Morning Light – April 29th, 2016: God Answers Job

Morning Light – April 29th, 2016
Source:
http://ift.tt/1rEZMRm
[Job 42:1-17 KJV] 1 Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 2 I know that thou canst do every [thing], and [that] no thought can be withholden from thee. 3 Who [is] he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. 4 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 6 Wherefore I abhor [myself], and repent in dust and ashes.
In our concluding chapter of Job we find Job for the second time repenting before God. The first repentance come in Job 40:4 but God basically said to him “I’m not done talking to you yet …” and then went on the tells Job that he was operating in a Leviathan spirit who is the king of all the children of pride. Now Job comes again and speaks forth his repentance making the statement to God that now he can not only hear God but also see God. Jesus taught much on the subject of hearing and seeing God in a situation.
In Matthew 11:5 Jesus said “He that has ears to hear let him hear” which is repeated a total of six times in scripture. In Mark 4:24 Jesus said to take what you hear and in Luke 18:18 He said take heed HOW you hear. In order to hear you must be exposed to a resource of God’s truth such as a preacher or even God’s inward voice through dreams and visions. If you do hear then Mark 4:24 says (if you hear) more shall be given. What more is it that God gives once you hear? It is revealed in Job’s comments who says that he heard God but now he SEES God. Hearing leads to seeing.
Hearing God leads to seeing God and seeing God brings heart transformation. Matt. 5:8 says “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God…” How does our heart become pure? We see the progression in Job. At first Job doesn’t hear God, see God or even realize how cut off he is. Throughout Job he is doing all the talking. He says he wants to TALK to God – that he wants to be heard but not necessarily to hear. However now that God has spoken to Job now he said (after 41 chapters of content) that he hears God. That hearing leads to seeing – rather comprehending.
Job sees himself and the folly of his anger toward God because of his plight. He knows he needs forgiveness. He realizes just how far he falls short of God’s righteousness. He repents and humbles himself. So hearing leads to seeing and seeing results in a pure heart because we see Him and become like Him for we see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). What then is the path of progress? Giving yourself over to all the means and measures by which God speaks to us (the word, dreams, visions, prophets, other ministers, natural theology, serendipity, synchronicity, etc.)
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]. 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. 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.
Now God turns to Job’s friends and reproves them for their ignorance and judges them for misrepresenting His character to Job. Throughout these chapters they consistently pointed the finger at Job and said that Job’s punishment originated in God because Job fell short of sinless perfection to various degrees. The accusations of Job are quite compatible and reminiscent of much preaching we hear today by those who delight to “step on toes” and preach hard messages. To those strident voices God says along with He words to Elipaz “you have not spoken of Me the thing that was right…” in other words “you’ve got Me all wrong…”
Job’s friends were not at all interested in seeing Job repent. Likewise those who preach hard messages and step on toes are not at all interested in seeing true repentance come. Paul spoke of this in Romans:
[Rom 2:1-5 KJV] 1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. 2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
If repentance is your goal then we must agree with God’s word that HIS goodness leads men to repent. If you give someone other than God’s goodness then your goal is not repentance but something else. Paul goes on to say that to call down wrath and consequences on the guilty or those we think fall short only results in “treasuring up to yourself wrath against the day of wrath” in your own life. Let it be a point of maturity in our lives to forbear what Isaiah called the “putting forth of the finger” of accusation that only results in further hardening the hearts of men and bringing consequences down on our own heads for emulating Job’s friends in the lives of those around us.
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. 11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold. 12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. 15 And in all the land were no women found [so] fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. 16 After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, [even] four generations. 17 So Job died, [being] old and full of days.
The end of Job’s situation is blessing. He repented. He adjusted His thinking about God. He came to realize that his suffering did not originate in God and that God didn’t answer to him but he answered to God. These are important lessons for Job to learn but in all of those corrections his trial wasn’t reversed or lifted. He humbled himself but his situation stayed the same. He listened for once instead of doing all the talking and his situation didn’t change. He heard God and then saw God because his heart became pure but his situation was not relieved.
What was it going to take for Job to be set free? God turned Job’s captivity when he prayed for his friends. He turned the captivity of his friends when they turned to Job for prayer. In your times of struggle you will have friends like Job’s. Because they will judge you they will likewise be judged. They will come under the same pressure that you are under and if they choose to hear God they will seek you out and in spite of being cruel and mean spirited they will plaintively ask you to pray for them. I have had this experience. I have had so-called friends who delighted to crush me and felt anointed of God to do so and then when they reaped their cruelty in their own season of suffering they called for me to pray for them. The Lord asked me: “I have delivered your enemy into your hands – what are you going to do with him?” My answer was “I will pray for him and love him…” The Lord’s answer was “just checking…” When you love your enemies and pray for your enemies it isn’t just being altruistic of obeying the words of Jesus – it is the key to turning the captivity of your own suffering.