June 21, 2020

God is holy. He is just. He is far above all things. He deserves to be reverenced simply for Who He Is.

“Have you given the horse his might? Have you clothed his neck with quivering and a shaking mane? Was it you [Job] who made him to leap like a locust? The majesty of his [snorting] nostrils is terrible. He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; he goes out to meet the weapons [of armed men]. He mocks at fear and is not dismayed or terrified; neither does he turn back [in battle] from the sword. The quiver rattles upon him, as do the glittering spear and the lance [of his rider]. [He seems in running to] devour the ground with fierceness and rage; neither can he stand still at the sound of the [war] trumpet. As often as the trumpet sounds he says, ‘Ha, ha!’ and he smells the battle from afar, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. Is it by your wisdom [Job] that the hawk soars and stretches her wings toward the south [as winter approaches]? Does the eagle mount up at your command and make his nest on [a] high [inaccessible place]? On the cliff he dwells and remains securely, upon the point of the rock and the stronghold. From there he spies out the prey; and his eyes see it afar off….” Moreover, the LORD said to Job, “Shall he who would find fault with the Almighty contend with Him? He who disputes with God, let him answer it.”

Then Job replied to the LORD, “Behold, I am of small account and vile! What shall I answer You? I lay my hand upon my mouth. I have spoken once, but I will not reply again – indeed, twice [have I answered], but I will proceed no further.”

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, saying, “Gird up your loins now like a man; I will demand of you, and you will answer Me. Will you also annul (set aside and render void) My judgment? Will you condemn Me [Your God], that you may [appear] righteous and justified? Have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His? [Since you question the manner of the Almighty’s rule] deck yourself now with the excellency and dignity [of the Supreme Ruler, and yourself undertake the government of the world if you are so wise], and array yourself with honor and majesty. Pour forth the overflowings of your anger, and look on everyone who is proud and abase him; look on everyone who is proud and bring him low, and tread down the wicked where they stand [if you are so able, Job]. [Bury and] hide them all in the dust together; [and] shut them up [in the prison house of death]. [If you can do all this, Job, proving yourself of divine might] then will I [God] praise you also [and acknowledge that] your own right hand can save you…. Can you draw out leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a hook or a spike? Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]? Will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heavens is Mine. [Therefore, who can have a claim against God?….] […And now, Job, who are you…. Who dares resist Me, the beast’s Creator, to My face? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”

Then Job said to the LORD, “I know that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted. [You said to me] ‘Who is this that darkens and obscures counsel [by words] without knowledge?’ Therefore [I now see] I have [rashly] uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. [I had virtually said to You what You have said to me,] ‘Hear, I beseech You, and I will speak; I will demand of You, and You declare to me.’ I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, but now my [spiritual] eye sees You. Therefore I loathe [my words] and abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

After the LORD had spoken the previous words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has…. and My servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept [his prayer] that I deal not with you after your folly, in that you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has….” And the LORD accepted [Job’s prayer]. And the LORD turned the captivity of Job and restored his fortunes, when he prayed for his friends; also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before… And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning…. (Job 39:19-42:12a)

Judgment is coming swiftly to all who oppose the one true living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Darkness is rising steadily, but the judgment of God is on its way to set things straight. The time to REPENT and get right with the one true God is NOW. The trumpets are sounding. The call to ABSOLUTE SURRENDER to Jesus Christ resounds.

We give praise and thanks to You, O God, we praise and give thanks; Your wondrous works declare that Your Name is near and they who invoke Your Name rehearse Your wonders. “When the proper time has come [for executing My judgments], I will judge uprightly,” [says the LORD]. “When the earth totters, and all the inhabitants of it, it is I Who will poise and keep steady its pillars. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! I said to the arrogant and boastful, ‘Deal not arrogantly [do not boast]’; and to the wicked, ‘Lift not up the horn [of personal aggrandizement]. Lift not up your [aggressive] horn on high, speak not with a stiff neck and insolent arrogance.’” For not from the east nor from the west nor from the south come promotion and lifting up. But God is the Judge! He puts down one and lifts up another. For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup [of His wrath], and the wine foams and is red, well mixed; and He pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth must drain it and drink its dregs. But I will declare and rejoice forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. “All the horns of the ungodly also will I cut off,” [says the LORD], “but the horns of the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall be exalted.” (Psalm 75)