Calvary
Chapel Bible College
February
2, 2022
Start Recording
Homework
Memorize Job 5:17 (in NKJV)
(Job 5:17 NKJV) “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not
despise the chastening of the Almighty.
Having chewed on this, is there something you’ve learned?
Have you thought any about your “mercy ministry” project?
Introduction
Job is going through the worst time anyone could imagine.
He’s lost all his possessions.
His children have died.
His health has failed.
What makes all this even more confusing is that Job is a good guy.
God has decided to allow Job to go through this difficulty because He is
proud of Job, not mad at him.
God wants to show the world what a godly man will do when he is going
through a difficult time.
Keep a couple of things in mind as we study Job:
Sometimes Job is wrong in his conclusions.
Sometimes Job’s friends are also wrong.
They can even say things that are true, but they are just not true about
Job.
Be careful about building doctrine upon some of the things said in the book
of Job.
Neither Job’s words nor those of his friends are meant to build doctrinal
truths on.
They simply show us how people respond to difficulty.
Last week we ended with Job’s friend Bildad telling Job his problems were
obviously due to Job’s sin.
If Job was a good man, then God would have helped him by now. (Job 8:6)
(Job 8:6 NKJV) —6 If you were pure and upright, Surely now He
would awake for you, And prosper your rightful dwelling
place.
He said that God would not cast away the blameless, so it’s obvious Job
must not be blameless. (Job 8:20)
(Job 8:20 NKJV) —20
Behold,
God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
Job responds
9:1-13 Job: God is powerful
:1 Then Job answered and said:
:2 “Truly I know it is so, But how can a
man be righteous before God?
:2 how can a man be righteous before God?
Job understands and even agrees what Bildad has been saying about man
needing to be righteous.
He just doesn’t understand how a man can be righteous since he doesn’t even
know what he did wrong.
Job knows that there is truth to what Bildad is saying,
but doesn’t know how he can be “righteous” before God since he doesn’t
know what he did wrong.
Lesson
Being made right
This is one of life’s age-old questions.
And there is an answer.
Man is made right with God through the sacrifice of Jesus.
(2 Corinthians 5:21
NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The answer doesn’t come from what we do for God, but what
God has done for us.
We receive that work of God for us by simply trusting Him, just like
Abraham did way back in the days of Job.
(Romans 4:3 NKJV) For what
does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness.”
:3 If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out
of a thousand.
:4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself
against Him and prospered?
:3 If one wished to contend with Him
(Job 9:4 NLT) …Who has ever
challenged him successfully?
Job is thinking that even if a person could stand to argue with God, that
person would never win the argument.
Lesson
Fighting with God
(keyword)
Some of us have this notion that we could take on God. We think of God like a giant, and we’re the
kind of person that could take on a giant.
The problem is that God is much bigger than a giant.
If you try to fight God, you are not going to win.
When you find yourself at odds with God, the best thing you could do is to
yield to Him.
He is always right, His ways are always good, and He totally loves us.
The sooner we get onto the same page as God, the better it
is for us.
We only hurt ourselves when we fight with God.
:5 He removes the mountains, and they do not know When He overturns them in
His anger;
:5 He removes the mountains
God can move mountains.
Jesus said,
(Matthew 17:20
NKJV) …I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to
this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be
impossible for you.
Some folks will quote this verse and talk about the power
of our faith. But keep in mind, it’s GOD
that moves the mountain. God is looking
for people who will trust Him for the big things in life, but He is the one
that does the work. We just trust.
:6 He shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble;
:7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise; He seals off the stars;
:8 He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea;
:8 treads on the waves of the sea
Does this mean that God is a surfer?
:9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;
:9 the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades
Job mentions some very common constellations and stars in the sky. Though the translators use the Greek names of
the constellations, the Hebrew names are different.
I’m afraid in our modern urban society, we don’t look up at the sky too
much at night. The lights of the city
make it hard to see too many stars.
