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The Story of Job – You Need to See the Hardest Divine Trial a Man Has Ever Endured · truthunedited

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Speaker 1: Imagine a scene that challenges your understanding of faith, justice,
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Speaker 1: and perseverance. A man loses absolutely everything in a single day,
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Speaker 1: his children, his wealth, and his social status. Soon after,
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Speaker 1: he is struck by a devastating disease that covers his
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Speaker 1: body with sores. His friends who came to comfort him
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Speaker 1: turn into accusers. His own wife suggests that he curse,
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Speaker 1: guard and die. Amidst all this devastation, this man holds
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Speaker 1: on to his integrity and faith, even as he deeply
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Speaker 1: questions the meaning of his suffering. This is not a
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Speaker 1: fictional story. It is the real life drama of Job,
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Speaker 1: a narrative that has intrigued philosophers, theologians, and ordinary people
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Speaker 1: for millennia, raising fundamental questions about the purpose of suffering,
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Speaker 1: the nature of faith, and the limits of human understanding
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Speaker 1: of divine ways. In its forty two chapters, the Book
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Speaker 1: of Job takes us on an extraordinary journey that challenges
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Speaker 1: our conceptions of justice, presents profound philosophical debates, and culminates
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Speaker 1: in a transformative encounter with the divine. Our story begins
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Speaker 1: in a land called Ouz, a region believed by scholars
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Speaker 1: to have been east of Israel, near ancient edom. It
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Speaker 1: was an area known for its agricultural wealth and important
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Speaker 1: trade routes, where caravans regularly pass through carrying valuable goods.
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Speaker 1: In this place lived a man named Job, who, as
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Speaker 1: shown in Chapter one, verse one, was a man of
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Speaker 1: integrity and uprightness, who feared God and turned away from evil.
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Speaker 1: This description was not merely praise, but a powerful testimony
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Speaker 1: to his exceptional character. In an era where idolatry and
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Speaker 1: injustice were common, Job's wealth was truly extraordinary. In Job
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Speaker 1: Chapter one, verses two and three, the Bible presents an
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Speaker 1: impressive inventory of his possessions. He had seven sons and
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Speaker 1: three daughters. He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels,
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Speaker 1: five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and many servants.
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Speaker 1: To grasp the magnitude of this wealth, it is important
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Speaker 1: to understand that each yoke of oxen consisted of two
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Speaker 1: animals working together, meaning he had a thousand oxen in total.
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Speaker 1: Camels were especially valuable, used for long distance trade and
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Speaker 1: considered symbols of prosperity. Sheep provided wool, meat and dairy products,
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Speaker 1: while donkeys were essential for local transport and agricultural work.
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Speaker 1: The Bible tells us he was the greatest man among
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Speaker 1: all the people of the East, an impressive title considering
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Speaker 1: the wealth of many merchants and rulers of the region.
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Speaker 1: But what truly set Job apart was his exemplary family
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Speaker 1: and spiritual life. In Chapter one, verses four and five,
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Speaker 1: we see a beautiful portrait of family harmony. His sons
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Speaker 1: used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays,
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Speaker 1: and they would invite their three sisters to eat and
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Speaker 1: drink with them. These feasts were not just ordinary celebrations,
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Speaker 1: but expressions of the family unity that Job had cultivated.
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Speaker 1: As a devoted father and a man who feared God,
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Speaker 1: he went beyond simply approving these gatherings. The Bible tells us,
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Speaker 1: early in the morning, he would sacrifice a burnt offering
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Speaker 1: for each of them, thinking, perhaps my children have sinned
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Speaker 1: and cursed God in their hearts. This regular practice demonstrated
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Speaker 1: not only his concern for the spiritual well being of
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Speaker 1: his children, but also his deep understanding of God's holiness
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Speaker 1: and the importance of family intercession. The narrative takes a
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Speaker 1: dramatic turn when, as described in Chapter one, verse six,
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Speaker 1: a heavenly assembly occurs. One day, thels came to present
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Speaker 1: themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.
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Speaker 1: This extraordinary scene offers us a glimpse into the spiritual realm,
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Speaker 1: where celestial beings stand before God's throne. During this assembly,
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Speaker 1: it is God himself who draws attention to Job's faithfulness.
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Speaker 1: In verse eight, God declares, with approval, have you considered
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Speaker 1: my servant Job. There is no one on earth like him.
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Speaker 1: He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God
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Speaker 1: and shuns evil. This divine statement provokes a cynical response
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Speaker 1: from Satan, who questions the true nature of Job's faith.
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Speaker 1: In verses nine to eleven, he presents an argument that
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Speaker 1: still resonates today. Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied,
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Speaker 1: Have you not put a hedge around him and his
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Speaker 1: household and everything he has? You have blessed the work
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Speaker 1: of his hands so that his flocks and herds are
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Speaker 1: spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and
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Speaker 1: strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you
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Speaker 1: to your face. This accusation implies that Job's faith was
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Speaker 1: purely self serving, based on the blessings he received. God
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Speaker 1: then allows a test, but with one crucial condition described
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Speaker 1: in verse twelve. Very well, then everything he has is
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Speaker 1: in your power, but on the man himself, do not
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Speaker 1: lay a finger. What follows is a devastating series of losses,
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Speaker 1: all occurring on the same day, as reported in Chapter one,
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Speaker 1: verses fourteen to nineteen. Four messengers arrive successively, each bringing
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Speaker 1: more terrible news than the last. The first announces that
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Speaker 1: the Sabeans attacked, seizing the oxen and donkeys and killing
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Speaker 1: the servants guarding them. Before he could process this loss,
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Speaker 1: a second messenger reports that fire fell from the sky,
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Speaker 1: consuming the sheep and the shepherd's The third brings news
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Speaker 1: that the Chaldeans in three bands raided and took all
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Speaker 1: the camels, killing more servants. Finally, the most devastating news arrives.
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Speaker 1: A powerful wind storm struck the house where his children
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Speaker 1: were feasting, collapsing it and killing them all. Job's reaction
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Speaker 1: to this series of tragedies is one of the most
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Speaker 1: memorable moments in the Bible. In verse twenty, we read
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Speaker 1: at this Job got up and tore his robe and
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Speaker 1: shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship.
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Speaker 1: Each of these actions was a cultural expression of profound mourning.
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Speaker 1: But what is extraordinary is that in the midst of
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Speaker 1: his extreme grief, Job worship's God. His words recorded in
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Speaker 1: verses twenty one and twenty two have become an eternal
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Speaker 1: testimony of true faith. Naked I came from my mother's womb,
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Speaker 1: and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the
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Speaker 1: Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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Speaker 1: But the trials did not end there. In chapter two,
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Speaker 1: a second heavenly assembly takes place, where Satan, dissatisfied with
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Speaker 1: the outcome of the first test argues that Job only
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Speaker 1: maintained his faith because his health was preserved. Skin for skin, yes,
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Speaker 1: all that a man has, he will give for his life.
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Speaker 1: But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone
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Speaker 1: and his flesh, and he will surely curse you to
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Speaker 1: your face with new divine permission. But with the command
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Speaker 1: to spare his life. Satan afflicts Job with painful sores
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Speaker 1: from head to toe to Job's physical suffering is vividly
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Speaker 1: described in chapter two, verse eight, we read Job took
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Speaker 1: a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself with, and
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Speaker 1: he sat among the ashes. This powerful image portrays his
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Speaker 1: miserable condition, sitting in ashes, a symbol of mourning and affliction,
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Speaker 1: using a shard of pottery to sk scratch his painful sores.
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Speaker 1: Even his wife, witnessing his torments, succumbs to despair. In
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Speaker 1: verse nine, she says, do you still hold fast to
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Speaker 1: your integrity? Curse God and die? But even at this moment,
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Speaker 1: Job retains his wisdom and faith, replying in verse ten,
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Speaker 1: you speak, as one of the foolish women speaks, shall
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Speaker 1: we indeed accept good from God? And shall we not
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Speaker 1: accept adversity? At this point Job's three friends, Eliphaz, the Temanite,
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Speaker 1: Bildad the shoe Height, and so Far the Namathite, arrived
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Speaker 1: to comfort him. Their initial reaction, described in chapter two,
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Speaker 1: verse thirteen, is deeply moving. They sat down with him
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Speaker 1: on the ground for seven days and seven nights. No
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Speaker 1: one said a word to him, because they saw how
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Speaker 1: great his suffering was. This initial silence was an appropriate
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Speaker 1: expression of empathy for such profound grief. However, after the
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Speaker 1: seven days, in chapter three, Job finally breaks the silence
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Speaker 1: with a heart wrenching lament. He curses the day of
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Speaker 1: his birth, wishing he had never come into existence, may
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Speaker 1: the day of my birth perish, and the knight that
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Speaker 1: said a boy is conceived. This deep lament reveals the
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Speaker 1: intensity of his anguish, though it still does not constitute
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Speaker 1: a sin against God. Beginning in chapter four, the dialogues
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Speaker 1: with his friends commence, starting with Eliphas. His message, though
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Speaker 1: well intentioned, reflects a simplistic theology of cause and effect.
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Speaker 1: He suggests that Job's suffering must be the result of
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Speaker 1: some sin, based on the belief that God always rewards
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Speaker 1: the righteous and immediately punishes the wicked. In chapters five
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Speaker 1: and six we see the first debate between Job and Eliphas,
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Speaker 1: where Job defends his integrity and expresses frustration with the
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Speaker 1: shallow comfort he is receiving. After hearing Eliphaz's harsh words,
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Speaker 1: Job continues his response with a deeply moving description of
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Speaker 1: the human condition. In chapter seven, verses one to three,
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Speaker 1: he uses a powerful comparison that every one could understand.
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Speaker 1: Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not
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Speaker 1: his days like those of a hired laborer, like a
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Speaker 1: slave longing for the shade, or a hired worker waiting
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Speaker 1: for his wages. So I have been allotted months of
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Speaker 1: futility and knights of misery have been assigned to me.
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Speaker 1: This analogy of a laborer was especially meaningful in a
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Speaker 1: society where hard physical labor was the reality for most people.
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Speaker 1: Job suffering intensifies, especially during the long hours of the night,
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Speaker 1: as he describes agonizingly in chapter seven verses three and four.
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Speaker 1: When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise?
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Speaker 1: But the night is long, and I am full of
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Speaker 1: tossing till thee dawn. Any One who has experienced sleepless
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Speaker 1: nights can relate to this description, but in Job's case,
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Speaker 1: it is worsened by his terrible physical condition. In verse five,
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Speaker 1: he vividly depicts his state. My body is clothed with
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Speaker 1: worms and scabs. My skin is broken and festering. This
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Speaker 1: graphic betrayal helps us understand the extent of his physical suffering.
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Speaker 1: In one of the most intimate and poignant moments of
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Speaker 1: the text, Job speaks directly to God, questioning the intense
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Speaker 1: divine scrutiny over his life. In chapter seven, verses seventeen
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Speaker 1: to nineteen, he asks, what is man? That you magnify him,
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Speaker 1: and that you set your heart on him, that you
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Speaker 1: visit him every morning and test him every moment. This
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Speaker 1: question echoes Psalm eight, but with a different tone. While
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Speaker 1: the psalmist marvels at God's attention, job questions it amid
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Speaker 1: his suffering. He continues, in verse twenty, if I have sinned,
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Speaker 1: what have I done to you? O watcher of men?
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Speaker 1: Why have you made me your target so that I
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Speaker 1: am a burden to myself? Bildad the shoe Heit's response
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Speaker 1: is swift, beginning his speech with a sharp rebuke. In
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Speaker 1: chapter eight, verse two, he asks how long will you
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Speaker 1: say such things? Your words are a blustering wind. Bildad
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Speaker 1: represents traditional wisdom in its most rigid form. He bases
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Speaker 1: his arguments on the authority of past generations. As we
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Speaker 1: see in chapter eight verses eight and nine. Ask the
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Speaker 1: former generations and find out what their ancestors learned, for
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Speaker 1: we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our
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Speaker 1: days on earth are but a shadow. To support his argument,
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Speaker 1: Bildad employs a series of natural metaphors, especially meaningful in
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Speaker 1: an grarian society. In Chapter eight, verses eleven to thirteen,
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Speaker 1: he compares the wicked to plants without support. Can papyrus
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Speaker 1: grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reads thrive?
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Speaker 1: Without water, while still growing and uncut, they wither more
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Speaker 1: quickly than grass. Such is the destiny of all who
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Speaker 1: forget God, so perishes the hope of the godless. These
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Speaker 1: images of Papyrus and Reads were particularly relevant, as these
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Speaker 1: plants were well known for their dependence on water. Job's
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Speaker 1: response to Bildad, spanning chapters nine and ten, is one
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Speaker 1: of the book's most profound and theologically rich passages. He
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Speaker 1: begins by acknowledging God's incomparable power with a description that
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Speaker 1: has become a classic. In chapter nine, verses four to ten,
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Speaker 1: Job offers a majestic portrayal of divine power. His wisdom
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Speaker 1: is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him
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Speaker 1: and come out unscathed. He moves mountains without their knowing it,
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Speaker 1: and overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth
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Speaker 1: from its place and makes its pillars tremble. He speaks
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Speaker 1: to the sun, and it does not shine. He seals
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Speaker 1: off the light of the stars. He alone stretches out
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Speaker 1: the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
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Speaker 1: He is the maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades,
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Speaker 1: and the constellations of the South. This description shows that
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Speaker 1: even in his suffering, Job maintains a deep understanding of
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Speaker 1: God's greatness. However, this recognition of divine power leads Job
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Speaker 1: to a profound existential dilemma. In chapter nine, verses thirty
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Speaker 1: two and thirty three, he expresses one of the most
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Speaker 1: significant concepts in the entire book, the need for a mediator,
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Speaker 1: For he is not a man as I am, that
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Speaker 1: I should answer him and we should come together in judgment.
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Speaker 1: Neither is there any mediator between us that might lay
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Speaker 1: his hand upon us both. This longing for a mediator
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Speaker 1: is particularly significant in light of the later Christian revelation
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Speaker 1: of Jesus as the mediator between God and humanity. In
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Speaker 1: chapter ten, Job deepens his lament, questioning the divine purpose
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Speaker 1: behind his suffering. In verses eight to twelve, he uses
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Speaker 1: the metaphor of a clay vessel. Your hands have made
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Speaker 1: me and fashion me completely. Did you not pour me
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Speaker 1: out like milk and curdle me like cheese. You clothed
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Speaker 1: me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with
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Speaker 1: bones and sinews. This image of the potter and the
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Speaker 1: clay would later be echoed by several prophets and the
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Speaker 1: apostle Paul so Far of Nama. The Third Friend then
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Speaker 1: intervenes with a speech even harsher than the previous ones.
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Speaker 1: In chapter eleven, verses two and three. He accuses Job
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Speaker 1: of being excessively verbose. Should not the multitude of words
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Speaker 1: be answered? And should a man full of talk be justified?
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Speaker 1: His approach is more direct and less diplomatic than that
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Speaker 1: of his companions. In verse six, he even suggests that
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Speaker 1: Job is receiving less than he deserves. Know therefore that
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Speaker 1: God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves. In
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Speaker 1: a passage that blends rebuke with deep theology, so Far
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Speaker 1: attempts to show Job the limitation of human understanding before
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Speaker 1: divine wisdom. In chapter eleven, verses seven to nine, he asks,
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Speaker 1: can you search out the deep things of God? Can
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Speaker 1: you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are
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Speaker 1: higher than heaven? What can you do? Deeper than she old?
