Job.
page 3

The second round of speeches.

The three friends have a problem, if Job is not a sinner, who is being punished, then their understanding of God is wrong, they do not want to admit this so now the talk is to defend themselves, and their belief, even worse, it means that they could end up in the same situation as Job.

Eliphaz makes a repeat of his first speach, "if you sin God must punish," however, this time he has no kindness or feelings for Job and his situation.

Eliphaz has listened to the words of Job and finds them "full of wind, empty and of no use." Eliphaz does not want to lose so now attacks the words of Job, not the content or idea’s, all he is interested in is "where do your words lead Job?" If God does not always punish the sinner or reward those who are good then why bother to obey God? Religion would be dead. That idea would please Satan!
The Covenant of God with Israel at first appears to be "a reward if you obey me," but the motivation was to obey because of love for God, to please Him and to fulfil His Law.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5;
Deuteronomy 7:7;
Deuteronomy 10:12-16;
Romans 13:8-10;
John 14:15.
Job 15:5,6.
Job your evil heart is speaking for you,
Matthew 12:34-37.
Job is saying "I am innocent," but Eliphaz does not believe him.
"Job you are still young and so you do not have the wisdom,"
Job 15:7-10.
Eliphaz is running out of ideas. Job has not made any claims of being special but he knows that age does not guarantee wisdom.
Job 32:9.

Job 15:11-16,
Eliphaz told Job that he is ignoring the help offered by God, Eliphaz and the friends believe they are God’s messengers, they believe he is resisting God. Eliphaz repeats his same thoughts from his first speach. Heaven is full of purity before God, how can a man claim he is as pure as the angels before God? Man is born sinful and desires a life of sin so how can Job consider himself to not have sinned.

Eliphaz describes the suffering of a man who does not worship God, he emphasizes that this is not new but from the ancient teachers, Job is turning his back on all these people, their fathers wisdom. Eliphaz liked tradition.
Eliphaz describes a "wicked man," it is very obvious the similarity to Job, he finally calls Job a hypocrite, a godless man, Eliphaz blames Job for all his tragedies, his secret sin was the cause. There is a problem with the statement of Eliphaz, in life many wicked people appears to have a happy life, though ultimately they will be punished. Note that the sun and rain fall upon the good as well as the bad,
Matthew 5:45.

Note the thoughts of 1 Peter 1:6-8;
1 Peter 5:10;
2 Corinthians 4:16-18;
Romans 8:18.

Job asks three questions. Job 16 and 17.

A request for understanding of his situation, Job 16:1-14.

The friends still did not understand the situation, Job calls them "miserable helpers," v2, they were no help.

Job tells them that if they were in his situation he would have greater understanding and encouragement.

Job 16:7-14, Job talks about what he is getting from God who seems to be totally against him. His friends were also very much against him.

Job makes a request for justice from God. Job 16:15-22.

Job knows that he has not sinned and is right before God, and so God will listen to his prayers and requests. He has humbled himself so why was he suffering. He wants to prove his innocents before his death, see Genesis 4:8-15 to understand his request.

Job is asking for God to defend him and witness to his integrity, but he really is asking for someone to plead for him before God, v21. See 1 John 2:1,2; Heb 2:17,18; Heb 4:14-16; 1 John 1:5 to 2:2; Rom 8:31-39; Heb 7:25; Heb 13:20,21.

A request to God to end the situation and his suffering, Job 17:1-16.

Job feels that death is close, Job 16:22, his friends offer no help, v10, physically his body is very sick,v7. Yet Job does not consider taking his own life, that task is for God.

Sheol, the place of death was is home he felt, there would be rest there, his dead mother and father there would offer more comfort than his friends. Read 1 Cor 15:19,20;
1 Thess 4:13.

Bildad’s second speech. Job 18 to 19.

Bildad and the other friends cannot see that are just repeating themselves,

God punishes the wicked and blesses those who seek God.

As Job is suffering he must have sinned.

Turn back to God and He will bless.

God is righteous.

The friends think Job is at fault and therefore totally to blame personally for his situation.

Bildad wants to now frighten Job of his possible future. Fear of death and what follows affects many people,
see Matthew 10:28.
Jesus gave a message of love but also a warning of judgement,
2 Corinthians 5:9-11.
Unfortunately the thoughts of Bildad are aimed at the wrong person, Job already has great faith in God. In addition Bildad words are without love for the listener.

Bildad shows four pictures of the death of the wicked person.

The lights are to be turned off.
Job 18:5,6

God controls life, the start and end,
Acts 17:25, 28.
God can turn the light off whenever He pleases.

Life is a journey.
Job 18:7-10.

The person is looking for a place of safety but the road is full of traps, a net, a snare or trap covered in the road, a "gin" or noose that catches the feet, and finally robbers who hide on the road.

Death the king of terror. Job 18:11-15.

If for some reason the person avoids the traps, then death uses other "helpers" to chase the person, terror, hunger, confidence, getting weaker until caught, then brimstone destroys all things.

Nothing left.
Job 18:16-21.

Death can be slow, like tree whose roots dry out and the branches cut off.

The "family tree" ends like the branches cut off, no children, no one remembers the family. (Job had lost his family.) The wicked man has nothing according to Bildad.

What Bildad is speaking about is true for death, the final enemy for all who do not know Jesus and His salvation,
1 Corinthians 15:26;
John 5:24.
Death for a Believer is just a step into home with God for eternity,
John 14:1-6,
Acts 7:60;
Philippians 1:21-23,
Revelation 14:13,14.

Faith is the answer from Job.

Life and its trials was the answer by Job to the speach of Bildad, no one needs to die to have trials just like I am right now. Job describe some of his trials.

"You are not ashamed that you have wronged me.", the words from his friends were hurting him, making him out a liar. "You are not ashamed that you have wronged me. And if indeed I have erred, my error remains with me."
Job 19:3,4.
Job is saying that if he has sinned it is between God and himself, not you. The word "err," according to the original language, has the meaning "a sin not meant or not realized."

Job had just been given by Bildad four terrifying pictures of death, so Job responds with vivid pictures of the trials of life.

He felt like a trapped animal.
Job 19:6.

Caught in the net of God, not through his sins but because God had done it for some reason.

He felt like being in a court being judged.
Job 19:7.

No one is listening to him, no charges have been made, no help offered.

A person travelling, prevented from moving.
Job 19:8.

Satan had charged God of protecting Job,
Job 1:9-12,
Now Job feels fenced in and cannot see the way forward.

Job has lost his position and glory.
Job 19:9

Job had been a leader in the area of Uz, now it has gone.

I am like an uprooted tree.
Job 19:10.

With no root in the ground a tree dies.

A city under attack.
Job 19:11,12.

Job feels that God has declared war against him and now surrounds his home. a tent, why such a large army?

He has lost his family and friends.
Job 19:13-22.

No one wants to have anything to do with Job because they think he has sinned and being judged.

It is amazing that he is still alive, verse 20.

Why are my close friends attacking me like a wild animal wanting to eat me? verse 21, 22.

Job wants to have a record of his suffering.

Bildad had said that he would be forgotten,
Job 18:17,
Job still felt that God will prove him innocent and wanted a record of his suffering as a warning to others.

Job 19:25-27,
Job makes a tremendous faith statement, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth.;" Job believes in a coming Redeemer who will judge the world. Considering that God had not revealed what was going to happen, the words of Job show tremendous faith in his future.
The word "Redeemer" is talking about a near relation who will make arrangements for setting a person free from slavery or punishment,
Deuteronomy 19:6-12.
Now we know that the Redeemer Job is referring to is Jesus. See also the story in Ruth where Boaz was the kinsman redeemer.

Job 19:28,29.
Job gives his friends a warning, they will one day have to stand before the throne of God because they too were sinners.
Note: Romans 14:10-13;
Matthew 7:1-5.

Zophar speaks again.

The same words come from Zophar, "God punishes the wicked only, Job get right with God." Zophar did not like the last points made by Job, verse 3. Zophar decides to defend himself.
What happens to the wicked.
Job 20:4-29.

The wicked have a short life:
Job 20:4-11.

This does not seem to agree with life or scripture records, most people think the wicked have a trouble free, good long life. In practice because the wicked may be involved in dangerous acts, some may have their life shortened, but this is not guaranteed. Zophar seems a little blind to real life. There are many Christians who die at a very young age, according to Zophar they must have been very evil. Also there are many evil people who live to a very large age. Only God decides when our time is up on earth.

The wicked will have severe punishment and then be forgotten.
Job 20:6-11.

His children will have to pay for the wicked persons action, verse 11.

The wicked person enjoys a life of sin just like eating food.
Job 20:12-19.

Sin is so enjoyable the wicked treat it like good food, keeping it in the mouth to enjoy, but on swallowing, it makes them ill and sick,
Hebrews 11:25.
Zophar believes sin has pleasure and punishment.

Job 20:17,
God’s judgement also adds to the sickness, a wicked person is not blessed according to Zophar.

Job 20:18,19,
There is no enjoyment from his wicked actions of sin, needing to do more to get enjoyment.

Death will come to the wicked.
Job 20:20-29.

Zophar continues to describe the wicked persons final time on earth, nothing can prevent death coming, "God will cast on him the fury of His wrath, and will rain it on him while he is eating.", verse 23. God will use sword and fire arrows to pierce the person. Finally "The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him." verse 27 Heaven and earth will testify against the wicked person - who is found guilty.

Job responds to the 2nd. speech of Zophar.

Again Job asks for sympathy and understanding.
Job 21:1-6.

"Listen carefully to my speech, and let this be your consolation," verse 2.

Job said that his complaint is with God, not men. verses 4-6.

The wicked can have long lives, Job destroys Zophar’s theory.
Job 21:7-16.

Job lists a number of errors in Zophar’s speech, verse 7

The wicked become powerful.

Their family and home is safe, verses 8-12.

They live a long time, verses 7,8 and have wealth success, verses 10.

Death is quick. verse 13

God is left out of their life or plans. verses 14,15.
James 4:13-16;
Luke 12:16-21.

Job does not behave like this, he trusts God for all things. verse 16.

The wicked often have a good life.
Job 21:17-21.

We all shall one day die, ("the light put out"), the good and the wicked, Job is now asking, "How often does God chose the wicked against the good? - How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff that a storm carries away?" It seems that the wicked are protected in the world. Does "God lays up one’s iniquity for his children?"

As Job had suffered loss of wealth and family, both Eliphaz,
(Job 5:4)
And Zophar (Job 20:10),
Were accusing Job of sin. God does not normally suddenly punish as Zophar said.

verse 19: Scripture confirms that the children will not be punished for the sins of their parents, they may suffer from the effect of the sin however.

The wicked die the same as anyone else.
Job 21:22-34.

God decides when and how, He has all the knowledge and we cannot understand His ways.

Job said that some die after many years of suffering while others, who are healthy, suddenly die. Some die after a long and happy life, others spend just a few days of their life in misery and pain. All die, rich or poor, all as planned by God.

The difference is what happens after death, faith in God or none at all decides their future.
Heb 9:27

verse 27: "Look, I know your thoughts, and the schemes with which you would wrong me." Job knew that his friends did not believe him. "Have you not looked at the rest of the world as well as your own tent?" he asked. He knew that they had a very narrow view of life. "Do you warn the wicked of their future?" he asks.

Job ends with "Your comforting is only falsehood," (The original word translated "falsehood" means "a deliberate breaking of the Law of God and is therefore against God.") Your so called comfort is just vain, nonsense, a lie, false. The three friends are actually acting in a treacherous way towards God.

Eliphaz the Temanite answered. Job 22 - 24.

Job must be a sinner.
Job 22:1-11.

"Is it because of your fear of Him that He corrects you, and enters into judgment with you?", verse 4. God only judges those guilty of sin, " Is not your wickedness great, and your iniquity without end?", verse 5, is Eliphaz response, but he has missed the question Job has asked, "Why is God punishing before judgement?"

"Job you are full of pride,", verses 1-3. You are acting as if you are important to God in some way. In some ways this was true because God was using Job to silence Satan. Job’s faith, and what was happening, was for the purpose of God.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8;
Hebrews 11:5,6;
Genesis 6:5-8;
Isaiah 63:7-9;
Matthew 3:17.

verses 6 to 9, "Job you are a greedy man." Eliphaz makes accusations which must be lies as he did not live with Job and could not know what Job did to others.

verses 7-9, "Job you have not helped others," to the eastern culture a serious failure.
Exodus 22:21-27;
James 1:27.

verses 10,11, "Job was suffering, this proves my statements," says Eliphaz.

Job is hiding his sins. Job 22:12-22.

Eliphaz is now telling Job that he is living a lie, pretending to be something he is not, a hypocrite. Eliphaz tells Job "to look up to heaven" as all things are seen and known of by God. verses 12-14.

verses 15-18, Eliphaz then tells Job to see what has happened to the sinner before. Why? because you are a sinner, though God may have blessed you, once you were rich, now He is judging your hidden sins. Yet Job has repeatedly said that he has done nothing wrong, for example
Job 21:16.

Eliphaz is confused, he has just said that God will bless the sinner, filling his house with many blessings, verses 17,18.

Job must admit his sin and ask for forgiveness.
Job 22:21-30.

Return to God and He will bless you. He will restore relationships, hear the prayers, be precious to Him, guide and help live a life pleasing to Him.

verses 29,30, As a result you will help others.

Job talks to and about God. Job 23 to 24

Where is God?
Job 23:1-12.

Job ignores Eliphaz, his dispute is with God, not man.

Job wants to meet God and have a fair trial, present his situation. He is confident that God will give the verdict and he will win his case.

How does he find God? He has looked everywhere. Yet God knows all about him, verses 10. Job knows that the test will make him better before God, verses 10.
See 1 Peter 1:6-9;
1 Peter 4:12-19.

verses 11-17: Job had a life pleasing to God before the trial, seeking and following the Word of God. He submitted to the Will of God.

verse 15: God is sovereign ( absolute control and knowledge) in all matters, Job was frightened in what God could do to him if He wanted. "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!"
Revelations 19:6.

Why can I not meet God and tell Him of my thoughts?
Job 24:1-25.

Job now examines the acts of Mankind in the world which seem injustices. He is puzzled why God permits it.

verses 1-11: Unjust acts in the country. It was normal in the days of Job that the farms did not have fences, people had respect for each plot,
See Deuteronomy 19:14;
Deuteronomy 27:17.
Evil people still tried to take what was not theirs, land and peoples animals.

Verses 5-11 shows how the poor lived, hunting for food in all weathers, no home for shelter, children taken, working on the land of the rich for little reward.

verses 12-17, Evil in the towns and cities.

Death, pain and thieves everywhere but no apparent action by God, verse 12.

verses 18-25, Future punishment for the wicked.

Job ends with a challenge to his friends, "Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?" Prove me wrong! verse 25.

Bildad speaks again.
Job 25:1-6.

Bildad focuses on the power of God and His justice.

verse 1-3, The power of God is part of His nature, He reigns over everything and knows all things.

verse 4-6, The justice of God is part of His nature, He is light and there is no darkness,
1 John 1:5,
"How then can man be righteous before God?" since we are born sinful, so man is like a maggot or worm.

The greatness of God by Job.

Job 26.

The greatness of God.
Job 26:5-13.

God is everywhere and sees all things, including the place of the dead.

Job refers to the place of the dead in three ways, "the waters," "Sheol" and "Destruction." If God controls death, then He knows all about the living.

Verses 7-13, Job offers praise because God made and controls everything, in heaven and on earth.

Job ends with the thought that what we see is a small part of God, His ways and power. The more we learn of God the more we need to learn.

Job now asks questions about this justice.

Job 27:1ff.

Job stands fast in his integrity before God.
Job 27:1-6.

Job makes this an oath before God, this was a serious act for him, to the men of that time this was asking for God to end their life if it was not true. A brave act by Job.

verse 2, Again Job tells God that He is not being fair, "No charge still!"

verse 6, Job will not stop claiming his righteousness all of his life.

Job calls for God to punish his accusers, a common Easter practice.
Job 27:7-10.

Though we are not told, there may be many others listening to the speeches of Job and his friends, were they in agreement with Job or the three friends? Were they for or against him?

Compare the teaching from Jesus and Paul with the attitude of Job and the people during this time period.
Matthew 5:38-48;
Luke 23:34;
Romans 12:17 -21.

Note that God in,
Job 1:8;
Job 2:3
Had he already made the statement "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?’", though Job and the friends did not know this.

Sometimes God will permit suffering as part of His plan, remember Jesus suffered on the cross for our sin and Paul in,
2 Corinthians 12:1ff was given "a thorn in the flesh."

Job gives them a lesson on the power of God.
Job 27:11-23.

Job describes the judgement by God on the evil and wicked people, they will die, forgotten by their family, their children will be killed in war or sickness, those who survive will be beggars as all their riches will vanish.

The description by Job has many similarities to the thoughts of the three friends, Job is reminding them that they could be speaking of their own punishment, consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:1,2.

Job looks for the wisdom of God.
Job 28.

"But where can wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?"
Job 28:12.

Job wants to know the answer, he feels the friends are just talking rubbish, they had knowledge but not wisdom, they could not use their knowledge correctly, a common problem unfortunately.

Job lists three possible sources for wisdom.

You cannot dig up wisdom,
Job 28:1-10.
We find many raw materials underground which require great danger to obtain them, they then need cleaning or treatment to obtain the pure metal or best jewels etc., considerable effort and time by men, yet, men still cannot find the wisdom of God.

You cannot buy wisdom.
Job 28:12-19.
Many people think that money will provide everything. Job mentions gold, silver and jewels a number of times in the passage, yet none can buy the wisdom of God. True wisdom can be very expensive.

God is the source of wisdom. Job 28:20-28.

Only God knows where to find wisdom because He knows and controls all things. He can control the wind the rain, the lightning.

The answer is given by Job,"Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.",
in Job 28:28.
If your reverence, faith and trust is in God, who can be against you?
James 1:5;
Matthew 7:21-29;
John 7:17;
Colossians 2:3;
Ephesians 1:15-23.

Job decides that it is time to sum up.

Job 29-31.

Looking back at his life.
Job 29:1ff.

Job continues his thoughts by looking at "the good old days," these days were really good for him. Note that Job felt pleased for the presence of God in his life as his first joy, verse 4. God was the source of all the blesses of Job.

Always looking back can create a problem for the future, no one can guarantee what the future events are, so always living in the past can make it difficult to meet future problems.

Job enjoyed respect, verse 11, he had his seat at the city gate with all the city leaders.

His next joy was associated with helping others, verse 12-17.
Eliphaz had said that Job took advantage of others, especially the poor and sick,
Job 22:5-9,
But we see a very different man who cared for others in these words from Job.
Job 29:17
Tells us that he broke the power of the wicked, he felt that they behaved like animals and needed to be prevented in their actions.

Finally, Job enjoys encouraging others, verses 21-25. He help them make the right decisions, and comforted those in need.

All this was now gone, and he does not know why.

Job is brought back to the present.
Job 30:1ff

"But now" brings him back to the present, he knew you cannot live in the past. He now makes comparison with his present situation.

I am not now respected.
Job 30:1-15.

Young people have no respect for me, they laugh at me, verse 10. These people come from parents who are outcasts from the cities, verse 8, they live in caves, wandering around the desert looking for food, verses 3-8.

Job was now like them, an outcast, rejected by the people, despised. They had never really had respect for him before, they were just after being rewarded and wanted to benefit from his position and wealth.

They were behaving like an army, out to destroy him, breaking his defences and attacking him, verses 12-14.

There are no blessings.
Job 30:16-23.

It appears that God has removed all his blessing, even the basic needs of life. Prayers were not answered, verse 20. Even death will not come to him, verses 23,24

No one offers help.
Job 30:24-25.

He had helped others but now nobody comes to his aid.
Compare Matthew 5:16;
Luke 14:12-14.

There is no future.
Job 30:26-28

Job once expected a long life, he looked for light and received darkness, looks for peace but receives constant suffering.

I cannot help others.
Job 30:29-31.

Once he gave words of help and comfort, now all I can have as friends are animals.

Job looks to God for Justice.

Job 31:1-40.

Sin’s that can trip a man.
Job 31:1-12.

Lust, the first sin step.
See James 1:13-16.
It is OK to look and admire, but it is wrong to look for a way of obtaining,
Matthew 5:28.
God can see our actual acts and our thoughts, Hebrews 4:12,13.

Deceit. Job always dealt honestly with other people, he was happy for God to examine him for this.
See Leviticus 19:35-37.

Adultery. Job had never desired his neighbour’s wife, if he had done so then said that his own wife should become another persons slave and mistress.
Ephesians 5:3-7;
Hebrews 13:4.

His attitude to his staff.
Job 31:13-15.

He treated all his servants fairly because he knew God would call him to account for his action one day.

Job the neighbour.
Job 31:16-23;
Job 31:29-32.

Job had previously told Eliphaz,
Job 22:6-9;
That he cared for the poor, now he is repeating it as part of his oath before God, if he had taken any legal acts against a person he wanted God to rip his arm off.

Job knows that God had blessed him and he had tried to use his wealth to help those in need. God had every right to take it away if he failed to use it properly.

Job and his worship.
Job 31:24-28.

Job had a devoted and sincere worship from his heart, not to keep favour with God for his wealth. God knew what was Job’s attitude to Him.

Job the land owner.
Job 31:38-40.

Job remembers that God has also given him land. Job asks if the land had complained of his work and use of it. If he has damaged or treated the land poorly then God has every right to give a bad harvest.