A Right View Of God

[0:00] Job chapter 40. A while back we were looking at the book of Job and we turned toward the last section and Job had been, first of all, he'd gone through all this trouble.

[0:30] We talked about how God allowed all his possessions to be taken and his children to be killed. And then we talked about how, again, Satan came before God.

[0:43] God allowed Satan to then afflict Job's life. And Satan did, governed him with boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet.

[0:53] And then Job sat, suffering, mourning. Three of his friends came as he sat on an ash pile, scraping his boils with a piece of broken pottery and mourning.

[1:13] They sat quietly for three, for one week. And then they began to talk to Job gently at first, saying, Job, you know, these kind of things happen when people got stuff they haven't dealt with.

[1:30] And then as time went on and he said, no, I've not done anything to deserve this. They kept going on and saying, really?

[1:41] Really? You suffer because you've sinned. People suffer because they've sinned. And he says, no, I've not sinned. I've not sinned at all.

[1:52] There's no reason. He's not saying he was sinless. But I've not sinned for this. I've not sinned to cause this. And time went on and they would blatantly say, Job, your children died because you're a sinner.

[2:07] Job, you're a sinner. That's why these things happen. You just have to confess. Yes. And Job stood his ground and said, no, I am not suffering because I have sinned.

[2:22] He stood true to that. And we found through the first part of the book of Job, Job stood steadfast. Now, to that principle, he stands steadfast to this day.

[2:36] He has kept his integrity. He has not forsaken his integrity and said, well, fine, if God's going to treat me that way, then I'm going to turn against God.

[2:46] And if Job had done that, Satan would have won. Satan would have been correct in his assessment of what, the fact that Job just served God because God blessed him.

[2:59] Job was consistent in that. But as time went on, there was a second string that started. It started small. We've not made a lot of it until we come towards the end.

[3:11] And that second string was, God, I just want to come and talk to you about this. At first, it was laying out his concern before God. And then as we got in the middle of those speeches, not only did we hear him holding his integrity about his sin, but he began speaking in ways that if we were sitting next to him, we'd want to back away.

[3:33] Because he began to say, at first, in essence, and then pretty directly as time went on, God, you've done wrong by me.

[3:45] God, this isn't right. You're not doing right. And so he basically impugns the character of God and says, God has done something wrong.

[3:58] He's not dealt with me as he should have. And he goes on to say such things as, if I could just talk to him, I could set the record straight.

[4:10] How he could talk? Well, that went on. And by God's grace, we saw a character come on the scene named Elihu. And this man came before Job.

[4:23] And basically, I'm going to boil down five, six chapters to, Job, you're being foolish. You can't talk to God this way. He's God and you're not.

[4:36] And he doesn't rebuke Job for saying that it was, that he was suffering because he sinned. He's saying, Job, you can't talk to God this way.

[4:46] And Elihu goes into this whole parade of, this is who God is and this is what God does. And he limits it to some of the areas, especially concerning animals and such.

[4:58] And Elihu gets done with his speech. And last time we saw, now God comes on the scene. And God comes before Job.

[5:10] And he says, wait a minute. Oh, he doesn't say, wait a minute. He stands before Job. And he answers out of the whirlwind. And says, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

[5:25] Dress for action like a man. I will question you. And you make it known to me. And so God addresses Job. And says, I'm going to give you a chance to answer back.

[5:38] But I'm going to pose you some questions. I'm going to show who I am in some sense. He talks about creation. He talks about where were you?

[5:53] Do you know how I did it? And he talks about all the great works of God. And then he goes through a bunch of animals. And talks about how God made them. And every time he's basically saying, can you do this with an animal?

[6:07] And the answer is, no, you can't. But I can. You should trust me. And remember, we repeated that phrase over and over and over again. You can't.

[6:19] I can. You should trust me. Well, we saw where God spoke to Job that way in the past. And Job's reaction is in the first part of chapter 40.

[6:33] And Job said, and the Lord said, I lost my place here. Again, this is the end of what God says before Job said, Shall a fault finder contend with the Almighty?

