WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.459 I've heard of you by the ears, but now my eyes have seen you, Job says. 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:07.839 That is what we want, Father, today. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:08.880 We want to see you. 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:13.820 We want you to give us a great vision of who you are, of your son Jesus. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.620 And, Father, we know that I can't do that. 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:20.460 We need you by your spirit working in our hearts. 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:22.059 So please speak to us. 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:23.120 Speak through these words. 00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:28.120 Please speak through this very old, challenging book deeply to our hearts. 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:29.199 In Jesus' name. 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:30.259 Amen. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:32.519 Yeah. 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:33.579 Great. 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:35.019 So, yeah, we are. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:36.619 Let me change my mic. 00:00:40.579 --> 00:00:41.799 I've got Ed's mic now. 00:00:41.899 --> 00:00:42.500 Yeah, fantastic. 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:43.280 That's better. 00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:44.159 Great. 00:00:44.980 --> 00:00:47.039 So, yeah, the book of Job. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:52.060 Although, as you've, I don't know if you've been going through the, there's a lot about suffering, right? 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:57.179 If you've been going through the watermark reading plan, we've been going through the Psalms. 00:00:57.179 --> 00:00:59.640 And so many of the Psalms are also pretty dark, right? 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:01.159 A lot of laments. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:04.980 A lot of, you know, Lord, what is going on? 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:09.620 But there's one big cry that they always ask, the famous words from the Psalms. 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:11.680 How long, oh Lord, right? 00:01:11.800 --> 00:01:12.600 How long? 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:14.579 What do people want? 00:01:14.920 --> 00:01:17.420 If you're going through a hard time, you want it to end. 00:01:17.880 --> 00:01:19.840 You want an end to your suffering, right? 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:22.100 They're not really asking why. 00:01:22.199 --> 00:01:23.579 They're asking when will it end. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:28.919 Because if you know, if you're going through a difficult time, if you know when it ends, that makes it bearable, right? 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:32.419 Maybe a year ago, you were in quarantine for COVID. 00:01:33.039 --> 00:01:34.019 And that was hard. 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:35.339 But you knew it would end, right? 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:37.459 You knew it was only three weeks, two weeks, one week. 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:38.959 You could get out. 00:01:38.979 --> 00:01:42.539 If you're sick, but you know, hey, in a week's time, it's over. 00:01:42.919 --> 00:01:43.859 You can do it. 00:01:44.679 --> 00:01:48.239 The question is, what if we don't know why we suffer? 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:51.060 Well, it's not just difficult that we don't know. 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:53.140 It's also difficult that we don't know when it will end. 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:55.620 If we don't know the reason, why would it end? 00:01:56.299 --> 00:01:59.840 And if your suffering will never end, why would you keep going? 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:01.319 Why not give up? 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:02.359 Right? 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:04.460 Those two questions are interlinked. 00:02:05.019 --> 00:02:06.739 Why and how long? 00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:12.379 And as we are going to the end of the book of Job, I think that's something that will come into view. 00:02:12.379 --> 00:02:13.659 We've been struggling. 00:02:13.939 --> 00:02:16.299 Okay, why do we? 00:02:16.519 --> 00:02:20.019 Yeah, there are some things that in our life, in the world, that we just don't understand. 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:23.259 Job didn't understand this good man, why he suffered. 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:26.139 And so he wants to know why. 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:27.840 And he wants to know how long. 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:32.219 And as we look at today's passage, that is kind of where we're going to go. 00:02:32.939 --> 00:02:35.259 Now, some of you are new here. 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:37.479 And we're going through Job. 00:02:37.699 --> 00:02:39.259 Maybe you're youth here as well. 00:02:39.259 --> 00:02:41.819 And last time you were here, we were in chapter 3. 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:43.719 And now we are actually in chapter 38. 00:02:44.359 --> 00:02:48.359 So I thought, let me put again up on the screen where we have been and where we're going. 00:02:48.780 --> 00:02:51.079 So this is kind of all the chapters of Job. 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:55.099 Chapter 3, Job had just lost everything. 00:02:55.399 --> 00:02:57.299 And he suffered so much. 00:02:57.399 --> 00:02:58.639 He wanted to die. 00:02:59.459 --> 00:03:01.719 But then we've been struggling with why. 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:07.300 And, well, one week we had just lots of debate about, you know, is this due to my sin? 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:09.639 And the answer was, no, it isn't. 00:03:10.020 --> 00:03:12.020 A lot of debate between Job and his friends. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:12.900 But then why? 00:03:13.319 --> 00:03:13.680 Why? 00:03:13.879 --> 00:03:18.180 And, yeah, the writer says, actually, there are some things we just don't understand. 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:19.120 We have to trust God. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:24.139 And we are getting a few speeches that are much more one-way answers. 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:27.419 Last week we looked at Elihu, this guy who shows up. 00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:30.000 And he says, Job, you know, make sure you listen well. 00:03:30.099 --> 00:03:31.919 Make sure you don't sin when you suffer. 00:03:32.799 --> 00:03:35.339 But today, well, something special is going to happen. 00:03:35.339 --> 00:03:39.560 As you can see at the end, the Lord himself shows up. 00:03:39.839 --> 00:03:39.939 Right? 00:03:40.019 --> 00:03:40.919 38 verse 1. 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:47.879 And the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind and said, God himself shows up and speaks to Job. 00:03:47.959 --> 00:03:49.560 That's amazing, right? 00:03:50.039 --> 00:03:52.699 I mean, out of the whirlwind must be quite overwhelming. 00:03:53.659 --> 00:03:56.579 But I hope you can see grace here, right? 00:03:56.580 --> 00:03:59.120 Here is the God of the universe. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:00.880 And here is one suffering believer. 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:05.660 And he shows up and talks to him for his benefit, for our benefit. 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:10.040 He speaks to him, you know, directly, not even a prophet. 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:11.860 Just God speaks to him directly. 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:16.520 And, yeah, he's going to give Job and us a greater vision of him. 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:18.360 And so we're going to listen to these. 00:04:18.460 --> 00:04:19.300 Well, it's four chapters. 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:21.100 So, again, we have an abridged reading. 00:04:21.460 --> 00:04:24.180 It's basically two speeches of two chapters each. 00:04:24.740 --> 00:04:26.240 God will talk about creation. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:28.000 He will talk about the animal kingdom. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:33.160 And he's going to talk about two monsters, Behemoth and Leviathan. 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:36.180 And, yeah, talk about his justice. 00:04:36.780 --> 00:04:37.920 So why don't we listen to that? 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:42.040 So Henry and Florence will come up, Florence and Henry, and do the reading. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:44.560 And why don't we listen to that? 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.860 Thanks, Niels. 00:04:49.860 --> 00:04:56.100 So we're reading from the Bible, from the book of Job, chapters 38 through to 41. 00:04:56.439 --> 00:05:04.019 But excerpts from that, you've got it either as an insert in the bulletin, or you can follow along on the screen behind. 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:09.699 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:15.860 Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:18.800 Dress for action like a man. 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:23.719 I will question you, and you make it known to me. 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:27.840 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:30.140 Tell me, if you have understanding. 00:05:30.940 --> 00:05:32.380 Who determined its measurements? 00:05:33.340 --> 00:05:34.100 Surely you know. 00:05:34.820 --> 00:05:36.720 Or who stretched the line upon it? 00:05:37.220 --> 00:05:38.980 On what where its bases sunk? 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:46.140 Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 00:05:46.840 --> 00:05:52.020 Oh, who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? 00:05:52.640 --> 00:05:58.520 When I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, 00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:04.400 and prescribed limits for it, and set bars and doors, and said, 00:06:04.759 --> 00:06:08.220 Thus far shall you come, and no farther. 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:11.860 And here shall you proud waves be stayed. 00:06:14.020 --> 00:06:19.580 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? 00:06:20.200 --> 00:06:25.680 Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, 00:06:25.939 --> 00:06:26.759 Here we are. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:32.980 Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 00:06:33.460 --> 00:06:36.520 when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their thicket? 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:39.459 Who provides for the raven its prey, 00:06:39.959 --> 00:06:43.639 when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food? 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.740 Who has let the wild donkey go free? 00:06:47.500 --> 00:06:50.399 Who has loosed the bonds of the swift donkey, 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:54.979 to whom I have given the arid plain for his home, 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:58.039 and the salt land for his dwelling place? 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:09.000 Then Job answered the Lord, and said, 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.320 Behold, I am of small account. 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:14.820 What shall I answer you? 00:07:15.020 --> 00:07:16.939 I lay my hand on my mouth. 00:07:16.939 --> 00:07:20.439 I have spoken once, and I will not answer twice, 00:07:20.719 --> 00:07:22.839 but I will proceed no further. 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:28.160 Then the Lord answered Job, out of the whirlwind, and said, 00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:31.139 Dress for action like a man. 00:07:31.899 --> 00:07:35.279 I will question you, and you will make it known to me. 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.120 Will you even put me in the wrong? 00:07:39.060 --> 00:07:42.019 Will you condemn me, that you may be in the right? 00:07:42.019 --> 00:07:45.120 Have you an arm like God? 00:07:45.539 --> 00:07:48.620 And can you thunder with a voice like his? 00:07:50.219 --> 00:07:52.560 Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity. 00:07:52.899 --> 00:07:55.099 Clothe yourself with glory and splendor. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:58.299 Pour out the overflowings of your anger, 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:00.979 and look on everyone who is proud, and abase him. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:03.919 Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low, 00:08:04.099 --> 00:08:06.740 and tread down the wicked where they stand. 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:09.479 Hide them all in the dust together. 00:08:10.039 --> 00:08:11.740 Bind their faces in the world below. 00:08:12.019 --> 00:08:16.419 Then will I acknowledge to you that your own right hand can save you. 00:08:17.579 --> 00:08:22.339 Behold, behemoth, which I made as I made you. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:24.759 He eats grass like an ox. 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:28.079 Behold, his strength in his loins, 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:31.199 and his power in the muscles of his belly. 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:34.259 His bones are tubes of bronze. 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:37.699 His limbs like bars of iron. 00:08:38.379 --> 00:08:40.659 He is the first of the works of God. 00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:44.779 Let him who made him bring near his sword. 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:50.439 Can one take him by his eyes, or pierce his nose with a snare? 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:54.760 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.180 or press down his tongue with a cord? 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:00.620 Can you put a rope in his nose, or pierce his jaw with a hook? 00:09:01.380 --> 00:09:03.140 Will he make many pleas to you? 00:09:03.280 --> 00:09:05.000 Will he speak to you soft words? 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:07.240 Will you play with him as a bird, 00:09:07.300 --> 00:09:09.380 or will you put him on a leash for your girls? 00:09:10.660 --> 00:09:11.800 Lay your hands on him. 00:09:12.560 --> 00:09:13.320 Remember the battle. 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:14.900 You will not do it again. 00:09:15.280 --> 00:09:18.060 And no one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. 00:09:18.540 --> 00:09:21.140 Who then is he who can stand before me? 00:09:21.760 --> 00:09:24.560 His back is made of rows of shields, 00:09:25.020 --> 00:09:27.620 shut up closely as with a seal. 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:31.200 Out of his mouth go flaming torches, 00:09:31.800 --> 00:09:34.080 sparks of fire leap forth. 00:09:34.900 --> 00:09:37.040 In his neck abides strength, 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:39.720 and terror dances before him. 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:42.740 His heart is hard as a stone, 00:09:43.160 --> 00:09:45.019 hard as the lower millstone. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.279 When he raises himself up, 00:09:48.420 --> 00:09:49.940 the mighty are afraid. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:52.779 At the crashing, they are beside themselves. 00:09:53.779 --> 00:09:55.200 Though the sword reaches him, 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:56.360 it does not avail, 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.960 nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. 00:09:59.800 --> 00:10:01.700 Clubs are counted as stubble. 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:04.160 He laughs at the rattle of javelins. 00:10:04.940 --> 00:10:06.899 On earth there is not his like, 00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:09.160 a creature without fear. 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:11.540 He sees everything that is high. 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:14.360 He is king over all the sons of pride. 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:16.580 This is the word of God. 00:10:22.180 --> 00:10:23.879 Thanks very much, Henry, Florence. 00:10:24.740 --> 00:10:26.440 I mean, these are great words. 00:10:26.800 --> 00:10:28.700 It's a pity we cannot read all of it. 00:10:28.800 --> 00:10:29.860 So why don't you maybe, 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:30.920 you know, summer holiday, 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:32.360 read again through Job 00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:33.759 and just read through the whole thing 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:36.480 and hear the majesty of everything God is saying. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:38.740 Especially this reading, 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:39.340 these chapters, 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:41.820 and all the questions God is asking, right? 00:10:41.899 --> 00:10:42.500 He is just, 00:10:43.060 --> 00:10:45.000 Job, let me ask you a few questions. 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:48.720 And before we look closely at suffering, 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.500 what is the big impression we get here? 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:54.240 One big impression is just that we can't, 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:55.659 but God can, right? 00:10:55.659 --> 00:10:58.679 We, we can't understand, 00:10:58.799 --> 00:10:59.419 but God can. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:00.839 We can't run the world, 00:11:00.939 --> 00:11:01.679 but God can. 00:11:02.059 --> 00:11:02.600 Those kind of things. 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:04.600 So much of Job is about giving us 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:05.759 the right view of God 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.000 because we so often complain about him, right? 00:11:08.199 --> 00:11:10.719 Hey God, my life is not going as it should. 00:11:11.100 --> 00:11:12.559 You should do your job a bit better. 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:13.919 Let me give you some tips, right? 00:11:13.959 --> 00:11:15.539 This is how you should run the world. 00:11:15.539 --> 00:11:20.559 Actually, maybe we should see how God, 00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:21.539 great God is 00:11:21.539 --> 00:11:23.659 and maybe then we will not complain as much. 00:11:24.259 --> 00:11:26.599 So 38, this is what God says. 00:11:26.719 --> 00:11:28.579 You know, who is this that darkens counsel 00:11:28.579 --> 00:11:30.059 by words without knowledge? 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.139 Job, I think there's a few things you don't know. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:35.620 Let me dress for action like a man. 00:11:35.699 --> 00:11:36.659 I will question you. 00:11:37.079 --> 00:11:38.079 You make it known to me. 00:11:38.439 --> 00:11:39.919 Let me ask you a few questions, Job. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:41.379 And then he just gives this, 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:43.579 this big tour of creation. 00:11:43.580 --> 00:11:48.440 And Job, have a think about who you are and who I am. 00:11:49.060 --> 00:11:51.280 So Job, where were you 00:11:51.280 --> 00:11:52.960 when I laid the foundations of the earth? 00:11:54.040 --> 00:11:55.500 Tell me if you have understanding. 00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:57.660 Who determines its measurements? 00:11:57.960 --> 00:11:59.759 Surely you know, right? 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:01.340 Who stretches line upon it? 00:12:01.660 --> 00:12:03.060 On what were its bases sunk? 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:04.639 Who laid its cornerstone? 00:12:05.680 --> 00:12:07.180 You can see what God is doing, right? 00:12:07.300 --> 00:12:08.480 Job, did you make the world? 00:12:08.620 --> 00:12:09.900 Were you there when I made it? 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:11.640 Do you know what I made it out of? 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:14.580 Do you know how I measured it and planned it? 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:16.340 I mean, the answer is obvious, right? 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:18.220 No, Job, I wasn't there. 00:12:18.419 --> 00:12:19.379 And I didn't make it. 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:20.500 And I have no idea. 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:21.720 But you do. 00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:24.759 Okay, Job, how about, you know, 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:27.379 have you been to the bottom of the sea? 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:28.199 Do you know what's there? 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:29.279 Do you know what's underneath? 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.740 Can you make the sun rise and go down again? 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:35.199 Can you put the planets and stars in its place? 00:12:36.179 --> 00:12:38.179 Well, no, I can't, right? 00:12:38.759 --> 00:12:40.500 Job, can you control the weather? 00:12:41.319 --> 00:12:43.539 Here's, you know, verse 34. 00:12:43.839 --> 00:12:45.519 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:47.759 that a flood of waters may cover you? 00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:50.500 Can you send forth lightnings that they may go 00:12:50.500 --> 00:12:52.600 and say to you, here we are, right? 00:12:52.839 --> 00:12:54.120 That's a great picture, right? 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:55.139 Can you get the lightning bolts 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.500 to kind of stand in front of you and obey you? 00:12:57.639 --> 00:12:59.940 And, well, yeah, you can't, right, Job? 00:13:00.179 --> 00:13:01.000 But I can. 00:13:02.659 --> 00:13:06.519 Job just needs to see, hey, I'm small. 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:08.139 And you are so big. 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:11.159 And you can do things that I can't, right? 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:12.860 God is not bullying Job here. 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:15.740 This is just making him see kind of, yeah, 00:13:15.820 --> 00:13:18.120 who he is and who Job is. 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:19.799 So that Job actually, okay, 00:13:19.939 --> 00:13:22.279 maybe there are some things that, you know, 00:13:22.319 --> 00:13:24.039 I don't know how the world works, but you do. 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:27.859 And I don't know how to run the world, but you do. 00:13:29.139 --> 00:13:30.620 And I need to be more humble. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:32.399 And actually, if you think about it, 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:33.939 God is doing a pretty good job, right? 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:35.939 I mean, if you read this, 00:13:35.979 --> 00:13:37.079 if you think about the world, 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:40.439 the world is pretty good and pretty ordered, right? 00:13:40.459 --> 00:13:42.339 The world is stable. 00:13:42.959 --> 00:13:45.459 And day and night, they come without fail. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:46.939 You know, and the weather, 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:48.639 all the different kinds of water, right? 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:50.279 The snow and the hail and the rain, 00:13:50.360 --> 00:13:51.600 they all come at the right time. 00:13:51.819 --> 00:13:54.000 I mean, maybe we don't understand why it's so rainy now, 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:57.120 but, you know, God says it's all perfectly ordered 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.199 and at the right time. 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:00.419 And maybe zoom out. 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:03.159 You know, we also look at our life and think, 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:05.419 it looks like it's not going well. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:07.019 You zoom out to the whole world. 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:08.799 Look how the world keeps running. 00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:10.519 Look how stable it is. 00:14:11.419 --> 00:14:13.399 Actually, God is doing a pretty good job 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:14.299 of running the world. 00:14:15.779 --> 00:14:17.720 I mean, people talk about the laws of physics 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:18.480 for a reason. 00:14:18.660 --> 00:14:20.200 Why do they talk about laws of physics? 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:22.340 Because laws don't change, right? 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:23.800 Laws, they are stable. 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:24.620 They're unchanging. 00:14:25.300 --> 00:14:28.100 And the world, well, it's good and unchanging. 