Elihu believes he is tight with God

 Job 33: 1 – 7

 

 

“But now, hear my speech, O Job, and listen to all my words.   Behold, I open my mouth; the tongue in my mouth speaks.  My words declare the uprightness of my heart, and what my lips know they speak sincerely. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.   Answer me, if you can; set your words in order before me; take your stand.  Behold, I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.  Behold, no fear of me need terrify you; my pressure will not be heavy upon you.”

 

My take on what the younger man Elihu is saying to Job, I am going to wiggle my lips and the words coming out will be from God, so listen up boy, and give a little more thought before you answer.

 

Job 33: 8 – 11

 

“Surely you have spoken in my ears, and I have heard the sound of your words.  You say, ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am clean, and there is no iniquity in me. Behold, he finds occasions against me, he counts me as his enemy, he puts my feet in the stocks and watches all my paths.”

 

Now Elihu tells Job let me repeat your argument about God, and Elihu does a good recall of Job’s words.

 

 

Job 33: 12 – 30

 

Elihu gives us the ways he has heard God works in a person's life, but it does not seem it is his testimony, just facts he has seen or been told by a teacher.

 

Job 33 31 – 33

 

“Pay attention, O Job, listen to me; be silent, and I will speak.  If you have any words, answer me; speak, for I desire to justify you.  If not, listen to me; be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

 

One wonders if Job has fallen asleep or turned his back on the young man, it sure sounds as if something has got him a little perplexed.  It also seems to bring out the arrogance of the young man.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

 Job 32:6-12

 

 

^“And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are aged; therefore, I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.  I said, ‘Let days speak, and many years teach wisdom.’  But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.  Therefore, I say, ‘Listen to me; let me also declare my opinion.’

Young and old will both give you their thoughts, but my dad a very wise man, often said “your opinion on any matter is not of importance if the person you are speaking to has not asked for it.”  Elihu to my knowledge had not been asked for his thoughts on the matter, and I’m learning it is a wise person who wholes his tongue, especially when angry.  Elihu believes God had given him insight into the matter so he must regurgitate his thoughts over the next five chapters.

As we look at verses 11 – 22, you are going to see the young man had not been happy with his three friends nor Job and will not take the same line of assumptions as the three old men had.  He believes he has the right answers to the question and feels that if he did not speak out then he would be condemned.  He also will not give any thought to the four men for their wealth or place in society, for by doing so he would not be just.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

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As God was with Job - God is still writing your Story

 

Job 30

 

As I began to read the words of Job in Chapter 30, these thoughts came into my mind, I know people like this, but many are not worthless, nor are their parents, they have bought into a lie.  Before going there, allow Job to share his story.  It is good to recall that it was not all that long ago that the nobles, the old and young, the officials came to Job for counsel.  Now that he has lost his place at the city gates, his children, his wealth, outcome the riffraff of society to take advantage of Job.

 

“But now they laugh at me, men who are younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock.  What could I gain from the strength of their hands, men whose vigor is gone?  Through want and hard hunger, they gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation; they pick saltwort and the leaves of bushes, and the roots of the broom tree for their food.  They are driven out from human company; they shout after them as after a thief.”

 

Society will always have this kind of person, but they were not the ones that can change lives.  Do you recall the 60’s, no one thought those dope-smoking hippies would someday be in charge of our Government, but out of that came Bill Clinton, I’m not sure Job would allow him around his dogs.  I sure would not have allowed him in my home, I had a daughter and wife to protect.  Yes, we as a people we should be very concerned about the young people who desire us who work to give them free school, free health benefits, and even allow them to sit at home and do nothing while someone else pays for it.  Most of them are getting degrees that are of no worth to them or anyone, and yes, someday they will be running the show.  I will be gone by then, but we are witness to what happens when a barmaid becomes a Congresswoman, what a disgrace!

 

My dad loved history, and he often said the reason we repeat history is we never learn from it.  What can we learn from Job 30?  For one thing, learn to pray, and seek the face of God, seek His will and not yours.  Also, remember Job was so low in pain and sorrow he could not believe that God would renew his strength and vitality, and the pain of his friends accusing him of being wicked.  Job may be as many who are losing everything such as job, and freedom to work at this time in our history of this virus pandemic.  He believed God was the one doing this to him, and he had no peace in the day or at night.  He was wrong and so are you, for God is still writing your story, so remember to give thanks, my life changed coming back home in 1970 to where our house had been, and it was all over our five acres.  As I sat in the car at our mailbox that was still standing and looked down that long driveway, the Lord spoke in a voice I could hear, and He said now give me thanks, and I did.  It is a great story of what God did for Jan, Natalie and me after that, maybe someday I’ll share with you about a big God, who loves you in ways you cannot understand.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Integrity has Great Value

 Job 31

 

Job understood that when a man lost his integrity it was almost impossible to regain it.  I’m always gun-shy of the businessman who has to declare that he is honest and full of integrity, for many of them have proved to be outright crooks.  I’ve been privileged to have friends that are men of integrity, but not one of them has ever put it on a business card or told me they are, I watch how they live and how they deal with others.  Job’s friends I believe were just managing themselves, if they had been Job they might have done what they were accusing him of.

 

Job 31:1 – 8, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?
 What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?   Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
 Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?  “If I have walked with falsehood
 and my foot has hastened to deceit;  (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!   if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, then let me sow, and another eat,
 and let what grows for me be rooted out.”

 

This is the predicament Job is in, he is the only one, other than God, who knows he is a man of the highest integrity, and yet to this point God is silent.   For the rest of the chapter, he recalls all the areas he has not sinned in, such as a lust for his neighbor's wife, and more so anything of his neighbors.  He goes on to tell us how he has acted on any of the complaints of his servants and he goes on to explain something each of us needs to remember, that all of us were formed in the womb by God.

 

Job goes on to tell how he has ministered to the widow, the fatherless and the poor, and you and I would be wise to do so for they are dear to God the Father.  He goes on to talk about not putting his trust in gold nor wealth, but only in God.  Job goes on to state he has never put trust in anything but God, and if he had he should get worse treatment than he has received.  Job goes on to state that he did not rejoice when his enemy was brought low, and that is all that came to his table had all they needed to eat.  In fact, he goes on to say no stranger has had to sleep on the street, for they have been given a bed in his home for the night.

 

Now he asks, will anyone hear my case?  He asks, will the Almighty answer me?  Job is bold but ignorant of God and His ways, and said, I will tell Him all my steps as if God has not seen them, each and every one.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

Job was not bragging, just stating facts

 

Job 29

 

One must remember Job’s not blowing smoke, he may not even be bragging, as Sargent Friday said on a detective show on TV, just the facts, and Job is reporting the facts.  As I read this I understood God’s words to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job?  No one else on earth is   like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.” 

 Let’s look at a part of Job’s final claim of innocence; “And Job again took up his discourse, and said: “Oh, that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light I walked through darkness, as I was in my prime,  when the friendship of God was upon my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me, when my steps were washed with butter, and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!  When I went out to the gate of the city, when I prepared my seat in the square, the young men saw me and withdrew, and the aged rose and stood; the princes refrained from talking and laid their hand on their mouth; the voice of the nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.  When the ear heard, it called me blessed, and when the eye saw, it approved, because I delivered the poor who cried for help and the fatherless who had none to help him. The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me, and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.  I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.”  If you have ever been in the presence of a man like Job, you observe what He goes on to state about the men of the town getting up when he comes to the city gates.  Job is telling us that both young and old, city leaders and all highly valued Job’s approval.  Job was not only a wise man, but a very powerful man and they treated him like a king. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

 

 

 

Our lack of Understanding

 

Job 27

 

 

The first six verses of Job 27 are directed to his three friends, and it is the last time he addresses these things to them.  “And Job continued his discourse:  “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter, as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils,  my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.  I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.  I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.”

 

One has to wonder; what if God had let him in on what was taking place in heaven, would Job be like my friend who lost his farm to the bank, and was very angry?  When I ask him, who are you mad at, is it not God, at that moment I had moved over a line and yet though his face was red and I knew he wanted to hit me, I went on and stated we both knew God could have interfered and not allowed it to happen.  He seemed to relax and said, I need to give more thought to who I am mad at.  My friend and I talked about that he was never that excited about farming, but he was now doing the one thing he enjoyed and was making money doing so.  Job never beat around the bush he knew that God took his protection off of him, yet he was a man who was upright before God and man.

 

My second thought on this was if God had let Job in on what was taking place in heaven, would he still blame God for allowing it?  Would it be something any of his three friends would have believed?

 

In verses 8 - 10 Job is telling his friends to get real; they had observed the wicked and knew that they did not look to God in good times or bad.  They will never look to God and so God will not hear their cries when disaster comes on them. “For what hope have the godless when they are cut off when God takes away their life?   Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them?   Will they find delight in the Almighty?  Will they call on God at all times?”

 

Let us close with verses 11 – 12, “I will teach you about the power of God;  the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.  You have all seen this yourself.  Why then is this meaningless talk?  I wonder if I’ve been too hard on Job’s friends in that being men is part of the DNA in playing mister fix it.  I still believe they had the religion that only bad things happen to the wicked, and so Job had to be evil.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

 

 

Wisdom

 Job 28

 

 

A hymn Job sings about Wisdom, let us begin with verses 12 and it is going to take 17 verses to find the answer.  “But where shall wisdom be found?  And where is the place of understanding?  Man does not know his worth, and it is not found in the land of the living.  The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’ and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’ It cannot be bought for gold, and silver cannot be weighed as its price.  It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire.  Gold and glass cannot equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.  No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.  The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.”

 

Job’s hymn explains it is not found in your wealth, not in your many degrees, there are many smart fools who say there is no God.  There have always been men who believe they are self-made and have no need for God.  They die and take not one thing with them to the grave.  Once more Job asks the question; “From where, then, does wisdom come?  And where is the place of understanding?  It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air.  Abaddon and Death say, ‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.”

 

He tells us God knows the source of Wisdom, the answer is found in verses 23-28,

“God understands the way to it, and he knows its place.   For he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.   When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder, then he saw it and declared it; he established it and searched it out.   And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

 

Where else in Scripture does it state this truth?  Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;”  Does the New Testament address Wisdom; James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”  Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

 

My dear reader, both the New and Old Testaments are full of verses about Wisdom.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

 

 

God is much bigger than our understanding of Him!

 

Job 26:1-14

 

Job replies to Bildad and he implies that Bildad's path to success is great counsel to the unwise.   I’m sure of one thing, this does not look like a long friendship between Job and the three friends.

 

Bildad had given or added to Job’s discourse about God’s domination and his control over the heavens.  Now Job points out that Sheol the place, was also open to God's vision and that Abaddon the place of destruction for the wicked, in verses 5,6.

 

Verse seven I have no understanding of, and my Holman study Bible states Job is referring to God’s dwelling in the heavenly places.  They say the HSB gets this from Psalm 48:1-2, after reading those verses I believe it is a stretch to make that statement.

 

It seems to this uneducated writer of the Back Porch that verses 9-14, are referring to God's authority over the earth and the heavens, that it is God who has total control of all creation.  Verses 9-14, “He covers the face of the full moon^[ and spreads over it his cloud.  He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke.   By his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding, he shattered Rahab.  By his wind the heavens were made fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.   Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him!  But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

 

In closing today allow me to give this warning, God is much bigger than our understanding of Him!  Be careful not to put Him in a box of your religion, that is what Job’s three friends have done.  In Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Bildad sounds like a well misinformed man

 

Job 25:1-6

 

“Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:  “Dominion and fear are with God, he makes peace in his high heaven.   Is there any number to his armies?  Upon whom does his light not arise?  How then can man be in the right before God?  How can he who is born of woman be pure?   Behold, even the moon is not bright, and the stars are not pure in his eyes; how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm!”

It looks as if Bildad has been chosen to give the final or closing argument for the three, and rejects Job’s claims.  That God who established harmony in the original creation and maintained it.  We find Bildad asking a series of rhetorical questions implying negative answers.  One such question is, how can a  person be justified before God?  May I take a moment to show you if you’re a searcher or just a religious person without a personal relationship with a Holy God?

 

In Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Roman 3:23,  ^“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”  How we often play the game, I’m better than that person who goes to church.  But the “all” stands, we have all sinned and need to be redeemed.  It has been over 50 years since I agreed with God that I had tried to get my needs met outside of Christ, in religion, and being a nice guy, but as I read the Scriptures I understood I needed to be free from the control of sin.  In a hotel room at age 27 I opened the Bible to Romans 10:9-10, “and ask Jesus Christ to forgive me and become the Lord of my life.  “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.”

 

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, we find the Apostle Paul tells us that the grace of God is not found in our power, education, or human wisdom, but in Gods, love, and mercy and in our weakness.  He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

Verse six, of chapter 25, Bildad has this to say about all mankind, “how much less man, who is a maggot, and the son of man who is a worm.”  In Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.”  If you buy into Bildad’s understanding of man, you must have a very low opinion of God.  We are given so much more information on the value God places on you.  

 

How much are you worth to God the Creator and giver of life?  It is found in a verse you may never have read but have heard or seen it on a burger wrapper, a sign, or someone has quoted it in your presence.  John 3:16;17 tells how much you are worth to the Father.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

 

 Bildad was wrong about a man and yet he was a religious guy, he did not have an understanding of God's love, and grace.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

A World before the Bible was Recorded

 March 28, 2020

 

Job 24

 

Job is not alone in his question; “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,    and why do those who know him never see his days?”  Many a person who goes by the name Christian when bad things happen they ask the same question.  Does that give them or Job the right to question God’s timing on the judgment of the wicked deeds of people?

 

Job was not privilege to have a Bible, but most of us have several, yet we are in the same fix as Job if it is never opened and read.  Sixty-three times God’s judgments on sin are talked about in the Scriptures,   Verses such as; Isaiah 13:11, “Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless.”  1 Thessalonians 4:6, “and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.”

 

What about Matthew 7:15, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”  And Romans 2:5-6, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds.”  We end this short sample of Scripture with 2 Peter 3:7, “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

 

But Job did not have the Bible you now have laying in your home, so should we give Job a pass?  Job begins to remind his friends of the seriousness of the wicked man sins.  They move boundary markers, and they take the poor animals they used to provide for their families, and it seems as if one of their targets was the fatherless and the widow.  They have no regard for those who are under-resourced and take advantage of them.  The poor do not have a food bank to turn to, no they look for the leftover in the fields.  Job continues listing all the sins of the wicked, and even their death.

 

But, Job has watched and is sure that God does Judge the evil man, look at verse 22-25, “Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life.  He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain.   If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?”

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

Job’s right standing with God

 Job 23

 

As we read Job’s reply to Eliphaz in these first seven verses, one must ask does this sound like a man who is wicked, or does it sound like a man who loves God, but God has been silent during his time of trials?

 

“Then Job answered and said:  “Today also my complaint is bitter;  my hand is heavy on account of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!   I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments.  I would know what he would answer me and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?  No; he would pay attention to me.  There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.”

Job’s right standing with God was his fear of God and his belief in God, this was long before Moses and the Ten Commandments, and what we can learn from this is man has always searched for his Creator, for God has established that in our hearts.  Do you recall Abram who God later changed his name to Abraham?  Genesis 15:6, said this about Abram, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” 

 In verses 10-12 we have Job’s reply to the man Eliphaz who has traveled some distance to see Job and has no understanding of Job’s action before God allowed Satan to attack him.  No, Eliphaz is going on what his religion has taught him, not on truth.  So, Job gives him this reply, or we might say his testimony.  

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.   My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.  I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”

Job ends with the darkness of death has covered him and he is terrified.  I believe it is important to remember the book of Job is all about this man Job and it is believed to have been written by an Israelite by his frequent use of God’s covenant name (Yahweh).  He was a very knowledgeable man on foreign lands, heaven and earth and plants, and animals, he had a spiritual sensitivity.  Some believe the book of Job was written in the days of Moses.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

What out for the Person with all the Answers

 Job 22: 21-30

 

“Agree with God and be at peace; thereby good will come to you.  Receive instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.  If you return to the Almighty you will be built up; if you remove injustice far from your tents if you lay gold in the dust, and gold of Ophir among the stones of the torrent-bed, then the Almighty will be your gold and your precious silver.  For then you will delight yourself in the Almighty and lift up your face to God.  You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows.  You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.   For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’;  but he saves the lowly.  He delivers even the one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

 

If I’ve been cynical about these three guys that showed up claiming to be friends, and if that bothers you do not read today's paper.  Now you have been warned and if you are still reading it is not my fault.

 

Eliphaz is talking as if Job will just agree with him, then all will go well with him and he will be in right standing with God.  If you have an Eliphaz in your life do not trust one word coming from his mouth.  So far, we have not heard God speak about any of these three men, but we have been privileged to hear God’s thoughts about Job.  All three of these guys believe themselves to be morally and spiritually superior to Job.  In their religion, they had a god they understood, and if harm came to you then you had sinned, I hope you’re not a member of that Church.

 

Verses 23-27 remind me of a TV preacher, or also in the old West a long time back they called them to snake oil salesmen, whatever problem you had they had the cure in a bottle.  The modern-day T.V. preachers, not all but many also have the answer to all your problems, but it is not Jesus Christ, it is seeking after your gold and silver and God will shine on you, and you will be broke, but happy.  They forget to tell you they live in fine home and have an airplane, but no church.  I laughed when I read this and wonder how fast the god they worship would tell them to pick up all that gold and silver Job was to get rid of?  I told you I was going to get cynical, and it’s not fun, we still have a few people like Eliphaz in our churches.

 

Eliphaz has moved to the name it and claim it, preacher, in verse 28, I am not sure about you but I’ve made a few decisions and at the time believed they were centered in God’s will only to have the Holy Spirit open my mind to the truth, it was my will but not God’s.  I’m so thankful to be under a pastor who teaches from the Scriptures and does encourage us to get into the Word of God and check out what we are being taught.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

 

 

The Enemy Cons follower of Christ be his accuser.

 

Job 22: 12-20

 

“Is not God high in the heavens?  See the highest stars, how lofty they are!   But you say, ‘What does God know?  Can he judge through the deep darkness?  Thick clouds veil him so that he does not see, and he walks on the vault of heaven.’  Will you keep to the old way that wicked men have trod?  They were snatched away before their time; their foundation was washed away.  They said to God, ‘Depart from us,’ and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’  Yet he filled their houses with good things— but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. The righteous see it and are glad; the innocent one mocks at them, saying, ‘Surely our adversaries are cut off, and what they left the fire has consumed.”

 

As I read this it became very clear that the enemy of our souls loves nothing better than to have a follower of Christ be his accuser.  I’ve been in the role of Judge and Jury and I’ve had a brother or sister in Christ confront me, that I need to pray not to condemn.  My Bride will always say, Bob as long as a person has a life they can be redeemed, and never were truer words spoken.  Read Revelation 12: 9-12, and do not be part of the devil's schemes.

 

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.  And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.  And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.  Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!”

 

As I made the case in defense of Job yesterday, God was the star witness, and it was clear that Job had a very healthy fear of God, and that God is very clear in His statement that Job is one of a kind on this earth.  As a follower of Christ, ask the Lord to fill your life with the fruits of the Spirit, you will find them in Galatians 5:22-23.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.”

That is a prayer you can pray for this brother, trying to give up his tuning into Channel One (the deceptive channel).

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

 

 

A Witness that has personal Knowledge of the Facts

 

Job 22:1-11

 

“Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: “Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.  Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are in the right, or is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?   Is it for your fear of him that he reproves you and enters into judgment with you?  Is not your evil abundant? There is no end to your iniquities.  For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing and stripped the naked of their clothing.  You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry.  The man with power possessed the land, and the favored man lived in it. You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.  Therefore, snares are all around you, and sudden terror overwhelms you, or darkness so that you cannot see,and a flood of water covers you.”

Eliphaz the Temanite has moved from implying to being both the prosecutor, judge, and jury, and Job is one evil dude.  How to hold on a moment, do you not see something very wrong with his statement about Job?  Has he not become a trial of one person?  Where are the witnesses, in Job 21:29, Job asks have you never consulted those who travel the roads?  What about this in Job’s defense; verse 27, “I know your thoughts very well, the schemes you would wrong me with.”  I wonder if these three saw themselves as all-knowing, had they moved into the role of God?

 

Now if I may, allow this very unqualified, not retired, but between Job’s for 13 years to call a witness.  I’m going to only call one, and my witness will be all the defense Job requires.  First, what is the requirement of a witness in a trial?  “To qualify to be a witness a person must possess witness capacity and have personal knowledge of facts relevant to the case, be able to understand the obligation, to tell the truth, and take the oath or affirm that he or she will testify truthfully.”  Not one witness was called, yet Job asks for them to do so.  But I’ve found a witness that meets all the requirement of a witness, you will find Job’s defense in Job chapter 1:8, “And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”

 

I rest my defense on this one witness, as recorded in the word of God, and let me remind the jury; “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Hebrews 4:12-13

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice