The Two-fold Wind of God
Jeremiah 4:11-12 says,
At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them."According to Jeremiah, there is a two-fold purpose for the storms and winds of life. One is to punish for sin, the other, is to “winnow or cleanse.” To be sure, God let a “wind” come against Job, but it was not due to a pronouncement of judgment for some sin in his life. Sometimes suffering, even unto death, as in the case of John the Baptist, can be part and parcel of the calamities that God sometimes allows to happen in our lives. For some, it may be a test. For others, it is judgment for sin. Let everyone examine their own hearts, and then shall they have peace, or not, with God.
As noted in another article I wrote entitled: Two Baskets of Figs: In The Same Place At The Same Time, Jesus had said this to His disciples,
Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with… (Mk. 10:38-39).And as was said in that other article, when we read this passage of Scripture we often only think of Jesus and some of His disciples as drinking the cup that Jesus would drink, or being baptized with the baptism of suffering that He, as well as they, would be baptized with. But what about us? Are we all to possibly drink such a bitter cup or be baptized with some type of similar baptism that Christ was baptized with?
The Scriptures clearly answer such a question in the affirmative. God through the prophet Jeremiah says to the ungodly Edomites,
This is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it.”
The NLT reads, “And this is what the LORD says: ‘If the innocent must suffer, how much more must you! You will not go unpunished! You must drink this cup of judgment!” (49:12).All those who live godly lives in Christ Jesus will sometimes indeed drink a cup that is truly deserving of others and, similarly, be baptized with some of the very same sufferings that Jesus and many of God’s people have suffered. That is what God is telling us in all of these verses. The plight of all of God’s saints is no “easy street” on “main street,” as many in the church falsely believe and teach.
Reflections From the Past
Recall the book of Hebrews, chapter eleven, for a moment! That chapter states how that “through faith” many “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, and shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames and escaped the edge of the sword….Others [also “through faith,” v. 39] were tortured…flogged, chained and put in prison. They were stoned, sawn in two, they were put to death by the sword” (vv. 33-37).
Whether they “escaped the edge of the sword,” or were “put to death by the sword,” they were all commended for their faith. None were lacking in it! None were deficient of it! Nor was it for a lack of being “righteous,” having some “fear,” or because of some heinous sin, that any of them suffered more than others. No, it was because that was the way in which God wanted to manifest His glory in these individuals.
Whether we are bound or free, God’s true servants of faith are to always exemplify a holy attitude and character no matter what the situation. The true saints of the Bible always left a “stamp” on God’s name whereby He would be praised, rather than blasphemed by others. Such conditions for invoking His praise, in no matter what the situation, seem to now make all the more sense when we begin to read such passages as in Ezekiel 21:4, whereby God says He will cut-off both “the righteous” and “the wicked” among His people (see footnote below for further comments with regards to this verse).[1] And just a little later, the prophet adds, “Testing will surely come” (v. 13, NIV), and that, “you will be judged according to your conduct and your actions…” (24:14). Every person is to be rewarded according to their deeds; according to how they react to their situations. It isn’t about being spared calamities. It is all about what we are going to do in the midst of our situations that God has placed us in, just like the Israelites mentioned earlier in the wilderness. Are we going to praise, or complain? Are we going to become more bitter, or better? Are we going to curse our King and our God, like those who were distressed and hungry in Isa. 8:21, or are we going to refrain from such cursing? Are we going to “give thanks” in everything and embrace what God is allowing to happen in our lives, or are we going to continue to believe that it is only our God given right that we are to sit high and mighty above all of these things all of the time?
This situation in Ezekiel above is no different than that of Jeremiah’s analogy of two baskets of figs being in the same place at the same time (chap. 24), wherein the righteous (one of the baskets of figs) were to undergo some of the same desolations as the rest of the nation. This verse speaks volumes about the righteous, along with the unrighteous, having to go through some of the very same calamities, just as God says in Ezk. 14:12-23---that if such people as “Noah, Daniel, and Job” had to go through those things, they could only spare their own lives from actual death by their own righteousness. Though being spared from “death” is not always the case when we read the accounts of the Maccabees, and see the atrocities that many of those righteous people suffered for standing true and “not denying the words of the Holy One” like Job (Job 6:10), their faith was sorely tested; and the Syrian, Antiochus Epiphanes, put many of them to death who were not willing to renounce their faith in God and succumb to many of his demands—which many who were unfaithful to the Lord actually did succumb to! The pressures were too great for many of these individuals, and they failed miserably the tests that were allowed by God to come their way.
Habakkuk had prepared himself for the same shaking from the Babylonians that were to come upon his nation, when the Lord tells him,
Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own….but the righteous will live by his faith (1:5-6; 2:4b).What was Habakkuk’s attitude in all of this?
I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled [almost sounds similar to what Job said he “feared“ the most, doesn’t it?]. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (3:16-18)This was the attitude of a “righteous” person, “living by his faith.”
Most people who ridicule and show contempt for such people as Job have most likely not read their Bibles, or even the entire book of Job for that matter in a good readable translation. Instead, they listen to what their revered bible professors, pastors and teachers have to say, esteeming their words more highly than their own inductive study of God’s Word. Instead of reading the Bible for themselves, they have bought into what these pastors and teachers have said to them, hook, line and sinker.
Another problem for misunderstanding Job, is that many who have only read the book of Job in the King James Version have come away more confused than clear-headed on the matter. Job is extremely difficult to understand in such a translation as that. One unknown author I came across is even quoted as saying: “Job, when read in the authorized version, becomes one of the most misunderstood books in the bible.” I couldn’t agree with him any more! So, get a good readable English translation, such as the NIV or the World English Bible (based on the ASV), and begin reading Job for all that it is worth. There is a wealth of information to be mined there for all of us.
Now if you will permit me just a little bit more of your time, I would like to take you on an adventure reading the dialogues between Job and his friends in The New International Version. For the most part, I have just let the translation speak for itself. No further commentary (or explanation) is essentially needed. I have condensed the arguments considerably, taking the succinct and salient points out of each chapter, and highlighting in bold certain points so that one can readily see what is exactly being said by all parties. Bracketed words are also mine. I do a lot of bold emphasizing in italics, so forgive me if it seems like a bit much, but it is extremely important that we take note of what is exactly being said in these chapters.
I am sure that many of you will come away thinking after reading all of this: “Wow! I never realized the seriousness of the accusations against Job by his three friends.” I came away thinking the very same things myself. But the “accusations” haven’t just stopped there! They continue even to this day by those who are still “not speaking right” about God’s servant Job. When you get done reading the discourse, you will come away thinking how remarkable it is that anyone could still accuse Job today. My sentiment as well!
