All right, so last time we looked at the second and third cycle of speeches given by Job's friends. Now as we looked at these speeches, there seems to be a more thematic perspective. And that's why we didn't look at them verse by verse like we had been up until this point. But even though there are some similarities with the speeches, there are some noticeable differences between the first speeches second and third speeches, but there are also some differences as well as we looked at. First of all, it's interesting to see how the speeches go along and how they condense each time. As you can see, Eliphaz's second speech was 35 verses, and the third speech was only 30 verses. You see the continued pattern with Bildad, his second speech was 21 verses, and Bildad's third speech was six verses, and then finally the third friend so far, his second speech was 29 verses, but he has no third speech. So you can see a pattern here that every time that what they have to say is getting shorter and shorter. They're getting more and more frustrated with Job. Again, they're getting frustrated for the fact that he's just not listening to what they have to say, and he's not adhering to their words. But the second notice will change, in his friend's speeches is that not only they get shorter, but they increased in hostility. For example, in chapter 15, Eliphaz gives a similar type of admonition to Job as he does in his first speech. However, the other two speeches, there are notable differences as well. In first of Eliphaz's speeches given by the friends, they're at least filled with a bit more grace and were more hopeful. For example, In chapter 15, Eliphaz's speech is similar in the message that of the first one he gave in chapters four and five, in which the message was that the wicked are the ones who receive God's wrath in this life. And perhaps Job has done something to prompt God's wrath and displeasure. But Eliphaz's language is couched more in the first speech in a very subtle way, more of a suggestion, an admonition. Now, do you remember Eliphaz's first speech when we looked at it several weeks ago? This is the language of it. As he says, as for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause, who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves. Therefore, despise not the discipline of the Almighty, for he wounds, but he binds up. He shatters, but his hands heal. He will deliver you from six troubles, and seven, no evil shall touch you. But the language is much more cynical in Eliphaz's second and third speeches. And again, the first time, he kind of gives a suggestion. This is what I would do, Job, if I were you. But Eliphaz is not changing his message. He still holds fast to the idea that God will not forsake the wicked, will forsake the wicked, as he did in his first speech. But in chapter 15, he does not offer any glimpse of hope that Job will understand this. He thinks that Job doesn't fear God. So he simply lumps Job with the rest of the wicked. And this is what he says. He says, the wicked man writhes in pain all his days through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. So you can see here that he's not even giving suggestions to Job anymore. He's just making blanket declarations about wicked people, which he considers Job to be a part of that number. Now, the second noticeable difference in that first speech is that Eliphaz began by praising Job for his exemplary character. Do you remember, this is what Eliphaz began his speech with when we first hear of him. Behold, you have instructed many, he's talking about Job, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling. You have made firm the feeble knees. So again, Eliphaz's critique of Job in chapters four and five dances around the fact that Job might be suffering due to something that he's done. but now Eliphaz is not going to give him praise like he did in chapters four and five, but now he's going to point out specific sins. So in the beginning, he said, well, Job, you've done this and you've done that, but now his language is like this. He says, is not your evil abundant? There is no need, there is no end to your iniquities, for you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing. You have given no water to the weary to drink and you have withheld bread from the hungry. The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed. Therefore, snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you, or darkness, so that you cannot see. A flood of water covers you." So these are very serious charges that Eliphaz is bringing before Job and accusing him of. These are acts of injustice against God's people. He's accusing him of taking advantage of them just because he could. Remember, Job was a powerful person, wasn't he? He had lots of land, he had lots of wealth. And so he's accusing Eliphaz that he's doing this, and this is maybe a reason why, that he is suffering the way that he is. It's because he did abuse people. However, as we looked at last time as well, these claims are not backed by any evidence at all. He's just throwing stuff against the board at this point. But again, he's doing this out of spite. He's doing this to malign Job, as we can see. As we have already seen, Job's friends have already made baseless claims that couldn't be backed up by the facts. But this is the devious nature of making claims based on feelings as opposed to providing evidence-based evidence, right? Concrete evidence, in other words. Objective and observable facts being presented. Now, while his claims that he's given may not be disproven, again, he's using very, he's not naming names here, is he? He's just kind of generally saying this. But yet on the other end, his claims cannot be proven either, right? His accusations of injustice were perhaps just a result of his frustration that Job would not heed his wisdom. How dare he, right? But that harsh language, And attacks of Job would continue to be made by the other friends, Bildad and Zophar. In Bildad's second speech in chapter 18, he tries to scare Job by describing the fate of the wicked. Uses this very blusterous language here. Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out and the flame of his fire does not shine. The light is dark in his tent and his lamp above him is put out. His strong steps are shortened, and his own schemes throw him down. He is thrust from the light into darkness, and driven out of the world. He has no posterity or progeny among his people, and no survivor where he used to live." So he's saying here, look, Job, this is what happens to the wicked. But by the third time he gives his speech, And this will take place in the case of Job. He impugns his character as to paint him as a part of the sons of perdition, right? And again, what did Job suffer specifically? He's putting out here that he lost everything, didn't he? He was as one cursed by God. He lost everything that he had. He had no more posterity, remember? He had no more progeny. All of his children were taken away from him. So again, these were low blows that his friends were accusing him or thrusting against him. But then the third one, he's basically going to make a declaration of praise to God, or it seems like it's praise to God, for his being unmatched against the wicked. And he's basically saying, without naming Job directly, that Job, perhaps you need to stop talking, because in the right, he will destroy you, as he throws him in the mass of maggot and worm, right? That's very harsh language his friend is using. And then finally, Zophar, who only has two speeches, and his second one is his last, is nothing more than a declaration of Job's wickedness. All it is is a description of the wicked and their inevitable fate. Now, there is no language of redemption or salvation, no language of repentance. In his first speech, there was cause to bring Job to repentance. Job, if you merely do this, but here there's no such talk. In fact, he describes the evil, enjoying evil as if it is sweet in his mouth. In other words, there is this, the evil enjoy doing evil, right? It's sweet in his mouth. Every time evil thoughts or evil words pass through his lips, it is sweet, right? Now, again, as many things with his friends, there are kernels of truth here, right? The wicked do love evil, right? They love it so much that really for many of them, that's all they can think about. As the apostle Paul says, Something similar. They love to think about ways of inventing new ways of evil, right? They invent new ways of doing evil. They sit around pondering and contemplating ways that they can perform evil from their hearts. So this is not untrue as far as the wicked in general, but really, is this the case with Job? But then finally, Zophar describes what will happen to the wicked. He describes it this way. Do you not know this from old, since man was placed on the earth, that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment? Utter darkness is laid up for his treasures. A fire not fanned will devour him. What is left in his tent will be consumed. The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath. This is the wicked man's portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God. So Zophar is implying here that Job shouldn't be surprised that he's suffering the way that he is, because this is what happens to the wicked. And Job, obviously you're pretty wicked, right? That's what he's basically inferring here. Complete destruction is really all Job should expect. Now, as we pick up this week, Job also has more responses. So they don't just get the final word here. Job will also have more to say. So his responses to the speech are very similar in pattern as well to the first, in which at the beginning of his speeches, you will see this declaration of vindication that he is defending himself and also has glimmers of hope that he will be heard by God. But then as Job continues in his speech, it oftentimes ends up in despair. He wonders if God really will hear him out. Now there's two particular passages that I want to focus on this evening. The first one is found in chapter 16. So we will look at this in a moment. As he says here in chapter 16, this is after Eliphaz's second speech, where again he threw him in the rest of the massive perdition, right, of the wicked. Job begins once again by telling him that they are really awful friends and miserable comforters, right? Real friends comfort even when it may mean that they may provide discomfort for themselves. This is really true. Real friends will have those uncomfortable conversations, right? But they don't do it in judgment, do they? They do it in love. They do it in love. But Job's friends are miserable comforter. They're just casting dispersions from an ivory tower, right? They are really separated from him. They're not there with him like they were in the beginning. Remember the seven days in which they sat with him in silence? They're not doing that now. They're just casting dispersions upon him, and endlessly casting dispersions upon him. Yes, absolutely, and that's what we're going to be getting into here, because really this does apply to us as well. But What he, again, as he's telling them that they're miserable comforters, though, he says that he could be doing what they're doing, but he said, guess what? If the shoe was on their foot and you were suffering, you'd be in my place. He says this, I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain. So he, by this, he's accusing them of not doing the right thing. He's accusing them, this is what you should be doing for me right now, and you're not. You are just throwing accusations. You are just piling on, so to speak, to my pain. He says that, but I would