Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Job 34:10

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Job 34:10


10 Therefore hearken [shama`] unto me, ye men ['enowsh] of understanding [lebab]: far be it [chaliylah] from God ['el], that he should do wickedness [resha`]; and from the Almighty [Shadday], that he should commit iniquity [`evel]. KJV-Interlinear


10 'Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to do wrong. NASB


'Men of understanding' means 'men of heart.' The Bible always refers to the heart as the mechanism of the circulation of information in the soul. The Bible does not refer to the head or the mind as the seat of that function. The heart presents a clear and better reference to the pumping, the circulation action of using what one knows, rather than just being a storehouse of 'mindless' details.

Now Elihu has stated that he has been listening to everything that has been said by the four men. That he wants to look at things objectively and not take sides. And to that end, he has misquoted Job and misinterpreted Jobs words. And, now he will seemingly go off into a stream of principles, which really have nothing to do with Job or this conversation.

Most of what he has to say will be said correctly. But the relevance of his statements to the current discussion isn't really there.

Kind of like the current political scene. Words are spoken in generalities, but lacking substance and more often lacking relevance to anything in reality. They just sound good to anyone who listens to them with mindless wonderment, instead of with discerning thought.

This is part of why the four men do not respond to Elihu. He is simply itemizing scriptural principles, but never making any point.

Elihu has misspoken Job. Now he asks a rhetorical question, 'Can God do wrong? Can God pursue wickness? Is God a God of 'Do anything to anyone at anytime?' '

And the answer to those questions is, 'Of course not.'

God is perfect. Gods is omnipotent. God is omniscient. God is sovereign. God is veracity. God is righteous. God is justice. God is immutable. God is omnipresent. God is love. God is eternal life.

Most folks get the 'love' part mixed up with the emotion, but 'love' is a reference to the source and content of truth. Review the study in 1, 2, 3 Jn.

So the question. Is God a god of haphazard thought and action? Is God a god of spontaneous reaction? Is God a god of reaction? Is God a god of indifference? Does God consider man as an inconvenience to His existence? Does God do things arbitrarily? Can God do anything wrong? Does God cause harm to man for no reason? And that last question is really Elihu's point, and his subtle jab at Job.