For there is hope of a tree

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(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Job 14:7–15, “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.”

If someone cuts a tree down there is always hope that the tree will spout again. Even when the tree is old or the rootstock seems dead in the ground, water will bring these things back to life again. It is, however, different with a man; once he is dead then all hope has gone. He will never come back to life again. Job asked the Lord to hide him in the grave so that he could escape from the torments of his sickness forever. Maybe the Lord would be able to bring Job back once the time of sickness and sorrow is over. When the Lord finally gives Job the chance to escape, he will come as soon as the Lord calls.

Man is few of days

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(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Job 14:1–6, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.”

No one can expect to have a life that is completely without any hardship. It is a consequence of being born. No one lasts very long anyway. When God looks on any person He sees someone who is inferior in every way. The Lord appoints the number of years a person can expect to live and no one can go outside the boundaries that God has set.

How many are mine iniquities and sins?

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(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Job 13:23–28, “How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy? Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth. Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.”

Job asked the Lord how much he had sinned. He wanted to know what he had done to deserve all this pain. He asked the Lord why the Lord was hiding from him and not answering his prayers. He asked the Lord why the Lord was continuing to persecute someone who was already broken and submitted to God. He felt that he was just worth throwing away because he was so filled with pain but the Lord still let Satan attack him.

Hold your peace

http://youtu.be/NK8VWcw8BOM “The Science is in!”

Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand

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(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Job 13:13–22, “Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will. Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him. Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears. Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified. Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost. Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me."

Job asked his friends to let him speak about his problems. He was willing to trust the Lord God but not his friends. Even if the Lord killed Job, he would be happy to trust the Lord. Job was afraid that if he stopped praying and asking the Lord to help him then his cause would be lost. He asked the Lord to save him from all his sickness then he would be able to speak to the Lord

Why died I not?

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Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand

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(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Job 3:11–19, “Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, With kings and counsellors of the earth, which built desolate places for themselves; Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.”

Job retuned to some thoughts that he had earlier. He wondered why he didn’t die at birth so that he would not have experienced all this pain. When people are dead they don’t suffer any more and there is no social order among them.

I am not inferior unto you

http://youtu.be/NK8VWcw8BOM “The Science is in!”

Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand

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(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Job 13:1–12, “Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it. What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you. Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom. Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips. Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him? Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God? Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him? He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons. Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you? Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay.”

Job’s friends were enjoying the fact that he was suffering while they weren’t. He was a highly respected man who had suddenly come to a serious health crisis. They were enjoying this fact and blaming him for his problems. On the other hand, Job knew that he was innocent of the sins of which they accused him. Job told his friends that he was not inferior to them even though they were making clear that they thought he was. They were just telling lies to justify their own position. We all tend to try and blame someone else when we have done the wrong thing. Even though I know that I am in the wrong, I feel it’s okay if the other person is doing something that I define as wrong. However, this is not the case. God will never ask one person to justify another person’s behaviour, each person is only responsible for their own behaviour. (see Jer 31: 29, 30) Job asked his friends how they would feel if they had to stand before the Lord.

With the ancient is wisdom

http://youtu.be/NK8VWcw8BOM “The Science is in!”

Would you like to read James McNaught’s novel Sinking Sand”? click here: Sinking Sand

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http://twitter.com/#!/jamesmcnaught 

(The views expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Job 12:12–25, “With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding. With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth. With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his. He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools. He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle. He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty. He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged. He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty. He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again. He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.”

Job believed that very old people are wise because they have seen many things; they understand the true authority of the Lord God. When the Lord makes up His mind to do something no one can stop Him. If He opens a door then no one can shut it but if He shuts a door then no one can open it. He makes the rain come and He stops the rain from coming. The Lord sets up kings to rule and then brings them down again, according to His wisdom and understanding. Kings can be deposed, at the Lord’s discretion and exiled to strange places.