Ancient peoples were much more aware of the stars over their heads. They even grouped them together, imagining
images around the stars, calling the groupings constellations.
the Bear – ‘Ayish – a
constellation; Great Bear, Ursa Major.
Orion – K@ciyl – constellation, Orion;
This is the constellation with the three stars forming his belt, two of the
most prominent stars in the sky, Betelgeuse and Rigel, are part of this
constellation.
One of the stars in the constellation of Orion is Betelgeuse, 300 light
years from earth. It is 1,000 times the size of the sun, and shines 100,000
times brighter. Its diameter is 300 million miles. If placed in the center of
our solar system would engulf the orbits of the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth,
and Mars.
That’s just one star in one constellation.
Pleiades – Kiymah – Pleiades, a constellation of seven
stars; part of the constellation Taurus.
:9 chambers of the south –
(Job 9:9 NLT) …the
constellations of the southern sky.
Lesson
God is HUGE
The Psalmist wrote,
(Psalm 147:4 NKJV) He counts
the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.
The question is, does this terrify you, or comfort you?
(Isaiah 40:1 NKJV) “Comfort,
yes, comfort My people!” Says your God.
(Isaiah 40:11–12
NKJV) —11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will
gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead
those who are with young.
Do you think of God as a gentle shepherd, or a terrible
wolf?
12
Who
has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured
heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in
a measure? Weighed the
mountains in scales And the hills in a balance?
God is huge.
Isaiah wrote,
(Isaiah 40:25–31
NKJV) —25 “To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom
shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out
their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is
missing.
Astronomers estimate that in the observable universe there
are more than 100 billion galaxies.
Our own Milky Way galaxy has around 300 billion stars.
27 Why do you
say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just
claim is passed over by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator
of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His
understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might
He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the
young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their
strength; They shall
mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk
and not faint.
God wants us to realize that He is not only big and
powerful, but He cares for us.
That’s how we can receive comfort.
That’s how we can receive strength to keep going.
:10 He does great things past finding out, Yes,
wonders without number.
:10 He does great things
This is one of the things that defines who God.
He is “omnipotent”, or “all powerful”.
He can do whatever He wants.
:11 If He goes by me, I do not see Him; If He moves past, I do not
perceive Him;
:11 I do not see Him
Another attribute of God is that He is invisible.
You can’t see Him with your eyes.
:12 If He takes away, who can hinder Him? Who can say to Him, ‘What are You
doing?’
:13 God will not withdraw His anger, The allies of the proud lie prostrate
beneath Him.
:12 What are You doing?
To Job, God seems unaccountable to anyone.
Nobody can question what God is doing.
There is a kind of truth to this.
There is no higher judge than God, so who could hold Him accountable?
The problem with this thinking is that you begin to attribute human
weakness to God in thinking that if He is unaccountable, there might be
something bad that He is hiding.
Yet the truth is, God is good.
(1 John 1:5 NKJV) This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and
in Him is no darkness at all.
Humans are sinful and flawed, and we need accountability.
God is not sinful, and there is no need for accountability.
Yet even in the end, all will see that what God does is just.
(Revelation
16:7 NKJV) And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God
Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
9:14-21 Job: How can I reason with God?
:14 “How then can I answer Him, And choose
my words to reason with Him?
:15 For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy
of my Judge.
:16 If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was
listening to my voice.
:16 I would not believe that He was listening to my voice
Job is having a hard time thinking that God would really be paying
attention if Job asked Him anything.
He will find out that God has been listening all along.
Lesson
When God hears
There is a time when God does not hear our prayers.
The Psalmist wrote,
(Psalm
66:18 NKJV) If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
regard – ra’ah – to see,
inspect, consider; to look at, gaze at
(Psalm
66:18 ESV) If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have
listened.
When we are holding on to and enjoying sin in our heart, God isn’t going to
pay attention to what we are saying.
Would this principle apply to Job?
No. God considers
Job a righteous man.
There is a time when God does hear our prayers.
(1 John 5:14–15
NKJV) —14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us,
whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
The question we all face is, am I asking according to His
will?
