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00:00 Welcome Back, Folks!

00:40 What Do You Think About Human Genome Editing?

02:26 Christian Perspective on Technology

03:21 Ethical Considerations and Responsibilities

08:02 God's Response in Job 38-39

08:46 God's Questions to Job

14:15 God's Care for Creation

17:09 Closing Thoughts and Prayer

17:51 Outro and Podcast Information

Audio Only - All Participants: Hey

everybody, welcome back to another

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edition of the Daily Bible Podcast.

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Woohoo!

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It's Tuesday.

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It's Tuesday.

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Yes, it is.

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We're probably back in

the office at this point.

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That's going to be my guess.

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I sure hope so.

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I would be shocked, appalled, apoplectic,

if we were not back in the office.

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Perplexed.

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Flabbergasted.

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Over I I'm, I'm at a loss.

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All my synonyms are gone.

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Apoplectic though.

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I, that's a, that's a good one.

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Hey, let's, uh, let's tackle

another question that you've already

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tackled, but just to tackle it.

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I did not tell it, it escaped me.

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I tried to tackle it and then

like a really good running back.

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He just went right through my

arms and scored the touchdown.

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Yeah.

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But I think I still have a question.

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of human genome editing

CRISPR, all that stuff.

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Uh, I'll admit up front, uh, general,

um, unfamiliarity with the, the,

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the end in depth realm of this.

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Um, but you and I were talking about

this offline a little bit and, and

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I think, you know, There's some

parallels in our approach to this,

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to our approach to the, the question

of AI and the helpfulness of, of ai.

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Um, and for, for me, I, I tremble

at this idea of, especially when we

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get into editing the human genome.

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I tremble at the, the dangers

there and the implications.

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And, um, you know, I know that, uh,

to, to simply say, well, we're playing

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God and turn around and walk away is,

is, uh, maybe a strong main argument.

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And yet at the same time, when we're

dealing with the very fabric of

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creation, again, the Psalm 139, knitting

together in the mother's womb, I think

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that's different than, uh, when we're

applying modern medicine to the, the,

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the, the Already existing individual,

the individual that has been fully

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created when we are entering into the

creative process Of the the person

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that's where I do think there is a

measure of hey, we're playing God So

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you brought up the pushback of hey, what

if you could remove a genetic strain?

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That was gonna cause some sort of mutation

that would be harmful to your kids or

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grandkids wouldn't you want to do that and

in the dad in me says yes, but I Trimble

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The responsibility and I don't know that

that it's our responsibility to, to take.

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That's my take on it.

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And I think most people who are

reasonable would say that's, that's,

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that's a really good posture.

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The Christian posture is not one to be

on the cutting edge of almost anything.

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I think by and large, Christian

communities are meant to

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be conservative in nature.

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It's going to be slower to adopt some

societal wide changes, cultural changes.

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As I mentioned, when we first talked

about this, fashion changes are a good

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example of that we're not the first to

do something that is considered wrong.

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And when it comes to technology,

I think the posture is going

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to be similar at some point.

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I don't know, 50 years, a hundred years

from now, I think we're going to be

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at the place where the technology is

going to, is going to be hammered out.

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It's going to be tested and

utilized to the degree that it's

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going to become as commonplace as

a surgery might be, you know, a

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laparoscopic or open heart surgery.

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No one's going to do that willy nilly.

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But it will be safe enough to say this

is a credible way to approach these

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really massive Degenerative diseases this

really massive situation that you could

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be born with I just think about people

that are in the womb you can detect

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Diseases early granted not infallibly.

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There are certainly mistakes that can

be made So again, I'm assuming the best

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case scenario at some point I think

the ability to help is larger than the

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potential to harm And therefore becomes

a stronger case for the Christian to

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weigh, not weigh willy nilly and not

throw caution to the wind, but to say,

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if I can legitimately help by allowing

or encouraging the utility of this

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particular technology, why wouldn't I?

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There are so many areas where we

adopt technology and we don't think

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twice about it because much of

the thinking has been done by our

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ancestors, our forefathers of the faith.

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We get in cars now.

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We don't think about it.

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We use technologies that really no

one thinks twice about to your point.

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We're at such a unique time

in human history that I think

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we're on the precipice or the

cusp of something really great.

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We're going to take a big jump with

AI being baked into everything.

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And maybe that will

really help us understand.

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human gene editing.

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The email talks about brain

computing or anti aging stuff.

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I think there's things that are going

to be closer to the vanity side that

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we'll say probably not a good idea,

but there's a lot of really help.

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And I think that's where I start to

get interested and say, okay, maybe

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I'll have to slow down before I make

a judgment on this and say, I'll

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let the Lord shake these things out.

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If it gets to a point where the

credibility of the science is on our side.

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I think we get close to responsibility

to use it and not to ignore

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it, like blood transfusions.

