Thus Did Job Continually

“The Book of Job” – William Blake

“And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.” Job 1:5

Here in this verse in Job chapter 1 we see the kinds of things that caused the Lord to describe him as “a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil (1:8).” Verse 4 tells us that Job’s children are spending their time eating and drinking but Job, picturing our mediator and high priest Jesus Christ, “sanctified them.” He rose up early in the morning to pray and offer sacrifices on behalf of every one of his ten children.

Many times throughout the Bible we are shown or told of people rising up early as a sign of their sincerity and commitment to their cause. “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Proverbs 8:17 says.

God also defended his own faithfulness and integrity throughout the book of Jeremiah by causing his prophets to rise up early to prophesy.

“Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them...” Jeremiah 7:25

Jesus himself rose up early on the third day to reconcile us all to God. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” – Romans 8:33-34.

Back to Job: in verse 5 Job pictures what Jesus is doing for believers on a daily basis. Job makes prayers and sacrifices for his children “continually” the verse says as his children may have sins and curses in their heart even if they aren’t outwardly misbehaving. The law of God covers the things of the heart as much as it does our actions, because every sinful deed begins in our heart.

The Bible tells us that mankind is not intrinsically good. Even Job, a perfect and upright man, is not able to spare his children the moment God removes his hedge of protection. Parents can and should pray for their children every day, but there comes a time when we must all seek after God of our own free will. We cannot leverage our father’s walk with God to get into heaven.

6 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother; nor give to God a ransom for him:

8 (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever…)

- Psalm 49

Your soul is too precious to God to be purchased with filthy lucre or with the prayers of even the most loving and righteous relative. Job is symbolizing the love of God for us in an earthly ensample. Hebrews 7 says, “But this man [speaking of Jesus Christ], because he continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (7:23-25)

And unlike Job or any human priest under the Levitical system in the Old Testament, Jesus has no sin of his own to atone for continuously before he can make intercession for his flock as Job has to do on a continual basis for his children.

“For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” Hebrews 7:26-27

Amen.

The Stupidity of Artificial Intelligence

Skynet may have escaped the lab. A Google engineer has been placed on leave after going public with the claim that an Artificial Intelligence chatbot developed at Google has become conscious. I wish I was joking.

Science fiction has been priming us for the idea of sentient robots and killer AI since at least Isaac Asimov’s 1976 novel The Bicentennial Man. Science fiction as a genre exists to tantalize your mind and prepare you for a world of signs and wonders devoid of God. It is also known as predictive programming.

Rather than spend a lot of time and effort wading into the debate around what consciousness is and whether it can be created artificially, I want to show you a very recognizable image that actually plants the seed in your mind for you to entertain the idea in the first place.

If you grew up in a Western country, you will most likely recognize this fresco as one of the most widely imitated and distributed images in the history of Western art:

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Creation_of_Adam#/media/File:'Adam's_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling'_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut.jpg

This is The Creation of Adam, a fresco adorning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. Envisioned by Michaelangelo, this iconic painting depicts God the Father surrounded by a heavenly host imputing the spark of life to Adam in the garden of Eden. The Catholic Church has long defended the practice of depicting God the Father and Jesus the Son in art, a highly debated practice because of the risk of idolatry that comes with it. The Catholic Church argued in the past that depictions of Biblical themes can be used in place of the scriptures in order to educate the illiterate masses on the Bible.

The problem is that a lot of religious art commissioned by the Catholic church is unscriptural.

This famous depiction of Genesis communicates the creation of man and the power of God through the finger of God. Symbolically it works. The finger pointing implies the commanding power of God’s word to make the world according to his will. But what does the scripture say?

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7

And so the secret to sentience was not through God’s hand, but through his mouth. The act that elevates Adam from clay into a living soul is less of a touch and more like a kiss.

And God did not create just human beings this way. All things were spoken into existence.

“By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” Psalm 33:6.

The trouble with we humans is that we tend to project our nature onto God. The natural man, receiving not the things of God, wants to view God’s power as akin to his own since we are made in his image after all. The concept of God speaking something into existence is baffling to us because for us to create we have to labor with our hands.

Notice how this:

Conditions your mind to accept this:

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/eliant/art/The-creation-257590479

This is why you must study to show yourself approved unto God (2nd Timothy 2:15). This debate over artificial intelligence would not exist if more people held to a Biblical worldview. Artificial intelligence cannot be alive because God did not breathe life into it.

Artificial intelligence is and will always be the work of man’s hands. And just like ancient civilizations of the past, there is nothing we want more than to worship the work of our own hands.

Yuval Harari predicts that “new” religions will come out of Silicon Valley as artificial intelligence improves and our place in the universe comes into question. There is no new thing under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). What we are seeing unfold is as old as Mystery Babylon.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” -1st John 5:21

Lord the Judge

You don’t have to believe the Bible. You can read it like a book of fables if you wish to, but it’s important to acknowledge the value of ancient wisdom and specifically the teachings of Jesus Christ. In the age of the “fourth industrial revolution”, with such immense faith in science (falsely so called) and technology, we are severely lacking wisdom, especially in the United States.

As I watch my fellow countrymen argue over the “right” to pregnancy termination I think of Jeremiah prophesying to Judah:

“As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked…Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”

(Jeramiah 5:27-29)

From CNN.com and not surprisingly every major news outlet, we have this headline:

(Courtesy of CNN.com )

The same corporations that imposed mandates for face coverings and pharmaceuticals are now champions of liberty when it comes to pregnancy termination.

But the irony of the phrase “my body my choice” should not be our focus. Instead we should note this segment of the population, which lacks a connection to God, and demands government involvement in all things.

Let us also note the media's messaging, which is always, "government and corporations to the rescue". They'll protect us from Islamic terrorists, domestic terrorists, germs, and Christian values. Just trust them.

Is the reversal of Roe a win? Maybe, but I’m not celebrating. I will not be tossed to and fro with every ruling of the Supreme Court. God is our Judge and our Lawgiver.