Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: How can a man get right with God? Repent of your sins, and God will forgive you and cleanse you and wash you. And yet, think how hard it is for so many people today to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior when they're ill or sick, ready to die, or healthy and wealthy, whatever. What keeps people away from God? One word: pride.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We are so glad to have you with us today as Raul continues our series in the book of Job. He'll assure us that we can always trust the Lord even in our darkest times. Like Job, we may not fully understand why God has allowed suffering in our lives, but we can be certain that He hasn't abandoned us. He loves us and His plans for us are perfect. Here's Raul Ries in Job chapter 7.

Raul Ries: Verse 11: "Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, and I will complain in the bitterness of my soul." Now, when you walk into a hospital, you go down—which I do a lot of times—it breaks my heart, especially those that are deserted by their families, left alone. And I've been able to walk into some of those rooms at night, and these people are weeping and crying or talking to themselves just like Job, like nobody's there.

It's a sad situation for people when you don't have anybody. There are so many lonely people today, old people, lonely people that have been abandoned by their children, abandoned their mothers and fathers, their grandparents. How sad! And yet, one day, they will become old, and then what's going to happen to you? Whatever a man sowed, that shall he reap, you see. We need to be loving, we need to be kind, we need to care for people, especially when people get sick and they're weak. Job is crying out, and he's saying, "Hey, is anybody listening?"

Verse 12: "Am I a sea serpent, that You set a guard over me? When I say, 'My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint.'" If I go sit down or lie down, you said, "Oh, if you do that, you'll be okay." No, it's not okay. "Then You scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions." He's talking about his friend. Remember at the beginning, he said, "I had a dream." Remember, he started to spook out Job? Well, here it is, Job's rebuking him.

"So that my soul chooses strangling and death rather than my body." He says, "I want to die." "I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone, for my days are but a breath." So you see, Job is losing hope of eternity. He's in a bad situation here. "What is man, that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart on him?" "Why am I here? Who am I?" Job is saying.

He turns to God now: "What is man, that You should exalt him, God, and that You should set Your heart on him? That You should visit him every morning and test him every moment?" He's saying, "God, can You please leave me alone? Stop chasing me. I've had it." He's crying out in his humanity just saying, "Lord, stop it. What are You doing to me? How long will You not look away from me, and let me alone until I swallow my saliva?"

So he's in bad shape. "Have I sinned? What have I done to You, oh Watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, so that I am a burden to myself?" Wow. Imagine getting to that point now, where Job now is talking to God as the Watcher of men and saying, "Lord, what did I do to deserve this?" But remember, at the beginning, it was all by permission.

Because we haven't got to the end of the story. The story gets better after chapter 38. But right now, Job is in a tunnel. And every one of us sometime in our lives have to go through tunnels as God tests us, as God refines us, so that we can become more like Him. Why? Because He's preparing us for eternity, not for this life. I've walked into those old people homes, and there'll be those old men and old women that do not have the Lord, and they'll be damning and cursing God as they're going into eternity.

They should be weeping and repenting and crying out to God. But the hardness of the heart, you see? He goes on, verse 21: "Why then do You not forgive my transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust"—notice that—"And You will seek me diligently, but I will no longer be." Notice that. He says, "If I die, then I don't have to be bothered by You anymore. It's over."

Poor Job. He didn't see what's ahead yet. And sometimes we, like Job, we've only seen so much. God already saw from beginning to end. He saw the whole movie already. We have not. So we have all these questions and doubts, and we do all these things against God. And God is saying, "Hey, it's almost over. Hold on. Be careful what you do. Be careful what you say."

So Job continues now. In chapter 8 now, we see Bildad now, his other friend. Here we see the character of Job in verses 1 through 7. He says, "Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, 'How long will you speak these things, and the words of your mouth like a strong wind?'" Can you believe that? Job wanted to get up and punch him, I guarantee you that. He's already feeling bad.

It's so sad because here Job poured out his heart to his friends, expecting sympathy from his friends. But what does he get? He gets rebuked. "You're just a big bag of wind, Job." Imagine that. "Does God subvert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert justice?" No, God is just and fair. God is just and fair. "If you would earnestly seek God and make your supplication to the Almighty."

Now he's giving Job a little advice. What has Job been doing? He's been calling upon God. You tell that person, "Hey, don't talk anymore. I don't want to hear it." "If you were pure and upright, surely now He would awake for you." Job, something's wrong. Something's in your life. That's why God's not listening. You don't need people like that in your life. Imagine that. "And prosper your rightful dwelling place." Job, something is very wrong with you. Get right with God. Because maybe this is why this is happening to you—there's sin in your life.

"Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly." This happened at the end, notice at the end of what? At the end of his stage, you will see that later on. We'll see that he went from losing everything to gaining three times more whatever he had because God took him through the fire. And that's what will happen to you and to me if we stay steady in course.

Verse 8: "For inquire, please, of the former age, and consider the things discovered by the fathers." The wisdom of the past. "For we were born yesterday and know nothing, because our days on earth are as a shadow." Life is so short. When you're little, time seems to be long. When you get older, you say, "Where did time go?" Days, weeks, months, years. Oh, man, another year! And pretty soon, you see yourself down the road, gone.

"Will they not teach you and tell you and utter words from their heart?" That is, living in the past. Now the evidence is nature here. Bildad may have summarized some of the sayings here by the ancients as he's arguing from the law of cause and effect here in verse 11. He says, "Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh? Can the reeds flourish without water?" The papyrus was used for the writing of the scriptures.

"While it is yet green and not cut down, it withers before any other plant." Job, you are just like a plant. Verse 13: "So are the paths of all who forget God; and the hope of the hypocrite shall perish." Notice, accusing Job of being a hypocrite. Wow. Poor Job. Poor person that has friends like that. Imagine. He says, "whose confidence or hope shall be cut off, and whose trust is as a spider's web."

Bildad here moved from plants to spiders now. "He leans on his house, but it does not stand. He holds it fast, but it does not endure." I mean, calamity after calamity. "He grows green in the sun, and his branches spread out in his garden. His roots wrap around the rock heap and look for a place in the stones. If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.' Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth others will grow."

And now notice what he says: "Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, nor will He uphold the evildoer." Job, you say you're innocent, but God is judging you. You're being judged by God, Job. You're not innocent, you're guilty. "He will yet fill your mouth with laughing and your lips with rejoicing." Literally, if you get right with God, Job, you would not have troubles. You would not have troubles.

Guest (Male): This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for a wealth of biblical resources to strengthen your spirit and deepen your faith. Our free app also provides convenient access to truths from God's Word with online Bible studies, live-streamed Bible teaching, and much more. Now, back to our study with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: "Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing." Bildad says literally, "Job, get right with God. What is it going to take? You're already at the bottom of the barrel. What is it going to take for you to get right with God?" And then Job answered and said now. Here are some three painful questions.

Question number one: he's going to tell us, "How can I be righteous before God?" "Then Job answered and said"—as he's answering Bildad—"Truly I, Job, know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God?" Remember, he's in the Old Testament. Today we would say, "How can a man get right with God? Repent of your sins, and God will forgive you and cleanse you and wash you to become a Christian."

So simple. And yet, think how hard it is for so many people today to become born again of the Holy Spirit and to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior when they're ill or sick, ready to die, or healthy and wealthy, whatever. What keeps people away from God? One word: pride. Pride. And here he says, "How can God allow this to happen to me?" He's allowing it, Job, and He's going to strengthen you and He's going to cover you. God is in control of life. Satan is always questioning the righteousness of God. Always.

And yet, he says, "If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?" Who has? "He removes the mountains, and they do not know when He overturns them in His anger; He shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; He commands the sun and it does not rise, and He seals up the stars."

What a tremendous picture of the Creator of the universe. "He alone spreads out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. He made the Bear, the Orion, and the Pleiades, and the chambers of the south." He's talking about the universe. "He does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number. If He goes by me, I do not see Him; if He moves past me, I do not perceive Him."

Why? Because God is invisible. I see His power in nature, but I have never seen God. And I don't think anybody has. And remember what He says in John 4:24: "God is a Spirit, and those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth." Verse 12: "If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who can say to Him, 'What are You doing?'"

God can do whatever He pleases. He's God. I'm just earth, dirt. "God will not withdraw His anger, the allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him." And then question number two: "How can I meet God in court?" "How then can I answer Him and choose my words to reason with Him?" "I want to go to court and I want to talk to God. I want to defend myself. Who am I?" Notice that.

"If God would come to me, what would I say to Him?" Verse 15: "For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy for my Judge." Notice that. This is so cool. This is the best plea we can make with God: mercy, not judgment. "If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice. For He crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause."

Literally, Job says, "I don't deserve these wounds. I am innocent, God." God knows it. "He will not allow me to catch my breath, but fills me with more bitterness." As I start getting better, boom, here comes more. "It is a matter of strength; indeed He is strong. And if justice, who will appoint my day in court? Or judgment?" Though—here's number two question: "If I could declare my innocence, what then?"

"Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were blameless, it will prove me perverse. Am I blameless? Yet I do not know myself; I despise my life." I'm human. "It is all one thing; therefore I say, He destroys the blameless and the wicked." That is, God allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. That's true, you see? Not just on Christians.

He says, "The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be?" You need to read Psalm 73 when you go home. Amazing Psalm. Because the Psalmist is declaring, "God, I see the wicked and they prosper, and they have no pain, they have no disease, they're never sick, all they do is enjoy their beer and they have parties and all that stuff. But look at me, I serve You and I'm always going through it."

Until finally he went into the house of the Lord. He said, "When I went into the house of the Lord, Lord, I saw the end of the wicked. How I thank You that I'm righteous." Everyone is a Christian, just like the ungodly, we have pain like everybody else. We go through things in life, but one thing separates us from the ungodly: they go to hell and we go to heaven. That's the difference.

Verse 23: "If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. And if it is not He, who else could it be?" And then number three: "If I try to be happy, what good will it do?" "Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away and they see no good. They pass by like swift ships, like the eagle swooping on its prey.

If I say I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile." You can fake it if you want to. "I am afraid of all my sufferings; I know that You will not hold me innocent. If I am condemned, why then do I labor in vain?" "If I'm really guilty, Lord, and I'm going to be tried for what I have not done, then what is the problem?"

"If I wash myself with snow water and cleanse my hands with soap, yet You will plunge me into the pit and my own clothes will abhor me." And the question number four: "If only I had a mediator." Oh, yes, Job, you're finally getting closer. Verse 32, here it is: "He is not a man as I am." Oh, Job, you're waking up. "That I may answer Him, and that we should go to court together." Notice that.

"Nor is there any mediator between us who lay his hand on us both." Yes, no. He's in the Old Testament, you see? He's looking into the Old Testament. In the New Testament, in 1 Timothy 2:5 and then again in Acts 4:12, what does it say? That there's no mediator between God and man but the man Christ Jesus. Yes, in the New Testament, we have a mediator, Jesus Christ. He's our mediator, you see? Beautiful here.

We have a mediator: Jesus. Verse 34: "Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let dread of Him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear Him, but it is not so with me." And then in chapter 10: "Why was I born?" Notice this: "My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint. I will speak in bitterness of my soul." Job's argument here is that God made him and gave him life. Then if He did, why is He allowing all these things to happen?

Why, God? "I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; show me why You contend with me.' What is the reason for all these trials and misery, God? Show me. Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise the work of Your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked?" Notice, God does this to you what? To turn you to Him so you can give Him glory and honor.

"Do You have eyes of flesh or do You see as man sees?" Literally, I believe God does not see me in my real condition. God is blind. Poor Job. "Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man? That You should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin?" So here Job begins to define himself.

"Although You know that I am not wicked, and there is no one who can deliver from Your hand." Notice that, he's crying out to God. "Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unit, yet You would destroy me. I am dust." Notice that. "Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay, and I will You return me into dust again? Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?"

Speaking of his conception from the womb. "Clothed me with skin and flesh, knit me together with bones and sinew? You have granted me life and favor, and Your care has preserved my spirit. And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You. If I sin, then You mark me and will not acquit me of my iniquity." That's not true. God does forgive sin if we repent.

Guest (Male): If you feel like your suffering has sent you into a dark tunnel with no light at the end, we encourage you to meditate further on the life-giving truths found in the book of Job. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to get a complete copy of today's program with much more teaching, we'll be happy to send it to you for a donation of five dollars or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165 and mention today's teaching from Job chapters 6 through 10.

We'd like to tell you about Raul's nine-part series titled When Trials Come. This study underscores the hope and strength that God can pour into your heart as you look to Him in adversity. Available on CD and flash drive, this resource also explores the blessings that come from choosing to trust the Lord in absolute submission, no matter what affliction comes your way. To order Raul's nine-message study, When Trials Come, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send you the CD collection for $23 or the USB for just $13. Our number again is 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You Radio, P.O. Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

We hope you'll take advantage of all of our free resources. Browse iTunes or Spotify for podcasts of all of these programs. You'll also find these programs on the Somebody Loves You worldwide YouTube channel, home of Raul's Straight Talk, streaming every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific. We're a listener-supported ministry and we're grateful for your partnership. Every tax-deductible gift helps us keep sharing the Good news of Jesus Christ. Join us next time for even more insight from the book of Job. Whether you're personally going through a hard time or you're a support person for someone else, you'll find biblical perspectives to guide your steps through the future's many unknowns. That's next time on Somebody Loves You Radio.

This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.