JOB ON THE SINEWAVE CURVE

by Robert D. Steffens, February, 2005

God's Truth lies hidden deep within the "Sunday School Lessons for Children" that today's Christian Churches teach as a religion.

Solomon, the wisest man ever, explains to us in Ecclesiastes chapter 3 "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." Further, in verse 15 "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been." Back in verse 14: "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever." We would probably all agree that God is infinite and forever. Then we might insert a condition that infinity and forever start at such and such date and go on from there. When does infinity start? I am curious if there is one infinity or an infinite number of infinities. If God is infinite, how can anyone say that this is the only earth or heaven that He has ever manifested? Or that He will manifest in the future? Or how long ago He manifested this one? Or how many times He has used this earth before? Or how long He will use it after we are gone on? We take up the Bible, which is His Divinely Inspired Word about a single family of people, and we determine that if that family started at that certain time, then all the rest of this started at the same time. We can read 2 Peter 3:8 "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." We close the Bible and declare that the world was created in seven twenty-four-hour days. We read in the Bible the mention of eternal life. The dictionary tells us that means "without beginning or end." So, we declare we will have eternal life, starting now. Jesus says I am the Alpha and the Omega or the beginning and the end. We declare: Yes, He started about 2000 years ago. But, I suggest that perhaps God is greater than us, leaving room for us to expand our thinking.

Let us start with something we can easily see and comprehend, such as a one year cycle of a tree. To graph this cycle, start on the left of the page, on the left third of the page draw a mountain (or top half of a circle), on the middle third draw a valley, on the right third draw a mountain. Make sure this line is continuous from left to right. Now draw a horizontal line from the starting place on the left to the ending place on the right. Let all of both mountains be above the horizontal line and all the valley below the horizontal line. We will call the horizontal line "zero" and all that is above will be plus or positive, and all below will be minus or negative. This would be considered a cycle and a half. At the apex (highest point) of the mountain, label that Summer. At the nadir (lowest point) of the valley label that Winter. Between the apex and the nadir, label that Fall, where it crosses the zero line. As the line leaves the nadir, rising to the right, label it Spring where it crosses the zero line.

As we attempt to describe what is happening on this cycle; Summer is the positive time. The leaves are green; the sap is flowing; photo synthesis is occurring, and the tree is expressing life. We call this June, July, and Aug. As the line goes to the right and downward, this is Fall or Sep, Oct, and Nov. The leaves are dampening off, turning colors then brown and falling off. During the nadir is Winter or Dec, Jan, and Feb. The tree is dormant, looks as if it died, is somewhat depressing, and is expressing death in what is called the negative part of the cycle. As we depart Winter advancing to the right and up and crossing the zero line we have Spring. The sap is springing up from the roots, the leaves are budding, the birds are singing and we are approaching the expression of life again, Summer. And that is one cycle. Can you imagine sitting under a large oak tree in the Summer time listening to a conversation of the leaves, as some of them were saying: "This tree was created just for us. It manifested just before we budded and it will disappear for ever once we fall off."

Such also could the cycle of Heaven and Earth be graphed. The Garden of Eden, Heaven, God, all that is good could be represented in the positive half cycle. Earth, Satan (during his dominion), evil and the negative could be represented in the lower half cycle. We know for the tree that one cycle of a year is twelve months. One cycle for the world is about 24,000 years, therefore the positive half would be about 12,000 years as would the negative be about 12,000 years. Without elaborating on the Zodiac and the perversion of it by the Chaldean Mystery Schools of Babylon into the Horoscope that we know and despise as some people allow it to guide their lives, we must admit that God did place the stars in the sky and He may have even had purpose. Gen 1:14 "Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, to give light on the earth; to make a separation between day and the night: and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years." Job 38:31,32 "Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?" At the least, the constellations can be used as a calendar, instead of twelve 30 day periods, we have twelve 2000 year periods. Six periods are passed during the positive cycle and six are passed during the negative cycle. Jesus came at the time of the start of Pisces which symbolizes fish. Thus He emphasized fishers of men, fishermen, multiplying the fish and bread among other things. You can still see today that some Christians have the sign of the fish on their vehicles. The importance here is the cycle, not the signs, along with the fact that the world, just like the tree may have more than one cycle, as hinted in the Bible.