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Yeah, there still is that question.

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I do think there's a point

at which it becomes wrong.

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Our pursuit of, of undoing or

pushing back the effects of the fall.

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I'm not sitting here saying we should

never try that, you know, you have a

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headache, that's a result of the fall.

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Is it wrong to take aspirin?

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No, it's not wrong to take aspirin.

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Is that trying to avoid

the effects of the fall?

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So I guess to a certain

extent, you could argue that.

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So I get that there's, you can

shaman that, but I do think that

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there's a line wherein, for example,

God removed the tree of life.

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Why?

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Why did he remove the tree of life?

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Because he, in a merciful act,

did not want us to live forever.

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That was not his desire.

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His desire was not for us to escape death.

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In fact, it was an act of mercy

that we shouldn't escape death.

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So there's a measure to which our desire

to prolong life and extend life, um,

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and even improve life may run afoul

of the intended results of the law.

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Um, and.

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Where is that line?

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It's, it's subjective.

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Uh, for me, I think entering into that

realm of, again, that Psalm 139 creative

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activity of God, where I'm at, my personal

conviction is, I think that goes too far.

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You may be right.

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That may be normative for

my grandkids down the road.

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Uh, for me, where I sit today,

it's, it's anything but normative.

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And it feels like, it

feels like a step too far.

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And that's again, I think

it's a good posture.

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I also think that the careful

application of scripture might lead

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us to say something similar to what

Jesus says to the religious rulers

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of his day when they argued with him

about breaking the law on our teeth to

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do healing to do good on the Sabbath.

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He says, which of you having

a son or an ox that has fallen

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into a well on a Sabbath day will

not immediately pull him out.

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And I think that's going to be a similar

mindset behind the Christian impulse

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to say, can I alleviate suffering by

the application of this technology?

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And for me, that's it.

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That's a strong pull.

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I don't know that we're anywhere

close to saying it's going to do

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that for sure with an 80 plus 90

percent plus degree of certainty.

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This is hypothetical, but if we

were able to say that, I would

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say, okay, this is a gift of God.

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The right application is a

good and positive benefit.

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It's a blessing.

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Obviously, sin enters into the world.

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You're going to have viruses and there's

going to be issues here and there.

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So I would agree and concede.

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There's gonna be complications.

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All technology does is for us, but I

think the right application has a lot

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of benefit, and I think it might fit

our desire to alleviate human suffering.

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As we talked about earlier, even with the

fires, I think in yesterday's episode,

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God's, God's sovereign over all this.

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Um, we're not going to do anything

that he does not allow or permit.

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And so I think it's a matter of us

continuing to watch and be informed

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as Christians and to, again, I

think I mentioned to you offline

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when we were talking about this,

even making some of these decisions

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and movements one way or the other.

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In the context of community, in the

context of the church, I think that's

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a blessing of, of the church that God

gave us the body of Christ to be able

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to process through, uh, some of these

things together and corporately reason

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together to say, okay, what do we

do in something like this, where you

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can't turn to chapter and verse where

it talks about the CRISPR project.

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Um, you, you, you can't go there

and say, this is what we should do.

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And so all that to say, lean

in even more to the church.

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Uh, when you're trying to, to make

big decisions, hard decisions, tough

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decisions, uh, cloudy things that

you're, you're not entirely sure on,

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lean into the church like this question.

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Um, and, and make decisions in

the community of God's people.

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That's, that's part of the gift

of what God has done through

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providing the church for us.

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Well, let's get into Job 38 through 39.

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Job 38 through 39, it's God's turn.

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It's God's turn, and, uh, we are, are

missing, to, to your point, Pastor

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Rob, that you made a few times,

we're missing Job 37 and a half,

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which is God's response to Job 38.

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Elihu or Job's response to Elihu.

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It's just not there.

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It just goes, okay, now God

answers Job out of the whirlwind.

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Um, Job hasn't been speaking.

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Elihu was just speaking, but God now is

going to turn to Job and he's basically

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going to say, Hey, Job, uh, get ready.

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In fact, that's what he says, dress

for action like a man, gird your

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loins, get ready, uh, because now

rather than me being in the docket

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where I've been this whole time, Job,

I'm going to put you in the docket.

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And so, uh, Job is, is put on the

witness stand and God is going

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to pepper him with questions.

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And, uh, the way it breaks down in these

two chapters that we're looking at today.

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is verses 4 through 15.

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Basically, God is going to ask Job,

Hey, were you the creator, Job?

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I can't seem to remember.

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Were you there when all of

creation was brought forth?

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Did you have something to do with that?

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Uh, he's going to talk about the heavens

and the earth in verses 4 through 7.

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He's going to talk about the sea and

the sea animals in verses 8 through 11.

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He's going to talk about the

morning and evening, day and

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night in verses 12 through 15.

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Job, where were you?

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Were you there?

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Did you participate in this?

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And clearly the answer is no.

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And God could have just said that.

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He could have just said,

Hey Job, you weren't there.

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And yet I think here we see some

of the beauty of the way that God

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communicates through Scripture.

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He uses this poetic language

to drive the point home.

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He uses language that is, is

beautiful in so many different

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areas here to, to make the point of

saying, Hey, Joe, you weren't there.

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You're not the creator.

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And remember that.

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Remember your place.

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And yet he does it in such

a poetic and dynamic way.

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And we get that preserved for us today.

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So verses four through 15, he

basically says, Hey, Joe, were

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you there at the beginning?

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Did you have a hand in creation?

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I just want to point

out here that verse two.

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is similar to what Elihu

says in chapter 35, verse 16.

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God says to Job, Who is this that darkens

counsel by words without knowledge?

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Now this is important because I think

at the end of the book when God says

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Job speaks right and his friends spoke

wrong, I think this tells me that God is

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not saying that Job said nothing wrong.

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I think, I think this clarifies.

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He's darking, darkening counsel

by words of that knowledge.

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This confirms that God also

acknowledges Job is speaking

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incorrectly about God here.

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Or at least about God in

multiple places perhaps.

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So I think you need to keep that in

mind as we make our way to chapter

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42 where Job is exonerated and he's,

he's given a new station in life.

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Because he's not without sin and what

he says, which I think encourages

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us to think carefully about what

Job says, even in his laments.

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Yeah.

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Which is, yeah, something else

that makes Job a difficult book.

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Yup.

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Verses, then, chapter 38, verses

16 through 38 here, uh, he moves

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from, were you there at creation?

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To, What's your role

in creation currently?

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Are you governing creation right now, Job?

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Verses 16 through 18.

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Have you explored the limits of creation?

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Do you know the depths of the sea?

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Do you know about life after death?

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Do you know about the

edges of the earth, Job?

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Verses 19 through 21.

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Do you know the way of light and darkness?

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Can you explain that, Job?

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Verses, or verse 38, chapter 38, verse 21.

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I love the sarcasm here from God.

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He says, you know, you were

born then, weren't you, Job?

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The number of your days is great.

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Anyone who doesn't think that there's

a place for sarcasm, read Job 38.

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21 and tell me God is not sarcastic.

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He is.

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He is.

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For a fact.

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And an impact there again.

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Uh, versus 22 through 30.

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Can you control the weather?

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Job.

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In fact, I was just talking about

this with my kids this past week.

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They saw the snow and they're, they're,

The question was, okay, we knew that God

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was there at the beginning of creation,

but is God still participating in this?

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And they brought up the snow.

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They were like, does it say anywhere

that, that God has, you know, That God

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is, is making it snow and it's like, yeah,

he has the storehouses of the, the snow

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verse 22, the storehouses of the hail.

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And so God right there is, is talking

about the fact that, yeah, he's the

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one actively making this take place.

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And so he's asking Joe,

Hey, where were you?

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Are you controlling this presently?

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Joe?

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Do you think of the song that I think

of whenever I read about storehouses

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of snow, does it come to your mind?

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Boo is told every lightning

bolt where it should go.

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Or seen heavenly

storehouses laden with snow.

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I sing the song immediately.

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Thanks, Chris.

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Appreciate that.

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It's a good song.

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It's a great song.

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It's a great song.

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Yep.

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Uh, verses 31 through 32.

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Do you control the stars?

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Do you cause them to come out in,

in night and shine where they shine?

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Uh, verse 33, do you govern creation job?

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Is, is that your role?

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Uh, do you bring the rain

versus 34 through 38?

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Um.

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Uh, 38, 35 is, uh, can you send forward

lightnings that they may go where you

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say, Elihu asks something similar in job

37, uh, three through five, um, after

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his voice thunders in his majestic voice,

he does not restrain the lightnings

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when his voice is heard God thunders.

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And so again, some echoes there of

Elihu words, uh, as God asked him about

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the lightning in, uh, verse 35 there.

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And so he is asking, uh, do

you, do you govern creation?

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Job, and then in 3839 through

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govern the creatures of creation?

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Do you feed the lion or the raven

versus 39 through 41, uh, versus

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one through four of chapter 39.

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Do you ordain the birthing

of the mountain goats?

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Can you control when they

give birth a procreation job?

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Are you over that?

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Versus five through eight.

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Do you control the wild donkeys?

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Can you tame the wild donkeys

versus nine through 12?

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How about the ox?

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The strength of the ox?

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Is that something that's under your

purview, Joe versus 13 through 18?

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Uh, can you catch the ostrich?

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The ostrich is one of

the fastest land animals.

