Job Chapter 13-14:ALL

Welcome to Cross the Bridge but right now open your Bible to the Old Testament Book of Job and follow along for today's teaching. In this series of special weekend edition programs, Pastor David has been teaching practical lessons from the life of Job. Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. We are finding out that what needed to be learned back then still needs to be learned by us today as we continue studying chapters 13 and 14. And now, here's Pastor David. This is such an awesome section of Scripture to be into tonight in the book of Job and the timing of it is just so interesting.

You know, first of all, trying to figure out what it's really about and also how we can learn from it because there's some key things that every one of us can learn tonight from the book of Job so that when we walk out of here, we walk out differently than when we came in. Let's pray and let's jump into this awesome, awesome book in the Word of God. Lord, thank you.

Thank you for our time together. Lord, thank you for this place. Thank you for the legacy that we spoke of on Sunday, that tonight we meet in a place that, Lord, so many joined together and worked hard and gave and, Lord, and you moved and provided and blessed so that we can be in here tonight learning about you so we can have the signal going out online for people to listen to and to see all your provision, all your blessing. Thank you for that, Lord. And each person that's listening has an incredible opportunity in front of them tonight. Lord, I ask that they would let go of the problems, let go of the issues.

They would grab a hold of you, Lord. Lord, tonight through the power of your Holy Spirit, we ask that you would do that deep work. Those things, Lord, that we can't do, the things that man cannot do, Lord, those people, maybe they're sitting here listening online, listening on radio, however, and there's some issue from the past and they've said, oh, I can't do anything. And man has said, I can't fix this.

And maybe even psychiatrist and psychologist have said, oh, I can't do anything about this. But God, where man throws up his hand and says, I don't know what to do. God, you intervene. You intercede. We're told over and over in the scripture, but God, Lord, thank you.

Thank you that even now you're at work, even now. I'm learning from those struggling with a physical issue. We thank you, God, that you made provision for their healing, that, Lord, you tell us that by your stripes, we are healed. And so, Lord, may that healing begin right now. And, Lord, whether it manifests tonight or manifest when they go to be in the presence of the Lord, God, we know they will be healed.

We know each and every one of us will be healed. Lord, we thank you for your word, your word, which is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. And, Lord, it will accomplish that which it was sent forth to do. And, God, tonight you're sending forth your word for your purposes in our lives. So, God, we thank you for what you're going to do. Lord, we ask that you would open our hearts to your word and open your word to our hearts. In Jesus' name. And everybody said, Amen. Amen. Turn with me to the book of Job. Let's go to chapter 13. And if you don't have a Bible and you'd like to read along with us, just raise your hand and one of the ushers will bring you a Bible to read along with.

And we're going to call tonight's teaching, This Too Shall Pass. So, we're in Job 13 and Job 14. Job chapter 13, verse 1 says, Behold, my eye has seen all this. My ear has heard and understood it. What you know, I also know. I am not inferior to you, but I would speak to the Almighty and I desire to reason with God. But you forgers of lies, you are all worthless physicians. Oh, that you would be signed.

Oh, it would be your wisdom. Now, hear my reasoning and hear the pleading of my lips. Will you speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for Him? Will you show partiality for Him? Will you contend for God? Will it be well when He searches you out or can you mock Him as one mocks a man?

He will surely rebuke you if you secretly show partiality. Will not His excellence make you afraid and the dread of Him fall upon you? Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes.

Your defenses are defenses of clay. Hold your peace with me and let me speak. Then let come on me what may. Why do I take my flesh and my teeth and put my life in my hands? And here's a huge, huge verse, one of the key verses in the whole book of Job in chapter 13 verse 15.

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. I want you to notice when you're reading through the Bible and reading through this chapter in particular, to look at the pronouns, which are, if you remember from school, person, place, or thing, I couldn't remember the little song. I'm sure there was some kind of song that went with the pronouns, but the only thing I could hear in my head was the conjunction, junction, what's fun.

You're either relating with me right now or very concerned, one of you. So a pronoun is person, place, or thing. And for Bible study tips, what you want to notice is the ones that are capitalized. So if you come to the word Him, and it's a capital H, it's talking about the Lord.

If you come to the word He, as we see in verse 15 here, and that H is capital, it's talking about the Lord. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Praise God, it's only the Lord we're supposed to extend this kind of trust to.

Amen. Don't extend that to people. Though they slay me, I'll trust them.

No, no, no, no, no. We do need to be aware. And speaking of Jesus, I said Jesus was aware of what was in people, and in certain places didn't do miracles because of what was going on. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. I think of all the examples of trusting Him that I've seen in my life. And what a joy here to get to trust God in this ministry.

Amen. So again, we're reading through, so we'll continue to read through. Verse 15, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.

Again, capital H. And verse 16, He, notice the capital H, see, picking up on that. He also shall be my salvation, for a hypocrite could not come before Him. Listen carefully to my speech and to my declaration with your ears. See now, I have prepared my case. I know that I shall be vindicated. Who is He who will contend with me? If now I hold my tongue, I perish.

Only two things do not do to me. Then I will not hide myself from you. Withdraw your hand not far from me, and let not the dread of you make me afraid. Then call, and I will answer. Or let me speak.

Then you respond to me. How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy?

Will you frighten a leaf driven to and fro, and will you pursue dry stubble? For you write bitter things against me, and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. That's a scary little verse right there, isn't it? Verse 26, for you write bitter things against me, and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth. You make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

I like Isaiah chapter one. Come, let us reason together. They're just like scarlet. They should be as white as snow, amen?

But it really is. It's up to us what happens with our iniquities, amen? Verse 27, you put my feet in the stocks and watch closely all my pasts.

You set a limit for the soles of my feet. Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten. In chapter 14, verse 1, man who is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. That's another key verse in the book of Job, is chapter 14, verse 1. Man who is born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. Now, we're going to come back and hit some of these key verses and kind of do an overview here, but let's continue. He comes forth like a flower and fades away.

He flees like a shadow and does not continue. And do you open your eyes on such one and bring me to judgment with yourself? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

That's a good question now. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Who can do that? I only know of one person, amen? Now, Job in verse 4 here says, no one, because he doesn't know of one that can do that yet. He doesn't know of one who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing. Job doesn't know anyone who can do that. That's why he says, no one here. So, incidentally, let's look at this real quick. He asked a question, who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

And then he answers his question and says, no one. But is that the right answer? No. But it's in the Bible.

Yeah. But it's Job answering the question from a lack of wisdom. And it says that God's people do what for lack of wisdom?

Anybody? Perish. Perish for lack of wisdom. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? I know somebody, amen? Jesus can do that. God can do that. The Holy Spirit does that. Since His days are determined, the number of His months is with you. And again, be noticing the pronouns here and the capitals.

So helpful to notice that and makes it so much easier. Verse 5, since His days are determined, the number of His months is with you. You have appointed His limits so that He cannot pass.

Look away from Him that He may rest till like a hired man He finishes His day. For there is hope for a tree if it is cut down that it will sprout again and that its tender shoots will not cease. Though its root may grow old in the earth and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant. I just happen to be thinking in this description, in the Ark of the Covenant, and I know that in Raiders of the Lost Ark has this big laser beam that shoots out of it, but we don't really see that in the Bible. It's pretty cool, might be, but we don't see it from the Bible. But we do know from the Bible, there's a couple things that are in there. There is the manna, there is the Ten Commandments, and there is a rod that Aaron had used that God blessed that sent forth buds, even though it was already detached from the plant. Verse 9, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant, but man dies and is laid away. Indeed, breezes last, and where is he? As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise, till the heavens are no more.

They will not awake, nor be roused from their sleep. Oh, that you would hide me in the grave. Oh, that you would conceal me until your wrath has passed, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me.

