You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
Job 23:8-9
8 Behold, I go [halak] forward [qedem], but he is not there; and backward ['achowr], but I cannot perceive [biyn] him:
9 On the left hand [samo'wl], where he doth work [`asah],
but I cannot behold [chazah] him: he hideth [`ataph] himself on the right hand [yamiyn], that I cannot see [ra'ah]
him: KJV-Interlinear
8 'Behold, I go forward but He is
not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold
Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see
Him. NASB
In these first nine verses, Job has described the
futility of trying to find God on ones own.
You cannot. The transition from
the carnal life to the spiritual, will come in verse ten.
But such is the life of one who does not or has not
pursued God, Christ, doctrine, or their spiritual life. They will never be able to find God, nor have
any kind of meaningful relationship with Him.
The words for 'forward,' 'backward,' 'left hand,' and
'right hand,' designate points of the compass. In the ancient world, the sun
rose in the east and that became the natural first direction one would look in
the morning. People even moved eastward
in hopes of finding the sun.
East is forward. Back is behind you when you are
looking east, and therefore backward is to the west. When looking east, then the left hand is
north, and the right hand is south.
Likewise the home of God was considered to be in the
north, or the workshop of God. And
death was located in the dark places to the south.
From the perspective of the wicked, or anyone who is
not functioning within their spiritual life, God is not available. You can look all over the planet. You can look throughout the heavens beyond
the sky, and God is nowhere to be found.
When the tabernacle is designed about a thousand years
after Job, during Moses' time, the public will face to the west in order to
enter into the Tabernacle. That entrance
being located on the east side of the Tabernacle. We look to the work of salvation first, before
we look to the east and the coming glory of Christ, which comes after the work
of salvation. Looking to the west, the
power of God is to our right, or to the north.
Authority and power sits on the right hand, thus we recognize God, His
authority and His plan. We, being on His
left, subordinate ourselves to Him.
Unlike other religions throughout history, those folks
look to the east, wanting God first, excluding the work of salvation, with death
residing as their superior on their right hand to their south. God residing on their left hand and
subordinate to man. They reject the work
of Christ with their back to it. And in
the case of Islam, when they bow to the east, their posture is their bottoms of
their feet and their butt toward salvation.
The work of their feet or their own efforts, and their attitude is the ultimate
rejection of Christ.
So how, when we are hurting, how do we find God, let
alone talk with Him? And even if we
could locate God (which we cannot), then what words could we say that would
persuade God to do as we ask?
Not in philosophies, not in political views, not in
religions of every kind (Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship
with God the Father, through Christ), not in beliefs invented by cults which
gain their following through emphasis in polygamy, drugs, emotional oneness
with nature, and so forth, not in anything which comes from this world can you
seek out and find God.
He isn't in any of these. You will never find Him.
Even by adhering to popular and even truthful proverbs
as suggested by Jobs three friends, you will never discover God, because the
spiritual life is not how you live it, it is not a lifestyle which is
convenient to your way of thinking, it is not a compromise of beliefs which you
feel secure within.
There is only one God, there is only one salvation,
there is only one doctrine, there is only one fellowship with God, there is
only one spiritual life. There is only
one way to figure it all out.
Now is the time to post a prayer.
End Of Lesson
Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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