About That Bible with Every Nation NYC

In this episode of About That Bible, Nathan, Ailsa and Jeff go over why Christians break the laws in the Bible.  We are currently reading through Numbers and Exodus and we discuss if Christians are exempt from these biblical laws.  You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible

In this episode of About That Bible, Nathan and Ailsa go over if we can change God’s mind. We are currently reading through Exodus and we discuss if humans have the power to change God’s mind like Moses did.  You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible

Nathan and Ailsa discuss why God hardens Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus.  You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible

TRIGGER WARNING: We are going to talk about rape and genocide. Because we can’t pretend it isn’t in the Bible. But if that is something you don’t fancy listening to you might want to skip this one You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible

Pastor Nathan goes over some of his tips for reading the Old Testament. Here are the four tips:  Read Chronologically Bible is descriptive not prescriptive Follow the Themes Look for Jesus You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible

After reading about Abraham and Isaac, Pastor Nathan and Ailsa discuss if God is into child sacrifice. You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible

In this episode of About That Bible, Nathan and Ailsa go over the story of Abraham. Abraham is the father of our faith and we discuss his covenant with God. Timestamps: 01:23 What are covenants? 04:45 What is Abraham’s walk with children? We know that he doesn’t have children for a long time. 12:40 Abraham is going to be a blessing to the nation. You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible About That Bible is made by Every Nation Church, New York. Find out more about Every Nation NYC. Episode 004 Transcript Ailsa: Welcome to About That Bible with Every Nation NYC we are here to help you get more out of that Bible. My name is Ailsa, this is Nathan and we're going to talk about the Bible. It's as simple as that. Today we are talking about Abraham and covenant. Nathan:Yeah. Ailsa: Yeah, Abraham, the father of our faith and covenant. First off, Nathan, can you summarize? I'm going to help you. Nathan: Please do. Ailsa: The life of Abraham, who is Abraham? Nathan: Abraham is a nobody until God calls him. He says 'leave your father's house, come and follow me, I'm going to bless you, multiply you, make you a great nation.' And so then we set off on this epic journey. God and Abraham he gets in some fights. He wins some fights. Ailsa: He wonders about. Nathan: He wins some fights saving his brother, brother in law? Ailsa: Nephew. Nathan: Nephew, Lot. And then eventually God delivers on his promise and gives him a son. And that's Abraham's life. Ailsa: That's Abraham and then he starts being the family that leads to Jesus basically. So, Abraham, you talked about how he gets these promises with God and we call that covenant in Christian circles, could you help us out, what on earth is that? Nathan: In Judeo Christian circles. Ailsa: Yes. Nathan: A covenant is an agreement between any two people really. It was a promise and it was typically done with an exchange of kina an exchange of goods or. Ailsa: Stuff? Nathan: Yeah. Ailsa: Is it more binding than a promise? Nathan: It's like a formalized promise. Ailsa: Ok. Oh, like we have one. Nathan: Yes, we do and there was some exchanging of stuff. Ailsa: Oh yeah, rings! Nathan: Not a dowery. Ailsa: Thanks for this, that was good. Yeah. So what is, can you help us out, what does Abraham promise, what are they exchanging goods with God? Nathan: Yeah, so the first one that we encounter. First God just calls Abraham out and he says, 'leave your fathers house' and Abraham starts following him. It's shortly thereafter that God promises specifically an offspring. He says before, 'I'll make you a nation' but then he promises specifically, it's going to be an offspring. Ailsa: To be clear, Abraham at this point, he's quite old. Nathan: Yeah, he's 75 when God calls him. Ailsa: No kids. Nathan: And no kids. Pretty sure it's a done deal that he's going to have no kids. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: But then God makes it clear, like no, it's going to be an offspring, your offspring. Abraham continues on for a while, it's about ten years later, I think, that God formalized the covenant with him in Genesis chapter 15. Ailsa: Does it give us a date? time periods? Nathan: It gives us ages. Ailsa:Ahh, ages. Nathan: And so I think it says 10 years later. And then by the time Abraham has his son Isaac he's actually 100. Ailsa: Oh man, so. Nathan: So he does wait 15, no sorry, 25 years from the time of calling to the time of delivery. Ailsa: So the covenant with God that Abraham has is or Abram at the time, is for what things mainly? Nathan: So God promises that he's going to make Abram a great nation that he's going to bring him a son, that he's going to bless him with land, and that though this blessing, he's going to be a blessing to many nations. A blessing to the world. Ailsa: Ok, so, We're going to take a break, but we're going to come back and we'll talk about Abraham and children, Abraham and the land, and Abraham and the blessing. Nathan:Sounds good. Ailsa: Great. Nathan: So, if you are looking for a church, I'd like to talk a little bit about the church that I lead and I'm a part of. It's called Every Nation NYC, There you can know God, grow together, discover your purpose, and make a difference. We exist for you. We're founded in central Manhattan and you can find more information at everynationnyc.org, there you will find service times and locations as well as other events that we have on offer. I hope that we can see you at one of our services coming up. Ailsa: And now we're back. So, Abraham What is Abraham's walk with children. Because he does not have children for a long time but God shows up and gives him a promise, what's going on? Nathan: Yeah, god promises children, and it seems like he does not deliver for quite a while. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And so around the ten-year mark Abraham's wife Sarai at the time takes matters into her own hands and says ‘we've got this concubine,’ or not even a concubine excuse me just her servant. Ailsa: To be fair, she does this straight after one of the covenants right? Nathan: Yeah, God cuts like a formal covenant with Abraham it's very formalized in Genesis chapter 15 and in Genesis 16, boom. Ailsa: There is a reason that those sit right beside each other in the Bible. So then, what happens with Sarah? Nathan: Sarah offers her servant to Abraham, says here 'sleep with this woman and let's see if we can make a baby that way.' Ailsa: So she's trying to get around the covenant? Or like make the covenant happen in her own way? Nathan: Yes, yeah, she manipulates the covenant and tries to find a loophole in it. Ailsa: Which by the way, I actually kinda like about the story, because you're like oh yeah, I totally do that right? You get a promise from God and then you try and like, oh this is what he means. This is what he means that he doesn't mean that I'm going to have a baby he just means, maybe like you know, Abraham's going to have a kid. Nathan: Well, so explain how we, how we might do that in a real-life circumstance, hopefully, hopefully, nobodies like offering their... Ailsa: No, I did not mean like that, ahh you know. But, there are times, you know, where we get a promise from God and we think well, maybe this is what he means when he says that. Like he can't mean fully like the full miracle that I'm imagining, he maybe just means that I'm going to you know, I can't think of an actual example right now. That's just not helpful. Nathan: So in some way settling for less. Ailsa: Yes, and we make up what the promise might mean. Nathan: We could probably potentially do that often with a spouse or something like that. Ailsa: Oh yeah, good one. Like, you know, we could just settle. Nathan: Definitely, potential all over the place to settle in our lives for less than what God has promised us. Ailsa: Yeah, but in the end, God makes a way, he makes his way with Abraham and Sarah. Nathan: He does, so Abraham does sleep with this woman, Hagar, Sarai's servant, maid, and they make a baby, call him Ishmael. And God makes it very clear, Abraham almost like brings him to God, God appears to him again and he's like well here's my son, and God says, 'not that one'. And that's actually when God cuts a second covenant with Abraham and this one is the covenant of circumcision. The first one was all the animals. Abraham chops all these animals in half. And in this one, Abraham gets chopped himself, it's very personal. Ailsa: Ahh, so it almost like drives it deeper in some ways. Nathan: I'm sure it felt a lot more personal for Abraham on the second round. Ailsa: Just like, Not what I meant Abraham, not what I meant. Nathan: And so that very distinguishes Ishmael, not in the covenant and Isaac who is now the product of this circumcised Abraham, is part of the covenant cut. Ailsa: And Sarah's Son. Nathan: And he's Sarah's son, yes. Ailsa: And she gets pregnant at. Nathan: I think 90 years old. Ailsa: Wow. Nathan: It's a miracle. Ailsa: And then the rest of the Bible goes through how there's a whole line and there's a whole bunch of families that come from Isaac. Nathan: Yes, we are waiting on the promised seed of the woman from Genesis 3 When God preaches the gospel to satan in Genesis 3 to the snake he says, 'there's going to be an offspring of this woman' and so the Bible has this full genealogies all the time genealogies, genealogies and it's saying that the one, the promised one is coming, the promised one is coming. Ailsa:Yeah. Nathan: And they're all summed up in Jesus. and there are no, from the star of Matthew and Luke, there are no more genealogies in the new testament. Ailsa:  Because of Jesus and we're done. Nathan: They've been summed up, yeah. Ailsa: So we've got the promise of Isaac, and then there is also a promise to do with the land. And what is or a covenant to do with the land what's that? Nathan: Yeah, there is, God promises Abraham That he's got this land for him. That it's going to be his land, and today it's the land of Israel modern-day Israel. Ailsa: But, he does not get it right? Nathan: That's true he does not get it. He does not see, I mean he sees it, but he does not own. Ailsa: But does he like live, does he like walk around and live on it? Nathan: Yes. He's like kind of nomadic. He's in it but he's living a nomadic life. He's a shepherding, he's herding his flocks there. By the end of his life, he buys a small piece of it. Ailsa: Ok. Nathan: And he buries his wife Sarai there or Sarah there. And that's it. Ailsa: That's all he sees of it. But when you read the Bible again you see where his people get to inherit that. Nathan: Yes. Ailsa: Ahhh, that's a bummer though, isn't it? He got this promise from God and he didn't see it. Nathan: But he was faithful in the meantime and I think that this is like really important. So often times Christians see their life and all of God's promises hinging on their immediate future. So if it doesn't happen in the next week, if it doesn't happen in the next year, five years, ten years. God makes promises that are bigger than our life. Bigger than even our life span. He's thinking generationally, he's thinking long term. So often times we can live with a level of disillusionment because we were just not patient or did not have a big enough scope. So God's covenants he means these things they are deep they're meaningful He's going to deliver but he does not always deliver... Right in the next thing. Ailsa: Right in the next six months. Nathan: I'm going to find a scripture verse from the new testament that talks to this. Ailsa: Oh, nice. Nathan:So here's this scripture, it's Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13 through 16. I'm going to read verse 13 and 16."These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth...  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." and then it goes on to talk about how Abraham when he was tested, offered up Isaac. So the context is all about Abraham and Sarah, how they saw the land but they did not possess it. But even so, God was preparing for them a city. What's funny is that that is not even fulfilled in the conquest of Israel. It's fulfilled much much later and is still yet to be fulfilled when the city of Jerusalem will come down Revelation chapter 20. Ailsa: Oh man, so you're saying the covenant of Abraham is not yet completed? Nathan: The covenant continues. Ailsa: Oh, that's like ongoing. Ok, and then the last bit they talk about how he's going to be a blessing to the nations? Nathan: He's going to be a blessing to the nations. And so it's hard to do when you don't have any land and you don't have any great resources, you don't have any children and God brings to Abraham this child and it's though Isaac and through the generations that follow that the people of Israel are going to come about. The Hebrew people, the Jewish people. And it's from them that we get the Messiah, Jesus. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And so God has this plan all along to bring his son into the world to bring Jesus into the world to be a blessing. So when we look at this as well and we consider Christianity and it's global spread particularly if you have a global mindset Christianity is not head in any one ethnicity, it's not held in any one single culture, it's a truly global religion. It's not tied to North America or Europe or South America. There are millions of Christians in Asia, there are millions of Christians in Africa, Millions of Christians in South America, North America, and Europe. It's truly global. Ailsa: And that all comes from the covenant with Abraham. Nathan: That is. That's the promise of God that he made thousands of years ago to Abraham. Ailsa: To one man. Nathan: That we would all be blessed through him. And so that's why we call him the father of our faith. Ailsa: And on that note that was about that bible with Every Nation NYC. Don't forget you can follow us on Instagram or Twitter at AbouThat Bible and if you're interested in Every Nation NYC you can go to evarynationnyc.org and you can find all our service times on there. Thanks, guys, we'll see you soon.

In this episode, Nathan and Ailsa discuss the Book of Job. Timestamps: You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/about.that.bible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/about.that.bible About That Bible is made by Every Nation Church, New York. Find out more about Every Nation NYC. 003 Job Transcript Ailsa: Welcome to About That Bible with Every Nation NYC, we are here to help you get more out of that Bible. We are reading a plan at the moment and you will find that plan in the notes if you want to follow along too. We're going to discuss different bits as we read along. You can also follow us on Instagram or twitter @AboutThatBible or go to our website everynationnyc.org for all of our podcasts there. But without further ado let's talk about that Bible. My name is Ailsa this is Nathan we're going to talk: Job. Nathan: Alright. Ailsa: I feel like every time we come to talk about a book of the Bible it's always like oh my goodness this is a crazy one, but here we are again Job. Nathan: This one is definitely no exception, it's a beast. Ailsa: Yeah, it's Job. True confession, until very recently, in fact until we did this plan I don't think I'd read the whole of Job. Nathan: Ok. Ailsa: Because it had always been like, Job, this is really depressing and meaty. And I put it off. Nathan: I definitely don't blame you. I think I've only read it in its entirety maybe twice or three times. It's not like the most uplifting thing, is it? Ailsa: No, and that's why we're going to talk about the main point of Job, and it's not a hugely uplifting topic, but here we go. So, I think Job is talking about whether the world works in a just way and whether God is just. Nathan: Yeah! Ailsa: Yeah, let's start by summarizing Job and then we can come back to whether God is just. You know that really small question. Nathan: I mean the simple answer is yes, right? Ailsa: Is it? I think that's what we like to call trite. Nathan: Podcast, done! Ailsa: Trite, simple and trite. Let's try to summarize job first so we know what we're talking about. What is Job? What's going on? Nathan: It's an immense book, it's 40 some odd chapters long if not longer? Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And basically we open and God is holding court in heaven. God is surrounded by other spiritual beings. Ailsa: Which you do not get very often in the Bible I should add. Nathan: So yeah, you have this heavenly scene. Ailsa: It's like a God chat, yeah. Nathan: We don't know who's seeing this we don't know who's narrating this but there he is. And out of the midst comes stain and sais... actually, no, God says... How does that start? Ailsa: Well, I think he's like, "oh Job". Nathan: God's just bragging on Job. Ailsa: I think so and then satan's like, he's only good because he wants things from you. Nathan: In any case, either God or satan raises the subject matter of Job and satan’s like, exactly, he's only serving you because you're so good to him God. Ailsa: Yeah, and then we move on to, well, then satan's how about I prove to you that I'm right, God's like how about I prove to you that I'm right and then God's like ok you can go test Job basically. Nathan: Yeah. Ailsa: Then Job has like a terrible time. Nathan: His life goes totally sideways. Ailsa: Terrible. Nathan: Up until that point he'd been a very righteous person. He'd served God, he'd made sacrifices on behalf of his children in case they'd got up to a little mischief while they'd been partying. And I love likes how teenagers, you know, in ancient Hebrew culture. Ailsa: They were also being teenagers. Nathan: Yeah, they're basically the same. And so Job's praying for them, he's praying for his wife, he's working hard, he's living for God the best he can and then everything starts collapsing around him. Literally, I think a house falls on his children, his animals die. Ailsa: Lots of people come and like take away all his different kinds of animals. I think there are different people that come and it's irrelevant but I think it's kinda funny, it's not funny obviously, but I think you know what I mean. Nathan: There are all sorts of calamities and disasters and only one person survives and it's just the messenger and he comes and says, "Job, awful news, everybody died. All your sheep have died, all your camels have died." Messinger after messenger. Ailsa: Yeah, and then his friends pop up. Nathan: He's got three friends. Ailsa: Three friends, they pop up. They're like so good at the beginning, they're like hey we're just going to sit with you because you're like suffering and terrible things. Nathan: They just sit in silence don't they? Ailsa: I'm like, I'm going to write that down, that's good. And then they start, then it starts being this back and forth. RIght so one friend will talk for a bit and then Job will answer. Next friend, Job answers and it's like that for a lot of chapters. Nathan: I think there are three cycles of that. Yes and then a fourth friend turns up out of nowhere. Elihu, something like that. Ailsa: He pops up. Nathan: And he's young and he brash and he gets the job done and he disagrees with Job and he disagrees with Job and he disagrees with the friends, but he honors God. He lifts God up. He has a very high view of God. And what's tempting while we're reading Job and what's hard is that each person is bringing their perspective. Each person is true, but it's not kinda not universally true. Like his friends are saying, well you must have done something wrong and as you're reading it you're like yeah Job has certainly done something wrong. Ailsa: I always think that. Nathan: Yeah, there's no the way that you're perfect. Ailsa: He's a human. Right? Nathan: Yeah. And then Job's like I've done nothing wrong and then Elihu comes and it's just like who do you trust? Who do you believe through the whole thing? Ailsa: Yeah, I'm not sure. Nathan: And you don't really have any clarity through most of the book. Ailsa: No. Nathan: Until, finally, in some of the last chapters, God turns up. Ailsa: Yep. Nathan: And boy does he ever turn up. He comes in in a whirlwind. And basically tells Job, stand up, dress like a man. Ailsa: Dress like a man? Nathan: I think he says that, like, dress yourself like a man. Ailsa: I don't know what that means. Nathan: I don't know. Ailsa: At that point, put a dress on, Right? Nathan: Probably, oh yeah. Moving on. And God just lets him have it, He's like, you're not god, I am, and where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, where were you when I made it snow. When I made it rain? Have you seen the heavenly storehouses, you know, filled with snow? Have you seen these mountain tops? Have you seen the depths of the ocean? Were you there in deep dark space when I did this and that? And Job is just dumbfounded, there's nothing that he can say. He's done. Ailsa: He's done, God has the last word, and then he basically gives him double back at the end. Nathan: Yep. Ailsa: Which is another hard bit. Nathan: Only after rebuking his friends. He's like you guys, you treated Job wrong, The three friends, Elihu never gets another mention as far as I can remember. Ailsa: I don't think so. Nathan: And then Job, you need to pray for your friends. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: So that they can be restored as well. Ailsa: So, Thinking about those friends, because most of Job is about the friends, what do they tell us about whether God is just or whether we're seeing an unjust God? Nathan: His friends have a very simplistic view of the world. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: It's very black and white. Either God is good, and therefore God rewards good people or because you're doing so poorly in life, surely you've done something wrong. God's just you're doing bad so you must be the bad guy. It's a very black and white world view. And I think that like, if we ever say, you know, as I did at the start of this video, Yeah, God's just, I've got all the answers. Ailsa: Yeah, you're just being like them. Nathan: No, I want to clarify that, God is just, right? Like I thorough, thorough believe that. But when I say that I have all the answers I've got the worldview that's going to solve everything, pull everything together, what it does is it basically turns you into a judgemental person. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And that's what happens to his friends. Is that they become very judgemental. They start making up stuff, surely you've tortured widows, or you've robbed widows. Surely you've done this, surely you've, you know, not fed the people that are in need that come to you. Surely you've turned them away empty handed. Or something like that. They just make up these horrible accusations. Ailsa: Well, they start trying to work out what Job's been doing wrong. To make sense. Which we still do, right? We still, like to think oh this is happening to someone they are suffering in this way, we like to think we're more sophisticated than this. But we like, we like victim blame. Nathan: Oh yeah. Ailsa: They are like classic victim blamers. Nathan: That's exactly what is happening here. Ailsa: The thing I find interesting though is that they, so at the end, and you did mention this, God is like so ticked off at them. And they've actually stood up, they have like, They have stood up and said God is just, Job you must be wrong. Which, you know we're saying that's not very nice, that's judgemental. But like, they seem like they're on the side of God. But then like, he's really ticked off at them. Like Job basically has to save them. Nathan: That's a great point. Ailsa: What are we supposed to do with that? Like they seem pro-God. Nathan: Well, don't be a judgemental, religious. Oh..  Yeah? Like, oh I've got access to God, therefore, you're doing bad, you must be doing wrong. God is more ticked off and that's like a theme in the bible, Jesus to the Pharisees, Paul to the Galatians. Ailsa: Oh that’s true. It's not like an original to Job moment. Nathan: I mean, yeah it's early in, well, I don't know, we can talk about history about when it was written but yeah, it's a theme through all of the bible isn't it? Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: God does not like religious bigotry. Ailsa: Yeah. Man, they just think they're doing the right thing though. The fourth friend, He also thinks God is just though. But it is different? Nathan: I don't think he pins it on, he doesn't' pin it on Job. Ailsa: No, I think he's a bit annoyed at Job. I think maybe he's annoyed at Job for how he, how he blames God at one point, I think. Nathan: Well, that's fair enough, God doesn't get mad at Elihu, the fourth friend. Ailsa: No, I don't think so. That's the other thing, like, we see with Job, we see someone who does get annoyed at God. Like God is not annoyed at Job at the end. That's actually interesting. He's annoyed at those friends, he's not annoyed at Job. Job has accused God of possibly being unjust. Nathan: Wow, yeah. So Job has just brought his emotions to God. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: After going back and forth with his friends he's like that's it I want to talk to God I want him to prove himself to me. And I think that's something that like King David does. He brings all of his emotions to God. It's similar to what Job does. And I think that God understands like this world is tough and we want to see where he is and what he's doing. But on the other hand, he's also a lot, a lot bigger than we can understand and fathom so we don't always get the answers that we're looking for. Ailsa: No I don't think that you get any of the answers. So like you're left, you read Job and you think, ok so why is this dude suffering? And actually, you're kind of given the answer at the beginning, right?  You've got like God and satan having a chat and you know the reason that job is suffering in this instance is because satan sort of thought that he should have a go at him. And God was like, OK. So you see that, but there's no real reason outside of that. And Job never knows. Like he never gets the answer right? Nathan: No. He doesn't. and he doesn't get an explanation for why he gets everything back. And there's never even an attempt at a reason. Ailsa: No, it's like it's not even bothering to answer that. Nathan: No. Ailsa: And the God and satan bit is very unsatisfactory. Nathan: Oh yeah. And I think that's the point. It's supposed to be unsatisfactory. Ailsa: That's terrible, we hate that. Nathan: Well like, yeah, but like, bad stuff happens and we never get the answer in life. and so that's basically what Job is opening up. The world is not black and white. Good stuff happens to bad people. Bad stuff happens to good people. But that does not make God unjust. Ailsa: Oh man. Nathan: Alright, so we are right now reading through the Bible chronologically. And so it appears kind of halfway kind of after Genesis 11 you go to Job. What we've seen is that there's this satan character, running around, you know, as a snake. Ailsa: That's true. Nathan: And then in Genesis 3, God limits his authority in some way. Like, he says, cursed are you. You're going to be on your belly, eat the dust of the earth. That God in some way limits satan’s authority. And satan doesn't like this. And so in Job what I see is satan saying, Yeah of course people still like you God, you've taken away what I'm allowed to do with them. And it's like if you've ever been using an umbrella on a rainy day, and you're like, has the rain stopped? How bad is it out there? You pull it back. What hits Job is like a welter, a torrential downpour of rain. Like, yeah, satan is still at large, he's still a bad guy, but God got him on lockdown. So he's still able to go around and do his accusing thing and his lying thing but he's not going to just drop a house on your kids. Ailsa: Ok, that makes sense so you've got like, you've got like the limiting of satan in that first bit of Genesis and then you see how that actually plays out on Job. Nathan: So that's the way I see it as we read it chronologically that's what I see happening. Ailsa: Rather than, rather than it being like, God is punishing Job. Nathan: Yes. Ailsa: He just takes his thing away. Nathan: His grace. So like grace is something that we don't deserve. We never earn or deserve God's grace and so God is constantly I believe extending grace to every being on earth, making our lives better than what we deserve all the time. And here in Job we see a sneak peek at what it could be like if God did not limit the evil powers of this world. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: So that's what I see when I read it chronologically. Ailsa: Yeah, and where does it normally, what do we learn about the book from where it normally sits in our Bible? Nathan: Normally, it sits with the wisdom literature. And you get Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. And I love the work that the Bible Project did on this explaining the evolution of wisdom literature, they build one on top of the other. So, Proverbs has this very simplistic kind of black and white view of the world. If you do good, good stuff is going to happen to you. If you do bad, if you sleep in, and you don't work then you're going to be poor. And that's mostly true. But there's always the exception. And then Ecclesiastics comes along and says the wicked prosper. What's the point of life? And it kinda tears up the groundwork of Proverbs. And then Job comes along and says, yeah that's all true, but you know what? God's still just. He sits on his throne. His wisdom is way beyond our wisdom and we've got to trust him whether we like it or not. And that's like really really hard. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: I think the authors knew that from the very start. And that's why Job struggles with it, that's why his tree black and white friends struggle with it. Elihu never even really gets his head around it. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: It's really tough. Ailsa: At least we see represented people struggling with it though. Nathan: Yeah, yeah. Ailsa: It's like, it's ok to like really struggle with it. Nathan: The nature of sin; and I'm thinking Adam and Eve fell and what they did was they said, we're not going to trust you as God, we're going to take our trust from you and pull it inward. All of a sudden, the universal center of right and wrong is going to rest here [in me]. And so when bad things happen to me I'm going to say this is wrong. And God's saying no, the worlds quite messed up now and so to accomplish ultimate good you're going to think that it's wrong. Your little world is going to experience something that does not feel good for you in the moment. Ailsa: That is super hard. Nathan: And so God is asking for us to expand our world and allow our world to be bigger than us in our suffering. Ailsa: Ooo, it's like such a hard one to read. This is why people are like, oh Job. Nathan: Yeah, so Job is super uplifting. But I believe it is because bad stuff is happening. But what Job is saying is that there is reason, there is a point. That God is still in control. And that Romans chapter 8, we bandied about quite a lot, or it can be bandied about, and I don't want to just use it tritely, but I believe it points in, it funnels in to Job here. "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes." God is working stuff for good. Ailsa: But on a much bigger scale than we can comprehend basically. Nathan: Yes it does not mean that at the end of your life you know, on your deathbed, God is going to turn up and be like, well here's why your cat died when you were three, Your granny died when you were seven, you know, your father left you when you were twelve. He's not going to do that. Sometimes we get glimpses of that in the world and most of the time... No, I believe that when you walk with God you do get the narrative kinda unfolding. Ailsa: Do you mean like you do understand more of why things happen sometimes? Nathan: Yes, but you do gotta hold on for a long time. Ailsa: Yeah, and it's not also like, 'like for like'. Like you, you don't get to see like oh, you sin - this happens. Or you're like good - this happens. Like it's more complicated. Nathan: Your cat dies at three so you can go into veterinary school and solve cat AIDS. Ailsa: Or not even that. Like the, if you're a good person, then you get good blessing. Or, you know, you follow God and then you get a good thing. Like what Satan accuses Job at the beginning of only doing it for what he can get out of God. Nathan: Yeah, so we've got to follow God because he's God? Ailsa: Yeah. It kinda seems like that because that's kinda what it says on the end. God's like I am God and bigger than your, any of your stuff. Nathan: Yeah. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: He deserves it, he's God and we're not. Even though our heart cries out, "yes I am yes I am." Ailsa: Yeah, I know. We're like but surely I understand and Job's like, you don't understand. Nathan: I've got enough wisdom! Ailsa: And that's Job. Yeah, we get to see a man wrestling with just not understanding. Nathan: Yes. Ailsa: Yeah. And he gets all this stuff back at the end. But it's not because he was good. Right? I think God makes that clear, it's just grace on the end. Nathan: It's just grace. There's all sorts of little droplets of grace all the way through. All the way through Job. Job keeps referencing and alluding to these incredible Christological foreshadowing pieces. Ailsa: What do you mean by 'Christological foreshadowing pieces' because that's a whole bunch of turms. Nathan: So Job keeps using these phrases that the only answer to these phrases is Jesus. The only way that this is ever going to be solved is Jesus. So at one point he's like, 'I wish that I had an advocate who could place his hand on God and place his hand on me.' I'm like, well who's going to touch heaven and earth at the same time? Ailsa: Jesus. Nathan: Jesus. Another point he says, "For I know my Redeemer lives and shall stand upon the earth." Who's this redeemer, who's going to stand on the earth? Jesus. Right? Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And then ultimately the way that Job suffers, everything around him dies, he has basically died. LIke to everything, to the world, to his wife, to his kids, to everything around him is dead. And then God says, 'this is the guy who is going to restore these self-righteous friends back to God.' And even Job himself is a little bit like a Christ figure. Ailsa: Yeah, because he keeps being, standing in the gap for these people. Nathan: He stands in the gap for his friends, that's right.  Oh gosh, yeah, for his kids at first. Ailsa: Yeah, for his kids on the front end and then for his friends on the back end, right? Oh, it's all about Jesus. Nathan: It is all about Jesus. Or you can read it. Ailsa: All about Jesus. Nathan: I think Jesus read it all about Jesus. Ailsa: Probably, probably. Still, but, I think we're still left, I think it's all about Jesus, but I think we're still left with it's ok to be grappling with this stuff. Nathan: Yeah, it's a lifelong struggle, it really is. And for somebody who is struggling it's just, you kinda have to hold on, just keep going, trusting that God is good, trusting that your Redeemer lives, has stood upon the earth. That God is crushing suffering. And will one day fully and finally make it right. Ailsa: Yeah and on that note, Job. Nathan:  Yeah, Job it's a struggle. Ailsa: It's a struggle. Nathan: The struggle is real. Ailsa: It's an important one though because the struggle is real in real life. Job, I don't want to say done because that's not Job done. Done. Nathan: Job, the conversation is opened. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: We're finished opening the conversation. Yeah that's a good way of putting it. Ailsa: And Job we're finished opening your conversation, and done. Nathan: Moving on. Ailsa: That was About That Bible with Every Nation NYC. You can follow along the same reading plan as us and you'll find the link for that in the notes and you can read too. Don't forget you can also follow us on Instagram and twitter @AboutThatBible and you can find all our podcasts at everynationnyc.org or all the places that you can find podcasts. See you later guys. SHOW TRANSCRIPT: Ailsa: Welcome to About That Bible with Every Nation NYC, we are here to help you get more out of that Bible. We are reading a plan at the moment and you will find that plan in the notes if you want to follow along too. We're going to discuss different bits as we read along. You can also follow us on Instagram or twitter @AboutThatBible or go to our website everynationnyc.org for all of our podcasts there. But without further ado let's talk about that Bible. My name is Ailsa this is Nathan we're going to talk: Job. Nathan: Alright. Ailsa: I feel like every time we come to talk about a book of the Bible it's always like oh my goodness this is a crazy one, but here we are again Job. Nathan: This one is definitely no exception, it's a beast. Ailsa: Yeah, it's Job. True confession, until very recently, in fact until we did this plan I don't think I'd read the whole of Job. Nathan: Ok. Ailsa: Because it had always been like, Job, this is really depressing and meaty. And I put it off. Nathan: I definitely don't blame you. I think I've only read it in its entirety maybe twice or three times. It's not like the most uplifting thing, is it? Ailsa: No, and that's why we're going to talk about the main point of Job, and it's not a hugely uplifting topic, but here we go. So, I think Job is talking about whether the world works in a just way and whether God is just. Nathan: Yeah! Ailsa: Yeah, let's start by summarizing Job and then we can come back to the weather God is just. You know that really small question. Nathan: I mean the simple answer is yes, right? Ailsa: Is it? I think that's what we like to call trite. Nathan: Podcast, done! Ailsa: Trite, simple and trite. Let's try to summarize job first so we know what we're talking about. What is Job? What's going on? Nathan: It's an immense book, it's 40 some odd chapters long if not longer? Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And basically we open and God is holding court in heaven. God is surrounded by other spiritual beings. Ailsa: Which you do not get very often in the Bible I should add. Nathan: So yeah, you have this heavenly scene. Ailsa: It's like a God chat, yeah. Nathan: We don't know who's seeing this we don't know who's narrating this but there he is. And out of the midst comes stain and sais... actually, no, God says... How does that start? Ailsa: Well, I think he's like, "oh Job". Nathan: God's just bragging on Job. Ailsa: I think so and then satan's like, he's only good because he wants things from you. Nathan: In any case, either God or satan raises the subject matter of Job and satan’s like, exactly, he's only serving you because you're so good to him God. Ailsa: Yeah, and then we move on to, well, then satan's how about I prove to you that I'm right, God's like how about I prove to you that I'm right and then God's like ok you can go test Job basically. Nathan: Yeah. Ailsa: Then Job has like a terrible time. Nathan: His life goes totally sideways. Ailsa: Terrible. Nathan: Up until that point he'd been a very righteous person. He'd served God, he'd made sacrifices on behalf of his children in case they'd got up to a little mischief while they'd been partying. And I love likes how teenagers, you know, in ancient Hebrew culture. Ailsa: They were also being teenagers. Nathan: Yeah, they're basically the same. And so Job's praying for them, he's praying for his wife, he's working hard, he's living for God the best he can and then everything starts collapsing around him. Literally, I think a house falls on his children, his animals die. Ailsa: Lots of people come and like take away all his different kinds of animals. I think there are different people that come and it's irrelevant but I think it's kinda funny, it's not funny obviously, but I think you know what I mean. Nathan: There are all sorts of calamities and disasters and only one person survives and it's just the messenger and he comes and says, "Job, awful news, everybody died. All your sheep have died, all your camels have died." Messinger after messenger. Ailsa: Yeah, and then his friends pop up. Nathan: He's got three friends. Ailsa: Three friends, they pop up. They're like so good at the beginning, they're like hey we're just going to sit with you because you're like suffering and terrible things. Nathan: They just sit in silence don't they? Ailsa: I'm like, I'm going to write that down, that's good. And then they start, then it starts being this back and forth. RIght so one friend will talk for a bit and then Job will answer. Next friend, Job answers and it's like that for a lot of chapters. Nathan: I think there are three cycles of that. Yes and then a fourth friend turns up out of nowhere. Elihu, something like that. Ailsa: He pops up. Nathan: And he's young and he brash and he gets the job done and he disagrees with Job and he disagrees with Job and he disagrees with the friends, but he honors God. He lifts God up. He has a very high view of God. And what's tempting while we're reading Job and what's hard is that each person is bringing their perspective. Each person is true, but it's not kinda not universally true. Like his friends are saying, well you must have done something wrong and as you're reading it you're like yeah Job has certainly done something wrong. Ailsa: I always think that. Nathan: Yeah, there's no the way that you're perfect. Ailsa: He's a human. Right? Nathan: Yeah. And then Job's like I've done nothing wrong and then Elihu comes and it's just like who do you trust? Who do you believe through the whole thing? Ailsa: Yeah, I'm not sure. Nathan: And you don't really have any clarity through most of the book. Ailsa: No. Nathan: Until, finally, in some of the last chapters, God turns up. Ailsa: Yep. Nathan: And boy does he ever turn up. He comes in in a whirlwind. And basically tells Job, stand up, dress like a man. Ailsa: Dress like a man? Nathan: I think he says that, like, dress yourself like a man. Ailsa: I don't know what that means. Nathan: I don't know. Ailsa: At that point, put a dress on, Right? Nathan: Probably, oh yeah. Moving on. And God just lets him have it, He's like, you're not god, I am, and where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth, where were you when I made it snow. When I made it rain? Have you seen the heavenly storehouses, you know, filled with snow? Have you seen these mountain tops? Have you seen the depths of the ocean? Were you there in deep dark space when I did this and that? And Job is just dumbfounded, there's nothing that he can say. He's done. Ailsa: He's done, God has the last word, and then he basically gives him double back at the end. Nathan: Yep. Ailsa: Which is another hard bit. Nathan: Only after rebuking his friends. He's like you guys, you treated Job wrong, The three friends, Elihu never gets another mention as far as I can remember. Ailsa: I don't think so. Nathan: And then Job, you need to pray for your friends. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: So that they can be restored as well. Ailsa: So, Thinking about those friends, because most of Job is about the friends, what do they tell us about whether God is just or whether we're seeing an unjust God? Nathan: His friends have a very simplistic view of the world. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: It's very black and white. Either God is good, and therefore God rewards good people or because you're doing so poorly in life, surely you've done something wrong. God's just you're doing bad so you must be the bad guy. It's a very black and white world view. And I think that like, if we ever say, you know, as I did at the start of this video, Yeah, God's just, I've got all the answers. Ailsa: Yeah, you're just being like them. Nathan: No, I want to clarify that, God is just, right? Like I thorough, thorough believe that. But when I say that I have all the answers I've got the worldview that's going to solve everything, pull everything together, what it does is it basically turns you into a judgemental person. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And that's what happens to his friends. Is that they become very judgemental. They start making up stuff, surely you've tortured widows, or you've robbed widows. Surely you've done this, surely you've, you know, not fed the people that are in need that come to you. Surely you've turned them away empty handed. Or something like that. They just make up these horrible accusations. Ailsa: Well, they start trying to work out what Job's been doing wrong. To make sense. Which we still do, right? We still, like to think oh this is happening to someone they are suffering in this way, we like to think we're more sophisticated than this. But we like, we like victim blame. Nathan: Oh yeah. Ailsa: They are like classic victim blamers. Nathan: That's exactly what is happening here. Ailsa: The thing I find interesting though is that they, so at the end, and you did mention this, God is like so ticked off at them. And they've actually stood up, they have like, They have stood up and said God is just, Job you must be wrong. Which, you know we're saying that's not very nice, that's judgemental. But like, they seem like they're on the side of God. But then like, he's really ticked off at them. Like Job basically has to save them. Nathan: That's a great point. Ailsa: What are we supposed to do with that? Like they seem pro-God. Nathan: Well, don't be a judgemental, religious. Oh..  Yeah? Like, oh I've got access to God, therefore, you're doing bad, you must be doing wrong. God is more ticked off and that's like a theme in the bible, Jesus to the Pharisees, Paul to the Galatians. Ailsa: Oh that’s true. It's not like an original to Job moment. Nathan: I mean, yeah it's early in, well, I don't know, we can talk about history about when it was written but yeah, it's a theme through all of the bible isn't it? Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: God does not like religious bigotry. Ailsa: Yeah. Man, they just think they're doing the right thing though. The fourth friend, He also thinks God is just though. But it is different? Nathan: I don't think he pins it on, he doesn't' pin it on Job. Ailsa: No, I think he's a bit annoyed at Job. I think maybe he's annoyed at Job for how he, how he blames God at one point, I think. Nathan: Well, that's fair enough, God doesn't get mad at Elihu, the fourth friend. Ailsa: No, I don't think so. That's the other thing, like, we see with Job, we see someone who does get annoyed at God. Like God is not annoyed at Job at the end. That's actually interesting. He's annoyed at those friends, he's not annoyed at Job. Job has accused God of possibly being unjust. Nathan: Wow, yeah. So Job has just brought his emotions to God. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: After going back and forth with his friends he's like that's it I want to talk to God I want him to prove himself to me. And I think that's something that like King David does. He brings all of his emotions to God. It's similar to what Job does. And I think that God understands like this world is tough and we want to see where he is and what he's doing. But on the other hand, he's also a lot, a lot bigger than we can understand and fathom so we don't always get the answers that we're looking for. Ailsa: No I don't think that you get any of the answers. So like you're left, you read Job and you think, ok so why is this dude suffering? And actually, you're kind of given the answer at the beginning, right?  You've got like God and satan having a chat and you know the reason that job is suffering in this instance is because satan sort of thought that he should have a go at him. And God was like, OK. So you see that, but there's no real reason outside of that. And Job never knows. Like he never gets the answer right? Nathan: No. He doesn't. and he doesn't get an explanation for why he gets everything back. And there's never even an attempt at a reason. Ailsa: No, it's like it's not even bothering to answer that. Nathan: No. Ailsa: And the God and satan bit is very unsatisfactory. Nathan: Oh yeah. And I think that's the point. It's supposed to be unsatisfactory. Ailsa: That's terrible, we hate that. Nathan: Well like, yeah, but like, bad stuff happens and we never get the answer in life. and so that's basically what Job is opening up. The world is not black and white. Good stuff happens to bad people. Bad stuff happens to good people. But that does not make God unjust. Ailsa: Oh man. Nathan: Alright, so we are right now reading through the Bible chronologically. And so it appears kind of halfway kind of after Genesis 11 you go to Job. What we've seen is that there's this satan character, running around, you know, as a snake. Ailsa: That's true. Nathan: And then in Genesis 3, God limits his authority in some way. Like, he says, cursed are you. You're going to be on your belly, eat the dust of the earth. That God in some way limits satan’s authority. And satan doesn't like this. And so in Job what I see is satan saying, Yeah of course people still like you God, you've taken away what I'm allowed to do with them. And it's like if you've ever been using an umbrella on a rainy day, and you're like, has the rain stopped? How bad is it out there? You pull it back. What hits Job is like a welter, a torrential downpour of rain. Like, yeah, satan is still at large, he's still a bad guy, but God got him on lockdown. So he's still able to go around and do his accusing thing and his lying thing but he's not going to just drop a house on your kids. Ailsa: Ok, that makes sense so you've got like, you've got like the limiting of satan in that first bit of Genesis and then you see how that actually plays out on Job. Nathan: So that's the way I see it as we read it chronologically that's what I see happening. Ailsa: Rather than, rather than it being like, God is punishing Job. Nathan: Yes. Ailsa: He just takes his thing away. Nathan: His grace. So like grace is something that we don't deserve. We never earn or deserve God's grace and so God is constantly I believe extending grace to every being on earth, making our lives better than what we deserve all the time. And here in Job we see a sneak peek at what it could be like if God did not limit the evil powers of this world. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: So that's what I see when I read it chronologically. Ailsa: Yeah, and where does it normally, what do we learn about the book from where it normally sits in our Bible? Nathan: Normally, it sits with the wisdom literature. And you get Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job. And I love the work that the Bible Project did on this explaining the evolution of wisdom literature, they build one on top of the other. So, Proverbs has this very simplistic kind of black and white view of the world. If you do good, good stuff is going to happen to you. If you do bad, if you sleep in, and you don't work then you're going to be poor. And that's mostly true. But there's always the exception. And then Ecclesiastics comes along and says the wicked prosper. What's the point of life? And it kinda tears up the groundwork of Proverbs. And then Job comes along and says, yeah that's all true, but you know what? God's still just. He sits on his throne. His wisdom is way beyond our wisdom and we've got to trust him whether we like it or not. And that's like really really hard. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: I think the authors knew that from the very start. And that's why Job struggles with it, that's why his tree black and white friends struggle with it. Elihu never even really gets his head around it. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: It's really tough. Ailsa: At least we see represented people struggling with it though. Nathan: Yeah, yeah. Ailsa: It's like, it's ok to like really struggle with it. Nathan: The nature of sin; and I'm thinking Adam and Eve fell and what they did was they said, we're not going to trust you as God, we're going to take our trust from you and pull it inward. All of a sudden, the universal center of right and wrong is going to rest here [in me]. And so when bad things happen to me I'm going to say this is wrong. And God's saying no, the worlds quite messed up now and so to accomplish ultimate good you're going to think that it's wrong. Your little world is going to experience something that does not feel good for you in the moment. Ailsa: That is super hard. Nathan: And so God is asking for us to expand our world and allow our world to be bigger than us in our suffering. Ailsa: Ooo, it's like such a hard one to read. This is why people are like, oh Job. Nathan: Yeah, so Job is super uplifting. But I believe it is because bad stuff is happening. But what Job is saying is that there is reason, there is a point. That God is still in control. And that Romans chapter 8, we bandied about quite a lot, or it can be bandied about, and I don't want to just use it tritely, but I believe it points in, it funnels in to Job here. "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purposes." God is working stuff for good. Ailsa: But on a much bigger scale than we can comprehend basically. Nathan: Yes it does not mean that at the end of your life you know, on your deathbed, God is going to turn up and be like, well here's why your cat died when you were three, Your granny died when you were seven, you know, your father left you when you were twelve. He's not going to do that. Sometimes we get glimpses of that in the world and most of the time... No, I believe that when you walk with God you do get the narrative kinda unfolding. Ailsa: Do you mean like you do understand more of why things happen sometimes? Nathan: Yes, but you do gotta hold on for a long time. Ailsa: Yeah, and it's not also like, 'like for like'. Like you, you don't get to see like oh, you sin - this happens. Or you're like good - this happens. Like it's more complicated. Nathan: Your cat dies at three so you can go into veterinary school and solve cat AIDS. Ailsa: Or not even that. Like the, if you're a good person, then you get good blessing. Or, you know, you follow God and then you get a good thing. Like what Satan accuses Job at the beginning of only doing it for what he can get out of God. Nathan: Yeah, so we've got to follow God because he's God? Ailsa: Yeah. It kinda seems like that because that's kinda what it says on the end. God's like I am God and bigger than your, any of your stuff. Nathan: Yeah. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: He deserves it, he's God and we're not. Even though our heart cries out, "yes I am yes I am." Ailsa: Yeah, I know. We're like but surely I understand and Job's like, you don't understand. Nathan: I've got enough wisdom! Ailsa: And that's Job. Yeah, we get to see a man wrestling with just not understanding. Nathan: Yes. Ailsa: Yeah. And he gets all this stuff back at the end. But it's not because he was good. Right? I think God makes that clear, it's just grace on the end. Nathan: It's just grace. There's all sorts of little droplets of grace all the way through. All the way through Job. Job keeps referencing and alluding to these incredible Christological foreshadowing pieces. Ailsa: What do you mean by 'Christological foreshadowing pieces' because that's a whole bunch of turms. Nathan: So Job keeps using these phrases that the only answer to these phrases is Jesus. The only way that this is ever going to be solved is Jesus. So at one point he's like, 'I wish that I had an advocate who could place his hand on God and place his hand on me.' I'm like, well who's going to touch heaven and earth at the same time? Ailsa: Jesus. Nathan: Jesus. Another point he says, "For I know my Redeemer lives and shall stand upon the earth." Who's this redeemer, who's going to stand on the earth? Jesus. Right? Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: And then ultimately the way that Job suffers, everything around him dies, he has basically died. LIke to everything, to the world, to his wife, to his kids, to everything around him is dead. And then God says, 'this is the guy who is going to restore these self-righteous friends back to God.' And even Job himself is a little bit like a Christ figure. Ailsa: Yeah, because he keeps being, standing in the gap for these people. Nathan: He stands in the gap for his friends, that's right.  Oh gosh, yeah, for his kids at first. Ailsa: Yeah, for his kids on the front end and then for his friends on the back end, right? Oh, it's all about Jesus. Nathan: It is all about Jesus. Or you can read it. Ailsa: All about Jesus. Nathan: I think Jesus read it all about Jesus. Ailsa: Probably, probably. Still, but, I think we're still left, I think it's all about Jesus, but I think we're still left with it's ok to be grappling with this stuff. Nathan: Yeah, it's a lifelong struggle, it really is. And for somebody who is struggling it's just, you kinda have to hold on, just keep going, trusting that God is good, trusting that your Redeemer lives, has stood upon the earth. That God is crushing suffering. And will one day fully and finally make it right. Ailsa: Yeah and on that note, Job. Nathan:  Yeah, Job it's a struggle. Ailsa: It's a struggle. Nathan: The struggle is real. Ailsa: It's an important one though because the struggle is real in real life. Job, I don't want to say done because that's not Job done. Done. Nathan: Job, the conversation is opened. Ailsa: Yeah. Nathan: We're finished opening the conversation. Yeah that's a good way of putting it. Ailsa: And Job we're finished opening your conversation, and done. Nathan: Moving on. Ailsa: That was About That Bible with Every Nation NYC. You can follow along the same reading plan as us and you'll find the link for that in the notes and you can read too. Don't forget you can also follow us on Instagram and twitter @AboutThatBible and you can find all our podcasts at everynationnyc.org or all the places that you can find podcasts. See you later guys.

In this episode of About That Bible, Nathan and Ailsa discuss Genesis 1-11. Some of the topics are discussed are Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Nephilim, etc. creation Timestamps: 2:05 Why are there two creation narratives? (Genesis 1 and 2) 4:40 What does it mean to subdue the Earth? (Genesis 1:28) 6:28 Who were the others and why is Cain scared of them? 9:30 Do you think God was surprised about how it all went wrong? 11:28 Is the Flood a start-over or reset button? 13:17 What are the Nephilims? You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb Follow our other social media! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/about.that.bible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/about.that.bible

In our first episode of About That Bible, Nathan and Ailsa give you 4 tips to help you read the Bible. Here are the tips: 00:22 Don’t do it alone. 03:41 Read it in context. 06:16 The Bible is about Jesus. 09:33 Consider your aesthetics. You can follow our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast! Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2L1CbHq Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2XnuDFb We are reading through the Bible together chronologically in a year and you can do. Find our plan here and get reading. About That Bible is a podcast by Every Nation Church, New York Follow Us on Social Media Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aboutthatbible Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aboutthatbible