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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Studyheadquarters dot com.

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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible. I'm

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Speaker 1: John Stangey, and today we're in Job chapter twenty one,

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Speaker 1: and we'll be reading from the contemporary English version. Job said,

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Speaker 1: if you want to offer comfort, then listen to me,

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Speaker 1: and when I have finished, you can start your insults

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Speaker 1: all over again. My complaint is against God. That's why

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Speaker 1: I am impatient. Just looking at me is enough to

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Speaker 1: make you sick, and the very thought of myself fills

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Speaker 1: me with disgust. Why do evil people live so long

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Speaker 1: and gain such power? Why are they allowed to see

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Speaker 1: their children grow up? They have no worries at home,

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Speaker 1: and God never punishes them. Their cattle have lots of

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Speaker 1: calves without ever losing one. Their children play and dance

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Speaker 1: safely by themselves. These people sing and celebrate to the

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Speaker 1: sound of tambourines, small harps, and flutes, and they are

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Speaker 1: successful without a worry until the day they die. Those

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Speaker 1: who are evil say to God, all powerful, leave us alone.

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Speaker 1: Don't bother us with your teachings. What do we gain

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Speaker 1: from praying and worshiping you. We succeed all on our own,

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Speaker 1: and so I keep away from them and their evil schemes.

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Speaker 1: How often does God become angry and send disaster and

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Speaker 1: darkness to punish sinners? How often does he strike them

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Speaker 1: like a windstorm that scatters straw. You say God will

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Speaker 1: punish those sinners children in place of those sinners. But

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Speaker 1: I say, let him punish those sinners themselves until they

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Speaker 1: really feel it. Let God, all powerful, force them to

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Speaker 1: drink their own destruction from the cup of his anger,

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Speaker 1: because after they are dead, they won't care what happens

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Speaker 1: to their children. Who can tell God what to do.

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Speaker 1: He judges powerful rulers. Some of us die prosperous, enjoying

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Speaker 1: good health, while others die in poverty, having known only pain.

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Speaker 1: But we all end up dead beneath a blanket of worms.

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Speaker 1: My friends, I know that you are plotting against me.

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Speaker 1: You ask where is the home of that important person

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Speaker 1: who does so much evil? Everyone near and far agrees

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Speaker 1: that those who do wrong never suffer disaster. When God

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Speaker 1: becomes angry, no one points out their sin or punishes them.

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Speaker 1: Then at their funerals they are highly praised. The earth

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Speaker 1: welcomes them home while crowds mourn, but empty meaningless word

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Speaker 1: words are the comfort you offer me. Let's pray. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we thank you for your word, and we thank you

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Speaker 1: for the privilege of being able to look at this

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Speaker 1: portion of scripture today. And Lord, as we look at

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Speaker 1: Job's words here, we can sense the frustration he was feeling,

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Speaker 1: because here he was a man who had followed you,

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Speaker 1: and a man who prayed for his children and sought

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Speaker 1: to lead them well. And now he was dealing with

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Speaker 1: all sorts of calamity. And then he considered those who

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Speaker 1: made a pattern of practicing evil, and he generalized, and

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Speaker 1: he made it seem as if they never dealt with

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Speaker 1: the consequences of their wickedness, that they were never judged

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Speaker 1: or punished in any way. And Lord, we know that

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Speaker 1: that's certainly not the case, but that was how he

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Speaker 1: was feeling at the time. He was feeling frustrated. He

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Speaker 1: couldn't understand why he was going through all of these trials.

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Speaker 1: And Lord, at times we question you, just like Job

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Speaker 1: did in this passage. We wonder why you allow certain

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Speaker 1: things to come into our lives, and it puzzles us.

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Speaker 1: And at times we look at these things and we

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Speaker 1: think we don't deserve this, but the truth is the

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Speaker 1: only thing we ever deserved from you was punishment. The

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Speaker 1: only thing we ever deserved was was condemnation and judgment.

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Speaker 1: So any kindness you show to us is a gift

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Speaker 1: of grace or an act of mercy that we don't deserve.

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Speaker 1: And Lord, we know that the greatest gift of grace

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Speaker 1: or act of mercy that you've ever given to us

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Speaker 1: was shown to us in your son Jesus Christ, who

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Speaker 1: willingly went to the cross and suffered for our sin,

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Speaker 1: but then defeated sin and defeated death by rising from

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Speaker 1: the grave. And now through faith in him, we experience

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Speaker 1: new life, forgiveness and victory. Or we're grateful for these things.

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Speaker 1: We're grateful for what your son Jesus Christ, is done

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Speaker 1: on our behalf. And we pray Lord that throughout the

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Speaker 1: course of this day, no matter what we go through,

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Speaker 1: that we would trust in You, that we would rely

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Speaker 1: on you, and that we would have faith that you're

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Speaker 1: working all things together for the good of those who

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Speaker 1: love you. Lord, we're grateful for the things that you've

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Speaker 1: revealed to us and your word, and we commit this

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Speaker 1: day to your care. And we Pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen,