Job 29-33

0:23 How are you? You're a sight for sore eyes. Now, I always feel when I'm gone that you deserve an explanation. The week before last, I was in Manchester, England, where I spoke seven times. Five of those times were to a group of pastors on expository preaching and how to do that. And that was a pastor's conference we call Preach the Word. I've been doing these around the world for the last few years. This last week, I had to finish up a book. I had a deadline, and so it's a book on prophecy, end-time prophecy from 30,000 feet. So a view of all of the end times all the way up until the eternal state. and publishers give deadlines so I needed to get that done and so I concentrated and finished that book this week and the thing about books is they're like a year out so it'll be put out like next year because now it has to go through the editors and through different teams, etc. on their end but anyway, that's what I've been doing but I'm back with you and I'm happy to be back with you even though we're in the book of Job Now, I just got to tell you, Job, you know, first of all, you are not just Christians, and that's the most important thing you could ever be, is to be a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ on a personal level of commitment. But then there's another level of Christian, and that is a Bible-believing Christian. And that's what you are. You are those who believe in the scriptures, but there's even a level beyond that, and that is a Bible-reading Christian.

2:08 There's people who say they believe the Bible, but they never read it much. You read it, and you come on Wednesday nights, and you are even in the book of Job, which is a laborious book, honestly, to get through. There's just certain portions of the Bible, and you go, really? I mean, really, couldn't you take Job's whole argument with his friends back and forth that is so poetic, etc., and just kind of say it in a shorter amount of time? And the answer is, yes, you could. But because suffering is such a grand theme and part of human experience, I think God has given us the book of Job to let it wash over us. And let me just drill into that for a moment. It's a highly poetic book, and I've described Hebrew parallelism, Hebrew poetry before, but it is the kind of book that when you expose yourself to it and have it read to you or you read it out loud and these themes wash over you, they sink in, they seep in. You marinate in them a little bit. You stew in the juice of this suffering person and the rebuttals back and forth, and it does something for you when you do it that way. I'm convinced God included this book at least in part for that reason. So it is a lengthy book. It can become laborious.

3:40 We're in the, I won't say the last section, but we're in the latter section of the book of Job. we're in chapter 29 of this book. And these are the words of Job as we begin. Now, I do want to get through a chunk of this and just sort of, you know, I'll make comment as we go, but a lot of this is pretty easy to get through, at least this section is. Some of the other stuff was a little highly poetic in the sense that it had to be sort of broken down to understand it. But these chapters are pretty straightforward.

4:23 Now, there is a belief system. the belief system of the deist. Have you heard of that term deist? A deist is somebody who believes there is a deity. He believes that there is a God, but that God who made everything has stepped away from the creation that he made and is distant and aloof and not personally involved in it. So the deist holds to a theology, a philosophy, an ideology that is called finite theism. Finite theism. And that is that God would love to be able to fix the chaos that is in this world, but he can't.

5:20 He's unable to do it. back in the 1960s which is before some of you were born there was a book put out by a rabbi rabbi harold kushner and it became a very widely read book it was called when bad things happen to good people he was a deist he was a jewish author who was deistic in his view of life and he said that God would love to end the chaos in this world, but he is unable to manage that. He would like to fix what is wrong with the world, but he is unable to manage that. And he encourages the reader in the book to forgive God and to even pray for God, which is a strange thing to ask somebody to do because who would you be praying to if you're going to be praying for God?

6:24 Now admittedly, this shows us that the number one roadblock for many people believing in God is the roadblock of human suffering. why would if a God exists and is all loving and all powerful why would God allow evil to exist this problem is dealt with and this question is asked on the pages of scripture Asaph, who wrote Psalm 73, had this same problem.

7:05 He said, surely I know God is good, but I don't get why the wicked prosper. I don't get why the ungodly, when I look at their lives, seem, many of them, most of them, the ones he had known, to be so wealthy and problem-free because of their prosperity, while the righteous don't have that. Where's the payoff? Where's the justice in that? Where's the cosmic justice in that? And he said, because of this, my feet almost stumbled. My steps nearly slipped. It was all too much for me to handle. until I went into the sanctuary of God, he said, and I understood their end.

