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
Sunday, November 27, 2011
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.
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