Sunday, February 27, 2022

JOB--- UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK #1

 UNDERSTANDING  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB  #1


THE  TRANSLATION  USED  IS  FROM  THE  NEW  LIVING  TRANSLATION  1996.





Prologue


 There was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless, a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. 2He had seven sons and three daughters. 3He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys, and he employed many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area.


4 Every year when Job's sons had birthdays, they invited their brothers and sisters to join them for a celebration. On these occasions they would get together to eat and drink. 5When these celebrations ended—and sometimes they lasted several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, "Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular practice.


[THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  BIRTHDAY  CELEBRATIONS  IS  IN  A  STUDY  OF  MINE  ON  THIS  WEBSITE  -  Keith Hunt]


Job's First Test


6One day the angels [Hebrew the sons of God - angels are sons of God in the sense God created them, as so “offspring of God”] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan the Accuser came with them. 7 "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan. And Satan answered the Lord, "I have been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that's going on."


8Then the Lord asked Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil."


[EVEN  GOD  HIMSELF  HAD  TO  ADMIT  THAT  FROM  A  HUMAN  POINT  OF  VIEW  JOB  WAS  A  VERY  RIGHTEOUS  MAN (righteousness  defined  in  Ps.  119:172)  -  Keith Hunt]


9Satan replied to the Lord, "Yes, Job fears God, but not without good reason! 10You have always protected him and his home and his property from harm. You have made him prosperous in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!"


12"All right, you may test him," the Lord said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the Lord's presence.


13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were dining at the oldest brother's house, 14a messenger arrived at Job's home with this news: "Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, 15when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."


16While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: "The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds, I am the only one who escaped to tell you."


17While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: "Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you."


18While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: "Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother's home.19 Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the desert and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you." 


20Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground before God.21 He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord !"

22 In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.


[NOW  THAT  IS  PRETTY  IMPRESSIVE  RIGHTEOUSNESS  ON  JOB’S  PART  -  ALL  THAT  TAKEN  AWAY  FROM  YOU  AND  YOU  THANK  THE  LORD  FOR  HAVING  IT,  AND  THANK  HIM  AGAIN  WHEN  IT’S  TAKEN  AWAY…..PUT  YOURSELF  IN  HIS  SHOES,  WOULD  WE  DO  THE  SAME  AS  JOB?  WELL  I  HOPE  WE  WOULD  -  Keith Hunt]


Job's Second Test


2


One day the angels [Heb. sons of God] came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan the Accuser came with them. 2 "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan.


And Satan answered the Lord, "I have been going back and forth across the earth, watching everything that's going on."


3Then the Lord asked Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you persuaded me to harm him without cause."


[IT’S  KINDA  SHOCKING  TO  THINK  GOD  COULD  LET  US  BE  HARMED,  WITHOUT  CAUSE.  I  DO  NOT  THINK  GOD  IS  PERSUADED  LIKE  THIS  FROM  SATAN  VERY  OFTEN,  BUT  OBVIOUSLY  SOMETIMES  THE  LORD  ALLOWS  THIS;  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL  WENT  THROUGH  SOME  TERRIBLE  THINGS  IN  LIFE,  AS  HE  PREACHED  THE  WORD  OF  GOD,  THE  LORD  ALLOWING  MAN (OFTEN  INSPIRED  BY  DEMONIC  FORCES)  TO  BRING  MUCH  GRIEF  UPON  PAUL  AT  TIMES,  AND  FINALLY  HIS  DEATH.  FOR  THE  AVERAGE  CHRISTIAN  THIS  DOES  NOT  HAPPEN,  THOUGH  SOME  HAVE  HAD  TO  GIVE  THEIR  LIFE  FOR  LIVING  AS  A  CHRISTIAN  -  HEBREWS  11  -  Keith Hunt]


4Satan replied to the Lord, "Skin for skin—he blesses you only because you bless him. A man will give up everything he has to save his life. 5But take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!"


6"All right, do with him as you please," the Lord said to Satan. "But spare his life." 7 So Satan left the Lord's presence, and he struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot.


