All right, so I've given myself the crazy task of covering Job the last few months. And today we're coming to an end of that series. It's been quite the journey. Job is a very complex book with lots of poetry, lots of difficult to understand poetry.
I like using the NLT for that reason. It simplifies things into plain English. Plain English is in what we would understand. It wouldn't have been plain English to the people who first translated the Bible, but that's OK.
This section of Job is Job 40 to 42. The last two chapters of Job, actually the last three chapters, sorry, because it's 40, 41, 42. So this is Job's repentance and restoration. So I'm going to flip to the next slide.
This is our background. Job is a righteous man. We start off in the book of Job. He's a righteous man.
He's also a wealthy man. And Satan wants to destroy him. He wants to bring him down. So of course, God allows Satan to approach his God.
God allows Satan to inflict suffering on Job. Loss of family, loss of wealth, loss of health. Sounds like the prosperity gospel, except in reverse. Job cries out to God in his suffering.
And in his initial, when he cries out to God, when he initially cries out, he doesn't sin. It says that Job did nothing wrong. He didn't sin while he cried out to God. And this is important.
I think it's an important point. When I spoke on this, my point was that it is important for us to express how we feel. It's good for us to express how we feel about things. It's important for us not to make assumptions about God.
But if we are encouraged in the Bible to actually express to God how we feel. And God wants to communicate with us. He wants open communication. Job's three friends try to help him.
And all they do is just criticize him. They think that he did something horrible to bring this upon himself, which is not the case at all. God makes that very clear. Job accuses God of wrongdoing.
This is a sin, FYI. That's what I have there. Job actually does cross the line at one point. He does accuse God of doing wrong in his life.
If you want to go back and read Job, I encourage you to do so. It's a massively complex book, but it's really good. It's so Elihu, a fourth friend, comes in, sets him straight. I think of Elihu as almost like a John the Baptist type.
He prepares the way of the Lord. He gives them some more truth, something that they can actually grasp before God comes in and responds. God comes in, responds with questions for Job. We'll look at a few of those tonight today.
There's basically two sections, two things that God talks about. Job repents and is restored. And this will be the focus of today's message. So that's my outline for now.
What is repentance? You're going to wonder why I have a lawn mower there. I'm going to explain that in a minute. Google's definition.
This is fascinating, actually. Google's definition says the action of repenting. Sincere regret or remorse. I actually don't know if I really agree with sincere regret or remorse as entirely repentance.
Regret and remorse are part of repentance, but repentance is the action associated with regret and remorse. It's what you do about regret and remorse. This is fascinating because Google actually put this in their description. Each person who turns to God in genuine repentance and faith will be saved.
That's the gospel that teaches us how to be saved. A person who turns to God in genuine repentance and faith will be saved. I think it's pretty fascinating that the gospel that Google actually put that in there as their in part of their definition. Repentance is agreeing with God about our sin and surrendering to him.
Just a moment here. I'm getting a little bit of a problem. My notes are actually gone, so I just have to wing it here. Or go into my phone and see if they actually have the notes.
I apologize. Let's see here. There we are. OK, so the reason the lawnmower is there is because of a game that we used to play as children.
We used to play this game called the repentance game. And I was probably about three or four years old. And my parents were trying to teach us what repentance is, what it means to actually repent, rather than just kind of saying, oh, I'm sorry. Whatever.
I'm sorry. That's not really repentance. So basically the illustration is if I borrow the neighbor's tools or whatever, I specifically remember lawnmower because we just got a new lawnmower. And that was exciting to me.
So my dad was like, well, if I borrow our neighbor's lawnmower, I break it. And I bring it back to him and say, well, it wasn't a great model anyway, whatever. Then is that repentance? That's not repentance.
If I bring it back to him and say, sorry, anyway, see you later. That's not repentance. What repentance really is is bringing it back to him and apologizing and offering to buy him a new one or offered to give him money to buy a new one, whatever it is, or fix it, or along those lines, it's actually taking an action to fix the problem. Now, again, in our sin, we have no ability to fix our sin.
