Job Part 12

A Study in the Book of Job     Part 12

Chapter 17

 

V. 1-3  The reason Job wants God to come quickly to his defense is that he is very sick and about to die.  Death and the grave are ready for him, and he is about to embark on the journey of no return, 16:22.  And, while he is standing with one foot in the grave so to speak, his friends are mocking him rather than comforting him.  This was so hard for Job to accept,...rather than consoling him, they have been debating with him and condemning him.  Job is now convinced that his so-called friends would never take up his cause or defend him.  They just did not understand.

     v. 3...who is he that will strike hands with me?  The very least they could do would be to shake hands with Job, but they wouldn’t even do that.

 

V. 4-5   Job does not want to be flattered  by them, he just wants to be understood.  Is that too much to ask?   

 

Another indication of Job’s faith is that he asked for something that only God could give.  It is also the only hope that any of us had and it is remarkable that even though Job had no Bible, he did have this insight.

 

V. 6   A by-word is an outstanding example of something.  Job has become a by-word of suffering, but he used to be their tabret.  A tabret is a one-sided drum (much like a tambourine) which was used in joyful celebrations and music making.  Job used to be a delight and joy to be around receiving the praise of his fellowman.  Now he is reduced to being just a despised proverb to illustrate extreme misery.        

 

V. 7-9  Our need at this point is so great that no one can ever make even a payment on the debt we owe God.  

“I owed a debt I could not pay, Christ paid the debt He did not owe.”

 

     v. 8   People of compassion and understanding will be astonished at how these men were treating Job and will have see their hypocrisy.

 

He is a good example of blind faith; although Job had no way of knowing the method God would use, his request and his faith take us to Christ and His cross.  We do indeed have a more sure word of prophecy (II Peter 1:19), as evidenced by Rom. 3:21-26; 5:6-8.

 

V. 13   Gloom and despair are Job’s constant companions on the ash heap that he never expects to leave. 

 

V. 14-16   His parents had brought him into the world, but now he feels a closer sense of kinship with corruption and the worm (decay).  Job seems to prefer the company of corruption and the worm to the company of his miserable comforters, 16:1.

     v. 16...the bars of the pit  Now Job pictures the grave as a prison from which there is no escape.  Job believes he will find his hope in death because at least there he will be at rest.

 

Would there be hope in the grave?  The apostle Paul would answer that question many years later,...If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.  I Cor. 15:19,20

     Our hope never dies, nor is it buried in the grave and left to decay.  Our hope is a living, certain expectation because Christ has won the victory over death and the grave! 

 

A Study in the Book of Job     Part 11

Job 15

 

Eliphaz begins the second round of speeches, and this time around the three men dig in and presses their argument against Job even further.  (Remember, they have no proof to back up their accusations.)  In the first cycle of speeches they tried to convince Job that the reason he was suffering was because of gross, unconfessed sin in his life, but Job steadfastly maintains his innocence and makes his prayers to God.  

This time they are more rude, more intense, and threatening.  The drama is building as Job becomes more vehement in his defense and his “friends” become more severe in their attacks on Job’s character.

 

V. 1-6  Eliphaz begins by telling Job that he’s just a know-nothing wind bag.  He raises the question of whether wise men use empty, meaningless words.  And he accuses Job of being a stumbling block to the faith of others, and that his own words of denial of guilt have condemned him.  

 

V. 7-9   Here are a series of sarcastic questions.

     Were you the first person to be born?  Are you older than the mountains?

     Have you heard the secret of God?  Do you alone possess wisdom?  (or, were you present at the heavenly council when creation was planned, and was all the wisdom reserved just for you?)

     What do you know that we don’t?  What understanding is there in you that is not in us?  (An obvious attempt to use Job’s own words against him, 12:3; 13:2.)

 

V. 10,11  They claimed to have age and experience on their side so therefore Job should listen to them.  And by calling his words the consolations of God, he demonstrates that he knows nothing of  compassion and is a stranger to grace and mercy.

 

V. 14-16   Here is a repeat of his first speech (4:17-19) about the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man,...but is Job more sinful than Eliphaz? 

 

V. 17-26   Eliphaz turns to the ancient wisdom of the fathers and describes the pain and suffering that wicked men suffer in this life.  In his first speech, Eliphaz described the blessings of the godly man (5:17-26) but in this speech he describes the sufferings of the ungodly man.

