This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:24
24 Men ['enowsh] do therefore fear [yare'] him: he respecteth [ra'ah] not any that are wise [chakam] of heart [leb]. KJV-Interlinear
24 'Therefore men fear Him; He does not regard any who are wise of heart.' NASB
In this universe, there are only two opinions. Gods opinion is truth, or that which we call the perfect matching of facts to reality. And then there is everything else.
Gods wisdom is truth. Mans wisdom is limited to his academic observations and discoveries, and the subsequent interpretations of those things.
The simplest concepts in Gods knowledge base, are far superior to mans most abstract and deepest thoughts.
1 Cor. 1:18-19
18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.' NASB
1 Cor 1:20-21
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? NASB
1 Cor 1:25
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. NASB
Man is incapable of interpreting the details of life from within his own generation. How then can man figure out God?
In recent days, well over 300 earthquakes have rattled the west coast, from Alaska to California, and even into the midwest. Is this a sign of sorts, of something bigger?
Experts say that the 'big one' will hit in the next thirty years. Experts say that currently known world oil reserves will be depleted in the next thirty years (guess how much gas is going to cost in the next few years?). Experts say that the world population will be double in the next thirty years.
Are all of these predictions converging onto some preset historical event?
And of course predictions are a dime a dozen, and all have come and gone without incident. But to those who study the scriptures, these things may have more meaning than they would to those who see them as foolishness.
The focus of the Christian life is not on predictions, but on fulfilling ones obligation to advance to spiritual maturity. Preparation for this life as well as the next life is our priority. Observing possible future events is merely an honor given to us, if indeed these things really come true.
God does not regard the wisdom of men. Mans wisdom lists well below the moron level, when placed on Gods IQ scale. If man is given massive evidences of Gods wisdom and cannot seem to assimilate them, then how can man possibly chart his own destiny?
He who pursues his own plans, and forms and executes his own counsels, will fail completely in life. But he who pursues Gods plans and Gods counsel, will most definitely succeed, not only for now, but for all of eternity.
Elihu now completes his comments and enters into a very long pause.
All five men have now had their say and silence falls all around.
And so it is with life. Everyone will have their say in history, but sooner or later all that can be said by man and angel (Satan included), will have been said and tried. Then silence will fall on the wisdom of humanity.
God will always have the final say in all matters, and it will be God who will conclude all matters.
Showing posts with label Job 37. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Job 37. Show all posts
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Job 37:23
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:23
23 Touching the Almighty [Shadday], we cannot find him out [matsa']: he is excellent [saggiy'] in power [koach], and in judgment [mishpat], and in plenty [rob] of justice [tsadaqah]: he will not afflict [`anah]. KJV-Interlinear
23 'The Almighty — we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power; And He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness. NASB
God is the almighty. He is infinite in all of his attributes. He is so far beyond us, that no created being can come near Him in ability, knowledge, or wisdom.
And certainly no created being can match God in His perfect dealings with all living things.
Gods point of contact with man is through His perfect righteousness, and His perfect justice.
Gods righteousness means He is sinless perfection. Justice in the action of cleansing or washing thoroughly, anything that is tainted, flawed and imperfect. Gods justice means that He maintains perfect function in His relationship with anything that is less than perfect.
Righteousness plus justice equals holiness. Holiness plus love equals grace. Love is the content of Bible doctrine.
Imperfect man meets God initially at the Cross through Gods righteousness and justice. Christ is the reality of the Cross, and Christ is mans only point of contact with God. Christ is the living word and the written word of God.
God does not abuse His power, His righteousness, or His justice. God deals with all of creation with the same consistency of His perfection. God is immutable. He is the same today as He was in Job's day.
Your relationship with God is the same that Elihu or Job had.
Through faith in Christ, Gods righteousness and justice (the cross), cleanses us and rebirths us into a new life. Through doctrine, following salvation, Gods love (scriptures), carries us into a new and higher realm of greater grace called spiritual maturity.
Apart from this (faith and doctrine), man cannot find God, discover God, or even invent a new god.
And, apart from God, man will never find anyone or anything that is as fair and consistent in dealing with the many aspects of life.
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Job 37:23
23 Touching the Almighty [Shadday], we cannot find him out [matsa']: he is excellent [saggiy'] in power [koach], and in judgment [mishpat], and in plenty [rob] of justice [tsadaqah]: he will not afflict [`anah]. KJV-Interlinear
23 'The Almighty — we cannot find Him; He is exalted in power; And He will not do violence to justice and abundant righteousness. NASB
God is the almighty. He is infinite in all of his attributes. He is so far beyond us, that no created being can come near Him in ability, knowledge, or wisdom.
And certainly no created being can match God in His perfect dealings with all living things.
Gods point of contact with man is through His perfect righteousness, and His perfect justice.
Gods righteousness means He is sinless perfection. Justice in the action of cleansing or washing thoroughly, anything that is tainted, flawed and imperfect. Gods justice means that He maintains perfect function in His relationship with anything that is less than perfect.
Righteousness plus justice equals holiness. Holiness plus love equals grace. Love is the content of Bible doctrine.
Imperfect man meets God initially at the Cross through Gods righteousness and justice. Christ is the reality of the Cross, and Christ is mans only point of contact with God. Christ is the living word and the written word of God.
God does not abuse His power, His righteousness, or His justice. God deals with all of creation with the same consistency of His perfection. God is immutable. He is the same today as He was in Job's day.
Your relationship with God is the same that Elihu or Job had.
Through faith in Christ, Gods righteousness and justice (the cross), cleanses us and rebirths us into a new life. Through doctrine, following salvation, Gods love (scriptures), carries us into a new and higher realm of greater grace called spiritual maturity.
Apart from this (faith and doctrine), man cannot find God, discover God, or even invent a new god.
And, apart from God, man will never find anyone or anything that is as fair and consistent in dealing with the many aspects of life.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Job 37:22
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:22
22 Fair weather [zahab] cometh ['athah] out of the north [tsaphown]: with God ['elowahh] is terrible [yare'] majesty [howd]. KJV-Interlinear
22 'Out of the north comes golden splendor; Around God is awesome majesty. NASB
In Job we have already studied the gold of Ophir, as being one of the most productive regions and source of the best refined gold. But Elihu emphasizes that the best gold by far comes from the north, out of Asia.
However, gold, is a substance that comes out of the ground. It can be mined, and refined and held in ones hand, or worn on ones person.
But there is an even greater gold, and that gold is found within the majesty of God.
The images that have already been presented, the images of the rising storm, far off on the distant horizon. And this image being followed by the intensifying storm, with its rain and wind and snow, depending on the time of year. All of which are beyond mans control.
Man can only wait the storm out and then begin the recovery and rebuilding process once the storm has passed by.
The terrors of the storm are always preceded by the grace of God, and followed by the grace of God.
And when the storms of life eventually pass by, then the winds subside, the clouds dissipate, and the golden light of the sun, scattered by the thinning clouds, and scattering its brilliant light, turns the sky into a phenomenal show of brilliant colors, and perhaps a rainbow as well. The majesty of God.
Elihu compares the wagon loads and barge loads of gold and objects that have been fashioned out of the gold, can be overwhelming to a person, but the gold of Gods majesty is infinitely beyond the gold of this earth.
Gods majesty is so overwhelming as to cause fear and trepidation to anyone who may come into contact with it, in any manner.
But of course one has to first develop a respect for God and that comes with an understanding of God, and that comes only from a consistent study of the scriptures combined with a pondering of everything you learn, such that you begin to grasp the truths of reality.
Apart from that learning process, a person can never develop a respect for God. And then they are left with the terrible realities of life when they eventually get hammered by life, and this causes them to miss out (darkness) on all of the opportunities for orientation to life, and coming to an understanding of just what and why things happen.
Spiritually negative people may see the gold of this earth, but they can never see the gold of the spiritual life. And that is the best gold of all.
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Job 37:22
22 Fair weather [zahab] cometh ['athah] out of the north [tsaphown]: with God ['elowahh] is terrible [yare'] majesty [howd]. KJV-Interlinear
22 'Out of the north comes golden splendor; Around God is awesome majesty. NASB
In Job we have already studied the gold of Ophir, as being one of the most productive regions and source of the best refined gold. But Elihu emphasizes that the best gold by far comes from the north, out of Asia.
However, gold, is a substance that comes out of the ground. It can be mined, and refined and held in ones hand, or worn on ones person.
But there is an even greater gold, and that gold is found within the majesty of God.
The images that have already been presented, the images of the rising storm, far off on the distant horizon. And this image being followed by the intensifying storm, with its rain and wind and snow, depending on the time of year. All of which are beyond mans control.
Man can only wait the storm out and then begin the recovery and rebuilding process once the storm has passed by.
The terrors of the storm are always preceded by the grace of God, and followed by the grace of God.
And when the storms of life eventually pass by, then the winds subside, the clouds dissipate, and the golden light of the sun, scattered by the thinning clouds, and scattering its brilliant light, turns the sky into a phenomenal show of brilliant colors, and perhaps a rainbow as well. The majesty of God.
Elihu compares the wagon loads and barge loads of gold and objects that have been fashioned out of the gold, can be overwhelming to a person, but the gold of Gods majesty is infinitely beyond the gold of this earth.
