1
00:00:10,085 --> 00:00:12,745
Joshua Kehler: We are in Job today.

2
00:00:12,895 --> 00:00:13,815
Job 42.

3
00:00:13,815 --> 00:00:14,784
Job 42.

4
00:00:15,784 --> 00:00:17,724
Just run through this short little book.

5
00:00:18,294 --> 00:00:18,734
verse 5.

6
00:00:19,969 --> 00:00:23,639
I'll read five and six, then we'll pray,
and then we'll turn to Job chapter one.

7
00:00:24,639 --> 00:00:25,299
Verse five.

8
00:00:25,849 --> 00:00:32,919
I heard you by the hearing of
the ear, but now my eyes see you.

9
00:00:34,219 --> 00:00:40,449
Therefore, I despise myself, or
literally, I reject my previous opinion

10
00:00:40,449 --> 00:00:44,499
of you, and repent in dust and ashes.

11
00:00:44,499 --> 00:00:45,509
This is the word of the Lord.

12
00:00:47,024 --> 00:00:50,564
Father, we thank you for
this life right here.

13
00:00:52,214 --> 00:00:57,044
We thank you for this story that's
for hundreds of millions of saints

14
00:00:57,504 --> 00:01:02,304
throughout millennia when we encounter
the brokenness of this world.

15
00:01:04,054 --> 00:01:12,384
And so Lord, we pray that you would
equip us to lean into you, when

16
00:01:12,384 --> 00:01:14,044
the day of calamity comes upon us.

17
00:01:15,369 --> 00:01:18,089
Cause it's not if, it's when.

18
00:01:19,089 --> 00:01:23,809
And so Lord, we pray that
you would show us your glory.

19
00:01:25,279 --> 00:01:29,249
That we wouldn't just hear you today,
but that our eyes would be lifted above

20
00:01:29,279 --> 00:01:34,309
this earth and the popular opinions
of men and good ideas and that we

21
00:01:34,309 --> 00:01:38,539
would see your majesty this morning.

22
00:01:38,539 --> 00:01:39,819
Amen.

23
00:01:40,394 --> 00:01:41,294
So we thank you for this.

24
00:01:41,304 --> 00:01:43,314
Thank you for the other churches
that gather in your name.

25
00:01:43,354 --> 00:01:49,574
Thank you that God, you are intimately
involved in every saint's life Down

26
00:01:49,574 --> 00:01:54,314
to the minute details of life they're
sitting down and they're rising up

27
00:01:55,319 --> 00:01:58,839
We can't wait to meet and fellowship
with our brothers and sisters, Lord,

28
00:01:59,119 --> 00:02:02,539
whether that be this side of heaven
and glory or whether it be there, but

29
00:02:02,549 --> 00:02:04,309
we just say thank you for the church.

30
00:02:04,619 --> 00:02:08,919
Thank you that you have a blood
bought bride of every tongue, tribe,

31
00:02:08,949 --> 00:02:14,799
nation Lord, and that, Lord, you
are making a people unto yourself.

32
00:02:15,399 --> 00:02:16,789
And so show us Jesus.

33
00:02:17,509 --> 00:02:19,059
What we need is Jesus.

34
00:02:19,299 --> 00:02:23,379
May He be more precious than
anything else in this world.

35
00:02:23,569 --> 00:02:26,619
We love you and praise
you in Jesus name, Amen.

36
00:02:27,959 --> 00:02:31,919
So we've been, doing a little series
between, before we start our next

37
00:02:31,929 --> 00:02:40,319
book, and that's just been, verses
that have impacted and shaped me in

38
00:02:40,319 --> 00:02:48,603
profound ways, in critical times of my
journey following Jesus or his journey

39
00:02:48,603 --> 00:02:51,864
and process of dragging me into glory.

40
00:02:52,314 --> 00:02:57,744
And, you don't expect the hard
times to hit so sudden and so fast.

41
00:02:57,754 --> 00:03:00,164
Sometimes it's prolonged
and you can see it coming.

42
00:03:00,674 --> 00:03:03,954
And even if you prepare for
it, you're not prepared.

43
00:03:05,434 --> 00:03:12,444
Because as we'll see, this passage
has a lot to give us, in ways of

44
00:03:12,704 --> 00:03:15,574
equipping us and grabbing hold of
our faces and say, look at God.

45
00:03:15,574 --> 00:03:20,084
and this was pivotal to me because
I felt in the midst of my suffering,

46
00:03:20,084 --> 00:03:25,704
whether it was, losing my sister, at
such a young age, just all of a sudden

47
00:03:25,814 --> 00:03:30,634
out of nowhere, or whether it was,
losing church family and community.

48
00:03:31,024 --> 00:03:39,464
Once and then twice, you know, there's so
much wrestling and there's so much hurt.

49
00:03:39,494 --> 00:03:44,154
There's so much pain that
it's suffocating, that you

50
00:03:44,154 --> 00:03:45,634
can't see up from down.

51
00:03:45,664 --> 00:03:49,543
and Job, This book, God gave
it to us to grab a hold of

52
00:03:49,543 --> 00:03:51,114
our face and say to look up.

53
00:03:51,324 --> 00:03:55,853
And that's really the point of the
book of Job and to equip us in that way

54
00:03:55,874 --> 00:04:01,064
because that's what we forget a lot of
the time and what we end up doing is we

55
00:04:01,064 --> 00:04:08,504
start accusing God of, of being behind
the evil that we're suffering currently.

56
00:04:09,444 --> 00:04:11,944
And that is the enemy's
ultimate tactic, right?

57
00:04:12,014 --> 00:04:16,834
To take us out of the everlasting
arms, to take us away from the shield

58
00:04:16,834 --> 00:04:21,204
about us, our mighty fortress, to
lure us out into the openness, of

59
00:04:21,214 --> 00:04:23,864
doubt and, disbelief, unbelief.

60
00:04:24,554 --> 00:04:25,944
It's, we come to this scripture.

61
00:04:25,964 --> 00:04:28,874
I'm going to run through just
an overview of this book and

62
00:04:28,874 --> 00:04:30,134
just some lessons along the way.

63
00:04:30,334 --> 00:04:31,224
Feel free to jump in.

64
00:04:31,224 --> 00:04:32,994
This is a fun, small group right here.

65
00:04:33,334 --> 00:04:36,084
And we've all, none of us is a noob.

66
00:04:37,034 --> 00:04:39,764
None of us is a novice to
suffering in this room.

67
00:04:39,774 --> 00:04:40,884
None of us is a rookie.

68
00:04:42,189 --> 00:04:45,579
you're not a first draft pick,
coming up into the ranks, only

69
00:04:45,579 --> 00:04:49,919
to pull your ACL or whatever,
everybody, has been down this road.

70
00:04:50,739 --> 00:04:51,569
My memory is jogged.

71
00:04:51,569 --> 00:04:55,089
I was listening to a pastor this
week and, he has a similar story and

72
00:04:55,089 --> 00:04:58,259
I, my memory, I probably put it out
because it was such a horrible memory.

73
00:04:59,679 --> 00:05:02,699
When we were in Tahoe on vacation,
we usually vacation there for

74
00:05:02,699 --> 00:05:06,909
the 4th of July, as a family with
Andrea's family, and relatives.

75
00:05:07,589 --> 00:05:13,159
And, my son Ryden, he was super
young, probably 7 maybe, and, he had

76
00:05:13,159 --> 00:05:17,469
a cyst on his leg that got infected
and was causing him tremendous pain.

77
00:05:18,009 --> 00:05:21,009
And so we went to the urgent care
there, and, And they said, Hey, we've

78
00:05:21,009 --> 00:05:22,299
got to, we've got to drain this.

79
00:05:22,299 --> 00:05:24,109
We've got a Lancet and
then we've got to pack it.

80
00:05:24,519 --> 00:05:28,339
And, to my horror, I'm like,
wait, what does that mean?

81
00:05:28,339 --> 00:05:29,549
What's involved?

82
00:05:30,399 --> 00:05:33,808
And, they said, we've got
to inject him with Novocaine

83
00:05:33,808 --> 00:05:35,849
and cut it open and drain it.

84
00:05:36,169 --> 00:05:39,119
And then we have to pack it
full of, gauze and stuff.

85
00:05:39,119 --> 00:05:42,129
And I'm like, yeah, he's not
going to be down with that.

86
00:05:42,129 --> 00:05:44,099
He's not going to like that very much.

87
00:05:45,099 --> 00:05:50,719
My job was to hold his arms as he cried.

88
00:05:50,719 --> 00:05:53,899
Like he's never cried
before and screamed in pain.

89
00:05:53,899 --> 00:05:57,139
Like I've never seen, until
it was done, and it's over.

90
00:05:57,509 --> 00:06:02,349
So that is when I get an infection, and
poisoned his leg and poison his body.

91
00:06:04,309 --> 00:06:07,819
There was a moment where I'm using
my strength to let something painful.

92
00:06:07,869 --> 00:06:10,709
Happened to my beloved
son so he would be better.

93
00:06:11,709 --> 00:06:12,399
I thought back on that.

94
00:06:12,399 --> 00:06:20,559
I thought this might be the closest
to understanding God and suffering

95
00:06:21,559 --> 00:06:29,809
that he uses his strength To allow
pain to make us better the book of

96
00:06:29,809 --> 00:06:35,433
Job James 5 verse 11 James comments
and he says, Behold, we consider

97
00:06:35,454 --> 00:06:37,654
those blessed who remain steadfast.

98
00:06:37,654 --> 00:06:41,794
You've heard of the steadfastness
of Job, and you've seen the

99
00:06:41,794 --> 00:06:45,664
purposes of the Lord, how the Lord
is compassionate and merciful.

100
00:06:45,794 --> 00:06:50,334
So James looks at the book of Job
and his takeaway from it is that the

101
00:06:50,334 --> 00:06:53,154
Lord is compassionate and merciful.

102
00:06:53,344 --> 00:06:54,764
that's the storyline.

103
00:06:55,064 --> 00:06:59,514
That's the purpose that God is
working out in the book of Job.

104
00:07:00,064 --> 00:07:04,594
It's true, there's nothing more inevitable
in life that we all will suffer.

105
00:07:05,294 --> 00:07:07,664
All of us will go through
suffering, it's unavoidable.

106
00:07:08,064 --> 00:07:10,634
everybody dies, the ratio
is still 1 to 1, right?

107
00:07:11,224 --> 00:07:14,734
No matter how much you hide, how much
you pour into your health, how much

108
00:07:14,734 --> 00:07:20,014
you do, that day, that appointment,
is still looming on the horizon.

109
00:07:20,015 --> 00:07:23,694
And we do everything in this culture
to numb ourselves to that fact.

110
00:07:24,064 --> 00:07:25,384
We avoid it at all costs.

111
00:07:26,549 --> 00:07:31,169
and no book faces this theme of suffering
more head on than the book of Job.

112
00:07:31,829 --> 00:07:36,429
and so it teaches us how to maintain
faith in the midst of that suffering,

113
00:07:36,429 --> 00:07:40,929
that trust, to learn to trust God
even when we can't trace Him, to lean

114
00:07:40,929 --> 00:07:47,414
into His difficult mercy, Job will
prepare us for that season of darkness,

115
00:07:47,454 --> 00:07:49,484
that unavoidable day of calamity.

