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People of the Screen, John Dyer

00:00 Intro & DBR Question

00:47 Pastor Rod's Annotation Ideas for Bible Study

04:11 Job's Response to Eliphaz

05:43 Bildad's Second Speech

08:16 Job's Response to Bildad

11:34 Zophar's Second Speech

14:43 Reflections on Suffering and Theology

16:08 Closing Remarks and Prayer

Welcome back to another edition

of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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Today is January 8th, 2025.

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And we're looking at Job

chapters 17 through 20.

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But before we get there, I want to

remind you that if you have questions

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about what I say, or pastor PJ says,

or some combination thereof, you

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can email us podcast at compass ntx.

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org.

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That's podcast at compass ntx.

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org.

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And I'll be sure to put that in

the show notes today so that you're

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able to just click on it and send

us an email if you so choose.

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, if you sent us an email, it might

be because you have some questions

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about what we're saying, or you have

some clarifications that you want,

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or even just a suggestion about

something that we're talking about.

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We're happy to take any of those.

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We don't.

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Always get back to them

as quickly as we like.

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So just, uh, I would encourage you to

be patient as we endeavor to get to

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them as we go about our regular daily

activities, but we have a couple in the

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queue and I want to be sure to give them

the kind of attention that they're due.

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So we're going to start

with an easy question today.

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What are some good annotation methods

while going through the Bible?

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And I know that there is probably

a different annotation method

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for everyone under the sun, but

I'll let you know what I do.

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My system is fairly

straightforward, but really helpful.

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First, I use a pencil for

notes and I also use colors.

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And as you know, I also have a

digital Bible via my Logos Bible study

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software and I have a physical Bible.

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I do most of my reading from

my physical Bible and I would

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encourage you to do the same.

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Here's why.

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I read a book a couple years back, and I

forget the guy's name, I'll have to look

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it up here, but essentially he makes the

case that reading on a screen is a sin.

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Is while still good and there's benefits

there, obviously it's not as good when

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it comes to comprehension and recall

when it comes to reading in a paper

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copy of something, I think chimes are

changing and perhaps that might differ

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someday, but I think I would agree

in my personal anecdotal experience,

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reading from a paper Bible, a handheld

physical Bible is just different.

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And it feels like I'm actually

engaging with the text in a deeper

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way than if I am with the screen.

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So my first encouragement to you.

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In terms of annotation method is to do

it on a physical Bible, which is one

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reason why I love my interleaved edition.

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I've been carrying it around

now for probably two years.

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Almost.

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I bought it for the podcast and I found

myself saying, man, there's not enough

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room in the margins to write down

the things that I want to remember.

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And so this interleaved edition, which is

basically a blank page inserted between

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every page of the Bible has been awesome.

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I have.

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Written down lots of notes.

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I write down lots of cross references.

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I write down lots of things

that I'm reflecting on.

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I'll write down questions

and all sorts of things.

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So I would recommend number

one, get a physical Bible.

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Number two, I always use a pencil.

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I don't use a pen because I always expect

that I'm probably going to change some,

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something I think is Or feel about a

text as I read through it more than once.

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So I would use a pencil and a good eraser.

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I use a very good pencil.

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In fact, this pencil that

I'm holding right now is a

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Kuru Toga, a uni Kuru Toga.

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I don't know what that means,

but I do know that this pen.

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Pencil costed me 11.

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So it's a good pencil . It's

got some weight to it.

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I enjoy using it.

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It feels nice in the hand.

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And consequently, when I

use it, it brings me joy.

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On top of that, I have

a high quality eraser.

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It's called a Pentel high polymer

eraser is what it's called.

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I think about a pack of 15 of these

or so, and they've lasted me because

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I don't do a lot of erasing, but

when I do, this thing comes in handy.

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So I have a, Really nice

pencil and have a great eraser.

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So we're talking about tools, physical

Bible, a good pencil, a good eraser.

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Finally, when we get to the

annotation method, I think one

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thing that you may consider using

is highlighters, that allow you to.

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Identify who, what, when,

where, how, and why.

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So if you look at my digital Bible

on Logos, you'll see all of those

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annotations, who, what, when, where, how,

why, and they're all different colors.

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Why I believe is pink.

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What is currently blue?

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Where is green?

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Yellow is who did I say yellow yet?

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Uh, what have I missed?

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Orange, orange is how, and

I think that covers it.

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I don't know if I'd miss

anything, but that's the idea.

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I have a different color

that designates each.

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Individual question.

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I might ask who, what,

when, where, how, why?

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Uh, so those are the things that I do.

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So I've used those in my paper Bible,

but mostly what I use as a pencil.

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And I use a pencil.

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I'll write down cross references.

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I'll write down my notes.

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I'll write down a little summaries

that I think might be helpful for me.

