Salvation: God alone makes Christians (Part 2)
We continue our study on Job 33.
Job 33:16-17 "Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man."
As I have shared in Part 1, when God opened the ears of a man, he did something in him, that is, he sealed off an "instruction" that is getting to man. The reason why he did that was revealed to us in verse 17, that is, to "withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man." There was an evil purpose embedded in that instruction, and in saving a man, God has to seal his ears from hearing it so as to withdraw man from his purpose.
1 John 2:16 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
When God sealed off that "instruction" that is getting to the man, he has also at the same time "hide PRIDE from man" (Job 33:17). This can be traced back to the origin of sin, in the garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:6 "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [pride of life], she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
NOTE: [Insertions] added.
Notice that "the woman SAW...", that is to say, her eyes were opened to the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life the moment she walked away from the words of the LORD for the words of the Devil, and took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil according to the will of the Devil for man. The moment the woman's eyes were opened to these three things (lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life), her eyes were also blinded to the things of the Spirit of God i.e. she needs to be healed.
Matthew 13:15 "For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
True conversion means:
the eyes are no longer closed, but are now opened so that they are no longer blind to the things of the Spirit of God;
the ears are no longer dull of hearing, but they now hear the voice of the LORD;
the heart is no longer waxed gross, but it now understands the word of God.
Proverbs 19:27 "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."
Amos 2:4 "¶ Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:"
In the process of conversion, God has to open the ears of a man, and seal off an "instruction" (lies) that is getting to him by way of hearing. There is a purpose.
Romans 10:17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
When the ears are no longer dull of hearing, that is when a man will begin to hear the voice of the Lord speaking to him from the 66 books of the Holy Bible. The beginning of a man's faith in Jesus Christ is when his ears are opened to hear the words of the LORD, but at the same time, God must also seal his ears from hearing another instruction that is getting to him i.e. "Yea, hath God said..?" (Genesis 3:1-5) that was causing him to err from the words of knowledge.
Job 33:18 "He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword."
This verse tells us that the moment a lost person perish, his soul will go into the pit (hell). In the process of salvation, when God began to do a work in a man, God will not allow that man to die before his work is completed in him. If God is the one who keeps your soul from perishing, there is no power under heaven that can take your life. Not even the man himself has the power to do that. The “sword” in this verse is not just the physical sword, but also a spiritual one. Men can die physically from the wounds of a sword, but a physical sword cannot kill his soul. Jesus said in:
Matthew 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul..."
But there is a woman whose tongue is sharp as a twoedged sword. She is the strange woman in the book of Proverbs:
Proverbs 5:3-4 "For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword."
Proverbs 7:26-27 "For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death."
When God began his work of salvation in a man, he also keeps his soul from perishing by the mouth of the strange woman.
Ecclesiastes 7:26 "And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her."
There are people will become true converts, as well as people who will not. Whoso pleaseth God are whoso will believe in Jesus Christ by faith in the word of God. God who sees and knows everything knows who they are, and even their future. But there are also those who thought that they can somehow deceive God, wearing an apron of fig leaves while worshipping another god in secret.
Job 8:13-14 "So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: 14 Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web."
Except by God's grace and mercy for whoso pleaseth him, there is no escape from the strange woman whose heart is snares and nets, like a spider’s web.
Judges 11:2 "And Gilead’s wife bare him sons; and his wife’s sons grew up, and they thrust out Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house; for thou art the son of a strange woman."
Judges 11 is the 222nd chapter in the Holy Bible, and this is where we find the first-mention of the term "strange woman". 222 bears the pattern of the number 8, in that 8 = 2 x 2 x 2. There is that pattern of the number 8 written all over a spider i.e. eight legs, eight eyes, and a body that is shaped like the number eight.
Proverbs 30:28 "The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces."
The term "strange woman" is found exactly 8 times in the book of Proverbs, and Proverbs is the book where we find the word "wise" occurs 66 times, all forms of the word "know" occur 66 times, and all forms of the word "understand" occur 66 times. The number 66 is the total number of books in the canon of the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible tells us in Proverbs 30:28 that the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in king's palaces. It is no accident that our brain is a complex network of things, like unto a spider's web. Our brain is protected inside the skull, which is formed by 8 pieces of bones fused together.
Proverbs 13:13 "Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded."
Hypocrites who secretly despise the words of the LORD trust in their own wisdom, knowledge and understanding. They trust in their own brain i.e. "whose trust shall be a spider's web" (Job 8:14), and they shall in no doubt walk right into the spider’s web and perish as an insect in the deadly fangs of the strange woman.
Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Only those who pleaseth God shall escape from the strange woman. This passage is very clear. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Not only will God keep the lives and the souls of those whom he shall save, he will also reward those that diligently seek him.
Job 33:19-20 "He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: 20 So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat."
One of the things when God saves you is that he will chasten you as a father to a son.
Hebrews 12:7-8 "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons."
In chastening a man, and in humbling him, God has a purpose for his life, that is, to deliver his soul from hell.
Proverbs 23:13-14 "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."
God does not chasten those who are not his own. He calls them “bastards”.
2 Samuel 7:14-15 "I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee."
God will use the rod of men and the stripes of the children of men to chasten the man whom he will save, and his mercy shall never depart from him. God who knows the end from the beginning knows who these people are, and he cannot be wrong. Those that are genuinely God’s children are the ones that will endure chastening and repent. They are the ones that God shall save.
Psalms 34:18-19 "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all."
James 4:6 "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."
The ones that God shall save are those that are of a contrite spirit. Though there will be many afflictions in their lives, yet God will deliver them out of all their troubles. James also tells us that God resisteth the proud: those are the ones that God has rejected.
Job 33:20 "So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat."
Psalms 107:15-19 "Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! 16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. 17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. 18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. 19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses."
Notice Psalms 107:18 echoes the words in Job 33:20 which says "his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat." If a man transgress, it was because of his iniquities, and he will be afflicted for it. This was also God’s chastisement on him. Yet, when he cries unto the LORD in their trouble, God will save him out of his distresses.
The “meat” in the context of Job 33:20 is food for the soul. The word of God is food for the soul, but so are “lying and corrupt words” (Daniel 2:9) a form of food. In chastening the man, God will cause him to lose appetite for the lying and corrupt words that may be keeping him in bondage to sin, and that will in turn cause him to turn to the word of God.
Job 33:21-22 "His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. 22 Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers."
Cancer is the result of one cell's DNA becoming corrupt. Once that cancerous cell begins to replicate, the cancer tumor grows and consumes the healthy tissues around it. Lying and corrupt words are like cancer which consume away the flesh.
2 Timothy 2:15-18 "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some."
False bibles, man-made doctrines, theologies, philosophies and traditions of men have produced countless millions of false converts that are multiplying in churches all over the world. Sometimes, these things get into the mind of a man in the process of conversion, and gets him into trouble with the LORD. That is when God will use the rod of correction to chastise him, and cause him to turn away from the lying and corrupt words. Only a man with an honest and good heart will come to the knowledge of the truth, and will repent from his error.
To continue in Part 3.