Job 35 - From Jars of Clay to Vessels of Glory

Daily Bible Study for Friday June 17, 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns

Fish – N – Loaves Ministries

Multiplying God’s Word around the Globe!

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version. One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Psalm 68:4-5

Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.

Psalm 100:4

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

                            Song:  To Worship You I Live      By: Israel and New Breed

From Jars of Clay to Vessels of Glory

Today Job will continue to hear more from Elihu – the man sent from God to talk some sense into him. Job had become quite self-righteous in his heart and we have seen it over and over in these chapters, haven’t we? Hmmmm… How many times have we seen it in ourselves? Trying to justify ourselves like we were right while everyone else was wrong? Let’s dive into the rich word of the Lord and see what He will teach us today. I am not the teacher – only He is our Teacher. I am just a vessel in a jar of clay… Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the blessing of hearing from You once again in our study of Your word today. Lord, there are many voices in the world shouting out their opinions, but none of them can compare to what You can show us and teach us if we will look to You, our Maker. Help us to learn and see and grow up in our understanding of who You are and what You want to show us in this lesson. May Your word go forth unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Make Your divine purpose known to us today Father. Bring glory to Yourself in us through this teaching - I ask in faith in Jesus name. Amen!

How many of us, when it is time to be corrected are really willing to listen with a closed mouth and an open set of ears and a humble and receptive heart? How many of us get busy justifying ourselves or try to compare our mistakes with others and think, “Well, at least I don’t do this or that like they do.” Friends, we will see today that what we think or say does not compare in the value and worth of that which is said by our Maker – God Himself. Job had been chatting back and forth with his friends. Round and around they have gone like prize fighters in the ring, right? And where has it gotten any of them – especially Job? Nowhere!

Job had made statements that indicated that he is thinking he was more righteous than God Himself – his Maker. Job had slipped from maintaining his attitude of praise and reverence toward God to one of pride and self-righteousness. He was now on dangerous ground. Praise God that He is stepping in before it is too late and he sinks any deeper than he already is. Job had even wondered if it was any benefit really to try to please God and avoid sin. He has gone from the ‘palace to the pit’ and fast, hasn’t he?

God would use Elihu to point his glaze upward. The clouds are high, yes, but how much higher the One who made the clouds? Job needed to stop looking around at what his pals had to say and look up to his Creator. It was made clear that no matter what Job did, whether good or evil, it would not change God.

It might have an effect on the people around him, but not God. Nothing Job could do could make a difference to God. He is God and no effort of human flesh can make Him bend or sway in one direction or another. He is Rock solid – not moved by flesh.

In our world today we have people all over the planet going through terrible trials. They are looking to astrologists, palm readers, counselors and even Bible scholars to help them find solutions to life’s problems. In all of that searching among men, many do not look up to God for help. And to make matters worse, while they busy themselves among fellow people trying to get help for their ever increasing dilemma’s, they get angry and shout out, “Where is God in all this?” But they never even sought Him out for a solution in the first place! Talk about pride and arrogance!

We know that it doesn’t please God to see this. We know that He hates pride and self-righteousness which are really one in the same. Those are the characteristics of the devil and that behavior will get us nowhere with our holy and always righteous Maker. And when people shout out for God to do something with a prideful heart, they can be sure of one thing – He will not ‘hear’ - their cries. Why? Because they have not humbled themselves before the Lord their Maker. Let’s look at someone else in the Bible who did not humble himself before God and see what happened…

Daniel 5 (NIV)

King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. ² While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. ³ So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶ His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

⁷ The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸ Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹ So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

¹⁰ The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! 

¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners. ¹² He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

¹³ So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom. ¹⁵ The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. ¹⁶ Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

¹⁸ “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. ¹⁹ Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. ²⁰ But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ²¹ He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.

²² “But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. ²⁴ Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

²⁵ “This is the inscription that was written:

mene, mene, tekel, parsin

²⁶ “Here is what these words mean:

Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

²⁸ Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹ Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was slain, ³¹ and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.

This king did not give the God of Israel a thought as he partied in his palace and used the holy things from the Lord’s temple to celebrate – even worshipping them as gods. We can be sure that he didn’t think God was watching. Oh but He was saints – He was! When that hand appeared and inscribed a message on the wall it really frightened him and he was seriously in need of help to understand the meaning of the message. Pay attention to what was highlighted here.

Instead of looking to the Lord and asking, “God, what are You saying to me?” he looked to evil people for his answers, and he found none. The people he called on were similar to the people many folks call on today for help. And none in that list included the Lord God our Maker. The king had consulted with flesh and blood, and all in vain. It gave him no help.

But the Lord had a man after His heart available on the scene. His name was Daniel. God would use him to give the interpretation to the king. It’s like what we see today when God sends us a prophet to give us a word of knowledge about a current or past situation, or a word of wisdom about something yet to come in the future. The Lord has been sending prophets all along to speak to people. As we can see the message was clear. The king had not humbled himself before the Lord and had worshipped everything but Him.

His doom was henceforth in sight. By the end of the day he was dead. How many people, including Christians today could have had their lives spared if they had called on God to help them and guide them through their trials? Like the verses we see in our chapter today (10 & 11), the Lord can give us songs of joy and deliverance even in our midnight hours in life and reveal to us teachings and wisdom beyond anything in the earth.

Unfortunately many have perished long before they should have because they did not seek the Lord in their lives, nor listen to Him and follow His leading. Many callings were cut short and rewards never issued because their lives had been dependent often times on the wrong thing.

Job had gone from a praising man of God to a complainer and as the time rolled on his self-righteousness bubbled to the surface. Like we discussed in an earlier chapter, the Lord knew exactly how long Job would have to be under the ‘heat lamp’ before the  impurities in his heart would begin to surface. In all Job’s carrying on, God was right there watching him and His desire for Job was to help him get past the debris that lingered beneath the surface so that He could begin to really bless him in ways He had not yet been able to. And Job had been a very blessed man before all this started. In our world today Job would probably be the equivalent of a billionaire. He was wealthy, had a great family, status in the city gates and favor in the sight of God and man.

But how many of us realize that no matter how we grow up, we all, yes, all have some unclean stuff buried somewhere in our hearts that will eventually need to be purged. God knows where that deep dark stuff is and He wants to heal it and get it out so we can go on and prosper in Him like never before.

I remember meeting a sweet young gal at a church I used to attend. She had grown up in a loving Christian family. She had been a cheerleader and was a tiny and adorable young woman. When she walked into the room her smile would just light the place up. She had been a Christian as long as she could remember. She had been raised by loving Christian parents and never could recall having any problems growing up. How many times have you ever heard someone say such a thing? I for one had never met a person like this. Never having a problem growing up? That was unheard of to me. Yet she was 100% serious.

She loved her parents and her sister and they had a great relationship. Now she was married to a young man whose dad was our pastor, and he loved the Lord. The two of them met at a Christian college and it was certainly a match made in heaven. Now they are having babies and their ministry is taking off like wildfire across the globe. It is such a blessing to watch as they touch young people all over the world with something as simple as a skate board or a surf board. Her husband always enjoyed skateboarding, so he felt a passion in his heart to share that same excitement with under-privileged children in impoverished areas as a means of opening the door to share the gospel. And God has certainly blessed that dream. Hallelujah!  

I was talking with this young lady one day and she said she was having a physical concern. She was quite surprised because she said she had never had a problem before. I mean to tell you that I just sat there in amazement over her statement. She thought this physical thing was her first problem and she was well into her twenties! Glory to God! But there will be something in everyone’s life – eventually. I don’t know any details about how she handled the situation or what transpired after that conversation. That is between her and the Lord. Now that she has children she is probably facing some new challenges. LOL!

Welcome to parenthood sweet sister! I know this about her. She knows God. She has a relationship with Him and I feel confident that because of her strong upbringing, she is going to do very well. Whatever she may have in her heart that the Lord wants to deal with, we can trust that He will reveal it. But any person who is tuned in to the Lord God has already got an advantage in getting the dross removed from their hearts. Look at what the word says about raising kids…

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Regardless of what happens to a person as they grow up and enter into adulthood, their ‘basic training’ as a child will eventually take over. It happened to me on the negative side. It happened to my friend at the church on the positive side. But to king Belshazzar things played out like they had for his dad. It looks as if he didn’t have a very good example set before him as he was growing up, didn’t it? So the roots of what he knew came out and it cost him both his kingdom and his life.

Now Job had been a man of God – the Lord thought a lot about him. That is how this whole thing started as God Himself said what He thought about Job. Maybe like my friend from my former church family, he had been raised to know the Lord and had walked right with Him most, if not all of his life until this trial. The Lord who molded him knew that there was an impurity in him. It’s like having a buried splinter in our hearts. So the lump he started with had to be slapped down into a heap and the whole process had to be started over just like a potter sitting before a wheel of clay…

Jeremiah 18:1-11

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ² “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” ³ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. ⁴ And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁶ “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! ⁷ The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, ⁸ if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. ⁹ And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, ¹⁰ if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

¹¹ “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”’”

Just because we can’t see God’s hand - like the writing on the wall that day, does not mean He is not there watching. He already knew all of it before it ever played out to begin with. And the really great news in this whole deal with Job and with you and me is this. Before we were ever born and made the first mistake, God in His amazing wisdom and grace had already made a plan to bring glory to Himself in every bit of it. As He would mold us and turn us and twist us through our wrong choices, trials and decisions, He would have a wonderful plan to bring it all back together and make us into a vessel fit for His use and His glory – hallelujah! I could look at my own life at one point and say, “How could anyone make this mess ever look good?”

Look at Acts 4:24-28 (You may want to read the whole chapter to get a full understanding of what was going on, but this will suffice for now)

So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

‘Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.’

“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

Oh do you see this saints? Glory to God! They acknowledged who God is and all He has done in forming everything in heaven and on earth and in the sea. And He had determined to use them in this situation beforehand to carry out His purpose. This is where we see His sovereignty. The word ‘sovereign’ means supreme in power. God knew what was going to happen and He knew who would be available for His use to carry out His ultimate plans. We must not confuse this with the false statement that “God is in control”. He never controls people – ever! He chooses people and gives them a choice. If this one won’t obey and do it He will move on to the next. In the end He has His way by getting just the right (obedient) person to do the job. Hallelujah! 

Job had been waiting to meet with God to prove his point and defend his case. But he had gotten to thinking that God wasn’t doing anything about the matter. That was very wrong thinking folks. Just because we can’t see something happening in our circumstances when we think they should happen does not mean that our Maker is not fully aware of every detail. What makes the difference in when He shows up is obvious – our attitude and our actions. He gives grace to the humble while resisting the proud…

James 4:6

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

What Job needed in our chapter today was a great big slice of ‘humble pie’. He had not seen any action from God in all this time so he had continued running his mouth in foolishness rather than getting humble and quiet before God to hear what His take on the situation would be. That was his downfall. It had caused his trial to drag on and on. Hasn’t that happened to so many of us saints? We got into a mess and we wanted God to step right in and fix everything “right now God!”, but all we sensed was the sound of silence. And why? Well we have looked at that today haven’t we? He will not regard what we are saying – when we have a haughty attitude.

You remember that old cliché we used to hear a lot a few years back, “Talk to the hand!” Well, in essence it is the same with God. We might as well be talking to a wall as to Him when we go to Him in pride and self-righteousness. He will hear what we are saying alright, but He will not respond favorably to that kind of attitude from any of His children. And for many of us, we don’t see the ‘writing on the wall’ even when the answer is as plain as if God had reached down from heaven and inscribed His answer right there on our living room wall! How SADD-U-CEE!

Regardless of how any of us were raised as children by our earthly parents, once we got born again and experienced the new birth and become a new creation, we became as newborn babes. At that point we started to get raised up in the way we should go by our real Daddy – our Father in heaven. Praise His name forever! He will teach us the right way in which we should go and as we age in the faith, we should not depart from it.

Isn’t the writing ‘on the wall’? Shouldn’t we turn to the Lord who has formed our lumps of clay and given us His rich treasure therein and ask Him for help every time we need it? Should we not honor Him with a closed mouth and an open heart and ears to find out what His will is in every situation we face in life? Let’s make that our goal, amen? 

Questions:

What did Elihu tell Job about his words in the opening verses?___________________________

What was the main problem with Job’s attitude that was addressed in today’s chapter?

What did Job need to do at this point in his trial?

When we don’t see God’s hand, does that mean He is not paying attention? Explain your answer.

What should we do when we need to hear from the Lord about a situation?

2 Corinthians 4:7

 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

There are three main points to consider from today’s study… 

Self-righteousness will get us nowhere with God

When we can’t see the writing on the wall, we need to get quiet and listen

God had a good plan for your situation before you were even born

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for helping me to see the error of my ways. Lord, I ask You to forgive me for any time that I have been self-righteous or prideful toward You or toward another. Father, help me to remember that long before You formed me in my mother’s womb, You made a way of escape for every trial I would ever face. Help me to remember through Holy Spirit to maintain a humble heart before You and the patience to wait on You in everything. Thank You in advance as You bring glory to Yourself in me Lord in Jesus name. Amen!

In what way have you taken a stance of self-righteousness or pride lately?

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ² as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. ⁴ I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. ⁵ And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

⁶ “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸ For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. ¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.¹³ But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Jesus Prays for All Believers

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.