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Podcast 31, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 17”
Podcast 31, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 17”
Even in his weakened condition, Job stands up to his critical friends. Under the pretense of helping their friend, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zohar presumptuously judge Job to be wicked which to them is the cause of his suffering, Job consistently proclaims his innocence. Chapter 17 is a song of despair. Job speaks only of the grave. He sees the grave as his only escape from his suffering. The grave, for Job, is a happy alternative because Job strongly believes in Christ and the resurrection. His friends, though they believe in a God, do not believe either in Christ or the resurrection. They focus primarily on this life and urge Job to confess his sins and to repent and his life will improve. Job speaks of the grave as his only release.
Job 17:1
“My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.”
His friends believe that if Job doesn’t repent, the grave will lead to greater punishment. Job criticizes them.
Job 17:2
“Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?”
Job’s friends claim that God is against Job. Job retaliates, denying their false assumptions. He does a strange thing. He curses his friends and tells them that because of their willful blindness, God will not exalt them, meaning that when they die they will not live in the presence of God. They are like the five foolish virgins who were not invited into the wedding feast. In the following Job is speaking to God in front of his false friends. Job is asking God “to put me in a surety with thee.” In other words, Job is asking God to save his soul, but he does not pray for the souls of his friends,
Job 17:3-4
‘Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me? For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.”
There is a vast difference between being saved and being exalted. To be saved is to be saved from hell. To be exalted means to be saved in the kingdom of God in heaven. Job is talking of being taken to the third heaven spoken of by Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
Paul refers to the third heaven as the Celestial Glory or Celestial Kingdom.
2 Corinthians 15:40-42
“There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:”
Job speaks only the truth. He will not resort to flattery. He is calling them to repentance.
Job 17:5
“He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.”
Job compares his present life to his former life.
Job 17:6-7
“He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.”
Job bemoans his present condition. By calling himself a “byword” he is saying that he is virtually ignored by his friends. By referring to himself as a “tabret” in former times, he recalls his former glory. Tabret is a percussion instrument, a small drum, and symbolizes joyful times, former celebrations, victory processions, dance and worship.
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By RonaldPodcast 31, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 17”
Even in his weakened condition, Job stands up to his critical friends. Under the pretense of helping their friend, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zohar presumptuously judge Job to be wicked which to them is the cause of his suffering, Job consistently proclaims his innocence. Chapter 17 is a song of despair. Job speaks only of the grave. He sees the grave as his only escape from his suffering. The grave, for Job, is a happy alternative because Job strongly believes in Christ and the resurrection. His friends, though they believe in a God, do not believe either in Christ or the resurrection. They focus primarily on this life and urge Job to confess his sins and to repent and his life will improve. Job speaks of the grave as his only release.
Job 17:1
“My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.”
His friends believe that if Job doesn’t repent, the grave will lead to greater punishment. Job criticizes them.
Job 17:2
“Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their provocation?”
Job’s friends claim that God is against Job. Job retaliates, denying their false assumptions. He does a strange thing. He curses his friends and tells them that because of their willful blindness, God will not exalt them, meaning that when they die they will not live in the presence of God. They are like the five foolish virgins who were not invited into the wedding feast. In the following Job is speaking to God in front of his false friends. Job is asking God “to put me in a surety with thee.” In other words, Job is asking God to save his soul, but he does not pray for the souls of his friends,
Job 17:3-4
‘Lay down now, put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me? For thou hast hid their heart from understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them.”
There is a vast difference between being saved and being exalted. To be saved is to be saved from hell. To be exalted means to be saved in the kingdom of God in heaven. Job is talking of being taken to the third heaven spoken of by Paul.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4
“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
Paul refers to the third heaven as the Celestial Glory or Celestial Kingdom.
2 Corinthians 15:40-42
“There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:”
Job speaks only the truth. He will not resort to flattery. He is calling them to repentance.
Job 17:5
“He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of his children shall fail.”
Job compares his present life to his former life.
Job 17:6-7
“He hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret. Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow.”
Job bemoans his present condition. By calling himself a “byword” he is saying that he is virtually ignored by his friends. By referring to himself as a “tabret” in former times, he recalls his former glory. Tabret is a percussion instrument, a small drum, and symbolizes joyful times, former celebrations, victory processions, dance and worship.