Chapter 1, God and Satan Contending Over Job:
“Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. ‘Have You not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike [lit., destroy] everything he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger’….At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (vv. 8-12, 20-22).
As you can see, there was no sinful, negative confession here! To Job, the Lord had taken away nothing but was already His own to take; and what the Lord gave, He reserved for Himself the supreme right to give as well.
The true doctrine of the providence of God over all things has not only been obscured in the Church today, but is almost non-existent. If one falls among robbers or among ravenous beasts; if a sudden gust of wind at sea causes a ship to sink; if one is struck down by a falling house or a tree; if another, when wandering through the desert, meets with deliverance; or, after being tossed by the waves, one arrives in a port like Paul and makes an amazing escape from death—all of these occurrences, whether good or bad—carnally minded Christians and individuals will most likely attribute to chance or to some force or power outside of God's sovereign control. But rest assured, all of these events are governed by the secret counsels of God’s own purpose and will. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).
At one time excessive heat, combined with drought, causes a field to dry up; and at another time excessive rains bring mildew and rot the crops. And while sudden devastation is produced by tempests and storms in many ways and in many forms, these will not be the works of God according to many unenlightened individuals. And unless in so far as stormy or fair weather, heat or cold, are produced by the changing of the seasons or by some other natural causes, for these "unenlightened" individuals God is nowhere to be found. According to their view, there is no place for the favor of God, let alone for His judgments. For these individuals the Lord has left the earth to spin around on its own axis or by its own forces of nature, and has just left it all in the hands of men or of Satan to control as they please. But in such a scenario as this of fortune and chance—along with deism, dualism, and humanism—all such notions as these are to be disregarded and replaced with the understanding that everything comes from the hand of God—and I mean "everything"! As such, if all of us were disposed to learn from the Lord what He is actually doing, we would come to understand that "everything" is in accordance with His highest purposes and plans. That His purposes are either to exercise His people in patience, correct their depravity, curtail their wantonness, move them to self-denial, or arouse them from inactivity or dullness of hearing; or, on the other hand, to cast down the arrogant, defeat the wiles of the ungodly, and to frustrate all of their ungodly schemes—no matter how many other causes may escape our minds unnoticed for reasons that God only knows why He does what He does, we must be confident that everything is moving towards one sovereign purpose and end under His managed care—even to the point of frustrating the “good counsel” of good men such as that of Ahithophel, or of that of the elders of Rehoboam, for the bad counsel of wicked men to be performed upon others (2Sam. 17:14; 2Chr. 10:15).
In the same way, as with Job (and even with Joseph), when all of the upheavals of human affairs leaves us in a state of not being able to judge properly, we should always hold that God, in the purity of His justice and wisdom, keeps all things in their proper place and working order, conducting them all to His own good and proper ends.
With regards to men, good as well as bad, God's word acknowledges that all of their counsels, wishes, aims, faculties and desires are so under His sovereign controlling hand, that He has full and complete power to turn them “whithersoever He wills” (Pro. 21:1), to hold them back, or even to let them loose to do what He actually wants them to do according to His (and not their) every wish and whim (see Gen. 20:1-7; Deut. 2:30; Josh. 11:20 w/ 12:24; Jdg. 2:21-23; 3:12-14; 9:22-24, 53, 56-57; 1Ki. 22:19-23; Ezk. 38:4; 39:2; 2Ths. 2:11-12; Rev. 17:17).
As Calvin once wisely stated, "Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God, that He directs their evil intentions to whatever ends He so chooses, and employs and makes use of their sinful actions to execute His judgments whether for good or for evil," which is manifestly seen for good in the case of Joseph and his evil brothers; and for evil, in the case of God using the king of Assyria to mete out His harsh judgments upon Israel in Isaiah 10:5-7ff, which says:
Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.Therefore, whatever wicked men or Satan devise, God holds the helm of the ship and steers the rudder, making all of their efforts to acquiesce and to contribute to the execution of His sovereign plans and purposes. Thus could Peter declare of all those who were instrumental in the crucifixion of Christ that,
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen (Acts 4:27-28; cf. 2:23).As Augustine also notes here in tandem with Calvin: “For the things which God rightly wills, He accomplishes by the evil wills of bad men” (quoted by Calvin. Institutes, vol. 1, bk. 1, p. 203). The Scriptures are replete with examples of this idea as noted throughout this article!
To the discerning saint, such as God’s servant Job, his confidence in external aids will not be such that the presence of them will make him feel secure, or the absence of them fill him with dismay as if he were left in a lurch. Like Paul, we will have “learned to be content [in] whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Php. 4:11-13).
As such, the true believer’s mind will always be fixed on the providence of God alone, and consideration of his present circumstances will sometimes be given to him by God in order to allow him to be steady and determined that God is indeed in charge of all—dispensing all as He sees fit. Such was the case with John the Baptist. God could have delivered him from his prison cell, as with Peter, but on the contrary God’s words of encouragement to John were, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of Me” (Lke. 7:23). These words were to help John stay the course; for no sooner would he be beheaded for his faith.
It is not Satan who has the upper hand in all of the affairs of our life; God is the overarching controller and determiner of our destinies. For example, in Lke. 4:5 when Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said to Him, “I will give You all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want”—he was lying! Is he kidding? Who does Satan think he was talking to? Jesus (God incarnate) could very well have quoted Jer. 27:5, which says, “With my great power and outstretched arm I made the earth and its people and the animals that are on it, and I give it to anyone I please.” Jesus knew that! After all, He’s the one who spoke these words through the prophet Jeremiah in the first place. And even He told Pilate that he would have no power to do anything unless it were given to him by God from above (Jhn. 19:11). Jesus just told Satan in this particular trial with him: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Lke. 4:8). He was getting at the heart of Satan’s problem, not who was in charge of giving what, or not! For Jesus that was a moot point. The important thing is who we worship! Jesus knew who was in charge and who gave what to whom. He was! He has been all along. Who are you going to believe? God or Satan? Many more verses could be quoted, but Jeremiah’s words should suffice. But just in case that isn't enough, read also Dan. 4:17, 25 and 32.
When Job said, “the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away” as it pleased the Lord to do so, it is automatically to be inferred that God was the author or originator of those trials (which we all now know in hindsight to be the case), and of which Satan and the wicked Sabean and Chaldean robbers were merely the instruments. Satan’s aim is to drive the saint into madness and despair; the Sabeans and Chaldeans to cruelly and sinfully make a sudden incursion to plunder another of his possessions. Job, on the other hand, acknowledges that he was deprived of all of his property, even brought to poverty, all because of the good pleasure of God’s sovereign will. And when his body was stricken as well, that too was because of the good pleasure of God's sovereign will (just like the blind man mentioned earlier).