Gods majesty is so overwhelming as to cause fear and trepidation to anyone who may come into contact with it, in any manner.
But of course one has to first develop a respect for God and that comes with an understanding of God, and that comes only from a consistent study of the scriptures combined with a pondering of everything you learn, such that you begin to grasp the truths of reality.
Apart from that learning process, a person can never develop a respect for God. And then they are left with the terrible realities of life when they eventually get hammered by life, and this causes them to miss out (darkness) on all of the opportunities for orientation to life, and coming to an understanding of just what and why things happen.
Spiritually negative people may see the gold of this earth, but they can never see the gold of the spiritual life. And that is the best gold of all.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Job 37:21
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:21
21 And now men see [ra'ah] not the bright [bahiyr] light ['owr] which is in the clouds [shachaq]: but the wind [ruwach] passeth [`abar], and cleanseth [taher] them. KJV-Interlinear
21 'And now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies; But the wind has passed and cleared them. NASB
The evidences in this world, make Gods existence, Gods purpose, Gods involvement in this world so obvious, and yet most people do not see them, do not comprehend them, do not believe them, or simply ignore them.
The winds are used in the Bible to designate the thrust and motion of history. There are the winds of the world and the winds of heaven. What do you suppose each is in reference to?
The winds of the world refer to the efforts of man to make his own history, to make his own destiny.
The winds of heaven refer to the work of God in driving the events of history.
Guess which is the successful one.
Likewise, though not mentioned here, the seas are used in these examples as well. The seas of earth are the tumultuous events of human history as driven by man. Mans reign is filled with trouble and will never be any different.
In contrast, the seas of heaven are smooth as glass. They are calm, and totally under control. Gods reign is filled with certainty, prosperity, security, safety, and so forth.
Where you can see weather events, climate changes, seasons, natural events of just about any type, there, you can see the evidences of Gods will and purpose. And that covers just about everywhere.
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Job 37:21
21 And now men see [ra'ah] not the bright [bahiyr] light ['owr] which is in the clouds [shachaq]: but the wind [ruwach] passeth [`abar], and cleanseth [taher] them. KJV-Interlinear
21 'And now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies; But the wind has passed and cleared them. NASB
The evidences in this world, make Gods existence, Gods purpose, Gods involvement in this world so obvious, and yet most people do not see them, do not comprehend them, do not believe them, or simply ignore them.
The winds are used in the Bible to designate the thrust and motion of history. There are the winds of the world and the winds of heaven. What do you suppose each is in reference to?
The winds of the world refer to the efforts of man to make his own history, to make his own destiny.
The winds of heaven refer to the work of God in driving the events of history.
Guess which is the successful one.
Likewise, though not mentioned here, the seas are used in these examples as well. The seas of earth are the tumultuous events of human history as driven by man. Mans reign is filled with trouble and will never be any different.
In contrast, the seas of heaven are smooth as glass. They are calm, and totally under control. Gods reign is filled with certainty, prosperity, security, safety, and so forth.
Where you can see weather events, climate changes, seasons, natural events of just about any type, there, you can see the evidences of Gods will and purpose. And that covers just about everywhere.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Job 37:19-20
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:19-20
19 Teach [yada`] us what we shall say ['amar] unto him; for we cannot order [`arak] our speech by reason [paniym] of darkness [choshek].
20 Shall it be told [caphar] him that I speak [dabar]? if a man ['iysh] speak ['amar], surely he shall be swallowed up [bala`]. KJV-Interlinear
19 'Teach us what we shall say to Him; We cannot arrange our case because of darkness. 20 'Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up? NASB
God is the origin of truth. God is the origin of reason. Man is not.
There is nothing which man can originate, except from those things which surround him in his environment, except from those things which come out of mans sin nature.
Apart from truth and legitimate reason, man functions in and lives in, total darkness.
The only time when man can function in truth, discernment, and reason, are when man learns these things from God. God is their only source. The Bible is our only link to these things. Study of the scriptures, after salvation, and while resident in fellowship, is the only means of our learning these things.
Application of these truths, etc., to our daily lives, serves as reinforcement and accelerates our understanding of these things through positive feedback. Repetition of all of these activities, produces wisdom within our soul. And wisdom produces maturity, and spiritual maturity is the quintessence of advancement as well as our ultimate goal, in the spiritual life.
Spiritual maturity in this life is the ultimate preparation for life in eternity. Spiritual maturity to the maximum in this life, combined with the blessings of eternity, produces the ultimate completion of ones total life forever.
Mans only contribution in all of this, is the willingness to learn and obey Gods principles of truth, which man learns. God does all of the work. God accomplishes all of the results for us.
What then can man say to God that will help in mans cause? What can man do to assist God in mans effort? What can man create that will improve Gods plan?
Nothing.
Anything that man imagines will be swallowed up into an oblivion of no value.
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Job 37:19-20
19 Teach [yada`] us what we shall say ['amar] unto him; for we cannot order [`arak] our speech by reason [paniym] of darkness [choshek].
20 Shall it be told [caphar] him that I speak [dabar]? if a man ['iysh] speak ['amar], surely he shall be swallowed up [bala`]. KJV-Interlinear
19 'Teach us what we shall say to Him; We cannot arrange our case because of darkness. 20 'Shall it be told Him that I would speak? Or should a man say that he would be swallowed up? NASB
God is the origin of truth. God is the origin of reason. Man is not.
There is nothing which man can originate, except from those things which surround him in his environment, except from those things which come out of mans sin nature.
Apart from truth and legitimate reason, man functions in and lives in, total darkness.
The only time when man can function in truth, discernment, and reason, are when man learns these things from God. God is their only source. The Bible is our only link to these things. Study of the scriptures, after salvation, and while resident in fellowship, is the only means of our learning these things.
Application of these truths, etc., to our daily lives, serves as reinforcement and accelerates our understanding of these things through positive feedback. Repetition of all of these activities, produces wisdom within our soul. And wisdom produces maturity, and spiritual maturity is the quintessence of advancement as well as our ultimate goal, in the spiritual life.
Spiritual maturity in this life is the ultimate preparation for life in eternity. Spiritual maturity to the maximum in this life, combined with the blessings of eternity, produces the ultimate completion of ones total life forever.
Mans only contribution in all of this, is the willingness to learn and obey Gods principles of truth, which man learns. God does all of the work. God accomplishes all of the results for us.
What then can man say to God that will help in mans cause? What can man do to assist God in mans effort? What can man create that will improve Gods plan?
Nothing.
Anything that man imagines will be swallowed up into an oblivion of no value.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Job 37:16-18
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:16-18
16 Dost thou know [yada`] the balancings [miphlas] of the clouds [`ab], the wondrous works [miphla'ah] of him which is perfect [tamiym] in knowledge [dea`]?
17 How thy garments [beged] are warm [cham], when he quieteth [shaqat] the earth ['erets] by the south [darowm] wind?
18 Hast thou with him spread out [raqa`] the sky [shachaq], which is strong [chazaq], and as a molten [yatsaq] looking glass [ra'iy]? KJV-Interlinear
16 'Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, The wonders of one perfect in knowledge, 17 You whose garments are hot, When the land is still because of the south wind? 18 'Can you, with Him, spread out the skies, Strong as a molten mirror? NASB
From Elihu's perspective, the matters of the atmosphere were beyond explanation.
The clouds, he knew, held great quantities of water. He had no doubt experienced heavy rainstorms and knew, as he states here, that the rains came from the clouds.
Elihu knew that the cold came from the north and the heat came from the south. He knew that there were times when the air was cool and dry, and there were times when the air seemed heavy with water, or humidity as we would call it.
And yet the simple question and the most difficult answer seemed to come from the fact that when on hot humid days, ones clothing seemed to heat up to the extremes. And on another day, the same clothing and similar weather were more comfortable. Why was that?
On one day the weather seemed turbulent and on another day the calm without winds made one wonder just where did those winds go.
The clouds seemed to hover in the sky in layers. Some floated at lower altitudes while yet other layers floated at much higher altitudes. How do they change with their heights? How do clouds stretch for miles and miles and retain all of that water?
The sky was sometimes called a curtain, a firmament, a fixture, or a scroll, and here Elihu uses the term 'molten mirror.
The sky was an unknown quantity. People did not know its extent, whether it stretched for a little distance while holding clouds, and then followed or layered by yet another sky or set of skies, followed by additional layers in which the sun and moon and stars might be held.
Could one climb a tall mountain or build a tower with which to reach these higher layers?
From Elihu's perspective, these were all legitimate and virtually unanswerable questions. And the source of the answers was limited to God alone.
So what is different in our current day. No one here was present when God established the design for this universe. No one here was present when God created the universe. No one here understands all of the intricacies of how God holds the universe together.
Certainly we know more about the universe today, than in Elihu's day, but the theories of origin still disregard Gods creation.
We cannot explain why planet earth has life while other planets even our own moon have none. We cannot explain why several extinctions were followed by several rebirths of life, especially when the trillion-to-one odds against even one random start of life, has been followed by several random starts, and again, why nothing similar occurred on other planets.
And as we studied yesterday, why can we not see angels? Why can't we detect them, even as they observe us on a regular basis? Why can't we see or detect God?
