Day 13

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.
A. Job ~ cont.
5. Job's later prosperity - Job 42:7-15
B. Abram
1. His family
a. Birth of Milcah (daughter of Haran)
b. Birth of Sarai (daughter of Terah)
c. Death of Reu (239 years) - Genesis 11:21
d. Marriage to Sarai - Genesis 11:29-30
e. Birth of Nahor's children (not read at this juncture, but is in Genesis 22:21-22, 24)
f. Death of Serug (230 years) - Genesis 11:23
g. Death of Haran (apx 102 years) - Genesis 11:28
h. Travels from Ur to Haran - Genesis 12:1-3; 11:31
2. Call and promise of God
a. Chedorlaomer in - Genesis 14:1-4
b. Death of Terah (205 years) - Genesis 11:32
(Fourth Dispensation - Promise)
c. On to Canaan - Genesis 12:4-9
d. 430 years of Exodus 12:40 and Galatians 3:17*
e. Trip to Egypt
(1) Journeys - Genesis 12:10
(2) Lies about wife - Genesis 12:11-20
(3) Leaves wealthy - Genesis 13:1-2
f. Arrives back in Bethel - Genesis 13:3-4
3. His relationship with Lot
a. Separation from Lot - Genesis 13:5-13
b. Covenant renewed - Genesis 13:14-17
c. Abram to Hebron - Genesis 13:18
d. Lot taken captive - Genesis 14:5-13
e. Abram deliveres Lot - Genesis 14:14-16
f. Abram in royal company
(1) With King of Sodom - Genesis 14:17, 21-24
(2) With Melchizedek (Shem) - Genesis 14:18-20

And the Lord turned the captivity of job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)

I made a note here 'conditional?' wondering if Job's blessings were contingent upon his prayer and forgiveness.

I liked Gill's commentary on the passage:

And the Lord turned the captivity of Job,.... Not literally, in such sense as Lot's captivity was turned, Gen_14:12; for Job's person was not seized on and carried away, though his cattle were: nor spiritually, being delivered from the captivity of sin; that had been his case many years ago, when first converted: but it is to be understood of his restoration from afflictions and calamities to a happy state; as of the return of his substance, his health and friends, and especially of his deliverance from Satan, in whose hands he had been some time, and by him distressed both in body and mind. But now his captivity was turned, and he was freed from all his distresses; and even from those which arose from the dealings of God with him, which he was now fully satisfied about; and this was done,

when he prayed for his friends; as he was directed to do. A good man will not only pray for himself, as Job doubtless did, but for others also; for his natural and spiritual friends, yea, for unkind friends, and even for enemies likewise: and the prayer of an upright man is very acceptable to the Lord; and many mercies and blessings come by it; and even prayer for others is profitable to a man's self; and sometimes he soon reaps the benefit of it, as Job now did. For when and while he was praying, or quickly upon it, there was a turn in his affairs: he presently found himself in better health; his friends came about him, and his substance began to increase; Satan had no more power over him, and the presence of God was with him. All which was of the Lord; and he enjoyed it in the way of prayer, and as the fruit of that;

also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before: or added to him double. Which chiefly respects his substance; his cattle, as appears from Job_42:12, and might be true both with respect to things temporal and spiritual. "Double" may denote an abundance, a large measure of good things; see Zec_9:12.

Which puts me in mind of this verse: 

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

Father also encourages us to:

Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. (Luke 6:28)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*I am not sure why this is listed here in the outline. I went and looked at these verses, which I think means the sojourning of the nation of Israel in Egypt.

Day 12

III The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.
A. Job ~ cont.
3. Discourse with Elihu ~ cont. - Job 37:1-24
4. Discourse with Jehovah - Job 38:1-41; 39:1-30; 40:1-24; 41:1-34; 42:1-6

Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding. (Job 39:17)

The verse is speaking of the ostrich. Father made her exactly as He wanted ~ sovereignly. While I realize this is an animal the emphasis (for me) is on the fact that only Father can open the understanding, regardless of whether it is an animal or a human.

This is not the verse I had in mind when I went searching, but it is appropriate nonetheless:

Luk 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,...(I know horrid place to cut off a verse, in mid-sentence).

This is shortly after He walked with the disciples on the road, revealed Himself, and they hastened back to the apostles, He then appeared in their midst.

This is the passage that was upon my mind:

Act 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

Though it does not speak of Father opening her understanding, it does state He opened her heart. In and of herself, she could not do it. Neither could the apostles.  Neither can we or any other human being.

This causes me to reflect on the mindset that prevails in the 'church' during this season, 'just ask Jesus into your heart.' That is a dangerous thought and runs contrary to Scripture. We are wicked, dead in our trespass and sin, completely unable, unwilling, having no desire to walk in holiness, in and of ourselves we would never choose Him. (The book of Romans)

An interesting video I recently came across Altar-Call Salvation touches on this subject. Lest we be puffed up in our own minds dearly beloved, let us remember what He says to us:

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And last, but not least! Jesus tells us:

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

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.