7:56 Now, I remember having those questions on a personal level. How could a God of love allow this or that to happen? When my brother died on a motorcycle, when I got the phone call from my dad that my brother had suddenly been killed. I remember having that thought when a 13-year-old boy in this church many years ago fell down, bumped his head while he was skateboarding, and died a few days later, taken from his parents. I struggled with that when a young woman in this church had an ongoing chronic disease that eventually caused extreme suffering for a long time, and eventually she died. She loved the Lord. these are difficult issues to deal with. And so the book of Job does need indeed to wash over us.

8:57 Now, we're going to begin in chapter 29. Let me just tell you where we are in the book. Chapter 27 to the end of the book, 27 to 42, are a series of monologues. The dialoguing is over. Job's friends interrupting what he has to say and countering him and Job countering them all that is done there are now three monologues left first is by Job the second is by somebody we haven't met yet named Elihu and the last is the best that's when God alone gives the final words three monologues In chapter 29, chapter 30, and chapter 31, we have Job making his final case. Like a lawyer, like an attorney, bringing a summary statement to the jury to present before them.

10:06 And in chapter 29, he goes back to how good it used to be. the good old days, before the suffering, before the trial, before the pain, before the loss of his children, before the disease, before the affliction, all his pre-affliction glory. So chapter 29, Job is considering the blessings of the past. In chapter 30, Job considers the buffetings in the present. In chapter 31, his final closing statement, you might call it bargaining for the future, believing that God will bring him final vindication. So he goes to the good old days in verse 1 of chapter 29, Job further continued his discourse. And when it says discourse, this is really Job's soliloquy.

11:10 It is Job's almost seemingly random thinking voiced out loud. These are the thoughts of his heart, and he's expressing them publicly. Job further continued his discourse, and he said, Oh, that I were as in months past. Thank you. Now, the fact that he uses the term months is perhaps a time signature that tells us Job's affliction didn't last days, didn't last weeks, but over a period of several months he was experiencing all of this heartache. oh that I were as in months past as in the days when God watched over me when his lamp shone upon my head and when by his light I walked through darkness just as I was in the days of my prime when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent when the almighty was yet with me when my children were around me.

12:28 I'm interested in these verses because first on the list of what Job remembers of his blessings was his intimate fellowship with God. I remember the time when God and I were so close I could feel his presence. And some of you can relate to that. You are looking back to a time when God seemed closer to you. And he doesn't seem that close now. You are like Isaiah. Oh, that God would rend the heavens, tear the heavens and come down. Job is remembering an intimate time when he walked with God and experienced the closeness of God. And you can just imagine what he's picturing in his mind, his 10 children who have been taken away by death when they were all around his table feasting. When my steps were bathed with cream and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me. Now these are symbols of prosperity. Cream and oil are symbols that you have a lot, you got a lot of dough in the bank. You have a lot of prosperous, you have equity, and you have these things to spare.

13:48 When he talks about oil from the rock, you almost have to go to Israel to get this. And if you do, we'll take you to Nazareth into this reconstructed section of old Nazareth, a Nazareth village, where they have an oil press. and the oil press is a slab of rock, a slab of stone with a tunnel cut out and this huge millstone that is attached to a piece of wood that goes around in a circle where the olives were placed and when the olive oil was made it poured from the rock spout and it could be collected. So he's speaking of olive oil and oil coming from the rock is just the abundance of olive oil that he was able to produce. looking back in verse 7 when I went out to the gate by the city when I took my seat in the open square ancient cities had gates and in the gates of the ancient cities was a rectangular room the gate was a room not just a hole cut out in the wall for people to go in and out It was actually a room where judges sat, the kings sat.

15:10 If you go to Caesarea by the sea, you'll see remains of an ancient gate. If you go to the northern area of Israel in a place called Dan, Tel Dan, there's the remains of the city of Laish. And they'll show you even where the king would sit in the gate because there's posts that are still there out of stone where wood beams were placed in these holders and the holders are still intact and that held a canopy over the king where he could sit in the gate and he could adjudicate. So Job was in that class of those who sat by the gate, somebody who was revered. When I took my seat in the open square, The young men saw me and hid. The aged arose and stood.

16:07 Now that would be unusual. It was not unusual if Job, who was considered wise when he came and the young men saw him and go, Oh, that's Job. But for an older man, older than Job, to stand up and acknowledge him is unusual indeed. So it shows you the kind of prominence that Job had. The princes refrained from talking, unlike his three friends, and put their hand on their mouth. They would go, oh, wow, that's Job. We've got to listen to what he has to say. The voice of nobles was hushed. Their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouth. So Job is looking back, remembers when he was enjoying the social benefits, The prestige of being somebody who was noteworthy. When the ear heard, then it blessed me.

