Job Chapter 10:1-22

Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee, Weekend Edition. Pastor David McGee is internationally recognized for his unique conversational verse by verse and chapter by chapter teaching through the Word of God. We have hundreds of his teachings through the many books of the Bible and encourage you to visit crossthebridge.com to study the scriptures along with Pastor David. But right now, open your Bible to the Old Testament book of Job and follow along for today's teaching. In this series, Pastor David has been teaching practical lessons from the life of Job. We are finding out that what needed to be learned back then still needs to be learned by us today. I think you'll find that to be true today and tomorrow as we take a closer look at chapter 10.

Now, here's Pastor David. Chapter 10. We're going to go ahead and just read the whole chapter. It's 22 verses.

We're going to read the whole thing and we'll come back and comment on some of these things here. I'm reading in the New King James Version here. I study in the King James because that's the Bible that I got 30 some years ago and it's all marked up and falling apart. Occasionally you'll hear us refer back to the New Living Translation, which is a readable translation.

The only issue that we might bring up with that is that while it's had a lot of modern contributions to the wisdom of the Greek and the Hebrew there, they did use the Nestle translation, which some of those manuscripts are inferior to what we call the Textus Receptus for the New Testament. That's way beyond some of what you came here tonight for. So let's look at Job chapter 10, verse 1. It says, Now, let me go ahead and stop.

Can't help myself here. Sometimes people say, hey, you know, the Bible talks about this, so this is okay. And the Bible talks about that, so that is okay. You know, the Bible talks about murder, so murder is okay. Or the Bible talks about polygamy, multiple wives, so that's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Just because it's in the Bible doesn't mean it's okay. And here we have Job speaking and Job has been through so much and he's recording his thoughts here in what he's saying. But he is in no position to be making an in-depth doctrinal statement about the character of God.

I mean, he's in a tough place. We see him every now and again in these first 10 chapters. We've seen him occasionally, you know, come up and be glorious.

You know, he'll say something, be like, man, you know, Job, you're doing so great. And incidentally contrary, his three friends that we keep hoping will do good keep meeting us, don't they, so far. So if you want to think about two of the things that we need to learn from Job, it's obvious from who the people are in the story of Job, simply Job and Job's friends. And we learn from Job and his responses, and we should learn from his friends and their lack of compassion and lack of grace. No verse is in here by filler.

No sentence, no word, no letter even. So you have to ask yourself, why does Job have 42 chapters? And seriously, we're getting so much out of six chapters in Galatians. In 42 chapters, his friends go on and on and on. It's so we don't miss it. It's interesting how they both are displaying fruits of the Spirit and the works of the flesh.

They're just openly displayed with these guys. So Job's going to say something in this chapter about God that aren't necessarily correct or accurate or right. So let's read on verse four. Your hands have made me and fashioned me an intricate unity. That's a very cool phrase in the English and in the Hebrew.

And so, you know, Job here, first he says something that's accurate and good. Your hands have made me, fashioned me, an intricate unity, right? Check, check, check. That's good. That's good.

You're doing good, Job. And then, yeah, you would destroy me. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Remember, I pray that you've made me like clay. And will you turn me into dust again?

Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, clothe me like skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews? You have granted me life and favor. And your care has preserved my spirit. And these things you have hidden in your heart.

I know that this was with you. If I sin, then you mark me and will not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me. Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace.

See my misery in verse 16. If my head is exalted, you hunt me like a fierce lion. And again, you show yourself awesome against me. You renew your witnesses against me and increase your indignation towards me.

Changes in war are ever with me. Why then have you brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me. I would have been as though I had not been.

I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Cease, leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort before I go to the place from which I shall not return to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, a land as dark as darkness itself, as the shadow of death without any order, where even the light is like darkness. Now, Joe, obviously, especially at the end of this chapter, is in a bad place. But even so, there's a couple things in this chapter. That show us that he is holding on to hope.

He is. Now, there is no J in the Hebrew alphabet. So, there is no Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible. What you have is the Book of Job.

