 We're going to be looking now at chapters 41 and 42 as we continue and conclude our study here in the book of Job. Next week I intend to begin a study in the book of Daniel and so you might want to read the first chapter and we'll pick up in the book of Daniel chapter 1 next week. But tonight we're in Job and we're going to look at chapters 41 and 42 as is my normal way. I'll read several verses to you and give you a background introduction and move right into our study. So beginning at verse 1, Job chapter 41, reading to verse 10, can you draw out Leviathan with a hook or snare his tongue with a line which you lower? Can you put a read through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak softly to you? Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird or will you leash him for your maidens? Will your companions make a banquet of him? Will they apportion him among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle and never do it again. Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false. Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him? No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. Who then is able to stand against me? And so as we are about to close our study of Job, God is continuing his line of questions with Job. And as he's been asking Job questions, Job has been humbled into silence. In chapter 40 we saw at verse 3 how he had said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you? So this admission did not end God's questioning of him. Last time, as we were together in our last study, I said that he's convicted. But though he is convicted, it doesn't mean his chastening is going to end. You see, comfort doesn't always come immediately, even when we admit we're wrong. This can be a way of simply saying, I'm hurting, I'm tired, please just make the pain stop. And so sometimes we might say, I'm sorry. But we may have behind that those words. So what do you want from me? What more do you want from me? And so sometimes somebody may say, I get it, but we really don't, not deeply. And it seems to me that that's what's taking place here with Job, because after he had said that I'm vile, I put my hand over my mouth. It sounds like he's making confession. And yet the Lord continues to bring questions. God hasn't stopped and he doesn't stop chasing in him. And so though he is saying, I get it, perhaps he hasn't not yet. So as I think about that, I think of other people in Scripture that that might also apply to not in the same way, of course, but this idea that you might realize there's something wrong, but not realize exactly what it is around how deep it may go. In an extreme case, we have someone by the name of Judas. Remember how Judas had betrayed Christ? And remember when you read your story concerning Judas, remember how his conscience had struck him. And after he had betrayed the Lord and had taken that 30 pieces of silver and all of that, he went back to the priests and remember how what had happened in Matthew in chapter 27, verses three and four, it reads Judas, his betrayers, seeing that he had been condemned, speaking of Jesus, that he had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders saying, I've sinned by betraying innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? You see to it. And when you read that at first you might say, but it looks to me like Judas was really sincere. I mean, look what he did. He even brought back the blood money. He said, I've sinned against an innocent man. I've sinned against innocent blood. And it can appear at first blush that that he's actually repentant to know what had happened and his conscience had struck him. He had admitted that he had done wrong. He had seen that Jesus had been condemned to death. He was remorseful. Again, he brought back the blood money. He tried to erase what he'd done, but that didn't satisfy the chief priests desire for the death of Christ. And so when they said, well, you know, what is that to us? You see to it. Well, in Matthew 27, five, it says he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went out and hanged himself. In the case of Judas, he was aware that he had done wrong. He even said this is an innocent man, but his remorse was not repentance. Remorse isn't the same. He didn't understand the depth of what he had done. In the case of Job, Job had made many statements that called God's judgment into question. His anguish was deep. And it provoked Job to question the goodness of God. The pain he went through was intense and he began to wonder aloud and even say, I would like to speak to him concerning this. Why is God doing this? But when God began to question him, he realized that he had no standing to question God. In Romans chapter nine, verse 20, the question is asked, who are you? A human being to talk back to God. Shall what his form say to the one who formed it? Why did you make me like this? Who are you? He says to speak to the Creator. You're just a creature. Well, Job was humbled, but he wasn't humbled enough. And so the Lord God made him dig a little deeper. And so what he does is he continues asking Job about nature. And he's making the point that that God himself is the Lord over it. And last time we were together, we looked at some questions that had been asked concerning something called behemoth. And I shared with you how behemoth, some commentators say this could be either a hippopotamus, it could be an elephant, and gave reasons why that is. I chose to look at the behemoth as a hippopotamus. What we have here is God continuing comparing Job, his strength with God's own strength. And after he had spoken of behemoth as this monstrous beast, he now speaks of something called Leviathan. Okay, here we go. I'll say something and start going. There are various interpretations concerning Leviathan. Some say Leviathan could be a sea monster. Some commentators will say, no, he's a great whale. There's a lot of scholarly disagreement concerning exactly what this creature is. But Leviathan is normally regarded as a crocodile. And you'll see this in a moment as we look at more details concerning his description. A huge crocodile. Now, I don't know how many of you, I've never, I don't know how many of you have ever seen a crocodile up close. I know you don't want to. But the Nile crocodile, the Nile crocodile, can reach lengths of almost 20 feet. So picture one of those little lizards in your backyard and magnify it to 20 feet in length and 1500 pounds in weight. The Nile crocodile is a huge animal. And many commentators believe that that is what is being described in this passage. Some have said they believe it's a whale. But as you look at this and you'll see the description doesn't necessarily fit a whale. So I take the line of thought that is more than likely the Nile crocodile or a huge crocodile that is being referred to here in this scripture. And so as we look at it, he says in verse 41, verse one in chapter 41, can you draw out Leviathan with a hook, snare his tongue with a line? Can you catch him like a fish is a picture that he's giving to us here? Can you catch him the way you would throw a line in and hook a fish? Do you think you can do that with this particular beast, Leviathan? Verse two, can you put a read through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? When it says can you put a read through his nose, they used to use these bull rushes that would be shaped into like a hook. And that's the picture he's using right here when he says put a read through his nose. It's a way to catch an animal, a fish normally. And the iron hook would be obviously something that they would drop to catch by the jaw. So can you use a hook shaped bull rush to fish for him? Can you use an iron hook to land him? In verse three, continuing, will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak softly to you? Will he make a covenant with you? Will you take him as a servant forever? Is he afraid of you? Will he pledge his service to you? Because you are his master, is what he's saying. Verse five, will you play with him? As with a bird, will you leash him for your maidens? Will you tame him? And will you play with him? Will you teach him to amuse you? Because birds can be trained in such a way as to do that. Can you train a bird to amuse you? Will you make this terrible and fierce creature so tame that little girls will not be afraid of him? That's what he's saying in verse five when he says, will you leash him for your maidens? Can you make him so docile and so gentle that babies, little kids could play around him without fear? Verse six, will your companions make a banquet of him? Will they apportion him among the merchants? This doesn't sound good, but can you feast upon it in a banquet? Now there are people in this room, I bet, at least are watching who have eaten, maybe not crocodile, alligator. Has anybody here ever eaten alligator? Just raise your hand and see some of you guys. You guys are pagans. Yeah, chicken, right? I'd be too chicken to eat the alligator myself. But that's the point. Have you feasted on him? Have you caught him and prepared him for a banquet? Will they butcher him and sell his meat in the marketplace? So he's talking about overwhelming and using for your own needs. In verse seven, can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle. Never do it again. Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false. Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him? No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. Who then is able to stand against me? So he continues his line of conversation and he speaks concerning a description of him. His skin is like iron, he said, his strength is beyond you to take by hand. If you try to wrestle him and beat him, you won't forget it soon. He's too strong for you. He can overwhelm you easily is the point. You're not fierce enough to win against him. No one is fierce enough in verse 10. No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. Who then is able to stand against me? If you can't save yourself from him, what makes you think you can save yourself from me? That's the point the Lord is making. Listen, Job, you wanted to contend with me. You wanted to argue your case with me. You've tried to argue with the creator of the universe and all that the universe contains. But once again, you're not even able to defeat a crocodile. And if you're unable to defeat even a crocodile, how can you defeat me? How can you defeat the king of the universe? And that's what he's doing. He's simply making Job realize