Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Penetrating Reproof from the Almighty, Part 1

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A Penetrating Reproof from the Almighty, Part 1 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Chapter after chapter in the Old Testament story of Job,
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Speaker 1: Job waited, waited for God to break the silence and
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Speaker 1: answer the anguished questions of his suffering heart. Finally, at last,
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Speaker 1: God spoke. But what Job heard was nothing like what
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Speaker 1: he expected. And today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll
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Speaker 1: brings us to this long-awaited moment and reveals a God
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Speaker 1: whose ways are far above our own. On today's program,
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Speaker 1: we'll be reminded that God's surprising presence often comes right
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Speaker 1: in the middle of a storm. We'll begin by reading
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Speaker 1: the passage together.
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Speaker 2: Well, God finally speaks to Job. What he says is
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Speaker 2: a Surprising, as you're going to discover this morning, but
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Speaker 2: that's fine. God's full of surprises, which we will affirm
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Speaker 2: again and again in the message today. Job 38, I'll
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Speaker 2: read just a few verses and then we'll jump to 40.
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Speaker 2: Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, verse
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Speaker 2: 1 begins, and said, Who is this that darkens counsel
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Speaker 2: by words without knowledge? Now, gird up your loins like
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Speaker 2: a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct me.
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Speaker 2: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
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Speaker 2: Tell me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements,
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Speaker 2: since you know? Or who stretched the line on it,
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Speaker 2: on what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its
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Speaker 2: cornerstone when the morning stars sank? sang together, and all
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Speaker 2: the sons of God shouted for joy. If you were
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Speaker 2: to list the questions between here and the end of
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Speaker 2: the book, you'd find 77 that Job is asked, none
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Speaker 2: of them able to be answered by Job. Humbled and broken,
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Speaker 2: chapter 40, Job responds in verse 3, Job answered the
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Speaker 2: Lord and said, Behold, I am Insignificant. What can I
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Speaker 2: reply to you? I lay my hand on my mouth
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Speaker 2: once I've spoken and I will not answer. Even twice
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Speaker 2: and I will add no more. It's an old Hebrew
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Speaker 2: colloquialism that means I have already said more than I should.
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Speaker 2: You're listening to Insight for Living.
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Speaker 1: To dig deeper into Job's story, be sure to purchase
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Speaker 1: a copy of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook
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Speaker 1: by going to insight.org slash offer. Chuck titled today's message,
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Speaker 1: A Penetrating Reproof from the Almighty.
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Speaker 2: God's ways are often so surprising, and when he does
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Speaker 2: show up, if you will, his message is so often
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Speaker 2: unexpected and unpredictable. Sometime it's a close call. and we
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Speaker 2: realize after the fact that he has been there all
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Speaker 2: the time protecting us, even when we didn't know we
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Speaker 2: were in danger. That occurred to me this last week
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Speaker 2: when I read a report that came from Montgomery County, Maryland,
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Speaker 2: in the city of Wheaton, Maryland. The report reads, the
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Speaker 2: first bullet fired in a shooting spree that killed five
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Speaker 2: people in Montgomery County Wednesday and Thursday narrowly missed Ann Chapman,
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Speaker 2: who was working at Michael Arts and Crafts Store in
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Speaker 2: Northgate Shopping Center. It's a miracle no one was hurt
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Speaker 2: after the bullet cut a dime-sized hole in the display window,
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Speaker 2: nicked a light fixture, pierced two poster board signs, and
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Speaker 2: hit a metal rack holding rows of mini books at 5.20 p.m. Wednesday.
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Speaker 2: But the amazing thing is what the bullets stop next to.
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Speaker 2: The store's employees said a book called Inspiration for the
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Speaker 2: Heart from the Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. If
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Speaker 2: you were to open the book flap, you would read
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Speaker 2: a simple daily prayer from the heart can inspire you
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Speaker 2: to seek God's constant favor, power and protection. the bullet
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Speaker 2: has not been recovered. Ann Chapman had no idea that
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Speaker 2: she was that close to being shot. You and I
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Speaker 2: think we know what is best for ourselves when, in fact,
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Speaker 2: we do not. And sometimes when the Lord does come
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Speaker 2: on the scene, we are downright not only surprised but
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Speaker 2: shocked at how He says what He says and at
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Speaker 2: what He says. I came across this week two prophets
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Speaker 2: from the Old Testament to verify what I'm talking about.