116
00:07:49,764 --> 00:07:55,433
God in his grace has given us a story
to help us face the dark seasons of

117
00:07:55,433 --> 00:08:01,474
life so that when the waves crash
we won't be crushed beyond repair.

118
00:08:03,244 --> 00:08:07,164
The thing is for many, we come, and
this is one of the main arguments

119
00:08:07,164 --> 00:08:13,814
against Christianity, is if God is all
powerful, and He's all good, then why

120
00:08:13,814 --> 00:08:16,424
doesn't He stop evil and suffering?

121
00:08:17,714 --> 00:08:23,014
either He's all powerful, but He's
not good, so He doesn't care, or

122
00:08:23,014 --> 00:08:27,874
He's all good, and he wants to
stop it, but he's not all powerful.

123
00:08:27,924 --> 00:08:31,594
So people call that the great
contradiction and it's a real

124
00:08:31,594 --> 00:08:33,073
wrestle in today's culture.

125
00:08:33,073 --> 00:08:36,494
And it's a real wrestle in today's
culture because for the first time

126
00:08:36,494 --> 00:08:41,244
sociologists are pointing out that
for the like past hundred years,

127
00:08:41,244 --> 00:08:42,794
it might even be shorter than that.

128
00:08:43,504 --> 00:08:49,144
Our culture is obsessed with being
happy and happiness has become a right.

129
00:08:49,234 --> 00:08:50,964
It's like a demanded thing.

130
00:08:51,464 --> 00:08:53,854
It wasn't like that in history's past.

131
00:08:54,024 --> 00:08:57,644
the Great Depression, that was
just Monday, looking back on that.

132
00:08:57,714 --> 00:08:58,424
It was horrible.

133
00:08:58,424 --> 00:08:59,184
It was crazy.

134
00:08:59,524 --> 00:09:01,314
but that was the way of life.

135
00:09:01,344 --> 00:09:02,894
Life was hard.

136
00:09:02,904 --> 00:09:09,499
Life was Difficult and you enjoyed those
moments of respite when you got them,

137
00:09:09,709 --> 00:09:13,779
they're writing books amusing yourself
to death or the happiness trap, where

138
00:09:13,779 --> 00:09:19,099
they point out that when you live for
happiness, you're not going to hit it.

139
00:09:19,249 --> 00:09:20,869
It's impossible to keep.

140
00:09:21,179 --> 00:09:23,829
we think it's like the stock
market invested in good stock.

141
00:09:23,829 --> 00:09:25,809
It's up into the right, continual growth.

142
00:09:26,319 --> 00:09:30,099
Oh, climbing on and on, and all
the investors are like, yeah.

143
00:09:30,299 --> 00:09:34,319
And so we buy into this idea that we're
supposed to be happy all the time.

144
00:09:34,579 --> 00:09:39,329
And so there's, it runs directly in
contradiction for the reality of life.

145
00:09:39,629 --> 00:09:43,769
And when you think that's the
case, it sociologists point out,

146
00:09:43,809 --> 00:09:45,139
it leads to more depression.

147
00:09:45,139 --> 00:09:46,359
It leads to more anxiety.

148
00:09:46,359 --> 00:09:50,339
It leads to more heartbreak,
disillusion, cynicism leads to all

149
00:09:50,339 --> 00:09:52,329
these things because life happens.

150
00:09:53,339 --> 00:09:59,759
And no matter what people post, they
still have difficulty in their lives.

151
00:10:00,739 --> 00:10:02,589
No matter how good it looks.

152
00:10:02,589 --> 00:10:06,639
But we buy into that trap that if I
just have this thing, or if I just go on

153
00:10:06,639 --> 00:10:10,599
this trip, or if I have these friends,
or if I look this certain way, or if

154
00:10:10,599 --> 00:10:17,199
people respect me here, then, and it's
a trap because the wave comes, the

155
00:10:17,199 --> 00:10:21,229
storms come, life comes, life happens.

156
00:10:21,299 --> 00:10:28,099
So, what happens then when it's
wartime, when you're in the midst

157
00:10:28,099 --> 00:10:31,649
of it, this isn't an intellectual
puzzle that you've got to solve.

158
00:10:32,279 --> 00:10:36,219
But when you have the time, you're
an armchair quarterback, right?

159
00:10:36,649 --> 00:10:38,099
And it's an intellectual puzzle.

160
00:10:38,099 --> 00:10:39,839
Why does God allow evil and suffering?

161
00:10:39,989 --> 00:10:42,149
It's this intellectual
puzzle that we have to solve.

162
00:10:42,629 --> 00:10:45,529
like how to get a man to Mars
is an intellectual puzzle.

163
00:10:46,204 --> 00:10:49,004
The experience of suffering
is not an intellectual puzzle,

164
00:10:49,334 --> 00:10:51,014
we know this, it's a journey.

165
00:10:51,474 --> 00:10:54,844
It's like, how am I going to get over
this icy, snow covered mountain pass?

166
00:10:54,844 --> 00:10:58,654
you need somebody to tell you, to
take you and say, That's not the path.

167
00:10:59,224 --> 00:11:00,144
This is the path.

168
00:11:00,324 --> 00:11:02,364
It's not this intellectual puzzle.

169
00:11:02,804 --> 00:11:09,054
I think we want an answer to the
reason for evil and suffering, so

170
00:11:09,054 --> 00:11:11,914
that we can put it in our pocket
and feel good about the world.

171
00:11:12,964 --> 00:11:18,324
we want to make sense of it, so
then we can move on and feel, okay.

172
00:11:18,814 --> 00:11:22,964
all through the Bible, God does not
want you to feel good about the world.

173
00:11:23,714 --> 00:11:25,134
We live east of Eden.

174
00:11:25,824 --> 00:11:27,994
We don't live in Eden anymore.

175
00:11:27,994 --> 00:11:29,404
We are not in paradise.

176
00:11:29,424 --> 00:11:31,354
We are on the east side.

177
00:11:31,854 --> 00:11:33,354
We live on the east side.

178
00:11:33,364 --> 00:11:38,924
it's death and curse and destruction
that God is going to reverse and heal and

179
00:11:38,924 --> 00:11:41,294
He's already in the process of doing it.

180
00:11:42,084 --> 00:11:46,294
Showing us that he reverses
death in his own resurrection.

181
00:11:46,544 --> 00:11:50,524
The prototype of what's happening
and, and what's going to unfold

182
00:11:50,524 --> 00:11:54,414
into all of frustrated creation.

183
00:11:54,634 --> 00:11:58,184
But we are supposed to not be okay.

184
00:11:58,949 --> 00:12:00,239
with the war in Israel.

185
00:12:00,369 --> 00:12:04,409
We're not supposed to be okay with
the crime and the death happening

186
00:12:04,409 --> 00:12:07,749
on our streets, people being taken
advantage of, people lying and

187
00:12:07,749 --> 00:12:11,349
cheating and getting, we're supposed
to groan with the rest of creation.

188
00:12:11,939 --> 00:12:16,669
there's this word, in Hebrew that it's
one of the words that it literally means

189
00:12:16,729 --> 00:12:21,059
you like, ah, it's a ha, it's a groan.

190
00:12:21,059 --> 00:12:22,079
It's it's.

191
00:12:22,129 --> 00:12:25,161
you just, it's what happens
when the children of Israel

192
00:12:25,161 --> 00:12:26,861
and Egypt and they're enslaved.

193
00:12:26,861 --> 00:12:31,741
It says they just, it's the same thing
Romans eight says that the trees and

194
00:12:31,741 --> 00:12:38,261
all creation, they go, ah, they're
frustrated, they're groaning because it's

195
00:12:38,271 --> 00:12:40,601
not the way that it's supposed to be.

196
00:12:41,661 --> 00:12:44,521
So it's not this intellectual puzzle.

197
00:12:45,466 --> 00:12:49,866
And I pray this isn't just information,
but that we'd see the empowering

198
00:12:49,866 --> 00:12:56,036
strength of a person who actually
has suffered and who has been

199
00:12:56,036 --> 00:13:00,616
down this road and has journeyed.

200
00:13:01,326 --> 00:13:03,996
Spurgeon said, I have learned
to kiss the waves that throw

201
00:13:03,996 --> 00:13:05,656
me against the rock of ages.

202
00:13:06,436 --> 00:13:06,836
Hmm.

203
00:13:07,936 --> 00:13:10,796
we talked about the paradox last
week, and I just want to mention

204
00:13:10,846 --> 00:13:12,316
God is completely sovereign.

205
00:13:12,446 --> 00:13:13,176
Completely.

206
00:13:13,236 --> 00:13:13,996
Nothing is hidden.

207
00:13:14,096 --> 00:13:15,206
He's outside of time.

208
00:13:15,516 --> 00:13:19,276
like the future for God is
not some time in the future.

209
00:13:19,286 --> 00:13:20,346
It's a place He exists now.

210
00:13:21,466 --> 00:13:22,816
That kind of blows your mind, right?

211
00:13:23,056 --> 00:13:23,846
that's where God is.

212
00:13:23,846 --> 00:13:24,596
He's in the future.

213
00:13:24,846 --> 00:13:25,696
Fully present.

214
00:13:25,946 --> 00:13:27,566
And yet, He's fully present here.

215
00:13:27,646 --> 00:13:28,446
Right now.

216
00:13:28,676 --> 00:13:30,046
He's outside of that.

217
00:13:30,056 --> 00:13:31,856
He's so sovereign.

218
00:13:31,856 --> 00:13:33,616
He's everything in control.

219
00:13:33,886 --> 00:13:37,426
And yet, there's the brokenness
that humans cause because

220
00:13:37,426 --> 00:13:38,736
they believe the snakes lie.

221
00:13:38,836 --> 00:13:40,386
They believe the lie of the enemy.

222
00:13:40,386 --> 00:13:45,706
And all of a sudden, chaos and
disintegration came into the universe.

223
00:13:45,706 --> 00:13:48,876
And God holds man responsible
for his wickedness.

224
00:13:49,621 --> 00:13:54,411
But then he doesn't power the ship
of evil, but he steers it for his

225
00:13:54,431 --> 00:13:59,151
own good purposes and he makes evil
ultimately defeat itself by bringing

226
00:13:59,161 --> 00:14:00,311
about good in the lives of people.

227
00:14:00,471 --> 00:14:08,911
It's so yes, but there are extremes within
the church where it's man, it is so much

228
00:14:08,911 --> 00:14:15,241
on one side that, like I heard a preacher
say, and then I stopped listening to him.

229
00:14:15,311 --> 00:14:16,101
I used to love him.

230
00:14:16,826 --> 00:14:25,226
But he's God is so holy that if my son
doesn't accept Jesus, God on that day

231
00:14:25,226 --> 00:14:29,716
of judgment is going to take my son in
front of me and cast him into the hell

232
00:14:29,926 --> 00:14:31,636
for him to burn for all of eternity.

233
00:14:31,636 --> 00:14:33,396
I'm going to stand and applaud.

234
00:14:33,746 --> 00:14:36,056
And I was like, Oh yeah, click.

235
00:14:36,056 --> 00:14:38,486
I'm like, ah, I love your passion.

236
00:14:39,366 --> 00:14:39,716
Yeah.

237
00:14:39,766 --> 00:14:43,716
whoa, did we lose everything
else in the Bible?

238
00:14:43,816 --> 00:14:44,176
but that's.

239
00:14:45,066 --> 00:14:49,146
Because we're either or people we talked
about that last week or it's so there's

240
00:14:49,146 --> 00:14:52,636
this thing called process theology We
actually I've talked to a couple of

241
00:14:52,656 --> 00:14:55,006
people who believe in process theology.

242
00:14:55,286 --> 00:15:01,106
That's that God has removed himself
From the constraints of sovereignty

243
00:15:01,276 --> 00:15:05,286
and that he's entered into our time
stream and he's this master chess

244
00:15:05,286 --> 00:15:07,336
player So It's all in process.

245
00:15:07,336 --> 00:15:08,016
It's called process.

246
00:15:08,196 --> 00:15:10,946
like he's just so wise and so good.

247
00:15:10,946 --> 00:15:14,126
He's doing a pretty good job
guiding the ship down the stream.

248
00:15:15,246 --> 00:15:16,676
that's another end of the spectrum.

249
00:15:17,606 --> 00:15:21,086
But the Bible says a hundred
percent sovereign, a hundred

250
00:15:21,086 --> 00:15:22,256
percent responsibility.

251
00:15:22,266 --> 00:15:23,496
And I just want to mention that.

252
00:15:23,546 --> 00:15:27,726
a paradox is a statement that seems
contradictory, but in reality may

253
00:15:27,726 --> 00:15:31,456
express a possible truth I cannot
see from my limited perspective.

254
00:15:31,976 --> 00:15:34,216
And a paradox is different
than a contradiction.

255
00:15:34,476 --> 00:15:40,196
In fact, Niels Bohr, a Nobel Prize
winning physicist, said this.

256
00:15:41,511 --> 00:15:44,981
The opposite of a correct
statement is a false statement.

257
00:15:45,441 --> 00:15:49,601
But the opposite of a profound
truth may be another profound truth.

258
00:15:51,161 --> 00:15:56,001
The spiritual journey proceeds with
trembling confidence that God's truth is

259
00:15:56,001 --> 00:15:58,881
too large for the simplicity of either or.

260
00:15:59,571 --> 00:16:03,261
It can be apprehended only by
the complexity of both and.

261
00:16:04,781 --> 00:16:06,661
Which takes humility because
this is all a mystery.

262
00:16:07,021 --> 00:16:09,351
And the whole idea of problem
evil, guess what, nobody knows.

263
00:16:11,171 --> 00:16:14,191
I have spent so much time this week.

264
00:16:14,211 --> 00:16:15,861
I'm gonna crack this one.

265
00:16:15,871 --> 00:16:17,411
And all my life I've spent time.

266
00:16:17,581 --> 00:16:19,711
Now, I'm like, did anybody update this?

267
00:16:20,081 --> 00:16:20,371
Can I?

268
00:16:20,691 --> 00:16:23,971
Thousands of years, people have
been actually more than that.

269
00:16:23,981 --> 00:16:26,741
multiple thousands of years from the
beginning of time, people have been

270
00:16:26,741 --> 00:16:28,871
wrestling with the problem of evil.

271
00:16:29,081 --> 00:16:29,511
And guess what?

272
00:16:29,521 --> 00:16:34,261
We come to it with humility,
but what we know is that God

273
00:16:34,261 --> 00:16:35,421
is in control and He's good.

274
00:16:36,421 --> 00:16:38,461
Climaxing in the cross of Jesus Christ.

275
00:16:39,631 --> 00:16:45,191
what we know for certain is that It
can't be because God doesn't care.

276
00:16:45,191 --> 00:16:46,921
Why does He allow this evil and suffering?

277
00:16:47,651 --> 00:16:51,540
Because if He didn't care, He wouldn't
have sent His Son to die for us on

278
00:16:51,540 --> 00:16:52,881
the cross when we're at our worst.

279
00:16:54,106 --> 00:16:56,736
It can't be that he wasn't good
because he gave his ultimate

280
00:16:56,946 --> 00:16:59,286
to bring us in and to adopt us.

281
00:16:59,466 --> 00:17:03,616
It can't be that he doesn't have control
because he said, I planned this from the

282
00:17:03,626 --> 00:17:05,536
beginning of time that my son would die.

283
00:17:05,586 --> 00:17:07,656
so we might not know.

284
00:17:07,876 --> 00:17:09,406
It's not all spelled out for us.

285
00:17:09,496 --> 00:17:13,106
The why that we can put in our pocket
and feel good about this world.

286
00:17:13,165 --> 00:17:16,646
But what is spelled out
for us is that he is good.

287
00:17:17,955 --> 00:17:22,766
That he cares about us, that he's
for us, that he loves us, and that he

288
00:17:22,766 --> 00:17:29,436
is completely, cosmically in control
of every single facet of your life,

289
00:17:29,946 --> 00:17:33,766
and the world, and the cosmos, and
the universe, and the galaxies that

290
00:17:33,766 --> 00:17:36,256
he holds in the palm of his hand.

291
00:17:36,306 --> 00:17:39,596
I want us to know, though, paradox
is all through the scripture.

292
00:17:40,356 --> 00:17:41,496
this isn't a weird one.

293
00:17:41,966 --> 00:17:44,336
that paradox, a profound truth.

294
00:17:44,821 --> 00:17:47,741
The opposite of, is another
profound truth, is the tension

295
00:17:47,741 --> 00:17:50,401
of the entire Bible, and in fact,
the tension of the gospel itself.

296
00:17:50,751 --> 00:17:51,031
Dr.

297
00:17:51,031 --> 00:17:56,011
Anthony Fortas said, He came unto his
own, and his own received him not.

298
00:17:56,781 --> 00:18:02,001
The loftiest and most exalted became the
embodiment of humility and simplicity.

299
00:18:02,641 --> 00:18:07,541
The richest became the poorest,
that the poor might become rich.

300
00:18:08,311 --> 00:18:11,001
He came out of dry ground
to become a fruitful vine.

301
00:18:11,781 --> 00:18:15,011
He feasted with publicans and sinners
that they might not starve in sin.

302
00:18:15,901 --> 00:18:19,181
He starved for forty days in the
wilderness that we might feast

303
00:18:19,471 --> 00:18:21,551
on the impeccable bread of life.

304
00:18:22,201 --> 00:18:25,611
He taught us to love our enemies, to
do good to those who treat us badly.

305
00:18:25,961 --> 00:18:28,641
He emptied himself that
we might be filled.

306
00:18:28,981 --> 00:18:32,261
Mighty conquerors with vast armies
and terrible weapons have sought

307
00:18:32,271 --> 00:18:33,871
in vain to subdue the world.

308
00:18:34,251 --> 00:18:36,811
He conquered a vast kingdom
with simple weapons.

309
00:18:37,311 --> 00:18:42,981
The simple weapons of agape, the
lion became the lamb that the

310
00:18:42,981 --> 00:18:44,901
sheep might become, the shepherds.

311
00:18:45,421 --> 00:18:48,571
His heart was broken, that he
might bind up the broken hearted.

312
00:18:48,721 --> 00:18:51,151
His body was crushed, that
we might be made whole.

313
00:18:51,271 --> 00:18:52,651
We come into the world to live.

314
00:18:52,651 --> 00:18:53,611
He came to die.

315
00:18:53,731 --> 00:18:57,001
The purest one was called
illegitimate blasphemer wine.

316
00:18:57,001 --> 00:18:59,971
Biber glutton, imposter by guilty sinners.

317
00:19:00,361 --> 00:19:04,171
The Lord of Lords became a lowly servant
to serve the pitiful needs of mankind.

318
00:19:04,171 --> 00:19:06,511
The man of sorrows acquainted
with the depths of grief

319
00:19:06,511 --> 00:19:08,101
became the joy of the world.

320
00:19:08,721 --> 00:19:10,971
He was rejected that we might be accepted.

321
00:19:11,111 --> 00:19:13,011
He was bruised that we might be healed.

322
00:19:13,151 --> 00:19:14,921
He was condemned that
we might be justified.

323
00:19:14,921 --> 00:19:16,961
He was judged that we would not be judged.

324
00:19:17,111 --> 00:19:21,371
He was deserted for a time by the Father,
that we might find access to the Father.

325
00:19:21,611 --> 00:19:26,191
He died as the innocent one, that the
guilty might be declared innocent.

326
00:19:26,451 --> 00:19:28,271
By grasping life we die.

327
00:19:28,861 --> 00:19:30,571
Through death we find life.

328
00:19:31,026 --> 00:19:33,466
Glory to the Lamb, the paradox of God.

329
00:19:34,516 --> 00:19:35,416
that's a good sermon.

330
00:19:37,136 --> 00:19:38,096
I want to go to his church.

331
00:19:39,876 --> 00:19:43,636
so I want to briefly this morning look at
sovereignty, redemption, and surrender.

332
00:19:44,226 --> 00:19:44,836
Sovereignty.

333
00:19:45,566 --> 00:19:47,416
Okay, so where does this fit in the Bible?

334
00:19:47,486 --> 00:19:48,236
This is beautiful.

335
00:19:49,576 --> 00:19:50,366
Ecclesiastes?

336
00:19:50,366 --> 00:19:51,566
Solomon, the preacher?

337
00:19:52,126 --> 00:19:54,336
Vanity and vanity is
all vexation of spirit.

338
00:19:54,406 --> 00:19:55,606
And then you've got Job, right?

339
00:19:55,906 --> 00:19:58,916
And it's beautiful because you've
got two ends of the spectrum.

340
00:19:59,216 --> 00:20:03,876
One man gained everything in this world.

341
00:20:04,246 --> 00:20:05,336
Nothing was held back from him.

342
00:20:05,346 --> 00:20:07,756
He had all the resources,
riches, wisdom to do it.

343
00:20:08,326 --> 00:20:08,846
Everything.

344
00:20:08,846 --> 00:20:09,756
Read Ecclesiastes.

345
00:20:10,376 --> 00:20:13,706
Only to come to the conclusion
that only God is enough.

346
00:20:14,926 --> 00:20:16,236
Everything else is empty.

347
00:20:17,266 --> 00:20:20,696
And then Job lost everything.

348
00:20:21,881 --> 00:20:25,841
And came to the conclusion
that only God is enough.

349
00:20:26,531 --> 00:20:28,301
So you have both ends of the spectrum.

350
00:20:28,301 --> 00:20:29,121
Fits into the Bible.

351
00:20:29,121 --> 00:20:33,901
Two beautiful wisdom literatures,
right there, for the taking.

352
00:20:34,671 --> 00:20:40,461
And, Job is a lyrical poem about a true
story and broken up into three acts.

353
00:20:40,461 --> 00:20:43,151
Act one, a dialogue between God and Satan.

354
00:20:43,441 --> 00:20:45,641
Act two, a dialogue between
Job and his friends.

355
00:20:45,671 --> 00:20:49,731
Act three, the climactic
dialogue between Job and God.

356
00:20:50,741 --> 00:20:53,951
The Book of Job is about suffering and
sovereignty, about providence and pain.

357
00:20:53,951 --> 00:20:56,611
This book tells us so
much about the gospel.

358
00:20:56,861 --> 00:20:59,251
There is not a piece of literature
that handles the problem of pain and

359
00:20:59,251 --> 00:21:02,651
suffering with as much realism, honesty.

360
00:21:03,046 --> 00:21:05,176
An integrity system than Job.

361
00:21:05,966 --> 00:21:08,696
So verse one to five,
the character of Job.

362
00:21:09,156 --> 00:21:14,396
There was a man in the land of us
whose name was Job, and that man was

363
00:21:14,396 --> 00:21:19,806
blameless, woo and upright when, who
feared God and turned away from evil.

364
00:21:20,296 --> 00:21:22,306
They were born to him, seven
sons and three daughters.

365
00:21:22,306 --> 00:21:26,506
He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3000
Campbells, 500 Yoka oxen, and 500

366
00:21:26,506 --> 00:21:29,446
female donkeys and very many servants.

367
00:21:29,446 --> 00:21:32,296
So that this man was the greatest
of all people of the East.

368
00:21:33,341 --> 00:21:37,811
His sons used to go in and hold a feast
in the house, each one on his day, and

369
00:21:37,811 --> 00:21:40,761
they would sin and invite their three
sisters to eat and drink with them.

370
00:21:41,201 --> 00:21:43,891
And when the days of the feast had
run their course, Job would sin and

371
00:21:43,911 --> 00:21:48,571
consecrate them, and he would rise early
in the morning and offer burnt offerings

372
00:21:48,571 --> 00:21:52,781
according to the number of them all, for
Job said, It may be that my children have

373
00:21:52,781 --> 00:21:54,531
sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

374
00:21:54,791 --> 00:21:56,751
Thus Job did continually.

375
00:21:58,526 --> 00:21:59,196
Isn't that amazing?

376
00:21:59,216 --> 00:22:02,886
it's not only him, he's
like, I'm an inner my kids.

377
00:22:03,856 --> 00:22:04,796
and I love him.

378
00:22:04,796 --> 00:22:05,816
They may have sinned in their heart.

379
00:22:05,876 --> 00:22:08,836
On the outside, everything looks
good, but he's Oh, I know myself.

380
00:22:09,266 --> 00:22:11,256
I know them, man.

381
00:22:11,566 --> 00:22:13,936
I'm not going to take any risk on this.

382
00:22:14,196 --> 00:22:17,606
So we're introduced to this amazing
man who is described as blameless

383
00:22:17,606 --> 00:22:20,946
and upright, one who feared
God and turned away from evil.

384
00:22:21,206 --> 00:22:24,516
He was a good father who loved his
kids, cared about their spiritual

385
00:22:24,516 --> 00:22:26,166
condition and relationship with God.

386
00:22:26,471 --> 00:22:31,941
loved his wife, had a good marriage,
extremely blessed, people loved him.

387
00:22:31,941 --> 00:22:33,051
He had friends.

388
00:22:34,051 --> 00:22:35,051
He was extremely blessed.

389
00:22:35,051 --> 00:22:37,711
So the author of the book can say in
verse three that he was the greatest

390
00:22:37,711 --> 00:22:38,931
of all the people of the East.

391
00:22:40,376 --> 00:22:41,096
that's the perspective.

392
00:22:41,106 --> 00:22:43,046
So we're introduced to this character.

393
00:22:44,946 --> 00:22:48,166
Now these first five verses are so
important and blows the religious

394
00:22:48,166 --> 00:22:52,556
response to suffering out of the water,
which says it's the karmic response.

395
00:22:53,006 --> 00:22:54,666
If you do bad, you get bad from God.

396
00:22:54,666 --> 00:22:56,086
If you do good, you get good from God.

397
00:22:56,096 --> 00:22:59,376
from the very first five
verses, God's take on it.

398
00:23:00,176 --> 00:23:05,616
His suffering is not tied to
punishment for bad behavior.

399
00:23:06,666 --> 00:23:10,906
Now, we're introduced then in
Job 1, 8 to 12, the cosmic scene.

400
00:23:11,906 --> 00:23:15,816
Now, there was a day when the sons
of God came to present themselves

401
00:23:15,816 --> 00:23:21,036
before the Lord, and Satan also came
among them, and Satan answered, and

402
00:23:21,036 --> 00:23:23,666
in Hebrew it's HaSatan, the accuser.

403
00:23:24,346 --> 00:23:24,816
Right?

404
00:23:25,576 --> 00:23:29,556
answered the Lord, said, Does
Job fear God for no reason?

405
00:23:30,636 --> 00:23:33,906
Have you not put a hedge
around him and his house and

406
00:23:33,916 --> 00:23:35,356
all that he has on every side?

407
00:23:35,356 --> 00:23:37,856
You have blessed him, blessed
the work of his hands, and his

408
00:23:37,856 --> 00:23:39,456
possessions have increased in the land.

409
00:23:39,766 --> 00:23:44,486
But stretch out your hand and touch all
that he has, and he will see your face.

410
00:23:44,876 --> 00:23:48,596
And the Lord said to Satan, Behold,
all that he has is in your hand, only

411
00:23:49,376 --> 00:23:50,956
Against him do not stretch out your hand.

412
00:23:50,956 --> 00:23:55,286
So Satan went out from
the presence of the Lord.

413
00:23:56,006 --> 00:24:00,276
So there's this dialogue, this thing
that we get to see that Job never sees.

414
00:24:00,606 --> 00:24:03,646
Remember, Job doesn't get to
read this in his lifetime.

415
00:24:04,696 --> 00:24:05,796
Job never gets an answer.

416
00:24:06,796 --> 00:24:13,196
He's never told, Hey, I'm doing
this big plan that's gonna comfort

417
00:24:13,226 --> 00:24:14,516
hundreds of millions of Christians.

418
00:24:14,716 --> 00:24:17,836
I'm gonna use your life to
comfort hundreds of millions of

419
00:24:17,836 --> 00:24:20,286
Christians through millennia.

420
00:24:20,286 --> 00:24:22,516
He has no idea.

421
00:24:23,171 --> 00:24:23,721
Never told.

422
00:24:24,151 --> 00:24:27,091
In fact, God doesn't come to
him and give him an answer.

423
00:24:27,491 --> 00:24:30,811
God comes to him and reveals his majesty.

424
00:24:31,411 --> 00:24:33,581
Job doesn't get an answer,
he gets a revelation.

425
00:24:34,581 --> 00:24:37,171
It seems like what we
need in those moments.

426
00:24:38,291 --> 00:24:40,151
So God said to Satan, have
you seen my servant Job?

427
00:24:40,161 --> 00:24:43,991
Now, if Job heard what was going on,
he'd probably say, I know, I'm good.

428
00:24:44,061 --> 00:24:45,051
No, yeah, I'm good.

429
00:24:45,051 --> 00:24:45,861
No, please, Satan's

430
00:24:46,226 --> 00:24:48,136
He said, Job only serves
you because you bless him.

431
00:24:49,556 --> 00:24:52,796
If you take everything away,
he will curse you to your face.

432
00:24:54,116 --> 00:24:55,376
He doesn't love you for you.

433
00:24:55,526 --> 00:24:56,836
He loves you for your gifts.

434
00:24:57,546 --> 00:24:58,866
He loves you for what you give him.

435
00:24:59,086 --> 00:25:00,606
He does not love you for you.

436
00:25:01,606 --> 00:25:04,936
And I love because this also points
out it isn't a random universe.

437
00:25:04,946 --> 00:25:09,496
Even with Hasatan, the accuser who
has power, God is in complete control.

438
00:25:09,496 --> 00:25:10,576
He sets boundaries.

439
00:25:11,606 --> 00:25:13,266
He says, You can do this
and this, but not this.

440
00:25:14,061 --> 00:25:16,471
And he has to abide, the snake has
to abide, no matter how devious,

441
00:25:16,481 --> 00:25:21,131
powerful, cunning, crafty he
is, those are the boundaries.

442
00:25:22,081 --> 00:25:24,621
And, it's Satan's idea that
all these bad things should

443
00:25:24,621 --> 00:25:26,201
happen to Job, also notice that.

444
00:25:27,281 --> 00:25:28,661
God's not hey, should we test him?

445
00:25:29,741 --> 00:25:30,241
Hey!

446
00:25:30,541 --> 00:25:34,531
No, the enemy's saying, he only
loves you for the stuff you give him.

447
00:25:34,531 --> 00:25:37,381
And again, God is only going
to allow into Job's life.

448
00:25:39,071 --> 00:25:42,341
The very opposite of what the
snake wants to accomplish.

449
00:25:43,371 --> 00:25:44,801
It's going to refine Job.

450
00:25:44,811 --> 00:25:46,631
It's going to remove pride from his heart.

451
00:25:46,781 --> 00:25:50,311
It's going to make him see a greater
revelation of God than he ever had.

452
00:25:50,691 --> 00:25:53,401
Like it literally is going to
accomplish the exact opposite.

453
00:25:53,981 --> 00:25:57,781
He is only going to give the
snake enough rope to hang himself.

454
00:25:58,781 --> 00:26:01,601
When God created the world he
didn't create death or suffering

455
00:26:02,231 --> 00:26:03,841
Yeah, God is in absolute control.

456
00:26:03,841 --> 00:26:04,861
God is in total charge.

457
00:26:04,861 --> 00:26:06,415
He permits it, but then he limits it.

458
00:26:06,415 --> 00:26:11,121
He overrules Satan Timothy Keller says
God only allows Satan to accomplish the

459
00:26:11,661 --> 00:26:13,921
Opposite of what he set out to accomplish.

460
00:26:14,471 --> 00:26:18,441
Satan wants Job discredited
and to be found a fraud.

461
00:26:19,091 --> 00:26:20,201
You're a fraud.

462
00:26:21,031 --> 00:26:22,461
He only loves you for what you give him.

463
00:26:22,461 --> 00:26:23,441
He doesn't love you for yourself.

464
00:26:23,451 --> 00:26:26,761
God hates evil and is against it.

465
00:26:26,831 --> 00:26:30,951
That's why Jesus came to destroy it
and smash the head of the snake, but

466
00:26:30,951 --> 00:26:36,351
he permits it to completely defeat
Satan's real intention and accomplish

467
00:26:36,381 --> 00:26:38,236
this opposite of what Satan wanted.

468
00:26:38,516 --> 00:26:42,346
God ordains suffering only to
the degree that it defeats itself

469
00:26:42,376 --> 00:26:43,906
and makes you more like Christ.

470
00:26:44,906 --> 00:26:51,626
Remember, He doesn't give us beyond what
we can handle, but man, this comes close.

471
00:26:52,321 --> 00:26:54,221
The Day of Calamity, 13 and 19.

472
00:26:54,471 --> 00:26:57,001
Now there was a day when the sons of
daughters were eating and drinking

473
00:26:57,001 --> 00:26:59,791
wine with their oldest brother, uh,
in their oldest brother's house.

474
00:27:00,371 --> 00:27:04,051
And there came a messenger to Job
and said, The oxen were plowing and

475
00:27:04,081 --> 00:27:05,381
the donkeys feeding beside them.

476
00:27:05,421 --> 00:27:08,921
And the Sabians fell upon them
and took them and struck down the

477
00:27:08,921 --> 00:27:10,651
servants with the edge of the sword.

478
00:27:10,751 --> 00:27:12,691
I alone have escaped to tell you.

479
00:27:12,911 --> 00:27:15,341
While he was yet speaking.

480
00:27:15,831 --> 00:27:18,911
There came another and said the fire of
God fell from heaven and burned up the

481
00:27:18,911 --> 00:27:22,901
sheep and the servants and consumed them
and I alone have escaped to tell you.

482
00:27:23,621 --> 00:27:26,761
While he was yet speaking there came
another and said the Chaldeans formed

483
00:27:26,761 --> 00:27:29,211
three groups and made a raid on camels
and took them and struck down the

484
00:27:29,211 --> 00:27:30,301
servants with the edge of the sword.

485
00:27:30,601 --> 00:27:32,251
I alone have escaped to tell you.

486
00:27:32,631 --> 00:27:35,581
While he was yet speaking there came
another who said your sons and daughters

487
00:27:35,581 --> 00:27:37,971
were eating and drinking wine in their
oldest brother's house and behold

488
00:27:38,211 --> 00:27:41,221
a grin crossed the wilderness and
struck the four corners of the house

489
00:27:41,441 --> 00:27:42,931
and it fell upon the young people.

490
00:27:42,931 --> 00:27:47,136
I And they are all dead, and I
alone have escaped to tell you.

491
00:27:48,696 --> 00:27:54,616
Job is sitting there, maybe with his
wife, maybe he's getting ready to offer

492
00:27:54,616 --> 00:27:56,376
those sacrifices that he talked about.

493
00:27:56,686 --> 00:28:00,246
And he sees dust in the distance
coming from four corners.

494
00:28:01,566 --> 00:28:03,456
And one gets there first.

495
00:28:04,081 --> 00:28:07,401
And gives bad news, and then bad
news, and then bad news, and bad news.

496
00:28:07,411 --> 00:28:10,561
He experiences in one day the loss and
suffering that comes from violence and

497
00:28:10,561 --> 00:28:15,941
war, the loss that comes from natural
disasters, the fire from God thought to

498
00:28:15,951 --> 00:28:21,721
be lightning that started a forest fire,
the wind a tornado, the loss of all his

499
00:28:21,721 --> 00:28:26,241
material things, and still worse, the
death of his children, not over a period

500
00:28:26,241 --> 00:28:30,051
of years, but all of them in one day.

501
00:28:31,881 --> 00:28:34,801
Job's response, verse 20 and 21.

502
00:28:36,281 --> 00:28:39,771
Then Job arose and shaved his head
and fell on the ground and worshiped

503
00:28:40,771 --> 00:28:46,941
and said naked I came from my mother's
womb and Naked shall I return The

504
00:28:46,941 --> 00:28:52,451
Lord gave and the Lord has taken
away Blessed be the name of the Lord

505
00:28:53,451 --> 00:28:55,431
His response is emotionally realistic.

506
00:28:56,111 --> 00:29:02,046
He's hit by the freight train of trial and
many of us know how that feels Something

507
00:29:02,046 --> 00:29:05,096
physical is on our chest weighing us
down and it's hard to take a breath.

508
00:29:05,566 --> 00:29:10,066
If you've ever had a panic attack,
I've always counseled people who

509
00:29:10,066 --> 00:29:11,466
had panic attacks till I had one.

510
00:29:11,466 --> 00:29:13,326
I was like, Oh, that's gnarly.

511
00:29:14,326 --> 00:29:17,046
Like what's happening to your body.

512
00:29:17,566 --> 00:29:18,836
Your body's revolting.

513
00:29:19,536 --> 00:29:22,106
It's protesting your
existence at that moment.

514
00:29:23,066 --> 00:29:30,056
Your body is rising up over your brain
and saying, We protest the circumstance.

515
00:29:30,856 --> 00:29:32,266
We protest the suffering.

516
00:29:32,526 --> 00:29:33,756
We protest this pain.

517
00:29:34,446 --> 00:29:36,426
we pro protest the situation.

518
00:29:37,176 --> 00:29:39,916
his emotional outburst is not condemned.

519
00:29:39,916 --> 00:29:42,686
God doesn't say get ahold
of yourself, toughen up.

520
00:29:43,216 --> 00:29:44,246
No, he doesn't say that at all.

521
00:29:44,246 --> 00:29:47,356
In verse 22 and all this Job did
not sin or charge God with wrong.

522
00:29:47,656 --> 00:29:50,656
He's coming apart at the
seams is not wrong and sinful.

523
00:29:50,666 --> 00:29:52,856
50 percent of the Psalms are this.

524
00:29:54,351 --> 00:29:57,401
They're the language of suffering,
they're the language of grief and working

525
00:29:57,401 --> 00:30:00,861
through it by looking at God, right?

526
00:30:02,321 --> 00:30:07,101
Nowhere does the Bible brush lightly in
regards to pain, and then all of a sudden

527
00:30:07,101 --> 00:30:11,701
in chapter 2 we get the cosmic scene, part
2, Hasatan, the snake, is there again, the

528
00:30:11,701 --> 00:30:13,801
accuser, and maybe God's Do you hear that?

529
00:30:14,711 --> 00:30:15,256
What is that?

530
00:30:16,286 --> 00:30:24,256
Blessed be your name, a land filled with
suffering, He gives and takes away, God's

531
00:30:24,266 --> 00:30:28,126
like, well, looks like you failed, Satan.

532
00:30:29,296 --> 00:30:32,346
And he says, it's because
he has his health.

533
00:30:33,346 --> 00:30:34,246
Let me touch his body.

534
00:30:34,851 --> 00:30:36,361
And he'll curse you to your face.

535
00:30:38,071 --> 00:30:42,251
So the Lord says you can have
his body, just don't kill him.

536
00:30:42,251 --> 00:30:45,441
And in chapter two, he becomes
terribly ill, boils all over

537
00:30:45,441 --> 00:30:50,011
his body that are swollen to the
point where he's not recognized.

538
00:30:50,601 --> 00:30:51,611
They're pussy.

539
00:30:51,721 --> 00:30:53,061
They smell awful.

540
00:30:53,271 --> 00:30:56,501
So uncomfortable that he sits in
ash to get some kind of relief.

541
00:30:56,741 --> 00:30:59,781
And he scrapes his sores with
pieces of broken pottery.

542
00:31:00,781 --> 00:31:01,196
Just don't kill him.

543
00:31:01,726 --> 00:31:03,646
Ongoing suffering.

544
00:31:04,086 --> 00:31:07,946
So not only suffering out there,
but now suffering in here.

545
00:31:09,546 --> 00:31:10,556
No preparation.

546
00:31:10,556 --> 00:31:13,706
Just one day on top of the mountain of
blessing and the next day in the valley

547
00:31:13,706 --> 00:31:16,296
of Sheol suffering beyond comprehension.

548
00:31:16,631 --> 00:31:20,461
His tragedy and suffering came on
him like a thief in the night, and

549
00:31:20,461 --> 00:31:24,851
suffering is like that, John Piper says,
Pain and loss are bitter providences,

550
00:31:25,141 --> 00:31:28,581
sometimes until the head throbs and
there are no more tears to lubricate

551
00:31:28,601 --> 00:31:32,761
the convulsion of our amputated love.

552
00:31:32,961 --> 00:31:36,611
I think that's such a good picture
of loss, amputated love, something

553
00:31:36,611 --> 00:31:40,791
you always depended on, something
that was there, it's gone now.

554
00:31:41,501 --> 00:31:42,301
It's gone.

555
00:31:43,301 --> 00:31:46,721
The Book of Job is not designed to answer
a question about the problem of evil,

556
00:31:46,821 --> 00:31:50,681
not to give us an intellectual answer
that we tuck away, make us feel good

557
00:31:50,701 --> 00:31:52,601
about the world like we talked about.

558
00:31:53,041 --> 00:31:57,361
What's fascinating is that as we're
east of Eden, we have the God man who

559
00:31:57,411 --> 00:31:59,741
comes and joins us on the east side.

560
00:31:59,981 --> 00:32:03,071
He wraps himself in human flesh
and he sees all the pain and the

561
00:32:03,071 --> 00:32:06,341
misery and the brokenness and
he gets angry multiple times.

562
00:32:06,491 --> 00:32:10,631
You see it in the Book of When he
meets the leper and the leper is I know

563
00:32:10,631 --> 00:32:12,091
you can do it, but are you willing?

564
00:32:12,091 --> 00:32:13,041
He's am I willing?

565
00:32:13,041 --> 00:32:14,211
That's why I've come.

566
00:32:14,371 --> 00:32:17,821
But the religious leaders of the day had
said, Oh yeah, you know what you do is

567
00:32:17,821 --> 00:32:19,371
you chase the lepers away with rocks.

568
00:32:19,371 --> 00:32:20,511
Cause they're unclean.

569
00:32:20,891 --> 00:32:25,291
So they're representing God as we
do not want you in our presence and

570
00:32:25,291 --> 00:32:32,761
we'll stone you to drive you away
from any presence of God's people.

571
00:32:33,581 --> 00:32:40,111
Or his temple, or where he is, and Jesus
is angry when he's at the tomb of Lazarus.

572
00:32:40,391 --> 00:32:45,941
The word there says, he grunts like
a horse digging in its hoof, or

573
00:32:45,941 --> 00:32:47,771
like a bull getting ready to charge.

574
00:32:47,771 --> 00:32:53,171
It's like this, but he's never angry
at the Father, he's angry at the snake.

575
00:32:54,171 --> 00:32:56,551
All the way through, he's
always angry at the snake.

576
00:32:56,911 --> 00:32:57,931
He calls him a bandit.

577
00:32:58,686 --> 00:32:59,426
I'm a strong man.

578
00:32:59,436 --> 00:33:03,726
He calls him all the, he's coming in
and he's going to overthrow the snake.

579
00:33:04,476 --> 00:33:08,086
So it's fascinating because
Jesus has such a big picture.

580
00:33:08,846 --> 00:33:16,946
Jesus is God in human flesh and he knows
all things right and yet his response

581
00:33:16,956 --> 00:33:18,566
to evil and suffering and injustice.

582
00:33:19,831 --> 00:33:23,201
the lie of the snake that, all the
way back, you follow every road of

583
00:33:23,201 --> 00:33:26,571
every brokenness, every bit of evil
and suffering ends up right there in

584
00:33:26,571 --> 00:33:30,181
the book of Genesis, the first three
chapters in the garden, when we believe

585
00:33:30,191 --> 00:33:36,841
the lie, he's going to smash that because
the snake, That's what he came to do.

586
00:33:36,871 --> 00:33:38,231
That's the Proto Evangelion.

587
00:33:38,281 --> 00:33:40,811
That's the, the first
gospel, they call it.

588
00:33:40,821 --> 00:33:42,401
the, the seed of the woman.

589
00:33:42,411 --> 00:33:45,241
The woman doesn't have seed, so
it's talking about a virgin birth.

590
00:33:45,241 --> 00:33:49,801
And the book of Genesis is going, his
humanity, his heel will be bruised, but

591
00:33:49,801 --> 00:33:51,121
he's gonna crush the head of the snake.

592
00:33:51,301 --> 00:33:57,061
The head of the snake's this system that
has been built of systematic injustice,

593
00:33:57,061 --> 00:34:02,671
of systematic self centeredness, of
systematic, Consumerism of systematic

594
00:34:02,841 --> 00:34:07,321
war and violence and bitterness and
hatred toward people who aren't like

595
00:34:07,321 --> 00:34:10,951
us to people with different opinions
and different backgrounds, the system.

596
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:11,940
He's breaking it.

597
00:34:11,951 --> 00:34:14,960
He's breaking the snake system.

598
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:16,721
He's breaking the snake's head.

599
00:34:16,731 --> 00:34:19,741
He's breaking the death and sin itself.

