Job 25-27
Wisdom or Weeds
Eliphaz has made his third accusation in Chapter 22 and in Chapter 25. Bildad makes his final statement in which he says man is a maggot and the son of man a worm so how can a man be just with God? It is interesting that the term “son of man” is used here by Bildad. Jesus used this term to describe Himself eighty times. It means He is the representative of man in connection with His mission from God. As we see here, it is also used in the Old Testament. In the book of Ezekiel the term is used ninety two times. The prophesies from God given to Ezekiel were meant to represent God to the people who were exiled in Babylon. Ezekiel was also an exile and thus could represent man. Job, Ezekiel, and ultimately Jesus with His death and resurrection, not only spoke the Word but also demonstrated the Word with their lives. They represent man because we can relate to them and they to us.
In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus taught the parable of the wheat and the tares and explained it in verse 36-43. Springing forth from the seeds are sons of either the kingdom or the sons of the evil one based on which word (or seed) is believed.
In Chapter 26 Job exhibits amazing wisdom that could only have been received from God. Yet in Chapter 27 it seems the tares are crowding in. (You can read about this in Matthew 13:1-23, the Parable of the Sower.)
Job knows the truth but his attitude toward God has changed based on the hardship of his situation and the critical accusations of his so called friends. In defending himself his pride is growing based on what he has done. He is starting to believe that indeed the righteous are supposed to be blessed and therefore God has treated him unjustly. Through Job’s friends and what they believe Satan has set a trap where Job is being tripped up in his thinking and God will have to deal with him. He is no longer depending on his faith in God. He thinks God has failed him. So he is moving toward putting his faith in what he has done. This is faith in works, the same thing the religious rulers did in Jesus’s day, which blinded them to who Jesus was.
We need to be careful who we listen to and where we get our wisdom from. Satan’s attacks on Job were over after Chapter 2 but the deception was where the real battle was waged. It was not what happened to Job physically where the main battle was fought. That was a harsh distraction. The real battle was being waged in the mind. Satan knows we will follow our heart and our heart relies on what we feed our mind. From our heart come our words and actions. Don’t let Satan distract and deceive, rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:1&2
Get your wisdom from God’s Word and put your faith in Him!
Pastor Dave