June 16th Job 16 Job complains again
1: Then Job answered and said, 2: I have heard many such things:
miserable comforters are ye all. 3:
Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest? 4: I also could speak as ye do: if
your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake
mine head at you. 5: But I
would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage
your grief. 6: Though I speak,
my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased? 7: But now he hath made me weary:
thou hast made desolate all my company. 8:
And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my
leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face. 9: He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon
me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. 10: They have gaped upon me with
their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have
gathered themselves together against me. 11:
God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the
wicked. 12: I was at ease, but
he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to
pieces, and set me up for his mark. 13:
His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not
spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. 14: He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me
like a giant. 15: I have sewed
sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. 16: My face is foul with weeping, and
my eyelids is the shadow of death; 17:
Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure. 18: O earth, cover not thou my blood,
and let my cry have no place. 19:
Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high. 20: My friends scorn me: but mine eye
poureth out tears unto God. 21:
O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!
22: When a few years are come,
then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.
Job 17
1: My breath is corrupt, my days are
extinct, the graves are ready for me. 2:
Are there not mockers with me? and doth not mine eye continue in their
provocation? 3: Lay down now,
put me in a surety with thee; who is he that will strike hands with me? 4: For thou hast hid their heart from
understanding: therefore shalt thou not exalt them. 5: He that speaketh flattery to his friends, even the eyes of
his children shall fail. 6: He
hath made me also a byword of the people; and aforetime I was as a tabret. 7: Mine eye also is dim by reason of
sorrow, and all my members are as a shadow. 8: Upright men shall be astonied at this, and the innocent shall
stir up himself against the hypocrite. 9:
The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be
stronger and stronger. 10: But
as for you all, do ye return, and come now: for I cannot find one wise man
among you. 11: My days are
past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart. 12: They change the night into day:
the light is short because of darkness. 13:
If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. 14: I have said to corruption, Thou
art my father: to the worm, Thou are my mother, and my sister. 15: And where is now my hope? as for
my hope, who shall see it? 16:
They shall go down to the bars of the pit, when our rest together is in the
dust.
Job 18 Bildad’s sermon
1: Then answered Bildad the Shuhite,
and said, 2: How long will it
be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak. 3: Wherefore are we counted as
beasts, and reputed vile in your sight? 4:
He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and
shall the rock be removed out of his place? 5: Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark
of his fire shall not shine. 6:
The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with
him. 7: The steps of his
strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. 8: For he is cast into a net by his
own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. 9:
The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him. 10: The snare is laid for him in the
ground, and a trap for him in the way. 11:
Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet. 12: His strength shall be
hungerbitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side. 13: It shall devour the strength of
his skin: even the firstborn of death shall devour his strength. 14: His confidence shall be rooted
out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors. 15: It shall dwell in his tabernacle,
because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation. 16: His roots shall be dried up
beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off. 17: His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall
have no name in the street. 18:
He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. 19: He shall neither have son nor
nephew among his people, nor any remaining in his dwellings. 20: They that come after him shall be
astonied at his day, as they that went before were affrighted. 21: Surely such are the dwellings of
the wicked, and this is the place of him that knoweth not God.
In chapters 16 and 17 Job replies to Eliphaz. And in chapter
18 Bildad speaks to Job again. Let’s listen to what Job has to say in reply to
Eliphaz. He starts off saying, I have heard a lot and you are all ‘miserable
comforters’. Is there no end to your empty lectures? What has given you the
courage to give these replies to me? I could have said the things you have said
if l were in your situation. Except, that l would try to encourage you with my
speech. And l would only speak things to relive your sorrows. Who has actually
comforted me? You have worn me out and dried me up and l have lost weight as a
result. People have come to stare at me and strike me on the face and they have
gathered to oppose me. The Lord has handed me over to the ungodly and wicked. I
was comfortable but the Lord has broken me. He has picked me up like a rag doll
and shaken me to bits. He has set me up as an archery target to shoot at. His
archers have surrounded me. He cuts me in two and pours out my bowels on the
ground. He runs at be like a raving lunatic. I have sewed sackcloth to my skin
and defiled my head in the dust. My face is sticky from tears. My eyelids are
like the darkness of death. Yet my prayer to the Lord is pure. May the earth
not cover my blood and may my cry not cry in the wilderness. Look my witness is
in heaven and my record is on high. My friends laugh at me but my eyes pour out
tears to the Lord. If only a man might plead to the Lord like a man who pleads
for his neighbour. In a few years l will go to the place where l will not
return. My breath is foul, my life will soon be extinct and the grave is
waiting for me. Is there nobody on my side? To the Lord Job says, you have hid
the understanding from them and so you will not lift them up. The one who
flatters his friends will cause even his children’s eyes to cease to see. I
have become a proverb to men whereas before l was a celebrity. I am loosing my
sight because of the sorrow of my heart and all the parts of my body are a
shadow of their former self. Upright men will be astonished that this has
happened to me. And the innocent will be angry against the hypocrite. The
righteous will keep to his straight path and the man with clean hands will go
from strength to strength. But as for you who see to ‘comfort’ me go home
because l don’t find a wise man among you. My days are past and the thoughts of
my mind are broken. They make my days like night and my days are short. If l
wait long enough the grave will be my home. I have stayed a long time in the
darkness. I have said to corruption you are my father and to the worm you are
my mother and sister. What hope do l have left? As for hope - who will see it?
They will go down to the prison of the pit when we rest in the grave. Then
Bildad decided to have his say again. How long Job are you going to carry on
speaking? Why do you think that we are beasts and vile in your sight? You tear
yourself in your anger; will the earth be forsaken because of you? Will the
rocks be removed for you? The light of the wicked will be put out and the spark
of life will go out. The light in his soul will be extinguished and his life
will cease with his body. His steps will be made straight and his own advice
will fail him. Because he is caught in a trap that he made himself. He will
walk right into his own snare. The robber will overcome him. He will be
terrified of everything. He will loose all strength and destruction will be at
his side. Destruction will eat him away. His self confidence will be taken out
of his own body. And he will know the king of terrors. The Lord will destroy
him and his home. He will shrivel up from the roots and his branches will be
broken off. He will be forgotten and nobody will remember his name. He will be
driven out this world. None of his children will survive. Those that come after
him will be astonished at his life. And those that proceeded him will be
terrified. This is what happens to the wicked who do not know God. This has
been a clear demonstration of the government of God during the time before the
rise of Israel as a nation. All men knew of God in creation and in providence
and God blessed the righteous and judged the wicked to enable men to know how to
live before him.
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