Again, we turn to the king of Assyria whom God incited to plunder and ravage Israel of all that they possessed,
Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of My anger, in whose hand is the club of My wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. ‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says. ‘Has not Calno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus? As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’” When the Lord has finished all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes (Isa. 10:5-12).The point being here above is that whether over a godless nation such as Israel, or over a righteous servant, such as Job, God is the overarching controller of all calamities in this life. The Lord “permits” Satan (similar to Peter) to inflict His servant Job. And the Chaldeans (like the Assyrians above), who had been chosen as God’s servants to execute the deed, God hands over to the impulses and wiles of Satan, who, by pricking the hearts of these already depraved people with his poisoned darts, instigates and incites them to commit the crime. They rush furiously on to their unrighteous deeds and become in a very real sense its “guilty” perpetrators. We thus see that there is no inconsistency in attributing the same act to God, to Satan, and to man, while as to the result in the end may be a difference in mode or reason for the actions prescribed, nevertheless the spotless righteousness of God shines forth at the same time that the iniquity of Satan and of man is manifested in all of its deformity. In the end though, God gets the glory, as Paul says was the case with Pharaoh of Egypt in Romans 9:17. Thus the argument of Paul in Romans 3 against those who would argue that all of this is unfair and not of God now makes all the more sense when understood in this above light:
But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing His wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved (3:5-8).Or, in another place, such contemptible people might again argue: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists His will” (9:19). Paul just answers, “Does not the Potter have the right…” to do what He wills with His own clay? (v. 21). It is all really as simple as that!
When God “incited” David through the medium of Satan to number the children of Israel, David did not exclaim, “You made me do it. My falsehood only enhanced your truthfulness so as to increase Your glory in all of this, so why am I still condemned as a sinner!” No, David took full responsibility for his part in the ordeal, while at the same time recognizing his own sinful inadequacies, even the pride that was in his own heart. The same could be true of Samson in Judges 14:4 who wanted an ungodly Philistine wife, while at the same time it gave an occasion for God to smite the Philistines. Similarly, in David’s case, God was seeking an occasion to judge many of the Israelites, and probably even those of David’s own household for the sins that they were committing (2Sam. 24:1ff; 1Chr. 21:1ff). Seventy thousand Israelites were slain for this (2Sam. 24:15). Should we question God’s justice and wisdom in all of this? Of course not! We should not question God’s justice in all of this, just as much as those who should not have questioned Paul’s similar arguments with regards to these very same thoughts referred to by him above. Such people who are clearly “unlearned men,” and who only wrestle with such things only to their own destruction, say only what their “itching” ears want them to hear! To quote Paul above, they are using “human arguments.” Their wisdom is not from God!
In all of these examples above, we see God directing both Satan’s and men’s counsels, exciting their wills to perform His good pleasure, and regulating all their efforts as He sees fit:
Anyway, enough of all of this commentary from me for now! I said I wouldn’t spend a lot of time commenting, but would allow the book of Job to speak for itself. So let’s continue our reading of the book of Job, with just a few comments along the way! I will speak again later in greater detail at the end of all of this with some concluding thoughts.“From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place
He watches all who live on earth—
He who forms the hearts of all [cp. Pro. 21:1],
who considers everything they do
….In his heart a man plans his course,
but the Lord determines his steps”
— Psm. 33:13-15; Pro. 16:9
Chapter 2, God and Satan Contending Over Job:
“And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’ Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited Me against him to ruin him without any reason.’ ‘Skin for skin!’ Satan replied. ‘A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out Your hand and strike [lit., destroy] his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face.’ The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, ‘Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ [the very thing Satan was getting Job to do] He replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble [some trans. say “evil”]?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” (vv. 2-10).
Again, no blasphemous or sinful confessions here!
Additionally, in Job 1:9, Satan had told God that Job would not serve God “for nothing” (Heb. chinnam; Strong’s: 2600; lit., “for no reason” or “without a cause”). According to Satan, Job only served the Lord for what he got out of his relationship with the Lord. God doesn’t believe this, but nevertheless allows Satan to take away all of Job’s children and possessions anyway. And Job still worships the Lord. And after all this which occurred with Job's children and possessions, the Lord uses the same expression that Satan used against Job in 1:9, back at Satan: “…you incited Me against him to ruin him without any reason” (2:3; Heb. chinnam; Strong’s: 2600). So the Lord was basically saying to Satan, “back atcha!” And when Satan uses basically the same ploy with regards to striking Job’s body, Job still maintains his integrity—as the discourse between Job and his friends reveals—with Job even asserting the very same thing that God had told Satan right from the beginning: “Though I were innocent, I could not answer Him….He would crush me with a storm [which He did] and multiply my wounds [which He also did] for no reason” (Heb. chinnam; Strong’s: 2600).
Chapter 3, Job:
Simply put, this chapter is about Job regretting having been born. What he feared in verse 25 that was to follow in verse 26 of: no peace, no quietness, or rest—but only turmoil—has now come upon him. But, according to God or Satan, this wasn’t the reason (as we all with hindsight now know) why Job was afflicted. Remember! God had said there was “no reason” in Job (2:3), and that he was “blameless” (1:8; 2:3). And those words from God’s own lips mean just that! “Blameless” means “blameless,” and “for no reason” means just that: “for no reason.” David also describes what a “blameless” man is: “I have been blameless before [or with] Him, and have kept myself from sin” (Psm. 18:23). And David also describes for us what “no reason” means; and it just might as well have been Job speaking:
Those who hate me without reason [Heb. chinnam; Strong’s: 2600] outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal....Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst....For they persecute those You wound and talk about the pain of those You hurt (Psm. 69:4, 20-21, 26).Let’s set the record straight here once and for all. Job’s “fear” was after the fact. “After the fact” that God had already said that Job was “blameless” and that there was “no reason” in Job for the calamities to befall him; otherwise, God would have said that his “fear” was the reason and that Satan had all the right to go after Job like he did. Satan didn’t even bring it up as a reason either! So let’s not do so either. Enough of such nonsense. Do the faith teachers have a handle on something about Job that neither God nor Satan saw in him? I don’t think so. Away with such foolish talk of Job's fear being the reason for his plight!
Chapters 4-5, Eliphaz's complaint:
“Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope? Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of His anger they perish….Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth” (4:6-9; 5:2-5).
Chapters 6-7, Job's answer:
“The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me….Then I would still have this consolation—my joy in unrelenting pain—that I had not denied the words of the Holy One….Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?…But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake….What is man that you [O Lord] make so much of him, that You give him so much attention, that You examine him every morning and test him every moment?” (6:4, 10, 24-25, 28-29; 7:17-18).
Chapter 8, Bildad's complaint:
“Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right? When your children sinned against Him, He gave them over to the penalty of their sin. But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty, if you are pure and upright, even now He will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place….Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless….Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers” (vv. 3-6, 13, 20).
Chapters 9-10, Job's answer:
“Though I were innocent, I could not answer Him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy. Even if I summoned Him and He responded, I do not believe He would give me a hearing. He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds FOR NO REASON [remember: God had likewise affirmed that it was for “no reason,” 2:3]. He would not let me regain my breath but would overwhelm me with misery….Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’ When a scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent. When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?…though You know that I am not guilty and that no one can rescue me from Your hand?” (9:15-18, 21-24; 10:7).
Chapter 11, Zophar's complaint:
“You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in Your sight.’ Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that He would open his lips against you [but, au contraire, in the end God opens His lips against them]….If He comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose Him? Surely He recognizes deceitful men; and when He sees evil, does He not take note?…if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear….But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; their hope will become a dying gasp” (vv. 4-5, 10-11, 14-15, 20).
Chapters 12-14, Job's answer:
“I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called upon God and He answered—a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless! Men at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping….What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released….Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him; I will surely defend my ways to His face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would dare come before Him!…You [God] fasten my feet in shackles; You keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet….Man’s days are determined; You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed….If a man dies, will he live again?…All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come” (12:4-5, 14; 13:15-16, 27; 14:5, 14).
***********************
“You…smear me with lies;
you are worthless physicians, all of you!”
— Job 13:4
**************
Chapter 15, Eliphaz's complaint:
“But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God. Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty….All his days [only] the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless through all the years stored up for him. Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him….He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land” (vv. 4-5, 20-21, 29).
Chapters 16-17, Job's answer:
“God has turned me over to evil men and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked. All was well with me, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;…Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger” (16:11-12; 17:9).
Chapter 18, Bildad's complaint:
“The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning. The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out. The vigor of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down. His feet thrust him into a net and he wanders into its mesh. A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast. A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in his path. Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step. Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls. It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs….His roots dry up below and his branches wither above” (vv. 5-13, 16).
Chapter 19, Job's answer:
“He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has shrouded my paths in darkness….He tears me down on every side till I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree….Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me….you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment” (vv. 8, 10, 21, 28, 29). [There would have been “judgment” for them, if in the end they had not sacrificed the burnt offerings “for themselves” as God had commanded them, 42:7-8].
“But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God. Your sin prompts your mouth; you adopt the tongue of the crafty….All his days [only] the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless through all the years stored up for him. Terrifying sounds fill his ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him….He will no longer be rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the land” (vv. 4-5, 20-21, 29).
Chapters 16-17, Job's answer:
“God has turned me over to evil men and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked. All was well with me, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has made me his target;…Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger” (16:11-12; 17:9).
Chapter 18, Bildad's complaint:
“The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning. The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out. The vigor of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down. His feet thrust him into a net and he wanders into its mesh. A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare holds him fast. A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in his path. Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step. Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls. It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs….His roots dry up below and his branches wither above” (vv. 5-13, 16).
Chapter 19, Job's answer:
“He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; He has shrouded my paths in darkness….He tears me down on every side till I am gone; He uproots my hope like a tree….Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me….you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment” (vv. 8, 10, 21, 28, 29). [There would have been “judgment” for them, if in the end they had not sacrificed the burnt offerings “for themselves” as God had commanded them, 42:7-8].
***********************
“…How we will hound him,
since the root of the trouble lies in him”
— Job 19:28
***************
Chapter 20, Zophar's complaint:
“A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath. Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God” (vv. 28-29).
Chapter 21, Job's answer:
“Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me….Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them. Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry….They spend their years in prosperity….Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways’….But their prosperity is not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked. Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? [a response to Bildad’s earlier statement in 18:5] How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me….Have you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their accounts—that the evil man is spared from the day of calamity, that he is delivered from the day of wrath? Who denounces his conduct to his face? Who repays him for what he has done?” (vv. 2, 7-10, 13a, 14, 16-17, 27, 29-31).
Chapter 22, Eliphaz's complaint:
“What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would He gain if your ways were blameless? [Eliphaz has got to be kidding, right? He’s not!] Is it for your piety that He rebukes you and brings charges against you? Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless? You demanded security from your brothers for no reason; you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked. You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry, though you were a powerful man, owning land—an honored man, living on it. And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless….If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent” (vv. 3-9, 23).
Chapters 23-24, Job's answer:
“Would He oppose me with great power? No, He would not press charges against me [we know this is true based upon what God said about Job to Satan from the beginning]. There an upright man could present his case before Him, and I would be delivered forever from my Judge….But He knows the way that I take [He sure did Job! He sure did!]; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread….But He stands alone, and who can oppose Him? He does whatever He pleases. He carries out His decree against me; and many such plans He still has in store” (23:6-7, 10-14).
Chapter 25, Bildad's complaint:
“How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?” (v. 4).
Chapters 26-31, Job's answer:
“I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity. I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live….[Job now, going forward, refutes Eliphaz’s earlier statements in chap. 22]: Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow’s heart sing. I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth….When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them….Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence….let God weigh me in honest scales and He will know that I am blameless [He does Job, He does!]….If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless—but from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my birth I guided the widow—if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment, and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things. If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’ if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high. If I have rejoiced at my enemy’s misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him—I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against his life—if the men of my household have never said, ‘Who has not had his fill of Job’s meat?’—but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler—if I have concealed my sin as men do, by hiding my guilt in my heart because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside—“Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing” (27:5-6; 29:11-17, 24; 30:11; 31:6, 16-35).
Chapters 32-37, Elihu's complaint:
“So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes [they thought it was just “in his own eyes,” but he was righteous in God’s eyes as well]. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God [Job was justifying God]….He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him….Job says, ‘I am innocent, but God denies me justice. Although I am right, I am considered a liar; although I am guiltless, His arrow inflicts an incurable wound’….So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong" (32:1-3; 34:5-6, 10).
Remember, it was Job who had not charged God foolishly in attributing “evil” (or what seems like wrong doing) from the hand of God (cf. Job 2:10). Scripture affirms everywhere that “evil” does in fact come indirectly from the hand of the Lord (cp. Isa. 45:7; Jer. 32:42; Lam. 3:38; 1Sam. 16:14-16; 1Kin. 22:19-23). It is Elihu, and those like him today, who are “charging God foolishly” by saying He doesn’t do such things. Such people, in essence, are denying that God even sovereignly controls all the evil that comes to pass, and that only “good” things come from the Lord. Joseph didn’t see it that way though.[2] So, in essence, Elihu is rebuking Job for claiming his innocence and for stating “shall we not receive evil from the Lord?”
Not too long ago I listened to a two-part sermon on YouTube by John Piper on Job entitled, Job: When The Righteous Suffer.[3] Part one was excellent, but part two was completely out of character for John Piper to say what he said about Job in accusing him of some sin in his life, just as Job’s three friends had done. In part two Piper asserts unequivocally and unflinchingly that Elihu spoke correctly concerning Job, quoting only chapter 33, verses 9-12, as if Elihu was correct in protesting Job’s innocence, and that Job was wrong in claiming it. In chapters 34-36, which Piper glosses over entirely, Elihu repeats the same verbal garbage as Jobs’ three friends had done. Just listen to what Elihu says,
“What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water? He keeps company with evildoers; he associates with wicked men….He [God] repays a man for what he has done; He brings upon him what his conduct deserves. It is unthinkable that God would do wrong, that the Almighty would pervert justice.…He [God] punishes them for their wickedness where everyone can see them, because they turned from following Him and had no regard for any of His ways….Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent?….Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost for answering like a wicked man! To his [Job’s] sin he adds rebellion; scornfully he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God….He [God] does not answer when men cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked….He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights. He [God] does not take his eyes off the righteous; He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever [evidently Job was “not” righteous since he wasn’t in such an “exalted” position]. But if men are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, He [God] tells them what they have done—that they have sinned arrogantly….The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He fetters them….But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have taken hold of you….Beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction” (34:7-8, 11-12, 26-27, 33, 36-37; 35:12; 36:7-9, 13, 17, 21).
Does all that sound like a man who got it right, as Piper contends, concerning the reasons for Job’s plight? Not on your life! All of these men, including Piper, are not speaking right concerning God’s servant Job. In their minds, there must be some little inkling of sin somewhere in Job’s life that needs to be brought to the surface here in order to be repented of, and thus one of the reasons why God was allowing all these things to befall Job. But, again, God had in the beginning of all of this said there was “no reason” in Job for these calamities (2:3). So let’s quit making some, when there were NONE!
Chapters 38-41, the Lord speaks to Job:
“Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?…Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who accuses God answer Him!....Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?” (38:2; 40:2, 8).
Chapter 42, Job's answer:
“I know that You can [and will] do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted….[You asked,] ‘Who is this that obscures My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know….[You said,] ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer Me’….Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. [not for any evil deeds that he had done, but for speaking presumptuously about what is just, or not just, for God to do]….After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has”….After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble [some translations say, “the evil”] THE LORD had brought upon him…” (vv. 2-3, 6-8, 10-11).
As one can readily see, Job was vindicated by God, proving all along that what God had originally said about Job to Satan about him being “blameless,” “upright,” a man of “integrity,” and one who “shunned evil.” Job had likewise been affirming all along to his accusers: “I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live” (27:6).
If one learns anything in all of this, it is this: God in His wisdom is “just” in allowing, or disallowing, calamities or judgments to fall upon us as He so perfectly sees fit. Job had said, “As surely as God lives, who has denied my justice” (27:2). But God replies, “Would you discredit My justice” in what I allow or disallow to happen in your life? Would you “condemn” My actions, just in order “to justify yourself” that you are, in yourself, unworthy of such calamities? God was affirming to Job that all His actions are “just,” thus the text says that Job “repented” in dust and ashes (expressing humility) for what he had said regarding God’s justice in allowing all these things to come into his life, regardless of whether he was undeserving or not. Job realized that God can do whatever He pleases, and for whatever reasons. Who was he to question God’s justice?
Additionally, to question God about something is not a sin! Job was not “sinning” for questioning God’s justice in all of this. In other words, his repentance did not mean, as some suppose, that he was repenting of some sin. For the same Hebrew word “niham” (naw-kham in Strong's) is used not only for repentance from sin, but is also repeatedly used of God repenting or having a change of mind concerning a previous disposition, choice, or decision He had made (cf. Gen. 6:6-7; Ex. 32:14; 1Sam. 15:35, KJV et al) and not because of sin at all. In similar fashion, Job’s repentance was a “change of mind” about a previous disposition he had about God’s justice. Nothing more is to be ascertained from all of this. Job was “blameless” of any sin right to the very end. He didn't have to make any sacrifices for himself, but for his friends.
Some suppose that Job displayed the sin of pride (or arrogance), but there is nothing in the immediate text to substantiate such a claim. It is just more people still trying to find some more “dirt” in Job; and they will not relent until they come up with some (similar to Job’s misguided friends). But just the opposite is asserted by God: Job spoke correctly about God, while his friends did not. And for this they (not Job) were judged by God and ordered to offer sacrifices for their “folly.” Job, on the other hand, was to pray for them.
At the very beginning God had said there was “no reason” in Job for the trials that befell him. It was not: “Yeah, Satan, you’re right! There is some reason in Job that I can foresee on down the road; his sin of pride and arrogance. So, go ahead, strike his livelihood and body so we can bring this evil attitude up to the surface.” But from the very beginning “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly….In all this did not Job sin with his lips” (Job. 1:22; 2:10, ASV). And in the end God continues to validate Job: “You [Job's friends] have not spoken of Me what is right as my servant Job has.” In all this Job had still not sinned with his lips or charged God foolishly! He stood up to the test for which he was being proven for. And not only does God back-up what Job had said about Him, but He continues to honor him with the accolade: My servant! Job “served” God faithfully in all his house right to the bitter end in both word and in deed unlike his friends, and even unlike his very own wife; God affirming of him all along that which was true right from the start: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless [not guilty] and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (1:8; 2:3). So away with such foolish talk and false accusations! Such people are not speaking right as God’s servant Job has truly done so, and as God himself has attested of Job.
Consider also this fact for a moment: Job did not have to make any sacrifices for any sins that he had committed, but only for the sins of his friends. To Eliphaz the Temanite, the Lord had said, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (42:7-8).
God said, “you” have not spoken of Me what is right, so now, “take…for yourselves” seven bulls and seven rams…and I will “not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has.”