not be that kind of friend to you. And really, to Pastor's point, this is what should be at the heart of Christian love, that we should pursue, as Paul says, ways to encourage one another and build each other up, right? It's too easy to nitpick one another. It's far too easy to speck in each other's eye, right? Whenever there is probably a plank, as Jesus says, in our own, which we should be getting that out first before we even contemplate getting the speck out of our brother's eye, right? Now this doesn't mean, though, that we don't speak the truth in love to our brothers and sisters, right? But as Paul says, it must be done in love. It can't be done in, it can't be like Job's friends, which were just casting dispersions and accusing him of just being wicked. That's not loving, that's not loving. And again, they weren't even really telling him the full truth either, though. That's the problem. They thought they were telling him the truth, but they weren't. As we'll find out later, God will tell him as much that they were not telling him the full truth. But here's the problem. Job's friends, as they were casting dispersions, weren't really concerned about Job's welfare. This is made painfully obvious. that they were more concerned about being right, right? Job wasn't hearing them out, he wasn't taking their advice, and they were hurt, right? They were hurt, they were damaged, right? They were injured. And so, as the more that he rejects them, the more that they're going to dig into him, right? And really, this is the case with a lot of relationships that we know. Think about this, when someone doesn't take your advice, react somewhat violently, what is your response typically? And if you're acting in sin, you're going to react in kind, right? You're gonna dig in yourself. And that's not the Christian thing to do. That's not the Christian, that is not to act in love. Now despite this fact that they were biting at him and condemning in their speech, he would not return the insults in kind. but he would seek to speak comforting words. So therefore, we too should take that example, that we would seek to comfort those and not undermine those, even though that they might berate us as well. But then over the next few verses, Job again falls into despair. He bemoans the fact that it appears that God has given up on him. Again, he has this, He's trying to defend himself, now he's gonna fall back into despair again, it's the same pattern. God gives me up to the ungodly and cast me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, he broke me apart. He seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces. So here Job continues to feel abandoned by God as though as he says, even though there is no violence in my hands and my prayer is pure. God, why are you doing this, right? My intentions are upright. My prayers are really sincere, right? Now he's not saying he's perfect. Again, we mentioned that the past several weeks. Upright doesn't mean perfection, but it means a man of integrity, one who is intentionally trying to please God, right? And that's what he was doing. So this is, again, the conundrum he finds himself in. Why is this happening? But then Job, despite all this despair, says something amazing. He says this. He says, even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. So he accuses God of banning him, but then, now he's saying something completely different, isn't he? He's saying really the complete opposite. Again, he's admitting once more that no one on earth can plead his cause, right? There's no arbiter here on earth that can rightfully stand before God and give a right defense for Job. Remember back several weeks ago in chapter nine, verse 33, he bemoaned the same similar fact. He said, there is no arbiter between us. He's talking to God. No one to take hold of both of us and bring us into a mediation, he says. And that's what he's bemoaning here. But now Job is starting to get it. He says that if we will have an arbiter at all, he knows the only one that can be found is in heaven. And specifically, he knows the only one who could argue his case with God is God. is God himself, right? The very party who has, in his mind, thought he had wrongfully afflicted him. But for the human, for those who here on the horizontal plane, that really doesn't make much logical sense, does it? How could Job have any confidence that God would deliver him from a judgment that God himself has given? But really, it's not so ridiculous if you think about it. This is the story of redemption. For it was God who proclaimed the curse upon man for his sin, but it was also God who provided a way of escape, right? After pronouncing judgment on Adam and Eve in the garden, he also declared that deliverance would come as well. The seed of the woman would destroy the forces of death and hell by crushing the servant's head, right? But at this point, Job cannot conceive of an arbiter sent to earth to deliver him. But in his mind, he is once more appealing to God's righteousness and justice, right? Again, that he would be vindicated if God will simply look at his case. Again, his hope is that he'll be able to stand before God because he's not among the wicked, remember? Again, we looked at that last time, that he will not wait. because this will be his salvation, that the wicked cannot stand before him, but he knows that he will be able to stand before him because he's not among the mass of perdition as his friends have accused him of, right? But yet, in the midst of this hope, Job continues to vacillate, as we all do. We have these moments, especially when we're in the midst of suffering, in which we go back and forth, God is good and he's not. We continue to suffer in our frail states as human beings. Then, Job, after he makes his declaration, he recognizes that his witness is in heaven, he says this again. He says, behold, I cry out, violence, but I'm not answered. I call for help, but there is no justice. And again, he is speaking in very emphatic and absolute terms, and we know that that's not the case, but this is what he's feeling at the time. This is often what we feel when we feel that God has abandoned us, that there is no justice at all, right? Mm-hmm? Thinking about when bad things happen to, quote, quote, good people. why don't we consider something about God's sovereignty in all of this, and why he would allow anything of this to go on? I mean, we're explaining, of course, we probably wouldn't understand it anyway. That's right, and the real, that is kind of the nutshell of the book of Job, is that we cannot really understand the ways of God, and that God's people, are simply commanded to trust in Him, to have faith that He is working out all good things for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, right? But again, Job is going to vacillate once more. He's gonna actually go waffle towards the direction of hope again, as he makes a declaration that many of us are familiar with. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has thus been destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. Now, these verses have often been thought to prove Job believed in a resurrection, that one day he would rise up from the dead and fully be restored, but again, just because something has been widely believed to be true doesn't necessarily be the case. Now, the context is always the primary control of determining the meaning of a verse, or meaning of any passage, really. For example, remember we looked at a couple of weeks ago, chapter 13, verse 15, which famously read, though he slay me, I will hope in him. That's the traditional reading. But both on the word level, remember we discovered In the contextual level, it makes better sense to translate it, though he slay me, I will not wait. Remember? Again, he was just waiting for his moment to plead his case with God. And again, Job in that context is not really worried about trusting in God. He's not waxing eloquent about what God has done. No, he's concerned about himself, isn't he? So likewise, we need to look here at this context. Now, it's true that Job is using the emphatic heading, I know, and it's breaking his diatribe of self-pity. We can see his vacillation here, in other words, right? He's shifting back and forth, so this seems to be hopeful. But the question is, what is Job trying to argue at this very moment? Is he trying to say that he'll be raised from the dead, or is he saying something else? Now first we must address the context behind the identity of his redeemer. Now the Hebrew word for redeemer in this declaration by Job is the same word used in the book of Leviticus, which is translated as, you know this term, the kinsman redeemer, right? Now in that context, the kinsman redeemer was commanded by God that if the situation arose in which an Israelite became destitute and had to sell his property, his nearest kinsman or relative was obligated to act legally on his behalf or for his brother to restore him to his previous state in order that his heritage would continue in the land of promise, right? Now we're all familiar with the story of Ruth, right? In which Boaz married Ruth to restore the heritage of Elimelech, who had died along with all of his sons. However, none of his sons produced an heir. And since there was no heir in the line, a Laminix line could be gone forever unless a kinsman redeemer stepped in, right? But that redeemer, as we know, is Boaz, who married Ruth and produced an heir for a Laminix line. So therefore, his family could be brought back into the land in order that his heritage would continue ensuring his family would be able to continue to live in the land, a sign of God's favor. Again, the reason why the Israelites were apportioned parts of the land is because that would ensure their communion with God. It was so important to them. That really was heaven on earth for the Israelites, that they were promised presence and communion with God. And so we can see why this is so important, this is why this was important to God, that if something were to happen, where he fell into debt or there was a death in the family, that there was a way of escape, there was a way that these people could be brought back into God's blessing in the land. But Job, in his situation, found himself deprived of his heritage. He had no children, he had no land, He was deprived of God's blessing. Now what's interesting is, is that God is also called our kinsman redeemer in several places in the Old Testament. In Exodus, Yahweh, the kinsman redeemer, delivered Israel from Egypt and gave them a land, right? In Isaiah, he describes Yahweh as kinsman redeemer in relation to his future redemption of Judah from their captivity in Babylon. Now, Job's description as his redeemer, as one who lives here, is significant because this means that this redeemer is someone who's able to act on his behalf at this very moment. In other words, he is, as Jesus said, God is not the God of the dead, he's a God of the living. He's able to act on their behalf at this very moment. And that's what Job and his confidence is, that God can actually act on his behalf. But not only that, that he says that God will deliver him, as he says, this way. At the last, he will stand upon the earth. Now, Job is confident is confidently prophesying about Christ, is Job, we must ask this question, is he prophesying about Christ, who will raise up his body, as many Christians have said? Well, again, I don't necessarily think this is the case, and there's several clues to indicate that this is not actually talking about the resurrection. But rather, Job has something more immediate and geographical in mind. First of all, the Hebrew word translated as earth here is