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Curse God and Die - The Book of Job · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. Then said his wife unto him, Dost
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  Speaker 1: thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die. Job
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  Speaker 1: 2.9 My Lord, today marks the day that I will
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  Speaker 1: begin to pre-qualify who gets to speak into my life.
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  Speaker 1: I will not allow the length of time that I've
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  Speaker 1: known a person to be the reason why I keep
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  Speaker 1: them close. If they continue to speak against you, and
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  Speaker 1: what you have commanded. Holy Spirit, help me to protect
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  Speaker 1: my ears, so that the only things I allow in
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  Speaker 1: are the words that are in alignment with what you
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  Speaker 1: have spoken to me about my future and destiny. Satan,
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  Speaker 1: you will not break me. You will not destroy me,
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  Speaker 1: no matter how many times you try to inflict me
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  Speaker 1: with pain. Lord, I decree and declare, that you are
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  Speaker 1: my Redeemer, and I know that you live. Whatever may come,
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  Speaker 1: I will not stop praising your name. Redemption and favor
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  Speaker 1: follow my life, and I know this to be true.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for making prayer a priority
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  Speaker 1: in your life. To hear the Bible come to life,
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  Speaker 1: Stay tuned for the Bible in a Year, brought to
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  Speaker 1: you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Curse God and die. In our last story, we learned
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  Speaker 2: about the righteousness of Job. The Lord showcased Job to
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  Speaker 2: Satan as an example of uprightness, integrity, and love. Job
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  Speaker 2: was truly unmatched in riches, familial bliss, and devotion. Satan,
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  Speaker 2: in an attempt to expose Job's shallow faith, destroyed his property, riches,
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  Speaker 2: and family. Job stood over the corpses of his children,
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  Speaker 2: breathing in the ash from his burning fields, yet still
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  Speaker 2: praised God. His faith was unwavering. Now we learn of
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  Speaker 2: Satan's second attempt to break Job. Satan removes his health.
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  Speaker 2: And Job is faced with his wife and friends who
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  Speaker 2: tragically fail to comfort Job as inspired by the book
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  Speaker 2: of Job.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of the Bible
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  Speaker 3: in a Year podcast. In yesterday's reading, we learned how
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  Speaker 3: God allowed Satan to take away Job's riches and even
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  Speaker 3: his children. Satan had challenged God, saying that if he
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  Speaker 3: took away what Job had, that Job would curse him,
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  Speaker 3: Job would no longer serve him. But when Job lost everything,
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  Speaker 3: his response was surely grief, but through the tears, there
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  Speaker 3: was worship. Never once did he accuse or curse God.
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  Speaker 3: Satan had underestimated this man's heart and the power of
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  Speaker 3: God to be faithful to his servants. Today, we'll see
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  Speaker 3: God remove another layer of protection, allowing the enemy to
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  Speaker 3: attack Job himself, leaving him without his health, but still alive.
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  Speaker 3: He'll be joined by his friends and his wife, those
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  Speaker 3: closest to him, who should offer him comfort and encouragement.
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  Speaker 3: But how will they respond to Job's challenges? Let's listen
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  Speaker 3: to today's reading to find out.
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  Speaker 2: Satan stood again before the presence of God. The sound
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  Speaker 2: of Job's praises filled the accuser with more hatred and contempt.
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  Speaker 2: Again the Lord asked, From where have you come? Satan
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  Speaker 2: gazed upon the Lord and said, Walking up and down
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  Speaker 2: the earth, seeking souls that may be deceived and corrupted.
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  Speaker 2: The Lord once again showcased Job before him, saying, Have
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  Speaker 2: you seen the faithfulness of my servant Job? His integrity
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  Speaker 2: and love towards me endures even after your vain attempts
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  Speaker 2: to destroy him. Satan snapped as he spoke, saying, Skin
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  Speaker 2: for skin, Job would give away his property and children
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  Speaker 2: to save his own life. But if you allow me
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  Speaker 2: to touch his bones and flesh, I promise you that
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  Speaker 2: he shall curse your name. So the Lord allowed it.