 

     v. 20,21...wicked people have pain all their days, they are surrounded by terrors and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer.

     v. 22...they dare not go out into the darkness for they fear a murderer is waiting there for them.

     v. 23,24...they live in constant hunger, never having enough to eat; they know their destruction is certain.  They have no hope.  They live in constant distress and anguish.

     v. 25...they suffer all this because they have defied the Almighty.   It is plain to see that Eliphaz was talking about Job here since he had experienced all these calamities.

 

The problem with Eliphaz’ statement is that it is not always true.  What is true is that many times the righteous suffer through no fault of their own, and the wicked sometimes prosper and life a life of wealth and comfort.  It is true that ultimately the wicked will suffer eternally, and the righteous will be blessed eternally.   The greatest judgment God could ever hand down to the unbeliever is to turn them over to their own desires and let them have their own way, Rom. 1:21-32. 

 

Job 16

Job’s Second Response to Eliphaz can be summed up, “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”

 

Instead of meaningful and heartfelt counsel and compassion this is turning into a debate. .  Instead of comforting Job, they are trying to beat him down into submission,...but they are losing the debate.  Job isn’t giving an inch, but he isn’t winning either.  It is more like a stand off.  God will eventually enter into the fray and that is what Job needs and wants.

 V. 1-3  Job begins his answer by telling Eliphaz that he hasn't said anything new; and he hasn’t said anything that he hasn’t already heard.  Then he called his three friends miserable comforters.  They should have been ashamed to speak vain words.  Nothing they have said so far has met Job’s need for comfort and unfortunately the empty counsel keep on coming without end.

     These are vain words because they do not contain the counsel of God, nor are they spoke in the Spirit of the Lord.  The same can be said of sermons and even hymns that are not based in the Word of God.  The Holy Spirit cannot and will not use vain words to glorify Christ or worship the Father. 

 

V. 4  “If our roles were reversed, I could have given you the same speech of condemnation.”   Many years later Paul would address situations like this in Galatians 6:1.

                 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such

                 an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself  lest thou also be tempted.

 

Restore a fallen brother (or sister) in the spirit of meekness rather than criticize, condemn, or debate with him.  After all, you could be the next one to fall.  

 V. 5  Job insists he would have rather spoken to them with words that would have strengthen them and alleviated their grief.  But he did not get that from them.

 

V. 7,8  “You have made an old man out of me by filling me with wrinkles.”  

 

V. 9-14  In a rather lengthy tirade Job describes his condition in very descriptive language.  Both men and God are attacking him, and he has nothing left.  His strength is gone along with everything he once held dear in this life.  These friends think they are defending God’s honor, but they are really being unfair and cruel in their accusations against him.  With his friends and God against him, where could he possibly turn?

     v. 12,13  Job recognizes that God has put this target (mark) on him, and the archers have surrounded and attacked him.   

 

V. 15-22  Job was beside himself; he wanted to die and be at rest, but not until he had had a chance to vindicate himself.

     v. 18  The ancients believed that the blood of innocent victims cried out to God from the ground for justice, (Gen. 4:8-15; Isa. 26:21).

     Job’s repeated cry has been that he has not been given a fair trial before God and men, and that he had no advocate to plead his case before the almighty judge.

     The Christian does have a Heavenly Advocate (additional voice) and that is out Intercessor, Jesus Christ, I Jn. 2:1,2.  He is our Great High Priest and Mediator who ever lives to make intercession for His own, Rom. 8:31-9; I Tim. 2:5; Heb. 7:25.   Christ is the one who pleads our case before the Father, and the only way we can fail is if our intercessor fails!  

 

Healing the Broken Heart

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

 

 

It is the universal human experience.  If your heart has never been broken, you should check for a pulse. 

 

The broken heart has been defined as,...extreme grief or sorrow,...an intense emotional pain suffered usually at the loss of someone, whether by a breakup, divorce, death, betrayal, or separation. (i.e. a loved one leaving for military duty or the mission field.)   Sometimes the grief is caused by losing something, (such as a material possession) or personal freedom. 

