Transcript Today’s Bible Translation Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 31-34 NLT Associate Producer James from Norway Podcast Introduction This is Poetry Thursday, and we’ll read Job 31-34. The show title is ˆLook Away.” Design: Jason Paschall | Photo: Jeremy Perkins on Unsplash Comments on Job 31 There are so many things I could say about our reading today, but I want to focus for a few moments on chapter 31. Job’s youngest accuser, Elihu showed up for the first time in chapter 32, be he’s going to  be with us until chapter 37, so we’ll talk about him next week. But chapter 31 records Job’s words to his accusers. In it, Job lists many different sins that a person could be accused of, and he tells how he is not guilty of any of them. He starts with one of a man’s most common sins: looking with lust at a young woman. How many men can say that he has not done that? He says that he made a covenant with his eyes not to do that. I remember reading that Billy Graham, in all his travels made a similar covenant with his eyes. He would always avert his eyes to the ground when he was in a place where a pretty woman was around. This is a good strategy. Job asks if he has lied or deceived anyone, and then challenges God to weigh him on the scales of justice. Job goes on and on, saying that if he has done any of these things, then let one calamity or another happen to him if he has done wrong. Beloved, it probably goes without saying, but Job was a better man than me. I am far from the paragon of virtue that he was, and I would never say the things he said, because I would expect a righteous God to take me up on the challenges. And I would be left in a heap of hurt. Except that I wouldn’t. Why? Because God sees me as clean. Spotless. As righteous as Job…and even more so. How could this be? Because I have been declared righteous in God’s sight. Not by my good works, because as Paul said, my most righteous acts are as filthy rags. But because of what Jesus, my Lord and my Savior has done for me. He gave Himself so that I could be made clean and guiltless. Once I accepted His free gift of salvation, all of my sins were cast as far from me as the east is from the west. I am no longer that wretched soul who had no hope. Now I have the assurance that when the time for me to stand in front of the truly righteous Judge of all mankind, I will be declared worthy to enter eternity with Him, because I belong to Jesus. If you do not have that kind of confidence, you can have it now. All you have to do is accept Jesus into your heart today. If you want to do that, pray with me right now. Just say these words, either out loud, or quietly. Dear Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. I know that I have fallen short of your perfection, and I know that I need your forgiveness. Please, Lord. Come into my life right now. I know that you lived a perfect, sinless life, and that you are the Son of God. I know that you are at the Father’s right hand, and that I need you. Please save me now. Help me to be the person you want me to be from this time forward. Thank you for saving me. In your name I pray. Amen. A sinner’s prayer If you prayed that prayer with me, then this is the most important day of your life. Congratulations. Whether you feel any different now than you did when you started listening to this podcast, or not, the Bible, which is God’s perfect Word, tells us that you are now a new creature in Christ. Old things have passed away, and all things are new.  Support This a value for value podcast. There are no advertisers because advertising=censorship. If you enjoy the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, decide how much value it brings to you. Only you can make that determination. Then put a number on the value and send it to me here: SUPPORT. Transcript Download .txt file. Steve Webb 0:00He’s not guilty of any of them. Steve Webb 0:09This is the Lifespring one year Bible coming to you from Riverside, California in podcasting since 2004. I’m your og Godcaster. Steve Webb. This is the daily podcast, where we’ll read through the entire Bible in a year. This is poetry Thursday, and we’ll read job 31 through 34. The show’s title is look away. And because of yesterday’s shorten show, because of my short break, we’ll have prayer requests and praises today. Before we begin reading, let’s pray our heavenly father have We thank You for Your Word. And I thank you so very much for the book of Job. There are so many good lessons there for us. And I pray today that as we read, you would open those lessons to us. Help us to understand and help us to remember and apply what we learned today. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. All right, let’s begin. Steve Webb 1:00Job chapter 31. I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman for what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on Hi? Is it isn’t it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil? Doesn’t he see everything I do and every step I take, have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone. Let God weigh me on the scales of justice for he knows my integrity. If I’ve strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin, then let someone else eat the crops I’ve planted. Let all that I’ve planted be uprooted. If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife, then let my wife serve another man. Let other men sleep with her. For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a fire that burns all the way to hell, it would wipe out everything I own. If I’ve been unfair to my male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me, how could I face God? What could I say when he questioned me? For God created both me and my servants. He created us both in the womb. Have I refused to help the poor or crushed the hopes of widows? Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans? No. From childhood I’ve cared for orphans like a father, and all my life I have cared for widows. Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes, and the needy with nothing to wear. Did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm? If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing that judges would take my side, then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place. Let my arm be torn from its socket that would be better than facing God’s judgment. For if the majesty of God opposes me what hope is there? Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold? Have I gloated about my wealth at all that I own? Have I looked at the sun shining in the sky or the moon walking down its silver pathway and been secretly enticed in my heart to throw kisses at them in worship? If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean that I had denied the God of heaven. Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies or become excited when harm came their way? No. I have never sinned by cursing anyone or by asking for revenge. My servants have never said he led others go hungry. I have never turned away a stranger but have opened my doors to everyone. Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do? concealing my guilt in my heart? Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors? If only someone would listen to me, Look, I will sign my name to my defense. Let the almighty answer me. Let my accuser write out the charges against me. I would face the accusation proudly. I would wear it like a crown for I would tell him exactly what I have done. I would come before him like a prince.If my land accuses me and all its furrows cry out together, or if I’ve stolen its crops or murdered its owners, then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley. Job’s words our ended Steve Webb 4:36Job chapter 32. Job’s three friends refused to reply further to him because he kept insisting on his innocence. Then ally who son of Berrocal, the abuse site of the Klan of RAM became angry. He was angry because Job refused to admit that he had sinned and that God was right in punishing him. He was also angry with Job’s three friends for they made God appear to be wrong by their inability to answer Job’s arguments. He lie who had waited for the others to speak to job because they were older than he. But when he saw that they had no further reply, he spoke out angrily. Li Hughes son of Berrocal abuse, it said, I’m young and you are old. So I held back from telling you what I think. I thought. Those who are older should speak for wisdom comes with age, but there is a spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them that makes them intelligent. Sometimes the elders are not wise. Sometimes the aged do not understand justice. So listen to me, and let me tell you what I think. I’ve waited all this time listening very carefully to your arguments, listening to you grope for words, I have listened, but not one of you is refuted job or answered his arguments. And don’t tell me he is too wise for us. Only God can convince him. If Job had been arguing with me, I would not answer with your kind of logic. You sit there baffled with nothing more to say. Should I continue to wait now that you are silent? Must I also remain silent? No, I will say My peace I will speak my mind, for I am full of pent up words. And the spirit within me urges me on. I am like a cask of wine without event like a new wineskin ready to burst? I must speak to find relief. So let me give my answers. I won’t play favorites or try to flatter anyone. For if I tried flattery, my Creator would soon destroy me. Steve Webb 6:35Chapter 33. Listen to my words, job. Pay attention to what I have to say. Now that I’ve begun to speak, let me continue. I speak with all sincerity. I speak the truth. For the Spirit of God has made me and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Answer me if you can make your case and take your stand. Look, you and I both belong to God. I too was formed from clay. So you don’t need to be afraid of me. I won’t come down hard on you. You have spoken in my hearing and I have heard your very words. You said I am pure. I am without sin. I am innocent. I have no guilt. God is picking a quarrel with me and he considers me his enemy. He puts my feet in the stocks and watches my every move, but you are wrong. And I will show you why. For God is greater than any human being. So why are you bringing a charge against him? Why say he does not respond to people’s complaints. For God speaks again and again. Though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams in visions of the night when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong. He keeps them from pride. He protects them from the grave from crossing over the river of death. Or God disciplines people with pain on their sick beds with ceaseless aching in their bones. They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food. Their flesh wastes away in their bones stick out there at death’s door, the angels of death wait for them. But if an angel from heaven appears a special messenger to intercede for a person and declare that he is upright, he will be gracious and say rescue him from the grave for I have found a ransom for his life. Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s firm and youthful again. When he prays to God, he will be accepted. And God will receive him with joy and restore him to good standing. He will declare to his friends. I sinned and twisted the truth but it was not worth it. God rescued me from the grave. And now my life is filled with light. Yes, God does these things again and again for people. He rescues them from the grave, so they may enjoy the light of life. Mark this well job. Listen to me for I have more to say. But if you have anything to say, go ahead. Speak for I’m anxious to see you justified. But if not, then listen to me. Keep silent and I will teach you wisdom. Steve Webb 9:12Job chapter 34. Then Li who said Listen to me, you wise men pay attention you who have knowledge. Job said the ear tests the words it hears just as the mouth distinguishes between foods. So let us discern for ourselves what is right. Let us learn together what is good for job also said I am innocent but God has taken away my rights. I am innocent, but they call me a liar. My suffering is incurable though I have not sinned. Tell me Has there ever been a man like job with his thirst for irreverent talk? He chooses evil people as companions. He spends his time with wicked men. He is even said Why waste time trying to please God. Listen to me you have understanding that everyone knows that God doesn’t sin. The Almighty can do no wrong. he repays people according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve. Truly, God will not do wrong, the Almighty will not twist justice did someone else put the world in his care? Who set the whole world in place? If God were to take his spirit and withdraw his breath, all life would cease, and humanity would turn again to dust. Now listen to me, if you are wise, pay attention to what I say. Could God govern if he hated justice? Are you going to condemn the almighty judge? For He says to Kings, you are wicked, and to nobles, you are unjust. He doesn’t care how great a person may be, and he pays no more attention to the rich than to the poor. He made them all. In a moment they die. In the middle of the night, they pass away, the mighty are removed without human hand. For God watches how people live, he sees everything they do. No darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes. We don’t set the time when we will come before God in judgment. He brings the mighty to ruin without asking anyone and he sets up others in their place. He knows what they do. And in the night he overturns and destroys them. He strikes them down because they’re wicked, doing it openly for all to see, for they turned away from following him. They have no respect for any of his ways. They cause the poor to cry out catching God’s attention. He hears the cries of the needy. But if he chooses to remain quiet, who can criticize him? When he hides his face? No one can find him whether an individual or a nation. He prevents the godless from ruling so they cannot be a snare to people. Why don’t people say to God, I have sinned, but I will sin no more. Or I don’t know what evil I’ve done. Tell me if I’ve done wrong, I will stop at once. Must God tailor his justice to your demands, but you have rejected him. The choice is yours, not mine. Go ahead. Share your wisdom with us. After all, bright people will tell me and wise people will hear me say job speaks out of ignorance. His words lack insight. Job, you deserve the maximum penalty for the wicked way you have talked. For you have added rebellion to your sin, you show no respect, and you speak many angry words against God. Steve Webb 12:35Well, there are so many things that I could say about our reading today. But I want to focus for a few moments on chapter 31, Job’s youngest accuser ally, who showed up for the first time in chapter 32. But he’s going to be with us until Chapter 37. So we’ll talk about him next week. But chapter 31, records Job’s final words to his accusers. In IT job, list many different sins that a person could be accused of, and he tells them how he’s not guilty of any of them. He starts with one of a man’s most common sins, looking with lust at a young woman. And how many men can say that he is not done that Job says that he made a covenant with His eyes not to do that. I remember reading that Billy Graham, in all his travels, made a similar covenant with his eyes, he would always avert his eyes to the ground when he was in a place where a pretty woman was around. That’s a good strategy. And Job asks if he’s lied or deceived anyone and then challenges God to weigh him on the scales of justice. And Joe goes on and on saying that if he has done any of these things, then let one calamity or another happen to him if he has done wrong, we’ll have it it probably goes without saying, but Job was a better man than me. I am far from the paragon of virtue that he was. And I would never say the things he said, Because I would expect a righteous God to take me up on the challenges. And I’d be left in a heap of hurt. Except that I wouldn’t. Why? Well, because God sees me as clean, spotless, as righteous as job and even more. So. How could this be? Well, because I have been declared righteous in God’s sight, not by my good works, because as Paul said, my most righteous acts are as filthy rags. But it’s because of what Jesus my Savior and my Lord has done for me. Jesus gave himself so that I could be made clean and righteous. And once I accepted His free gift of salvation, all of my sins were cast as far from me as the east is from the west. I’m no longer that wretched soul who had no hope. Now I have the assurance that when the time for me to stand in front of the truly righteous judge of all mankind comes, I will be declared worthy to enter eternity with Him, because I belong to Jesus. Now, if you don’t have that kind of confidence, you can have it now. All you have to do is accept Jesus into your heart today. Would you like to do that? If so, pray with me right now just say these words either out loud or quietly. Dear Jesus, I admit that I’m a sinner. I know that I fallen short of your perfection. And I know that I need your forgiveness. Please, Lord, come into my life right now. I know that you lived a perfect, sinless life, and that you are the Son of God. I know that you are at the Father’s right hand, and that I need you. Please save me now. Help me to be the person you want me to be. from this time forward. Thank you for saving me. In Your name I pray. Amen. Beloved, if you prayed that prayer with me, then this is the most important day of your life. Congratulations. Whether you feel any different now than you did when you started listening to this podcast or not. The Bible, which is God’s perfect word tells us that you are now a new creature in Christ. Old things have passed away, and all things are new. Now, I would like to send a very special Bible to you if you did pray that prayer. It’s a New Testament called the new believers Bible. And it has hundreds of notes in it to help you get a solid start as a new believer, and it’s my gift to you. All you need to do is email me at Steve at Lifespringmedia.com and tell me your name and address so that I can put it in the mail to you right away. I promise I’ll never spam you or sell your information. I just want to help you get a good start on your new life. That email address again is st***@*************ia.com. And in the subject line, please put new believer I’ll send it right off to you. Well, what are your thoughts? Would you challenge God like Job did let me know your thoughts call the Lifespring family Hotline at plus 1-951-732-8511 Or go to comment dot Lifespringmedia.com in comment there. Tomorrow will be prophecy Friday, and we’ll read Jeremiah 22 through 26. Steve Webb 17:19James from Norway came in today with his monthly $20 donation making him today’s associate producer. Thank you so much, James. God bless you. And this is the value for value podcast. And if you’re Happy that there’s a new episode for you every single day of the week, if you’re thankful that at the end of the year, we’ll have read the entire Bible together, please pray about how you can give back either with time, talent or treasure. To learn more. And to make a donation go to Steve Webb 17:46Lifespringmedia.com slash support. Steve Webb 17:50I will thank you and I believe that God will bless you. Steve Webb 17:56Prayer requests and praises. I’ve got a praise. As you know the lovely lady Liana and I took a day off yesterday to spend some time with my lifelong friends, Mark and Karen. It was a great time of getting away and relaxation. You remember we went up the Palm Springs aerial tramway to the top of the mountain over there. And the weather at the top was perfect. There was snow on the ground. And they were reporting that it was 26 degrees, but it had to have been much much warmer, except in the wind, which was really only on the east facing side where it was blowing up the face of the ridge. But on the other side, there was almost no end and it felt like it was probably in the high 30s low 40s. As we were riding up the tram and down by the way, the air was clear and we could see it seemed like forever, we could easily see the Salton Sea which is 50 miles away. And then after spending two or three hours on the mountain, we drove into Palm Springs and had a late lunch together. And for contrast, many people down there in Palm Springs were wearing shorts. That’s one of the great things about California. There are few places in the country where you can go from a snowy alpine environment to a 75 degree desert environment in less than an hour. And Palm Springs has a very special charm to it because it’s got great restaurants serving almost any kind of food you’re looking for. plus amazing mid century architecture with homes that belong to Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and many, many more. It’s a fun place to visit. But then along with his praise, I do have a couple of prayer requests from my visit with Mark and Karen. Karen sister had a heart attack not long ago and they found that she needed a stent in one of her heart’s arteries. Well, that went well and she’s okay in that department. But when the doctors x rayed her chest to look at her heart, they saw a spot in one of her lungs and further testing revealed that it appears that the spot is active according to what Karen said yesterday. I’m not sure exactly what that means but her sister is going in for a biopsy on her lung tomorrow. So that’s prayer request number one, the second prayer request is for Mark. He’s fair skinned and has had numerous skin cancers removed over the years, some requiring some fairly extensive removal of tissue and follow up cosmetic surgeries. Well, he’s got another one coming up on Friday, February 3, this time it’s on his neck just below his ear. So we need to pray for that. And then lastly, prayer requests. Number three, one of Leanne’s clients, by the name of Gerard had spinal surgery this past Monday in so we need to pray for his recovery. Okay, so let’s pray. Our gracious loving Heavenly Father, we praise you because of who you are, you are worthy, and we worship you. You created all things and you hold all things together, your holy and your righteous, yet merciful and full of grace. And you made a way for us who are incapable of righteous living when left on our own, to be made righteous through the blood of Jesus, when we put our faith in Him. Lord, we thank you for that. And then you even went beyond that gift to making us heirs with Christ. And you invite us to bring our needs to your throne of grace, which we do now. Father, we pray for Karen sister, Lord, we pray that when the biopsy is done on her lung, that the finding is whatever the spot is, that it’s benign. We pray that the surgery goes without any problems. And that all is well. Give her peace, Lord and remove any anxiety she might have knowing that she is in your care. And we pray that Mark’s skin cancer surgery goes well that they’re able to easily remove every last bit of cancer from his neck. And that this will not only be the easiest surgery he’s had to go through, but that it would be the last surgery that he’ll need. I pray, Lord, that You would heal any future skin cancers before they even have a chance to grow. You can do that Lord, and I pray that you will. And now we pray for Leanne’s client, Gerard that you would make his recovery from spinal surgery as easy and as quick as possible. I don’t know anything about his condition, or I don’t know anything about him or what caused the need for the surgery. But I don’t need to know. You know every detail. And that’s all that’s necessary. I just pray, Lord, that You would touch his body now in Jesus name. And I pray Lord for the needs of the Lifespring family. Just as you know all of Gerards details you also know the details of each Lifespring family member. And I pray that you would meet each need according to your Well, I thank you that you’ll accomplish what you started in each of us. And I pray that we would more completely give ourselves to you each and every day. I pray these things in Jesus name, amen. Sunday will be our next time of prayer on the show. And if there’s anything you’d like us to pray for you about or praise that you’d like to share, let us know it 951-732-8511 Or go to prayer dot Lifespring media.com. I will pray for you my personal quiet time and we will pray together on tomorrow’s show. That’s prayer dot Lifespringmedia.com. Steve Webb 23:14Today’s show art is by Jason Paschall and my thanks to the entire team: Kirsty, Denise, Michael Haner, Scott Snider and Jason Paschall. God bless you guys. And now until tomorrow may God bless you richly. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of your day. My name is Steve Webb. Bye. Steve Webb 23:36Lifespring media bringing the message of hope, love and good news since 2004 Transcribed by https://otter.ai Transcript not yet corrected. The post S2E117-Job 31-34: Look Away first appeared on Lifespring! Media.