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Speaker 1: What can you know? Their measure is longer than the
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Speaker 1: earth and broader than the sea. This depiction of the
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Speaker 1: vastness of divine wisdom is poetically beautiful, even if its
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Speaker 1: use as an argument against Job is to debate Job's
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Speaker 1: response in chapter twelve is a masterpiece of irony and wisdom.
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Speaker 1: He begins with biting sarcasm in verses two and three,
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Speaker 1: No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die
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Speaker 1: with you. But I have understanding as well as you.
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Speaker 1: I am not inferior to you who does not know
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Speaker 1: such things as these. This reply shows that despite his suffering,
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Speaker 1: Job has not lost his sharpness in argument. He then
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Speaker 1: offers his own observation of nature and God's power, surpassing
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Speaker 1: the simplistic metaphors of his friends. In Chapter twelve, verses
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Speaker 1: seven to ten, Job provides a profound perspective on how
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Speaker 1: all creation testifies to divine power. But ask the beasts
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Speaker 1: and they will teach you. The birds of the air
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Speaker 1: and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth
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Speaker 1: and it will instruct you. And the fish of the
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Speaker 1: sea will declare to you. Who among all these does
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Speaker 1: not know that the hand of the Lord has done this.
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Speaker 1: In his hand is the life of every living thing,
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Speaker 1: and the breath of all mankind. His argument reaches its
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Speaker 1: peak when he demonstrates how God controls every aspect of life,
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Speaker 1: from the greatest to the humblest. In Chapter twelve, verses
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Speaker 1: thirteen to twenty five, Job presents a comprehensive view of
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Speaker 1: God's sovereign rule. With him are wisdom and strength. He
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Speaker 1: has counsel and understanding. If he tears down it cannot
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Speaker 1: be rebuilt. If he imprisons a man, there is no release.
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Speaker 1: He makes nations great, and he destroys them. He enlarges
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Speaker 1: nations and leads them away. This description of divine power
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Speaker 1: over human history reveals a theological insight that far surpasses
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Speaker 1: that of his friends. After demonstrating his deep understanding of
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Speaker 1: God's power, Job continues his defense in three thirteen with
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Speaker 1: even greater determination. In verse three, he declares his deepest desire,
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Speaker 1: But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to
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Speaker 1: argue my case with God. This is not a statement
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Speaker 1: of arrogance, but a genuine yearning for a direct encounter
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Speaker 1: with his creator. Then, in chapter thirteen, verses four and five,
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Speaker 1: Job delivers a sharp rebuke to his friends. But you
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Speaker 1: forges of lies, you are all worthless physicians. Oh that
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Speaker 1: you would be completely silent, that would be your wisdom.
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Speaker 1: The expression worthless physicians is particularly striking, suggesting that their
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Speaker 1: attempts at spiritual healing are as useless as those of
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Speaker 1: an incompetent doctor facing a serious illness. His courage before
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Speaker 1: divine judgment is revealed in Chapter thirteen, verses fifteen and sixteen,
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Speaker 1: in one of the book's most memorable declarations. Though he
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Speaker 1: slay me, yet will I trust in him? But I
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Speaker 1: will defend my ways before him. This also shall be
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Speaker 1: my salvation, for a hypocrite shall not come before him.
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Speaker 1: This statement displays a faith that transcends circumstances, even in
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Speaker 1: the face of death. In Chapter thirteen, verses twenty to
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Speaker 1: twenty two, Job makes a direct appeal to God. Only
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Speaker 1: do not do two things to me. Then I will
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Speaker 1: not hide myself from you, withdraw your hand far from me,
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Speaker 1: and let not the dread of you make me afraid.
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Speaker 1: Then call and I will answer, or let me speak
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Speaker 1: and you respond to me. This request reveals both his
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Speaker 1: humility and his boldness in seeking a direct dialogue with God.
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Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen marks a shift in tone, where Job reflects
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Speaker 1: deeply on the human condition. In verses one and two,
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Speaker 1: he offers a poetic description of life's fragility. Man who
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Speaker 1: is born of woman is of few days and full
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Speaker 1: of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away.
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Speaker 1: He flees like a shadow and does not remain. This
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Speaker 1: metaphor of the withering flower was especially meaningful in a
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Speaker 1: land where desert flowers would bloom briefly after rare rains.
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Speaker 1: Continuing his reflection in chapter fourteen, verses seven to nine,
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Speaker 1: Job compares human hope to that of a tree. For
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Speaker 1: there is hope for a tree. If it is cut down,
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Speaker 1: it will sprout again, and its shoots will not cease.
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Speaker 1: Though its root grows old in the earth and its
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Speaker 1: stump dies in the ground. Yet at the scent of water,
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Speaker 1: it will bud and bring forth branches like a young plant.
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Speaker 1: This comparison highlights the contrast with human mortality. The destructive
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Speaker 1: power of time is illustrated in chapter fourteen verses eighteen
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Speaker 1: and nineteen. But as a mountain erodes and crumbles, and
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Speaker 1: as a rock is removed from its place, as water
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Speaker 1: wears away stones, and to horrence, wash away the dust
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Speaker 1: of the earth, so you destroy man's hope. This depiction
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Speaker 1: of natural erosion serves as a metaphor for the inevitable
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Speaker 1: deterioration of human life. Eliphaz's second speech in chapter fifteen
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Speaker 1: takes on a more aggressive tone. In verses two and three,
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Speaker 1: he accuses Job of arrogance. Should a wise man and
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Speaker 1: so with empty arguments, or fill his belly with the
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Speaker 1: east wind? Should he argue with useless words and speeches
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Speaker 1: that have no value. The mention of the east wind
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Speaker 1: is significant, as it was known for its destructive effect
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Speaker 1: in the region. Eliphaz appeals to the wisdom of the
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Speaker 1: ancients in Chapter fifteen, verses seventeen and eighteen. Listen to me,
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Speaker 1: and I will explain to you. Let me tell you
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Speaker 1: what I have seen, what wise men have declared hiding
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Speaker 1: nothing received from their ancestors. He then delivers an extended
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Speaker 1: description of the fate of the wicked, implying that Job's
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Speaker 1: suffering must result from sin. In Chapter fifteen, verses twenty
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Speaker 1: to twenty four, Eliphaz describes the torment of the wicked
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Speaker 1: all his days, the wicked man suffers torment the ruthless man,
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Speaker 1: through all the years stored up for him. Terrifying sounds
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Speaker 1: fill his ears. When all seems well, marauders attack him.
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Speaker 1: He despairs of escaping the darkness. He is marked for
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Speaker 1: the sword. He wanders about for food, asking where is it?
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Speaker 1: He knows the day of darkness is at hand. Job's
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Speaker 1: response in chapters sixteen and seventeen is both emotional and theological.
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Speaker 1: In chapter sixteen, verses two and three, he replies with irony,
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Speaker 1: I have heard many things like these. You are miserable comforters.
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Speaker 1: All of you will your long winded speeches never end.
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Speaker 1: The phrase miserable comforters has become proverbial for those whose
23:56
Speaker 1: attempts at consolation only deepen the sufferer's pain. Job then
24:01
Speaker 1: offers a vivid description of his perception of divine action
24:05
Speaker 1: against him in chapter sixteen, verses twelve to fourteen. I
24:10
Speaker 1: was at ease, but he shatter'd me. He seized me
24:13
Speaker 1: by the neck and crushed me. He has made me
24:16
Speaker 1: his target. His archers surround me without pity. He pierces
24:21
Speaker 1: my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground. Again
24:25
Speaker 1: and again, he bursts upon me. He rushes at me
24:28
Speaker 1: like a warrior. Despite this agonizing description, Job maintains his
24:34
Speaker 1: hope in a heavenly witness. In chapter sixteen, verses nineteen
24:39
Speaker 1: and twenty, he declares, even now my witness is in heaven.
