Continuing a Bible study of Job:
(Job 29:1) 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 shone 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 tent; (5) When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were around me; (6) When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me;"
Job longs for the time when he felt God's presence all about him, when his family was still with him, and when he felt blessed by God in all that he did. Butter and oil flowing abundantly indicates a rich life.
(7) "When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!"
I looked to the old theologians and Bible historians who explained that Job was a magistrate. Courts of justice were held at the gates or entrances to cities. There Job took his seat as a judge. Even if this is an assumption not apparent in the scripture, at the very least, it means that Job was very open and seen in public, and as he will go on to say, very well respected.
(8) "The young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged arose and stood up; (9) The princes refrained from talking, and laid their hands on their mouths; (10) The nobles held their peace, and their tongues cleaved to the roofs of their mouths."
Young and old alike, and even noblemen, gave Job the ultimate respect, in the public square.
(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 who cried out, and the fatherless, and him who had none to help him. (13) The blessing of him who was ready to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy."
Job insists he helped the poor and defenseless, and they praised him. This is in response to his friends' assertions that he oppressed people and "sent widows away empty".
(14) "I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my judgment was like a robe and a diadem."
Job says he was clothed from head to toe in righteousness as with a robe and turban, and therefore judged righteously.
(15) "I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. (16) I was a father to the poor, and the cause which I knew not I searched out."
Job was the defender of the blind, lame, and poor. Any cause that was brought before him, he thoroughly examined in order to judge fairly.
(17) "And I broke the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth."
Job had rescued the poor and defenseless from the wicked, who are portrayed as beasts of prey.
(18) "Then I said, 'I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.'"
Job said to himself and believed that he would live a long contented life, safe and secure in his home. The KJV does not use quotation marks to indicate exactly what Job was saying. The NKJV and other newer translations use quotation marks around verses 18, 19, and 20, as if they were all part of one quote from Job. As verse 18 is in the future tense, and the other two verses are in the past tense, I believe that Job made the brief comment in verse 18 about how he felt secure, and then went on to explain why in verses 19 and 20.
(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."
Like a healthy tree by the waters, Job flourished and prospered. His glory and strength were continually refreshed and renewed. I see that the KJV added the "was" in verse 19 and the first "was" in verse 20 for clarity. The NKJV, NIV, and other translators of newer texts, decided the word should be "is" and included it as part of Job's quote started in verse 18. Although that might could have been understandable if those were the only verbs in the verses, I still maintain that verses 19 and 20 are in the past tense, as indicated by "lay" in verse 19 and the second "was" in verse 20.
(21) "Men listened to me and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. (22) After my words they did not speak again, and my speech dropped upon them."
Interestingly, the word translated as "dropped" also means prophesied, so men listened to Job as he prophesied to them. I am seeing Job's quote a little differently now. He may not have been talking about his personal comfort, glory, and strength, but judging by verse 21, he may have been feeling confident and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God!
(23) "And they waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouths wide as for the spring rain."
The men were as eager for a word from Job as a thirsty land was for water.
(24) "If I laughed at them, they did not believe it, and the light of my countenance they did not cast down."
I suppose because they gave Job's words such respect and the words carried so much weight and importance, that even if he were to be casual and joking, they wouldn't believe he was joking, but would take every word very seriously. Perhaps it just means simply that if Job were to laugh at them, they would not be offended.
(25) "I chose their way for them, and sat as chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one who comforts the mourners."
Job was their guide and counselor. He may have meant literally that he was their chief and king as supreme magistrate and as captain in the army, or perhaps he meant it metaphorically, but either way, men definitely looked to him for his wisdom, judgment, and advice. Job is attempting to vindicate himself from his friends' charges of guilt and hypocrisy by showing he was a man greatly respected and appreciated for his wise counsel to all, and his help to the poor and needy.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Where is Wisdom Found?
Continuing a Bible study of Job, Job is still speaking in chapter 28:
(Job 28:1) "Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they refine it. (2) Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone."
Job starts by saying that there surely are wonders of the world that man has been able to discover. The theologian Adam Clarke points out beautifully that this "chapter is the oldest and finest piece of natural history in the world".
(3) "He sets an end to darkness, and searches out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death."
The pronoun "He" refers to man who mines precious stones from the depths of the earth, appearing even to have gone to the regions of the shadow of death.
(4) "The flood breaks out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten by the foot; they are dried up, they are gone away from men."
Waters that are so far below the ground that they are not known to man, break forth through mining the earth.
(5) "As for the earth, out of it comes bread, and under it is turned up as if it were fire. (6) The stones of it are the places of sapphires, and it has dust of gold."
Out of the earth comes food, and below that? Job could be referring to coal, which was fuel for fire, or maybe he refers to something like molten lava boiling below the surface of the earth.
(7) "There is a path which no bird knows, and which the vulture's eye has not seen; (8) The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it."
Man, as a miner, is able to dig deep into the earth to a place that neither beast nor bird with the keenest sight has ever seen.
(9) "He puts forth his hand on the rock; he overturns the mountains by the roots. (10) He cuts out rivers among the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. (11) He binds the floods from overflowing, and what is hidden he brings forth to light."
Interestingly, John Wesley thinks this passage is speaking about God. But some theologians think it continues with the miner. I see no reason why these verses can't be describing the miner. After all, man does have some power in the earth. That is why he often, in pride, believes he has more power than he actually does. The miner does indeed dig through rock. He can blast away mountains. He can dig out streams and dam them up. What is hidden below the surface of the ground or under the water can indeed be brought to light. A miner sees many precious things hidden in the earth.
(12) "But where will wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?"
The "But" cinches it for me. If the previous verses had been talking about God, why would there now be a "But"? Although man can do these seemingly marvelous things and unearth these wonders, there is no real wisdom and understanding in doing these things. Just because man can reach into the bowels of the earth and dig out wonders of God never before seen, he cannot really know the true wisdom of God. He may have knowledge of many earthly creations of God, and may have some understanding of how God has worked in nature on this earth, but he cannot really know the mind of God just by unearthing these wonders.
I suppose even if the previous passage of verses 9 through 11 had been speaking about the wonders of God, as John Wesley said, rather than what man can do, verse 12 would still make sense. Even though we see these marvelous wonders of God on earth, it does not mean we have complete understanding of Him. Either way, the context is the same. No matter what man sees and knows of God here on earth, he cannot know the mind of God.
(13) "Man does not know its value; neither is it found in the land of the living."
Man does not even know the value of true wisdom and understanding of God, and there is not enough in all the world to equal the value of it.
(14) "The deep says, 'It is not in me', and the sea says, 'It is not with me.' (15) It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price. (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 will not be for jewels of fine gold. (18) No mention will be made of coral, or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. (19) The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it; neither will it be valued with pure gold."
Job recites a poetic list of all the wonderful and valuable treasures of the earth that cannot come close to the value of true wisdom.
(20) "From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? (21) Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air."
Since wisdom is not known in all the world, and nothing comes close to it here on earth, Job asks from where then does it come.
(22) "Destruction and death say, 'We have heard the fame of it with our ears.'"
This is an interesting side note of Job's. Although, no one on earth knows wisdom, death and destruction have heard of it? Does he mean that, in death, souls will have more understanding? I do know a day is coming when all will know God and every knee will bow to Him, but this verse seems to suggest that the dead only have a partial knowledge of it at this point; they've only heard of it, they can't really say for certain what it is. So when souls depart this earth, do they have an inkling of what is to come at that point? I can see this verse another way. Perhaps after reviewing what happened in a certain destruction and death, we can garner some wisdom, learning from the past, so to speak. Think of all the Biblical wisdom that has been given to us for our learning, but even in this, we can say we have read about it, we have heard about it, but we cannot really KNOW it.
(23) "God understands its way, and He knows its place, (24) For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heavens, (25) To make the weight for the winds, and He weighs the waters by measure."
Man may be able to discover some secrets of the earth. He may be able to dig through mountains and dig out creeks, but it is God who made those mountains and made the waters that will flow into those creeks. God knows exactly what is necessary to hold back the oceans and He has the power to unleash them by the wind that He alone controls.
(26) "When He made a law for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, (27) Then He saw it and declared it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out."
God declared His creations. God saw it, that it was good. He declared it through his marvelous works of nature, that they declare the glory of God. Our words "searched it out" aren't really sufficient for the meaning of the original word, "chaqar", which denotes a perfect intimate knowledge.
(28) "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.'"
The best we can attain of true wisdom and understanding on this earth is to fear the Lord and depart from evil. That is the charge God left for us. The word translated as fear also means reverence. Fearing the Lord is having a reverential fear that He is the One who holds your life in His hands. It's not that we have to be constantly afraid that He will strike us down for no reason, but we understand that He has the power to do so, but He loves us and wants the best for us, which is everlasting life with Him in eternity. Evil necessarily has to be as God describes it to us. The best we can do here on earth is to follow the Lord and follow the commandments He left for us, and that will be wisdom and understanding here on earth. We cannot have God's perfect intimate knowledge, but we can have what He gives us through His Holy Spirit when we seek to follow Him.
(Job 28:1) "Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they refine it. (2) Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone."
Job starts by saying that there surely are wonders of the world that man has been able to discover. The theologian Adam Clarke points out beautifully that this "chapter is the oldest and finest piece of natural history in the world".
(3) "He sets an end to darkness, and searches out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death."
The pronoun "He" refers to man who mines precious stones from the depths of the earth, appearing even to have gone to the regions of the shadow of death.
(4) "The flood breaks out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten by the foot; they are dried up, they are gone away from men."
Waters that are so far below the ground that they are not known to man, break forth through mining the earth.
(5) "As for the earth, out of it comes bread, and under it is turned up as if it were fire. (6) The stones of it are the places of sapphires, and it has dust of gold."
Out of the earth comes food, and below that? Job could be referring to coal, which was fuel for fire, or maybe he refers to something like molten lava boiling below the surface of the earth.
(7) "There is a path which no bird knows, and which the vulture's eye has not seen; (8) The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it."
Man, as a miner, is able to dig deep into the earth to a place that neither beast nor bird with the keenest sight has ever seen.
(9) "He puts forth his hand on the rock; he overturns the mountains by the roots. (10) He cuts out rivers among the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. (11) He binds the floods from overflowing, and what is hidden he brings forth to light."
Interestingly, John Wesley thinks this passage is speaking about God. But some theologians think it continues with the miner. I see no reason why these verses can't be describing the miner. After all, man does have some power in the earth. That is why he often, in pride, believes he has more power than he actually does. The miner does indeed dig through rock. He can blast away mountains. He can dig out streams and dam them up. What is hidden below the surface of the ground or under the water can indeed be brought to light. A miner sees many precious things hidden in the earth.
(12) "But where will wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?"
The "But" cinches it for me. If the previous verses had been talking about God, why would there now be a "But"? Although man can do these seemingly marvelous things and unearth these wonders, there is no real wisdom and understanding in doing these things. Just because man can reach into the bowels of the earth and dig out wonders of God never before seen, he cannot really know the true wisdom of God. He may have knowledge of many earthly creations of God, and may have some understanding of how God has worked in nature on this earth, but he cannot really know the mind of God just by unearthing these wonders.
I suppose even if the previous passage of verses 9 through 11 had been speaking about the wonders of God, as John Wesley said, rather than what man can do, verse 12 would still make sense. Even though we see these marvelous wonders of God on earth, it does not mean we have complete understanding of Him. Either way, the context is the same. No matter what man sees and knows of God here on earth, he cannot know the mind of God.
(13) "Man does not know its value; neither is it found in the land of the living."
Man does not even know the value of true wisdom and understanding of God, and there is not enough in all the world to equal the value of it.
(14) "The deep says, 'It is not in me', and the sea says, 'It is not with me.' (15) It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for its price. (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 will not be for jewels of fine gold. (18) No mention will be made of coral, or of pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. (19) The topaz of Ethiopia will not equal it; neither will it be valued with pure gold."
Job recites a poetic list of all the wonderful and valuable treasures of the earth that cannot come close to the value of true wisdom.
(20) "From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? (21) Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air."
Since wisdom is not known in all the world, and nothing comes close to it here on earth, Job asks from where then does it come.
(22) "Destruction and death say, 'We have heard the fame of it with our ears.'"
This is an interesting side note of Job's. Although, no one on earth knows wisdom, death and destruction have heard of it? Does he mean that, in death, souls will have more understanding? I do know a day is coming when all will know God and every knee will bow to Him, but this verse seems to suggest that the dead only have a partial knowledge of it at this point; they've only heard of it, they can't really say for certain what it is. So when souls depart this earth, do they have an inkling of what is to come at that point? I can see this verse another way. Perhaps after reviewing what happened in a certain destruction and death, we can garner some wisdom, learning from the past, so to speak. Think of all the Biblical wisdom that has been given to us for our learning, but even in this, we can say we have read about it, we have heard about it, but we cannot really KNOW it.
(23) "God understands its way, and He knows its place, (24) For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heavens, (25) To make the weight for the winds, and He weighs the waters by measure."
Man may be able to discover some secrets of the earth. He may be able to dig through mountains and dig out creeks, but it is God who made those mountains and made the waters that will flow into those creeks. God knows exactly what is necessary to hold back the oceans and He has the power to unleash them by the wind that He alone controls.
(26) "When He made a law for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder, (27) Then He saw it and declared it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out."
God declared His creations. God saw it, that it was good. He declared it through his marvelous works of nature, that they declare the glory of God. Our words "searched it out" aren't really sufficient for the meaning of the original word, "chaqar", which denotes a perfect intimate knowledge.
(28) "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.'"
The best we can attain of true wisdom and understanding on this earth is to fear the Lord and depart from evil. That is the charge God left for us. The word translated as fear also means reverence. Fearing the Lord is having a reverential fear that He is the One who holds your life in His hands. It's not that we have to be constantly afraid that He will strike us down for no reason, but we understand that He has the power to do so, but He loves us and wants the best for us, which is everlasting life with Him in eternity. Evil necessarily has to be as God describes it to us. The best we can do here on earth is to follow the Lord and follow the commandments He left for us, and that will be wisdom and understanding here on earth. We cannot have God's perfect intimate knowledge, but we can have what He gives us through His Holy Spirit when we seek to follow Him.
Friday, December 2, 2011
The Ultimate Fate of a Wicked Man
Continuing in a Bible study of Job, we resume with Job still speaking. In my past studies on Job, I usually separated blog posts between speakers, but Job was especially long-winded this time, speaking for several chapters, so I will devote a blog post to each chapter.
(Job 27:1) Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, (2) "As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the Almighty, who has vexed my soul,"
As a child, I always thought "parable" just meant "story", but it actually has a weightier meaning. The original word, "mashal" has a primitive root that means to rule or to have or make dominion over, so the sense of the word here, quoting Strong's, is that "in some original sense of superiority in mental action; properly a pithy maxim, usually of a metaphorical nature; hence a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse): - byword, like, parable, proverb."
"As God lives" begins Job's oath, but he describes God as one who has so afflicted him that he cannot be judged fairly, and therefore has made his soul bitter, as the original word translated as "vexed" also means.
3) "All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God in my nostrils, (4) My lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. (5) God forbid that I should justify you; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. (6) My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live."
As long as Job lives, he will not speak wickedness or deceit, therefore he could never concede that his friends were correct; as he was a man of integrity, nothing could induce him to abandon his convictions. He holds fast to his integrity and uprightness, and his heart will not betray him by being false. I have to wonder if this is one of those times when God could reprimand Job. Is there a hint of self-righteousness here? I don't think it is disrespectful of Job to cling to "his righteousness", as I believe that he knew his righteousness was not his personal righteousness, but his justified righteousness before God, because he adhered to the laws of his Lord. This is the time before Jesus and men were justified by adhering to certain sacrificial laws. I think he is saying here that even though he feels he has been afflicted by God, he would never abandon God and His laws. However, I do think he threw in a self-righteous barb when he said that he, righteous Job, would never abandon his convictions even though God, the One he held to, had taken away his justice and caused the bitterness of his soul.
