16 ¶
If now thou hast understanding, hear this: hearken to the voice of my
words. 17 Shall even he that hateth
right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just? 18 Is it fit to say to a king, Thou art wicked? and
to princes, Ye are ungodly? 19 How much
less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich
more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands. 20 In a moment shall they die, and the people
shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken
away without hand. 21 For his eyes are
upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. 22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death,
where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. 23 For he will not lay upon man more than right;
that he should enter into judgment with God. 24
He shall break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in
their stead. 25 Therefore he knoweth
their works, and he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed.
26 He striketh them as wicked men in the
open sight of others; 27 Because they
turned back from him, and would not consider any of his ways: 28 So that they cause the cry of the poor to
come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted. 29 When he giveth quietness, who then can make
trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be
done against a nation, or against a man only: 30 That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people
be ensnared.
So, Elihu says,
if you have understanding hear what I have to say. Does Job think that it is
right to condemn a just God? Is it right for a person to accuse a king or
rulers of wickedness and ungodliness? God has specific requirements for a human
king and any ruler of men, the fact that 99.9% of them have failed in that
regard notwithstanding.
2Samuel 23:3
The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth
over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
If it was
thought wrong to speak evil of leadership then how much more wrong is it to
speak evil of the one who doesn’t regard princes as being more important than
the common man or who doesn’t regard the rich as being more important than the
poor? That would be God who holds all men mighty and weak, rich and poor, to
the same standard. All are the work of His hands. In the church body there was
to be no human centered hierarchy of individuals of varying degrees of worth.
Before God no ethnic or racial, social distinctions, or gender differences
matter when it comes to the value of a person.
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.
A separate
priesthood or class of people who considered themselves to be more enlightened,
more spiritual, more Godly simply by virtue of their office, called by the
Greek term Nicolaitanism, victory over the laity or people, was also forbidden.
(Some would say that this was a sect that came after the events of the Bible that
preached that faith alone saves you and are called antinomian, or against the
Law, but there is no evidence in the text for such a definition. Peter warns of
the dangers of this attitude as mentioned above in 1Peter 5:1-4 and declares the
priesthood of all believers in 2:9)
Revelation 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the
deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate…15
So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which
thing I hate.
No matter how
great you think you are because of your money, your education, or any other
presumed worth you will die in a second and cease to have any influence on this
world. There is nothing you can do about it.
Ecclesiastes 8:8 There is no man that hath power over the
spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war;
neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
The powerful
wicked have no place to hide themselves. God can easily replace them with other
men. He knows their works and He can end all of their plans and devices. Their
destruction is plain and laid open for all to see because they ignored God’s
commandments and His instruction. Verse 23 is important in that God will never
do injustice to man, to give man an argument against His judgment. It is a rule
of existence, a law if you will, that whatever God commands or allows is just
and right, whether you see it as such or not. To argue or complain about it
like Job, no matter how painful it is, is to deny God’s sovereign rights over
your life, over your very soul.
God’s primary
reason for punishing the mighty, the rich, and the powerful, as manifested by
verse 28 is the mistreatment of the poor and suffering by the powerful. This is
backed up in many individual verses in the Bible because you didn’t do it on
your own. You aren’t so great.
1Samuel 2:7
The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.
If God chooses
to withdraw His hand of blessing from a nation there is no remedy and nations
and kingdoms are punished by God throughout history. Spain murdered millions in
its conquest of the Americas and persecuted the Jews, and is nothing important
today. Great Britain murdered millions as well, particularly in India, with its
policies in a time called the Late Victorian Holocaust, changed the law
favoring the Authorized Version of
the Bible, the King James Version, on
the mission field in 1904, tried to renege on its promise of Palestine as a
homeland for the Jews, and lost its empire within a generation. Germany had two
centuries of its scholars attacking the truth of the Bible, began two World
Wars, and suffered a horrible price for its hubris as a nation. The list goes
on and on. The Mongols had an empire that was larger in size than any other.
How powerful are the Mongols now on the world scene?
Isaiah 14:5
The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the
rulers.
What or who is
man that he should defy the God who created and manages all reality? If God
chooses to have mercy on a people He will not let wicked rulers have sway over them
for long before their house of cards crashes down. There was to be no thousand
year Reich, regardless of Hitler’s dreams.
So, here we
have, if it is wrong to cast aspersions against your rulers as wicked how much
more wrong is it to speak evil of God who rules over all things and disposes of
them including wicked rulers?
31 ¶ Surely it is meet to be said
unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: 32 That which I see not teach thou me: if I have
done iniquity, I will do no more. 33
Should it be according to thy mind? he will recompense it, whether thou
refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.
34 Let men of understanding tell me, and
let a wise man hearken unto me. 35 Job
hath spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. 36 My desire is that Job may be tried unto the
end because of his answers for wicked men. 37
For he addeth rebellion unto his sin, he clappeth his hands among us,
and multiplieth his words against God.
Elihu makes the
clear point here that it is meet (worthy or valuable to; compare Matthew 3:8
and Acts 26:20 with Luke 3:8 for use of word substitution to define words in
contrasting verses) to admit to God one has sinned and to repent of it, to
promise not to do it anymore. The essence of repentance is to change your mind
about something, to turn from one thing and to another. Here is the list of the
six primary principles of the doctrine of Christ listed in Hebrews, chapter
six.
1
¶ Therefore leaving the principles of
the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on
of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
In the Hebrews
6:1 you have repentance from dead works, for instance; the Pharisaic
extra-Biblical traditions, and to something; faith, which is trust and belief
in God, as the first principles. It is wise that a person heed God’s
admonitions and His warnings and repent of the sins he is committing, turn from
them, change his mind and his attitude about them, and obey God. Samuel said that
rebellion against God and stubbornness in your disobedience is the same as the
idolatry of witchcraft in his speech against King Saul.
1Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the
word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
God will
recompense obedience and disobedience, you choose. Job has spoken wrongly
against God.
Clapping hands
carries with it both a negative and a positive connotation in the Bible.
Psalm 47:1
« To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. » O
clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
-or-
Job 27:23
Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
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