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00:00 Welcome Back!

00:14 Snow Stories and Car Talk

01:23 Praying for California

02:52 Bible Annotation Tips By Pastor PJ

05:17 Discussion on Job 35-37

10:36 Reflections on Suffering

12:04 Closing Prayer and Farewell

Audio Only - All Participants: Hey

everybody, welcome back to another

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edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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Hey guys, I hope you're

doing well in the snow.

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Maybe the snow's all gone by now.

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It's got to be gone by now.

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It's Monday after all.

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I hope so.

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Yeah.

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The black ice is still sticking around.

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It might be.

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It might be.

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I went into the office on Saturday

and it was, uh, it was a task, man.

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The, the, uh, the parking lot was slushy.

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It was icy.

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And what are you driving these days?

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A McLaren?

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Yep.

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My McLaren, man, it just, it

didn't, it's not made for the snow.

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No, my, uh, my two wheel

drive Explorer survived.

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I'll just put it that way.

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It's two wheel drive.

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I forgot about that.

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It is like a four wheel.

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It looks that way, but it does.

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Is that line, is that a form of deception?

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It's a hundred percent of

form of deception, man.

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That's why I bought it.

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I was like, I want people to

look at this and say, dude,

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four wheel drive right there.

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So, um, yeah, we may get

some more snow next week.

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Who knows?

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That would be fun.

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I would welcome this.

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I I've enjoyed staying

home with the family.

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I've enjoyed watching the

neighbors playing the snow.

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It's been magical.

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Yeah, it was good.

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It was good, man.

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I loved it.

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Yeah.

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I can't remember that much sustained

snowfall since I have been in Texas.

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We've gotten a lot of snow, but, uh,

that much just sustained snowfall.

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I think Salina got six inches.

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It was, it was crazy.

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Yeah.

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Wow, it was great.

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It was yeah family.

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California is not experiencing snowfall.

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Although they could use some

they definitely could use some

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Yeah, man, that is that is

Insane out there it is It's bad.

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It's uh, it's really bad and the fact

that they're looking at people as

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potential arsonists in all this too

on top of that It's uh, it's no good.

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Not a not a good situation Yeah, and and

that's something I was thinking about

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this past week and even kind of Convicted

of a little bit because somebody said

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hey, you know, there's been a ton posted

about you know Pray for california pray

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for california pray for california, and

and I think it's good and it's right

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for us to do that It's just sometimes

it's hard when we don't know anybody

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directly impacted by that to To know

how to pray or to know what to pray

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because it feels a little bit vacuous

to to just you know pray for In general,

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um, you know, that these fires would be

brought to an end and everything else.

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It's good.

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We should do that.

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But it's hard to feel passionate

about it the same way that

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you feel passionate about it.

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When somebody that, you know, has

been directly impacted by it, right?

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I go back to what we used to talk about

when it comes to technological exposure.

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We have the access to hear

things and see things.

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All over the world, with, within

moments of its actual happening.

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And this is new territory for us.

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I don't think we were designed by God

to know about all the things that are

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happening at all places at all times, and

to respond to them with equal fervency.

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I do think in our new age, we probably

need to develop this ability to care

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about things that ordinarily, we may not

care about, and may not even experience

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if we were living 200 years ago.

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But in today's day and

age, it's, it's hard.

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You gotta navigate these things and

learn to care and pray for people.

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I think it's good to pray for the

church and pray for even strangers

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that you don't know who are suffering.

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Yeah, for sure Um, hey, we got a question

written in to the podcast at compassntx.

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org And this question has to do with

annotation, uh highlighting your bibles

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marking up your bibles Which is is

something that is is a good practice

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Sometimes it can be hard though to think

about how do I get started with that?

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Where do I go with that?

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And, uh, I think it's, it's, it can be as

simple as you want to make it to, there

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are the, like the Bible study methods,

uh, approach, um, they, like they, they've

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got different symbols that they write in

their Bible and everything else like that.

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There's a whole, you can get

trained on how to do all that.

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I think just find what works for you and

be consistent with it year after year.

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Um, for me, for example, and this is

part of even my, my preaching, uh, notes

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that I take up into the pulpit with me.

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Green for me stands for points

of application and questions.

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Uh, if I've got a question

or if I see a question, it's

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going to be marked in green.

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Um, red obviously is, is, this

is not necessarily a good thing.

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And so the Job's friends in the

book of Job, I, when they were first

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introduced, I highlighted each name

in red just to stand out and say,

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Hey, this is not a great, Individual.

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This is not somebody that you

want to pay attention to as far

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as somebody that is, uh, is good.

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Um, yellow is kind of the, the

important things that the, the other

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things I don't want to pick up on.

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And then sometimes I'll, I'll just use

a simple red underline, uh, just to,

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to cause something to stand out to me,

uh, and, and say, okay, this, when I

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read this, I want, I want to see this.

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So, um, find something

that's going to work for you.

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If you highlight everything the

same color, then you're not going

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to, Um, but it also, it also

has a lot of color codes in it.

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So it's a great way to know at a glance

what it is that you're looking at.

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I think using a color coded system of

some sort is helpful because when you

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turn to that page in your Bible, you're

going to know based on your color codes,

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whatever those are for you, uh, what

those stand for and what you're looking

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at when you give a quick glance at the

page PR your, your thoughts on annotating.

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Yeah.

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I answered this a couple of days

ago just to tell them what I did.

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I really wanted you to

answer because I think.

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Seeing the variety of the way people

approach it is really helpful.

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Now I just care that you engage with

the, with the text in front of you.

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So whether it's highlighting with

different colors or using a pen or a

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pencil or whatever at all, just engage

with your Bible and make it your own.

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In fact, that's one of my favorite

things to do with my paper Bible.

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I love writing things and that's

one big, one big benefit to using a

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paper Bible versus the digital form,

whatever that is, is that you can

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really draw and make connections.

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You can cross over pages and

draw arrows here to there.

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Can't quite do that on Logos.

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Um, if you annotate a PDF, there's some,

there's some kind of crossover, but

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there's nothing like a physical book.

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So you keep your digital tools.

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I love them, but also have a

physical Bible and annotate it up.

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Yep.

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Mark it up, mark it up.

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Circle.

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Yeah.

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Underline box square.

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Yeah.

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We don't all that stuff.

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Well, hey, let's, uh, let's get into it.

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Job 35, 36, 37 today.

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And we are still dealing with

Elihu, at least in the first

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couple of chapters here.

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And so Elihu is speaking up and

still going after job here again,

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verses one through three kind of

presents this truncated Frankenstein

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view of job's, arguments, uh, saying

job, you're saying I'm innocent.

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God doesn't punish the

wicked, so why bother?

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Um, these statements are

singled out by Eli, who don't.

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really represent the fullness of

Job's wrestling with everything

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that he was going through.

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From here Elihu gives a view of God that

is a little bit distant and somewhat

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dispassionate, almost as though it

implies that God doesn't care about the

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plight and behavior of his creation.

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Verses four through eight basically

tells Job, hey, your actions

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one way or the other, they don't

change anything about who God is.

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And while that is true, Um, your, your

righteousness doesn't improve God's life.

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Your unrighteousness doesn't take

something away from God's life.

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He is completely sufficient

in and of himself.

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Um, it, it is not true that our actions

don't affect God and affect his, his

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heart and even his, uh, his concern

for us, um, versus nine through 15.

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I mean, Ellie, who basically says to

Job, Hey, yeah, you, you're prideful

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and you're, you're You're protesting

all of these things before God

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and God is not concerned with your

prideful pleas of, of this is wrong.

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This is not fair.

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And then in verse 16, uh, kind of

gives one final blow and he says, Job

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opens his mouth and empty talk and

multiplies words without knowledge.

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So, uh, Elihu is a little bit more, uh,

Yeah, I don't see him saying anything

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unique in this particular chapter.

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In fact, what you pointed out about

what do you add to God or take away

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from him, Eliphaz already said this.

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So this is again, where I find myself

struggling with Eliphaz saying, okay,

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what do I take that actually is true?

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And what do I reject?

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And I think that's something that

we should reject to your point.

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I think we should acknowledge the fact

that God is pleased when we do good.

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And he's dishonored, and he's

grieved, as Paul says, about

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the Holy Spirit when we do evil.

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Yeah, yeah.

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And so from here, um, he goes on

and just calls on Job to repent

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in verses, in chapters 36 and 37.

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Job, you need to repent.

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Verses 1 through 4.

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Again, he is confident in his standing.

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Listen for I speak for God is

basically what he's saying here.

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I say, I've yet something to

say verse two on god's behalf.

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I get my knowledge from afar ascribed

to righteousness to my maker So

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Elihu is is very strong on saying

i'm speaking on behalf of god and to

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your point pastor It's interesting.

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God doesn't say uh, wait a minute.

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No, you're not and that's

difficult for us to to Wrestle

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with what do we do with that?

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Then versus five through 15,

uh, same song, new verse, God is

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going to bring judgment on the

wicked and deliver the righteous.

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I mean, that's, that's

Ellie who's stance there.

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And to your point, like you just

said, we've heard that before from

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the other friends, almost all of them

have said the same thing or something

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similar, a slight variance of this.

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Um, but he says in verses 10

to 12 that he uses affliction

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sometimes to bring about repentance.

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Uh, he, if they listen and

serve him, he says they complete

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their days in prosperity.

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He commands that they return from

iniquity in verse 10, repentance there.

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They do not listen.

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They perish by the sword

and die without knowledge.

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And so he's saying here that, uh,

that sometimes he's going to use

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affliction to bring about repentance.

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And that's what he wants Job to do.

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Verses 16 through 21, Job, repent.

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You've chosen sin over repentance.

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Verse 21, uh, verse 22, chapter

36, uh, consider God's power here.

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He launches into just, and this is where

some of the similarities between This

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and what God says in the chapters to come

show up as as Elihu says, can you do this?

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Can you do this?

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Can you do this?

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Can you do this?

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And the implication there is no.

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God is, it's all powerful.

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God has done all these things.

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And Job, you need to consider your

situation now in light of this God and

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realize you've got nothing to say to him.

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That's, that's pretty much it.

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Kind of e who's conclusion you've

got nothing, uh, to, to say his high

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view of God and God's sovereignty

comes through in these chapters.

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And, uh, and, and basically he concludes.

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So Job, who are you to say anything

to God to, to challenge God on this?

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Yeah.

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I love what he says in verse 15.

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He delivers the afflicted by

their affliction and opens

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their ear by adversity.

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I think Ellie, who is saying here.

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Suffering and the tragedies that

he suffered are actually God's

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utility to help him grow and

understand something different.

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This is the argument about evil

that Christians still use today.

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We'll say that evil is within the

realm of God's purposes to do good

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to people and to glorify himself.

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And I think Elihu gets pretty

close to saying that, if he

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doesn't say that outrightly.

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He says in verse 18, Beware lest wrath

entice you into scoffing and let not the

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greatness of the ransom turn you aside.

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This is interesting.

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I think what he's saying, and you tell me

if you think I'm wrong about this, PPJ.

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I think he's talking about, when

he talks about ransom, I think he's

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referring to all that's taken place,

all that, All that's happened to Job

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is God's way of rescuing Job from evil.

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Now, what kind of evil?

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Personal evil?

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Hidden sins?

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I don't think so, but I think Elihu

is trying to say God used all these

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things, all these situations, all

this loss to ransom you from the

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great, from evil, from something.

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And maybe that's true, maybe

that's not, but I think that's an

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interesting concept nonetheless.

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What do you think about that part, PPJ?

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Yeah, I would agree with you.

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I don't know of another approach

that would make any more sense

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than what you're saying there.

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Um, and hence, Hey, don't,

don't scoff at this.

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Like he says in the first part of that,

uh, beware, less wrath, your, your

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anger over all these things entice

you into scoffing over something good

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that God is trying to do in your life.

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Yeah.

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I think that fits.

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And I think I probably the benefit

then for us as Christians, we can look,

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we can look at this and say, well,

maybe Ellie, who's wrong about this.

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Um, we don't know.

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God never says yay or nay on this,

but as Christians, we can say, yes.

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We can always be sure that the suffering

in the Christian life is never wasted.

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God is not accidentally looking the other

way and suddenly bad things happen to us.

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He is always intentional with the evil

that he allows to enter into your life.

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Suffering is never wasted

in the Christian life.

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And so I would never look down on it.

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I don't want to welcome it.

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I don't want to pray that God bring

it into my life, but I do want to

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understand that all suffering is intended

by God for our good and for his glory.

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And therefore we can, in some

way, we can welcome it and

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appreciate that God is in control.

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Yeah.

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In fact, there's, I mean, there's,

there's so many good books.

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That have been written

on that same subject.

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Um, I think D.

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A.

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Carson's got one called, How Long O

Lord, uh, which is on the subject of,

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of suffering and what we do with that.

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Um, Elizabeth Elliot has one called

Suffering is Never for Nothing,

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uh, that there's a purpose that

God is doing something, um, here.

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So, uh, man, if, if that's you,

if you're, you're going through it

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right now, you're going through the

valley right now, you're, you're,

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you're laboring, you're suffering.

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There are resources at your disposal that

we would commend to you and again, D.

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A.

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Carson's book, Elizabeth Elliott's

book, just two that I can think

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of off the top of my head.

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And I know there are others out

there, uh, lifelines for tough times.

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Mike for bars are sending

pastor wrote that one.

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Um, just about, uh, their process of, of

finding out that their daughter was going

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to have a disability when she was born.

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Um, Just a lot of, of good

resources for Christians on

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how to think about suffering.

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Uh, and, and yeah, you're right.

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That, that's, uh, I think that's

some of Elihu's point here.

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Hey, don't waste what God might

be doing in your life right now.

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Don't miss what God might be

doing in your life right now.

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And then, um, Kind of lands the plane

does it by setting up where God's going

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to go from from this point forward in

the next section All right, y'all well,

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let's pray and then we'll be done.

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Uh with another episode of

the daily bible podcast.

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Let's pray God Thanks for uh for that

reality that uh, our suffering is never

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for nothing that our suffering is not

Random, it's not Uh, just happenstance.

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It's not left to the whims and wills

of, of the course of nature, even

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thinking about these fires that are

going on right now in California.

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Again, we know that you are sovereign

over the flames that are burning

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sovereign over the loss of, of.

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Possessions and homes and even, even

the loss of life, we don't pretend

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to understand why we don't pretend to

pronounce judgment when it's not our place

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or prerogative to pronounce judgment.

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Um, and yet we, we do trust

that, uh, even in the suffering

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that may be being experienced by

some that we know who are there.

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God, you are.

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Doing something through this

and even doing something on

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a global scale through this.

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So help us not to lose sight of that

and to miss that and teach us what

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you want us to learn through it.

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Uh, and there's a lot of suffering

going on in the, the, the, the,

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the immediate here with us.

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Um, be it at home or a

workplace or wherever it may be.

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You got to again, help us to, uh,

to heed these words and to not

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miss what you're trying to teach us

through the process and through the

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pain that we may be going through.

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So we ask that you'd be gracious

to us in that regard in jesus name.

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Amen.

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Amen Keep reading your bibles

tuning again tomorrow for another

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edition of the daily bible podcast.

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See you folks

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Speaker: Hey, thanks for

joining us for another episode

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of the daily Bible podcast.

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We hope and pray this has been a blessing

to you and your time in the word.

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If it has, if you would subscribe to this

podcast, leave a like, leave a comment

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That would be awesome.

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If you need more information about

Compass Bible Church here in North

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Texas, you can go to compassntx.

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org.

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Again, that's compassntx.

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org.

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And we'll be back with you

tomorrow for another episode

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of the daily Bible podcast.