9 ¶
If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at
my neighbour’s door; 10 Then let my wife
grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. 11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an
iniquity to be punished by the judges. 12
For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all
mine increase. 13 If I did despise the
cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
14 What then shall I do when God riseth
up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? 15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him?
and did not one fashion us in the womb?
Job makes
several interesting points here. He has not been deceived by a woman, speaking
of flatteries or enticements to commit sin. A certain kind of woman does pursue
men they find attractive for illicit liaisons regardless of their own marital
status or the man’s. They are low-life, ill mannered, and wicked, whether they
claim their reason is unhappiness in their current situation or not. They don’t
care about breaking up a home. They just care about what makes them happy for
the moment. As one in six women between the ages of 16 and 50 in America have
an incurable sexually transmitted disease there is a good likelihood they bear
that unpleasantness, as well. They often are the kind of woman that is said to,
“speak their mind,” or to not have a filter, so to speak. What comes into their
mind comes out of their mouth. Some people regard these types of women as ideal
although their intentions and their behavior are rarely something that would
build trust in any reasonable person.
Solomon warned
the young man of his day about the wrong sort of woman, and Proverbs is full of
his warnings. Among those admonitions are;
Proverbs 2:16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even
from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Proverbs 5:3
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is
smoother than oil:
Proverbs 6:26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is
brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious
life…32 But whoso committeth adultery
with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
Many men are
basically stupid in an age devoted to worship of Self. They do not understand,
any more than a naïve or simple woman understands, that the person who will
entice them to commit adultery is out only for themselves and, at the first
opportunity, will most likely cheat on them, too. Women who seek out married
men as lovers are evil and desperately in need of salvation, not a vain man
succumbing to their beguilement.
Job has not
tried to sneak around, defrauding his neighbor of the affections from his
neighbor’s wife that are rightfully his neighbor’s.
Solomon warned
about this kind of woman as he mimicked words she might say;
Proverbs 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the
morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 19
For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and
will come home at the day appointed. 21
With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering
of her lips she forced him.
God accused the
citizens of Judah through the prophet, Jeremiah;
Jeremiah 5:8
They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his
neighbour’s wife.
Paul warned
Christians (Note the context of verse 6 by the verses preceding it);
1Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 4 That every one of you should know how to
possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the
Gentiles which know not God: 6 That no
man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is
the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
Verse 10 is
very raw and the only thing that needs to be said about it is that the
adulterous man has set himself up to have adultery committed against him
although adultery is a wicked sin. Adultery was illegal in most civilized
cultures and the country that dismisses it as a thing not undermining the
social order and worthy of legal prohibition is flirting with social disaster.
As the family consisting of man, woman, and child is the center point of and
the justification for any civilization adultery and the confusion it causes
should be condemned. It, like abandonment, is one of the only justifications
for divorce and remarriage.
Matthew 19:9
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for
fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth
her which is put away doth commit adultery. (note how the last clause
refers to the commission of fornication mentioned in the first part just as in James
1:13 how, “tempted with evil,” must be applied to the last clause of the verse
or both verses say something completely different than what is clearly meant.)
Job has taken
the cause of his servants very seriously, when they had an issue, and did not
hold them in contempt. This flows into the next thought about his treatment of
the poor. It also appears that, in the context of adultery, Job has not been
like one of these wicked celebrities, athletes, businessmen, and politicians
who have exploited those politically and economically weaker than themselves or
who are dependent upon their favor or employment.
Job continues
his insistence that he has not abused his servants, or employees today, in any
way and references an equality between he and they. God made them both. Both he
and people much poorer than himself were made by God, both fashioned and formed
in the womb. Job understands the notion placed in The Declaration of
Independence expressed as, “all men are
created equal.” Before God and before the law of the land, the Constitution, we
are all equal. This in no way states that we all have the same intelligence,
athletic ability, appearance, or moral worth as that would be an absurd notion
and patently untrue. It does state however that we are all to be treated
equitably, fairly before the law and that God does not regard one person as
more valuable than another by virtue of their social status.
In the Church
itself, where rich and poor might be sitting in the same pew, the Holy Spirit
has made clear through Paul;
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in
Christ Jesus.
Job would think
that he could not justify his behavior before God if he treated his servants
unfairly. He continues……
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