Job 17: 10-16 comments: dead religion

10 ¶  But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you. 11  My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart. 12  They change the night into day: the light is short because of darkness. 13  If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. 14  I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. 15  And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? 16  They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust.

For some final thoughts on this chapter, note that Job’s friends might as well go home. He hasn’t found any wisdom in them. His days are over and his plans are at an end. He can’t even think anymore. In this most poetic language Job references the destructive agents that feed on death as his parents and siblings. He has no hope and the grave is his destination. The worm is a reference to creatures that devour decaying flesh. Notice the continuing destruction promised for those in the Lake of Fire that extends out into endless eternity.

Isaiah 66:24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Three times at the end of the Gospel According to Mark Jesus references this verse in Isaiah. In Psalm 22, the Psalm Jesus began to recite from the Cross (Matthew 27:46), showing us its prophetic importance, it says;

Psalm 22:6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

Jesus became sin for us.

2Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Perhaps one reason for the metaphor of the worm that feeds on dead flesh is the fact that all human religion feeds on dead flesh. We must repent, turn from what we have been depending upon to justify us, get us to a version of heaven, if you will, and turn to faith in God and what He did for us to get us to the real Heaven. The Pharisees, the Jews, had created a large body of extra-Biblical rules they demanded to be followed to be “good” Jews. These were not of God but were called by Jesus, “your tradition.” We must repent of our wicked dependence upon these traditions.

Matthew 15:1 ¶  Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7  Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

This is one of the Biblical fundamentals for Christians.

Hebrews 6:1  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,

We, too, if we depend on our belief in what we consider proper behavior for a Christian that is not found in the Bible to justify us, need to repent of our dead works and turn to Christ to be saved. Whether you have a fetish about men not doing housework or that women must have long hair and wear long dresses to be “good” Christians or whether you believe, like a medieval Catholic, that the House of God, the Church, is a building and not the people of God, and you depend on beliefs such as that to justify you as a Christian you need to repent of your dead works and turn to Christ. Your convictions are good and every person and every church must have convictions and standards, as long as you don’t make them the standard by which you judge the value to God of other Christians who don’t have those convictions.

The worm feeds on dead flesh. The spiritual worm feeds on dead religion. Jesus took that away from us by becoming sin for us. Why do we persist on such an unGodly spiritual diet? Better to feed on the sweet and life-giving substance of God’s word than a rotting corpse, wouldn’t you say, Pharisee?

Job 17:1-9 comments: misrepresenting God

1 ¶  My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me. 2  Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation? 3  Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me? 4  For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them. 5  He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail. 6  He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret. 7  Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow. 8  Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite. 9  The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.

Job continues his defense against Eliphaz’s second turn at attacking him. He states that his own breath contains corruption, or rather that he is dying.

Job 6:11  What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life?

His sorrowful lament, which we learn later is not prophetic and is incorrect so take that hyper-literalist, is reflected in one of the Psalms not attributed to David.

Psalm 88:3  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. 4  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: 5  Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

It is important to understand that the Bible says that the writers wrote by the wisdom and understanding given to them by God.

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 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

So, the Bible writers were not taking dictation like a secretary in older times might. They, for the most part with a few exceptions as in the writings of the prophets, were writing based on the understanding and wisdom given to them by God. This leaves room for us to see things that were incorrect based on fear, depression, uncertainty, and frustration.

The following, as an example, are not God’s words but the writers’.

Jeremiah 20:7 ¶  O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. 8  For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. 9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

He comes around and his faith triumphs as is evident a couple of verses later but you can see that he relayed his negative thoughts to us. Why do we have these things and not just a book full of God’s wisdom?

Understanding that the doctrine of preservation by God of the words of these writers is as important as the doctrine of inspiration…

Psalm 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7  Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Psalm 119:89  LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Psalm 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

…And what does God’s written word do for those who are saved. It teaches…

Romans 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

It imparts doctrine, reproves, corrects, and instructs.

2Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

It keeps us from sin.

Psalm 119:11  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

It sanctifies or sets us apart for God’s service.

John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

There are many other things it does as well.

But, why are these words of Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and others that say things that go against God’s doctrine such as, “the tabernacles of the robbers prosper,” in Job 12:6 preserved? It is through showing us that others before us have had the same grief, doubt, fear, uncertainty, and even depression as we do that another of God’s purposes for His word is accomplished.

2Corinthians 1:4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Take comfort and comfort others with God’s word for we know that our worry, our anxiety, and our struggles have not been experienced by us alone. God knows our frailty and how hard and uncertain life can be and He is there for us.

Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

…And who He is and His strength and His grace toward us is revealed to us in our weakness…

2Corinthians 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

So, don’t be afraid to pray the prayer of the man whose son had an evil spirit in him.

Mark 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

God’s power and His love are best revealed in your weakness and complete dependence upon Him for your next corrupt breath.

Job says his days are finished and the graves of his forefathers wait for him. His friends mock him and he has no choice but to take it. In verse 3 Job again is looking for a legal mediator between himself and God. We are justified before God by Jesus Christ, who makes intercession for us, in opposition to Satan, who accuses us. Satan accuses us of crimes of which we are indeed guilty and Christ declares us innocent because He has paid the price. We are justified, declared righteous before God and no longer in a state of rebellion, by our belief and faith in the resurrection of Christ.

Romans 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered…27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God…34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Revelation 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

1Corinthians 15:3  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

Romans 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Jesus is the propitiation, the offering that satisfies God’s wrath on mankind, the substitute for our deserved punishment for our rebellion against Him. By belief and faith in Him we are declared righteous.

Romans 5:19  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Romans 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

And who do you confess this to? A priest? The county sheriff?

Romans 14:11  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Philippians 2:11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Job’s friends flattered him, pretended to comfort him if he would just take their advice. But, they made him a joke. Here is a man who has suffered horrible circumstances and those people he trusted to comfort him have made him an example of what happens to a hypocrite, an actor, a faker. He believes, though, that truly good men will see through the charade, the easily seen pretense of the self-righteousness of Job’s friends.

We sin when we do this to others. We sin when we do this to ourselves. You, who did everything you knew to do to raise your children rightly, as you understood it, when one of them goes astray you, rather than understanding that each of them and us are independent moral agents accountable to God and on their own path, choose to blast yourself and try to search out all of the things you did wrongly. Sometimes, that is a pointless and wasteful task, one of the dangers of looking backwards and assuming knowledge you don’t have.

We can do this when we look at someone who is suffering horribly, as well. We presume that we know, we have special knowledge from God that they must have harbored some secret sin they hid from us, that caused this trial to come upon them. Presuming knowledge about God’s purpose and intentions that you don’t have is misrepresenting God. You need to repent of that sin. We can see a cause and effect in obvious things. Sin, like defiling your body with cigarettes, can lead to cancer. Sin, like adultery, destroys lives. We are all sinners, saved by grace, deserving of Hell. Sin always, when left unchecked, turns us away from God, and even if there were no chastisement from God, can burn us up. But, admit it, you often don’t know why something has happened. When you pronounce that you do, you are only guessing.

Your job as a Christian is to comfort, to minister to, and to care for as much or more than it is to reprove sin and error. You must never accept sin but you remember, one, that mercy rejoices over judgment (James 2:13), and, two, in the context of the book of Job, ignorance is no excuse for acting in bad faith and misrepresenting God.

Job 16:6-22 comments: Job's desolation

6 ¶  Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased? 7  But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company. 8  And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face. 9  He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. 10  They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me. 11  God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. 12  I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. 13  His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. 14  He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant. 15  I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. 16  My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

    17 ¶  Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure. 18  O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place. 19  Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. 20  My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. 21  O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour! 22  When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

Although in verse 5 Job insists that he would asswage his friends grief his grief has not been asswaged by them. Forbear means is to refrain from doing something. See;

1Kings 22:6b…Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

…and again;

1Corinthians 9:6  Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

Job says in verse 6, “though I speak,” and then in the parallel phrase at the end of the verse, “though I forbear.” So, in the context he says, if I speak my grief is not restrained and even if I refrain from speaking what good does it do me? It doesn’t matter whether I vent my feelings or keep my mouth shut I’m still in agony and, to you guys, both my talk and my silence make me guilty of some horrible sin to deserve this that is happening to me. In other words, “I can’t win for losing.”

In verse 7 Job cries that God has made him tired of his life and emptied that life of his family, his wealth, and his health. Desolate’s definition in the Bible is empty;

Genesis 47:19  Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

Exodus 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

Notice back in chapter 15 of Job a clear definition;

Job 15:28  And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.

Desolate also refers to a woman with no husband as there being no welfare state in those days, a mother would expect to be taken care of by her sons in her old age, such as it was.

Isaiah 54:1  Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

Alluded to by Paul;

Galatians 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.

