Job 15

Today Eliphaz returns to the conversation and is quick to reject everything Job has said. He does not bother weighing Job’s words, parsing out what might be right and what might be wrong. Eliphaz tosses out Job’s words entirely, because he considers Job to be abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water. (v. 16)

Although Eliphaz claims wisdom well beyond Job’s, look at what he says: The wicked man writhes in pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the ruthless. In Job 15:20-35, Eliphaz gives a description of how bad life is for the wicked — a description that frankly fails to pass the laugh test. Think for a moment and consider real-life examples of “the wicked”: mafia dons, drug lords, dictators, etc. Do they “writhe in pain all their days”? Do they wander about, begging for bread? (v. 23) No! Such people live in luxury, with pleasures of every sort at their fingertips. Some may eventually land in prison or meet an “untimely demise” at the hands of their rivals, but many do not, or at least do not for a very long time.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am certainly not advocating such careers, nor am I saying that God does not ultimately bring judgment upon the wicked. But casual observation of present realities should be sufficient to refute Eliphaz’s statements. And that is what I like about this book — it confronts life as lived in the real world and breaks through the platitudes that one might otherwise land on.

Job 14

Job continues his response to Zophar, turning his attention to the brevity of this life. Other passages of Scripture echo the notion that life is short. (For example, Ps. 78:39; 103:15; 144:4; Isa. 40:6-8; 51:12; James 1:10-11; 4:14.) Here Job bemoans that any chance of enjoying this brief life has been taken away, consumed by suffering — and all because God somehow chooses to focus His (negative) attention on man. (Job 14:1-6) He views a tree that is cut down, yet sprouts new growth from old roots, as having more hope than man, who dies and just returns to the dust with no hope of anything more. (Job 14:7-12)

But Job opens the door — just a crack, and only for a moment — to the idea of life beyond this one:

Oh that You would hide me in Sheol,
that You would conceal me until Your wrath be past,
that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
If a man dies, shall he live again?
All the days of my service I would wait,
till my renewal should come.
You would call, and I would answer You;
You would long for the work of Your hands.
For then You would number my steps;
You would not keep watch over my sin;
my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
and You would cover over my iniquity.

Job 14:13-17

If there were some possibility of life after death, then Job could endure this suffering and look forward to new life with his sin “sealed up” and “covered over”. But this is just a (cynical?) hypothetical for Job at this point. He does not grab onto it as a real hope. Instead he ends with his continuing view that he is steadily — and painfully — being destroyed. (Job 14:18-22)

---

Finally, as an aside, I’d like to note that if the word “Sheol” trips you up, you can almost always substitute “the Grave” (capital “G”, so to speak) and arrive at pretty much the same meaning.

Job 13

Job continues his reply to Zophar. Let’s look at the first several verses.

• Job 13:1 – Behold, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it.
  • That is, he has observed all those things he mentioned in Job 12, so unlike his friends Job is therefore taking into account real-life experience that runs counter to their worldview.
• Job 13:2 – What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
  • Pretty self-explanatory. Job is no fool and certainly does not need his friends to regurgitate what he already knows.
• Job 13:3 – But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
  • I think of this a bit like a phone call to some support line where you aren’t getting anywhere with the person on the other end so you say, “Let me speak to your supervisor…”
  • That is, Job wants to cut out the intermediaries and talk with the One in charge, the One Who really knows the truth, and Who has the power to remedy the situation.
• Job 13:4 – As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all.
  • Job perceives the inadequacies of his friends’ arguments and how his own experience — along with observed reality all around — contradicts their worldview, but rather than dealing with those realities, they “whitewash” over them, effectively lying “on God’s behalf”.
  • At best, his friends are quacks.
• Job 13:5 – Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!
  • Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt!
  • This hearkens back to Job 2 when Job’s friends sat in silence, which was indeed the best comfort they ever gave him.
• Job 13:6 – Hear now my argument and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
  • One thing Job’s friends clearly have never really done is to truly listen to Job, to empathize in any meaningful way.
  • Sometimes the one thing we really need more than anything else is for someone to listen.
  • Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger… (James 1:19)
• Job 13:7 – Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for Him?
  • This, I think, goes to the heart of Job’s frustration with his friends (and to God’s rebuke of them in Job 42:7), as he recognizes that in their “whitewashing” of reality, they are in fact speaking falsely for God.
• Job 13:8 – Will you show partiality toward Him? Will you plead the case for God?
  • Job wants a fair trial. In his view, he is already “up against” an unbeatable Foe, Who does not need deceptive lawyers pleading His case.
• Job 13:9 – Will it be well with you when He searches you out? Or can you deceive Him, as one deceives a man?
  • Hey, Zophar! Look in the mirror! When God comes and searches you out, what might He find? Do you really think you should be faring better than I? Or do you think you can somehow pull the wool over His eyes?

