Hey everybody, welcome back to another edition of the Daily Bible Podcast. Woohoo! It's Tuesday. It's Tuesday. Yes, it is. We're probably back in the office at this point. That's going to be my guess. I sure hope so. I would be shocked, appalled, apoplectic, if we were not back in the office. Perplexed. Flabbergasted. Over I I'm, I'm at a loss. All my synonyms are gone. Apoplectic though. I, that's a, that's a good one. Hey, let's, uh, let's tackle another question that you've already tackled, but just to tackle it. I did not tell it, it escaped me. I tried to tackle it and then like a really good running back. He just went right through my arms and scored the touchdown. Yeah. But I think I still have a question. of human genome editing CRISPR, all that stuff. Uh, I'll admit up front, uh, general, um, unfamiliarity with the, the, the end in depth realm of this. Um, but you and I were talking about this offline a little bit and, and I think, you know, There's some parallels in our approach to this, to our approach to the, the question of AI and the helpfulness of, of ai. Um, and for, for me, I, I tremble at this idea of, especially when we get into editing the human genome. I tremble at the, the dangers there and the implications. And, um, you know, I know that, uh, to, to simply say, well, we're playing God and turn around and walk away is, is, uh, maybe a strong main argument. And yet at the same time, when we're dealing with the very fabric of creation, again, the Psalm 139, knitting together in the mother's womb, I think that's different than, uh, when we're applying modern medicine to the, the, the, the Already existing individual, the individual that has been fully created when we are entering into the creative process Of the the person that's where I do think there is a measure of hey, we're playing God So you brought up the pushback of hey, what if you could remove a genetic strain? That was gonna cause some sort of mutation that would be harmful to your kids or grandkids wouldn't you want to do that and in the dad in me says yes, but I Trimble The responsibility and I don't know that that it's our responsibility to, to take. That's my take on it. And I think most people who are reasonable would say that's, that's, that's a really good posture. The Christian posture is not one to be on the cutting edge of almost anything. I think by and large, Christian communities are meant to be conservative in nature. It's going to be slower to adopt some societal wide changes, cultural changes. As I mentioned, when we first talked about this, fashion changes are a good example of that we're not the first to do something that is considered wrong. And when it comes to technology, I think the posture is going to be similar at some point. I don't know, 50 years, a hundred years from now, I think we're going to be at the place where the technology is going to, is going to be hammered out. It's going to be tested and utilized to the degree that it's going to become as commonplace as a surgery might be, you know, a laparoscopic or open heart surgery. No one's going to do that willy nilly. But it will be safe enough to say this is a credible way to approach these really massive Degenerative diseases this really massive situation that you could be born with I just think about people that are in the womb you can detect Diseases early granted not infallibly. There are certainly mistakes that can be made So again, I'm assuming the best case scenario at some point I think the ability to help is larger than the potential to harm And therefore becomes a stronger case for the Christian to weigh, not weigh willy nilly and not throw caution to the wind, but to say, if I can legitimately help by allowing or encouraging the utility of this particular technology, why wouldn't I? There are so many areas where we adopt technology and we don't think twice about it because much of the thinking has been done by our ancestors, our forefathers of the faith. We get in cars now. We don't think about it. We use technologies that really no one thinks twice about to your point. We're at such a unique time in human history that I think we're on the precipice or the cusp of something really great. We're going to take a big jump with AI being baked into everything. And maybe that will really help us understand. human gene editing. The email talks about brain computing or anti aging stuff. I think there's things that are going to be closer to the vanity side that we'll say probably not a good idea, but there's a lot of really help. And I think that's where I start to get interested and say, okay, maybe I'll have to slow down before I make a judgment on this and say, I'll let the Lord shake these things out. If it gets to a point where the credibility of the science is on our side. I think we get close to responsibility to use it and not to ignore it, like blood transfusions. Yeah, there still is that question. I do think there's a point at which it becomes wrong. Our pursuit of, of undoing or pushing back the effects of the fall. I'm not sitting here saying we should never try that, you know, you have a headache, that's a result of the fall. Is it wrong to take aspirin? No, it's not wrong