# Zophar and Job

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Phoenix.
Series: Job
Date: October 18, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/phoenix/episodes/zophar-and-job

## Summary

Have you ever felt misunderstood in your suffering? Join us as we explore Job's intense dialogue with his friend Zophar, who believed pain was always a punishment for sin. What if our struggles serve a greater purpose? How can we trust God even when we don’t understand? Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

Morning Cross Church. Welcome servants 
 of the Most High. 
 So yeah, Zophar and I go way back. So I 
 really wanted this this sermon. I'm sure 
 we all have friends named Zophar here. 
 So my name is Brian. 
 I'm Pastor DJ's big brother. 
 And I love Jesus. 
 So this morning we're actually going to 
 continue on with the book of Job. I'd 
 actually like to just spend a few 
 minutes with a brief recap. 
 So as you may remember, Job is a man 
 that loves God. 
 And the Bible calls him blameless and 
 upright. 
 And at the opening of this book, God and 
 Satan are negotiating 
 with what kind of suffering that was 
 going to be allowed 
 to test Job's faith. 
 And then we see Job's three friends 
 arrive on the scene. 
 And then they sit with him for a week in 
 silence 
 experiencing or witnessing his agony. 
 And you can look at our prior sermons on 
 the book of Job on our YouTube website 
 at Cross Church Phoenix as well if you 
 want to get caught up. 
 Now we covered something in Bible study 
 on Monday nights, which is a great 
 reason that people should think about 
 going to Bible study. But we we 
 discussed this aspect of Job that I 
 think may help people get through this. 
 And so um 
 the we can divide it into three 
 segments. Behind the scene, and on the 
 scene, and then beyond the scene. So 
 chapters 1 and 2, that's again when God 
 and Satan are in heaven negotiating with 
 what Job is going to be tested with. And 
 it's only what God allows Satan to to 
 accomplish. 
 On the scene is chapters 3 through 41, 
 and that is Job's earthly conversations 
 with his friends and the suffering that 
 he's going through. 
 And then beyond the scene is chapter 42, 
 and that is the close where God goes 
 ahead and restores Job with never 
 providing an explanation. 
 So again, behind the scene, on the 
 scene, and beyond the scene. So, we're 
 going to be in on the scene for quite 
 some time. There's a whole bunch of 
 chapters where Job and his friends are 
 discussing his uh his challenges. 
 And so, then just most recently, last 
 week, we discussed Bildad. And Bildad 
 was a friend of Job, and he claimed that 
 God was all just, and therefore the 
 suffering that Job was ex- experiencing 
 was just. 
 And these first two characters, Eliphaz 
 and Bildad, they had an understanding 
 that Job had sinned against God, and 
 therefore God was simply repaying him 
 for his sins. 
 And as we just mentioned, we have a new 
 character today, and his name is Zophar. 
 And so, he's the third of the three 
 friends, and you'll notice there's a 
 repetition of cycles for the next bunch 
 of chapters where Job's friends offer 
 thoughts and opinions, and then Job 
 offers his rebuttal. 
 And there are no shortage of opinions 
 when it comes to Job and his misery. 
 Now, I'm not sure about you, but it 
 tears my heart out when I see someone 
 suffer around me, especially if it's 
 someone I really care for. So much so to 
 the to the point where I would rather 
 that pain and suffering come upon myself 
 than to see someone that I truly love 
 and care for suffer. Well, that is not 
 the case with Zophar. 
 So, let's jump in. We have four chapters 
 we're going to cover today. If you could 
 please stand with me to read God's word. 
 The Bibles in the seat backs in front of 
 you. 
 It's going to be page 447. It's chapter 
 11, 447. 
 I'll give people a moment. 
 So, chapter 11, we're going to start in 
 verse 4. 
 For you say, "My doctrine is pure, and I 
 am clean in God's eyes. 
 But oh, that God would speak and open 
 his lips to you, 
 and that he would tell you the secrets 
 of wisdom, for he is manifold in 
 understanding. Know then that God ex- 
 exacts less of you than your guilt 
 deserves. 
 In his hand Oh, I'm sorry. And then 
 chapter 12 verse 10. 
 So, chapter 12 verse 10. 
 In his hand is the life of every living 
 thing and breath of all mankind. 
 And then chapter 12 verse 13 through 16. 
 With God are wisdom and might. He has 
 counsel and understanding. If he tears 
 down, none can rebuild. 
 If he shuts a man in, who can open? 
 Verse 15, if he withholds the waters, 
 they dry up. 
 If he sends them out, they overwhelm the 
 land. 
 With him are strength and sound wisdom. 
 The deceived and the deceiver are his. 
 And then chapter 13 verse 8, please. 
 Will you show partiality towards him? 
 Will you plead the case for God? 
 In chapter 13 verse 15. 
 So, 13 15. I know there's a lot of 
 verses. I tried to trim these down. I'm 
 sorry. Though he slay me, I will hope in 
 him. 
 Yet I will argue my ways to his face. 
 And then chapter 13 21 and 22. 
 Withdraw your hand far from me and let 
 not guilt uh let not dread of you 
 terrify me. Then call and I will answer 
 or let me speak and you reply to me. 
 The beginning of chapter 14 1 and 2. 
 Man who is born of a woman is few of 
 days and full of trouble. He comes out 
 like a flower and withers. He flees like 
 a shadow and continues not. 
 And the last two verses is chapter 14 
 verse 13 and 14, please. 
 Oh, that you would hide me Sheol, 
 that you would conceal me until your 
 wrath be past, that you would appoint me 
 a set time and remember me. 
 If a man dies, shall he live again? All 
 the days of my service I would wait 
 till my renewal should come. 
 This is God's holy word. You may be 
 seated. 
 Lord, we come before you. 
 Lord, we are thankful for this day. 
 Lord, you tell us that one day in your 
 house is like a thousand elsewhere. 
 Lord, thank you for the rain that you've 
 you've blessed us with. Thank you for 
 this desert. Thank you, Lord, that you 
 love us, that you sent your son to die 
 on our behalf. 
 Lord, bless this time. Lord, I pray that 
 I may decrease that you may increase. 
 Lord, only give 
 your people your words through me. Lord, 
 let me step aside and and let your 
 living word do its work. We pray this in 
 Jesus' mighty name. Amen. 
 Okay, so chapter 11, this is all of 
 Zophar's comments to Job. And I titled 
 this opening chapter Zophar the 
 know-it-all Naamathite. 
 And you can see that he comes in in full 
 force. And he is certainly the most 
 intense of all of Job's friends. And 
 see, he's been patiently waiting while 
 the first two friends have given their 
 thoughts 
 on Job's situation. 
 In the opening of chapter 11, 
 we see that Zophar has a sarcastic 
 response to some of Job's comments in 
 the prior chapter. 
 You see, Job said that he was pure and 
 clean in the eyes of the Lord. 
 And Zophar sarcastically responds to 
 him. He says, "Should a multitude of 
 words go unanswered? 
 And a man full of talk be judged right? 
 And should your babble silence men? And 
 when you mock, shall no one shame you?" 
 So, Zophar is offended to hear Job claim 
 blamelessness in the sight of God. 
 And then Zophar drops the hammer on Job. 
 And he goes on to say to him, "You 
 actually deserve more suffering than God 
 has even placed on you." 
 And we see this 
 at the end of verse six. "Know then that 
 God exacts less of you than your guilt 
 deserves." 
 Now, this is intense. Think about this 
 for a moment. Job's suffering with all 
 his children gone, all his livestock 
 were were killed. 
 He's lost most every servant. I think 
 there's a few left. He suffers from 
 sores from top to bottom. He's sitting 
 in an ash heap. And then Zophar says to 
 him, "God has been kind to you." 
 You see, not much of a friend is Zophar. 
 Zophar is saying to Job, "You are far 
 guiltier in God's eyes than you even 
 realize." 
 And Job suggests I'm sorry, Zophar 
 suggests to Job that he ought to be 
 grateful 
 that his suffering is not worse. 