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In fact, as I'm doing this

podcast, I'm looking at my paper

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Bible while only glancing at

my digital Bible on the screen.

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So I can say more about that.

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And please tell me if that's not enough.

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I feel like that's probably a

good start in the right direction.

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Helpful.

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Let me know if that wasn't, and

you need more, please let me know.

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And I can give you more of what I do.

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Job chapter 17 through 20.

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And by the way, we have

more questions coming.

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Thank you for sending those.

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We will get to those as time permits

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job chapter 17.

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Is his continuing response to Eliphaz

now you might remember yesterday job

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was saying you guys stink at comforting

You're not really good at this.

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You ought to go back to school for this

He called them worthless physicians a few

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days before in chapter 17 He's wrapping

up his response to Eliphaz and he's

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saying this I wish God would defend me.

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I wish God would prove me innocent

That's what he's saying in verse 3

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lay down a pledge for me with you

God, , who is there, who will put up

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security for me, who's going to defend

me, who's going to take up my cause.

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And then he says, probably quoting a

proverb in verse five, not one of the

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biblical proverbs, but a proverb of

the day, he, who informs against his

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friends to get a share of their property.

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The eyes of his children will fail.

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And so he's saying there's, there's

ramifications for bearing false witness.

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That's kind of the flavor of that.

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Multiple commentaries that I read

again, suggested it's probably

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a proverb of the day, cause it

doesn't quite seem to fit what's

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happening in this particular context.

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So he's saying something that they

would have all have known and said,

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okay, yes, we see what he's saying.

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Don't bear false witness.

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And then again, he highlights

the fact that his friends

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aren't being very friendly.

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He says, if you were upright in

verse eight, the upright would

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be appalled at my suffering.

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And the innocent stirs himself

up against the godless.

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What, what he's hoping for them to do is

respond with a kind of comfort and, care

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that would be fitting for the upright.

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In verse 10, he says, but you come

on again, all of you, and I shall

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not find a wise man among you.

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Essentially, this is what you should do.

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You're not doing it.

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You're demonstrating your lack of wisdom.

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And the remaining verses, he complains

more still about his predicament

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and what it means for the future.

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In chapter 18, Bildad now enters

in the conversation once more.

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This is speech number two of three.

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In chapter 18, he's going to challenge

Job, how long will you hunt for words?

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You continue to search for ways to

prove yourself and to demonstrate

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your innocence, but why do this?

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In fact, he's going to say to Job in verse

four, You who tear yourself in anger,

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shall the earth be forsaken for you, or

the rock be removed out of its place?

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Now, you might remember in Job chapter

16, in verse 9 Job says, He has

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torn me in his wrath and hated me.

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He's talking about God.

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Well, Bildad is saying, it's not God who's

tearing at you, Job, it's actually you.

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And in fact, he says, shall the

earth be forsaken for you, or the

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rock be removed from its place?

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He's saying, does reality

bend to your existence?

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Has reality been to your perception?

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No, reality stays fixed.

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And the problem, Job, is you,

you're thinking about things

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in entirely the wrong way.

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And so you need to change.

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That's his contention.

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And then he goes on and the remaining

verses of chapter 18 to say, look,

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the wicked are going to suffer.

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The light is dark in his tent.

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His lamp above him is put out.

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In other words, we would expect

that if someone is wicked,

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they're going to be found out.

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They're going to be uncovered.

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They're going to be, they're

going to be disciplined or

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they're going to be judged by God.

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But.

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Build that goes even further

because he doesn't just say in a

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general sense, the wicked suffer.

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He starts to get a lot closer to home

when he says things like this to Job

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in verse 15 in the wicked person's

tent dwells that which is none of his.

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Something that he has stolen.

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Essentially.

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He's saying you've, you've

stolen from people, Job.

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That's how you've made yourself wealthy.

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And then he says in the second half

of verse 15, chapter 18, sulfur

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is scattered over his habitation.

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Now you might remember fire came

down from heaven to destroy his kids.

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Sulfur.

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Of course, you might remember from

Genesis chapter 19, uh, Sodom and

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Gomorrah were destroyed by sulfur.

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Brimstone is sometimes the word we use.

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Now this is heavenly judgment,

God's judgment upon the wicked.

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And so he's saying, God will

judge and destroy your habitation.

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His roots dry up beneath his branches,

whether above he has no memory.

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And look at verse 19.

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He has no posterity or progeny

among his people and no

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survivor where he used to live.

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This once again is cruel.

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This is calloused.

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This is difficult to read because Bildad

knows exactly what he's saying, and

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we can see it here in black and white.

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This is unkind.

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He is trying to drive the knife

as deeply as possible in order

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to make Job confess and repent.

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So you might say he's doing

this from a noble place.

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If you can say that, he's

trying to get at Job.

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And yet Job cannot follow him.

