The Bible Recap - Day 006 (Job 10-13) - Year 8

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. We're in the book of Job for nine more days. We're already 25% of the way through it. This book can be challenging for some people. Maybe it tries their patience, or it just feels like a real downer. Interestingly, though, a lot of people say that Job is their favorite book of the Bible. But most of them don't feel that way until they've read it all the way through. So if I may, let me offer you a challenge. Don't quit in Job. You can quit before Job or you can quit after Job, but don't quit in Job. Obviously, it's too late for you to quit before Job, so you're stuck with us. The good news is, this book ends with praise and triumph. So be sure to stick

Starting point is 00:00:51 around for the party. We're getting closer to it every day. And as a reminder, if you aren't loving it, it's about eight minutes of reading a day. Eight minutes. Don't let eight minutes trip you up. Okay, we've already heard from Elifaz and Bildad, who gave their reasons they thought were responsible for Job's life falling apart. Today, we meet Job's third friend Zofar. The hard part about listening to these guys is that sometimes they do say things that are true. It's not like it's all wrong. For example, when Zofar is talking about God in 11-6, he says, he exacts less of you than your guilt deserves. First of all, this is generally true of all of us, not just Job. We talked about this yesterday. God is merciful. We all deserve death, yet he lets us live. That's

Starting point is 00:01:39 his mercy. And the fact that we get to live on God's earth and breathe God's air and eat God's food, that's so much more than we deserve. That's His grace. He does exact less of us than our guilt deserves. So far says a lot of true things about God. It's when he starts drawing conclusions about Job that things take a left turn. And we get to hear Job's reply, where he started getting sarcastic with his friends. Did you catch that? In 12-2, he said, no doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. In 12-5, Job has some words of wisdom for those of us who want to comfort grieving friends. He says, in the thought of one who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune. It is ready for those whose feet slip. Job is pointing out that those who aren't struggling

Starting point is 00:02:28 don't seem to understand those who are. In fact, they often have contempt for them, not compassion. It seems like Job is beginning to sense his friends contempt for him. Maybe some of this was rooted in jealousy. I know it sounds crazy to be jealous of Job at this point, but this is a man who had everything, who was honorable and respected, and this might be the first time in their lives that his friends have had a chance to feel superior to him. Maybe they jumped at the chance to try to identify his sins because of their own insecurities. In 12-9, Job acknowledges that God is the author of everything, even when he isn't the active agent in it. God didn't commit these actions against Job. But if God could have stopped it and he didn't, doesn't it still

Starting point is 00:03:15 kind of terminate on him? This is a really mysterious aspect of God's character. Don't try to overlook it, but don't try to understand it fully just yet. Based on the whole council of scripture, we know that God is not the agent of evil, but it's a necessary part of the story he's writing. We'll continue to talk more and more about this as we move through scripture, so don't get hung up on it, don't let it turn you off from reading, resist the urge to reach conclusions about God based on what you think at this point, and especially resist the urge to reach conclusions about God based on what you think humans deserve, unless you're primarily recalling that we deserve nothing but hell and death. I'll be honest, most if not all of my frustrations about God's actions

Starting point is 00:04:00 are rooted in the lie that I deserve something. Deserve is my least favorite word. It's disgusting to me. It's entitled. You'll see it in advertising everywhere. Companies will appear. heal to your entitlement and try to get you to feed on your self-centeredness. It's disgusting to me, especially because I know how gullible I am when it comes to appealing to my comfort and pleasure. All right, what did you see about God's character today in your reading? It might be different than what I saw, and it probably is. Here's my God shot for today. I saw that God is our hope. In 1315, Job says these incredible words. Though he slay me, I will hope in him.

Starting point is 00:04:45 Job knows the only place his hope is found. After all he'd been through, even as a righteous man who is being wrongly called to account by his friends, he knows that the mercy of God is his only salvation. If you're in a dark place, dig deep into the story of Job. He gets it. And his words in 1315 have been turned into a beautiful song called Though You Slay Me, which we've linked to in the show notes. I think it'll be a real comfort to you.

Starting point is 00:05:14 Not only is God our hope in the darkest night, but ultimately, he's where the joy is. On January 1st, we launched our TBR Kids podcast. This new daily podcast follows along with the same reading plan we're doing here, but it's especially for kids. My dear friend Emily Pichelle, or Miss Emily, hosts each day's recap. In less than five minutes, the kids in your life will get new, tools to help them read, understand, and love the Bible. We're on YouTube and all the usual

Starting point is 00:05:46 podcast platforms. And it's all free. You can also use it with your Yoto or Storybooth devices. Check out thebibylrecap.com forward slash kids for more info or click the link in the show notes. You guys love the Dwell Audio Bible app and so do I. Not just because I'm an auditory learner, but because for thousands of years, people have engaged with scripture by hearing it. Listening is still one of the best ways to connect with God's Word. We've partnered with Dwell to bring my daily recaps right into their app. Not only can you listen to each day's reading, but you can also hear my recaps right inside the app. So if you're reading along with TBR, check out the Dwell Audio Bible app.

Starting point is 00:06:29 Look for it in the app store or in Google Play and get a free seven-day trial. Or click the link in the show notes. Thank you.

The Bible Recap - Day 006 (Job 10-13) - Year 8

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.