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 30:31
31 My harp [kinnowr] also is turned to mourning ['ebel], and my organ [`uwgab] into the voice [qowl] of them that weep [bakah]. KJV-Interlinear
31 'Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep. NASB
Job is living an experience that resembles what life would be like with the absence of God. Regardless of your circumstances in this life. Whether you are filthy rich, or desperately poor, makes no difference.
Either situation can lead to ones embrace of the fantasies that would make you believe that you are well off. If all you see is the darkness then all you believe is out there in life, is that darkness. If all you see is your environment, then all you believe is out there, is that environment.
In fact, your outlook in life is simply wanting more and more, or less and less of whatever it is that you have now. The rich want more riches, and the poor want less of their poverty. The happy want more happiness and the sad want less sadness.
Unfortunately, they all look in the same places for their wants - the world. And the world is not a resource for anything permanent.
The end result, despite a lifetime of worldly prosperity or poverty, is all wrapped up in this last verse.
The harp and the flute from which you would expect joy and cheerful even knee slapping, foot stomping happiness, actually result in terrible, painful, and pathetic sorrow.
This is the destiny, this is the very best that one can expect from a life without God, without Christ, without doctrine, without a spiritual life.
Conversely, when God is in your life, when you are advancing in your spiritual life, then no matter what your earthly circumstances might be, whether rich or poor, your life will be far better off than anyone else in this world.
Job already has acknowledged that his redeemer and his advocate are God (the savior) Himself. And by this, even in his unusual suffering which we have been studying, Job demonstrates a calmness and a confidence of trust in God to whom he looks for relief.
Job does not look to the world. Job does not look to things. Job does not look to his friends. Job does not look to himself.
And whether his suffering ends up in death or recovery, he knows that it is only God who will bring him through safely, and no one and nothing else can accomplish that.
Showing posts with label Job 30. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Job 30. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Job 30:30
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 30:30
30 My skin [`owr] is black [shachar] upon me, and my bones [`etsem] are burned [charar] with heat [choreb]. KJV-Interlinear
30 'My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever. NASB
From the external skin to Jobs inside bones, the disease has taken its toll and has been thoroughly attempting to destroy him physically.
The skin is turning black and pealing away as with leprosy. The bones are often used to express the ultimate pain. When your bones ache, then you are really hurting.
Here Job describes his physical condition. He has been describing it all along and he is actually experiencing these symptoms, pains and so forth. Job is not telling a story filled with expressions, but he is actually living the horrors of this suffering.
The horrors of a life filled with a fatal disease, are real but temporary. The horrors of living a life without God, are just as real, even though they are often far less discreet, but they are permanent. So a life without God is far worse than anything you can imagine.
Being unsaved is the worst of the worst, but being saved and having no spiritual production to show for it means phenomenal loss as well.
Of course, we should note that this disease affects the physical only. Jobs soul, which is filed with doctrine and a spiritual life which Job has pursued throughout his life, is not affected. The world cannot touch the spiritually positive persons' soul. And the soul is the real you, by the way. Your physical body is a temporary vessel, which houses your human soul and human spirit, in this world. In the next life, you will have a much better resurrection body
While in this world, the world and the carnal nature of the world will continue to prey on what it perceives as your vital being. Remember that the 'world' is an expression for all things that are not from God. Everything from Satan or everything following the pattern of evil, in other words.
And, while the Bible gives us all of these warnings, primarily because people just do not listen to them, there is the better side of life out there just waiting for you to get you act together.
So, warning after warning, expression after expression, example after example are sent out from the scriptures. Why? Because the penalty for spiritual failure is horrendous and because the prize of spiritual success is beyond anything you can imagine.
You can spend your life ignoring the principles of truth, chasing political candidates, chasing issues of the world, chasing your weekend social activities, sleeping, or whatever and you will end up extremely disappointed when your life ends. Or, you can pursue your spiritual life, now, and end up wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.
There are three fundamental classes of people. There are the poor and they have nothing. There are the rich and they have a lot. But then there are the wealthy, and they have mind boggling resources. Even the rich are poor when compared to the wealthy.
Far, far better to live in the last category, than either of the first two.
These are the differences between a life without God and a life of spiritual maturity.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:30
30 My skin [`owr] is black [shachar] upon me, and my bones [`etsem] are burned [charar] with heat [choreb]. KJV-Interlinear
30 'My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever. NASB
From the external skin to Jobs inside bones, the disease has taken its toll and has been thoroughly attempting to destroy him physically.
The skin is turning black and pealing away as with leprosy. The bones are often used to express the ultimate pain. When your bones ache, then you are really hurting.
Here Job describes his physical condition. He has been describing it all along and he is actually experiencing these symptoms, pains and so forth. Job is not telling a story filled with expressions, but he is actually living the horrors of this suffering.
The horrors of a life filled with a fatal disease, are real but temporary. The horrors of living a life without God, are just as real, even though they are often far less discreet, but they are permanent. So a life without God is far worse than anything you can imagine.
Being unsaved is the worst of the worst, but being saved and having no spiritual production to show for it means phenomenal loss as well.
Of course, we should note that this disease affects the physical only. Jobs soul, which is filed with doctrine and a spiritual life which Job has pursued throughout his life, is not affected. The world cannot touch the spiritually positive persons' soul. And the soul is the real you, by the way. Your physical body is a temporary vessel, which houses your human soul and human spirit, in this world. In the next life, you will have a much better resurrection body
While in this world, the world and the carnal nature of the world will continue to prey on what it perceives as your vital being. Remember that the 'world' is an expression for all things that are not from God. Everything from Satan or everything following the pattern of evil, in other words.
And, while the Bible gives us all of these warnings, primarily because people just do not listen to them, there is the better side of life out there just waiting for you to get you act together.
So, warning after warning, expression after expression, example after example are sent out from the scriptures. Why? Because the penalty for spiritual failure is horrendous and because the prize of spiritual success is beyond anything you can imagine.
You can spend your life ignoring the principles of truth, chasing political candidates, chasing issues of the world, chasing your weekend social activities, sleeping, or whatever and you will end up extremely disappointed when your life ends. Or, you can pursue your spiritual life, now, and end up wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.
There are three fundamental classes of people. There are the poor and they have nothing. There are the rich and they have a lot. But then there are the wealthy, and they have mind boggling resources. Even the rich are poor when compared to the wealthy.
Far, far better to live in the last category, than either of the first two.
These are the differences between a life without God and a life of spiritual maturity.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Job 30:29
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 30:29
29 I am a brother ['ach] to dragons [tanniyn], and a companion [rea`] to owls [bath] [ya`anah]. KJV-Interlinear
29 'I have become a brother to jackals, And a companion of ostriches. NASB
The dragon or jackal is a reference to some unidentifiable dog, wolf, or hyena. The owl or ostrich refers to daughters of answering or daughters of the ostrich, and denotes the similarities of the habits of the wild animal.
Both the jackals and the ostrich are wild animals and live courtesy of the land or wilderness. Their life is typically one of misery, and their cry in the night is a mournful cry or screech.
Job uses a couple of animals generally known for their wild, unidentifiable, or not too bright, nature. But bright enough to be able to survive in the wild. Both of which choose to live away from or secluded from the public view of society. But because of their mournful living conditions, they cry out in the night, for lack of any other way to express their sorrowful life.
The life they have, is the life that they have chosen. The living conditions they have are the conditions they have chosen.
When everywhere around them, better opportunities are available, but their own stubbornness, their own refusal to become a part of a normal social structure, is the only thing that keeps them isolated.
And while keeping to their chosen world, they cry out mournfully in the night for all to hear but unable to see, because of the darkness which surrounds them.
And this is yet another expression of life when God is excluded from ones life. The normal setting and environment for a person was designed by God, and exists within the fellowship sphere. Within that sphere, life is secure and prosperous.
Outside of that sphere, is the desert, the jungle, the isolation from society, normal society, where life is never better than miserable.
However, when people choose to live in that way, then they tend to not notice their discomforts, but take them as a normal part of their life.
Jobs condition was lower than a miserable one. He feels as though he has fallen to the level of wild and mournful animals. And, because of the nature of his disease, he is helpless and unable to change his status.
Such is the power of the carnal life. A life without God. However, there is always a way out, but that requires a change of attitude. And though we have modern medical procedures, modern insurance protection, modern financial structures, often times changing ones attitude is the greatest barrier to getting to a better life.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:29
29 I am a brother ['ach] to dragons [tanniyn], and a companion [rea`] to owls [bath] [ya`anah]. KJV-Interlinear
29 'I have become a brother to jackals, And a companion of ostriches. NASB
The dragon or jackal is a reference to some unidentifiable dog, wolf, or hyena. The owl or ostrich refers to daughters of answering or daughters of the ostrich, and denotes the similarities of the habits of the wild animal.
Both the jackals and the ostrich are wild animals and live courtesy of the land or wilderness. Their life is typically one of misery, and their cry in the night is a mournful cry or screech.
Job uses a couple of animals generally known for their wild, unidentifiable, or not too bright, nature. But bright enough to be able to survive in the wild. Both of which choose to live away from or secluded from the public view of society. But because of their mournful living conditions, they cry out in the night, for lack of any other way to express their sorrowful life.
The life they have, is the life that they have chosen. The living conditions they have are the conditions they have chosen.
When everywhere around them, better opportunities are available, but their own stubbornness, their own refusal to become a part of a normal social structure, is the only thing that keeps them isolated.
And while keeping to their chosen world, they cry out mournfully in the night for all to hear but unable to see, because of the darkness which surrounds them.
And this is yet another expression of life when God is excluded from ones life. The normal setting and environment for a person was designed by God, and exists within the fellowship sphere. Within that sphere, life is secure and prosperous.
Outside of that sphere, is the desert, the jungle, the isolation from society, normal society, where life is never better than miserable.
However, when people choose to live in that way, then they tend to not notice their discomforts, but take them as a normal part of their life.
Jobs condition was lower than a miserable one. He feels as though he has fallen to the level of wild and mournful animals. And, because of the nature of his disease, he is helpless and unable to change his status.
Such is the power of the carnal life. A life without God. However, there is always a way out, but that requires a change of attitude. And though we have modern medical procedures, modern insurance protection, modern financial structures, often times changing ones attitude is the greatest barrier to getting to a better life.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Job 30:28
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 30:28
28 I went [halak] mourning [qadar] without the sun [chammah]: I stood up [quwm], and I cried [shava`] in the congregation [qahal]. KJV-Interlinear
28 'I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. NASB
There are both feminine and masculine reactions to sorrow. The typical feminine reaction is usually expressed in outward crying. The typical masculine expression is usually expressed inwardly. It is a male thing to hide ones emotions in public.
But when sorrow is so great, then even the toughest man cannot hold his tears, even in public.
This is where Job finds himself. This is how we can determine and perhaps understand, the magnitude of his suffering.
Mourning here refers to turbid, muddy, difficult to see through, and a torrent, flood, inundation of pressure and suffering.
'Without the sun,' is a reference to an eclipse where the light is taken away for a short time, but removed nonetheless.
Without God in ones life, there is no possibility of recovery, no possibility of help, nothing that one can look to for relief, and so the suffering, the emotions, the reaction in ones life are beyond description. Helpless and hopeless is the gist here, and with that outlook, the only thing left is tears. But not just any tears, these are tears of terror, utter terror, with no possibility of rescue.
The one and only person who can help is not there. And that one person is Christ.
And, we might add to this, that this is exactly the position in which Christ found Himself on he Cross. Remember that we are learning what life is like when God is not in our life. A good incentive to stick with ones daily studies. But too, Job is a type, a representation, of Christ as He hung for the Cross.