to take aspirin. Is that trying to avoid the effects of the fall? So I guess to a certain extent, you could argue that. So I get that there's, you can shaman that, but I do think that there's a line wherein, for example, God removed the tree of life. Why? Why did he remove the tree of life? Because he, in a merciful act, did not want us to live forever. That was not his desire. His desire was not for us to escape death. In fact, it was an act of mercy that we shouldn't escape death. So there's a measure to which our desire to prolong life and extend life, um, and even improve life may run afoul of the intended results of the law. Um, and. Where is that line? It's, it's subjective. Uh, for me, I think entering into that realm of, again, that Psalm 139 creative activity of God, where I'm at, my personal conviction is, I think that goes too far. You may be right. That may be normative for my grandkids down the road. Uh, for me, where I sit today, it's, it's anything but normative. And it feels like, it feels like a step too far. And that's again, I think it's a good posture. I also think that the careful application of scripture might lead us to say something similar to what Jesus says to the religious rulers of his day when they argued with him about breaking the law on our teeth to do healing to do good on the Sabbath. He says, which of you having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day will not immediately pull him out. And I think that's going to be a similar mindset behind the Christian impulse to say, can I alleviate suffering by the application of this technology? And for me, that's it. That's a strong pull. I don't know that we're anywhere close to saying it's going to do that for sure with an 80 plus 90 percent plus degree of certainty. This is hypothetical, but if we were able to say that, I would say, okay, this is a gift of God. The right application is a good and positive benefit. It's a blessing. Obviously, sin enters into the world. You're going to have viruses and there's going to be issues here and there. So I would agree and concede. There's gonna be complications. All technology does is for us, but I think the right application has a lot of benefit, and I think it might fit our desire to alleviate human suffering. As we talked about earlier, even with the fires, I think in yesterday's episode, God's, God's sovereign over all this. Um, we're not going to do anything that he does not allow or permit. And so I think it's a matter of us continuing to watch and be informed as Christians and to, again, I think I mentioned to you offline when we were talking about this, even making some of these decisions and movements one way or the other. In the context of community, in the context of the church, I think that's a blessing of, of the church that God gave us the body of Christ to be able to process through, uh, some of these things together and corporately reason together to say, okay, what do we do in something like this, where you can't turn to chapter and verse where it talks about the CRISPR project. Um, you, you, you can't go there and say, this is what we should do. And so all that to say, lean in even more to the church. Uh, when you're trying to, to make big decisions, hard decisions, tough decisions, uh, cloudy things that you're, you're not entirely sure on, lean into the church like this question. Um, and, and make decisions in the community of God's people. That's, that's part of the gift of what God has done through providing the church for us. Well, let's get into Job 38 through 39. Job 38 through 39, it's God's turn. It's God's turn, and, uh, we are, are missing, to, to your point, Pastor Rob, that you made a few times, we're missing Job 37 and a half, which is God's response to Job 38. Elihu or Job's response to Elihu. It's just not there. It just goes, okay, now God answers Job out of the whirlwind. Um, Job hasn't been speaking. Elihu was just speaking, but God now is going to turn to Job and he's basically going to say, Hey, Job, uh, get ready. In fact, that's what he says, dress for action like a man, gird your loins, get ready, uh, because now rather than me being in the docket where I've been this whole time, Job, I'm going to put you in the docket. And so, uh, Job is, is put on the witness stand and God is going to pepper him with questions. And, uh, the way it breaks down in these two chapters that we're looking at today. is verses 4 through 15. Basically, God is going to ask Job, Hey, were you the creator, Job? I can't seem to remember. Were you there when all of creation was brought forth? Did you have something to do with that? Uh, he's going to talk about the heavens and the earth in verses 4 through 7. He's going to talk about the sea and the sea animals in verses 8 through 11. He's going to talk about the morning and evening, day and night in verses 12 through 15. Job, where were you? Were you there? Did you participate in this? And clearly the answer is no. And God could have just said that. He could have just said, Hey Job, you weren't there. And yet I think here we see some of the beauty of the way that God communicates through Scripture. He uses this poetic language to drive the point