Teaching Notes

TH1085: JOB

As we continue our study in the book of Job, we are in round three of this verbal tongue lashing given to Job by his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. Last week we saw Eliphaz speak his mind, accusing Job of strong arming the poor. Leaving them naked, without food or water, which was all just a bunch of lies. Job did not do any of those things, and yet, in the mind of Eliphaz, he had to, for God only punishes those that are wicked, and thus, Job must be a very wicked person with all that has happened to him.

Now as Bildad begins to speak, he doesn't have a lot to say anymore. It seems that he is running out of material to condemn Job with. He is running out of fuel for the fire. That may also be the reason that Zophar does not speak for the third time, for there is really nothing left to say, it has all been said before. Now as we get into the shortest speech in the book of Job, it will lead to the longest speech in the book of Job that is given by Job himself, from chapter 26 through chapter 31.

JOB 25

VERSES 1-6

1. Bildad is right on in what he has to say here in chapter 25. Man can not be righteous before a holy God apart from Christ. It is only as the blood of Christ covers our sins, it is only because the penalty for our sin has been paid for by Christ, that God can look upon us and accept us. It is only by the righteousness of Christ which has been imputed to us that we can stand before God as white as snow - pure!

2. Also, Bildad rightly points out that a man is nothing more than a worm. There is no good in him. Up through the last century this was known as "worm theology". That is to say that there is nothing good inside of us, there is nothing that God saw in any of us that caused Him to save us. He did not say "Joe is a good man, I think he deserves to be saved and sit beside Me." Not at all! God saved us by His grace and mercy alone and not because we were worth saving or had some kind of redeeming quality in us. As God said to Israel we can easily apply to our own lives. He said in Deuteronomy 9:6 "Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people."

3. What has happened in this century is we have moved away from this idea of "worm theology" and have exulted self to a position of greatness. Pride has become a virtue! Those that adhere to this new theology say that God saved us because we were worth it, we are valuable to Him. And the argument goes something like this: "You would only pay what something is worth, thus, because God gave his only begotten Son to die for us, we must be worth a lot! We must be valuable!" Wrong! It is the whole self-esteem band wagon that the church is jumping onto and the world is jumping off because they see that self-esteem is not the solution. In fact it is the problem. We love self to much! Listen to these statements made by Robert Schuller and see if they match up with Scripture or the philosophies of men.

"What is that basic flaw? I believe it is the failure to proclaim the Gospel in a way that can satisfy every person's deepest need - one's spiritual hunger for glory. Rather than glorify God's highest creation - the human being - Christian liturgies, hymns, prayers, and Scriptural interpretations have often insensitively and destructively offended the dignity of the person...By self-denial Christ does not mean the rejection of that positive emotion we call self-esteem - the joy of experiencing my self-worth...The death of Christ on the cross is God's price tag on a human soul...[it means we really are somebody's!]"

Now listen to what one of the great Puritan's, Joseph Alleine wrote in 1662 after being imprisoned twice for his faith and you will see how much our theology has changed over the years, and not for the better. He said "I am not baiting my hook with rhetoric, nor fishing for your applause, but for your souls. My work is not to please you, but to save you...If I were to please your ears, I would sing another song...But how much better are the wounds of a friend than the fair speeches of the harlot...I know, if we succeed not with you, you are lost; if we cannot get your consent to arise and come away, you will perish forever. No conversion - no salvation!"

Paul said in Romans 3:10-12 "As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.'" And Jesus said in Matthew 5:3-4 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted." It is only those who recognize their sinful condition and are broken, are mourning over it, that will look up to God. We all are worms saved by grace. Not a pretty picture, but the truth. I love the way J. Vernon McGee puts it, he said "We haven't come from worms, we are worms!"

JOB 26

VERSES 1-7

1. Understand the Bible is not a scientific workbook, but what it has to say regarding science is 100% accurate! The science of Job's day and up until the recent past had some strange ideas of how the earth was held. Some said it was on the back of an elephant, others on the back of Atlas, and even on the back of a turtle. But Job tells us that God hangs the earth on nothing! It is suspended in space.

VERSE 8

1. As soft and fragile as clouds are, you can walk right through them, and yet they are able to hold large amounts of water without breaking.

VERSES 9-14

1. Job is just speaking of the greatness, the power of God. He knows these truths and yet he is mixed up on the love of God because he is letting his emotions guide his theology instead of the Word of God.

JOB 27

VERSES 1-6

1. Job is standing on his belief that he is innocent and he is not going to give in to satisfy their lies.

VERSES 7-10

1. For those that don't know God there is no hope. Their wealth, their possessions will be meaningless in the day of judgment. Jesus said in Matthew 16:26 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" There is no profit! Jesus also spoke of the rich man in Luke chapter 12, whose wealth was growing and he decided to increase his barn capacity. His thinking was that he was preparing to enjoy the future by resting on his profits. He was going to eat, drink and be merry, for he thought he had long to live. He did not deal with the weightier issues, the eternal issues and Jesus said to him "...'You fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." Luke 12:20-21. Don't sell your soul for earthly treasures for you will have eternity to think about the wrong decision you made!

VERSES 11-23

1. Job understood that the wicked are not going to get away with anything even though at times these truths were clouded over by life's experiences. And he is telling his friends that these issues are not as black and white as they have made them out to be.

JOB 28

VERSES 1-8

1. Job now is talking about men who go down into the earth and dig for precious stones and metals and bring them back up to the surface. It was dangerous work and yet they had the mind-set that the benefits, the rewards far outweighed the risks.

VERSES 9-11

1. These men would dig, they would cut away the rock as they searched for precious stones and metals and then they would carry them away with them. This is what man is seeking and yet Job is going to tell us what we should seek, something that is more valuable than rocks or metals.

VERSES 12-19

1. Job now is saying that as precious and valuable these stones and metals may be, they are worthless when compared to wisdom. You can't buy it with all the tea in China nor can you find it by searching the deep. It is not gained or milled out of the earth. We live in a world that is vastly more intelligent than 100 years ago. We have more information coming at us today than we know what to do with. And yet, for all that intelligence, we are very unwise. You see, intelligence, in the Hebrew mind, is the accumulation of knowledge. Wisdom, on the other hand, is taking what we know and applying that to our lives. It is the application of knowledge. For instance, today we have all the information pointing to a designer, a creator, God, and yet with all that knowledge we are not applying it to our lives. What we say is that life came from non-life and we all have evolved. Paul put it this way in Romans 1:18-19, 22. He said "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them...Professing to be wise, they became fools."

VERSES 20-23

1. Wisdom originates from God. Thus, as we apply the Word of God to our life, the application of truth, we are exercising wisdom. Proverbs 2:1-9 says "My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path." So to try and understand life outside of God is impossible! Do we as Christians dig into the Word of God as much as men dug into the earth looking for treasure. In the Word of God is riches that are more important than anything we can dig from the dirt.

VERSES 24-28

1. This is what Solomon picked-up on in Proverbs. We read in Proverbs 9:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." It is the proper reverence of God, that He is holy and righteous and desires our worship. He is not some puppet that we pull his strings to get what we want. It is the proper reverence of God that leads us to what Solomon says in Proverbs 8:13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate." We should strive to do good because of our reverence of God and thus we should hate evil just as He hates evil.

JOB 29

VERSES 1-6

1. Job is reminiscing about his past, about the good times he had, all the joy before all this came upon his life. Job walked in the light of God. He gave godly counsel to those around him. His children, who are all dead now, use to run around his feet, and what joy their voices brought him. But now that is all gone. Goodness at one time seemed to follow him wherever he went.

VERSES 7-8

1. He was a respected man at one time who sat at the gate of the city, he was part of the city council. The young would not approach this great man, they were in awe of him, and the aged stood in respect of him.

VERSE 9

1. You get the idea that when Job talked it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone wanted to hear what he had to say. It is like those old E. F. Hutton commercials, "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen!"

VERSES 10-17

1. If you remember earlier on, his friends accused Job of oppressing the poor, taking advantage of the fatherless, the orphaned. How he made them go naked, without food and water or anything to keep themselves warm. But now Job is saying the complete opposite of what they have said. He is coming against their lies and telling them that he has helped the poor. He has helped the fatherless, the orphaned. He brought joy to the widow's heart and clothed the poor. He stood against the wicked. He was a good man that practiced what he believed. As James 1:22 says may we apply to our lives. He said "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

VERSES 18-20

1. Job had it all figured out. Since he was doing good, he would live to a good old age and his life would continue to be blessed. But now it is not working out as he has planned it.

VERSE 21

1. People used to gather and wait in line to hear the wisdom of Job.

VERSES 22-23

1. His words were refreshing to them, they rejuvenated those that heard his words. They stood drinking in the words of Job. As Christians we should do the same with the Word of God. Jesus said in John 6:63 "...The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." And in Psalm 119:103 we read "How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

VERSE 24

1. I think the Amplified Bible makes this verse a little clearer. It reads "I smiled on them when they had no confidence, and their depression did not cast down the light of my countenance." The light of God shown through Job and touched the lives of those around him. And it did not matter who came across his path, he still had the love of God and the wisdom of God flowing from his life. It is as Matthew 5:16 says "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

VERSE 25

1. Job received a lot of respect from the multitudes of people that came to hear him. That is the way it was, but now things have changed dramatically as Job is going to share with us.

JOB 30

VERSE 1

1. In Job's day there were people that roamed the streets that were nothing more than thief's, trouble makers that no one wanted around. Now these people were mocking Job! The lowest of society were putting Job down, a man who was at one time held in high esteem, a man who was highly respected.

VERSES 2-3

1. These people lived off the land and were not physically healthy. They basically took what they could find, even the garbage that people threw out.

VERSES 4-5

1. These people were hated by society, and run out of town. No one wanted them for they were trouble makers.

VERSES 6-10

1. They lived wherever they could find a place to rest their bodies. In the rocks, in the bushes, wherever they could try and keep warm and out of the elements. These are the ones who now are mocking and spiting upon Job.

VERSE 11

1. Since God has done all this to him, it has given these people an opportunity to mock Job. They are now making up songs to come against Job like "We will, We will spit on you!" or something like that. His name is now a byword.

VERSES 12-18

1. They are tripping Job, pushing him around and there is no one to stand up for him, no one willing to be on his side.

VERSE 19

1. God loves us more than we will ever know. And we must never forget that truth even when we go through some of the toughest trials of our life, as Job was.

VERSE 20

1. For Job, it seems that God has closed His ears to his cry. God is indifferent to Job's plight. Habakkuk felt the same way. In Habakkuk 1:2 we read "O LORD, how long shall I cry, And You will not hear? Even cry out to You, 'Violence!' And You will not save." But God was working only Habakkuk did not see it and when God tells him what He is about to do, Habakkuk is going to have a hard time believing. God said to Habakkuk "Look among the nations and watch; Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, A bitter and hasty nation Which marches through the breadth of the earth, To possess dwelling places that are not theirs." Habakkuk 1:5-6. Just because we don't see God working in our lives at this moment doesn't mean that He isn't!

VERSES 21-26

1. Job was looking for help and it seems that he can't find any. Things just seem to be getting worse and worse for him.

VERSES 27-31

1. For Job it seems that life could not get any darker. But the reality of the situation here is that God is getting ready to bless Job twice as much as before. Remember the old adage "It is always darker before the dawn." Job is going to find out how true that is in a very short time. As Paul said in Romans 8:38-39 "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."