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Job

Job 1-10

Job is tested
The first round of discussions

Job 1

Job 1:1-5

The land of Uz is thought to be between Palestine & Arabia.  Uz shows up in Jeremiah 25:20.  Job was wealthy, feared the Lord, shunned evil and was blameless before God; he was not sinless, but blameless, meaning he knew how to deal with sin.  We get an example of this when we see that Job sacrificed a burnt offering.  This reveals to us that the story of Job is older than the law.  After the law was given to Moses, the priest would do the offering.  This also reveals to us that God's requirement of sacrifice was going on well before the law. 

Job was a family man, a Godly man, a man of prayer.  We could sum this up to say he was a man of Godly character; and maybe this means he was able to face anything the enemy threw his way. 

God heard from Job, even when things were going well.  Does God hear from us when we are doing well?  Are we more apt to pray when we are going through something?  Are our prayers deeper and more meaningful?  If so, is it fair to say the affect of going through 'something' grows our relatinship with God? 

Job 1:6-12

The angels (sons of God) have access to the Lord.  Satan apparently had (or has) access to the Lord.  See Revelation 12:10; Zechariah 3:1-2.  God asks Satan where he came from.  Yet, God knew, He knows all; was the report simply Satan's reminder that he was submitted to God?  God points out Job as bing upright and blameless.  While Satan may have taken this as a challenge to break Job, God would use Satan for His purpose.  It was Satan's suggestion that Job only feared God because of the blessings he'd been given.  Satan was implying God bought Job's love.  Satan was out to prove that Job would curse God when he lost his wealth.  Satan went out from the presence of the Lord with authority over all that Job had except for Job himself.  Satan must have thought he had won a great victory. 

We learn several things about Satan in these passages:

  • Satan is accountable to God (not all powerful).
  • Satan can be at only one place at a time (not omnipresent).
  • Satan can't see into our minds or foretell the future or he would know Jobs nature (not Omniscient).
  • Satan can do nothing without God's permission; God's people can overcome his attacks through the power of His might.
  • God puts limitations on what Satan can do.

 

Job 1:13-22

By a series of events Job loses all that he has.  But he wasn't defined by his worldly possessions or even his family.  He was defined by his fear of God and love of God.  What would be your response if you lost everything?  Job's response was grief and mourning; he tore his robe and shaved his head.  Then he fell to the ground and worshiped God. 

Th emotions of grief and deep sense of loss drive us to mourning.  Those are God given emotions and we can see those directly linked to the loss of those we love.  There is no sin in expressing our emotions.  Job sees that all his family, all his wealth was God's anyway.  It was all beyond anything he deserved.  There were no promises attached to any of the earthly possessions; when they were gone, it was a given that God allowed it.  Job didn't know why, but the Lord gave and He took it away.  Bless God, for whatever reason, it was right and holy. 

We learn something else about Satan in this passage.  It appears that Satan can affect winds (tornados?), fire from heaven (lightning), and influence the action of some people – with God's permission.

 

Job 2 (return to index)

Job 2:1-10

Apparently this first test in chapter 1 all happened in one day.  Wow!  God's kind of bragging on Job now since he did so well on this first test.  Satan accuses Job of being willing to say anything to preserve his own life.  Satan believes if he could strike his flesh that Job would curse him.  God authorized the test, but again with a limitation that Satan has to spare Job's life. 

Note: Job leaves the presence of the Lord before doing his afflicting. 

Satan afflicts him with painful sores from head to toe.  What a pathetic site when this man sits among the ashes in mourning and picks up a pottery shard to scrape himself.  This may be to relieve itching or just break open the sores.  His life had changed so dramatically in a few short days. 

Job's wife urges him to curse God and die.  She assumed he'd done something wrong to deserve his fate.  We can only speculate as to why Job's wife was allowed to live.  The Life Application Bible suggests the possibility that her presence caused Job even more suffering as she chided him.  For Job to see his wife suffer and lose his ability to support her would cause him pain and affect his self worth.  But Job disregards his wifes's suggestion.  He accepts the bad as well as the good from God. 

Job 2:11-13

Job's 3 friends individually decided to go to Job in his time of suffering and comfort and sympathize with him.  They came from three different places and traveled some distance to come to him.  These truly are friends and this is a good thing.  When they saw him, they were stunned and wept; they didn't even recognize him.  They joined him in his mourning.  They sat with him for 7 days and said nothing. 

Sometimes being a friend means being there, not necessarily having the right words and having some profound wisdom to share.  Being there is important; sometimes being silent is equally important.  The motives of his friends were good at this point; they were being friends.  The Jewish tradition says that the comforter should not speak until the mourner speaks.  Once they begin to speak, Job wishes they would have remained silent.

 

Job 3

The days of silence, mourning and grief was time for Job's mind to attempt to process all that had happened.  Imagine the repeated question, "Why?  What have I done?"  He is sufering in tremendous physical and emotional pain.  Job is longing for relief; even to the point that the grave sounds like relief.  

