Alright. So, Job 10, and let me see if I can get you to fill in the blanks as I provide them. Alright, Job chapter 10, and Job begins with Job offering what for his kids? Sacrifice. For his how many kids? Ten children, that's right. And the wealth of Job is described in how many what he has. animals right so we're in that by the way that's a clue as to what era we're talking about not in terms of precious metals or jewels or or maidservants no it's expressed in cattle so that that's why when people say this happened back at Abraham there's some clues there are some clues that's one of them and then Job is unaware of something that's taking place in another part of creation. What is that thing? A discussion between God and Satan. Satan comes among the what of what? Sons of God. Right. And we assume those sons of God are Angels. That's right. We're learning as Michael and I read from time to time. We've read the book of Enoch together. If you're not aware of that, we don't think it's Scripture, but it has been discovered most recently in the Dead Sea Scrolls and other places. But they call them what? And it shows up again in the book of Daniel under this title. The Watchers, right. So a class of angelic beings that were called watchers, that word shows up in our Bible in the book of Daniel. All right, so anyway, Satan comes among them and he says, God starts the discussion with, have you considered what? My servant Job, none among the earth like him, one that's perfect, upright, and eschews evil, okay? And chapter one ends with what calamity? Basically, what is out of Job's life at this point? Everything except his what? His health. Chapter two, Satan comes back for round number two. What's taken away from him at that point? His health. Chapter two closes with three who sit with him for seven days and say nothing. Right. And their names are, the first one begins with an E. Eliphaz. The second one starts with a B. The third one is Zophar. Chapter 3 begins with Job saying, I should never have been conceived. And chapter 4 and 5 are the speech of Eliphaz, the first friend. Chapter 6 and 7 is Job's response. Chapter 8 is the second friend, Bildad. Chapters 9 and 10 are Job's response. So remember, friend, Job. Different friend, Job. Another friend, Job. And then they go through it again. We're still in that first rotation. And so if you're not in a hurry, then we'll be fine. If this is getting old to you, wow, I don't know how to help you. Because there's 42 chapters all together. So let's read these 22 verses together. Does anyone here have a phobia of reading in front of others? Okay, that's one out. Is there any others? Alright, so there are a 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, so 11 of us. There's 22 verses. You know, that's pretty easy math, isn't it? So we'll read two verses a piece. I'll start and then we'll go to my left. My soul loathes my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me. Does it seem good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh, or do you see as man sees? Are thy days as days of man? Are thy years as man's days, that thou requirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin? According to your knowledge, I am indeed not guilty. Yet there is no deliverance from your hand. Your hands fashioned and made me all together. And would you destroy me? Remember, I pray, that you made me like clay. And will you turn me into dust again? Would you not pull me out like meat and curl me like cheese? Clothe me with my wonderful heart. Didn't you put skin and flesh on me? Didn't you sew me together with bones and muscle? You gave me life. You were kind to me. You took good care of me. You watched over me. If these things thou didst hide in thy heart, I know that this was thy purpose. If I sin, thou dost mark me, and dost not acquit me of my iniquity. If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished. If I am guilty, walk to me. Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in my affliction. If my head is exalted, you hunt me like a fierce lion, and again you show yourself awesome against me. You renew your witness against me and increase your indignation toward me. Changes in war are ever with me. Why then have you brought me out of the womb? That I have perished and no eye had seen me. I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Cease, leave me alone that I may take little comfort before I go to the place from which I shall not return to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, a land as dark as darkness itself, as a shadow of death without any order where even the light is like darkness. Oh wow, isn't that a happy little chapter? Alright, so you know when you look at verse number 8 it becomes pretty clear that he's talking to who? Yeah, so you should see that at least from there until the end of the chapter he's talking to God. Probably, if you look at verse 3, it should