There are some things that we know are definitely
God’s will.
Asking God to save you is His will.
(1
Timothy 2:4 NLT) who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.
There are some things we are unsure of.
Does God want me to be healed?
Does God want me to get this new job?
So what do you do when you don’t know what to pray
for?
Ask.
God may say yes.
God may say no.
God may say wait.
:17 For He crushes me with a tempest, And
multiplies my wounds without cause.
:18 He will not allow me to catch my breath, But
fills me with bitterness.
:19 If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And
if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
Job feels he’s being bullied by God because God is stronger than he is.
:20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were
blameless, it would prove me perverse.
:21 “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.
:21 I am blameless, yet I do not know myself
Job thinks he’s innocent of sin, but he’s afraid that if he stood before
God he’d say something stupid.
He just doesn’t understand.
9:22-24 God is unfair
:22 It is all one thing; Therefore I
say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
:23 If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent.
:24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of
its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be?
:22 It is all one thing
Job thinks God treats all people the same.
He destroys both blameless people and wicked people.
It all seems so unfair to Job.
This is the cry of a person going through great difficulty.
When you hear your friend saying the same thing, keep in mind it is just
how they are feeling.
Don’t make it your goal to simply correct their theology.
9:25-35 I can never be clean
:25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no
good.
:26 They pass by like swift ships, Like an eagle swooping on its prey.
His days of pain are going by quickly.
Life is passing him by.
:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and
wear a smile,’
:28 I am afraid of all my sufferings; I know that You will not hold me
innocent.
:27 I will forget my complaint …
If Job tries to forget his troubles and find comfort, he’s afraid it will
all come back to haunt him.
:29 If I am condemned, Why then do I labor
in vain?
Why try to be a good person if I’m just going to be found guilty anyway?
:30 If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse
my hands with soap,
:31 Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my
own clothes will abhor me.
:31 You will plunge me into the pit
If Job would try to clean up his life, God will just trip him, and he’ll
fall into the mud.
:32 “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together.
:33 Nor is there any mediator between us, Who
may lay his hand on us both.
:34 Let Him take His rod away from me, And do not
let dread of Him terrify me.
:35 Then I would speak and not fear Him, But
it is not so with me.
:33 Nor is there any mediator between us
mediator – yakach – to prove, decide, judge, rebuke,
correct
We hear about mediators all the time, such as those used to resolve the
disputes between the ports and their workers…
Here’s a news item from about five years ago…
Job is afraid that there is no impartial judge who can listen to Job and
God and give an impartial ruling.
There is no mediator that can get God to stop pounding on Job.
Keep in mind that Job is incorrect in thinking that God is somehow
punishing Job for something he didn’t commit.
Job is not being punished.
Lesson
The Mediator
What Job doesn’t know is that God would provide a mediator.
(1 Timothy 2:5–6
NKJV) —5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
Because Jesus is fully God and fully man, He is uniquely qualified to
settle the dispute that God has with man.
mediator – mesites – one who intervenes between two,
either in order to make or restore peace and
friendship, or form a compact, or for ratifying a covenant
Jesus isn’t the kind of mediator that makes each side give in fifty-fifty.
God’s side doesn’t need to give in at all.
For us to be right with God, God doesn’t need to let some
sins go unpunished, or change His standards of what is right and wrong.
What God did was send Jesus to bring us completely up to God’s standards,
by paying the price for our sins, and making it possible for us to be right
with God.
10:1-7 Job: What have I done?
Once again, Job prays (like he did in Job 7).
:1 “My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me.
:2 Show me why You contend with me
There are many answers as to why people go through difficulties.
This little jewel comes from Charles Spurgeon regarding this verse:
Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There
are some of thy graces which would never have been discovered it if were not for the trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks
so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love
is too oft like a glow-worm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star – not to be seen
in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered adversity. Afflictions are often the black folds in
which God doth set the jewels of His children’s graces, to make them shine the
better.
It was but a little while ago that, on thy knees, thou wast
saying, “Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith.”
