Job 10:15-17

15 If I be wicked [rasha`], woe ['alalay] unto me; and if I be righteous [tsadaq], yet will I not lift up [nasa'] my head [ro'sh]. I am full [sabea] of confusion [qalown]; therefore see [ra'eh] [ra'ah] thou mine affliction [`oniy];

16 For it increaseth [ga'ah]. Thou huntest [tsuwd] me as a fierce lion [shachal]: and again [shuwb] thou shewest thyself marvellous [pala'] upon me.

17 Thou renewest [chadash] thy witnesses [`ed] against me, and increasest [rabah] thine indignation [ka`ac] upon me [`immad]; changes [chaliyphah] and war [tsaba'] are against me. KJV-Interlinear

15 'If I am wicked, woe to me! And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head. I am sated with disgrace and conscious of my misery. 16 'And should my head be lifted up, Thou wouldst hunt me like a lion; And again Thou wouldst show Thy power against me. 17 'Thou dost renew Thy witnesses against me, And increase Thine anger toward me, Hardship after hardship is with me. NASB

Job considers that there are two possibilities for himself, or any human being in this world. One can be an evil person, and by that I mean a really bad dude, or one can be a really nice person, an honest as the summer day is long type of person.

Whether one or the other, makes no difference as far as Gods policy toward humanity is concerned.

If a person is bad, corrupt, a gossip, a maligner, a criminal, a sinner is any way, then he should never be surprised when calamity falls on him.

Likewise, when a person is more or less on the good side of life, then he has no right, and should never expect that he is somehow above calamity. He should never raise up his head in arrogance, in superiority, as though he has some status in this life, favored from higher up.

Of the seven worst sins listed in the Bible, Prov 6:16-19, only one is an overt sin. That sin is murder. The others are for the thoughts in ones mind, and the words spoken from ones mouth.

Job is conscious of his human capacity, and especially his human weaknesses.

Every human being, whether they admit it or not, is aware of their sin related weaknesses. If there is one thing that is fair and clear in life, it is the spiritual awareness that all people have.

Anyone can be taken advantage of and fooled by slick salesmen, by smooth talking politicians, by the charisma of celebrities, and perhaps discover the deceit after they have been had, but when it comes to sin and the spiritual side of life, God makes it very clear just as to what is right and what is wrong.

Many folks will pretend they are not aware of a wrongful situation. People will use their lusts or desires, or prior beliefs they have been raised on, or their desired lifestyle, to avoid the wrongfulness of their thoughts or actions, but deep down within themselves, they are possessed by the guilt of their error, their chosen error.

Even now while our national elections are still two years away, the running candidates are beginning the race really early. The 'God' phrases, the slander phrases, the accusations, the blame game is coming out already. What will next year be like?

Politicians, their sponsors and celebrities, will probably pull out all of the stops, each of them knowing full well, that their quest for the most powerful office in the world is worth anything and everything they can do to bribe, steal, or win it. All we in the masses can do, is sit back and watch the show. I have a feeling that this will be one of the more interesting elections ever.

But sin and awareness of it, is not exclusive to politicians. We the people, all, are guilty of our big or little infractions.

And so Job teaches us the results of living an intentionally compromised life, the results of knowing Gods will, and disregarding it, if for no other reason because disregarding Gods mandates, is convenient.

Here is the jungle aspect of life. The lion here is used as the symbol of Gods wrath against sin. The lion is used by Job because the lion is particularly ruthless and violent when it stocks, pursues, chases, and seizes its prey. The victim has no chance.

Here the lion is overwhelmingly powerful as is God. Man is like a little lamb against the lion. The lamb in the open field, which is earth, has no place to run, and no place to hide. You cannot escape.

But this particular lion does not kill its prey immediately. He disables the prey, goes away, and comes back to disable it a little more, goes away, and then comes back to do a little more damage, and repeats this process. The suffering is repetitive and unimaginable.

Each time the lion leaves, the lamb is given the opportunity to change its ways, but it does not. Life is full of witnesses. Look all around and life itself is a witness of human indignity, sin, and abuse. The lion returns.

Hardship after hardship returns against the victim.

And here the hardship repetition is meant in the way of soldiers performing their duties. On unit attacks and when it is finished, the next squad attacks, and the repetition of these attacks becomes endless as the entire army in fresh and replenished units, is used to bring never-ending pressure against the victim.

When the victim is pounded day and night, day and night, with a repetitive endlessness they either give up and change their ways, or they die. In either case they are defeated.

Humanity is the victim. You are the victim. God will hold over your head, His lion hammer.

For the wicked, this is intended to educate them such that they are following the wrong path through life. For the negative believer, this is intended to correct their thinking such that they have strayed from the path from where they should be. For the spiritually mature, this is a reminder that arrogance should not make them over confident of their spiritual status.

Far too often, humility is replaced with over expectations from life. We tend to over value ourselves. We tend to take ourselves too seriously. We tend to think that we deserve various things in life. We tend to become too shallow being offended easily.

God has a really good fix for those flaws. Just imagine yourself in the lions cage at feeding time. Just how snooty will you be as you are being rapidly dismembered? And for now, do you care about any of this?

Now is the time to post a prayer.