Pastor JIm Lawless - 7/3/94

Job Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION:

There are two problems which become apparent when we begin reading the Book of Job. The first is the date of writing by the author, and the second is the date in which the events actually took place. As far as there being an actual person named “Job”, we look to Ezekial 14:14 where the Prophet says, “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver [but] their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD”, and James 5:11 of the New Testament, “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” We should never presume that just because a person did not know of airplanes, automobiles, tall skyscrapers, and rockets that they did not exist. Remember, by far the majority of people who ever lived, lived before these things came into being..

It would seem, from the general reading of Job, that he lived in the age of the patriarchs. The Book of Job would probably been included in the first books of the Bible if it did not lend itself more favorably to the Poetry section of the Bible.

Now, as to when Job was written. There have been many guesses, including Moses, but again we would plead The book’s location in the Bible, the Poetry section, and say that there would be a possibility that the book was written by Solomon. Commentators have set the date at anywhere from the eighth century before Christ to the third century before Christ. It is interesting that no one wants to put the date of writing at the some time that they put the date of Job’s life.

We do not know the occasion of the writing as well as we do not know the reason. However, it is important that we take to task the usually purpose given for the writing of Job. Most of the time we have heard that the purpose for the author’s writing of Job was to write a treatise about suffering. It does not, however, give any solid answer as to the why of suffering. In fact, as we read the book, this is exactly the basis for the arguments of the friends of Job. I, as well as many of the seminary students of the early ‘60’s were never completely satisfied with that claim. One day, however, while listening to a tape of one of John McArthur’s sermons, I heard what has come to be a very acceptable purpose for Job. McArthur said that the Book of Job was written to prove exactly the opposite of Satan’s claim. This book was written so that people might come to realize that once a person truly becomes a child of God, he or she will never turn aside from that belief, no matter how trying and terrible the circumstances might become. It is, perhaps, the strongest statement in the Bible of the Perseverance of the Saints.

EXPOSITION OF THE SCRIPTURE:

JOB 1:1 “THERE WAS A MAN IN THE LAND OF UZ, WHOSE NAME [WAS] JOB; AND THAT MAN WAS PERFECT AND UPRIGHT, AND ONE THAT FEARED GOD, AND ESCHEWED EVIL.”

“THERE WAS A MAN IN THE LAND OF UZ,” - This place of Job’s home and family is not clearly known. There is a general area attributed to be “Uz” by most of the scholars who have written concerning the Book of Job. The name in the Hebrew Bible for this location is (uwts), a region which was settled by the descendants of “Uz”. the son of Aram, first mentioned in Genesis 10:23, “And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash”. Aram was a son of Seth who was one of the three sons of Noah. All the evidence from inside of the Bible and outside of the Scripture seems to point to the Arabian desert near the land of Edom as being the area described as Uz. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament contains the note that Uz was “north-east from Idumea, towards the Arabian desert. There is also the notation in Josephus, Ant. I,vi,4, which said that “Uz founded Trachonitis and Damascus”. However tenuous it is, the safest statement is to follow the majority of the scholars.

“WHOSE NAME [WAS] JOB;” - (iyowb), “Job”. The meaning of the name is unknown, which probably lends itself to the genuinness of the person of Job because any pseudonym would probably have been something with a clear meaning to lend credence to his life. Sometimes the difficulties are a better proof than those things which are easy.

“AND THAT MAN WAS PERFECT AND UPRIGHT,” - These two characteristics are more useful in terms of theology than anything else. The word for “perfect” is (tawm) and means “perfect in the sense of undefiled”. It describes the kind of man who never made himself a threat to anybody. This was probably the source of his legendary “patience”.

The word “upright” is (veyawshawr) and means, “to go straight or direct in the way”. Job lived a blameless life. These two terms go together in their description of Job because one compliments the other. The spiritually mature man or woman can always be counted on to deal straight with God and people.

“AND ONE THAT FEARED GOD,” - (vire elohim), “and fearing God”. This is not the “high respect” which modern people try to say it is. Basically to “fear God” means that a person realizes that God is looking over his shoulder every moment of his life and is able to, and will, judge every thought, act, attitude, and hope. It is close akin to the fear that a child has of the power and right his or her father has to chastise any wrong-doing that the child might do. It is a real fear, but it is a healthy fear. This trait in Job led to the next one.

