King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 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.]
Date: Sunday, January 15, 2023
Chapters: JOB 40-42
Study: Pray For Them
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
I was in a melancholy mood yesterday, really did not want to do much, kept thinking about how many people are surrounded by people yet feel completely alone, even saved people. God’s will is often a strange thing, it is definitely not a straight path even though we are to wall the strait path, it is more like hills and valleys, and sometimes dangerous intersections that we are trying to cross. So many Christians walk around in fear or pride and are in desperate need of that friend that sticks closer than a brother. When I woke up this morning I actually asked God to make my day account for something, let me be a blessing to someone, but also let someone be a blessing to me. The best thing that we can ever do for someone is pray for them, even if they have wronged us, [2 Corinthians 1:5-7 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. 7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.]
As we come to the end of 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. Well, he finally answers God, but there was really nothing that he could say for he now knew what his sin was, [Job 40:1-5 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said, 2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it. 3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. 5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.]
[what shall I answer thee?] There was nothing that Job could say at this point, but that he was vile, and ought to keep his mouth shut and say nothing more. This is Job yielding himself to the grace of God, owning that he has sinned, and that is exactly what repentance is. Repentance, changes ones opinion of themselves when they understand just how vile they are, and we dare not contend with God on the matter or attempt to justify ourselves before God without it, [Luke 13:2-3 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.]
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. We cannot avoid affliction, but we can control how we move forward through it. If we go forward with this defeated attitude, then the only thing we are going to do is add more affliction. When you finally do realize how vile you have been, that is when you hear God and He starts asking you these questions. Well, God, was not done with the questions, in fact, He pretty much asks him if he thinks that he can do His job better.
[Job 40:7-14 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous? 9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? 10 Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. 11 Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him. 12 Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. 13 Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret. 14 Then will I also confess unto thee that thine own right hand can save thee.]
[Wilt thou also disannul my judgment?] [Disannul; To break up; to violate, frustrate; cast of; cease] God, wants to know if he thinks he can save himself. Think about what God is asking Job? He is asking him how he thinks he would handle every person on this earth because we all have some pride and wicked in us. 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. I for one, will leave that responsibility to God as I have a hard enough time keeping myself accountable and attempting to live by His Word and teach it when I am just as vile, [Galatians 2:20-21 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.]
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 something resembling a dinosaur that walks on land. 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]
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 ought be would only be to our disadvantage. Many so called Bible scholars question the Book of Job, and even that Job’s existence just by the way God describes these beasts. I for one, since this is God speaking, will take His Word for it. Now, as God continues, He first mentions the second beast, but does not describe it just yet.
[Job 41:1-5,9-11 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? 2 Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? 3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? 4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? 5 Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens? 9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? 10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? 11 Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.]
[None is so fierce that dare stir him up:] The leviathan is apparently, a very large, strong, fish-like, serpent that lives in and out of the water. Many believe it to be a crocodile or whale, but neither of these make sense. The entire description proves it to be something much larger than any animal we have seen with our own eyes.
[Job 41:15-17,20,23,25,31-34 His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. 16 One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. 17 They are joined one to another, they stick together, that they cannot be sundered. 20 Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. 23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together: they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved. 25 When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. 31 He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. 32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. 33 Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. 34 He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.]
[he is a king over all the children of pride.] Wow! If I am not mistaken, this sounds an awful lot like God describing Satan in between the lines. God, has definitely made him to a king over all the children of pride. The Book of Revelation actually describes Satan as a dragon, it also says that 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, and 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 be the king of the proud, and he fits the title so well, [Isaiah 14:12-15 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.]
Satan, is serving God’s purpose right now, but that does not mean that we have to live in subjection to his will. 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 or Satan. Why? Because He is God, and He wants us to be able to make our own decision. God cannot make us follow Him, and Satan cannot make us follow him, but it is the chose that we make that determines which one we end up following, and all of us will follow one of them. Now, Job answers God, admitting that His ways are way too wonderful for him.
[Job 42:1-6 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3 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. 4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.]
[Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak:] Job, is repeating the only two questions that he is able to answer, accounting that he indeed did speak without knowledge. We are all guilty of making judgment based on what we see in our own eyes rather than without knowledge. When we do come to the realization that we have been wrong about everything, it does humble us rather quickly. It is a little something called Godly sorrow that brings this kind of repentance, [2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Sorrow of the world indeed does bring death, when we carry every weight upon our shoulders, and have nothing or no one to turn to that will bring death quicker than anything else that we will ever face. We are no different than the people of the world in the sense that we all suffer, but that is where it ends, we whom have accepted Christ as our Saviour are no longer of the world, we are of God, and that indeed clears us in the matter of our salvation. This is the very same thing that Job was dealing with, and God did accept his sincere repentance, but God is not done just yet, he had to do something first.
[Job 42:7-10 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. 8 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. 9 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. 10 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.]
[for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right,] Do you see how merciful God is? Even though these men spoke out of context, God still knew that they had the right intention, they just needed to repent as well. And I imagine they were quite fearful and ashamed of the way they had treated Job. I bet they ran to that altar, which is what we all need to do when we speak on a matter without the right knowledge, [Proverbs 18:19-21 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. 20 A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.]
[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 that 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, and four; pray for and forgive those whom have wronged us. That is exactly what Job did, and not only was he cured, he was blessed with even more than he had before, including ten more kids.
[Job 42:12-17 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. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. 15 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. 16 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. 17 So Job died, being old and full of days.]
[and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.] The names of Job’s daughters are actually mentioned here, you do not see that often, unless it was a woman of influence or importance, Jemima, which means dove, often associated with the Holy Spirit. Kezia, which means cassia, a plant, often associated with sustaining life, and Kerenhappuch, which means horn of cosmetic, which is often associated with beautifying or improving ones beauty. 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 all who put their faith and trust in Him receive an internal inheritance.
[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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