Latest / Faith by annm2705 / 904. Bible Study: Job 11-14 (Another Friend isn't helpful, Job responds!)

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904. Bible Study: Job 11-14 (Another Friend isn't helpful, Job responds!) · Faith by annm2705

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  Job Chapter 11 and probably 12. So in Chapter 11, Zophar the
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  Namathite, one of Job's friends, he then speaks.
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  So first let's pray. Dear Lord, please let us
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  understand and comprehend what we read here in the book of Job.
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  We ask for wisdom from the Holy Spirit so that we can understand
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  what you want to communicate to us.
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  We ask this in Jesus name, Amen. So I guess just before Zophar
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  Job had replied in chapters 9 and 10 and now one of his
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  friends is replying. So I will read through what it
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  says. I'll read both chapters and then
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  go through the questions and answers in the study Bible.
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  So then so far Zophar the Namathite replied.
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  Are all these words to go unanswered?
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  Is this talker to be vindicated? Will your idle talk reduce
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  others to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you
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  mock? He's not really very supportive
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  of Job. We can obviously see then verse
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  four, he says, you say to God, my beliefs are flawless and I am
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  pure in your sight. Oh, how I wish that God would
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  speak that he would open his lips against you and disclose to
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  you the secrets of wisdom. For true, true wisdom has two
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  sides. So know this, God has even
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  forgotten some of your sin. So he seems to be really in
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  disbelief that Job doesn't recognize or doesn't say that he
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  has any sin that's causing this. Then he says, can you fathom the
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  mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the
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  Almighty? Now he's getting kind of
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  sarcastic. They are higher than the heavens
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  above, what can you do? They are deeper than the depths
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  below, what can you know? Their measure is longer than the
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  earth and wider than the sea. If he comes along and confines
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  you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him?
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  Surely he recognizes deceivers. And when he sees evil, does he
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  not take note? But the witless can no more
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  become wise than a donkey's colt can be born human, in other
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  words. But the But an idiot can no more
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  become wise than a donkey's colt can be born human.
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  Not really supportive friends here.
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  Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands
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  to Him, and if you put away the sin that is in your hand and
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  allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then free of fault you
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  will lift up your face. You will stand firm and without
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  fear. You will surely forget your
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  trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.
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  Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will
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  become like morning. You will be secure because there
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  is hope. You will look about you, will
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  look about you and take your rest in safety.
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  You will lie down with no one to make you afraid, and many will
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  court your favor, but the eyes of the wicked will fail and
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  escape will elude them. Their hope will become a dying
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  gasp. Well, some of this part is kind
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  of true, but it's just that it's not applicable to Job's
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  circumstances. You know, if because God always
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  says if we repent, then you know we will, these other things will
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  happen. So that's kind of what so far is
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  saying that basically if you repent, then you will like live
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  in safety and things will be brighter and all this like he's
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  giving him hope and safety and courage is all, all of the
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  results of him repenting. But he's just not accurate about
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  what's happening. And we wouldn't know either if
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  we were there. We only know because we read
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  chapters one and two and they didn't have that to read.
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  But then he says, you know that, you know, if you repent and you
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  get right with God, then everything will go well with
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  you. And that's not true either.
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  I mean, pretty much Job is the book of Job is an example of
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  that. But throughout the Bible, it,
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  you know, there are times where people are in safety and it does
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  seem like sin does cause a lot of that to happen.
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  But and as I've looked through the Bible, like, I guess I could
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  sound just like one of Job's friends, but it does seem like
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  that's the result of many things is sin, except for the book of
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  Job, where it's just a righteous person can be tested by God and
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  it's comes through something evil that is trying to, you
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  know, either test somebody or destroy somebody.
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  And and then this last verse where it says, but the eyes of
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  the wicked will fail and escape will elude them and their hope
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  will become a dying gasp. That's not always immediate.
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  Eventually that will become true.
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  And just like take your rest and safety.
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  Just because someone is right with God doesn't mean that they
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  will always be in safety because of the evil in the world.
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  So there can be, but we also can trust God and protection, and
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  there are times where God can do something supernaturally where
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  people are protected That it There's just no way that it
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  would be possible if it wasn't for God.
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  But in the Millennium after Jesus returns, when he rules
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  here on earth as King, that's when people will be able to be
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  in safety. But until then, I think it's
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  kind of iffy. We may or we may not, but the
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  one thing that we can do is always depend on God and know
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  that God will work it all out and always keep an internal
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  perspective because the hardships that we face here are,
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  you know, for a brief moment when you think about when you
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  compare it to eternity, the time that we have here.
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  So then I'll go into chapter 12. Job replies.
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  Now, doubtless you are the only person who doubtless you are the
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  only people who matter. And Wisdom will die with you.
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  So now Job's getting really sarcastic.
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  Like, yeah, you guys, you guys think you're the wisest guys and
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  you're the only ones. And as soon as you die, Wisdom's
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  gone now, he says. But I have a mind as well as
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  you. I am not inferior to you who
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  does not know all these things. I have become a laughingstock to
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  my friends, though I called on God, and he answered a mere
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  laughingstock, though righteous and blameless.
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  Those who are at ease have contempt for misfortune as fate
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  of those whose feet are slipping.
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  The tents of the marauders are undisturbed, and those who
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  provoke God are secure. Those God has in His hand.
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  But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in
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  the sky, and they will tell you, Or speak to the earth, and it
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  will teach you. Or let the fish in the sea
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  inform you. Which of these does not know
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  that the hand of the Lord has done this?
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  In His hand is the life of every creature in the breath of all
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  mankind. Does not the ear test words as
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  the tongue taste food? Is not wisdom found among the
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  aged? Does not long life bring
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  understanding to God belong? Wisdom and power, counsel and
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  understanding are his. What he tears down cannot be
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  rebuilt. Those he imprisons cannot be
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  released. If he holds back waters, there
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  is drought. If he lets them loose, they
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  devastate the land. To him belong strength and
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  insight. Both deceived and deceiver are
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  his. He leads rulers away stripped,
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  and makes fools of judges. He takes off the shackles put on
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  by kings and ties a loincloth around their waist.
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  He leads priests away stripped, and overthrows officials long as
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  long established. He silences the lips of trusted
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  advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.
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  He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
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  He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter
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  darkness into the light. He makes nations great and
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  destroys them. He enlarges nations and
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  disperses them. He deprives the leaders of Earth
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  of their reason. He makes them wander in a
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  trackless waste. They grope in darkness with no
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  light. He makes them stagger like
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  drunkards. So that's the end of chapter 12,
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  and I'm wondering if I should. I'll read the questions and
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  answers for this and I might keep going depending on how long
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  this takes to do questions and answers.
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  So from the study Bible, did Zofar think Job might vindicate
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  himself? Zofar wasn't worried that Job
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  might be proven innocent of the charge of sin levelled against
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  him. He simply didn't want Job's
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  latest words to go unchallenged. He couldn't imagine that Job was
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  the was being honest with himself.
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  Zofar regarded Job's protest of innocence as pure mockery.
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  Does God forget our sins? Nothing escapes God.
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  He sees all sins and injustices in the world.
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  Zofar, however, seems to have been sarcastically implying that
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  Job's punishment would have been much worse if God had not
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  forgotten some of his sins. In reality, though, God does not
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  forget. As we understand forgetfulness.
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  He chooses not to remember our sins and to mercifully wipe the
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  slate clean. Why did Zofar accuse Job of
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  claiming to understand God? Zofar continued to misinterpret
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  what Job said. Job did not claim to be able to
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  fathom the depths of God's mind. He knew that humanity could
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  never comprehend the purposes of God.
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  Job only sought an answer as to why he was suffering.
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  Did Zohar think Job's troubles would go away?
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  Zohar erroneously and arrogantly suggested that if Job repented,
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  all his suffering would end. He assumed he knew the reasons
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  for Job's suffering and his limited knowledge caused him to
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  be simplistic in his solution. Now we let's see in chapter 12
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  was Job being sarcastic? Yes, he was fed up with Zofar's
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  attacks on on him concerning his sins and lack of wisdom.
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  After being called witless, Job rose up to defend himself using
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  both sarcasm and logic. He was an Intel.
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  He was as intelligent as Zofar and obviously Zofar did not have
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  a corner on wisdom. You are the only people means
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  the only people who count in their estimation of things.
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  How had Job become a laughingstock?
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  Job suffered ridicule because of his horrendous personal losses.
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  The assumption was that he suffered because of sin.
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  In those days, the basic theology was that God blessed
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  the righteous and cursed the wicked.
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  Job never wavered, however. He maintained his innocence
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  throughout. How could Job claim to be
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  righteous and blameless? He was not claiming absolute
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  perfection on par with God's holiness.
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  But the general tenor of his life pleased God, and his claim
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  of righteousness was validated by God in chapter 1.