“AND ESCHEWED EVIL.” - The word is (vesawr merawy), “and turning aside from evil. It is the participle of the same verb which described how Moses “turned aside” when he saw the burning bush. Job was one of those rare individuals who was attracted away from evil just as strong as most of us have to deal with being attracted TO evil.

By linking these two verbs together, the writer of Job debunks completely the idea that there is a natural morality in humanity. A person will simply not turn his or her back on evil unless they are fully aware that God is watching and will deal with them harshly if the fall prey to temptation. For that reason the result of “fearing God” is to keep away from evil.

JOB 1:2 “AND THERE WERE BORN UNTO HIM SEVEN SONS AND THREE DAUGHTERS. JOB 1:3 HIS SUBSTANCE ALSO WAS SEVEN THOUSAND SHEEP, AND THREE THOUSAND CAMELS, AND FIVE HUNDRED YOKE OF OXEN, AND FIVE HUNDRED SHE ASSES, AND A VERY GREAT HOUSEHOLD; SO THAT THIS MAN WAS THE GREATEST OF ALL THE MEN OF THE EAST.”

“AND THERE WERE BORN UNTO HIM SEVEN SONS AND THREE DAUGHTERS.” - In a time when children, and many of them, were a blessing to a family, Job and his wife were blessed indeed, especially when the number of son was greater than the number of daughters.

“HIS SUBSTANCE ALSO WAS SEVEN THOUSAND SHEEP, AND THREE THOUSAND CAMELS, AND FIVE HUNDRED YOKE OF OXEN, AND FIVE HUNDRED SHE ASSES, AND A VERY GREAT HOUSEHOLD; SO THAT THIS MAN WAS THE GREATEST OF ALL THE MEN OF THE EAST.” - Job was also a man of great substance. He not only had a large number of domesticated animals but a large force of servants to help take care of them. Evidently he was well known among the people who lived in that sector of the Arabian desert and a man of means. Since money was either non-existent or scarce in those days, a person’s wealth was counted in terms of the animals he owned and the servants which he supported. After all, a person had to care for his servants in order for them to serve him adequately.

JOB 1:4 “AND HIS SONS WENT AND FEASTED [IN THEIR] HOUSES, EVERY ONE HIS DAY; AND SENT AND CALLED FOR THEIR THREE SISTERS TO EAT AND TO DRINK WITH THEM. JOB 1:5 AND IT WAS SO, WHEN THE DAYS OF [THEIR] FEASTING WERE GONE ABOUT, THAT JOB SENT AND SANCTIFIED THEM, AND ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND OFFERED BURNT OFFERINGS [ACCORDING] TO THE NUMBER OF THEM ALL: FOR JOB SAID, IT MAY BE THAT MY SONS HAVE SINNED, AND CURSED GOD IN THEIR HEARTS. THUS DID JOB CONTINUALLY.”

“AND HIS SONS WENT AND FEASTED [IN THEIR] HOUSES, EVERY ONE HIS DAY;” - The family was close knit and had a custom of alternating in turn to feed the others. It called for a festive occasion in which there was much merriment and close comradeship between the children. Evidently the family kept to itself and this was the only occasion in which they had an opportunity for such merrymaking. Even by today’s standards the closeness of the family was admirable.

“AND SENT AND CALLED FOR THEIR THREE SISTERS TO EAT AND TO DRINK WITH THEM.” - Even the sisters were included in the festivities. This describes just how close the members of the family really were. It was not customary to have the women of the families included in any festivities. It was strictly a male oriented thing. Again we see just how much the children were involved with each other.

JOB 1:5 “AND IT WAS SO, WHEN THE DAYS OF [THEIR] FEASTING WERE GONE ABOUT,” - It is thought by many that this statement means that the family of Job alternated feeding and feasting each other on a weekly basis. That is, they would eat and celebrate for an entire week with one of the sons and then change to the house of another.

“THAT JOB SENT AND SANCTIFIED THEM,” - Each cycle of seven days, then, ended with a matter of worship by Job on behalf of his children. If this be the case, and it seems to be quite believable, then there was a feast every week to close out the weekly span of work carried on in each home. It was at this time that the family congregated to celebrate another week passed. Job does not seem to care to celebrate with them, but did show concern for the way they carried on their celebration. The Scripture does not indicate whether or not these celebrations had religious overtones or expressions, but such a purpose can be seen in the general wording of the description. In either case, Job did not seemed to be pleased with what went on and took action to counteract it.

