Herbert W Armstrong

   Oh, you'd call that guy doom and gloom, kind of a pessimist, kind of a sourpuss. You know, this guy would make some of the famous Scrooges look good. You know, can you imagine making statements like that? Chapter seven, verse one (Ecclesiastes 7:1), shows you what can happen when you're not careful how you handle the word of God. The first part of this is beautiful. A good name. You know, when somebody thinks of your name, what do they think of? Someone that's upright? Someone that's godly and moral and honest and sincere? Someone that has outgoing love for other people? A good name is better than precious ointment. No matter how much you pay for a soothing oil, no matter how much good it does your aching muscles or your ailments. A good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death is better than the day of one's birth. How do you, how do you take that? You, you, you agree with that? You like that? The day of death is better than the day of one's birth, boy? Somehow I don't agree with that. I'm not looking forward to dying. You know, I, I don't want to die. I like to live and I enjoy life and the day of death is better than the day of birth. No, that's not true. What's the matter with this guy saying that? Well, you know, look at the cemeteries, people are dying to get in there. They have to build a fence around to keep them out. You ever find everybody wants to die? No, everybody will spend thousands of dollars to stay alive. A few more months, a few more years, a few more weeks, people give anything to stay alive. The day of death is better than the day of birth. No, no, no. Why did this guy say that?

   Well, you have to look up what he said in other places in this book about the day of birth and the day of death. There are some parallels between this book and one of the other books in the Bible. Now, one of the best ways to glean out what is the main lesson you're supposed to get out of a book. You know, if somebody came up to you and said, well, I've tried to read your Bible, but I, I'm sorry, I, I started out with that book of Ecclesiastes and I don't know what's, I don't know what's, what in that book? What's good and what isn't good? You know, would you mind, what's the purpose of that book? What's the background of that book?

   Well, it comes after Proverbs and Proverbs has got all of these things about wisdom and knowledge and understanding and life and, but notice Proverb 31 right before Ecclesiastes, look what Proverbs 31 says. And the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

   Now, one good way to study the Bible is to do a word study. Mr. Tkach always does that. We used to do that in Chicago. We'd get together out at our house and I'd have all the Deacons and Elders assign the different commentary. I'd say, "Ok. Now, next week we're going to study I Timothy 3. So Mr. Scott, you use Adam Clark, Mr. Creed that you use JFB and Mr. Filippello, you use Henry's Commentary." And so I've assigned them each a commentary and it was their job to glean through that commentary and pick out the good things that we'd all want to learn. And so we'd all get together and you know, you get about 10 heads worth of information in one man's time. So, how would you do a word study on this? Who is King Lemuel? Well, you got to look up the word Lemuel in Young's, Strong's, Bible dictionary, Bible encyclopedia. Now, the difference between the Bible dictionary and a Bible encyclopedia, the Bible dictionary will only have words that are in the Bible. You won't find millennium in the Bible dictionary because that word is not in the Bible but an encyclopedia, you can find Waldensians in the Bible encyclopedia because it's a group of everything pertaining to religion or the Bible. The word doesn't have to be in the book for it to have an article on it. But if you look up in Young's or Strong's or Bible dictionary, the name Lemuel, it's a poetic meaning name that means the same as Solomon's name. God is bright, the wisdom from God. Someone who's God-centered, Godward, a bright reflection of God. So King Lemuel is just another word for Solomon. Now, the word prophecy is totally mistranslated. The same words in Isaiah 13:1, burden. So this is not a prophecy. Ridiculous to call it a prophecy. It's the burden the mother tried to teach her son and he wouldn't listen. Of course, the dad tried to teach the son too, but he was doing all the time what he shouldn't have been doing and telling his kids that don't do as I do do as I say, and nobody ever pays any attention when you say that, you know, Edgar Guest wrote a poem, "I'd rather see a sermon any day than hear one." So you can tell your kids to do. But if they're not doing it yourself, so Solomon wouldn't listen. So this is a burden. Solomon's mother tried to teach him, what my son, what the son of my body, what the son of my vows. Don't give your strength to women nor your ways to that which destroys kings. It's not for kings, O Lemuel. It's not for kings to drink wine, nor your ways to that which destroys kings. It's not for Kings O Lemuel. It's not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink. Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink to him that's ready to perish. Give wine to those that be of heavy hearts, let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. As a king, you should open your mouth for people who can't speak, you should open your mouth in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. You should open your mouth and judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

   And now the burden goes on. Actually, the next 22 verses of this are alphabetized. If you could see that in the Hebrew, the Jewish Publication Society, verse 10 begins with the letter Aleph, verse 11 Beth, verse 12 Gimel, verse 13 Daleth, right on down the Hebrew alphabet. 22 verses, 22 letters. So God alphabetized the virtuous woman chapter. So it could be set to music so it could be memorized to put emphasis on its value. And yeah, most men say, "wow. Yeah, I wish those ladies would study that Proverbs 31." Well, I, I made a Proverbs 31 for men because I found out men always think Proverbs 31 applies to women. Well, it applies to men as much as it does to women because the main reason a lot of women can't be the Proverbs 31 woman is because their husband doesn't know what it requires and what it says. For example, it says she considers a field and buys it. Most wives would be in hot water if they did that. Do you know of any wife that considers a field and buys it and not be in the dog house? Well, according to Proverbs 31, this strong Christian godly woman would consider a field and buy it. So if a man's got a wife that wants to plant a garden and plant trees and have vines and boy, that's great. He's blessed. You know, he ought to count his blessings, have homemade grape jelly and berries, and well notice, Solomon's mother is trying to tell him how to look for a good wife, how to find a strong woman. And he wouldn't listen. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He had to admit later that he found one man out of 1000 that he befriended, but he didn't find a woman out of 1000 and you know, poor old Solomon had to admit that the love he had for Jonathan exceeded the love that he had for any wife. Well, that's really sad that when a man won't listen. So now when you read the book of Ecclesiastes, God made this man put in a book, his preachings as he went through trying to find out for himself. Why are we here under this sun? That's the number one word mentioned in the whole book, "under the Sun" 30 times in this little book. What's our purpose under the sun? Well, don't ask him. He didn't know. He changed his mind 30 times. Well, I think maybe this is it. I hit on it now and after he tried it, it didn't work. Then he, well, you know, I think people just live for laughter and happiness and lighthearted and jokers, there. Well no, that doesn't work either. But can you imagine somebody 30 times changing his mind about why man's here under the sun? And the next most often used word is what's better. Uh This is better for a man to do this. Uh Let's take a look at some of these because it shows how he couldn't make up his mind. Ecclesiastes two in verse 24 (Ecclesiastes 2:24). There's nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw that it was from the hand of God. OK. Chapter three verse 22 (Ecclesiastes 3:22). "Wherefore I perceive that there's nothing better than that a man should rejoice. Wherefore I perceive that there's nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his own works. For that is his portion for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him. Chapter four verse three (Ecclesiastes 4:3), Yeh, better is he than both they, which has not yet been."

   And here he's talking about, well, let's start with the first chapter four (Ecclesiastes 4:1). So I returned and I considered all the oppressions done under the sun. Behold the tears of such as were oppressed. They had no comforter. On the side of their oppressors, there was power, they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead, the day of death better than the day of birth, I praised the dead, which are already dead, more than the living, which are yet alive. Yay, better is the one that's already dead than both those who haven't lived yet and those who are alive now who has not seen the evil work that's done under the sun. Now, verse six (Ecclesiastes 4:6), better is a handful with quietness than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. Now, he goes on 19 times in this book telling you what he's finding is better. But every time he comes up with a new one, he changed his mind, he's changing what he said was better than last time. So this guy has to be one of the most frustrated guys in the Bible. Vexation of spirit. That's another often used phrase nine times in this book, he talks about vexation of spirit.

   Look at verse 17 of chapter two (Ecclesiastes 2:17). Why do he say the day of death is better than the day of birth? Why would people want to die? Because he's trying to find out why he's here. He's trying to find out by experimentation and trial and error, what God put us here for? He's trying to find out with human wisdom, the mysteries of God, the hidden secrets of God. He wouldn't listen to his dad and mom. He was going to find out for himself. Had plenty of money, plenty of power. Verse 17. "Therefore, I hated life." Well, I, I don't hate life. You hate life. We're supposed to have more abundant life. Now, I know it says he that hates his life in this world, let up to life everlasting, but not in the way of this preacher, this sundown, doom and gloom. Can you imagine if your attitude towards sunrise and sunset? You know, we got to be in Hawaii on a ministerial visit not long ago. And boy, it's beautiful to watch the sunrise and the sunset and the ocean. What did you think about somebody that said? Verse five, "Oh, yeah. Look at that stupid ball of fire rises. Goes down, hurries around to come back up again. Monotony in that repetitious and boring sun goes down, the sun goes up, back around, comes back up again, goes back down again." Something's wrong with that guy's religion. You know, that guy's, you don't want to live by every word of Ecclesiastes. In fact, you want to avoid having to live it. But the book of Ecclesiastes, let's read a little more before we, let's back up and notice then why would he say, "Vanity of vanities? All is vanity, vanity to go visiting with us or vanity to help young people, Vanity to coach young people and certainly not." What's the matter with this guy? Vanity of van vanities? What profit has the man of all of his labor?

   Well, I thought a little later, he said it's good for a man to enjoy his work and eat and drink and enjoy your family. And now he said, what profit has a man of all of his labor he takes under the sun? This guy just frustrated, contradicts himself, changes his mind because he's trying to find out in human ways. Things only God can show you and he wouldn't listen to his dad and mom. He's gonna find out for himself. Verse six (Ecclesiastes 1:6), "the wind goes toward the south turns about to the north whirls about continually. The wind returns again according to the circuits, all the rivers run into the sea at the sea isn't full to the place from where the rivers come there, they return again. All things are full of labor." Was that so, you know, burdensome, boring, monotony, repetitious? Well, if you don't know why you're here and you don't know God's purpose for man, that's certainly true. "All things are full of labor, man can't even utter. The eye is never satisfied with seeing or the ear filled with hearing." Now, who says that people transferred all these, these sites, their eye wants to see what they hadn't seen. Their ear wants to hear what it hadn't heard. And why would anybody say anything like that? The eye is never full of seeing and the ear is never full of hearing. Well, that's his own whole purpose. That's his only realization of why we're here in the sun. What's better for man? Well, he'll tell us in the end. "Verse 10. Is there anything where of it may be said? See, this is new. It's been already of old time before us. There's no remembrance of former things. Neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after."

   So Solomon says, "I, the preacher, I was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom, now that's the cause of his frustration. God made him write his preachings in this book so we could learn and not have to experience it the hard way. So if you give your heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that's done under heaven. You're gonna be frustrated like this guy was, this sore travail God has given to the sons of men." No, God came to give man abundant life, love and joy and peace. But you know, a man cut off from God. Looking at the plight of the countries in the world might say, "oh boy, those poor Filipinos and Chinese and people over there in Africa and Egypt, this sore travail God's given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. I've seen all the works that are done under the sun. Behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." Well, that isn't true at all, all isn't vanity and vexation of spirit. What's crooked can't be made straight. What's wanting can't be numbered. I commune with my own heart saying, "well, I'm come to great estate. I've got more wisdom than all been before me in Jerusalem. My heart has great experience of wisdom and knowledge." So I gave my heart to know wisdom and no madness and folly. All that's vexation of spirit. What do you expect? I expect him to say that, you know, so he's gonna try everything anybody could try and he's gonna come out with the same answer over and over, vexation of spirit, vanity of vanities. In much wisdom is much grief. Now, there's a certain truth to that, the more you know about the nations in the world the more grieved you are about their plight and the more you know about poverty and the gross national product of a lot of nations. So in a lot of ways and knowledge, there is grief. He that increases knowledge, increases sorrow. So some of these are truisms to a degree, but you have to take them in the context of the guy that's saying them. So he goes on this experiment. Chapter two, "I said, come on now, we're gonna prove, prove out mirth, is that, you see people that get paid for playing millions for playing ball, playing all the time. All they do is play. So surely those guys are the happiest of all. Let's just, you know, get 6 million dollars for playing a couple of years of ball that, that they have to be the greatest." So I said, come on now, I'll prove you with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure. Well, that doesn't work. That's a bunch of vanity. You know, the word vanity, the same word is vacuum, emptiness. You think those sports heroes with their 6 million dollars are supremely happy? No. No, they go on dope and get killed in automobile wrecks like the hero down in Big Sandy that was all state and all American and everything else and played fullback for Miami and got killed in Winona right there by Big Sandy in a car wreck over what he did with his money, alcohol and drugs. And so what do you prove when you say? Well, I guess we're supposed to just enjoy life, eat, drink and be merry, tomorrow you die. Just kick up your heels and frolic. Life's just a bowl of cherries, just fun, fun, fun all the time. No, that's going to end up being vanity, empty. I said of laughter. Boy, that gets to be crazy. Now you've gotten in a funny mood when you sit around and you get talking, just laugh and cry and laugh and cry and you can't quit. And later you're sore and you, you hurt because you laugh so hard. And then later you say, "well, what, what were we laughing so hard about anyway?" And it isn't funny later you try to stir back up the same, uh, humor about it and it doesn't work. You say, "that's kind of dumb, wasn't it?"

   Now, how many times have you been sobered? Maybe you went to a funeral of somebody and you learn a lot more that lasted than you did and just a lot of laughing and joking. So that's why the same writer said it's better to go to the house of mourning than the house of laughter. But you have to be careful how you use that too. People would say, "boy, talk about a doom and gloom sourpuss. That guy said it's better to go to the house of mourning than it is the house of laughter." Well, it is. If you're in the context of uh, the preacher here in Ecclesiastes. So I said of laughter, "boy, that's crazy." I said of mirth, "what lasting good does that do?" So? That wasn't the answer. So I sought my heart to give myself to wine, acquainting my heart with wisdom, laying hold on folly till I might see what was good for the sons of men they should do under the heaven all the days of their life. So he's trying to find out humanly by trial and error, by experimentation. He's not gonna let God tell him, he wouldn't listen to his dad and mom. So everybody that insists on going that way is gonna relive the book of Ecclesiastes. You probably know a lot of young people that used to be in the church here and they're living Ecclesiastes. You see them and their doom and gloom sundowners. Life is uh a bummer. You know, vanity of vanities and vexation of spirit. And because they're going through what this preacher went through, "I made me great works. Verse four, builded me houses, planted me vineyards, made me gardens and orchards, planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit, pools of water to water there with the wood that brings forth trees, all kinds of servants dressed up fancy and great possessions of great and small cattle, gathered silver, gold, peculiar treasure, men singers, women singers just have your utopia, paradise country mansion with all the streams and musicians and all the fountains and just that's it. Verse nine, I was great increased more than all before me in Jerusalem. My wisdom remained with me whatsoever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. I didn't withhold my heart from any joy, my heart rejoiced in all my labor. This was my portion of all my labor."

