All right, so we're gonna finish up this second to the last in Job. We're gonna do one more next week. Last week we talked about the God of nature, when God came back in and he declared himself as the creator. And we talked about how important it is that whole concept of God is creator. Most Jewish people, when they think of the word Elohim, which is, of course, the plural for God in Hebrew. They think of that's kind of like the title of God as creator. And it says, so that's kind of a big deal. And the fact that that's what separates him from all the other gods. And of course, it's interesting how all these things seem to go together. On Sunday, we've been talking about idolatry and how God does not have anything want anything to do with idolatry and and the importance of understanding that he is God alone that there is no other God beside him is basically what Isaiah says on a regular basis and it's interesting to me as as you know when you do these studies and you're teaching them one book and then you're teaching another book kind of simultaneously, how much they overlap always interests me, always is kind of fascinating to me. And there's a huge overlap between what's being taught here and where we actually are in Isaiah in the 40s. So that to me is really amazing. But Job gets to this point, you know, he gets hammered by God basically about, you know, where were you when I did this? And where were you when I did that? And so on and so forth. And then the Lord basically asks him for an answer and he can't give him one. And what I wrote in my Bible is Job still doesn't get it. At this point, Job still doesn't understand that his problems didn't come from God. And that's really the whole issue here. The whole issue here is who is directing this crisis in our life? Who is the one that's causing all the pain in our life? And he still thinks it's God. So God now has to come to him and says, and I'm now calling this the Matty verse, Now gird up your loins and be a man. Now gird up your loins and be a man. I don't know why I think that's such an amazing verse, but I just think that's it. It's so harsh. Pull up your jockstrap, boy. Let's go. Come on. Tighten it up. It's really interesting because then he says, I will ask and you will answer. I will ask and you will answer." Wow, that's really... In other words, he wants Job to tell him what's going on, but Job is silent. He doesn't even know what to say because he's just so completely confused. And so now we get into this whole entire thing where God kind of goes through this whole little picture here of saying to Job, well, Job, what if you were me? What if you were me? Would you be able to do what I do? Would you be able to judge people? Would you be able to, you know, it's, it's interesting because I hear this complaint a lot. You know, God sends everybody, you know, God is just up there sending people to hell. You know, that's why I don't like this whole Bible thing. Cause he's just, he's just up there sending people to hell. And the, the truth is, as we're going to see here, God doesn't send anybody to hell. Everybody sends themselves to hell. You know, it's really a very interesting, you know, thing. So, you know, he says in verse 11, he says, pour out the overflowings of your anger and look on everyone who is proud and make him, I'm sorry, and make him low. Look on everyone who is proud and humble him. Tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them in the dust together. Bind them in the hidden place. And then I will also confess to you that your right hand can save you." In other words, if you can do what I do, then you can save yourself. That's not that hard, okay? And obviously, he doesn't understand anything of God. He doesn't understand how God thinks. By the way, neither do we. Right? I mean, we don't stand here in judgment of that because the truth is we don't understand it at all. And effectively, look, like he said in the book, Job is a good guy. He really is. Job is a really awesome person. He's nice. He's charitable. He's kind. He's considerate. He's got, you know, the Hebrew word tom, you know, we've talked about that. He's blameless. But he's got a problem. He's got the same problem that every single person on earth struggles with. I don't care who you are, by the way. Everybody does in their own way. And that is what? Pride. Everybody struggles with pride. Everybody. I don't care who you are. You struggle with pride. And of course, one of the seven deadly sins starts off with what? A proud look, right? You know, a haughty spirit. It's just the same thing. I mean, so we've got this, you know, so who is proud and who's going to humble? In other words, are you ready to do that? I mean, could you do that, Joe? And so then he gets into this conversation about behemoth. Leviathan which to me is is I've I've always loved this section because it shows me again the consistency of God's Word that when God talks about the people that stand against him and he did it in the Revelation he doesn't I say he doesn't right he basically says look there are there are there are beasts out there that are there are looking to take you down And so behemoth is the beast of the land and Leviathan is the beast of the sea. Well, of course, we all know in Revelation 13, when we did the book of Revelation, that that's exactly what God showed John was going to try to you know, destroy the world, was gonna try to take over the world. And he calls it