[6:47] He who argues with God, let him answer it. And so God has put forth his argument. He says, I want you to answer it. And Job answered the Lord and said, Behold, I am of small account.

[6:58] What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once. I will unanswer twice. But I will proceed no further.

[7:11] He admits that he doesn't know how to do these things. He can't do these things. And he's not qualified to say anything against God. So he covers his mouth.

[7:24] This isn't all that Job needed to do. And so God continues to address him. God is not done laying out his case. Now we've not, last time we did the biggest reading in that we read the sections as we went.

[7:41] Today, I'm going to read straight through from 40 verse 6 to 42 verse 6. I would strongly encourage you to follow along as I read.

[7:56] Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, Dress for action like a man. I will question you and you make it known to me. Will you even put me in the wrong?

[8:10] Will you condemn me that you may be in the right? Have you an arm like God? And can you thunder with a voice like His?

[8:26] Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity. Clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour out the overflowings of your anger and look on everyone who is proud and abase him.

[8:38] Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low. And tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together. Bind their faces in the world below.

[8:50] Then will I also acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. Behold, behemoth, which I made as I made you.

[9:03] He eats grass like an ox. Behold, his strength is in his loins and his power is in the muscles of his belly. He makes his tail stiff like a cedar.

[9:15] The sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze. His limbs like bars of iron. He is the first of the works of God.

[9:28] Let him who made him bring near his sword. For the mountains yield food for him where all the wild beasts play. Under the lotus plant he lies in the shelter of the reeds and in the marsh.

[9:43] For his shade the lotus trees cover him. The willows of the brook surround him. Behold, if the river is turbulent, he is not frightened. He is confident though Jordan rushes against his mouth.

[9:57] Can one take him by his eyes or pierce his nose with a snare? Can you draw Leviathan with a fish hook or press down his tongue with a cord?

[10:12] Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words?

[10:23] Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

[10:34] Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hands on him.

[10:46] Remember the battle. You will not do it again. Behold, the hope of man is false. He is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.

[10:59] Who then is he who can stand before me? Who was first given to me that I should repay him?

[11:11] Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. I will not keep silence concerning his limbs or his mighty strength or his goodly frame.

[11:21] Who can strip off his outer garments? Who would come near him with a bridle? Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror.

[11:33] His back is made of rows of shields shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another.

[11:45] They clasp each other and cannot be separated. His sneezings flash forth light and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go flaming torches.

[11:59] Sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils come forth smoke as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

[12:13] In his neck abide strength and terror dances before him. The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable.

[12:24] His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. At the crashing, they are beside themselves.

[12:37] Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. He counts iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee.

[12:51] For him, sling stones are turned to stubble. Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rattle of javelins. His underparts are like sharp pot shirts.

[13:03] He spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. He makes the deep boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

[13:14] Behind him, he leaves a shining wake. One would think the deep to be white-haired. On earth, there is not his like, a creature without fear.

[13:28] He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride. Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

[13:47] Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

[13:58] Hear and I will speak. I will question you and make it known to me. I heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.

[14:12] Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. Let's pray. Thank you, Father, that this passage is in your word.

[14:28] It speaks of your great, mighty, awesome power. It speaks of your knowledge and creation. It speaks of your supreme rule.

[14:42] And Lord, there is so much in this that makes us just stand in awe of who you are. Help us to do that. I pray that you would be with us, that we would learn the lesson that Job learned here.

[14:58] And I pray that you would open our eyes to the truth. And may we be encouraged with the truths that are here and how they help us in suffering and knowing who you are.

[15:11] In Jesus' name, amen. Well, I do want to go back through this because there are things that I want you to see that we have to think about just a little bit.

[15:21] Remember, this is poetry. And he's painting pictures for us. Well, as we come back to chapter 40 and verse 6, Job, before that, has answered God based on the first speech.

[15:35] And then God addresses him again. Calls him to dress for action like a man, just like he did before. And he says, I'll question you and you make it known to me, just like he said before.

[15:46] But then, he addresses Job in a bit of a different way. He deals with Job directly. Remember we talked about the first thread?

