All right, in the book of Job we are. We come to the second half of our study now, and we need to get our bearings once again, make sure we know just exactly what we're studying and where we are. Job has been declared by God to be a very righteous man. He said it twice. That was in Job chapter one and two. We read that and talked about it. And then the devil challenged Job's righteousness and integrity, and he did so on two grounds. He said to God, now I'm just bringing you up to date here. He said to God, he said this, well, you have made him very prosperous and protected him, his every step. Of course he's gonna serve you. And you have given him excellent health. In essence, Satan was saying to God, you take his stuff, you take his health away, he'll lose his integrity and he'll curse you right to your face. That was basically the story. At first, Job's responses were nothing less than amazing. They were outstanding and stellar. We talked about this. The Lord gave and the Lord take away, blessed be the name of the Lord. That was the first thing Job said. Then the second thing, he said in chapter two, shall we indeed accept good for God and shall we not accept adversity? That was his initial response to these two incredibly lost all his family lost all of his stuff lost all of his maids lost everything financial Lost everything economic lost everything relationally and then that wasn't enough He broke out with boils from head to foot and was sitting in the ash heap of the city dump scraping himself with broken pottery so This was terrible. And how did he react? Well, I just read it to you. It was amazing. But time wore on. His friends turned to, the word Jerry introduced, was frenemies. They piled on the criticism. Job's composure and his faith and his patience began to wear thin. And he actually said this in chapter 3 verse 11. Why did I not die at birth? Why didn't I just perish when I came out of the womb? He said, man, if this is what life is going to be, if this is where I've come to, why in the world do I have to keep living? Lord, why don't you just take me away? Well, he, from chapter four on Job's waves of pain were intensified by the criticism and the accusations of these so-called friends. When they showed up at first, they were doing really good because they sat in silence and all they wanted to do was comfort him and show him pity in his suffering. But when they opened their mouths, boy, how many times do you get yourself in trouble when you just start opening your mouth? That's just the way it is. They open their mouths and they begin to make mistakes. They made wrong assumptions. They made more mistakes. Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and one we haven't met yet, but we'll meet, Elihu, they all ascribe to this way of thinking. They ascribe to Only sinners suffer. That's their mentality. If you're suffering, you're a sinner. If you're suffering a lot, you're a big sinner. I mean, in other words, that's it. That's their entire argument. It goes on for, you say, well, why are you looking at all this? Because that's the way life is. It doesn't just, you know, you don't, how many of you just had one problem in life and the rest of life has been rosy? It doesn't work that way, does it? I mean, doesn't it seem like trouble comes in packs and waves and things like that? Well, that's the way it is. Job refuted that idea. He refused to confess to sins that he didn't commit, and he endured endless and increasingly vicious verbal attacks. I'm just bringing you up to date about where we are. that these so-called friends of his who came and now have become his, they've become his critics and attackers. The only thing that they haven't done is pick up a stick and beat a confession out of him. They haven't done that. And I hate to say it, but sometimes we today have the same mentality. We just like to grab people that are suffering, shake them real hard by the shoulders and say, hey, what in the world are you doing to make God so mad at you? Sometimes we're, you know, we even think like that. Well, I have to say this, if God is taking somebody to the woodshed, he doesn't need any help. You know that, right? I mean, if God's gonna correct us, he doesn't need anybody else to help correct a person. So Job has been the stage for this drama, his life. This heavenly, I called it in this, I don't know if you've got it written on your sheet or not, but the heavenly throwdown between God and Satan. What a concept. Jerry, I think you were kind of talking about that, basically saying, do not be surprised that God tests us. He tests us and he tries us and he allows things to test us. He says, have you considered my servant, Joe? You know, I want you to write this down. God does things we would never do, and he plans things that we would never plan. I don't think any of us would raise up our hand like a flag and say, hey God, I volunteer to be put through what Job went through. I don't think any of us would, none of us would do that. God doesn't ask us to do that. But God does do things that we would never do, and he plans things that we would never plan. Write this down. But he does them first for his glory, and finally for our good. You know, it really, really, really looks bad for Job right now. It looks bad. But hang around. Things are going to change drastically before we get done. So in the midst of the suffering, at least twice, I'm making sure we're not missing some things here because we have a habit of making statements that are weighty and then we just move on and forget about them. But I want to make sure we're hearing this. Here we are in the book of Job in the middle of the life of an individual who's going through incredible suffering, but we have four occasions already of tremendous Bible doctrine and prophecy, and I want you to see it. The first one is an Old Testament reference to the resurrection. It is astounding. Listen to Job 14.14. If a man dies, shall he live again? There's the question. All the days of my hard service, I will wait, listen to these words, till my change comes. You shall call and I will answer you. You shall desire the work of your hands. What is he talking about? He believes that no matter what happens to him and if he does die in the middle of all this, he believes that there's a change coming and God's gonna call and in his body he is gonna respond. He believes in the resurrection. Magnificent, right here in the Old Testament. How about Job 19.25? Brother Jerry hammered on this one last week. Job 19 25 for I know that my Redeemer lives and he shall stand at last on the earth now watch this verse 26 and after my skin is destroyed this I know that in my flesh I Shall see God you said what if the worms eat all your flesh up folks God God made man in the beginning out of out of the dirt of the ground he can cost reconstitute us people ask me all the times the pastor do you believe in do you believe in the cremation and It's not my choice, but it's not my decision for you. But if you're worried about can God resurrect somebody who was cremated, if He can resurrect people who have been eaten by sharks and resurrect