He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?
In Job 8-10 one friend presses the need for humility, and Job answers that being afflicted does not prove a person has sinned. The larger passage takes up overruling providence and the problems of sin and suffering, in which God disciplines Job by bringing him through severe affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and insist his sufferings come because of sin.
The verse describes God as wise in heart and mighty in strength. It declares that no one who hardens himself against Him or sets himself to oppose Him can prosper or succeed. Although that principle is generally true, suffering does not prove that a sufferer is guilty or under God's displeasure, for Job's friends applied a true principle wrongly to his case. Together with its context the verse identifies God as the One who alone treads upon the waves of the sea, and this was shown in action when Jesus overtook the disciples by walking on the sea, revealing Jesus as that same divine power.
Those who reject the gospel will be destroyed, for human kingdoms and human power pass away while the work of Jesus Christ continues, since God's promises cannot fail and His enemies cannot escape His power. The verse also shows that God overrules sin so that its final effects are turned to good, with His wisdom seen in restraining human wrath and in letting holiness stand out in contrast with sin. God was working through Job's suffering toward an end that would bring blessing and hope to many sufferers. Fellow sufferers therefore should not be misjudged in the way Job was misjudged by his friends.
In Job 8-10 one friend presses the need for humility, and Job answers that being afflicted does not prove a person has sinned. The larger passage takes up overruling providence and the problems of sin and suffering, in which God disciplines Job by bringing him through severe affliction while his three friends charge him with sin and insist his sufferings come because of sin.
The verse describes God as wise in heart and mighty in strength. It declares that no one who hardens himself against Him or sets himself to oppose Him can prosper or succeed. Although that principle is generally true, suffering does not prove that a sufferer is guilty or under God's displeasure, for Job's friends applied a true principle wrongly to his case. Together with its context the verse identifies God as the One who alone treads upon the waves of the sea, and this was shown in action when Jesus overtook the disciples by walking on the sea, revealing Jesus as that same divine power.
Those who reject the gospel will be destroyed, for human kingdoms and human power pass away while the work of Jesus Christ continues, since God's promises cannot fail and His enemies cannot escape His power. The verse also shows that God overrules sin so that its final effects are turned to good, with His wisdom seen in restraining human wrath and in letting holiness stand out in contrast with sin. God was working through Job's suffering toward an end that would bring blessing and hope to many sufferers. Fellow sufferers therefore should not be misjudged in the way Job was misjudged by his friends.