Job 5:6-7

6 Although affliction ['aven] cometh not forth [yatsa'] of the dust [`aphar], neither doth trouble [`amal] spring out [tsamach] of the ground ['adamah];

7 Yet man ['adam] is born [yalad] unto trouble [`amal], as the sparks [ben] [resheph] fly [`uwph] upward [gabahh]. KJV-Interlinear

6 'For affliction does not come from the dust, Neither does trouble sprout from the ground, 7 For man is born for trouble, As sparks fly upward. NASB

This is a tough set of verses. For humanity often looks to excuses for the way they behave.

'Why did you do that?' 'I was dropped on my head when I was very young.'

'Why are you the way you are?' 'I was born that way. I can't help myself.'

These are popular in psychology, as that science looks not to volition, but to some external source to determine the how's and why's of human behavior.

But Eliphaz states it plain. You are the way you are, because you decided and chose to think as you do, and chose to do what you do, in life.

Every person is responsible for what they think and what they do. And for that we will all be held accountable.

A quick question before we get into the dust and sparks of Eliphaz's comments.

A person is a homosexual. Was he born that way, or does he choose to be that way? A person is a criminal. Was he born to that end, or did he choose to be that way? A person is nauseatingly self-righteous. Was he born that way, or did he choose to be that way? Are we born to our destiny, with no possible way of avoiding it, or do we choose our way into the life style which we pursue?

Although we can criticize Eliphaz for his error in judgment against Job, Eliphaz does know a great deal of doctrine. And I might point out, just so you can ponder the knowledge of humanity, that Eliphaz did not live in our current age of technology and science. He lived well over four thousand years ago.

So how could he know so much about human behavior, when he had no access to our modern universities, to our libraries of knowledge, to our current theories in human behavior, to all of the printed and recorded material that we have today?

Eliphaz could not go online and look this stuff up. He could not go to the library, or to some modern university and take psych courses. In his day, to travel you either walked, or road a donkey or camel, or like most folks, you just did not travel, but lived out your life where you were born.

Man was formed out of the dust of the ground. The dust, even the ground is not the source of sin. Genetics do not cause sin.

Man was condemned in the Garden, when Adam sinned. We are all descendents of sin, Adams original sin. For by his one single sin, we have all sinned. That defect carries down from one generation to the next, passing through the male side, to each and every child, either male or female.

There are but two exceptions. First there is Adam, who was created, not born, but he still sinned, when no sin was in him. The second person, who did not begin life with a sin nature, is Jesus, who was born of the seed of the woman. He was not born with the sin nature, or the seed of the man. Joseph had no part in the pregnancy of Mary.

Affliction and trouble arise up out of the seed of sin, but they do not arise out of the genetic material of man's body.

However, man is born to trouble, that is, he is a descendent of Adam, and therefore the sparks of mans decisions, fly up as lightning or sparks fly up from a fire. A single snap in the fire will send up dozens, if not hundreds, of sparks that can spread that fire and burn anything they come into contact with.

The pattern of ones life, dos not spring up by chance, or by providence, or even by divine intervention. Weeds, come up in their season. Plants grow up in their season. Both have defined divine growth sequences. Even the physical human body has a defined growth sequence from fertilized egg to fetus, to infant, to teenager, to adult stage with lots of interim stages.

But in these we have no choices. Biology is biology. You cannot be born an adult. You cannot be born a bird. Human is human and there is no reincarnation, nor evolution.

However, during your life, you will think, you will learn, and you will select a pattern of life, a pattern of beliefs for yourself. Your thoughts are what you really are, and from those thoughts you will establish your life and your destiny.

Of course we all have but two choices in our destiny, either heaven or hell. There is no third choice. We make our choice during our thinking years of our life.

God is fair. The very young are not held accountable for their thoughts unless they grow up to an age of accountability. That is an age where they understand the repercussions of their decisions. An infant that dies will go to heaven automatically.

But those who grow up to become adults, and follow any lifestyle, do so of their own volition. The devil did not make them do it. Their cruel daddy did not make them the way that they are. They made choices in life, either through hate, self-pity, or emotions of varying kinds, or by whatever means. But people all make their own decisions in life.

We all live in environments that give us headaches from time to time. Some folks may live under terrible conditions. Some folks my grow up under very pleasant conditions. Regardless of your circumstances in life, you are faced with two fundamental questions in life.

God does not ask you what you think of your home, what you think of your family, what you think of your life in general. God asks you two fundamental questions that will have an eternal impact on your life, and those are:

First, 'What do you think of Christ?' If you reject Christ all of your life, then the questions for you cease, and you have chosen a destiny of eternal doom.

Second, if you believe in Christ, and are thus saved, then the next question asked of you is asked repeatedly of you every day of your remaining life. And that question is, 'What do you think of doctrine?'

Once you are born physically into this world, your next aspiration is to grow up. Likewise, when you are born again, that is to say, when you receive your spiritual birth, then your next aspiration should be to grow up to spiritual maturity. And that is a learning process that will continue with you for the rest of your life.

No one wants to grow up in the physical world wearing diapers forever. So too, no one should want to remain a spiritual baby all of their life.

The growth process is mental, not biological. Naturally, the biological may have an impact on your mental abilities, such as if you were born without a head, and then your mental abilities would be seriously reduced. Some folks have great IQ's, most do not. Nevertheless, God has given us all a level playing field when it comes to the spiritual, as the Holy Spirit stands in the gap to make sure that no matter what your mental ability, the Holy Spirit will make all things spiritual, clear and understandable to you personally.

Your biological assets, your dust components, your seasons of life as with plants sprouting up from the ground, are not the cause of your decisions. Your human life, your thinking ability, resides in your soul.

We all have three potential life containers and contents for those containers.

The first is the biological. This is perpetuated by your parents in procreation. The biological life will either fail in the womb or continue to the point of birth, followed by your eventual death. The physical body is the container and your biological life is the content of that container.

Second is your soul. The soul is the second container, and is imputed into your body at the point of your physical birth. Its content is your human life. God creates your human life, out of nothing, and imputes it into the soul, and there you will remain forever.

The third container is your human spirit. Just as the soul is created out of nothing, likewise the human spirit is created out of nothing at the point of your very first belief in Christ. This is your rebirth, or your regeneration, as it is often called. Into that human spirit, is imputed eternal life. And the human spirit together with its resident eternal life, combined and inseparable with your human soul together with its human life, will continue and live with God for all of eternity.

When you leave this world, your physical body will be discarded and left behind. Your physical body is not the source of your destiny, nor is it the source of your beliefs or life style.

Your thinking is.

What you think is what you are. And your thoughts are formed from what you listen to throughout your life. You are not born the way that you are, you choose through your thought process, to be the way that you are. Despite your circumstances and influences in life, there are no excuses available to you, and none accepted by God.

You will either believe in Christ or not. You will either believe His doctrine, or not.

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