[15:58] He kept his integrity. But the second thread began to develop and was weaving its way. Now God is addressing that thread directly. Are you going to say, I was wrong?

[16:13] Now, we're all human beings. And some of us may have, you know, we could be a governor, a president, we could even be ruler of the earth.

[16:26] And we're all human beings. And so there's a sense in which, you know, propriety would say, oh, we don't say this to this person in this rank. We don't say that to that person in that rank.

[16:37] And we can talk plainly to our friends and we can talk differently to our, plainly and lovingly to our children. There's, there's a way to address everyone. But God's saying to Job, I think based on two things, one, because of his rank and two, because of his holiness.

[16:56] Are you going to tell me I'm doing wrong? He's trying to put Job, I'm going to make much, a little bit more of this later.

[17:10] He's not slapping Job down. He's correcting Job. Again, I'll make some of this, but I think it'd be good for us to remember now. God is not talking to a reprobate.

[17:23] God is talking to one of his children. God is talking to one whom, though he didn't understand at all, was putting his faith in Christ.

[17:35] Job was a man in Christ. So God is not addressing him as this reprobate that he's about to slap into hell. He's addressing him as his child.

[17:48] And I don't know about you, I've had appropriate times where my dad has looked at me and said, really? You're going to say that to me? And it wasn't, you know, the second before the slap, but it was, do you recognize the position you're in?

[18:06] Do you recognize who you're talking to? The whole command of God to honor your parents, you're transgressing that. And God's saying, will you put me in the wrong? And he describes why Job is trying to do, he says, will you condemn me that you may be in the right?

[18:25] What a brazen statement. Job has been making this argument, if I could just talk to him, basically saying, I'll set him straight.

[18:37] What a dangerous position to be in. And yet, I think we can make the argument that Job is not alone. That many of us, probably all of us, when our suffering gets difficult enough, some of us doesn't have to get that difficult.

[18:54] When our suffering gets difficult, it can be easy for us to say, God, this isn't right. And so, we have to be careful.

[19:06] Will you condemn me that you may be made right? And so, God goes on to say, do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like his?

[19:17] Do you have this power? Do you have his authority? Can you command things and they happen? Again, speaking about the rank, the division between God and man.

[19:31] And so, then God challenges him. He says, okay, I'm going to let you think through this a second. Do you have that arm? Do you have that voice? All right. Then I want you to clothe yourself with glory.

[19:43] I want you to portray yourself and be, not just pretend, but be the God who can deal with the unrighteous.

[19:54] Be the God who can deal with those who are evil. Adorn yourself like God and deal with evil. And he goes down through it.

[20:04] It's not just a little bit of a problem. He says, pour out the overflowing of your anger. And he's not just saying get mad, but you need to deal with the people who are proud.

[20:18] You look around at all the people who are proud. Figure out which ones they are. And then I want you to deal with them. I don't want you to deal with them just saying a couple of nice little, you know, soft words.

[20:28] I want you to deal with them. Notice what he says. Deal with them. Bring them low. Tread them down. Tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them in the dust together.

[20:39] Bind their faces in the world below. You deal with true evil the way it should be. He's talking about like the final judgment.

[20:53] When you can do that, you can talk to me about when that I'm doing wrong. And this is not God being a bully.

[21:04] This is not God throwing his weight around. He's saying, Job, you don't have the information. You don't have the authority. You don't have the understanding. You don't know what you speak of.

[21:16] And oft times in our suffering, that's exactly what we begin to do. We begin to speak of things we don't understand. Things we don't know whereof we speak.

[21:29] God's wrong for you to allow me to go through this. When if we could, you know, to use the old tapestry illustration, where if we could turn the situation around and see the other side, we'd say, oh, God is not being mean to me.

[21:47] God is not being unkind to me. God is not forgetting me. God is not dealing with me as with the world. He is indeed, even as his child, dealing with me as his child.

[22:01] And even though I can't understand my suffering, I can't understand why it keeps going. I can't understand why I'm in it. I can't understand anything about it. God is still good.

[22:11] And you would have to be in the position of God to understand the things that God is doing. And so he's trying to get Job to recognize you're not in the right position to make this evaluation.

[22:29] God is the kind of God who does see evil. And he is able to deal with it. And he can deal with it completely because he knows everything, because he has all power, because he is holy and righteous and just.

[22:43] And Job cannot do that. And if Job can't deal with the world that's to come, the judgment of the simply evil, wicked people, how can he deal with God in this questionable situation?

[23:00] And, you know, Job, you're not, you're not, you're not thinking right. And then God mentions behemoth.

[23:11] And all of us have been waiting behemoth. What's behemoth? He says, consider, behold, behemoth, which is interesting.

[23:22] He says, which I made as I made you. He ekes grass like an ox. He describes behemoth. Made him like Job.

[23:33] Not made him like Job, but made him like he, God made Job. So behemoth is not greater than Job. No, he is greater than Job.

[23:43] He is not greater than God. He's powerful and strong and he, he goes through this whole list of things that, that are spoken of here. His strength that is in his loins, power in his muscles, of his belly, his tail stiff like a cedar and his bones are tubes of bronze and his limbs like bars of iron.

[24:04] So he describes the marvel and strength of this creature, this creation. He says he is the first of the works of God, probably not, as I've read through commentaries, people referred to how this creature was created in the first of the land beings.

[24:28] Not necessarily the first in order, but on the day that land beings were created, this being was created and it was a preeminent being. Okay?

[24:42] If you have a mouse in one hand and a tiger in the other, which is more glorious? Now you can look at the mouse and say, oh, that's amazing. But we look at the tiger as being more majestic, more fearful for most of us.

[25:00] And he's saying this behemoth is a creature who inspires awe, probably referring to his status as a marvelous or preeminent creature in strength and fearlessness.

[25:17] He goes on, I tried to emphasize this as I was reading this. He says, he is the first of the works of God. Let him who made him bring near his sword.

[25:31] He's saying, consider this, this being is so great and so strong that he didn't fear the weapons of men. Only his creator can deal with him.

[25:45] And so God is saying, if you can do it, you can bring a sword and deal with him. But I created him, I can bring a sword and deal with him.

[25:59] And so he goes down through where he eats, where he lives, how he's shaded and asks at, in verse 24, can one take him by his eyes or pierce his nose with a snare?

[26:22] It's a rhetorical question. Can anyone capture this animal? Now, you're thinking, I know what that animal is and people have caught that animal.

[26:38] Okay. And, I want to disavow you of that thinking. I want you to remember this was written in Job's time. I'm just going to say this, we'll address it in a minute.

[26:51] If you think this is a hippopotamus, there are hippopotamuses in zoos and they didn't magically appear there. Somebody captured them. But it probably wasn't a big common thing in Job's day.

[27:08] If it was a hippopotamus, it went where it wanted. And it did what it wanted. And people didn't say no to it. And so, can you pierce, take him by, take him with his eyes, can you pierce his nose with a snare?

[27:27] And the rhetorical question has the answer of no. But the rhetorical inference is that God can. Nothing is out of God's control.

[27:38] Now, I'm going to wait until I'm done with Leviathan before I talk about what these are. You'll probably be disappointed. We'll settle your expectations.

[27:55] Leviathan, chapter 41. I want you to think, notice, he talks about Leviathan as if it's somebody he knew.

[28:09] Now, I don't know if Job knew the behemoth. I think so. I think he was familiar. I think that's why it was a good illustration for him. But as Job talks, or God talks with Job, he just starts out, can you, and he addresses the idea of Leviathan.

[28:26] Leviathan. So I think Job already asks, already knows that Job, God knows that Job already knows what a Leviathan is. And he asks, can you catch him?

[28:41] Can you put a little line and hook in the water? Got him! No. Will he give in to you? The phrases in verses 3 and 4 and 5.

[28:54] You've caught me! Please let me go! I'll be this and I'll be that! Does Leviathan answer like that? Can you tame him?

[29:08] You got me! Just take me home, feed me a little bit of dog food every day and your daughter can take me for a walk on the leash. Can you do that?

[29:19] No. Even, can you kill him? It's not that you're going to slaughter him and cut him up and take him to the market and people are going to sell parts of his body for meat.

[29:31] In fact, can you kill him? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? No. And he'll describe more about him in just a minute.

[29:44] But he's laying this out. Can you? Can you? Can you? And the answer is no, no, no. In fact, I just love what God says here. Lay your hands on him. Remember the battle.

[29:56] You will not do it again. And so, this is a fierce beast. Behold, the hope of man is false.

[30:10] He is laid low even at the sight of him. This is another verse that I think points to the fact that Job indeed knew who Leviathan was. In fact, that mankind knew who Leviathan was.

[30:22] And mankind knew that you didn't mess with Leviathan. You didn't go up and grab him and try to wrestle with him. He was so scary that when people saw him, they ran or they were afraid of him.

[30:42] He goes on in verse 10. He's not, no one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. You know, the old poke a bear thing. No one's going to poke a Leviathan.

[30:54] No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me?

[31:12] If this creature, created creature, is so great that men won't mess with him, who do you, who's going to stand before me?

[31:29] Because this created creature is a creature. It is not greater than God. And Job is hearing this thinking, I tried to poke the bear.

[31:45] I have tried to address God like this. who has first given to me that I should repay him? To whom do I owe anything?

[31:59] And Job spoke to God in that time during those three men being there, began to say, God, you owe me. I've been righteous. You owe me.

[32:10] And God saying, who then can stand before me? Who dares speak to me like this? Who's given to me that I should repay him?

[32:23] Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. The horse, the eagle, the ostrich, I've forgotten some of the other ones.

[32:35] The mountain goat, behemoth, Leviathan, oh, Job, too. All that's under the earth is mine.

[32:48] do we look at ourselves that way? Do we understand ourselves as being that which God has created for himself? Now, God is so gracious to us in that he interacts with us.

[33:05] He sent his son to die. You know, you put those two things in contrast to each other. everything on the earth is mine, and yet he sent his son to die for that which would have no right to say anything to God.

[33:32] Everything is under heaven is God's to do with as he pleases. Now, God goes on, he says, I will not keep silent concerning his limbs, his mighty strength, his goodly frame.

[33:43] You can't strip off his outer garments. You can't put a bridle in his mouth. You can't inflict, you can't get the bridle on. You can't get it in his mouth so that you can control him.

[33:54] You can't even open his mouth to get the bridle on. His teeth are a terror, and then it goes through the row of shields. And even as we think about this, and I'm not going to go through each point, to think about each point is amazing.

[34:08] God made an animal with scales, we'll call them scales, so tight that air can't get through. That's amazing. You could study that, and it would be just amazing what God could do, and yet they're mobile, and all this stuff.

[34:25] You can just be in awe of the wonder of God's ability in reading through this, and I believe that's exactly why God put it here, to be in awe of who God is and what he's done.

[34:37] But then he gets into verse 18. His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.

[34:48] Out of his mouth go flaming torches, sparks of fire leap forth, out of his nostrils come forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

[35:04] Do you have him figured out? I've read, I have, what time I could put into it, I just cannot believe the spectrum of answers that were to this.

[35:20] I'm just going to remind you that this is poetic language. Could this creature breathe fire?

[35:36] Talks like he does. I think he's pointing to something, and we'll get to that in just a minute. It's not always easy to say what's being described, but I think it's written to emphasize this creature's tremendous power and strength.

[35:59] Think about it. We've seen movies, Godzilla, fire comes out, burns up the tower, burns up the tank, and you know, and we stand in awe, and how would we ever come against it?

[36:17] We get our airplanes, and we get our helicopters, and in our movie. We defeat them. Okay. This creature is meant to portray to Job an indestructible creature.

[36:32] Job could do nothing to defend against or offend against this creature, but God can.

[36:43] be man. And so, it's poetic language. It's written to emphasize the tremendous power and strength, and therefore the greater power and strength of God.

[36:58] And Job certainly knew, even as God addressed it, that this was a creature to be feared. conquered. These two creatures were described in such a way that they were both indomitable, unable to be defeated.

[37:19] In Job's day, behemoth and Leviathan were unconquerable creatures. creatures. And God says, those unconquerable creatures, I created.

[37:37] I can destroy. I can control. And so, many people feel that the behemoth was the most powerful creature on land, and that Leviathan was the most powerful creature in the sea, and the most powerful creature overall.

[38:02] And yet, they were created by God, and under God's control. You're saying, you haven't answered the thing yet.

[38:18] Leviathan is mentioned in other places in scripture. Psalm 74, 13, and 14. The word that's behind what we translate, Leviathan, is mentioned in other places in scripture.

[38:32] And as we read these passages, we've talked about the sneezing, the flash forth light, the word Leviathan itself, oh, I've forgotten it, I didn't write it down.

[38:45] It has that idea to do with its heads. Anyway, that creature is mentioned in other places in scripture, and referred to even in the book of Revelation.

[38:58] As the creature that no one could conquer, as the creature who is against God's people, have we heard of a creature who's against God's people in this book?

[39:11] The person who began this whole thing. The person God addressed that began this whole thing. this creature is often equated with Satan.

[39:26] The Satan that's mentioned in the first two chapters of Job. But I'll remind you that even though Job looked at this creature and knew that it was indomitable to him, Christ bound the strong man and plundered him.

[39:46] This creature may be indestructible to us, but in being equated with the serpent of Satan, we know that he is defeated and cast into hell for all eternity.

[40:06] That creature, though he be the highest of creation under God, is still under God. God now, that gives us hope in a couple of different things.

[40:22] This accuser who came before Job and said, ah, he just serves you because you do good to him, who tempts and tries us even now in our lives will be done away.

[40:38] It gives us hope. But the bigger, I think the greater, I think what I've just mentioned is meant to be understood. But the greater understanding, I think, of these creatures is not in the wonder of who they are, although that's great.

[40:56] It's not in the wonder that God can destroy them, that is greater. It is the wonder that God is over that all. and for Job to come and say, God, you're wrong, is wrong of Job.

[41:17] Now, I'm going to say this, and I want to remind you, it is not wrong for us to bring our requests, our burdens, even our complaints to God.

[41:29] He invites us to pray. He invites us to bring our cares to him. But we don't go saying, God, you're wrong, and if you give me the chance, I'll tell you where you are, even as God's people.

[41:48] So, to get back to the whole story, the point of, I think, of all this rhetorical questioning, all this account that's going on, all these pictures, is God saying something like this, Job, if you can't control these things, how can you know what's best for your life?

[42:16] God is proving to Job that he is infinitely greater in wisdom, power, and justice. So, Job should trust God with the suffering in his life.

[42:29] life. The most comforting thing in suffering is to know that God is in control. That God is in control.

[42:42] Nothing has missed his attention, and he, as the all-knowing, all-powerful, cannot be controlled by one person, oh, it's no man anything, that being is doing the absolute wisest, absolute best thing for you and his own glory in every situation.

[43:06] Now, they're not mutually exclusive, they both happen together. The all-knowing, all-wise God is doing the absolute best situation. And so, if I'm in a situation, and all of us get here at times, some of us live there longer than others, we get in a situation and we don't understand how this situation could be like this.

[43:29] How could God allow this to happen to me? How could he allow it to go on so long? One of the things we need to remember is this is not a God who is influenced by his creation in the sense that he owes them.

[43:43] He is a God who is overall and he knows all. And he does the wisest and best thing. Now, I haven't forgotten Job's response.

[43:59] Job answered the Lord and said, I was trying but I knew I couldn't do it and I didn't do it well. I want you to notice that all of these verses are Job speaking.

[44:11] It isn't God and Job saying this and God saying this and then Job saying this and then God saying this. These are all Job speaking and Job reiterates what God is saying.

[44:24] This is such a good thing for people to do. Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

[44:34] God said this. And he quotes God back to God. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? God meant it as a rhetorical question to Job saying, you are.

[44:53] Job is now saying, who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? knowledge? I am. I'm the one who's doing it. He's admitting his guilt.

[45:06] Not guilt that where he'd sinned and it brought the suffering initially. He's saying, I am guilty of impinging God's character. I'm guilty of trying to tell God that he was wrong and that if I could just talk to him, I'd fix it.

[45:21] I am the one who hides counsel without knowledge. He says, therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

[45:39] Do you know why you're suffering? Most times you never do. Sometimes. Most times you never do. And to say that God is wrong is wrong.

[46:01] Job goes on. Here and I will speak. I will question you and you make it known to me. Job is again quoting God's words.

[46:15] I will question you and you make it known to me. And Job's answer is, I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes have seen you.

[46:29] Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. In your worst sufferings, in your most questioning moments, in the moments where you just can't understand how God could do this, if you could see a picture of God for who he is truly and what he's done, you'd say, what you're doing is right.

[46:58] It is good. It's not only just good, it's the best. It's the best that an all-knowing, all-wise God can do. And you and I would repent in dust and ashes if we were suffering and saw God and thought anything other than God is good.

[47:20] God is good. Now, all of us want the answer that will make our suffering go away. God doesn't give us that.

[47:33] God gives us himself. He tells us, I know what I'm doing. I am in control. No one pushes me anywhere, even Leviathan.

[47:45] He doesn't push me anywhere. I will take care of you. You will never know probably why you suffer.

[47:57] God does. And that's all that matters. I'll say this statement again.

[48:10] Well, let me go on to this. Time's going by. Job was an illustration of most of us. In our best moments, we might be like Job.

[48:25] Unfortunately, half times we're worse than Job. But, Job is a picture, very flawed picture, of the sufferer.

[48:38] The perfect sufferer, Jesus, did not find fault or contend with his father because of his suffering. He entrusted himself to his father.

[48:52] 1 Peter 2, 18-24. I'm going to read, starting in verse 18, just for background sake. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.

[49:10] For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures suffering, sorrows, while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?

[49:28] But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure? This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. Now, that's the exhortation. See what he points at.

[49:40] verse 1-24. For to you, for to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

[49:54] He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

[50:05] when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

[50:18] He gave himself, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live by righteousness, by his wounds, you have been healed. when he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

[50:38] I think that, those last two words encapsulate the picture of Job's final vision of God, him who judges justly.

[50:50] And Jesus cried out from the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Did the heavens break open?

[51:05] Was there a voice from heaven that said, you'll be all right, my son? This is, this is for your people? Nothing. And I'm not taking away, Christ knew what he was doing, he knew what he was going through, but there was no answer.

[51:22] And it was the worst suffering any human being could ever suffer. And there was no answer. Even when he cried out in the most appropriate way, there was no answer.

[51:39] But Christ's response was to say, God's just, he's great, I can trust him in this situation.

[51:50] God's love. And that's what we should do. There's more application, but time's gotten away from us. Let's pray. Thank you, Father.

[52:05] I thank you that you dealt with Job as a child, not speaking of his ignorance, but his relationship.

[52:16] God's love. God's love. God's love. God's love. God's love. God's love. God, I don't understand and I want an answer.

[52:29] Lord, help us to be people who learn because God is bigger than anything. God is more powerful than anything. No one pushes him around.

[52:41] He owes no one anything. God can be trusted. I pray that you would be with us. Help us in these thinkings.

[52:54] Lord, help us to be people who entrust ourselves to you. Lord, help us to be people who also avail ourselves of things like these pictures, not just these pictures, but the promises.

[53:07] Your word is full of things. I'll never leave you nor forsake you. God is in control and nothing throws him off his throne. All kinds of things from the word that points to the fact that God can be trusted.

[53:22] I pray that you would be with us. Lord, I pray that you would strengthen us, help us to glorify you in the midst of our suffering. We pray in Jesus' name.

[53:32] Amen.