Day 11

III The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.
A. Job ~ cont.
2. Job and his three friends ~ cont.
d. Third round of speeches ~ cont. - Job 31:1-40
3. Discourse with Elihu - Job 32:1-22; 33:1-33; 34:1-37; 35:1-16; 36:1-33

One of my favorite verses:

I made a covenant with mine eyes: why then should I think upon a maid? (Job 31:1)

My perception of this verse? That Job was extremely cautious in looking at other women.

made - H3772 - A primitive root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication to destroy or consume; specifically to covenant (that is, make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces).

covenant - H1285 - From H1262 (in the sense of cutting (like H1254)); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh).

think - H995 - A primitive root; to separate mentally (or distinguish), that is, (generally) understand.

maid - H1330 - Feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning to separate; a virgin (from her privacy); sometimes (by continuation) a bride; also (figuratively) a city or state.

Gill: I made a covenant with mine eyes,.... Not to look upon a woman, and wantonly gaze at her beauty, lest his heart should be drawn thereby to lust after her; for the eyes are inlets to many sins, and particularly to uncleanness, of which there have been instances, both in bad men and good men, Gen_34:2; so the poet (t) represents the eye as the way through which the beauty of a woman passes swifter than an arrow into the hearts of men, and makes impressions there; see 2Pe_2:14; hence Zaleucus ordered adulterers to be punished, by plucking out the eyes of the adulterer (u); wherefore Job, to prevent this, entered into a solemn engagement with himself, laid himself under a strong obligation, as if he had bound himself by a covenant, made a resolution in the strength of divine grace, not to employ his eyes in looking on objects that might ensnare his heart, and lead him to the commission of sin; he made use of all ways and means, and took every precaution to guard against it; and particularly this, to shut or turn his eyes from beholding what might be alluring and enticing to him: it is said (x) of Democritus, that he put out his eyes because he could not look upon a woman without lusting after her:

why then should I think upon a maid; of corrupting and defiling her, since he had made a covenant with his eyes, and this would be a breach of that covenant: and therefore, besides the sin of lusting after her, or of corrupting her, he would be a covenant breaker, and so his sin would be an aggravated one: or he made a covenant with his eyes, to prevent any impure thoughts, desires, and inclinations in him; for the eye affects the heart, and stirs up lust in it, and excites unclean thoughts and unchaste desires: this shows that the thought of sin is sin; that fornication was reckoned a sin before the law of Moses; and that Job better understood the spirituality of the law than the Pharisees did in the time of Christ, and had the same notion of lust in the heart being fornication and adultery as he had; and that good men are not without temptation to sin, both from within and from without; and therefore should carefully shun all appearances of evil, and whatsoever leads unto it, and take every necessary precaution to guard against it.

Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

I apologize if the following appears to take a verse out of context and/or that I went off on a tangent.  :-D

The verse in Job and Matthew are applicable not only to men, but women as well, not just for the visual factor, but also the mental. Men are susceptible to visual enticements more readily than women (on the norm), while women are more easily mentally enticed. Our society is saturated with an abundance of pornography, visual and mental for both genders.

We are constantly bombarded with soft porn on billboards, magazine stands and scantily clad women (and men) in all sectors of society. Then there is the pornography of the mind where women are more easily attacked. Romance novels - yes, even the "Christian" novels. Movies and ads which give a false perception of what men should be like, act, think or behave. Both forms promote unhealthy examples.

I went searching for information on emotional pornography. Surprisingly, I came up with quite a bit - the comments on some are very thought provoking.

I will start with Josh Harris' book (originally titled Not Even a Hint) re-titled as Sex Is Not the Problem, Lust Is - I have read this book, highly recommended. Next up: Withoutwax - this one had several women chiming in on the comment section affirming that exposure to romance movies and novels can cause one to have a skewed perception of what one is looking for in a mate.

This blog had an article titled, Emotional Pornography, liked the article, but would NOT recommend the comments section.

This one from The Telegraph covers the unrealistic expectations promoted in romance movies. This one covers the same issue Do Movies Give Us Unrealistic Expectations. I did a quick search of how much $ is generated by the romance novel industry - 1.52 BILLION a year in 2001, dipping slightly in 2009 to 1.36. One last link to share: Christian Romance Novels. According to the article one bookseller has over 2,000 current titles in the category of Christian Romance.

We, as our brother Job has stated, need to make a covenant with our eyes not to set them upon anything that causes dishonor to our Lord.  We need to cautiously guard ourselves from allowing the culture (even with a "Christian" tag) to slant or twist our  perspective of  healthy relationships.

Lord, help us to keep our vessels in honor, to give a proper estimate of You in what we watch, view, read or take in through our eye-gate. Lord, cleanse Your bride from any semblance of acting, talking and thinking like the world.

Day 337

R. Gospels of Matthew and Luke written {A.D. 60 (R) A.D. 40-45 (K)}
S. Paul's fourth missionary journey
1. Journey to Rome - Acts 27:1-44; 28:1-15
2. Arrival in Rome - Acts 28:16
T. First imprisonment {A.D. 61-63)
U. Book of Philemon
1. Greetings to Philemon - Philemon 1:1-7
2. Intercession for Onesimus - Philemon 1:8-25

As I was typing the previous day's post and the dilema faced by Festus, this day's reading started off with:

And it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius a centurion of Augustus' band. (Acts 27:1)

Nothing about what was decided to be told to Caesar.  Would sending someone to Caesar who was not worthy of anything, other than to be set free, be tolerated?

Browsing back through the passages, specifically the ones where Festus is perplexed as to what to write.  Gill's commentary:

Act 25:27  For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner,.... A man bound as if he was a malefactor, and guilty of some heinous crimes, to Rome, to be tried before Caesar:

and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him; for which he is a prisoner, and for which he is sent to the emperor: it seemed to Festus an absurd thing, and what might be justly looked upon by his master, a foolish, silly, and stupid piece of conduct, and void of common sense and reason, mere madness and folly; to send him a prisoner, and not signify in his letter to him, what was laid to his charge; and yet this was so dark and obscure, that he could not tell what to make of it, nor what to write to his lord about it; and hoped therefore, upon this re-examination of Paul before Agrippa, he should come to a more certain knowledge of this affair, and be better furnished to give Nero an account of it, to whom the apostle had appealed.

Nothing about what was decided, just get on the boat.

Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already spent, Paul admonished them, (Acts 27:9)

I know, I cut it off in mid-sentence.  :-)  My focus was on:  the fast was now already spent.  What fast?  This is the third incidence (that I can recall at this moment) that Paul marks time by a feast/fast, some activity that the Jews would have readily been able to mark time.  The Gentile converts were obviously expected to understand as well.

Gill's commentary:  and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past; the Syriac version reads, "the fast of the Jews"; this was the day of atonement, which was the grand fast of the Jews, on which day they afflicted their souls, Lev_23:27 in memory of the worshipping of the golden calf; on that day they neither eat nor drink, nor do any work, neither do they wash, nor are they anointed, nor do they bind on their shoes, or make use of the marriage bed; nor do they read anything but sorrowful things, as the Lamentations of Jeremiah, until the setting of the sun, and the rising of the stars; and hence this day is called by them יום צום, "the day of fasting", and צום הגדול, "the great fast, and the day of the fast of atonement, and the fast of the atonement" (k): now this day was on the 10th of the month Tisri, which answers to the latter part of our September, and the former part of October; so that it was now Michaelmas time, when winter was coming on, and sailing began to be dangerous; about this time of the year the Pleiades set, which brings on tempestuous weather, and unfit for sailing:

The Day of Atonement - I was trying to find another chart or layout of the Jewish feasts and came across this one, Jewish Feasts Commemorated In the Bible.  That is the only feast that they fast...though it is not specifically called a feast.  The site referenced has nine (9) remembrances recorded, which are all in the Bible.  However, only seven (7) were specifically ordained by the Lord.  I find it interesting that the menorah, as described by Scripture, is seven (7) branched.  Three on each side with 1 in the middle.  Three spring feasts - one summer feast - three fall feasts.  Interesting.

And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.  (Acts 27:35)

Would that have constituted partaking in remembrance of the Lord?  For those who were spiritually alive perhaps, but for the unbelievers?  Paul tells them that an angel of the Lord stood by him, gave him assurance that no lives would be lost, gives thanks to Father, breaks bread.  What a testimony, Father reaffirming that Paul is indeed HIS mouth piece.

Ponderables - is my life a reflection and affirmation of HIS working in and through me?  Do my actions, my words reflect a true desire to live in accordance and obedience to HIM?  Is my outward manifestation reconciled to the inward sanctification?  If my thoughts were broadcast before all, would I be able to stand before HIM in confidence?  How well am I battling to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ?

How well does the Bride represent her coming groom?  How earnestly doth she look for HIS soon return?  How oft does she avail herself of reading HIS love letters to her?