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Speaker 2: The first one we're not familiar with at all, and
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Speaker 2: the other we're rather familiar with. So let's turn first
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Speaker 2: to the less familiar, Nahum, just between Micah and Habakkuk.
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Speaker 2: Doesn't help, does it? It's page 1437 in my Bible,
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Speaker 2: and It's the seventh of the Old Testament minor prophets.
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Speaker 2: If you're not familiar, that's okay. Most of us aren't
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Speaker 2: that familiar with the Old Testament minor prophets. Nahum chapter
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Speaker 2: 1 verse 3. I came across this this past week
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Speaker 2: and was reminded again of how surprising the presence of
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Speaker 2: God can be. Nahum 1 3. The Lord is slow
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Speaker 2: to anger and great in power. The Lord will by
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Speaker 2: no means leave the guilty unpunished. Now it's this part
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Speaker 2: that intrigues me. In whirlwind and storm is his way,
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Speaker 2: and clouds are the dust beneath his feet. Look closely,
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Speaker 2: put your finger on that last part of the third verse,
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Speaker 2: and notice he's referring to a strong man. wind, a
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Speaker 2: storm that may include thunder and lightning. And that which
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Speaker 2: frightens us and drives us away is often, in fact,
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Speaker 2: the reminder of the presence of God. One man writes,
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Speaker 2: the power and majesty of God are evidenced most dramatically
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Speaker 2: in the forces of nature. So I suggest the next
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Speaker 2: time lightning flashes and thunder rolls and the rain begins
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Speaker 2: to fall, rather than Slamming your door and closing everything
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Speaker 2: up and pulling the blinds and staying away from it
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Speaker 2: that you stand and stare. Remember that the clouds are
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Speaker 2: but the dust of his feet. God is there and
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Speaker 2: very present at times like that. When he gave the
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Speaker 2: law at Sinai, Moses writes that the mountain was surrounded
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Speaker 2: by thick, heavy clouds. There was thunder and there was lightning.
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Speaker 2: When Elijah stepped out of the cave in his depression
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Speaker 2: to see what was there, there was the passing of
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Speaker 2: a strong whirlwind that came by the cave. The same
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Speaker 2: happened with Ezekiel. When Jesus walked toward the disciples, frightened
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Speaker 2: in the boat on the Sea of Galilee, it was
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Speaker 2: in a time of storm that he stilled the storm
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Speaker 2: and spoke peaceful words to his disciples. I read where
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Speaker 2: Martin Luther, while pursuing a law degree as a young
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Speaker 2: man in Erfurt, Germany, was caught in a thunderous, lightning-stricken storm.
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Speaker 2: And the storm so humbled him, he realized he should
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Speaker 2: not be pursuing law. This was God's way of saying
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Speaker 2: to him, you need to pursue ministry. Now, every time
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Speaker 2: we're in a storm, that's not what the Lord is
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Speaker 2: saying to his people. But there was a sense of
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Speaker 2: God's presence in that frightening moment, and his heart became
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Speaker 2: unusually sensitive and tender. And aren't we all glad he
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Speaker 2: was not an attorney, but became a monk and ultimately
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Speaker 2: discovered what became for us the roots of a reformation.
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Speaker 2: God has his way in the whirlwind and the storm.
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Speaker 2: This is called a theophany. T-H-E-O-P-H-A-N-Y. Theophany. It's a disclosure
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Speaker 2: of God's presence. Theophany. Nahum says that God is present
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Speaker 2: in the storm, and in the midst of the storm,
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Speaker 2: he's having his way. Now, with that in mind, go
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Speaker 2: back to Isaiah. Isaiah is just before Jeremiah chapter 55
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Speaker 2: verse 6. I know we're in Job but we're moving
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Speaker 2: in that direction and just give me a moment to
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Speaker 2: set it up okay. Job speaks of some of this
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Speaker 2: at least the chapter we're looking at and I want
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Speaker 2: you to see something ahead of time. Isaiah 55, 6.
