Continuing a Bible study on Job, Elihu is still speaking:
(Job 36:1) Elihu also proceeded and said, (2) "Bear with me a little, and I will show you that I have yet to speak on God's behalf."
Aha! Apparently Elihu has not been exactly speaking words from the Holy Spirit. He pretty much admits it was he himself who thinks Job is stupid! Not a good way to get someone to want to listen any further, Elihu!
(3) "I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. (4) For truly my words are not false; he who is perfect in knowledge is with you."
Elihu says he will reach to the higher ways of God to show that God is always righteous. He believes his words will be absolute truth because he claims to speak from the Spirit of God.
(5) "Behold, God is mighty, and despises no one; He is mighty in strength and wisdom. (6) He does not preserve the life of the wicked, but gives justice to the poor. (7) He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous, but they are on the throne with kings; yes, He does establish them forever, and they are exalted."
God constantly watches over the righteous and exalts them to the level of kings.
(8) "And if they are bound in fetters, and held in cords of affliction, (9) Then He shows them their work, and their transgressions, that they have exceeded."
If the righteous are afflicted, then God reveals their exceedingly sinful transgressions to them.
(10) "He also opens their ear to discipline, and commands that they return from iniquity. (11) If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. (12) But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge."
Elihu obviously thinks he knows this is the reason for Job's affliction; Job was righteous, but when he strayed, he did not respond to God's chastisement.
(13) "But the hypocrites in heart store up wrath; they do not cry when He binds them."
Those who are hypocrites in their hearts are not broken and return to the Lord, but instead rebel. Elihu undoubtedly must see Job as a hypocrite, that he is afflicted because he will not humble himself before the Lord.
(14) "They die in youth, and their life is among the unclean."
A hypocrite will die before his time and his life will be among those who are the most vile and impure. Interestingly, the word translated as "unclean" means more completely "sodomite" or "male temple prostitute". In every other place in the Bible it is used, it is translated as "sodomite". It also didn't escape my attention that it might be concluded that "they die in youth...among the unclean", meaning the unclean die before their time, as well. It is a fact that homosexuals do die on the average at an alarmingly younger age than do heterosexuals. I did a study on this several years ago, and if statistics haven't changed, it's a death age of between 40 and 45, and that is excluding AIDS related deaths!
(15) "He delivers the poor in their affliction, and opens their ears in oppression."
Elihu returns to his point that God will deliver the afflicted if they will call upon Him. "Depressed" or "lowly" are better meanings of "poor" in this case. God will open their ears and cause them to understand their iniquity and the reason for their affliction.
(16) "Even so He would have removed you out of the (narrow) strait into a broad place, where there is no constraint, and that which should be set on your table would be full of abundance."
Likewise, God would have delivered Job if he had returned to God with a broken heart. I took a little liberty with some of the translations in the scripture above. My intention here is not to make a new translation of a scripture, but to fully understand the original meanings of the words, and sometimes I use what I consider to be a better word in order for me to better understand a passage. The original KJV used only "strait", but originally there were two words used, "peh" meaning "mouth" or "opening", and "tsar" meaning "narrow" or "tight". "Constraint" was my word, but it is one of the meanings of the original word "mutsaq" which KJV translators translated as "straitness". The KJV used "fatness" instead of "abundance", but again, I did use one of the original meanings of the word.
(17) "But you have fulfilled the judgment of the wicked; judgment and justice take hold of you."
Some of the old commentaries take this to mean that Job had acted like the wicked, therefore he was chastised as they were. Others take it to mean that he had reacted as the wicked do when they are chastised. The word translated as "fulfilled" means also "to be full", so the meaning may be simply that Job is full of what would have been the chastisement for the wicked, and then a reiteration of that fact, judgment and justice have taken hold of Job.
(18) "Because there is wrath, beware lest He take you away with His stroke; then a great ransom cannot deliver you. (19) Will He esteem your riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength."
I believe rather than the wrath of God, Elihu means Job's anger against God. Because Job has received the chastisement of the wicked, he has acted in anger. Elihu warns Job he could be taken away with one stroke of God, and then nothing could deliver him, not gold nor all the strength in the world.
(20) "Do not desire the night, when people are cut off in their place. (21) Take heed, regard not iniquity, for this have you chosen rather than affliction."
"The night" here seems to imply death, "when people are cut off". Job had said he desired death. Elihu tells him to take care and not wish for death. He says to entertain such wishes is to be sinful, and Job has chosen to be sinful rather than accept God's chastisement.
(22) "Behold, God exalts by His power; who teaches like Him? (23) Who has assigned Him His way, or who can say, 'You have done evil'?"
In a sense, Elihu is reiterating his point that God's ways are higher than man's. There is no one who can teach like Him; no one knows the whole picture as God does. God answers to no man, nor should he, as God obviously knows best.
(24) "Remember that you magnify His work, which men behold. (25) Every man may see it; man may behold it from afar."
Another meaning of the word translated as "magnify" is "laud", and synonyms of that are "praise" and "glorify". I believe Elihu is reminding Job to praise the Lord and His magnificent works. While it may be the works of God that men may behold from far and wide, I think perhaps the meaning here might be that Job should openly praise and glorify God where every man may behold it.
(26) "Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him, neither can the number of His years be searched out."
We cannot truly know God or fully comprehend Him. God is eternal; there is no researching Him from His beginning.
(27) "For He makes small the drops of water; they pour down rain according to their vapor, (28) Which the clouds do drip and drop upon man abundantly. (29) Also can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, or the noise of His tabernacle? (30) Behold, He spreads His light upon it, and covers the bottom of the sea."
Elihu gives examples of common and seemingly simple works of God that are too wondrous for man to fully understand. The noise of God's tabernacle is obviously thunder. The light is lightning spread upon the cloud or perhaps His tabernacle. The lightning spreads far and wide over all the earth, reaching even to the bottom of the seas.
(31) "For by them He judges the people; He gives food in abundance. (32) With clouds He covers the light, and commands it not to shine by the cloud that comes between. (33) The thunder declares it; the cattle also, concerning the vapor."
Wow! Think about it; God judges the people with a rainstorm. Rain can be a blessing or it can be a curse. The same storm could actually bless some people while it destroyed others. The KJV's translation of 33a is "The noise thereof sheweth concerning it". He's talking about the noise of the storm, so for my study notes, "The thunder declares it" was much more succinct and to the point. This translation suggests that an approaching storm is announced with thunder and cattle's instincts.
Interestingly, an old commentary of Adam Clarke states this is a "very unhappy" translation. I will have to quote him on this, because it was not plain to me. He says the original text read, "Yaggid alaiv reo Mikneh aph al oleh". "Yaggid" or "nagad" as read by KJV translators means "to make known, declare". "Alaiv" or "al" is a preposition or a conjunction that can mean almost anything! Not literally, but it can have various meanings, "upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against, because that, because, notwithstanding, although" and more. "Reo" or "rea" means "crash, noise, shout, or roar". So "the noise declares concerning it" seems to be an appropriate translation, however, Adam Clarke suggests it is, "Its loud noise shall proclaim concerning HIM".
Examining the second part of the verse, "mikneh" or "miqneh" generally means "cattle or livestock", but it also can mean "something bought, property, acquisition, possession, purchase, substance". "Aph" means "also, yea, furthermore, moreover". Then there's that little word "al" again with various possible meanings. Finally, and here's the kicker, "oleh" or "alah" means "to ascend, be high, mount up, arise, break [the day], carry up, cast up, cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, go (away, up), grow (over), increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, offer, make to pay, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work". Whew! What the KJV translators may have considered "going up" to be "vapor", may not have been vapor at all. It's still a stretch for me to grasp Mr. Clarke's translation, "A magazine of wrath against iniquity", but I could see perhaps, "His possessions exalt Him", or all of nature exalts Him. Wow! My current "in-depth" Bible study only scratches the surface! But that is why Bible study can be a life-long endeavor, and the Holy Spirit can show you something new every time you read the Bible! It's very exciting!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Multiplying Words Without Knowledge, or Stupidity in the Bible
(Job 35:1) Elihu spoke moreover, and said, (2) "Do you think this is right, that you said, 'My righteousness is more than God's'? (3) For you said, 'What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?'
Job never said his righteousness was more than God's, but Elihu further qualifies his interpretation of Job's meaning by adding what Job indeed said. I'm not sure that Job really said those things, either, but it may have seemed he insinuated them when he said God destroys the perfect and the wicked. This passage reminds me of a commercial I heard on Christian radio one time, and the moral of it really stuck with me. When we fall into the trap of mind-reading and start acting on what we think the person means, and not on what they really meant but may not have expressed well, then we are acting on a lie. I don't believe for a moment that Job believed he was more righteous than God. He was just lamenting the fact that he tried to do good, but look where it got him.
Actually, when you look at what Elihu said Job had said, there is really nothing wrong with "What advantage will it be to You?" There is no advantage to God when we are righteous. God doesn't NEED our righteousness. He can act with or without it. It is always about OUR good.
"What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?" Again, taken literally the way Elihu expressed it, it's merely a pondering question. Obviously, from the benefit of knowing the end of the story, we know God is still working this to Job's benefit. He may not can see it at this point, but the vast bigger-picture ways of God are not finished yet. Part of following our Lord is to do His will. We want to do His will because we know it is far better than what our puny human minds can contemplate. In this case, Job was indeed blessed more abundantly by God, and the story of Job has been an example of faith for hundreds of years to countless souls. And if you want to lament the death of his children, if they were true followers, then they will be with their Lord, which is a far better place than still living on earth. Believers never have to fear dying, and although we may grieve selfishly because we miss them, because we love them we would never want them to be removed from that better place. If Job's children were not believers, then they were never going to be believers; you can have faith in that. The all-seeing God knows His people!
(4) "I will answer you, and your companions with you."
Elihu states he will now answer Job and his friends, and one can assume he means to better explain Job's situation. Whether he plans to truly answer Job's questions or plans to answer what he, in error, thinks Job thinks, remains to be seen at this point.
(5) "Look to the heavens and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than you. (6) If you sin, what do you (accomplish) against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? (7) If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?"
So far, so good. Elihu points out that God's ways are higher than our ways, and that indeed, God is not hurt nor does He profit from anything man does.
(8) "Your wickedness may hurt a man as you are, and your righteousness may profit the son of man."
In this case the "son of man" seems to mean "generations of men". Job's (or any man's) actions do not hurt or profit God, but they may hurt or profit mortal men, and even generations to come. We sometimes forget this when we want to blame God for what seems to us senseless acts that we know He alone could have prevented. When my precious Daddy died way too young of a painful cancer 23 years ago, I was angry at God for months, probably even a couple of years or more. Then one day I realized that man had created cancer, not God. The things we do to our environment, the additives in our food, the additives we put on our skin and use every day, are full of carcinogens. Once again, men become fools thinking they are so wise making things better and better with chemicals! We have brought disease to ourselves. I am sure it is even more painful to see a young child suffer and die with cancer, or a young mother who dies and leaves small children. God surely could have prevented or reversed that! Yes, He could have, and in some cases He does perform miraculous healing. But why does He choose to heal some and not others? Well, only the sovereign Lord knows that, but He is always about the greater good, His ways being higher than our ways. Often people in the very worst of circumstances, only then, turn to the Lord. I believe often He may allow these things to happen in order to bring His people back to Him. Recall Jesus's words in Matthew 18:8-9 that say it's better to enter heaven maimed or blinded in one eye than to be whole and cast into hell. Whatever it takes to save us!! What a merciful God we have! The sweet children who suffer and die go to be with Him, so they are much happier, and through grief and despair, perhaps their parents are able to join them. It is hard for us to understand how God could sacrifice an innocent little child like that, but then again, He sacrificed His own son to save us sinners. He loves us ALL!
Another thought along the same lines on why some people are healed and others are not: again God knows the bigger picture. He knows what will happen if one is saved, and what will happen if one is not. What is the greater good? What will save His lost sheep? Just like the hypocritical leader and nation described in the last post, if people are continually blessed when they are doing wrong, they may be ensnared into believing they are doing right. Tragedy often brings us closer to God. And we must remember the tragedy was not caused by God, but He does, in fact, allow it.
(9) "Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; they cry out because of the arm of the mighty."
We are back to the people Job may hurt with his wickedness from verse 8.
(10) "But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, (11) Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?'"
Apparently Elihu is making a point that the oppressed do not reach out to God when they suffer. "In the night" is a picture of "in the midst of trouble". God has given men wisdom to know Him, but they forget Him and don't think to call on Him in their times of trouble.
(12) "There they cry, but none gives answer, because of the pride of evil men."
The oppressed cry, but there is no one to answer them because they don't cry out to the right One. Whether they are crying ABOUT the pride of evil men that has caused the trouble, or because their own pride keeps them from calling on God, either way, they do not look to their Creator.
(13) "Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it."
God will not hear empty hollow words or lies.
(14) "Although you say you will not see Him, yet judgment is before Him; therefore trust in Him."
Elihu seems to be turning his point about how the oppressed do not call on God to Job. Paraphrased, "Just because you don't look to Him, He and His righteous judgment are there; therefore you should trust in Him."
(15) "But now, because it is not so, He has visited in His anger; yet he doesn't know it in great extremity: (16) Therefore does Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplies words without knowledge."
It looks like Elihu believes that because Job did not turn to God, God has visited him in anger, although we have to believe that an apparent righteous and Spirit-led man as Elihu must have meant chastisement rather than vengeful anger. Otherwise, I would have to say Elihu has really lost it by this point, and should have stopped talking in the last chapter! I had to chuckle when I looked at the original meaning of the word that was translated as "extremity". It means "stupidity"! Elihu says Job was so stupid he didn't even know why God had visited him in anger. Well, now I know Elihu has gone too far. He may have started talking feeling led by the Holy Spirit, but I am sure he let his own ego take over at some point. Elihu concludes this chapter by saying that Job has been speaking senseless and meaningless words in his complaints against God, and that he speaks without any real knowledge. And we, knowing the rest of the story, could say that last part about Elihu, as well!
"Multiplying words without knowledge"...I could not help but get an image of the so-called intelligent of our day, who "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools". Paul tells us in Romans 1:22 how people reject God, changing "the truth of God into a lie" and become fools, wise in their own eyes.
Job never said his righteousness was more than God's, but Elihu further qualifies his interpretation of Job's meaning by adding what Job indeed said. I'm not sure that Job really said those things, either, but it may have seemed he insinuated them when he said God destroys the perfect and the wicked. This passage reminds me of a commercial I heard on Christian radio one time, and the moral of it really stuck with me. When we fall into the trap of mind-reading and start acting on what we think the person means, and not on what they really meant but may not have expressed well, then we are acting on a lie. I don't believe for a moment that Job believed he was more righteous than God. He was just lamenting the fact that he tried to do good, but look where it got him.
Actually, when you look at what Elihu said Job had said, there is really nothing wrong with "What advantage will it be to You?" There is no advantage to God when we are righteous. God doesn't NEED our righteousness. He can act with or without it. It is always about OUR good.
"What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin?" Again, taken literally the way Elihu expressed it, it's merely a pondering question. Obviously, from the benefit of knowing the end of the story, we know God is still working this to Job's benefit. He may not can see it at this point, but the vast bigger-picture ways of God are not finished yet. Part of following our Lord is to do His will. We want to do His will because we know it is far better than what our puny human minds can contemplate. In this case, Job was indeed blessed more abundantly by God, and the story of Job has been an example of faith for hundreds of years to countless souls. And if you want to lament the death of his children, if they were true followers, then they will be with their Lord, which is a far better place than still living on earth. Believers never have to fear dying, and although we may grieve selfishly because we miss them, because we love them we would never want them to be removed from that better place. If Job's children were not believers, then they were never going to be believers; you can have faith in that. The all-seeing God knows His people!
(4) "I will answer you, and your companions with you."
Elihu states he will now answer Job and his friends, and one can assume he means to better explain Job's situation. Whether he plans to truly answer Job's questions or plans to answer what he, in error, thinks Job thinks, remains to be seen at this point.
(5) "Look to the heavens and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than you. (6) If you sin, what do you (accomplish) against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him? (7) If you are righteous, what do you give Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?"
So far, so good. Elihu points out that God's ways are higher than our ways, and that indeed, God is not hurt nor does He profit from anything man does.
(8) "Your wickedness may hurt a man as you are, and your righteousness may profit the son of man."
In this case the "son of man" seems to mean "generations of men". Job's (or any man's) actions do not hurt or profit God, but they may hurt or profit mortal men, and even generations to come. We sometimes forget this when we want to blame God for what seems to us senseless acts that we know He alone could have prevented. When my precious Daddy died way too young of a painful cancer 23 years ago, I was angry at God for months, probably even a couple of years or more. Then one day I realized that man had created cancer, not God. The things we do to our environment, the additives in our food, the additives we put on our skin and use every day, are full of carcinogens. Once again, men become fools thinking they are so wise making things better and better with chemicals! We have brought disease to ourselves. I am sure it is even more painful to see a young child suffer and die with cancer, or a young mother who dies and leaves small children. God surely could have prevented or reversed that! Yes, He could have, and in some cases He does perform miraculous healing. But why does He choose to heal some and not others? Well, only the sovereign Lord knows that, but He is always about the greater good, His ways being higher than our ways. Often people in the very worst of circumstances, only then, turn to the Lord. I believe often He may allow these things to happen in order to bring His people back to Him. Recall Jesus's words in Matthew 18:8-9 that say it's better to enter heaven maimed or blinded in one eye than to be whole and cast into hell. Whatever it takes to save us!! What a merciful God we have! The sweet children who suffer and die go to be with Him, so they are much happier, and through grief and despair, perhaps their parents are able to join them. It is hard for us to understand how God could sacrifice an innocent little child like that, but then again, He sacrificed His own son to save us sinners. He loves us ALL!
Another thought along the same lines on why some people are healed and others are not: again God knows the bigger picture. He knows what will happen if one is saved, and what will happen if one is not. What is the greater good? What will save His lost sheep? Just like the hypocritical leader and nation described in the last post, if people are continually blessed when they are doing wrong, they may be ensnared into believing they are doing right. Tragedy often brings us closer to God. And we must remember the tragedy was not caused by God, but He does, in fact, allow it.
(9) "Because of the multitude of oppressions they cry out; they cry out because of the arm of the mighty."
We are back to the people Job may hurt with his wickedness from verse 8.
(10) "But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, (11) Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, and makes us wiser than the birds of heaven?'"
Apparently Elihu is making a point that the oppressed do not reach out to God when they suffer. "In the night" is a picture of "in the midst of trouble". God has given men wisdom to know Him, but they forget Him and don't think to call on Him in their times of trouble.
(12) "There they cry, but none gives answer, because of the pride of evil men."
The oppressed cry, but there is no one to answer them because they don't cry out to the right One. Whether they are crying ABOUT the pride of evil men that has caused the trouble, or because their own pride keeps them from calling on God, either way, they do not look to their Creator.
(13) "Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it."
God will not hear empty hollow words or lies.
(14) "Although you say you will not see Him, yet judgment is before Him; therefore trust in Him."
Elihu seems to be turning his point about how the oppressed do not call on God to Job. Paraphrased, "Just because you don't look to Him, He and His righteous judgment are there; therefore you should trust in Him."
(15) "But now, because it is not so, He has visited in His anger; yet he doesn't know it in great extremity: (16) Therefore does Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplies words without knowledge."
It looks like Elihu believes that because Job did not turn to God, God has visited him in anger, although we have to believe that an apparent righteous and Spirit-led man as Elihu must have meant chastisement rather than vengeful anger. Otherwise, I would have to say Elihu has really lost it by this point, and should have stopped talking in the last chapter! I had to chuckle when I looked at the original meaning of the word that was translated as "extremity". It means "stupidity"! Elihu says Job was so stupid he didn't even know why God had visited him in anger. Well, now I know Elihu has gone too far. He may have started talking feeling led by the Holy Spirit, but I am sure he let his own ego take over at some point. Elihu concludes this chapter by saying that Job has been speaking senseless and meaningless words in his complaints against God, and that he speaks without any real knowledge. And we, knowing the rest of the story, could say that last part about Elihu, as well!
"Multiplying words without knowledge"...I could not help but get an image of the so-called intelligent of our day, who "professing themselves to be wise, they became fools". Paul tells us in Romans 1:22 how people reject God, changing "the truth of God into a lie" and become fools, wise in their own eyes.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
God Cannot Continue to Bless a Hypocritical Nation
Continuing a Bible study in Job:
(Job 34:1) Furthermore Elihu answered and said, (2) "Hear my words, O you wise men; and give ear to me, you who have knowledge. (3) For the ear tests words, as the mouth tastes meat. (4) Let us choose to us judgment; let us know among ourselves what is good."
The "ear" in verse 3 is not the same original word as "ear" in verse 2. It denotes a broader sense; Elihu wants them to test the words, roll them over in their minds, and really grasp and understand them. One of the definitions put forth in The Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions is "to uncover the ear to reveal; the receiver of divine revelation". Elihu believes he is speaking from divine revelation from God and he wants the men to receive what the Holy Spirit is speaking. He encourages the men to examine and explore what is true and right.
(5) "For Job has said, 'I am righteous, and God has taken away my judgment; (6) Should I lie against my right? My wound is incurable without transgression.'"
Taking away his judgment means that he feels God denied him a fair hearing. Lying against his right would be for Job to say he is wicked and deserved his affliction, even though he knew himself to be innocent. He felt his afflictions were without cause, or at least were more than he deserved.
(7) "What man is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water, (8) Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?"
Elihu asks what man is like Job, who indulges in scornful and reproachful speeches to God. Perhaps a foolish or wicked man would do such a thing, but to see Job, a pious man who followed God, behaving this way, is another matter.
(9) "For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.'"
Job never said this exactly, but he did imply it when he said that God can destroy the wicked and the righteous alike.
(10) "Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding; far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity. (11) For the work of a man shall He render to him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. (12) Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment."
Elihu states that it is impossible for God to do evil, sin, or pervert judgment, which he feels Job has insinuated. God will treat each man as he deserves. Elihu isn't necessarily accusing Job of doing wickedness resulting in his afflictions, but he is emphatically stating that to accuse God of perverting judgment is in error.
(13) "Who has given Him a charge over the earth? Or who has disposed the whole world?"
It's a rhetorical question, for no one has given God authority. HE IS the authority! He is the original authority and ruler over all. The word translated as "disposed" means more completely "to put, place, set, appoint, make". So who has made the whole world, appointed its place and time, and put everything into order? God, of course!
(14) "If He set his heart upon man, He will gather unto Himself his spirit and his breath; (15) All flesh will perish together, and man will return to dust."
The KJV translators assumed the second phrase after the comma should also begin with "if" and read "if He will gather unto Himself his spirit and his breath", but they did italicize the word telling us they added it to the original text. I think the meaning is right without the additional "if". If God sets His heart upon man, He will gather man's soul and spirit to Himself, and then man's flesh returns to dust.
(16) "If you now have understanding, hear this; listen to the sound of my words. (17) Will even he who hates right govern? And will you condemn Him who is most just?"
The sense is that it was impossible to believe that one who was unjust could govern the universe. Therefore God is just, and Elihu believes Job has condemned the most just Ruler of the universe.
(18) "Is it fit to say to a king, 'You are wicked?' And to princes, 'You are ungodly'? (19) How much less to Him who is not partial to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they all are the work of His hands."
Elihu's argument is that Job would never consider telling a king or prince he was wicked or ungodly, so how dare he condemn the one who made that king and that prince?
How true it is that we often indulge in language to God that we would never consider to an earthly authority!
(20) "In a moment will they die, and the people will be troubled at midnight, and pass away; and the mighty will be taken away without hand."
At a moment's notice, those kings and princes and the rich will die, and the people will be shaken. "At midnight" probably is meant to give an image of something happening suddenly and without awareness like a robber breaking in at midnight or a storm that hits in the middle of the night. Even the mighty will be taken away without a human hand. People can be removed from this earth without any help from any other person on earth. The NKJV says "the mighty will be taken away without 'a' hand", and the other newer translations pretty much agree that it means they can be taken away without a human hand. Albert Barnes points out that the original KJV says it all the way it was probably originally meant. The Almighty takes away the mighty men without "hand", but by His "Word", or His will.
(21) "For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. (22) There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves."
The meaning is clear; no one can escape God's notice.
(23) "For He will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God."
The KJV translators added the phrase "than right". Even without that "help", I believe the gist is that God is just and doesn't lay so much on man that He should be called into question by man.
(24) "He will break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their place. (25) Therefore He knows their works; and He overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed. (26) He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others, (27) Because they turned back from Him, and would not consider any of His ways, (28) So that they cause the cry of the poor to come to Him, and He hears the cry of the afflicted."
Again the meaning is clear; God knows the work of wicked men and He strikes them down.
(29) "When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him, whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only? (30) That the hypocrite not reign, lest the people be ensnared."
God is the sovereign ruler. Not only does He cause destruction, but He causes peace that no man can interrupt. He can turn away from a single person or an entire nation. Wow! I think there is a more powerful meaning to verse 30 than might appear at first glance. Okay, so obviously God wouldn't want a hypocrite to reign. He wants true followers. The people can indeed be ensnared by a hypocritical ruler. But there's more. If God were to bless the hypocritical ruler and therefore the people and the nation, they could be ensnared by believing that they were doing good. This scripture so speaks to me about the situation in our country today! Our country has actually come to believe that it's okay to kill innocent babies by the millions! After all, abortion is lawful and a RIGHT, according to liberals. Laws tell us it's okay and normal for homosexuals to marry. These laws do indeed ensnare the people and cause them to sin. If God were to continue to bless our country after so much wickedness, He wouldn't be God!
2 Peter 2:6 says, "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly." Sodom and Gomorrah were to serve as an example, but this nation and even people who call themselves Christians, think we can just ignore God's word on this, and continue on our merry blessed way. Recall also the passage in Matthew 10, verses 14 and 15, "And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Verily I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!" Places that refuse to hear God's word are doomed to a fate worse than Sodom and Gomorrah! Then there's Paul's long passage in Romans 1 about the progressive behavior of those who reject God. I often marvel that we can be given so absolutely perfect an illustration and still not see. In a nutshell, people refuse to see God's creation as just that, GOD's creation. They don't glorify God, they aren't thankful, and become fools thinking they are wiser than the truth. They change the truth and glory of God to a man-made image, a lie, (as in New Age religions or those that say "we all worship the same god") and they worship God's creation more than Him. They dishonor their bodies and begin to lust for those of their same sex. Because they did not LIKE to retain God in their knowledge...and this point is worth emphasizing. They know better but they choose NOT to remember God, God turns them over to all sorts of their vile behaviors. The last scripture is a hugely important one for all the lukewarm Christians who try to say we shouldn't judge and should just let people live the way they want. Who cares if we stand up for the "right" of a woman to kill her child and for homosexual "marriage" by electing the very people who continue to enforce and force those evil laws on the people? After all, if we personally don't think it's right, who cares if other people do it? Who really cares if we pretend it's in the interest of a "greater good" to look past the atrocities of a leader and lift him up? Who really cares if we agree to elevate sinful behavior to rights because, after all, times have changed. Well, God cares: "Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." - Romans 1:32
(31) "Surely it is meet to be said unto God, 'I have borne chastisement; I will not offend any more; (32) Teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.'"
It was difficult to find a proper (better) one-word translation of the word "meet" here, but it is part of a phrase the gist of which indicates a causal relationship, with what came before leading to the natural response of what comes next, sort of like "So therefore..." It should also be noted that the original KJV translators added the word "chastisement" to give a better understanding of the word they translated as "borne" (borne what?). However, I don't think it was necessary to add to the text as "nasah" (the word translated as "borne") can stand alone as it also means "endured", "suffered", or "been laden". Elihu seems to be suggesting to Job that he humble himself before the Lord, continue to endure, and pray for understanding so that he doesn't offend or do iniquity anymore.
(33) "Should it be according to your mind? He will recompense it, whether you refuse or whether you choose, and not I; therefore speak what you know."
Paraphrased, "Should things be as you say? Does God need to govern as you see fit? God will render reward or punishment whether you or I choose it or not. If you know better than this or can add anything in your defense, let's hear it."
(34) "Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man listen to me. (35) Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. (36) My desire is that Job may be tried to the end, because of his answers for wicked men. (37) For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God."
So Elihu says, that Job has spoken without wisdom and knowledge, that is. Interestingly, the word translated as "desire" is "abeh" and is only used once in all of the Bible. Some scholars believe it was meant to be "abba", and Elihu is asking the Father to allow Job to be thoroughly or fully tried or examined. Other scholars point out that "abba" is used nowhere else in Job, so which lone word do we accept? Perhaps it IS Elihu's desire that Job be thoroughly examined because of his views which he has expressed, which seem to favor the wicked. Indeed, Elihu implies that Job has indeed sinned to bring on his affliction, and now he has added rebellion against God to his original sin. "Claps his hands" may be taken different ways, but obviously is intended as derogatory by Elihu. Either Job claps his hands in impatience, perhaps even as a way to silence his opposition, or as a symbol of his prideful triumph; either way Elihu sees it as disrespectful to God.
For a large part, it seemed to me that Elihu may have been truly speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but it does seem he went a little too far in his assessment of Job's general spirit and did ultimately accuse him of sinful behavior. Only God knows Job's heart. In Elihu's defense, he knows God is always just and can't stomach Job's apparent disrespect. But this seems to be a case of when man sometimes wants to take over. If Elihu were to only speak the words of the Holy Spirit and not start adding his own, his words would have been better accepted.
(Job 34:1) Furthermore Elihu answered and said, (2) "Hear my words, O you wise men; and give ear to me, you who have knowledge. (3) For the ear tests words, as the mouth tastes meat. (4) Let us choose to us judgment; let us know among ourselves what is good."
The "ear" in verse 3 is not the same original word as "ear" in verse 2. It denotes a broader sense; Elihu wants them to test the words, roll them over in their minds, and really grasp and understand them. One of the definitions put forth in The Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions is "to uncover the ear to reveal; the receiver of divine revelation". Elihu believes he is speaking from divine revelation from God and he wants the men to receive what the Holy Spirit is speaking. He encourages the men to examine and explore what is true and right.
(5) "For Job has said, 'I am righteous, and God has taken away my judgment; (6) Should I lie against my right? My wound is incurable without transgression.'"
Taking away his judgment means that he feels God denied him a fair hearing. Lying against his right would be for Job to say he is wicked and deserved his affliction, even though he knew himself to be innocent. He felt his afflictions were without cause, or at least were more than he deserved.
(7) "What man is like Job, who drinks up scorning like water, (8) Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity, and walks with wicked men?"
Elihu asks what man is like Job, who indulges in scornful and reproachful speeches to God. Perhaps a foolish or wicked man would do such a thing, but to see Job, a pious man who followed God, behaving this way, is another matter.
(9) "For he has said, 'It profits a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.'"
Job never said this exactly, but he did imply it when he said that God can destroy the wicked and the righteous alike.
(10) "Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding; far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity. (11) For the work of a man shall He render to him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. (12) Yes, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment."
Elihu states that it is impossible for God to do evil, sin, or pervert judgment, which he feels Job has insinuated. God will treat each man as he deserves. Elihu isn't necessarily accusing Job of doing wickedness resulting in his afflictions, but he is emphatically stating that to accuse God of perverting judgment is in error.
(13) "Who has given Him a charge over the earth? Or who has disposed the whole world?"
It's a rhetorical question, for no one has given God authority. HE IS the authority! He is the original authority and ruler over all. The word translated as "disposed" means more completely "to put, place, set, appoint, make". So who has made the whole world, appointed its place and time, and put everything into order? God, of course!
(14) "If He set his heart upon man, He will gather unto Himself his spirit and his breath; (15) All flesh will perish together, and man will return to dust."
The KJV translators assumed the second phrase after the comma should also begin with "if" and read "if He will gather unto Himself his spirit and his breath", but they did italicize the word telling us they added it to the original text. I think the meaning is right without the additional "if". If God sets His heart upon man, He will gather man's soul and spirit to Himself, and then man's flesh returns to dust.
(16) "If you now have understanding, hear this; listen to the sound of my words. (17) Will even he who hates right govern? And will you condemn Him who is most just?"
The sense is that it was impossible to believe that one who was unjust could govern the universe. Therefore God is just, and Elihu believes Job has condemned the most just Ruler of the universe.
(18) "Is it fit to say to a king, 'You are wicked?' And to princes, 'You are ungodly'? (19) How much less to Him who is not partial to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they all are the work of His hands."
Elihu's argument is that Job would never consider telling a king or prince he was wicked or ungodly, so how dare he condemn the one who made that king and that prince?
How true it is that we often indulge in language to God that we would never consider to an earthly authority!
(20) "In a moment will they die, and the people will be troubled at midnight, and pass away; and the mighty will be taken away without hand."
At a moment's notice, those kings and princes and the rich will die, and the people will be shaken. "At midnight" probably is meant to give an image of something happening suddenly and without awareness like a robber breaking in at midnight or a storm that hits in the middle of the night. Even the mighty will be taken away without a human hand. People can be removed from this earth without any help from any other person on earth. The NKJV says "the mighty will be taken away without 'a' hand", and the other newer translations pretty much agree that it means they can be taken away without a human hand. Albert Barnes points out that the original KJV says it all the way it was probably originally meant. The Almighty takes away the mighty men without "hand", but by His "Word", or His will.
(21) "For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. (22) There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves."
The meaning is clear; no one can escape God's notice.
(23) "For He will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God."
The KJV translators added the phrase "than right". Even without that "help", I believe the gist is that God is just and doesn't lay so much on man that He should be called into question by man.
(24) "He will break in pieces mighty men without number, and set others in their place. (25) Therefore He knows their works; and He overturns them in the night, so that they are destroyed. (26) He strikes them as wicked men in the open sight of others, (27) Because they turned back from Him, and would not consider any of His ways, (28) So that they cause the cry of the poor to come to Him, and He hears the cry of the afflicted."
Again the meaning is clear; God knows the work of wicked men and He strikes them down.
(29) "When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him, whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only? (30) That the hypocrite not reign, lest the people be ensnared."
God is the sovereign ruler. Not only does He cause destruction, but He causes peace that no man can interrupt. He can turn away from a single person or an entire nation. Wow! I think there is a more powerful meaning to verse 30 than might appear at first glance. Okay, so obviously God wouldn't want a hypocrite to reign. He wants true followers. The people can indeed be ensnared by a hypocritical ruler. But there's more. If God were to bless the hypocritical ruler and therefore the people and the nation, they could be ensnared by believing that they were doing good. This scripture so speaks to me about the situation in our country today! Our country has actually come to believe that it's okay to kill innocent babies by the millions! After all, abortion is lawful and a RIGHT, according to liberals. Laws tell us it's okay and normal for homosexuals to marry. These laws do indeed ensnare the people and cause them to sin. If God were to continue to bless our country after so much wickedness, He wouldn't be God!
2 Peter 2:6 says, "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly." Sodom and Gomorrah were to serve as an example, but this nation and even people who call themselves Christians, think we can just ignore God's word on this, and continue on our merry blessed way. Recall also the passage in Matthew 10, verses 14 and 15, "And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Verily I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!" Places that refuse to hear God's word are doomed to a fate worse than Sodom and Gomorrah! Then there's Paul's long passage in Romans 1 about the progressive behavior of those who reject God. I often marvel that we can be given so absolutely perfect an illustration and still not see. In a nutshell, people refuse to see God's creation as just that, GOD's creation. They don't glorify God, they aren't thankful, and become fools thinking they are wiser than the truth. They change the truth and glory of God to a man-made image, a lie, (as in New Age religions or those that say "we all worship the same god") and they worship God's creation more than Him. They dishonor their bodies and begin to lust for those of their same sex. Because they did not LIKE to retain God in their knowledge...and this point is worth emphasizing. They know better but they choose NOT to remember God, God turns them over to all sorts of their vile behaviors. The last scripture is a hugely important one for all the lukewarm Christians who try to say we shouldn't judge and should just let people live the way they want. Who cares if we stand up for the "right" of a woman to kill her child and for homosexual "marriage" by electing the very people who continue to enforce and force those evil laws on the people? After all, if we personally don't think it's right, who cares if other people do it? Who really cares if we pretend it's in the interest of a "greater good" to look past the atrocities of a leader and lift him up? Who really cares if we agree to elevate sinful behavior to rights because, after all, times have changed. Well, God cares: "Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." - Romans 1:32
(31) "Surely it is meet to be said unto God, 'I have borne chastisement; I will not offend any more; (32) Teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.'"
It was difficult to find a proper (better) one-word translation of the word "meet" here, but it is part of a phrase the gist of which indicates a causal relationship, with what came before leading to the natural response of what comes next, sort of like "So therefore..." It should also be noted that the original KJV translators added the word "chastisement" to give a better understanding of the word they translated as "borne" (borne what?). However, I don't think it was necessary to add to the text as "nasah" (the word translated as "borne") can stand alone as it also means "endured", "suffered", or "been laden". Elihu seems to be suggesting to Job that he humble himself before the Lord, continue to endure, and pray for understanding so that he doesn't offend or do iniquity anymore.
(33) "Should it be according to your mind? He will recompense it, whether you refuse or whether you choose, and not I; therefore speak what you know."
Paraphrased, "Should things be as you say? Does God need to govern as you see fit? God will render reward or punishment whether you or I choose it or not. If you know better than this or can add anything in your defense, let's hear it."
(34) "Let men of understanding tell me, and let a wise man listen to me. (35) Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom. (36) My desire is that Job may be tried to the end, because of his answers for wicked men. (37) For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God."
So Elihu says, that Job has spoken without wisdom and knowledge, that is. Interestingly, the word translated as "desire" is "abeh" and is only used once in all of the Bible. Some scholars believe it was meant to be "abba", and Elihu is asking the Father to allow Job to be thoroughly or fully tried or examined. Other scholars point out that "abba" is used nowhere else in Job, so which lone word do we accept? Perhaps it IS Elihu's desire that Job be thoroughly examined because of his views which he has expressed, which seem to favor the wicked. Indeed, Elihu implies that Job has indeed sinned to bring on his affliction, and now he has added rebellion against God to his original sin. "Claps his hands" may be taken different ways, but obviously is intended as derogatory by Elihu. Either Job claps his hands in impatience, perhaps even as a way to silence his opposition, or as a symbol of his prideful triumph; either way Elihu sees it as disrespectful to God.
For a large part, it seemed to me that Elihu may have been truly speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but it does seem he went a little too far in his assessment of Job's general spirit and did ultimately accuse him of sinful behavior. Only God knows Job's heart. In Elihu's defense, he knows God is always just and can't stomach Job's apparent disrespect. But this seems to be a case of when man sometimes wants to take over. If Elihu were to only speak the words of the Holy Spirit and not start adding his own, his words would have been better accepted.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Elihu's Wisdom from the Holy Spirit
Continuing a Bible study of Job:
(Job 32:1) So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. (2) Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. (3) Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
At least they thought that Job was being righteous in his own eyes, but they had just failed to convince Job on any of their points because they argued from false principles. This angered Elihu; his friends condemned Job when they had found no reason to, and Job seemed to be all about himself, justifying himself rather than glorifying God.
(4) Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were older than he. (5) When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was aroused. (6) And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said, "I am young, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion. (7) I said, 'Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.'"
Elihu was younger than Job and his three friends who had previously spoken, and was respectful of them, allowing them to speak and not interrupting them. After they had ceased speaking, and he had taken in all of their vain conversation that apparently went nowhere, he could hold his peace no longer.
(8) "But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives him understanding. (9) Great men are not always wise; neither do the aged understand judgment."
The Holy Spirit of God can give man wisdom and understanding at any age. Great men or old men are not always wise just because of their position or age, but when the Holy Spirit of God gives His inspiration to man, the man may have Godly understanding if he listens.
(10) "Therefore I say, 'Listen to me, I also will show my opinion.' (11) Behold, I waited for your words; I listened to your reasons, while you searched out what to say. (12) Yes, I paid attention to you, and behold, none of you convinced Job, or answered his words; (13) Lest you should say, 'We have found out wisdom; God thrusts him down, not man.'"
Elihu points out that he did wait until they had all finished speaking before offering his opinion. He listened to them, but they did not really answer Job. So rather than having them falsely satisfied that they had the wisdom and understanding of God, he will now speak, obviously feeling he is speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
(14) "Now he has not directed his words against me; neither will I answer him with your speeches."
Because Elihu did not partake in the conversation up to this point, Job has not directed any of his comments to him, and he indicates he will not answer Job with any of their false words.
(15) "They were amazed, they answered no more, they left off speaking. (16) When I had waited (for they did not speak, but stood still, and answered no more), (17) I said, 'I will answer also my part, I also will show my opinion.' (18) For I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me. (19) Behold, my belly is like wine which has no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles."
Once again Elihu points out that he waited until Job's friends quit speaking. Perhaps his friends were astonished or filled with wonder that they could not convince Job with their wisdom, but the word translated as "amazed" meant more completely "dismayed, discouraged, or broken down", so they were simply exhausted with trying to convince Job, and quit trying. Elihu implies he is so full of inspiration from the Holy Spirit that he feels about to burst. The Holy Spirit constrains, or better translated with another of the original word's definitions, presses upon him to speak.
(20) "I will speak, that I may be refreshed; I will open my lips and answer. (21) Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person; neither let me give flattering titles to man. (22) For I know not to give flattering titles; (in so doing) my Maker would soon take me away."
As he is about to burst, Elihu will be relieved to at last speak. To accept a man's person is to show partiality, so Elihu determines not to show partiality nor offer flattery in his speech. Our modern day way of speaking, and evidently the way of the KJV translators in 1611, who added the phrase "in so doing", would make the gist of verse 22, "I know better than to give flattering titles, or else my Maker would strike me dead." "In so doing" was not in the original text. Additionally, whenever we read "I know not" or any other word and then "not" in the Bible, it means "I do not know" or "I do not (whatever)", so the real meaning of the first part of that verse is that Elihu doesn't know how to offer flattery. Whether it is not in his nature or he has just learned not to do it, he is pointing out that he will not be offering any false flattery when he speaks. "My maker would soon take me away" is a little more difficult to understand exactly. He might mean that he does indeed fear the wrath of God if he were to do something he knew were wrong, such as fearing and revering man rather than God. It might be a more matter of fact statement that Elihu knows he will leave this life at some point and will have to answer to his Maker for his actions. I have my own thought on this that I did not read from any other commentary. Just maybe Elihu meant that if he spoke any flattering words, adding to what the Holy Spirit was telling him, that that Spirit would be taken away. It's a thought that doesn't change the sense of this passage.