Before getting into the discussion and understanding of the book of Job there is one more subject that should be introduced. It is the understanding of the FOUR MINDS OF GOD. One would have an advantage by reading that article first, on the divinepageant.com website. Let me briefly summarize; Rev 4:7 lists the four beasts Lion, Calf, Eagle, Man. Lion is symbolic of Physical, Calf is symbolic of Emotion, Eagle is symbolic of Intellect or Thought, and Man symbolizes the Spiritual Son of God. Within these Four Minds lie all (that we are aware of) that is manifested in world during the negative half cycle.

Little is known about when the book of Job was written or who wrote it. It is suspected to be around the time of Abram, Isaac and Jacob. I think it could appropriately have been as early as Adam. Adam, remember, was quite in touch with leaving the Garden of Eden and coming into the world. Most that read Job accept it as a guy that gets dumped on, yet who continues to love God, therefore is rewarded double. That is a great Sunday school lesson for children, as many of the stories in the Bible are, but there is a higher lesson for those that chose to seek God's Truth. What does the book of Job really tell us?

COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF JOB

Job 1:1-5: Job is in the Garden of Eden or Heaven and the description is that Job has all the goodness that God has made available, just as we imagine Heaven after we die. He wanted for nothing.

Job 1:6-12: God gives dominion to Satan over the Spiritual man during the negative portion of the cycle. Is 26:13 "Other lords beside thee have had dominion over us." Dn 7:6 The third beast of Intellect "and dominion was given to it."

Job 1:13-2:10 - This is the fall of Spiritual man as he exits the Garden and enters into the world. Also, expressed by Adam and Eve eating the apple. We were stripped of our Heavenly powers; such as saying to the mountain move and it happening. What is happening to Job is symbolic of all the trials and tribulations that the Spiritual man will encounter during the negative half cycle of world. Job already knew good, now he is being thrust into evil, as expressed by Adam and Eve’s choice to know good and evil. We can not make the choice to know evil, without having the experiences of the evil. Why do bad things happen to good people? Because we made that choice and said we wanted to know evil. Well, evil is bad stuff and that bad stuff is what we want to know, so we are getting what we asked for.

Job 2:11-31:40 - Here lies the excitement and the meat of the whole book and this is so important. Recall the brief introduction to the Four Minds of God. How would you like to be a spectator where four Scholars, one representing each of the Four Minds, with each one discussing the description and workings of the mind he represents?
Thus is the book of Job.

Of the Four Minds we have:
Job represents Man - the Spiritual nature
Eliphaz represents the Physical nature. 4:10,11 roaring lion, fierce lion, young lions, old lion, stout lion's 5:25 "seed" shall be great 4:19 flesh man (clay).
Bildad represents the Emotional nature 18:3 counted as "beasts" 18:4 teareth himself in "anger"
Zophar represents the Intellect nature 11:2 words, talk 11:3 lies 11:4 doctrine 11:5 God would "speak" 11:6 secrets of "wisdom" 20:2 thoughts 20:3 understanding

Chap 3 - JOB-SPIRITUAL had eternal life with God; and is now lamenting his transition into world.
v. 25 "What we fear and are afraid of comes to us." The perfect mind of Spirit doesn't know fear. This is associated with the Fall of Man.

Chap 4,5 - ELIPHAZ-PHYSICAL: 4:17 Spiritual man coming into physical body, can not be more just than God. 5:1-7 Spiritual man will suffer the follies of world. 5:8-27 Spiritual man that commits his course to God will have protection.

Chap 6,7 JOB 6:9 Job doesn't want to play this game and wishes that God would destroy him, that he might have comfort. 6:15-30 calamity comes unseen from anywhere. 7:1-11 Isn't there an appointed time for this battle to end before I die? 7:12-21 Suffering of this physical body is continual til physical death.

Chap 8 - BILDAD-EMOTION 8:2,3  Stop blowing in the wind; the play is set up and the curtain is up. 8:4-6 Call on God. 8:7-10 We did this before and don't remember; thus ask the previous cycle. 8:11-18 We come into world as green shoots, live with separation from God, wither and die; thus if we forget God, He will say "I never knew you." 8:19-22 We think power is ours. Chap 9,10. JOB 9 The awesomeness of God in His greatness compared to my insignificance, 10 Whether I am good or bad the tests continue, I'm so confused.

Chap 11 - ZOPHAR-INTELLECT 11:1-5 We think we are good. 11:6 The secrets to wisdom are double what we imagine and God expects less from us than He should. 11:7-20 We should stop questioning the WHY of God and instead prepare our hearts and stretch out our hands toward Him, then we will rest in safety and not be afraid and the enemy will fail.