“AND ROSE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND OFFERED BURNT OFFERINGS [ACCORDING] TO THE NUMBER OF THEM ALL:” - On the day of celebration, which it seems was a customary, weekly occurrence, Job would rise early enough to make his worship the first event of the day. Apparently Job had a place prepared with an altar upon which he offered ten sacrifices, one for each of his children, and took precaution for any sin that might be in the matter of the celebration which was to take place. In this we see a pre-mosaic time in which the eldest male of the family acted as the priest for the whole family. It is also a time which is before a central place of sacrifice is established. Later in the history of Israel, when a central place of sacrifice was established by God’s Law, it would become sinful to do what Job was doing in behalf of his family. We must be careful to note these kinds of changes in the true worship of the Lord.

“FOR JOB SAID, IT MAY BE THAT MY SONS HAVE SINNED, AND CURSED GOD IN THEIR HEARTS.” - Job was acutely aware of a principle which is difficult for many people to understand. By noting the way his children acted, Job became concerned about the condition of their hearts. As in was in Job’s day so is it in ours. The way a person acts betrays the condition of his or her heart. There is, of course, in this statement at least a hint that the children were not as concerned with their own spiritual welfare as much as was their father.

“THUS DID JOB CONTINUALLY.” - This was not a one time occurrence. It happened every time the days rolled around for another of the children’s celebration. There is at least a hint in these words that the children were celebrating what they had done during the week without taking into account the fact that it was the Grace of God which allowed anything at all to happen. There is no evidence that they did anything at all in a rebellious action against God, but Job’s action of worship on their behalf indicates that they may well have forgotten to be thankful to God for their prosperity and wealth.

JOB 1:6 “NOW THERE WAS A DAY WHEN THE SONS OF GOD CAME TO PRESENT THEMSELVES BEFORE THE LORD, AND SATAN CAME ALSO AMONG THEM.”

“NOW THERE WAS A DAY WHEN THE SONS OF GOD CAME TO PRESENT THEMSELVES BEFORE THE LORD,” - At the same time that there was celebration going on in Job’s family, there was another meeting taking place in Heaven. The meetings in Heaven were probably not as often as those on earth and they were for a completely different purpose. Those closest to God, created by Him, come together “to present themselves”. This is a called meeting by God, and its purpose seems to be to give account of themselves.

“AND SATAN CAME ALSO AMONG THEM.” - It is noted that Satan is among those attending the meeting. The next verse gives us the understanding that he came voluntarily. There is much discussion about the name of “Satan” being used here. It is claimed that the name “Satan” did not come into use until the post-exilic writings. However, the use of Satan seems to be perfectly permissible in any effort to signify the opposition to God which is on a much higher plane than earth. The name “Satan” may well have been in use long before it appeared in print.

JOB 1:7 “AND THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN, WHENCE COMEST THOU? THEN SATAN ANSWERED THE LORD, AND SAID, FROM GOING TO AND FRO IN THE EARTH, AND FROM WALKING UP AND DOWN IN IT.”

“AND THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN, WHENCE COMEST THOU?” - The Lord Himself noticed that Satan had joined the heavenly group before God’s throne. Since he, Satan, really had no business nor fellowship with the others, it is only natural that he be asked this question.

By the way, the word for “Lord” here is (yehovawh), the covenant name for God, often translated in the A.V. as “LORD”. This would indicate that the writer of Job wrote the book after the revelation of this name to Moses in Exodus, even though the actual setting of the book is much earlier.

“THEN SATAN ANSWERED THE LORD, AND SAID, FROM GOING TO AND FRO IN THE EARTH, AND FROM WALKING UP AND DOWN IN IT.” - This indicates that Satan was very active among the ancients. He seems to be eternally vigilant in trying to find those he can cause misery. It also indicates that he was active in parts of the world that, at the time, was unknown to men on earth. We do not know exactly when mankind spread to other parts of the earth, but we can safely say that Satan was there to welcome them. Though he is not as omnipresent as God, he certainly covers a lot of territory in a short time.

JOB 1:8 “AND THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN, HAST THOU CONSIDERED MY SERVANT JOB, THAT [THERE IS] NONE LIKE HIM IN THE EARTH, A PERFECT AND AN UPRIGHT MAN, ONE THAT FEARETH GOD, AND ESCHEWETH EVIL?”

“AND THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN, HAST THOU CONSIDERED MY SERVANT JOB,” - Not just noticed him but carefully considered the man, his way of life, and his commitment to the Lord.

“THAT [THERE IS] NONE LIKE HIM IN THE EARTH, A PERFECT AND AN UPRIGHT MAN, ONE THAT FEARETH GOD, AND ESCHEWETH EVIL?” - This is an amazing statement. God gives a testimonial for Job even before he has lived out his full life. The only way that God would give such a testimonial is that He was sure that Job would continue to be just such a man. Not only does God not want to be disappointed, but He also does not want to be embarrassed. In fact, the entire process of Salvation happened in order that God could vindicate His creation of mankind and His continued working with such a rebellious creature.

JOB 1:9 “THEN SATAN ANSWERED THE LORD, AND SAID, DOTH JOB FEAR GOD FOR NOUGHT? JOB 1:10 HAST NOT THOU MADE AN HEDGE ABOUT HIM, AND ABOUT HIS HOUSE, AND ABOUT ALL THAT HE HATH ON EVERY SIDE? THOU HAST BLESSED THE WORK OF HIS HANDS, AND HIS SUBSTANCE IS INCREASED IN THE LAND. JOB 1:11 BUT PUT FORTH THINE HAND NOW, AND TOUCH ALL THAT HE HATH, AND HE WILL CURSE THEE TO THY FACE.”

“THEN SATAN ANSWERED THE LORD, AND SAID, DOTH JOB FEAR GOD FOR NOUGHT?” - Satan knows better than to answer God directly. He has not forgotten what people often forget. When God states a fact, there can be no chance of error. Satan approaches Job’s piety from the standpoint of personal gain. His off-handed accusation is that Job is serving the Lord for what he can get out of it, not out of any motive of love.

“HAST NOT THOU MADE AN HEDGE ABOUT HIM, AND ABOUT HIS HOUSE, AND ABOUT ALL THAT HE HATH ON EVERY SIDE?” - First Satan makes the claim, true as it was, that God had given Job His personal protection. Characteristically , Satan makes it sound as if it were an accusation. He knows that one of the fatal flaws found in the sinful nature of fallen mankind is the prideful idea that “I did it my way”. Pride hates to be dependent upon anybody. This is also the fatal flaw found in the concept of “self-esteem”. Whatever else Satan is, he is no fool.

“THOU HAST BLESSED THE WORK OF HIS HANDS, AND HIS SUBSTANCE IS INCREASED IN THE LAND.” - Secondly, Satan states another truth as if it was an accusation. He claims that God has personally blessed the labor of Lot and his family. Notice that this blessing is totally framed in terms of material possession. Perhaps Satan had gained much success in this area before. We know for sure that he has found success with this approach in this modern era. Much has changed in mankind since the days of Job, but not in mankind’s basic nature.

“BUT PUT FORTH THINE HAND NOW, AND TOUCH ALL THAT HE HATH, AND HE WILL CURSE THEE TO THY FACE.” - Satan challenges the Lord with a doubt of Job’s fidelity. Here his accusation is that Job is careful in his service to the Lord because he has received material gain, and any threat or loss of that material gain will turn Job against the Lord.

JOB 1:12 “AND THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN, BEHOLD, ALL THAT HE HATH [IS] IN THY POWER; ONLY UPON HIMSELF PUT NOT FORTH THINE HAND. SO SATAN WENT FORTH FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.”

“AND THE LORD SAID UNTO SATAN, BEHOLD, ALL THAT HE HATH [IS] IN THY POWER;” - Many use this verse as a proof-text that God does not do anything to hurt his own people personally, but He permits others to hurt them for whatever reason He sees fit. Actually it matters little whether God does something personally or that He permits it to be done. He is still responsible for it all.

Here the Lord gives Satan permission to harm all the possessions of Job. He answers Satan’s challenge concerning the fidelity of Job being based upon the Lord’s material blessings to him.

“ONLY UPON HIMSELF PUT NOT FORTH THINE HAND.” - We find that there are two salient facts about “Election” given in this statement. First God’s Election is in complete control of evil. Nothing happens without the approval of God, even the work of Satan himself. Secondly, we also see that God’s Election has an element of protection for his people. We will see a much more surprising element later.

“SO SATAN WENT FORTH FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.” - Satan leaves the meeting in order to carry out his challenge. He must; he cannot let his own pride allow him to admit that God was right about Job.

JOB 1:13 “AND THERE WAS A DAY WHEN HIS SONS AND HIS DAUGHTERS [WERE] EATING AND DRINKING WINE IN THEIR ELDEST BROTHER'S HOUSE: JOB 1:14 AND THERE CAME A MESSENGER UNTO JOB, AND SAID, THE OXEN WERE PLOWING, AND THE ASSES FEEDING BESIDE THEM: JOB 1:15 AND THE SABEANS FELL [UPON THEM], AND TOOK THEM AWAY; YEA, THEY HAVE SLAIN THE SERVANTS WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD; AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE.

“AND THERE WAS A DAY WHEN HIS SONS AND HIS DAUGHTERS [WERE] EATING AND DRINKING WINE IN THEIR ELDEST BROTHER'S HOUSE:” - What takes place next happens on one of the feast days of Job’s children. Remember that this day was also the day that Job would make sacrifices for all of his children early in the morning. We can only guess that this event takes place on this day so that all the possessions, left in the care of the servants can be destroyed and stolen without hurting any members of Job’s family.

“AND THERE CAME A MESSENGER UNTO JOB, AND SAID, THE OXEN WERE PLOWING, AND THE ASSES FEEDING BESIDE THEM: AND THE SABEANS FELL [UPON THEM], AND TOOK THEM AWAY; YEA, THEY HAVE SLAIN THE SERVANTS WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD; AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE.” - We see here as in the other reports, that God’s Sovereignty is at work. Though all the servants, notice how they are looked upon as part of Job’s “possessions”, were killed, God protected this one servant so that he could report the incident.

That the Sabeans were used of Satan in this onslaught of Job, is other evidence that Job lived somewhere in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. They were from the descendants of Cush who settled, beginning at the foot of the Arabian Peninsula and spread north to what was later known as Assyria.

JOB 1:16 “WHILE HE [WAS] YET SPEAKING, THERE CAME ALSO ANOTHER, AND SAID, THE FIRE OF GOD IS FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, AND HATH BURNED UP THE SHEEP, AND THE SERVANTS, AND CONSUMED THEM; AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE.” - All of these messages fell closely together. In fact it is possible that they all arrived at about the same time and had to wait for each other to give his message to Job before the other could give his news. The expression, “the fire of God is fallen from heaven” is very difficult to deal with here. In other places the word for “fire” here, (esh), is used to describe either the column of fire which represented the presence of God or the “fire and brimstone” which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. In the other cases it is easy to see the fire as coming from God. Here, however, it is different as it should be a work of Satan instead of God. Some have said that it was the hot, desert wind which is so destructive. We would call it a very big “dust devil”. That explanation, while it lets us off the hook about attributing such strength to Satan, just doesn’t seem to fit this situation. I can only offer the idea that, in letting Satan have full and open reign in destroying the possessions of Job, God had also granted him the ability to cause “fire to fall from the sky”. This also, was limited to the things under God’s permission to Satan. Satan would be an uncontrollable threat to all mankind if it were not limited by God.

The important thing to see here is that a second tragedy had struck. Satan had destroyed all of Job’s sheep along with the servants who were tending them. Again we must point out that servants were listed with Job’s possessions.

JOB 1:17 “WHILE HE [WAS] YET SPEAKING, THERE CAME ALSO ANOTHER, AND SAID, THE CHALDEANS MADE OUT THREE BANDS, AND FELL UPON THE CAMELS, AND HAVE CARRIED THEM AWAY, YEA, AND SLAIN THE SERVANTS WITH THE EDGE OF THE SWORD; AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE.” - Now a third messenger gives his bad news. From the area of what we now know as Damascus, comes another fierce tribe of people who stole all of Job’s camels and killed the servants tending them. That they struck from three sides shows us that not only was there definite military strategy used in those ancient days, but that the servants of Job were formidable enough to cause the Chaldeans to be careful in their attack.

JOB 1:18 “WHILE HE [WAS] YET SPEAKING, THERE CAME ALSO ANOTHER, AND SAID, THY SONS AND THY DAUGHTERS [WERE] EATING AND DRINKING WINE IN THEIR ELDEST BROTHER'S HOUSE: JOB 1:19 AND, BEHOLD, THERE CAME A GREAT WIND FROM THE WILDERNESS, AND SMOTE THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE HOUSE, AND IT FELL UPON THE YOUNG MEN, AND THEY ARE DEAD; AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE.” - In verse 13 we were told of the feast meeting of the children of Job. Now we see that Satan seized upon that opportunity to further trouble Job. This wind which came and collapsed the house of Job’s eldest son killing all of his children. Even the fact that there were seven able men in the house was not enough to save the lives of all of them. It was equal to if not actually a strong tornadic type wind which was able to attack a large dwelling from all corners of it at once.

In swift succession Job’s animals, his servants, and finally his children were taken from him. A casual reader might well see the children as “innocent”. However, early in this passage we were told that, on the day of their festive meeting, Job rose early to give sacrifices for each and every one of them. It seems that Job’s concern for them was well founded. It also shows that one person, even if he is a priest, cannot worship God for another. If we think that this was rather a harsh way to treat the children of Job, read carefully the words of I Corinthians 11:17-34, and note carefully that both the I Corinthians passage and this one have to do with feasting and worship.

JOB 1:20 “THEN JOB AROSE, AND RENT HIS MANTLE, AND SHAVED HIS HEAD, AND FELL DOWN UPON THE GROUND, AND WORSHIPPED, JOB 1:21 AND SAID, NAKED CAME I OUT OF MY MOTHER'S WOMB, AND NAKED SHALL I RETURN THITHER: THE LORD GAVE, AND THE LORD HATH TAKEN AWAY; BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD.” - The reaction of this pious man was to worship. There is no doubt that Job had a very healthy understanding of God’s Sovereignty. It is healthy but not as mature as it should have been, or even could have been. Before all of this is through, however, this doctrine will have matured to its fullest. Whatever God gives, He has the perfect right to take away. We would admire Job if he had made this statement concerning his possessions, but he also makes it concerning his people, his servants and his children, and quite possibly their families.

JOB 1:22 “IN ALL THIS JOB SINNED NOT, NOR CHARGED GOD FOOLISHLY.” - In the midst of all his tragedy, Job did not provoke God. He refused to find fault with what had happened to him. Paul gives an apt illustration in Romans 9:14-15, “What shall we say then? [Is there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Having made this quote of Exodus 33:19, Paul goes on to say in verses 20-23, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed [it], Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? [What] if God, willing to shew [his] wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” Paul, more mature than Job, carries the same doctrine with which Job is dealing to its fullest extremity. The difference is that Paul was teaching a doctrine and Job was living it.

APPLICATION OF THE SCRIPTURE:

The media and other sources of information have lately taken it upon themselves to teach the people who listen to them that it is quite fashionable to question God. Sadly many who call themselves Christian have bought into this fashion. It is NOT a sign of wisdom to question “Why?” or “Why me, Lord” when something hurtful happens. It is exactly committing the sin that Job avoided. Anytime a person questions God about anything in such a way, he or she impinges the integrity of God.
It may not seem to be such an important matter until its fullest extension, which is more often the case than not, is known. By questioning God, a person is weakening his or her own faith and opening their lives to the same destructive forces as did the children of Job. Those who are not Christian see in such behavior that people who claim Christianity are largely in the same condition as they themselves are. Thus there would be no need for anything such as witnessing and missions. Though we are often approached about missions in terms of money, a mission is much more a matter of attitude. When Christians cannot trust God to do the very best He sees for them, even if it means suffering and death, they are ineffectual in spreading the Gospel and, may well be in the same need for God’s grace as are the lost people they are trying to reach. There may be many philosophical and theological issues presented to us in the book of Job, but the real gold is mined as we see how Job is able to put his doctrine into his living. He trusted God in a time with far less revelation than our own. Our greater access to the Lord’s revelation only serves to make us more responsible

Post form PyroManiacs - Give Me Old Truth!

Phil Johnson of the PyroManiacs bolg posts a sermon from CH Spurgeon once a week. This excerpt is from "The Immutability of Christ," a sermon preached 3 January 1858, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

No, sirs, the old gospel is the same; not one of her stakes must be removed, not one of her cords must be loosened. "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Theology hath nothing new in it except that which is false. The preaching of Paul must be the preaching of the minister to-day. There is no advancement here. We may advance in our knowledge of it; but it stands the same, for this good reason, that it is perfect, and perfection can not be any better.

