JOB 1-11 THE AFFLICTION OF JOB2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Job 1-11 The Affliction Of Job

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013. And for the rest of us, we're here in the book of Job. How exciting, right? To be in the book of Job. We'll be looking at verses, I'm sorry, chapters 1 through 11 this evening and looking at those chapters that we read this week and going through the Bible in three years.

Now, before we actually get into the chapters this evening, I want to quickly talk about the poetic books in general, because as we head into the book of Job, we're really switching gears as far as the style of writing and the type of books that we've been reading and studying together.

We've been looking really at what is referred to as historical books as we've been going through, you know, 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles and Ezra and Nehemiah. These are all records of history that we've been studying, which has a particular style of writing that is appropriate for recording history. But now as we head into the next five books, these are known as the poetic books.

And these writings are a completely different style. It's not intended really to record history, but they're poetic in nature. Now by poetic, we don't mean that every line rhymes with the next one, that kind of thing. But it's a Hebrew style of writing, which is poetic, which is particular to their culture and their language.

Now this is really important to understand because, well, this helps us to interpret the scripture appropriately. 2 Timothy chapter 3, I'm sure you're familiar with verse 16, where Paul says, That is...

The Bible's testimony of itself, that it is inspired by God. And I believe that wholeheartedly without reservation. However, as we head into the poetic books, we need to understand the reality that the Bible is inspired by God does not mean that every verse in the Bible has equal weight. Not every verse of the Bible has eternal truth.

And that's going to maybe trouble some of you. But let me give you an example. Think about Satan in the garden. Back in Genesis chapter 3. He approaches Eve, right? And he says in verse 4, you will not surely die. He's trying to get her to take the fruit. And he says, you will not surely die. He goes on to say, for God knows that in that day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Now when Satan says, you will not surely die, he

Hopefully you look at that and you understand that is not the truth. Satan is lying to Eve. He's attempting to deceive Eve. And so that's what I'm talking about when I say that every verse in the Bible does not contain eternal truth. Not every verse of the Bible has the same weight as all of the other verses. Here is what we need to understand. The Bible accurately records Satan's words.

And so the fact that the Bible is inspired of God, we can understand this is what was actually said. This is the message that was given to Eve. The Bible is not claiming that what Satan said is true. So it accurately records what the serpent said. It's not attempting to declare that what the serpent said is true. In 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter also talks about this a little bit. He says we have the prophetic word confirmed.

And as he's talking about the prophetic word, he says, knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation. He says, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The word moved, it also means to be carried along. And the idea is that Peter is saying, these men who wrote the scriptures were carried along. The Holy Spirit was speaking and writing through them as disciples.

They wrote the scriptures. And so we need to understand that these things are inspired. This is the work of God in the scriptures that we have before us. But understanding the context of what we are reading is what helps us to understand the weight of

that it contains as far as eternal truth is concerned. So how do we know how to handle different passages? How do we know how to handle and how much weight to give different passages? And again, the thing that I shared last week is what I'll continue to share. When you're looking at the poetic books, the most important thing that you need to remember is the context. The poetic books are very different than the other books that we've been studying. So the historical books, we've been recording facts.

And we've been studying and reading through the accounting of Israel's history. And that's a particular style of writing and it's very basic and straightforward as far as interpretation and understanding it. Later on we'll get into the prophetic books. And there the prophets are speaking forth for God. And so we understand that their words are inspired by God because they are speaking forth for God.

As we get into the Gospels later on, of course, we're looking at the life of Christ and His words. And so we know for sure those are inspired. He is speaking on behalf of God because He is God.

He is Jesus. And then as we look at the letters that, you know, the Apostle Paul and Peter and John wrote in the New Testament, we understand they are writing on behalf of God. They are teaching doctrine in their letters. And so the inspiration of those, in fact, even Peter equates Paul's writings with the rest of Scripture. And so we understand, you know, those are inspired by God in a certain way. And so they have great weight.

But as we approach the poetic books, we have to think a little bit differently. Now, I kind of liken it in my mind to speed limits. You know, just by the nature of the type of road that you're on, roughly what the speed limit is going to be. Of course, they have the signs and you're looking for the signs, but you know, sometimes you get on a road, you don't see the sign immediately, you don't know exactly, but you're kind of

estimating what the speed limit's going to be based on the type of road it is. So if it's a freeway, you're going to be going probably 60, 65. There's some Southern California freeways that have a speed limit of 55, and that's really weird. It feels like you're crawling. But generally, you get on the freeway, you don't

Like, look, like, where's the speed limit side? Like, how fast do I need to be going? You just know from the context where you're at how fast you need to be going. Now, then you also know if you're driving down the road and there's a school with kids around, you know, okay, different context. 65 is probably not the speed limit. I need to slow down and be going about 25.

And then, you know, you go into different business areas or kind of major roads. You hit Hidden Valley, you know. Hey, 40, 45, you know, that's going to be the general area where the speed limit is going to be. In the same way as we approach different scriptures, we kind of need to be able to adjust our understanding and realize, you know, that we need to treat it differently because it's a different type of scripture. So let me run down the poetic books really quickly and help you understand what I'm talking about. The book of Job.

