PM June 15th Job 13

June 15^th Job 13

1: Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it. 2: What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you. 3: Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. 4: But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value. 5: O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom. 6: Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips. 7: Will ye speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him? 8: Will ye accept his person? will ye contend for God? 9: Is it good that he should search you out? or as one man mocketh another, do ye so mock him? 10: He will surely reprove you, if ye do secretly accept persons. 11: Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you? 12: Your remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay. 13: Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will. 14: Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? 15: Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. 16: He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him. 17: Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears. 18: Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified. 19: Who is he that will plead with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost. 20: Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. 21: Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid. 22: Then call thou, and I will answer: or let me speak, and answer thou me. 23: How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin. 24: Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy? 25: Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? and wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? 26: For thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth. 27: Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet. 28: And he, as a rotten thing, consumeth, as a garment that is moth eaten.

Job 14

1: Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. 2: He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. 3: And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? 4: Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. 5: Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; 6: Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day. 7: For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. 8: Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; 9: Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. 10: But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? 11: As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: 12: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. 13: O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14: If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. 15: Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. 16: For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? 17: My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity. 18: And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place. 9: The waters wear the stones: thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. 20: Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. 21: His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. 22: But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

Job 15 Eliphaz speaks to Job

1: Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said, 2: Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? 3: Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? 4: Yea, thou castest off fear, and restrainest prayer before God. 5: For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty. 6: Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee. 7: Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills? 8: Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself? 9: What knowest thou, that we know not? what understandest thou, which is not in us? 10: With us are both the grayheaded and very aged men, much elder than thy father. 11: Are the consolations of God small with thee? is there any secret thing with thee? 12: Why doth thine heart carry thee away? and what do thy eyes wink at, 13: That thou turnest thy spirit against God, and lettest such words go out of thy mouth? 14: What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? 15: Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. 16: How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? 17: I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare; 18: Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it: 19: Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them. 20: The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. 21: A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. 22: He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword. 23: He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. 24: Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle. 25: For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty. 26: He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers: 27: Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks. 28: And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. 29: He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth. 30: He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away. 31: Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence. 32: It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green. 33: He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive. 34: For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery. 35: They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

Today we read more of Jobs reply to Zophar and then Eliphaz speaks to Job. So Job continues saying I have seen everything and my ear has heard and understood it. I am not inferior to you in all these things. I prefer to discuss these things with the Lord but you tell me lies and you are like doctors who cannot cure anyone. I wish you didn’t speak to me then you might be considered wise. So listen to me while l explain my thoughts. Do you think that you can speak lies on behalf of God? Will you argue for him? Do you think you can fully understand the Lord? He will definitely reprove you because you have prejudice in your hearts. Surely the fear of the Lord will come on you and will dread his presence. What you remember will be like ashes and your bodies will be like bodies of clay. Don’t speak to me anymore – give me a chance to speak. Even if the Lord should kill me - l will still go on trusting in him and l will go on maintaining integrity before him. He will be my Saviour because no hypocritical person can stand before him. Listen to me I KNOW THAT I WILL BE JUSTIFIED. Who can convince me of error? If l do not speak right now l would die. Job speaks to the Lord saying, I am not going to hide from you. Take away your hand and do not make me afraid anymore. Then later when you call l will answer you. Why do you hide your face from me and treat me as your enemy? Will you crush the leaf that blows around in circles? Will you chase after dry stubble? You have written bitter things against me and you bring up the sins of my youth. You put my feet in the stocks and examine all my ways. I have learnt that the life of a man is short and his days are full of trouble. He bursts out of the earth like a flower and is cut down and disappears like a shadow and is not seen again. You look on me and judge my life. Who can make something clean out of something unclean? Because my days are determined and the number of my months are set, therefore my life cannot continue beyond my allotted days. Let me rest even if you have to turn from me. Let me ‘clock off’ like a workman. There is still hope for a tree even when it is cut down, because it can send up shoots again. Even if the root is old and the stock dies in the ground. Even the smell of water will cause it to sprout again. When a man dies and is buried – where is he? Men die and do not rise again. They will not rise even if we wait until the stars cease to shine. If only you would hide me in the grave and keep me secret until your wrath against me has passed. And then in some distant day remember me. If a man dies will he live again? I would wait patiently in the grave until the day when you call me. When you call for me then l will answer you. You number my steps – do you not watch over my sin? You put my sins in a sealed bag and sew it up. Even falling mountains will come to nothing and rocks leave their first place. The waters wear the stones smooth and you wash away the vegetation of the earth. When a man dies his sons come to honour him but he doesn’t know it. They are humbled but the dead man doesn’t know it. The son’s body is full of pain and his soul full of mourning. After this long answer Eliphaz replies to Job. He accuses Job of being verbose and self justifying. You’re younger than us. You don’t know everything. We are older than your father. Who do you think you are Job? There are none pure in Gods sight, even the stars are not pure in his sight. So how much more filthy is man that drinks sin like a glass of water. The things l am going to say have been known forever - the wicked will always suffer. Even when things are going well he will be destroyed. He never knows what will happen to him next. The life of a wicked man will fall apart. He will never be rich. Those who are hypocrites will be made destitute. They will not continue for long.

• What do you think of Jobs declaration that even if he slay me l will continue to trust him?
• Why is Job so confident that he will be declared right after all?
• What is the answer to the question if a man dies will he rise again?