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:29.639 And God does that. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:31.340 And we're not the ones doing that. 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:35.379 So God is, yeah, God is great. 00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:36.480 Job, do you see that? 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:38.960 Can you see the great world out there? 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:39.920 It's beauty. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:40.660 It's goodness. 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:41.259 It's order. 00:14:41.259 --> 00:14:44.939 Now, that's part of the answer, right? 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:47.340 That's part of seeing how great things are. 00:14:48.460 --> 00:14:51.480 But that's not really an answer to Job, right? 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:53.019 That's only step one. 00:14:53.439 --> 00:14:55.779 Because, of course, Job's life isn't great at the moment. 00:14:56.220 --> 00:14:58.379 Why, you know, I lost everything. 00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:00.419 Why am I in so much pain? 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:02.659 God is going on to that. 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:05.879 But to see that, actually, we need to look a bit more closely 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:06.779 at some of the poetry. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.080 Because God does talk about evil. 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:11.320 We just don't see it as clearly. 00:15:11.419 --> 00:15:13.100 I don't know if you, what you thought of the reading. 00:15:13.220 --> 00:15:16.139 Is it just lots of, you know, how beautiful creation is? 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:20.679 Well, actually, God says, the world is not just beautiful. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:23.940 There's also, if you want to see the world and understand it, 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:25.320 well, there's the presence of evil. 00:15:26.220 --> 00:15:28.180 There's the presence of evil in this world. 00:15:29.000 --> 00:15:32.980 Now, when I say evil, I mean evil in the biblical sense. 00:15:33.260 --> 00:15:37.600 So we use evil mainly in English just to mean, you know, 00:15:37.660 --> 00:15:39.220 moral wickedness kind of, right? 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:44.600 But in the Bible, evil is also kind of disaster, suffering, right? 00:15:44.800 --> 00:15:49.120 Bad in a kind of material sense rather than bad in a moral sense. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:49.780 Does that make sense? 00:15:50.060 --> 00:15:54.520 So, yeah, basically the presence of chaos and evil and suffering. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.600 And Job, if you see the world, it's beautiful and good. 00:15:59.660 --> 00:16:01.600 But actually, there is suffering. 00:16:02.040 --> 00:16:02.820 There is chaos. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:03.520 There is evil. 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:06.460 First of all, you see that in the sea. 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:09.140 Now, I don't know about your summer holiday plans. 00:16:09.260 --> 00:16:12.640 Most of us, maybe you plan to go to the beach and see the sea. 00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:14.120 And you think of an island. 00:16:14.520 --> 00:16:18.200 Actually, in the Bible, the sea is not a nice place. 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.720 The sea is a dangerous place of chaos. 00:16:21.920 --> 00:16:22.820 Think of Jonah. 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:25.200 Think of the disciples in the boat. 00:16:25.300 --> 00:16:26.960 The sea is dangerous. 00:16:27.660 --> 00:16:31.100 Think of, yeah, that sad event this week with this submarine, right? 00:16:31.220 --> 00:16:32.140 Seeing the Titanic. 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:34.420 The sea is dangerous. 00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:38.160 And in the Bible, the sea is a place for, yeah, for evil. 00:16:38.300 --> 00:16:39.900 It's why the new creation has no more sea. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.640 But the thing is, God says, the world also has a sea, right? 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:45.840 I gave it a place. 00:16:46.980 --> 00:16:48.039 Verse 8. 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:49.199 Okay, wait. 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:51.980 So, verse 8. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:56.000 Who shot in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:58.059 When I made clouds, its garments. 00:16:58.240 --> 00:16:59.779 In thick darkness, its throttling bands. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.840 Okay, so who welcomed the sea? 00:17:03.059 --> 00:17:06.759 When the sea was born, who kind of took care of it and gave it a place? 00:17:07.799 --> 00:17:08.859 That's also God, right? 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:13.200 God gave a place to this dangerous sea. 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:16.300 Of course, he sets limits on it. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:17.100 Verse 10. 00:17:17.560 --> 00:17:19.200 I prescribed limits for it. 00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:20.580 And set bars and doors. 00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.800 And said, thus far shall you come and no further. 00:17:24.300 --> 00:17:26.860 And here shall your proud waves be stayed. 00:17:27.600 --> 00:17:28.720 Your proud waves. 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:31.520 We're going to see the word pride quite a lot in these chapters. 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:34.640 Proud is, of course, opposed to God, right? 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:36.640 So, the sea is proud. 00:17:36.820 --> 00:17:38.200 It's kind of opposed to God. 00:17:39.540 --> 00:17:40.660 But it's there, right? 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:41.540 It's there. 00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:42.240 It has limits. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:43.060 But it's there. 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:45.720 So, you know, here is the world. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:46.559 And it's pretty good. 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:48.019 But actually, there's a sea. 00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:50.159 There is danger within limits. 00:17:51.139 --> 00:17:52.639 And it's the same for the animals. 00:17:52.899 --> 00:17:58.980 And then chapter 39, basically, we get this great tour of, you know, like a zoo, all the animals. 00:17:59.139 --> 00:18:04.919 Like here's the lion and the wild ox and the wild donkey and the ostrich and all kinds of animals. 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:08.639 And partly, wow, yeah, God is, I can't do this, right? 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.340 Can you feed the lions? 00:18:10.340 --> 00:18:11.160 No, I can't. 00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:13.240 Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:14.380 No, I don't. 00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:18.820 But there's a certain theme to these animals, if you think about it. 00:18:19.259 --> 00:18:20.860 Because Job knew about animals. 00:18:21.020 --> 00:18:22.820 He knew about, like, camels and sheep. 00:18:23.040 --> 00:18:25.780 Because he had thousands of them before on his farm. 00:18:25.779 --> 00:18:29.339 But all these animals are kind of wild. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:32.299 Like the wild donkey out there on the plains. 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:34.279 The mountain goats in the mountains. 00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:37.639 They are untamable, unpredictable animals. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.279 And, you know, your life can seem pretty controlled and easy. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:43.160 But out there, there's wild stuff. 00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:44.559 There's stuff you don't control. 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:46.180 There's dangerous stuff. 00:18:46.859 --> 00:18:47.259 Lions. 00:18:48.059 --> 00:18:49.259 You know, can you feed the lion? 00:18:50.639 --> 00:18:51.519 Now, lions. 00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:52.480 I don't know what you think. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.279 You think of a zoo, lions with their nice fluffy manes. 00:18:56.660 --> 00:18:57.339 Think about it. 00:18:57.360 --> 00:18:59.019 How do lions get food? 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:02.400 Well, they hunt and kill. 00:19:03.120 --> 00:19:03.339 Right? 00:19:03.860 --> 00:19:04.839 I'm not going to show a picture. 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:05.519 But, yeah. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:06.620 Right? 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:08.200 That's what lions do. 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:12.019 So, God says, look, my creation. 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:15.220 You know, the world you see out there, it includes hunting and killing. 00:19:16.860 --> 00:19:19.480 So, for Job, actually, yeah, wow. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:21.339 I don't understand the world, right? 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:23.220 Here is a good world. 00:19:23.399 --> 00:19:26.379 And yet, you know, God, why am I suffering? 00:19:26.459 --> 00:19:27.139 Well, look over there. 00:19:27.199 --> 00:19:28.539 There's a lion eating a gazelle. 00:19:29.439 --> 00:19:30.819 Suffering happens, right? 00:19:31.179 --> 00:19:33.179 It is part of the world. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:34.500 And you don't understand it. 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:36.819 You are not in control of it. 00:19:36.879 --> 00:19:37.459 But I do. 00:19:38.159 --> 00:19:39.279 I understand it. 00:19:39.379 --> 00:19:40.319 I run it. 00:19:41.299 --> 00:19:42.740 The world has pockets of suffering. 00:19:44.399 --> 00:19:45.559 There's more to say. 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:48.799 But I think, for me, that's quite difficult to accept, right? 00:19:48.819 --> 00:19:50.480 We like our life to be in control. 00:19:50.940 --> 00:19:52.899 And we want to understand everything. 00:19:53.700 --> 00:19:55.440 And why do we want to understand it? 00:19:55.460 --> 00:19:56.819 Because we want to control it, right? 00:19:56.839 --> 00:19:59.139 That's why on our phone, there's all the apps. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.119 And maybe you're into the stock market. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:02.940 And you can always see the life updates. 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:05.279 And you can always sell and buy it, right? 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:06.440 We want to be in control. 00:20:06.980 --> 00:20:08.200 Someone mentioned the steering wheel. 00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:09.799 I hate being in the passenger seat. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:11.000 I want to be in the driver's seat. 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:12.980 I want to have everything under control. 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:14.480 And God says, no, you can't. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:15.839 You are too small. 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:17.740 And the world is wild. 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:20.400 And there is a lot of stuff you don't understand. 00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:22.740 And so you need to trust me. 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:26.259 Because there's something behind it. 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:28.660 There is the presence of evil. 00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:34.720 But God says, actually, do you and have you thought about the source of evil? 00:20:35.619 --> 00:20:38.660 Because there's something behind that evil, right? 00:20:38.660 --> 00:20:41.580 And, well, Job is a bit quiet after the first speech. 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:42.900 But we get this second speech. 00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:47.900 And it's mainly a description of two monsters, Behemoth and Leviathan. 00:20:49.100 --> 00:20:52.440 And, well, I mean, lions, they get like three verses. 00:20:52.580 --> 00:20:58.960 But Leviathan, he gets a whole chapter, 34 verses, describing, well, this animal. 00:21:00.300 --> 00:21:04.040 Now, some people think God is just talking about a hippo and a crocodile. 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:08.859 Crocodile, I don't, you know, this is like the climax of God's speech. 00:21:08.980 --> 00:21:12.859 And I don't think a crocodile is the answer to evil in the world. 00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:15.680 No, what is Leviathan? 00:21:15.819 --> 00:21:21.039 If you know that culture, if you know the Bible, it's a mythical creature. 00:21:21.619 --> 00:21:22.839 It's a storybook creature. 00:21:23.379 --> 00:21:30.319 You know, in the Bible, it's a sea monster with many heads that breathes fire, that lives out in that dangerous sea. 00:21:30.879 --> 00:21:31.980 It's a sea monster. 00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:33.960 A dragon is a great word. 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:34.640 I like dragons. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:36.900 I don't know if, I don't think dragons exist. 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:39.779 Probably they were inspired by dinosaurs. 00:21:40.299 --> 00:21:40.799 They're not there. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:42.579 But we all know what dragons are, right? 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:47.480 And God says, look, there's this sea monster, Leviathan. 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:51.099 And he's like, in the Bible, the source of evil. 00:21:51.099 --> 00:22:02.579 And like other verses, if you don't know, like Isaiah, he talks, Isaiah 27, God talks about what he will do at the end of time to make everything right. 00:22:02.639 --> 00:22:03.899 And what will he do partly? 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:06.259 Well, verse 1 of 27. 00:22:06.259 --> 00:22:15.519 In that day, the day of the Lord, the Lord will, with his heart and great and strong sword, will punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent. 00:22:16.039 --> 00:22:17.539 Leviathan, the twisting serpent. 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:20.859 And he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. 00:22:20.859 --> 00:22:27.139 This sea monster, this great dragon in the sea, one day God will slay it. 00:22:27.959 --> 00:22:29.939 So that is what we should think with Leviathan. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:34.339 The Greek translation, it translates it not with crocodile, but with dragon. 00:22:35.139 --> 00:22:37.339 And so in the New Testament, that's picked up, right? 00:22:37.399 --> 00:22:39.959 Revelation talks about the great dragon. 00:22:41.179 --> 00:22:43.459 And now we know who the dragon is, right? 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:45.460 So this is actually about Satan. 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:51.480 In the New Testament, yeah, Satan is identified with this dragon. 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:53.819 And so that's interesting, right? 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:56.500 We get a whole chapter about Satan. 00:22:57.180 --> 00:23:00.420 The writer knows it's a fallen angel, right, from chapters 1 and 2. 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:04.100 And yet here is like this sea monster, Satan. 00:23:04.299 --> 00:23:07.759 And we get a whole chapter, and it's terrifying. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:11.220 I mean, what is this Satan like? 00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:12.380 What is Leviathan like? 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:13.960 You can't control him. 00:23:14.260 --> 00:23:18.360 41 verse 1, can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, Job? 00:23:19.020 --> 00:23:20.920 Or press down his tongue with a cord? 00:23:21.060 --> 00:23:24.160 Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? 00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:30.260 You know, can you fish him out of the sea and, you know, put a ring in him and take him along to the market? 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:31.640 You can't do that, right? 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:33.120 What will he say? 00:23:33.580 --> 00:23:35.440 Will he make any pleas to you? 00:23:35.520 --> 00:23:36.980 Will he speak to you soft words? 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:38.720 You know, and here's Leviathan. 00:23:38.780 --> 00:23:40.000 Oh, please, please don't hurt me. 