The book of Job records Job crying out in confusion in the midst of great adversity. He is not claiming to speak for God. He is also not pretending that he has all of the answers from God. He's crying out in confusion. He's saying, I don't know what's going on. And so Job

That plays an important part in us understanding the words that we're reading. But then you also have Job's friends pitching in. And let me just say straight off the bat, Job's friends are clueless. Job's friends are not inspired by God in their words. Their words do not hold the weight of eternal truth. They do not represent God at all. And that's why at the end of the book, God rebukes them saying,

Job chapter 42. So those are very important things to understand as you read through the book of Job. Then as we head into the book of Psalms, again, context, considering context, the type of writing is important. The book of Psalms is songs,

that are written expressing the psalmist's experience, expressing their emotions, expressing what it is that they are going through. And there's great variety in the psalms as a result. Sometimes they're expressing despair, sometimes they're expressing praise, and that plays a big part in understanding the various psalms that we'll be looking at. In the book of Proverbs, we understand that the book of Proverbs is really meant to be general observations on life.

It's not meant to be, you know, your little promise book. But it's meant to be general observations that we can take, we can consider. These are general rules in life. But not everyone is exactly a promise for every person. There's some variety to that. Then you hit the book of Ecclesiastes. And the context is really important here as well because the book of Ecclesiastes is a journey.

The beginning all the way to the last few verses of the book, the author is on a journey and you could basically consider him to be lost, an unbeliever, and totally confused. And it's only at the last couple verses that he really comes to his senses and makes really any kind of valid biblical points. And then you have this book of Song of Solomon, which is basically a love song.

And so it needs to be understood in those terms. And so as you look at the poetic books, the type of book it is, the context of who the author is and what they're going through and what they're talking about plays a really important role in how we understand and interpret those things. And you'll see that as we head through the book of Job this evening.

So we start out now in the book of Job. We don't know who the author is. It might be Job. It also could be Moses. There's some discussion about that, but we don't know for sure who it is. I'm trying to get back control. Tina, could you kill the program and then restart it for me, please? Thank you. So we don't know who the author is. We also don't know what date it was written.

It's believed that these events happened around the time of Abraham, within that time period or so, but we don't know for sure. They estimate that based upon the style of the Hebrew that is in the book of Job. So it's a really ancient type of Hebrew, so they estimate then it's probably the oldest book in the Bible, but we do not know for sure.

All right, I think we're good here. Hang on one second. All right, the theme, of course, is the sufferings of Job. Let's see here. Yeah, got control. So that brings us now to Job chapter 1. Verse 8 is the key verse. It says,

Here in verses 1 through 5, we're introduced to Job and his family. Now as we're introduced to Job, it's made very clear to us that Job is a righteous man. In verse 1, it says that he was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil.

So as we begin to look at Job, we got to understand the Bible describes him very clearly as a righteous man, that he feared God and he shunned evil. Now Job had a wife. We also are introduced to his seven sons and his three daughters. And it's explained that he has great wealth. He's got, you know, vast resources, lots of cattle and herds and just a really abundant wealth.

as he is living there. Then in verses 6 through 12, we kind of change scenes. We're looking at Job and then we look up into heaven and there we find that God gives Satan authority over all that Job has. So this is a really interesting portion of scripture because here we see that Satan comes into the presence of God and

And is allowed to approach God and talk to God. And it's really interesting because God points out Job and he says, Hey, have you thought about Job at all? He's a really righteous man. Isn't it amazing how well he walks with me and how well he obeys me? And Satan challenges that. He says, well, he only does that because you've protected him, because you've blessed him. He would not honor you and obey you if you removed that protection. And so in verse 7 says,

I'm sorry, verse 8. No, verse 12. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not lay a hand on his person. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. So God highlights Job. Satan accuses Job because Satan is the accuser of the brethren. That's what he does. And so God gives him permission. He gives Satan permission to do whatever he wants with all that Job has.

He also limits it though. He says he can't touch Job personally, but just all that he has. We understand from this, of course, that Satan is limited by whatever God allows, whatever God permits.

And this is really important because we read through the book of Esther and we studied that last week and we saw the incredible, just the sovereignty of God. How God was in control and orchestrating all these things behind the scenes and he's moving kingdoms really to accomplish salvation for his people. And we rejoice and we celebrate the sovereignty of God in the book of Esther. But then we get to the book of Job and

And we still see that sovereignty of God, but it's a lot harder for us to celebrate it. Because here we see the sovereignty of God in saying, I'm protecting Job. Satan, you have no part. You can't touch him. Satan challenges God. And God says, okay, you can take whatever you want of his stuff. You can touch all of his stuff, whatever you want to do. Just, you can't touch him.

You see that God is in control. That he is the one in authority giving permission and Satan is bound to whatever permission God gives him. He cannot do anything apart from God's permission. He can't go beyond what God has permitted. And that is difficult for us to understand, but that is the reality that we see here in the scriptures.

