00:00 Intro and a Few Prayer Requests

02:23 Discussing the Nature of Evil

03:30 Job's Response to Eliphaz

10:34 Bildad's First Speech

12:54 Job's Response to Bildad

16:28 Concluding Prayer and Reflections

Well, hello, and welcome back to today's

episode of the Daily Bible Podcast.

2

It is just I Today, Pastor Rod.

3

As you already know, or may know,

Pastor PJ is still out in California

4

with his family, enjoying some much

needed and well deserved rest time.

5

So as you think about him, And the fact

that I'm here by myself, would you please

6

pray for him and Amanda and all the

kids that they would have a great time.

7

I know one of them celebrating a birthday.

8

And so that's going to be fun.

9

Uh, please pray for them.

10

They would love your prayers.

11

I don't want them to come back sick.

12

You know, it's one of the worst things

to take a vacation and then to come back

13

and need a vacation from your vacation.

14

That's something we'd

like to avoid for them.

15

I'd like for him to come back, all

of them to come back excited and

16

energized and ready for Whatever

the next several months bring.

17

So please pray for them.

18

That would do him a great

service and be an honor for him.

19

I'm sure.

20

And it also benefit me as he comes

back and we're ready to jump in.

21

We have a couple of big

things on the calendar.

22

Most immediately, I'll let you

guys know, we're looking at moving

23

into a different office space.

24

If you've ever visited our office,

you notice that it's a bit small,

25

it's a bit cramped, and that's okay.

26

Humble beginnings, as it's often said.

27

We're okay with that, and we've

been well served by this place.

28

In fact, it's one of my favorite offices.

29

It's cozy, but it's been so cool

because we've been so close together

30

and been able to develop relationships

that we otherwise may not have

31

developed in a much larger space.

32

But we're now at a place where we're

looking to add a little more space.

33

And so we're, we're prayerfully pursuing

a new spot in prosper, not too far from

34

where we are right now that affords

us a little more space to work with,

35

which we would absolutely love a couple

of things have to come into place.

36

But if you would pray about that,

we would really appreciate it.

37

So that's one thing

that's on the calendar.

38

We have a couple other big things.

39

In fact, we have revival winter

edition coming up for our high school

40

and junior high student ministry.

41

You could pray for me as I lead that.

42

I'm excited about that.

43

And I have a lot of work to do.

44

It takes a lot of effort

to put these together.

45

So I need to pray.

46

I need to spend time putting stuff

together on my notes and also putting

47

a small presentation together.

48

I like to give them images and

things to work with on top of having

49

small group discussion questions.

50

There's just so much, and I'm sure you can

at least imagine what that would be like.

51

So I'll take your prayers there as well.

52

And I guess the last big thing,

it's not a big thing, uh, out of the

53

ordinary, but it's big for me today.

54

Sunday, January 5th, I will be

preaching in the main service.

55

So if you would pray for that,

I would really appreciate that.

56

Uh, even if you're praying after

the fact you're listening to this

57

in the afternoon and you're praying

about it, I'll take those prayers.

58

I think God will apply them retroactively.

59

Is that how that works?

60

I'm not sure, but God's outside of time.

61

So if you want to pray after

that, I'm okay with that.

62

I'll take that.

63

Thank you for that.

64

I Appreciate that so much.

65

Recently, I was talking to

a friend of mine and we were

66

talking about the nature of evil.

67

He's really wrestling with this.

68

Um, he would not call himself a

Christian, but he's open to whatever,

69

whatever opportunities to think

through some truth might afford.

70

And he said that something

I said really bothered him.

71

And I said something to the effect of

at the end of the day behind every deed

72

that happens on the planet, good or

evil, God ultimately stands behind it.

73

he's the one who has all the cards in his

hand, and I don't want to make it sound

74

crass, but God's in control of everything.

75

And he said that bothered him because

if God can stop evil, then why

76

doesn't he, if he has the ability

to step in, then, then why doesn't

77

he do the things that we would say?

78

I would do that.

79

If I had the ability to do what God

could do, I would step in and I would

80

stop this insert evil action here.

81

And what I tried to help him

understand is something I think that

82

Job is wrestling with right now.

83

And it's this idea that God is the creator

and he's the infinitely wise creator.

