And Jehovah answered me,
and said, Write the vision,
and
make it plain upon tablets, that he may run
that readeth it.
(Habakkuk 2:2 [ASV])
Last Updated
13 Apr 2021
MARKSWATSON.COM
Watson's
Web
Biblical and Prophetic
Perspective For Our Times
For
whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words,
of him shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he cometh in his own glory,
and the glory of the Father,
and of the holy angels.
(Luke 9:26 [ASV])
I have set
Jehovah always before me:
Because he is at my right hand, I
shall not be moved.
(Psalms 16:8 [ASV])
Mark can be reached here.
Contents On This Page
- Job Part
41
- Encouragement
- Job Part 40
- Job Part 39
- Visitation
- Job Part 38
- Religion Watch
- Job Part 37
13 Apr
Job Part XLI
Then Job
answered and said,
Hear diligently my speech;
And let this be your consolations.
Suffer me, and I also will speak;
And after that I have spoken,
mock on.
(Job 21:1-3 ASV)
Job begins his retort to Zophar's speech with
both an entreaty that Zophar and has friends listen to his
words and follows with a bit of dry humor and says they
can continue to mock him when he is done, until then,
suffer that he may speak.
As for me, is
my complaint to man?
And why should I not be impatient?
Mark me, and be astonished,
And lay your hand upon your mouth.
Even when I remember I am troubled,
And horror taketh hold on my flesh.
(Job 21:4-6 ASV)
Job here I think tries to correct a misconception in the
minds of his comforters. He is not nearly as concerned
with their opinion of him as they seem to think, his
argument and complaint is not with them, but with God. He
needed comfort and support from his friends and instead he
got sermonized by men who clearly did not really know or
understand God. They have engaged in this debate that to
Job was irrelevant, because his controversy was not with
these so called friends, whose comfort they offered Job
was like laying on a bed of nails.
Job is upset and why should he not be troubled by all that
has befallen him. We should keep in mind that Job has on
other occasions appealed directly to God to argue his case
before him. This appears to be another occasion (vs 4).
Job then goes on to say (paraphrasing), look at me?
are you not astonished!? How could we modernize and
make it more colorful and down to earth for today? 'Come
on man, look at my face... I look like something out of
horror flick and could scare away all the neighborhood
kids just by walking down the street!' (see Job 30:8-11).
His friends should have put their hands over their mouth
in silent astonishment rather than their constant needling
of him.
Job says that even as he remembers these things he is
afraid when he thinks of all the evil that has befallen
him. It still scares him; his kids dead, his wealth gone,
he now sitting in the city dump scraping his skin with
shards of a broken pot.
Wherefore do
the wicked live,
Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
Their seed is established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them.
(Job 21:7-9 ASV)
Job here returns to his old argument and
rebuts the fanciful theology of Zophar, stating clearly
that what happens to the wicked is clearly not what
Zophar and his friends say it is. He has seen the wicked
do pretty well, their household and bloodlines
established - they are secure and God does not punish
nor chastise them; completely contrary to Zophar's 'make
up your own facts' theology. What Zophar and his
friends have said simply did not line up with reality.
Their bull gendereth, and
faileth not;
Their cow calveth, and casteth not her
calf.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance.
They sing to the timbrel and harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity,
And in a moment they go down to Sheol.
And they say unto God, Depart from us;
For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
(Job 21:10-14 ASV)
Job here recounts in poetical language just how good the
wicked live. This idea of them wasting away is simply
not reflected in any reality except in the ' creative
theology' that resides in the minds of Job's
friends. But Job hits an important point in verse 14 and
it's one we should talk about just a bit.
The point he makes is that all the good times,
prosperity and partying, they make the soul of the
wicked man hardened and contemptuous of God. In that
passage they tell God to depart, ' get lost' -
they say to the Almighty, we don't want to know anything
about you! Such is the wicked boast of many a rich and
powerful man who made their bank account and belly swell
as a result of the evil dealings.
Christ dealt with this issue in his ministry and a
relevant passage on this can be found below.
And he said
unto them,
Take heed, and keep yourselves from all
covetousness:
for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance
of the things which he possesseth.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying,
The ground of a certain rich man brought
forth plentifully: and he reasoned within himself,
saying,
What shall I do, because I have not where to
bestow my fruits?
And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my
barns,
and build greater; and there will I bestow
all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my
soul,
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years;
take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God
said unto him,
Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required
of thee;
and the things which thou hast prepared,
whose shall they be? So is he that layeth up
treasure for himself,
and is not rich toward God.
(Luk 12:15-21 ASV)
What this man did was complete folly. The Greek word for
'foolish' ( vs 20) is
G878 in Strong's Greek.
This is where Christ enlightens us, that the
man's soul now is required of him and he may have had a
lot of money in the Roman bank account of his day, but he
was not rich towards God.
So the man in Job 21:14
is expressing this same folly that Christ spoke of in
Luke. Job was close to the truth of the matter that his
friends were either too blind or too puffed up with
spiritual arrogance to see.
Yet Peter also speaks about such people in his second
letter. He sums it up with this verse.
the Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly
out of temptation, and to keep
the unrighteous under punishment
unto the day of judgment;
(2Pe 2:9 ASV)
In short, the Lord is giving the wicked man the rope he
will need to hang himself, the wood needed to build the
scaffold, and the shovel required to dig his own
spiritual grave.
What is the Almighty, that we
should serve him?
And what profit should we have, if we pray unto
him?
Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand:
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put
out?
That their calamity cometh upon them?
That God distributeth sorrows in his
anger?
That they are as stubble before the wind,
And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
Ye say, God layeth up his iniquity for his
children.
Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may
know it:
Let his own eyes see his destruction,
And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
(Job 21:15-20 ASV)
In verse 15,
the wicked man continues his mockery of God and
demonstrates their contempt for him.
In verse 16, the phrase 'prosperity is not in
their hand' probably means that while they have good
things, often all the good things this life has to offer,
it is not theirs really, it's God's to give and take at
his discretion. Job separates himself from such men and
their ways; their counsel are things he wants nothing to
do with.
Job follows by appearing to answer Bildad's question on
the light of the wicked being put out (Yea, the light of the wicked shall be
put out, And the spark of his fire shall not
shine - Job 18:5). He asks how often
their candle is put out and their destruction come? How
often does this really happen?. This is the real question
Job is asking here.
The rest of the passage is not as clear as it might seem,
but it appears that what Job is doing is anticipating an
argument from his friends and answering a previous
contention that God will visit the sins of the evil man
upon his posterity. They may argue that maybe what Job
puts forward is true, if so then they would argue that the
sins of the fathers will visit the children (Exodus 20:5). This
doctrine is also being debated by Job, but let us remember
that this book was almost certainly written long before
the Book of Exodus and the Mosaic Law.
We shall continue our look a Job next week, God willing!!!
Back To Top
7 Apr
Encouragement
Grace
and peace to each of you. In these difficult times I
always want to make sure that I do my best to
encourage each of you who comes by the site. I know
how hard life can be and this walk of faith can at
times be difficult and the last thing I want
to be is one of those sites that harp on the negative,
the disasters and casting a dark light on everything,
as is the habit of some.
We can often become discouraged and confused when
things don't turn out the way we wanted or hoped. In
such times we need to remember the proverb.
Trust in
Jehovah with all thy heart,
And lean not upon thine own understanding:
In all thy ways acknowledge him,
And he will direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes;
Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil:
It will be health to thy navel,
And marrow to thy bones.
(Pro 3:5-8 ASV)
In times when
we don't understand why something is happening to us,
this is what we need to do. Trust in the Lord - with
all of our hearts. It's what David had to do before he rose to the
throne and it's what Job had to do. Both had to have
at sometime, felt almost betrayed and abandoned by the
God in whom they trusted. But each hung in there -
through thick and thin and kept faith with God. Job
was restored and doubly blessed and David did ascend
to the throne, according to God's promise. But they
had to wade through a proverbial swamp full of
crocodiles and walk through the valley of the shadow
of death first. But they kept moving forward
did not look back and kept faith with God, despite the
dangers.
What? You think its has been easy doing this blog?
It's not has hard as it used to be, but there are
times it has been exceptionally difficult. But I had
my orders from the Lord and I carried them out. I say
this to each of you so that you won't get discouraged
when the harsh realities of life come crashing in your
front door. A major illness in the family, a death,
the loss of a job, a major expense you simply cannot
pay for, you get very sick or maybe you have to do
time for a crime you never even thought about
committing - these things happen, they can happen
to anyone.
But your job is to not give into despair and
bitterness. We must never rail against God and put the
blame on him for the troubles in our life. Chances are
there is something here God wants to teach you and you
won't realize what the lesson is until it's over. It's
often that way with me. I had to learn some things the
hard way and as the last big trial was ending the Lord
just spoke to me and let me know that if I had learned
one key lesson, the trial would come to an end. It
did. There is no chance I will forget that lesson as I
think I will have to go through a 'remedial' course in
the school of hard knocks if I ever do.
Such a lesson does not appeal to me!
The key for each of us who
serves the Lord is this - we all have to go
through trials. There is no way around it. So if it
happens to you, don't be shocked or dismayed. It goes
with God's plan.
fear thou
not, for I am with thee;
be not dismayed, for I am thy God;
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea,
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
righteousness.
Behold, all they that are incensed
against thee shall be put to shame and
confounded:
they that strive with thee shall be as nothing,
and shall perish. Thou shalt seek them,
and shalt not find them, even them that contend
with thee:
they that war against thee shall be as nothing,
and as a thing of nought. For I, Jehovah thy
God,
will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee,
Fear not; I will help thee.
(Isa 41:10-13 ASV)
Things gone
awry? Feel like a hundred boulders just landed right
on top of you? Brothers we have a God who loves us and
will take care of us if we fully put our trust in him.
You got enemies? The passage above makes it plain that
they won't be around long. Just hang tough, God see's
what they are doing. He has not forgotten about you or
their deeds. Let them finish digging their own graves
- they may be only 5-and-a half feet down - let them
get that extra 6 inches of digging completed. Save the
manual laborers the sweat needed to do it. Your God is
indeed looking out for you. But you must - absolutely
MUST put your trust in him and do what he tells you.
So no matter what you are
going through, keep faith with God. Don't get
discouraged and don't, whatever you do throw in the
towel on your faith. That is exactly what the devil
wants you to do. Invariably, he is targeting your
faith - the key ingredient in our salvation.
Back To Top
1 Apr
Job Part XL
We continue here with the last two verses of Job's
response to Bildad.
If ye say, How we
will persecute him!
And that the root of the matter is found in me;
Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath bringeth
the punishments of the sword,
That ye may know there is a judgment.
(Job 19:28-29 ASV)
This passage's linguistic complexity
is a bit much for me. It is not easy to translate nor
to understand fully, as some commentators make plain.
There are many different translations of it. Those of
you who have parallel Bibles may want to look at the
comparisons.
I gather from this passage as a whole
that Job is in a round about way, warning his
detractors not only of his innocence, but that God
would not be so kind to those who so persecuted the
innocent, particularly while they were in such
terrible suffering and guiltless of any serious sin.
God does not look kindly on anyone who brings harm to
those he calls his friends.
Then
answered Zophar the Naamathite,
and said, Therefore do my thoughts
give answer to me, Even by reason
of my haste that is in me. I have heard
the reproof which putteth me to shame;
And the spirit of my understanding
answereth me.
(Job 20:1-3 ASV)
Zophar could not wait to answer Job (my haste) as what
Job said obviously struck Zophar very hard and he
clearly did not like it. Zophar claims his spirit is
one of understanding. However, the word that Zophar
uses for 'thoughts' (vs 2) is one that cannot be
ignored. It could men opinion, but here seems to me to
have the connotation of perhaps uncertainty, doubt - H5587.
Job, I think hit the root of the matter and it kind of
put his friends on the defensive. Zophar then
continues his speech with poetic style. Zophar,
however was not convinced of Job's statement of faith
and innocence.
Knowest
thou not this of old time,
Since man was placed upon earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless but for a
moment?
Though his height mount up to the heavens,
And his head reach unto the clouds;
Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung:
They that have seen him shall say,
Where is he?
(Job 20:4-7 ASV)
Zophar, while using interesting and most descriptive
poetic language, falls back into the same old
theology, arguments and patriarchal age 'pop wisdom'
that simply did not fit Job's situation. His basic
argument that the wicked man's prosperity and
victories in this life don't last long and it has
always been so since Adam ( Man in vs. 4 - H120) has been on
earth.
He shall
fly away as a dream,
and shall not be found:
Yea, he shall be chased away
as a vision of the night.
The eye which saw him
shall see him no more;
Neither shall his place any more behold him.
His children shall seek the favor of the poor,
And his hands shall give back his wealth.
His bones are full of his youth,
But it shall lie down with him in the dust.
Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth,
Though he hide it under his tongue,
Though he spare it, and will not let it go,
But keep it still within his mouth;
Yet his food in his bowels is turned,
It is the gall of asps within him.
(Job 20:8-14 ASV)
Zophar here talks about the fate of the
wicked and how he one day will cease to exist all
together. Job has talked of judgment and made passing
reference to a resurrection ( Job
19:26), this Zophar appears to refute
in his 'understanding'. Then he goes on to discuss the
fate of the wicked man's progeny and that they will be
slaves in an impoverished house. In other words, they
would be like the slaves of slaves, the lowest form of
poverty.
Zophar then goes on to talk about the wicked man as
well as his words and the very food that the wicked
man eats shall be poison in his belly.
He hath
swallowed down riches,
and he shall vomit them up again;
God will cast them out of his belly.
He shall suck the poison of asps:
The viper's tongue shall slay him.
He shall not look upon the rivers,
The flowing streams of honey and butter.
That which he labored for shall he restore,
and shall not swallow it down;
According to the substance
that he hath gotten,
he shall not rejoice.
(Job 20:15-18 ASV)
Zophar continues his poetic diatribe against the
wicked. These words require no further comment.
For he
hath oppressed and forsaken the poor;
He hath violently taken away a house,
and he shall not build it up.
Because he knew no quietness within him,
He shall not save aught of that wherein he
delighteth.
There was nothing left that he devoured not;
Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.
In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in
straits:
The hand of every one that is in misery shall
come upon him.
When he is about to fill his belly, God will
cast
the fierceness of his wrath upon him,
And will rain it upon him while he is eating.
(Job 20:19-23 ASV)
In Zophar's theology, the things he describes always
overtake the wicked and one key reason is that they
forsook and oppressed the poor.
Zophar's words seem to spend a lot of time on the
belly ( H990; vs 15, 20,
23) and food. It is not clear why this is, but perhaps
Job was once rather corpulent and this fact Zophar
wanted to point out in his veiled accusation.
He shall
flee from the iron weapon,
And the bow of brass shall strike him through.
He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his
body;
Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his
gall:
Terrors are upon him. All darkness is laid up
for his treasures:
A fire not blown by man shall devour him;
It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
The heavens shall reveal his iniquity,
And the earth shall rise up against him.
The increase of his house shall depart;
His goods shall flow away in the day of his
wrath.
This is the portion of a wicked man from God,
And the heritage appointed unto him by God.
(Job 20:24-29 ASV)
Zophar's words aren't anything we have not heard in
various poetic language so far in the book of Job. His
view of God is almost that of a cold, exacting and
almost mechanical being whose ways must always bow to
the narrow theology of the speaker .
Back to Top
26 Mar
Job Part XXXIX
They that
dwell in my house, and my
maids,
count me for a stranger; I am
an alien in their sight.
I call unto my servant, and he
giveth me no answer,
Though I entreat him with my
mouth.
My breath is strange to my
wife, And my supplication
to the children of mine own
mother.
Even young children despise
me;
If I arise, they speak against
me.
All my familiar friends abhor
me,
And they whom I loved
are turned against me.
(Job 19:15-19 ASV)
This had to be one of the more painful
experiences for Job. All those who professed to be his
friends and family turned on him. His servants, his
wife even children spoke against him. His closest
buddies were revolted by him. The word for abhor (vs
19) is H8581 in the
Hebrew in Strong's.
In short, they hated to see him coming as he was
something to be despised in their eyes, though in
God's eyes, there was not a more righteous man living
(Job 1:8; 2:3).
His so called friends did not know that it was nothing
that Job did that caused his woes. It was the devil's
work, plain and simple.
I want to digress here for just a moment because I
think for many of us as we move into times that may be
considerably more difficult in the future, is this.
The devil can use your friends and family against you.
This can often be done in an unwitting fashion on
their part, but they still are doing the devil's work.
If you remember, that this whole trial and whole
situation was brought on by Satan and it was him (not
God) that moved against Job.
And Jehovah said unto Satan,
Hast thou
considered my servant Job?
for there
is none like him in the earth,
a perfect
and an upright man,
one that
feareth God, and turneth away
from evil:
and he
still holdeth fast his
integrity,
although thou movedst me
against him,
to
destroy him without cause.
(Job 2:3
ASV)
And Jehovah said unto Satan,
Behold, he is in thy hand;
only spare his life.
(Job 2:6 ASV)
So those individuals who moved against
Job, they did not know it, but their behavior fell
perfectly in line with the attack that God allowed.
One key way he does that is what we see in the above
passage - devil can hit you at home, with your family
and friends. He hits you hard and remember this, the
evil one does not play games - he has a goal, a
(spiritual) military objective in mind and your job is
to make sure he never reaches it. As in a battle, you
do not give up key ground to the enemy. Rather, you
make sure you stand and wage your spiritual fight. But
remember that like a battle, one has to deal with
spies, traitors and cowards who are often at your back
supposedly backing you up. There are abundant examples
of all of these ignoble traits in our Bibles and
centuries of military history. These things apply
equally as well to spiritual warfare. Ask Caesar, one
of the world's great military geniuses - how did they
do him in? A knife in the back.
The key I want to impress on you is that when you talk
about Spiritual Warfare, you had better know what you
are talking about. Spiritual warfare is not exposing
some re-hashed conspiracy theory often put out there
by the devil himself to misdirect your energies. No,
we must know and understand that warfare means just
that - warfare; it's a struggle. Job's travails show
us just how vicious, cruel, mean and desperate the
devil can be. If you draw breath and serve the Lord,
sooner or later you will find out just what 'Spiritual
Warfare' means or become a casualty on the
battlefield, never knowing what hit you.
My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh,
And I am
escaped with
the skin of my
teeth.
Have pity upon
me, have pity
upon me,
O ye my
friends; For
the hand of
God hath
touched me.
Why do ye
persecute me
as God,
And are not
satisfied with
my flesh?
(Job 19:20-22
ASV)
Job again uses his poetical
phraseology to describe his horrible physical
condition and then asks his friends to have pity on
him. So far they have been rather cruel and
unmerciful; harsh and judgemental. Job did not call
them for their criticism, he needed their support.
Instead, he finds his friends in their theological
'battle array' ready to stick arrows, pins and needles
into their fallen and suffering friend. We have no
right to make matter worse for those who are
suffering, even those who are doing so under the
Lord's chastisement. Even those who are our enemies,
when they fall or are afflicted. We are enjoined not
to rejoice over it.
Rejoice
not when thine enemy
falleth,
And
let not thy heart be
glad
when
he is overthrown; Lest
Jehovah see it,
and
it displease him, And
he turn
away
his wrath from him.
(Pro
24:17-18 ASV)
Job was their friend and while there
did not appear to be any rejoicing over Job's
condition, there did not seem to be much mercy or pity
for Job either. Job appeals to them on this front. One
can almost feel Job's heart break over the way those
who said they once cared about him have treated him,
family, friends even servants.
Oh that my words were now written!
Oh that
they were
inscribed in a
book!
That with
an iron pen
and lead
They were
graven in the
rock for ever!
But as for
me I know that
my Redeemer
liveth,
And at last
he will stand
up upon the
earth:
And after
my skin, even
this body, is
destroyed,
Then
without my
flesh shall I
see God;
Whom I,
even I, shall
see, on my
side,
And mine
eyes shall
behold, and
not as a
stranger.
My heart is
consumed
within me.
(Job
19:23-27 ASV)
In verse we find that Job uttered a
prayer, a request as it were. It was a request that he
probably never thought would really be answered and
yet, here we are about 3000 years after the events of
Job's life, we find that his words were indeed written
down in a book and the witness of his suffering have
helped many generations deal with the problem of
trails, tribulations and human suffering.
His words were indeed set down. Albert Barnes notes
that the idea of printing was almost certainly foreign
to someone who lived in Job's times and probably
should not have been used by the translators of the
KJV; the ASV uses the word inscribed. The Hebrew word
is H2710 in Strong's.
The idea I think helps to correctly put the idea of an
iron pen in verse 24. Job is asking that his words be
set down on a stone tablet with an iron pen, so the
years will not wash them away. He wants the world and
posterity to know about his sufferings.
He also clearly wants heaven and earth to bear witness
that he puts his hope in God. Verse 25 are words that
even today are used in our hymnals and Gospel songs.
Job's prayer was heard by God and we can bear witness
to that fact by you reading these passages today and
singing some of the songs that use Job's words.
But Job's hope is totally uncharacteristic of the
known theology of his day. He goes on to prophesy that
one day, his redeemer would come in the latter day and
stand upon the earth and goes even further, in a clear
hope of a resurrection, saying that even after his
body has decomposed, yet and still in his flesh
(body - H1320) he
will see God ( vs 26).
Moreover, he makes it plain that this is not a
figurative hope or one of a future generation will
see, but one that he himself will see with his own
eyes.
What is amazing to me is that Job somehow knew that a
resurrection was going to happen, long before the
Torah and Moses, long before the Jewish law and the
arrival of the Messiah. He somehow knew in the depths
of his soul that God had a plan to bring back those
who loved him to look him in the face.
We will continue our look at Job soon.
Blessings to you all in Christ!!
Back to Top
23 Mar
Visitation
There are some themes I
particularly like writing about. And there are those I
don't. This is one I don't like to very much. But none
of us who knows God should ever ignore this one.
Today, we are going to talk about the time of
visitation. When God visits a nation or a people who
have been wayward. I have quoted this passage before,
but I think it meet it is used again.
Then he cried
in mine ears with a loud voice,
saying, Cause ye them that have charge
over the city to draw near,
every man with his destroying weapon in his
hand.
And behold, six men came from the way
of the upper gate, which lieth toward the
north,
every man with his slaughter weapon in his
hand;
and one man in the midst of them clothed in
linen,
with a writer's inkhorn by his side. And they
went in,
and stood beside the brazen altar.
And the glory of the God of Israel
was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was,
to the threshold of the house:
and he called to the man clothed in linen,
who had the writer's inkhorn by his side.
And Jehovah said unto him,
Go through the midst of the city,
through the midst of Jerusalem,
and set a mark upon the foreheads
of the men that sigh and that cry over
all the abominations that are done
in the midst thereof. And to the others
he said in my hearing, Go ye through
the city after him, and smite:
let not your eye spare, neither have
ye pity;
slay utterly the old man, the young
man and the virgin,
and little children and women;
but come not near any man upon whom is
the mark:
and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began
at the old men that were before the house.
And he said unto them, Defile the house,
and fill the courts with the slain:
go ye forth. And they went forth,
and smote in the city. And it came to pass,
while they were smiting, and I was left,
that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said,
Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy
all the residue of Israel in thy
pouring out of thy wrath upon Jerusalem? Then
said he unto me,
The iniquity of the house of Israel
and Judah is exceeding great,
and the land is full of blood, and the
city
full of wresting of judgment: for they
say,
Jehovah hath forsaken the land,
and Jehovah seeth not. And
as for me also,
mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have
pity,
but I will bring their way upon their head.
And behold, the man clothed in linen,
who had the inkhorn by his side,
reported the matter, saying,
I have done as thou
hast commanded me.
(Eze 9:1-11 ASV)
This is the whole chapter and I think we
all have read this passage in the past and it gave us
all some pause; something to step back and very
seriously consider. The basic theme is Israel had sinned
and done so grievously. God was having no more of it and
was exceedingly angry. He was going to put a stop to it
and this was it. We don't know who these men were who
carried out the commandment of the Lord. They may have
been angels - that is what I think, though some
commentators think they may have been some of
Nebuchadnezzar's generals; those mentioned in Jer 39:3.
What follows is the inevitable result of sin and
rebellion. God finally brings in judgment. Not
chastisement, not rebuke but judgment. Judgment usually
has some aspect of finality about it.
God did not show mercy in the above passage. Those days
were over. Those who were appointed to carry out this
punishment were forbidden to show any of it ( 9:5). God can visit his
people and he can visit nations and peoples and this
kind of visitation can destroy a kingdom or even empire.
Think about Belshazzar and what happened when God judged
that empire. God did not wait around to accomplish his
aim. The hand wrote on the wall and hours later it was
fulfilled ( Dan 5:30).
Israel was rebuked by Christ Jesus for not knowing the
hour of her visitation.
For the
days shall come upon thee,
when thine enemies shall cast up
a bank about thee, and compass thee round,
and keep thee in on every side,
and shall dash thee to the ground,
and thy children within thee;
and they shall not leave in thee
one stone upon another;
because thou knewest
not the time of thy visitation.
(Luk 19:43-44 ASV)
Christ was right there among them, the Messiah they had
waited for and yet they despised him, hated him and
eventually murdered him. They also had John the Baptist
who proclaimed the coming of the Lord, beheaded. Let us
keep in mind that what Christ was saying about
Jerusalem, deeply moved him, he was not happy about this
at all as he wept over the city and its
spiritual state ( Luke 19:41),
The hour of visitation is nothing that we should yearn
for or be happy about. But we should be aware in woeful
anticipation that one day, if there is no repentance and
the sins continue, it will arrive.
When? That is always the question people ask. It will
happen when God commands it, not when we think it should
happen. Our job as saints is to make sure that we are
accounted like those above whom the Lord spared and
marked out for protection in that day. How did Peter put
it?
Beloved, I
beseech you
as sojourners and pilgrims,
to abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul;
having your behavior seemly among the
Gentiles;
that, wherein they speak against you as
evil-doers,
they may by your good works,
which they behold, glorify God
in the day of visitation.
(1Pe 2:11-12 ASV)
Now we don't know for sure what visitation Peter is
referring to, but I think it has a general meaning. Any
kind of divine visitation where God checks up on and
'weighs' the actions of the sons of men, individuals,
the Church, nations or the world in general.
We as Christians should always be ready for any kind of
divine visitation, personal, collective or national.
But when is the visitation for America coming? I do not
know. The Lord has not shared that information with me,
but I do think he is still very much in the ' get them
to repent' mode of dealing with the nation and
world. God is not done yet with America. The
problem as I see it is that America, much of it is done
with God. By that I mean truly honoring and obeying him
and doing those things that please him. In some quarters
there seems to be an open defiance of him and his ways.
Yet God is not blind to much of the good that is still
here in the Nation. Despite all of our sins and evils,
Americans are still some of the most charitable people
on earth. God see's both the good and the bad in every
one of us.
Many of you can't wait to get this over and move into
the Kingdom of heaven. Some of you are a bit impatient
for God to deal with the world and its sins. I say this
to each of you who feel this way - wait, chill out and
don't get ahead of God. All things will happen at
their appointed time. God's time, not ours. He has
an overall plan for the last days and America's fate and
day of destiny will be determined by God, not our
impatience. God has his own plan and his own reasons for
doing things the way he does them. It's not my way and
it's not your way. It's his way and we must
never forget that God is sovereign.
Yea, since
the day was I am he;
and there is none that can deliver out of my
hand:
I will work, and who can hinder it?
(Isa 43:13 ASV)
This is God's affair and this is God's justice, not
yours or mine. We too must each stand before him and
give account, as all the sons of men must do. We must
learn to fully submit to God's eternal wisdom and love
of righteousness and justice. God has a plan of which we
humans only play a part in. Remember there is another
aspect to this whole end-time drama. There are the
angels; those who remained loyal and those who turned on
the Lord that also must be factored in. There are
probably other aspects to this that we simply have no
way of being privy to. Don't think God has explained
everything to us. I can assure you he has not. We only,
as Paul phrased it, see through a mirror darkly and only
to the degree God allows.
But for the world? Those who know not God? Those who
defied and mocked him and those whom he sent?
And what
will ye do in the day of visitation,
and in the desolation which shall come from
far?
to whom will ye flee for help?
and where will ye leave your glory?
They shall only bow down under the prisoners,
and shall fall under the slain.
For all this his anger
is not turned away,
but his hand
is stretched out still.
(Isa 10:3-4 ASV)
The day of visitation is a day of horror and anguish. So
let us be aware of the lateness of the hour and not be
caught unawares as many probably will be.
Moreover, let us not sit on pins and needles
waiting for the end time drama to play itself out to the
end. We should keep busy with whatever God has for us to
do. As I said the other day, God does not like idleness.
We have all heard the saying about the devil finding
work for idle hands.
So let us do as we are commanded 'occupy' till the
Lord comes, live our lives in quiet humility, living a
life righteous and holy; full of honor and truth. The
day of visitation will come and when it does, most of us
will wish we had not been around to witness it, so many
troubles that day will bring.
And
Jehovah, the God of their fathers,
sent to them by his messengers,
rising up early and sending,
because he had compassion on his people,
and on his dwelling-place: but they mocked
the messengers of God, and despised his
words,
and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath
of Jehovah
arose against his people,
till there was no remedy.
(2Ch 36:15-16 ASV)
But let we who serve our God always remember
this aspect of God's character. God is a no non-sense God
and he has a no non-sense attitude about unrepentant sin
and evil - individually or collectively.
Loving though he is, he simply will not abide evil.
Back to Top
18 Mar
Job Part XXXVIII
Then
Job answered and said, How long will ye vex my
soul,
And break me in pieces with words?
These ten times have ye reproached me:
Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.
And be it indeed that I have erred,
Mine error remaineth with myself.
(Job 19:1-4 ASV)
Picture this scene and put
yourself in Job's situation. You are sitting on a
pile of ashes, scrapping your skin with a
potsherd, sick about to die, in terrible pain and
look like something out of a horror flick and your
so-called friends are not helping you, but are
rubbing salt into your wounds. Every word of false
accusation had to sting him terribly, hence the
use of the phrase 'break me in pieces' with
their words. What they said was very hurtful to
Job and as we will find out at the end, made the
Lord quite upset as well.
Job
remarks that this whole time they reproached him
for bad behavior they neither witnessed nor had
any real evidence for. Job had opened up his soul
in deep distress and for the most part, he got
back thinly veiled contempt and spiritual
arrogance from his so-called friends. Verse four
shows us that Job's attitude is hardly as
self-righteous as his accusers make it out, he
acknowledges that he may have erred and made
mistakes. Who has not? All men of God err and make
mistakes. Not a single one is perfect,
save Christ. We are all miserable sinners and
while these miserable comforters are busy hurling
their veiled accusations at Job, what kind of sins
are they hiding? Job here makes it clear that he
will keep his own sins to himself. Clearly
Job had lost a lot of respect for these
'comforters'.
If indeed
ye will magnify yourselves against me,
And plead against me my
reproach;
Know now that God hath
subverted me in my cause,
And hath compassed
me with his net.
(Job 19:5-6 ASV)
With their
words, they were setting themselves up as judges
and raising themselves above their station with
their haughty accusations.
This is
why we must be careful not to judge others. This
is what Bildad, Zophar and Eliphaz were doing, it
was wrong and most hurtful. When we look at others
and their sins, trials and tribulations we must
remember this - that God see's all and we see only
partially and only on the surface. It's easy to
pass judgment on others when we don't have all the
facts and Job's comforters were woefully devoid of
the facts - the real reason Job was
undergoing a trial.
In their
ignorance they displayed a coldness and arrogance
that would soon require Job's direct intercession
in order to keep them from being sternly rebuked
in hot anger by the Lord. Lesson - don't judge
others, no matter how much you may think you can
see the whole picture, appearances can often be
most deceiving. DON'T JUDGE OTHERS!! It's easy to
do, but it is forbidden... unless you want to be
judged by the same unwise standards and
misinformation you judge others with (Matt
7:1ff).
In
verse six Job recognizes that God is in his
affliction, though he incorrectly blames God for
it. Yes, God allowed it, but Job's real enemy was
not revealed to him, at least not so as we can
tell with any certainty in this book. What is
clear is that Job understood God's sovereignty,
understood that he was for the most part innocent
of any great crime that deserved his fate, but he
did not understand the spiritual battle
that was being waged over him. He says that God
has subverted his cause.
Behold,
I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard:
I cry for help, but there
is no justice.
He hath walled up my way
that I cannot pass,
And hath set darkness in
my paths.
He hath stripped me of my
glory,
And taken the crown from
my head.
He hath broken me down on
every side,
and I am gone; And my hope
hath he plucked up like a tree.
He hath also kindled his
wrath against me,
And he counteth me unto
him as one of his adversaries.
His troops come on
together,
And cast up their way
against me,
And encamp round about my
tent.
He hath put my brethren
far from me,
And mine acquaintance are
wholly estranged from me.
My kinsfolk have failed,
And my familiar friends
have forgotten me.
(Job 19:7-14 ASV)
Here
Job describes in vivid and poetical detail the
kinds of sorrow that God (in his mind) had
burdened him with. He was once rich and well
respected (glory) and now he has been humbled. In
every imaginable way, he has been troubled and
attacked. This is exactly how the devil was going
to try Job and within the latitude of the trial
that God allowed. The only thing the devil could
not take, was Job's life. So Satan took everything
he was allowed to.
Job goes
on to note that his hope is also gone. Job's use
of the phrase 'I am gone' probably means he
is close to death and on his way out of this
world. The metaphor of the tree is probably meant
to signify what happens when one is cut down by
the roots.
Job
attributes this to God's wrath (vs 11) and how he
thinks God now looks upon him, as a foe. He see's
God directing an army against him to destroy him (vs 12).
Job then
considers how his family and friends have forsaken
him. This probably was one of the more painful
things he had to face. But this is one thing a
serious trial will do, it will show you who
your friends are and where the false ones are.
People who you thought would stand by you and
treat you right you find out have turned on you
like a rattlesnake turns and strikes an
unsuspecting traveler... for no good reason.
So the
next time you go through a serious trial - a
series of serious setbacks or other problems in
your life, remember this - mark who stands by you
and who does not. Mark it carefully, not in
vengeance or
bitterness, but for future reference
and when you need a friend you can count on and
trust.
You may
want to take a few moments and do a search on some
quotations on fake friends. Some of the quotations
I found are very good. Take a few moments and see
how others, the wise, the interesting as well as
the rich and famous view false friends.
Back to Top
16 Mar
Religion Watch
Where Much Of the Church Got It Wrong.
What was Christ's mission? This, I think is a fundamental
question for the Church in our times.
Well, what it was not was to help the elite make a new
world order, it was not to save the planet from greenhouse
gases, or build a better war machine to fight some 'evil
empire'. His mission was to save souls from the power of
sin and the devil and from the eternal fire (prepared
for the devil and his fallen host of angels) that
awaits those who refuse to turn from the evil of their
ways, and choose to follow in the devil's footsteps. The
Church's mission is to preach and live the
everlasting gospel so that men would not fall under
judgment and the wrath of our God to whom every soul;
every man woman and child, rich or poor, black or white
will give full account on judgment day. This was Christ's
purpose, so that men may know God (John
17:3), who he is and what he is really all
about and to redirect men from the path of evil and sin,
to righteousness and justice, in Christ Jesus.
I think this where the Church got it wrong and continues
to get it wrong today. It tries to be popular and worldly
when we are called out of this world and its
wicked ways. This is where I think so much of the Church
has lost touch with God. Much of it I think, has ceased to
be of any use to him for the purposes he empowered it. I
am not going to pick on any particular denomination. It's
the whole western system of 'Church' that in my view, has
failed God and his purpose for the Church in more ways
than one.
I think ultimately for many in Church leadership, it's a
question of faith. Do they really believe and have faith -
active faith in God or are they stuck in a rut and
can't get out because the pay is too good? Are they really
Christ's? For some, they have paved a road with excellent
intentions, but it leads nowhere but to the lake of fire,
unless it is built on the firm foundation of Christ
Jesus and him crucified and risen from the dead.
But what I see is a very subtle and powerful move by the
devil to get control of all organized
religion. I think what is happening to many church's
around the world is just part of the picture. The powerful
men in our world; the billionaires, the power-brokers who
live behind the scenes who wield tremendous influence
around the world need to 'co-opt' religion for any plan
for a new order or any global reorganization to succeed.
What about Persecution? What about the persecution of the
Jehovah's Witnesses (JW's) all over the world. The USCIRF
has done a report on this recently. Here is part of what
they said.
Overview of Global Persecution
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been banned in several
countries, and individual Witnesses imprisoned for
alleged “extremism” or their conscientious objection
to military service. The majority of these countries
belonged to the former Soviet Union (FSU), with the
notable exceptions of Eritrea, Singapore, and South
Korea. In April 2017, for example, the Russian
government banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an “extremist
organization,” placing them in a similar category as
terrorist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria and Al-Qaeda.
Russia was not the only country in the FSU to
explicitly or implicitly target this community, or
even the first to do so. In fact, in July 2007,
Tajikistan placed Jehovah’s Witnesses’ publications on
its list of prohibited literature, one year before it
banned the community entirely as an “extremist
organization.” In Turkmenistan, although not
technically banned, Jehovah’s Witnesses have not been
granted registration and are therefore unable to
operate legally, and the government has arrested and
imprisoned many Witnesses for their conscientious
objection to military service. The situation in
Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan is somewhat
better; in these countries, Jehovah’s Witnesses have
been able to legally register and operate, albeit only
in select cities. Yet authorities and societies in
these countries still tend to view the community with
suspicion—as “non-traditional,” foreign, or even a
threat—and Witnesses still experience legal and social
persecution. - (USCIRF)
Issue Update: The Global
Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
There is also a piece out of Human Rights Watch,
which can be easily found. Is this is a sign of things to
come. The answer is - I think so, particularly in certain
parts of the world.
Think SCO, a subject I have spend some time on here. SCO (Shanghai
Cooperation Organization) is often ignored, but it
is a very important regional alliance. One key goal of the
SCO is to fight what they call the three evils. Those
'evils' are terrorism, separatism and religious extremism.
In some places, people whose religion are not or cannot be
registered with the state are, for all intents and
purposes, labeled as 'extremists'. This is kind of what
many of the
problems
in Xinjiang are all about. So yes, it's about all
non-state sponsored versus state sponsored/approved
religions. In Russia, the JW's are banned as an
'extremist' organization. Note how this falls right in
line with the SCO and their three evils?
I think it is all part of a stratagem, get control of
religions - put as many religious leaders in service to or
in 'debt' to the state or on their payroll and then when
the time is right, use certain religious leaders to root
out and deal with those who are 'not approved' by the
state.
You can read a lot about persecution in this part of the
world by heading over to Forum18. They have some very
informative stories.
(begin excerpt from
Form18) The authorities carried out at least 86
house searches – usually involving armed
officials - between late October and mid-December 2020
across 16 regions of Russia. Raids, investigations,
and criminal prosecutions continue against Jehovah's
Witnesses and Muslims suspected of carrying on the
activities of banned "extremist" organisations, with some raids
including torture.
The most recent known raids on Jehovah's Witness
homes were in Tambov Region in late December 2020, and
in the Udmurt Republic on 21 January 2021. Three
Muslims who met
with
others to study Islam with the writings of Said
Nursi are known to be under criminal investigation
in Tatarstan and Dagestan.
Eight Jehovah's Witnesses and one Muslim Nursi
reader are serving
labour
camp terms as "extremists".
Many other Jehovah's Witnesses are currently
serving suspended sentences. Three have been convicted
since the start of 2021. Receiving a suspended
sentence means a convicted person must live under
restrictions specified by the judge, regularly
register with probation authorities, and avoid
conviction for any other offence during the
probationary period or risk being sent to prison.
- RUSSIA:
"The policy of expelling 'extremists and
terrorists'" by
Forum18
It's not just Russia. Kazakhstan
as well has troubles along these lines. They too are
members of SCO.
My point here is this. The some of the world's governments
and elite feel they need to manage and control religion.
This is not just about Christianity, it's about all
religions that they view as a potential threat, and to
authoritarian governments, anything they do not
fully control or can destroy at will is viewed as a
potential threat. They can't control these people and if
they start to meet secretly they will have a hard time
destroying them. The answer to me looks like what we see
today.
Let us all remember that satan is the Prince of this world
and he has nothing... absolutely nothing in
Christ (John 14:30; 16:30). It is
he that runs the kingdoms of this world, east and west,
left and right, north and south.
We as genuine Christians have a hard job ahead of us and
some difficulties. We must be prepared for them.
This country (the US) with all of its myriad of problems
and issues, still believes in and pushes for religious
liberty. Let us pray continually that this never changes.
FYI - for those who will ask or wonder - no, I am not a
Jehovah's Witness. I merely believe that all men should be
able to worship, witness and and assemble themselves
regardless of their faith in peace; Muslim, Protestant,
Buddhist, Catholic and Native religions without any
persecution, surveillance, harassment or undue
administrative and legal burdens designed to prevent
non-violent religious activities.
Just know this, those of you who may not be sympathetic to
the plight of the JW's or others religious groups, if they
can outlaw, harass or otherwise criminalize someone else's
religion, one day they can come and do the same thing to your
religion.
Keep your eye on the SCO and for those of you who don't
know much about it, there are several articles that can be
found as well as a
map that shows you who is a member. Wikipedia's
piece is good, though a bit long and detailed. I think
it's one of those really big geopolitical changes that is
hiding in plain sight, though many people have probably
never heard of it before.
The world is changing and the Church had better open its
eyes and stay awake in these troubling and difficult
times.
Back to Top
9 Mar
Job Part XXXVII
Then answered
Bildad the Shuhite,
and said, How long will ye hunt for words?
Consider, and afterwards we will speak.
Wherefore are we counted as beasts,
And are become unclean in your sight?
Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger,
Shall the earth be forsaken for thee?
Or shall the rock be removed out of its place?
(Job 18:1-4 ASV)
Bildad shoots back his response to Job's speech. But this
time, he is even more scathing than before. First he
attacks Job because he is long winded. He has talked and
talked and Bildad here seems to imply he waited patiently
for Job to end in order to issue his retort. He seems to
imply that Job was just rambling and that his words were
not well considered. He chides Job for accounting his
comforters as being mere animals, without intelligence and
in his rage, having lost respect for them. This may have
been a reference to Job's words in 12:7.
The phrase, tearest thyself in thine anger is one
that seems to imply that Bildad was accusing Job of acting
like a madman and Bildad was making it clear that the
world did not revolve around Job and that he was being
self-centered as he vented his sorrow and anger, and
seemingly railing at everyone. In short he is asking if
(in his view) the whole spiritual and moral order of the
world should be overturned to suit Job. Bildad's words are
scathing... but he is not finished yet.
Yea, the
light of the wicked shall be put out,
And the spark of his fire shall not shine.
The light shall be dark in his tent,
And his lamp above him shall be put out.
The steps of his strength shall be straitened,
And his own counsel shall cast him down.
For he is cast into a net by his own feet,
And he walketh upon the toils.
A gin shall take him by the heel,
And a snare shall lay hold on him.
A noose is hid for him in the ground,
And a trap for him in the way.
Terrors shall make him afraid on every side,
And shall chase him at his heels.
His strength shall be hunger-bitten,
And calamity shall be ready at his side.
The members of his body shall be devoured,
Yea, the first-born of death shall devour his
members.
He shall be rooted out of his tent where he
trusteth;
And he shall be brought to the king of
terrors.
There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of
his:
Brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
His roots shall be dried up beneath,
And above shall his branch be cut off.
His remembrance shall perish from the earth,
And he shall have no name in the street.
He shall be driven from light into darkness,
And chased out of the world.
He shall have neither son
nor son's son among his people,
Nor any remaining where he sojourned.
They that come after shall be astonished at his day,
As they that went before were affrighted.
Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,
And this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
(Job 18:5-21 ASV)
Bildad here begins to use symbols from hunting and laying
traps to describe the fate of the wicked. This whole
passage does not contain any new information on the
simplistic theology of these comforters but gives us an
insight into their thinking and their anger at Job. But it
does show a kind of progress of the fate of the wicked and
its stages, which are outlined in stages in the Cambridge
Bible Commentary for Schools and Churches for these
verses.
Thus summarizes the theology of Bildad with
regards to the wicked, of whom his words are not so
cleverly disguised to point at Job.
Bildad's words are nothing new. Again, it's basically the
same theology that he and his friends were propounding
with Job since the beginning of the discourse which in
essence says - your fate looks too much like that of the
wicked for us to ignore it, you must have some gross and
secret sin that God is now punishing you for...confess and
repent!
We will continue our look at Job next week, God
willing!
Back to Top
This is
now a Private Site!!
Most commentary these days is for a small select group
of people.
Those who want access can email me (below) read
it carefully
and if I am accepting new insiders, you may request
it.
This
site categorically rejects
partisan politics, racism,
hate and ignorance.
___
Note:
The Bible version usually quoted from on this
site is now the American Standard Version, which
according to Wikipedia, the Sword Project and
various other Bible sites, was published in 1901
and is now in the Public Domain.
|