And so Satan goes, he has his way. And in verses 13 through 19, we see that Job loses his property and his children. And it's messenger after messenger who comes to Job. One upon another, you lost all of your herd. The house was destroyed. All of your children were killed. One upon the other, this is announced to Job.

And Job responds in verses 20 through 22. In verse 20 it says, Notice verse 22. So we start out

to Job he's a righteous man we end up Job experiences all this affliction he loses all of his possessions he loses his family except for his wife his children are killed but he does not do what Satan expects Satan expects at this time that Job will say cursed be the name of the Lord but instead Job worships and says blessed be the name of the Lord and

And so he does not sin nor charge God with wrong. So he started out blameless and upright and he ends up blameless and upright even though this great calamity has come upon him. Well the story continues. You thought it was bad but it gets worse in Job chapter 2. Verse 3 is the key verse.

Now in verses 1 through 6, we have God giving Satan authority over Job's health.

So chapter 1 ends. Chapter 2 begins and we see Satan come back into the presence of God once again. And God says, hey, where have you been? Oh, you know, I've been roaming around the earth like a roaring lion seeking whom I may devour. And God says, hey, have you considered Job? You incited me against him. You said that he would curse me if I removed my hedge of protection. But he's maintained his integrity. He has continued to be upright. He has not wavered in that.

So Satan challenges God yet further. He says in verse 5, stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh and he will surely curse you to your face. And the Lord said to Satan, behold he is in your hand but spare his life. So again you see the sovereignty of God at work. God is setting the parameters. You cannot go beyond this. Here's what you're allowed to do. Here's what you cannot do. So you can touch his body. You can affect his health. But you cannot take his life.

And what Satan is saying is that Job will curse God to his face. And yet what we'll see is that Job continues to maintain his uprightness and integrity throughout this. Well, we see it take place in verse 7 and 8 where Job is struck with painful boils. It says in verse 7, from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. He's covered in these boils.

boils or these open sores and he takes a pot shirt or a broken piece of pottery and he uses that to scrape himself while he sits in the midst of the ashes and so he is just in absolute misery now completely in pain overwhelmed still with grief and sorrow and so he sits there with a broken pot to scrape his body because he's in such pain

But verse 9 through 10 tells us that Job did not sin with his lips. Isn't it amazing? Through all of this, Job did not sin with his lips. Verse 9 is always one that's brought up because it's interesting. It says that his wife says to Job, hey, are you still holding on to your integrity? Why don't you just curse God and die? Like put yourself out of your misery. You know, why do you hold on to this? Why not just curse God and get this all over with? Let God strike you down.

Now this is interesting to me because God gave permission to Satan to touch all that Job has and to touch his own health. And so what does Satan do? He destroys all of his possessions. He also destroys his children, but he keeps Job's wife alive. I mean, I don't know what Satan was thinking, but just from this little verse, that's really all we know about Job's wife.

Perhaps Satan was thinking, hey, if I keep her alive, she'll be on my side. She'll help me to get Job to curse God. She'll be part of his demise. So I'm going to keep her alive so that she can help me cause Job to curse God. And so she says, why don't you just curse God and die?

I don't know exactly why because the Bible doesn't tell us, but that's an interesting thought. And it should kind of make us pause and think, what kind of spouse am I? You know, am I part of Satan's plans in my spouse's life or am I part of God's plans in my spouse's life?

But Job responds and says, hey, you speak like a foolish woman speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity? And again, in this, Job did not sin with his lips. So check out what Job says. This is an important lesson for all of us. Shall we not accept good from God? Sure, we all want to accept good from God, right? But then he says, and then not accept adversity?

Again, this goes back to the sovereignty of God. In the book of Esther, you see the deliverance and we rejoice in the wonderful way that God delivers and saves. And we celebrate that. But if we celebrate the sovereignty of God in deliverance, in blessing, in provision, we also need to then receive the sovereignty of God in affliction. It's not consistent to say, I trust God for blessings and for goodness and not to say,

I trust God in the midst of affliction. The sovereignty of God is consistent on both sides, blessing and affliction. Now, we can trust God that he has our best interests in mind. He proved that once and for all at the cross.

So he proved that he loves us. He proved that he wants what's best for us. So we can rest in his sovereignty. Whether that be in blessing or whether that be in affliction. We can rest because we know that God loves us and he wants what's best for us. But that's easy to say. But when you're in the midst of it, it's very difficult. Here we see Job as a really great model for this though. He's saying, no. I trust God with my life. And I accept the good that he offers.

And so now as there's adversity, I'm going to accept that as well. And I'm not going to curse God. I'm not going to sin against God. I'm not going to falsely accuse God. Well, help comes along now in verses 11 through 13. Job's friends come to mourn.

And comforts him. They're going to mourn with him. They're going to comfort with him. Job's friends. There's three of them. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. Now there's a fourth one that we'll get into later on in the book of Job. But these are the three friends that we'll be talking about over the next few chapters. And it says that they made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And in verse 13 as they get there. What they do first of all is they just sit down with him on the ground. And for seven days.