   Then I looked about overall that, after a while and guess what? All was vanity and vexation of spirit. Get tired of things, things wear out, the newness wears out except for God's truth and God's church and the Holy Days in the Sabbath and they don't ever get that way. So I turned myself to behold wisdom and madness and folly. But I have decided wisdom excels folly verse 13. As far as light, excels darkness, the wise man's eyes are in his head, isn't that a classy statement. You know where everybody else's eyes. Well he's just saying they're using their eyes, they're observing, they're looking, they're being put to use. I said in my heart, "the same thing happens, the fool, it happens to everybody else. So I hated life. Verse 18, I hated all my labor I'd taken under the sun, because I did all that. I'm going to leave it to somebody and they're gonna blow it, they're gonna squander it. It ain't gonna do them any good." Well, one of the classy statements is verse 14, chapter three. I know whatsoever God does. It shall be forever. It's not temporary. Like everything man does. Boy, when I came back to Kansas City and we went down through Kansas City and I was shocked and stunned. The big thing downtown Kansas City used to be the Mule Bach Hotel and the Municipal Auditorium. Now they look like an appendix on the side of some other big deals. You know, here are these big tall glass buildings and the huge Convention Center and just dwarfs those things that used to be monsters and we go down there. So all the things man does gets turned over and wears out and gets monotonous and, but what God does, it'll be forever. Nothing can be put to it. Nothing can be taken from it. God does it that men should fear before him. Now, chapter four, he said I returned and considered all the oppressions done under the sun. That's sad to watch the little children in the Philippines dying, see them going blind from the lack of vitamin A while their leader makes off with billions of dollars. So he praised the dead. Now he comes up with some real wise factors like verse eight, you see one person who's all alone without a second has no child or brother and yet he'll just work himself to death and never thinking about who's gonna get all this when I die. Uncle Sam. His eye is not satisfied with riches. He never does say for who am I doing all this labor. But two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. But he felt alone. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. And yet he felt alone. He didn't have anybody. So he shows how two are better than one. If one falls the other, it can help them. If two lie together, they have heat, but one alone is cold. If one prevail against him to withstand and he smites himself in the eye.

   In verse 13, "better is the poor and wise child than an old and foolish king who won't anymore be admonished." That was him. He wouldn't listen to his dad, mom wouldn't listen to anybody gonna have to find out everything for himself. And yet how many people do we have, you know, have some of our own children go out, they're gonna find out for themselves about the world and why we're here and what man's purpose and what's better and what, what are we supposed to do under the sun? Sad to see people have to learn the hard way. What they read the book of Ecclesiastes and not have to learn the hard way. Well, he's got some wise sections in Ecclesiastes, but you have to know how to take what he says. And when it's really a truism from God and when it's really a, a preaching of a frustrated man trying to find out for himself, why we're here and what our purpose is. Look at verse 12 of chapter five. That's really a great truism. The sleep of a laboring man is sweet. He's kind of wishing he could just get out and work hard and hit the hay and sleep like a log. But no, he was a king, and he did mental jobs and worry, frustration, sleepless nights. But the sleep of a laboring man is sweet whether he eat little or much, but the abundance of the rich won't suffer him to sleep. Verse two of chapter seven is the one I mentioned about. It's better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of house of feasting because that's the end of all men. The living will lay it to his heart. He can learn things from when you're sobered, but it's good for your stress, maybe to laugh, laugh, laugh, but doesn't do a whole lot permanently. Verse three, "sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countenance. The heart's made better."

   Notice verse 15, chapter seven, "all things I've seen in the days of my vanity. There's a just man that perishes in his righteousness and there's the wicked man that prolongs his life in his wickedness." How many times in the Bible men admitted, they envied the wicked. They looked like they prospered and they were happy and like they live longer and didn't have as much trouble with their kids. And verse 16, don't be righteous over much or make yourself overwise. Who likes a know it all? You know, who, who enjoys being around a Job. But don't be over much wicked either because you'll just die before your time. Verse 18. "It's good that you should take hold of this. Yeah. Also from this, withdraw, not your hand. He, that fears God shall come forth of everybody else." So he really had some classic things he's learned, but he still couldn't figure out the mysteries on his own. But some of the things he couldn't forget, fear God. Now, notice chapter eight verse one, there's the real truism. "A man's wisdom makes his face to shine." Nothing more encouraging and inspiring to feel like you've given a wise answer. You help someone. Verse five, "who so keeps the commandment shall feel no evil thing. A wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment." So somehow some of the things he'd been taught from youth he remembered, but he just wouldn't give himself to his dad's and mom's instructions and learn without learning the hard way.

   Now, we all memorize chapter 12 verse 13 on the old memory list. So the conclusion of this frustrated King's searching for why we're here under the sun and what's better for man and how to avoid the vexation of spirit. And let's hear the conclusion of the whole matter if you have a fear of God, so that you'll keep his commandments, that'll make you a whole man that'll make you more whole than everything the earth can offer, wealth, power, laughter, pleasure, no matter what it is. If you have a fear of God. So that if he said, don't do this, you say yes, sir. And he says, you better do this. And you say, ok, so if you have a fear of God, so that you keep His commandments, that's the most whole any human can ever be, a sad, poor old Solomon, never really did learn that. Maybe he'll be in the resurrection so he can pick up where he left off and prove he's willing to obey God because he sure wasn't, surely wasn't converted. You, you can see nobody writing the book of Ecclesiastes is converted and nobody that's converted ought to try to live the book of Ecclesiastes. There are good points in there you can get from it and good wisdom out of it.

   Now, back up a little bit to the book of Job. Mr. Halford teaching Old Testament Survey knew that he'd have to be raptured out of town unexpectedly every year. So he always had me on reserve and when he'd have to be gone two or three days, I'd teach the Book of Job in Old Testament Survey. And as I taught the book of Job, I learned more and more and more. There are four main things you should glean from the Book of Job. Now, one good way to find out the main lessons. What are the main contents of the book of Job? What takes up the most space? What are most of the chapters spent? What subject do they spent in? Well, if someone said, "tell me what you know about the devil? Because I heard the guy on the radio the other night talking to a lady who'd written a book and he didn't believe there was a devil." He said, that's ridiculous. He said, man wants somebody to blame, man wants a scapegoat. So he invents this devil to blame it all on. See, the devil made me do it. He said there the devil that's just man's figment of his imagination to escape things. But if someone wanted you to show them in the Bible about the devil, where would you turn? Now, Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, Revelation 12, Matthew 4 where he battled Christ. You know, there are different chapters, Genesis back when he was in the garden. You might want to save that in the last though because they're gonna ask you how that serpent's stalking there and you got to figure out some things there. What about the Book of Job? Two chapters out of the Book of Job, tell you all about the devil, how he works, how far God allows him to go. What he can't know about, man. Let's just look at the devil in the Book of Job and see what we can get there. Verse six of chapter one (Job 6:1), he starts talking about. Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Eternal. Now sons of God could be angels by creation or it could be man because we present ourselves before God, every Sabbath, every Holy Day. So this might have been a Sabbath or it might have been a day that later was made a Holy Day because we find a lot of the events back in the earlier chapters literally happened on days God later made Holy Days. So here's the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Eternal and Satan came also among them. He always likes to get among the sons of God, especially at the Sabbath or feast days. We always ask God to stay Satan's hand and keep him away and not let him in because we know about the Book of Job. Now look what happens. The Eternal said to Satan, "where are you coming from?" And this verse seven? The devil gives him a Chicago answer which means like the Face the Nation, you know, and somebody asks you a question, you see how long you can talk without answering. Look how the devil did that? God said? "Where are you coming from?" The devil said "from going to and fro on the earth and from walking up and down in it." Now you tell me, what's that saying? Is saying nothing? Well, don't think God let him get away with that. God nailed him on the next verse, especially if you read it in the other translations of the Hebrew, the Eternal said to Satan, "you've set your heart on my servant Job." Now, I don't know. I don't know that, that shocked the devil. He surely knew God could see through him like tissue paper. Maybe not, but he gave God an evasive answer and God nailed him. "I, I see you've set your heart on my servant Job. There is none like him in the earth." Then when the Job lived, not in the days of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, not in the days of Moses. How could God say that about Job? "There is none like him in the earth" unless he lived another time when not one of those great men lived and we'll find out when he lived a little later because that's another part of the lesson you learned from the book of Job. One of the real important parts too. But anyway, God says "a perfect man, an upright man, one that fears God and departs from evil."

   So God said four things about Job as you'd expect, perfect, upright, mature. You know, he's a mature Christian, he's moral. He, he doesn't cheat, he's upright. He fears God and he departs from evil. Now you notice God supports the Christian. God didn't tell the devil what was wrong with Job. Now, God knew he wasn't perfect. But you think God's gonna tell the devil? God's not gonna tell the devil. God's on your side. He's not on the devil's side. Well, the devil thought he knew what was wrong with Job. Then Satan answered the Eternal and said, "does Job fear God for not." How many people has that been true of? You know, if you've been in the church a long time in this era of the church, one out of every three who've ever come in, have gone out. A lot of them didn't fear God for not, as long as God bless them for tithing and set a hedge about them and protected them and gave them good health. And as long as God, everything was peaches and cream and strawberry shortcake, boy, it pays to serve God. But what if things hit the rough times, uh bail out, set sail? The church gets persecuted, what happens? People bail out? "Was that your church I saw on T.V?" "No, no." They bailed out.

   You know. Well, the devil's right about a lot of people. There are a lot of people who don't fear God for not. They, the devil says, "have you not made a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he has on every side." That's true. God does. God has a hedge about you. He protects you about your house about all that you have. Your children are holy. Your unbelieving mate is sanctified. God has angels about your house. But what if God decided for your salvation's sake. He needed to see if you would fear God for not. Or if you're just in it for everything going well. Well, you gave God your life of baptism, for better, for worse and sickness or health, or is that just define a wedding? Well, that's one of the great lessons of Jobs you'll see as we get a little later here, does God, does Job fear God for not? "You've made a hedge about him, about his house. All he has on every side, you blessed the work of his hands. You put forth your hand now and touch all he has." What if that were about you? We've had men who got in high positions in the work and then when they were told they were gonna be shipped back out in the field and be church pastors, they quit, isn't that ridiculous, back when they were a lay member. They thought, "oh, boy, if I could just be a church pastor," then when they got to be a church pastor, "boy, if I could just be an evangelist or at headquarters and then when they get up to be a vice president and then they get shipped out, then they, then they quit." One of our elders right here in the past, you know, went to college and didn't get what he expected and bombed out. Quit.

   Well, the devil knows the devil says, if God put forth His hand and it no longer pays you all the time to obey God but hurts, it costs you, you touch all he has and he'll curse you to your face. A lot of people have literally. So the Eternal said to Satan, "behold, all that he has is in your power only upon himself. You can't put forth your hand." Now, God allowed Satan inside this hedge now and said this is how far you can go, but you can't go this far. So God is God. He still limits the devil and he still tells what he can and what he can't do. Well, I imagine Satan celebrated, boy he got job now one of the top men, he skips away, smiling and laughing and all he went forth from the presence of the Eternal. Boy, all the calamities fall one, two, three, four, one right after the other verse 20, "Job arose, rent his mantle, shaved, his head fell down upon the ground and worshiped." What an attitude he had. He said, "well, now wait a minute, look at this. When I was born, I was naked and when I go back into the grave, I'm gonna be naked. So whatever God gives to me in the meantime, thank God for it. So what if he took it away? He gave it, boy, you can't imagine an attitude like that. I came out of my mother's body naked and I'll return naked and the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away and blessed be the name of the Eternal," and all that. He didn't sin or charge God with foolishness. "Be able to get baptized somehow through somebody else or however well the Eternal said to Satan where you been?" Chicago answered "going to and fro in the earth walking up and down in it." So he either didn't realize God could see through him or he just being smart alec here, God nailed him again. You can't kid God. God is God. The Eternal said to Satan. I see you've still got your heart set on my servant Job. I see you've been considering my servant Job. There's none like him in the earth. A perfect and upright man. One that fears God and the shoe is evil, but he's got one fault. Let me tell you, oh no, God's not on the devil's side. God's not about to let the devil know what your problem is.

   Now, he can usually tell what your problem is, but the problem Job had, he couldn't understand, he couldn't see it because how could the devil see righteousness? You know, how could the devil see self-righteousness? He can't see that. He doesn't know anything about righteousness. He's evil and wicked and perverted. Well, look what happened. God said the four same things about Job, still he holds past his integrity. Now notice the last part of this verse three, although you Satan, you moved me against him without cause he was not material-minded. He did not serve me for what he got out of it. I took away all he had without cause you move me to destroy him without cause. But still God knew that was going to get through to Job and he would finally get converted so God can turn what the devil tries in to good, even though it might not start out that way. Well, notice what the devil says now, Satan answered the Eternal and said skin for skin, yah, all a man has, he'll give for his life. People can't suffer for the truth. They wouldn't be martyred. They'd recant before they spend time in prison over the Sabbath, skin for skin all a man has, he'll give for his life. You put forth his hand now and touch his bone and his flesh. Notice that the devil couldn't do that unless God allowed it. So the Eternal said to Satan, behold, he's in your hand, but you can't bother his life. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Eternal, skipping, rejoicing. I'm sure he thought sure he had Job now. Smote, Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to his crown. He took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal. He sat down among the ashes. He used good wisdom the next verse, he didn't call his wife a fool. He just said, then he said, his wife said, "do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die."

   Now, when anybody mentions the name, Job, most people put down self-righteous. That's the first word that comes to mind when they think of Job. Now, the only time Jobs mentioned in the New Testament, patience is the word that's mentioned. So one of the big words in Job should be patience. You know, Mr. Armstrong said about the leaders of the church in the past. He didn't realize the importance of endurance. He that endures to the end shall be saved. How much might God require it to endure? Look what Job endured. Look what Abraham endured. You've got to have endurance, patience. You've got to have patience to endure. Well, one of the great blessings about Job is how can anybody tell if they're self-righteous? Well, we're gonna make a list, for one thing the way you live, your religion is gonna turn people off around you. It did, Job's wife, Job's family, Job's neighbors, Job's quote friends unquote. They were all turned off by Job's religion. I've known people like that in the church. I came out of the Baptist church at first I was that way. So how's anybody gonna be able to tell you you're self-righteous? That's one of the great lessons of Job. Nobody is gonna be able to, you're gonna have to find out for yourself. God's gonna have to tell you even if God inspires someone to see it and they're your best friend, you're not gonna believe it. Job didn't believe Eliahu and God inspired him. God told him what to say. That Job couldn't see it until God started getting through to him. And then he saw it in a hurry. But if the way you live, your religion turns people off about you. His wife, "do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die?" Now what would cause your wife to feel that way about your religion? Well, he said to her, "you speak as one of the foolish women speaks," that's good wisdom. He didn't say, "why you're being foolish or you're a fool." You know, he said you speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Now, here's one of the main lessons of the book in verse 10. "What shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil?" Is your life surrendered to God regardless? What if He sees you need to go through what Job had to go through? Are you going to serve God as long as it pays, as long as God has the hedge about you? But what if you start losing everything? You know, and I think of Job, I think of Mr. Armstrong in one sense that he gave up his oldest son in a car wreck on a baptizing tour. And then because of the articles and things he wrote about makeup, which we've changed. He lost both daughters over, they were both in the church when I went out there. Then later on his biggest loss of all, when his last son that was just like him, bolted the church and started his own church and did the church more harm than anybody ever had in this era. Then finally lost his wife right before they were married 50 years. Then finally he lost his own life and God raised it back up for a couple of years extra. But shall we receive good at the hand of God only and not evil? That's one of the, that's, that is the biggest lesson in the book of Job.

   Now, in the chapters that start out chapter three, Job curses his day like the preacher in Ecclesiastes, "the day of death better than the day of birth," he wished he'd never been born. "Let the day perish wherein I was born, the night in which it was said, there's a man child conceived, let that day be darkness, let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine on it." Verse six is, "as for that night, let darkness seize upon it." Verse seven, "low, let that night be solitary." So he wishes he'd never been born. Then he starts talking about death. Verse 15 to the end of the chapter in kind of a poetic way that most people don't understand what all this is all about, about just about death. Verse 15 to the end of that chapter. Now, chapter four Eliphaz begins to speak. But now one of the great lessons about this book, you got to turn to the back and read the outcome before you start reading the chapters. So let's jump to chapter 42 and see what we're supposed to get out of what we're gonna read. Verse seven, chapter 42 verse seven, "it was so after the Eternal had spoken these words to Job, the Eternal said to Eliphaz, the Temanite," since he was the leader of the three friends. Of course, we read about Timan all the time in the Bible. Ote Timan, Ottoman, the Ottoman Turks. So this is one of the wise men of the East, uh Ote Timan or Ottoman or Temanite. "My wrath is kindled against you." Uh huh. So when I read what Eliphaz the Temanite writes, my wrath should be kindled if I'm like God, because as God sat there and listened to these three friends say what they had to say to Job. God's wrath became kindled against him. So that's what you should get out of reading those chapters those guys wrote. Now he's gonna tell you why too, "my wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends because you've not spoken of me. The thing. That's right. As my servant Job has," uh Job knew more about God than they did. Job was more accurate about the way God is than they were. I know that because that's what God says here. That's what made God mad. They misrepresented God. They spoke of God error, wrong. They didn't really know the way God is. "Therefore, you've got to take seven bullocks and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer for yourselves a burnt offering." Now, how can they do that? That can't be after Moses' day? Anybody trying to do that would be stoned. Only Levites could do that from Moses' day on. And yet this is the greatest man in the earth in his day. But he can't be in the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or in the days of Joseph, he has to be somewhere then between the time of Joseph and Moses and we'll see that it tells you that as we go on.

   Now, the important part of that is you can prove by the book of Job that they had a knowledge of all of God's statutes and judgments and laws before Moses' time. If you can prove mo, job was written before Moses' time and see all of the references to all the laws, then you can know they had God's laws before Moses' time. Now we're gonna do that. You can prove that boy having been a Baptist that was very important because you know, in fact, when I was up in Oregon, they had this uh church of God's seventh day and they'd go to their church in the morning and then come over to the Masonic lodge in Portland in the afternoon and attend the Radio Church of God. So I just had a special sermon I kept in the back of my Bible. And when this bunch would show up, I'd take that sermon out and give it. And it was about what are moral laws, what are statutes and judgments? Because they believe in tithing. But they say the statutes are done away and yet tithing is a statute. The Adventists believe in clean and unclean foods and yet that's a statute. And they say the statutes are done away with, oh, that's contradictory. Well, you know, those people quit going to the other church and kept coming to God's church. And Andrew Dugger got worried about his church and came home from Jerusalem and held an evangelistic campaign to get his people back. He's welcome to his people. He didn't get any of God's people back once they were enlightened and saw the truth, they stayed. Well, that part of Job is important. It's one of the four big things to see in Job.

   Verse eight. I've got law written right on that verse because that proves they knew God's law. "You take to you seven bullocks, seven rams." How do you do that? How do you sacrifice them? What part do you burn? What part do you keep, who gives what to whom? And how could these guys know how to take seven bullocks, seven rams and offer up for themselves a burnt offering? And my servant Job, he didn't have a Levite, didn't have a priest. "My servant Job shall pray for you. I'll accept him, lest I deal with you after your folly." Ok. When I read these chapters written by those guys, I'm looking for folly, I'm looking for them to misrepresent God to make you mad because they don't speak of God what's true the way Job does. Now, when I read Job's comments, I've got to be sure I'm careful what I say about Job because I already read what God said about him. "Lest I deal with you after your folly in that you've spoken to me that which is right. You haven't spoken to me that which is right like my servant Job." So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did according as the Eternal commanded them, the Eternal also accepted Job and they got to live.

   Now let's come back to the chapter and notice then what uh what's the big content of the ensuing chapters of the Book of Job? Now, Just for scan. Let's do this first, Eliphaz speaks in chapter four and chapter five. Job answers 30 verses in six, 21 verses in seven. Now the shortest man in the bible, Bildad the Shuhite, as Mr. Waterhouse says, Bildad gets his first shot at Job. He gets 22 verses. Job answers 35 verses in nine, 22 verses in 10. Pretty obvious to somebody that's self-righteous, got plenty to say. They got more to say than everybody else. Well, wait, it gets a lot worse. Chapter 11, the third guy gets his comments, Zophar gets his comments. 20 verses. Job answers 25, 28, 22. Then Eliphaz gets his second shot at Job. Chapter 15, 35 verses this time. Now Job answers 22 verses, 16 verses. Then Bildad the Shuhite gets his second shot. 21 verses. Chapter 19. Job answers 29 verses. Zophar gets his third or his uh second chance at Job and he talks 29 verses. Then Job answers 34 verses. Then Eliphaz the Temanite gets his third chance, 30 verses this time. Job answers 17, 25. Now look at poor Bildad. He's not only the shortest man in the Bible, he gets six verses and that's all. Job answers, chapter 26, 14 verses, 27, 23 verses, 28, 28 verses, 29, 25 verses 30, 31 verses. Boy, you know, somebody really let the fence down there. He's going on and on and on and on. Chapter 31, 40 verses. And that just did all those guys in. Then they didn't have anything more they could say. So now Eliahu gets his comments.

