Erroneous Errors of Eliphaz

There was a man there was a man not just any man Not an ordinary man, but an extraordinary man There was a man from the land of Oz Whose name was Job? You know 20 weeks ago we we began in Job 1 verse number 1 simply because There is this unique man unlike any other man in the scriptures Unlike any other man that's ever lived For the Lord said he was the greatest man on the planet He said that about nobody else except Job There's something unique about Job's life That we need to master We need to understand we need to study Because everything is centered around an attitude that far surpasses my attitude and your attitude And that's who that was shaped by God His perception of God goes way beyond our perception of God And he doesn't know or didn't know nearly as much as we know But his perception of God changed his entire outlook Once he lost everything Once he lost his health once his wife began to Move him to curse God and die Once these three miserable comforters came into his life and began to Lambast his name and slander his name and lay level all kinds of false accusations against him

His attitude was remarkable And that's what makes him so unique Because when bad things happen to us our attitude pretty much stinks You know We grumble and complain and bellyache and just say all kinds of things We should never said and why is this happening to me the way it is and begin to just gripe And Job had some legitimate questions he did But remember he didn't know what you and I know and so his questions were founded on on a lack of information a lack of Of Opportunities to soak in and have things sink into his life concerning the things of God, but what he didn't know He was committed to What he did understand he believed What he didn't know he was faithful to And so whatever it is, you know about God you need to be faithful to that Because there are times in our lives when not just physical suffering happens But the abuse and slander comes our way and how do you handle those things the 16th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln Was a remarkable man. I wish I would have had the opportunity to meet him if I did I wouldn't be here preaching tonight But he was a man who was a model of handling personal attacks During the last seven years of his life public criticism became intense So his biographer says these words Abraham Lincoln was slandered libeled and they hated perhaps more Intensely than any man ever to run for the nation's highest office Of course that was written before our previous president and this president, but nonetheless He was publicly called just about every name imaginable by the press of the day including a grotesque baboon a third-rate country lawyer who once split rails and now splits the Union a coarse vulgar vulgar joker a dictator an ape a buffoon and others The Illinois State Register labeled him the craftiest and most dishonest politician that ever disgraced the office in America Severe and unjust criticism did not subside after Lincoln took oath the oath of office Nor did it come only from southern sympathizers

It came from within the Union itself from Congress from some factions within the Republican Party and initially from within his own cabinet as President Lincoln learned that no matter what he did there were going to be people who would not be pleased as His enemies increased so did the criticism against him, but Lincoln handled it all with a patient and forbearance and determination uncommon of most men Lincoln had four ways of responding to criticism first He most often and simply ignored it calling it petty Second he answered back only when it was important

It would make a difference Third he formed a habit of sitting down and writing lengthy letters in defense of his integrity and reputation venting his anger and emotions Then tearing them up and never mailing them Fourth he always looked on the brighter side of life and kept a good sense of humor He truly Was grace under pressure Now I never had a chance to meet mr

Lincoln or know anything about the man And I could read books about him and what he believed about God and some believe he was a staunch advocate of our Lord I don't know that Only the Lord knows But I do know a little bit about King David King David was a man who also received lots of criticism in fact His son Absalom Led a rebellion that would overthrow His kingdom The Lord said that his sin with Bathsheba the sword would never leave his home and it never did David was forced to abdicate the throne after Absalom stole the hearts of the people through deception and flattery David not wanting to harm his own son simply fled Escaping for his life with his mighty men One day in 2nd Samuel chapter 16 David was on his way to Bahrun During that time there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei the son of Gerard He came out cursing continually as he came he threw stones at David and that all the servants of the king of King David and All the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left Thus Shimei said when he cursed get out get out you man of bloodshed and worthless fellow The Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul in whose place you have reigned And the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom Behold, you are taken in your own evil For you are a man of bloodshed Bible goes on to say these words in verse number 9 of 2nd Samuel 16 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head I Just said go now David did not the king said what have I to do with you Oh sons of Zeruiah If he curses if the Lord has told him curse David that who shall say why have you done so? then David said to Abishai and to all the servants behold My son who came out from me seeks my life How much more now this Benjamite Let him alone and let him curse For the Lord has told him Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of cursing this day David's response would be a response that would be more than admirable David was a huge sinner unlike Job Job was a sinner but he didn't have these great sins these secret sins David had to face the consequences of and so a lot of his cursing and a lot of the criticism that came his way came as a result of his own sinfulness But Job Not so much a completely different person Chapter one sets a tone for the entire book Chapter two sets a tone for the entire book Because God tells us he was a blameless man