His situation was one of hopelessness in sin and death when He made the ultimate sacrifice in our behalf. No human being could have endured what Christ endured. No human being could have gone where Christ went and then returned.
The magnitude of these descriptions is intended to defy your imagination. They are intended to get you thinking of the phenomenal scale of the very seriousness of life. Such thinking should lead you into wanting to stick with a daily study.
But of course most folks just ignore these words, these warnings, these attempts of the Bible to get them on track in their spiritual life. And the result is obvious, that is to those who actually do get going and stick with their spiritual life. But what is the alternative?
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:28
28 I went [halak] mourning [qadar] without the sun [chammah]: I stood up [quwm], and I cried [shava`] in the congregation [qahal]. KJV-Interlinear
28 'I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. NASB
There are both feminine and masculine reactions to sorrow. The typical feminine reaction is usually expressed in outward crying. The typical masculine expression is usually expressed inwardly. It is a male thing to hide ones emotions in public.
But when sorrow is so great, then even the toughest man cannot hold his tears, even in public.
This is where Job finds himself. This is how we can determine and perhaps understand, the magnitude of his suffering.
Mourning here refers to turbid, muddy, difficult to see through, and a torrent, flood, inundation of pressure and suffering.
'Without the sun,' is a reference to an eclipse where the light is taken away for a short time, but removed nonetheless.
Without God in ones life, there is no possibility of recovery, no possibility of help, nothing that one can look to for relief, and so the suffering, the emotions, the reaction in ones life are beyond description. Helpless and hopeless is the gist here, and with that outlook, the only thing left is tears. But not just any tears, these are tears of terror, utter terror, with no possibility of rescue.
The one and only person who can help is not there. And that one person is Christ.
And, we might add to this, that this is exactly the position in which Christ found Himself on he Cross. Remember that we are learning what life is like when God is not in our life. A good incentive to stick with ones daily studies. But too, Job is a type, a representation, of Christ as He hung for the Cross.
His situation was one of hopelessness in sin and death when He made the ultimate sacrifice in our behalf. No human being could have endured what Christ endured. No human being could have gone where Christ went and then returned.
The magnitude of these descriptions is intended to defy your imagination. They are intended to get you thinking of the phenomenal scale of the very seriousness of life. Such thinking should lead you into wanting to stick with a daily study.
But of course most folks just ignore these words, these warnings, these attempts of the Bible to get them on track in their spiritual life. And the result is obvious, that is to those who actually do get going and stick with their spiritual life. But what is the alternative?
Job 30:27
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 30:27
27 My bowels [me`ah] boiled [rathach], and rested [damam] not: the days [yowm] of affliction [`oniy] prevented [qadam] me. KJV-Interlinear
27 'I am seething within, and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me. NASB
The word for bowels is a reference to the emotions of the person. The word for prevented, means anticipation, or someone or something that waits in anticipation of you and then pounces on you when the time is right.
This is Jobs present condition. This is in the present, not the past and not the future. Under suffering, which is allowed by God, but brought on by things, which follow the pattern of thought of Satan, there is no help.
Without God in ones life, the only result is an overwhelming of ones emotions. Emotions are not a part of the thinking process but a reaction or a response to ones environment or condition. Emotions cannot lift things, cannot think, cannot get things done.
When ones emotions overtake you, then the anxieties, the pressures, the feelings should teach you that you are not and are never in control over the things which the world can throws against you.
Job expresses the emotions of helplessness.
But more than that. These emotions, this condition, which Job is in, was not anticipated by him, but was anticipated by his condition, as though a disease or a disaster has the ability to think or conspire against humanity.
Your best laid plans, regardless of your resources in life, are subject to ambush. No matter how smart, no matter how talented, no matter how rich, no matter how arrogant you are, this world is way ahead of you. In a chess game, it knows the last move, while you are just beginning your first.
Most people of the world will live in poverty or a middle class condition at best. Life will never be what they want. Some people advance to fabulous wealth, and still, in this world, they will discover that life is not going to be what they want. Death, even a disease, overrules everything you can anticipate or prepare for.
And again, the Bible teaches that if you disregard your daily Bible study, you are the fool. The fool for refusing to look at, acknowledge, refusing to accept its warnings.
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Job 30:27
27 My bowels [me`ah] boiled [rathach], and rested [damam] not: the days [yowm] of affliction [`oniy] prevented [qadam] me. KJV-Interlinear
27 'I am seething within, and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me. NASB
The word for bowels is a reference to the emotions of the person. The word for prevented, means anticipation, or someone or something that waits in anticipation of you and then pounces on you when the time is right.
This is Jobs present condition. This is in the present, not the past and not the future. Under suffering, which is allowed by God, but brought on by things, which follow the pattern of thought of Satan, there is no help.
Without God in ones life, the only result is an overwhelming of ones emotions. Emotions are not a part of the thinking process but a reaction or a response to ones environment or condition. Emotions cannot lift things, cannot think, cannot get things done.
When ones emotions overtake you, then the anxieties, the pressures, the feelings should teach you that you are not and are never in control over the things which the world can throws against you.
Job expresses the emotions of helplessness.
But more than that. These emotions, this condition, which Job is in, was not anticipated by him, but was anticipated by his condition, as though a disease or a disaster has the ability to think or conspire against humanity.
Your best laid plans, regardless of your resources in life, are subject to ambush. No matter how smart, no matter how talented, no matter how rich, no matter how arrogant you are, this world is way ahead of you. In a chess game, it knows the last move, while you are just beginning your first.
Most people of the world will live in poverty or a middle class condition at best. Life will never be what they want. Some people advance to fabulous wealth, and still, in this world, they will discover that life is not going to be what they want. Death, even a disease, overrules everything you can anticipate or prepare for.
And again, the Bible teaches that if you disregard your daily Bible study, you are the fool. The fool for refusing to look at, acknowledge, refusing to accept its warnings.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Job 30:26
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 30:26
26 When I looked [qavah] for good [towb], then evil [ra`] came [bow'] unto me: and when I waited [yachal] for light ['owr], there came [bow'] darkness ['ophel]. KJV-Interlinear
26 'When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came. NASB
One of the greatest failures of people in life, come from their unreasonable expectations out of life.
Most of the worlds population look to philosophies, religions, beliefs that are outright lies.
They will be disappointed.
Most of the people of civilized cultures, look to the many standards, which they have set up to insure their continued prosperity, or their continued beliefs in the standards which they have established for themselves.
They will be disappointed.
We are now beginning the political season for our national elections. Many people look to their own beliefs in this principle or that principle, which they have decided is better than the other guys set of principles. The struggle is for power regardless of what anyone thinks.
But in the end of it all, Jesus Christ controls history. He may allow the people to have what they want, or He may impose some set of circumstances in order to drive history in a direction of His choosing, regardless of what the people want. In either case, Gods plan is better than mans, though man will celebrate his victory regardless of the outcome.
Job explains here, exactly what Solomon said, 'All is vanity.'
That simply means that anything and everything from this world is worthless emptiness.
Sure you have issues that are important to you - taxes, abortion, war, work, inflation, the cost of insurance, the cost of gasoline, environment, illegal aliens, and this list can go on and on. But, what good are any of them, if you have no spiritual life?
Your life here on this earth is temporary. Human history is temporary. This world exists only on a temporary basis. If the worlds people paid as much attention to their spiritual lives as they do to their own opinions, then this world would have no problems. We would already be in the Millennium. No, we would already be in the eternal state!
But no. Humanity cannot accelerate Gods plan. Humanity cannot attain Gods objectives.
We expect one thing and get another. We make plans, and then life happens. Something should tell us that we are not in control. But then, who is going to believe the Bible anyway?
One day, life will teach you the very seriousness of life. When is that going to happen in your life?
We will all vote eventually, for our favorite candidate. That is a responsible action for everyone. But more important, we should all get serious about our Bible study. After all, candidates will come and go. Some we will like, and others we will not like.
Life will continue in accordance with Gods plan, and man will continue to expect one thing and get another. Man will continue to make issues in life, more important than spiritual growth. Man will continue to disregard Bible doctrine, and therein will be the source of mans eventual surprise.
Life is serious. Your spiritual life is the single most important thing that you will ever have in our life. It means the difference between the Lake of Fire or heaven. It means the difference between the normal blessings of heaven, and the phenomenal beyond imagination blessings of heaven. Both sets of differences are infinite in their nature.
But then, none of this means anything to you, if you don't really care. There are just too many issues that are more important to folks in life. More important than doctrine. They are easily insulted, or become easily defensive over issues when Bible doctrine does not genuinely exist in their life.
And then, most folks won't really care until they encounter real, repeat, real disaster in their life.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:26
26 When I looked [qavah] for good [towb], then evil [ra`] came [bow'] unto me: and when I waited [yachal] for light ['owr], there came [bow'] darkness ['ophel]. KJV-Interlinear
26 'When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came. NASB
One of the greatest failures of people in life, come from their unreasonable expectations out of life.
Most of the worlds population look to philosophies, religions, beliefs that are outright lies.
They will be disappointed.
Most of the people of civilized cultures, look to the many standards, which they have set up to insure their continued prosperity, or their continued beliefs in the standards which they have established for themselves.
They will be disappointed.
We are now beginning the political season for our national elections. Many people look to their own beliefs in this principle or that principle, which they have decided is better than the other guys set of principles. The struggle is for power regardless of what anyone thinks.
But in the end of it all, Jesus Christ controls history. He may allow the people to have what they want, or He may impose some set of circumstances in order to drive history in a direction of His choosing, regardless of what the people want. In either case, Gods plan is better than mans, though man will celebrate his victory regardless of the outcome.
Job explains here, exactly what Solomon said, 'All is vanity.'
That simply means that anything and everything from this world is worthless emptiness.
Sure you have issues that are important to you - taxes, abortion, war, work, inflation, the cost of insurance, the cost of gasoline, environment, illegal aliens, and this list can go on and on. But, what good are any of them, if you have no spiritual life?
Your life here on this earth is temporary. Human history is temporary. This world exists only on a temporary basis. If the worlds people paid as much attention to their spiritual lives as they do to their own opinions, then this world would have no problems. We would already be in the Millennium. No, we would already be in the eternal state!
But no. Humanity cannot accelerate Gods plan. Humanity cannot attain Gods objectives.
We expect one thing and get another. We make plans, and then life happens. Something should tell us that we are not in control. But then, who is going to believe the Bible anyway?
One day, life will teach you the very seriousness of life. When is that going to happen in your life?
We will all vote eventually, for our favorite candidate. That is a responsible action for everyone. But more important, we should all get serious about our Bible study. After all, candidates will come and go. Some we will like, and others we will not like.
Life will continue in accordance with Gods plan, and man will continue to expect one thing and get another. Man will continue to make issues in life, more important than spiritual growth. Man will continue to disregard Bible doctrine, and therein will be the source of mans eventual surprise.
Life is serious. Your spiritual life is the single most important thing that you will ever have in our life. It means the difference between the Lake of Fire or heaven. It means the difference between the normal blessings of heaven, and the phenomenal beyond imagination blessings of heaven. Both sets of differences are infinite in their nature.
But then, none of this means anything to you, if you don't really care. There are just too many issues that are more important to folks in life. More important than doctrine. They are easily insulted, or become easily defensive over issues when Bible doctrine does not genuinely exist in their life.
And then, most folks won't really care until they encounter real, repeat, real disaster in their life.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Job 30:25
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 30:25
25 Did not I weep [bakah] for him that was in trouble [qasheh] [yowm]? was not my soul [nephesh] grieved [`agam] for the poor ['ebyown]? KJV-Interlinear
25 'Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? NASB
In times of prosperity and good fortune, Job felt deeply for those who suffered. Job was not indifferent. Job was not insulted or embarrassed by those that were afflicted. Job did not consider himself greater than, or superior than, or inconvenienced by those who suffered.
Job was generous in his charity, and promoted and supported the teachings of God.
Likewise in his own suffering, he expects no less from his friends, who were so loyal when he was successful … but now somehow they have been insulted by their former relationship with Job. As though Job has somehow cheated them, or deceived them into their relationship.
When things (outside of the marriage) go badly in a marriage, does a wife accuse her husband? Do friends blame friends because of the inconvenience or embarrassment of the friendship? And certainly no one should presume that they are above or exempt from such sufferings. Nor should they be embarrassed by them, nor blame others, when they strike.
Losing ones job can be difficult, but losing ones social status, can be devastating. Especially when there are others among you, that will ostracize or snub you because of the perceived weakness in you.
People can be cruel, and certainly those whose life swings with the circumstances of life, can be extremely shallow and cruel.
But there is one, and only one within this universe, who will not betray you nor stand apart from you when you life turns south. That is Jesus Christ.
God does not turn his back on the positive believer. Whether your life is awash in prosperity or smothering in disaster, makes no difference. The content of your soul, not your pocketbook, is what matters to God. After all, it is God who fills or drains your pocketbook anyway.
When the suffering of others stands before your life, you should be humble and kind as much as possible. One day, you may well be suffering in similar of worse conditions.
We have all seen people who happen to be under dire straits in life. Sometimes we see them on the television, we see them in other countries, we see them standing on street exit ramps. Suffering is not new and will never go away.
Pretending that they do not exist, will not make them go away. But acknowledging their existence, even if only to preserve your own humility, is far better than the arrogant alternative.
Charity is mandated by God. Charity comes from the heart. If one is not charitable, nor supportive of truth, then how can one expect help from God for themselves?
In this world, everyone needs help in one way or another. In the spiritual life, we all need help from God. Should He treat us, as we have treated others? Should He support us, as we have supported others? Should He be as loyal to us as we have been loyal to Him?
Can you expect more than you are willing to give of yourself?
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Job 30:25
25 Did not I weep [bakah] for him that was in trouble [qasheh] [yowm]? was not my soul [nephesh] grieved [`agam] for the poor ['ebyown]? KJV-Interlinear
25 'Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? NASB
In times of prosperity and good fortune, Job felt deeply for those who suffered. Job was not indifferent. Job was not insulted or embarrassed by those that were afflicted. Job did not consider himself greater than, or superior than, or inconvenienced by those who suffered.
Job was generous in his charity, and promoted and supported the teachings of God.
Likewise in his own suffering, he expects no less from his friends, who were so loyal when he was successful … but now somehow they have been insulted by their former relationship with Job. As though Job has somehow cheated them, or deceived them into their relationship.
When things (outside of the marriage) go badly in a marriage, does a wife accuse her husband? Do friends blame friends because of the inconvenience or embarrassment of the friendship? And certainly no one should presume that they are above or exempt from such sufferings. Nor should they be embarrassed by them, nor blame others, when they strike.
Losing ones job can be difficult, but losing ones social status, can be devastating. Especially when there are others among you, that will ostracize or snub you because of the perceived weakness in you.
People can be cruel, and certainly those whose life swings with the circumstances of life, can be extremely shallow and cruel.
But there is one, and only one within this universe, who will not betray you nor stand apart from you when you life turns south. That is Jesus Christ.
God does not turn his back on the positive believer. Whether your life is awash in prosperity or smothering in disaster, makes no difference. The content of your soul, not your pocketbook, is what matters to God. After all, it is God who fills or drains your pocketbook anyway.
When the suffering of others stands before your life, you should be humble and kind as much as possible. One day, you may well be suffering in similar of worse conditions.
We have all seen people who happen to be under dire straits in life. Sometimes we see them on the television, we see them in other countries, we see them standing on street exit ramps. Suffering is not new and will never go away.
Pretending that they do not exist, will not make them go away. But acknowledging their existence, even if only to preserve your own humility, is far better than the arrogant alternative.
Charity is mandated by God. Charity comes from the heart. If one is not charitable, nor supportive of truth, then how can one expect help from God for themselves?
In this world, everyone needs help in one way or another. In the spiritual life, we all need help from God. Should He treat us, as we have treated others? Should He support us, as we have supported others? Should He be as loyal to us as we have been loyal to Him?
Can you expect more than you are willing to give of yourself?
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Job 30:24
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 30:24
24 Howbeit he will not stretch out [shalach] his hand [yad] to the grave [ba`iy], though they cry [shuwa`] in his destruction [piyd]. KJV-Interlinear
24 'Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help? NASB
Once you understand the very character and nature of God and life, then anything that occurs in your life, even in history should never come as a shock or a surprise to you.
This is the devils world and as such, there is great evil within it. God does not wish suffering or agony on anyone, but Satan who is the greatest complainer of all time, challenges everything that is good. Therefore, we are all subject to and exposed to the complaints of Satan's inevitable attempts to defeat God.
In every possible situation in history, God can demonstrate that His plan, even in the face of Satan's challenges, is greater than anything, than any alternate plan of his.
God is well able to deliver anyone from any possible situation in history. And though there will always be those who will complain in every situation, there will always be those, though few, who will see the truth of the situation and keep on looking to God for relief.
During life, is the only time when the world can attack us. After death, when God has removed us from this world, then neither Satan nor the evil of the world can reach us. Therefore, into the grave the hand of God, prevents the hand of evil from going.
Once we die, there is no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death, for those who have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ controls history. He does this in three ways. First, God may control history through the direct action of His own power. He created the universe, angels, life and so forth. Second, God may control history through the laws of divine establishment - volition, marriage, family, principles of free enterprise economics, nationalism, freedom, liberty, justice through due process and so forth. Third, God may control history through the free will operation of creature volition. God permits men and angels to think freely, to make decisions and to act on them even if those decisions are bad ones.
In life we will face suffering from four general areas of life. First, from our own thoughts. Second, from the thoughts and actions of other people. Third, from the activities of bureaucracies or systems of the world. And fourth, from natural physical or planet disasters (handicaps, bad genetics, disease, earthquakes, etc.).
All of these may apply in your life, but only during your life. When death seizes you, then the worlds actions against you, are stopped. God permits disaster in life, but not in death.
Once you have believed in Christ, then suffering cannot follow you into the grave. In death there is relief and a lifting of all burdens, completely and permanently from your life.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:24
24 Howbeit he will not stretch out [shalach] his hand [yad] to the grave [ba`iy], though they cry [shuwa`] in his destruction [piyd]. KJV-Interlinear
24 'Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help? NASB
Once you understand the very character and nature of God and life, then anything that occurs in your life, even in history should never come as a shock or a surprise to you.
This is the devils world and as such, there is great evil within it. God does not wish suffering or agony on anyone, but Satan who is the greatest complainer of all time, challenges everything that is good. Therefore, we are all subject to and exposed to the complaints of Satan's inevitable attempts to defeat God.
In every possible situation in history, God can demonstrate that His plan, even in the face of Satan's challenges, is greater than anything, than any alternate plan of his.
God is well able to deliver anyone from any possible situation in history. And though there will always be those who will complain in every situation, there will always be those, though few, who will see the truth of the situation and keep on looking to God for relief.
During life, is the only time when the world can attack us. After death, when God has removed us from this world, then neither Satan nor the evil of the world can reach us. Therefore, into the grave the hand of God, prevents the hand of evil from going.
Once we die, there is no more sorrow, no more pain, no more death, for those who have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ controls history. He does this in three ways. First, God may control history through the direct action of His own power. He created the universe, angels, life and so forth. Second, God may control history through the laws of divine establishment - volition, marriage, family, principles of free enterprise economics, nationalism, freedom, liberty, justice through due process and so forth. Third, God may control history through the free will operation of creature volition. God permits men and angels to think freely, to make decisions and to act on them even if those decisions are bad ones.
In life we will face suffering from four general areas of life. First, from our own thoughts. Second, from the thoughts and actions of other people. Third, from the activities of bureaucracies or systems of the world. And fourth, from natural physical or planet disasters (handicaps, bad genetics, disease, earthquakes, etc.).
All of these may apply in your life, but only during your life. When death seizes you, then the worlds actions against you, are stopped. God permits disaster in life, but not in death.
Once you have believed in Christ, then suffering cannot follow you into the grave. In death there is relief and a lifting of all burdens, completely and permanently from your life.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Job 30:23
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 30:23
23 For I know [yada`] that thou wilt bring [shuwb] me to death [maveth], and to the house [bayith] appointed [mow`ed] for all living [chay]. KJV-Interlinear
23 'For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living. NASB
Well, whether by coincidence or design, we end this year and begin the new year with the confidence and promise that one day we will all die.
Interesting that we fall on this verse on this day in history.
The best instrument and arrogance killer, death, is the finality of all of our lives here on this earth.
Who controls life as well as death? God. And specifically Jesus Christ, unto whom all power and authority has been given.
There is no one else and no thing, in heaven, in this universe, on or under the earth who can stand up and say that he or it, can command life and death at his will.
And yet the world is full of those who have talent and celebrityship who believe that they are somehow greater than life and death. There are those who lack talent and lack celebrityship who believe that they are somehow greater than life and death. There are those who believe that they can imagine or conjure up true beliefs at will, and that everything they believe is true.
And so a truth deficient world lives in delusion. Believing that every catastrophe is a challenge for human ingenuity to overcome, that every issue is a reality designed to alter mans standards of life, that every imagination becomes the ultimate destiny of man - without God.
And yet, man, though he perpetuates biological life, does not create human life. Man who races toward knowledge, cannot save himself.
Life is as elusive from mans control as is his ability to prevent death.
God appoints life and God appoints death.
For all there is an appointment to die, once at the very least. And beyond death we have no control except during life when we can either accept or reject Christ.
We have no control, no real control, over the details of our life, in this life. Just living from day to day should be enough of an education to prove that. How much less control, do we have over our physical death?
This new years eve, people all over the world will celebrate the departure of the old year ('07) and the ringing in of a new one ('08). And yet, will they see the challenge that God will lay before them?
With each passing heartbeat, with each passing month and year, we all advance toward our ultimate departure from this life. For some it will be sooner. For others it will be later. But for all death will arrive for certain.
The parties of this world will last for a while and then they will cease and be forgotten.
In the spiritual life, the hardships of this life will last for a little while and then be forgotten, and then the parties of eternity will last forever.
This past year we have spent all of out time in the Book of Job. Job has revealed more than just the suffering nature of human life. Job has revealed Gods ultimate control over all aspects of life, and that living under Gods control, life is always better, regardless of ones circumstances, than it would be outside of Gods control.
One more year has vanished right before our eyes. What have you learned?
Another year lay before us, what are you determined to learn?
I hope and pray that this holiday season has been good to you, and that this coming year will greet you with greater blessings than you can imagine. Even in suffering.
From the depths of my soul, I wish to thank all who have continued to support this Bible study. From my family to yours, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
'And now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you without blemish before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory, and majesty, and dominion and power, before time, now, and forever. Amen.'
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:23
23 For I know [yada`] that thou wilt bring [shuwb] me to death [maveth], and to the house [bayith] appointed [mow`ed] for all living [chay]. KJV-Interlinear
23 'For I know that Thou wilt bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living. NASB
Well, whether by coincidence or design, we end this year and begin the new year with the confidence and promise that one day we will all die.
Interesting that we fall on this verse on this day in history.
The best instrument and arrogance killer, death, is the finality of all of our lives here on this earth.
Who controls life as well as death? God. And specifically Jesus Christ, unto whom all power and authority has been given.
There is no one else and no thing, in heaven, in this universe, on or under the earth who can stand up and say that he or it, can command life and death at his will.