Chap 12,13,14.      JOB 12:2-9 All Four minds know these things, we all know that the wicked prosper, those that provoke God are secure and rewarded, ask the Emotional beast, the Intellectual fowls or the Physical earth, they know the hand of God wrought this. 12:10-25 We all know that God controls ALL things. 13:1-5 You create the lie that is world, the negative cycle is an illusion. 13:6-12 Your wisdom should be silence, you deal treacherously with God, you have no memory because you are no more than just clay. 13:13-19 I will trust God even if He chooses to slay me, I'd rather die than not speak of God. 13:20-22 Don't take away the emotion and thought. 13:23-28 You talk a good line but you can't do what God does. 14:1-13 You three (Physical, Emotional, & Mental natures) are just flesh bodies, when you die you just waste away like a flower that is cut down. 14:14-22 When I, the Spiritual nature, die, I just change, sure it's tough here for me, I feel pain, I mourn.

Chap 15 - ELIPHAZ-PHYSICAL We of the Physical are as smart as you of the Spiritual, we know these things, we know we will be consumed, what is all your talk, you weren't the first man born. You of Spirit call upon the world.

Chap 16,17  - JOB-SPIRITUAL 16 Oh, the things I must endure during this Physical trip, Here I am fellowshipping with the ungodly and the wicked; I wish I had a Spiritual man here to talk with; when a few years come; I'm out of here. 17 You three minds have worn me out; you have no understanding in your heart for the Spiritual man; there is not one wise man among you; I accept that our Physical bodies will be put down to rest together.

Chap 18 -  BILDAD-EMOTION You just think we are beasts filled with Emotion; this is the way things are here; do you expect the Emotional mind to leave the earth for you? This is the dwelling place for us that know not God.

Chap 19 -    JOB 19:2-3 Spirit vs Intellect, Emotion, Physical. 19:4 My error was choosing to be born into the world. 19:5 You don't need to remind me of my fault. 19:6-24 I have forgotten God and am lost in the three minds of world. 19:25-27 I know that I will return to God. 19:28 Why do you persecute me? I'm the one that forgot who I was. 19:29 You will be judged for doing that.

Chap 20  -  ZOPHAR-INTELLECT 20:2-7 Triumph of the wicked is short, joy of the hypocrite but for a moment; then we perish for ever. 20:8-16 We don't get to harvest our evil actions. 20:17 We don't get to see the river, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. 20:18-29 Such is the destiny for the wicked which is appointed by God.

Chap 21  -  JOB-SPIRITUAL  21:2-13 Don't lie to me, I know you are mighty in power; you enjoy your offspring; your houses are safe; your animals multiply; your children dance; you rejoice at the music; you spend your days in wealth. 21:14-15 You don't seek God’s Truth or choose to serve Him or pray to Him. 20:16-26 God gives you some sorrows that you deserve for your evils. 21:27-34 You come up with ideas to treat me wrongfully; you ask questions to try to mislead me; you know you are reserved for the day of destruction; you are going to the grave where you will remain; I see your false actions; you want me to think you are trying to comfort me.

Chap 22 -  ELIPHAZ-PHYSICAL 22:2-22 This describes the Physical mind and our Spiritual relationship to it. 22:23-30 When we return to the Almighty our powers will be restored; we will then be able to decree and it shall be established.

Chap 23,24 -   JOB 23 Oh, that I could get back to God but I can't find Him. He is trying me and has covered me with darkness. 24:1-16 Why are these three Minds blind to God when they remove landmarks, take away flocks, take the widow's ox, turn away the needy, cause the naked to lodge without clothing, take the babe from the breast, take pledge from the poor, take away from the hungry their oil and wine, they rebel against the light, they are murderers, thieves, adulterers, rob the houses at night. 24:17-20 They hate the light of morning and the snow waters won't save them, they will be consumed by the grave, the worm will feed sweetly on him 24:21-24 They do their evil, and will be exalted for a little while, but then they will be cut down like corn 24:25 Which of you are going to call me a liar?

Chap 25 -  BILDAD-EMOTION Dominion and fear of God are with Job as he makes peace with God. How can a man born of a woman be clean? Even the stars are not pure to him, and flesh is no better than a worm.