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Speaker 2: Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon
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Speaker 2: him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
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Speaker 2: and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to
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Speaker 2: the Lord. He will have compassion on him and to
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Speaker 2: our God, for he will abundantly pardon us. That part
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Speaker 2: we understand. The next part is so surprising. For my thoughts,
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Speaker 2: this is God speaking now. He steps in as Isaiah
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Speaker 2: continues to write. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither
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Speaker 2: are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. Well, are
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Speaker 2: they really that different? Are they really that far apart?
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Speaker 2: Verse 9, as the heavens are higher than the earth,
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Speaker 2: so are my ways higher than your ways and my
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Speaker 2: thoughts than your thoughts. As far as the distance between
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Speaker 2: heavens and earth, so is the distance between my thinking
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Speaker 2: and God's thinking, your ways and God's ways. If you
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Speaker 2: were raised like me, you were usually taught that God
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Speaker 2: speaks in a still small voice. that he comes tippy-toeing
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Speaker 2: on the scene, and he always sort of whispers. But
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Speaker 2: Nahum says he has his way in a whirlwind and
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Speaker 2: a storm, and the clouds are but the dust of
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Speaker 2: his feet. And when he does speak, what a surprising message.
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Speaker 2: Often it is a shaking of our shoulders in the storm.
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Speaker 2: Sometimes it is a reproof that levels us. We prefer
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Speaker 2: the quiet settings. We prefer the calm and peaceful surrounding.
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Speaker 2: But sometimes the storm is a doctor's report that's frightening.
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Speaker 2: Sometimes the storm message comes in a rehabilitation center or
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Speaker 2: in the emergency room or in a prison cell or
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Speaker 2: as we're standing on the other end of the room
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Speaker 2: and we're reading a note from our mate who says,
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Speaker 2: I cannot stay any longer, I'm gone. And we think
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Speaker 2: in moments like that, where is God? Where is God
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Speaker 2: when I need Him? He is there in the storm
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Speaker 2: and in the whirlwind. God's whirlwind messages are never forgotten.
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Speaker 2: Most of us could testify that our lives began to
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Speaker 2: be changed because of some reproof that came through some
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Speaker 2: Enormously significant event. Usually stormy. Now, Job 38 brings us
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Speaker 2: to the place we've been waiting for for some time.
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Speaker 2: Quite some time. Got a letter from one of the
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Speaker 2: men in our church this week. Good letter. He said,
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Speaker 2: I just want to thank you for Job, but could
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Speaker 2: we do something in another book that isn't quite so
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Speaker 2: character building, he said. He said, if my character gets
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Speaker 2: built anymore, I'll need to have another office space, another
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Speaker 2: room in my office to put some of this character
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Speaker 2: that's getting built. And he names one thing after another,
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Speaker 2: and it's like the wheels have come off the cart.
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Speaker 2: And so it has for Job. And adding insult to injury,
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Speaker 2: not only does Job lose his ability to make a living,
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Speaker 2: and along with that, his home and his entire family
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Speaker 2: of ten grown children, he now has lost his health,
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Speaker 2: and these So-called friends have come alongside to preach their
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Speaker 2: sermons and to deliver their messages, all of which are
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Speaker 2: off target and they don't help. And Job has stood
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Speaker 2: toe to toe with each one of them. Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar,
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Speaker 2: and lately Elihu. And by the time he gets to Elihu,
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Speaker 2: he just doesn't bother to answer. He is out of
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Speaker 2: energy and he is so determined that that he is
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Speaker 2: going to wait for God to speak. Well, God speaks.
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Speaker 2: In chapter 38, verse 1, the Lord answered, but he
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Speaker 2: doesn't tiptoe and say, psst, Job, it's me, God. He
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Speaker 2: comes in a whirlwind. As if Job doesn't have it
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Speaker 2: tough enough already, he's got to go through a whirlwind.
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Speaker 2: And in the midst of the whirlwind, as his hair
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Speaker 2: is blowing and his beard is blowing. No, he doesn't
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Speaker 2: have any hair. He's bald. As his beard is blowing
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Speaker 2: and as his clothes are being pulled off, he realizes
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Speaker 2: this must be some significant moment. And he hears the
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Speaker 2: voice he's been waiting to hear. But it isn't a
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Speaker 2: voice of comfort. Now, if you and I had come,
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Speaker 2: we would have come, hopefully, with comfort in mind. We'd
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Speaker 2: have brought Job something to read. We'd have maybe something
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Speaker 2: to eat. And we'd sit down with him. And Job, my,
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Speaker 2: it's tough. But God doesn't do that. Why? His ways
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Speaker 2: are higher than our ways. His thoughts different than our thoughts.
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Speaker 2: Remember that. Get out of your mind the.
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Speaker 3: Idea that God is just like us, just a lot older.
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Speaker 3: And God understands like we understand, but he just, you know,
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Speaker 3: he's been at it longer.
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Speaker 2: He's not this old man with long white hair blowing
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Speaker 2: wind from the north to make the boat sail across
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Speaker 2: the ocean. He is totally and completely and absolutely different
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Speaker 2: from us. Therefore, his ways are full of shocks and surprises.
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Speaker 2: The first word out of his mouth is a reproof.
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Speaker 2: Why would he do that? Here's a man covered with boils,
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Speaker 2: waiting for comfort and needing help, and along comes the
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Speaker 2: living God who has known the whole story from start
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Speaker 2: to finish. He doesn't give Job any answers to his questions.
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Speaker 2: He doesn't apologize for having been silent so long. He
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Speaker 2: doesn't give a hint about the whole thing between himself
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Speaker 2: and Satan way back when, when it all started. He
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Speaker 2: doesn't acknowledge that Job has been through deep struggles When
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Speaker 2: he finally speaks, he speaks in a reproof. Frankly, having
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Speaker 2: thought about this for some time, I think Job by
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Speaker 2: now has gotten in his defense a little arrogant. You
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Speaker 2: get like that when you defend yourself too long. When
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Speaker 2: you've had to stand against the attacks of the others,
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Speaker 2: you tend to get a little cocksure. And God is
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Speaker 2: going to communicate a number of things to Job, but
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Speaker 2: he has to get his heart right to begin with.
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Speaker 2: And does he do that? He comes with a clipboard
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Speaker 2: full of questions. His opening line is, Who is this
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Speaker 2: that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now you've got
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Speaker 2: to understand there's not a whole group of people standing there,
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Speaker 2: it's just Job and God. So who is a pretty
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Speaker 2: simple answer. Now Gird up your loins like a man.
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Speaker 2: It's singular. He's not talking to the friends. He's talking
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Speaker 2: to Job. Gird up your loins like a man. I
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Speaker 2: will ask you and you instruct me. And he starts.
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Speaker 2: He begins with the creation of the world. He moves
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Speaker 2: to the stellar spaces, to the deepest seas. He goes
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Speaker 2: ultimately into the animal kingdom. One question after another, after another.
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Speaker 2: The first set of questions ask, Can you explain my creation?
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Speaker 2: Let's even add control it. Can you explain or control
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Speaker 2: my creation? Just answer the question, Job. And that ends
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Speaker 2: with a statement of humility when Job answers in verses 3, 4,
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Speaker 2: and 5 of chapter 40. God isn't through. The next
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Speaker 2: set of questions ask, can you change or subdue my creation?
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Speaker 2: And that's ended with Job's answer of repentance. We'll look
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Speaker 2: at that. some time from now. But right now, let's
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Speaker 2: think about this first set of questions, which was answered
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Speaker 2: with humility, thankfully. Now watch closely. He begins with the creation.
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Speaker 2: Verse 4, chapter 38. Where were you when I laid
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Speaker 2: the foundation of the earth? Well, obviously, he wasn't anywhere around.
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Speaker 2: All of us were gone at that time. Tell me
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Speaker 2: if you have any understanding. Who said it's measurements? He
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Speaker 2: doesn't know that answer. No one knows how the Earth
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Speaker 2: is measured or the universe about us or the multiple
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Speaker 2: galaxies beyond that. Who set its measurements? Since you know.
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Speaker 2: Or who stretched the line on it? On what were
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Speaker 2: its bases sunk? Who laid its cornerstone? How did all
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Speaker 2: of this get flung into space? When the morning stars
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Speaker 2: sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
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Speaker 2: That's a reference to the first stars. Those morning stars
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Speaker 2: sang together. Perhaps at creation time, The stars could sing.
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Speaker 2: Maybe it's poetic writing, and it doesn't literally mean singing,
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Speaker 2: but again, maybe the heavens were in harmony with one another.
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Speaker 2: We don't know. We weren't there. Writing this account, he
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Speaker 2: refers to the morning stars singing together. Maybe they were
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Speaker 2: the angels as they sang at the time of creation.
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Speaker 2: These angelic creatures were witnessing all of this with open mouths,
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Speaker 2: staring with this incredulous look about them. And then he
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Speaker 2: moves to the sea. Who enclosed the sea with doors?
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Speaker 2: When bursting forth, it went out from the womb. This
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Speaker 2: is poetic. When I made a cloud, its garment and
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Speaker 2: thick darkness, its swaddling band, and I placed boundaries on it,
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Speaker 2: I set a bolt and doors, and I said, Thus
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Speaker 2: far you shall come, but no farther, and here shall
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Speaker 2: your proud waves stop. Could you do that, Job? Were
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Speaker 2: you there when that happened, Job? Have you ever in
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Speaker 2: your life commanded the morning and caused the dawn to
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Speaker 2: know its place? Now he moves to the sun, this
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Speaker 2: greater light by day, that it might take hold of
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Speaker 2: the ends of the earth and the wicked be shaken
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Speaker 2: out of it. Verse 16, have you entered into the
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Speaker 2: springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of
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Speaker 2: the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
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Speaker 2: Have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you
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Speaker 2: understood the expanse of the earth? Tell me if you
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Speaker 2: know all this. Quite a set of questions, isn't it?
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Speaker 2: You know what happens when you're asked questions like this?
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Speaker 2: You get even more silent. You're already silent, but you...
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Speaker 2: As he says at the end, he puts his hand
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Speaker 2: over his mouth, lest he be tempted to give one answer.
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Speaker 2: You are silent. Totally out of it. It's like a classroom.
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Speaker 2: And the prof is way ahead of you. And you
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Speaker 2: duck behind the head of the person in front of
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Speaker 2: you so the prof can't see you've done it. You're there.
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Speaker 2: And then he begins to ask questions. And you know
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Speaker 2: you're outclassed. Not only do you not know, you are
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Speaker 2: aware that others know you don't know. So you are
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Speaker 2: doubly silent. And yet God goes on. The expanses of
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Speaker 2: the sea. In my research, it may be dated, but
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Speaker 2: the book I read talked about the deepest place of
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Speaker 2: the sea has been revealed to be 6.78 miles. There
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Speaker 2: may be deeper places, but at that point, that particular
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Speaker 2: authority said we've come a little over six and three
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Speaker 2: quarter miles deep in the deepest place of the sea.
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Speaker 2: And how about the stellar spaces? You may remember one
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Speaker 2: of our space probes spent 12 years going 4.4 billion miles,
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Speaker 2: passing within 3,000 miles of Neptune's cloud bank. But that's
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Speaker 2: only in this immediate galaxy. There are millions more. Who
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Speaker 2: knows but what ours is the smallest of the group.