17:04 When the eye saw, then it approved me. Because I delivered the poor who cried out, and the fatherless, and he who had no helper. Okay, now stop there. I want you to remember one of the accusations previously leveled by one of these three knuckleheads.

17:29 Eliphaz, the first guy who spoke, probably the eldest, accused Job this way. For you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason and stripped the naked of their clothing. you have not given the weary water to drink and you have withheld bread from the hungry you have sent widows away empty and the strength of the fatherless was crushed now he made that up because he was trying to say there's got to be a reason why you're suffering so much and even though we've thought you were righteous all this time you must be like the hypocrite of all hypocrites to hide it so well when in fact you were abusing the poor. You were mistreating those who didn't have what you had. And Job said, actually, everybody knows just the opposite. I delivered the poor who cried out and the fatherless and he who had no helper.

18:33 The blessing of a perishing man, he continues in verse 13, came upon me and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness and it clothed me. Remember, remember, God has already said that Job was blameless. God's assessment of Job is that he was pure and upright, a perfect man, a complete man. Gadol, I think, was the Hebrew term for that, a heavy man, and somebody who had a good reputation for godliness.

20:10 He's confident that he's going to live long and die peacefully. Now, we have the same problem as Job. We, naturally, when we think of the end of our lives, we think, you know, I'm going to die at a certain age when I'm really old and I'll probably get weak toward the very end and I'll die in my sleep. That's how we'd like to picture the end of our lives. But we don't know what reality is going to bring, what God is going to allow in his wisdom. So Job is looking back over the days where he anticipated living a good, solid, comfortable life and then dying in his bed, dying in his sleep, dying in his nest. Thank you.

21:01 verse 21 men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel again unlike his three friends after my words they did not speak again in other words what i had to say was the final word on the matter my speech settled on them as due they waited for me as for rain and they opened up their mouth wide as for the spring rain. If I mocked at them, they did not believe it. Not that he did, but even if I were to mock them, they would just think, oh, Job wouldn't do that. We must not have heard that right. He's so blameless. And the light of my countenance, they did not cast down. I chose the way for them and sat as chief. So I dwelt as a king in the army, as one who comforts mourners. So chapter 29, looking back, considering the blessings of God on his life.

22:07 Now he looks to the present. In chapter 29, this is how God, this is what God has given to me. Chapter 30, this is what God has taken away from me. Remember what he said at the beginning? The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now he considered what God gave him. Now he considers what God takes away from him. Look at how it begins, chapter 30, but now. That's how it used to be, the good old days. You know, there is a good old days syndrome. We look back to our good old days. They may not be as good as you are now thinking of them. You know, somebody once said the good old days is a combination of a good imagination and a bad memory. But he thought back to how good it used to be, but now, he says, but now they mock at me, men younger than I, whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

23:10 So he is a social outcast by the very people that he wouldn't have even hired their parents to watch his dogs. So the lowest strata of society he is now describing, those are the very people that are disdaining and mocking Job.

24:13 These semi-nomadic wanderers who were just thugs that were like day laborers, many of them, in that society at that time. They're the ones that are raising themselves now above Job, looking down at Job. Now, verse 9, I am their taunt song. Yes, I am their byword. They abhor me. They keep far from me. They do not hesitate to spit in my face. The worst insult you could give in the Middle East. Because he has loosed, notice he, capital H, he, God, has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me.

25:00 That's a metaphor for weakness. when you take the bow string that is taut on a bow and you loosen the bow string you are incapacitating the bow God has incapacitated me, Job said. He's loosened my bowstring. I'm now weak.

25:22 They have cast off restraint before me. At my right hand, the rabble arises. They push away my feet. They raise against me their ways of destruction. They break up my path. They promote my calamity. they have no helper. They come as broad breakers under the ruinous storm they roll along, like the breakers that come in from the Pacific Ocean this week and have destroyed and eaten away some of the coast in Southern California. They just keep coming one after another after another. Terrors are turned upon me. They pursue my honor as the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud. My honor is gone. I was esteemed among people at the gate of the city. Now they're saying the cruelest things, and people can say the cruelest things. And I would say especially in a classroom, in schools where kids from an early age first experienced the devastation of being bullied by classmates or being talked down to. They pursue my honor as the wind, and my prosperity is passed like a cloud. And now, verse 16, and now my soul is poured out because of my plight. I feel through the experiences of the past few months, Job is saying, my zest for life itself has been drained.

