Job 15 –
21
“How rarely we weigh our neighbor in the same balance in which
we weigh ourselves.” Thomas A. Kempis
The three friends of Job become more intense in their
arguments. Their focus becomes more and
more in proving that Job is wrong rather than giving Job help. They HAD to win! If Job was not a sinner being punished by
God, then their understanding of God was all wrong. That would mean that they had no protection
against suffering themselves. If
obedience is not a guarantee of health and wealth, the what happened to Job
might happen to them.
Job’s friends were not true theologians…they saw only one side
of the picture…the side they wanted to see.
Eric Hoffer wrote, “We are least open to precise knowledge
concerning the things we are most vehement about.” OR fearful about! Might be more easily said, “Don’t confuse me
with the facts!”
Eliphaz only repeated himself in his second speech although
this time without any kindness or patience.
He begins to use SARCASM. He
issued two warnings. He was using one of
the oldest tactics in debate—if you can’t refute your opponent’s arguments,
attack his words and make them sound like a lot of “hot air”.
Eliphaz not only heard Job’s words, but he feared where they
led 15:4. If everybody believed as Job
believed: that God does not always punish the wicked and reward the Godly, then
what motive would people have for obeying God?
This is Satan’s theology, the very thing that God was using Job to
refute! If we only serve God for what we
get out of it, then they are really serving themselves…promotes selfishness and
not glorifying God.
The LORD had said such to Israel in its infancy when God dealt
with them as with children. Children
understand rewards and punishments far better than they do ethics and
morality. When the new generation was
about to enter Canaan, Moses gave them a higher motive for obedience…their love
for God. They were no longer children. .
.no need to frighten or bribe them into obeying Him. Love is the fulfillment of the law Rom.
13:8-10. Highest motive John 14:15.
Eliphaz used Job’s words against him. He became sarcastic/he had run out of
something intelligent to say…another debater’s trick. Eliphaz assumed that Job had a wicked heart
15:5-6, lacked wisdom because he lacked experience v. 7-10. Age is no guarantee of wisdom 32:9. He assumed that Job’s attitude was wrong
because he refused God’s help.
Eliphaz begins to describe the sufferings of the ungodly
man…really speaking of Job. He was not a
subtle man. Then his hardest blow: he
called Job a hypocrite and a Godless man…blamed him for the tragedies that had
befallen him and his family.
What he said of the wicked man IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE IN THIS
LIFE. Many wicked people go through life
apparently happy and successful…while many Godly people experience suffering
and seeming failure. It is true that
ULTIMATELY the wicked suffer and the Godly are blessed. “sunshine to the evil and good and sends rain
on the just and the unjust Matt 5:45.
The only suffering that God’s people experience is in this life for in
heaven there will be no pain or tears.
Job said in 16:5 If we swapped places…v. 9- he recognized the source of his suffering.
In chapter 16-17 Job makes three requests of his friends:
1. A plea for sympathy v. 1-14 2. A plea for justice v. 15-22 3. 3.
A pleas for death 17:1-16 When people suffer so much that their “spirit is
broken 17:1 then they lose their ‘fight’ and want life to end. BUT Job did not consider taking his own life
or asking someone else to do it for him.
Life is a sacred gift from God and only God can give it and take it
away.
God did not answer Job’s plea for death because He had
something far better planned for him.
God saw beyond his emotions of depression and bitterness and saw that
Job still had faith.
When speaking to someone – listen with your heart and not just
your ears. It is not what they say but
WHY they say it that is important. Reflect
back to them their pain in different words what they are feeling. Don’t argue or try to convince them with
logical reasoning. Patiently accept
their feelings—build bridges, no walls.
To be a true comforter, there is a price to pay and not
everyone is willing to pay it. II Cor.
1:3-11. John Henry Jowett said, “God does
not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters. God’s comfort is never GIVEN, it is always
LOANED. God expects us to share it with
others.
Bildad takes the soapbox again – rather than offering
compassion he is primed to frighten Job out of his wits with the most vivid
pictures of death. He blamed Job for the
stalemate and admonished him 8:2. Bildad
and the two other friends were playing their same records over and over. Rather than sarcasm, Bildad’s approach was
FEAR. Bildad made 2 serious mistakes…he
preached to the wrong man…Job was a believer, he preached with the wrong
motive…there was no love in his heart.
Bildad’s pictures of the death of the wicked: *A light put out v. 5-6. *A traveler trapped v. 7-10 … dangers people
face when they try to run away from death:
a net, a snare, a trap, a robber, a snare, a trap. A lost man is like a beast because he does
not have God in his life. He cannot
escape the traps *A criminal pursued v.
11-15. *A tree rooted up v. 16-21
Tho Bildad was talking to the wrong man with the wrong motive,
what he said about death should be taken seriously. Death is an enemy to be feared by all who are
not prepared to die and the only way to be prepared is to trust Jesus
Christ. For the born again, death means
going home to the Father. None of the
pictures that Bildad used should be applied to those who have trusted the LORD
for salvation.
19:1-29 Our words either hurt others or heal them; we either
add to their burdens or help them bear their burdens with courage. Job’s friends crushed him with their words,
they made him feel worthless and helpless in the face of all his
suffering. When others need to be
rebuked, we should do it in love and our words should hearten them and not
weaken them.
Job countered Bildad’s frightening pictures: He felt like
AN ANIMAL TRAPPED v. 6 A CRIMINAL
IN COURT v. 7 (Although he pled for
justice and cries out for an Advocate to defend him before God…he did not
realize that he WAS THE ADVOCATE DEFENDING GOD!) a traveler fenced in V. 8 A KING DETHRONED 19:9 A STRUCTURE DESTROYED v. 10 A TREE UPROOTED v. 10 A BESIEGED CITY (once again Job cannot understand why God has
sent so much suffering. Why use an
atomic bomb just to destroy a tent?)
v. 13-22 Job’s suffering affected his relationship with all
people…he was and felt very isolated.
Job was confident of his eternity with God! V. 25-27.
Job closed his speech with a word of warning to his 3 critical
friends 28-29…They would stand and be judged so they better be ready…aren’t you
sinners as well? He will judge them as well…one day they will have to answer to
God for the way they have spoken to and about Job so they better beware.
20-21 Zophar returns with his same old story. He felt insulted by Job and decided to defend
himself. He made affirmations to prove
that the fate of the wicked is indeed terrible:
*Their life is brief 10:4-11;
Their pleasure is temporary v. 12-19 Many people have rejected Christ
and devoted themselves to the pleasure of sin.
They more they indulge, the more they crave; and the more they satisfy
that craving, the less they enjoy. The
less they enjoy, the more they have to sin in order to recapture the old
thrills and the more they sin, the more they destroy their ability to enjoy
anything. Their death is painful v.
20-29
Chapter 21 Job takes Zophar’s speech and shredded it into
bits. *Zophar had said that the life of
a wicked man was brief, but Job refuted him by affirming that wicked people
often live a long time. *Pleasures of the wicked…How often have you seen that
happen. *v. 22-34 Death is death no
matter when it comes. Job gets very
personal with his friends: “If you really believe that the wicked are destined
for an early death, have you ever warned them?
Have you ever denounced them to their face? … NO …then why are you
warning a RIGHTEOUS MAN about his future?
How inconsistent can you get?
Job makes it clear that he has no confidence in what his friends
have said.
If you want to be an encouragement to hurting people try to
see things through their eyes. BE humble
enough to admit that there might be other points of view. They had a narrow experience of life. Held fast to their dogmatic assumptions and
refused to budge.
Someone has defined fanatics as “people who can’t change their
minds and won’t change the subject.
There is always something new to learn about God, the Bible, people, and
life. Let’s be good learners and good listeners!!!!!
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