Job 16-:1-5 – Mindless talk doesn’t help a person in pain

Job had become so vexed by his friends’ speeches. His disappointment with them was obvious. They seemed to ignore his plea to accept his innocence. He was not only hurt by feeling that God was against him but also the three friends that had turned against him. Job felt that he could not rely on anyone except himself to argue his own defence.

In Job 16:1-5, he totally dismissed his friends’ speeches and told them off. He felt that what was said by Eliphaz was not only dull and droning but also empty. His conclusion: all of them were miserable comforters. They were miserable comforters because their counsel was based on false assumptions. Their guilty verdict of him was unfounded because they insisted that he had some unconfessed sin when he was clearly aware of his own innocence. Job concluded that their words of comfort did not bring consolation but increased his bewilderment and misery. So, he was puzzled that they could go on in their purposeless and haranguing words, and wondered aloud what led them to go on and on endlessly.  

Job then assured them that if they traded places, he could also be speaking like them if not more vehemently. He could be as heartless and even more cruel. He also knew how to mock them with cutting words. But if the situation had reversed, he knew he would do a better job at strengthening them than what they had done to him. He knew he would not do to them what they were doing to him.

In ministering to the afflicted, we must be sensitive to their situation. Let us be careful not to become miserable comforters. We must seek to bring relief and not annoyance, healing and not affliction, strengthen and not weaken. To be a good counselor, we must cultivate approaches that prove to be sincere, sympathetic and sagacious. This we must do with the help of God.  

Job 15:1-35 – Be careful with our speech

This chapter right through to chapter 21 contain the second round of Job’s debate with his three friends. The subjects of the first round of debate centred mainly on the moral purity, the wisdom, the justice and knowledge of God. The theme has shifted in this second round. The three friends of his were shocked at Job’s seeming disrespect for God. In their estimation, Job was indeed very wicked. They alleged that Job had cleverly camouflaged his sins through the years and insisted that God’s judgement had now come upon him. The main theme of this second round of debate focuses on the result of the wicked in the light of divine providence.

Being the oldest, Eliphaz again kicked off this second round of debates. He began by scolding Job for treating his friends so unkindly. He questioned Job’s claim of being wiser than them. Eliphaz rebuked Job for showing irreverence before God. In his reckoning Job had proven to be unwise when he argued with loud, unreasonable and empty words. Apparently, in exasperation over their insistence that he had sinned, Job must have raised his voice in the first round of debate. According to Eliphaz, such mannerism showed his irreverence towards God and proved conclusively his wickedness.

In verses 7-14. Eliphaz became sarcastic and raised a series of damning questions insinuating that Job was not as wise as he thought he was. In the first place, Eliphaz told him off that he was not the first man ever born, neither did he have a special corner with God. He insisted that some of them were older than Job and were old enough to be his father. How dare Job tried to teach them? Then in verses 17-35, Eliphaz’s theme was on the inevitable punishment that all wicked men who showed disregard for God would receive. He gave this as a veiled warning to Job. 

Here are five lessons we can glean from this chapter. Firstly, we often fail to see the faults in our own life which we condemn in the lives of others. Remember to do a self-evaluation before we criticize others. Secondly, our tongues can be used wrongly and improperly. Instead of encouraging and comforting, we often use them to judge and afflict pain on others. Thirdly, we should seek to be wiser as we grow older and not cynical as we aged. Fourthly, we should learn to bridle our tongue. This is also a reminder of James 1:26. He said, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” So, let’s be quick to listen and slow to anger, and slow to speak. Fifthly, ability to control our speech is an indication of self-mastery. We know that if we can control our tongues, we can regulate our inner man. Consider what Proverbs 16:32 says: “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.”

Job 14:13–22 – A glorious future awaits us I

In the earlier verses, Job gave us a picture of what he thought of earthly existence. His conclusion was drawn from his experience and perhaps also the instruction of the sages of old. He felt that life was not only brief but also tumultuous. Somehow sin seemed to hold sway of mankind and gave him a tendency to sin. And even if one should be able to identify his flaw, yet he was totally powerless and incapable of cleansing himself. Meanwhile God, he insisted, is watching and He is the final arbiter of man. To Him alone are all man accountable. 

Job then gravitated to contemplate about life after its earthly existence. To him death does not end one’s existence. After death, a person continues to exist as a spirit being, in a spirit world known as Sheol. Job wished Sheol would be a place of refuge for him till God’s wrath over him had passed.  Job questioned whether a dead person could live again. His question was: “If a man dies will he live again?” Job lived many years before Christ, unknowingly he was wondering about the resurrection. For us living after the death and resurrection of Christ, Resurrection is our hope. For Christ had risen from the dead, and so all of us would be too, on the last day. For Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:42, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body”

In verse 16, Job returned to think about his own condition. He felt that God had scrutinized him and took note of every sin he had committed. He felt as if all his wrongs were put together and sealed in a bag and preserved. Job concluded that he was being judged for the collective sins he had committed. Any hope of recovering from his condition seemed gone. He felt hopeless

In this first round of dialogue Job had with his three friends, Eliphaz said that God is morally pure, Bildad said that God is totally just, while Zophar insisted that God is all knowing. Job was insistent on his innocence despite his friends’ arguments that it was his sin that had caused his suffering. Job surely would be glad to bear with his suffering, if he only knew that there was indeed a better life prepared for him. Praise God! for we have this assurance which Paul revealed in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” This present earthly body is just a temporary tent. There is coming a more permanent dwelling for us. Christ urges us not to be troubled. He has gone to prepare a place for us and will come back and receive us to Himself. So that where He is there we shall be also.  

Job 14:1-12 – Life is short, use it to serve God

The words of Job remind us of the result of man’s disobedience. God told Adam that the day he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. Adam ate of it and since then, death had been the experience of man. Not only would life be short and brief but also sorrowful and tumultuous. Moses in Psalm 90:10 said that “labor and sorrow” fill the brief lifespan of man. Both Job and his thoughts concur. Verse 3 leaves us with no doubt that God watches us all the time and we are all accountable to Him. The truth is also this: that no one can make himself clean. This implied that sin holds sway in mankind. In truth, we all have the tendency to sin. Thankfully, God has given Jesus, our Lord, through whom He also releases His grace. So that as Isaiah 1:18 says, “Though our sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.”

Our life, Job tells us, is in the hand of God. Verses 5-6 tell us that the length of our earthly existence is determined by Him. Job saw the duration of life as the time to work. And death is likened to rest after one has gone home from work. Here we are also shown the inevitability of death. Unlike a tree that can sprout again even when it is cut down, man’s death is terminal. Therefore, we must remember the word of our Lord in John 9:4, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”  While we are healthy and in our prime, we must do the work of Jesus, which God had sent Him to do. We, His followers, are now His redemptive agents in the world today. Let us be His true ambassadors, and on Christ's behalf calling out to others to be reconciled to God.  

Job 13:23-28 – Always stay humble and contrite before God

Job now calmly presented his case before God. In his mind and conscience, he was totally resolved and confident that he was innocent. However, he knew he still had not convinced his three friends that he had done nothing wrong. Here we can sense that Job’s genuine desire was to make amend if he had wrongly estimated himself. Verse 23 indicates that he wants to know where his sins were. He logically laid out his case, saying how could he possibly forsake any wrong if he couldn’t even identify them. So, the first step to change would simply be self-awareness. He felt that if God would make it known to him then he could do something about it. His plea was for God to first relieve him of his terrible suffering and provide him with the help he was crying for.

Verses 24 suggests that he was feeling lonely, for God seemed very far way. It’s true that when one is going through tough time and struggles, God usually seems far away. One often feels uncared for. He longed to be able to sense God’s presence and friendship. Verse 26 tells us that he had so thoroughly examined his life that he even considered the sin of his youth. He thought perhaps God was dealing with something he did wrong while he was young. Honestly, Job wanted to be rid of the feeling of being so bound up. His condition bugged him. He felt his body decaying away as if he was a moth-eaten garment. 

Note that we know Job was genuinely searching for the cause of his suffering. He even contemplated the things he did when he was a youth. He left no stones unturned to identify where he had gone wrong. Even so we must, when we spent time in self-examination. What we can learn from Job here is this: even if we are confident before man concerning our innocence, we must stay humble and contrite before God. We must not presume on God. We must learn to trust God in our worst of feelings, because faith will overcome fear within our heart.  

Job 13:13-22 - God is not unreasonable

Job implored his friends to be quiet and listen to him. The way he puts it gives us the impression that he felt the urgency to say something that was important. He seemed to have sensed that what he was about to say might even place him in grave danger. It was like a great risk that he was about to make. Then Job proceeded to make a great statement of faith, exclaiming that, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” Job had audacious faith. He knew that God is reasonable. He allows his people, like us, to be candid and frank with Him in their struggles. Job was very sure that he was innocent. But his three friends were insistent that he had harboured some sins. The patriarch then made known that regardless of what his friends thought, he was going to debate his case with God, even at the rick of losing his life. Job was willing to speak his piece with God even if it meant that he had to die. He was willing to accept the punishment whatever it might be.   

Job’s bold claim that he would debate with God is an indication that he did not do anything wrong. Hence, he had nothing to fear. He maintained that he was righteous. If he was not godly, the last thing he would want would be to face the Almighty God. Job believed that his innocence would vindicate him before God. He was clear in his conscience and was sure he would be vindicated. So boldly he told his friends to be prepared to hear God pronounce his justification. Job offered to keep quiet if anyone of them could clearly show him his guilt. In verses 20-22, Job then made two appeals to God. He asked God to withhold his hand and not to terrorise him. So that he would have the strength to come before him and answer any charges God would make against him.

These verses tell us that Job was not afraid to face God because he knew he was innocent. He was sure that God was not an unreasonable person and would listen to him. In these verses we learn that we can come to God and seek to know his mind concerning our condition. For after all God had promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14 saying that “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Job 13:1-12 - Faith seeks reason

Job had been insistent that he was not inferior to his three friends in knowledge. He also knew the wisdom and might of God. Yet His knowledge could not offer him any answer to his struggles. And he still did not know why he was suffering. He expressed his desire to speak directly with God and lay out his case with Him. Job was sure he would have better understanding from God than his three friends. He accused his three friends of lying and were paddler of falsehood. They were physicians of no value. Trying to treat a condition which they had no competence to treat. If they had remained silent it would be more helpful. Job insinuated that they were fools. And even when a fool remains quiet, he would be considered wise.

Job went on the offensive. He implored them to listen to him by insisting that they were showing partiality and speaking unjustly. They were ignorant of Job’s situation yet they were so quick to judge him guilty. Their judgement of Job was on falsehood and not facts. They were based on their assumptions. Job insisted that they themselves would not be able to stand the scrutiny of God. He knew that God would be impartial and all three of them would be proven false finally. And they themselves would not be able to withstand the searchlight of God. Job accused them of spewing out ashes and baseless accusations.

Suffering does not automatically indicate that a person had sinned. It is foolishness to abandon all reasoning and merely resign without challenging the assumption. According to Socrates, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” It is equally true that an unexamined faith is not worth believing. For faith seeks reason. God does not mind us asking honest questions in seeking for the truth. For He knows that in knowing the truth, we shall be set free.