13:15

As we continue our understanding of Job and his faithfulness to God, we begin to understand just how great his suffering was. There is a reason God chose Job for this trial, and its partly for us to understand the dealings of this world and how satan has power in it. The story continues, and three friends of Job come and comfort him as he suffers. They were so distraught at the sight of him that they wept, tore their robes, and kept silent for seven days. Marital problems arose as his wife could no longer bear the sight of his afflictions. She tells him to curse the Lord and die. For it will be better to be dead than to live in this agony. Satan was allowed by God to take away his health to cover his body from head to toe in boils. Satan wants skin for skin. He accused Job of being willing to risk the skin of his children in order to save his own. That by taking his health and his flesh, that he would surely curse the Lord.   

In verses 9 and 10 his wife said to him,

      “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? 

     His wife is slowly losing the battle on which God has ordained. She is becoming cold hearted, unsupportive, and cruel to the Lord. So Job says you speak as one of the foolish women. Not specifically calling her foolish but reminding her that the heart that is for God is becoming distant. Job finds nothing wrong on what has been done to him. He still understands that God is good. And that the faith he has in him is more important than what has caused him pain.  

     Satan likes to move goalposts, as we have just seen. He goes from take everything from Job and he will faulter. Which failed, and Job persevered. To now telling God that taking away his health would make Job unfaithful. To change the rules while someone is trying to do something in order to make it more difficult for them is exactly what the devil is. 

     Job suffers for months, this is not just a week of pain. We are like Job in that evil, whether its from ourselves or another force, was ordained by God. If we have faith in the goodness of Christ and stand strong in front of adversity then we will overcome by the grace of the Lord. It is not us, and it never will be our strength that overcomes solely. It will always be His. 

Day 3 of 42

Job speaks and curses the day he was born. 

Job feels that God has separated from him. Verse 23 says, "Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?" He has fear that God has lost faith in him. Why give me light if I cant see the way God has trapped me? Where is the understanding and hope that you provide? Is everything now lost? Jobs concern from beginning to end is God.  The way he speaks of being born in darkness relates to his relationship with Christ. That he feels hopeless without Him. Job at this time also didn't quite understand how the afterlife was built. Job thought even the wicked here on earth would have a better chance of peace when they die. We know that this just isn't true, as the scriptures have warned us over and over.  

     Stoicism is the idea of enduring pain and suffering without the display of feelings and without complaint. At the time, Job is not concerned on being stoic. Instead, he pours his emotions before God. 

Verse 24:

      "For my sighing comes instead of my bread,
     and my groanings are poured out like water."

     Jesus wept over Jerusalem. As he knew it would fall to His enemies. We are filled with Gods love, so it brings us emotion towards pain and suffering. Job is not destructive in his actions nor in his words. Although Job can be stoic at times, there comes certain pain that everyone will show emotion to. 

Verse 26:
    "I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes"

     Job ends his speech here. Even a man of great faith can fall into depression and despair. His trial has only begun and I wonder how many of us would curse the Lord at this time. Only to be at the beginning of it all. How does Job stay faithful and continue to show wisdom through this trial? We can start by pointing to God and how He guides us through difficult times. But Job thinks that God isn't here right now and that they are separated. So through pain and suffering, Job can see why God is important to his life. Because without him there is no peace nor hope. Only sorrow and agony. Job must clinge to his faith in order to continue to understand this harsh reality. 

Eliphaz speaks

     And the first thing he says is, will you be patient with me? Now this comes after Job just spoke his short cry. The comfort from this friend seems to be put behind. He calls out Job saying, you must have sinned in order for God to breathe fire on your bones. That the innocent do not suffer. Only sinners. 

Verse 7: Eliphaz says

      “Remember: who that was innocent ever perished?

     But we know that isn't always true. As good men can still suffer, even through their innocence. Just as Abel has in Genesis. Abel, a righteous man, who was killed by his own brother Cain over jealousy. Eliphaz was basing what he thought was true off of his own record and not the Lords. 

Eliphaz says in verse 8:

      "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
   and sow trouble reap the same."

     So what is he implying here? We now know that innocence does not give you a free pass, but in some cases the same or worse kinds of suffering. Eliphaz says "As I have seen". Which means listen to my understanding, my wisdom. I am greater than He! Eliphaz is a man who doesn't come from the wisdom of the Lord but only from himself. 

Verse 6:

     "Is not your fear of God your confidence,
   and the integrity of your ways your hope?"

     Eliphaz claims that Jobs hope is his own  righteousness. Our hope only comes from the Lord and not in our own understanding.  

Alexander McLaren writes:
“The speaker seems serenely unconscious that he was saying anything that could drive a knife into the tortured man. He is so carried along on the waves of his own eloquence, and so absorbed in the stringing together the elements of an artistic whole, that he forgets the very sorrows which he came to comfort.”

God speaking to Eliphaz: Job chapter 42:7:

      "After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."

     We have people in our lives that care for us, that will loves and comfort us until the end but, that doesnt mean they are always right. We are egotistical humans, and at times it is brought to attention. Always trust and look at the Lord's understanding before anything.

Eliphaz the inept

Eliphaz continues to base his knowledge on what he has seen. Not what was brought from God. It doesn't matter how eloquently Eliphaz spoke. Truth is truth and even someone who is not well off grammatically can be greater than Eliphaz. It's beginning to become clearer who this man really is. Although he may not understand it, he is a liar. An ignorant man who calls job foolish. A friend besides. 

Verse 4:

    "His sons are far some safety"

     He goes on saying that Jobs sons are even oppressed at the gate. Which means that because the house fell and killed them, they were sinners and deserved Gods wrath. Because Eliphaz only understands that when trouble comes, so does the wrath of God. The verses below explain that judgment comes from God because of the trouble we cause. 

Verse 6-7:  

    6 "For affliction does not come from the dust,

    nor does trouble sprout from the ground,

    7 but man is born to trouble

    as the sparks fly upward."

Verse 8: 

    “As for me, I would seek God,

    and to God would I commit my cause,

Again implying that job isn't leaning on the Lords understanding. Eliphaz only speaking on what he can understand, which in hindsight causes more harm than good to an already beaten and suffering man(Job).

Verse 27: 

    Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.

    Hear, and know it for your good.”

    Eliphaz here is trying to persuade Job into thinking because "we" in a communal of people searched out. That what we say is true. Plus we know that it is good for you. We understand exactly what you are going through. I mean come on, do you not know who we are, who I am? I am Eliphaz the Temanite. I bring truth because of what I HAVE seen! 

     A friend who speaks with an ego is a fool and needs to be corrected. Their understanding is not helpful in dire situations, nor can be trusted. Although Eliphaz spoke well, he was not leaning on the Lords understanding therefore is an ignorant, ineptness man. Which is not the end of the world for him. Because God is merciful and teaching is exactly what He has in mind for Eliphaz.

Job speaks and answers Eliphaz:

Job explains his rash words in chapter 3 to be caused by the heaviness of the pain and suffering. Explaining to them, they didn't understand his agony. That arrows of the almighty came down and pierced his flesh. That God had done it himself. They were like poison and that terror appeared within him. Job calls Eliphaz's words tasteless, flavorless, and weak. Showing as well that what he said did not comfort my suffering. 

Verse 6:

     Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,

    or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?

Job continues to ask God to end his life. That it would be greater to be end this agony only through Gods mercy. "Loose His hand", meaning more arrows to pierce his flesh. 

Verse 8-9: 

      Oh that I might have my request,

    and that God would fulfill my hope,

     9 that it would please God to crush me,

    that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

Job felt helpless in with no hope in verses 11-13. He was asking, where is my strength? Is it not within me? Our strength is from God alone. Job repeatedly says, Where is my God! Has he left me to feel this pain and suffering alone? So he feels hopeless, because without God, where is our hope? Not within ourselves. We can only muster so much before it falls repeatedly. Neverlasting.   

Verses 11-13:

     11 What is my strength, that I should wait?

    And what is my end, that I should be patient?

     12 Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze?

     13 Have I any help in me,

    when resource is driven from me?

He calls out his friends that thier words were nothing. I say this because the other two with Eliphaz stayed silent. Which could entail that they agreed with Eliphaz. 

Verse 21: 

     For you have now become nothing;

    you see my calamity and are afraid.

He asks Eliphaz to teach him and how he sinned in order to receive the Lord's wrath. And even calls them out in verse 27 that he would betray and undermine his friend. 

Verse 24: 

      Teach me, and I will be silent;

    make me understand how I have gone astray.

Verse 27:

      You would even cast lots over the fatherless,

    and bargain over your friend.

The final verse Job asks Eliphaz to show him any wickedness that caused his situation. He goes on saying that don't you know that my discernment is faithful?

Verse 30:

      Is there any injustice on my tongue?

    Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?

So far, Job rebukes what Eliphaz has to say. And he asks for evidence of what sin has caused this calamity. Eliphaz called out for being tasteless and weak and not trying to understand Jobs' situation. Instead, as we know, Eliphaz wants to put his two cents of ineptness into the situation. For Job, he thinks that what he is saying is pure and holy. When we look at it, it seems harsh as well. But truth hurts, right? What will God show Job in the end? 

Job continues to feel hopeless:

Job starts off by comparing himself to a servant or a hired man. Like a servant and his desire for shade and a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages. Before Job had everything taken away from him, he was a master to the servants and men alike. He owned land that could fill thousands of livestock. This whole ordeal brings a man who had most to a man lying in dirt for comfort. What God gives can also take. And that's for God to decide. 

Verse 12: 

     Am I the sea, or a sea monster,

    that you set a guard over me?

     Although Job may not have sinned for his current suffering, he compares his situation to him being like a sea or the creature who dwells deep. This is simply Job asking the Lord if this is the case. He makes a good point on what the sea is actually capable of (us). Indeed, we are more like the sea or the sea-monster than we would like to admit.

