SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 11/15/2011 8:48:56 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Actual End of a Wicked Man”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Job
21:1-34
Message
of the verses: We will take this
chapter one sub-section at a time in order to understand how Job will refute
what Zophar had just said to him. When
Job gets done with his speech he will have refuted all the things that Zophar
had said to him and tear them to bits.
I want to first look at the
beginning six verses of chapter twenty-one.
“1 Then Job answered, 2 "Listen
carefully to my speech, And let this be your way of consolation. 3 “Bear with
me that I may speak; Then after I have spoken, you may mock. 4 “As for me, is
my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient? 5 “Look at me, and be
astonished, And put your hand over your mouth. 6 “Even when I remember, I am
disturbed, And horror takes hold of my flesh.” In order to understand better what Job is
saying her I wish to use the Message at this point, for it seems to be very
clear as to what Job is saying here: “1 Job replied: 2 "Now listen to me
carefully, please listen, at least do me the favor of listening. 3 Put up with
me while I have my say—then you can mock me later to your heart’s content. 4 “It’s
not you I’m complaining to—it’s God. Is it any wonder I’m getting fed up with
his silence? 5 Take a good look at me. Aren’t you appalled by what’s happened?
No! Don’t say anything. I can do without your comments. 6 When I look back, I
go into shock, my body is racked with spasms.”
Job does not have any complaints
with men, but his complaint lies with God, and all he wishes from these men is
silence, but thus far they have not given that to him, and in the future they
will not give it to him.
The
life of the wicked may be long (Job 21:7-16): “7 "Why
do the wicked still live, Continue on, also become very powerful? 8 “Their
descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring
before their eyes, 9 Their houses are safe from fear, And the rod of God is not
on them. 10 “His ox mates without fail; His cow calves and does not abort. 11 “They
send forth their little ones like the flock, And their children skip about. 12
“They sing to the timbrel and harp And rejoice at the sound of the flute. 13 “They
spend their days in prosperity, And suddenly they go down to Sheol. 14 “They
say to God, ’Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways. 15
’Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And what would we gain if we
entreat Him?’ 16 “Behold, their prosperity is not in their hand; The counsel of
the wicked is far from me.”
Job is refuting what Zophar had said
earlier about how the wicked lived, for in these verses we see how they live,
and I might add live without God or for the most part without the thought of
God in their lives. Job speaks of all
the good things that the wicked have, and how their children prosper, and their
animals mate without having any troubles.
Job even says that these wicked men die without suffering, unlike what
Job is going through. The children of
the wicked prosper, unlike Job’s who died at an early age.
In his commentary on this section
Dr. Wiersbe points out that many believers today want this kind of a life
style, a life style like the rich and famous, and in doing this they fall away
from the Lord and do not depend upon Him, whom they should be depending
on. It is sad to see how young married
couples who are believers care more about the riches of this life than the good
things of the Lord.
The
wicked do not often experience calamity?
(Job 21:17-21): “17 “Still, how often does it happen that
the wicked fail, or disaster strikes, or they get their just deserts? 18 How
often are they blown away by bad luck? Not very often. 19 You might say, ‘God
is saving up the punishment for their children.’ I say, ‘Give it to them right
now so they’ll know what they’ve done!’ 20 They deserve to experience the
effects of their evil, feel the full force of God’s wrath firsthand. 21 What do
they care what happens to their families after they’re safely tucked away in
the grave?” (Message)
“17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked
put out, Or does their calamity fall on them? Does God apportion destruction in
His anger? 18 “Are they as straw before the wind, And like chaff which the
storm carries away? 19 “You say, ’God stores away a man’s iniquity for his
sons.’ Let God repay him so that he may know it. 20 “Let his own eyes see his
decay, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21 “For what does he
care for his household after him, When the number of his months is cut
off?” (NASB)
In Job 18:5 Bildad says "Indeed, the light of the wicked goes
out, And the flame of his fire gives no light.” This is not what Job is saying in this
section.
Both Zophar and Eliphaz were saying
that God would punish the children of the wicked instead of the wicked and in
saying this they were pointing to Job who lost his children, but Job asks “What
kind of judgment is that?” Besides that
Job was also suffering, not only from losing his children, but because of his
health too. I don’t know about everyone
who reads Job and studies it, but it seems to me that for the most part I have
forgotten about the loss of Job’s children, and that is to my shame, for even though
Job was suffering greatly from the illness that Satan has given to him, he must
be greatly suffering from the loss of his five children too.
We find in Jeremiah 31:29-30 and
also Ezekiel 18:1ff that God does not punish the children for the parent’s sins
or the parents for the children’s sins, which is what Job’s friends are
claiming. Deuteronomy 24:16 states: ‘"Fathers
shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for
their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.’” This was a very cruel thing that Job’s
friends were saying to him.
Job refutes Zophar’s statement that
claimed that the pleasure of the wicked were temporary because God’s judgment
suddenly fell upon them, but Job asked, “How
often have you seen that happen.”
Zophar had also said that the life of the wicked is short, but Job says
that the wicked live a long life.
The
wicked die just like other people (Job21:22-34): “22 “But who are we to tell God how to run his affairs? He’s dealing
with matters that are way over our heads. 23 Some people die in the prime of life, with everything going for
them— 24 fat and sassy. 25 Others die bitter and bereft, never getting a taste
of happiness. 26 They’re laid out side by side in the cemetery, where the worms
can’t tell one from the other.
“27
"I’m not deceived. I know what you’re up to, the plans you’re cooking up
to bring me down. 28 Naively you claim that the castles of tyrants fall to
pieces, that the achievements of the wicked collapse. 29 Have you ever asked
world travelers how they see it? Have you not listened to their stories 30 Of
evil men and women who got off scot-free, who never had to pay for their
wickedness? 31 Did anyone ever confront them with their crimes? Did they ever have
to face the music? 32 Not likely—they’re given fancy funerals with all the
trimmings, 33 Gently lowered into expensive graves, with everyone telling lies
about how wonderful they were. 34
"So how do you expect me to get any comfort from your nonsense?
Your so-called comfort is a tissue of lies.’”
(Message)
“22
“Can anyone teach God knowledge, In that He judges those on high? 23 "One
dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and satisfied; 24 His sides are filled out with fat, And the
marrow of his bones is moist, 25 While another dies with a bitter soul, Never
even tasting anything good. 26 “Together they lie down in the dust, And worms
cover them.
27 "Behold,
I know your thoughts, And the plans by which you would wrong me. 28 “For you
say, ’Where is the house of the nobleman, And where is the tent, the dwelling
places of the wicked?’ 29 “Have you not asked wayfaring men, And do you not
recognize their witness? 30 “For the wicked is reserved for the day of
calamity; They will be led forth at the day of fury. 31 “Who will confront him
with his actions, And who will repay him for what he has done? 32 “While he is
carried to the grave, Men will keep watch over his tomb. 33 “The clods of the
valley will gently cover him; Moreover, all men will follow after him, While
countless ones go before him. 34 “How then will you vainly comfort me, For your
answers remain full of falsehood?’” (NASB)
I like the way that verse twenty-two
is stated in the Message. Job is saying
that man does not have any right to interfere with what God is doing, for God
is God and will do as He wishes. God
will latter ask Job this question and Job will have no answer for God.
Job is saying that some people die
when they are young and healthy and some suffer for a long time, and when they
get to the grave and are laid out beside each other one will not be able to
tell the difference between them.
In verse thirty-one Job asks the
question to his friends if they had ever asked the wicked about what was going
to happen to them. This is a good
question for all believers to pounder, for that is one of the reasons that we
are here on this earth to tell others about the saving grace that is offered to
these people.
As we look at verse thirty-four we
will see that Job does not have any confidence in the answers that his friends
were going to give him, for he says that they are full of falsehoods.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I would
suppose that verse twenty-two is the verse that sticks out in my mind this
morning as it goes along with one of my favorite verses in all of the
Scriptures, and that is Deuteronomy 29:29.
I will quote this verse in both the NASB and also the Message “"The secret things belong to the LORD
our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we
may observe all the words of this law.’”
‘GOD, our God, will take care of
the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It’s up to us and
our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation.’”
As a believer I do not have all of
the answers, and there are many things that I will never be able to answer as
this verse shows me so it is my job to obey the things that have been written
in God’s Word, and not to try and understand the things that are what the verse
calls “secret things.”
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1.
Listen with
my heart and not just with my ears.
2.
Continue to
learn contentment.
11/15/2011
10:02:32 AM
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