 

In each case it involves loss, and the wound is in the heart, not the body.   Since there is no visible wound or scar we can’t see the hurt someone is experiencing and sometimes we are successful at temporarily hiding the hurt, but it is usually made known despite our best efforts to hide it.

 

There is no sermon, Bible study, or self-help book that can deal with a broken heart in “three easy steps.”  But the Bible can give us instruction and hope.

 

Luke 4:16-21...When Jesus came to Nazareth, His hometown, on the Sabbath and decided to attend synagogue as was His habit.

 

A Synagogue Order of Worship    

A typical synagogue service opened with an invocation asking God’s presence and blessing; then the recitation of the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9, 11:13-21).  

     Next would be a prayer, then the prescribed readings from the Law of Moses and the prophets. 

     Then one of the men or a visiting rabbi would preach/teach a lesson from those readings. 

     If a priest was present he would close the service with a benediction, but if not one of the men would close in prayer. 

 

     (Note: Synagogues came into being after the Babylonian exile and one could be set up in any place where there were ten Jewish families.  No sacrifices were ever offered at synagogue, this was done only at the temple in Jerusalem.)

 

Even though He had all knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, even though He had an inside track on prayer, and even though He knew the synagogue was full of hypocrites He still regularly attended the synagogue services. 

 

On this particular day the scripture reading was from Isa. 61:1-3.

     Various groups of the hurting were addressed:

          the poor, the broken hearted, and the captives (the oppressed, blind, and bruised)

 

     Various helps were prescribed:

          preaching, healing, pardon, recovery, and freedom.

 

In the message, Jesus was making His claim to being the Messiah who came to offer this deliverance, v. 21.  This congregation needed this message, but they rejected it, v. 28-30.  

 

Jesus had come to usher in the acceptable year of the Lord, (v. 19) but they refused it.

 

This was a direct reference to the Year of the Jubile found in Leviticus 25. 

     Lev. 25:1-7...Israel was told to allow the land to have her Sabbath rest every seven years.  

     Lev. 25:8-17...Every fiftieth year was to be the Year of the Jubile, which was a national reboot. 

     V. 9...Jubile is a word which mean shout for joy, or joyful sound.  (It is no accident that the Jubile reminds us of the hymn, Jesus Saves). The acceptable year of the Lord is the year of jubilee  or, that blessed time when salvation and the free favors of the Lord were abundantly bestowed on the people of God.

 

 

In the Year of the Jubile the economic system was balanced:

     All debts were cancelled,

     Slaves were set free and returned to their families,

     Land that had been sold was returned to the original owners,

          (God owned the land, the 12 tribes were only stewards)

     The land lay fallow and was not farmed for 2 years as man and

     beast rested from their labors. 

  

    

V. 18-22...God promised them there would be plenty in the previous harvests to see them through for three years if they would only obey Him.  

 

Back to Luke 4…

Jesus applied all this to Himself and His ministry.  Not in a political and economic sense but in the spiritual sense.

     (Just as in Matthew 11:28-30 when He promised to be our spiritual Sabbath and give rest to our souls.)

     Jesus had brought the good news (joyful sound) of salvation to bankrupt sinners and those oppressed by sin.  He had given sight to the blind, and healing to the sick and infirmed.  He had delivered many from bandage to devils and cured those with diseases.

 

The Jubile had come to Israel, but they rejected it!  They saw Him only as the son of Mary and Joseph, the hometown boy they watched grow up.

     They demanded Him to do the miracles in Nazareth that He had done in Capernaum, but He refused, v. 23.   Faith does not demand a miracle, and God will only honor faith and not idle, sensation seeking curiosities such as Satan tempted Jesus with in the wilderness temptation, Matt. 4:1-10.

     Another reason they rejected Him was because Jesus’ message of grace would also go out to the Gentiles.  It was real blow to their Jewish pride to be told they would have to be saved by grace just like the (unclean) Gentiles, v. 25-28.  

 

They love truth when it enlightens them, but hate truth when

it accuses them.                                                   St. Augustine

 

There is a reason Jesus stopped short in His reading of Isaiah 61, and that is because the first part of the reading was to be fulfilled at His first coming.  The second part would be fulfilled in it’s finality at His second coming. And this was something the Jews could not accept and why they have rejected Him as their Messiah even to this day.  They couldn’t differentiate between the two comings of the Lord.

 

For now we will suffer from time to time and in various ways, but there is coming a day when our Lord will heal all the broken hearts once and for all. 

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.    Jn. 16:33

 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                   The Enemy’s Weeds                                                          

                                               Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43                                                 

                                                                     February 1, 2015

This is the second of the Kingdom Parables and although it may sound a lot like the parable of the sower, seed, and soils.  Every parable is different and the symbols don’t always hold true for each one,...here is an example.

Here the good seed is not the Word of God as in the first parable, but the good seed (wheat) represents true believers, while the bad seed (tares) represents the false believers.

     The field is the world, not the human heart or the church.

     Christ is seen as the sower who is planting true believers in various places in the world.

The Lord and the servants have two different ideas as to how the tares ought to be dealt with.

     The servants wanted to uproot the tares and gather them up

     The Lord said no, let them grow together so that you don’t uproot the good wheat too.  The Lord knows those who are His and those who are not His own, Matt 7:21-23.

Satan cannot uproot the true believers so he sows false believers among the true.

     There are three kinds of Believers: 

          1. True Believers,...who are saved and know it

          2. Unbelievers,...who are unsaved and admit it.

          3. Make Believers,...who are unsaved, but want others to

                                        believe they are True Christians.

This parable points out that Satan has his counterfeits:

     He has false Christians, II Cor. 11:26

     He has a false gospel, Gal. 1:6-9

     He has false christs and false prophets, Matt. 24:24;  I Jn. 4:1

     He even has a false church, Rev. 2:9

 

V. 25  It is when God’s people go to sleep that Satan works, sowing his counterfeit Christians among the true in order to disrupt, deceive, and destroy true churches.

 

     Many of the so called Christian ministries on TV are nothing more than fund raisers to make the false preacher rich. 

     And the listeners, who may or may not be true believers, are deceived into believing they can buy God’s blessing with their tax deductible gift.

 V. 29, 30  Our job is not to pull up the false, but to plant the true.

     Rom. 16:17...We should identify them and avoid them.

          We are not to accept their literature, and certainly not to invite them to preach in our churches, or to enable them in any way, II Jn. 10,11. 

         II Cor. 13:5  Our job is to examine ourselves and prove ourselves as to whether we are in the faith

          We are to be witnesses, and not judges.

We are to oppose the devil and expose his lies, but we are not to go after them and persecute those who do not believe as we do.

     That was the error of the medieval church of the dark ages when ignorance of God’s Word and superstition abounded and birthed the Crusades, the Spanish inquisition, St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, the Salem Witch Trials in which people were tortured and murdered in the name of God.

     Many true believers (Baptists) were jailed, burned at the stake, and drowned just because they did not believe in infant baptism.

Jesus recognized there would be false religion and false Christians in the world there always have been

     Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the Holy Spirit

     Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver

...and He said “Let them grow together,...I’ll separate them at the harvest at the end of time.”

At the judgment, Christ will send His angels to bind up the tares and throw them into the fires of hell, and the good wheat will harvested and gathered into His garner.

Spiritual unity among true Christians is one thing, but religious conformity among true churches and false churches is quite another.  Light and darkness cannot coexist.  Dan. 12:3

Lev. 23:10-14...In the Old Testament, one of the most significant ceremonies was the Wave Offering.

     At the harvest, the first sheaf of wheat was set aside and not eaten, but waved before the Lord in thanksgiving for the harvest with the promise of more to come. 

 

I Cor. 15:20-23...tells us that that sheaf represented Jesus Christ who was the first person to rise from the dead, never to die again.

     ...with the promise of more to come.  True Believers will rise and be with Him in the resurrection never to die again.

     The promise of the Holy Spirit was poured out on Believers on the Day of Pentecost after Jesus ascended back to the Father in Heaven. 

     He was the first fruits and His resurrection and acceptance with God assures our resurrection and acceptance through faith.  

God is long suffering, patient, and kind,...but His mercy won’t last forever.

     I Cor. 15:24-28...One day Christ will return to judge the world, and put down His enemies for good.

     Then He will deliver up the kingdom to the father, destroy death by the rapture and the resurrection, and subdue all things to God so that He may be all in all.

                                                        

For now, the Savior occupies and reserves a place for us in Heaven with the Father,...and we are accepted through faith in Him.