Job 27:18

18 He buildeth [banah] his house [bayith] as a moth [`ash], and as a booth [cukkah] that the keeper [natsar] maketh [`asah]. KJV-Interlinear

18 'He has built his house like the spider's web, Or as a hut which the watchman has made. NASB

The moth is an insect of sorts, which destroys clothing. The word moth, comes from an Old English term which means maggot. So the little creature which begins with an egg, develops into a larvae stage, and then into an adult moth, has a life cycle of about 60 to 90 days.

Job uses two of the five terms for creation - 'banah' and 'asah.' We studied them all in Genesis.

'Banah' was the term used for the creation of Eve. This term means to sculpt, as a sculptor would fashion an image out of a piece of wood, stone, or some other material. And so God sculpted Eve out of the rib of Adam. God took some very ordinary material and created something of beauty out of it.

Here the moth sculpts his home out of his own egg and larvae stage which is very temporary. And it makes these homes out of something it does not own. It steals as it were, from the clothing in which it takes up refuge, by eating away at the clothing. Its home is very unstable, very weak, very temporary, and can be easily shaken or cleaned out of the clothes.

The booth of the keeper, is a temporary shed, which the watchman of a vineyard quickly constructs out of anything handy. Its purpose is to keep the rain or heat of the sun off of him while he watches over the vineyard. When the growing season is over, the shed is abandoned and becomes prey for the wind or winter weather. By spring, it has disintegrated into a pile of garbage.

The word 'asah' here means to create in accordance with a pattern. The shed is always designed out of a well-known pattern, a pattern previously known to its builder. The watchman knows what he wants and this is the quickest form of protection from the sun and weather. He does not try to make anything better or more permanent. It is just enough to serve his purpose for the season and that is all he cares about.

The other three words for creation ('bara' to make out of nothing, 'yatsar' to make out of a material, and 'atsab' to take great care in fashioning ones work) are not in view here. However, the last term can be used to show a contrast. God created, 'atsab,' man using great care and great skill. God used a surgeon and artists' skill and care in His planning, design, and actual work so as to not make any mistakes, when creating man.

If a sculptor has a great piece of marble and he wants to make something of beauty within it, he plans everything out to the minutest of detail, and takes great care so as to not make any mistakes. To make an error means that the marble is ruined, the cost is lost and he has to begin the process all over again. That is a waste of time for someone who makes things for a living. And so using this analogy, God has taken great care in mans creation.

But as for the person who is indifferent toward their spiritual life, they care nothing for their life. They throw something together which serves their immediate purpose and only for a temporary time, and they use materials which do not belong to them in the first place. They are in effect thieves.

Look in the mirror. Are you a thief?

And by the way, have you begun to notice just how often and in how many ways the Bible seems to describe the spiritually deficient person?

You should discover that all of this repetition is there for a reason. That reason being so that you will one day wake up and get with your own spiritual life. Needless to say, it takes a lot of repetition before some folks get the point. But most folks, unfortunately, never do.

To ignore Bible doctrine during your life, means that what you have invested in during your life, is temporary, won't last, and was never yours to begin with.

Now is the time to post a prayer.