Job 31:16-40 comments: Job finishes his defense

16 ¶  If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 17  Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 18  (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother’s womb;) 19  If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; 20  If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 21  If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: 22  Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. 23  For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

Job goes on to insist that he has been merciful and kind to the poor, the fatherless, and the widow who have not gone without food or clothing in his presence. He has shared his wealth and provided for those who had not. He has not judged against the fatherless in his place of judgment in the gate.

If he had done that he admits he would deserve to suffer physically and mentally from the judgment of a God, a judgment he could not stand against.

The Bible is replete with warnings about committing injustice against the poor. While it does attack sloth, impulsive behavior, and immoral behavior, which we all know can lead to poverty it also attacks the greed and selfishness that can accompany riches along with the pursuant corruption of government.

Micah 2:1 ¶  Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2  And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

Exodus 23:6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

Examples of modern wickedness that would correspond to this include the manipulation of people’s weaknesses and sin nature that keeps them poor. I would include the enticing of people with cheap and easy credit in the form of credit cards and loans from banks and merchants that keep them in bondage and oft-times ruins their credit standing. There are many other ways to manipulate the poor and to play on human weakness and our sin nature.

 I would include government seizing property without a trial against an individual when there are no criminal charges filed but based on the assumption a crime has been committed. I would include government and large businesses uniting to create regulations that inhibit competition and prevent the common person from starting his or her own business. I would include oppressive, contradictory, and redundant regulations that prevent a small businessman from hiring more people as he is forced to hire a number of specialized employees just to keep track of all of the regulations. I would include the many laws that interfere with private decisions and create labels for those convicted that make them a sub-class always unable to access the rights and opportunities of the ever-shrinking majority.

 There are many other ways to manipulate and exploit the poor, the common man or woman, and then to blame them for being lazy or unmotivated to do right. Job has taken the high ground in that he has neither denied the poor their necessary food and clothing nor exercised corrupt judgment against them in his role of governing. Job represents two sides of the good coin. As a private man of wealth he is very generous to the poor, even from his own property (see verse 20), and, in his role of governing (see verse 21) he has not oppressed or denied the cause of the poor.

In today’s political scene we have the Ayn Rand devotee representing some on the right who believes that assisting the poor is wrong and what’s mine is mine. On the left we have a supposedly benign government keeping the poor in their position as a voting bloc, perpetuating helplessness in the inner city and in Appalachia, and what has been called, “the welfare plantation.” All the while the right wing trumpets its Godliness and the left wing its commitment to raise the poor out of their misery. Both are lying through their teeth and are as wicked as they can be.

Isaiah 10:2  To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

James 2:6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Job says he deserves the judgment and wrath and punishment of God if he has oppressed or denied the poor.

    24 ¶  If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; 25  If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; 26  If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; 27  And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: 28  This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. 29  If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him: 30  Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. 31  If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. 32  The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.

Job has not put his hope in his wealth. It is God whom he has depended on. God warned the Hebrews;

Deuteronomy 8:11  Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: 12  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 13  And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; 14  Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage…

Solomon gave this warning to the young man;

Proverbs 11:28 ¶  He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

And Paul warned us;

1Timothy 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows…17  Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy…

Job did not make the error of denying God by worshipping as the heathen, the sun and the moon. Kissing one’s hand must have been a sign of such worship.

Verse 28 reminds us that until the rise of the Baptist and other Nonconformist and Separatist churches of the late Reformation period that civil government was often tasked with enforcing religious doctrine and punishing so-called heretics. This great evil of historical Christianity created a counterfeit strain of Christianity that became the dominant one, that of the state being God’s enforcement arm, or at least someone’s idea of God. It is still an ever-present danger in modern society as secular, atheistic religions like communism and macroevolution are added to the mix of faith traditions.

When a Christian is unable or unwilling to rightly divide the word (2Timothy 2:15) he will mistake the church’s mission on earth with that of ancient Israel in the past or Christ’s millennial kingdom in the future and start calling his country a Christian commonwealth and demanding that government be God’s agent on earth. This will inevitably result in unimaginable tyranny. Human organizations are composed of those who have a dominant personality and those who are submissive to them and such government set-ups are about who has the will to command and who has the will to follow and have nothing to do with God at all other than as a mere excuse. So it is in many churches.

    33 ¶  If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: 34  Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? 35  Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. 36  Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me. 37  I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him. 38  If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain; 39  If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: 40  Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

Job neither tried to cover his sins with a symbolic fig leaf nor blamed his wife for them as cowardly Adam did.

Genesis 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons…12  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Adam represents the weak man who blames his own wicked lust on women. If he sins against against a child or a woman in sexual matters it is because they enticed him, he says. Women are responsible for his sin because of the way they dress, he says. Such notions are wicked and evil. You own your sin. Anyone who tells you that you aren’t responsible for what you’ve done because someone else has caused you to do it, unless they had a gun to your head, is a liar and a charlatan and you would do well to avoid them.

Job wasn’t a typical politician, blown about by the perceived winds of the opinions of the masses. He didn’t base his standards on what was a popular belief or opinion, even that of his powerful peers. He judged righteous judgments.

In verse 35 Job wishes that God had written a book. Well, He did. We have it in our hands, given by inspiration of God, who imparted writers, copyists, and translators with wisdom and understanding to write and to preserve what God wanted us to have. (for example see Job 32:8; 2Timothy 3:16; 2Peter 3:15; Jeremiah 36:32; Acts 22:2; Genesis 42:23 and context.)

Do you bear God’s word figuratively on your shoulder as a tool or do you wear it figuratively as a crown? Job says that if he had a Bible he would do that. Do you think you are in less need of God’s word than Job? How do you even know why you believe what you believe? Because some “man o’ God” told you what to believe? Or because you have searched it out in the Scriptures  and God has confirmed it in your spiritual heart? What’s it going to be Christian? Do I hear the bleating of sheep or do I hear the chorus of men, women, and children praising God whose Holy Spirit speaks to them through His words in His Bible?

Job finishes with a protestation of his righteousness and a declaration that if he has done wrong or misused his power let catastrophe strike him. But his insistence is that he is a just and righteous man who has done no wrong and does not deserve the fate that God has assigned to him and that God has done him wrong. His friends have insisted that he must be guilty of terrible sins by virtue of what he has suffered. They are all going to find out just how wrong they are. We are about to learn, in this oldest of books written that is in the canon of the Bible, about the sovereignty of God and about His rights over our lives, our families, and our substance, and what is, indeed, just.

Job 31:9-15 comments: Job has been careful....

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……

Job chapter 31:1-8 comments: Job's covenant with his eyes

1 ¶  I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? 2  For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 3  Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? 4  Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? 5  If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; 6  Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. 7  If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; 8  Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

Job says in his continuing self-justification that he has purposed not to look at a young woman to dwell upon her with his thoughts. He insists that he has banished lustful looks and thoughts from his mind, making an agreement with his eyes.

It has been said that the step-by-step process whereby men sin goes from presentation, where a temptation is set before them, to illumination, where the realization that one’s thoughts are leading one astray, to debate, where in spite of knowing what you are thinking is wrong you continue in it. The debate, not the presentation, which you had no control over, or the illumination, where you realize your thoughts are going in the wrong direction, is where sin begins.

Christians are told that they are to bring every thought into subjection to Christ.

2Corinthians 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…

Jesus told his disciples that the look that encourages plans and pursuit is adultery as much as the despised action itself.

Matthew 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

For we know how King David was brought low by his gazing where his eyes should not have gone and the thinking that resulted from that.

2Samuel 11:2  And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

Job has declared a very powerful doctrine for himself, a personal conviction that requires intense discipline on his part as he does not have the Holy Ghost dwelling in him by the Spirit. In order for a Christian man to adopt this code for himself he needs the Spirit of God working in him through the Bible to keep him, to guard him, from sin. Anything he does by himself will still be a matter of working in the flesh and will probably fail. God has promised through Paul;

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

If you don’t refuse to be alone with a woman, to turn your head when temptation passes by, to keep your thoughts focused on fidelity to your own wife, to constantly seek to please the Lord, and submit to Him, and to recognize your own human frailty and sin nature without arrogance or self-righteous blindness then you will fall. I don’t care how much you say you love your wife. In a world of mixed workplaces where men and women spend hours together, of gyms where they work out together, of stores where they shop together, of entertainment venues where they enjoy exciting things together, guard your eyes, your mind, and your heart through Christ.

A man must take precautions to guard his heart and keep his eyes straight. He cannot take praise from women other than his wife seriously as flattery can lower his guard. He cannot have dinner with a woman alone as breaking bread together is a strong bonding influence. He cannot be a woman’s confidant and sounding board for the complaints of her life as that creates a bond, as well, with her. It is not that he should be fearful of women but that he should be aware of his own weaknesses and tendencies to sin. Disaster needs only one small hole in the dam for water to force its way through and all to be lost. A pastor or teacher who counsels a woman alone is throwing down a gauntlet to Satan and the man will lose most of the time.

Job is commending himself and following the standard set forth by God in Genesis in the first example of cloning.

Genesis 2:21 ¶  And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22  And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Job has no concubines, no mistresses, no additional wives of any kind or label but is faithful to his wife. This is in a world where such things as concubines were common, particularly for powerful men.

If you want to keep your heart pure you must guard your eyes. As Job says in verse 2, what can you expect from God if you don’t?

2Peter 2:14a  Having eyes full of adultery…

Every billboard, every television show, every movie, magazine, beach, or city street carries with it the potential for lustful, wandering eyes to awaken. Your sin is on you and no one else, though. You, man, are not a victim. You are simply living in a world where God is not honored. Don’t justify yourself by blaming women for your wickedness. Job said, “I have made a covenant with mine eyes…,” not, “I passed a law forbidding dresses that exposed the ankle.” Rape, adultery, and sexual abuse occur routinely even in lands where women are not permitted to walk the street unless covered from head to foot. The fault is within you, o man.

Job says that God sees everything and that Job welcomes God’s judgment of his righteous ways. He is not afraid to be weighed in the balance. Here, again, Job’s self-righteousness takes away from the example he sets. Were any Christian man to make this announcement his doom would be around the corner. Be careful what you say you will never do as that is a direct challenge to Satan and your wicked flesh.

Job believes that if he was weighed in a fair balance, and the implication here is that God has treated him unfairly, then he would be justified. If not, then he deserved having his wealth stolen and his children killed. Job, like his friends, believes in cosmic justice in the simplistic fashion of many conservative Christians and that if he is good then only good should come to him. Understand, God does not owe you anything. He is not lucky to have you on His team. For all of your outstanding, moral standards, your Godliness, your self-righteous nose in the air certainty you are still a sinner saved by grace, God’s mercy and favor which you did not deserve.

Isaiah 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Job chapter 30 comments: Job continues to lament his plight

1 ¶  But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. 2  Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished? 3  For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. 4  Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat. 5  They were driven forth from among men, (they cried after them as after a thief;) 6  To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. 7  Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together. 8  They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth. 9  And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. 10  They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. 11  Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. 12  Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. 13  They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. 14  They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters: in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me.

Here is Job’s counter to Eliphaz’s remark;

Job 15:10  With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.

Comparing these two verses we get the implication that there were other witnesses to what was happening to Job than just the ones involved in speaking. This would make sense based on Job’s importance to his community. Perhaps what Eliphaz was referring to were the elders over whom Job ruled and who were in awe of his wisdom but were in agreement with Job’s friends, as a community, that in order for this to have happened to Job he must have been guilty of something terrible.

Have you noticed how people tend to turn on a celebrity figure based on multiple accusations without court evidence or the chance of the accused’s attorney to question them. We may read or hear of many similar accusations and assume that they are true because they are many but consider this, that people who may, “come out of the woodwork,” may be part of a conspiracy to bring a powerful person down. Even minor, seemingly petty, accusations, when added to some heinous sins, make the whole situation seem worse. Of course, the person may be very guilty, but consider Job’s friends and the crowd of, “grayheaded and very aged men,” who are accusing Job of what they do not even know.

Job insults his friends, who are younger than him, by saying that his father would not have put them with the dogs that watched over his sheep. Shepherding is said to have been a lowly occupation and not held in very high esteem which is one reason why the angels appearing to the shepherds at Christ’s birth is a remarkable statement in Luke 2. That was a pretty blatant insult Job laid out, wouldn’t you say?

He continues the derogatory comments berating his friends as being the scum of the earth and yet they have the nerve to insult him, to spit in his face in a manner of speaking. They take advantage of his affliction and assault him in a despicable manner. Job is isolated emotionally now, feeling himself treated as an enemy of God, and alienated from his friends and peers. He looks around him and sees no one on his side. He is truly alone, in his own mind at least.

    15 ¶  Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. 16  And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. 17  My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. 18  By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. 19  He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. 20  I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not. 21  Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. 22  Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance. 23  For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living. 24  Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction. 25  Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? 26  When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. 27  My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. 28  I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. 29  I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. 30  My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. 31  My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

Job states that Terrors are after him, pursuing his soul, and his welfare is blown away like a cloud.

Leviticus 26:16  I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

Welfare as well-being rather than suffering is shown in the following verse.

Jeremiah 38:4  Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

His health is destroyed, God has thrown him in the mud and slime, and Job says that he has become like, another simile, “dust and ashes.”  Job cries to God and God doesn’t hear him and, in fact, is ignoring him.

Job insists that he has shown compassion for the person in trouble and for the poor, with one implication being that Job considers himself, at this point, with more of a heart for the suffering than his Creator. Mankind often looks at the course of history and, condemning God, thinks of himself as more humane, kind, and compassionate than his Creator. Humankind says, “I would not have let 20 million die of the Spanish flu during World War One,” or, “I would not let countless children in the third world starve to death.” It’s not only atheists and liberals who think this way. Every time you say, “God, how could you let this happen to me?” you are accusing God of sleeping on the job or not doing the duty you have assigned to Him.

Again, the issue is the sovereignty of God and His rights over all creation. Does the God of the Bible have the absolute right to dispose of your life, or your child’s life, or your spouse’s life, or your parent’s life as He sees fit and is all that is good based on His standard? Or, must the god you have created in your own mind, whom your preachers, ministers, and philosophers have invented bend to your will and do you set the standard for Him?

This is the essence of the struggle between the humanism of liberal Christianity that does not regard the written word of God as of primary or any importance or of the fundamentalist who regards God as a card-carrying Republican whose values are that of a 1950’s television sit-com or a Victorian era etiquette manual, versus a Bible-believer who wishes to submit to God’s will and accepts the standards and commands for his life set down in the Bible as his final authority in all matters of faith, practice, AND doctrine.

The answer is, and get this straight fundamentalists and liberals, there is a God and you aren’t Him, and neither is your government, your clergy, or your doctor, or your political party.

In verse 26 Job said he expected good and disaster came. Is not God also the author of disaster? Did not Job admit that early on?

Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Isaiah 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Job used a similar comparison for verse 29 back in 17:14.

Job 17:14  I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

There are comparisons in prophetic interpretation between fowls of the air and Satan and the devils and there are many connections to be made but that is a different study. See Psalm 102:6; Isaiah 13:21, 22, and compare with the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4. However, I’m not writing this to tickle your fancy for clever twists of prophecy or speaking this to tickle your ears. I’m trying to help you understand why God had the Book of Job placed in the Bible.

When Job talks about his skin turning black he is referring to the change that occurs in a famine caused by a siege, where the helpless citizen of a city starves to death.

Lamentations 5:10  Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.

Job’s metaphor of musical instruments has them compared to what his life has become, turning from playing a joyful noise to a funeral dirge.

Psalm 98:6  With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

This is also interesting because of the early Baptist (the 1600’s or 17^th century and throughout the next) conflict over singing and the use of musical instruments in worship. Baptists were initially opposed to them but eventually pastors convinced their congregations and other pastors that there was a Biblical warrant for men singing, then musical instrument accompaniment.(33) Influential Baptist pastors like Dan Taylor wrote books defending the use of music in praising God and, since women often sang beautifully and were part of the congregation, the participation of women in the worship service was a collateral consequence. I refer you to Dan Taylor’s A Dissertation on Singing in the Worship of God published in 1786 and the sequel which followed the next year.

(33) Macbeth, The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness, Kindle edition, ch. 2.

Job chapter 29 comments: Job's great example of goodness

1 ¶  Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 2  Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; 3  When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; 4  As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; 5  When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; 6  When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

Job goes into a time of remembering the good old days. Solomon reminded us;

Ecclesiastes 7:10  Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

We do this after a tragedy in our lives, remembering with perhaps a bit of the proverbial rose-colored glasses the former days. Job was, indeed, riding high at one time, a big family he loved, wealth, and health. All that appears to be over for him.

Oil and butter signify abundance. You can understand that in a culture that depended on animal and plant products not only for survival and but also as the source of its wealth. Oil was used for, among other things, light and for imparting some special significance.

Exodus 25:6  Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

    7 ¶  When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! 8  The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. 9  The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. 10  The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. 11  When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: 12  Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. 13  The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. 14  I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. 15  I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. 16  I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. 17  And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

Here Job shows us his position in his culture, a position of leadership and judgment. Those who ruled and judged sat in the gate and the gate of the city is the place from which judgment was issued.

2Samuel 15:2  And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

Amos 5:15  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

These are just two of many verses about judging in the gate. See also Genesis 19:1; Ruth 4; 2Samuel 18:24; 19:8; 2Chronicles 18:9; Daniel 2:49 and others. This gives us the sense of the verse following which means that the judgments of Hell will not prevail against the church.

Matthew 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Verses 8-11 reveal Job’s place of respect and power, perhaps even his kingship, in his culture. In 12 and 13 he remembers his own good deeds and his compassion. This makes you mindful of the Christian’s true expression of his faith, what James called undefiled, pure religion.

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Verse 14 has some interesting cross references;

Psalm 132:9  Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.

Isaiah 61:10 ¶  I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Revelation 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

This also represents an interesting take on the purpose of government in God’s eyes. First, we can look at Romans 13, that government is to punish evildoers. We can look at Joseph and his Pharaoh’s relationship with the welfare of the people in disastrous times and in preparing for those times. We can also see here in Job the requirement of good government to punish oppressors and to help the powerless.

    18 ¶  Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. 19  My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. 20  My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. 21  Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. 22  After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. 23  And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. 24  If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down. 25  I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.

Back in the day, Job thought that all of his goodness would produce a long life with prosperity and happiness. He did not look toward any complications or think that his expectations would be frustrated. Job speaks here of his wisdom and the reaction of people to it.

Here, Job speaks of himself by way of simile, using as, like a king and someone with the authority to comfort the poor and helpless. Was he a king? We don’t know but he certainly seemed to be some type of ruler, even if by virtue of his wealth only.

Notice in verse 18 the hyperbole where Job compares his expected days of life to the sand. This is obviously not literal as no one imagines that Job thought he would live for trillions of years on this earth in his present state. Here, hyperbole is used again in the Bible regarding sand.

Hebrews 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

While some would argue that this may be true in eternity as a prophetic statement it is certainly not literally true now.

From verse 19 we can cross reference to see how men are compared to trees elsewhere.

Psalm 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

And should give us a point of study in how the branch is used in Job elsewhere and in prophecy how Jesus is THE Branch.

Job 8:16  He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.

Job 14:7  For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

Job 15:32  It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.

Job 18:16  His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.

Isaiah 11:1  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

Zechariah 3:8  Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

Trees, branches, and roots are the center of very important comparisons made in the Bible, much like stones and rocks. It is a good idea to make a study of them that would not be appropriate here.

As we approach the end of Job’s arguments we see how Job spends a great many words exalting himself and reminding his friends of what a great man he really was. His speech continues as he manifests one trait of evangelical and fundamentalist Christians, the belief that if they live a Godly life, by their definition of Godly, then nothing bad should ever happen to them. If they were truthful about it they would admit that they think they’ve made some kind of deal with God. “I’ll be good and you, God, be nice.”

Job chapter 28 comments: God's control over natural processes

1 ¶  Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. 2  Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. 3  He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 4  The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. 5  As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. 6  The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. 7  There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen: 8  The lion’s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. 9  He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. 10  He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. 11  He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 12  But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 13  Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

In this first section of Chapter 28 Job discusses man’s efforts to dig into the earth as mining has a very ancient history and prehistoric mines have been located in Serbia, Swaziland, and Hungary, as well as other places. In verse 1, the word, “fine,” used to mean, among its other meanings, to make purer as in the word, refine. Here in the first two verses of chapter 28 we have precious metals and useful metals. Man goes to great length and is very clever in drawing out of the earth the treasures it holds for him.

Man makes great effort to bring light into the earth to see to search out anything precious and valuable in the rocks and travels in place where no beast has gone. He spares no effort to obtain that which he wishes in the earth. Fire setting and water had ancient uses in the efforts to mine the earth’s treasures and early man was quite clever and accomplished in his work to obtain them.

But, wisdom and understanding he has failed to find. Man doesn’t know their value and he cannot find them in this life.

Here, wisdom and understanding are shown to be synonymous, similar in meaning. There are over 50 verses in the Bible where wisdom and understanding are linked and there are also cross references between the two. For example, how did the men who wrote the Bible write? By what process?

2Timothy 3:16a  All scripture is given by inspiration of God…

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.

2Peter 3:15b  …even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

We are told to mine for wisdom and understanding deep within us.

Proverbs 2:2  So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3  Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4  If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

Psalms 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

The interior of a human being is likened to the heart of the earth where precious and useful things are found by God, something that can bring Him glory, the raw material on which the Holy Ghost works by the Spirit.

Psalm 139:15  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

But, man cannot find wisdom in this life without God.

Proverbs 16:16 ¶  How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Ecclesiastes 8:17  Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

    14 ¶  The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. 15  It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 16  It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 17  The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. 18  No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19  The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

Wisdom is not hiding in the depths of the earth, in some deep mine with gold and silver. It is not found at the bottom of the ocean. Man cannot purchase wisdom with gold or silver or precious stones. You can’t put it on one of your many credit cards.

Acts 3:6  Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

Christ is our wisdom.

1Corinthians 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God…30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

And He cannot be bought with money.

Acts 8:18  And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19  Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20  But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21  Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

Job’s statement in verse 18 is repeated in Solomon’s Proverbs.

Proverbs 8:11  For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

    20 ¶  Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 21  Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. 22  Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. 23  God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. 24  For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; 25  To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. 26  When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: 27  Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. 28  And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Job asks rhetorically, from where does wisdom come? Where is understanding found? It is hid from the eyes of all living things. Destruction and death, whom he personifies here, as he did with the depths of the earth and the sea earlier in a metaphorical way, do not know of wisdom firsthand.

God knows where wisdom is and He knows where understanding resides. One of the doctrines of God is not only His omniscience, knowing all things, but His omnipresence, being able to exist in all places, which is similar to immanence, being near to us at all times, while at the same time being transcendent or apart and above all things.

Here are some important points about science. Why do things seem to operate by order, by rules, most of the time and yet sometimes seem to defy those rules? How is that possible? There are many explanations when it comes to argument but the one explanation the Bible repeatedly makes is that God causes or God allows at all times and in all ways. He does not just set up a pattern. The pattern would not function without His intervention. God is not a watchmaker who wound up the universe and walked away. The sovereignty of God means that he not only made the watch but makes it operate, makes the gears turn so that physical laws only function as such because of God’s operation and that miracles or exceptions to those laws occur by the same fashion.

What about weighing the winds and weighing the waters? The air moved by the wind has weight and mass, an authority from the Argonne National Laboratory states at; http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00206.htm

Water vapor is an important component of the earth’s atmosphere and the atmosphere is the context of verse 25. It has weight varying by temperature and humidity. Of course, my explanations are simplifications of complicated processes of which, apparently, Job and his culture were aware.

Verse 26 explains that the water mentioned in the previous verse, evaporated water that condenses to form clouds that release water, as rain operates under God’s rules that He has put in place and upon which He acts. Job states the modern understanding of the relationship between water vapor and lightning, with thunder’s relationship to lightning, those relationships having been the source of much speculation throughout history. Verse 27 insists that God is the source of this activity. Remember the storm that killed Job’s children in chapter 1, verse 19. For wind and storm being synonymous see 21:28 and 27:21 and;

Mark 4:37  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

And also in Luke;

Luke 8:23  But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

This information about water in the atmosphere, rain, and lightning understood so long ago should not surprise the reader as Solomon refers to the hydrologic cycle in his writings.

Ecclesiastes 1:7  All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

The point Job makes here is very important for the Christian to understand. Natural events do not happen by themselves but are a direct consequence of God operating from the spiritual world in the physical world. So, the next time you hear a preacher or a scientist talk about either God putting in place processes that just work on their own without His touch or about the randomness of things like a tornado or a typhoon be aware that they are ignoring the Bible that insists that God acts constantly in the physical world to make things happen in ways we don’t understand but must acknowledge. We are not given the knowledge of a great many things but as we discover more and more details about natural processes more and more questions are raised. At the end of this part of Job’s argument he states something also of fundamental importance to mankind. Notice a comparison with verse 28 and Solomon’s Ecclesiastes 12:13 under the Law given to Moses.

The fear of the Lord, which is awe (Psalm 33:8), honor (Malachi 1:6), reverence (Hebrews 12:28), plus dread for many who live in disobedience to Him (Isaiah 8:13), is wisdom and to depart from evil, which is malicious speech (Ephesians 4:31;1Peter 2:1), causing trouble (James 3:16) , violent intentions (Genesis 37:20; Psalm 11:5), and even sin against God (Genesis 50:17) is understanding.

Job chapter 27:7-23 comments: a Christian's biggest problem

7 ¶  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous. 8  For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? 9  Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him? 10  Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

Job uses a proverbial statement here in the beginning of verse 7 similar to the following;

1Samuel 25:26  Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.

2Samuel 18:32  And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.

David 4:19 ¶  Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

Job says to let those who oppose him suffer the fate of the unrighteous and the wicked. Let those hypocrites, and we can presume this is a backhanded stab at his friends, realize that they have gained nothing when God has taken their souls, which is quite a threat.

As Jesus said;

Matthew 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Verse 9 is a warning.

Psalm 18:41  They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

Speaking of verse 10, remember how King Saul disobeyed God and then could not get God’s blessing on what he did because of his disobedience and how paranoid and miserable he became. In this context the modern Christian must be aware that every time he or she gives in to the sin that so easily besets them, whether it is based in pride or even lust, they have a hard time experiencing the closeness they feel to Christ at other times. Each time the hypocrite falls to their own weakness for sin while pointing their fingers at others they feel more and more separated from grace and mercy. It is inevitable. They may still talk a good game, come to meet with the church, and give liberally of their money and time but they become more and more wrapped up in their own self-righteousness and their own convictions as the standard for how they judge other people’s behavior. You might even find them harping on a particular sin like homosexuality repeatedly and vehemently. If you turn over THAT rock you may find what THEY are being consumed by.

    11 ¶  I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 12  Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain? 13  This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty. 14  If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. 15  Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep. 16  Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; 17  He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver. 18  He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh. 19  The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 20  Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night. 21  The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. 22  For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. 23  Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Job’s going to teach his friends a lesson, he promises. He’s not going to hold anything back from them. Remember what Paul told the elders of the church of Ephesus when he told them of how he instructed them going from house church to house church in that city teaching.

Acts 20:20  And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

You yourselves have seen this and you have no excuse for not knowing what I am going to tell you, he says. What a wicked man has to look forward to, his heritage, is the death of his children by war or famine. When they die their widows won’t even mourn for them they will have been so wicked. The wicked man, and in Job wickedness is often referred to regarding those who have gained wealth at the expense of their poorer brethren, can heap up wealth for his children but others will benefit from it. God’s judgment will destroy him in this life and other men will mock his sorrow. So, here Job is agreeing with his friends on the fate of the wicked while all the time insisting he is not in that number.

Job and his friends both agree to what they consider to be fair and just treatment of the wicked in this life. Although, Job has stated that often the wicked seem to prosper, as did other Bible writers, he and his friends state with certainty that, in the end, the bad will lose and the good will win. Job’s struggle is with his own appraisal of his goodness and how what has happened to him causes him a crisis of faith. How many times would Christians say in their heart of hearts when a child dies, they lose their job and their home and their credit standing, or when a horrible disease comes knocking, “oh, Lord, this is too much to bear. Why have you done this to me?” or perhaps, “how can there really be a God if this is allowed to happen to me, as faithful as I’ve been?”

The issue at hand is the sovereignty of God and His right to all facets of your life, whether it be your worship, your submission, your loved ones, your wealth, or your health. We have a problem with a sovereign, absolute God, whenever we see an Islamist radical beheading, a riot in the streets of an American city, or a court ruling we don’t like just as much as we have a problem with that same sovereignty when someone we love dies young, we are scammed in an internet sting, or our doctor tells us we have cancer.

The problem lies with us, not with God.