Book of Job: Overview of Chapters 6-31

Job is emotionally exhausted and in terrible physical pain. As Job begins to grieve his friends become irritated with Job’s grief and with his comments. They begin to verbally attack him and Job’s natural response is to defend himself. Job has no idea why he is going through so much suffering and begins to justify himself and his life. While Job is technically correct in justifying his life he forgets that even his righteousness in the eyes of a holy God falls short. As David cried in the Psalm 14; “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” However, here is how God described Job. Job 2:3 ” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” We must not forget that God loved Job and held him up as an example of a faithful servant to show Satan Job’s faithfulness. Satan’s greatest sin, pride, lead to Satan being cast out of heaven with the angels that joined him in the rebellion against God. Isaiah 14:12-14 “ How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘ I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation/ On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” These sad words, “I will be like the Most High” The sin of pride that lead the angels into sin with Satan to rebel against God and being thrown our of heaven for their pride. Now, Job’s pride about his self righteousness begins to show his lack of understanding of the power, holiness and nature of God.

 

Key Verses: Job 23:10-12 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. 11 My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

Job’s Response as His Friends Accuse Him of Sin in His Life: Selected Scriptures:

Job 6:9-11 “It would please God to crush me, That He would loose His hand and cut me off! 10 Then I would still have comfort; Though in anguish I would exult, He will not spare; For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.11“What strength do I have, that I should hope? and what is my end, that I should prolong my life? Job 7:5-8 My flesh is caked with worms and dust, My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh. 6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, And are spent without hope. 7 Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye will never again see good. 8 The eye of him who sees me will see me no more; While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be. Job 9:20-24 Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; Though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse. 21 “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life. 22 It is all one thing; Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’ 23 If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent. 24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be?

Job 10:1-7 “My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;Show me why You contend with me. 3 Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, That You should despise the work of Your hands, And smile on the counsel of the wicked? 4 Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees? 5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man, 6 That You should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin, 7 Although You know that I am not wicked, And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?

Job 16:17-21 Although no violence is in my hands, And my prayer is pure. 18 “O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place! 19 Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high. 20 My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God. 21 Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor.

Job 17:1-4 “My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me. 2 Are not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation? 3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me? 4 For You have hidden their heart from understanding;Therefore You will not exalt them.

Job 19:21-26 “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me! 22 Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh? 23 “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! 24 That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever! 25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,

Job 23:9-12 When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him. 10 But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. 11 My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.

Job 24:22-25 “But God draws the mighty away with His power, He rises up, but no man is sure of life.23 He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways. 24 They are exalted for a little while, Then they are gone. They are brought low; They are taken out of the way like all others; They dry out like the heads of grain. 25 “Now if it is not so, who will prove me a liar, And make my speech worth nothing?”

Job 27:1-6 Moreover Job continued his discourse, and said: 2 “As God lives, who has taken away my justice, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, 3 As long as my breath is in me, And the breath of God in my nostrils, 4 My lips will not speak wickedness, Nor my tongue utter deceit. 5 Far be it from me That I should say you are right; Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. 6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; My heart shall not reproach me as long as I live.

Job 29:14-23 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. 15 I was eyes to the blind, And I was feet to the lame.16 I was a father to the poor, And I searched out the case that I did not know. 17 I broke the fangs of the wicked, And plucked the victim from his teeth..18 “Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, And multiply my days as the sand.. 19 My root is spread out to the waters, And the dew lies all night on my branch. 20 My glory is fresh within me, And my bow is renewed in my hand.’ 21 “Men listened to me and waited, And kept silence for my counsel. 22 After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew. 23 They waited for me as for the rain,

Job 30:26-31 But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness. 27 My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me. 28 I go about mourning, but not in the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. 29 I am a brother of jackals, And a companion of ostriches. 30 My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever. 31 My harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the voice of those who weep.

Job 31:35-40 Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book! 36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, And bind it on me like a crown; 37 I would declare to Him the number of my steps; Like a prince I would approach Him.38 “If my land cries out against me, And its furrows weep together; 39 If I have eaten its fruit without money, Or caused its owners to lose their lives; 40 Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” The words of Job are ended.

Personal Application: Job’s life, Job’s story and Job’s suffering are good examples for us today to understand that sometimes we just don’t know why someone is going through suffering. As we look at Job’s life we see that no-one, including Job, can understand why God allows suffering to occur. We are perfected as Christians through suffering. Paul states in Philippians 3:9-11 “And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” As Jesus Christ endured suffering to pay the price for our sins so we are perfected and made into the image of Christ through suffering. Hebrews 2:9 “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” Jesus was glorified through suffering. Can we expect anything less? Lastly, what should our attitude be when someone we know or love is suffering? We turn to the words of Paul in Galatians 6:2 " Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Comfort, don’t condemn.