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yeah book by book I'm rich abused joined

here by poor blacken and by our special

guest

Glen Scrivener we come to the last of

our series of studies in the book of Job

we've loved it

actually I've as I said at the beginning

of our studies when I was six it was

being read to me and taught to me by my

parents on the lower slopes of Mount

Kenya and my sister Elizabeth today says

oh job is one of my very favorite books

from then on so we hope that we've all

benefited together from this series of

studies we come to the last one now

chapter 38 to the end 42 why don't we

take just as our text today as our title

for today chapter 42 James words to the

Lord and he says verse 5 my ears has

heard of you but now my eyes have seen

you and as we come to therefore the end

of us series of studies I think we

should read a little bit from that

chapter 42 job is now replying to the

Lord so Eli who had spoken in our last

study and now chapter 38 the Lord speaks

at length and then Jobe replies here and

verse chapter 42 verse 1 GERB replied to

the Lord I know that you can do all

things no plan of yours can be thwarted

you asked who is this that obscures my

counsel without knowledge surely I spoke

of things I did not understand things

too wonderful for me to know you said

listen now and I will speak I will

question you and you shall answer me my

ears had heard of you but now my eyes

have seen you therefore I despise myself

and repent in dust and ashes

oh there's job well as we come then to

look at these chapters as Elijah earlier

on has lifted job's vision sort of

clouds and the storms do you remember

that and then from the clouds and the

storms the Lord arrives now how does

this final section kind of

with other scriptures I love it because

the Lord Jesus Christ comes and elihue's

been sort of getting ready to introduce

him and it's almost as if there is a

storm coming and then he's like see the

storms and the rain shows that he loves

us and here's the class showing his

anger and hearing is remember Lord Jesus

arrives and Kerry carries on the

conversation almost exactly from Ally

who they patted passive and he carries

on talking about the weather and things

but it's out of the storm that the Lord

Jesus comes to meet Joe not after the

storm it's it's not in the sunshine it's

in the storm which is at the heart of

this big lesson that Ally has been

teaching her that Joe's been saying

that's right in the middle of the storm

when we feel in the darkness and the

chaos and when everything seems hard

then the Lord talks to us he doesn't

wait till afterwards and all that it's

right there and then he will speak to us

and confront us and even Genesis 3

there's that center which it's this wind

or the storm and then the Lord Jesus

came to confront anthem or Sinai the

Thunder and the lightning the storm then

he comes and speaks and Daniel 7 with

the great clouds all these ways that

this is right it's speaking all the way

through scripture but it's in the storm

that Joe gets to meet the Lord that's

very powerful in you why does that Lord

them begin by indicating his power over

the boundaries and the foundations of

creation here in chapter 38

I think one of the big issues in job has

been this question of Justice will good

people get good things were bad people

get bad things and of course that the

wrong answer to that question is the

moralistic answer of the comforters they

just think oh there's a good person over

there God blesses them as a bad person

over they got zaps them it's not that

but if it's not that is it just a

free-for-all does chaos run amok in this

world and the Lord throughout his speech

says no absolutely not there are

boundaries and one of the key boundaries

verse 8 who shut up the sea behind doors

the sea this sort of symbol of of chaos

and darkness so often in the Bible verse

11 the Lord says to the sea this far you

may come and no father here is where

your proud waves halt and on a day like

today we love to go to the beach and we

love to see

the Lord's power in turning back the

forces of chaos and darkness and the

Lord says to us in in our suffering he

says even if the waters are up to your

neck as the psalmist says in Psalm 69

even if the waters are up to your neck

this far they come and no further they

won't go any further then our loving

Lord has determined that they go for he

rules and reigns over our suffering and

it's not a free-for-all it's not a

cosmic free-for-all with that with the

powers of darkness he really does reign

over the storm and I read about the

animals as well why does the Lord refer

so much to his care for the animals

that's 38 verse 39 - right through the

59 verse 30 yeah

only the Lord Jesus does that - and he

says look at the sparrow and even the

sparrow can't fall to the ground without

a Heavenly Father being in charge

because even that animal that little a

little bird that no one seems to notice

and it actually trusts its Heavenly

Father and when suffering comes to it it

kind of knows it's all under control of

the Father and it is like that and then

he goes all these examples of animals

who in and they cry that in the hunger

in their birth pains in their being

forced to obey in the the one I love the

wild ox who stayed does he stay by your

manger and then there are I actually

thinking about nativity scenes they're

in my head but I'll leave that for now

and but the ostrich even he goes the

ostrich is quite a foolish animal that

endangers its young but it laughs as it

races along and there's the horse who

gets into war and conflict and it too

can rejoice in the middle of it all its

difficulties so easy gives us this

incredible picture of all these animals

who have all sorts of difficulties and

troubles and yet the Lord knows all

about them and he made them any design

me knows about the foolishness as well

as their troubles and pains and they

kind of trusted and he knows how to me

even make them laugh in the middle of

their troubles and they saying can you

look at all this around you don't you

trust me that I I care about you far

more than any of these animals I know

all about your foolishness and troubles

- and do you not think even I might even

be able to make you laugh with joy in an

incredible way right

in the middle of conflict in trouble yes

so they all knowing and all controlling

God they were thinking about in our last

study well now on to chapter 40 so we

could again think about why the Lord

said directly and well if we may put it

reverently even fiercely why does she

confront job in chapter 40 verse 1 to 14

is it's quite wrong

it is very strong we might expect that

when the Lord shows up he'll just put an

arm around Germans they have a sit down

let's have a cup of tea let's have a

talk there there poor you and yet the

Lord is not like that he really isn't I

mean chapter 40 verse 7 for instance

brace yourself like a man job and we see

him being very very fierce but this is

nothing less than what job has asked for

throughout the book of Job I wish I had

an audience with the Lord I wish I could

argue my case with him face to face it's

nothing less than what job is asked for

it's nothing less than what job deserves

but it's also nothing less than job

needs it is actually a kindness for the

Lord to come and in his sovereignty show

how much more majestic he is than job's

understanding has ever been because job

has kind of taken things onto his own

shoulders he he doesn't seem to feel

like the government is on his own

shoulders and the Lord Jesus Christ

shows up to say no job the government

isn't hot on your shoulders ok the

government is on mine and actually when

in job 42 he repents in sackcloth and

ashes it's actually a great relief for

him and you see what a relief it is

throughout 42 so the Lord comes fiercely

but it is what job asked for it is what

he deserves and it's also what he needs

yes and so when we think about now we're

coming really towards the end of the

book pretty well why does the Lord again

more questions why does he bring the

book to a climax in boasting about his

ability to defeat the be a Hamas and the

Leviathan if these are just watch hippos

crocodiles I saw you learn from some of

the commentators oh dear Richard the

absurdity some of these people should be

arrested because if the Lord has been

boasting and people boasting toffee

he can design the galaxy

he maintains the universe and the oceans

and the mountains and the greatest

things he can do is he can handle a

hippo and a crocodile you just think oh

come on think again how ridiculous is

that and even my the Bible I've got here

as a footnote possibly a hippopotamus

and a crocodile and then other people

know it's probably more than a hippo

passes a crocodile it's probably a

dinosaur again it's a it's a kind of the

same answer just a little bit bigger the

the book is not about his ability to

manage a zoo his ability is about

because the it's about the devil and his

philosophy and his power and all he's

doing the book began with Leviathan the

gliding serpent this dragon when you

read the description of Leviathan here

it's a fire-breathing enemy that can be

hit with harpoons and it laughs at them

if you fire harpoons into a hippo or a

crocodile it'll die this is something

way but he says no nobody can beat these

the the Leviathan as a whole chapter

about it's absolutely impossible

supernatural and it's it's the king over

all the proud and all these things be a

moth is this beast almost they were

thinking really of Daniel and think

about Revelation 13 revelation 30 and I

know that you love revelation richard

revelation 13:2 where the dragon gives

his authority to a beast this land

creature that represents the powers of

the world and the lords like I can

handle that the Beast

who rules over the nations of the world

but more importantly I can handle the

dragon that's behind all this philosophy

and you may have forgotten about him at

the beginning of the book I haven't I

can handle him don't you worry about him

just as I can handle all the boundaries

of chaos and darkness I can handle him

the greatest of all the creatures and to

me he's just a little kitten and just as

revelation 19 tells us when the Lord

Jesus comes to cut to confront the

dragon in battle it's over in a moment

just with the breath of his mouth oh my

oh my

as we coming towards you from the

heights of you know philosophy and the

management of the heavens and the earth

why we now brought

back down to earth with job sacrificing

for his friends again this is what we

read about don't we this is the most

wonderful ending to the book and and and

when James the Apostle looks back on

this time in James chapter 5 verse 11

this is what he remembers he remembers

the happily-ever-after do we always

remember the happily ever after about

Joby one of my favorite verses is

actually the final one verse 17 of 42

and so he died old and full of years do

it do we remember this happily ever

after well how do we get to the happily

ever after we're at verses 7 to 9 we see

Jobe is called by the Lord my servant

four times in three verses four times

it's really being quadruple II

underlined Jobe is playing the part of

the servant of the Lord

so what Joe gets to do is he gets to

play the part of Christ who he knows

from job 16 we might remember from job

16 you know Christ is called job's

witness he's advocate he's intercessor

and his friend and here job plays the

part of Christ to his friends and

through the sacrifice of Jobe and then

through the intercession of Jobe his

friends if foolish friends are forgiven

it's a wonderful picture of the Cross

the Lord Jesus the servant of the Lord

dies for us has risen again he's

ascended to the Father's right hand he's

praying for us so we've got this cross

this resurrection and then we also get

this sort of final coming picture from

verse 10 and then from verse 12 there at

the Lord blessed the latter part of

job's life more than the first at the

end we don't just get sort of Paradise

Regained do we we get we get this this

greater thing and and in the story of

the Bible we don't just go back to the

Garden of Eden do we would we come come

on to the city and the whole world

raised up again to the glory of Christ

and and we see things twice as good as

they were at the beginning and so it's a

wonderful ending to the book of Job he

died old and full of years and so what

job gets to to teach us in this final

chapter is what he's been teaching us

throughout but the the Lord is known in

suffering through his cross and

resurrection we can know him in

suffering and also we can know him

beyond suffering and that

wonderful future when I know that my

redeemer lives and in the end I will see

him on the earth I I myself will see him

I am Not Another you know how my heart

yearns within me that's really the the

ending that Joe gives to us so as we

round off yes with the thinking of the

cross at the center of all things and

then the believer in the Lord Jesus

Christ who carries the cross learn to

carry the cross in the footsteps of the

Lord Jesus and reminds of wonderful

words from Thomas a Kempis of all

hundreds of years ago fine Christian

leader who said carry the cross

patiently and with full submission and

in the end it shall carry you so just in

closing off again we want to thank you

for and I and of course the friends we

were sharing with us in these studies

thank you very very much indeed for

coming to be our guest in person so

wonderfully with us we get to pray for

you and for your colleagues in the hour

of revival ministries let's have a

prayer right now Lord Jesus Christ we're

sitting beside the seaside as we speak

to you now exhorting you bring our

loyalty and our love and our deep

Thanksgiving to you bless this your

servant who has been a visitor during

these studies we ask that you bless him

and his dear colleagues in the wonderful

work that has been given to them and

strengthen each of us as we learn to

follow in the way of the Lord Jesus

Christ and him crucified to learn what

we have learnt from the life and the

work and the words and the experience of

Jobe thank you that you met him so

wonderfully now we thank you in the name

of the Lord Jesus Christ amen amen

one day we have another time of study we

look out for that meanwhile thank you so

much for joining with us may God bless

us may God bless you

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