more accurately translated as dust. Actually, that didn't translate there. Wasn't able to get that on there. But is more accurately translated as dust. So you say, at last he will stand upon the dust. Now specifically, we have to ask this question. Where is Job's dialogue with his friends taking place? It's taking place on the ash heap, which represents Job's state of humiliation, right? So Job seems to think that God is going to act very soon while he's on the ash heap. The dust, that's the dust that he's referring to. But you might... Well, because, again, that goes back to several weeks ago when we looked at that, Ash heap was the place of refuse, it was the garbage heap, and basically if you lost everything, you would sit in ashes. Basically, it was a visual representation of your state, that you had lost everything. You were trash, basically. And so that's why he was doing that. And again, he covered himself with ashes to show that he had lost everything. So this whole dialogue that Job is taking place with his friends, he's sitting in an ash heap. He's sitting in an ash heap. And so that's what he's saying here. So he's saying that God, is going to deliver him on this very ash heap itself. At least that's his confidence that it will be that way. But then you can say, well, what is he talking about here? He says, after my skin has thus destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see God. Now you might be thinking, well, that's talking about the resurrection, right? Well, Job has already stated that perhaps his physical suffering may not be complete. God may still afflict him even more. In fact, he almost is banking on that, that God is not done afflicting him in his body. Now, the first indication this might not be referring to the resurrection is that the Hebrew word for destroyed here can also mean stricken or marred. Now, do you recall that his affliction that was brought on by Satan, remember the second time, his second test, his skin was marred to such a point that his friends could not recognize him. Remember when they came upon him, they couldn't even recognize him. So he was marred beyond recognition. However, Job seems to think that God will continue his rejection of him. He'll get even worse. He could look even worse. And you think, how could that even be possible? So you could understand Job's statement as saying this. Even after my skin has been utterly marred, yet in my flesh I shall see God. So in other words, basically when I reach the bottom of the barrel, that's probably when God's gonna deliver me, right? Basically when I've come to the end of my destruction by God and the sense of his affliction for me, I shall see God. God will deliver me from my ash heap, right? So Job could be meaning to say that it might be worse before God delivers him, but he's certain that God will come for him when he sits in that ash heap. And really, this does seem to better fit the context, because as we mentioned already, Job has already doubted whether men could rise from the dead, remember that? He described, he said, trees can sprout up from a stump, but what kind of promise is there for a man that he will rise again, right? So this really is probably not in the mind of Job that he is thinking of the resurrection. Now further in the context, Job's words here in light of the context of the book as a whole is important. Now as we know, in his flesh he will see God and he will receive a tongue lashing by God, right? He will see God, God will come to him in the whirlwind, right? He will come to him. Yet, After he encounters God, the Lord will then do what? After he's done giving him the tongue lashing, he does restore him, doesn't he? He does restore him. But not only that, but he blesses him far more abundantly than what he had before the affliction, right? And really, this should teach us something as well. Now, while I don't believe that Job necessarily could comprehend a physical resurrection due to his lack of spiritual revelation, that doesn't mean that this passage can't speak to the resurrection itself. As we have already seen, Job has already spoken more than he knew, right? He was unwittingly a prophet, right? He was speaking of a greater hope, a hope that would exceed the earthly blessings he would have longed to restore to him. One that would exceed earthly blessings far above, beyond heavenly blessings, right? Eternal blessings. A real restoration of his flesh in which Job will see one day along with us. He, just like us, will receive a new body. A body incorruptible. A body that will not be subject to decay, not subject to disease like they are now. The one that Job had suffered at that time. So God, the Son, did come down, though, to the dust, right? He did come to the dust to save us. That's what the promise is. He was prophesying more than he knew. Jesus would come to the dust of our ash heap, right, so to speak. So one day, we too will be restored fully, again, as the hope of Job will promise. So next week, we will look briefly, as we close, this section at the problem of the incomplete third cycle. And we'll kind of, as we'll close that section up and then until we finally get to the next section, which we'll look at a intermission in which Job will give a speech of wisdom and kind of give a declaration of what's going on up to this point. So any questions, David? Well, the whole time they were talking about the ashes, Yes. Yes. Yes, absolutely. Right. Well, and again, there's many times that those actions are taken in the Old Testament specifically, and every time, it's really a prayer to God for deliverance, right? Job, earlier, after he lost everything, he scattered ashes upon himself and moaned, and again, it was a cry for deliverance. And every time that this would happen, they're bemoaning the fact that they're going through this, They know, they're thinking that through that sign that God will see them and that he will deliver them. That's right. That's the one you're calling to. And the beauty is, is that there was always that sense, even though Job couldn't fully understand it, that God would come to his ash heap. You know, and even though he couldn't fully understand, because he lacked the revelation that we have, we have the benefit of full revelation, he did not. But yet, the Holy Spirit gave him that hope that there would one day be a time where God would visit all of our ash heaps, right? All right. Jake? I'm fascinated by the book of Job because of how brilliantly it's written. when you think about it, because when you talk about the context and you look at the context of when Job lived, and what was known of God and of salvation at that time, and then to read the verse that you got to here at the end, I've always wondered about it. And Steve touched on it just a little bit the very first time he went through the survey, right? And he made mention of the second part that you were explaining. It could point to, and this is one of the earliest references to, maybe that redeemer that will come, the actual person of Christ. But at the same time, understanding that you know, maybe a lot of it wasn't, when Joe was talking about it, he wasn't having a revelation from the Holy Spirit to prophesy this about Christ. He was more speaking within his circumstances, what he knew at the time. And when you think about that, because at that point, that makes you ask, Right? Of salvation. And what's passed down from there. And that's it. That's all they had. Yes, that's absolutely right. Yeah, and I think that's important to know that God can, like I said, this still can be taken as a prophecy of Christ, but it was an unwitting prophecy. Oftentimes, we think about like Isaiah's friends, he had some of the most amazing prophecies of Jesus Christ. But the sense that you get from him, and again, as he's making these declarations to these kings, he's thinking this is gonna happen in the near future. that God is gonna bring about his deliverer soon. Of course, we know that won't happen for centuries, right? And it will be in a much greater way than even he can imagine. And so Job, in this instance, he's thinking about his immediate suffering, about his immediate deliverance, and that God, he's confident that God will himself be able to vindicate him and to come and rescue him. And, but again, that theme is throughout Scripture, like you mentioned. That theme is throughout Scripture, that God is the one, even though he's the one who brings about judgment, he's also the one who saves. Again, that's because we know that all the work of redemption is of God alone. All we really contribute to the whole process is our sin, right? And God has gotta be the one who delivers us from that, right? Yeah? are familiar with, somewhat, reminds me of Isaiah 43, where it clearly is pointing towards Christ, Israel's only Savior. If you're not, I have redeemed you, created you. I have called you by name. You are mine. You pass through the waters. You all are familiar with that, right? And so that's so very important, from the garden onwards, the Lord has made possible a relationship with himself based on obedience. And while we are privileged and more responsible, I suppose, in a sense, from our perspective, this side, of having more revelation than, obviously, Job had in those early days, yet that was based on a relationship with God by the individual Christian and by the Church. and God doesn't change whatever the situation. And what we don't understand, which is much, from the viewpoint of looking at it from God's perspective, we have such a trust in God, and he had a relationship with God, and the depth of that relationship we don't really know, but obviously it was strong faith in God, or he would not have put up with what went on. He would have just said, but there's something about God's staying power as long as we communicate with Him and do not feel so sorry for ourselves, amen? Amen. Would you mind reading 2 Corinthians 4, 16 and 17? I don't have my Bible on me. Let me read that and I'll hush up. I'm sorry, I know we're out of time. I think that's it, I don't know. We'll see. So we do not lose heart, Paul said, though our outer self, we can relate to this, I can't, is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day, night by night, for this light momentary affliction, you recall maybe of course, preparing for us an eternal way to glory beyond all comparison. We look not to the things that are seen, we have to deal with them, but the things that are unseen, The things that are seen are transient. The things that are unseen are eternal. That's right, and that really is a good summation of what Job couldn't see. That Job couldn't see that what he was going through wasn't pointless, it wasn't unjust, it was all working out a far greater weight of glory. and it was bringing him to a place where God, even, it's amazing, God would restore him in this life to a greater blessing than he had before. But he wasn't gonna get that blessing until he went through suffering, right? But even that pales in comparison to what God was working in the eternal aspect of Job in, right? In his soul, in sanctification. Again, Job, he's enjoying the presence of God, and it's far greater than what he even had after he was restored here on earth, right? And so really that's what the greater glory is. So if we just skate by in life and God just provides our basic necessities in this life, but yet he has his hand upon us, the glories in heaven and the riches in heaven we saw are far so exceeding to what we have here now. And that's what we really have to look forward to. And so it really doesn't matter if you have a lot here in this world. Again, if you have Christ, you have everything, right? Amen.