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Job Chapter 12 review
Job 12:1 KJV And Job answered and said, Job 12:2 KJV No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you.
Job begins with heavy sarcasm. It is well known that the sum of all knowledge resides, with, and will die with you.
Job 12:3 KJV But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
In our certainty, we must never be so sure that we forget there are views, and perspectives outside of our own, if which we are blind. Different views are not necessarily inferior or invalid views. Job's friends seem so absolute in their beliefs about him. The view from inside a house is always more complete than the view from outside looking in.
Job 12:4 KJV I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God, and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.
I am accused of mockery, but in reality it is I who is mocked of his friends. I have called upon God, and in the past he has answered me, but now in the time of my travail, I am ridiculed.
Job 12:5 KJV He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.
Job has been brought low. In good times, his light was bright and lit the paths of others. Now he is diminished, and his light dimmed. . . and rejected by those whose lives are comfortable.
Job 12:6 KJV The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
There are difficulties of translation in this verse. The first half seems to be clear. People who do evil appear to do well. They seem to be safe in this life whose own hand and what they can accomplish with it, is their god and by this they do well and accumulate much.
Job 12:7 KJV But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Job 12:8 KJV Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Job 12:9 KJV Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
Look at all of creation. The violent rule the kingdom of animals. The lion. . . the eagles, and hawks. . . the sharks and barracuda rule their respective domains. The meek and peaceable are subservient to the vicious and violent. This is per the design of God.
Job 12:10 KJV In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
God controls all life, not limited to mankind, but the entire animal kingdom.
Job 12:11 KJV Doth not the ear try words? and the mouth taste his meat?
All statements must be tested, and not taken for granted. The ear must prove or validate words which enter it, much the same as the mouth tests the edibility of food which enters it.
Job 12:12 KJV With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.
Men acquire wisdom and knowledge by the passage of long years.
Job 12:13 KJV With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
God is inherently wise, strong, has practical understanding of day to day affairs, comprehends all things. This come to God as an integral feature, and does not grow with time.
Job 12:14 KJV Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening. Job 12:15 KJV Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
God has ultimate, and unlimited power over all aspects of nature. Earthquakes, disasters, droughts, floods are all at His command.
Job 12:16 KJV With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.
No one can escape being under the power of God. The rulers and the ruled, the liars and the truth tellers are all His.
Job 12:17 KJV He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.
Spoiled, not as in rotten, but in as spoiled with all their belongings, including clothing being taken. He show those set on pedestals as being wise, to be fools.
Job 12:18 KJV He looseth the bond of kings, and girdeth their loins with a girdle.
God lessens the power of kings, and places limits to their power.
Job 12:19 KJV He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
Strong's H3547 translated as follows:
officer (1) own (2) Priest (435) priests (301)
princes (1) ruler (1) rulers (1)
Not meaning spoiled as food spoils, but spoiled as a conquering army strips the dead on a conquered battlefield, of their valuables.
Job 12:20 KJV He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
I'm reminded here of a prayer of David:
2 Samuel 15:31 (KJV) And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
Ahithophel was a trusted, and very strategic counselor. David prayed this prayer, and if Absalom had listened to Ahithophel, David would very likely been defeated, but Absalom ignored Ahithophel's advice. Ahithophel understood the disaster that awaited Absalom, and went home and killed himself, for he knew that David was going to prevail and Ahithophel would die at the hand of David for taking Absalom's side in their conflict.
Job 12:21 KJV He poureth contempt upon princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty.
The image comes to my mind, of David vs Goliath. Goliath was an unmatched warrior. Huge in size. Hugely strong. Vastly experienced with his weapons, but in his many strengths also lay his weaknesses.
He was huge, but the huge are not agile. They are inherently slow and ponderous. Their hugeness, increases the size of their target, creating a large area of vulnerability. David rightly rejected using the same weapons as Goliath in his confrontation with him. That road surely led to David's defeat. No one could match Goliath in the use of spear, shield, and javelin, but the sling and stone, were outside of Goliath's experience and skill.
The change of the battlefield weapon greatly weakened Goliath. Goliath's many advantages were taken from him. . . he was weakened and helpless against what he faced in David with God.
Job 12:22 KJV He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
God makes apparent the most darkly hidden. . . the darkest of the darkest plans and plots. He reveals the most highly protected of secrets.
Job 12:23 KJV He increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again.
Nothing is too large to be shaped by the hand of God. He shuffles, and shapes. . . reorders the very nations of the world.
Job 12:24 KJV He taketh away the heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. Job 12:25 KJV They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.
I'm reminded of the following passage in Daniel:
Daniel 4:31 (KJV) While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
Daniel 4:32 (KJV) And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Daniel 4:33 (KJV) The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
Daniel 4:34 (KJV) And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
God took Nebuchadnezzar's rational mind from him for his pride, and restored it to him at the end of the appointed seven years of time.
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