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| Job 4:1-6 May 22, 2006 Good Evening Brothers and Sisters, " Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, “If one ventures a word with you, will you become impatient? But who can refrain from speaking? “Behold you have admonished many, And you have strengthened weak hands. “Your words have helped the tottering to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees. “But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; It touches you, and you are dismayed. “Is not your fear of God your confidence, And the integrity of your ways your hope?" (Job 4:1-6, NASB95) [1] Eliphaz uses Job's own words and his own acts of kindness to haunt him. The first statement in verse 2 is interesting because Eliphaz there is a risk in breaking the silence. Yet he can't see any other way than to state his opinion. Job's life was based on edifying others, strengthening the weak and the feeble. Eliphaz says that Job has been impatient, that Job is suffering from the same thing that those he helped suffered through. What is he really saying? It seems that Eliphaz is calling Job a hypocrite because Job always stood by his integrity and lived a life of good works. Job spoke of the fear of God as the confidence that he based his life and his integrity on. Imagine how you would react if a friend spoke to you in that manner. In short, "you hypocrite, you are judged by your own words". A common saying is "you can dish it out but you can't take it." Think forward to another man who had lost everything, was beaten and nailed to a cross. Jesus was surrounded by people who said the same things to Him, they accused Jesus of speaking lies and challenged Him to prove that He was the Messiah by delivering himself from the cross. "And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. “He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”" (Matthew 27:39-43, NASB95) [2] Eliphaz looked at a depressed man, one who had the entire world to cave in on him, and he made his best guess. I wonder if Eliphaz was a bit put out by Job's righteousness and was pointing out to Job that when the tables were turned, Job was not all that great after all. The criticism that he made was most likely based on a preconceived idea. How would you react if a friend pointed out Job's life and made these accusations? Father, as we consider Your word, open our eyes so that we can understand how it applies to our lives. In Him, Joe Turner. |
| Job
4:7-11 May 24, 2006 Reading through the Bible in one Year:1 Kings 1:1-3:28; John 1:29-2:22 Good Evening Brothers and Sisters, "“Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity And those who sow trouble harvest it. “By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they come to an end. “The roaring of the lion and the voice of the fierce lion, And the teeth of the young lions are broken. “The lion perishes for lack of prey, And the whelps of the lioness are scattered." (Job 4:7-11, NASB95) [1] Eliphaz reasoned that the righteous do not suffer partially because in his experience the righteous are blessed and the wicked suffer. In other words, Job brought his trouble on himself. Imagine that you were Job and you knew that you had done everything possible to follow God, even to the point of offering sacrifices for your children on their birthdays and then you are accused of being a phony. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7, NASB95) "For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up." (Hosea 8:7, NASB95) "You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors," (Hosea 10:13, NASB95) "He who sows iniquity will reap vanity, And the rod of his fury will perish." (Proverbs 22:8, NASB95) [2] Eliphaz uses an illustration of a lion that was defeated by the hand of the Lord by God removing prey from him. The lion starved to death and his whelps were scattered. In his estimation, Job must have done something to cause God to turn off the blessings toward him. What he said was sound reasoning. However we will find out later in this chapter that the reasoning was tweaked in a mighty substantial way. To put this into shoe leather, when we see the righteous suffer, do we make the same judgment? When an elderly saint suffers from some horrible ailment, do we point fingers and figure that they must have harbored secret sins? What about when a calamity hits a younger person? Are we quick to judge that they must not have been walking in God's will and God brought on discipline to turn them back? It might be time to check our words before we make judgments on our brothers and sisters because you just never know what the source of the trouble is. Often the source of the trouble is that we live in a fallen world where bad things happen to good people. "“Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”" (Luke 13:4-5, NASB95) " As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." (John 9:1-3, NASB95) "For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God." (1 Peter 2:19-20, NASB95) [3]. I am going to close here, all comments are welcomed. Father, as we consider Your word, open our eyes so that we can understand and apply Your word to our lives. In Him, Joe Turner. |
| Job
4:12-21 May 26, 2006 Reading through the Bible in one Year:1 Kings 4:1-7:51; John 2:23-4:3 Good Evening Brothers and Sisters, "“Now a word was brought to me stealthily, And my ear received a whisper of it. “Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men, Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake. “Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up. “It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice: ‘Can mankind be just before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? ‘He puts no trust even in His servants; And against His angels He charges error. ‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth! ‘Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unobserved, they perish forever. ‘Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’" (Job 4:12-21, NASB95) [1] Read through this and consider the scene for a moment. What was the spirit that visited him in the night? The words in verses 17-18 and consider that Satan knew full well that all men are accountable, and all men have sinned, Romans 3:23. Satan also knew that he was kicked out of heaven. Therefore he accused God of not putting trust in angels or in men. Think about the lie that is involved in that statement. The beginning of Job illustrates clearly that God did put his trust in Job, and that God trusted Job so much that He allowed Satan to test him. Part of the deception was the discussion of the vulnerability of man. It's almost as if Satan considers men to be nothing but pitiful creatures who live like animals in houses constructed of dirt. It's like he is saying that people are substandard, therefore they are expendable. He speaks of men like you would talk about a worm. Notice also that verse 20 indicates that once men die, they are dead forever. This is the same basic lie that humanist are trying to sell people through the concepts of evolution. It is also embraced by some cults who say that death is final and there is no life after death. Consider the eastern religions that teach re-incarnation, meaning that people who did not learn their lesson on this earth will be recycled. Satan's lies are the same, he just finds different ways of communicating them. Check out this note: “Human bodies undergo a continuous destruction. From the moment that we are born we begin to die. Decay of powers is coeval with their first exercise. Our insidious foe, Death, marks us as his own from the very first breath that we draw. Our bodies are machines wound up to go for a certain time. The moment that we begin to use them we begin to wear them out. They perish for ever. The final result is that our “houses of clay” perish, crumble to dust, disappear, and come to nothing. They “perish for ever,” says Eliphaz, repeating what he believed the spirit of ver. 15 to have said to him; but it is not clear that he understood more by this than that they perish and disappear for ever, so far as this life and this world are concerned. Without any regarding it. No one is surprised or thinks it hard. It is the lot of man, and every one’s mind is prepared for it.”[2] What do you think that Eliphaz thought when he was visited in the night by the apparition? Do you think that he considered this spirit to be God? At any rate, Eliphaz believed the message enough that he turned on his good friend and accused him of being a hypocrite. I am closing here, all comments are welcomed. Father, as we consider Your word today spark each of our minds to understand Your word. In Him, Joe Turner. |
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