They don't even say a word. No one spoke a word. They just, they saw the greatness of his grief. They saw the calamity that had gone on and there was just nothing for them to say. And oftentimes as we are looking to reach out and comfort and help others who are really going through difficult times, we think that that's an awful thing to do, to just be there and not have anything to say.

But we'll actually see Job's friends, this was their highlight. They did really well until they opened their mouth. And a lot of times when people are going through great affliction, that's what they need is someone who is there, not necessarily with words to say, not with some great wisdom or revelation or some encouraging word even,

But just to be there is really what is needed. And that's something that we need to get used to because sometimes, well, I would say many times when we open our mouths, we don't help, but we just add to the hurt that a person is going through. Well, that brings us now to Job chapter 3. In verse 1, we have the key verse. It says, After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

And so we have that recorded there in verses 1 through 10. Job curses the day of his birth. He doesn't curse God, which is what Satan said that he would do.

So he's not blaming God. He's not cursing God. But he is cursing the day of his birth. And so here Job is working through some emotions. He's working through his grief. And some people really give Job a hard time as they study through or talk about the book of Job. But again, I would really challenge you to remember the context and consider what Job has lost.

Some people that we know, some people around us, or maybe you yourself, have gone through the traumatic experience of losing your home. And that's difficult. It's so hard. It's painful. It rocks your world. Some people have gone through the traumatic experience of losing your job. And maybe you've experienced that and you know what that's like. And some people have lost children. And that's difficult and painful.

We know those who have experienced that. Some people have experienced painful disease. And we can think about many of those that we've known. And part of our fellowship who've gone through just horrible painful disease. Now think about Job. He experienced all of those things at once. He lost everything. He lost his family. His seven sons. His three daughters were killed. And now he's covered in boils. He's got this very painful disease. And

Job is in the midst of great agony and pain. And again, he's not attempting to speak for God. He is simply expressing his grief. He's expressing his confusion over the pain and what he's going through. He's expressing what he is experiencing. And so he recognizes, he trusts God, but he's still wrestling with how could this happen in my life? I don't understand anything.

And I think it would be better if I was just never born. And so in verse 3 he says, May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said a male child is conceived. He's in such agony. He's like, I don't understand this. It would have been better if I just had never been born. And maybe you felt like that before. So you can kind of relate to Job and how he's experiencing this difficulty and affliction.

He continues that thought in verses 11 through 19. Why did I not die at birth? Why didn't I die at birth? I mean, maybe it would have been better if I had never been born or maybe, you know, just immediately upon my birth I was dead. Then that would have been better because I wouldn't be experiencing the pain and the affliction that I'm experiencing right now. Why didn't God do that? Why didn't he choose to do that with my life?

I like what Warren Wisby says about this. He says, suppose God had told Job the reasons behind his troubles. Would that have solved his problems? After all, God's people live on promises and not explanations. That's a good thing to consider. Knowing why wouldn't really have affected or solved Job's situation. God doesn't call us to live by everything that we understand and that he doesn't promise that we'll understand everything that we go through.

But he does promise that he works all things together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. He does promise that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not height nor depth. Nothing. And so we need to hold on and grasp hold of those promises and live by those promises. Because there's a lot of times in life where like Job we don't understand why God has allowed certain things. Or why God didn't do things the way that we thought he should do things.

It's not about us understanding. It's about us trusting and resting in the God who does. Well, then he says in verses 20 through 26, the thing I greatly feared has come upon me. These things that Job is experiencing, he says, I feared this. I was worried about. And maybe in reading the book of Job, you kind of have that same thing, right? I kind of fear that this would happen in my life. And he says, I'm experiencing it now.

He asked the question in verse 20, why is light given to him who is in misery and life to the bitter soul who long for death but it does not come and search for it more than hidden treasures? Again, he's asking why. Why is this? Why does God allow this? Why allow someone to live but they're miserable? Why not just let them die? They want to die. Why not just let them die? Job says. It's amazing to me as we can see it clearly here in the book of Job.

God has given us such great capacity to experience pain. And that's not something we get real excited about. But it's amazing the capacity that we have. The people who go through, you know, chemotherapy and those kinds of treatments. The people who go through that multiple times. The people who go through great loss. The people who go through

incredible difficulties. It's amazing how much capacity we have to be able to endure and experience pain. Why did God make us that way? So that we could be miserable, experience these deep and incredibly painful things, so much so that even we want to die, that we'd rather be dead, but still that it doesn't come, that our life is preserved. Why is this?

Again, Job is wrestling with what is going on. He's struggling with the pain and the difficulty that he's experiencing. And he is expressing that. He's not attempting to speak for God. He's expressing his own feelings, his own situation and how he is experiencing it.

So Job is going through this. He's asking why. Of course, whenever we ask why concerning the things that God is doing, we really don't have answers unless God specifically reveals it. And so he's just crying out. He's not saying he has the answers. He's not even really looking for the answers. He's just saying, I just don't understand. I'm in such pain, there's great grief.