I’ll leave it there except for one more verse further down, Job 13:23: How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. At the core of Job’s frustration is that he is unaware of any big sin in his life and so is undeserving of such horrendous treatment. Here he prays that God would reveal any such sin to him that might explain the problem. It could be argued that Job is offering this prayer somewhat rhetorically, that he doesn’t expect God (or anyone else) to be able to point to anything. But I rather think that he is honestly asking. And it is an excellent prayer for all of us. We should all ask God to convict us of any sin in order that we might repent of it and turn to Him to remove it from us — but not just to escape punishment; rather, that we might have fellowship with Him.

Job 12

Job replies to Zophar with a nice bit of sarcasm right out of the gate: No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you. (v. 2) That is, “Wow! You guys really are smart! When you die, what will the world do without you? Wisdom will be lost for all time without you!” He then reminds them that he also has understanding and is not inferior to them; in fact, their brilliant “wisdom” is just common knowledge. (Job 12:3) Even so, although Job is a just and blameless man, he is nevertheless now a laughingstock. (v. 4) And although Job’s friends can blithely conclude that Job has brought that upon himself, he instead finds it to be a worldview-shattering contradiction.

In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is ready for those whose feet slip. (v. 5) How true that statement is! We see it clearly in Job’s friends who sit in comfort condemning poor Job, with no real sympathy or compassion, just a self-righteous contempt. And we see it all around us as elitists scorn those “below” them and “cancel” any with whom they find fault. There are plenty of examples in the political arena (on any side), in the famous and the infamous, and in our own neighborhoods. Do we do the same?

Job sees that everything — including his suffering — is under God’s sovereignty, but it is a sovereignty that does not quite line up with his original worldview. He looks at nature and sees God’s hand at work. He sees that wisdom comes from God. He sees that God raises up and tears down and that no one — no matter how strong or respectable his office — can resist Him.

As I read what Job says, I have a tendency to forget the ongoing nature of his suffering. I (almost) tend to imagine that he is having these arguments with his friends somewhat “after the fact”, like on a debate stage, making his points from a position of reasonable strength. But that is all wrong. Job is in immense pain. He is weak and nearly dead. I should imagine Job struggling to speak these words, perhaps in a raspy whisper, barely able to get out a few words at a time. Naturally, the content of what he says remains the same, but imagining the scene like this might change how I hear it…

Job 11

Today we meet another of Job’s friends, Zophar the Naamathite. Like Eliphaz and Bildad before him, Zophar tries to defend God, but does so under faulty assumptions and premises. The problem for us is that so much of what Zophar says sounds legit, especially after hearing how Job has characterized God. My natural inclination is to almost completely agree with him, especially in Job 11:7-12 — some words that our arrogantly “enlightened” culture would do well to ponder.

Even the latter half of the chapter (Job 11:13-20) sounds like decent advice that might even be encouraging for Job — until we once again remember that Zophar’s underlying assumption is that God must be punishing Job for some terrible sin, which we know not to be the case. But then again, my natural inclination is to say that even if Job were blameless when disaster first struck, he isn’t so blameless now that he has been casting aspersions on God’s character, and hence it is still good advice! So I have to read ahead to Job 42:7 where God declares that Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have not spoken of me what is right. I am left trying to figure out what is really true here and what just “sounds good”, and that is a real challenge. In fact, I am not up to the challenge. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us through His Word, for spiritual things are spiritually discerned. (I Cor. 2:14)

I do not claim any particular insight from the Holy Spirit here, but one thing to recognize about Job’s friends is that they do not themselves heed their own advice. Zophar asks, Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? ( v. 7) Yet he acts as though he himself has a handle on God, that God is in a tidy box that makes easy sense of the world. If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents. (v. 14) Certainly that is good advice for everyone. Yet we see no evidence that Zophar has any inkling that he should take that advice himself; his assumption is that since he isn’t suffering, he isn’t guilty. Perhaps all Job’s friends should listen to Jesus first:

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

Job 10

Job continues his complaint today, giving it free utterance. (v. 1) For any who have been holding themselves back a bit, standing a little aloof, it’s time to admit how we can identify with Job. No, we probably cannot claim anything close to his righteousness, nor are any of us likely to have faced the mountain of calamity that has befallen Job. Yet we still ask, “Why me?” when we suffer. And (whether we want to admit it or not) we more than likely go further and find fault with God in allowing that suffering, even going so far as Job as to blame God directly for it. God surely sees these thoughts and attitudes within us. (Perhaps that is why he gives them voice through Job.) But we need to see them within ourselves, too, and confess them so that the Holy Spirit can lead us to the Father’s heart.

So don’t hang back and just observe Job from a distance. Move in close. Feel what he feels. Join him in voicing your own experience. But please don’t misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that you should develop a cynical posture toward God; just don’t deny what might already be there, because denial will never get you past it.

So, how about you? What about Job’s perspective hits close to home for you? What shocks you? What makes you shake your fist? Or what just makes you nod your head? What feeds your fears or shakes your faith? Or what squashes your fears and bolsters your faith? Let Job help you take a good hard honest look within.

Job 9

Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with Him, one could not answer Him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength—who has hardened himself against Him, and succeeded?

Job 9:2-4

Though I am in the right, I cannot answer Him; I must appeal for mercy to my Accuser.

Job 9:15

These verses (and everything in between) capture Job’s feeling of entrapment. He is facing the ultimate Catch-22. He wants to argue his own case before God the Judge, but the Judge is (apparently) also his Accuser, and he cannot possibly out-argue God, nor can he overpower Him in any way. Note here Job’s perspective of God as the ultimate Adversary — not the ultimate Friend. In verse 15, he rightly sees that he must appeal to God’s mercy, but only because he cannot successfully argue the rightness of his cause. He further confirms this perspective in vv. 19-20: If it is a contest of strength, behold, He is mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, He would prove me perverse.

Job then says that [God] destroys both the blameless and the wicked. (v. 22) That is, forget about good things happening to good people; instead, bad things happen to bad and good alike. Job no longer expects any good thing from God’s hand. From Job’s perspective, God is the Enemy who won’t even let him catch his breath to be able to plead his case. With God as Judge, Accuser, and Tormentor, Job has no hope.

What a woeful position to be in! We know that Job is not right here, but we are happily sitting on this side of the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Job does not yet have that revelation. He does not see anyone as his advocate, let alone God Himself. (Job 9:33) We, on the other hand, know that there is such an Advocate: For there is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. (I Tim 2:5)

Job 8

Today we hear, for the first time, from another of Job’s friends, Bildad the Shuhite. Bildad immediately tells Job that his words are “wind” (aka “hot air”) and asks a couple rhetorical questions to which the answer is an obvious, “No”: Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? (v. 3) The implication is that Job has been accusing God of just that (which isn’t wildly off the mark). But then Bildad tries to encourage Job by deflecting attention instead to his children: If your children have sinned against Him, He has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. (v. 4) Way to go, Bildad! Comfort the grieving father by blaming the dead victims! Even if Bildad were correct in his assessment of Job’s children, the utter tactlessness of this statement is breathtaking.

Bildad then shifts gears and urges Job to cast himself on God’s mercy (Job 8:5) but then appears to misunderstand what mercy is by conditioning God’s mercy on Job’s being pure and upright. (Job 8:6) He assures Job that if he would just return to being a “good boy”, everything will turn out OK — or, rather, even much better than before. (Job 8:7) He goes on to say that this is not just his own opinion, but that he is reiterating ancient wisdom, what has been handed down for generations. (Job 8:8-10) In that regard, Bildad is probably right. That is, his worldview of “good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people” certainly dates back to time immemorial. (The real question, though, isn’t whether that idea is new or old, but whether it is true…)

Bildad then rightly warns against forgetting God and following the path of the godless (Job 8:11-19) and tries to encourage Job with the notion of future happiness. (Job 8:20-22) I wonder, though, about Bildad’s sincerity. Does he really believe Job has any chance of restoration? I rather doubt it. He sounds to me more like one who is fluent in “Christianese”, who is trying to sound “spiritual” but who has no real substance in himself and no particular insight into Job’s inner person. Perhaps I am being too harsh and cynical toward Bildad, but after his statement about Job’s children, it is hard to take his subsequent “encouraging” words to Job very seriously.

I am sure we have all heard preachers who have grown rich through TV ministries and best-selling books that offer “encouragement” like Bildad’s. Have you ever spoken directly with such a person, one who spouts “spiritual lingo” that sounds true enough at one level but is detached from the core realities of the moment and ultimately rings hollow? One who trivializes grief and promises blessings? Have you ever been that person? Are you now? I am sure I have been that person on at least a few occasions. I hope I never am again.

(On the lighter side, Bildad is purported to be the shortest person named in the Bible. I’ll let you work that one out… 🙂 )

Job 7

Today Job continues his response to Eliphaz. He reiterates some of his agony (Job 7:1-5), his despair (Job 7:6), and his full expectation that his suffering will continue until death (Job 7:7). He expects that while his friends watch, he will die. (Job 7:7-10)

Job’s despair and expectation of death embolden his complaint. (Job 7:10) So he decides to “let loose” and address his complaint directly to God. He does not here look to God for comfort per se; he just begs Him to leave him alone. (Job 7:16,19) What is man, that You make so much of him, and that You set Your heart on him? (Job 7:17) That sounds very much like Psalm 8:4: What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? But the tone and attitude are entirely different. Whereas the psalmist is in awe and wonder that God would care for any man, Job is annoyed (well, more than annoyed); he would much rather that God took no notice of him at all.

In Job 7:20, Job finally comes out with the question we so often ask: “Why me?” And he says out loud what we might ask silently: “What difference does my sin make to Almighty God? What possible harm could I inflict on Him?” And then in Job 7:21, Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? That is, “If I have sinned in some way that I can’t see, and if God could not possibly have been harmed by it anyway, then why not let it go? Why continue to torment me for it?”

I love Job’s honesty and forthrightness. I am pretty sure none of us could claim anything close to Job’s righteousness, yet we still ask, “Why me?” when trouble comes our way. Job’s view of God is not right here, but it is certainly commonly held — the notion that God is up there just looking for an opportunity to squash us like a bug if we step out of line. I think everyone, at some point or another, shares Job’s complaint. Like Job, we are not right in that complaint, but I am glad that Job gives voice to it and that the Bible includes it rather than “sweeping it under the rug” and pretending it doesn’t exist. The reality is that our existence is challenging and often confusing. Living in denial of our pain — or in denial that God is involved — is just flat dishonest and ultimately foolhardy.

Job 6

Job first opened the conversation in Job 3, but today is the first time Job responds to one of his friends. Does he heed Eliphaz’s advice, turn from his wicked ways and commit himself to God in order to secure all those blessings Eliphaz pointed him to in Job 5:8-27? Not exactly. Knowing that he is not guilty of the kind of wickedness that Eliphaz supposes, Job acknowledges no need to repent and recognizes no reason for hope. He instead lurches toward more despair. Previously, he cursed the day of his birth. Now he prays that God would go ahead and hasten his death, to “finish the job” so to speak. (v. 9)

Job opens with an appeal to recognize the enormity of his distress or his vexation, and perhaps acknowledges that his words have been rash. (v. 3) I say “perhaps” because it is not clear to me whether Job’s statement is “straight” or sarcastic. I lean a bit toward sarcastic, because the subsequent verses justify those “rash” words. If he were comfortable, he wouldn’t complain, but the the terrors of God are arrayed against him (v. 4), so wailing is to be expected.

In the midst of his suffering Job apparently cannot see any potential for future relief, so patience appears absurd. What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? (v. 11) He has no superhuman strength, so why should he patiently expect things to get better? (vv. 12,13)

He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. (v. 14) This verse and those that follow express Job’s assessment of his friends and the emptiness of their so-called “comfort”. He ends the chapter with a request that they actually show him the error of his ways (v. 24), an assertion that their reproofs carry no real weight (vv. 25-26), and a plea for them to actually see him and recognize his innocence.

So, how about us? How might we sometimes “withhold kindness from a friend” — intentionally or not? How might we be too quick to come to some conclusion without weighing the full truth? Many in our culture are currently very adept at doing this, rushing to “cancel” those with whom they find fault, but rarely with a well-informed or balanced assessment of facts. Let’s not go down that path.