So, Y-O-B instead of J-O-B. Book of Job. I think that's more fun to say than Job or Job. Because so many people wonder, is it Job? Is it Job?

No, it's Job, actually. But Job starts out, and I think there are some things that if we look into the New Living Translation, we can gain some insights here. Verse 1 in the New Living Translation says, I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely.

My bitter soul must complain. One of the things about the Book of Job is that it's recording conversations back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. And such a large percentage of it is Job's friends lacking compassion, lacking grace, lacking love. Over and over, we're told that we're to love. It's a commitment. We're not told to love when we feel like it. As a matter of fact, agape love, which is that Greek word that Jesus uses to describe love, is unconditional love.

Unconditional love. So if you're walking in agape love, there's going to be times when you don't feel like loving, but you do it anyway. I mean, it's safe to say that Jesus didn't feel like going to Jerusalem to be crucified. Amen?

He probably didn't feel like carrying that cross, but he did it. You know, sometimes there's, well, you know, I just have to vent, you know, people say that, or I just have to say how I feel. Well, no, you don't. If you're in a bad place, one of the worst things you can do is talk because you're listening to yourself and repeating, regurgitating the problem is not the solution. So here's the life lesson, and I tell you what, hold in Job chapter 10. Let's go to Galatians 5, 19. Now the words of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness.

Look at verse 20. Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies. A lot of those things happen with speech. Verse 21, Galatians 5, envy, murders.

Murders are planned with speech first. Envy, speech. And then you go to verse 22, but for the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. How do we express those things with what we say so often? So here's the life lesson.

We're going back to Job chapter 10. The life lesson is if you feel angry, jealous, hostile, quarrelsome, divisive, then don't talk. Send emails, Facebook posts, tweets, texts, or other forms of communication until you feel love and joy and peace and kindness and faithful and gentle and the spirit is leading again. Amen? I mean, that's just, it makes sense, okay? If you're feeling hostile and bitter, don't express that. And if you're a child of God, somebody goes, oh, you know, you shouldn't, oh, I just have to express. I just can't help it.

I just got to say it. Are you saved or you're not saved? Because if you're saved, you are in charge of what you say. Now, if you're not saved, I can understand something. You know, I'm not in control. And you know, you can say that statement.

I might believe that with some people, but not with Christians. Self-control is the fruit of the Spirit. So when you feel these things, just wait to communicate, gang. If you feel these things towards your spouse or somebody that your potential future spouse, go take a prayer walk until you don't feel the works of the flesh so strongly, wanting to communicate. And you know what?

Sometimes you may want to write that email, but instead of hitting send, hit delete. Amen? Be careful with that one. This is where so much of not only Joe, but his friends go off track in this book because they're just talking when they shouldn't be. And it's interesting, he says, my soul loathes my life. Hate? You know the verse that immediately comes to mind? John chapter 10, verse 10. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy, but I have come that they might have life and that they may have it more abundantly. You know, Jesus didn't come so that we could proclaim we hate our life. If we hate our life, we're not seeing it clearly.

Things are distorted, maybe because we're distorted by the works of the flesh. If you see the world clearly and you're a child of God, there should be joy. Amen. If you were here Sunday and there was just, man, it was just a fresh anointing and revelation and God just lifted the clouds and the friction and man, after the service, it would just, did God do something? If you were here Sunday, did God do something? Amen. Praise God, man. Because we realized that, you know, we handed our high priest our leaven and he said, done, fixed it. Praise God.

He didn't say I fixed some of it or part of it, so he came that we might have life and life more abundantly. Let's understand something, too, because the theology of who is in charge of what right now, the enemy is referred to as the prince of the power of the air, the prince of this world. When I thought, God was in charge.

He is. God's in charge, but let's understand something. In the garden, when man was created, God gave man the title deed to the earth. When man fell, he lost that title deed. Who did he give it to?

The enemy. How do we know this? I read this paperback book a couple years ago and no, it's in the Bible. It's in the Bible.

If we pay attention to what the Bible tells us and what it says. Pastor David will be back in less than one minute as he continues teaching in the book of Job. A great way to start out each day is with a practical email devotional every morning from Pastor David. Visit crossthebridge.com to start receiving yours for free. If you have a cell phone, you can also text the word ENCOURAGE to 94253 to receive a short encouraging text from us each day.

That's 94253. And now back to the teaching. Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke describes a temptation and one of those, the enemy, and we'll bring it up. Matthew chapter four, verse eight. It says again, the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, all these things I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, away with you Satan for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. What's interesting is what Jesus didn't say. Jesus didn't say, well, how can you be giving away something you don't have? The devil offered him the world as if it was his and Jesus didn't call him on it.

What does that mean? It means he was within his rights to give it away because he had gained it in the garden. Does that mean he's still in control?

When Jesus shed his blood and was resurrected and the covenant, the sacrifice was accepted. Satan lost the title dude. He no longer owns the earth. Why do we still have problems? He's renting.

All right. But at some point, guess what's going to happen? The owner of the house is going to come and say, time for you to go. And he's going to throw him into the fire that was prepared for him, not for any person and those that fell with him.

But we need to understand, we are in hospital territory. Verse two, I will 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? Incidentally, there's kind of a, I will say to God, do not condemn me. Show me why you contend with me. It does not seem good to you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, smile on the counsel of the wicked. I got a rap going here, don't I? I will say to God, you contend with me. Does it seem good to you?

Stay with a four-four rock and roll beat. Now, it says God smiles on the counsel of the wicked. Is that an accurate description of God? No. Is that the description that Job is making? Yes, but it's the wrong one. Job says a lot of things in this book that aren't right, that are incorrect. His friends say things that are worse, but they're in here.

But it's easy to discern which things are correct and which things aren't. In the New Living Translation, verse 3, it says, What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hand, while smiling on the schemes of the wicked?

You know, while we're pointing out what's solid and not solid, if you look at that in the New Living Translation, God has created us. And if you have rejected Jesus and are still rejecting Jesus, it's an accurate statement to say that God is rejecting you. Is that the state of Job's relationship with God? Was God smiling on the schemes of the wicked? No. Was God rejecting Job?

No. Actually, the very opposite. It's interesting that Job feels that God is oppressing him. He feels that God despises him. That's what he feels.

I hate to bother what he feels with the facts. And friends, sometimes you feel something. Now, you absolutely feel it.

It's an absolute. You absolutely are having this feeling. But the feeling is not an accurate one. You may feel like somebody's done this or somebody's done that, but maybe they've done nothing. That's why we've got to be very, very careful with feelings.

And we subject our feelings to the Word of God, and we don't subject the Word of God to our feelings. Amen. Amen.

Praise God. Now, some of you are going, well, does that mean we don't get to feel anything? No, no, no, no.

No, no, no. God who created our emotions says there's a way to feel that's good and that's healthy, and there's a way that's bad and unhealthy. Like fear. Fear is not of God. There's a reverential fear for God, but then there's a fear that actually will keep your mind from functioning. But how did God think about Job?

Well, we don't have to wonder. We have it in the Bible. First verse, Job chapter 1 verse 1, we're told, this whole book opens up, it says, there was a man in the land of us whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil.

Now, that's the description in the start of the book. A few verses later, Job chapter 1 verse 8, it says, then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job that there is none like him on the earth? And then listen how God describes Job.

There's none like him on the earth, blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. That's how God himself described Job. Now Job is going, oh God, you hate me. You despise me. You don't like me.

You think I'm a worm. Is that what God just said? No. Was Job feeling that? Yes. Were those accurate feelings?

No, no, no. I wonder why this section's in here. We keep wanting to feel bad and feel guilty and feel shameful. We've even picked up that we think it's a religious thing to do to feel like that. Now friend, look, if you don't love God and you don't love people and you're hateful to towards people, that's bad fruit, if you can even call it fruit. How would you like to have God describe you as blameless and upright, one who shuns evil and fears God? How would you like to have God describe you the way he described Job, as blameless and upright?

Wouldn't that be awesome? Yeah, it is, because that is the way he describes us, because we are described by the description of Jesus Christ, our high priest. Amen. That's good stuff.

That is good stuff. Beyond the description of Job there, and it says the work of your hands, that you despise the work of your hands. Is that an accurate statement? Does God despise the work of his hands?

No. Let me remind you what it says in Genesis. Genesis chapter 1 verse 10. And God called the dry land to earth, and the gathering together the waters he called seas, and God saw that it was bad. No, it was good. And then verse 12, and the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit whose seed is in itself according to its kind, and God saw that it was bad.

No, it was good. Genesis 1 17 18. God set them in a firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and divide the light from the darkness, and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1 24 25. Then God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creatures according to its kind, cattle and creeping things, beasts of the earth, each according to its kind, and it will sow, and God made the beasts of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. Amen.

There's a pattern happening here, right? Let me jump ahead to the final verse 31 in that chapter of Genesis. It doesn't just say that it was good, it says it was very good.

Amen. Then God saw everything that he had made, verse 31, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Incidentally, notice that last. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. That's how they get the Hebrew day, the Jewish day, because it reads the first day, it says, and the evening and the day were the first day.

So they start their first day with the evening. Now, Job hits on something here. We are created by God. When he created other things, he said it's good.

When he created us, he said it's very good. He created us in his image. Incidentally, right there, we have the Trinity established. And for those people who say there's not a Trinity, this will stump them, because when God was creating, he said, let us make man in our image. Now, either there was somebody else there or God is schizophrenic. There was somebody else there. There was God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. So God creates us in his image. The enemy sells us on this fake bill of goods that distorts the image. And now God is wanting to redeem and heal us.

Here's the next life lesson. God created us in his image. We fell, and that image became distorted to us and the world. God wants to restore us into that God-given image, and then we can be used to restore our world. And the Hebrew term for that is tikkun olam. There's a phrase for the healing of the world, tikkun olam. It's tied to a spiritual thing. It's tied to the Messiah. It's tied to healing.

It's tied to the ministry of reconciliation. Let's look at verse four. Do you have eyes of flesh?

He's talking to God. Or do you see as man sees? No. Are your days like the days of a mortal man? Are your years like the days of a mighty man? That you should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin. Although you know that I am not wicked and there is no one who can deliver from your hand. Your hands have made me and fashioned me an intricate unity, yet you would destroy me. So Job makes this, in verse eight, he makes this incredible statement to God. Your hands made me.

You fashioned me an intricate unity, yet you would destroy me. Job feels like God wants to destroy him. Is that what God wants to do?

No. Did it feel like that? Do you think Job felt like God wanted to destroy him?

Yeah, I can see it. Let's remember, Job had been through a lot. He had lost his crops for that year. He lost. Then he lost his buildings.

Then, time-wise, this is the order. And then his family. Man died. That's tough. And it was the wrong time for his friends.

When you remind yourself of that, it's just the wrong time for his friends to act the way they did and to say the things they did. It's interesting. You may feel like God wants to destroy you, but he doesn't. Think of how strange it would look if you were watching somebody perform surgery on someone, but you did not understand the whole concept of surgery, and you're watching. What would be your perception of events? It'd be really strange. I mean, I'm just thinking of this on the fly here.

I hope it doesn't fall apart. But seriously, you would watch somebody, let's say they use the gas, and so you watch them do that, and then the person is unconscious, and you're like, oh, what's going on? And then they pull out the scalpel, and you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, what are you doing? They're like, no, it's good for them. And in the case of surgery, of cutting out something that's an infection, that is good for them.

But if you're the one having the surgery, and let's say without any sort of anesthetic, and it hurts, it may not feel like the surgeon likes you, amen? But he's doing what's good for you. It's interesting that he says God wanted to destroy him, because here's the life lesson. God had forbidden the enemy to destroy Joe.

God had forbidden him to destroy Joe. You've been listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge, Weekend Edition. Tune in again tomorrow afternoon as Pastor David continues teaching on most stations. If you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, or on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time? Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There you will experience a live service from David's home church, The Bridge in North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com.

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