people that have, you know what I'm saying, He can resurrect us from any situation. And I just want you to know that the resurrection is not in question. One more key thing that I don't want you to miss, that we've already seen in the life of Job, in the scriptures, right out of his mouth. The first thing we did was, is he asked for, he clearly, when he was going through all this suffering, he felt like he was all alone, that there was nobody that he could talk to, that he didn't have a man. that could be a go-between. Now, the way we use that word is mediator. There's no mediator. That was in chapter nine in verse 32 to 33. It says this, speaking of God, he is not a man as I am that I may answer him and that we should go to court together, and then 33, nor is there any mediator who may lay his hand on both of us. He was asking for what God is going to provide. Isn't that beautiful? Titus 2 5 says there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus So what I want you to see is in the book of Job in the life of suffering We have these huge themes that leap out and say to us Job wants a mediator. What has God provided? mediator he's provided his son as a mediator and then he asked for something else he asked for an advocate a lawyer in chapter 16 verse 19 to 21 for some reason I didn't put that on my paper let me flip over here real quick he asked for an advocate a lawyer verse 19 even now behold my witnesses in heaven and my advocate Is on high my friends are my scoffers my eye weeps. Oh that a man might plead with god As a man with his neighbor for when a few years are passed. I shall go the way of no return Oh that somebody might plead my case. Guess what? We have somebody pleading our case if anyone sins We have an advocate with the father an advocate an advocate an advocate, you know, there's a lot of of Advocates running around today doing their advocating this and advocating that Well, we got an advocate sitting at the right hand of the father that every time the devil accuses us of something It says father or when he says God look at your children. Look what they're doing. They're sinners. They're bad. They're this they're that Do you know what Jesus leans over and says? Yep, and I died for that sin. I We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the propitiation, the atoning sacrifice, that is, for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So Job's suffering. Job is suffering. I don't know if you have this to fill in or not. He has suffered financially. Have you seen that? He has suffered financially. Second, he has suffered physically. Are these the kind of things people go through today? Financially physically he is suffering Relationally anybody got any relational suffering going on today. He suffered relationally all all of his kids He lost him his many servants are dead and his wife is estranged from him in fact by this time She said won't you just curse God and die Wow Not much support there he suffered financially he suffered physically he suffered relationally he's suffering he is suffering spiritually He's in a spiritual crisis. Had somebody write me a letter today and said, Pastor Phil, I don't know what to do. He said this, that, and the other. And he said, I'm in a trial of my faith. He says, my faith is being put to the test. In other words, I'm in a spiritual crisis. Job was in a spiritual crisis because what is he doing? What's he asking over and over? Where is God? That's what he's asking. He's suffering socially. Isn't it amazing? Do people today suffer with any of these things? Socially. He is a pariah. He is a thing to be avoided. He carries the stigma of big sinner, because you got these three guys, that's all they say, he's a big sinner, he's terrible, he's horrible, he's hiding stuff. This guy is terrible, he's a wicked man. You gotta stand back, lightning may strike. You know, I mean, that's what's happening here. He has a stigma on him because of what is being said about him because of the accusations of his friend. He said, well, how bad is the criticism? Well, I want to go back, Jerry, look at chapter 18. And verse number 21, everybody look at it. I thought Jerry was doing this last week. I didn't even see this until you were doing your lesson. And I was reading along and I read this verse. Look at what, verse 21 of chapter 18. Now this is Bildad, right? Bildad is doing his speech and he's saying all the terrible things. And he's making all kinds of accusations. Here's what he says in verse 21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked and this is the place of him. Look at these words who does not know god So what is what is what is bill dead saying I think the real problem here is is you really don't know God at all. I mean, how could anybody that knows God and has any sense of righteousness and any sense of fear of God, how could they possibly have done something so bad they could be suffering? Why, this is the case of God raining down judgment on a heathen. You don't even know God. He's basically saying, Job, you're not just a backslidden saint. You don't even know God at all. The degree of your suffering means that God doesn't know you. Whoa. You say, well, no one would ever say that. Listen, I've had people come in and say, well, this and that and so on and such, and here's what's going on. And I don't even think they know God. I don't even think they're saved. Man, I'm going to tell you what, there's only one person on this planet that I have any confidence of their salvation. Me. I hear people say all the time, you know, this one, I believe he's a believer. Well, he gives evidence, he looks like it from the outside. I mean, it seems like, but can you say for sure that the person sitting beside you, behind you, in front of you, can you say for certainty that they truly are a child of God, they know Jesus? Can you say that for an absolute certainty and a fact, do you know it? Who knows it? God knows it. And the person knows whether they're playing games or not. Wow, this guy just told Job, well your real problem is you don't know God. We're focused on this book of Job and we're sort of suffering with him through all of these trials. Sometimes we might be tempted to think that Job is the only one that ever suffered like he did. You know what? I believe he may have set the benchmark for suffering, but there are many more people in the scripture and outside the scriptures that have suffered for their faith. Don't forget about Joseph in the Old Testament, Joseph. The next to last son of Jacob. He suffered a lot at the hands of his brothers. Then he suffered at Potiphar's house, false accusations, and then he suffered in Pharaoh's dungeon. And then he even suffered the forgetful Butler. Don't forget that. I mean, he told the guy and told him, please remember me before the king. And it was two full years before he even remembered to mention anything to the king on his behalf. Moses, remember him? Moses was hounded and criticized endlessly and relentlessly by the people he delivered from Egypt. God used him to deliver them. He was God's man brought, you know, through him, all those