(Job 33:1) "Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words."
We begin chapter 33 with Elihu directing his words to Job.
(2) "Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue has spoken in my mouth. (3) My words will be of the uprightness of my heart, and my lips will utter knowledge clearly."
I believe the sense here is that Elihu will speak to Job as truly as he can what he feels the Holy Spirit is speaking to him.
(4) "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life. (5) If you can answer me, set your words in order before me, stand up. (6) Behold, I am as your mouth in God's stead; I also have been formed out of clay."
Elihu encourages Job to take a stand and answer him, if he can, after he has finished speaking, as Elihu and Job are equals in God's eyes. The original KJV reads "I (am) according to thy wish in God's stead". The word translated as "wish" actually means "mouth". It can also mean "word", and the sense the KJV's translators were trying to convey was that it was like breath blowing a word or saying, so Elihu's words, thoughts, and wishes were as Job's; they were equal in God's eyes.
(7) "Behold, my terror will not make you afraid, neither will my hand be heavy upon you."
Elihu may mean that he will not be as rough as Job's friends had been, or perhaps he alludes to Job's previous statement from Job 9:34, "Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His fear terrify me."
(8) "Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of your words, saying, (9) 'I am clean without transgression; I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me. (10) Behold, He finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy; (11) He puts my feet in the stocks; He marks all my paths.'"
Elihu intends to show that he has been listening to Job and begins by referring to Job's own words. However, Job never used the exact words that he was without transgression; as a matter of fact at one point Job indeed said in Job 9:20, "If I justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me; if I say, I am perfect, it will also prove me perverse." However, Job did say that he was pure and righteous. Although some of the time I felt Job may have been speaking of his enemy counting Job as his enemy, rather than God doing it, he does seem to imply it is God in some places, like in Job 10:6, when he talks about God inquiring and searching out his sins. In Job 13:27, Job said exactly, "You put my feet also in the stocks, and watch closely all my paths."
(12) "Behold, in this you are not just; I will answer you, that God is greater than man. (13) Why do you strive against Him? For He does not give an account of any of His matters."
Elihu states that Job has not been correct in his conclusions about God. God and His plans are greater than man's and we don't always understand them. I am reminded of the scripture in Isaiah 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
(14) "For God speaks once, yes, twice, yet man does not perceive it. (15) In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumbering on the bed, (16) Then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, (17) That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man."
God does often show us His ways, but we fail to see. He shows us wonders in His creation and in His Word, and His Holy Spirit often speaks directly to us, but we don't recognize it as the Spirit of God, and dismiss it. He shows us things in dreams that we either forget or once again don't recognize as from Him. Most of the time, when there is that confirmation of something, or that "coincidence" that turns you away from something, you can be sure the Spirit of God was at work! God can change our direction in life and humble us before Him. Sometimes we may be "brought down" for our good, to save us from our own selfish pride and arrogance. I am reminded of the apostle Paul and the thorn in his flesh that kept him humble and dependent on his Lord.
(18) "He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. (19) He is chastened also with pain on his bed, and with strong pain in many of his bones, (20) So that his life abhors bread, and his soul, succulent meat."
God keeps us on a right track and saves our lives and eternal souls. Wow! If we could really get our minds around this passage! Sometimes God allows bad things to happen for our ultimate good! How many times do we want to be angry at God for something we think He did or didn't do, when all the while our loving Father is working things for a more excellent good that we can't see at the moment?! If we would only learn that our heavenly Father is ever-loving and faithful and merciful and just learn to trust Him because we know He knows best, how much more peaceful our lives would be! Of course, we do good and do what we can, but when it is out of our hands, we trust God.
(21) "His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. (22) Yes, his soul draws near to the grave, and his life to the destroyers. (23) If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man his uprightness, (24) Then he is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.'"
Wow! The opinions on verses 23 and 24 are as varied as I have seen in this study! The messenger could be an angel or perhaps someone led by the Holy Spirit to lead the person to salvation. The word translated as "interpreter" also means "ambassador", an authorized representative; it comes from a root word which also means "intercede". Thus it is someone who will intercede for him. Does he lead man to his own uprightness, or does he show the man His uprightness, that of the Lord, his Savior? Either way, the only uprightness that will save him is that of his Lord. Again, I'm not sure if the "he" in verse 24 is "he", the angel or interpreter, or "He", Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us all, as He paid the price of our sins. Once again, either interpretation works. The sense is that upon the man's death bed, he is saved from the pit of hell. How many times do we hear of people hitting rock-bottom and only then turning to their only true salvation? So rather than affliction being the punishment of a vengeful God, it is actually a merciful act of a loving Father turning His children back to Him and therefore saving their eternal lives. How wonderful that He loves us enough to do whatever it takes to bring us to Him! And perhaps unfortunately, it takes more to bring some of us back than it does others. Our heavenly Father knows just what it takes, and He works all things for ultimate good. If we really understood that, we could always trust God and fear not.
(25) "His flesh will be fresher than a child's; he will return to the days of his youth; (26) He will pray to God, and He will be favorable to him, and he shall see His face with joy, for He will return to man His righteousness."
"Fresher than a child's"...a beautiful picture of what we are told in the New Testament happens when we are born again! Ephesians 4:24 says, "And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Colossians 3:9-10: "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him." Elihu, obviously inspired by the Holy Spirit, is telling Job essentially the same thing the Apostle Paul told the churches almost 2000 years later! God's plan has always been the same! Since the fall of Adam, God has mercifully and lovingly sought to return man to Himself and restore Him.
(27) "He looks upon men, and if any say, 'I have sinned, and perverted what was right, and it did not profit me', (28) He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life will see the light. (29) Lo, God works all these things oftentimes with man, (30) To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living."
Elihu reiterates that God uses all the ways he described before to bring a soul to Him. Again very akin to something Paul would later say in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
(31) "Mark well, O Job, hearken to me; hold your peace, and I will speak. (32) If you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you. (33) If not, hearken to me; hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."
Elihu urges Job to pay close attention to him, but he is also a fair man who would do Job justice and not pervert what he said and attribute wrong motives, as his friends had done.
(Job 32:1) So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. (2) Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God. (3) Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
At least they thought that Job was being righteous in his own eyes, but they had just failed to convince Job on any of their points because they argued from false principles. This angered Elihu; his friends condemned Job when they had found no reason to, and Job seemed to be all about himself, justifying himself rather than glorifying God.
(4) Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were older than he. (5) When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was aroused. (6) And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said, "I am young, and you are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not show you my opinion. (7) I said, 'Age should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.'"
Elihu was younger than Job and his three friends who had previously spoken, and was respectful of them, allowing them to speak and not interrupting them. After they had ceased speaking, and he had taken in all of their vain conversation that apparently went nowhere, he could hold his peace no longer.
(8) "But there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty gives him understanding. (9) Great men are not always wise; neither do the aged understand judgment."
The Holy Spirit of God can give man wisdom and understanding at any age. Great men or old men are not always wise just because of their position or age, but when the Holy Spirit of God gives His inspiration to man, the man may have Godly understanding if he listens.
(10) "Therefore I say, 'Listen to me, I also will show my opinion.' (11) Behold, I waited for your words; I listened to your reasons, while you searched out what to say. (12) Yes, I paid attention to you, and behold, none of you convinced Job, or answered his words; (13) Lest you should say, 'We have found out wisdom; God thrusts him down, not man.'"
Elihu points out that he did wait until they had all finished speaking before offering his opinion. He listened to them, but they did not really answer Job. So rather than having them falsely satisfied that they had the wisdom and understanding of God, he will now speak, obviously feeling he is speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
(14) "Now he has not directed his words against me; neither will I answer him with your speeches."
Because Elihu did not partake in the conversation up to this point, Job has not directed any of his comments to him, and he indicates he will not answer Job with any of their false words.
(15) "They were amazed, they answered no more, they left off speaking. (16) When I had waited (for they did not speak, but stood still, and answered no more), (17) I said, 'I will answer also my part, I also will show my opinion.' (18) For I am full of matter; the spirit within me constrains me. (19) Behold, my belly is like wine which has no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles."
Once again Elihu points out that he waited until Job's friends quit speaking. Perhaps his friends were astonished or filled with wonder that they could not convince Job with their wisdom, but the word translated as "amazed" meant more completely "dismayed, discouraged, or broken down", so they were simply exhausted with trying to convince Job, and quit trying. Elihu implies he is so full of inspiration from the Holy Spirit that he feels about to burst. The Holy Spirit constrains, or better translated with another of the original word's definitions, presses upon him to speak.
(20) "I will speak, that I may be refreshed; I will open my lips and answer. (21) Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person; neither let me give flattering titles to man. (22) For I know not to give flattering titles; (in so doing) my Maker would soon take me away."
As he is about to burst, Elihu will be relieved to at last speak. To accept a man's person is to show partiality, so Elihu determines not to show partiality nor offer flattery in his speech. Our modern day way of speaking, and evidently the way of the KJV translators in 1611, who added the phrase "in so doing", would make the gist of verse 22, "I know better than to give flattering titles, or else my Maker would strike me dead." "In so doing" was not in the original text. Additionally, whenever we read "I know not" or any other word and then "not" in the Bible, it means "I do not know" or "I do not (whatever)", so the real meaning of the first part of that verse is that Elihu doesn't know how to offer flattery. Whether it is not in his nature or he has just learned not to do it, he is pointing out that he will not be offering any false flattery when he speaks. "My maker would soon take me away" is a little more difficult to understand exactly. He might mean that he does indeed fear the wrath of God if he were to do something he knew were wrong, such as fearing and revering man rather than God. It might be a more matter of fact statement that Elihu knows he will leave this life at some point and will have to answer to his Maker for his actions. I have my own thought on this that I did not read from any other commentary. Just maybe Elihu meant that if he spoke any flattering words, adding to what the Holy Spirit was telling him, that that Spirit would be taken away. It's a thought that doesn't change the sense of this passage.
(Job 33:1) "Wherefore, Job, I pray thee, hear my speeches, and hearken to all my words."
We begin chapter 33 with Elihu directing his words to Job.
(2) "Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue has spoken in my mouth. (3) My words will be of the uprightness of my heart, and my lips will utter knowledge clearly."
I believe the sense here is that Elihu will speak to Job as truly as he can what he feels the Holy Spirit is speaking to him.
(4) "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life. (5) If you can answer me, set your words in order before me, stand up. (6) Behold, I am as your mouth in God's stead; I also have been formed out of clay."
Elihu encourages Job to take a stand and answer him, if he can, after he has finished speaking, as Elihu and Job are equals in God's eyes. The original KJV reads "I (am) according to thy wish in God's stead". The word translated as "wish" actually means "mouth". It can also mean "word", and the sense the KJV's translators were trying to convey was that it was like breath blowing a word or saying, so Elihu's words, thoughts, and wishes were as Job's; they were equal in God's eyes.
(7) "Behold, my terror will not make you afraid, neither will my hand be heavy upon you."
Elihu may mean that he will not be as rough as Job's friends had been, or perhaps he alludes to Job's previous statement from Job 9:34, "Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His fear terrify me."
(8) "Surely you have spoken in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of your words, saying, (9) 'I am clean without transgression; I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me. (10) Behold, He finds occasions against me; He counts me as His enemy; (11) He puts my feet in the stocks; He marks all my paths.'"
Elihu intends to show that he has been listening to Job and begins by referring to Job's own words. However, Job never used the exact words that he was without transgression; as a matter of fact at one point Job indeed said in Job 9:20, "If I justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me; if I say, I am perfect, it will also prove me perverse." However, Job did say that he was pure and righteous. Although some of the time I felt Job may have been speaking of his enemy counting Job as his enemy, rather than God doing it, he does seem to imply it is God in some places, like in Job 10:6, when he talks about God inquiring and searching out his sins. In Job 13:27, Job said exactly, "You put my feet also in the stocks, and watch closely all my paths."
(12) "Behold, in this you are not just; I will answer you, that God is greater than man. (13) Why do you strive against Him? For He does not give an account of any of His matters."
Elihu states that Job has not been correct in his conclusions about God. God and His plans are greater than man's and we don't always understand them. I am reminded of the scripture in Isaiah 55:9, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."
(14) "For God speaks once, yes, twice, yet man does not perceive it. (15) In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumbering on the bed, (16) Then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, (17) That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man."
God does often show us His ways, but we fail to see. He shows us wonders in His creation and in His Word, and His Holy Spirit often speaks directly to us, but we don't recognize it as the Spirit of God, and dismiss it. He shows us things in dreams that we either forget or once again don't recognize as from Him. Most of the time, when there is that confirmation of something, or that "coincidence" that turns you away from something, you can be sure the Spirit of God was at work! God can change our direction in life and humble us before Him. Sometimes we may be "brought down" for our good, to save us from our own selfish pride and arrogance. I am reminded of the apostle Paul and the thorn in his flesh that kept him humble and dependent on his Lord.
(18) "He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. (19) He is chastened also with pain on his bed, and with strong pain in many of his bones, (20) So that his life abhors bread, and his soul, succulent meat."
God keeps us on a right track and saves our lives and eternal souls. Wow! If we could really get our minds around this passage! Sometimes God allows bad things to happen for our ultimate good! How many times do we want to be angry at God for something we think He did or didn't do, when all the while our loving Father is working things for a more excellent good that we can't see at the moment?! If we would only learn that our heavenly Father is ever-loving and faithful and merciful and just learn to trust Him because we know He knows best, how much more peaceful our lives would be! Of course, we do good and do what we can, but when it is out of our hands, we trust God.
(21) "His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. (22) Yes, his soul draws near to the grave, and his life to the destroyers. (23) If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show to man his uprightness, (24) Then he is gracious to him, and says, 'Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.'"
Wow! The opinions on verses 23 and 24 are as varied as I have seen in this study! The messenger could be an angel or perhaps someone led by the Holy Spirit to lead the person to salvation. The word translated as "interpreter" also means "ambassador", an authorized representative; it comes from a root word which also means "intercede". Thus it is someone who will intercede for him. Does he lead man to his own uprightness, or does he show the man His uprightness, that of the Lord, his Savior? Either way, the only uprightness that will save him is that of his Lord. Again, I'm not sure if the "he" in verse 24 is "he", the angel or interpreter, or "He", Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us all, as He paid the price of our sins. Once again, either interpretation works. The sense is that upon the man's death bed, he is saved from the pit of hell. How many times do we hear of people hitting rock-bottom and only then turning to their only true salvation? So rather than affliction being the punishment of a vengeful God, it is actually a merciful act of a loving Father turning His children back to Him and therefore saving their eternal lives. How wonderful that He loves us enough to do whatever it takes to bring us to Him! And perhaps unfortunately, it takes more to bring some of us back than it does others. Our heavenly Father knows just what it takes, and He works all things for ultimate good. If we really understood that, we could always trust God and fear not.
(25) "His flesh will be fresher than a child's; he will return to the days of his youth; (26) He will pray to God, and He will be favorable to him, and he shall see His face with joy, for He will return to man His righteousness."
"Fresher than a child's"...a beautiful picture of what we are told in the New Testament happens when we are born again! Ephesians 4:24 says, "And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Colossians 3:9-10: "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him who created him." Elihu, obviously inspired by the Holy Spirit, is telling Job essentially the same thing the Apostle Paul told the churches almost 2000 years later! God's plan has always been the same! Since the fall of Adam, God has mercifully and lovingly sought to return man to Himself and restore Him.
(27) "He looks upon men, and if any say, 'I have sinned, and perverted what was right, and it did not profit me', (28) He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life will see the light. (29) Lo, God works all these things oftentimes with man, (30) To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living."
Elihu reiterates that God uses all the ways he described before to bring a soul to Him. Again very akin to something Paul would later say in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."
(31) "Mark well, O Job, hearken to me; hold your peace, and I will speak. (32) If you have anything to say, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you. (33) If not, hearken to me; hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom."
Elihu urges Job to pay close attention to him, but he is also a fair man who would do Job justice and not pervert what he said and attribute wrong motives, as his friends had done.
Monday, January 9, 2012
A Glimpse of Jesus's Teachings in Job
Continuing a Bible study of Job, Job is still speaking in chapter 31:
(Job 31:1) "I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?"
Once again Job reflects back on his life to declare how he has lived righteously. So far was he from the wickedness of adultery, that he had vowed not to even let his eyes look upon a young woman.
(2) "For what portion of God is there from above, and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? (3) Is it not destruction to the wicked, and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? (4) Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?"
For what reward is there from God for the wicked? Only destruction and misfortune. The KJV translators added the word "punishment". The original text shows only "strange". It meant something strange and unexpected, a calamity, misfortune, or disaster. God sees his ways, so of course, Job would choose only to live righteously.
(5) "If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hastened to deceit, (6) Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity."
If Job has been lying, false, or deceitful, then let his life and his heart be weighed in a just balance by God. Judged by God, Job is confident he will be shown to be righteous, even if men err in their judgment.
(7) "If my step has turned from the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot has cleaved to my hands, (8) Then let me sow, and let another eat; yes, let my offspring be rooted out."
Job says if he has chosen a path outside the path of righteousness, if he has coveted what his eyes beheld, and if his hands were not pure, then let whatever he plants or does be uprooted.
(9) "If my heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, (10) Then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her."
If Job's heart has been enticed by another woman, waiting for an opportunity to be with her at his neighbor's door, then let his wife be another man's wife.
(11) "For this is a heinous crime; yes, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. (12) For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase."
Job understands that adultery is an abominable act, a crime punishable by law. Also lust destroys the soul and ruins a man.
(13) "If I despised the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant when they contended with me, (14) What then shall I do when God rises up, and when He visits, what shall I answer Him?"
I think perhaps because Job used his own servants as an example rather than anyone in the public square, the sense is that if Job treated even his own servants unjustly, he would still have to answer to God.
(15) "Did not He who made me in the womb make him? And did not the same One fashion us in the womb?"
Job refers to him, his manservant. Job understands that God created all people.
(16) "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, (17) Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it, (18) (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb);"
If Job has dealt wrongly, frustrating hopes, and not sharing with the poor, widows, and orphans, will not the Creator of them all judge Job? Verse 18 is a little difficult to understand exactly, but as it is a parenthetical phrase to the verses before it, the sense is that Job has cared for the poor, widows, and/or orphans, since his youth. I say "and/or" because Job may have only been talking about his most recent mention, the fatherless, with that parenthetical thought.
(19) "If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; (20) If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;"
With his continuation of "if"'s, Job makes it clear that he always provided for the poor and needy. The loins that were once cold and shivering, now covered by Job's fleece, were a blessing to him, either because Job himself felt blessed by helping the "least of these", or because the poor man offered a blessing in gratitude.
(21) "If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate; (22) Then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone."
If Job ever oppressed the fatherless, even when as a judge at the gate it could have been within his power to do so, then let the arm that refused to help be torn from its socket. Once again, Job gives us a glimpse into something Jesus would later say, "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee..."
(23) "For destruction from God was a terror to me, and because of His highness I could not endure."
The meaning is clear; Job feared the Lord.
(24) "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence'; (25) If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;"
Once again the "if"'s mean that Job did not put his faith in riches, nor did he rejoice and boast in his achievements of wealth and prosperity. Job did not serve mammon!
(26) "If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in brightness, (27) And my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand; (28) This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judge, for I would have denied the God who is above."
This passage refers to sun and moon worship. If Job's heart was enticed to this form of worship, and his hands and mouth were moved to active idolatry, it would be a sin against God, punishable by the judges.
(29) "If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted myself up when evil found him, (30) Neither have I allowed my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul;"
Job did not take pleasure in the misery of even those who hated him, and never cursed them.
(31) "If the men of my tent have not said, 'Oh, that we had of his flesh! We cannot be satisfied.'"
Even though the double negative seems to negate the thought, my initial thought was that the sense is that no one within Job's tent was ever unsatisfied; they always had their fill. This seemed logical as verse 32 continues with hospitality. I thought "flesh" meant "meat" or "food", but it also means "the flesh of man" and "mankind", the sense being that Job always gave of himself. However, there is another school of thought obtained from some of the old commentaries that says that verse 31 refers to the passage before, to the man who hated Job. The sense is that his servants were so upset by the ill treatment of their master that they wished to avenge him with the flesh of his enemy. Actually, the so-called "double negative" makes more sense this way, and doesn't negate the thought.
(32) "The stranger did not lodge in the street; I opened my doors to the traveler. (33) If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom; (34) Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and did not go out of the door?"
If it appears that Job is falsely self-righteous and thinks he is perfect, verse 33 proves that he knows he sinned and on more than one occasion. He tells us he did not attempt to hide his transgressions as Adam had done when he hid in the garden, and he was not silent about confessing them.
(35) "Oh, that one would hear me! Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book. (36) Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it on me like a crown; (37) I would declare to him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach him."
Job wishes to have a full and just hearing, and wishes God to answer him. I believe the sense of 35b and verse 36 is that Job wishes to know exactly what it is he has done to warrant his afflictions. He would openly confess to any charges of which he was guilty. The NKJV capitalizes "him" in verse 37 as if Job were talking about God, but I see no reason why it must be, and evidently the early commentaries did not suggest it, either. Verse 37 continues the same thought that Job would openly approach his adversary or a judge (anyone who would hear him) and discuss any charges.
(38) "If my land cries against me, or that its furrows complain; (39) If I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their lives; (40) Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
If Job had gotten his land by fraud or violence, then let the land be cursed with thistles and cockles and no good grain. Job ends his chapters-long discourse by saying that he was innocent; he had not broken the law and his land could not cry out against him.
(Job 31:1) "I made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?"
Once again Job reflects back on his life to declare how he has lived righteously. So far was he from the wickedness of adultery, that he had vowed not to even let his eyes look upon a young woman.
(2) "For what portion of God is there from above, and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? (3) Is it not destruction to the wicked, and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? (4) Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?"
For what reward is there from God for the wicked? Only destruction and misfortune. The KJV translators added the word "punishment". The original text shows only "strange". It meant something strange and unexpected, a calamity, misfortune, or disaster. God sees his ways, so of course, Job would choose only to live righteously.
(5) "If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hastened to deceit, (6) Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know my integrity."
If Job has been lying, false, or deceitful, then let his life and his heart be weighed in a just balance by God. Judged by God, Job is confident he will be shown to be righteous, even if men err in their judgment.
(7) "If my step has turned from the way, and my heart walked after my eyes, and if any blot has cleaved to my hands, (8) Then let me sow, and let another eat; yes, let my offspring be rooted out."
Job says if he has chosen a path outside the path of righteousness, if he has coveted what his eyes beheld, and if his hands were not pure, then let whatever he plants or does be uprooted.
(9) "If my heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor's door, (10) Then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her."
If Job's heart has been enticed by another woman, waiting for an opportunity to be with her at his neighbor's door, then let his wife be another man's wife.
(11) "For this is a heinous crime; yes, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. (12) For it is a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase."
Job understands that adultery is an abominable act, a crime punishable by law. Also lust destroys the soul and ruins a man.
(13) "If I despised the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant when they contended with me, (14) What then shall I do when God rises up, and when He visits, what shall I answer Him?"
I think perhaps because Job used his own servants as an example rather than anyone in the public square, the sense is that if Job treated even his own servants unjustly, he would still have to answer to God.
(15) "Did not He who made me in the womb make him? And did not the same One fashion us in the womb?"
Job refers to him, his manservant. Job understands that God created all people.
(16) "If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, (17) Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it, (18) (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb);"
If Job has dealt wrongly, frustrating hopes, and not sharing with the poor, widows, and orphans, will not the Creator of them all judge Job? Verse 18 is a little difficult to understand exactly, but as it is a parenthetical phrase to the verses before it, the sense is that Job has cared for the poor, widows, and/or orphans, since his youth. I say "and/or" because Job may have only been talking about his most recent mention, the fatherless, with that parenthetical thought.
(19) "If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; (20) If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;"
With his continuation of "if"'s, Job makes it clear that he always provided for the poor and needy. The loins that were once cold and shivering, now covered by Job's fleece, were a blessing to him, either because Job himself felt blessed by helping the "least of these", or because the poor man offered a blessing in gratitude.
(21) "If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate; (22) Then let my arm fall from my shoulder blade, and my arm be broken from the bone."
If Job ever oppressed the fatherless, even when as a judge at the gate it could have been within his power to do so, then let the arm that refused to help be torn from its socket. Once again, Job gives us a glimpse into something Jesus would later say, "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee..."
(23) "For destruction from God was a terror to me, and because of His highness I could not endure."
The meaning is clear; Job feared the Lord.
(24) "If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, 'You are my confidence'; (25) If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much;"
Once again the "if"'s mean that Job did not put his faith in riches, nor did he rejoice and boast in his achievements of wealth and prosperity. Job did not serve mammon!
(26) "If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in brightness, (27) And my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand; (28) This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judge, for I would have denied the God who is above."
This passage refers to sun and moon worship. If Job's heart was enticed to this form of worship, and his hands and mouth were moved to active idolatry, it would be a sin against God, punishable by the judges.
(29) "If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted myself up when evil found him, (30) Neither have I allowed my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul;"
Job did not take pleasure in the misery of even those who hated him, and never cursed them.
(31) "If the men of my tent have not said, 'Oh, that we had of his flesh! We cannot be satisfied.'"
Even though the double negative seems to negate the thought, my initial thought was that the sense is that no one within Job's tent was ever unsatisfied; they always had their fill. This seemed logical as verse 32 continues with hospitality. I thought "flesh" meant "meat" or "food", but it also means "the flesh of man" and "mankind", the sense being that Job always gave of himself. However, there is another school of thought obtained from some of the old commentaries that says that verse 31 refers to the passage before, to the man who hated Job. The sense is that his servants were so upset by the ill treatment of their master that they wished to avenge him with the flesh of his enemy. Actually, the so-called "double negative" makes more sense this way, and doesn't negate the thought.
(32) "The stranger did not lodge in the street; I opened my doors to the traveler. (33) If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom; (34) Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and did not go out of the door?"
If it appears that Job is falsely self-righteous and thinks he is perfect, verse 33 proves that he knows he sinned and on more than one occasion. He tells us he did not attempt to hide his transgressions as Adam had done when he hid in the garden, and he was not silent about confessing them.
(35) "Oh, that one would hear me! Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and that my adversary had written a book. (36) Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it on me like a crown; (37) I would declare to him the number of my steps; like a prince I would approach him."
Job wishes to have a full and just hearing, and wishes God to answer him. I believe the sense of 35b and verse 36 is that Job wishes to know exactly what it is he has done to warrant his afflictions. He would openly confess to any charges of which he was guilty. The NKJV capitalizes "him" in verse 37 as if Job were talking about God, but I see no reason why it must be, and evidently the early commentaries did not suggest it, either. Verse 37 continues the same thought that Job would openly approach his adversary or a judge (anyone who would hear him) and discuss any charges.
(38) "If my land cries against me, or that its furrows complain; (39) If I have eaten its fruits without money, or have caused its owners to lose their lives; (40) Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.
If Job had gotten his land by fraud or violence, then let the land be cursed with thistles and cockles and no good grain. Job ends his chapters-long discourse by saying that he was innocent; he had not broken the law and his land could not cry out against him.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Job Sings the Blues
Continuing a Bible study of Job, Job is still speaking in chapter 30:
(Job 30:1) "But now they who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock."
Now those same young men who hid themselves out of respect for Job, whom he spoke of in the last chapter, now laugh at him. Men, whose fathers were not respectable enough to be put in charge of the care of the dogs of his flocks, now mocked him.
(2) "Indeed, how might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?"
This scripture is a little difficult, but I think the sense is that those same unrespectable fathers were of no use to Job when they were young and strong, and certainly not now at the end of their lives. Perhaps "old age perished" means that they lived so that they never even reached old age; therefore why would they ever have been of profit to Job?
(3) "For want and famine they were solitary, fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste, (4) Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their food."
By hunger and poverty, they were loners and outcasts of society, wandering the desert. Job is illustrating to what depths he has sunk in public estimation that the sons of the most wretched in society treat him with contempt.
(5) "They were driven out from among men, they cried after them as after a thief, (6) To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth and the rocks. (7) Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they gathered together. (8) Children of fools, yes, children of base men; they were driven out of the land."
KJV Job 30:8b says "they were viler than the earth". In this case NIV may give a better sense of the meaning. The word "naka" means "strike, scourge, smite". The little word "min" translated as "than" can also mean "from" or "out of". "Viler than the earth" may have been a way of saying "unfit for the land".
(9) "And now I am their song; yes, I am their byword."
Paraphrased, "Now I am just an object of their joking and made up mocking songs".
(10) "They abhor me, they flee far from me, and do not hesitate to spit in my face. (11) Because He has loosened my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me."
In verse 11, "He" (although not capitalized in KJV, as it never is, but I do as a show of respect) must refer to God. The sense is, like an archer with a bow, God has so relaxed the string of his bow, that he has been left defenseless and without strength. Letting loose the bridle is like throwing off all restraints; like unrestrained headstrong horses, the young men let loose all sorts of disrespect and contempt.
There are some interesting notes on verse 11 by some of the early commentators that read it slightly differently. Because I have limited access to the early manuscripts, I can only take their words on this, and will quote from the writing of Albert Barnes: "But instead of the usual reading in the Hebrew text, 'yithriy', 'my nerve', another reading, 'yithriv', 'his nerve', is found in the qeri (margin). This reading has been adopted in the text by Jahn, and is regarded as genuine by Rosenmuller, Umbreit, and Noyes." According to that interpretation, the young men have so afflicted Job with their constant derision, that he has been rendered defenseless, as an archer with a slackened bow string; and therefore the flood gates are now opened, so to speak, and he is constantly hit with a flood of disrespect and contempt.
I think either interpretation works here. I don't think Job means any disrespect if he is declaring that God is the one who allowed this to happen to him, because after all, nothing can happen outside of God's will.
(12) "Upon my right rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. (13) They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper."
The fact that Job continues to place the blame on the young men for all his calamity, seems to suggest that the possibilty of the Albert Barnes interpretation above is a good one. "They have no helper" may mean simply that they need no one to help them, or it may mean that there is no one there to help them or counsel them with a better way.
(14) "They came as a wide breaking in of waters; in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me."
Again, their derision comes upon Job as a flood.
(15) "Terrors are turned upon me; they pursue my soul as the wind, and my welfare passes away as a cloud. (16) And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. (17) My bones are pierced in me in the night, and my sinews take no rest."
As in Psalms 42:4, "I pour out my soul in me", verse 16a is a way of saying Job is dissolved in grief. Job has been pierced to the bone, and his tendons or muscles also have no rest. The original word translated as "sinews" is "araq", and it also means "gnaw", "chew", "eat", or "pain". Some of the old commentators suggest that the word means "gnawers" and Albert Barnes said that it might refer to the teeth. Therefore verse 17b might mean that his teeth grind continually and take no rest, or that gnawing pains, in general, never cease. Anyway you look at it, Job says he is a man in constant pain and sorrow!
(18) "By the great force of my disease is my garment changed; it binds me about as the collar of my coat."
The original word translated as "changed" is "chaphas" and means more than just "changed". More completely, it means "concealed", "masked", "disguised", "hidden", or it can mean "to be searched out" or "exposed". I believe the sense is that because the disease has changed him so much, his clothing now binds tightly or maybe sticks to his skin because of sores. Perhaps Job now disguises himself because of his hideous disease. Maybe Job metaphorically refers to his leprous skin as a new kind of covering that binds him tightly and one that he cannot easily cast off.
(19) "He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes."
Job speaks of God doing this to him or at least bringing calamity on him so that he has become regarded as worthless. "A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments" by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, beautifully points out that in reality, "God is poetically said to do that which the mourner had done to himself". In Job 2:8, the verse reads, "And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself; and he sat down among the ashes." Job obviously means that God had brought him to the state where he did this, but isn't it interesting to think how many times we want to blame God for things we do to ourselves?
(20) "I cry unto You, and You do not hear me; I stand up, and You regard me (not)."
Job now speaks directly to God. The KJV translators added the word "not" at the end of the verse because they thought it carried over from the first part of the verse. However, it's not necessary to the meaning to add "not", as the sense may be that Job cries out to the Lord and He doesn't seem to hear, or at least doesn't respond; Job stands up and God considers whether to answer Job or not.
(21) "You have become cruel to me; with Your strong hand You oppose Yourself against me."
My first thought was "Whoa, Job! You've gone too far now!" But then I have to think about how many times we ask today, "Why me? Why are You doing this to me?" We certainly aren't asking why God is doing good things to us! So the sense is the same. The word translated as "cruel" comes from a root word meaning to "act harshly" and the word also means "fierce". Perhaps rather than accusing God of being cruel to him, Job is merely stating what he thinks as fact, that the Lord has acted in a strong harsh way against him.
(22) "You lift me up to the wind; You cause me to ride upon it, and dissolve my substance."
The image is that Job is tossed to and fro like a limp rag doll in the wind.
(23) "For I know You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living."
The grave is the house appointed to all when they die.
(24) "However He will not stretch out His hand to the grave, though they cry in His destruction."
Job knows God will bring him to the grave, but He will not pursue him beyond that. Although men cry in despair while they are dying or for those who are dying, the grave is the ultimate rest for the weary.
(25) "Did I not weep for him who was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? (26) When I looked for good, then evil came; and when I waited for light, there came darkness."
Job appears to be reflecting back on his life to point out that he was always compassionate, so perhaps expecting life to be good for him in return, but instead it was evil and dark with adversity and affliction.
(27) "All within me boiled, and rested not; the days of affliction confronted me."
Looking at the original words' meanings, I have transcribed this verse for my study purposes to what I believe is the best sense. The KJV says, "My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me." "Meeh", the word translated as "bowels" can refer to a lot of different internal body parts, and "qadam", the word translated as "prevented", actually paints more a picture of projecting oneself, to meet, or confront.
(28) "I went mourning without the sun; I stood up and I cried in the congregation."
The word translated as "mourning" is "qadar", and it means "ashy" or "dark-colored", which can imply mourning, but in this instance I believe it just means dark, as he repeats this in verse 30. Job's skin is dark even without the sun burning it.
(29) "I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls."
Interestingly, the word translated as "dragons" can also mean "jackals". The word translated as "owls" was actually two words that looks like "daughters of owls", or "daughters of howling", which has been suggested by some of the old commentaries to be understood as ostriches. Perhaps the sense is that Job is like those animals known for their mournful wailing in the night.
(30) "My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. (31) My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them who weep."
Job only sings the blues now!
(Job 30:1) "But now they who are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock."
Now those same young men who hid themselves out of respect for Job, whom he spoke of in the last chapter, now laugh at him. Men, whose fathers were not respectable enough to be put in charge of the care of the dogs of his flocks, now mocked him.
(2) "Indeed, how might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished?"
This scripture is a little difficult, but I think the sense is that those same unrespectable fathers were of no use to Job when they were young and strong, and certainly not now at the end of their lives. Perhaps "old age perished" means that they lived so that they never even reached old age; therefore why would they ever have been of profit to Job?
(3) "For want and famine they were solitary, fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste, (4) Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their food."
By hunger and poverty, they were loners and outcasts of society, wandering the desert. Job is illustrating to what depths he has sunk in public estimation that the sons of the most wretched in society treat him with contempt.
(5) "They were driven out from among men, they cried after them as after a thief, (6) To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, in caves of the earth and the rocks. (7) Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they gathered together. (8) Children of fools, yes, children of base men; they were driven out of the land."
KJV Job 30:8b says "they were viler than the earth". In this case NIV may give a better sense of the meaning. The word "naka" means "strike, scourge, smite". The little word "min" translated as "than" can also mean "from" or "out of". "Viler than the earth" may have been a way of saying "unfit for the land".
(9) "And now I am their song; yes, I am their byword."
Paraphrased, "Now I am just an object of their joking and made up mocking songs".
(10) "They abhor me, they flee far from me, and do not hesitate to spit in my face. (11) Because He has loosened my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me."
In verse 11, "He" (although not capitalized in KJV, as it never is, but I do as a show of respect) must refer to God. The sense is, like an archer with a bow, God has so relaxed the string of his bow, that he has been left defenseless and without strength. Letting loose the bridle is like throwing off all restraints; like unrestrained headstrong horses, the young men let loose all sorts of disrespect and contempt.
There are some interesting notes on verse 11 by some of the early commentators that read it slightly differently. Because I have limited access to the early manuscripts, I can only take their words on this, and will quote from the writing of Albert Barnes: "But instead of the usual reading in the Hebrew text, 'yithriy', 'my nerve', another reading, 'yithriv', 'his nerve', is found in the qeri (margin). This reading has been adopted in the text by Jahn, and is regarded as genuine by Rosenmuller, Umbreit, and Noyes." According to that interpretation, the young men have so afflicted Job with their constant derision, that he has been rendered defenseless, as an archer with a slackened bow string; and therefore the flood gates are now opened, so to speak, and he is constantly hit with a flood of disrespect and contempt.
I think either interpretation works here. I don't think Job means any disrespect if he is declaring that God is the one who allowed this to happen to him, because after all, nothing can happen outside of God's will.
(12) "Upon my right rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. (13) They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper."
The fact that Job continues to place the blame on the young men for all his calamity, seems to suggest that the possibilty of the Albert Barnes interpretation above is a good one. "They have no helper" may mean simply that they need no one to help them, or it may mean that there is no one there to help them or counsel them with a better way.
(14) "They came as a wide breaking in of waters; in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me."
Again, their derision comes upon Job as a flood.
(15) "Terrors are turned upon me; they pursue my soul as the wind, and my welfare passes away as a cloud. (16) And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. (17) My bones are pierced in me in the night, and my sinews take no rest."
As in Psalms 42:4, "I pour out my soul in me", verse 16a is a way of saying Job is dissolved in grief. Job has been pierced to the bone, and his tendons or muscles also have no rest. The original word translated as "sinews" is "araq", and it also means "gnaw", "chew", "eat", or "pain". Some of the old commentators suggest that the word means "gnawers" and Albert Barnes said that it might refer to the teeth. Therefore verse 17b might mean that his teeth grind continually and take no rest, or that gnawing pains, in general, never cease. Anyway you look at it, Job says he is a man in constant pain and sorrow!
(18) "By the great force of my disease is my garment changed; it binds me about as the collar of my coat."
The original word translated as "changed" is "chaphas" and means more than just "changed". More completely, it means "concealed", "masked", "disguised", "hidden", or it can mean "to be searched out" or "exposed". I believe the sense is that because the disease has changed him so much, his clothing now binds tightly or maybe sticks to his skin because of sores. Perhaps Job now disguises himself because of his hideous disease. Maybe Job metaphorically refers to his leprous skin as a new kind of covering that binds him tightly and one that he cannot easily cast off.
(19) "He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes."
Job speaks of God doing this to him or at least bringing calamity on him so that he has become regarded as worthless. "A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments" by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, beautifully points out that in reality, "God is poetically said to do that which the mourner had done to himself". In Job 2:8, the verse reads, "And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself; and he sat down among the ashes." Job obviously means that God had brought him to the state where he did this, but isn't it interesting to think how many times we want to blame God for things we do to ourselves?
(20) "I cry unto You, and You do not hear me; I stand up, and You regard me (not)."
Job now speaks directly to God. The KJV translators added the word "not" at the end of the verse because they thought it carried over from the first part of the verse. However, it's not necessary to the meaning to add "not", as the sense may be that Job cries out to the Lord and He doesn't seem to hear, or at least doesn't respond; Job stands up and God considers whether to answer Job or not.
(21) "You have become cruel to me; with Your strong hand You oppose Yourself against me."
My first thought was "Whoa, Job! You've gone too far now!" But then I have to think about how many times we ask today, "Why me? Why are You doing this to me?" We certainly aren't asking why God is doing good things to us! So the sense is the same. The word translated as "cruel" comes from a root word meaning to "act harshly" and the word also means "fierce". Perhaps rather than accusing God of being cruel to him, Job is merely stating what he thinks as fact, that the Lord has acted in a strong harsh way against him.
(22) "You lift me up to the wind; You cause me to ride upon it, and dissolve my substance."
The image is that Job is tossed to and fro like a limp rag doll in the wind.
(23) "For I know You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living."
The grave is the house appointed to all when they die.
(24) "However He will not stretch out His hand to the grave, though they cry in His destruction."
Job knows God will bring him to the grave, but He will not pursue him beyond that. Although men cry in despair while they are dying or for those who are dying, the grave is the ultimate rest for the weary.
(25) "Did I not weep for him who was in trouble? Was not my soul grieved for the poor? (26) When I looked for good, then evil came; and when I waited for light, there came darkness."
Job appears to be reflecting back on his life to point out that he was always compassionate, so perhaps expecting life to be good for him in return, but instead it was evil and dark with adversity and affliction.
(27) "All within me boiled, and rested not; the days of affliction confronted me."
Looking at the original words' meanings, I have transcribed this verse for my study purposes to what I believe is the best sense. The KJV says, "My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me." "Meeh", the word translated as "bowels" can refer to a lot of different internal body parts, and "qadam", the word translated as "prevented", actually paints more a picture of projecting oneself, to meet, or confront.
(28) "I went mourning without the sun; I stood up and I cried in the congregation."
The word translated as "mourning" is "qadar", and it means "ashy" or "dark-colored", which can imply mourning, but in this instance I believe it just means dark, as he repeats this in verse 30. Job's skin is dark even without the sun burning it.
(29) "I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls."
Interestingly, the word translated as "dragons" can also mean "jackals". The word translated as "owls" was actually two words that looks like "daughters of owls", or "daughters of howling", which has been suggested by some of the old commentaries to be understood as ostriches. Perhaps the sense is that Job is like those animals known for their mournful wailing in the night.
(30) "My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. (31) My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them who weep."
Job only sings the blues now!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Job As Wise Counsel
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.
(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.
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.
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