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:41.180 Please, I'll do anything. 00:23:41.180 --> 00:23:42.740 No, right? 00:23:43.360 --> 00:23:47.480 Job, you can't tame Leviathan, right? 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:47.799 Can you? 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:51.560 He is, and his skin is impenetrable. 00:23:52.100 --> 00:23:54.519 His back is made of rows of shields. 00:23:54.900 --> 00:23:56.560 Shut up closely as with a seal. 00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:59.779 Out of his mouth go flaming torches. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:01.819 Spars of fire leap forth. 00:24:01.940 --> 00:24:08.079 This huge, fire-breathing, impenetrable dragon that just can't be defeated, right? 00:24:08.119 --> 00:24:11.200 Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail. 00:24:11.339 --> 00:24:13.299 Nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. 00:24:14.159 --> 00:24:17.480 An undefeatable, evil dragon. 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:19.839 And look at the last verse. 00:24:20.259 --> 00:24:21.940 He sees everything that is high. 00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:24.820 He is king over all the sons of pride. 00:24:25.539 --> 00:24:27.380 Remember, pride, opposition to God. 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:29.759 He is the king of opposition to God. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:35.039 He is the source, the king of evil, this monster. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:43.100 Now, what is God saying by including a whole chapter in his speech about Satan, about the dragon? 00:24:43.099 --> 00:24:46.699 Well, he tells us two important things, right? 00:24:46.980 --> 00:24:50.740 First, I mean, clearly Satan is involved, right? 00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:57.740 Satan is involved, which, you know, some people, they read this speech, and it looks like God is not giving an answer to Job, right? 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:01.839 And Job just says, God just says, hey, you can't understand everything, so be quiet. 00:25:02.939 --> 00:25:06.079 But actually, we have a whole chapter about Satan. 00:25:06.259 --> 00:25:09.159 And we know from chapters 1 and 2, what was the problem? 00:25:09.259 --> 00:25:10.359 Well, partly it was Satan, right? 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:14.199 If Satan wasn't there in chapters 1 and 2, then Job wouldn't have suffered. 00:25:15.639 --> 00:25:21.759 And so to say that Satan is involved, in a way, God is, I mean, God isn't giving all the details. 00:25:21.919 --> 00:25:24.399 He doesn't talk about what Satan said and what he said and everything. 00:25:25.179 --> 00:25:27.059 But Satan is involved. 00:25:27.179 --> 00:25:31.919 A lot of evil in the world, the Bible says Satan is involved in that. 00:25:32.299 --> 00:25:34.319 Job and his friends, they were very limited. 00:25:34.459 --> 00:25:36.079 It's either Job's fault or God's fault. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:40.579 And God says, actually, there's another party, right? 00:25:40.659 --> 00:25:42.159 How about the dragon? 00:25:42.839 --> 00:25:43.619 How about Satan? 00:25:44.619 --> 00:25:45.480 He is involved. 00:25:47.199 --> 00:25:51.119 But at the same time, it's very clear, God is in control. 00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:54.299 Yes, Satan is involved, but God is in control. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:55.539 All right? 00:25:55.919 --> 00:25:57.960 He can say, in the end, he's a creature. 00:25:58.099 --> 00:25:58.779 Verse 33. 00:25:58.779 --> 00:26:06.059 On earth, there is not his like, a creature without fear, a creature, something made, a product. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:09.440 In the end, Satan is a product. 00:26:09.639 --> 00:26:11.059 He's a creature, right? 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:14.660 The fact that God knows everything about Satan, he knows all the details. 00:26:15.339 --> 00:26:17.200 In the Bible, knowledge is control, right? 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:21.500 So if God knows everything, then he's in charge. 00:26:22.139 --> 00:26:24.920 And Satan can only do what God allows and what God permits. 00:26:25.420 --> 00:26:26.319 God is greater. 00:26:26.440 --> 00:26:26.980 Verse 10. 00:26:26.980 --> 00:26:31.380 No one is so fierce that he dares to stir Leviathan up. 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.140 But who then is he who can stand before me? 00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:39.259 You know, if you don't dare stand up to Leviathan, well, then Leviathan also can stand up to me. 00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:40.920 Because I'm greater, right? 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:43.860 So Satan is a creature under God's control. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:46.460 He's involved in all the suffering. 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:48.140 He's involved in your suffering. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:50.700 But it's by permission. 00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:53.599 And, of course, we struggle with that. 00:26:53.700 --> 00:26:55.120 I've been challenged by that, right? 00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:00.399 We find it very hard to believe that God allows Satan to do things. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:05.919 But then again, what if the second thing wasn't there? 00:27:06.500 --> 00:27:07.379 Have you ever thought about it? 00:27:07.399 --> 00:27:08.500 What if we deny it? 00:27:08.539 --> 00:27:10.279 That, you know, God is not in control. 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:12.859 I mean, some Christians, they do that. 00:27:13.099 --> 00:27:15.319 And they think that this lets God off the hook, right? 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:17.539 Now we don't have to worry about God. 00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:19.179 God didn't mean any of this. 00:27:19.659 --> 00:27:20.299 God isn't behind. 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:23.339 You know, Job's suffering, it had nothing to do with God. 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:25.819 Is that reassuring? 00:27:26.059 --> 00:27:26.700 Think about it. 00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:29.779 I don't think that's reassuring at all. 00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:32.899 Because then the question is, who is stronger? 00:27:33.159 --> 00:27:33.279 Right? 00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:40.700 If God didn't want Job to suffer and Job went through all of this, Job due to Satan, then, you know, what kind of God is that, right? 00:27:40.700 --> 00:27:43.059 What kind of powerless God is that? 00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:47.860 You know, was God not paying attention and, oops, Satan got Job? 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:50.539 Is that the God we worship? 00:27:51.299 --> 00:27:56.880 Or, you know, God tried really hard to stop Satan from inflicting Job's suffering, but he couldn't. 00:27:56.920 --> 00:27:57.620 He wasn't good enough. 00:27:58.400 --> 00:27:59.220 That's terrible, right? 00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:04.640 Either, you know, either Satan's in control or God's in control. 00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:05.819 Who do you want to be in control? 00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:07.360 I prefer God to be in control. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:14.019 I mean, who's going to win if it's just Satan and God fighting and we don't know who is stronger? 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:17.859 Then what hope do you have that one day God will win? 00:28:18.339 --> 00:28:19.199 You have no hope. 00:28:20.419 --> 00:28:20.579 Right? 00:28:20.659 --> 00:28:24.000 It's really important to remember, yes, there's a Satan. 00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:25.379 Yes, he's evil. 00:28:26.439 --> 00:28:27.279 He's powerful. 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:29.000 But he's under God's control. 00:28:29.159 --> 00:28:33.039 And anything he can do is only by God's allowance and permission. 00:28:34.419 --> 00:28:36.799 This is just, it's so important. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:38.879 I mean, again, this is not just Job. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:39.659 This is regularly. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:41.720 Let me give a New Testament example. 00:28:42.220 --> 00:28:44.220 Here is in Luke. 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:46.720 It's on the Last Supper, Jesus talking to Peter. 00:28:47.419 --> 00:28:49.619 And, yeah, it's very similar. 00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:57.500 So Jesus says to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat. 00:28:58.139 --> 00:29:00.419 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:03.500 So clearly here Satan is involved. 00:29:03.640 --> 00:29:03.759 Right? 00:29:03.800 --> 00:29:08.340 The disciples, they're going to get a terrible trial when Jesus gets arrested. 00:29:09.060 --> 00:29:10.279 Satan is involved in that. 00:29:10.820 --> 00:29:13.680 But Satan demanded to have you. 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:15.600 Satan was, he's asking. 00:29:15.820 --> 00:29:15.960 Right? 00:29:16.200 --> 00:29:17.840 Satan can't do it by himself. 00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:19.180 He needs to ask for permission. 00:29:19.340 --> 00:29:20.620 He demanded permission. 00:29:20.619 --> 00:29:23.859 And Jesus prayed and it was all fine. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:24.239 Right? 00:29:24.859 --> 00:29:25.939 God is in control. 00:29:26.399 --> 00:29:28.019 Satan's involved, but God's in control. 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:32.559 But I hope you can see what God is saying. 00:29:32.779 --> 00:29:36.219 You know, Job, you want to understand your suffering. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:38.360 Have you thought about Leviathan? 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:43.779 As you look at this world that's so difficult to understand, have you thought about this evil sea monster? 00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:44.940 You've heard of him. 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:45.880 Do you really know him? 00:29:46.559 --> 00:29:47.819 Do you know how real he is? 00:29:47.860 --> 00:29:48.960 How powerful he is? 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:50.880 How evil he is? 00:29:51.740 --> 00:29:53.640 You know, you don't know that, Job. 00:29:54.860 --> 00:29:56.980 You know, there's things that you don't understand. 00:29:57.600 --> 00:29:59.240 You need to leave this with me, okay? 00:29:59.700 --> 00:30:00.380 In your suffering. 00:30:01.299 --> 00:30:05.559 Again, that's challenging, but it's so important to leave it with God. 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:12.500 Because if God is in control, then the most important thing he can do one day is he can defeat evil. 00:30:13.640 --> 00:30:14.759 Because where is this going? 00:30:14.920 --> 00:30:17.279 Well, God will one day defeat evil. 00:30:17.579 --> 00:30:19.960 He will defeat the source of evil. 00:30:20.100 --> 00:30:22.240 I mean, we want to make the world right, right? 00:30:22.259 --> 00:30:23.539 We want to make an end to suffering. 00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:24.360 What does it take? 00:30:25.380 --> 00:30:25.539 Right? 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:27.039 Is it more education? 00:30:27.559 --> 00:30:30.380 If people just go to school more, then the world will be perfect. 00:30:30.860 --> 00:30:32.500 Do we need more money and economy? 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:33.600 Do we need more technology? 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:35.579 That's what the world thinks, right? 00:30:36.220 --> 00:30:40.279 Well, God has just said, actually, if you want an end to suffering, you need to deal with Satan. 00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:44.319 You need to find a source of evil. 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:47.579 But the thing is, God will do that. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:49.740 God will bring justice. 00:30:49.860 --> 00:30:54.799 Because this whole speech, the second speech, it starts off with God's judgment. 00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:58.420 Because that was partly what God is, what Job was saying. 00:30:58.420 --> 00:31:00.779 Hey, God, you're not doing justice. 00:31:01.160 --> 00:31:03.160 You're not dealing with evil as you should. 00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:07.860 And so in verse 8, God asks, hey, will you discredit my justice? 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:08.960 In the NIV. 00:31:09.380 --> 00:31:10.680 Will you discredit my justice? 00:31:11.320 --> 00:31:13.539 And Job, why don't you have a go? 00:31:13.960 --> 00:31:16.220 You know, Job, can you try to bring justice? 00:31:16.340 --> 00:31:16.920 So verse 10. 00:31:17.120 --> 00:31:20.580 Hey, Job, adorn yourself with majesty and dignity. 00:31:21.080 --> 00:31:22.820 Clothe yourself with glory and splendor. 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:23.139 Yeah. 00:31:23.439 --> 00:31:28.139 Pour out the overflowings of your anger and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. 00:31:28.659 --> 00:31:32.720 Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand. 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:38.720 Okay, Job, why don't you suit up, put on your glory and your majesty, and then you go and judge the world. 00:31:39.179 --> 00:31:43.659 You go and, you know, find all the proud people and destroy them, right? 00:31:44.019 --> 00:31:45.740 Why don't you deal with all the opposition? 00:31:48.159 --> 00:31:49.019 He can't. 00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:51.279 Job, you can't bring justice, right? 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:54.319 And God is not saying, hey, I'm doing my best. 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:55.359 Don't blame me. 00:31:55.639 --> 00:31:58.440 He is saying, look, Job, you can't do this. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:01.480 But again, I can, right? 00:32:02.339 --> 00:32:04.480 You can't deal with the proud, but I can. 00:32:04.700 --> 00:32:07.180 And especially the king of the pride, right? 00:32:07.220 --> 00:32:08.299 The king of the proud. 00:32:09.000 --> 00:32:10.200 And swords are useless. 00:32:10.899 --> 00:32:12.119 Javelins, he laughs at. 00:32:12.539 --> 00:32:13.799 Humans can't defeat him. 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:17.019 Money and technology will not slay the dragon. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:18.660 But God will. 00:32:18.660 --> 00:32:21.660 One day God will slay the dragon. 00:32:21.779 --> 00:32:22.740 He'll destroy Satan. 00:32:22.940 --> 00:32:25.759 And so Job, yeah, life will be unpredictable. 00:32:26.060 --> 00:32:27.220 Life will be uncontrollable. 00:32:27.920 --> 00:32:30.420 But one day the dragon will be gone. 00:32:30.880 --> 00:32:32.180 One day I will slay him. 00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:33.860 And everything will be right. 00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:34.800 That is your hope. 00:32:35.820 --> 00:32:37.160 There will be an end. 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:38.040 I'm in control. 00:32:38.380 --> 00:32:39.980 And one day I'll bring it to an end. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:41.519 That is what he's saying. 00:32:42.519 --> 00:32:45.400 And that is such a vision of God that you need to have, right? 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:57.319 When life goes wrong, when, you know, when things are uncertain and out of control, here's a God who is good and who is in control and who will one day bring an end to suffering. 00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:02.819 I think it's just so fascinating how this fits with the whole Bible, right? 00:33:03.299 --> 00:33:05.200 I don't know what you think of the book of Job. 00:33:06.799 --> 00:33:09.200 So much of the Bible, well, we know it's about Jesus. 00:33:09.339 --> 00:33:11.319 But then the book of Job doesn't see much about Jesus. 00:33:11.439 --> 00:33:14.079 There's nothing about the Messiah and the son of David. 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:15.879 Well, no, it is, right? 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:19.620 Because, of course, Job, he lived before Israel. 00:33:19.880 --> 00:33:21.160 He lived outside Israel. 00:33:21.300 --> 00:33:23.660 He didn't know about the Messiah or whatever. 00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:25.940 But there was an earlier promise. 00:33:26.220 --> 00:33:27.500 I mean, think about the whole Bible. 00:33:27.620 --> 00:33:28.960 How does the whole Bible start? 00:33:29.840 --> 00:33:31.200 It starts with the Garden of Eden. 00:33:31.800 --> 00:33:33.760 And who was there and who messed it all up? 00:33:34.420 --> 00:33:35.520 In a way, Satan, right? 00:33:36.460 --> 00:33:40.420 Satan tempted Adam and Eve and they listened and everything went wrong. 00:33:41.820 --> 00:33:44.400 So the whole Bible, why is there suffering in the world? 00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:46.100 In a way, it can be traced back to Satan. 00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:50.880 But God promised one day, what will he do about it? 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:54.040 Well, the serpent will be defeated, right? 00:33:55.480 --> 00:33:58.080 It is promised in Genesis 3 to the serpent, 00:33:58.320 --> 00:34:01.040 I will put enmity between you and the woman 00:34:01.040 --> 00:34:03.600 and between your offspring and her offspring. 00:34:04.060 --> 00:34:07.120 He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. 00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:09.240 Someone was going to crush the serpent. 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:12.619 Someone was going to crush Satan and make things right. 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:15.819 And so that's the promise that's in the background. 00:34:16.219 --> 00:34:18.779 And yeah, Job, he can't do it. 00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:21.880 God, yeah, someone needs to come who can crush the serpent. 00:34:22.519 --> 00:34:24.960 And we know that, yeah, we know who that is, right? 00:34:24.980 --> 00:34:26.699 The serpent crusher, Jesus. 00:34:27.839 --> 00:34:32.440 And Job is about Jesus and what he will do one day to make things right. 00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:36.219 The only thing is, of course, that it was very different from what Job expected. 00:34:36.219 --> 00:34:41.119 When you think about it, Job was expecting like this great victory, right? 00:34:41.159 --> 00:34:44.939 Where God comes with a sword and slays the dragon and those kind of things. 00:34:45.759 --> 00:34:48.239 Actually, when God did come, he came as a man. 00:34:48.919 --> 00:34:50.980 And he came as an innocent man. 00:34:51.459 --> 00:34:55.139 And, you know, God, in a way, he let Satan lose as never before. 00:34:55.379 --> 00:34:58.000 Satan could do something he had never done before. 00:34:58.079 --> 00:34:59.699 He could attack God in person. 00:34:59.699 --> 00:35:03.839 I mean, here God really knows about Leviathan, right? 00:35:03.879 --> 00:35:04.819 He knows about Satan. 00:35:05.279 --> 00:35:06.799 34 chapters of details. 00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:14.519 And yet as Jesus came into the world and suffered, he experienced Satan as he could never do before. 00:35:14.579 --> 00:35:15.399 Because he was a man. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:17.239 God and man in one. 00:35:18.279 --> 00:35:19.139 And he suffered. 00:35:19.819 --> 00:35:22.699 And he felt the full onslaught of Leviathan. 00:35:22.699 --> 00:35:26.719 Leviathan, out of love for sinners like us to die for us. 00:35:27.460 --> 00:35:28.419 Isn't that amazing, right? 00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:34.579 That is, it's amazing that through this innocent suffering, actually God fought, Satan fought he was winning. 00:35:35.019 --> 00:35:38.659 Actually, through that he was defeated, Jesus suffered for us. 00:35:39.399 --> 00:35:40.859 And that took away Satan's power. 00:35:41.879 --> 00:35:43.939 And so, in principle, it's great to know, right? 00:35:44.219 --> 00:35:45.460 You want an end to suffering. 00:35:45.759 --> 00:35:47.000 Satan has been defeated. 00:35:47.239 --> 00:35:48.159 It's less than a promise. 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:49.119 He has been defeated. 00:35:49.639 --> 00:35:50.939 Of course, he's still around, right? 00:35:50.940 --> 00:35:53.539 And Satan gets defeated in two stages. 00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:55.240 A book of Revelation. 00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:56.659 You know, there's chapter 12. 00:35:58.260 --> 00:36:00.659 And the great dragon was thrown down. 00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:03.619 That ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan. 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:05.360 The deceiver of the whole world. 00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:07.420 He was thrown down to the earth. 00:36:07.740 --> 00:36:09.519 And his angels were thrown down with him. 00:36:10.300 --> 00:36:11.559 He's no longer in heaven. 00:36:11.960 --> 00:36:15.000 He's no longer there before the throne to do something. 00:36:16.220 --> 00:36:18.519 But we still need to get rid of him. 00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:26.219 And in chapter 20, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were. 00:36:26.679 --> 00:36:30.099 And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 00:36:30.579 --> 00:36:31.940 One day he will be gone. 00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:34.679 And God is saying, that is your hope. 00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:39.899 And when you face difficulties, you know, God understands your suffering. 00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:41.699 He knows and he's in control. 00:36:42.039 --> 00:36:45.119 And one day he will deal with the source. 00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:46.339 He will deal with Satan. 00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:47.960 And he will make everything right. 00:36:48.019 --> 00:36:50.000 That is the greatest comfort, right? 00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:55.199 If we want to go through suffering, we need to know it will end. 00:36:55.259 --> 00:36:56.119 And it will end. 00:36:56.839 --> 00:36:57.699 That is our hope. 00:36:58.779 --> 00:36:59.940 So can you hold on? 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:02.480 Can you hold on in faith? 00:37:03.220 --> 00:37:04.659 Can you hold on in hope? 00:37:06.720 --> 00:37:07.980 Trusting the one who knows. 00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:09.700 Trusting the one who is in control. 00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:12.300 Trusting the one who has won the victory. 00:37:12.840 --> 00:37:14.079 And will one day do it. 00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:19.980 I hope this is, yeah, it's a beautiful chapter, but it's encouraging. 00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:20.800 Right? 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:22.220 God has won your future. 00:37:22.220 --> 00:37:26.720 He has suffered the defeat to win the victory for you. 00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:33.000 Why don't we take a moment to think about that as we, you know, take in this vision. 00:37:33.099 --> 00:37:34.219 I've put two questions here. 00:37:34.299 --> 00:37:36.399 Let's just, for a minute, think about these questions. 00:37:36.500 --> 00:37:38.399 You know, how have you been challenged in your view of God? 00:37:38.579 --> 00:37:42.199 And, you know, how do you feel about Jesus' defeat of evil on the cross? 00:37:42.279 --> 00:37:43.279 Think about that for a minute. 00:37:43.759 --> 00:37:44.699 And then I'll pray. 00:37:45.259 --> 00:37:46.279 And then we will sing. 00:37:46.279 --> 00:37:46.339 Amen. 00:37:46.339 --> 00:37:46.399 Amen. 00:37:56.719 --> 00:37:57.719 Amen. 00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:45.859 Let's pray together. 00:38:48.139 --> 00:38:51.579 Our Father, thank you for enlarging our vision of you. 00:38:51.579 --> 00:38:56.139 We admit that we are so small and things we don't understand. 00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:59.319 We don't understand your control of evil. 00:38:59.659 --> 00:39:02.299 We don't understand why you allow Satan to roam. 00:39:03.900 --> 00:39:09.519 We are just glad that it is by your permission that you are great and that you know things that we don't, 00:39:09.699 --> 00:39:14.259 that you do things that we can't, that we can trust you completely. 00:39:14.260 --> 00:39:22.400 And particularly as we look to the cross and see how you have defeated evil and one day Jesus will come back and make everything right. 00:39:22.860 --> 00:39:27.200 Whatever we're going through right now, whatever we're struggling with, whatever we don't understand, 00:39:27.320 --> 00:39:30.080 would we look to you and your love and your power? 00:39:30.360 --> 00:39:33.300 Would we look at Jesus who has won the victory? 00:39:34.060 --> 00:39:36.780 That we would trust him and follow him. 00:39:36.780 --> 00:39:41.900 Lord, whatever, we need this ourselves so deeply. 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:45.940 If we want to live in this world, this world that we don't understand, we need you. 00:39:46.780 --> 00:39:50.300 So please, Lord, yeah, give us this vision. 00:39:50.820 --> 00:39:51.780 In Jesus' name. 00:39:52.240 --> 00:39:52.500 Amen.