Chapter 1: Overarching theme of Job

So, here we are. Job part three. We’re going to be covering a lot in this uh this version or this uh chapter, this section, this part, whatever you want to call it. Um we’re going to be looking at the confusion in Job’s heart, the accusations flying from his friends, and then the arrival of the king and the storm at the end. And again, if you have not watched part one and part two, I encourage you to do that just so you’re kind of up to speed in those two first parts. We kind of arrived, at least in my mind, at the overall overarching theme of the book. We identified the fact that there are many sub themes in the book, but we were in search of the overarching theme, the overarching reason why Yah allowed this to happen to Job.

And if you recall, we discussed as I shared the things that I learned in my study that of all the great men in the Bible and I should say in the Old Testament, many of them, Noah, Daniel, Abraham, the Bible all says they’re blameless, just like he says about Job. But in the case of the first three aforementioned men, it also says that they walked with God. And I have a lesson on my channel about what that means. But mysteriously missing that phrase is from Job’s description. And so when I understood that, then everything about the book of Job started to fall into place. We discussed the fact that Job although righteous and although blameless was a moralist in heart. He was performanceoriented and his quote unquote relationship with Yah was more like a vending machine if you will putting coins in and getting expected things out.

And he it worked for him because you can be obedient to Yahw’s word and still be blessed while not knowing him. And I think that was the case with Job. And uh we determined or at least I did that Job’s story is a microcosm of everything that the father has done to and for Israel over the course of their existence to teach them relationship, to teach them faith, to teach them obedience by faith, justification by faith, salvation by faith. and they they of course we know historically resisted at all. And I think that’s what he’s trying to teach Job. So that’s kind of a catchup in a nutshell for those of you who might be here for the first time. But I do encourage you to go back and look at the first two parts.

Chapter 2: The friends’ perspective

Today we’re we’re starting kind of where we left off in part number two where Job’s friends are talking to him and sharing things with him. And as if you if you recall, I shared that the first time I read this, the first 10 times that I read this, I couldn’t help but find myself agreeing with Job’s friends only to be surprised at the end of the book to see that the father rebukes them all except for Elihu or is it Eloo? And of course, that confused me. So, what we’re going to do here in this first few minutes is we’re going to look at one of the things or one of the speeches that one of his friends make and we’re going to try to identify what’s right and what’s wrong about that so we can get a better understanding of what’s going on here. Because Job’s friends, they seem so right, but they end up being so very wrong.

And the chief passage is Job 42:7 where Yahw said his wrath was aroused against you and your two friends. So he’s talking about the three of them. For you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has. And you can imagine finding yourself agreeing with Job’s friends throughout the course of the book and then you get to the end and hear that the father is saying what you said was not right. That’ll throw you for a loop. and and it did throw me for a loop. So we want to understand or need to understand the theological framework of of Job’s friends. And when you read the story through the paradigm that I have proposed, then I think it’s much easier to see that each friend operates under this very strict or retributive theology. And I believe Job is like them in that. That’s one of the reasons why they’re probably really good friends because he shared with them this same theology.

And what is the premise of this theology? Well, the premise is that Yahw blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked, which we’ve already acknowledged is true according to Deuteronomy 28, where the entire chapter is devoted to blessings and curses. If you obey, you’re blessed, and if you disobey, you’re cursed. So, that’s very true. But if you stop there, then you put yah in a box. And I think that’s the case with Job and his friends. They have taken that very real truth, that very real reality and used it to define the father. And of course, anytime that you do that, anytime that you attempt to put him in a box in any way, shape, or form so that he better fits your understanding, then you’ve made a huge mistake. So that was the premise and the way it was applied is applied in the eyes of Job’s friends is this. Job is suffering greatly. Therefore, Job must be guilty of sin.

And that’s the equation through which they are saying everything that they say. Here’s a man who’s been utterly destroyed as we’ve read. So, there must be sin. And nothing you say is going to wave them off of that belief. Why? Because that’s their theological framework. The way it mischaracterizes Job is that Yahw is reduced to a predictable moral accountant. As we’re going through this, you the listener or the viewer on YouTube should always be applying these things to yourself and looking for how these men and their theological framework or the way they’ve approached the father mirrors yours. Because when we read the word, we want to apply it to ourselves and thus repent where repentance is necessary. So these men had reduced the father to basically a predictable moral accountant rewarding good and punishing evil without exception or delay.

And it’s a very rigid framework but ignores other biblical dimensions of his character. Mercy, sovereignty, testing, hidden purposes, patience, longsuffering. All of these, all of which are just as much, if not more, it could be argued, a facet of his character than judgment is. But when you hold to the framework that they’re holding to, these things are not even considered. It’s a very judgmental position to be in. So I ask the question, do we see ourselves in this framework? whether dealing with another person or in our thoughts about ourselves. Can we see how we might have treated uh another person with the same way that Job’s friends are treating him? Or sometimes when you think about yourself and your own sin or lack thereof, your own righteousness or the lack thereof, you can apply this metric to yourself. And I think more often than not, we apply this metric to ourself more than we do others.

We can be very hard on ourselves by applying this kind of mentality, this theological mentality to ourselves. Oh, I sinned. Therefore, I’m not going to be blessed here or there or I’m going to be cursed here or there. And it’s not a that’s not the healthiest perspective. It’s not the healthiest way of understanding the father. So many readers approach the book of Job by placing themselves in Job’s position. Most everybody, casual readers, believers who are reading through the book of Job, their initial reaction is to insert themselves in Job’s position. What if this happened to me? Oh my gosh, how would I respond? Yet, the greater point of reflection, in my opinion, lies with his friends. It is Job’s friends who are sharply rebuked by the father at the end. Job gets some too, but his friends are rebuked at the end. And it’s with them that we should more readily compare ourselves.

The question is not so much, am I like Job, but rather in what ways am I like his friends? So, I want to encourage you from this point on as we’re going through the study to do so. Yes, the father used poor Job to teach not only him a huge lesson, but ultimately to teach the world a huge lesson about his nature. So we don’t want to leave this story without properly applying the things that we see and the things that we learned to our own hearts in our own lives and our own practices. In what ways am I like his friends? So as an exercise and David I’m

Chapter 3: Evaluating Zophar’s speech

going to be using you here so make sure you’re ready to go. As an exercise, let’s see if we can identify the way that Zofar misspoke. So, here is one of Zofar’s three speeches. I think he had three and it’s the shortest one. So, I chose it for that reason because we wouldn’t didn’t want to be reading too much, take up too much time. So, here’s one of the the the speeches from Zofar. And I and I wanted to read it all the way through and and then ask you the question, what what do you see? And you reader, viewer, I want you to do the same thing as we’re going through this. Try to try to identify what’s right and what’s wrong and what Zofar had to say. Job 11. Then Zofar the Nehemoth answered and said, “Should not the multitude of your words be answered? And should a man full of talk be vindicated? Should your empty talk make men hold their peace? And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?

For you have said, “My doctrine is pure, and I’m clean in your eyes.” But oh, that God would speak and open his lips against you, that he would show you the secrets of wisdom. For they would double your prudence. Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves. Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heaven. What can you do? Deeper than than Shaw, what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. If he passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment, then who can hinder him? For he knows deceitful men. He sees wickedness also. Will he not consider it? For an empty-headed man will be wise when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man.

If you would prepare your heart and stretch out your hands toward him, if iniquity were in your hand and you put it far away and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents, then surely you could lift up your face without spot. Yes, you could be steadfast and not fear because you would not forget your misery and remember it as waters that have passed away. And your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be like the morning and you would be secure because there is hope. Yes, you would dig around you and take your rest in safety. You would also lie down and no one would make you afraid. Yes, many would court your favor, but the eyes of the wicked will fail and they shall not escape and their hope loss of life. So, David, when you read that, what is your initial response?

What might you see in there that would be a mislication of defining the father’s character, if anything? What What do you think that? Again, I think it it it’s a continuation of the point you just made a minute ago and showing the rigidity of God. I guess this is again representation of what you said earlier. This is what I see. This is how you are behaving. Consequently, there is only one way that God can respond to you, right? And to uh to your life, right? And so as a result of that, if we understand that that’s how God operates, consequently, when we see these calamities happening to you, that means that because God is just and he knows everything and he sees everything that you must be guilty or this must be a payment if you will or judgment of uh your actions and your way of life. Yeah. Yeah. I I totally agree.

And when you at least for me when I read this, I didn’t initially see anything wrong in what he said. I mean, when you look at it, he seems to be saying a great deal of good stuff, right? And and yet we learn at the end that it wasn’t. So, let’s break it down and see if we can get into some of these verses, some of these sentences, and try to identify what’s what. Okay. So, I’m going to read this and then I’m going to ask you a question. The first thing that Zofar says is, “Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be vindicated? Should your empty talk make men hold their peace?” And when you mock, should no one rebuke you, David? Would this fall under the right or wrong category? And by and by the way, guys, what I’m teaching you to do here is something that I did myself.

Critical reading, verse by verse, to try to figure out why the father is so upset at the three at the end of the book. So, I’m going to be doing that with you here this morning. So, David, what do you think? Is this right or is this wrong? It it is based on a biblical concept about, you know, where there’s many words and sin is present. Yeah. So, I mean, I don’t know how to what is the what’s the right or wrong answer here with respect to your thing? That’s okay. I love putting David on the spot. He’s accustomed to it. And there’s no there’s no right or wrong here, you know. No one you don’t have to impress anybody. But here here’s my answer. Yeah. I I I believe this answer is in the wrong category. Why? Well, because he falsely assumes Job is guilty just by what he says.

He’s already arrived at the conclusion, as David accurately identified, that he’s guilty and speaking arrogantly, which contradicts Yahw’s own assessment of Job’s righteousness in Job 1:8. We know he’s blameless. What’s interesting, though, is that Zofar didn’t read chapter 1:8. He did. He didn’t know what we know, right? So he’s making an assessment based on his world view. So this would be an incorrect statement. Although the content of some of the things that he said is actually true, but overall it’s wrong because it assumes Job’s guilt. For you have said, “My doctrine is pure and I am clean in your eyes. But oh that God would speak and open his lips against you, that he would show you the secrets of wisdom, for they would double your prudence.” right or wrong. Again, it’s it’s focusing and limiting God’s uh you know response and the way he perceives things in a very narrow way, right?

So I think it’s wrong. Yeah, I think it’s wrong. It m Why? Because it misrepresents Job. Job never claimed sinless perfection but maintained integrity and innocence regarding the charges. So at the end of the day, Zofar’s misrepresentation here is blasphemous. Zofar asserts that Job deserves worse when Yahw in the prologue declared him blameless and this is the clearest falsehood in his speech. Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven. What can you do? Deeper than Shaw. What can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. If he passes by imprisons and gathers to judgment, who can hinder him? For he knows deceitful men, he sees wickedness also. Will he not consider it? My wife says that’s right. David, what do you say?

Well, I I guess it assumes that because you cannot do these things, then that’s you know that God is God is can do all these things, hence because you cannot do these things, then you’re wrong, he’s right. Yeah. I mean, when you look at that phrase, those two or three sentences, there’s nothing in them that is inherently wrong. So here in the same speech, Zofar is saying both right and wrong things, right? For an empty-headed man will be wise when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man. Right or wrong? That’s a tough one. My wife says, “I don’t know.” And I don’t know is a good answer. Is you know, you don’t have to be You don’t have to fall on one or the other. An empty-handed man will be wise. is a wild donkey cults born man. I think that’s wrong. Why? Because he’s using a proverb, a mocking proverb that’s aimed at Job again, assuming his folly, which is an unjust judgment of a righteous man.

If I was being rebuked by another brother and he pulled out a proverb to rebuke me even though I was innocent, does that make him spiritual? H. No, it doesn’t. And this is what’s happening here with Zofar. If you would prepare your heart and stretch out your hands toward him, right or wrong. I say it’s wrong. Why is it wrong? The words in and of itself sound deeply spiritual. If you would prepare your heart and stretch out your hands toward him, which of us wouldn’t tell someone to do that? Right? So why is it wrong? Because while encouraging repentance is sound advice in general, again it’s based on false assumption of guilt. So what does that mean? All the cool spiritual things that you can toss at somebody is nothing but hot air if the person you’re talking to is innocent. And from the start, Job’s friends have done nothing but assume the guilt.

And that’s exactly part and parcel while they get condemned at the end in chapter 42. For he knows deceitful men. He sees wickedness also. Will he not consider it right or wrong? I think it’s right. This is true in general like much of some of the things that Zofar has said. But in this case, not true of Job. And it’s Yah, the father. It’s God that discerns the hearts of men. And brothers and sisters, this is what I’m here to tell you. As we went through those, you can see how difficult it was to identify that which was false or that which was spoken with a false presumption or assumption versus what was actually good and healthy. And that is the reason that the book of Job is so challenging to understand because both Job and his friends say things that are both true and not true. More so his friends.

But where his friends crossed the line where Job did not was saying something that misrepresented the character of Yah. And you know what? It’s up to the reader, you and me, to weed this out, to try to figure out what’s what. You’ve heard me say a hundred times in the courses of my lessons and my teachings that if you are nothing more than a casual reader of scripture, then you are not a searcher. You are not a seeker. You’re not a student. and you’re not looking for him. And that’s the challenge in the book of Job. When he says something at the end of the book that so challenges everything you just read, then guess what reader? You misunderstand Yah. So, it’s your responsibility to go back another time or another 50 times to try to figure out who he really is. And not what the church says he is. Not what some group or denomination says he is. Not what the television says he is.

Not what your mom and your pop and your great grandma says he is. But you. It’s a big deal. It’s a big deal to speak in his name or to say something about him that is untrue. Ezekiel 13. They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, “Thus says the Lord, but the Lord has not sent them because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies. Therefore, I am indeed against you.” I’m always leerary of anyone who comes along with such a dogmatic position on what they believe that they say, “Thus sayaeth the Lord.” Really, you have to be careful what comes out of your mouth. Proverbs 17, he who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just. Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. And this was what Job’s friends were doing. They were condemning the just. And sometimes we can.

Sometimes in the spirit of just wanting to make a point or drive something home, you’re discipling or rebuking your sister or your brother and you can condemn them and stand in judgment of them to make your point. And the father says it’s an abomination. Matthew 12. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, every idle word. What is an idol word, David? Just nonsense. You said nonsense. Yeah. Yeah. I Okay. It could be nonsense. I think an idol word is something you haven’t thought through. Right. You haven’t taken the time to think through what what you’re going to say. And this is Yeshua saying, “I tell you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment. For by your words you’ll be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” What does that mean?

Well, it means the measure I use, which is another scripture against another brother or sister will be measured to me. So this paradigm that his friends are living in under and Job himself is living under if they don’t repent will be the same paradigm applied to them. It’s a big deal. It’s an important deal. How many careless words have been spoken? Words to one another that at the end of the day fail to glorify Yahw. Words that misrepresent who he truly is. either spoken by you or spoken to you. I’m sure we’ve all we we could all share stories of someone, some brother or some sister in the name of God saying something to us that is just factually untrue, blatantly discouraging, and sometimes even blasphemous. But as hard as that is for us to hear those things, and I’ve heard them, it’s worse if I apply them to somebody else.

And you know, in all transparency, in the course of my life, I have I have been this person. And I think if you were honest, you would say you have too to one degree or another. Words of accusation, distrust, words of judgment and condemnation, words that encourage another while in the same breath, distort the truth of who Yahw is, offering comfort, which is what the Bible says they came to do. Remember from from part two, they were there to comfort, but the comfort was built on error. and confidence, their confidence rooted in misunderstanding. So this is just a glimpse of these friends, these three friends and what they had to say to Job. And as I said, I believe this is the chief error of Job’s three

Chapter 4: The danger of idle words

friends. We see in James 4 something very scary when we compare the things that Job’s friends were saying to him. Then take a look at our own lives and compare them to us. Then we read James 4. My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a mature man able to also bridle the whole body. Indeed, we put bits in horses mouths so they may obey us. And we turn their whole body. Look also at ships. Although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder. They are turned. What do you do when the rudder moves in one direction? It turns the entire ship with it. James, it’s James 3. Did I put James 4 there? Sorry. Yep. Wherever the pilot desires, even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.

So see how great a forest a little fire kindles. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our brothers that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of existence. And it is set on fire by hell. Ooh, yikes. How important is the words that come out of my mouth? For every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. Now, stop and think about it for a moment. As much as you love the Lord, as much as you serve him, as much as you encourage others, as much as you love others, as much as you try to live a life to honor him, you have an unruly evil living between your teeth at all times, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father. With it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God.

Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives? Or a grape vine bear figs? Thus, no spring yields both salt, water, and fresh. And you know what? None of those things can do that. The tongue is the only thing that can. A spring can’t send forth fresh water and bitter. Fig tree can’t bear olives or a grape vine bear figs. No, it’s impossible. A spring can’t yield salt water. No, it’s it’s he’s he’s drawing these impossibilities against the one thing that is possible. That one little organ that lives between your teeth can do these extreme opposite things. So, we must be careful how we love one another, how we encourage one another, how we discipline one another.

Because in Job 42:7, that’s the one thing that incurred the wrath of Yah, what was said incorrectly. Okay, so that’s their

Chapter 5: Elihu’s theological role

friends. Like I said, that’s his three friends. Like I said, we could have gone through this book in weeks time, breaking down every little thing that Job said in response to them and everything that they said and and there have been men and women who have done this. We can’t we we can’t for the sake of time. So, we have to move forward and we’re going to look at Ellie Hugh Elhu. Elihoo. We Americans say Elihoo, but Glenn number two over breakfast last week said I think it’s Elihoo. Like Elhoo. Like Elhu. Elihoo. Is that how you would say it, David? Yes. Elihoo. Elhoo. Okay, there you go. From the Hebrew speaker’s mouth, meaning he is my God. That’s that’s the the meaning of his his um his name. But this is an interesting change in the direction of the book. When Eliehoo stands up to speak, he’s younger than the other men.

He identifies the fact that he’s younger than other men and almost begs to speak out of respect for the older men. So, Elihu or I said it again, Elihoo serves as a theological transition in the book, correcting both Job and the friends. His speeches emphasize that suffering can be instructive, that God is perfectly just, and the divine majesty demands humility. Though he’s bold, Elle Hugh’s words contain no explicit divine rebuke that comes later, suggesting that his insights align more closely with God’s own uh own eventual self-revelation in chapters 38 and 41. So when I look at the book of Job and I realize Elhoo’s part in it when he shows up and the things that he says, it’s almost like Elhoo is um some type of messianic forerunner in the story of Job. Just like Elijah, Eli, is that how you eli and is for Yeshua, right?

It was foretold that Elijah would come before Yeshua and he did in the form of John. And Elue almost seems to be serving the same capacity here in this story because he shows up and he and everything he says is wise and discerning and powerful. And then of course we um we see uh Yhovah showing up there at the end in speech number one. Eli who justifies speaking despite his youth. I said that, right? And he claims his words are spirit inspired, which is interesting because the first three men didn’t do so. And yet he does. And then he rebukes the friends for failing to answer Job, which is an interesting point to make. What was the question that Job was asking? Do you remember the question that Job was ultimately trying to ask? The one that Ellie who answers why is that the father speaks through suffering and dreams to discipline and redeem not always to punish.

That was the that was the thing that his first three friends missed. Yes, he disciplines or rebukes when you’re in sin. Yes, he blesses you when you’re doing great. But when he does these things, it’s not always to punish. Sometimes it’s just to teach a lesson. And and that’s the thing that Elhoo rebuked his three friends for failing to tell Job, which we’ve already identified in the story, right? That was their theological framework. That was their box. They couldn’t see anything outside that box. They couldn’t see the possibility that Yahw may have another reason for allowing someone to suffer such. Speech number two, he declares that the father is just, far be it from God to do wickedness. Why would he even say that? Well, because when you’re a person in Job’s condition, you are certainly tempted to go there in your heart. if nothing else, right?

And don’t forget that was the one thing that Hassatan wanted to happen. He wanted Job to curse God to his face, accuse him of sin. Don’t you think the enemy during this time, especially during his seven days of sitting Shiva, was whispering in his ear, “Can’t believe God did this to you. You don’t deserve this.” Right? So, Elihoo comes on the scene and reminds Job, “No, father doesn’t do wickedness.” He emphasizes God’s sovereignty, repays a man according to his deeds, but without partiality. And then he rebukes Job. And this I highlighted in yellow for a very good reason. He rebukes Job for speaking arrogantly and in ignorance. Okay? Here for the first time, we’re g we’re beginning to see a peak of the issue, the a brief insight into that overarching reason why this all happened to Job. And for the first time, I think in the book, it represents this moment.

Chapter 34:es 35-37 represents a major theological shift in the story of Job because it finally moves away from the accusations of his friends who were committing or or um accusing him of sins of commission, some hidden sin that you’ve done to a sin of omission, a sin of the heart where the arrogance lives and the ignorance lives. lives. So here at this moment we begin to see something being uncovered and that’s what Elihoo or Elihoo goes after. Luke 6:45. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. So if that metric in Luke 6, Yeshua’s own words, can be applied to Job 34 35 and 37. Then what is the abundance of Job’s heart? Arrogance. Ignorance. Ignorance of what? Well, we’re going to find out that it was ignorance of the father.

And here’s where Elleghue begins to uncover it. Are you following me so far, David? I’m with you. Okay. Speech number three. He refuts Job’s claims that righteousness or sin makes no difference to God. He says, “Man’s behavior affects other humans more than God.” And I think we should explore that statement for a little bit. If I sin or if I do something terrible, does does that impact the father? Well, yes, in sense that he’s told us what to do and what not to do. And so therefore, it’s a violation of his standards. But usually when I’m doing something stupid and I’m sinning, it has more impact on the people around me than it does the father. Yeah. In other words, Yhovah is not going to lose sleep because of my behavior, but my wife might. Right.

And so Elugh is trying to make this point to Job in a sense in a way I think to dehumanize him because a lot of times we like to imagine God thinks like us and sees things like us and acts like us and responds like us, reacts like us when he doesn’t. And I think this is what El’s trying to get a point across to Job. He argues that when people cry out in oppression but ignore God, he does not answer. That’s also a huge point. There’s people all over the world who cry out in oppression because they’re being oppressed, but they ignore the father. And then they wonder why God is doing this when if he would acknowledge him. He might, he could, he would. And then he concludes in his third speech that Job speaks without knowledge. He concludes that Job speaks without knowledge. And brothers and sisters, I’m here to tell you so do we.

That that is a preamble at the heart of the entire book that might you might say David what did you say a second ago said that we do also yeah yeah we do also but you one could say that this could be a title for the theme of the entire book. The conclusion was that he does not know. Was he righteous? Yes. Could someone say he was a godly man? Yes. Did he offer sacrifices for his children? Yes. Was he doing it in an overkill way? Yes. Why? Because he’s a moralist. All these things are true. But he didn’t know. He didn’t have the faith, the true faith in believing who Yahw is. That saving faith, that obedience because of faith, that justification by faith that is woven throughout every single page of the Bible. That’s what he didn’t get. So, he spoke everything that he said. And by the way, a lot of the things that Job said, wonderfully spiritual.

Some of my favorite verses in the Bible come from Job’s mouth. But he did it without the knowledge. He did it without faith. Speech four. He defends God’s justice again, showing that he teaches through suffering, which was something that his men, his friends failed to do. Yeah, you’re being rebuked, Job. Yeah, you’re being destroyed, Job. But never did they say, “You’re being taught something through this.” Elu did. Emphasizes that God exalts the humble and afflicts the wicked. Speaks of creation’s majesty. And this is where it gets really cool. He speaks of creation’s majesty, lightning, rain, snow, why? As a demonstration of his unsearchable greatness.

So here at the end of the fourth speech of Elhu, he begins to what almost appears to be an introduction to the father by scratching at the surface of his majesty using physical attributes, lightning, rain, snow, almost as if he is preparing for what’s about to happen, preparing for God’s appearance. in the whirlwind. One thing that we should walk away with at this point in the book is that Job didn’t know. He spoke without knowledge. Elihu’s talk of Yahw’s majesty and creation prepares him for the arriving storm. And that’s what happens. Just just a quick point on that, Ed. Yes. When you say Job didn’t know, right? He lacked knowledge.

And if you stop and you think about it, and this is again a trap that we may find ourselves in is based on the things that you highlighted earlier about Job and the way he lived and he sacrificed and the way he worshiped God and lived his life actually does demonstrate some level of knowledge of who God is, right? otherwise wouldn’t be following him. Yet, you’re saying that in despite everything that he knew about God, he still didn’t know enough. He still didn’t know everything that he needs to know about God. So, I think that that’s something that sometimes we can fall into that trap. say, “Well, I’ve been a follower of, you know, Yeshua and of of God for my whole life, and I’ve read the Bible I don’t know how many times, and I know I know who God is.” And I think that it’s it’s a matter of always remembering that we don’t know it all. That there’s still so much that we don’t know.

It’s about putting our finite level of understanding of who God is in the correct and proper context of the reality of who God is and always having that level of like you were saying earlier uh pride and ignorance just having the the contrary the the level of humility uh to really recognize who we are and what we truly understand about God. Um, I think that’s that’s a powerful statement that you made because, you know, Job has the appearance of someone who really knows who God is and tries to live his life righteously, but yet there’s so much that he doesn’t know.

which uh makes me think um interestingly enough of my own life, David, because I as you know being my brother-in-law, member of a very conservative church for 35 years and many of them serving in the ministry as a pastor, teacher, evangelist, um on the missionary field and I was in a position in my life at one point where I could say that I was quote unquote a mature mature believer. Yep. Because of the things I understood, the things that I knew and when I discovered the ways of the Lord, I realized for the first time how little I actually knew and how wrong I actually was about so much of everything that I thought I knew. And such is the way that every person should approach the word of God. Amen. Like a child as Yeshua. Approaching it in such a way that you you should never be that person who thinks you’ve got a good beat on things and biblically. Yeah.

The moment you take that position, whether you say it with your words or think it in your heart, you will be humbled. Amen. By just how much you don’t know. And in this case, Job knew, like you said, a great deal. But when I’m talking about knowledge here, I’m not necessarily talking about the knowledge of the word or the knowledge of rituals. I’m talking about that deep knowledge of understanding who the father is. that’s built on relation and faith, right? And it’s so much more than we can ever comprehend. So to always be that way, right? Exactly. To have that arrogance to say I know God and I know what he would do is a very arrogant and like you mentioned very dangerous position to be in. Yes. So Job 381, the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind. stopping for a moment just to think about what that

Chapter 6: God speaks from the storm

must have looked like. Maybe it was maybe it looked like what’s on the screen. I don’t know. Maybe it was dark clouds approaching. But but either way, he spoke to Job out of the storm. And then he asks, “Who is this who darkens counsel by what? Words without knowledge.” confirming Elhu, confirming everything that we’ve seen in scripture. Now, Job, prepare yourself like a man, and I will question you, and you shall answer me. I love that opening phrase. You know why it for me personally I grew up with a ex-marine for a dad and my dad was very much so a man’s man and I have so many memories in my young life of him telling these things to me stand up look at me like a man in the eye and I’m going to ask you some questions I have those memories built into my brain. And so when I see the father telling Job, “Stand up, Job, prepare yourself like a man. I’m fixing to ask you some questions.”

So here in this opening statement, he definitively affirms both what Elhoo had declared and what I presented at the outset of the series regarding the overarching theme of the book. And I asked the question, do you remember? And of course you do because we’ve been talking about it. He’s confirming it here in his opening words to Job that he knew of Yahw. He knew of him. He knew of his laws probably through Abraham, but he didn’t know him. He didn’t have that same relationship with the father that Abraham had. He just obeyed because that’s what you’re supposed to do. So what did God do in these next three or four chapters? What does he do? I make the argument that in the case of course of these three or four chapters all he is doing is introducing himself. How does he introduce himself David?

Do you remember the just the the method by which he introduces himself by by um presenting to him you know look around you see all these things and based on that you you’ll get a better understanding of who I am. Yeah. Well that for sure but if you remember he just asks these questions over and over and over again. And we’re going to look at some of them, not all of them because we can’t do it at the time. But you know, the opening question is, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Well, that’s that would be me, Lord. That’s Job. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Non-existent. Tell me if you have understanding. You don’t. Yahw does. Who determined its measurements? Yah. Surely you know he doesn’t. Yah does. Or who stretched out the line upon it? Yah. To what were its foundations fastened? He doesn’t know. Yahw does.

Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Yah. Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst forth and issued from the womb? When I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band. When I fixed my limit for it and set bars and doors and said, “This far you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves must stop.” Did you do that, Job? No. Y’all did. Have you commanded the morning since your days began? No, Yahw has. Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? No, Yahw has. Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me if you know all this. And the answer, of course, is no. Know and you don’t know. Yah has Yah does. Why? Why do you think David and you can answer this question?

Why does Yahw introduce himself in such a manner? I think to to demonstrate again Joe’s perspective, Joe’s arrogance, um Joe’s uh um you know what he thinks he knows and he provides a bigger perspective, right? And he’s saying you think you know everything but you are so far off. You don’t. And but also but also if we give Job some credit, let’s not just, you know, judge him. When presented with these questions, he knows the answer, right? He did, you know, when God challenged him and and presented things in a different way, in a different perspective. Of course, I I would venture to say that Job, you know, kind of coward and he’s like, “Oh, wow. You’re right. You’re right, God. Of course, this is who you are. Of course, I’ve seen all these things. Of course, I know all these things or like you said, I know of these things, right? Um, yes. So, it’s it’s a way to kind of put him in his place, right?

and to to for him to acknowledge and to remember where he is in this whole big picture, right? Yeah. And that’s exactly what I said right here. You know, he had to reestablish a proper relationship. This is who I am, right? This is who you are and this is who I am. I am the creator. You are the created. You’re the creature. Yep. And he does that by confronting Job with his own limitations. that I’m the potter, you know, uh is it uh I’m the potter or you’re the clay. Yeah. Yep. The rhetorical questions are not intended to gather information, but to expose jobs lack of knowledge and authority. God interrogates Job about aspects of creation that are fundamentally inaccessible to human control or understanding. In other words, he’s asking questions that Job couldn’t possibly answer. What does that do? What what does Job’s inability to answer these questions create in Job?

Humility or, you know, true um judgment or understanding of who he is, who he really is. Yeah. Humility. I mean, again, even though I told you not to do this, put yourself in Job’s position at this moment and you’re being confronted with these questions. And I just gave you six to eight of them. There’s a hundred of them, if not more, in the four chapters. Job is humbled. Psalms 25, the humble, he guides in justice, and the humble he teaches his way. What does that mean? That means he had to get Job to that point of humility before he could understand the true nature of the situation. And that’s a huge lesson for us when we’re trying to make sense of pain. If we’re trying to make sense of oppression, if we’re trying to make sense of confusion that we’re being allowed to experience, the ultimate goal is for your understanding. But you can’t get there without going through humility.

He teaches his ways to the humble. And so Job needed to be humbled in order for him to learn the ultimate lesson in all of this. God’s goal was not to destroy Job, but to correct him. Mhm. He leads Job from a limited humanistic viewpoint, expecting Yahw to explain himself according to his standards to a theocentric worldview where Yahw’s wisdom, justice, and governance are acknowledged as surpassing his ability to understand or his ability to scrutinize. The questions magnify the chasm between the father and Job’s human wisdom, our human wisdom and call Job to trust, calls us to trust even when he or we cannot understand. So this all happens. What is the results?

Chapter 7: Job’s repentance and shift

Job 40. The proper response. Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I ain’t doing it again. Yes, twice. Okay, I said something twice, but I will speak no further. Smart man. smart man. That’s humility has entered his heart, right? That was the step that needed to happen before he came to understanding and it’s happening. And then he says, I have heard of you, but now I see you. Wow. the difference between knowing of him and knowing him like you said. And there it is. There, brothers and sisters, for those of you with us this morning or watching via YouTube, is the overarching theme of Job. I have heard of you. I had knowledge, but now I see you. Now I have faith. Therefore, I abore myself and repent in dust and ashes, which he was already doing, right? He’d already been there for seven days. He’s probably going to do it for another seven days.

But now he sees there’s that faith. And if you recall at the beginning of the lesson, I said, and I’ll say it again, I think I’ve already said it. Job is a microcosm of everything that God did to and for Israel to teach them this lesson. They failed. Mhm. And still to this day, just going to say that failed. They’re not there yet. where Job did not. Which makes you wonder again why the father made this one of the earliest writings to exist to teach them the lesson. Now my eyes see you. This moment signifies the breaking of his former reliance on self-righteousness and moralism. Confronted with the reality of God’s greatness, he abandons his legalistic posture and embraces a posture of faith, one rooted not in his own virtue, his own ability to be blameless, but in trust and reverence toward the God that he now truly knows. And do we see evidence of repentance in Job? because this is the last chapter.

And it turns out we can we do in Job 42 speaking of his new set of children as the Lord blessed him with an abundance as a result of everything he went through. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job. And their father Job gave them an inheritance among their brothers. David, why is that an indication of change in a man’s heart? I don’t know specifically what you’re because that was against the custom. That was against the norm of the day to give the daughters the inheritance versus just the sons. Yes. The cultural norm was that the sons get the inheritance not the daughters. The daughters get land rights but no inheritance. Now there is a a case in numbers where the Bible specifically says that if you have no sons then you can pass on um the inheritance to your daughters. But as a general rule of thumb, this didn’t happen. And so what does this tell us about Job?

It tells us that he’s shaken off those legalistic ways, those moralistic ways and doing something that just pleases the father. The spirit of transformation in Job’s repentance explains his generosity. Having moved from a transaction transactional moralistic view of God to one of grace and faith, Job now acts with unusual kindness and justice toward his daughters. So brief may it be in the last verses of the entire book of Job, we see a change. And isn’t that what’s supposed to happen? When you’re humbled and like he was and taught a lesson as big as he learned, we see that it’s different. So that is my thoughts on the book of Job. Quick comment, guys. Thank you for uh for sticking with me for what turned out to be five weeks, three weeks of

Chapter 8: Closing thoughts and Q&A

teaching, but I wanted to get your thoughts, your responses. Um Jeff had his hand up. He sensed the lesson was coming to its inevitable end, so he put his hand up first so he could be the first one to share. So, let’s do that. Let’s go ahead and have Jeff unmute yourself, brother, and and give your thoughts. Okay. Can you hear me now? We can hear you. I’m sorry. This has been excellent. I thank you so much. Um I have a few medical conditions. Uh won’t get into it a lot. One of them is Parkinson’s. And because of it, I easily get frustrated and question God, why have you done this to me? A man that all his life has worked with his hands. Now I can’t hold a screw on the end of a drill.

And so it’s it’s easy for me to see myself in both Job and his friends because I know how I was when I was a leader in the church and thought I knew something like yourself and then found out I know nothing when it comes to the the reality of who God really is. And there’s no way that I can short of doing what you said, which is digging in to the word. You have to go back to the Hebrew. You have to go back to the language. You have to go back to the culture to understand a lot of what’s going on. Some things that we think are prescriptions are actually descriptions. Uh it’s not so much God is telling you you’re going to be blessed if you, you know, obey da da da da da. But if you’re doing the things you’re supposed to be doing, naturally that’s going to come about. Yes, I know God is in on all of it. But it’s just the same. He has built our body to be a certain thing.

If we lift a lot of weight like this for a long time, these muscles are going to get bigger. Did God do it? In a sense, yes. But he built the body to be able to do that. Job, I think, like myself, was looking into the own pain in his body and the own uh, you know, here I was, everything was fine. I thought I was doing good and now all of a sudden I get all these calamities upon me. So anyway, thank you so much because it’s helped me tremendously. Amen, brother. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Go ahead, Luke. Hey, good morning Ed. Shabbat shalom and Shabbat shalom family. Um, I equate us trying to wrap our heads around Yahweh as an amoeba trying to wrap its head around the universe. He is unfathomable. We have been given his word for our own understanding, but that’s the limit of it. Once we try to surpass that I think is folly.

I heard John Piper say one time that when he enters the kingdom, he will spend eternity climbing one mountain. And when he gets to the peak, he will oversee a countless countless mountains that he is to climb. And then he’s to climb down the other side and up the next one to the next understanding. Down the other side and up the next one to the next understanding. And I believe it will take an eternity for us to have an full understanding of Yahw. So I I always like that analogy and it and it and it suit it sits well with me. But I just wanted to comment on uh to spend money on Shabbat. Forget the world is already sinning against Yahw. If I were the only person paying someone for their service, have I provided the opportunity to sin at that moment and condemned that person? Am I not responsible for my neighbor? I believe the answer is yes. The world is already sitting. We are to be separate and holy.

The same way a harlot calling from her doorway, “Come lay with me. I will give you the opportunity to sin.” If I were the only person in the entire world calling for someone to break Shabbat, doesn’t that make meaton, a roaring lion laying in weight? Are we not called to not be a stumbling block against our brethren? Just food for thought. Thank you. Appreciate it. Are you reading from something or did you just Was that just a I had scribbled it down uh before we started the the teaching. So anyway, man, thank you for that. And we’re going to I think we’re going to we’re going to re we’re going to touch that uh issue of Shabbat I think in a future lesson. But thank you very much. Appreciate your thoughts as always. Brother Samuel, jump in there. Ram. Bash shalom everyone. Shalom. Shalom.

One of the the one of the parallels I draw from the book of Job is in the Gospel of John chapter nine when Yeshua Hamashiach and the disciples come across the blind man and the disciples asked him who was it who sinned? Did the man send was it his parents? And Yeshua’s answer was none of the above. he’s this way so that the Most High may be glorified. And that’s when he spit into the ground, took the the um combination of spittle and and dirt, rubbed it on the man’s eyes, and sent him to wash it into and to receive his his healing. The the one thing that that that really comes across through Job is presumptuousness. All three friends of Job’s Job’s were presumptuous in terms of why he was going through what he was going through. And it seems ultimately that Job himself um also was presumptuous and was set straight by the most high.

But the question that I have for you um brother Ed is with with what you shared in your teaching and it was quite edifying is what is the role of the assembly in addressing errant behavior in our brothers and sisters? When I when I look at the book of Job, it’s clear to me that Job’s friends just assume that his suffering was because Job did something that was wrong. Right? But is there a place within the body of Messiah to where when we see a breaking of the commandments, when we see transgression happening within our brothers and sisters, do we have a place to address that or are we to remain silent given what you shared? Uh, great question, Samuel, as always. And the answer to that question is absolutely we do. Um, hopefully I did not imply or lead you to believe that it was not our responsibility as members of the body to correct and rebuke one another. The scriptur is clear on that.

We, it is our responsibility to do that. In the case of Job’s friends, there was an assumption of some hidden sin that only Yahw knew of. And therefore, he was being punished as a result of some sin that the friends didn’t couldn’t not identify specifically identify. Now, they locked on a bunch of other things to Job. So every time Job opened his mouth, they would rebuke him for the things that he said. And truth be known, some of the things that Job said probably incurred a bit of that wrath. But overall, their mistake was assuming that there that there was some guilt somewhere. Thus their long winded speeches about his repentance. Now in the case that you mentioned, yeah, in the body, if we’re with a believer and we see him do or say something that is outright sin, then this is our responsibility to uh to correct in love um as Paul teaches to guide them gently. But that’s not what you see.

I think I pointed this point I made this point in last week’s or the last time we talked part two. There’s a way to correct and then there’s a wrong way to correct. And I think a lot of us based on our churchy backgrounds have learned the wrong way. Uh it takes wisdom and true love from the individual doing the correction to do it right. But yes, to answer your question blatantly, yeah, it is our responsibility. David, I sensed you wanted to say something on that as well. Yeah, on that and another topic, but yeah, I think there’s a distinction between a couple different they’re different situations. One is a situation that Samuel, you bring up and Ed, you just mentioned where there is blatant disregard for God’s word, God’s commandments in in and taking um action, if you will, in doing things right. I’ve made a decision that I am going to disobey God.

Whether I know it or not, you know, whether I I acknowledge it and I’m I’m whether I know that I shouldn’t be doing this and I still do it. In that case, for sure you should be, you know, challenged, rebuked, uh or whether you do it unknowingly, right? That’s goes back to the point of well maybe you have to do that in a different manner to to bring it to someone’s attention that you’re in sin, right? versus the situation that Job is in that it’s not that he did something intentional and then all these things are happening and then through assumption you make the assumption that he sinned. Right? There’s a difference between intentional disobedience versus the assumption that you’re disobeying. Right? And I don’t know if I’m clearly uh making it clear when someone is clearly saying I am doing this.

I know that I’m doing this uh and it’s contrary to God’s command then yes absolutely that’s where we need to step in and set things right uh according to again again again God’s instruction about uh how we need to do that uh so that’s just one point I wanted to say I think the other point that kind of I took out of this I think was was little light bulb moment there was when you were talking about the fact of how does God respond to Job and he says when he presents all these questions right and I and you talked about and you challenged uselves to all put ourselves in this position of Job’s story and I think that the lesson that you know that I wanted to highlight here for myself and others as well is that in situations where things are not clear in situations where we’re kind of scratching our heads like why God

why is this happening right I think it’s our role also as people when people come to us and want to ask us and ask for our counsel ask for our support ask for um you know for us to try and help people understand why things are happening I think it’s we need to follow that model that God provided and that model being of providing perspective right not standing up and saying, “Oh, this is why I know why you little uh you know, you don’t know enough about your Bible and stuff, but you know, let me let me let me let me clue you into something here. This is why this is happening is to provide people with context and pro provide people with a an understanding of the bigger picture uh and and reminding people of who God is and what he has done and what his nature is and what his heart is, right?

Uh I think that’s that’s our role and it helps us also again to remain humble and to to understand where we stand in in all of this, right? So that’s our role as people that are trying to support one another on this journey in life and and when we encounter things that we cannot understand and you’ve had some you know lessons about those is that you know about why do bad things happen you know how could a god allow these kind of things to happen in the world uh and it’s in those situations where we don’t know the answer and but what would help us and help others is to paint a bigger picture to step back and to say I don’t know what’s happening in this particular situation but I know who God is. This is what he has done. This is what he you know this is these are the facts that I see around me. This is what I read about him in the Bible. This is what I have experienced from him in my own life.

and I trust God and I have faith in God and I know who he is uh and and that’s what helps me and I pray that that’s what will help you uh through this journey and in these challenging times. So I just thought that was an important learn learning for me is to help uh others uh in that kind of way. Yeah. Amen. And really guys, when you think about it, what if the the book of Job had his three friends doing everything that David just said? Every time they spoke, instead of rebuking him for some mystery sin, they encouraged him to trust and be faithful. And here here’s the great things about the nature of God. The entire book would be different, wouldn’t it? But that’s not what the spirit wanted us to see. The spirit wanted us to see the other side where we can be judgmental and and condemn one another for these types of things. But guys, listen, we have hit our time. We’re a few minutes past.

I’ve got to cut it off. As always, it’s been wonderful to be with you. I wanted to let you know that I am planning on putting together a different studio, a studio in my home in which we can have these meetings. Cuz right now, what used to be my office has become a storage room and um unfortunately kids moving in and out and all that kind of stuff. But I want to try to create a studio in which we we have a screen on the wall and kind of like a Joe Rogan type of situation where I’m sitting across from maybe Glenn number two or some other visitor and talking with you guys on the wall on on TV. Uh so be praying about that. I don’t think it’s going to be very much because I don’t have much to throw at it. But um that’s my that’s my goal and my plan. But guys, listen. Thanks again for coming. Thanks for going through this journey with Job with me. If you’re new today and this is your first time, welcome.

You’re always welcome. You want to bring somebody, bring them. I don’t care if we have 500 people on these on these calls. But uh next week be looking forward to um many are many are called but few are chosen lesson. Shabbat shalom and have a fantastic weekend. Thank you Led. Thank you. Shabbat. Love you guys. Shabbat shalom.