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Job 5:21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Job 5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
Job 5:24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.
Job 5:25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Job 5:26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
Job 5:27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

Introduction

Last week we saw that “the patience and faith of the saints” is typified by the patience of Job:

Jas 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

It is obvious that “the patience of Job” includes his experience of contending with, reproving and condemning God. Only then is Job, through God’s wrath against His self- righteous sins, brought to repentance for doing so.

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

In the same way, we saw last week that “the patience of the saints” was to acknowledge that they worshiped the beast and that the plagues of God’s wrath of Rev 16 have been endured for contending with God while worshiping the beast. We saw that “the plagues of the seven angels” are words which we all, as the first Job who is the Old Testament type of our “first man Adam”, will all “read… hear… and keep” before we will be granted to enter into the temple of God (Rev 1:3 and Rev 15:7-8). “No man…”; no exceptions.
Let’s look again at what we have learned about what constitutes “the patience and the faith of the saints”.

Rev 13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The next chapter reiterates the all- encompassing scope of this revelation of Jesus Christ, this “patience and faith of the saints”, with these words:

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.

Seeing all of this as the necessary evil which must precede the salvation of all sinners, renders our “first man Adam” dead to all the sins and the cares of the things of this age.

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Acknowledging that “the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus Christ” entails God’s wrath upon our old man and the complete destruction of our “first man Adam”, delivers us all from being overly concerned or anxious about anything the Lord is doing in this physical life. It gives us a “peace that passes all understanding”, which is what today’s study in Job 5 is all about.

Mat 6:25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? (ESV)
Php 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Here is Php 4:7 in the Literal Version”

(LITV) and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God’s elect acknowledge that all things are theirs:

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Because they accept this Truth, God’s elect are granted a peace of mind which gives every trial a great purpose. It is through knowing that “all things… the world… [ even] death are ours”, that we are given to understand that, all things will, in the end, produce something good for us all.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

The evil spoken against us is for our good. Both spiritual and physical famine, will in the end, produce good. Both the spiritual sword, with both its blessing and its curses, and the physical sword will, in the end, produce a blessing.

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

“God meant it” means all evil of all time, God intends “unto good”, and He is capable of bringing that to pass.
Eliphaz was granted to see this, even as he excludes Job from the blessings, and considers Job to be the recipient only of the curses.

Job 5:21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

Being “hid from the scourge of the tongue” applies only to being “hid with Christ in God”.

Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

“Hid from the scourge of the tongue” certainly does not mean nor exclude our own blaspheming of God, which we all do, and which necessitates the destruction of our old man, at the coming in of Christ into our lives.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [“the day of Christ” coming into our life – vs. 2] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; [ our “first man Adam”]
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 [ same Greek word translated ‘withhold’ in verse 6], 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:

“All things are ours”. This “man of sin… the son of perdition” is no exception to that Truth. But when we know that the consummation and destruction of our “old man… the first man Adam”, ushers in the birth of our “new man… the last Adam”, then this next verse makes perfect sense.

Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

Here is how King David expresses this Truth concerning those who “the beasts of the earth” seek to destroy :

Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Psa 91:6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Psa 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee.

How is this accomplished? It is accomplished by being seated with Christ in His Father’s throne in spirit, while dying daily to the flesh of our “old man, the first man Adam” within us all. It is accomplished by Christ within us giving us the strength He gave to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men are types of God’s elect who refuse to bow down to the doctrines and demands of the king of Babylon with which we contend to this very day.

Dan 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Dan 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?

Here is this story of Nebuchadnezzar and his rage toward God’s chosen people, in the New Testament:

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Nebuchadnezzar could no more change himself than could Joseph’s brothers, who sold him into Egypt, the Pharaoh, who could not let Israel leave Egypt, or Judas who had to have ‘Satan enter into him’ to accomplish his dirty deed.
“At destruction and famine [ you and I, like these three men], shalt laugh: neither shalt [ you and I] be afraid of the beasts of the earth”, even though that will require that we go through this fiery experience.
Notice this same spirit operating in our Savior:

Joh 18:19 The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine.
Joh 18:20 Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
Joh 18:21 Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.
Joh 18:22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?
Joh 18:23 Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me?

Christ maintained this faith in His Father’s power as He stood also before Pilate:

Joh 19:6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
Joh 19:7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
Joh 19:8 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
Joh 19:9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
Joh 19:10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
Joh 19:11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

This is “the last Adam”. This is the spirit and attitude of the last Job as the type of Christ in us, which we must show in the face of “destruction [ by] the beasts of the earth” (Job 5:22). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as the type of Christ in us, were “not afraid of destruction when it came. Truly they were examples and types of us with Christ strengthening us.

Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Dan 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
Dan 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Dan 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Dan 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Dan 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Dan 3:28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
Dan 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

That is the Old Testament type of what Eliphaz is telling Job when he says:

Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

We have died and are buried with Christ and fear none of the threats of this life simply because God…

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

But our blessings have only begun:

Job 5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

What are “the stones of the earth”? How are “the stones of the field… in league” with us? We cannot understand this unless we understand the integral role God has given these “stones of the earth” to play in bringing us to our own salvation in Christ.
Before we can understand how “the stones of the field” can be in league with us, we must first understand what these “stones of the field” are. As always there is both a ‘bright as the Sun’ application to every word of scripture, and then there is also a pitch black side to this Cloud which guides us in our studies.

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

This cloud is Christ and His Words. His Words bring light to His people while at the same time blinding those who oppose Him and His Words. There is therefore always a bright application and a dark application to all of His Words.
Let’s look first at the positive scriptural, Biblical meaning of the word ‘field’. Christ tells us that the “field” is where God sows His seed:

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:

It is in “the field” that God blesses our labors.

Mal 3:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

In this sense “the field” serves as a function which produces positive fruit.
But look at how this word ‘field’ is used in the vast majority of cases:

Gen 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 25:27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

It is no less than Christ Himself who informs us of what “the field” generally means in His Word:

Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

So “the field is the world” where God sows His seed and from whence He reaps His harvest.
But what then are “the stones of the field”?
This word ‘stones’ is no exception to that rule which teaches us that the cloud which represents Christ and His Word is dark on one side and bright on the other side. Since the dark, is always first, we will consider that application first.

2Sa 18:17 And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him: and all Israel fled every one to his tent.
Isa 14:19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.

“The stones of the pit” are the symbol of the destiny of Absalom and Babylon within us. They are the symbols of the “the first man Adam, who we all are at the beginning. These “stones of the field” therefore symbolize the destruction within us of our old man, “the first man Adam”.
Again, Christ Himself uses this word ‘stones’ to symbolize that which keeps His words from giving us nourishment, and keeps His words from having root which will cause us to bear fruit in our lives.

Mat 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

What then is the bright and positive application of “the stones of the field” with which we are in league as God’s chosen elect? Here is that positive symbolism of “the stones of the field”.

Gen 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel🙂
Psa 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
Psa 118:23 This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

So there are ‘stones’ which are rejected by men, but are of great value to those who are “in league with the stones of the field”.
Another way of putting this is that if we confess that we are blind, then we will be given sight.

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Now another way of expressing this statement of our Lord would be to tell these Pharisees, who are types of you and me, that they need to be ‘in league with the blind’.
We need also to be ‘in league with’ the lost, the sick and yes, even the sinners.

Luk 15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
Luk 15:5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
Luk 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Luk 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Mat 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Christ was ‘in league’ with the lost and with sinners, and the ‘righteous which needed no repentance’ did not like that.

Mar 2:16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

Christ was eating and drinking with “the stones of the field” which had been rejected by the builders of this age. Christ Himself is the “chief stone of the corner”, and it is He who is building His church:

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [ Greek, a little stone], and upon this rock [ Greek, a large stone] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

With what is He building His church? Here it is.

Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

God is using “rejected… stones” to raise up children unto Abraham, because Christ is the True and real ‘Father of the faithful’, the True Abraham.

Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

If we are Christ’s, then we will be rejected with Christ. Only then will we qualify to become ‘lively stones’ in His house, His temple.

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Christ is building His church with the “stones” who He is raising up as children of Abraham. Those ‘stones’ are “rejected… stones of the field”. They are the publicans and sinners with whom Christ could sit and eat, and show them their sins, and call them to repentance. Our “first man Adam” is our first Job within us. He is so righteous that he “needs no repentance”, and certainly is not yet “in league with the stones of the field”.
It is only after we are given to see that “all things are ours” (1Co 3:21-22), and that we “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and that it is we who are to “keep the things written therein”; only then are we “in league with” every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, including the words “the stones of the field”. It is only when we accept these plain truths that we will finally refrain from contending with our Lord who tells us that we must all “fulfill the seven plagues of the seven angels” before we can “enter into the temple of God” (Rev 15:7-8). Only when we accept God’s scourging wrath are we “in league with the stones of the field”. Then, and only then, do we come to know the peace which surpasses all understanding, and only then can we “cease from sin”.

Job 5:24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

How, pray tell, do we “not sin”?

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

In what sense are we “freed from sin”? It is in this sense:

Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

That is how the rejected stones of the field, the lost who need to be found, the sick who need a physician, and the blind who need sight, are given dominion over sin in their lives, and can honestly affirm that they are “free from sin”.

Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

We are “being made free from sin” and are no longer “living in sin” and are now given “dominion… over… sin” because we are “in league with all of “the stones of the field” who have been dragged by Christ to see themselves for what they really are. Job will be brought to this point within us “each in his order” (1Co 15:23). It is in this sense that we are Biblically said to have “ceased from sin”.

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

It is a simple Biblical doctrine that dominion over sin; being dead to sin, and ceasing from sin, are one and all preceded by suffering the seven plagues of the seven angels and being crucified with Christ, and living with Him these words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God:

Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

This is a prophecy of our Lord, when His Father refused Christ’s request to find another way, and yet would not allow even the flesh of Jesus Christ to inherit the kingdom of God.

Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Our Lord died at the age of 33 having never married and having no physical offspring. The prophet, seeing this poses this question:

Isa 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Yet He was to be known as “the everlasting Father”, and it is only “in Christ” that any of us can become “Abraham’s seed”. How is this possible?

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’ s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

How do we know that our “tabernacle shall be in peace”? It is “in Christ” that we “know that our tabernacle is in peace”, because we dwell, and “tabernacle” in Him even as He dwells and tabernacles in us.

Joh 14:20 In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing.

Eliphaz had no idea just how spiritually true were his words to Job:

Job 5:25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.

The true ‘father of the faithful’ is really Christ. It is only in Him that we are Abraham’s seed. In Him we are His brothers, His sisters, His mother and His children:

Mat 12:48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
Mat 12:49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

Here is just how prolific is “His generation”:

Gen 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

Yes, this is Christ speaking to Abraham, but Paul informs us that “if ye be in Christ, then are ye Abraham’s seed” (Gal 3:29). Here is another way of saying the same thing:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

“Know also that thy seed shall be great” is true for all of us, if we are “in Christ”.

Job 5:26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.

“In full age” is defined as “like as a shock of corn comes in in his season“. It is “in league with the stones of the field” that we “come to our grave in full age, like as a shock of corn comes in in his season”. When we accept the truth that is through simply acknowledging that we are Adam, and that as such all that is in Adam, that is, “all things are ours”. Then it is that we are “in league with the stones of the field”. Being “in league with the stones of the field”, means we acknowledge that “the world” is in Adam and is therefore also in us, and is working all the things that are written in our book by God, before any of those days were (Psa 139:16).

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

“The world” includes a self- righteous Job who is within us all. “The world” also includes the “chief of sinners” who must endure the wrath of God and fulfill the seven plagues of the seven angels, and repent of this Babylonian, self- righteous Job who we are. When we confess that “The world is ours”, we saying that we are “in league with the stones of the field”, and it is in that league that we come to our grave in full age, even if that age is physically just 33 years. Christ’s “full age” came in exactly when it had been written in His book, “before any of His days were”, and it was at the age of 33 that He was “as a shock of corn comes in in his season.” This is the Truth concerning all of us:

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

It is in complete confidence of the sovereign hand of a loving Father guiding the lives of all men, for the good of all men, that makes these words of Eliphaz ring so true giving us ‘the peace that surpasses understanding’.

Job 5:21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.
Job 5:22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.
Job 5:23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.

So it is possible to come to the point of actually being unafraid of the beasts of the earth, being unafraid of destruction and laughing at it. It is even possible, in time, to be able to rejoice in times of trial, knowing that it is in this way only that we are being granted the patience of Job, which perfects us and grants us the ability to see the good that is being wrought in and through our trials and tribulations. Here is how Eliphaz concludes his words to Job.

Job 5:27 Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

The holy spirit gives us some very enlightening additions to this concept in the New Testament:

1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, (ASV).
1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

It is faith that has been “tried with fire” which is so precious to our Lord, and it is in those trials and tribulations, that we can come to “greatly rejoice” when we are granted to appreciate the spiritual benefits of those fiery trials.

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 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

We simply must endure these fiery trials and tribulations if we hope to enter into the kingdom of God:

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Again, “we glory in tribulations… that… work patience”.

Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

We are “the inhabiters of the earth” before we become “ye heavens” into which Christ has entered to cleanse “the heavens themselves” (Heb 9:23-24). It is only through our trials and temptations that we can develop “the patience of Job… [ in which we] possess our souls”.

Luk 21:16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Luk 21:17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

And finally:

Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

We are “in league with the stones of the field” because we know that it is the “the trying of our faith… [ which] perfects us” and makes us ‘lacking in nothing.
Next week, Lord willing we will hear more of Job’s defense of himself against His miserable comforters and his contentions, reproof and condemnations of his own Creator in these words:

Job 6:1 Then Job answered and said,
Job 6:2 Oh that my vexation were but weighed, And all my calamity laid in the balances!
Job 6:3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas: Therefore have my words been rash.
Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up: The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
Job 6:5 Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? Or loweth the ox over his fodder?
Job 6:6 Can that which hath no savor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
Job 6:7 My soul refuseth to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me.
Job 6:8 Oh that I might have my request; And that God would grant me the thing that I long for!
Job 6:9 Even that it would please God to crush me; That he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
Job 6:10 And be it still my consolation, Yea, let me exult in pain that spareth not, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.

INTRODUCTION

In today s study (Job 5:21-27), Eliphaz concludes his first wave of subtle attacks on Job.
But we have seen from the studies in this book so far, that the hideous sin of self- righteousness is impossible to detect for the natural mind in us, which Eliphaz represents here. The very law which the natural man wants to satisfy by doing the good things required, actually also causes this sin to prosper undetected:

Rom 7:21 I find then a law: when I will to do the right, evil is present with me

The establishment of the self- righteous man of sin on the throne of our hearts and minds is anecessary(evil) part of our spiritual development. It is only when the day the Lord comes that this self- righteous beast is revealed and eventually dethroned:

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

What an honour to be taken through the wrath of God in the day of judgment of Christ in this age, where this self- righteous ‘man of sin’ is progressively revealed and dethroned by the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Joh 3:30 He [ Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.
1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Job and his three ‘miserable comforters’ (as he rightly called them) could not see this evil ‘man of sin’ at this stage of their lives when the falling away stage was still in progress in them.

FOCUS:

Job 5:21-27

VERSES 21-22:

21 Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh.

22 At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

The only way we are not afraid of the destruction and famine on the old man (the ‘first Adam’ – the self- righteous blaspheming beast) is when we are truly ‘hid with Christ in God’; being humbled and acknowledging that we are the ‘poor in spirit’ without Christ:

Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Christ has a body (an army) and it is in that body that we are protected as we share in the same mind of Christ. The cities and nations in ‘the land’ (our physical bodies with its sinful desires) are overcome with the help of this army – we cannot do it alone. When the beast are driven out, the land should not be left desolate (’empty, swept, and garnished’):

Exo 23:29-30 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Mat 12:43-45 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

VERSES 23-24:

23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee.
24 And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin.

‘The beasts of the field shall be at peace’ with us when we accept we are ‘in league with the stones of the field’ in need of the fiery wrath of God on our unrighteousness. The beasts ‘in’ and ’round about’ the throne of God are still called ‘beasts’, but they are now domesticated (went through the fire and is trained to accept God’s sovereignty over all their good and evil):

Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts [‘looked like a lion’…’like an ox’…’had the face of a man’….’like a flying eagle’] full of eyes before and behind.
Isa 6:1-2 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims [ fiery, poisonous, flying serpents with a copper color]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

Beasts eat out of a manger (crib) where Christ was ‘laid’ after His birth in Bethlehem. The body of Christ still feeds and nourishes ‘the beasts of the earth’ with the true Word of God and those who know this will see how important it is to be in fellowship with the true ‘Israel of God’:

Luk 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
Isa 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

This peace in our ‘tabernacle’ is when we ‘shall not sin’ (Christ our trespass offering) – that is when sin has no dominion over us while we are living in a body of sin (Christ our sin offering):

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Naturally stones in their various forms and sizes are formed by the constant motion, pressure, and extreme temperatures in the earth and pushed towards the surface in many ways, including earthquakes. Each stone carries with itimportant information about processes of the past. This correlates beautifully with each of us being ‘built up’ to be a ‘living stone’ in the ‘spiritual house’ of God when we look behind to see the voice speaking to us ‘on the Lord’s day’:

1Pe 2:4-5 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

VERSES 25-27:

25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
27 Behold this: we have searched it; it is so. Hear it and know for yourself

We can only see and hear spiritual truths when the old man (the first Adam) stops ‘commanding his sons’. Only then the brothers of Joseph could see their salvation:

Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
Gen 50:15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

Abraham could takepossessionof the land God promised him only when Terah, his “old man”, died:

Gen 11:32 – Gen 12:1 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

The last Adam’s ‘offspring’ shall be ‘as the grass of the earth’/ like the ‘sand of the sea’ when all in the first Adam are delivered from the hand of Esau(the flesh):

2Sa 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
Gen 32:11-12 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

God is a jealous God and will allow no flesh to stand between us and Him – He will surely destroy all physical attachments.

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

‘The shock of corn comes in in his season’ confirms that spiritual maturity is not according to human calendar years or earthly seasons (carnal reasoning), but is appointed by the Father as shown in Jesus who died physically at the age of only 33 years of age. Another example of this Godly perspective of spiritual maturity was Timothy:

1Ti 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Thank you one and all for the prayers, comments and contributions. Any corrections will be appreciated.
In the service of His fitly joined body,
Larry and Lyndell