Day: January 7, 2025

Job 16-20

Job 16:1-6(NLT) Job’s Fifth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
​¹ Then Job spoke again:
² “I have heard all this before.
What miserable comforters you are!
³ Won’t you ever stop blowing hot air?
What makes you keep on talking?
⁴ I could say the same things if you were in my place.
I could spout off criticism and shake my head at you.
⁵ But if it were me, I would encourage you.
I would try to take away your grief.
⁶ Instead, I suffer if I defend myself,
and I suffer no less if I refuse to speak.

Bildad then answers Job back again reasoning from human understanding and tradition that he has observed.   If Job is being punished by God then there surely must be a reason for it. 

Job 18:5-14(NLT) “Surely the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.
The sparks of their fire will not glow.
⁶ The light in their tent will grow dark.
The lamp hanging above them will be quenched.
⁷ The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened.
Their own schemes will be their downfall.
⁸ The wicked walk into a net.
They fall into a pit.
⁹ A trap grabs them by the heel.
A snare holds them tight.
¹⁰ A noose lies hidden on the ground.
A rope is stretched across their path.
¹¹ “Terrors surround the wicked
and trouble them at every step.
¹² Hunger depletes their strength,
and calamity waits for them to stumble.
¹³ Disease eats their skin;
death devours their limbs.
¹⁴ They are torn from the security of their homes
and are brought down to the king of terrors

Job continues to say “I” have done this, “I” have done that, or “I” have said, showing that he has not grasped why the situation that he is in has happened.  All the arguments that the miserable comforters expound are based on a human viewpoint, not on the righteous requirements of a just God.  We want the outcomes of our lives to be based on the good things that we do, not on the grace which God only can give us.  Without God we would all perish instantly with the Adversary able to accuse us just as Job with consequences ending in death.  If God was not good and gracious all would perish from the earth.

In Job 19 the section of his discourse includes these cherished words:

Job 19:23-29(NLT) “Oh, that my words could be recorded.
Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,
²⁴ carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead,
engraved forever in the rock.
²⁵ “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last.
²⁶ And after my body has decayed,
yet in my body I will see God!
²⁷ I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!
²⁸ “How dare you go on persecuting me,
saying, ‘It’s his own fault’?
²⁹ You should fear punishment yourselves,
for your attitude deserves punishment.
Then you will know that there is indeed a judgment

Job speaks absolutely the truth about judgment coming for all.  The revelation that there will be a Redeemer on the earth, and that this is his deliverance is amazing.  Bodily resurrection is also foreshadowed here which also lights up the Word to our eyes. 

Remember as we read the book of Job that the overriding theme is that this is the oldest lesson in the world.  Man cannot justify or give himself righteousness.  Only God is righteous and we can receive it from Him by His grace.

-Tom Siderius

Questions for Reflection:

Have you ever used the logic of the comforters using human experience to explain God’s works?

Are the speeches and answers helping you to understand the futility of our human mind to explain our life experiences?