Monday: Less Than Your Iniquity Deserves
“ ‘Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea’ ” (Job 11:7–9, NKJV; see also Isa. 40:12–14). What truth is being expressed, and why is it important for us always to remember it?
Image © Standard Publishing from GoodSalt.com
The words here are beautiful expressions of the fact that there is so much about God we don’t know and that all our efforts to search Him out by ourselves will still leave us knowing so little. It’s interesting that one of the twentieth century’s most famous philosophers, the late Richard Rorty, basically argued that we are never going to understand reality and truth, and so we ought to give up the attempt. Instead of trying to understand reality, Rorty argued, all we can do is try to cope with it. How fascinating: 2600 years of the Western philosophical tradition culminates in this expression of defeat. If all our searching leaves us in the dark about the nature of the reality that we live in, then who “by searching” is going to understand the Creator—the one who made that reality to begin with, and so is even greater than it? Rorty essentially affirmed what we just read from the Bible.
Yet, these texts, profound as they are, were from a speech from Zophar, the third of Job’s acquaintances, and he used those words as part of a faulty argument against Job.
Read Job 11:1–20. What is right with what Zophar is saying, but what is wrong with his overall argument?
It’s so hard to understand how someone could come up to a man suffering as Job is and say to him, basically, you are getting what you deserve. No, in fact, you are getting less than you deserve. What’s even worse is that he is doing it, as were the two others, all in an attempt to vindicate the goodness and the character of God.
Sometimes, merely knowing truths about the character of God do not automatically make us reflect it. What more do we need in order to reflect God’s character?
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Apostle Paul once said: I become like them in order to make them become like me. Christ became like us in order to make us like Him and thats where our name as christians is derived. Humanity knew about God but had a great many questions about Him. When Christ came a clear image if God was further revealed. So, we to do like; to be like, in order to reflect the character of our Maker.
A good day ti you all.
God is love. Love triumphs all. Having the love of God in our hearts will only allow compassionate output from our behalf compassion beyond what we know and what we think.
What more do I need to reflect Christ - to die to my selfish nature! God replace my fractured DNA, restore me to be Christ-Like!
On our own, we cannot know the deep things of God. Neither will our research, but we can come to know only if we abide in him and he in us. We can see, even the love he has toward us is far much greater. No one can understand it nor try to explain. Oh God, you are a might God, may glory and honor be unto you forever and ever Amen.
We need to really know God, and once we do we would know God is love. Hence he will not just think of go's as the supreme judge, but as our father.
The thing that is wrong that I see with his point is, that God is not out to destroy us because of our limitations. He loves us and he is determined to save us, and not to find a just reason to destroy us. He is on our side, he is more on our side then we are. Who's idea do you think it is, to take God's justice to find a way to lead us into desperation?
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecclesiastes:3:1
Sad to say, Zophar like Eliphaz chose the wrong place and time to accuse Job. Instead of showing compassion they through accusation. Should be a lesson to us all
"And this is life eternal, that they might KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)
Our knowledge of God can be MORE than just a speculative acquaintance with Him. Eternal life comes as a result of knowing God as He really is. Sure, we will never know Him completely - there is an infinite depth in His ways - but God encourages us to get to know Him, and to understand Him.
"Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
But let him that glories, glory in this, that he UNDERSTANDS and KNOWS Me, that I am the LORD which exercises lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth..." (Jer 9:23-24).
If we are to glory in anything, then let us glory in our knowledge and understanding of the Infinite God. Mr Rorty's view, if adopted by Christians, would mean the end of true spirituality for those people. Let's not entertain that kind of thinking even for a moment.
There's a song that says, "Oh, it is Jesus; Oh, it is Jesus; It's Jesus in my soul.." To reflect the character of God, we have to have Jesus in our soul, in our minds, and in our hearts. In Luke 10:27, Jesus said "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." When you reflect the character of God, people start noticing that you are different somewhat; you don't eat the same thing you use to eat, you don't wear the same clothes you use to wear, and you don't have idle (crude) conversations you use to speak.
The problem with Job's friends is that they never observe Job in a period of suffering. Job always reflected the character of God; he always did the right things. Since they can't find anything to point to Job's suffering, they each said it has to be something that you or your children have done to anger God; maybe you just forgot. So, they're asking Job to do some soul searching, to remember when he perhaps forgot to ask for forgiveness for himself and his children. This argument would probably be good advice for most people, but Job was different, he loved his God and continually thought about his God, by offering daily sacrifices for Himself and his family.
Our understanding of God's love, grace, and mercy is liken to a baby trying to understand Algebra; but no matter how difficult, we must still strive to understand and love our God more and more each day. As babies never give up trying to walk (they are striving to learn to walk), we too should continue to learn and learn more about Him until that Perfect Day comes (Jesus' Second Coming).
It is useful to think about the nature of truth if we are to really understand what both Richard Rorty and the book of Job is saying. If your idea of truth is a set of fundamental axioms waiting to be discovered and ticked off one by one when found, then you are going to be seriously disappointed.
Truth is a journey, not a destination. When we understand that notion, then some of these statements make a lot of sense.
The notion of axiomatic "truth" is challenged in Job 11: 7-9; "Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea." That is not saying we won't come to appreciate God.
Here is an illustration that I have used before: I have been married 47 years to one woman. She is as much a mystery to me as the day I first met her. However, I have come to appreciate her and have enjoyed those 47 years so much that I hope they never end. Clearly there are some things I will never understand about her, but the journey is great and we continue to discover new things about her. I have just spent the last 74 days travelling 15,000km in a small 4WD camper. In that time we have crossed the continent of Australia twice. It was a really great trip of sharing and enjoying one another's company. That is what is really meant when we talk about discovering "Truth". It is the journey together with God.
Richard Rory was quite correct when he argued, "we are never going to understand reality and truth." but he came to the wrong conclusion. Living the journey of truth gives us an appreciation of truth because we find purpose in the relationship.
I am going to predict that when we get to heaven or eternal life, we are going to find that we continue to "discover truth" not in the sense of ticking off axioms, but in the joy of growing and developing relationships. And if that is true of heaven, perhaps it is a good idea to practice that now.
As for Rorty, he was a 11th hour worker who lived for the coin, not for the pleasure of being with the master of the vineyard.
May the school of Christ teach us how to calculate and use the appropriate words for the situation our brethren might be involved in.
To uplift the souls other than deppressing them
No one could even measure how God is but, by reading bible you can easily know how God is.
Our life have great purpose before God and your deed will keep you close to your creator.