   So it's obvious if somebody is self-righteous, they got a lot of talk, they do a lot of talking. They got a lot to say and you'll find a little later they justify themselves. Let's come back and notice a little bit about the chapters. Eliphaz the Temanite, chapter four, he says, "if we presume to come in with you, will it grieve you? And yet we got to talk, who can withhold himself from speaking? You've instructed many, you strengthen the weak hands, your words have upheld him that was failing. You've strengthened the feeble knees. Now, why don't you just take some of your own medicine and speak to yourself?" You know, you're always the cheerleader for others. "Hang in there, brother. Pray, study, and fast and just stick with it." You know. And so they say now you've done that with everybody else and now that it's all happening to you, why can't you do that anymore? Now, look, they say "verse five now that it's come on you, you faint now that it touches you, you're troubled in this, your fear, your confidence, your hope." Now they begin to give their views. "Verse seven. Remember I pray you whoever perished being innocent." Well, what about the people? The tower Siloam fell on. "Whoever perished being innocent." How about Steven and Peter and James and John and Paul and whoever perished being innocent? Man, you can just name them endlessly. But look, they had a typical attitude toward God that the Jews had. You remember the Jews question back in John, when they said, "Lord, who sinned this man or his parents, that he was born blind because they always associated calamity, disease, loss with wickedness, unrighteousness." Well, that's ridiculous. That verse seven is really ridiculous. "Whoever perished being innocent or where were the righteous cut off?" Well, how about Enoch a righteous man? Everybody in his time period was living 900 years and he only got to live 365 because he was righteous. And God didn't want to make him live among the wretched of his age. And God took him, didn't let him live out of normal lifespan. Enoch walked with God and he took him. Where were the righteous cut off? Why you, you stop and look at the people in the Bible who didn't live out their years. God allowed them to escape the wretchedness of the world about them. Now, verse eight, "even as I have seen they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same." You deserve what you get, whatever happens to you, Job, you must be wicked. You must be secretly sinful. You must not be pleasing God because look what God's let happen to you. That's what the devil said. Well, these guys are really all wet about God. They don't know God at all.

   How many examples in the New Testament can you think of where Jesus said do you think these people were more wicked than others? Why the rain falls on the good and the evil and the just and the unjust. Time and chance happen to all men and the man was born blind so that God's miracle could be shown. And yet people still think if they lose the baby, "what's God punishing me for?" If they have an accident? "What's wrong with me? What's God punishing me for?" You know, God, better than that, don't you? Well, that's a big misconception of people all down through history. These guys, these friends of Job talk that look at verse 17, "shall a mortal man be more just than God, shall a man be more pure than his maker?" Well, they can see that Job is self-righteous, but they couldn't see why all these things happened to him, but they were giving their views, giving their ideas, giving their opinions.

   Now, when a man has had suffering and loss and hardship and calamity and look at this guy's advice in verse eight of chapter five, I would seek unto God and unto God I'd commit my cause. Job, you're just not close enough to God. You just need to study and pray and fast and get closer to God and yet he's closer than any of them. Well, that doesn't help somebody when they're going through a calamity or a trial. You know what if somebody had gone over to the Millich's and said, "well, you know, you just need to get closer to God." That would make God mad. God's gonna get angry at you for saying that, God kept them from being killed. God protected them. "I would seek to God." So now they think they're gonna tell Job about God. So I've got God written in the margin from verse eight all the way through verse 22. And when I read it, I read it carefully because I already know what God said they said about Him. They don't represent Him properly. They misrepresent Him. They don't seem like Job did. So when I read these, I'm gonna read with a careful eye and ear. God gives rain on the earth. God sends waters on the fields, didn't they remember about the rain falls on the good and evil? God just sends rain on the good guys and the bad guys don't get any rain uh to set up on high those that be low that those which mourn may be exalted to safety. He disappoints the devices of the crafty. He takes the lies in their own craftiness. Is he aiming that at Job? You know, there's a lot of darts thrown here. A lot of smibs and these friends are jealous of Job and they're trying to bring him down and that'll exalt them. They'll feel greater.

   Now, verse 17, boy, this is so easy to say when you're not the one in the trial, "behold, happy is the man whom God corrects." But I always remember it said, "no correction for the present seems joyous." And if I find somebody that just says, "boy, I just love correction. Lay it on me. God, lay it on me." There's something wrong with that guy. You know, there's something wrong. No correction for the present seems joyous. Happy is the man whom God corrects. Well, if he learns why he's being corrected and learns the lesson, then he'll be happy. But boy Job was frustrated because he couldn't figure out why God was correcting him. Therefore, Job you shouldn't despise the chastening of the Almighty. Now, that's what not to say when somebody's in a trial and a hardship and suffering and a loss. And they go on talking about God now, Job answers. "Oh, that my grief was thoroughly weighed and my calamity laid in the balances." Verse four, "the arrows of the Almighty are within me. The poison whereof drinks up my spirit. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me." He can't figure out why he's been spared so bad. Verse eight, "oh that I might have my request that God would grant me the thing that I long for even that it would please God to destroy me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off." Now, a lot of great men in the Bible wanted to die and all I Mr. Armstrong wanted to die several years before God let him die. Elijah asked God to let him die. Moses asked God, let him die and all kinds of, you know, there are times I thought, "well, God, you know, I, I think I've worn myself out enough and, and, you know, had about enough." So, but, uh, usually change that pretty quick afterward. Well, Job talks about God in chapter seven.

   Now, Bildad, verse two of chapter eight, "how long will you speak these things? How long shall the words of your mouth be like a strong wind? Does God pervert judgment? Does the Almighty pervert justice? If your children have sinned?" Uh Now see, that's probably what's the matter with you, Job. Your kids are wicked. They've gone off and done their own thing and God's getting even with you for your kids. Come on now, you don't believe that, do you? We're all gonna stand before the judgment seat of God. We'll all pass under the rod one by one. But these friends now they're trying to say, "well, Job. I guess this has to have happened because of your kid's secret sins. He's cast them off for their transgression.

   So if you just seek to God be times and make your supplication to the Almighty, if you were pure and upright, surely, now he would awake for you and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous. Now Job, the fact that God doesn't hear you, the fact that this has gone on and on and on and God hasn't heard you proves you're not pure and upright or he would awake for you and he'd intervene. But you've made God mad. He's cut off from you. He, he's mad at you." Well, that isn't true at all. He was wanting Job to live forever in the God family and he could never do it self-righteous. If he always justified himself, you know, the self-righteous. They'll say, "well, we've all sinned. I've got a lot of sins." I've tried to tell people they're self-righteous. I hadn't learned that about the Book of Job yet. And every time you ever bring up something, "well, look, nobody's perfect. We all make mistakes. We all have sins. I've, I've got a lot of sins." Oh, yeah. What are they?

   "Well, I'm not going to tell you, there are a lot of them though. I've got a lot of sins." They never really believe it. They just know that to be righteous. You gotta admit everybody sins and you and the Desins, but you never are specific. You know, you'd probably have a blank sheet for Unleavened Bread, the sin you're gonna put out of your life. Well, nobody wants to have to live the book of Job. Maybe that's why God put 42 chapters in here. So you wouldn't have to experience it, if you can just learn between you and God, what it is to be self-righteous. Anytime anything's ever brought up, you justify it, you explain it. "Well, now let me say, let me tell you why that is." You'll see that in a second about Job. Well, they're really hurting Job.

   Verse 13, "so are the paths of all that forget God, the hypocrite's hope shall perish." I guess that's what happened to you, Job. You've drifted away from God and you've forgotten God. And now you're a hypocrite. We thought you're righteous and you really aren't because look what all happened to you. So your hope's gonna perish. Look at verse 20, "God will not cast away a perfect man." So you can't be perfect, Job, or why would God have cast you away? "God won't help the evildoers." Verse 22, "they that hate you shall be clothed with shame and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to not." That's why you lost your home and your family and your animals and everything, Job. Sooner or later, God caught up with you, you were being a hypocrite and you were forgetting God and you had secret sins and your kids had secret sins and God is mad at you. So your dwelling place is cut off. Come to not because you're really wicked. You find the word wicked over and over and over in this book. There's total disagreement about how do you know if somebody is wicked? Well, if God isn't blessing them and they're not having everything that's prosperous. And you know, as I look back over the last Feast of Tabernacles, my 38th one. As I look back over the years. Some people just seem to be called, they just had a rough time all the time. I, I don't know why I could name names of people in Chicago and they just always seem to have trials and hardships and things happening and others just seem to be on the gravy train. You know, it just seemed to be smooth trail and well, isn't that true of some people in the Bible? Some just took the rough road and well, Job answered. "I know it's all the truth. But how should man be just with God? If He will contend with Him, he can't answer him. One of 1000. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Whoever hardens himself against God and prospers. God removes the mountains and boy, he's telling about God. I listen because God said He's telling what's right about him."