Well, now we're heading into this time where now Job's friend is going to speak. And what we're going to be seeing here is Job's friend is going to speak. Then Job's going to speak. Then another friend's going to speak. Then Job's going to speak. Then another friend's going to speak. And they're going to kind of repeat this for the next few chapters. This discussion back and forth. So first friend that speaks as we head into chapter 4 is Eliphaz. In verse 1 it says, Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

And he goes on to this discussion here in chapter 4 and then on to chapter 5. So he asks the question in verse 1 through 11, whoever perished being innocent? Who has ever perished whenever they were innocent is the question that Eliphaz asked. Now, this is going to be the theme of all Job's friends. They're going to be saying over and over in various ways, Job, there must be some kind of sin in your life.

It's got to be some terrible and secret sin for you to be able to experience this kind of difficulty. It's got to be something really bad. But it's secret because, you know, we don't know what it is. It's not obvious. But there must be some kind of sin that's really terrible for

which is proportionate to the amount of affliction that you are experiencing. Eliphaz says in verse 8, even as I have seen those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. So he's saying, look, you've sown trouble. You've plowed iniquity. And now you're experiencing the devastation from it. Job, there must be some kind of sin in your life that is causing this affliction and trouble.

Then he goes on in verses 12 through 21 to say that a word was secretly brought to him. And he describes some kind of spirit, a spirit who comes to Eliphaz and announces this message. He says in verse 15, And so he's describing this kind of weird experience.

And this spirit who comes to him in verse 17 says, can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his maker? And so again, Job's friend is saying, look, this is what I've seen. You must have some secret sin. There must be something going on. And then also I had this spiritual revelation where this spirit appeared to me and it was really creepy and my hair stood up and that spirit said the same thing. Job, there must be something wrong in your life.

And that's why you're going through these things. Now as we look at the words of Job and then the words of Job's friends, I'm going to be using a stamp to help us remember how to evaluate the counsel, the words of Job's friends. And so here is that stamp. False. Whenever you read these words of Eliphaz in Job chapter 4, let's just put a general blanket. Bump.

His words are not true. Again, Job's friends do really good until they start talking. But as soon as they start talking, they might as well be quoting someone from the psychic hotline. Because they are not speaking on behalf of God. They are not speaking forth for God. Now as you go through these chapters, you might be able to find little snippets of truth here and there.

And the reason why I'm going through this trouble to make sure that this is abundantly clear for us, because many times, in fact, I would say probably 99% of the time that people quote from the book of Job, it's completely out of context and it's completely inappropriate for whatever point that they're trying to make. Whenever you are tempted to quote from the book of Job, you really need to consider the context, right?

Again, there might be little snippets of truth here, but listen, if there's snippets of truth that you go, wow, this really resounds. I need to share this. This is something I need to point out. Listen, if it's the truth, then it's also going to be discussed elsewhere in the Word of God, and there's much better passages to share that from than from the book of Job. We really need to reevaluate how we use these scriptures. Because generally speaking, when Job's friends are talking, it is false, right?

Now I know that's a bold statement. I know that's pretty, well probably not what you're expecting. But jump with me please to Job chapter 42 and we can see this really clearly. In Job chapter 42 where God deals with Job's friends in verse 7 and 8. And so verse 7 of Job 42 says, And so it was after the Lord had spoken these words to Job that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite,

Verse 1.

So here twice, God says clearly, you guys did not speak what is right. Job did speak what was right. You get that? So as you look through the book of Job, understand anytime you're reading the words of Job's friends, you can just put this general statement just like God did. They are not speaking for God what is right. It's false. Maybe tiny snippets of truth.

But generally speaking, God says their words are false. Now again, the Bible is inspired. And so because it's inspired by God, it accurately records the words of Job's friends. But the words of Job's friends are wrong. They're not true. They don't understand what really is going on. All right, chapter 5. So we continue on now with Eliphaz. He's continuing to speak in verse 17.

The key verse, it says, Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. Cheer up, Job. I mean, this is all good stuff. Why are you so upset? He starts out in verses 1 through 7 saying that wrath kills a foolish man. Wrath kills a foolish man. He says in verse 1, Call out now. Is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn? For wrath kills a foolish man and envy slays a simple one.

You're experiencing the wrath of God, Job, and it's because you're foolish. Who are you going to turn to? You can't escape the wrath of God if you're foolish. He says, but let me tell you what I would do. Verses 8 through 16, I would seek God. In verse 8 he says, but as for me, I would seek God and to God I would commit my cause. Now what he's saying is, Job, you're not seeking God, but if I were in your shoes, I would seek God.

Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. Listen, God does great things and he's able to save. And if only you would seek him, then you would be brought out of this difficult situation that you're in. That's what he's saying. And Job, you're here because you're not seeking God. Because you're foolish. In verse 17 through 27, he says, happy is the man whom God corrects. Listen, if only you would seek God, if only you would repent,

He says in verse 25, you shall also know that your descendants shall be many and your offspring like the grass of the earth. You shall come to the grave at full age as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season. Look, if only you would seek God, then you would be guaranteed a blessed life. Then you would be able to live a long time. Then you would have many descendants. All your children died, but you could have many more. If only you would seek God. Job, why aren't you seeking God? Why?

Now again, we have to put the stamp false. What Eliphaz is saying is not true. Remember how we're introduced to Job? He's a righteous man. All the affliction happens, Job did not sin. All the affliction happens in Job chapter 2, Job did not sin. At the end of Job, Job chapter 42, God says, Job spoke what was right of me, not like you friends who did not speak what was right concerning me. And so Eliphaz, he doesn't understand what he's talking about. It's not good counsel.

He's not speaking the truth. Now there's a little snippet of truth here. If you want to consider it. Happy is the man whom God corrects. There in verse 17. We also read about that in Hebrews chapter 12. So if you want to talk about the chastening of God. And how that's good in our lives. I would counsel you to use Hebrews chapter 12. Not Job chapter 5. Because...

Yeah, he might have stumbled on a little ray of truth. And I should point out, I'm rough on Job's friends, but they mean well. It's not that, you know, he's trying to destroy Job. He just, he means well, but he's just completely foolish, misinformed. He doesn't understand what's going on. So Hebrews chapter 12 is much better for dealing with the chastening of God. Because here the problem with what he's saying is that Job is not being corrected or chastened by God.

In fact, all of this is happening because Job didn't need to be corrected or chastened by God. So he's way off base. Although, hey, we can rejoice as God chastens us because it means that we're his children. Job wasn't experiencing God's chastening. And so he was way off. Well, Job responds now as we go on into chapter 6, verse 2. "'Oh, that my grief were fully weighed and my calamity laid with it on the scales.'"

In verses 1 through 7, he says, oh, that my grief were fully weighed. Job here is in such extreme agony. He's saying, look, man, if we weighed out my grief, it would be heavier than the sand of the sea. He's just trying to express, I'm going through such great difficulty and affliction. It's so heavy. It's so painful. And notice what he says at the end of verse 3. He says, therefore, my words have been rash.

Now again, as Job is expressing this, he's not claiming to speak for God. He's not claiming to have the answers. In fact, he's doing the opposite. He's saying, I'm so overwhelmed with pain and grief. If you waited, be like the sands of the sea. And so I know my words are rash. I know what I'm speaking is not necessarily the best things, but I'm so confused and I'm in so much pain. I don't really know what to say. I'm trying to figure out what is going on.

That I'm going through such great difficulty. And so it's not that he has all the answers. In fact, he's expressing the opposite. He's like, I don't have the answer. I really don't know what's going on. It's just I'm in such great pain. Verses 8 through 13, he says, oh, that I might have my request. And what's his request? Well, verse 9, he goes on to say that it would please God to crush me. Then he would lose his hand and cut me off. I wish God would just finish, finish me off.

Just take me out, Lord. Why preserve me alive in the midst of this great agony? Lord, at my request, just take me out. Just take me home. I really don't want to be here anymore. It's just too painful. It's too agonizing. I don't understand why you would want me to be alive and endure this kind of difficulty. Then verse 14 through 23, Job says, kindness should be shown by friends.

This verse should be highlighted, underlined, bolded, memorized. Verse 14, to him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend. Eliphaz, you're not showing me much kindness. Accusing me of sin and saying, hey, surely you're not seeking God. That's why all this is happening. There's no compassion. You're not having any kind of mercy on me. There's no grace there. Where's the kindness? Kindness should be shown by his friend. I think the book of Job is so important for us.

I know a lot of people struggle to read through the book of Job and they don't like it that much. But listen, the book of Job is so important for us because we learn how not to help those who are in need around us. And this is a lesson that is desperately needed for us as believers. Because so many times we fall into the same mistakes, the same pattern as Job's friends.

But notice Job's character here. He really has his heart in the right place. Verse 24 through 30, he says, teach me and I will hold my tongue. Now this would be a whole different thing if Job was saying like, you guys can't tell me nothing. I don't want to hear from you guys. You guys don't got nothing good to say. If he was, you know, proud and arrogant in his approach to this, we'd be looking at this a lot differently. But Job has this humility. He says, teach me. I'll hold my tongue. Tongue, help me to understand where I've erred.

Because I'm going through great affliction. I don't understand it. And if I've missed it, then help me understand that. Don't just talk about, you know, well, there must be something. Help me understand. What am I missing? And so Job is inviting correction, which is appropriate, which is good. Because as we look and understand at the scriptures, you know, sometimes God does use affliction to correct us. But the error, the mistake is then assuming that always affliction is some correction from God.

That's what Job's friends assumed, but that was not the case. Not all affliction is some form of correction or chastening from God, but Job's willing to be corrected. He's not insisting, hey, I'm perfect. You guys can't tell me nothing. He says, look, if I'm, I can't see. I've looked. I'm trying to figure out why God is allowing this. It doesn't seem to me like it's some kind of correction because I don't know of anything that I need to be corrected in, but if you see something that

Maybe I do need to be corrected. Then teach me. I'll hold my tongue. I'll listen. He's open to correction, which is really important for all of us. We need to be open to be instructed and corrected by those around us. Well, we go on now to chapter 7 where Job continues on. In verse 11 is the key verse. It says, therefore, I will not restrain my mouth. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

And so again, we see Job is not attempting, he's not proclaiming that I speak for God. These are God's words. This is God's truth. He's saying, look, I'm talking out of the bitterness of my soul. I'm speaking in English of spirit. I'm speaking forth from what I'm going through. He's not proclaiming that he has the answers. Verses one through five, he says that we are some knights have been appointed to him.

It's interesting, some people have wondered, you know, how much time is being covered here by the book of Job? And we don't know for sure, but verse 3 says, So I have been allotted months of futility, and wearisome nights have been appointed to me. It's interesting, he says that there's been allotted months of futility for him.

So it's very possible that this is happening over a span of several months. In fact, as he talks about months being appointed to him, that might just be referring to the time between Job chapter 1 and Job chapter 2. That Job loses his possessions and loses his children. And then it's a couple months later when Satan goes before God again and then afflicts Job with boils. And so this is maybe not all happening, you know, all in the same day, unfortunately.

The events of chapter 1 happened in one day. The events in chapter 2 might have happened a couple months later. But Job in his despair in verse 6 through 10 says, my eye will never again see good. He says, oh, my life is so short. He says, remember that my life is a breath. I don't think that I'll ever see good again. My life's going to be over so quickly. It doesn't seem that I'll ever have good days again. In verse 11 through 16 again, he says, I will speak in the anguish of my spirit's

And then in verse 17 through 21, he asked God, what have I done to you? Notice again in verse 20, he says, have I sinned? What have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you set me as your target so that I am a burden to myself? Again, Job's asking, what have I done? Job's friends made the error, there must be some sin in your life. Job's open to that. Have I erred? What have I done? Am I in sin in some way? He's asking God.

He's inviting that correction. Again, that's a good attitude in the heart that we need to have. All right, chapter 8, verse 1. Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, so now another friend comes on the scene and he begins to talk. He says in verses 1 through 7, if you were pure, God would awake for you. What's he saying? You're not pure, Job. That's why God's sleeping. God's not responding. He says in verse 5, if you would earnestly seek God and make your supplication, if you were pure and upright, he would awake for you and you would prosper and

In a rightful dwelling place. You would be blessed if you were pure. But you're not pure, so you're not blessed. Verses 8 through 18, he says, the hope of the hypocrite shall perish. He talks about the papyrus growing without a marsh. He says, look, can it grow up without the environment that it needs? In the same way, look, you're experiencing this affliction, so there must be some kind of sin. There must be some impurity. There must be. It has to be. Job, you're in sin.

Because verse 19 through 22, God will not cast away the blameless. He's not going to uphold the evildoers. And so that's why you're not being upheld. Because you're an evildoer. There must be some secret sin in your life. And again, we say false. God said to Job's friends, you did not speak of me what is right. Now again, this is important for us to consider, to understand. Because too many of Job's friends attend church. Too many of Job's friends attend church.

Listen, I get real passionate about this stuff because it becomes real personal to me. As I was growing up, my mom had a life-threatening illness, which then has affected her for the rest of her life. And so she has experienced all kinds of illnesses and diseases and afflictions for, you know, ever since I was a young teenager. And within the church, even within close friends,

There would often be those who would come and say, there must be some sin in your life. You see, this isn't just some ancient thing that, you know, they used to think. No, no, these things are important for us to study today because this still happens within the church today. And many times throughout the years, this, people have sought to convince my mom, just like Job's friends, there must be some sin in your life.

It's really the other side of the prosperity gospel where, hey, God wants you to be healthy and wealthy and wise. And if you love God and have faith, then you'll be blessed. And if you are in affliction, if you're in the midst of some difficulty, you have these great diseases or whatever, then there must be some sin in your life. But that is not what the Bible teaches. And if I could, I would track down those people who have said those things and I would sin against them. Because how terrible it is to sin.

So Bildad got it wrong. Chapter 9 now, verse 33. Job now is speaking again. He says, Verses 1 through 13, Job asks,

In verse 2, he says, look, I know what you're saying, guys. I know what you're saying, Bildad. But how can I be righteous? Look, even if I had a chance, I couldn't contend with God. I'm not trying to fight with God. No, instead what I would do, he says in verse 14 through 20, I would beg mercy of my judge. I would beg for mercy. Even though I don't know of any wrongdoing on my part, I'm not going to stand before God and

Demand that he answer to me. No, I would stand before him and beg for mercy. He says in verse 15, for though I were righteous, I could not answer him. I would beg mercy of my judge. Notice verse 21 through 31. He says, I am blameless, yet I do not know myself. A lot like the apostle Paul, huh? Paul says, look, I don't know of anything against me, but I'm not the judge. God is the judge. Job says, I'm blameless, but hey, I don't know myself. Maybe there's things I'm missing. Maybe there's things I'm missing.

But he says, I despise my life. I'm in such misery. Then he says in verse 32 through 35, there's no mediator between us. God's not a man that we would be able to have this conversation. No, he's God. Mountains shudder before him. I couldn't stand before him and have this discussion and say, God, what are you doing? You know, aren't I righteous? No, if I stood before him, I would just be crying out for mercy. What I really need is someone who could stand between us and lay hands on us both and

Then I might be able to ask God, hey, what's going on? Why is this happening in my life? And today we do have a mediator. His name is Jesus. We have this great opportunity to approach God. Chapter 10, Job continues in verse 1. It says, my soul loathes my life. I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. Again, we see it's clear here. Job is saying, look, I'm miserable. I'm miserable.

And so I'm just talking out of my misery. I'm talking from the bitterness of my soul. Verses 1 through 7, he says, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. He says, I would say to God, do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me. Does it seem good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands and smile on the counsel of the wicked? He's like, God, I'm your creation. I don't understand why, why do you see it good to allow this in my life? I don't understand. I don't understand.

In verses 8 through 12, he reminds God, you have fashioned me. Your hands fashioned me. You made me like clay and now are you going to turn me back into the dust? I don't understand. Again, it's what Job is saying. If I am wicked, woe to me, he says in verses 13 through 17. Woe to me. And then in verse 18 through 22, he asks, why have you brought me out of the womb? Again, probably would have been better if I would just not ever born.

Job, again, is speaking out of his confusion. He's not claiming perfection. He's struggling with, why, God, are you allowing this? Why am I going through this? Why would you allow such great difficulty? Well, then we have Job's third friend respond in verse 11. Verse 1, it says,

And so in verses 1 through 6, he says, God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves. Hey, brighten up, Job. It could be worse because you deserve much worse. I always love the phrase Job will use later on in the book. Miserable comforters are you all. And we see that true of Job's friends and we see it true many times throughout the church. He says, God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves. Now again,

He's operating under the assumption, Job, there must be something really bad. And although your affliction is bad, still you deserve much more because you're, well, there must be something even worse in your life. In verse 7 through 12, he says, can you search out the deep things of God? He says in verse 11, for he knows deceitful men. He sees wickedness also. Will he then not then consider it? He says, Job, God can see your wickedness. He can see the secret. We can't figure it out. We

But God knows. He sees that secret sin. He sees that wickedness. Then in verse 13 through 20, he says, if you would repent, God would forget your misery. If you would repent, God would forget your misery. And look what he says in verse 14. If iniquity were in your hand and you put it far away and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents, that's repentance, putting away the sin,

Then surely, verse 15, you could lift up your face without spot. Yes, you could be steadfast and not fear because you would forget your misery and remember it as waters have passed away and your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you should be like, or you would be like the morning. Look, if you would just repent, things will change dramatically and your life will be glorious. Things will be wonderful. If you would just repent, there must be some sin. Just repent.

Now again, we come to the conclusion, we say, false. These are not the words of God. This is not God's heart in this situation. Now again, I'm hitting this hard. I'm making sure it's clear for us because this is something that continues on. It's not just something that I experienced throughout my life, but consider Pastor Sisko. It was about two years ago. He's, well, it's discovered that he has cancer in his kidney. Someone in the congregation went up to him and said,

What kind of sin must be going on in your life that you have cancer? You see, this is not ancient history, guys. This is stuff we still face today. And I'm wanting to remind you that this is stuff that we have a tendency to assume as we look on the affliction of others. There must be some kind of sin. There must be some kind of affliction. Now, there is room for correction. When it's clear, hey, you're openly violating God's Word, we're instructed in the Scriptures to correct one another.

But we cannot assume. It's not comforting. It's not good counsel to then look on someone in affliction and say, you must be in some kind of sin. We can't speak for God in that way because we don't really know what's going on. And we don't know. Maybe there is a Job chapter 1 and 2 in the picture. It's not our place. Friends should deal kindly. And so as difficult as the book of Job is, let it remind you the importance of dealing kindly with those who are hurting.

Let me finish up with a quote from Warren Wiersbe. He says, if you want to help others, listen with your heart as well as your ears. Try not to make your experience the only test of truth. Well, this is what I experienced. Therefore, this must be the truth. And if you only do what I do, then you'll experience what I experience. That's not the way that it works with God. That's how these friends were evaluating it. Well, this is what I've seen, Job. This is what I've experienced. So therefore, you must be in sin because...

Your experience doesn't match my experience. But if only you'll repent. But they weren't listening with their hearts. They weren't paying attention. They were instead laying upon them, laying upon Job accusation. You must be in sin. Miserable comforters are you all. Let's pray that God would make us much better comforters than Job's friends. Heavenly Father, we do pray that you would help us to have compassion.

on those who are hurting. And Lord, there's a lot of questions here. Why would you allow this? What do you want to do through this? Even as we look at our own lives and the affliction and difficulty that we face. But Lord, you don't ask us to live our lives based upon an explanation, but upon your promises. So Lord, we look to you. We know that you're good. We know that you love us more than we could ever know or understand.

So Lord, we commit to trust in you. And even though we might ask questions like Job because we don't understand what we're going through, Lord, help us to rest in you, to not sin against you. And Lord, as we encounter others who are going through great difficulty, I pray that you would help us to be encouraging, comforting, edifying, uplifting. Lord, that they would be blessed and drawn near to you as a result of encountering us. Lord, that we would not lay upon them any burden, any

any guilt, Lord, that is not appropriate for them. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.