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  Speaker 2: He could harm Job and take his body, but he
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  Speaker 2: could not kill him. So Satan descended upon Job once again.
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  Speaker 2: Hell bent on killing the spirit within him. Job awoke
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  Speaker 2: in the morning from his bed. The room was filled
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  Speaker 2: with ash from the fire outside his home. He coughed
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  Speaker 2: for minutes and then rose up from the bed. A
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  Speaker 2: sharp pain shot out from the soles of his feet.
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  Speaker 2: Job fell back onto his bed, looking at his feet
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  Speaker 2: and legs. They were covered in disgusting sores. Job felt
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  Speaker 2: around the rest of his body to realize he was
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  Speaker 2: covered in oozing boils. They were tender to the touch
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  Speaker 2: and filled his entire body with pain. He felt poisoned
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  Speaker 2: unless he got rid of them, but he had to
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  Speaker 2: scar his body to do so. Job's silent weeping could
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  Speaker 2: be heard from his room as he took a broken
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  Speaker 2: piece of pottery to scrape off the sores. He sat
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  Speaker 2: there alone in his room, wincing in pain. Job's wife
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  Speaker 2: peeked her head in from the hall. She looked at
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  Speaker 2: her husband with glazed eyes. They were red from weeping
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  Speaker 2: throughout the night. Job, who had been praising God over
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  Speaker 2: the dead bodies of her children, was now covered in
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  Speaker 2: sores and pus. She stood at the entrance of the
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  Speaker 2: room and said, Do you still feel joy now, Job?
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  Speaker 2: Job looked at her. He was in too much pain
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  Speaker 2: to respond to her. She did not cry. She could
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  Speaker 2: spare no more tears. She scoffed at him and said,
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  Speaker 2: You should curse God and die. Her words stung more
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  Speaker 2: than the sores. Job raised himself from the ground and
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  Speaker 2: walked past her. He limped down the hall and said,
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  Speaker 2: Shall we only receive good from God and not bad?
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  Speaker 2: So Job left to go sit outside and pray. Job
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  Speaker 2: sat beside the wall of his home, overlooking the darkness
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  Speaker 2: and ash of his land. He did not smile. Instead,
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  Speaker 2: he closed his eyes and sought any semblance of comfort
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  Speaker 2: from God he could. Occasionally, he would look to the
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  Speaker 2: direction of his son's house and cry, Job's friends Eliphaz, Bildad,
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  Speaker 2: and Zophar heard of his hardship and made plans to
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  Speaker 2: go and mourn with him. The three friends approached his
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  Speaker 2: home and saw Job sitting on the floor outside. They
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  Speaker 2: could barely recognize him. His face was dirty with ash,
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  Speaker 2: his cheeks were covered in small sores, and his eyes
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  Speaker 2: were red from crying. Job sat there, wet with the
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  Speaker 2: pus oozing from his boils. His friends said nothing. Instead,
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  Speaker 2: they sat with Job, looking into the nothingness. Their silent
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  Speaker 2: presence was a comfort to Job. There they remained for
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  Speaker 2: seven days and seven nights. They would eat and sleep,
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  Speaker 2: but say nothing out of respect for Job. They saw
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  Speaker 2: that his suffering was truly great. The silence was palpable,
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  Speaker 2: and none of the friends dared to speak first. Then,
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  Speaker 2: after seven days of complete silence, Job spoke. Cursed be
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  Speaker 2: the day I was born, Job yelled. His friends were
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  Speaker 2: startled by Job's statement. Job beat the wall behind him, saying,
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  Speaker 2: Let gloom and darkness consume my life. I pray that
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  Speaker 2: the thickness of night would drown me. Why did I
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  Speaker 2: not die at birth? To experience joy only increases the
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  Speaker 2: pain of loss. Why even give life to a bitter
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  Speaker 2: soul like mine? My soul knows no rest, no comfort,
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  Speaker 2: and no peace. Job's words cut deep into his soul.
