Job 9:1-35 - We Need a Mediator

Job 9:1-35

Job: There Is No Mediator

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 “Truly I know it is so,
But how can a man be righteous before God?
3 If one wished to contend with Him,
He could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

5 He removes the mountains, and they do not know
When He overturns them in His anger;
6 He shakes the earth out of its place,
And its pillars tremble;
7 He commands the sun, and it does not rise;
He seals off the stars;
8 He alone spreads out the heavens,
And treads on the waves of the sea;
9 He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
And the chambers of the south;
10 He does great things past finding out,
Yes, wonders without number.

11 If He goes by me, I do not see Him;
If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;
12 If He takes away, who can hinder Him?
Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’
13 God will not withdraw His anger,
The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

14 “How then can I answer Him,
And choose my words to reason with Him?
15 For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him;
I would beg mercy of my Judge.

16 If I called 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 allow me to catch my breath,
But fills me with bitterness.

19 If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;
And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court?
20 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me;
Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.

21 “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself;
I despise my life.
22 It is all one thing;
Therefore I say, He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’
23 If the scourge slays suddenly,
He laughs at the plight of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.
He covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not He, who else could it be?

25 “Now my days are swifter than a runner;
They flee away, they see no good.
26 They pass by like swift ships,
Like an eagle swooping on its prey.

27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’
28 I am afraid of all my sufferings;
I know that You will not hold me innocent.
29 If I am condemned,
Why then do I labor in vain?

30 If I wash myself with snow water,
And cleanse my hands with soap,
31 Yet You will plunge me into the pit,
And my own clothes will abhor me.

32 “For He is not a man, as I am,
That I may answer Him,
And that we should go to court together.
33 Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.

34 Let Him take His rod away from me,
And do not let dread of Him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak and not fear Him,
But it is not so with me.

Job continues to question his circumstances and their cause and comes to the conclusion that he desperately needs a mediator between him and God to settle the case set against him to find relief from his sentence of suffering.  He admits that nobody can possibly be righteous before God no matter how many times a man tries to reason or answer the accusations of the Almighty.  The only recourse is to beg for mercy from the Judge of all.  He needed a mediator between him and the Judge, a lawyer to present his case and take the punishment of judgment himself, for the man standing in the heavenly court has been proven guilty already and needs such a Mediator.  That Man is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He alone is our Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 9:15, 12:23-24) who can stand before the Judge and step into the docket to then assume our guilt and take our sentence for our sin.  Job continued his discourse with the power of God to create such a vast universe in the heavens and on earth, doing marvelous innumerable things for us to see His character and ultimate authority over everything and everyone.  He works also in ways we cannot see with our eyes and we have no right to question anything He does; we are to trust in His goodness and work in all our bountiful and suffering times therefore, as Job was beginning to understand the mere edges (Job 26:14, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Romans 11:33) of His ways.  Once again, Job cries out how he cannot reason or justify himself before God and calls for mercy, which is the same cry required by the gospel to us today, even if when we call we still experience suffering and even wonder if He truly hears us.  We can be confident that He does because we cannot see the war behind the scenes in the heavenly places for our souls and must trust His goodness in the answer as our Mediator before the Eternal Sovereign Judge.  Job realized that though he seemed to live a righteous life and do no wrong, he was guilty before the LORD and had no defense argument against the true accusations of the inward corruption that he faced.  He saw his days swiftly pass by in this state and realized that putting on a happy face did nothing to take away the inward suffering of his guilt; he wondered why he labored in vain if this proven lack of innocence is what he faced.  He could not make himself clean and realized his desperate need for a Mediator to go with him to court to escape his sentence looming before his eyes.  Only then could the rod of justice and terror of the LORD be taken away and his fears relieved.  But he could not yet see this for himself and continued to wallow in his woes throughout the rest of this book until the account provided such a hope of a Mediator.  We know the rest of his story, but we also know the story this was a dim picture of, namely that God was in Christ reconciling us to Himself as our Mediator in the court of heaven to provide absolute hope of release from the sentence of judgment and death we all face.  Our sinful and hopeless state is why we all need this Mediator to stand (Ephesians 6:13, 1 Peter 5:12) before the Judge on that final Day! 