600
00:34:20,291 --> 00:34:26,380
He's destroying it all, he's angry,
just going toe to toe with it.

601
00:34:27,481 --> 00:34:30,911
just an interesting thing, and I
think one of the victories of the

602
00:34:30,911 --> 00:34:34,670
snake is that we're angry at God!

603
00:34:35,670 --> 00:34:36,601
He deflects.

604
00:34:37,221 --> 00:34:38,471
Oh, it's the woman you gave me.

605
00:34:39,751 --> 00:34:41,301
Oh, it's the man, it's the snake.

606
00:34:42,071 --> 00:34:44,101
He's right on there, oh, it's God!

607
00:34:44,380 --> 00:34:46,951
He's in control, he says he's
in control, you read the Bible!

608
00:34:48,670 --> 00:34:52,880
When we see, and the other thing is
like, When we This theology isn't

609
00:34:52,891 --> 00:34:55,041
to comfort us out of our anger.

610
00:34:55,380 --> 00:34:59,521
There is a righteous anger that fuels
us, that we're supposed to have.

611
00:34:59,621 --> 00:35:01,781
We're supposed to groan with the trees.

612
00:35:02,141 --> 00:35:07,381
Every time you hear a tree creak
and a branch is we should, yes,

613
00:35:07,381 --> 00:35:08,681
thank you for the reminder.

614
00:35:08,801 --> 00:35:10,321
Thank you for preaching to me today.

615
00:35:10,551 --> 00:35:11,771
We should groan too.

616
00:35:11,961 --> 00:35:13,481
Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

617
00:35:13,591 --> 00:35:15,391
This is not Eden.

618
00:35:15,881 --> 00:35:19,381
No matter how much we
fix this world, it's not.

619
00:35:20,056 --> 00:35:20,596
Until

620
00:35:21,596 --> 00:35:25,886
the New Jerusalem comes down out
of heaven and heals this world.

621
00:35:25,896 --> 00:35:27,756
Because right now it's
under bad management.

622
00:35:27,766 --> 00:35:30,246
Have you ever been to like
a restaurant and they've got

623
00:35:30,246 --> 00:35:31,396
the thing and it's amazing.

624
00:35:31,396 --> 00:35:32,666
It's like a mom pop shop.

625
00:35:32,976 --> 00:35:35,926
And they've got like the burger or
something and they're using ostrich meat.

626
00:35:35,966 --> 00:35:36,346
I don't know.

627
00:35:36,466 --> 00:35:37,396
it's just amazing.

628
00:35:37,396 --> 00:35:38,756
It's like nobody else is doing it.

629
00:35:38,756 --> 00:35:40,716
And so there's a line
out on the Miracle Mile.

630
00:35:40,716 --> 00:35:41,796
We have this icy place.

631
00:35:42,016 --> 00:35:45,806
Still haven't been, but there's a
line like down the block for icies.

632
00:35:46,616 --> 00:35:48,526
I'm like, and you're like, I gotta go.

633
00:35:48,526 --> 00:35:49,446
What do they have?

634
00:35:49,486 --> 00:35:53,546
I've had Icy's a lot, And then what
happens is it becomes popular, so then

635
00:35:53,626 --> 00:35:56,546
places pop up around it, and they're like,
Oh, we've got our ostrich burger too,

636
00:35:56,556 --> 00:35:58,176
and ours is grass fed, or whatever it is.

637
00:35:58,376 --> 00:36:01,796
And then, and then the people, who work
there, they they're like, Oh, you're all

638
00:36:01,796 --> 00:36:05,696
about money, and so they're, they quit,
and there's, new management, and then

639
00:36:05,696 --> 00:36:09,126
it becomes a hole in the wall, and it
becomes a, A shadow of its former self.

640
00:36:09,126 --> 00:36:12,526
they say the worst place to get,
Philly cheesesteaks is Philadelphia.

641
00:36:13,156 --> 00:36:17,286
the worst place to get, because it
just, it becomes so popular that then

642
00:36:17,286 --> 00:36:21,306
it becomes commercialized and then it
becomes a shadow of its former self.

643
00:36:21,586 --> 00:36:25,096
But what we don't do is we don't say,
what we need to do to that restaurant is

644
00:36:25,096 --> 00:36:28,611
we need to incinerate it to the ground.

645
00:36:29,761 --> 00:36:30,381
No, what do we need?

646
00:36:30,381 --> 00:36:31,321
We need new management.

647
00:36:32,461 --> 00:36:35,341
We need somebody who will
bring it back to its intended

648
00:36:35,341 --> 00:36:36,981
purpose and its original design.

649
00:36:36,991 --> 00:36:46,411
And there is such a person, King Jesus,
who all the trees bow to, who all, every

650
00:36:46,461 --> 00:36:57,687
leaf worships in the wind, awaiting the
day Paul is using like Exodus language.

651
00:36:58,187 --> 00:37:00,157
Their liberation, the Deliverer is coming.

652
00:37:00,197 --> 00:37:01,237
The Deliverer is coming.

653
00:37:01,447 --> 00:37:02,427
The Deliverer is coming.

654
00:37:02,577 --> 00:37:04,027
He's going to take us out of bondage.

655
00:37:04,027 --> 00:37:05,137
He's going to set us free.

656
00:37:05,137 --> 00:37:10,427
we can't lose our anger and yet
we look for an answer to take our

657
00:37:10,427 --> 00:37:12,317
anger away for being mad at God.

658
00:37:12,367 --> 00:37:15,557
You see how we like, just,
it's not the right perspective.

659
00:37:16,057 --> 00:37:17,057
We need our anger.

660
00:37:17,057 --> 00:37:18,857
We need to be angry at the snake.

661
00:37:19,197 --> 00:37:21,497
And we need to groan with
the rest of creation and call

662
00:37:21,497 --> 00:37:23,457
out, come quickly, Lord Jesus.

663
00:37:24,367 --> 00:37:30,477
We're coming up to where we long
for the coming of the Messiah,

664
00:37:30,837 --> 00:37:34,787
even as the ancient Jews long for
the first coming of the Messiah.

665
00:37:35,667 --> 00:37:39,787
And it, I don't know why I can't
think of, what is it, babe?

666
00:37:40,537 --> 00:37:41,317
Christmas.

667
00:37:42,317 --> 00:37:42,937
Advent!

668
00:37:43,847 --> 00:37:46,597
Yes, the Advent, Christ
is coming, thank you!

669
00:37:47,107 --> 00:37:51,967
And so we're, even though Christ
has come, we join in that ancient

670
00:37:51,977 --> 00:37:57,197
longing, it's the spiritual discipline
we have, where we say, we groan,

671
00:37:57,867 --> 00:38:01,687
because we live in the, already in
the not yet, the overlap of the ages.

672
00:38:02,117 --> 00:38:06,217
Come quickly Lord Jesus, you're our
only hope, you're our only answer.

673
00:38:06,802 --> 00:38:08,322
Calm and heal this land.

674
00:38:08,572 --> 00:38:10,442
Make every crooked path straight.

675
00:38:10,792 --> 00:38:12,322
Wipe every tear from every eye.

676
00:38:12,432 --> 00:38:14,362
Lord, the evil injustice it grows.

677
00:38:14,552 --> 00:38:19,222
And I think God's kingdom grows
as the tares grow with the wheat.

678
00:38:19,492 --> 00:38:21,382
and God's gonna harvest
them at the end of the age.

679
00:38:22,057 --> 00:38:26,297
Keep getting brighter as God keeps
winning victory after victory and

680
00:38:26,297 --> 00:38:28,757
harvests of souls come into his kingdom.

681
00:38:28,987 --> 00:38:30,387
How the body of Christ grows.

682
00:38:30,657 --> 00:38:33,047
Guys, in the last hundred years,
the body of Christ has grown by

683
00:38:33,047 --> 00:38:34,487
millions and millions of people.

684
00:38:34,487 --> 00:38:37,427
it's mind boggling how many
people are in our family.

685
00:38:37,752 --> 00:38:42,222
but also the power structures of
darkness are going to continue to mature

686
00:38:42,222 --> 00:38:47,142
and age and dominate And so we yearn
and we say yes more souls harvest the

687
00:38:47,142 --> 00:38:48,812
harvest plentiful the labors are few.

688
00:38:48,812 --> 00:38:50,512
I want to be a labor That's why I'm here.

689
00:38:50,512 --> 00:38:55,762
I'm all here for your mission come
quickly the Lord people are hurting.

690
00:38:55,762 --> 00:38:57,792
There's injustice There's
child trafficking.

691
00:38:57,852 --> 00:39:03,662
there's like present day slavery happen
there's so much evil, unspeakable evil,

692
00:39:03,702 --> 00:39:08,902
come, you're the only one who can rescue
and heal and make things right again.

693
00:39:08,912 --> 00:39:13,102
So you understand, we need to be
angry at the suffering, but not at

694
00:39:13,102 --> 00:39:17,962
God, but angry alongside God at it.

695
00:39:18,572 --> 00:39:22,062
I love somebody, I used to ask
the question, what is God doing

696
00:39:22,072 --> 00:39:22,782
about anger and suffering?

697
00:39:22,782 --> 00:39:25,782
And the pastor said to me, what
are you doing about suffering?

698
00:39:26,832 --> 00:39:28,807
It's Oh, that's a good question.

699
00:39:29,277 --> 00:39:30,257
That's a good perspective.

700
00:39:31,297 --> 00:39:32,487
That might change my life a little bit.

701
00:39:33,487 --> 00:39:36,607
God's going to remove some
hidden pride in his heart.

702
00:39:37,097 --> 00:39:41,077
through this process, So again,
strike three against, the snake.

703
00:39:41,117 --> 00:39:44,037
he's just, man, he's just striking out.

704
00:39:44,297 --> 00:39:45,227
You'd think he'd give up.

705
00:39:45,327 --> 00:39:47,407
Jesus wrestled in the
garden, the perfect one.

706
00:39:48,407 --> 00:39:50,187
Looking into the cup
that he's about to drink.

707
00:39:51,327 --> 00:39:52,807
Becoming the sin substitute.

708
00:39:54,502 --> 00:39:56,832
Taking on the sin of the
world like that scapegoat.

709
00:39:57,832 --> 00:40:01,222
And then, taking the judgment for that.

710
00:40:02,142 --> 00:40:02,692
and he wrestles.

711
00:40:04,012 --> 00:40:06,522
The perfect one in his humanity.

712
00:40:06,572 --> 00:40:09,302
It's as he, his capillaries burst.

713
00:40:09,852 --> 00:40:12,092
there was so much anxiousness and stress.

714
00:40:12,842 --> 00:40:15,382
Overlooking into that cup
that he literally sweat as

715
00:40:15,382 --> 00:40:16,442
it were great drops of blood.

716
00:40:16,452 --> 00:40:19,482
the Under that much pressure.

717
00:40:19,782 --> 00:40:22,912
And he's father, dad, can
we do this any other way?

718
00:40:24,612 --> 00:40:27,252
I don't want to do this yet.

719
00:40:27,252 --> 00:40:28,782
Not my will, but your will be done.

720
00:40:30,212 --> 00:40:34,492
And he leans himself into those
everlasting arms, even knowing

721
00:40:35,392 --> 00:40:38,112
that in a couple of hours,
those arms won't be there.