· The sea is restless, and so is our nature.

· The sea can be furious and terrible, and so can we.

· The sea can never be satisfied, and neither can sinful man.

· The sea is mischievous and destructive, and so is sinful man.

· The sea will not obey, and neither will sinful man.

(David Guzik)

     In the below verses, Job felt at this moment that God’s attention was unwelcome. And thinks to himself, why do you continue to torment me? Heres the thing, God chooses us. We did not choose Him. If God ordains situations like Jobs, Moses, David, then we follow because we are His orphans. Adopted by grace. If we hope to believe in Christ then it was done by the grace of God from the beginning. Before anything was created, Not even a spick of dust. So below, Job is asking why are you so close to me, why is it you chose me for this task? 

     Well, Spurgeon says it well:

“Job was not being punished; he was being honored. God was giving to him a name like that of the great ones of the earth. The Lord was lifting him up, promoting him, putting him into the front rank, making a great saint of him, causing him to become one of the fathers and patterns in the ancient Church of God. He was really doing for Job such extraordinarily good things that you or I, in looking back upon his whole history, might well say, ‘I would be quite content to take Job’s afflictions if I might also have Job’s grace, and Job’s place in the Church of God.’”

Verse 17-21: 

     17 What is man, that you make so much of him,

    and that you set your heart on him,

     18 visit him every morning

    and test him every moment?

     19 How long will you not look away from me,

    nor leave me alone till I swallow my spit?

     20 If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of mankind?

    Why have you made me your mark?

    Why have I become a burden to you?

     21 Why do you not pardon my transgression

    and take away my iniquity?

     For now I shall lie in the earth;

    you will seek me, but I shall not be.”

     You see, Job is a man that God chose to teach us what it might take for us to know our faithfulness to Him. Putting us through trials and tasks that are not for the weak of heart. Our trials are unique and we should be glad in the fact that God decided to speak to us through suffering. 

Bildad: the 2nd friend speaks

     And the first thing that comes out of his mouth is agreeing with Elipahz. He continues the tirade of you must have sinned in order to be dealing with the wrath of God. There is no other way. That is how they see it right now. That blameless and righteous men cannot feel the wrath of God without wrongdoing. In verse 6: if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you. Bildad then brings up his children that even they must have sinned in order for them to perish the way they did. We don't know at least of now what if his children were in any way unrighteous. Again, the two friends are basing their ideas off of their own accord. They want to be correct in Jobs view and it's possible that they view this somewhat comforting for him. 

Verse 4:

     If your children have sinned against him,

    he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.

     Transgression - an act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offense

     Bildad wants Job to look in the past and find the wisdom of the old ancestors. It's odd that they would bring this up since we know that Cain and Abel is their history. We know Abel was a righteous man and that his own sin did not cause his death. Therefore refuting their very own thoughts. 

Verses 8 - 10:

     8 “For inquire, please, of bygone ages,

    and consider what the fathers have searched out.

     9 For we are but of yesterday and know nothing,

    for our days on earth are a shadow.

     10 Will they not teach you and tell you

    and utter words out of their understanding?

     Although Bildad had talking points, that can be correct at times. They were off base on the situation with Job. Almost as if God wasn't in his life at all guiding him through this. Both friends are in denial of what Job is experiencing. Another man of ineptness and ignorance who prefers the old and wise which are not perfect either and can be just as inept as they. To a God who shows perfect wisdom and understanding. 

Job continues: 

     Job agrees with Bildad's general premise. That God rewards the righteous and corrects sinners. There was no disagreement with Bildad but Job still did not acknowledge that the situation was because of his sin. What Job really talks about in this chapter is an argument with God himself. In verse 3 Job understands that man cannot debate God or demand answers from Him. Job agrees God is all mighty and powerful but he lacks the necessary understanding on why God put him here in these trials. Since that is the case, Job will continue to speak through groans and agony.  

     What God does is of His own accord. He knows perfectly what to do and when to do whatever needs to be done in our life as Jobs. The verse below is from Peter and he goes explaining the trials we go through are for good and to test our faith. To become stronger for the Lord. 

1 Peter 6-9:

     6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

     We all know people that justify their own actions and words. But Job here knows that when someone justifies there oneself they are deemed perverse. 

Verse 20: 

Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;

    though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.

In Romans 8:33-34 it tells us that if God justifies a man, then none can condemn him. 

Verse 30:

      If I wash myself with snow

    and cleanse my hands with lye,

     31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,

    and my own clothes will abhor me.

     Snow was deemed like soap in todays time. That it cleansed more than water. But we know that doesn't allow us to become holy again. Yet You will plunge me into the pit: The more Job considered the greatness of God, the more he felt plunged into a pit of depravity.

 God may plunge a man into the pit to see his true sinfulness in many different ways.

· He may bring the memory of old sins to remembrance.

· He may allow the man to be greatly tempted and thus to know his weakness.

· He may reveal to the man how imperfect all his works are.

· He may make the man to understand the spiritual character of the law.

· He may display His great holiness to the man. (Guzik)

     Job wishes for a mediator to allow him to set a meeting with God the Father. It's funny because that's what Jesus does. We have a great promise of a Mediator that Job did not yet know of: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. 

Verse 33:

     There is no arbiter between us,

    who might lay his hand on us both.

1 Timothy 2:5-6

      For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

     Job speaks a lot about the need to talk to God. It comes especially after his two friends speak to him. No useful advice nor comfort from his friends. So Job pleads back with God. Wanting a connection so that they can speak. Job wants to understand what God is ordaining. Will God speak? 

Job loathes his life. 

     In verse 1 it seems that Job believed that he had yet to complain and that in order to complain you need to speak from the bitterness of the soul. I think we have all done this at times. Speaking deeply in the soul can be comforting but we are not meant to last here. It is for us to understand here and to get out and conquer it. Job believes God is contending with him and he compares people to God's hands.

Verse 3: 

     Does it seem good to you to oppress,

    to despise the work of your hands

    and favor the designs of the wicked?

     The tried saint may ask as Job did, “Show me why You contend with me.”

· It may be that God is contending with you to show you His power to uphold you.

· It may be that God is contending with you to develop your graces.

· It may be that God is contending with you because you have some secret sin that is doing you great damage.

· It may be that God is contending with you because He wants you to enter the fellowship of His sufferings.

· It may be that God is contending with you to humble you. (Spurgeon)

Job knows he is not guilty of this suffering and says it in verse 7: although you know that I am not guilty,

    and there is none to deliver out of your hand?

     Job acknowledges we are made from dust. He gives the comparison that we are shaped from clay. That since we are chosen people by Gods grace, we are formed into what God needs from us. Small or big we are all meant to be here and we will all have our own sufferings and triumphs. 

Verse 16: 

     And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion

    and again work wonders against me.

     Did God hunt Job? Does that mean he stalks his prey? If anything, satan would be the hunter. As chapter 1 and 2 explain God ordained this hunt but satan was deemed hunter. We remember that God ordained this "hunt" to show how faithful Job was to God and that the only way through this was because of God. God continues to push satan down by the glory of his power by showing it through the faithfulness of his chosen. 

Verse 20: 

Are not my days few?

    Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer

     He asks the Lord to leave him until he perished so he can find some cheer. But he forgot or didnt know that since God was with him, it is the only way that Job is still surviving. Job was chosen by God. Therefore, God is his saviour. Since He is his saviour, darkness will not overcome his heart. 

Zophar rebukes Job: 

     Zophar a harsh, judgmental, straight to the point man. He sees Job's words as babble or mockery. That him and the other two friends are correct that you have sinned and must repent. He is careless about Jobs suffering and his kindness is far from here. Comparing Jobs thoughts to worthless men and a donkey. Like the one Jesus rode in Jerusalem. Zophar, the last to speak, was becoming impatient and was feeling no remorse. 

Verse 11-12:

     For he knows worthless men;

    when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it?

     But a stupid man will get understanding

    when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!

Verse 4:

For you have said, “My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in your eyes”: Zophar did not truthfully represent Job’s words here. Job did not claim to be pure and clean, as if he were sinless and perfect; but in fairness to Zophar, we must say that Job claimed to be in the right, and this was virtually a claim to be pure and clean in this matter.

     i. Job knew there was no special or specific sin on his part behind the loss of his children, his health, his servants, and his material wealth (Job 7:20). Even so, Job knew that he was a sinner in a general sense and could not be considered righteous compared to God.

· Therefore my words have been rash (Job 6:3).

· Why then do You not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity (Job 7:21).

· How can a man be righteous before God (Job 9:2).

· Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse (Job 9:20).

· I know that You will not hold me innocent (Job 9:28).

     ii. Therefore, we understand Job’s claims to be blameless (Job 9:21-22) to refer to the fact that there was indeed no special or particular sin on his part that prompted his great suffering. Indeed, even God recognized Job as blameless in this sense (Job 1:1, 1:8, and 2:3). (Guzik)

     There is indeed much to admire in the theology and philosophy of Zophar and Job’s friends. They say much that is generally true and valuable, and it is—in general – backed by the wisdom of the ancients. They believed in God’s power and His absolute righteousness. They also believed that God would forgive a sinner and take him back into favor if the sinner responded correctly to the punishment God appointed.

     “They misapplied the most precious truths and the most edifying of doctrines; turned wholesome food to poison; pressed upon their friend those half-truths, which are sometimes the worst of untruths.” (Bradley)

 Job replies: The Lord has done this

      Sarcastically, Job responds that his friends are full of wisdom and their understanding is like Gods! Did they forget that Job was blameless and upright? The one who called on God and He answered him. Verse 7 he explains that even the beasts of this earth have your understanding, that it is simple as you. Job reminds us in verse 4 what Jesus had gone through before they crucified him. Even the righteous suffer. 

Verse 4: 

I am a laughingstock to my friends;

    I, who called to God and he answered me,

    a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock.

Verse 6: Those who provoke God are secure: Now, it seemed to Job that his life and prior understanding was upside-down. Before, everything seemed to make sense – the righteous seemed to be blessed and the wicked seemed to be afflicted. Now, it is all different.

i. Job did not give up on God, but he had to give up on his prior understanding of God. “Job’s creed has crumbled into ruins, ‘therefore’, he says, ‘I leave my creed, but I deny that I have left God.’” (Chambers)

Verses 13-25: Job speaks the power of God. 

· He showed God’s power over men (If He imprisons a man).

· He showed God’s power over minds (The deceived and the deceiver are His).

· He showed God’s power over the wise (He leads counselors away plundered, and makes fools of the judges).

· He showed God’s power over rulers (He loosens the bonds of kings… He leads princes away plundered).

· He showed God’s power over the eloquent (He deprives the trusted ones of speech).

· He showed God’s power over the darkness (brings the shadow of death to light).

· He showed God’s power over the nations (He makes nations great, and destroys them).

Verses 24-25: The Lord can take away your wisdom and understanding. Showing that we are dependent on God and where unfaithfulness can lead us. 

24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth

    and makes them wander in a trackless waste.

25 They grope in the dark without light,

    and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.

All three friends have answered before Job and thats after a week of silence. A week to think and for his friends to rebuke him and call him a liar. That he must have sinned and now Job you must repent. What his friends continue to not hear is that righteous men can suffer. And it isn't always because we sinned. One person here has the right idea and currently we have scripture pointing to Job. We know this from God's words in chapters 1 and 2. God ultimately wants us the readers to know that suffering isn't only caused by our actions. 

Yet I will hope in him:

     Job is claiming that he understands his friend's words, and that he isn't as much as a donkey as they claim he is. He knew that current sin was not the cause of this suffering. His friends were causing more pain than comfort and it pushed Job further to want and understand his circumstance. Job goes on calling them worthless physicians and liars. We can sympathize with Job’s situation and turmoil, all the while recognizing that we are called to a better standard than Job: Repay no one evil for evil (Guzik)

Verses 7-9: Job wants them to know that they are showing deceit and that God will be not be on the side of liars. Even though they think they are telling the truth. They are still spreading false information.

7 Will you speak falsely for God

    and speak deceitfully for him?

8 Will you show partiality toward him?

    Will you plead the case for God?

9 Will it be well with you when he searches you out?

    Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?

Your platitudes are proverbs of ashes: The friends of Job claimed to know wisdom and speak wisely; Job dismissed their supposed guidance as mere platitudes. Their wisdom had no substance, no use, and left Job feeling burned-over – truly, proverbs of ashes. (Guzik)

i. “The idea is that men may argue in defence of God upon false lines, through limited knowledge. That is exactly what these men had been doing. The result was that they were unjust to Job. They did not know it: they did not intend that it should be so. But it was so.” (Morgan)

Job was now feeling different in this chapter. He wants to live, other than before in which he wanted God to let him perish (7:16). It could be that his friends argument was causing him to want to understand further and to draw even closer to God. Because in verse 20, he wants God to draw near and to not withdraw. Job seems to have found a certain understanding that is pushing him further towards the truth. 

Verse 19-21:

19 Who is there who will contend with me?

    For then I would be silent and die.

20 Only grant me two things,

    then I will not hide myself from your face:

21 withdraw your hand far from me,

    and let not dread of you terrify me.

Verse 24: Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy? He is claiming that God is hiding purposefully and that box of his youthful sins are causing this problem. Which differs from what his friends were saying. Because they thought that it was because of current sins. But we know as a reader that God put him in this situation for a trial or task to further prove his faithfulness. Job is asking questions that are different than before. This chapter feels like a shift in his perspective or understanding. 

Flesh and its death:

Man, who is born of a woman. Good to know that the bible speaks truth on what is happening with our society today. As a number of people are castrating themselves because there is no hope they reside in. The flesh of a man is troubled and his time here is short. Below is what happens to a man who has hope in his own flesh.  

Verse 18-19:

“But the mountain falls and crumbles away,

    and the rock is removed from its place;

19 the waters wear away the stones;

    the torrents wash away the soil of the earth;

    so you destroy the hope of man.

Just like the flood or even the tower of babel, God washes away and takes away thier desires and aspirations of thier selfish ways. Then it says in verse 20, "You prevail forever against him, and he passes; you change his countenance, and send him away." There is no hope in men without Christ being their Father. They will continue to take advantage of you and your family. They see nothing but themselves and desire to take your hope and collect your bones. 

Now there are two deaths. One that brings you to hell and the other to heaven. Both are eternal and both have their differences. Just like the man who hopes in himself and the man whos hope resides in Christ. 

Verse 14: If a man dies, shall he live again?

    All the days of my service I would wait,

    till my renewal should come.

 “Three glimpses of this glorious change were seen: 1. In Moses’ face. 2. In Christ’s transfiguration. 3. In Stephen’s countenance when he stood before the council. Such a change as this is well worth waiting for.”

iii. We also wait for our change to come.

· We shall be changed into immortality at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:50-53).

· When we see Him, we will be like Him (1 John 3:2).

· Our bodies will be gloriously transformed (Philippians 3:21).

· David was confident he would be changed into God’s likeness (Psalm 17:15).

iv. At the same time, there are some things that will not change for the believer when they go to heaven.

· A Christian’s purpose and priority of life does not change.

· A Christian’s identity does not change.

· A Christian’s companions will not change very much.

(Guzik)

     Job sees the afterlife as a temporary hiding place. We know because of the New Testament that life after death is not temporary but certain that we go to either plane. 

     In chapter 10:3 and in chapter 14:14 Job talks about the work of God's hands. The work of God's hands is His creation. Which His most noble part is us. A masterpiece of His creative skill.           "Nothing less than the strongest call upon his justice could have induced him thus to destroy the work of his hands. No wonder that he has an earnest desire towards it…" (Clarke)

     Zopher in chapter 11:4 says For you say, ‘My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God's eyes.’ Job then counters in verse 16 "For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin;". Job knows he is not a perfect man and his friends continue to not understand the situation. 

     Verse 22: "He feels only the pain of his own body, and he mourns only for himself.” We can say of Job’s suffering that his feelings were real and understandable; yet there was a truth that went beyond his feelings that made sense of his suffering, though that truth was completely veiled to Job.(Guzik) His pain and suffering was strong, which made him an emotional man at times. God did not want Job to understand just yet. Just like us we won't know either. God veils his understanding for our sake. He teaches us in miraculous ways. 

Eliphaz strikes back:

     Right out of the gate, Eliphaz accuses Job of having "windy knowledge" or useless words. An understanding that is not faithful to God. Eliphaz continues to force himself and the two others that Job must be wicked and a sinner to have this kind of suffering. It's honestly getting old at this point in the book. I mean have they considered any other idea other than thier own? They haven't and they continue to rely on old teachings from the ancient men that were also wicked and misinformed at times. 

Verse 17-18:

“I will show you; hear me,

    and what I have seen I will declare

18 (what wise men have told,

    without hiding it from their fathers,

19 to whom alone the land was given,

    and no stranger passed among them).

     Where is God in this picture? Is Eliphaz actually leaning on God's understanding or his own? Read verse 17 again. I WILL.. I HAVE seen... I WILL declare... Hear ME...

Those three friends didn't like that Job was disagreeing with thier advice. It must have hurt them and hardened them a bit towards the comfort they should show right now. 

Verse 11:

    Are the comforts of God too small for you,

    or the word that deals gently with you?

They use God against him when they are not even relying on him. They rely more on the ancients and themselves! The old wise men that still fell before God. Still sinned and caused wickedness in thier own hearts. We can not rely so heavily on someone who turns to dust. Only to Him, the one that always was and is. 

End of verse 4: and hindering meditation before God: Eliphaz was wrong in his judgment of Job; though Eliphaz could not see Job’s secret prayer life, he was a man of piety and prayer as Job 1 demonstrates.

. Nevertheless, certainly some people do restrain prayer before God. Spurgeon considered ways that some do this.

· Some restrain prayer before God because they do not pray often or regularly.

· Some restrain prayer before God because they do not prepare their hearts properly to pray. They do not consider who they are praying to, the way their prayer should be made, that they are sinners, what they should ask of God, and thankful for what He has done in the past.

· Some restrain prayer before God because they pray in such a formal, strict manner that they never really pour out their heart before God.

· Some restrain prayer before God because they pray with little faith and much unbelief. (Guzik)

Verse 25-26: Eliphaz accuses Job of going against God here. If the three friends took the time to understand his suffering, then it's possible that they could've been more wise here. Instead, their egos and the idea that because of what THEY HAVE SEEN, they know more than Job and even the Father. They forget God provides thier understanding.  

25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God

    and defies the Almighty,

26 running stubbornly against him

    with a thickly bossed shield;

“Poor Job! What a fight of affliction had he to contend with! His body wasted and tortured with sore disease, his mind harassed by Satan; and his heart wrung with the unkindness, and false accusations of his friends. No wonder he was greatly agitated, often distracted, and sometimes even thrown off his guard. However, all his enemies were chained; and beyond that chain they could not go. God was his unseen Protector, and did not suffer his faithful servant to be greatly moved.” (Clarke)

  Miserable comforters:

     We know who the ancients were and what they have said! Do you not understand what I am saying, any of you? Where are your comforting words that will help me fight this affliction? When will your windy words end? 

     They did not impress Job, his friends. Thier words spoke of what they thought was correct by quoting the ancients and thier own idea of what was right and wrong.   

Verses 4-5:

I also could speak as you do,

    if you were in my place;

I could join words together against you

    and shake my head at you.

5 I could strengthen you with my mouth,

    and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.

     Job words remind us here of what Jesus dealt with day by day. 

10 Men have gaped at me with their mouth;

    they have struck me insolently on the cheek;

    they mass themselves together against me.

     Job simply could not reconcile his previous righteous and pious life with his present desolation. Why would God do this?

12 I was at ease, and he broke me apart;

    he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;

he set me up as his target;

13     his archers surround me.

He slashes open my kidneys and does not spare;

    he pours out my gall on the ground.

18: O earth, do not cover my blood:

“Job thought that he would die before he could be vindicated before his peers; so he was concerned that the injustice done to him should never be forgotten.” (Smick)

Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbor: Job here recognized that what he needed was a true advocate in heaven; someone to plead his case before God. Job knew he needed a mediator, someone to bridge the gap between himself and a holy, great God. Job also knew by faith that such a Person existed and could be trusted. This made Job a believer in Jesus before Jesus ever walked the earth; he had faith in God’s Messiah to come.

20 My friends scorn me;

    my eye pours out tears to God,

21 that he would argue the case of a man with God,

As Job continues to go back and forth in his words he sees that God is for him. 19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. Job will continue to be faithful through these trials as long as God is steering his path. He just really wants to understand what this is all about. It's causing him so much grief that he's unable to find any rest. 

Where then is my hope? 

     My spirit is broken Job says and his days are gone. He looks upon his grave, his name being etched slowly. He is not ready to die though, as he God has not yet spoken. The grieving continues, even though he finds no comfort in it. His hope is still in the Lord because his faith stands strong. 

God has the capability to hold our understanding and our ability to find wisdom. Just as he has with Job and his friends. It makes sense that our trials are sometimes impossible to figure out or even see past our own eyes. Job struggles with this idea throughout the previous 17 chapters so far. 

Verse 4:

 Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,

    therefore you will not let them triumph.

Again in verse 6 God reminds us that Jesus was and is from the beginning of everything. Job calls himself notorious or an example to the onlookers. Saying that he has been humbled greatly.

“He has made me a byword of the peoples,

    and I am one before whom men spit.

     Our own humiliation is inevitable. The frailty of humanity and the fallen nature of this world combine together to make the humiliation of man certain, yet it may come in many forms. Our humiliation may come to us through our own sin, through our own weaknesses, through circumstances beyond our control, or by what others put upon us.

     Verse 9: Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger. With perseverance and being progressive, victory is granted. God's trials are not simple tasks at times. They are demanding and restless, but they shape us and its to complete God's will.

Yet the righteous will hold to his way:

· “You shall hold on your way because Jesus holds you in his strong hand. He is your Shepherd; He has vanquished all your foes, and you shall never perish.”

· “You shall hold on your way because the Father has designed through you to glorify His Son; and there must be no gaps in his crown where jewels ought to be.”

· “You shall hold on your way because the Holy Spirit has designed to make you his residence and home; and He is within you the perennial spring of a holy life.”

(F.B. Meyer)

The last few verses, Job looks into the graveyard, walks to his grave and wonders if there is rest in Sheol. But Job can't trust it, as God's words have yet to pour into his heart before death reaches. Until then, Job lies in ash and discomfort, looking to his friends and hoping they begin to understand the suffering he is enduring.    

 Bildad the wicked:

     Job was comparing them to beasts of the world. Which meant that they were stupid as the creatures. Bildad didn't understand this as he portrays Job as the beast. Bildad was frustrated with Job as he couldn't hear the words that they were speaking. Which may be why Bildad became cruel in this chapter. Verse 5-6 is Bildad explaining that his previous words were because he was part of the being wicked. (Job 17:10-16)

Verses 5-6:

“The light of the wicked indeed goes out,

And the flame of his fire does not shine.

The light is dark in his tent,

And his lamp beside him is put out.”

Verse 7: His strong steps are shortened: Bildad here described the wicked man as someone weak in his steps, unable or unwilling to continue the journey of life. He felt this accurately described Job and set him among the wicked men. (Guzik)

Verse 9: a snare lays hold of him: Not only is the wicked man weak in his journey, he is also on a dangerous path. He walks right into trouble, and the net takes him by the heel. In Bildad’s perspective, Job has walked into his own crisis, and a snare lays hold of him. (Guzik)

     In the first and second chapter, we know Job loses his family and that his health becomes very ill. Bildad takes advantage of that and uses it against Job. In verse 13 and 19 he implies that because of his wickedness, his family has perished along with his health. Beating an already suffering man into the ashes he lies in. What a friend to say that from no evidence. Bildad knows no sin that Job has cast and still wants to dig his hand into his soul and hold it above his head. He wants to believe that Job is wicked because otherwise Bildad would try to understand. And in verse 21, Bildad doubts Jobs faith. 

