Page 22 - Job

great in adversity. He was great in his fortunes. And now he is great in his
misfortunes. When the blessing came on him he was a great man. He said
God gave me all this. Then it is all removed, and he is still a great man.
He says look how patiently I am bearing all this. I am a great man of God.
So patience actually bolstered his self-righteousness. God had to take him
beyond that, and Job had to go through some deeper waters.

THE TRUE THEME OF JOB
All of these dealings, with all of the severity in Job’s life, brought him to
two conclusions. If you miss these conclusions you may never get the
true theme of Job. Number 1: I am righteous. I have not done anything
wrong. I do not deserve what is coming upon me. I do not deserve this
trouble. Number 2: God is my enemy. He could not be my friend and do
all of this to me. Now let me show you a couple of verses to back this up.
Chapter 30:21. Job says:

“You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You
persecute me.”

Then chapter 33 verse 10,
"Behold, He invents pretexts against me; He counts me as His enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks; He watches all my paths.”

Chapter 31, beginning at verse 35. Same thing!
“Oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature; let the
Almighty answer me! And the indictment which my adversary has
written, (He’s referring to God) surely I would carry it on my shoulder,
I would bind it to myself like a crown. I would declare to Him the
number of my steps; Like a prince I would approach Him.”
Do you see what he is saying? If my enemy would just come out in the open,
but He is hiding up there in heaven someplace. If He would come out, I
would walk right up to Him, I would put my forehead against His and I
would say: “Why is this going on in my life? What have I done? I do not
deserve this”. He is my enemy. Those are his conclusions. Job thought it
all through, reasoned with his philosopher friends, and concluded, I do not
deserve this; God is my enemy.

The shell of Job was very hard, and God had to crack that impenetrable crust
of self-righteousness. God had to go deep. He needed a stripping. Job needed
to see his depravity. He needed to see his self- righteousness, but if the book
ended there we might as well not have it in the Bible! God was going to

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