Job begins the diologue by cursing the day he was born.  He even went so far as cursing the night he was conceived.  If that day were stricken from the calendar as if it never were, Job's sorrow would be releived.  Or, to have died at birth, Job believes he could skip all this and go right to his rest.

As Job groans and sighs in pain, verse 25 says this was the thing he greatly feared.  It had come upon him.  His greatest dread had become a reality.  Even so, he didn't curse God. 

 

Job 4

Elephaz gives three speeches.  He starts out gently, as we can imagine a friend might.  Yet, he is adamant in his point to Job; the righteous prosper and the wicked suffer.  Elephaz was sure he had the answer, the words to make a difference in Job's life.  He couldn't hold his tongue any longer. 

Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same (9).  While true, this truth is wrongly applied.  Elephaz believes that all trouble comes from iniquity. 

This is fascinating language in verse twelve.  Elephaz believes he has been given a secret knowledge.  He has a vision and an experience (and assumes therefore it must be valid).  He is saying either God is wrong to make righteous Job suffer, or Job is wrong and isn't righteous.  But none of this is valid because it assumes a human cause for the suffering.

 

Job 5

Elephz asked Job who he would call out to; where he would place his trust.  He believes Job would be foolish not to turn to God and confess his sin.  He is so adamant to his point he becomes insensitive to Job's loss in verse 4 and in verse 25. 

Eliphaz goes on suggesting that Job did something wrong.  Eliphaz suggests in verse 8 that if it was him, he would appeal to God and lay his cause before him.  Eliphaz feels this is correction from God and that he knows best. 

We see that Elephaz believes in the sovereignty of God.  His high view of the Almighty is good and he speaks many truths to Job, but his truths are incomplete or tainted at times.  He also applies truth without love at times.  (Truth without love is brutality, love without truth is hypocrisy.)

 

Job 6

Job 6:1-10

Job replies to both Eliphaz and God.  He stresses that his complaint is justified because his pain is beyond words.  Job looks to God as the one who launched the arrows that caused his injury.  His complaints aren't empty or meaningless; he gives examples where the sound of the animal has meaning as likewise the silence would have meaning. 

In verse 7 Job likens his suffering to a meal he can't eat.  He longs for God to grant his request to end his life.  His suffering was so intense he saw relief in death.  Job is ready to give up; if God would crush him, he could die with one joy in all the pain, the joy of having not denied the words of the Holy One.

Job 6:11-23

Job's strength is gone, he doesn't believe his body can hold out.  He can't find any opportunity to hope.  He wonders what reason there could be for his life to go on? 

Job believes the afflicted should be shown kindness by his friends.  Instead of the devotion of his friends, they accuse him.  Job said when they forsake kindness, they forsake God.  Job tells his friends that they've been no help.  He hasn't asked them to pay his ransom or give up anything on his behalf.  It's like they felt compelled to solve his problems, as if they could; even at the cost of accusing a friend and disregarding friendship.  Job needed them for comfort and understanding.  Less said would have been much better.

Job likens the situation was weary travelers traveling across a desert placing their hope in a brook.  But the brook was deceitful; it had long since dried up and was no source of hope at all.  The paths of hope that once came that way have dried up and lead to nowhere.  The traveler is disappointed and confused.

Job 6:24-30

Job invited his friends to teach him.  He likely regretted this invition after they took him up on it.  They seem to be prideful in believing they could understand and see clearly what was going on in Job's life.  As it turns out, they were willing to rebuke his words and treat them as wind?  Job stood by his words; he stood by his innocence.  He asked to consider his words and concede that he wasn't lying.  He asked that they not impugne his righteousness in explaining the situation.  They couldn't explain what was happening without pinning the cause on Job's sin.   

 

Job 7

Job 7:1-10

Job looks at his life.  He understood the brevity of life, but now in his comfortless suffering his days are short and wasted.  He finds himself looking for the end of the day as relief but when he is in bed he tortured with the question of, "How long before I get up?"  His days are short and tortured; wishing his life away day by day seeking relief.  He can find no relief and no contentment, nor does he see either of these in his future.  He feels he will never find happiness again. 

Job 7:11-16

Because of the state of his life and the lack of any hope of a future, Job concludes that he will speak out.  He feels he has a right to complain because he's done nothing to deserve this.  Job asked if he was a sea.  The sea was seen as chaotic, uncontrollable and threateneed death.  Many believed the gods controlled the sea.  Job wondered if God saw him like a sea; uncontrolled and dangerous where God had to intervened and keep him in check.  Likewise, the sea serpent.  They were uncontrollable and dangerous and God kept them from wiping out His creation.  Job wondered if he saw him as a serpent He needed to punish in some way. 