   Verse 10, "God does great things past finding out." Verse 13, "if God doesn't withdraw his anger, the proud helpers stoop under him. How much shall I answer less and choose out my words to reason with Him whom though I were righteous yet I would not answer. I would make supplication to my judge." Verse 17, "he breaks me with a tempest multiplies my wounds without cause." Now, Job hadn't learned why this was happening to him. So until he did it would seem it was that cause. God didn't get mad at him for that. "He will not suffer me to take my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If I speak of strength low, he's strong. If of judgment, who will set up a time to plead? If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. If I say I'm perfect, it'll also prove me perverse." Well, Job goes on talking about the way God is and the way God made our human body.

   And now chapter 11, Zophar answers and said, "shouldn't the multitude of words be answered? Job. You just talk, talk, talk, you're motor mouth Job, you're just a mighty mouth." You know, you're just flapping the gums all the time. "Shouldn't the multitude of words be answered? Shouldn't a man full of talk be justified. Should your lies make men hold their peace?" Now, they're calling Job a liar. When you mock they're saying he's mocking. "You've said my doctrine is pure, I'm clean in your eyes. But oh that God would speak and open his lips against you." Uh Oh God's gonna speak all right. But he didn't open his lips against Job. He opened his lips against Zophar and these other two guys because they were trying to judge Job for the things happening to him claiming surely he was wicked, surely there were secret sins. Now chapter 14 is the famous chapter.

   Chapter 15, I've got wicked written all up and down the page because now they're on the bandwagon. Eliphaz the Temanite again is saying why the wicked are the kind of people that have things happen to them. Like you have Job and Job a little later answers and said, "well, I didn't. True. I've seen the wicked prosper and the wicked seem to live long and they seem to build up big businesses and their cheats and frauds and yet they seem to live a long time."

   And chapter 18 Bildad the whole chapters about wicked people. "You're wicked, Job. All these things happen to you have to prove you're wicked." Chapter 19 Job tells him the way he sees God. Chapter 20. I've got wicked written all up and down the margin about the way they see the wicked. Now Job finally answers. Look what he says about the wicked chapter 21. "Wherefore do the wicked live become old? Yeah, mighty in power. Their seeds established in their sight with them, their offspring before their eyes." Now look at Job. He lost all his kids, lost all of his property, all of these animals lost everything and yet he knew of big shots that were millionaires that got rich by crookedness, but they weren't happy and their seeds established in their sight with them, their offspring before their eyes, their houses are safe from fear. Neither is the rod of God on them. Their bull genders and fails, not their cow calves and cast, not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance. They take the Timberland harp and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth and in, in a moment of they go down to the grave. Therefore, they say to God, "depart from us. We don't desire the knowledge of your ways." They don't need God. They don't have time for God. They think their life is fully rewarded without God. What is the Almighty that we should serve Him? What profit should we have? Verse 16, their good is not in their hand. The counsel of the wicked is far from me. How often is the can of the wicked put out? So all the way through here, he's trying to tell them how he sees the wicked. A lot of times you might envy the wicked. They seem to get away with their sin. God's not working with them. God's not trying to mold them into God's. God's not dealing with them to purge out self-righteousness and human traits and weaknesses. How many times does it say they envied the wicked, the Psalms and Proverbs and well, Eliphaz goes on with his same arguments and then Job takes most of the rest of the book.

   Now, let's come on over ahead to the chapter on Elihu, chapter 32. Now these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Now, that's the first time that's ever been stated. But God knew that all along and God all along was letting everything work to try to get that out of Job. But he couldn't take it the easy way by my friends trying to get it through to him. Of course, they were all wrong. They didn't see it anyway. They didn't know it. So now God inspires Elihu. "Then was Kendall the wrath of Elihu." Even the, "the wrath of Elihu was kindled against these three men because he heard what they said and he didn't agree with what they said either. He, he agreed more with Job against Job also, his wrath was kindled." And notice why "because he justified himself rather than God." So that's another thing, the self-righteous always do. They always justify themselves. Now, this is the reason I'm that way. Let me explain why I'm that way. Make a difference why you're the way you are. If it's wrong, you're supposed to change it. That's the bad part about psychology, you know, uh dig into your past so you can understand what made you the way you are and then get to work and ask God's help to change yourself the way you ought to be, you know, don't justify yourself. Only God can justify, well against those three friends. "Job, Elihu's wrath was kindled because they hadn't found the answer even though they condemned Job." So as you read those chapters, you should realize that they didn't have the answer. And what they said, condemned Job falsely. Now, Elihu waited, until Job had spoken because they were older than he. And he said, "well, age should speak. But wise men, aged men aren't always wise. And there's the spirit in man and God's inspiration has made me see the situation here. So now he begins to really tell it the way it is." Verse 21, "let me not, I pray you accept any man's person. Neither let me give flattering titles to man. I know not to give flattering titles, in so doing my maker would soon take me away." So Job I pray, hear my speeches, hearken to all my words. My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart.

   Verse three, the spirit of God has made me the breath of the Almighty has given me life. Verse six, I am according to your wish in God's stead. You wanted to state your case before God. God's inspired me to be his listener and hear your case. Verse nine, "I'm clean without transgression. I'm innocent. Neither is there iniquity in me." That's what you said, Job. Verse eight, "surely you've spoken in my hearing. I've heard the voice of your words, Job. This is what you said. You said you're clean. You said you're without transgression. You said you're innocent. You said there isn't iniquity in you." Now of course, he's all wrong on all those, Behold he finds occasion against me. He counts me for his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks. He marks all my paths. You're saying God's being too strict on this judgment of me. He's breathing down my neck and, and weighing every little thing. He, he's not giving me any outs at all. He's judging me too carefully. I'll answer you. God's greater than man. So he begins to talk about God. Verse 31. He says, "Mark, well, oh, Job hearken to me, hold your peace and I'll speak. If you have anything to say, answer me speak because I desire to justify you."

   Verse four, chapter 34 let's choose to us judgment. Let's know among ourselves what's good? Job has said I'm righteous and God has taken away my judgment. Now, of course, Job was righteous, but he was self-righteous. Now, Elihu tries and tries and tries to get across to Job what God's made him see. Job needs to see that he doesn't see it from him even though God inspired him. So now Elihu begins to try to get Job small by making God big. So the more he magnifies God, the more Job should feel smaller and smaller and smaller. Now, that's one of the four main contents of the book because beginning with verse 26 and chapter 36 all the way to the end of the book, it's about how great thou art how mighty and infallible and powerful God is in creation and God inspires Elihu to try to get that through to Job. And then when it doesn't work, God just steps right in and takes over the job, but God doesn't change the procedure at all. God just goes right on declaring all the great things of creation. Now, when you study the book of Job, one of my favorite parts is these chapters about the greatness of God in creation because I studied geology for petroleum engineering. And boy, does this ever knock in the head evolution?

   Notice in chapter 37 God put in the animals, the nature of hibernation. They didn't evolve that. Verse eight, the beasts go into dens and remain in their places till the winter is over. Know just when they come out, salmon go right back to the same stream and birds go right back to the same homes. And how do they do that? Homing pigeons? How do they do that? Dogs that are lost? Go right back on how they do that. Well, God put in the stint in all these creatures and you can't change it. So he goes on magnifying God. I've got this chapter outlined in black. That's the way I mark uh science or things of science in the Bible, the proof of God in creation.