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  Even after calamity struck, Job worshipped God.
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  He did not sin by cursing God for what had happened to him.
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  What did Job say? Creatures of the earth teach us.
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  We learn from these elements of creation that we are totally
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  dependent on God and that He is free to do as He pleases with
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  His creation. Why did Job ask rhetorical
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  questions? Rhetorical questions are the
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  normal fare of skillful debaters.
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  They contain irony and sometimes sarcasm.
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  Why is God unpredictable? Because he is God, and we are
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  human beings with limited understanding.
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  As Job groped for some resolution to his dilemma, he
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  could find no integrating principle.
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  Even so, people who have faith in a sovereign God hold to the
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  belief that God knows what he's doing as he works out the
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  details of his purposes and his plan.
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  A lot of what was in chapter 12 is basically saying, you know,
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  God is in control of all of this.
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  He's he's in charge of the waters.
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  If there's, he holds the waters back.
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  If there is a drought, I mean, he controls the weather.
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  He does all of this. So we have only been about 13
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  minutes so far. So I'm going to go ahead.
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  Job is continuing to speak in chapters 13 and 14, so I will
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  read those two with the questions and answers.
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  So this is Job continuing to speak.
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  My eyes have seen all this. My ears have heard and
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  understood it. What you know, I also know I am
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  not inferior to you, but I desire to speak to the Almighty
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  and to argue my case with God. You, however, smear me with
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  lies. You are worthless physicians,
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  all of you. If only you would altogether,
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  you would be altogether silent. For you that would be wisdom.
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  Here, now, my my argument. Listen to the pleas of my lips.
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  Will you speak wickedly on God's behalf?
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  Will you speak deceitfully for Him?
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  Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God?
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  Would it turn out well if he examine you?
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  Could you deceive him as you might deceive a mortal, he would
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  surely call you to account. If you secretly showed
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  partiality, would not as splendor terrify you?
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  Would not the dread of him fall on you?
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  Your maxims are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are
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  defenses of clay. Keep silent and let me speak
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  then. Let then let come to me what
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  may. Why do I put myself in jeopardy
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  and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet I will
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  hope in him. I will surely defend my ways to
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  his face. Indeed, this will turn out for
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  my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before
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  him. Listen carefully to what I say.
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  Let my words ring in your ears. Now that I have prepared my
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  case, I know I will be vindicated.
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  Can anyone bring charges against me?
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  If so, I will will be silent and die.
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  Only grant me these two things, God, and then I will not hide
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  from you. Withdraw your hand far from me
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  and stop frightening me with your terrors.
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  Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak and you
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  reply to me. How many wrongs and sins have I
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  committed? Show me my offense and my sin.
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  Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?
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  Will you torment A windblown leaf?
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  Will you chase after dry chaff? For you write down bitter things
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  against me, and make me reap the sins of my youth.
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  You fasten my sheet and shackles.
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  You keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the
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  soles of my feet. So man waste away like something
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  rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.
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  That's the end of chapter 13. So I'll read the questions and
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  answers for that. Is it presumptuous to want an
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  audience with God? Not at all.
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  That is the essence of prayer. Prayer is communication.
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  It is our immediate access to God, and it should include our
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  appeals as well as our worship. Because we desire answers to our
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  why questions, we confess our ignorance and ask God for his
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  enlightenment. Of course, it is presumptuous on
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  our part if our purpose is to prove that we are right and God
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  is wrong. Was Job telling his friends to
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  be quiet? Yes.
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  Sometimes just sitting with someone who is suffering is what
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  matters. Presence mean much, means much,
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  while explanation seems empty. Just listening can be an act of
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  love, and Job needed his friends to help him endure.
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  He needed their strength and comfort, not their well meaning
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  attempts to offer reasons for his suffering.
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  In what way was Job laying his life on the line?
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  Job realized that any confrontation with the Almighty
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  carried considerable risk. Suppose he pled his case and
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  lost. Would God punish him further?
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  Job has such an exalted view of God that he knew he was treading
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  on dangerous ground. Did Job believe God would kill
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  him? Probably not.
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  Job was a realist who professed his hope in God no matter what
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  the outcome. Death comes to all, but death is
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  no reason to abandon hope in God.
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  Job trusted God because he recognized God's control over
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  every detail of his life. Did God grant Job's request?
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  Job's argument adopted A courtroom stance.
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  He appealed to God as his judge and made two requests, the
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  removal of a heavy hand from him and the end of God's frightening
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  terrors. Obviously he hoped for a quick
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  end to his suffering, but he received no such assurance from
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  God. In that sense, his requests were
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  not granted immediately. In due course, however, they
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  were. Does God torment people?
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  No. However, sinners under the Holy
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  Spirit's conviction often believe God is hounding them in
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  the end. When they confess their sins and
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  see their offenses against God, they are often frightened of the
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  consequences. In this case, Job did not think
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  the sins committed in his youth merited such treatment.
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  Why did Job think God was focusing on his sins?
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  Job saw himself under God's indictment because he has
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  suffered so much. Job thought that God must have
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  had a huge charge against him. It's easy when under judgement
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  to think the judge has forgotten all the good things and picked
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  out only the bad things. Job thought God was unfair to
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  make such a fuss over his youthful follies.
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  How were the souls of Job's feet marked?
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  Some think ancient slave owners branded their names on the feet
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  of their slaves. Others believe this has a more
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  generic meaning of examining my footprints, that God was
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  tracking Job's footprints to see where he went.
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  Either way, Job felt like he couldn't escape God.
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  So, Chapter 14 Mortals born of women are but a few days and
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  full of trouble. This is Job continued,
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  continuing to talk. They spring up like flowers and
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  wither away like fleeting shadows.
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  They do not endure. Do you fix your eyes on them?
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  Will you bring them before you for judgement?
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  Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
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  No one a persons days are determined.
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  You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits
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  he cannot exceed, So look away from him and let him alone till
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  he is put in his time like a hired laborer.
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  At least there is hope for a tree.
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  If it is cut down it will sprout again.
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  It's new shoots will not fail. It's roots may grow old in the
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  ground, and it's stump die in the soil.
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  Yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots
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  like a plant. But a man dies and is laid low
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  his he breathes his last and is no more.
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  As the water of a lake dries up on a riverbed, or a riverbed
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  becomes parched and dry, so he lies down and does not rise till
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  the heavens are no more. More people will not awake or be
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  roused from their sleep. If only you would hide me in the
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  grave, and conceal me till your anger has passed.
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  If only you would set a time, and then Remember Me.
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  If someone dies, will they live again all the days of my hard
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  service? I will wait for my renewal to
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  come. You will call and I will answer
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  you. You will long for the creature
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  your hands have made. Surely then you will count my
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  steps but not keep track of my sin.
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  My offenses will be sealed up in a bag, and you will cover over
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  my sin. But as a mountain erodes and
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  crumbles, and as a rock is moved from its place, as water wears
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  away, stones and torrents wash away the soil.
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  You So you destroy a person's hope.
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  You overpower them once for all, and they are gone.
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  You change their countenance and send them away.
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  If their children are honored, they do not know it.
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  If their offspring are brought low, they do not see it, but
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  they feel the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for
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  themselves. And that's the end of chapter
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  14. So here are a few questions and
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  answers. And then that will conclude
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  because then another one of Job's friends, the first one
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  Illa Fez, is going to speak in chapter 15.
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  So what are man's limits? The Bible presents God as
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  sovereign, controlling the destiny of all humanity when it
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  comes to moral choices. Some say even those.
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  Even those are determined. However, the prophets, Jesus,
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  and the apostles all appealed to people to make a choice to
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  repent of sin and exercise faith.
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  Of course, God creates the boundaries within which these
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  choices are made. Didn't Job believe in the
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  afterlife? Actually, Job had great
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  confidence in the reality of afterlife in chapter 19, verses
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  26 through 27. But he also knew that death is
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  the last enemy and that once you die, you can't come back to this
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  life again. Hebrews 927.
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  So he spoke eloquently here of the finality of death in a
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  fallen world. What renewal did Job anticipate?
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  Release or relief? In his depression, Job could not
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  be consoled, so he went on asking for protection or relief
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  from his suffering. How much did Job understand
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  about the forgiveness of sin? Ever since Cain and Abel, people
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  have understood the basic idea of substitutionary atonement,
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  that for you to live, something must die in your place.
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  That was the purpose of sacrifices for sin, which were
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  effectively only were effective only when made in faith.
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  Job had even offered sacrifices for the forgiveness of his
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  children's sin, and his speeches throughout the book show that he
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  understood forgiveness very well.
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  But like any Old Testament character, he knew little about
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  how Christ would die for our sins.
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  And that concludes chapters up through chapter 14.
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  Next time we'll come back for 15.
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  So if if you're not subscribed, please do so.
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  Thank you.