But Now My Eye Seeth Thee

From the Pastor: Dr. M. J. Seymour, Sr.

Job answering the LORD said, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42: 5-6)

One of the greatest tragedies inflicted upon lost men is that they “have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.” (Ez. 12:2) They in truth cannot see their abominable state before the holy and righteous God, Creator of the heavens and the earth. They in fact cannot hear in the heart the words of God. They are by nature of such a rebellious temperament that they are corrupt in all their ways.

Have you ever noticed that out of those humans that say they believe in a God the vast majority of them also believe everything is kosher between them and God? Man has this idea, whether formed or inbred, that the God they imagine in their little minds must accept them as they are, or what they make of themselves. They have this tendency to conceive what is religiously correct for them and then this God has to adjust to their concepts. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,” is not only in reference to carving out materialistic object, but it is also means not to carve out one in your imagination either. Humanity today is very guilty of this sin.

Job learned the difference between man-made religious opinions and God’s sovereignty over what is acceptable in His sight. Job heard from the very mouth of God what He has set forth and has decreed, and found it to be far above the trifling thoughts of man. Then when his eyes beheld the glorious God of all creation, he abhorred all the wonderful thoughts of himself and repented in the dust and the ashes of the earth. How tremendously different is the truth from the graven images we create in our thoughts and desires.

Multitudes make bold proclamations of salvation, but are found only to be building upon the shifting sands of human imaginations. Jesus said, “Every man therefore that hath, heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” (Jn. 6:43) When the voice of God is sent forth it shatters the graven images enthroned upon the mind and the heart. When God pulls down the deceptions and teaches eternal truth, man learns just what God in His sovereignty will accept. Then he flees to the Cross of Calvary repenting in dust and ashes.