Build Your Trust In God’s Word by Abidan Shah, PhD

BUILD YOUR TRUST IN GOD’S WORD by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

BUILD YOUR TRUST IN GOD’S WORD

Introduction:  There are different ways that people approach the Bible. Some, like me, believe that this is the Word of God without errors, and it is foundational for doctrine, for warning, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Others have claimed that the Bible is a book of myths and mythological people and places. Some have read the names and places as made-up characters from made-up places that never existed. In fact, college and university professors who do not believe the Bible often use such passages as we will read today as proof positive that the Bible is just a book of made-up stories and not the Word of God. This has devastating consequences.

Recently, a professor of New Testament retired, and the online comments were shocking and sad, to say the least:

• (His) book, “Heaven and Hell” is why I never had Hell anxiety after leaving Christianity. I’ll be forever grateful for that alone…
• I’m an 80 year old Great Grandmother and R.N. and I still work 2 days a week as a pre-admission phone nurse. I am grateful that you taught me the truth about the Bible…and now I love it and find it more interesting than when I was a fundamentalist.
• I just want to give you my deepest thanks. A few years ago I left Christianity, my childhood faith, at the age of 40 after living a life deeply devoted to it. I found that for many reasons Christian religion no longer aligned with my values and I left that tradition. But it is hard to leave something that has meant so much to you for so long. It was for a long time the defining feature of my life. As I was processing my grief I found your books. Your scholarship and accessible writing has been such a help to me as I navigate my understanding of Christianity in a balanced way. Moreover I was deeply touched by your book, “God’s Problem”. As a pediatric ICU nurse I am regularly personally faced with human suffering and your writing put words to some of my long felt dissonance with the God of Christianity.
• Forged was the first book I read (secretly!) that made me begin to question the whole construct of Christianity. Thank you for that and for many other books read in the years since.
• I never had the privilege to meet you in person or to have been your student – officially. Never the less; your books: “Misquoting Jesus” and “Jesus Interrupted” have been the affirmation that my disillusionment with Christianity and in particular my three year theological training at the Apostolic Faith Mission Theological College in South Africa was not due to my unbelief or because I have a “weak character”. I have read most of your books and they were all very educational and liberating. I guess it is true that the truth shall set you free.
• Thank you for sharing knowledge. I follow your podcast and have learned so much. You’ve helped me to deconstruct Christianity and to reconstruct it in a more meaningful way.
• As an evangelical PK (Pastor’s Kid), listening to and reading about (his) life experiences have been incredibly moving. His knowledge of the NT is awe-inspiring and he’s given many of us a new perspective on the bible. Not only the text and historical context, both of which are important, but the cultural and personal impact these texts have had to both countless billions of people and to each of us personally. I’m a big fan of Bart and will continue to learn about the NT and have new energy to engage those who espouse the supremacy of religion over our communities.
• Thank you for helping me form my proud atheism.

How tragic that a professor of NT would actually cause you to walk away from the Bible or cause you to walk away from Christianity! What is it that this person does that causes people to do that? Doubt. By calling into question whether the people or places really existed, he causes people to doubt the truth claims of the Bible. Once the truth claims are challenged, the Bible is no longer the Word of God. It is just another book…We will look at one such example, albeit from the Old Testament, that is claimed to be nothing but mythological.

Job 2:11 (page #778) “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him.”

Context: For those of you who are here for the first time, we are in our series on the Book of Job. Job was known as “the greatest man of all the people of the East.” He had a great family and much wealth. He was righteous and served God. Then one day, God bragged on him before Satan, and Satan taunted that the only reason Job serves God is because of all that God blesses him. Take it away, and he will curse God. To which, God gave Satan the permission to take things away from Job. One after another, calamities began happening to Job. Within 24 hours, he lost everything. The Sabeans raided his farm and stole his oxen and donkeys and killed the servants. Fire fell from heaven on his sheep and the servants keeping them. The Chaldeans stole all his camels and killed the servants. A great wind destroyed his house, killing all his children, 7 sons and 3 daughters. In all of this, Job did not sin. He grieved over his loss, but he did not sin nor charge God with wrong. God bragged on Job again, and Satan again doubted Job’s integrity. This time, he got permission from God to attack him with boils all over his body. Ultimately, we are left with the image of a man sitting on an ash heap, scratching himself with a potsherd. His wife – I believe taking pity on him – advised him to curse God and die. To which, he replied in Job 2:10 “‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Word began to spread about what had happened to Job, and his friends came to visit him.

Pay attention to what civilized people (Job’s friends) did when they found out that Job was in trouble. Job 2:11 “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him.” In other words, they didn’t just rush in. They ya‘ad. They made an appointment to meet together. They made a plan of action. They had an objective and a target. Their goal was to come, mourn (nud = sway or shake your head in sympathy), and comfort (nechem = console) their friend.

Application: What do you do when you hear that someone is going through a difficult time? Do you just rush in? Do you pray and see what is needed and then seek to provide that help?

In the brief time that we have, I want us to see if the Bible can shed light on some of these civilized and godly people and where they came from.

Uz

The Bible mentions Uz two times: Genesis 10      21 “And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.” Again, it is mentioned in Genesis 26:28. Later in Lamentations 4:21 “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, You who dwell in the land of Uz!” Also, Jeremiah 25      17 Then I took the cup from the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom the LORD had sent me….20 all the mixed multitude, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines (namely, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod);

More than likely, it was on the east side of the Jordan towards Northern Arabia, very lush and green at the time. Hence, probably around the time of Abraham and Lot.

We will come back to Job towards the end.

Eliphaz

King of the Temanites (LXX)

Genesis 25      13 And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

1 Chronicles 1      29 These are their genealogies: The firstborn of Ishmael was Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema…36 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, and Kenaz; and by Timna, Amalek.

Jeremiah 49:7 Against Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?

Genesis 36:4 Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel…11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz… 15 These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz…40And these were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth, 41 Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 42Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar,

Eliphaz = “God is fine gold.”

1 Chronicles 1       44 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 45When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

Genesis 36:34 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

Bildad

King of the Shuhites (LXX)

Genesis 25       1 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

By the way, Moses’s wife came from the Midianites.

Genesis 36       20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom…27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

2 things here:

• Seir – Cave dwellers or Horrites.
• The name Bildad could also be Bedad or Bilhan.

Genesis 36       34 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith.

1 Chronicles 1      45 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 46And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith.

Zophar 

King of the Mineans (LXX) or the Naamathites

Naamah

Joshua 15       20 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families…33 In the lowland: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah…41 Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah… This is not the Naamah.

More than likely further south since it is connected to Dedan and Sheba. Some mention of a place of summer pasturage of Arab tribes.

Genesis 36      10 These were the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. 11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

Genesis 36:15 These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz,

1 Chronicles 1:36 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, and Kenaz; and by Timna, Amalek.

Overall, they come from the Arabian territory. Eliphaz from northwestern Arabia, Bildad from northeastern Arabia, and Zophar from southern Arabia.

Elihu

Job 32       2 “Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. 3 Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.”

Genesis 10      21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

Genesis 22      20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: 21 Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

Job

Job’s name declares his dissimilarity with other works of the time. Some say that it is from the Hebrew and refers to “enemy” or “enmity.” Others say that it comes from Arabic meaning to “repent” or “the penitent one.” According to one scholar, it can be translated as a question – “Where is my father?” Here, father is referring to God. The name was found among the ancients (Egyptian, Mari, Alalakh, and Amarna) between early 2^nd millennium and 1400 BC.

At first glance, it seems that it is not in the Old Testament. Then, we find another name that is very similar.

Genesis 10:29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

Genesis 36       31 Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel: 32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

Jobab = howler or shouter

1 Chronicles 1:23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

1 Chronicles 1       44 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. 45When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

Application: what do you believe about the Bible?Are you saved?