Lesson 12c: On the Defensive - Audio

Bakersfield First Assembly

The Book of Job “The Question of the Ages—Why?” Lesson 12c: On the Defensive 1. Job defends himself by challenging God. a. If we accuse God of not caring, it is evidence that we don’t know God very well. b. Never allow your difficult circumstances to discredit the character of God in your heart. c. Sometimes, we see ourselves as more fair and more just than God. 2. Job defends himself by insulting his friends. a. Just because you say something honest does not mean it was the right thing to say. b. We are to speak the truth but speak it in love. c. Criticism is rooted in our opinion; truthfulness is rooted in God’s Word. James 3:9-11 (NIV) – [9] With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. [10] Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. [11] Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 3. Job defends himself by idolizing his integrity. Job 6:28-30 (NIV) – [28] “But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? [29] Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. [30] Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice? Job 27:5 (NIV) – [5] I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity. Job 2:9 (NIV) – [9] His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” a. Anything that we hold higher than God is an idol, even if it is something good. Numbers 21:9 (NIV) – [9] So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. 2 Kings 18:4 (NIV) – [4] [Zechariah] removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. Judges 8:27 (NIV) – [27] Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. b. When we question the way God works in our lives, we say we know better than Him. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) – [8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 (MSG) – [8] “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” GOD’s Decree. [9] “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.