Job 8:1-22 - Bildad’s Accusations against Job’s Heart

Job 8:1-22

Bildad: Job Should Repent

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:

2 “How long will you speak these things,
And the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

3 Does God subvert judgment?
Or does the Almighty pervert justice?
4 If your sons have sinned against Him,
He has cast them away for their transgression.

5 If you would earnestly seek God
And make your supplication to the Almighty,
6 If you were pure and upright,
Surely now He would awake for you,
And prosper your rightful dwelling place.
7 Though your beginning was small,
Yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

8 “For inquire, please, of the former age,
And consider the things discovered by their fathers;
9 For we were born yesterday, and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are a shadow.
10 Will they not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their heart?

11 “Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?
Can the reeds flourish without water?
12 While it is yet green and not cut down,
It withers before any other plant.
13 So are the paths of all who forget God;
And the hope of the hypocrite shall perish,
14 Whose confidence shall be cut off,
And whose trust is a spider’s web.
15 He leans on his house, but it does not stand.
He holds it fast, but it does not endure.

16 He grows green in the sun,
And his branches spread out in his garden.
17 His roots wrap around the rock heap,
And look for a place in the stones.
18 If he is destroyed from his place,
Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I have not seen you.’

19 “Behold, this is the joy of His way,
And out of the earth others will grow.
20 Behold, God will not cast away the blameless,
Nor will He uphold the evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughing,
And your lips with rejoicing.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
And the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.”

Job’s friend Bildad heard Job defending himself from the assumptions and accusations of Eliphaz and then began judging Job and calling him to repent since he obviously must have sinned before God in his estimation to suffer such things.  He began by asking how Job could just vent hot air like wind that has no substance of truth according to Bildad.  He takes the attributes of God and assumes how they apply, stating truth that the LORD is just and punishes sin to hold men accountable to Him.  But then he assumes Job has sinned and pleads with him to repent, seeking God and asking forgiveness because if Job was pure and upright (Job 1:8 and 2:3) then he would awaken God to hear him as he deserved by admitting his sin and would increase in prosperity again.  Bildad urged him to recall those who went before him and learn from them the transitory nature of life and insinuated that the lessons they give were meant to move the heart to obey God more faithfully.  He compared the need for plants to have fertile ground and water to grow and bear fruit or it withers and dies.  He compared this analogy to those who forget God and His word to be hypocrites without true trust in God’s word or a house on a shaky foundation of disobedience to that word, ready to fall (Luke 6:49).  He also compared this sin to a plant growing in the sun but on rocky soil (Matthew 13:5) that leads to destruction as if not seen anymore by the LORD.  According to the friend of Job, he had to find joy in God’s way to multiply but mercy was found to be for the blameless and judgment for those doing evil.  He judged Job’s heart motives and assumed his suffering was a result of blame.  He urged Job to rejoice in turning back to God to laugh and rejoice once more (James 5:11) as he would find compassion and mercy if he repented of the sin which his friend assumed was the cause of Job’s suffering.  Then his enemies who turned against him would be ashamed and their evil intentions and actions would be thwarted.  These things sounded good in principle but they were assumptions for Job’s plight caused by the adversary in the heavenly realm to discredit God’s blessings on Job by allowing such unearned attacks on his body, life, and character.  We do well to remember that the enemy still wanders the earth like a lion waiting to attack and deceive us (2 Timothy 4:17-18, 1 Peter 5:8-9) still.  May we not judge the motives and intentions of one another as we leave that to the Lord when it is not proven, and may we be aware of the wiles (Ephesians 6:11) of the devil who comes against us for our testimony (Revelation 12:17) of the gospel.  We do well to remember the unfounded accusations of Bildad against the heart of Job and stand humbly firm in following God’s word no matter what assumptions are leveled in unfounded judgment against us when we are called righteous and blameless like Job (2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Jude 1:24) in Christ. 

Job 7:1-21 - Suffering without Relief by Faith

Job 7:1-21

Job: My Suffering Is Comfortless

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?
2 Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade,
And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
3 So I have been allotted months of futility,
And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
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.

5 My flesh is caked with worms and dust,
My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.

6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.

7 Oh, remember that my life is a breath!
My eye will never again see good.
8 The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
9 As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,
So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.
10 He shall never return to his house,
Nor shall his place know him anymore.

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.
12 Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,
That You set a guard over me?

