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Job 37:1
1 At this [zo'th] also my heart [leb] trembleth [charad], and is
moved out [nathar] of his place [maqowm]. KJV-Interlinear
1'At this also my heart trembles,
And leaps from its place. NASB
At these things, the thunder and lightning, the storms
of unexplained origin and support, it is these things, things of which Elihu
has no explanation, that terrify him.
He ascribes all to God and the source of Gods power,
which he believes to be immeasurable.
Elihu believes that it is God who holds life together and that it is God
who can simply let loose of life, allowing it to fly apart, as it were, thus
ending anything abruptly in its path.
And over this, man has no control, influence, or say.
Man did not have a say in his creation, or his
birth. Man does not have a say in the
circumstances of his birth. Man does not
have a say in the content of his physical makeup, his genetics, his gifts, his
talents, his intellect.
Man has no say whatsoever in how, when, or where his
life begins. And what I say in this
study seems rather obvious, the point here is not the fear instilled by thunder
or lightning, but in the power and will of God.
It has already been said that the beginning of wisdom
is the fear of God. When people lose
that fear, then they are in an extreme state of delusion. Likewise, they are in an extreme state of
danger for their life.
The thunder and lightning are simple symbols teaching
us all that they are indeed ominous, and uncontrollable. Likewise, Gods plan goes far, far, far beyond
our ability to even begin to understand it.
We could never even begin to control life as God is able.
I mentioned yesterday, the opinions of man verses the
opinion of God. Thought sure I would get
some email responses. But alas, none crossed my computer screen.
Lets just recall what we have been studying. Job.
Job was the greatest of believers in his time. He was the recipient of phenomenal prosperity
from God. Without explanation to him,
from anyone, all of his wealth was taken away.
Even his children were lost, with no explanation given.
The ensuing questions raised in this book seek to
answer that question. His friends
believed it to be because of Jobs secret wickedness.
Elihu simply believes that God does what God does and
it is not for man to question anything, but simply to live with it, as we live
with the weather from season to season throughout our lives.
Job, on the other hand, believes that there is an
explanation, but that it just isn't apparent to him at the moment. And we have already heard from God, way back
in the opening chapter, that Job was a righteous man.
But there is one more party in this play and that is
Satan.
Satan is an actual person, but he also represents all
the opposition to God, and therefore the opposition to truth in this world. Satan is not the only one who opposes
truth. Jobs friends have demonstrated
this thought pattern. They have
perpetuated the views of Satan, in their distortions of the applications of
truth.
And so we come around to the fears that you may wish
to consider in life, as the world, which follows the lead of Satanic thought,
it its attempt to control life.
Now this is just an introduction of chapter 37, but
recall our study of the anti-christ, the leader of the revived Roman Empire of
the Tribulation. That is still a future
state. That anti-christ will be a
dynamic person, pleasant, personable, popular with the masses. He will be popular with the then existing
news media. But under that outward appearance,
there will be the essence of Satan himself.
Not everyone who is personable and pleasing, is
evil. And you can only learn of their
true nature by listening to them and comparing their opinions with truth.
We are currently in the Church Age. Our dispensation is one of historical
trends. We have already studied this in
the four gospels. There are no
prophecies set to occur within our dispensation, except the one which
identifies the conclusion of our dispensation - namely the Rapture.
However, when the Tribulation is introduced, various
circumstances exist, and they can only come into existence during our
dispensation. That is, the alignment of
nations and so forth. There are many
other indicators of our nearing an end to our dispensation - namely the
population explosion, technology explosion, the rise of a troubled world and so
forth. But all of our indicators are
mere trends or examples of the greater troubles that will occur during the
Tribulation. A dispensation from which
we will be exempted, by the grace of God.
Terrible as it will be.
But again we look to our own dispensation for examples
of trends that will help us to identify mans spiritual status in this world,
now. This does two things. First, it should reinforce our belief in God
and help us in our faith. And second, it
can help us adjust to life, just as we adjust to the weather.
When the weather turns cold, we put on coats. When the weather turns hot, we take them off. We buy insurance against possible storm
damage. We build to protect ourselves
against weather damage. We cannot always
prevent damage, loss or suffering, but we know that they can occur, and we can
prepare for them.
We never curse God for our loss, but thank Him for our
survival.
Life will have many unknowns. Life in this life is temporary at best, and
our best preparation in this life is our preparation for the next life.
Goliath did not fear God, but placed his faith in his
muscles. He died. We can begin to understand much of nature
through technological discoveries, but we can also learn that it was God who
created and invented all of these things.
If we come to believe in the acts of nature as being
nothing more than that, then we place faith in the muscles of Goliath. And we will one day be greatly surprised and
very disappointed. But if we learn to
place God in awe, but virtue of His hand in history (not in politicians), then
we will be better oriented to life and will be better able to survive whatever
storms loom on the horizon.
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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