Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
blameless and upright… is a phrase indicating that Job was a very upstanding individual according to the way that God judges
Of course Romans 3:23; And as we will see Job did have a problem – in fact a very big sin (missed the mark)
1 Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach;
:2-3 rich, well off
:4-5 kids seem to be off the track
Job 1:4 And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
Job 1:5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.
Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
… sons of God…
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
present themselves… angel means messengers/servants doing their jobs
We see a few guiding principals of trials in this next section:
Job 1:7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth [his domain], and from walking back and forth on it.”
Job 1:8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
Job 1:9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
Job 1:10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
Job 1:11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” [the Bet]
Job 1:12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Satan has always been an accuser of the brethren; he will use any and every argument possible (especially the legitimate ones that we give him); doesn’t appear the devil is even aware of the actual problem (even if he is, he is determined and resolved on destruction)
God allows Satan to be an instrument of testing and correcting for Him
Satan recognizes God’s protection of His people
God limits Satan’s damage;
How Satan Can Work
Job 1:13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house;
Job 1:14 and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
Job 1:15 when the Sabeans raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
Job 1:19 and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job’s Reaction to the Calamity
(Trials not affecting his person)
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
Job 1:21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Job 1:22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
Job understood how things worked Job 1-0 Satan
Satan Fails
This was the exact opposite of what Satan was trying to accomplish
We can assume that the same type of scenario is happening, except instead of Job’s name it’s yours that the conversation is about.
Satan Goes Before God Again
Sum up:
Similar to the last meeting
Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 2:2 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
Job 2:3 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
Satan recognizes his limits once again
Job 2:4 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! [he has to ask; so he acknowledges he had limitations before] Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
Job 2:5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
Job 2:6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” [more limitations imposed]
Shows more of the power of Satan and what he is capable of:
Job 2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
Job 2:8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
Job further demonstrates that he understands how God works
Job 2:9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Job 2:10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. [he had tamed the tongue, one of the most uncontrollable members that James talks about at length]
Do we understand how God works in our lives?
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar
Job 2:11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him.
Job 2:12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven.
Job 2:13 So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
Came from the area from Turkey to Arabia [to give you an idea]
Gill’s the Septuagint version calls Eliphaz the king of the Temanites, and Bildad the tyrannus, or governor, of the Sauchaens, and Zophar king of the Minaeans (p):
May explain why they thought they knew so much
Job 3:1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
Job 3:2 And Job spoke, and said:
Job 3:3 “May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’
Job 3:4 May that day be darkness; May God above not seek it, Nor the light shine upon it.
If there was one time when Job nearly gave the victory to Satan it was here
Job 7:3 So I have been allotted months of futility, And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
Job 2-0 Satan
But the trial goes on.
Job 3:23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, And whom God has hedged in?
Job recognized that God hedges and that He can remove those. Job so far has had very good insight into how God works without having been in on the conversation that took place back in the beginning of the book.
That is up until this point:
Job 3:25 For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me.
Fear and worrying come from a lack of faith; Sufficient are the troubles for today that we shouldn’t be worrying about the future.
If he truly was living in fear of this happening, then it surely was something that God had to deal with. What do we fear? What will be the consequences of that?
Eliphaz Speaks First
Job 4:7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off?
Job 4:8 Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same.
It is an accusation! It basically is his theme as well as the others; open and shut case;
Let’s quickly frame the advice of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar:
Job 42:7 And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
Job 42:8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.“
As we go through the words of these friends, we will not necessarily find them to be wrong, but misapplied.
The words that Eliphaz spoke in :7-8 Job 4:7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright ever cut off? Even as I have seen, Those who plow iniquity And sow trouble reap the same.
He was saying that surely Job acted in an incorrect manner.
He assumed and was making false accusations against a man that God had called blameless and upright. So in that sense he was going against God – not a smart position to be in.
Chapter 5
Callous remarks
Not a word fitly spoken
Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.
Not helpful with the obvious advice
Job 5:8 “But as for me, I would seek God, And to God I would commit my cause—
Job 5:17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
Continues in the same vein
Then back to the insensitivity
Job 5:25 You shall also know that your descendants shall be many, And your offspring like the grass of the earth.
Job 5:26 You shall come to the grave at a full age, As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.
