Episode Transcript
It's 10 o'clock Central Standard Time, and that's the time that matters the most to us.
You know, when I was a little boy, my grandparents on both sides of the family were adamant about the starting time of their favorite programs.
And my grandmother on my dad's side knew exactly what time As the World Turns came on.
And she was a wonderful grandmother.
She'd play with us and take us to do anything except them.
So meant a lot to her.
Grandfather on my mother's side wanted to be sure he watched the news so we could go fishing or doing whatever running around we wanted to do with him.
We were home for the news because you didn't get to watch it all day back then.
You had one shot at it, and then you had to stay up till 10 o'clock if you wanted to see it again.
And it's amazing to me how many people know what time their favorite program comes on or what time their favorite store opens on a Saturday.
And it's important to them.
But for some, the time of Bible study is not important or not as important.
And I'm thankful every Sunday for those who find this time, this 10 o'clock Central Standard Time to be the most important time on their Sunday morning.
And I welcome you who are here and those who have tuned in to our Bible study in the book of Job.
So let's turn to Job chapter 5 if you haven't already.
And last week we left off in verse 15, where we had begun to study a wonderful truth about God.
And that truth was, but he saveth.
And we, as we studied that truth, We were encouraged by it, and we were about to see the thing from which God saveth the poor, because that's who was in view in that verse.
So let's look back in that verse, Job 5:15, and read the first part of it again.
But he saveth the poor from the sword.
Now we'll begin to look at that phrase from the sword because that's the new part of our study.
And this will open your eyes just like the study of any scripture would.
A poor man cannot afford a sword.
And if he could, he probably doesn't have the strength to use it.
It takes a lot of training to get good with a sword, especially a heavy sword such as they used in those days.
In fact, without a sword, a poor man would have been defenseless against a person who had the sword.
So from the sword, that poor man needs a deliverer because he can't deliver himself.
And that deliverer, according to Eliphaz here, is God.
Matthew chapter 5 in verse 3, speaking of the poor, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, Blessed are the poor in spirit.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Now, these poor in spirit have no other one to whom they may turn.
For salvation, whether it's an earthly salvation, such as the deliverance from a physical sword, or spiritually, which, of course, is the most important one.
But God saveth the poor from the sword.
Now, the sword is not only an instrument, but it represents judgment.
We see that in Ezekiel chapter 11, verse 10.
If you're taking notes, Ezekiel 11, 10.
Where God said this to the children of Israel, with whom he was angry, Ye shall fall by the sword.
I will judge you in the border of Israel.
And ye shall know that I am the Lord.
You see, that by the sword Israel would be judged.
So the sword represents judgment as well.
I'll read you another passage in Romans 8, chapter 35 through 39.
Romans 8, 35 through 39.
Where Paul wrote, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine?
or nakedness, or peril, or sword.
As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So the question that was asked and that was answered in that Romans passage is whether the sword, among all those other things, whether the sword Could separate us from the love of Christ.
If a poor man is killed by the sword You might say, well, there was none to deliver him, and that would be true in an earthly sense.
And how is it God could save him if he were killed by the sword?
God didn't save him from the sword, many would say.
Well, we who are Christians know That our bodies are temporary, and our lives on this earth are as a vapor.
Which appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
That's what the Apostle James wrote.
And when God delivers the poor from the sword, It's not always from an earthly sword, though he has done that as well.
But it carries a greater meaning.
Than simply him saving a poor earthly person from an earthly death, from an earthly sword.
He may not save a person from death by the sword, but he saves that person from the power of death.
From the power of the sword.
And that's the one I have.
I might get killed by a sword.
Brother Richard and I were talking the other day about That Muslim infiltration of all of these countries who have simply opened their gates and allowed it to happen.
There was no conquest, no war.
They just said, come on in.
And I said, you know, that may be the way we die, is to have our heads cut off.
But I can tell you this, I'm not going to kneel down and let it happen.
I got several rounds in the chamber to get rid of before that happens, and it'll have to happen to my dead body.
But it very well may be the way by which I perish.
The sword can separate a man from earthly life, but the sword cannot keep the dead man in the grave.
Once it separates a person from his life, that's the end of its power.
And at no time does the sword separate a man who is poor in this world.
But who is a Christian from the love of God?
It can't do that.
And should God spare me from death by the sword, I would be so thankful.
But I'm more thankful that he'll spare me and not only spare me, but save me from the power of the grave.
And he'll do that based on what he's already promised.
He'll do that by his resurrection power.
And I, the poor, shall be saved from the sword.
Romans chapter 13, verses 3 through 4.
Romans 13, verses 3 through 4.
We'll look at another aspect of this.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?
Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same.
For he is the minister of God to thee for good.
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain.
For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Now this passage applies to earthly rulers, but it teaches, of course, other lessons.
The rulers here are supposed to be good people.
They're supposed to judge righteously.
Because Paul said, those rulers are not a terror to good works.
So a good ruler is not a terror to people who do good works.
And the poor but righteous man, the one who does righteously, whether he's poor or rich, should never have to fear the sword of the ruler.
If a ruler is righteous, then he'll go to all lengths to make sure he never brings harm to a poor but righteous man or to a rich but righteous man.
However, in our lifetimes, we've seen the righteous, the persecution of the righteous increase.
We read about it every day.
We have brothers and sisters in Nigeria, which is among the most dangerous countries in the world for a Christian.
They're actively killing, seeking out and killing Christians in that country because of their faith, because they're not Muslim.
And those poor Christians in countries like Nigeria and North Korea and other nations have been slaughtered by the sword.
In many cases, literally so.
Their heads have been cut off as a warning.
To the others who do worship the true God, the Lord.
So the rulers in those countries do not adhere to The scriptures that I read you there in Romans chapter 13.
Because in those cases, the rulers are a terror.
To good works.
Now, that shouldn't be that way, but it is.
And for that reason, we can't depend on an earthly ruler to save us.
From the sword.
Whether they do or they don't.
We can't depend on that.
And also, for that reason, earthly rulers don't determine our salvation.
Only God can save the poor from the unrighteous sword of evil rulers.
Even if they kill us, they can't keep us in the grave.
Now, judgment by the sword means death.
And by the sword, a man can be separated from his life.
And although the righteous poor who are so persecuted in those countries have no hope in this world system.
They still can have hope.
Even the poor who die by the sword can have hope.
I can't think of a more helpless and hopeless situation from a human perspective than to see someone who is destitute, poor, and then is killed.
Especially killed for their faith.
And when I read you from Romans 8:35 through 39.
It said that asked the question, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Can the sword?
And this is something we may have to remember even in our lifetimes.
If you face death under the persecution of Satan's emissaries, of his representatives on this earth, whatever form they may take.
This may be the encouragement that lingers in your mind.
Lord, I can't control any of this.
Looks like my flame is about to be snuffed out.
But they can't separate me from the love you have for me, not with a sword, not with nakedness, not with peril, not with any of these other things.
And God not only saves the poor from the sword, but also look back in your text in Job 5:15.
From their mouth.
From their mouth.
Now, taken together with the rest of this verse, and after looking.
At some other translations of this same text, it appears to me that this phrase from their mouth refers to the mouth of the mighty.
And some translations even call this the sword of their mouth.
He saves them from the sword of their mouth.
And I'll try to show you how the word mouth and that phrase from their mouth is related to a sword.
Now the Hebrew word translated as sword in our text is also translated as the word edge, E-D-G-E, 35 times in the Old Testament.
And every time it's used in the Old Testament, it's followed by this phrase, of the sword.
It's always the edge of the sword.
I didn't see any other way the Hebrew word is used when it's translated as the word edge.
Here's one of those verses: Exodus seventeen, verse thirteen Exodus 17, verse 13.
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
The edge of the sword is the part of the sword that cuts.
If you break down the parts of a sword, you have the handle which is not sharp.
You wouldn't want a sharp handle, would you?
Cut your hand.
You have the hilt, which runs perpendicular to the blade and the handle.
And that's what keeps the swordsman's hand from sliding from the handle onto the blade.
It's kind of a blocking mechanism.
And so it's the edge of the sword that executes the sentence of the sword to kill the person it cuts.
Now looking back again at the Hebrew word translated sword here, it's also translated as the word commandment.
Now you probably didn't see that coming.
I sure didn't when I was studying it.
Commandment.
Joshua 21, 3 Joshua 21, 3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance At the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their suburbs.
The commandment of the Lord.
You could put the word sword there and not violate the scripture at all because it's the same Hebrew word.
I love this.
The commandment of the Lord is the sword of the Lord.
Now, if you're looking for something to write down, there you go.
The commandment of the Lord is the sword of the Lord.
And we'll get back to this phrase from their mouth in a few minutes.
But first, I want us to look at the relationship between The sword of the Lord and the commandment of the Lord, because they're one in the same here.
And that relationship, I believe, is taught plainly to us in Hebrews.
In the New Testament, Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12, and then put the lowercase letter A. 4:12a.
That lets you know I'm not quoting the whole verse, just the first part of it.
For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Did you hear that?
The word of God and a sword.
God's word is God's commandment.
God doesn't speak idle words to us, He doesn't put things in the Bible just.
What we would call fun facts to know and tell.
Everything in his word is to us, and it is a commandment to us.
God's word is God's sword.
And we get to see what he will do with that sword in the book of Revelation.
Chapter 19, verses 13 through 15.
Revelation 19, verses 13 through 15.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood.
And his name is called the Word of God.
Now that's Jesus.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses.
Clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword. that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Very clearly, God's sharp sword, that two-edged sword that is the Word of God, will come out of the mouth of the Word of God, of the Word made flesh.
John tells us, out of the word of God, and it will smite the nations.
Now, these nations are the disobedient, rebellious nations of all the people of all the earth.
These are the subjects of God's wrath.
Paul wrote in the 2 Thessalonians, I believe it was, he said, We're not appointed unto wrath, speaking of the Christians, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But from the sword that smites these nations, God saveth the poor.
He saves us when we put our trust in his Son.
Now, you can either believe God's word or you can be judged by God's word.
You're not going to get away from it.
The sword from which no lost sinner can be delivered without Trusting in his son, without trusting in God's Son, is the word of God.
And the reason the lost sinner can't be delivered is because he's rejected.
The one who saveth from the sword.
Now we're looking at that phrase in Job: from their mouth.
And we learned so far that this phrase has much to do with the sword from which God saves us.
And if that sword is ultimately the commandment, the word of God, then the sword of the mighty is the word or the commandment that proceeds from their mouth.
And whatever the case may be, it seems that the mouth is something from which the poor must be delivered.
Now, if God's word is his sword and it's righteous, what is the sword of the mighty ones, the wicked ones?
It's unrighteous.
Because only from the mouth of an unrighteous ruler, an unrighteous, mighty person, could an unjust sentence be pronounced against a righteous man.
Those are the ones whom John said, Woe unto them that call good evil and evil good.
They'll do evil thinking that they're doing God a service.
Now, what harmful things come out of their mouths?
Words, violent words, lies, false accusations, threats, and so on.
And words are powerful.
And those words can be harmful to the one receiving them just as the sword harms the flesh.
Words cut, and they cut deeply.
They can.
And these unrighteous sentences against the poor, righteous man represent the sword from which God saveth.
You know, evil men may condemn me, imprison me, take away my belongings, even kill me.
The fake news people may call me a bigot, and they do call Christians all kinds of names.
Bigot's one of them.
A narrow-minded fundamentalist, a right-winger, a clinger, whatever name comes to mind.
And their sentence upon me May be as the sword that proceeds from their mouths.
In fact, it is.
That's the sword that proceeds from their mouths.
But I'm not worried about that.
Because I've been delivered from that sword.
I have the sweet consolation of knowing that God has already saved me from the sword of the mighty, from the sentence of the mighty.
I will not be kept by the power of death in the grave because I'm kept by the power of God through faith.
Unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
So says 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 5.
And from the sword of the mighty, from the mouth of the mighty, and then next, look who else God saves the poor from.
It says, and from The hand of the mighty.
We're back in our text in Job chapter 5:15 now.
From the hand of the mighty.
From all these things, God saveth the poor.
Now, thinking of this in earthly terms, the hand of the mighty has the power to do pretty much what he wants to the poor.
God permitting it.
By all rights, the people of North Korea who work seven days a week should be wealthy.
Should have plenty of food and be able to buy whatever things they want to buy and lead normal lives.
But from their births, they are property of the state.
Their crops, the things they produce, everything their own is first owned by the government, and therefore they don't own it at all.
And the hand of the mighty, that's what we're looking at, the hand of the mighty North Korean government oppresses the very people who make it rich.
And the very few who are completely loyal to Kim Jong-un, their current dictator Get to enjoy luxurious clothing and plenty of food, a vehicle.
Ever seen the streets of Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea?
It's barren.
They get trips to the government-owned ski resort in the mountains.
But the poor, on the other hand, in that country, are starved daily.
The people in that country are malnourished, they're underfed, and they're worked to death.
And if they show the slightest amount of disloyalty to the dictator, then they're punished.
They send them to what they call re-education camps.
Which is simply a place where they're overworked, starved, brainwashed.
Punished, physically abused, and in many cases until they die.
And that's to serve as a warning to others.
I've read stories and heard accounts from people who have escaped that terrible place.
And while they were there, they had no hope.
Of being saved from the hand of the mighty.
And very few of them are Christians, but there are some.
Out of every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation, God has His people.
And they're brainwashed from infancy to believe that their God is whoever is ruling that country.
But I'll tell you something on the authority of this word right here.
One day, the present dictator and everyone before and after him.
Are going to meet the sword from which they cannot be delivered.
The mighty, mighty sword.
And every unrighteous sentence they passed upon the poor of that nation will be recompensed to them manyfold.
It'll be a destruction from which they cannot recover, and it will be eternal.
And I promise you.
Based upon his own statement, his own doctrine, Kim Jong-un's father is lifting up his eyes in torment.
And if he could, he would tell his son, You don't want to come here to this awful place called hell, but to the poor of that miserable place called North Korea.
God can deliver them from the hand of the mighty, even if the mighty slay them by the sword.
All they have to do is put their trust in his Son.
There's no hope for that country.
But there is hope for those who trust that he saveth from the hand of the mighty.
And after what Eliphaz said in verse 15.
We go to verse 16, where he gives a logical conclusion to verse 15.
So, verse 16, he said, So the poor hath hope.
You could probably underline that word hath just as a matter of emphasis.
The poor hath hope.
After all that, they really do have hope.
What seems more hopeless than a poor person?
Practically speaking, when you see A video of truly poor people.
I'm not talking about what the United States calls poverty and poor.
I told you my thoughts on that last week.
I mean, truly poor people.
It appears that they're hopeless.
They die young.
Their children die.
The diseases they have run rampant.
They drink polluted water.
Their homes are often made of cardboard.
They just live in squalor, and it grows worse.
And if you could ever look at a group of people and say they are hopeless, it would be the truly poor.
And Ela Foz tells the poor.
Whether they're financially poor or spiritually poor, he tells the poor, so the poor hath hope.
And I love the word so here.
Because it connects what God does in verse 15 to verse 16.
If God saves the poor from the sword, and the mouth of the mighty, then the poor hath hope.
The worst feeling a person can have is hopelessness.
A person may feel hopeless when he loses his job, loses a family member, loses all his money, his health.
Or he may look around and see evil waxing worse and worse in the world, and it is, and say, There is no hope.
Well, if your hope is based upon an expectation that this world is going to get better, then you are hopeless.
If you really think that's going to happen, you're hopeless.
Now, I don't want you walking around like a sad sack saying, Woe is me.
Listen, if you're saved, you don't say, Woe is me.
You say, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
But there are denominations that teach an end time world harvest.
That things are going to get better on this present earth.
The only problem is the Bible doesn't teach that.
In fact, listen to what Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 1.
2 Timothy 3:1.
This know also that in the last days, perilous times.
Shall come.
Now, does that sound like a world harvest to you, a sudden spiritual revival of all these nations?
No, it's not.
And in verses 2 through 5 of that same chapter, He says, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous boasters, proud, blasphemers.
Disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent. fierce despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away.
He said, Don't be drawn into that.
That's what's coming.
Those are the perilous times that are being described.
Is all of that happening?
And that last part, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, that is very important for us right now to understand.
And I'm going to stop right here and point something out that you may or may not have noticed.
It says, Men will be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.
Satan is a great counterfeiter.
And he's the one who is orchestrating this deception.
Every time you read about some so-called spiritual awakening or some great revival, Somewhere, and we've read about those over the years.
Or you read about one, there's one in Nigeria right now who calls himself Christ, and he's got a million followers.
It's always based on deception.
Every one of those things.
The presence of emotionalism.
The dramatic scenes of young people running around and raising their hands and making these religious commitments.
Is designed by Satan to make you think that the world is getting closer to God and it's not.
Now, I don't doubt that there are some of these people who have put their faith in Jesus.
But God has been saving people for a long time without needing all this hysteria that seems to accompany these modern-day religious so-called awakenings.
You've probably heard also of these supposed new books of the Bible that have been discovered.
Such as the Gospel of Judas.
That was one we heard a few years ago, and the book of Enoch, and all of that.
And you know what's amazing to me?
Is that people will show, some people will show more interest in some newly discovered book they claim is of the Bible.
Than in the 66 books that we have in our hands and have had for hundreds of years, there is no other gospel.
And people are looking for another one.
People who do that, people who rely on what the book of Enoch says or what the Gospel of Judas says, they're looking for another gospel.
Paul said the Galatians had been troubled by those who preach another gospel.
But to some, it's not troubling at all.
In Galatians chapter 1, verse 8, he said, But though we are an angel from heaven, did you hear that?
Even if an angel from heaven were to come.
Preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
So, people need to quit looking for some other revelation of God.
And let me tell you how easy it is for you to get caught up in that.
You just keep scrolling and playing things on Facebook, and you'll play one, and then AI will tell you, oh, you need it.
You like that.
Here's another one for you.
Here's another one for you.
And before you know it, You'll be so confused and think wait a minute.
I thought and that's the problem is you thought instead of just trusting in what you have in front of you There's no hope for the poor outside of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This world is not going to get better.
It's not going to produce a new truth that God has not already revealed to us.
And the prince of this world, the devil.
Is going to continue to present new religious ideas for the foolish to embrace.
And the foolish will seek hope in those things because they're flashy.
They sound good, they sound new, they're popular, but there's no hope in them.
But there is hope, of which Eliphaz writes, looking back in our text in verse 16, we see that not only do the poor have hope, but also And iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
Other translations have it this way: and injustice, injustice, shuts her mouth.
So let's break down those words.
First, iniquity.
It means unrighteousness.
It is also translated as that, or perverseness.
On some occasions.
And then the word stoppeth means to shut or to take out of the way.
And notice iniquity is personified.
It's given a gender here, her.
Iniquity.
If we put this phrase together with what we saw in verse 15, iniquity is an attribute of the mighty to which Eliphaz refers in verse 15.
And the sword or word that proceeds from the mouth of the mighty is unrighteous.
It's iniquity.
It's crooked.
Remember, that's what perverse means.
We've studied perverse in the book of Proverbs a few times.
And iniquity says to the poor, you're without hope.
But because God saveth the poor, iniquity can no longer speak.
And one day the mouth of iniquity will be shut for good.
The accusations of our adversary will be silenced.
Oh, just as he did to Job, he accuses the brethren.
Let's look at that.
This is the relief we look for.
Revelations chapter 12, verse 10.
John wrote, And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now has come salvation and strength.
And the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accuses them before our God day and night.
Now, this accuser, the devil, is a mighty one.
He is one of the mighty.
He is the mighty one from which all these other mighty, unrighteous come.
He's the mighty one against whom we cannot prevail on our own.
In fact, we are hopeless against this accuser in our own strength.
But the Revelation verse says that he accuses the brethren day and night.
It's non-stop.
In fact, he accuses us to God.
That's what it says.
He tells God we don't deserve to be saved.
Can't you see what a sinner Andy Shepard is?
You see all the things he's done?
God says it's under the blood.
I see him through Jesus.
And God patiently awaits.
He's long-suffering for this day because there's nobody more angry with Satan than God.
If you think, well, I'm mad at the devil, you're not nearly as angry as God is.
God created him perfectly and he sinned.
By voluntary transgression, he fell.
And God patiently awaits the day.
When he will cast down the accuser of the brethren, and though iniquity proceeds out of his mouth, And tells us we have no hope, that mouth is going to be stopped.
Iniquity stoppeth her mouth.
Satan will shut his mouth on that day.
When he is cast down, and I sure am looking forward to that.
We'll stop right there and pick up with verse 17 next week.
Father, thank you for the Lord's day.
Thank you for giving me strength of voice to be able to speak and for the good attention given by those who have come to study your word.
And Lord, we pray that you would just build us up in the faith as we need that more than anything else in this world.
It's for our faith to be increased.
For us to rely on your word and to draw our hope from the promises of the sword of the Lord and not be afraid of the sword of the mighty.
In Jesus' name, amen.
