Job Chapter 37:ALL

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. 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 today. I think you'll find that to be true today and tomorrow as we take a closer look at chapter 37. Now, here's Pastor David. Chapter 37.

Man, we're getting on up there. If you don't have a Bible, just raise your hand. One of the ushers will bring you a Bible to read along with us. We're going verse-by-verse, chapter-by-chapter. Again, at chapter 37, we're getting towards the meat of the matter. After chapter 37, there's five chapters left in the Book of Job. But in the next chapter, chapter 38, and for the remaining five chapters, it's God and Job. So in your Bible reading, I would encourage you to go ahead and read from where we are to the end of Job and maybe read it a couple of times. Because again, after this, it's God and Job the whole time. Now, when we speak of Job, the subject of the book, Job, is one of the oldest characters in the Bible. This book is about a timeframe that's the oldest timeframe of any of the books, but we don't believe the book was written at that time, you know, like 1500 BC or so. But we see in Genesis 46, 13, Job's name pops up as one of the sons of Issachar, which is one of the 12 tribes of Israel, so he was the grandson of Jacob.

So Genesis 46, 13 says, the sons of Issachar were Tolah, Puva, Job, and Shomeron. And we believe that's the same Job as the subject of the book. So first Bible study tip, here's something for us to remember, is Job is one of the oldest books of the Bible. Not the oldest written book, written the longest ago, but it's about the timeframe that's the longest ago. It's one of the oldest books. And it's one of the older books as far as writing to. As we dig into this, many people are aware of what the book of Job is about.

They may have come to faulty conclusions about the book. To bring you up to speed here, Job in the first chapter is called a good guy, and the enemy, the devil, comes to God and says, I want to mess with Job. Basically, he's been watching Job, checking him out, seeing what he does, how he acts. So when God says, have you checked out my servant Job, he already knew the enemy was checking him out. He already knew that Job was the target of the enemy's fascination. It wasn't like the enemy was completely unaware of Job, and then God said, oh, here's this guy over here.

The devil, come over here and mess with him. That's not what happened. Job loses everything except his wife, his kids, his wealth, and his buildings, his crops stored up. And he makes a statement early on.

The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Job was not aware of the meeting in the first chapter. We are.

He was not. Let's read now chapter 37. We're going to read through it, and then come back and talk about the different pieces. Now, three of Job's friends were trying to comfort him, and really not comforting him.

And they're all over the map, not hitting the bullseye. But then this one guy, Elish, comes forward, who is close to the truth, and saying things that are spot on. And then Job starts to respond to him. So now, Job chapter 37, verse 1, He blunders marvelously with his voice.

He does great things which we cannot comprehend. First he says to the snow, fall on the earth. Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of his strength. He seals the hand of every man that all men may know his work.

The beasts go into dens and remain in their lairs. From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds of the north. I want you to know how many terms of cold, ice, frost, snow are included in this chapter.

I want to comment on that in a moment. Verse 9. From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, and cold from the scattering winds of the north. By the breath of God, ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen. Also with moisture he saturates the thick clouds. He scatters his bright clouds, and they swirl about, being turned by his guidance, that they may do whatever he commands them on the face of the whole earth. He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

Listen to this, old Job. Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. Do you know when God dispatches them and causes the light of his cloud to shine? Do you know how the clouds are balanced, those wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge? Why are your garments hot when he quiets the earth by the south wind? With him have you spread out the skies, strong as a cast metal mirror? Teach us what we should say to him, for we can prepare nothing because of the darkness.

Should he be told that I wish to speak? If a man were to speak, surely he would be swallowed up. Even now, men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them. He comes from the north as golden splendor, with God his awesome majesty. As for the Almighty, we cannot find him. He is excellent in power, in judgment and abundant justice. He does not oppress, therefore men fear him. He shows no partiality to any who are wise of heart. As much truth as he is sharing, in verse 23 he says, as for the Almighty, we cannot find him.

So he is spiritual, and yet there is still, even in Elohim, there is something missing, if you will. Chapter 1 of Job. I want you to go down to verse 8, and it is the Lord speaking, and the Lord himself. The Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shunned evil? So God himself says, this is a good guy. The enemy comes to God and says, I want to mess with Job. God gives him permission, but draws a line and says, you can't touch his body at first.

Then he says, you can't take his life. So the enemy goes to do these things. So it is the enemy that does these things.

Now, I know in some ways you may feel like we are splitting hairs here. That if God permitted it or could alter it and didn't, he ultimately is responsible. But the enemy is the one who literally took from Job, not the Lord.

But at the end of chapter 1, Job says, in verse 21, And he, Job, said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now, the Lord can give, and the Lord can take away. But in this case, is that descriptive of what happened?

I don't feel like it is. Now, this gets a little bit into your own personal convictions about healing and health and different things. Is it in the character of God, in the personality of God, to usually give things away and then take them back? So the question is, did God take the things away from Job or did the devil? And was Job wrong in saying God gave and took away? Is God's character or personality to give and then take away? Is that what the Word points out? Has that been your experience with the Lord?