Job 5:27 Behold, this we have searched out; It is true. Hear it, and know for yourself.”
children just died; he is covered in boils to the point he is not recognizable (looking like he is at death’s door); we have judged you rightly if you would just listen to us.
Job’s response to Eliphaz
Job 6:3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea— Therefore my words have been rash.
He admits that some of his words have been out of place to this point.
Job 6:8 “Oh, that I might have my request, That God would grant me the thing that I long for!
He doesnt believe that he can go on. [Obviously he can; the trial goes as we know and he survives] His focus is still wrong. He is focused on the what and not the why
And you guys are not helping
Job 6:14 “To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend, Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
Job 6:15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook, Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,
In trials we need to pray that we are the kind of help that the person needs and that we do not overstep the boundaries of propriety or more importantly God. [expound on what God is doing we do not always know].
Job 6:24 “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue; Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
Job 6:25 How forceful are right words! But what does your arguing prove?
It seems like these guys did the most for Job when they sat there quietly for 7 days. Their words were not accurate so they did not bring the comfort he needed in his trial.
Job is looking forward to the end of the end of the trial. He believes that there will be an end to it and that he deserves to come out of it.
Job 7:1 “Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth? Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?
Job 7:2 Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade, And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
Job 7:3 So I have been allotted months of futility, And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
Job 7:4 When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise, And the night be ended?’ For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.
But the trial is for a reason, it can’t be over until God see’s the growth in him that He expects.
It was pretty bad
Job 7:5 My flesh is caked with worms and dust, My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.
Job is considered a part of the Writings of the Old Testament. It is very poetic throughout. Job is asking a lot of questions of God trying to figure out what is going on.
Job 7:20 Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men? Why have You set me as Your target, So that I am a burden to myself?
Job 7:21 Why then do You not pardon my transgression, And take away my iniquity? For now I will lie down in the dust, And You will seek me diligently, But I will no longer be.“
Bildad Speaks for the First Time
Job 8:2 “How long will you speak these things, And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?
Comes out the gate firing.
Bildad takes it upon himself to answer Job’s questions to God at the end of chapter 7 [very presumptuous]
Job 8:3 Does God subvert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
Job 8:4 If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression.
Job 8:5 If you would earnestly seek God And make your supplication to the Almighty,
Job 8:20 Behold, God will not cast away the blameless, Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
Job’s reply to Bildad
Job 9:1 Then Job answered and said:
Job 9:2 “Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God?
Your principals are correct, but once again the application is incorrect
Job 9:2 “Truly I know it is so, But how can a man be righteous before God?
Job 9:3 If one wished to contend with Him, He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
If this were in court Job is saying what chance would he have. God is the one that brought the suit against him, so it had to be righteous. When he is questioned by God, how could anyone have an answer for the things of God – and this is exactly what happens later on as we know.
Job says some deep things
Job 9:8 He alone spreads out the heavens, And treads on the waves of the sea;
Job 9:9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south;
Job 9:10 He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number.
And then he turns around and says this:
Job 9:15 For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge.
Job 9:16 If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice.
Job 9:17 For He crushes me with a tempest, And multiplies my wounds without cause.
Job makes some desperate statements in his despondence
Job 9:19 If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong; And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court? [He wants to plead his case, because he believes he has one]
Job 9:20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.
Job 9:21 “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life.
Job 9:22 It is all one thing; Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
This is an answer to Bildad as well as God.
Prescient statements
Job 9:32 “For He is not a man, as I am, That I may answer Him, And that we should go to court together.
Be careful what you wish for….
Job is fed up with it all and has this to say to God:
Job 10:20 Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort,
Job 10:21 Before I go to the place from which I shall not return, To the land of darkness and the shadow of death,
Zophar’s Speaks for the first time
Job 11:2 “Should not the multitude of words be answered? And should a man full of talk be vindicated?
You have had your say, Let me tell you how it is.
Eliphaz bad; Bildad worse; Zophar the worst
Job 11:3 Should your empty talk make men hold their peace? And when you mock, should no one rebuke you?
Job 11:4 For you have said, ‘My doctrine is pure, And I am clean in your eyes.’
Job 11:5 But oh, that God would speak, And open His lips against you,
Job 11:6 That He would show you the secrets of wisdom! For they would double your prudence. Know therefore that God exacts from you Less than your iniquity deserves.
Do we see what he is saying to Job, after all that Job has been through with the loss of lives, animals and property and now the sickness he going through.
This is not the way to win friends and influence people.
Job Answers All Three
Job 12:1 Then Job answered and said:
Job 12:2 “No doubt you are the people, And wisdom will die with you! [Ha]
Job 12:3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
Job 12:4 “I am one mocked by his friends, Who called on God, and He answered him, The just and blameless who is ridiculed.
Job 13:2 What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
Job 13:4 But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians.
Job 13:5 Oh, that you would be silent, And it would be your wisdom!
He still REALLY believes he has a case to be made.
Job 13:3 But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to reason with God.
Job 13:18 See now, I have prepared my case, I know that I shall be vindicated.
Yes and No
In all of this, he has not cursed God to His face and continues to have confidence in God
Job 13:15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.
Job 13:16 He also shall be my salvation, For a hypocrite could not come before Him.
He just asks two things
Job 13:19 Who is he who will contend with me? If now I hold my tongue, I perish.
Job 13:20 “Only two things do not do to me, Then I will not hide myself from You:
Can you give me relief from this trial
Just tell me what I did wrong
Job focusses on death again
It would even be nice to just die and wait for the resurrection
Job 14:12 So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, They will not awake Nor be roused from their sleep.
Job 14:13 “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, That You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, That You would appoint me a set time, and remember me!
Job 14:14 If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, Till my change comes.
There is an obvious peace that comes with death; and it would be nice sometimes to die and wait for the return of Jesus Christ;
It is interesting that we so often worry about our life in a similar respect. But what we are seeing here is that God is not going to let you die EVEN if you want to. So whether you want to die or don’t want to die God won’t allow it while He still has something to accomplish in you before then.
Job 14:15 You shall call, and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands.
Job 14:16 For now You number my steps, But do not watch over my sin.
Summary of 15 – 27
Chapter 15
Eliphaz comes at him again only harder (probably because of what Job has said with some of it being directed at him) with basically the same arguments calling Job wicked
Chapter 16
Job replies
Job 16:2 “I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all!
In other words you are not comforters at all; the book of Job is among other things a lesson in how to handle your own trials as well how to handle the trials of others.
Prefigures Christ
Job 16:9 He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me.
Job 16:10 They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me.
Job 16:11 God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.
…as intercessor
Job 16:21 Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor!
No one is doing for Job at the moment
Chapter 17
Job 17:15 Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it?
It is not here; it is not in the grave; He continues to ask questions to which he really does not have the answers.
Chapter 18
Bildad speaks a second time
Bildad answers the question – but once again, not in the right way.
Job 18:2 “How long till you put an end to words? Gain understanding, and afterward we will speak.
Job 18:3 Why are we counted as beasts, And regarded as stupid in your sight?
Do we see the wrong attitude here.
Chapter 19
Job 19:6 Know then that God has wronged me, And has surrounded me with His net.
Job 19:7 “If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard. If I cry aloud, there is no justice.
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
seems to go hand in hand with Job’s statements in chapter 16
shows understanding that some had in Old Testament times in regards to the plan of God
Job 19:26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
This is a very poor translation which leads the reader to believe that Job would see God in the flesh, or be in the second resurrection, when in actuality it is pointing the fact that he would NOT be in the flesh when he saw God next. Notice these other translations:
(ASV) And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;
(JPS) And when after my skin this is destroyed, then without my flesh shall I see God;
(LITV) and after my skin has been struck off from my flesh, yet this, I shall see God,
The fact that Job had God’s holy spirit fits in with the him being in the first resurrection which is one to be born-again as a spirit being and not a fleshly one (John 3:6-7)
Job 19:29 Be afraid of the sword for yourselves; For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, That you may know there is a judgment.”
Chapter 20
Zophar speaks a second and final time
He is not happy with the end of chapter 19 and describes the wickedness of Job in very colorful terms bur really doesn’t have anything new to say.
Chapter 21
Job replies: The world is not as black and white as you make it
They are saying here is how God treats the wicked – in the way that you have been treated
Job gives evidence to show that is not true
Job 21:7 Why do the wicked live and become old, Yes, become mighty in power?
Job 21:8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes.
Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them.
Job 21:10 Their bull breeds without failure; Their cow calves without miscarriage.
Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
Job 21:12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, And rejoice to the sound of the flute.
Job 21:13 They spend their days in wealth, And in a moment go down to the grave.
Job 21:14 Yet they say to God, ‘Depart from us, For we do not desire the knowledge of Your ways.
Job 21:34 How then can you comfort me with empty words, Since falsehood remains in your answers?”
Chapter 22
Eliphaz’s Third and Final Assault
Job 22:5 Is not your wickedness great, And your iniquity without end?
Eliphaz is saying that your punishment is so great because your wickedness is so great
Same story, just more intensity
Then he contradicts his own reasoning
Job 22:17 They said to God, ‘Depart from us! What can the Almighty do to them?’
Job 22:18 Yet He filled their houses with good things; But the counsel of the wicked is far from me.
Chapter 23
Job 23:4 I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments.
Job 23:5 I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me.
Job 23:6 Would He contend with me in His great power? No! But He would take note of me.
Job 23:7 There the upright could reason with Him, And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
On about the same thing
Chapter 24
Job continues in his answer to Eliphaz where he talks about other “innocent” people who have had a similar fate befall them “punishment for no reason”.
All the while the wicked get away with their evil ways
Job 24:12 The dying groan in the city, And the souls of the wounded cry out; Yet God does not charge them with wrong. [Is this true? Even in this life?] Job 24:25 “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?”
Chapter 25
Bildad’s Third and Last time to Speak
Job 25:4 How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman?
Job 25:6 How much less man, who is a maggot, And a son of man, who is a worm?”
Not only is it a lowly despicable creature found in the grave, where perhaps Bildad thought Job would soon be, but also he had maggots/worms on him already presumably eating away at dead flesh….so in a since he would become a maggot since we are all fodder for them any way.
Chapter 26
Job Replies: Bildad, You are NO help whatsoever
Job 26:2 “How have you helped him who is without power? How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
Job 26:3 How have you counseled one who has no wisdom? And how have you declared sound advice to many?
Job 26:7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.
Gravity unknown until recently
Other scriptures with scientific connotations well beyond understanding until recently
Putting Bildad’s astronomical comments in place
Chapter 27
Addressing All Three Again
Job 27:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.
Job implies that they have been wicked in the way that they have acted against him.
He also clarifies that in actuality, the wicked do not get away with their misdeeds. God does punish. Just like is in danger of happening to you.
Chapter 28
Key verse of chapter
Job 28:12 “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?
Job 28:18 For the price of wisdom is above rubies.
Job 28:19 The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold.
Job 28:21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air.
More scientific insights way before its time. Only in the last 100 years
Job 28:25 To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure.
Job 28:26 When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt,
Job 28:28 And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ “
The only place it can truly come from
Interesting: Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD [Yehovah; Adonay above] is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
This is a key in why Job did not understand what was happening to him [talk more later]
Chapter 29
In chapters 29-31 Job makes his summarizing statement of his defense for the case he has been making all along.
Job 29:2 “Oh, that I were as in months past, As in the days when God watched over me;
We see that he doesnt realize that God was still with him through this entire trial, working with him to bring him more understanding
He looks longingly backwards at what he had: God, family, prosperity, respect of the community
Interesting how he had the ear of princes and nobles (:9-10) and sat as chief…and dwelt as a king in the army
He was in a position to judge righteously and help the needy (:14-17)
Job 29:22 After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew.
This is the way that it used to be…obviously it was not that way with these three (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar). Perhaps they saw this as an opportunity to get one up on Job
I, me, my ~50 times in telling us how righteous he was.
Chapter 30
But now all that he had in chapter 29 has changed and he shows in this chapter that everything is the opposite of the way that it has been.
It looks like it has come to the point that they actually are spitting on him as he lies helplessly there.
Job 30:10 They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
More description of his disease
Job 30:18 By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
Job 30:30 My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever.
Chapter 30 ends in much the same fashion that chapter 29 began:
Job 30:20 “I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me.
Job 30:21 But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
Chapter 31
Job goes through this chapter showing how righteous he has been and it shows that he understood the spirit of the law and even kept that
Job 31:35 Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark [signature; he signs off on what he has been saying ]. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book!
Job 31:36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, And bind it on me like a crown;
Job 31:37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps; Like a prince I would approach Him.
If there was any more to do I would have done it. Job was saying in all of this that God was not being just in His treatment and that Job did not deserve all of this. Even with his own talk regarding the ways of God, it does not seem that Job appropriately applied it to himself. This really is the height of hubris.
Job 31:40 …The words of Job are ended.
Now after 31 chapters of to and froing Job rests his case.
Chapter 32 Elihu
We will take our time and go a little more in depth here as we come to the heart of the matter.
Job 32:1 So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. [chapter 29: I, me, my ~50 times in telling us how righteous he was] Job 32:2 Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram [establishes who he is which lends credence that to the fact that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar were men of renown that needed less introduction], was aroused against Job [remember that the three so called friends]; his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.
blaming God instead of himself
justification can only come from God
to be made right
Galatians
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight,
Job thought that he was the one that was solely responsible for being righteous – this is self-righteousness.
Self righteousness today means someone that always thinks that they are right
When we talk about true justification and righteousness we are talking about the fact the God does these things in us and not us.
To be self righteousness is to disregard this fact.
Throughout the book of Job to this point Job continued to stand on his righteousness. He seemed to do it all the more that his friends falsely accused him of sinning.
Job 32:3 Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
We have another confirmation [in addition to God’s Job 42:7] that the three friends were off-base.
As Elihu sat with them during their diatribes, he saw how they were condemning for things that he was not doing AND they failed to actually get to the heart of the matter and see what was truly wrong.
Job 32:4 Now because they were years older than he [out of respect], Elihu had waited to speak to Job.
Shows a certain amount of humility
Job 32:5 When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, his wrath was aroused.
After all that they had pontificated about.
Job 32:6 So Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, answered and said: “I am young in years, and you are very old; Therefore I was afraid, And dared not declare my opinion to you.
Job 32:7 I said, ‘Age should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom.’
Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man, And the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
We see that there is a spirit in man, which is different from the holy spirit. This separates man from the animal kingdom (even though science sees man similarities this is the one that accounts for us being on a completely different plane than them)
Secondly, it appears that Elihu is inspired to say that this is how God communicates to us through His spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
Job 32:9 Great men are not always wise, Nor do the aged always understand justice.
He is saying that God’s inspiration through His spirit can usurp the understanding of men that comes with age and ability.
And he goes on to say that this is what is happening here and now.
Job 32:12 I paid close attention to you; And surely not one of you convinced Job, Or answered his words—
Elihu is telling Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar that in all their knowledge, wisdom and understanding they never really answered Job’s concerns. Of course may account for some of Job’s frustration in his replies.
He then tells them
Job 32:18 For I am full of words; The spirit within me compels me.
He seems to indicate that he is being moved and inspired by God through and by the means that we were addressing in verse 8
Job 32:19 Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent; It is ready to burst like new wineskins.
Job 32:20 I will speak, that I may find relief; I must open my lips and answer.
So if we didn’t already know this, he is chomping at the bit to say his piece and he let’s them know how he is going to say it:
Job 32:21 Let me not, I pray, show partiality to anyone; Nor let me flatter any man.
Job 32:22 For I do not know how to flatter, Else my Maker would soon take me away.
It will be direct and without regard for Job’s former position.
Part 3 Elihu’s discourse continued
Chapter 33
Sets the tenor
Job 33:6 Truly I am as your spokesman before God; I also have been formed out of clay.
Job 33:7 Surely no fear of me will terrify you, Nor will my hand be heavy on you.
Job 33:8 “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, And I have heard the sound of your words, saying,
[Only addresses what he knows not what he assumes or supposes or speculates]
Job 33:9 ‘I am pure, without transgression; I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
Job 33:10 Yet He finds occasions against me, He counts me as His enemy;
Job 33:12 “Look, in this you are not righteous. I will answer you, For God is greater than man.
Job 33:13 Why do you contend with Him? For [Is it because] He does not give an accounting of any of His words. [Your assumption may not be true]
Job 33:14 For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.
Job 33:15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, [God can communicate in many different ways – Job, you plead for God to speak to you but are you sure you were listening?]
Job 33:17 In order to turn man from his deed, And conceal pride from man,
[Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar assumed that God was inflicting the pain as a punishment that corresponds with the magnitude of the sin that Job had committed. Elihu is putting forth a different idea. The connotation here is that God might intervene to keep man from sinning; ]
Job 33:18 He keeps back his soul from the Pit [grave], And his life from perishing by the sword.
