“Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked” – Part 1

(Pro 24:1-18)

[Study Aired January 8, 2026]

Why would we fret because of evil men, and why would we be envious of them? This entire chapter of Proverbs 24 gives us the answer to these questions, and will put us in remembrance of Christ who is building His temple, His body, the church (Psa 127:1), so that we can be strong against all the wiles of the devil (Eph 6:10-11) at the end of this age, our age, so that having done all we will be able to stand (Eph 6:12-19,  Mat 20:22-23, Mar 14:24-25).

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

Mat 20:22  But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Mar 14:24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Mar 14:25  Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. (Col 1:27, Luk 17:21)

Pro 24:1  Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
Pro 24:2  For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

What an apt description of humanity throughout history, right from the get-go. We have learned of war, “studieth destruction”, and have waxed worse and worse, the sins of the Amorites being fulfilled “in the fourth generation”, the fourth symbolizing the whole of humanity that will come to this understanding of the warring nature of the beast we are (Gen 15:16, Ecc 3:18).

Our lips talk of mischief and witness against us for years until the day of evil that God created is revealed and we come into judgement which has begun on the house of God (Pro 16:4, 1Pe 4:17).

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

We are told to not be envious against evil men, because before judgement comes upon us that is exactly what we do; we are envious of their supposed wealth and we want to surround ourselves around those who are doing well in the earth (Psa 73:1-3).

Psa 73:1  A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel (Gal 6:16), even to such as are of a clean heart (Joh 1:47).
Psa 73:2  But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
Psa 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

All of this changes when we begin to be shown the man of perdition within our own hearts (2Th 2:2-4), who is being destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens that are being cleansed so that we no longer “study destruction”, or “speak with lips of mischief”, no longer savouring the things of this world (Psa 73:3-9), but are blessed to have minds that are set on the things that are above and not on the earth (Col 3:2, Eph 5:2).

2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.(Mat 24:26-27 the brightness is lightning that represents God’s judgements in our heavens)
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Psa 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (the one who prospers in the earth is the man of perdition who must be destroyed)
Psa 73:4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
Psa 73:5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
Psa 73:6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Psa 73:7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
Psa 73:8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
Psa 73:9  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

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.

Eph 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling
savour.

Pro 24:3  Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Pro 24:4  And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Remember those chambers of (Mat 24:26-27). There is a positive and negative ‘chamber’, and it is Christ who positively fills the chambers of our hearts and minds with all precious and pleasant riches, revealing exceeding great and precious promises (2Pe 1:4) which tell us that he who is our wisdom (1Co 1:30) is going to build the temple that we are, and by understanding establish it (Psa 127:1, Joh 2:19).

Mat 24:26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Pro 24:5  A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Pro 24:7  Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

We can’t open our mouths in the gate where we should be going to receive the counsel that we need (“the gate” is the place where the rulers of the city sit in judgment), but when the fit man Jesus Christ (Lev 16:21) lays hold of the scapegoat that we are, we take on a new strength, that being the life of Christ within us who is our sufficiency in this life (2Co 3:5): “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength”.

If we are being led by the spirit of God (Rom 8:14-15) we will be seeking out wise counsel, and that is where we will find liberty, and safety (2Co 3:17).

That is the wisdom that is too high for our foolish flesh that cannot open our foolish mouth in the gate to speak nor to even seek out that wise counsel, which we must partake of in this life in order to overcome and endure to the end (Psa 73:22, Jer 5:4).

Psa 73:22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

Jer 5:4  Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

There are many verses with the word “counsel” in them, and those words are spirit and they are profitable (Joh 6:63).

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 12:15  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Pro 19:20  Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Pro 19:21  There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

Pro 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

Pro 21:30  There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 27:9  Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

Pro 24:8  He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.
Pro 24:9  The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

These verses continue to demonstrate the fruits of one who does not understand nor receive counsel and is what produces thoughts of foolishness, which is sin. We end up being scorners who look down on the body of Christ, ‘going it alone’ and thinking that his relationship with Christ is solely between him and Christ, becoming an “abomination to men” because of this stubborn and self-righteous approach that Saul in us naturally takes, not seeking counsel, or obeying what God tells us to do (1Sa 15:22-23).

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity (Eze 33:13) and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Pro 24:10  If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
Pro 24:11  If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
Pro 24:12  If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

God sees all of mankind’s strength as being small, “thy strength is small”, because we all initially trust in our own arm and not that of the Lord, until the trials start to come that humble our flesh (2Co 1:9). All men’s hearts will faint in the day of adversity, starting with the elect who, out of that adversity, will cry out unto God and will be heard (Act 9:4-5).

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Initially we can’t help others, because we are yet carnal babes in Christ, and so it is written “thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain” [not able to help those who are dying daily (1Co 15:31), being drawn to death, and ready to be slain].

Our works are being tried at this time, and at first we do say, “If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not [pleading ignorance is no excuse in a court of law]; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?”. However, if God is working with us in this age, we will come to know that we are His workmanship going unto perfection because of His mercy shown to his children in this age, “as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (1Co 3:9-15, Heb 6:1-6, Mal 4:2-3, Mal 3:16-18).

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
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. [shall not he render to every man according to his works?]
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.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.
Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Mal 4:3  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Pro 24:13  My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
Pro 24:14  So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

The honey is likened unto God’s word that is sweet in the mouth and bitter in the belly, and if God will permit we will be granted the strength needed via the bread of life (Psa 104:15) to endure that bitterness that represents the seven last plagues that must be poured out upon us in order to go unto maturity in Christ (Rev 15:8).

Keeping the knowledge and wisdom of God, abiding in the truth, will set us free (Joh 8:32) and “there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off”(Pro 23:17-19).

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Pro 23:17  Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
Pro 23:18  For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Pro 23:19  Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

Pro 24:15  Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Pro 24:17  Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
Pro 24:18  Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

There are two main admonitions in these verses for us. One is speaking to our younger less mature stage in Christ when we blindly lay wait against our older more mature members in Christ, “Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place: For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief”(Rom 14:1-4).

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

The second admonition is speaking of our not despising those who are less mature, but bearing their infirmity all our life as Christ has done with us, and is doing, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him”(Rom 15:1).

Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Rom 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Rom 15:3  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

Next week, Lord willing, we will pick up where we left off, (Pro 24:19-34), as we continue to see why we should not fret because of evil and lawless men, with a strong emphasis on this part of the proverb that says, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”.

Do not be beset by the sin within you that is being destroyed by Christ (Heb 12:1-2), and do not be discouraged or dismayed at a world that is failing and promised to come to the brink of destruction, not just physically, which could happen at any given moment in this nuclear age, but especially spiritually, all for our sakes to remind us that God is judging the nations within us and giving us victory over them through that judgment (Mat 24:6-9).

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

The world has already been ‘spiritually cursed’ (Mal 3:9)and is reaching that zenith of sin by God’s counsel and design, called the sins of the Amorites that must be fulfilled initially in us, and then, Lord willing, as the elect we will go through a lifetime of much tribulation in order to overcome this world of sin within, and be made ready for our Lord’s return (Act 14:22) that will come at the appointed time.

Lord help us to remain faithful watchmen to the very end (Luk 21:36, Mat 24:13).

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Ezekiel 32:1–16 A Lament Over Pharoah and Egypt

[Study Aired September 16, 2024]

INTRODUCTION

Today’s study reflects the destruction of Pharoah and Egypt. As we have indicated in the previous studies, Pharoah represents our old man or flesh. Today’s study deals with the judgement of Pharoah and Egypt and the resulting benefit that shall follow after the judgement.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 

The study concludes with the destruction of the beasts such that there shall be no foot of man or the hoofs of the beasts to trouble the waters. As a result, the waters shall flow like oil. These concluding statements show us the salvation of all men of every age which shall come about after the destruction of the beasts within man.

1Ti 4:9  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

 

A lamentation for Pharoah, King of Egypt

Eze 32:1  And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 32:2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers. 

The number twelve means foundation and it is also the number of Christ. In our walk in the churches of this world, our foundations in Christ were destroyed.

Psa 11:3  If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? 

This means that the twelfth year in the twelfth month in the first day of the month when the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel implies that the Lord’s coming to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness is to build our foundation in Him as we go through the judgement of our old man.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

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.

Zec 8:9  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

As indicated in the previous studies, Pharoah, king of Egypt, represents our old man or flesh.  Here in verse 2, the Lord requesting Ezekiel to take up a lamentation for Pharoah, the king of Egypt, is to let us know the evil experience we must pass through for the destruction of our old man or flesh symbolized by Pharoah, the king of Egypt. In this verse, the Lord compared Pharoah with a young lion of the nations and also a whale in the seas. A key characteristic of a young lion is his persistent pursuit to capture a prey as shown in the following verses:

Psa 17:12  Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Isa 5:29  Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.

Pharoah likened to a young lion of the nations therefore implies that our old man or flesh was made to dominate or capture mankind or people of the world as a prey. A whale represents the sea of our flesh or old man. Therefore, Pharoah being described as the whale in the seas is to show us that Pharoah represents our old man or flesh.

Job 7:12  Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?

One key role of the whale as described in verse 2 is churning up muddy waters with his feet. This implies that if we are dominated by the flesh, that is our walk in the flesh, we end up coming up with muddy waters which refer to the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition. As a result, we make the word of the Lord of no effect in our lives.

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 

Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Mar 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Eze 32:3  Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will therefore spread out my net over thee with a company of many people; and they shall bring thee up in my net. 
Eze 32:4 Then will I leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee.

The company of many people represent the physical churches of this world or Babylon. Our flesh is likened to fishes of the sea where the Lord cast His net over us, making the churches of this world drag us from the sea to the land. Being cast forth upon the open field in verse 4 means that our walk in the churches of this world is likened to an open field where we live like people of the world as our flesh is empowered by the devil and his cohorts, signified by the fowls of the heavens. It is at this point that the beasts of the whole earth dominate us to the fullest. We need to understand that our flesh or old man or the beast within us was made to be taken and destroyed. Thus, in our walk in the churches of this world, the Lord seeks an occasion to come and destroy our flesh as He allows us to be dominated by the beasts of the whole earth.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 

Eze 32:5  And I will lay thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with thy height. 
Eze 32:6 I will also water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of thee. 

As indicated in the previous study, the mountains and valleys on a positive note represent the assembly of the Lord’s elect, as shown in the following verse:

Eze 6:3 Say this, ‘You mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Almighty LORD! This is what the Almighty LORD says to the mountains and hills and to the ravines and valleys: I am going to attack you with a sword and destroy your worship sites.

In verse 5, therefore, the laying of our flesh upon the mountains and the filling of the valleys therefore signify the unveiling of the dying of our old man or flesh through the Lord’s judgement in the assembly of the Lord’s elect.

Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The life of the flesh is in the blood and therefore, the land being watered with the blood of our old man or flesh in verse 6 signifies the death of our flesh or old man within our bodies (land). The streams being full of the flesh in verse 6 implies that we shall come to see that the false doctrines (the rivers) in our heavens emanates from the flesh and is about man’s wisdom and tradition.

Lev 17:11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. 
Eze 32:8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD. 