21 Surely such are the dwellings of the unrighteous,

    such is the place of him who knows not God.”

Bildad let his faith go in this moment, spouting lies about his character. Chapter 1:8 And 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, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Bildad is well aware he is a blameless man and that God spoke to Job before. 

Bildad speaks here in chapter 8:

20 “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,

    nor take the hand of evildoers.

Job in chapter 9: 

21 I am blameless; I regard not myself;

    I loathe my life.

22 It is all one; therefore I say,

    ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

Job understands that the Lord causes suffering for the wicked and the blameless. Bildad only understands that with wickedness comes suffering. 

 Job's redeemer:

     How long will you torment my soul? His friends showed no empathy after they started speaking. Especially to a man in incredible agony. Job calls out to the Lord but hears nothing. Job longs for this more than his boils on his skin to be washed. His faith stands strong amid this great adversity. 

     He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass: This is reminiscent of Job’s complaint in Job 3:23, where he sadly said that he was one whom God has hedged in.

     His hope was foundational. He leaned on it and trusted it. Hope comes from the Lord, but Job says He uprooted his hope and calls him His enemy. Verse 12-13: He has kindled his wrath against me and counts me as his adversary. 12 His troops come on together; they have cast up their siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent. Job was unable to see hope in his situation because he thought God was against him. For where is hope other than the Lord. 

Verses 13-19 Job is saying that whoever I once knew has now turned against me. They abhor me. How lonely it must feel to be once loved by many only to find that in adversity your friend's, family and even the children turn from you. All because they judge him without evidence. They think he is a wicked man that deserves torture. How wrong they were. 

He has put my brothers far from me,

My relatives have failed me,

my close friends have forgotten me.

I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;

My breath is strange to my wife,

Even young children despise me;

All my intimate friends abhor me,

     Why do you persecute me as God does: Job made his appeal to God and felt there was no reply given. Now, he appealed to his friends and hoped to at least turn their hearts towards him. (Guzik)

     Oh, that my words were written: Job seemed to have no sense that his own personal tragedy and drama would indeed be written and inscribed in a book and be so for the benefit of countless others through succeeding generations. His words and life were indeed written with an iron pen and lead, forever! (Guzik)

     The word translated Redeemer is goel, presenting one of the wonderful concepts of the Old Testament. “The ‘Goel’ stood for another to defend his cause, to avenge wrongs done to him, and so to acquit him of all charges laid against him.” (Morgan)

     For Job still knows his redeemer. How great is that? Through it all, there is still hope. For he knows (19:25) that God will be there in the end. Standing above and on the earth.

Zophar last words:

     Zophar felt the need to answer with haste or urgency. He thoughts Job's words were troubling, so he claimed a spirit has spoken to him. Zophar speaks with poetic assurance throughout the chapter. Continues to agree with the others that Job was a wicked man and in need of repentance. 

     Do you not know this of old: Zophar here did what he and his friends had done on previous occasions; he made a claim to authority simply by saying, “We all know these things to be true,” without proving the claim. (Guzik)

Verse 12-14:

     Here, he implied a painful and aggressive application. He would insist that Job was this wicked man, and his previous blessing and prosperity in life was only the sweet that has now turned sour. Our desires at times are satisfying, instant gratification. They are what we fall to when we are weak and in pain. We know these desires deserve death, but we take them anyway. Hiding our shame and guilt from others. Continuing to keep our head high as we walk like imposters, pretenders. There is no faith here, only death. 

12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth,

    though he hides it under his tongue,

13 though he is loath to let it go

    and holds it in his mouth,

14 yet his food is turned in his stomach;

    it is the venom of cobras within him.

     God casts them out of his belly: “Thus God will rake out of his belly, so that piece of his heart shall go with it. In the last destruction of Jerusalem, some of the Jews had swallowed their gold, that the Roman soldiers might not have it; this was found out, and thereupon thousands of them were killed and ripped up for the gold that might be found in their stomachs and bowels. In like sort shall God deal with those covetous.” (Trapp)

Job 6:4: Job says, 

    For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;

    my spirit drinks their poison;

    the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Zophar speaks on that verse and uses it against Job below. Again claiming that Job was a wicked man.

24 He will flee from an iron weapon;

    a bronze arrow will strike him through.

25 It is drawn forth and comes out of his body;

    the glittering point comes out of his gallbladder;

    terrors come upon him.

     The below verse was the last time Zophar spoke in the Book of Job. His conclusion was wrong and his spirit lost. Although he was right in saying what wickedness entails, and even as his eloquence proved poetic. He just implied it incorrectly, as Job was not suffering because of his wickedness.

29 This is the wicked man's portion from God,

    the heritage decreed for him by God.”

     What caused the three friends to change thier minds? In Job 2:11-13 they came, they sat down and for seven days they stayed silent for Job's grief was to strong for words. Now they cast anger and frustration without any means to understand. They all caved for themselves. They wanted to be right and they fed off of Job's suffering.