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: Monday, January 13, 2020
Chapters: Job 35-37
Message: God’s Power Through The Elements
Hello My Friend,
Element; The first or minutest part or any thing; as the elements of earth, water, salt, or wood. Of all the ways that God shows His power, none are more visible than the elements of the earth, fire, water, wind, and the earth. Earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, snow storms, tornadoes, tsunami’s, hurricanes, sand storms, to the world these are changes in the climate due to mans carelessness, to the one who believes in God, these are the power of God. “And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” – Matthew 8:24-27.
“Why are ye fearful,” There are three things that can cause God to hold back from either stopping or getting us through the elements in life; fear, pride, or rebellion. God uses the elements to warn, chasten, and show His children that should they trust Him, He will always be there for them. I will tell you what, everytime I make a decision to pursue something with God’s direction, no sooner than I say to God, “I will trust in You to see me through it”, here comes Satan to throw lightening strikes into my plans. And the more he throws, the more we can become fearful, losing faith in God seeing us through. So, Job was going through his storm, having lost his family, business, substance, and health, all thanks to Satan, and on top of that he was being falsely accused by his friends. He tried over and over again to not only explain to them that he did nothing wrong, he also tried to get God to give him some kind of answer. After months of this, the youngest of his friends, Elihu began to speak, he condemned all of them for one, not convincing Job to repent of his sin and two, Job calling himself more righteous than God.
“Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s? For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? I will answer thee, and thy companions with thee. Look unto the heavens, and see; and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him? Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it. Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him. But now, because it is not so, he hath visited in his anger; yet he knoweth it not in great extremity: Therefore doth Job open his mouth in vain; he multiplieth words without knowledge.” – Job 35:2-6,13-16.
“What advantage will it be unto thee?” Again, he was misinterpreting Job’s words. I will be honest with you and say that there have been times when I have wondered what the point was to remain faithful to God when it seemed no matter what I did I get chastened for it. However, I always go back to the same reason why, life is better with Jesus. I have been on the other side, and it is not as pretty as it looks, it is down right ugly. So, I will side with David on this, “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” – Psalm 84:10-11.
“no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Walking uprightly does not mean that we will never sin, no matter how faithful we are to God, but it does mean that when we do sin, we can go to Him in confession, and He will not only forgive us, He will help us out of the mess it caused. Keep in mind that just because we get afflicted that does not mean we have not been walking uprightly, some of the greatest blessings come from our sorrows. Now, as Elihu continues, he admits that he was giving his own opinion as to why Job was suffering, and has not even gotten started on what God thinks of all this.
“Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on God’s behalf. I will fetch my knowledge from afar, and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker. For truly my words shall not be false: he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee. Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom. He preserveth not the life of the wicked: but giveth right to the poor. He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted. If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. But the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath: they cry not when he bindeth them.” – Job 36:2-7,11-13.
“and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.” Ascribe; To consider or allege to belong; as, to ascribe perfection to God, or imperfection to man. Elihu believes that what he is about to tell them comes from his knowledge of God, and that they are true. “they shall spend their days in prosperity,” This is called prosperity Gospel, they believe if you trust Christ as your Saviour, obey and serve Him, then you will be wealthy. God never has worked this way. Prosper; To grow or increase; to thrive; to make gain; to be successful, to favor. Prosperity for the saved, born again Christian is not always in wealth, it is about God’s favor upon them, it is our thriving, gaining, and increasing in the knowledge of God, and being blessed through our faithfulness to Him. We need to realize that God is not against His people having wealth, in fact, we can have much more than we do right now, He is against using His name, and people to profit only themselves. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” – Matthew 16:26-28.
“and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” The word “reward” means recompense. Jesus will deal with both man and woman according to their faith, meaning He will reward the righteous, those saved, with eternal life, the wicked will be rewarded with eternal death. And those who think they know Jesus, who send people to hell with their false doctrines, will be rewarded with eternal death. Now, back to the elements, Elihu goes on to explain how powerful God is and shows that power through the elements, which is probably the only truthful and knowledgeable thing that he has said this whole time.
“God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work. Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine? Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge? How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind? Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict. Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.” – Job 37:5-10,14-17,23-24.
“For he saith to the snow,” Can you get an image of God blowing His breath and sending snow here, rain there, and a thunderstorm over there? It is quite fascinating when you stop to think about it. “Then the beasts go into dens,” I was outside looking up in the sky and saw all these huge birds flying overhead as clouds filled the sky before it was about to rain. How incredible is it that the beasts of the earth know exactly how to respond to the elements before God sends the weather or seasons. “we cannot find him out:” In the next chapters we will see how God responds to Elihu asking these questions to Job, but there are some things that we will never know about how God created them as it should be. No matter how many people try to play God, or control the elements of the world, they cannot, and for good reason. I mean, would you want your life in the hands of the government, scientist, or doctors, they would end them as soon as it costs them money to heal us. Whatever may come, I know my life is in the hands of Christ, and if they are in His hands, they are my Father’s hands as well. “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” – John 10:28-30. Amen!
Today’s Prayer: God, One look at a thunderstorm is all I need to see just how powerful You are. I do not need to know every detail about how You made things to know that You made me, and that my life depends on You. Thank You for Your Word that teaches me that even when the elements of Satan are against me, You are always with me because I put my faith and trust in Your Son as my Saviour. Lord, Lead me and guide me, fill me with Your knowledge, and give the wisdom to use that knowledge to glorify You and live in a way that does glorify You. Let me not question Your ways, only ask You to help me endure the elements, and trust that You will see me, carry me, and bless me through them, and even find prosperity. 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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