These verses describe the day of the Lord which is the time of His judgement of our old man or flesh. This is what Apostle Peter describes about the day of the Lord on the day of Pentecost:

Act 2:19  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Verses 7 and 8 show us that all the bright lights of heavens, together with the stars, shall be darkened as the sun is covered with the clouds and the moon is not giving her light. Comparing these verses with Apostle Paul’s description of the Lord’s day of judgement shows us that the sun being darkened is equivalent to the sun being covered with a cloud, and the moon not giving her light is the same as the moon not giving her light because it covered with blood. The sun being darkened means that when we are dominated by the flesh, we are not able to see Christ who represents the sun, because of the smoke that comes out of our bottomless pit. That is to say that out of our flesh (bottomless pit) comes false doctrines which prevent us from knowing Christ.

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 

As part of the Lord’s judgement of our old man or flesh, we are given over to the desires of our hearts which include believing the false doctrines from our flesh. This is to give the Lord the occasion that He is seeking to come and judge us.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 
Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24  Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

The moon turning into blood or not giving her light implies that we become guilty for the death of the Lord’s saints because we hate them. This is because the little knowledge of the Lord has been taken away from us. We know that hating our brothers or sisters is the same as being a murderer and therefore we are guilty of the death of the Lord and His saints. This is all to give the Lord the occasion that He is seeking to come into our lives to destroy our old man or flesh.

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 
Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

Eze 32:9  I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known. 
Eze 32:10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall. 

When Joseph’s brothers came to realize that Joseph was alive, they were troubled, thinking that Joseph would seek revenge or judge them because of the trouble they took Joseph through, especially when Jacob, their father died.

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. 
Gen 50:16  And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
Gen 50:17  So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

Our brothers and sisters in Babylon who represent the “many people” shall be troubled as they see that the judgement of their old man is at hand.

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

As indicated by Apostle Peter, if we, His elect are scarcely saved through the Lord’s judgement, what shall be the end of them (“many people”) who do not believe? Many people shall be stunned, especially, the leaders of Babylon, signified as the kings of the many people in verse 19, as they see the judgement of the Lord at hand.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 
1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

 

The Judgement of the Lord

Eze 32:11  For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. 
Eze 32:12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed. 

When we are dominated by the flesh or our old man, the Lord gives us over to be ruled by the sword of the King of Babylon. As we have indicated in previous studies, the negative aspect of “sword” refers to words that are spoken which destroy us. The sword refers to the lying words and false doctrines of the adversary.

2Ti 2:17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Psa 64:2  Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
Psa 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

These negative words spoken is one of the tools that the Lord uses to cause people to speak bitter words to us, His elect.

Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Jdg 7:22 And the three hundred [men with Gideon] blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host [of the Midianites]: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

In verse 12, we are made aware that the swords of the mighty is what causes the multitude to fall including the terrible of the nations. This implies that it is through false doctrines propagated in Babylon which caused many to become spiritually dead. These false doctrines is what gives Babylon control of the nations of this world.

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 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. 

The woman sitting upon many waters means that Babylon or the physical churches of this world have control over people (multitude) and nations. As indicated in verse 12, this control is through the false doctrines or the sword of the king of Babylon which destroys the pomp of Egypt and all the multitude.

The pomp of Egypt refers to the attractiveness or the pride of the world which involves the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. “The multitude” signifies the people of the world including our brothers and sisters in Babylon. Through the Lord’s judgement of our old man, the attraction of the world, the old man or flesh in the lives of the people of the world, shall be destroyed.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Eze 32:13  I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them anymore, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. 
Eze 32:14  Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the Lord GOD.

The “great waters” in verse 13 signify the false doctrines of man’s wisdom and tradition. These false doctrines comes from our flesh or our old man or beast. The destruction of all the beasts shall take place in the Lake of Fire as all mankind from Adam to date shall be judged. The fact that the feet of humans and the hoofs of beasts cannot stir up the water anymore implies that the beast within man, which is the source of the false doctrines in our heavens, shall be destroyed completely, such that there will not be any false doctrines.

As described in verse 14, the only river available shall run like oil. This river is the water of life which proceeds out of the throne of the God and of the Lamb. Oil represents the Spirit and it is the spirit that gives life. The Lord causing the rivers to run like oil therefore signifies that all humanity shall come to have the spiritual understanding of the word of the Lord which gives life.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 
Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 
Rev 22:3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
Rev 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Eze 32:15  When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD. 
Eze 32:16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, saith the Lord GOD. 

In verse 15, Egypt symbolizes the world. The making of the land of Egypt desolate therefore represents the Lord’s judgement of the world during the lake of fire age.  The result of this judgement is that all shall come to know who the Lord is.

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. 

1Ti 4:9  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. 
1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. 

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

The daughters of the nations in verse 16 signifies the physical churches of this world who shall lament the destruction of the old man in their lives, which is the source of all worldliness. This is the order in which these daughters of the nations shall be saved:

Eze 16:53  When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of 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.

May the Lord continue to deliver us from our old man or flesh. Amen!!

1Ki 20:31-43  ‘For now is our Salvation Nearer than when we Believed’

[Study Aired June 16, 2022]

1Ki 20:31  And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. 
1Ki 20:32  So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
1Ki 20:33  Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
1Ki 20:34  And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
1Ki 20:35  And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. 
1Ki 20:36  Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 
1Ki 20:37  Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. 
1Ki 20:38  So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. 
1Ki 20:39  And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 
1Ki 20:40  And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. 
1Ki 20:41  And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. 
1Ki 20:42  And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
1Ki 20:43  And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.

In order to help understand this last section of chapter twenty of Kings, we need to give some context to the story. From our study last week, we learned how a man of God came to Ahab and told him what the perception of the Syrian army was regarding the God of Israel. God promised as a result of the lies in their heavens that “therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD”; the God of the plain and the God of the hills (1Ki 20:28). This promise of victory, as we will see, was conditional upon the obedience of Israel, just as king Saul’s victory would only be validated if he fought the battle he was in with a complete obedience to God, which he did not do(1Sa 15:14, 1Sa 15:19-22). Nor did king Ahab who ended up sparing the life of king Benhadad in this story tonight, disobeying the command to utterly destroy everyone which commandment was restated in verse forty-two of this chapter (1Ki 20:42).

1Ki 20:28  And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

1Sa 15:14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 

1Sa 15:19  Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 
1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, [just as Benhadad was spared] and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 
1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

1Ki 20:42  And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. 

The lesson for God’s elect today is that sin, which is represented in these first few verses with servants of Benhadad coming to make some sort of peace treaty with Ahab (1Ki 20:31-34), is to be destroyed (1Jn 3:8, 1Co 15:55-56).

1Jn 3:8  He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 

It is also a little later in the story that Ahab discovers that Benhadad the king himself was not killed in the battle, and Ahab spares him. As a result of these actions, the punishment of death fell upon Ahab and the nation of Israel for this unrighteous compromising spirit which did not follow through in obedience to God’s command to destroy everyone. Again this is written for our sakes “upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1Co 10:11) telling us that when we don’t follow through and faithfully declare the true gospel to all men (Act 20:27-28, Col 1:27-28) while living in obedience to God’s commands, the end result of that trumpet not being blown will be that their blood will be upon our own heads (Eze 33:1-20). The gospel must be understood within and if being received through God’s spirit within us, it will in time take captive and destroy every evil thought bringing it into captivity to the mind of Christ which makes it possible for us through him to blow the trumpet clearly so all others can hear the message of the kingdom of God within us (2Co 10:5-6, 1Co 14:8-9). Bringing all our thoughts into subjection to Christ is akin to destroying king Agag, the king of Amalek, and not letting any of the men go to whom God has appointed “utter destruction” within us (1Sa 15:20, 1Ki 20:42).

Eze 33:1  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 
Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 
Eze 33:3  If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 
Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 
Eze 33:8  When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 
Eze 33:9  Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 
Eze 33:10  Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? 
Eze 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

1Ki 20:31  And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
1Ki 20:32  So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. 
1Ki 20:33  Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 
1Ki 20:34  And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

Ahab calling Benhadad his ‘brother’ (1Ki 20:32) when he was his enemy is just another demonstration of how Ahab once again lets down his spiritual guard, as he did at the onset by being willing to give Benhadad the treasures of the temple that Benhadad had asked for (1Ki 20:3), and now he is in type and shadow not clearly identifying this man, king Benhadad, as an enemy of the cross. The lesson for God’s elect is this is how we should see this entire world that lies in sin (1Jn 5:19) as well as our sinful flesh which wars against the spirit of God within us and must be conquered by dying daily (Gal 5:17, 1Co 15:31, Mar 10:18).

Ahab is being manipulated by Benhadad, unlike Christ who was not overcome by the devil after he was tempted by Satan to receive all the kingdoms of this world (Mat 4:8-9). Ahab is in concert with Benhadad while sitting in Ahab’s chariot, a symbol of power and the place where he struck this deal with Benhadad who he was succumbing to in all that he was telling him he was going to do now for the kingdom of Israel. This represents our caving in to our old man and not being obedient to Christ and His commandments.

Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 
Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

The Ethiopian eunuch in contrast sat in his chariot and Phillip caught up to him to hear his desire to know Christ (Act 8:27-39).

Act 8:30  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 
Act 8:31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 
Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: 
Act 8:33  In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 
Act 8:34  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? 
Act 8:35  Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

Benhadad’s chariot experience represents a false humility. He had no change of heart but was being the opportunist that flesh always is, seeking some way to be spared. Ahab should have taken his life without question, along with all the servants that came into his presence seeking restitution, “And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away“.

1Ki 20:35  And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
1Ki 20:36  Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 

This sub story is very much connected to the first section of this study, as we see a parable being described which has to do with our coming out of Babylon and what is required of the Lord if we are going to endure until the end in this life. There must be a death process that unfolds, of which Ahab was unwilling to execute against the enemies of Israel.

Firstly, when we enter into Babylon, the Lord, who is represented by “a certain man of the sons of the prophets“, tells us that we must die daily (1Co 15:31) and our old man must be slain, but no such thing happens in Babylon where there is no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1), no sword of the spirit which is God’s word (Eph 6:17), to slay us, as expressed with these words, “And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.” The man refusing to smite him represents Babylon who refuses to obey and can’t see the need to fill up what is ‘behind of the afflictions of Christ’ as we die daily (Col 1:24).

Because we don’t obey the voice of our Shepherd, refusing to receive correction and not dying on the cross with Christ, we are devoured by the devil who is the lion we meet in the street; “Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.” (Jer 5:1-7)

Jer 5:3  O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 
Jer 5:4  Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God. 

Jer 5:6  Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.

1Ki 20:37   Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. 
1Ki 20:38  So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. 
1Ki 20:39  And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 
1Ki 20:40  And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. 
1Ki 20:41  And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. 
1Ki 20:42  And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.

Now the prophet is disguised before the king with ashes on his face, which is a symbol of humility and mourning, seeing he is coming here to witness against Ahab like Nathan witnessing against King David for his indiscretions (2Sa 12:1-7). The king passes by, and the prophet begins to speak this parable to Ahab that is referring to the servants of Benhadad who tell Ahab to let him live as Ahab was heard calling Benhadad ‘his brother’: “Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man.“

2Sa 12:1  So the LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, Nathan said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 
2Sa 12:2  The rich man had a great many flocks and herds. 
2Sa 12:3  But the poor man had nothing except for a little lamb he had acquired. He raised it, and it grew up alongside him and his children. It used to eat his food, drink from his cup, and sleep in his arms. It was just like a daughter to him. 
2Sa 12:4  “When a traveler arrived at the rich man’s home, he did not want to use one of his own sheep or cattle to feed the traveler who had come to visit him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and cooked it for the man who had come to visit him.” 
2Sa 12:5  Then David became very angry at this man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 
2Sa 12:6  Because he committed this cold-hearted crime, he must pay for the lamb four times over!” 
2Sa 12:7  Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD God of Israel has said: ‘I chose you to be king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul. 

The prophecy continues to be told to Ahab that describes exactly what he has done with Benhadad, and that he will suffer the consequences for this as well, “If by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.” The talent of silver represents repentance that was not going to be forthcoming from Ahab, telling us that our old man does not naturally repent unless God’s goodness is granted to us represented by a talent of silver (Rom 2:4).

The prophet continues with his parable telling Ahab what happened to Benhadad at his hand: “And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” At this point, Ahab judges correctly against himself, just as David did with Nathan’s parable to him: “And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.” (2Sa 12:5)

Then comes the big reveal to Ahab that this is the prophet of God talking to him: “And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets“, and then the pronouncement of judgment is made on Ahab via the prophet: “And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.“

1Ki 20:43  And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria. 

All of these actions, which are caused by God, caused the king to go “to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria“. This is us when we say ‘Lord, why are you displeased if you are the one who has caused us to err’ (Isa 63:17, Rom 9:18-23). It also reveals an unrepentant heart in Ahab being ‘displeased’^H2198 (From H2196 = wroth); angry: – displeased.

Ahab going to Samaria is somewhat of a hopeful way to conclude this study because Christ does not forget His creation, both the elect before they know Him and the other fold that is being discussed. King Ahab going to Samaria reminds us that the Lord knows those who are His and knows what state every single soul is at, at any given point in the process (Luk 19:41-42), whether they are a gentile in Samaria, or a first fruit on the Way to being raised in heavenly Jerusalem abiding with the Lord day by day.

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.

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. 
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 

Luk 19:41  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 
Luk 19:42  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Dan 11:25-45  He Shall go Forth with Great Fury to Destroy…Yet He Shall Come to His End

[Study Aired February 21, 2022]

Dan 11:25  And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. 
Dan 11:26  Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. 
Dan 11:27  And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 
Dan 11:28  Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. 
Dan 11:29  At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 
Dan 11:30  For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. 
Dan 11:31  And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 
Dan 11:32  And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 
Dan 11:33  And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 
Dan 11:34  Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 
Dan 11:35  And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. 
Dan 11:36  And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 
Dan 11:37  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 
Dan 11:38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 
Dan 11:39  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. 
Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 
Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 
Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 
Dan 11:43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 
Dan 11:44  But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 
Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 

This second part of Daniel chapter 11 continues with the struggle between the kings of the South and the North, with Israel caught in between. The last few verses of the chapter are focused on the end of the Greek empire and the desecration of the temple in Jerusalem resulting in the abomination of desolation. In the previous review, we ended with the introduction of Antiochus Epiphanes, who became king of the North. He was not a legitimate heir to the throne but was able to acquire an army and take the throne by force in 187 BC. He seemed to have a special vendetta against Jerusalem. He was a thug and a madman.

Dan 11:21  And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 
Dan 11:22  And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
Dan 11:23  And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. 
Dan 11:24  He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

Inwardly, Antiochus represents the raging beast within us which stops at nothing in defiling the temple of God which is our bodies. As stated in verse 24 that the king shall devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time, the stronghold is Christ, and the reign of the old man or beast in our lives is limited.

Dan 11:25  And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. 
Dan 11:26  Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain. 
Dan 11:27  And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
Dan 11:28  Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land.

Antiochus invaded Egypt in 169 BC. The king of Egypt was young and inexperienced, relying on advisors who did not serve him well, and he was defeated. In negotiations, neither king was honorable. Antiochus left Egypt the victor. On his way home, he looted the temple in Jerusalem and stationed a garrison there. He also defiled the temple by sacrificing unclean animals there.

Inwardly, we are just like the king of the South under assault by the king of the North, Antiochus. The beast within, empowered by the evil one, overcame us by desecrating our temple, which is our bodies. The statement in verse 26 that they that feed of the portion of his (the king of the South) meat shall destroy him is to let us know that the desecrating of our temple is the result of what we and our advisors in Babylon were feeding on, that is, the lies of the evil one. This is confirmed in verse 27 where both the king of the South and the king of the North spoke lies at one table. During our sojourn in Babylon, our father was the devil, so all that we knew were the lies of the devil.

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.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Verse 28 states that the king of the North shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall do exploit. This is rendered in a simpler version of the word of Christ as follows:

Dan 11:28  Then the king of the north will return to his country with great treasures. But on the way, he will attack the religion of God’s people and do whatever else he pleases. (CEV)

To attack the religion of God’s people is to infuse lies regarding the word of Christ such that we do not see the glorious light of Christ.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Dan 11:29  At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. 
Dan 11:30  For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.

Outwardly, this prophecy was fulfilled as follows: After returning home, Antiochus decided to invade the South again. He was met by the Romans, who told him to “cease and desist.” He had no choice but to comply, but the incident left him completely humiliated, which seemed to make him more intent on violence against the people of God.

Inwardly, we experience the wrath of the devil as he realizes that his dominion over us is coming to an end. Just like Antiochus who realized that his kingdom expansion was coming to an end because of the rising power of the Romans, and therefore unleashed his fury on the people of God, the devil’s fury against us during the final stages of our sojourn in Babylon is intensified, and we become worse off as we imbibe every flood of false doctrines that he releases.

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.

Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 

During our time in Babylon, we were the earth that swallowed up every flood cast out from the mouth of the serpent.

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Dan 11:31  And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. 
Dan 11:32  And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

Outwardly, in his second attempt to loot the temple, Antiochus tried to buy off Jewish officials, and he stopped the daily sacrifices, but this time he was met by Jewish resistance. The Maccabean Revolt ensued in 167 BC.

Inwardly, our time in Babylon is characterized by the desecration of our temple which is our bodies. The climax of this desecration is when we begin to see the man of sin sitting in the temple of God and declaring himself as God. This is the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel and by the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

Mat 24:15  “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 
Mat 24:16  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 
Mat 24:17  Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 
Mat 24:18  and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 
Mat 24:19  And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 
Mat 24:20  Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 
Mat 24:21  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 
Mat 24:22  And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 
Mat 24:23  Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 
Mat 24:24  For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 
Mat 24:25  See, I have told you beforehand. 
Mat 24:26  So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 
Mat 24:27  For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 
Mat 24:28  Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. (ESV)

It is when we see this abomination of desolation or the man of sin or the old man sitting in our temple that Christ comes with His brightness which is His word to destroy it.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The brightness of His coming is the fire of the word of the Lord which brings about the persecution and tribulation in our lives. This judgment is not a one-time event. It is a process of a lifetime which culminates in the great tribulation which is the seven plagues in the Book of Revelation.

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

As Jesus told us, when we see this abomination of desolation, we must flee from Judea to the mountains (Mat 24:16). Judea here represents the apostate churches of this world or Babylon, which we must leave. Fleeing to the mountains means taking refuge in the Lord who is in the midst of His elect as the mountains here represent Christ and where we offer sacrifices pleasing to the Lord.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Eze 20:40  For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.

Verse 17 of Matthew chapter 24 says that those who are on the housetop should not go into the house to take anything from it. This is another way of saying that we are not to return to Babylon to carry along its false doctrines because of the judgment we may go through. The house here represents the apostate churches, and the housetop are those who have just escaped from the churches of this world as shown in the following verses:

Pro 21:9  It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

Pro 25:24  It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

In verse 18 of Matthew 24, the man in the field must not turn back to take his cloak. As we are aware, the field is the world and so when Christ comes to us to judge us because of our worldliness, we must let go of our own righteousness. The women who are pregnant in verse 19 of Matthew 24 refer to Babylon who is revealed in the Book of Revelation as being pregnant with the manchild. Those nursing infants refer to our carnal state when the Lord comes to us with His brightness.

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 
Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 

Verse 20 of Matthew 24 says that our flight should not be in the winter or the sabbath when the Lord comes to us in judgment. Negatively, the winter represents the period when we have become a prey of the beasts of the earth. This is the period when we are completely overcome by the beast within us. Our flight not being on the sabbath refers to the period in our lives when we have not found rest in Christ.

Isa 18:6  They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

In conclusion, the Lord is telling us of the circumstances at the time we are given to know the abomination of desolation in our lives.

Another rendition of Daniel chapter 11 verse 32 in a simpler English is as follows:

With smooth words [of flattery and praise] he will turn to godlessness those who [are willing to] disregard the [Mosaic] covenant, but the people who [are spiritually mature and] know their God will display strength and take action [to resist]. (AMP)

On one hand, we were those who did wickedly against the covenant and were corrupted by flatteries.

Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

As we grow in obedience, we become strong and are able to resist the devil as he flees from us. This is the time in our lives when we do exploits, that is, we are able to resist the devil through Christ.

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Dan 11:33  And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 
Dan 11:34  Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 
Dan 11:35  And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. 
Dan 11:36  And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 
Dan 11:37  Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. 
Dan 11:38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 
Dan 11:39  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.

Outwardly, the revolt met with mixed success and mixed support among the Jewish populace with some help from Rome — which later became an occupying power. Antiochus did whatever he wanted. He even proclaimed himself to be a god by taking the title Epiphanes. He chose the Sabbath as a day to worship him. He went far beyond his predecessors in arrogance. He relied on his own financial and military might.

Internally, our own effort to overcome the beast would not yield any success, as the beast represented here by Antiochus is empowered by the Lord to overcome us for a period of time signified by forty-two months.

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 
Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 
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.

Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 
Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 
Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 
Dan 11:43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 
Dan 11:44  But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 
Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 

Outwardly, most of chapter 11 is focused on Antiochus Epiphanes, but he is only one king of the North among many. The event recorded from verses 40 to 45 refers to Antiochus’s successor (Antiochus V) and the end of the Greek Empire. The Romans who conquered Syria became the new “king of the North” and then went on to defeat the Greek king in Egypt (the king of the South) and the rest of the Mediterranean world, ultimately destroying the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. Yet even the mighty Roman Empire fell and could not be helped.

As we have indicated in the previous review of this chapter, the time of the end is the time when the ends of the world are come. We, the elect, are the ones upon whom the time of the end is come as our world has come to an end. This means that what is written in chapter 11 is specifically referring to us.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Verses 40 to 45 relate to the coming of the Roman empire which took control of many countries including Jerusalem. As we learned from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel chapter 2, the Roman empire is the final worldly empire before Christ comes with His kingdom to destroy it and establishes the kingdom of this world as the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. As we are aware, the number four means the whole of the matter under discussion. Thus, the fourth kingdom of the Roman empire to succeed the Greek empire represents the whole of the kingdoms of this world. This fourth kingdom of the Roman Empire is symbolized by iron. On a negative note, iron refers to us being instruments of death while in Babylon.

Num 35:16  And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 

Getting to the end of our sojourn in Babylon, we become murderers just as our father the devil is a murderer.

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: 
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. 

In the final analysis, we become worse off in Babylon as demonstrated by the physical destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman empire in AD 70. In other words, the habitation of the Lord within us becomes occupied by the beast, signified by Jerusalem being destroyed. However, Christ brings us to this deplorable state so that we can see clearly the abomination of desolation or the beast occupying the place of Christ in our hearts and minds. The revealing of this abomination of desolation ushers in the coming of Christ with His brightness in our lives to destroy the beast or the Roman empire so that the kingdom of our Lord is established in our hearts and minds. Later, this kingdom will be outward when the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Hey Mike,

I hope things are going well for you and your family. In one of your studies, you discussed Jeremiah 29:4-7 concerning the peace of Babylon. It brought to mind:

1Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

When we are in babylon [the woman with child] seeking the peace there of, then sudden destruction, and we shall not escape. 1Thessalonians 5:3 seems to fit very well with what you were saying.

Thanks for all of your hard work and Sandi’s also.

P____

Hi P____,

Thank you so much for sharing this with me. I had never thought of that before, but I agree with you one hundred percent. “In the peace of that city you will find peace” does not change the fact that you still must “come out of her my people” (Rev 18:4), or the fact that “her plagues come in one day, and her judgment comes in one hour” (Rev 18:8, 10).

Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

Rev 18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

“Pray unto the Lord for it” is the same admonition we are given when we are told to “pray for… all in authority.” Once again, we are not praying for and seeking the salvation of “all in authority” at this time. What we are praying for in both cases is to simply be able to live at peace with the world to which we have been sent as ambassadors. “That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.”

1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

God is not attempting to save all men in this age. Many are being called, but few are being chosen:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

So, yes, you are exactly right when you say: “When we are in babylon [the woman with child] seeking the peace there of, then sudden destruction, and we shall not escape.”

1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Video Links

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

Job 22:2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

Job 22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

Job 22:4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Job 22:12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Introduction

It seems many times in this life that everything God had promised to Israel if they would obey Him, is exactly what many of the wicked receive in this life.

Here is what God promised Israel “if [ they would] hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD…, to observe and to do all his commandments…”.

Deu 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:

Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Deu 28:3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.

Deu 28:4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

Deu 28:5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

Deu 28:6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

Yet seems that all of these promises are exactly what often come upon the wicked in this life. Last week we saw Job attempt to point out to Zophar, as well as Bildad and Eliphaz, that it is obvious to the most casual observer that God does not always dispense justice to the wicked in this life. It seems that, in this life, it is the wicked who are “set on high” while the righteous are despised and rejected.

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

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

Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.

Job 21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

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

Job 21:12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.

Job 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.

Job lived before Moses, so he was not directly referring to these promises. Nevertheless it is abundantly clear from what Job and his friends say, that it was acknowledged, as Job told us in our last study, that God would repay the wicked for what they had done.

Job 21:31 Who shall declare his [ the wicked] way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

That being so, it was an unheard revelation given to Job to inform us that even if the wicked are apparently blessed in every way in this life, even if “the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power”, nevertheless the wicked are simply being ‘reserved to the day of destruction and will be brought forth to the day of wrath’. This is the first allusion in scripture to what Christ called the judgment of “Gehenna” and what John, in the book of Revelation, called “the great white throne judgment… the lake of fire.”

Job 21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

This is the message of Christ’s parable of Lazarus and the rich man:

Luk 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

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 [ Greek, hades, the unseen or grave] 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.

“This flame” is the very same “fire” which the apostle Paul tells us will “try every man’s works of what sort they are”:

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation [ Christ verse 11] gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

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.

“This flame… [ and] the fire] are both one and the same thing. They are the word of God which is “fire”.

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Christ tells us plainly that this is what will try our works in that day:

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

So judgment and fire are the same thing, and sure enough, that is what Christ tells us:

Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell [ Greek – Gehenna] fire, [ the white throne judgment, the lake of fire].

Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Let’s look at what Paul says in 1Co 3 and compare it to what John says here in Rev 20:

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.

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Both are speaking of “every man” and “every man’s works”. Every man will be judged according to their works. What happens then in this “fire [ which] shall try every man’s works of what sort it is”? We are not left to speculate. We are plainly told what is the purpose for this “fire”, and it is the same throughout scripture. Fire is judgment by the Word of God, and here is what that judgment accomplishes:

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.

“But he himself shall be saved: yet so as by fire.” That is what the scriptures teach, and it is here in Job that this message is just beginning to be clarified. Job’s entire experience in the first forty- one chapters is a description of how these fiery words of God are used by God to burn up the works of our old, first man Adam. It is he and his works which we all “lose” and of which we all “suffer loss”. “But he himself” refers to our new man who is born at the expense of the loss of the life of our old man.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his [ old man’s] life shall lose it: and he that loseth his [ old man’s] life for my sake shall find it.

Eliphaz certainly is not given eyes to see this revelation God has given Job. Eliphaz, the type of us while we are deceived by the lies of Babylon, does not even attempt to address or deal with the obvious truth which Job has pointed out; that the wicked are often made to prosper in this life. He is so set on condemning Job that he simply ignores this obvious truth and does not let the facts confuse him. Though it is as obvious as the monstrosity of an eternal burning hell, Eliphaz is infuriated that Job would even dare suggest that the wicked prosper, and it is the righteous who are afflicted.

The resurrection of the wicked dead to his own destruction in the wrath of God, is a doctrine which is as new to Job’s generation as the doctrine of the death and resurrection of the Messiah for the sins of the world was to Christ’s generation. It was always right there in the scriptures for anyone to see or hear, but they had been blinded to that part of God’s Word.

Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

It seems that Eliphaz, while completely ignoring the plain and obvious truth that the wicked are not always judged or brought to justice in this age, is inflamed by Job’s observations concerning the way God deals with the wicked. Eliphaz, as the type of us while we are defending the lies of Babylon, does not let the facts stand in his way as he continues to slander his tormented friend.

In this, his last attempt to convince Job that he is a sinner above all men, Eliphaz pulls out all the stops and blatantly accuses Job of completely unfounded and slanderous injustices.

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

Job 22:2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

Job 22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

God is not affected in any way, neither in a positive nor in a negative way, by either our good works or our evil works. Elihu makes this same point:

Job 35:6 If thou sinnest, what doest thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto him?

Job 35:7 If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?

Job 35:8 Thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art; and thy righteousness may profit the son of man.

King David informs us of a vital truth:

Psa 16:2 I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” (ESV)

So our actions have absolutely no affect upon our Creator, who poses to us this question:

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

It is in this same “earthen vessel” that we possess both our old and our new man:

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

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

“The Potter has power over the clay” and is in no danger of anything coming from that clay over which He has all power.

Job 22:4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

It is natural for any man to subdue and attempt to subordinate anyone perceived to be a threat to himself or to his power. But God fears no man.

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

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

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

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

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

Here is Job’s answer to all these false charges:

Job 29:12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

Job 29:13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.

Job’s good name meant more to him than his possessions, and now he has lost all his possessions, and the very men who had come to comfort him in his anguish are now doing him a worse service than the Chaldeans and the Sabeans, by slandering his good character. When Eliphaz says, “But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it”, he is referring to the fact that Job had been a mighty man.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Job 1:2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Job 1:3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

The Hebrew word translated ‘mighty’ in verse 8 is ‘zeroa’, and it is more accurately translated as ‘arm’ which is indeed symbolic of power and might. Here is the KJC e- sword entry for this word:

H2220

/ / /

zero a / zero a h

Total KJV Occurrences: 91

arm, 59

Exo_6:6, Exo_15:16, Deu_4:34, Deu_5:15, Deu_7:19, Deu_9:29, Deu_11:2, Deu_26:8, Deu_33:20, 1Sa_2:31 (2), 2Sa_1:10, 1Ki_8:42, 2Ki_17:36, 2Ch_6:32, 2Ch_32:8, Job_26:2, Job_35:9, Job_38:15, Job_40:9, Psa_10:15, Psa_44:3 (2), Psa_77:15, Psa_89:10, Psa_89:13, Psa_89:21, Psa_98:1, Psa_136:12, Son_8:6, Isa_9:20, Isa_17:5, Isa_30:30, Isa_33:2, Isa_40:10-11 (2), Isa_48:14, Isa_51:5, Isa_52:9-10 (2), Isa_53:1, Isa_59:16, Isa_62:8, Isa_63:5, Isa_63:12, Jer_27:5 (3), Jer_32:17, Jer_48:25, Eze_4:7, Eze_20:33-34 (2), Eze_30:21, Eze_31:17, Dan_11:6 (2), Zec_11:17 (2)

arms, 24

Gen_49:24, Deu_33:27, Jdg_15:14, Jdg_16:12, 2Sa_22:35, 2Ki_9:24, Job_22:9, Psa_18:34, Pro_31:17 (2), Isa_44:12, Isa_51:5, Eze_13:20, Eze_30:22, Eze_30:24-25 (4), Dan_10:6, Dan_11:15, Dan_11:22, Dan_11:31, Hos_7:15, Hos_11:3

power, 3

Psa_79:11, Eze_17:9, Eze_22:6

shoulder, 2

Num_6:19, Deu_18:3

holpen, 1

Psa_83:8

mighty, 1

Job_22:8 (2)

strength, 1

Psa_71:18

Here are a few verses which demonstrate how this word ‘arm’ is associated with the concept of ‘power’.

Psa 10:15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

Eze 30:21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword.

Psa 89:13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

Psa 98:1 A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

It is a grievous sin to falsely accuse any man of any sin:

Deu 19:15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

1Ti 5:19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.

There are no witnesses to any of these accusations against Job. As the Old Testament type of Christ and His Christ, Job is falsely accused and condemned by his own people against whom he has committed no offense. Based on nothing more than the fact that God is indeed judging Job first, these men suppose him to be a sinner above all men. Like Christ on the cross, they reason that if He were innocent He would not be there.

Mat 27:39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,

Mat 27:40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Mat 27:41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,

Mat 27:42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

Like our Lord, Job was given over to the power of the adversary. It takes the holy spirit to reveal the wisdom of experiencing such a plan and purpose to any man. The one thing Job knows is that he has not done the things of which he is being accused. Neither he nor his accusers know or understand that all of this is just a type and a shadow of what God is doing in the lives of His elect. They have no inkling of the need for you and I to understand that “judgment must begin at the house of God”. So with the mentality of the mob that cried out for our Lord’s crucifixion, all Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar can see is that God has turned His back on Job, and has turned him over to the power of the adversary. This, and this alone, proves to them that Job is a sinner above all men.

It is good for us to see ourselves as chief of sinners. It is a curse to think that this is true of anyone else.

Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

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

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

“Therefore”, meaning because Eliphaz slanderously supposes “thy wickedness [ is] great, and thine iniquities [ are] infinite, … thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing… Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry… Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.”

Job 22:12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Not only does Eliphaz presume to know exactly what sins Job has committed, he now presumes to know exactly what Job is thinking. He accuses Job of saying in his heart “thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?” Eliphaz imputes these thoughts to Job. He accuses Job of thinking that God is in heaven so high and so far away that He is unaware of Job’s evil thoughts and actions against so many of his fellow men. He tells Job that because God is hidden from our view by “thick clouds” that therefore Job believes that God cannot see the evil Job has done.

Christ and His ways are “a cloud of darkness” to our natural man.

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.

So the thick clouds and darkness in which God is said to dwell are actually merely a matter of perspective. Those who do not know Christ and His Father are separated from them both by “dark clouds”.

2Sa 22:12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.

Psa 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

The fact is that from a godly perspective light and darkness are both alike to Him.

Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

Psa 139:11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

“The darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day” tells us that light and darkness, in scriptural terms are both a matter of one’s spiritual perspective but are both the same from God’s perspective. Both are nothing more or less than instruments in God’s sovereign hands.

If indeed there is any truth to the principle of having a beam in our own eye while we try to remove speck of dust from the eye of our brother, this certainly does not speak well of us as we are typified by Eliphaz and his friends. It is the old Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who are the symbol of our old man, imprisoned by all the lies of Babylon, whose doom is predestined, and who God hates and who He has determined “before the world began” to destroy, and through the agency of that destruction, bring…:

Jer 12:7 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.

Jer 12:8 Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.

While it is true that there are those who will outwardly be in the lake of fire, it is also true that our old man must inwardly endure the fiery trials of this age and be destroyed. So while God loved the first Adam, the work of His hands, He intended all along to save Adam through his destruction of that “first man Adam” who is typified by all the rejected firstborn of scripture:

1Sa 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau [“the first man…”] have I hated.

Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh [ our own fleshly ‘Adam’, typified by “the first” child of Abraham by the bondwoman, Hagar] persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will hear the rest of Eliphaz’s presumptuous knowledge of all of Job’s sins and his sinful thoughts.

Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

Job 22:16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

Job 22:17 Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them?

Job 22:18 Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me.

Job 22:19 The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn.

Job 22:20 Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth.

Job 22:21 Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

Job 22:22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

Job 22:23 If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles.

Job 22:24 Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks.

Job 22:25 Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.

Job 22:26 For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God.

Job 22:27 Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows.

Job 22:28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.

Job 22:29 When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.

Job 22:30 He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

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Job 21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

Job 21:19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

Job 21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

Job 21:21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

Job 21:22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

Job 21:23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

Job 21:24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

Job 21:25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.

Job 21:26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

Job 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

Job 21:28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

Job 21:29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,

Job 21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

Job 21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

Job 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

Job 21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

Job 21:34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

Introduction

In our study today we will learn, as our title verse tells us, that God’s wrath against our “old man” is “the day of [ his] destruction and is designed to destroy him.

Last week we saw that Job pointed out to his detractors that the Lord does not always exact justice upon and judge the wicked in this age. The fact is that the wicked are not being judged at all in this age. It is the apostle Peter who is given to inform us that the Old Testament prophets were not ministering to themselves at all but to 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 enquired 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.

So even when our brothers in this world do “groan and travail” with us, they are still not being judged at this time. It actually appears that the wicked are delivered in this age, and the elect are cursed and hated by God.

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Rom 8:22 For we know t hat the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

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

1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Job’s experience is ‘not for himself, but it is to us that he is ministering’. Job, like Abraham, is given physical blessings, yet he is also given to understand that he is ‘looking for a city not made with hands’.

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Heb 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Heb 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Heb 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

“These all” means Abraham and all of the Old Testament prophets “died in faith, not having received the promises, not knowing where they were going, seeing the promises afar off, looking for a city not made with hands.

Contrast that shadow of the Old Testament prophets with the spiritual reality of the New Testament overcomers: We know where we are going, and we know the way to get there; we have this treasure in earthen vessels; the kingdom of God is near… within us, we are that city made without hands, the New Jerusalem, set on a hill”.

Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Joh 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

In a previous chapter Peter has informed us of what Job did not yet see – that we are the first to be judged:

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.

1Pe 4:15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.

1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

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

“The time is come” that we understand all the things which were hidden from the eyes and ears of the Old Testament saints. The fact that Peter tells us that “judgment must begin at the house of God” reveals that like Job, he knows that the world will be judged at a later time. So Peter’s question in the next verse is a rhetorical question:

1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Peter has read the book of Job, and he already knows “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction, they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath”.

In fact we will learn in this study that God says that He hates our “old, marred vessel man”, and that He raised him up for the specific purpose of destroying that “old… first man Adam”.

Psa 26:5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.

Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

When we are told that “all thing are yours… Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death”, we must accept that Pharaoh, and Esau are the world, and they and their death are also ours, just as much as Paul or Apollos or Cephas [ Peter].

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;

When we come to know Christ and His Father we learn that His “marred… vessel… made of clay” was “made of clay” for the purpose of disposing of that old vessel, and that He had determined before He ever formed that “marred vessel” that he would destroy it and through the agency of that destruction, make a new vessel that really will be “conformed to the image of His Son”.

Job is one of the earliest revelations of this Truth. To Job it was obvious that the wicked are not being judged in this life. What he did not yet understand is that his experience would, as Peter tells us, “minister not unto [ him] self, but unto us”. Nevertheless Job was granted to understand “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.”

Job 21:18 They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

Job 21:19 God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

Job 21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

“They are as stubble before the wind” is “that wicked” within all men of all time, including us and Job as a type of us.

Job 16:9 He [ God Himself] teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

Job 19:11 He [ God] hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies. <

Now if indeed Job is “not ministering to [ him] self but to us” (1Pe 1:9-12), how then can we deny that God pours out His wrath upon his elect first, as His Word judges us and ‘tears us and kindles His wrath against us’, Job as the type of God’s elect.

“His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty” is just an earlier version of these New Testament witnesses and confirmations to this statement made by Job:

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:

Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him [ Christ] upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Rev 19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

As our deceitful ‘old man’ is revealed to us, we witness his destruction. As he is destroyed, our “new man” grows within us, and as we see Him, we become Him “from glory to glory”.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Job within us does not yet see that transformation. All we first see is that our old man is being destroyed, and it is, at first, a great mystery to us that we must live out such a cursed existence.

Job 21:21 For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, when the number of his months is cut off in the midst?

Job 21:22 Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high.

This is an incredible testament of how we all see evil in our brothers long before we see it in ourselves. Job knows that no man can teach God anything. He knows that God judges even “those that are high”. But at the same time he maintains his own righteousness, contends with, reproves, and condemns God for the way He is working in his life. Job sees the blindness of his friends to the sovereign work of God with His creatures and His creation, but he cannot see the log that is in his own eye.

Job 21:23 One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet.

Job 21:24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.

“There is a time to die”, and this is how we would all want to die, “wholly at ease and quiet” and in a very prosperous state.

Gen 25:8 Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; [ our old man]

But it is obvious to all that there are also many evil men in this world, who also die “in a good old age”, not having received the justice due them, while others, less deserving of it, live a long, drawn out, life of constant trials ending in a protracted, agonizing, and bitter death.

Job 21:25 And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure.

Job observes this entire event and acknowledges that it appears unfair on God’s part, but he doesn’t think his friends should dare to question or reprove God for His ways, even as he himself is doing just that.

Job 21:26 They shall lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them.

This statement by Job brings to mind this statement by Christ:

Mar 9:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

“The worms shall cover them… their worm dieth not” means that many die in this age while still in the darkness of the deception of the lies of the adversary, symbolized by worms which devour us all while we are in that spiritually dead state. The worms in scripture are our own false doctrines coming out of our own mouth, which will judge us.

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

“They lie down alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them”, refers to the egregiously wicked, as well as those who are not given to be nearly that wicked.

Job 21:27 Behold, I know your thoughts, and the devices which ye wrongfully imagine against me.

Job 21:28 For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked?

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, have made it clear that they suspect Job to be a “sinner above all men…” simply because of the evil that God has brought upon Job. While they should be weeping for themselves, they are wondering why God is judging His elect first. Of course they are not thinking in those terms, but they are wondering why God is doing this to Job, and the fact is that Job is a type of God’s elect who are being judged in this age “that we should not be condemned with the world”.

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Luk 23:28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

Luk 23:29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

Luk 23:30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

Luk 23:31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

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

“Where is the house of the prince… the dwelling places of the wicked?” refers to Job, and he is painfully aware of what his friends are thinking of him.

Here is Job’s response to these slanderous thoughts:

Job 21:29 Have ye not asked them that go by the way? and do ye not know their tokens,

Why “have you not asked them that go by the way?” ‘Do you any idea what those who know me would say about me, “their tokens” of me?’ If you had, you would know that none of the things you suspect of me are true. Here is what you would discover”:

Job 31:32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.

If a traveler and “them that go by the way” are understood as “strangers and pilgrims” on this earth.

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

All true spiritual “strangers and pilgrims” would identify with Job’s struggles, and they would comfort him accordingly, knowing that the truth of these verses applies to themselves and to all men:

Job 21:30 That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.

Job 21:31 Who shall declare his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done?

God shows us our ‘old man’ and his pride, and he does so “to our faces”. Joseph is a type of Christ judging us, and he does so “to our face”.

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Deu 7:10 And repayeth them that hate him [ God] to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

Hos 5:5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

Hos 7:10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.

Pride is the weakness with which Job and all of his friends suffer. Malachi also brings out the destructive power of pride and “the proud” within us and within our midst:

Mal 3:15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Job 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

Job 21:33 The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, and every man shall draw after him, as there are innumerable before him.

These are “the tokens” of those who know God and His Son whom He has sent to save this world. God’s true children know that even “the world… and death… all are ours”, and not just for some other person who we perceive to be “sinners above all men”.

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;

1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Job may not have understood that “the day of the destruction of the wicked in the day of God’s wrath” is the birth and salvation of our new man, but he is still ministering this message to all who do ‘know God and His son.”

Job 21:34 How then comfort ye me in vain, seeing in your answers there remaineth falsehood?

The one thing Job knew, and to which he was clinging, was the fact that “there remained falsehood ” in the accusations of his so- called friends.

Next week, Lord willing, we will hear Eliphaz as he accuses Job of being a ‘sinner above all men’:

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

Job 22:2 Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself?

Job 22:3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?

Job 22:4 Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Job 22:12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!

Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

Video Links

Job 19:1-14 He Has Kindled His Wrath Against Me
Job 19:1  Then Job answered and said,
Job 19:2  How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
Job 19:3  These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
Job 19:4  And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
Job 19:5  If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
Job 19:6  Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
Job 19:7  Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
Job 19:8  He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
Job 19:9  He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
Job 19:10  He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
Job 19:11  He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
Job 19:12  His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
Job 19:13  He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
Job 19:14  My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

Introduction

Job is a type and shadow of those who have been given “the patience and faith of the saints”. Job is extolled by the holy spirit as such:

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.

But none of us are born patient. We are immediately screaming at the top of our little helpless lungs to be given what we need. Patience is not an inherited virtue. Patience comes only through overcoming impatience.
It is the entire story of Job’s trials which demonstrates for us “the end of the Lord”. It is this book which demonstrates “that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy”. The message is that just as any loving father chastens his children for their own good, our heavenly Father was very patient in His dealings with Job’s reproofs, contending and condemnations against his own heavenly Father. In being patient with Job’s faults, we are told in this verse of Jas 5 that Job “endured”, and it was through his enduring the patient chastening and scourging of his heavenly Father that Job learned to be patient.
Job’s patience certainly will not be evident in Job as we go through today’s study. Patience is a virtue which by its very definition requires the endurance of trials which trials require the passing of time which one does not want to endure. So Job demonstrates for us that patience is learned only through first being impatient.
Do any of these words demonstrate “the patience of Job”?

Job 19:1  Then Job answered and said,
Job 19:2  How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

Neither Job nor his “miserable comforters” display any patience with each other.

Job 19:3  These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
Job 19:4  And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

“These ten times” is obviously an idiom conveying the sense of many or endless times. If we count the number of speakers we have only Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and only Eliphaz and Bildad have spoken twice. So that form of calculation gives us only five attacks upon Job. If we consider every verse as an attack we have multiple tens of attacks against Job. As we know this number ’10’ is associated with the completion and perfection of the flesh, and we see this phrase used in this sense elsewhere in scripture:

Gen 31:7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
Lev 26:25  And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Lev 26:26  And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Dan 1:17  As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

Dan 1:20  And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them [ Daniel and Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego] ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

If we understand Jacob’s uncle Laban in Gen 31 to be a type of the lying false prophet, he certainly lied more than ‘ten times’.  
If we understand these women in Lev 26 to be a type of the church and her daughters, there are far more than a literal ‘ten’ false churches feeding us with ‘bread’ which does not satisfy our hunger for God’s Truth.
While there are efforts to make Israel’s rebellions against God a mere literal ten times until the rebellion at the spying out of the land here in Num 14, the Truth is that we, as Israel, are always in rebellion against our own Savior until we are crushed to powder and given His faith and His mind.
Since “God gave [ Daniel and his three friends] knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom”, it is obvious that they were far more than a mere literal “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all [ the] realm [ of Babylon]”.
“… Ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.”
The Hebrew word translated ‘strange’ is ‘hakar’, and according to Strong’s, it means to injure. ‘You are not ashamed to injure me when you said you were my friends and that you were coming to comfort me in my severe suffering. How can you do this?’ That is the sense of what Job is saying. Yet that is exactly what we all just naturally do to all who we see suffering severe trials in this world.
We are all guilty of doing this, but when we do so we do so unto Christ Himself:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

What we are unwittingly doing is ‘magnifying ourselves’ against Christ Himself, and we do so by pleading the fact that it is after all He who is hanging there with known thieves upon that reproachful cross.

Job 19:5  If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
Job 19:6  Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

“God hath overthrown me…” The one thing which Job and his friends realize, which we often do not realize, is that God is sovereign even over the evil that is in this world. Neither Job nor his friends had yet come to see that God uses evil to produce good, but they all realized that what had happened to Job was what God alone had caused to be done to Job.
This book of Job is a Biblical demonstration of the function of the work of grace within the lives of all of God’s elect.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

The Greek word for ‘teaching’ in Tit 2:11 is ‘paideuo’. ‘Paideuo’ is most often translated as ‘chasten’, and that is the function of God’s grace. “Who the Lord loves He chastens [ Greek – paideuo]”.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [ Greek – paideuo], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

This 12th chapter of Hebrews ends with these words:

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

“Our God” is our God’s Word, and it is His fiery Word which consumes and condemns our unrighteous and ungodly ways (Jer 5:14).
But the law and the prophets knew nothing of the work of “grace through faith”, and we are all under the law “until the time appointed of the Father”.

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Gal 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors [ the ‘schoolmaster’ law] until the time appointed of the father.

Paul has just informed us that the ‘faith’ that justifies us and which brings us out from under the law which is our “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ”, is “the faith of Jesus Christ which is “given to them that believe”.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

It is obvious that Paul considered being “under the law” and being “under sin” as one and the same. So our faith is not ‘our faith’ at all. It is the “faith of Jesus Christ”.
But Job and his friends are types of us while we are still in Babylon and while we are still under the law of Babylon.

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;

As such we all act and react just as Job and his friends who, we are seeing in every verse, have neither love nor patience with each other
or with God and His ways.
It is while we are still “under the law” that Christ warns us all never to condemn others as greater sinners than ourselves just because He is performing His work of grace in the lives of those others whose old man He is in the process of destroying.

Luk 13:1  There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

What God is saying to us as we are typified by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, is “Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? Those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”.
But as typified by Job and his friends, we cannot see this, so we just naturally condemn those whom God uses to cause us our pain, and in so doing we are doing nothing less than condemning our own Lord who is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11).

Job 19:7  Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

“There is no judgment”? No, that is not the case. What is the case is that we simply do not want to be judged. We resent God’s destructive judgment upon the kingdom of our beast.
“I cry out of wrong”? Job knows who has brought all of this upon Him. He tells us exactly who is doing it all:

Job 1:20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Is the Lord really “taking away” all that we have in this world? Is He truly intent upon destroying our “first man Adam”? Is His wrath really being poured out upon us for what He has made us to be? Does God truly count our ‘old man, the  first man Adam’ “as one of His enemies”? Job and King David as types of God’s elect tell us this:

Job 19:8  He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
Job 19:9  He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
Job 19:10  He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
Job 19:11  He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.

Psa 90:3  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Why does God “turn man to destruction”? It is right here in this same 90th Psalm:

Psa 90:5  Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
Psa 90:6  In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
Psa 90:7  For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
Psa 90:8  Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
Psa 90:9  For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
Psa 90:10  The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Psa 90:11  Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

Is not King David a type of Christ and His elect? Did not God pour out His wrath upon King David as he did upon Job?

Psa 88:6  Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
Psa 88:7  Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
Psa 88:8  Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

Both Job and King David are made to be an abomination to their acquaintances just as we all are made to be when our old man is being destroyed by God’s wrath. 

Job 19:12  His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.

Who are God’s “troops” who “raise up their way against” Christ’s elect? Job reproves, contends with and condemns His own Savior, but, as the type and shadow of God’s elect, he is brought to repentance in advance of his critics, and through Job’s prayer for his detractors they are saved. This same prophetic event will all be repeated later in the story of Joseph who is God’s instrument of salvation for his brothers who hate and reject and persecute him just as Job’s friends treat Job with such little regard.

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, t hey hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Job’s rejection by his friends is the type and shadow of those upon whom “judgment must… first begin…” (1Pe 4:17).
So who are God’s “troops” whom He uses to “raise up their way against [ God’s elect]”? Who did he raise up against His own Son, our Savior?

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Yes, it was His own people who delivered our Lord up to the Gentile Romans to be crucified. But it was all do by “Thy hand and Thy counsel”.
Here is another verse which tells us who are God’s “troops” who accomplish what ‘God’s hand and God’s counsel have determined before to be done’.

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 17:14  From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

Before we can become worthy of being delivered as “the apple of [ God’s] eye” (Psa 19:8), we must first come to see ourselves as “the wicked which is thy sword”.

Job 19:13  He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
Job 19:14  My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

The body of our Lord hanging upon the cross is the type of us as His elect while we are in this world. His ‘brethren’ were made to be “far from [ Him]”.

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We are as that serpent on a pole at which all men dying in their sins must gawk before they can be saved:

1Co 4:9  For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
Luk 23:35  And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

We too, are to be “crucified with Christ”. We too, are rejected of all men and forsaken by our closest acquaintances. After all, Christ is our example, and He too, was rejected of all men and was betrayed by his own disciple:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
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.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

When we are granted to see ourselves as all that is in “the first man Adam”, including Judas and all the other disciples who forsook their Savior to save their own skins, we will be granted to understand how this verse is a verse we all “live by”.

Joh 13:18  I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

“I speak not of you all” refers to the fact that not all will continue to deny our Lord to the time of being cast into the lake of fire after the millennium. It does not refer to any of Christ’s disciples being innocent of denying our Lord. We are all guilty of that sin.

Mar 14:50  And they all forsook him, and fled.
Mar 14:51  And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:
Mar 14:52  And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

“They all forsook Him”, means we all forsake Him, and we all flee from Him naked when we do so.
“That the scripture may be fulfilled” refers to King David’s experience, which the holy spirit through the apostle John, without explanation, appropriates to Christ’s sad experience with Judas:

Psa 41:9  Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Again in Psa 55:

Psa 55:12  For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:
Psa 55:13  But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
Psa 55:14  We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.

If we think that Judas or David’s ‘guide and his acquaintance’ is not within our own flesh as the type of our own ‘old man, the first man Adam’ within us, then these words will be falling on deaf ears and will be being read by blinded eyes. “It was you…” means what it says. We are that man!
Next week, if the Lord wills, we will see that Job, in type, comes to “see God”:

Job 19:15  They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
Job 19:16  I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
Job 19:17  My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children’s sake of mine own body.
Job 19:18  Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
Job 19:19  All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
Job 19:20  My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
Job 19:21  Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Job 19:22  Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job 19:23  Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
Job 19:24  That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19:27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Job 19:28  But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
Job 19:29  Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

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Study Aired May 27, 2012

Job 18:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
Job 18:2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
Job 18:3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?
Job 18:4 He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
Job 18:5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
Job 18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.
Job 18:7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
Job 18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.
Job 18:9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
Job 18:10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

Introduction

This is Bildad’s second attempt to make himself feel righteous at the expense of his ‘friend’ Job. Of course that is not what Eliphaz, Bildad or Zophar would ever admit to being the motivation for their attacks upon their friend Job. Neither would any of us admit to being motivated by self- righteousness as we look down on others who are suffering. The first thing we just naturally think is, ‘I wonder what that brother or sister did to deserve the lesson God is teaching them at this time?’ We do not ‘just naturally’ think, “That is exactly what I needed to show me my own self- righteousness!” As Job we tire of the process of the judgment of our carnal- minded “old man”, and as Bildad we add to Job’s torment with accusations that apply equally to ourselves and to all mankind. It is all men who must live by every Word of God:

Job 16:9 He [ God] teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy [ God] sharpeneth his eyes upon me. (Job)
Job 18:5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine. (Bildad)
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.

It is always appropriate to open our studies by quoting 1Co 3:21-22, but the verses preceding those verses are also very revealing of the universal application of every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

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.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
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 thoughts of the wise” refers to the thoughts of our own carnal mind which reproves, contends with and condemns the ways of our own Maker, as He, in His love, corrects, chastens and scourges us for our own good. God’s chastening and scourging of our carnal- minded “first Adam” is essential to “make manifest… every man’s work of what sort it is”. The work of any man is first the works of Job. We all “suffer loss” with Job, and we are all “saved… by fire” because “the world… life… death… things present, [ and] things to come, all are [ ours]”. That is what this book is demonstrating for us. Our righteousnesses do not impress our Maker at all. The truth is that our own righteousnesses are one of the most detestable things in this world to a God who has declared that all flesh is corruption. For us to dare to challenge that assessment of our own God is a necessary ‘loss’ which we all must endure to come to know the truth of these words:

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

As Paul just told us:

1Co 3:20 … The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Bildad is the shadow and type of each of us as the first Adam who sees no need for God to be his enemy. As a carnal- minded man we think of ourselves as wise, while thinking of those who are being subjected to God’s judgment as below ourselves and surely deserving of the affliction they are enduring.
So Bildad, the type of our own carnal mind, begins his second assault upon his close friend, Job:

Job 18:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,
Job 18:2 How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
Job 18:3 Wherefore are we counted as beasts, and reputed vile in your sight?

It is clear that the truth of these following verses of God’s Words has not yet been revealed to us while we think as Bildad thinks:

Ecc 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work
Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

“Every purpose and… every work” includes every evil purpose and every evil work. As long as we are unaware that God judges the righteous and the wicked within us, we cannot receive “the things of the spirit”, which “things” teaches us that all men are “themselves… beasts”. When we do come to see this truth, we will no longer be looking outwardly for an outward “false prophet” or an outward “beast” or an outward “man of sin… sitting in the temple of God showing himself that he is God”.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [“The day of Christ”, verse 2] shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Paul is no longer Bildad. Paul is who we are when we come to know that we are the beast, we are “that man of sin… sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” by demanding that we fulfill all the lusts of our own flesh.
Here it is again. Here is what Paul meant when he spoke of the temple in which this “man of sin” sits demanding our worship “as God”:

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

“Him shall God destroy” is what this book of Job is all about. Job did not see himself as a man of sin. He saw himself as “perfect and upright…”. In time it was revealed to Job that he was in truth someone who thought he knew better than his own God how to deal with mankind. Our “old man” simply cannot accept the Biblical truth that God has determined from before the foundation of this world, that he must be destroyed. This resentment of God’s ways is common to us all as long as we remain “that man of sin… sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

This assessment of ourselves as “the first man Adam” is common to us all as “that man of sin… sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Here now is what we all struggle to comprehend: It is only through the Lord’s consuming and destroying of ‘that man of sin… the son of perdition”, who is our “old man”, that “[ we] ourselves” are saved “yet so as by fire”. That process of the destruction of our old man is “the patience and faith of the saints”, and in keeping the patience and faith of the saints and keeping the commandments of God is also the love of God:

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.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

There it is. “They that keep the commandments of God” are they who “drink of the wine of the wrath of God”, and are “tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” first. They that “keep the commandments of God” know that the love of God is the destruction of our old man by the wrath of God upon that old carnal- minded “first man Adam”. The patience and faith of the saints includes the keeping of the commandments, and the keeping of the commandments is the love of God. “All things are ours… life… death… things present and things to come”. It is all inexorably connected together.
Bildad, of course would agree that Job is “that man of sin”. The trouble with all of us, as we are foreshadowed by Bildad, is that we see no personal application for the words “that man of sin sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”. As Bildad we can only see this phenomenon in that evil man, Job:

Job 18:4 He [ Job] teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?

Is that “the comfort of the scriptures”, or is this not a perfect example of how we, like Peter, tend to “cut off the ear” of the very person we proclaim we are trying to bring to our Lord?
Bildad, as the type of our self- righteous old man, continues:

Job 18:5 Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.
Job 18:6 The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him.

Let us think of these words in the light of their application to the spirit of Bildad within us, as we look down on Job, whose suffering is made a spectacle to all men.
Here is the very same spirit of Bildad in Christ’s own apostles, as just another type of us:

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Is not this the same spirit of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar? Are they not telling Job that he has sinned, and therefore this terrible condition has come upon him. Is that not the same spirit we all just naturally subscribe to when we believe the doctrines of all the ministries which connect our own works to God’s blessings or His curses? Of course it is. So we attend church regularly. We pay our tithes, and we do many wonderful words besides. Now, Eliphaz, Bildah, Zophar and Christ’s own carnal disciples tell us that God is now obligated to us, and He now has to bless us, because we are just that righteous and deserving of His blessings.
But what does Christ tell his disciples when they ask him why this man was born blind? Is there any connection at all to this man’s works or the works of his parents and his being born blind?

Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

This is the man who provoked these words from the mouth of our Lord:

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.

Job and all three of his “miserable comforters” think they are “they which see”. As such they too, have been born blind, and they cannot see.
Just as we are both Job and his miserable comforters, we are also the man who was born blind as well as being the priests and the Pharisees who cast him out of the synagogue. We are all first born blind. We all first cast out of our synagogue those whose eyes have been opened by our Lord. Only after we are miraculously granted to see just how blind we are will we miraculously be given our sight.
The apostle Paul, while still known as ‘Saul of Tarsus’, is the Biblical New Testament shadow of how we all live out the experience of Job and his miserable comforters who think of themselves as those who see and know God because of all their own righteousness and their own “many wonderful works”.
Here is what God thinks of all of our righteousnesses and all of our many wonderful works:

Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Act 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Act 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Act 9:8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act 9:9 And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

Saul was “breathing out threatenings and slaughter, “thinking [ he] was doing God a service”. He believed he already could see and hear the word of God. And indeed, if a dictionary and an education from men were all that was required, then he would surely have been able to see and hear the words of God. But such is not the case. Until “his eyes were opened” to the fact that he could not see his own hand in front of his face, Saul of Tarsus was spiritually as blind as a bat. He, like all of us, had to come to see and acknowledge that it was he who had been born spiritually blind.

Joh 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

That is the spirit that is in Bildad as he continues his assault upon his friend Job. That is the same spirit that is in us all as we judge as great sinners, those who are the first to be judged (1Pe 4:17).

Job 18:7 The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
Job 18:8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare.

“His own counsel shall cast him down… he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks upon a snare” are all the divine way of telling us that the very thoughts of our old man are sin:

Pro 15:26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.

Here is this same message out of the mouth of our Savior:

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Who is wicked? Is Job wicked? What is God’s answer to that question?

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?

Job was contending with the Almighty. He was reproving God, and he was disannulling God’s judgment and condemning God to make himself righteous. That is what we all do when we are suffering the seven last plagues which fill up the wrath of God upon our old self- righteous first man Adam.
Is not Bildad himself included in his own disdainful words to Job?

Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
Job 42:8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
Job 42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.
Job 42:10 And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

These words are the Old Testament shadow of these words which refer to all those in whom Christ now resides in this age:

Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

It is of utmost importance that we note that the LORD turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends:
If we do not see and appreciate the fact that our belief comes only through the unbelief of our friends and brothers in Babylon, we will not be “accepted of the Lord”.

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.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

But until our eyes are opened to our own blindness we blithely continue to point one finger at others and three fingers at ourselves while applying these words to that evil man, Job:

Job 18:9 The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
Job 18:10 The snare is laid for him in the ground, and a trap for him in the way.

Truer words were never spoken concerning our “old man… the first man Adam”. What we simply cannot see while we are pointing our accusing finger is that we are “that man”.

2Sa 12:5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

The spirit of Bildad was alive and well in King David as he indignantly saw the sins of others but could not see his own.
Next week, if the Lord wills we will continue to look back and see who our own old man is in the type of Bildad the Shuhite.

Job 18:11 Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
Job 18:12 His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side.
Job 18:13 It shall devour the strength of his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength.
Job 18:14 His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors.
Job 18:15 It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation.
Job 18:16 His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.
Job 18:17 His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.
Job 18:18 He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
Job 18:19 He shall neither have son nor nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings.
Job 18:20 They that come after him shall be astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted.
Job 18:21 Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.

Video Links

Job 16:1 Then Job answered and said,
Job 16:2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.
Job 16:3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
Job 16:4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
Job 16:5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
Job 16:6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?
Job 16:7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
Job 16:8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.
Job 16:9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
Job 16:10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
Job 16:11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

Introduction

Job now responds to Eliphaz’s second baseless attack upon Job’s character. I say they are ‘baseless’ simply because there is nothing Eliphaz says of Job which are not also true of Eliphaz and of all men of all time. But Eliphaz is the Old Testament type of the New Testament Pharisee who looks down on the sinful publican, as if he himself were more righteous than the publican. So Eliphaz’s attack is full of truths which apply not only to Job, but to Eliphaz himself, Bildad, Zophar, you, and me, and to all men of all time.
Eliphaz’s condemnations of Job consist of statements such as this:

Job 15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him [ the wicked] afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

Yes, of course “trouble and anguish shall make [ the wicked] afraid”. That has always been so, and always will be so for all men of all time. But as the self- righteous Pharisee, who we all are by nature, Eliphaz typifies each of us as he applies all his words to Job alone, and he certainly never applies his own words to himself. Eliphaz is us pointing our finger at Job, and Job, in turn is each of us, just before we are made by our Creator to face the fact that we ‘are the man’ who has turned his back on God and His law for the purpose of preserving “the first man Adam”, our “old man” with all his fleshly desires within us. This is “the man” who is guilty of “all that is in the world”, and who is hated by, and will be destroyed by our loving heavenly Creator.

2Sa 12:5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

The result of this Pharisaical spirit which is in each of us by nature, is that Job commits the same mistake His “miserable comforters” are making, and he too, answers their accusations with his own accusations, which once again, are true. But they are not true only for Job’s “miserable comforters”; they are also true for Job and for all men of all time.

Job 16:1 Then Job answered and said,
Job 16:2 I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.
Job 16:3 Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

We have been referring to Job’s assessment of his so- called “friends” as “miserable comforters” all along. They certainly have yet to speak a single word of comfort to Job.
“What emboldens you to answer” is the same thing that emboldens Job and all of his miserable comforters to answer. It is the self- righteous beast that is within all men of all time. What emboldens Job to answer is his own self- righteousness. It is this respect we show for our “old man… the first man Adam”, which causes us all to contend with, reprove and condemn our own Creator for His way of doing things. That is only natural because God created us in a body of sinful flesh for the express purpose of destroying that ” tupos” or prototype of the spiritual body we are all destined to put on at our own appointed time. This is something neither Job nor his miserable comforters can possibly understand in their time. ‘Their time’ is a figure of the time we all spend thinking we are of ourselves righteous and others are not.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure [ Greek, tupos] of him that was to come.
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
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.

“And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” was by God’s own design from “before the world began”.

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;

So we are all ‘predestinated according to the purpose of Him who is working all things after the counsel of His own will’ (Eph 1:11)

Job 16:4 I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
Job 16:5 But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

In our self- righteousness we fancy ourselves as merciful, compassionate and understanding of the needs of others, even as we act and live lives which testify against us:

2Sa 12:5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
2Sa 12:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
2Sa 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

You and I ‘are the man’, and if indeed we must “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4), then we are also Job. We all contend with our God and His ways. We all think He is being merciless and unloving when He is judging us. But we are also his miserable, merciless comforters, and if we know the meaning of ‘All things come alike to all… Man shall… live… by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God… the world, life, death, things present and things to come, all are ours”, then we will recognize all these men within our own sinful flesh and blood (Ecc 9:2; Mat 4:4; 1Co 3:21-22).
While we tend to think it incredible that anyone could ‘reprove and contend with’ his own Creator, yet that is exactly what we all do. So when we read these words of Job, we are reading about our ownselves:

Job 16:6 Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?
Job 16:7 But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
Job 16:8 And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.

Do any of these words have any personal application for you and for me? Have we ever thought “Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?” Oh yes, we all have. In so doing we condemn our own Creator who is working all things after the counsel of His own will.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him whoworketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

All our trials are custom made by our Creator for each of us, and yet they are designed to bring us to our wits’ end and eventually to completely destroy our “old man… Adam”. As a self- righteous ‘Job’ we have no concept of what the Potter is doing. We know nothing of being “marred in the Potter’s hand”, neither do we understand why He would even want to destroy His own handiwork and make it “another vessel”.

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

Not understanding any of this, we complain to and reprove our own Creator with these words:

“But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.”

Here is Strong’s definition for the word translated ‘company’ in this verse:

H5712
e da h
ay- daw’
Feminine of H5707 in the original sense of fixture; a stated assemblage (specifically a concourse, or generally a family or crowd): – assembly, company, congregation, multitude, people, swarm. Compare H5713.

“A family” is part of the definition of this word. It is most commonly translated with the English word ‘congregation’. Job was a very wealthy man before the day of his visitation or judgment. So both definitions would apply to Job, who had many household servants and workers whose livelihood depended upon Job. The total destruction of both His wealth and His family was reported to Job by his own servants. The death of his seven sons and his three daughters were but the last stroke in God’s “making desolate all [ his] company”.

Job 1:13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
Job 1:15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:
Job 1:19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Unlike many today who blame all evil upon the devil, Job knew that it was God who had done all of this. “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”. This was a very bad day in Job’s life but it was just the beginning of sorrows for Job who now in this 16th chapter has an entirely different attitude toward His Lord.

“And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face”.

Job has regressed to the point that he is openly reproving His Lord and Creator. all the words ‘And you hast filled me with wrinkles’ in this verse, is all taken from the one small Hebrew word ‘qamat’. This word appears but one other place in scripture and that is right here in this same book of Job. In this verse it is better translated as ‘cut down’.

Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?
Job 22:16 Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

When we look at Strong’s definition we find that this word we find it carries with it the thought of total destruction:

H7059
qa mat
kaw- mat’
A primitive root; to pluck, that is, destroy: – cut down, fill with wrinkles.

Job is no one’s fool. He knows God is in the process of destroying and “making desolate all his company”. God is in the process of destroying Job and all that pertains to Job. Job knows and can see that much extremely clearly. He simply cannot figure why God is doing this to such a righteous person as himself. The attitude of “The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” are not the thoughts Job is now expressing. He now speaks in words which reprove his own Lord and Maker:

Job 16:9 He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

When Job says “He tears me in His wrath” he is referring to His Lord, and He acknowledges that His Lord is his enemy. This is not the first time Job refers to God as his enemy:

Job 13:23 How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.
Job 13:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?
Job 13:25 Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?
Job 13:26 For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth.
Job 13:27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.

These verses apply to God’s estimation of all ‘flesh and blood’, including the flesh of our Lord Himself:

Job 16:10 They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.
Job 16:11 God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

Is not this exactly what our heavenly Father did to our Lord and Savior?

Mat 26:67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
Mat 27:30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
Luk 22:64 And when they had blindfolded him, t hey struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?

Who did this to our Lord? Was it the Romans? Was it the Jews? Yes, we all know what Peter tells us shortly after the day of Pentecost:

Act 3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

So there is no denying that the Romans and the Jews were both involved in the death of our Lord. But why did they reject and crucify Him? Who are we told was ultimately responsible for the way the Jews and the Romans treated our Lord?
Here are Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost:

Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

That is what the scriptures declare to be the fact of this matter. Christ was crucified “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”, who we are told works “all things after” this same “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Lest we have any doubt at all about who is ultimately responsible for the death of our Lord, we are again plainly told:

Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

So in the final analysis the Jews and the Romans are nothing more than types and shadows of all flesh of all men who are one and all in desperate need of a propitiatory covering for their sins. But whose idea was it to provide that propitiatory offering for the sins of all men? According to Act 2:28 and Act 4:28 the Jews and the Romans did nothing more or less than “whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done”.
Christ is our sin offering, and as such He had to come “made of a woman, made under the law”, of the same flesh as the flesh of the children of Abraham, which flesh could not inherit the kingdom of God simply because corruption cannot inherit incorruption.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousnessof God in him.
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Our heavenly Father equates all flesh, including the flesh of our Lord, with corruption, unfit to inherit the kingdom of God. That is why both Job and our Lord’s bodies have to be destroyed. It is our “old man… the first man Adam” who the Lord hates and is bent on destroying him.
It is wisdom beyond the wisdom of men, that the birth of our new man is ordained to be born only through the death of our ‘old man’. Here is how the apostle Paul was inspired to explain this mystery to us:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritualbody.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
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.

So Job’s destruction is but a type and shadow of this process. Of course Job knows nothing of any of this and so he continues on in His ignorance, contending with, reproving, and condemning his Lord and Maker.
If the Lord wills, we will see ourselves as Job just a little clearer in next week’s study on these verses:

Job 16:12 I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.
Job 16:13 His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground.
Job 16:14 He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant.
Job 16:15 I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.
Job 16:16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Job 16:17 Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.
Job 16:18 O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.
Job 16:19 Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.
Job 16:20 My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
Job 16:21 O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
Job 16:22 When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

NOTES OF THE REVIEW OF MIKE’S STUDY ON JOB 16:1-11

Introduction:

In chapters 16 and 17 Job is answering Eliphaz’s ‘consolations’ which Eliphaz claims are from God: 

Job 15:11  Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?

As Mike pointed out in his introduction today, we all (in our appointed time) are miserable and merciless comforters. By God’s mercy He helps us to see all these comforters within our own sinful flesh and blood. In this state of self- righteousness we actually thank God for being “better” than others:

Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

We are all ‘in time past’ (that is when we are under the rulership of the old man) motivated and inspired by our self- righteousness:

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course(the eon) of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:

Human wisdom and reasoning (stringing words together) distanced itself from what ‘other men’ is going through. But it is only when we bear the scars of Christ that we can truly give comfort to others who are ‘in every trouble’:

Gal 6:17  From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

2Co 1:4  He comforting us in all our trouble, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in every trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

We must never forget the important role even miserable comforters play in God’s plan. Job is learning, through these miserable comforters or earthly counselors, not to depend on fleshly counsel:

 
Jer 17:5  Thus says the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.
Verses 1-3:
Job 16:1  Then Job answered and said, Job 16:2  I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. Job 16:3  Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?
Comparing spiritual with spiritual:
Ecc 1:9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Jer 17:5  Thus says the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.
Psa 69:20  Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 3:13-15 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 
A short summary of the discussion on these  verses:
We must first be the ‘miserable comforters’ before we can give true spiritual comfort. The wisdom of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar ‘descends not from above’, but is only limited to the natural realm. Job is learning through these “comforters” not to ‘make flesh his arm’. T he natural man is ’embolden’ by self- righteousness which causes a puffed up pride which manifest mostly in the expression of ‘vain words’.
Verses 4-5:
Job 16:4  I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. Job 16:5  But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.
Comparing spiritual with spiritual:
Mat 27:39  And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,Mat 27:40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.Mat 27:41  Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,Mat 27:42  He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.Mat 27:43  He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.Mat 27:44  The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
1Th 5:14-15 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
2Co 1:3  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort,2Co 1:4  He comforting us in all our trouble, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in every trouble, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.2Co 1:5  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds by Christ.2Co 1:6  And if we are troubled, it is for your consolation and salvation, being worked out in the endurance of the same sufferings which we also suffer; if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.2Co 1:7  And our hope of you is certain, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so also of the consolation.
A short summary of discussion on these  verses:
Eliphaz and his co- comforters could not associate or identify with Job’s situation just like the people who saw Jesus on the cross and ‘pass by’. Those who cannot die with Christ will always ‘heap up words against’ Him to revile Him, shake their heads and mock Him as they ‘pass by’. But those who die with Him will be able to strengthen others, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak and be patient toward all. 
Verse 6-7:
Job 16:6  Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?Job 16:7  But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.
Comparing spiritual with spiritual:
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Psa 145:8  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Mat 10:34  Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword.Mat 10:35  For I have come to set a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter- in- law against her mother- in- law.Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be those of his own household.Mat 10:37  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.Mat 10:38  And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.
A short summary of discussion on these  verses:

Job had many who depended upon him, from family to servants. God ‘made desolate’ His wealth and his seven sons and three daughters. Job has no insight as to the reason for all this “desolation” even when he knows and confesses that God is behind it all. Even when we acknowledge God’s sovereignty in all things, that understanding and insight do not take away the pain when we suffer. However, to know that all the “desolation” brings forth the ‘new man’, brings peace and joy and this is at this stage not revealed to Job.   

Verse 8:
Job 16:8  And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face. 
Comparing spiritual with spiritual:
Exo 15:22  So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Gal 6:17  From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
A short summary of discussion on these  verses:
Job feels that God “pinned” him down with no way out, but death. His ‘leanness’, that is the awareness of the failure of his flesh, is indeed rising up in Job. The marks of God’s operations in the total destruction of our flesh will be evident to us, even more as we present our bodies to be a living, holy and acceptable sacrifice to God.
Verse 9:
Job 16:9  He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.
Comparing spiritual with spiritual:
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross (dying daily with Christ) is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
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.
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.
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:
A short summary of discussion on these  verses:
Because ‘the carnal mind is enmity against God’ it hates the way God is doing things, although that hatred towards God is never admitted. God surely hates evil and sin, but He is a loving God who created evil (and sin) to fulfill His ultimate plan for conforming all ‘to the image of His son’. By the exercising of our senses we learn daily to discern both good and evil as coming from God’s hands for our spiritual ‘conformation’. The total destruction of all evil includes the loss of the ‘vessels of wrath fitted to destruction’, even the man of sin who is consumed with the brightness of God’s saving fire.
Verses 10-11:
Job 16:10  They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me. Job 16:11  God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. 
Comparing spiritual with spiritual:
Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Mat 20:18  Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,Mat 20:19  And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
Lam 3:25  The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.Lam 3:26  It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.Lam 3:27  It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.Lam 3:28  He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him.Lam 3:29  He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.Lam 3:30  He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach.
A short summary of discussion on these  verses:
The “awesome hands” of God (to quote Steve Crook’s title of his inspiring studies) are working all things for His purpose. That includes all those on His right (“hand”) and all those on His left (“hand”). When we are smitten on our cheek (which refers to the breaking of the jaw bone) we are being silenced to be led as sheep to the slaughter. It is only when we can understand the Godly purpose and outcome of all evil, that we can accept the truth to not resist evil. 
To read and hear Steve’s study here are a few links:
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ VID_ Awesome_ Hands_ Intro_ P1_ and_ P2. php
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ StudyNotes/ Awesome_ Hands/ Awesome_ Hands_ P3. php
http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ StudyNotes/ Awesome_ Hands/ Awesome_ Hands_ P4. php