Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: If a man dies, shall he live again? Yes. The answer is yes, of course. Job, it is true that when you die, there is a change. Metamorphosis comes. This body cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It has to die, it has to fall and die. But my spirit, my soul, goes to be with the Lord.

Here is Job's request to the three friends now. Job once again affirmed his integrity. Look, you guys, I'm not in sin. Yes, I am a sinner, but I'm not living a life of sin. This is not why I'm going through what I'm going through. And yet, here Job, being falsely accused by his friends, says, "Behold, my eyes have seen all this, and my ear has heard and understood it." Notice that.

In part of his defense, Job first expresses his disappointment in his three friends. I would too. What kind of friends are you? Instead of helping me and praying for me and encouraging me, you're coming against me and you're speaking things that you don't even understand. What you know, I also know. I am not inferior to you. Who do you think you are? You think you're smarter than I am?

But I would speak to the Almighty and I desire to reason with God. Notice here a warning. This is for people that speak out in their own hearts and they actually say, "Thus saith the Lord," when God hasn't spoken. Be careful. He says to be careful of that. "But I would speak to the Almighty and desire to reason with God. But you forgers of lies, you are all worthless physicians." He's had it with his friends. That's it.

He says, "You are worthless physicians. Oh, that you would be silent. Shut up. It would be your wisdom." Job's had it. "Now hear my reasoning and hear the pleading of my lips. Will you speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for Him? What's the matter with you? Why are you saying God talked to me when God hasn't really talked to you?"

So what does he do? He rebukes them in verse seven. He says, "Will you speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for Him? Will you show partiality for Him? Will you fight for God?" Notice that. I mean, think of how many TV preachers and radio preachers sit up there and say the Lord—well, I get letters all the time. "Dear Calvary Chapel, I've been praying for you and I feel that something's wrong with you. Can you send me $100?"

Think of how they make a prey of little old ladies on welfare checks. They're watching a television program and they're playing on their emotions. They get their little checkbooks, whatever they have, and they send these checkbooks. I've seen it happen. Be careful. There's so much of that out there, so much of that out there. And here, he warns.

Look what he says in verse nine. "Will it be well when He searches you out? Or can you mock Him as one mocks a man? He will surely rebuke you if you secretly show partiality." Notice that. In Chapter 38, they can't see that yet, but in Chapter 38, God will speak to his three friends. They'll be rebuked. We have to wait till we get there.

"Will not His excellence make you afraid and the dread of Him fall upon you? Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes and your defenses are defenses of clay. Keep quiet. Don't talk to me no more. Hold your peace with me and let me speak. And then let come on me whatever happens." Job here is declaring his faith in the Lord. Listen, I don't need you. I have God. God will sustain me. God will protect me. God will teach me. I don't need your help.

"Why do I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hands?" Check this out. Here Job is in the pit. He goes right back into the pit. He says, "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him." Notice here we see this beautiful thing: the great depth of faith in the life of Job here. "Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him." I love that.

We need to depend on the Lord. We need to trust in the Lord all the time. No matter what happens, we need to trust in God. No matter what you're facing today, whether it be cancer, a headache, financial problems, or children, whatever it may be, listen, don't ever take your confidence off the Lord. Trust Him.

"He also shall be my salvation, for a hypocrite could not come before Him. Listen carefully to my speech and to my declaration with your ears." He who has an ear to hear, let him hear. "See now, I have prepared my case. I know that I shall be justified." Notice that Job is maintaining his innocence. I am innocent before God and before my friends. I'm telling you, I haven't done anything wrong. Yet, how many times people falsely accuse other people? The reason you're going through this is because there's sin in your life. Be careful. That's not true.

Then he says this in verse 20. Job now presents his case before God. He says, "Only two things do not do to me, then I will not hide myself from You." Job here, check this out. Number one: the desire that he has. He says in verse 21, "Withdraw Your hand far from me." God, give me a break, please. He says, "Withdraw Your hand far from me and let not the dread of You make me afraid. Then call, and I will answer. Or let me speak, and then You respond to me. How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin."

Job is saying to his friends, "Hey, if you really believe I've sinned, show me my sins. Where are they? What have I done? Why do You hide Your face and regard me as Your enemy?" Notice, talking against them. "Will You break a leaf driven to and fro and will You pursue dry stubble? Lord, I am nothing, Lord. Nothing."

"For You write bitter things against me and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth." God here, he's actually saying about God, "Why are You punishing me, Lord? What have I done? Is there something that I've done that You're punishing me?" Man decays like a rotten thing, like a garment that is moth-eaten. He's talking about his body falling apart. He's going through it physically. He is a mess. Total mess.

Then here is Job's hopelessness now in Chapter 14. The brevity of life. He says, "Man who is born of woman is of a few days and full of trouble." He's right back to when he started. Again, he has the blues again. So far, had assured Job that there was hope for him if only he would acknowledge his sin and repent. Imagine that. And yet Job is saying, "Listen, I already talked to God. I have nothing that I have against anything or anybody here."