Job 33:19 “Man is also chastened with pain on his bed, And with strong pain in many of his bones,
Job 33:23 “If there is a messenger for him, A mediator, one among a thousand, To show man His uprightness, [righteousness] Job 33:24 Then He is gracious to him, and says, ‘Deliver him from going down to the Pit; I have found a ransom’;
Foreshadows Jesus Christ
Job 33:32 If you have anything to say, answer me; Speak, for I desire to justify you.
Job 33:33 If not, listen to me; Hold your peace, and I will teach you wisdom.”
Elihu’s purpose was to make Job right before God again.
Chapter 34
What Elihu is addressing
Job 34:5 “For Job has said, ‘I am righteous, But God has taken away my justice; [God is not being just to me] Job 34:6 Should I lie concerning my right? My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’
God is Just
Job 34:10 “Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.
Job 34:11 For He repays man according to his work, And makes man to find a reward according to his way.
Job 34:12 Surely God will never do wickedly, Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
Job 34:29 When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him, Whether it is against a nation or a man alone?—
Sometimes God purposely remains unseen. Another thing to factor in
We don’t get to decide the terms of our trial
Job 34:31 “For has anyone said to God, ‘I have borne chastening; I will offend no more;
Job 34:32 Teach me what I do not see; If I have done iniquity, I will do no more’?
Job 34:33 Should He repay it according to your terms, Just because you disavow it? You must choose, and not I; Therefore speak what you know.
Just because you say I’ve learned my lesson doesn’t mean that you have or that God thinks you have (example of a child who is punished from an activity)
Job 34:35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge, His words are without wisdom.’
God will echo this when he speaks. We see that Elihu is speaking the truth.
Chapter 35
Job 35:2 “Do you think this is right? Do you say, ‘My righteousness is more than God’s’?
Job 35:3 For you say, ‘What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’
Elihu goes on to explain that the advantage is primarily to us and not God
Job 35:13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk, Nor will the Almighty regard it. [ie a lot of the stuff that you have been saying Job]
Job 35:14 Although you say you do not see Him, Yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him.
Job 35:15 And now, because He has not punished in His anger, Nor taken much notice of folly,
[Job is fortunate and should be happy that God does not punish us immediately – other wise Job would have received God’s retribution long ago.]
Job 35:16 Therefore Job opens his mouth in vain; He multiplies words without knowledge. [Job you do not know what you are talking about]”
Chapter 36
Continues to make it clear that he is being inspired by God
Job 36:2 “Bear with me a little, and I will show you That there are yet words to speak on God’s behalf.
Elihu makes it clear that God is just in his dealing with EVERYONE now as well as in the future
Job 36:15 He delivers the poor in their affliction, And opens their ears in oppression.
God gets our attention through trials and He perfects us through them
Job 36:26 “Behold, God is great, and we do not know Him; Nor can the number of His years be discovered.
Keep perspective
He begins talking about the weather at the end and continues into:
Chapter 37
Job 37:2 Hear attentively the thunder of His voice, And the rumbling that comes from His mouth.
Job 37:3 He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning to the ends of the earth.
Job 37:6 For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.
Job 37:9 From the chamber of the south comes the whirlwind, And cold from the scattering winds of the north.
How great God is and it can even be seen in His control of the weather and how He can use it for His purposes.
Job 37:13 He causes it to come, Whether for correction, Or for His land, Or for mercy.
Job 37:19 “Teach us what we should say to Him, For we can prepare nothing because of the darkness.
He sums up by further answering questions that Job has asked (as he has been doing all along)
Job 37:23 As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him [though He is everywhere]; He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice [He is righteous and just]; He does not oppress [as Job supposes].
Job 37:24 Therefore men fear Him; He shows no partiality to any who are wise of heart.”
That ends Elihu’s words for Job
God’s dialogue with Job
Chapter 38
Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
The one from the previous chapter
Job 38:2 “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?
This is what Elihu had been telling him in chapters 34 and 35. God is validating what Elihu said here
Job 38:3 Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
Job had wanted to question God, but it is just the opposite that is happening
God’s resume: In the process He talks about cosmology, astronomy, meteorology, oceanography, zoology, eschatology, glaciology, etc
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Job 38:5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
In the course of the questions we see that God has been and is intimately involved in the operating of the world around us.
Job 38:10 When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors;
Job 38:11 When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!’
Life is not just happening even down to the mundane aspects of life that perhaps we have not even considered.
God is very involved in many of the things that we have no idea about
Can you even control the weather?
Job 38:34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you?
Asks other questions to which we have just discovered in recent times … much less actually know the answers to – once again showing the divine nature of these scriptures
Job 38:41 Who provides food for the raven, When its young ones cry to God, And wander about for lack of food?
Luke 12:24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?
Chapter 39
Continues with His intimate involvement in the animal world and then we come to the Ostrich:
Job 39:13 “The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, But are her wings and pinions like the kindly stork’s?
Job 39:14 For she leaves her eggs on the ground, And warms them in the dust;
Job 39:15 She forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may break them.
Job 39:16 She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers; Her labor is in vain, without concern,
WHY? Job 39:17 Because God deprived her of wisdom, And did not endow her with understanding.
God is continuing to say the same thing here to Job. The ostrich treats her children poorly because it lacks wisdom and understanding. SO surely God who has WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING does take care of His children.
He is telling Job that in all of his trials that God as the omniscient and omnipresent God is intimately involved in Job’s life and is watching over him and looking after him.
Chapter 40
Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said:
Job 40:2 “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”
God never answers Job’s questions about justice or suffering directly in all of this – yet Job gets the point. Job is beginning to get perspective.
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
Job 40:4 “Behold, I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”
Job is now doing what he should have done all along, BUT it is NOT what God wanted.
Job 40:6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
[God repeats the declarative from 38:3; Job still hasn’t gotten the point; perhaps he is still sticking to his previous statements regarding God and his situations; so once again God declares:]
Job 40:7 “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me:
Job 40:8 “Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?
:9-14
Can you become God and do the things of God, if you could you could save yourself. But since you can’t you MUST wait on God – in spite of some of the things that you said in the past, your salvation can and will only come from God.
:15-end God describes the behemoth (tranliteration of the Hebrew; unknown creature by this description)
Key verse: Job 40:19 He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword.
Whatever this creature was, God was in complete control of it – as He was in all of His creation from the least to the greatest – and most importantly in Job’s life
Chapter 41
Leviathan
Job 41:34 He beholds every high thing; He is king over all the children of pride.”
When you combine other accounts in Job, Psalms and Isaiah the Leviathan represents Satan. There is a possibility that there is a sea creature like this – but the main point here is being made in reference to Satan.
Job 41:3 Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak softly to you?
Obviously a sea monster is not going to do this, but it does closely parallel the events in the beginning of this book when Satan is making a deal to do what he did to Job.
Job 41 describes Leviathan as this awesome creature that is unassailable
Job 41:9 Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false; Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?
Job 41:10 No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up. Who then is able to stand against Me?
So if God can tame this creature how much more awesome and powerful is God? Job thought he could stand against God – obviously not.
Job 41:11 Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him? Everything under heaven is Mine.
God is not in debt to anyone, so what does He owe Job? Not even an answer. In all of this God never directly answered the questions that Job had for Him, though He did answer Job and Job finally got the point.
Chapter 42
Job 42:1 Then Job answered the LORD and said:
Job 42:2 “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.
The examples that God used showed that God can do anything and that His reasons for doing what He was doing would not be hindered. He was going to accomplish what He set out to do regardless of what we think and believe.
Job 42:3 You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
[Job was saying wrong things; he was espousing wrong concepts]
Job 42:4 Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’
He realizes that he needed to answer the question and in the right way
Job 42:5 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
The same is true for us. We sit in church, some of us from an early age and hear what God has to say, but do we truly understand? As we experience life and God’s ways we too eventually come to the point where we “see” God’s principles and truly understand them.
Job 42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
This means to acknowledge what we are doing wrong and change and go the other direction.
This also means that Job was now right before God and now his friends weren’t
Job 42:7-9 God chastises Eliphaz and the others for accusing Job
Job 42:7 And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
Job 42:8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
Job 42:9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD commanded them; for the LORD had accepted Job.
He prayed for them (intercessory prayer and God honored it)
Job 42:10 And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.