24:44
Speaker 1: My advocate is on high, My intercessor is my friend,
24:48
Speaker 1: as my eyes pour out tears to God. In chapter seventeen,
24:52
Speaker 1: Job continues to express his anguish but retains his integrity.
24:57
Speaker 1: In verses eight and nine, he observes the upright are
25:00
Speaker 1: appalled at this. The innocent are aroused against the ungodly. Nevertheless,
25:05
Speaker 1: the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with
25:08
Speaker 1: clean hands will grow stronger. Bildad returns to the debate
25:13
Speaker 1: in chapter eighteen with a particularly harsh discourse. His indignation
25:18
Speaker 1: at Job's defiance is evident from the outset. In chapter eighteen,
25:22
Speaker 1: verses two and three, he asks, when will you end
25:25
Speaker 1: these speeches? Be sensible and then we can talk. Why
25:29
Speaker 1: are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight?
25:34
Speaker 1: Bildad then provides a frightening portrayal of the fate of
25:37
Speaker 1: the wicked in chapter eighteen, verses five and six. He
25:41
Speaker 1: begins the lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out.
25:45
Speaker 1: The flame of his fire stops burning, the light in
25:49
Speaker 1: his tent becomes dark, the lamp beside him goes out.
25:54
Speaker 1: This metaphor of extinguished light carried deep significance in a
25:58
Speaker 1: culture where darkness symbolized both physical and spiritual danger. Bildad
26:04
Speaker 1: continues by describing the traps awaiting the wicked in chapter eighteen,
26:09
Speaker 1: verses eight to ten. For he is cast into a
26:12
Speaker 1: net by his own feet, he wanders into its mesh.
26:16
Speaker 1: A trap seizes him by the heel. A snare holds
26:19
Speaker 1: him fast. A noose is hidden for him on the ground.
26:22
Speaker 1: A trap lies in his path. This series of trap
26:26
Speaker 1: imagery implies that evil brings about its own punishment. Bil
26:30
Speaker 1: Dad concludes with the description of the complete extinction of
26:34
Speaker 1: the Wicked's memory in chapter eighteen, verses seventeen to twenty one.
26:40
Speaker 1: The memory of him perishes from the earth. He has
26:44
Speaker 1: no name in the land. He is driven from light
26:47
Speaker 1: into the realm of darkness, and is banished from the world.
26:51
Speaker 1: He has no offspring or descendants among his people, no
26:55
Speaker 1: survivor where he once lived. People of the west are
26:59
Speaker 1: appalled at his fate. Those of the East are seized
27:02
Speaker 1: with horror. Surely, such is the dwelling of an evil man,
27:06
Speaker 1: Such is the place of one who does not know God.
27:09
Speaker 1: In response to Bildad's harsh words, Job begins chapter nineteen
27:14
Speaker 1: with one of the most poignant laments in the Bible
27:17
Speaker 1: in verses two and three. He expresses his pain, How
27:21
Speaker 1: long will you torment me and crush me with words?
27:25
Speaker 1: Ten times? Now you have reproached me shamelessly, you attack me.
27:30
Speaker 1: The number ten times likely represents a complete measure of suffering,
27:35
Speaker 1: indicating that Job felt his friends had gone beyond all limits.
27:41
Speaker 1: Job then describes his sense of divine persecution. In Chapter nineteen,
27:46
Speaker 1: verses six to twelve. He portrays his plight with poignant words.
27:51
Speaker 1: Know that God has wronged me and drawn his net
27:53
Speaker 1: around me. Though I cry violence, I get no response.
27:57
Speaker 1: Though I call for help, there is no justice. He
28:00
Speaker 1: has blocked my way so I cannot pass. He has
28:03
Speaker 1: shrouded my paths in darkness. He has stripped me of
28:07
Speaker 1: my honor and removed the crown from my head. He
28:10
Speaker 1: tears me down on every side till I am gone.
28:13
Speaker 1: He uproots my hope like a tree. His anger burns
28:17
Speaker 1: against me. He counts me among his enemies. The abandonment
28:22
Speaker 1: by friends and family is described with particular poignancy in
28:26
Speaker 1: Chapter nineteen, verses thirteen to nineteen. He has alienated my
28:31
Speaker 1: family from me. My acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
28:36
Speaker 1: My relatives have gone away, My closest friends have forgotten me.
28:40
Speaker 1: My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner.
28:43
Speaker 1: They look on me as on a stranger. I summon
28:46
Speaker 1: my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg
28:49
Speaker 1: him with my own mouth. My breath is offensive to
28:53
Speaker 1: my wife. I am loathsome to my own family. Even
28:56
Speaker 1: little boys scorn me when I appear. They ridicule me.
29:01
Speaker 1: All my intimate friends detest me. Those I love have
29:05
Speaker 1: turned against me. However, in the midst of all this suffering,
29:10
Speaker 1: Job makes one of the most important declarations in the
29:13
Speaker 1: entire book. In chapter nineteen, verses twenty five to twenty seven,
29:18
Speaker 1: he proclaims his faith in the Redeemer. For I know
29:22
Speaker 1: that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he
29:25
Speaker 1: will stand on the earth. And after my skin has
29:28
Speaker 1: been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.
29:32
Speaker 1: I myself will see Him with my own eyes, I
29:36
Speaker 1: and not another. How my heart yearns within me. This
29:40
Speaker 1: prophetic statement reveals a hope that transcends his current situation. Zophar,
29:46
Speaker 1: unconvinced by Job's declaration of faith, responds in chapter twenty
29:50
Speaker 1: with a discourse on the brevity of the triumph of
29:53
Speaker 1: the wicked. In verses four to seven, he asks, do
29:57
Speaker 1: you not know this from of old, since the i'm
30:00
Speaker 1: man was placed on the earth, that the triumph of
30:02
Speaker 1: the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless
30:05
Speaker 1: lasts but a moment. Though his pride reaches to the
30:09
Speaker 1: heavens and his head touches the clouds, he will perish
30:13
Speaker 1: for ever, like his own dungu. He continues describing the
30:17
Speaker 1: inevitable punishment in chapter twenty verses twelve to fourteen. Though
30:22
Speaker 1: evil is sweet in his mouth, and he hides it
30:25
Speaker 1: under his tongue, though he cannot bear to let it go,
30:28
Speaker 1: and keeps it in his mouth, Yet his food will
30:31
Speaker 1: turn sour in his stomach. It will become the venom
30:34
Speaker 1: of serpents within him. This metaphor of food turning into
30:38
Speaker 1: poison illustrates so Far's view of the fate of the wicked.
30:43
Speaker 1: Job's reply in chapter twenty one is one of the
30:46
Speaker 1: most profound reflections on the enigma of the prosperity of
30:50
Speaker 1: the wicked. In verses seven to thirteen, he questions, why
30:54
Speaker 1: do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?
30:59
Speaker 1: They see their children established around them, their offspring before
31:03
Speaker 1: their eyes. Their homes are safe and free from fear.
31:07
Speaker 1: The rod of God is not on them. Their bulls
31:10
Speaker 1: breed without fail, Their cows carve and do not miscarry.
31:15
Speaker 1: They send forth their children as a flock. Their little
31:18
Speaker 1: ones dance about, They sing to the music of timbrel
31:21
Speaker 1: and liar. They make merry to the sound of the pipe.
31:24
Speaker 1: They spend their years in prosperity, and go down to
31:28
Speaker 1: the grave in peace. This questioning of the traditional doctrine
31:33
Speaker 1: of retribution continues in chapter twenty one, verses seventeen and eighteen.
31:38
Speaker 1: Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
31:41
Speaker 1: How often does calamity come upon them? The fate God
31:45
Speaker 1: alots in his anger. How often are they like straw
31:48
Speaker 1: before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale.
