Job 11:4

For you have stated, “My doctrine is pure.”

   “I am innocent in Your eyes.”

 

Day one of the new two a day plan. Maybe. I got a call from a new client about something unrelated to the project I am working on. I answered the question, but I wondered if I had just opened myself up to a ton of similar calls going forward. Ones that take time, but do not bring in revenue. A while later, I got a call from an old client who I did not charge for the time I talked to him. I wondered why one irritated me and one did not.

“Stated” was always “say” and once was “say to God”. I added the firmness of stated that seemed implied. “Doctrine” was “condition”, “beliefs”, and “teaching”. Doctrine was a big word that seemed to nail the expected meaning. “Pure” was “flawless”, “perfect”, and “spotless”. None were wrong.

“Innocent” was “clean”, “pure”, and “pious”. Innocent won out with pure being in the first stitch. “In Your eyes” was also “In God’s sight” or some slight variation.

As I have gone through Bible studies in the past, I have often seen how people could walk away with an incorrect interpretation of what the Bible says. I often chalk this up to people studying the Bible to back their own agenda. Sometimes, I assumed the people were not following the Holy Spirit (or did not even have it) and were just unable to understand what God was saying. Others, I assumed they were spending the time, but not really listening.

With this study of Job and the detailed study of the letters of the New Testament I am doing, I have often found the translators of the Bible have made mistakes of their own. These mistakes can lead others astray. Sometimes, the difference was a missing comma or trying to force fit a broad Hebrew term into a narrow English one. Others have accused Satan of obscuring the translators or accused the translators of having an evil agenda of their own. Many times, the errors are unintentional, and sometimes they are with the best of intentions. And now seeing the Hebrew every time I study Job (and not being able to understand it at all), I can see how the complexity of the letters can lead to hard to understand text, with the letters being similar with little dots and crosses added all over the place. And this doesn’t even account for someone like me how has horrible handwriting in the first place.

All this to say that the statement: “My doctrine is pure.” sounds like pride and even Saul before he met Christ on the road probably knew as much as could be known about the Old Testament and got it way wrong (without Christ). I know two things. God is perfect. I am not. Therefore, I always think that while I might have done everything I can to understand the Bible, I am not capable of getting it all right.

So when Job says “My doctrine is pure.” and “I am innocent in God’s eyes.”, everyone knows he is not being literal. Everyone except his “friends”. When we are maturing as Christians, our goals are to have a pure doctrine and to be innocent in the eyes of God. But neither of these goals is dependent upon us. We must rely on the Holy Spirit, and we must rely on Christ. I know I have been saved, and I pray everyday to mature in my understanding of God and who He wants me to be. What else can I need?

(Written 2/2/23, Posted ?, Job 234)