He was an upright man He was a God-fearing man turning away From evil

That's what his life consisted of his character was second to none And yet he suffered all this negativity from his so-called friends And when you come to chapter 22 What you have is round three of criticism You should begin with ding ding ding You know with the men coming out of their corners that they might you know erupt with their Conversation upon David, I mean, excuse me upon Job but Eliphaz is is one who who truly is Erroneous in all of this conversation with Job Thus the title Eliphaz is erroneous errors Because he's completely wrong And yet He becomes more cruel He becomes more intense and Job was already pleaded with him

Hey, listen guys Will you just cover your mouth for a while? We just listen to me

We listen patiently and diligently that was last week Just listen to me for a moment as I as I try to refute what Zophar has said and explain some things to you That that I understand to be true But they didn't listen They just look for the next opportunity to say something And they would continue their slander Their abuse Their criticism as cruel as it was right to Job's face And those who would pass by would hear the conversation and maybe there were there were those who would step by and just just listen To the conversation

Maybe they stopped by just to see the the grotesque appearance of Job. I don't know Get a look at this guy who was just so gnarly looking that they couldn't even believe that he even stayed alive But he was alive Because he couldn't die because God said Satan you can't kill him And I'm sure and we've already read he wishes that he was already dead The intensity of the pain was enormous It Job was was a man of great character So Alphas is gonna speak beginning around three so far is done

Thank God so far has gone so far away We are so happy for that But anyway, these two men will begin the third round and Eliphaz will speak and As he does as he begins this third round He's going to talk about the fact that Job is sinful Job is secretive and Job is stubborn Okay We're gonna talk about that with you for a few moments And then we'll bring it to a conclusion by helping you understand what to do in your dark and dreary days When everything is crumbling around you And what does the Bible say about that? Chapter 22 verse number one then Eliphaz the Timonite responded

Can a vigorous man be of use to God? Or eyes man be of be useful to himself Is there any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous or Prophet if you make your ways perfect He goes right to the root of Job's sinfulness He says in essence you are proud and arrogant You think God needs you You think you're so important that God can't make it without you that you are indispensable Now we know that no man is indispensable and that God needs no man God uses man God wants to use you but God doesn't need you if God needs you That means he is lacking in some area of his life

They need someone else to do something for him But God is not that way

God doesn't need us He wants to use us And so Eliphaz is gonna make the statement that that Job you think that you are indispensable to God That you are so great and so wonderful that God can't make it without you That's how he begins the conversation as if he listened to nothing Job said in chapter 21 in his last conversation and so he says Is it because of your reverence that he reproves you That he enters into judgment against you is not your wickedness great and your iniquities without end That's the statement Your wickedness is great job And your iniquities are continual they're always present they're without end they don't stop and Job's sitting there thinking What are you talking about? How can you say that? You don't even know that You see that's that's their conclusion because there has to be a reason that Job looks the way he looks That he's suffering the way he's suffering He's not listening to the words of counsel from these guys He's a wicked man and his wickedness is great He says in verse 6 now what he's going to do is he's going to invent lies He's gonna make up things about Job that are not true Verse 6 for you have taken pledges of your brothers without cause and strip men naked you robbed them To the weary you have given no water to drink and from the hungry You have withheld bread you've caused people to starve You're selfish You're self-serving But the earth belongs to the mighty man then the animal man dwells in it In other words, he's saying to Job that's what you believe You believe that the the earth belongs to the mighty men the noble men and that this is the place for you and no one else Job never said that Job never believed that but you see he's accusing Job of this You have sent widows away empty and the strength of orphans you have crushed That's not true

We've taken you to Job 21 We've taken you to Job 31 and showed you that he is concerned Immensely about the widows and the orphans But you see he's inventing these lies to help Job Eventually see the wickedness of his life, but none of its true