be equally as evident that he's talking to God. Why do I say that? Because he probably doesn't think Bildad created him, right? Alright, so he, in verse 2, begins his speech to God. I will say to God. So, you know, he goes on with Bildad and says, I'm going to tell you what I'm going to talk to God about. Here's what I'd say to God. Oh boy. So, there's a lot of reoccurring themes here. Can you remember some from some previous chapters that show up again in this one? He said he never wanted to be born. Yeah, that comes from chapter three, doesn't it? What verse are you talking about? The first one, my soul loathes my life. Uh, yes. Verse one. And then how about, uh, why, how about verse 18? Why have you brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no, I had seen me. I mean, you look, we can say he's, we can say he's being a little melodramatic if you want to, but I, he's been through something. Uh, I am not one of those folks that thinks this is a parable. I believe this is history. Now, why do we, with some level of confidence, say that this really happened? This is a historical figure. Why do we say that? What is the clue for us, other than it says it happened? How do we know this is not a parable? I'm telling you, there are lots and lots of churches today that have Baptists on the sign that preach that Job never happened. Lots of them. Lots of them. So, what do we look for when we consider whether Jonah, Job, Abraham, Noah, Moses, what do we consider when we try to prove the historicity? That's a stupid word, it sounds like it, but it really is a word. We're talking about the actual historical veracity or provableness, if you want to call it that. Where do we look, what do we consider? I think the New Testament would be one place to And we've mentioned that the book of James mentions Job and he says, you've heard of the prophets like Job. So there's, James got it wrong if Job never occurred. This is not like he's quoting Hamlet. Okay. He's talking about a guy who's supposed to be an example of suffering. Well, Job's no example of suffering if he didn't suffer. So Job really did occur. That does introduce some other questions, like who in the world was sitting there recording this verbatim? Well, that's why we think that these rich guys had what you might call clerks, court clerks, people sitting around and taking note of what they said. Personally, I think as we get further in the book of Job, I'll be able to prove to you that the last one who speaks before Job, or the last one who speaks before God, a guy named Elihu, is that very same person recording these conversations with a really, really wicked, fast pen. But anyway, are there any other reoccurring themes that happen in this part of Job's answer to this friend? To me, it's too personal to be a Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Every time, there's no parable. It's got to be real. A servant, I mean, if you just go ahead and say that's a parable, then how can you say in other parts of the Bible where God's speaking that that's not a parable either? Sure. I mean, that's, you're taking something and saying God's saying something. Well, that's... Right. Yeah, it's a slippery slope, isn't it? Once we set ourselves up as the people that correct the book, the book ceases to correct us. That's a good little one-liner. Look at verse 14. You see a reoccurring theme. If I sin, you mark me and will not acquit me of my iniquity. Does anyone's translation read differently there? You mark me. What is that the language of? If I sin, you would be watching me. You wouldn't let me go without Yeah. So your word with punishment, the word in the New King James is mark me. That is, uh, that goes well. Does anyone see a... I don't want to give the answer away. What theme does that continue? Job started it in chapter 6 and 7 with his reply to Eliphaz. The target? Yeah, there you are. The target, the archer. God is a judge who is also an archer. Remember in chapter 7 he says, he sits there by my bedpost and waits for me to stir in the morning just so he can shoot me. Sets his mark on me is the word he uses. OK, so that's a recurring. We haven't talked about the guilty handling. Verse 7, you already know I'm not guilty. Last week in chapter nine, we talked about the reoccurring judicial terminology. So that would go along with it, wouldn't it? You have the word guilty is verdict language. It's not conscience language. Don't forget in the scripture, as Sue is pointing out, guilty can either refer to how you feel, conscience, or a status. you are pronounced guilty by a jury or by a judge. In this case, because of what we've seen in chapter nine in verse number 33, verse 32, he is not a man as I am that I may answer him that we should go to court together. You see that in 9.32? So there is this continual theme of courtroom language. So what Sue just pointed out with 10.7, This you know that I'm not my translation