incredible plagues hit. And they criticized him. How about David? Talk about people who suffered. David killed the most feared enemy of God's people. What was his name? Goliath. But after he killed him, He was hounded everywhere by the very king that he served. And then by his own family, his own son tried to see him put to death and threw him out. How about Daniel? He dealt with the lions. How about the three Hebrew children? They just did nothing but the right thing. They did nothing but serve God and live righteously. What did they get? The fire. Fiery furnace how about Jesus? He what hatred and jealousy and persecution and Falka accusation and persecution What did he not endure and then he was condemned for blasphemy and sedition and was crucified There've been a lot of people who have suffered through the years. I mean you've ever heard of Richard Wurmbrand Richard Wurmbrand I looked this up He was the author of Tortured for Christ and he is associated with Voice of the Martyrs. I don't know whether he found it or not, but he may have, but he's associated with Voice of the Martyrs. He was merciless, mercilessly tortured in communist prisons in Romania because he would not recant his faith and he would not quit praying for the guards who were beating him. Think about that. Here's what he said. He said this, that there are two kinds of Christians, those who sincerely believe in God and those who just as sincerely believe that they believe. You can tell them apart by their actions in decisive moments. People who believe under pressure still believe. But people who believe they believe, but don't really believe, under extreme pressure, melt. Richard Wernbrand also said, I have found truly jubilant Christians only in the Bible, in the underground church, and in prison. Think about that. He said, until somebody suffered, they really don't know what joy is. That's pretty amazing, Richard Wurmbrandt. Suffering and persecution is not something that is relegated to a ignorant time of human history. It's still going on today. Today we are very, very aware of what is going on in Ukraine. It is very fresh in our minds. But folks, there are people, believers specifically, under the rule of Islam and Hinduism, in Indonesia, India, and Africa that are suffering as a matter of course. It's their daily life. It is the way they live. They live running for their lives. They're in persecution on a continual basis. So Job may have set the benchmark, but he's not the only one. So we're gonna pick it up now with Zophar. He's that second one in the group, or third one in the group. It's round two. Job's response to him we're gonna read as well. This man, Zophar, I don't know, maybe Elihu is the worst, but Zophar may be the most brutal of all of his critics. He's not passively critical, an observer just watching, but he is enjoying laying on all this criticism, and he likes seeing the grief that it causes Job. You know, Paul must have experienced that some when he was in jail because in Philippians he said some people preach because of goodwill and they preach because they love the gospel. He says others pretend and they seek to add affliction to my suffering. Isn't that amazing? They actually preach the gospel to persecute Paul. Amazing So there are people like that now let's talk about Zophar's haughty diatribe on the woes of the wicked that's chapter number 20 and it's verses 4 through 29 let me just read just a little bit of it Zophar the Nehemiah the Nehemiathite answered therefore disquieting my thoughts make me respond even because of my inward agitation. I listen to the reproof which insults me and the spirit of my understanding makes me answer. And so this is kind of interesting. In verse 2, so far, he is agitated by Job's responses. Basically, he's saying, the cries of pain of a wounded soul and a broken body are agitating me. In other words, he's not looking at Job's suffering. He's looking at himself and saying, all of this complaining and everything that you're doing is really beginning to get to me. It's irritating me. So it's just incredible. So here's what he says to him verses 4 through 11. He says now look Look, Job, your journey is transient. That just means it's just something you're passing through. Listen to verse four and don't expect anything different. He says, do you know this from of old, from the establishment of man on earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the godless is momentary? Though his loftiness reaches the heavens and his head touches the clouds, he perishes forever like his refuse. those who have seen him will say where is he he flies away like a dream and they cannot find him even like a vision of the night he is chased away the eye which saw him sees him no more and his place no longer beholds him his sons favor the poor and his hands give back his wealth His bones are full of youthful vigor, but it lies down with him in the dust." Here's basically what he is saying in the passage. First, he says, your victory and success were very short-lived because you are wicked and because you are godless. That's what he says in verse 5. Says the reason, the reason you had prosperity and it didn't last very long is because you're just a very wicked person and a very godless person. So how would that be for comfort? You're suffering. You're in pain. You're scratching yourself with, you know, to scratch the itch and the oozing swords with broken pottery. And the guy stands in front of you and says, you see all that pain you're going through all that hurt, all that's happening to you. Let me tell you why that's happening. You're godless and you're wicked and you deserve it. And I'm your friend. That's the assumption that Zophar has here. The wicked don't long endure. Now, this is something we have to point out. If you mean compared to eternal suffering, then we can agree. But if we mean that those people, the wicked, don't last long on the earth, you're mistaken. Let me give you a couple of examples. For us to say the wicked are always killed quickly, that's what Zophar's saying. You're suffering and you're gonna die quickly and you're gonna die young because you're so wicked and you're so godly and everybody knows that God kills the wicked young, okay? King Manasseh of Judah, was the most wicked of the kings of Israel. He was the one that he turned the house of God into a house of prostitution. He turned the temple of God into a place of offering children to Molech and to Chemosh. He offered his own children to these wicked gods. He established high points everywhere in the city, altars to unknown gods. This was the wickedest of the wicked of the wicked of the kings. He ruled 52 years. The longest. God let him dig a deep hole, didn't he? You remember the Canaanites? These are the ones that the children of Israel are gonna dislodge from the land of Canaan. The Canaanites had a 400-year run of wickedness. God just kept, he let his people be in bondage in Egypt, suffering for 400 years, and gave the Canaanites 400 years to repent. They never repented. You know how long Stalin lived? I have never read about anybody that was a more despicable and inhuman person than was Stalin of Russia. We talk about six million Jews being killed. That's terrible, horrible, I don't minimize it. Stalin killed 10 million of his own people. Unbelievable. He lived to be 74. Did you ever hear of Mao Zedong? You're talking about cruel. Mao Zedong, 83 years old. How about Fidel Castro? 90. So for us to think that God is automatically and quickly gonna rain down on the wicked and gonna destroy them quickly, we know what eternity's gonna happen, but it doesn't mean it's gonna happen. So what is Job doing? What is Zophar doing? Zophar's saying, well, everybody knows that the reason you're in such trouble and your prosperity's gone and you're so sick and gonna die young is because you're so wicked, because that's what happens to wicked people. Not true, not necessarily. Here's something else he said in verse six and seven. You rose really high, but you fell really hard. Look at verse number seven. He perishes forever like his refuse. And I don't want to get graphic, but basically down the drain with you like refuse. Job, boy, he's a nice guy, isn't he? I have a question. You rose high, fell hard. I have a question. Who do we remember? Do we remember Zophar or do we remember Job? And that's why we talk about the patience of whom? Do we talk about Zophar? Do we attribute anything to Zophar? No. Just Job. Then he says this. This is unthinkable. Look at verse number 10. It says, his sons favor the poor, and his hands give back his wealth. In other words, your sons are running around. Your sons are going to have to run around and pay back all of the terrible things you did to people because you were such a crook in business. Your kids have paid the price for your wickedness. That's verse number 10. Then he says, Job, you're going to die young, verse number 11. His bones are full of vigor and his youthful vigor, but it lies down with him in the dust. You're young, but you're going to die young. You are going to die young. Well, folks, God has not always promised long life to everybody. Do you remember a man by the name of CH Spurgeon? Do you ever hear him? Prince of preachers. I've got every sermon he ever preached in a book in my office and hadn't read them all. I don't, I'm not saying that I have them in books. I read them from time to time. He moved the world for a while. Every sermon he preached was the front page or the second page of the newspaper every week. I mean, they could not not listen to him. 53 years old. I would have thought, I didn't even know that until I studied this. I thought he would live much longer than that. 53 years old. Have you ever heard of David Brainerd? The prayerful prayer warrior missionary to the American Indians, the Iroquois Indians in upstate New York, died at 29. I think this one really takes the cake, and then I'm gonna tell you an up-to-date story. How many of you ever heard of William Whiting Borden? William Borden. You've heard this story. He was an American philanthropist and millionaire missionary. Millionaire missionary. He was a missionary candidate. He died in Egypt before he ever reached his chosen field, which was Gansu province in China. How old was he? 26. But he also wrote, no reserves, no retreats, and no regrets. He gave his fortune and he gave his life to reach the people of China, and he never even landed. Only God understands these things. Let me tell you another story, up to date. Josh and Janiece Collier, you guys know who I'm talking about, right? Our missionaries, right out of this church, we're on the church staff, 14 years, serve in North Africa. Josh and Denise Collier, along with Jonathan and Holly Wheeler, they have a missionary team, they work in North Africa, in a Muslim country, very difficult work. They had a third couple that was preparing to come to the field to work with them. They had raised almost all of their money, they were over 90% of their money thrilled to be almost ready to have their home church send them out to go to the mission field. The wife went to the hospital to deliver a baby and she died. That was this week. Pray for Josh and Janice. Pray for Jonathan and Holly. The man's name is Doug, he has now a little infant that's barely surviving, and two other children, and big questions in his mind. God, why? Can you imagine? We're here to serve you, Lord, we're on the way, we wanna go and we wanna reach these people in this very difficult place, and God, why? So they weren't wicked, but they died how young? Very young. See what I'm saying? This, what Zophar is saying holds no water. And somebody might ask, well why does God, I don't know why God. I just like to say what God, what would you want me to do? I can never answer the why. How many of you have why questions you never got the answer to? Well if you make an appointment with Brother Jerry, he'll give you the answer. Because to make an appointment with me is just futile, because I can't answer you the why questions. I just can't. Now listen, it's amazing, and Zophar is just, Zophar is so far off of the truth, it's just not even, it's not even funny. And so you're gonna die young. Well, you know, dying young does not mean that God's upset with him. I could go on, the missionary couple that sat right beside Bonnie and I in missionary orientation went to Nepal. They went to Nepal, they got established, they were there, and just as soon as they got their language study done in their third, it took them three years to learn the language, to become proficient in the language, got on an airplane to take their children, and their family had five children, to take their family on a vacation to go down to somewhere in Indonesia. The plane went up in the air, drove straight into the mountains, and the two people and five children, missionaries who'd just finished their studies in language, all died. Well, God's just not fair. No. God's not fair, but God is sovereign, and he's right, and he's righteous, and who knows what reward these people have. It's so incredible. Now, Zophar is just hammering Job. Now, let's talk about something else. Your joy is temporary, Job. This is verse number 12. Look at it. Though evil is sweet in his mouth, And he hides it under his tongue. By the way, he's speaking in general terms. He said, now we know that one who is wicked, who do you think he's talking to and about? Job, so let's don't be funny about it. Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, though he desires it and will not let it go, but holds it in his mouth, yes, his food is in his stomach, is changed to the venom of cobras within him. He swallows riches, but will vomit them up. God will expel them from his belly. He sucks the poison of cobras, the viper's tongues, slays him, He does not look at the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and curds. He returns what he has attained, and he cannot swallow it. As to the riches of his trading, he cannot even enjoy them, for he has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has seized a house which he has not built." Look at the accusations Zophar is making. Amazing first job you devour wickedness you eat it up It's sweet to you love evil because if you didn't love evil, then all these things wouldn't be happy that you devour it It's sweet to your taste, but it's like Cobra's venom in your belly and God has made you vomit up all of your blessings That's verse 12 15 Next job your ill-gotten gains like rivers of honey and cream your ill-gotten gains are not yours to enjoy because God took them away and And you deserve it. I mean, this is what Zophar is saying to him. Can it get any worse? I mean, this guy's just, the other guy said, you don't even know God. This guy says, well, you might know God, but you've been so wicked, so evil, and you're such a cheat, and you're such a, all of your gains are ill-gotten gains in business, and God's paying you back. Now just repent, that's what he's saying. Can we make assumptions about people? Can we come to wrong conclusions too quickly about people? We can Joe, let's look at the next part. You lost your house because you stole it. Look at verse 19. He has oppressed and forsaken the poor. He has seized the house, which he has not built. Zophar has made false assumptions false accusations and false predictions about Joe He does accurately portray the idea that the more we indulge in sin the less it satisfies I mean he and the cravings get greater in other words He is correct in what he is saying about when people indulge in sin, they're never satisfied, and sin always takes us, what do they say? Takes us farther than we want to go, keeps us longer than we want to stay, and makes us pay much more than we wanted to pay. Well, that is exactly right. And so, I mean, it is true. If you don't think that's true, ask Ted Bundy. He's dead and gone now, but Ted Bundy started with soft porn, that wasn't enough. So he went to hard porn, that wasn't enough. Then he went to voyeurism, that wasn't enough. Then he went to rape, that wasn't enough. Then he went to rape and murder, that wasn't enough. So he did it dozens of times. So, I mean, so far he's right in saying sin is never, sin, the pleasure of sin never satisfies, it only hooks us. But do remember this, remember that some of the statements of Job's friends are right, but they are said at the wrong time, in the wrong way, to the wrong person, under the wrong circumstances. Do you know that you can even say the right thing at the wrong time? Did you know that you can even say the truth? I just tell the truth, I tell it like it is. When I see it, I just tell it like it is. Well, you know, that is not always the best thing to do in every situation, to just tell it like it is, you know? Sometimes the best thing to do, just hold your tongue and pray. Hold your tongue and wait and you know what I've learned the older I get the more I mean I wish I could go back and change things but boy the first thought that comes to mind I want to just give somebody a earful, you know That was not always the best choice, even if I was right It's important important, isn't it? So this is so far as what he's doing. He's not done yet. I gotta hurry. He's not done yet. Your judgment is terrifying. Write that down. Your judgment is terrifying and it ought to be. Verses 20 to 29. Verse 20, because he knew no quiet within him, he does not restrain anything he desires. Nothing remains for him to devour. He's talking about Job. Therefore, his prosperity does not endure. In the fullness of his plenty, he will be cramped. The hand of everyone who suffers will come against him. When he fills his belly, God will send his fierce anger on him, and it will rain on him while he is eating. He may flee from the iron weapon, but the bronze bow will pierce him. It is drawn forth and comes out of his back, even the glittering point from his gall. Terrors come upon him. Complete darkness is held in reserve for his treasures. An unfanned fire will devour him. It will consume the survivor in his tent. The heavens will reveal his iniquity. The earth will raise up against him. The increase of his house will depart. His possessions will flow away in the day of his anger. This is the wicked man's portion from God, even the heritage decreed by him." Boy, he's just really, he's on a roll. He's saying, this is what's gonna happen to you, Job. Basically, Zophar is speaking to a straw man. He's saying, well, here's what happens to a wicked person, Job. Let me tell you what happens to, I mean, who else is there? You got this audience of the other two critics. They're listening. We don't know who else is sitting around listening, but who do you think he is describing when he talks about the wicked man? He's just applying it all to Job. Look all the way back to verse four and five. Do you know this from of old, from the establishment of man on earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless momentary? Do you see what he's doing? He's just trying to say, I'm just giving you some platitudes, and giving you some truths, and you just apply it any way you want. No, he's not. He's saying, Job, this is your case. Make no mistake to speak in general terms to a person who is suffering, but to say it to him personally. Here's what he told him. Your wealth is gone. Therefore, there's no supply for those things you need. That's verse 20 to 23. Your protection is gone. So you're going to be run through with a weapon. And it describes basically a spear running through his belly. Your future is dark, that's verse 26. Your judgment is coming now and later. It's gonna be on earth and in heaven. Verse 27, the heavens will reveal his iniquity. In other words, when God gets done beating on you on earth, you're gonna get up into heaven and you're gonna find out God's gonna reveal the rest of what was wrong with you. In other words, you're gonna be judged here and you're gonna be judged there. God is judging you, you wicked man. Now that's so far. How many of you need friends like that? How many of you want to be a friend like that? How many of us have ever been guilty of being just a little bit like Eliphaz, Bildad, and so far? I can point to moments in my life where I had a little bit of a condescending attitude toward people that were suffering, thinking they made their bed and I let them sleep in it. Have you ever done that? It's not what God would have us do. Job's humble discussion. Now he's going to have a discussion. This in itself is amazing. Job is in pain, but he's able to gather his emotions, think and respond humbly and succinctly, and he even does so oratorically. It's amazing. We know God is helping him here because he actually says things that are amazing. The three critics have declared that the cause and effect nature, they have declared the cause and effect nature of his suffering. It is a dogmatic stance on why people suffer, no room for discussion. Job is gonna dismantle their position point by point, especially Zophar's position. Job's suffering, Job's suffering in spite of his integrity would have no meaning at all if the only explanation for suffering was wickedness. Let me say that again Job's Suffering in spite of his integrity. What did God say about Job in chapter 1 and chapter 2? He's upright righteous fears. God hates evil and there's nobody like