#666 Soul Windows

“I have made a covenant with my eyes;

Why then should I look upon a young woman?

2 For what is the allotment of God from above,

And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

3 Is it not destruction for the wicked,

And disaster for the workers of iniquity?

4 Does He not see my ways,

And count all my steps?

5 “If I have walked with falsehood,

Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,

6 Let me be weighed on honest scales,

That God may know my integrity.

7 If my step has turned from the way,

Or my heart walked after my eyes,

Or if any spot adheres to my hands,

8 Then let me sow, and another eat;

Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.

9 “If my heart has been enticed 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 over her.

11 For that would be wickedness;

Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.

12 For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,

And would root out all my increase.

13 “If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant

When they complained against me,

14 What then shall I do when God rises up?

When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?

15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them?

Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,

Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17 Or eaten my morsel by myself,

So that the fatherless could not eat of it

18 (But from my youth I reared him as a father,

And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow);

19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,

Or any poor man without covering;

20 If his heart has not blessed me,

And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

21 If I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

When I saw I had help in the gate;

22 Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,

Let my arm be torn from the socket.

23 For destruction from God is a terror to me,

And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

24 “If I have made gold my hope,

Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;

25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,

And because my hand had gained much;

26 If I have observed the sun when it shines,

Or the moon moving in brightness,

27 So that my heart has been secretly enticed,

And my mouth has kissed my hand;

28 This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,

For I would have denied God who is above.

29 “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,

Or lifted myself up when evil found him

30 (Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin

By asking for a curse on his soul);

31 If the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’

32 (But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,

For I have opened my doors to the traveler);

33 If I have covered my transgressions as Adam,

By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,

34 Because I feared the great multitude,

And dreaded the contempt of families,

So that I kept silence

And did not go out of the door—

35 Oh, that I had one to hear me!

Here is my mark.

Oh, that the Almighty would answer me,

That my Prosecutor 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.

38 “If my land cries out against me,

And its furrows weep together;

39 If I have eaten its fruit without money,

Or caused its owners to lose their lives;

40 Then let thistles grow instead of wheat,

And weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended. Job 31 NKJV

This is the last part of Jobs defense, his exhausted proclamation of who he really is verses what his friends infer from his suffering. This is uniquely the echo of Christ's spirit in Matthew 5 when he pulls out the root of the sin of adultery, that it started when the heart meditated upon what the eyes took in. 

I have made a covenant with my eyes - I think I am most astonished by this because of it's age, some would date this book before the times of Moses even, and it is obviously before the time of Christ, yet speaks from the place that Christ insist God sees. Many of the patriarchs did not commit to such fidelity as Job has set his mind to practice. He has made a determined effort against sin, early in it's start beneath the earth, he has plucked out the seed so that it does not reach the flower. I would not be able to comfortably judge a man like that, and though we are all tempted, Job was quick to meet it before it took hold. David paid dearly for entertaining it, Abraham faithlessly pursued it when it seemed to him that God's way was impossible. It is so remarkable a stand for Job to make against his own want, for he comes from wealth and power, and young women, and women of number were a badge of honor to such wealth, but not Job's.

Allotment - To Adam God gave Eve and the two became one flesh. Job understands even back then that God had given him enough in the wife of his youth, that for the wicked it has been a snare to see others as beneath the image of God. It has been our destruction in every age, that we have left God's original intent and replaced it with lust. This has taken the supreme seat, and it has judged God's law and smirked. It is ok we think to reduce God's image to parts. It is ok we think to procreate without responsibility. If we do not want the life then we ask the child that cannot yet speak, is this ok? I hear of feminist, but I drive past strip clubs where men are not exactly celebrating equality, but it's ok because it's legal. I don't just judge these women or men, but myself, who for so long thought this was ok, and that consent was the cover against unrighteousness. Not Job, he has set out to live righteously and what he is explaining here probably made these men uncomfortable, because the integrity of it is that it goes back to his very thought life, what he allows before his eyes and he takes responsibility for it. 

Let me be weighed on honest scales - He has pronounced the curse that is deserved in all these instances, and if they wondered at what he has done to be here they should listen closely, for he has hated sin more than any. If I have been dishonest in business then let me sow and another reap.

If I have lurked at my neighbor's door - Maybe I am that man, the one who waits for his neighbor to leave so he can sleep with his wife, if that is what you think, then may God let my wife be with another. I would deserve to be judged for that, for lusting after she who was not a part of me, not my wife. For coveting my neighbor's wife, I should be judged by God, and for acting upon these passions, for not restraining them, I should be judged so harshly. Job was committed to righteousness and recognized how small a seed of sin could grow into so great a tree of sorrow. Adultery was not to be found with him, he took great pains to make sure. He was not as those today, both outside and inside the church, that say they "could not help themselves, it was fate, the heart can't help what the heart wants, they fell in love, it was an accident, unplanned, and most importantly, unavoidable." 

Eaten my morsel by myself - these sound much like the writings of John, where he that loveth not knoweth not God. It still resounds of the sermon on the mount and echoes the law in a more Christ like, Messianic way. When did I keep food away from the orphan, take away the chance of the poor to eat the fruits of his labor? He took seriously the complaints of his workers, the plight of the widow, and why, because God had fashioned both he and them in the womb. There was no difference in the level of their humanity, regardless of station or position. We both came from Adam and Eve, and even more we are all made in the image of God. I can't despise another, use another, cheat another, strike another, without answering to God and I fear God's judgment, yet here I am. 

If I had made gold my hope - I trusted God from where the gold from. I did not worship idols or love my wealth above Him, or that was never my intent, and so I gave. I admired His handy work in creation, but I did not worship the things he made, not the sun as is a custom among others, nor the moon which they bow down to as well. 

If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me - I cringe at this, and I should, for I have asked God to not pay me the wages of my sin, but rather mercy. Job has understood this well, in that he does not damn even his enemy. Again this is a very Christ like understanding of the moral law and social justice. If you love them that love you what reward have you, If you want to be children like your father, then love your enemies, bless them that curse you. When was this book written?

He goes on, knowing the eyes of God see much deeper and further than men, so if the rocks can cry out to praise God then let the land speak as the blood of Abel, tell me what I have done. Then the words of his defense are ended. 

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4: 7-12