SoulFeast

Job 28:20-37:24

“God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.” Job 28:31

SolFest is an annual event, which takes place at the Solar Living institute in Hopland, California, 90 miles north of San Francisco. There are over 60 panelists and workshop presenters who speak on Food and Farming, Renewable Energy, The Natural Home, Sustainable Living, Post-Petroleum Preparation and more.

The Author of our SoulFeast is God!

He is the “Author” and “Giver” of Wisdom! He who made the world, and established all its laws, must know how to administer its affairs? – Job 28:25
The word of God is simple enough to bless the heart of the densest believer and at the same time, profound enough to challenge the brain of the wisest believer. It is both - milk for the babe and meat for the man!
At this junction in my walk with God, I recall one other time where I was enjoying a continual “Soul-Feast.” Being in the Scriptures each day is what a good Christian should be doing. After all, as our Preacher has stated, “A Great Christian Is a Good Christian Daily!” Having your face in His word and “Feasting” on them, is a whole new level in the Christian life.

You can have a meal prepared for you, but unless you pick up the cutlery and start to devour it, you will never know how it tastes, or how much you can enjoy the morsels. It satisfies more than just your eyes!

Chapter 28
There is a two-fold wisdom in these verses;
The Knowledge of God’s Secret Will – Chapter 28:28 “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” The knowledge Job first speaks of is the particulars of what God will do hereafter, and the reasons of what he is doing now.
This Know is Hidden In God - But God does all according to the purpose which he purposed in himself, and which he never alters. Men sometimes do that which they cannot give a good reason for.

In every will of God there is a counsel: he knows both what he does and why he does it, the whole series of events and the order and place of every occurrence. This knowledge he has in perfection, but keeps to himself.

These verses teach us that God is;
Omniscient; how little do we know of what is doing in the world, much less of what will be done? But the eyes of the Lord are in every place; nay, they run to and fro through the earth. Nothing is, or can be, hidden from him; and therefore the reasons why some wicked people prosper remarkably and others are remarkably punished in this world (which are secret to us), are known to him. He sees the whole at one entire and certain view, and is a competent Judge of every part.
He is omnipotent; He can do every thing, and is very exact in all he does. For proof of this Job mentions the winds and waters, Job 28:25. What is lighter than the wind? Yet God hath ways of poising it. The waters of the sea, and the rain-waters, he both weighs and measures, allotting the proportion of every tide and every shower.
Chapter 29
Job looks back to the days of his prosperity, and shows;
1. What comfort and satisfaction he had in his house and family Vs.1-6 “…When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;”
2. What a great deal of honor and power he had in his country, and what respect was paid to him by all sorts of people – Vs.7-10 “…The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up…”
3. What abundance of good he did in his place, as a magistrate – Vs. 11-17 “…I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem...” Job's righteousness especially characterized him.
4. What a just prospect he had of the continuance of his comfort at home – Vs.18-20 “…My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand.” The bow is an emblem of strength, and a means of defense. The meaning is - he was kept constantly strong.
5. His interest abroad – Vs.21-25 “…After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them.” Job’s words were pleasant to them.
Chapter 30
What became most apparent to me was how grievous his bodily diseases were;
· He was full of pain, piercing pain, pain that went to the bone, to all his bones – Vs.30:17 His nerves were affected with strong convulsions; his sinews took no rest. By reason of his pain, he could take no rest, but sleep departed from his eyes.
· His bones were burnt with heat – Vs.30:30
· He was in a constant fever, which dried up the radical moisture and even consumed the marrow in his bones.
· He was full of sores. Some that are pained in their bones, yet sleep in a whole skin, but, Satan's commission against Job extending both to his bone and to his flesh, he spared neither. His skin was black upon him – Vs.30:30
· His garment had its color changed with the continual running of his boils, and the soft clothing he used to wear had now grown so stiff that all his garments were like his collar – Vs.30:18 Job could have used some clean linen and a lot of help!
· His body looked more like a heap of dirt than any thing else – Vs.19 "He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes.”
Chapter 31
Job crowns the proof of his sincerity. The sins from which he acquits himself in these verses are;
1. Wantonness and uncleanness of heart – Vs.1-4
2. Fraud and injustice in commerce – Vs.4-8
3. Adultery – Vs.9-12
4. Haughtiness and severity towards his servants – Vs.13-15
5. Un-mercifulness to the poor, the widows, and the fatherless – Vs.16-23
6. Idolatry – Vs.24
7. Pride filled – Vs.25-28
8. Revengeful – Vs.29-31
9. Bribing or Extortion – Vs.39
10. Free-loader – Vs.31 Two things he could say safely concerning his estate:
· That he never ate the fruits of it without money – Vs.39 what he purchased he paid for, as Abraham for the land he bought (Genesis 23:16), and David (2 Samuel 24:24). The laborers that he employed had their wages duly paid them, and, if he made use of the fruits of those lands that he let out, he paid his tenants for them, or allowed it in their rent.
· That he never caused the owners thereof to lose their life, he never got an estate (as Ahab got Naboth's vineyard by killing the heir and seizing the inheritance), and he never starved those that held lands of him nor killed them with hard bargains and hard usage.
· No tenant, nor workman, nor servant he had, could complain of Job. That’s a great reputation isn’t it?
If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God? Matthew Henry
Job refutes the theories of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar; that he is a secret sinner against the “code of conduct,” but the real problem remains: “Why are the righteous afflicted?”
Chapter 32
There is great wisdom regarding young people in this chapter, and an even greater principle to be learned. By attention to the word of God, and dependence upon the Holy Spirit, young men may become wiser than the aged; this wisdom will cause them to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and disposed to give others a patient hearing.

Personally, when I cross the path of such a young person – it is STAND-OUT DIFFERENT!” Most choose the path of self-indulgence!
God is the God of order, not of confusion!
Chapters 33-37
Elihu thought he was God’s answer to Job’s problem! In his sermon conclusion he accuses Job of the following;
1. Guilty of foolish speaking – Chapter 34:35-37;36:16
2. Guilty of false righteousness – Chapter 35:2
3. Job should consider God’s glory and greatness – Chapter 37:14-24

Personal Observation
1. The world is full of their own personal self-worth and righteousness. Sooner or later all men shall fear him.

“Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21

2. Job’s regret – Our regret! His soul was depressed; he had lost the light of God's countenance; his inward comforts were declining, his joy in the Lord was at all-time low ebb - this he regretted far more than anything else.

3. His spiritual regrets are far more instructive to me than his natural regrets.

4. There are days when we as Christians can see God's hand all around us, checking us in the first approaches of sin, and setting a hedge about all our ways. Our conscience is tender, and we obey the Spirit of God; we are, therefore, kept in all our ways - the angels of God watching over us, incase we dash our foot against a stone. But when we fall into lack of disciplining our spirit, and walk at a distance from God - we are not so preserved.

5. To seek the Good Shepherd’s guidance in all matters!

6. There is a universal tendency to undervalue the present and exaggerate the excellence of the past.

7. To be thankful for what I have, for by the grace of God – I am what I am.

8. Do I ever take for granted: that all is well with me, and I am not settled upon my sediment like Moab of old?

Heart-searching and self-examination are scarce nowadays. How often do I enquire as to whether the root of the matter is really in me?

I Love You,
Deborah