality. Bad
• 26:25
  people often lived comfortable lives while good people suffered. Job
• 26:29
  then launched into a magnificent description of God's power that
• 26:33
  showed he understood divine sovereignty better than his accusers did.
• 26:37
  But now asked, the beasts and they will teach you,
• 26:40
  And the birds of the air and they will tell you.
• 26:43
  Or speak to the earth and it will teach you.
• 26:47
  And the fish of the sea will explain to you.
• 26:49
  Who among all these does not know that the hand
• 26:52
  of the Lord has done this. He continued with examples
• 26:56
  of God's absolute control over everything. With him are wisdom
• 27:00
  and strength. He has counsel and understanding. If he breaks
• 27:04
  a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt. If he imprisons
• 27:08
  a man, there can be no release. If he withholds
• 27:12
  the waters they dry up. If he sends them out,
• 27:15
  they overwhelm the earth. Job was showing that he understood
• 27:19
  God's power perfectly. Well, that wasn't his problem. The real
• 27:22
  issue Job explained was that God seemed to use his
• 27:26
  power in ways that confused human understanding. He leads counselors
• 27:31
  away plundered and makes fools of the judges. He loosens
• 27:35
  the bonds of kings and binds their waste with a belt.
• 27:39
  He leads princes away plundered and overthrows the mighty. He
• 27:43
  deprives the trusted ones of speech and takes away the
• 27:46
  discernment of the elders. God's ways didn't follow the neat
• 27:50
  patterns his friends insisted they must follow. Job's point was devastating.
• 27:57
  He paus contempt on princes and disarms the Mighty. He
• 28:02
  uncovers deep things out of darkness and brings the shadow
• 28:05
  of death to light. He makes nations great and destroys them,
• 28:10
  enlarge his nations and guides them. If God operated this
• 28:14
  way with nations and kings, why did his friends think
• 28:17
  individuals suffering always followed predictable rules. Chapter thirteen shows Job
• 28:22
  making perhaps the most dangerous decision of his life. He
• 28:25
  had listened to his friend's theories long enough, and now
• 28:29
  he was ready to take his case directly to the
• 28:31
  highest court possible. Hold your peace, let me alone, that
• 28:35
  I may speak, and let come on me what may.
• 28:39
  Job was essentially telling his friends to be quiet because
• 28:42
  he had something more important to do than listen to
• 28:45
  their lectures. His decision was breathtaking in its boldness. Though
• 28:49
  he slay me, yet, will I trust him? Even so?
• 28:53
  I will defend my own ways before him? He also
• 28:56
  shall be my salvation, for a hypocrite could not come
• 29:00
  before him. Job was willing to risk everything, even his life,
• 29:05
  to get answers from God directly. He believed that his
• 29:09
  integrity would be his protection, because a truly wicked person
• 29:14
  wouldn't dare approach God this way. Job had prepared his
• 29:18
  case carefully. I have prepared my case. I know that
• 29:22
  I shall be vindicated. Who is he who will contend
• 29:25
  with me? If now I hold my tongue I perish?
• 29:29
  He was confident that if he could just get a
• 29:31
  fair hearing, he would be proven right. The problem wasn't
• 29:35
  his guilt. The problem was that he couldn't get God
• 29:38
  to listen to him before presenting his case, Job made
• 29:42
  two requests that showed how desperate he was. Only two things.
• 29:46
  Do not do to me, then I will not hide
• 29:48
  myself from you. Withdraw your hand from me, and let
• 29:52
  not the dread of you make me afraid. Then call
• 29:55
  and I will answer, or let me speak. Then you
• 29:58
  respond to me. Joe Ube wanted God to stop hurting
• 30:01
  him long enough for them to have a conversation, and
• 30:04
  he wanted God to stop being so terrifying that Job
• 30:09
  couldn't think straight. His questions were heart breaking in their honesty.
• 30:13
  How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know
• 30:17
  my transgression and my sin? Why do you hide your
• 30:20
  face and regard me as your enemy? Will you frighten
• 30:23
  a leaf driven to and fro? And will you pursue
• 30:26
  dry stubble? Job genuinely didn't know what he had done wrong,
• 30:30
  and he felt like God was hunting him down, like
• 30:33
  he was some kind of dangerous criminal. The pain in
• 30:37
  Job's voice was unmistakable as he described his situation. For
• 30:42
  you write bitter things against me and make me inherit
• 30:46
  the iniquities of my youth. You put my feet in
• 30:49
  the stocks and watch closely all my paths. You set
• 30:52
  a limit for the soles of my feet. Job felt
• 30:55
  like he was in prison, with God as his jailer,
• 30:58
  watching his every move and keeping detailed records of his failures.
• 31:04
  His final words in this chapter painted a picture of
• 31:07
  human frailty that explained why he needed mercy rather than judgment.
• 31:12
  Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that
• 31:16
  is moth eaten. Job was pointing out that humans are
• 31:19
  naturally weak and temporary. They need compassion, not harsh treatment.
• 31:24
  Chapter fourteen contains some of the most beautiful and heart
• 31:28
  breaking poetry in the entire Bible. As Job reflected on
• 31:32
  the temporary nature of human life, his words painted pictures
• 31:36
  that anyone could understand. Man who is born of woman
• 31:40
  is of few days and full of trouble. He comes
• 31:43
  forth like a flower and fades away. He flees like
• 31:47
  a shadow and does not continue. Job was saying that
• 31:50
  human life is naturally brief and difficult, like a flower
• 31:54
  that blooms and quickly dies, or a shadow that appears
• 31:58
  and disappears. The comparison with trees was particularly striking, for
• 32:03
  there is hope for a tree if it is cut down,
• 32:07
  that it will sprout again. And that its tender shoots
• 32:10
  will not cease. Though its root may grow old in
• 32:13
  the earth, and its stump may die in the ground.
• 32:16
  Yet at the scent of water, it will bud and
• 32:19
  bring forth branches like a plant. Even a dead tree
• 32:23
  could come back to life if conditions were right. But
• 32:26
  humans were different. But man dies and is laid low. Indeed,
• 32:32
  man breathes his last, and where is he As water
• 32:35
  disappears from the sea, and a river becomes parched and
• 32:39
  dries up. So man lies down and does not rise
• 32:43
  till the heavens are no more. They will not awake
• 32:46
  nor be roused from their sleep. Unlike trees, people don't
• 32:50
  get second chances when they die. They stay dead. This
• 32:55
  reality made Job wish for something that seemed impossible. Oh,
• 33:00
  that you would hide me in the grave. That you
• 33:03
  would conceal me until your wrath is past. That you
• 33:06
  would appoint me a set time, and remember me. If
• 33:09
  a man dies, shall he live again? All the days
• 33:12
  of my hard service, I will wait till my change comes.
• 33:16
  Job was actually wishing he could hide in death until
• 33:19
  God's anger passed and then come back to life when
• 33:22
  things were better. The hope Job expressed was tentative, but beautiful.
• 33:27
  You shall call, and I will answer you. You shall
• 33:31
  desire the work of your hands. For now you number
• 33:34
  my steps, but do not watch over my sin. My
• 33:38
  transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you cover
• 33:41
  my iniquity. Job imagined God calling him back from death
• 33:45
  like a friend calling to a friend, and God choosing
• 33:48
  not to remember his failures. But Job's hope was crushed
• 33:52
  by reality. But as a mountain falls and crumbles away,
• 33:56
  and as a rock is moved from its place, as
• 33:58
  water wears away stones, and as torrents wash away the
• 34:02
  soil of the earth, so you destroy the hope of man.
• 34:06
  You prevail forever against him, and he passes on. You
• 34:09
  change his countenance and send him away. Even the most
• 34:13
  solid things in nature eventually break down and disappear, and
• 34:17
  humans are far more fragile than mountains or rocks. Job's
• 34:21
  final words in this chapter were heart breaking. His sons
• 34:25
  come to honor, but he does not know it. They
• 34:28
  are brought low, but he does not perceive it of them.
• 34:32
  But his flesh will be in pain over him, and
• 34:35
  his soul will mourn over him, even if good things
• 34:38
  happen to his family. After he died, Job would never
• 34:41
  know about it. Death was a permanent separation from everything
• 34:45
  he cared about. When Eliphaz spoke again in chapter fifteen,
• 34:49
  his gentle approach was completely gone. He had listened to
• 34:53
  Job's speeches and decided that kindness wasn't working. Should a
• 34:57
  wise man answer with empty knowledge and fe himself with
• 35:00
  the east wind? Should he reason with unprofitable talk, or
• 35:04
  by speeches with which he can do no good? Eliphaz
• 35:08
  was saying that Job's words were as empty and destructive
• 35:11
  as a hot desert wind. His accusation was serious and direct. Yes,
• 35:17
  you cast off fear and restrain prayer before God, for
• 35:21
  your mouth utters your iniquity, and you choose the tongue
• 35:24
  of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, and not I.
• 35:28
  Your own lips testify against you. Eliphaz was claiming that
• 35:32
  Job's complaints were actually proving his guilt. By questioning God,
• 35:37
  Job was showing that he didn't truly fear the Lord.
• 35:40
  Elphaz asked cutting questions designed to put Job in his place.
• 35:44
  Are you the first man who was born? Or were
• 35:47
  you made before the hills? Have you heard the counsel
• 35:50
  of God? Do you restrict wisdom to yourself. What do
• 35:53
  you know that we do not know? What do you
• 35:56
  understand that is not in us? He was tired of
• 35:59
  Job acting life. He was wiser than his friends. Then
• 36:02
  eliphas played what he thought was his strongest card. Both
• 36:07
  the gray haired and the aged are among us, much
• 36:10
  older than your father. Are the consolations of God too
• 36:14
  small for you? And the words spoken gently with you?
• 36:17
  He was reminding Job that older, wiser men had tried
• 36:21
  to help him, and Job had rejected their comfort. Elephaz's
• 36:25
  description of wicked people was clearly meant to describe Job.
• 36:30
  The wicked man writhes with pain all his days, and
• 36:34
  the number of years is hidden from the oppressor. Dreadful
• 36:38
  sounds are in his ears. In prosperity, the destroyer comes
• 36:41
  upon him. He does not believe that he will return
• 36:44
  from darkness, but a sword is waiting for him. The
• 36:48
  implication was obvious. Job's suffering proved he was wicked. In
• 36:53
  chapter sixteen, Job's response revealed how deeply his friend's words
• 36:57
  had wounded him. I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters,
• 37:02
  are you all? Shall words of wind have an end? Or?
• 37:05
  What provokes you that you answer, I also could speak
• 37:08
  as you do. If your soul were in my soul's place,
• 37:12
  I could heap up words against you and shake my
• 37:15
  head at you. Job was pointing out that his friends
• 37:18
  were giving him the opposite of comfort. Job's description of
• 37:22
  what God was doing to him was violent and disturbing.
• 37:26
  He tears me in his wrath and hates me. He
• 37:29
  gnashes at me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his
• 37:33
  gaze on me. They gape at me with their mouth.
• 37:35
  They strike me reproachfully on the cheek. They gathered together
• 37:39
  against me. Job felt like God had become his enemy,
• 37:43
  attacking him with supernatural fury. The physical description of his
• 37:48
  suffering was heart breaking. God has delivered me to the
• 37:51
  ungodly and turned me over to the hands of the wicked.
• 37:55
  I was at ease, but he has shattered me. He
• 37:58
  also has taken me by my neck and shaken me
• 38:01
  to pieces and set me up for his target. His
• 38:05
  archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity.
• 38:08
  He pours out my gall on the ground. Job felt
• 38:11
  like God was using him for target practice, shooting arrows
• 38:15
  at him without mercy. Chapter seventeen shows Job dealing with
• 38:19
  complete social rejection while clinging to a desperate hope. His
• 38:23
  description of his situation was pathetic. My spirit is broken,
• 38:27
  my days are extinguished, The graves are ready for me,
• 38:31
  are not markers with me? And does not my eye
• 38:34
  dwell on their provocation. Even his friends had become people
• 38:37
  who mocked him instead of helping him. Job felt completely
• 38:41
  isolated and misunderstood. He has made me a by word
• 38:45
  of the people, and I have become one before whom
• 38:48
  men spit. My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow,
• 38:53
  and all my members are like shadows. People were using
• 38:57
  his name as an example of someone cursing by God,
• 39:01
  and his physical condition was deteriorating rapidly. The reaction of
• 39:05
  righteous people to his situation made everything worse Upright men
• 39:11
  are astonished at this, and the innocent stirs himself up
• 39:14
  against the hypocrite. Yet the righteous will hold to his way,
• 39:18
  and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.
• 39:23
  Good people looked at Job suffering and assumed he must
• 39:26
  be a hypocrite, which made them more determined to live
• 39:29
  righteously themselves. But in the middle of his despair, Job
• 39:34
  made an incredible declaration of faith. But he knows the
• 39:38
  way that I take. When he has tested me, I
• 39:41
  shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast
• 39:44
  to his steps. I have kept his way and not
• 39:47
  turned aside. Despite everything that was happening, Job maintained that
• 39:51
  God knew his true character and would eventually vindicate him.
• 39:56
  Job's hope was based on something beyond his current circumstances.
• 40:00
  Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my
• 40:04
  record is on high. My friends scorn me. My eyes
• 40:08
  pour out tears to God. Oh, that one might plead
• 40:11
  for a man with God as a man pleads for
• 40:13
  his neighbor. Job believed that somewhere in heaven there was
• 40:17
  a witness who knew the truth about his situation and
• 40:20
  would eventually speak up for him. This hope was precious
• 40:24
  to him because human help had failed. For when a
• 40:28
  few years are finished, I shall go the way of
• 40:31
  no return. My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished.
• 40:36
  The graves are ready for me. Job knew his time
• 40:39
  was running out, and if justice was going to come,
• 40:42
  it would have to come from Heaven rather than earth.
• 40:45
  His final words in this section were filled with resignation
• 40:49
  about human friendship, but come back all of you, and
• 40:53
  I shall not find one wise man among you. My
• 40:56
  days are passed, my purposes are broken off, even the
• 40:59
  thoughts of my heart. Job had given up on getting
• 41:02
  help or understanding from the people around him. Bill Dad's
• 41:06
  second speech in Now chapter eighteen was much shorter and
• 41:10
  much darker than his first attempt to help Job. He
• 41:13
  was clearly frustrated with Job's refusal to accept their explanations.
• 41:18
  How long till you put an end to words, gain understanding,
• 41:21
  and afterward we will speak? Why are we counted as
• 41:24
  beasts and regarded as stupid in your sight? Bill Dad
• 41:28
  felt like Job was treating them like animals instead of
• 41:31
  wise counselors. His entire speech was basically one long, detailed
• 41:36
  description of what happens to wicked people, and the implication
• 41:40
  was clear this was what was happening to Job. Indeed,
• 41:44
  the light of the wicked goes out, and the flame
• 41:47
  of his fire does not shine. The light is dark
• 41:50
  in his tent, and his lamp beside him is put out.
• 41:54
  Bill Dad was saying that Job's prosperity had ended because
• 41:57
  he was wicked. The imagery build Bill Dad used was
• 42:01
  vivid and frightening. The steps of his strength are shortened,
• 42:05
  and his own counsel casts him down. For he is
• 42:08
  cast into a net by his own feet, and he
• 42:11
  walks into a snare. The net takes him by the heel,
• 42:14
  and a snare lays hold of him. A noose is
• 42:16
  hidden for him on the ground, and a trap for
• 42:19
  him in the road. According to Bildad, wicked people become
• 42:23
  trapped by their own evil schemes. Bill Dad's description became
• 42:28
  even more dramatic. Terrors frighten him on every side and
• 42:32
  drive him to his feet. His strength is starved, and
• 42:36
  destruction is ready at his side. It devours patches of
• 42:39
  his skin. The first born of death devours his limbs.
• 42:44
  The firstborn of death was probably a reference to the
• 42:47
  most terrible kind of disease, which certainly seemed to fit
• 42:50
  Job's condition. The social consequences bill Dad described were devastating.
• 42:56
  He is driven from light into darkness and taste out
• 43:00
  of the world. He shall have neither sun nor posterity
• 43:04
  among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. Those
• 43:08
  in the west are astonished at his day, as those
• 43:11
  in the east are frightened. Bildad was saying that wicked
• 43:15
  people lose their families and are remembered only as examples
• 43:18
  of divine judgment. Job's response in chapter nineteen began with
• 43:23
  pure exasperation, How long will you torment me and break
• 43:27
  me in pieces with words? These ten times you have
• 43:30
  reproached me, you are not ashamed that you have wronged me.
• 43:34
  Job had reached his limit with his friend's accusations. They
• 43:37
  were supposed to be comforting him, but instead they were
• 43:40
  making his pain worse. Job felt completely abandoned by every one.
• 43:46
  He has removed My brothers far from me, and my
• 43:50
  acquaintances are completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed,
• 43:55
  and my close friends have forgotten me. Those who dwell
• 43:58
  in my house and my maid servants count me as
• 44:00
  a stranger. I am an alien in their sight. Even
• 44:04
  his own household staff were treating him like a stranger.
• 44:08
  The physical revulsion people felt toward him was humiliating. My
• 44:12
  breath is offensive to my wife, and I am repulsive
• 44:16
  to the children of my own body. Even young children
• 44:19
  despise me. I arise, and they speak against me. All
• 44:23
  my close friends abhor me, and those whom I love
• 44:26
  have turned against me. Job had become physically disgusting to
• 44:30
  every one around him, including his own family. But then
• 44:34
  Job made one of the most famous declarations in the
• 44:37
  entire Bible. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and
• 44:42
  he shall stand at last on the earth. And after
• 44:45
  my skin is destroyed this I know that in my
• 44:48
  flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself,
• 44:51
  and my eyes shall behold and not another. How my
• 44:55
  heart yearns within me. Even when everything else had failed,
• 44:59
  Job mayined his faith that God would eventually vindicate him,
• 45:03
  even if it took a resurrection from the dead to
• 45:06
  make it happen. Zophar's final speech in chapter twenty was
• 45:10
  his attempt to solve the problem that Job had raised
• 45:13
  about wicked people prospering. His solution was simple, Their prosperity
• 45:18
  doesn't last. Do you not know this of old, since
• 45:22
  man was placed on earth, that the triumphing of the
• 45:25
  wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is
• 45:27
  but for a moment. According to Zophar, what looked like
• 45:31
  success for evil people was just a temporary illusion. Zofar
• 45:36
  painted a picture of sudden reversal, though his haughtiness mounts
• 45:40
  up to the heavens and his head reaches to the clouds.
• 45:44
  Yet he will perish for ever, like his own refuse.
• 45:47
  Those who have seen him will say where is he?
• 45:51
  He will fly away like a dream and not be found. Yes,
• 45:54
  he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
• 45:57
  Evil people might seem successful for a while, but they
• 46:01
  would disappear as quickly as dreams. The description of divine
• 46:05
  judgment was graphic. The increase of his house will depart,
• 46:09
  and his goods will flow away in the day of
• 46:12
  his wrath. This is the portion from God for a
• 46:15
  wicked man, the heritage appointed to him by God. So
• 46:19
  far was confident that God always punished wickedness, even if
• 46:24
  it took time. Job's response in chapter twenty one was
• 46:28
  devastating to his friend's entire theological system. He asked them
• 46:32
  to really listen to him for once. Listen carefully to
• 46:35
  my speech, and let this be your consolation. Bear with
• 46:39
  me that I may speak, and after I have spoken,
• 46:42
  keep mocking. Job was about to present evidence that would
• 46:46
  destroy their simple explanations. His observations about wicked people were
• 46:52
  based on reality, not theory. Why do the wicked live
• 46:55
  and become old, Yes, become mighty in power. Their descendants
• 46:59
  are establis with them in their sight, and their offspring
• 47:02
  before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear. Neither
• 47:06
  is the rod of God upon them. Job had watched
• 47:09
  evil people live long, successful lives while good people suffered.
• 47:13
  The prosperity of the wicked was undeniable. Their bull breeds
• 47:18
  without failure, their cow calves without miscarriage. They send forth
• 47:22
  their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.
• 47:26
  They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice to
• 47:29
  the sound of the flute. Evil people often had healthy families,
• 47:33
  successful businesses, and happy lives. Most shocking of all, they
• 47:37
  lived this way while completely rejecting God. They spend their
• 47:41
  days in wealth, and in a moment go down to
• 47:44
  the grave. Yet they say to God, depart from us,
• 47:48
  for we do not desire the knowledge of your ways.
• 47:51
  What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And
• 47:54
  what profit do we have if we pray to him?
• 47:57
  These people openly defied God and still prospered. Job's final
• 48:01
  challenge to his friends was unanswerable. How often is the
• 48:04
  lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their
• 48:08
  destruction come upon them? The sorrow's God distributes in his anger.
• 48:12
  They are like straw before the wind, and like chaff
• 48:16
  that a storm carries away. Job was asking for evidence
• 48:19
  that wicked people actually get punished regularly, and his friends
• 48:23
  couldn't provide it. The conclusion was inescapable in truth. I
• 48:28
  know it is so, But how can a man be
• 48:30
  righteous before God? Job's friend's theology simply didn't match the
• 48:34
  world as it actually worked. Their simple formulas about good
• 48:38
  people prospering and evil people suffering were contradicted by daily observation.
• 48:44
  The theological debates had gone on long enough. Ilifhaz the
• 48:48
  Temernite decided it was time to stop speaking in generalities
• 48:53
  and make specific accusations. Chapter twenty two shows him abandoning
• 48:57
  all pretense of gentleness as he launched into direct charges
• 49:01
  against Job's character. Can a man be profitable to God?
• 49:06
  Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
• 49:09
  Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?
• 49:12
  Or is it gained to him that you make your
• 49:14
  ways blameless? Eliphaz was suggesting that God had no reason
• 49:19
  to protect Job unless Job was truly serving him properly.
• 49:24
  His logic was brutal in its simplicity. Is not your
• 49:27
  wickedness great, and your iniquity without end. Since Job was
• 49:32
  suffering so severely, his sins must be enormous. But Eliphaz
• 49:36
  didn't stop with general accusations. He got very specific about
• 49:41
  what those sins must have been. The charges he brought
• 49:45
  were serious crimes against basic human decency. For you have
• 49:49
  taken pledges from your brother for no reason, and stripped
• 49:52
  the naked of their clothing. You have not given the
• 49:55
  weary water to drink, and you have withheld bread from
• 49:58
  the hungry. Eliphas was accusing Job of being cruel to
• 50:03
  people who desperately needed help, taking their clothes as payment
• 50:07
  for debts, and refusing to give food and water to
• 50:10
  those who were dying of hunger and thirst. The accusations
• 50:14
  grew even more damaging. But the mighty man possessed the land,
• 50:18
  and the honorable man dwelt in it. You have sent
• 50:22
  widows away empty, and the strength of the fatherless was crushed.
• 50:26
  According to Eliphas, Job had used his wealth and power
• 50:30
  to hurt the most vulnerable people in society, widows who
• 50:34
  had no one to protect them and orphans who had
• 50:37
  no parents to care for them. These sins, Eliphas claimed,
• 50:41
  explained everything that had happened. Therefore, snares are all around you,
• 50:46
  and sudden fear troubles you, or darkness so that you
• 50:49
  cannot see, and an abundance of water covers you. Job's
• 50:54
  current suffering was simply the inevitable result of his secret
• 50:58
  cruelty to the poor and helpless. But Eliphas offered one
• 51:03
  final chance for redemption. Now acquaint yourself with him and
• 51:07
  be at peace. Thereby good will come to you. Receive
• 51:10
  please instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words
• 51:14
  in your heart. If you return to the Almighty, you
• 51:17
  will be built up. You will remove iniquity far from
• 51:21
  your tents. The solution was straightforward. Confess these hidden sins,
• 51:26
  repent genuinely, and God would restore everything. The promised restoration
• 51:31
  was magnificent. Then you will lay your gold in the dust,
• 51:35
  and the gold of oufe among the stones of the brooks. Yes,
• 51:39
  the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.
• 51:42
  For then you will have your delight in the Almighty,
• 51:45
  and lift up your face to God. According to Eliphas,
• 51:49
  Job would become so blessed that he wouldn't even care
• 51:52
  about material wealth any more. Eliphaz painted a picture of
• 51:56
  complete divine favor. You will make your prayer to him.
• 52:01
  He will hear you, and you will pay your vows.
• 52:04
  You will also declare a thing, and it will be
• 52:07
  established for you. So light will shine on your ways
• 52:11
  when they cast down and you say, exaltation will come,
• 52:15
  and then he will save the humble person. Everything Job
• 52:18
  said would come true, and he would have the power
• 52:21
  to help other people who were in trouble. Job's response
• 52:25
  in chapters twenty three and twenty four revealed the depth
• 52:29
  of his spiritual crisis. He wasn't rejecting his friend's advice
• 52:33
  because he was stubborn. He was rejecting it because he
• 52:37
  genuinely couldn't find God to repent to even to day.
• 52:40
  My complaint is bitter, my hand is listless because of
• 52:44
  my groaning. Job's suffering had reached the point where he
• 52:48
  could barely function physically. His deepest desire was simple, but
• 52:52
  seemed impossible. Oh that I knew where I might find him,
• 52:57
  that I might come to his seat, I would pre
• 53:00
  sent my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.
• 53:04
  Job wasn't afraid of facing God. He was desperate to
• 53:08
  find him. He believed that if he could just get
• 53:11
  a fair hearing, everything would be cleared up. Job was
• 53:15
  confident about what would happen in that divine court room.
• 53:19
  There the Upright could reason with him, and I would
• 53:23
  be delivered forever from my judge. He wasn't asking for
• 53:27
  mercy based on God's kindness. He was asking for justice
• 53:31
  based on his actual innocence. But God seemed to be
• 53:34
  deliberately hiding from him. Look, I go forward, but he
• 53:38
  is not there. And backward, but I cannot perceive him.
• 53:42
  When he works on the left hand, I cannot behold him.
• 53:45
  When he turns to the right hand, I cannot see him.
• 53:49
  No matter which direction Job looked, God was nowhere to
• 53:52
  be found. This game of divine hide and seek was
• 53:56
  driving Job to desperation, but it hadn't destroyed his faith.
• 54:00
  But he knows the way that I take. When he
• 54:03
  has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My
• 54:06
  foot has held fast to his steps. I have kept
• 54:09
  his way and not turned aside. I have not departed
• 54:12
  from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured the
• 54:14
  words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Job
• 54:19
  maintained that his life had been characterized by careful obedience
• 54:22
  to God's commands. Yet this very God, who knew Job's righteousness,
• 54:27
  had become terrifying. But he is unique, and who can
• 54:31
  make him change? And whatever his soul desires that he
• 54:34
  does for he performs what is appointed for me? And
• 54:38
  many such things are with him. Therefore I am terrified
• 54:41
  at his presence. When I consider this, I'm afraid of him.
• 54:46
  Job was caught between his confidence in his innocence and
• 54:49
  his terror of God's absolute power. In chapter twenty four,
• 54:55
  Job turned his attention to the broader problem of injustice
• 54:58
  in the world. If if his friend's theology was correct,
• 55:02
  why was evil so common and unpunished? Since times are
• 55:06
  not hidden from the almighty, why do those who know
• 55:09
  him see not his days? If God was in control
• 55:13
  and always punished evil, why didn't good people see evidence
• 55:17
  of his justice. Job painted vivid pictures of the crimes
• 55:21
  that went unpunished. Every day. Some remove landmarks, They seize
• 55:25
  flocks violently and feed on them. They drive away the
• 55:28
  donkey of the fatherless. They take the widow's ox as
• 55:31
  a pledge. People were stealing land, taking animals from those
• 55:35
  who couldn't defend themselves, and cheating widows and orphans The
• 55:40
  exploitation of the poor was systematic and cruel. They pushed
• 55:44
  the needy off the road or the poor of the
• 55:47
  land are forced to hide. Indeed, like wild donkeys in
• 55:50
  the desert, they go out to their work, searching for food.
• 55:54
  The wilderness yields food for them and for their children.
• 55:57
  They gather their fodder in the field and go lean
• 56:00
  in the vineyard of the wicked. Poor. People were being
• 56:03
  pushed out of society, entirely, forced to live like wild
• 56:07
  animals just to survive. The working conditions were horrific. They
• 56:13
  cause the poor to go naked without clothing, and they
• 56:16
  take away the sheaves from the hungry. They press out
• 56:19
  oil within their walls and tread wine presses, yet suffer thirst.
• 56:24
  People were working to produce food and clothing, but weren't
• 56:27
  allowed to have any for themselves. Even worse crimes happened
• 56:31
  under cover of darkness. The murderer rises with the light.
• 56:36
  He kills the poor and needy, and in the night
• 56:39
  he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer
• 56:42
  waits for the twilight, saying no eye will see me,
• 56:46
  and he disguises his face. Murderers and adulterers operated openly,
• 56:52
  confident they would never face consequences. Job's conclusion was devastating
• 56:58
  to his friend's theology. They are on the face of
• 57:01
  the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth, so
• 57:04
  that no one turns into the way of their vineyards.
• 57:07
  As drought and heat consume the snow waters, so the
• 57:10
  grave consumes those who have sinned. Even when evil people
• 57:14
  eventually died, they often lived long, successful lives before that happened.
• 57:20
  By chapter twenty five, Bildad the Shoe Height had apparently
• 57:23
  run out of arguments. His third speech was remarkably short,
• 57:27
  only six verses compared to his earlier lengthy presentations. It
• 57:31
  seemed like he was grasping for something, anything, to say
• 57:35
  that might still support the friend's position. Dominion and fear
• 57:39
  belong to him. He makes peace in his high places.
• 57:43
  Bildad was trying to emphasize God's absolute authority, as if
• 57:47
  that alone settled all questions. His main point was humanity's
• 57:52
  complete insignificance before God. How then, can man be righteous
• 57:56
  before God? Or how can he be clean? Who is
• 57:59
  born of a woman? Look even to the moon and
• 58:01
  it does not shine. Yes, the stars are not pure
• 58:04
  in his sight? How much less man who is a
• 58:07
  maggot and a son of man who is a worm.
• 58:10
  Bildad's argument had been reduced to calling humans worms and maggots.
• 58:14
  This was a pathetic ending to what had started as
• 58:17
  confident theological instruction. Bildad had begun with elaborate explanations based
• 58:23
  on ancient wisdom, but now he could only point out
• 58:26
  that humans are worthless compared to God. It wasn't really
• 58:31
  an answer to Job's e questions. It was an admission
• 58:34
  that the friends didn't have answers. Job's response in chapter
• 58:39
  twenty six was magnificent and devastating. He began with sarcasm
• 58:44
  that showed just how unimpressed he was with Bildad's final effort.
• 58:48
  How have you helped him who is without power? How
• 58:51
  have you saved the arm that has no strength? How
• 58:54
  have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how
• 58:57
  have you declared sound advice to many? Job was pointing
• 59:00
  out that Bildad's words had provided no help, strength, wisdom,
• 59:05
  or good advice. Then Job proceeded to demonstrate that he
• 59:09
  understood God's power far better than his friend did. The
• 59:14
  dead tremble those under the waters and those inhabiting them.
• 59:19
  She ol is naked before him, and destruction has no covering.
• 59:23
  God's power reached even into the realm of the dead,
• 59:26
  where human understanding couldn't go. Job's description of divine power
• 59:31
  was breathtaking in its scope. He stretches out the north
• 59:35
  over empty space. He hangs the earth on nothing. He
• 59:39
  binds up the water in his thick clouds, yet the
• 59:42
  clouds are not broken under it. He covers the face
• 59:45
  of his throne and spreads his cloud over it. God
• 59:49
  controlled the very structure of creation, holding the Earth in
• 59:53
  space and managing the weather systems. The boundaries God established
• 59:57
  were absolute. He drew a circular horizon on the face
• 1:00:01
  of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness.
• 1:00:05
  The pillars of Heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.
• 1:00:09
  God had set limits that even the most powerful forces
• 1:00:13
  in creation couldn't cross. Darjob's conclusion showed that human understanding
• 1:00:18
  of God's power was necessarily limited. Indeed, these are the
• 1:00:23
  mere edges of his ways, and how small a whisper
• 1:00:26
  we hear of him. But the thunder of his power,
• 1:00:29
  who can understand everything humans could observe about God was
• 1:00:33
  just the tiniest hint of his true power, like hearing
• 1:00:37
  a whisper when the reality was thunder. This wasn't the
• 1:00:40
  speech of someone who didn't understand God's greatness. Job knew
• 1:00:44
  exactly how powerful God was, which made his questions even
• 1:00:48
  more urgent, not less important. Chapter twenty seven shows Job
• 1:00:54
  making one of the most solemn declarations possible. He began
• 1:00:58
  with an oath that invoked the very God who seemed
• 1:01:00
  to be opposing him, as God lives, who has taken
• 1:01:04
  away my justice, and the Almighty who has made my
• 1:01:08
  soul bitter. As long as my breath is in me
• 1:01:11
  and the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips
• 1:01:14
  will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Job
• 1:01:18
  was swearing by God's own life that he would continue
• 1:01:21
  telling the truth even though God appeared to be treating
• 1:01:24
  him unjustly. This oath was essentially Job's final answer to
• 1:01:29
  his friend's demands that he confess hidden sins. Far be
• 1:01:34
  it from me that I should say you are right
• 1:01:36
  till I die. I will not put away my integrity
• 1:01:39
  from me. My righteousness I hold fast and will not
• 1:01:42
  let it go. My heart shall not reproach me as
• 1:01:45
  long as I live. Job was willing to die rather
• 1:01:49
  than lie about his character. His integrity was more important
• 1:01:53
  to him than getting relief from his suffering. But Job
• 1:01:56
  wasn't content to just defend his own innocence earn the
• 1:02:00
  tables on his friends completely. May my enemy be like
• 1:02:04
  the wicked, and he who rises up against me like
• 1:02:07
  the unrighteous. Job was essentially saying that anyone who opposed
• 1:02:12
  him was in the wrong, including his three friends. Then
• 1:02:16
  Job did something unexpected. He began describing what happens to
• 1:02:20
  wicked people, But he did it in a way that
• 1:02:23
  seemed to agree with his friend's theology. For what is
• 1:02:27
  the hope of the hypocrite? Though he may gain much
• 1:02:31
  if God takes away his soul? Will God hear his
• 1:02:34
  cry when trouble comes upon him? Job seemed to be
• 1:02:37
  accepting that wicked people do eventually get punished. His description
• 1:02:42
  of divine judgment was detailed and frightening. Will he delight
• 1:02:46
  himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?
• 1:02:50
  I will teach you about the hand of God. What
• 1:02:52
  is with the Almighty I will not conceal. Surely all
• 1:02:56
  of you have seen it. Why then, do you behave
• 1:02:58
  with complete nonsense. Job was claiming that his friends had
• 1:03:02
  seen evidence of God's judgment but were drawing the wrong
• 1:03:06
  conclusions from it. The fate of the wicked man's family
• 1:03:10
  was particularly tragic. If his children are multiplied, it is
• 1:03:15
  for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied
• 1:03:19
  with bread. Those who survive him shall be buried in death,
• 1:03:22
  and their widows shall not weep. Even if evil people
• 1:03:26
  had large families, those families would eventually be destroyed. Their
• 1:03:30
  wealth would be temporary, though. He heaps up silver like
• 1:03:34
  dust and piles up clothing like clay. He may pile
• 1:03:38
  it up, but the just will wear it, and the
• 1:03:40
  innocent will divide the silver. Everything wicked people accumulated would
• 1:03:45
  eventually go to righteous people. The destruction would be sudden
• 1:03:50
  and complete. He builds his house like a moth, like
• 1:03:54
  a booth which a watchman makes. The rich man will
• 1:03:57
  lie down, but not be gathered up. He opens his
• 1:04:00
  eyes and he is no more. Terrors overtake him like
• 1:04:04
  a flood. A tempest steals him away in the night.
• 1:04:07
  All their security would prove to be as fragile as
• 1:04:10
  a moth's cocoon. Job's final words in this chapter were ominous.
• 1:04:16
  The east wind carries him away, and he is gone.
• 1:04:20
  It sweeps him out of his place. It hurls against
• 1:04:23
  him and does not spare. He flees desperately from its power.
• 1:04:26
  Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss
• 1:04:29
  him out of his place. When the wicked finally fell,
• 1:04:33
  people would be glad to see them go. The implication
• 1:04:36
  was clear. If Job had been truly wicked, all this
• 1:04:39
  would have happened to him already. The fact that he
• 1:04:42
  was still maintaining his integrity proved his innocence. Chapter twenty
• 1:04:48
  eight is one of the most beautiful poems in the
• 1:04:51
  entire Bible. It comes like a peaceful interlude after all
• 1:04:55
  the heated arguments, and it seems to be Job's meditation
• 1:04:58
  on a question that had be underlying everything. Where can
• 1:05:02
  true wisdom be found? The chapter begins with observations about
• 1:05:06
  human skill in mining and technology. Surely there is a
• 1:05:10
  veine for the silver, and a place where gold is refined,
• 1:05:14
  iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted
• 1:05:17
  from ore. Job marveled at human ingenuity in finding hidden treasures.
• 1:05:23
  Man puts an end to darkness and searches every recess
• 1:05:27
  for ore in the darkness and the shadow of death.
• 1:05:30
  He breaks open a shaft away from people in places
• 1:05:33
  forgotten by feet, they hang far away from men. They
• 1:05:37
  swing to and fro Miners would go to incredible lengths,
• 1:05:41
  risking their lives in dark, dangerous places to find valuable metals.
• 1:05:46
  The search for precious things led people to places where
• 1:05:50
  no living creature had ever been. He puts his hand
• 1:05:54
  on the flint. He overturns the mountains at the roots.
• 1:05:58
  He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye
• 1:06:01
  sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams from trickling.
• 1:06:05
  What is hidden he brings forth to light. Human determination
• 1:06:09
  could literally move mountains and redirect rivers in the search
• 1:06:13
  for treasure. But Job pointed out that there was something
• 1:06:16
  far more valuable than gold or silver that couldn't be
• 1:06:20
  found through human effort. But where can wisdom be found?
• 1:06:23
  And where is the place of understanding? Man does not
• 1:06:27
  know its value, nor is it found in the land
• 1:06:30
  of the living. Real wisdom, the kind that could answer
• 1:06:33
  the deep questions of life, wasn't hidden in the ground
• 1:06:37
  waiting to be dug up. The search for wisdom was
• 1:06:40
  frustrating because it couldn't be bought. The deep says it
• 1:06:45
  is not in me, and the sea says it is
• 1:06:48
  not with me. It cannot be purchased for gold, nor
• 1:06:51
  can silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be
• 1:06:55
  valued in the gold of a fear, in precious onyx,
• 1:06:58
  or sapphire. Even the deepest parts of the earth and
• 1:07:01
  sea claimed they didn't contain wisdom and no amount of
• 1:07:05
  money could buy it. Job listed the most valuable things
• 1:07:08
  humans knew about, but none of them could purchase wisdom.
• 1:07:12
  No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, for
• 1:07:16
  the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of
• 1:07:20
  Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in
• 1:07:23
  pure gold. All the treasures people fought wars over and
• 1:07:27
  spent their lives pursuing were worthless compared to true wisdom.
• 1:07:32
  The mystery deepened when Job considered that even death didn't
• 1:07:36
  reveal wisdoms. Location destruction and death say, we have heard
• 1:07:40
  a report about it with our ears. God understands its
• 1:07:44
  way and he knows its place. Only God knew where
• 1:07:49
  wisdom could actually be found. God's perspective was completely different
• 1:07:53
  from the human perspective, for he looks to the ends
• 1:07:56
  of the earth and sees under the whole heavens to
• 1:07:59
  a dablish a weight for the wind and apportion the
• 1:08:02
  waters by measure. When he made a law for the
• 1:08:05
  rain and a pathway for the thunderbolt, God's wisdom was
• 1:08:09
  displayed in the very structure of creation. He had designed
• 1:08:13
  the weather patterns and natural laws that kept the world functioning.
• 1:08:18
  The revelation of wisdom's true location was simple but profound.
• 1:08:22
  Then he saw wisdom and declared it. He prepared it. Indeed,
• 1:08:26
  he searched it out, and to man he said, behold
• 1:08:30
  the fear of the Lord. That is wisdom, and to
• 1:08:33
  depart from evil is understanding. True wisdom wasn't hidden in
• 1:08:37
  some secret place. It was available to anyone who would
• 1:08:41
  fear God and avoid evil. This poem seemed to be
• 1:08:45
  Job's way of stepping back from all the arguments and
• 1:08:48
  reminding everyone what really mattered. His friends thought they were
• 1:08:52
  wise because they had theories about how God worked, but
• 1:08:56
  real wisdom was much simpler and much more practical. Chapter
• 1:09:01
  twenty nine shows Job taking a break from defending himself
• 1:09:06
  to remember what his life had been like before disaster struck.
• 1:09:10
  His memories were painful because they highlighted how much he
• 1:09:13
  had lost. Oh, that I were as in months past,
• 1:09:18
  as in the days when God watched over me, when
• 1:09:20
  his lamp shone upon my head, and when by his
• 1:09:23
  light I walked through darkness. Job remembered a time when
• 1:09:27
  he felt God's protection and guidance in his life. Those
• 1:09:31
  had been days of prosperity and promise, just as I
• 1:09:34
  was in the days of my prime, when the friendly
• 1:09:37
  counsel of God was over my tent, when the Almighty
• 1:09:41
  was yet with me, when my children were around me,
• 1:09:44
  when my steps were bathed with cream, and the rock
• 1:09:47
  poured out rivers of oil for me. Everything had been
• 1:09:50
  going perfectly. His family was intact, his business was incredibly successful,
• 1:09:56
  and he felt close to God. Jobs so position had
• 1:10:00
  been impressive and respected. When I went out to the
• 1:10:03
  gate by the city, When I took my seat in
• 1:10:06
  the open square, the young men saw me and hid,
• 1:10:10
  and the aged arose and stood. The princes refrained from
• 1:10:14
  talking and put their hand over their mouth. The voice
• 1:10:18
  of nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the
• 1:10:21
  roof of their mouth. Even the most powerful people in
• 1:10:25
  the city had shown him deference and respect. The reason
• 1:10:29
  for this respect became clear as Job described how he
• 1:10:32
  had used his influence. Because I delivered the poor who
• 1:10:36
  cried out, the fatherless, and the one who had no helper,
• 1:10:40
  the blessing of a perishing man came upon me, and
• 1:10:43
  I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. Job's
• 1:10:47
  reputation had been built on his kindness to those who
• 1:10:50
  couldn't help themselves. His commitment to justice had been complete.
• 1:10:54
  I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My justice
• 1:10:57
  was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes
• 1:11:00
  to the blind, and I was feet to the lame.
• 1:11:03
  I was a father to the poor, and I searched
• 1:11:06
  out the case that I did not know. Job hadn't
• 1:11:09
  just helped people occasionally. He had made justice and righteousness
• 1:11:13
  his daily clothing, and he had actively sought out people
• 1:11:16
  who needed help. He had even stood up to powerful
• 1:11:19
  people who were hurting others. I broke the fangs of
• 1:11:22
  the wicked and plucked the victim from his teeth. Job
• 1:11:26
  had used his wealth and influence to protect vulnerable people
• 1:11:31
  from those who would take advantage of them. In those days,
• 1:11:35
  Job had expected to live a long, successful life. Then
• 1:11:39
  I said I shall die in my nest and multiply
• 1:11:42
  my days as the sand. My roots are spread out
• 1:11:45
  to the waters, and the dew lies all night on
• 1:11:48
  my branch. My glory is fresh within me, and my
• 1:11:51
  bow is renewed in my hand. He had felt like
• 1:11:55
  a tree planted by water, strong growing and permanent. People
• 1:12:00
  had valued his opinion and waited to hear what he
• 1:12:03
  would say. Men listened to me and waited and kept
• 1:12:07
  silence for my counsel. After my words, they did not
• 1:12:10
  speak again, and my speech settled on them as dw
• 1:12:13
  They waited for me as for the rain, and they
• 1:12:16
  opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain. Job's
• 1:12:21
  words had been like refreshing rain to people who were
• 1:12:24
  thirsty for wisdom and guidance. His presence had brought comfort
• 1:12:28
  and hope to others. I chose the way for them
• 1:12:30
  and sat as chief. So I dwelt as a king
• 1:12:33
  in the army, as one who comforts mourners. Job had
• 1:12:37
  been a leader who brought comfort to people who were
• 1:12:40
  grieving and direction to people who were confused. Thee contrast
• 1:12:44
  between Job's past glory and his current humiliation was devastating.
• 1:12:49
  Chapter thirty begins with Job describing how the social order
• 1:12:53
  had completely reversed. But now they mock at me, men
• 1:12:57
  younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to
• 1:13:00
  put with the dogs of my flock. People who had
• 1:13:03
  once respected Job now openly mocked him, including young men
• 1:13:07
  whose father's job wouldn't have considered good enough to work
• 1:13:10
  as shepherds. These weren't respectable people who had turned against him.
• 1:13:15
  They were society's outcasts. Indeed, they were so worthless that
• 1:13:19
  they were driven out from among men. They shouted at
• 1:13:22
  them as at a thief. They had to live in
• 1:13:24
  the clefts of the valleys, in caves of the earth,
• 1:13:28
  and the rocks, among the bushes. They brayed under the
• 1:13:31
  nettles they nestled. The people mocking Job were homeless vagrants
• 1:13:37
  who lived like animals and were chased away from civilized society.
• 1:13:41
  Their character was as low as their social status. That
• 1:13:45
  they were sons of fools, Yes, sons of vile men.
• 1:13:48
  They were scourged from the land. And now I am
• 1:13:51
  their taunting song. Yes I am their by word. They
• 1:13:54
  abhor me. They keep far from me. They do not
• 1:13:57
  hesitate to spit in my face. Job had become entertainment
• 1:14:02
  for the lowest people in society. They made up songs
• 1:14:06
  about him and treated him with complete contempt. The physical
• 1:14:10
  attacks were humiliating, because he has loosed my bowstring and
• 1:14:14
  afflicted me. They have cast off restraint before me. At
• 1:14:18
  my right hand, the rabble arises. They push away my feet,
• 1:14:22
  and they raise against me their ways of destruction. They
• 1:14:25
  break up my path, they promote my calamity. They have
• 1:14:29
  no helper. Job felt like God had removed his protection,
• 1:14:33
  and now even worthless people felt free to attack him.
• 1:14:38
  The assault felt like warfare. They come as broad breakers
• 1:14:43
  under the ruinous storm. They roll along. Terrors are turn'd
• 1:14:46
  upon me. They pursue my honor on the wind, and
• 1:14:49
  my welfare passes away like a cloud. Job's reputation and
• 1:14:53
  prosperity had disappeared as quickly as clouds blown away by
• 1:14:58
  a storm. The emotiontional and spiritual pain was as bad
• 1:15:02
  as the physical suffering. And now my soul is poured
• 1:15:05
  out because of my plight. The days of affliction take
• 1:15:08
  hold of me. My bones are pierced in me at night,
• 1:15:11
  and my gnawing pains take no rest. By great force,
• 1:15:14
  my garment is disfigured. It binds me about as the
• 1:15:17
  collar of my coat. Job felt like he was being
• 1:15:20
  torn apart from the inside, and even his clothes had
• 1:15:24
  become uncomfortable on his diseased skin. Job felt like God
• 1:15:28
  had thrown him away like garbage. He has cast me
• 1:15:32
  into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes.
• 1:15:35
  I cry out to you, but you do not answer me.
• 1:15:38
  I stand up and you regard me. But you have
• 1:15:41
  become cruel to me. With the strength of your hand,
• 1:15:45
  you oppose me. The God who at once protected and
• 1:15:48
  blessed Job, now seemed to be actively fighting against him.
• 1:15:53
  Job felt like he was being carried away to destruction.
• 1:15:56
  You lift me up to the wind and cause me
• 1:15:58
  to ride on it. You spoil my success, for I
• 1:16:02
  know that you will bring me to death and to
• 1:16:04
  the house appointed for all living. Job believed that God
• 1:16:09
  was deliberately destroying him, and that death was the inevitable result.
• 1:16:14
  The cruelest part was that Job had always helped others
• 1:16:17
  in similar situations. Surely he would not stretch out his
• 1:16:21
  hand against a heap of ruins if they cry out
• 1:16:23
  when he destroys. Have I not wept for him who
• 1:16:27
  was in trouble, has not my soul grieved for the poor.
• 1:16:30
  Job had always been compassionate toward people who were suffering,
• 1:16:34
  so why wasn't he receiving the same compassion. The disappointment
• 1:16:39
  was overwhelming. When I looked for good, evil came to me,
• 1:16:43
  and when I waited for light, darkness came. My heart
• 1:16:46
  is in turmoil and cannot rest. Days of affliction confront me.
• 1:16:50
  I go about mourning, but not in the sun. I
• 1:16:53
  stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
• 1:16:56
  Instead of the good things Job had expected from his
• 1:16:59
  righteous life, he had received only evil and darkness. His
• 1:17:03
  physical condition made him an outcast. My skin grows black
• 1:17:08
  and falls from me. My bones burned with fever. My
• 1:17:11
  harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the
• 1:17:14
  voice of those who weep. Even his musical instruments could
• 1:17:17
  only produce sad sounds that matched his grief. Chapter thirty
• 1:17:23
  one contains Job's final and most comprehensive defense of his character.
• 1:17:28
  This wasn't just a general claim of innocence. It was
• 1:17:31
  a detailed oath covering every area of moral behavior. Job
• 1:17:36
  began with sexual purity. I have made a covenant with
• 1:17:40
  my eyes. Why then, should I look upon a young woman.
• 1:17:43
  For what is the allotment of God from above and
• 1:17:46
  the inheritance of the Almighty from on high. Job had
• 1:17:51
  made a deliberate decision to control even his thoughts about
• 1:17:54
  women because he believed God would judge sexual sin. His
• 1:18:00
  standard for honesty was absolute. If I have walked with falsehood,
• 1:18:05
  or if my foot has hastened to deceit, let me
• 1:18:08
  be weighed on honest scales that God may know my integrity.
• 1:18:14
  Job was willing to have God examine every aspect of
• 1:18:17
  his life to prove his truthfulness. He continued with his
• 1:18:21
  treatment of others. If my step has turned from the way,
• 1:18:26
  or my heart walked after my eyes, or if any
• 1:18:28
  spot adheres to my hands, then let me sow and
• 1:18:31
  another eat. Yes, let my harvest be rooted out. If
• 1:18:36
  Job had been dishonest in any way, he was willing
• 1:18:39
  to lose everything he had worked for. The oath covered adultery. Specifically,
• 1:18:44
  if my heart has been enticed by a woman, or
• 1:18:47
  if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, then let
• 1:18:50
  my wife grind for another and let others bow down
• 1:18:53
  over her. For that would be wickedness, Yes, it would
• 1:18:58
  be iniquity. Deserving of judgment. Job understood that adultery wasn't
• 1:19:03
  just a private sin. It would destroy families and communities.
• 1:19:08
  His treatment of servants revealed his character. If I have
• 1:19:12
  despised the cause of my male or female servant when
• 1:19:15
  they complained against me, what then shall I do when
• 1:19:18
  God rises up when he punishes? How shall I answer him?
• 1:19:23
  Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
• 1:19:25
  Did not the same one fashion us in the womb?
• 1:19:28
  Job had treated his servants fairly because he understood that
• 1:19:32
  God had created all people equally. His care for the
• 1:19:36
  poor had been extensive. If I have kept the poor
• 1:19:40
  from their desire, or caused the eyes of the widow
• 1:19:43
  to fail, or eaten my morsel by myself so that
• 1:19:47
  the fatherless could not eat of it, but from my
• 1:19:49
  youth I grew up with him as with a father,
• 1:19:52
  and from my mother's womb I guided the widow. Job
• 1:19:56
  had shared his resources with those in need. From the
• 1:19:59
  time he was ung. He had provided practical help to
• 1:20:03
  those who needed it. If I have seen any one
• 1:20:06
  perish for lack of clothing, or any poor man without covering,
• 1:20:10
  if his heart has not blessed me, and if he
• 1:20:13
  was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep. Job
• 1:20:17
  had made sure that people had adequate clothing, especially during
• 1:20:21
  cold weather. His attitude toward wealth was healthy. If I
• 1:20:25
  have made gold my hope or said to fine gold,
• 1:20:29
  you are my confidence. If I have rejoiced because my
• 1:20:33
  wealth was great and because my hand had gained much,
• 1:20:37
  Job hadn't put his trust in money or become proud
• 1:20:40
  because of his prosperity. He had avoided idolatry completely. If
• 1:20:45
  I have observed the sun when it shines, or the
• 1:20:49
  moon walking in brightness, so that my heart has been
• 1:20:52
  secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand, this
• 1:20:56
  also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I
• 1:21:00
  would have denied God, who is above. Job had never
• 1:21:04
  been tempted to worship the sun, moon, or stars, like
• 1:21:08
  some of his neighbors did. His attitude toward his enemies
• 1:21:12
  was generous. If I have rejoiced at the destruction of
• 1:21:15
  him who hated me, or lifted myself up when evil
• 1:21:18
  found him, Indeed, I have not allowed my mouth to
• 1:21:22
  sin by asking for a curse on his soul. Job
• 1:21:25
  hadn't celebrated when bad things happened to people who didn't
• 1:21:28
  like him, and he had never cursed anyone. His hospitality
• 1:21:32
  was famous. If the men of my tent have not said,
• 1:21:36
  who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?
• 1:21:39
  But no sojourner had to lodge in the street, for
• 1:21:42
  I have opened my doors to the traveler. Job's household
• 1:21:46
  was known for feeding anyone who was hungry and providing
• 1:21:49
  shelter to travelers. He had never tried to hide his sins.
• 1:21:53
  If I have covered my transgressions as Adam by hiding
• 1:21:57
  my iniquity in my bosom, because I feared the great
• 1:22:00
  multitude and dreaded the contempt of families, so that I
• 1:22:04
  kept silence and did not go out of the door.
• 1:22:07
  When Job had done something wrong, he had been honest
• 1:22:11
  about it instead of trying to cover it up. His
• 1:22:13
  final challenge was bold, Oh that I had one to
• 1:22:17
  hear me. Here is my mark? Oh that the Almighty
• 1:22:20
  would answer me that my prosecutor had written a book.
• 1:22:24
  Surely I would carry it on my shoulder. I would
• 1:22:26
  bind it on me like a crown. I would declare
• 1:22:29
  to him the number of my steps, like a prince.
• 1:22:32
  I would approach him. Job was so confident in his
• 1:22:35
  integrity that he wanted God to write down all the
• 1:22:38
  charges against him so he could answer them publicly. A
• 1:22:42
  fourth voice suddenly broke into the conversation. Chapter thirty two
• 1:22:45
  introduces Elihu, son of Barachel, the Buzite, who had been
• 1:22:50
  listening to everything with growing frustration. So these three men
• 1:22:53
  ceased answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes.
• 1:22:57
  Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of bara Kell,
• 1:23:00
  the Buzite of the family of Ram was aroused against Job.
• 1:23:04
  His wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.
• 1:23:09
  This young man was angry at Job for seeming to
• 1:23:12
  put his own righteousness above Gods. But Eli, who was
• 1:23:16
  equally angry at the three friends, also against his three friends.
• 1:23:20
  His wrath was aroused because they had found no answer
• 1:23:24
  and yet had condemned Job. They had accused Job without
• 1:23:28
  being able to prove their case, which made God look
• 1:23:31
  bad in the process. Eli, who had waited respectfully for
• 1:23:35
  his elders to finish speaking now because they were years
• 1:23:38
  older than he. Elihu had waited to speak to Job.
• 1:23:43
  When Eli, who saw that there was no answer in
• 1:23:45
  the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused
• 1:23:49
  age was supposed to bring wisdom, but these older men
• 1:23:52
  had failed completely. His frustration poured out as he explained
• 1:23:56
  why he finally decided to speak. I am young in years,
• 1:24:01
  and you are very old. Therefore I was afraid and
• 1:24:04
  dared not declare my opinion to you. I said age
• 1:24:08
  should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. But
• 1:24:13
  there is a spirit in man, and the breath of
• 1:24:16
  the Almighty gives him understanding. Eli, who believed that wisdom
• 1:24:20
  came from God, not just from getting older. He had
• 1:24:23
  been bursting to speak, for I am full of words.
• 1:24:27
  The spirit within me compels me. Indeed, my belly is
• 1:24:31
  like wine that has no vent. It is ready to
• 1:24:33
  burst like new wine skins. Eli, who felt like he
• 1:24:37
  would explode if he didn't get to share what God
• 1:24:40
  had shown him. His approach would be different from the others.
• 1:24:45
  I will speak that I may find relief. I will
• 1:24:48
  open my lips and answer. Let me not I pray
• 1:24:51
  show partiality to anyone, nor let me flatter any man,
• 1:24:54
  for I do not know how to flatter else. My
• 1:24:57
  maker would soon take me away. Eli, who is to
• 1:25:00
  be completely honest, without favoritism toward any one In chapters
• 1:25:05
  thirty three and thirty four Idi, who began teaching about
• 1:25:08
  how God actually communicates with people. His message was that
• 1:25:12
  God was constantly trying to reach humans, but they often
• 1:25:16
  missed his messages. Surely God speaks once, yes, twice, yet
• 1:25:21
  man does not perceive it in a dream. In a
• 1:25:24
  vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men
• 1:25:28
  while slumbering on their beds, then he opens the ears
• 1:25:31
  of men and seals their instruction. God used dreams and
• 1:25:35
  visions to teach people important lessons. The purpose of this
• 1:25:39
  communication was protective, in order to turn man from his
• 1:25:44
  deed and conceal pride from man. He keeps back his
• 1:25:48
  soul from the pit and his life from perishing by
• 1:25:51
  the sword. God was trying to save people from making
• 1:25:54
  mistakes that would destroy them. Eli, who also taught that
• 1:25:59
  suffering its was a form of divine communication. Man is
• 1:26:03
  also chastened with pain on his bed and with strong
• 1:26:06
  pain in many of his bones, so that his life
• 1:26:09
  abhors bread and his soul succulent food. His flesh wastes
• 1:26:14
  away from sight, and his bones stick out which once
• 1:26:17
  were not seen. Sometimes God used physical pain to get
• 1:26:21
  people's attention, but even in suffering, God provided help. If
• 1:26:26
  there is a messenger for him, a mediator one among
• 1:26:29
  a thousand, to show man his uprightness, then he is
• 1:26:32
  gracious to him and says, deliver him from going down
• 1:26:35
  to the pit. I have found a ransom. God would
• 1:26:40
  send some one to help explain what he was doing
• 1:26:43
  and provide a way of escape. In chapter thirty four,
• 1:26:47
  Idi who addressed the question of God's justice directly, far
• 1:26:51
  be it from God that he should do wickedness, and
• 1:26:54
  from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity. For he
• 1:26:57
  repays man according to his work and makes man to
• 1:27:00
  find a reward according to his way. Ely, who insisted
• 1:27:04
  that God was always perfectly fair in his dealings with people.
• 1:27:09
  His logic was simple. Surely God will never do wickedly,
• 1:27:14
  nor will the Almighty pervert justice who gave him charge
• 1:27:17
  over the earth, or who appointed him over the whole world.
• 1:27:20
  Since God owned everything and answered to no one, he
• 1:27:23
  had no reason to be unfair or corrupt. Chapters thirty
• 1:27:27
  five and thirty six show Elihu explaining that God was
• 1:27:31
  so great that human actions couldn't really affect him. Look
• 1:27:35
  to the heavens and sea, and behold the clouds. They
• 1:27:39
  are higher than you. If you sin, what do you
• 1:27:42
  accomplish against him? Or if your transgressions are multiplied, what
• 1:27:45
  do you do to him? God was too high and
• 1:27:48
  mighty to be hurt by human failures. Similarly, human goodness
• 1:27:53
  didn't make God richer. If you are righteous, what do
• 1:27:57
  you give him? Or what does he receive from your hand?
• 1:28:00
  Your wickedness affects a man such as you, and your
• 1:28:03
  righteousness a son of man. People's actions affected other people,
• 1:28:08
  but they didn't change God's essential nature. This didn't mean
• 1:28:12
  God didn't care about justice. Because of the multitude of oppressions,
• 1:28:16
  they cry out, they cry out for help because of
• 1:28:19
  the arm of the mighty, But no one says, where
• 1:28:22
  is God, my maker, who gives songs in the night,
• 1:28:25
  who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
• 1:28:27
  and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven. God
• 1:28:30
  heard when people were being mistreated, but he wanted them
• 1:28:34
  to turn to him for help. In chapter thirty six,
• 1:28:37
  inly who painted a picture of God's perfect justice in action, Behold,
• 1:28:42
  God is mighty, but despises no one. He is mighty
• 1:28:46
  in strength of understanding. He does not preserve the life
• 1:28:49
  of the wicked, but gives justice to the oppressed. God
• 1:28:54
  used his power to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.
• 1:28:59
  God's way of dealing with righteous people was completely different.
• 1:29:02
  He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous. But
• 1:29:05
  they are on the throne with kings, for he has
• 1:29:09
  seated them forever, and they are exalted. God watched over
• 1:29:13
  good people and eventually gave them positions of honor and authority.
• 1:29:17
  When righteous people did suffer, it was always for a purpose.
• 1:29:21
  And if they are bound in fetters, held in the
• 1:29:24
  cords of affliction, then he tells them their work and
• 1:29:27
  their transgressions, that they have acted defiantly. He also opens
• 1:29:32
  their ear to instruction and commands that they turn from iniquity.
• 1:29:36
  Suffering was God's way of teaching important lessons. Chapter thirty
• 1:29:42
  seven shows ill who pointing to the approaching thunder storm
• 1:29:46
  as evidence of God's awesome power. At this also, my
• 1:29:49
  heart trembles and leaps from its place, ir attentively. The
• 1:29:53
  thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from
• 1:29:56
  his mouth. He sends it forth under the whole heaven
• 1:30:00
  is lightning, to the ends of the earth. After it,
• 1:30:03
  a voice roars, He thunders with his majestic voice, and
• 1:30:07
  he does not restrain them when his voice is heard.
• 1:30:11
  The storm was like God's voice speaking to the world.
• 1:30:14
  Ill who described God's control over weather patterns. God thunders
• 1:30:20
  marvelously with his voice. He does great things which we
• 1:30:23
  cannot comprehend, For he says, to the snow fall on
• 1:30:28
  the earth, likewise, to the gentle rain and the heavy rain.
• 1:30:32
  Of his strength, God commanded every snowflake and rain drop.
• 1:30:36
  The storm served multiple purposes. He seals the hand of
• 1:30:40
  every man, that all men may know his work. The
• 1:30:44
  beasts go into dens and remain in their lairs. From
• 1:30:48
  the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind and cold
• 1:30:52
  from the scattering winds of the north, and deb weather
• 1:30:56
  reminded both people and animals that God was in control
• 1:30:59
  of everything. Eli who marveled at God's creative power. By
• 1:31:04
  the breath of God, ice is given, and the broad
• 1:31:06
  waters are frozen. Also with moisture. He saturates the thick clouds.
• 1:31:11
  He scatters his bright clouds, and they swirl about, being
• 1:31:15
  turned by his guidance, that they may do whatever he
• 1:31:19
  commands them. On the face of the whole earth, every
• 1:31:22
  cloud and weather pattern followed God's directions perfectly. As the
• 1:31:28
  storm grew more intense, Elihu pointed out human limitations. Listen
• 1:31:34
  to this, o Job, stand still and consider the wondrous
• 1:31:38
  works of God. Do you know when God despatches them
• 1:31:41
  and causes the light of his cloud to shine? Do
• 1:31:45
  you know how the clouds are balanced? Those wondrous works
• 1:31:48
  of Him who is perfect in knowledge. Humans couldn't even
• 1:31:52
  understand how clouds stayed in the sky, much less control them.
• 1:31:56
  The storm was building towards something magnificent, and now men
• 1:32:00
  cannot look at the light when it is bright in
• 1:32:03
  the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.
• 1:32:07
  He comes from the north as golden splendor with God
• 1:32:11
  is awesome majesty. As for the Almighty, we cannot find him.
• 1:32:17
  He is excellent in power, in judgment, and abundant justice.
• 1:32:20
  He does not oppress. Therefore men fear him. He shows
• 1:32:24
  no partiality to any who are wise of heart. Then
• 1:32:28
  it happened. Chapter thirty eight records the moment everyone had
• 1:32:31
  been waiting for. Then the Lord answered Job. Out of
• 1:32:35
  the whirlwind. God finally broke his silence, But his first
• 1:32:40
  words weren't what anyone expected. Who is this? Who darkens
• 1:32:44
  counsel by words without knowledge. Now, prepare yourself like a man.
• 1:32:48
  I will question you, and you shall answer me. Instead
• 1:32:51
  of answering Job's questions, God began asking his own questions
• 1:32:55
  about creation. Where were you when I laid the foundation
• 1:33:00
  of the earth. Tell me, if you have understanding, who
• 1:33:04
  determined its measurements? Surely you know? Or who stretched the
• 1:33:09
  line upon it to what were its foundations fastened? Or
• 1:33:13
  who laid its corner stone? When the morning stars sang
• 1:33:16
  together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
• 1:33:21
  God's questions came rapid fire, covering every aspect of the
• 1:33:24
  natural world. Or who shut in the sea with doors
• 1:33:28
  when it burst forth and issued from the womb? When
• 1:33:31
  I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its
• 1:33:34
  swaddling band. When I fixed my limit for it and
• 1:33:37
  set bars and doors, When I said this far you
• 1:33:41
  may come, but no farther, and hear your proud waves
• 1:33:45
  must stop. The interrogation continued with questions about light and darkness.
• 1:33:52
  Have you commanded the morning since your days began? And
• 1:33:56
  caused the dawn to know its place, that it might
• 1:33:58
  take old of the ends of the earth and the
• 1:34:01
  wicked be shaken out of it. God was pointing out
• 1:34:04
  that Job had never controlled even basic things like sunrise.
• 1:34:09
  Chapter thirty nine focused on wild animals that no human
• 1:34:13
  could control. Do you know the time when the wild
• 1:34:16
  mountain goats bear young? Or can you mark when the
• 1:34:20
  deer gives birth? Can you number the months that they fulfill?
• 1:34:24
  Or do you know the time when they bear young?
• 1:34:27
  God had designed intricate systems for animal reproduction that worked
• 1:34:31
  perfectly without human help. The wild donkey was completely independent.
• 1:34:36
  Who set the wild donkey free? Who loosed the bonds
• 1:34:40
  of the honagere? Whose home I have made the wilderness
• 1:34:43
  and the barren land his dwelling. He scorns the tumult
• 1:34:47
  of the city. He does not heed the shouts of
• 1:34:50
  the driver. And this animal lived exactly the life God
• 1:34:53
  had planned for it. God asked about the mighty ox.
• 1:34:57
  Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will
• 1:35:00
  he bed by your manger? Can you bind the wild
• 1:35:03
  ox in the furrow with ropes? Or will he plow
• 1:35:06
  the valleys behind you? Some animals were simply too powerful
• 1:35:11
  for humans to control, no matter how hard they tried.
• 1:35:15
  Chapter forty begins with God giving Job a chance to respond. Moreover,
• 1:35:20
  the Lord answered Job and said, shall the one who
• 1:35:23
  contends with the almighty correct him? He who rebukes God?
• 1:35:28
  Let him answer it. This was Job's opportunity to defend
• 1:35:33
  his complaints against God. Job's first response was humble and brief.
• 1:35:38
  Then Job answered the Lord and said, behold, I am vile.
• 1:35:41
  What shall I answer you? I lay my hand over
• 1:35:44
  my mouth once I have spoken, but I will not
• 1:35:47
  answer Yes twice, but I will proceed no further. The
• 1:35:51
  cosmic interrogation had shown Job how little he actually understood
• 1:35:56
  about God's ways, But God wasn't finished. His second speech
• 1:36:01
  began with an even more direct challenge. Then the Lord
• 1:36:04
  answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, now prepare
• 1:36:08
  yourself like a man. I will question you, and you
• 1:36:12
  shall answer me. Would you indeed anull my judgment? Would
• 1:36:16
  you condemn me that you may be justified? God was
• 1:36:20
  asking Job directly whether he thought he could do a
• 1:36:22
  better job of running the universe. God challenged Job to
• 1:36:26
  try taking over. Have you an arm like God? Or
• 1:36:32
  can you thunder with a voice like his? Then adorn
• 1:36:35
  yourself with majesty and splendor, and array yourself with glory
• 1:36:39
  and beauty. Disperse the rage of your wrath. Look on
• 1:36:43
  every one who is proud and humble him. If Job
• 1:36:46
  thought he could do better, let him try controlling proud
• 1:36:49
  and evil people. Then God introduced Job to Behemoth. Look
• 1:36:55
  now at the Behemoth which I made along with you.
• 1:36:58
  He eats grass like an see now. His strength is
• 1:37:02
  in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles.
• 1:37:06
  He moves his tail like a cedar. The sinews of
• 1:37:09
  his thighs are tightly knit. This was a creature of
• 1:37:13
  incredible size and strength that God had created. Behemoth's power
• 1:37:19
  was awesome. His bones are like beams of bronze, his
• 1:37:23
  ribs like bars of iron. He is the first of
• 1:37:26
  the ways of God. Only He who made him can
• 1:37:29
  bring near his sword. This animal was so mighty that
• 1:37:33
  only God could control it. The creature was completely fearless.
• 1:37:39
  Surely the mountains yield food for him, and all the
• 1:37:43
  beasts of the field play there. He lies under the
• 1:37:46
  lotus trees, in a covert of reeds and marsh. The
• 1:37:50
  lotus trees cover him with their shade, the willows by
• 1:37:53
  the brooks around him. Indeed, the river may rage, yet
• 1:37:57
  he is not disturbed. He is confident though the Jordan
• 1:38:01
  gushes into his mouth. Even flooding rivers couldn't frighten this
• 1:38:05
  magnificent beast. Chapter forty one introduced an even more impressive creature, Leviathan.
• 1:38:13
  God's description began with a challenge. Can you draw out
• 1:38:16
  Leviathan with a hook? Or snare his tongue with a
• 1:38:20
  line which you lower? Can you put a reed through
• 1:38:23
  his nose? Or pierce his jaw with a hook? This
• 1:38:26
  sea monster was completely beyond human ability to capture or control.
• 1:38:31
  God asked sarcastically whether job could make Leviathan into a pet.
• 1:38:35
  Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak
• 1:38:39
  softly to you? Will he make a covenant with you?
• 1:38:42
  Will you take him as a servant forever? Will you
• 1:38:45
  play with him as with a bird? Or will you
• 1:38:47
  leash him for your maidens? The idea of taming this
• 1:38:51
  creature was ridiculous. The monster's physical defenses were impenetrable. Who
• 1:38:56
  can remove his outer coat? Who can approach him with
• 1:38:59
  a double bridle? Who can open the doors of his
• 1:39:02
  face with his terrible teeth? All around his rows of scales?
• 1:39:07
  Are his pride shut up tightly as with a seal?
• 1:39:11
  One is so near another that no air can come
• 1:39:14
  between them. Leviathan was like a living fortress. Even the
• 1:39:18
  bravest warriors couldn't fight this creature. The sword that reaches
• 1:39:22
  him cannot avail, nor does spear, dart or javelin. He
• 1:39:27
  regards iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. The
• 1:39:32
  arrow cannot make him flee. Slingstones become like stubble to him.
• 1:39:37
  Darts are regarded as straw. He laughs at the threat
• 1:39:40
  of javelins. Human weapons were completely useless against Leviathan. The
• 1:39:45
  creature's very presence was terrifying. His sneezings flash forth light,
• 1:39:51
  and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
• 1:39:54
  Out of his mouth go burning lights, sparks of fire
• 1:39:57
  shoot out. Smoke goes out of his non nostrils as
• 1:40:00
  from a boiling pot, and burning rushes. Leviathan breathed fire
• 1:40:06
  like a dragon. God's final point was devastating on Earth.
• 1:40:11
  There is nothing like him which is made without fear.
• 1:40:15
  He beholds every high thing. He is king over all
• 1:40:18
  the children of Pride. If Job couldn't handle one creature
• 1:40:22
  that God had made, how could he question God's management
• 1:40:25
  of the entire universe? Chapter forty two shows Job's complete
• 1:40:30
  surrender to God's wisdom. Then Job answered the Lord and said,
• 1:40:34
  I know that you can do everything, and that no
• 1:40:37
  purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked,
• 1:40:41
  who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I
• 1:40:45
  have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful
• 1:40:49
  for me which I did not know. Job admitted that
• 1:40:53
  he had been talking about things beyond his understanding. His
• 1:40:56
  repentance was genuine and complete. Listen, please and let me speak,
• 1:41:02
  you said, I will question you, and you shall answer me.
• 1:41:06
  I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
• 1:41:08
  but now my eye seize you. Therefore I abhor myself
• 1:41:12
  and repent in dust and ashes. Meeting God directly had
• 1:41:16
  changed everything for Job. Then God turned his attention to
• 1:41:20
  the three friends. And so it was after the Lord
• 1:41:23
  had spoken these words to Job that the Lord said
• 1:41:27
  to Eliphaz the Temanite, my wrath is aroused against you
• 1:41:31
  and your two friends, for you have not spoken of
• 1:41:34
  me what is right, as my servant, Job has. The friends,
• 1:41:38
  who thought they were defending God had actually been misrepresenting him.
• 1:41:43
  God's instructions for them were humbling. Now therefore, take for
• 1:41:47
  yourselves seven bulls and seven rams. Go to my servant
• 1:41:51
  Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and
• 1:41:55
  my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will
• 1:41:58
  accept him lest ideal with you according to your folly.
• 1:42:01
  Because you have not spoken of me what is right,
• 1:42:05
  as my servant Job has. They had to ask Job
• 1:42:08
  to intercede for them with God. The friends obeyed, and
• 1:42:12
  Job prayed for them despite everything they had put him through.
• 1:42:15
  Then came the restoration, and the Lord restored Job's losses
• 1:42:19
  when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave
• 1:42:23
  Job twice as much as he had before. God's blessing
• 1:42:26
  returned in double measure. Job's prosperity became legendary. Now the
• 1:42:33
  Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning,
• 1:42:37
  for he had fourteen thousand sheep, twenty eight thousand camels,
• 1:42:41
  one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
• 1:42:46
  His wealth was exactly double what it had been originally.
• 1:42:50
  His family was restored to He also had seven sons
• 1:42:54
  and three daughters, and he called the name of the
• 1:42:56
  first Jemima the name of the second Kezir and the
• 1:43:00
  name of the third Karen Hapouch. In all the land
• 1:43:04
  were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job,
• 1:43:08
  and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
• 1:43:11
  His new daughters were famous for their beauty and received
• 1:43:15
  equal treatment with their brothers. Job lived to see multiple
• 1:43:19
  generations after this. Job lived one hundred and forty years
• 1:43:23
  and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So
• 1:43:27
  Job died old and full of days. God gave him
• 1:43:30
  a long life to enjoy his restored blessings and see
• 1:43:34
  his family grow. If this journey through Job's story opened
• 1:43:38
  your eyes to something new, hit that subscribe button and
• 1:43:41
  join our community of seekers who aren't afraid to ask
• 1:43:44
  the hard questions. Share this video with someone who needs
• 1:43:48
  to hear that their pain has a purpose, that their
• 1:43:51
  questions matter to God, and that restoration is possible even
• 1:43:55
  when everything seems lost. The Book of Job proves that
• 1:43:59
  honest wrestling with God isn't rebellion, its relationship, and sometimes
• 1:44:05
  the most profound answers come not in explanations, but in
• 1:44:09
  encounters with the Almighty himself. Don't let this revelation end here. Subscribe, share,
• 1:44:16
  and keep seeking your story like Job's is still being written.