Job Chapter 9:1-35

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 9. Now, here's Pastor David. We've prayed, so let's jump into Job. Let's read Job chapter 9 verse 1. Then Job answered and said, Truly I know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God? That is the question.

It's put in different ways in the Bible. It's in different ways in our lives, but the question resonates and rings. As a matter of fact, those who were with us this past Sunday, it's reverberating in their heart and their souls and their minds. Some of them don't know what to make of what happened to them Sunday. Some will come back and we'll help them sort it out and work through it. Some of them are here tonight.

Sadly, some might not make it back. With this question ringing, how can a man be righteous before God? Let's read on. And I'm reading in the New King James Version. Then I'll hit some verses in the New Living Translation and we'll come back through to help illuminate some of those. Verse 3, If one wished to contend with him, he could not answer him one time out of a thousand. Now I want you to notice that the pronoun he and him has a capital H. That helps us understand that Job is talking to God and about God.

Let's understand. I would consider myself a literalist when it comes to the Bible. But as a literalist, I know that there's pictures and symbols and allegories and onomatopoeia, which is just fun to say, and contrast. And some things that people say and some things that people do are not being approved by the Bible. They're being mentioned in the Bible. Did God approve of all the wives of Solomon?

No way. The Bible tells us about him. And when you read this chapter, Job says some things that are theologically incorrect. But the Bible is recording what he says. Verse 4, God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. This is true. There's kind of an interesting call answer in the Hebrew happening.

You can see it in English as well. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength, who has hardened himself against him and prospered. He removes the mountains and they do not know when he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place and its pillars tremble. He commands the sun and it does not rise. He seals off the stars. He alone spreads out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. He made the bear, the orion and the plaids, I'll explain that in the chambers of the south. He does great things past finding out.

Yes, wonders without number. If he goes by me, I do not see him. If he moves past, I do not perceive him. If he takes away, who can hinder him? Who can say to him, what are you doing? God will not withdraw his anger. The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath him. How then, if you're in the New Living Translation, that's a very different verse than I just read.

I'll explain that in a moment. In verse 14, how then can I answer him and choose my words to reason with him? For though I were righteous, I could not answer him.

I would beg mercy of my judge. If I called and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. So Job's got a little cynical.

You can see that. In verse 16, if I called and he answered me, I would not believe that he was listening to my voice. How could Job be so cynical?

You know what's interesting? He's not being cynical because of the bad things that happened. He's being cynical because of the lack of love and compassion and understanding he's receiving from his so-called friends. All these things happened to Job. His children died. Losing his life in stock, that was his business. It provided for his family. It put food on the table.

His structures. And yet somehow I wonder if these three friends had been more encouraging, what would have happened to Job? Let's read it on verse 17.

For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause. Now you know what we can wonder here? As Job's saying these things about God, they are a true assessment of the friends that supposedly God sent. Did God send these friends?

I think he did. I don't think they said what they were supposed to say. I think they missed the Lord there. I think it's safe to say that a man that lost all his buildings, lost all his livestock, lost all his children, I think it's safe to say he needed some comfort and compassion, not judgmental attitudes.

If you've read these first few chapters of Job, you see what I'm talking about. And here's the disturbing question for each one of us. Why is that book in there? And why does it record his friends going on and on and on and on and on with their yammering? It's in there because other people, not us, that are here tonight, other people sometimes say the wrong thing.

Not us, other people. And because of that, see Job just, he gets into a bad place, spiritually, emotionally. And if you've read the book, you know that the Holy Spirit kind of rescues him.

But oh, the part his friends could have played in that. Verse 17, for he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause. He will not allow me to catch my breath but fills me with bitterness.

If it is a matter of strength, indeed, he is strong. And if of justice he will appoint my day in court. Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me. Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse. I am blameless, yet I do not know myself.

I despise my life. It is all one thing. Therefore, I say, he destroys the blameless and the wicked. If the scourge slays suddenly, he laughs at the plight of the innocent. If the scourge slays suddenly, he, God, laughs at the plight of the innocent. Is that a true assessment of God's character in nature and personality?