And yet the world is full of those who have talent and celebrityship who believe that they are somehow greater than life and death. There are those who lack talent and lack celebrityship who believe that they are somehow greater than life and death. There are those who believe that they can imagine or conjure up true beliefs at will, and that everything they believe is true.
And so a truth deficient world lives in delusion. Believing that every catastrophe is a challenge for human ingenuity to overcome, that every issue is a reality designed to alter mans standards of life, that every imagination becomes the ultimate destiny of man - without God.
And yet, man, though he perpetuates biological life, does not create human life. Man who races toward knowledge, cannot save himself.
Life is as elusive from mans control as is his ability to prevent death.
God appoints life and God appoints death.
For all there is an appointment to die, once at the very least. And beyond death we have no control except during life when we can either accept or reject Christ.
We have no control, no real control, over the details of our life, in this life. Just living from day to day should be enough of an education to prove that. How much less control, do we have over our physical death?
This new years eve, people all over the world will celebrate the departure of the old year ('07) and the ringing in of a new one ('08). And yet, will they see the challenge that God will lay before them?
With each passing heartbeat, with each passing month and year, we all advance toward our ultimate departure from this life. For some it will be sooner. For others it will be later. But for all death will arrive for certain.
The parties of this world will last for a while and then they will cease and be forgotten.
In the spiritual life, the hardships of this life will last for a little while and then be forgotten, and then the parties of eternity will last forever.
This past year we have spent all of out time in the Book of Job. Job has revealed more than just the suffering nature of human life. Job has revealed Gods ultimate control over all aspects of life, and that living under Gods control, life is always better, regardless of ones circumstances, than it would be outside of Gods control.
One more year has vanished right before our eyes. What have you learned?
Another year lay before us, what are you determined to learn?
I hope and pray that this holiday season has been good to you, and that this coming year will greet you with greater blessings than you can imagine. Even in suffering.
From the depths of my soul, I wish to thank all who have continued to support this Bible study. From my family to yours, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
'And now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you without blemish before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, even Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory, and majesty, and dominion and power, before time, now, and forever. Amen.'
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Job 30:21-22
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 30:21-22
21 Thou art become [haphak] cruel ['akzar] to me: with thy strong [`otsem] hand [yad] thou opposest [satam] thyself against me.
22 Thou liftest me up [nasa'] to the wind [ruwach]; thou causest me to ride [rakab] upon it, and dissolvest [muwg] my substance [tuwshiyah] [shavah]. KJV-Interlinear
21 'Thou hast become cruel to me; With the might of Thy hand Thou dost persecute me. 22 'Thou dost lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And Thou dost dissolve me in a storm. NASB
How much control do we have over our lives? None, when it comes to the day-to-day activities in this life.
In chapter ten, Job recognized that it is God who put his life together. And now here, it is God who takes ones life apart, piece by piece, bit by bit.
God can approach our lives in blessing or in cursing. We are all subject to judgment, discipline, testing, or blessing.
Judgment is one of the worse possible relationships that you can have with God. Discipline, if something bad is to happen in your life, is the preferred relationship. Discipline is correctional and intended to get you back on track where you have wavered off of the path of life which God prefers you to follow.
Testing, is an enhancement of your spiritual life. Testing is intended to accelerate your spiritual life.
And of course blessing is preferred by all.
But in these verses, Job sets out the contrast in Gods policy towards humanity. It is God who controls history, not man. It is God who directs the flow of history, not man. Everything in your life was foreseen by God in eternity past and likewise He made provision for every aspect of your life.
You do not have the privilege of setting down in your life and doing nothing. God has set out mandates for you, in order to teach you responsibility, and to see if you really learn.
In everything, we study, we review, and apply to life, the principles we learn. Often time's people learn the wrong things. They learn shortcuts, or indifference, and try to improve on Gods plan for their life. Those approaches always fail.
Many times, you may have certain objectives for your life, and then something beyond your control occurs, which cancels out your plans and substitutes something else. Perhaps something you never intended, or would not do on your own. As they say, there are your plans, and then there is life.
Life is the revelation to you, of Gods plan for your life. When you study and grow up spiritually, then there will be a compatibility between Gods plan and your thoughts and actions. When you are negative toward God, then you will sooner or later, face these verses.
The winds and storms of life will toss you about like dust. And especially when you think you have some semblance of control over your life, you will be caught by surprise.
Job was not a bad person. Job was a spiritually mature person. Yet his life was turned upside down in order to provide us all, instruction and an opportunity to learn for ourselves.
We can learn the easy way, by study and instruction. Or we can learn the hard way, by life's experiences.
Regardless of your learning approach to life, you will always come face to face with suffering experiences. Hopefully it will be for the purpose of reinforcing your already established faith.
Jobs faith was strong. He has known great prosperity and happiness, and now faces great suffering and loss, yet he never criticizes nor blames God.
Your life rests in Gods hands completely. Better to be under His blessing policy designed to teach you and help you grow up through study and experience, than to be under His cursing policy, designed to hammer your entrenched arrogance and stubbornness toward change.
This is the devils world for now. Until the end of history, we will just have to endure what the world throws at us. In doctrine that will be easy. With spiritual deficiency that will be difficult.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:21-22
21 Thou art become [haphak] cruel ['akzar] to me: with thy strong [`otsem] hand [yad] thou opposest [satam] thyself against me.
22 Thou liftest me up [nasa'] to the wind [ruwach]; thou causest me to ride [rakab] upon it, and dissolvest [muwg] my substance [tuwshiyah] [shavah]. KJV-Interlinear
21 'Thou hast become cruel to me; With the might of Thy hand Thou dost persecute me. 22 'Thou dost lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And Thou dost dissolve me in a storm. NASB
How much control do we have over our lives? None, when it comes to the day-to-day activities in this life.
In chapter ten, Job recognized that it is God who put his life together. And now here, it is God who takes ones life apart, piece by piece, bit by bit.
God can approach our lives in blessing or in cursing. We are all subject to judgment, discipline, testing, or blessing.
Judgment is one of the worse possible relationships that you can have with God. Discipline, if something bad is to happen in your life, is the preferred relationship. Discipline is correctional and intended to get you back on track where you have wavered off of the path of life which God prefers you to follow.
Testing, is an enhancement of your spiritual life. Testing is intended to accelerate your spiritual life.
And of course blessing is preferred by all.
But in these verses, Job sets out the contrast in Gods policy towards humanity. It is God who controls history, not man. It is God who directs the flow of history, not man. Everything in your life was foreseen by God in eternity past and likewise He made provision for every aspect of your life.
You do not have the privilege of setting down in your life and doing nothing. God has set out mandates for you, in order to teach you responsibility, and to see if you really learn.
In everything, we study, we review, and apply to life, the principles we learn. Often time's people learn the wrong things. They learn shortcuts, or indifference, and try to improve on Gods plan for their life. Those approaches always fail.
Many times, you may have certain objectives for your life, and then something beyond your control occurs, which cancels out your plans and substitutes something else. Perhaps something you never intended, or would not do on your own. As they say, there are your plans, and then there is life.
Life is the revelation to you, of Gods plan for your life. When you study and grow up spiritually, then there will be a compatibility between Gods plan and your thoughts and actions. When you are negative toward God, then you will sooner or later, face these verses.
The winds and storms of life will toss you about like dust. And especially when you think you have some semblance of control over your life, you will be caught by surprise.
Job was not a bad person. Job was a spiritually mature person. Yet his life was turned upside down in order to provide us all, instruction and an opportunity to learn for ourselves.
We can learn the easy way, by study and instruction. Or we can learn the hard way, by life's experiences.
Regardless of your learning approach to life, you will always come face to face with suffering experiences. Hopefully it will be for the purpose of reinforcing your already established faith.
Jobs faith was strong. He has known great prosperity and happiness, and now faces great suffering and loss, yet he never criticizes nor blames God.
Your life rests in Gods hands completely. Better to be under His blessing policy designed to teach you and help you grow up through study and experience, than to be under His cursing policy, designed to hammer your entrenched arrogance and stubbornness toward change.
This is the devils world for now. Until the end of history, we will just have to endure what the world throws at us. In doctrine that will be easy. With spiritual deficiency that will be difficult.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Job 30:19-20
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 30:19-20
19 He hath cast [yarah] me into the mire [chomer], and I am become like [mashal] dust [`aphar] and ashes ['epher].
20 I cry [shava`] unto thee, and thou dost not hear [`anah] me: I stand up [`amad], and thou regardest [biyn] me not. KJV-Interlinear
19 'He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes. 20 'I cry out to Thee for help, but Thou dost not answer me; I stand up, and Thou dost turn Thy attention against me. NASB
The 'mire,' is the lowest depths of misery, depression, gloom, wretchedness and degradation or depravation that one can imagine. It is the worst possible situation that one can find himself in, in life, with no hope, no possible outlook for anything better in life.
And who is it that placed Job in this position? God.
Through His permissive will, God allowed Satan to harass Job and to drive him to this lowest point in life.
Like dust and ashes, Job feels and is in a total state of worthlessness.
God often times allows the world to have at us, just to test our spiritual toughness.
He cries out. He prays. When in a crowd, and the earth and the human race is a crowd, then one has to stand up in order to be seen and heard. Back in those days, standing when offering prayer, raising ones arms in helpless appeal was the honorable and humble practice.
And yet God, seemingly, ignores Jobs appeals. Why is that?
God does not ignore anything in life. Jesus Christ controls history. 'Before you call, I will answer. While you speak, I will hear.'
God made provision for every aspect of your life, in eternity past. And when you actually send up your prayer, He hears and applies his previously established answer in your real time.
God is not a genie. God is not a fast food drive up window. Everything in time, takes time, as God welds His will across the almost infinite possibilities of circumstances and interactions of everyone in your periphery and on the planet, and across generations prior to you and generations to come.
The details of life are so complex that for humanity, even with ten-thousand supercomputers it would be impossible to figure it all out.
Jesus Christ controls history. The politicians, the economists, the environmentalists, the philosophers, no one in history has ever, nor will ever, be able to control history.
Mans plans are based on his sin nature. Gods plans are based on truth.
To follow or pursue ones own plans for life is a fools pursuit. When God is not in your life, then this verse applies. Life places you down in the dumps of despair and ruin. You have nothing, even if you do not realize it, and you will never have anything even if you reject that idea.
The absolute worst possible place that anyone can be in, is in the place where God has abandoned.
To follow Gods plans is something that only the wise can figure out. And that figuring out process comes only from the study of the scriptures ... daily.
Anyone with God in their life, will never be at risk. Anyone without God in their life will never be safe.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:19-20
19 He hath cast [yarah] me into the mire [chomer], and I am become like [mashal] dust [`aphar] and ashes ['epher].
20 I cry [shava`] unto thee, and thou dost not hear [`anah] me: I stand up [`amad], and thou regardest [biyn] me not. KJV-Interlinear
19 'He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes. 20 'I cry out to Thee for help, but Thou dost not answer me; I stand up, and Thou dost turn Thy attention against me. NASB
The 'mire,' is the lowest depths of misery, depression, gloom, wretchedness and degradation or depravation that one can imagine. It is the worst possible situation that one can find himself in, in life, with no hope, no possible outlook for anything better in life.
And who is it that placed Job in this position? God.
Through His permissive will, God allowed Satan to harass Job and to drive him to this lowest point in life.
Like dust and ashes, Job feels and is in a total state of worthlessness.
God often times allows the world to have at us, just to test our spiritual toughness.
He cries out. He prays. When in a crowd, and the earth and the human race is a crowd, then one has to stand up in order to be seen and heard. Back in those days, standing when offering prayer, raising ones arms in helpless appeal was the honorable and humble practice.
And yet God, seemingly, ignores Jobs appeals. Why is that?
God does not ignore anything in life. Jesus Christ controls history. 'Before you call, I will answer. While you speak, I will hear.'
God made provision for every aspect of your life, in eternity past. And when you actually send up your prayer, He hears and applies his previously established answer in your real time.
God is not a genie. God is not a fast food drive up window. Everything in time, takes time, as God welds His will across the almost infinite possibilities of circumstances and interactions of everyone in your periphery and on the planet, and across generations prior to you and generations to come.
The details of life are so complex that for humanity, even with ten-thousand supercomputers it would be impossible to figure it all out.
Jesus Christ controls history. The politicians, the economists, the environmentalists, the philosophers, no one in history has ever, nor will ever, be able to control history.
Mans plans are based on his sin nature. Gods plans are based on truth.
To follow or pursue ones own plans for life is a fools pursuit. When God is not in your life, then this verse applies. Life places you down in the dumps of despair and ruin. You have nothing, even if you do not realize it, and you will never have anything even if you reject that idea.
The absolute worst possible place that anyone can be in, is in the place where God has abandoned.
To follow Gods plans is something that only the wise can figure out. And that figuring out process comes only from the study of the scriptures ... daily.
Anyone with God in their life, will never be at risk. Anyone without God in their life will never be safe.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Job 30:17-18
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 30:17-18
17 My bones [`etsem] are pierced [naqar] in me in the night season [layil]: and my sinews [`araq] take no rest [shakab].
18 By the great [rob] force [koach] of my disease is my garment [labuwsh] changed [chaphas]: it bindeth me about ['azar] as the collar [peh] of my coat [kathoneth]. KJV-Interlinear
17 'At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest. 18 'By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat. NASB
Job is under mental stress, and he is obviously suffering from extreme physical stress and discomfort.
He hurts all the way to his bones. Even his bones ache. His muscles, his joints, everything that moves aches. He cannot sleep at night. He cannot find any rest because of the extremeness of the disease that has encamped on him.
Normal people wear clothing for comfort and protection from the elements. But Jobs disease has taken on the role of clothing. This is a representation of course. His disease has so encapsulated him that he feels like it is a tightly fitted set of clothing wrapped around him such that he cannot remove it, cannot change it, he can't even wash it away.
Such is the disease that one cannot get rid of, and therefore has become enslaved to.
Such is the attack of the world.
When we are born, we are born physically alive, but spiritually dead. Our spiritual death is evidenced by the physical sin nature, which is resident within the physical body. It is there. It is permanent. You cannot rid yourself of it. And therefore, that is why the physical body will be discarded when we die. Eventually it will be replaced by an eternal resurrection body for believers. One that is incorruptible.
Unbelievers will also be resurrected into a body of some type for their permanent residence in the Lake of Fire, but that body is never described. It will not be a very desirable one.
In eternity, we will have a physical resurrection body, incorruptible and undefiled. A body that will be able to withstand life forever.
But on this earth, in this life, we must deal with corruptible bodies. Bodies subject to disease, accidents, disabilities, imperfections and so forth.
When you are young, you are full of vigor and vinegar and bulletproof. If you have never been really sick or injured, then your perspective in life is one of the illusion that things will continue more or less indefinitely as they are.
What a shock when trouble finally enters into your life. And if trouble never strikes, old age certainly will.
It is far better to endure some form of suffering in life, if only to put your arrogance and perspective of life in check, and bring you back to the reality that you are not invincible. And to remind you that you do need God in your life.
None of us are so independent that we possess total control over our own destiny. Unless you believe that you can control the weather, the economies of the world, or your own health for that matter. If nothing else, age will set you straight on that.
But as with Job, God can allow life to hammer you so bad, while still keeping you alive, that you will wish that you were dead, even that you had never been born. Do you remember Job wishing for those things?
Suffering is a great reality check, and arrogance annihilator.
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Job 30:17-18
17 My bones [`etsem] are pierced [naqar] in me in the night season [layil]: and my sinews [`araq] take no rest [shakab].
18 By the great [rob] force [koach] of my disease is my garment [labuwsh] changed [chaphas]: it bindeth me about ['azar] as the collar [peh] of my coat [kathoneth]. KJV-Interlinear
17 'At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest. 18 'By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat. NASB
Job is under mental stress, and he is obviously suffering from extreme physical stress and discomfort.
He hurts all the way to his bones. Even his bones ache. His muscles, his joints, everything that moves aches. He cannot sleep at night. He cannot find any rest because of the extremeness of the disease that has encamped on him.
Normal people wear clothing for comfort and protection from the elements. But Jobs disease has taken on the role of clothing. This is a representation of course. His disease has so encapsulated him that he feels like it is a tightly fitted set of clothing wrapped around him such that he cannot remove it, cannot change it, he can't even wash it away.
Such is the disease that one cannot get rid of, and therefore has become enslaved to.
Such is the attack of the world.
When we are born, we are born physically alive, but spiritually dead. Our spiritual death is evidenced by the physical sin nature, which is resident within the physical body. It is there. It is permanent. You cannot rid yourself of it. And therefore, that is why the physical body will be discarded when we die. Eventually it will be replaced by an eternal resurrection body for believers. One that is incorruptible.
Unbelievers will also be resurrected into a body of some type for their permanent residence in the Lake of Fire, but that body is never described. It will not be a very desirable one.
In eternity, we will have a physical resurrection body, incorruptible and undefiled. A body that will be able to withstand life forever.
But on this earth, in this life, we must deal with corruptible bodies. Bodies subject to disease, accidents, disabilities, imperfections and so forth.
When you are young, you are full of vigor and vinegar and bulletproof. If you have never been really sick or injured, then your perspective in life is one of the illusion that things will continue more or less indefinitely as they are.
What a shock when trouble finally enters into your life. And if trouble never strikes, old age certainly will.
It is far better to endure some form of suffering in life, if only to put your arrogance and perspective of life in check, and bring you back to the reality that you are not invincible. And to remind you that you do need God in your life.
None of us are so independent that we possess total control over our own destiny. Unless you believe that you can control the weather, the economies of the world, or your own health for that matter. If nothing else, age will set you straight on that.
But as with Job, God can allow life to hammer you so bad, while still keeping you alive, that you will wish that you were dead, even that you had never been born. Do you remember Job wishing for those things?
Suffering is a great reality check, and arrogance annihilator.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Job 30:16
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 30:16
16 And now my soul [nephesh] is poured out [shaphak] upon me; the days [yowm] of affliction [`oniy] have taken hold ['achaz] upon me. KJV-Interlinear
16 'And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me. NASB
Illness, stress, pressure and such will take their toll sooner or later, if the pressures of life are allowed to continue.
And Job is no better or worse than any other person when it comes to suffering. The powers that be in this world will take advantage whenever it is to their advantage. And the powers that be are not always identifiable.
Often time's things just do not work out. There doesn't have to be an identifiable person or organization to which you can point and say, 'They are my problem.' Sometimes it is just bad karma, for lack of a better word. I could use the words fate, chance, luck, and so forth. But karma is kind of a cool sounding word.
'When it rains it pours,' is another way to look at trouble that can visit you.
Job has already described the attitudes of some people, who will not have any sympathy for you, when times are tough. But his description is not limited to just people. Often times circumstances fall apart for you and your plans, your hopes, everything that should work out for you, just don't seem to work, and for no rational reason. Kind of like someone stepped on you and the smell of dog doodoo is apparent to everyone but you. Or, at least you begin to think that something like that has happened to you.
And the bad luck, the bad life just continues. Stress, worry, pain, and everything that you can imagine, mount up in your life.
This is Jobs description in these next few verses.
Your heart aches. Being human, anyone can be stricken with anxiety, so much so that it can make them nauseous when the mental worries become too much.
Job has been pushed to the edge of life. He has lost his family, his wealth, his health, and even his wife has been less than nice to him. His friends have been sitting nearby, initially waiting for him to die, and then condemning him for living a deceitfully wicked life.
And to what purpose?
As far as Job was concerned, none of this made any sense. But he would figure it all out later. As far as we are concerned, we need to learn that anything we desire or hold dear to our hearts in life, can be taken away from us. Life can fall apart in a heartbeat and there is nothing that we can do to stop it.
But then, life in this world was never designed to continue forever anyway. Our primary purpose in this life is to prepare ourselves for the next life. Bible doctrine and spiritual growth can never be taken away, not by anyone.
This does not mean that we sit back and do nothing. Part of growing up spiritually, is being responsible. And God did not place us in this world for no reason. We have been placed here to utilize our talents, whatever they might be, to learn, to understand, and to grow up. Much of growing up requires learning from life. You cannot learn anxiety or happiness from a book only. Experience is one of the best teachers.
And, we do not have to look very far, nor wait very long before the world gives us examples of a troubled world. The assassination in Pakistan is a good example of the instability and evil in the world, which will never go away, but cannot be ignored.
Even so, regardless of everything that can happen in life to us, if we are prepared spiritually, then nothing in this world can cause real or permanent harm to us.
Jesus Christ controls history.
The world cannot control history. The terrorists cannot control history. Government policies cannot control history. Philosophies, technology, nothing in this world will ever manage to take control over life or history.
So, in this world, the circumstances that we might come face to face with, will never ever get the better of us, if … we stick with our daily study of Gods word.
Whatever we face in life, is there for a reason. Nothing happens by accident. So learn from them, because God probably has something to teach you, which you will need to remember later on in life.
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Job 30:16
16 And now my soul [nephesh] is poured out [shaphak] upon me; the days [yowm] of affliction [`oniy] have taken hold ['achaz] upon me. KJV-Interlinear
16 'And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me. NASB
Illness, stress, pressure and such will take their toll sooner or later, if the pressures of life are allowed to continue.
And Job is no better or worse than any other person when it comes to suffering. The powers that be in this world will take advantage whenever it is to their advantage. And the powers that be are not always identifiable.
Often time's things just do not work out. There doesn't have to be an identifiable person or organization to which you can point and say, 'They are my problem.' Sometimes it is just bad karma, for lack of a better word. I could use the words fate, chance, luck, and so forth. But karma is kind of a cool sounding word.
'When it rains it pours,' is another way to look at trouble that can visit you.
Job has already described the attitudes of some people, who will not have any sympathy for you, when times are tough. But his description is not limited to just people. Often times circumstances fall apart for you and your plans, your hopes, everything that should work out for you, just don't seem to work, and for no rational reason. Kind of like someone stepped on you and the smell of dog doodoo is apparent to everyone but you. Or, at least you begin to think that something like that has happened to you.
And the bad luck, the bad life just continues. Stress, worry, pain, and everything that you can imagine, mount up in your life.
This is Jobs description in these next few verses.
Your heart aches. Being human, anyone can be stricken with anxiety, so much so that it can make them nauseous when the mental worries become too much.
Job has been pushed to the edge of life. He has lost his family, his wealth, his health, and even his wife has been less than nice to him. His friends have been sitting nearby, initially waiting for him to die, and then condemning him for living a deceitfully wicked life.
And to what purpose?
As far as Job was concerned, none of this made any sense. But he would figure it all out later. As far as we are concerned, we need to learn that anything we desire or hold dear to our hearts in life, can be taken away from us. Life can fall apart in a heartbeat and there is nothing that we can do to stop it.
But then, life in this world was never designed to continue forever anyway. Our primary purpose in this life is to prepare ourselves for the next life. Bible doctrine and spiritual growth can never be taken away, not by anyone.
This does not mean that we sit back and do nothing. Part of growing up spiritually, is being responsible. And God did not place us in this world for no reason. We have been placed here to utilize our talents, whatever they might be, to learn, to understand, and to grow up. Much of growing up requires learning from life. You cannot learn anxiety or happiness from a book only. Experience is one of the best teachers.
And, we do not have to look very far, nor wait very long before the world gives us examples of a troubled world. The assassination in Pakistan is a good example of the instability and evil in the world, which will never go away, but cannot be ignored.
Even so, regardless of everything that can happen in life to us, if we are prepared spiritually, then nothing in this world can cause real or permanent harm to us.
Jesus Christ controls history.
The world cannot control history. The terrorists cannot control history. Government policies cannot control history. Philosophies, technology, nothing in this world will ever manage to take control over life or history.
So, in this world, the circumstances that we might come face to face with, will never ever get the better of us, if … we stick with our daily study of Gods word.
Whatever we face in life, is there for a reason. Nothing happens by accident. So learn from them, because God probably has something to teach you, which you will need to remember later on in life.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Job 30:14-15
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 30:14-15
14 They came ['athah] upon me as a wide [rachab] breaking [perets] in of waters: in [tachath] the desolation [show'] they rolled [galal] themselves upon me.
15 Terrors [ballahah] are turned [haphak] upon me: they pursue [radaph] my soul [nadiybah] as the wind [ruwach]: and my welfare [yashuw`ah] passeth away [`abar] as a cloud [`ab]. KJV-Interlinear
14 'As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on. 15 'Terrors are turned against me, They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. NASB
In reading Job, you have to remember that Job is a type. A type is a representation of a principle. And, in this case, Job is a representation of the principle of truth.
Truth comes from God.
In opposition, there is an anti-type, or the lies of the world. The rabble and now the terrors being referred to in these verses, are representations of the lies of the world, or a set of beliefs, attitudes, opinions and so forth, that lack truth within them.
Job continues his example of a city under siege. Job is the city, helpless, surrounded, and powerless in almost every respect. In suffering Job is like a city under siege and on the verge of falling to and oppressive and wicked enemy.
And so when a city's walls are battered and battered, sooner or later a breach opens up in the wall. Through it pours the enemy in a tumultuous stream, bent on destroying everything in their path and they care nothing for anything with which they come into contact. Kill and destroy, and take is all that is on their mind. So fires are lit, men are killed and the women are taken.
The enemy is the world. Job is the city under attack. Job represents anyone who believes in the Savior, and who pursues their spiritual life.
The world attempts to bring terrors upon its victims. And that simply means that when you believe in Christ, and are advancing in your spiritual life, then you will have an automatic enemy - the world. The world hates Christ and truth, and therefore anyone that associates with truth.
The world is not a thinking person, but a planet of rock and water, but this term is a reference to the thought patterns of the people who reject truth.
And so you will face politics, advertising, government, rules, regulations, celebrities, and such who will unleash a furious and relentless media blitz or bureaucracy, of everything on every subject you can imagine. Not to mention those who happen to cross your path and try to destroy you through legal means, social gossip and so forth.
They will pursue your integrity and honor. And since all of us have problems of one type or another in our life, then finding a past problem to exploit is not too difficult for the world. Even little problems can be blown out of proportion by those who hate and are determined to destroy.
They are not interested in truth, but in your demise. Recall the description of Jobs life, which is near perfect, and yet it seems very easy for folks to turn their back on him. How much easier it will be for the world to turn its back on you. Wasn't Jesus found in this same predicament?
Just as the wind cannot be monitored, its source cannot be determined, its content cannot be identified, so too, the attacks on Job and anyone who pursues their spiritual life, will discover that the attacks against them will be innumerable and seemingly coming from everywhere.
Against the world, there is no defense … except one.
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Job 30:14-15
14 They came ['athah] upon me as a wide [rachab] breaking [perets] in of waters: in [tachath] the desolation [show'] they rolled [galal] themselves upon me.
15 Terrors [ballahah] are turned [haphak] upon me: they pursue [radaph] my soul [nadiybah] as the wind [ruwach]: and my welfare [yashuw`ah] passeth away [`abar] as a cloud [`ab]. KJV-Interlinear
14 'As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on. 15 'Terrors are turned against me, They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud. NASB
In reading Job, you have to remember that Job is a type. A type is a representation of a principle. And, in this case, Job is a representation of the principle of truth.
Truth comes from God.
In opposition, there is an anti-type, or the lies of the world. The rabble and now the terrors being referred to in these verses, are representations of the lies of the world, or a set of beliefs, attitudes, opinions and so forth, that lack truth within them.
Job continues his example of a city under siege. Job is the city, helpless, surrounded, and powerless in almost every respect. In suffering Job is like a city under siege and on the verge of falling to and oppressive and wicked enemy.
And so when a city's walls are battered and battered, sooner or later a breach opens up in the wall. Through it pours the enemy in a tumultuous stream, bent on destroying everything in their path and they care nothing for anything with which they come into contact. Kill and destroy, and take is all that is on their mind. So fires are lit, men are killed and the women are taken.
The enemy is the world. Job is the city under attack. Job represents anyone who believes in the Savior, and who pursues their spiritual life.
The world attempts to bring terrors upon its victims. And that simply means that when you believe in Christ, and are advancing in your spiritual life, then you will have an automatic enemy - the world. The world hates Christ and truth, and therefore anyone that associates with truth.
The world is not a thinking person, but a planet of rock and water, but this term is a reference to the thought patterns of the people who reject truth.
And so you will face politics, advertising, government, rules, regulations, celebrities, and such who will unleash a furious and relentless media blitz or bureaucracy, of everything on every subject you can imagine. Not to mention those who happen to cross your path and try to destroy you through legal means, social gossip and so forth.
They will pursue your integrity and honor. And since all of us have problems of one type or another in our life, then finding a past problem to exploit is not too difficult for the world. Even little problems can be blown out of proportion by those who hate and are determined to destroy.
They are not interested in truth, but in your demise. Recall the description of Jobs life, which is near perfect, and yet it seems very easy for folks to turn their back on him. How much easier it will be for the world to turn its back on you. Wasn't Jesus found in this same predicament?
Just as the wind cannot be monitored, its source cannot be determined, its content cannot be identified, so too, the attacks on Job and anyone who pursues their spiritual life, will discover that the attacks against them will be innumerable and seemingly coming from everywhere.
Against the world, there is no defense … except one.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Job 30:12-13
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 30:12-13
12 Upon my right [yamiyn] hand rise [quwm] the youth [pirchach]; they push away [shalach] my feet [regel], and they raise up [calal] against me the ways ['orach] of their destruction ['eyd].
13 They mar [nathac] my path [nathiyb], they set forward [ya`al] my calamity [havvah] [hayah], they have no helper [`azar]. KJV-Interlinear
12 'On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction. 13 'They break up my path, They profit from my destruction, No one restrains them. NASB
The right hand is the position of the higher authority. When two people are walking down the street, if one is a general and the other a soldier of lesser rank, the general walks on the right. The soldier walks on the left.
The right hand is the position of respect, higher rank, and authority. The elder or ranking person always occupies the right hand seat.
Job occupied the right hand chair even among the elders of his day. They voluntarily yielded their rightful position to him, because of Jobs wisdom.
The word for youth, 'pirchach,' means sprout, germinate, blossom, calamity. And so this is the nature of the rabble who rises up with destructive intent.
And now we have a rabble of folk who are entitled to nothing, have earned nothing, and are due nothing, but presume to themselves that the world owes them everything.
Anyone who rejects truth, will sooner or later presume that they are better than they really are. Gossips, maligners, judgers, celebrities, politicians, socialites and so forth, all have a tendency to think highly of themselves, and of their own opinions.
And this is how Job was treated, even during the very short period of his illness. People turned on him quickly. They rushed to turn on him. They rushed as in an army laying an aggressive siege to a city, battering walls, tearing down gates, rushing to hurry the destruction of the city.
They assume positions of authority, of which they are not entitled. They aggressively attempt to squash everything that Job attempts to do. They push aside his feet, trying to prevent his recovery, but increase and hurry his destruction.
The mock, they ridicule, they gossip and malign. They steal and take advantage.
Like a pack of wild animals that have their prey in their jaws, they show no mercy, but rush in a frenzy to tear their victim into pieces. Only this rabble of people attack not for food or profit, but simply because the situation presents its self. They gain nothing from their aggression. But they perceive a satisfaction within their ego, at the loss or suffering of others.
Who is there to restrain them? No one. They do not respect the privacy of others. They do not respect the wishes of others. They do not respect the authority, any legitimate authority. They feel no empathy toward others. They are opportunists and take advantage to themselves even over the hardship that others are suffering.
They do not help others in need, but attempt to take from them, anything of value. Even if it is only their own selfish desire to see others suffer.
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Job 30:12-13
12 Upon my right [yamiyn] hand rise [quwm] the youth [pirchach]; they push away [shalach] my feet [regel], and they raise up [calal] against me the ways ['orach] of their destruction ['eyd].
13 They mar [nathac] my path [nathiyb], they set forward [ya`al] my calamity [havvah] [hayah], they have no helper [`azar]. KJV-Interlinear
12 'On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction. 13 'They break up my path, They profit from my destruction, No one restrains them. NASB
The right hand is the position of the higher authority. When two people are walking down the street, if one is a general and the other a soldier of lesser rank, the general walks on the right. The soldier walks on the left.
The right hand is the position of respect, higher rank, and authority. The elder or ranking person always occupies the right hand seat.
Job occupied the right hand chair even among the elders of his day. They voluntarily yielded their rightful position to him, because of Jobs wisdom.
The word for youth, 'pirchach,' means sprout, germinate, blossom, calamity. And so this is the nature of the rabble who rises up with destructive intent.
And now we have a rabble of folk who are entitled to nothing, have earned nothing, and are due nothing, but presume to themselves that the world owes them everything.
Anyone who rejects truth, will sooner or later presume that they are better than they really are. Gossips, maligners, judgers, celebrities, politicians, socialites and so forth, all have a tendency to think highly of themselves, and of their own opinions.
And this is how Job was treated, even during the very short period of his illness. People turned on him quickly. They rushed to turn on him. They rushed as in an army laying an aggressive siege to a city, battering walls, tearing down gates, rushing to hurry the destruction of the city.
They assume positions of authority, of which they are not entitled. They aggressively attempt to squash everything that Job attempts to do. They push aside his feet, trying to prevent his recovery, but increase and hurry his destruction.
The mock, they ridicule, they gossip and malign. They steal and take advantage.
Like a pack of wild animals that have their prey in their jaws, they show no mercy, but rush in a frenzy to tear their victim into pieces. Only this rabble of people attack not for food or profit, but simply because the situation presents its self. They gain nothing from their aggression. But they perceive a satisfaction within their ego, at the loss or suffering of others.
Who is there to restrain them? No one. They do not respect the privacy of others. They do not respect the wishes of others. They do not respect the authority, any legitimate authority. They feel no empathy toward others. They are opportunists and take advantage to themselves even over the hardship that others are suffering.
They do not help others in need, but attempt to take from them, anything of value. Even if it is only their own selfish desire to see others suffer.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Job 30:11
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 30:11
11 Because he hath loosed [pathach] my cord [yether], and afflicted [`anah] me, they have also let loose [shalach] the bridle [recen] before [paniym] me. KJV-Interlinear
11 'Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me. NASB
The people which Job is describing, is a no good rabble intent on destruction when the restraints of truth are loosened from them.
During all of human history, there is a restraint set upon the activities of humanity, preventing man from destroying himself.
When man disregards truth, he becomes antagonistic, critical, hateful, vindictive, and violent. There is no such thing as the dignity of mankind. Dignity comes only from the influence of truth, which comes only from God.
Without truth, man degenerates into a rabble whose set purpose is to ridicule, criticize, and destroy.
The loosened cord is the description of the restraint which God holds over the world. It also represents the bowstring, which the rabble pulls tight, then lets loose their wickedness.
The bridle is also a picture of the restraint on a horse, a warhorse. That, once loosened, the horse gallops off in a frenzy to the fight and the sounds of battle.
Here, God has relaxed the restraints of society in taking Jobs prosperity and freedoms, and allowing those who stand off to the side observing, to add to the attacks against Job. God has allowed suffering to enter into Jobs life, and the rabble see this as an open invitation for them to add their own attacks against Job. This is also the view of the world opening up its attack against truth whenever possible.
Without feelings of remorse, without conscience, without regard to the suffering of others, the spiritually deficient person will always, add his two cents worth of criticism, and more, to a situation for which he has no reason for getting involved.
Job had occupied a position of honor, of rank, of integrity, and now has lost those things of life. But Job is still Job, regardless of the things he possessed. Whether he lost his status through events of his own doing or not, is irrelevant.
Jesus Christ controls history. Christ promotes and demotes in accordance with his own will, for his own reasons, and it is not for man to second-guess His plan, nor add to it.
The rabble takes advantage of Jobs situation, and treats him with indignity, inconsideration, disrespect, and add insult to injury, with impunity. And in so doing they only seal their own dreadful fate.
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Job 30:11
11 Because he hath loosed [pathach] my cord [yether], and afflicted [`anah] me, they have also let loose [shalach] the bridle [recen] before [paniym] me. KJV-Interlinear
11 'Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me. NASB
The people which Job is describing, is a no good rabble intent on destruction when the restraints of truth are loosened from them.
During all of human history, there is a restraint set upon the activities of humanity, preventing man from destroying himself.
When man disregards truth, he becomes antagonistic, critical, hateful, vindictive, and violent. There is no such thing as the dignity of mankind. Dignity comes only from the influence of truth, which comes only from God.
Without truth, man degenerates into a rabble whose set purpose is to ridicule, criticize, and destroy.
The loosened cord is the description of the restraint which God holds over the world. It also represents the bowstring, which the rabble pulls tight, then lets loose their wickedness.
The bridle is also a picture of the restraint on a horse, a warhorse. That, once loosened, the horse gallops off in a frenzy to the fight and the sounds of battle.
Here, God has relaxed the restraints of society in taking Jobs prosperity and freedoms, and allowing those who stand off to the side observing, to add to the attacks against Job. God has allowed suffering to enter into Jobs life, and the rabble see this as an open invitation for them to add their own attacks against Job. This is also the view of the world opening up its attack against truth whenever possible.
Without feelings of remorse, without conscience, without regard to the suffering of others, the spiritually deficient person will always, add his two cents worth of criticism, and more, to a situation for which he has no reason for getting involved.
Job had occupied a position of honor, of rank, of integrity, and now has lost those things of life. But Job is still Job, regardless of the things he possessed. Whether he lost his status through events of his own doing or not, is irrelevant.
Jesus Christ controls history. Christ promotes and demotes in accordance with his own will, for his own reasons, and it is not for man to second-guess His plan, nor add to it.
The rabble takes advantage of Jobs situation, and treats him with indignity, inconsideration, disrespect, and add insult to injury, with impunity. And in so doing they only seal their own dreadful fate.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Job 30:9-10
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 30:9-10
9 And now am I their song [nagiynah], yea, I am their byword [millah].
10 They abhor [ta`ab] me, they flee far [rachaq] from me, and spare [chasak] not to spit [roq] in my face [paniym]. KJV-Interlinear
9 'And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them. 10 'They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face. NASB
We need to remember that the Bible is a workbook for life. Life comes from God and this is his textbook for our preparation in the spiritual life for living in this world now, and for the next life in eternity.
These stories are not here for entertainment, and not for a history lesson regurgitating what was said by someone in the distant past.
2 Tim. 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God breathed and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be mature, equipped for every good work. NASB
All scripture was written by men, but the source of their words comes from God. That makes the Bible the single and only book, which contains the accuracy of truth, and our window through which we can see it.
Job is the representation of truth. His life in prosperity is the representation of living in truth. His suffering is the representation of the worlds rejection of truth.
God is truth. Any rejection of truth is a rejection of God.
There are three members of the trinity - Father, Son, and Sprit. All, or many, religions recognize a higher deity (something obscure, or the Father), but they reject the Son who is identified in the scriptures.
Since man is a sinner and therefore unable to enter into a relationship with God (imperfection cannot have a relationship with perfection), then God (the Father) set out a plan by which man can come to Him, but through the work of the Son, who eliminated that imperfection barrier. Rejecting that plan is the same as rejecting God the Father.
Man through religion, defines his relationship with God, or some higher plane of existence, as one through which man obtains by means of mans own effort. Imperfection cannot make itself perfect.
Therefore that is what sets Christianity apart from all, repeat, all other philosophies, religions, cults, beliefs and so forth. Jesus Christ is the single difference between them all. Christianity is the only faith, which recognizes that Jesus Christ is the only path to God and the spiritual life. Everything else rejects Christ.
Christianity is a relationship with God. Everything else is mans being impressed with mans own attributes.
So, when truth is rejected, truth becomes the target of ridicule, taunting, spitting, etc. That is what people did to Job. That is what people did to Christ. That is what people do when they reject truth, are indifferent toward truth, compromise or redefine truth to something that is more convenient to their thinking.
But the legitimate spiritual life is like living within a normal community, with responsibilities, freedoms, prosperity, having the finer things of life. Rejecting truth, or indifference toward it, is like living in the desert, chewing on bitter roots, wearing rags, and taunting the nicer folks as they happen to walk by.
Spiritually deficient people are the scum of the earth. Not scum as you are probably thinking, but scum within their souls. A person can be either poor or wealthy, talented or not, and still be in the spiritual scum category.
The spiritually deficient person adopts the anti-doctrine attitude, which becomes their song, their pattern of life. And by this they ridicule truth and make themselves stand aloof, detached, distant, better than truth.
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Job 30:9-10
9 And now am I their song [nagiynah], yea, I am their byword [millah].
10 They abhor [ta`ab] me, they flee far [rachaq] from me, and spare [chasak] not to spit [roq] in my face [paniym]. KJV-Interlinear
9 'And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them. 10 'They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face. NASB
We need to remember that the Bible is a workbook for life. Life comes from God and this is his textbook for our preparation in the spiritual life for living in this world now, and for the next life in eternity.
These stories are not here for entertainment, and not for a history lesson regurgitating what was said by someone in the distant past.
2 Tim. 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God breathed and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be mature, equipped for every good work. NASB
All scripture was written by men, but the source of their words comes from God. That makes the Bible the single and only book, which contains the accuracy of truth, and our window through which we can see it.
Job is the representation of truth. His life in prosperity is the representation of living in truth. His suffering is the representation of the worlds rejection of truth.
God is truth. Any rejection of truth is a rejection of God.
There are three members of the trinity - Father, Son, and Sprit. All, or many, religions recognize a higher deity (something obscure, or the Father), but they reject the Son who is identified in the scriptures.
Since man is a sinner and therefore unable to enter into a relationship with God (imperfection cannot have a relationship with perfection), then God (the Father) set out a plan by which man can come to Him, but through the work of the Son, who eliminated that imperfection barrier. Rejecting that plan is the same as rejecting God the Father.
Man through religion, defines his relationship with God, or some higher plane of existence, as one through which man obtains by means of mans own effort. Imperfection cannot make itself perfect.
Therefore that is what sets Christianity apart from all, repeat, all other philosophies, religions, cults, beliefs and so forth. Jesus Christ is the single difference between them all. Christianity is the only faith, which recognizes that Jesus Christ is the only path to God and the spiritual life. Everything else rejects Christ.
Christianity is a relationship with God. Everything else is mans being impressed with mans own attributes.
So, when truth is rejected, truth becomes the target of ridicule, taunting, spitting, etc. That is what people did to Job. That is what people did to Christ. That is what people do when they reject truth, are indifferent toward truth, compromise or redefine truth to something that is more convenient to their thinking.
But the legitimate spiritual life is like living within a normal community, with responsibilities, freedoms, prosperity, having the finer things of life. Rejecting truth, or indifference toward it, is like living in the desert, chewing on bitter roots, wearing rags, and taunting the nicer folks as they happen to walk by.
Spiritually deficient people are the scum of the earth. Not scum as you are probably thinking, but scum within their souls. A person can be either poor or wealthy, talented or not, and still be in the spiritual scum category.
The spiritually deficient person adopts the anti-doctrine attitude, which becomes their song, their pattern of life. And by this they ridicule truth and make themselves stand aloof, detached, distant, better than truth.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Job 30:7-8
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 30:7-8
7 Among the bushes [siyach] they brayed [nahaq]; under the nettles [charuwl] they were gathered together [caphach].
8 They were children [ben] of fools [nabal], yea, children [ben] of base men [shem]: they were viler [naka'] than the earth ['erets]. KJV-Interlinear
7 'Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together. 8 'Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land. NASB
Those people who have mocked Job, while in his suffering, those people who presume that they are wise, now that someone who was rich, is now poor as they are.
It is those same people who, when examined in detail, reveal that they are residents of the desert of life. They are filthy, wear rags and eat roots, as opposed to those who practice good hygiene, wear finer clothing, and eat a better quality of foods.
Those spiritually negative people, huddle among the bushes as wild animals do. When they move about they are scratched and pricked by the briars and thistles of the land. Yet they refuse to see the error of their choices in their living environment.
They are in a bad way because they have chosen their bad way to live. They are lazy and untrustworthy.
They are fools because they lack knowledge, lack understanding, lack wisdom for sure, and that is because they refuse truth, responsibility and accountability in their life. They see their unrighteous way as a good and independent way, when it is really a path of slavery and suffering within the world and lifestyle in which they have chosen to live.
They reject truth, and embrace the lies of the world. They hurl insults at truth, and laugh at the finer things of life. They prefer to tear down and destroy that which is order and free, and prefer to hold close the things that are in themselves destruction.
In the end, they will become faceless people, without names, without identities, without purpose, and ultimately driven out of the normal realm of society.
And so the Bible teaches us here through Jobs description of lazy and useless people, just what is in store for those who reject truth. There are only two things to embrace in life - truth and lies. Truth leads to freedom, liberty, prosperity and so forth. Lies lead to emptiness and namelessness in ones life.
The stubbornness of rejecting truth, means that the person will live in the thorns of the world. They will suffer, but not think they are suffering. They will hurt, but will not think that they are hurting. They will ultimately fail, but will always see themselves as succeeding.
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Job 30:7-8
7 Among the bushes [siyach] they brayed [nahaq]; under the nettles [charuwl] they were gathered together [caphach].
8 They were children [ben] of fools [nabal], yea, children [ben] of base men [shem]: they were viler [naka'] than the earth ['erets]. KJV-Interlinear
7 'Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together. 8 'Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land. NASB
Those people who have mocked Job, while in his suffering, those people who presume that they are wise, now that someone who was rich, is now poor as they are.
It is those same people who, when examined in detail, reveal that they are residents of the desert of life. They are filthy, wear rags and eat roots, as opposed to those who practice good hygiene, wear finer clothing, and eat a better quality of foods.
Those spiritually negative people, huddle among the bushes as wild animals do. When they move about they are scratched and pricked by the briars and thistles of the land. Yet they refuse to see the error of their choices in their living environment.
They are in a bad way because they have chosen their bad way to live. They are lazy and untrustworthy.
They are fools because they lack knowledge, lack understanding, lack wisdom for sure, and that is because they refuse truth, responsibility and accountability in their life. They see their unrighteous way as a good and independent way, when it is really a path of slavery and suffering within the world and lifestyle in which they have chosen to live.
They reject truth, and embrace the lies of the world. They hurl insults at truth, and laugh at the finer things of life. They prefer to tear down and destroy that which is order and free, and prefer to hold close the things that are in themselves destruction.
In the end, they will become faceless people, without names, without identities, without purpose, and ultimately driven out of the normal realm of society.
And so the Bible teaches us here through Jobs description of lazy and useless people, just what is in store for those who reject truth. There are only two things to embrace in life - truth and lies. Truth leads to freedom, liberty, prosperity and so forth. Lies lead to emptiness and namelessness in ones life.
The stubbornness of rejecting truth, means that the person will live in the thorns of the world. They will suffer, but not think they are suffering. They will hurt, but will not think that they are hurting. They will ultimately fail, but will always see themselves as succeeding.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Job 30:5-6
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 30:5-6
5 They were driven forth [garash] from among [gev] men, (they cried [ruwa`] after them as after a thief [gannab];)
6 To dwell [shakan] in the clifts [`aruwts] of the valleys [nachal], in caves [chowr] of the earth [`aphar], and in the rocks [keph]. KJV-Interlinear
5 'They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief, 6 So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks. NASB
Job is a proven man of God, a good man, a blessed man, a talented and gifted man. All of these attributes come courtesy of Gods grace provision. Job did not earn or even deserve any of them.
Job is a man, 'adam,' meaning common worthless dust. Dust does not originate any form of life, but merely provides a vessel, a clay vessel, for which life, human life, which comes from God, may reside in temporarily.
The worthless folks of the world, who are themselves only dust, think highly of themselves, but as Job has been describing them, some folks think so highly of themselves that they do not feel that the typically rules of life apply to them.
They do no want to work. They do not want to be responsible. They do not want to be held accountable for anything. They will go to great extremes to avoid participating in the normal day-to-day functions common to humanity. So much so, that they will live in poverty, and under difficult circumstances just to prove themselves different and non-conformists with everyone else.
And for what purpose? They reject society, and therefore society rejects them. They reject the order and authority and norms and standards of society, and society rejects their lazy, irresponsible, lying, cheating attitude.
The two standards cannot live together. Therefore, society lives in interactive prosperity, and those that choose worthlessness, choose the deserts of life.
It is the same in the spiritual realm. Those who choose the spiritual side of life, live in the heaven established standards, while those who reject heavens standards, live in the worlds (Satan inspired) standards.
The words for cliffs, valleys, and caves in which the rejects of society choose to live out their lives, stand for respectively, cliffs - the unpleasant, horrid, unclean things of life; valleys - the wadis or streams that are seasonal, which drive torrents of rain and flooding in the winter seasons, and are dry in the summer seasons; caves - stand for the isolation, separation, distancing of ones self from the normal flow of life.
Just as these folks reject truth, so too, anyone who rejects the spiritual life, rejects truth as they do. Spiritually negative or deficient folks are exactly the same as the vagrants described by Job. They are thieves and vagabonds that have chosen no purpose in life for themselves. Or rather have chosen to squander Gods original purpose for them in life.
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Job 30:5-6
5 They were driven forth [garash] from among [gev] men, (they cried [ruwa`] after them as after a thief [gannab];)
6 To dwell [shakan] in the clifts [`aruwts] of the valleys [nachal], in caves [chowr] of the earth [`aphar], and in the rocks [keph]. KJV-Interlinear
5 'They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief, 6 So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks. NASB
Job is a proven man of God, a good man, a blessed man, a talented and gifted man. All of these attributes come courtesy of Gods grace provision. Job did not earn or even deserve any of them.
Job is a man, 'adam,' meaning common worthless dust. Dust does not originate any form of life, but merely provides a vessel, a clay vessel, for which life, human life, which comes from God, may reside in temporarily.
The worthless folks of the world, who are themselves only dust, think highly of themselves, but as Job has been describing them, some folks think so highly of themselves that they do not feel that the typically rules of life apply to them.
They do no want to work. They do not want to be responsible. They do not want to be held accountable for anything. They will go to great extremes to avoid participating in the normal day-to-day functions common to humanity. So much so, that they will live in poverty, and under difficult circumstances just to prove themselves different and non-conformists with everyone else.
And for what purpose? They reject society, and therefore society rejects them. They reject the order and authority and norms and standards of society, and society rejects their lazy, irresponsible, lying, cheating attitude.
The two standards cannot live together. Therefore, society lives in interactive prosperity, and those that choose worthlessness, choose the deserts of life.
It is the same in the spiritual realm. Those who choose the spiritual side of life, live in the heaven established standards, while those who reject heavens standards, live in the worlds (Satan inspired) standards.
The words for cliffs, valleys, and caves in which the rejects of society choose to live out their lives, stand for respectively, cliffs - the unpleasant, horrid, unclean things of life; valleys - the wadis or streams that are seasonal, which drive torrents of rain and flooding in the winter seasons, and are dry in the summer seasons; caves - stand for the isolation, separation, distancing of ones self from the normal flow of life.
Just as these folks reject truth, so too, anyone who rejects the spiritual life, rejects truth as they do. Spiritually negative or deficient folks are exactly the same as the vagrants described by Job. They are thieves and vagabonds that have chosen no purpose in life for themselves. Or rather have chosen to squander Gods original purpose for them in life.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Job 30:2-4
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 30:2-4
2 Yea, whereto [mah] might the strength [koach] of their hands [yad] profit me, in whom old age [kelach] was perished ['abad]?
3 For want [checer] and famine [kaphan] they were solitary [galmuwd]; fleeing [`araq] into the wilderness [tsiyah] in former time ['emesh] desolate [show'] and waste [mashow'ah].
4 Who cut up [qataph] mallows [malluwach] by the bushes [siyach], and juniper [rethem] roots [sheresh] for their meat [lechem]. KJV-Interlinear
2 'Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them. 3 'From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation, 4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub. NASB
Arrogance was the original sin of Lucifer, who is now known as Satan or the devil. From arrogance, all other sins are born into the life of the individual. Among them is stubbornness, the glue of arrogance, which keeps people confined within the boundaries, or prison, of sin.
On the opposite side of the coin, is humility. Humility is the unassuming or un-stubborn attitude of the individual, which allows the person to see other options and make other choices in life. Humility allows the individual to get out of the prison of arrogance.
There is a side of life where people will stick to their bad decisions no matter what. They do not have to be poor, or even wealthy for that matter. Arrogance and stubbornness translate into inflexibility in their opinions and that translates into the making of bad decisions in life. Usually decisions are made spontaneously, or in a knee jerk fashion, and when people have made their decision, their stubbornness makes up the prison bars that keep them in their circumstances, even when it is obvious that their situation is not a good one.
They won't think things through and they refuse to do the reasonable things to make their life better.
And so these are the individuals which Job is describing.
These are folks who choose to not work. They are poor because of their own refusal to, not work.
Instead of going to work and making something of their life, they choose to go into the desert, live in rags, and eat from bushes and roots.
The mallow referred to here is a large bush, which grows in regions that do not receive much water, if any. Their leaves and branches are extremely sour and would be considered by normal folks, something that would be eaten as a very, very, very last resort.
So, this description is of people who refuse to listen to reason. They prefer life in a desert setting, driven their, not by other folks, but driven by their own negative and rigid attitude. The desert has little water, if any. The desert has little opportunity to offer life, if any. No person in their right mind would prefer life in the desert over life in a more prosperous setting.
The prosperous setting requires work, responsibility and so forth. Something that the spiritually negative person refuses to do.
This is the perfect description of the spiritually negative person. No matter how benevolent Job has tried to be with those who were destitute, there were those who rejected his help. And, in fact, they hated Job because of his offers, and cheered when Job fell on hard times himself.
Spiritually negative people treat God, Christ, doctrine, and their spiritual life in the same fashion. They reject doctrine, they reject the principles of doctrine, they pick and choose the principles they will or will not abide by in life.
They presume wisdom, when they are void of knowledge. And they are stubborn, and trapped in their stubbornness by a prison of their own construction.
Their attitude, which they believe to be wisdom in their own mind, gets them poverty or a life in the spiritual desert of life. Their life is bitter and sour, because that is how they think. The food of their bitterness is of their own choosing.
And the very odd thing about all of this is, that their relief is only a thought or an attitude adjustment away. Change for the better cannot be much simpler. But stubbornness creates a huge barrier to change.
The vigor of life comes from making good decisions in life. Bible doctrine is the good decision, which produces vigor in the spiritual life. A more vigorous strength than the physical life can produce.
Throw away your vigor and you have no strength. Having no strength, you are no good to yourself, much less anyone else.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 30:2-4
2 Yea, whereto [mah] might the strength [koach] of their hands [yad] profit me, in whom old age [kelach] was perished ['abad]?
3 For want [checer] and famine [kaphan] they were solitary [galmuwd]; fleeing [`araq] into the wilderness [tsiyah] in former time ['emesh] desolate [show'] and waste [mashow'ah].
4 Who cut up [qataph] mallows [malluwach] by the bushes [siyach], and juniper [rethem] roots [sheresh] for their meat [lechem]. KJV-Interlinear
2 'Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them. 3 'From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation, 4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub. NASB
Arrogance was the original sin of Lucifer, who is now known as Satan or the devil. From arrogance, all other sins are born into the life of the individual. Among them is stubbornness, the glue of arrogance, which keeps people confined within the boundaries, or prison, of sin.
On the opposite side of the coin, is humility. Humility is the unassuming or un-stubborn attitude of the individual, which allows the person to see other options and make other choices in life. Humility allows the individual to get out of the prison of arrogance.
There is a side of life where people will stick to their bad decisions no matter what. They do not have to be poor, or even wealthy for that matter. Arrogance and stubbornness translate into inflexibility in their opinions and that translates into the making of bad decisions in life. Usually decisions are made spontaneously, or in a knee jerk fashion, and when people have made their decision, their stubbornness makes up the prison bars that keep them in their circumstances, even when it is obvious that their situation is not a good one.
They won't think things through and they refuse to do the reasonable things to make their life better.
And so these are the individuals which Job is describing.
These are folks who choose to not work. They are poor because of their own refusal to, not work.
Instead of going to work and making something of their life, they choose to go into the desert, live in rags, and eat from bushes and roots.
The mallow referred to here is a large bush, which grows in regions that do not receive much water, if any. Their leaves and branches are extremely sour and would be considered by normal folks, something that would be eaten as a very, very, very last resort.
So, this description is of people who refuse to listen to reason. They prefer life in a desert setting, driven their, not by other folks, but driven by their own negative and rigid attitude. The desert has little water, if any. The desert has little opportunity to offer life, if any. No person in their right mind would prefer life in the desert over life in a more prosperous setting.
The prosperous setting requires work, responsibility and so forth. Something that the spiritually negative person refuses to do.
This is the perfect description of the spiritually negative person. No matter how benevolent Job has tried to be with those who were destitute, there were those who rejected his help. And, in fact, they hated Job because of his offers, and cheered when Job fell on hard times himself.
Spiritually negative people treat God, Christ, doctrine, and their spiritual life in the same fashion. They reject doctrine, they reject the principles of doctrine, they pick and choose the principles they will or will not abide by in life.
They presume wisdom, when they are void of knowledge. And they are stubborn, and trapped in their stubbornness by a prison of their own construction.
Their attitude, which they believe to be wisdom in their own mind, gets them poverty or a life in the spiritual desert of life. Their life is bitter and sour, because that is how they think. The food of their bitterness is of their own choosing.
And the very odd thing about all of this is, that their relief is only a thought or an attitude adjustment away. Change for the better cannot be much simpler. But stubbornness creates a huge barrier to change.
The vigor of life comes from making good decisions in life. Bible doctrine is the good decision, which produces vigor in the spiritual life. A more vigorous strength than the physical life can produce.
Throw away your vigor and you have no strength. Having no strength, you are no good to yourself, much less anyone else.
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