Job 3-31 Job's Transformation (part 2)

Job 1:21 (NRSV)
21 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.”


• Initial response to the loss of children, servants, and possessions


Job 2:10 (NRSV)
10 But he said to her, “You speak as any foolish woman would speak. Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.


• Initial response to the physical ailments of his body and subsequent to other losses


Job 3:2–3 (NRSV)
2 Job said:
3 “Let the day perish in which I was born,
and the night that said,
‘A man-child is conceived.’


Job 3:11 (NRSV)
11 “Why did I not die at birth,
come forth from the womb and expire?


Job 3:20–21 (NRSV)
20 “Why is light given to one in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
21 who long for death, but it does not come,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;


• After seven days of mourning. What does Job complain about?
• His birth
• Not being stillborn
• Not being able to die
• What has changed?


Job 6:4 (NRSV)
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.


• Observations:
• He is blaming God for his struggles


Job 6:8–10 (NRSV)
8 “O that I might have my request,
and that God would grant my desire;
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my consolation;
I would even exult in unrelenting pain;
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.


• Observations:
• He is in a lot of pain
• He wants to give up on life
• He is not nearly the picture of stoicism and faith that we say before


Job 7:5–8 (NRSV)
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out again.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and come to their end without hope.
7 “Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
8 The eye that beholds me will see me no more;
while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.


Job 7:11 (NRSV)
11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.


Job 7:16 (NRSV)
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are a breath.


• Observations:
• He is in bad shape
• He believes he will die soon
• He is bitter
• He HATES, LOATHES life


Job 9:10–11 (NRSV)
10 who does great things beyond understanding,
and marvelous things without number.
11 Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.


• Observations:
• This is one of the things that God challenges Job later (God's understanding versus Job's understanding)
• Job complains that he is not tangible


Job 9:19 (NRSV)
19 If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?


• Observations:
• This is the second area where God challenges Job (strength)
• He recognizes God's power, but does recognize his limitations


Job 9:22–24 (NRSV)
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
he destroys both the blameless and the wicked.
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the eyes of its judges—
if it is not he, who then is it?
• So is this true?
• Not everything Job says is true either
• God has given man what he wants, a world in which he does not rule. Yet, Job blames God and not man's rebellion


Job 10:1–3 (NRSV) “I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the schemes of the wicked?


• Observations:
• Job's bitterness seems to be growing
• He is certainly blaming God for what has happened to him


Job 13:2–5 (NRSV)
2 What you know, I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 But I would speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to argue my case with God.
4 As for you, you whitewash with lies;
all of you are worthless physicians.
5 If you would only keep silent,
that would be your wisdom!


• Observations:
• It is getting a little testy at this moment after Zophar, the last of the three, has spoken. Eliphaz will respond next
• Job's friends are not helping by condemning him for his words, his emotions, and implying that he has done something to deserve the suffering (this is a variation of "you must be someone special for God to taken you through this …")


Job 16:11–12, 18-19 (NRSV)
11 God gives me up to the ungodly,
and casts me into the hands of the wicked.
12 I was at ease, and he broke me in two;
he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target;
…
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood;
let my outcry find no resting place.
19 Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven,
and he that vouches for me is on high.


• Observations:
• Notice the mixture of feelings. Job stills sees God as his witness even though he blames God for his misery
• This is a very typical response
• I believed in God, yet I felt I could talk of my bitterness without injury / error to God (or anyone else)
• It really is an expression of faith -- to blame God and then say you trust him


Job 19:4–6 (NRSV)
4 And even if it is true that I have erred,
my error remains with me.
5 If indeed you magnify yourselves against me,
and make my humiliation an argument against me,
6 know then that God has put me in the wrong,
and closed his net around me.


• Observations:
• Some readers of Job’s words… have accused Job of blasphemy. However blasphemy is “any remark deliberately mocking or contemptuous of God.” Job was neither mocking God nor was he being contemptuous of God. He was simply describing God as he perceived Him to be. He could not understand why God was apparently treating him unjustly, and he repeatedly asked God to solve this mystery for him. (Constable, T. (2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Job 19:7))


Job 19:17–22 (NRSV)
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
18 Even young children despise me;
when I rise, they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,
and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh,
and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me!
22 Why do you, like God, pursue me,
never satisfied with my flesh?
• What is Job's need?
• To be loved
• To be accepted again
• To have pity, not to attack him for how he has responded or some perceived error


Job 19:25–27 (NRSV)
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at the last he will stand upon the earth;
26 and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then in my flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!


• Observations:
• Again, Job still trust in God even as he directs his anger against God and against his friends
• This is this dichotomy of faith, honesty, anger, and trust


Job 21:23–26 (NRSV)
23 One dies in full prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.
• Observation:
• Job says that life is unfair


Job 23:1–7 (NRSV) Then Job answered:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his dwelling!
4 I would lay my case before him,
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn what he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; but he would give heed to me.
7 There an upright person could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.
• Observation:
• One, Job does still trust in God as a judge
• Two, Job feels he could argue his case with God


Job 24:1 (NRSV)  “Why are times not kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see his days?


• This is a long section where Job complains that God does not judge the wicked on earth. At the end of the section he seems to contradict himself that the wicked are judged. In which case, his complaint is that they are not judged sooner
• The gist of his argument is "why does not God do something sooner?"


Job 30:16–22 (NRSV)
16 “And now my soul is poured out within me;
days of affliction have taken hold of me.
17 The night racks my bones,
and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
18 With violence he seizes my garment;
he grasps me by the collar of my tunic.
19 He has cast me into the mire,
and I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you and you do not answer me;
I stand, and you merely look at me.
21 You have turned cruel to me;
with the might of your hand you persecute me.
22 You lift me up on the wind, you make me ride on it,
and you toss me about in the roar of the storm.


• In Job 29, Job speaks of his past blessedness. In Chp 30, he speaks of his present misery. Chp 31 is a long section about his innocence


Job 31:24–28 (NRSV)
24 “If I have made gold my trust,
or called fine gold my confidence;
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
or because my hand had gotten much;
…
28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I should have been false to God above.
• Job does not see that he has trusted in wealth. He does recognize his actions as sin. The question that I raised at this point, does Job really know?


Job 31:35–37 (NRSV)
35 O that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
O that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me like a crown;
37 I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
• These are Job's final words (almost) as he and his friends end their argument
• Observations:
• The words "like a prince" seem to suggest that Job can stand before God  and present his case


APPLICATION:
1. Be careful in your choice of words when comforting someone in pain
2. Don't be prescriptive
3. Don't minimize the pain
4. Don't try to find silver linings
5. Be honest with God in your pain. Don't try to be an image of what you think is the right way to respond to diversity. Job is credited for his faith and he is not the picture people tend to think of him