No. And yet, this is what the two friends displayed in it. It sounds like he's actually describing perhaps the actions and the words of these two friends which he is thinking, oh, they're here on behalf of God, these three friends are. These three friends are here on behalf of God, and they're laughing at my calamity. So God is laughing at my calamity. God does not laugh at any person's calamity. Verse 24, the earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges.

If it is not he, who else could it be? Now my days are swifter than a runner. They flee away. They see no good.

They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its prey. If I say I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile, I am afraid of all my sufferings. I know that you will not hold me innocent. If I am condemned, why then do I labor in vain? I wash myself with snow water and cleanse my hands with soap, yet you plunge me into the pit.

My own clothes will abhor me. And there again we have a reference to snow. And it's interesting that Job being one of the oldest books in the Bible, I think it mentions snow or ice, I think 42 times, more than any other book in the Bible.

So potentially there possibly was a partial frost or maybe even an ice age, a total global frost. We don't know. It's interesting to talk about in the way that the earth came to be. Verse 32, For he is not a man as I am, that I may answer him, and that we should go to court together. See, we think of God in human terms. When we assess a situation and say, no, I can't do that, we're not really thinking about God's abilities, are we? Because the Bible says he's on our side, he's given us strength, he's given us wisdom. So when we face a trial or adversity, we're not facing it by ourselves.

We're facing it with him. Well, if we're with him, with God, all things are possible. With God, nothing is impossible. So how can we get in the middle of a trial and say, I can't, when God has said, yes, you can. Amen? Praise God. It's good to realize, in contrast to these words, if you've asked God to forgive you of your sins, God is on your side. God has forgiven you.

Let's read verse 32 again, because I want to catch that intro into verse 33. For he is not a man as I am, that I may answer him, and that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us who may lay his hand on us both, nor is there any mediator between us. There's no go-between.

There's no goel. There's no kinsman redeemer who may lay his hand on us both. Let him take his rod away from me, and do not let dread of him terrify me.

Then I would speak and not fear him, but it is not so with me. Let me give you a couple of these verses in the New Living translation, because some of them are a good bit different. Verse 2, Job chapter 2, and if you're in the New Living translation, I'll just be reading your version. If you're in the New King James version or the King James version, I study in the King James, I read in the New King James, New Living translation, go back to the original language, it was Greek in the New Testament, Hebrew in the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament. Verse 2 says, in the New King James, truly I know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God?

In the New Living translation that reads, yes, I know all this isn't true in principle, but how can a person be declared innocent in God's sight? That's the question, that's the mother of all questions. That's the question that all questions go back to. Where do you find peace goes back to there. Where do you find love goes back to there. Where do you find a successful marriage goes back to there. Where do you find a faithful friend goes back to there. How do you know salvation goes back to there. How can you have a relationship with God goes back to there.

As a matter of fact, in a couple of moments, we'll realize together that this is, for anybody, the most important question. Verse 3, New Living translation. If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times? For God is so wise and so mighty, who has ever challenged him successfully? Verse 5, without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place and its foundations tremble.

If he commands it, this is an interesting one, the sun won't rise and the stars won't shine. 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. We've been talking about the solar eclipse and the lunar eclipse and this is a reference to if it commands, the sun won't rise. He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. Verse 9, he made all the stars, the bear and Orion, and Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky. So he's talking about these constellations, which the New Living Translation explains that is not apparent from the New King James or the King James.

So that's where it's helpful to check these other references and be careful with the versions that you look into. Verse 10, New Living Translation. He does great things to marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him.

When he moves by, I do not see him go. If he snatches someone in death, says verse 12, who can stop him? Who dares to ask, what are you doing?

What a great point. Who gets to ask God, what are you doing? You know, sometimes in conversations, people will talk to me and say, hey, you know, I want to know why God is like, whoa, whoa, stop right there. You want to know why God?

I may not be able to give you an answer to this question. Why does God love us so much? I don't know. How can God keep forgiving us when we keep messing up? I don't know. How can God look around this world, see all that's going on and wait?

I don't know. Verse 20 in the New Living Translation says, though I'm innocent, my own mouths would pronounce me guilty. Though I'm blameless, it would prove me wicked. And finally, verse 22, I'm not hitting all these New Living Translation verses, just some that are, again, illuminatory, you know, help provide light on the subject. Job 9 22 says, innocent or wicked, it is all the same to God. That's why I say he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. I think it's safe to say that Job has an attitude problem. Some of the things he says in this chapter, it's hard to read, honestly, because these are incorrect assumptions about God. Now, let's understand, we're in chapter 9. We've been through eight previous chapters of Job's friends just hammering him, saying things like, you know what, we think you caused your children's death by your sinful actions. Well, I'm sure that's what he needed to hear. Some of the things that the friends said were theologically correct.

It was just the wrong time to say them. Going back through the chapter now that we've read through it and read some of those New Living verses, New Living Translation verses, let's understand, Job came to this place in part because of his response to the friends. Now, it wasn't part to the things that happened, but it was also in part a reaction to his friends.

His friends could have played a very unique place in his healing. And yet, if you haven't already read the chapters, go back tonight and reread these first eight chapters and remind yourself of how harsh these guys were. And it reminds me that it really is a test, what we say, how we say it, when we say it. It's like the old saying, Christians are like tea bags.

You don't know what's in them until they're in hot water and you squeeze them. When we get in situations, sometimes we say things. Now, it's interesting because then we go, oh, oh, I'm sorry I said that. That's just not like me. What a weird thing to say in it. What do you mean? You said it.

Who's it like? If it's not like you, you just said it because you've got in a situation. Watch your tongue. Some of you just heard I'm supposed to watch somebody else's tongue.

That's not what I said. You're supposed to watch your tongue. It's interesting that the Bible over and over and over and over encourage us to love others and judge ourselves.

What do we do? We judge others and love ourselves. You see it in Job's friends. The tongue is in the Bible 114 times, almost 50 times, 49 times in Psalms and Proverbs. Since it plays a central role in the book of Job with these friends, I want to go through some verses about the tongue and I want to encourage you to jot these verses down, the address, the name of the book, the chapter, the verse, because here's what I meant. There's several Hebrew words for the English word love. There's several Hebrew words for the one English word fool. There's the open fool and the closed fool. The open fool doesn't know something, but he knows he doesn't know something and is open to learning. The closed fool doesn't know something and he doesn't want to know it.

He is in fact unteachable and because he's unteachable, he truly is a fool, where the open fool in Hebrew is viewed not as nearly as negative. So let me give you some of these verses. The thing is, when it comes to the tongue, how many people listening would be willing to be honest and say tonight that somewhere in the past, we'll make it really challenging, in the last 12 months have you said something that you shouldn't have said? Or did you not say something you should have said? In other words, did your tongue or your words or your mouth get you in trouble? Can I see a show of hands? In the last 12 months, what you said got you in trouble.

All those on the live stream, you got your hands up. So we all need this word. You can't apply it for somebody else. This is for you. Amen. This is not for your wife, for your husband. You can't apply it for them. This is for you. James 3.8.

But no man contained the tongue. Well, there it is. Should we even read any more? Because we don't have any hope, do we?

I mean, if that's true, well, that is true. But we do have hope. Why? God wants to help us with this little tongue. Amen.

Instead of this thing being a source of cursing, He wants this to be a source of blessing. So no man can tame it. But the Holy Spirit can sure enough tame it.

Amen. No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the same multitude of God in the likeness of God. How the same mouth precedes blessing and cursing, my brother, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same oatman?

Can a fig tree, my brother, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both saltwater and fresh. Why does the book of Job go on and on with his friends being judgmental when Job needs love and compassion and understanding? And with that, what are we supposed to be learning from the book of Job? One is how to deal with sickness. Secondly, how to walk out our healing, how to walk in our healing. Job ends up receiving the healing and how he responds to God, the wonderful picture of how we should respond when God touches us. How to deal with sickness, how to walk in our healing, how to treat and love other people. Now out of those three things, how to deal with sickness, how to walk in our healing, and how to treat and love other people, what does the Bible spend the most time out of out of those three? How to treat and love other people? Yep. Are we suggesting some people have problems with that? The Bible's suggesting that all people have a problem with that, including you, including me, and the enemy loves to exploit this. Psalm 15 two and three says, He who walks uprightly and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart, he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor...