We’ve just passed the half-way mark of the debate between Job and his friends – although the speeches are getting shorter. Today we will hear Job’s reply to Bildad in the second round of the debate.

1 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you torment me
and crush me with your words?
3 These ten times you have been reproaching me;
you are not ashamed to attack me.
4 But even if it were true that I have erred,
my error remains solely my concern!
5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me
and plead my disgrace against me,
6 know then that God has wronged me
and encircled me with his net.

7 “If I cry out, ‘Violence!’
I receive no answer;
I cry for help,
but there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass
and has set darkness over my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my honor
and has taken the crown off my head.
10 He tears me down on every side until I perish;
he uproots my hopelike an uprooted tree.
11 Thus his anger burns against me,
and he considers me among his enemies.
12 His troops advance together;
they throw up a siege ramp against me,
and they camp around my tent.

13 “He has put my relatives far from me;
my acquaintances only turn away from me.
14 My kinsmen have failed me;
my friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my servant girls
consider me a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their eyes.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not respond,
even though I implore him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is repulsive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my brothers.
18 Even youngsters have scorned me;
when I get up, they scoff at me.
19 All my closest friends detest me;
and those whom I love have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and my flesh;
I have escaped alive with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me,
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me like God does?
Will you never be satiated with my flesh?

23 “O that my words were written down!
O that they were written on a scroll!
24 O that with an iron chisel and with lead
they were engraved in a rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that as the last
he will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God,
27 whom I will see for myself,
and whom my own eyes will behold,
and not another.
My heart grows faint within me.
28 If you say, ‘How we will pursue him,
since the root of the trouble is found in him!’
29 Fear the sword yourselves,
for wrath brings the punishment by the sword,
so that you may know
that there is judgment.”

REFLECTIONS

Several times through the book, in the middle of his cries of pain, Job has had flashes of hope and confidence. Verses 25-27 are the climax of those moments: “I know that my redeemer lives.” Somehow, Job knows that after he dies his name will be cleared – not just by some legal process, but by God himself, the living redeemer of his people. And somehow, this won’t just mean Job’s name being cleared. God will stand on the Grave and rescue Job.

Stay tuned to hear much more about this chapter in church tomorrow. But for now: What I love most is how, even after all he’s been through, Job loves God more than anything else. What he really yearns for and looks forward to is not the end of his suffering. It’s seeing and being with God.

So far, in the second round of the debate between Job and his friends, Eliphaz has spoken and Job has replied. Now we hear Bildad’s speech.

1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long until you make an end of words?
You must consider, and then we can talk.
3 Why should we be regarded as beasts,
and considered stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger,
will the earth be abandoned for your sake?
Or will a rock be moved from its place?

5 “Yes, the lamp of the wicked is extinguished;
his flame of fire does not shine.
6 The light in his tent grows dark;
his lamp above him is extinguished.
7 His vigorous steps are restricted,
and his own counsel throws him down.
8 For he has been thrown into a net by his feet,
and he wanders into a mesh.
9 A trap seizes him by the heel;
a snare grips him.
10 A rope is hidden for him on the ground,
and a trap for him lies on the path.
11 Terrors frighten him on all sides
and dog his every step.
12 Calamity is hungry for him,
and misfortune is ready at his side.
13 It eats away parts of his skin;
the most terrible death devours his limbs.
14 He is dragged from the security of his tent,
and marched off to the king of terrors.
15 Fire resides in his tent;
over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.
16 Below his roots dry up,
and his branches wither above.
17 His memory perishes from the earth
he has no name in the land.
18 He is driven from light into darkness
and is banished from the world.
19 He has neither children nor descendants among his people,
no survivor in those places he once stayed.
20 People of the west are appalled at his fate;
people of the east are seized with horror, saying,
21 ‘Surely such is the residence of an evil man;
and this is the place of one who has not known God.’”

REFLECTIONS

As we listen to the increasingly angry speeches of Job’s friends, it helps us to see how much patience and gospel focus is required for us to be true friends to those who experience long-term suffering.

Eliphaz’s first speech included words of comfort and assurance. Bildad’s first speech was less positive, but he still promised that if Job repented, he would be blessed once again. But now, Bildad launches into an unrelenting, vicious attack on Job. He describes all the torments and terrors that God has in store for “the wicked” in general. He doesn’t say it directly, but his point is crystal-clear: “Job, you are one of those wicked people, and all this will happen to you.”

Bildad started with a “formula” view of God. He had no humility and no room for any mystery in God’s dealings with people. It seems like that mindset means he is not prepared to persevere in empathy and compassion. So now, his words have no grace, and no gospel hope left in them – they have shifted to pure harshness and judgment.

It makes me wonder: Why is he saying any of this? What’s the point? It seems the only purpose now is to belittle and batter Job, to put him in his place. But in Ephesians 4:29, Paul encourages us to say “only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

If you have ever been called on to support a Christian brother or sister who has gone through long-term suffering, spend a moment thinking about the words you used with them. Did your words change over time – and did they become more grace- and gospel-filled, or less? Ask God to give you humility and the heart of Christ, so that you can persevere in patient kindness.

Yesterday we heard about the intensity of Job’s sufferings, which were by God’s sovereign will, and we heard his wish that after his death, God would become his advocate and vindicator. Today we will hear the second half of his speech in reply to Eliphaz.

1 My spirit is broken,
my days have faded out;
the grave awaits me.
2 Surely mockery is with me;
my eyes must dwell on their hostility.
3 Set my pledge beside you.
Who else will put up security for me?
4 Because you have closed their minds to understanding,
therefore you will not exalt them.
5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain,
the eyes of his children will fail.
6 He has made me a byword to people;
I am the one in whose face they spit.
7 My eyes have grown dim with grief;
my whole frame is but a shadow.
8 Upright men are appalled at this;
the innocent man is troubled with the godless.
9 But the righteous man holds to his way,
and the one with clean hands grows stronger.

10 “But turn, all of you, and come now!
I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days have passed; my plans are shattered,
even the desires of my heart.
12 These men change night into day;
they say, ‘The light is near
in the face of darkness.’
13 If I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
14 if I cry out to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then is my hope?
And my hope, who sees it?
16 Will it go down to the barred gates of death?
Will we descend together into the dust?”

REFLECTIONS

I didn’t understand verses 3: “Set my pledge beside you. Who else will put up security for me?” So I looked into it … and I’m still not 100% sure what it’s saying! But I’m a little closer.

It has to do with the fact that Job is not just suffering physically. His wife and all his friends have also turned against him, so he is now completely abandoned and on his own. Job wants someone to “pledge” on his behalf to God, to “put up security” for him – that is, he wants someone to speak in his support and vouch for him. But there is no one left. So he makes a strange request: He asks God to set a pledge beside himself for Job.

But it’s a bit ambiguous. Job is either saying, “I offer myself as my own pledge”, or he’s saying, “God, please lay the pledge down yourself.” Either option would be very strange, when Job is on trial before God as his Judge – but either way, he has no one else.

Why mention all this? Here are two very different thoughts to take away. First, this again reminds me of the sufferings of Jesus. During his trial, all Jesus’ friends abandoned him and fled, as he knew they would. But he knew and trusted that ultimately, his Father would not abandon him to the grave (see John 16:32 and Acts 2:31). That means that, if you are connected to Jesus, God will never leave you or forsake you either (Hebrews 13:5).

But we also have the great blessing of being joined into Christ’s church. That means when we suffer, we shouldn’t feel completely abandoned and forsaken like Job was, because God has put us here to support each other, to be one another’s “pledge.”

Of course, we are all still flawed and sinful, so the church will let you down sometimes (even St Barnabas!). But if you feel alone and abandoned, like no one at church cares, don’t just trust that your feeling must be right. Reach out! Call a minister or your growth group leader, or ask a friend if they would pray with you … and see if the Lord might just surprise you.

Yesterday we heard Eliphaz begin the second round of the debate. Today we will read the first half of Job’s reply.

1 Then Job replied:
2 “I have heard many things like these before.
What miserable comforters are you all!
3 Will there be an end to your windy words?
Or what provokes you that you answer?
4 I also could speak like you,
if you were in my place;
I could pile up words against you,
and I could shake my head at you.
5 But I would strengthen you with my words;
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.

6 “But if I speak, my pain is not relieved,
and if I refrain from speaking,
how much of it goes away?
7 Surely now he has worn me out;
you have devastated my entire household.
8 You have seized me,
and it has become a witness;
my leanness has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
9 His anger has torn me and persecuted me;
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks his eyes on me.
10 People have opened their mouths against me;
they have struck my cheek in scorn;
they unite together against me.
11 God abandons me to evil men,
and throws me into the hands of wicked men.
12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me.
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
13 his archers surround me.
Without pity he pierces my kidneys
and pours out my gall on the ground.
14 He breaks through against me, time and time again;
he rushes against me like a warrior.
15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin
and buried my horn in the dust;
16 my face is reddened because of weeping,
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,
17 although there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.

18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,
nor let there be a secret place for my cry.
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 and he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man pleads for his friend.
22 For the years that lie ahead are few,
and then I will go on the way of no return.

REFLECTIONS

Several times we have thought about how Job is a preview of Jesus, the righteous sufferer. Today, so many things Job says find their echo and fulfilment in the sufferings of Jesus. For example, Job knows that he is suffering by God’s sovereign will (he is right about that, even though he has misinterpreted God’s attitude to him). God has thrown him “into the hands of wicked men” (v. 11) – wicked men who “have struck my cheek in scorn; they unite together against me” (v. 10). That felt like I was reading a description of Jesus’ sham trial in the Gospels: “Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists; others slapped him” (Matthew 26:67). Or when the believers pray in Acts 4: “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” (Acts 4:27-28).

But the line that most stood out to me was Job’s cry in verse 18: “Oh earth, do not cover my blood.” Job is convinced that he will die without being vindicated. But Job hopes that after he dies, his blood will cry out and bring him vindication (like Abel’s blood in Genesis 4:10). In fact, he even dares to hope that God will become his witness in heaven, his advocate and his intercessor, the one who vindicates him (vv. 19-20).

All these threads come together in Jesus … with the most glorious plot-twist. Jesus suffered all these things to the maximum, and then God vindicated him by raising him from the dead. But ultimately, Jesus suffered and died so that his blood would cry out on our behalf, so that his resurrection would be not just his own vindication, but ours as well. As Paul says: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

The debate between Job and his three friends takes place over three rounds. Today begins the second round, so we’re back to the first of the friends, Eliphaz.

1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge,
or fill his belly with the east wind?
3 Does he argue with useless talk,
with words that have no value in them?
4 But you even break off piety
and hinder meditation before God.
5 Your sin inspires your mouth;
you choose the language of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not I;
your own lips testify against you.

7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we don’t know?
What do you understand that we don’t understand?
10 The gray-haired and the aged are on our side,
men far older than your father.
11 Are God’s consolations too trivial for you,
or a word spoken in gentleness to you?
12 Why has your heart carried you away,
and why do your eyes flash,
13 when you turn your rage against God
and allow such words to escape from your mouth?
14 What is man that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
15 If God places no trust in his holy ones,
if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,
16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt,
who drinks in evil like water!

17 I will explain to you;
listen to me,
and what I have seen, I will declare,
18 what wise men declare,
hiding nothing,
from the tradition of their ancestors,
19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them.
20 All his days the wicked man suffers torment,
throughout the number of the years
that are stored up for the tyrant.
21 Terrifying sounds fill his ears;
in a time of peace marauders attack him.
22 He does not expect to escape from darkness;
he is marked for the sword;
23 he wanders about—food for vultures—
he knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Distress and anguish terrify him;
they prevail against him
like a king ready to launch an attack,
25 for he stretches out his hand against God,
and vaunts himself against the Almighty,
26 defiantly charging against him
with a thick, strong shield!
27 Because he covered his face with fat
and made his hips bulge with fat,
28 he lived in ruined towns
and in houses where no one lives,
where they are ready to crumble into heaps.
29 He will not grow rich,
and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his possessions spread over the land.
30 He will not escape the darkness;
a flame will wither his shoots,
and he will depart
by the breath of God’s mouth.
31 Let him not trust in what is worthless,
deceiving himself;
for worthlessness will be his reward.
32 Before his time he will be paid in full,
and his branches will not flourish.
33 Like a vine he will let his sour grapes fall,
and like an olive tree
he will shed his blossoms.
34 For the company of the godless is barren,
and fire consumes the tents of those who accept bribes.
35 They conceive trouble and bring forth evil;
their belly prepares deception.”

REFLECTIONS

As I’ve been working through Job, I’ve found the commentary by English preacher Christopher Ash particularly helpful. I thought I’d share one point from Ash today. It relates to the way in which Job points forward to Jesus.Job is not really an “ordinary” person. He is a “blameless and upright” man (Job 1:1-5), yet he experienced horrific unjust suffering. In that way, he is a small preview of Jesus, the ultimate and perfect righteous sufferer.

But Jesus shows us that unjust suffering doesn’t just happen; it’s central to God’s saving plan. Without the suffering of Jesus the innocent lamb of God, there is no grace for sinners.

That means the attacks of Job’s friends are, in a strange way, attacks on God’s grace and on the gospel itself. His friends have turned God into a formula: if you are suffering, you must have done bad things; if you are prospering, you have done good things. God always gives people exactly what they deserve – no exceptions.

That means Eliphaz’s attack on Job in chapter 15 is a preview of the way in which those hostile to Christ will attack the gospel of grace. For example, Eliphaz says, “But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God” (v. 4, NIV) – that is, if God doesn’t give people what they deserve, why would anyone bother to be good? Or verse 5, “Your sin inspires your mouth, you choose the language of the crafty” – that is, you are teaching things that are bad and deceptive.

Sometimes people will attack the gospel we preach; sometimes they will slander our motives and our character. But remember that ultimately, what offends human pride is the message that we can’t ever earn God’s favour – we can only humbly accept God’s gift that we don’t deserve, through Jesus’ suffering that he didn’t deserve.

Don’t take their attacks personally – the gospel is too good and precious to waste your energy getting offended in return! Just love them and pray for them.

Yesterday Job decided that, if he could, he would willingly come before God to defend himself, even if it killed him. But he also began wrestling with the problem of sin. Even though Job has lived in devotion to God, he isn’t sinless. He knows that sin leads to God’s judgment, and the consequence is death. Today we’ll hear the final part of his speech.

1 “Man, born of woman,
lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.
2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away;
he flees like a shadow and does not remain.
3 Do you fix your eye on such a one?
And do you bring me before you for judgment?
4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean?
No one!
5 Since man’s days are determined,
the number of his months is under your control;
you have set his limit, and he cannot pass it.
6 Look away from him and let him desist,
until he fulfills his time like a hired man.

7 “But there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump begins to die in the soil,
9 at the scent of water it will flourish
and put forth shoots like a new plant.
10 But man dies and is powerless;
he expires—and where is he?
11 As water disappears from the sea,
or a river drains away and dries up,
12 so man lies down and does not rise;
until the heavens are no more,
they will not awake
nor arise from their sleep.

13 “O that you would hide me in Sheol,
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
O that you would set me a time
and then remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service I will wait
until my release comes.
15 You will call and I—I will answer you;
you will long for the creature you have made.

16 “Surely now you count my steps;
then you would not mark my sin.
17 My offenses would be sealed up in a bag;
you would cover over my sin.
18 But as a mountain falls away and crumbles,
and as a rock will be removed from its place,
19 as water wears away stones,
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy man’s hope.
20 You overpower him once for all,
and he departs;
you change his appearance
and send him away.
21 If his sons are honored,
he does not know it;
if they are brought low,
he does not see it.
22 His flesh only has pain for him,
and he mourns for himself.”

REFLECTIONS

We’ll hear more about this passage in church tomorrow. But a quick preview: For most of the Old Testament, even faithful believers in God didn’t yet have a clear and direct word about real hope beyond the grave. Jesus hadn’t yet risen from the dead.