722
00:40:39,222 --> 00:40:40,942
And, he does it for you and me.

723
00:40:42,012 --> 00:40:42,331
but they're really.

724
00:40:43,272 --> 00:40:46,522
That is the real experience of suffering
that even the God man suffered.

725
00:40:46,522 --> 00:40:49,712
Like somebody translated that,
he's a sympathetic and high priest.

726
00:40:49,712 --> 00:40:53,042
They said, Jesus knows
that it's scary to be you.

727
00:40:54,042 --> 00:40:55,082
That's a good translation.

728
00:40:56,662 --> 00:41:00,022
He knows it's scary to be
you in this broken world.

729
00:41:01,022 --> 00:41:01,742
Two things.

730
00:41:03,077 --> 00:41:07,337
Somebody, I was, somebody said
the Bible, 66 books of the Bible,

731
00:41:07,337 --> 00:41:08,647
all of them have the same message.

732
00:41:08,677 --> 00:41:10,747
And this message can be
summed up in three words,

733
00:41:11,747 --> 00:41:13,347
God with us.

734
00:41:14,887 --> 00:41:18,907
Like every message of the Bible,
Psalm 23, although I walk through the

735
00:41:18,907 --> 00:41:22,157
valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil for thou art with me.

736
00:41:23,067 --> 00:41:29,227
Like every book is Emmanuel and
culminates in Emmanuel, God with us.

737
00:41:29,547 --> 00:41:33,447
tabernacle and every, like the
point of the Bible, the storyline

738
00:41:33,447 --> 00:41:35,907
is God with us, like you're saying.

739
00:41:35,907 --> 00:41:37,777
It's like that is the point.

740
00:41:38,897 --> 00:41:44,417
The point isn't to Sometimes, we're
like, God's making missionaries and

741
00:41:44,417 --> 00:41:48,667
ambassadors, like on a factory assembly
line, to go out and to represent them so

742
00:41:48,667 --> 00:41:50,147
that we can fulfill the great commission.

743
00:41:50,157 --> 00:41:55,647
The point of the whole
story is God with us, right?

744
00:41:56,567 --> 00:41:58,267
And when you're with
him, he rubs off on you.

745
00:41:58,817 --> 00:41:59,407
Can't help it.

746
00:42:00,297 --> 00:42:01,497
It's like Moses in his presence.

747
00:42:01,497 --> 00:42:02,357
He glowed, right?

748
00:42:02,437 --> 00:42:04,827
and, he had to hide that
he wasn't doing his devos.

749
00:42:04,867 --> 00:42:06,247
They put a, something over his face.

750
00:42:06,267 --> 00:42:07,907
Cause the glory started to fade.

751
00:42:08,597 --> 00:42:14,437
that's a joke, but, about the devos,
number three, Augustine said, great

752
00:42:14,437 --> 00:42:21,127
theologian, said, for us, it's like
standing with our face up to a stained

753
00:42:21,127 --> 00:42:27,387
glass window, we see some color and
we see a whole lot of brokenness.

754
00:42:28,387 --> 00:42:30,147
We see broken glass everywhere.

755
00:42:31,827 --> 00:42:34,107
And the problem is because we're finite.

756
00:42:35,197 --> 00:42:39,027
We can't get back far enough to see that.

757
00:42:39,027 --> 00:42:40,727
It's such a beautiful picture.

758
00:42:42,567 --> 00:42:43,937
It's such a beautiful thing.

759
00:42:45,067 --> 00:42:45,787
It's perfect!

760
00:42:46,787 --> 00:42:47,797
And we gotta know that.

761
00:42:47,797 --> 00:42:50,007
You know the saying, here
today, gone tomorrow?

762
00:42:50,317 --> 00:42:51,597
We're like, today, gone tomorrow.

763
00:42:52,807 --> 00:42:54,667
Like we're so finite.

764
00:42:54,707 --> 00:43:01,567
Like we're we have such the
tiniest perspective on the vastness

765
00:43:01,587 --> 00:43:03,167
of the infiniteness of God.

766
00:43:04,067 --> 00:43:10,686
he's playing, a billion degree chess, on
every level and, our minds are just fried.

767
00:43:10,716 --> 00:43:13,576
I just, even our life is just
like a blip on the screen.

768
00:43:14,306 --> 00:43:14,576
Yeah.

769
00:43:14,646 --> 00:43:16,746
A vapor that's due on the grass.

770
00:43:16,746 --> 00:43:18,076
And then by noon, you're gone.

771
00:43:19,076 --> 00:43:20,886
And yet we shake our, it's comical.

772
00:43:20,886 --> 00:43:25,296
If it's not so tragic that then we shake
our fist at God and What are you doing?

773
00:43:25,296 --> 00:43:28,866
Because I can't see any good purpose in
what you're doing is that there must be

774
00:43:28,866 --> 00:43:30,206
no good purpose in what you're doing.

775
00:43:30,846 --> 00:43:32,786
that is insane.

776
00:43:33,156 --> 00:43:37,636
If we really believe in God, like an
infinite God, just because I can't think

777
00:43:37,636 --> 00:43:40,906
of any good reasons, doesn't mean an
infinite God doesn't have good reasons.

778
00:43:41,646 --> 00:43:45,926
It's a seven year old going to a
rocket, a rocket NASA at NASA watching

779
00:43:45,926 --> 00:43:49,046
the, Launch and he's yeah, that's
never gonna that's never gonna work.

780
00:43:50,886 --> 00:43:55,866
Okay, you know just because the tiny brain
you can't comprehend like the vastness

781
00:43:55,866 --> 00:44:06,196
of it take that times a million and Job
doesn't give us an answer to our whys it

782
00:44:06,196 --> 00:44:12,911
tells us what God is doing about evil and
suffering and not the why Because again,

783
00:44:13,231 --> 00:44:15,851
we don't want to put the Y in our pocket
and feel good about the world that's

784
00:44:15,851 --> 00:44:17,901
still broken and needs to be rescued.

785
00:44:18,411 --> 00:44:22,571
Job's wife, chapter 2, 9, Then
his wife said to him, Do you

786
00:44:22,571 --> 00:44:24,641
still hold fast to your integrity?

787
00:44:26,251 --> 00:44:27,531
Curse God and die.

788
00:44:28,031 --> 00:44:28,811
Get it over with.

789
00:44:29,111 --> 00:44:30,111
I love this response.

790
00:44:30,111 --> 00:44:31,451
I used to be hard on Job's wife.

791
00:44:32,721 --> 00:44:35,591
I was like, And she was left?

792
00:44:35,631 --> 00:44:36,831
Another form of suffering.

793
00:44:37,121 --> 00:44:40,611
Which is horrible, can I trade
him, trade her for the family dog?

794
00:44:40,881 --> 00:44:43,911
No, I used to be hard, but listen
to his response in verse 10.

795
00:44:43,921 --> 00:44:48,731
He says, but he said to her, you speak
as one of the foolish women would speak.

796
00:44:48,931 --> 00:44:51,691
Shall we not receive good from
God and shall we not receive evil?

797
00:44:52,711 --> 00:44:54,471
And all this Job did
not sin with his lips.

798
00:44:54,471 --> 00:44:55,921
He says, this isn't you, honey.

799
00:44:57,151 --> 00:44:58,411
This isn't how you talk.

800
00:44:59,281 --> 00:45:00,381
You're talking, I get it.

801
00:45:00,391 --> 00:45:01,961
You're grieving, you're suffering.

802
00:45:02,281 --> 00:45:03,801
You're talking like the foolish people.

803
00:45:03,891 --> 00:45:04,661
This isn't you.

804
00:45:05,861 --> 00:45:08,531
And maybe that's what she needed
because she disappears from the story

805
00:45:08,531 --> 00:45:11,441
and Job doesn't have to intercede
for her like he has to do for his

806
00:45:11,441 --> 00:45:12,441
friends at the end of the book.

807
00:45:12,711 --> 00:45:16,171
You know at the end of the book,
God's like, Job, please pray for

808
00:45:16,171 --> 00:45:17,631
your friends, the three of them.

809
00:45:18,281 --> 00:45:23,381
Dad, Zophar, and yes, because
I'm going to destroy them.

810
00:45:23,471 --> 00:45:25,211
That's how bad their advice is.

811
00:45:25,941 --> 00:45:30,301
and so Job intercedes on their behalf
and prays, a prototype for the greater

812
00:45:30,301 --> 00:45:32,871
Job, who also free, intercedes.

813
00:45:33,421 --> 00:45:38,211
With his arms outstretched for
his stupid friends and for me.

814
00:45:39,551 --> 00:45:42,681
at first, Job bore these
calamities with amazing submission.

815
00:45:42,691 --> 00:45:44,601
121, the Lord gave, the
Lord has taken away.

816
00:45:44,601 --> 00:45:45,641
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

817
00:45:45,991 --> 00:45:48,731
210, shall we receive good at the hand
of God and shall we not receive evil?

818
00:45:48,731 --> 00:45:51,241
But as the misery drug out
over months, Job wavered in his

819
00:45:51,241 --> 00:45:52,791
confidence that God was for him.

820
00:45:53,231 --> 00:45:56,781
The wind was blowing hard
and he was slowly falling.

821
00:45:56,951 --> 00:46:01,071
Job's friends, his friends showed up and
just sat and wept with him for seven days.

822
00:46:01,321 --> 00:46:03,101
And man, if that's all
they would have done.

823
00:46:03,471 --> 00:46:05,381
That is what you do as a friend.

824
00:46:06,561 --> 00:46:09,691
You don't tell your friend, God
works all things together for good.

825
00:46:09,901 --> 00:46:11,091
You just sit and you weep.

826
00:46:11,361 --> 00:46:13,781
You weep with those who weep and
you rejoice with those who rejoice.

827
00:46:14,351 --> 00:46:19,401
We'd again, we don't need
answers in those moments.

828
00:46:20,091 --> 00:46:21,421
We need presence.

829
00:46:22,791 --> 00:46:24,011
We need presence.

830
00:46:25,046 --> 00:46:29,216
And man, we would have named our
kids Eliaphaz, Bildad, and Zophar

831
00:46:29,546 --> 00:46:30,876
if that's all they would have done.

832
00:46:32,546 --> 00:46:37,816
I don't know of any kids named this,
but what they offer, to Job through

833
00:46:37,816 --> 00:46:44,736
their arguments is looking around at
the circumstances instead of looking up.

834
00:46:46,666 --> 00:46:48,956
And that's the religious
response, very briefly.

835
00:46:49,906 --> 00:46:54,656
Eliaphaz, it can all be
summed up like 30 chapters.

836
00:46:55,296 --> 00:46:59,756
A life that says to Job in
Job 8, Remember, who that was

837
00:46:59,776 --> 00:47:04,306
innocent ever perished, or where
did the upright be cut off?

838
00:47:04,526 --> 00:47:10,336
As I have seen, those who plow
iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.

839
00:47:10,646 --> 00:47:11,256
You hear it?

840
00:47:11,906 --> 00:47:13,376
It's the cause and effect.

841
00:47:13,386 --> 00:47:16,466
It's the sowing and reaping of karma.

842
00:47:16,466 --> 00:47:17,366
it's good.

843
00:47:17,436 --> 00:47:18,626
I do good, I'll get good.

844
00:47:18,626 --> 00:47:19,936
If I do bad, I'll get bad.

845
00:47:20,246 --> 00:47:25,346
It doesn't take into the nuance or the
complexity of fallenness of this world.

846
00:47:25,626 --> 00:47:29,866
And it also doesn't take into the
beauty and the majesty of God's grace.

847
00:47:30,396 --> 00:47:32,966
That interrupts the sowing
and reaping process.

848
00:47:33,566 --> 00:47:34,706
Praise the Lord.

849
00:47:35,246 --> 00:47:35,896
Do you hear it?

850
00:47:36,316 --> 00:47:38,016
It's like the story of the man born blind.

851
00:47:38,026 --> 00:47:38,496
Boom.

852
00:47:38,586 --> 00:47:39,536
Mark, John 9.

853
00:47:39,626 --> 00:47:41,226
The man who was born blind who sinned.

854
00:47:42,196 --> 00:47:43,186
they said, who sinned?

855
00:47:43,216 --> 00:47:44,946
This man or his parents?

856
00:47:44,966 --> 00:47:46,036
They had already decided.

857
00:47:46,046 --> 00:47:46,956
It's one or the other.

858
00:47:46,956 --> 00:47:48,376
It's either or, right?

859
00:47:48,951 --> 00:47:51,831
Did you get mad that they did something
bad and you punished this man?

860
00:47:52,031 --> 00:47:54,691
The religious response of
moralism, and what does God say?

861
00:47:54,691 --> 00:47:55,371
He says, neither.

862
00:47:55,381 --> 00:47:58,331
No, that's, no, that's
not how the world works.

863
00:47:58,351 --> 00:48:00,471
He tells him, that's
not how the world works.

864
00:48:01,361 --> 00:48:04,181
it's much more complicated
and complex than that.

865
00:48:04,681 --> 00:48:07,451
And the religious response or
moralism, why is it punishing me?

866
00:48:07,461 --> 00:48:08,441
What am I doing wrong?

867
00:48:08,441 --> 00:48:12,291
If I pray more, do more, if you live a
good life, good things will happen to you.

868
00:48:14,011 --> 00:48:17,171
And unfortunately, we
teach that in church.

869
00:48:18,171 --> 00:48:24,886
I was re thinking back on how, the church
I grew up in, we would know that the

870
00:48:24,886 --> 00:48:31,406
sermon we had like a rating scale, the
worse we felt, the better the sermon, And

871
00:48:31,456 --> 00:48:35,536
I remember our pastor teaching at like
a men's conference and we just saw the

872
00:48:35,536 --> 00:48:39,466
shoulders start to sink and the heads and
and me and my brother looked at each other

873
00:48:39,466 --> 00:48:44,166
and we're fist bumped and we're like,
he got him, And it was just like this.

874
00:48:44,786 --> 00:48:49,196
People were like, God, and
we're like, yeah, exactly.

875
00:48:50,576 --> 00:48:53,216
Unfortunately, a lot of religious
people sound like job's, friends.

876
00:48:53,216 --> 00:48:56,186
If I read my Bible more, behave
better, have more faith in God's,

877
00:48:56,296 --> 00:48:59,506
then God's punishment will be
relinquished and I'll gain God's favor.

878
00:49:00,136 --> 00:49:02,086
Good people are blessed
and bad people are curse.

879
00:49:02,086 --> 00:49:02,326
God.

880
00:49:02,326 --> 00:49:03,466
I still struggle with this.

881
00:49:03,466 --> 00:49:09,496
My default, like I'm like,
something will happen and I'm like.

882
00:49:10,661 --> 00:49:15,191
I should have given money to that guy
at the drive thru like a week and a

883
00:49:15,191 --> 00:49:19,511
half ago as I'm on my way to the doctor
and I'm like, it's gonna come back.

884
00:49:19,511 --> 00:49:20,321
I got cancer.

885
00:49:20,651 --> 00:49:21,151
I'm sorry.

886
00:49:21,291 --> 00:49:25,251
your default is like you just
did, it's still in there hiding,

887
00:49:25,301 --> 00:49:27,771
it's still rears its ugly head.

888
00:49:27,771 --> 00:49:29,871
then there's the irreligious response.

889
00:49:30,231 --> 00:49:33,686
I'm a victim of a random universe
and a meaningless existence.

890
00:49:34,531 --> 00:49:37,271
God is out to lunch, doesn't care,
there's no God, so I just eat, drink,

891
00:49:37,271 --> 00:49:38,721
and be merry for tomorrow we die.

892
00:49:39,521 --> 00:49:40,291
This is all there is.

893
00:49:40,291 --> 00:49:42,651
That's similar to Job's wife's response.

894
00:49:43,551 --> 00:49:44,401
Curse God and die.

895
00:49:44,631 --> 00:49:48,941
that's the irreligious response, It's all
meaningless, it's random, nothing matters.

896
00:49:49,551 --> 00:49:50,851
it doesn't matter what you do.

897
00:49:51,366 --> 00:49:55,326
If there is a God, then he isn't good,
or if he is good, he's not in control.

898
00:49:55,326 --> 00:49:58,096
And in defending himself against
the bad theology of Eliphaz,

899
00:49:58,097 --> 00:50:01,976
Bildad, and Zophar, he said things
about God that were not true.

900
00:50:01,996 --> 00:50:04,546
He began to insist on his
own righteousness at the

901
00:50:04,546 --> 00:50:05,916
expense of God's justice.

902
00:50:06,236 --> 00:50:08,116
In Job 13, 22 24, he says,

903
00:50:09,116 --> 00:50:11,096
Or let me speak to you and you reply.

904
00:50:11,116 --> 00:50:11,686
Tell me.

905
00:50:11,686 --> 00:50:12,606
What have I done wrong?

906
00:50:12,616 --> 00:50:13,626
He's talking to God.

907
00:50:14,126 --> 00:50:16,296
Show me my rebellion and my sin.

908
00:50:16,306 --> 00:50:17,636
Why do you turn away from me?

909
00:50:17,636 --> 00:50:19,936
Why do you treat me as your enemy?

910
00:50:20,026 --> 00:50:24,296
All of a sudden he's got this little
self righteousness that springs

911
00:50:24,296 --> 00:50:26,326
up and he's What did I do wrong?

912
00:50:26,946 --> 00:50:28,016
What are you doing?

913
00:50:28,776 --> 00:50:32,126
in Job 23, two to four, my complaint
today is still a bitter one.

914
00:50:32,126 --> 00:50:33,596
And I try hard not to groan aloud.

915
00:50:33,866 --> 00:50:37,406
If I had only known where to find
God, I would go to his court.

916
00:50:39,006 --> 00:50:41,816
I would lay out my case
and present my arguments.

917
00:50:43,351 --> 00:50:44,511
And God's okay, Job.

918
00:50:46,091 --> 00:50:46,931
Job 24 1.

919
00:50:46,941 --> 00:50:50,301
Why does the Almighty bring
the wicked to judgment?

920
00:50:50,311 --> 00:50:52,781
Why must the godly wait for him in vain?

921
00:50:53,801 --> 00:50:59,161
and then Elihu, this young like upstart
from Bible college breaks in, and he

922
00:50:59,171 --> 00:51:02,841
starts just like a seven chapter rant.

923
00:51:03,376 --> 00:51:06,726
He says, and Job's friends, he
says, your guy's theology sucks.

924
00:51:06,866 --> 00:51:11,396
And Job, you're being self righteous,
and you need to deal with that.

925
00:51:11,406 --> 00:51:12,776
You've lost the plot here.

926
00:51:13,676 --> 00:51:17,526
God can work good through
suffering and pain.

927
00:51:17,716 --> 00:51:20,836
It's not cause and effect, and
it doesn't mean God's evil.

928
00:51:20,846 --> 00:51:24,806
Job, you're starting And so Job's
three friends had taken the position

929
00:51:24,806 --> 00:51:28,446
that the severity of Job's suffering
must be the sign of some grievous sin.

930
00:51:29,166 --> 00:51:32,286
in his life that God's punishing Job
that he has skeletons in his closet.

931
00:51:32,336 --> 00:51:35,716
they try for 30 chapters
to drag it out of him.

932
00:51:36,066 --> 00:51:36,866
come on, Job.

933
00:51:36,906 --> 00:51:38,286
We know there's something there.

934
00:51:38,876 --> 00:51:42,546
and, Elihu's point of view is that
Job is a righteous man, though not

935
00:51:42,546 --> 00:51:44,826
perfect, and that he's loved by God.

936
00:51:44,826 --> 00:51:46,171
God is not treating him as his enemy.

937
00:51:46,211 --> 00:51:51,531
enemy, but as his child and friend,
we've seen God originally allowed Job's

938
00:51:51,541 --> 00:51:54,691
suffering to commence in order to show
Satan in the armies of heaven, that Job

939
00:51:54,691 --> 00:51:57,851
cherished the worth of God more than his
possessions and his family and his health.

940
00:51:58,481 --> 00:52:02,541
God only allows suffering to allow
Satan to accomplish the opposite

941
00:52:02,541 --> 00:52:04,131
of what he wanted to accomplish.

942
00:52:05,431 --> 00:52:09,361
But after Job showed that he did in
fact love God more than all else in the

943
00:52:09,361 --> 00:52:12,971
world, there was another purpose that
God sought to achieve by letting his

944
00:52:12,971 --> 00:52:14,781
suffering drag on for several months.

945
00:52:15,401 --> 00:52:19,421
That purpose, according to Elihu, the
good friend, was to purge out of Job's

946
00:52:19,421 --> 00:52:23,971
life a residue of pride that had lain
quietly at the bottom of his life.

947
00:52:24,231 --> 00:52:27,481
When Job was shaken by suffering
long enough, the sediment of pride

948
00:52:27,481 --> 00:52:30,901
was stirred up into his life, and
it showed itself when Job tried to

949
00:52:30,901 --> 00:52:33,051
justify himself at God's expense.

950
00:52:33,481 --> 00:52:39,711
Suffering sandblasts us to our core, and
the true stuff we are made of is revealed.

951
00:52:39,951 --> 00:52:42,931
Suffering lobs a hand grenade
into our self centeredness.

952
00:52:43,236 --> 00:52:47,856
Laying our souls bare so that we
can better be bonded to our Savior.

953
00:52:49,476 --> 00:52:53,166
We're never more like Christ, never more
filled with His joy, peace, and power

954
00:52:53,546 --> 00:52:56,126
than when sin is uprooted from our lives.

955
00:52:56,446 --> 00:52:59,776
Steve Estes says, God permits what
He hates to accomplish what He loves.

956
00:53:00,666 --> 00:53:02,636
It's a friend of, Johnny Erickson Tada.

957
00:53:03,816 --> 00:53:06,466
Toward the end of Elihu's speech,
a thunderstorm is gathered.

958
00:53:07,126 --> 00:53:08,316
and filled him with awe.

959
00:53:08,546 --> 00:53:11,766
It is though his senses, he senses
the approach of God in the storm

960
00:53:11,986 --> 00:53:13,696
and brings his words to a close.

961
00:53:13,866 --> 00:53:16,676
And sure enough, somehow out of the
world, when comes the voice of God

962
00:53:16,676 --> 00:53:21,546
to Job, and we come to the climactic
dialogue between Job and God, and we

963
00:53:21,546 --> 00:53:25,696
see that the answer to Job's problems
was not an explanation about God,

964
00:53:26,826 --> 00:53:28,686
but a revelation of God himself.