This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 24:5
5 Behold, as wild asses [pere'] in the desert [midbar], go they forth [yatsa'] to their work [po`al]; rising betimes [shachar] for a prey [tereph]: the wilderness [`arabah] yieldeth food [lechem] for them and for their children [na`ar]. KJV-Interlinear
5 'Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness They go forth seeking food in their activity, As bread for their children in the desert. NASB
Anyone who does not pursue their spiritual life with regularity, anyone who has not by their thoughts and actions, established a pattern of life corresponding to, and appropriate with, that taught in the scriptures, is considered and included in the category of folks called, wicked.
In your life, you have spent more than likely, considerable time living in this category of people.
By living outside of the fellowship sphere, you in effect tell God that you do not need Him, His doctrine, or His support.
Whether you are a nice person, generally speaking, or a tyrant leader of terrorists, makes no difference. Certainly, the degree of overt wickedness you practice will be different than that of tyrants, but evil is evil, and rejection or indifference, or retaliation against God is just that.
What is an evil person like? He is no different than a wild donkey in the jungle of this world. The wicked are untamed, untraceable, unreasonable, fierce and furious or passive and introverted, and under no restraint of law or government. And that law or government refers to Gods law and policies, not mans.
The wilderness is Jobs choice of words referring to a place that lacks civil authority, a place that is a desert, a place where life does not flourish. A place where the predators of the world believe that they can hide their chosen pattern of life, from all reasonable or rational civilization.
In the desert, the wicked believe that they can hide their ways and do as they please. The strong rule the weak and the strong take as they please.
The wicked maintain themselves, their families, and their way of life by robbing, and bless themselves without any remorse, compassion, or conscience. They adopt the belief that what they do is honestly undertaken. That is, assuming that they end their activities triumphantly.
If they fail or they themselves are taken advantage of, then that is another matter, of course. Then revenge, gossip, hatred, ridicule, or self-pity become the order of the day. And still in this, the wicked see no real harm in their actions.
Their normal day-to-day routine of wickedness is to them, normal.
The pattern of life which you adopt for yourself can become your grave, simply by means of the mere habit of its formation inside of you.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Job 24:2-4
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 24:2-4
2 Some remove [nasag] the landmarks [gabuwlah]; they violently take away [gazal] flocks [`eder], and feed [ra`ah] thereof.
3 They drive away [nahag] the ass [chamowr] of the fatherless [yathowm], they take [chabal] the widow's ['almanah] ox [showr] for a pledge [chabal].
4 They turn [natah] the needy ['ebyown] out of the way [derek]: the poor [`aniy] [`anav] of the earth ['erets] hide [chaba'] themselves together [yachad]. KJV-Interlinear
2 'Some remove the landmarks; They seize and devour flocks. 3 'They drive away the donkeys of the orphans; They take the widow's ox for a pledge. 4 'They push the needy aside from the road; The poor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether. NASB
Wickedness is a cancer. Wickedness is the disease of ridicule of the helpless. Those who have and of whom are wicked, will take every opportunity to take advantage of those who are unable to help or defend themselves.
Governments are among the worst of these, with people who hide behind legislated law and bureaucracy in order to justify their seizing the rights and property and livelihood of those who lack the resources to protect themselves.
But wickedness is not limited to governments. Governments are made up of people and it is the people who are short on ethics and long on rigidness, short on Bible doctrine and long on self-righteousness, who abuse the powers and positions they possess.
And from governments, to companies, to individuals, all of which are made up of people, the policy of the world is to devour the helpless in the name of justice and law.
Here Job, in his first set of examples, uses the widow and the orphan, and the helpless person in general to demonstrate that evil runs rampant even within the legal system. Systems in which people should be able to find shelter and protection, but in fact generally becomes their executioner.
The nature of life is that we all have needs. We all need clothing, food, shelter, educations, jobs, resources and such in order to survive in this life. Those needs and even the desires for better things, for a better life, will sooner or later get you into debt. And, if your own actions do not create a debt for yourself, then there are many involuntary activities in this world which will cause you to go into debt.
Life is full of exposures to failures, economic failures, health failures, storm caused failures, accident failures, and so forth. Even taxes will catch up to you sooner or later, and they could be your nemesis.
And there is one thing that is certain if anything in life is certain, and that is when disaster strikes, it usually dominoes into many more disasters, and your life can spiral downward quickly.
All of life hangs in the balance. In fact your life is always hanging on by only the thread of Gods will. He can strengthen that thread into a rope, or let it fray and snap.
Under the protection and pretense of law and authority, property can be removed. It can be deemed condemned and removed by government and removed from your possession. Property can be seized for non-payment of debt. The orphan or widow, or those who have very little, can easily be taken advantage of. They do not have the resources to fight for what little they have.
And when laws or life become oppressive then the poor or the weak, are forced into hiding, they are forced into underground activities. They conduct themselves in what should be normally legitimate activities, but because of the abuse of laws, legitimate activities are now by legislation, considered engaged in criminal activities. They are ostracized from a normal life.
When the Tribulation comes along, then this abuse of economic regulation will become extreme. People will actually starve because they will be restricted from buying or selling. All of history gives us examples of abuse, and the Tribulation will become the extreme.
When laws or justice cease to protect the fundamental rights or subsistence of the individual, then the laws themselves are evil. When society allows prejudice or gossip or ridicule against individuals or groups, then the norms and standards of society have degenerated into evil. When individuals or organizations use the law or justice or contractual terms in order to take advantage of others, to their own profit or benefit, excluding reasonable solutions designed to protect the original purpose of their relationship, then the designs of fairness and equity have become evil.
Do not enter into any arrangement with others, unless you are more than willing to work with them through the problems that might arise in their life. You do not loan with the hopes of being able to repossess, thus stealing someone else's equity resources. You do not come to someone's aid with hopes of their failure and thus enriching yourself because of their bad luck. You do not become a member of a social group or club with the intention of advancing yourself at the expense of someone else's reputation destroyed by gossip. You do not advance your career through negative office politics. You do not defeat competitors through unscrupulous methods.
In every activity of life, we look to God who will advance us in life with everything we need and want, and He will accomplish it without bringing harm to anyone else.
When evil rules your life, then you can only gain those things you want and need, by means of causing harm to someone else.
You certainly have the right to protect yourself from those who would try to take advantage of you.
But, any advancement or promotion you cause or force for yourself, which means harm for someone else, is not really a promotion. If God does not promote you, then your position is temporary at its very best.
Anything gained by your own deceitful or self-righteous efforts, at the expense of others, is not legitimate.
'Well, it’s the law. Well, they failed to meet the terms,' is a self-serving, judgmental, and self-righteous view of life.
When you enter into a transaction, you have your goal, a legitimate profit, and your opposite has a goal, getting something for their money. Both interests should be served honorably.
To enter into a loan, knowing that the borrower might well fail, thus hoping to get your loan back as well as their collateral, is nothing less that attempted robbery. To tax and spend, to attempt to sway organized groups with promised advantages is nothing short of prejudice and corruption.
We will live many years throughout our lives. We will come face to face with many evils during our life, but for the most part, we will probably not see Gods judgment and punishment against those who cause wickedness in this world. Just as Job mentioned in the last verse.
This does not mean that Christ has lost control over history.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 24:2-4
2 Some remove [nasag] the landmarks [gabuwlah]; they violently take away [gazal] flocks [`eder], and feed [ra`ah] thereof.
3 They drive away [nahag] the ass [chamowr] of the fatherless [yathowm], they take [chabal] the widow's ['almanah] ox [showr] for a pledge [chabal].
4 They turn [natah] the needy ['ebyown] out of the way [derek]: the poor [`aniy] [`anav] of the earth ['erets] hide [chaba'] themselves together [yachad]. KJV-Interlinear
2 'Some remove the landmarks; They seize and devour flocks. 3 'They drive away the donkeys of the orphans; They take the widow's ox for a pledge. 4 'They push the needy aside from the road; The poor of the land are made to hide themselves altogether. NASB
Wickedness is a cancer. Wickedness is the disease of ridicule of the helpless. Those who have and of whom are wicked, will take every opportunity to take advantage of those who are unable to help or defend themselves.
Governments are among the worst of these, with people who hide behind legislated law and bureaucracy in order to justify their seizing the rights and property and livelihood of those who lack the resources to protect themselves.
But wickedness is not limited to governments. Governments are made up of people and it is the people who are short on ethics and long on rigidness, short on Bible doctrine and long on self-righteousness, who abuse the powers and positions they possess.
And from governments, to companies, to individuals, all of which are made up of people, the policy of the world is to devour the helpless in the name of justice and law.
Here Job, in his first set of examples, uses the widow and the orphan, and the helpless person in general to demonstrate that evil runs rampant even within the legal system. Systems in which people should be able to find shelter and protection, but in fact generally becomes their executioner.
The nature of life is that we all have needs. We all need clothing, food, shelter, educations, jobs, resources and such in order to survive in this life. Those needs and even the desires for better things, for a better life, will sooner or later get you into debt. And, if your own actions do not create a debt for yourself, then there are many involuntary activities in this world which will cause you to go into debt.
Life is full of exposures to failures, economic failures, health failures, storm caused failures, accident failures, and so forth. Even taxes will catch up to you sooner or later, and they could be your nemesis.
And there is one thing that is certain if anything in life is certain, and that is when disaster strikes, it usually dominoes into many more disasters, and your life can spiral downward quickly.
All of life hangs in the balance. In fact your life is always hanging on by only the thread of Gods will. He can strengthen that thread into a rope, or let it fray and snap.
Under the protection and pretense of law and authority, property can be removed. It can be deemed condemned and removed by government and removed from your possession. Property can be seized for non-payment of debt. The orphan or widow, or those who have very little, can easily be taken advantage of. They do not have the resources to fight for what little they have.
And when laws or life become oppressive then the poor or the weak, are forced into hiding, they are forced into underground activities. They conduct themselves in what should be normally legitimate activities, but because of the abuse of laws, legitimate activities are now by legislation, considered engaged in criminal activities. They are ostracized from a normal life.
When the Tribulation comes along, then this abuse of economic regulation will become extreme. People will actually starve because they will be restricted from buying or selling. All of history gives us examples of abuse, and the Tribulation will become the extreme.
When laws or justice cease to protect the fundamental rights or subsistence of the individual, then the laws themselves are evil. When society allows prejudice or gossip or ridicule against individuals or groups, then the norms and standards of society have degenerated into evil. When individuals or organizations use the law or justice or contractual terms in order to take advantage of others, to their own profit or benefit, excluding reasonable solutions designed to protect the original purpose of their relationship, then the designs of fairness and equity have become evil.
Do not enter into any arrangement with others, unless you are more than willing to work with them through the problems that might arise in their life. You do not loan with the hopes of being able to repossess, thus stealing someone else's equity resources. You do not come to someone's aid with hopes of their failure and thus enriching yourself because of their bad luck. You do not become a member of a social group or club with the intention of advancing yourself at the expense of someone else's reputation destroyed by gossip. You do not advance your career through negative office politics. You do not defeat competitors through unscrupulous methods.
In every activity of life, we look to God who will advance us in life with everything we need and want, and He will accomplish it without bringing harm to anyone else.
When evil rules your life, then you can only gain those things you want and need, by means of causing harm to someone else.
You certainly have the right to protect yourself from those who would try to take advantage of you.
But, any advancement or promotion you cause or force for yourself, which means harm for someone else, is not really a promotion. If God does not promote you, then your position is temporary at its very best.
Anything gained by your own deceitful or self-righteous efforts, at the expense of others, is not legitimate.
'Well, it’s the law. Well, they failed to meet the terms,' is a self-serving, judgmental, and self-righteous view of life.
When you enter into a transaction, you have your goal, a legitimate profit, and your opposite has a goal, getting something for their money. Both interests should be served honorably.
To enter into a loan, knowing that the borrower might well fail, thus hoping to get your loan back as well as their collateral, is nothing less that attempted robbery. To tax and spend, to attempt to sway organized groups with promised advantages is nothing short of prejudice and corruption.
We will live many years throughout our lives. We will come face to face with many evils during our life, but for the most part, we will probably not see Gods judgment and punishment against those who cause wickedness in this world. Just as Job mentioned in the last verse.
This does not mean that Christ has lost control over history.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Job 24:1
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 24:1
1 Why, seeing times [`eth] are not hidden [tsaphan] from the Almighty [Shadday], do they that know [yada`] him not see [chazah] his days [yowm]? KJV-Interlinear
1 'Why are times not stored up by the Almighty, And why do those who know Him not see His days? NASB
Jobs friends have suggested that the times of the righteous are not interrupted, and the times of the wicked are. And, all of these events occur in this lifetime at some time prior to ones death.
Job disagrees, and Job is going to list many instances where this is so. In doing so he will also teach us that even though there are folks who know substantial amounts of doctrine, when their life resides outside of the spiritual sphere, their conclusions in life can and will be wrong.
This is the case of Jobs friends. They have substantial academic knowledge, but lack wisdom and therefore cannot match their knowledge with the real world. They see only what they wish to see. They are blind to the facts of life, which as Job will illustrate, are all too obvious for all to see and nearly impossible to miss, unless of course, you do not want to see them.
And for folks who function in life, but outside of their spiritual life, seeing only what they want to see becomes the norm. It isn't that they cannot see truth, they just have other priorities or agendas, driven by there adopted beliefs or desires or motivations, which lead them to errors in their perceptions. And sometimes these errors are intentional deceptions aimed at misleading others.
God operates on a timetable which we do not have access to. God possesses foreknowledge and therefore knows many things, actually everything that will occur in history. Many folks in history will be evil, and yet they will live prosperous lives. Many folks in history will live good spiritual lives, and yet they might have more problems than seems fair.
But God looks not only at the individual events in a persons life, but also at all of the current events as well as all future events. Many generations will follow ours, and those generations will be affected by the patterns of history which precedes them.
You and I cannot figure it all out. No super-computer can fabricate algorithms to predict the future. But God knows all of the facts, and He has known them since eternity past.
God could gather up everyone into an assembly say the week before Christmas, and judge those who have been naughty, and give gifts to those who have been nice. But then if that day were known, then wouldn't everyone be nice? And likewise, many months prior to that date, wouldn't folks try to take advantage of the delayed evaluation?
Just as with the Rapture, if that date were known, then those folks who lived in prior generations would not try quite as hard, as those folks of the actual Rapture generation. That date is therefore always imminent and also unknown.
Likewise, too, your life span is an unknown quantity. Most folks believe that they will live to the see or beat the averages. And since those years are generally far off, people have a tendency to ignore them until they have a major injury or at least get old.
Unfortunately, when that time comes along, their spiritual neglect might very well have shut down all of their spiritual perceptive abilities. Their indifference has taken hold and they just ignore the repercussions.
So, Job states flat out, that God does not set an assembly date for all to see and be judged. And yes, there are many folks who will live their entire lives with little or no observable punishment during this life.
