God speaks once, even twice, and still the hearer misses the point. In a dream, in a vision at night, when slumber falls upon people, as they sleep in their beds, he opens people's ears and seals the matter with a warning, to turn a person away from his action and protect a man from pride, so that he will keep himself away from the pit and from perishing by the sword. (Job 33:14-18)
God speaks to us to
- turn us away from our action
- to protect us from pride
so that we will keep ourselves away from
- the pit
- perishing
This means that without God’s intervention, our actions are not sufficiently aligned with truth to avoid the pit and perishing. We are trusting in a representation of reality that is not sufficiently accurate or complete. We are trusting in error or deception the the consequences are the pit and perishing.
We make this mistake because we do not stay away from pride. We consider ourselves able to perceive, measure, and understand truth well enough that we do not need God’s guidance. Of course, we don’t realize that we are doing this. (So much for how much we really perceive.)
God warns us that:
To act without knowing how you function is not good; and if you rush ahead you will miss your goal. (Proverbs 19:2 - Complete Jewish Bible)
Part of the truth we do not perceive, measure, or understand sufficiently is how we function. We do not see when we function in pride. We do not ask God to guide us into truth and wait for him to guide us. We rush ahead with little thought to how little we know of the truthfulness of the things in which we are trusting. As a result we follow the path to the pit and perishing.
Ask God to send the Spirit of Truth to guide you into all the truth and show you things to come. Ask him to send the Spirit of Truth to guide, direct, and order your steps so that you find the path of life and stay away from the path to the pit.