him anywhere. That's what God said But he's suffering how does those two things go together how can somebody do in the will of God and full of integrity, full of character, loving and fearing God and helping everybody they can. How can they possibly, I mean, doesn't Proverbs teach us the opposite? Doesn't Psalms teach us the opposite? That, you know, it's the wicked who suffer, but the, I mean, isn't that what the Bible says? You know, I'm gonna say some things at the end that are gonna bring some clarity to this whole point. But the truth is this. The book of Proverbs and the book of Psalm, but especially Proverbs and Ecclesiastes speak about the general outcome of things if all things run according to normal course. The book of Job is the exceptions. Because it just doesn't always work like this. So Job does this. Job makes an appeal to them, verses one to 60. He answered and said, listen carefully to my speech and let this be your way of consoling me. Bear with me that I may speak, that after I have spoken you may mock. As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient? Look at me, and be astonished, and put your hand over your mouth. Even when I remember, I am disturbed, and horror takes a hold of my flesh." Here's what we see here. The first thing Job asked them to do is just listen to me. You see that in verse number, what is it, verse number two? Listen carefully to my speech. Listen to me. He says to them, just console me if you would by giving me your ear and then I'll let you go on mocking me. It'll be a consolation if you just let me speak. Boy, that is a huge thing. You know, sometimes when people go through a heartache, a heartbreak, a heart pain, or they lost somebody, sometimes we're afraid to talk to them, we don't know what to say to them, and we don't approach people who are in pain and going through a hard time, we don't approach them at all, because we don't know what to say to them. Well, sometimes the best thing to do is not say anything, but, look what he says, listen to me, but let them tell their story. Jerry said something really good the other night. You were talking about witnessing to people, and you said just asking questions. But you know what's a good thing to do when somebody's going through it? Instead of saying, well, I hope you're gonna get better and God's gonna get you through this and there's really enough grace. That's all true, that's wonderful. But sometimes we can't just smooth over the hurt. We can't just gloss over the pain. We can't just, sometimes the best thing to do is just say, well, look, I'm here to hear what you have to say about what's going on. Tell me about it. Sometimes that's the best thing to do. That's what Job is saying to them. Console me by giving me your ear. You know what? We have eyes to observe, and we got two of them. And we have two ears to hear, and we have two ears. But we only have one mouth, and our mouth has more than one use. What other use do your ears have than to hear? Do you do anything else with your ears than hear? Hang your glasses. Pretty good. Smart Alec, that was really good. But do your ears have any other purpose? What's the purpose of your eyes? To see, behold, look. So you got two eyes to look with, two ears to hear with, and they got no other purpose. But you know, our mouth we speak with, but what else does it do? Well, we drink with our mouths, we eat with our mouths, we chew with our mouth. I mean, we do several things, but for some reason, For some reason, these guys didn't have that understanding. They just thought that they need to just overwork their lips, overwork their tongue, overwork. How many of you, don't even raise your hand, but how many of you, just in your own heart, you can raise your hand in your heart, sometimes you know that you just said too much? I say, you're gonna say, Pastor Phil, you say too much every Sunday morning. That's probably true. But we, Oh man, it's just, we ought to speak less than we listen. We ought to speak less than we observe. So important. Listen to me. And then verse number four to six, he says, look at me. Somehow they just didn't, they were not able, they were looking at Job, but looking through Job, they didn't see Job. I mean, how could you look at Job in his incredible pain and loss and keep hammering him? Look at my condition. Let that temper your speech. You ought to just clap a hand over your mouth and consider me. How many times do we not see a person? I want to pull over and step up on my little soapbox for a moment here and just talk about something. We don't see a person. Now, we could take that literally in the sense of we pass by people in need every day. We pass by hurting people, people that are just, I mean, we just pass by but, you know, we live, I said it on Sunday, we live with blinders on, you know. We got blinders, we got our nose to the grindstone, we got our own thing, you know, God help me, help us, help our house, help my things, help me, me, me, me, me. We live like that way with blinders sometimes. But that's, we understand that concept. But let me step up on another little soapbox. I want to pull over and say something. Email, texts, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and all the rest are terrible places for the communication of a sensitive nature. terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible place to express your emotion, to express your anger, to express your upset. They are the most terrible possible thing, especially if you're talking back to a person who has said something. What do you mean, Pastor? I mean this. More families and friendships break apart because we say and post things without regard for the other person's situation or feelings We can't see them. We can't see their real expressions on their faces. We can't see the body language. We can't hear the tone of their voice. And we are bound to say more than necessary or even criticize unfairly because we are simply not in their presence. We can't see them. If I had a magic wand as the pastor of the church and could do anything for my congregation, I would wave the wand and destroy technology. Because I have had more people in my office with hurt over something that was said or communicated through these techniques. I know they're just a tool and every tool can be misused, but I'm telling you, I have dealt with more heartbreak and heartache and broken families and broken hearts because of things said through these technological inventions. Do I think they're evil? No, I think they're a tool, but I think our hearts are evil and we're unguarded and because we cannot see that person, we say a whole lot more than we would if we understood and we're looking them right in the face. You just take that for what it's worth. Job says, look at me. Job asked them to stop and look at him. And so he says, I'm in greatly suffering. I'm in tremendous pain. Will you please lay off? Appeal next he gives some arguments beginning in verse number number 26 and the first thing he says is the wicked have great power That's amazing. The wicked have great power verse 7 verse number 7. Why do the wicked still live? Continue on also become very powerful Their descendants are established with them in their sight and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear. Neither is the rod of God. God's not punishing them. His ox mates without fail. His cow calves and does not abort. They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children skip about. They sing to the timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the flute. They spend their days in prosperity and suddenly they go down to Sheol. Now here's Here's what he's saying. Remember now, Zophar has said, the wicked do not live long, they do not prosper, God destroys them. What is Job doing right here? He's saying, you're not looking around, you're not paying attention. That's not true. And he goes on, he says, first of all, he says, the wicked have power, one, they don't die young, they live and gain power. That's verse seven. Then it says, verse eight, their kids live and thrive. And then verse 9, their homes are safe and they don't experience correction, it seems. And then verse 10, their cattle and flocks mate and they reproduce without fail, thus making a great economy for them. Verse 11, their kids live carefree. Verse number 12, they enjoy entertainment. Look at it. They sing to the timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the flute. They're enjoying all the entertainments of life. Well, don't we do that sometimes? We think, you know, the Christians are the ones that just live, you know, we sit in the corner and eat sour grapes and, you know, we just go through life and never have any fun. Look at all the world, they have all the fun. Well, that's what that verse is saying. It says there, they live to the full and then die like everybody else, but they do it without so much suffering. So he is just completely destroying the argument of Zophar. The question is always, how do we explain the prosperity of the wicked? We either think, one, they're not wicked, or two, we've got a bad definition of righteousness, or three, we might think God is not watching, or four, we might think God doesn't really care anyway, or five, maybe they're just not a God at all. I mean, that's kind of a progression of thinking when people get to thinking and looking, and boy, the wicked just keep prospering. Well, if you want a real primer on that and how to look at it, read Psalm 37 fret, not when the wicked prosper, you know, don't worry about it. Just, just look at it. And so it is the fact that the wicked do seem to prosper sometimes right up to the day of death. But remember there's something after death. The wicked are perverse. Verses 4 and 15, they're very perverse. And they say to God, depart from us. We do not even desire the knowledge of thy ways. Who is the almighty that we should serve him? And what would we gain if we entreat him? What are we gonna pray to God for? I mean, why serve God? He's not gonna do anything for, look, he's not doing anything for Job. This is what Job is saying. So they're perverse. This is very telling about the attitude of the godless. They don't even wanna hear about God's will and ways. Does that sound familiar to you? Does that sound familiar? How about Romans 1, 28? They did not like to retain God in their knowledge. They didn't want to even think about their being a God. Well, that's who these people are. And so they asked the question, what do we get out of serving God? That's what they're saying. Then the wicked, Job's still talking. Now he's refuting Zophar in all of his, what he posited back in the other chapter. He says, the wicked are prosperous. Look at verse number 16. Verse number 16, he says, they're very prosperous. Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me. They're prosperous. The wicked are protected, it seems, verse 17 to 21. They are not judged quickly in verse number 17. How often does the lamp of the wicked put out or does their calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in his anger? He says, the wicked aren't judged quickly. And then they're not being blown away like straw. Boy, this is an awesome, awesome thing. What does it say in the Bible that if we do right and meditate on God's word, we'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth his fruit and his Susan, but the wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Is this a Bible contradiction? Let me read this. Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff which the storm carries away? You say God stores away a man's iniquity for his sons. Let God repay him so that he may know it. Let his own eyes see his decay and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. For what does he care for his household after him when the number of his months is cut off? And so Job says this, look, they're not being blown away. Seems to me like there's a contradiction of Psalm chapter 1. The illustrations of verse 18 are reminiscent of Psalm 1-4, which says the wicked are like the chaff that the wind blows away. Well, Psalms is the wisdom category, and it speaks in the same generalities that Proverbs does. It is not addressing the exceptions like in the case of Job. The Lament Psalms and the Ecclesiastes do this. Normally the wicked are destroyed like chaff, but Job assorted by this question that he rarely saw it himself. The figures of the wind and the gale bring to mind the way that his children died. How did Job's children die? In other words, instead of the wind blowing the wicked away like straw, who did it blow away? In Job's case, chapter one, what was it that blew his family away? A big wind. Isn't that amazing? So is Job supposed to make the assumption, well, I must be the biggest sinner in the world because this is what God did, but he could not come up with what he had done. to bring him. So the wicked will be punished in time, but death is coming to us all. Boy, this is something we need to pause and think about. Look at verse number 22. Can anyone teach God knowledge in that he judges those on high? One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and satisfied. His sides are filled out with fat, and the marrow of his bones is moist. In other words, this guy's fat and sassy, healthy, but he dies. While another dies with a bitter soul, never having tasted anything good. Together they lie down in the dust and worms cover them. Boy, this is huge. Write this down on your sheet there. The wicked will be punished in time, but death is coming to all. You know the great equalizer is, don't you? The great equalizer is death. There's two equalizers. One, the cross of Calvary. Because the cross of Calvary paid for the sin debt of poverty-stricken people and princes. There's only one payment for sin, Jesus. So all ground is leveled to ground at the cross, and death is the great equalizer. And that is what we see in this passage right here. Job says that. Status in life and manner of death. We think that the status in life and the manner of death is all important, but it is the fact that death is coming to us all. In Luke 13, I think we need to go there. It's 8.07, but I think it's so important for you to see this. Luke chapter 13 in your Bibles. Go there very quickly. It'll be done in just a moment. Luke chapter 13 and verse number 1. I want you to see this. This is so huge. Now on the same occasion, there were some present who reported to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He'd been talking to the Jews, talking to the Pharisees, talking to his own people, the disciples. And so somebody was there and they said, hey man, what about all the, hey, you know, what about all those Galileans that Pilate mingled their blood with the sacrifices? And here's what Jesus answered, verse two. He answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that, hey man, there's another story they didn't know about. Or do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed. I mean the other night we had six or seven people in the state of Iowa killed. And somebody might be thinking, well, I wonder what they did in life that God rained down judgment on them and killed them. Somebody might say that. Jesus answers this way, do you suppose that those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Death comes to all people, well-fed and starving, rich and poor, old and young, religious and irreligious. And folks, the issue is repent now before it's too late because we are all headed for the worm bed. That's what Jesus is saying. Jesus said it, and so is Job. He's saying, well-fed and fat and sassy, or completely poverty-stricken, ill, death is coming to everyone, and repentance for our sin is required before death. We come to Jesus before we die. Death is the great equalizer. And Job finally answers 27 to 34. The Old Testament Pharisees are the ones criticizing Job. They didn't have actual Pharisees at that time, but the spirit of the Pharisees has always been around. But do you know what? I'll write it down this way. Job had their number. He told them, I know your thinking and your plans. You were arrogant, know-it-alls, and you have an ironclad way of looking at everything. I'm suffering, so I'm a heathen. That's what you think. You are outwardly righteous, but inside you are full of pride and you're very wicked yourself. And then Job had the weight of the evidence. Look at verse number 28. For you say, where is the house of the nobleman and where is the dwelling places of the wicked? Have you not asked the wayfaring man, do you not recognize their witness? And so Job pointed to the, Job had the weight of evidence, the noble and the wicked are living long after all. And then he pointed to the witnesses of time. Says, you guys, you're up here, you're spilling out all of your opinions and your dogma, but you haven't asked anybody who has lived much longer than you. And then Job believed in waiting until God judges people. That's verse number 30. And then Job observed the wicked do seem to live without being confronted or corrected. And that's verse 31 to 33. But Job rejected their efforts at comfort and for their correction. For a very obvious reasons he rejected it but because they're full of falsehood look at verse 34 the last verse in the chapter How then will you vainly comfort me for your answers remain full of falsehood? I've gone point by point and disproved everything you just said that the wicked always die young that the wicked always lose their prosperity that yeah, I've completely said that I can show you that that is just not always always true and Here's some reality, some really good advice and reality for us from what we're learning about Job. We gotta go. Number one, here's what we're supposed to understand. We as people should not be dogmatic about things we cannot know. You do not know what is in the life of another person and why God has allowed things to happen in their life. We cannot be dogmatic and say, well, I know why they're suffering. I know why they're going through this or that. I know, I mean, I know they're supposed to be a believer, but I doubt they really know God. You got to be careful. There's things we cannot know. We do not know why people are suffering. Next. We should be or do be dogmatic about absolute certainties. We do know what Jesus did at Calvary as the only hope for salvation. So don't be soft and uncommitted about Bible absolutes. Do be rigid and committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. You know, I find in Christianity that people wanna be, they wanna be dogmatic about things they're not certain about and they wanna be soft on things they should be dogmatic about. That's exactly what he's talking about. Don't be overconfident that you have God figured out and that you can put him in a box. That's what Bildad and Eliphaz and Zophar were doing. We got God figured out. God always does this. It always happens like this. It's A plus B equals C every time. Period. And so if you're suffering, it's because you're a big sinner. It's useless thinking. He always has to react. It's useless to think that God always has to react within a certain time frame and in a certain way. Boy, we'd like God to always do the same thing the same way every time, but he doesn't. And then do accept the mysteries of God. God is faithful, he's loyal, he's unchangeable, but it is not possible to find him out. You're never gonna figure out every single why about what God is doing. What we can do is trust him. We trust his attributes, that he is God, he is good, he is sovereign, and that he loves us. There's a lot of information here and a lot of stuff that we're talking about in here, but I want to just pause and say something to you. Somebody said, well, you know, that's a little bit laborious. There's a whole lot of repetition and everything. I want to say this to you. God Almighty put it in the Bible. Is that true, yes or no? Is there something that we need to see because God put it in the Bible? Yes. So Job is going through relentless suffering. In addition, he's going through relentless criticism. There's at least one chain that we can break when people are suffering, when people are hurting, even if it's us, but especially when other people are suffering and hurting, it does not help to pile on. We ought to pray, ought to be quiet, ought to try to encourage, and try to listen. If we learn anything from Job so far, then we can learn that he was a righteous man, and God was allowing suffering in his life, and his friends were not very friendly. Let's pray. Father, help us now and help us to be here on Sunday. Help the meetings of Ignite, this kingdom-oriented event that's happening at our church as we try to help young people understand what it is to be a true disciple of Jesus and to live the life that you've called them to live. The focus is on the Word of God this time. Help them to have great respect for God's Word. We love you, Lord. We thank you for this day, for this opportunity. We thank you for the book of Job. Lord, I pray that no one will look at it the same after having gone through it so carefully with Brother Jerry and myself as we've looked at this and tried to yield our spirits to the teaching of the Holy Spirit. God help us to understand help us to care when people suffer in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you very much