[Study aired August 11, 2019]

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isa 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
Isa 44:26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
Isa 44:27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
Isa 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

In this study we will see how the Lord uses a Gentile king as a “shepherd” to care for His people while He delivers them from their Babylonian captivity and has this Gentile King to help His people to begin to build His Temple. This is not the first time the Lord has used a pagan king to work His will.  The fact is that Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who carried the Lord’s people away into captivity is also called by the Lord, “Nebuchadnezzar, My servant”, when the Lord uses Nebuchadnezzar to carry His spiritually adulterous people into Babylonian captivity for their apostasy.

In other words, our own flesh is the Lord’s servant to make us to err (Isa 63:17), just as Nebuchadnezzar symbolizes our old man, “the beast” who rules over all men (Rev 13:16-18):

Jer 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
Jer 27:7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
Jer 27:8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD , with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

Babylonian captivity is not optional. She rules over all the kings of all the world… “all nations shall serve” Babylon (Jer 27:7). Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth, also rules over all kings and all kingdoms:

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Hosea tells us the same thing:

Hos 11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian [Babylon] shall be his king, because they refused to return.

When the Jews which Nebuchadnezzar had left in the land refused to obey the Lord’s commandment to submit themselves to the king of Babylon, they instead fled into Egypt. When they rebelled and did so then the Lord simply gave Egypt as a gift to the king of Babylon. The Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar “[His] servant” down into Egypt to destroy them right there in Egypt.

Jer 42:7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

Jer 42:11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD : for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

When “[we] say, We will not… obey the voice of the Lord [then the very things we] feared shall overtake [us]…” When our own will becomes our God and we do what we want rather than trusting the Lord to protect us, at that point all of our protection has been removed, and we are a sitting duck for the adversary. When we trust in the Lord in spite of all the outward circumstances which make us want to lean to our own strength, then the Lord promises to keep and to save us:

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD , and depart from evil.
Pro 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

The whole world was against the Lord and His Christ, but He, and they in Him, were given to remain faithful to the end, and because of that gift for those who remain faithful to the end will be given a part in the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Exactly what that “bless[ing]” is, and what the phrase “marriage supper” means is explained for us in the very next chapter:

Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The “marriage supper of the Lamb” is the first resurrection. The point being made in every Old Testament story of how the Lord delivers His people is that because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”, and because Babylon must be destroyed before the Lord’s kingdom can be establish, it is therefore in the destruction of Babylon we are told, “You shall go… to Babylon: there shall you be delivered”.

Mic 4:10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

There really is an order in which the Lord is working His plan in the lives of every one of His elect “in this present time” (Rom 8:18). So it is counter-productive for us to get weary in well doing and just give up and return to Egypt. Our lives will follow the Lord’s order of events which He has laid out, and the idols of our hearts will not subvert that order. It is in Babylon that we will be delivered, and it is there the Lord will redeem us from the hand of our enemies:

Hos 11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian [Babylon] shall be his king, because they refused to return.

Mic 4:10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

Those who depend on the Lord for their deliverance do so with no regard whatsoever for their physical lives. Whether it was Isaiah, Jeremiah, the three Hebrew children, or Daniel, or any other Old Testament type of those who are faithful to Christ, they one and all demonstrated that their fidelity and fear was toward the Lord and not toward men.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego expressed this mindset eloquently with these words before a furious king Nebuchadnezzar when he demanded they worship his golden image:

Dan 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Dan 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Dan 3:15  Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 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.

These men are types of us if we remain faithful to the Lord to the end. As with us, this part of the “cloud of witnesses” of the Old Testament knew there was to be a resurrection, and they were given the desire of “a better resurrection”, even if they are ordained to come up in the great white throne judgment

Heb 11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Heb 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Heb 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
Heb 11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

The “better thing” was not provided for those who were the symbols of the true men of faith. The true men of faith are those who place the words of Christ above all the words of all the ministers of all the religions of Babylon.

It is very little understood, but the fact is that both Hebrews and 1st Peter teach us that this “better thing for us” is “not unto them… but unto us” as Peter so clearly tells us:

1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

“The angels desire to look into… the glory that should follow… the sufferings of Christ”.

This is how our last study ended:

Isa 44:19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
Isa 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

Everything that will burn up is the same as “ashes”. When all of our doctrines are false lies, then all of our spiritual nourishment is “ashes”. The Lord would have us to ask ourselves if we would be so foolish as to craft our own doctrines, and He poses the question for us:  “Is there not a lie in my right hand”.

But He tells us “a deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul”, and He also tells us:

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

Then He tells us:

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

He tells us “remember these, O Jacob and Israel” because we just naturally forget that our thoughts are not His thoughts, and that is exactly what we have all done, and yet, in spite of our sins against Him, He still informs us of what He is doing with us. [We] are [His] servant [simply because that is what He] has formed [us] to be. We may indeed forget Him but “[We] will not be forgotten of [Him]”.

Paul says the same thing in these verses:

2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
2Ti 2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

Look at the harmony of Isaiah with Paul. Through Isaiah the Lord tells us:

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

Through the apostle Paul the message is the same:

2Ti 2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers…

2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

This being true, we will indeed deny the Lord just as Peter did. Peter typifies all of the Lord’s elect in that he denied the Lord, and the Lord denied Peter’s fearful, unfaithful, old man, but Peter himself was not forgotten by the Lord, and the Lord abode faithful. He could not deny Himself, He could not deny His entire body, which is what Peter’s denial typifies. Peter typifies all of us:

Luk 22:54 Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off.
Luk 22:55 And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
Luk 22:56 But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.
Luk 22:57 And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.
Luk 22:58 And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.
Luk 22:59 And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilæan.
Luk 22:60 And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
Luk 22:61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luk 22:62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

The bitter tears of repentance are the fire which will try every man’s works:

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.

Works which are burned up have an application to us in this present time as well as those whose works are destined to burned up in the lake of fire. But “in this present time”, Christ will not forget His elect, and we will be made to know that our salvation is completely His work in spite of us, and we will be made to know that we accomplish nothing of ourselves:

Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isa 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

Where is our righteousnesses in those verses?

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.

Where are any of our “idols of [our] hearts”? It is the Lord who redeems us, and we will “hold [our] peace”:

Exo 14:11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
Exo 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.
Exo 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

The Lord does all of our fighting for us, and the least we can do is to shut up and watch Him work His work. But even the ability to do that must be given to us.

Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD , thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

That is right. The very thoughts in our ‘heavens’ as well as our words and works on this earth “are of the Lord”:

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

The Lord “knows our thoughts” because He gives them to us. The preparations of our heart takes place in our thoughts, and those thoughts, good and evil, are a work of the Lord.

So, it behooves us to know that these next words also apply to the Lord’s elect as well as all the rest of mankind:

Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

The Lord delights in making our old man, and mankind as a whole, to be manifested for the ignorant fools we are by nature:

Psa 53:1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
Pro 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

These words here in Isaiah 44:25 are just filling in some of the details of what we are made to know by these words which were written several generations prior to Isaiah:

Pro 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

The liars and diviners of verse 25 are the so-called wise men whose supposed wisdom is revealed by the Lord for the foolishness it really is.

These words are addressed to us first and foremost. It is the Lord who makes our old man ‘wicked’ for our own “day of evil”, and there is no way to short circuit the way in which He is working inside each of us. When He makes us to err from His ways, we will err from His ways:

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Isaiah 63:17 confirms:

Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

“That they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken” is also confirmed by:

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

This next verse explains why we must first be deceived and be made to err from the Lord’s ways and fall backward and be snared:

Eze 14:11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.

If we don’t even “think above that which is written” (1Co 4:6), the Lord’s word will always confirm itself, as the Lord assures us:

Isa 44:26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:

The Lord “confirms the word of His servant, and [He] performs the counsel of His messengers” simply because:

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

“His messengers” do the same because we are very careful never to think above that which is written:

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other.   (ACV)

We are as Christ is in this world (1Jo 4:17). Therefore, like Him we can never “think above that which is written”. We are very careful to speak only His “words [and His] counsel”. If we never “think above that which is written”, then like Christ we will “of [our] own selves do nothing” and we will never “seek… [our] own will”. It is our own will and our own idolatrous words to which “the deep” and “[our] rivers” refer in our next verse:

Isa 44:27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

The Hebrew word translated ‘deep’ in this verse is:

H6683
צוּלָה
tsûlâh
tsoo-law’

From an unused root meaning to sink; an abyss (of the sea): – deep.
Total KJV occurrences: 1

‘Tsulah’ is one of those few words which is a root word but is not used anywhere else in scripture. But considering the negative context this word, it has very much in common with the ‘deep’ found in these two verses in Proverbs:

Pro 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

Pro 23:27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

“Strange women [and] a whore” are both types of false religions with false doctrines. So when the Lord tells us:

Isa 44:27 [He] saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

Right after telling us:

Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

It is obvious that the Lord is telling us that any false doctrines within us, and even the religions of this world, will in His timing be subdued by those who are serving Him and His purpose.

Just as our old man is used by the Lord as the man of sin who sits in the temple of God saying he is God, and is even now being judged, so the Lord uses the wicked of this world to work as His servants to rule over the nations of this world and to do and to work His purpose in the kingdoms of this world:

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

In Job 1 and 2, Satan is called “Thy hand”, meaning the Lord’s hand:

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.

In the second chapter this whole process is repeated, and the Lord sends Satan to afflict Job with boils “from the sole of his foot unto his crown”:

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.

