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

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 is complaining
• He HATES, LOATHES life


Job 9:7–11 (ESV) —
7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
8 who alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
9 who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
10 who does great things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
11 Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
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)
• Which makes you wonder if Job is just saying it or if he really understands it
• At the end, his response seems to suggest that he is just repeating dogma, but now he really knows
• Job complains that he is not tangible


Job 9:16–19 (ESV) —
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
18 he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?



• Observations:
• This is the second area where God challenges Job (strength)
• I think the point here and in the previous, is not that God is wise or strong, it is that Job is not. He must rely on God no matter how wealthy (powerful) or smart he believes himself to be
• 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
(9:32-35) is an interesting discussion on God's justice


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 questioning God
• 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


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:
• I like this passage. He is already changing. He recognizes God's sovereignty
• 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 still trust
• This is why Job is recognized by God, not because of his early stoic response


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
• Three, Job does not seem to understand that God is omnipresent or relational (as opposed to beyond us)


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 31:5–8 (ESV) — 5 “If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.



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.

• This previous section does bring up wise living and wealth
• Job's point is that he had not sinned, but character issues are not always sin
• 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? Or are God's actions preemptive?


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 (he is far from the stoic person of the early chapters

Job 3-31 (part 1) Job's friends well-meaning'ed but misdirected arguments

Job 3:1–10 (RSV) 1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job said: 3 “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’ 4 Let that day be darkness! May God above not seek it, nor light shine upon it. 5 Let gloom and deep darkness claim it. Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. 6 That night—let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. 7 Yea, let that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it. 8 Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan. 9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning; 10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.

Job 3:11–13 (RSV) 11 “Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? 12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck? 13 For then I should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I should have been at rest, Job 3:20–26 (RSV) 20 “Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, 21 who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures; 22 who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they find the grave? 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in? 24 For my sighing comes as my bread, and my groanings are poured out like water. 25 For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. 26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble comes.”



• After a week of thinking about the loss of his children, the dying of his flesh, and all his  material losses, Job finally speaks. What is different this time, and what do we observe about the subjects?
• He is no longer stoic
• He complains about being born
• He complains about not dying as he was born
• He complains about not being able to die
• Note two things:
1. Job is bitter (verse 20)
2. Job is angry at God (verse 23)
• APPLICATION:
• No matter how wonderful life has been, when pain hits us, all we see or remember is the current pain
• Pain hides memories
• Pain numbs the good and screams out at the bad
• Also, this is a normal part of the grieving process


Job 4:1–6 (RSV)
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
Yet who can keep from speaking?
3 Behold, you have instructed many,
and you have strengthened the weak hands.
4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
5 But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
6 Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?



• Eliphaz, probably the oldest, speaks first. Eliphaz and his friends are chastised by God later
• Job 42:7 (RSV)
7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

• Note that the fourth individual, Elihu, is not mentioned, his is the younger individual who did not sit with Job but showed up later
• Eliphaz and Bildad answer Job three times. Zophar replies two times. Elihu, the youngest answers once, with 3 additional continuations before concluding. Elihu is also angry because the men have not answered Job
• So, why does Eliphaz jump in?
• One, Job has offered many wisdom and helped them in the past. Eliphaz assumes his pride will prevent him from offering his wisdom (verse 2-4)
• Not everything that Eliphaz says is wrong. In this sense, these opening verses are the same thing that God will judge Job
• How does Eliphaz see Job now?
• Impatient
• Dismayed
• Losing hope in God
• Once again, Eliphaz is probably right
• APPLICATION: You may have very good biblical advice, and it may not be a good time to share it



Job 4:7–18 (RSV) 7 “Think now, who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. 9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger they are consumed. 10 The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion, the teeth of the young lions, are broken. 11 The strong lion perishes for lack of prey, and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.

12 “Now a word was brought to me stealthily, my ear received the whisper of it. 13 Amid thoughts from visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, 14 dread came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. 15 A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up. 16 It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; there was silence, then I heard a voice: 17 ‘Can mortal man be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? 18 Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error;



• Eliphaz continues. Eliphaz makes two arguments in verses 7-11
• The innocent don’t suffer
• Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same
• Both arguments are true in principle, but are not always true (hard and fast)
• Eliphaz shares a vision -- what is the conclusion?
• Everyone is a sinner
• No one can be perfect
• We learn a little of theology of the time
• God is very powerful. His breath can destroy a person
• God is perfect. No man is perfect
• They believe that angels were charged with error (4:18)
• Later (chapter 5:10), He recognizes the goodness of God in providing rain
•  And how does this fit with what Eliphaz just said?
• If we can't be perfect, then obviously, if evil has occurred then we sinned (in a grievous manner)
• He is not arguing that you are punished for being a sinner, but for sinning


Job 5:2–8 (RSV)
2 Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
3 I have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
4 His sons are far from safety,
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
5 His harvest the hungry eat,
and he takes it even out of thorns;
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6 For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground;
7 but man is born to trouble
as the sparks fly upward.
8 “As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause;