in the book, I think this is such an interesting expression, he calls it the unholy trinity, the phony, and I talked about that when we were doing the book of the Revelation, this unholy trinity. And how God, and we see this in Isaiah all the time, God always reveals himself in the triune. As we've been going through Isaiah, it's every chapter almost, we see God revealing himself as the Lord, the Lord of hosts, and the King of Israel, or whatever. And there's always this triune nature of God that's being brought out. And so this is not a New Testament thing. I got asked that question when I was in Naples last week. Well, that's a New Testament thought. And I said, no, that's an Old and New Testament thought. This is not something new. The fact of the matter is that there is nothing in the so-called New Testament that can't be found in the Old so-called Testament. I've never been a big believer in old and new, as though one's no longer valid and the other is now the one that's sort of taken it over. That's just not true. This is the Word of God. There are 66 books in the Word of God. and they are made up of one revelation and then another revelation. And so we see this over and over and over. But Behemoth, the beast of the land, and Leviathan, the beast of the sea. And it's interesting because they really represent all that Satan tries to use. And when you think about what Satan tries to use, he wants to confuse us. And so he wants to confuse us about really three things. He wants to confuse us about God. He wants to confuse us about life. And then he also wants to confuse us about ourselves. and where our place is in this whole entire thing. Those are the three areas that he's constant. And you talk to people, and I'm telling you, people struggle with these three things constantly. They struggle with the whole idea of God. Where is God in all of this? What's God doing here? How does God work? You hear all that. People struggle with the meaning of life. I mean, how many books have been written about the meaning of life don't express the meaning of life, okay? I mean, it's just amazing to me, the volumes of pages that have been written about that. And of course, the other struggle that everyone has is, what's my place in this whole entire thing? Where am I in this whole entire thing? Am I that important or am I that unimportant? We struggle with this whole idea of foreknowledge. We struggle with this whole idea that God has a plan and he's going to do whatever he wants. By the way, Isaiah 46, that's exactly what it says in Isaiah 46. It says, God's gonna do whatever he wants. Oh my goodness gracious, what? But that's because he's God, hello. You know, I mean, the fact is, is that we struggle with these things because Satan wants to confuse us about those things. those little things. And he said this in the book, I thought this was a great quote. He says, there is no more bitter pill to swallow than the pill of finding you are wrong when you thought you were right. I mean, there is, I'm telling you that, that happened to me once. I thought I was wrong, but I was wrong. No, I'm just kidding. I mean, the truth is, yeah, I was just mistaken. I mean, but the truth of the matter is, is that we're, when, when you find out, I'm not being serious about this. I mean, when you find out that you were wrong, fundamentally wrong about something that you took as being absolute gospel, and then you find out that's just not true. I don't know about y'all, but that, that is something that messes with my head and it has happened to me. And by the way, the older I get, the less dogmatic I'm becoming. I'm being serious. I mean, I was thinking about this last night. Man, I really was. This Palestinian-Israeli wars got me kind of messed up. Because on the face of it, it's very easy to see why Israel is so upset. I mean, come on, this is obvious, okay? And why we need to support them, and I'm not suggesting we shouldn't, I'm just saying this isn't, but there is another side to this. Yeah, the Palestinians. Yeah, and the truth of the matter is, when you really sit down and think about it, this is a classic race war. This is a classic race war. And so we see that, and so that's tough. You know, I've been thinking, This guy turned me on to a book. I wish you wouldn't do some of this stuff, by the way. But he turned me on to a book as to the roots of, it's called The Roots of White Supremacy. And I'm not sure I want to know what I now know. I can't unknow it. Because I can't unknow it, exactly. I can't unknow it. But I want to know it. I don't want you to take that the wrong way. But I'm not sure I know how to deal with it now that I know it. Do you understand where I'm coming from? I mean, it's really, I now know stuff that I wish I, well, I'm glad I know it, but I'm not sure I want to know it, which is really interesting. Because it proves you wrong in your thinking? Well, it proves me wrong in my thinking from a long time ago, I can tell you that. That's what I mean. I never thought I was racist, ever. I'm being serious. I never thought I had a racist bone in my body until I read that book. But it makes you accountable. And then I thought, my God, I got racism running around through me. And by the way, that's another, why? Because what's the root he brings us out? What's the root of racism? It's pride. Yes. That's the root of racism. I think I'm better than you. That's the root of it, if you think about it. So it comes back to these whole entire things, but Job is silent. He doesn't know what to say. And because he's silent, God has an opportunity now, and so he basically decides to tell him about Behemoth and Leviathan. And how you can't do this on your own, Joe. You can't fight these animals on your own. You can't fight these two. So what do they represent? So Behemoth represents everything that is wrong with us, the flesh. And Leviathan is all about what's wrong with the system. And this system is broken, always has been. And that's why John says, love not the world, that's the system. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Got that? Neither the things that are in the world. Because everything that's in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, are not of the Father. but of the world. And the world passes away. And the lust, which we just rang off, the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever. And that's basically the message here. The message here is love not the world. Love not the flesh. Love not the pride. Love not those things because those are the things that are causing the pain. And that's what we don't understand. So this whole book is about the problem with pain. If you really think about it, it's really what this is all about. The problem of pain and the fact that we want to blame God for our pain. And what God is saying is, you can't blame me for your pain. You need to go to where it really is. And the problem with pain is it finds its roots in Behemoth and Leviathan, which is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. That's what it's all about. And so when we look at these things, I got so many notes. I'm going to say something. You can't blame him because he allows Satan to exist. Can blame who? God. No, you cannot blame God. Because he allows Satan to exist. No, you cannot blame God. Now, that's the whole point of this. God is not the one that it blames. The fact of the matter is that He let Satan loose on Job. I'm just throwing this out for conversation. He was protecting Job before he allowed Satan to attack him. That doesn't mean it wasn't coming from somewhere and there wasn't a cause of that. But that's that circular thinking that the world likes to get us into that's that's no I'm serious That's the circular thinking the fact of the matter is is that God is not going to at this moment He has chosen because God does what he wants to do. God has chosen to allow Satan to continue. So we have to choose And we have to make a choice. You can't choose if you don't have one or the other. You have to have both in order to make a choice. That's correct. And the fact of the matter is, is that God gives us this picture in the very first book that was ever written of the fact that you have to choose between the two. Right in the very first book, right in the very first book. He puts sin in this world, so we have to make a choice. I don't know that you can say God. You have to have something to choose from to have free will. You can't have light without darkness. That's the magnificent part about the Lord though. The magnificent part about the Lord, and this is why I have such a problem with people that are, you know, Well, God is absolutely, everything is predestined or everything is free will. No, God does what God wants to do because God has a very bigger plan because we don't see that bigger plan. We don't even understand how he thinks. Isaiah says it this way, he says, your thoughts are not, or his thoughts are not like your thoughts and neither are his ways like your ways. So the fact of the matter is, is that we have this misguided direction that we get, and my recording is not working for some reason, but that's life. This one ain't gonna get recorded. When we see this picture of where God is and how it all works and so forth and so on, Well, let me just read some of these notes, because I think that'll help. So what God does is he introduces this land creature, behemoth, and the sea creature, Leviathan. And the question I always ask is, is it a coincidence that God reveals the two worst enemies of God in John and Revelation as the beast of the land and the beast of the sea? I don't think it's a coincidence. I mean, by the way, I don't believe there are coincidences, especially when it comes to the Bible. So we see this thing. So the behemoth represents the problems that we get inside, the inside influence. And Leviathan is what happens from the outside, the outside influence. So we have a double whammy. We have a problem with our own flesh, which is caused by our own sin nature. And we have a problem with the systemic problems that are out there, which are the world. And that's Leviathan. And the one that's basically running the fingers over the puppets, as it were, or whatever, is the devil, is Satan. And so we have this unholy triunity. This imitation of the triune nature of God is imitated by the demonic. And so we see that. And so we end up with this unholy trinity, the world, the flesh, the devil. And the devil always, listen to me, the devil always imitates God. Everything about him is an imitation. Everything about him is fake. Everything about him is less than what God has for us. It's a lie. It's all a lie, right? And that's why... He does not have the ability to tell the truth. Correct. And so Jesus said it this way in John chapter 8. He said he is the father of lies. So he's a cheap, shabby imitation of the real thing. And the enemy here is not God. The enemy is Satan. And so that's the thing that he... You bring up invitations. Satan counterfeits everything God tries to do. He does it in a way to try to disturb you or get away of God's will. Even Ishmael. Right? So as an example, you have the Abrahamic covenant. Satan comes in, starts whispering in Sarah's ear, basically gets her husband to sleep with their Egyptian servant. Right. And Ishmael is born. Satan again trying to get in the way of God's will through a counterfeit where Isaac was the promised one, right? Right. And, you know, at the end of the day, these imitations are something we see consistently throughout scripture. Those are two really good examples right there. But they keep on going. If you think about it, it's just over and over and over. It's like all the kings of Israel and, you know, and the imitations of even the one that when God called David, then all these other guys came along and tried to be imitations of that. But it was all a lie. It was all built around the idea that they were more important than everyone else. And pride finds itself always at the front of every one of these things. And so what I wrote in my notes is, the world system can't be defeated with conventional methods, and if no one can stand against the world, how can they stand against God? Whereas if we can't even stand against the lesser of the two, how can we stand against the greater of the two? I mean, it's, It's just a real interesting question. And because he's infinitely, God, is infinitely more powerful than anything that we could even imagine. And that's the problem. We think we understand God. And this is the point that I believe that God is trying to make here to Job, is Job, relax. I'm in charge. I'm in charge. And the fact of the matter is, is that The world imitates. The flesh imitates. Satan imitates. It's all imitation. It's all fake. It's all phony. It's all... And what's interesting is the imitation sort of seems invincible, if you think about it. You hear this all the time, but, you know, oh yeah, he's insane. And I would say, well, wait a minute. Jesus said it this way. He said, I have overcome the world. I'm overcoming, I'm bigger than the world. And then he says, greater is he that is within you than he who is in the world. So what do you do with that? Okay, I mean, if he seems so invincible, well then how can he say greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world? Look, you've got the power within you already to overcome this. But here's the issue. And the issue is we allow our flesh, so this is a Romans chapter 7 deal, we allow our flesh to start to really rule what's going on in our lives over that spirit which is in you which can overcome the world. And there's this battle going on. There's this battle going on. So we have a battle going on between the flesh and us. Hang on for one second, John. We have a battle going on between us and the flesh. We have a battle going on between us and the world. And we have a battle going on between us and Satan. Further, I would say we really don't have a battle between us and Satan. I actually would suggest Satan has a battle going on against God, which he can't win, which is fascinating. Go ahead, John. So we don't think like God, right, is the premise of all this. But God created everything. Somewhere in Genesis 1, when God created the heavens and the earth, he also created the demons. He created angels that he knew would fall. And they were created near perfectly, as well as Lucifer, son of the morning. But Lucifer, some of them defied God, became proud, and God cast them out of heaven. And they were cast out of heaven like a bolt of lightning, at least that's the way he described it. There's a lot of these that he describes as celestial bodies, which I don't think just in the way that they look or in their ability to transcend into multiple places, but I also believe it's numerically, there's just, there's an endless number of them. I don't know how many there are, there's billions if not trillions or more of them. But they're gods too. And even though they defy God, like we do, God's nature is not like our nature. He's completely merciful. I don't know if God loves the devil, but he probably does. I believe that's one of the things that is so hard for us to get our arms around is God is incapable of hate. That's a really interesting concept. But again, again, his thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are his ways our ways. I want you guys to turn to the book of Ephesians. I want to read a couple of things out of the book of Ephesians, because I think this is really Paul's take on this whole entire behemoth Leviathan scenario. So go to the second chapter of the book of Ephesians. And as Orlando knows, this is probably my most favorite section of scripture. Second book and then we're gonna read the six we're gonna read we're gonna read a little section out of the two and a little section out of three or excuse me out of six and because I think they they tie so so importantly together he says this he says and Chapter two. Yeah, right verse one. I'm sorry. Yeah chapter two verse one and we're not gonna go very far in it. It says and You were dead in trespasses and sins. Do you see the past tense there? and you were dead in trespasses and sins, meaning you ain't anymore. If you're in Christ, you are no longer dead to trespasses and sins. That's a hard concept for a lot of people to deal with. Does