Read Job 33:14-3014For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. 18He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. 19He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: 20So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. 21His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. 22Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. 23If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness: 24Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. 25His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth: 26He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness. 27He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; 28He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. 29Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, 30To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living. (Job 33:14‑30).
“GOD speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth, it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth, upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;
Then He openeth the cars of men, and sealeth their instruction,
That He may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.
His flesh, is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness:
Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver Him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
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 he shall see His face with joy: for He will render unto man his righteousness.
He looketh, upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.
Lo, all these things worketh, God oftentimes with man,
To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.”
Friend, there is a pit; God Himself says so, and speaks of the reality of going down into it. It is easier to go down hill than up, is it not? You may think that it is difficult to go to hell, but unless you are really seeking salvation, you have only to go on doing as you do now―neither more nor less―and you will presently land yourself there. “Oh,” you say, “your creed is old-fashioned, and I don’t accept it. For that matter, I never receive what I can’t prove or what I can’t understand.”
Stop a minute. Do you understand all that you see around you? Can you explain matters which go on before your eyes every day? Why, in that field near you are a pig, a goose, a sheep, and a cow, and they are all alike eating grass. But in one case the food goes to make bristles, in another feathers, in another wool, and in another hair. Can you comprehend and explain the difference of operation? There are many matters which you and I cannot understand: and if we could we should either raise ourselves to an equality with God, or drag God down to our level.
There is a pit, and God warns you of it and of your danger of falling into it. But He not only warns you: He takes infinite pains to prevent your descent thither. If He speaks plainly of the pit, He speaks with equal clearness of the way which He has provided for escape from destruction. God speaks once, yea twice. Have you heard His voice? He spoke to you in that accident, that illness, that bereavement, that loss; His voice rang out at the grave-side. He spoke to you again in the little book put into your hands by a well-wisher. Your mother’s prayers, your father’s entreaties, your sister’s example were God’s voice, sounding not once or twice, but many times, in your ears. Did you heed the message? Do you say that you were too much engaged―that business is exacting, that your daily life is very full, and that from early morn to dewy eve your head, hands, feet, and mind are fully occupied? And that is true. But note the goodness of God. He seeks and finds an opportunity when you loudly assert that you have none. He never slumbers nor sleeps, and in His infinite mercy He speaks to men, as we have just read in the Book of Job, “in a dream, in the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men.” If the day is occupied, He often avails Himself of the night; and sometimes in those watches of the night there comes to us a whisper of some such words as these: “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”
Then, further, in this wonderful Book of Job, we read that God “keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.” Have you ever been in a railway accident, ever been near death, by drowning, or by fire, ever just escaped being run over by a horse, ever fallen from a tree, or taken poison by mistake? If you had died, under any of those circumstances, where would you now be? “I don’t know,” you say. But do you not know? The pit would have been your fate―the pit from which Divine love preserved you―and, hitherto, you have never thanked God, or recognized His goodness, in saving you. The sword is kept back; we hear strange stories of hair-breadth escapes from sword or bullet, but do we remember that it is the goodness of God which has preserved us from the imminent danger of going down into the pit? Oh, that you might learn the wonderful truth, that you, individually, are dear to the heart of God! Perhaps you have never spent five minutes in seeking to know God; perhaps the very thought of God is repugnant to you; and yet to that God you are an object of love and interest.
Elihu, in the passage which we are considering in the Book of Job, mentions another way by which God approaches men, and that is the way of sickness. Man “is chastened also with pain upon his bed.” Sometimes, when in health, you have no time for thoughts of God. An illness comes to you, and death seems very near. It may be that the thought of eternity looms large before your mind. Weakness is great; dislike of food becomes pronounced; “the life abhorreth bread, and the soul dainty meat,” and you cry, when some savory dish is brought you, “Take it away; I cannot even look at it.” Your “soul draweth near unto the grave, and your life to the destroyers.” This is the moment of God’s opportunity; and there appears upon the scene a messenger, an interpreter from God, a servant with a Divinely given message. The power of that message―revealing man’s lost and ruined condition―should lead you to turn, in faith, to God, Who―His own preliminary work being accomplished―has now the joy (Luke 15) of giving the command, “Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.” Oh, the joy to the great heart of God, but oh, the cost of the ransom Calvary was the cost; and we read (Matt. 20:2828Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)) that the “Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many.” He gave His life for me, a worthless, helpless sinner, without one spark of affection for Him, without one desire after Him, without a thought, unless it were a thought of hatred, about Him. And I should have been as ready as another―had I been present, at Calvary―to drive the cruel nails into His loving hands, and to thrust the spear into His side. Oh, wonder of grace, He loved me. It was not a general, but a personal love. The Christ of God loved me and gave Himself a ransom for me. And of me, God can justly say, “Deliver him.” Think of the mighty co-operation of the Three Persons in the Holy Trinity. The Father sent the Son; the Son came to do the Father’s will, and to finish His work upon the Cross; and the Holy Ghost brings triumphant acknowledgment of the delight of the Father’s heart in that accomplished work. All depends, not on my appreciation of the work, but on God’s. The words are: “I have found a ransom.” God has been glorified. Redemption has been accomplished. Death, as God’s judgment on the sinner, has been abolished and the ransom is accepted.
Now, the believer is truly a child of God, a new-born babe in Christ. “He shall pray unto God”―so we read in our chapter from the Book of Job― “and He will be favorable unto him.” In the new translation of the Bible, we find in verse 27 of the chapter, “He singeth before men.” Yes, the miserable are made happy now; the weak are strong; the busy find time to sing, and that before men. Of what does the believer sing? Of mercy and truth, and of God’s grace to him. There is no hiding anything now; there is no fear of men’s opinions, approval, or scorn. “I have sinned,” the man confesses (Job 33:2727He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; (Job 33:27)), “and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not.” Has sin brought you profit? Has it made you happy? Has no bitterness followed its Indulgence? Or has sin laid up a store of trouble for the future? Are not God’s books posted up to date? And is there a credit or a debit account for you in those books?
Listen further to the words which follow in our portion of Holy Scripture. Here we have a worthy theme for song. “He has redeemed my soul from going down to the pit,” the Christian sings, “and my life shall behold the light.”
There is no uncertainty here, no waiting, or hoping, or wishing, but there is the simple fact, known and declared, of accomplished redemption. The living Christ―not a religion, or a system, but a personal Saviour―is appropriated by faith; and in the light of the revelation of that Christ of God, the happy soul now lives. Think the matter over and decide for yourself. Think of the care which the Father has taken of you; think of the means through which He has spoken to you; think of the vast, unspeakable love which provided a way of salvation for you; and may a sense of all that He has done and is doing for you bind your heart, in chains which love only can forge, to the heart of Him Who at tremendous cost delivered you from the pit, and found a ransom for you. E. C―P.