And the easy answer to these questions is that they do not exist, therefore cannot be detected. That all of life is random and continually evolving. And that history will continue forever just as it has transpired in the past with technology and philosophies changing as man evolves. That everything has an answer that can be found in science, and that there is nothing in existence that cannot be discovered or have its secrets unraveled.
But in his simplest of questions, Elihu teaches us all that there are indeed questions to which man will never know or discover the answers. And that those questions can take on the form of the simplest of topics.
No matter how sophisticated man might become, his tower to knowledge will never cross over the line to the spiritual side of life.
Everything in the physical world is there for mans discovery and there for man to make use of, '… be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth…'
But of the spiritual side of life, man has no command or influence or access except through the work of Christ.
We may discover how various components of the universe function, even of how biological life functions, but we will never be able to reproduce these actions, nor create totally new or similar ones. Man cannot and never will know how God created everything out of nothing.
And of the spiritual side of life, that side of life which lies beyond deaths doorway, that side which lies beyond this physical world, no living person will ever figure out a way, on their own, to cross over and return.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 37:16-18
16 Dost thou know [yada`] the balancings [miphlas] of the clouds [`ab], the wondrous works [miphla'ah] of him which is perfect [tamiym] in knowledge [dea`]?
17 How thy garments [beged] are warm [cham], when he quieteth [shaqat] the earth ['erets] by the south [darowm] wind?
18 Hast thou with him spread out [raqa`] the sky [shachaq], which is strong [chazaq], and as a molten [yatsaq] looking glass [ra'iy]? KJV-Interlinear
16 'Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, The wonders of one perfect in knowledge, 17 You whose garments are hot, When the land is still because of the south wind? 18 'Can you, with Him, spread out the skies, Strong as a molten mirror? NASB
From Elihu's perspective, the matters of the atmosphere were beyond explanation.
The clouds, he knew, held great quantities of water. He had no doubt experienced heavy rainstorms and knew, as he states here, that the rains came from the clouds.
Elihu knew that the cold came from the north and the heat came from the south. He knew that there were times when the air was cool and dry, and there were times when the air seemed heavy with water, or humidity as we would call it.
And yet the simple question and the most difficult answer seemed to come from the fact that when on hot humid days, ones clothing seemed to heat up to the extremes. And on another day, the same clothing and similar weather were more comfortable. Why was that?
On one day the weather seemed turbulent and on another day the calm without winds made one wonder just where did those winds go.
The clouds seemed to hover in the sky in layers. Some floated at lower altitudes while yet other layers floated at much higher altitudes. How do they change with their heights? How do clouds stretch for miles and miles and retain all of that water?
The sky was sometimes called a curtain, a firmament, a fixture, or a scroll, and here Elihu uses the term 'molten mirror.
The sky was an unknown quantity. People did not know its extent, whether it stretched for a little distance while holding clouds, and then followed or layered by yet another sky or set of skies, followed by additional layers in which the sun and moon and stars might be held.
Could one climb a tall mountain or build a tower with which to reach these higher layers?
From Elihu's perspective, these were all legitimate and virtually unanswerable questions. And the source of the answers was limited to God alone.
So what is different in our current day. No one here was present when God established the design for this universe. No one here was present when God created the universe. No one here understands all of the intricacies of how God holds the universe together.
Certainly we know more about the universe today, than in Elihu's day, but the theories of origin still disregard Gods creation.
We cannot explain why planet earth has life while other planets even our own moon have none. We cannot explain why several extinctions were followed by several rebirths of life, especially when the trillion-to-one odds against even one random start of life, has been followed by several random starts, and again, why nothing similar occurred on other planets.
And as we studied yesterday, why can we not see angels? Why can't we detect them, even as they observe us on a regular basis? Why can't we see or detect God?
And the easy answer to these questions is that they do not exist, therefore cannot be detected. That all of life is random and continually evolving. And that history will continue forever just as it has transpired in the past with technology and philosophies changing as man evolves. That everything has an answer that can be found in science, and that there is nothing in existence that cannot be discovered or have its secrets unraveled.
But in his simplest of questions, Elihu teaches us all that there are indeed questions to which man will never know or discover the answers. And that those questions can take on the form of the simplest of topics.
No matter how sophisticated man might become, his tower to knowledge will never cross over the line to the spiritual side of life.
Everything in the physical world is there for mans discovery and there for man to make use of, '… be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth…'
But of the spiritual side of life, man has no command or influence or access except through the work of Christ.
We may discover how various components of the universe function, even of how biological life functions, but we will never be able to reproduce these actions, nor create totally new or similar ones. Man cannot and never will know how God created everything out of nothing.
And of the spiritual side of life, that side of life which lies beyond deaths doorway, that side which lies beyond this physical world, no living person will ever figure out a way, on their own, to cross over and return.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Job 37:15
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:15
15 Dost thou know [yada`] when God ['elowahh] disposed [suwm] them, and caused the light ['owr] of his cloud [`anan] to shine [yapha`]? KJV-Interlinear
15 'Do you know how God establishes them, And makes the lightning of His cloud to shine? NASB
In ancient times, the details of science were not a part of their vocabulary or knowledge base. So, Elihu's question of how God makes all of these things - the cold, the heat, the rain, the storm, the freezing of rivers and such, was a question that no person could know the answer to.
But Elihu's question goes beyond the science. What he is really asking, is, 'Do you know how God arranges and governs all of these things?'
We may know the science, or certainly more of the science than Elihu's generation knew, but not one of, nor will any of, humanities future generations, will know of or understand the workings of Gods will or of Gods ability to execute His will.
God owns the world. God owns the universe. God owns Heaven. And that includes everything that exists.
Psa. 24:1
24 The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. NASB
God foreknew of everything that will ever happen in history. That includes all of your individual thoughts. And as history unfolds, He executes the actions for history, at least from His aspect of the controls of history.
This includes the actions and thoughts of every human being, the actions of every component of our planet, the actions of everything in outer space such as solar activity, this includes everything. There is nothing excluded from Gods knowledge.
Knowing people, their relationships, their circumstances, their environment, their interactions, motivations and so forth, and with Gods sovereign will for placing each person into history at a time that is convenient to Him, with Gods sovereign oversight of all aspects of the weather, continental movement, the functions of daylight and night, then there is nothing that God cannot accomplish.
And though every aspect of life, individually, may be simple, the sheer aspect of combining every thought, interaction, action, circumstance and so forth, makes the activities of life so complex, that man will never be able to duplicate or even monitor even a small portion.
Theories may abound regarding the start of the universe, but they are only theories. There is only one set of eyewitnesses in eternity past, and that is God and the angels. Man was not there.
In his arrogance man tried to build a tower to heaven. That of course failed. But through knowledge and discovery, man is still trying to build a tower to heaven. That will fail too. As man tries to look to the edge of the universe, we will discover that the edge is further still. As man tries to peer deeper into science, we will discover that the sciences are deeper still. Can we see or detect angels? Can we see or isolate or transfer human life? No.
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Job 37:15
15 Dost thou know [yada`] when God ['elowahh] disposed [suwm] them, and caused the light ['owr] of his cloud [`anan] to shine [yapha`]? KJV-Interlinear
15 'Do you know how God establishes them, And makes the lightning of His cloud to shine? NASB
In ancient times, the details of science were not a part of their vocabulary or knowledge base. So, Elihu's question of how God makes all of these things - the cold, the heat, the rain, the storm, the freezing of rivers and such, was a question that no person could know the answer to.
But Elihu's question goes beyond the science. What he is really asking, is, 'Do you know how God arranges and governs all of these things?'
We may know the science, or certainly more of the science than Elihu's generation knew, but not one of, nor will any of, humanities future generations, will know of or understand the workings of Gods will or of Gods ability to execute His will.
God owns the world. God owns the universe. God owns Heaven. And that includes everything that exists.
Psa. 24:1
24 The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. NASB
God foreknew of everything that will ever happen in history. That includes all of your individual thoughts. And as history unfolds, He executes the actions for history, at least from His aspect of the controls of history.
This includes the actions and thoughts of every human being, the actions of every component of our planet, the actions of everything in outer space such as solar activity, this includes everything. There is nothing excluded from Gods knowledge.
Knowing people, their relationships, their circumstances, their environment, their interactions, motivations and so forth, and with Gods sovereign will for placing each person into history at a time that is convenient to Him, with Gods sovereign oversight of all aspects of the weather, continental movement, the functions of daylight and night, then there is nothing that God cannot accomplish.
And though every aspect of life, individually, may be simple, the sheer aspect of combining every thought, interaction, action, circumstance and so forth, makes the activities of life so complex, that man will never be able to duplicate or even monitor even a small portion.
Theories may abound regarding the start of the universe, but they are only theories. There is only one set of eyewitnesses in eternity past, and that is God and the angels. Man was not there.
In his arrogance man tried to build a tower to heaven. That of course failed. But through knowledge and discovery, man is still trying to build a tower to heaven. That will fail too. As man tries to look to the edge of the universe, we will discover that the edge is further still. As man tries to peer deeper into science, we will discover that the sciences are deeper still. Can we see or detect angels? Can we see or isolate or transfer human life? No.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Job 37:14
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:14
14 Hearken ['azan] unto this, O Job ['Iyowb]: stand still [`amad], and consider [biyn] the wondrous [pala'] works of God ['el]. KJV-Interlinear
14 'Listen to this, O Job, Stand and consider the wonders of God. NASB
The weather, storms, disasters from the climate such as floods or famines, are common the world over. And as such, everyone who has ever lived on this planet, can have reality examples of Gods blessing and cursing.
But, in order to understand this principle, you have to sit back and ponder the many activities of nature in order to understand life.
Like our daily lives, the weather is continuous, fluid, and repetitive. Sometimes it continues in the same fashion for days and weeks. Sometimes there are storm exceptions. And always there are the four seasons which bring us back to reality each and every year of our life.
You can accept the weather as just the way it is, with no intent or purpose, or design. Or, you can accept the weather as an integral part of Gods plan for the overall period of human history, as well as the day to day expression and reminder of His will and purpose.
Listen to life, ponder life, and consider the realities of life. And, more important, do this in conjunction with your study of Gods Word. After all, your daily study is what ties all of the loose ends and questions of life, together for you.
As smart as God is, and as smart that man thinks that he, man, is, God has to show His wisdom and demonstrate life and truth, by means of the most elementary and fundamental things in life.
And yet people just do not seem to get it, because the simple seems, well, too simple.
Why can't life and spirituality be more complicated and intense, where man has to sacrifice or do something passionate or extreme?
And yet, life is dependent on Gods work, not mans ego. And thank goodness for that, because man could never agree on what it is exactly one has to do in order to advance in their spiritual life. Look at all of the religions and cults and philosophies that exist. Which should be the correct one?
But then all of them do have one thing in common - their rejection or indifference toward Christ.
And that makes them all, false.
No humming, no diet, no Allah, no philosophy, no belief apart from that in Christ, can help you in life. No other system of faith apart from Christianity, has power of any significance. In fact, they all possess absolutely no power, except that of deception and lies.
Life begins at birth and ends at death. Life here, is temporary. Now is the only time for you to learn its purposes. The weather is but one teaching tool.
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Job 37:14
14 Hearken ['azan] unto this, O Job ['Iyowb]: stand still [`amad], and consider [biyn] the wondrous [pala'] works of God ['el]. KJV-Interlinear
14 'Listen to this, O Job, Stand and consider the wonders of God. NASB
The weather, storms, disasters from the climate such as floods or famines, are common the world over. And as such, everyone who has ever lived on this planet, can have reality examples of Gods blessing and cursing.
But, in order to understand this principle, you have to sit back and ponder the many activities of nature in order to understand life.
Like our daily lives, the weather is continuous, fluid, and repetitive. Sometimes it continues in the same fashion for days and weeks. Sometimes there are storm exceptions. And always there are the four seasons which bring us back to reality each and every year of our life.
You can accept the weather as just the way it is, with no intent or purpose, or design. Or, you can accept the weather as an integral part of Gods plan for the overall period of human history, as well as the day to day expression and reminder of His will and purpose.
Listen to life, ponder life, and consider the realities of life. And, more important, do this in conjunction with your study of Gods Word. After all, your daily study is what ties all of the loose ends and questions of life, together for you.
As smart as God is, and as smart that man thinks that he, man, is, God has to show His wisdom and demonstrate life and truth, by means of the most elementary and fundamental things in life.
And yet people just do not seem to get it, because the simple seems, well, too simple.
Why can't life and spirituality be more complicated and intense, where man has to sacrifice or do something passionate or extreme?
And yet, life is dependent on Gods work, not mans ego. And thank goodness for that, because man could never agree on what it is exactly one has to do in order to advance in their spiritual life. Look at all of the religions and cults and philosophies that exist. Which should be the correct one?
But then all of them do have one thing in common - their rejection or indifference toward Christ.
And that makes them all, false.
No humming, no diet, no Allah, no philosophy, no belief apart from that in Christ, can help you in life. No other system of faith apart from Christianity, has power of any significance. In fact, they all possess absolutely no power, except that of deception and lies.
Life begins at birth and ends at death. Life here, is temporary. Now is the only time for you to learn its purposes. The weather is but one teaching tool.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Job 37:13
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:13
13 He causeth it to come [matsa'], whether for correction [shebet], or for his land ['erets], or for mercy [checed]. KJV-Interlinear
13 'Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. NASB
Weather conditions are used by God to inflict punishment, correction, judgment, or blessing.
Correction denotes the first three of these purposes and lovingkindness or mercy denotes blessing.
The third aspect of weather application on the earth is for 'His world,' for 'His land.' This denotes Gods use of weather for the cultivation of His plan through history.
God does not drop down on the earth and plant corn or rice. The term, world or land, is all-inclusive and refers to the entirety of planet earth - its use and its function. And planet earths function is to be the stage for the history of the human race.
Rain provides water for crops, for drinking, for the shaking out of the leaves in the autumn trees, for pollination and so forth. The rain is used in floods and heavy cleansing of the earth. The rain is used to filter the air and cool the planet. The uses of rain and stormy weather are many and varied.
But none of them are haphazard or functions of chance.
As we mentioned yesterday. God uses weather or modifies weather in accordance with mans spiritual state.
A spiritually strong population receives great weather. A spiritually deficient population receives bad weather. A spiritually indifferent or spiritually mixed population may well receive a variety of weather patterns. And that, is pretty much how history has ben reflected from the point of view from weather.
As the weather patterns have seemingly grown worse and worse throughout the centuries, even though weather has fluctuated both up and down at times, the trends have been toward the worsening of weather.
The worst will not occur until the Tribulation, but that does no prevent God from giving us many examples of just how bad weather can be, from time to time.
Anyway, the point of all of this is to understand the principle that Jesus Christ controls history. Christ controls all aspects of history, even while allowing you to think freely and do as you please. Your actions will never alter Gods overall plan. In fact, all of the actions of humanity were incorporated into Gods plan, the Divine Decrees, in eternity past when they were established.
These three results of the use of weather, blessing, punishment, and choreography of history, are just an example of Gods use of nearly every aspect of life for human history. In everything, we can see Gods intended purpose, and those three concepts are the very broad applications of Gods will.
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Job 37:13
13 He causeth it to come [matsa'], whether for correction [shebet], or for his land ['erets], or for mercy [checed]. KJV-Interlinear
13 'Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. NASB
Weather conditions are used by God to inflict punishment, correction, judgment, or blessing.
Correction denotes the first three of these purposes and lovingkindness or mercy denotes blessing.
The third aspect of weather application on the earth is for 'His world,' for 'His land.' This denotes Gods use of weather for the cultivation of His plan through history.
God does not drop down on the earth and plant corn or rice. The term, world or land, is all-inclusive and refers to the entirety of planet earth - its use and its function. And planet earths function is to be the stage for the history of the human race.
Rain provides water for crops, for drinking, for the shaking out of the leaves in the autumn trees, for pollination and so forth. The rain is used in floods and heavy cleansing of the earth. The rain is used to filter the air and cool the planet. The uses of rain and stormy weather are many and varied.
But none of them are haphazard or functions of chance.
As we mentioned yesterday. God uses weather or modifies weather in accordance with mans spiritual state.
A spiritually strong population receives great weather. A spiritually deficient population receives bad weather. A spiritually indifferent or spiritually mixed population may well receive a variety of weather patterns. And that, is pretty much how history has ben reflected from the point of view from weather.
As the weather patterns have seemingly grown worse and worse throughout the centuries, even though weather has fluctuated both up and down at times, the trends have been toward the worsening of weather.
The worst will not occur until the Tribulation, but that does no prevent God from giving us many examples of just how bad weather can be, from time to time.
Anyway, the point of all of this is to understand the principle that Jesus Christ controls history. Christ controls all aspects of history, even while allowing you to think freely and do as you please. Your actions will never alter Gods overall plan. In fact, all of the actions of humanity were incorporated into Gods plan, the Divine Decrees, in eternity past when they were established.
These three results of the use of weather, blessing, punishment, and choreography of history, are just an example of Gods use of nearly every aspect of life for human history. In everything, we can see Gods intended purpose, and those three concepts are the very broad applications of Gods will.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Job 37:11-12
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:11-12
11 Also by watering [riy] he wearieth [tarach] the thick cloud [`ab]: he scattereth [puwts] his bright ['owr] cloud [`anan]:
12 And it is turned [haphak] round about [mecab] by his counsels [tachbulah]: that they may do [po`al] whatsoever he commandeth [tsavah] them upon the face [paniym] of the world [tebel] in the earth ['erets]. KJV-Interlinear
11 'Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. 12 'And it changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth. NASB
Does the weather or clouds or lightning rise up, build up, travel, occur, in some haphazard way? Are they all products of some random or chance interaction of the earths elements? No.
The images used here are one of a captain of a ship, setting his course by sail and rudder, and by the actions of the captain, the ship pursues its course, not by actions independent of the ship.
The ship was constructed in accordance with a design. It has sailing mechanisms. It has a rudder, it has an engine of some sort, and fuel, for power. Whether that engine was an oar, a sail, or diesel power, is irrelevant. The ship has a design and was constructed to function in a certain fashion.
Likewise the weather has a design. God created the weather, and it is by His design that the weather patterns occur.
Weather does not happen by chance. God designed the engine, the fuel, and all of the features of weather, and it functions by Gods direction in accordance with His design.
And no, weather was not designed and then let loose to function in history under its own guidance.
