King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Saturday, January 15, 2022
Chapters: Job 40-42
Message: God Knows
Hello My Friend,
I was watching this movie last night based on a true story, one pastor was trying to keep the board from selling the church, he said that God had spoke to him on what he could do to keep it from being sold. They did like most Christians, do when he said that, said he was crazy for saying that God spoke directly to him. Let me tell you just how many “Christians” actually live by faith, and there are not very many. I know I go up and down in the strength of my faith, but as long as it is the size of a mustard seed, it can move mountains, [And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. – Matthew 17:20]
Even the disciples who walked with Jesus often questioned His methods, and there were several times when He outright told them of their unbelief, not in Him, all but one did not believe, but that all things are possible through Him. Jesus never gave up on them because He knew their heart. The same thing goes for Job, he had no idea why he practically lost everything he owned, his children, and his health, and all his friends were accusing him of being this wicked person. He might as well been Jesus on the cross as people looked up at Him, shaking their heads because that is the way they were treating him, [And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. – Matthew 27:39-40].
As we finish up the reading of Job, we learn something very important, God is always watching and listening to us, and shows up when we least expect it. Yesterday, we read how God showed up through a tornado of all things, and started talking directly to Job. God continues to speak with Job, and demands that Job answer Him, [Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said, Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it. Then Job answered the LORD, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further. – Job 40:1-5]
[I am vile; what shall I answer thee?] Job, reacted like the rest of us would when we have been wallowing in our own self pity, woe is me, party, whining about how bad things are, and asking God why all day long, we shut our mouths. There is absolutely nothing that we can say to God to explain why we did not trust Him and just sat there whining about how bad it is when we know how blessed we have been. And yes, the longer you walk with God the more vile you feel when you realize that you did not trust Him to see you though when He never let you down before. He is the Almighty, living God, and while He does give us His Word to speak to us, He also literally speaks to us, well, in our heads, through the Holy Spirit, and if anyone ever tells you otherwise, then they are not living by the same mustard seed faith that we are.
[Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. – Romans 8:26-27]
Did it ever occur to you, that we are the ones who bring more suffering upon ourselves? We cannot avoid affliction, but we can control how we move forward through it. If we go forward with this defeated attitude, the only thing we are going to do is add more affliction, but if we trust God, and go forward with a positive attitude, we will get through it a lot faster. Exactly what good does it do to walk around all depressed and living in fear as though every move we make will bring more affliction? Trust me, I am guilty of this these past few months, and it does absolutely nothing, but bring more affliction. God, continues to ask Job more questions, but also tells him to pretty much get up and stop living in this fear that he has been living.
[Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee. – Job 40:6-14]
[and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.] Think about what God is asking Job? He is asking him how he things he would handle every person on this earth because we all have some pride and wicked in us. I for one would not want to be responsible for every person on this earth. And if we did have that kind of power, we would be condemning people just for looking at us the wrong way and surely saving ourselves, who is just as guilty of sin as they are. And God does not send anyone to hell, He will not and cannot force anyone to do anything, no more than Satan can because He has given us all the freewill to choose. Those who are truly wicked are reprobates, they have turned completely on God, and therefore, He has given them up.
[For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; – Romans 1:26-28]
Oh, my goodness, you would not believe the conversation that I had to listen to in my class when the trainer was not in the room. Do you know what came to mind? That they were sinners, and that they need Jesus. Some of them mention God, but we are not allowed to talk about religion as a class. With that said, everyone, even if they sound like reprobates, has the opportunity to know who Jesus is, the truth that is, and when God lays it on our heart to tell them, He will give us that opportunity. This is how God made it, and if we choose to believe in Him, then we must come to Him as He instructs us. Now, to illustrate this, God describes two of the most powerful beasts He created, beasts that are long gone, the first one being the behemoth. The King James Bible is the only current translation that keeps the name behemoth, other “versions” have changed the word to hippo, an elephant, or even an ox, but if we take a look at the description we can see that it is neither. I was not going to touch on this passage because I have talked about it before, but God saw fit to point it out.
[Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.- Job 40:15-19,22-24]
[which I made with thee;] Remember, when we read about creation on day six, God first created the cattle, and all the land animals? Well, He is saying that He created both this creature and man on the same day. Let me tell you, everything on this earth is by His design, and everything made by man is made by something that God created, [In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. – John 1:1-3]
[he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.] The very Almighty and living God that made this massive and powerful beast, can make and do anything He wants. No one has the power to give and take live, and yet, gives each and every one of us the freewill to choose, He forces no one hand. If we choose Him, then we better believe in Him with all our heart, if we do not, then we have no one to blame, but ourselves when He comes for our soul, [And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. – Luke 12:4-5]
God does not do anything on impulse, He weighs out every matter very carefully. God’s Word is God’s Word, everything in it is there for a reason, and to question it or change it to what we think it should be would only be to our disadvantage. Many so called Bible scholars question the Book of Job for how He describes these beasts, I for one, since this is God speaking, will take His Word for it. As God continues, the second beast He describes is a very large, strong, fish-like, serpent that lives in and out of the water. Many have come to believe it to be a crocodile or whale, but neither of these make sense. The entire description proves it to be something much greater in strength and size than any animal that we have seen with our own eyes.
[Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine. I will not conceal his parts, nor his power, nor his comely proportion. Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride. – Job 41:1-4,10-12,33-34]
[who then is able to stand before me?] The most powerful beast on earth cannot compare to the power of God, even Satan is stopped in his tracks as soon as God gives the command. God is God, He does not have to explain Himself, and yet He does through His Word. And what He does not explain He expects us to trust and have a little faith in Him to understand what is going on, [Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.- Proverbs 28:5]
[he is a king over all the children of pride.] I believe this beast is a reference to Satan, after all, it was Satan who started all this. The Book of Revelation actually describes Satan as a dragon, and he certainly is king over the children of pride, it also says God will not conceal his power, [And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. – Revelation 12:3,9]
Since God created everything, that means that everything is His, and He will do with it what He chooses. He created Satan, believe it or not, to had chosen him minister to His saints as he was an archangel, but when he tried to be God, that was when he lost that title and was cast down to earth, and now, God chooses him to judge man. When God created man, whom He made in His image, He chose to give us a conscious, a freewill, and a choice in whether or not we want to follow Him. Why? Because He is God, and He wants us to be able to make our own decision. Now, Job answers God, admitting that His ways are way too wonderful to him.
[Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. – Job 42:1-6]
[Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?] Job is repeating the only two questions that he is able to answer and realizes that he was speaking of things that had no understanding of, but now hears Him loud and clear. God accepted Job’s sincere repentance, but is not done, Job’s three friends were next.
[And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job. And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. – Job 42:7-10]
[lest I deal with you after your folly,] Do you see how merciful God is? And I imagine they were quite fearful and ashamed of the way they had treated Job. I bet they ran to that altar, but notice something else, God did not change Job’s situation until [when he prayed for his friends:]. Do you see the importance of forgiveness? God forgives us for our folly, and does not deal with us as we ought to be dealt with, but only when we are forgiving as well, [For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. – Matthew 6:14-15]
We cannot possibly understand everything we go through, that is, unless God wants to reveal it to us, because our minds can only comprehend so much. Our prayers will not be accepted if all we do is murmur and complain. They will not be accepted if all we do is come to Him feeling sorry for ourselves. They will be accepted if we one; praise Him, two; repent of sin, three; ask Him, four; pray for and forgive those who wrong us. That is exactly what Job did, and not only was he cured, he was blessed with even more than he had, including ten more kids.
[So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days. – Job 42:12-17]
[And he called the name of the first, Jemima;] The names of Job’s daughters are actually mentioned here, you do not see that often, unless it was a woman of importance, Jemima, which means dove, Kezia, which means cassia, which is a plant, and Kerenhappuch, which means horn of cosmetic. Since all names back then had a specific meaning behind it, we can perhaps account that Job had come to realize that we are all precious and beautiful in His God’s sight, and that His eternal inheritance is for all who believe in Him.
[Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. – Ephesians 1:9-12]
Today’s Prayer: God, I know that your hand is in everything and I am trusting You to get me through every affliction I face. I admit that instead of handing things over to You I get impatient and prolong things with my self pity and depressing attitude. Lord, give me Your power to let go of the fight to try to handle my afflictions on my own and just hand them over to You. Give me patience to wait for You and let me not get weary in well doing. Give me the peace that passes all understanding, just like You have before, and remind me to pray for everyone You place on my mind and to be forgiving as You are forgiving to me. I love You, and ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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