Job 26:1-14 “His Hand Hath Formed the Crooked Serpent”

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Job 26:1 But Job answered and said,

Job 26:2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

Job 26:3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

Job 26:4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

Job 26:5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

Job 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Job 26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

Job 26:9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

Job 26:10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Job 26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Job 26:14 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?

Introduction

It is absolutely humiliating to look back behind us and be forced to acknowledge how very self- righteous and petty we have been. Yes, it is all the work of God, but that work of God requires that we come to loathe our old man and to ‘bear the shame’ of His nature:

Eze 16:54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

Eze 16:55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

Eze 36:31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

Job is the type of God’s elect, who know that all their trials come from God Himself. But like Saul of Tarsus, God’s elect are not at first “they… that are heavenly”. Rather, as Job here demonstrates, we are all first “that which is natural”. We are first carnal and petty and just as capable of finger- pointing and condemning others as anyone:

1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The great question that is inherent in the story of Job’s trials is, why does God bless the enemies of His own people while cursing those, like Job, who appear to be less evil than those who are tormenting those who will later come to be manifest as His elect? Job has posed this question to his friends, and they all ignore the question because both they and Job are the Old Testament types of each of us, while we ourselves are first, self- righteous Job and self- righteous Saul of Tarsus. They ignore the question because neither they nor Job know the answer.

Here again is Job’s question:

Job 21:7 Why do the wicked live, become old, yea, grow mighty in power?

Job 21:8 Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.

Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, nor is the rod of God upon them.

Job 21:10 Their bull breeds, and does not fail. Their cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.

Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

Job 21:12 They sing to the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they go down to Sheol.

Job 21:14 And they say to God, Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of thy ways.

Job 21:15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray to him?

As we have seen, the answer to this apparent enigma is revealed to us by our Savior in His parable of the tares, in which we are all represented by a field of wheat which is owned by our Lord. That field was sown by our Lord with the seeds of His own truthful words. But an enemy comes while we are spiritually asleep and sows tares in among the wheat. When it is made manifest that the enemy has infected us with his lies, we cry out to be delivered from the bondage of those lies. But the Lord Himself restrains us from being delivered of that deceit until the time when His Truth arrives in our lives through the fiery trials of judgment, called in this parable “the time of the harvest”.

It is this “time of harvest” with which this great question of the story of Job is concerned. It is only in this “time of harvest” that the the truth of our Lord’s words can be manifested to have the fruit of the spirit, and the lies that are the tares are manifested to be lacking that fruit and can be “first… gather[ ed]… and bound in bundles to be burned”.

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Here is another way of saying that:

1Co 11:19 For there must be also heresies [ tares] among you, that they which are approved [ the fruitful wheat] may be made manifest among you.

This is “the time of harvest” when our own tares are manifested to us, which we cannot detect within us until this time of our lives. Those ‘tares’ are all of our faults of which we have not yet been made aware. Those tares include all our secret sins, which include that most invisible and insidious of sins, the sin of self- righteousness. It is in “the time of harvest’ that all these sins are made manifest to us and the painful gathering together and burning of those tares begins. That is the lesson of this book of Job, and that is the story of the life of every man who will ever come to know God and His Son, whose plan and purpose this all is. Here is this same message as it appears again in the New Testament:

Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [ meaning He purges us of “the tares of the field”], and scourgeth [ gathers and burns those lying tares out of our lives] every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

God is faithful and finishes His Work within us. But before He finishes that work, we are intent on blaming every tare in our field on anyone else but ourselves. After all, at this critical time in our “one event” (Ecc 9:2), it should be clear to the blindest among us that we are nowhere near as deserving of God’s wrath as those whom He has sent to torment us. And when we blame our tormentors for doing their predestined work of tormenting us, we are reproving our Lord Himself.

Job 26:1 But Job answered [ Bildad] and said,

Job 26:2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

Job 26:3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

We have heard the last of Job’s three accusers. Bildad is the last of these three “miserable comforters” to speak to Job. Zophar will forgo a third round with Job. Job will now have the floor for the next six chapters. Chapters 26-31 are all Job. He continues to acknowledge that God is all powerful, but like all of us while we are in the clutches of the tares within us and in the clutches of our own self- righteousness and self- justification, our acknowledgment of the sovereign power of God is mere lip service. Such acknowledgement is either not applied to our own will, or as only our “father the devil” can do within us, we justify our sins as God’s own sovereign will for us.

Consequently here in verses 2-3, Job is comparing Bildad with himself. He still believes with all his being that he is, of himself, a very good man who is simply being mistreated by His own Creator. As he will tell us plainly in chapter 29, Job thinks that he, of himself, has “helped him that is without power”. He has “saved the arm that had no strength”. He has counseled him that had no wisdom, and he truly believes that he has declared his own relationship with God “as it [ actually] is”. But Job is only beginning to declare his own self- righteousness, and in doing so he is revealing to us who we are and how we are guilty of reproving, contending with and condemning our own heavenly Father.

Job 26:4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

Job 26:5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

Job 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

In our petty, self- righteous way, we compare our own knowledge to that of our tormentors, and Job is the Old Testament type of us as he goes out of his way to make it clear to Bildad that his understanding of God is far superior to that of Bildad. Bildad has just informed Job that he, Bildad, was aware that God’s dominion extended to the heavens and to all on whom the light of the sun shined:

Job 25:2 Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.

Job 25:3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

When Job replies, “dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof [ the inhabitants of those waters]”, what Job is saying to Bildad is ‘Of course God has dominion over the heavens and the earth, but the God Job knows has dominion even over “dead things… and… hell [ Hebrew – sheol, the unseen, the grave]”.

Job is telling us that even sheol, the grave, is not beyond God’s judging hand. It is significant for us to note that when we read that “dead things are formed [ Hebrew – chul, or chiyl] from under the waters…” that word translated ‘formed’ is much more often translated in some form which carries with it the concept of ‘pain’ or even ‘writhing in pain’, as in this verse in Isaiah…

Isa 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Isa 13:7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

Isa 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain [ chul, 2342] as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

… and in these verses:

Jer 5:22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble [ Hebrew – chul, H2342] at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

Jer 23:19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous [ Hebrew, chul, H2342] whirlwind: it shall fall grievously [ H2342] upon the head of the wicked.

When Job tells Bildad “Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering”, this is Job’s message to Bildad as we find it the book of Isaiah:

Isa 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee [ the king of Babylon] to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the [ dead] kings of the nations.

Isa 14:10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

Isa 14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

Here is the message of Job 26:5 in the New Testament:

Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

Luk 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Luk 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

Luk 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

What Job is doing in this answer to Bildad is repeating what he had said in chapter 19:

Job 19:25 But as for me I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand up upon the earth.

Job 19:26 And after my skin, this [ body], is destroyed, then outside my flesh I shall see God,

Job 19:27 whom I, even I, shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.

Job is one of the earliest books in scripture to speak of a future resurrection of the dead. Isaiah is also very plain in stating this doctrine:

Isa 26:18 We have been with child, we have been in pain [ Hebrew – chul H2342], we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Isa 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise “a spiritual body” [1Co 15:44]. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

The fact that there is a resurrection and that the dead are not beyond the dominion of God, is Job’s message to us and to Bildad. He now proceeds to elaborate on that same dominion and power:

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Job 26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

The phrase “empty place” is translated from the Hebrew word ‘tohu’, which is the same word we find in these two verses:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form[ H8414 – tohu], and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Jer 4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

Jer 4:21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Jer 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

Jer 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form [ H8414 – tohu], and void; and the heavens, and they had no light, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

So the messages of Gen 1:2 and Jer 4:23, as well as this verse of Job 26:7, are all the same. God is working through a process which is not yet complete, is yet being formed, and is a process which requires each of us to be brought to the word ‘north’ in scripture which always denotes impending judgment upon God’s sinning and backslidden people. Being backslidden is the “deadly wound” (Rev 13:3), common to us all when we first begin to see our need for a Savior. But it is also common to us all for that “deadly wound” to be healed and bring us all back to being a very healthy beast which is now “twofold more the child of hell” than our leaders who “caused [ us] to err”.

Isa 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

“The earth” in scripture is God own people; His “tents”, and His “curtains”, which He now declares to be “without form and void”, because “they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” They are “foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children”. This is the same message we were being given in Job 26:7

Job 26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

“Waters” in scripture are the type both of God’s Word, flowing from the bellies of His elect, but ‘waters’ are also the people on whom the great harlot sits, committing fornication with the kings of the ‘earth’ by teaching them the lies that are Babylon’s doctrines.

When God’s waters are “bound up”, then the nourishment of those waters of His truths are withheld from God’s people, as they were during the days of the prophecy of God’s witnesses, as typified by the drought of Elijah’s day, and the prophecies of the two witnesses.

1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2Ch 6:26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Rev 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

“When the heaven is shut up and there is no rain, [ it is] because [ we] have sinned against [ our Lord]”. Under such conditions God does not reveal himself:

Job 26:9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

“His cloud” is very dark to all who do not know Him. “He holds back the face [ the knowledge] of His throne”:

Exo 14:19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

Exo 14:20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

These same ‘waters’ are the symbol of the proud waves of human flesh which is the carnal mind which is held in check by God Himself:

Job 26:10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Job 26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.

“His hand has formed the crooked serpent” as well as having “garnished the heavens” of our minds by giving us the knowledge of Him and His ways. Job is the type of God’s elect. This is revealed to us through Job’s repentance of His own self- righteousness, and Job being granted to be the channel by which God accepts Job’s friends.

Before we simply acknowledge that every word Job utters here concerning God’s dominion, is true, it is imperative that we be made aware of the facts surrounding the translation of the two words ‘formed’, and the word ‘crooked’ in verse 13.

The Hebrew word translated ‘formed in the King James Version is ‘chalal’, H2490. Here is how this word is defined by Strong’s:

H2490

cha lal

khaw- lal’

A primitive root (compare H2470); properly to bore, that is, (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one’s word), to begin (as if by an opening- wedge); denominatively (from H2485) to play (the flute): – begin (X men began), defile, X break, defile, X eat (as common things), X first, X gather the grape thereof, X take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.

Here now are the English entries given for the translation of this Hebrew word ‘chalal’:

H2490

cha lal

Total KJV Occurrences: 143

[ Corrected to read:] The KJV + has the wrong word listed for “formed”.

KJV + says it is : H2490

While the KJV + TVM, Blue Letter Bible, and Bible Study Tools. com all say it is: H2342

The best translation is “His hand has travailed the fleeing serpent”. As you look through all of the uses of this word it’s about causing pain and anguish, especially in childbirth.

Isa 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain (H2342) as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

Isa 26:17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain (H2342), and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

Isa 66:7 Before she travailed (H2342), she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

The word “before” is not in the original Hebrew. Here is a better translation.

Isa 66:7 CLV Ere she is travailing, she bears. Ere a cramp is coming to her, then she causes the escape of a male.”

Deu 2:25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish (H2342) because of thee.

Deu 32:18 Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered (H2342) you.

This mistake in the KJV+ does not effect our understanding of doctrine, but it is good to be accurate in our studies and pay attention to these details as you have taught me. This verse really makes Job 26:13 quite clear:

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen (H2342) in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. [ Thanks go to Mitch for discovering the error in Strong’s which numbers the word ‘formed’ H2490 instead of H2342 as KJV+ TVM, Blue Letter Bible and Bible Study Tools. com all have it.]

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

The other most common translation is some form of the word ‘began’. While this may seem very confusing at first glance, it becomes much more understandable when it is noticed what it is that we are being told is beginning. Here are just a couple of examples:

Num 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began [ Hebrew, chalal] to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

2Ki 10:32 In those days the LORD began [ Hebrew, chalal] to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

Sometimes this word is used of Israel, and sometimes it is used of Israel’s enemies, but in either case it is used to inform us of an evil ‘profaning’ event which is about to take place against either Israel or by Israel against her enemies.