'He commands it.' God commands in an active role, the activity of weather. The ship has a rudder, but the rudder does not have its own mind, the captain steers the ship by its wheel and rudder. The ship does not steer itself. The ship does not decide its destination, does not plot its own course, does not take on its own supplies. The captain (or his crew) does all of that.
Nature was invented by God, but was not released into the wild to function by chance or circumstances.
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden, all was perfect. When they sinned, everything changed.
When Noah lived in the world prior to the flood, the world had never seen rain, but the phenomenal corruption of humanity brought the rains and floodwaters.
When Jesus Christ returns at the Second Advent, the world will, prior to that, be on the brink of self-destruction, but with the power of only His word, the world will change back into an environment of perfection.
Could global climate changes, famines, deserts and such really be caused by sin, and not fossil fuels?
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Job 37:11-12
11 Also by watering [riy] he wearieth [tarach] the thick cloud [`ab]: he scattereth [puwts] his bright ['owr] cloud [`anan]:
12 And it is turned [haphak] round about [mecab] by his counsels [tachbulah]: that they may do [po`al] whatsoever he commandeth [tsavah] them upon the face [paniym] of the world [tebel] in the earth ['erets]. KJV-Interlinear
11 'Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. 12 'And it changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth. NASB
Does the weather or clouds or lightning rise up, build up, travel, occur, in some haphazard way? Are they all products of some random or chance interaction of the earths elements? No.
The images used here are one of a captain of a ship, setting his course by sail and rudder, and by the actions of the captain, the ship pursues its course, not by actions independent of the ship.
The ship was constructed in accordance with a design. It has sailing mechanisms. It has a rudder, it has an engine of some sort, and fuel, for power. Whether that engine was an oar, a sail, or diesel power, is irrelevant. The ship has a design and was constructed to function in a certain fashion.
Likewise the weather has a design. God created the weather, and it is by His design that the weather patterns occur.
Weather does not happen by chance. God designed the engine, the fuel, and all of the features of weather, and it functions by Gods direction in accordance with His design.
And no, weather was not designed and then let loose to function in history under its own guidance.
'He commands it.' God commands in an active role, the activity of weather. The ship has a rudder, but the rudder does not have its own mind, the captain steers the ship by its wheel and rudder. The ship does not steer itself. The ship does not decide its destination, does not plot its own course, does not take on its own supplies. The captain (or his crew) does all of that.
Nature was invented by God, but was not released into the wild to function by chance or circumstances.
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden, all was perfect. When they sinned, everything changed.
When Noah lived in the world prior to the flood, the world had never seen rain, but the phenomenal corruption of humanity brought the rains and floodwaters.
When Jesus Christ returns at the Second Advent, the world will, prior to that, be on the brink of self-destruction, but with the power of only His word, the world will change back into an environment of perfection.
Could global climate changes, famines, deserts and such really be caused by sin, and not fossil fuels?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Job 37:9-10
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:9-10
9 Out of the south [cheder] cometh [bow'] the whirlwind [cuwphah]: and cold [qarah] out of the north [mazareh].
10 By the breath [nashamah] of God ['el] frost [qerach] is given [nathan]: and the breadth [rochab] of the waters [mayim] is straitened [muwtsaq]. KJV-Interlinear
9 'Out of the south comes the storm, And out of the north the cold. 10 'From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen. NASB
Does God lean down and swirl his hands through the atmosphere to cause weather patterns? No. He has created a storehouse of energy which helps drive the weather.
'Out of the south,' is a phrase referring to a storehouse, a chamber in the feminine as in a womans private bedroom. Here the energy of the storm is built up and stored until such time as it is called upon.
'Out of the north,' refers to a scattering. Here the winds of the north scatter, disburse, agitate, stir up the weather patterns.
Elihu most likely did not understand the role played by the energy of the sun, the role of the oceans absorbing that heat energy, the role of the north polar regions, the role of the high altitude jet stream winds, the role of the deep ocean currents that circumnavigate the planet and so forth.
But Elihu did understand that God in His creative wisdom, had created storehouses and systems that gathered and carried out the many weather patterns and cycles that he, Elihu, had observed during his lifetime.
He did not attribute these things to natural phenomena, or events of chance, or things which occurred apart from Gods consent or will.
'From the breath of God,' refers to His will and power.
The storms of planet earth are heated up, stirred up, freeze and thaw, not on their own, but by the will of God and for no other reason.
The 'expanse' of the waters is a reference to the freezing of water, snow, rivers, lakes and so forth. The weather can become so cold that rivers and lakes or large bodies of water can freeze solid.
The whole point of all of this, is that nothing can happen unless God wills or permits it to happen.
Weather is the most common event that everyone around the world can be familiar with, and so everyone who reads this chapter of Job, must be able to relate to weather patterns.
Likewise, every person on the planet is able to see the magnitude of giant weather events, and know that no human being is capable of duplicating anything weather related. Man (rainmakers included) simply does not possess that capability of causing weather, let alone controlling the various storehouses of energy and activity that drive weather or climate trends.
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Job 37:9-10
9 Out of the south [cheder] cometh [bow'] the whirlwind [cuwphah]: and cold [qarah] out of the north [mazareh].
10 By the breath [nashamah] of God ['el] frost [qerach] is given [nathan]: and the breadth [rochab] of the waters [mayim] is straitened [muwtsaq]. KJV-Interlinear
9 'Out of the south comes the storm, And out of the north the cold. 10 'From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen. NASB
Does God lean down and swirl his hands through the atmosphere to cause weather patterns? No. He has created a storehouse of energy which helps drive the weather.
'Out of the south,' is a phrase referring to a storehouse, a chamber in the feminine as in a womans private bedroom. Here the energy of the storm is built up and stored until such time as it is called upon.
'Out of the north,' refers to a scattering. Here the winds of the north scatter, disburse, agitate, stir up the weather patterns.
Elihu most likely did not understand the role played by the energy of the sun, the role of the oceans absorbing that heat energy, the role of the north polar regions, the role of the high altitude jet stream winds, the role of the deep ocean currents that circumnavigate the planet and so forth.
But Elihu did understand that God in His creative wisdom, had created storehouses and systems that gathered and carried out the many weather patterns and cycles that he, Elihu, had observed during his lifetime.
He did not attribute these things to natural phenomena, or events of chance, or things which occurred apart from Gods consent or will.
'From the breath of God,' refers to His will and power.
The storms of planet earth are heated up, stirred up, freeze and thaw, not on their own, but by the will of God and for no other reason.
The 'expanse' of the waters is a reference to the freezing of water, snow, rivers, lakes and so forth. The weather can become so cold that rivers and lakes or large bodies of water can freeze solid.
The whole point of all of this, is that nothing can happen unless God wills or permits it to happen.
Weather is the most common event that everyone around the world can be familiar with, and so everyone who reads this chapter of Job, must be able to relate to weather patterns.
Likewise, every person on the planet is able to see the magnitude of giant weather events, and know that no human being is capable of duplicating anything weather related. Man (rainmakers included) simply does not possess that capability of causing weather, let alone controlling the various storehouses of energy and activity that drive weather or climate trends.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Job 37:8
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:8
8 Then the beasts [chay] go [bow'] into [bamow] dens ['ereb], and remain [shakan] in their places [ma`ownah]. KJV-Interlinear
8 'Then the beast goes into its lair, And remains in its den. NASB
Helplessness is the theme, and even when the winter sets in, God protects the animals during times when food is scarce.
Some animals migrate to warmer climates. Some animals move into dens and hibernate for the season.
But when the spring thaw comes around again, as it does each year, animal life leaps into abundance each year as it has for thousands of years.
Animals do not possess the intellect of man. Animals cannot plant or plan for bad times. Animals are dependent totally on nature, and the weather, and the seasons. They have no control over anything in nature. They have no control over anything in life.
Likewise, man has no similar controls in life, despite his presumption that he has. Man has no ability to control or even manage the climate, despite his presumption that only his actions will somehow alter climate behavior.
Not to say that we should do nothing. Being responsible and innovative is a fundamental attribute of Christianity. And often times, high prices and circumstances drive mans innovation out of necessity. For example the high prices of oil are serving as a catalyst for driving research into alternative sources of energy.
When the price of a barrel of oil was only four dollars some forty years ago, there wasn't much incentive to pursue extremely expensive alternatives. But today, that situation has changed.
You can argue that politics and activists are partly to blame for the high prices, but all of that is irrelevant. The situation we have today is what we have, and unless new oil is discovered, the current reserves will run out in thirty or forty years. Needless to say, energy prices are only going to get worse. That will make everything else in life cost more. So tighten your belts.
Helplessness? What will you do when gas prices are ten times what they are today? What will you do when you get into an accident and become disabled? What will you do when life pushes you into the corner of helplessness?
And here Elihu asks that question, in so many words. When will you realize that your only hope is God, and that your only access to God is through your daily study?
Of course we can always look to elected leaders for 'change.' But what are they are going to change, or how will they make their changes? Who is really going to pay the price for change? You are.
Don't become the fool who follows the leader of fools. Your spiritual life is your only survivable path through the inevitable trail that history is going to take us all. Let God manage it and you, through His Word.
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Job 37:8
8 Then the beasts [chay] go [bow'] into [bamow] dens ['ereb], and remain [shakan] in their places [ma`ownah]. KJV-Interlinear
8 'Then the beast goes into its lair, And remains in its den. NASB
Helplessness is the theme, and even when the winter sets in, God protects the animals during times when food is scarce.
Some animals migrate to warmer climates. Some animals move into dens and hibernate for the season.
But when the spring thaw comes around again, as it does each year, animal life leaps into abundance each year as it has for thousands of years.
Animals do not possess the intellect of man. Animals cannot plant or plan for bad times. Animals are dependent totally on nature, and the weather, and the seasons. They have no control over anything in nature. They have no control over anything in life.
Likewise, man has no similar controls in life, despite his presumption that he has. Man has no ability to control or even manage the climate, despite his presumption that only his actions will somehow alter climate behavior.
Not to say that we should do nothing. Being responsible and innovative is a fundamental attribute of Christianity. And often times, high prices and circumstances drive mans innovation out of necessity. For example the high prices of oil are serving as a catalyst for driving research into alternative sources of energy.
When the price of a barrel of oil was only four dollars some forty years ago, there wasn't much incentive to pursue extremely expensive alternatives. But today, that situation has changed.
You can argue that politics and activists are partly to blame for the high prices, but all of that is irrelevant. The situation we have today is what we have, and unless new oil is discovered, the current reserves will run out in thirty or forty years. Needless to say, energy prices are only going to get worse. That will make everything else in life cost more. So tighten your belts.
Helplessness? What will you do when gas prices are ten times what they are today? What will you do when you get into an accident and become disabled? What will you do when life pushes you into the corner of helplessness?
And here Elihu asks that question, in so many words. When will you realize that your only hope is God, and that your only access to God is through your daily study?
Of course we can always look to elected leaders for 'change.' But what are they are going to change, or how will they make their changes? Who is really going to pay the price for change? You are.
Don't become the fool who follows the leader of fools. Your spiritual life is your only survivable path through the inevitable trail that history is going to take us all. Let God manage it and you, through His Word.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Job 37:6-7
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
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Job 37:6-7
6 For he saith ['amar] to the snow [sheleg], Be thou [hava'] on the earth ['erets]; likewise to the small [matar] rain [geshem], and to the great [matar] rain [geshem] of his strength [`oz].
7 He sealeth up [chatham] the hand [yad] of every man ['adam]; that all men ['enowsh] may know [yada`] his work [ma`aseh]. KJV-Interlinear
6 'For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' And to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' 7 'He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work. NASB
And the snow, yet another characteristic of the weather, is commanded by God. Elihu lists these examples to show that it is God who commands the climate of the world, not man, not chance.
And while we live in an age where liberal thought is increasing, and liberal thought meaning any thought process which significantly departs from truth (this has nothing to do with politics), and so people are falling into the trap of delusional thinking.
Currently we have the global warming issue, but if you believe in the scriptures, if you believe in the principles of dispensations, if you believe these words of Elihu, then you know that the world will never cook (or freeze) itself into oblivion. You know that man can do nothing to destroy the world, whether by atom bombs or by gas guzzling cars.
But there will always be those who will attempt to panic the masses into adopting views that have no basis in fact. And in this particular view, the changes are being proposed as changes that will occur far into the distant future. Something that cannot be measured, cannot be verified, and changes that have many contradictions or exceptions.
But it is God who commands the snow. 'Fall on the earth.' And with those words from God, the snow falls.
Furthermore, God brings about these very simple situations such that man is sealed up. What does that mean?
In the winter time, in the spring time, in the hottest of the summer times, when the snows fall thus keeping man indoors, when the rains fall as with the monsoons, when the suns heat is at its highest and man is forced to go indoors and becomes helpless, such that man can realize his helplessness.
Being sealed up, means being in a state of helplessness.
And the weather, simple as it is, can force man into a helpless state. We cannot control the weather. We cannot control the solar activity of the sun. We cannot control the beat of our own heart. And so Gods brings us back to reality from mans indifference, from mans imagination, from mans apathy, from mans arrogance, from mans stupidity.
The hurricanes are supposed to grow stronger, and they do not. The weather is supposed to grow warmer, and it does not. In fact when we look at the weather over long periods of time, even greater and more dramatic weather changes have occurred during times when man barely occupied the planet.
God uses the simple to defeat the arrogant. God uses helplessness to demonstrate mans weaknesses.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 37:6-7
6 For he saith ['amar] to the snow [sheleg], Be thou [hava'] on the earth ['erets]; likewise to the small [matar] rain [geshem], and to the great [matar] rain [geshem] of his strength [`oz].
7 He sealeth up [chatham] the hand [yad] of every man ['adam]; that all men ['enowsh] may know [yada`] his work [ma`aseh]. KJV-Interlinear
6 'For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' And to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' 7 'He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work. NASB
And the snow, yet another characteristic of the weather, is commanded by God. Elihu lists these examples to show that it is God who commands the climate of the world, not man, not chance.
And while we live in an age where liberal thought is increasing, and liberal thought meaning any thought process which significantly departs from truth (this has nothing to do with politics), and so people are falling into the trap of delusional thinking.
Currently we have the global warming issue, but if you believe in the scriptures, if you believe in the principles of dispensations, if you believe these words of Elihu, then you know that the world will never cook (or freeze) itself into oblivion. You know that man can do nothing to destroy the world, whether by atom bombs or by gas guzzling cars.
But there will always be those who will attempt to panic the masses into adopting views that have no basis in fact. And in this particular view, the changes are being proposed as changes that will occur far into the distant future. Something that cannot be measured, cannot be verified, and changes that have many contradictions or exceptions.
But it is God who commands the snow. 'Fall on the earth.' And with those words from God, the snow falls.
Furthermore, God brings about these very simple situations such that man is sealed up. What does that mean?
In the winter time, in the spring time, in the hottest of the summer times, when the snows fall thus keeping man indoors, when the rains fall as with the monsoons, when the suns heat is at its highest and man is forced to go indoors and becomes helpless, such that man can realize his helplessness.
Being sealed up, means being in a state of helplessness.
And the weather, simple as it is, can force man into a helpless state. We cannot control the weather. We cannot control the solar activity of the sun. We cannot control the beat of our own heart. And so Gods brings us back to reality from mans indifference, from mans imagination, from mans apathy, from mans arrogance, from mans stupidity.
The hurricanes are supposed to grow stronger, and they do not. The weather is supposed to grow warmer, and it does not. In fact when we look at the weather over long periods of time, even greater and more dramatic weather changes have occurred during times when man barely occupied the planet.
God uses the simple to defeat the arrogant. God uses helplessness to demonstrate mans weaknesses.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Job 37:5
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 37:5
5 God ['el] thundereth [ra`am] marvellously [pala'] with his voice [qowl]; great things [gadowl] doeth [`asah] he, which we cannot comprehend [yada`]. KJV-Interlinear
5 'God thunders with His voice wondrously, Doing great things which we cannot comprehend. NASB
The illustration of the storm has come to its end. And though Elihu uses simple concepts, like the storm, which everyone can understand, man still has great difficulty in comprehending life.
Throughout life, as in the storm, God thunders illustrations of Himself and His work. They are apparent to everyone. Whether in child birth, or in death, whether in the weather or in the stars in the night sky, whether in the sciences or in the arts, no matter what subject you choose, God can be found in it in some capacity.
In life there are only two opinions - Gods and everything else. Gods opinion if truth. Everything else is a lie. If you express truth then you express Gods opinion. If you express anything else (other than truth) then you express a lie.
The truth and the lie are mutually exclusive. There is no truth in the lie. There is no lie in the truth.
In order to gain an understanding of truth, you must have a mechanism for comprehending it. Once you can comprehend truth, then you can metabolize it into understanding and then wisdom.
Just as food on the vine does you no good until you eat it, and then metabolize it into your body, likewise spiritual food must be heard, learned and believed in the proper way before it becomes beneficial to your soul.
When once we were all unbelievers, we lived in the dark world of sin and death. Clarity of thought was limited to the academic world around us. Once we believe in Christ then the spiritual mechanism for learning and comprehension, becomes a part of our life.
But that mechanism must function as God has designed it to function before any benefits of learning become a reality to you.
The believer must be in fellowship (confession of sins), before the spiritual life functions properly. All study, all learning, all understanding, all usage of the principles taught in the scriptures, all aspects of the spiritual life, all aspects of your daily life, function properly only while in fellowship.
While comprehension of the academic world is available to all, and while all academic learning comes with limitations depending on ones IQ, common sense, and so forth, the complete view of life cannot be fully understood until one possesses and functions within the spiritual life.
The spiritual life is not dependent on IQ, intellect, wit, or any other aspect of the physical world.
The spiritual life is supported by the Holy Spirit and as such, the spiritual life provides a very level playing field for everyone who has, or will, ever live.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 37:5
5 God ['el] thundereth [ra`am] marvellously [pala'] with his voice [qowl]; great things [gadowl] doeth [`asah] he, which we cannot comprehend [yada`]. KJV-Interlinear
5 'God thunders with His voice wondrously, Doing great things which we cannot comprehend. NASB
The illustration of the storm has come to its end. And though Elihu uses simple concepts, like the storm, which everyone can understand, man still has great difficulty in comprehending life.
Throughout life, as in the storm, God thunders illustrations of Himself and His work. They are apparent to everyone. Whether in child birth, or in death, whether in the weather or in the stars in the night sky, whether in the sciences or in the arts, no matter what subject you choose, God can be found in it in some capacity.
In life there are only two opinions - Gods and everything else. Gods opinion if truth. Everything else is a lie. If you express truth then you express Gods opinion. If you express anything else (other than truth) then you express a lie.
The truth and the lie are mutually exclusive. There is no truth in the lie. There is no lie in the truth.
In order to gain an understanding of truth, you must have a mechanism for comprehending it. Once you can comprehend truth, then you can metabolize it into understanding and then wisdom.
Just as food on the vine does you no good until you eat it, and then metabolize it into your body, likewise spiritual food must be heard, learned and believed in the proper way before it becomes beneficial to your soul.
When once we were all unbelievers, we lived in the dark world of sin and death. Clarity of thought was limited to the academic world around us. Once we believe in Christ then the spiritual mechanism for learning and comprehension, becomes a part of our life.
But that mechanism must function as God has designed it to function before any benefits of learning become a reality to you.
The believer must be in fellowship (confession of sins), before the spiritual life functions properly. All study, all learning, all understanding, all usage of the principles taught in the scriptures, all aspects of the spiritual life, all aspects of your daily life, function properly only while in fellowship.
While comprehension of the academic world is available to all, and while all academic learning comes with limitations depending on ones IQ, common sense, and so forth, the complete view of life cannot be fully understood until one possesses and functions within the spiritual life.
The spiritual life is not dependent on IQ, intellect, wit, or any other aspect of the physical world.
The spiritual life is supported by the Holy Spirit and as such, the spiritual life provides a very level playing field for everyone who has, or will, ever live.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Job 37:4
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 37:4
4 After ['achar] it a voice [qowl] roareth [sha'ag]: he thundereth [ra`am] with the voice [qowl] of his excellency [ga'own]; and he will not stay [`aqab] them when his voice [qowl] is heard [shama`]. KJV-Interlinear
4 'After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice; And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. NASB
Before the storm rises, the lightning is seen in the distance. Perhaps we see it out of the periphery of our sight. Perhaps we see the reflection in some fashion. Perhaps we see the clouds begin to form on the horizon and then see the lightning within them.
There is a pause, a space, and time gap elapses and then we hear the roar of the thunder. The thunder can be faint and distant, but grows louder and louder as the storm approaches.
Within the storm is rain, hail, wind and such. These are not seen nor felt at the beginning. When the storm is in its early stages, you cannot know its makeup, or its intensity.
But the lightning flashes, and the thunder roars. And, when the thunder roars, that does not mean that it is all over.
The lightning continues, and the thunder continues and the storm continues and continues and continues until the energy of the storm is exhausted or it passes by you and continues on its way to its next destination or culmination.
Before, during and after, the storm has your attention. The thunderclaps spell power and awe. The lightning spells drama and provides a focus for your attention. The rain and wind drive you to seek shelter.
Before the storm, you are no match. With each lightning flash, with each thunderclap, you cannot seek out or backtrack to its source. The light and sounds are all around. You cannot know their origin or their conclusion, or even the intensity or duration of the storm.
Even after the storm, you may not know the ultimate repercussion of its action. Damage assessment or even a flood may not be known or rise up until days after. And then a storm of another kind may be at hand.
And such is life, in this life. Gods presence is constantly available and known, even through the endless stream of storms that we all face during our life here in this world.
But not all of humanity will look at the storms of life and see the same things. Some folks see the realities of life. They see what is really there. Some folks look at the storms of life and do not see their true purpose. Some folks do not see the storms, as such, at all. Yet other folks will see only what they wish to see. So, even though the objective, the indifferent, and the delusional views of life are always present, that does no negate the presence of God or truth in our lives.
We can ignore or interpret life in anyway we please, but truth can never be changed regardless of mans opinion.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 37:4
4 After ['achar] it a voice [qowl] roareth [sha'ag]: he thundereth [ra`am] with the voice [qowl] of his excellency [ga'own]; and he will not stay [`aqab] them when his voice [qowl] is heard [shama`]. KJV-Interlinear
4 'After it, a voice roars; He thunders with His majestic voice; And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard. NASB
Before the storm rises, the lightning is seen in the distance. Perhaps we see it out of the periphery of our sight. Perhaps we see the reflection in some fashion. Perhaps we see the clouds begin to form on the horizon and then see the lightning within them.
There is a pause, a space, and time gap elapses and then we hear the roar of the thunder. The thunder can be faint and distant, but grows louder and louder as the storm approaches.
Within the storm is rain, hail, wind and such. These are not seen nor felt at the beginning. When the storm is in its early stages, you cannot know its makeup, or its intensity.
But the lightning flashes, and the thunder roars. And, when the thunder roars, that does not mean that it is all over.
The lightning continues, and the thunder continues and the storm continues and continues and continues until the energy of the storm is exhausted or it passes by you and continues on its way to its next destination or culmination.
Before, during and after, the storm has your attention. The thunderclaps spell power and awe. The lightning spells drama and provides a focus for your attention. The rain and wind drive you to seek shelter.
Before the storm, you are no match. With each lightning flash, with each thunderclap, you cannot seek out or backtrack to its source. The light and sounds are all around. You cannot know their origin or their conclusion, or even the intensity or duration of the storm.
Even after the storm, you may not know the ultimate repercussion of its action. Damage assessment or even a flood may not be known or rise up until days after. And then a storm of another kind may be at hand.
And such is life, in this life. Gods presence is constantly available and known, even through the endless stream of storms that we all face during our life here in this world.
But not all of humanity will look at the storms of life and see the same things. Some folks see the realities of life. They see what is really there. Some folks look at the storms of life and do not see their true purpose. Some folks do not see the storms, as such, at all. Yet other folks will see only what they wish to see. So, even though the objective, the indifferent, and the delusional views of life are always present, that does no negate the presence of God or truth in our lives.
We can ignore or interpret life in anyway we please, but truth can never be changed regardless of mans opinion.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Job 37:3
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 37:3
3 He directeth [yashar] it [sharah] under the whole heaven [shamayim], and his lightning ['owr] unto the ends [kanaph] of the earth ['erets]. KJV-Interlinear
3 'Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. NASB
The word of truth is universally available throughout the entire planet earth. God is able to direct His word to any specific point, or to all places simultaneously.
God is omnipresent. God is everywhere every moment of the day and night. God is eternal. He has been around everywhere throughout the ages and will be everywhere forever into the future.
The voice of His word, the thunder, the power of His word, the lightning, are able to reach into every corner of the earth. There is no place that cannot escape the sound or the power of His voice.
There is no one who has ever lived in history, who has lived anywhere on the planet, that has not had access to Gods Word, to Gods truth, to the realities and consequences of life.
There is no lie that originated out of its own foundation. All lies are in response to a point of truth. All lies are specifically in response to a point of truth.
All gods, all false faiths, all philosophies run counter to some point of truth.
All cultures in history had knowledge of God, and in rebellion, invented their own counter versions of truth, or gods, or beliefs. Many even copied the sacrifices of the Old Testament, in some form or another.
No matter where on earth civilization ventured to, whether in the America's, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, the many islands, or the North Pole, all peoples brought with them, their ancient knowledge. Knowledge which we have discovered in this book that the ancients had known correctly, but through sin and indifference, managed to change to beliefs of their own convenience.
The further that people ventured from the Middle East, the further their languages and beliefs delved into the obscure and the bizarre.
But Gods word was always there. In every culture there have been tales of a Messiah, prophecies of a savior, stories of 'one' to come. And these stories did not begin with mans imagination, but originated from the original truths that were known to Elihu, Job and all of those very early generations, regardless of where they lived on the planet.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 37:3
3 He directeth [yashar] it [sharah] under the whole heaven [shamayim], and his lightning ['owr] unto the ends [kanaph] of the earth ['erets]. KJV-Interlinear
3 'Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth. NASB
The word of truth is universally available throughout the entire planet earth. God is able to direct His word to any specific point, or to all places simultaneously.
God is omnipresent. God is everywhere every moment of the day and night. God is eternal. He has been around everywhere throughout the ages and will be everywhere forever into the future.
The voice of His word, the thunder, the power of His word, the lightning, are able to reach into every corner of the earth. There is no place that cannot escape the sound or the power of His voice.
There is no one who has ever lived in history, who has lived anywhere on the planet, that has not had access to Gods Word, to Gods truth, to the realities and consequences of life.
There is no lie that originated out of its own foundation. All lies are in response to a point of truth. All lies are specifically in response to a point of truth.
All gods, all false faiths, all philosophies run counter to some point of truth.
All cultures in history had knowledge of God, and in rebellion, invented their own counter versions of truth, or gods, or beliefs. Many even copied the sacrifices of the Old Testament, in some form or another.
No matter where on earth civilization ventured to, whether in the America's, Asia, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, the many islands, or the North Pole, all peoples brought with them, their ancient knowledge. Knowledge which we have discovered in this book that the ancients had known correctly, but through sin and indifference, managed to change to beliefs of their own convenience.
The further that people ventured from the Middle East, the further their languages and beliefs delved into the obscure and the bizarre.