84

He's the sovereign sustainer

of the whole universe.

85

He upholds the universe by the word

of his power, Hebrews chapter 1.

86

And if we believe that, then that's

going to have an impact on the way that

87

we experience both the good and the bad.

88

We're going to look at Job

chapter six through nine today.

89

And part of this is going to

be Job's response to Eliphaz,

90

which we'll finish today.

91

At least the first response.

92

He'll continue that through

chapters six and seven.

93

And then in chapter eight, we'll

hear for the first time from Bildad.

94

He's going to say something similar

to Eliphaz, and then Job's going to

95

respond to Bildad in chapter nine.

96

We're not going to be able to hear

all of what Job has to say, because

97

chapter 10 is the second half of

what Job says in response to Bildad.

98

But let's jump into chapter 6.

99

Job chapter 6 is Job's

response to Eliphaz, and it's

100

going to cover two chapters.

101

Job's response, essentially for the first

time is God is doing this in verse four.

102

He says, the arrows of

the almighty are in me.

103

So you might remember, maybe you don't,

but if you're looking at your Bible

104

in chapter five, uh, Eliphaz says in

verse 17, behold, blessed is the one

105

whom God reproves, therefore despise

not the discipline of the almighty.

106

Well now Job uses that same terminology

in verse four and says, well, it

107

actually is Eliphaz, it is the

almighty whose arrows are in me.

108

My spirit drinks their poison.

109

The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

110

Job is coming to the conclusion that at

the end of the day, God is responsible.

111

And that is 100 percent true.

112

Now it's not true in the

sense though, that God is the

113

one actively doing the work.

114

He has ultimate causation.

115

That is, all things terminate upon Him.

116

He has the power to do whatever he wants,

but his power is always directed toward

117

benevolent, good, God glorifying aims.

118

Even when those Aims involve the

allowance, the permission for evil,

119

which is exactly how we started the book.

120

Recall, it was the devil who

asked the Lord, let me afflict

121

Job, and God gave him permission.

122

And in that permission, God

says, do this and do no more.

123

You can go this far and no further.

124

So Job is coming to

grips with that reality.

125

Every Christian has to, every Christian.

126

God fear has to come to grips

with the reality that God is the

127

ultimate cause of the universe.

128

But the proximate cause,

in this case, is the devil.

129

It's probably not true that the devil

is after you or me, but he is at work.

130

Uh, and while it may not be the

devil per se, it might be those

131

he works with, his minions.

132

We call them demons.

133

And so here, Job is coming to grips.

134

It's the, it's the arrows of the

almighty that are against me.

135

He's the one who's doing this.

136

And this is why it hurts especially,

because Job is, again, he's confused.

137

More than confused actually, from

verses 8 through the rest of chapter

138

6, he's at the point of despair.

139

Despair and still wanting God

to relieve him with death.

140

In fact, in verse 9 he says, that it

would please God to crush me, that he

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would let loose his hand and cut me off.

142

And that would be a

great comfort, he says.

143

I would love for God to just let me go.

144

He's at the point where he

no longer wants to live.

145

And I don't know, maybe you've felt

this before once or twice in your life.

146

And perhaps maybe you haven't felt

that I would be delighted to hear

147

that that's not the case for you.

148

But Christians, people who believe

in trust, God can have great

149

difficult seasons that would

cause someone to think this way.

150

What's important to recognize here

is that those thoughts, while they're

151

not, well, they're not abnormal.

152

That doesn't mean they're good.

153

Job is in a very bad place here.

154

And what he most needs from

his friends, he's not getting.

155

He says in verse 14, he who

withholds kindness from a friend

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forsakes the fear of the almighty.

157

We're bringing in again, what

Eliphaz recently said about.

158

Uh, despising the

discipline of the almighty.

159

And he says, guys, uh, Eliphaz, Bildad,

all of you guys, how about this?

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He who withholds kindness from a friend.

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I really need your kindness right now.

162

I really need your encouragement.

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You are the ones who are in

fact forsaking the fear of God.

164

You're the ones who are betraying

him because I really need your help.