Now let’s look at the Hebrew word translated ‘crooked’ in Job 26:13. It is the Hebrew word ‘bariach’, Strong’s H1281.

H1281

ba r yach  ba riach

baw- ree’- akh, baw- ree’- akh

From H1272; a fugitive, that is, the serpent (as fleeing), and the constellation by that name: – crooked, noble, piercing.

Here are the only three places in the Old Testament where this word appears, and here is how it is translated in those three instances:

H1281

/

ba r yach  /  ba riach

Total KJV Occurrences: 3

crooked, 1

Job_26:13

nobles, 1

Isa_43:13-14 (2)

piercing, 1

Isa_27:1

So it is translated with three entirely different English words. How very confusing. But notice that this Hebrew word ‘bariach’ is “From H1272; a fugitive, that is, the serpent (as fleeing)…” So we need to look up this word H1272, and see what it is and how it is translated. So here is the Hebrew word which has been assigned Strong’s number H1272:

ba rach

baw- rakh’

A primitive root; to bolt, that is, figuratively to flee suddenly: – chase (away); drive away, fain, flee (away), put to flight, make haste, reach, run away, shoot.

We discover that this is “A primitive root” meaning “to bolt, that is, figuratively to flee suddenly”. In the case of this word the English translations are far more consistent. Here is where this word appears in the Old Testament:

H1272

ba rach

Total KJV Occurrences: 67

fled, 40

Gen_16:6, Gen_31:20-22 (3), Gen_35:7, Exo_2:15, Exo_14:5, Jdg_9:21, Jdg_11:3, 1Sa_19:12, 1Sa_19:18, 1Sa_20:1, 1Sa_21:10, 1Sa_22:17, 1Sa_22:20, 1Sa_23:6, 1Sa_27:4, 2Sa_4:3, 2Sa_13:34, 2Sa_13:37-38 (2), 2Sa_19:9, 2Sa_23:11, 1Ki_2:7, 1Ki_11:17, 1Ki_11:23, 1Ki_11:40, 1Ki_12:2, 2Ch_10:2, Neh_13:10, Psa_57:1 (2), Isa_22:3, Jer_26:21, Jer_39:4, Dan_10:7 (2), Hos_12:12, Jon_1:10, Jon_4:2

flee, 15

Gen_16:8, Gen_27:43, Gen_31:27, Num_24:11, 2Sa_15:14, Neh_6:11, Job_9:25, Job_20:24, Job_27:22, Job_41:28, Psa_139:7, Isa_48:20, Jer_4:29, Amo_7:12, Jon_1:3

away, 1

1Ch_8:13

chased, 1

Neh_13:28

chaseth, 1

Pro_19:26

drove, 1

1Ch_8:13

fain, 1

Job_27:22

fleddest, 1

Gen_35:1

fleeth, 1

Job_14:1-2 (2)

flight, 1

1Ch_12:15

haste, 1

Son_8:14

ran, 1

1Ki_2:39

reach, 1

Exo_26:28

shoot, 1

Exo_36:33

This is the root of the word translated ‘crooked’ in Job 26:13. It appears 67 times in the Old Testament and it is consistently translated with some form of the words ‘fled’ or ‘flee’, and those which are otherwise also carry that same thought.

So then, how should Job 26:13 be translated? It appears that it should read “… His hand has travailed the fleeing serpent”. Nevertheless, after all of our work to better understand what the holy spirit is saying, we still must conclude that it is God who creates evil, and it is His hand which formed Satan, who is simply His instrument for facilitating that evil:

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

God’s elect know that Satan, the adversary, is not the result of a rebellious act originating in Satan’s fabled ‘free will’, but he is rather the result of the fact that God’s spirit and His own hand has garnished our heavens with the understanding that “His [ God’s own] hand has profaned the fleeing serpent… that old serpent the devil, and Satan [ who] deceives the whole world”. There is no battle between God and Satan at all. The battle in the heavens is within the hearts and minds of God’s elect, and ends with Satan’s expulsion from our heavens.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Rev 12:9 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.

Lest we fall for the false doctrine that the kings of Babylon (Isa 14) or the king of Tyre (Eze 28), are Satan, just because both of these kings “say in [ their] heart” that they are God”, that therefore those two chapters refer to Satan, and that those two chapters prove that Satan is not part of God’s own predestined creation, we are also given this second witness to the Truth of Job 26:13:

Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

If indeed, “the invisible things of God are understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and God head” (Rom 1:20), the this verse should make it super clear that God has indeed made Satan for just exactly the service He has performed for God in taking away all of Job’s children and all of his earthly possessions, then stopping at that point exactly as the Lord so orders and then smiting Job with boils from his head to his feet, but not taking Job’s life, exactly as God so orders Satan:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Notice what is revealed to be God’s “hand”. It is Satan, that “crooked serpent”, who is God’s “hand”, by which God first takes away all of Job’s children, and his possessions, and then again, just a little later, it is Satan by whom God afflicts Job with boils from his head to his feet.

While all of this is apparently revealed to Job, after the fact, and is “written for our admonition” (1Co 10:11), it is evident from Job’s words in verse 14, that Job understands only “parts of His ways”.

Job 26:14 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?

So, as we will soon see, Job is just getting warmed up at declaring to us and to His own Creator just how good and righteous a man He is. Job does not “know God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent” (Joh 17:3). Not yet knowing God and His Son, Job confesses “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?”

What is the New Testament answer to Job’s question? The apostle Paul acknowledges the Truth of this statement in the New Testament:

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Let’s put these words together with Job’s words: “How little portion is heard of Him… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”.

Here is what “the sea” symbolizes, and this is how God deals with the “proud waves” of this carnal symbol:

Job 38:8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

Job 38:9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

Job 38:10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

Job 38:11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

God tells us that our carnal will has “for it My decreed place, and set bars and doors”. Here is how this message is delivered to us in the book of Proverbs:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Pro 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Being “proud in heart” is the “proud waves” of the sea of our human minds and hearts, out of which we all become the beast of scripture which is indeed enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God and cannot be subject to God:

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

So the symbolism of “divid[ ing] the sea with His power” is the same as “by His understanding… smit[ ing] through the proud” [Job 26:12].

What Job is telling Bildad and us is that his God has dominion even over all evil, symbolized by the proud waves of the sea” (Job 38:11). What Job is telling Bildad and us is that God has indeed made all things, good and evil, for Himself and His purposes, which will never be altered or added to or taken from:

Ecc 3:14 I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him. (YLT)

Through Job God is telling us that He is “the Father of spirits” good and bad:

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Job 26:14 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?

“His hand has formed the crooked serpent” as well as “garnishing the heavens” with our knowledge of Him and His ways. Job is the type of God’s elect. This is revealed to us through Job’s repentance of His own self- righteousness. But as yet Job is just getting warmed up at declaring to us and to His own Creator just how good and righteous a man He is. Job does not “know God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent” (Joh 17:3). Not yet knowing God and His Son, Job makes the statement “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?”

The apostle Paul makes this same statement in the New Testament:

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

“How little portion is heard of Him… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”.

But while this world always stops at verse 9, verse 10 is still there in plain view for all who have been granted eyes to see this verse:

1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

How is this done? Our Lord Himself reveals to us:

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Those to whom “My Father” has revealed “all things, yes the deep things of God”, have been shown that “My Father” reveals “the deep things of the spirit” by the “apostles, prophets, and teachers” He has placed within His own body:

1Co 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will continue to hear Job condemning his own Creator, while declaring his own integrity and his own righteousness in these verses:

Job 27:1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

Job 27:4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

Job 27:5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

Job 27:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

Job 27:7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Job 27:10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

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