 Zophar believes that God in his his 
 infinite wisdom is allowing this 
 suffering of Job in that principle of 
 retribution that we've been discussing 
 the past few weeks that is just. So, if 
 God is full of justice than you're 
 suffering, then it you deserve every bit 
 of that. 
 But see, God's wisdom is not the reason 
 why Job is suffering. He's not suffering 
 for his actions. 
 And Zophar is just unloading on Job 
 here. And this brings us to an important 
 point that we need to consider. 
 And that has to do with the words that 
 we choose. 
 So, the Bible tells us repeatedly things 
 like be quick to listen and slow to 
 speak and out of the abundance the heart 
 of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
 speaks and to be controlled in our 
 speech. 
 And specifically James chapter three 
 talks about the effects of these things 
 about the forest burning down with the 
 poor words that we can choose. So, we 
 need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us 
 and guide us 
 when we speak. 
 You see, Zophar was undisciplined in his 
 words while he was speaking to his 
 friend Job. 
 And again, Zophar's indictment is based 
 on the same principles as Eliphaz and 
 Bildad, that you must certainly have 
 sinned against God and therefore that is 
 the the reasoning for your current 
 suffering. 
 But see, Job's friends erred in the 
 assumption that there is always a direct 
 correlation between sin and judgment, 
 which is not so. 
 And see, Zophar's failure wasn't just in 
 his careless words. 
 See, Zophar thought that because Job was 
 suffering immensely that he must have 
 also sinned immensely. 
 And what we can't understand 
 on any of these earthly players in this 
 book of Job is that God allows things to 
 happen in the lives of his creation for 
 reasons that we may never understand. 
 And life is full of challenges allowed 
 by God for reasons that we may never 
 know. But let me encourage you this 
 morning to seek God and you will find 
 him right beside you. 
 For he promises to never leave us nor 
 forsake us. 
 See, Job admits that he doesn't know why 
 God is allowing this suffering, but he's 
 cautious. He's careful not to misapply 
 his lack of understanding of God, and we 
 have to do the same. We cannot know why 
 God allows 
 this suffering, but he calls us to 
 trust. 
 And I hear this from people all the time 
 when I talk to them about God. If God is 
 all just and all knowing and and caring 
 and omnipotent, then why does he allow 
 and then fill in the blank, sexual 
 exploitation, rape, murder, genocide, 
 all of these things, drunk drivers. But 
 then the one I hear the most is if God 
 is all love, then why does he send us to 
 hell? 
 But what we don't realize is our 
 absolute complete brokenness and God's 
 ultimate holiness. 
 That is the but the work of 
 sanctification when God refines us and 
 makes us better through our suffering, 
 we realize that gap 
 is a bigger separation of God's goodness 
 and holiness compared to us. 
 That separation never ends. 
 But that's why we need God's grace and 
 mercy for we are all desperately wicked 
 sinners. 
 No amount of good works. I hear people 
 when I talk to people on the street, 
 they I'm a good I just had one this 
 weekend. I'm a good I'm a good Catholic. 
 I was Catholic. I'm a good person. 
 You're not a good person. He has his 
 crucifix on his neck, you know, I get 
 it. But we are not good people. We are 
 desperately 
 wicked sinners. 
 But God God calls us to faith. 
 And faith is being sure of what we hope 
 for 
 and certain of [clears throat] what we 
 do not see. 
 And even in times of unknown, we are 
 called [clears throat] to remain 
 faithful. 
 You see our fragile finite minds 
 cannot understand the infinite 
 transcendent God. Excuse me. 
 See if God were small enough for us to 
 understand, he would never be big enough 
 for worship. And he is undoubtedly 
 worthy of our full worship. 
 And not understanding why God allows 
 hardships that tempts us 
 to question his goodness. 
 Like Lord, are you really for me? 
 But we as followers of a Christ cannot 
 let our emotions and our circumstances 
 draw us away from the God that we love 
 and that we serve. 
 You see Job's companions, they had this 
 understanding. Actually, it was more of 
 a misunderstanding of God. They wanted 
 to use God's attributes of ultimate 
 wisdom and ultimate justice to explain 
 God. 
 And there are times in our life when sin 
 results in the earthly punishment. 
 That does happen. We sin and there is an 
 earthly punishment, but that is not the 
 case for Job. 
 When we began to study in Job 5 weeks, 
 maybe 6 weeks ago, pastor asked us to 
 hold a high theology of God. 
 And so we got that last weekend. We went 
 through, of course, the book of Job, but 
 we also focused in on Romans 3:26 and 
 God is the just and he's the justifier. 
 He is perfect. He is the ultimate judge. 
 He has to judge sin. He's better than 
 any earthly judge, but he also steps 
 into our place and accepts that 
 punishment. And so he is also the 
 justifier. 
 For God is just and he is the justifier. 
 And that means having this high theology 
 also means that we take our eyes off of 
 what's going on in the world. We don't 
 bury our head in the sand, but we have 
 to take take our eyes off ourselves and 
 consider that which is in heaven. 
 We don't think about the limitations of 
 God, but the supernatural, unattainable 
 God. The God knows at the very end, from 
 the very beginning of all time and 
 everything in between, just as the 
 prophet Isaiah reminds us. 
 For what is impossible with man is 
 possible with God. 
 And see, these friends, they attempted 
 to explain the ways of God. 
 Again, using those attributes. 
 But these friends were far from the 
 truth. They were claiming to know God 
 and know his truth, but they were far 
 from God's truth. 
 These friends of Job, they had a rigid 
 transactional, retributonal theology. We 
 discussed that term weeks prior. 
 If you do good, you prosper. If you do 
 bad, you get crushed. 
 And see, the interesting thing about 
 these principles that these friends are 
 mentioning is they are biblical, but 
 they're misguided or misapplied. 
 And that is why it is critical for us to 
 understand God's word. 
 And we need to be discerning and 
 thoughtful about this. We need to seek 
 out good teaching. We need to allow the 
 Holy Spirit to impart understanding and 
 knowledge and wisdom to us when we read 
 God's word. 
 And this reminds me of a story in the 
 New Testament upon Christ's 
 resurrection, 
 the Apostle Paul was asked to to go and 
 preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the 
 areas of Asia Minor and the Middle East. 
 Well, he went to one specific synagogue 
 cuz he would often go to synagogues and 
 he would speak to these Jews 
 and these Bereans, which are called 
 noble people. You can find this story in 
 Acts 17. 
 The Bible calls these people noble 
 because after Paul's preaching, these 
 people went and studied the scripture to 
 prove whether he was speaking truth to 
 them. 
 And we need to do the same. 
 We need to be discerning and thoughtful 
 when it comes to God's word. 
 You see, wrong teaching leads to wrong 
 thinking and wrong wrong thinking leads 
 to disobedience in Christ. 
 We must properly understand God's words 
 before we can properly apply it. 
 But these friends, they didn't know the 
 heart of Job, but God knows our heart. 
 And when we search scripture, it 
 specifically tells us God knows the 
 heart of man. 
 These friends of Job, they only could 
 see Job's suffering, 
 but what we know is that 
 Job was holy. 
 They said that he sacrificed routinely, 
 but these friends had no understanding 
 of Job's heart related to the Lord. 
 So then Eliphaz and Bildad continue on 
 in this chapter to counsel Job. 
 And Zophar makes comments like put off 
 iniquity. Do not dwell on injustice. 
 Darkness will pass. Secure in hope, seek 
 forgiveness. All biblical principles. 
 But they think maybe Job, you're not you 
 need to seek forgiveness. But remember, 
 Job went 
 continually. The Bible says he he 
 repented and gave sacrifices 
 continually. 
 And that should be the heart of every 
 true believer. 
 To to be in repentance, to turn to God 
 and realize 
 of his realize his mercy and grace in 
 our lives. 
 And that is through a relationship with 
 Jesus. And Jesus is the way to the 
 Father. He says, "I am the door to the 
 to eternal life." 
 And our salvation is so much more about 
 just a ticket to heaven, but we end up 
 having freedom here on earth. We can die 
 to our sin and live for God and allow 
 him to work in our lives. To to say, 
 "Lord, do with me what you will." And 
 then this also puts us down a couple 
 notches and puts others above us. And 
 humility, considering others' thoughts 
 and needs above our own. 
 And this is precisely what Jesus was 
 talking about in the New Testament when 
 he said, "Take up your cross." 
 So, chapter 11 closes when Zophar, he 
 makes a sneaky comment to Job. 
 In verse 20, he says, "But the eyes of 
 the wicked will fail 
 and escape will elude them. 
 Their hope will become a dying gasp." 
 Zophar is telling Job, "This is you. 
 Your wickedness will result in your 
 death." 
 And I think right now Job is thinking, 
 "I need new friends." 
 So, 
 these next three chapters are all Job's 
 response to his friends' thoughts. So, 
 chapters 12, 13, and 14, it's basically 
 a monologue of Job. And so, we'll 
 briefly cover each of these chapters. We 
 have a lot to a lot material here today. 
 So, my second point this morning 
 is Job's rebuttal on who can contend 
 with God. 
 And I believe that verse 10 in chapter 
 12 can sum up this chapter. 
 It says in the hand is the life of every 
 creature and the breath of all mankind. 
 You see Job acknowledges the supreme 
 authority of Yahweh, the creator, that 
 all things are created by him, heaven 
 and earth, visible and invisible, 
 thought, thrones, dominions, rulers, all 
 that. All that is through Jesus. 
 And God has revealed himself through 
 creation. Again, the first chapter of 
 the book of Romans tells us this as 
 well, and that leaves no one with 
 excuse. People can use their eyes to see 
 God through creation. 
 And Job is acknowledging the authority 
 of God and nothing can come against him. 
 Job then goes into great detail about 
 animals and royalty and nations. 
 But what he's doing here in this chapter 
 is he's lifting his eyes on the things 
 above. 
 He's setting his eyes on God's goodness 
 and kindness and love and mercy. 
 And we are to do the same. 
 So several months ago before this Job's 
 series, we did a rooted and ready study 
 and we focused on the book of 
 Colossians. We took specific verses if 
 you recall. 
 >> [snorts] 
 >> And so there's one verse in there I 
 really appreciate. Colossians 3:2 set it 
 says set your mind on the things above 
 and not on the things of earth. 
 Set your mind on the things above and 
 not on the things of earth. And that is 
 what Job was doing, I believe. He wasn't 
 focusing on all the the misery in his 
 life. He was considering the holiness 
 and the goodness of God. 
 And that is something that we should do. 
 We should we should do the same. 
 We want to strive to walk blameless and 
 upright, setting our eyes and our minds 
 on the king of glory, our savior, Jesus 
 Christ. 
 So, chapter 13, I wanted to spend more 
 time in this. This is a great chapter, 
 but I titled this God's courtroom 
 demanding a day in court. There's three 
 times that that that the word case is 
 used in this chapter, and we all know 
 that cases are heard in courtrooms. 
 And so, Job wanted that. He wanted a 
 trial before God. He wanted to present 
 himself before the Lord. 
 But, I don't believe this is out of 
 arrogance. I I believe in all sincerity, 
 Job wanted to come before the Lord and 
 say, "Lord, help me understand these 
 challenges in my life and why these why 
 these circumstances are occurring." 
 In this chapter, in those verses 
 actually, it also mentions arguing, 
 pleading, and preparing, and that's what 
 Job was doing. He was going to argue and 
 plead and prepare his case before our 
 ultimate judge, which is God. 
 And this is bold on Job's account. He 
 had real confidence 
 that he had a right standing before God. 
 He but he never claimed sinlessness. 
 And how many of us here will have that 
 confidence before the judgment seat of 
 Christ? Well, I hope every person seated 
 here will have that. Not in our own 
 goodness, but on what Jesus has done on 
 the cross. 
 Our salvation securely rests in the 
 grace of God, and we can stand sinless 
 before God. 
 If you've repented of your sin, 
 and if you confess with your mouth, and 
 you believe in your heart, then you 
 shall be saved. We're told that in 
 Romans. 
 We are the bride of Christ awaiting the 
 return of our groom. 
 For he who knew no sin, Jesus, our 
 groom, who knew no sin, became sin for 
 us. 
 Jesus was obedient to the Father. He 
 knew upon his death, when Christ was 
 crucified, he knew that through that 
 death that he that those that would come 
 to believe on him would have eternal 
 life. And for that reason, Jesus could 
 have joy. 
 Jesus was setting his eyes on the things 
 above. 
 Right? He knew that he would return to 
 the Father in glory 
 to be seated at the right hand of God. 
 And at the very least, Job also was 
 setting his eyes on what's to come. 
 You'll see later on. He basically is 
 saying like even if I die, I know that 
 my earthly suffering will end. Even if 
 he's unsure fully of what to come. 
 But both Jesus and Job 
 were setting their eyes on the things to 
 come. 
 And then verse 13:15, if you need a 
 memory verse, here's one. Though he slay 
 me, I will hope in him. 
 Yet I will argue my ways to his face. 
 And this is true devotion. Job's pain 
 did not stop his praise. 
 Job's pain did not stop his praise. 
 And what faith on the part of Job. He 
 was telling his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, 
 and Zophar, no matter the challenges 
 that God has placed in front of me, I 
 will trust. 
 In the book of James, again I go back to 
 that, he references to consider all joy 
 when you face various trials. Now, Job 
 may not have been joyful, 
 but he certainly decided to trust God 
 despite his deep sufferings. And that is 
 something that we should all aspire to. 
 Job does not run from God, 
 but he's seeking God. He's saying, 
 "Lord, lift your heavy hand from me and 
 and come face to face with me. Speak 
 plainly with me." 
 And we can see this 
 in verses 20 through 22 22. 
 Only grant me these two things, God, 
 and then I will not hide from you. 
 Withdraw your hand from me and stop 
 frightening me with your terrors. Then 
 summon me and I will answer, 
 or let me speak and you reply to me. So, 
 do we draw near to God in times of 
 trouble? I know at times I myself I do 
 not. 
 But that should be my first priority 
 instead of my last resort. 
 And see, through suffering we have 
 decisions to make. We have critical 
 decisions. Do we allow this pain to 
 harden our heart? We talk about this in 
 Bible study. Or do we allow this pain 
 and suffering to refine our faith? 
 Well, Job chose the latter. He wanted to 
 become better. 
 For my Bible study people on Monday 
 nights, we heard this one, "For the same 
 sun that melts the butter hardens the 
 brick." 
 So, the same the same thing can do 
 vastly different things in a person's 
 life. 
 Suffering can drive you to drinking and 
 all kinds of trouble, or it can draw you 
 to the foot of the cross. 
 The same sun that melts the butter 
 hardens the brick. 
 And Job, he chose to wrestle honestly 
 with God rather than to turn and run. 
 Even when he had these three friends in 
 his ears telling him, "Job, you have 
 sinned. 
 You were guilty and you're suffering of 
 you're suffering for that as a result." 
 These friends were speaking on the on 
 behalf of God. 
 And that's a dangerous place to be. 
 So, chapter 14, Job continues on in in 
 his defense. 
 You'll hear in a moment his cry for 
 eternity. 
 But the first couple verses of chapter 
 14, he says, "Man is of a few days, 
 but full of trouble. He [clears throat] 
 sprouts like a fire, then withers." 
 And that is why it is so critical to 
 know where our souls are going to reside 
 upon death. 
 I was somewhere this week. I spoke to a 
 92-year-old woman about I asked her, I 
 said, "Where are you going to go when 
 you die?" She said, "I just finished 
 reading a book and I was hopeful." I was 
 like, "Great, she's a Christian." This 
 is a Christian book club. Nope. 
 She says that this book she's like, "I'm 
 not going anywhere." She's like, "When I 
 die, that's it. I'm going into the 
 ground." She had no hope in Jesus. She 
 just lost her husband, she told me. 
 There was no hope for her for eternity. 
 And then we got into a a further 
 conversation when she wanted to tell me 
 that Jesus of Islam versus the 
 Jesus of the Jews and the Christians are 
 all the same. 
 And so I tried to get her to discuss 
 this a little bit and it was cordial, 
 you know, we walked out of the store 
 together, but um 
 yeah, she was 92 and and she has no 
 hope. 
 That was sad. 
 But God wishes all to come to 
 repentance. 
 And that is the love of God that on this 
 side of death, right now in our earthly 
 life, we have security. We know our home 
 is in heaven. As that song mentioned, we 
 are bound for glory. 
 So thank you, Jordan, for that song. 
 And then Job inquires of God. 
 He says, Job asked God, "Can you hide me 
 away in Sheol until your wrath has 
 passed and then come back to me?" 
 So this term Sheol in Hebrew is a realm 
 or a place of the dead. 
 And it was a temporary holding place for 
 people that passed away prior to Jesus' 
 resurrection. 
 But by placing Job in Sheol, Job was 
 asking God like, "Take this suffering 
 and this pain away from me and then come 
 back to me once your anger has passed." 
 See, Job is getting desperate. 
 And then Job asks an interesting 
 question in verse 14. He says, "If a man 
 dies, shall he live again? All the days 
 of my service I would wait till my 
 renewal should come." This is Job's hope 
 for resurrection. He wanted to be 
 brought back to life. 
 And remember for Job, because it was 
 during the 
 what they estimate is during the time of 
 the patriarchs, there was no written 
 word. They didn't have the law, the 
 prophets, there was no no Old Testament 
 for him to reference. And that just 
 shows us 
 his deeper committed faith to God. 
 But we here today have God's holy word 
 on our phones and in books. And so we 
 are so blessed that we can draw near to 
 him through his word. For it is a lamp 
 to our feet and a light to our path. 
 And then chapter 14 closes 
 with verse 20. 
 If you over and you can see he's sliding 
 back into despair now, Job. 
 You overpower them once for all and they 
 are gone. You change their countenance 
 or appearance and send them away. 
 See, Job is on an on an endless roller 
 coaster of emotions. 
 But this end will not end soon. You'll 
 notice for the next two dozen chapters 
 that his friends are constantly 
 interrogating him. 
 And again, Job understands that he is 
 not sinless. 
 But he's going to maintain that his 
 suffering is not a result of his own 
 choices. And even through it all, Job 
 still trusts. 
 He trusts that God will deal with him 
 justly. 
 So you if you are suffering, think of 
 Job. 
 He loved God. 
 And he chose to trust God. 
 So when we have times of strained 
 relationships and health concerns, 
 financial unknown, or just deep personal 
 grief, 
 think about the perseverance and the 
 faith of Job. 
 And there are many reasons why God 
 allows tragedy in the life of a 
 Christian. 
 But ultimately, there are no tragedies 
 for the people of God. They are but 
 light and momentary, as the word tells 
 us. 
 And for in him and through him, these 
 events work out for our good. 
 Through Jesus, 
 God works all things for the good of 
 those who love him. So, entrust your 
 doubts, your sorrows, your questions 
 to the Lord, standing firm on our savior 
 Jesus Christ. 
 I'd like you to join us next week as we 
 continue on with the unfortunate 
 suffering of Job. 
 If I could ask for the band, please. 
 I'll close us in prayer. Father, we come 
 before your holy throne. 
 Lord, you're a gracious and merciful. 
 Lord, because of your great power, we 
 shall not be consumed. 
 Your compassions never fail. Your 
 mercies are new every morning. Lord, 
 great is thy faithfulness. 
 Lord, thank you for a a wonderful 
 example of Job, a man of faith. Lord, I 
 pray that every brother and sister in 
 here, Lord, would would look to Job, 
 but ultimately look to Jesus, for both 
 set their eyes on the things to come. 
 And Lord, we know that as Christians, 
 this is the worst it will ever be. But 
 Lord, we will be with you one day 
 singing with the angels, holy, holy, 
 holy 
 is the Lord God Almighty. Lord, we are 
 heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. 
 Lord, we look forward to that day when 
 you rise at you raise us again 
 into all glory. We pray this in Jesus' 
 mighty name. And God's faithful said, 
 amen.