If a man dies, shall he live again? 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. And now, back to the teaching. Job is asking some awesome questions, isn't he? I mean, it's almost like he's asking prophetic questions. If a man dies, shall he live again? Now, the obvious answer to that in the time of Job, which incidentally Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible, and I know it's a little bit confusing because of where it comes in the Hebrew Scriptures. I mean, we're more than halfway through the Old Testament, and here comes the Book of Job, but now I'm telling you that it's the oldest book, so it really, you know, belongs up there in Genesis. And indeed, we do see a Job early on in the Book of Genesis. But here we are in this time, thousands of years before Christ, and at that time, Job asks the question, if a man dies, shall he live again? The obvious answer at that time is no.

It's a cute breed. A man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service, I will wait until my change comes. You shall call, and I will answer you. You shall desire the work of your hands. For now, you number my steps, but do not watch over my sin. Look at verse 17. I love this verse. My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you cover my iniquity. You cover my iniquity.

Kofer in the Hebrew, it's very close to that word cover in English. But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, and as a rock has moved from its place, as water wears away stones, and as torrents wash away the soil of the earth, so you destroy the hope of man. Job is upset.

He's hurt. The very people that God sent into the situation to bless Job, to comfort Job, did not do so well. And so in verse 19, when Job says, as water wears away stones, as torrents wash away the soil of the earth, so you destroy the hope of man.

You know, friend, as we read these verses and we think about where we are time-wise, and we see the mounting body count of Christians in the Middle East, we're tempted to be overwhelmed as we see so many of us who work hard to have the biblical definition of marriage and just have that swept aside as hurt. And yet Jesus says a couple of things when he starts talking about the end times. And I tell you what, as we look around, you know, that just sounds like watching the news today, doesn't it? So you destroy the hope of man.

That's what happens on the news. Now, if you want to be encouraged, if you want to be filled with hope, and not that I hope it works out, but that I know it's going to work out, I'm just not sure when, I know God's going to come through, I'm just not sure when, I know Jesus is going to appear, I'm just not sure when, so you destroy the hope of man. That's what the world does when they speak against the Messiah, because he is the hope of man. Verse 20, you prevail forever against him, and he passes on. You change his countenance and send them away. His sons come to honor, and he does not know it. They are brought low, and he does not perceive it.

But his flesh will be in pain over it, and his soul will mourn over it. So in the book of Job, and we just read chapter 14, and so we're seeing this, I don't know, it's almost like a, not a volleyball game, but it's like they're just hitting it back and forth, you know. My goodness, then Eliphaz said this, and then Job answered that, and then, you know, Zophar, the name of thine, answered this.

Then Bildad, the shoe height, answered this. And so, look, to every person, this book is going to be different, really. I don't mean the words are going to be different, I mean what it means to you is going to be different.

Your personal application from this is going to be different. But in a big picture, think about this, what is the book of Job really about? And what I would encourage you to do, if you've not done this yet, go ahead and read through the entire book of Job, and then as I teach, we'll be coming back through those chapters that you've already read. Because, you know, whether we go to the end of Job or we go to the end of the book of Revelation, let me go ahead and help you that we win.

It works out well, amen? We're blessed. So in the book of Revelation, we end up blessed. In the book of Job, Job ends up blessed.

But what is the message? Well, what we see is that Job, throughout the book of Job, continues to trust in God. Even as, you know, his children die, all his things are taken. A lot of you know this, I've got two older brothers, Tom and Bill. And my oldest brother, Bill, had two daughters. And one passed away when she was 18 months old, making faith. And then his other daughter grew to be 23 and went to be with the Lord. So he had two daughters, and they're both with the Lord. It's tough.

I mean, I can't, I cannot imagine. So I encourage you to pray for him. His name's Bill. But you know what this book calls us to? As we see Job, he trusts God the whole time. And then, of course, we get to the end of the book, and even though Job has trusted God the whole time, you know, God just, you know, lets him down in the end, the whole bottle falls out, right? Is that what happens?

No. Does God have his back? Amen. So Job trusts in God, and God does what?

God has his back. Now, here's what happens in life, over and over. And at some point, I got to write a book on all our experiences on the road, because God, man, over and over, we would get in some pinch situation. And I'd be like, man, there's just no way out of this. I just don't see in the natural how this is going to resolve. And of course, as soon as that situation sets up, you know what God does, right? Ooh, it's my turn now, baby.

You know, because if you can't solve it, and nobody can solve it on your behalf, where does that leave you? In line for the miraculous. Amen. If you can't fix it, and you don't know how anybody else can fix it, then you're in line for a miracle. Amen.

Don't get freaked out by that word. That just means God is operating outside the normal sort of timeline of events and things like that. You know, if it takes six weeks to heal something, maybe he'll heal it instantly.

But here's the thing. If you take a couple steps back, here's Job, and he is trusting God the whole time. And in the end of the book, God comes through big.

Amen. And Job is vindicated in his trust of God. He's rewarded. He's blessed for trusting in the Lord.

And so here's the life lesson. The Book of Job calls people to unreserved dedication to God. The Book of Job calls people to unreserved dedication to God. It's interesting how you can read a verse over and over and over and over and over, and then you read it one more time, and all of a sudden you see something you never saw. That's why this is a living book. Amen.

This book will accomplish that which it was sent forth to do. I don't know how many times I have read that Job's wife came to him and said, Curse God and die. And you know what, in all fairness, we beat up on that poor lady a lot, but you know what?

She lost her children, and that was probably potentially harder on her than on Job. But curse God and die. I've read that so many times. And yet today when I was reading it, you know what I saw? That she may have been saying to Job, may, I'm not saying definitely, she may have been saying to Job, Why don't you kill yourself? It never occurred to Job to kill himself.

Why? He trusted God. He trusted God. He trusted God. Let's say it together. He trusted God. He did what?

He trusted God. You know what I see over and over, friend? And I see it because I've got a little bigger picture sometimes is I'll see somebody who's getting ready to get blessed.

I mean, like a leadership role or a staff position or something like that. And we're watching it and we're praying. And then right before the blessing comes, the test comes.

And I've been heartbroken to see people get ripped off right before the blessing comes. You see, at some point, God lifts the pressure. When you're in a situation, when you're in a trial or you're in a test, the enemy will say, oh, whoa, whoa, the pressure, it's just going to keep on you. And it's just going to build and build and build and build. And it's just always going to be there. The pressure's always going to be there, you know?

And you hear Billy Joel singing and pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure. But that's a lot. The word of the Lord is this too shall pass. Amen.

The enemy says, oh, it's always going to be like that. Job was submitted to God. He trusted God. You've been listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge Weekend Edition.

Tune in again next Saturday afternoon at 4.30 Eastern and 1.30 Pacific time as Pastor David continues teaching lessons from the life of Job on most radio stations. Friends, God loves you and wants you to experience His peace, forgiveness, and life. The Bible says, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. How do you receive this gift of everlasting life from God? First, acknowledge you're a sinner in need of forgiveness. Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and died for you on the cross, taking your sin upon Himself to provide forgiveness for you.

Then ask for Him to enter your heart and life, turning away from your sins, that is your own selfish desires, and then open your heart to follow God's plan for your life. You can start your new life by praying something like this from your heart. Dear Jesus, I believe that you died for me that I could be forgiven. I believe you are resurrected that I could have a new life. Lord, I have done wrong things and I am sorry.

Please forgive me for all of those things and please give me the power to live for you the rest of my life. In Jesus' name, amen. My friend, if you prayed that prayer today for the first time or are coming back to God after wandering away, please let us know. Email PastorDavid at CrossTheBridge.com and share your good news. That's a great first step to growing in your new faith. We'd love to email you back some more ways to continue in this wonderful adventure of faith. Remember that you are not alone and you are loved. Also, don't forget to visit CrossTheBridge.com to discover more resources provided at no charge to help you learn more about the Bible. If you'd like to help us share God's word with others, please click on the donate button and support this program with your regular gifts and tune into Cross the Bridge weekend editions each Saturday and Sunday on this station or on the CrossTheBridge.com website. God bless you and have a great day.