Page 30 - Job
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people that departed from him in this section of verse:
“He has removed my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are
completely estranged from me. My relatives have failed, and my
intimate friends have forgotten me. Those who live in my house and my
maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight. I call to
my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my
mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my
own brothers. Even young children despise; I rise up and they speak
against me. All my associates abhor me, and those I love have turned
against me.
So he lost everything. His brothers, his acquaintances, his relatives, his
intimate friends, his maids, his servants, his wife, the young children in
the neighborhood and all of his former associates. Everybody went
against him. And, in addition to that, he suffered physical attacks.
Chapter 30, verse 9 and 10. You see, we do not have anything like this
today. If a man is sick in bed, we either stay away or we visit him
cautiously. They went and visited him and argued with him and tried to
accuse him of hypocrisy. And, according to chapter 30:9-10, some people
went up and spit in his face. Well, that is an amazing thing. Spitting in
someone’s face is a lot worse than slapping someone in the face. It is a
disgraceful thing. Disrespect. But there is one more suffering that he
underwent, that I think is more severe than all the others combined
together. It is in chapter 23:3,
“Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His
seat! I would present my case before Him and fill my mouth with
arguments. I would learn the words which He would answer, and
perceive what He would say to me. Would He contend with me by the
greatness of His power? No, surely He would pay attention to me.
There the upright would reason with Him; And I would be delivered
forever from my Judge. Behold, I go forward but He is not there, and
backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He acts on the left, I
cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.
He lost the sense of God’s presence. I looked to the right and He is not
there. I looked to the left and He is not there. Everywhere I look, I cannot
find God. Oh, I will tell you, that is the most severe kind of suffering.
There is a false idea going around today that the highest form of
spirituality, the highest kind of faith, is when you have a deep sense of the
presence of God. If someone says I feel God so near to me, that is
supposed to sound spiritual and that is supposed to be good. But that is
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