{"id":7548,"date":"2023-12-10T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T08:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=7548"},"modified":"2026-06-01T15:50:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T22:50:01","slug":"job-1514-what-is-man-that-he-could-be-pure-and-he-who-is-born-of-a-woman-that-he-could-be-righteous-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=7548","title":{"rendered":"Job 15:14: “What is man, that he could be pure? \/ And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Job’s comforters<\/em> had been taking turns hurling insults at him; and in chapter 15, Eliphaz became the chief spokesman again. He had been polite the first time he spoke to Job in chapter 4, but in this chapter he seems angry and to consider Job’s words deceitful and irreverent. In the first 13 verses, Eliphaz attacked Job with questions probably meant to hurt and overwhelm him into silence. However, he did ask 2 interesting questions.<\/p>\n

“What is man, that he could be pure?” Man’s sinfulness before God is the ultimate problem facing the entire human race. The New Testament also confirms this: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The second question further echoes man’s lack of righteousness: “And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?” But this question also points to God’s solution. There needed to be one man, born of woman, who was<\/em> righteous so that through Him, a way could be made for sinful humanity to have a relationship with the holy God. All of creation was waiting for such a Man. God the Son became the first and only righteous man, born of a woman. And the death of this perfect God\/man built the bridge needed for our salvation. We cannot add anything to the cross. To try to do so is to say that God did not do enough, that the cross was not sufficient.<\/p>\n

I love the story of a man in England who put his Rolls Royce on a boat and went across to the continent for a holiday. While driving around Europe, something happened to the motor of his car. He cabled the Rolls-Royce people back in England: “I’m having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?” They immediately flew a new motor and 2 mechanics over to him! The mechanics repaired the car, replacing the entire engine; and then flew back to England, leaving the man to continue his holiday. After the man returned home, he wondered, “How much is this going to cost me?” He wrote Rolls Royce a letter asking how much he owed them. He received a reply from the office that read: “Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce.” Jesus Christ’s purity, righteousness, and finished work, completely covers us. When God looks at us through Him, He says to us: “There is no record against you.” If Jesus has finished the work, what need is there for our puny additions? It is a difficult thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon Jesus for righteousness. God humbles our pride by calling us, completely apart from any righteousness of our own, to Jesus for justification.<\/p>\n

“Thank You, LORD, that You give the gift of righteousness to us when we humble ourselves and repent.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Job 15 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/sup>\u00a0Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?\u00a0\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.\u00a0\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0Art\u00a0<\/em>thou the first man\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>was born? or wast thou made before the hills?\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0What knowest thou, that we know not?\u00a0what\u00a0<\/em>understandest thou, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>not in us?\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0With us\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Are\u00a0<\/em>the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee?\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at,\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest\u00a0such\u00a0<\/em>words go out of thy mouth?\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0What\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>man, that he should be clean? and\u00a0he which is\u00a0<\/em>born of a woman, that he should be righteous?\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0How much more abominable and filthy\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>man, which drinketh iniquity like water? 17<\/sup>\u00a0I will shew thee, hear me; and that\u00a0which\u00a0<\/em>I have seen I will declare;\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid\u00a0it:\u00a0<\/em>19<\/sup>\u00a0Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0The wicked man travaileth with pain all\u00a0his\u00a0<\/em>days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0A dreadful sound\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.\u00a0\u00a022<\/sup>He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0He wandereth abroad for bread,\u00a0saying\u00a0<\/em>, Where\u00a0is it\u00a0<\/em>? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0He runneth upon him,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>on\u00a0his\u00a0<\/em>neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on\u00a0his\u00a0<\/em>flanks.\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0And he dwelleth in desolate cities,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.\u00a0\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0For the congregation of hypocrites\u00a0shall be\u00a0<\/em>desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.\u00a035<\/sup>\u00a0They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Job’s comforters had been taking turns hurling insults at him; and in chapter 15, Eliphaz became the chief spokesman again. He had been polite the first time he spoke to Job in chapter 4, but in this chapter he seems angry and to consider Job’s words deceitful and irreverent. In the first 13 verses, Eliphaz […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7548"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16451,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7548\/revisions\/16451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}