Job's Speech Continues
Job says he is broken and his days are cut short. I think he is ready to die because he talks so much of the grave.
He looks around at his friends and he says, "The mockers surround me and I am looking at their hostility." At this point I do not understand why Job's friends are still around him. The conversations have gone very sour and Job's physical and mental pain has not eased up. Job goes on to say that God has closed their minds to understanding and God will not let his so-called friends triumph.
Job then says his name is a byword. He is the man in whose face people spit upon. Then he describes his physical self further. His eyes are dim because of grief and his whole frame is but a shadow. He sounds as though he is wasting away. The upright and innocent don't like what they see taking place in his life, he says.
The righteous are aroused against the ungodly. I guess this is Job's way of saying that his so-called friends are ungodly and people like Job are aroused against them. In the midst of Job's pain, he does a little mocking against these friends. He tells them to try their hand again at wisdom. He says I will not find a wise man among you.
Then Job reaches a place that I think is beyond despair. He talks of the grave again. He says that if he calls it his home, if corruption is his father and the worm his mother or sister then where is his hope? Will his hope to go to the gates of death?
Bilbad Replies with Venom
Bilbad wants to know when will Job's speeches end and when will Job stop considering them to be stupid. He says, "You tear yourself up in anger! Should the earth be abandoned for your sake?"
Then he gets into his speech about the wicked man, who is of course, Job. He goes through an array of descriptions explaining what the wicked man experiences. His lamp is snuffed out, the flame stops burning for him, the light in his tent becomes dark and the lamp beside him goes out. His steps are weakened, he wonders into a mesh, a trap seizes him, and a snare holds him fast. His list goes on and on. He talks about the terrors, the calamity and disaster that awaits the wicked man. Disaster eats away parts of his skin and death's first born devours his limbs.
The way these disasters of the "wicked man" read, they seem to be written in poetic form. It is almost like a list. But these descriptors that he assigns to Job are exaggerated. They are like quotes from hell. How can he attribute these descriptions to Job? I am with Job when he asks, "What have I done?"
You would think that Job has suffered and he is still suffering in many ways. These friends just add more to his suffering. And if this list wasn't enough Bilbad says that burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling. (Sounds like hell to me.) The memory of him perishes from the Earth and he has no name in the land.
According to Bildad, Job has been driven from light and into the realm of darkness. He is banished from the world. All of these descriptions tell what happens to the evil man, which is Job. He concludes by saying Job does not know God.
The Isolation of Job
Then Job replies. How long will you torment and crush me with words; 10 times you attacked me. If it's true that I have gone astray then my error is my concern. Not yours. If I cry "violence" I would get no response. If I called for help, there is no justice. My way is blocked so I can't pass. God has shrouded my path in darkness.
Half of that is true and the other half is not. His path is shrouded in darkness, but God is not doing it. God allowed it. But Job does not know this.
Job says his honor is gone, the crown on his head is gone and he is torn down on every side until he is gone. God is angry with him and he is God's enemy.
Job then grieves about the loss of his family. He says, "God has alienated my family from me." I could almost hear the tears and anguish in his voice. Ten grown children that he had to know for 30 - 40 years of his life are now gone. I am sure he hears their voices and remembers the face of each one.
Job says that his acquaintances are also gone along with his relatives; and his closest friends have forgotten him. His guests and female servants look on him as a foreigner or a stranger. He calls to his servant, but his servant does not come. His breath is offensive to his wife; he is loathsome to his own family. Even little boys scorn him. Intimate friends detest him. Those that he loves have turned against him. Job says he is nothing but skin and bones. Have pity on me, he says. Have pity. The sound of these words seem to echo off of the walls of his heart. It seems that the thoughts of his friends blind them so much so that they cannot find even pity to embrace Job.
Job wishes that his words were written on a scroll or a rock so they could last forever. Job, your words have lasted thousands of years. Billions of people have read them and weep with you.
Hope and a Future
Then he has a change of thought. It is almost like the wind has changed direction and he can sense that there is still some hope. He says, I know that my redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand on the earth. After my skin is destroyed yet in my flesh I will see God. I am myself will see him with my own eyes and how my heart yearns for you within. This is so strong. It does not carry the voice of one who is skin and bones or only a shadow. It carries strengths and life and hope.
Job reminds his listeners that they should fear the sword, God's wrath will bring punishment by the sword and then you will know God.s judgment.
More Venom from Zophar
Now Zophar feels like he has been offended by Job. Actually, he's greatly disturbed. He says that the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. Then pride of the godless reaches heaven and his head touches the clouds; then he will perish like his own dung.
This is no longer a friendly conversation or a little riff between friends; rather it seems that angry words are being spoken here. He says that this kind of person is like a dream that flies away and it is no more to be found. The eyes that see him will not see him again. His children must make amends to the poor; and his own hands must get back his wealth.
Evil is sweet in his mouth and it is hidden under his tongue. He cannot bear to let it go. It lingers in his mouth and turns sour and his stomach. It is like the venom of snakes inside of him. He will spit out the riches he swallowed. God will make his stomach vomit. He will suck the poison of serpents but the fangs of an adder will kill him. What he toiled for he must give back. He has oppressed the poor and left them destitute. He has taken houses that he did not build. And he can't save himself by his treasure. In the midst of his plenty, distress will take over.
He continues in this way and describes all the stuff that God will do to him. For example, God will pour his burning anger against him and rain down blows on him. And heaven is going to expose his guilt and the earth will rise up against him. This is what God gives to the wicked. And of course, once again, Job is the wicked man.
My Thoughts
When these conversations first started they were mild and subtle. Now the words are vicious and they have teeth and they are biting and tearing Job to pieces. I really don't understand why they are sitting there with Job. I'm guessing at this point I would ask them to leave. Isn't it enough to suffer? And by the way, don't they have something else to do other than to make a miserable man more miserable?
It is almost like they want to tar and feather Job and assign evil behaviors to Job. But they have no proof. Based on Job's suffering they think that he has done something horrible. So they judge him. They call him names and they have condemned him.
If I learned nothing else from this book I am learning the importance of not judging other people. Like the writer of the story, I am on the outside of Job's life and I know what's going on behind the scenes. Job's friends and Joe do not know. These men can't be more wrong about Job. We should leave the judging to God and to the court systems. We humans get one wrong idea and we walk down a very wrong road for a very long time. Job, of course, was innocent. And they were wrong.
That's it for today.
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