Sunday: Forgers of Lies
“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent” (Prov. 17:28, RSV).
Whatever one wants to say about the man Job, one can’t say that he was going to sit there amid his sorrow and quietly listen to what his friends were throwing at him. On the contrary, much of the book of Job consists of Job’s fighting back against what he knows is a mixture of truth and error. As we saw, these men were not showing much tact and sympathy; they were claiming to speak for God in justifying what had happened to Job; and basically they said he was getting what he deserved or that he deserved even worse! Any one of these lines of thought would have been bad enough; but all three (and others) were too much, and Job answered them back.
Read Job 13:1–14. What approach is Job taking here as he responds to what is being said to him?
We saw in chapter 2 that when these men first came and saw Job, they said nothing to him for seven days. Considering what eventually did start coming out of their mouths, this might have been the best approach. That’s certainly what Job thought.
Notice, too: Job says that not only are these men talking lies, they are talking lies about God. (That’s interesting in light of what happens toward the end of the book itself [See Job 42:7]). Surely it would be better not to speak than to say things that are wrong. (Who among us hasn’t experienced how true that is?) But it seems that to say things that are wrong about God is much worse. The irony, of course, was that these men actually thought they were defending God and His character against Job’s bitter complaints about what happened. Though Job remained at a loss to understand why all these things came upon him, he knew enough to recognize that what these men were saying made them “forgers of lies” (Job 13:4).
| When was the last time you said things that were wrong and that shouldn’t have been said? How can you learn from that experience so that you do not make the same kind of mistake again? |
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I like the way Job replied especially Job 13:5-7! It looks it was a calm but sensitive reply (unlike their insensitive rebuke) and even backed with evidence! Oh yes, a fellow brother or sister can be insensitive but it matters a lot more how you reply! This is what keeps the fellowship!
The lesson speaks about Forgers of Lies" the misrepresentations of the character of God. Job42;7 Here God spoke to Eliphaz & Teminite. " My wrath is aroused against you, you & your friend.God does not take those who forge lies & mis represent his character lightly. This is a serious warning to to those responsible to take note.We hear misrepresentation of God's truth from the media in radio & television.These untruths are being preached from the pulpits. who put a spin on God's word.We are to be mindful of our interpretation of God's word and we are not to join movements who misinterpret God's word & to compromise the truth about God's word in order to please the world and be accepted.
this is just the thing that those who believe that God would send someone to hell for all eternity and torture them for ever. This is a great misrepresentation of not only His justness but His love and mercy. It contradicts the Bible's picture of who God really is.
This is very true Audrey. Apart from introducing God to those who do not know him we also have the task of dispelling false teachings that have slipped into Christianity through traditions and gradual compromise,(and this is a momentous task).Like these men, we have many today who formulate false doctrines and teach them to mislead innocent souls. Like Job, when we see that the truth of God is being misrepresented, we must stand our ground and contest the misrepresentation knowing we are in the situation for such a time as that.Job was in a war. We are in the same war. God is on our side and will help us. Psalms 144:1
Jackson. My heart aches at times to see & hear false teachings. AS SDA Christians we have a great work to do. There is no time to stand & stare & turn a blind eye to misrepresentation of God's word but only when we all realize that we are not doing the work as we ought to, then the movement of God's servants will start.The Holy spirit is waiting to help us.
The problem with labels such as "false teachings" is that we often use the term as a lever against those who have different views to ourselves. Further, I am guilty of using the label myself at times often in a spirit which I refer to as righteous indignation, but in reality, in a most unchristian manner.
There are couple of basic ideas that I like to follow:
1) Pointing others to Christ is a much better approach than critically acclaiming heresy or false teachings.
2) We are fellow learners with both our Christian and non-Christian friends. None of us can claim a strangle-hold on truth, but we can learn together. We need to learn how to open doors of communication and that means listening as much as speaking.
Hi Maurice, I would just like to say that yesterday I made a comment agreeing with your statement.
Amen Maurice. The best way to overcome darkness is to turn on the lights. Too many people who are snooping around looking for error and crying "heresy" at every turn think they can stamp out darkness. They can be the most miserable people to be around, and offer very little that is winsome.
I wonder if the most serious misrepresentation of God's character is that He is represented as looking to see if we are "perfect" so that He can take us to heaven. (Those of us who know all the correct doctrines are in danger of doing that.) It makes God look as though he's trying to keep us out of heaven when the truth is that all heaven is interested in our salvation, and He's looking to save as many as He can.
The way I understand it, *everyone* who would be happy in heaven in the presence of God will be there! I don't think we are saved on the basis of correct beliefs but on the condition of our hearts. We need to surrender our minds and hearts to God so He can change us. That's what faith is all about - trusting God enough to surrender to His will. Then we will do what He say as soon as we understand it, but we will not be condemned for not doing what we don't know. That makes me think there will be a lot of people in heaven who never heard the name of Christ but were obedient to His Spirit according to their understanding.
I have to Bible in basic English - I read Job 13:1-14, I like how it reads in my Bible;
Vs.1, Truly, my eye has seen all this, word of it has come to my ear, and I have knowledge of it.
Vs.2, The same things are in my mind as in yours, I am equal to you.
Vs.3, But I would have talk with the Ruler of all, and my desire is to have an argument with God.
Vs.4, But you put a false face on things; all your attempts to put things right are of no value.
Vs. 5 If only you would keep quiet, it would be a sign of wisdom!
I love what he said; OK, you guys had your chance to speak, I have questions about what is going on too - I don't think what you are saying about God is correct, I want to speak with Him and find out for myself - In the meantime I would appreciate it if you just stop speaking - If Facebook was around then, I think he would have gotten a lot of likes 🙂
"But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians."Job 13:4. this tells me that when a christian opens his mouth to speak, the words uttered should bring healing of the soul. And following what God responded to the words of Job's friends, we should know that we are held responsible and therefore know that we are accountable of every word that proceeddeth out of our mouth (or buccal cavity-scientists say).
Let our minds be full of prayer that the holy spirit will guide us so that by the time we speak no lie or words of disguise should be found. Amen
Perhaps we need to ask ourselves what lessons we can apply to ourselves here.
1) As ones who speak, we should probably recognize that our way of seeing things may not be exactly how God sees things. Thus humility is in order. We can share our experience, but should be hesitant to take on an attitude of instructing the ignorant.
2) As ones who listen, we need to recognize that there is no salvation by knowledge other than the knowledge of God - as in intimacy with God that is nurtured by daily devotional time and an attitude of total obedience, as in "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey." As long as we have that attitude of total trust and obedience, we do not have to worry about what others are saying but can take it to our Father and ask Him to impress us with our duty.
It seems that an epidemic is spreading throughout our church. If church leaders who have been in leadership positions for many years are questioned as to their way of doing things and the lack of growth within the church, the smallest spark can set the church on fire. In our case it is the question of language. Our leaders made up (against all advice) of mainly two families, chose to resign. The result has been a revival in the church as we have never experienced before! At the many meetings to resolve matters and move forward, the former leaders speak for hours -- in fact tying themselves up with their own words. Those who pray and move forward - and study the lesson of Job, cannot but marvel at how timeous and relevant they are to our situation. We serve a wonderful God. In August we celebrated our 50th anniversary - and since then we have already seen how God has led people through the church doors. Thanks for the lessons and Lord, thank you for your life line when we reach the end of our rope.
Maureen, since you have had such good results by apparently implementing a change on "the question of language," perhaps you could explain a little more? Then others in a similar position could learn from your example.
Inge, I have nothing to do with the revival in the Church - that's the Lord's doing. I would like to share our experience with you, but not on this open forum. I do not want to add fuel to the embers just waiting for an opportunity to burst into flames again.
Hi Maureen, I meant "you" in the plural sense - as in the community making changes that allowed the Lord to work. 🙂
Pentecost was the Lord's doing, but the people got ready by putting self away and coming into agreement in their longing for God's blessing. I believe today we also need to prepare for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
A very good lesson in our world where everyone has become a prophet and claim to have been sent by God. At the same time, a better way of respecting people's views but without agreeing to them. “Behold, my eye has seen all this, My ear has heard and understood it.
What you know, I also know; A lot of people nowadays will come in our lives claiming to have been sent by God, mixing the truth and lies so that we fall for their words. We need to pray all seasons long and we will just like job be able to discover evil spirits hidden in the people close o us. At the same, when we claim to speak on behalf of God, we portrays to bad picture of God to the people, such practices are know to be "forging of lies" and lest we shall be called forgers of lies. It is not only to the people we lie about God but also to God himself, seeing that his people who should proclaim his word now twist the truth and claim to be near God whilst they are nt. Let us be realistic when we deal with issues concerning God. I wish the bible would follows those three guy's lives after Job's happiness was restored
I agree with Ashton. When one seems to be knowledgeable in our doctrine,such a one is said to be propagating wrong or false teaching. The main problem I have come to know is that, most of members we rely so much on what pastors say or elders. These are human being who are bound to error. We do not want to study God's word on our own, thus we take as gospel truth that proceeds out of the mouth of these leading men. I we as individuals, prayerfully take time to study God;s word, He will surely unmask error and lead us into truth. Let us try to avoid if we can to label brethren with divergent views from ours as false teachers are spreading heresies
Job here decides to confront his friends boldly for duplicity; partiality, being so ready to condemn him and not showing concern about his horrendously bad circumstance. He found their unjust accusations and vilification abnoxious and a misrepresentation of God Almighty. They even elevated themselves as his judges under divine guidance yet all they were: "Forgers of lies".
The following lessons can be learnt from this study:-
(1) Our God does not need sinful human beings to plead His case - He can do it Himself(Judges 6:31). Moreover, the heavens daily declare His greatness and righteousness.
(2) Human wisdom, understanding, observation and experience are grossly inadequate to explain spiritual matters. In order to give weight to statements we make to people, we must always underpin them with God’s Word. It is alwayscorrect to appeal to Divine wisdom and give evidence from God’s word to confirm it.
(3) There are moments in life when silence, a squeeze of the hand and tears can say so much more than words can ever say. Job concluded that, if they really wanted to show true wisdom, they would just be silent! That would show far greater wisdom than their speeches had. Perhaps he was reminding them that when they first arrived, ostensibly to comfort and support him, they sat for seven days speechless (Job 2:13). But as soon as they began to talk,they missed the plot. Job was determined to place his faith in God, even if God chose to kill him.
Misrepresentation of God isn't just in words, but also in action. If I say I know God but don't follow in His precepts, I'm a liar and the truth is not in me.