27:09 Some of you have felt that way. Just your zest for life is gone. Your, what the French call, joie de vivre, the joy of life, the joy you once had, the joy in the Lord has been poured out. The days of affliction take hold of me. My bones are pierced in me at night. My gnawing pains take no rest. By great force my garment is disfigured. It binds me about as the collar of my coat. He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. Now notice a change in verse 20. As if Job now looks up toward heaven. He's addressing God. He's giving his last soliloquy, as I mentioned, but then he turns up and sort of interrupts his little speech with a prayer.

28:48 that's one of those verses that it's just good to meditate on I know I'm going to die and he thinks he's going to die now soon imminently he's suffering horribly the last few months he thinks this is the end of my life it's just a matter of time that's not true but eventually it is true eventually he is going to die And this brings up Hebrews 9. It is appointed for every man to die once. You have an appointment.

29:24 You won't be late for that appointment. That's one appointment you'll keep. It's one appointment you'll be on time for. You say, well, I'm always late for my appointment. Not this one. You'll be right on time. it's appointed for every man now God knows when that appointment date is it's in his books it's not in yours but why should we meditate on something like that well you know Solomon said that we should he wrote a little book called Ecclesiastes and in chapter 7 he said it's better to go to the house of mourning than it is to go to the house of feasting better to go to a funeral than it is to a party. Then he tells you why. Because that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart. That is, we know we have a terminus date, and we'll live according to that. We'll live accordingly. So it's appointed that every man to die once. I know that I'm going to die, and to the house appointed for all living, surely he would not stretch out his hand against a heap of ruins.

30:45 He's saying, look, I'm going to die and surely he's not going to afflict me once I'm in the grave. So it's all taking place right now. All this success that God has taken away from me, all this prosperity that God has taken away from me and the suffering he has imposed on me, surely that will end in the grave and I won't be afflicted in the grave, which is true for some, but for others, it's just starting.

31:52 My skin grows black and falls from me. Some commentators have speculated that because Job mentions this blackness of skin that he is referring to a disease called elephantiasis, not elephantitis, elephantiasis, or black leprosy where the skin discolors, becomes dark, sloughs off, becomes brittle in places and falls off, and is very, it brings a burning with it. My bones burn with fever, he continues in verse 30. My harp, or my song, my song of praise. My harp is turned to mourning. My flute to the voice of those who weep. I'm singing in the minor key.

32:46 So he feels disrespected socially. He's in pain physically. He's exhausted emotionally. And he's giving his final speech to that end. And then in chapter 31, past, 29, present, chapter 30, future, chapter 31. This is his closing argument. These are his final words that he has to make.

33:14 And. it's insightful. It's insightful. As I studied this chapter, the insightful part is Job is going to disclose his value system. This is how I live my life. This is how I process my thoughts inwardly, and then I, in a corresponding fashion, act outwardly. So this is my theological statement, my value system of how I live my life. I have made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I look upon a young woman? I keep my thoughts pure. For what is the allotment of God from above and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? is it not destruction for the wicked and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Now, just a little thought.

34:08 I want to throw this in. There are a couple of scholars, and you probably have not heard of them unless you are like a Bible nerd or you collect theological books. But I have a whole set of books, an Old Testament commentary by a couple of fellows named Kyle and Delitzsch. two great scholars on the old testament kyle and delitz believes that because of chapter 31 where he says i haven't looked at a woman and he mentions his wife singular and that he wouldn't be enticed by another woman who will get down to that later on that job believed in monogamy and why delitz think that thinks that's important is in ancient times a lot of people did not hold to monogamy. They had several wives. Even though in the book of Genesis, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined into his wife, singular, and the two shall become one flesh.

35:07 That's God's plan for marriage. Evidently, Job believed that and adhered to that, which, if it is true, and I believe it is, makes him more righteous morally than even Abraham. Because Abraham had a concubine or two. And many ancient people had a few wives. You know, we read that even in the patriarchal period, but not him. So Delitz points this out, and I think it's noteworthy

35:40 to mention. Verse 4, does he not see my ways? Doesn't God see my ways? Yes, he does. Does he not see my ways and count all my steps. In other words, I'm aware that God is looking at me, what I think, what I do, what I say. God is in the audience observing everything that goes on on earth, and particularly in my life, he's aware of everything I do. Do you live that way?

