SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 11/7/2011 9:32:09 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: “Eliphaz:
Two Warnings”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Job 15
Message
of the verses: Today’s SD begins a
new chapter in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Job, “Be Patient.” He entitles
this chapter, which covers chapters 15-17, “Discussion Turns Into Dispute.” We will find in these three chapters of Job
that Job’s three friends, starting with Eliphaz in this chapter, want to attack
Job even more than the first time they spoke to him. Job will speak to Eliphaz in chapters 16-17
in order to answer the things that Eliphaz speaks to him about in this chapter.
Why is it that Job’s three friends
want to discredit Job, telling him that he has sinned, and that is the cause of
all of his troubles? The answer could be
that if Job was correct in his thinking that he had not sinned to cause all of
this trouble, that the same thing could happen to them and so it is important
that they make sure that it was because of some secret sin that Job committed
against the Lord that caused all this trouble.
The quote that I am about to write
is from an unknown source but it surely goes along with Job’s three
friends. The quote is about theologians
“a blind man in a dark room searching for a black cat that isn’t there.” Dr. Wiersbe writes the following: “But a true theologian walks in the light of
God’s revelation in His Word, in history, and in creation; and he humbly
accepts the truth, no matter what the cost.”
Job’s friends were not true theologians, for they only saw things from
one side, if you sin you will have bad things happen to you, if you life a
righteous life things will go good for you.
This kind of sounds like the Pharisees to me.
Dr. Wiersbe quotes Eric Hoffer, who
was a longshoreman-philosopher who said, “We are least open to precise
knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about.”
Job
lacks wisdom (Job 15:1-16). “1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded, 2 “Should
a wise man answer with windy knowledge And fill himself with the east wind? 3 “Should
he argue with useless talk, Or with words which are not profitable? 4 “Indeed,
you do away with reverence And hinder meditation before God. 5 “For your guilt
teaches your mouth, And you choose the language of the crafty. 6 “Your own
mouth condemns you, and not I; And your own lips testify against you. 7 “Were
you the first man to be born, Or were you brought forth before the hills? 8 “Do
you hear the secret counsel of God, And limit wisdom to yourself? 9 “What do
you know that we do not know? What do you understand that we do not? 10 “Both
the gray-haired and the aged are among us, Older than your father. 11 “Are the
consolations of God too small for you, Even the word spoken gently with you? 12
“Why does your heart carry you away? And why do your eyes flash, 13 That you
should turn your spirit against God And allow such words to go out of your
mouth? 14 “What is man, that he should be pure, Or he who is born of a woman,
that he should be righteous? 15 "Behold, He puts no trust in His holy
ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight; 16 How much less one who is detestable and
corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!”
In this section Eliphaz gives two
warnings, and the first one is in the verses above, which is Job lacks
wisdom. Eliphaz is really not saying
anything more that he had said in his last speech to Job, that is that man is a
sinner and God must punish sinners (Job 5:17-19), however there is nothing
comforting that is said to Job in this section.
How is it that Eliphaz comes to this
conclusion that Job lacks wisdom? Well
for one thing he listened to Jobs words (vv.1-6) and all he found in them were
hot air, nothing but wind. Job’s words
came from a belly full of hot air, and not from any source of true wisdom. Eliphaz could not attack Job’s arguments so
he attacked his words as being hot air.
I think that it is important for me
to quote a paragraph from Warren Wiersbe’s commentary from this section: “Eliphaz not only heard Job’s words, but he saw where those words led (Job
15:4). ‘But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God (v. 4, NIV). If everybody believed as Job believed—that
God does not always punish the wicked and reward the godly—then what motive
would people have for obeying God?
Religion would not be worth it! But this is the devil’s theology, the very
thing that God was using Job to refute!
If people serve God only for what they get out of it, then they are not
serving God at all, they are only serving themselves by making God their
servant. Their ‘religion’ is only a
pious system for promoting selfishness and not for glorifying God.” In my opinion this quote is precisely the
main reason that the book of Job is so important for believers to read and to
understand.
As a believer in Jesus Christ living
in the twenty-first century what is my motive for serving God? Is it because I fear Him and so if I don’t I
will be punished for my disobedience?
When God called Israel out of Egypt and gave them His Law at Mt. Sinai
they were still children and therefore that is how God treated them, however
when the next generation came along and they were about to go into the promised
land Moses gave them a higher motive for obeying God. Let’s look at a few verses from the book of
Deuteronomy to see this higher motive: “4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our
God, the LORD is one! 5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your might.” This is from Der. 6:4-5 and is one of the
most important set of verses in all of Scripture to a Jew it’s the Shema. “7
“The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in
number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.” (Der. 7:7)
“12"Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but
to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep
the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for
your good? 14 “Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest
heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15 "Yet on your fathers did the
LORD set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them,
even you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your
neck no longer.” (Deu. 10:12-16) Now that we are beginning to understand that
it is all about love, God’s love for us and in turn our love for God, and
because of our love for God we will obey the Lord’s commandments. Two NT verses: “8 Owe
nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has
fulfilled the law. 9 For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL
NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it
is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS
YOURSELF." 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the
fulfillment of the law.” (Romans
13:8-10) John 14:15 was said by the
Lord Jesus Christ to His disciple’s right before He was to go to the cross: “"If
you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” In all these verses we can see that Job’s
friends got it wrong.
Eliphaz is telling Job that he has a
wicked heart in verse 5-6 and also that because of his youth that he lacked
wisdom in verses 7-10. Eliphaz then
turns to sarcasm, which is another proof that he did not have anything
intelligent to say.
Eliphaz now turns to say something
similar in verses 14-16 that he already said in Job 4:17-19, and that is if
heaven is not even pure before God, not even the angels that live in
heaven, how then can a man who lives on
this earth, born with a sinful nature be pure before God. Job is no exception to this either. In the next SD we will look at the second
warning that Eliphaz has for Job, and that is “God judges the wicked.”
However I don’t want to leave this
question unanswered that Eliphaz brings up.
The NT testament teaches us that once a person is “born again” that he receives the righteousness of Jesus Christ “2 Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
(KJV) When I look at this verse I seem to always think that this is not a
fair exchange, but this is love. As far as heaven not being pure I will give my
own answer to that question and so you must understand it is only my
opinion. Satan fell while in heaven and
took one third of the angels with him.
Those angels were then thrown down to the earth. This is written about in the twelfth chapter
of Revelations. Now we see in the book
of Job that Satan has access to come into heaven and speak to God, so in my
opinion this is how heaven has been defiled and this, in my opinion, is why at
the end of the kingdom age that lasts one thousand years that the heavens and the
earth are “uncreated” and then we have a place called the New Jerusalem and
this is where God will dwell. I believe
that heaven will be destroyed because Satan had access to it.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I have
read over and over about the love of God, how God loves me and demonstrated
this love for me by sending Christ to die on the cross for me. I believe it in my heart, but there are times
when I have a hard time living like it in this body of mine.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1.
Remember the
truth of 2Cor. 5:21.
2.
Remember the
truth of Philippians 4:11b.
3.
Remember the
truth of 1John 4:18.
11/7/2011
11:17:50 AM
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