Was not this really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials? –
for how canst thou know that thou hast faith until thy faith is exercised?
Depend upon it. God often sends us
trials that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be certified of their
existence. Besides, it is not merely
discovery; real growth in grace is
the result of sanctified trials.
God trains His soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning
them out and using them to forced marches and hard
service. He makes them ford through
streams, and swim through rivers and climb mountains, and walk many a weary
mile with heavy knapsacks on their backs.
Well, Christian, may not this account for the troubles through which you
are passing? Is not this the reason why He is contending with you?
Source: Streams in the Desert for April 10
Sometimes God uses the trials we go through to show us the good work that
He has already been doing in our lives.
:3 Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, That You should
despise the work of Your hands, And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
:4 Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees?
:4 Do You have eyes of flesh?
Even though God sees and understands everything way better than we do, God
has shown mankind that He understands.
He did this with Jesus.
(Hebrews 4:15–16
NKJV) —15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin. 16 Let us
therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need.
Jesus understands
:5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your
years like the days of a mighty man,
:6 That You should seek for my iniquity And search
out my sin,
:7 Although You know that I am not wicked, And there
is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
:7 search out my sin
Job says that God knows that Job is not wicked.
Lesson
Fishing for sins
Job knows that he hasn’t done anything wrong. He even has this feeling that God knows that
he hasn’t done anything wrong.
I think there are times when we need to be careful that we don’t keep
trying to dredge up something in the hopes that we’ll find the one thing we did
wrong.
We can ask God to search us and see if we have sin:
(Psalm 139:23–24
NKJV) —23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and
know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in
the way everlasting.
But if God doesn’t show you anything, stop fishing.
When we ask God for forgiveness, He forgives us.
David wrote,
(Psalm
103:12 NKJV) As far as the east is from the west, So far has He
removed our transgressions from us.
Micah wrote,
(Micah
7:19 NKJV) He will again have compassion on us, And will
subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.
Illustration
A man set out to do some ice-fishing on a frozen lake.
Carefully carrying his gear to a favorite spot, he proceeded to carve out a
hole on the ice to drop his line,
and settled into his mission. As he was waiting for the fish to bite, he
noticed a young boy waddling onto the ice with a fishing pole, with a
determined look on his face. The man smiled at the kid’s tenacity, but after a
while, his expression turned to surprise as the boy kept pulling fish after
fish out of the lake. After about an hour, the man slipped and slided across the ice to the boy and said to him, “Young
man, I’ve been here for a while and haven’t caught anything, yet I see that you
keep catching fish one after another. Do you mind if I ask what your secret
is?” The young boy mumbled, “Mm mm mm mm mm
mm mmmm!” “What did you
say?” asked the puzzled man. “Mm mm mm mm mm
mm mmmm!” “I’m sorry, son,
I can’t understand you,” the man replied. The boy spit something out into his
hand and said, “Mister, you gotta keep your worms
warm!”
When God has cast our sins into the depths of the sea, it’s best to just
leave them there, and forget trying to find that special catch.
Illustration
Corrie ten Boom, in her book Tramp for the Lord had these words to
say regarding forgiveness:
It was 1947--. I had come from Holland to defeated Germany
with the message that God forgives. It was the truth they needed most to hear
in that bitter, bombed-out land, and I gave them my favorite mental picture.
Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander’s mind, I like to think
that that’s where forgiven sins are thrown. “When we confess our sins,” I said,
“God casts them into the deepest ocean, gone forever--. Then God places a sign
out there that says No Fishing Allowed!”
I don’t think this means that we can’t be learning about the things that
trigger our sins or take steps to avoid getting entangled in them.
I think that the responsible thing is to learn how to be victorious over
our sins.
But what we need to avoid is heaping extra continuous guilt over our sin
when God has thrown them into the depths of the ocean.
Ditch the scuba gear.
Remember: Not all trouble comes as a result of your failure.
10:8-12 You have made me
:8 ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An
intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me.
:9 Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me
into dust again?