he's way out of his league. And then he goes on into verse 11 and asked this question, who has preceded me that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is mine. That's an interesting thing. Who has placed me under any obligations that I should owe them anything? Who has ever given me anything that I don't already own? God owns everything. Everything belongs to him. He created it. He is the Lord and master of the universe. All creation is his. Everything belongs to him. Who has first given to God that God might be obligated to repay him? Who loved God first? You know, there are those who believe that they have first given themselves to God and loved God first. In fact, is that not true at all? Is it? We love him because he what? Because he first loved us. That's how we, you know, that's what we say. We know that. I didn't, I didn't love him first. He loved me when I was in sin. Now that to me is still amazing. He loved you and me. He loved us. Even when we were rejecting him and at war with him, even when we were hostly in opposition to him, even when we would refuse his, his, his pleas for reconciliation with us through the gospel. The gospel message has been called the gospel of reconciliation to what God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. The gospel is God's declaration of peace terms. The gospel, according to Paul, is God's message of cessation of hostility. It's a calling for man who is at constant war with God, opposing what God says. If God says it's black, we say it's white. If God says it's sweet, we say it's sour. If he says it's high, we say it's low. We are in constant rebellion against him. The gospel is God's declaration of terms of peace. And the peace that we can have with him is the kind of peace he says that will pass all understanding. It's a peace that comes through the cessation of hostility. It's a piece that comes in other words when I, who am at war with him, yield and submit and say, I have been defeated. And the way I yield and submit is through hearing the message or the terms of peace where God says, I love you. Let's begin there. And I sent my son to die in a cross for you. And he came to rescue you. Why? Because you were lost and miserable in sin. You were that sheep that had gone astray. You were that coin that had been lost by the, by that woman. You were the son who had rejected the love of the father. That's who you were. And yet God says, I sent my son to rescue you. He is the good shepherd who seeks out his sheep. He has come to seek and to say that which is lost. And so Christ in the gospel is portrayed to us in a way that he came, did the will of his father, laid his life down voluntarily. And in doing so paid a price that I could not pay for myself. He did it. He took it upon himself to pay for my sin by the shedding of his blood. And in doing so, I can now through faith in Christ have reconciliation with God and have a new life. And so all that I have, everything that has been given to me, I now recognize that I didn't earn on my own. Because if I say, well, you know, of course I'm a self-made man. I did this on my own. I didn't need anything from God other than the air that I breathe. Because airing free, God supplied it for me while I use my own strength. No, God created me. He gave me the ability while I thought it through. He gave you the brain. He gave you everything you have. We know that, don't we? We know that. So who is first given to him that he should owe us anything? You know, the only thing he owes me is judgment. But what he gave me is grace. And so who is first given to him that he should be obligated somehow? Well, Lord, I gave you something. That means you ought to give me blessings. You never give to the Lord as an investment. You give to the Lord as worship. Everything I have has been given to me. I'm simply giving him back what is already his. Like when my kids, I've said this a million times, you've heard this, but my kids give me a birthday present when they were babies. They didn't give me squat. I paid for that. Mama went out and mama got in my wallet. And so that's why when they'd say, Daddy, what do you want for your birthday? I'd say nothing because I don't want to buy myself anything. So they used the money that came out of my wallet. The same way I used the money that came out of his. So who has first given to him that he should give back to you? Nobody. So why do we give to him? And what is God saying? He's simply making it clear. Everything is mine. Everything under heaven is mine. In Deuteronomy 10, verse 14, Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's your God. The earth also with all that therein is. In the Old Testament book of 1st Chronicles 29, verse 11, yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord. You are exalted as head above all. Again, Psalm 24, verse 1, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. And finally Psalm 115, verse 16, the heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's. So God is simply saying, I don't have to nor will I ever explain my actions or justify my works to anyone. I don't have to explain to you. I don't have to. And so he doesn't. In verse 12, I will not conceal his limbs, his mighty power or his graceful proportions. Who can remove his outer coat? Who can approach him with a double bridle? Who can open the doors of his face with his terrible teeth all around? His rows of scales are his pride, shut up tightly as with a seal. When is so near another that no air can come between them? They're joined one to another. They stick together and cannot be parted. So he begins to share these various things here concerning the description of this great beast Leviathan. And he's simply describing him as we read. You can see it. It's very clear as he says that. Now verses 18 through 21 are interesting. Notice how it says his sneezing flash forth light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning lights, sparks of fire shoot out, smoke goes out of his nostrils. That's from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath stinks. Oh, no, I'm sorry. His breath kindles coals and a flame goes out of his mouth. Okay, this is where the ancients came up with the idea of fire breathing dragons. Because what you see here doesn't it seem to be a description of that? It obviously does. You know, the way it's speaking, you know, sneezing flash forth light eyes and the eyelids burning lights, sparks of fire. What it is, it's a picture of the crocodile when it breaks the water, breathes out of his nose, and all that vapor comes out. In the dark, as he's under the water and begins to come out, the light from the sun begins to reflect in his eyes. So this is a poetic expression and description, not of a dragon, but of a large crocodile coming out of the water, and it's a poetic way of describing that. The sneezing and all of that, that's a water spray when it's rising, the eyes are reflecting the light, etc. So that's what he's doing. It's a beautiful description, but it's not speaking of an animal that actually is breathing out fire and things like that. Verse 22, strength dwells in his neck, sorrow dances before him. The folds of his flesh are joined together, they are firm on him, cannot be moved. His heart is as hard as stone, even as hard as the lower millstones. So it's a picture of strength, it's a picture of fear that is provoked whenever he is near people. It's a picture of the coldness of this animal and the things that people are afraid of because he's so fearsome. It says in verse 25, when he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid because of his crashings, they're beside themselves. Though the sword reaches him, he cannot avail, nor does spear dart or javelin. He regards iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee. Sling stones become like stubble to him. Darts are regarded as straw. He laughs at the threat of javelins. His undersides are like sharp potsards. He spreads pointed marks in the mire. He makes the deep boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. He leaves a shining wake behind him. One would think the deep had white hair. On earth, there's nothing like him, which is made without fear. He beholds every high thing. He is the king over all the children of pride. So you can see this is a description, very poetic, but it's a description of a giant reptile, more than likely is a picture of a crocodile. So the Lord has been asking questions of Job. He's spoken concerning nature. He spent time looking at Behemoth. He took time looking at Leviathan. He's saying, everything is mine. You can't make these animals fear you. They naturally fear me. If you think that you're powerful, then why don't you show me your strength and your power by dominating these animals? You can't. Why can't you? Oh, because you're not God. And that's what he's saying here. And let's see how Job responds to this because Job is going to verse one chapter 42. Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, who is this who hides council without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I didn't understand. Things too wonderful for me, which I didn't know. Listen, please, let me speak. You said I will question you and you shall answer me. And so this is the fruit of genuine conviction. God pressed him until he actually was truly convicted. Notice there's no more arguing. Notice there's no correction. And notice in verse four how Job is simply responding with humility. All he's doing is agreeing with God. That's what he's doing. And so this verse here, these two verses, I want to spend a couple moments with you, verses five and six. I want to look at them together with you for a moment. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. I want to look at that for just a moment. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Over my lifetime I have walked by the things that you have that I've been taught concerning you. I've worshipped you. I've made my offerings to you. I led my family, my children and my wife in the ways of honoring you. I've taught them to do that. I've been an example to them. When I thought that my children may have, even in their heart, even in their heart, have disregarded you in one way or another, I made offerings on their behalf. My children knew me as a righteous man. My children and my wife have known me as one who fears you. I have a testimony. I've had a testimony before. Many people, as one who feared God, was blessed by God. I have worshipped you. I've made my offerings to you. I've done all of this because I've held fast to what I've been taught by others. Now, from the time of Adam, teachings and traditions were passed down generationally. Alephaz, one of his friends, had made reference to the ancient wisdom that had been handed down in chapter 15, verses 17 and 18. He had said, I will tell you. Hear me what I have seen. I will declare what wise men have told, not hiding anything, received from their fathers. And so, when we began this study, I had mentioned to you that this book is the earliest book. It deals with events and is the earliest book in the Bible. Commentators believed that the events took place in the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And that would mean that scripture itself had not yet been recorded because Genesis and the opening of the Old Testament books were written by Moses in 1400 BC. And because the Bible had not yet been recorded, believers were holding fast to what is called oral tradition. And it's the oral tradition. It's the faith that had been handed down to him from the ancients that he was clinging to. He didn't have a recorded thing. He didn't have the book of Genesis. He didn't have Exodus Leviticus. He didn't have any of those books. What he had was his ancient teachers, the masters, who had received information by tradition orally and had transmitted it to others who followed what was taught. But he didn't have written record. And so, that's what was guiding Job, the teaching of the ancients. And so, what he was doing is he was holding fast faithfully and he was living accordingly to what he had been taught. And that's why God would say there's none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil. Because Job was someone who walked by faith and not by sight. And he had held fast to what he was taught. And he had a strong faith in God. And that reminds me of something that Peter said in 1 Peter 1, 8 and 9, when it says, whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls. You haven't seen Jesus Christ, he is saying to the church. You haven't seen him personally. You haven't walked with him. You didn't touch him. John, when he wrote 1 John, said, we saw him with our eyes. We heard him with our ears. We touched him. We were able to see that the word of God that was made manifest and incarnated was someone that we had personal experience with. But we can't say that in this room, right? And neither could Job. What Job was doing was looking forward to the time Messiah would come. What we do is we look back at when Messiah came, but there were those at that time who walked with him. And yet we have in yet not seen him, still we love him. Why is that? Because we walk by faith and not by sight. And so in the case of Job, he had received things by tradition, oral traditions. And from those oral traditions, he had held fast and remained faithful. And that's why God would say no one is like him on the face of the earth. He hates evil and he follows me. So Job is saying, I have heard things of you. And by faith, I've held fast to what I've heard. But I obviously didn't have the full picture. I didn't have complete knowledge. And because of this, I haven't fully understood who you are. Because of this, I didn't really get it. Now let's look at it again from a New Testament perspective. Luke tells the story of Jesus as he was teaching by the Sea of Galilee. And as Jesus was teaching, the crowd began to grow so much so that there was a press. There were so many there that he was moving back towards the shoreline where the water begins to meet the shore and all. And as he was moving back and all, he realized that he needed a way to be able to reach these people who were crowding him. And so the Bible tells us that what he did is he saw two boats that were by the lake. And he climbed into one of these boats. And as he climbed into the boat, we're told by Luke that this boat belonged to Simon. And so we tell Simon, and you could almost picture Simon, Simon Peter. You could almost picture him as he's there in the boat just sitting. Well, Jesus is there ministering from the boat to the people on the shoreline. You can always picture him maybe just doing some work, whatever it may be that he has to do because, you know, the time of fishing had ended. He'd been out all night and it was time for him to get things put in order and all. And there's the master and the master says, let me borrow your boat. And he says, okay, pushes off from shore. He begins to minister. And Jesus is teaching the people. When he stopped teaching, he told Simon, launch out into the deep, cast down your nets. And Simon at first said, listen, you didn't say this, but this is what I know he was thinking. Listen, you're a carpenter. You're a carpenter. I'm a fisherman. You know, I think it's great. It's wonderful. You're a rabbi. I think it's awesome. I mean, I love to hear what you're saying. I've been enjoying your message as you've been giving it. But you're out of your league here. I have to be honest with you. You see, I make my living. I'm a businessman. I have my partners. We have Simons fishing, you know, business and all. And you make furniture. I mean, you really don't understand. See, I've been fishing all night because that's what we do because during the night, we can let down our nets. And when we let down our nets, the fish don't see the nets in the dark, and we let the net settle for a while. And at the right time, we haul them in. And when we do so, they're filled with fish. And that's when we do it. But listen, we've been fishing all night. We've caught nothing. So I think it would probably be a good idea if you just keep preaching and let me keep fishing because there are actually two different kinds of occupations you see. But Jesus said, no, he said, launch out into the deep, cast your nets. Well, he didn't want to do it, but we know the story, Simon obeyed. And he let down the nets. And then he caught this amazing amount of fish, so much so that the the nets began to break. And you can picture, for a moment, you can picture in your mind's eye the excitement, his calling the people over to help them haul these nets up. There's too many fishing, he's freaking out. And he's catching all of these fish. And the nets are beginning to break. He calls his partners and they come and they begin to pull these nets into the boat. And you can see him with this amazed, excited look like, we're rich. Look at all these fish. And then Peter realizes what happened. It dawns on him. Fish don't just climb into nets in the daytime. How did he respond? Well, Luke tells us in chapter 5 verse 8, when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, depart from me, for I'm a sinful man. Hold on. See, Simon Peter thought he knew who Jesus was, but he really didn't. I like the old story of the blind men and the elephant. Do you guys remember that? Anybody here old enough to remember that? If not, I'll tell you it. I'm old enough to remember it. There were 12 blind men. I told you this the other day, or a while back, I'll just say it quickly. 12 blind men, they were asked to describe an elephant. One grabs the ear and he says it's like a fan. The other grabs the nose, says it's like a snake. The other grabs the tail, says it's like a rope. One grabs the leg. He says it's like a tree. So they begin to describe just what they see through their imagination, but they don't see what it really is because they're blind to it. And I think that sometimes we have an idea of what God is like because we see one thing about him. And we may lock into that one thing. This is what he is. But God is a lot greater than the one thing that we latch on to. And Peter knew Jesus as a teacher. Peter knew him as a great communicator. He knew him as a leader. He knew him in so many areas, but this is where Peter reminds me of Job because Job said, I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear, but now I see you with the seeing of my eyes. I only saw some of you from what I've heard. I've only been taught certain things about you. The ancients gave to me enough information for me to be faithful to that which I knew. But now you've revealed yourself to me in a personal way. And the result of me coming close to you and seeing you is like what Simon Peter said. When Simon Peter said to the Lord, depart from me. I'm a wicked man. And what he says here in verse six is I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes because listen, you want to know, this is so simple, you don't have to write it down. If you want to know the origin of humility, if you want to know how you can have it, all you need to do is see yourself in comparison to who Jesus is. And that'll humble you. When you think you're as good as he or better than he, and Job was actually arguing with God. When you think you know more than he, when you think you could argue your case and win your case against him, that's what the Lord is dealing with. I heard of you, but now I see you. It's not as if God is visibly, by the way, manifesting himself. He's saying, I've recognized you with my eye of faith. I now see who I am in comparison to who you are. The result will always be, well, these ashes that I've been sitting in. Remember at the beginning how he was in a pile of ashes and scraping his body? Well, I have been in these ashes already, but this time I'm repenting while I'm in these ashes. You see, my afflictions had brought me to the ashes, but now my sins drive me to them. My comments have been overbold. My attitude towards you has been wrong. I've been familiar with you, but I belong in this heap of ashes. Suffering is what brought depth to this band's life. You see, the origin of greatness begins by humbly recognizing our smallness. In Proverbs 1533, the fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility. Proverbs 22 verse four, by humility and the fear of the Lord, our riches honor in life. So I abhor myself first seven. And so it was after the Lord had spoke these words to Job that the Lord said, Eliphaz the Timonite, my wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has. Notice that God doesn't speak to Job. He listened to Job as Job spoke, but then he speaks to Eliphaz. Now why did he speak to Eliphaz? It's because Eliphaz was evidently the eldest and he was a representative of his two friends. Notice that he doesn't speak to Alleyu. Alleyu is not dealt with because his words contained more mercy towards Job. He hadn't personally attacked him. He simply called into question his life. He rebuked his attitude on the whole. Job had spoken properly concerning the Lord, but the comforters had not. Their attitudes and their words weren't right before God. And so he speaks to him. And then he says in verse eight, now therefore take for yourself seven bulls and seven rams. Go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. My servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him lest I deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has. So Eliphaz the Timonite and Bildeth the Shuite and Zophar the Namethite went and did as the Lord commanded them, for the Lord had accepted Job and the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Here's something really powerful. God humbles Job's miserable comforters. God says go to the one you called hypocrite, but you need to have him offer up sacrifices on your behalf. And by the way, he's going to pray for you. So Job is being recognized as accepted by God. But I want you to see how verse 10 says the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Let's look at that for just a second, shall we? Job was called by God a righteous man and his righteous heart is revealed by his willingness to pray for his friends. If somebody has injured you, one of the ways, and who hasn't been injured, one of the ways that you'll know that you're on the right path of the Lord is when you're willing to first and foremost pray for them. That God may do something in their life. That God might heal them. That God might forgive them. He was a righteous man and his righteousness is shown by his willingness to pray. I have a friend of mine, I'll leave his name out of the conversation for a moment simply because I didn't ask permission to share this, but let me share it really quickly. Years ago, he's a pastor and another fellowship in a distance from here. And he shared how that his mom had married several different men. And over time, he had many men in his life. But one of the men that his mother had married was an abuser. When he was a little boy, maybe 11 or 12 years old, he was sharing with us at a pastor's conference many years ago now. And he said this man, he said was violent. He was violent. He said, I was a little boy and the man would be violent to my mom. He said, and I tried to protect her. And he said, the man beat me the way a man would beat another man. I don't know if you understand what that means. The way a man would beat another man. When a man fights another man, that's one thing, but when a man fights a little boy, like it were a man, that's pure evil. He said, he beat me so badly. He said, I was beaten so badly. He said, it took a while for me to heal, trying to protect my mom. He said, as I grew up, he said, I, I hated that man, a man who beat my mom and beat me. I hated him. He said, my mother went again, married somebody else. She had many different men in her life. And I didn't hear from him for a long time. Then word came to me that he was in a hospital. He said, I'd already planted my church and I heard he was in the hospital. He says, I went to the hospital room and I sat there next to this man who would beat me as a little boy. He said, I could have, I could have hated him for what he did for a long time. I did, but God had saved me and God had changed me. He said, and I'll never forget how I shared God with him, visited him, ministered to him, and I eventually led him to faith in Christ and buried him when he died. See, forgiveness isn't something you feel. Forgiveness is something you do. Forgiveness is something that comes out of a heart that's aware of its own sense. And you can't, I think one of the ways I'll put it this way, I believe that one of the ways Job shows his righteousness is after suffering. You have heard the things these men have been saying. And God says to them, Job's going to pray for you. What's that show me about Job? He's a righteous man. He's a righteous man. In Matthew 614, if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Ephesians 432, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you. Forgiveness is one of the things that believers do. And after so much pain he endured by the words of his friends, instead of saying, you ought to perish. Look at what you've done. Look at how you've hurt me. He prayed for them. And the healing of Job is tied in with his prayers for his friends. His prayers for his friends reveals his faith and that he had released their debt to him. So he prayed for them. And notice what happens in verse 10, second portion. The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters and all those who had been his acquaintances before came to him, ate food with him in his house, consoled him, comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver, each a ring of gold. The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning for he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 Yoke of oxen and 1,000 female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemima, the second Desiah, and the name of the third Karen Havuk. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. And so Job died old and full of days. And so God restored Job through his grace and goodness. Notice he doubled all his previous financial wealth and he also had more children. Now when you look at the names, Jemima means fair as the day. That's what the word means. It's a picture of the beauty of a brand new day. Gesiah is a spice that was used for perfume and the name Karen Havuk is a container for eye shadow. Again, it's emphasizing beauty. These three names here are actually implying beauty and sweetness. And that's why the names are mentioned to us. And then Job died. He died old and full of days. In James 5 verse 11, it simply says, you know, as you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You've heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. One last thought and then we'll close the prayer. I've heard people say, oh, look, he got his children back. Now, no, he had other children. I don't know how to say this. So I'm going to, because I didn't prepare this. That's just something I, there are parents who would tell you this, that when one of your babies dies, even when they go to heaven and thank you, Jesus that they do, our babies go to heaven. And the Lord is gracious and once again opens the womb of the wife and she has another baby. It's a blessing to have a baby. It truly is. But that baby is never intended to replace the one that you had. You will always have in your heart a sense sometimes of sorrow, sometimes of what's the word missing, but you also have a hope. I will see that baby in heaven. And that's a beautiful hope. But I've heard people teach this passage and say, he gave them new babies. I think it's a very unwise thing when someone speaks to someone who's lost a baby and has said, oh, you'll have another one. That isn't a wise thing to say, never is. No, you weep with those who weep. We who have, you who have perhaps never lost a child, maybe don't understand that. And we try to help sometimes by giving words of hope. And I appreciate that I really do. But sometimes it's better, better to let them grave and just be there with them as they heal. Be careful when you're comforting somebody. You know, many years ago I learned this on a personal level for the first real time when my father went home to be with the Lord and well-meaning people would say things to me, well, he's in heaven and things like that, which I know already. I know. But that doesn't mean I don't miss. It doesn't mean I don't have faith. It doesn't mean that at all. I know. And guess what? Christians sometimes feel deeper pain than non-Christians at the loss of someone. Why is that? Because we love deeper. Because the love we have is deeper. Because the love that we have comes from God. And we can mourn in a deeper way because we loved in a deeper way. So if you have a friend who is going through pain, if you have a friend who's going through a loss, sometimes it's wiser just to weep with those who weep and just to let them cry and then wait for the Lord to give you the right moment to maybe be a word of comfort to them. Or maybe he won't use you like that at all. Maybe God will simply be the healer and you're silent suffering along with them will be what they need at that moment. Be wise in those kinds of things because I've heard people give their messages on Job and he gave them new children. No. That doesn't mean that Job didn't miss his other babies. He gave them babies, thank you Jesus, but he still had a loss in the others. And so he became a very deep man through the things he suffered. And we can become deep through the things we go through. Because there isn't anything so deep that God isn't deeper still. And we are held up by his everlasting and ever strong hand. In the lower we go, the more he's still holding us up. Never forget that. And the things you learn through your pain, they're things for other people too. You can understand them and have compassion on them and understand in a way that some others don't. So there we go, the book of Job. Father, we ask that you would work in us and continue to do so. So many lessons to learn. Father, I just pray that we might learn the right ones at the right time. And even at this moment as our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed. There may be some right now in this room who need to get right with the Lord. There's things that you need to set in order with him. As our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed, and perhaps you were watching online. If you need to get right with the Lord right now, and you need prayer, I'd like to pray for you. Would you raise your hand right now? Let me pray for you right where you're at. Father, you see these hands. You know the reason why they're being raised to you. I ask in Jesus' name that you, Lord, would reach down and touch every person. Lord, you know what's inside our hearts and the things that are being lifted to you. And I ask, Lord, that you would reach down right now and touch. Bring healing. Bring forgiveness. Lord, bring renewal. Bring restoration. Work within them. And Father, I ask that you would do so because they're asking. They're asking for you to work in them and you will answer that prayer. And so we lift them to you now and we pray that you would move upon them, washing, cleaning, and in filling with your presence. Lord, we just receive from you now and we thank you and we bless you. Thank you, Jesus. You can put your hands down. And we ask, Lord, that you would continue moving in all of us. And we ask this now in Jesus' name. Amen.