Has it been mine? Or is it more in keeping with the characters and personalities here that God gave and the enemy took away? I mean, gang, that literally looks like what happened, that God gave and the enemy took away. But yeah, but Job said the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Well, yeah, Job was wrong about a lot of stuff. Because it's a verse doesn't mean that it's truth. The Bible records history. The Bible records men doing things that God did not approve of. It doesn't mean the Bible and God approves of polygamy, God's being married to multiple women. That's in the Bible, but that's not God's plan.

God said one man, one woman from Genesis. So the fact that it's in here doesn't mean that what Job said was right. I believe what happened is Job misconstrued God, blamed God for what happened, and began to feel that if God was like that and did those things, that Job had massive spiritual pride. But Job began to feel like, well, that's who God is, I'm better than God.

Wrong conclusion, obviously, but I believe it was because of the faulty information. Now, another thing with the enemy is we're told that he does what? John 10, 10. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.

They have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Steal, kill, and destroy. That's a great description of what happened to Job. There was killing, there was stealing, and there was destroying.

Here's where it might get a little uncomfortable for you. Is there anything in your life that you're blaming God for that somebody else, maybe even yourself, was at fault for? We all can be guilty of this, because sometimes when we don't know things, we start to assume things. The Lord will reveal to you truth, and it may very well be what he's doing here tonight with you.

Here's a first life lesson. Job blamed God for something the devil did, and it shaped Job's perception of God. Job blamed God for something the devil did, and it shaped Job's perception of God. Now, when we get to the end of the book of Job, God straightens everything out. He blesses Job, and there's several interesting things that we find there. God begins to straighten out Job's friends, and he corrects them and tells them they've been wrong. Job himself receives the correction. In Job chapter 40, verse 1 through 5, Then the Lord said to Job, Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?

You're God's credit, but do you have the answers? It makes me think of unbelievers when they start to criticize God. Well, if God's good, why did he do this? Why did he do that? Why doesn't he take all the evil out of the world?

What an arrogant question. I'll tell you why he doesn't take all the evil out of the world. Because if God was going to take all the evil out of the world, he would wipe out all of humanity. Because we've got the war going on inside of us, of good things but bad things. And if God's going to wipe out evil, he's going to have to wipe out his kids who are struggling with evil. So he's waiting and giving us every opportunity.

But at some point, the age of the Gentiles is over. Job 40, verse 1, Then the Lord said to Job, Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You're God's credit, but do you have the answers? Then Job replied to the Lord, I am nothing.

How could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already.

I have nothing more to say. Once again, Job shows why he's a blessed man. He's a smart guy.

Even with all this, he seeks the Lord and finds him. And I love the way he doesn't even trust himself not to speak. He doesn't say, Oh, I won't say anything else.

He says, you know what, just to be sure, I'm going to cover my mouth. In chapter 42, verse 7, And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 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. Job is restored at that point, and then the Lord says, I want to correct these friends. And they received it in Job 42, 9. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shoahite, Zophar the Naamanite, those are the three friends, went and did as the Lord commanded them, for the Lord had accepted Job. A couple of verses later, then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before came to him and ate food with him in his house, and they consoled him and comforted him, for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him, each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold. Now again, the writer is saying the Lord brought these things upon him as well, which again, that's part of our discussion. In the New Living Translation, verse 11 says, Then all his brothers, sisters, and former friends came and feasted with him in his home, and they consoled him and comforted him because of all the trials the Lord had brought against him, and each of them brought him a gift of money and a gold ring.

And then a few verses later, verse 12 through 15. So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now, he had 14,000 sheep. He had 7,000 before. He had 6,000 camels. He had 3,000 before.

He had 1,000 team spocks and had 500 before. And 1,000 female donkeys had 500 looked. He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters.

He named his first daughter Jemima, the second, Keziah, and the third, Keren Appuk. In all the land, no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job, and their father put them into his will along with their brothers. Now, why does it say that? Why does it say it included the sisters?

Because they weren't usually included. The inheritance went to just the sons, usually, in the Middle East at that time. And the first son would get a double portion. So God blesses Job double of what he had before. Now, how did he do that?

Why did he do that? Well, we talked before a couple of weeks ago that Job had some fears before, but in the course of the book, he works out these fears, and he no longer has these somewhat paranoid thoughts. So Job, in the end, is much more at peace than Job in the beginning. Now, I want to encourage you, because wherever you are in life, whatever age you are, there's an assumption that the next five years will be like the last five years. The next ten years will be like the last ten years. The next fifteen years will be like the last fifteen years. No, they won't.

No, they won't. You have learned. You are learning. You are being changed. And as you respond to the Lord, as you allow Him to lead you, you make better decisions. Amen? And even when you make bad ones, you learn from them.

You have a pastor. I've just known so much pain in my life, and there's a lot of pain in the book of Job. We think we would like a world without pain.

No, not this one. See, because if we didn't feel pain, you would keep coming back to that same person that keeps emotionally hurting you, because you wouldn't feel pain to know to stay away. Children would keep burning their hands on the stove because they wouldn't be pulling back because of the pain.

But here's the huge one. If we didn't know pain, we would not seek God. Would you rather have a life with no pain, or would you rather have a life with pain that pushes you towards God?

We can't have a perfect world here because we won't call out and grab hold of God. Think about it. Was it in the most pleasurable moments you reached out and forgot? Or are you most painful?

Probably you're most painful. But therein is the reason the next five years will not be like the last five years. You are learning. I am learning. Together, we are learning.

And here's the life lesson. Through following Jesus, the leading of God's Spirit, and His favor and His blessing, let the rest of your life be the best of your life. Amen. Praise God. Through following Jesus, the leading of God's Spirit, and His favor and His blessing, let the rest of your life be the best of your life.

Praise God. You don't have to repeat mistakes. Guys, you don't have to be like your dads. Ladies, you don't have to be like your moms. Now, if they were great moms or great dads, praise God.

Imitate them. But if they weren't believers and it was a train wreck, you're not condemned to that. I'm under a generational curse. Listen to me. There is no curse that the blood of Jesus cannot break. No curse. Amen. Praise God. So some of you are thinking, well, yeah, but because of the last five years, I've wasted time. I've done things, lived a life where God wasn't the priority.

So I wasted time, wasted years. You know, it's an amazing thing what God does and how He does it. He's able to use your wanderings for the kingdom. I don't know how He does it, but He does it.

He does it very well. I remember years ago, coming out of secular music, I wanted to be sure that none of that made it over in the Christian domain. So I thought, well, you know, you shouldn't have lights and probably shouldn't have electric guitars.

Maybe they're bad too. And then I went to a Carmen concert and there was lights and smoke and electric guitar and all this stuff. And I thought, you can use these things. So what I'd learned about sound and music and lighting, I used for the kingdom. I was trained in Babylon with it, but I use it for the kingdom of God. And Randy back there, it's for a similar testimony, working in music, trained in Babylon, but working for the kingdom.

And those aren't just isolated stories. Moses, every part of his life God used. You think about it. God was going to develop a deliverer, a leader. And so what does he do?

Well, he arranges things. So this man is trained up in Egypt under some of the most powerful and developed world leaders on the planet at that time. I'm not saying they were right.

They just had the best training and most intelligence on the planet at that time. And so Moses learned. And that time in Egypt wasn't wasted because he used those things in his leadership with the children of Israel. Yeah, but he wandered around the desert.

Yes, he did. He wandered around and saw where the valleys were, where the fields were, where the streams were. Maybe he felt like he was wasting that time.

Maybe others felt like that. It wasn't time wasted because a few years later, as he was bringing two million people and a bunch of oxen and a bunch of sheep, he knew where the pastures were. He knew where the rivers and the streams were called wadis, w-a-d-i. It was like a dry river bed that all of a sudden was filled with water in the Middle East. And so he knew where those things were. Not one thing was wasted.

He was trained on large-scale construction projects. I mean, so God uses what we think is waste. And he describes himself, and he describes the enemy. And he says, look, John 10. He says, this is who the enemy is. The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I come that you may have life.

And life more abundantly. And then he says, okay, choose. Do you want to choose the enemy who steals and kills and destroys? Or do you want to choose me who blesses and gives life? Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 15. See, I've set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commandments, His statutes, His judgments that you may live and multiply.

And the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. Now, verse 17. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear them, and you're drawn away, and you worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish.

You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. Verse 19. He says, I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I've set before you life and death. Blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life in the length of your days, and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

You know, it's interesting. The chapter mentions voice in verse 2. Hear attentively the thunder of His voice. Verse 4. After a voice roars, and He does not restrain them when His voice is heard, God thunders marvelously with His voice. We're blessed because we get to hear the voice of the Lord. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, it was a very rare thing for somebody to hear from God.

But you and I can talk to God at any time because of what Jesus did. John chapter 10 again. Most assuredly, I say to you, He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. John chapter 10, Jesus would say, Hey, you know my voice. My sheep know my voice. So if you've been born again, you know the voice of the Lord. The more you listen and respond, the more fondly tuned you are to hear.

That's the next life lesson. The more we listen, the more we can hear the voice of the Lord. The more we listen, the more we can hear the voice of the Lord.

The converse is true too. The less we listen, the less we hear. You know, the Lord does an awesome thing on a regular basis here. At the end of the service, He begins to move, and we sense our need for Him, our need for forgiveness, our need for a fresh focus or a course correction, consider it an honor. Thank you for drawing me to yourself. 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.

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, click on the donate button and support this program with your regular gifts. And tune in to 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!