Transcript

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 21-22 CEB

Podcast Introduction

This is Poetry Thursday. We’ll read Job 21-22.. And the episode title is “Run Don’t Walk.”

Comments on Job 22

I think that we can agree that much of what Job’s friends have said to him has been less than helpful, right? In a nutshell, they’ve told him that God must have a very good reason for putting Job in the state he’s in. He’s obviously done something to deserve what’s happened to him. He should confess his sin.

In chapter 22 today, some of what Eliphaz had to say to Job is being said by some very popular preachers today. And the message is just plain wrong, and it’s destructive to the faith of some people.

Eliphaz’s message to Job was this: Make up with God. Confess your sins. Then your life will have peace. You’ll get everything back that you lost. You’ll be rich. And when you say something, it will come to be. You’ll never have any more problems.

This is a terrible message because it just isn’t true. Having an easy life or getting rich has never been the reason the *Bible* gives to follow God. As a matter of fact, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” The apostle Paul said in his letter to the Philippians, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”

David, of whom God said, “a man after my own heart” feared for his life when King Saul was chasing him.

There are many examples of godly people in the Bible who faced difficult situations. And many scriptures that tell us that we can expect troubles, but that God will be with us *through* those times. 

When any preacher tells you that all you need is faith, faith and more faith, and that by that faith you will magically be healed, drive a big fancy car and live in the finest neighborhood, he is lying to you…to line his own pockets. And I shudder to think of how many people have turned from God because this kind of faith doesn’t work. Preachers like this look good and they sound good. And there are people everywhere looking for a way out of poverty or who are sick or who just want an easy way to the top who fall for the lies. 

When you hear this kind of message run, don’t walk to the nearest exit. Find a place that teaches the entire Word of God, not a place that cherry-picks.

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Transcript

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Job 21-22: Run, Don’t Walk (LSFAB S13E068)

[TEASER – 0:00]
The power and the voice of God.

[INTRO S13E068 – 0:09]
Hey, there. This is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible coming to you from Riverside, California. How are you? Podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb, and this is the daily podcast where we’re reading the entire Bible together. Imagine that, the entire Bible. We’re reading the entire Bible together and we’re taking a year to do it. The website is lifespringmedia.com. I’m so happy to be with you today. This is Poetry Thursday, and we’re going to read Job 21 and 22. The title of the episode is “Run, Don’t Walk.”

And I got a prayer request from Kevin the night before last. It was too late to add to yesterday’s show, so we’re going to pray for him a little bit later in today’s show. We’ve got Christmas question number eight today. and this one is from Charles Wheeler. He has a question about one of my favorite Christmas songs. Of course, our Christmas expert James Cooper of whychristmas.com has an answer for him. And of course, at the end of the show, I’ve got to play the song that Charles asks about. I mean, how could I not?

Before we read, let’s pray.

[OPENING PRAYER – 1:11]
Our Father again we thank you for the book of Job and I pray, God, that you would teach us today. Help us to learn how we can apply it to our own lives. I ask that you bless our time of reading today, and I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Okay, let’s begin.

[JOB 21 (CEB) – 1:29]
Job, chapter 21.

(1) Then Job answered:
(2) Listen carefully to my remarks
and let that comfort you.
(3) Bear with me so I can speak, I myself;
and after my reply you can mock.
(4) Are my complaints against another human;
why is my patience short?
(5) Turn to me and be appalled;
lay your hand over my mouth.
(6) If I recall it, I’m scared;
shaking seizes my body.

(7) Why do the wicked live,
grow old, and even become strong?
(8) Their children are always with them,
their offspring in their sight,
(9) their houses safe from dread,
God’s punishing stick not upon them.
(10) Their bull always breeds successfully;
their cows give birth and never miscarry.
(11) They send forth their little ones like sheep;
their infants bounce around.
(12) They raise drum and lyre,
rejoice at the sound of a flute.
(13) They spend their days contentedly,
go down to the grave peacefully.
(14) They say to God, “Turn away from us;
we take no pleasure in knowing your ways;
(15) who is the Almighty that we should serve him,
and what can we gain if we meet him?”
(16) Look, isn’t their well-being the work of their own hands?
A sinner’s logic is beyond me.

(17) How often does the lamp of the wicked flicker
or disaster come upon them,
with its fury inflicting pain on them?
(18) Let them be like straw in the wind,
like dry grass stolen by a storm.
(19) God stores up his punishment for his children.
Let him destroy them so they know.
(20) Let their own eyes witness their doom.
Let them drink from the Almighty’s wrath.
(21) What do they care about their household after they die,
when their numbered days are cut off?

(22) Will they instruct God—
he who judges the most powerful?
(23) Someone dies in wonderful health,
completely comfortable and well,
(24) their buckets full of milk,
their bones marrow-filled and sound.
(25) Another dies in bitter spirit,
never having tasted the good things.
(26) They lie together in the dust
and worms cover them.

(27) Look, I know your thoughts;
your plans harm me.
(28) You say, “Where is the official’s house?
Where is the tent, the dwelling of the wicked?”
(29) Haven’t you asked travelers
or paid attention to their reports?
(30) On the day of disaster the wicked are spared;
on the day of fury they are rescued.
(31) Who can criticize their behavior to their faces;
they act, and who can avenge them?
(32) They are carried to their graves;
someone keeps guard over their tombs.
(33) The soil near the desert streambed is sweet to them;
everyone marches after them—
those before them, beyond counting.
(34) How empty is your comfort to me;
only deceit remains in your responses.

[JOB 22 (CEB) – 4:20]
Job, chapter 22.

(1) Then Eliphaz from Teman answered:

(2) Can a human being be useful to God?
Can an intelligent person bring profit?
(3) Does the Almighty delight in your innocence?
Does he gain when you perfect your ways?
(4) Does he rebuke you for your piety,
bring you in for judgment?
(5) Isn’t your wickedness massive,
your iniquiry endless?
(6) You have taken payments from your family for no reason;
stripped the naked, leaving no clothes;
(7) denied water to the thirsty,
withheld bread from the starving.
(8) (The powerful own land;
the favored live in it.)
(9) You have sent widows away empty;
crushed orphans’ resources.
(10) For this reason, snares surround you;
sudden dread brings panic to you
(11) or a darkness that you can’t see;
rushing water will cover you.

(12) Isn’t God in the heights of heaven;
see how high the topmost stars are?
(13) You say: “What does God know?
Can he judge through thick clouds?
(14) Clouds conceal him so he can’t see
while he walks on heaven’s rim.”
(15) Will you keep the ancient way
traveled by sinful persons,
(16) who were snatched prematurely
when a river flooded their foundations,
(17) who say to God, “Turn away from us;
what can the Almighty do to us?”
(18) Yet he filled their houses with good things;
a sinner’s logic is beyond me.
(19) The righteous see and rejoice;
the innocent mock them:
(20) our enemies are certainly cut off;
fire will devour what’s left of them.

(21) Get along well with God and be at peace;
from this something good will come to you.
(22) Receive instruction from his mouth;
put his words in your mind.
(23) If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;
if you keep wrongdoing out of your tent.
(24) Lay your prized possession in the dust,
your gold from Ophir on a rock in a desert streambed.
(25) The Almighty will be your prized possession,
silver piled up for you.
(26) Then you will take pleasure in the Almighty;
lift up your face to God.
(27) You will pray to him, and he will hear you;
you will fulfill your solemn promises.
(28) If you decree something, it will stand;
light will shine on your ways.
(29) When they’re humbled, you will say: “Cheer up;
God will rescue the lowly.
(30) He will deliver the guilty;
they will be saved by your pure hands.”

[COMMENTARY – 6;40]
Well. Beloved, can we all agree that much of what Job’s friends have said to him thus far has been less than helpful? In a nutshell, they’ve told him that God must have a very good reason for putting Job in the state he’s in. He’s obviously done something to deserve what’s happened to him. He should confess his sin.

Well, in chapter 22 today, some of what Eliphaz had to say to Job is actually being said by some very popular preachers today, and the message is just plain wrong, and it’s destructive to the faith of some people.

Eliphaz’s message to Job was this. Make up with God. Confess your sins. Then your life will have peace. You’ll get everything back that you lost. You’ll be rich. And when you say something, it will come to be. You’ll never have any more problems.

Man, this is a terrible message because it isn’t true. Having an easy life or getting rich has never been the reason the Bible gives to follow God. As a matter of fact, Jesus said “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” The Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Philippians “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.”

So does what Jesus said or what Paul said line up with the teaching that Eliphaz gave or some of the preachers today? I don’t think so. There are many examples of godly people in the Bible who faced difficult situations. And many scriptures that tell us that we can expect troubles, but that God will be with us through those times, not that he would deliver us from those times.

When any preacher tells you that all you need is faith, faith, and more faith and that by that faith, you’ll be magically healed or drive a fancy car and live in the finest neighborhood. He’s lying to you to line his own pockets. And I shudder to think of how many people have turned from God because this kind of faith just doesn’t work. Preachers like this look good and sound good. And there are people everywhere looking for a way out of poverty or who are sick, or who just want an easy way to the top, and oftentimes these people fall for the lies of the charlatans.

When you hear this kind of message, run, don’t walk to the nearest exit. Find a place that teaches the entire Word of God, not a place that cherry-picks.

[LIFESPRING FAMILY HOTLINE – 9:19]
I’m thinking you probably have one of those charlatans in mind. You have any thoughts on my comments today? If you do, call the Lifespring Family Hotline and tell me about it. The number is +1-951-732-8511. Or if you’re shy and you don’t want to talk in front of a crowd just go on your keyboard to comment.lifespringmedia.com and let me know there, or if you want to send me an email, my inbox is always open to you. That address is of course st***@*************ia.com.

Tomorrow is Prophecy Friday and our reading will be Isaiah 56 through 61. Will you be here? I sure hope so.

[PRAYER REQUEST – 9:59]
And the prayer request I got from Kevin the night before last, too late to add to yesterday’s show was this: Kevin says “My brother passed away earlier today. Please pray for my family in the days ahead.”

Well, Kevin, we’ll certainly do that. Kevin has been a member of the Lifespring family for a long time. And Kevin I’m so sorry I couldn’t get this on the show yesterday, but please know that our hearts are hurting for you and your family.

So, family, let’s pray for Kevin and his family.

Our loving Heavenly Father we lift up Kevin’s family now and we ask that you would be with him in a powerful, powerful way, Lord. Hold them in your strong and loving arms. I pray that the Holy Spirit would be with them and comfort them. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter in your Word, Lord, for times like this. And in their grief, I pray that they would lean on you and that you would draw them to yourself. Give Kevin words of encouragement to say to his family members, and may he be your voice. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Kevin, LeeAnn, and I will continue to pray for you and your family.

[CHRISTMAS QUESTIONS – 11:06]
Charles Wheeler sent in Christmas question number eight, and he wrote, “What is the genesis of the Little Drummer Boy song? Does it have any biblical origin?” And he added, “Thank you and I truly appreciate the podcast. I recently found it listening to ‘No Agenda.’ God bless. Charles in Eldridge, Iowa.”

Well, Charles, thanks so much for writing that in. Welcome to the Lifespring family and thank you for your courage. This is a really good question, if for no other reason, then “The Little Drummer Boy” has always been one of my favorites. So let’s see what information James Cooper has on it.

[JAMES COOPER ANSWERS – 11:39]
Ah, “The Little Drummer Boy,” that traditional carol… Um, well, actually no. He was written in 1941 by the American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis, and she originally called it the “Carol of the Drum.” Katherine Davis was born in January 1892 in St. Joseph, Missouri. She taught the piano at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and wrote over a thousand choral works during her life, both sacred and secular. The song “The Carol of the Drum” and “The Little Drummer Boy” tells the story of a boy who has nothing to give the Baby Jesus except to play him his drum. It’s said that the inspiration for the song came from the 17th-century carol “Patapan” which has a similar theme of shepherds playing basic musical instruments for the Baby Jesus. In an interview the chair of the musical department at Wellesley College stated, “One day when she was trying to take a nap, she was obsessed with this song that came into her head and it was supposed to have been inspired by a French song “Patapan” and then “patapan” translated in her mind to a “pa-rum-pum-pum-pum” and it took on a rhythm.”

The song was first recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family Singers, the real-life family behind the story in The Sound of Music. In 1957 the Jack Halloran Singers recorded an arrangement for a Christmas album, but with a slightly different arrangement, and this is the one we’re familiar with today.

The song really became popular in 1958 when it was recorded and released as a single by the Harry Simeone Chorale. But still as the “Carol of the Drum.” It wasn’t known as “The Little Drummer Boy” until it appeared as that title on their Christmas album, ‘Sing We Now of Christmas” a year later in 1959. In 1967, there was a TV special of “The Little Drummer Boy” which added to its popularity. Since then it’s become a Christmas classic and has been recorded by all sorts of different artists from the duet of Bing Crosby and David Bowie to the unique vocal stylings of Bob Dylan. I’ve got over 40 versions of the song in my Christmas music collection, but then I do have over 400 Christmas albums.

[STEVE WEBB – 13:38]
Four hundred Christmas albums, James. But of course, you do. And I thought I had a lot at around 30 or 40. And I had no idea that “The Little Drummer Boy” was so new in relation to so many other classic Christmas songs. It’s contemporary, barely older than me. Wait a minute, did I hear somebody say, “But you’re old”? Come on. Thanks, Charles for asking. And of course, thank you James Cooper of whychristmas.com for the answer.

Hey, Beloved, have you sent in your Christmas question yet? I need more questions to fill all the days before Christmas. I still have some openings, which means you still have a chance to be one of the ticket winners to see the movie “Jesus Revolution” which will be released in February 2023. Remember each question you send in will get you one entry whether or not I use your question on the show. Now I will have four tickets to give away and I’ve decided that this time, I’m going to give away two pairs. So there will be two movie ticket winners. And of course, there’s the drawing where someone is going to win a signed copy of my book “Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide” which you can find at easybiblenamesguide.com. And for that drawing for each question I use on the show, you will get an entry. Both drawings will be done on the Christmas Day show and that means we’ll have three winners on that show, two movie ticket winners, and one winner of a signed copy of “Webb’s Easy Bible Names Pronunciation Guide.” So send your questions to st***@*************ia.com and put “Christmas question” in the subject line.

[SUPPORT THE SHOW – 15:19]
Comment on the show by calling the Lifespring Family Hotline at 951-732-8511 or by going to comment.lifespringmedia.com. And as we get closer to Christmas if the Lifespring Family Audio Bible is somewhat of an important part of your day, would you please pray about making a Christmas donation to the show? Where do you do that? Well right here:

[JINGLE SINGERS – 15:40]
lifespringmedia.com/support.

[OUTRO S13E068 – 15:51]
Because of what I consider to be archaic copyright laws, it’s really expensive to play most music on a podcast. Without going into all the details and stuff, I’ll just say that in order to play music on a podcast, you have to have permission from the copyright holder of the song. And in most cases these days the copyright holder is a huge record company. And to get that permission costs, well, costs an arm and a leg. But in some cases, independent artists who have never signed their lives away to get a record deal still own the copyright and they have all the rights. Well, I’ve got dozens of recordings of “The Little Drummer Boy,” including the Bing Crosby, David Bowie version, but of course that one, and every other version I have is owned by one of those behemoth record companies.

But you’ve heard that phrase “I know a guy?” Well, I know a guy who used to be with one of those companies but has been independent now for several years. He’s won a Grammy and two Dove Awards, which is sort of like the Grammys for Christian music. He has gold records on his studio wall. Yeah, I’ve seen ’em. I’ve touched ’em. I’ve even held his Dove awards. Well, he recorded a really great version of “The Little Drummer Boy” after leaving the big record company, so he can give his permission. And since he’s one of my best friends, he said I could play it for you. He lives just down the road from me. Yeah, you guessed it. This is Bryan Duncan and the Nehosoul Band. I guarantee you’ve never heard Little Drummer Boy like this.

Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. Thank you for inviting me into your day. I’m going to get out of Bryan’s way. My name is Steve. Bye.

[BRYAN DUNCAN AND THE NEHOSOUL BAND SING “THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY” – 17:31]

Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born king to see
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the king
Pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum
So to honor him
Pa rum pum pum pum
When we come

When we come, when we come

Baby Jesus
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give our king
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you
Pa rum pum pum pum
On my drum, on my drum

Me and my drum,
I am a poor boy too

Me and my drum
When we come, when we come

Me and my drum

Me and my drum
On my drum

Me and my drum

Me and my drum

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Transcript corrected by Denise