But as we all know, no one gets away with anything. And whether or not you live a charmed life now, when you advance into the next phase of your life, life after your death, you will come face to face with Christ, and that is when everyone will get their due.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 24:1
1 Why, seeing times [`eth] are not hidden [tsaphan] from the Almighty [Shadday], do they that know [yada`] him not see [chazah] his days [yowm]? KJV-Interlinear
1 'Why are times not stored up by the Almighty, And why do those who know Him not see His days? NASB
Jobs friends have suggested that the times of the righteous are not interrupted, and the times of the wicked are. And, all of these events occur in this lifetime at some time prior to ones death.
Job disagrees, and Job is going to list many instances where this is so. In doing so he will also teach us that even though there are folks who know substantial amounts of doctrine, when their life resides outside of the spiritual sphere, their conclusions in life can and will be wrong.
This is the case of Jobs friends. They have substantial academic knowledge, but lack wisdom and therefore cannot match their knowledge with the real world. They see only what they wish to see. They are blind to the facts of life, which as Job will illustrate, are all too obvious for all to see and nearly impossible to miss, unless of course, you do not want to see them.
And for folks who function in life, but outside of their spiritual life, seeing only what they want to see becomes the norm. It isn't that they cannot see truth, they just have other priorities or agendas, driven by there adopted beliefs or desires or motivations, which lead them to errors in their perceptions. And sometimes these errors are intentional deceptions aimed at misleading others.
God operates on a timetable which we do not have access to. God possesses foreknowledge and therefore knows many things, actually everything that will occur in history. Many folks in history will be evil, and yet they will live prosperous lives. Many folks in history will live good spiritual lives, and yet they might have more problems than seems fair.
But God looks not only at the individual events in a persons life, but also at all of the current events as well as all future events. Many generations will follow ours, and those generations will be affected by the patterns of history which precedes them.
You and I cannot figure it all out. No super-computer can fabricate algorithms to predict the future. But God knows all of the facts, and He has known them since eternity past.
God could gather up everyone into an assembly say the week before Christmas, and judge those who have been naughty, and give gifts to those who have been nice. But then if that day were known, then wouldn't everyone be nice? And likewise, many months prior to that date, wouldn't folks try to take advantage of the delayed evaluation?
Just as with the Rapture, if that date were known, then those folks who lived in prior generations would not try quite as hard, as those folks of the actual Rapture generation. That date is therefore always imminent and also unknown.
Likewise, too, your life span is an unknown quantity. Most folks believe that they will live to the see or beat the averages. And since those years are generally far off, people have a tendency to ignore them until they have a major injury or at least get old.
Unfortunately, when that time comes along, their spiritual neglect might very well have shut down all of their spiritual perceptive abilities. Their indifference has taken hold and they just ignore the repercussions.
So, Job states flat out, that God does not set an assembly date for all to see and be judged. And yes, there are many folks who will live their entire lives with little or no observable punishment during this life.
But as we all know, no one gets away with anything. And whether or not you live a charmed life now, when you advance into the next phase of your life, life after your death, you will come face to face with Christ, and that is when everyone will get their due.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Job 23:17
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:17
17 Because I was not cut off [tsamath] before [paniym] the darkness [choshek], neither hath he covered [kacah] the darkness ['ophel] from my face [paniym]. KJV-Interlinear
17 But I am not silenced by the darkness, Nor deep gloom which covers me. NASB
God does not remove us from this life when trouble strikes, such that we might escape it, nor does He shield us from trouble so that we might not experience its sting.
Often times we do not take life seriously unless we come face to face with problems. Whether they be overwhelming problems, or itty-bitty inconveniences, makes no difference. Burnt toast or total paralysis, or anything in between will serve Gods purpose in testing our metal.
Some folks will fall apart over a mosquito bite, while others will hold up well while imprisoned in a concentration camp.
Regardless of your circumstances in life, it is God who has placed you there, and it is your obligation to learn from your experiences and learn humility with respect to your relationship to God, His plan, and more specifically, with respect to His plan for you.
God created you with one purpose in mind, and that is to live with Him in heaven for all of eternity. He did not create you to live in this world forever, or somehow for you to conquer the stars or invent some supernatural set of morals.
God created you so that you can recognize the great difference between you and life, so that you can recognize your need for God, so that you can learn to trust in Him, through faith, which by the way requires growth, so that you can grow up and attain the level of completion in your life, that He has designed for you.
Only those who refuse or are indifferent toward the scriptures, will never achieve these goals. And that, unfortunately will claim the greater portion of humanity. As an advancing or mature believer, you will be in the minority, a minority which you should strive with all of your strength to become a member of.
Angels fear to walk in the presence of Gods majesty. Nothing can attain an honest humility or fear, as much as the apprehensions of His glory and majesty.
Humanity is on a collision course with its own end. Even right up until the very last of the Tribulation, humanity will be defiant when Jesus Christ sets His foot back down on the earth in the Second Advent. Terror will then seize the entire world. But only for a moment. The end will then come quickly.
It is easy to contemplate the goodness of God and even to visualize or desire that only good should come from Him. But we forget His righteousness and justice are the cornerstones of His will, and that evil runs rampant in this world.
Job has reminded us of the awesome power, and sovereignty, and abilities of God. They make all things, even our universe, pale in comparison.
Without God we can only lose in life.
With God in our life, nothing can prevent us from succeeding in His plan. Not the politics of the day, not the social injustices, not the economic inequities, not physical deficiencies or handicaps, not anything you can add to this list, nothing can prevent God from leading us to victory in our life.
Will we be exempt from problems? No. The world will hammer us and hammer us until we cry out in anguish and doubt. And that is when faith will either take hold of our life, or not.
In life we will have many cards we can play in order to help us through problems. We can inherit, we can work, we can own insurance, we can even run away I suppose. But there will come a time when all of our resources will run out and faith is all we will have left.
Then prayer becomes your most powerful weapon, or probably your only weapon. Relief does not always come in an instant. Read some history and read of the stories of people who had to endure turmoil for years before being rescued, such as in WW-II. Or of people who were injured and paralyzed, but eventually overcame their handicap in order to rise up and make some contribution. Often times, years or even a lifetime passes before God is ready to use us for His purpose.
God has a plan specifically for your life. All you have to do is study daily, and grow up in your spiritual life, learn responsibility and then be responsible, persevere in your spiritual life, and then wait.
Do not be impatient. What is your hurry anyway?
When you enter a fun park ride, you know ahead of time that, that ride will take you through twists and turns, ups and downs, and loops and more loops. It will turn your life upside down and pull and tug at your inner being. Often times you will wear your stomach around your ears as you turn many colorful shades.
But if you learn doctrine, then you strap yourself in, and from beginning to end, you will be safe.
You board the ride in safety, ride through its tests and temptations safely, and you'll leave the ride in complete safety.
Throughout life, you will face tests from the source of your own thoughts, from other people, from bureaucracies, from various disasters which are natural, emotional, and physical. Often times you will be tempted to 'slip by,' trying to avoid some responsibility which God expects of you. You will also be exposed to phases where God seems to be doing nothing.
By sticking to your daily study, you will be able to defeat all of these tests.
You will slip from time to time. You'll get angry from time to time. You'll yell and scream and cry from time to time.
But then, you gather yourself together, confess your sins, acknowledge your weakness and pathetic uselessness before God, and resume your forward advance in your spiritual life.
The world cannot defeat you, unless you allow it, and you allow it by falling away from God.
In this world you are alone and weak, but in Christ, He places His own power inside of you, through doctrine, and in your spiritual life, nothing can defeat you. You just have to learn to believe it.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:17
17 Because I was not cut off [tsamath] before [paniym] the darkness [choshek], neither hath he covered [kacah] the darkness ['ophel] from my face [paniym]. KJV-Interlinear
17 But I am not silenced by the darkness, Nor deep gloom which covers me. NASB
God does not remove us from this life when trouble strikes, such that we might escape it, nor does He shield us from trouble so that we might not experience its sting.
Often times we do not take life seriously unless we come face to face with problems. Whether they be overwhelming problems, or itty-bitty inconveniences, makes no difference. Burnt toast or total paralysis, or anything in between will serve Gods purpose in testing our metal.
Some folks will fall apart over a mosquito bite, while others will hold up well while imprisoned in a concentration camp.
Regardless of your circumstances in life, it is God who has placed you there, and it is your obligation to learn from your experiences and learn humility with respect to your relationship to God, His plan, and more specifically, with respect to His plan for you.
God created you with one purpose in mind, and that is to live with Him in heaven for all of eternity. He did not create you to live in this world forever, or somehow for you to conquer the stars or invent some supernatural set of morals.
God created you so that you can recognize the great difference between you and life, so that you can recognize your need for God, so that you can learn to trust in Him, through faith, which by the way requires growth, so that you can grow up and attain the level of completion in your life, that He has designed for you.
Only those who refuse or are indifferent toward the scriptures, will never achieve these goals. And that, unfortunately will claim the greater portion of humanity. As an advancing or mature believer, you will be in the minority, a minority which you should strive with all of your strength to become a member of.
Angels fear to walk in the presence of Gods majesty. Nothing can attain an honest humility or fear, as much as the apprehensions of His glory and majesty.
Humanity is on a collision course with its own end. Even right up until the very last of the Tribulation, humanity will be defiant when Jesus Christ sets His foot back down on the earth in the Second Advent. Terror will then seize the entire world. But only for a moment. The end will then come quickly.
It is easy to contemplate the goodness of God and even to visualize or desire that only good should come from Him. But we forget His righteousness and justice are the cornerstones of His will, and that evil runs rampant in this world.
Job has reminded us of the awesome power, and sovereignty, and abilities of God. They make all things, even our universe, pale in comparison.
Without God we can only lose in life.
With God in our life, nothing can prevent us from succeeding in His plan. Not the politics of the day, not the social injustices, not the economic inequities, not physical deficiencies or handicaps, not anything you can add to this list, nothing can prevent God from leading us to victory in our life.
Will we be exempt from problems? No. The world will hammer us and hammer us until we cry out in anguish and doubt. And that is when faith will either take hold of our life, or not.
In life we will have many cards we can play in order to help us through problems. We can inherit, we can work, we can own insurance, we can even run away I suppose. But there will come a time when all of our resources will run out and faith is all we will have left.
Then prayer becomes your most powerful weapon, or probably your only weapon. Relief does not always come in an instant. Read some history and read of the stories of people who had to endure turmoil for years before being rescued, such as in WW-II. Or of people who were injured and paralyzed, but eventually overcame their handicap in order to rise up and make some contribution. Often times, years or even a lifetime passes before God is ready to use us for His purpose.
God has a plan specifically for your life. All you have to do is study daily, and grow up in your spiritual life, learn responsibility and then be responsible, persevere in your spiritual life, and then wait.
Do not be impatient. What is your hurry anyway?
When you enter a fun park ride, you know ahead of time that, that ride will take you through twists and turns, ups and downs, and loops and more loops. It will turn your life upside down and pull and tug at your inner being. Often times you will wear your stomach around your ears as you turn many colorful shades.
But if you learn doctrine, then you strap yourself in, and from beginning to end, you will be safe.
You board the ride in safety, ride through its tests and temptations safely, and you'll leave the ride in complete safety.
Throughout life, you will face tests from the source of your own thoughts, from other people, from bureaucracies, from various disasters which are natural, emotional, and physical. Often times you will be tempted to 'slip by,' trying to avoid some responsibility which God expects of you. You will also be exposed to phases where God seems to be doing nothing.
By sticking to your daily study, you will be able to defeat all of these tests.
You will slip from time to time. You'll get angry from time to time. You'll yell and scream and cry from time to time.
But then, you gather yourself together, confess your sins, acknowledge your weakness and pathetic uselessness before God, and resume your forward advance in your spiritual life.
The world cannot defeat you, unless you allow it, and you allow it by falling away from God.
In this world you are alone and weak, but in Christ, He places His own power inside of you, through doctrine, and in your spiritual life, nothing can defeat you. You just have to learn to believe it.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Job 23:16
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:16
16 For God ['el] maketh my heart [leb] soft [rakak], and the Almighty [Shadday] troubleth [bahal] me: KJV-Interlinear
16 'It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has dismayed me, NASB
The contrast, in our study of these verses is the power of God verses the power of the world. 'El' is a reference to fearful, terrifying, awesome, beyond comprehension. This is one characteristic of God.
God has many descriptive terms attributed to Him. Terms which describe His attributes and character. 'Shadday' stands for power, omnipotent power. Take up all of the power of the entire universe and pack it into one person and that tremendous power still won't even begin to scratch the surface of the infinite power of God.
When we honestly consider the power of God, and the smallness of our own nature, then we have only one legitimate response, and that is one of weakness, smallness, faint, pale, soft, which all refer to true humility.
When people disregard God, then they tend to become bold, brass, arrogant. They overestimate their own importance and presume that others see just how important they are, too.
Indifference, apathy, antagonism, self-pity and such attitudes, are all characteristics of arrogance. They are the presumption that one does not need God, or perhaps that God is incapable of dealing with our problems.
Even self-righteousness is a function of arrogance in that we presume that God needs our help in solving the world's problems or in straightening other people out. After all, God doesn't seem to be doing anything right away, so shouldn't we get the job done for Him?
However, in contrast, God expects an attitude of humility. That does not means hanging your head down and saying, 'Awe shucks!' Humility is an attitude of respect for the authority and power of God.
Spiritual growth leads to confidence and through confidence you can be vocal and aggressive while still being respectful and non-threatening. If you are a soldier, you do your job and do it well. You kill or capture the enemy. If you are a ball player, you drive and score. If you are in the service industry, you help those whom you serve. Whatever it is that you do in life, you practice, you educate yourself, and you do your job well. You do not have to back away from bullies, or hide in the corner staring at the floor.
David was humble when he faced Goliath. Gideon was humble when he led 300 against many tens of thousands. Jesus was humble when He was falsely accused and beaten.
God created this universe. God set human history into motion. God controls history in its every respect. God created man from the dust, and that is what we are, dust.
It is God who created the distance between Him and us, who knows the details of all of the tomorrows, whereas we do not.
Life is filled with uncertainties as far as we are concerned. Look back at your records from three or four years ago. How much did you pay back then for insurance, for groceries, for electricity, for gas, and how much do you pay now. I'll bet your increase has been much more than the publicized one or two percent.
Government measurements are created by people who have flaws, therefore their statistics are flawed. We are all faced with the growing uncertainties of all of the tomorrows and the bad information of all of the yesterdays.
But, believers who are advancing toward spiritual maturity, have God, and Gods information is flawless and perfect.
We may wonder how we are going to make it next month or next year, but God does not worry about that.
Moses will refer to Jesus Christ, who was in the burning bush, as 'I Am'. The technical term means He who has endless resources, or the infinitely self-sufficient one.
Gods resources are endless. There is nothing that He cannot provide. You, the mature believer, are the apple of His eye, and there is nothing that He will not do for you.
Psa. 17:7-8
7 Wondrously show Thy lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Thy right hand From those who rise up against them. 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings, NASB
Isa. 41:10
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. KJV
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:16
16 For God ['el] maketh my heart [leb] soft [rakak], and the Almighty [Shadday] troubleth [bahal] me: KJV-Interlinear
16 'It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has dismayed me, NASB
The contrast, in our study of these verses is the power of God verses the power of the world. 'El' is a reference to fearful, terrifying, awesome, beyond comprehension. This is one characteristic of God.
God has many descriptive terms attributed to Him. Terms which describe His attributes and character. 'Shadday' stands for power, omnipotent power. Take up all of the power of the entire universe and pack it into one person and that tremendous power still won't even begin to scratch the surface of the infinite power of God.
When we honestly consider the power of God, and the smallness of our own nature, then we have only one legitimate response, and that is one of weakness, smallness, faint, pale, soft, which all refer to true humility.
When people disregard God, then they tend to become bold, brass, arrogant. They overestimate their own importance and presume that others see just how important they are, too.
Indifference, apathy, antagonism, self-pity and such attitudes, are all characteristics of arrogance. They are the presumption that one does not need God, or perhaps that God is incapable of dealing with our problems.
Even self-righteousness is a function of arrogance in that we presume that God needs our help in solving the world's problems or in straightening other people out. After all, God doesn't seem to be doing anything right away, so shouldn't we get the job done for Him?
However, in contrast, God expects an attitude of humility. That does not means hanging your head down and saying, 'Awe shucks!' Humility is an attitude of respect for the authority and power of God.
Spiritual growth leads to confidence and through confidence you can be vocal and aggressive while still being respectful and non-threatening. If you are a soldier, you do your job and do it well. You kill or capture the enemy. If you are a ball player, you drive and score. If you are in the service industry, you help those whom you serve. Whatever it is that you do in life, you practice, you educate yourself, and you do your job well. You do not have to back away from bullies, or hide in the corner staring at the floor.
David was humble when he faced Goliath. Gideon was humble when he led 300 against many tens of thousands. Jesus was humble when He was falsely accused and beaten.
God created this universe. God set human history into motion. God controls history in its every respect. God created man from the dust, and that is what we are, dust.
It is God who created the distance between Him and us, who knows the details of all of the tomorrows, whereas we do not.
Life is filled with uncertainties as far as we are concerned. Look back at your records from three or four years ago. How much did you pay back then for insurance, for groceries, for electricity, for gas, and how much do you pay now. I'll bet your increase has been much more than the publicized one or two percent.
Government measurements are created by people who have flaws, therefore their statistics are flawed. We are all faced with the growing uncertainties of all of the tomorrows and the bad information of all of the yesterdays.
But, believers who are advancing toward spiritual maturity, have God, and Gods information is flawless and perfect.
We may wonder how we are going to make it next month or next year, but God does not worry about that.
Moses will refer to Jesus Christ, who was in the burning bush, as 'I Am'. The technical term means He who has endless resources, or the infinitely self-sufficient one.
Gods resources are endless. There is nothing that He cannot provide. You, the mature believer, are the apple of His eye, and there is nothing that He will not do for you.
Psa. 17:7-8
7 Wondrously show Thy lovingkindness, O Savior of those who take refuge at Thy right hand From those who rise up against them. 8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings, NASB
Isa. 41:10
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. KJV
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Job 23:15
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:15
15 Therefore am I troubled [bahal] at his presence [paniym]: when I consider [biyn], I am afraid [pachad] of him. KJV-Interlinear
15 'Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him. NASB
So vast are the decrees, so complicated are the decrees of God, that we cannot possibly comprehend them.
We cannot even number let alone name the stars of our own galaxy, and there are literally trillions of other galaxies scattered across the universe, and probably trillions more that we have not yet discovered. And, within each one of those innumerable galaxies, there are trillions and trillions of stars, making the star count absolutely impossible for any of us to comprehend.
Man cannot map our own genetic code, though we are trying, let alone know what each gene or gene combination does, or how it interacts with other genes or gene combinations.
Can we extract human life from one body and insert it into another? No. Yet we can see and hear human activity. Can we see or detect angelic activity? No. And yet angels exist, but in what dimension, what are the physics of their makeup? Why can they see and hear us, but we cannot detect their presence.
Where does the wind come from? Where is its origin? Can we control the weather? Can we walk out into a tornado, a hurricane, a raging flood and command it to stop? No.
There are many things in life which we cannot control, and our future holds an infinite number of unknowns.
Folks crusade for civil rights, for environmental rights, for peace not war, for alternate fuels, for nearly everything and anything you can imagine. But to what end? Can we solve the world's problems? Can we make this world a better place to live? Do we double our efforts to accomplish our goals, or do we stop and do nothing?
But how many people contemplate the infinite? Not too many. We all are tuned in to our social life, the traffic, our jobs, how to keep the lights on and pay the rent. Very few even keep track of the news and current events of our time. Me and now, are the popular trends of thought.
But Job again gives us yet another answer regarding the realities of life.
If you are lacking in your spiritual life, then you are setting yourself up for heartache and disappointment. Everything you attempt, all of your hustle and bustle in life, will fail. Nothing you pursue will result in a utopia, for that is your objective as a spiritually deficient person. People all over the world want happiness, but without doctrine, that search is a frantic search at best.
Satan runs this world and you cannot match his abilities. But then most folks close their eyes to the spiritual side of life and look only to what they can see, hear, taste, smell, and feel around them. Their imaginations, drive their emotions, and their emotions translate into their logic, and all of that operates within the environment of the sin nature. The result is the blind leading the blind, and failed life.
The word for troubled, 'bahal' means anxious, dismayed, agitated, stressed. And that is what life without God is.
The word for presence, 'paniym' means presence, prospect, purpose. And that is the unfolding of human history right before our eyes. Something that we cannot control. The clock keeps ticking.
The word for consider, 'biyn' means to separate mentally, to discern, to comprehend, to perceive, to regard. And when we think about life and everything in it, especially with regard to our own personal prospects, then we can become overwhelmed.
None of us really know what tomorrow will bring. Will it be the same as it has been for weeks and years before? Will it bring something new, an accident, a layoff, an illness, a new acquaintance?
And afraid, 'pachad' means just that. Terrified, anxious, startled, but it also means one more thing, and that is to stand in awe. Awe means helplessness at the observance of something which is greater than we are.
Psa. 77:3
3 When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. NASB
Life is greater than all of us. For those who consider the intricacies of life, then the big picture can overwhelm them. For those who ignore such thoughts, then they are just like the man who jumped off the mountain in yesterdays study. Indifferent and clueless to the end.
The heart can get so distracted by human events and the human experience, that flippancy, self-conceit, self-purpose, self-righteousness, self-centeredness, or crusade driven, that views of God and His power and His plan are forgotten.
Who controls history anyway, you, politics, the powers that be? No. Jesus Christ controls history. And in His good time, and on His perfect schedule, events will occur and changes will come which adds to or takes away from the human experience.
Gods plan is so vast and so comprehensive, that the doctrines of divine purposes and decrees is intended to and should, impress you to the point of awe.
Do you sit aside and do nothing? No. God controls history in three ways. Directly by means of His divine power and will, indirectly by means of the laws of divine establishment, and permissively by means of mans volition.
But no matter where you fit into this plan, it is Gods objectives which will be accomplished, not yours. In doctrine, God will use you honorably to accomplish His will. Without doctrine, God will use you in your dishonor even as historical filler, to accomplish His will.
Better to be functioning within Gods plan, than not.
'Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things.'
If you are impressed with God, then you can learn and grow and succeed. If not, then you will be a failure.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:15
15 Therefore am I troubled [bahal] at his presence [paniym]: when I consider [biyn], I am afraid [pachad] of him. KJV-Interlinear
15 'Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him. NASB
So vast are the decrees, so complicated are the decrees of God, that we cannot possibly comprehend them.
We cannot even number let alone name the stars of our own galaxy, and there are literally trillions of other galaxies scattered across the universe, and probably trillions more that we have not yet discovered. And, within each one of those innumerable galaxies, there are trillions and trillions of stars, making the star count absolutely impossible for any of us to comprehend.
Man cannot map our own genetic code, though we are trying, let alone know what each gene or gene combination does, or how it interacts with other genes or gene combinations.
Can we extract human life from one body and insert it into another? No. Yet we can see and hear human activity. Can we see or detect angelic activity? No. And yet angels exist, but in what dimension, what are the physics of their makeup? Why can they see and hear us, but we cannot detect their presence.
Where does the wind come from? Where is its origin? Can we control the weather? Can we walk out into a tornado, a hurricane, a raging flood and command it to stop? No.
There are many things in life which we cannot control, and our future holds an infinite number of unknowns.
Folks crusade for civil rights, for environmental rights, for peace not war, for alternate fuels, for nearly everything and anything you can imagine. But to what end? Can we solve the world's problems? Can we make this world a better place to live? Do we double our efforts to accomplish our goals, or do we stop and do nothing?
But how many people contemplate the infinite? Not too many. We all are tuned in to our social life, the traffic, our jobs, how to keep the lights on and pay the rent. Very few even keep track of the news and current events of our time. Me and now, are the popular trends of thought.
But Job again gives us yet another answer regarding the realities of life.
If you are lacking in your spiritual life, then you are setting yourself up for heartache and disappointment. Everything you attempt, all of your hustle and bustle in life, will fail. Nothing you pursue will result in a utopia, for that is your objective as a spiritually deficient person. People all over the world want happiness, but without doctrine, that search is a frantic search at best.
Satan runs this world and you cannot match his abilities. But then most folks close their eyes to the spiritual side of life and look only to what they can see, hear, taste, smell, and feel around them. Their imaginations, drive their emotions, and their emotions translate into their logic, and all of that operates within the environment of the sin nature. The result is the blind leading the blind, and failed life.
The word for troubled, 'bahal' means anxious, dismayed, agitated, stressed. And that is what life without God is.
The word for presence, 'paniym' means presence, prospect, purpose. And that is the unfolding of human history right before our eyes. Something that we cannot control. The clock keeps ticking.
The word for consider, 'biyn' means to separate mentally, to discern, to comprehend, to perceive, to regard. And when we think about life and everything in it, especially with regard to our own personal prospects, then we can become overwhelmed.
None of us really know what tomorrow will bring. Will it be the same as it has been for weeks and years before? Will it bring something new, an accident, a layoff, an illness, a new acquaintance?
And afraid, 'pachad' means just that. Terrified, anxious, startled, but it also means one more thing, and that is to stand in awe. Awe means helplessness at the observance of something which is greater than we are.
Psa. 77:3
3 When I remember God, then I am disturbed; When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint. NASB
Life is greater than all of us. For those who consider the intricacies of life, then the big picture can overwhelm them. For those who ignore such thoughts, then they are just like the man who jumped off the mountain in yesterdays study. Indifferent and clueless to the end.
The heart can get so distracted by human events and the human experience, that flippancy, self-conceit, self-purpose, self-righteousness, self-centeredness, or crusade driven, that views of God and His power and His plan are forgotten.
Who controls history anyway, you, politics, the powers that be? No. Jesus Christ controls history. And in His good time, and on His perfect schedule, events will occur and changes will come which adds to or takes away from the human experience.
Gods plan is so vast and so comprehensive, that the doctrines of divine purposes and decrees is intended to and should, impress you to the point of awe.
Do you sit aside and do nothing? No. God controls history in three ways. Directly by means of His divine power and will, indirectly by means of the laws of divine establishment, and permissively by means of mans volition.
But no matter where you fit into this plan, it is Gods objectives which will be accomplished, not yours. In doctrine, God will use you honorably to accomplish His will. Without doctrine, God will use you in your dishonor even as historical filler, to accomplish His will.
Better to be functioning within Gods plan, than not.
'Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things.'
If you are impressed with God, then you can learn and grow and succeed. If not, then you will be a failure.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Job 23:14
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:14
14 For he performeth [shalam] the thing that is appointed [choq] for me: and many [rab] such [hennah] things are with him. KJV-Interlinear
14 'For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such decrees are with Him. NASB
The word here for perform, 'shalam' means to perform, to prosper, to recompense, render make, restore. The word for appointed, 'choq' means to appoint, command, decree law, measure, ordinance, set, statute.
Job gives us a first glimpse of the Divine Decrees, established by God in eternity past, for humanity in history as it unfolds before us.
We have already seen that God is omnipotent, 'Who can contend with Him.'
He is immutable, 'He is of one mind and purpose. He has decided.'
He is sovereign, 'He fulfills the will of his own soul.'
He is eternal, 'From everlasting to everlasting.'
One member of the Trinity represents us before the other, 'Our advocate.'
He is our savior, 'The one who would redeem us from slavery.'
He is both equal with God and man, 'the unique person of the universe, being both God and man, Jesus Christ.'
God has a plan. Better that history follows a plan than a history that is hit and miss or arbitrary. An unknown destination would raise many uncertainties and insecurities. But God knows the beginning and He knows the end, and he knows everything in between.
In eternity past, God considered all possible plans for history. There are an infinite number of possible plans for history. God does what He can in order to gain the best result for each one of us. Therefore, He selected the one single plan, which accomplishes that purpose.
Without coercion or interference, God set our historical plan into motion. He allows the free will of man to function. We are free to make up our own minds and act accordingly. However, God set history in motion for good, not for evil. When evil runs wild, God will place a check on it.
God has seen all of our thoughts, motives, spoken words and actions and has set out a plan which takes into account all that we say, think and do, including all our the direct and indirect interactions with other people, places and things. The Divine Decrees are an all inclusive, and very sophisticated and complex plan. No human being can possibly comprehend the near infinite details that make up human history.
Psa. 57:2
2 I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. NASB
God appointed to each one of us a detailed plan for our very own personal life. We generally know what is in store for ourselves from day to day, but from month to month, or year to year, most of us have had plans that we thought were going to be our future, but discovered that God had something very different in mind for us. Life often takes us into some very funny or strange turns.
And as such our lives have taken twists and turns which we probably had no control over.
When we were born into this life, we were one giant potential. That potential originated with our physical birth and our spiritual death. With life comes the gospel and our first real decision in life. To believe in Christ or not.
With belief, a second potential opens up in our life. To study day to day in the Word and advance in our spiritual life toward spiritual maturity, or not.
With daily growth, then we ready ourselves for the third and final increment of our life. That completion will come at the Judgment Seat of Christ where our eternal rewards will be handed out. That is the ultimate achievement and ultimate completion of any person. And, it is available to every human being.
That ultimate completion will become a reality when the new heaven and earth are created and eternity begins.
Unfortunately, very few, the only legitimate minority in history, which is made up of mature believers, will pursue their spiritual lives to its completion. The vast majority of humanity faces their spiritual life with indifference, pretense, or some other negative attitude.
Evil fights the spiritual life with a vengeance. And again mature believers are the only legitimate targets of world prejudice. All other prejudice is nothing more than jungle activity.
When you elect to pursue your spiritual life then you become the target. Your plight will never make it in the news headlines. Your plight will never make it in the political debates. The world will do what it can to squash you and silence you.
But …
God has a plan, and God is greater than anything in this world. For every problem in your life, there is a solution, and God will deal with them all, if you allow it.
This does not mean that you are free from being responsible. Being responsible is a part of your spiritual obligation. But one day, there will be a time when your resources will run out and you are totally helpless. Faith, then is your most powerful weapon. Faith dips into the omnipotence, and sovereignty, and immutability, and eternal plan of God, which no one and nothing can alter.
But faith comes from growth, and growth comes from a daily study of the Word of God. No study means no growth. No growth means no faith. And then all you have is your emotional cries which lack a solid foundation in life.
We often live our lives and hear the words of scripture, but they do not have the power of reality in them until we face some very serious times in our life. It is then that our eyes will awaken and our hearts will take God and doctrine more seriously. Some folks cry foul, unfair, and look for some crutch to hang their excuses for life's problems, on.
Mature believers just ride it all out. God is in control. So suck it up and let the world have its best shot. You may be embarrassed or hurt for a time, but the end score has already been determined.
Have you ever recorded a ball game, or movie? Most of us have. How does it end? The same every time. You did not cause the scenes or actions, but the result is always the same when you play your recording.
That is the Divine Decrees. God recorded our history in advance. He has already seen all there is to see. He knows the final score, and it will never change. We are now living that recording, so to speak. We are participating live in a plan, which has already been laid out. God does not force us to do anything, He just knows before hand everything we will do.
So what that, that Iran president spoke at an American university. So what that someone cheated you. So what that you have been hurt or taken advantage of during your life. Grow up.
God has many decrees. He has many plans for everyone. Life strikes everyone the same. No one is exempt from life's problems. They just have different problems than you have.
No one will get away with anything. You should be honored when God unleashes an attack against you. It only means that He has not given up on you and there is something great awaiting you.
What you should be afraid of, is when God gives up on you because you have been negative or compromising, or otherwise unfaithful in your spiritual life.
A little story:
One day God was standing on His mountain. There with Him was man. God turned to man and said, 'Look here. My Son will build a vast land in which we can all live and be happy.'
Man looked down the mountain and saw the vast earth below. To him it seemed beautiful. More beautiful than the land God promised, but which man could not see.
Man said, 'I want to go down to the earth. It seems so beautiful and endless.'
God replied, 'Down there is heartache and misery, doom and gloom. The earth if filled with razor sharp rocks and angry hungry lions and snakes. You will not find the happiness you seek, down there.'
Man kept looking down the mountain and said, 'I want to fly down there right away and live the life of my dreams.'
God replied, 'You cannot fly. You will only fall into the depths of despair. My Son will build a land for you. A land in which we can all live and be happy.'
Man kept looking down the mountain. He could not see anything but what was in his own imagination. He jumped off the mountain and began to fall.
He fell throughout his entire life.
God called to man, 'My son will catch you in His hand and lift you back up to safety and happiness.'
Man ignored the call. Man kept falling. He tried to peer through the clouds, but they were thick and all he could catch a glimpse of was an occasional sharp rock or lion.
Man was falling, but there were times when he felt at ease, almost peaceful. He could drift left and right, but he remained in his downward fall. He knew he was falling, but he ignored that, believing that was going to the land of his dreams.
God called to man, 'My Son will catch you in His hand, stop your fall, and lift you up to safety and happiness.'
Man replied, 'No.'
God called out, 'My Son will catch you in His hand and lift you up to safety and peace and happiness and eternal life and to everything your heart can desire.'
Man covered his ears. Man kept falling and falling.
Then after a life of falling, the clouds parted and man was but a split second from the ground. There he saw the razor sharp rocks, the angry hungry lions, the poisonous snakes all looking up at man who was falling right into their domain. Looking with glee as their jaws opened wide to receive their new visitor.
God called to man, 'My son will catch you in His hand and lift you out of the mouths of destruction.'
Man kept falling. Man was not interested in what was above.
God stopped calling.
Man was out of time. And then the earth below ripped and tore into its ravenous portion.
Zech. 7:13
13 'And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,' says the Lord of hosts; NASB
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:14
14 For he performeth [shalam] the thing that is appointed [choq] for me: and many [rab] such [hennah] things are with him. KJV-Interlinear
14 'For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such decrees are with Him. NASB
The word here for perform, 'shalam' means to perform, to prosper, to recompense, render make, restore. The word for appointed, 'choq' means to appoint, command, decree law, measure, ordinance, set, statute.
Job gives us a first glimpse of the Divine Decrees, established by God in eternity past, for humanity in history as it unfolds before us.
We have already seen that God is omnipotent, 'Who can contend with Him.'
He is immutable, 'He is of one mind and purpose. He has decided.'
He is sovereign, 'He fulfills the will of his own soul.'
He is eternal, 'From everlasting to everlasting.'
One member of the Trinity represents us before the other, 'Our advocate.'
He is our savior, 'The one who would redeem us from slavery.'
He is both equal with God and man, 'the unique person of the universe, being both God and man, Jesus Christ.'
God has a plan. Better that history follows a plan than a history that is hit and miss or arbitrary. An unknown destination would raise many uncertainties and insecurities. But God knows the beginning and He knows the end, and he knows everything in between.
In eternity past, God considered all possible plans for history. There are an infinite number of possible plans for history. God does what He can in order to gain the best result for each one of us. Therefore, He selected the one single plan, which accomplishes that purpose.
Without coercion or interference, God set our historical plan into motion. He allows the free will of man to function. We are free to make up our own minds and act accordingly. However, God set history in motion for good, not for evil. When evil runs wild, God will place a check on it.
God has seen all of our thoughts, motives, spoken words and actions and has set out a plan which takes into account all that we say, think and do, including all our the direct and indirect interactions with other people, places and things. The Divine Decrees are an all inclusive, and very sophisticated and complex plan. No human being can possibly comprehend the near infinite details that make up human history.
Psa. 57:2
2 I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me. NASB
God appointed to each one of us a detailed plan for our very own personal life. We generally know what is in store for ourselves from day to day, but from month to month, or year to year, most of us have had plans that we thought were going to be our future, but discovered that God had something very different in mind for us. Life often takes us into some very funny or strange turns.
And as such our lives have taken twists and turns which we probably had no control over.
When we were born into this life, we were one giant potential. That potential originated with our physical birth and our spiritual death. With life comes the gospel and our first real decision in life. To believe in Christ or not.
With belief, a second potential opens up in our life. To study day to day in the Word and advance in our spiritual life toward spiritual maturity, or not.
With daily growth, then we ready ourselves for the third and final increment of our life. That completion will come at the Judgment Seat of Christ where our eternal rewards will be handed out. That is the ultimate achievement and ultimate completion of any person. And, it is available to every human being.
That ultimate completion will become a reality when the new heaven and earth are created and eternity begins.
Unfortunately, very few, the only legitimate minority in history, which is made up of mature believers, will pursue their spiritual lives to its completion. The vast majority of humanity faces their spiritual life with indifference, pretense, or some other negative attitude.
Evil fights the spiritual life with a vengeance. And again mature believers are the only legitimate targets of world prejudice. All other prejudice is nothing more than jungle activity.
When you elect to pursue your spiritual life then you become the target. Your plight will never make it in the news headlines. Your plight will never make it in the political debates. The world will do what it can to squash you and silence you.
But …
God has a plan, and God is greater than anything in this world. For every problem in your life, there is a solution, and God will deal with them all, if you allow it.
This does not mean that you are free from being responsible. Being responsible is a part of your spiritual obligation. But one day, there will be a time when your resources will run out and you are totally helpless. Faith, then is your most powerful weapon. Faith dips into the omnipotence, and sovereignty, and immutability, and eternal plan of God, which no one and nothing can alter.
But faith comes from growth, and growth comes from a daily study of the Word of God. No study means no growth. No growth means no faith. And then all you have is your emotional cries which lack a solid foundation in life.
We often live our lives and hear the words of scripture, but they do not have the power of reality in them until we face some very serious times in our life. It is then that our eyes will awaken and our hearts will take God and doctrine more seriously. Some folks cry foul, unfair, and look for some crutch to hang their excuses for life's problems, on.
Mature believers just ride it all out. God is in control. So suck it up and let the world have its best shot. You may be embarrassed or hurt for a time, but the end score has already been determined.
Have you ever recorded a ball game, or movie? Most of us have. How does it end? The same every time. You did not cause the scenes or actions, but the result is always the same when you play your recording.
That is the Divine Decrees. God recorded our history in advance. He has already seen all there is to see. He knows the final score, and it will never change. We are now living that recording, so to speak. We are participating live in a plan, which has already been laid out. God does not force us to do anything, He just knows before hand everything we will do.
So what that, that Iran president spoke at an American university. So what that someone cheated you. So what that you have been hurt or taken advantage of during your life. Grow up.
God has many decrees. He has many plans for everyone. Life strikes everyone the same. No one is exempt from life's problems. They just have different problems than you have.
No one will get away with anything. You should be honored when God unleashes an attack against you. It only means that He has not given up on you and there is something great awaiting you.
What you should be afraid of, is when God gives up on you because you have been negative or compromising, or otherwise unfaithful in your spiritual life.
A little story:
One day God was standing on His mountain. There with Him was man. God turned to man and said, 'Look here. My Son will build a vast land in which we can all live and be happy.'
Man looked down the mountain and saw the vast earth below. To him it seemed beautiful. More beautiful than the land God promised, but which man could not see.
Man said, 'I want to go down to the earth. It seems so beautiful and endless.'
God replied, 'Down there is heartache and misery, doom and gloom. The earth if filled with razor sharp rocks and angry hungry lions and snakes. You will not find the happiness you seek, down there.'
Man kept looking down the mountain and said, 'I want to fly down there right away and live the life of my dreams.'
God replied, 'You cannot fly. You will only fall into the depths of despair. My Son will build a land for you. A land in which we can all live and be happy.'
Man kept looking down the mountain. He could not see anything but what was in his own imagination. He jumped off the mountain and began to fall.
He fell throughout his entire life.
God called to man, 'My son will catch you in His hand and lift you back up to safety and happiness.'
Man ignored the call. Man kept falling. He tried to peer through the clouds, but they were thick and all he could catch a glimpse of was an occasional sharp rock or lion.
Man was falling, but there were times when he felt at ease, almost peaceful. He could drift left and right, but he remained in his downward fall. He knew he was falling, but he ignored that, believing that was going to the land of his dreams.
God called to man, 'My Son will catch you in His hand, stop your fall, and lift you up to safety and happiness.'
Man replied, 'No.'
God called out, 'My Son will catch you in His hand and lift you up to safety and peace and happiness and eternal life and to everything your heart can desire.'
Man covered his ears. Man kept falling and falling.
Then after a life of falling, the clouds parted and man was but a split second from the ground. There he saw the razor sharp rocks, the angry hungry lions, the poisonous snakes all looking up at man who was falling right into their domain. Looking with glee as their jaws opened wide to receive their new visitor.
God called to man, 'My son will catch you in His hand and lift you out of the mouths of destruction.'
Man kept falling. Man was not interested in what was above.
God stopped calling.
Man was out of time. And then the earth below ripped and tore into its ravenous portion.
Zech. 7:13
13 'And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,' says the Lord of hosts; NASB
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Job 23:13
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:13
13 But he is in one ['echad] mind, and who can turn [shuwb] him? and what his soul [nephesh] desireth ['avah], even that he doeth [`asah]. KJV-Interlinear
13 'But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. NASB
God is unique, unlike anything humanity has ever known or ever will know. God is of one mind. He has one purpose. God is truth, and in Him there are no lies, no distortions, no deceptions, nothing that can be construed as unethical, unfaithful, corrupt, biased, or immoral.
God has one purpose and that is the pursuit of truth in the unfolding of history to the total defeat of evil.
What God wills, He does. And Job here teaches us the sovereignty of God.
Jesus Christ controls history. God the Father decreed history. God the Holy Spirit reveals history.
All three members of the Godhead are of the same mind and purpose. They do not compete with each other. They do not have separate plans or agendas. What the Father decreed, Christ executes and the Holy Spirit reveals and maintains.
There is only one plan. There is not a menu of plans for humanity. God adheres to that plan totally and completely, and there is nothing and no one who has the ability to decipher that plan, let alone alter it.
Even Satan, who is the most intelligent creature to come from Gods hands, can't seem to get things right. And he has seen the entirety of history from the creation of the universe until now. If he fails then how can man, who has not been around in existence near as long, possibly get things right?
God controls history in every respect, even in the midst of mans free will volition.
The ultimate objective follows a very simple pattern.
Man was born into slavery once Adam fell from grace.
Slavery demands a redeemer otherwise slavery perpetuates forever with no hope of being free.
The redeemer, who is not a slave, provides salvation, or freedom from slavery, but the individual has to believe it in order to receive it.
Freedom paves the way for liberty and the environment to think and act without constraint.
Liberty sets the stage for opportunity.
Opportunity yields prosperity.
Prosperity brings wealth.
Wealth brings security.
Security brings peace of mind.
Peace of mind brings contentment.
Contentment produces happiness.
Happiness produces meaning and purpose.
And meaning and purpose finalizes ones existence of completion.
The spiritual life functions when God is in control. The spiritual life yields a guaranteed success in ones life.
Indifference toward ones spiritual life yields guaranteed failure.
Gods will is sovereign. God intends the very best for your life. There is nothing and no one who can overrule Gods purpose for your life. So long as you pursue your spiritual life, in a legitimate fashion, then you reside safely in His hands and care.
If you are indifferent or antagonistic, or resentful, or apathetic towards God, Christ, doctrine or your spiritual life, then you should be worried. And that topic Job will teach us in the next couple of verses.
James 1:17
17 Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. NASB
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:13
13 But he is in one ['echad] mind, and who can turn [shuwb] him? and what his soul [nephesh] desireth ['avah], even that he doeth [`asah]. KJV-Interlinear
13 'But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. NASB
God is unique, unlike anything humanity has ever known or ever will know. God is of one mind. He has one purpose. God is truth, and in Him there are no lies, no distortions, no deceptions, nothing that can be construed as unethical, unfaithful, corrupt, biased, or immoral.
God has one purpose and that is the pursuit of truth in the unfolding of history to the total defeat of evil.
What God wills, He does. And Job here teaches us the sovereignty of God.
Jesus Christ controls history. God the Father decreed history. God the Holy Spirit reveals history.
All three members of the Godhead are of the same mind and purpose. They do not compete with each other. They do not have separate plans or agendas. What the Father decreed, Christ executes and the Holy Spirit reveals and maintains.
There is only one plan. There is not a menu of plans for humanity. God adheres to that plan totally and completely, and there is nothing and no one who has the ability to decipher that plan, let alone alter it.
Even Satan, who is the most intelligent creature to come from Gods hands, can't seem to get things right. And he has seen the entirety of history from the creation of the universe until now. If he fails then how can man, who has not been around in existence near as long, possibly get things right?
God controls history in every respect, even in the midst of mans free will volition.
The ultimate objective follows a very simple pattern.
Man was born into slavery once Adam fell from grace.
Slavery demands a redeemer otherwise slavery perpetuates forever with no hope of being free.
The redeemer, who is not a slave, provides salvation, or freedom from slavery, but the individual has to believe it in order to receive it.
Freedom paves the way for liberty and the environment to think and act without constraint.
Liberty sets the stage for opportunity.
Opportunity yields prosperity.
Prosperity brings wealth.
Wealth brings security.
Security brings peace of mind.
Peace of mind brings contentment.
Contentment produces happiness.
Happiness produces meaning and purpose.
And meaning and purpose finalizes ones existence of completion.
The spiritual life functions when God is in control. The spiritual life yields a guaranteed success in ones life.
Indifference toward ones spiritual life yields guaranteed failure.
Gods will is sovereign. God intends the very best for your life. There is nothing and no one who can overrule Gods purpose for your life. So long as you pursue your spiritual life, in a legitimate fashion, then you reside safely in His hands and care.
If you are indifferent or antagonistic, or resentful, or apathetic towards God, Christ, doctrine or your spiritual life, then you should be worried. And that topic Job will teach us in the next couple of verses.
James 1:17
17 Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. NASB
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Job 23:11-12
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:11-12
11 My foot [regel] hath held ['achaz] his steps ['ashur], his way [derek] have I kept [shamar], and not declined [natah].
12 Neither have I gone back [muwsh] from the commandment [mitsvah] of his lips [saphah]; I have esteemed [tsaphan] the words ['emer] of his mouth [peh] more than my necessary [choq] food. KJV-Interlinear
11 'My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. 12 'I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. NASB
Jobs feet and his steps designate his daily pattern of life, his thoughts, his intentions, his desires, his actions. This is the way he lived and dealt with himself and with others.
His 'necessary' food is a reference to his own self-defined purposes. 'Choq' means something decreed, designated, appointed or an appointed portion. His portion can be of his own design and effort within this world, or it can be that which God has appointed for him. For us all, there is an appointment from God, through the Divine Decrees, with regard to what we will or will not have in this life.
But before we go on here, remember that just because God saw in eternity past, our entire life, that does not means that He interfered with our own thinking and actions. I may know that you will have toast for breakfast tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes along, you then actually decide to have toast. My knowing it in advance did not cause you to have it. You will make that decision yourself.
God has foreknowledge and knows all of history in advance. He has known everything since eternity past. We are just now experiencing it as it unfolds.
Anyway, Job is encouraged now because he has lived a good life. He has followed what has been taught, what he has learned from the scriptures, as he knew them in his day, and he has done so faithfully.
Job did not vacillate in his spiritual life. He did not go to church for a while and then ignore church for a while. He did not read his doctrines for a while and then forget them for a while. He was not a holiday believer, nor a seasonal believer. He did not turn to God only when times were tough.
Likewise, he did not use the principles generated by this world as his fundamental guidelines for life. He used Bible doctrine consistently and regularly. He did not compromise doctrine. He did not try to water it down with other things that might have been more convenient for his life.
He did not live by principles invented by taboos, or religion, or philosophies and such. He did not hold to popular social norms and standards.
The world can come up with lots of rules, no chewing of gum, no wearing of colorful clothing, no inter-racial dating, and so forth. The world can be biased and prejudiced between social groups. The world can define and accuse folks of being witches, or anything, which allows society to blame others for its problems. The world can define any number of lifestyles, which makes it feel better, safer, or fulfilled.
All of these improper things come from invention driven by the sin nature, and the lack of Bible doctrine.
The Bible has no part in any of these. The Bible teaches truth. Truth is where facts match up perfectly with reality. Reality is defined by the Bible and discovered and discerned through the spiritual life.
Reality is not what you want it to be, because you want something that way. Politicians, celebrities, gossips, and anyone who is lacking in their spiritual life, will try until they are blue in the face, to make things the way they want them to be.
They will rant and rage, advertise and promote, until they can convince the general public or their listeners, that their views are right.
But the test that causes all false statements to fail, is how they match up with the principles of doctrine, the principles of divine establishment, the fundamental principles of truth. These three when applied to life, form the foundation of sound norms and standards for society.
When someone is in need, do you look the other way? Is it none of your concern? Do you consider why they are in need and then decide whether to help because of your belief of not helping those who deserve their trouble? Are you judgmental? Do you check your resources, or not, and decide that someone else will come along to help? Or, do you offer help, within your means and without hesitation or strings?
Which of these principles do you suppose is correct?
Everyone who will ever live will be faced with many tests of life. God will reveal who is responsible and who is not. God will reveal those who give, and those who only take. God will reveal those who try to lead through deception and ulterior motives of lust, or those who lead by sound doctrine. God will reveal those who are opportunists taking advantage of others, and those who have genuine concern for others.
The foundation of Jobs life was Bible doctrine. From that he formed his life without compromise, without excuse, without popular sanction.
Job knew that God had decreed something for his life, from eternity past. He did not know what his life would be like, none of us do until we experience life and life unfolds before us.
Job had his wants from life for himself, for his wife, for his family, for everyone he employed or knew. His environment shaped his wants and needs, but he put doctrine first, not last. Most folks put their Bible study, their Bible obligations, last, or they conveniently ignore them. 'Someone else will do that.' 'Not our concern.' 'Don't have the time right now.' 'Not sure we agree with that.' 'They don't need it.'
And as for Him who is able to do everything for you, and who actually does everything for you, no time is given.
And sooner or later, life catches up with you. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next year, perhaps in a decade or two, God will snatch you out of this world. Folks call this your 'Come to Jesus, meeting.' Most say it in humor, but then, can you afford to laugh it all off now?
Bible study is mandatory for anyone who wants the most out of their eternal life. If you do not have the time nor the priorities for doctrine, what then should you expect from God or from life?
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:11-12
11 My foot [regel] hath held ['achaz] his steps ['ashur], his way [derek] have I kept [shamar], and not declined [natah].
12 Neither have I gone back [muwsh] from the commandment [mitsvah] of his lips [saphah]; I have esteemed [tsaphan] the words ['emer] of his mouth [peh] more than my necessary [choq] food. KJV-Interlinear
11 'My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. 12 'I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. NASB
Jobs feet and his steps designate his daily pattern of life, his thoughts, his intentions, his desires, his actions. This is the way he lived and dealt with himself and with others.
His 'necessary' food is a reference to his own self-defined purposes. 'Choq' means something decreed, designated, appointed or an appointed portion. His portion can be of his own design and effort within this world, or it can be that which God has appointed for him. For us all, there is an appointment from God, through the Divine Decrees, with regard to what we will or will not have in this life.
But before we go on here, remember that just because God saw in eternity past, our entire life, that does not means that He interfered with our own thinking and actions. I may know that you will have toast for breakfast tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes along, you then actually decide to have toast. My knowing it in advance did not cause you to have it. You will make that decision yourself.
God has foreknowledge and knows all of history in advance. He has known everything since eternity past. We are just now experiencing it as it unfolds.
Anyway, Job is encouraged now because he has lived a good life. He has followed what has been taught, what he has learned from the scriptures, as he knew them in his day, and he has done so faithfully.
Job did not vacillate in his spiritual life. He did not go to church for a while and then ignore church for a while. He did not read his doctrines for a while and then forget them for a while. He was not a holiday believer, nor a seasonal believer. He did not turn to God only when times were tough.
Likewise, he did not use the principles generated by this world as his fundamental guidelines for life. He used Bible doctrine consistently and regularly. He did not compromise doctrine. He did not try to water it down with other things that might have been more convenient for his life.
He did not live by principles invented by taboos, or religion, or philosophies and such. He did not hold to popular social norms and standards.
The world can come up with lots of rules, no chewing of gum, no wearing of colorful clothing, no inter-racial dating, and so forth. The world can be biased and prejudiced between social groups. The world can define and accuse folks of being witches, or anything, which allows society to blame others for its problems. The world can define any number of lifestyles, which makes it feel better, safer, or fulfilled.
All of these improper things come from invention driven by the sin nature, and the lack of Bible doctrine.
The Bible has no part in any of these. The Bible teaches truth. Truth is where facts match up perfectly with reality. Reality is defined by the Bible and discovered and discerned through the spiritual life.
Reality is not what you want it to be, because you want something that way. Politicians, celebrities, gossips, and anyone who is lacking in their spiritual life, will try until they are blue in the face, to make things the way they want them to be.
They will rant and rage, advertise and promote, until they can convince the general public or their listeners, that their views are right.
But the test that causes all false statements to fail, is how they match up with the principles of doctrine, the principles of divine establishment, the fundamental principles of truth. These three when applied to life, form the foundation of sound norms and standards for society.
When someone is in need, do you look the other way? Is it none of your concern? Do you consider why they are in need and then decide whether to help because of your belief of not helping those who deserve their trouble? Are you judgmental? Do you check your resources, or not, and decide that someone else will come along to help? Or, do you offer help, within your means and without hesitation or strings?
Which of these principles do you suppose is correct?
Everyone who will ever live will be faced with many tests of life. God will reveal who is responsible and who is not. God will reveal those who give, and those who only take. God will reveal those who try to lead through deception and ulterior motives of lust, or those who lead by sound doctrine. God will reveal those who are opportunists taking advantage of others, and those who have genuine concern for others.
The foundation of Jobs life was Bible doctrine. From that he formed his life without compromise, without excuse, without popular sanction.
Job knew that God had decreed something for his life, from eternity past. He did not know what his life would be like, none of us do until we experience life and life unfolds before us.
Job had his wants from life for himself, for his wife, for his family, for everyone he employed or knew. His environment shaped his wants and needs, but he put doctrine first, not last. Most folks put their Bible study, their Bible obligations, last, or they conveniently ignore them. 'Someone else will do that.' 'Not our concern.' 'Don't have the time right now.' 'Not sure we agree with that.' 'They don't need it.'
And as for Him who is able to do everything for you, and who actually does everything for you, no time is given.
And sooner or later, life catches up with you. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next year, perhaps in a decade or two, God will snatch you out of this world. Folks call this your 'Come to Jesus, meeting.' Most say it in humor, but then, can you afford to laugh it all off now?
Bible study is mandatory for anyone who wants the most out of their eternal life. If you do not have the time nor the priorities for doctrine, what then should you expect from God or from life?
Garden of Eden Rivers
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Garden of Eden Rivers
The Garden of Eden has five rivers connected with it. The number five represents grace. We studied this as the 'fifth' part in Leviticus. Grace is the policy of God toward man and all of creation. Thus the Garden of Eden begins with grace. The provision of the rivers in nourishing all of the land is representative of grace in action which we call mercy. Mercy is the actual provision of Gods grace policy.
The first river has no name. Interesting enough God of the Old Testament (God the Father) has no name. God the Son has a reference to a name - Joshua which when translated into the Greek becomes Jesus. God is the great 'I Am' of the Old Testament, or generally thought of as the eternally existing one. The river that flows out of the Garden is just like that name. Always existing and always flowing. God is an endless source of provision. God is the origin of all things provided to each of us personally and to the universe.
This first river flows out of the Garden so its source is from within the Garden. It waters not only the Garden of Eden, but it waters everything else outside of the Garden. And that is the subject of this study.
The river which flows out of the Garden breaks up into four rivers as spelled out in Gen. 2:10-11. They are described as the Pishon. Gihon, Hiddekel or Tigris, and the Euphrates rivers. Interesting too is the number four. God begins with a policy of grace, but that grace has boundaries. God has a government which is represented by four areas - authority, power, freedom, and vision. Later in the scriptures in various visions (after Genesis) these four areas are represented by the - lion, bull, man and eagle.
The first area is representative of Gods dominion over all of heaven and creation, combined with His perfect righteousness, then there is a lack of arrogance or pride. In contrast is mans dominion which is limited and short lived as man quickly loses his authority over planet earth as arrogance and pride enter into mans essence.
The second represents Gods omnipotent ability to do anything He wills, as well as to 'not' do that which He does not will. In contrast man cannot accomplish anything he wills, nor can man prevent that which he does not wish to happen. So man redoubles his efforts and ends up in more self work or burden due to greater arrogance and stubbornness and the rejection of Gods divine provision.
The third area represents Gods ability to choose, to decide for that which is right as well as to decide against that which is wrong. Man, in contrast again, is given free will volition in which man has the opportunity to make the right choices in life, however man inevitably makes wrong choices. The feminine reaction in making wrong choices results is frustration and even more effort placed in doing that which
man cannot do in life. Yes, we are studying the rivers of Eden, and we'll tie this all together in a moment.
Meanwhile, the fourth area represents Gods omniscience or foreknowledge, or far seeing vision - the eagle. God knows all there is to know both the possible and the probable as well as the reality of what is and what is to be. Man again, cannot know even what will happen in the future in a few minutes let alone in a few years. Man lacks the ability to sort out truth from lies therefore mans vision is limited.
Thus we have the four rivers flowing out from the Garden of Eden which take on these representations just mentioned.
Throughout the ages people have sought to find the Garden of Eden. They have sought to identify these four rivers and somehow trace them back to some point that would identify the original Garden. But remember that the Garden existed in a 'single' land that was on earth prior to the flood. We would have to assume that the land masses prior to the flood of Noah were exactly the same or very similar to the land
masses we have today. Maybe. Of course you would have to make changes in the land masses due to erosion, weather pattern changes, earthquakes, and so forth. But we have seven continents now and they must have existed in some form prior to the flood.
There is also the possibility that God brought the flood on the earth to do more than just wipe out life, saving only Noah and his family and a few animals. If this is the case, and if God rearranged the land masses, perhaps breaking the continents off and into the seven current continents and then floating them in to their present positions, such that following the flood, there would be nothing left of those lands
described in Gen. 2:10-11 - then Havilah, Cush or Ethiopia, Assyria, and the fourth river, the Euphrates, would not be associated with any geographical area current in today's world. In fact there are only four geographical areas that are described in Genesis. The Garden being the first and the others above mentioned being the second, third, and fourth. Well there is a reference to the land of Nod, where Cain
was driven off to, which is east of Eden. Nod comes from the Hebrew word, 'Nowd', meaning vagrancy, waver, exile, taunt, flee. This described Cain's attitude. He was a vagrant at heart, lazy, shiftless, spineless. He ran away into an exile where he would refuse to return from by his own decision. From a distance he would taunt or ridicule those whom he left behind, thinking that his safety was wrapped up in
the distance he had between himself and the rest of those who remained with Adam. Man can find no safety in putting distance between himself and God, only further misery.
God could well have eliminated all life without the flood, but He chose to flood the entire planet to accomplish that end. Perhaps this huge mass of hydro power was utilized in breaking up the single continent into the seven current continents. Doesn't it seem odd that this number seven seems to pop up continually in the scriptures and in life?
Anyway we know that there is continental drift. We know that all the continents were combined in the past forming a single huge continent. We know that there is evidence of plant and animal life throughout the world - even in Antarctica. This would be a good explanation as to how everything managed to get to all the continents. The real question is whether this all took place over millions of years or during that single year of Noah's flood. God clearly has the ability to accomplish that. This would also explain why the original Garden cannot be found. Perhaps it is buried under the miles of ice which covers Antarctica. Only speculation of course. You can play with your own imagination on this subject. Oh, and was Atlantis the civilization that existed in the pre-flood era? More fun imagination games.
The four rivers have similar meanings attached to them. I'll describe the meanings and then get to the point of this entire exercise. Remember that all of these rivers are flowing out and away from the Garden representing mans leaving God in search for mans own self meaning and self destiny.
The first river is the Pishon, 'Piyshown', to disperse, grow up fat, scatter, proud. This is the first river - first, 'echad', alone, first, only, to go one way or the other. It flows through the land of Havilah. Flows through or compasseth, 'cabab', to wind through, to surround, to border, to separate on every side.
Note thus far, that the original river of provision comes from God, from His Garden. It also provided support for that region outside of the Garden. The Garden represents life inside the Will of God while life outside the Garden represents life by the will of man. Flowing out of the Garden, man leaves the divine protections and blessings of God and pursues his own blessings in arrogance. That is the purpose of this first river. It saturates itself and seals off itself from the Garden, being divided from the Garden by its own fat of self importance and its own self determination, or independence as perceived by arrogance. The river goes this way and that in reference to mans aimless trek through life.
In the land of Havilah is gold and bdellium and onyx stones. But the gold is the word, 'zaheb', or the shimmer of gold, not the real thing. Bdellium is a stone or something in need of repair, 'aben', something in a constant need of rebuilding. The last item the onyx, is noted for its pale green color, 'shoham', thought to be beryl.
So in this land where man is trekking to, there is the imagination of wealth and building but it is in fact an illusion, a state in constant need of repair. Thus there is far less there than in the Garden. Man seeks more and comes up with less or nothing. Real gold does not exist, only the illusion of gold in that man gets color only. The real gold is found in the Word of God, in Gods wisdom and application thereof. Man has color only, something that one cannot even count in
ones wealth nor even spend.
Now the second river is double that of the first. Second, 'sheniy', double, again, other. This is even more of the same as in the first land. More promises of illusion, things sought but not really there. The river is the Gihon, 'Giychown', stream, pool, going forth with labor. This is the river that requires labor in life to exist or to get ahead. It requires effort and places burdens on those who pursue it. It flows throughout the land of Cush, 'Kuwsh', no meaning is attached to Cush, but that is the name of Ham's son, and sin or a curse is associated with Ham and his offspring, namely Canaan. So by doubling ones efforts, a person still comes up with nothing but curses, and emptiness.
The third river, third, 'sheliyshiy', meaning third in rank, it is a feminine form of the word meaning extension, third time, occasionally. This is a continuation of the first two rivers. More of the same, with the feminine reaction to the results of the first two. You work hard for nothing and you react to getting nothing. This river goes away, 'halak', to walk away, carry, spread, take away. It is a 'walking' away even further from the Garden where the blessings you pursue really exist but you cannot find them outside the Garden. The river flows east, 'qidmah', in a relative direction, in front of, before, general direction. Its flow is general and wandering. It is not precise in its path. It flows generally in the direction and in front of the land of Assyria, 'Ashshuwr', Assher (also the name of the second son of Shem, not the first born), it means straight, level, right, happy, honest, proper, guide. So this river falls short of attaining these qualities. Though man pursues some semblance of his own self defined morality and integrity and happiness, he does and cannot reach these true goals, by following this third river. Man in effect gets further and further away from God.
Fourth, 'rebiyiy', indicates a fraction, a fourth, as in sprawling on all four extremities, laying flat on the ground as in the position for sex, arms and legs spread, vulnerable and undefended but by choice. The fourth river is the Euphrates, 'Perath', break forth, rushing, east increase. Following the goals of this river gets you more and more of nothing. It has no land defined for it, no destination. There is nothing gained as a result of pursuing this river. So departure from Gods will, the Garden, means that man pursues everything with greater and greater energy, but will always end up with nothing.
By following these rivers a person in seeking the blessings of life, ends up with less than a whole. He ends up with a fraction of what he started out with and is not only laden with the burdens of the lands outside of the Garden, but is vulnerable to the dangers and of being taken advantage by everything else outside the Garden.
And, oh yes, Eden, 'Eden', means delicate, delight, pleasure. The river flowing out of the Garden, is in verse 8, 'nahor', stream, sea or ocean, prosperity, flood, sparkle, running. The river in the Garden is by far the greatest, yielding all manner of blessings for those who pursue it.
So the rivers of the Garden and those that flow throughout the lands round about the Garden of Eden, represent the life of mankind. The Garden is there for the taking, Bible study, but man prefers to pursue his own course and to redefine life in accordance with whatever philosophy his imagination comes up with. Man even does this within sight of the Garden. Bible doctrine is always nearby and free for the taking.
These points of doctrine were available to all who lived in the centuries prior to the flood. Those folks saw the Garden as well as the angels guarding its entrance. The Garden was an actual physical place. But rather than turning to God and inquiring about its meaning and purpose, rather than desiring to grow up spiritually even when all these places were right in front of them, to actually see, most people
chose against God.
Better to sail up the crystal clear ocean of God knowledge than to pursue the muddy and wandering rivers of man.
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Garden of Eden Rivers
The Garden of Eden has five rivers connected with it. The number five represents grace. We studied this as the 'fifth' part in Leviticus. Grace is the policy of God toward man and all of creation. Thus the Garden of Eden begins with grace. The provision of the rivers in nourishing all of the land is representative of grace in action which we call mercy. Mercy is the actual provision of Gods grace policy.
The first river has no name. Interesting enough God of the Old Testament (God the Father) has no name. God the Son has a reference to a name - Joshua which when translated into the Greek becomes Jesus. God is the great 'I Am' of the Old Testament, or generally thought of as the eternally existing one. The river that flows out of the Garden is just like that name. Always existing and always flowing. God is an endless source of provision. God is the origin of all things provided to each of us personally and to the universe.
This first river flows out of the Garden so its source is from within the Garden. It waters not only the Garden of Eden, but it waters everything else outside of the Garden. And that is the subject of this study.
The river which flows out of the Garden breaks up into four rivers as spelled out in Gen. 2:10-11. They are described as the Pishon. Gihon, Hiddekel or Tigris, and the Euphrates rivers. Interesting too is the number four. God begins with a policy of grace, but that grace has boundaries. God has a government which is represented by four areas - authority, power, freedom, and vision. Later in the scriptures in various visions (after Genesis) these four areas are represented by the - lion, bull, man and eagle.
The first area is representative of Gods dominion over all of heaven and creation, combined with His perfect righteousness, then there is a lack of arrogance or pride. In contrast is mans dominion which is limited and short lived as man quickly loses his authority over planet earth as arrogance and pride enter into mans essence.
The second represents Gods omnipotent ability to do anything He wills, as well as to 'not' do that which He does not will. In contrast man cannot accomplish anything he wills, nor can man prevent that which he does not wish to happen. So man redoubles his efforts and ends up in more self work or burden due to greater arrogance and stubbornness and the rejection of Gods divine provision.
The third area represents Gods ability to choose, to decide for that which is right as well as to decide against that which is wrong. Man, in contrast again, is given free will volition in which man has the opportunity to make the right choices in life, however man inevitably makes wrong choices. The feminine reaction in making wrong choices results is frustration and even more effort placed in doing that which
man cannot do in life. Yes, we are studying the rivers of Eden, and we'll tie this all together in a moment.
Meanwhile, the fourth area represents Gods omniscience or foreknowledge, or far seeing vision - the eagle. God knows all there is to know both the possible and the probable as well as the reality of what is and what is to be. Man again, cannot know even what will happen in the future in a few minutes let alone in a few years. Man lacks the ability to sort out truth from lies therefore mans vision is limited.
Thus we have the four rivers flowing out from the Garden of Eden which take on these representations just mentioned.
Throughout the ages people have sought to find the Garden of Eden. They have sought to identify these four rivers and somehow trace them back to some point that would identify the original Garden. But remember that the Garden existed in a 'single' land that was on earth prior to the flood. We would have to assume that the land masses prior to the flood of Noah were exactly the same or very similar to the land
masses we have today. Maybe. Of course you would have to make changes in the land masses due to erosion, weather pattern changes, earthquakes, and so forth. But we have seven continents now and they must have existed in some form prior to the flood.
There is also the possibility that God brought the flood on the earth to do more than just wipe out life, saving only Noah and his family and a few animals. If this is the case, and if God rearranged the land masses, perhaps breaking the continents off and into the seven current continents and then floating them in to their present positions, such that following the flood, there would be nothing left of those lands
described in Gen. 2:10-11 - then Havilah, Cush or Ethiopia, Assyria, and the fourth river, the Euphrates, would not be associated with any geographical area current in today's world. In fact there are only four geographical areas that are described in Genesis. The Garden being the first and the others above mentioned being the second, third, and fourth. Well there is a reference to the land of Nod, where Cain
was driven off to, which is east of Eden. Nod comes from the Hebrew word, 'Nowd', meaning vagrancy, waver, exile, taunt, flee. This described Cain's attitude. He was a vagrant at heart, lazy, shiftless, spineless. He ran away into an exile where he would refuse to return from by his own decision. From a distance he would taunt or ridicule those whom he left behind, thinking that his safety was wrapped up in
the distance he had between himself and the rest of those who remained with Adam. Man can find no safety in putting distance between himself and God, only further misery.
God could well have eliminated all life without the flood, but He chose to flood the entire planet to accomplish that end. Perhaps this huge mass of hydro power was utilized in breaking up the single continent into the seven current continents. Doesn't it seem odd that this number seven seems to pop up continually in the scriptures and in life?
Anyway we know that there is continental drift. We know that all the continents were combined in the past forming a single huge continent. We know that there is evidence of plant and animal life throughout the world - even in Antarctica. This would be a good explanation as to how everything managed to get to all the continents. The real question is whether this all took place over millions of years or during that single year of Noah's flood. God clearly has the ability to accomplish that. This would also explain why the original Garden cannot be found. Perhaps it is buried under the miles of ice which covers Antarctica. Only speculation of course. You can play with your own imagination on this subject. Oh, and was Atlantis the civilization that existed in the pre-flood era? More fun imagination games.
The four rivers have similar meanings attached to them. I'll describe the meanings and then get to the point of this entire exercise. Remember that all of these rivers are flowing out and away from the Garden representing mans leaving God in search for mans own self meaning and self destiny.
The first river is the Pishon, 'Piyshown', to disperse, grow up fat, scatter, proud. This is the first river - first, 'echad', alone, first, only, to go one way or the other. It flows through the land of Havilah. Flows through or compasseth, 'cabab', to wind through, to surround, to border, to separate on every side.
Note thus far, that the original river of provision comes from God, from His Garden. It also provided support for that region outside of the Garden. The Garden represents life inside the Will of God while life outside the Garden represents life by the will of man. Flowing out of the Garden, man leaves the divine protections and blessings of God and pursues his own blessings in arrogance. That is the purpose of this first river. It saturates itself and seals off itself from the Garden, being divided from the Garden by its own fat of self importance and its own self determination, or independence as perceived by arrogance. The river goes this way and that in reference to mans aimless trek through life.
In the land of Havilah is gold and bdellium and onyx stones. But the gold is the word, 'zaheb', or the shimmer of gold, not the real thing. Bdellium is a stone or something in need of repair, 'aben', something in a constant need of rebuilding. The last item the onyx, is noted for its pale green color, 'shoham', thought to be beryl.
So in this land where man is trekking to, there is the imagination of wealth and building but it is in fact an illusion, a state in constant need of repair. Thus there is far less there than in the Garden. Man seeks more and comes up with less or nothing. Real gold does not exist, only the illusion of gold in that man gets color only. The real gold is found in the Word of God, in Gods wisdom and application thereof. Man has color only, something that one cannot even count in
ones wealth nor even spend.
Now the second river is double that of the first. Second, 'sheniy', double, again, other. This is even more of the same as in the first land. More promises of illusion, things sought but not really there. The river is the Gihon, 'Giychown', stream, pool, going forth with labor. This is the river that requires labor in life to exist or to get ahead. It requires effort and places burdens on those who pursue it. It flows throughout the land of Cush, 'Kuwsh', no meaning is attached to Cush, but that is the name of Ham's son, and sin or a curse is associated with Ham and his offspring, namely Canaan. So by doubling ones efforts, a person still comes up with nothing but curses, and emptiness.
The third river, third, 'sheliyshiy', meaning third in rank, it is a feminine form of the word meaning extension, third time, occasionally. This is a continuation of the first two rivers. More of the same, with the feminine reaction to the results of the first two. You work hard for nothing and you react to getting nothing. This river goes away, 'halak', to walk away, carry, spread, take away. It is a 'walking' away even further from the Garden where the blessings you pursue really exist but you cannot find them outside the Garden. The river flows east, 'qidmah', in a relative direction, in front of, before, general direction. Its flow is general and wandering. It is not precise in its path. It flows generally in the direction and in front of the land of Assyria, 'Ashshuwr', Assher (also the name of the second son of Shem, not the first born), it means straight, level, right, happy, honest, proper, guide. So this river falls short of attaining these qualities. Though man pursues some semblance of his own self defined morality and integrity and happiness, he does and cannot reach these true goals, by following this third river. Man in effect gets further and further away from God.
Fourth, 'rebiyiy', indicates a fraction, a fourth, as in sprawling on all four extremities, laying flat on the ground as in the position for sex, arms and legs spread, vulnerable and undefended but by choice. The fourth river is the Euphrates, 'Perath', break forth, rushing, east increase. Following the goals of this river gets you more and more of nothing. It has no land defined for it, no destination. There is nothing gained as a result of pursuing this river. So departure from Gods will, the Garden, means that man pursues everything with greater and greater energy, but will always end up with nothing.
By following these rivers a person in seeking the blessings of life, ends up with less than a whole. He ends up with a fraction of what he started out with and is not only laden with the burdens of the lands outside of the Garden, but is vulnerable to the dangers and of being taken advantage by everything else outside the Garden.
And, oh yes, Eden, 'Eden', means delicate, delight, pleasure. The river flowing out of the Garden, is in verse 8, 'nahor', stream, sea or ocean, prosperity, flood, sparkle, running. The river in the Garden is by far the greatest, yielding all manner of blessings for those who pursue it.
So the rivers of the Garden and those that flow throughout the lands round about the Garden of Eden, represent the life of mankind. The Garden is there for the taking, Bible study, but man prefers to pursue his own course and to redefine life in accordance with whatever philosophy his imagination comes up with. Man even does this within sight of the Garden. Bible doctrine is always nearby and free for the taking.
These points of doctrine were available to all who lived in the centuries prior to the flood. Those folks saw the Garden as well as the angels guarding its entrance. The Garden was an actual physical place. But rather than turning to God and inquiring about its meaning and purpose, rather than desiring to grow up spiritually even when all these places were right in front of them, to actually see, most people
chose against God.
Better to sail up the crystal clear ocean of God knowledge than to pursue the muddy and wandering rivers of man.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Job 23:10
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 23:10
10 But he knoweth [yada`] the way [derek] that I take [`immad]: when he hath tried [bachan] me, I shall come forth [yatsa'] as gold [zahab]. KJV-Interlinear
10 'But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. NASB
God knows the content of your soul. He knows the pattern of life, which you have chosen for yourself.
Everyone who has ever lived a reasonable length of years, gets tested. It is the nature of this devils world.
The world is ruled by Satan, his policies are jungle law and evil, and therefore life in this world is going to be difficult, especially for anyone who turns their back on evil and tries to maintain and advance in their spiritual life.
Psa. 139:3
3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways. NASB
God knows the life of every individual. You cannot fool Him. He knows your every thought, your every motivation, your every desire, your every word that you have or ever will speak, and He knows your every action, which you will take during your life.
There is no place where you can go and hide, or keep secret you’re your inner most secrets, desires, thoughts, motives, actions and so forth. You are a totally open book to Gods eyes. And, He has known all about you since eternity past. That is long before you ever came to know yourself.
Psa. 1:6
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. NASB
There are two broad categories of people who will ever live - those who will be saved and those who will not. God knows who will not believe in the savior Jesus Christ. They will eventually perish in the Lake of Fire.
As for the believers of history, they too can be categorized into at least three broad groups. Revisit the 'Parables' study. The first group consists of those who have believed in Christ, but will choose to go no further in their spiritual life. They are the indifferent group.
The second group consists of those believers who advance somewhat in their spiritual life, but life and the world just gets to them and they stumble many times along the way. They make attempts to grow up spiritually but they lack the motivation or drive to stick to their spiritual life. They have some spiritual growth.
The third group consists of those who advance all of the way to spiritual maturity. They stick it our through thick and thin and no matter what problems, or prejudices, or difficulties, or tests that might come their way in life, they remain steadfast in their path of spiritual growth.
1 Peter 1:7
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; NASB
The Bible lists a hand full of people who have been tested to the extreme - Job, Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and so forth. But rest assured that history has most likely produced many millions of folks who have been tested to the extreme in life, and passed.
The Bible doctrine that enters into your soul by way of your daily study, is as gold. But unlike the gold of this world, your spiritual life will last forever.
The gold of this world can be placed into a furnace and then removed. It goes in as gold and comes out as gold. The furnace does not harm the gold, but rather it comes out even better than before it went in.
And so you, with the gold of Bible doctrine, which is inside of you, will probably see trouble after trouble in your life. Stick with your spiritual growth, and you will go into and out of those troubles with no harm to you. Afterward, you will be better, stronger, and even more mature than before.
Testing from this world serves to accelerate your spiritual growth. And that is a good thing.
In every situation of life, there will be a beginning, a middle, and an end. All tests end.
Repeat that. All tests end!
The more you stick with your spiritual life style, the more you stick with you daily studies, the more you persevere inside of fellowship within your spiritual life, the easier and quicker, the tests will seem to become.
With your eyes on God, nothing in this life can harm you.
With your eyes on the things of this world and not on God, your suffering will only seem like an eternity, and no good will come out of your circumstances.
This is the devils world. Suffering is inevitable. You might as well benefit from it rather than not!
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Job 23:10
10 But he knoweth [yada`] the way [derek] that I take [`immad]: when he hath tried [bachan] me, I shall come forth [yatsa'] as gold [zahab]. KJV-Interlinear
10 'But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. NASB
God knows the content of your soul. He knows the pattern of life, which you have chosen for yourself.
Everyone who has ever lived a reasonable length of years, gets tested. It is the nature of this devils world.
The world is ruled by Satan, his policies are jungle law and evil, and therefore life in this world is going to be difficult, especially for anyone who turns their back on evil and tries to maintain and advance in their spiritual life.
Psa. 139:3
3 Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways. NASB
God knows the life of every individual. You cannot fool Him. He knows your every thought, your every motivation, your every desire, your every word that you have or ever will speak, and He knows your every action, which you will take during your life.
There is no place where you can go and hide, or keep secret you’re your inner most secrets, desires, thoughts, motives, actions and so forth. You are a totally open book to Gods eyes. And, He has known all about you since eternity past. That is long before you ever came to know yourself.
Psa. 1:6
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish. NASB
There are two broad categories of people who will ever live - those who will be saved and those who will not. God knows who will not believe in the savior Jesus Christ. They will eventually perish in the Lake of Fire.
As for the believers of history, they too can be categorized into at least three broad groups. Revisit the 'Parables' study. The first group consists of those who have believed in Christ, but will choose to go no further in their spiritual life. They are the indifferent group.
The second group consists of those believers who advance somewhat in their spiritual life, but life and the world just gets to them and they stumble many times along the way. They make attempts to grow up spiritually but they lack the motivation or drive to stick to their spiritual life. They have some spiritual growth.
The third group consists of those who advance all of the way to spiritual maturity. They stick it our through thick and thin and no matter what problems, or prejudices, or difficulties, or tests that might come their way in life, they remain steadfast in their path of spiritual growth.
1 Peter 1:7
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; NASB
The Bible lists a hand full of people who have been tested to the extreme - Job, Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and so forth. But rest assured that history has most likely produced many millions of folks who have been tested to the extreme in life, and passed.
The Bible doctrine that enters into your soul by way of your daily study, is as gold. But unlike the gold of this world, your spiritual life will last forever.
The gold of this world can be placed into a furnace and then removed. It goes in as gold and comes out as gold. The furnace does not harm the gold, but rather it comes out even better than before it went in.
And so you, with the gold of Bible doctrine, which is inside of you, will probably see trouble after trouble in your life. Stick with your spiritual growth, and you will go into and out of those troubles with no harm to you. Afterward, you will be better, stronger, and even more mature than before.
Testing from this world serves to accelerate your spiritual growth. And that is a good thing.
In every situation of life, there will be a beginning, a middle, and an end. All tests end.
Repeat that. All tests end!
The more you stick with your spiritual life style, the more you stick with you daily studies, the more you persevere inside of fellowship within your spiritual life, the easier and quicker, the tests will seem to become.
With your eyes on God, nothing in this life can harm you.
With your eyes on the things of this world and not on God, your suffering will only seem like an eternity, and no good will come out of your circumstances.
This is the devils world. Suffering is inevitable. You might as well benefit from it rather than not!
Truth
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Truth
The Adversary of Useful Idiots. The Deficiency of Historical Filler.
So, what is a useful idiot? What is historical filler? Or, should I say, ‘Who?’
I first heard the term, ‘useful idiot,’ on the radio the other day, and it intrigued me because it fit so well with our current study.
The first term, ‘useful idiot,’ was supposedly coined by Lenin in the early 1900’s. He used it to refer to people in the western world who gave moral or material support to totalitarian ideologies. In an odd twist against those who supported his views, he criticized them for being naïve, ignorant of the facts, detached from reality, and advancing a cause, his cause, which an informed person would not otherwise support.
In other words they were idiots, promoting something that they really did not understand.
In the 1930’s, this same term was used to describe those who opposed getting involved in the war in Europe. They were called appeasers, liberals, anti-war advocates and so forth. In opposing the call for patriotism here at home, they became spokesmen for the German advances through Europe, and unknowing advocates for the atrocities that were to occur during World War II.
Chamberlain, back in the late 1930’s opposed getting involved in war, and ultimately failed in his views, but he later apologized for his error in judgment and later supported the war. Typically when folks get involved deeply in their views, they refuse to change.
Later in the 1960’s, these anti-war folks became more vocal and violent as they became known as activists. Not only opposed to the war in Vietnam, they opposed establishment and authority in general, and government policies in particular. They instead adopted free love and free drugs concepts, living a life free from responsibility and obligations. Or so they thought.
Now we turn to our present day and we have yet another type of ‘useful idiot,’ the political liberal and the suicide bomber.
Political liberals are folks who promote their own agenda regardless of the facts of reality. Their interests are for their own advancement and benefit, rather than those from whom they seek to gain their support. They use deceptive rhetoric, speaking all of the right things, expressing their concerns for the welfare of the masses, but prefer that the masses remain perpetually dependent, which in turn keeps them in their positions of power and authority.
Their lust for power, authority, influence, wealth and approbation are their genuine goals, not their public appeals to ‘serve’ the masses.
The suicide bomber represents a category of folks who are manipulated by religious or political movements, terrorist groups, or hostile governments. They are brainwashed, as it were, into believing that they serve a greater purpose, with the promise of greater rewards not from this life, but in the next.
To that end they will gladly give up their life in the taking of other lives, such that they will promote their faith and qualify for their eternal reward. They blatantly reject the concepts that separate right from wrong, and embrace violence over more socially acceptable behavior.
Then there are the folks that are caught in the middle of all of these ideologies. The masses as we generally call them. The are not folks who will strap bombs to their chests, nor are they running for office, but they will, by their vote of support or by their attitude of indifference, promote and help sustain those evils out there in the world whose purpose is to destroy everything that is good and right, for their own selfish gain.
That brings us to truth. What exactly is it? Not telling a lie? Being honest and living a life of integrity? Well actually these ideas are not in themselves ‘truth,’ but they are the product of truth.
Truth, in its short definition, is the perfect matching up of facts with reality.
Any modification of facts, any compromise with facts, any attempt to manipulate facts, any policy which excludes facts, are all forms of lies. When facts are manufactured, then they cannot match up with reality, therefore they become lies. Whether little white lies or gross misrepresentations, makes no difference. A lie is a lie regardless of its intent.
Of course this is a Bible study so now we introduce the scriptures to the subject. But truth is not simply a blind application of faith, where fools go around saying ‘hallelujah’ and ‘Praise the Lord.’
Reality is a very broad concept, and therefore truth has to be broad in order to match up all of the facts.
For example, the Scriptures start out with truth, ‘In the beginning, God,’ is the introduction to the source of truth.
God created the heavens and the earth. This universe covers a whole lot of things, which include gravity, physics, biology, mathematics, and so forth. God also created humanity and along with humanity, He created rules designed for the preservation of the human race.
These rules we call the Divine Laws of Establishment. In an unnatural and undisciplined world, the jungle rules apply. But in order to preserve life, God has invented His establishment laws to work parallel with and in opposition to the laws of the jungle.
Establishment laws include the law of volition, or the right to make ones own mind up. Satan interfered initially with that right by deceiving Eve. Of course Eve would not have been deceived, had she been paying attention to the teachings of Christ in the Garden, and alert to the fact that she was carrying on a two way conversation with an animal.
Slavery is a form of violation of this principle.
Then there is the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. This is a natural and obvious law which lots of folks these days, choose to ignore, replacing it with alternate life styles of various types.
Other laws of establishment include, family, nationalism, free enterprise, freedom, liberty, justice by means of due process, responsibility and accountability, charity, and so forth.
These laws of establishment combined with the true laws of nature, all serve to maintain and preserve the human race.
Unfortunately lies come along to distort truth, and to present a whole other set of views as to just what is and what is not truth.
The objective to these alternatives to truth? Satan wishes to destroy God and preserve his chosen way of life, which is simply, to be better than God.
And so, history, beginning in the Garden, has been filled with religions, cults, philosophies, and ideas designed to confuse and thwart Gods truth. These ideas run the gamut from evolution, to homosexuality, to big bang theories, to what is or is not proper to eat on Sunday.
The ultimate truth being that first, man is lost. Second, man needs help in finding himself. Third, man can’t get himself out of his own problems. Fourth, man needs a savior. Fifth, Christ is that savior. Sixth, man needs a relationship with God. And seventh, learning Bible doctrine is the means of mans gaining the maximum relationship, after salvation, with God.
Without God, there is no truth, no life, no future which is good.
But to make things even more confusing, the philosophies of the world have discounted the scriptures and have replaced them with mans own definitions of self importance. This gives rise to the politics and philosophies of the day. Concepts which state simply that man is in control of his own destiny, man is the one who determines his own destiny, if anything is acceptable and causes no harm to others, then it should be accepted in society as normal and right.
This kind of attitude gives rise again to relative and reflexive beliefs. Relative simply means that everything is measured and compared with everything else, and that there are many degrees of truth, rather than just one standard. Homosexuality is a perfect example of this kind of compromising attitude.
Reflexive is a reference to automatic, self-serving, or unthinking attitudes. This applies to the masses when they vote for a candidate who makes then promises, even when they know that the promises are not reasonable. This applies to politicians who make the promises in order to get the votes, even knowing that what they are promising cannot be accomplished. This also applies to celebrities who make public statements in order to get free publicity.
All the while ‘truth’ is under attack, while deceit and selfishness are being embraced in order to serve ones own interests.
Truth provides the foundation and basis for freedom, liberty, opportunity, prosperity, security and happiness. Those who oppose truth are in effect tearing down the very support structure for their own lives.
Why people, who enjoy the freedoms, liberties, and prosperity that we have in our nation and world today, work so obsessively to destroy everything that is legitimate and worthwhile, is due to their own rejection of truth, and to their embracing of the lies of this world.
Often time’s people want to hear only those things in which they are interested. Things which promote their wants and desires. Would-be leaders or tyrants capitalize on this flaw, and promote those very false concepts which people want to hear.
At the same time, the would-be leaders, tyrants, news media types, learned professors, and celebrities of the day, define their own success in terms of the successful promotion of the lies of the world. All of this ends up with fools leading fools toward a destiny of doom.
God has defined His objective for each one of us as the attainment of happiness and completeness in life. This comes to us through salvation, which provides us with spiritual freedom. Freedom is the foundation all things good. Freedom leads us to liberty, which leads us to opportunity, which leads us to success, which leads us to prosperity, which leads us to security, which leads us to happiness.
As we fight the various fights around the world today, our goal is freedom. Nothing good can occur in life until there is first freedom, and the forces of evil have to be eliminated or at the very least brought under some type of manageable control, before that freedom can exist.
It is the same in the spiritual life. We first need freedom, which comes with believing in Jesus Christ. Then comes opportunity. Opportunity comes with making the right decisions. More right decisions bring more opportunities in life. Our fundamental decision in the spiritual life comes with our daily decision to study the Word of God. This brings us spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth brings clarity of thought, clarity of discernment, and ultimately the avoidance of being scooped up by the trickery of the world. In addition, spiritual growth brings the blessings of God into our daily lives, and the fulfillment of Gods objectives for each one of us.
Without doctrine, which is the foundation of truth, and the understanding of truth, there is no fulfillment, no completion, no purpose in life, other than to just fill time and space in history.
And that brings us to historical filler. A person lacking Bible doctrine in their soul will have no purpose and they’ll make no meaningful contribution to history. They will at best be historical filler.
Self serving interests and delusional views of reality, lead to things like, the personal preferences of homosexuality, the emotional beliefs of either pro or anti-abortionists, they lead to the fanaticism of terrorists, or the selfishness or indifferences of society in general. Self serving interests and delusional views lead to the misrepresentations made by teachers in the classrooms, and to the misrepresentations made by the press in news stories.
All of this boils down to fools becoming idiots, serving the purposes of others, and thus relegating their life to a category of meaningless filler.
Satan is of course the original ‘other’ to whom all fools of this life serve, by means of their lack of knowledge and understanding which Bible doctrine provides.
How dumb can anyone be, to fall into a trap like this one?
There is only one way out of the trap of useful idiocy and historical filler, and that escape is through the daily study of Bible doctrine.
Bible doctrine is the only source of truth, and more important, it is the only door through which you can pass and discover greater truth’s, which affect our daily lives and truths which ultimately determine the success of our personal legacy and destiny.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Truth
The Adversary of Useful Idiots. The Deficiency of Historical Filler.
So, what is a useful idiot? What is historical filler? Or, should I say, ‘Who?’
I first heard the term, ‘useful idiot,’ on the radio the other day, and it intrigued me because it fit so well with our current study.
The first term, ‘useful idiot,’ was supposedly coined by Lenin in the early 1900’s. He used it to refer to people in the western world who gave moral or material support to totalitarian ideologies. In an odd twist against those who supported his views, he criticized them for being naïve, ignorant of the facts, detached from reality, and advancing a cause, his cause, which an informed person would not otherwise support.
In other words they were idiots, promoting something that they really did not understand.
In the 1930’s, this same term was used to describe those who opposed getting involved in the war in Europe. They were called appeasers, liberals, anti-war advocates and so forth. In opposing the call for patriotism here at home, they became spokesmen for the German advances through Europe, and unknowing advocates for the atrocities that were to occur during World War II.
Chamberlain, back in the late 1930’s opposed getting involved in war, and ultimately failed in his views, but he later apologized for his error in judgment and later supported the war. Typically when folks get involved deeply in their views, they refuse to change.
Later in the 1960’s, these anti-war folks became more vocal and violent as they became known as activists. Not only opposed to the war in Vietnam, they opposed establishment and authority in general, and government policies in particular. They instead adopted free love and free drugs concepts, living a life free from responsibility and obligations. Or so they thought.
Now we turn to our present day and we have yet another type of ‘useful idiot,’ the political liberal and the suicide bomber.
Political liberals are folks who promote their own agenda regardless of the facts of reality. Their interests are for their own advancement and benefit, rather than those from whom they seek to gain their support. They use deceptive rhetoric, speaking all of the right things, expressing their concerns for the welfare of the masses, but prefer that the masses remain perpetually dependent, which in turn keeps them in their positions of power and authority.
Their lust for power, authority, influence, wealth and approbation are their genuine goals, not their public appeals to ‘serve’ the masses.
The suicide bomber represents a category of folks who are manipulated by religious or political movements, terrorist groups, or hostile governments. They are brainwashed, as it were, into believing that they serve a greater purpose, with the promise of greater rewards not from this life, but in the next.
To that end they will gladly give up their life in the taking of other lives, such that they will promote their faith and qualify for their eternal reward. They blatantly reject the concepts that separate right from wrong, and embrace violence over more socially acceptable behavior.
Then there are the folks that are caught in the middle of all of these ideologies. The masses as we generally call them. The are not folks who will strap bombs to their chests, nor are they running for office, but they will, by their vote of support or by their attitude of indifference, promote and help sustain those evils out there in the world whose purpose is to destroy everything that is good and right, for their own selfish gain.
That brings us to truth. What exactly is it? Not telling a lie? Being honest and living a life of integrity? Well actually these ideas are not in themselves ‘truth,’ but they are the product of truth.
Truth, in its short definition, is the perfect matching up of facts with reality.
Any modification of facts, any compromise with facts, any attempt to manipulate facts, any policy which excludes facts, are all forms of lies. When facts are manufactured, then they cannot match up with reality, therefore they become lies. Whether little white lies or gross misrepresentations, makes no difference. A lie is a lie regardless of its intent.
Of course this is a Bible study so now we introduce the scriptures to the subject. But truth is not simply a blind application of faith, where fools go around saying ‘hallelujah’ and ‘Praise the Lord.’
Reality is a very broad concept, and therefore truth has to be broad in order to match up all of the facts.
For example, the Scriptures start out with truth, ‘In the beginning, God,’ is the introduction to the source of truth.
God created the heavens and the earth. This universe covers a whole lot of things, which include gravity, physics, biology, mathematics, and so forth. God also created humanity and along with humanity, He created rules designed for the preservation of the human race.
These rules we call the Divine Laws of Establishment. In an unnatural and undisciplined world, the jungle rules apply. But in order to preserve life, God has invented His establishment laws to work parallel with and in opposition to the laws of the jungle.
Establishment laws include the law of volition, or the right to make ones own mind up. Satan interfered initially with that right by deceiving Eve. Of course Eve would not have been deceived, had she been paying attention to the teachings of Christ in the Garden, and alert to the fact that she was carrying on a two way conversation with an animal.
Slavery is a form of violation of this principle.
Then there is the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. This is a natural and obvious law which lots of folks these days, choose to ignore, replacing it with alternate life styles of various types.
Other laws of establishment include, family, nationalism, free enterprise, freedom, liberty, justice by means of due process, responsibility and accountability, charity, and so forth.
These laws of establishment combined with the true laws of nature, all serve to maintain and preserve the human race.
Unfortunately lies come along to distort truth, and to present a whole other set of views as to just what is and what is not truth.
The objective to these alternatives to truth? Satan wishes to destroy God and preserve his chosen way of life, which is simply, to be better than God.
And so, history, beginning in the Garden, has been filled with religions, cults, philosophies, and ideas designed to confuse and thwart Gods truth. These ideas run the gamut from evolution, to homosexuality, to big bang theories, to what is or is not proper to eat on Sunday.
The ultimate truth being that first, man is lost. Second, man needs help in finding himself. Third, man can’t get himself out of his own problems. Fourth, man needs a savior. Fifth, Christ is that savior. Sixth, man needs a relationship with God. And seventh, learning Bible doctrine is the means of mans gaining the maximum relationship, after salvation, with God.
Without God, there is no truth, no life, no future which is good.
But to make things even more confusing, the philosophies of the world have discounted the scriptures and have replaced them with mans own definitions of self importance. This gives rise to the politics and philosophies of the day. Concepts which state simply that man is in control of his own destiny, man is the one who determines his own destiny, if anything is acceptable and causes no harm to others, then it should be accepted in society as normal and right.
This kind of attitude gives rise again to relative and reflexive beliefs. Relative simply means that everything is measured and compared with everything else, and that there are many degrees of truth, rather than just one standard. Homosexuality is a perfect example of this kind of compromising attitude.
Reflexive is a reference to automatic, self-serving, or unthinking attitudes. This applies to the masses when they vote for a candidate who makes then promises, even when they know that the promises are not reasonable. This applies to politicians who make the promises in order to get the votes, even knowing that what they are promising cannot be accomplished. This also applies to celebrities who make public statements in order to get free publicity.
All the while ‘truth’ is under attack, while deceit and selfishness are being embraced in order to serve ones own interests.
Truth provides the foundation and basis for freedom, liberty, opportunity, prosperity, security and happiness. Those who oppose truth are in effect tearing down the very support structure for their own lives.
Why people, who enjoy the freedoms, liberties, and prosperity that we have in our nation and world today, work so obsessively to destroy everything that is legitimate and worthwhile, is due to their own rejection of truth, and to their embracing of the lies of this world.
Often time’s people want to hear only those things in which they are interested. Things which promote their wants and desires. Would-be leaders or tyrants capitalize on this flaw, and promote those very false concepts which people want to hear.
At the same time, the would-be leaders, tyrants, news media types, learned professors, and celebrities of the day, define their own success in terms of the successful promotion of the lies of the world. All of this ends up with fools leading fools toward a destiny of doom.
God has defined His objective for each one of us as the attainment of happiness and completeness in life. This comes to us through salvation, which provides us with spiritual freedom. Freedom is the foundation all things good. Freedom leads us to liberty, which leads us to opportunity, which leads us to success, which leads us to prosperity, which leads us to security, which leads us to happiness.
As we fight the various fights around the world today, our goal is freedom. Nothing good can occur in life until there is first freedom, and the forces of evil have to be eliminated or at the very least brought under some type of manageable control, before that freedom can exist.
It is the same in the spiritual life. We first need freedom, which comes with believing in Jesus Christ. Then comes opportunity. Opportunity comes with making the right decisions. More right decisions bring more opportunities in life. Our fundamental decision in the spiritual life comes with our daily decision to study the Word of God. This brings us spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth brings clarity of thought, clarity of discernment, and ultimately the avoidance of being scooped up by the trickery of the world. In addition, spiritual growth brings the blessings of God into our daily lives, and the fulfillment of Gods objectives for each one of us.
Without doctrine, which is the foundation of truth, and the understanding of truth, there is no fulfillment, no completion, no purpose in life, other than to just fill time and space in history.
And that brings us to historical filler. A person lacking Bible doctrine in their soul will have no purpose and they’ll make no meaningful contribution to history. They will at best be historical filler.
Self serving interests and delusional views of reality, lead to things like, the personal preferences of homosexuality, the emotional beliefs of either pro or anti-abortionists, they lead to the fanaticism of terrorists, or the selfishness or indifferences of society in general. Self serving interests and delusional views lead to the misrepresentations made by teachers in the classrooms, and to the misrepresentations made by the press in news stories.
All of this boils down to fools becoming idiots, serving the purposes of others, and thus relegating their life to a category of meaningless filler.
Satan is of course the original ‘other’ to whom all fools of this life serve, by means of their lack of knowledge and understanding which Bible doctrine provides.
How dumb can anyone be, to fall into a trap like this one?
There is only one way out of the trap of useful idiocy and historical filler, and that escape is through the daily study of Bible doctrine.
Bible doctrine is the only source of truth, and more important, it is the only door through which you can pass and discover greater truth’s, which affect our daily lives and truths which ultimately determine the success of our personal legacy and destiny.
Job 23:8-9
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:8-9
8 Behold, I go [halak] forward [qedem], but he is not there; and backward ['achowr], but I cannot perceive [biyn] him:
9 On the left hand [samo'wl], where he doth work [`asah], but I cannot behold [chazah] him: he hideth [`ataph] himself on the right hand [yamiyn], that I cannot see [ra'ah] him: KJV-Interlinear
8 'Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him. NASB
In these first nine verses, Job has described the futility of trying to find God on ones own. You cannot. The transition from the carnal life to the spiritual, will come in verse ten.
But such is the life of one who does not or has not pursued God, Christ, doctrine, or their spiritual life. They will never be able to find God, nor have any kind of meaningful relationship with Him.
The words for 'forward,' 'backward,' 'left hand,' and 'right hand,' designate points of the compass. In the ancient world, the sun rose in the east and that became the natural first direction one would look in the morning. People even moved eastward in hopes of finding the sun.
East is forward. Back is behind you when you are looking east, and therefore backward is to the west. When looking east, then the left hand is north, and the right hand is south.
Likewise the home of God was considered to be in the north, or the workshop of God. And death was located in the dark places to the south.
From the perspective of the wicked, or anyone who is not functioning within their spiritual life, God is not available. You can look all over the planet. You can look throughout the heavens beyond the sky, and God is nowhere to be found.
When the tabernacle is designed about a thousand years after Job, during Moses' time, the public will face to the west in order to enter into the Tabernacle. That entrance being located on the east side of the Tabernacle. We look to the work of salvation first, before we look to the east and the coming glory of Christ, which comes after the work of salvation. Looking to the west, the power of God is to our right, or to the north. Authority and power sits on the right hand, thus we recognize God, His authority and His plan. We, being on His left, subordinate ourselves to Him.
Unlike other religions throughout history, those folks look to the east, wanting God first, excluding the work of salvation, with death residing as their superior on their right hand to their south. God residing on their left hand and subordinate to man. They reject the work of Christ with their back to it. And in the case of Islam, when they bow to the east, their posture is their bottoms of their feet and their butt toward salvation. The work of their feet or their own efforts, and their attitude is the ultimate rejection of Christ.
So how, when we are hurting, how do we find God, let alone talk with Him? And even if we could locate God (which we cannot), then what words could we say that would persuade God to do as we ask?
Not in philosophies, not in political views, not in religions of every kind (Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with God the Father, through Christ), not in beliefs invented by cults which gain their following through emphasis in polygamy, drugs, emotional oneness with nature, and so forth, not in anything which comes from this world can you seek out and find God.
He isn't in any of these. You will never find Him.
Even by adhering to popular and even truthful proverbs as suggested by Jobs three friends, you will never discover God, because the spiritual life is not how you live it, it is not a lifestyle which is convenient to your way of thinking, it is not a compromise of beliefs which you feel secure within.
There is only one God, there is only one salvation, there is only one doctrine, there is only one fellowship with God, there is only one spiritual life. There is only one way to figure it all out.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 23:8-9
8 Behold, I go [halak] forward [qedem], but he is not there; and backward ['achowr], but I cannot perceive [biyn] him:
9 On the left hand [samo'wl], where he doth work [`asah], but I cannot behold [chazah] him: he hideth [`ataph] himself on the right hand [yamiyn], that I cannot see [ra'ah] him: KJV-Interlinear
8 'Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him. NASB
In these first nine verses, Job has described the futility of trying to find God on ones own. You cannot. The transition from the carnal life to the spiritual, will come in verse ten.
But such is the life of one who does not or has not pursued God, Christ, doctrine, or their spiritual life. They will never be able to find God, nor have any kind of meaningful relationship with Him.
The words for 'forward,' 'backward,' 'left hand,' and 'right hand,' designate points of the compass. In the ancient world, the sun rose in the east and that became the natural first direction one would look in the morning. People even moved eastward in hopes of finding the sun.
East is forward. Back is behind you when you are looking east, and therefore backward is to the west. When looking east, then the left hand is north, and the right hand is south.
Likewise the home of God was considered to be in the north, or the workshop of God. And death was located in the dark places to the south.
From the perspective of the wicked, or anyone who is not functioning within their spiritual life, God is not available. You can look all over the planet. You can look throughout the heavens beyond the sky, and God is nowhere to be found.
When the tabernacle is designed about a thousand years after Job, during Moses' time, the public will face to the west in order to enter into the Tabernacle. That entrance being located on the east side of the Tabernacle. We look to the work of salvation first, before we look to the east and the coming glory of Christ, which comes after the work of salvation. Looking to the west, the power of God is to our right, or to the north. Authority and power sits on the right hand, thus we recognize God, His authority and His plan. We, being on His left, subordinate ourselves to Him.
Unlike other religions throughout history, those folks look to the east, wanting God first, excluding the work of salvation, with death residing as their superior on their right hand to their south. God residing on their left hand and subordinate to man. They reject the work of Christ with their back to it. And in the case of Islam, when they bow to the east, their posture is their bottoms of their feet and their butt toward salvation. The work of their feet or their own efforts, and their attitude is the ultimate rejection of Christ.
So how, when we are hurting, how do we find God, let alone talk with Him? And even if we could locate God (which we cannot), then what words could we say that would persuade God to do as we ask?
Not in philosophies, not in political views, not in religions of every kind (Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with God the Father, through Christ), not in beliefs invented by cults which gain their following through emphasis in polygamy, drugs, emotional oneness with nature, and so forth, not in anything which comes from this world can you seek out and find God.
He isn't in any of these. You will never find Him.
Even by adhering to popular and even truthful proverbs as suggested by Jobs three friends, you will never discover God, because the spiritual life is not how you live it, it is not a lifestyle which is convenient to your way of thinking, it is not a compromise of beliefs which you feel secure within.
There is only one God, there is only one salvation, there is only one doctrine, there is only one fellowship with God, there is only one spiritual life. There is only one way to figure it all out.
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