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Hey, Bible nerds. This is Dr. Manny Arango, and I'm your host for the Bible Department podcast, powered by Arma. This podcast follows a Bible reading plan we created to help you read the entire Bible in a year. You can head to the show notes or thebibledepartment.com to download our reading plan and join the Journey family. Welcome to day 319 here at the Bible Department. I'm super, super excited to jump into today's passages. We are going to be looking at job chapters 22, 23 and 24. I'm super, super excited. I hope that you enjoyed the reading. I certainly did. If you haven't done the reading, if you didn't do the reading today, how about you stop this video, pause the audio, go get the reading done, and then come on back these episodes to add value to your Bible reading, not replace your Bible reading. So go get job chapters 22, 23 and 24 done. Solid, solid, solid reading, in my opinion, that we've got on the Bible reading plan today. And like always, I'm going to give us some context clues. I'm going to give us. I've been doing this for the Book of Job past couple days, just given five nerdy nuggets, okay? Five ideas, five thoughts that I want us to kind of think about as we reflect on the Book of Job and as we interpret this book. Okay? And then we're going to end the episode with a timeless truth. So let's dive in. All right, let's look at our context clues for the day now, because we've been trekking through the Book of Job for a couple of days now. I don't want us to miss the plot. Sometimes my wife accuses me of missing plot. I actually learned that verbiage from her. So shout out to Tia Christina Rango, who accuses me of missing the plot often. That's my adhd. But anyway, I don't want us to miss the plot. All right? It's easy to come to the conclusion or maybe even just, you know, begin to observe. Like, this is a book about suffering, right? Like, Job is suffering and his friends are arguing with him about that suffering. And so it can be easy for Job to just kind of become the poster child for suffering. But the book really isn't about suffering. And if we're being completely honest, answers, no questions around, like, why does suffering happen? How should I act when suffering happens? Why do bad things happen to good people? The book just doesn't really answer those questions. And so you may come to the conclusion, like, this is a book about suffering. And if it's a book about suffering, there's a really bad book about suffering. However, the book is not really about suffering. And I just want us to not miss the plot because suffering is a part of the book. I would say that suffering is simply the context where the real theme of the book emerges. Okay, Suffering is just the context. And so what is the real theme of this book? And it is. Drumroll, please. Justice. That's right. Justice. Is God, a God of justice? Does he rule the world justly? That's really the plot. And suffering is just one element of justice. Okay? It's just one example of, is this a God who runs the world with some kind of justice? And according to Job's friends, God is just. And since he's just, good people always get good things happening to them. And bad people or wicked people get punished. They get bad things happening to them. And that is their idea of justice. And so really, the thing that the author's trying to do here is not to change our minds about suffering, but to really change our minds about justice. What's fair, what's not fair, what's unfair, what is just, what's right? And what would a just God do? What are the ways in which a just God would run the universe? So I want us to think, okay, what is Satan's angle here? Let's say Satan is able to prove that, like, yep, God's not just, like, what would Satan? What. What does Satan stand to win out of this? You know, I think you gotta, like, really wrestle with that, because here's Satan's main argument. His main argument is that, of course Job is loyal to you. No, Yahweh, you bless him. Let's take the blessings away. Let's see what happens. Okay, so let's say now that Job fails. Let's say that Job does curse God. Well, first of all, his story wouldn't make it in the Bible. So that's first. But second, it would prove, according to Satan, it would prove that Satan's kingdom and God's kingdom, like, don't really function all that differently that that. Here's Yahweh. He's a covenantal God, but really this is just transactional. And Satan's kingdom is insanely transactional. And really, like, at the root, like, at the heart, I think that this is, like, what Satan envisions in his head. Because if Job does curse God, I think that we could all see a world where Yahweh still chooses to deal with Job graciously and not justly. And I think. I think I could be going out on a limb here. I think that what's hard for Satan is that we do have a God that acts in gracious ways towards us, but not necessarily in gracious ways towards him. I actually think what Satan is trying to argue, I think Satan is banking on Job failing this test, but then Satan knowing that when Job fails the test, that Yahweh is going to pour out grace upon grace. And then I think that's the place where Satan would say, see, you're not a God of justice. And since you're not a God of justice, someone else should run the universe because. And I think Satan's play here is that he's really a just leader, right? And that Yahweh has dealt unjustly with him. I think that's, like, what Satan's getting at, because you gotta ask the question, why? What. What's Satan's motive to being in the heavenly courtroom and bullying Job? Like, what. What does Satan stand to gain out of this? And I think that Satan is trying to create a scenario where he can usurp Yahweh's authority. And. And he can't do that, you know, via a fight amongst angelic hosts. He can't do that with Adam and Eve. He. He clearly lost that battle. I think he's trying to do it here with Job. So those are my, like, just confessions of a wild man, but I think that's what's happening. Okay, all right, that's enough context for the day. All right? We got five nerdy nuggets, and we got to get to them quickly. All right, job, chapter 22. Okay, this is. Eliphaz is going to start talking for the third time. Okay? Eliphaz, part three. And if you look at verse four. So job 22, verse four. Job 22. Here's what Eliphaz says to his friend Job. I put friends in air quotes. If you're only listening and not watching, is it for your fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you? That's chapter 22, verse 4. The huge irony here is that Eliphaz has accidentally stumbled on the actual answer. And yes, it is the fear of the Lord that has put Job in this position. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Yeah, dude. Yeah. When the readers know from the prologue. Hey, we the readers, we all know from the prologue that it was Job's blamelessness that was the heart of all of this, this entire ordeal. This is A challenge from Satan. This is an ordeal. Job is God's unwitting champion. His blamelessness is at exactly the point. And that is why the suffering is happening, okay? Because he fears the Lord. And so Eliphaz has stumbled upon the right answer. And, you know, I say this a lot, especially on this podcast. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Okay? Eliphaz says the right answer. Okay, now we're going to move into a string of arguments that Eliphaz is going to make where essentially Eliphaz is going to try to guess as to what evil thing Job did. All right, so verse six, verse seven, and verse nine, we're gonna get three claims. Okay? Verse six says, for you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing. Did Job actually do that? No, but Eliphaz is like, since you won't confess what you did, we're just gonna start taking guesses as to what you did. And maybe that's what you did. Verse 7. It's the next one you gave. You have given no water to the weary to drink and have. And you have withheld bread from the hungry. So you're stingy, you're not generous. You're a wealthy person who your Nebanese or Scrooge, you know? Okay, verse nine. You have sent widows away empty in the arms of the fatherless were crushed is what it's going to say in verse nine. Okay, so all of you know, you did this, you did this, you did this. Can you imagine how just, like, hurtful that is, you know, for your friends to just stand there and accuse you of wild, baseless, you know, stuff? Just, you know, maybe you did this, maybe you did this, maybe you did this, and nobody knows. It must be something. Okay, this whole section concludes with Eliphaz urging him to confess, to submit to God and stop his complaint. This is chapter 22, verse 21. Agree with God and be at peace. Thereby good will come to you. Now, out of context, I probably would agree with this, but not in this context. Definitely not. If Job repents, then all he has lost will be returned. That's the whole premise of chapter 22, verse 21, 25. His treasured intimacy with God will be restored. He just needs to admit his sins and repent. Okay, so, of course, like always, Job is going to respond. Okay? And Job is going to respond in Job, chapter 23. And in Job, chapter 24, I want to actually read what I think is just the most heartbreaking response. It's in Job, chapter 23, verse 3. Okay, Job, chapter 23, verse 3. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat. And so again we see the sense that the thing that Job is lamenting here is a sense of abandonment that he's gotten from the Lord. I don't even know where he is, okay? Because Eliphaz, remember, is saying, hey, agree with God, be at peace, like just confess, you know, your sins. And Job is like, I don't even know where that man is. Like, I don't even know where God is. I, I, He, I've man, oh, that I knew where I might find him. That'd be awesome. You know what? At this point, I, I'll, I'll, I'll say sorry just cuz why not? But dang it, Eliphaz, I don't know where God is. You know, he's forsaken me just like everybody else. So sad, sad, sad, sad, sad verse. Job continues, in chapter 23, he says these words, Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No, he would pay attention to me there. An upright man could argue with him, but I would be acquitted forever by my judge. And then he goes on to say, but behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and and backwards. But I do not perceive him on the left hand when he is working. I do not behold him. He turns to the right, but I do not see. Doesn't matter where God goes. Guess what, man? He's not going near me. Job couldn't submit and confess even if he was guilty, which he wasn't, but still his faith is strong and his confidence that God knows and will restore him. Okay, but he knows the way that I take. Okay, I don't know where he is, but chapter 23, verse 10. Okay, but he knows the way I take. When he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. I love that. That's my fourth nerdy nugget of the day. Job's hope that he's going to come out of this as gold. Job's, you know, kind of perspective is that this is going to make him better. And I want us to kind of see how Job's story is really a foreshadow of the life of Jesus. I think that should be like resoundingly clear at this point. Family, the wait is over. My brand new book, Crushing Chaos is out now and available everywhere. Books are sold, literally. Today I walked into a Barnes and Noble and I signed a bunch of copies at a physical location so you can grab this book at a physical Barnes and Noble, or you can go to a Books a million or Amazon or anywhere books are sold and grab a copy. If you enjoy reading the Bible from an ancient perspective, if you understand that the beauty of Scripture is actually knowing it in context, then you'll love this book. And if there's any chaos in your personal life, I think that reading the Bible from an angle ancient perspective can actually help to crush the chaos in your life. I think this book is going to be a New York Times bestseller. I really do. I think we wrote a good one. I think you should get a copy today. All right, back to the episode final nerdy nugget for the day. Okay. And it's all about job, chapter 24. Now, here's what you probably wouldn't know if you're just reading this on your own. You may just be confused by the chapter, but here's the deal. Chapter 24 is notoriously difficult to translate. Like it presents a massive problem to scholars like people who read the Bible professionally. All right? Especially chapter 24, verses 18 to 24, where it seems like Job is arguing that God does dabble in reward theology after all. So after chapters and chapters and chapters of disagreeing with his friends, it seems like he kind of agrees with them. These verses contradict Job's impassioned argument in chapter 21 of How Life isn't that simple. This makes these verses very hard to interpret, but there are a few options. I'll give you about four options with what is going on here, because it is just weird. Okay. And I hope you noticed, I hope I'm not saying something to you that like, you didn't notice. I hope you read it and went, this just doesn't feel like it belongs here. Okay. All right. Four things could be happening. Option number one, something has gone wrong in the copying process. Okay. Scrolls are copied rigorously, and I could do a whole series of videos just on the copying process. But it could have been that something went wrong in the copying process versus have been possibly moved around in this chapter so the meaning has accidentally changed. That's probably the option that Christians would be the least excited about. Okay, next. Perhaps this is actually Zophar's final speech, which is missing from the pattern, but is inserted here instead. Okay, that's option number two. Option number three, Job is actually quoting his friends here as he begins with you say in chapter 24, verse 18. So in that case, this is not Job's thoughts, but this is their thoughts. And then these verses, number four, fourth Option is that these verses may represent what Job wishes rather than what is reality. This is how the lxx and Vulgate Bibles treat this passage. Treat this passage. All right. Those are all my nerdy nuggets for the day, okay? I think that those five ideas will help you to not just read the text, but, like, understand it, interpret it. Let's move on to our Thomas truth. Now, one of the options that I like a lot for what to do with Job, chapter 24, verse 18 and 24, that these verses. This is option number four. That these verses represent what Job wishes rather than what is reality. It's what Job wants to be true, not what is actually true. And for all the idealists out there, you're going to hate this, okay? I'm so sorry. For all the purists, for all the idealists, you're not gonna like this, okay? But here's my timeless truth for the day, is that wisdom is found in how things actually are, not in how we want them or wish them to be. That wisdom is not discovered. Wisdom is not found. Wisdom is not mined, Wisdom is not unearthed. Wisdom isn't something that we attain by entertaining fantasies or wondering, you know, how can we get. Or pretending like the world is a certain way when it's not that way. But wisdom is actually understanding, not how I want the world to be, but how the world actually is. Now, for me, in my personal life, I operate in faith a lot. And so faith, you know, believes the best, assumes the best, is positive, is optimistic. Like, that's the position of faith. And I've learned how to adopt a position of wisdom, not to contradict the faith that I have, but to complete it. And so faith will believe God for an ideal, but then you still have to accept how things actually are. What. What. How much money is actually in the bank account. Like, what is culture actually like right now? And I think sometimes, at least for me, at least, it's like faith and wisdom aren't always the easiest roommates to have. But if you can get faith and wisdom to be roommates, my gosh, you'll have one of the most fruitful balances, balanced lives on the planet. And so wisdom is found in how things actually are, okay? Not in how you want them or wish them to be. And there's a lot of people who I talk to who just keep telling me about, you know, yeah, but, you know, and I've got faith. And I'm like, yeah, but faith accepts facts. I need you to. I need you to have wisdom. Wisdom isn't found by chasing fantasies. It's found by understanding how does the world actually work. And let me figure out how to work in the system that's already been created. And that's true for Job, for, you know, Eliphaz, for Bildad, for Zofar, for all these guys. But that's desperately true for you and I. All right, tomorrow we'll be in job, chapter 25 to 28. It'll be day 320. I'm excited. I'll be right here. Same time, same place. The only question is, are you gonna be studying your Bible with me tomorrow? If you're on a streak, I am so proud of you. Even if you're not, I love you. I'll keep reading and studying the book of Job with you tomorrow. See you then. Peace. Thanks so much for joining us on the Bible Department podcast. You can find us online and learn more about the show@thebibledepartment.com and on Instagram hebibledepartment. If you enjoyed this episode and want to dive deeper into the Bible, you can get free access to our library of courses@thebibledepartment.com we'll see you back here tomorrow.