home. He uses language that is, is beautiful in so many different areas here to, to make the point of saying, Hey, Joe, you weren't there. You're not the creator. And remember that. Remember your place. And yet he does it in such a poetic and dynamic way. And we get that preserved for us today. So verses four through 15, he basically says, Hey, Joe, were you there at the beginning? Did you have a hand in creation? I just want to point out here that verse two. is similar to what Elihu says in chapter 35, verse 16. God says to Job, Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now this is important because I think at the end of the book when God says Job speaks right and his friends spoke wrong, I think this tells me that God is not saying that Job said nothing wrong. I think, I think this clarifies. He's darking, darkening counsel by words of that knowledge. This confirms that God also acknowledges Job is speaking incorrectly about God here. Or at least about God in multiple places perhaps. So I think you need to keep that in mind as we make our way to chapter 42 where Job is exonerated and he's, he's given a new station in life. Because he's not without sin and what he says, which I think encourages us to think carefully about what Job says, even in his laments. Yeah. Which is, yeah, something else that makes Job a difficult book. Yup. Verses, then, chapter 38, verses 16 through 38 here, uh, he moves from, were you there at creation? To, What's your role in creation currently? Are you governing creation right now, Job? Verses 16 through 18. Have you explored the limits of creation? Do you know the depths of the sea? Do you know about life after death? Do you know about the edges of the earth, Job? Verses 19 through 21. Do you know the way of light and darkness? Can you explain that, Job? Verses, or verse 38, chapter 38, verse 21. I love the sarcasm here from God. He says, you know, you were born then, weren't you, Job? The number of your days is great. Anyone who doesn't think that there's a place for sarcasm, read Job 38. 21 and tell me God is not sarcastic. He is. He is. For a fact. And an impact there again. Uh, versus 22 through 30. Can you control the weather? Job. In fact, I was just talking about this with my kids this past week. They saw the snow and they're, they're, The question was, okay, we knew that God was there at the beginning of creation, but is God still participating in this? And they brought up the snow. They were like, does it say anywhere that, that God has, you know, That God is, is making it snow and it's like, yeah, he has the storehouses of the, the snow verse 22, the storehouses of the hail. And so God right there is, is talking about the fact that, yeah, he's the one actively making this take place. And so he's asking Joe, Hey, where were you? Are you controlling this presently? Joe? Do you think of the song that I think of whenever I read about storehouses of snow, does it come to your mind? Yes. Yeah. Boo is told every lightning bolt where it should go. Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow. I sing the song immediately. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate that. It's a good song. It's a great song. It's a great song. Yep. Uh, verses 31 through 32. Do you control the stars? Do you cause them to come out in, in night and shine where they shine? Uh, verse 33, do you govern creation job? Is, is that your role? Uh, do you bring the rain versus 34 through 38? Um. Uh, 38, 35 is, uh, can you send forward lightnings that they may go where you say, Elihu asks something similar in job 37, uh, three through five, um, after his voice thunders in his majestic voice, he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard God thunders. And so again, some echoes there of Elihu words, uh, as God asked him about the lightning in, uh, verse 35 there. And so he is asking, uh, do you, do you govern creation? Job, and then in 3839 through 3930, he's going to say, do you govern the creatures of creation? Do you feed the lion or the raven versus 39 through 41, uh, versus one through four of chapter 39. Do you ordain the birthing of the mountain goats? Can you control when they give birth a procreation job? Are you over that? Versus five through eight. Do you control the wild donkeys? Can you tame the wild donkeys versus nine through 12? How about the ox? The strength of the ox? Is that something that's under your purview, Joe versus 13 through 18? Uh, can you catch the ostrich? The ostrich is one of the fastest land animals. Uh, as far as birds go, can you catch an ostrich versus 19 to 25? Do you give the horse its main and its, its majesty, its might, and then Versus 26 through 30. Do you direct the birds of prey, the eagles, the hawks? Do you direct those? Is that something you're able to do, Joe? We were in California, uh, over Christmas in, with my in laws and in the backyard, I was sitting out there one day and looked up and there was a hawk that was soaring and it was one of those situations where it was riding the wind. So it looked like it was just absolutely still. Its wings weren't flapping or anything else. It was just, its wings were outspread and it was just riding the wind and it was staying still in place. It was super cool to see that and just the awe of that to go, God saying, Job, did you do that? Did you do that job? And the answer of course is no. Um, and this is, this is the point of these chapters and he's going to keep going and we'll talk about this more in tomorrow's episode, but he's basically wanting job to remember his finitude and God's infinitude, God's power, his majesty, his authority. And he's trying to make Joe feel small and remind job of how big God is. And I think the target has been hit a couple of quick comments here. And this one goes back to chapter 38. I don't want to skip verse 41. So let me just return to that real quick. PPJ. Verse 41 says who provides for the raven its prey when it's young ones cry to God for help and wander about for lack of food. I was impressed and I was also impressed by this last year. I don't know how many years I've been impressed by it because I have notes in my Bible that suggests I've seen this more than once. But I was just impressed by God's intimate and detailed care of creation. I love the fact that the God that we serve is a God who's not only omniscient. He knows about all of us, but he knows also about the small things that you and I never pay attention to. He gives the birds their food. He provides the birds their food. And when their young ones cry out, God takes that as a cry to himself. Their young ones are crying out really for their mom to provide the food, but God sees it as a personal plea on their part to call to him for food. And so he provides for them. And when they don't get provision when they're, you know, taken out by something else. That's also God's intervention. Matthew chapter six reminds us of the same idea here when Jesus says to The disciples of the day. Hey, don't worry. Don't be anxious. He points into the fact that God in a detailed and intimate way cares about creation that you never think twice about how much more will he care for you? Christian is the idea. So that would be my first thought here. God cares in a detailed and intimate way for creation. But the second thing I wanted to point out here is that as God goes through his litany of animals and different environments where his handiwork is seen. Okay. I think it's a good thing then for us to take the same posture to cultivate awe over creation, to see things and not let them go by you quickly, to not just see an amazing sunset. PPJ, you always talk about sunsets in Texas. This is kind of your go to thing. Um, but in addition to sunsets, you ought to be able to see God's handiwork in creation and you should rightfully cultivate an awe filled response. This is going to take effort on your part because especially in what we call concrete jungles, really hard to see God's handiwork. All we see is skyscrapers and really cool design elements that humans have made. But when you're in the country, like we are over here in North, North Texas and the furthest North part, or one of the most, most Northern parts, you can see a lot of that. And it's good for us as Christians to cultivate an awe filled awareness of God's handiwork and creation. This is a good thing for us because it grounds us in who God is and helps us to trust him when things go wrong. Amen. A hundred percent. In fact, this is one of my favorite times of the year because of the way the skies look. It's a, it seems like going into the late winter, early spring, you get the clouds, you get the sun piercing through the clouds. Yeah. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. And it, one might say it's indescribable. And that God's uncontainable and, you know, it's just coming off the top of my head here. You should write a song about it. That'd be good. That'd be good. Yeah. Well, Hey, let's, uh, let's pray as we wrap up another episode of the daily Bible podcast. God, we thank you for this day. And, uh, it's even just the sun that's shining outside right now, as we record this and melting the snow is evidence of your creation and your care for us and your provision for us. We just pray that you continue to cause us to be in awe of you and not to lose sight of you. And to be humbled by who you are and who we know you to be and continue to learn of who you are. Um, even just mindful of the fact that that's going to be eternity for us, that we are going to spend eternity continually learning more and more about who you are and that the result will be that that will cause us to worship you even more. So help us to get a jumpstart on that. Now we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Keep reading your Bibles and tune in again tomorrow for another edition of the daily Bible podcast. See you folks.

Hey, thanks for joining us for another episode of the daily Bible podcast. We hope and pray this has been a blessing to you and your time in the word. If it has, if you would subscribe to this podcast, leave a like, leave a comment and share it with some friends and family. That would be awesome. If you need more information about Compass Bible Church here in North Texas, you can go to compassntx. org. Again, that's compassntx. org. And we'll be back with you tomorrow for another episode of the daily Bible podcast.