Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Chapter seven is a continuation by Job about his situation. He wanted to die, and spends his time justifying that desire by saying how his suffering is not only bad, but that it also has NO comfort. He knew everyone was going to die, so he wanted to go now and not wait. He wailed against waiting for death, if this is what life was going to be like. He is expressing his feeling of hopelessness. He didn’t even want to go home because he felt he had nothing there. He has begun to hate life and desires to be left alone to perish – and for God to choke him so that he does. He also questions why God received all his offerings for forgiveness, if God saw sin in his life? (another jab at his friends, proving his point all this was unjust.)

Chapter eight shows Bildad speaking for the first time. Like Eliphaz, he speaks some spiritual truths, but nothing that was true in THIS case. He also imputes the same things to God that Eliphaz had. Bildad complains of Job’s long speeches because he can recognize Job is justifying himself instead of God. However, he believes God has done all of this because of some wickedness Job is hiding. He declares that maybe Job’s kids died because of THEIR sin, not Job’s. But if Job repented and if Job was good, then God would fix all his problems because God is good to those who are good. Bildad believes that Job MUST have done something bad for something bad to have happened to him (totally false – 1 Peter 5:8). He looks back at history to prove all his points and continues to point to some sin in Job being the cause of the afflictions. In fact, he calls Job a hypocrite because if he WAS godly, his life would show other than it currently was. Bad life = sin, good life = godly. And he asserts that God was going to strike Job because he was a hypocrite. Just repent, was his message, and everything would be okay.

Chapter nine is Job’s rebuttal. He says all the same kinds of things he said before, BUT this time he focuses on something new. He points to his need for someone worthy to stand before God face-to-face and plead his case. Job cried out for his need (and everyone’s need) for a mediator between God and man. Job believed his self-righteousness put him in a better category than most (false thinking) and that his self-righteousness should put him in better standing with God (very wrong thinking – Romans 3:23). Job admits he can’t criticize God and then he criticizes God by saying that although he is unworthy to reason with God, he wants to do it anyway. He has lost all confidence that God listened to him and wanted someone who could really plead his case. Really make both sides feel heard and justified. Job’s error is that while what was happening WAS unjust – it did not make God or His actions unjust. he speaks from emotions, decries how God treats sinners vs saints, and that everyone seemed to be marked for destruction no matter what. Basically, he is saying God is callous. He is wondering why he bothered with all the effort to be godly in the first place. He begs God to remove His wrath. He longs for a mediator to negotiate between him and God. (We HAVE this mediator in Jesus – Hebrews 4:15-16).

Chapter 10 is Job continuing this tirade, explaining all the ways and reasons that he would utilize this mediator to plead with God. He is so bitter in thought that he speaks from his emotions and spouts a whole bunch of garbage. He wants to ask why this happened, why God thinks He is justified in doing it, wondering why God seems to be acting like the wicked to (being unjust), and why it seemed that God had searched him to find sin when Job spent so much time making sure he was right before God. He wonders if there is anyone who can deliver a person from God’s wrath (Jesus can because He paid for Sin, which caused the wrath – Colossians 1:13). He feels trapped in his body, trapped in his circumstances, and goes back to wishing he had never been born because what was the use of it all?

Chapter 11 brings Zophar’s hat into the ring. He also said that Job was a TALKER. Like the others, Zophar challenged some of Job’s statements as being totally wrong. But also just like the others, he condemned Job for being a terrible sinner who was hiding a secret sin or sins which caused all the calamity. He also called for total repentance, a declaration of guilt, and let God fix everything because Job would have finally come clean. He goes so far as to call ALL of Job’s statements of godliness or innocence to be TOTAL LIES. He points to his relationship with Job and their past track record to prove that his take on the situation is of pure motivation and therefore true. He even claims that all the afflictions Job is experiencing are less than his hidden sins deserved (we DO get less than we deserve, but this is not applicable HERE). He condemns Job, calls him arrogant, and implores him to cry out to God and repent. If he would, Zophar is sure God would reverse everything and fix all his problems.

Summary

Key Players: God, Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, Elihu.

Key Verse(s): Job 7:11-16; 8:20-22; 9:32-35; 10:2-7; 11:13-20