[SHOWING  SATAN  DOES  AT  TIMES  HAVE  THE  POWER  AND  IS  ALLOWED  BY  GOD,  TO  BRING  PHYSICAL  SICKNESSES  TO  OUR  BODY;  MOST  OF  THE  TIME  THOUGH  IT  IS  OUR  WRONG  WAY  OF  LIVING  AND  “TIME  AND  CHANCE” (CATCHING  SOMETHING FROM  SOMEONE)  THAT  BRINGS  PROBLEMS  TO  OUR  PHYSICAL  BODY  -  Keith Hunt]


8Then Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. 9His wife said to him, "Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die."


[MAYBE  MOST  AT  THIS  POINT  WOULD  CURSE  GOD,  BUT  JOB  DID  NOT;  HE  HELD  HIS  INTEGRITY  -  Keith Hunt]


10 But Job replied, "You talk like a god-less woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.


[THIS  SHOWS  SOMETIMES  THE  LORD  ALLOWS  BADS  THINGS  TO  HAPPEN  TO  GOOD  PEOPLE.  AGAIN  PAUL  HAD  ALL  KINDS  OF  BAD  THINGS  HAPPEN  TO  HIM  DURING  HIS  SERVICE  IN  GOD’S  MINISTRY. HE  HAD  A  “THORN  IN  THE  FLESH”  THAT  HE  ASKED  THREE  TIMES  TO  BE  REMOVED….. GOD  SAID  “NO,  MY  GRACE  IS  SUFFICIENT  FOR  YOU”  -  Keith Hunt]


Job's Three Friends Share His Anguish 


11Three of Job's friends were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. 12When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to demonstrate their grief. 13Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. And no one said a word, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.


[I  MEAN  SURELY  THESE  WERE  GOOD  FRIENDS;  WHO  WOULD  SIT  BY  YOU  FOR  7  DAYS  AND  MOURN  WITH  YOU,  ONLY  GOOD  FRIENDS  WOULD  DO  THAT  -  Keith Hunt]


Job's First Speech


3


At last Job spoke, and he cursed the day of his birth. 2He said: 3 "Cursed be the day of my birth, and cursed be the night when I was conceived. 4 Let that day be turned to darkness. Let it be lost even to God on high, and let it be shrouded in darkness. 5Yes, let the darkness and utter gloom claim it for its own. Let a black cloud overshadow it, and let the darkness terrify it. 6Let that night be blotted off the calendar, never again to be counted among the days of the year, never again to appear among the months. 7Let that night be barren. Let it have no joy.8Let those who are experts at cursing—those who are ready to rouse the sea monster [Hebrew rouse Leviathan].— curse that day. 9Let its morning stars remain dark. Let it hope for light, but in vain; may it never see the morning light. 10Curse it for its failure to shut my mother's womb, for letting me be born to all this trouble. 11Why didn't I die at birth as I came from the womb? 12Why did my mother let me live? Why did she nurse me at her breasts? 13 For if I had died at birth, I would be at peace now, asleep and at rest. 14I would rest with the world's kings and prime ministers, famous for their great construction projects. 15I would rest with wealthy princes whose palaces were filled with gold and silver.16Why was I not buried like a stillborn child, like a baby who never lives to see the light? 17For in death the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. 18Even prisoners are at ease in death, with no guards to curse them. 19Rich and poor are there alike, and the slave is free from his master.


[I  WOULD  THINK  IF  ANY  OF  US  HAD  JOB’S  AFFLICTIONS  WE  WOULD  ALSO  WISH  FOR  DEATH,  AND  EVEN  THAT  WE  HAD  NEVER  BEEN  BORN.  WE  ALSO  SEE  THAT  DEATH  IS  A  SLEEP,  JUST  AS  JESUS  ALSO  TAUGHT  IN  THE  GOSPELS  -  JOHN  11  AND  LAZARUS  -  Keith Hunt]


20 "Oh, why should light be given to the weary, and life to those in misery?21 They long for death, and it won't come. They search for death more eagerly than for hidden treasure. 22It is a blessed relief when they finally die, when they find the grave. 23 Why is life given to those with no future, those destined by God to live in distress? 24 I cannot eat for sighing; my groans pour out like water. 25What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come to be. 26 I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest; instead, only trouble comes."


[BEARING  SUCH  PHYSICAL  BODY  PAIN  AND  MENTAL  ANGUISH  AT  LOOSING  YOUR  SONS  AND  DAUGHTERS  AND  THE  LIVESTOCK  OF  YOUR  FARM,  WOULD  I  THINK,  BRING  MOST  PEOPLE  TO  WISH  THEY  WERE  DEAD.  I  PERSONALLY  CANNOT  IMAGINE  SUCH  PHYSICAL  AND  MENTAL  PAIN  -  Keith Hunt]


Eliphaz's First Response to job


4


Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied to Job: 


2"Will you be patient and let me say a word? For who could keep from speaking out? 3"In the past you have encouraged many a troubled soul to trust in God; you have supported those who were weak. 4Your words have strengthened the fallen; you steadied those who wavered. 5But now when trouble strikes, you faint and are broken. 6Does your reverence for God give you no confidence? Shouldn't you believe that God will care for those who are upright?


[THOUGH  HE  STARTS  OF  PRAISING  JOB  FOR  GOOD  THINGS,  HE  SOON  GETS  INTO  “WHEN  TROUBLE  COMES  YOU  HAVE  NO  CONFIDENCE….GOD  WILL  CARE  FOR  THE  UPRIGHT.”  A  WAY  OF  SAYING,  “JOB  YOU  AIN’T  REALLY  UPRIGHT  AFTER  ALL”  -  Keith Hunt]


7"Stop and think! Does the innocent person perish? When has the upright person been destroyed? 8My experience shows that those who plant trouble and cultivate evil will harvest the same. 9They perish by a breath from God. They vanish in a blast of his anger. 10Though they are fierce young lions, they will all be broken and destroyed. 11 The fierce lion will starve, and the cubs of the lioness will be scattered.


[JOB  IS  TOLD  YOU  ARE  NOT  SO  RIGHTEOUS  AFTER  ALL,  YOU  ARE  REAPING  WHAT  YOU’VE  SOWN  -  Keith Hunt]


12 "This truth was given me in secret, as though whispered in my ear. 13It came in a vision at night as others slept. 14Fear gripped me; I trembled and shook with terror. 15A spirit swept past my face. Its wind sent shivers up my spine. 16It stopped, but I couldn't see its shape. There was a form before my eyes, and a hushed voice said, 17'Can a mortal be just and upright before God? Can a person be pure before the Creator?'


18 "If God cannot trust his own angels and has charged some of them with folly, 19 how much less will he trust those made of clay! Their foundation is dust, and they are crushed as easily as moths. 20They are alive in the morning, but by evening they are dead, gone forever without a trace. 21 Their tent collapses; they die in ignorance.


[JOB  IS  BEING  TOLD  HE  IS  A  SINNER;  HE’S  REAPING  WHAT  HE’S  SOWN;  GOD  IS  PAYING  HIM  BACK  FOR  SINS  -  Keith Hunt]


Eliphaz's Response Continues


5


"You may cry for help, but no one listens. You may turn to the angels, but they give you no help. 2Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple. 3From my experience, I know that fools who turn from God may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.4Their children are abandoned far from help, with no one to defend them. 5Their harvests are stolen, and their wealth satisfies the thirst of many others, not themselves/ 6But evil does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth. 7 People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire. 8 My advice to you is this: Go to God and present your case to him. 9For he does great works too marvelous to understand. He performs miracles without number. 10He gives rain for the earth. He sends water for the fields.11 He gives prosperity to the poor and humble, and he takes sufferers to safety. 12He frustrates the plans of the crafty, so their efforts will not succeed. 13He catches those who think they are wise in their own cleverness, so that their cunning schemes are thwarted.14They grope in the daylight as though they were blind; they see no better in the daytime than at night. 15He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong. He saves them from the clutches of the powerful. 16And so at last the poor have hope, and the fangs of the wicked are broken.


[WELLLLL…… NO!  GOD  DOES  NOT  ALWAYS  BRING  RETRIBUTION  ON  THE  WICKED  IN  THIS  LIFE-TIME;  MANY  LIVE  AND  PROSPER  IN  THEIR  WICKEDNESS,  AS  DO  SOME  OF  THEIR  CHILDREN.  THE  POOR  ARE  NOT  ALWAYS  RESCUED  FROM  EVIL  PEOPLE.  AGAIN  ELIPHAZ  IS  TELLING  JOB  HE’S  A  SINNER  AND  THE  LORD  IS  REWARDING  HIM  ACCORDINGLY  -  Keith Hunt]


17"But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin.18For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal. 19He will rescue you again and again so that no evil can touch you 20He will save you from death in time of famine, from the power of the sword in time of war.21 You will be safe from slander and will have no fear of destruction when it comes. 22You will laugh at destruction and famine; wild animals will not terrify you. 23You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you. 24You will know that your home is kept safe. When you visit your pastures, nothing will be missing. 25Your children will be many; your descendants will be as plentiful as grass! 26You will live to a good old age. You will not be harvested until the proper time!


27 "We have found from experience that all this is true. Listen to my counsel, and apply it to yourself."


[NO  HISTORY  AND  EXPERIENCE  DOES  NOT  TELL  YOU  THAT  GOD  WILL  KEEP  THE  UPRIGHT  IN  SUCH  SAFETY  AS  MENTIONED  BY  ELIPHAZ.  HE  WAS  PUTTING  FORTH  AN  IDEA  THAT  THE  UPRIGHT  WILL  NEVER  HAVE  WHAT  JOB  NOW  FINDS  HIMSELF  WITH.  GOD  DOES  NOT  ALWAYS  RESCUE  SO  NO  EVIL  WILL  COME  UPON  YOU;  GOD  DOES  NOT  ALWAYS  SAVE  YOU  FROM  DEATH,  OR  FROM  THE  SWORD,  OR  FROM  SLANDER,  YOUR  HOME  OR  FARM  IS  NOT  ALWAYS  KELP  SAFE  FROM  WILD  ANIMALS;  CHRISTIANS  DO  NOT  ALWAYS  LIVE  TO  “A  GOOD  OLD  AGE.”  JOB  WAS  BEING  TOLD  HE  WAS  BEING  CHASTENED  OF  THE  LORD;  HE  WAS  A  SINNER  AND  NEEDED  PUNISHING…..SO  JOB  CONFESS  YOUR  SINS  THAT  YOU’VE  KEPT  FROM  US  -  Keith Hunt]


Job's Second Speech: A Response to Eliphaz


6


Then Job spoke again: 2 "If my sadness could be weighed and my troubles be put on the scales,3they would be heavier than all the sands of the sea. That is why I spoke so rashly. 4For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows. He has sent his poisoned arrows deep within my spirit. All God's terrors are arrayed against me.5 Don't I have a right to complain? Wild donkeys bray when they find no green grass, and oxen low when they have no food. 6People complain when there is no salt in their food. And how tasteless is the uncooked white of an egg! 7My appetite disappears when I look at it; I gag at the thought of eating it!


[“NO  I  HAVE  NOT  SINNED,  GOD  IS  AGAINST  ME,  HE  IS  BRINGING  ALL  THIS  UPON  ME  WITHOUT  CAUSE….SHOULD  I  NOT  HAVE  THE  RIGHT  TO  COMPLAIN?”  SO  JOB  IS  SAYING  -  Keith Hunt]


8 "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my hope. 9 I wish he would crush me. I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me. 10At least I can take comfort in this: Despite the pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One. 11 But I do not have the strength to endure. I do not have a goal that encourages me to carry on. 12Do I have strength as hard as stone? Is my body made of bronze?13 No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success.


[JOB  SAYS: “I  AM  BUT  HUMAN  FLESH  AND  BLOOD;  DESPITE  WHAT  GOD  HAS  BROUGHT  ON  ME  I  HAVE  NOT  DENIED  HIS  WORDS;  I  AM  WANTING  TO  DIE,  I  HAVE  NO  STRENGTH  LIKE  A  STONE,  MY  BODY  IS  NOT  MADE  OF  BRONZE….. I  AM  WEAK  FLESH  AND  BLOOD,  I  WISH  GOD  WOULD  END  MY  LIFE”  -  Keith Hunt]


14 "One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you have accused me without the slightest fear of the Almighty. 15My brother, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook that overflows its banks in the spring 16when it is swollen with ice and melting snow. 17But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears. The brook vanishes in the heat. 18The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing there to drink, and so they perish in the desert. 19With high hopes, the caravans from Tema and from Sheba stop for water, 20but finding none, their hopes are dashed. 21You, too, have proved to be of no help. You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid. 22But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift? Have I begged you to use any of your wealth on my behalf? 23 Have I ever asked you to rescue me from my enemies? Have I asked you to save me from ruthless people?


[JOB  SAYS  TO  HIS  FRIEND,  YOU  HAVE  BEEN  NO  HELP  IN  MY  DESTRUCTION,  FOR  YOU  HAVE  NOT  SAID  THE  TRUTH…

You, too, have proved to be of no help. You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid. 22But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift? Have I begged you to use any of your wealth on my behalf? 23 Have I ever asked you to rescue me from my enemies? Have I asked you to save me from ruthless people?  -  Keith Hunt]


24 "All I want is a reasonable answer— then I will keep quiet. Tell me, what have I done wrong?25 Honest words are painful, but what do your criticisms amount to? 26Do you think your words are convincing when you disregard my cry of desperation? 27You would even send an orphan into slavery or sell a friend. 28Look at me! Would I lie to your face? 29Stop assuming my guilt, for I am righteous. Don't be so unjust. 30Do you think I am lying? Don't I know the difference between right and wrong?


[JOB  MAINTAINS  HIS  INTEGRITY  AND  HIS  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  HE  ASKS  TO  BE  TOLD  WHAT  HE’S  DONE  WRONG.  IN  OTHER  WORDS  HE  KNOWS  HIS  FRIENDS  HAVE  NEVER  SEEN  HIM  DO  WRONG  OR  EVIL  OF  ANY  KIND  -  Keith Hunt]  


7


"Is this not the struggle of all humanity? A person's life is long and hard, like that of a hired hand, 2like a worker who longs for the day to end, like a servant waiting to be paid. 3 I, too, have been assigned months of futility, long and weary nights of misery. 4When I go to bed, I think, 'When will it be morning?' But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn. 5My skin is filled with worms and scabs. My flesh breaks open, full of pus.


[JOB  TELLS  THEM  WHAT  IT’S  LIKE….. MISERY  THAT  IS  HARD  TO  IMAGINE  -  Keith Hunt]


Job Cries Out to God


6 "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle flying back and forth. They end without hope. 70 God, remember that my life is but a breath, and I will never again experience pleasure. 8You see me now, but not for long. Your eyes will be on me, but I will be dead. Just as a cloud dissipates and vanishes, those who die will not come back. 10They are gone forever from their home—never to be seen again. 11 I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. I must complain in my bitterness. 12Am I a sea monster that you place a guard on me?13If I think, 'My bed will comfort me, and I will try to forget my misery with sleep,' 14you shatter me with dreams. You terrify me with visions. 15 I would rather die of strangulation than go on and on like this. 16 I hate my life. I do not want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days.


[I  THINK  WE  CAN  KINDA  UNDERSTAND  BY  NOW  THAT  FOR  JOB  DEATH  WOULD  BE  A  BLESSING,  LIFE  AS  IT  IS  FOR  HIM  AT  PRESENT  IS  OVERWHELMINGLY  ANGUISH  -  THOSE  WHO  DIE  ARE  GONE  FROM  THE  EARTH,  NOT  TO  COME  BACK  IN  A  FEW  WEEKS  OR  MONTHS.  ONLY  THE  VERY  FEW  HAVE  EVER  BEEN  RAISED  TO  PHYSICAL  LIFE  AFTER  DEATH…. LAZARUS  IN  THE  GOSPEL  OF  JOHN  WAS  ONE;  BUT  GENERALLY  ALL  WILL  BE  GONE…… FROM  THIS  LIFE…… UNTIL  THE  RESURRECTION  DAY  -  Keith Hunt]


17 "What are mere mortals, that you should make so much of us? 18For you examine us every morning and test us every moment.19 Why won't you leave me alone—even for a moment? 20Have I sinned? What have I done to you, O watcher of all humanity? Why have you made me your target? Am I a burden to you? 21Why not just pardon my sin and lake away my guilt? For soon I will lie down in the dust and die. When you look for me, I will be gone."


[JOB  SAYS  TO  GOD,  “IF  I’VE  SINNED,  THEN  SHOW  ME  MY  SIN;  WHAT  HAVE  I  DONE  TO  YOU  THAT  IS  SO  WRONG  YOU  EXAMINE  ME  LIKE  THIS.  JUST  PARDON  MY  SIN  WHATEVER  IT  IS  AND  WALK  AWAY  FROM  ME  AND  LET  ME  DIE”  -  Keith Hunt]


Bildad's First Response to job


8


Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:


2 "How long will you go on like this? Your words are a blustering wind. 3Does God twist justice? Does the Almighty twist what is right? 4Your children obviously sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved. 5But if you pray to God and seek the favor of the Almighty,6 if you are pure and live with complete integrity, he will rise up and restore your happy home. 7And though you started with little, you will end with much.


8"Just ask the former generation. Pay attention to the experience of our ancestors. 9For we were born but yesterday and know so little. Our days on earth are as transient as a shadow. 10But those who came before us will teach you. They will teach you from the wisdom of former generations.


11"Can papyrus reeds grow where there is no marsh? Can bulrushes flourish where there is no water?12While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither. 13So is the fate of all who forget God. The hope of the godless comes to nothing. 14Everything they count on will collapse. They are leaning on a spiderweb. 15They cling to their home for security, but it won't last. They try to hold it fast, but it will not endure. 16The godless seem so strong, like a lush plant growing in the sunshine, its branches spreading across the garden. 17Its roots grow down through a pile of rocks to hold it firm. 18But when it is uprooted, it isn't even missed! 19That is the end of its life, and others spring up from the earth to replace it. 20But look! God will not reject a person of integrity, nor will he make evildoers prosper.21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. 22Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be destroyed."


[AGAIN  TRYING  TO  SAY  JOB  IS  SOME  BIG  HUGE  SINNER,  AS  HIS  CHILDREN  WERE,  SO  THEY  PERISHED.  IT  IS  NOT  TRUE  THAT  EVIL  DOERS  DO  NOT  PROSPER,  SOME  EVIL  DOERS  PROSPER  RIGHT  TILL  DEATH.  AS  THE  PAPYRUS  GROWS  ONLY  IN  THE  MARSH,  SO  EVIL  BRINGS  FORTH  DISASTER  -  THE  TWO  GO  HAND  IN  HAND.  THIS  IS  THE  ARGUMENT  THAT  GOD  WILL  NOT  PROSPER  EVIL  DOERS,  SO  JOB  NEEDED  TO  CONFESS  HIS  SINS  AS  EVERYTHING  WAS  TAKEN  AWAY  FROM  HIM;  HE  MUST  THEREFORE  BE  AN  EVIL  DOER.  


Job's Third Speech: A Response to Bildad


9


Then Job spoke again: 2 "Yes, I know this is all true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in the eyes of God? 3If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times? 4For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged him successfully?


[JOG  SAYS,  “HOW  DO  I  CHALLENGE  GOD  TO  PROVE  I’M  NOT  A  SINNER?”  -  Keith Hunt]


5 "Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble. 7If he commands it, the sun won't rise and the stars won't shine. 8He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea. 9 He made all the stars—the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the constellations of the southern sky. 10His great works are too marvelous to understand, He performs miracles without number.


[ JOB,  “HOW  CAN  I  CHALLENGE  SUCH  A  MIGHTY  ONE  AS  GOD?”  -  Keith Hunt]


11 Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him. When he moves on, I do not see him go. 12If he sends death to snatch someone away, who can stop him? Who dares to ask him, 'What are you doing?' 13And God does not restrain his anger. The mightiest forces against him are crushed beneath his feet.


[JOB,  “SEE  HOW  MIGHTY  HE  IS,  WHO  AM  I  TO  STAND  UP  TO  HIM?”  -  Keith Hunt]


14"And who am I, that I should try to answer God or even reason with him? 15 Even if I were innocent, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy. 16And even if I summoned him and he responded, he would never listen to me. 17For he attacks me without reason, and he multiplies my wounds without cause.


[JOB,  “I  AM  WEAK  TO  REASON  WITH  GOD.  HE  WOULD  NOT  LISTEN  TO  ME,  FOR  HE  NOW  ATTACKS  ME  WITHOUT  CAUSE,  WOUND  UPON  WOUND.”  Keith Hunt]


18 He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows. 19As for strength, he has it, as for justice, who can challenge him? 20Though I am innocent, my own mouth would pronounce me guilty. Though I am blameless, it would prove me wicked.


[JOB,  “WHATEVER  I  WOULD  SAY,  WOULD  COME  TO  NAUGHT;  SAYING  I  AM  BLAMELESS  WOULD  NOT  HELP.”  Keith Hunt]


21"I am innocent, but it makes no difference to me—I despise my life. Innocent or wicked, it is all the same to him. That is why I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.' 23He laughs when a plague suddenly kills the innocent. 24The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges and lets them be unfair. If not he, then who?


[JOB,  “GOD  IS  IN  CHARGE;  NOTHING  HAPPENS  WITHOUT  HIM  ALLOWING  IT;  IF  IT’S  NOT  HE  WHO  ALLOWS  IT,  THEN  WHO,  THERE  IS  NONE  GREATER.”  Keith Hunt]


25"My life passes more swiftly than a runner. It flees away, filled with tragedy. 26It disappears like a swift boat, like an eagle that swoops down on its prey. 27If I decided to forget my complaints, if I decided to end my sadness and be cheerful, 28I would dread all the pain he would send. For I know you will not hold me innocent, O God. 29Whatever happens, I will be found guilty. So what's the use of trying?


[JOB,  “HE’S  SO  MIGHTY  COMPARED  TO  ME,  HE  WILL  DO  WHAT  HE  WILLS,  SO  WHY  SHOULD  I  TRY  TO  DEFEND  MYSELF.”  Keith Hunt]


30Even if I were to wash myself with soap and cleanse my hands with lye to make them absolutely clean, 31you would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and I would be so filthy my own clothing would hate me.


32 "God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. 33 If only there were a mediator who could bring us together, but there is none. 34The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment. 35Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength.”


[JOB,  “I  ONLY  SEE  UTTER  DEFEAT  IF  I  TRIED  TO  CHALLENGE  GOD;  AND  THERE  IS  NO  MEDIATOR;  A  MORTAL  LIKE  ME  COULD  NEVER  TAKE  GOD  TO  TRIAL  OR  ARGUE  WITH  HIM.”  Keith Hunt]


Job Frames His Plea to God


10


"I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God, 'Don't simply condemn me—tell me the charge you are bringing against me.3 What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while sending joy and prosperity to the wicked? 4Are your eyes only those of a human? Do you see things as people see them? 5 Is your lifetime merely human? Is your life so short 6that you are in a hurry to probe for my guilt, to search for my sin? 7Although you know I am not guilty, no one can rescue me from your power.


[JOB  CLINGS  TO  BEING  NOT  GUILTY  OF  ANYTHING  WORTHY  OF  ALL  HE  HAS  AND  IS  SUFFERING;  HE  SAYS  GOD  KNOWS  THERE  IS  NO  CAUSE  FOR  HIM  TO  BE  GIVEN  ALL  THIS  MISERY,  BUT  HE  IS  IN  GOD’S  HANDS  AND  NO  ONE  CAN  DELIVERY  HIM  FROM  THE  LORD’S  POWER  -  Keith Hunt]


8"You formed me with your hands; you made me, and yet you completely destroy me.9 Remember that I am made of dust— will you turn me back to dust so soon? 10You guided my conception and formed me in the womb.* 11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. 12You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care. 13Yet your real motive—I know this was your intent—14was to watch me, and if I sinned, you would not forgive my iniquity. 15 If I am guilty, too bad for me. And even if I'm innocent, I am filled with shame and misery so that I can't hold my head high. 16And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion and display your awesome power against me. 17Again and again you witness against me. You pour out an ever-increasing volume of anger upon me and bring fresh armies against me. 18Why, then, did you bring me out of my mother's womb? Why didn't you let me die at birth? 19Then I would have been spared this miserable existence. I would have gone directly from the womb to the grave. 20 I have only a little time left, so leave me alone—that I may have a little moment of comfort 21 before I leave for the land of darkness and utter gloom, never to return. 22 It is a land as dark as midnight, a land of utter gloom where confusion reigns and the light is as dark as midnight.”


[JOB  IS  SAYING  HE  DID  NOT  WARRANT  THIS  HARD  POWER  OF  GOD’S  HAND;  HERE  WE  SEE  GOD  FORMS  LIFE  IN  THE  WOMB;  WHEN  EGG  AND  SEED  UNITE  HUMAN  LIFE  IS  FORMED.  AT  THIS  POINT  JOB  IS  BELIEVING  HE  HAS  BUT  A  SHORT  TIME  LEFT  BEFORE  THE  DARKNESS  OF  DEATH  IS  UPON  HIM.  TO  JOB  IT  SEEMED  GOD  WAS  AFTER  HIM  AT  EVERY  CORNER.  HE  BEMOANS  THE  FACT  THAT  HE  LIVED  AFTER  BEING  BORN,  AND  THINKS  GOD  SHOULD  HAVE  LET  HIM  DIE.  IF  WE  WERE  IN  JOB’S  SHOES  I  THINK  WE  ALSO  WOULD  HAVE  THOUGHT  IT  BETTER  THAT  WE  HAD  DIED  AT  BIRTH.  AT  THIS  POINT  IN  HIS  ORDEAL  HE  PUTS  DEATH,  IN  THE  PICTURE  OF  DARKNESS,  UTTER  GLOOM,  NEVER  TO  RETURN.  LATER  HE  COMES  TO  SEE  THERE  IS  HOPE  AFTER  DEATH,  A  RESURRECTION.  WHAT  HE  MEANS  BY  “WHERE  CONFUSION  REIGNS”  IS  PROBABLY  HIS  MIND  OF  CONFUSION  AS  IT  WAS  THEN  -  IN  SUCH  A  MIND-SET  FROM  HIS  PAIN,  DISCOMFORT,  AND  MENTAL  ANGUISH,  HE  COULD  SEE  NOTHING  ELSE  BUT  CONFUSION  WAITING  FOR  HIM.  HE  COULD  NOT  EVEN  SEE  THAT  AS  A  CHILD  OF  GOD  NO  SUCH  CONFUSION  AWAITED  HIM  AFTER  DEATH.  WHEN  IN  THIS  SATE  OF  PHYSICAL  TORMENT  THE  MIND  CAN  PLAY  TRICKS  ON  US;  WE  JUST  DO  NOT  THINK  CLEARLY  -  Keith Hunt]



10:10 * Hebrew - You poured me out like milk and curdled me like cheese.

………………..


TO  BE  CONTINUED


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