165

I'm in a very vulnerable place and then

he goes on and continues saying you guys

166

ought to be refreshing to me and verses

14 through 23 He's saying look, uh,

167

okay verse 18 the caravans turn aside

from their course They go up into the

168

waste and perish the caravans of the

caravans of timah Look the travelers

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of sheba hope and they're ashamed

because they were confident they came

170

there and they are disappointed They

came to a place where they expected to

171

find refreshment And they found none,

something boasted about potential help,

172

but it ended up not being helpful at all.

173

And so he's telling his

friends, I came to you.

174

Well, more specifically, they came to

him, but I gave you my heart, hoping that

175

you would encourage me and support me.

176

Instead, all you've

given me is empty words.

177

He says, teach me in verse

24 and I'll be silent.

178

Help me to understand

what I don't understand.

179

Um, but he charges them.

180

To be the kind of people who aren't

paying attention to what he's saying.

181

They're not helping him at all Is

there any injustice on my tongue?

182

Is there any error in what I say?

183

And of course their

contention is yes, there is

184

Job chapter 7 He says on the

one hand on in chapter 6.

185

There's no refreshing in chapter 7.

186

He says there's no relief No refreshing

and now chapter 7 no relief He talks

187

about the kind of uh Experiences

he's having I'm up all night.

188

I'm suffering from insomnia

in verse four He says I am

189

full of tossing till the dawn.

190

I can't even sleep.

191

There's no relief in sleep in

verse five He says my flesh is

192

clothed with worms and dirt.

193

My skin hardens then breaks out afresh

What's happening here maggots boils?

194

We don't exactly know what kind of

physical affliction he's going through

195

but suffice it to say This is a very

uncomfortable Inescapable kind of torment

196

that he's going through He says, my

days are swifter than a weaver shuttle

197

and come to their end without hope.

198

Verse six.

199

He's saying, look,

there's no end in sight.

200

This is why he wants to give up.

201

Job turns to praying in verses seven

through the end of this chapter.

202

And he turns to the Lord and says,

look, my life is just a breath.

203

My eyes never going to see good again.

204

There's no hope.

205

There's no joy.

206

Um, and then he turns

to the Lord in verse 11.

207

He says, I will not restrain my mouth.

208

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit.

209

I'll complain in the

bitterness of my soul.

210

And then he says, am I, am I

some kind of sea or a sea monster

211

that you set a guard over me?

212

Why are you giving me so much attention?

213

Why are you paying so

much mind to my life?

214

And all the while you and I know that

the reason God is paying attention

215

to his life, and God is even allowing

him to be tested, is because God

216

is confident that he will respond

in a way that brings him glory.

217

That, that gives God a good reputation and

a good name, even before his most vocal

218

adversary, at least the one that we know

of, the adversary, the devil, the Satan.

219

And so, he asks God a question that God

can't answer for him, or at least won't

220

answer for him at this point, but it's a

question that you and I have an answer to.

221

Why is God afflicting you?

222

Why is God allowing this?

223

Well, because he wants to

glorify himself through you.

224

We can confidently say that's

true for every Christian,

225

anyone who follows Christ.

226

The answer to our prayer of, God, why

is this painful thing happening to me,

227

is because God is ultimately bringing

about good for you and glory for him.

228

That's always the case.

229

There is no such thing as wasted

suffering in the life of the Christian.

230

Amen.

231

Man, take that to the bank.

232

Never forget that.

233

I might even say, maybe read Romans 8

as you read through the rest of this.

234

Now there's no Christ in view here yet,

but Christ is the one who's going to bring

235

this all together and ultimately cause

it to work toward God's good purposes.

236

And so at the end of chapter 7, Job

is complaining, my life has no hope.

237

My life has no purpose.

238

I am hopeless.

239

Eager to be let go.

240

I'm eager to give up.

241

God, please stop looking at me.

242

Please stop terrifying me in the night.

243

Please let me sleep.

244

Please heal my body.

245

But if not, please just let me not be.

246

It'd be better for me not to live.

247

Job concludes his response to Eliphaz.

248

In chapter 8, Bildad now speaks to Job.

249

And essentially his argument

boils down to just a few things.

250

First, he says, look, maybe your

kids got what they deserved.

251

That's in verse four.

252

That's a really hard

thing to say to a friend.

253

And I don't know if build that is

just having a moment of weakness here.

254

He's angry.

255

Maybe it comes from a good place, but it's

certainly not the kind of council that

256

I don't think anyone's ever really going

to be ready for, but certainly not here.

257

And not now.

258

He, he repeats something that

all the friends are going to say.

259

And he says it in his own way.

260

He says, look, if you seek after God

and plead with the almighty for mercy,

261

and if you're pure and upright versus

five and six here, surely, surely

262

then he will rouse himself for you

and restore your rightful habitation.

263

Uh, this is essentially

repent job and be restored.

264

If you repent, everything's

going to be better.

265

And that's kind of half true, isn't it?

266

We would say, look, if you repent

and seek after God, things are

267

better, but it doesn't necessarily

mean that circumstances change.

268

It seems Bildad is speaking more

than what he can actually back up.

269

It is true that we should repent

and live in quiet and humble

270

submission to God's leadership,

but this is certainly not helpful.

271

Not here, because Job is not at fault.

272

Job is upright and blameless.

273

And then he says in verses eight

through verse 10, he says, look

274

at history, look at bygone ages.

275

And this is the way things always work.

276

This is the way things have always been.

277

And therefore, can't you learn job?

278

Why don't you understand this?

279

And then he adds to this

argument in verses 13 and 14.

280

He says, those who seek after those

who forget God, those who are wicked,

281

they are going to suddenly have their.

282

Tables turned, where at one time they

were succeeding and thriving, one day

283

things are suddenly going to fall apart.

284

Does that sound familiar to you, Job?

285

Does this sound like something you

might be experiencing right now?

286

The subtle implication, maybe it's

not so subtle, but the implication

287

is that Job, this is you.

288

Your wickedness has

finally caught up to you.

289

Because look at this, verse 20.

290

Behold, God will not reject

a blameless man, Job.

291

Would God reject a blameless man?

292

Have you ever seen that to take place?

293

And of course you and I must remember Job

1 verse 1, Job is blameless and upright,

294

a man who fears the Lord and does right.

295

This is the narrator's and

therefore God's perspective on Job.

296

And of course we know this because we

see it affirmed in the heavenly court

297

when the devil stands before him.

298

And so build that ends his,

uh, ends his short speech here.

299

And say, those who hate you will

be clothed with shame, and the

300

tent of the wicked will be no more.

301

In other words, repent, things will be

better, things will return as they should.

302

In the final chapter that we're

looking at today, Job chapter 9, Job

303

responds to Bildad, and says, look,

verse 2, Truly I know that it is so.

304

What is it that he knows?

305

My best guess is that he's talking

about the fact that God is just.

306

Look, I know God is just, but

how can a man be in the right

307

before God in an ultimate sense?

308

How can someone stand before

him perfectly righteous?

309

So this gives me a sense that Job knows

that while he is blameless and upright,

310

that blameless and uprightness is

positional and not perfectly practical.

311

He is positionally upright before

God because he's a man who acts

312

in faith, but practically speaking

he knows that he's not perfect in

313

the technical sense of the word.

314

I know I'm not right.

315

No one's perfectly right before God.

316

No one would ever say that.

317

And so he contends with Bill, Dad,

look, I know what you're saying.

318

You don't have to tell

me what you're saying.

319

I know these things.

320

In verses 11 and 12, Job talks about the,

the ineffability or the transcendence

321

of God, and he speaks about it

more eloquently and defends it more

322

beautifully than I think Bildad does.

323

He says, look, I know God is

indescribable, unsearchable.

324

It's like that Chris Tomlin

song we sang a long time ago.

325

Um, you put the stars in the

sky, you know them by name.

326

That one, you are amazing God.

327

That's a good song.

328

We ought to do that one

again sometime soon.

329

Anyway, Job continues his argument here,

his response anyway, and he says, look,

330

even if you put the mythical creature

Rahab and his evil consorts working

331

together against God, they're not

going to, they're not going to succeed.

332

And he says, though I'm in the

right verse 15, I cannot answer him.

333

I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.

334

Now what's curious here

is who he has in mind.

335

Who is his accuser?

336

Uh, you could go either way.

337

You could say it's God who's accusing him,

at least that's part of what he thinks.

338

I know that on occasion he's thinking

that, but there could be another person

339

in mind that he thinks about in the

heavenly realm accusing him before God.

340

So it's not quite that simple.

341

Entirely sure who he has in mind here.

342

If you like, if you have an ESV Bible,

you'll also notice that the word

343

could be translated, uh, my judge.

344

So who does he have in mind?

345

We're not entirely sure,

but it's his accuser.

346

He wants to appeal to mercy.

347

He needs someone to step in to defend him,

which is why, uh, through the rest of this

348

chapter here, He's going to say, look, I

know that I am not absolutely righteous.

349

I am comparatively righteous, but

what I really need, what I really

350

need is for an arbiter between us.

351

This is verses 33 through 35.

352

Some of the most beautiful verses

that are penned in the book of Job.

353

He says, there's no arbiter between us

who might lay his hand on both of us.

354

Let him take his rod away from

me and let not dread of him.

355

Terrify me.

356

Then I would speak without fear

of him, for I am not so in myself.

357

I'm not worthy enough to approach

him, but boy, if there was an arbiter,

358

someone who could place his hand on

God and put his hand on me, that is act

359

as a priest, then boy, I have a shot.

360

I could tell him I could, I could

confidently approach the throne of grace.

361

Does that sound familiar?

362

Jesus is our high priest.

363

He's the great high priest who

fulfills and Job chapter nine points

364

us directly to that confidence.

365

We experience that

confidence now in retrospect.

366

It's there.

367

We have Christ.

368

We have the great high priest.

369

If you're going through a hard time,

now is a good time to remember God knows

370

he's fully aware of all that's happening.

371

In fact, I would take at least a modicum

of comfort in the fact that if I'm

372

being picked on, at least that's what

it might feel like to, to you or to job.

373

I can still be confident that

God's the one who's ordaining

374

good ends, productive, good God,

glorifying ends through my suffering.

375

A Christian never suffers for nothing.

376

That's so comforting because

we have Christ who's guaranteed

377

that we are acceptable to him.

378

And therefore all of our pain, all

of our suffering, all of our sorrows

379

are ultimately going to be wrapped

up in Christ at the, at the last day.

380

Well, there's Job

chapter six through nine.

381

Please join me as we pray and try

to put some of this into her heart

382

and soul, not just in her head.

383

Let's pray together.

384

Lord, we never want to

go through hard times.

385

We never want to walk through the

valley of the shadow of death.

386

That's not something we want to

do, but help us to trust you.

387

When we do help us to be like Job in the

sense that we're blameless enough, right?

388

We're trusting you.

389

We were building our

faith in you day by day.

390

But when you take us through the valley

of the shadow of death, help us like

391

David to fear no evil and to know that

you are with us and you're with us

392

more than even Job or David understood.

393

You're with us through the

ministry of Jesus Christ.

394

His ministry continues on through

your spirit and it is because of his

395

spirit that we can be confident that

you are sustaining us and upholding

396

us with your righteous right hand.

397

Lord, prepare us.

398

Let us not be morbid or cynical.

399

We want to be prayerful and

well prepared for the evil day,

400

if it comes, when it comes.

401

In all these things, Lord, in good

and bad, we want to say we trust you.

402

And even though we can say these

words, we know that our souls can

403

be so shaky and weak and vulnerable.

404

We need to trust you better.

405

Please do that.

406

As we read your word, as we study the

words of Job and his friends, give us

407

increasing strength and understanding

for how to prepare for the evil day.

408

And when that comes, Lord, we're going

to cling to you for strength like him.

409

That's what we want to do.

410

We ask all this and pray all

these things in Jesus name,

411

who is our great high priest.

412

Amen.

413

All right.

414

That's all I have.

415

Thank you for joining me.

416

I hope you enjoyed this time.

417

It was a good thing for me.

418

I hope it was a good thing for you.

419

And I hope I can see you again tomorrow.

420

You have a great day.

421

Bye.

422

Speaker: Hey, thanks for

joining us for another episode

423

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424

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425

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426

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428

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429

Texas, you can go to compassntx.

430

org.

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Again, that's compassntx.

432

org.

433

And we'll be back with you

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of the daily Bible podcast.