The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
LIVE DISCUSSION: (Job 7:10-15) Night Terrors of Job - (Part 1 of 4)
What if your bank balance and your bad week are equally poor guides to your standing with God? Walking line by line through Job 7:10–12, we face the starkness of death, the urgency of present mercy, and the surprising faith inside honest lament. Job insists he cannot keep silent and refuses the easy math that equates fortune with favor or loss with divine rejection. We explore how that stance dismantles prosperity assumptions and their mirror image—the lie that suffering means God is done with you.
Together we read the text, then widen the lens with cross-references that illuminate anguish and hope: Jesus’ grief in Gethsemane, Paul’s learned contentment in plenty and want, and David’s wise prayer to be kept from the distractions of both riches and poverty. Along the way, the panel shares practical wisdom for modern discipleship: how to voice pain without sin, how to resist bitterness and grumbling, and how to avoid interpreting God’s heart through our feelings or circumstances. We also ask hard questions with Job—“Am I a sea or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me?”—and learn to take those questions to God rather than away from Him.
If you’ve ever felt unseen in hardship or smug in success, this conversation invites a truer compass: God’s character, resurrection hope, and Scripture’s steady light. Listen for clear takeaways on lament, contentment, and community that heals rather than accuses. If this study strengthens you, subscribe, share with someone who’s hurting or striving, and leave a review so others can find it too. What line from Job 7 most reshaped your view of suffering and faith?
BE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!
Christians. How are you going this evening? Hope all is well. Tonight I'm looking forward to getting back into the exposition on Job. I've taken a few days off as I had some things that my wife planned for me that I didn't expect and I enjoyed it. So now we get back to business. And so I trust that uh all of you will find tonight's um message and discussion profitable for your souls as they have been for me in the study of them. Good evening, everybody. Hey, brother, how you doing? I'm good.
SPEAKER_07:Oh, sorry, man. Sorry, bro.
SPEAKER_08:Anyway, so we're gonna be in the book of Job. And we're gonna be in Job chapter 7. Continuing the exposition throughout the entire book. And uh I'm looking forward to the next this next segment on it. Now, we last we ended up on Job chapter 7, verse 9, where Job says that as the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so is he that goes down to the grave shall come up no more. And we had a lengthy discussion about whether or not Job had an expectation in resurrection, and if Job had a belief in resurrection. And this was what we discussed. And so I hope that I pointed out in a satisfactory fashion that Job did believe in resurrection and even had an expectation of it. And if it wasn't conveyed clear enough, the subject will come up again as we proceed through this book. Because it is certain that he did have an expectation of resurrection, and it is clear that having an understanding of resurrection and having an understanding that of our existence in the afterlife, after this life, that is, is essential to the Christian faith. And so we'll continue on in the book of Job, beginning at verse 10. So I'm gonna read verses 10 and verse 11, and then we'll start talking about it. Job chapter 7, verse 10. Job says, He shall no more return to his house, neither shall his place know him anymore. And he can he again continues to speak about himself and his condition that he's in, where he is overwhelmed by trouble and his pain and emotion and the weight of all of these, of all of these afflictions that have come down upon him. So in verse 10, he continues, and he says that he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more. Therefore, verse 11, I will not refrain my mouth, I will speak in my anguish, anguish of spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. So Job, when he says here that he shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him anymore. What he's saying is this that the home that he once had will no longer be his home will no longer be a place that is that is his home. The home he that he inhabited will stand now without him. He is no longer connected to the home that he has once been acquainted with and and a part of. And this is what he is saying. And so he goes on in this and and exhibits his stress in terms of how complete and final the separation of death is. In other words, when we die, when these mortal bodies die, these mortal bodies die, they will no longer have familiarity with the habitation that they once had. It will be a different experience. It is different. And so this here, you find Job sort of underscoring why he desires God to consider his misery now. He wants God to understand that he feels the weight of his affliction, that he is miserable. And before his life slips away, he is seeking to have some kind of recovery or relief while he yet remains in his flesh. This is what he's this is what he is speaking about right now. And it's interesting because he's he is sitting here in front of his friends, having responded in the process of responding to Eliphaz. And here you have Job really addressing God at this point. In other words, it's almost as if he's sort of ignoring these guys that are in front of him, his these comforters, as it were, and he is addressing the Lord God himself. And he, we have seen in chapter six, and we're seeing it continue, the same theme in chapter seven. Job is looking forward to, he he wants and he hopes that God is on the brink of taking his life. Job is not going to take his own life. He knows that is not the way to go. But his expectation is that God will take his life, and he's he assumes that because of his current affliction and trouble and trial, he assumes that his purpose has been fulfilled in his life, and that his exit is going to be one that is draped and drenched in affliction and trouble and trial and pain and misery. And so he thinks that somehow, excuse me, he thinks that somehow what he's going through is indicative of his demise being near. Let me say this before I go, and then I will go to the panel and get your opening remarks. We always talk about, we always talk about how prosperity preachers teach that your success in life, your material success, is an indication of spiritual success. And this is a dangerous doctrine to teach because it is false, first and foremost. But it is dangerous because it is soul-threatening to believe and to look at your personal um success, your material success and gain in life, to believe that that is an evidence of God's goodness in your life, and it is good that God gives you these things, but to trust in these things as evidence of your spiritual standing will be a big mistake. And I want to say something about this, because even though this is true, it also needs to be understood that the opposite is also not true. What do I mean? If you are in a situation where you have lost everything, you've lost your money, you've lost your wife, you've lost your husband, you lost your kids, you lost your job, you lost your friends, you lost your health, all these things. That doesn't mean that the Lord God is through with you. You may feel that this is evidence of the end, but that doesn't mean that it is so. Job is learning that. So just like the preaching that many people have of prosperity being the evidence, earthly prosperity being the evidence of blessedness of God, which is false, it is also false that the suffering and affliction on your life, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have come to the end of your ministerial services to the God most high that we serve. The takeaway here is you cannot look upon what happens in this material world and assess and judge your standing with God spiritually and whether or not this is intended to, or what you're going through, is intended to prolong your life or to cut it short. The issue is this do not be led by the eyes. Do not be drawn and enticed away by or and make assumptions, wholesale assumptions, on what God is doing in your life based on what you are experiencing and what you are feeling. They do not necessarily comport in such a way that it means that you are nearing a demise or that you are being elevated to a state that borders on the heavenly just because you are wealthy or prosperous or whatever it may be. Both scenarios, both scenarios, wealth or poverty, neither one of these things are an indication of where you are and how you stand before God spiritually. And this is something that needs to be understood. In Job, we understood it, we understand it completely on both sides. We know that his wealth had nothing to do with the with the strength of his faithfulness to God. We also see now that he's going through all of this affliction that he's going through, that it also had no impact in terms of detracting away from his reward as a Christian because he was going through this. So to assume that health and wealth or the absence of it has an impact on your standing with God is a bad way of thinking because what happens to us in this material world has nothing to do with our standing before God spiritually. So, with that being said, I'm gonna reach out to the panel and get your opening remarks on what we are talking about so far in Job verses 10 and verse 11. So I'll start with Brother Canaan. Your opening remarks, brother, what do you think so far?
SPEAKER_02:Good morning, or excuse me, good morning. Good evening, brothers and sisters. And I think you've touched on a lot of subjects that are extremely important. And for some reason, when you were talking about prosperity, Matthew 6, 22 through 33 came to mind. Whenever I hear about that, I immediately go to where we should be storing our treasures and where we should be building ourselves up. I'll just read 22 real quickly. The eye is a lamp of the body, so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? And then obviously it goes on to saying uh at the end almost uh 33, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. And then in the case of Job, um, I don't have a whole lot to say uh other than um when I look at a cross-reference for this, because I'm just kind of looking at it and kind of seeing what we can find that's related to it in scriptures. Uh Psalms 103.16 says, when the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its place no longer knows about it. And so I went after that one a little bit further. And that's related to Isaiah 47, which says the grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it, the people are indeed grass. And so for me, it seems to be really emphasizing not only God's sovereignty, but how uh short-lived this life is. I mean, we are all under his grace and we're under his sovereignty and his control, but how beautiful it is for us to be in his favor and to be um covered by his son and credited the righteousness that we have to where he looks on us with favor and looks at us with love and looks at us with grace and patience and mercy and all those things that he gives to us daily uh anew as we uh are poured into, we can pour out into other brothers and sisters in these types of situations.
SPEAKER_08:Absolutely, brother. Absolutely. Um, Brother Jeff, man of God, what do you think so far?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I mean, I can't add much to what uh Canaan had to say, um, you know, so I won't, but I do want to say this uh that's sort of an announcement. I'm leaving Wednesday to go to uh the South to spend Christmas with my folks. So I'll be gone for a couple weeks. I don't want you to think I just dropped off the face of the earth. No problem. Yeah, I might be able to join, but the thing is, you know, when you're with your family, you sit there and talk and do all that kind of stuff, so I can't promise, but I'll definitely be back.
SPEAKER_08:That's all right, brother. But you'll be missed nonetheless, for sure.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you.
SPEAKER_08:No problem, brother. Forever blessed. What do you think, sister? What are your thoughts so far as we begin our next discussion in Job chapter seven?
SPEAKER_01:Well, so far what I've gathered from Job is he teaches us a great lesson of how to fully trust in God, no matter what the struggles or what we are enduring or going through, that it will always be God first. And how even with the materialistic stuff, uh, as well as uh going through poverty times, both situations can bring us closer to God and teach us more about God, his sovereignty, his love, um, how to trust him no matter what we endure or go through, um, how to not so much as put all of you into a person or thing as far as materialistic, but to put your whole heart in God and let him through his spirit lead us throughout our path in this world.
SPEAKER_08:Amen, sister. Sister Lisa, what are your thoughts, sister? Good evening.
SPEAKER_09:Good evening. Um, the first thing that came to my mind when you were speaking, Jonathan, about poverty and wealth as having a correlation to our standing with God, um, I sort of feel like you know, we tend to forget about wealth possibly being a test. Um, you know, we're warned in scripture about the love of money, and yet so many people will think if they are blessed with the with the wealth that puts them in good standing. And how many times do we see that peoples it's sort of the more that they have, the more distance, the more distance there is between um them and the Lord. Um so I don't know, that just came to my mind that that both of those things, um, if we lose everything, you know, we're going through the trial, we're being tested, what will we do with that suffering? And the same thing, if you know, if we acquire lots of wealth, then what will we do? Will we remain will we will we remain faithful to the Lord the same way that you know, will we need him, rely on him, and so forth? Um, but that's just what I was thinking.
SPEAKER_08:You know, I I like what you said because it reminds me of something that David said that I never forget. And it was a prayer that he made to God where he said, he prays to God, he says, Lord, don't give me riches, because if I'm rich, I fear that I will forget you. Don't make me poor because in my poverty I might curse you. And what David is and what David is asking is to be in a position where he has sort of like this moderate perspective that he has about God that doesn't get that doesn't get distracted. Or when I say and when I say moderation, I mean I don't mean like he's not on fire for God one way or and cold another way, like we talked about lukewarm. But I think that what God what he's saying is that I don't want to be too rich or too poor, where these things become a distraction from my ability to to worship faithfully. Um, because wealth distracts, and so does poverty. You have a tendency to, when you have nothing, to want to focus on what you need to do to get so that you're not in poverty, or just the pain and stress of poverty can distract. From worship. And it can be a way, it can be a means whereby you doubt that God even exists. And then you look at the wealth of a person where you become so consumed with the wealth and you get it, now you're consumed even more so by its maintenance. Rationalizing everything that takes you away from service to God and from doing his work. So it's a good, it's a good outlook to have. And I think David's prayer was a really good one. And I always have this come back to my mind when I think about this particular topic. Brother Jeff, encouraging serving. Good evening. What do you think, brother?
SPEAKER_04:Well, good evening, Jonathan, and uh glad you're back. Hope you had a great weekend. Good evening, panel. Uh Jonathan, just a couple thoughts that uh I jotted down here as you were uh reading through uh uh Job chapter 7. And one of them you've already spoken on quite well, but our our feelings, Jonathan, are not always accurate indicators of what God may be doing in our lives. I think a lot of times we just take our feelings and we just want to run with it and think, well, this is just the way it is when it's not. And our feelings will oftentimes tell us something, uh, or try to tell us something, I should say, totally contrary to what God is telling us and what he would desire to lead us to. Right. But also uh the Apostle Paul said that uh in his writings that he had learned Jonathan to be well in times of uh poverty and in times of plenty. And I think that's probably a good uh a place for us to learn to be. I mean, if we had a choice, yeah, we'll take times of plenty for sure. But uh knowing uh what we know about Job, what we have learned about Job, what we know about life and where things are going moving forward in this world, I think it's a uh it's a uh a thought for us to be in a place where we can prosper whether we have much or we have little. And that's my thought.
SPEAKER_08:Absolutely. Thanks, brother. Appreciate that. Sister Candy, what about you? Opening remarks.
SPEAKER_05:I'm just gonna say from what keeps popping into my mind is when Jesus says, Go and and sell all of your worldly possessions and follow after me. So even though Job didn't sell all of his possessions, what he had is gone. And the fact that he may be poor in the physical realm, but in his spiritual realm, he's gonna be more rich.
SPEAKER_07:Right.
SPEAKER_05:So it's be rich in faith and don't worry about the world of possessions. That's that's gonna burn away anyway.
SPEAKER_08:Absolutely, sister. So now we get to Job chapter 7, verse 11. Job 7, 11. And he says, Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth, I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Now, I'm gonna tell you what I like about this because you know Job's his sorrow is just overwhelming. And I know that all of us have experienced some degree of sorrow in our life, and maybe to an extreme that he may have felt uh depending on the circumstances, the the loss of a child, the loss of a of a loved one, or whatever losses we've had. His his sorrow is definitely extreme. And he said, and what he's saying here is verse 11 is that I can't stay silent. I can't be quiet. He's what he's saying is that you know he he he's not he's not he's not being defiant toward God at all. He's simply expressing expressing this out of his personal anguish. And also he's speaking to his friends, and he's he's sort of and and his his temperament seems to be such that where where where if he says something, he is distracting from the truth in their eyes and just complaining and whining when he and all when all he has to do is confess his faults. And if he says nothing, then they believe that, yeah, you're not saying anything because there's nothing you can say. What we're telling you is therefore right because you can't respond. So dealing with his friends is a difficult situation. He's basically damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. If he speaks, they look at him sourly. If he doesn't speak, they look at him sourly. And so he expresses himself and says, I I can't I can't refrain my words. I'm going to speak from my mouth. I'm going to speak in the anguish of my spirit. And I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. And he acknowledges this bitterness. He acknowledges it. And he says that that and he he he's showing that there is nothing wrong with us having an emotional response to what we're going through. This can be a problem for a lot of men who don't want to be um reduced from the alpha state to the beta state. And we think that sometimes not showing emotion is evidence of being an alpha male in our modern lingo. But listen, Job was a total man of faith. And we see here that he is a man that is not afraid to exhibit his anguish, to exhibit emotion, to express himself in a way that is consistent with what he is actually feeling. He's not being hypocritical. He is showing you exactly what he is feeling. Brother Canaan, go ahead.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm going to hit on some really key points in this passage that I am immediately noticing for some reason, and tell me if you've done the same. The first thing I see is anguish of my spirit. And we see in Matthew 26, 36 through 38, we see an example of this, but with Jesus. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Ghastene and told his disciples, Sit here while I go over there and pray. And he took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him and began to be grieved and distressed. Then he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of unalivement, remain here and keep watch with me. And so that's another example that we can see of the seriousness of when he's describing the anguish of his spirit, because it's directly correlated and related to Jesus' anguish uh before the crucifixion. And then a couple of the things uh immediately came uh to my attention is one complaining. Uh when we go to, let me see here, um Philippians 2, 14 through 15. Do all things without what? Complaining or arguments.
SPEAKER_06:Right.
SPEAKER_02:And I don't know how many times I see that on TikTok, but it's in abundance. And then 15 says, so that you will what? Prove yourself to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as light in the world. And then lastly, uh bitterness. And for some reason it went here in my mind. I just I was like, bitterness, wait a minute. Colossians 3, 18 through 21. Wives, be subject to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not what? Become bitter against them. Children obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers do not antagonize your children so that they will not become discouraged. But also bitterness, I would say, is also applicable in life in general. We are not to be bitter or callous or respond to anybody, uh, believers or unbelievers, or people who are wronging us or people who are treating us well. We should never have any type of bitterness formulated against any of them. So those are the few things that came to mind.
SPEAKER_08:Right. Excellent, brother. Appreciate it. Brother Jeff, encourage and serving. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_04:Jonathan, I think another way that uh uh Job is, if we could express this in today's language, is Job telling God, this sucks. You know, I don't like this, this is awful. What are you doing? But uh he's also wise enough, uh Jonathan, to understand that pushing down his emotions, like you were alluding to a moment ago, pushing them down, pushing them down, and pushing them down is not a good thing. He's got to get that out. And that's good for us men too, because if we're like that alpha male and we just keep jamming those feelings down, jamming them down, jamming them down, eventually they're gonna come out with a lot of force, and somebody we love that we're close to is going to get hurt or misunderstand us. So we've got to be able to uh express ourselves fully, totally, and completely, but not do what Job is saying not to do. Don't push those feelings down. Get them out there, be honest with God, and let's also be honest with each other, right? You know, at all times absolutely.
SPEAKER_08:Uh Sister Meg, what do you think? Anything you want to add?
SPEAKER_00:I'm just I'm just looking. I you know, I think sometimes that that we for when in especially in Job chapter seven, it's just like I think what comforts me in this chapter is that I think we lost you, sister. Sorry.
SPEAKER_07:Uh one more time, or I'm gonna move on because we can't hear you. Alright, we'll come back to you. Sister Linda, what do you think?
SPEAKER_06:Hello everyone.
SPEAKER_07:Hey sister, how are you doing this evening?
SPEAKER_06:Pretty good. Um I had a family situation and I had to fall on my faith, lay down, and just pray and beg the Lord to tell me what was going on in my life. So I really um um relate to this particular uh chapter um because it's really heartfelt. When you feel, you know, so strongly that you have to get an answer from God, you know you better be careful too, because you don't want to say something that will condemn you. And so um, and he answered, you know, not right away, but he did answer, and it was almost like a light bulb came on, you know, and you know, to be quite honest, it was about um love and um our greed and um not stepping back away from it and not um choosing God over our um our carnal our carnality. I I definitely understand it and um it opens you know this further opens my eyes to um how God he will after to after us when we when we call on him.
SPEAKER_07:Amen, sister. Appreciate that.
SPEAKER_08:Good word there, really good word there. So Job goes on to verse 12, and still continuing his response, which is a somewhat of a response and more or less a rebuke to his friends, he goes on to say, and and he's talking here also to like you know to them, but you know, to God, I think. He you know, he's he's the anguish that he's going through is is heartfelt, so I have no doubt that he's expressing himself to his Lord as well. So in verse 12, he says, Am I a sea or a whale that you set a watch over me? And see, here you know that he's talking about he's talking to God here. And he said, and he's he and he goes, listen, he goes, am I a sea? You know, am I a whale that you set a watch over me? In other words, am I this chaotic sort of wild person that's out of control, that can't be managed? And so Job is asking God, you know, you know, you know, that he he he's like he's asking God, why does it seem as though he's pursuing him? As if he were like this monster in the ocean. You know, this beast, this whale, a shark, or whatever it may be. Why is he being Job feels he's being treated like this out of control animal that's in the ocean.