Post by Ɖσмιиιc on Jan 23, 2022 22:13:00 GMT -7
'But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who does not know such things as these?' Job 12:3
Job tells his friends "I'm understanding well about God, as well, as you. I am not inferior to you" Job's friends start to kind of beat up Job in like these righteous speeches as "you are a sinner Job, admit it, this is why is punishing you". Job, who is not sinning in the same sense as his accusing friends, stands his ground and gives his defense.
I love what Job says.
'He whose foot is unsteady is despised in the thoughts of him who is at ease.' Job 12:5
Job says "my friends despise me" and "my friends are at ease" and it was true. Job was suffering. Who can imagine the loss of several children at once? Even one is unimaginable pain. I can't even think it. Job's friends didn't lose all of their children. Job's friends' wife didn't say (as Job's wife said) 'why don't you curse God and die already?', Job's friends despised him.
Despise means
- to look down on with disrespect or aversion
- to regard as negligible, worthless, or distasteful (like how someone despises "organized" religion")
Job's buddies are not really being his buddies. They were his buddies, they try hard to use their theology and understanding about God and God's righteousness and the punishment of the wicked, as the theology to interpret Job's sufferings. They were right on some things, but wrong about Job.
How can friends, Christian friends, being right in their theology but wrong about you? Simple, they lack "love" The Bible says, "if you can speak in the tongues of men and angels but lack love, you are just a sounging gong".
Here, if you put your head to a loud drum, and ask a person, 'hey I want you to hit this drum, and keep hitting it, I'll put my ear to it and just blast away" that is kind of like what is happening.
His "righteous" friends tells about God's righteousness, (good actually) but where the friends fail is in their 'accusations'. Oh man. Accusing poor Job of sins when Job didn't sin to get this treatment of suffering.
The clear accusation are this.
Friends: "Job, you are sinning or have sinned. Just admit it and repent. God is punishing you to your sins"
Job: "No, I have not sinned, I want to talk to God about this"
this cycle repeats over and over and over.
Just like putting your head to a drum, and someone pounding on it, making sounds, gongs, noises, but without love, this is all meaningless.
Aha!. We have found another temptation.
Satan's trick: I will make Christians accuse one another for "sins" so that I will break them down. I will use God's own Word against them to destory each other and thus try to make God look bad, and make them look bad.
Let me tell you a secret. Satan does this because Satan is bad and also wants to drag you down to his level. How can I say that? Simple. God said "Satan is a liar and the Father of lies, and also comes to kill, steal and destroy".
In this case, Satan was the one hurting Job NOT God.
But the real question comes evident "Why God did You allow this?" < What a great question. The Bible has the answer. Do you know what the answer is?
I believe the answer is this.
'For God has put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ' Revelation 17:17
Remember God said in the beginning of Job these words.
'And the Lord said to the Adversary, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, who fears God, and avoids evil?” Then the Adversary answered the Lord , saying, “Has Job feared God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.” The Lord said to the Adversary, “Look, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against his person.” So the Adversary departed from the presence of the Lord .' Job 1:8-12
God said something about Job. Job, according to God, was a man like this.
- a servant of God
- blameless
- upright
- fears God
- avoids evil
Job was this kind of person, God knew it. God was showing Job, God's servant. Job served God. God knew it. Job wanted this. Job was shining a light in a dark world. God was Job's love, his main attraction, his meditation, his life. Job talks very much good about God and has a vast knowledge about God. Job considers God and God's work in the creation.
God wanted to make a very clear point and not only this one time to Satan, because all the hosts of heaven, know that Satan and his fallen angels are liars and evil. God was not just picking on Job to make a man suffer to make God feel good. There was a purpose.
The whole purpose of suffering in life is this - to meet God and God meets you.
If you seek God with all of your heart, You will find Him. The Bible says this many times.
The Bible says to love God with all our hearts, mind, strength.
Job was a candidate for this kind of faith. Job lived out his beliefs with conviction. You know he did. You know what he said too. Look at this.
'“If my heart has been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door, then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down over her. For this is a heinous crime; yes, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. For it is a fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all my increase.' Job 31:9-12
This is not bragging by any means. Job was honestly telling God, telling his friends, "If I have been deceived by a women (that is some other women not my wife) or if I planned or was planning to sleep with my neighbors wife, ...if that is true, God know, then look, let this happen, let my wife grind for another and let others bow down over her. For this is a heinous crime, yes, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. For it (lust/adultery/sin) is a fire that consumes to destruction and would root out all of my increase.
Job said "If my heart was been deceived by a women." So if Job was playing a harlot, If Job was visiting prostitutes, if Job was lusting in his heart after a women, being deceived by her, following a lie, in lust..." Job says, if I ever did that, let my wife belong to another man. This means, since I have sinned and if that was true, take my wife away then, since I was so impure. So do you see what Job was really saying?
