The Nugget:
Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
My Comment:
I have been reading and studying the Bible seriously since August of 1953. I have read Job 23:12 many times. I have even memorized it. Yet just the other day while working on assembling additional cross references for Hebrews 10:38, 39 I encountered a reference to this very verse, Job 23:12, its first portion. Then I noticed something I had never noticed before in this verse. It plainly contains a cause/effect relationship. For Job 23:12, here is how I providentially spotted the cause/effect relationship: I read the words “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips”; then I mentally inserted the one-word question “Why?” The answer becomes, because “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” That provides a very significant and valuable insight into maintaining our relationship with God firm to the end. Continuously feeding on God’s Word by reading and studying and obeying it faithfully and regularly will prevent any apostasy or falling away on our part. God’s Word is the appointed food, the appointed portion, for our soul. Just as failure to feed ourselves physically would bring about dire consequences and ultimately physical death if kept up long enough, so the analogy holds true for spiritual life. God has furnished us a wonderful feast in His written Word. Be sure to take advantage of it while you still can. The principle stated in this verse may well be the most important principle to obey in the entire Bible, for if you faithfully practice and do what this verse says, everything else will properly follow and fall into place in your spiritual life.
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this cause/effect relationship principle:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 511.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 567 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Job 23:12.
(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them further given below:
Job 23:12. Neither. Jb 1:1, 8. 4:6. 24:13. Is 38:3. Jn *6:66-69. *8:31. Ac *14:22. He +*10:38, 39. 1 J *2:19. gone back. Ps 44:18. Ga +*4:9, 10n. from the commandment. Jb 33:9. 1 K 9:4. +**13:9n. I have esteemed. Heb. hid, or, laid up. T#1083. Jb *22:22. Ezr 8:12. Ps **1:2. +**19:7, 9, 10. **+119:11, 14, 20, 47, **103, 127, 143. Pr *2:1, 10. 10:21. Je **15:16. Ezk 3:3. Jn 4:32, 34. Ro 7:22. 1 P **2:2. Re 10:9. the words of his mouth. Jb 6:10. Ps 40:8. Is 40:8. Lk +*8:15. Jn 15:7. Ac +**17:11. Col +*3:16. more than. Ge *24:33. Ezr 10:6. necessary food. or, appointed portion. FS171E9, Ge +47:22. ver. 14. Jb 14:5, 13. Ezr 10:6. Pr 30:8. 31:15. Mt 6:11. Lk +*12:42, 46.
job 23.10 is a verse of great blessing and when i look up the cross references i find out even more encouragement. the importance of having a daily time in the word and prayer cannot be overemphasized. the lord wants to meet with us and have fellowship with us. he speaks to us through his word, and we speak to him through prayer. he wants us to grow spiritually i pe 3.18. “the scriptures remind you of two
important principles for understanding the spiritual truth: 1. you must be diligent in
your study of god’s word ii tim 2.15 2. you must be taught by the holy spirit i cor. 2.12
like jerry said its a great verse to memorize you will be blessed. “neither have i gone back from the commandment of his lips; jn 8.31-31 then said jesus to those jews which believed on him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;vs
32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth, and the truth shall make you free. acts
14.22 confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of god. heb
10.38-39now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. vs 39 but we are not of them who draw back unto perdition: but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. ” i have esteemed your words more than
necessary food”. psm 19.9-10 the law of the lord is perfect, converting the soul: the
testimony of the lord is sure, making wise the simple. vs 10 more to be desired are
they than fine gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the hon
ey comb. psm 119.11 thy word have i hid in my heart,that i might not sin against thee. jer 15.16 thy words were found and i did eat them: and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for i am called by thy name, o lord god of hosts. 1 pe 2.1-3 wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, vs 2 as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: vs3 if so be ye have tasted that the lord is gracious. we really need the lord like the hymn goes “we need thee every hour” we need the lord every minute” jn 15.5 i am vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and i in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; “for with out me you can do nothing”, one more time “for without me you can do nothing” rev1.5 “unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood”