Trust Beyond Doubt

The book of job is broken down into 4 parts 

• Prologue - Here we are introduced to the main character Job and then we’re transported to a divine council meeting where God is with his sons. The basis of this part of the book is key to understanding much of what is to come. (Chapters 1-2)
• Discourse - Job and his friends get into it, they offer their opinions on why Job is in this condition, and Job reiterates his innocence and questions God. (Chapters 3-37)
• The Response - After the 36th time and demanding that God answers him, God responds, sets examples and questions Jobs ability to comprehend the depth and capacity to manage creation. (Chapters 38-41)
• Epilogue - Job humbled by the awesomeness of God apologises, God restores him, and gives him the choice to restore his friends. Job receives more than what he lost, trust and relationship wins over the uncertainty of doubt and crisis. 

What do we know - It’s set in the land of Uz which is away from Israel. All characters are non-Israelite, wealth is measured in livestock. The fact he had camels, and the tribal names of some of his friends suggest that regionally we’re looking at a man of great status and position within and among the Arabian tribes.

Trust Beyond Doubt 

Job 2:1-13 

• 2:1-2 - Heavenly meeting, Lucifer has access and God asks him where he’s been. The fact he’s roaming means he is without purpose and meaning and has found himself wondering. He is LOST!!
• 2:3-4 - (Samuel 13:14) God seeks those he can trust and rely upon based on their heart matter. “Have you considered my servant”. (Matthew 11:11) Jesus claims that “there is none greater than John Baptist” 
• 2:4-7 - we see the attack of the jobs body seeded. It becomes apart of the accusation that satan makes to God. He was convinced of the fallacy of man, and that his love for god was dependent on things being environmentally and physically ok. 
• 2:7-10 Now we see the completion of the tripartite attack on Jobs person. It’s within these verses that Jobs wife questions why he still trusts God, why he is maintaining his integrity. Her interaction with him sees the battle taken to the very essence of his being. It is at this moment that Jobs spirit is put under the microscope, to curse God and die would justify his position in this life, but condemn him in the next. The very fact his situation doesn’t allow him to think with that level of objectivity allows us to see him respond subjectively, and it shows us what’s really in his spirit, he responds with such a level of objectivity and faith, it renders his wife speechless. 
• 2:10-13 Jobs friends come to see him after hearing about his calamity. It’s interesting to note the prior conversation that happens between them before they go and meet Job. They count believe what they saw, it’s interesting to note here that connection and community plays a huge part in much of this trial. Even though they find themselves on the wrong end of the argument later on in the book, there reactions to him allow us to understand just how bad Jobs condition was. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Hello everybody and welcome to Rim and Reloaded with me, Sean Williams. We're back in for part two of our series on Job. I hope you were all blessed, um, illuminated, encouraged, and learned something from um our first episode, which was only God knows what he hasn't told you. And today's episode I want to entitle I've got kind of two working titles going on in my head. One of them is And Again, um, and the second one is Trust Beyond Doubt. Okay, um, I'm going to jump straight back in to the book of Job, chapter two. If you can, because it's gonna save me time. I'll do a little recap, nothing crazy. You can look in the description, guys, because the Bible study notes are there. Um, the synopsis of what's happening with the book of Job is there, and also if you could please like and subscribe to what we're doing. We we want to interact with you, and more than that, we want to know that what we're doing is actually serving you because that's the whole point of it. We want to help to build the body of Christ so that we can expand the kingdom of heaven. That that's the basic goal. Now, the cell's done. Let's jump into what's happening in the book of Job. As you know, the book of Job is broken down, guys, into four parts. There is the prologue, okay, that is what happens at the beginning. It's almost like an introduction. So, in the first two chapters, the the scene, the main, the main core, the plot of what we're gonna kind of be discussing, examining is happening, and then the the middle part of that is which is what I call the discourse, which we find between chapters three to 37, we see um the external characters that are kind of experiencing what's happening um objectively because they're close to Job through different relationships, um, and their part in how they understand it from a more human perspective, which is is normal because we are humans, right? And then we get the response that we see between chapters 38 to 41, where Job basically puts it on God and he's just like, You will talk to me now, or I won't, and then God's like phom, and Job's like, hi, and God's like, you rang, and they had this amazing conversation, and um he he explains to Job basically, he he doesn't really answer, and we will get to this, he doesn't really answer, he kind of just says, Brother, listen, don't ask me what I'm doing, just worry about what you're doing, and Job's like okay. Um, but it's beautiful because in what God does say, he gives Job peace in his heart because what Job is able to do is to understand how meticulous and intentional God is about everything that he cares about, and that's what Job gets to. He understands that God's care for him goes beyond his wildest dreams, and more than that, Job doesn't understand, but we understand as the reader, we we kind of get the director's notes, but we realise Job was the topic of a conversation he was never present for. And anybody that truly knows a person, right, you will only talk about something you know in its absence when you truly believe you understand it in its totality, whether that's negatively or positively. When we're backbiting or we're gosping about a person, it's because we believe we've had enough experiences with that person, and whoever we're talking to also has shared experience, or we feel it's knowledge they need to know, and in the reverse, when we're talking about someone in a beautiful way, it's because a person has shared experience with that person, or they understand the concept value in terms of who that person is. That you guys can't, you know, wait for them to be there, they're amazing. So that's kind of what's happening with the scripture. Now, let me jump into this, otherwise, you know me. I can talk a little bit, you lot can talk more. Shut up. Um, we're gonna get into it. Job chapter 2, verse 1, and it says again, we're probably gonna go with again. There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. Now, disclaimer, well, not a disclaimer, but just um a validator, an authenticator. When the Bible speaks of Satan, we are talking about um the name Satan, it means adversary, it means enemy, it means accuser, slanderer. Okay, so when the Bible speaks of Satan, it is talking about Lucifer in his fallen state. So when you hear about Satan, when you hear about Satan or the devil, you are the Bible is referring to Lucifer or his followers, okay, because the Bible says demons or devils. You're talking about Lucifer and his followers in their fallen state, okay. Lucifer was one of the sons of God, one of the chief operating angels within the heavenly angelic structure. He up there, up there, okay, which is why he still had certain levels of access. Because lots of people are like, well, it's the devil's path. Why didn't God just kill him and get rid of because God doesn't have to kill what he can redeem. Sorry, I know you may have been expecting a uh a long David Attenborough type explanation. It's not long, it's very simple, it's very to the point. God does not have to kill what he can redeem. So there's no need to kill Satan because the Bible tells us that the lamb was slain before when? The foundations of the world. We see that in Revelation 13. So if Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world, guess what? God loves you so much that he died for you before you even knew he existed. Go figure. So, um, when we're looking at Satan's situation, God understood what was going on with Lucifer, it was rebellion, right? Where does rebellion come from? Rebellion comes from anger. Where does anger come from? Anger comes from hurt. Hurt is a derivative of what? That you love something so much that it disappoints you to the point that it you hate it and you become angry. So when you see Satan and what he does, or I should say, when you see Lucifer in his fallen state and what he does, you're looking at a person that is so hurt in their core that it is easier and better for them to express what they feel in evil action than it would be to do what he should have done, like Adam, which is to go to God and be like, God, there's some stuff in my heart that I I need to get rid of. Which is why the Bible, when it speaks about David, the Bible says that God loved David, and we sit there and go, God, how can you love a guy that stole a man's wife, was was peeking tombing her on the top of his ceiling when she was just trying to have herself a little get herself clean? And David's done some of the worst stuff, but God was like, But it's heart. It's not about the thing that you see because you judge men based on the visuality. I judge them based on what's happening here and the intention of their who. Okay, so verse chapter one, and the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and him comes Satan among them to be present himself before the Lord. Verse 2. So he walks in and he gets God's attention, and God's just like, and where have you come from? And Satan says he answered the Lord and he said, From going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it. Now there's something very, very important for us to see in this situation, okay? The only time you wonder is when you're lost, and you're only lost when you have no sense of purpose or meaning. Let me say that again. You only wonder when you're lost, and you're only lost when you have no sense of purpose or meaning. The Bible says that Lucifer was he led the worship, that he was one of the covering cherubs on the throne of God. So it's easy to see why he's wondering because he is lost, he's no longer living in his ancestral home, which is heaven, and he's now wondering because he no longer has meaning or purpose, he can't go back to heaven, he can't go and reclaim who he was, he has to own the lesser version of himself that he chose, that he chose to be. Okay, and then verse 3 and the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? Now I can hear what you're all saying. What's God putting Job into the mix for? Job ain't trying to get in nobody's business, he's not trying to do anything that he shouldn't be doing. Job is living well. When his kids are throwing little house parties and street parties, Job is like, you know what, I won't be coming. Have you got enough food? Have you got enough drinks? Have all of the that the home time transportation has it been sorted out? Perfect. I'm gonna go home, I'm gonna pray for you all. Just in case the electric slide gets a little too electrically or the macarena gets a little too macarai. Okay, I'm gonna just make sure you guys are okay. Alright? And so the Bible says that Satan is is he's sitting there and God said, Have you considered my servant Job? Now the reason why this is important is because we've already seen this in chapter one. We saw God was having a conversation, and then walks Satan, and he asks Satan, where are you? And Satan obviously reiterates to him, doing what you've forced me to do for the rest of eternity, I'm wondering. And you remember they have the first conversation, and God's like, Have you considered my servant Job? So one would look and you'd sit there, and if God is omnipresent, which means he's everywhere, he's omniscient, he's all knowing, and he's omnipotent, he's all powerful. God has seen everything that's happened in chapter one. Camels gone, sheep, gone, oxen, gone, servants, killed, children dead. And most of us will look at him be like, God isn't cool, and you'd be like, Why? Because he's the reason Job has just lost the vast majority of his wealth and the stuff that makes him okay, and here he is again, without Job's permission, having already signed Job up to something he didn't want to be signed up to, here he is signing him up again. But what are we missing? We're missing the fact that God knows and sees something in Job that Satan can't see. Why? Because Satan is living off of old information. Oh, I'm getting oh, this is getting good. And you're sitting there going, What do you mean you live off of old information? What happened in the Garden of Eden? Oh yes. Adam and Eve were chilling. Adam went off to go and do some some work. Eve's hanging out, and in comes the serpent. And at this time, the serpent doesn't look like how we how we conceptualize serpents now. It's not like a snake and it's slithering and it's serpents. It would have been more so in the form, and this isn't me saying this exactly what it is, but it would have been more so in the form of something that would look like a dragon, something that was very the Bible says it was beautiful and cunning and subtle, okay. And remember what happened in the Garden of Eden? I can tell you what happened in the Garden of Eden. Satan comes, he then deceives Eve, and what happens? Mankind falls, right? So Satan is working off of old information because he's sitting here listening to God talk about Job, and he's just like, This is the same way you used to speak about Adam. And we all know what happened to Adam. I got him. And God is just like, and you don't think that I don't know that, or you don't think that I've done the pre-math before I go and take on a bet. You gotta remember, God is not a gambler, and this is where I will reflect God in these ways. You'll never find me gambling unless I know I'm gonna win. I'm only gambling when I'm certain of the result. I am like my father in heaven. I'm only taking that bet if I only know that I've won. God knew that he'd won. Why? Because in chapter one, we see Job is attacked in his soul dimension. Okay, throughout the whole book and the chapters and stuff, we're gonna see that Job is attacked body, soul, and spirit. And you might be like, Sean, what do you mean? Well, as you know, you are a spirit, okay? Your soul is how you live, your body is what you live in. So if your body's the apartment, your soul is how you live in the apartment, your spirit is who lives in the apartment. Now we see that Job's soul, Job's soul, has already been attacked. How do we know this? What is the soul? The soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. Everything that would regulate Job being peaceful in his mental dimensions has absolutely been shaken. His security gone, children, gone, money, gone, livestock, which would equate to livestock, was the basis of wealth, gone. And Satan's thought to himself, well, if I touch his soul, if I get rid of the stuff that he possesses, he ain't gonna be down with you. So Satan has really pulled back up to heaven and pulled into this heavenly meeting on a bit of a get back scheme because he's kind of annoyed, and he's watched Job and he's just like, You are meant to fold from this. And he didn't. And here now he's having another conversation with God where God is saying, Listen, have you considered Job? And he what's annoying to a person, and we all know this, you know, when somebody's annoyed with you and you just keep repeating the same information that they don't want to hear, which just gets them angrier and angrier and angrier. And here, God says, Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil, and still he holdeth fast his integrity. That was the rib shot that Satan would have really hated because God would have looked at him and said, And for everything that you've taken, he's still not saying anything crazy about me. I believe in this moment God is looking at Satan and going, You see the thing that you got kicked out of heaven for. Job wouldn't have got kicked out of heaven for that, and Job doesn't even know me the way you know me, and he's more loyal to me than you ever could have been. So I tell you what, buddy, he goes, You want me, you want me to move against him and to destroy him without a cause. And then Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, alright, cool, alright, God, alright, alright, cool. Game recognized game, game recognized game. That's what he's saying right now. He says, I tell you what, for all a man hath will he give for his life. He sits there and says, Alright, game recognized game. Job is alright. Maybe there is some depth there. He says, But I tell you what, that's because I've touched the stuff around him. And I know that you've put a hedge of protection. You and I both know. And fair enough, I thought if I touched all of his stuff and his kids and the things that he loved, he'd he'd he'd he'd check out. But you're right, he hasn't, okay? And then Satan asked Lord, he said, but if I touch his body or his life, he's out. Verse 5, but put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. This is what Satan's saying to God. He's going, listen, I know he's cool with all the stuff that you've taken, but if you touch his body, if you touch him, he will curse you. Verse 6, and the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he's in thine hand, but save his life. The only caveat God gives him. Can you imagine God being so sure on you that he's like, I tell you what, I'll let you do everything you want to do. The one thing I won't let you do is touch the thing that I am the author and the finisher of. You will not end his life. Okay? Then it said, So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown, and he took him a pot sherd to scrape himself with all, and he sat down among the ashes. Okay, now can you imagine this would have been really hard for Job. Because there is nothing worse than going through something that A, you don't understand, and B you don't deserve. I'm gonna say that one more time. There is nothing harder or more agonizing than going through something A, you don't understand, or B, you know you don't deserve. And nobody is giving Job any type of insight that God may be testing him or this is a trial of his faith. All Job knows is that everything was okay and then it wasn't. That is maddening to a person that is just trying to live in the most perfect way to please God. There are times when you are doing things where you're pursuing the things that are a part of your purpose and they're a part of what you believe you're supposed to do, and there'll be moments where things will happen that are unexplainable. And sometimes we sit in those moments and we we question God and we ask him, like, God, how can you be there if this is happening? But faith, that thing that is the substance of things hoped for, the thing that we cannot see, the thing that Hebrews tells us, by it, Abraham and the elders, they obtained a good report that their faith was so strong that God said, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna take faith, put it through the spiritual bureau de chance, that's where you change money, and I'm gonna count faith and belief as righteousness. Job right now is going through this moment. So he's sitting down and he's got boils all over his body. So not only is he dealing with the anguish of everything he's lost, he's dealing with the reality of his demise in the present. And sometimes when we're going through a moment like this, all we need is one friend. Right? Sometimes when you're going through a moment that makes no sense, you just need one friend. I'm studying my counselling course at the moment, and one of the things linked into psychodynamic theory therapy and psychoanalytic um therapy is a concept called catharsis, okay? And catharsis is merely the the retrieval of insight through a particular process. So people will say that a lot of the time we experience catharsis when we have a deep conversation with a friend because we're able to basically release pent up tension and emotion and we when we get it out of our system. So it's it's a pressure release, right? So they say that this happens when we speak to friends, sometimes when we listen to music or when we look at art. Job, right now, what he would pay for some spiritual catharsis, but yet there is something within him that allows him to endure even though he can't explain. It allows him to be patient even though he can't see purpose, okay? And this is when it gets really, really deep. Verse 9. Then said his wife unto him. Are you still trying to be a good man? Are you still trying to honor a God that has abandoned you? Are you still believing beyond belief? Your my kids are dead, Job. My children are dead. Everything that we have has gone. Servants captured, killed, disappeared. This is now where his spirit is attacked. Because the person closest to him is asking him, are you maintaining your integrity for someone and something that is not maintaining its intention of integrity and love for you? You see, that's the deepest thing about your spiritual walk with God. As much as fellowship will provide us community, relationship is singular. I'm gonna say that one more time. As much as our fellowship and oh our link to the body of Christ creates community. Our relationship is singular. Because that relationship is between you and God. Is it not? So when you have somebody that you Trust in the natural to stop trusting what you've always known spiritually, and everything that they're saying absolutely follows the visual manifestations of what's happening in your life, which means you can't afford to make permanent decisions based off of temporary moments. You can't make permanent decisions based off of temporary situations, otherwise, Job would have lost everything that we're gonna see him walk into. And here's the craziest thing: you couldn't blame him on a natural level, you cannot blame him, which means that when you find yourself going through, you cannot deal with it in your in your natural self. You have to elevate to your spirit man. Why? Because it's your spirit man that will sit on the seat of your soul's consciousness and will speak the word of God to you. And why does that make any sense? Why does that mean anything? Because the only thing older than the problem you're going through is the word of God that you stand upon. The Bible tells us that his word is firmer than his throne. That's why you have to know what scriptures to go to to feed your spirit. Right now, Job is living in Psalm chapter 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law does he meditate day and night. Job is sitting in Psalms 139. Oh Lord, thou hast searched me and know me, you know my uprising from my down sitting. Where can I flee from your presence? He that dwells in the secret place of the most high God shall abide under the shadow of his Almighty. This is what you need. So Job was able to deal with this moment with his wife, with someone that was so close to him. Why? Because his heart. Like Samuel 13, 1 Samuel 13, 14, when God is telling Samuel, who's telling Saul it's done, that God has chosen another man, someone whose heart is akin to his. If you look through the Bible, God does not pick the person that visually fits the description. He picks the person that visually doesn't, but invisibly does. Why? Because he's looking at the heart. What did Jesus say to the woman from Samaria at the Well? He says, Coming is the time when it won't be about wells and temples and mountains, it will be about they that worship him, must worship him where? In spirit and in truth. Okay? So verse 10. He answers his wife, but he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What shall we receive good at the hand of God? And shall we not receive evil? And again, like in the last verse of chapter 1, in all this, Job did not sin with his lips. Can you truly sit there and stand there, or however you're taken in this Bible study, can you truly say that when testing has arisen, trials and tribulations have come, have you been able to can you stand and say that God, through those moments, those momentary transitions of hardship and pain, I didn't speak harshly against you. I didn't question your love for me. I didn't allow something that was temporary to change something that should be permanent within me. We're living in a world and a time where the unexpected is more certain than that which should be expected. And anytime it doesn't feel safe, anytime it doesn't feel certain, one of the things that one of the first things we do within our human nature is look for safe and look for certainty. We stop backing that thing as strongly as we did before. Why? Because a lot of the time, instead of going straight to God, we like to go into our friendship circles. Not to say that we shouldn't talk to our friends, of course we should. But there are some things that it's better you go to God about first so that your spirit can settle your mind. Because energy is neither lost nor found, it's merely transferred. And sometimes we're going and having conversations with people that are in worse situations than us and doesn't have the insight or the knowledge or the experience that we do, and then before we realize it, we're feeling 10 times worse than we did before. Because all we've done is go and transferred the little issue we were dealing with for the massive issue that they can't handle. Friends are very important in moments of trial, tribulation, and going through. We're gonna see this in verse 11. Now, when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came everyone from his own place. Eliphaz, the Timanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Namathite, for they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him and to comfort him. Now, I'm gonna say something to you and I want you to follow this. It doesn't say that they were in prayer and fasting and God sent word to them to go and see their friend. It doesn't say that they decided when they heard what was happening to Joe to just rush to get there, they had a pre-conversation. Those three had a pre-conversation about their friend before they decided to go and see their friend. The friends you pick should be a reflection of who you're trying to be. I'm gonna say it to you one more time. The friends you pick should be a reflection of who you're trying to be. Not because you're trying to clone your friends, but because within the intrinsic parts of their character and nature, they hold things that will hold you to account, that will make you want to be better, that should push you to maximize the potential in you so that also when you go in there to confide, you realize you're confiding to a capacity that has the ability to hold you and absorb you. A lot of the time, we're friends with people that don't have the capacity to be our friend. And sometimes we're trying to pour pints and gallons into baby cups that can barely hold inches and centimetres or millimeters, if you will. The Bible tells us that greater love hath no man than this, and that a man laid down his life for his friend. That's what the Bible says. Verse 12 And when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, this lets you know that Job was in the situation because his boys were like, That's Job. No. Right? It says they lifted up their voice and they cried. And they said they ripped their mantles. This is something that was done within the culture at the time, that when you were mourning, you'd rip your clothes and you put ash on your head. Everyone, they ripped his mantle and sprinkled dust upon their head towards heaven. Verse 13. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him. For they saw that his grief was very great. True friendship won't leave you. Even when it's wrong, it won't leave you. The intention's not always 100% and always pure, but it won't leave you. And more than that, it is a visual reflection of an invisible intention that God said he will never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus told us in the Gospel of St. John, let not your heart be troubled, neither be afraid. I've overcome the world. Believeest thou in me? He said, I go to my father. He says, Where I'm going, you can't come. Not yet. Because I go to my father, and in my father's house there are many rooms. His basis of understanding was, let not your heart be troubled, neither be afraid, because I've overcome the world. You see, what we're seeing here, even though Job was going through, you're seeing a person that has overcome the visual grandiose of his life for everything he was. The Bible says Job was the richest guy in the East. And we we're seeing a conflict right now that lets us know, yo, that oil money is long. Job weren't broke. Job had had, like, had, had, had, had, had. We call them kind of people recession proof. God had to get involved in his situation for him to lose his stuff. But his heart, his love, was not rooted in the possessions that he held in this world. It was rooted in this integrity of who he knew God to be, not only in his life, but what he served. That is relationship. Relationship is the only thing that can give you that sort of certainty. Even when it's uncertain. We are going to break our series just there for today. Um, we will be back with part three. The way this is going, this might be like a 10-part series, it's crazy. Um but I really want you guys to get into the description and the notes and really just I want this to be what leads you into wider personal study for yourself. I do not want to be the basis, I don't want you your spiritual walk to be dependent on what I do and don't do a Bible study or what we present in terms of content. I am merely opening the door. I am leading you to the table. It's your job after that. Guys, let's pray together. Father, thank you for another day. Thank you for life, love, joy, and peace. Thank you for moments we understand, thank you for moments we don't, because that's where you do your best work. God, like Job, allow us to be faithful. We understand that faith is one of the fruit of the spirit. God, we understand that by it that the elders obtained a good report because faith causes us to believe in what we can't see. There is no visual validation. And God, we believe who you are. God, we believe you to be exactly who you are, that you sent your son Jesus into the world to die for us so that those that believe on him might be saved. And God, we thank you for that salvation. Have your way. I pray let this word speak to the hearts and minds of everybody that comes into contact with it. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Guys, have an amazing rest of your day and week. I'll see you next time.