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Uh, as far as birds go, can you

catch an ostrich versus 19 to 25?

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Do you give the horse its main

and its, its majesty, its might,

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and then Versus 26 through 30.

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Do you direct the birds of

prey, the eagles, the hawks?

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Do you direct those?

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Is that something you're able to do, Joe?

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We were in California, uh, over Christmas

in, with my in laws and in the backyard,

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I was sitting out there one day and

looked up and there was a hawk that

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was soaring and it was one of those

situations where it was riding the wind.

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So it looked like it was

just absolutely still.

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Its wings weren't

flapping or anything else.

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It was just, its wings were outspread

and it was just riding the wind

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and it was staying still in place.

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It was super cool to see that

and just the awe of that to go,

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God saying, Job, did you do that?

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Did you do that job?

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And the answer of course is no.

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Um, and this is, this is the point

of these chapters and he's going to

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keep going and we'll talk about this

more in tomorrow's episode, but he's

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basically wanting job to remember his

finitude and God's infinitude, God's

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power, his majesty, his authority.

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And he's trying to make Joe feel small

and remind job of how big God is.

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And I think the target has been hit

a couple of quick comments here.

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And this one goes back to chapter 38.

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I don't want to skip verse 41.

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So let me just return to that real quick.

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PPJ.

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Verse 41 says who provides for

the raven its prey when it's

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young ones cry to God for help

and wander about for lack of food.

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I was impressed and I was also

impressed by this last year.

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I don't know how many years I've

been impressed by it because I have

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notes in my Bible that suggests

I've seen this more than once.

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But I was just impressed by God's

intimate and detailed care of creation.

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I love the fact that the God that we

serve is a God who's not only omniscient.

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He knows about all of us, but he

knows also about the small things

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that you and I never pay attention to.

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He gives the birds their food.

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He provides the birds their food.

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And when their young ones cry out,

God takes that as a cry to himself.

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Their young ones are crying out really

for their mom to provide the food,

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but God sees it as a personal plea on

their part to call to him for food.

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And so he provides for them.

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And when they don't get

provision when they're, you know,

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taken out by something else.

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That's also God's intervention.

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Matthew chapter six reminds us

of the same idea here when Jesus

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says to The disciples of the day.

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Hey, don't worry.

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Don't be anxious.

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He points into the fact that God in a

detailed and intimate way cares about

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creation that you never think twice

about how much more will he care for you?

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Christian is the idea.

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So that would be my first thought here.

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God cares in a detailed and

intimate way for creation.

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But the second thing I wanted to point

out here is that as God goes through

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his litany of animals and different

environments where his handiwork is seen.

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Okay.

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I think it's a good thing then for us

to take the same posture to cultivate

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awe over creation, to see things

and not let them go by you quickly,

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to not just see an amazing sunset.

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PPJ, you always talk

about sunsets in Texas.

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This is kind of your go to thing.

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Um, but in addition to sunsets, you

ought to be able to see God's handiwork

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in creation and you should rightfully

cultivate an awe filled response.

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This is going to take effort on

your part because especially in

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what we call concrete jungles,

really hard to see God's handiwork.

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All we see is skyscrapers and really cool

design elements that humans have made.

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But when you're in the country, like

we are over here in North, North

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Texas and the furthest North part,

or one of the most, most Northern

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parts, you can see a lot of that.

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And it's good for us as Christians

to cultivate an awe filled awareness

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of God's handiwork and creation.

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This is a good thing for us because

it grounds us in who God is and helps

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us to trust him when things go wrong.

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Amen.

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A hundred percent.

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In fact, this is one of my

favorite times of the year

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because of the way the skies look.

383

It's a, it seems like going into

the late winter, early spring,

384

you get the clouds, you get the

sun piercing through the clouds.

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Yeah.

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It's beautiful.

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It's beautiful.

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And it, one might say it's indescribable.

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And that God's uncontainable

and, you know, it's just coming

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off the top of my head here.

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You should write a song about it.

392

That'd be good.

393

That'd be good.

394

Yeah.

395

Well, Hey, let's, uh, let's pray

as we wrap up another episode

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of the daily Bible podcast.

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God, we thank you for this day.

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And, uh, it's even just the sun that's

shining outside right now, as we

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record this and melting the snow is

evidence of your creation and your

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care for us and your provision for us.

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We just pray that you continue

to cause us to be in awe of you

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and not to lose sight of you.

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And to be humbled by who you are

and who we know you to be and

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continue to learn of who you are.

405

Um, even just mindful of the fact that

that's going to be eternity for us, that

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we are going to spend eternity continually

learning more and more about who you are

407

and that the result will be that that

will cause us to worship you even more.

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So help us to get a jumpstart on that.

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Now we pray in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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Amen.

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Keep reading your Bibles and tune

in 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

419

and share it with some friends and family.

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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.