All right, let's turn to Job chapter 24, Job 24. Job 24. And trying to get the context here. We're talking, I think this is Job that's speaking. And answering, let's see if I could kind of go through where we're at here. Job is answering, who was it? Was it Elphaz? You know, who gave the last? Eliphaz. All right, so he's answering Eliphaz. All right, and what's he saying here in Job chapter 24, 17? For the morning, talking about the wicked, the wicked, for the morning is to them as the shadow of death. If one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death. Speaking of those that are in darkness, hate light. Criminals hate light, as we said last time we gathered together. And because light exposes all things. And those that work in darkness don't want their evil works exposed. All right, Job 24 verse 18. The womb shall forget him, the worm shall feed sweetly on him. He shall be no more remembered, and wickedness shall be broken as a tree. He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not, and doth not good to the widow. He draweth also the mighty with his power. He riseth up, and no man is sure of life. Though it be given him to be in safety wherein he resisteth, yet his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low. They are taken out of the way as all other and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar and make my speech nothing worth? Here we have, here Job describes the end of the wicked. The end of the wicked. For the Bible says Hebrews 9.27, is appointed unto man once to die and then after that to judgment. So Job describes their end, verse 19, drought and heat consume the snow waters, so doth the grave those that have sinned. You know, what does the Bible say? We're all like grass, and our glory is like the flowers. You know, we wither. Well, how much more the wicked are likened to snow. They come and they go. They just melt. each generation, and the older you get, the more you realize how brief life is, amen? As the Bible says, life is like a vapor, right? And just like snow will someday melt, so too the wicked will perish. In Job chapter 24, 24, they are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low, They are taken out of the way as all other and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. All right? So the wicked are exalted for a little while, but will be brought low when they stand before God, right? So the wicked are exalted, but then are brought low. Numbers, Job 24, 25. And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar? and make my speech nothing worth. So, Job is saying that this is so, this is what I'm telling you is what is going on, it's gonna happen. And, you know, Job's words are sure. Who says, who will make him a liar concerning this? Again, many things are not made right in this life, so the psalmist said. You know, in Psalm 73, I think we dealt with that last time we gathered together, where the psalmist said, my feet almost slipped when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And Psalm 73, 16, when I thought on this, it was too painful for me. until I went into the sanctuary of God and then understood their end. And like, we have to realize that in the end, God's gonna make everything right. And we believe that by faith. If you look at this life only, we're gonna get kinda depressed. We're gonna get discouraged. But we've gotta believe by faith God's gonna work everything out, right? Amen? We know all things work together for what? Good. To them that are called, love the Lord. When we think on what scripture says, then we realize by faith, it will go well for the righteous. and the wicked are reserved to the day of judgment. As Job said, look at Job 24.1, Job 24.1, why seeing times are not hidden from the mighty, do they that know him not see his days? And we dealt with that, did we not? Where it says, nothing's hidden from God, he sees everything. And in his day, he will make everything right, amen? the day of the Lord. That's the day of judgment. We'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and also there's gonna be a great white throne judgment. The just and the unjust. He's gonna judge the quick and the dead. He's gonna judge the unrighteous and the righteous. Everything's gonna be made right in that day. And Ecclesiastes 12, 13 says, for God will bring, or verse 14 says, for God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be what? Good or evil. God who upholds all things by the word of his power will someday require justice and give reward to those who serve him and those who hate him. And do evil will get the due reward of their sins on judgment day. And those who've received him and received forgiveness of sins will receive the due reward of their service for him. at the Bema seat of Christ. Even the secret things will be revealed. So we need to not only serve God publicly, but privately, amen? Your faith, your religion is made true in times of secret. That's why Jesus said, when you pray, don't pray as what? The hypocrites. Don't make an open show, but go into the closet. And he hears in secret you pray, and in secret he hears you. And so you are really what you are when you're alone with God, amen? And that's why it's so important for us to spend time alone with God. All right, let's go on, chapter 25. Chapter 25. And now Bildad waxes eloquent. And so we have here Bildad. and verses one through six. Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, dominion and fear are with him. He maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number of his armies? And upon whom doth not his light arise? How then can man be justified with God? And how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold, even the moon and it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man that is a worm, and the son of man which is a worm. Here we have the last discourse of Job's three friends, Bildad. So it went Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, then went back to Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, then it went to Eliphaz, Bildad, and by that time, Zophar I think learned enough to keep his mouth shut. So we have Eliphaz waxed eloquent three times, Bildad waxes eloquent three times, and Zophar waxes eloquent two times. All right, he's probably the wisest of them all because he shut up. And so we will, after he speaks to Job, Job will give his answer. By the way, the discourse that Job gives after this is the longest discourse he will give. You know, many times he only answered maybe one chapter, two chapters, you know, but we're going to see he's, this is the longest time, he'll spend the longest time speaking before we hear from Elihu, whoever, he was some young guy that must have accompanied him, just came along, wanted to, I don't know who he was basically, but he gives his opinion. Now Bildad reminds Job of what he already knows. Look at verse two. Dominion and fear are with him. He maketh peace in high places. Is there any number of his armies? And upon whom doth not his light arise? And Bildad says, is there any number of his armies? And upon whom doth his light arise? Bildad is basically saying that He has an innumerable host. There be more with him than be with us, or with the enemy. And so it is, Matthew 5.45, also it says, and upon whom doth he not, upon whom doth not his light arise? And what is he saying? God makes his sun to shine on everybody, the righteous, the unrighteous, good, bad, he sends rain on the just, the unjust, Matthew 5, 45. So there's no end to his armies. He's declaring to Job God's greatness, and certainly that is true, what he's saying. He closes his discourse to remind Job that he's getting again what he deserves because he, nor anyone else, can be just in the eyes of God. Look at verse 4. How then can man be justified with God, and how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less that is a worm, the son of man which is a worm. Mind you, that great hymn, Amazing Grace, that God saves such a worm as I, amen? And some people don't like that. They don't like to be humbled, but yet it is true. We are worms, so what he's saying is true. These are his final words to Job. suggests again that he's getting what he deserves for some secret sin or wickedness he's committed. Nobody's righteous in the eyes of God, and that's certainly true. No one is just in the eyes of God. We're all sinners. So if we suffer in this life, why should we complain? There's a certain element of truth to this, and it sounds good theologically, but how does this bring comfort to Joe? You know, going to ICU when somebody's dying, say all this to them. You know, is that gonna help? You know, is that gonna encourage them? Why is it that some who are sinners don't go through such suffering that Bill Dadd is seeing here? How amazing it is that we think we get to come up with answers when we don't have them. Probably the only one that does is God himself. Bill Dad, like all the other three friends, should have probably just said nothing. I was watching Fox News about these fires in California. They interviewed a pastor who lost his church. Most people in his church lost their homes. And so the host there said, well, what do you say to your people? What do you say to people in California that have gone through this? And you know what he said? And I thought what he said was good. He said, I say nothing. What could you say? You just sit there, you pray with them. You try to incur it. What do you say when somebody's in ICU? What do you say when somebody's in hospice? Do you say, now you know you're a sinner. You're a sinner and all have sinned. And you're a worm. You're just a worm in the eyes of God. Is that what you say? What good is that gonna do, amen? That ain't gonna do any good. But that's exactly what these guys were doing. You wonder whatever got in their heads to do this, you know? All right, let's go on. Job 26, one through five. Job declares the greatness of God. All right, Job chapters 26. But Job answered and said, how hast thou helped him that is without power? How savest thou the man that hath no strength? How hast thou counseled him that hath no wisdom? And how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? To whom hast thou uttered words? And whose spirit came from thee? Basically, Job said to Bildad, lots of help you are. Basically, miserable comforters you are, right? It's like saying to a man who has no arms, you should have an arm. A man who has no legs, well, why don't you have any legs? Or a man who lacks wisdom, well, you should know what to do. Job asked Bildad, what is the source of your spirit? And whose spirit came from thee? What is the source of your spirit? Certainly was not coming from God. In other words, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar's counsel was not directed by the spirit of God, amen? And the wisdom descended not from above. But where was it coming from? Well, I just kind of think the devil was trying to use him to get Job discouraged, right? And he used Peter, didn't he? If he used Peter, he certainly could have used Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Job 26, four, to whom hast thou uttered words, and whose spirit came from thee? All right, let's go on. Job 26, five through 14. Job acknowledges the power of God to be infinite, unsearchable. Dead things are formed under the water and the inhabitants thereof. Hell is naked before him and destruction hath no covering. He stretches out the north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds. and the cloud is not rent under them. He holdeth back the face of his throne and spreadeth his cloud upon it. He hath compassed the waters with bounds until the day and night come to the end. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. He divided the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens, his hand had formed the crooked serpent. Lo, these are parts of his ways, and how little a portion is heard of him, but the thunder of his power, who can understand? Now, let's try to understand what Job is saying here. Job 26, verse five, dead things are formed under the waters and the inhabitants thereof. What are these dead things? You know what? I've read a lot of commentators. It doesn't seem like they know what this verse means. It's very difficult. Dead things are formed. This is a hard verse to understand. Is it talking about the resurrection? Is it talking about Noah's flood? We're all the inhabitants of the world. Is it talking about coral reefs? Dead things are formed. You know, you ever think reefs? Coral reefs are amazing, aren't they? They look dead, but they're not. They're alive. Which seem dead, but are alive. Is it talking about plant life? You know, unless a seed of corn or wheat fall to the ground and die. It abideth alone. I don't. It comes from under the waters. A seed has to be buried, then resurrected. You know, as I was listening and listening and thinking and thinking of these verses, there seems to be a reference to creation. And it might be that what he was saying, and as we read it, that, you know, there was, the oceans were dead, and dead things formed under the water. I mean, God took them, created life out of nothing. Think about it, he created life out of nothing. And he said, let the let there be fish, let there be whales, all these. And in fact, the word dead things is actually the Hebrew word talks about giants. So the giants of the sea were just created out of nothing. There were there were Out of the dead, they arose. Out of the dead sea, they just came up. Now, I thought maybe that's it. Again, I'm trying to understand it. I guess when I get to heaven, I'll say, hey, Job, what did you mean by Job 26.5? Could you explain that to me? Why did you say that? I don't know. Anyway, what are these sad things? I don't think we know for sure. There are many mysteries about things that are living in the oceans and even under the waters and under the earth. Why would we be surprised if Job had some knowledge about these things that we do not know but is lost? You know, we think we're smarter than Job. We think we're smarter than these people back then. You know, they lived a lot longer and knew probably a lot more than we understand. When you read Revelation, it says the sixth angel, which had the trumpet sounding, loosed the four angels which were bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, and so you think of dead things are formed under the waters. You know, I don't know, maybe he's talking about angels, I don't know. Four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year for the slave, the third part of men. Maybe Job had some knowledge of dead things that were in the ocean that were under the waters or rivers or whatever. Again, this verse to us is a mystery. I don't think any commentator really knows what it means. And, you know, if we understood every verse in the Bible, I think we'd have to be God. Amen. So there are some things we don't understand. And so we just have to leave it at that. I feel a little bit like the Ethiopian eunuch. He said, when he was trying to read Isaiah 53, he said, how can I know what this means except somebody guide me, right? And anyway, Job 26.6, hell is naked before him and destruction hath no covering. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Now how did Job know that? He didn't have any satellites, he didn't have any NASA pictures. How did Job know that God hung the earth upon nothing? He knew this before the men of wisdom and science understood it. Have we progressed or regressed in our knowledge? Right? Job 26.8, he bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds and the cloud is not rent under him. He holdeth back the face of his throne and spreadeth his cloud upon it. Notice, he bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds and the clouds, the cloud is not rent under him. Think about how much water is in the clouds. There's enough water in the clouds to bring a flood. Now think about how much water weighs. How much water is there in a swimming pool? Is there more water in the clouds than the swimming pool? Now he's saying, yet the clouds are not rent. An amazing thing. Water is an amazing thing, isn't it? Enough water to bring floods upon the earth, yet with all this, the clouds remain clouds. We don't think about it. Water is an amazing element. It could be solid. It could be a liquid. It could be ice, it could be a liquid, it could be vapor, it could be many things. All right. So anyway, Job 26, verse 10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds until the day and night come to the end. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. He divided the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smited through the proud. By his spirit he had garnished the heavens. His hand had formed the crooked serpent. Lo, these are parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him. But the thunder of his power, who can understand? All right, let's try to understand what he's saying here. Job chapter 38, verse 11, he said, talking about the ocean, he said, hitherto shall thou come, but no further. And here shall thy proud waves be stayed. So he says, he hath compassed the waters with bounds. He gave them boundaries. Day and night, these tides come in and out according to the decree of God. And he got the environmentalists so worried about all this ice that is melting. Well, where was that ice before it was ice? It was in the ocean or in the sky or wherever it was. I think God knows the number of how much water there is in this world. And I'm not sure, but the little bit of ice is melting is gonna really rise the ocean because you know what, the sun, just the pull of the sun, or not sun, the moon, holds that water back. And when there's a full moon, a new moon, and all that, the tide comes in and out just from the gravity of the moon. It's hard to understand. In other words, God is the one that gives these boundaries. Because he said, hitherto come, but no further. Hitherto come and no further. I think we ought to be more fearful of God saying, OK, go a little further. rather than all that melting ice, right? It says, day and night, these tides come in and out according to the decree of God. God's authority reaches to the pillars of heaven, which tremble at his voice and authority. Verse 12, he divided the sea with his power, and by his understanding, he smiteth through the proud. Is there anything mightier on earth than the proud seas? God calls them proud, thy proud waves. The Lord says in Job 38.11, he says, here shall thy proud waves be stayed. Why are they proud? Because they're mighty, they're powerful, you know? God by his hand formed all these things. Job 26.14, lo, these are parts of his ways. but how little a portion is heard of him, but the thunder of his power who can understand. What's he saying? Job says here, he says, this is only part of his ways, part. In other words, there's a lot more to God. I mean, do we really understand everything about God? Do we understand everything about God? He's saying, what I'm saying is only a little part of what we know about God. There's a whole lot more. There's a whole lot more that we don't know. You know, there's quite a bit of things, truth here that Job is sharing, and yet, in the end, the Lord has to rebuke him about a few things. We're gonna talk about that next time we get together. But Job declares to his friends that, through all this, that he's not ignorant of God, his power, and his ways. They think they're teaching him. They think that he is inferior to them because of his situation. Again, how can a person who is wicked, as they believed he was, and as they accused him, understand all this godly truth, biblical truth? It's not possible. Unbelievers, to them, says the things of God are what? Foolishness, to them, to believe not. Amen? What is one of the proofs that a person loves God or knows God? Is that they receive spiritual things, they understand spiritual things. So the proof is in the pudding. Job could not understand these things. I mean, friends should put it together. He could not understand these things if he was ungodly, right? I mean, it's obvious he was a godly man. All right, we'll pick this up, and hopefully we'll get some fireworks going. Because we're coming to the end. We got Elihu that talks a little bit, and then the Lord talks and straightens everybody out. And that ends the book and we could shoot the fireworks as we go into a new book. All right. All right. Let's pray, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your people. Thank you for your word. Help us to do it justice by studying it. There's much here. Some things we are beyond us, actually, as we shared about that one verse. We're twenty six five. We're dead. Things are formed. under the ocean or the water. But yet, Lord, you set us to read the Word of God, study the Word of God, and we'll be blessed just even if we read it. So, Lord, give us understanding in your time. We'll thank you for it.