Thursday, November 30, 2017

Job 26:1 says, But Job answered and said,  Job was still responding to the claims that his friends were making against him.  In verse two Job asks, How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?  Job was basically asking Bildad how what he had said could help those in need.  We may know the truth of God, but if we try to use His truth to condemn others instead of to comfort and offer hope to them, the what have we accomplished?  God expects His people to reach out to the world with His love and not with His condemnation.  We as followers of Christ can only be effective by sharing God's love with the world.  Verse three asks, How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?  Job asked Bildad if he thought he was counseling someone who had no wisdom by his words which were plentiful.  We may at times believe that we know more about God than those around us, but may instead be attempting to counsel someone who has a better understanding of God than we do.  We cannot assume that we are morally superior to those around us.  Verse four asks, To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?  Job asked Bildad who he thought he was talking to, and more importantly whose spirit he was speaking from.  We need to understand that we do not alone understand God's word, and we certainly need to make sure that what we say comes from the Spirit of God.  In the following verses, Job speaks of the majesty of God, something his friends and he could agree on.  Verse five states, Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.  Though I am not sure at the wording that dead things are formed, I believe that it means that God formed the creatures of the sea from nothing.  They have no life without Him.  Verse six states, Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.  I believe that Job was saying that even if a person were in hell, he would not be out of God's view.  Even for the lost, the soul is everlasting, and never truly escapes from the knowledge of the existence of God.  Verse seven says, He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.  Job said that God created everything from nothing and that He sustains it.  God keeps everything in its proper place.  Verse eight says, He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.  Job said that God controls the rain.  We may wonder at times when we have a flood or a drought why God allows this, but we know that He has it in His power to flood the world if He decided to, so we have to acknowledge His greatness in not allowing this to happen.  Verse nine states, He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.  I believe that Job was saying that in this life we can never see the full majesty of God. Verse ten says, He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.  Verse eleven declares, The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.  God can indeed shake the heavens and the earth, as they are His creation.  Verse twelve says, He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.  I believe that the proud would be those who felt that they were above living by the knowledge of God.  There are people today who proudly claim that there is no God, but one day they will be struck down forever.  Verse thirteen says, By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.  We know that God created the heavens and the earth, and Matthew Henry says that the crooked serpent likely refers to the Milky Way.  This is the part of the heavens that the earth is in, but even the Milky Way is not the extent of God's creation.  In verse fourteen Job declares, Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?  Job said that we can see parts of God's work, but that we see only a small part of the majesty of God.  When Christ returns to claim His followers, the we will begin to see the full majesty of God.

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