Cut Off

  1. There will be three rounds of conversation. Each friend will speak and Job will respond and they go round and round three times.
  2. Things are going worse this second time around.
  3. This friend even starts getting defensive himself. He asks, “Why are we stupid in your sight?”
  4. He has forgotten entirely that they came to offer comfort and help to a friend in need.
  5. He recounts all the terrible things that happen to the wicked.
  6. We must really need to get this lesson through our head that we need one of the longest books in the Bible to be these men going round and round about the same thing, saying things that sound good and right, but miss it entirely.
  7. Still today people question how a good God could let bad things happen. They question why a good God would let bad things happen to good people. They still today equate wealth and worldly stuff with “blessing.” People say, “I’m so blessed” because they have stuff or attained some status.
  8. It’s hard to get away from. It does come from somewhere in the Bible. There are blessings and curses. There are physical rewards from God. Job had received those from God and would again.
  9. In the Psalms we read the bemoaning of how the wicked are prospering. It didn’t seem right. But David reminds himself that they will be cut off, but his descendants will remain and inherit the land.
  10. Job had that tough because his children were killed. It really, really, really looked like he had been cut off, yet he had to maintain faith in God through it.
  11. Are you willing to serve God even if you are cut off by all appearances? Would you accept from God anything He decided because He is the one who is wise and good and just and faithful and all awesomeness?
  12. We need to determine that our lives are fully in His hands and that’s where we want them.
  13. David in Psalms 31:22 says how he thought he had been cut off by the Lord. But the Lord helped him through it anyway. He then encourages us with what he learned. Love the Lord. He will preserve you and deal with the proud person. Be of good courage. He will strengthen your heart as you wait on Him with hope.