So the big question now is: What was their “folly” that God said He was going to deal with them for? What was so sinful that required an atonement and prayer for such folly (i.e., sin)? The answer is in the things that they had said about God! What they said was false, and what Job had said was true. One was sinning for what they had said, while the other (Job) was not. One was giving a false witness, while the other was speaking truthfully. The sin was the breaking of the 9th commandment of lying. And although such a commandment had not been given yet, God let them know that they were bearing “false witness” against Him and against their neighbor Job. And if God said such a sin was to be judged, then so be it! If they did what He asked them to do, they would be spared any future harm; any future judgment that Job had earlier warned them about in Job 19:29.
Adam Clarke notes here:
This is a full proof of the innocence and integrity of Job: a more decided one could not be given, that the accusations of his friends, and their bitter speeches, were as untrue as they were malevolent. God thus clears his character, and confounds their devices….For supposing the friends of Job to argue that the righteous are never afflicted without remedy here, nor the wicked prosperous on the whole in this life, which is a wrong representation of God's providence; and Job to argue, on the other hand, that the righteous are sometimes afflicted here, and that without remedy, but shall be rewarded in the life to come; and that the wicked prosper here, but shall be punished hereafter, which is the true representation of the Divine proceedings; and here is a very apparent difference in the drift of the one’s discourse, and of the others.’ For Job, in this view, speaks worthily of God, and the rest unworthily (Comments under Job 42:7-8).It is of interest also to note here that the common Hebrew words for repentance, such as “niham” (Strong’s #5162) which means “to repent” or to have “a change of mind,” or “shuwb” (Strong’s #7725) which means “to turn”―along with the Greek words used for repentance, such as “metanoia” (which is a noun), “metanoeo” and “metamelomai” (which are verbs), and “ametameletos” (which is an adjective) and which also denote "to repent" (ie., to have "a change of mind") or "to regret"―are all used interchangeably to denote either a change of mind or turning away from sin, or a change of mind or turning away from something other than sin. These two ideas with regards to these Hebrew and Greek words are a given, and for which there is no argument. There is no disputing these facts.
W. E. Vine writes:
In the O.T., repentance with a reference to sin is not so prominent as that change of mind or purpose… (Vine’s Expos. Dict. of Old and New Testament Words, vol. 3, p. 280).On the back of Vine’s comments, Walter Elwell additionally notes:
In the OT, the verb “repent” (niham) occurs about 35 times. It is usually used to signify a contemplated change [of mind] in God’s dealings with men….In five places niham refers to human repentance or relenting [although Elwell doesn’t mention where it denotes “relenting,” there is only one likely place—in Job]. The LXX translates niham with [the Gk. verbs] metanoeo and metamelomai…. However, the background of the NT idea of repentance lies not primarily in niham…but rather in sub [pronounced, shuwb], meaning “to turn back, away from, or toward” in the religious sense. The LXX consistently translates sub with epistrepho and apostrepho. (Evangelical Dict. of Theology, p. 936).The Theological Wordbook of the OT adds to Elwell’s thoughts here:
The majority of these instances [of “niham”] refer to God’s repentance, not man’s [though it is used infrequently of men also]. The word most frequently employed to indicate man’s repentance is shub…meaning “to turn”….But this is not to absolutely affirm that the verb “sub” always necessitates this meaning “to turn from evil,” because when studied in its well over 1,000 occurrences, it does not. The verb “to turn” denotes various forms of turning of someone or something from one thing or another, and not just from sin.
The twelfth most frequently used verb in the OT [‘shub’], appearing just over 1,050 times…better than any other verb [such as ‘niham’] it combines in itself the two requisites of repentance: to turn from evil and to turn to the good (vol. 2, pp. 571, 909).
What is most pertinent to our study here in all of this, is the fact while some will try to maintain that the Hebrew nahum for “repent” in the Old Testament when used of men always denotes them having repented of sin, including Job (so they say), the Greek words used by the LXX (the Greek Septuagint) for this word are clearly used in a few cases in the New Testament of no repentance by men from sin at all. In fact, the Greek usages in the New Testament are used for both God and of men of having not repented of any sin, but of only having a change of mind; or even of not having a change of mind about something other for than sin. This is important to realize. For as the word for repentance in the Old Testament is clearly used of God in a non-sinning manner, its Greek equivalents, as used by the LXX, and cross-referenced and compared with their New Testament usages and counterparts, substantiate that these words are also used of men in a non-sinning manner as well. The following are some examples:
1. In Mat. 21:29, the verb metamelomai is used in a parable by Christ for illustrative purposes with regards to an individual who did not repent from sin, but had a change of mind about not working for his father; whereas later, in v. 32, Jesus uses the same word for the priests and elders for having not repented of their sin at the preaching of John the Baptist. Jesus said to the priests and the elders,
There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, "Son, go and work today in the vineyard." "I will not," he answered, but later he changed his mind [verb: metamelÄ“theis] and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted? “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent [verb: metemelÄ“thÄ“te] and believe him” (vv. 28-32, NIV; the ISV translates this latter phrase with the English words: “you didn't change your minds and believe him”).2. Similarly, the verb metamelomai is used in a non-sinful way concerning Paul in 2Cor. 7:8, who says,
For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent [verb: metamelomai], though I did repent [verb: metemelomÄ“n]: for I perceive that the same letter has made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance [noun: metanoian]: for you were made sorry after a godly manner…” (vv. 8-9, AKJV).The verse better reads in the NLT: “I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while. Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow [lit., grief] God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way” (vv. 8-9). Again, we see the terms used interchangeably here for sin, or not for sin.
3. In Heb. 7:21, the Greek verb for repentance (or even a “change of mind”) is used of God having not repented of a prior promise: “For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said to him, ‘The Lord swore and will not repent [metamelÄ“thÄ“setai], You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec’” (AKJV). The NAS and ESV translate this as: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind.”
4. The Greek noun mentioned earlier above, metanoia, is used repeatedly of repentance from sin or evil in the New Testament, except for one instance in Heb. 12:17. And as noted earlier in the Old Testament, it is used in the LXX in translating the Hebrew “nihum” which is sometimes used of God not repenting of sin. Here, in Heb. 12:17, it denotes Esau not being able to obtain a change of mind with regards to sin, but with regards to his father Isaac having a change of mind in giving him the blessing rather than to Jacob, even though Esau sought it with tears. Isaac recognized the divine hand of God behind his blessing of Jacob, and would not change it with regards to Esau, exclaiming of Jacob: “…indeed he will be blessed” (Gen. 27:33b). It was a done deal that was set in stone! Indeed, before even the children were born, Rebekah was told, “The older [Esau] will serve the younger [Jacob]” (Rom. 9:12; cf. Gen. 25:23). Clearly, Isaac had realized in blessing Jacob: Who was he to overturn or change what God had purposed to be done? The event was of the Lord—decreed by Him!
William R. Newell seems to capture the true essence and meaning that is to be derived from this verse here in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews. After first quoting the Revised Standard version below, he follows upon it with some added commentary of his own:
For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind in his father (Gen. 27:33, 40), though he sought it (the despised blessing) diligently with tears.Even E. Schuyler English acknowledges along with Newell above:
This Revised Version change from the King James reading is correct. It is strange that some excellent commentators have translated metanoia, change of mind, as “repentance,” and made it mean a spiritual state which Esau strove to attain and could not. No doubt the will of God, which Isaac clearly knew, was behind his words to Esau: “I have blessed him [Jacob]…yea, and he shall be blessed…I have made him thy lord…Thou shalt serve thy brother” (Gen. 27:33, 37, 40). But Esau was not seeking God, or repentance from sin, but a lost birthright, and the blessing it would have brought (Hebrews Verse by Verse, p. 416).
The statement may be clarified if we change it slightly, conforming more to the rendition of the Revised Version: “for he found in his father no place for a change of mind, though he sought the blessing zealously, with tears.” It was not that Esau himself could not repent. He could have repented [indeed he tried to change what was done] and he may have done so sincerely, but it is more likely that he simply suffered remorse….Neither was it repentance that he sought with tears, but the blessing. Esau desired that his father should repent, should change his mind, so that Isaac would revoke the blessing that he had given to Jacob and bestow it upon Esau after all. It was too late… (Studies in the Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 465-466).A. T. Robertson also adds here with regards to this verse:
Metanoia is change of mind and purpose, not sorrow though he had tears…He sought it (auten, the blessing eulgian) with tears, but in vain. There was no change of mind in Isaac. The choice was irrevocable as Isaac shows (Gen. 27:33). (Word Pictures in the NT, vol. 5, p. 438).Marcus Dods, in the Expositor’s Greek Testament, also concurs with Robertson:
The term ‘repentance’ is here used not strictly of mere change of mind, but of a change of mind undoing the effects of a former state of mind” (Davidson). In other words, his bargain was irrevocable. The words must be interpreted by the narrative in Genesis (xxxvii. 1-41), where we read that some time after the sale of the birthright…Esau sought the blessing with tears…but found his act was unalterable. The lesson written on Esau’s life as on that of all who miss opportunities is that the past is irreparable, and however much they may desire to recall and alter it, that cannot be. It was this that the writer wished to enforce. If now, through any temptation or pressure, you let go the benefits you have in Christ, you are committing yourselves to an act you cannot recall (The Epistle to the Hebrews, vol. 4, p. 370).What a wonderful truth to grab hold of! Our wrong decisions sometimes cause us to have missed opportunities that would have been ours for the taking. We need to cast off double-mindedness, self restraints, and the sins that can so easily beset us and that can bring detours into our life (even missed opportunities), and begin to run with patience the race that is set before us, along with the vision that God has placed within our hearts, with no man doubting.
Albert Barnes likewise buttresses all of the above thoughts, by saying:
For he found no place of repentance - Margin, “Way to change his mind,” That is, no place for repentance “in the mind of Isaac,” or no way to change his mind. It does not mean that Esau earnestly sought to repent and could not, but that when once the blessing had passed the lips of his father, he found it impossible to change it (Barne’s Notes online under Hebrews 12 at: www.biblehub.com).And last, but not least, Adam Clarke likewise affirms:
Repentance - Here μετανοια is not to be taken in a theological sense, as implying contrition for sin, but merely change of mind or purpose; nor does the word refer here to Esau at all, but to his father, whom Esau could not, with all his tears and entreaties, persuade to reverse what he had done. I have blessed him, said he, yea, and he must be blessed; I cannot reverse it now (Adam Clarke’s Commentary online under Hebrews 12 at: www.biblehub.com).So, as we can see from above, the Hebrew and Greek words for “repent,” “to have a change of mind,” or “to turn” do not just necessarily have as a reference point some sin in one’s life; the words are used in a much broader sense than that. And in light of all this, there is no conclusive evidence that God’s servant Job repented of a sin to be repented of. To say that the words mean repentance from sin when used of men, but not when used of God, is just simply not true. People have a change of mind or action about non-sinful things spoken or done everyday. So did Job!
Job had stopped questioning God’s justice. He had a change of mind for the better. And he had come to know the Lord much better (as I’m sure his friends did as well). And Job embraces the Lord’s correction of him in this matter and enjoys the Lord’s rich, abundant blessings once again. Job still didn’t have all the answers; and at this point he knew nothing about the wager between God and Satan. All he knew was that he had to just simply trust that there was something at stake that was far more greater than his own personal happiness—his integrity to God through it all no matter what!
The book of Job does not disown any form of retributive judgments from God, but rather it disowns a simplistic, mathematical and precise approach to any instantaneous applications or formulas for such retributions, or even successes. It high-handedly rejects any formula which affirms that believers will always prosper and that unbelievers will not. Neither notion is an absolute in the Bible; even life attests to this fact that even the lamp of the wicked isn't always "snuffed out." There are reasons why things are the way they are for no other reason than for God’s sovereign purposes and plans in them all. Regardless of the circumstance, we must at all costs worship and praise our God in the midst of all of our trials—in everything we are to give thanks! For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
In conclusion, we are not to question the Master Potter by saying, “What doest thou?” We are not to question Him concerning the work of His hands! That was the truth that John the Baptist had to embrace when he questioned if Jesus was really who He said He was. And that was the wonderful truth that Joseph came to realize as well. In the end, Joseph saw a sovereign God who had sent him before his brothers to preserve lives and to be a shining trophy of God’s grace and love that must have affected his brother’s and other’s lives tremendously—as I’m sure Job’s life did as well—and still does to this day! The one thing that Job and his friends came to realize was this: the righteous do sometimes suffer, whether we think it is just or not. The cruel mistreatment by Joseph’s brothers, and the false accusations by Job’s friends, all worked for the betterment of others that would follow in their footsteps to embrace suffering for righteousness sake―rather than just to resist or rebuke―and to become all the better for our trials, rather than bitter; to see "the good" in all things working together for God’s glory, and not necessarily just for our own glory.
There is “a purpose for everything under heaven!” (Ecc. 3:1, 17; 8:6). At the time that the events of Job took place, no one seemed to really understand that—thus the need for the book of Job!
“Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future for the man of peace” — Psm. 37:37 NIV
********
“Behold,
we consider those blessed
who remained steadfast.
You have heard of the steadfastness of Job,
and you have seen the purpose of the Lord,
how the Lord is compassionate and merciful”
— Jas. 5:11, ESV
Footnotes:
[1] Patrick Fairbairn writes regarding this remarkable passage of Scripture:
The sword of the Lord’s judgment, he announced, was to pass through the land, and accomplish such a sweeping overthrow, that all, without exception, would be made to suffer in the fearful catastrophe.* This did not prevent, however, but that there might be, in the midst of the outward calamities, which were thus to burst like a mighty tempest over the land, a vigilant oversight maintained, and special interpositions of Providence exercised, in behalf of the pious remnant, who still continued faithful to the covenant of God. It was this distinguishing goodness to some, even amid the horrors of a general desolation, which, as we showed before, was the real object of that sealing of God's servants on the forehead in a former vision [cf. 9:4]; while here, on the other hand, it is merely the general desolation itself which is contemplated by the prophet….It is obvious, too, that the description given even of the general desolation, must be understood with some limitation. For, that the sword should literally be unsheathed against all flesh from north to south in the land, and should cut off or destroy all within its borders, whether righteous or wicked, would not only be at variance with the other prophecies of Ezekiel, but would even not consist with the sequel of this prediction itself, which, as we shall see, still speaks of a purpose of mercy in behalf of the covenant-people. But undoubtedly he wished to convey the impression of a very fearful and overwhelming destruction. (An Exposition of Ezekiel, pp. 233-234)*One need only think of such righteous men as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel who were also overcome by the desolations of the land along with the rest of the people, yet they themselves were spared judgment. The Lord had told Ezekiel earlier, “Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord….Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its men and their animals, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved….There will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought upon it. You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (14:13-14, 17-18, 22-23).
Matthew Henry also adds here with regards to Ezk. 24:21: “It is a sword to others, a rod [of correction] to the people of the Lord.”
Keil and Del. similarly add:
The sword will cut off both righteous and wicked. This applies to the outer side of the judgment, inasmuch as both good and bad fall in war. This is the only aspect brought into prominence here, since the great purpose was to alarm the sinners, who were boasting of their security; but the distinction between the two, as described in Ezk. 9:4, is not therefore to be regarded as no longer existing. (accessed online at: www.biblehub.com).[2] God has ordained that the sinful actions of others (that of Joseph’s brothers, the schemes of Potiphar’s wife, the decisions of the Jews to kill Christ in Acts 2:27-28, and even Judas’ betrayal ) all work together for His good and for His glory. This makes Him neither the author of their sin, responsible for their sin, or the one who personally tempts them to sin as in James 1:12-16. Furthermore, it must be understood here also that James is not talking about the outward temptations (also known as “tests” and “trials”) that come in life and are ordained and sent by God for our good, but James is talking about the inward temptations, desires, and volition to sin. James is saying that this fleshly desire to sin is “not from God” or “not from above,” but based upon the lustful desires of our own flesh. To be sure, Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness “to be tempted of the Devil” (Mat. 4:1); and Jesus said Satan had asked permission from God to sift Peter as wheat (Lke. 22:31); in Rev. 2:10, Jesus says, “the devil will put some of you in prison to test you”, i.e. to tempt them to become unfaithful to God. But Jesus exhorts them to “be faithful, even unto death.” In 2Sam. 24:1 it says that “the anger of the Lord burned against Israel” and so He incited David to number the children of Israel (through the medium of Satan, 1Chr. 21:1) so that the Lord could have an occasion to slay 70,000 of them (v. 15). David even understood such actions by God when he says to Saul, “If the Lord has incited you against me, then may He accept an offering. If however, it is just men who have done it, may they be cursed before the Lord” (1Sam. 26:19). Either way, David knew that such things come from the Lord, but if it wasn’t God’s will that his life be taken by another man, then he was just saying may their own thoughts be turned against them as a curse upon themselves. This verse in no way implies that it is just the actions of men that do such things. David understood God’s sovereignty and knew better than that, and the Scriptures attest to this fact everywhere. In fact, it was David who even said of the cursings of Shimei towards him: “If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’” (2Sam. 16:10).
In 1Ki. 22:19-23, we also see with regards to outward temptations that are sent by the Lord where the Lord asks the angels standing all around Him, “Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?” (v. 20). Verse 21 then says, “One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. ‘I will go and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’” Need we say anymore? Let God’s own words have the last word on all of this. The Lord sent “lying,” tempting spirits to “entice” Ahab to believe a lie and not the truth of the prophet Micah. And if that isn’t enough, I have a couple of more verses to share. In Judges 4:7, God says, “I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishbon River and give him into your hands.” What was going on behind the scenes here is exactly the same thing that has been always going on in heaven, as pictured for us above in 1Kings 22. And this was even seen in the first two chapters of the book of Job as well.
Consider also this fact that God says of Gog in Ezk. 38:4, “I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army…” Again, this is a remarkable passage of Scripture. God says, “I will turn you.” First of all God says, “I will” do something. What is He going to do? He is going to “turn” this evil leaders heart just as Proverbs 21:1 instructs us: “the king’s heart is in the hands of the Lord, and as the rivers of water, He turns it withersoever He wills.” Now let us read what the Hebrew expositor’s Keil and Delitzsch have to say on this verse. It is quite remarkable. And we will see that this agrees with all of the testimony of Scripture that has been given up to this point concerning these marvelous ways of God:
God will deal with Gog, to sanctify Himself upon him by means of judgment…He therefore misleads him to an attack upon the people of Israel…Here [the Hebrew word] means to lead or bring away from his previous attitude, i.e. to mislead or seduce, in the sense of enticing to a dangerous enterprise….The passage in Rev. 20:8, ‘to deceive the nations’…corresponds to these words so far as the material sense is concerned, with this exception, that Satan is mentioned as the seducer of the nations in the Apocalypse, whereas Ezekiel gives prominence to the leading of God, which controls the manifestations even of evil, so that these two passages stand in the same relation to one another as 2Sam. 24:1 and 1Chr. 21:1 (Ezekiel, pp. 161-162).Notice also how in 2Ths. 2:11 it says that “God sends them a strong delusion so that they might believe a lie.” Is this to be considered any differently than what was portrayed for us in 1Kings 22? Of course not. According to Paul, God is sovereignly controlling everything here, just as He has always done in all of those other instances mentioned above as well.
Consider also Rev. 17:17, which says, “For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled.” Oh the wonderful ways of our marvelous and Sovereign Lord! Who can stay His hand, or say to Him, “What doest thou?” All things are truly by Him, through Him, and for Him. Truly “the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever…” (Deut. 29:29).
[3] See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evGKcHyzKQU&feature=channel.