This. "guys, if I have sinned, as you are accusing me, let me be clear, if I have lusted after a women, or was planning to, or did, then let my wife be taken and given to another man"
Think about it. This is heinous. Job admits it. Is Job really trying to get rid of his wife? No way. Job is saying, that he has not sinned in the area of lust and adultery and if he did, Job would be willing to let his wife go.
Can you imagine that?
Men cheat. Women cheat. We lust. We commit adultery. If we honestly are deceived by the other women, this means, we were desiring to lust after that other women, and she deceived me, yes, but if I am deceived by her, then I give up my wife to let some other man have her. Since I am honestly not being true to my wife, then let my wife belong to another man. Men, what do you think about Job's statement? Do you want your wife to belong to another man? Can you think that your wife would desire another man, and not desire you? Can you imaging that another man is having sex with your wife and she is enjoying it? It's sick. It causes me to fear. It causes me to feel sick. It causes me to feel jealousy.
I have had vivid dreams of my wife cheating on me, because I have cheated on her. I woke up feeling disgusted and "how can my wife do this to me" and yet it felt so real and it was only a dream. Now let's examine ourselves in this light -
If you are watching porn? If you are visiting women for sex? If you are involved in sex chats with other women? How do you think your wife is going to feel? I'll tell you from hearing other wives and matching to my own dreams of betrayal.
- How can he do this to me?
- Wasn't I pretty enough for him?
- What did I do to cause this?
- I feel so broken beyond repair
- I just want to die and end my life
Granted, every women, doesn't have the same reactions but many are like that. If you don't believe me, read it from other wives yourselfs. Here is a link to read and see for yourself all the madness we (men) have caused our wives. Let other wives' cry and plea help you understand what your own wife is not able to tell you, or probably has told you.
Not even that, there is more. Jesus said that adultery will lead us to hell. Job also mentions "it is a fire that consumes to destruction". What destruction? I thought...I was only getting horny and masturbating and I was not hurting anyone? Wrong. That is deception and that is what the Devil wants you to think. "Oh it's just porn and masturbation, Oh we all need a little release and it's just natural". Lie, lies, lies, and more lies. This is "proof" that we are under Satanic spiritual attacks. Do you think those ideas are you own? You think them in your mind, but they were given to you, as planted seeds, from the devil. A spiritual entity is planting them, creating more doubt and havoc trying to convince you and I that "these are "your" thoughts" not mine".
Hidden Agenda. So you want find the tracks.
Do you know how a hacker attacks? He infiltrates the computer, and deletes the tracks of his digital footprints by deleting the system log files. It is the same as a criminal who breaks in and wipes the evidence away or cleans it away. The devil is the one giving them this "smart wisdom" they think in order to fool the authorities. In this case, to fool us.
Do you see how Satan attacks? We dont' even know we are understand attack. We just "think" and "say" or we just "reason within ourselves" and "come up with our own ideas" but if our idea doesn't match what God has already revealed to us in His Word, then it's not true.
Back to Job's situation. Is there a similar situation like Job so Job's friends could have known that something like this could happen? What about Cain and Abel? Abel was working and Cain just killed Abel for no reason. Why did God allow it? The Bible doesn't say, but we can see one example of a righeous person getting killed by a wicked person and God allowing it, and no doubt, Cain was inspired by Satan to kill, steal, and destroy. Jesus said Satan was murderer from the beginning and the first murder was Cain and Abel.
Satan did have a part in Cain's killing of Abel and Satan also has a part in Job's. Now we know more because it was revealed to us in the scriptures.
It seems to me that Job's friends did not consider that God might allow a tragedy, without it being the fault of sin. Like Abel was like Job. Both were afflicted. Abel died and Job lost his children and more.
God allows it. Satan is the one afflicting the damage on a righeous person's life.
For the wicked, God does punish, as in Sodom and Gamorrah, but in Abel and Job's case, this was not God punishing but God's allowing it.
Why? So God's Word would be fulfilled. We will not know God's mind on many things, but only what the Word of God says. Job also doesn't receive a clear answer if you read the book of Job.
Sometimes, we just want to be told something specific, this is Ok, to want, it's OK to pray, but if we don't get the answer we want, we are tested to see if we are doing to keep trusting God, or just turn away.
What will you do? What will I do?
If God seems distant and God allows some tragic suffering, what can we do? Job has some faith to share on this answer.
' Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him, but I will defend my own ways before Him.' Job 13:15
We don't understand God sometimes, or many times, or maybe all, but "if God slays you, will you trust Him?"
If God allows some tragedy to come, some suffering, no matter how great or small, will you trust Him?
I'm not holier than thou, I have fears, I'm so fearful of God, I fear God will put in hell sometimes, because of my walk in the past and because of my sins. I have no right to talk down to you or seem all holier and spiritual when I'm just nothing and have tons of issues my self.
I am only reading and sharing what is on my mind and heart on how I understand these scriptures and hopefully trying to draw some truth and meditation from it. The Word of God was written for our benefit. This story has so much value to me and I hope the story of Job will encourage you too.