:9 You have made me like clay
Job asks God to remember what he is made of.
But God does remember.
(Psalm 103:14 NKJV)
For
He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
God knows our limitations. He knows
what we’re made of.
:10 Did You not pour me out like milk, And curdle
me like cheese,
:11 Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me
together with bones and sinews?
:10 curdle me like cheese
Job is describing how God formed him in his mother’s womb.
:12 You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my
spirit.
10:13-22 Let me die
:13 ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that
this was with You:
:14 If I sin, then You mark me, And will not
acquit me of my iniquity.
(Job 10:13–14 NLT)
—13 “ ‘Yet your real motive— your true intent— 14 was to watch
me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my guilt.
:15 If I am wicked, woe to me; Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; See my
misery!
:16 If my head is exalted, You hunt me like
a fierce lion, And again You show Yourself awesome
against me.
:17 You renew Your witnesses against me, And
increase Your indignation toward me; Changes and war are ever with me.
:18 ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
Job wishes he hadn’t been born.
:19 I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried
from the womb to the grave.
:20 Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little
comfort,
Job just wants God to leave him alone.
:21 Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the
land of darkness and the shadow of death,
:22 A land as dark as darkness itself, As the shadow of death,
without any order, Where even the light is
like darkness.’ ”
:22 A land as dark as darkness itself
Keep in mind that he is incorrect in his knowledge about death. God will tell him that (Job 38:2,17)
:14 If I sin, then You mark me
Lesson
Sin isn’t always the reason
As we’ve seen earlier, Job’s trial has come because God was wanting to show
the world how a man of integrity handles trials.
Job’s friends are having trouble with Job because they are convinced that
Job has done something to deserve his trouble.
But Job too thinks that he must have done something. He too doesn’t see past this idea that bad
things are a result of sinful behavior.
In your own life:
If you are not totally sure of what sin you’ve committed that has led to
your difficulty, don’t go looking for something. The Holy Spirit is more than able to convict
you of sin.
Even if you are aware of sin in your life, it’s possible that there’s more
going in your life than you are aware of.
Certainly you need to turn from your sin. But it may be that God is doing more than
just punishing you for sin.
In the lives of others:
Don’t be quick to judge and decide that a person’s problems are a result of
their sin.
The truth is that we all are sinful, and none of us
deserve any kindness from God at all.
What if God is doing something different for this person.
Are you going to stand on the sidelines and throw stones at them? Or are you going to be a part of comforting
and encouraging them?
Remember this?
Video: Brene Brown Empathy
Lesson
What to trust
God doesn’t answer Job’s questions, at least not yet.
Why? God wants us to learn to live
by faith. He wants us to trust Him.
Faith is learning to trust something you don’t see.
It’s what pleases Him.
(Hebrews
11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for
he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder
of those who diligently seek Him.
When ancient sailors found their ship caught in a storm, they would throw
out anchors to keep their ship from being blown off course.
There are three anchors I’d like to remind you of.
Job already knows one of them.
1. God is all powerful
Job already trembles at knowing how powerful God is.
We need to remember that God can do anything. He is able.
Job needs to learn two more of these anchors.
2. God is good
Everything God does is correct. There is no injustice in Him.
(1
John 1:5 NKJV) This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to
you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
Even if things don’t seem to be “just” in this life, when
we cross over to the other side, we will see everything made right.
Does something seem to be “not fair” in your life?
God desires that we trust Him. Even if we don’t understand.
3. God is love
Everything that God does for us is out of His marvelous
love.
Even when we go through difficulties, God allows it
through His love.
Sometimes the trials DO come because we need
correcting. The writer of Hebrews is
quoting Solomon, who is quoting Job’s friend Eliphaz:
(Hebrews
12:5–6 NKJV) —5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to
sons: “My son, do
not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be
discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the
Lord loves He chastens, And scourges
every son whom He receives.”
Even if a trial is meant to correct something in your
life, it only comes because God loves us.
We would do better in a trial if we learn the lesson we’re
supposed to learn.
(Hebrews
12:11 NLT) No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But
afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are
trained in this way.
Sometimes the trials don’t have anything to do with
correction (like Job)
(Romans
8:31–39 NKJV) —31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us,
who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
We should not question anything that God allows to come
our way because He has already proven His love for us in giving up His Son for
us.
33
Who
shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is
he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
When we go through trials, we may find people like Job’s
friends who will want to condemn us, but God
35
Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
These things may come, but God hasn’t stopped loving us.
36
As
it is written: “For Your
sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
There will be times when we will be killed because people
are mad at God. Yet that doesn’t mean
that God doesn’t love us.
37
Yet
in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
God doesn’t stop loving us. Even when we’re in tough times, God sees, God
knows, and He still loves us.
11:1-6 Zophar: Job is bad
:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:
:1 Zophar the Naamathite
He’s the third “friend” of Job’s to speak zo-phar
(“so far”) J
Zophar – Tsowphar – “sparrow”.
Naamathite – Na‘amathiy – “pleasantness”
He’ll be the toughest of the three friends.
He’s also probably the youngest.
It’s not uncommon for people to see things as “black and white” when
they’re younger. Most people mellow with age.
:2 “Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of
talk be vindicated?
:3 Should your empty talk make men hold their peace?
And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?
:4 For you have said, ‘My doctrine is pure, And I am clean in your
eyes.’
:5 But oh, that God would speak, And open His lips
against you,
:6 That He would show you the secrets of wisdom! For they would
double your prudence. Know therefore that God exacts from you Less
than your iniquity deserves.
:6 Less than your iniquity deserves
Lesson
Getting less than you deserve
Zophar is telling Job that he’s getting less than he deserves.
He is actually correct in a sense, but only
because God gives all of us less than we deserve.
(Psalm 103:8–10
NKJV) —8 The Lord is
merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not
always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger
forever. 10 He has not
dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our
iniquities.
If God gave us what we deserve, we’d been toasted a long
time ago.
The problem is that Zophar (like Eliphaz, Bildad, and even Job) has
concluded that all this mess is a result of Job’s sin, which it isn’t.
Zophar also seems to forget that although God is just, He is also merciful
and gracious.
11:7-12 Zophar: God is awesome
:7 “Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits
of the Almighty?
:7 Can you search out the deep things of God?
These are rhetorical questions, the answer is
assumed to be “no”.
In one sense, Zophar is correct.
God is way bigger than we are.
In another sense, we can have some measure of understanding God, with His
help.
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians 2:10
NKJV) But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the
Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
:8 They are higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than
Sheol—what can you know?
:9 Their measure is longer than the earth And
broader than the sea.
:8 higher than heaven
Zophar is talking about the immensity of God.
Lesson
Correct dimensions
Zophar is correct in thinking about how awesome and vast God is, but I wish
his focus on God’s greatness didn’t lead him to condemnation, but to something
else…
Paul prayed for the Ephesians,
(Ephesians 3:14–19
NLT) —14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the
Father, 15 the Creator
of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower
you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in
your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and
keep you strong. 18
And
may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how
long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to
understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life
and power that comes from God.
I think when we talk about the awesomeness of God, we best
be remembering that His love is awesome.
God wants us focused on His mercy.
(Matthew 9:10–13
NKJV) —10 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that
behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His
disciples. 11 And when the
Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Jesus
heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a
physician, but those who are sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not
sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to
repentance.”
The Pharisees were so concerned about their own
righteousness that they neglected the truth that God is merciful to sinners.
Sinners need to repent, but they will do it better when
shown mercy.
:10 “If He passes by, imprisons, and gathers to judgment, Then who can hinder Him?
:11 For He knows deceitful men; He sees wickedness also. Will He not then
consider it?
:12 For an empty-headed man will be wise, When a
wild donkey’s colt is born a man.
:12 an empty-headed man
He’s saying a foolish person won’t be able to become wise any more than a
human could give birth to a donkey.
He’s calling Job stupid.
11:13-20 Zophar: Repent
:13 “If you would prepare your heart, And stretch
out your hands toward Him;
:14 If iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away, And would not let wickedness dwell in your tents;
:15 Then surely you could lift up your face
without spot; Yes, you could be steadfast, and not fear;
:16 Because you would forget your misery, And remember it as waters that have passed
away,
:17 And your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you
were dark, you would be like the morning.
:18 And you would be secure, because there is hope; Yes, you would dig around
you, and take your rest in safety.
:19 You would also lie down, and no one would make you afraid; Yes,
many would court your favor.
:20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail, And they
shall not escape, And their hope—loss of life!”
:13 If you would prepare your heart
Zophar is convinced that if Job would simply turn from his sin, then
everything would be just fine.
Lesson
What if you’re wrong?
(Keyword)
Zophar’s advice would be pretty good if Job had actually
done something bad, and his problems were a result of his sin.
But he’s completely wrong.
Can you think of situations you or others around you are facing where
you’ve decided exactly what the solution is?
What if you’re wrong? What if you don’t see everything that has gone on?
It’s not bad to say, “But I could be wrong…”
It’s not wrong to suggest solutions to your friends, but
be aware that you may not see the whole problem.
This is one of the problems we can run into with marriage problems.
If you are only hearing your friend’s side of thing, you
may not be getting the whole picture.
I’ve counselled with people who
are having difficulty in their marriage, and given what I thought was good
advice, only to find out that the person I was talking to was secretly having
an affair, and had no intention of turning from their
sin.
Pericope Project
How would you title chapter 9?
God is huge / Job is frustrated
How would you title chapter 10?
Asking God / Why don’t you hear me?
How would you title chapter 11?
Job messed up / Zophar condemns Job
Mars Hill
From Episode 3 –
“You Read The Bible Ringo?”
Church Planting can be good
It gives a fresh look to Christianity
The challenge of planting a church – hard to keep healthy rhythms, you have to be a little crazy to plant a church.
68% of church plants survive after 4 years.
Mark’s original vision for planting a church in Seattle
Small church, aimed at disaffected
Aimed at unchurched, then young kids were inviting their parents.
Mark was a good, caring pastor, opening his home to those in need.
At a conference, Mark begins to slam others for confusing the gospel
I’m not sure I disagree with some of what Mark was concerned about.
But he had a “combative” spirit.
Mark changed and locked into being “reformed”.
Mark begins to be hostile towards more and more people.
Mark has a dream, then casts out one of his co-founders.
The concern that people were trying to take his church from him.
Mark hires an administrative assistant (Karen Shafer).
She thought, “It’s really dangerous to work for the church you love”
Mark was exhausting himself.
Karen (ass’t) thought Mark needed more men around
him to challenge him.
She is brought into a meeting, Mark is mad, she was accused of “heresy”
because she didn’t “trust” the leadership (when what she was suggesting was
that Mark have older men to help guide him).
Karen lost her job.
Mark thought he was the victim.
“Trust is hard to gain and easy to lose”
Mark seemed to change opinions – some thought it was so he could have a
larger church.
Homework
For this coming week:
Think about your “mercy ministry”
Read Job 7-12 in NIV
Memorize Job 9:33 (in NKJV)
(Job 9:33 NKJV) Nor is there
any mediator between us, Who may lay his
hand on us both.
Be ready to recite it in class next week.
Memorize it soon so you can chew on it during the week.
Go to our class’ “test” section
I’d like you to share a prayer request
There will be a quick quiz for you.
Listen to episode #4 of “The Rise And
Fall Of Mars Hill”
“I’m Jack’s Raging Bile Duct”
Write a short paragraph summarizing the episode and how it has affected
your spiritual walk.
Keywords
What was the first “keyword” …
a.
Fighting with God
b.
Fighting with Satan
c.
Fighting with others
What was the second “keyword” …
a.
What if you’re wrong
b.
I’m always right
c.
Don’t question things
Was there something from today’s lesson that you can apply to your life
TODAY?