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Speaker 2: It's mind-boggling. It makes you quiet. So he carries him
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Speaker 2: to the telescopes and then he takes him back to
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Speaker 2: Earth and he invites him to visit the darkness. 19
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Speaker 2: through 21. And then he says in 22, have you
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Speaker 2: entered the storehouses of the snow? Have you seen the
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Speaker 2: storehouses of the hail? What a poetic way to put it.
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Speaker 2: all of the heavens that hold the waters that will
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Speaker 2: drench the earth and the ice that will fall and
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Speaker 2: will form and the hailstorms yet to come. And he
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Speaker 2: said he's reserved those for a time of distress. I mean,
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Speaker 2: Job is just standing there. Suddenly the boils don't seem
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Speaker 2: quite as significant. And the answers he was giving his
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Speaker 2: friends with such dogmatism don't flow with such eloquence anymore.
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Speaker 2: He even asks him to, verse 31, can you bind
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Speaker 2: the chains of the Pleiades? Now he's describing some of
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Speaker 2: the constellations. Or loose the cords of Orion. Can you
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Speaker 2: lead forth a constellation in its season and guide the
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Speaker 2: bear with her satellites, another of the star formations? in
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Speaker 2: the shape of a bear. Many of you are familiar
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Speaker 2: with that. Do you know the ordinances of the heavens
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Speaker 2: or fix their rule over the earth? It's like being
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Speaker 2: invited to one of these great telescopes and you take
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Speaker 2: a look and you blink and you watch this entire
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Speaker 2: world beyond our present familiar surface. You don't turn and
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Speaker 2: start instructing the person who runs the place. You stuff
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Speaker 2: your hands in your pockets and sort of walk backwards
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Speaker 2: to get out of the place. It is enormous. It's
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Speaker 2: especially enormous because the one who could answer every question
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Speaker 2: is talking to him and was there and has put
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Speaker 2: them in motion and keeps them in motion. Who, how,
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Speaker 2: can you, do you, will you, are you? If God's
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Speaker 2: ways are higher than mine, then whatever he allows, I
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Speaker 2: bow in submission. And that makes me humble. How needed
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Speaker 2: a humble spirit is in a person like Job.
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Speaker 1: If God's ways are truly higher than ours, higher than
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Speaker 1: the heavens are above the earth, then perhaps the wisest
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Speaker 1: posture is to simply bow down in humble submission, to
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Speaker 1: stop instructing and start listening. So here's the bottom line
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Speaker 1: question that Chuck Swindoll has invited us to ponder. Where
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Speaker 1: is God inviting us to trade our questions for trust? When,
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Speaker 1: like Job, we're sitting in an ash heap, suffering from
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Speaker 1: physical ailments or reeling from the insensitive input from family
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Speaker 1: and friends, it causes us to second-guess God's presence. Does
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Speaker 1: He even know what we're going through? That's the question
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Speaker 1: Chuck answers in a book he's written. It's called Finding
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Speaker 1: God When the World's on Fire, and it's our featured
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Speaker 1: resource today on Insight for Living. Maybe you're feeling discouraged today.
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Speaker 1: Perhaps you've suffered through a sequence of unwanted surprises. Nothing
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Speaker 1: seems to quell your confusion or alleviate your fears, and
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Speaker 1: God feels very, very far away. Chuck's book, Finding God
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Speaker 1: When the World's on Fire, was written exactly for that moment.
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Speaker 1: We'd love to send you a copy today. It's yours
26:12
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Speaker 1: this book will be a gift to your soul. Again,
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Speaker 1: it's called Finding God When the World's on Fire. Call
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Speaker 1: us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org slash donate. Thanks
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Speaker 1: Or call us at 800-772-8888. Online, go to insight.org slash donate.
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Speaker 1: What does it really mean to surrender our will to God?
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Speaker 1: I'm Bill Meyer. Chuck Swindoll presents a biblical answer Thursday
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Speaker 1: on Insight for Living. The preceding message, A Penetrating Reproof
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Speaker 1: from the Almighty, was copyrighted in 2002, 2004, and 2025,
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Speaker 1: and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
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Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited.