Day 319: Job 22-24 | Read The Bible In A Year | Bible Study with Commentary by Dr. Manny Arango — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Hey Bible nerds, this is Dr. Manny
2. 0:02Orango. Welcome to the Bible department
3. 0:04podcast powered by Arma. We are walking
4. 0:08through the entire Bible in a year. You
5. 0:10can go to the description or the bible
6. 0:13department.com to download a reading
7. 0:15plan and join the journey
8. 0:24family. Welcome to day 319 here at the
9. 0:28Bible department. I'm super super
10. 0:29excited to jump into today's passages.
11. 0:32We are going to be looking at Job
12. 0:34chapters 22 23 and 24.
13. 0:38I'm super super excited. I hope that you
14. 0:41enjoyed the reading. I certainly did. If
15. 0:44you haven't done the reading
16. 0:47do the reading today, how about you stop
17. 0:50this video, pause the audio, go get the
18. 0:52reading done, and then come on back. We
19. 0:56want these episodes to add value to your
20. 1:00Bible reading, not replace your Bible
21. 1:02reading. So, uh, go get Job chapters 22,
22. 1:0623, and 24 done. Solid, solid, solid
23. 1:10reading in my opinion that we've got on
24. 1:12the Bible reading plan today. And, uh,
25. 1:15like always, I'm going to give us some
26. 1:17context clues. I'm going to give us uh
27. 1:21I've been doing this for the book of Job
28. 1:23past couple days just giving five nerdy
29. 1:25nuggets, okay? Five ideas, five thoughts
30. 1:29that I want us to kind of think about as
31. 1:31we reflect on the book of Job and as we
32. 1:34interpret this book, okay? And then uh
33. 1:37we're going to end the episode with a
34. 1:40timeless truth. So, let's dive in. All
35. 1:43right, let's look at our context close
36. 1:45for the day. Now, because we've been
37. 1:47trekking through the book of Job for a
38. 1:49couple of days now, I don't want us to
39. 1:51miss the plot. Sometimes my wife accuses
40. 1:54me of missing the plot. I actually
41. 1:56learned that verbiage from her. So,
42. 1:58shout out to Tia Christina Rango, uh,
43. 2:01who accuses me of missing the plot
44. 2:04often. That's my ADHD. But anyway, I
45. 2:06don't want us to miss the plot. All
46. 2:08right. it's easy to come to the
47. 2:11conclusion or maybe even just you know
48. 2:14begin to observe like this is a book
49. 2:17about suffering right like job is
50. 2:19suffering and his friends are arguing
51. 2:21with him about that suffering and so it
52. 2:24could be easy for Job to just kind of
53. 2:27become the poster child for suffering
54. 2:30but the book really isn't about
55. 2:32suffering and if we're being completely
56. 2:34honest answers no questions
57. 2:38around like why does suffering happen?
58. 2:41How should I act when suffering happens?
59. 2:44Why do bad things happen to good people?
60. 2:47Uh the book just doesn't really answer
61. 2:50those questions. And so you may come to
62. 2:52the conclusion like this is a book about
63. 2:54suffering and if it's a book about
64. 2:56suffering, there's a really bad book
65. 2:58about suffering. However, the book is
66. 3:00not really about suffering and I just
67. 3:02want us to not miss the plot because
68. 3:05suffering is a part of the book. I would
69. 3:07say that suffering is simply the context
70. 3:11where the real theme of the book
71. 3:14emerges. Okay, suffering is just the
72. 3:16context. And so what is the real theme
73. 3:19of this book? And it is, drum roll
74. 3:22please,
75. 3:24justice. That's right. Justice. Is God a
76. 3:28God of justice? Does he rule the world
77. 3:31justly? That's really the plot. And
78. 3:35suffering is just one element of
79. 3:39justice. Okay? It's just one example of
80. 3:42is this a God who runs the world with
81. 3:45some kind of justice. And according to
82. 3:48Job's friends, God is just. And since
83. 3:51he's just, good people always get good
84. 3:54things happening to them. And bad people
85. 3:57or wicked people get punished. They get
86. 3:59bad things happening to them. And that
87. 4:01is their idea of justice. And so really
88. 4:06the thing that the author is trying to
89. 4:08do here is not to change our minds about
90. 4:12suffering, but to really change our
91. 4:14minds about justice. What's fair? What's
92. 4:17not fair? What's unfair? What is just,
93. 4:20what's right? And what would a just God
94. 4:24do? What are the ways in which a just
95. 4:27God would run the universe? So I want us
96. 4:30to think, okay, what is Satan's angle
97. 4:33here? Let's say Satan is able to prove
98. 4:36that like, yeah, God's not just like
99. 4:40what would Satan what what does Satan
100. 4:42stand to win out of this? You know, I I
101. 4:45think you got to like really wrestle
102. 4:47with that because here's Satan's main
103. 4:50argument. His main argument is that of
104. 4:53course Job is loyal to you. You know,
105. 4:56Yahweh, you bless him. Let's take the
106. 4:59blessings away. Let's see what happens.
107. 5:01Okay. So, let's say now that Job fails.
108. 5:06Let's say that Job does curse God. Well,
109. 5:08first of all, his story wouldn't make it
110. 5:09in the Bible. So, that's first. But
111. 5:12second, it would prove according to
112. 5:14Satan, it would prove that Satan's
113. 5:17kingdom and God's kingdom like don't
114. 5:20really function all that differently.
115. 5:22That that here's Yahweh. He's a
116. 5:25covenantal God, but really this is just
117. 5:27transactional. and and Satan's kingdom
118. 5:30is insanely transactional and really
119. 5:33like at the root like at the heart.
120. 5:35Yeah, I think that this is like what
121. 5:36Satan envisions in his head because if
122. 5:39Job does curse God, I think that we
123. 5:42could all see a world where Yahweh still
124. 5:46chooses to deal with Job graciously and
125. 5:51not justly. And I think I think I could
126. 5:55be going out on a limb here. I think
127. 5:58that what's hard for Satan is that we do
128. 6:02have a God that acts in gracious ways
129. 6:05towards us, but not necessarily in
130. 6:08gracious ways towards him. I actually
131. 6:11think what Satan is trying to argue, I
132. 6:14think Satan is banking on Job failing
133. 6:17this test, but then Satan knowing that
134. 6:21when Job fails the test that Yahweh is
135. 6:24going to pour out grace upon grace. And
136. 6:26then I think that's the place where
137. 6:28Satan would say, see, you're not a god
138. 6:31of justice. And since you're not a god
139. 6:34of justice, someone else should run the
140. 6:36universe because uh I and I think
141. 6:39Satan's play here is that he's really a
142. 6:42just leader, right? And and that that
143. 6:46Yahweh has dealt unjustly with him. I
144. 6:49think that's like what Satan's getting
145. 6:52at. Cuz you got to ask the question,
146. 6:54why? What what's Satan's motive to being
147. 6:57in the heavenly courtroom and bullying
148. 7:00Job? Like what like what what does Satan
149. 7:02stand to gain out of this? And I think
150. 7:05that Satan is trying to create a
151. 7:08scenario where he can usurp Yahweh's
152. 7:12authority. And and he can't do that, you
153. 7:14know, via a fight amongst angelic hosts.
154. 7:18He can't do that with Adam and Eve. He
155. 7:21he clearly lost that battle. I think
156. 7:24he's trying to do it here with Job. So,
157. 7:26those are my like just confessions of a
158. 7:28wild man, but I think that's what's
159. 7:31happening. Okay. All right. That's
160. 7:33enough context for the day. All right.
161. 7:34We got five nerdy nuggets and we got to
162. 7:36get to them quickly. All right. Job
163. 7:38chapter 22. Okay. This is Elephas is
164. 7:40going to start talking for the third
165. 7:42time. Okay. Elephas part three. And if
166. 7:45you look at verse 4. So, Job 22 verse4.
167. 7:50Job 22. Here's what Elephas says to his
168. 7:53friend Job. I put friends in air quotes
169. 7:56if you're only listening and not
170. 7:58watching. Is it for your fear of him
171. 8:00that he reproves you and enters into
172. 8:03judgment with you? That's chapter 22:4.
173. 8:06The huge irony here is that Elephass has
174. 8:08accidentally stumbled on the actual
175. 8:11answer. Yes. It is the fear of the Lord
176. 8:14that has put Job in this position. Ding
177. 8:17ding ding ding ding. Yeah, dude. Yeah.
178. 8:21When the readers know from the prologue,
179. 8:24hey, we the readers, we all know from
180. 8:26the prologue that it was Job's
181. 8:28blamelessness that was the heart of all
182. 8:30of this. This this entire ordeal, this
183. 8:33is a challenge from Satan. This is an
184. 8:35ordeal. Job is God's unwitting champion.
185. 8:38His blamelessness is at exactly the
186. 8:41point. And that is why the suffering is
187. 8:44happening. Okay? Because he fears the
188. 8:46Lord. And so, Elephaz has stumbled upon
189. 8:48the right answer. And you know, I say
190. 8:50this a lot, especially on this podcast.
191. 8:52Even a broken clock is right twice a
192. 8:54day. Okay. Elephas says the right
193. 8:58answer. Okay. Now, we're going to uh
194. 9:00move into a a string of arguments that
195. 9:04Elephaz is going to make where
196. 9:05essentially Elephaz is going to try to
197. 9:07guess as to what evil thing Job did. All
198. 9:10right. So, verse 6, verse 7, and verse
199. 9:129, we're going to get three claims.
200. 9:14Okay. Verse 6 says, "For you have
201. 9:17exacted pledges of your brothers for
202. 9:18nothing." and strip the naked of their
203. 9:20clothing. Did Job actually do that? No.
204. 9:23But Elefaz's like, "Yeah, since you
205. 9:25won't confess what you did, we're just
206. 9:27going to start taking guesses as to what
207. 9:29you did." And maybe that's what you did.
208. 9:31Verse seven, the next one. You gave you
209. 9:33have given no water to the weary to
210. 9:35drink and have and you have withheld
211. 9:38bread from the hungry. So, you're
212. 9:40stingy. You're not generous. You're a
213. 9:43wealthy person who you're Nebanese or
214. 9:45Scrooge, you know. Okay. Verse nine. You
215. 9:47have sent widows away empty and the arms
216. 9:50of the fatherless were crushed is what
217. 9:53it's going to say in verse 9. Okay. So
218. 9:56all of you know you did this, you did
219. 9:58this, you did this. Can you imagine how
220. 10:00just like hurtful that is you know for
221. 10:02your friends to just stand there and
222. 10:04accuse you of wild baseless you know
223. 10:07stuff just you know maybe you did this
224. 10:10maybe you did this maybe you did this
225. 10:11and nobody knows it must be something.
226. 10:13Okay, this whole section concludes with
227. 10:16Elephas urging him to confess to submit
228. 10:18to God and stop his complaint. This is
229. 10:20chapter 22 21. Agree with God and be at
230. 10:24peace. Thereby good will come to you.
231. 10:27Now, out of context, I probably would
232. 10:29agree with this, but not in this
233. 10:31context. Definitely not. If Job repents,
234. 10:34then all he has lost will be returned.
235. 10:36That's the whole premise of chapter 22
236. 10:4021-2. his treasured intimacy with God
237. 10:43will be restored. He just needs to admit
238. 10:46his sins and repent. Okay. So, of
239. 10:50course, like always, Job is going to
240. 10:53respond. Okay. And Job is going to
241. 10:55respond in Job chapter 23 and in Job
242. 10:59chapter 24. I want to actually read what
243. 11:02I think is just the most heartbreaking
244. 11:04response. It's in Job chapter 23:3.
245. 11:08Okay. Job chapter 23:3. Oh, that I knew
246. 11:12where I might find him, that I might
247. 11:15come even to his seat. And so again, we
248. 11:18see this sense that the thing that Job
249. 11:20is lamenting here is a sense of
250. 11:23abandonment that he's gotten from the
251. 11:25Lord. I don't even know where he is.
252. 11:27Okay? Cuz Elephaz, remember, is saying,
253. 11:29"Hey, agree with God and be at peace.
254. 11:31Like, just confess, you know, your
255. 11:33sins." And Job is like, "I don't even
256. 11:36know where that man is. Like, I don't
257. 11:37even know where God is. I I he I've man
258. 11:41Oh, that I knew where I might find him.
259. 11:43That'd be awesome. You know what? At
260. 11:45this point, I I'll I'll I'll say sorry
261. 11:48just cuz why not. But dang it, Elephaz.
262. 11:52I don't know where God is. You know,
263. 11:54he's forsaken me just like everybody
264. 11:56else. So sad sad sad sad sad verse. Job
265. 11:59continues in chapter 23. He says these
266. 12:02words, "Would he contend with me and the
267. 12:04greatness of his power? No. he would pay
268. 12:07attention to me. There an upright man
269. 12:10could argue with him, but I would be
270. 12:12acquitted forever by my judge. And then
271. 12:15he goes on to say, "But behold, I go
272. 12:17forward, but he is not there. And
273. 12:19backwards, but I do not perceive him. On
274. 12:21the left hand, when he is working, I do
275. 12:24not behold him. He turns to the right,
276. 12:26but I do not see him." Doesn't matter
277. 12:28where God goes. Guess what, man? You're
278. 12:31not going near me. Job couldn't submit
279. 12:34and confess even if he was guilty, which
280. 12:36he he wasn't. But still, his faith is
281. 12:39strong and his confidence that God knows
282. 12:42and will restore him. Okay? But he knows
283. 12:45the way that I take. Okay? I don't know
284. 12:48where he is, but chapter 23:10. Okay?
285. 12:51But he knows the way I take. When he has
286. 12:55tried me, I shall come out as gold. I
287. 12:58love that. That's my fourth nerdy nugget
288. 13:00of the day. um Job's hope that he's
289. 13:03gonna come out of this as gold. Job's,
290. 13:06you know, kind of perspective is that
291. 13:10this is going to make him better. And I
292. 13:12want us to kind of see how Job's story
293. 13:16is really a foreshadow of the life of
294. 13:18Jesus. Uh I think that should be like
295. 13:21resoundingly clear at this point.
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309. 13:59context, then you'll love this book. And
310. 14:02if there's any chaos in your personal
311. 14:04life, I think that reading the Bible
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318. 14:20to the episode. Final nerdy nugget for
319. 14:22the day. Okay. Uh, and it's all about
320. 14:25Job chapter 24. Now, here's what you
321. 14:27probably wouldn't know if you're just
322. 14:28reading this on your own. You may just
323. 14:30be confused by the chapter. But here's
324. 14:32the deal. Chapter 24 is notoriously
325. 14:34difficult to translate. Like, it
326. 14:37presents a massive problem to scholars,
327. 14:40like people who read the Bible
328. 14:42professionally. All right? especially
329. 14:44chapter 24 18 to 24 where it seems like
330. 14:48Job is arguing that God does dabble in
331. 14:51reward theology after all. So after
332. 14:53chapters and chapters and chapters of
333. 14:55disagreeing with his friends, it seems
334. 14:58like he kind of agrees with them. These
335. 15:00verses contradict Job's impassion
336. 15:02argument in chapter 21 of how life isn't
337. 15:05that simple. This makes these verses
338. 15:08very hard to interpret. But there are a
339. 15:12few options. I'll give you about four
340. 15:13options with what is going on here cuz
341. 15:16it is just weird. Okay? And I hope you
342. 15:19noticed. I hope I'm not saying something
343. 15:21to you that like you didn't notice. I
344. 15:23hope you read it and went, "This just
345. 15:25doesn't feel like it belongs here."
346. 15:28Okay? All right. Four things could be
347. 15:30happening. Option number one, something
348. 15:32has gone wrong in the copying process.
349. 15:35Okay? scrolls are copied rigorously. And
350. 15:38I could do a whole series of videos just
351. 15:40on the copying process, but it could
352. 15:43have been that something went wrong in
353. 15:45the copying process. Verses have been
354. 15:48possibly moved around in this chapter,
355. 15:50so the meaning has accidentally changed.
356. 15:52Uh, that's probably the option that
357. 15:54Christians would be the least excited
358. 15:56about. Okay. Next. Perhaps this is
359. 15:59actually Zofar's final speech which is
360. 16:01missing from the pattern but is inserted
361. 16:04here instead. Okay, that's option number
362. 16:06two. Option number three, Job is
363. 16:08actually quoting his friends here as he
364. 16:11begins with you say in chapter 24 18. So
365. 16:16in that case this is not Job's thoughts
366. 16:19but this is their thoughts. And then
367. 16:22these verses number four, fourth option
368. 16:25is that these verses may represent what
369. 16:28Job wishes rather than what is reality.
370. 16:32This is how the LXX and Vulgate Bibles
371. 16:36treat this passage. Treat this passage.
372. 16:41All right, those are all my nerdy
373. 16:42negatives for the day. Okay, I think
374. 16:44that those five ideas will help you to
375. 16:48not just read the text, but like
376. 16:49understand it, interpret it. Let's move
377. 16:51on to our Thomas truth. Now, one of the
378. 16:54options that I like a lot for what to do
379. 16:56with Job 24 18 and 24 that these verses,
380. 17:00this is option number four, that these
381. 17:02verses represent what Job wishes rather
382. 17:05than what is reality. It's what Job
383. 17:08wants to be true, not what is actually
384. 17:11true. And for all the idealists out
385. 17:14there, you're going to hate this, okay?
386. 17:16Uh, I'm so sorry for all the for all the
387. 17:18purists, for all the idealists. You're
388. 17:20not gonna like this. Okay, but here's my
389. 17:22Thomas truth for the day is that wisdom
390. 17:25is found in how things actually are, not
391. 17:29in how we want them or wish them to be.
392. 17:34That wisdom is not discovered. Wisdom is
393. 17:38not found. Wisdom is not mind. Wisdom is
394. 17:40not unearthed. wisdom isn't something
395. 17:43that we attain by entertaining fantasies
396. 17:46or or wondering, you know, how can we
397. 17:50get or pretending like the world is a
398. 17:53certain way when it's not that way. Um,
399. 17:56but wisdom is actually uh understanding
400. 18:01not how I want the world to be, but how
401. 18:03the world actually is. Now, for me in my
402. 18:05personal life, I operate in faith a lot.
403. 18:09And so faith, you know, believes the
404. 18:12best, assumes the best, is positive, is
405. 18:16optimistic. Like that's the position of
406. 18:19faith. And I've learned how to adopt a
407. 18:22position of wisdom, not to contradict
408. 18:24the faith that I have, but to complete
409. 18:26it. And so, um, faith will believe God
410. 18:30for an ideal, but then you still have to
411. 18:33accept how things actually are. what
412. 18:36what how much money is actually in the
413. 18:38bank account? Like like what is culture
414. 18:43actually like right now? And I think
415. 18:45sometimes, at least for me at least,
416. 18:48it's like faith and wisdom aren't always
417. 18:51the easiest roommates to have, but if
418. 18:54you can get faith and wisdom to be
419. 18:56roommates, my gosh, you'll have one of
420. 18:58the most fruitful balances balanced
421. 19:01lives on the planet. And so, uh, wisdom
422. 19:04is found in how things actually are,
423. 19:08okay? Not in how you want them or wish
424. 19:11them to be. And there's a lot of people
425. 19:14who I talk to who just keep telling me
426. 19:16about, you know, yeah, but you know, and
427. 19:19I've got faith or and I'm like, yeah,
428. 19:21but faith accepts facts. I need you to I
429. 19:25need you to have wisdom. Wisdom isn't
430. 19:28found by chasing fantasies. It's found
431. 19:30by understanding how does the world
432. 19:32actually work and let me figure out how
433. 19:34to work in the system that's already
434. 19:38been created. And that's true for Job,
435. 19:41for you know, Elephaz, for Billad, for
436. 19:45Zofar, for all these guys, but that's
437. 19:47desperately true for you and I. All
438. 19:50right. Tomorrow we'll be in Job chapter
439. 19:5225 to 28. It'll be day 320. I'm excited.
440. 19:57I'll be right here. same time, same
441. 19:59place. The only question is, are you
442. 20:01going to be studying your Bible with me
443. 20:03tomorrow? If you're on a streak, I am so
444. 20:06proud of you. Even if you're not, I love
445. 20:08you. I'll keep reading and studying the
446. 20:11book of Job with you tomorrow. See you
447. 20:14then. Peace.
448. 20:16Thanks so much for joining us on the
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