That’s why Job’s wish in verses 13-17 is so haunting. He imagines what he thinks is an alternate reality – a make-believe world in which death is not being banished to the dark place of no return. Instead, he thinks, “What if the grave was actually a refuge – a safe hiding-place from God’s judgment?” Afterwards, in Job’s imagination, God would raise him to life again, and nothing could ever again spoil Job’s enjoyment of his beautiful relationship with his Creator.

Don’t you want to be able to go back in time and say, “Hey Job, I’ve got great news – there is hope beyond death. In fact, God is going to send his Son to die for sin and then to break open the grave. Jesus is the refuge you are longing for!”

It’s so amazing to live this side of the resurrection of Jesus, and to know for certain that when he returns to renew all things, everyone who trusts in him will be raised like he was. Knowing that doesn’t take away the pain of this life; but it does give us strength to press on through the painful things. And we can’t go back in time to tell Job the good news that Jesus brings real hope. But I’m sure there’s someone close to you who you’d love to let know. Ask God to use you to bring that hope into their life.

Today we’re up to Job’s final speech in the first round of the debate. This is his longest speech so far. We’ll read the first 2 chapters today, then finish his speech tomorrow.

12:1 Then Job answered:
2 “Without a doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you.
3 I also have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Who does not know such things as these?
4 I am a laughingstock to my friends,
I, who called on God and whom he answered—
a righteous and blameless man
is a laughingstock!
5 For calamity, there is derision
(according to the ideas of the fortunate)—
a fate for those whose feet slip.
6 But the tents of robbers are peaceful,
and those who provoke God are confident—
who carry their god in their hands.

7 “But now, ask the animals and they will teach you,
or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.
8 Or speak to the earth and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea declare to you.
9 Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all the human race.
11 Does not the ear test words,
as the tongue tastes food?
12 Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?
13 With God are wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.
14 If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;
if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.
15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up;
if he releases them, they destroy the land.
16 With him are strength and prudence;
both the one who goes astray
and the one who misleads are his.
17 He leads counselors away stripped
and makes judges into fools.
18 He loosens the bonds of kings
and binds a loincloth around their waist.
19 He leads priests away stripped
and overthrows the potentates.
20 He deprives the trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the discernment of elders.
21 He pours contempt on noblemen
and disarms the powerful.
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings deep shadows into the light.
23 He makes nations great and destroys them;
he extends the boundaries of nations
and disperses them.
24 He deprives the leaders of the earth
of their understanding;
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste.
25 They grope about in darkness without light;
he makes them stagger like drunkards.

13:1 “Indeed, my eyes have seen all this;
my ears have heard and understood it.
2 What you know, I know also;
I am not inferior to you!
3 But I wish to speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to argue my case with God.
4 But you, however, are inventors of lies;
all of you are worthless physicians!
5 If only you would keep completely silent!
For you, that would be wisdom.
6 Listen now to my argument,
and be attentive to my lips’ contentions.
7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf?
Will you speak deceitfully for him?
8 Will you show him partiality?
Will you argue the case for God?
9 Would it turn out well if he would examine you?
Or as one deceives a man would you deceive him?
10 He would certainly rebuke you
if you secretly showed partiality.
11 Would not his splendor terrify you
and the fear he inspires fall on you?
12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
your defenses are defenses of clay.

13 “Refrain from talking with me so that I may speak;
then let come to me what may.
14 Why do I put myself in peril,
and take my life in my hands?
15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him;
I will surely defend my ways to his face.
16 Moreover, this will become my deliverance,
for no godless person would come before him.
17 Listen carefully to my words;
let your ears be attentive to my explanation.
18 See now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I am right.
19 Who will contend with me?
If anyone can, I will be silent and die.
20 Only in two things spare me, O God,
and then I will not hide from your face:
21 Remove your hand far from me
and stop making me afraid with your terror.
22 Then call, and I will answer,
or I will speak, and you respond to me.
23 How many are my iniquities and sins?
Show me my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do you hide your face
and regard me as your enemy?
25 Do you wish to torment a windblown leaf
and chase after dry chaff?
26 For you write down bitter things against me
and cause me to inherit the sins of my youth.
27 And you put my feet in the stocks
and you watch all my movements;
you put marks on the soles of my feet.
28 So I waste away like something rotten,
like a garment eaten by moths.

REFLECTIONS

Job 13:15 is an amazing expression of faith. He wants to have a chance to speak face to face with God to defend himself – but because he understands God’s holiness and power, he knows it might kill him. But he says: “Even if he slays me, I will hope in him.”

It reminds me of John 6, when the crowds started abandoning Jesus because following him sounded way too difficult and uncomfortable. Jesus asked his disciples whether they wanted to leave as well. But Peter said: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Today we finally hear from the third of Job’s “friends”: Zophar.

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:
2 “Should not this abundance of words be answered,
or should this talkative man
be vindicated?
3 Should people remain silent at your idle talk,
and should no one rebuke you when you mock?
4 For you have said, ‘My teaching is flawless,
and I am pure in your sight.’
5 But if only God would speak,
if only he would open his lips against you
6 and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom—
for true wisdom has two sides—
so that you would know
that God has forgiven some of your sins.
7 “Can you discover the essence of God?
Can you find out the perfection of the Almighty?
8 It is higher than the heavens—what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
9 Its measure is longer than the earth
and broader than the sea.
10 If he comes by and confines you
and convenes a court,
then who can prevent him?
11 For he knows deceitful men;
when he sees evil, will he not consider it?
12 But an empty man will become wise,
when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being.
13 “As for you, if you prove faithful,
and if you stretch out your hands toward him,
14 if iniquity is in your hand—put it far away,
and do not let evil reside in your tents.
15 For then you will lift up your face
without blemish;
you will be securely established
and will not fear.
16 For you will forget your trouble;
you will remember it
like water that has flowed away.
17 And life will be brighter than the noonday;
though there be darkness,
it will be like the morning.
18 And you will be secure because there is hope;
you will be protected
and will take your rest in safety.
19 You will lie down with no one to make you afraid,
and many will seek your favor.
20 But the eyes of the wicked fail,
and escape eludes them;
their one hope is to breathe their last.”

REFLECTIONS

Today, I have an uncomfortable thought and a strange thought.

The uncomfortable thought first. What strikes me about Zophar is how easily and confidently he speaks for God. In verses 5-6 he basically says, “If God spoke now, this is what he would say: Job, you’re so sinful that you deserve to suffer even more than you have.” (That’s what he means by, “God has forgiven some of your sins” – in other words, this was only the punishment for some of your sins!)

Zophar is putting words of condemnation and judgment into God’s mouth. I think that’s what Jesus warns us against in Matthew 7:1, where he says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” He isn’t talking about being wise and discerning. He’s talking about thinking we can condemn a fellow human being to hell.

I find that uncomfortable because my responsibility is to announce God’s Word. But I need to remember (and you probably do too) the difference between telling people what the Bible warns us of – that if you reject Jesus, you cannot be saved – and saying, “You’re going to hell.” We should tremble at the thought of becoming a Zophar.

Here’s the strange thought. In verses 7-9, Zophar described God’s perfection as higher than the heavens, deeper than Sheol, longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. That made me wonder: Did Paul pick up those words and reshape them into his description of the love of Christ in Ephesians 3:18? I think so. Zophar is speaking the words of a fool; and yet his words ended up in Holy Scripture. And God can make the ugly beautiful, and the foulest clean – even with surprising things. Even with me.

Yesterday, we heard Job’s frustration that he has no way of defending his integrity before God. He thinks God has condemned him as a sinner. We know that’s not true, but Job is plunging into despair again – he can’t see any way back to being right with God. Today we’ll hear the second half of his reply to Bildad.

1 “I am weary of my life;
I will complain freely without restraint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
tell me why you are contending with me.’
3 Is it good for you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands,
while you smile
on the schemes of the wicked?

4 “Do you have eyes of flesh,
or do you see as a human being sees?
5 Are your days like the days of a mortal,
or your years like the years of a mortal,
6 that you must search out my iniquity
and inquire about my sin,
7 although you know that I am not guilty,
and that there is no one who can deliver
out of your hand?

8 “Your hands have shaped me and made me,
but now you destroy me completely.
9 Remember that you have made me as with the clay;
will you return me to dust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You gave me life and favor,
and your intervention watched over my spirit.
13 “But these things you have concealed in your heart;
I know that this is with you:
14 If I sinned, then you would watch me,
and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am guilty, woe to me,
and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head;
I am full of shame
and satiated with my affliction.
16 If I lift myself up,
you hunt me as a fierce lion,
and again you display your power against me.
17 You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger against me;
relief troops come against me.

18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?
I should have died,
and no eye would have seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had never existed;
I should have been carried
right from the womb to the grave!
20 Are not my days few?
Cease, then, and leave me alone
that I may find a little comfort,
21 before I depart, never to return,
to the land of darkness
and the deepest shadow,
22 to the land of utter darkness,
like the deepest darkness,
and the deepest shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”

REFLECTIONS

I find verses 8-12 especially heartbreaking. Job reminds God of how carefully and tenderly he formed Job when he made him in the womb and caused him to grow and develop. Now Job feels betrayed, because it seems to him like that was all a pretense – that God was secretly planning to torment him all along, like someone making a beautiful figurine, only to throw it on the floor and watch it shatter. That’s what he means when he says, “But these things you have concealed in your heart” (v. 13).

The thing that makes it doubly heartbreaking is that God was concealing things in his heart. But it was a heart of love. He was waiting until just the right time to reveal his unguessable plan: to send his Son to take the sin and suffering of the whole world on his shoulders, so that all our guilt and shame could be wiped away and so that we can stand innocent and right with God when Jesus returns. Spend time thanking God that, because of Jesus, we can be sure of his heart of love towards us.

Today we will read the first half of Job’s reply to Bildad.

1 Then Job answered:
2 “Truly, I know that this is so.
But how can a human be just before God?
3 If someone wishes to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength—
who has resisted him and remained safe?
5 He who removes mountains suddenly,
who overturns them in his anger,
6 he who shakes the earth out of its place
so that its pillars tremble,
7 he who commands the sun, and it does not shine
and seals up the stars,
8 he alone spreads out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea.
9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,
and the constellations of the southern sky;
10 he does great and unsearchable things,
and wonderful things without number.
11 If he passes by me, I cannot see him;
if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
12 If he snatches away, who can turn him back?
Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God does not restrain his anger;
under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed.

14 “How much less, then, can I answer him
and choose my words to argue with him.
15 Although I am innocent,
I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my judge for mercy.
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe
that he would be listening to my voice—
17 he who crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
18 He does not allow me to recover my breath,
for he fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of strength,
most certainly he is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice,
he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’
20 Although I am innocent,
my mouth would condemn me;
although I am blameless,
it would declare me perverse.
21 I am blameless. I do not know myself.
I despise my life.

22 “It is all one! That is why I say,
‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
23 If a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
24 If a land has been given
into the hand of a wicked man,
he covers the faces of its judges;
if it is not he, then who is it?

25 “My days are swifter than a runner,
they speed by without seeing happiness.
26 They glide by like reed boats,
like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression and be cheerful,’
28 I dread all my sufferings,
for I know that you do not hold me blameless.
29 If I am guilty,
why then weary myself in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow-melt water
and make my hands clean with lye,
31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit
and my own clothes abhor me.
32 For he is not a human being like I am,
that I might answer him,
that we might come together in judgment.
33 Nor is there an arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both,
34 who would take his rod away from me
so that his terror would not make me afraid.
35 Then would I speak and not fear him,
but it is not so with me.

REFLECTIONS

We know that Job is not suffering because God is punishing him for some sin, but Job thinks that is what is happening – which is why he longs for a chance to defend himself before God. But he is wise enough to know that, even if he could get that chance, God is so overwhelming and glorious that Job would simply turn into a blubbering mess.

We preached on this passage on Sunday, so if you missed it, you might want to watch it on YouTube. But here’s something else I noticed as I read it now: As Job is explaining God’s terrifying power, he says: “He does great and unsearchable things” (v10). Much later, that will turn out to be the key to Job finding peace. Knowing God’s character – that he is good and just – means that, even though we can’t understand his ways, we know that he will make everything right in the end.