Post by George on Mar 23, 2006 23:13:24 GMT -5
(Job 10:15) If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
Job is speaking to the Lord about his state. The portion of the verse I want to look at is the last two clauses. He says he is full of confusion. In this case Job was attempting to justify himself to The Lord. This had gone on for some time prior to this verse. He is full of confusion. He believes he has done all the things The Lord would have him to do and yet he is not at peace. He is in a state of being confused. The word “confusion” here means dishonor, reproach and shame.
He asks God to see his affliction. What was his affliction at that point? According to Strong’s the word “affliction” here means depression. Job was depressed greatly by the events. He felt he was within the will of God. He felt he had done things correctly and yet he was persecuted on every side. Remember these things as we go along.
Psa 44:15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
Here in the words of David is the same admission of being confused. Remember this particular Psalm was written prior to Psalm 51. The word “confusion” here is slightly different than the use of the word “confusion” in the verse above from Job but also means dishonor, reproach and shame. David says his shame is constantly before him. He faces it at each turn in the path. He cannot get out from under it.
The phrase about the shame of my face actually refers to the condition of the face and neck when one blushes. Although no one knows for certain, it is believed God allows for the shame of a person to be exhibited in a blush because that is about the only part of the body that is uncovered. It is allowed to be seen so that the shame of the face seems to cover the entire individual.
Jer 3:25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.
In this verse we see it stated that we literally go to sleep with our shame. We take it with us to the end of the day. We cannot escape it. The confusion envelopes us. The word used here literally means to clothe or overwhelm us. It is all encompassing.
We begin to see the origin of the confusion of individuals in the Bible as well as individuals today in this verse. When we look at the last part of this verse we see the reason for the confusion is that we have sinned against God. We quite obviously are not within God’s will for us if for no other reason than we are confused in the first place. Look at the statement made in the very last part of the verse. This sin is a continuing thing. Although here we are reading the words of Jeremiah as pertains to the situation with he and his people at that particular time, I believe the statement to be true even today.
(1 Corinthians 14:33) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
Her is the statement of the origin of the confusion in our lives. It is because we are not within God’s will and are being oppressed by the devil. We see it said here in no uncertain terms that God is NOT the author of confusion. God did not invent confusion. If God did not invent it, it had to come from satan. There is no other origin of things in this world. They are either of God or of the enemy.
The enemy knows our weaknesses. He will move into our weaknesses and exploit them as much as he can. If we are weak and questioning in any area satan will work on that area to the creation of confusion and shame in our lives. External oppression is a thing not talked about much today. It is very seldom mentioned in Churches. It does exist. The origins of external oppression can be clearly seen in this verse from Corinthians.
The fact of external or satanic oppression is spelled out in the last part of the verse. It says God is the author of peace. Peace is the exact opposite of confusion. The verse goes on to say that peace is supposed to exist in all the Churches of the believers. God wants us to be in peace and not confusion.
If God wants us to be in peace and we are in confusion we are outside the will of God and need to do whatever it takes to get back within His will. Being left to be guided by the devil is not a pleasant place to be.
In Christ,
George