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Because he knows, as God knows,

in Job chapter 1, he in fact

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is blameless and upright.

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This is painful counsel.

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Painful to watch, painful to hear, and

certainly painful for Job to receive.

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Job chapter 19.

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He responds to Bildad, and he says

this, going to this idea that

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sticks and stones may break my

bones, but words will never hurt me.

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Job would take issue with that.

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He says, how long will you torment me and

break me in pieces with words, words hurt.

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And in fact, one of the most famous

Proverbs, you probably know this

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one, Proverbs 18, 21, there's death

and life in the power of the tongue.

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Those who love speech, those who

love the tongue will eat the fruit

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of it, whether it's good or evil.

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You bear the consequences of your speech.

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And Job is saying the power of your

words are destructively powerful.

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They are tearing me apart.

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And then he says, these 10 times

you have casted reproach upon me.

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Are you not ashamed to wrong me?

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And the answer is no.

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Uh, 10 is a, is a way of talking

about a full or complete number.

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Sometimes we use the number

seven, but here 10 is the number.

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And he says, you should be ashamed of

this, but you're not because they are

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in their minds entirely in the right.

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He reminds himself in them in

verse six, that God is the one

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who's put him in the wrong.

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So he continues to recognize

God's sovereignty, God's

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rulership, his leadership over

everything that's happening.

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He notes that in verse

seven, he cries out violence.

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No one's answering him.

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He's calling out for help and

it's like calling 911 and no

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one showing up at your door.

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Job is saying, I'm dialing the spiritual

911 here and God is not answering.

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That's got to be frustrating for him.

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In the second half of verse 19, looking

at verses 13 through 22, Job says, all

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the people that I love most have left me.

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People that were here to

serve me no longer serve me.

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The people that I am closest

to are drawing away from me.

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Out of all the things that I

think Job suffers, this has got

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to be some of the most painful.

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So you have his wife

drawing away from him here.

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, the young children that used to esteem

him now mock him and derail him.

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And then in verse 21, you

can hear Job's voice here.

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You can feel the pathos.

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Have mercy on me.

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Have mercy on me.

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Oh you, my friends, for the

hand of God has touched me.

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He's begging, pleading with

him, please be kind, help me.

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And then Job says, Oh,

that my words are written.

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And God seems to have answered that.

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We have it right here in front of us.

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We are reading exactly the words that he

wrote, or exactly the words that he said.

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And so Job's prayer has been

answered, at least in partial.

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One thing I'd love to know

is if Job actually found out.

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What happened if he had a chance

to read his own book or if God only

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after the fact revealed this to him?

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Be curious to find that out But then

Job says something that all of us

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love and it points toward Jesus in Job

chapter 19 verse 25 and 26 He says, For

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I know that my Redeemer lives, and at

the last He will stand upon the earth.

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And after my skin has been thus

destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see

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God, whom I shall see for myself, and

my eyes shall behold, and not another.

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My heart faints within me.

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Now, this is cool because just a

few chapters ago, you remember,

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we were talking about this.

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Job seemed to be struggling

with the afterlife.

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What awaits him?

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It was in Job chapter 14 where Job

said, , something to the effect of,

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if a man dies, shall he live again?

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This is Job chapter 14 verse 14.

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All the days of my service, I would

wait till my renewal should come.

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So here he's wrestling with the

question, but here it seems like it's,

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there's a moment of lucid clarity.

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God is alive.

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My redeemer lives.

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And at some point he's going to resurrect

my body, even though he doesn't use that

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term, and I'm going to see him myself.

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I'm going to see him in the flesh.

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What an encouraging response

to devastating circumstances.

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Speaking Zophar speaks

up again in chapter 20.

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His argument is not too complicated.

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, one of the things that he says

though, that I'd want to point out

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to you here, verse three, I hear

censure or rebuke that insults me.

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The words that you're saying,

Joe, these are really insulting.

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I'm put off by the things that you say.

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And then he says, and out of my

understanding, a spirit answers me.

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What spirit?

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Who are we talking about?

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I don't know.

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I don't know if this is his own spirit.

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I don't know if this is another spirit

that's speaking to him, whether it's

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his own spirit or another spirit.

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Uh, wisdom would demand that

we scrutinize, that we discern

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the kind of things that are

filtering through our brains.

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Um, one of the things I love

about Joe, we're going to see soon

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enough is that he loves God's word.

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Now to what kind of access he had.

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I don't know that, but so far here is

challenging that he's saying, I got a

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spirit speaking to me and I'm insulted.

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And so I'm going to respond to that.

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He talks about the fact that in verse

four, we have age and wisdom on our side

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telling us that what we're saying is true.

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We know for instance, that the wicked

will perish forever like his own dung.

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Okay.

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By the way, hint, hint, Job, hint, hint.

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This is essentially me telling

you, Job, uh, well, I'll just leave

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you to fill in the blanks there.

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He tells him about the

forecast for the wicked.

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The wicked are here for

a short period of time.

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They seem to succeed,

but then they disappear.

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They're judged.

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His children will seek the favor of

the poor, and his hands will give

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back all the wealth that he stole.

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His bones are full of his youthful

vigor that as he dies young,

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he says in verses 12 through 19, This

is essentially how Job has been evil.

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Evil was sweet in Job's mouth.

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He hid it under his tongue.

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Though he is loathe to let it

go, he holds it in his mouth.

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Yet his food is turned in his stomach.

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That is, there's a great divine reversal.

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It is the venom of cobras within him.

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That is, God is now

punishing him for his sin.

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He swallows down riches

and vomits them up again.

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God casts them out of his belly.

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He will suck the poison of cobras.

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The tongue of a viper will kill him.

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So, Job is going to suffer because of

the way that he underhandedly did evil.

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All that success that you supposedly

had, Job, that's because you

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were doing evil this whole time.

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, verse 19.

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For he has crushed and abandoned

the poor and has seized a

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house that he did not build.

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Job, the reason that you had what you

had is because you were oppressive.

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You were oppressive to those

who were weak and needy.

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You stole from them.

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You seized a house that you did not build.

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Man, these guys are just leaving

nothing to the imagination.

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They're going for the jugular.

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Verse 20, Job, you weren't content.

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You were greedy.

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Verse 21, Job, you were overindulgent.

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There was nothing left after he had eaten.

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. He continues on.

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Verse 24, Job will flee

from an iron weapon.

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A bronze arrow will strike him through.

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And he gets graphic and poetic

about the way that he expects

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God to deal with Job's sin.

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In verse 26, utter darkness

is laid up for his treasure.

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A fire not fanned will devour him.

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That is, a fire not created

and maintained by human hands.

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It is a divine fire.

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There's divine judgment in store

for Job because of his evil.

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Verse 29 wraps up his argument.

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This is the wicked man's portion from

God, the heritage decreed for him by God.

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Again, you're not left to

imagine a whole lot here.

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He's essentially calling Job

to think about who this fits.

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Does this fit me, Zophar?

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Does this fit Bildad?

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Does this fit Eliphaz?

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Or does this fit you, Job?

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And if this does fit you,

it's time for you to repent.

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That's the goal here.

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That's what they're aiming for.

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Again, the problem is that

they're so simple about this.

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They're so singularly minded.

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Their theology leaves no

room for God to be God.

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And I'm going to ask you the

question, number one, do you have a

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theology that's big enough to fit in

suffering that doesn't make sense?

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If theology is not fully formed, you

might be caught off guard if suffering

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were to hit you or hit someone that you

love, who you know to be a good person.

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I'm using that term loosely.

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If you have a fully formed theology,

you can say God is on the throne.

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Evil exists because he wills it.

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And ultimately, God's going to do

good through that evil and he's

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going to glorify himself through it.

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Now, on the other side of the veil,

on this side of heaven, I'm not

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going to understand a lot of that.

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And I should expect that that's one of

my main points that I want you to walk

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away with from studying the book of Job.

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There's so much happening that

you just cannot understand God's

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operating at a whole different level.

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And if he's God, I should not expect to

understand all that God is doing, but

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that doesn't mean I can't trust him.

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That doesn't mean I can't or should

not render to him humble, obedient

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service in the middle of my suffering.

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Number two.

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We talked about our words.

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I want you to be careful with

the way that you use your words.

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I want you to be thoughtful about the

way that you enter into the suffering

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of your fellow brothers and sisters.

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Sometimes it's best not to say anything.

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Other times it's best just to say a

few things, even if it's something as

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simple as, I don't know what to say.

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This is really hard.

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There's so much here.

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I know we can't cover it all,

but let me just encourage you.

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Be ready.

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Be ready for this time.

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Cling closely to Christ and

know him drawn near to him.

401

Be prepared for the evil day.

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Okay, let's pray.

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God, we thank you for the book of Job.

404

It's so deep, it's so profound,

and it's so necessary for us.

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Please help us to internalize

these incredible truths.

406

Not to let their discomfort discourage

us from reading them, but to read, to

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study, to understand, and to be thoroughly

prepared for the day of judgment.

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That you choose to bring upon us

whenever, whatever that might be.

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We love you.

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We ask all these things in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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All right, folks.

413

Thank you again for joining me today.

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I appreciate your time and

attention and your energy.

415

Keep up your Bible reading.

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And I'm so proud of you.

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You guys are in it.

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Day eight of the new year.

419

Keep it up.

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Don't quit.

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And I'll see you again

tomorrow for another edition

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of the daily Bible podcast.

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Bye.