Notice a comparison in verses 8-11 with Christ’s suffering for our sins, for although Job is speaking of God doing these things, we know that God allows the actions of evil men to sometimes accomplish His purpose chapter one. As Jesus became sin for us God turned Him over to the wicked to punish, although, much moreso than Job, He was not guilty.

Psalm 37:12  The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

Job says in verse 12 that he was doing okay, everything was going good, and then out of nowhere this trouble came, and we can see that as we read. He says that God has set him up for his mark, using again the imagery of being shot at by God’s arrows.

Job 6:4  For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Verse 14 shows us that giants still existed after the Great Flood. It is important to note that in this verse before the Flood of Noah the words, “and after that.”

Genesis 6:4  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

This line of genetic freaks existed even in the days when the Hebrews marched in to take the land of Canaan away from incestuous, bestiality-practicing, temple prostitution worshipping, child-sacrificing Canaanites.

Numbers 13:33  And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Deuteronomy 2:11  Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims…20  (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;

Deuteronomy 3:11  For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. (This measurement could be anywhere from 13.5 feet long to 18 feet long. Just imagine.)

The use of, “horn,” in verse 15 is interesting where Job uses the phrase, “defiled my horn in the dust.” Horn, such as the horn of a Rhinoceros, called a Unicorn in the Bible, is a symbol of strength, and so represents the strength of a man. We’ll get to that in more detail later when God Himself speaks. This is in addition to the common expression of an instrument that makes a sound.

1Samuel 2:10  The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Psalm 18:2  The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 89:17  For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

Again in verse 17 Job states that he is innocent and that his prayers are pure. In 18 he pleads with the very earth that he be heard and in 19 that heaven knows the truth of what he is saying. Here in 19 we have an example of how the Bible defines itself as a witness is a record of something that has happened. When you bear witness you bear record.

1John 5:10  He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

A record is also a testimony which can refer, depending on the context, to events that have not yet happened but will.

Revelation 1:1 ¶  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Revelation 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Job’s friends scorn him and he cries out to God.

Psalm 6:1 ¶  « To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. » O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2  Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3  My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4  Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. 5  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? 6  I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. 7  Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

In 21 Job pleads for what we have; someone to make intercession for us to God. We have Jesus Christ.

1Timothy 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Hebrews 7:22  By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 23  And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24  But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26  For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27  Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28  For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

The Lord Jesus Christ is mankind’s only bridge to God being God Himself in the flesh.

Hebrews 1:1 ¶  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Colossians 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God….

Soon, Job laments, all that is left for him is death.

Job 16:1-5 comments: Job wouldn't do this to them if the roles were reversed

  1 ¶  Then Job answered and said, 2  I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. 3  Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? 4  I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. 5  But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

An important fact about the way this Bible is written is the way it uses the words for singular you; thee, thou, and thine, and the words for the plural you; you, ye, and your. In other words when a Bible speaker is referring to thee he is talking about an individual. When he is referring to you he is talking about a group. This can change the meaning from what we who aren’t used to using thee and thine think it is.

For instance;

Genesis 17:9  And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. 10  This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

God tells Abraham that he is to keep the covenant and also those of his descendants are to do the same. Then God says that they all are to keep this covenant that is between God and them, defined as Abraham’s seed after him. All of the male children were to be circumcised. This distinction of singular and plural you may not seem important but it changes the meaning of some important passages from what we are taught by newer, less literal Bibles.

For instance;

Luke 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

In this passage Jesus declares that Satan has requested the permission to attack the Apostles, the two you’s of verse 31. But, Jesus has asked of the Father that Peter’s faith be strengthened so that he can support the others. Still, though, Peter will fail, as you will soon see if you read the rest of the narrative.

This use of thee and you is a subtle difference but important in understanding. The King James translators revived the practice of using thee and thou in this way as by their time those words may only have indicated intimate speech as in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet when Juliet says, “Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo?” as she laments his being a Montague. (Wherefore means why). (27)

So, here in Job, chapter 16, Job says his friends are terrible at the job of comforting someone and then accuses Eliphaz of vain words. He then says that he could treat them all as they have treated him if the roles were reversed but that he wouldn’t do to them what they are doing to him. He insists he would comfort them.

Asswage means to restrain or abate.

Genesis 8:1 ¶  And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; 2  The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; 3  And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

See, the Bible is not “rocket science” if you will just take the time to read it carefully rather than just having someone spoon-feed bits and pieces to you. Learn to feed yourself, Christian, on this amazing book that your Creator had His hand in and wants to speak to you through. You’re looking rather gaunt and hungry spiritually.

Job’s declaration that he would not do to his friends what his friends have done to him is a fundamental of Christianity. It goes against the idea of revenge and paybacks that our culture teaches us from birth, particularly young men who would feel dominated if they didn’t return evil for evil. There are no inferior people, only inferior cultures. Cultures that accept cruelty, abuse, or exploitation of women, children, or animals as okay behavior for a man are inferior, for example. If your culture admires revenge then it is wicked and you should take your mind out of it.

As Jesus said on occasion;

Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Matthew 7:12 ¶  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Luke 6: 27 ¶  But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28  Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29  And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. 30  Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. 31  And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

And Paul;

Romans 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now, that’ll keep a young man who thinks he’s “all that and a bag of chips,” out of church, won’t it, probably many a young woman, as well? Job insists that he would not do the hurt to his friends that they have done to him if the situation was reversed. Can you honestly claim that when you are hurt by a brother or a sister?

(27) William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, (1597, repr., Berkely, CA: Belmont Press, 2012), Kindle edition, Act 2, Scene 2.

Job 15:17-35 comments: Eliphaz continues to misrepresent God

17 ¶  I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare; 18  Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: 19  Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them. 20  The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. 21  A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. 22  He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword. 23  He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. 24  Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. 25  For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty. 26  He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers: 27  Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks. 28  And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. 29  He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth. 30  He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away. 31  Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence. 32  It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green. 33  He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. 34  For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. 35  They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

In verses 17-19 Eliphaz sets the scene for the rest of his argument by stating, “I will shew thee,” and, “that which I have seen I will declare.” This is to lend credibility to the argument in that it represents his own personal experience. I thought it might be interesting to see how the gospel historian, Luke, presented his narrative.

Luke 1:1 ¶  Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, 2  Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; 3  It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 4  That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

Luke’s writing is based not on his eyewitness but on the reports he received from others who were eyewitnesses and heavily involved in the events he relates. When he begins writing his history, The Acts of the Apostles, or just, Acts, he is reporting many events which he personally witnessed. Of course, we believe that Luke was probably one of the few historians in the historiography of the Bible events whose writing was given by inspiration (2Timothy 3:16) which means that God gave him wisdom and understanding (Job 32:8; 2Peter 3:15). This is no way means that Luke took dictation from God but wrote according to his own style and learning as God uses men and women to accomplish His purposes most of the time.

Notice how the apostle John underscores the reliability of his testimony.

1John 1:1 ¶  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2  (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Eliphaz also underscores the credibility of what he is about to say by insisting that the ancients knew it and passed it down from generation to generation so that these statements he is going to make are timeless truths and not his own invention.

Psalm 78:1 ¶  « Maschil of Asaph. » Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2  I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3  Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 4  We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. 5  For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 6  That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 7  That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8  And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

Eliphaz argues in opposition to Job’s statement in 9:24 when Job says, “the earth is given into the hand of the wicked.” In Eliphaz’s view in verse 19 the earth is given to God’s people and them alone. The wicked are always punished and do not thrive for long. Eliphaz would represent the postmillennial thought of the 1900’s in America, the view that mankind or rather the part of it that was Christian would rule the earth. The evangelical ideal in 1900’s America was that the horrifying end of human history would came after a golden age of Christianity’s domination of the earth and before Christ’s return.(24) There were sermons about America being the great mountain in Daniel 2 that crushed the other kingdoms and filled the whole earth and how America was the Promised Land now. I have copies of sermons preached in Congress that state such things before the Civil War.

This manner of interpretation of the last times as expressed in the Bible was confronted as the La Belle Epoque and the Gilded Age when Christians and non-Christians truly believed that humanity was going to usher in a glorious reign of peace, prosperity, scientific discovery, and understanding ended with World War One. The thought almost died out by 1936.

But, essentially, American evangelicals believed that Christianity would be instrumental in ushering in this new age, that good people looked good, and that bad people were always punished by poverty, sickness, or whatever other miseries confronted human beings. As this superficial Christianity blossomed American Christians swapped the God of the Bible out and took the government of the people as His replacement so much so that President Woodrow Wilson’s mentor at Johns Hopkins University, Richard Ely, would say;

Now, it may rationally be maintained that, if there is anything divine on earth, it is the State, the product of the same God-given instincts which led to the establishment of the Church and of the Family. It was once held that kings ruled by right divine, and in any widely accepted belief, though it be afterwards discredited, there is generally found a kernel of truth. In this case it was the divine right of the state. (25)

By placing the kind of thinking that Eliphaz presents in historical context I am trying to bring this way of thinking closer to home. Christians in America often viewed disaster, poverty, and illness as a judgment and many still do. People are poor because they are inferior. People are sick because they are being punished for their sins. Disasters that happen must be a judgment on the local area or the nation at large. It is inconceivable to this type of Christian to accept that bad things happen because we live in fallen bodies in a fallen world that cannot hope for anything but Christ’s return to straighten it out.

In this type of thinking, everyone is a Christian, or should be, so you can justify screaming at people on the street for their wicked sins of which many don’t even understand as anything more than a vague feeling that their lives are just screwed up and they don’t know what to do. In postmillennial thinking everyone should be getting with the program and behaving properly as we move the world onto establishing “the kingdom” on earth.

As an example of this thinking the bloodbath that was the American Civil War, the six hundred thousand dead, the tens of thousands of former slaves that starved to death at the end of the war, the twelve years of misery for southern whites, and the ensuing century of continuing misery for African-Americans in America would just be glory-glory-glory-hallelujah-his-truth-is-marching-on as America walked bravely through the millennium.

The so-called “Protestant Ethic” that saw a connection between being close to God and being a worldly success, focused on individualism and helping oneself as the key to salvation and riches, included extreme patriotism that declared America as God’s favored nation. As one author put it, “In the end, it was less a search for redemption than a form of national self-congratulation.” (26)

Of course, this attitude led to disbelief in God and worship of the state in His place. As a president-to-be criticized liberals in his 2006 Call to Renewal speech for surrendering religious faith as the great instigator of social change and noted how the great liberals of the 19^th century had all been believers, so history tells us that the expectation that government is God’s agent on earth for bringing in the kingdom results in atheism. Let that be a warning to conservatives who want government to enforce the dictates of the Bible on unbelievers rather than focusing on the Bible changing believers. The great danger of the modern liberal is that they think they are going to make a perfect world, at gunpoint, by theft, extortion, and governmental power. The great danger of the modern conservative is that they want a government composed of only Christians, as Mike Huckabee recently said, the resulting theocracy of which would be a nightmare for true worship as church/state combinations always are. Whose version of Christianity shall we submit to?

I am taking the following verse out of its context to ask a question.

Luke 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Eliphaz and friends looked down their noses at Job like a late 19^th century Boston Brahmin would have looked down on a beggar. “You can’t be where you are unless you’ve just been wicked. Just look at how God has blessed me. Wealth proves I’m Godly. Poverty and suffering prove you aren’t.”

Eliphaz continues his diatribe against suffering Job explaining how the wicked always get bashed about and can’t possibly win in this life. They are cut off in their prosperity because they are in opposition to God and they go wandering, begging for bread. There are some interesting statements in Eliphaz’s speech that could be linked to the destruction of the Beast in Revelation.

Compare verse 30 with Eliphaz’s statement in 4:9;

9  By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

And Paul’s statement about the end times.

2Thessalonians 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Also, “the congregation of the hypocrites,” and, “tabernacles of bribery,” are awesome images and clever accusations against Job.

In verse 35 we are reminded of warnings from Paul, first about false Christians;

Philippians 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

..and those who would deceive the naïve Christian;

Romans 16:18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Eliphaz continues to misrepresent God by taking truth and oversimplifying and misapplying it in willful, self-righteous ignorance like many modern Christians.

(24) James H. Moorhead, “The Erosion of Postmillennialism in American Religious Thought, 1865-1925,” Church History 53, no. 1 (March 1984), 61-62.

(25) Gary M. Pequet and Clifford M. Thies, “The Shaping of a Future President’s Economic Thought: Richard T. Ely and Woodrow Wilson at “The Hopkins,” The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy 15, no. 2 (Fall 2010): 262, 266.

(26) Alonzo L. Hamby, Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. to Bush (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 120.

 

Thoughts on being a Bible-believer versus a Fundamentalist

A Bible-believer must read the Bible, maintaining a dialogue with the author of it, hearing Him speak through it and the believer speaking to Him in prayer. He will change the believer's heart about sin, taking things out of him or her that God wants gone from their life so that they won’t even be interested in them anymore and adding things that He wants from the believer. The primary fallacy of fundamentalism is the humanistic belief that you have to, "get right with God," ...or come to church and, "do business with God." The Bible-believer knows that he or she is helpless to effect the kind of change by their own self-will that God can cause. I believe that this is why so many people pray a prayer, have an emotional moment, and then go away never to darken the door of a church again. You cannot by your own good intentions, your determination to do right, or your Christian guilt accomplish anything worthwhile for Christ. Fundamentalists spend so much time telling God how worthless they are that they don't hear what He is telling them through His Spirit and theirs.

John 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Psalm 119:11  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Job 15:1-16 comments: Eliphaz's second verbal thrashing of Job

1 ¶  Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, 2  Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? 3  Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? 4  Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God. 5  For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. 6  Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee. 7  Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? 8  Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? 9  What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us? 10  With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father. 11  Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? 12  Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, 13  That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? 14  What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15  Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. 16  How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

As Eliphaz returns to attack Job a second time he restates the principles of what he has stated previously. Basically, he start out by saying Job is full of wind and vain. Job’s talk is useless. Eliphaz condemns Job’s manner of speaking and efforts to justify himself. He points out that Job’s own words condemn him. What does Job know that his three friends don’t? He doesn’t have any more wisdom or understanding than they do. Eliphaz claims they are older than even Job’s father, an assumption that wisdom comes with age automatically.

The gray head is a crown of glory if that person pursues righteousness.

Proverbs 16:31  The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.

Elderly Christians are called to a certain state of mind.

Titus 2:2  That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

There is an arrogance here with Eliphaz, assigning wisdom to a person by virtue of their age rather than their actions and speech. An elderly person who has rejected Christ’s free offer of eternal life is just as much or more of a fool than a young one.

Eliphaz is dismayed that Job has not taken their effort to show him the error of his thinking more seriously. He has not taken the “consolations of God” very seriously. However, they gave advice, spoke some true things, even some very profound things, but misapplied them to Job without knowing the whole story. Why does Job, Eliphaz says, think he is privy to some secret knowledge that the others don’t have?

Paul also dealt with pious men who misapplied God’s truths.

Galatians 2:1 ¶  Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. 2  And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. 3  But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised: 4  And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: 5  To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. 6  But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:

An alternative, possibly more likely, interpretation of verse 10 is found in the comments on chapter 30, that there are other venerable and aged witnesses to this entire encounter with Job and his three friends besides the writer, Elihu.

He asks Job why he is so scornful, why his heart and his words are turned from God. Come on, Job, we’re all born sinners, no man is righteous. God doesn’t put any trust in His people, even the Heavens aren’t pure in His sight, Eliphaz says. This is true. We are all sinners and the universe bears the decay and taint of sin.

However, Eliphaz knows nothing of imputed righteousness. Speaking of Abraham, Paul said;

Romans 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

    23 ¶  Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

The righteousness of Christ, who is God in the flesh, the visible image of the invisible God, is imputed to you who believe and when God sees you He sees Christ’s righteousness in regard to salvation. You are justified by belief in Christ’s resurrection, by believing what He has said about Himself, and trusting in Him for eternal life.

Verse 16 is great. We do drink iniquity like water, in our flesh. We lust after sin, in our flesh. The more educated and refined you are, the more refined your taste for slurping up wickedness.

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Our heart is so eager to do sin, it is desperate. We are like people trapped in a fire in a building who are so desperate to get out we will drag those who attempt to rescue us, in our panic, to their death. The natural human condition, without Christ, is to consume sin until we burn out from it and die in it. Whether it be the garden variety of wickedness like drunkenness and adultery or more subtle things like pride and self-righteousness sin is sin and it is always against God.

But, we are legally justified before God by our faith in Christ. We have also been freed from the power of sin over us. We have no excuse if we have been born again and should be even more thankful that God has forgiven us and is still forgiving us for all practical purposes as He molds us, sanctifies us, into what He wants us to be if we are submitting to Him.

A point can be made here again that to consider that someone else’s or even your own suffering or misfortune is caused by something you did without any certain cause and effect knowledge is foolishness. Fundamentalists are notorious for seeing tragedies like a child being hit by a car and ascribing the event to some disrespectful thing he must have said to his parents. This kind of magical thinking, pretending to have a knowledge of God’s intentions that one doesn’t possess is warned against repeatedly in the very first book of the Bible that was put to ink and paper. Do you wonder why God is stressing this point over and over again? Why do you think God wants you to understand that you can take the truth of God and misapply it assuming knowledge you do not have?

The people referenced in the following passage spoken by Jesus actually think they are doing right. Have you ever considered something in your head that was sincere and heartfelt but assumed knowledge you didn’t possibly have and misrepresented God in the process?

John 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.