Tag Archive | Book of Job

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 15

Jan15

Day 15. Reading in Job 40 – 42. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

Job 40.

.This is a terrifying moment for Job.  He’s been calling to God to answer his questions, to come and hear his case, but now it is God asking the questions. And now, God faces Job directly with severity.

“Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?  He who argues with God, let him answer.“

Can you see the fear in Job’s eyes as he begins to speak? Perhaps he cleared his throat and swallowed hard.  “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer You? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.”

  • Yes, our God loves us and is patient with His children. But sometimes, I just think I NEED to see Him as the Eternal, Almighty God of the Universe, who holds the whisper of my life in His hands. I need to tremble sometimes. 

Then, beginning again as He did in chapter 38, God speaks out of a whirlwind and tells Job to stand up straight and answer.  He asks Job if he thinks he’s like God, “Have you an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like God?”  I can picture Job, his hand still across his mouth, wide-eyed, shaking his head.

Job 41.

God then showcases two magnificent creatures He’s made, the Behemoth and the Leviathan.  They truly ARE wonders that probably (thankfully) don’t exist today. 

The grass-eating Behemoth, with iron-like legs and cedar-like tail, bones like bronze, must be a dinosaur of some kind, maybe a brontosaurus. (You know, the beasts with long, thin necks chomping on treetops and a massive body with a huge muscular tail.)  It could “swallow” the Jordan River with no problem, God says!!  He also states it was the foremost (biggest) of His works. 

Next, God reminds Job of Leviathan, another of His massive creatures, only this one “plays in the sea.”  With the descriptions, you really must consider it a fire-breathing, scaled sea serpent dragon. Tell me what YOU think.

No fisherman or whaler could harpoon this creature. “His back is made from rows of shields, tightly fit together.” “His “sneezings” flash forth light.”  “Out of its mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils come forth smoke as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth.”  WOW!

“Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. He counts iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.”  (Arrows, stones, and clubs are like stubble.)  God says there was none like Leviathan on earth, a creature without fear.

SO GLAD these creatures do not exist now, but God must have had fun making them!

Job 42.

Job is genuinely shaken and put in his place, and he voices his contrition. “I know that YOU can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (You are Sovereign.)  “I have uttered what I did not understand.”

  • Job says, “I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my “eyes” see You; therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.“
  • God has been so patient with me when I’ve cried out (okay, demanded) answers to my questions, but as I review these scenes in Job, I tremble at my gall.  Wow.  HE IS God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.  How dared I?  I, too, repent and confess my sin.

Job had not sinned in the ways Satan or his “friends” had accused him.  But he HAD sinned in presuming on God, accusing Him of unfairness, and demanding that He come and answer him.  At this realization, Job hated himself and confessed profoundly and honestly.  He had a “broken and contrite heart,” and God will not “despise” these. 

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THEN, GOD TURNS TO Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.  (Ah-oh!)  “My anger burns against you, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as my servant Job has.”

He tells them to take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and offer up a burnt offering (sin offering) for themselves.  “My servant Job will pray for you. I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly.  You have not spoken of Me what was right.” 

They obeyed, Job prayed, and God accepted Job’s prayer.

  • (Father, please keep me from speaking about You wrongly, here in these studies, or anytime in my life.)

Job never discovers WHY he experienced such suffering, pain, loss, and verbal abuse. He never found out what WE know from the first chapters of how Satan was “allowed” to afflict him for a purpose.  He had held steadfast in his faith in God’s character.  

Now, God restored Job’s fortunes – the ones Satan was allowed to strip from him.  The LORD gave Job twice what he had before in possessions.

All his family came to him again and fellowshipped with him. They (NOW) showed him sympathy and comforted him. And – perhaps out of guilt that they had not supported him before – each gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. (Huh!)

God gave Job twice as many sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys as before.  God blessed Job with his once complaining wife, by giving him SEVEN sons and THREE daughters.  Also, HIGHLY UNUSUAL is the fact that he NAMES his three beautiful daughters – Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-happuch – and gives them each an inheritance along with their brothers. 

Job lived 140 more years and saw his grandchildren and great-grandchildren for four generations.  Then he died, old and full of days.  Did he EVER imagine all this in those weeks of sorrow and pain?