36:14 In Proverbs chapter 6, it says, The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he, God, ponders all of his us doings. He sees it all.

38:06 yourself up. And that is the metaphor Job is using here. That would be fire that consumes to destruction. If I have despised the cause of my maidservant or my manservant or my maidservant when they complained against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When he punishes, how shall I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb? That goes against modern culture. inside the womb is not a clump of cells, but a human being. Made in the image of God, life begins at conception and is to be guarded and regarded.

40:08 Now again, Eliphaz, the eldest of his so-called friends, accused Job of this very thing. I'm going back to something he said in chapter 22. Eliphaz accusing Job said, If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, Job. if you remove iniquity far from your tents, then you will lay your gold in the dust, and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks. Yes, the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver. Now, in that section, he is implying that Job has served mammon, God, money, riches. That's what he's been after. He's abused the poor to line his own pockets. Job said, If I have done that, let my arm fall from its socket.

41:03 If I have made gold my hope or said to gold, you are my confidence. If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, because my hand had gained much. If I have observed the sun when it shines or the moon moving in brightness. look to the zodiac, the signs of the heavens for my direction. By the way, 30% of all Americans do that. 30% of Americans this week have looked at the astrological readings to guide their lives. 30% have read it, about 27% actually believe in it. It's a good chunk. or the moon moving in its brightness, so that my heart has been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand, part of the ancient pagan ritual, this also would be an iniquity worthy of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above.

42:06 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me or lifted myself up when evil found him. in other words I've never rejoiced when my enemy got his comeuppance you know when they got something that they deserved I never said yeah I'm glad they got that they deserve that he goes I that's not my value system indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for a curse on his soul. I haven't used profanity against them. When somebody pulls out in front of me, when that camel train pulls out in front of my donkey, I don't yell at them, saying, what are you doing going slow in the fast lane, dude? Get over.

43:00 That's what I do. But not Job.

43:35 Before I get into that, Notice the mention of Adam. Remember before I told you and I laid out the case that Job, we believe, is probably the earliest book written. He's in the era of the patriarchs. There are several clues as to why. He never mentions anybody. Now, there's going to be somebody mentioned in the next chapter that is from the patriarchal age, which I think you're going to find very interesting. But he mentions Adam, which shows that he knew about Adam. He believed in Adam. Adam was a historical person during the time of Job. But he doesn't mention anybody else as contemporary. So it's one of the clues that this is a very early book. Now, verse 35, Oh, that I had one to hear me. Here is my mark.

44:30 I'm making my case here. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me. Remember, this has been his cry all along. God, just tell me why this is happening. I know it's not because I have overtly sinned, which the next speaker, Elihu, is going to have problems with. but oh, that the Almighty would answer me, that my prosecutor had written a book.

45:00 Well, actually, Job, he did. Now, we know that now. Job didn't know that. Job didn't have what you and I are holding in our hands and often take for granted the 66 books, Old and New Testament that comprise the Holy Bible, the Word of God, the voice of God speaking to us. God has written a book inspired by God. and in that book is the book of Job. Job didn't have the book of Job. He didn't know what's going on behind the scenes. We do. But when he says, oh, I wish that God would just, you know, answer me and that he would have written a book, that is, I wish he would write down the case against me. This is sort of legal language. He would write down and present his prosecution in writing. Surely I would carry it on my shoulder and bind it on me like a crown.

45:57 I would declare to him the number of my steps. Like a prince I would approach him. If my land cries out against me, if its furrows weep together, if I have eaten its fruit without money or caused its owners to lose their lives, then let thistles grow instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley. so this is the end of Job's speech he presents his final case he persists in claiming his own innocence not sinlessness in life in general but that there is no direct reason why God should punish him because he hasn't done anything that would deserve that kind of punishment like his accusers are saying. Now, he's had three friends that have gone back and forth with Job.

46:55 They're done. Thank God they're done. We're not going to hear from them, but there's a fourth guy that's been listening much younger named Elihu. He's been on the sidelines. He's been a bystander. He has been listening to Job speak, Eliphaz speak, all of them speak, and just consider back and forth. And as he listens, he gets angrier and angrier, both at Job and those three friends, as you will see. Now, his name is Elihu. You're about to meet him.

47:40 have had. The first three accusers have said that Job's suffering is due to his sin. Eliphaz reverses that and says, no, Job's sin is due to his suffering. That is, because this suffering has come upon him, the sin of pride in declaring he's perfectly innocent. is the cardinal sin that he needs to be put on check for.

48:19 So, these three men, chapter 32, verse 1, ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of, notice this, Barakal the Buzite, of the family of Ram was aroused against Job. His wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.

48:52 Now this to me is interesting, that he was a Buzite. you want to know why? Abraham had a brother named Nahor. You may remember that from Genesis chapter 22. The family of Nahor is given. And Nahor, Abraham's brother, had two sons that he named The Uzz and Buzz. Yep, he was one of those dads. Right? You know, all the kids have to have weird names. Like they have to have the same first letter, or, you know, they have to rhyme. It's like, okay. I grew up with a family like this. There was the Ridge family, and the boys' names were Dusty Ridge, Sandy Ridge, Rocky Ridge. I kid you not.

49:43 It's like, really? whose idea was that? It was dad's idea. There was like four or five of them and they all had those weird names. So Nahor had two sons named one Uz and one Buzz. So these two kids were nephews of Abraham. Now, do you remember where Job lived in chapter 1, verse 1? The land of Uz. So probably named after Abraham's nephew, Uz. And this guy was a buzzite. Sort of like a housefly, buzzing around all the time. And so he's listening to all this. Also against his three friends, his wrath was aroused because they found no answer and yet had condemned Job. Now because they were years older than he, Elihu had waited to speak to Job. That's protocol. When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused. So he's mad at Job because Job justified himself. Instead of giving glory to God, saying God is awesome, God is perfect, Job, you're saying, you haven't done anything wrong.

51:04 You're full of pride. And then he's mad at these three because they fail to prove the point that Job is getting something he deserved. So Elihu, the son of Barakal the Buzite, answered and said, I am young in years, and you are very old. Now, that's not nice to tell. They may be very old, but that's not how you open a conversation as a young man. You know I'm a young, strapping, handsome guy, and you guys are old folks. You are very old. Therefore, I was afraid and dared not declare my opinion to you. I said, age should speak. In other words, I let you guys do the talking. The multitude of years should teach wisdom. But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty has given him understanding. Now, I'll just say this.

51:58 A lot of what Elihu said, I actually agree with. There is a lot of wisdom in this young man. And notice what he says in verse 9, which I find compelling. Great men are not always wise. Just because you're old doesn't mean you have wisdom. You should. The years should have taught you something to pass down. But I've known a bunch of stupid old people.

52:26 It's no guarantee of wisdom. And I'll agree with Charles Spurgeon who said, I have met comparatively young men whose wisdom outstrips their years.

53:38 Eliphaz and his two buddies said I'm done talking I've tried to talk to Job he won't listen to us I have nothing further to say so he said okay well I have something to say I might be young but I'm I think I'm I have the wisdom of God and since you're done and you're standing there just kind of with your hands in your pockets you have no rebuttal I'm going to jump in here I also will answer my part, verse 17. I too will declare my opinion. I am, for I am full of words. The spirit within me compels me. Indeed, my belly is like wine so that it has no vent. You put wines in a wineskin and that skin will enlarge because of the gas that builds up. It's ready to burst like new wineskins. I will speak that I may find relief. I must open my lips and answer. Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone, nor let me flatter any man, for I do not know how to flatter, else my maker would soon take me away. Now let me just quickly say, and I think I have time to scoot through the next one. You can tell I'm anxious to get through this book.

55:00 Some will say that Elihu was a young, arrogant upstart. Some commentators. Other commentators will say that he is a picture of Jesus Christ. So you have a wide variety of opinions on this guy's personality profile. Young, arrogant upstart, picture of Jesus Christ. Why would they say a picture? Because he is the mediator. between these three, God, that's how they picture him, and Job. Food for thought. Now here's the first speech, begins in verse 1, chapter 33. Please, Job, hear my speech and listen to all my words. Now I open my mouth. My tongue speaks in my mouth. My words come from my upright heart.

55:54 My lips utter pure knowledge. the Spirit of God has made me, the breath of the Almighty gives me life, if you can answer me, set your words in order before me. Literally, line your words up for battle before me. Present a cogent, logical, linear, airtight case for me once you hear my speech. In other words, this young guy is ready for a fight. set your words in order before me take your stand truly i am as your spokesman before god i also have been formed out of clay surely no fear of me will terrify you nor will my hand be heavy on you these guys you know they really beat you up i'm going to be a little bit lighter on you surely you have spoken in my hearing and i have heard the sound of your words saying i am pure without transgression. I am innocent and there is no iniquity in me. Yet he, God, finds occasions against me. He counts me as his enemy. He puts my feet in stocks. He watches all my paths.

57:07 Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you for God is greater than man. Job, it's wrong for you to say God is unjust. It's wrong for you to claim you are upright and that God is not right. You're accusing God of wrongdoing. why would you contend with him, verse 13, for he does not give an accounting of any of his words. God didn't have to explain himself to you why he does what he does. For God may speak in one way or in another, yet man does not perceive it. Now, what Elihu is going to say is, look, these guys were saying God is punishing you. I'm not saying that. I'm saying, and listen to the difference, I'm saying God is educating you. God is actually speaking to you through this experience.

58:04 Which is very insightful, actually. Because, and he's going to cite a couple of different ways God speaks. the writer of Hebrews begins, God, who in various ways and at various times spoke in times past to the fathers through the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his son. God speaks in different ways at different times. Elihu is saying God speaks and educates us in a number of ways. You're saying, God, speak. Present your case to me. God has spoken, Job. He does in a few different ways. Verse 15, in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men while slumbering on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and seals their instruction in order to turn man from his deed and conceal pride from man.

59:08 He keeps back his soul from the pit. and his life from perishing by the sword. Job complained that he had some frightful dreams at night during the sickness. And Elihu was saying, God could be speaking to you through those dreams. Now, God isn't always speaking in all your dreams. You dream every night. If you eat pizza before bed, you'll have some very interesting, probably psychedelic type of dreams. So it's not always God speaking. It could be the pepperoni speaking. But God can speak, he is saying. Verse 19, he continues, Man is also chastened with pain upon his bed and with strong pain in many of his bones so that his life abhors bread and his soul succulent food.

1:00:05 His flesh wastes away from sight and his bones stick out, which once we're not seen, yes, his soul draws near the pit and his life to his executioners. there's different ways that God speaks. Job, God speaks through dreams. God speaks through pain. You remember C.S. Lewis' famous quote, right? God whispers to us in our pleasures, but he shouts to us in our pain. Pain, said C.S. Lewis, is God's megaphone to arouse a deaf world. Elihu would agree with C.S. Lewis.

1:01:36 teaching you a lesson through this pain the pain will be over. You'll see light again. Behold, God works all these things, twice in fact, three times with man, to bring back his soul from the pit. So God isn't doing this to send you to death. He's doing this to keep you from death and to restore you eventually. If you'll just admit a little bit on your part, what's wrong? To bring back his soul from the pit that he may be enlightened with the light of life. Give ear, Job. Listen to me. Hold your peace and I will speak. If you have anything to say, answer me. Speak, for I desire to justify you. If not, listen to me. Hold your peace and I will teach you wisdom. okay Job's three friends said sin leads to suffering Elihu says no suffering has led to sin Job's suffering has caused him to be prideful his three friends were saying this suffering, Job, is punitive. God is punishing you. Elihu said, no, this suffering is educational.

1:02:58 God chastens those that he loves. His three friends were saying, you should repent. Elihu was saying, you should learn. You should learn from this. So his three friends were basically saying God is acting as judge toward you. Elihu is easier. He's saying God is acting like a loving father to you, teaching you, speaking to you, to keep you from evil, not to send you into evil. So we've covered a lot. We've let the book of Job wash over us tonight. I know you've been given lots of scriptures it's been a long robust meal I don't apologize for that I hope you burp up all of these truths throughout the week and they'll just come at just the right time when you need to remember them you'll grab a hold of something you heard tonight and it will speak to your heart and carry you through whatever you're going through Lord thank you that you love us. Thank you that you are a Father that teaches us.

1:04:13 May we learn the lessons that you speak to us in your word, maybe in our dreams and certainly in our suffering. We pray that you will speak clearly and that we will learn and grow rejoicing that your plan, your sovereign will is the best plan for us. In Jesus name and God's people said