~ Day Twelve ~

After enduring another round of bullying from his friends, no one would have blamed Job if he just threw in the towel and gave up altogether; instead, he issued another counter-attack. It seemed the more artillery they threw at him the more agitated he became. Job was getting tired of their false accusations; enough was enough! "No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!" (Job 12:2). Job intended to put a stop to the angry mob before things really got out of hand; much like the apostle Paul's resistance to the Jewish legalist's of his day, when he exposed their deceptive agenda intended to destroy their liberty in Christ and bring them back into bondage. "And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage), to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Galatians 2:4, 5)

The Lord has placed his lightposts on every corner and His burning lamp within each home, so that the light of His gospel might flood the streets and drive the darkness from the land. "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12). The world is a dark and destitute place; void of that supreme knowledge which alone purifies the human heart. Jesus came as the spiritual light of the world to expose man's sin and restore sight to spiritual blind eyes with the knowledge of God. Through the light of His teachings He reveals the motives of the human heart and exposes them to the truth which alone can save them. "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Those whom He sets on fire with His love to carry the light of salvation throughout the world, must first be exposed to the intense heat of the refiner's fire themselves in order that they may reflect the pure light of God (Malachi 3:3). Our Lord Jesus Christ was made perfect through His sufferings (Hebrews 2:10), so it seems fitting that His ministers should also walk the path of great peril in order the we might be prepared to shine forth His infinite perfections. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Job sat under the bright spotlight of heaven as God's sovereign hand performed a mighty work in his life. His blind counselors couldn't see past their own narrow assumption that God only works in a way that makes sense (5:10-16); therefore, they wrongly judged their friends' trials as the hand of God's discipline. Job courageously took it upon himself to enlighten them as he spoke of the manifold ways God exercises His power which don't always make sense (vv. 14-20). "If He withholds the waters, they dry up; if He sends them out, they overwhelm the earth" (v. 15). God is sovereign over both good and evil. He will permit circumstances in our lives that we don't understand in order to reveal the greater work of His powerful redeeming, saving, and healing hand. May we humbly yield to the work He has purposed to do in our lives, as He presses the olive to bring forth the oil which He uses to keep our lamp burning through the darkest nights of our trial. "Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:3-5).

I, the LORD, have created it"

(Isaiah 45:6-8)

Read: Job Chapter Twelve

Job didn't back down when his friends started mocking him (v. 4). His life was no laughing matter. When they took to ridiculing him about his relationship with God, he had enough and began to set them straight with a long discourse on the powerful workings of God. "Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done all this!" (v. 9) Job boldly declared that it was God who had taken it upon Himself to dismantle his life for His own sovereign purposes and not for anything he himself had done. God is in control! He is free to do whatever He chooses, and that includes undoing the work of man if it stands in the way blocking the light of His greater plans and purposes. "If He breaks a thing down, it cannot be rebuilt; If He imprisons man, there can be no release" (v. 14). Even the lowly creatures of the earth could teach his arrogant friends about the wisdom of the God who made everything, and, who, by the power of His hand keeps everything in working order, if only they would climb down off their high pedestal and sink to their level; a place that Job had come to know all too well. "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you" (v. 7). Job explained to his friends that God uses the more painful, troublesome works of His hands to serve His higher purposes (Isaiah 55:8, 9); even though they don't always make sense to us. God doesn't owe us any explanations, nor is it our place to explain it for Him - as Job's friends had arrogantly done. Job's friends had made a wrong diagnosis of his situation, and worse yet, they were publishing a view of God that was utterly beneath Him. "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. "Am I a God near at hand," says the LORD, "And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:21-24). False teachers will deceptively draw people into idolatrous worship by presenting a picture of God that is less than who He is, thereby blocking the true light that shines down from heaven. This is what Job's friends had done because of their own limited view of God. Thankfully, they had a friend like Job to shine the light of God's truth upon the situation and bring them into the light! May we be found doing the same as Job, faithfully stewarding the light we have been given despite our present pain or suffering, while we still have the light of day! "Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops" (Matthew 10:26, 27). "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3).

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"Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord - that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful" (James 5:10).

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