The Lord simply uses the Devil, and those who are “of [their] father the Devil”, to work out His plans for us and for all of mankind.

The Lord plainly tells us that “even the wicked” men are the work of His hand:

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

He tells us that “the wicked [are His] sword”:

Psa 17:13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

He calls wicked King Nebuchadnezzar “My servant”:

Jer 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

And here He calls another pagan king “[His] shepherd [who] shall perform all [His] pleasure”:

Isa 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

So Nebuchadnezzar was used to punish the Lord’s people for their sins, and when that was accomplished, He used another wicked man to punish Nebuchadnezzar and rebuild His temple. All these wicked men are one wicked man, the man of sin, whom the Lord uses both to destroy our old man, and in that destructive process He uses our corruptible flesh to begin the process of rebuilding and producing in us, our new man, a rebuilt temple, “another vessel”, conformed to the image of Christ.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

But it all begins much earlier in our lives than we tend to think. The fact is, God knows each of us before we are ever born:

Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

What an all powerful, loving, heavenly Father we serve! Nothing is left to chance; not the hairs of our head, not the sparrows that fall (Luk 12:4-7).

Our God is love, and He has devised means that even His banished be not forever expelled from Him:

2Sa 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

That “means… He has devised… that His banished be not expelled from Him” is you and me, and the mercy we will show to all who are cast into the lake of fire if indeed we are His “very elect”:

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

In our next study, we will continue to see how the Lord works with our corruptible flesh to bring us to His mind. We will see how He, and He alone, can “create evil” and bring good out of evil and light out of darkness. We will see how He forms “the mind of Christ” and conforms us to the image of Christ, via our own flesh, our own Cyrus:

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Isa 45:2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
Isa 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD , which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
Isa 45:4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
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.

Video Links

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?

Jul 31, 2008

Hello again Mike,

Thank you for the response to my other e- mail. I came across this scripture, Ecc 7:29.

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

I have considered the sum of God’s word to try to answer my question, but to no avail. My question is: How could God have made man upright, “or right,” if man was made marred in the hand of the potter?
I know in my heart that we are sinful creatures that are in need of a Savior, but just wondering how this scripture fits together with the whole of scripture.
God bless,
B____

Good morning B_,

Thanks for this question. You ask about:

“Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

The sum of God’s Word certainly does show us that we were “marred in the Potter’s hand… shapen in iniquity and conceived by our good mothers in sin.” This 7th chapter of Ecc. demonstrates that this is a very bad translation of what Solomon actually said. Look at these verses in this chapter and ask yourself if all of this agrees with having been made upright?

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

Solomon himself died an apostate. So how can this verse be true if Solomon were originally “made upright?”

Ecc 7:8 Better [ is] the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

If man were originally “made upright” and then dies in sin as all who lived before Christ did, then how can this verse be true? But of course the truth is that it is through patience that we are saved:

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

We know that God is actually “calling light out of darkness,” and He has no intention of losing a single soul. That is His method. He is starting out with a “vessel of clay… an earthen vessel… corruptible flesh and blood,” and through that “body of death” he is bringing out a purified spiritual body.

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

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Flesh “by nature… serves the law of sin.” It cannot do otherwise even in its very best state. Flesh is a “body of death.” Flesh is corruption, and therefore cannot inherit incorruption, be it the “corruptible body of this death of Christ, which did not want to go to the cross, or be it our flesh which does not want to go to the cross. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God because it is corrupt and dying.

Finally, look at this verse of Ecc 7:

Ecc 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

Well, now which is it? Did God originally make man upright, or has man been “made crooked?”

The apparent contradictions all disappear when we remember that Christ and His words never pass away and they are always is, was, and will be. That is the very character of Christ and His word:

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [ be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Ecc 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make [ that] straight, which he hath made crooked?

Rev 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send [ it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Four times in this one chapter we are drilled with this truth, simply because Christ knows how easily we will tend to forget it. It appears another 8 time in this book of Revelation alone. Nothing is so oft repeated, and yet we still struggle to know and understand the depth of this Truth. It actually applies to every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

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.

Does this book of Revelation proceed out of the mouth of God? Of course it does. We are told so in the very first verse:

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:

What does all of this have to do with Ecc 7:29?

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

It all makes perfect sense when, with the sum of God’s Word, we realize that ” God made man crooked,” and man cannot change that fact. But God is making man upright, and man is seeking out many inventions to prove that he doesn’t need His Creator, but the Truth is that even mankind’s efforts of pride and rebellion are all of God:

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

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

Eph 2: 2-3 show that we are all, originally, “by nature, children of wrath even as ohters.” But God is making straight that which He origninally made crooked and marred and in sin.

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

I hope this helps you to see how Ecc 7:29 agrees with the sum of God’s Word. Let me know if you still have questions. It is the least I can do for all you have done.

Your brother in the Christ,

Mike