Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Job 8 - Just Because It's Old Doesn't Mean It's True

Transcript

Job 8 - Just Because It's Old Doesn't Mean It's True · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: You are listening to The Bible Explained with Jen Koukl,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: a P40 Ministries podcast. Good morning, faithful listeners, and welcome
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to The Bible Explained podcast on this lovely, lovely Monday morning.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: And I'm so thankful that all of you guys are
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: here to share a delicious cup of coffee or tea
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: with me as we go through the Bible together. And
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: we are in Job chapter 8. And I'm so excited
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: to dive into this chapter with you guys because we're
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: going to be talking more about some of the misconceptions
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: about God that people have a tendency to have. Because
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: now Bildad, Job's other friend, is going to be talking
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: about tradition and just some other untruths that Bildad really
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: gets into. So we're going to talk about that today.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: But first, I'm going to play a sponsored ad and
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I'll be back right after that. I appreciate all of
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: you guys listening to that advertisement. And now we're going
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: to dive into Job 8, the entire chapter. And it
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: is a shorter chapter. It's only 22 verses. You remember
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: that Job's first friend, Eliphaz, spoke for two chapters. Like
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: he had a lot to say. Bildad does not have
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: as much to say, but still a lot of very
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: great untruths about God. So we're going to dive into
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: all of this together. I'll be reading as I always
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: do from the World English Bible or the WEB version.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: And you guys, of course, can feel free to read
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: out of the version that you prefer this morning. Let's
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: read Job 8 together and give reverence to God's word.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Then Bildad the Shuhite answered, How long will you speak
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: mighty wind? Does God pervert justice or does the Almighty
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: pervert righteousness? If your children have sinned against him, he
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience. If
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: you want to seek God diligently, make your supplication to
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: the Almighty. If you are pure and upright, surely now
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: he would awaken for you and make the habitation of
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: your righteousness prosperous. Though your beginnings was small, yet your
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: latter end would greatly increase. Please inquire of the past generations.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Find out about the learning of their fathers. For we
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: are but of yesterday and know nothing because our days
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: on earth are a shadow. Shall they not teach you
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: and tell you and utter words out of their heart?
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Can the papyrus grow up without the mire? Can the
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: rushes grow without water? While it is yet in its greenness,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: not cut down, it withers before any other reed. So
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: are the paths of all who forget God. The hope
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: of the godless man will perish, whose confidence will break apart,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: whose trust is a spider's web. He will lean on
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: his house, but it will not stand. He will cling
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: to it, but it will not endure. He is green
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: before the sun. His shoots go out along the garden.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: His roots are wrapped around the rock pile. he sees
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: the place of stones. If he is destroyed from his place,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: then it will deny him saying, I have not seen you. Behold,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: this is the joy of his way. Out of the earth,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: others will spring. Behold, God will not cast away the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: blameless man. Neither will he uphold the evildoers. He will
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Those who hate you will be clothed with shame. The
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: tent of the wicked will be no more. Last we
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: left off, Job had gone through some serious trials. He
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: had everything taken from him. Some armies came up and
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: actually took his fortune away from him. His children were
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: all killed in a tornado or whirlwind of some sort.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: His health was taken away from him. Many of his
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: servants were killed. Basically, he lost everything all in the
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: same day, essentially. And so Job, in complete and total
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: mourning over all the things that happened to him, went
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: out probably to his local trash dump and was sitting
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: there in the ashes just waiting to die. But his
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: friends who had heard about all the problems that happened
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: to Job decided to take a trip to come visit him.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: So for a while, they were good friends. They sat
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: with him. They mourned with him. They also spread ashes
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: on themselves, which was a sign of mourning back in
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: these days. And they essentially just shut their mouths and
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: mourned and cried with Job. It was a really good
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: thing that they did. And then Job starts to speak
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: after that because he was in so much torment. He
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: was just waiting for death. And he couldn't understand why
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: death wasn't happening. He went out to the ashes expecting
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: to die. And yet time is continuing on. A week
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: has passed and he still has not died. So he
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: finally opens his mouth and he's like, why God have
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: I not died? Why are you just continuing my life
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: in this torment and misery that I don't want to
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: go through? And his friends got really upset with him
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: because they considered his speech almost blasphemous. So the first friend, Eliphaz,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: who is probably the oldest and quote unquote wisest, ends
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: up speaking to Job first. But he essentially called Job
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a hypocrite. And if Job would just turn back to
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: God from whatever sin that he committed, that Job's prosperity
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: would come back. But what this friend didn't understand was
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: that Job had never left God. So Job answers his
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: friend and he's just like, you don't know what you're
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: talking about. I have not left God. And then he
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: kind of repeated a lot of the stuff that he
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: said in his first speech to God all over again.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: He said, God, why am I still continuing here? Why
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: have you let me go through this? Because I have
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: not sinned against you. So now we see the second
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: friend right here in Job 8 speak up. And he
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: is not happy again with some of the things that
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Job is saying. It says right here, Then Bildad the
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Shuhite answered, How long will you speak these things? Shall
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the words of your mouth be a mighty wind? So
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: with that statement, he is calling Job a windbag. He's like, Job,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: you are full of hot air, but there's no substance
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: coming out of your speech. Then he says, does God
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: pervert justice or does the Almighty pervert righteousness? If your
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the hand of their disobedience. So this is a really
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: nasty thing to say to somebody who is mourning, right?
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Especially if They just lost their children. I mean, I
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: can't even imagine going through something so traumatic as that.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: And I would never, ever say to somebody who had
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: lost a child, let alone all of their children, well,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: they had it coming. And that's what Bildad is saying
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: here to Job. He says, look, they had it coming
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: to them because they were disobedient against God. And God
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: doesn't pervert justice and he doesn't pervert righteousness. So clearly,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: your children were in disobedience, as are you, Job, because
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: God does not pervert righteousness or justice. And this is
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: something that you and I might be thinking as we
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: go through the book of Job. A lot of people
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: really struggle with this book because we think, oh, God
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: is just mean here. He's being mean. He's not showing mercy.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: true justice and righteousness to Job by allowing Job and
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: even willing for Job to go through these trials. So
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: God must pervert justice and he must pervert righteousness. And
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: by doing that, we have a tendency to fall into
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: the same kind of thinking that Bildad had right here.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: Because something does not seem right in our eyes, that
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: must mean that God is wrong. Bildad here could not
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: process that Job could be suffering and also be a
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: righteous person. Those two things just did not compute in
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: his brain. He believed fully in the prosperity gospel. Job's
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: children must have done something wrong, which is why they
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: had died, which is why they were suffering, which is
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: why Job and his wife were suffering. But as we know,
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: that is not always the case. Someone can absolutely be
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: a God-fearing person and still experience traumatic suffering. But that
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: is not God perverting justice because we are never, ever
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: promised justice on this earth. We are promised justice in
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: the life to come. But because of God's great love
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: for us, sometimes he still does bless us with justice
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: here on earth. And he helps us through problems all
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: the time. In fact, that's what Psalm 34, 19 says.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: him out of them all. God isn't going to abandon
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: us here on earth. That doesn't mean that we're not
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: going to go through afflictions, as Psalm 34, 19 says.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: We are going to go through them. God is going
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: to be by our side. He'll deliver us out of them.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean that we aren't going to go
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: through them. And that is not God perverting justice, because
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: someday we will have our justice. But that is not
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: what Bildad understands. He's got a very earth-centered, here and
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: now kind of mentality. He doesn't have an eternal mindset.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: He is not putting his treasures in heaven like Jesus
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: tells us to do. His treasures are here on earth.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: And that's why he can only understand blessings for the
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: here and now. That's why he says to Job in
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: verse five, if you want to seek God diligently, make
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: your supplication to the almighty. If you were pure and upright,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: surely now he would awaken for you and make the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: habitation of your righteousness prosperous. Though your beginnings were small,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: yet your latter end would greatly increase. So he's like, Job,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: all you have to do is just put your faith
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: in the Almighty, become pure and upright and actually seek him,
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: make your supplication to him. And now he would awaken
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: for you. Here's another thing that Bildad is not understanding.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: God was already awake and he was already listening to
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: every single conversation that Job and his friends were having.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And that's another thing that Bildad and Eliphaz, the other friend,
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: had kind of said already about God, that Job is
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: just not worth God's time because God is so great.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: He is doing his God things up in heaven. He's
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: not really paying attention to Job unless Job actively starts
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: worshiping him once again. That is not an accurate representation
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: of God. It says in scripture that God sends his
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: reign on the just and the unjust alike. God is
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: always searching the earth and he's always listening. He is
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: always there. He is omnipresent, meaning that he is always present.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: He is everywhere at all times. But Bildad only understands
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: God from a carnal kind of perspective. that if you
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: worship God, he will bless you in return, which again
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: is essentially the same as every other idolatrous religion on
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: the planet. I give this little idol something and it
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: gives me what I want in return. I will worship
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: this thing and it will bless me with good things.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: That is the tale as old as time. But God
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: is not like that. And he's proving in the book
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: of Job that he is not like that. And this
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: shows how effective Satan's tactics really are, right? Because this
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: is a doctrine of Satan himself. Satan went to God
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: at the very beginning in Job chapter one and essentially
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: said to God that he was no different than the
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: other idols because the only reason God was blessing Job
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: was because Job worshiped God in return. And God says, okay,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: I will prove to you that that is not correct.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: I'll prove to you that Job has a genuine faith.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: I'll prove to you that he's not just worshiping me
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: because I bless him with good things. I will prove
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: to you that I am not like the other idols
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: of the nations that only bless people or curse people
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: because they're good or bad. And that is what the
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: entire book of Job is really about. It's a war
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: on the prosperity gospel. But for Bildad and Eliphaz and
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: the other friend, who I forget his name, For these
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: guys to truly believe wholeheartedly in the prosperity gospel to
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: this extent really shows how influential Satan is on this
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: earth and still is to this day. You know, Satan...
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: He's the father of lies, but he doesn't have a
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: lot of tricks up his sleeve. And the prosperity gospel
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: is something that we Christians actively have to fight against
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: to this day. And speaking of the prosperity gospel being
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: super old, that's actually what Bildad references next in verses
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: 8 through 10. Please inquire of past generations and find
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: out about the learning of their fathers. For we are
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: of but yesterday and know nothing because our days on
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: earth are a shadow. Shall they not teach you, tell
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: you in utter words out of their heart? So now
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Bildad goes back to the early church fathers. I'm saying
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: that with some facetiousness, but not really, because that's kind
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: of what he's saying here. He's like, look, the early
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: fathers of all of this stuff, they have the knowledge.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: We can't understand it all because our days are too short.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: So we have to go back and look at the
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: collective works of the ancestors and the fathers that really
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: studied and know these things and wrote it down for
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: us so that we can also study and know these things.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Here's the thing. Just because something is old does not
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: necessarily mean that it's true or that it's good. Sometimes
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: it can be. I'm not saying It's always bad, but
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: a lot of times people like something just for the
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: sheer fact that it's old. Take the hymns, for example.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to rail on hymns too much. There
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: are a lot of hymns that I do, in fact, like,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: but there are some really, really bad hymns out there.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: You guys might persecute me for this, and I understand,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: but be thou my vision. Oh my goodness. Here is
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: the second line of be thou my vision, okay? thou
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: my great father, and I thy true son, thou in
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: me dwelling, and I with thee one. Do you see
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: a problem with that? First and foremost, we are not
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: the true sons of God. There is one true son,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: and that is Jesus Christ himself. So you have to
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: be really careful, even with old hymns. Now, The rest
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: of Be Thou My Vision, I actually really love. But
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: just because something is old does not necessarily mean that
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: it is 100% correct. A lot of people actually do
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: fight with me on this particular issue. They say, well, Jen,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: how can you possibly think that you know more than
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: the church fathers? And I will say this right out.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying I know more than the church fathers.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: What I am saying is that the church fathers don't
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: always line up with scripture. And if something is not
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: lining up with scripture, then that means that it is
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: not the truth, or at least it's a truth that
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: has been twisted incorrectly, or it's close to the truth,
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: but it is not the full truth. And now you
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: might be like, well, how do you know that your
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: interpretation of scripture, Jen, is the correct interpretation? Well, that's
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: where scripture comes into play because scripture always interprets scripture.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: If there is a question that we have in the Bible,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: it will be found somewhere else in the scriptures. Whenever
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: I have a nagging question in the back of my
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: head about a portion of scripture, somewhere in the pages
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: of scripture, it gets answered because scripture will always interpret scripture.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: That's why it is so important to study the Bible.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: And if I can do it, an uneducated 32-year-old woman
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: can study scripture. You can do it too. I believe
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: that wholeheartedly. You don't have to go back to the
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: early teachings of the church fathers to understand scripture because
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: it is right here in the pages. It will always
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: explain itself. Now, you might have to do some research.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: You're going to have to grapple with questions as you
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: continue to read through it. You're going to have to
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: remain prayerful, asking the Holy Spirit to really guide you
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: through these scriptures and to understand what they're saying. Now,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that we don't glean information from people
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: who have studied it before us. Absolutely not. Teachers clearly
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: are important because it's one of the spiritual gifts, right?
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: But you have to be like the Bereans, talked about
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: in Acts 17, 11, which says, Now these, the Bereans,
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Paul
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: went and visited the Bereans. He was bringing them a
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: gospel that they had never heard before, essentially the gospel
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: of Jesus, that he is the Messiah. And the Bereans
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: loved this teaching. They gained information from this teaching and
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: were encouraged by it. But here is specifically what it says.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: It says they received the teaching that Paul gave them,
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: but they examined the scriptures daily to see whether these
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: things were so. They went back to the scripture, the authority,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: the truth. And they made sure that what Paul was
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: saying was actually the truth. And they discovered that what
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Paul was saying about Jesus was actually the truth. Because
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: as we've been discussing in 1 and 2 Peter, Jesus
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: was prophesied about in the Old Testament. So Paul's sayings
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: were the truth. But the Bereans, instead of just taking
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: that teaching and being like, oh, this guy seems really knowledgeable.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: He must know what he's talking about. No, they didn't
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: do that. They went back to the source of truth,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: which was the scriptures. So teaching is important. And I'm
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: not saying that the early church fathers are necessarily bad
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: and that we can't gain anything from them, but we
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: also have to be studying the scriptures daily ourselves. Bildad
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: was just like, take what the fathers say and accept
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: that teaching. Accept it because they must be smarter than
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: we are. I would say that that is a very
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: dangerous theology and one that many people still hold on
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: to today. Oh, the church fathers must be true because
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: they are old and because they are knowledgeable. The hymns
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: must be good because they are old. No, you cannot
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: just take the word of something that is old. You
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: have to make sure it lines up with scripture. You
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: have to be like the Bereans. But now in verses
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: 11 through 19 of Job chapter 8, Bildad goes into
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: this poem for Job. He says, can the papyrus grow
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water? While
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: withers before any other reed. So he compares Job to
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: the papyrus tree or the rushes that have no water.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: They spring up, but then they die very quickly for
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: lack of water. Essentially comparing to Job to somebody who
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: doesn't have a true foundation in God. You know, just
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: as a reed that doesn't have the water of life
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: to give it nourishment cannot grow green and strong and
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: it dies very quickly. That is what Job is like.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: He started out good. You know, he was very wealthy.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: He was prosperous. But because he didn't have the water
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: that God could give, he was withered very quickly, just
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: like this reed would be. Verse 13, so are the
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: paths of all who forget God. The hope of the
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: godless man will perish. Whose trust is a spider's web.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: So somebody who forgets about God, like Job must have,
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: their hope is going to perish. They can't put their
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: confidence in anything. It's as fragile as a spider's web
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: that just breaks apart. He will lean on his house,
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: but it will not stand tall. He will cling to it,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: but it will not endure. He is green before the sun.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: His shoots go out along his garden. His roots are
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: wrapped around the rock pile. He sees the place of stones.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: So here's another analogy. Not only does Job have no water,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: similar to this rush that can't grow without the water,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Job's roots are not strong because he's similar to a
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: vine that vines along the garden and in the rock pile,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: but it doesn't have anything to cling to. So now
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: it can just get ripped up very easily. Verse 18,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: if he is destroyed from his place, then it will
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: deny him saying, I have not seen you. Behold, this
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: is the joy of his way. Out of the earth,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: others will spring. So in other words, because he doesn't
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: have a strong foundation, his joy will be very fleeting.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: It'll be fast. The joy of his way is growing
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: up very quickly, but then dying very quickly because he
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: doesn't have a solid foundation. And as he's being plucked
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: up from the earth, like these plants, others will spring
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: up in his place. Man, I mean, imagine telling something
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: like this to somebody who is suffering. You don't have
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: a firm foundation in Christ. That's why God is plucking
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: you up. That's why you're like a little plant that
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: God is just taking out of the ground because your
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: roots were not firm or deep in him. Job's faith
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: was stronger than any of his friends by a long shot.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: His faith was very deep. So none of this was
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: making any sense to him. And to us readers, we
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: can see how ironically shallow everything Bildad is saying here.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: So now he concludes in verses 20 through 22. Behold,
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: God will not cast away a blameless man. Neither will
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: he uphold the evildoers. He will still fill your mouth
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: with laughter. your lips with shouting. Those who hate you
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: will be clothed with shame and the tent of the
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: wicked will be no more. He says right here that
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: God will not cast away a blameless man. And so
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: he's essentially saying to Job, you are not blameless. But
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: what did Job chapter one say? It said that Job
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: was blameless. Like within the first sentence, I'm pretty sure.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Let me go back there to Job chapter one and
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: see what it says. Yeah, it says, There was a
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: man in the land of Uz whose name was Job.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: That man was blameless and upright and one who feared
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: God and turned away from evil. Yeah, Bildad doesn't really
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: know what he's talking about here. He doesn't understand that
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: the reward we are promised is not in this life,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: but it is in the life to come. And he
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: doesn't understand the nature of God. In fact, I don't
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: really think that anybody can fully understand the nature of God.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: He is so beyond us. But We can understand what
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: scripture tells us about God. And unfortunately, Bildad did not
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: understand it. He was willing to trust his ancestors and
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: their fractured knowledge about God. But because he believed wholeheartedly
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: in the fathers, he believed that he had the truth.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: But as we find out, Bildad did not, in fact,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: have the truth about God. And in the following chapter,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Job is going to respond to Bildad. And we'll see
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: what he has to say. So I hope you guys
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: tune in on Wednesday to talk about that portion of Job.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: And I hope you guys have been enjoying the book
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: of Job with me as much as I have. So
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: before I end today's episode, you guys know the drill.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: I'm going to play a sponsored ad. And after that,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: I will finish out the episode with a couple closing reflections.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the advertisement. And I just
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: want to reflect on Psalm 3419 with you guys once again,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: which says, Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: Yahweh delivers him out of them all. And what's really
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: beautiful about that psalm is, again, that God does not
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: have to bless us here on earth. We caused corruption
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: and suffering. And yet, in spite of that, God will
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: still protect us and keep us safe when we are
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: going through trials. And that's something I hope you guys
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: take with you today. Make sure to tune in tomorrow
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: because we will be in 2 Peter 2 talking more
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: about the false prophets and false teachers and something called
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: slandering holy ones and what that could possibly mean. And
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: also our teachers today, slandering holy ones. We will definitely
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: talk about that tomorrow. So I hope to see all
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: you guys then 6 a.m. or whenever you choose to
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: wake up and listen. Faithful listeners, happy listening and God bless.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: the Bible Explained podcast. In fact, if you go to lifeaudio.com,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.