And yet Job here is suffering tremendously. He says in verse two, "He comes forth like a flower and fades away. He flees like a shadow and does not continue." Here, Job's point of view about the future was very bleak. He lost hope. I don't know if you've ever been there where you lose hope and you think, "Man, what else can happen to me? What other tunnel am I going to go through? Lord, where is the light? I can't see at the end of the tunnel."

Many times people can become depressed. When people come to me about depression, I don't know anything about depression. I'm sorry, but I do not know it. But there are people that really, really get depressed, very depressed. And yet here Job is actually looking at life, and he says life is short. The only thing that will last in a long time will be Christ. Christ is the only thing that we have. No matter if we're in a tunnel, we know that Christ is the only answer because we have the whole Bible today. We know that.

Job understands that God is the only answer. "And do You open Your eyes on such a one and bring me to judgment with Yourself? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing? No one. Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You. You have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass." Notice, God knows what our days on Earth are. Can you imagine that? God already knows the day you and I are going to die, how many days we're going to live here. That's why we plan, but yet God's in charge. We have to continue to plan.

And yet, I realize, and I love this, that God knows my beginning to my end. Surely, because I don't know when I'm going to die, but by age, we look at the years. Surely, we want to do the best we can until the day comes when we're going to be in the presence of the Lord, so that when we stand before Him, we can say, "I've done everything to serve the Lord and to love the Lord." To have a good conscience when we die. Imagine people that are dying and they have really done nothing for the Lord. Nothing but regrets. Horrible. It's so neat tonight to see so many of you here. What a blessing that is, because you're building eternally in the kingdom of God.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Don't forget, we're here to help and support you in your daily walk with God. Visit SomebodyLovesYou.com to look through our full selection of Bible-based resources, including the in-depth study of Job titled "When Trials Come." Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: And then he says, "Who can bring a clean thing out of the unclean? No one. Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You. You have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass. Look away from him that he may rest till I, a hired man, have finished his day. For there is hope for a tree. If it's cut down, that it will sprout again and that its tender shoots will not cease."

Here he's saying there is no hope for man, but there is hope for a tree. He's bummed out. Notice that. If you cut it, it will grow again. So poor Job. "Though its roots may grow old in the earth and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant. But man dies and is laid away. Indeed, he breathes his last and where is he?"

Notice that. He's thinking in the Old Testament. This is where people today actually talk about soul sleep. They take it from the book of Job and the Psalms, which again, he's talking again out of poetry, because we know that when a person dies, immediately his spirit goes to be with the Lord or his spirit goes to be in hell. But look what he says here. I mean, this is amazing.

When you die, you either go to heaven or hell. And then he says, "As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and is dried up." You know, the vapor of the water by the clouds forming. "So man lies down and does not rise till the heavens are no more. They will not awake nor be aroused from their sleep." Job doesn't understand. He doesn't know what's going on.

"Oh, that You would hide me in the grave." Notice again Job speaking the things that he does not understand. They're not inspired. He's speaking out of his own ideas about death. "Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that You would appoint me and set a time to remember me." That's where they get again the soul sleep from these scriptures. When you die, you'll go to sleep, and when Jesus comes back, He'll wake you up.

But here it is, verse 14. "If a man dies, shall he live again? Yes. The answer is yes, of course." We know the New Testament. "All the days of my hard service I will wait until my change comes." Job, it is true that when you die, there is a change. Metamorphosis comes. This body cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It has to die. It has to fall and die. But my spirit, my soul, goes to be with the Lord.

Notice Job again here. He goes back into despair after really coming to a place of height. He goes right back down. He says, "You shall call, and I will answer You. You shall desire the work of Your hands. For now You number my steps, but do not watch over my sin. My transgression is sealed up in a bag and You cover my iniquity. But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, and as a rock is moved from its place, as water wears away stones and as torrents wash away the soil of the earth, so You destroy the hope of man."

Poor Job. "You prevail forever against him and he passes on, and You change his countenance and send him away. His sons come to honor and he does not know it. They are brought low and he does not perceive it." Of course, when you're dead and they're looking at your body, you're in the box. That's just a shell. We need to understand that.

The moment a person takes their last breath, they say we lose some kind of a weight in our body: the soul, the spirit that departs from our body, that goes to be with the Lord or goes to hell. And there's really no fear to the child of God. Many people have confessed as they were dying that there were angels by their bedside waiting to take them home. Imagine that. That's amazing.

When we read in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 16, verse 19, we saw the angels come to get that poor beggar and take him to Abraham's bosom before Christ rose again from the dead. And when the rich man died, the angels came and took him to hell, to the place of torment. Imagine the angels working for God.

And then again, notice verse 22. "His flesh will be in pain over it and his soul will mourn over it." Notice that. He feels hopelessness now. And then in Chapter 15, here Eliphaz's first speech again, reprimanding Job again. And then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, "Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge? Job, did you ever get educated? You're dumb. And fill himself with the east wind? You're just a big bag of wind, Job. Should he reason with unprofitable talk?" Notice that.

I wonder how good of a friend this guy is. "Or by speeches with which he can do no good? Yes, you cast off fear, you restrain prayers before God. For your iniquity teaches your mouth and you choose the tongue of the crafty." Job, everything you're saying is deception. It's like Satan talking through you. "Your own mouth condemns you and not I. Yes, your own lips testify against you."

How sad. Can you imagine having someone—man, if I was sick, I would get up and punch that guy, man. Notice that. "Are you the first man who was born?" He's putting down Job. He says, "Or were you made before the hills? Have you heard the counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? What do you know that we do not know, Job? Tell me. What do you understand that is not in us? Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us, much older than your father."

I mean, this is kind of true. Why? Because godly old people that have gray hair have a lot of wisdom. "Are the consolations of God too small for you, Job? The word spoken gently with you? Why does your heart carry you away and what do your eyes wink at?" He's saying, "Job, you're refusing to confess your sins before God. Why don't you just do it?"

He says, "That you turn your spirit against God and let your words go out of your mouth. What is man that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman that he could be righteous or clean?" Notice that. He's saying, "I do not know why this happens to good people. Things are troubling me like Job." He's saying, "You know Job, I don't really understand." And Job is saying, "Listen, I know what God is doing." What happens? Notice that. He puts his trust in God.

"If God puts no trust in His saints or angels, and if the heavens are not pure in His sight, how much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water?" That's not true, because the Bible tells us what? That God has an angel watching over us in the New Testament, over little children. It's so cool. God watches over us. He never sleeps nor slumbers. God's in control.

Now he's going to talk about God judging the wicked. "I will tell you, hear me what I have seen and I will declare to you. The wise men have told, not hiding anything received from their fathers." In his first speech here, Eliphaz had described the blessing of a godly man, but now he describes the suffering of the ungodly man. So he's saying, "Job, you're ungodly. This is why you're going through this."

"To whom alone the land was given and no alien passed among them. The wicked man," notice, "again writhes with pain all his days, or travails in pain all his days. And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor. Dreadful sounds are in his ears. In prosperity, the destroyer comes upon him."

And check this out. "He does not believe that he will return from darkness, for a sword is waiting for him." What Job was doing is saying, "You know what, God? I'm waiting for death. Let it come. I can't take it anymore." You ever get to that place in your life? This is it. I can't take it. Take me home.

"He wanders about for bread, saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. Trouble and anguish make him afraid. They overpower him like a king ready for battle." Notice, no comfort for Job from his friends. No comfort at all. Nothing.

"For he stretched out his hand." Notice this is a false accusation against Job. "For Job stretches out his hand against God and acts defiantly against the Almighty." He never did that. Now they're saying things that never happened. "Running stubbornly against God with a strong, embossed shield. Though he has covered his face from his fatness and made his waist heavy with fat. He dwells in desolate cities, in houses which no one inhabits, which are destined to become ruins here." Literally, he becomes an outcast and lives outside in shacks instead of a house.

"He will not be rich, nor will his wealth continue, nor will his possessions overspread the earth." Remember, everything was lost: his children, all his money, it's all gone. And they're saying, "You'll never have anything again, Job. He will not depart from darkness. The flame will dry out his branches, and by the breath of His mouth, he will go away."

Check this out. "Let him not trust in empty things, deceiving himself, for vanity will be his reward." That's so true. That is so true for all of us here.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's lesson is available in its unedited form for a donation of $5 or more. If you'd like to get a copy, just call us at 800-634-9165 and ask for Raul's teaching from Job Chapters 11 through 15.

Now, if you're living in a season where you can relate to Job, facing adversity while enduring unfair judgment from others, we'd like to offer you Raul's nine-lesson series titled "When Trials Come." It's available on both CD and USB. With even more insight into Job's faith journey, this study will strengthen you with reassurances of the Lord's presence and provision in your suffering. You'll also learn that it's okay to struggle with confusion and doubt as you walk through the valley, but when you choose to hold fast to God, He'll guide you to mountaintops of blessing.

To order Raul's nine-message study titled "When Trials Come," visit SomebodyLovesYou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send you the CD set for $23 or the thumb drive for just $13. That's 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

We also encourage you to take advantage of all of our free resources. They're easy to access from home, during a work break, or on the road. Download our Somebody Loves You app for a variety of connections to scripture and join Raul for straight talk on the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel every Tuesday at 10 AM Pacific. This channel also features our podcast library of previous broadcasts, or you can look for them on iTunes and Spotify. Thank you for your partnership in this listener-supported ministry. You help us make it possible to share the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. Next time, we'll continue our series in the Book of Job by contemplating the confusion that often accompanies hardship. We'll get a challenge to shift our focus off of the why of our suffering and fix our eyes on God as we trust in His sovereign care. Here's Raul once again with a closing comment.

Raul Ries: Maybe tonight you feel like Job in your life. Maybe you're losing your marriage, losing your job, people that are unrighteous coming against you and falsely accusing you. Know one thing: that God will help you and God will be with you if you put your trust in Him. And let me guarantee you something. You will never ever have to face anything that God will not help you in. Whatever He allows in your life, He always makes a way of escape for you. Always. He will not take you over the edge because He loves you.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.