Job believed God was being unfair in not giving him comfort and rest in his sleep.  Even sleep was stolen by dreams and nightmares.  Job's life had become loathsome and he demands that God leave him along.  In verse 16 he declares his days are but a breath.  This is a contrast to verse 7 where life was a breath.  This word for breath is a ruah; it is breath and life and spirit.  In verse 16 the word breath means 'a vanity; an absurdity; wasted air'. 

Job 7:17-21

Verse seventeen brginsn to mind Psalm 8:4 and Hebrews 2:6.  Job directs his questions to God, demanding answers.  He presumes he is on trial and presumes that God has found him guilty.  Neither of these are true; in fact, Job is suffering because of his righteousness.  Is Job proving God's point that His people will not curse Him once everyting is stripped away?  God's people come to God for who He is, not for the good things He gives us.  Right?  Think about it; is this true for you?

Is God's heart not breaking right now with Job's sorrow and lack of understanding?

 

Job 8

This is Bildads first (of three) speech.  Bildad said Job's words were a blustering wind.  Wow, what a comfort that must have been.  Bildad seems to be mad.  He believes that if you are suffering it is because of sin.  He saw no exceptions, suffering was judgment.  So, he essentially steps in to defend God's honor; making the case that God is just.  Bildad is certainly right about that.  However, his wisdom is misapplied.  Job wasn't sufering divine retribuition so God's justice wasn't what was causing Job's suffering. 

Bildad's insensitivity in verse four is cutting and stands as another example of truth without love is brutality. He has an understanding that if Job would just repent in purity and uprightness God would restore everything and more.  Verse seven offers a fascinating and ironic foreshadow. 

Bildad then uses ancestral wisdom to make his point about God.  He uses three analogies from nature for his three point sermon.  A papyrus stands as an example of a plant that once flourished but was brought down.  This is an example of the man for forgets God.  Forgetting God isn't a memory lapse or forgettfulness but disobedience and rebellion. 

The second example is the spider's web.  Like a man leaning on it and it doesn't hold.  This is the godless man trusting in the wrong things.  The third analogy is the godlesss man is like a plant with its roots in rocky soil; it is shallow, easily uprooted and leaves no trace when it is removed.

Again, Bildad applies the principles of justice as if Job were the victim of God's divine retribution. 

 

Job 9

Job 9:1-13 

Job speaks his second response, but not directly to Bildad's speech.  Sure, he knows God is just, but how does one establish his innocence?  Job reveals God's sovereignty and his high view of God.  He acknowledges that no one rebels against God and prospers.  He knows of God's omnipotence; a power that created all the vast stars fo the heavens.  He set the constellations in place at His will.  From the highest heaven to the depths of the sea, He commands every detail of the creation and sustains it in its place.  Yet, as big as He is, He can move around me without my even knowing or seeing.  This all leads back to Job's frustration in not understanding why this has happened to him.   

The proud of verse 13 is the word Rahab; it is a mythical sea monster.  This creature symbolizes the pride and strength apart from God that dwells in the chaos of the deep. 

Job 9:14-20 

Imgaine trying to choose your words in preparation of standing before God (14).  Even if you were completely righteous, how would you speak?  In speaking, would you not risk your righteousness?  In the end, Job doesn't believe it matters.  He's convinced God wouldn't listen to him anyway.  Job was convinced God was out to get him. 

Job 9:21-31 

In his confusion, Job decides that God just punishes everyone; the blameless and the wicked.  Because he sees bad things happen and he sees injustice all the time, this must be what God does.  If it isn't God, who is it that allows this? 

If Job is condemned by God, there is no reason to go on.  There's no reasonable way to just forget it and put on a smile and get back to life if God has condemned you.  Cleaning himself up and playing some hypocritical game was just getting by; it didn't change the outcome.  Job couldn't ignore what appeared to be a judgment from God. 

Job 9:32-35 

Even if he could go to court with God, he knows he would fail.  Job seems to be crying out to Jesus without knowing it as he longs for a mediator.  If God would remove the rod and release Job from these circumstances he feels he could then speak without being terrified. 

 

Job 10

Bildad asked in 8:2 how long he would say these things; Job responds that he will continue to speak freely.  Job loathes his life.  He demands that God show him why.  He sees God like a cosmic bully; inhuman and not understanding how much harm he is bringing to him.  Yet he knows God made him.  Why would he now destroy him with no reason?  Job acknowledges God had given him life and blessed him greatly.  Then he accuses God of setting him up; as if God planned this suffering all along like he might draw some satisfaction from taking so much away from him. 

Whether he is innocent or guilty, he is now so disgraced he can't lift his head. 

Job comes back to the pitiful summation that his life is useless and it would be better had he been stillborn.  Since this isn't possible, since his life is what it is because God brought him to this point, then the only comfort he feels might be available is if God were to leave him alone. 

Again, I wonder what God is feeling right now.  If this pain is caused by Satan and allowed by God, when Job cries out it has to pain God. 

©2017 Doug Ford