Page 64 - Reading Job to Know God

THE SUPERSTRUCTURE: Having found the true Foundation, we must
"Take heed how we build thereon." The work of ministers/believers in
general is here viewed as the superstructure. Two kinds of materials may
be employed: "Gold, silver, costly stones" - the beautiful and lasting
materials, suited for a temple; or "Wood, hay, stubble" - the baser and
more perishable materials, fit only for a temporary house.
Let me illustrate from Job’s three friends – Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar.
All of them presented superstructural truth, emphasizing their building
and not God’s foundational wisdom. Job’s heart was crying out for
foundation. He needed a Rock (actually he needed the Rock); he did not
need the wisdom of men. He did not need what they had to offer. The
problem is they based their teaching on something superstructural. Let me
illustrate that.
Eliphaz was the oldest and, supposedly, the wisest. You can tell that from
the nature of his speeches. Chapter 4, verse 8 “According to what I have
seen.” And then he begins to give his argument. Look at chapter 5, verse
3 “I have seen.” Look at chapter 5, verse 27 “Behold this, we have
investigated it, and so it is. Hear it, and know for yourself.” He
speaks again in chapter 15, and once again he bases his arguments on the
same thing. Verse 17 “I will tell you, listen to me; what I have seen I
will declare.” Watch what Eliphaz bases his argument on. This is a very
eerie section. Chapter 4:12,
“Now a word was brought to me stealthily, and my ear received a
whisper of it. Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the
night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and
trembling, and made all my bones shake. Then a spirit passed by my
face; the hair of my flesh bristled up. It stood still, but I could not
discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was
silence, then I heard a voice.”

Do you see what he is doing? He is basing his arguments on what I have
seen, what I have heard, what I have observed, and then he bases it on an
experience he had one night when he was laying in bed. He said he had a
vision and this angelic being came to the foot of his bed and made his hair
stand up on end, and he tells about this vision he had. Eliphaz based all
his arguments on his experiential observations. Now, experience is a
wonderful thing, but do not base truth on it. Illustrate truth with your
experience, but don’t let it be your foundation. You base truth on the
unchanging word of the unchanging God. There is your truth; that is your
foundation.

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