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book by book here we are once again from

Brighton in the South of England and

sharing the study well I'm rich abused

here's poor black am and here's Glen

Scrivener our special guest and we're

coming to number eight in our series of

studies on the book of Job now have you

got a Bible though have it open if

you've got it and also what about ah I

wonder if you've got the study guide

because that's useful on the book of Job

there's a DVD inside it which you can

use and study notes as well if that's

help so off we go chapters 29 to 31 in

study number eight I think we'll take as

our theme for the day our title for the

day chapter 20 chapter 30 actually will

take verse 20 job says I cry out to you

O God but you do not answer

that's our title other day let's read

first of all from chapter 29 as job

continues to speak and he says how I

longed for the months gone by for the

days when God watched over me when his

lamp shone upon my head and by his light

I walked through darkness Oh for the

days when I was in my prime

when God's intimate friendship blessed

my house when the almighty was still

with me and my children were around me

when my path was drenched with cream and

the rock poured out for me streams of

olive oils so job has been replying to

his three comforters when we come to his

final speech here I think we're caught

right into the heart of job's situation

as the righteous man who is suffering so

what do we have what do we make of the

opening verses of chapter 29 as they

tell us what they tell us about you well

Jim's thinking back to how everything

was before all these sufferings began

and there is a way in which he thinks

back on the past with in a way over rosy

tinted glasses in a way and it's a

nostalgic view of the past earlier to a

degree and we can understand that

because when we're suffering yesterday

my troubles seemed so far away kind of

thing and he goes oh my path was

drenched with cream and the rock

poor doubt olive or was it really so you

know everything was just wonderful all

the time and there's an element in which

our minds play those tricks others we

don't remember any of the difficulty

there's a way in which job is an element

of that yeah the young man saw being

stepped aside your men rose to their

feet really every time quite a life but

then what strikes as though is that the

accusation against him from the

beginning was job that's all you really

are interested in material blessings and

popularity but that isn't true when we

look if we look in those opening verses

look at verse 4 particularly over the

days when I was in my prime what define

the prime of life for job it's this

God's intimate friendship bless my house

that mattered more to him than anything

else so Jesus means more to Jobe than

all the blessings and if he could say I

would I would that what I really want is

those in that intimacy with him again

even if I can't have the olive oil and

the cream if I can have him I've got the

thing I most want it's like Moses

preferred the shame of Christ to all the

luxuries of Egypt that's what I feel is

going on here with Joe and so we're

entering right into his final speech

here and we hear him describing how he

feels forsaken by the Lord as you say

how does Jobe help us actually in the

end to see that well let's call it the

cross of Christ hmm well I think we've

seen that this book really is kind of a

microcosm of the Bible here he is

telling the Bible story we began in the

wooded place in the east with the

upright man who had dominion over the

animals and then you know Satan comes in

there's a catastrophic fall and really

for so much of job he is he's playing

the part of the righteous sufferer he's

playing the part of Christ and and

sometimes he plays the part very very

well sometimes he plays the part not so

well we'll see that in the next couple

of chapters but here we see him playing

the part very well if you look at verse

12 we see how he rescued the poor who

cried for help and the fatherless who

had none to assist him the man who was

dying blessed me I made the widows heart

sing and you ask yourself well in in

Scripture

who looks after the fatherless and the

you know the widow and the al

the poor it's the Lord the Lord is

always doing so job is playing the part

of the Lord

going through incredible suffering which

is a bit of a shock isn't we think of

God over here and suffering over here

and we think never the twain shall meet

surely and then I get lots of people as

an evangelist I speak to non-christians

and they think suffering is the killer

question surely you can't believe in God

and suffering can you and of course you

point to the god of Jobe the God of

Jesus who is the righteous sufferer who

you know far more than Jobe were it was

mocked by his friends was betrayed by a

touch of Calvary here or very much 30

verse 16 yes are my life ebbs away days

are suffering gripped me night pierces

my bones yes knowing pains never rest

there's a touch of the cross there it's

pointing it's pointing directly to the

cross where where Jesus was it wasn't

just sort of condemned by his friends he

was tortured and killed by those he came

to save so when we think about suffering

and God's

well suffering might disprove a lot of

God's there are a lot of God's who have

never suffered and suffering absolutely

disproves them but it cannot disprove

the God of Jobe the God of Jesus because

here is the suffering God yeah and then

Jobe is also answering the accusations

of hypocrisy against him by his friends

how do we see him answering or trying to

answer those accusations in chapter 29

well it's again it's just Keith worth

remembering what all these previous

conversations are and how now job's kind

of bringing everything to a conclusion

and back in chapter 22 the accusation

was you never looked after anybody and

when the widows in the office came you

never helped them and in a way job's

again just sort of saying listen Jesus

is everything to me and that's what

defined the most important thing in life

for me and as Glenn was saying job at

his best is like Christ imitate Christ

have the mind of Christ the life of

Christ and of course we all can think in

the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus goes

this is what my life like coming to me

leave your old life behind coming to me

and I'll give you this sort of life that

I live

and there's a way in which job has done

that and so he's really saying listen

it's not my righteousness ultimately

it's his righteousness and to be honest

I I do live his life I did do that

there's an element of that so I think

it's important that again in a way job

say the suffering I have is not

punishment it's not chastisement it's

something more than that better than

that

it's a fellowship in Christ's sufferings

and Paul said that then it I want to

know Christ and the Fellowship of

sufferings and in a way all this speech

here is Jobe saying that is what this is

really and yet he feels that sense of

rejection very much in chapter 30 look

at it and but now they mock me men

younger than I which fathers I would

have disdained etc do we see something

of why Jobe needs to be corrected I

think we do start to from chapter 30 we

do start to see Jobe understandably he

not just the pain of his suffering but

also the pain of rejection by his

friends and we know from the Lord Jesus

you know how painful that was you know

Christ in the Psalms is he's talking

about you know my my close friend with

whom I shared intimacy has betrayed me

and and we see that with Judas and we

see that with his disciples deserting

him and so there is something very

intense about his pain so we can

understand it and yet from verse 18 of

chapter 30 we do see Joe beginning to

sort of lash out at God if you like to

blame God it's it's it's the lashing out

of a friend of someone who knows Christ

who loves Christ sort of beating on his

chest you know how dare you kind of

thing but we see sort of verse 20 I cry

out to you our God that you did not

answer I stand up but you merely look at

me you know in his pain we can

understand this but he is starting to

blame the Lord and and that will be

something that he will need to be

corrected about yes I did everything

that further accusations against God

expressed fit further on in chapter 31

as well do you see that yeah I do

because there's and again we totally

understand yo when he's so real to life

and any times we've been through hard

times these sorts of things that job

says and feels will I know I know what

that's

and in chapter 31 he's kind of say look

I I was really careful I made a covenant

with my eyes not to Lillis Lily girl you

know I've left I've tried to live such a

careful Christian life Lord it just it's

a bit much that you've given me such a

hard time and who was that famous

Christian Saint sort of from history who

said with friends like this you know if

you're my friend

it's not much of a friendship and I

think there's something about that with

Jamie's feeling you're supposed to look

after me and in a way it's not that he's

totally fallen into the wisdom of the

wisdom in inverted commas of his friends

he's not thinking totally like that but

there's a way in which there's something

in him that starting to think hang on a

minute

I've tried really served you as

faithfully as I possibly can and you're

not treating me very well and I do think

there's something real about that and I

think all of us have probably felt that

from time to time yeah exactly

and he goes on in verse 35 oh that I had

someone to hear me what did you want in

these verses 35 to finish him what do

you think it's basically him coming

before the Lord and saying I would like

to register a complaint with the manager

and and and he's being very bold and

it's very inadvisable really oh that I

had someone to hear me I sign mount now

my defense let the Almighty answer me

let my accuser put his indictment in

writing now that's a very harsh language

especially when we can understand the

motivation but even Satan you know his

name is the accuser what's it what's he

calling the Lord here so it's very very

strong and and job has become a little

bit unbalanced here and we see how his

heart is to have fellowship with the

Lord but the sufferings getting on top

of him and he seems to be thinking that

he can't suffer and have fellowship with

the Lord at the same time and so he's

registering his complaint it's

inadvisable and it's something that

he'll need correction for but it's

something that we can learn from that

unlike Jobe we don't have to do this

it's understandable but we don't have to

be like this we can know the Fellowship

of the Lord in suffering and that's

really what elihue later will teach him

all about knowing the Lord in suffering

but right here it's it's kind of I'd

like to register a complaint and he

needs to be corrected here yeah so Jobe

is some

overconfident he says there in verse 37

are given account of my every step like

a prince I would approach him and we

might say to ourselves like a prince

well the real Prince was born in a

manger had their home to live in went to

the cross so it reminds us that the

followers of that Prince of the world

the the real Prince of heaven those

effective followers of him I usually

those who know something of living under

the power of the cross something of the

scars and the buffetings of life I was

having dinner once with a man in the

Middle East a leader called Malad dagger

and he runs a Bible School there and he

was telling me that they wanted to have

a training day in their Bible School on

evangelism reaching out to others with

the good news of Christ and he said to a

certain the leaders of a certain country

nearby if you could send us your best

trainers that will help us so they

agreed they say yes well since you are

two best and my dad said to me what

would you expect when you were heard

that a top evangelist was coming to to

give you some training what would build

a door so far well if as have expected

it they would have thought somebody

confident upright well-respected

not suffering at all on top of the world

beaming smile not somebody like Jobe

well roulette dagger as we close off

said to me when those two evangelists

arrived was a man and a woman the

husband and wife both in their 20s

the man was limping on a Zimmer frame or

what you Americans would call a walker

he been so badly treated by the

political authorities for his beliefs

his wife trailed behind him limping

badly on a stick and the authorities who

sent them the church authorities said

these are our most effective evangelists

that we've got so if somebody finds it

difficult as a follower of the Lord

Jesus Christ and the buffetings come

your way don't just say I'm now written

off I got no more to do you're effective

days maybe right there in front of you

now god bless you if that is your

situation and god bless us all as we

remember those who follow in the steps

of him who suffered and loved

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