We can't do that. So we have to come to God and just surrender and say, listen, I'm yours now. And in this case, you can go to your neighbor and say, listen, I'll do whatever you want me to do. I don't have money to fix your lawnmower.
I don't have the ability to. But I'm yours. Do what you got to do with me. And God, according to his mercy, does not punish us for our sin if we repent of our sin in faith.
The neighbor might be like, ah, OK, let's see. Let's see what we can do. But God is merciful. And if people come to him in genuine repentance and faith, they will be saved according to Google, according to the gospel, according to the Word of God.
Job 40, verse 3 and 5. We're going to, verses 3 to 5. We're going to read Job 40. I'm actually going to read from the beginning of the chapter.
And I'm going to read from the NLT. And we'll just read the whole, that first section there to verse 5. The Lord God said to Job, do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God's critic.
But do you have the answers? Then Job replied to the Lord, I am nothing. How could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand on my mouth in silence.
I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say. So we've talked about the definition of repentance, agreeing with God about our sin and surrendering to him. This is the first step.
Job repents. Job starts his process of repentance by shutting up. He first admits that he is nothing. He's of small account, as some versions say.
Job declares, basically, similar to what John the Baptist said in the book of John, I must decrease. He must increase. And this is an attitude that we must have. This is repentance.
This is what it looks like. Job decides, he concludes that he is a small account. He decides to be quiet and listen to God. This is the first step to repentance, quieting down, listening to God, understanding what the Word of God says about us and about himself.
Job demonstrates humility here. He's OK with just saying, I don't know. I don't have the answers. Please teach me.
And the Lord does. The Lord holds him to that. As the Lord does throughout the entirety of Job, the Lord holds him accountable for his words. So the next slide, it's going to have a hippo on it.
I don't know. You guys are going to be confused about that, I'm sure. God challenges Job. We're going to read the section.
And I'll read it in the NLT. Then I'll explain why I have, well, actually, yeah. The NLT actually explains why I have a hippo in it. And I'm going to explain some things.
Verse 6, 2, verse 24 of chapter 40. Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. Brace yourself, because I have some questions for you. And you must answer them.
Are you going to discredit my justice and condemn me so that you can say you are right? Are you as strong as God? And can you thunder with a voice like his? All right, then.
Put your robes on your robes of state and your majesty and splendor. Give vent to your anger. Let it overflow against the proud. Humiliate the proud with a glance.
Walk on the wicked where they stand. Bury them in the dust, imprison them in the world of the dead. Then even I would praise you for your own strength would save you. God is essentially being sarcastic here.
He knows the Job is simply a product of the dust of the earth. But he's challenging him. And he's saying, if you know so much about this, about me, then humble the proud. Thunder your voice from heaven.
Do the things I do, if that's what you think you are. It's interesting that God actually brings up humbling the proud here, because I believe that that's what God is doing himself. He's demonstrating, this is me humbling the proud. And he's telling Job to humble the proud.
It's interesting how God uses that. Verse 15. And this section bothers me. I'm actually going to say that right now in this version.
So I'm picky about things. And I'm the son of a geologist. So I'm a little picky about the earth's history and things like that. The NLT calls behemoth a hippopotamus.
I have an issue with that, because it says they have a tail of a cedar. And I don't know if you can see the tail on there. You probably can't, because that's not a cedar. There's no way.
That might be a baby cedar. But anyway, it took me forever to find a Google image that actually showed the tail. So I'm just being picky here. That's just why I put that in there.
Just to demonstrate that to you, I don't think that it's actually a hippopotamus that it's talking about. I'm going to replace the word hippopotamus with behemoth, which is the original word that they used, which may very well be a dinosaur of some sort. Because of the description. It has a very distinct description.
Take a look at the mighty behemoth. I made it. Just as I made you, it eats grass like an ox. See its powerful loins and muscles of its belly.
Its tail is as straight as a cedar. The sea news of its thighs are tightly knit together. Its bones are tubes of bronze. Its limbs are bars of iron.
It is a prime example of God's amazing handiwork. Only its creator can threaten it. The mountains offer their best food, where the wild animals play. It lies down under the lotus plants, hidden by the reeds.
The lotus plants give it shade among the willows beside the stream. It is not disturbed by raging rivers, nor even when the swelling Jordan rushes down upon it. No one can catch it off guard or put a ring on its nose and lead it away. I'm not going to get picky anymore about this, because I do believe that the point that God is making survives, whether it's talking about a hippopotamus or a dinosaur or whatever.
God's point is these creatures, the behemoth, it's extremely powerful. It's impossible for man to tame. And it says that only its creator can intimidate this animal. How much more powerful is their creator than these animals?
A job can't even tame. Job is accusing the creator of these animals, these powerful beasts. It continues in chapter 41. Can you catch a crocodile?
Okay, so the crocodile thing, maybe it's a crocodile, I think it could be a dinosaur as well. Can you catch a crocodile with a hook or put a noose around its jaw? Can you tie it with a rope through the noose or piece of its jaw, piercings of its jaw with a spike? Will it beg you for mercy or implore you for pity?
Will it agree to work for you? Can you make it your slave for life? Can you make it like a pet bird or give it to your little girls to play with? Will merchants try to buy it?
Will they sell it in their shops? Will its hide be hurt by darts or it's head by a harpoon? Can you lay a hand on it? If you lay a hand on it, you will never forget the battle that follows and you will never try it again.
This is Leviathan. It says crocodile, it's Leviathan. This is a creature, it's an aquatic creature and it's extremely powerful, once again. A little more vicious than the behemoth.
The behemoth is more of a fairly passive creature that just simply is too big to be led, too heavy. The Leviathan is actually a powerful creature in the way that it is its fierce. It'll actually do damage to people if they come too close. I'm gonna keep on reading on here.
Verse 9 of chapter 41. No, it is useless to capture it. The hunter who attempts will be thrown down. And since no one dares to disturb the Leviathan, who would dare to stand up to me?
Who will confront me and remain safe? Everything under heaven is mine. God is demonstrating his power over his creation. He's demonstrating that even these animals that are so powerful and so dangerous in some cases, God is far more dangerous than these animals.
He is actively in a state of wrath against people who are in sin, who are living in sin and not repentant. I want to emphasize the tremendous strength of the Leviathan's limbs throughout its enormous frame. Who can strip off its hide? And who can penetrate its double layer of armor?
Who can pry open its jaws? For its teeth are terrible. The overlapping scales on its back make a shield. Those, they are close together so no air can get between them.
They lock together and nothing can penetrate them. When it sneezes, it flashes light. Its eyes are like the red of the dawn. Fires sparks leap from its mouth.
Smoked streams from its nostrils, like steam from a boiling pot, a fire of dry rushes. Yes, its breath would kindle coals for flames to shoot from its mouth. The tremendous strength in its neck strikes terror wherever it goes. Its flesh is hard and firm, not soft and fat.
Its heart is hard as a rock, as hard as a millstone. When it rises, the mighty are afraid, gripped by terror. No sword can stop it, nor spear, nor dart, nor pointed shaft. To the Leviathan, iron is nothing but straw and bronze is rotten wood.
Arrows cannot make it flee. Stones shot from a sling are as ineffective as straws. Clubs do no good, and it laughs at the swish of the javelins. Its belly is covered with scales and sharp glass.
They tear up the ground as it drags through the mud. The Leviathan makes the water boil with its commotion. It turns up the depths. The water glistens in its wake.
One would think the sea had turned white. There is nothing else so fearless anywhere on earth. Of all the creatures, it is the proudest. It is the king of the beast.
Once again, this is God's creature. These things are amazing. I really would like to know what exactly the Leviathan was. It could have been, there are dinosaurs who actually were capable of spewing hot gases and basically breathing fire.
It could have been that. It says crocodile here. I don't know if it's that. But the point is, God's power over these creatures and these amazing powerful creatures.
Who can stand before God? Who can even approach God? He's someone who has created these things. He's the source of all these things.
We're going to move on. Job repents. Job's response to all this and the questions before it. There's about 84 questions, I believe, that God asks Job.
None of them are to provoke a real actual answer. God is never going to ask why is this happening? And Job is going to say, oh, because of this. That's not what these questions are for.
They're basically rhetorical questions. God knows the answer to all of them. And some of them are not even designed to get an actual answer. These questions are to provoke thought from Job, to provoke him to understand where he stands before God and who he is.
Chapter 42, verses 1 to 6. Job replied to the Lord, I know that you can do anything and no one can stop you. You ask who is this, the question is my wisdom with such ignorance. It is I.
And I was talking about things that I did not understand. Things far too wonderful for me. You said listen and I will speak. I have some questions for you.
And you must answer them. I had heard about you before. But now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take everything back.
I said, I sit in Dustin Ashes to show my repentance. These are the steps that Job takes. He acknowledges who God is. This is so important in our life as Christians to acknowledge who God is and who we are, where we stand before God.
Job identifies and admits to the accusation against him. He actually quotes God from earlier in the book. I think it was Chapter 38, where God says, who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge? Or in the NLT version, it says, who is this?
The question is my wisdom with such ignorance. Job identifies this. He actually directly quotes God. He's been listening to God.
It shows that he's been hearing God's word and actually listening to him. This is extremely important in the steps of repentance. He identifies and admits to the accusation against him. He says, it is I.
I'm the one who did this. He humbles himself. God told him, you must answer these things. Job says, I can't.
He simply admits I am unable to. This is, I think, an important point that as human beings, to come to God, God really honors people who are humble. He honors people who will come to him and say, I don't have the answers. I don't know.
And he challenges us. He gives us commandments. He gives us things that we need to do. We need to love him with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength.
We need to refrain from lying, stealing, sexual immorality, all these different things. And God has made this law. He's commanded us to do these things, knowing full well that we are unable to keep that. And because of this, our response needs to be repentance.
It's not necessarily to try our hardest to follow these things and do these things as best as we can. Because the best that we can do is filthy rags. It's nothing to God. And it says in Romans 4 that it counts more towards our debt than our credit.
We have a massive debt before God. And this is what Job realizes here. There's a lot of parallels in the book of Job to the gospel. Job realizes, I don't have the answers.
I don't have even a single answer to answer to God. I don't have anything to go to God with. And that's really important for us to realize as human beings. And as Christians, I think it's really important for us to realize we have nothing to bring to the table except that we've been forgiven and that we can be used by God through his spirit.
Job humbles himself before the Almighty God. And of course, God's response, as consistent with his nature, he is going to forgive Job. We'll look at that next. He restores Job.
But first, there's a very interesting part of this book. Job's three friends. God didn't forget about them. He doesn't forget anything.
So he didn't forget about them at all. Verse 7 of chapter 42. After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz, the Temenite. Temenite, I'm not sure.
I am angry with you and with your two friends. For you have not been right in what you've said about me as my servant Job was. Now take seven young bulls and seven rams and go to my servant job and offer a burn offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you.
I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve. For you have not been right in what you've said about me as my servant Job was. So this is a very interesting section.
Number one, I want to point out, God is thorough in his judgment. He's thorough in his, you know, he didn't forget about these three friends and the author of Job does not neglect to mention these three friends at the end. You'll notice in verse 8, now take seven young bulls, seven rams, and go to my servant Job and offer a burn offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you.
And I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I was about to go to Play Hockey last night, and I got a call from Nick. And he was just seeing how my message was going and stuff. And I was just talking about just kind of giving him a summary.
And I had totally missed this, but Nick actually pointed out. He's like, oh, so Job is a type of Christ. He's kind of a picture of Christ, of the Lord Jesus. And I was like, that's fascinating.
He's the mediator for his three friends. So that was something that I stayed up a little later last night than I should have to, well, actually not that I should have, but to basically insert this in. Job is the mediator. He is similar to Christ in that way.
Obviously, he's not the Lord Jesus Christ, but he is a picture of Christ. And there's so many people in the Bible. God uses them throughout the Old Testament and throughout the Old Testament to display who Christ is going to be. And I think Job is a good example.
It actually makes me want to go back and read the whole thing and just see what things point to Christ through Job. It's very fascinating. Job is the mediator. This is what Christ does for us.
God will accept his prayer on your behalf, is what he says to the three friends. And this is what Christ is for us. He's fully man. He's fully God.
And because we can't approach God on our own and in our own nature, Jesus is our mediator. He is man. And he died on the cross for that reason, to be our mediator and to give us victory over death. I'm going to continue along here.
At the end, they obeyed. They did what God had told them, which is good news. Job is restored. We're going to read that section here.
When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before. Then all his brothers, sisters, and his friends came and feasted with him in his home. It's just former friends.
I think they were his friends afterward too, hopefully. And they consoled him and comforted him because of the trials of the Lord, the trials the Lord had brought against him. And each of them brought a gift of money and a gold ring. So, oh, yes.
So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life, even more than the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, and 1,000 teams of oxen. 1,000 female donkeys. He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters.
He named his first daughter, Jemima, his second, Kezia, and the third, Karen Hapak. In all the land, there were no other women as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will, along with their brothers. Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren.
Then he died, an old man who had lived a long good life. So it presents almost in a little bit of a happily ever after kind of ending. And it kind of skims over a few things. I think the point of Job has kind of been reached at this point.
Job repented. God restored him is the point. I want to kind of touch on where his friends came over and comforted him. I think that's interesting because it shows that there was probably still some pain, probably still some trauma.
And it takes time and help from other people to get over that. And I think there was, there are times where we need to come alongside people and where we need people to come alongside us. We need to be honest about our struggles and our issues. And I think that's really important.
It's a point in here. So all right, so I'm going to go to the conclusion application. Repentance is extremely important. That's an understatement.
It's kind of the central thing. Sorry, there's the central responsibility of humanity. God will hold us accountable for our actions and words. He holds Job accountable for his actions and words.
Repentance is a prerequisite for pleasing God. We can't please God through our own actions outside of the Holy Spirit working in us. Repentance is worship. Repentance is acknowledging who God is and who we are, understanding and appealing to God's mercy.
I believe that is actually a form of worship. Repentance is a constant state of mind for the believer. It doesn't end when you get saved. Repenting doesn't end when you're saved.
It's a constant thing. It's continually taking up your cross and following Christ. It's a continuous state of mind, understanding that I must decrease. He must increase.
This is continuous as a believer. Repentance results in gratefulness and thanksgiving from the heart. You can see that in the last part of Job. God promises good things to people who repent.
It may not be wealth and riches and double the amount of donkeys you had before. But it does promise a blessing to people who repent and who follow him who humble themselves. So if there's people here who have not repented, who have not understood, maybe who God is, who we are, I would encourage you to look into the book of Job, maybe look into the book of John. That's another good book.
There are where the theme is repentance. Really look for that. I mean, in terms of good works and things like that, they don't save us. They're not something that we can even do outside of Christ.
And so I want to emphasize repentance today. So I want to close with a song. I'll close in prayer and then we'll sing a song, created me a clean heart. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, Lord.
Thank you for your love to us, Lord, and for providing a way that we can be right with you. I pray that anybody here who does not know you, does not believe in you, Lord, that they would repent and be saved, Lord, that you would lead them to yourself, and that they would see their sin and see who you are. And I pray that you would bless our day, Lord, and that we would be thinking of you today, Lord, and we would be worshiping you for the rest of the day. And in Jesus name, amen.