Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,
In Elihu's plea that God is everything while man is nothing in himself, the verse teaches that God speaks once, yea twice, yet man does not perceive it, coming in a dream and night vision when deep sleep falls upon men in slumberings upon the bed to open the ears of men and seal their instruction. To open the ear is to open hearing and understanding, even dull ears, and to seal instruction is to fix the teaching firmly upon them, make it clear, and impress it upon the heart. He does this because men are anxious and busy by day and will not choose the better part, so He takes them when the mind is quiet in sleep, and He also speaks by the outpouring of His Spirit and the gift of prophecy, first to the man alone and then by sending another to advise him of his error. If they still will not bend, He speaks more impressively a third time by chastening with pain upon the bed and sickness that wastes the flesh and brings the soul near the grave, not by accident but under His control to complete the cleansing. His one great object in all these dealings is in love to withdraw man from his own purpose and hide pride from him, to turn him back to the path of right and keep his soul from the pit, and He Himself is willing to give this light to those who seek Him in prayer instead of going to familiar spirits, while to refuse to hear when the ear is opened risks swift destruction.
Setting and Wording
The verse stands in the discourses of Elihu in Job 32–36, also reckoned as Job 32–37. Those discourses form the third of four parts of the book of Job, coming after the prologue in Job 1–2 and the debate between Job and his three friends in Job 4–31 and before the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud. It belongs to Elihu’s plea that Job is not great in himself while God is everything. It is spoken while Job is still defending himself as free from open sin against God and earnest and anxious for God to manifest Himself to him, to which Job makes no answer.
The teaching is that God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not. He speaks in a dream and a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men in slumberings upon the bed. At that time He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction, even when man does not perceive it.
To open the ears is to open men’s hearing and understanding, including dull ears, so they receive the message. To seal instruction is to firmly impress it, fix the teaching upon them, make it clear, and seal it upon the heart. This sealing takes place even while they sleep, when the mind is quiet.
How God Instructs
God instructs through dreams and visions of the night, opening the ears of men and firmly impressing instruction upon them even when they do not perceive His speaking once, yea twice. His school is open day and night from the written Word and the book of nature, yet during the day men are anxious and busy about many things and, like Martha, do not choose the better part, so He gains their attention in sleep when the mind is quiet, in deep sleep and slumberings upon the bed. Then He awakens the ear, even in the morning, to suggest thoughts that encourage, warn, and strengthen for the day's duty, especially when the last thoughts at night and the first thoughts in the morning go out after Christ as the magnet of the soul, making the coming of the evening as well as the outgoings of the morning a time of rejoicing and helpful instruction. He opens ears and seals instruction through the outpouring of His Spirit and through the gift of prophecy, giving instructions and warnings to save from pride, the sword, and the pit.
After first speaking to the man alone directly, His second way is to open the hearing and fix teaching upon him by sending someone else to advise him about the error of his way. If that is not heeded, He also instructs by chastening with pain upon the bed and strong pain in the bones, with sickness and severe pain that wastes the flesh, makes the bones stick out, makes life abhor bread and the soul dainty meat, and brings the soul near the grave and life to the destroyers. Such affliction is sent not by accident or chance but under His reign and control for correction, and He can use physical affliction to instruct a person and lead him to greater truth. Pain is His means of opening the ear and enforcing instruction for spiritual rescue, not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with coal-tar drugs such as phenacetin and acetanilid.
He deals with man in different and repeated ways to make the cleansing complete: first directly, then through another adviser, then a third time by pain and disease. Every trial is sent to teach a truth He tried to teach in prosperity, for He constantly seeks to mold and fashion men after the divine similitude, first by opening the ears and speaking through the nerve of hearing. When men will not bend and cannot be aroused to their danger, He speaks through other nerves in a more impressive way, so that if they do not change after earlier words by His Word and by visions and dreams, He may give further opportunity through affliction. Fullness of bread and indulgence in dainty meat dull the nerves so they cannot hear His voice before trouble comes, and ignoring His warnings is like having eyes opened but refusing to look or ears opened but refusing to hear, risking swift destruction.
The Spirit of God opens understanding and seals instruction upon the heart in answer to prayer, helping people understand Scripture and leading them into truth that teaches and benefits them.
Purpose and Response
His one great object in opening the ear and sealing instruction is to withdraw man from his purpose and to hide pride from man. Human purposes are not always in harmony with the mind of God, for there is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the ways of death. Pride lies at the bottom of many purposes and beclouds the mind so that men are incapable of reasoning from cause to effect. In love for souls He sends warning to turn men from carrying out the purpose that pride put in their minds and to smother the pride that would otherwise prove their ruin. Fullness of bread and indulgence in dainty meat dull the nerves so they cannot hear His voice before trouble comes, and this includes pride over such fullness.
He does this to turn men from their chosen course, to turn them back to the path of right, and to keep them from the pit and from death by the sword. He preserves them from destruction and works oftentimes with man to bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living. Ignoring these warnings is like having one's eyes opened but refusing to look or one's ears opened but refusing to hear, and such disregard risks swift destruction. This was illustrated when He gave Nebuchadnezzar the dream of the tree with its interpretation to save the king from the result of his prideful purpose.
At the crisis of spiritual and physical sickness, if there be a messenger bringing good news, an interpreter one among a thousand to show man God's uprightness, his work is decisive. While the nine hundred and ninety-nine call God harsh or blame others, he impresses that the same hand that gave roses, lilies and pinks now presses the bitter cup and it is all the same kindness. Then God is gracious and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom, and begets a new life in the sufferer. He makes his flesh fresher than a child's, returns him to the days of his youth, and restores the years the locust has eaten.
The verse proves His willingness to impart information Himself to those who seek Him for light and divine guidance instead of their seeking instruction from familiar spirits and wizards to whom He has forbidden them to go. Pain is His means of opening the ear and enforcing instruction for spiritual rescue, not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with coal-tar drugs such as phenacetin and acetanilid.
In Elihu's plea that God is everything while man is nothing in himself, the verse teaches that God speaks once, yea twice, yet man does not perceive it, coming in a dream and night vision when deep sleep falls upon men in slumberings upon the bed to open the ears of men and seal their instruction. To open the ear is to open hearing and understanding, even dull ears, and to seal instruction is to fix the teaching firmly upon them, make it clear, and impress it upon the heart. He does this because men are anxious and busy by day and will not choose the better part, so He takes them when the mind is quiet in sleep, and He also speaks by the outpouring of His Spirit and the gift of prophecy, first to the man alone and then by sending another to advise him of his error. If they still will not bend, He speaks more impressively a third time by chastening with pain upon the bed and sickness that wastes the flesh and brings the soul near the grave, not by accident but under His control to complete the cleansing. His one great object in all these dealings is in love to withdraw man from his own purpose and hide pride from him, to turn him back to the path of right and keep his soul from the pit, and He Himself is willing to give this light to those who seek Him in prayer instead of going to familiar spirits, while to refuse to hear when the ear is opened risks swift destruction.
Setting and Wording
The verse stands in the discourses of Elihu in Job 32–36, also reckoned as Job 32–37. Those discourses form the third of four parts of the book of Job, coming after the prologue in Job 1–2 and the debate between Job and his three friends in Job 4–31 and before the speeches of the Lord out of the storm-cloud. It belongs to Elihu’s plea that Job is not great in himself while God is everything. It is spoken while Job is still defending himself as free from open sin against God and earnest and anxious for God to manifest Himself to him, to which Job makes no answer.
The teaching is that God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not. He speaks in a dream and a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men in slumberings upon the bed. At that time He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction, even when man does not perceive it.
To open the ears is to open men’s hearing and understanding, including dull ears, so they receive the message. To seal instruction is to firmly impress it, fix the teaching upon them, make it clear, and seal it upon the heart. This sealing takes place even while they sleep, when the mind is quiet.
How God Instructs
God instructs through dreams and visions of the night, opening the ears of men and firmly impressing instruction upon them even when they do not perceive His speaking once, yea twice. His school is open day and night from the written Word and the book of nature, yet during the day men are anxious and busy about many things and, like Martha, do not choose the better part, so He gains their attention in sleep when the mind is quiet, in deep sleep and slumberings upon the bed. Then He awakens the ear, even in the morning, to suggest thoughts that encourage, warn, and strengthen for the day's duty, especially when the last thoughts at night and the first thoughts in the morning go out after Christ as the magnet of the soul, making the coming of the evening as well as the outgoings of the morning a time of rejoicing and helpful instruction. He opens ears and seals instruction through the outpouring of His Spirit and through the gift of prophecy, giving instructions and warnings to save from pride, the sword, and the pit.
After first speaking to the man alone directly, His second way is to open the hearing and fix teaching upon him by sending someone else to advise him about the error of his way. If that is not heeded, He also instructs by chastening with pain upon the bed and strong pain in the bones, with sickness and severe pain that wastes the flesh, makes the bones stick out, makes life abhor bread and the soul dainty meat, and brings the soul near the grave and life to the destroyers. Such affliction is sent not by accident or chance but under His reign and control for correction, and He can use physical affliction to instruct a person and lead him to greater truth. Pain is His means of opening the ear and enforcing instruction for spiritual rescue, not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with coal-tar drugs such as phenacetin and acetanilid.
He deals with man in different and repeated ways to make the cleansing complete: first directly, then through another adviser, then a third time by pain and disease. Every trial is sent to teach a truth He tried to teach in prosperity, for He constantly seeks to mold and fashion men after the divine similitude, first by opening the ears and speaking through the nerve of hearing. When men will not bend and cannot be aroused to their danger, He speaks through other nerves in a more impressive way, so that if they do not change after earlier words by His Word and by visions and dreams, He may give further opportunity through affliction. Fullness of bread and indulgence in dainty meat dull the nerves so they cannot hear His voice before trouble comes, and ignoring His warnings is like having eyes opened but refusing to look or ears opened but refusing to hear, risking swift destruction.
The Spirit of God opens understanding and seals instruction upon the heart in answer to prayer, helping people understand Scripture and leading them into truth that teaches and benefits them.
Purpose and Response
His one great object in opening the ear and sealing instruction is to withdraw man from his purpose and to hide pride from man. Human purposes are not always in harmony with the mind of God, for there is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the ways of death. Pride lies at the bottom of many purposes and beclouds the mind so that men are incapable of reasoning from cause to effect. In love for souls He sends warning to turn men from carrying out the purpose that pride put in their minds and to smother the pride that would otherwise prove their ruin. Fullness of bread and indulgence in dainty meat dull the nerves so they cannot hear His voice before trouble comes, and this includes pride over such fullness.
He does this to turn men from their chosen course, to turn them back to the path of right, and to keep them from the pit and from death by the sword. He preserves them from destruction and works oftentimes with man to bring back his soul from the pit to be enlightened with the light of the living. Ignoring these warnings is like having one's eyes opened but refusing to look or one's ears opened but refusing to hear, and such disregard risks swift destruction. This was illustrated when He gave Nebuchadnezzar the dream of the tree with its interpretation to save the king from the result of his prideful purpose.
At the crisis of spiritual and physical sickness, if there be a messenger bringing good news, an interpreter one among a thousand to show man God's uprightness, his work is decisive. While the nine hundred and ninety-nine call God harsh or blame others, he impresses that the same hand that gave roses, lilies and pinks now presses the bitter cup and it is all the same kindness. Then God is gracious and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom, and begets a new life in the sufferer. He makes his flesh fresher than a child's, returns him to the days of his youth, and restores the years the locust has eaten.
The verse proves His willingness to impart information Himself to those who seek Him for light and divine guidance instead of their seeking instruction from familiar spirits and wizards to whom He has forbidden them to go. Pain is His means of opening the ear and enforcing instruction for spiritual rescue, not an enemy to be hushed and stifled with coal-tar drugs such as phenacetin and acetanilid.