(7) "Let my enemy be as the wicked, and he who rises up against me like the unrighteous."
The exact meaning of this scripture is a little difficult for me. Is Job accusing his friends who reject his claim of innocence of being wicked and unrighteous? Or perhaps he is just trying to draw a distinction between himself and the wicked, the unrighteous, and the hypocrite, that he describes in the next verse. His friends have claimed that he must be a hypocrite or unrighteous because of his afflictions, so perhaps he is saying he is nothing like the wicked and considers the unrighteous enemies.
(8) "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul? (9) Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? (10) Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?"
Verse 8 reminds me of what Jesus said in 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?" Job points out that even though the wicked may prosper in this world, they have no hope of anything else in eternity. There is nothing left when God takes his soul; the wicked has nothing if he can't call on God.
(11) "I will teach you by the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal."
Once again the NKJV, NIV, and just about every one of the newer translations, translated the first part of this verse as, "I will teach you about the hand of God". Fascinating subtle change there! That would make Job appear a self-righteous boastful man if he declared that HE would teach them about GOD! What can mortal man really know about the mind of Almighty God? What Job was saying was that "by the hand of God", or by the Holy Spirit of God, he would teach them everything Almighty God was revealing to him.
For some fascinating links about just how much NIV translators changed the original Greek texts of the Bible, see a previous study here.
(12) "Behold, all of you yourselves have seen it; why then are you so altogether vain?"
Although they did seem to get way off-track during the course of their conversations in the book of Job, remember that Job's friends were good righteous men, who more than likely knew God. Job is probably now appealing to the fact that they, too, have been lead by the Spirit of God before, so why now do they speak such nonsense of themselves?
(13) "This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they will receive from the Almighty."
Job now returns to the subject of describing the fate of the wicked.
(14) "If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. (15) Those who remain of him will be buried in death, and his widows shall not weep."
Job says that even if the wicked appear blessed with large families after them, those descendants will die by the sword and by famine, and no one will lament their passing.
(16) "Though he heaps up silver like dust, and piles up clothing like clay, (17) He may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver."
Job says that although the wicked may have piled up riches and "things" while on earth, those things will be left behind to be used by the innocent. "You can't take it with you", and Job has already stated that the wicked's descendants will neither be there to enjoy the riches.
(18) "He builds his house like a moth, and as a hut that the keeper makes."
The obvious meaning is akin to Jesus's example of a man who builds his house on sand. It is only temporary and has no real foundation. However, the theologian Albert Barnes took it a step further. The house of a moth is made of wool from the clothing of others upon which it fed. Could that be the more complete picture Job is trying to illustrate here? The house of the wicked that was obtained at the expense of others is only temporary.
(19) "The rich man will lie down, but he will not be gathered; he opens his eyes, and he is no more."
Job means the rich that are wicked will die, and will not be honorably buried. The expression, "to be gathered to one’s fathers", is seen frequently in the Bible, and probably denotes a peaceful and respectful burial among family. Additionally, the wicked man's life is fleeting; in the twinkling of an eye he is no more.
(20) "Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest steals him away in the night. (21) The east wind carries him away, and he departs, and as a storm it hurls him out of his place. (22) For it will cast upon him and not spare; he would gladly flee out of its hand (if he could)."
The KJV reads this way: "For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand." The KJV translators read the pronoun "his" instead of "its" and decided the verse must be describing the hand of "God", who, of course, is the source of all that happens to the wicked. However, "God" is italicized, so the KJV translators let us know that they are the ones who added "God" to the verse. I see no reason that the verse couldn't be continuing the thought that the storm will hurl against the wicked and not spare him. Obviously, God is the one who uses the storm to hurl against the wicked, so either translation works. Old Noah Webster wrote that "fain" meant "gladly" and even used this scripture from the Bible in his old dictionary. The wicked would gladly flee, but obviously, he can't.
(23) "Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him out of his place."
The word translated as "hiss" also means to whistle, so I believe the context here is that men will cheer and jeer when the wicked are dead and gone.
Job's friends have tried to maintain that righteous men prosper and that the wicked fall, and that his afflictions are a good indication of which he has to be. Job previously spoke at length about how the wicked prosper in this world, and seeks to prove that sometimes they fall after this life on this earth, in ways that are not always obvious to the present human eye. He knows and agrees that ultimately the wicked do fall, but his friends' assessment of his situation as a black and white example of this does not hold water.
(Job 27:1) Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, (2) "As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the Almighty, who has vexed my soul,"
As a child, I always thought "parable" just meant "story", but it actually has a weightier meaning. The original word, "mashal" has a primitive root that means to rule or to have or make dominion over, so the sense of the word here, quoting Strong's, is that "in some original sense of superiority in mental action; properly a pithy maxim, usually of a metaphorical nature; hence a simile (as an adage, poem, discourse): - byword, like, parable, proverb."
"As God lives" begins Job's oath, but he describes God as one who has so afflicted him that he cannot be judged fairly, and therefore has made his soul bitter, as the original word translated as "vexed" also means.
3) "All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God in my nostrils, (4) My lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. (5) God forbid that I should justify you; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. (6) My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live."
As long as Job lives, he will not speak wickedness or deceit, therefore he could never concede that his friends were correct; as he was a man of integrity, nothing could induce him to abandon his convictions. He holds fast to his integrity and uprightness, and his heart will not betray him by being false. I have to wonder if this is one of those times when God could reprimand Job. Is there a hint of self-righteousness here? I don't think it is disrespectful of Job to cling to "his righteousness", as I believe that he knew his righteousness was not his personal righteousness, but his justified righteousness before God, because he adhered to the laws of his Lord. This is the time before Jesus and men were justified by adhering to certain sacrificial laws. I think he is saying here that even though he feels he has been afflicted by God, he would never abandon God and His laws. However, I do think he threw in a self-righteous barb when he said that he, righteous Job, would never abandon his convictions even though God, the One he held to, had taken away his justice and caused the bitterness of his soul.
(7) "Let my enemy be as the wicked, and he who rises up against me like the unrighteous."
The exact meaning of this scripture is a little difficult for me. Is Job accusing his friends who reject his claim of innocence of being wicked and unrighteous? Or perhaps he is just trying to draw a distinction between himself and the wicked, the unrighteous, and the hypocrite, that he describes in the next verse. His friends have claimed that he must be a hypocrite or unrighteous because of his afflictions, so perhaps he is saying he is nothing like the wicked and considers the unrighteous enemies.
(8) "For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul? (9) Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? (10) Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?"
Verse 8 reminds me of what Jesus said in 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?" Job points out that even though the wicked may prosper in this world, they have no hope of anything else in eternity. There is nothing left when God takes his soul; the wicked has nothing if he can't call on God.
(11) "I will teach you by the hand of God; what is with the Almighty I will not conceal."
Once again the NKJV, NIV, and just about every one of the newer translations, translated the first part of this verse as, "I will teach you about the hand of God". Fascinating subtle change there! That would make Job appear a self-righteous boastful man if he declared that HE would teach them about GOD! What can mortal man really know about the mind of Almighty God? What Job was saying was that "by the hand of God", or by the Holy Spirit of God, he would teach them everything Almighty God was revealing to him.
For some fascinating links about just how much NIV translators changed the original Greek texts of the Bible, see a previous study here.
(12) "Behold, all of you yourselves have seen it; why then are you so altogether vain?"
Although they did seem to get way off-track during the course of their conversations in the book of Job, remember that Job's friends were good righteous men, who more than likely knew God. Job is probably now appealing to the fact that they, too, have been lead by the Spirit of God before, so why now do they speak such nonsense of themselves?
(13) "This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they will receive from the Almighty."
Job now returns to the subject of describing the fate of the wicked.
(14) "If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. (15) Those who remain of him will be buried in death, and his widows shall not weep."
Job says that even if the wicked appear blessed with large families after them, those descendants will die by the sword and by famine, and no one will lament their passing.
(16) "Though he heaps up silver like dust, and piles up clothing like clay, (17) He may pile it up, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver."
Job says that although the wicked may have piled up riches and "things" while on earth, those things will be left behind to be used by the innocent. "You can't take it with you", and Job has already stated that the wicked's descendants will neither be there to enjoy the riches.
(18) "He builds his house like a moth, and as a hut that the keeper makes."
The obvious meaning is akin to Jesus's example of a man who builds his house on sand. It is only temporary and has no real foundation. However, the theologian Albert Barnes took it a step further. The house of a moth is made of wool from the clothing of others upon which it fed. Could that be the more complete picture Job is trying to illustrate here? The house of the wicked that was obtained at the expense of others is only temporary.
(19) "The rich man will lie down, but he will not be gathered; he opens his eyes, and he is no more."
Job means the rich that are wicked will die, and will not be honorably buried. The expression, "to be gathered to one’s fathers", is seen frequently in the Bible, and probably denotes a peaceful and respectful burial among family. Additionally, the wicked man's life is fleeting; in the twinkling of an eye he is no more.
(20) "Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest steals him away in the night. (21) The east wind carries him away, and he departs, and as a storm it hurls him out of his place. (22) For it will cast upon him and not spare; he would gladly flee out of its hand (if he could)."
The KJV reads this way: "For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand." The KJV translators read the pronoun "his" instead of "its" and decided the verse must be describing the hand of "God", who, of course, is the source of all that happens to the wicked. However, "God" is italicized, so the KJV translators let us know that they are the ones who added "God" to the verse. I see no reason that the verse couldn't be continuing the thought that the storm will hurl against the wicked and not spare him. Obviously, God is the one who uses the storm to hurl against the wicked, so either translation works. Old Noah Webster wrote that "fain" meant "gladly" and even used this scripture from the Bible in his old dictionary. The wicked would gladly flee, but obviously, he can't.
(23) "Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him out of his place."
The word translated as "hiss" also means to whistle, so I believe the context here is that men will cheer and jeer when the wicked are dead and gone.
Job's friends have tried to maintain that righteous men prosper and that the wicked fall, and that his afflictions are a good indication of which he has to be. Job previously spoke at length about how the wicked prosper in this world, and seeks to prove that sometimes they fall after this life on this earth, in ways that are not always obvious to the present human eye. He knows and agrees that ultimately the wicked do fall, but his friends' assessment of his situation as a black and white example of this does not hold water.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Intermission
I was just noticing the appearance of my blog. Lately, my blog has turned into a Bible study, and all the political links on the side bar don't seem to be related to the texts. Originally, I felt compelled to write about what was going on in this country. I was a regional chapter leader in Concerned Women for America, and I was truly concerned about the direction of our country. However, lately, it has felt that there is no hope for this country. What ails this country is too big! It's not just a wicked administration. Obama could never have been elected if people knew the truth about him going into the election. Imagine if the media investigated his life and his past associations as well as they did any conservative's. Imagine if they truly dug for the truth about all his Communist and Islamist ties, including questionable terror ties. Imagine if they gave us constant sound bites of all his numerous gaffes, flip-flops, and anti-God and anti-American comments. Not only does the mainstream media not report the truth, but they actually prop up liberals with whom they agree. They willingly report all the lies told by them. They seek to destroy anyone with whom they disagree, even throwing out accusations they know haven't been proven, and sometimes when they know they are false. A retraction can be made later, IF it is ever made, but the damage is already done. They've done their job, as they now see it. The problem of changing the direction of our country just seems too huge with no hope of competing with a lying propagandist media.
Even more than a wicked administration and a lying manipulative media, there are the people in our country: people who are too lazy to dig for the truth, Godless people who reject moral values, and phony Christians who wish to overlook immorality and wickedness. Some are phony, using the grace of Christianity as a cover for evil, but many are just misinformed by weak churches that do not teach Biblical truth. If the people were to get back to God on their knees in prayer and back to the Bible for His truth, they wouldn't be swayed by the lies of the world.
It's really not about trying to save our country anymore; it's about saving people. It's about truly saving lives! And that means saving eternal lives, lives that really matter, not just the convenience of this little dot on the timeline of eternity. I hate to see our country reject God, reject His moral laws, reject innocent life, reject Israel, and go the way of the world. Scriptures do speak of how evil leaders cause the people to sin, so the fight for our country seemed like a fight for the good of the people. But that battle seems too great now, and it seems less important as time grows short. I do believe time is short. The end times are here, and it is time to find salvation in the only place it can be found, in the Lord Jesus Christ. The government of this country is not anyone's Savior, so in the real scheme of things, nothing it does really matters, not as far as eternal life and true salvation goes.
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 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 16:25-26
Church is not the answer either. Some churches can lead people to truth, but many lukewarm churches do more harm than they do good. God HATES a lukewarm church:
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." - Revelation 3:15-16
The BIBLE has the answer. In my heart, I truly feel like that is the answer for everyone, for every problem. In reality, Jesus Christ is the only answer, but I know God will lead people to Him through His word. The Bible speaks of Christians who do not have the foundation of the Word, and they will fall prey to Satan if they do not know the truth, because even Satan appears as an angel of light, meaning there are many lying spirits out there who pretend to be something they are not and will fool well-meaning Christians if they do not know the truth. It's still important to watch what is going on in our country and in the world, especially in the context of Biblical prophecy. That way we are not fooled by the lies of wicked leaders and propagandist media. We can understand that although world peace and saving the planet may sound like good goals, it's not going to happen, and we won't get snowed by a smooth-talking antichrist. So back to the Bible study next time! Back to seeking REAL truth! Meanwhile, I will be changing the look of my blog to more reflect where it has evolved. I think I will keep my "Seek Ye Truth/God Bless America" banner, as I still feel a draw on my heart to return America to her God:
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14
Even more than a wicked administration and a lying manipulative media, there are the people in our country: people who are too lazy to dig for the truth, Godless people who reject moral values, and phony Christians who wish to overlook immorality and wickedness. Some are phony, using the grace of Christianity as a cover for evil, but many are just misinformed by weak churches that do not teach Biblical truth. If the people were to get back to God on their knees in prayer and back to the Bible for His truth, they wouldn't be swayed by the lies of the world.
It's really not about trying to save our country anymore; it's about saving people. It's about truly saving lives! And that means saving eternal lives, lives that really matter, not just the convenience of this little dot on the timeline of eternity. I hate to see our country reject God, reject His moral laws, reject innocent life, reject Israel, and go the way of the world. Scriptures do speak of how evil leaders cause the people to sin, so the fight for our country seemed like a fight for the good of the people. But that battle seems too great now, and it seems less important as time grows short. I do believe time is short. The end times are here, and it is time to find salvation in the only place it can be found, in the Lord Jesus Christ. The government of this country is not anyone's Savior, so in the real scheme of things, nothing it does really matters, not as far as eternal life and true salvation goes.
"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 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 16:25-26
Church is not the answer either. Some churches can lead people to truth, but many lukewarm churches do more harm than they do good. God HATES a lukewarm church:
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." - Revelation 3:15-16
The BIBLE has the answer. In my heart, I truly feel like that is the answer for everyone, for every problem. In reality, Jesus Christ is the only answer, but I know God will lead people to Him through His word. The Bible speaks of Christians who do not have the foundation of the Word, and they will fall prey to Satan if they do not know the truth, because even Satan appears as an angel of light, meaning there are many lying spirits out there who pretend to be something they are not and will fool well-meaning Christians if they do not know the truth. It's still important to watch what is going on in our country and in the world, especially in the context of Biblical prophecy. That way we are not fooled by the lies of wicked leaders and propagandist media. We can understand that although world peace and saving the planet may sound like good goals, it's not going to happen, and we won't get snowed by a smooth-talking antichrist. So back to the Bible study next time! Back to seeking REAL truth! Meanwhile, I will be changing the look of my blog to more reflect where it has evolved. I think I will keep my "Seek Ye Truth/God Bless America" banner, as I still feel a draw on my heart to return America to her God:
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14
Friday, November 25, 2011
Who First Discovered the World Was Round?
Continuing a Bible study of Job, now Job speaks again:
(Job 26:1) But Job answered and said, (2) "How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength? (3) How have you counseled him who has no wisdom? And how have you plentifully declared the thing as it is? (4) To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?"
There is a very interesting mixture of opinions about to whom Job is referring in these scriptures. Some theologians believe it is about God and should be said with a little different emphasis like, "How You have helped him who is without power!" That may be because it becomes evident Job talks about God in the following verses. But up to that point, I think he is being sarcastic toward his friends who claim to have the wisdom of God, but offer him nothing. I think the scriptures are to be taken literally and said in the sense, "Just how have you helped anybody?" I believe that must be the case because in verse 4, he asks whose spirit came from them; he would not have been asking that of God. After sarcastically zinging his friends, then Job transitions into a discussion of God:
(5) "Ghosts are in anguish from under the waters, and those inhabiting with them. (6) Hell is naked before Him, and destruction has no covering."
I took a little liberty with my personal transcription of verse 5. KJV says "dead things" instead of "ghosts", but Strong's and Brown-Driver-Briggs dictionaries indicate the original word indeed means more than dead things, but the ghosts of the dead things. Additionally, KJV says the dead things are formed under the waters, but the original word, "chul" most often means more than just formed; it means "to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained", to name a few. I believe the sense of these two verses is to say that nothing is outside of God's power, not the spirit world of ghosts and not even hell!
(7) "He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth upon nothing. (8) He binds up the waters in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it. (9) He holds back the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud upon it. (10) He has compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end."
Job describes the awesome wonders of the all-powerful God. Most astonishing to me when I first discovered it, was that the Bible tells us the world is round in verse 10. In school we were taught that Columbus was the first to discover the world was not flat. Since then, we've gotten more "educated" and have learned that there were those who believed it before then. Do an internet query on "who discovered the world was round" and you'll get a huge variety of answers. I was amazed to see "the best answer" on a Yahoo board which asked the question, added this comment, "The flatness of the Earth was some sort of imposition by religious fanatics of the middle age." While I will agree that "religious" does not always mean "Christian" or "Biblical", I found the statement awfully interesting considering any religious scholar with access to the scriptures would have known that God created a circular world.
Verse 10 reads: "He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end." Newer translations say it this way: "He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness" (NKJV); "He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness" (ESV). I, personally, always refer to the old KJV myself, as I believe its translation to be the most pure (see here), but I used the others as examples here to show that scholars knew the meaning of the original Greek words translated as "compassed" in Job 26:10. Two words were used, "chug" which means "to encircle, encompass, describe a circle, draw round, make a circle", and "al" which means "above, over, upon, or against". Clearly, the meaning is that God drew a circular boundary above the waters of the earth. Anyone with access to the early scriptures could have had a notion that the earth was round. Isn't that a marvelous discovery?!
(11) "The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His reproof. (12) He divides the sea with His power, and by His understanding He crushes the proud."
God is all-powerful; He controls the heavens, the oceans, and people, all things that would have seemed impossible to control by mortal men. Job uses them as examples to show the enormity of God's power.
(13) "By His Spirit He has garnished the heavens; His hand has formed the crooked serpent."
Actually, I believe the truer translation of the second part of verse 13 is as the NKJV suggests, "His hand pierced the fleeing serpent." Once again, I don't think the KJV translators used a strong enough word in "formed" to truly describe what the original word meant. The root of "chalal" is "to bore" which very simply could be "to form", but further definitions of the original word indicate it means more completely to "bore through, pierce, wound, etc." However, I decided to leave the verse as transcribed in KJV for my study, as it really doesn't matter for the context. The all-powerful God has adorned the heavens, and He has created even the most uniquely formed creatures, as well as stopping them in their tracks, no matter how slippery and slithering they may be. Actually, the old Biblical scholars take the "fleeing serpent" to mean a constellation in the sky. That is also a good context here since Job is describing how God adorned the heavens. The sense of this verse is the same no matter how you interpret it.
(14) "Lo, these are parts of His ways; but how little a portion is heard of Him? But the thunder of His power who can understand?"
Job concludes by asking who can really understand the vast magnitude of God's infinite power. His friends claim they know the mind of God, but Job has sought to prove to them that they cannot possibly know the mind of so powerful and infinite an Almighty God.
(Job 26:1) But Job answered and said, (2) "How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength? (3) How have you counseled him who has no wisdom? And how have you plentifully declared the thing as it is? (4) To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit came from you?"
There is a very interesting mixture of opinions about to whom Job is referring in these scriptures. Some theologians believe it is about God and should be said with a little different emphasis like, "How You have helped him who is without power!" That may be because it becomes evident Job talks about God in the following verses. But up to that point, I think he is being sarcastic toward his friends who claim to have the wisdom of God, but offer him nothing. I think the scriptures are to be taken literally and said in the sense, "Just how have you helped anybody?" I believe that must be the case because in verse 4, he asks whose spirit came from them; he would not have been asking that of God. After sarcastically zinging his friends, then Job transitions into a discussion of God:
(5) "Ghosts are in anguish from under the waters, and those inhabiting with them. (6) Hell is naked before Him, and destruction has no covering."
I took a little liberty with my personal transcription of verse 5. KJV says "dead things" instead of "ghosts", but Strong's and Brown-Driver-Briggs dictionaries indicate the original word indeed means more than dead things, but the ghosts of the dead things. Additionally, KJV says the dead things are formed under the waters, but the original word, "chul" most often means more than just formed; it means "to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained", to name a few. I believe the sense of these two verses is to say that nothing is outside of God's power, not the spirit world of ghosts and not even hell!
(7) "He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth upon nothing. (8) He binds up the waters in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it. (9) He holds back the face of His throne, and spreads His cloud upon it. (10) He has compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end."
Job describes the awesome wonders of the all-powerful God. Most astonishing to me when I first discovered it, was that the Bible tells us the world is round in verse 10. In school we were taught that Columbus was the first to discover the world was not flat. Since then, we've gotten more "educated" and have learned that there were those who believed it before then. Do an internet query on "who discovered the world was round" and you'll get a huge variety of answers. I was amazed to see "the best answer" on a Yahoo board which asked the question, added this comment, "The flatness of the Earth was some sort of imposition by religious fanatics of the middle age." While I will agree that "religious" does not always mean "Christian" or "Biblical", I found the statement awfully interesting considering any religious scholar with access to the scriptures would have known that God created a circular world.
Verse 10 reads: "He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end." Newer translations say it this way: "He drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness" (NKJV); "He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness" (ESV). I, personally, always refer to the old KJV myself, as I believe its translation to be the most pure (see here), but I used the others as examples here to show that scholars knew the meaning of the original Greek words translated as "compassed" in Job 26:10. Two words were used, "chug" which means "to encircle, encompass, describe a circle, draw round, make a circle", and "al" which means "above, over, upon, or against". Clearly, the meaning is that God drew a circular boundary above the waters of the earth. Anyone with access to the early scriptures could have had a notion that the earth was round. Isn't that a marvelous discovery?!
(11) "The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His reproof. (12) He divides the sea with His power, and by His understanding He crushes the proud."
God is all-powerful; He controls the heavens, the oceans, and people, all things that would have seemed impossible to control by mortal men. Job uses them as examples to show the enormity of God's power.
(13) "By His Spirit He has garnished the heavens; His hand has formed the crooked serpent."
Actually, I believe the truer translation of the second part of verse 13 is as the NKJV suggests, "His hand pierced the fleeing serpent." Once again, I don't think the KJV translators used a strong enough word in "formed" to truly describe what the original word meant. The root of "chalal" is "to bore" which very simply could be "to form", but further definitions of the original word indicate it means more completely to "bore through, pierce, wound, etc." However, I decided to leave the verse as transcribed in KJV for my study, as it really doesn't matter for the context. The all-powerful God has adorned the heavens, and He has created even the most uniquely formed creatures, as well as stopping them in their tracks, no matter how slippery and slithering they may be. Actually, the old Biblical scholars take the "fleeing serpent" to mean a constellation in the sky. That is also a good context here since Job is describing how God adorned the heavens. The sense of this verse is the same no matter how you interpret it.
(14) "Lo, these are parts of His ways; but how little a portion is heard of Him? But the thunder of His power who can understand?"
Job concludes by asking who can really understand the vast magnitude of God's infinite power. His friends claim they know the mind of God, but Job has sought to prove to them that they cannot possibly know the mind of so powerful and infinite an Almighty God.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
How Can Man Be Justified With God?
Continuing a Bible study of Job, Bildad answers Job:
(Job 25:1) Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, (2) "Dominion and fear belong to Him; He makes peace in His high places."
God has complete sovereignty over all people, places, and things, and because of that, man should rightly be in absolute fear of His almighty power. I think the point of the "peace in high places" is not that God is making peace in a warring heaven, but that He also has sovereign power over the heavens, including angelic beings and the stars in the sky; He keeps even the vast heavens in order.
(3) "Is there any number to His armies? And upon whom does His light not rise?"
Is there any end to the number of His heavenly hosts which include all angelic beings and even the vast number of stars in the infinite sky? And is there anyone anywhere who does not fall under His sovereign jurisdiction?
(4) "How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of a woman?"
Bildad's point is that with a so vastly almighty powerful God, how can a man even dare to argue with Him? How can mere man be pure in God's sight?
(5) "Behold even to the moon, and it does not shine; yes, the stars are not pure in His sight."
Even the moon and stars have no light compared to Almighty God!
(6) "How much less man, that is a worm, and the son of man, which is a worm?"
Bildad asks that if even the marvelous celestial beings hold no light and are not pure in His presence, how much less is miserable sinful man considered to Him? So in response to Job's dare to prove him a liar, Bildad attempts to squash Job's right to even speak at all, or at least to question God about his circumstances. Actually, if done with more compassion, it might not have been such a bad response. Our answer often is that we just don't know why God allows certain things to happen. But we do know He is completely sovereign, and nothing is out of His range of power. His ways are so much higher than our ways; He sees the whole universe and all of time and how it does and will inter-connect. So really, who is tiny, insignificant, impatient, and selfish mortal man, who is so short-sighted, to question Almighty God? But thank our Heavenly Father, He does allow us to cry out to Him in prayer, and He does give us wisdom when we ask for it. It's just because we do not see things the way God does, that we expect an instantaneous answer or elimination of the problem, when often God is answering us and giving us wisdom and guidance through the problem.
(Job 25:1) Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, (2) "Dominion and fear belong to Him; He makes peace in His high places."
God has complete sovereignty over all people, places, and things, and because of that, man should rightly be in absolute fear of His almighty power. I think the point of the "peace in high places" is not that God is making peace in a warring heaven, but that He also has sovereign power over the heavens, including angelic beings and the stars in the sky; He keeps even the vast heavens in order.
(3) "Is there any number to His armies? And upon whom does His light not rise?"
Is there any end to the number of His heavenly hosts which include all angelic beings and even the vast number of stars in the infinite sky? And is there anyone anywhere who does not fall under His sovereign jurisdiction?
(4) "How then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean who is born of a woman?"
Bildad's point is that with a so vastly almighty powerful God, how can a man even dare to argue with Him? How can mere man be pure in God's sight?
(5) "Behold even to the moon, and it does not shine; yes, the stars are not pure in His sight."
Even the moon and stars have no light compared to Almighty God!
(6) "How much less man, that is a worm, and the son of man, which is a worm?"
Bildad asks that if even the marvelous celestial beings hold no light and are not pure in His presence, how much less is miserable sinful man considered to Him? So in response to Job's dare to prove him a liar, Bildad attempts to squash Job's right to even speak at all, or at least to question God about his circumstances. Actually, if done with more compassion, it might not have been such a bad response. Our answer often is that we just don't know why God allows certain things to happen. But we do know He is completely sovereign, and nothing is out of His range of power. His ways are so much higher than our ways; He sees the whole universe and all of time and how it does and will inter-connect. So really, who is tiny, insignificant, impatient, and selfish mortal man, who is so short-sighted, to question Almighty God? But thank our Heavenly Father, He does allow us to cry out to Him in prayer, and He does give us wisdom when we ask for it. It's just because we do not see things the way God does, that we expect an instantaneous answer or elimination of the problem, when often God is answering us and giving us wisdom and guidance through the problem.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Who Will Make Job a Liar?
Continuing a Bible study of Job, Job speaks again:
(Job 23:1) Then Job answered and said, (2) "Even today my complaint is bitter; my stroke is heavier than my groaning."
Paraphrased, "Even as we speak the hand (of God) upon me is greater than my complaints."
(3) "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him! That I might come to His seat! (4) I would present my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. (5) I would know the words He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me. (6) Will He plead against me with great power? No, but He would regard me. (7) There the righteous might dispute with Him; so should I be delivered forever from my judge."
Job knows that his Lord is a just God, and if only he could present his case straight to Him, Job knows that He would know the truth about Job. If Job were able to speak straight to the author of truth and justice and life itself, he himself would then understand why these things have happened to him. He certainly can't get answers from his friends; at the throne of God is the only place Job can hope to get real answers, and he hopes to get deliverance, as well. He trusts His Lord will treat him tenderly and show him the truth.
(8) "Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; (9) On the left hand where He works, but I cannot behold Him; He hides Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him."
In these two verses, Job actually mentions "the four corners of the world, east, west, north, and south". The word translated as "forward" is "qedem" or "qedmah" and it can mean "front, forward" or "east, eastward", as well as "before, aforetime, old, past". Likewise, "backward" or "achor" can mean "behind, backward" or "west". The word translated as "left hand" is "semol" and means "left, dark, or north". "Yamiyn" means "right or south". These directions are for a man facing eastward. When Job speaks of "the left hand where He (God) works", he may be speaking of a dark or hidden region, as that word also means dark, as God often may seem to work in secret from us. Perhaps Job means "the four corners of heaven" by these directional words. The theologian, Albert Barnes, speculates that it may have seemed like the most awesome manifestations of God's glory and majesty might have appeared in the north in the form of the Aurora Borealis, the northern lights. Another early Biblical scholar, Adam Clarke, points out that from where Job and his friends would have stood in their place on the earth, they would not have been able to see the southern sky, the constellations of the antarctic pole. Therefore, it may have seemed to Job that God must be "hiding" Himself there now. Obviously, the sense of these scriptures is that Job has looked everywhere for God, in order to present his case to Him, but he cannot find Him.
(10) "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
Although Job cannot find God, he has confidence that God knows where he is and truly knows him and his ways. Although he doesn't understand why he has had to go through all these trials, he knows it will be better in the end. Whether Job states this fact pridefully because he believes in the end God will "discover" that Job is pure, or whether he understands that all trials have the potential to improve and purify us when God is at the helm working all things for good, remains to be seen just yet. So far I have not found any real fault in Job through this process, but some of the early commentaries point to this scripture as one in which God finds fault when He later appears to Job. Perhaps Job is beginning to show a little boastful pride here.
(11) "My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. (12) Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."
Job insists he has faithfully and continually followed God and His commandments.
(13) "But He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does."
Even though he sees himself as completely innocent, Job realizes that God Himself alone is the author of our fate. Although God wants the very best for us, He sees the bigger picture, and His plans are His own designed in His perfect wisdom, and no one can turn Him against His will.
(14) "For He performs the thing that is appointed for me, and many such things are with Him."
Interestingly, the word translated as "the thing that is appointed" is "choq"; the same word is combined with "min" and translated as "necessary food" in verse 12. I believe the sense is that the steps necessary for carrying out His will are as fundamentally needed as "necessary food". God performs innumerable such tasks, and God performing His will in our daily lives is as fundamental, ingrained, and natural, as our daily routines including eating and sleeping.
(15) "Therefore I am troubled at His presence; when I consider this, I am afraid of Him."
When Job realizes that there is no turning God from His will, he is afraid of Him. The word translated as "fear" can be translated as "awe", as well. When anyone fully understands there is no stopping the One who holds his life in His hands, a reverential fear or awe is only natural.
(16) "For God makes my heart soft, and the Almighty troubles me; (17) Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither has He covered the darkness from my face."
That thought about God and the magnitude of His enormous power makes Job's heart faint with the realization of it. Job is feeling very vulnerable and helpless at the realization of God's great power, probably as it relates to his troubles that may have no end. God did not take his life before they came on him and he does not cover him in the grave now.
(Job 24:1) "Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they who know Him not see His days?"
Most commentaries read this as asking why those who know the Lord don't see His (or understand) His ways. Who am I to disagree with the great old theologians, but in context with the verses that follow, I believe that Job is wondering here why, seeing that God sees all, does He allow those who don't know Him to see His days. Rather than reading the phrase as "they who know Him", I believe it has to be "they who know Him not" because the next verses continue with a description of wicked men. Why, seeing that God knows their wickedness, do they seem to get to enjoy His blessings?
(2) "Some remove landmarks; they violently take away flocks and feed on them; (3) They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. (4) They turn the needy out of the way; the poor of the earth hide themselves together. (5) Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, rising early for a prey; the wilderness yields food for them and for their children."
Job describes the actions of wicked men. They are like wild donkeys, fierce, lawless, and greedy for prey, and even the wilderness yields for them, because they rob and plunder. Speaking about them and their children, seems a bit more tender to me, and has me wondering if Job might mean here that when the poor were forced to hide themselves together that they were the ones who became as wild donkeys foraging for food in the wilderness.
(6) "They reap their corn in the field; and they gather the vintage of the wicked."
All these "they"'s are difficult for me to discern. If Job was talking about the poor, when does he return to the subject of the wicked? Perhaps he has only been talking about the wicked this entire time. Certainly the gist of his comments so far is that the wicked do horrible things, and the poor do suffer at their hands. Every old study I read indicates that Job is talking about they, the wicked, here. The word translated as "corn" means more of a mixed feed or fodder. The reaping and gathering of the vintage is metamorphic for their various robberies, living off the plunder of others. One study I read pointed out that the word translated as "gather" actually means to gather late or gather the after crop, so the idea is that they reap the early harvest of corn and gather the vintage late in autumn. Thus they are always robbing and supporting themselves by robbery.
(7) "They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, they who have no covering in the cold. (8) They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter."
This passage is pretty clear. They, the wicked, plunder and strip people and leave them destitute. They, the plundered, are left out in the cold with nothing to defend themselves. Now, back to they, the wicked...
(9) "They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge from the poor."
Perhaps they steal defenseless children, possibly making them slaves or worse, or perhaps selling them. Looking at it slightly differently, taking a pledge from the poor may be related to the first part of the verse in that "they so pillage and plunder the poor widow that she cannot sustain herself that she may be able to nurse her baby" (1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes). Either way, they were ruthless.
(10) "They cause him to go naked, without clothing; and they take away the sheaf from the hungry, (11) Who make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst."
Some translations say "them", meaning the poor, rather than "him", as the KJV does. As I look a little deeper, "fatherless" from the verse before can also mean a lonely bereaved person. Maybe rather than literally stealing children, the wicked are taking all comforts and security from the poor and defenseless. They leave them with nothing to clothe themselves and take away their last bit of food. Probably what is meant by verse 11 is that the hungry make oil and tread wine presses within the wicked men's walls. They, the hungry, are thirsty because they are not permitted to drink the wine they must make for the tyrants, either because they are forced as slaves to work for them, or because the fruit of their labor is taken from them by the wicked.
(12) "Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out; yet God does not regard them with folly."
Although the oppressed groan and cry out to God, He seems to allow their suffering at the hands of wicked men to pass without punishing the wicked deeds. I believe Job is trying to prove to his friends that God does not always immediately punish the wicked, and that the reverse was also true, that God did not always immediately reward every good work. Wickedness often went long unpunished and virtue unrewarded, so they could not judge a man either by his prosperity or adversity.
(13) "They are of those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths."
Back to they, the wicked, the ones who caused such misery to the oppressed, they rebel against the light of God's word.
(14) "The murderer rising with the light kills the poor and needy, and in the night is like a thief. (15) The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me', and disguises his face. (16) In the dark they dig through houses which they had marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light. (17) For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; if someone knows them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death. (18) They are swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; they behold not the way of the vineyards."
The wicked are murderers, thieves, and adulterers. I want to note that in verse 18, KJV uses the pronoun "he" instead of "they", but Strong's points out that the original word used here can also mean "they", and that seems to flow better with the context here. I think the meaning of verse 18 is that the wicked are always fleeing because they know they are not accepted in normal walks of life, no doubt because of their choices.
(19) "Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does the grave he who has sinned."
KJV added the words "so doth" (so does) and "those which" (...have sinned) for clarity. As those aren't original text words, I chose "he who" for my personal transcription notes, since it matches the pronouns used in the verses following this one.
(20) "The womb will forget him; the worm will feed sweetly on him; he will be no more remembered; and wickedness will be broken as a tree."
Even his mother who bore him will forget him and he will lie in the grave, which is the meaning of the worms in the ground which will feed on him as he lies there. The word translated as "broken" here is "shabar" and its meaning is a little more violent that merely "broken". The wicked will be totally broken to pieces, crushed, destroyed, like a tree that is broken down and never grows again.
(21) "He preys on the barren who do not bear, and does no good for the widow."
Job returns to the subject of the terrible deeds of the wicked.
(22) He also draws the mighty with his power; he rises up, but no man is sure of life."
Wow! All the newer translations of the Bible, NKJV, NIV, NLT, ESV, RSV, and many more, all translate "he" as "God". However, none of the older commentaries that I read considered the possibility that Job was speaking of God here. It's interesting that the translators of the newer versions of the Bible really thought they were smarter than the KJV translators who used the original Greek texts, but I agree with the old theologians and see no reason that the subject should change here. The wicked draws even the mighty in with his wickedness; no man is safe from him.
For an interesting in-depth study on how the original Greek text of the Holy Bible has been changed in more recent versions of the Bible, please see my study of January 10, 2011, entitled Which Version of the Truth Will You Use?
(23) "Though it be given him to be in safety, in which he rests; yet his eyes are on their ways."
Once again, most of the newer texts believe this is about God. I admit that some of the old theologians agree, so I'll look at it both ways. In my opinion, this is still about the wicked who overcome even the mighty. In verse 22, the wicked allowed the mighty to rise up, further described in verse 23 as feeling secure, but the wicked is always watching them, and they can never be safe (as stated in verse 22). However, if you read verse 23 as about God, it really doesn't change the context a lot. Job has said before that God has allowed the wicked man to prosper, feeling safe and secure in his ways, but He is always watching and always knows the deeds of the wicked.
(24) "They are exalted for a little while, but (then) are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way like all others, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. (25) Now if it is not so, who will make me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?"
Verse 24 naturally follows with either translation of verse 23. God allows the wicked to prosper for awhile, but then they are taken down and out of the way as all others who eventually die and go to the grave. They can never escape death, and will likewise, never escape God's judgment.
Job ends this speech by pretty much daring his friends to prove him wrong in what he has said.
(Job 23:1) Then Job answered and said, (2) "Even today my complaint is bitter; my stroke is heavier than my groaning."
Paraphrased, "Even as we speak the hand (of God) upon me is greater than my complaints."
(3) "Oh, that I knew where I might find Him! That I might come to His seat! (4) I would present my cause before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. (5) I would know the words He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me. (6) Will He plead against me with great power? No, but He would regard me. (7) There the righteous might dispute with Him; so should I be delivered forever from my judge."
Job knows that his Lord is a just God, and if only he could present his case straight to Him, Job knows that He would know the truth about Job. If Job were able to speak straight to the author of truth and justice and life itself, he himself would then understand why these things have happened to him. He certainly can't get answers from his friends; at the throne of God is the only place Job can hope to get real answers, and he hopes to get deliverance, as well. He trusts His Lord will treat him tenderly and show him the truth.
(8) "Behold, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; (9) On the left hand where He works, but I cannot behold Him; He hides Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him."
In these two verses, Job actually mentions "the four corners of the world, east, west, north, and south". The word translated as "forward" is "qedem" or "qedmah" and it can mean "front, forward" or "east, eastward", as well as "before, aforetime, old, past". Likewise, "backward" or "achor" can mean "behind, backward" or "west". The word translated as "left hand" is "semol" and means "left, dark, or north". "Yamiyn" means "right or south". These directions are for a man facing eastward. When Job speaks of "the left hand where He (God) works", he may be speaking of a dark or hidden region, as that word also means dark, as God often may seem to work in secret from us. Perhaps Job means "the four corners of heaven" by these directional words. The theologian, Albert Barnes, speculates that it may have seemed like the most awesome manifestations of God's glory and majesty might have appeared in the north in the form of the Aurora Borealis, the northern lights. Another early Biblical scholar, Adam Clarke, points out that from where Job and his friends would have stood in their place on the earth, they would not have been able to see the southern sky, the constellations of the antarctic pole. Therefore, it may have seemed to Job that God must be "hiding" Himself there now. Obviously, the sense of these scriptures is that Job has looked everywhere for God, in order to present his case to Him, but he cannot find Him.
(10) "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold."
Although Job cannot find God, he has confidence that God knows where he is and truly knows him and his ways. Although he doesn't understand why he has had to go through all these trials, he knows it will be better in the end. Whether Job states this fact pridefully because he believes in the end God will "discover" that Job is pure, or whether he understands that all trials have the potential to improve and purify us when God is at the helm working all things for good, remains to be seen just yet. So far I have not found any real fault in Job through this process, but some of the early commentaries point to this scripture as one in which God finds fault when He later appears to Job. Perhaps Job is beginning to show a little boastful pride here.
(11) "My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. (12) Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."
Job insists he has faithfully and continually followed God and His commandments.
(13) "But He is in one mind, and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does."
Even though he sees himself as completely innocent, Job realizes that God Himself alone is the author of our fate. Although God wants the very best for us, He sees the bigger picture, and His plans are His own designed in His perfect wisdom, and no one can turn Him against His will.
(14) "For He performs the thing that is appointed for me, and many such things are with Him."
Interestingly, the word translated as "the thing that is appointed" is "choq"; the same word is combined with "min" and translated as "necessary food" in verse 12. I believe the sense is that the steps necessary for carrying out His will are as fundamentally needed as "necessary food". God performs innumerable such tasks, and God performing His will in our daily lives is as fundamental, ingrained, and natural, as our daily routines including eating and sleeping.
(15) "Therefore I am troubled at His presence; when I consider this, I am afraid of Him."
When Job realizes that there is no turning God from His will, he is afraid of Him. The word translated as "fear" can be translated as "awe", as well. When anyone fully understands there is no stopping the One who holds his life in His hands, a reverential fear or awe is only natural.
(16) "For God makes my heart soft, and the Almighty troubles me; (17) Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither has He covered the darkness from my face."
That thought about God and the magnitude of His enormous power makes Job's heart faint with the realization of it. Job is feeling very vulnerable and helpless at the realization of God's great power, probably as it relates to his troubles that may have no end. God did not take his life before they came on him and he does not cover him in the grave now.
(Job 24:1) "Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they who know Him not see His days?"
Most commentaries read this as asking why those who know the Lord don't see His (or understand) His ways. Who am I to disagree with the great old theologians, but in context with the verses that follow, I believe that Job is wondering here why, seeing that God sees all, does He allow those who don't know Him to see His days. Rather than reading the phrase as "they who know Him", I believe it has to be "they who know Him not" because the next verses continue with a description of wicked men. Why, seeing that God knows their wickedness, do they seem to get to enjoy His blessings?
(2) "Some remove landmarks; they violently take away flocks and feed on them; (3) They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox for a pledge. (4) They turn the needy out of the way; the poor of the earth hide themselves together. (5) Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert, they go forth to their work, rising early for a prey; the wilderness yields food for them and for their children."
Job describes the actions of wicked men. They are like wild donkeys, fierce, lawless, and greedy for prey, and even the wilderness yields for them, because they rob and plunder. Speaking about them and their children, seems a bit more tender to me, and has me wondering if Job might mean here that when the poor were forced to hide themselves together that they were the ones who became as wild donkeys foraging for food in the wilderness.
(6) "They reap their corn in the field; and they gather the vintage of the wicked."
All these "they"'s are difficult for me to discern. If Job was talking about the poor, when does he return to the subject of the wicked? Perhaps he has only been talking about the wicked this entire time. Certainly the gist of his comments so far is that the wicked do horrible things, and the poor do suffer at their hands. Every old study I read indicates that Job is talking about they, the wicked, here. The word translated as "corn" means more of a mixed feed or fodder. The reaping and gathering of the vintage is metamorphic for their various robberies, living off the plunder of others. One study I read pointed out that the word translated as "gather" actually means to gather late or gather the after crop, so the idea is that they reap the early harvest of corn and gather the vintage late in autumn. Thus they are always robbing and supporting themselves by robbery.
(7) "They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, they who have no covering in the cold. (8) They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter."
This passage is pretty clear. They, the wicked, plunder and strip people and leave them destitute. They, the plundered, are left out in the cold with nothing to defend themselves. Now, back to they, the wicked...
(9) "They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge from the poor."
Perhaps they steal defenseless children, possibly making them slaves or worse, or perhaps selling them. Looking at it slightly differently, taking a pledge from the poor may be related to the first part of the verse in that "they so pillage and plunder the poor widow that she cannot sustain herself that she may be able to nurse her baby" (1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes). Either way, they were ruthless.
(10) "They cause him to go naked, without clothing; and they take away the sheaf from the hungry, (11) Who make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst."
Some translations say "them", meaning the poor, rather than "him", as the KJV does. As I look a little deeper, "fatherless" from the verse before can also mean a lonely bereaved person. Maybe rather than literally stealing children, the wicked are taking all comforts and security from the poor and defenseless. They leave them with nothing to clothe themselves and take away their last bit of food. Probably what is meant by verse 11 is that the hungry make oil and tread wine presses within the wicked men's walls. They, the hungry, are thirsty because they are not permitted to drink the wine they must make for the tyrants, either because they are forced as slaves to work for them, or because the fruit of their labor is taken from them by the wicked.
(12) "Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out; yet God does not regard them with folly."
Although the oppressed groan and cry out to God, He seems to allow their suffering at the hands of wicked men to pass without punishing the wicked deeds. I believe Job is trying to prove to his friends that God does not always immediately punish the wicked, and that the reverse was also true, that God did not always immediately reward every good work. Wickedness often went long unpunished and virtue unrewarded, so they could not judge a man either by his prosperity or adversity.
(13) "They are of those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths."
Back to they, the wicked, the ones who caused such misery to the oppressed, they rebel against the light of God's word.
(14) "The murderer rising with the light kills the poor and needy, and in the night is like a thief. (15) The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me', and disguises his face. (16) In the dark they dig through houses which they had marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light. (17) For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; if someone knows them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death. (18) They are swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth; they behold not the way of the vineyards."
The wicked are murderers, thieves, and adulterers. I want to note that in verse 18, KJV uses the pronoun "he" instead of "they", but Strong's points out that the original word used here can also mean "they", and that seems to flow better with the context here. I think the meaning of verse 18 is that the wicked are always fleeing because they know they are not accepted in normal walks of life, no doubt because of their choices.
(19) "Drought and heat consume the snow waters, so does the grave he who has sinned."
KJV added the words "so doth" (so does) and "those which" (...have sinned) for clarity. As those aren't original text words, I chose "he who" for my personal transcription notes, since it matches the pronouns used in the verses following this one.
(20) "The womb will forget him; the worm will feed sweetly on him; he will be no more remembered; and wickedness will be broken as a tree."
Even his mother who bore him will forget him and he will lie in the grave, which is the meaning of the worms in the ground which will feed on him as he lies there. The word translated as "broken" here is "shabar" and its meaning is a little more violent that merely "broken". The wicked will be totally broken to pieces, crushed, destroyed, like a tree that is broken down and never grows again.
(21) "He preys on the barren who do not bear, and does no good for the widow."
Job returns to the subject of the terrible deeds of the wicked.
(22) He also draws the mighty with his power; he rises up, but no man is sure of life."
Wow! All the newer translations of the Bible, NKJV, NIV, NLT, ESV, RSV, and many more, all translate "he" as "God". However, none of the older commentaries that I read considered the possibility that Job was speaking of God here. It's interesting that the translators of the newer versions of the Bible really thought they were smarter than the KJV translators who used the original Greek texts, but I agree with the old theologians and see no reason that the subject should change here. The wicked draws even the mighty in with his wickedness; no man is safe from him.
For an interesting in-depth study on how the original Greek text of the Holy Bible has been changed in more recent versions of the Bible, please see my study of January 10, 2011, entitled Which Version of the Truth Will You Use?
(23) "Though it be given him to be in safety, in which he rests; yet his eyes are on their ways."
Once again, most of the newer texts believe this is about God. I admit that some of the old theologians agree, so I'll look at it both ways. In my opinion, this is still about the wicked who overcome even the mighty. In verse 22, the wicked allowed the mighty to rise up, further described in verse 23 as feeling secure, but the wicked is always watching them, and they can never be safe (as stated in verse 22). However, if you read verse 23 as about God, it really doesn't change the context a lot. Job has said before that God has allowed the wicked man to prosper, feeling safe and secure in his ways, but He is always watching and always knows the deeds of the wicked.
(24) "They are exalted for a little while, but (then) are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way like all others, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn. (25) Now if it is not so, who will make me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?"
Verse 24 naturally follows with either translation of verse 23. God allows the wicked to prosper for awhile, but then they are taken down and out of the way as all others who eventually die and go to the grave. They can never escape death, and will likewise, never escape God's judgment.
Job ends this speech by pretty much daring his friends to prove him wrong in what he has said.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Eliphaz's Ironic Prophecy
Continuing a Bible study of Job, one of Job's friends speaks again:
(Job 22:1) Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, (2) "Can a man be profitable to God, as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?"
A man's wisdom may be an advantage to himself and to other men, perhaps, but it is of no advantage to God.
(3) "Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect? (4) Will He reprove you for fear of you? Will He enter with you into judgment?"
Paraphrased, "Do you really help God out by being so righteous? Does He reprove you because He is afraid of you? Will He argue His case with you?"
(5) "Is your wickedness not great, and your iniquities infinite?"
We can assume that Eliphaz means that in the way all men are evil and fall short of the glory of God, so Job must see that he himself does, too.
(6) "For you have taken a pledge from your brother for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. (7) You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry."
However, as a godly friend of a righteous man, it seems to me that Eliphaz goes too far when he accuses Job of these actions. Eliphaz truly believes that Job's afflictions must have come as a result of his wickedness, therefore Job must have been unfair in his dealings that resulted in oppression of the poor, and he surely must have neglected the weary and the hungry.
(8) "But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it."
It seems Eliphaz may be speaking of a respectable man, a man of wealth, stating that Job was a friend to the rich and great, while he was an enemy to the poor and needy.
(9) "You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken."
My, but that Job is a wicked fellow, seen only through this description by Eliphaz!
(10) "Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden fear troubles you, (11) Or darkness so that you cannot see; and abundance of waters cover you."
Therefore, as a result of Job's unfair and oppressive dealings, Eliphaz concludes that troubles have now come upon him.
(12) "Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!"
Eliphaz creates an image of God as high up on a tower, higher than the stars, looking down upon men and able to see everything.
(13) "And you say, 'How does God know? Can He judge through the dark cloud? (14) Thick clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see, and He walks in the circle of heaven.'"
Eliphaz accuses Job of thinking that God does not see his actions.
(15) "Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? (16) Who were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood; (17) Who said to God, 'Depart from us! And what can the Almighty do to us?'"
Eliphaz throws another accusation to Job, and likens him to the evil men in the days of Noah who lived ungodly lives and were destroyed before their time.
(18) "Yet He filled their houses with good things; but the counsel of the wicked is far from me."
Eliphaz admits that God did prosper the wicked, at least for a time. Interestingly, he uses Job's very words that he in no way is to be an advocate for the wicked. He probably means this sarcastically with reference to Job as he believes he has proven Job is not unlike the wicked who prospered, whom Job had previously described.
(19) "The righteous see it and are glad, and the innocent mock them; (20) Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the fire consumes the remnant of them."
Eliphaz means that the righteous and innocent are glad when the wicked are destroyed, as indicated by the next verse when he draws a distinction between the wicked who are cut down, and himself and the other righteous men who are not cut down.
(21) "Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. (22) Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. (23) If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; you will remove iniquity far from your tents."
Eliphaz insinuates Job has been living apart from God and His ways, and encourages him to return to His Lord, and then peace and goodness will come to him.
(24) "Then you will lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. (25) Yes, the Almighty will be your gold defense, and you will have plenty of silver."
Then, Eliphaz says, when Job has returned to the Lord, he will have treasures in abundance. The word I have transcribed as "gold defense" is "betser" and it does indeed mean "gold defense", according to Strong's. The same word is used in verse 24 and transcribed as "gold" there, while it is transcribed as "defence" in verse 25 in the KJV. I conclude it more completely means a gold defense, a stock, a security.
(26) "For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, and will lift up your face to God. (27) You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows."
Eliphaz continues his theory that if Job will only return to the Lord, God will hear his plea, answer him favorably, and Job will happily offer the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving which he had undoubtedly promised in his pleas to God.
(28) "You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you; and the light will shine on your ways."
Paraphrased, "Your plans will be fulfilled and God will give you the light of His direction in all your ways."
(29) "When men are cast down, then you will say, 'There is exaltation', and He will save the humble person. (30) He will deliver the island of the innocent; and it is delivered by the pureness of your hands."
Eliphaz continues that when Job returns to the Lord, he will uplift those who are cast down. Specifically, he will uplift the humble, meaning either those who humble themselves before the Lord, or it could mean when they have been cast down by trials and affliction, he will tell them there is hope.
The last verse is a little more difficult. The KJV is as I have transcribed above, except for shall/will and thine/your. But what is the island of the innocent? The NKJV translates the verse, "He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands." Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries show the original word "iy" can mean "island", but it also suggests that it is "probably identical with 'ay' (through the idea of a query)" and means "not". "Ay" means "Where? Which? When? or How?" Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions also gives the meaning of the word "iy" as "not". The theologian Albert Barnes explains it a little further:
"The word rendered island (iy) commonly means, indeed, an island, or a maritime country...It is, however, used as a 'negative' in 1 Samuel 4:21, in the name 'I-chabod' (iy-kabod). 'And she named the child I-chabod (margin, that is, "where is the glory?" or, there is "no glory"), saying, the glory is departed from Israel.' This sense is frequent in the Rabbinic Hebrew, where it is used as connected with an adjective in a privative sense, like the English 'un'. It is probably an abbreviated form of 'ayin', 'not, nothing'; and is used here as a 'negative' to qualify the following word, 'He shall deliver even him that is not innocent.'"
Therefore, the sense of the last scripture is that when a man returns to God and becomes a friend of God, he will be able to intercede for the not-so-innocent and save them from the punishment they deserve. Albert Barnes pointed out, in his study on this scripture, that unbeknownst to Eliphaz, his words are rather ironically prophetic. Since I have not yet come to this part of my study of Job, I will quote Albert Barnes, until I reach the scripture he quotes in my in-depth study and form my own thoughts.
"The sentiment, also, had a beautiful illustration, though one which Eliphaz did not here think of, in his own case and that of his friends, where this very Job, to whom he was giving this counsel, was directed to intercede for them; Job 42:7-8. The sentiment, indeed, is found every where in the Scriptures, that the righteous are permitted to pray for others, and that they are thus the means of bringing down important blessings on them. In answer to those prayers, multitudes are saved from calamity here, and will be brought to eternal life hereafter."
(Job 22:1) Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, (2) "Can a man be profitable to God, as he who is wise may be profitable to himself?"
A man's wisdom may be an advantage to himself and to other men, perhaps, but it is of no advantage to God.
(3) "Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? Or is it gain to Him that you make your ways perfect? (4) Will He reprove you for fear of you? Will He enter with you into judgment?"
Paraphrased, "Do you really help God out by being so righteous? Does He reprove you because He is afraid of you? Will He argue His case with you?"
(5) "Is your wickedness not great, and your iniquities infinite?"
We can assume that Eliphaz means that in the way all men are evil and fall short of the glory of God, so Job must see that he himself does, too.
(6) "For you have taken a pledge from your brother for no reason, and stripped the naked of their clothing. (7) You have not given water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry."
However, as a godly friend of a righteous man, it seems to me that Eliphaz goes too far when he accuses Job of these actions. Eliphaz truly believes that Job's afflictions must have come as a result of his wickedness, therefore Job must have been unfair in his dealings that resulted in oppression of the poor, and he surely must have neglected the weary and the hungry.
(8) "But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honorable man dwelt in it."
It seems Eliphaz may be speaking of a respectable man, a man of wealth, stating that Job was a friend to the rich and great, while he was an enemy to the poor and needy.
(9) "You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken."
My, but that Job is a wicked fellow, seen only through this description by Eliphaz!
(10) "Therefore snares are all around you, and sudden fear troubles you, (11) Or darkness so that you cannot see; and abundance of waters cover you."
Therefore, as a result of Job's unfair and oppressive dealings, Eliphaz concludes that troubles have now come upon him.
(12) "Is not God in the height of heaven? And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!"
Eliphaz creates an image of God as high up on a tower, higher than the stars, looking down upon men and able to see everything.
(13) "And you say, 'How does God know? Can He judge through the dark cloud? (14) Thick clouds are a covering to Him, so that He does not see, and He walks in the circle of heaven.'"
Eliphaz accuses Job of thinking that God does not see his actions.
(15) "Have you marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? (16) Who were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood; (17) Who said to God, 'Depart from us! And what can the Almighty do to us?'"
Eliphaz throws another accusation to Job, and likens him to the evil men in the days of Noah who lived ungodly lives and were destroyed before their time.
(18) "Yet He filled their houses with good things; but the counsel of the wicked is far from me."
Eliphaz admits that God did prosper the wicked, at least for a time. Interestingly, he uses Job's very words that he in no way is to be an advocate for the wicked. He probably means this sarcastically with reference to Job as he believes he has proven Job is not unlike the wicked who prospered, whom Job had previously described.
(19) "The righteous see it and are glad, and the innocent mock them; (20) Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the fire consumes the remnant of them."
Eliphaz means that the righteous and innocent are glad when the wicked are destroyed, as indicated by the next verse when he draws a distinction between the wicked who are cut down, and himself and the other righteous men who are not cut down.
(21) "Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. (22) Receive, I pray thee, the law from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart. (23) If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; you will remove iniquity far from your tents."
Eliphaz insinuates Job has been living apart from God and His ways, and encourages him to return to His Lord, and then peace and goodness will come to him.
(24) "Then you will lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. (25) Yes, the Almighty will be your gold defense, and you will have plenty of silver."
Then, Eliphaz says, when Job has returned to the Lord, he will have treasures in abundance. The word I have transcribed as "gold defense" is "betser" and it does indeed mean "gold defense", according to Strong's. The same word is used in verse 24 and transcribed as "gold" there, while it is transcribed as "defence" in verse 25 in the KJV. I conclude it more completely means a gold defense, a stock, a security.
(26) "For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, and will lift up your face to God. (27) You will make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you, and you will pay your vows."
Eliphaz continues his theory that if Job will only return to the Lord, God will hear his plea, answer him favorably, and Job will happily offer the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving which he had undoubtedly promised in his pleas to God.
(28) "You will also decree a thing, and it will be established to you; and the light will shine on your ways."
Paraphrased, "Your plans will be fulfilled and God will give you the light of His direction in all your ways."
(29) "When men are cast down, then you will say, 'There is exaltation', and He will save the humble person. (30) He will deliver the island of the innocent; and it is delivered by the pureness of your hands."
Eliphaz continues that when Job returns to the Lord, he will uplift those who are cast down. Specifically, he will uplift the humble, meaning either those who humble themselves before the Lord, or it could mean when they have been cast down by trials and affliction, he will tell them there is hope.
The last verse is a little more difficult. The KJV is as I have transcribed above, except for shall/will and thine/your. But what is the island of the innocent? The NKJV translates the verse, "He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands." Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries show the original word "iy" can mean "island", but it also suggests that it is "probably identical with 'ay' (through the idea of a query)" and means "not". "Ay" means "Where? Which? When? or How?" Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions also gives the meaning of the word "iy" as "not". The theologian Albert Barnes explains it a little further:
"The word rendered island (iy) commonly means, indeed, an island, or a maritime country...It is, however, used as a 'negative' in 1 Samuel 4:21, in the name 'I-chabod' (iy-kabod). 'And she named the child I-chabod (margin, that is, "where is the glory?" or, there is "no glory"), saying, the glory is departed from Israel.' This sense is frequent in the Rabbinic Hebrew, where it is used as connected with an adjective in a privative sense, like the English 'un'. It is probably an abbreviated form of 'ayin', 'not, nothing'; and is used here as a 'negative' to qualify the following word, 'He shall deliver even him that is not innocent.'"
Therefore, the sense of the last scripture is that when a man returns to God and becomes a friend of God, he will be able to intercede for the not-so-innocent and save them from the punishment they deserve. Albert Barnes pointed out, in his study on this scripture, that unbeknownst to Eliphaz, his words are rather ironically prophetic. Since I have not yet come to this part of my study of Job, I will quote Albert Barnes, until I reach the scripture he quotes in my in-depth study and form my own thoughts.
"The sentiment, also, had a beautiful illustration, though one which Eliphaz did not here think of, in his own case and that of his friends, where this very Job, to whom he was giving this counsel, was directed to intercede for them; Job 42:7-8. The sentiment, indeed, is found every where in the Scriptures, that the righteous are permitted to pray for others, and that they are thus the means of bringing down important blessings on them. In answer to those prayers, multitudes are saved from calamity here, and will be brought to eternal life hereafter."
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Will Anyone Teach God Knowledge?
Continuing a Bible study of Job, now Job speaks again:
(Job 21:1) But Job answered and said, (2) "Listen carefully to my speech, and let this be your consolation."
If his friends will just listen carefully to Job, in that way they can comfort and console him, because they surely have not done it with their own words.
(3) "Bear with me that I may speak, and after I have spoken, keep mocking. (4) As for me, is my complaint to man? And if it were, why shouldn't my spirit be troubled?"
The early commentaries show two different schools of thought on the meaning of verse 4. One, paraphrased, is: "Isn't my complaint to man? And if it is, why then may I not have the privilege of complaining to creatures like myself?" I think knowing what I have learned about Job thus far, I tend to agree with other commentators who believe something like the following. It's more of a facetious question, "Is my complaint to you?" And if it were to man only, then why wouldn't his spirit be troubled? But Job takes his grievances to a much higher power, and it is God's answer he seeks.
(5) "Look at me and be astonished; and lay your hand upon your mouth. (6) Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling takes hold of my flesh."
Merely the remembrance of what has happened to him, fills Job with fear.
(7) "Why do the wicked live and become old, yes, are mighty in power? (8) Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. (9) Their houses are safe from fear; neither is the rod of God upon them. (10) Their bull breeds and does not fail; their cow calves and does not lose her calf. (11) They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. (12) They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. (13) They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave."
I believe Job means this last statement to be a good thing. It's not so much that they are suddenly taken away from their good life, but when that happens, they do not have a long and suffering death. After all, all men will eventually die.
(14) "Therefore they say to God, 'Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. (15) Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?'"
Because of their prosperity, they don't believe they need God. What more profit could they have if they prayed to Him?
I can't help but feel a pang of emotion with this thought. I have found myself a little sad lately because of the state of our country. We are truly becoming a country that thinks she does not need God. We have always been a blessed country, the richest country, and the envy of the world. But now people want no part of God or religion in the public square. They want to do as they please and have their actions accepted and promoted to "rights", even those things which are abominations to our Lord. The poorest among us are among the richest in the world. Because of our prosperity, have we come to think we don't need God? Or is it we just don't want Him? God may get in the way of many of the "rights" to which many people want to cling.
It occurs to me what a blessing it may be from the merciful God when times are tough and we do have to rely on our heavenly Father. How easy it is for the rich to forget Him, but the poor desperately need Him. How sad that the rich don't realize how much they need Him, too.
(16) "Lo, their goodness is not in their hands; the counsel of the wicked is far from me."
Job makes a distinction between the wicked and himself.
(17) "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? And how often comes their destruction on them? God distributes sorrows in His anger."
In asking these questions, I believe Job may be reinforcing his statement that often the wicked prosper. He is implying that it is not a universal fact that the wicked are always brought to ruin. Therefore, his friends are wrong in their assumption that the wicked are always snuffed out, and it follows that they are also wrong in their assumption that afflictions only come upon the wicked. I believe the last part of the passage above may be a continuation of the question, and asks, "How often does God distribute sorrows in his anger?" How often did God, in fact, give the wicked what they deserved? It was not true that He always did it in this world, so to make it a certain rule in judging character was erroneous.
(18) "They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carries away."
It is difficult to know exactly when Job stops asking questions and starts making statements, but at this point, I believe Job is continuing his pondering about how often the wicked actually get what they deserve in this lifetime. Maybe he is exclaiming it as a fact maintained by his friends, but he seeks to poke holes in that theory.
(19) "God lays up his iniquity for his children; He rewards him, and he will know it."
Once again, Job may be stating a fact maintained by his friends, or it could be his own statement used to poke holes in their theory that affliction only comes to the wicked. God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, according to His word in Exodus 20:5; therefore Job may be describing a way in which his friends would err if they insisted that calamities only happen to the wicked. The word translated as "rewards" more completely means completes or finishes and reciprocates, so I believe the sense is that there will be a final just recompense of reward for their wicked ways. At that point, the wicked man will know the penalty for rejecting God, but it will be too late.
(20) "His eyes will see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. (21) For what pleasure has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?"
These two verses could almost be a contradiction, but maybe that is Job's point. On the one hand, according to his friends, a wicked man's eyes will see his destruction, but then again he will know nothing of his household after he is cut off. Maybe Job's point is to show that it is not always as clear-cut as his friends seem to want to make it.
(22) "Shall anyone teach God knowledge, seeing He judges those that are high?"
I think Job is saying in essence that you can't put God in a box with the set of rules that his friends have tried to give Him, that He must not afflict righteous men and prosper the wicked, that He must always punish the wicked and reward the righteous in this world. Job realizes God is a sovereign God who judges beings and matters higher than the men who pretend to know His actions and motives with certainty.
(23) "One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. (24) His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. (25) And another dies in the bitterness of his soul, and never eats with pleasure. (26) They will lie down alike in the dust, and the worms will cover them."
These scriptures are pretty self-explanatory. Job describes the inequality of health and fortunes with which different people die; they all die alike and return to the dust, and no man can know with certainty the state of their eternal souls.
(27) "Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against me. (28) For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? And where are the dwelling places of the wicked?'"
Paraphrased, "I know what you are thinking; you ask 'Where are the houses of the tyrants and oppressors?', to try to prove your point that God destroys them."
(29) "Have you not asked those who go by the road? And do you not know their signs? (30) That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath."
Paraphrased, "But consult those who have traveled and seen more than you have, and they will tell you that there are some examples of wicked who have prospered in this life, but who will be judged in the end at the day of judgment."
(31) "Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him for what he has done?"
That is, who shall rise up and openly charge the wicked with his guilt? Who is able to make him pay for what he has done in this life?
(32) "Yet he will be brought to the grave, and will remain in the tomb. (33) The clods of the valley will be sweet to him; and every man will follow him, as have innumerable before him. (34) How then can you comfort me in vain, seeing there remains falsehood in your answers?"
Even though no one on this earth may be able to make the wicked pay for his deeds, he will be brought to death, like every other man, before and after him. When he is dead and buried, wherever he is buried is a sweet resting place to him, even the "clods" of the valley.
Job concludes by asking how his friends think they can comfort him with their empty words that hold no truth.
(Job 21:1) But Job answered and said, (2) "Listen carefully to my speech, and let this be your consolation."
If his friends will just listen carefully to Job, in that way they can comfort and console him, because they surely have not done it with their own words.
(3) "Bear with me that I may speak, and after I have spoken, keep mocking. (4) As for me, is my complaint to man? And if it were, why shouldn't my spirit be troubled?"
The early commentaries show two different schools of thought on the meaning of verse 4. One, paraphrased, is: "Isn't my complaint to man? And if it is, why then may I not have the privilege of complaining to creatures like myself?" I think knowing what I have learned about Job thus far, I tend to agree with other commentators who believe something like the following. It's more of a facetious question, "Is my complaint to you?" And if it were to man only, then why wouldn't his spirit be troubled? But Job takes his grievances to a much higher power, and it is God's answer he seeks.
(5) "Look at me and be astonished; and lay your hand upon your mouth. (6) Even when I remember I am afraid, and trembling takes hold of my flesh."
Merely the remembrance of what has happened to him, fills Job with fear.
(7) "Why do the wicked live and become old, yes, are mighty in power? (8) Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes. (9) Their houses are safe from fear; neither is the rod of God upon them. (10) Their bull breeds and does not fail; their cow calves and does not lose her calf. (11) They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. (12) They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. (13) They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave."
I believe Job means this last statement to be a good thing. It's not so much that they are suddenly taken away from their good life, but when that happens, they do not have a long and suffering death. After all, all men will eventually die.
(14) "Therefore they say to God, 'Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways. (15) Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? And what profit do we have if we pray to Him?'"
Because of their prosperity, they don't believe they need God. What more profit could they have if they prayed to Him?
I can't help but feel a pang of emotion with this thought. I have found myself a little sad lately because of the state of our country. We are truly becoming a country that thinks she does not need God. We have always been a blessed country, the richest country, and the envy of the world. But now people want no part of God or religion in the public square. They want to do as they please and have their actions accepted and promoted to "rights", even those things which are abominations to our Lord. The poorest among us are among the richest in the world. Because of our prosperity, have we come to think we don't need God? Or is it we just don't want Him? God may get in the way of many of the "rights" to which many people want to cling.
It occurs to me what a blessing it may be from the merciful God when times are tough and we do have to rely on our heavenly Father. How easy it is for the rich to forget Him, but the poor desperately need Him. How sad that the rich don't realize how much they need Him, too.
(16) "Lo, their goodness is not in their hands; the counsel of the wicked is far from me."
Job makes a distinction between the wicked and himself.
(17) "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? And how often comes their destruction on them? God distributes sorrows in His anger."
In asking these questions, I believe Job may be reinforcing his statement that often the wicked prosper. He is implying that it is not a universal fact that the wicked are always brought to ruin. Therefore, his friends are wrong in their assumption that the wicked are always snuffed out, and it follows that they are also wrong in their assumption that afflictions only come upon the wicked. I believe the last part of the passage above may be a continuation of the question, and asks, "How often does God distribute sorrows in his anger?" How often did God, in fact, give the wicked what they deserved? It was not true that He always did it in this world, so to make it a certain rule in judging character was erroneous.
(18) "They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carries away."
It is difficult to know exactly when Job stops asking questions and starts making statements, but at this point, I believe Job is continuing his pondering about how often the wicked actually get what they deserve in this lifetime. Maybe he is exclaiming it as a fact maintained by his friends, but he seeks to poke holes in that theory.
(19) "God lays up his iniquity for his children; He rewards him, and he will know it."
Once again, Job may be stating a fact maintained by his friends, or it could be his own statement used to poke holes in their theory that affliction only comes to the wicked. God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, according to His word in Exodus 20:5; therefore Job may be describing a way in which his friends would err if they insisted that calamities only happen to the wicked. The word translated as "rewards" more completely means completes or finishes and reciprocates, so I believe the sense is that there will be a final just recompense of reward for their wicked ways. At that point, the wicked man will know the penalty for rejecting God, but it will be too late.
(20) "His eyes will see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. (21) For what pleasure has he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?"
These two verses could almost be a contradiction, but maybe that is Job's point. On the one hand, according to his friends, a wicked man's eyes will see his destruction, but then again he will know nothing of his household after he is cut off. Maybe Job's point is to show that it is not always as clear-cut as his friends seem to want to make it.
(22) "Shall anyone teach God knowledge, seeing He judges those that are high?"
I think Job is saying in essence that you can't put God in a box with the set of rules that his friends have tried to give Him, that He must not afflict righteous men and prosper the wicked, that He must always punish the wicked and reward the righteous in this world. Job realizes God is a sovereign God who judges beings and matters higher than the men who pretend to know His actions and motives with certainty.
(23) "One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet. (24) His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. (25) And another dies in the bitterness of his soul, and never eats with pleasure. (26) They will lie down alike in the dust, and the worms will cover them."
These scriptures are pretty self-explanatory. Job describes the inequality of health and fortunes with which different people die; they all die alike and return to the dust, and no man can know with certainty the state of their eternal souls.
(27) "Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which you wrongfully imagine against me. (28) For you say, 'Where is the house of the prince? And where are the dwelling places of the wicked?'"
Paraphrased, "I know what you are thinking; you ask 'Where are the houses of the tyrants and oppressors?', to try to prove your point that God destroys them."
(29) "Have you not asked those who go by the road? And do you not know their signs? (30) That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath."
Paraphrased, "But consult those who have traveled and seen more than you have, and they will tell you that there are some examples of wicked who have prospered in this life, but who will be judged in the end at the day of judgment."
(31) "Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him for what he has done?"
That is, who shall rise up and openly charge the wicked with his guilt? Who is able to make him pay for what he has done in this life?
(32) "Yet he will be brought to the grave, and will remain in the tomb. (33) The clods of the valley will be sweet to him; and every man will follow him, as have innumerable before him. (34) How then can you comfort me in vain, seeing there remains falsehood in your answers?"
Even though no one on this earth may be able to make the wicked pay for his deeds, he will be brought to death, like every other man, before and after him. When he is dead and buried, wherever he is buried is a sweet resting place to him, even the "clods" of the valley.
Job concludes by asking how his friends think they can comfort him with their empty words that hold no truth.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Fate of a Wicked Man
After a long break full of distractions with traveling out of town and visiting my ill mother, the wedding of my niece there and then the birth of my first grandchild back home, I am ready to get back to my Bible study. Although the distractions were all wonderful things, they were distractions all the same, and I am happy to get back to the study of God's word once again!
Continuing with a study of Job, another friend answers Job:
(Job 20:1) Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, (2) "Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste. (3) I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer."
Zophar makes haste, speaking sooner than he had intended, maybe even interrupting Job. He has heard Job's reproach of his friends, and believes he has the knowledge to refute him.
(4) "Do you not know this of old, since man was placed on earth, (5) That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? (6) Though his excellency mounts up to the heavens, and his head reaches to the clouds, (7) Yet he will perish forever like his own dung; they who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?' (8) He will fly away like a dream, and will not be found; yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. (9) The eye also that saw him will see him no more; neither will his place behold him anymore."
I wonder if Zophar is purposely using the same phrases Job used before about himself to prove that he is a hypocrite? In Job 7:8-10, Job said "The eye of him that has seen me shall see me no more...neither shall his place know him any more."
(10) "His children will seek to please the poor, and his hands will restore their goods."
I believe this means they will seek to give back to the poor what his hands must have taken from them.
(11) "His bones are full of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust."
Paraphrased, "Though his bones are full of vigor and strength, they will die with him."
(12) "Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue; (13) Though he spares it and does not forsake it, but keeps it still within his mouth, (14) Yet his food in his stomach is turned; it is the gall of asps within him."
Though he seeks to savor wickedness as long as he possibly can, and what may have seemed exceedingly pleasant, turns sour and bitter, even poisonous.
(15) "He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his belly. (16) He will suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue will slay him. (17) He will not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. (18) He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down; according to his substance will the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice in it."
Though he has devoured riches, he will be forced to lose them; that which he swallowed as pleasant will become poisonous to him. He will not be allowed to enjoy abundance and prosperity. All that he labored for he will be forced to give back to the poor.
(19) "Because he has oppressed and forsaken the poor, because he has violently taken away a house which he did not build, (20) Surely he will not feel quietness in his belly; he will not save of that which he desired. (21) There will be nothing left for him to eat; therefore no man will look for his goods."
Because he has oppressed and plundered the poor, taking what he did not build, he will have no peace. The word translated as "save" literally means to escape. I believe the sense here is that he will not escape the unrest; he will not have the security and happiness that obtaining all that he desired was supposed to bring him. Because it will be well-known that nothing is left, no one will even look for anything of his possessions.
(22) "In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; every hand of the wicked will come upon him. (23) When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fury of His wrath on him, and will rain it on him while he is eating."
In the height of his prosperity, he will be in distress. Interestingly, the word "amel" translated as "wicked" above is only translated as such in this one scripture. In other scriptures it means toiling, labored, taken, misery, or workmen. Therefore I believe that this may mean that he will have only toil and trouble. In the midst of his expected pleasure, God will rain down His wrath upon him.
(24) "He will flee from the iron weapon; the bow of steel will strike him through. (25) It is drawn, and comes out of the body; yes, the glittering sword comes out of his gall; terrors come upon him."
Although he tries to flee, the terrors of death will be upon him.
(26) "All darkness will be hid in his secret places; an unfanned fire will consume him; it will go ill with him who is left in his tent."
Darkness, as in death and destruction, will be found in all his secret places, where he may have thought he was safe. An unfanned flame might be as a lightning strike, needing no help from man to instantly consume him. It will also go ill with anyone, presumably family, left in his tent after him.
(27) "The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. (28) The increase of his house will depart, and his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath. (29) This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God."
God will make the man's iniquity known, and all in the earth will rise up against him. He will lose everything. Zophar sums up that what he has described is the fate of a wicked man. Once again, a friend of Job's intends that Job should apply this to himself, that one who had been treated in the manner as Job had been treated, must be a wicked man.
Continuing with a study of Job, another friend answers Job:
(Job 20:1) Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said, (2) "Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for this I make haste. (3) I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causes me to answer."
Zophar makes haste, speaking sooner than he had intended, maybe even interrupting Job. He has heard Job's reproach of his friends, and believes he has the knowledge to refute him.
(4) "Do you not know this of old, since man was placed on earth, (5) That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? (6) Though his excellency mounts up to the heavens, and his head reaches to the clouds, (7) Yet he will perish forever like his own dung; they who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?' (8) He will fly away like a dream, and will not be found; yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. (9) The eye also that saw him will see him no more; neither will his place behold him anymore."
I wonder if Zophar is purposely using the same phrases Job used before about himself to prove that he is a hypocrite? In Job 7:8-10, Job said "The eye of him that has seen me shall see me no more...neither shall his place know him any more."
(10) "His children will seek to please the poor, and his hands will restore their goods."
I believe this means they will seek to give back to the poor what his hands must have taken from them.
(11) "His bones are full of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust."
Paraphrased, "Though his bones are full of vigor and strength, they will die with him."
(12) "Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue; (13) Though he spares it and does not forsake it, but keeps it still within his mouth, (14) Yet his food in his stomach is turned; it is the gall of asps within him."
Though he seeks to savor wickedness as long as he possibly can, and what may have seemed exceedingly pleasant, turns sour and bitter, even poisonous.
(15) "He has swallowed down riches, and he will vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his belly. (16) He will suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue will slay him. (17) He will not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. (18) He will restore that for which he labored, and will not swallow it down; according to his substance will the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice in it."
Though he has devoured riches, he will be forced to lose them; that which he swallowed as pleasant will become poisonous to him. He will not be allowed to enjoy abundance and prosperity. All that he labored for he will be forced to give back to the poor.
(19) "Because he has oppressed and forsaken the poor, because he has violently taken away a house which he did not build, (20) Surely he will not feel quietness in his belly; he will not save of that which he desired. (21) There will be nothing left for him to eat; therefore no man will look for his goods."
Because he has oppressed and plundered the poor, taking what he did not build, he will have no peace. The word translated as "save" literally means to escape. I believe the sense here is that he will not escape the unrest; he will not have the security and happiness that obtaining all that he desired was supposed to bring him. Because it will be well-known that nothing is left, no one will even look for anything of his possessions.
(22) "In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; every hand of the wicked will come upon him. (23) When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fury of His wrath on him, and will rain it on him while he is eating."
In the height of his prosperity, he will be in distress. Interestingly, the word "amel" translated as "wicked" above is only translated as such in this one scripture. In other scriptures it means toiling, labored, taken, misery, or workmen. Therefore I believe that this may mean that he will have only toil and trouble. In the midst of his expected pleasure, God will rain down His wrath upon him.
(24) "He will flee from the iron weapon; the bow of steel will strike him through. (25) It is drawn, and comes out of the body; yes, the glittering sword comes out of his gall; terrors come upon him."
Although he tries to flee, the terrors of death will be upon him.
(26) "All darkness will be hid in his secret places; an unfanned fire will consume him; it will go ill with him who is left in his tent."
Darkness, as in death and destruction, will be found in all his secret places, where he may have thought he was safe. An unfanned flame might be as a lightning strike, needing no help from man to instantly consume him. It will also go ill with anyone, presumably family, left in his tent after him.
(27) "The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him. (28) The increase of his house will depart, and his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath. (29) This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed to him by God."
God will make the man's iniquity known, and all in the earth will rise up against him. He will lose everything. Zophar sums up that what he has described is the fate of a wicked man. Once again, a friend of Job's intends that Job should apply this to himself, that one who had been treated in the manner as Job had been treated, must be a wicked man.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
I Know That My Redeemer Lives
Continuing a study of the book of Job, Job answers the cold-hearted assessment from Bildad in the last chapter:
(Job 19:1) Then Job answered and said, (2) "How long will you vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words? (3) These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you make yourself strange to me."
Job's friends make themselves strange to Job by acting as if they don't really know him; they act as if he were a stranger and they never knew his real godly integrity.
(4) "And if indeed I have erred, my error remains with myself."
Perhaps the sense is, "If I have erred, then I suffer enough from the consequences of my sins, and I need your pity and support, rather than your reproach."
(5) "If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach, (6) Know now that God has overthrown me, and has surrounded me with His net."
Job continues the thought from verse 4; he shouldn't have to suffer the reproach of his friends, but if they insist in it, they need to understand that it is God who has done this to Job. God has done this, and not that it is a result of what Job has done to himself. He may also be implying that this is between God and himself, and he doesn't need their reproaches. Either way, their reproaches are unwarranted and unwanted.
(7) "Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no justice. (8) He has fenced up my way that I cannot pass; and He has set darkness in my paths. (9) He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. (10) He has destroyed me on every side, and I am gone; and my hope He has uprooted like a tree. (11) He has also kindled His wrath against me, and He counts me as one of His enemies."
Bildad's comments from the last chapter, blaming Job's own ungodliness for his afflictions, has Job describing in detail that these are God's actions against him, and not a result of his own actions that deserve them.
(12) "His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tent. (13) He has put my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. (14) My kinsfolk have failed, and my close friends have forgotten me. (15) Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. (16) I called my servant, and he gave no answer; I begged him with my mouth."
None of Job's family, friends, or acquaintances have anything to do with him anymore. He must beg his servant because he no longer expects obedience; even his servants have lost all respect for him and ignore him.
(17) "My breath is loathsome to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of my own body."
This is a difficult scripture to exactly translate, but I believe the sense is that he has become loathsome to his own wife, even though he sought to appeal to her through their most intimate past relationship as parents of their children together.
(18) "Even young children despised me; I arose, and they spoke against me. (19) All my close friends abhorred me, and they whom I loved have turned against me. (20) My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped with the skin of my teeth."
At this point, Job has only barely escaped death.
(21) "Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me."
Job makes a heartfelt plea to his friends to have pity on him in his distress. He described in great detail his distress at the hand of God so that they might finally have pity on him, rather than the disdain that they and all his acquaintances now seem to have.
(22) "Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?"
Why do his friends persecute his very soul, as if they were God, knowing his heart? Are they not satisfied enough with the destruction of his body, that they must devour his soul, as well?
(23) "Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book! (24) That they were engraved with an iron pen and lead in a rock forever! (25) For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; (26) And after my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, (27) Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me."
Indeed, Job's words have been forever preserved in the pages of the Bible. This is a most beautiful passage of how, even in Job's day, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, Job knew that even after all life was gone from him, he would see God in his own renewed body!
(28) "But you should say, 'Why persecute we him?', seeing the root of the matter is found in me?"
Then his friends will realize, although they originally thought that he was only persecuted by God for his sins, they will then see there was a deeper more important reason, that through the record of the trial of his faith and patience, he would be an example for others.
(29) "You be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."
His friends should heed what Job says and understand correctly what his persecution means, because God will ultimately judge their words and actions.
(Job 19:1) Then Job answered and said, (2) "How long will you vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words? (3) These ten times you have reproached me; you are not ashamed that you make yourself strange to me."
Job's friends make themselves strange to Job by acting as if they don't really know him; they act as if he were a stranger and they never knew his real godly integrity.
(4) "And if indeed I have erred, my error remains with myself."
Perhaps the sense is, "If I have erred, then I suffer enough from the consequences of my sins, and I need your pity and support, rather than your reproach."
(5) "If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach, (6) Know now that God has overthrown me, and has surrounded me with His net."
Job continues the thought from verse 4; he shouldn't have to suffer the reproach of his friends, but if they insist in it, they need to understand that it is God who has done this to Job. God has done this, and not that it is a result of what Job has done to himself. He may also be implying that this is between God and himself, and he doesn't need their reproaches. Either way, their reproaches are unwarranted and unwanted.
(7) "Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard; I cry aloud, but there is no justice. (8) He has fenced up my way that I cannot pass; and He has set darkness in my paths. (9) He has stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head. (10) He has destroyed me on every side, and I am gone; and my hope He has uprooted like a tree. (11) He has also kindled His wrath against me, and He counts me as one of His enemies."
Bildad's comments from the last chapter, blaming Job's own ungodliness for his afflictions, has Job describing in detail that these are God's actions against him, and not a result of his own actions that deserve them.
(12) "His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tent. (13) He has put my brothers far from me, and my acquaintances are completely estranged from me. (14) My kinsfolk have failed, and my close friends have forgotten me. (15) Those who dwell in my house, and my maids, count me as a stranger; I am an alien in their sight. (16) I called my servant, and he gave no answer; I begged him with my mouth."
None of Job's family, friends, or acquaintances have anything to do with him anymore. He must beg his servant because he no longer expects obedience; even his servants have lost all respect for him and ignore him.
(17) "My breath is loathsome to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of my own body."
This is a difficult scripture to exactly translate, but I believe the sense is that he has become loathsome to his own wife, even though he sought to appeal to her through their most intimate past relationship as parents of their children together.
(18) "Even young children despised me; I arose, and they spoke against me. (19) All my close friends abhorred me, and they whom I loved have turned against me. (20) My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped with the skin of my teeth."
At this point, Job has only barely escaped death.
(21) "Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me."
Job makes a heartfelt plea to his friends to have pity on him in his distress. He described in great detail his distress at the hand of God so that they might finally have pity on him, rather than the disdain that they and all his acquaintances now seem to have.
(22) "Why do you persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?"
Why do his friends persecute his very soul, as if they were God, knowing his heart? Are they not satisfied enough with the destruction of his body, that they must devour his soul, as well?
(23) "Oh, that my words were now written! Oh, that they were printed in a book! (24) That they were engraved with an iron pen and lead in a rock forever! (25) For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; (26) And after my skin is destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, (27) Whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me."
Indeed, Job's words have been forever preserved in the pages of the Bible. This is a most beautiful passage of how, even in Job's day, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, Job knew that even after all life was gone from him, he would see God in his own renewed body!
(28) "But you should say, 'Why persecute we him?', seeing the root of the matter is found in me?"
Then his friends will realize, although they originally thought that he was only persecuted by God for his sins, they will then see there was a deeper more important reason, that through the record of the trial of his faith and patience, he would be an example for others.
(29) "You be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishments of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment."
His friends should heed what Job says and understand correctly what his persecution means, because God will ultimately judge their words and actions.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Man's Cold-Hearted Judgment
Continuing my Bible study on the book of Job:
(Job 18:1) Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, (2) "How long will it be till you make an end of words? Understand, and afterward we will speak."
The original word I have transcribed as "understand" above is "biyn", and the KJV translated it as "mark", but this verse is the only place in the entire Bible where that word is translated as "mark". Most of the time is means "understand" or something akin to it like "consider" or "discern". I believe the KJV translators were probably trying to give the sense of marking or targeting those words and really trying to understand them.
(3) "Why are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?"
Basically, Bildad wants to know why Job considers his friends as ignorant, stupid, and unclean or impious.
(4) "He tears himself in his anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you? And shall the rock be removed from its place?"
Bildad speaks of Job here, tearing himself in anger. He is basically asking Job if the world revolves around him; should everything be made to give way for him?
(5) "Yea, the light of the wicked will be put out, and the spark of his fire will not shine. (6) The light will be dark in his tent, and his candle will be put out with him. (7) The steps of his strength will be straitened, and his own counsel will cast him down."
Straitened, as "in straits", distressed, narrowed. His own plans will be the means of his fall.
(8) "For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks into a snare. (9) The trap will take him by the heel, and the robber will prevail against him. (10) The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the pathway. (11) Terrors will make him afraid on every side, and will drive him to his feet."
Paraphrased, that last phrase means he will take to his heels.
(12) "His strength will be hunger bitten, and destruction will be ready at his side. (13) It will devour the strength of his skin; the firstborn of death will devour his strength."
The firstborn son held the chief place; the chief of death is the most strong and violent death.
(14) "His confidence will be rooted out of his tent, and it will bring him to the king of terrors. (15) It will dwell in his tent, because it is none of his; brimstone will be scattered upon his habitation."
"It" still refers to destruction that will be his constant companion, destroying his security and terrifying him, because nothing that he had gained was really his own, or at least, it is no longer his. Brimstone is the symbol of destruction and desolation.
(16) "His roots will be dried up beneath, and above will his branch be cut off. (17) The memory of him will perish from the earth, and he will have no name in the street. (18) He will be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. (19) He will neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. (20) They who come after him will be astonished at his day, as they who went before were frightened. (21) Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him who does not know God."
In conclusion, Bildad seems to be saying that this is where Job finds himself, implying that Job is godless! Pretty rough treatment from people who are supposed to be godly friends of Job! Although his friends were religious men with head knowledge and book learning of the laws of God, they seemed to be totally ignorant of God's true nature. Their hearts were obviously not influenced by communion with God. Their arguments were an inaccurate and cold estimate of the exact justice of God. They acted like the Pharisees of the New Testament, so caught up in their laws that they missed the most important aspect of God.
(Job 18:1) Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said, (2) "How long will it be till you make an end of words? Understand, and afterward we will speak."
The original word I have transcribed as "understand" above is "biyn", and the KJV translated it as "mark", but this verse is the only place in the entire Bible where that word is translated as "mark". Most of the time is means "understand" or something akin to it like "consider" or "discern". I believe the KJV translators were probably trying to give the sense of marking or targeting those words and really trying to understand them.
(3) "Why are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?"
Basically, Bildad wants to know why Job considers his friends as ignorant, stupid, and unclean or impious.
(4) "He tears himself in his anger, shall the earth be forsaken for you? And shall the rock be removed from its place?"
Bildad speaks of Job here, tearing himself in anger. He is basically asking Job if the world revolves around him; should everything be made to give way for him?
(5) "Yea, the light of the wicked will be put out, and the spark of his fire will not shine. (6) The light will be dark in his tent, and his candle will be put out with him. (7) The steps of his strength will be straitened, and his own counsel will cast him down."
Straitened, as "in straits", distressed, narrowed. His own plans will be the means of his fall.
(8) "For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks into a snare. (9) The trap will take him by the heel, and the robber will prevail against him. (10) The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the pathway. (11) Terrors will make him afraid on every side, and will drive him to his feet."
Paraphrased, that last phrase means he will take to his heels.
(12) "His strength will be hunger bitten, and destruction will be ready at his side. (13) It will devour the strength of his skin; the firstborn of death will devour his strength."
The firstborn son held the chief place; the chief of death is the most strong and violent death.
(14) "His confidence will be rooted out of his tent, and it will bring him to the king of terrors. (15) It will dwell in his tent, because it is none of his; brimstone will be scattered upon his habitation."
"It" still refers to destruction that will be his constant companion, destroying his security and terrifying him, because nothing that he had gained was really his own, or at least, it is no longer his. Brimstone is the symbol of destruction and desolation.
(16) "His roots will be dried up beneath, and above will his branch be cut off. (17) The memory of him will perish from the earth, and he will have no name in the street. (18) He will be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. (19) He will neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. (20) They who come after him will be astonished at his day, as they who went before were frightened. (21) Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him who does not know God."
In conclusion, Bildad seems to be saying that this is where Job finds himself, implying that Job is godless! Pretty rough treatment from people who are supposed to be godly friends of Job! Although his friends were religious men with head knowledge and book learning of the laws of God, they seemed to be totally ignorant of God's true nature. Their hearts were obviously not influenced by communion with God. Their arguments were an inaccurate and cold estimate of the exact justice of God. They acted like the Pharisees of the New Testament, so caught up in their laws that they missed the most important aspect of God.
Monday, August 29, 2011
In Response to Miserable Comforters
Continuing my Bible study of Job:
(Job 16:1) Then Job answered and said, (2) "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all! (3) Shall vain words have an end? Or what emboldens you that you answer?"
With the word translated as "vain", we once again have the original word "ruach" meaning "wind; by resemblance breath". So Job believes his friends are also blowing hot air and wonders aloud if it will ever end. Because they have only empty meaningless words, what on earth emboldens them to continue trying to answer him?
(4) "I also could speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul's place. I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you; (5) But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should relieve your grief."
Job condemns his friends' response to him in his time of trouble. If the roles were reversed, he says he would have spoken uplifting words and would have been a help to them.
(6) "Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; and if I cease, how am I eased?"
Whether he speaks or whether he is silent, Job's sufferings continue.
(7) "But now He has made me weary; You have made desolate all my company."
Because pronouns referring to God are not capitalized in the KJV, I sometimes just have to assume which person is meant. Judging by the list of sufferings that Job begins here, I believe he is referring to God making him weary, and then he turns his comments directly to God.
(8) "And You have filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me; and my leanness rising up in me bears witness to my face."
Job has been filled with wrinkles, not necessarily by old age, but through affliction; he has been made old before his time. This fact is being used by his friends as a witness against him as they see his afflictions as proof that he must have done something wrong. Because Job has always maintained his innocence, I believe the last part about his leanness bearing witness to his face means that Job can see for himself that he is an afflicted man, not a wicked man in fatness and covered with collops of fat, as Eliphaz had accused.
(9) "He tears me in his wrath, who hates me; he gnashes at me with his teeth; my enemy sharpens his eyes upon me."
The NKJV assumes that the pronouns here are referring to God, but after reading some of the old commentaries, I disagree. Job is a righteous man who, up to this time, has not condemned or cursed God. I see no reason to believe he has started now. I believe he speaks accurately of his enemy, Satan, who seeks to devour him as a roaring lion. Throughout Job's conversation in the book of Job, you see Holy Spirit inspired glimpses into truth and God's true nature. He may question why God did this to him, but he does not condemn God for it. I believe this idea is much more in keeping with the true nature of Job as reflected in this book as a whole.
Wow! What a lesson in context! Before this study, I had a misconception about Job. Oh, I knew he was a good man, but I fell into the belief that he came to speak to God a little uncharitably, to say the least. I was probably led into this thought pattern by incorrect translations of the original Biblical text. I have previously studied how Satan entered into the process of re-translating the Bible, diminishing the character of God and Jesus Christ, and wrote about my thoughts in Which Version of the Truth Will You Use? Consider how the newer translations, including the NKJV, which is supposed to be the same as KJV only with modern words, change the whole idea of this scripture:
He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. (NKJV)
God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes. - NLT
God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me; my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes. - NIV
What a terrible mean picture of God these scriptures paint! But the very nature of God is love. He IS love; He can be nothing else. He is loving and merciful, and you can be certain He is ALWAYS just. While these could have been the words of a bitter man and not intended to be an accurate reflection of the true nature of God, I don't believe that is the case either. There has been nothing up to this point to indicate that Job has any such bitterness toward God. He only wonders why did these things happen to him. When you read the entire sentence, you can see that Job is speaking of the one who hates him, his enemy, and not of God:
He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. - KJV
(10) "They have gaped at me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me. (11) God has delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over to the hands of the wicked."
With these scriptures, we can see that Job only charges God with delivering him to the wicked and ungodly, but not with the wicked acts themselves.
(12) "I was at ease, but he has utterly broken me; he has also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; and set me up for his target."
Once again it is not perfectly clear to whom Job refers. I would feel better about assuming his intention and capitalizing the pronouns if he had said, "God has utterly broken me", etc. Since the preceding scripture stated that God had turned him over to the wicked, it might be concluded that God set him up as a target to be used by the wicked.
(13) "His archers surround me; he pierces my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground."
Once again I believe the meaning is that God has allowed the archers to strike Job. Whether "he" refers to the archer, or to God, who by allowing it, has in reality DONE it, I am not certain of Job's intention. But we get the idea! Innocent Job is being pummeled.
(14) "He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs at me like a giant."
Paraphrased, "He crushes me and then renews and repeats the attack, with great and irresistible force."
(15) "I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust."
Sackcloth is the symbol of mourning. The horn of a beast is a symbol of its power, so throwing it in the dust would be another sign of mourning.
(16) "My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; (17) Not for any injustice in my hands; also my prayer is pure."
Job reiterates his innocence.
(18) "O earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no place."
Job compares himself to the murdered, and like them, he wants his innocent blood heard crying out from the earth.
(19) "Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. (20) My friends scorn me; but my eyes pour out tears to God."
I feel these lines indicate again that Job condemns his enemy and his friends, but not God. He knows that God knows the truth about him, and he will make his plea to Him.
(21) "Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbor. (22) When a few years are come, then I shall go the way where I shall not return."
(Job 17:1) "My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me. (2) Are there not mockers with me? And does not my eye continue in their provocation?"
The original word translated as "continue" here is "lun" which literally means to "lodge all night", so Job's sense here is that the mockers with him continue all night, never letting up.
(3) "Now put down a pledge; put me in a surety with You; who is he who will shake hands with me? (4) For You have hidden their heart from understanding; therefore You shall not exalt them."
Job turns his conversation to God. He asks that God be his surety and let his cause come before Him. Obviously, his friends cannot see the truth, so Job reasons God will not give them victory over him in this discussion; his desire is that God will judge him righteously.
(5) "He who speaks flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children will fail."
Job is probably referring to those very friends of his who do not see the truth. The word translated as "flattery" means more accurately "smoothness", so Job refers to the smooth eloquent words they spoke to him which were to him completely wrong, and therefore they were speaking deceitfully for God. Job sees this as a terrible sin, punishable to even their children, perhaps recalling how God hates "deceitful tongues" and "flattering lips".
(6) "He has made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret."
Interestingly, most of the old commentaries believe Job is talking about God here. Personally, I don't see why it isn't reasonable to believe he is continuing his thought about the one who speaks flattery with what turns out to be destructive words. He makes Job a by-word, s satire, an object of ridicule. One meaning of "paniym", the word translated as "aforetime" is "before them" rather than "a time before". The word normally translated as a tabret or a timbrel is "toph" and that means an instrument like a tambourine. Here the word is actually "topheth" which Strong's defines as "smiting" and "contempt". Perhaps the original idea was that he was hit and smote like a tabret. The sense here is that Job has been ridiculed and made an object of contempt in their presence (before them).
(7) "My eye also is dim because of sorrow, and all my members are like shadows."
Another reason I believe that Job is talking about the man with flattering lips in verse 6 rather than about God, is that he now speaks of "my eye also" after he just spoke of the eyes of the flatterer's children. But in contrast to the children's eyes which will fail as a punishment, Job's eyes fail him because of his weeping. His members are his body parts that are probably emaciated and only shadows of what they once were.
(8) "Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir himself up against the hypocrite. (9) The righteous also shall hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger."
Job probably means that upright men will be astonished at the calamities that God has allowed to come upon such an innocent man as he, but that it will make them rise up all the more against hypocrites. They will hold fast to their righteous ways and will be made stronger. It's as if Job sees his life as a testimony to others, meaning he must have some sense of assurance that whatever happens to him, he knows in the end God is just and it will work out for the best. Would he have said the same thing if he felt in his heart that God Himself had condemned and punished an innocent man? I love the Holy Spiritual insights that Job appears to get throughout the book of Job!
(10) "But as for you all, you turn back and go now; for I cannot find one wise man among you."
Job obviously does not count his friends among the upright and righteous men about whom he just spoke.
I need to clarify my transcription of the above verse. In my study notes, I prefer to use the KJV, but will sometimes use a more modern word, or look to the original meaning of the word to give me the best understanding of the sense of the verse. I do not intend to make new translations, so I will explain why my transcription of verse 10 above differs a little from the KJV:
But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
It may mean as NKJV and some commentators have supposed, that they should go and come back again with better arguments, but I disagree. Job has tired of hearing their words and has said so on many occasions. Why would he ask them to come back with more? I understand that if they were to come back with wise words, he may want to hear them. But I found something interesting in the meaning of one of the original words of this verse. The word translated as "come" is "bo" and it means "come" or "go". It has been translated as "go" as often in the Bible as it has "come", so I believe the sense is "just go away" for there is not a wise man among his friends.
(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."
Job means he is dying, there is no more purpose to his life, his thoughts incessantly pursue and disturb him day and night, and the darkness of his pain and torment darkens any light of day that may have given him comfort.
(13) "If I wait, the grave is my house; I have made my bed in the darkness. (14) I have said to corruption, 'You are my father', to the worm, 'You are my mother and my sister.'"
The word translated "If" also means "when", "while", "yet", and many other similar words, so I believe the sense is continuing that idea that he is indeed going to the grave. The word translated "corruption" more literally means "pit", which is really what Job means here; he is going to the grave and he will address it with familiarity because he is now so close to it. The worm is the one that feeds upon the dead as seen in other scriptures.
(15) "And where now is my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? (16) They will go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust."
All of Job's hopes will go down to the grave with him.
(Job 16:1) Then Job answered and said, (2) "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all! (3) Shall vain words have an end? Or what emboldens you that you answer?"
With the word translated as "vain", we once again have the original word "ruach" meaning "wind; by resemblance breath". So Job believes his friends are also blowing hot air and wonders aloud if it will ever end. Because they have only empty meaningless words, what on earth emboldens them to continue trying to answer him?
(4) "I also could speak as you do, if your soul were in my soul's place. I could heap up words against you, and shake my head at you; (5) But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should relieve your grief."
Job condemns his friends' response to him in his time of trouble. If the roles were reversed, he says he would have spoken uplifting words and would have been a help to them.
(6) "Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; and if I cease, how am I eased?"
Whether he speaks or whether he is silent, Job's sufferings continue.
(7) "But now He has made me weary; You have made desolate all my company."
Because pronouns referring to God are not capitalized in the KJV, I sometimes just have to assume which person is meant. Judging by the list of sufferings that Job begins here, I believe he is referring to God making him weary, and then he turns his comments directly to God.
(8) "And You have filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me; and my leanness rising up in me bears witness to my face."
Job has been filled with wrinkles, not necessarily by old age, but through affliction; he has been made old before his time. This fact is being used by his friends as a witness against him as they see his afflictions as proof that he must have done something wrong. Because Job has always maintained his innocence, I believe the last part about his leanness bearing witness to his face means that Job can see for himself that he is an afflicted man, not a wicked man in fatness and covered with collops of fat, as Eliphaz had accused.
(9) "He tears me in his wrath, who hates me; he gnashes at me with his teeth; my enemy sharpens his eyes upon me."
The NKJV assumes that the pronouns here are referring to God, but after reading some of the old commentaries, I disagree. Job is a righteous man who, up to this time, has not condemned or cursed God. I see no reason to believe he has started now. I believe he speaks accurately of his enemy, Satan, who seeks to devour him as a roaring lion. Throughout Job's conversation in the book of Job, you see Holy Spirit inspired glimpses into truth and God's true nature. He may question why God did this to him, but he does not condemn God for it. I believe this idea is much more in keeping with the true nature of Job as reflected in this book as a whole.
Wow! What a lesson in context! Before this study, I had a misconception about Job. Oh, I knew he was a good man, but I fell into the belief that he came to speak to God a little uncharitably, to say the least. I was probably led into this thought pattern by incorrect translations of the original Biblical text. I have previously studied how Satan entered into the process of re-translating the Bible, diminishing the character of God and Jesus Christ, and wrote about my thoughts in Which Version of the Truth Will You Use? Consider how the newer translations, including the NKJV, which is supposed to be the same as KJV only with modern words, change the whole idea of this scripture:
He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. (NKJV)
God hates me and angrily tears me apart. He snaps his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes. - NLT
God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me; my opponent fastens on me his piercing eyes. - NIV
What a terrible mean picture of God these scriptures paint! But the very nature of God is love. He IS love; He can be nothing else. He is loving and merciful, and you can be certain He is ALWAYS just. While these could have been the words of a bitter man and not intended to be an accurate reflection of the true nature of God, I don't believe that is the case either. There has been nothing up to this point to indicate that Job has any such bitterness toward God. He only wonders why did these things happen to him. When you read the entire sentence, you can see that Job is speaking of the one who hates him, his enemy, and not of God:
He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. - KJV
(10) "They have gaped at me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me. (11) God has delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over to the hands of the wicked."
With these scriptures, we can see that Job only charges God with delivering him to the wicked and ungodly, but not with the wicked acts themselves.
(12) "I was at ease, but he has utterly broken me; he has also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; and set me up for his target."
Once again it is not perfectly clear to whom Job refers. I would feel better about assuming his intention and capitalizing the pronouns if he had said, "God has utterly broken me", etc. Since the preceding scripture stated that God had turned him over to the wicked, it might be concluded that God set him up as a target to be used by the wicked.
(13) "His archers surround me; he pierces my kidneys and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground."
Once again I believe the meaning is that God has allowed the archers to strike Job. Whether "he" refers to the archer, or to God, who by allowing it, has in reality DONE it, I am not certain of Job's intention. But we get the idea! Innocent Job is being pummeled.
(14) "He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs at me like a giant."
Paraphrased, "He crushes me and then renews and repeats the attack, with great and irresistible force."
(15) "I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust."
Sackcloth is the symbol of mourning. The horn of a beast is a symbol of its power, so throwing it in the dust would be another sign of mourning.
(16) "My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; (17) Not for any injustice in my hands; also my prayer is pure."
Job reiterates his innocence.
(18) "O earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no place."
Job compares himself to the murdered, and like them, he wants his innocent blood heard crying out from the earth.
(19) "Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. (20) My friends scorn me; but my eyes pour out tears to God."
I feel these lines indicate again that Job condemns his enemy and his friends, but not God. He knows that God knows the truth about him, and he will make his plea to Him.
(21) "Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbor. (22) When a few years are come, then I shall go the way where I shall not return."
(Job 17:1) "My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me. (2) Are there not mockers with me? And does not my eye continue in their provocation?"
The original word translated as "continue" here is "lun" which literally means to "lodge all night", so Job's sense here is that the mockers with him continue all night, never letting up.
(3) "Now put down a pledge; put me in a surety with You; who is he who will shake hands with me? (4) For You have hidden their heart from understanding; therefore You shall not exalt them."
Job turns his conversation to God. He asks that God be his surety and let his cause come before Him. Obviously, his friends cannot see the truth, so Job reasons God will not give them victory over him in this discussion; his desire is that God will judge him righteously.
(5) "He who speaks flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children will fail."
Job is probably referring to those very friends of his who do not see the truth. The word translated as "flattery" means more accurately "smoothness", so Job refers to the smooth eloquent words they spoke to him which were to him completely wrong, and therefore they were speaking deceitfully for God. Job sees this as a terrible sin, punishable to even their children, perhaps recalling how God hates "deceitful tongues" and "flattering lips".
(6) "He has made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret."
Interestingly, most of the old commentaries believe Job is talking about God here. Personally, I don't see why it isn't reasonable to believe he is continuing his thought about the one who speaks flattery with what turns out to be destructive words. He makes Job a by-word, s satire, an object of ridicule. One meaning of "paniym", the word translated as "aforetime" is "before them" rather than "a time before". The word normally translated as a tabret or a timbrel is "toph" and that means an instrument like a tambourine. Here the word is actually "topheth" which Strong's defines as "smiting" and "contempt". Perhaps the original idea was that he was hit and smote like a tabret. The sense here is that Job has been ridiculed and made an object of contempt in their presence (before them).
(7) "My eye also is dim because of sorrow, and all my members are like shadows."
Another reason I believe that Job is talking about the man with flattering lips in verse 6 rather than about God, is that he now speaks of "my eye also" after he just spoke of the eyes of the flatterer's children. But in contrast to the children's eyes which will fail as a punishment, Job's eyes fail him because of his weeping. His members are his body parts that are probably emaciated and only shadows of what they once were.
(8) "Upright men shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall stir himself up against the hypocrite. (9) The righteous also shall hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger."
Job probably means that upright men will be astonished at the calamities that God has allowed to come upon such an innocent man as he, but that it will make them rise up all the more against hypocrites. They will hold fast to their righteous ways and will be made stronger. It's as if Job sees his life as a testimony to others, meaning he must have some sense of assurance that whatever happens to him, he knows in the end God is just and it will work out for the best. Would he have said the same thing if he felt in his heart that God Himself had condemned and punished an innocent man? I love the Holy Spiritual insights that Job appears to get throughout the book of Job!
(10) "But as for you all, you turn back and go now; for I cannot find one wise man among you."
Job obviously does not count his friends among the upright and righteous men about whom he just spoke.
I need to clarify my transcription of the above verse. In my study notes, I prefer to use the KJV, but will sometimes use a more modern word, or look to the original meaning of the word to give me the best understanding of the sense of the verse. I do not intend to make new translations, so I will explain why my transcription of verse 10 above differs a little from the KJV:
But as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man among you.
It may mean as NKJV and some commentators have supposed, that they should go and come back again with better arguments, but I disagree. Job has tired of hearing their words and has said so on many occasions. Why would he ask them to come back with more? I understand that if they were to come back with wise words, he may want to hear them. But I found something interesting in the meaning of one of the original words of this verse. The word translated as "come" is "bo" and it means "come" or "go". It has been translated as "go" as often in the Bible as it has "come", so I believe the sense is "just go away" for there is not a wise man among his friends.
(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."
Job means he is dying, there is no more purpose to his life, his thoughts incessantly pursue and disturb him day and night, and the darkness of his pain and torment darkens any light of day that may have given him comfort.
(13) "If I wait, the grave is my house; I have made my bed in the darkness. (14) I have said to corruption, 'You are my father', to the worm, 'You are my mother and my sister.'"
The word translated "If" also means "when", "while", "yet", and many other similar words, so I believe the sense is continuing that idea that he is indeed going to the grave. The word translated "corruption" more literally means "pit", which is really what Job means here; he is going to the grave and he will address it with familiarity because he is now so close to it. The worm is the one that feeds upon the dead as seen in other scriptures.
(15) "And where now is my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? (16) They will go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the dust."
All of Job's hopes will go down to the grave with him.
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