Chap 26-31  -   JOB 26 What have any of you done to compare to God? Just look at His Majesty. 27 I won't forsake my integrity by trying to justify you, you're my wicked enemy, what hope do you hypocrites have with your gains when God takes your soul? Why are you so vain? 27:13-23 This is the portion of a wicked man and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty: children will be multiplied for the sword, offspring not satisfied with bread, at your death the widows will not weep, the just will get your raiment and silver, the rich man will disappear, terrors will take hold of him and you will have no peace. 28 This is what is in store for the Spiritual man: he fears the Lord and gets wisdom, he departs from evil and gets understanding. 29 Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me: which was the positive half of the sinewave, or Garden of Eden. 30 This is where Job is "now" in the negative half of the sinewave or world. 31 While in the world, I tried to do what I thought was right including not rejoicing at my enemies destruction or cursing his soul.

ELIHU

Out of the blue comes Elihu. If the Four Minds of God just finished their discussion, then where does Elihu fit in this picture? We know that in Chapter 38 to 41 the Lord speaks to Job. We know that God is unchanging. We are told in Jn 14:6 that Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." The reason for this is; as a castle has a moat around it and you must go over or through the moat to get to the castle, the Invisible God is surrounded by the throne of God, of which Christ is a part, with Jesus being the Head. Therefore you must go through Jesus (throne) to get to God. Also, on the cross, Jesus said ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI with ELI meaning "My God." The question is how could Job get to the Father without going through Jesus? Since Job HAD TO go through Jesus, we must contend that Elihu was a manifestation of Jesus. If your Bible has the words of Jesus in red, wisdom may indicate that Job 32 through 37 should be in red.

Chap 32-37   -   ELIHU/JESUS  32:15 They were amazed, they answered no more: they left off speaking. Sounds like the description of the Pharisees in the New Testament. CH. 33 It is not a "just" thing for us to question God, for God is greater than man and He accounts to no one. Elihu explains that God protects us even when we are not aware, if there be a messenger or interpreter, one among a thousand to shew unto man God's uprightness then God will be gracious unto him and deliver him from going down to the pit, for He has found atonement. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's, he shall return to the days of his youth, he shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him, and if any man says he has sinned and perverted that which was right and it profited him not, God will deliver his soul from going into the pit and his life shall see the light. CH. 34 Elihu is chastising Job and explaining God, and ends with "My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers" CH. 35 Again, Elihu is reminding Job of his words against God. Job should have said: Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night and teaches us more than the beasts (Emotional mind) and makes us wiser than the fowls (Intellect mind)? God will not hear or regard vanity. CH. 36 "For truly my words shall not be false: he that is perfect in knowledge is with thee." (KJV) (JESUS?) If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword and die without knowledge. Don't desire the day of judgment. The number of God's years can not be searched out. CH. 37 Elihu continues proclaiming God's Majesty, as we all should do.

Chap 38 - 41   -   LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. Job is reminded that compared to God Job knows nothing. If we are anything, we should be humble. 40:3-5 Job replies: I will lay my hand over my mouth and not speak. The Lord continues to challenge Job to do the things He does. Can Job look on everyone that is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked. Behold the hippopotamus that is the chief of the ways of God. Can Job make a covenant with the crocodile or even know how magnificently the croc was created?

Chap 42  -  42:1-6 Job answers the Lord, "I know thou canst do everything . . . I have uttered things I understood not, that were too wonderful for me . . . I will demand of thee and declare thou unto me . . . I abhor myself and repent." 42:7-9 The Lord chastises Eliphaz and his two friends for not speaking the truth and commands them to take a burnt offering to Job, and the Lord said "I will only accept Job . . . I would have destroyed you, for you have not spoken the truth against my servant Job." They did as the Lord commanded them and He pardoned their sin for the sake of Job. (It is interesting that God accepted the Spiritual Mind but only pardoned the other three Minds.) 42:10 Now we see the transition to the positive half of the sinewave. 42:11-15 Once back in the Garden (Heaven) Job is given double all that he had before and his three daughters received inheritance along with their brothers. 42:16-17 And Job lived a very long time.

LESSONS FROM JOB

There are some very important lessons that we should learn from the book of Job. These are:
1. The relationship between the Four Minds of God.
2. What Job uttered that he shouldn't have, so we can be aware of our own words.
3. A couple things God would want us to say and do.
4. The Majesty of God as pointed out by Elihu.
5. A few of the Majestic awesome things that lie in the hands and control of God that we are too insignificant to understand or know.

All of the following verses are taken from the Greek Septuagint. They are being added here because of their extreme importance in our lives.

1. The relationship between the Four Minds of God.
This relationship would be a worthy study for anyone that chooses to seek God's Truth. The very first sentence at the top of this article defines it well. The many books of the Bible are neat little stories that happened a long time ago, and incidentally, I believe them completely, and that they really happened. Yet, if God Divinely Inspired the writing of the Bible, there may be more depth of meaning there than we would expect if man had written the story. Jonah, as example, is a nice story of a guy that was given a task by God to go to Nineveh and he refused, then was thrown off the boat, swallowed by a whale, changed his mind, was spit out, then did what God had given him to do. This is the elementary level of understanding that the church teaches today as their religion. Today's Spiritual man relives this story over and over. God gives him a task, he ignores or refuses to do the task, then suffers the consequences of being in a whales belly, and many times lives his whole life without changing his mind, being spit out, and doing what God commanded him to do, all the while shouting: Why is God doing these whale’s-belly type things to me? The few that, while in the fertile ground of the whales belly, grow ears to hear and eyes to see and choose to follow God's commands, are spit out and stand in mouth-opened-awe at the riches that God bestows upon them, here, now, in this life, after they commit to that decision. This discussion in Job, by the Four Minds gives us a pretty clear picture of what Spiritual man is dealing with while here in this manifestation. We can choose to use this information to make better decisions that will help us, as His children, return to our Father.

2. What Job uttered that he shouldn't have, so we can be aware of our own words.
Chap 33:8-11 "But thou hast said in mine ears, (I have heard the voice of thy words;) because thou sayest, ‘I am pure, not having sinned; I am blameless, for I have not transgressed. Yet He has discovered a charge against me, and He has reckoned me as an adversary. And He has put my foot in the stocks, and has watched all my ways.’"

Chap 34:5-9 "For Job has said I am righteous: the Lord has removed my judgment. And He has erred in my judgment: my wound is severe without unrighteousness of mine. What man is as Job, drinking scorning like water? Saying, I have not sinned, nor committed ungodliness, nor had fellowship with workers of iniquity, to go with the ungodly, For thou shouldest not say There shall be no visitation of a man, whereas there is a visitation on him from the Lord."

Chap 35:2-3 "Who art thou that thou hast said, I am righteous before the Lord? I will answer thee, and thy three friends."

3. A couple things God would want us to say and do.
Chap 33:23-28 "If he should purpose in his heart to turn to the Lord, and declare to man his fault, and shew his folly; He will support him, that he should not perish, and will restore his body as fresh plaster upon a wall; and He will fill his bones with marrow. And He will make his flesh tender as that of a babe, and He will restore him among men in his full strength. And he shall pray to the Lord, and his prayer shall be accepted of him; he shall enter with a cheerful countenance, with a full expression of praise; for He will render to men their due. Even then a man shall blame himself, saying, What kind of things have I done? And He has not punished me according to the full amount of my sins. Deliver my soul, that it may not go to destruction, and my life shall see the light."

Chap 34:31,32 "For there is one that says to the Mighty One, I have received blessings; I will not take a pledge: I will see apart from myself: do thou shew me if I have done unrighteousness: I will not do so any more."

Chap 35:10,11 "Where is God that made me, who appoints the night-watches: who makes me to differ from the four-footed beasts of the earth, and from the birds of the sky."

4. The Majesty of God as pointed out by Elihu.
Chap 36:5-12 "Know that the Lord will not cast off an innocent man: being mighty in strength of wisdom, He will not by any means save alive the ungodly: and He will grant the judgment of the poor. He will not turn away His eyes from the righteous, but they shall be with kings on the throne: and He will establish them in triumph, and they shall be exalted. But they that are bound in fetters shall be holden in cords of poverty. And He shall recount to them their works, and their transgressions, for such will act with violence, But He will hearken to the righteous: and He has said that they shall turn from unrighteousness. If they should hear and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in honour. But He preserves not the ungodly; because they are not willing to know the Lord, and because when reproved they were disobedient." (God's command or the whale’s belly; you choose).

Chap 36:27-32 "And the drops of rain are numbered by Him, and shall be poured out in rain to form a cloud. The ancient heavens shall flow, and the clouds overshadow innumerable mortals: He has fixed a time to cattle, and they know the order of rest. Yet by all these things thy understanding is not astonished, neither is thy mind disturbed in thy body. And though one should understand the outspreadings of the clouds, or the measure of His tabernacle: behold He will stretch His bow against him, and He covers the bottom of the sea. For by them He will judge the nations: He will give food to him that has strength. He has hidden the light in His hands, and given charge concerning it to the interposing cloud."

Chap 37:2-13 "Hear thou a report by the anger of the Lord's wrath, and a discourse shall come out of His mouth. His dominion is under the whole heaven, and His light is at the extremities of the earth. After Him shall be a cry with a loud voice: He shall thunder with the voice of His excellency, yet He shall not cause men to pass away, for one shall hear His voice. The Mighty One shall thunder wonderfully with His voice: for He has done great things which we knew not; commanding the snow, Be thou upon the earth, and the stormy rain, and the storm of the showers of His might. He seals up the hand of every man, that every man may know his own weakness. And the wild beasts come in under the covert, and rest in their lair. Troubles come on out of the secret chambers, and cold from mountain-tops. And from the breath of the Mighty One He will send frost; and He guides the water in whatever way He pleases. And if a cloud obscures what is precious to Him, His light will disperse the cloud. And He will carry round the encircling clouds by His governance, to perform their works: whatsoever He shall command them, this has been appointed by Him on the earth, whether for correction, or for His land, or if He shall find him an object for mercy."

Chap 37:15-24 "We know that God has disposed His works, having made light out of darkness. And He knows the divisions of the clouds, and the signal overthrows of the ungodly. But thy robe is warm, and there is quiet upon the land. Wilt thou establish with Him foundations for the ancient heavens? They are strong as a molten mirror. Wherefore teach me, what shall we say to him? And let us cease from saying much. Have I a book or a scribe by me, that I may stand and put man to silence? But the light is not visible to all: it shines afar off in the heavens, as that which is from Him in the clouds. From the north come the clouds shining like gold: in these great are the glory and honour of the Almighty; and we do not find another His equal in strength: as for Him that judges justly, dost thou not think that He listens? Wherefore men shall fear Him; and the wise also in heart shall fear him."

5. A few of the Majestic awesome things that lie in the hands and control of God that we are too insignificant to understand or know.

Chap 38:4 to 39:30 LORD GOD ALMIGHTY
"Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Tell me now, if thou hast knowledge, who set the measures of it, if thou knowest? or who stretched a line upon it? On what are its rings fastened? And who is he that laid the corner stone upon it? When the stars were made, all my angels praised me with a loud voice. And I shut up the sea with gates, when it rushed out, coming forth out of its mother's womb. And I made a cloud its clothing, and swathed it in mist. And I set bounds to it, surrounding it with bars and gates. And I said to it, Hitherto shalt thou come, but thou shalt not go beyond, but thy waves shall be confined within thee.
"Or did I order the morning light in thy time; and did the morning star then first see his appointed place; to lay hold of the extremities of the earth, to cast out the ungodly of it? Or didst thou take clay of the ground, and form a living creature, and set it with the power of speech upon the earth? And hast thou removed light from the ungodly, and crushed the arm of the proud?
Or hast thou gone to the source of the sea, and walked in the tracks of the deep? And do the gates of death open to thee for fear; and did the porters of hell quake when they saw thee? And hast thou been instructed in the breadth of the whole earth under heaven? Tell me now, what is the extent of it?

"And in what kind of a land does the light dwell? And of what kind is the place of darkness? If thou couldest bring me to their utmost boundaries, and if also thou knowest their paths; I know then that thou wert born at that time, and the number of thy years is great.
"But hast thou gone to the treasures of snow? And hast thou seen the treasures of hail? And is there a store of them for thee against the time of thine enemies, for the day of wars and battle? And whence proceeds the frost? Or whence is the south wind dispersed over the whole world under heaven? And who prepared a course for the violent rain, and a way for thunders; to rain upon the land where there is no man, in the wilderness, where there is not a man in it; so as to feed the untrodden and uninhabited land, and cause it to send forth a crop of green herbs?

"Who is the rain's father? And who has generated the drops of dew? And out of whose womb comes the ice? And who has produced the frost in the sky, which descends like flowing water? Who has terrified the face of the ungodly?

"And dost thou understand the band of Pleias (Pleiades), and hast thou opened the barrier of Orion? Or wilt thou reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Wilt thou guide them? And knowest thou the changes of heaven, or the events which take place together under heaven? And wilt thou call a cloud with thy voice, and will it obey thee with a violent shower of much rain? And wilt thou send lightnings, and they shall go? And shall they say to thee, What is thy pleasure? And who has given to women skill in weaving, or knowledge of embroidery? And who is he that numbers the clouds in wisdom, and has bowed the heaven down to earth? For it is spread out as dusty earth, and I have cemented it as one hewn stone to another.

"And wilt thou hunt for prey for the lions? And satisfy the desires of the serpents? For they fear in their lairs, and lying in wait couch in the woods. And who has prepared food for the raven? For its young ones wander and cry to the Lord, in search of food.

"Say if thou knowest the time of the bringing forth of the wild goats of the rock, and if thou hast marked the calving of the hinds; and if thou hast numbered the full months of their being with young, and if thou hast relived their pangs: and hast reared their young without fear; and wilt thou loosen their pangs? Their young will break forth: they will be multiplied with offspring: their young will go forth, and will not return to them.

"And who is he that sent forth the wild ass free? And who loosed his bands? Whereas I made his habitation the wilderness, and the salt land his coverts. He laughs to scorn the multitude of the city, and hears not the chiding of the tax gatherer. He will survey the mountains as his pasture, and he seeks after every green thing.

"And wilt the unicorn (rhinoceros) be willing to serve thee, or to lie down at thy manger? And wilt thou bind his yoke with throngs, or will he plough furrows for thee in the plain? And dost thou trust him, because his strength is great? And wilt thou commit thy works to him? And wilt thou believe that he will return to thee thy seed, and bring it in to thy threshing floor?

"The peacock has a beautiful wing: if the stork and the ostrich conceive, it is worthy of notice, for the ostrich will leave her eggs in the ground, and warm them on dust, and has forgotten that the foot will scatter them, and the wild beasts of the field trample them. She has hardened herself against her young ones, as though she bereaved not herself: she labours in vain without fear. For God has withholden wisdom from her, and not given her a portion in understanding. In her season she will lift herself on high; she will scorn the horse and his rider.

"Hast thou invested the horse with strength, and clothed his neck with terror? And hast thou clad him in perfect armour and made his breast glorious with courage? He paws exulting in the plain, and goes forth in strength into the plain. He laughs to scorn a king as he meets him, and will by no means turn back from the sword. The bow and sword resound against him; and his rage will swallow up the ground: and he will not believe until the trumpet sounds. And when the trumpet sounds, he says, Aha! And afar off he smells the war with prancing and neighing.
"And does the hawk remain steady by thy wisdom, having spread out her wings unmoved, looking toward the region of the south? And does the eagle rise at thy command, and the vulture remain sitting over his nest, on a crag of a rock, and in a secret place? Thence he seeks food, his eyes observe from far. And his young ones roll themselves in blood, and wherever the carcasses may be, immediately they are found."

This is just a small portion of all that God is. We were created in His image, therefore we feign to usurp His glory daily. We marvel at the tall buildings that man made; we give credit to the weather man for giving us the weather, instead of the report; we turn to pharmacies to heal our dis-ease; we defile our temples with polluted food and drink; we give up our peace as our glazed eyes watch the destruction of God's children; we blindly swallow the pablum from the pulpit figuring it must be the truth because the minister said it, and we mindlessly wonder: Gee, if there really is a God, why doesn't He show us? He says Come unto me; I say I don't need it. He says follow me; I say Not yet. He says seek me; I say no time. He says Die to the world; I say Wait til I get my fortune first. He says I will comfort you; I say I've got pills for that. He says Speak for Me; I say just let me rest first. Then I cry with a loud voice: Why Lord, do you let all these bad things happen to me?

Maybe we should take a minute and sit down, and consider one of the paragraphs above, and let our minds feast on His glory. We should rejoice that we have such an awesome God and that He can still perform the miracle of loving us after we have so emphatically missed the mark. We should get on our knees and say, "forgive me Father for the things that I did not know and forgive me for not trying harder to know. Give me the chance to know who I really am as your child. Guide me home to your loving arms and give me the strength to do your will, and to obey You, My Father. In Jesus Christ name. Amen

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Note by Roger Hathaway: While Bob Steffens has built upon my works, and while I accredit the article above, I cannot accredit any other of his writings not carried on this website, writings which lead into directions contrary to that of my work. January, 2012