 

It’s a bit of a picture of our devilish struggles on Earth and then our future home and joy in Heaven. 

  • Lord, thank You once again for this study in the Book of Job. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 14

Jan14

Day 14. Reading in Job 38 – 39. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

 

Job 38.

.The LORD answers Job. 

This is both a relief and a fear.  It’s a relief because I’m tired of Job’s pompous friends spouting so-called truths about God and Job when they don’t even know what they are talking about.  I’m not sure they are doing it out of concern for Job, or to make themselves look good.

And it’s a fear because wouldn’t YOU be afraid if God showed up in the middle of a heated conversation/argument you were having with a group of friends?  Even if you had repeatedly asked (demanded?) that God come and answer you, wouldn’t His actual voice scare you to death? Notice that everyone is silent now. 

A mighty whirlwind blows between the men, and Yaweh’s voice speaks. “WHO IS THIS who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?”  Gulp!  “Dress for action like a man,” God says to Job. “I will question YOU, and you make it known to ME.” 

Court is in session, and the prosecutor is questioning the man in the witness chair. But the accused has no voice. He cannot answer God’s questions. 

“Where were YOU when I laid the foundation of the earth?”  

“Did you separate the land from the waters and make borders for them? Did you cause the earth to rotate and establish dawn and darkness? Do you know where I keep the snow, the hail, or the rain?  Can you make lightning or ice?  Can you move the constellations around in the night sky? 

“Do you know who has put intelligence in a man’s mind?”

“Did you teach the lion to hunt?  Or the raven?”

Job 39.

(It’s just a chapter break, but I can imagine a moment or two of silence in the courtroom while Job remains mute. 

Like an attorney, God then presents items to be entered as evidence.  He lists the unique skills and characteristics He has given to various animals; the mountain goat, the wild donkey, the wild ox, the ostrich, the horse, and the hawk. (All are fearfully and wonderfully made and adapted.)

To the Ostrich God has given a tiny brain (she lays her eggs on the open ground, then forgets about them). But He’s given her beautiful feathers and legs swifter than a horse’s (When she rouses herself to flee, she laughs at the horse and rider.)   Who would have thought to create such a creature?

Could Job ever have created the intelligence, strength, and fierce eye-sight of the hawk or eagle, and trained them where to build their nests so their young would be safe? 

  • I can’t imagine being on the stand in any court, let alone where God is the prosecutor AND judge. I would be scared to speak too.  I am SO thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ is my Advocate, my Defense Attorney. He speaks for me. He intercedes and pleads my case. Though I am guilty, He holds out the evidence of His own blood to show my crimes have been paid for.  My sentence has been served. Oh, Hallelujah!

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 12 & 13

Jan13

Days 12 & 13. Reading in Job 32 – 34 and 35 – 37. (Posted on Monday.)

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what you found meaningful. We can encourage each other.

.Job 32.

There’s a new guy on the block. Elihu has been there the whole time, but as the youngest, he’s kept quiet until now. His views differ from the three “wise” old men who spoke before him.

“I am young in years, and you are aged. Therefore, I was timid and afraid to declare my opinion to you.”  “It is not the old who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.  Therefore, listen to ME. Let ME also declare my opinion.“

He says he’s about to burst from waiting to answer! “I MUST speak, that I may find relief; I MUST open my lips and answer. I will not use flattery toward ANY person.”

Oh, dear. I’m not sure I want to hear what this young whippersnapper will say.

  • Lord, help me remember that wisdom comes from YOU. You are the only wise God. Help me not to disdain either the aged or the young enthusiast or to center my whole life on the words of one person/group. May I always look to You and your Word with help from the Holy Spirit.

Job 33. 

Right off, Elihu puts Job at ease, identifying with him as one also is “pinched off from the piece of clay.”  He’s human, fallible. He assures Job he has no need to fear him as his words will not be heavy on him. But he tells Job he’s wrong in saying God does not answer him.

Elihu lists two ways that God speaks to man. 1) in dreams or visions, God warns man. 2) in pain, God rebukes man.  Hmmm.

He tells Job that God allows suffering to bring a person to Himself and for spiritual benefit. (This seems true, at least in my own life.) Then Elihu offers Job a chance to speak. If not, Elihu tells Job to listen, “for I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 34.

Elihu then goes on with HIS speech to both Job and the other three men.  He gets a lot correct, but there are some parts he mis-remembers, attributing to Job what his other “comforters” said. (For example, Job said he was sinless, which he did not claim.)  However, Elihu does mention some pretty awesome truths about God in his speech, saying He is just, holy, impartial, and omniscient.

Sadly, Elihu starts to echo the three who went before him, “Job speaks without knowledge; his words are without insight. I would that Job was tried to the end because he answers like a wicked man. He adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”  (Sigh.)

(Three more chapters of Elihu tomorrow.)

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Job 35.

“Shame on you, Job.” is basically what Elihu says (in his wisdom). He tells Job that it doesn’t matter if he sinned or not because God is ‘too high’ to be affected by them. “If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?”

He tells Job why God does not answer his prayers and questions. It’s because of pride (vs. 35:12), a wrong motive, and he’s not patient enough.  Oh, Elihu, you are not so wise as you say. YOU don’t know much about Job’s condition either. It’s your own “human” understanding. 

  • Lord, I am like Elihu sometimes, if only in my thoughts. I think I can figure out “the mind of God” by my own human reasoning. “SURLY, this must mean that!” I say.  Humble me, Lord. Your ways and thoughts are so much higher than mine.  Teach me not to judge. Teach me to wait. Help me see my own needs.

Job 36.

Now that Elihu has leveled Job to the ground, he presumes to instruct Job about God’s opinion. (“I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.”) He now seems no different from the three older gentlemen before him. THEN he adds the words that make me choke. “For truly, my words are not false; one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.”   What???  Poor Job.

But Elihu does say something new in verse 15. “He (God) delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity.” 

  • Suffering, trials, and persecution do make us more open to God’s words. Sometimes, that’s the only time I will listen. A gentle tap on the shoulder will go unnoticed, but a “slap up alongside my head” will get my attention.  Illness, sorrow, or a rebuke from a loved one will undoubtedly send me to prayer and His word. Why is this so? Oh, Lord, soften my heart!

Job 37.

Elihu then “waxes eloquent” about the majesty of God in creation. This is wonderful to read. All creation does reveal God like Psalm 8 says,  “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.” (vss. 1-2)  “When I look at Your heavens the work of Your fingers, the moon, and stars, which You have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (vss.3-4)  

Elihu reminded Job (and us) that all the mighty things God does in the heavens and with weather are for a purpose. “Whether for correction or for His land, or for love, He causes it to happen.” (vs. 13)

  • Wow. I had to stop and think about this. Yes, I believe God is totally sovereign in all things. Yes, there is always a purpose to what He does (His glory and our good, according to Romans 8:28), although, like Job, we may never know (can’t even begin to comprehend) what that is. 
  • Just now (January 2025), I’m thinking of the total disasters that wind and fires have brought to Los Angeles County in the last week.  God is sovereign. This fiery “apocalypse” was NOT out of His control. Many do and will ask, “Why?” (And many will gladly place the “blame” on anyone.) It is a “wake-up” call, whether to the hearts of believers and unbelievers or merely to earthly officials and their responsibilities.
  • Job didn’t know the reason for his suffering (or for his friends’ badgering, for that matter). But we get a glimpse of the purpose in the first chapters. That in Heaven, before the evil one, GOD GETS GLORY for Job’s faith in his suffering. 

Thank you, God, for using Elihu to say this one thing, if nothing else. 

And it’s good that this young, wise “kid” ends his speech by pointing Job (and us) to God and His Majesty because God stands ready to speak in the next four chapters.  ARE WE READY TO HEAR?

 

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 11

Jan11

Day 11. Reading in Job 29 – 31. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

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Job 29.

In this whole chapter, Job remembers how “it used to be…”  when God’s “lamp shone on my head….”  when ” the friendship of God was upon my tent… when the almighty was yet with me… when my children were all around me.” He remembers sitting at the gate and both young men and nobles respected him and called him “blessed.”  He helped all in need; the blind, lame, poor, and persecuted.  Men listened to him and waited in silence for his counsel. “I chose their way and sat as chief.”

  • Lord, I have been there too. I’ve gone through periods when I would reminisce “how it used to be.” and long for those ‘good old days.’  I feel like such a “fair weather friend” sometimes, receiving blessing as if it was my due, and bemoaning when tough times come.
  • It’s good for me to remember Your blessings, Lord, and be thankful. But do You love and care for me any less in times of sorrow or pain? No, I’m the one who looks away from You. I hope I can remember Psalm 23:4. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me…”

Job 30.

Job showed us his “glory” in the previous chapter. Now he shows us what his life has become (at least, from his perspective).  “NOW they laugh at me, men who are younger than I.”  “Now I have become their (jeering) song; I am a byword to them. They abhor me; they keep aloof from me…..they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.”  WOW.

He describes what his favored life in the sunshine has become. “NOW my soul in poured out within me; days of affliction have taken hold of me. The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.”  He feels he’s been thrown into the mirey clay and become like the mud, dust, and ashes he lies in.

And NOW, the worst of it. Job feels God has deserted him. “I cry to You for help and You do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.”

  • It takes a very dark time of depression and despondency for a believer to feel that God has truly deserted him.  I mean, where can you go if God is silent?  Many times it’s here that the devil comes to cause further doubt and fear. “Has God really said that He loves you…?  How can a sinful, despicable person like you think that God has saved you…?  God’s has turned His back on you. You’ve sinned one too many times. YOU ARE LOST!” 
  • What to do in times like this?  Praise God, we have His Word. A tiny spark of faith in all that darkness can be whipped into flame by his powerful, living Word.  Pick it up, read it aloud, pray it, meditate on it.  You can speak it back to that taunting devil…just as Jesus did in the dessert.  Resist Satan with the WORD. (It is a sword, after all.) Read gospel passages. Pray them. Believe them.  God does not lie. “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” Romans 10:17  Doubts and the devil must FLEE God’s word.

Job didn’t have the written Word of God, but when his soul rises in faith, it’s when he proclaims God’s promises.  “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.” (13:15)  “For I know that my Redeemer lives and at the last He will stand upon the earth….and in my flesh I shall see God.” (19:25-26) “But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”  “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.”  (23:10, 12)

Job 31.

Job is now more bold as if he stands in court to proclaim his integrity.  Notice the many “if… then let” statements he makes. If I’ve sinned in this way… then let punishment come. 

Example:  “If I have raised my hand against the fatherless…. then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.”  

Or, “If my land has cried out against me and its furrows have wept together, if I have eaten its yield WITHOUT PAYMENT and made its owners breathe their last…..let thorns grow instead of wheat and foul weeds instead of barley.”

And so, “The words of Job are ended.”

 

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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 10

Jan10

Day 10. Reading in Job 24 – 28. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

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Job 24.

Job continues to refute Eliphaz’s statement that the wicked are punished for their sins and suffer (i.e. himself).

LOOK at the rich, he says, they do NOT suffer! They prosper, even though they do the very things God hates (mistreatment of the poor, widows, and orphans as well as freely committing murder, theft, and adultery). They grow richer, more powerful, and successful. 

Job’s accusation to God is quite bitter in verse 12. “…God charges no one with wrong.” But in verse 24 he seems to renege. “They (wicked) are exalted a little while, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others.”

  • I often vacillate like Job, thinking all the millionaires and billionaires of the world just keep getting richer and do not suffer for the way they cheat and treat others.  But, when I study Revelation, I also see God’s wrath.  He will judge, we can be sure of that!  But right now, he is “patient, not willing that any perish.” 
  • And who am I that I should escape judgment. ONLY BY HIS MERCY and GRACE in “His looking at Jesus and forgiving me” do I have hope.

Job 25.

Bildad’s third comeback is brief. “Dominion and fear are with God. He has might. He is Light.”   “How can man, who is a maggot, and the son of man, who is a worm.” …be right before God?

Job 26.

A brief reply by Job magnifies the Lord God, showing His power and wisdom in creation. Job even states two modern truths 1) the earth “hangs” in space. It’s not held up by an elephant or the shoulders of Atlas, and 2) the earth is a circular globe and NOT FLAT. (vss. 7, 10)

 (This chapter is only a portion of his reply to Bildad (and the others) that covers chapters 26-31.)

Job 27.

Curiously, Job here defends his own integrity. He says nothing he has done has caused this great calamity to come on him. (And he is correct.)  Not bragging in himself, nevertheless he says “I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go: my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.”

  • This is actually how we should resist the devil when he comes to us with accusations. If we have confessed and repented of our sin, his accusations are not valid. We should “resist him.” The Holy Spirit will “convict” us of sin and send us to the cross of Christ. But Satan “accuses” us of sin and offers no hope.

In contrast, Job asks, “What is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off, when God takes away his life?” 

  •   Job 27:19-23 says, “He goes to bed rich, but will do so no more; he opens his eyes, and his wealth is gone. Terrors overtake him like a flood; in the night a whirlwind carries him off. The east wind lifts him up and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. It hurls at him without pity; he flees from its power in headlong flight. It claps its hands at him and hisses at him from its place.” 

WHOA!   These verses emphasize to me to speed with which our “stuff” can be gone.  These remind me so much of the catastrophe which has hit the Los Angeles area just this week, where, in just hours, thousands of people have lost all they have in wind-blown fires.  The Palisades Fire completely burned up a very high-end, wealthy neighborhood over night with 100 MPH winds whipping flames out of control.

  • Father, give me compassion for all these people!  And keep me from holding my “stuff” tight and depending on it.  May I look ALONE to You, God, from where everything comes, even my life,

Job 28.

Job now tells his “friends” about wisdom. (His is no less that what they claim theirs to be.)  Their advanced ages do not automatically produce wisdom.  In verses 12-18, he asks twice, “Where shall wisdom be found? From where does wisdom come?

In these verses, he sounds like Solomon in Proverbs 1:7 – 2:9.  Wisdom is worth more than silver and gold. It’s more precious than onyx, sapphire, and other precious jewels. It’s price is above pearls, crystal, coral, and topaz.

So where can one get such a precious commodity? Job tells us in verse 29. “Behold, the FEAR OF THE LORD, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.”  (See Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 9

Jan9

Day 9. Reading in Job 21 – 23. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write “in the comments” what was meaningful to YOU. We can encourage each other in Him.

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Job 21.

Job’s turn.  All along, his mocking friends have claimed that his suffering is caused by his wickedness and that he should repent. 

Job (perhaps) clears his  throat and says, “Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.” He describes wicked people from his point of view.  They DO NOT suffer (like Job).  They…

  • live to an old age and grow mighty in power
  • their offspring are established
  • their homes are safe from fear
  • no “rod of God” is upon them
  • their livestock multiply 100%
  • their children dance, play, rejoice, and sing to the tambourine, lyre, and pipe
  • they spend their days in prosperity 
  • they go to the grave in peace
  • they boldly say to God, “Depart, we don’t want Your knowledge, why should we serve You? What profit do we get if we pray?”
  • One day, they die in full vigor, being wholly at ease and secure, with their “pails full of milk” and their bone marrow moist. 

Does this look like me? Job seems to ask.  “How then will you comfort me with “empty nothings”? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Job 22.

Unable to stay silent, Eliphaz arises to speak a third time. And he gets rather nasty with Job.  “God doesn’t really care about you at all, Job!  He takes no notice of you.“

Then, he lists various sins against humanity as the reason for Job’s trouble, saying that he’s treated his brothers, the needy, the widows, and the orphans foully, sending them away empty and crushed.

Next, Eliphaz gives Job advice that is good in itself but not in the way he says it. “Agree with God about your sin. Receive instruction from His mouth and keep His Words in your heart. Return to the Almighty, delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift your face to God.  Make your prayer to Him, and He will hear you.” (vss. 21-23, 26-27

Eliphaz seems to relate these good things as acts of penance or as good works done to appease God, INSTEAD of heart acts of love towards a Heavenly Father. 

Job 23.

It’s almost in meekness that Job answers.  It’s as if he’s talking to his own heart.

  • “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come to His seat! I would lay my case before him.”   “I would know what He would answer me and understand what He would say to me.”  “Would He contend with me in the greatness of His power?  No, He would pay attention to me.”  “I would be acquitted forever by my Judge.”

I love Job’s confidence in God. He’s obviously had a sweet relationship with Him before all this happened, and he KNOWS he stands “acquitted” before God. 

  • In Christ, we can have that same confidence when we stand before God in “the final courtroom.” (“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life…” 1 John 5:11-12)

Job may be in a humbled state right then. It may seem he can’t find God to talk to Him how he desires.  But in faith, he can say, “He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come out as gold.”   “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my portion of food.” (vs.12)

Yes, Job knows God is sovereign in all His ways (“He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him back? What he desires, that He does. For He will complete what He appoints for me…” vs. 12-14)  Job may be “terrified at His presence,” but he stands in the knowledge that “though God slay him, yet will he trust Him.”

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Sadly, tomorrow, we will see Job back in his former mood. “The unrighteous prosper.”  That leads to a terse comeback from Bildad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 8

Jan8

Day 8. Reading in Job 17 – 20. 

I invite you to read the scripture for the day and write what was meaningful to YOU “in the comments.”  We can encourage each other.

Job 17.

Job seems at his very lowest point in this chapter. ‘My spirit is broken.“

Even though Job is surrounded by “friends” (mockers, vs. 2) (unwise, vs. 10), he must feel terribly alone. When a person is in deep pain or sorrow, it’s hard for them to imagine how anyone can know what they feel.

  • How can we help them?  I think, the way these men surrounded Job in silence at the beginning is best.  For women, maybe a good hug too. (But would anyone have wanted to hug a man covered with oozing boils?)
  • Oh, God! Give me a heart of mercy, like Yours. Even in Your suffering on the cross, you asked for your persecutors to be forgiven. You took care of your grieving mother. You gave grace to the repentant thief.

Job 18.

Bildad speaks again. He chafes at Job’s unkind (but true) words about them. “Why are we stupid in your sight? YOU who tear yourself in your anger, shall the earth be forsaken for YOU??”  He insinuates that Job is WICKED and then explains in gory detail what happens to wicked men who do not repent. After describing the horrors of the wicked, Bildad ends his speech with the whiplash accusation of a scorpion, no doubt glaring, or even pointing at Job. “…SUCH is the place of him who KNOWS NOT GOD.”

Job 19.

(Remember chapter one?  God describes Job as “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.”  SURELY Job is a man who KNOWS God.)

And yet under the “torment” of his friends, Job slides deeper into doubt. He tells the men around him that their opinions of him don’t matter, but, yes, now he begins to feel that God has forsaken him. ‘He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as His adversary.”

Job even cries out to these miserable men, “Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me.”  Then, faith seems to well up in him. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been this destroyed, yet IN MY FLESH…..I shall see God.”  (This is prophecy.)  What faith!

WOW!

  • Did you notice how Job’s prayer in verse 23 has been answered, even as you read the words? He prays, “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book. Oh that with an iron pen and lead (a printer?) they were engraved in the rock forever!” 
  • WE ARE READING the answer to that prayer.   WE KNOW that Job has not sinned according to the magnitude of his suffering.  WE KNOW what was happening in heaven concerning Job.
  • WE KNOW that when suffering comes to US, that God is in sovereign control and has us always in his hand and power. Satan can go THUS FAR and no more, to harm God’s children.  Help this to be not only “head” knowledge, but “heart” assurance.

Job 20.

Then, the third and youngest, Zophar, rises for the second time to place his hand across his chest and “wax eloquent” before the others. (You want to laugh, or gag as you read this, especially as he aims his deadly word-arrows towards Job.)

Zophar is aghast at Job’s wonderful claim of faith about seeing His Redeemer one day.  HOW DARE HE SAY HE WILL SEE GOD!?   He tells Job, “Don’t you know this from old, since man was placed on earth, that the exulting of the wicked is short, and the joy of the godless but for a moment? Though his height mount up to the heavens and his head reach to the clouds, he will perish forever like his own dung?” 

And Zophar goes on, yada, yada, yada, ending with, “This is the wicked man’s portion from God, the heritage decreed for him by God.”  (And NOT seeing Him face to face, Zophar implies.)

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Eliphaz and Bildad get at Job a third time tomorrow. After that, a newcomer will try his hand. Eventually GOD HIMSELF will answer Job.  Stay tuned.