says wicked. Sue says guilty that is judicial language You know that I am not guilty in your court of law, but I can't escape your verdict. I can't escape your judgment Here I am condemned verse 2 so this is not just accidental thematics. He's not just throwing words in there like condemn and guilty and wicked. He's continuing with this courtroom drama. All right, so that leads me to part two of our time together and that's all we'll have time for. I want you to see how Job, we often say, I've heard Walter say it, I've heard many of you say it, that Job is probably one of the first books of the Bible written. I agree. So let's see at least two places out of this chapter where it appears Job influenced other scripture writers. All right, let's look at the first one. So we're going to go from Job to a place outside of Job, to another place outside of Job, back to Job in eight minutes. All right? So you'll notice verse 8. Look at verse 8. "'Your hands have made me and fashioned me in intricate unity, yet you would destroy me. Remember, I pray, that you have made me clay, and will you turn me into dust again?" I want you to take note of that. And if you have opportunity, would you write right next to that Romans 9, in verses 20-23? That way, the next time you read through Job 10 in your Bible, you'll see right next to these verses, right next to chapter 10, verse 8 and 9 in Job, you'll see Romans 9, 20-23. And then let's go there. Let's go there and take a look at that passage. Romans chapter 9, verse 20 to 23. I think that we appreciate Scripture more if we see the authors as both inspired of God and human. And what do human authors do? They write reflecting the influences in their life. Well, what's one of the influences in Paul's life? The book of Job. Let's take a look. Romans chapter 9. Who will read verses 20-23? Alright, please do. Indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay? From the same lump to make the vessel for honor and another for the dishonor? What if God, wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessel of wrath, prepared for destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared before him for mercy? For glory? For glory. So what are we seeing here? We're seeing some really conspicuous language that Job and Paul both use. And what are the chances that they're using such similar language without one of them influencing the other, if it's not found anywhere else in the Old Testament? Well, if Paul was a student of the Old Testament, As much as we think he was, a Pharisee of Pharisees, Philippians 3 says. There's a strong chance that he was a student of Job. Remember I provided that check sheet in here, that cross, that worksheet, that cross, what am I trying to, spreadsheet, where Corinthians alludes to or quotes Job 10 times, just in 1st and 2nd Corinthians. And remember, we talked about how the only time the book of Job is quoted in the New Testament, the only time it's quoted is in 1 Corinthians. Who wrote 1 Corinthians? Paul did. Paul was heavily influenced by the book of Job, and here's yet another example. And basically, whether Paul intended to or not, he's answering Job's implication in chapter 10. Would God make me to crush me? And Paul's answer is, God can do that, and He doesn't owe you any answer. You are the work of His hands, and if you are intended on being crushed, He'll crush you, and you have nothing to say about it. Heavy stuff, friends. But not just Paul. So let's look at Psalm 139. Psalm 139 is usually seen as one of the main passages of Scripture for what I would like to call the pro-life argument. And Psalm 139. And I like to call the opposite argument not pro-choice, pro-death. And if that's vilification, then it's vilification. It's pro-death. The opposite of pro-life is pro-death. And so when I go to Psalm 139 and I see verses 13 through 16, it reminds me of Job 10 that we'll land in here in just a moment. Can someone here, besides Hazel, read Psalm 139, verses 13 through 16? I'll get it. Okay. For you formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works. and that my soul knows very well my frame was not hidden from you when i was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed and in your book they all were written the days fashioned for me when as yet there were none of them okay would you read verse 17 How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God. How great is the sum of them. Now the implication there is not just that God was thinking about David when he wrote this, but that God has been thinking about David since he was, what's the word he uses? Forming him in his mother's womb. Walter? Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Knit in my mother's womb. That's good, isn't it? And it's so good that you're like, wow, David had some real insight there. I wonder where he got this when he's saying things like, you knew my frame, skillfully wrought me, verse 15, formed me, your eyes saw me being yet unformed. That means that there was a time when he was in his mother and he didn't look like a human being. He was unformed, but God saw him and was thinking, verse 17, thinking about him. That reminds me of Jeremiah. Yeah, that's right. Before you formed me in the womb. Yeah, read that verse out of Jeremiah 1. Jeremiah 1, 4, and 5. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nation. That's good. So then the question, other than what would Seriously, you and I would be sitting there thinking, did the psalmist David, who predated Jeremiah, did he influence Jeremiah? Or was there another influencer in Jeremiah's life? Well, the answer is yes, David could have influenced him, but who influenced David? We could just say the Holy Spirit spoke to David and Jeremiah, and neither one influenced him. But I think you and I appreciate the biblical authors more when we think about them as being very, very naturally human and influenced in their writing. Don't forget, this is the mystery of both the living Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, and the written Word. See the parallel with me. The living Word, Jesus Christ, as Walter pointed out, God, yes, totally God. So much God that there's nothing made that was not made by Him, right? John 1 says, and He was made flesh. But totally man has all the marks of man and you know, got tired and sat down on a well, John 4. Wanted something to drink on the cross, right? Okay, so the Scripture, the written Word, is so divine that it reeks of God everywhere, and yet reflects humanity in its authorship. The written Word and the living Word are just like that. They both have the marks of one as if they don't have the other. The marks of humanity not flawed humanity. The Scripture has the marks of humanity as if it wasn't written by God, but it looks like it's written by God as if man had nothing to do with it. Both mysteries exist in both the written Word, the Scripture, and the living Word, Jesus. So, who influenced David? This stuff about us being formed in the womb. Well, look back at Job 10, where we read verses 10 and 11. Or verse 9, remember I pray that you have made me like clay. You'll turn me into dust again. Look at verse 10. It's strange language. Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? I don't want to get terribly graphic here. You should know what that's talking about. Psalm 139 uses the language of yet unformed. Remember that? So we're back in Job 10, verse number 10. Here's what he looked like when he was yet unformed in his mother. In verse 11, when you clothed me with skin and flesh and knit me together, same word, with bones and sinews. So you see Job was the first one who wrote about pre-birth. He was the first one who wrote about, at least in scripture, about our pro-life argument. That you were seen as separate from your mother while you were in your mother. You were seen as separate by God. Job's mom is nowhere in the passage, named or otherwise. Doesn't mean she was unimportant, of course it doesn't mean that. It means that God knew Job separate from his mom, just like he knew David separate from his mom, just like he knew Jeremiah separate from his mom. Any observations? Amen. I like 12, I mean verse 12, you have granted me life and favor. Right there, you know, it says all that stuff and then mentions very good pro-life. Yeah, what is he doing granting favor to someone who's not even born? But that's the context of that statement. Job's not saying you granted me favor now because what's the clue that Job is not now talking about his state? You've granted me life and favor. Because he's not in favor, right? That's right. There's nothing favorable about Job's situation when he says it. So he's talking about pre-birth. He granted me life and favor. When? When I looked like curdled milk before you put skin on me. So that's where the breath of God comes into Job. Job 33, 4. Actually, yeah, that's Job right there. No, I think that's Elihu there. Is that Job 33? That looks like, yeah. Okay, so we've learned a few things. If you haven't learned, if you're not sure what you can leave the room with, you should have Romans 9, 22 written next to verses 8 and 9. of Job 10, and you could have Psalm 139, 13 to 16, written down next to Job 10, 10 and 11. And you're starting to form your own path, in case you haven't ever been the person that would write in their Bible, you're getting courageous now, and you're seeing that the next time you read through this passage, you've got some things that you remember. We reviewed how the archery language shows up in verse 14, We've talked about the suicidal language, if you want to call it about that. Better off dead, verse 18. It's worse than that. Better off never been hatched. Yeah. And so I think that that's enough. Any other closing thoughts, questions? All right. Well then, with your permission,