Job 36: Kings in Fetters (Part 3)
We continue from Part 2.
Job 36:7 "He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted."
The part after the colon mark (‘:’) in this verse tells who “the righteous” are. Every born again believer is a king on the throne, even as Christ Jesus is the King of kings, and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14, 19:16). These are not mortal kings whose dominion are but for a moment, but God doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted. Therein is the promise of everlasting life to whosoever has the words of eternal life in them.
John 6:68 "Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."
Every born again believer has the words of eternal life in them.
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 "¶ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
The words of eternal life is not hidden from us, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, neither is it beyond the sea. But the word is very nigh unto us, in the mouth that we may speak them, and in the heart that we may keep them.
Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God."
Seed is a genetic term. In the case of a born again believer, the "seed" contains the genetic information of how the "new man" in a believer would develop into the image of the Son of God Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:28-29 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
Therefore, to teach that a born again believer can lose his salvation is an error, because eternal life begins at the point the seed is sown on the good ground of an honest and good heart, and just as a seed will grow and become a fruit-bearing tree, so shall the word of God (seed) take root and bring forth fruit in the life of a born again believer.
Mark 4:26-29 "¶ And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."
The heart is the ground whereby the seed is sown, and when the seed is sown in a good ground, it will by nature spring forth and grow up according to the instructions inscribed in the DNA of the tree. It doesn’t need to be told or made to grow up and produce fruit. The heart of a believer is the good ground, and the seed is the word of God.
The good ground will by nature bring forth fruit of herself. Notice also in verse 28 of this passage that “... the earth will bring forth fruit of herself.” This verse suggest that the heart is of a female gender. There are four types of heart according to the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8:
The way side heart;
The stony ground heart;
The thorny ground heart;
The good ground heart.
The number 4 = 1 + 3 or 2 + 2 bears the patterns of the number 13 and 22. These numbers point to two mystery women figures that are hidden in types and shadows throughout the 66 books of the Holy Bible. For example, in the book of Proverbs, we have the virtuous woman and the strange woman. Ruth was called a virtuous woman in Ruth 3:11. The name “Ruth” is found exactly 13 times in the 1611 King James Bible. Then, we have the opposite of Ruth, which is Jezebel, whose name is found exactly 22 times in the same Holy Bible.
Psalms 34:2 "My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad."
The soul of a person, regardless of his or her gender, is of a female gender. It is for the souls of men that Christ came to redeem with his blood. In the book of Ruth, we read about Boaz, a near kinsman of the house of Elimelech, who redeemed the land for Naomi. But with the piece of land (picture of the heart), he must also buy it of Ruth the Moabitess, the daughter-in-law of Naomi, the wife of the dead, so that he can raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
Ruth 4:5 "Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance."
Notice the term “raise up” in this verse? We find the same words in:
John 5:21 "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will."
Therein is a picture of the gospel revealed unto us. Ruth was the wife of “the dead”. She is a picture of our soul, which was married to the old man in us. Paul tells us in:
Romans 7:1-4 "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? 2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. 4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."
The soul is bound by the law to the old man as long as he liveth.
Romans 6:6-9 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."
The old man in a born again believer is crucified with Christ, and this according to Paul in verse 8 is “we be dead with Christ”. This is how the soul is loosed from the law which binds her to her husband (the old man), and she is now free to marry Christ Jesus so that she should bring forth fruit unto God.
Ruth 4:13-17 "¶ So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son. 14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel. 15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him. 16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. 17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David."
Boaz married Ruth (wife of the dead), and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception. Ruth bore him a son, and they called his name Obed. The name “Obed” is found exactly 13 times in the King James Bible. Among the things that are linked to the number 13 are:
“love of God” found exactly 13 times;
“love one another” found exactly 13 times;
“grace” and “mercy” together, found exactly 13 times;
“charity” in 1 Corinthians 13, 13 verses;
the wise virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, 13 verses;
“the king's daughter” in Psalms 45:13, 13 words;
“Jerubbaal”, the new name of Gideon, 13 verses, and it means “let Baal plead against”.
Psalms 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."
The heart is where the word of God is sown, and the soul is that part of us which shall bear fruit unto God. God is the one who creates in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us.
2 Corinthians 3:3 "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
Ezekiel 11:19 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:"
When God created a clean heart in us, he has also at the same time taken the stony heart out of us. On the stony heart are instructions written, but not with the Spirit of the living God. When God put a “new spirit” within us, he has also at the same time written on the fleshy tables of the heart a new set of instructions by the Spirit of the living God. The new man is the “new spirit” (new set of instructions) that is written in the fleshy heart of a born again believer. Both terms “new man” and “new spirit” are found exactly 3 times each in the 1611 King James Bible. It is not a coincidence. The new man is proof of God’s work in a believer. Every born again believer has a new set of instructions written in his heart by the Spirit of the living God, but does it mean that he will no longer have to struggle with sin?
Job 36:8-9 "And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction; 9 Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded."
Sin is the transgression of the law. According to this passage, even after a person is born again, he will continue to struggle with sin. We will talk more about this in Part 4.