But Gods word was always there. In every culture there have been tales of a Messiah, prophecies of a savior, stories of 'one' to come. And these stories did not begin with mans imagination, but originated from the original truths that were known to Elihu, Job and all of those very early generations, regardless of where they lived on the planet.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Job 37:1
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 37:1
1 At this [zo'th] also my heart [leb] trembleth [charad], and is moved out [nathar] of his place [maqowm]. KJV-Interlinear
1'At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place. NASB
At these things, the thunder and lightning, the storms of unexplained origin and support, it is these things, things of which Elihu has no explanation, that terrify him.
He ascribes all to God and the source of Gods power, which he believes to be immeasurable. Elihu believes that it is God who holds life together and that it is God who can simply let loose of life, allowing it to fly apart, as it were, thus ending anything abruptly in its path.
And over this, man has no control, influence, or say.
Man did not have a say in his creation, or his birth. Man does not have a say in the circumstances of his birth. Man does not have a say in the content of his physical makeup, his genetics, his gifts, his talents, his intellect.
Man has no say whatsoever in how, when, or where his life begins. And what I say in this study seems rather obvious, the point here is not the fear instilled by thunder or lightning, but in the power and will of God.
It has already been said that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. When people lose that fear, then they are in an extreme state of delusion. Likewise, they are in an extreme state of danger for their life.
The thunder and lightning are simple symbols teaching us all that they are indeed ominous, and uncontrollable. Likewise, Gods plan goes far, far, far beyond our ability to even begin to understand it. We could never even begin to control life as God is able.
I mentioned yesterday, the opinions of man verses the opinion of God. Thought sure I would get some email responses. But alas, none crossed my computer screen.
Lets just recall what we have been studying. Job.
Job was the greatest of believers in his time. He was the recipient of phenomenal prosperity from God. Without explanation to him, from anyone, all of his wealth was taken away. Even his children were lost, with no explanation given.
The ensuing questions raised in this book seek to answer that question. His friends believed it to be because of Jobs secret wickedness.
Elihu simply believes that God does what God does and it is not for man to question anything, but simply to live with it, as we live with the weather from season to season throughout our lives.
Job, on the other hand, believes that there is an explanation, but that it just isn't apparent to him at the moment. And we have already heard from God, way back in the opening chapter, that Job was a righteous man.
But there is one more party in this play and that is Satan.
Satan is an actual person, but he also represents all the opposition to God, and therefore the opposition to truth in this world. Satan is not the only one who opposes truth. Jobs friends have demonstrated this thought pattern. They have perpetuated the views of Satan, in their distortions of the applications of truth.
And so we come around to the fears that you may wish to consider in life, as the world, which follows the lead of Satanic thought, it its attempt to control life.
Now this is just an introduction of chapter 37, but recall our study of the anti-christ, the leader of the revived Roman Empire of the Tribulation. That is still a future state. That anti-christ will be a dynamic person, pleasant, personable, popular with the masses. He will be popular with the then existing news media. But under that outward appearance, there will be the essence of Satan himself.
Not everyone who is personable and pleasing, is evil. And you can only learn of their true nature by listening to them and comparing their opinions with truth.
We are currently in the Church Age. Our dispensation is one of historical trends. We have already studied this in the four gospels. There are no prophecies set to occur within our dispensation, except the one which identifies the conclusion of our dispensation - namely the Rapture.
However, when the Tribulation is introduced, various circumstances exist, and they can only come into existence during our dispensation. That is, the alignment of nations and so forth. There are many other indicators of our nearing an end to our dispensation - namely the population explosion, technology explosion, the rise of a troubled world and so forth. But all of our indicators are mere trends or examples of the greater troubles that will occur during the Tribulation. A dispensation from which we will be exempted, by the grace of God. Terrible as it will be.
But again we look to our own dispensation for examples of trends that will help us to identify mans spiritual status in this world, now. This does two things. First, it should reinforce our belief in God and help us in our faith. And second, it can help us adjust to life, just as we adjust to the weather.
When the weather turns cold, we put on coats. When the weather turns hot, we take them off. We buy insurance against possible storm damage. We build to protect ourselves against weather damage. We cannot always prevent damage, loss or suffering, but we know that they can occur, and we can prepare for them.
We never curse God for our loss, but thank Him for our survival.
Life will have many unknowns. Life in this life is temporary at best, and our best preparation in this life is our preparation for the next life.
Goliath did not fear God, but placed his faith in his muscles. He died. We can begin to understand much of nature through technological discoveries, but we can also learn that it was God who created and invented all of these things.
If we come to believe in the acts of nature as being nothing more than that, then we place faith in the muscles of Goliath. And we will one day be greatly surprised and very disappointed. But if we learn to place God in awe, but virtue of His hand in history (not in politicians), then we will be better oriented to life and will be better able to survive whatever storms loom on the horizon.
DailyBibleStudy.Org | Daily Bible Study Index Page | Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library
Job 37:1
1 At this [zo'th] also my heart [leb] trembleth [charad], and is moved out [nathar] of his place [maqowm]. KJV-Interlinear
1'At this also my heart trembles, And leaps from its place. NASB
At these things, the thunder and lightning, the storms of unexplained origin and support, it is these things, things of which Elihu has no explanation, that terrify him.
He ascribes all to God and the source of Gods power, which he believes to be immeasurable. Elihu believes that it is God who holds life together and that it is God who can simply let loose of life, allowing it to fly apart, as it were, thus ending anything abruptly in its path.
And over this, man has no control, influence, or say.
Man did not have a say in his creation, or his birth. Man does not have a say in the circumstances of his birth. Man does not have a say in the content of his physical makeup, his genetics, his gifts, his talents, his intellect.
Man has no say whatsoever in how, when, or where his life begins. And what I say in this study seems rather obvious, the point here is not the fear instilled by thunder or lightning, but in the power and will of God.
It has already been said that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. When people lose that fear, then they are in an extreme state of delusion. Likewise, they are in an extreme state of danger for their life.
The thunder and lightning are simple symbols teaching us all that they are indeed ominous, and uncontrollable. Likewise, Gods plan goes far, far, far beyond our ability to even begin to understand it. We could never even begin to control life as God is able.
I mentioned yesterday, the opinions of man verses the opinion of God. Thought sure I would get some email responses. But alas, none crossed my computer screen.
Lets just recall what we have been studying. Job.
Job was the greatest of believers in his time. He was the recipient of phenomenal prosperity from God. Without explanation to him, from anyone, all of his wealth was taken away. Even his children were lost, with no explanation given.
The ensuing questions raised in this book seek to answer that question. His friends believed it to be because of Jobs secret wickedness.
Elihu simply believes that God does what God does and it is not for man to question anything, but simply to live with it, as we live with the weather from season to season throughout our lives.
Job, on the other hand, believes that there is an explanation, but that it just isn't apparent to him at the moment. And we have already heard from God, way back in the opening chapter, that Job was a righteous man.
But there is one more party in this play and that is Satan.
Satan is an actual person, but he also represents all the opposition to God, and therefore the opposition to truth in this world. Satan is not the only one who opposes truth. Jobs friends have demonstrated this thought pattern. They have perpetuated the views of Satan, in their distortions of the applications of truth.
And so we come around to the fears that you may wish to consider in life, as the world, which follows the lead of Satanic thought, it its attempt to control life.
Now this is just an introduction of chapter 37, but recall our study of the anti-christ, the leader of the revived Roman Empire of the Tribulation. That is still a future state. That anti-christ will be a dynamic person, pleasant, personable, popular with the masses. He will be popular with the then existing news media. But under that outward appearance, there will be the essence of Satan himself.
Not everyone who is personable and pleasing, is evil. And you can only learn of their true nature by listening to them and comparing their opinions with truth.
We are currently in the Church Age. Our dispensation is one of historical trends. We have already studied this in the four gospels. There are no prophecies set to occur within our dispensation, except the one which identifies the conclusion of our dispensation - namely the Rapture.
However, when the Tribulation is introduced, various circumstances exist, and they can only come into existence during our dispensation. That is, the alignment of nations and so forth. There are many other indicators of our nearing an end to our dispensation - namely the population explosion, technology explosion, the rise of a troubled world and so forth. But all of our indicators are mere trends or examples of the greater troubles that will occur during the Tribulation. A dispensation from which we will be exempted, by the grace of God. Terrible as it will be.
But again we look to our own dispensation for examples of trends that will help us to identify mans spiritual status in this world, now. This does two things. First, it should reinforce our belief in God and help us in our faith. And second, it can help us adjust to life, just as we adjust to the weather.
When the weather turns cold, we put on coats. When the weather turns hot, we take them off. We buy insurance against possible storm damage. We build to protect ourselves against weather damage. We cannot always prevent damage, loss or suffering, but we know that they can occur, and we can prepare for them.
We never curse God for our loss, but thank Him for our survival.
Life will have many unknowns. Life in this life is temporary at best, and our best preparation in this life is our preparation for the next life.
Goliath did not fear God, but placed his faith in his muscles. He died. We can begin to understand much of nature through technological discoveries, but we can also learn that it was God who created and invented all of these things.
If we come to believe in the acts of nature as being nothing more than that, then we place faith in the muscles of Goliath. And we will one day be greatly surprised and very disappointed. But if we learn to place God in awe, but virtue of His hand in history (not in politicians), then we will be better oriented to life and will be better able to survive whatever storms loom on the horizon.
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