Job 12:20-21

20 He removeth away [cuwr] the speech [saphah] of the trusty ['aman], and taketh away [laqach] the understanding [ta`am] of the aged [zaqen].

21 He poureth [shaphak] contempt [buwz] upon princes [nadiyb], and weakeneth [raphah] the strength [maziyach] of the mighty ['aphiyq]. KJV-Interlinear

20 'He deprives the trusted ones of speech, And takes away the discernment of the elders. 21 'He pours contempt on nobles, And loosens the belt of the strong. NASB

Jobs list of man's ineptness continues. And, inept is the very best that anyone can accomplish when they pursue life apart from Gods word.

In this universe, there are only two opinions. We repeat this principle many times throughout this study, because it is the foundation for discerning the differences between divine viewpoint and human viewpoint.

Gods opinion includes all categories of truth. The foundation for learning and recognizing truth comes from learning Bible doctrine. Doctrine, when learned and incorporated within the human soul, becomes the window through which the entire world can be viewed correctly.

Whether you are viewing salvation by means of faith in Christ, or viewing the functions of physics in a lab, makes no difference. God created all components of truth.

Without Bible doctrine in the soul, then you are left with whatever academic knowledge you pick up from the world. That information is skewed away from truth, because it is compromised and tainted with the lies of human beliefs, philosophies, religions, interpretations, and so forth.

The 'trusted' ones are those folks who perceive themselves as the wise ones of society. They occupy high offices as counselors, consultants, professors, and such. Without doctrine, they become the dreamers, or rather, people living in a dream world of unreality.

They have opinions as to what should be done, or how society should be led. They have visions of leading human history and they are the makers of regulations, impressed with their massive regulations, which guide, direct, and control every possible aspect of human existence.

Then their plans fail.

Those whom society look to for leadership, and those older folks who presumably have the wisdom or knowledge to do the right things for society, fail in their opinions, and the general public takes the brunt of the mistakes of those whom they chose to lead.

Remember that the deceiver and the deceived are equally at fault. They both approach life with their own agendas. The former seeking power, while the latter is seeking freedom from responsibility.

The princes here are those who perceive themselves as the elite of society. They elevate themselves above the masses because their circumstances are better than most.

When an athlete readies himself for competition, he tightens up his belt, tightens up his shoes. When a warrior readied himself for battle, he tightens up all loose clothing, and equipment. Each can respectively function to the peak of their abilities when all loose things are drawn up tight.

But then God, can come along and loosen up all that was tight, and now their performance is reduced with below average results. And that is the meaning of 'loosening the belt of the strong,' 'taking away the strength of the mighty.'

No matter what people might think of themselves, and folks without doctrine will inevitably think very highly of themselves, God will destroy their self image, and destroy their plans.

And, God can do this with the simplest of concepts in life. The tyrants of history all die sooner or later. The Sadaam's, the Hitler's, and such, all had grand plans and where are they today?

Iran and North Korea are among the next batch of tyrants destined for Gods chopping block. When will they get their due? Well, we do not know the answer to that one, yet. They may be thorns in the side of the world for a long time, or they may get tossed aside quickly. God has many weapons with which to accomplish His purpose.

Man will have his opportunity to demonstrate that he can take responsible actions against such tyrants, or man can demonstrate his cowardice and do nothing. And in either case, God will control the ultimate outcome. The only question is, 'Will people rise to the occasion or not?'

All of us face problems in life. Most of us do not have to deal with the big international problems that face the world. Most of us have our little home bound problems, like bad health, or paying the bills, or getting through school, or having a social life, or whatever. Our personal problems are nothing when compared with the world scale, but they are big to us personally.

What Job is teaching us here, is that the world has no power whatsoever. Politicians, celebrities, tyrants, bureaucrats, professors, kings, elites, social climbers, deceivers and the deceived alike, all live in a delusion of their own making. What they think or believe means nothing, because it is nothing.

Their thoughts and opinions, their actions and bureaucracies, their prejudices and hypocrisies may give us all difficulties in this life, but they can never tear down the plan, which God has for each one of our lives.

Try as they may to run the social settings, run the country, or run the world, they will never succeed.

Put yourself in their hands and you are no better than fuel for their fires. Put yourself in Gods hands, and the world cannot touch you. It can only try to give you a bumpy road in this life, but then your life will last for all of eternity, and this world will, by comparison, come to an end very soon.

Now is the time to post a prayer.