He says verse 10 therefore snares surround you and Sudden dread terrifies you or darkness so that you cannot see and an abundance of water Covers you This is Job sinfulness Job you are so sinful that you are absolutely underwater You are covered with sin And you're experiencing Excuse me The the the the the snares and the traps and the trials because of your sin

That's why it's there Job And all throughout the scriptures especially the Psalms this phrase is used over and over again about being underwater being in deep water to describe the trials that come upon people and Most of the time that phrase is used It's used in conjunction with people who are criticizing and lying About the psalmist let me show the example if you turn with me to psalm chapter 42 it says in verse 7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls all your breakers and your waves have rolled over me psalm 69 Verse number one save me

Oh God for the waters have threatened my life I have sunk in deep mire and there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters and the flood Overflows me. I am weary with my crying My throat is parched My eyes fail while I wait for my God those who hate me without a cause are More than the hairs of my head those who would destroy me are Powerful being wrongfully my enemies what I did not steal I didn't have to restore in other words These are those who have come against him and because they've come against him so hard

He is underwater He is overwhelmed first number 14 Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink May I be a delivered from my foes and from the deep waters may the flood of water not overflow me nor the deep Swallow me up nor this pit shut its mouth on me The phrase that Eliphaz uses is describing Job that he's so far under the waters Because of his wickedness He can't see anything

That's righteous and true and that phrase is used throughout the scriptures to point about how man is overwhelmed with With those who have come against them Psalm 124 verse number One had it not been the Lord who was on our side Let Israel now say had it not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us Then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled against us Then the waters would have engulfed us the streams would have swept over our soul then the raging waters would have swept over our soul And then again over in the book of Isaiah book of Lamentations the third chapter 52nd verse my enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird They have silenced me in the pit and have placed a stone on me Waters float over my head. I said I'm cut off. I call on your name

Oh Lord out of the lowest pit You have heard my voice So all throughout the Old Testament, there are many many more verses that describe that talks about being under the weight of Trials and tribulations and temptation and in the LFS says the job listen, this is the way you are man You have to wake up and smell the coffee You are sinful You are so wicked your sins are continual so continual that you're overwhelmed by them You are underwater job

Can't you see that? And Joe was like Dude, I don't see that at all. I don't know where you even getting that from Because I know that I'm a sinner But there's no great wickedness that I've committed He searched his heart So not only to say that job is sinful He said job is secretive He's a hypocrite tries to hide his sin And this is the way this is what he tells job

He believes verse 12 Is not God in this height of heaven look also at the distant stars How high they are you say job? What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness? Clouds are hiding a hiding place for him said he cannot see and he walks on the vault of heaven Will you keep to the ancient path which wicked men have trod? Says job look you need to look up Because there is a God who sees everything but you say God doesn't see You say God is behind the clouds and the clouds are protecting him from seeing what's happening in your life You think that what you're doing God doesn't see you're operating in secret But job doesn't believe that That's all been obvious by the things that we've already covered in the scriptures but you see Elvis is accusing job of What he wants job to think he believes But it's not true She says job need to look up Because you've implied that God does not see you or does not know what's going on, but he does This is job

You look you need to look back

Why? Because God has ignored or people have ignored how God has judged the world for 16 Who were snatched away before their time whose foundations were washed away by a river or by a flood So he references the Genesis flood Eliphaz does by telling how wicked men suffer because of their sin who thought God didn't see them or that God didn't care Or that God wasn't involved or God didn't even exist But they all died they were all washed away You need to look out or look up you look back and you look out job Why because judgment's coming your way He says they said to God depart from us and what can the Almighty do to them? Yet he filled their houses with good things, but the counsel of the wicked is far from me The the righteous see and are glad and the innocent mocked them saying truly our adversaries are cut off and their abundance the fire has Consumed job look out because you've invited judgment to come your way Even though you think God doesn't see he does even though you think God doesn't know he knows even though you think God's too busy He's not Now think about that for a minute because sometimes we we get in that mode only we think that God didn't see If you really believe that God saw everything you did you wouldn't do most of what you do If you really believe that God was seen and looking and present with you when you were about to commit sin You wouldn't do it But somehow we think that God is is not looking down upon us that God Doesn't see us that God is somehow so busy doing something else But he's not involved in the everyday affairs of my life because he's involved in the everyday affairs of your life Or someone who's more importance life This is not true God's involved in every aspect of our lives not just certain ones of us, but all of us And we can't get into that trap of thinking that God doesn't see because if we knew that God saw us and God was with us present with us

We wouldn't do the things that we do or say the things that we say And so Eliphaz is onto something but the problem is this is not what Joe believes Job does live in the fear of God all day long Job is an upright man He is a blameless man

He knows about God But Eliphaz is trying to convince him of something that's not true Job you're sinful Job you're secretive and Job you're stubborn and because you're stubborn you need to repent So he says in verse number 21 Yield now and be at peace with him thereby good will come to you repent Job If you repent good things will come to you Eliphaz is a little bit of a prosperity preacher He thinks that if you repent and you get right with God all good things are gonna happen and come your way That's not necessarily true Now

It could happen There's no guarantee But Eliphaz is getting Job or once Job to see things from his perspective Eliphaz's perspective that Job might truly come to a place where he repents Because he's a wicked sinner and his sins are continual so he says Need to repent be reconciled to God Please receive instruction from his mouth and establish his words in your heart If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored if you remove unrighteousness far from your tent and Place your gold in the dust and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks

In other words if you repent If you receive instruction if you return to the Almighty if you remove unrighteousness You'll be wealthy You'll be right back where you were But you got to repent And then he says this then the Almighty will be your gold and choice silver to you For then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God as if Job wasn't delighted in the Almighty Then he says in verse 27

You will pray to him He will hear you and You will pay your vows the reason God's not hearing you the reason God's not responding to you Job is because he didn't hear you didn't hear you because you ever repented until you repent right and Receive instruction from God alone Right and return to the Almighty you can pray all you want God's not gonna hear you But if you do these things God will hear Verse 27 you will pray to him

He will hear you you will pay your vows You will also decree a thing and it will be established for you and light will shine on your ways When you are cast down you will speak with confidence and the humble person will will be saved He will deliver one who is not innocent and he will be delivered for the cleanness of your hands Joke listen just repent Everything will turn around for you Everything will be better for you

Your plans will come to fruition You'll be wealthy once again You'll be able to pray to God and he'll listen and things will run right in order, but you gotta repent The problem with all that is is that it is true that if you do repent God does hear you right If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me right That's why I confess and forsake my sin that I might receive compassion but yet It's not true because it's not Job He again slanders Job's faith he slanders Job's belief

He speaks against what Job knows to be true And that's the way his friends are And yet you read James 5 and you've heard of the endurance and the patience of Job In my own mind I'm thinking this conversation are these conversations Have have caused his physical pain to take a backseat Because the emotional pain coming from the conversations because they accuse him of everything down the pike That's all I can think about so is his pain his physical pain has been Directed in another direction so that he can focus in on the conversation with these men because they're so wrong The question comes for you and me what happens when we're criticized what happens when we're condemned What happens when people speak cruel things to us? How do we respond? You see we like Job need to be rescued and we need to be rescued to a place of refuge In that place of refuge is where the rock of our salvation lies Listen to what Jeremiah says Because Jeremiah was a man who did not receive much praise the fact He received no praise Because nobody listened to what Jeremiah had to say But he was criticized He was thrown into a pit pit

He was ridiculed by Israel his own nation Okay? And in Jeremiah chapter 16 verse number 19 He says O Lord my strength and my stronghold in my refuge in the day of distress What made Jeremiah unique prophet? God was his refuge in the day of distress Chapter 17 verse number 17 do not be a terror to me You are my refuge in the day of disaster So Jeremiah says in the day of distress you are my refuge in the day of disaster You are my refuge You are my hiding place You are my security secure place To emphasize the fact that there's really only one secure place

It's not your bedroom or your bathroom or Your cabin in the mountains or your house in Laguna Beach Your place of refuge is the Lord God of Israel That's where you're secure In the day of disaster in the day of distress is where you go Listen to what it says in Nahum 1 verse number 7 Nahum 1 verse number 7 The Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble

He knows those Who take refuge in him? God knows those who take refuge in him Charles Spurgeon in his devotional morning and evening Says this about Jeremiah 17 17 where God is our refuge in the day of disaster He says the path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine He has his seasons of darkness and of storm True, it is written in God's Word Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace And it is a great truth That religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above But experience tells us that at the course of the just be as the shining light that shineth more and more to the perfect day Yet sometimes that light is eclipsed At certain periods clouds cover the believers son And he walks in darkness and he sees no light There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season They have basked in the sunshine in the early stages of their Christian career They have walked along the green pastures by the side of the still waters but suddenly They find the glorious sky is clouded Instead of the Lord of Goshen or the land of Goshen, excuse me

They have to tread the sandy desert the place of sweet waters They find troubled streams Bitter to their taste and they say surely if I were a child of God This would never happen

Oh Say not so Thou who are walking in darkness The best of God's Saints must drink the wormwood the dearest of his children must bear the cross No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity No believer can always keep his heart from the willows perhaps the Lord allotted you a first at first a smooth and unclouded path Because you were weak and timid He tempered the wind to the shorn land But now that you are stronger in the spiritual life You must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God's full-grown children We need winds and tempest to exercise our faith To tear off the rotten bow of self-dependence and to root us more firmly in Christ the day of evil or the day of disaster or distress Reveals to us the value of our glorious

Hope Spurgeon's right We believe that things will be at ease and things will be blissful for us because we've given our lives to Christ And we're children of the Living God and we're to be at peace with our brethren and peace with God and and things are gonna be Great, but there are times that are so severe so disastrous so difficult so hard need a refuge and The only person who can do that is our Lord the psalmist in in Psalm 71 said these words in you O Lord I Have taken refuge Let me never be ashamed in your righteousness deliver me and rescue me incline your ear to me and Save me be to me a rock of habitation To which I may continually come You have given commandment to save me For you are my rock and my fortress Rescue me

Oh my god out of the hand of the wicked out of the grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man For you are my hope Oh Lord God

You are my confidence for my youth By you I have been sustained from my birth You are he took me from my mother's womb my praise is continually of you The psalmist knew he needed a refuge and God was his refuge The psalmist knew he needed rescued and God was his rescuer the psalmist needed a rock a Rock is immovable a rock is something That sustains you Which is so desperately needed in the psalmist would deal with it in such a way that Others around him would know that the Lord was his God When it comes to criticism when it comes to Slanderous words when it comes to those who would speak against us as those who spoke against Job You need a refuge You need to be rescued the only God can do that nobody else can and need a rock says in Psalm 18 I love you Oh Lord my strength the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer My God my rock and whom I take refuge my shield and the horde of my salvation my stronghold I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised And I'm saved from my enemies Let me save from your enemies You need a fortress You need a refuge You need a rock You need a Redeemer That's what you need And he calls upon the name of the Lord

He saves them from his enemies Psalm 31 In you Oh Lord, I've taken refuge first number one Let me never be ashamed in your righteousness deliver me and climb your ear to me rescue me quickly Be to me a rock of strength a stronghold to save me For you are my rock and my fortress For your name's sake you will lead me and guide me did you get that? My rock and my fortress Will lead you and guide you Not for your sake But for his name's sake That is so important to grasp It's never about you It's always about God So he says you will pull me out of the net which they are secretly laid for me for you are my strength over in Psalm 62 Salma says these words Psalm 62 verse 6 He only is my rock and my salvation my stronghold I should not be shaken on God my salvation and my glory rests the rock of my strength My refuge is in God trust in him at all times

Oh people pour out your heart before him for God is a refuge That's song 62 Psalm 61 says hear my cry Oh God Give heed to my prayer From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is faint lead me to the rock that's higher than I For you have been a refuge for me a tower of strength against the enemy Let me dwell in your tent forever let me take refuge in the shelter of your wings Isaiah 44 God says in verse number 8 Do not tremble And then I'd be afraid Haven't that long since announced it to you and declare it and you are my witnesses Is there any God besides me? or is there any other rock I know of none God says there is no other rock There is no other Redeemer There is no other rescuer There is no other refuge pray tell where are you going what are you doing come to me Come to the rock that is higher than yourself Come to the stability of the rock Come to the serenity of the rock Because the rock is a place where you hide and are secure It's so important that when criticism comes We truly Seek refuge in the rock that will rescue us The Apostle Paul Tells us something in second Timothy chapter 4 about his accusers first number 14 He says that Timothy Alexander the coppersmith didn't mean much harm The Lord will repay him according to his deeds Be on guard against him yourself free vigorously opposed our teaching For 16 at my first offense no one supported me all deserted me May not be counted against them You can love that up all Still about myself and all these friends thought I had but guess what? At my first defense They all ran away Nobody was there. I stood all alone

Oh, but he wasn't though It says but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me The Lord stood with me and Strengthened me he says said through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished and That all the Gentiles might hear and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed And will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom To him be the glory forever and ever Amen He tells Timothy that admits my accusers And missed all those who who abandoned me The Lord stood with me And none of these just stand there He stand there and supported me and strengthened me Why? Why So the proclamation of the gospel would continue We told you earlier about that

God is there for his name's sake It's about his glory and his honor I Miss Paul's imprisonment I miss all that Paul was recollecting while he sat in the member team prison and reflected upon his life trying to encourage Timothy says Timothy Alexander the coppersmith is vicious violently opposes the gospel the truth To go back and you read I think it's acts 19 you begin to understand Alex Alexander the coppersmiths attitude toward the Apostle Paul But even though he was abandoned and accused accused by his enemy abandoned by his friends, right There was a rock that stood with him There was a refuge that was beside him And that was the Lord who stood there and strengthened him for one purpose That the proclamation of the gospel would continue And it would go out so others would hear and believe and follow the Christ Do you ever think that in the midst of of your disaster in the midst of your your distress In the midst of your your you're being slandered and ridiculed that that God has a has a greater purpose for you Not just to keep people from doing that to you That's what you want to see happen

We'll be rescued from them We only deliver it out of their presence But the Lord Paul says the Lord will rescue me From every evil doer In other words He will rescue me in this life Or rescue me by taking me out of this life into the next life Because he says very clearly that he rescued me out of the lion's mouth the place of Of death the place of being torn to shreds And the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed Every evil deed and will bring me safely to the heavenly kingdom to him be the glory forever and ever amen God has been my refuge my rock my rescuer my redeemer So when everybody else deserted me it was okay Because the Lord stood with me remember john 16 When christ said to his men You're all going to desert me

You're all going to leave me alone And yet I won't be alone Because my father is with me She's a believer You're never alone You always have the christ He's always there to stand with you and to strengthen you why Because the purpose for your being here is to be able to tell others about the saving grace of jesus christ our lord So god will take you through these difficult times

So take you through these disastrous times So take you through these times of distress that some way somehow the gospel will go forth Through the life your life That others might receive the truth of christ the savior of the world Job Sat and listened and endured Not just the physical affliction but the verbal abuse And as he did he was being used by god He was used by god in your life and mine And by all those who would who would read the story of job But all the while god was doing something in the life of job for christ's name sake Sake What he did in job's life was not for job It was for his own glory right Everything about job's life was for the glory and honor of his of his god Job would finally grasp all that repent in dust and ashes Once god revealed to himself or to to job who he really is It was a revelation of the character of god that changed job's life That god is that individual and the only individual that you can trust that you can believe in and follow nobody else and as as christians as believers in the lord, jesus christ our sole purpose should be to be So enraptured with this the christ To study him to such lengths we understand He's with us He's for us And will strengthen us as we go through our times of distress and disaster Let's pray together Father we thank you lord for tonight And a chance to once again peer into the truth of your word We read about job and we read verses about him and We hear what His comforters or miserable comforters say and and we wonder why they even say what they say why they just be quiet Leave the poor guy alone But behind all that lord is is something you want us to learn As we listen to job as we watch job as we begin to see him from a huge distance We're able to see the hand of god in his life Now there was a man from the land of us He wasn't just any man He wasn't an ordinary man He surely was an extraordinary man And as we continue our study He will become more and more extraordinary In our lives Because there really isn't anybody else like him in scripture And there certainly isn't anybody like him on earth today And so you've given him to us That we might see how it is you work In people's lives because lord you're at work in our life Even tonight as we speak There are those among us who have been criticized condemned slandered verbally abused And they need a rescuer They need a refuge They need a rock They need a redeemer And that's you For there is no one else But you you said it is there any other rock answer No, is there any other god answer? No, there's just one And lord, we are so pleased to know the only one In jesus name Amen