#12. Job 38-42 | Out of the Whirlwind

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Welcome to The Dwelling Place.

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I'm Stefan Hickox on behalf of

Entrusted Ministries, and our mission

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is to build the body of Christ by the

authority of God's word, family by

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family generation after generation.

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Though I have certainly wanted to help

us apply God's word to our homes and

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to our motherhood, one of the last

things that I'd want to do is make us

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convinced that the Bible is all about us.

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I believe the Bible was written to us.

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I believe the Bible was written for us.

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But if we look at every page and

believe it's about us, we're mistaken.

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We were made for him.

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He is the potter.

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We are the clay.

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And when I think about what's most

important from today's reading, just as

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the Lord's words silenced job, I need to

let the voice of the Lord speak most here.

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I'll read as much as I can from these

whirlwind speeches as they're sometimes

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referred to or as the Yahweh speeches.

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If you listen to our first episode,

you heard me explain how the name of

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God changed from Genesis one to Genesis

two, will something really beautiful

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happens in the Book of Job as well.

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In chapters one and two, God

is called Yahweh, which is

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his personal covenant name.

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But from chapters three to 37 he was

referred to as the Almighty, which conveys

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his power and might, but not his nearness

as he begins to speak to Job out of the

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whirlwind In chapter eight in the original

language, his name returns to Yahweh.

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He is drawing near, although he

will do it in power and I certainly

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won't claim to do his voice justice.

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then the Lord answered Job out

of the whirlwind and said, who

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is this that darkens counsel by

words without knowledge, dress for

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action like a man I will question

you and you make it known to me.

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Where were you when I laid

the foundation of the earth?

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Tell me if you have understanding.

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Who determined its measurements, surely,

you know, or who stretched the line upon

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it on what were its spaces sunk or who

laid its cornerstone when the morning

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stars sang together and all the sons of

God shouted for joy or who shut in the sea

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with doors when it burst out from the womb

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when I made clouds, its

garment and thick darkness.

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Its swaddling band and prescribed limits

for it, and set bars and doors and said,

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thus far shall you come and no farther.

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And here shall your proud waves be stayed.

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Have you commanded the morning since

your days began and caused the dawn

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to know its place that it may take

hold of the skirts of the earth and

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the wicked be shaken out of it?

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It has changed like clay under the seal.

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And its features stand out

like a garment from the wicked.

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Their light is withheld and

their uplifted arm is broken.

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Have you entered into the springs of the

sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

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Have the gates of death been

revealed to you, or have you

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seen the gates of deep darkness?

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Have you comprehended

the expanse of the earth?

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Declare, if you know all this.

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Where is the way to the dwelling of light

and where is the place of darkness that

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you may take it to its territory and that

you may discern the paths to its home?

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You know, for you were born then and

the number of your days is great.

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Have you entered the storehouses

of the snow or have you seen the

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storehouses of the hail, which I have

reserved for the time of trouble,

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for the day of battle and war?

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What is the way to the place

where the light is distributed?

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Or where the east wind is scattered

upon the earth, who has cleft a

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channel for the Torrance of rain and

a way for the thunderbolt to bring

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rain on a land where no man is on

the desert, in which there is no man

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to satisfy the waste and desolate

land and to make the ground sprout

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with grass has the reign of father

or who has forgotten the drops of dew.

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From whose womb did the ice come forth?

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And who has given birth

to the frost of heaven?

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The waters become hard, like stone

and the face of the deep is frozen.

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Can you bind the chains of the

Platy or loose the cords of Orion?

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Can you lead forth the maseth in

their season or can you guide

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the bear with its children?

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Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?

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Can you establish their rule on the earth?

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Can you lift up your voice to the clouds

that a flood of waters may cover you?

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Can you send forth lightnings that they

may go and say to you, here we are, who

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has put wisdom in the inward parts or

given understanding to the mind, who

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can number the clouds by wisdom, or

who can tilt the water skins of the

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heavens when the dust runs into a

mass and the CLOs stick fast together.

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Is the wild ax willing to serve you?

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Will he spend the night at your manger?

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Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes

or will he harrow the valleys after you?

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Will you depend on him because

his strength is great, and will

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you leave to him your labor?

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Do you have faith in him that

he will return your grain and

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gather it to your threshing floor?

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The wings of the ostrich wave proudly.

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But are they the pinons and plumage of

love for she leaves her eggs to the earth

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and lets them be warmed on the ground,

forgetting that a foot may crush them

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and that the wild beast may trample them.

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She deals cruelly with her

young as if they were not hers.

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Though her labor be in vain, yet

she has no fear because God has

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made her forget wisdom and given

her no share and understanding.

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When she rouses herself to flee, she

laughs at the horse and his rider.

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Do you give the horse his might.

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Do you clothe his neck with a mane?

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Do you make him leap like the locust?

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His majestic snorting is terrifying.

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He pauses in the valley

and exalts in his strength.

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and the Lord said to Job shall a fault

finder, contend with the Almighty.

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He who argues with God let him answer it.

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Then Job answered the

Lord and said, behold.

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I am of small account.

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What shall I answer you?

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I lay my hand on my mouth.

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I have spoken once and I will not answer

twice, but I will proceed no further.

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Then the Lord answered Job

out of the whirlwind and said,

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dress for action like a man.

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I will question you and

you make it known to me.

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Will you even put me in the wrong?

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Will you condemn me that

you may be in the right?

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Have you an arm like God?

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And can you thunder with a voice like his?

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Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity.

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Clothe yourself with glory and splendor.

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Pour out the overwhelming of

your anger and look on everyone

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who is proud and a base him.

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Look on everyone who is proud

and bring him low and tread down

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the wicked where they stand.

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Hide them all in the dust together,

bind their faces in the world below.

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Then will I also acknowledge to you

that your own right hand can save you?

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I can't help but think about all of the

scientific data that proves that we live

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on the Goldilocks planet, the tilt of

the earth on its axis, it's no accident.

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God confirms that he puts wisdom in

our minds and that no one else can do.

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So

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In chapter 38, when he says,

can you bind the chains of Platy

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or loose the cords of Orion?

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He's discussing two constellations, and

recently scientists discovered that Platy

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is bound by gravity and Orion is not,

and it's actually moving farther apart.

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How could the author have known

this thousands of years ago?

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Only because this is the God who puts

wisdom and understanding in the mind.

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The Lord goes on to vividly

describe some of his most powerful

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creatures, behemoth and leviathan.

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And though we're given detail upon

detail, their identity is not certain.

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But what is is God's message.

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If you tremble at the creation, it is

wise to tremble and awe at their creator.

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And finally, in chapter 42, then

Job answered the Lord and said, I

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know that you can do all things.

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And that no purpose of

yours can be thwarted.

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Who is this that hides

counsel without knowledge.

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Therefore, I have uttered

what I did not understand.

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Things too wonderful for me, which I

did not know here, and I will speak.

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I will question you and

you make it known to me.

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I had heard of you by the hearing

of the ear, but now my eye sees you.

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Therefore, I despise myself

and repent in dust and ashes.

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After the Lord had spoken these

words to Job, the Lord said to pha,

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the terminate my anger burns against

you and against your two friends.

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For you have not spoken of me.

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What is right?

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As my servant job has now therefore

takes seven bulls and seven rams

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and go to my servant job and offer

up a burnt offering for yourselves?

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And my servant job shall pray for you.

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For I will accept his prayer not to

deal with you according to your folly.

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For you have not spoken of me.

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What is right as my servant job has.

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So Eli f the te mite and billed the

shoe height and sofar the neite went

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and did what the Lord had told them.

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And the Lord accepted job's prayer.

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And the Lord restored the fortunes of

Job when he had prayed for his friends.

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And the Lord gave job twice

as much as he had before.

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And the Lord blessed the latter

days of Job more than his

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beginning, and he had 14,000 sheep.

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6,000 camels, 1000 Yoko oxen,

and: 1000

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He also had seven sons and three

daughters, and after this job lived

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140 years and saw his sons and his

son's sons four generations and

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job died in old man full of days.

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If you keep track of the blessings

of Job from the beginning of the

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book to the end, he receives exactly

double of all of his possessions.

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But the number of children

he has remains the same.

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He began with seven sons and three

daughters, and he ends with seven

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sons and three daughters on earth.

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But this is an encouraging thought to me.

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Why would the animals double

and not the number of children?

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Perhaps it's because job's initial seven

sons and three daughters are awaiting

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him in heaven in the presence of the

Lord, and he truly does have double.

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Now,

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In James five 11, I read.

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Behold, we consider those

blessed who remain steadfast.

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You have heard of the steadfastness of

Job and you have seen the purpose of the

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Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and

merciful, and I hope that that's our

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perspective as we conclude this book,

that like Job, we can remain steadfast

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that the Lord is compassionate and

merciful and does not expect perfection.

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My MacArthur commentary concludes the

accuser of the brethren is still going to

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and fro throughout the earth, and God's

servants are still learning to trust in

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the all wise, all powerful judge of the

universe for what they cannot understand.

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Heavenly Father, we sit in awe of your

power, your perfection, and your purposes

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help us to trust you in all things.

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In Jesus' name we pray, amen.