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Day 7—Feast of Tabernacles 2019
The inward sins of the mind, self-righteous thoughts,
the secret sin that is cutting you off from God
Fred R. Coulter—October 20, 2019
Greetings, brethren and welcome to day seven, of the Feast of Tabernacles. What a Feast this has been, and right at the end of the Millennium is going to be a spectacular event (Rev. 20).
We know at the beginning of the Millennium, Satan is bound in the abyss. But it says that he would not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were fulfilled, and after that, beginning with the end, that it is ordained that he be 'loosed for a short time.'
- How long is the short time? We don't know, but he's going to be loosed!
- Why will he be loosed?
- What will he do?
Revelation 20:7: "Now, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and he shall go out to deceive the nations... [plural] ...that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog…" (vs 7-8),
This is not talking about the people of Gog and Magog, although there may be some involved in it, but the geographical area of Gog and Magog! As we have seen, when people sin and they won't repent, and they haven't lived out to their 100 years, yet, then they are exiled.
First of all, they will be in what you might say in the local area, if there are problems with sin. We'll cover some of the things today about the sin, as we did yesterday concerning the sin of Solomon. Today we're going to cover about the sin of Job—The Job Syndrome—and what's going to happen with that. The nations (plural) in the geographical area of Gog and Magog, that's the final exile!
When people are sent to Gog and Magog, in the exile, that amounts to the same thing of what God did with Cain after he murdered Abel. Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel were exiled out of the Garden of Eden, but they still had access to God at the east gate of the Garden of Eden. But after the murder of Abel by Cain, he was exiled into the land of wandering! Removed further away, removed completely from God, completely from the line of Abel, and off in some place in the earth called the land of Nod, or the land of the wandering.
In this case, we have seen that when people sin, and they don't repent, and they are exiled to Gog and Magog, then they will live out their life, 100 years and die accursed. What does accursed mean? Cutoff from God, and destined to the Lake of Fire!
" ...in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, of whom the number is as the sand of the sea..." (v 8).
Now, this tells us that there are going to be a lot of people alive, who have sinned, and have not repented, and the number is of the sand of the sea. In other words, the number is going to be great enough that they can't be counted. The reason they can't be counted is because there's free moral agency (IFMA). If they use that against God, that's why they're exiled over there, to gather them for war. Let's see what happens to them. We'll come back to this when we come to the end of this message.
Verse 9: "Then I saw them go up upon the breadth of the earth and encircle the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them."
Let's see what the circumstances are in people's lives that this will be necessary. We also know and understand that God is going to change human nature back to what it was before the sin of Adam and Eve (Ezek. 36). But in Jer. 17:9 we find that human nature is still evil, but not quite as evil.
However, when they do commit the unpardonable sin and are removed to Gog and Magog, we don't know if they can repent there. But if it is the unpardonable sin, there is no repentance that's going to work.
Jeremiah 17:1: "The sin of Judah is engraved with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond; it is carved upon the tablet of their heart and upon the horns of your altars."
There will be people who will refuse to obey and love God. Who will refuse our instruction as teachers! And when we tell them, 'here is the way to go,' they will refuse to go! They will think, with their own free moral agency—and remember, God isn't going to take that away—that their thoughts are just as good as God's thoughts, and there's no need for them to repent, be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. After all, look at 'how good' they are!
Verse 9: "The heart is deceitful above all things..." Maybe at this time not quite as deceitful! But if you get into the unpardonable sin it is as deceitful.
"...and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (v 9).
With everything there, God and the sons and daughters of God teaching, directing, running the government, running all of the things concerning the true worship of God—the Sabbath, the Holy Days and everything—there will be people who will think—because they've been born into this society, which is very good—that they are very 'good,' but not converted! There will be some who will think that they don't need to repent. After all, they're 'good.'
So, let's come to the book of Job and see in the book of Job, exactly what the Job syndrome is. We will see it. So we'll define it at the beginning. The Job syndrome is that they are so good in the letter of the Law that they refuse to admit the sins that are inward in the mind!
That's how Job was; he was blameless in the letter of the Law. Let's see something very similar to Job 1 in Matt. 19. This is the time when the rich man came to Jesus. Here's a person growing up in Judea, and he was a righteous person. Remember, concerning righteousness Jesus said that the only Israelite without guile was Nathaniel. So it's very rare to have someone with human nature that has no guile.
Matthew 19:16: "Now at that time, one came to Him and said, 'Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?'"
Notice Jesus answer, and this is the answer that will be given to the people all during the Millennium.
You may be 'good' in the letter of the Law, but it is the conversion of the mind, and the transformation of your thinking that is the key to eternal life. Obeying in the letter of the Law is required by everyone; but to obey, in the spirit of the Law, and with love, with grace and with understanding is a whole other ballgame.
Verse 17: "And He said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one… [no human being] … is good except one—God....'"
That's why we have to become the sons and daughters of God. Because of ourselves, as good as we may be—which we will see Job was—we are still sinful! Our minds have not been converted, changed and brought to the point of thinking the way that God thinks. So he says;
"...But if you desire to enter into life, keep the commandments" (v 17).
- Isn't that going to be what it's going to be during the Millennium?
- Won't all people be keeping the commandments?
Yes indeed, notice what He answered!
Verse 18: "Then he said to Him, 'Which?' And Jesus said, 'You shall not commit murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (vs 18-19).
Well, look at what the young man said. He thought to himself, 'Hey, I'm almost there. I really don't need much, do I?'
I wonder how many people during the Millennium will do that and have the Job Syndrome?
Verse 20: "The young man said to Him, 'I have kept all these things from my youth. What do I yet lack?'"
Won't that be true people growing up in the Millennium? They will have done the commandments all their life! "…What do I yet lack?" They can probably look around and say, 'I'm as good as or better than these people who are supposed to be converted. Comparing themselves among themselves.
Verse 21: "Jesus said to him, 'If you desire to be perfect, go and sell your property, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me.'"
Give up everything that you have! For conversion, you must give up everything:
- that you think you are
- how good you may believe that you are
- acknowledge that God alone is righteous, no human being
Verse 22: "But after hearing this word, the young man went away grieving, because he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'Truly I say to you, it is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven'" (vs 22-23).
For people who know the Law, know the Truth and understand, it is difficult for them to come to see their own human nature! What was the rich man's human nature? He had as his idol all his riches and everything he owned! He couldn't turn his back on those things that he thought were important.
Verse 23: "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'Truly I say to you, it is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God'" (vs 23-24).
That is quite a thing. But with God, it's possible. So, here we have all of these people growing up during the Millennium, keeping the laws of God, obeying their parents, maybe having some possessions like this rich man had, or whatever it may be, and they can't see their own sins! Now, this is what Job's problem was.
The only difference between the account of Job and those during the Millennium is that Satan is working in the society and times and life of Job. So during the Millennium, it's going to be harder, because Satan is not there. There is no one to blame. But nevertheless, the whole experience of Job that we're going to examine, is how he thought of himself, and how he was his own idol!
Let's think about something concerning Adam and Eve. God created them perfectly. They had a language already built into their brain, they could talk with one another; they could talk with God; they saw God.
Now, since they were made in the image of God and after His likeness, when they looked at God—Who appeared to them more like a human being, rather than in His glory and power—you can see how easy it was for them to think that they were almost like God. Think about that in relationship to people during the Millennium.
All the sons and daughters of God will be there ruling, teaching, everything carrying out the way that God wants. We'll be able to appear to them much like a human being. Now then, how many will begin to think that they're almost like them. What is this that they are saying that our nature is evil? When you look at the whole society, they're all keeping God's way, they're all doing what God wants them to do.
But the thing concerning independent free moral agency—IFMA—will always be working. God will never take that away. What kind of thoughts may they harbor in their minds? We will know that they are, but they won't understand how that we know. So, they will be susceptible to the same thing that Adam and Eve were. They will say:
We're almost like God. I know this, I know that, I understand the other. I've done this, I've done that I've done the other, all according to the Laws of God. Why do I need to repent?
This was similar to what Job said. The only difference is Satan was directly involved to put Job through this trial, and that will not be during the Millennium. Yet, many of the same self-righteous thoughts will probably come up. Let's look at it.
Now we're going to do a survey covering many different things, mainly all the self-righteous thoughts of Job! If you're doing good and almost like God:
- Why do you need to repent and be baptized in order to enter into the Kingdom of God?
- Why can't you just continue like this?
- Like the rich man who said, well, I've done this all my life?
Job 1:6: "Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. And Satan also came among them…. [these are the angels and Satan] …And the LORD said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' Then Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.' And the LORD said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth...'" (vs 6-8). The most righteous man!
God said later that Noah, Job, and Daniel were the three most righteous men there ever were (Ezek. 14). Here's a man who was very righteous, and we'll look at some of the things that he did.
"'...a blameless and upright man... [remember, this is in the letter of the Law] ...one who fears God and turns away from evil?' And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.'" (vs 8-11).
Satan also knew human nature, and even though a person does 'good,' when all the circumstances are good, that doesn't mean if the circumstances change, that they will not change and show their human nature and the evil for what it is!
Verse 12: "And the LORD said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only do not lay your hand upon him.' And Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD."
Then catastrophe happened. I mean, complete catastrophe! Let's look at it.
Verse 13: "Now, there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And there came a messenger to Job and said, 'The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them. And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away. Yea, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword. And I only have escaped alone to tell you.'…. [right as he was saying that]: …While he was still speaking, there also came another and said, 'The fire of God has fallen from the heavens and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and destroyed them. And I only have escaped alone to tell you.' While he was still speaking, there also came another and said, 'The Chaldeans formed three bands and swooped down upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and have killed the servants with the edge of the sword. And I only have escaped alone to tell you.' While he was still speaking, there also came another and said, 'Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. And, behold, a great wind came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. And I only have escaped alone to tell you'" (vs 13-19).
Think of the total disaster and all the things that happened. He lost everything that he owned, and he lost his whole family except his wife. What would you do with a thing like that? There are even some people today angry at God. They're cursing God because they have this or that trial. They haven't had one like this. This is everything in one day. So, let's see what Job did.
Verse 20: "And Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.' In all this Job did not sin, nor charge God foolishly" (vs 20-22).
Now that's a commendable thing. I mean, just consider your own circumstances:
- What if something happened like this to you?
- Would you get angry with God?
- Would you curse God?
Let's see what happens, because Job's trial... A lot of people can't understand why would God do this to Job. What a terrible thing to do. And you know, when I first came into the Church and I first read the book of Job, I thought: Surely God wasn't right, because I didn't understand the spiritual stakes involved!
Likewise today, when a terrible, terrible, terrible trial comes, people begin to accuse God or get mad at God. Well, Job didn't! He is to be really commended for that. But that's only the beginning of the story.
Job 2:1: "And again it came to pass on a day that the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. And Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.' And the LORD said unto Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth...'" (vs 1-3).
Now, think about that! The most righteous man in the earth! So, why bring all these trials on him?
"'...a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil? And still he is holding fast to his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause'" (v 3).
This is quite an account! Satan had another one up his sleeve:
Verse 4: "And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has he will give for his life. But indeed put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face.' And the LORD said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.' And Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. And he [Job] took a broken piece of pottery to scrape himself with. And he sat down among the ashes" (vs 4-8).
Now he had the boils all over. And with the potsherd, he would scrape the puss, and it would ooze out and the blood he'd sprinkle ashes on. Imagine the flies all over. A little later he says that worms were in his flesh; that is maggots. To look down and see all the flies, and you don't have hardly the strength to swipe them away, swish them away. This would be such delicious food for the flies, that they wouldn't move away! They just zoom off and come right back. Imagine that! He got a lot of 'support' from his wife!
Verse 9: "And his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold to your integrity? Curse God and die!'…. [so much for loving Job, uh?] …But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips" (vs 9-10).
Interesting statement! It didn't say he didn't sin in his thoughts!
- What are the worst kinds of thoughts, that a lot of people can't recognize as sin? Self-righteousness!
- Don't you think that's going to be a big problem during the Millennium? Yes, indeed!
Stop and think about it!
- How do we end up with as many in Gog and Magog as the sands of the sea?
So, we're going to examine those thoughts. Then his three friends came to comfort him and they were so awestruck with the condition of Job when they saw him, they just sat there and said not word for seven days.
Job 3:1: "After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth…. [not God but his birth] …And Job spoke and said, 'Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night in which it was said, "A man child is brought forth." Let that day be darkness. Let not God look upon it from above, neither let the light shine upon it'" (vs 1-4).
Then he complains about how awful and terrible it has been. All of these things he said it would have been better if I'd just been stillborn.
Verse 20: "Why is light given to him who is in misery... [he's talking about himself] ...and life to the bitter in soul."
Wouldn't you be bitter if that happens? Bitterness against God, even though he said, 'God gives and God takes away,' He gives the good and we receive that. So why don't we receive the difficult and evil.
Verse 21: "Who is waiting for death—but it comes not... [He was sitting there waiting to die, but it didn't happen] …and digs for it more than for hidden treasures? They are rejoicing to exultation. They are glad when they can find the grave. Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has made a hedge about? For my sighing comes instead of my food, and my groanings are poured out like the waters. For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me..." (vs 21-25).
Now stop and think about this. What is it that you greatly fear? Other than death, there may be a lot of things you greatly fear! Don't fear them, put them all in God's hands, Because it will come upon you!
"... and that which I was afraid of has come to me. I was not in safety, I have no rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble comes" (v 25).
Time and chance happen to all! My that was quite a thing he was going through here. I'm not going to go through all the excuses of the three friends, because the three friends came and said, 'Job you're sinning. Admit your sin. You think you're righteous, but admit your sin.' And Job kept saying, 'No, I haven't sinned.' So let's see how all of this goes.
After Eliphaz the Temanite got done accusing him of sin and telling him how bad he was:
Job 6:1: "And Job answered and said, 'Oh, that my grief were but weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore, my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, my spirit is drinking up their poison. The terrors of God do set themselves against me'" (vs 1-4). Man, that's quite a thing he's going through there!
Verse 9[transcriber's correction]: "Even that it would please God to destroy me; that He would loose His hand and cut me off! Then I would yet have my comfort; yea, I would rejoice in pain, though He did not spare me; for I have not denied the words of the Holy One" (vs 9-10). Through all of that!
So that we know what we are looking to, and what the problem is that Job had and how it was necessary for conversion for him to go through this.
Now, we don't know exactly how it's going to work in the Millennium. I don't think it's going to work exactly like this. But we can take the principles of it, because we're dealing in what Job actually thought! What we're doing is reading what he said, while God was looking at what he thought! And we will see that as we get further along.
Ezekiel 14:1: "And some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I at all be inquired of by them?'" (vs 1-3).
Now, we're getting to the point that's important. There will be no overt idols during the Millennium. But where will they be in their mind? in their heart?
Verse 4: "Therefore, speak to them, and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet...'" That will be us! We will be the teachers. They will come to us.
"...I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols" (v 4). That's where all the idols are going to be during the Millennium: in the mind!
How good I am, how righteous I am. Oh, and look at that person over there, and that person over there, I'm better than they are. I've kept the commandments of God all my life. I'm so good, that I don't need to be baptized in order to enter into the Kingdom of God.
I see how these people are transformed, when they a hundred-years-old and that's a wonderful thing. But I'm good enough for that. Why do I have to repent?
Verse 5: "So that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they have deserted Me for their idols—all of them."
When you have idols in your mind, guess what you're doing? You are pushing God out, and you're uplifting yourself. Now that's quite a thing to contemplate, isn't it? So, we need to think on that.
Verse 6: "Therefore, say to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Repent and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger who lives in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart...'" (vs 6-7).
Isn't that what it's going to be? If you have idols in your heart during the Millennium, you are separating yourself from God! All of these idols will be what you are worshiping. But all of us as the teachers of God will know those thoughts. Other people won't.
I will be just like today, people can be nice as can be, and look like they are going to be your friend. But inside, they hate and despise you. Now is that not a greater sin? Yes, indeed! Two sins: hatred and despising; the idol in your mind and the secret sin that is cutting you off from God! Notice what's going to happen here:
Verse 8: "And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him for a sign and for a proverb..."
What is going to happen? They will have to go to the rehabilitation repentance center first! If they don't come to understand that, then they will be shipped off the Gog and Magog. When they get Gog and Magog, they're going to find all the sinners who are there. They're going to say that they are right and God is wrong! Amazing thing!
"...And I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know that I am the LORD. And the prophet, if he is deceived, and he speaks a word, I the LORD have deceived that prophet. And I will stretch out My hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel" (vs 8-9).
Job 3:25: "For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me…"
Job is talking to his friends here, Job 6:24: "Teach me, and I will be silent; and cause me to understand where I have gone astray." Job was in an almost repentant attitude here, but not quite!
Job tells them about all the advice they're giving and he says, v 29: "Relent, I pray you, let there be no iniquity; yea, acknowledge, my righteousness yet stands."
All that you've been telling me. None of you can convict me of sin. My righteousness stands.
But the truth is, there is no righteousness except that which comes from God. So, this is his sin, self-righteousness!
Job 7:4: "When I lie down, I say, "When shall I rise?" But the night is long, and I am full of tossing to and fro until the dawning of the day. My flesh is clothed with maggots... [could just see him] ... and dusty scabs; my skin cracks open and runs with pus. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. O remember that my life is a breath; my eye shall no more see good" (vs 4-7).
Well, he was complaining to God for this, and in somewhat in a way that is true. But it was really Satan. God allowed it so Job could repent! But for Job to repent, because he was so self-righteous, is quite a task, indeed.
(go to the next track)
Now let's continue on with the Job syndrome: self-righteousness and idols in the mind!
Job started to get angry with God here in chapter seven.
Job 7:17: "What is man, that You should magnify him, and that You should set Your heart on him, and that You should visit him every morning, and try him every moment?…. [Why, God, are You trying me every moment?] …How long? Will You not look away from me, nor let me alone until I swallow down my spittle? If I have sinned, what shall I do to You, O Watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, so that I am a burden to myself?…. [What an accusation against God!] …And why do You not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I shall sleep in the dust, and You shall seek me in the morning, but I shall not be" (vs 17-21).
Boy! What a talk back to God! 'You really brought this upon me, O God.' So, there's another sin.
Job 9:15: "Whom, though I were righteous, yet, I could not answer; I would make supplication to My Judge. If I had called and He had answered me, yet I would not believe that He had listened to my voice" (vs 15-16).
Quite a thing! Challenging God that, because I'm going through all of this.
Verse 20: "If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me; though I am blameless... ['No sin in me!'] ... He shall declare me perverse."
Quite lesson Job is going through. The book of Job is a very complicated book, because the average person who reads it doesn't understand their own mind. They don't do it. So they read this and think: If someone were this righteous, why would God take it out on him? Well, the final answer is He wants to give him eternal life! Job has to overcome the worst sin possible: self-righteousness.
Verse 32—Job thinks that he is so good, that he has done no wrong, that he has always been right.
Verse 32: "For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, that we should come together in court; there is no umpire between us..." Job said, 'I want to take Him to court and lay it all out!'
"...who might lay his hand upon us both. Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His fear make me afraid; then would I speak and not fear Him; but it is not so with me" (vs 32-35).
Whoa! What a thing that he did, what he went through.
Let's get a good glimpse of what Job was thinking. And I think that this is a fantastic testimony to the Word of God, that such a book like this would be written like this, and preserved. Now, I don't know who wrote it. I don't know who took down all the notes to do it. But it is certainly a fantastic book in the Bible.
Job 10:14: "If I sin, then You mark me, and You will not acquit me from my iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me; and if I am righteous, I will not lift up my head, being filled with confusion—therefore look upon my affliction…. [notice how he looks to God] …For if my head be lifted up, You will hunt me as a fierce lion; and again You will show Yourself awesome against me" (vs 14-16). Angry at God! Blaming God!
Job 11:5: "But oh, that God would speak, and open His lips against you, and would tell you the secrets of His wisdom. For sound wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves" (vs 5-6).
Job he said, 'I want to speak to God.' Well, we'll see that God answered that.
This is quite a study—isn't it? Just think about this: During the Millennium how is all of this going to go? all of this is going to come down? That will be one of our greatest sins! The first one was the Solomon Syndrome, where he acknowledged God at first, and then he took all the credit to himself!
Now this one—The Job Syndrome—is that he acknowledges God, but that he is as good as God. He doesn't need anything else to be perfect. He doesn't recognize the sin of the mind and the idols in the mind!
Job 13:3: "Notwithstanding I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case before God." Wow, that's quite a statement! So, he's telling those who are speaking against him:
Verse 13: "Be quiet! Let me alone so that I may speak, and let come upon me what may." That's quite a thing! Yes, indeed!
Verse 18: "Behold now, I have set my cause in order; I know that I shall be justified…. [because I'm right] … Can anyone bring charges against me?...." (vs 18-19).
You three men out there, you're talking about all these things, and there is not one thing you have said that is correct, because I've done none of those things.
"... If so, I will be silent and die. Only do not do two things to me; then I will not hide myself from You. Withdraw... [this is talking to God] …Your hand far from me, and let not Your dread terrify me. Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and You answer me" (vs 19-22).
So, all the time he's challenging God in all of this. This is quite a thing that's going on. Job was so righteous and so caught up in himself, that he couldn't see the idols in his mind! That the goodness that he did became the idol that carried him away from God.
He did not understand and realize, as Paul wrote in Acts 17, that in God we live and move and have our being! Everything about life comes from God. Now he understood it in a certain way, but he didn't understand it to the depths that all that he did. He had to credit it to God and not himself.
Job 16:1: "And Job answered and said, 'I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters are you all! Is there no end to windy words? Or what provokes you that you should answer?'" (vs 1-3).
So, he went on to speak on that a bit. Notice how Job does this:
Verse 21: "Oh, that a man might plead with God, as a man pleads with his neighbor!" You don't plead with God that way, because God is not a man. You plead with God with repentance and humility, and acknowledging God's:
- greatness
- glory
- love
- mercy
- kindness
- forgiveness
Our thoughts are not His thoughts, and our ways are not His ways!
We need that in our lives. God gives that, and when He gives it, that is not making us something great, that we can brag and boast about it as Job did.
Job 17:1: "My spirit is broken, My days are extinct. The grave is ready for me." Not quite! Your Spirit is not yet broken because you continue to mock God.
You go through and read the whole book of Job and see how you do with understanding these things.
Job 23:1: "And Job answered and said… [after Eliphaz the Temanite talked to Job] …'Even today is my complaint bitter; my stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him [God] that I might come even to His seat!" (vs 1-3).
Right up to His throne! Whoa! Talk about self-righteousness!
Verse 4: "I would lay my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words, which He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me. Will He contend against me with His great power? No, surely He would give heed to me. There the righteous might reason with Him; and I would be acquitted from my Judge forever" (vs 4-7).
If I just get up to God's throne and show Him how good I really am, He will say to me, 'That's a great thing.' How about that! By all the arguments you go through here, and all the arguments that are done. Job 31 is a key, important chapter. Job is telling about all the things that he has is done.
Job 31:5: "If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hurried to deceit, let me be weighed in an even balance so that God may know that I am blameless. If my step has turned out of the way, or my heart has walked after my eyes, and ifany spot has cleaved to my hands… [I am spotless; I am so good] …then let me sow, and let another eat; and let my harvests be rooted out. If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or I have laid wait at my neighbor's door, then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her" (vs 5-10).
Verse 12: "For it is a fire that devours to destruction, and it would root out all my increase. If I despised the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they complained against me; what then shall I do when God rises up? And when He calls me to account, what shall I answer Him?" (vs 12-14).
I never did anything wrong, to any of my servants. I never did anything wrong to anyone. I always did what was right; always what was right!
- Who made the laws?
- Who made right from wrong?
- Who made good from evil?
- Who made and created you so you could think?
- God did!
Verse 16: "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it, for from my youth he grew up with me, as with a father, and from infancy I guided her… [oh, my] …if I have seen any perish for lack of clothing, or there was no covering for the needy; if his loins have not blessed me, and he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep; if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless when I watched over my help in the gate; then let my arm fall from the shoulder blade, and let my arm be broken from the elbow. For calamity from God is a terror to me, and by reason of His majesty I could do nothing" (vs 16-23).
He did every thing right. But if everything out here is right, if there are idols in the mind, you're filled with sin! You see how that's going to be one of the biggest challenges during the Millennium.
Verse 24: "If I have made gold my hope, or have called fine gold my confidence; if I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much; if I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand… [whatever that is worth] this also would be an iniquity for the judges to punish; for I would have lied to God who is above… [you say no, I didn't do any of these things] … If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or exulted myself when evil found him; verily I have not allowed my mouth to sin by wishing for a curse on his life" (vs 24-30).
Point: Look at how good he was. But it was all him and not God! So, it became him against God and God against him.
Verse 31: "if the men of my tabernacle did not say, 'Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat?'"
Verse 33: "If I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, then let me tremble before a great multitude, and be terrified by the scorn of families; and I will be silent and not go out the door… [Quite a thing! This is really fantastic book!] …Oh, that I had one to hear me! Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and the indictment that my adversary had written. Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it like a crown upon my head. I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would come before Him" (vs 33-37).
I'm not going to God as a humble repentant man, I'm going to come like a prince who has always done right and never have done wrong. And everybody has benefited and profited from what I have done. And I haven't laid with any woman. I haven't lusted after anything. I haven't taken any gold or silver. But I have given and helped and all of this, and I am good, and I am righteous!
Elihu, then answered and told Job, the facts that they were. Let's see how Elihu, sent from God, a young man who had wisdom and understanding, more than his three friends. His three friends couldn't find anything wrong with him. Job couldn't find anything wrong with himself. Job couldn't find that he had done anything wrong. Yet, he had all these idols in his mind!
Job 35:1: "And Elihu answered and said, 'Do you think this to be right, you that say, "My righteousness is more than God's"?'" (vs 1-2). Now think of that!
- God is perfect
- God is Holy
- God is righteous
- God is love
- God is true
Man is what? Man is flesh! Everything that a man has comes from God! Every way of being able to think, to do, to plan, to devise, all comes from God! Anything that he makes, all comes from God! And he makes it out of the things that God has created!
So, it is all to God's credit. Just like with the Church and the things that we do. God is the One Who makes it possible. Yes, we do the work, but it's God's.
- God has to inspire it
- God has to lead
- God has to give us the ability to do it
Then we acknowledge that it all comes from God, even though we had to do the work. But God gave us the strength and power and energy and thought to do the work. So it all goes back to God.
Verse 3: "For you say, 'What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?' I will answer your words… [v 5]: Look to the heavens, and see…" (vs 3-5)—what God has made!
After talking to Job for a good long time, then Job got his wish: 'Oh that I could talk to God.' Well now, directly in the face of God we will see that Job learns some lessons!
Job 38:1: "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?…. [that one statement puts Job in his place] …Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me'" (vs 1-3).
- IF you are so great, Job
- IF you are so righteous
- IF you know so much
Verse 4: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare it if you have understanding!…. [since you're so smart] …Who has determined its measurements if you know? Or who has stretched the line upon it? On what are the foundations fastened to? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?…. [you weren't there, Job, you didn't even exist] …Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as it came from the womb?" (vs 4-8).
Verse 16: "Have you entered into the springs of the sea?…." Do you know anything about
- the oceans?
- the seas?
- the currents?
- the springs?
- the pathways of water?
- the depths of it?
- the life at great depth?
—over a mile from the surface of the ocean—
- Where were you?
"...Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been opened to you?.…" (vs 16-17).
- Do you understand how life can come back to life from death through the resurrection?
- Do you, Job?
- Do you know how that works?
"...Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you surveyed the breadth of the earth? Declare it, if you know it all!" (vs 17-18).
That was Job! Job was a know it all! Quite a thing! Now, let's see the end of the matter here. With this, Job's whole attitude changed.
Now, do you suppose that the book of Job is going to be one of the main books used in the repentance and rehabilitation center for those who think they are so good, and don't need to repent? We will be there as the sons and daughters of God teaching them. Leading them in repentance, helping them to understand the Word of God. Think how much more we will have to do so. And yet, if they still persist in that and won't repent, then it's a one way ticket to Gog and Magog!
Job 40:1: "And the LORD answered Job and said, 'Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him?.…'" (vs 1-2).
Is anyone going to instruct God, Who knows everything? And little puny man knows so little! You who are sinful and imperfect, are you going to teach God?
"'...He who reproves God, let him answer it.' And Job answered the LORD and said, 'Behold, I am vile! What shall I answer You? I will lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken; but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further'" (vs 2-5).
Now that's quite a thing! Job learned a fantastic lesson, and let's see what that lesson is.
Verse 6: "And the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 'Gird up your loins now like a man. I will demand of you, and you declare unto Me'" (vs 6-7). God is answering Job with all of His:
- self-righteousness
- self-confidence
- boasting
- accusing God as being unfair, and making his life terrible and miserable
which it did; it was! But God wants him converted! Likewise with all of those in the Millennium:
- God wants them converted
- God wants them repenting
- God wants them understanding the Truth
- God wants them to enter into the Kingdom of God
So He said, v 8: "Will you even annul My judgment?.... [You think you could give a greater judgment than Mine?] …Will you condemn Me so that you may be righteous?"
- bring Me to court and have a judge put his hand on Me and you?
- declare that you are righteous when you've got idols in your mind?
- transgressions in your thoughts?
Though you've done all of these things out here that are good, those are all things that I commanded you to do. So, if you do what I have commanded you to do, are you not then an unprofitable servant?
- I want you to love Me
- I want you to acknowledge Me
- I want you to understand how much I want you in My Kingdom
But you've got to come to this yourself!
Verse 9: "And have you an arm like God?...." Well, now you're made after the image of God, that's true! You have an opportunity to become like God, that's true. But as a human being:
"...have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?" (v 9). No!
In his own opinion Job got smaller and smaller and smaller. God says:
- IF you think you're so good
- IF you think you're so powerful
- IF you think you're so righteous
try this on, Job; v 10: "Deck yourself now with majesty and excellency, and array yourself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of your wrath; and behold everyone who is proud, and abase him" (vs 10-11). See if you can do that, Job!
You couldn't even convince your friend. They tried to point out every evil that you supposedly had done, and you didn't do it. They couldn't even see your own sin.
Verse 12: "Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in darkness. Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you" (vs 12-14)—and that you can become like Me! It's not going to be that way.
This is the answer; Job 42:1: "And Job answered the LORD and said, 'I know that You can do all things, and that no thought can be withheld from You'" (vs 1-2). That is the key! God is interested in the mind and the thoughts of the heart!
Verse 5: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You. Therefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes'" (vs 5-6).
That's what God wants! Job was able to repent. What a trial for him to go through. But let's see that this is exactly what God wants. This is what conversion is all about. This is what is required of all in order to become the sons and daughters of God.
It's not just the goodness we do out here, which is required, but it's the conversion and change within with the Spirit of God! So that we can develop the mind of Christ and the mind of God, the way that He wants.
Romans 12:1: "I exhort you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, Holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (vs 1-2).
- to have the thoughts of God, not self-righteousness
- to have the love and understanding of God, not the vanity of how good you are
But the humility that everything comes from God, and you are what God wants you to be. That you can change. He has called you so that you can be converted, and all of that.
"...in order that you may prove what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God" (v 2).
Rev. 20—Satan is loosed, and goes to the area of Gog and Magog, and gathers all of them in one final satanic attack to try and prove that he is 'God.' So, when he gets up there, all of those who are there he comes and says:
Look, I am 'God.' The One Who is down in Jerusalem—and look at that they don't have any defenses. Now what we're going to do, we're going to prepare for war. We're going to make weapons because they are down there, and they don't have a single defense. We are going to take vengeance upon God, and take the Kingdom from Him, and you and I will all rule.
So, they go down!
Revelation 20:8: "...of whom the number is as the sand of the sea, to gather them together for war. Then I saw them go up upon the breadth of the earth and encircle the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them" (vs 8-9).
That is their first death. Because the Millennium has come to an end, there is no longer any time for them to live to be 100 and to be buried accursed, so they suffer their first death all together. What a tremendous witness that's going to be!
Now then, the last part of the seventh day is the fate and punishment of Satan the devil. He is going to be put away forever. All of those who come up in the second resurrection who have not committed the unpardonable sin, will not have to live this life under Satan the devil.
Verse 10: "And the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet had been cast…"
Now the beast and false prophet were flesh and blood. When they were cast into the Lake of Fire they were burned up. Satan and the demons are not burned up with fire, but tormented!
"...and they..." (v 10). Not Satan, the beast and the false prophet, but Satan and the demons, because where Satan goes the demons go.
"...and they, Satan and the demons, shall be tormented day and night into the ages of eternity" (v 10).
God is going to have that as a perpetual witness, that there will never be rebellion against God ever again. Now, after the earth is consumed, as preparation for the new heaven and the new earth, then Satan and the demons are going to be sent into perpetual utter darkness, the blackness and darkness forever.
Jude 6: "And the angels who did not keep their own original domain, but deserted their habitation... [in rebellion against God] ...He is holding in eternal bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the Great Day."
We saw what that is: cast into the Lake of Fire. When the Lake of Fire is no more, they're going to be in utter darkness forever. Now we know that all of the things that were done. We find in verse 9 that Michael is arguing with Satan over the body of Moses, and that it was Satan who led Cain to do what he did, and do what Korah did.
Verse 12: "These are subversive stains in your love feasts, feasting in person together with you; fearlessly they are feeding themselves. They are clouds without water, being driven by the winds; trees of late autumn, without any fruit, uprooted, twice dead."
That's all human beings who follow Satan the devil will be twice dead. That's why the first death of those in Gog and Magog and attacking Jerusalem, was to accomplish the first step for all of them.
Verse 13: "Raging waves of the sea, casting up like foam their own ignominious shame; wandering stars... [the stars who went with Satan the devil] ...for whom has been reserved the blackest darkness forever!"
It's possible that there may be a giant black hole out there in the universe where they are going to be contained and tormented forever, and as a perpetual witness to all of those in the Kingdom of God! That there is never ever, ever, ever going to be any rebellion against God. But only the love, truth and righteousness, and what God wants us to do for all eternity, will be what will be done.
So, come back tomorrow for the Last Great Day. And that is a great day indeed!
Scriptural References:
- Revelation 20:7-9
- Jeremiah 17:1, 9
- Matthew 19:16-24
- Job 1:6-22
- Job 2:1-10
- Job 3:1-4, 20-25
- Job 6:1-4, 9-10
- Ezekiel 14:1-9
- Job 3:25
- Job 6:24, 29
- Job 7:4-7, 17-21
- Job 9:15-16, 20, 32
- Job 10:14-16
- Job 11:5-6
- Job 13:3, 13, 18-22
- Job 16:1-3, 21
- Job 17:1
- Job 23:1-7
- Job 31:5-10, 12-14, 16-31, 33-37
- Job 35:1-5
- Job 38:1-8, 16-18
- Job 40:1-14
- Job 42:1-2, 5-6
- Romans 12:1-2
- Revelation 20:8-10
- Jude 6, 12-13
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Ezekiel 36
- Acts 17
FRC:po/bo
Transcribed: 7/31/19
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