This is the Bible Book Club, the book club. Welcome to the club. Last episode in chapters 18 through 21 of Job, we finished round two with Bill Dad and Zofar. Bill Dad, the cruel conformist, attacked Job's

understanding. He argued that Job couldn't see what was obvious to everyone else. Job was wicked

in Bildad's size. Then, Bill Dad painted a terrifying picture of what becomes of the wicked. Trapped,

destroyed, marched off to the King of terrors or Satan. The irony of

that was that he was describing the life Job was already living on the edge of a painful death.

Then Zofar, the Zero Mercy Zellet attacked Job's future. He declared Job hopelessly wicked. His destruction already sealed. And he seemed to delight

in describing it that way, not really the way a friend would talk about another friend. But Job

did not collapse under the weight of their condemnation. In Chapter 19, battered and abandoned by

everyone, God, wife, family, friends, servants, Job made one of the most stunning

declarations in all of the scripture in this book. Thousands of years before Christ, he said,

I know that my Redeemer lives. Job didn't know his Redeemer's name. He just knew that one existed.

Then in Chapter 21, Job turned the friend's

retribution theology on its head. He said, hey, look around. The wicked prosper all over the place.

They live long. Their children thrive. They die in peace. So where exactly was this guaranteed

punishment they keep promising to me.

Good argument.

So we have completed round one and two of the dialogue between Job and his three friends.

There is only one round left and it's short.

But before we dive into round three, let's zoom out one more time because I just don't want anyone to lose the plot of this book in the plethora of words.

The book of Job is the story of a righteous man who loses everything, wrestles with suffering,

and discovers that trusting God is more important than understanding his ways.

At the heart of the book, the question driving every argument, every accusation, every desperate

...