What in the World Is Happening? – Part Eleven

Friends can hurt you without intentionality.  Your prayer life is your key to success in those times.

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Mark 4:3 & 26 – Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:….&…..So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

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While Eliphaz the Temanite was the first of Job’s friends to speak, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite had their times in the dialogue, too.  Each of them took turns speaking to Job, and Job responded to each of them in turn.  In every case, the outcome was the same.  The friends spoke based on the perception of their physical senses, and Job responded defensively, perceiving each of his friend’s soliloquy as a personal attack.  In the end of their dialogue, all we see is a debate among four men, each seeking to justify himself or his opinion.  In such debates, the usual outcome is confusion, not only among the debaters, but perhaps even more so among the listeners (and that includes is as the readers).  It is to that end that I write today.

In any debate, especially about spiritual matters like those faced by Job, you will likely hear bits and pieces of truth in some measure.  This often makes the content of what is said more palatable to the hearer (reader), but that does NOT mean for complete measure of what was said is right.  It causes the formulation of the following train of thought.  Water quenches thirst.  Therefore, if you are thirsty, drink water.  That’s simple.  But if you were thirsty, how much poison (arsenic) would I have to put in your glass of water before you would not drink it?  I can tell you for myself, I would not drink the glass of water if I knew even one drop of arsenic had been added.  It’s still poison.  Only if the poison were added without me knowing it would I drink it.  Many poisons are odorless, tasteless, and colorless.  Some may even have a tantalizing taste.  Such is the case with doubt, unbelief, and traditions and religions of men.  They may be odorless, tasteless, and colorless, or even have an attractive taste, but they are still  poison.  For that reason, when you’re uncertain about water, you need an effective filtration system.

For the child of God, the filtration system is the shield of faith that is made strong by the inerrant Word of God.  When we read and study the book of Job, we MUST NOT blindly accept every statement as doctrinally sound.  While every word in the Bible is accurately recorded, not every word is truth.  The lies and misconceptions of men are recorded Scripture to help us learn, through the Word, what is accurately the heart of God and what is not.  Job is a book that MUST be filtered through the light of God’s Word so we can “rightly” divide it for accurate understanding.

Manna for Today – Mark 4; Genesis 3:7 & 21; Hebrews 9:22; Psalm 91; Isaiah 54:17; Ephesians 2:10; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Matthew 24; Luke 17:26; Genesis 6:11; 1 Corinthians 10:13;