not mean that we still have trespasses and it does not mean that we still don't have sin. It just means we ain't dead to it anymore. That's what he's saying. And then he explains that. He says this. He says, in which you formally, past tense, right? Formally walked according to the course of this world, same word that we're kind of dealing with here, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. So prior, to you having a relationship with Jesus, you were under his complete control. You were under his complete dominance. You were under his complete authority. Among them, we too all formally lived in the lust of our flesh, which are the lust of the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. We formally lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh, and, and this is interesting, and the mind. Not only just the flesh, but the mind. In other words, not only the things you act out, but the things you think about. Yesterday I was talking to a buddy of mine, and I said, I just thought this really wicked thought of another guy that we were with, and I said, I think that's probably just as bad as having done it. And he looked at me and he says, no, acts of omission are not sin. I said, no. But it was just, it was an interesting conversation. I just, I digress. I'm sorry. Among them, we too formally lived in the lust of the flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by, this is good. We're by nature, the children of wrath. We're by nature. In other words, that's what we naturally do. That's our natural form. That's our automatic. Natural state. Natural state. That's what we do. That's our automatic. Even as the rest. I love that. In other words, even as the people that aren't believers. We're all in the same boat. And then we get the Chuck word. But God. being rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins made us alive together with Christ for by grace are you saved look I mean this is and of course we could just keep on going yeah I mean you guys know the rest of it I mean we have to remember where this is all coming from you see the fact of the matter is is that everyone and I would say according to Paul in first Corinthians chapter five, everyone since Adam has struggled with this problem. Everyone is kind of like we're born into it. It's like being born into a particular family. I am, I, you can't pick your parents, right? It's just the same kind of thing. Original sin, man. I mean, you know, we're coming back to that. I mean, you know, it, you know, here we are. And so, The world is imitating God. It's very attractive to us because that's our nature to accept that. That's the natural thing is to accept that. And it seems inevitable almost to us when we're in that state that, you know, we have to do good. We have to do certain things. We have to, you know, and therefore somehow we deserve to get treated properly. And when it doesn't happen, we're mad. And that's kind of where Job was at. This is Paul saying this. This is Paul saying this. Yeah. So Paul basically raised that whole entire thing up. And so he keeps on going in his book and gets over to chapter six. And, you know, and after he talks about, this is interesting because in chapter five, he talks about being imitators of God. It's kind of an interesting thing. We're not going to get into that. But then he gets into this whole thing in chapter six, and he starts talking about familial. First, he talks about marriage relationship, and then he talks about familial relationships. And then he talks about business relationships and so forth. And he sums it all up in verse 10. And he says, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the full armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Schemes, really, that's really the word there. Schemes of the devil. And by the way, he has lots of them. And then he says this, he says, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against rulers, against powers, against the world forces of wickedness and darkness, against spiritual forces, in heavenly places. I mean, this is pretty amazing if you think about it. I mean, he's saying, look, you wanna have a strong relationship with your wife? Be strong in the Lord. You wanna have a strong relationship with your kids? Be strong in the Lord. You wanna have a strong relationship in your business? Be strong in the Lord. Because that's- That is so, so true in every level. I believe it's foundational, yeah, as you said. Yeah, I mean, look. So now Job responds. So now Job is gonna respond. He's heard about Leviathan, he's heard about Behemoth, he's heard about the fact that his arrows don't pierce him, and so forth and so on. And forgive me for not reading all of this, but I hope you all read it. That's why I said that in my email. I hope you all read it ahead, because it would just take too much of our time just to read the whole entire thing. So here's the deal. But we are gonna read this. Go to Job. and go to that 42nd chapter. Now in that last chapter, I've always thought the first six verses of this were not really part of the chapter. They were really kind of part of the other, because there's a whole nother story we're going to talk about next week when we get to verse seven. You said 41st? 42nd, 42nd. It says, Job answered the Lord, and he said, and I love this, He says, I know. Now, that is the first time in the entire book of Job where Job can say with certainty, I know. I now know. Now, before that, I was guessing. His faith was not... Everything about his knowledge of God was based upon a presupposition that was wrong. And that's why he was now basically humbled by that. Yeah. Except for he was in Christ. He knew his Redeemer was coming. I understand that. But his knowledge of what God was doing was non-existent. But same with us. Same with us. We can't understand the omniscience. No, we cannot. But we know our Redeemer lives. No, you're right. We can't understand the omniscience and we also can't understand the omnipotence. The whole. Right? Which I've always thought was one of those really cool words in English, omnipotent. If you think about it, you know, absolutely potent. The opposite sucks. Yeah, well, that's true. That's true. But at the end of the day, God is omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is gonna do what God wants to do. He's infinite. And you know, look, Isaiah 46, we did this last week in Sunday, Isaiah 46 and verse 10. I'm teaching this last week. I loved it. And my version of the Bible in Isaiah 46 and verse 10 says, I will accomplish according to my good pleasure. I will accomplish what I want to accomplish according to my good pleasure. That's what Isaiah 46 10 says in the New American Standard, which is what I read. And then Sandy says, well, Don, I got a newer version and it says everything I plan will come to pass for I do whatever I wish. Now, of course, that's God talking. And I thought to myself, that's one of the greatest translations of that verse I could have ever imagined. That says it so much better. It says it so much clearer. I do whatever I wish. That's God. And that's not proud. That's just a fact. Because everything he does is good because God does not hate God only can love that's why this whole idea that God could even love Satan I Gotta go there. I guess you know at the end of the day. I mean, I don't understand it I don't get it. I don't really know You know God could stand have conversation with Satan That's what he did beginning of the book right sit there and had a full conversation with him didn't kill him didn't blow him up and destroy him this mortal enemy, you know guys sworn to his mortal enemy and There are verses that says he hates, though. Yes, I was just going to answer, but he hates what he does. He hates a person. Well, no, it says he actually hates Jacob. Excuse me, Esau, rather. It says, Esau, have I hated. And that's one of those things. But again, it was because Esau rejected what God had provided. I mean, he completely rejected it. So again, it comes back to these things that, again, we don't even understand. A lot of it has to do with verbiage. A lot of it has to do with words. That's part of it. But at the end of the day, Job now knows. I know. And so what does he know? This is what he knows. He knows that you can do all things. That's the first thing he knows. First thing he knows is God can do all things. Wow. Paul put it this way. He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things, but God does all things, period. I can do things through Christ, but I can't do it on my own. That's going back to, if you could do it on your own, Job, you know, well then, yeah, you can save yourself by your own right hand. Go for it. I know that you can do all things. That's first. Second, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. That's pretty amazing. I know that you can do all things, and if you decide to do something, it can't be changed. It can't be undone. It can't be defeated. That's the idea of thwarted. It can't be defeated. Third thing, who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? That's never happened in a trial, right? Yeah, okay. So we'll just let that one go. Who is it that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand. I didn't get it. And this is that dichotomy that the author of the book says, there is no more bitter pill to swallow than the pill of finding out that you were wrong when you thought you were right. And that's exactly what's going on here. And so he says, therefore, I've declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me. Think about that. Things too wonderful for me. In other words, I now found out the source of my pain and it was really, it was too wonderful for me because it really, it didn't come directly from God. It came from this anti, this imitation that I have been basically listening to. Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. And then he says, Shema, here, and I will speak. And then he says what God said to him at the very beginning of this whole, Statement he says I will ask And you will answer me And and he he says I have heard I Think that's so good It's one of the only things I have underlined in this whole entire thing I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye Sees you And when he talks about I in Hebrew, by the way, that's typically talking about what's going on inside of you. So, you know, the eye of the soul is really kind of the idea there. He says, and now my eye sees you. In other words, I now understand you really are there. You really are working. Therefore, this is good. Therefore, I retract and repent in dust and ashes. Oftentimes, I've heard other people talk on this particular verse. They always talk about repentance, and I think that's fantastic. Obviously, that's what it's all about. Repentance, changing of your mind, changing the way in which you think, changing the things that you do, et cetera. That's what repentance is all about. But he not only repents, but he retracts. Did you pick up on that? Which is interesting because he didn't even bring it up in the book, which floored me when I was reading the book. I was like, he's going to talk about retract, right? No, he didn't talk about retract. Well, retract's not in the New King James Version. Well, it's in the Hebrew Version. No, I'm just saying, so, you know, you could miss that. Oh, yeah, okay. Because, again, I think that people think that, you know, it's just sort of a repetition of the same word, but it's not. Mine says, I despise. Yeah, mine says that too. I despise myself. But the opposite of pride. It's the opposite of pride. I don't have all the answers. That's correct. I'm taking it back because I was wrong and and you know it's it's a great it's a really it's a legal as you know it's it's a legal term I mean this whole idea of retracting is is to take it back I'm so sorry Oh, that's so interesting. Oh my gosh. Instead, it's, you know, I was wrong. This thing I did was wrong. Yeah, and I want to take it back. I want to take it back. And that is a bitter pill, as you pointed out. Write a letter of apology. I'm sorry you thought I was wrong, you know. I'm not a word processor. I just put the names in. But this whole idea of repentance, I really believe, happens with retraction. If you truly understand what repentance means, to change the way in which you're thinking, you can't do that until you retract what you used to believe. You've got- That's what I was talking about earlier, you know, to take that back. I mean, right at the very beginning, except when you were wrong. You know, pride being the source of it. That's to set that down and to say, you know what, I was wrong. But you didn't know you were wrong. I wanted to say, I've been trying to say this for as long as I can. You didn't know you were wrong until God revealed. And when Job said, I know, that is the revelation of God revealing himself. Which is the reason why God said, Satan, have you considered my servant Job? Correct. Yeah. Because God had to reveal that to him. and Joe was speaking, but when God showed up, because Joe might've been unsure, but now there's absolute knowledge, because God showed him himself. When God spoke to Joe, we don't see nowhere in the scripture where Joe, God ever spoke during this whole situation. But when God did speak, and in this passage of scripture, Joe said, I know, because hallelujah, his eyes is open. And he don't see like he used to see that's why he was able to repair Satan To you know to I guess For me, it was no doubt. There's no doubt. It was all Satan. This starts with Job. Like, like 42 is Job realizing that his perspective of God was Job. Right. Right. That Job was, wow, that's so good. God, God was just another great man who lived forever. Uh huh. That was Job's perspective of God. Correct. God talks to him and now Job's blown away. Yes. And now to that point, right, like he was in Job's box. He's no longer in Job's box. He doesn't even have the right to question him. Yeah, wouldn't have happened though without... Satan. It wouldn't have happened without Satan. So God used Satan to affect the Romans. Yeah, and what's really interesting is, clearly... I forget what it says. John fought it for evil. God meant it for good. All things. Yeah. But here's interesting, to Matt's point, and I think that's a really interesting point and a very well, excellent way to say it, that he saw him just as this greater person, this greater being, probably being is a better word. Which is why he started out with, I'm creator, Joe. I am the one who put it all together, Joe. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Where were you when I was doing all this stuff? Come on, man. Where were you? You think I'm just this kind of, you know, been around kind of, and this is kind of how a lot of people think of God, really. They think of God as sort of, he put it all together and then he walked away and left it all to our craziness. Which is idolatrous thinking. Oh, there's no question. But now Job gets it. Now Job knows. Now it's interesting because the Hebrew word for know, I've always thought this was kind of funny, is the word yada. As in yada, yada, yada, yada, yada. It means to know by experience. Yeah, it means to know by experience, but it's even bigger than that. And I'm going to read to you, this is right out of the Strong's Concordance. Listen to what it says. Yada means to perceive, to understand, to acquire knowledge, that's by experience, to know, to be acquainted with, to become acquainted with, to be known, to make consent, to appear or to cause, to know. It doesn't mean that you're just thinking it is. It means you absolutely, positively know. It's something that you are convinced of. That's the point of it. Yada means to be convinced of. And it doesn't mean I'm just sort of thinking about it. No, no, this is, I am now, I am, I got it. It's like finished. It's absolutely done, okay? But it does mean, normally, to know something because you actually experienced it. As Clark aptly pointed out. And funny, I had the exact thing open and I was going to go to that myself. Chuck Mitzler calls this book the Book of Pride. Interesting. Oh, I didn't know that. That's what it's about. Because we all know that we grow probably most through the storms, right? Yeah. And we get it then because we've gone through that trial or that, usually it's a temptation and then we follow through with it or whatever, we blow it and then we get it afterwards, I guess. But yeah, experience again, right? Exactly. I must know a lot. I'm a genius. But I do think the way he ends the chapter in the book, and when I say the book I'm talking about the 7th book, the way he ends it by quoting Matthew chapter 5 is really interesting. Because Jesus' take on what we need is way different than our take on what we need. which is really what Romans, which was all about Matthew five through seven. So it was Roman on the Mount is, is about explaining stuff that we thought we knew, but we really didn't know, you know? And so when he talks about blessing, he says, you know, he says, blessing comes to the poor in spirit, not to those that think they know what's going on. Blessing comes to those who mourn for other people. not for those that lord over them. Blessing comes to the meek. Man, that just is like against everything that we basically believe normally. Blessing comes to the meek. Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, honesty, things that are right. You see, the natural man wants everything to work out for him, and the blessed man wants everything to work out for someone else. That's really what Jesus was saying there, which is- I think of Bob Blaisdell, when I read, actually Psalm 1, it says, how blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. He was always like pointing to the, I think it's the ante, antem, which is the opposite, to explain truth, I think, he said. Yeah. I mean, look, this is an incredible ending to this book. That's why I didn't want to not teach it. I didn't want to miss out on this because I really believe Job started out with this thing that he deserved certain things. I deserve it. Look at all the things I did. I deserve it. I deserve this blessing that I got. The guy says, oh yeah, really? Okay, let's see what happens when you don't have the blessing. Do you still think you deserve it? Look, at the end of the day, we don't deserve anything. We really don't. We don't deserve anything. There is no deserve. It was worse than that. He actually felt that God was a saint at the wheel. Oh, gosh. I hadn't thought of it that way. That's valid. That's valid, too. That's very valid. There's no question. But I loved what Matt said, because I think that really sums it up, if you think about it. He just thought God was just another being out there, just except he just lasted longer. But he based that on him hearing, because in 5, it says, by the hearing of the ear. And that's why a lot of people don't experience God, because they hear about him. But Job said in the latter part of that verse, but now my eyes have seen him. See, it's one thing to read scripture, it's another thing to experience it. Faith comes from hearing. And hearing by the Word of God. And hearing by the Word of God also bring about an experience with God. Because you're just not hearing and reading, you're actually experiencing Him. From the head to the heart. But that's true, but I'm thinking in the sense of, when this book of Job is talking about something, when Job comes to the end of this, See, so you think about, how do you hear about God? He ain't have no Bible. So he had to go back based on what he hearing, because he ain't have no scripture. But then God said, let me show you me. And when you experience, and that's why I love Christ, because those people who, when Jesus walked the earth, those are the ones that experienced him, actually began to worship. Right. And here's the thing that separates, and we're gonna end on this, but here's the thing that separates the scripture from all of the books. When Isaiah wrote his book, he wrote about the vision that God gave him. When Jeremiah wrote his book, he wrote about the vision that God gave him. When Moses wrote his books, he wrote about the vision that God had given him. When John wrote his revelation, it was the vision It was the vision. It was the vision. It was the vision. It was the vision. It was the vision. It was incredible. Read all the minor prophets. This is the vision of Zechariah. This is the vision. Why? Okay, what does that mean? It means that God revealed it. God revealed it. Which is what makes it so incredibly awesome is because this whole book is a book of revelation. It's all about the fact that God was showing these people. He showed, in the very first book, he showed Job. You know, in the next group, by Moses, he showed Moses. He showed Moses what creation was. He showed Moses what happened in all his early days. He showed Moses what happened even before the flood. He showed Moses all these things. And Moses just wrote down what he saw. That's all he did. He just wrote down what he saw. And that's the beauty of this book. The beauty of this book is that this is a book of revelation. That's why prophecy is such a big deal, because God says, this is what's going to happen. I'm even going to tell you what hasn't happened, or what won't even happen, which is incredible to me. It's interesting that many people explain this book away as being poetry, or they log it in as poetry. of what you just said, Don, with the experience all through the different generations of all these different people. That's the beauty of the living God and God breathed word, man. Yeah, that's good. All right, let's get out of here. People got to get to work and yeah, we've done it.