Job 27-28 - Where is Wisdom?

And Job continued his discourse:

2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice,

    the Almighty, who has made my life bitter,

3 as long as I have life within me,

    the breath of God in my nostrils,

4 my lips will not say anything wicked,

    and my tongue will not utter lies.

5 I will never admit you are in the right;

    till I die, I will not deny my integrity...

8 For what hope have the godless when they are cut off,

    when God takes away their life?

9 Does God listen to their cry

    when distress comes upon them?

10 Will they find delight in the Almighty?

    Will they call on God at all times?

11 “I will teach you about the power of God;

    the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal.

12 You have all seen this yourselves.

    Why then this meaningless talk?

13 “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked,

    the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty:

14 However many his children, their fate is the sword;

    his offspring will never have enough to eat...

21 The east wind carries him off, and he is gone;

    it sweeps him out of his place.

22 It hurls itself against him without mercy

    as he flees headlong from its power.

23 It claps its hands in derision

    and hisses him out of his place.”

28 (1)  There is a mine for silver

    and a place where gold is refined.

2 Iron is taken from the earth,

    and copper is smelted from ore...

5 The earth, from which food comes,

    is transformed below as by fire;

6 lapis lazuli comes from its rocks,

    and its dust contains nuggets of gold...

9 People assault the flinty rock with their hands

    and lay bare the roots of the mountains.

10 They tunnel through the rock;

    their eyes see all its treasures.

11 They search the sources of the rivers

    and bring hidden things to light.

12 But where can wisdom be found?

    Where does understanding dwell?

13 No mortal comprehends its worth;

    it cannot be found in the land of the living.

14 The deep says, “It is not in me”;

    the sea says, “It is not with me.”

15 It cannot be bought with the finest gold,

    nor can its price be weighed out in silver...

20 Where then does wisdom come from?

    Where does understanding dwell?

21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,

    concealed even from the birds in the sky.

22 Destruction and Death say,

    “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”

23 God understands the way to it

    and He alone knows where it dwells,

24 for He views the ends of the earth

    and sees everything under the heavens.

25 When He established the force of the wind

    and measured out the waters,

26 when He made a decree for the rain

    and a path for the thunderstorm,

27 then He looked at wisdom and appraised it;

    He confirmed it and tested it.

28 And He said to the human race,

    “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,

    and to shun evil is understanding.”

Job 27-28

Job points out the elusiveness of wisdom. What is this wisdom Job is talking about? All through this book we have been confronted with the question, "Why does God treat Job this way?" But we have information that Job does not have. He has no knowledge of Satan's challenge to God regarding him, and so his questioning is even deeper than ours. But we often feel this way ourselves.

On one occasion my wife and I were in San Diego, and a naval officer invited us to dinner. We noticed as he led us into the officer's club that he walked with a cane. Inquiring of some other friends, we learned that he was suffering from melanoma, a cancer that was threatening his life. The friend also told us that this man had lost two sons at the age of nineteen from cancer, and just that week he had received word that his fourteen-year-old son also had cancer. Our hearts went out to him, but his spirit was strong and triumphant. He was gracious, saying no word of this himself, and he appeared to be a man utterly free from care. But our hearts cried out, "Why? Why do these kinds of things happen?"

Life presents these riddles to us. And when we wonder why these things happen, wisdom is the answer. Wisdom is the knowledge of the nature of things, the reasons behind what happens. Someone has described wisdom as the right use of knowledge. It is how to use situations in such a way that things work out right. That is what we lack. We can do all kinds of things with knowledge, but we do not do the right things with it. That is why knowledge of nuclear physics ends up with atom bombs that destroy and become malicious instruments of warfare. Humans lack wisdom. They have lots of knowledge, but they have no wisdom on how to use it. This is what Job in his long hours of torment is searching for: What is the reason behind these things?

Job points out to his friends that humans do not know the way to wisdom. It is not found in the land of the living. Only God understands the way to it and He alone knows where it dwells, Job 28:23 And in all His suffering, yet Job points back to God, And He said to the human race,“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”Job 28:28

Prayer: Lord, I am humbled because I lack wisdom. Thank You for this promise: "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God... and it will be given to him" (James 1:5). Thank you for the wisdom that is found in Jesus Christ. In His name I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: Culture has substituted knowledge and expertise for wisdom and the loss has been incalculable. Are we humbly seeking to know Christ in whom is hidden all wisdom?

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Job 25-26 - The Grand Perhaps

Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

2 “Dominion and awe belong to God;

    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.

3 Can his forces be numbered?

    On whom does his light not rise?

4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God?

    How can one born of woman be pure?

5 If even the moon is not bright

    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,

6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—

    a human being, who is only a worm!”

26 (1) Then Job replied:

2 “How you have helped the powerless!

    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!

    And what great insight you have displayed!

4 Who has helped you utter these words?

    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?

5 “The dead are in deep anguish,

    those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

6 The realm of the dead is naked before God;

    Destruction lies uncovered.

7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;

    he suspends the earth over nothing.

8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds,

    yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

9 He covers the face of the full moon,

    spreading his clouds over it.

10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters

    for a boundary between light and darkness.

11 The pillars of the heavens quake,

    aghast at his rebuke.

12 By his power he churned up the sea;

    by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

13 By his breath the skies became fair;

    his hand pierced the gliding serpent.

14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works;

    how faint the whisper we hear of him!

    Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

Job 25-26

In chapter 26 Job hangs up the phone, in a sense. He says there is no use talking to his friends anymore. His answer to Bildad is one of rather deep and rich irony in which he suggests that his friends have been of no help at all to him. I think, however, that Job needs to learn something from this, and we will see in the next chapters that he does. Oswald Chambers reminds us that God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers that he uses to crush us with; or if we do, it will be at great pain to ourselves. Job does not see here that God also is using these friends in his life. Satan has sent them; God is using them; and we will soon see the result in Job's life.

Once again he goes on to state the majesty of God in a brilliant and moving passage, and he closes with this word in verse 14: "And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?" What he says is simply that there is a mystery in God that no human can plumb. Even when we have understood something of the greatness of His wisdom and majesty in nature—when we have learned of His omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience, and we know that as part of our theology—it still does not explain all of His ways.

I am reminded of a verse from Robert Browning's poem "Bishop Blougram's Apology," where the poet describes an arrogant young man who has worked out all his theology so that God is carefully boxed in. He believes he knows the answers to all the theological riddles of life; there is no place for God in it. He can handle it all himself. He comes to an old bishop and tells him he does not need God any longer; he is committed to his unbelief. The old bishop warns him:

"Just when we are safest, there's a sunset-touch,

A fancy from a flower-bell, some one's death,

A chorus-ending from Euripides,—

And that's enough for fifty hopes and fears...

The Grand Perhaps."

What he means is that just when you think you have God all worked out, something happens that you can't handle—it doesn't fit your box. You see a sunset that is so moving that it awakens depths in you that you can't explain. Someone dies, and you don't know how to handle it. You see a flower, and you are touched by it. You listen to a chorus-ending from Euripides, and it moves you in such a strange way, it doesn't fit the facts. And in all these ways God is breaking through into our lives—the grand perhaps, and that's enough for fifty hopes and fears—the great mystery of God.

Prayer: Father, thank You for the encouragement I receive from this book to know that other men and women in the past have faced the same difficult questions that I have faced, and they have not been knocked off their feet and driven to curse you. Help me to take heart in what trials I may be going through and know that You will bring me through. Help me to focus my heart on Your love and Your grace and Your presence in my life. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: God's people have a rich heritage of heroes of the faith. Have we caught their vision of the majesty and goodness of our God, and set our hearts on faith-full discipleship?

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Job 22-24 - False Accusations

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?

    Can even a wise person benefit him?

3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?

    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you

    and brings charges against you?

5 Is not your wickedness great?

    Are not your sins endless?

6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;

    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.

7 You gave no water to the weary

    and you withheld food from the hungry,

8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—

    an honored man, living on it.

9 And you sent widows away empty-handed

    and broke the strength of the fatherless.

10 That is why snares are all around you,

    why sudden peril terrifies you,...

15 Will you keep to the old path

    that the wicked have trod?

16 They were carried off before their time,

    their foundations washed away by a flood.

17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!

    What can the Almighty do to us?’

18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,

    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;...

21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;

    in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 Accept instruction from his mouth

    and lay up his words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:

    If you remove wickedness far from your tent

24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,

    your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

25 then the Almighty will be your gold,

    the choicest silver for you.

26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty

    and will lift up your face to God.

27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,

    and you will fulfill your vows.

23 (1) Then Job replied:

2 “Even today my complaint is bitter;

    his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.

3 If only I knew where to find him;

    if only I could go to his dwelling!

4 I would state my case before him

    and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would find out what he would answer me,

    and consider what he would say to me.

6 Would he vigorously oppose me?

    No, he would not press charges against me.

7 There the upright can establish their innocence before him,

    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;

    if I go to the west, I do not find him.

9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;

    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

10 But he knows the way that I take;

    when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

11 My feet have closely followed his steps;

    I have kept to his way without turning aside.

12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?

    He does whatever he pleases.

14 He carries out his decree against me,

    and many such plans he still has in store.

15 That is why I am terrified before him;...

24 (1) “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?

    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?

2 There are those who move boundary stones;

    they pasture flocks they have stolen...

9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast;

    the infant of the poor is seized for a debt...

12 The groans of the dying rise from the city,

    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.

    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.

13 “There are those who rebel against the light,

    who do not know its ways

    or stay in its paths.

14 When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,

    kills the poor and needy,

    and in the night steals forth like a thief...

22 But God drags away the mighty by his power;

    though they become established, they have no assurance of life.

23 He may let them rest in a feeling of security,

    but his eyes are on their ways.

24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;

    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

    they are cut off like heads of grain.

25 “If this is not so, who can prove me false

    and reduce my words to nothing?”

Job 22-24

Here Eliphaz misunderstands what Job has said. He thinks that Job is accusing God of unfairly punishing him, but, once again, Job never said that. If Job were guilty of this he would be doing what Satan wanted him to do—he would be accusing and blaspheming God. It is true that Job asks God questions about His motives, but never once does he say, "You're at fault," and charge God with unrighteousness, as Eliphaz suggests. I think this is one of the most helpful things we can learn from the book of Job, because in our testings, our pressures, and our times of torment, Satan is trying to get us to do the very thing he tried to get Job to do—he is trying to get us to blame God and accuse Him of being an unfair and unjust God. If that is where Satan drives us, we have fallen. We have gone over the brink and become guilty of an accusation against the God of righteousness. Job never does that. He comes very close, but he refuses to do that. So because he is upset and angry with Job's resistance against his charges, Eliphaz goes on to invent unsupported, untruthful accusations against him (Job 22:5-11).

Today there is a kind of pharisaism that seeks to get you to agree with its limited theology, and if you refuse to do so, some may insult you and pour out charges against you. In my wife's early Christian life, she began listening to a radio broadcast that taught her the truth from the Scriptures, and the pastor of her church became very angry and upset at her. He brought her before him and tried to straighten her out, using insults instead of the Scriptures. When she would not be persuaded because she was learning the truth from the Word of God, he did the very thing that Eliphaz did. He railed against her and charged her with all kinds of things that she had not done, threatening to expose her to the church as a heretic. She endured a great deal of mental torment and suffering through that time.

There is nothing worse than this kind of unfounded, murderous, slanderous attack that Job has to face from his so-called friends. Eliphaz goes on, in chapter 22:12-14, to accuse Job of having wrong perceptions about God: "The trouble with you, Job, is you think God is such a limited being that He can't even see what you're doing. He's up high in heaven, and the clouds come in-between and shut you off, and you think you're getting by with hiding your sin because God can't see through the clouds!" This is a ridiculous accusation, for Job has already demonstrated that he has a consciousness of the mightiness, the greatness, the majesty, and the mystery of God—far beyond what these friends hold. But they cannot live with that, and they will not accept it, so they charge him with these childish concepts.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that You know me better than anyone else. You know my heart; and I trust that You will reveal to me that which I need to know. Show me where I have strayed from Your path and help me to walk in obedience. And Lord, please keep me from every accusing You of being an unjust God. You are full of compassion, love and forgiveness, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: Human judgment can be helpful, yet damaging. Can we choose the grace-filled option, inviting the God who loves us to search and know our hearts, and lead us?

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Who Am I

Who am I? It's a question we will ask ourselves throughout our lives. If I’ve learned one thing, I’ve learned that I can’t always believe what I think about myself, and I can’t always believe what people are saying about me and it would be so dangerous to believe what the world’s culture says about me. But…I can believe what the Lord says about me. I can rest in the truth of His word and the promises He gives.

Some of those promises are:

I am the Creator and you are my creation. I breathed into your nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7).
I created you in my own image (Genesis 1:27).
My eyes saw your unformed substance (Psalm 139:16).
I knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13).
I know the number of hairs on your head, and before a word is on your tongue I know it (Matthew 10:30; Psalm 139:4).
You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
You are more valuable than many sparrows (Matthew 10:31).
I have given you dominion over all sheep and oxen and all beasts of the field and birds of the heavens and fish of the sea (Psalm 8:6–8; Genesis 1:26, 28).
I have crowned you with glory and honor as the pinnacle and final act of the six days of creation (Psalm 8:5; Genesis 1:26).

Job 20-21 - When Life Seems Unfair

Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer
    because I am greatly disturbed.
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
    and my understanding inspires me to reply.
4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old,
    ever since mankind was placed on the earth,
5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief,
    the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
6 Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens
    and his head touches the clouds,
7 he will perish forever, like his own dung;
    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’...
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
    the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;
    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.
19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;
    he has seized houses he did not build...
22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
    the full force of misery will come upon him.
23 When he has filled his belly,
    God will vent his burning anger against him
    and rain down his blows on him...
27 The heavens will expose his guilt;
    the earth will rise up against him.
28 A flood will carry off his house,
    rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.
29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,
    the heritage appointed for them by God.”
21 (1) Then Job replied:
2 “Listen carefully to my words;
    let this be the consolation you give me...
7 Why do the wicked live on,
    growing old and increasing in power?
8 They see their children established around them,
    their offspring before their eyes.
9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;
    the rod of God is not on them...
13 They spend their years in prosperity
    and go down to the grave in peace.
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
    We have no desire to know your ways.
15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
    What would we gain by praying to him?’
16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
17 “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
    How often does calamity come upon them,
    the fate God allots in his anger?...
22 “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
    since he judges even the highest?
23 One person dies in full vigor,
    completely secure and at ease,
24 well nourished in body,
    bones rich with marrow.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
    never having enjoyed anything good.
26 Side by side they lie in the dust,
    and worms cover them both...
29 Have you never questioned those who travel?
    Have you paid no regard to their accounts—
30 that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
    that they are delivered from the day of wrath?
31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?
    Who repays them for what they have done?...
34 “So how can you console me with your nonsense?
    Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”
Job 20-21

Life seems to be unfair. There appears to be a basic unfairness at the root of things, and this is what causes many people to be troubled by Christians' claims about a loving, faithful, just, and holy God. You often hear the question raised, "If there is a good God, why does He let this kind of thing happen?" Job is raising the same question. He says to these pious, respectable friends, "Your arguments do not square with the facts. You say God always visits wrath upon the wicked. What about these wicked people who live without a touch? God never does a thing to them. What about the fact that He seems to treat people very unfairly? Folks who seem to deserve nothing but the grace of God, who are a loving, gentle, kind people, have endless problems and die forsaken. And some who are selfish and cruel and self-centered are the ones who seem to be able to live without struggle. What about this?"

Job tells his friends, "If you'll just inquire among those who travel, the people who get around and see life, you'll find that they support what I'm saying. The wicked often escape the day of calamity. It's not just true around here; this is true everywhere. The wicked live above the law, and nobody tells them that they're doing wrong. They get by with it. They die highly honored in their death, their graves are adorned and guarded, and God does nothing about that." So he says at last in verse 34: "So how can you console me with your nonsense? Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!"

If you intend to argue with Job, you had better get your arguments well in hand. This man is able to see through the error of logic in these people's position. They have a theology that does not square with experience, and that is where the problem lies.

These friends represent people—and there are many around today—who have placed God in a box. They have what they think is a clear understanding of all the ways of God, and they can predict how He is going to act, but when He acts in a way that they do not understand and do not expect, they have no way of handling it because it is their creed they have faith in, and not in God Himself.

This is what Job is learning. His creed has been demolished by his experiences. He has had to file his theology in the wastebasket because it did not fit what he was going through. Someone has well said that a person with a true experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument. Job's friends are unable to answer him because his experience rings true.

Prayer: Lord, expand my understanding of who You are. I don't want to simply know about You; I want to know You intimately and personally in my experience. And may I never have faith in a creed but in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. In His name I pray, Amen.

Life Application: There is no room for phoniness in authentic Christianity. Rationalizing is feckless, so are we seeking genuine heart knowledge and intimacy with Christ our Lord?

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Job 18-19 - A Vision of Faith

Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 “When will you end these speeches?
    Be sensible, and then we can talk...
5 “The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out;
    the flame of his fire stops burning...
10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground;
    a trap lies in his path.
11 Terrors startle him on every side
    and dog his every step.
12 Calamity is hungry for him;
    disaster is ready for him when he falls.
13 It eats away parts of his skin;
    death’s firstborn devours his limbs...
17 The memory of him perishes from the earth;
    he has no name in the land.
18 He is driven from light into the realm of darkness
    and is banished from the world.
19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
    no survivor where once he lived...
21 Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man;
    such is the place of one who does not know God.”
19 (1) Then Job replied:
2 “How long will you torment me
    and crush me with words?
3 Ten times now you have reproached me;
    shamelessly you attack me.
4 If it is true that I have gone astray,
    my error remains my concern alone.
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
    and use my humiliation against me,
6 then know that God has wronged me
    and drawn his net around me...
10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
    he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me;
    he counts me among his enemies...
13 “He has alienated my family from me;
    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away;
    my closest friends have forgotten me...
20 I am nothing but skin and bones;
    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,
    for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me as God does?
    Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,
    that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead,
    or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end He will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes—I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me!
28 “If you say, ‘How we will hound him,
    since the root of the trouble lies in him,’
29 you should fear the sword yourselves;
    for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,
    and then you will know that there is judgment.
Job 18-19

This is one of the great words of faith in the Old Testament, one of the earliest intimations of the resurrection of the body found in the Word of God. Slowly, through the anguish and gloom of this man's heart, born out of the passion and the pathos that he feels, comes the dawning realization that God is working out a great and mighty purpose, and that one of these days God Himself (Job has never failed to see God's great majesty and power) shall be visibly present before people. God will come Himself and vindicate all that He does. This is a marvelous glance ahead by faith to the incarnation of the Lord. Job calls him "my Redeemer and my Vindicator, the one who will defend me and vindicate all that has happened to me."

I think there is nothing that the study of this book of Job does for us more than to understand that life is basically a mystery. We are surrounded by mystery. We cannot comprehend it all; it is painted on too large a canvas. It is too great and involved for us to grasp it all. The ways of God are beyond us many times, and yet Job is gradually learning in the midst of his pain to trust the God who is there, to trust that He will come up with answers and that He is working out a purpose in line with His love. That is what life gradually teaches us.

Elisabeth Elliot described briefly her first widowhood. Her husband was slain along with four companions in the jungles of Ecuador by members of the Auca tribe. She spent thirteen years as a widow, and then she married a gracious and wonderful man with whom she was very happy for just a few more years. Then he died, taken by cancer. She said, "I have spent six-sevenths of my life single, though I have been married twice. I did not choose the gift of widowhood, but I accepted it as the sphere in which I am to live to the glory of God."

This is what Job is gradually learning. God is working out a purpose. It is not related to specific sin, although, as we will see before the book is over, Job learns much more about the depravity of his own nature.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, that You have sent Jesus to be my Redeemer, and I can trust that You are working out Your purposes. Help me to accept what You have in store for me as the sphere in which I am to live to Your glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Life Application: When life tumbles in, leaving us mystified, are we allowing God to plant hope and faith in our minds and hearts? Do we humbly recognize his inscrutable wisdom?

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Job 16-17 - Honest to God

Then Job replied:
2 “I have heard many things like these;
    you are miserable comforters, all of you!
3 Will your long-winded speeches never end?
    What ails you that you keep on arguing?
4 I also could speak like you,
    if you were in my place;
I could make fine speeches against you
    and shake my head at you.
5 But my mouth would encourage you;
    comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
6 “Yet if I speak, my pain is not relieved;
    and if I refrain, it does not go away.
7 Surely, God, you have worn me out;
    you have devastated my entire household.
8 You have shriveled me up—and it has become a witness;
    my gauntness rises up and testifies against me...
12 All was well with me, but he shattered me;
    he seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;...
15 “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin
    and buried my brow in the dust.
16 My face is red with weeping,
    dark shadows ring my eyes;
17 yet my hands have been free of violence
    and my prayer is pure.
18 “Earth, do not cover my blood;
    may my cry never be laid to rest!
19 Even now my witness is in heaven;
    my advocate is on high.
20 My intercessor is my friend
    as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God
    as one pleads for a friend.
22 “Only a few years will pass
    before I take the path of no return.
17 1 My spirit is broken,
    my days are cut short,
    the grave awaits me.
2 Surely mockers surround me;
    my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
    Who else will put up security for me?...
6 “God has made me a byword to everyone,
    a man in whose face people spit...
9 Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways,
    and those with clean hands will grow stronger.
10 “But come on, all of you, try again!
    I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed, my plans are shattered.
    Yet the desires of my heart
12 turn night into day;
    in the face of the darkness light is near...
15 where then is my hope—
    who can see any hope for me?
Job 16-17

In chapters 16 and 17, Job answers his friends. He does not know what to say, but he is trying to be honest. The great thing about Job is that he is no hypocrite; he never tries to cover over or set his case in a better light--he simply blurts out all the hurt and anguish of his heart as best he can. These are sarcastic words coming from a man who is tortured. You can see from this that Satan, though he has faded from the scene, is still there in the background using these friends as channels for what the apostle Paul calls "the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16). These "flaming arrows" are the accusations of the accuser against believers. Let us beware of becoming a channel for Satan's accusations against someone who is suffering as Job is suffering here.

Then Job goes on to state the facts, as he understands them. First he says, "All I can conclude from what I am suffering is that God must hate me." "God assails me and tears me in his anger" (Job 16:9a). Job sees that even the people around him have rejected him and ascribes responsibility for those circumstances to God: "God has turned me over to evil men and thrown me into the clutches of the wicked" (Job 16:11).

Job charges God with all that is wrong in his life. Yet God is wonderfully patient. He does not reply against Job, nor does He strike him down in anger. Job is certainly not the finest example of faith in the Scriptures. Men like Paul suffered extremely, as did Job. We think of that Silent Sufferer in the Garden of Gethsemane, who, "when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:23). How much higher is that level of response than what we see in the book of Job? But Job is an example for us of how we must break through our natural view of life so that we begin to see things in a different light. This book is here to teach us that God sometimes has to translate theology into painful experience before we really begin to grasp what He is trying to say to us.

Prayer: Father, thank You that You have sent Your Son, who has endured more suffering than I ever will. Grant me the strength to endure whatever You allow into my life. Help me to understand You and know Your love more. In Jesus' precious and holy name, Amen.

Life Application: When we are confronted with unaccountable pain or seemingly unearned trials, do we see Jesus as our model of redemptive suffering?

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