SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 11/19/2011 8:24:33 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “Three Bitter Complaints”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Job
24:1-25
Message
of the verses: Today’s SD is on the
last of the three bitter complaints that Job has against the Lord and Dr.
Wiersbe entitles this complaint “God
perplexes me” and it covers the entire 24th chapter of Job.
“1 "Why
are times not stored up by the Almighty, And why do those who know Him not see
His days? 2 “Some remove the landmarks; They seize and devour flocks. 3 “They
drive away the donkeys of the orphans; They take the widow’s ox for a pledge. 4
“They push the needy aside from the road; The poor of the land are made to hide
themselves altogether. 5 “Behold, as wild donkeys in the wilderness They go
forth seeking food in their activity, As bread for their children in the
desert. 6 “They harvest their fodder in the field And glean the vineyard of the
wicked. 7 “They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering
against the cold. 8 “They are wet with the mountain rains And hug the rock for
want of a shelter. 9 “Others snatch the orphan from the breast, And against the
poor they take a pledge. 10 “They cause the poor to go about naked without
clothing, And they take away the sheaves from the hungry. 11 “Within the walls
they produce oil; They tread wine presses but thirst. 12 “From the city men
groan, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not pay attention to
folly.
“13
"Others have been with those who rebel against the light; They do not want
to know its ways Nor abide in its paths. 14 “The murderer arises at dawn; He
kills the poor and the needy, And at night he is as a thief. 15 “The eye of the
adulterer waits for the twilight, Saying, ’No eye will see me.’ And he
disguises his face. 16 “In the dark they dig into houses, They shut themselves
up by day; They do not know the light. 17 “For the morning is the same to him as
thick darkness, For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.
“18 "They
are insignificant on the surface of the water; Their portion is cursed on the
earth. They do not turn toward the vineyards. 19 “Drought and heat consume the
snow waters, So does Sheol those who have sinned. 20 “A mother will forget him;
The worm feeds sweetly till he is no longer remembered. And wickedness will be
broken like a tree. 21 “He wrongs the barren woman And does no good for the
widow. 22 “But He drags off the valiant by His power; He rises, but no one has
assurance of life. 23 “He provides them with security, and they are supported;
And His eyes are on their ways. 24
"They are exalted a little while, then they are gone; Moreover,
they are brought low and like everything gathered up; Even like the heads of
grain they are cut off. 25 “Now if it is not so, who can prove me a liar, And
make my speech worthless?’” (NASB)
We remember that Job is looking for
a court day with the Lord, and this is what Job is saying as he begins this
speech that speaks of how perplexed that Job is with the Lord. If Job could find this court date with the
Lord he would feel there. Latter on he
will find it, but when he does he will not say much to the Lord.
I attend a Bible Study with a group
of men that has been going on for about eight years now and this year we meet a
couple times a month and are studying a book that is written by John MacArthur
entitled “The Battle For the Beginning,” which covers most of the first three
chapters in Genesis. This past Friday we
listened to a sermon by John MacArthur entitled “The Fall of Satan,” as this
goes along with the topic of origins.
The reason that I bring this up is that in the first half of this sermon
MacArthur touches on the book of Job and actually his first reference is from
the 23rd chapter of Job and the first twelve verses which is what we
looked at a couple of days ago. He goes
on to say that when you look at the 38th chapter of Job all the way
to the end of the book that God never answers Job’s questions, for God is
sovereign and can do what he wants to and does not have to answer to anyone,
not even His children. He also mentions
Deuteronomy 29:29 in this message, which I have mentioned on various times in
these SD’s because it is so full of meaning especially for the book of
Job. If anyone would like to listen to
this message they can go to www.gty.org and
when you get there click on the “resource” button and then in the search box
type in “The Fall of Satan,” and you can then listen to it or download it to
listen to latter.
We will break this chapter up into
three different topics; “injustices in
the country (Job 24:1-11); “Crimes in the city” (Job 24:12-17) and “A curse on
the wicked (Job 24:18-25).
“Injustices
in the country:” In this first section Job speaks of those who move
boundary markers to use the land as if it were their own, for there were no
fences in Job’s day. They would steal
the livestock as if it was their own, and Job speaks of the wicked doing this
and God not doing anything about it. We
see in verses 5-11 a very graphic description of the poor, one of the most
graphic in all of Scripture.
Job is telling this to his friends
because the people who he is describing are wicked and God has not done
anything to them, so why is Job being “picked on by God?”
“Crimes
in the city:” In verses 12-14 Job is speaking of murders that happen in the
city and says that God is doing nothing about them. In verse 15 Job mentions sexual sins. Murders and sexual sins are common place in
many cities around this world so what Job is saying is spot on.
“A
curse on the wicked:” It is hard to say exactly what this section is saying,
a description of what will happen to the wicked, or a denunciation or a curse
on the wicked by Job, which is what Dr. Wiersbe believes Job is saying.
Dr. Wiersbe writes, “Job’s
malediction can be summarized like this: ‘May the wicked vanish like foam on
the water or snow that melts in the heat of the sun (vv-18-19). May they be forgotten by everyone, even their
own mothers, as they rot in the grave (V.20).
May their wives be barren and give them no heirs (v.21). May their sense of security and success
vanish quickly as they are brought low, mowed down like wheat in the harvest’
(vv.22-24).”
Now let’s look at what Job says to
his critics in verse twenty-five: “25 “Now if it is not so, who can prove me
a liar, And make my speech worthless?”
I have heard it said that God does
not pay at the end of the week, and it is a good thing that He does not for the
fact is that we are all sinners, and one day the Lord Jesus Christ will return
to planet earth and reign for 1000 years and at the end of that time there will
be what the Bible calls the “Great White Throne Judgment.” Only un-believers will be there, for the
believers will have trusted that their sins were already judged at the cross
when Jesus took the punishment those sins and for all sins and so Job need not
be too upset, nor we either for one day all of the wrongs will be taken care
of.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I think
that the words of David and then Paul are good for me to look at now: Psalm
139:23-24 “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.” 2Cor. 13:5-6 “5 Test
yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not
recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you-unless indeed you
fail the test? 6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not
fail the test.”
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to
trust the Lord in all of the situations that I am in, but the good times and
the bad times.
2.
Continue to
learn contentment through the good times and the bad times.
11/19/2011
9:18:49 PM
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