31:52
Speaker 1: Job is directly challenging the simplistic theology of his friends.
31:58
Speaker 1: In chapter twenty two, Eleph makes his third and final speech,
32:02
Speaker 1: now with specific accusations against Job. In verses five to nine,
32:07
Speaker 1: he lists supposed sins is not your wickedness great? Are
32:11
Speaker 1: not your sins endless? You demanded security from your relatives
32:16
Speaker 1: for no reason. You stripped people of their clothing, leaving
32:20
Speaker 1: them naked. You gave no water to the weary, and
32:23
Speaker 1: you withheld food from the hungry. Though you were a
32:26
Speaker 1: powerful man owning land, an honored man living on it,
32:31
Speaker 1: you sent widows away empty handed and broke the strength
32:35
Speaker 1: of the fatherless. Eliphaz then calls for repentance, promising restoration.
32:42
Speaker 1: In chapter twenty two, verses twenty one to twenty five,
32:45
Speaker 1: he advises, submit to God and be at peace with him.
32:49
Speaker 1: In this way, prosperity will come to you. Accept instruction
32:53
Speaker 1: from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
32:57
Speaker 1: If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored. Lord.
33:00
Speaker 1: If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign
33:03
Speaker 1: your nuggets to the dust, your gold of a fear,
33:06
Speaker 1: to the rocks in the ravines, then the Almighty will
33:10
Speaker 1: be your gold, the choicest silver for you. Job's response
33:14
Speaker 1: in chapters twenty three and twenty four is a deep
33:17
Speaker 1: reflection on the search for God and the injustice in
33:20
Speaker 1: the world. In chapter twenty three, verses three to five,
33:24
Speaker 1: he expresses his longing if only I knew where to
33:28
Speaker 1: find him, if only I could go to his dwelling,
33:32
Speaker 1: I would state my case before him and fill my
33:35
Speaker 1: mouth with arguments. I would find out what he would
33:38
Speaker 1: answer me, and consider what he would say to me.
33:42
Speaker 1: His confidence in his own integrity remains unshaken. In chapter
33:47
Speaker 1: twenty three, verses ten to twelve, Job declares, but he
33:51
Speaker 1: knows the way that I take. When he has tested me,
33:54
Speaker 1: I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely
33:58
Speaker 1: followed his steps. I've kept to his way without turning aside.
34:02
Speaker 1: I have not departed from the commands of his lips.
34:05
Speaker 1: I have treasured the words of his mouth more than
34:08
Speaker 1: my daily bread. In chapter twenty four, Job exposes the
34:14
Speaker 1: social injustice he observes in the world. In verses two
34:18
Speaker 1: to four, he describes, there are those who move boundary stones.
34:23
Speaker 1: They seize flocks and pasture them. They drive away the
34:26
Speaker 1: orphans donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge. They
34:30
Speaker 1: thrust the needy from the path, and force all the
34:33
Speaker 1: poor of the land into hiding. This description of injustice
34:37
Speaker 1: serves to challenge the simplistic, retributive theology of his friends.
34:43
Speaker 1: Job concludes by observing the apparent triumph of evil in
34:47
Speaker 1: the world. In chapter twenty four, verses twenty two to
34:50
Speaker 1: twenty four, he reflects, but God drags away the mighty
34:54
Speaker 1: by his power. Though they become established, they have no
34:57
Speaker 1: assurance of life. He may let them rest in a
35:00
Speaker 1: feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.
35:04
Speaker 1: For a little while they are exalted, and then they
35:07
Speaker 1: are gone. They are brought low and gathered up like
35:10
Speaker 1: all others. They are cut off like heads of grain.
35:14
Speaker 1: Chapter twenty five begins with Bildad's final speech, which is
35:18
Speaker 1: notably brief compared to his previous undens. In verse two,
35:23
Speaker 1: he proclaims the greatness of God, dominion, and awe belong
35:27
Speaker 1: to God. He establishes order in the heights of heaven.
35:31
Speaker 1: This declaration sets the tone for his final speech, focusing
35:35
Speaker 1: on the absolute supremacy of God. Bildad then questions how
35:40
Speaker 1: any human can be righteous before God. In Chapter twenty five,
35:44
Speaker 1: verses four to six, he asks, how then, can a
35:47
Speaker 1: mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of
35:51
Speaker 1: woman be pure? If even the moon is not bright
35:54
Speaker 1: and the stars are not pure in his eyes? How
35:57
Speaker 1: much less a mortal who is but a baggot a
36:00
Speaker 1: human being who is only a worm. This comparison of
36:04
Speaker 1: humans to worms before divine majesty is one of the
36:08
Speaker 1: most vivid descriptions of human insignificance in the entire Bible.
36:13
Speaker 1: Job's response, which spans chapters twenty six and twenty seven,
36:17
Speaker 1: begins with a sharp irony regarding the help offered by
36:21
Speaker 1: his friends. In chapter twenty six, verses two to four,
36:24
Speaker 1: he says, how you have helped the powerless? How you
36:28
Speaker 1: have saved the arm that is feeble? What advice you
36:32
Speaker 1: have offered to one without wisdom? And what great insight
36:35
Speaker 1: you have displayed? Who has helped you utter these words?
36:39
Speaker 1: And whose spirits spoke from your mouth? This sarcastic response
36:43
Speaker 1: shows that Job was unimpressed with his friend's attempts to
36:46
Speaker 1: instruct him. Then, Job presents his own description of divine power,
36:51
Speaker 1: surpassing Bildad's in depth and poetic beauty. In chapter twenty six,
36:56
Speaker 1: verses seven to fourteen, he offers one of the most
37:00
Speaker 1: striking depictions of God's creative power. He stretches out the
37:05
Speaker 1: north over the empty space and hangs the earth upon nothing.
37:10
Speaker 1: He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and
37:13
Speaker 1: the cloud is not torn under them. He covers the
37:17
Speaker 1: face of his throne and spreads his cloud upon it.
37:20
Speaker 1: He has drawn a circle on the face of the waters,
37:23
Speaker 1: at the boundary of light and darkness. The pillars of
37:27
Speaker 1: heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke. By his
37:31
Speaker 1: power he stirs up the sea, and by his understanding
37:34
Speaker 1: he smites through its pride. By his breath he has
37:38
Speaker 1: adorned the heavens. His hand has pierced the swift serpent. Behold,
37:43
Speaker 1: these are but the fringes of his ways. How faint
37:46
Speaker 1: a whisper we hear of him, But the thunder of
37:49
Speaker 1: his power, who can understand? In chapter twenty seven, job
37:54
Speaker 1: reaffirms his integrity with even greater force. In verses two
37:58
Speaker 1: to six, he makes a solemn oath as surely as
38:02
Speaker 1: God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who
38:07
Speaker 1: has made my life bitter. As long as I have
38:10
Speaker 1: life within me and the breath of God in my nostrils,
38:15
Speaker 1: my lips will not speak wickedness, and my tongue will
38:19
Speaker 1: utter no deceit. Far be it from me to declare
38:22
Speaker 1: you right. Till I die. I will not put away
38:25
Speaker 1: my integrity from me. I will hold fast to my
38:29
Speaker 1: righteousness and will not let it go. My heart shall
38:33
Speaker 1: not reproach me as long as I live Chapter twenty
38:36
Speaker 1: eight presents one of the most beautiful poems on wisdom
38:39
Speaker 1: in all ancient literature. Job begins by describing human efforts
38:44
Speaker 1: to find precious treasures. In verses one to eleven, he
38:48
Speaker 1: details how men explore the depths of the earth. Surely
38:52
Speaker 1: there is a mine for silver and a place where
38:56
Speaker 1: gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and
38:59
Speaker 1: coppy is smelted from awe. Man puts an end to
39:03
Speaker 1: darkness and searches out every recess for ore. In the
39:06
Speaker 1: gloom and deep darkness, he cuts out channels through the rocks.
39:11
Speaker 1: His eyes see every precious thing. He damns up the
39:16
Speaker 1: streams from trickling, and brings hidden things to light. However,
39:20
Speaker 1: Job contrasts this technical skill with humanity's inability to find
39:25
Speaker 1: true wisdom. In verses twelve to nineteen, he asks, but
39:30
Speaker 1: where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place
39:33
Speaker 1: of understanding? Man does not comprehend its worth, nor is
39:37
Speaker 1: it found in the land of the living. The deep
39:41
Speaker 1: says it is not in me, and the sea says
39:44
Speaker 1: it is not with me. It cannot be purchased for gold,
39:48
Speaker 1: nor can silver be weighed as its price. It cannot
39:51
Speaker 1: be valued with the gold of of fear, with precious
39:55
Speaker 1: onyx or sapphire. Neither gold nor crystal can compare with it,
39:59
Speaker 1: nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
40:03
Speaker 1: The conclusion of the poem on wisdom in verse twenty
40:06
Speaker 1: eight reveals the key to finding it. Behold the fear
40:11
Speaker 1: of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away
40:14
Speaker 1: from evil is understanding. This statement condenses the entire search
40:20
Speaker 1: for wisdom into a simple yet profound truth. In chapter
40:24
Speaker 1: twenty nine, Job nostalgically recalls his days of prosperity. In
40:29
Speaker 1: verses two to six, he laments, Oh, that I were
40:32
Speaker 1: as in months past, as in the days when God
40:35
Speaker 1: watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head,
40:39
Speaker 1: and by his light I walked through darkness, as I
40:42
Speaker 1: was in the days of my youth, when God's secret
40:45
Speaker 1: counsel was over my tent, when the Almighty was still
40:49
Speaker 1: with me and my children were around me, when my
40:52
Speaker 1: steps were bathed in butter, and the rock poured out
40:55
Speaker 1: streams of oil for me. He then describes the respect
40:58
Speaker 1: he received from the community in verses seven to eleven.
41:03
Speaker 1: When I went out to the city gate and took
41:06
Speaker 1: my seat in the public square. The young men saw
41:09
Speaker 1: me and stepped aside, and the old men rose to
41:13
Speaker 1: their feet. The princes refrained from speaking and laid their
41:16
Speaker 1: hands on their mouths. The voices of the nobles were hushed,
41:20
Speaker 1: and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
41:23
Speaker 1: Who ever heard me spoke well of me, and those
41:26
Speaker 1: who saw me commended me. The contrast with his current
41:31
Speaker 1: situation is painfully portrayed in chapter thirty. In verses one
41:35
Speaker 1: to eight, Job describes how he is now despised even
41:40
Speaker 1: by the young. But now they mock me, those younger
41:43
Speaker 1: than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put
41:46
Speaker 1: with the dogs of my flock from hunger and misery,
41:50
Speaker 1: they roamed the parched waste lands. In the desolate and
41:53
Speaker 1: ruinous waste, they plucked salt herbs by the bushes, and
41:57
Speaker 1: their food was the root of the broom tree. Physical
42:01
Speaker 1: pain remains a constant reality. In verses sixteen to nineteen,
42:05
Speaker 1: he describes, and now my soul is poured out within me.
42:10
Speaker 1: Days of affliction have taken hold of me. At night,
42:13
Speaker 1: my bones are pierced in me, and my gnawing pains
42:16
Speaker 1: take no rest. By great power. My garment is disfigured.
42:20
Speaker 1: It binds me about like the collar of my tunic.
42:23
Speaker 1: He has cast me into the mire, and I have
42:25
Speaker 1: become like dust and ashes. The chapter closes with one
42:29
Speaker 1: of the most vivid descriptions of his suffering. In verses
42:33
Speaker 1: twenty six to thirty one, Job concludes, Yet, when I
42:37
Speaker 1: hoped for good, evil came. When I looked for light,
42:42
Speaker 1: darkness came. My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest.
42:48
Speaker 1: Days of affliction confront me. I go about blackened, but
42:52
Speaker 1: not by the sun. I stand up in the assembly
42:55
Speaker 1: and cry for help. I have become a brother to
42:58
Speaker 1: jackals and a companion to os stretches. My skin grows
43:01
Speaker 1: black and peels, My bones burn with fever. My harp
43:06
Speaker 1: is turned to mourning, and my flute to the sound
43:10
Speaker 1: of weeping. Chapter thirty one presents one of the most
43:13
Speaker 1: remarkable declarations of moral integrity in all ancient literature. Job
43:19
Speaker 1: begins with an oath regarding his moral purity. In verse one,
43:24
Speaker 1: he declares, I have made a covenant with my eyes.
43:27
Speaker 1: How then could I gaze at a virgin? This opening
43:31
Speaker 1: statement sets the tone for an entire catalog of moral
43:34
Speaker 1: virtues that Job claims to have consistently practiced regarding justice.
43:40
Speaker 1: In his social relations, Job makes a series of powerful assertions.
43:45
Speaker 1: In verses five to eight, he proclaims, if I have
43:48
Speaker 1: walked with falsehood, or my foot has hurried to deceit,
43:52
Speaker 1: let God weigh me in honest scales and know that
43:55
Speaker 1: I am blameless. If my steps have turned from the path,
43:59
Speaker 1: if my heart has been led by my eyes, or
44:01
Speaker 1: if my hands have been defiled, then may others eat
44:05
Speaker 1: what I have sown, and may my crops be uprooted.
44:09
Speaker 1: The fair treatment of servants was a distinctive mark of
44:12
Speaker 1: his character. In Chapter thirty one, verses thirteen to fifteen,
44:16
Speaker 1: Job declares, if I have despised the cause of my
44:20
Speaker 1: male or female servant when they contended with me, what
44:24
Speaker 1: then shall I do when God rises up? And when
44:27
Speaker 1: he calls me to account? What shall I answer him?
44:30
Speaker 1: Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
44:33
Speaker 1: Did not the same one form us both in the womb.
44:36
Speaker 1: His generosity toward the poor is described with moving detail
44:41
Speaker 1: in chapter thirty one, verses sixteen to twenty three. If
44:45
Speaker 1: I have denied the desires of the poor, or caused
44:48
Speaker 1: the eyes of the widow to fail. Or if I
44:51
Speaker 1: have eaten my morsel by myself and the fatherless has
44:55
Speaker 1: not eaten of it. If I have seen any one
44:58
Speaker 1: perish for lack of clothing, or any poor or person
45:00
Speaker 1: without covering, then let my shoulder fall from its socket,
45:04
Speaker 1: and my arm be broken from its bone. Integrity in
45:08
Speaker 1: business and his relationship with wealth are also addressed in
45:12
Speaker 1: chapter thirty one, Verses twenty four to twenty eight. Job
45:15
Speaker 1: rejects the idolatry of riches. If I have put my
45:19
Speaker 1: trust in gold, or said to pure gold, you are
45:22
Speaker 1: my security. If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
45:27
Speaker 1: and because my hand had gained much, this also would
45:31
Speaker 1: be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have
45:34
Speaker 1: denied God above. Chapter thirty two marks a dramatic shift
45:38
Speaker 1: in the narrative with the introduction of a new character,
45:42
Speaker 1: ili Who in verse two we are introduced to him. Then,
45:47
Speaker 1: the wrath of ili Who, the son of Barachel, the
45:50
Speaker 1: Buzite of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job.
45:54
Speaker 1: His wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God,
46:00
Speaker 1: who explains his initial hesitation to speak due to his youth.
46:04
Speaker 1: In chapter thirty two, verses six and seven. I am
46:07
Speaker 1: young in years, and you are very old. Therefore I
46:11
Speaker 1: was afraid and dared not declare my opinion to you.
46:14
Speaker 1: I said age should speak, and a multitude of years
46:18
Speaker 1: should teach wisdom. However, he argues that wisdom is not
46:23
Speaker 1: exclusive to the elderly in verses eight and nine. But
46:27
Speaker 1: there is a spirit in man, and the breath of
46:30
Speaker 1: the Almighty gives him understanding. Great men are not always wise,
46:34
Speaker 1: nor do the age had always understand justice. Elihu expresses
46:38
Speaker 1: his compulsion to speak in verses eighteen to twenty, for
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Speaker 1: I am full of words. The spirit within me compels me. Indeed,
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Speaker 1: my belly is like wine that has no vent. It
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Speaker 1: is ready to burst like new wine skins. I must
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Speaker 1: speak that I may find relief. I must open my
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Speaker 1: lips and answer. In chapter thirty three, Elihu begins his
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Speaker 1: first speech with a declaration of sincerity. In verses two
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Speaker 1: and three, he says, behold, now I open my mouth.
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Speaker 1: My tongue speaks in my mouth, My words come from
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Speaker 1: my upright heart. My lips speak knowledge. Sincerely. He then
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Speaker 1: presents his view on how God communicates with men in
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Speaker 1: chapter thirty three, verses fourteen to eighteen. For God may
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Speaker 1: speak in one way or in another, yet man does
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Speaker 1: not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of
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Speaker 1: the night, when deep sleep falls upon men while they
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Speaker 1: slumber on their beds. Then He opens the ears of
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Speaker 1: men and seals their instruction in order to turn man
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Speaker 1: from his deed and conceal pride from man. He keeps
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Speaker 1: back his soul from the pit and his life from
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Speaker 1: perishing by the sword. The purpose of suffering is explained
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Speaker 1: in verses nineteen to twenty two. Man is also chastened
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Speaker 1: with pain on his bed, and with strong, long pain
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Speaker 1: in many of his bones, so that his life abhors
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Speaker 1: bread and his soul the choicest food. His flesh wastes
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Speaker 1: away from sight, and his bones stick out which once
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Speaker 1: were not seen. Yes, his soul draws near the pit,
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Speaker 1: and his life to the destroyers. In chapter thirty four, Eli,
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Speaker 1: who examines Job's words and defends God's justice in verses
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Speaker 1: ten to twelve, he declares, far be it from God
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Speaker 1: two do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity.
48:34
Speaker 1: For he repays man according to his work and makes
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Speaker 1: man to find a reward according to his way. Surely
48:41
Speaker 1: God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
48:47
Speaker 1: The impossibility of divine injustice is central to his argument
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Speaker 1: in chapter thirty four, verses twenty one to twenty four.
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Speaker 1: For his eyes are on the ways of man, and
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Speaker 1: he sees all his steps. There is no darkness nor
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Speaker 1: shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.
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Speaker 1: For he need not further consider a man that he
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Speaker 1: should go before God in judgment. He breaks in pieces
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Speaker 1: mighty men without inquiry and sets others in their place.
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Speaker 1: In chapters thirty five and thirty six, Elihu develops his
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Speaker 1: third speech, addressing personal justice and God's apparent silence. In
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Speaker 1: chapter thirty five, verses two and three, he questions, job,
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Speaker 1: do you think this is right? My righteousness is more
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Speaker 1: than God's? For you say, what advantage will it be
49:41
Speaker 1: to you? What profit shall I have more than if
49:44
Speaker 1: I had sinned. He explains that God's silence has a
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Speaker 1: purpose in chapter thirty five, verses nine to thirteen, because
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Speaker 1: of the multitude of oppressions they cry out. They cry
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Speaker 1: out because of the arm of the Mighty, But no
49:59
Speaker 1: one says, says, where is God, my maker, who gives
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Speaker 1: songs in the night, who teaches us more than the
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Speaker 1: beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the
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Speaker 1: birds of heaven. There they cry out, but he does
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Speaker 1: not answer because of the pride of evil men. In
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Speaker 1: chapter thirty six, Eli who elaborates on the purpose of
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Speaker 1: affliction and the greatness of God. In verses fifteen to sixteen,
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Speaker 1: He explains he delivers the poor in their affliction and
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Speaker 1: opens their ears in oppression. Indeed, he would have brought
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Speaker 1: you out of dire distress into a broad place where
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Speaker 1: there is no restraint, and what is set on your
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Speaker 1: table would be full of richness. His message culminates with
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Speaker 1: the description of God's greatness in nature in chapter thirty six,
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Speaker 1: verses twenty six to thirty three. Behold, God is great,
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Speaker 1: and we do not know him, nor can the number
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Speaker 1: of his years be discovered. For he draws up drops
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Speaker 1: of water, which distillers rain from the mist, which the
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Speaker 1: clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man. Indeed, can
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Speaker 1: anyone understand the spreading of clouds the thunder from his canopy?
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Speaker 1: In chapter thirty seven, the narrative reaches a dramatic moment
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Speaker 1: that prepares for God's direct manifestation through Elihu. We are
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Speaker 1: presented with a vivid depiction of an approaching storm, used
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Speaker 1: as a metaphor for divine power. In verse two, he
51:28
Speaker 1: begins with words that build anticipation. Here attentively the thunder
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Speaker 1: of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
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Speaker 1: This is no ordinary storm, but a herald of the
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Speaker 1: divine presence. The greatness of the storm is described in
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Speaker 1: detail in verses three to five of Chapter thirty seven.
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Speaker 1: Under the whole heaven. He lets it loose, and his
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Speaker 1: lightning to the ends of the earth. After it, his
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Speaker 1: voice roars. He thunders with his majestic voice, and he
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Speaker 1: does not hold back the flashes. When his voice is heard,
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Speaker 1: God thunders wondrously with his voice. He does great things
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Speaker 1: that we cannot comprehend. Every natural element is presented as
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Speaker 1: a manifestation of divine power, creating an atmosphere of reverence
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Speaker 1: and all. God's power in nature is further elaborated in
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Speaker 1: verses six to thirteen, For he says, to the snow
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Speaker 1: fall on the earth, and to the rain shower, be
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Speaker 1: a mighty downpour. He seals the hand of every man,
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Speaker 1: so that all men may know his work. The beasts
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Speaker 1: go into their dens and remain in their lairs. The
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Speaker 1: tempest comes from its chamber, and cold from the driving
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Speaker 1: north winds. By the breath of God, ice is formed
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Speaker 1: and the broad waters are frozen. This comprehensive description shows
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Speaker 1: how all natural elements respond to the divine command. Human
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Speaker 1: limitation is emphasized in verses fourteen to eighteen. Listen to this, O, Job,
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Speaker 1: Stand still and consider the wonders of God. Do you
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Speaker 1: know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash?
53:09
Speaker 1: Do you understand how the clouds hang poised? Those wonders
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Speaker 1: of Him who is perfect in knowledge. These rhetorical questions
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Speaker 1: set the stage for the divine interrogation that is about
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Speaker 1: to come. Then, in chapter thirty eight, the most anticipated
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Speaker 1: moment occurs. God responds to Job from within the whirlwind.
53:30
Speaker 1: The opening is striking in verses two and three. Who
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Speaker 1: is this that darkens? Counsel with words without knowledge? Now
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Speaker 1: brace yourself like a man. I will question you, and
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Speaker 1: you shall answer me. This introduction sets the tone for
53:44
Speaker 1: a series of questions that will demonstrate the incomparable greatness
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Speaker 1: of the creator. God begins by questioning Job about the
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Speaker 1: most fundamental aspects of creation in verses four to seven.
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Speaker 1: Where were you when I laid the Earth's foundation? Tell me,
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Speaker 1: if you have understanding who marked off its dimensions? Surely
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Speaker 1: you know who stretched a measuring line across it on
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Speaker 1: What were its foundation set? Or who laid its corner stone?
54:13
Speaker 1: While the morning stars sang together and all the sons
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Speaker 1: of God shouted for joy? Each question highlights human smallness
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Speaker 1: before the magnitude of creation. The divine control over natural
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Speaker 1: elements is demonstrated through a series of poetic and profound
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Speaker 1: questions in verses eight to eleven. Who shut up the
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Speaker 1: sea behind doors? When it burst forth from the womb?
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Speaker 1: When I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it
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Speaker 1: in thick darkness? When I fixed limits for it, and
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Speaker 1: set its doors and bars in place, and said this
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Speaker 1: far you may come, and no farther here is where
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Speaker 1: your proud waves halt. The image of the sea as
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Speaker 1: a new born needing to be contained is particularly powerful.
54:58
Speaker 1: Divine wisdom in and the natural order is revealed through
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Speaker 1: questions about celestial phenomena in verses thirty one to thirty three.
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Speaker 1: Can you bind the sweet influences of the pliades, or
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Speaker 1: loosen the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the
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Speaker 1: constellations in their seasons? Or lead out the bear with
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Speaker 1: its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens?
55:22
Speaker 1: Can you set their dominion over the earth. These astronomical
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Speaker 1: references showcase God's control over the entire cosmos. In chapter
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Speaker 1: thirty nine, attention turns to the animal world, with detailed
55:37
Speaker 1: descriptions that demonstrate God's intimate knowledge and care for all creatures,
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Speaker 1: from mountain goats to ostriches. Each animal is presented as
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Speaker 1: an example of divine wisdom in the design of creation.
55:51
Speaker 1: The description of the war horse in verses nineteen to
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Speaker 1: twenty five is particularly striking. Do you give the horse
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Speaker 1: its strength or or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
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Speaker 1: Do you make it leap like a locust? Striking terror?
56:06
Speaker 1: With its proud snorting It pours the ground fiercely, rejoices
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Speaker 1: in its strength, and charges into the fray. The second
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Speaker 1: Divine Discourse, in chapters forty and forty one presents a
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Speaker 1: new level of challenge to human understanding. God describes two
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Speaker 1: extraordinary creatures, Behemoth and Leviathan. The description of Behemoth begins
56:29
Speaker 1: in chapter forty, verse fifteen, Look now at Behemoth, which
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Speaker 1: I made along with you, and which feeds on grass
56:36
Speaker 1: like an ox. Its incomparable strength is detailed. Its strength
56:40
Speaker 1: is in its loins, and its power in the muscles
56:43
Speaker 1: of its belly. Its tail sways like a cedar. The
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Speaker 1: sinews of its thighs are tightly knit. Leviathan, described in
56:51
Speaker 1: chapter forty one, is presented as the pinnacle of God's
56:55
Speaker 1: creative power. Its description spans an entire chapter, showcasing its invincibility.
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Speaker 1: Can you pull in Leviathan with a fish hook? Or
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Speaker 1: tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put
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Speaker 1: a cord through its nose? Or pierce its jaw with
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Speaker 1: a hook? The description continues with vivid details about its scales, strength,
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Speaker 1: and majesty, culminating with the declaration that it is king
57:22
Speaker 1: over all the children of Pride. Job's final response in
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Speaker 1: chapter forty two, verses one to six, marks a profound
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Speaker 1: transformation in his understanding. I know that you can do
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Speaker 1: all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
57:39
Speaker 1: You asked, who is this who obscures counsel without knowledge?
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Speaker 1: Surely I spoke of things I did not understand things
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Speaker 1: too wonderful for me to know. You said, listen now
57:51
Speaker 1: and I will speak. I will question you, and you
57:54
Speaker 1: shall answer me. My ears had heard of you, but
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Speaker 1: now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself
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Speaker 1: and repent in dust and ashes. This confession reveals a
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Speaker 1: fundamental shift in Job's perspective from someone questioning God to
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Speaker 1: someone who sees him in his true majesty. The judgment
58:16
Speaker 1: of Job's friends reveals God's validation of Job's integrity. In
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Speaker 1: Chapter forty two, verses seven and eight, God rebukes Eliphaz
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Speaker 1: and his companions. My anger burns against you and your
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Speaker 1: two friends because you have not spoken the truth about me,
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Speaker 1: as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls
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Speaker 1: and seven rams and go to mine servant Job and
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Speaker 1: offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will
58:45
Speaker 1: pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and
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Speaker 1: not deal with you according to your folly. They are
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Speaker 1: instructed to offer significant sacrifices seven bulls and seven rams,
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Speaker 1: and to ask Job to intercede for them, a remark
59:00
Speaker 1: arkable reversal of roles that demonstrates how God honors those
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Speaker 1: who remain faithful. The restoration of Job is described in
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Speaker 1: the final verses of the book, showing how God rewards
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Speaker 1: his faithfulness. In chapter forty two, verse ten, the Lord
59:16
Speaker 1: restored Job's fortunes when he prayed for his friends, and
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Speaker 1: the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before.
59:25
Speaker 1: The detail that this happened while Job was praying for
59:28
Speaker 1: his friends is significant, highlighting how the blessing came through
59:32
Speaker 1: an act of forgiveness and intercession. The material restoration is
59:36
Speaker 1: remarkable fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke
59:41
Speaker 1: of oxen, and a thousand donkeys, exactly double what he
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Speaker 1: had before. His family is also restored, with seven sons
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Speaker 1: and three daughters, described as the most beautiful women in
59:53
Speaker 1: the land. In chapter forty two, verses thirteen to fifteen,
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Speaker 1: he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first
1:00:02
Speaker 1: daughter he named Jemima, the second Keziah, and the third Karen. Happuch.
1:00:07
Speaker 1: Nowhere in all the land were there found women as
1:00:10
Speaker 1: beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an
1:00:13
Speaker 1: inheritance along with their brothers. The fact that they received
1:00:18
Speaker 1: an inheritance alongside their brothers was uncommon for that time
1:00:22
Speaker 1: and reflects Job's generosity and sense of justice. The book
1:00:28
Speaker 1: ends on a note of fulfillment and completeness in Chapter
1:00:32
Speaker 1: forty two, verses sixteen and seventeen. After this Job lived
1:00:38
Speaker 1: one hundred and forty years, he saw his children and
1:00:41
Speaker 1: their children to the fourth generation, and so Job died
1:00:45
Speaker 1: old and full of years. This conclusion highlights not only
1:00:49
Speaker 1: Job's material restoration, but also a life blessed in every aspect, longevity, descendants, respect,
1:00:59
Speaker 1: and above all, a deeper understanding of God. The story
1:01:03
Speaker 1: of Job teaches us timeless lessons about faith, perseverance, and
1:01:08
Speaker 1: the greatness of God. We see how a man, even
1:01:11
Speaker 1: in the midst of the deepest suffering, maintained his integrity
1:01:15
Speaker 1: and was rewarded not only with material restoration, but with
1:01:18
Speaker 1: a deeper understanding of who God is. If you connected
1:01:23
Speaker 1: with this extraordinary story, were touched by Job's perseverance, or
1:01:28
Speaker 1: learn something new about how to face difficult times in life,
1:01:31
Speaker 1: share this video with some one you believe needs to
1:01:34
Speaker 1: hear this message. Subscribe to our channel for more content
1:01:38
Speaker 1: exploring the profound and transformative truths of biblical stories. Turn
1:01:44
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Speaker 1: our upcoming videos on inspiring characters from the Bible. And remember,
1:01:53
Speaker 1: just as Job discovered that God was in control even
1:01:56
Speaker 1: in the darkest moments, we too can trust that He
1:02:00
Speaker 1: has a greater purpose for our lives, even when we
1:02:03
Speaker 1: cannot see it. See you in the next video.