13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’
14 Then You scare me with dreams
And terrify me with visions,
15 So that my soul chooses strangling
And death rather than my body.

16 I loathe my life;
I would not live forever.
Let me alone,
For my days are but a breath.

17 “What is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him,
18 That You should visit him every morning,
And test him every moment?

19 How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?

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?

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.”

Job vented his endless suffering to his friends as if speaking to God and not them in this discourse of suffering without relief in sight not any apparent reason for it all.  He spoke of being as a hired servant who has nothing but futility in his endeavors and sleepless nights at the end of each day of toil, looking only for his wages at the end of long days when he can find his bed to recover.  He then pauses to look at his body with its worms and dust covering the boils cracking his skin open (Job 2:7-8) over and over.  His days passed by swiftly and without any more hope after suffering so long; he realized his mortality, that his life is as a short breath that is exhaled and gone away as a cloud moving across the sky or a body buried and not rising again from the dead and never able to return home again.  Job went on to vent his anguish over his sorry state of a bitter soul that could not understand what he did or why he was suffering so badly.  Thinking that going to sleep would ease the pain and suffering, he only saw that going to bed amplified his suffering with dreams of terror and desire to strangle his anguished soul instead of his suffering body.  He ended up loathing his life the way it was now compared to how he started in prosperity (Job 1:1, 3) and as a leader of the community who lived a righteous life before the face of God, as much as possible for any mortal son of Adam.  Job then questioned God how He could set His heart on any man to visit and test him daily, moving into asking if he sinned in some unknown way to cause the Almighty to look away suddenly from him after all that he had in the past and make him a target of suffering instead of forgiving his transgressions and taking away his sins’ penalties.  He knew that even then Gods would diligently seek him as he lay down in the dust of sorrow to death, knowing the grace of God in some measure of his understanding in the blinded state of his extreme suffering.  How we can lose sight of the grace and providence of our Lord when we also suffer, especially when we suffer for righteousness and not for our sin as deserving the consequences of it all.  We can take heart knowing that suffering for doing right (1 Peter 4:12-13, 19) does not mean we have a life free of adversity, for the adversary attacks us and God allows us to be tested (2 Chronicles 16:9, 1 Peter 1:6-7) to be refined in the fire of suffering to trust and glorify Him even more for all we are and possess.  May we then choose to suffer according to the will of God by committing our souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator, by faith in His working all for our good and His glory until we find relief from our suffering.

Job 6:1-30 - Job Justifies Himself Under Fire

Job 6:1-30

Job: My Complaint Is Just

1 Then Job answered and said:

2 “Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,
And my calamity laid with it on the scales!
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea—
Therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me;
My spirit drinks in their poison;
The terrors of God are arrayed against me.

5 Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass,
Or does the ox low over its fodder?
6 Can flavorless food be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 My soul refuses to touch them;
They are as loathsome food to me.

8 “Oh, that I might have my request,
That God would grant me the thing that I long for!
9 That it would please God to crush me,
That He would loose His hand and cut me off!
10 Then I would still have comfort;
Though in anguish I would exult,
He will not spare;
For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.

11 “What strength do I have, that I should hope?
And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh bronze?
13 Is my help not within me?
And is success driven from me?

14 “To him who is afflicted, kindness should be shown by his friend,
Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully like a brook,
Like the streams of the brooks that pass away,
16 Which are dark because of the ice,
And into which the snow vanishes.
17 When it is warm, they cease to flow;
When it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The paths of their way turn aside,
They go nowhere and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look,
The travelers of Sheba hope for them.

20 They are disappointed because they were confident;
They come there and are confused.
21 For now you are nothing,
You see terror and are afraid.

22 Did I ever say, ‘Bring something to me’?
Or, ‘Offer a bribe for me from your wealth’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the enemy’s hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of oppressors’?

24 “Teach me, and I will hold my tongue;
Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
25 How forceful are right words!
But what does your arguing prove?
26 Do you intend to rebuke my words,
And the speeches of a desperate one, which are as wind?

27 Yes, you overwhelm the fatherless,
And you undermine your friend.
28 Now therefore, be pleased to look at me;
For I would never lie to your face.

29 Yield now, let there be no injustice!
Yes, concede, my righteousness still stands!
30 Is there injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern the unsavory?

Job began justifying himself before his friend who had been blaming his adverse circumstances on his own actions that he judged must have been the reason God was allowing all this misery on the loss of family, health, and possessions.  He explained how heavy his grief in suffering was as the “terrors of the Almighty” within him were as poisonous terror to his life.  He was unable to eat or even think about enjoying food if he was able to in his sorry state.  He justified his complaints and begged God to end his suffering by ending his life, that God would cut him off and let him find comfort in death as an end to suffering.  He seemed to know God’s word and yet could not fathom his seemingly innocent suffering he was enduring.  Job lost all strength to hope and no desire for a prolonged life, seeing hope within himself dwindling and success to overcome this suffering out of his reach.  Then he spoke plainly how his friend should show him kindness as he suffered and not deal deceitfully in accusing him of assumed sins as the cause of his predicament.  He compared the accusations as coming from a stream that freezes and disappears into the darkness beneath ice or is warmed by the heat in summer to dry up, go nowhere, and perish from sight, useless to counsel or comfort Job.  His friend was confident and convinced he knew the cause of Job’s plight with his assumptions and was afraid when seeing the state of Job in his suffering covered with freshly scraped boils all over and starving in the heat.  Job made it clear he did not ask for his friend to come to help him by bringing something or delivering him from an oppressor or enemy.  He asked for true words of help, right words with the power to help Job understand his situation and the he would listen, stopping the desperate arguments and rebutting of Job’s justification of his position.  Then he would gladly listen to the good and godly advice.  He saw Eliphaz as undermining his understanding of the suffering he was enduring and overwhelming him with words void of attempts to truly understand what was happening instead of automatically blaming Job for his sickness and situation on his sinning against the Almighty.  Job then stood firm on justifying his righteousness (God had already said so in heaven out of hearing by Job in Job 1:8 and 2:3) and fair dealing with others as his position, one that was not as his friend had been accusing him of.  We also may face those who judge our suffering and the thoughts of our hearts without knowing them as the Lord in heaven (1 Corinthians 3:13, 4:3-4, 5, Hebrews 4:12, James 2:4) alone can do.  This demonstrates how Job justified himself under fire from the assumptions and judgments of a friend.  We, however, do not need to justify ourselves in our suffering, but continue to commit our souls to Him in doing good as our faithful Creator (1 Peter 4:19) who sees from heaven and tests our hearts and minds in the face of our adversity and the wiles of our adversary. 

Job 5:1-27 - Chastened by God?

Job 5:1-27

Eliphaz: Job Is Chastened by God

1 “Call out now;
Is there anyone who will answer you?
And to which of the holy ones will you turn?

2 For wrath kills a foolish man,
And envy slays a simple one.
3 I have seen the foolish taking root,
But suddenly I cursed his dwelling place.

4 His sons are far from safety,
They are crushed in the gate,
And there is no deliverer.
5 Because the hungry eat up his harvest,
Taking it even from the thorns,
And a snare snatches their substance.

6 For affliction does not come from the dust,
Nor does trouble spring from the ground;
7 Yet man is born to trouble,
As the sparks fly upward.

8 “But as for me, I would seek God,
And to God I would commit my cause—
9 Who does great things, and unsearchable,
Marvelous things without number.

10 He gives rain on the earth,
And sends waters on the fields.

11 He sets on high those who are lowly,
And those who mourn are lifted to safety.

12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
13 He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
And the counsel of the cunning comes quickly upon them.
14 They meet with darkness in the daytime,
And grope at noontime as in the night.

15 But He saves the needy from the sword,
From the mouth of the mighty,
And from their hand.
16 So the poor have hope,
And injustice shuts her mouth.

17 “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
18 For He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make whole.

19 He shall deliver you in six troubles,
Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.
20 In famine He shall redeem you from death,
And in war from the power of the sword.

21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
And you shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 You shall laugh at destruction and famine,
And you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.

23 For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field,
And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
24 You shall know that your tent is in peace;
You shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss.

25 You shall also know that your descendants shall be many,
And your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26 You shall come to the grave at a full age,
As a sheaf of grain ripens in its season.

27 Behold, this we have searched out;
It is true.
Hear it, and know for yourself.”

Eliphaz continued his speech against Job, assuming his suffering is the chastening of the LORD for something Job has done wrong and is deserving of.  He tells his friend that calling out to holy ones will not be answered because it is foolish to assume God would hear since he seemingly deserves his suffering in his friend’s estimation.  Eliphaz goes on to speak what seem like multiple parables or sayings such as we find in the wisdom of Proverbs, beginning with how foolish people are killed in the gates where importance in the community is seen and the starving people devour all such a foolish man has.  He goes on to say a universal truth is that man is born to suffer trouble just as sparks from a fire devour the wood and fly up into the air because trouble and affliction does not just come up from nowhere like out of the dust of the ground, but from man himself — Job, in this case, according to Eliphaz.  Eliphaz then offers sage advice for Job to do as he would, seeking God and committing his sorry cause to Him who “does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.”  He then names some of these limitless great things such as sending needed rain on the earth and lifting up the lowly (Psalm 113:7, 147:6, Luke 1:52) and those who mourn (Matthew 5:4) who will be kept safe.  God catches the crafty in their schemes and brings them to nothing, thwarting their plans and blinding them (John 9:39, 41) as they deserve.  Yet God saves those who know their need and trust Him to deliver from the oppressor holding the sword of power over them to give hope and true justice as men do not.  This truth holds still, for in Christ we are delivered from our adversaries (Luke 11:4, 2 Timothy 4:18) and given a certain hope of justice bought with mercy and grace on the cross which we do not deserve.  This accuser of Job says some things that are true about him and us, even if he meant them as an accusation of guilt and his own self-righteousness.  Truly the man God does correct is happy and blessed (Hebrews 12:5-6, 7-8, 10-11) as He bruises and binds our wounds and makes us whole in the process of discipline.  God does certainly deliver His own from trouble, evil, famine and want, and even from attacks of the wild beasts as Daniel was in the lion’s den.  He can deliver us from death in battle and slander from our accusers, as well as meeting our basic needs as Eliphaz wisely pointed out here.  God alone brings peace in suffering and a long life with fruit of many children to follow us as was promised to Abraham (Galatians 3:6, 29) in both a physical sense in the expansion of Israel in the promised land and in the larger spiritual sense of that faith (Galatians 3:8-9) we share in Christ for (2 Timothy 2:2) spiritual children through the gospel we share with others as our eternal fruitfulness.  Though Job’s friend may have meant well, he assumed he knew why Job suffered and attributed it to God’s chastening for some sin Job had committed in pride or otherwise, yet the foundational truths he spoke still apply in the right context to us all.  We just cannot see behind the scenes in the spiritual realm to understand fully why we suffer at the adversary’s hand or by our own sin.  Either way, we trust Him in His sovereign grace to keep us and justify us in Christ to the end when true judgment is leveled fully on our adversary the devil for all the harm he has done to God’s people as our (1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:10) accuser.  We are therefore chastened by God, disciplined, for the right reasons and not by the accuser’s false judgments as Eliphaz repeated to Job. 

Job 4:1-21 - Accused of Suffering for Guilt

Job 4:1-21

Eliphaz: Job Has Sinned

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said:

2 ”If one attempts a word with you, will you become weary?
But who can withhold himself from speaking?
3 Surely you have instructed many,
And you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have upheld him who was stumbling,
And you have strengthened the feeble knees;

5 But now it comes upon you, and you are weary;
It touches you, and you are troubled.
6 Is not your reverence your confidence?
And the integrity of your ways your hope?

7 “Remember now, who ever perished being innocent?
Or where were the upright ever cut off?
8 Even as I have seen,
Those who plow iniquity
And sow trouble reap the same.

9 By the blast of God they perish,
And by the breath of His anger they are consumed.

10 The roaring of the lion,
The voice of the fierce lion,
And the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of prey,
And the cubs of the lioness are scattered.

12 “Now a word was secretly brought to me,
And my ear received a whisper of it.
13 In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night,
When deep sleep falls on men,
14 Fear came upon me, and trembling,
Which made all my bones shake.

15 Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my body 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 saying:

17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?

18 If He puts no trust in His servants,
If He charges His angels with error,
19 How much more those who dwell in houses of clay,
Whose foundation is in the dust,
Who are crushed before a moth?

20 They are broken in pieces from morning till evening;
They perish forever, with no one regarding.

21 Does not their own excellence go away?
They die, even without wisdom.’

Job’s friend Eliphaz finally broke the weeklong silence by attacking the innocence of his friend, reasoning that he could help him as Job had helped so many others throughout his life.  He questions the reverence of Job’s confidence and the integrity of his life as his hope in the midst of his suffering, as if it is Job’s fault that he has suffered so much.  He seemed to encourage his friend by saying that the innocent will not perish and living an upright life will not allow him to be cut off from God.  Yet he then goes on to say if he plants some sin then he will reap trouble as recompense.  God would then destroy those sinners in His wrath (Romans 6:23).  Eliphaz goes on to say God gave him a dream or vision that made him afraid with trembling fear.  He saw a spirit walk in front of him and his hair stood up on the back of his neck while gazing at a shapeless form speaking to him.  The apparition asked if a man can be more righteous than God or more pure than his Creator.  The voice also told him that nobody is trustworthy, not even fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) who were accused of error before the Almighty.  This means that God and His word alone are trustworthy, not any created man or angelic being.  Men are founded on the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7, 3:19) that Gods,made by His hands and live in houses made from the same destructible material, so they are easily crushed in judgment like a moth is crushed by a man.  The message appears to mean that men come and go, dying without wisdom of these things in their pride and sin.  Job’s friend is either making up this account or God was using it to bring to light that man’s innocence and excellence of intellect falls short of God’s righteousness, and that Job must be suffering because he sinned and his pride of life (1 John 2:17) must be the cause.  He accused Job os suffering because he was guilty, in other words.  This accusation and others from this and the other friends follow throughout most of the rest of this book of Job until he tries to defend himself and finally be reconciled to God in the end.  We know in Christ that we are all sinners and our pride keeps us from the reconciliation of the gospel in Christ until faith receives His word and work to deliver us from the pride of life and the sin that accuses us rightly before our Maker.  We need no revelation in a dream from a friend when God’s Spirit convicts of our sin, how short we fall in righteousness, and the certainty of eternal judgment on sin by the wrath of God (John 16:8-9, 10-11) to come, and points us to His Son as the remedy to deliver from everlasting suffering by His forgiveness of grace in the gospel of our salvation.  When we are accused by others of suffering for our sin by a lack of faith in Him, we remember our guilt has been answered by grace in His righteousness and not earned or deserved on our own merit. 

Job 3:1-26 - Self-pity of the Suffering Righteous

Job 3:1-26

Job Deplores His Birth

1 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
2 And Job spoke, and said:

3 “May the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’

4 May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.

6 As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
7 Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!

8 May those curse it who curse the day,
Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.

9 May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the dawning of the day;
10 Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

11 “Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
12 Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

13 For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
14 With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built ruins for themselves,
15 Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?

17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners rest together;
They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.

20 “Why is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter of soul,
21 Who long for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than hidden treasures;

22 Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.

25 For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

Like Job, some find it easy to enter self-pity when doing something right and suffering while others do wickedly and appear not to have the same problems.  King David wrote about this in his song when facing constant attacks from evil adversaries (Psalm 73:3-5, 12-13, 21-22) until he saw it from God’s eternal perspective (Psalm 73:17-19, 27) and knew their judgment in the end would overtake their eternal destiny.  He did what was right in God’s eyes and refused to give in to self-pity and wish he was dead as Job began doing when faced with such suffering from the enemy unknown to him as David’s was known.  Trusting the sovereignty and purpose of God is the necessary focus in troubling times such as these.  Job cursed the day of his birth because he thought all the good he had done was for naught and thought if he did well to please God, that he would not suffer like that.  We know now that living a godly for the Lord will result in persecution (2 Timothy 3:12, Matthew 5:10, John 15:20, Acts 14:22, 2 Corinthians 4:8, Philippians 1:29, 1 Thessalonians 3:3), entering the kingdom of God through many tribulations which some try to avoid through a belief in a rapture before His coming as if to escape the tribulations that shape our faith to trust Him in the difficult times.  Job did not have this knowledge and his faith was sorely tested to the point where he thought it would have been better to not have been born if he had to suffer for no apparent reason as he loved a righteous life.  He could not see the enemy behind the attacks as one of God’s favored ones and so gave in to despair instead as this account makes all too clear.  He wished for darkness to keep sun from rising on the day he was born and wished that the shadow of darkness and death took him the day he entered life on the earth.  He imagined it would have been better to be stillborn to avoid the wicked and the troubles of oppressors that led him to misery and the bitterness that longed for death to end his suffering.  He had no peace, no rest, only fear and trouble as he suffered greatly.  When we who are in Christ with the same hope made more clear than king David had do suffer under the attacks of the adversary, we can trust and hope in the judgment of vindication to come when the hidden adversary who attacked Job and us is held eternally accountable in the lake of fire.  We therefore take heart and do not give in to depression of hopelessness or self-pity in the face of suffering for doing what is right (1 Peter 2:20, 3:14, 4:16-17, Matthew 5:10) for,the sake of the Lord and the gospel of our deliverance from that judgment and lake of eternal suffering prepared for the devil our adversary (Matthew 25:41, 46, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Revelation 20:10) who attacked Job and us now.  Pity those not in Christ (1 John 3:8) who destroyed the works of the destroyer, not ourselves in our suffering for doing what is right in God’s eyes and not our own.  We have rest and peace in knowing the hidden attacks will be avenged (Revelation 6:10, 11:18) in the end. 

Job 2:11-13 - Friends in Adversity?

Job 2:11-13

Job’s Three Friends

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. 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. 

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.

Job seemed to have three friends in his adversity who came from all over where they lived to mourn his misfortune with him and to offer their comfort in his pain and suffering.  No doubt they heard of his previous losses of family and possessions, and now of his personal health distresses.  This reminds us of the urging for us to do as well in Romans 12:15 in empathetic response to the joys and sorrows of others.  They actually set a time like an appointment to meet together to minister to their good friend Job and had not just independently arrived at the same time, telling us they were friend themselves of one another and not just Job.  When they arrived and observed his condition firsthand, their first response was sorrow and weeping, for they could not even recognize their friend because he was in such a state.  They tore their robes in response as a way of expressing deep grief and empathy and did something we do not read about when others tore their robes (Joshua 7:6; Nehemiah 9:1; Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 27:30); they sprinkled the dust on their heads, yes, but it tells us they did this with their heads lifted up to heaven also, as if looking to the Almighty for help and answers.  They observed the great grief and suffering of their friend and sat silently with him for an entire week as if trying to suffer with him to feel the weight of his condition, empathizing with Job before speaking to encourage him.  Unfortunately, we will see they were not able to help him the way we would think as their opinions turned more to judgment and assumptions concerning the source of his dire circumstances as they caused Job to defend himself for something he did not bring on himself since it was the adversary Satan who was behind the suffering.  Did Job then really have friends in adversity? 

Job 2:1-10 - Hold Fast to Accept both Good and Adversity

Job 2:1-10

Satan Attacks Job’s Health

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. 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.”

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.”

4 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”

6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”

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. 8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.

9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

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.

Job now faced a personal attack on his body from the adversary, increasing the severity from his family and possessions to himself.  The enemy was walking through the earth and had previously identified Job as a favored man of God and the candidate to attack that he might make the Almighty somehow look bad if His creation turned against Him by a lack of faith if attacked, and the first attempt failed to do so.  The LORD initiated the conversion once again, pointing out that Job was serving Him and that he was blameless and upright, a righteous man in God’s eyes who avoided doing evil and feared and revered God instead doing what was good and right as a God-pleaser.  He reminded Satan that Job had endured the first attacks with his integrity yet intact because of these things.  The adversary then pushed harder saying that the personal attack on Job’s body would make him fail and curse God for his suffering circumstances.  The LORD permitted the devil to attack further and personally by His permission with the limit on not killing Job as a condition.  Satan had to ask permission to attack and had to obey the guidelines of God in all these things.  He did not have free sovereign reign to do as he liked.  This is important to remember in his attempts to make us lose faith in dire circumstances we face, for he as a created being still falls under the authority of the Almighty Creator; the roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) who attacks us now (Ephesians 6:11, 13, 1 Timothy 4:17-18, Revelation 12:17) for our witness of the gospel is still on a chain held by our Father who delivers us from him.  Like Job, when we suffer great bodily harm, we do not curse God and die to end the suffering, but trust the Lord more as we commit ourselves to Him in doing good (1 Peter 4:19) as to honor our faithful sustaining Creator.  Like Job, we can refuse to blame God and instead say, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”  We hold fast to accept both good and adversity to trust and honor our Lord and Savior as we live out the gospel of grace.