Job 27:1-10 “Till I Die I Will Not Remove Mine Integrity From Me”

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Job 27:1-10 Till I Die I Will Not Remove Mine Integrity From Me

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?

Introduction

Job’s “miserable comforters” are now finished answering him, and Job now has the floor. It has been through the energy of his own self- righteousness and his sincere belief that his accusers are no more righteous than he, that has sustained his unflinching refusal to so much as consider that he might have any character flaws. Job, being a type of us, is focused on comparing himself with others who he considers to be less righteous than himself. After all they are accusing him of sins he knows fully well he has never committed. Eliphaz, the, the eldest, in his third and final attack upon Job, was the cruelest of Job’s accusers. He accused Job of specific sins which Job simply could never, in good conscience, admit, and Job simply could not fathom why God had not poured out His wrath on such a false accuser as Eliphaz instead of such a righteous man as he sees himself as being. Here is what Eliphaz had completely fabricated against the man he had supposedly come to comfort:

Job 22:1  Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,

Job 22:5  Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

Job 22:6  For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Job 22:7  Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

Job 22:8  But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

Job 22:9  Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Job 22:10  Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

Job 22:11  Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.

The last two verses of what Eliphaz says here are true and Job as admitted they are true.

Job 6:4  For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

Job 7:13  When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

Job 7:14  Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:

This places Job in the position of being condemned out of his own mouth yet knowing that these three men are telling blatant lies about him and ruining his reputation, completely ignoring his righteousness and even denying that he has any integrity. Of course, as this book of Job is teaching us, the lesson we must all learn is that the more righteous we think ourselves to be, the greater is   the stench which such “filthy rags” have within the “nostrils… of God”.

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

God will not give His glory to another. He would be a liar to do so:

Isa 42:8  I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

God would be lying if He told us that we are righteous in and of ourselves. Here is the truth of that matter as it concerns all men of all time:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

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.

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Neither Job nor his accusers, both the types of us, are at first aware of the Truth revealed within these verses.

It is Christ’s “parable of the tares of the field” (Mat 13:24-30), and His reference to the men who Herod had murdered and those on whom the tower of Siloam fell (Luk 13:1-5), which reveal to us that we are one and all, by our very nature, the first man Adam upon whom all the curses in scripture are pronounced. Christ knew He would drag all men to Himself, but He also knew that it would be through that fiery dragging process that every man would “suffer loss”, the loss of that filthy first man, Adam, and yet every man would “be saved, so as by fire”.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 

“,,, He himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire”. That is the “one event” referred to in Ecc9:2:

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

There are those who contend that the only thing referred to by the phrase “one event to the righteous, and to the wicked”, is the fact that all must “once die” (Heb 9:27). If indeed that analysis of Ecc 9:2 were true, then these verses of God’s Word would have no application to “the righteous and the wicked”:

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Do not these words proceed out of the mouth of God?

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Are not these words I am about to quote part of this “revelation of Jesus Christ”? Are these words not part of “those things which are written therein” which those who are “blessed [ will] read… hear… and keep”?:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Of course they are, and you and I must “keep” those words also. You and I must, in our own way and in our own time, keep the book of Revelation and the book of Job. They are the record of the death of our old man, and they are both the “gospel [ good news] of the kingdom of God” being established in us, as our “old man… dies daily”. Here are both Christ and Paul making that very point:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

But as Job we see none of this at first. We all first ask the same questions Job asked. We simply do not understand how God can be sovereign over even the darkness and the evil of this world or how He could possibly cause evil to prosper.

Habakkuk asked the same question Job asked:

Hab 1:13  Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Job asked:

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

With his limited knowledge of who God is and what God does, Job continues to assault and condemn his own Maker and his Maker’s ways:

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.

“My lips shall not speak wickedness…” Obviously Job, the type of you and me, is so totally unaware of his own insidious self- righteousness that he doesn’t even realize that his lips have just done that very thing. By accusing God of ‘taking away his judgment’, even as he is in the midst of his being judged, Job is speaking wickedness, uttering deceit, and he is vile and totally unaware of just how vile is his sin of self- righteousness.

Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

So what is this thing we call ‘judgment’ which is even now said to be “upon the house of God?

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

In the churches of Babylon we are often taught that ‘judgment’ is simply the act of standing before Christ and His Father and being accepted into heaven or else, far more likely, being condemned to eternal hell fire. But what do the scriptures really teach us is the purpose of judgment and for being judged? What are we told judgment accomplishes? Here is the truth about how we are judged and what it accomplishes.

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

That is what judgment accomplishes. But by what method and by what means? Here is our answer:

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [ G2917 – krima, judgment, condemnation, This is what “begins at the house of God” in 1Pe 4:17] to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

1Co 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge [ G1252 – diakrino] ourselves [ as carnal babes in Christ], we should not [ at this time] be judged [ G2919 – krino, ‘judged’ which cannot be avoided by any man – Heb 9:27].

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged [ G2919 – krino], we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [ katakrino, sentenced to the lake of fire] with the world.

We need to know that this word ‘judged’, G2919 krino, is often translated as ‘damned’ or ‘damnation’, as above in 1Co 11:29, and as in this verse:

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned [ G2919 – krino] who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

So what is this cup from which Christ and His disciples drank, which if we drink it unworthily, we “drink damnation [ judgment] to [ our] selves? We are all familiar with the cup mentioned at the ‘Lord’s supper’, but we seldom connect that cup with the cup about which Christ asked James and John:

Mar 10:35  And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.

Mar 10:36  And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?

Mar 10:37  They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

Mar 10:38  But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

Mar 10:40  But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.

James and John, as carnal disciples (1Co 3:1-4), had judged [ diakrino] themselves “before the time”. They thought they had already judged themselves and were capable of drinking of Christ’s cup. But when they had an opportunity to truly be judged and to die with Christ, they fled for their lives instead. Later on, when “the Lord came” on the day of Pentecost and took up His residence within them, then Christ in them was given to judge the old man within and crucify him, by standing faithful and dying daily with Christ. John was no longer judging himself before the time. Christ had come and Christ was now living in and judging John and Peter, and in that judgment Christ was daily destroying the old John and the old Peter, and Christ in the new John and the new Peter was growing within each man daily.

Notice the difference between this event and the events on the night when all the apostles fled for their lives, leaving Christ to be crucified on the cross.

Act 4:6  And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

Act 4:7  And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

Act 4:8  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,

Act 4:9  If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;

Act 4:10  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

Act 4:11  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Act 4:13  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Act 4:18  And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Act 4:19  But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge [ G2919 – krino] ye.

Act 4:20  For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

So then is it possible to read about the mistakes of Israel and decide not to make those mistakes? The answer is, No, it is not of ourselves possible. “If we would judge ourselves we would not be judged”. Avoiding judgment is not possible or desirable. That is what Job has not yet learned. Can you and I read about Job’s blindness to his own self- righteousness and decide of ourselves that we will never be self- righteous? Absolutely not! If indeed we are given to see the lessons of Job or of Israel, it will be only by first being judged and chastened and scourged of God and broken and crushed to powder by the realization that we bring nothing to God’s table. If we could judge ourselves and avoid being judged, then this verse is untrue:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment [ Greek – krima, G2917] must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Can we ‘krima’ ourselves? Can we chasten and scourge ourselves? Are we capable of pouring out the seven last plagues upon ourselves?

Can you and I destroy our own possessions and our own children and smite ourselves with boils and send ourselves miserable comforters to intensify our torment and judge the giant of self- righteousness within ourselves? Are you and I capable of destroying the man of sin within us? The answer in every case is absolutely not! When we think otherwise we are ‘eating of that bread, and drink[ ing] of that cup… unworthily… and eating and drinking damnation [ Greek – krima, judgment, condemnation] to ourselves’ just as Job did. Job confessed to having sinned, but he still could not see the need for being judged and enduring the krima of the seven last plagues of God’s wrath being poured out on the insidious self- righteousness inherent in the flesh of every man and woman who has ever drawn breath.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

When we think we can just observe the mistakes of others and tell ourselves that we can avoid the fiery sword that guards the way of the tree of life and refuse to “drink of the [ same] cup” and be baptized with the same baptism which our Lord drank and was baptized with, we deceive ourselves. “If we would judge ourselves, we will not be judged, [ simply because] when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, [ and] the Lord chastens and scourges every son He receives.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

So we cannot ‘through judge’diakrino ourselves, because we must be judged by the Lord, or we will be condemned [ Greek – katakrino – judged against] with the world. When the Lord comes to us, He does judge [ krino] us.

Why can we not judge, ‘through judge’, diakrino ourselves? Here is why that is:

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned [ G350 – anakrino, intensely judged].

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth [ G350 – anakrino] all things, yet he himself is judged [ G350 – anakrino] of no man.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

It is not possible for us to krino or anakrino ourselves, because “the natural man receives not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually [ anakrino] discerned”.  The explanation of why we cannot, as our old, natural man, judge ourselves is that this word translated as ‘discerned’, is also the Greek word ‘anakrino’, G350, translated as ‘judged’ twice in the very next verse.

In other words, Job, the type of our old man, is so carnal that he cannot discern “the things of the spirit” which is exactly what this subject of judgment is. Being judged is definitely a “thing of the spirit” which the whole world wants to avoid and from which all men just naturally want be ‘raptured away’. Job is being judged, but he is totally unaware that he even needs to be judged.

His whole being is focused on comparing his self- righteousness with the self- righteousness of his accusers:

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.

“My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live”. That is the point Paul is making when he informs us that ‘If we judge ourselves we will miss being judged by Christ. He has already told us “I judge not myself”:

1Co 4:3  But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged [ G350 – anakrino] of you, or of man’s judgment [ G2250, hemera, day]: yea, I judge [ G350 – anakrino] not mine own self.

When we attempt to judge [ anakrino] ourselves, we do so in “man’s day”, not “man’s judgment”. Job is judging and condemning His own Maker in “man’s day… before the time, when the Lord comes” and destroys the “man of sin with the brightness of his coming”.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

So these words out of Job’s mouth will judge the self- righteous man within him, because neither Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar nor God are Job’s worst enemies. Just as with us all, our worst enemy is the “old… first man Adam” within us all. It is because we ‘hold fast our own righteousness as long as this man of sin is still alive’ within us that we, as Job, will be judged “out of our own mouth” :

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?

Being God’s elect is a work of God. No human is capable of contributing anything to his own salvation at any time. When God brings us to cry out to Him, then, and not until that time, will the Lord “hear His cry” and deliver him out of his distresses. Only then, at God’s own appointed time, will each and every man ‘delight himself in the Almighty and call upon him’. King David informs us of this method which God uses in His work with mankind:

Psa 107:25  For he [ God] commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Here is how Peter expresses this same method:

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of [ our] ungodly men [ within all who are self- righteous Job].

As Job we still see none of this, and next week we will see more clearly our own old man in Job:

Job 27:11  I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.

Job 27:12  Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?

Job 27:13  This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.

Job 27:14  If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.

Job 27:15  Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

Job 27:16  Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;

Job 27:17  He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

Job 27:18  He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.

Job 27:19  The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.

Job 27:20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.

Job 27:21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.

Job 27:22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.

Job 27:23  Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

 

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