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  Speaker 2: He lamented in front of his friends. For a while
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  Speaker 2: they sat in silence. Then, one by one, Eliphaz, Bildad,
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  Speaker 2: and Zophar began a barrage of explanations as to why
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  Speaker 2: God could have possibly allowed Job to suffer such a loss.
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  Speaker 2: Eliphaz suggested that God wanted Job to have a greater
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  Speaker 2: understanding of how to comfort others, and that sorrow gives
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  Speaker 2: him a greater depth of empathy. Bildad and Zophar chimed
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  Speaker 2: in with the possibility that Job must be partaking in
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  Speaker 2: some tremendous sin. Surely Job is under the judgment of God,
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  Speaker 2: or else he would not be suffering. Bildad contemplated the
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  Speaker 2: possibility of Job's children being the real sinners, and thus
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  Speaker 2: bringing their deaths upon themselves. Their voices continued to shake
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  Speaker 2: in Job's brain. Their explanations offered him no peace, no resolution,
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  Speaker 2: and no respite from his suffering. The bickering rang in
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  Speaker 2: Job's ears. His heart began to beat fast as he
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  Speaker 2: listened to their quarreling and speculations. You are worthless friends
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  Speaker 2: and poor physicians, Job screamed. You think I have somehow sinned?
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  Speaker 2: Tell me, what crimes have you witnessed in my life?
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  Speaker 2: I have made a covenant with my eyes that no
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  Speaker 2: evil thing shall enter into the windows of my mind.
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  Speaker 2: Show me a tangible reason for my tragedy and I
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  Speaker 2: will be silent. Still Job's friends insisted that his claims
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  Speaker 2: to righteousness came from a skewed image of God's justice
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  Speaker 2: and character. Job sighed deeply and tears once again began
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  Speaker 2: to fall from his face. There is only one who
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  Speaker 2: will speak for me. Job stood to his feet and
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  Speaker 2: brushed the dust off of his clothes. He took a
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  Speaker 2: deep breath and looked to heaven. I know that my
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  Speaker 2: Redeemer lives. I know I shall witness his faithfulness still.
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  Speaker 2: After more bickering and visiting from more friends to discuss
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  Speaker 2: the philosophical reasons for suffering, Job departed on a walk
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  Speaker 2: to sit in his own sorrow. What he knew of
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  Speaker 2: God's goodness did not align with his experiences, and he
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  Speaker 2: beat his chest in pain over it. In the quiet
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  Speaker 2: of the evening, Job wrestled with his faith in God
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  Speaker 2: and sought answers to the question of suffering and God's sovereignty.
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  Speaker 3: In today's scripture, we see another meeting between God and Satan.
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  Speaker 3: The accuser, Satan, has failed to prove that Job's faithfulness
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  Speaker 3: is conditional upon God's blessing. And God points this out
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  Speaker 3: to Satan, reminding him that Job still worshipped even when everything,
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  Speaker 3: his possessions, even his family was taken away from him.
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  Speaker 3: He tells God, that if Job were to feel his
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  Speaker 3: own health failing, if God were to allow Satan to
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  Speaker 3: touch him or harm him, Job's attitude would change. He
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  Speaker 3: says this righteous man would show his true colors and
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  Speaker 3: curse God to his face in the midst of personal pain.
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  Speaker 3: This exchange, as the one from yesterday, show us some
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  Speaker 3: profound truths. First, God is always in control. That means
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  Speaker 3: God is sovereign. Satan answers to God. And even though
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  Speaker 3: there is an eternal battle between good and evil now,
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  Speaker 3: God is still on his throne and he commands the
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  Speaker 3: powers of the devil himself. There may be times when
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  Speaker 3: it seems the devil is getting the upper hand, but
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  Speaker 3: he is restrained by God's own will and God's own purposes. Secondly,
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  Speaker 3: God did not himself cause the harm to Job. Satan
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  Speaker 3: attacked him. And soon we're going to see that Job's
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  Speaker 3: friends will claim that this was somehow God's punishment. but
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  Speaker 3: nothing could be further from the truth. God allowed Satan
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  Speaker 3: to do physical harm to Job, but he was not
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  Speaker 3: permitted to kill him. And Satan once again leaves and
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  Speaker 3: gets to work on Job. He strikes Job with illness,
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  Speaker 3: painful boils. Can you imagine the pain that he must
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  Speaker 3: have felt as these boils raging across his body? He
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  Speaker 3: was scraping his skin with broken clay just to remove
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  Speaker 3: the sores. He was in intense pain. Job's wife then
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  Speaker 3: enters the scene. And rather than being a comfort to
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  Speaker 3: her diseased and distraught, pain-ridden husband, she challenges him. Why
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  Speaker 3: is he still holding on to God? He should just
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  Speaker 3: curse God and die, she says. He rebuked his wife,
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  Speaker 3: reminding her that God is to be praised not only
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  Speaker 3: in good times, but in the bad times, even in
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  Speaker 3: the tragedies of life. Job was, at this point, all
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  Speaker 3: alone in his suffering humanly. But then three of his
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  Speaker 3: friends come to him. They see his pain. And in
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  Speaker 3: Job 2.13, we see what their first response is. And
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  Speaker 3: they sat with him on the ground seven days and
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  Speaker 3: seven nights. And no one spoke a word to him,
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  Speaker 3: for they saw that his suffering was very great. It
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  Speaker 3: would be good if we could just stop right there.
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  Speaker 3: Sometimes the very best response to someone who is grieving,
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  Speaker 3: hurting in intense pain is is just to be present,
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  Speaker 3: just to be there. No attempt to explain the pain,
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  Speaker 3: to make sense of the suffering that is inexplicable and unexplainable,
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  Speaker 3: just to be there. Job needed his friends to sit
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  Speaker 3: with him in these moments of suffering. After this silence
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  Speaker 3: and suffering, Job gave voice to his feelings. He deeply
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  Speaker 3: lamented his pain, and he was not blaming God. He
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  Speaker 3: was simply pouring out his honest hurt and sorrow. His
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  Speaker 3: friends listened, and then they tried to offer explanations. I
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  Speaker 3: suppose their intentions were good at first, but they weren't helpful.
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  Speaker 3: They certainly weren't comforting. What begins are musings and questionings
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  Speaker 3: that become accusations against Job. Job must have sinned in
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  Speaker 3: some way so that this pain and judgment has come
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  Speaker 3: upon him. He should just confess and own up to
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  Speaker 3: his mistakes. That's what his friends said. Some kind of friends, huh?
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  Speaker 3: They assumed that blessings were a sign of favor and
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  Speaker 3: suffering was a sign of sin. But Job knows something
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  Speaker 3: that his friends don't. That God is a redeemer and
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  Speaker 3: that God redeems our suffering. And in the midst of
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  Speaker 3: pain and problems that we can't understand or explain, God's
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  Speaker 3: presence is enough. So Job leaves his friends behind and
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  Speaker 3: goes to talk with God himself. There he will ask
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  Speaker 3: God what is happening and why. And we'll hear that
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  Speaker 3: conversation tomorrow. Let's pray. Dear God, help us to know
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  Speaker 3: how to comfort those who suffer and are in pain.
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  Speaker 3: Help us to show up and sit with people who
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  Speaker 3: hurt and to give them your word, not our own.
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  Speaker 3: May we always trust you in the plans and purposes
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  Speaker 3: that we may not understand. And may we never, ever
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  Speaker 3: doubt your love for us because we know your love
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  Speaker 3: is an everlasting love. that you've promised never to leave
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  Speaker 3: us or forsake us. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you
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  Speaker 3: for listening today to the Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: Download the Pray.com app and make prayer a priority in
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: your life. And if you enjoy this podcast, share it
• 15:36
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• 15:39
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• 15:41
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• 15:45
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  Speaker 3: then be sure to visit jackgram.org.