#650 No Kindness Left

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge,

and fill his belly with the east wind?

3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk,

or in words with which he can do no good?

4 But you are doing away with the fear of God

and hindering meditation before God.

5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,

and you choose the tongue of the crafty.

6 Your own mouth condemns you, and not I;

your own lips testify against you.

7 “Are you the first man who was born?

Or were you brought forth before the hills?

8 Have you listened in the council of God?

And do you limit wisdom to yourself?

9 What do you know that we do not know?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

10 Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,

older than your father.

11 Are the comforts of God too small for you,

or the word that deals gently with you?

12 Why does your heart carry you away,

and why do your eyes flash,

13 that you turn your spirit against God

and bring such words out of your mouth?

14 What is man, that he can be pure?

Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?

15 Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones,

and the heavens are not pure in his sight;

16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt,

a man who drinks injustice like water!

17 “I will show you; hear me,

and what I have seen I will declare

18 (what wise men have told,

without hiding it from their fathers,

19 to whom alone the land was given,

and no stranger passed among them).

20 The wicked man writhes in pain all his days,

through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless.

21 Dreadful sounds are in his ears;

in prosperity the destroyer will come upon him.

22 He does not believe that he will return out of darkness,

and he is marked for the sword.

23 He wanders abroad for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’

He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand;

24 distress and anguish terrify him;

they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God

and defies the Almighty,

26 running stubbornly against him

with a thickly bossed shield;

27 because he has covered his face with his fat

and gathered fat upon his waist

28 and has lived in desolate cities,

in houses that none should inhabit,

which were ready to become heaps of ruins;

29 he will not be rich, and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions spread over the earth;[c]

30 he will not depart from darkness;

the flame will dry up his shoots,

and by the breath of his mouth he will depart.

31 Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself,

for emptiness will be his payment.

32 It will be paid in full before his time,

and his branch will not be green.

33 He will shake off his unripe grape like the vine,

and cast off his blossom like the olive tree.

34 For the company of the godless is barren,

and fire consumes the tents of bribery.

35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil,

and their womb prepares deceit.” Job 15 ESV

Eliphaz answers Job again, and accuses him of empty words. He makes the claim that it is his own iniquity that teaches his tongue what to say, that he is lying, trying to convince them, but they are unmoved. Keep in mind this is your friend, who cannot sleep, who is covered in boils, lost his children and had his wife tell him to curse his God. The response of Eliphaz has hardened, he is probably sick of dealing with this, and like the Pharisees knew that Christ was cursed by God, so he knows this of Job, because of tradition. He is not a good listener though, for Job has not claimed to be sinless before God, only blameless in accordance with their own doctrines. Job is wrong as we all are in that he doesn't know, but he has not claimed any secret wisdom as he will be accused of doing. Are you the first man born? I asked my wife once, if she was the first woman to ever have a baby, and that did not go over well. Job is not saying he is the wisest man on earth, and there is a wisdom that comes with age, but this has not given the oldest there any more insight to Job's situation. They still think he needs to repent, and they have paid their dues by sitting with him, but they see themselves as the kindness of God before him. You won't listen to us because you despise God, but does he? They see his past state as fat, which represents wealth, but they see it as a lie, that it was not the blessings of a pious man, but rather bringing up of the wicked to tear down. They describe their friend, who struggles before God, speaking from hurt and depression, plus the madness of sleeplessness, as a man guilty of bribery, deceit and pride. They cannot leave their first impression, they name drop age, the tradition of the elders, but what if these things do not here apply? What if you are wrong about this, about Job, what if he loves God but is suffering something that neither he nor you can understand? I wonder, if it was you in his place, based on your ideals of religion, would you have already cursed God?

You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. 56Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see My day. He saw it and was glad.” 57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”… John 8: 55-57

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#649 No More

“Man who is born of a woman

is few of days and full of trouble.

2 He comes out like a flower and withers;

he flees like a shadow and continues not.

3 And do you open your eyes on such a one

and bring me into judgment with you?

4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

There is not one.

5 Since his days are determined,

and the number of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass,

6 look away from him and leave him alone,[a]

that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

7 “For there is hope for a tree,

if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,

and that its shoots will not cease.

8 Though its root grow old in the earth,

and its stump die in the soil,

9 yet at the scent of water it will bud

and put out branches like a young plant.

10 But a man dies and is laid low;

man breathes his last, and where is he?

11 As waters fail from a lake

and a river wastes away and dries up,

12 so a man lies down and rises not again;

till the heavens are no more he will not awake

or be roused out of his sleep.

13 Oh that you would hide me in Sheol,

that you would conceal me until your wrath be past,

that you would appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14 If a man dies, shall he live again?

All the days of my service I would wait,

till my renewal[b] should come.

15 You would call, and I would answer you;

you would long for the work of your hands.

16 For then you would number my steps;

you would not keep watch over my sin;

17 my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

18 “But the mountain falls and crumbles away,

and the rock is removed from its place;

19 the waters wear away the stones;

the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

so you destroy the hope of man.

20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes;

you change his countenance, and send him away.

21 His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;

they are brought low, and he perceives it not.

22 He feels only the pain of his own body,

and he mourns only for himself.” Job 14 ESV

Life is short he thinks now, it is but a fleeting moment, a bottle rocket. God, why do you open Your eyes towards me, from that eternity that I cannot wrap my finite mind about, why do you look in my direction? What is my life that You would even bother to judge it? There is none righteous unto Your standard, so if that is what You expect of me, then looking at my days, the timeline of my life here, this inch within these light years, it is already soiled. I know my own depravity, and I was born in it, so let me be then, I have tried with this unclean frame to do righteously, but it is obviously vain.

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 in their paths are ruin and misery,

17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Romans 3: 9-19

Trees have hope, I have seen a tree cut down, but then sprout again. It may grow into a tree once more. Job is grasping to understand the afterlife, it is both a mystery and yet a hope to him. It is a change from this, that he may be no more, or is in so much soulful agony that it would seem nice to no longer exist. I have heard many an atheist describe as much to me, and I held this hope myself, that this was it, this was a collection of impulses and stumbling about, then no more. Science would be our guide, and this is the world Job knows for now, it is primitive to our technically advanced egos, what we "now know." You have to credit him this though, even if I disagree with him, these things he says, he says with the light he has and without the light most of us refuse. He did not have the light of the resurrection of Christ, or to see Christ raise Lazarus from the grave. He did not know of the transfiguration, or hear the teachings about a new body, and being made right with God by faith, sanctified in Christ. This poetry is so old, it did not know of things like Elijah being taken up, but maybe he knew of Enoch, yet did not wonder at it so much until now. Dear person living today, read the NT, it is marvelous, it's God's word, and His Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. It is the story of God with us.

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:

7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5: 1-8

How comfortably numb we may become. There have been times in my youth when I had enough money, sex, drugs and accomplices that they and me were a religion to myself. I worshiped at the throne of being entertained or high or drunk, but not wanting to know or think of such an incredible need, eternal ramifications. No wonder I wished it to be true, that I would be no more, and I have looked at disabled people and wondered at their gratitude and happiness, for I needed things they would not bother with. I would rather not live if it were their life, yet they were happier than me. I could not be bothered with such, and cried like the most entitled, arrogant fool, to have to deal with anything I did not want or the knowledge of what I thought I should have. Lord, do please cover my iniquities, remove them from me, let walk in the light of Your truth. 

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#648 The Blind Apologists

“Behold, my eye has seen all this,

my ear has heard and understood it.

2 What you know, I also know;

I am not inferior to you.

3 But I would speak to the Almighty,

and I desire to argue my case with God.

4 As for you, you whitewash with lies;

worthless physicians are you all.

5 Oh that you would keep silent,

and it would be your wisdom!

6 Hear now my argument

and listen to the pleadings of my lips.

7 Will you speak falsely for God

and speak deceitfully for him?

8 Will you show partiality toward him?

Will you plead the case for God?

9 Will it be well with you when he searches you out?

Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

10 He will surely rebuke you

if in secret you show partiality.

11 Will not his majesty terrify you,

and the dread of him fall upon you?

12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;

your defenses are defenses of clay.

13 “Let me have silence, and I will speak,

and let come on me what may.

14 Why should I take my flesh in my teeth

and put my life in my hand?

15 Though he slay me, I will hope in him;[a]

yet I will argue my ways to his face.

16 This will be my salvation,

that the godless shall not come before him.

17 Keep listening to my words,

and let my declaration be in your ears.

18 Behold, I have prepared my case;

I know that I shall be in the right.

19 Who is there who will contend with me?

For then I would be silent and die.

20 Only grant me two things,

then I will not hide myself from your face:

21 withdraw your hand far from me,

and let not dread of you terrify me.

22 Then call, and I will answer;

or let me speak, and you reply to me.

23 How many are my iniquities and my sins?

Make me know my transgression and my sin.

24 Why do you hide your face

and count me as your enemy?

25 Will you frighten a driven leaf

and pursue dry chaff?

26 For you write bitter things against me

and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.

27 You put my feet in the stocks

and watch all my paths;

you set a limit for[b] the soles of my feet.

28 Man[c] wastes away like a rotten thing,

like a garment that is moth-eaten. Job 13 ESV

I know of the things you are saying, your doctrines, your dogmas, but they are incomplete. You give my mouth and the premise of this a coating of lies, it is the painting of a scene that mocks the God you would invoke. I would take my case before Him, because none of you can hear this accurately, you cannot believe the truth while you caress the lie. Job is persistent in defending what he knows to be true of his own character, and then it seems they would cut him off, but "let me finish." This is good stuff, it is Davidic and Messianic, starting in verse 13, he will continue to speak, he will not take his own life, and though God slays him, his hope will be in God still. Why?

1. God is the Creator, life belongs to Him, what can a man say or do against Him, it's laughable.

2. Whom the Lord loveth, He chaseneth. There is no good parent that does not refine their child. Job has to think that the same God who gave knows best still when He takes away.

3. Job has talked to God before and God has heard him, and though he once wished for death, for God to leave him be, he now ask for him not to remove himself. Only God has the answer to this.

This is echoed in the voice of David, in the times of his deepest hurts, and with him you could easily make the connections, for the laws that God gave, David broke. He took many wives, he took the wife of another and became a murderer. God gave him the suffering of seeing his own wives with another, a son who was a rapest, another who would usurp the throne, Bathsheba's baby, the fruit of so many indiscretions led to death, but Job is wondering, "what are my sins?" Lord teach me, show me. Christ echoes this as well, but as the spotless lamb, obedient even to death on the cross. "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Father, You can do anything, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will, but yours be done." This destroys Satan's argument as to Job's loyalty, for even not  understanding, and with the hedge torn down, his wealth evaporated before his eyes, even though it has touched his bones, "though You slay me, yet will I praise You."

I see another picture here, but I will need to examine it a bit more, maybe save it for the summation or maybe it will show itself again in later chapters, but I think that it has already risen to the surface in Job's life prior to here, only I missed it then. 

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#647 Of Course You Know

“No doubt you are the people,

and wisdom will die with you.

3 But I have understanding as well as you;

I am not inferior to you.

Who does not know such things as these?

4 I am a laughingstock to my friends;

I, who called to God and he answered me,

a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

5 In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune;

it is ready for those whose feet slip.

6 The tents of robbers are at peace,

and those who provoke God are secure,

who bring their god in their hand.[a]

7 “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;

the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;

8 or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;[b]

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

9 Who among all these does not know

that the hand of the Lord has done this?

10 In his hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of all mankind.

11 Does not the ear test words

as the palate tastes food?

12 Wisdom is with the aged,

and understanding in length of days.

13 “With God[c] are wisdom and might;

he has counsel and understanding.

14 If he tears down, none can rebuild;

if he shuts a man in, none can open.

15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up;

if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.

16 With him are strength and sound wisdom;

the deceived and the deceiver are his.

17 He leads counselors away stripped,

and judges he makes fools.

18 He looses the bonds of kings

and binds a waistcloth on their hips.

19 He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows the mighty.

20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted

and takes away the discernment of the elders.

21 He pours contempt on princes

and loosens the belt of the strong.

22 He uncovers the deeps out of darkness

and brings deep darkness to light.

23 He makes nations great, and he destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and leads them away.

24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth

and makes them wander in a trackless waste.

25 They grope in the dark without light,

and he makes them stagger like a drunken man. Job 12 ESV

You are the men, obviously, there are no boils on your skin and you fall asleep quickly, without struggle. So yes, please tell me, enlighten me with your memorized responses, the wisdom that will be no more after you are gone, tell me another cliché. He knows all the things they are going to say, for they are the things that he would say to them if he had facts that justified the position. If a man was guilty, though they have not established that, then yes, he should be told to repent. He is still trying to figure this out, I have a relationship with God, and have set my heart to do right, to walk before Him, He answered me, so why do these men sit here and scorn me? I have received rewards before, that in contemplation, looking back, they did not reflect my best. The reward you receive after giving up, for growing weary in well doing, if you are honest at all, it is only a measure of politic, empty. If you are not honest, then you don't wonder, you heard there was such a thing as this trophy and you could not think of anyone more deserving. Job's friends are well, and look at the language of verses 5 and 6, they are a beautiful representation of our delusion. If I am well, then it is because I deserve it, and if you are not then it is because you are contemptible. There is a whole other level of wisdom here that they have not yet approached. What if Job is in their model, yet not more guilty of any sin than they, and what if even less, a blameless man? It doesn't fit their narrative.

He appeals to nature, and says look, no one, nothing denies the hand of God in all of this, for whether the devil or man or a mosquito, all are created and allowed by God. But I hear your words and they don't fit; if the truth is sweet in my mouth and I have come to love it, then why are your words so bitter? 

He moves on to lift up the greatness of God, who is like Him, who is left standing, much less comes to stand at all? There is no equal in wisdom or in strength, and though years may or should bring wisdom, what is it against the infinite, eternal, Holy God? I took comfort in my comforts, I was wealthy, ruled over much, shared your wisdom, sat at your table sipping tea, passing around the pipe while solving the world's problems. I was confident in my relationship with God, what I thought and now I am uncertain, shaken. I know God is still above all, but I don't understand this, and your explanations don't characterize the truth. 

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,[a] and set on fire by hell.[b] 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,[c] these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
Wisdom from Above

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3 ESV

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#646 Breaking Earth

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

2 “Should a multitude of words go unanswered,

and a man full of talk be judged right?

3 Should your babble silence men,

and when you mock, shall no one shame you?

4 For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure,

and I am clean in God's eyes.’

5 But oh, that God would speak

and open his lips to you,

6 and that he would tell you the secrets of wisdom!

For he is manifold in understanding.

Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.

7 “Can you find out the deep things of God?

Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?

8 It is higher than heaven[c]—what can you do?

Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?

9 Its measure is longer than the earth

and broader than the sea.

10 If he passes through and imprisons

and summons the court, who can turn him back?

11 For he knows worthless men;

when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

12 But a stupid man will get understanding

when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!

13 “If you prepare your heart,

you will stretch out your hands toward him.

14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish;

you will be secure and will not fear.

16 You will forget your misery;

you will remember it as waters that have passed away.

17 And your life will be brighter than the noonday;

its darkness will be like the morning.

18 And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

you will look around and take your rest in security.

19 You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;

many will court your favor.

20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail;

all way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is to breathe their last.” Job 11 ESV

Zophar continues upon the same poor foundation as the other three. Are you right for your many words Job, have you silenced the argument against you? Then he continues the attack upon Job's character, this is why you are here. You are lying, and no matter how colorful or eloquent your words are, be sure that this will not stop me from shaming you. Some truth misapplied, it is often better for us to hold our tongues, to bridle them when anger and passion are their true force. Job is airing out his pain, forming a poem from the bosom of his sorrow. 

In the multitude of words sin is not lacking,

But he who restrains his lips is wise. Proverbs 10:19

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12: 34-37

Zophar introduces the Job made out of straw, "you say, my doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God's eyes." Job has been most agreeable with them in doctrine, the premise that God rewards the blameless and punishes the wicked. They all seem a bit off in that they relate it strictly to this world and only by certain measure. The Bible says that God causes His rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Job is venting much frustration and trying to understand what he and others would only perceive before as punishment. He has declared himself blameless based on the same premise for their attacks. He is here, horizontally, in this world of sinners, a man who seeks to please God and a man concerned so much with the spiritual state of his family, that he offers sacrifices on their behalf and just in case. He has also in past chapters made clear that while making this claim of blamelessness, he cannot stand before God in the right and would need an Arbiter. 

Now Zophar would like to invoke God to speak to Job, let Him put you in the right, when really what we mean in those times, looking down from our soap box, is "let God show you that I am right." Lord, let fire fall down from heaven, let the earth rumble and quake with my voice, so that this fellow may see me wise. 

But the people there refused to welcome Him, because He was heading for Jerusalem. 54When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” 55But Jesus turned and rebuked them,… Luke 9:53-55

God exacts from all of us less than what we deserve, evidenced in that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He is just and so He exacts from Christ that penalty which satisfies His honor. This is poor counsel from Zophar, and the application of such a doctrine should remove from him the incapacity to judge that this may not be some hidden sin, only God's hidden purpose, which he would nod also to, I am sure.  

In verse 7, he ask deep questions, can the finite fully fathom the infinite? But, it seems as if he is incapable or unwilling to turn these questions upon himself. If I was Job, I would be saying, "no kidding, didn't I say that much already?" They and we all have spoken at times beyond what light or measurement is available to us. You have not been to heaven, you cannot even see across the ocean to the other side, nor to every part of it's depth. How can you speak of hell outside of what God has chosen to reveal? It gets a little more insulting in verse 10 - 12. Fools and wicked men don't escape Job, God sees everything, don't pretend to be wise, for your words are vain, don't be a jackass. Don't be wild and unteachable, be broken and contrite before the Lord. 

He appeals for Job to repent, he has surely put him in his place with his abundance of words, that flow without the knowledge of what took place in heaven. Job, prepare your heart, humble yourself man, lift up your hands to heaven and confess your sin, remove the iniquity, make it right. And Job, since it has also affected your family, I'm getting this kind of vibe, this feeling, that you may want to go home and clean out your tent, remove whatever iniquities or injustices that have occurred under your watch. Then buddy, if you do this, God will bless you, you will return to your work once again. It is a blessing to do our work in peace, without the torment or distraction of our enemies or those without understanding, that pretend to be our friends. 

Wickedness will fail, but there is a hope even in this present suffering, a light in this present darkness, and a hope beyond this hope, a place that eye has not yet seen, and herein lies faith. Blessed are they that mourn, are poor in spirit, are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake, hold on Job, hold on. 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11:1-3

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#645 Admitting What I Couldn't See

“I loathe my life;

I will give free utterance to my complaint;

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;

let me know why you contend against me.

3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,

to despise the work of your hands

and favor the designs of the wicked?

4 Have you eyes of flesh?

Do you see as man sees?

5 Are your days as the days of man,

or your years as a man's years,

6 that you seek out my iniquity

and search for my sin,

7 although you know that I am not guilty,

and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

8 Your hands fashioned and made me,

and now you have destroyed me altogether.

9 Remember that you have made me like clay;

and will you return me to the dust?

10 Did you not pour me out like milk

and curdle me like cheese?

11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,

and your care has preserved my spirit.

13 Yet these things you hid in your heart;

I know that this was your purpose.

14 If I sin, you watch me

and do not acquit me of my iniquity.

15 If I am guilty, woe to me!

If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,

for I am filled with disgrace

and look on my affliction.

16 And were my head lifted up,[a] you would hunt me like a lion

and again work wonders against me.

17 You renew your witnesses against me

and increase your vexation toward me;

you bring fresh troops against me.

18 “Why did you bring me out from the womb?

Would that I had died before any eye had seen me

19 and were as though I had not been,

carried from the womb to the grave.

20 Are not my days few?

Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer

21 before I go—and I shall not return—

to the land of darkness and deep shadow,

22 the land of gloom like thick darkness,

like deep shadow without any order,

where light is as thick darkness.” Job 10 ESV

I will give my sorrow and misery a voice. Lord, let this not lead to a final sentencing, let this not be my end, but tell me, why? Job wants to know, why is this a good idea, God, you made me and what will the wicked think? My friends think I must be wicked to suffer like this, and my enemies, what will my enemies say of my God? There is an argument throughout this chapter that still persist today.

There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile. Ecclesiastes 8:14

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? Romans 9: 18-21

I suggest reading all of Romans 9 for a fuller understanding and context of this; it was a stumbling block to my early Christian years, it did not fit my own view of what Christianity or God was supposed to be like. But if I would have dug even deeper back then, I would have realized that Christ did not fit into my "Christian" world view either. He emptied out Himself by example and demanded that I must die to myself to follow. In verse 4 here, Job ask if God has eyes of flesh in a poetic sense, knowing that He does not see like men see, but further, all, and He is eternal, so Job pleads his case to Him, who sees all. My friends say I have sinned, but You alone know all things, You know my heart, what is true, You know I am innocent to what they say, yet here I am in the way I would expect to find only the wickedest of men, those that hate You. 

I am the work of Your hands, I attribute that to Your design, and the reference to milk and cheese, I see caused some early commentators to blush, a milk like substance, the sperm, mixed and curdled in procreation, an act in continuance of the Creator's design. So we see that he values life, he is like the Psalmist, most aware that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. He says, "You have granted me life and love," so life is a gift and now because of extreme pain, loss and agony, it is also a curse. The picture is to have everything, and then have everything taken away. The argument is not against God, there is no real argument there, and Job perceives this dimly, but the argument is against Job's religious model, groping through the dark and finding that God is sovereign. In verse 13 he acknowledges that this is God's hidden purpose, though it is Satan that buffets him, it is God Who allows it. It is God, Who says, "consider My servant, Job." That is all hidden to Job, but for those who are squeamish and still need a god on their terms, that is not God, that is an idol. Christianity 101, "all have sinned, the wages of sin is death," so what does God owe Job or any other creature? Not even an explanation. 

Verse 15, if I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, and I think this is quite lovely, even if I haven't done any evil deserving this, my circumstances mark me as one who has disobeyed God. We are all born as sons of Adam, broken from the fall, even the most righteous of men, his days are counting down to dust. Naked I came, and what did I do to get here? There is a thing we owe each other because of God making us in His image, there is a patience and tenderness we should naturally have, compassion that should pour out of us toward each other, because of our equal standing as humans, but we are warped. There is a thing that God owes us for being fallen away from that image, from knowing right and wrong, by way of doing evil, by being divorced from our Parent and following another. Job cannot hold his head up, and Christ has not yet been lifted up, this is before Moses. Let his friends name the sin that should cause this calamity, and Job may deny it, but they are like the pharisees, whose righteousness we must exceed. They wouldn't accept his answer anyway, and his enemies are dancing in drunken circles, laughing and shouting, thinking themselves to be saying things that matter. "Look at that pious heap, he would only serve one God, and look what that got him. He should have had a back up." 

He laments his birth again, but hold on Job, it is dark, but there is more than you realize. He asks for just a bit of comfort, a break from the never ending irritation. It only seems to increase, and he would but a moment, just a moment of comfort to have a clear thought, and appreciate a moment's ease. How much we take for granted, if only Job could see, if only we. 

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#644 An Arbiter

- a person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter.

“Truly I know that it is so:

But how can a man be in the right before God?

3 If one wished to contend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand times.

4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength

—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,

when he overturns them in his anger,

6 who shakes the earth out of its place,

and its pillars tremble;

7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

8 who alone stretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the sea;

9 who made the Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;

10 who does great things beyond searching out,

and marvelous things beyond number.

11 Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

12 Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?

Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

13 “God will not turn back his anger;

beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.

14 How then can I answer him,

choosing my words with him?

15 Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;

I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.[a]

16 If I summoned him and he answered me,

I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

17 For he crushes me with a tempest

and multiplies my wounds without cause;

18 he will not let me get my breath,

but fills me with bitterness.

19 If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!

If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?[b]

20 Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;

though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

21 I am blameless; I regard not myself;

I loathe my life.

22 It is all one; therefore I say,

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23 When disaster brings sudden death,

he mocks at the calamity[c] of the innocent.

24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

he covers the faces of its judges—

if it is not he, who then is it?

25 “My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee away; they see no good.

26 They go by like skiffs of reed,

like an eagle swooping on the prey.

27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,

I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’

28 I become afraid of all my suffering,

for I know you will not hold me innocent.

29 I shall be condemned;

why then do I labor in vain?

30 If I wash myself with snow

and cleanse my hands with lye,

31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,

and my own clothes will abhor me.

32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,

that we should come to trial together.

33 There is no[d] arbiter between us,

who might lay his hand on us both.

34 Let him take his rod away from me,

and let not dread of him terrify me.

35 Then I would speak without fear of him,

for I am not so in myself. Job 9 ESV

Job starts his answer by agreeing with Bildad. This is why it so difficult, he affirms that God rewards righteousness, but here I am and I cannot think of any sin I have done that equals the reproof. If it were an eye for an eye, than who did I kill that God would take my children away from me? Even those of us who have the advantage of reading this have problems within our doctrines, or our deliveries. God is more like Santa Claus than the sovereign creator to us, as we first hear and piece Theology together. He is making his list and checking it twice, going to find out who's been naughty or nice. By Job's own measure he is on the nice list, but he has to wonder given the present circumstances, "who can be right before God?"

Who can argue with God? How can a man summon God to appear before him and hear his case? Job's righteousness, as he understands it, is based on a human standard, that in all the world of men, there is none as honest, respectable, religious and charitable by comparison. He appeals to things that men respect, like wisdom and strength, but it is the holiness of God that leaves none righteous before Him.

5You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? 6All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. 7No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and made us melt in the hand of our iniquity.…Isaiah 64:6

In verse 8 it speaks to God's creative force behind the universe. On a quick search you can find at least 7 other references to this in the old testament that He stretches out the heavens, and I am no scientist but if you think about it in distance, distance being time, like light years, it seems as though he stretched it to where it needed to be in His design. He gave it age and distance in a short period of time. He tramples the water, and there seems to be the Messianic appeal starting early here, but for sure when we see vs. 32 and 33 where God is not a man, and there is no arbiter. Job is starting to realize his inadequacy in being able to stand before God on his own, and Job's friends do not comprehend this since they still feel that they have God all figured out. There is this void in that God is not like us, that He has not come into being, but is being, and His ways are not our ways. There is then another void, in that though we are made in His image, God is a spirit and because of the fall, we are spiritually dead. This is a distance unfathomable, which men try to measure with human reasoning, tools and the faculties of a broken existence. So, since I cannot become God, and there is this breech, I need God to take on humanity, to become my representation, an arbiter, ever before the throne. 

Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.…Philippians 2:6-8

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