12 “A word was brought to me in secret, and my ears heard a whisper of it.
13 It was during a nightmare when people are in deep sleep.
14 I was trembling with fear; all my bones were shaking.
15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
16 The spirit stopped, but I could not see what it was.
A shape stood before my eyes, and I heard a quiet voice.
17 It said, ‘Can a human be more right than God?
Can a person be pure before his maker?
13 It was during a nightmare when people are in deep sleep.
14 I was trembling with fear; all my bones were shaking.
15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
16 The spirit stopped, but I could not see what it was.
A shape stood before my eyes, and I heard a quiet voice.
17 It said, ‘Can a human be more right than God?
Can a person be pure before his maker?
- Job 4:12-17
Have you ever had dreams that scare you at night when you sleep? Nightmares are common with people during sleep. As much as anyone wants some pleasant dreams, there are nights that we experience unpleasant dreams. Some even have a strange experience, a phenomenon which they call a sleep paralysis where a person from sleep wakes up unable to move or talk. They are frozen from their state and struggle to break free from the paralysis. It is natural and human to be afraid during nightmares such as this. It makes us aware that we are in a world where evil exists.
This are one of those nightmares Job's friend Eliphaz has experienced. This kind of phenomena is not a phenomena afterall because it has happened and it is recorded in the Bible a long time ago. Eliphaz not only feared when this happened to him for he saw a spirit form and that made the hairs on his body stand up. He could not see what it looked liked, but it was certainly evil for it caused him to fear. Amazingly, this spirit spoke to him and says many things that cause us to fear and doubt and be hopeless. Of course the spirit was right about humanity, we know how frail and falliable we are. We could never be right with our strength or be pure enough with our own efforts. Yes we are helpless but not hopeless. GOD's love and plan for salvation has already provided everything for us to be right and pure before GOD by accepting the free gift of His Son Yeshua, the Messiah. The next time you are in a nightmare, just call out the name of Jesus and HE will snap you out of it! We might be helplesss within the nightmare but never hopeless in Christ!