• This section is rather pointed, why?
• Eliphaz shares a story about when he cursed a fool (it is very similar to Job)
• The fool had experienced temporary blessing
• His children are crushed
• His food and wealth are gone
• His body is afflicted (reference to the dust)
• A fool is destined to it
• The opposite of a fool is someone who seeks God and commits his cause to God
• My biggest problem with this passage is verse 8, while entirely true, it does not help at this point in time
• Eliphaz is suggesting that his problem is a problem with God


Job 5:17–19, 27 (RSV)
17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For he wounds, but he binds up;
he smites, but his hands heal.
19 He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven there shall no evil touch you.

…
27 Lo, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.”



• Eliphaz adds one more thought to the argument, what is it?
• God is disciplining you for your own good
• God is patient in his discipline
• (in your wisdom), you need to learn this lesson


• Notes from Constable:
• Throughout the three cycles of speeches Job’s friends did not change their position. They believed that God rewards the righteous and punishes sinners, the theory of retribution. They reasoned that all suffering is punishment for sin, and since Job was suffering, he was a sinner. They believed that what people experience depends on what they have done (cf. John 9:2). While this is true often, it is not the fundamental reason we experience what we do in life, as the Book of Job proceeds to reveal.
• Job’s friends each emphasized a different aspect of God’s character.
• Eliphaz pointed out the distance between God and man (4:17–19; 15:14–16) and stressed God’s punishment of the wicked (5:12–14)

Job 4:17–19 (ESV) — 17 ‘Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? 18 Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; 19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth. Job 15:14–16 (ESV) — 14 What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? 15 Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight; 16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water!

Job 5:12–14 (ESV) — 12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. 13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end. 14 They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.

• Bildad said God is just (8:3-6), great (25:2–3), and that He punishes only the wicked (18:5–21)

Job 8:3–6 (ESV) — 3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? 4 If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression. 5 If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, 6 if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. Job 25:2–3 (ESV) — 2 “Dominion and fear are with God; he makes peace in his high heaven. 3 Is there any number to his armies? Upon whom does his light not arise?

Job 18:5–21 (ESV) — 5 “Indeed, the light of the wicked is put out, and the flame of his fire does not shine. 6 The light is dark in his tent, and his lamp above him is put out. 7 His strong steps are shortened, and his own schemes throw him down. 8 For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walks on its mesh. 9 A trap seizes him by the heel; a snare lays hold of him. 10 A rope is hidden for him in the ground, a trap for him in the path. 11 Terrors frighten him on every side, and chase him at his heels. 12 His strength is famished, and calamity is ready for his stumbling. 13 It consumes the parts of his skin; the firstborn of death consumes his limbs. 14 He is torn from the tent in which he trusted and is brought to the king of terrors. 15 In his tent dwells that which is none of his; sulfur is scattered over his habitation. 16 His roots dry up beneath, and his branches wither above. 17 His memory perishes from the earth, and he has no name in the street. 18 He is thrust from light into darkness, and driven out of the world. 19 He has no posterity or progeny among his people, and no survivor where he used to live. 20 They of the west are appalled at his day, and horror seizes them of the east. 21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous, such is the place of him who knows not God.”

• God’s inscrutability (impossible to understand, also similar to God's answer) impressed Zophar (11:7-9) who also stated that God punishes the wicked quickly (20:18-23)

Job 11:7–9 (ESV) — 7 “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? 8 It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? 9 Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

Job 20:18–23 (ESV) — 18 He will give back the fruit of his toil and will not swallow it down; from the profit of his trading he will get no enjoyment. 19 For he has crushed and abandoned the poor; he has seized a house that he did not build. 20 “Because he knew no contentment in his belly, he will not let anything in which he delights escape him. 21 There was nothing left after he had eaten; therefore his prosperity will not endure. 22 In the fullness of his sufficiency he will be in distress; the hand of everyone in misery will come against him. 23 To fill his belly to the full, God will send his burning anger against him and rain it upon him into his body.



• Interactions:
• Eliphaz spoke to Job with the most respect and restraint,
• Bildad was more direct and less courteous, and
• Zophar was the most blunt and harsh.
• Reasoning:
• Eliphaz based his arguments on experience (4:8; 5:3; 15:17),
• Bildad on tradition (8:8–10), and
• Zophar on mere assumption (20:1–5).
• View of Life:
• Eliphaz viewed life as a mystic,
• Bildad as an attorney, and
• Zophar as a dogmatist.
• Argumentation:
• Bildad and Zophar picked up themes from Eliphaz’s speeches and echoed them with slightly variant emphases (cf. 5:9 and 22:12 with 8:3, 5; 22:2a with 11:7, 11; 15:32–34 with 18:16 and 20:21–22; and 5:14 with 18:5, 6, 18 and 20:26).