   Now, chapter 38 God takes up Elihu's place the Eternal begins to answer Job out of the whirlwind. Now Job repeats verse two when he gets converted. In chapter 42. "Who is this? Whipper snapper down there?" This pipsqueak, darkening counsel by words without knowledge. And later Job said, God, "that was me. I was that pipsqueak that spot of dust down there. All the nations are a dust in the bucket compared to God, the whole earth's God's footstool." So gird up your loins like a man Job, I'll demand of you and you answer me. "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, declare if you know everything who laid the measures thereof, if you know it all. When the morning stars sang together, who shut up the sea with doors? Who made the cloud, the garment thereof? Have you commanded the morning Job? Sunrise, sunset exactly on time. Have you ever walked to the edge of dark and said this is where dark begins and that's light over there?" Now, you can't do that. It has to begin and end somewhere. Well, these are fun chapters. I re I usually read these when I go up to the river Glen up in the mountains and the big trees and we have an outdoor Bible study in the logs. And I always like to go through these chapters of Job. What about the treasures of the snow? What about the treasures of the hail? They cut those and there's no multiplication of design at all. What about the lightning and the thunder? What about the constellations? The laws of the heavens? What about the lion. The raven chapter 39 is my favorite one. God says, you want to disprove God, hook your plow to rhinoceros and plow your field with a rhinoceros. Said you put your hand on him and you'll never forget it. So anytime I go to the zoo or the museum, I read what it says about the rhinoceros. Nobody's ever tamed one. I saw that movie with John Wayne where they were going to rope those rhinoceros, a military truck wham right into it with his head. Did it again and again, he wasn't afraid of that truck wasn't smart enough to learn either to quit. But uh notice how God says "you ever try to ride a cow in the battle? You ever see an army riding cows?" Oh God made horses where they're not afraid of the swords, they laughed at trumpets, the sword rattles against them. Boy, they love it. They eat it up. You ride a cow out and try that. What about the hawk and the eagle? What about the dinosaurs? One sea dinosaur and one land dinosaur mentioned in chapter 40 and 41.

   So one of the great lessons in Job is all the great things of creation that prove God and the more you see how great God is, the more you Job actually started talking about the greatness of God in creation. Now, let's take a look back at the first part of the book and finish this one part about it proving the law of God that it existed before Moses.

   Chapter one, verse three says, this man was the greatest of all the men of the East. And of course, God said, he's the greatest in the earth at that time. Verse one said, he was perfect and upright. He feared God and the shoot evil. Now, if you look up Job, you'll find out like Genesis 46 and verse 13, Genesis 46. And verse 13, here you're reading about the sons of the patriarchs. Simeon's sons, Levi's sons, Judah's sons. Now Joseph's sons were Ephraim and Manasseh. Verse 13, the sons of Issachar, Tola, Phuvah, Job. So Job was the son of Issachar, same age as Ephraim and Manasseh the next generation after Joseph. So he could be the greatest, the wisest men of the East. And you can find that couple of other places. I Chronicle seven, verse one tells you that, Numbers 26:24 tells you that. Now, notice another thing in chapter one, verse five. Job's sons apparently didn't like his religion. So they went off on their own and they were having their parties and Job sent and sanctified them and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. Now he couldn't do that for Moses time on. But back before that, the oldest member of the family was a patriarch and he served as a priest. So the fact that Job did that shows he was somewhere before the time of Moses, he rose up early in the morning offered burnt offerings. Job said it may be that my sons have sinned. How do you know what sin is? If they're in a law where there's no law, there's no sin. They cursed God in their hearts. Maybe so. Job did that continually. Now, if you come on back to some of the other chapters in the Book of Job, you'll find out that it shows they were fully aware of the Laws of God. Chapter 23 for example. So as I read through the Book of Job, I look for God's Law and I just write Law right in it.

   Verse 10 of chapter 23, he knows the way that I take when he has tried me, I'll come forth as gold. My foot has held his steps his way have I kept and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips? I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Does that sound like he knew the law of God? He talks about the commandment. He hadn't gone back from it. His foot had kept his steps his ways. Now he gets more specific. Look at verse two of chapter 24. "Some remove the landmarks." Of course, Deuteronomy 19 said that's against the law. "They violently take away flocks and feed thereof, they drive away the ass of the fatherless." God's law said, if you see the ass of the fatherless, you shall take the time from whatever you're doing and take them back. Or else you drive them away because you ignored them and didn't have time for it. Now you can turn back and read that law in Deuteronomy 24 verses six and 10 and 12 and 17. They drive away the ass of the fatherless. They take the widow's ox for a pledge that's against the law. You can't take a widow's animal for a pledge. "They turn the needy out of the way and the poor of the earth hide themselves together." Verse seven, they cause the naked to lodge without clothing. You can't do that. Exodus 22:26 Deuteronomy 24:12. "You can't take a garment from some poor person in a pledge. If they go naked, God will see and you'll be God will wrap you on the head. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing that they have no covering in the cloud. They pluck the fatherless from the breast and take a pledge of the poor." God's law says you can't do that. "They cause him to go naked without clothing and they take away the sheep from the hungry." God's law said you can't glean your harvest. You've got to leave the sheath for the poor. The book of Ruth shows you that that's a couple of things in chapter 31. Some of the laws of God, verse, well, verse seven, we can start off, if my step has turned out of the way and my heart walked after mine eyes. If any blot has cleaved to my hands, then let me sow and let another eat. Let my offspring be rooted out. You can find that written back in Deuteronomy in 28. If you don't obey God, that's gonna happen to you, you're gonna sow and somebody else is gonna eat it.

   If my heart, you know a good way to do it. If your Bible has a marginal reference as you're reading through the book of Job, just look in the margin and notice how many references go back to Exodus 20, Deuteronomy, Leviticus. They're showing you that those are awarenesses of the laws of God and the curse and punishment that comes when you break it. You know, Job even said, well, if I've taken away something wrongfully, then let me pay back four fold or sevenfold. How can he say that if he didn't know about God's law read on verse nine, "if mine heart have been deceived by a woman or if I've laid weight at my neighbor's door, then let my wife grind to another and let others bow down upon her. This is a heinous crime. Yeah. It's an iniquity to be punished by the judges." Well, look at that. They had judges that use God's law and decreed punishment. "It's a fire that consumes to destruction."

   Verse 13, "if I have, if I did despise the cause of my manservant or my maid servant," God's law told you how to be kind to your manservant and maid servant. Verse 16, "if I have withheld the poor from their desire, if I have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or if I've eaten my morsel myself alone and the fatherless hadn't eaten thereof." God said, when you make a feast, bid the fatherless and the widow and the poor, if I have seen any parish for want of clothing or any poor without covering verse 21 "if I've lifted up my hand against the fatherless when I saw my help in the gate." So he states very plainly over and over an awareness of God's law and that God was just to punish him for violating his law. But he couldn't see that he'd done it and couldn't figure out why God was punishing him.

   Well, I hope that'll introduce you to one of the biggest books in the Bible. 42 chapters, one of the least read books and yet one of the books that's got more gold nuggets that hadn't been dug out of it yet than any book. But I hope you can get a lot more out of the book of Job and I hope you won't have to live the book of Job. It's a lot easier to learn about self-righteousness and have God get it across to you without having to live it. And surely we don't want any of our young people to have to live the book of Ecclesiastes. And I hope that'll make those books a lot more helpful to you in the future. And we'll see you, Sabbath.