The old truth that Calvin preached, that Chrysostom preached, that Paul preached, is the truth that I must preach to-day, or else be a liar to my conscience and my God. I can not shape the truth. I know of no such thing as the paring off the rough edges of a doctrine. John Knox's gospel is my gospel. That which thundered through Scotland must thunder through England again. The great mass of our ministers are sound enough in the faith, but not sound enough in the way they preach it.

September 15, 2006 - 2 Peter 2:1-3

Peter, in this chapter, takes a very hard view of those who were causing internal harm to the Church. In his first letter he dealt mainly with the persecutions which came from outside the fellowship of God's people. Now he is looking inside to what is perhaps the greatest danger which confronts the movement of Christianity around the world. These are the false teachers who, for one reason or another, begin to spread false teachings around among the people of God. They are smart, world wise, and very subtle in their error. Peter’s message was relevant to the people of his day and is especially relevant for us today.

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

Ψευδοπροφήτης – pseudo-prophets - “likely prophets who are false, but so near the true ones that it is difficult to distinguish them from the real prophets”

This long translation is necessary in order to understand the full meaning of the word. They are also easily mistaken for the real one because they are so near like the real prophet. A radically false prophet would be easily spotted, but one who is so near the real prophet that it is difficult to tell the difference often slips by the one not in tune with God’s word.

A member of the government's secret service was telling of his work against counterfeit money one day. He passed around some of the examples he had recovered in many of the raids that the service had made. Some were so obviously false that it was difficult to tell how a person could be so easily taken in. Others were extraordinarily good and could only be really spotted by an expert. The listeners were surprised at the tremendous amount of money which turned out to be bogus. It was in the several millions of dollars in the country's fourth largest city.

When he asked for questions and comments, one man commented that the agent would have to study the counterfeits very closely in order to be able to spot the counterfeits. The surprising answer was, “We only have to study very closely the real thing, then it is easier to spot that which is counterfeit.

This is a basic, elemental truth which applies also to the unmasking of the “false prophet” and the “false teacher”. Listen carefully, with an ear for sound doctrine, and you just might be surprised who the false teachers are. The teacher that tells you that doctrine is not important is a false teacher. The teacher that would like the church inside to become more like the world outside in order to attract people is a false teacher. The seeker friendly, purpose driven churches of today are teaching the kind of gospel that tickles the ear and makes you feel warm inside, very different from the gospel preached and taught by Peter and the other apostles.

And I would like to carry this in application a bit further. The same applies to the music that we play and sing in our worship service. If the music we call Christian does not teach the truth of the gospel then it is false teaching and the person leading it is a false teacher. A fellow by the name Scott Hill, pastor and chief musician at Murrieta Valley Church in California and contributor to the Fide-o blog stated the following: “To sing songs in corporate worship for any other reason, other than the desire to teach the great truths of scripture, edify one another, and testify to what God has done for a congregation is a dangerous, dangerous game. Picking a song because of its popularity or its ease of use has no place in corporate worship. To flippantly choose a song without thoroughly checking its accuracy is no different than stepping to the mic to preach error. If you choose a song that teaches error then you have just taught that same error to your congregation. Do you think God will hold you responsible? I do.” Oh, how our worship leaders need to give this consideration before allowing secular music and this candy coated so called “Christian” music played and sung in worship.

Ψευδοδιδάσκαλος – pseudo –teachers - Same as the false prophet.

Παρεισάγω - to introduce or bring in secretly or craftily. The exact meaning of the verb is “to bring in by the side” as if it would pass inspection and then take the place of what was there before. Something false very seldom attacks the truth head on. It usually attacks obliquely in order to work its way in without notice. Beware, just because it’s taught in the church does not mean that it is true. Example, there is a book titled “Wild at Heart” that has been widely accepted as truth in many churches today. The author appears to be an open theist and teaches that God is a risk taker. God is absolutely sovereign and to teach that God is a risk taker diminishes God and removes Him from His throne and elevates man. It is heresy!

αiρεσις – heresies – sects – factions – divisions. A heresy is any teaching/belief that diminishes Jesus and elevates something or someone above Him.

A word of caution. This does not mean that we are to measure everything that we are taught by what our church or denomination teaches. This also does not mean that we should measure everything by what a favorite preacher in church, over radio, or over television espouses. What it means is that WE are, RESPONSIBLE for letting the Holy Spirit guide us in a personal study of the Scriptures in order to be able to tell what is true and what is false, repeat, a PERSONAL STUDY. We will stand or fall on what we ourselves believe, so it is incumbent upon us as individuals to keep keen enough in the Scriptures in order to “rightly divide the Word of Truth”.


2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.

aσέλγεια - Debauchery, licentiousness, lewdness, be unrestrained in moral attitudes and behaviors (Mk 7:22; Ro 13:13; 2Co 12:21; Gal 5:19; Eph 4:19; 1Pe 4:3; 2Pe 2:2, 7, 18; Jude 4) This is a word which is often used to describe the way people can push to extreme the base desires of sin. Evidently part of the "heresies" which Peter is writing against has to do with a very base life-style being practiced and justified while, at the same time, claim to be Christian. They carried to extreme the idea of “Christian freedom”. We most often hear this error preached by way of the statement, “I can commit any sin I want to as a Christian, and still go to heaven”. There needs to be a very close examination of the “want to” of such teaching.

When the church inside, looks like the world outside, there will be less of a change in people’s lives. When the lives of the people of the church take on the likeness of the lives of the world outside then God is not in it. It will attract a lot of people, the message and the music will be popular but it will not be of God. Jesus turned to the multitudes and said “If any man wishes to follow after me he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Not a popular thing to say and I imagine that a great majority of the multitude turned and walked away.

aλήθεια - the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians.

βλασφημέω - future, passive indicative verb which means “to blaspheme”. Taking the tense into consideration shows that this "blaspheming" will continue to be a problem into the future. The victim of all of this is the TRUTH.

3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

Here we get to the root of the problem. It’s greed.

Πλεονεξία – Greediness, Covetousness, Exploitation

Eμπορεύομαι – Cheat, be in business, carry on commerce. It is the Greek word from which we get our word “emporium”. In its best sense it means “to travel for the purpose of doing business”. In the sense here, which is bad, it means “to make a gain of” or “to exploit”. Notice that Peter is telling his readers that they were the victims of the exploitation of the false teachers.

The judgment of the false teachers is not going to be long in coming. Judgment is not just something which will happen in the far future. It is going on all the time. Those who deal so lightly and treacherously with the only thing which can set people free, God's Truth, do not have to wait for the end time to know God's judgment. They stand in jeopardy every moment.

We see here that Peter does not view the false teachers as Christians who have strayed slightly from their appointed place in God's Kingdom. Damnation is only for those who are God's enemies. It is not asleep. It is wide awake and in operation in the moment.

It would be well to take note that the word “destruction” has occurred three times in these first three verses. If there is any wonder about the way Peter feels, it should be dispelled. He feels that the problem of false teachers is very critical and must be addressed by the churches.

I will close this study with words spoken recently by Dr. Donald McCall (Mac) Brunson at the September 12 chapel service at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In his sermon he made three points worth our consideration:

First, Christians have depreciated doctrine in exchange for shallow emotionalism. It is often difficult to distinguish between Christians and non-Christians today because their beliefs and lifestyles are virtually identical, Brunson said,"We've got all kinds of mess that's going on in the church today," he said. "The gap is so small between the believer and the unbeliever that you can hardly distinguish between the two."

Many Christians have even bought into the popular but deadly notion that truth is relative, Brunson said."By claiming the authority to determine right from wrong, we crown ourselves the kings and queens of reality, yet we have no authority," he said. "We constantly pay the price for the arrogance of believing and acting like we are in control of our destiny and experience. What an affront it is to God for us to claim His name and protection but to resist His moral truths on the basis of human feelings."

Second, Christians have abandoned the absolutes of God's Word and seek to gain approval from the world, he said. Scripture pictures the Christian holding the Word of God with one hand and holding back the world with the other hand, Brunson said. "[The world has] No discernment whatsoever," he said. "We have abandoned absolute truth. We don't adhere to ancient texts. We do what we feel led to do."

Third, Brunson said many Christians have become infatuated with influence and are preoccupied with prestige. This trend should be of particular concern to the Southern Baptist Convention because many in the denomination are excessively concerned with growing big churches and gaining notoriety, Brunson said. Such attitudes differ greatly from Jesus' teachings in Scripture, he said."We want a crowd, but you go and find me in the Gospels where Jesus' bottom line was a crowd," Brunson said.

Recover doctrine of discernment, Brunson tells SBTS studentsSeptember 14, 2006By David Roach

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles,