UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF JOB #2
Zophar's First Response to job
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Then Zophar the Naamathite replied to Job:
2"Shouldn't someone answer this torrent of words? Is a person proved innocent gust by talking a lot? 3Should I remain silent while you babble on? When you mock God, shouldn't someone make you ashamed? 4You claim, 'My teaching is pure,' and 'I am clean in the sight of God.' 5 If only God would speak; if only he would tell you what he thinks! 6 If only he would tell you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom is not a simple matter. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!
[HE IS CLAIMING JOB IS SOME BIG SINNER BUT HAS HIDDEN IT WELL - Keith Hunt]
7"Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything there is to know about the Almighty? 8Such knowledge is higher than the heavens—but who are you? It is deeper than the underworld*—what can you know in comparison to him? 9It is broader than the earth and wider than the sea. 10If God comes along and puts a person in prison, or if he calls the court to order, who is going to stop him? 11For he knows those who are false, and he takes note of all their sins. 12An empty-headed person won't become wise any more than a wild donkey can bear human offspring*!
13"If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! 14 Get rid of your sins and leave all iniquity behind you. 15Then your face will brighten in innocence. You will be strong and free of fear. 16You will forget your misery. It will all be gone like water under the bridge.17Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Any darkness will be as bright as morning.18You will have courage because you will have hope. You will be protected and will rest in safety. 19You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help. 20But the wicked will lose hope. They have no escape. Their hope becomes despair."
[CONTINUING TO CLAIM JOB IS A SINNER AND NEEDS TO CONFESS THE SINS GOD IS PUNISHING HIM FOR - Keith Hunt]
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11:8 Hebrew Sheol. 11:12 Or bear a tame colt.
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Job's Fourth Speech: A Response to Zophar
2Then Job spoke again:
2You really know everything, don't you? And when you die, wisdom will die with you! 3Well, I know a few things myself—and you're no better than I am. Who doesn't know these things you've been saying? 4Yet my friends laugh at me. I am a man who calls on God and receives an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me. 5 People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling. 6But even robbers are left in peace, and those who provoke God—and God has them in his power—live in safety!
7"Ask the animals, and they will teach you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. 8Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish of the sea speak to you. 9They all know that the Lord has done this. 10For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of all humanity.11Just as the mouth tastes good food, so the ear tests the words it hears. 12 Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to those who have lived many years.
13"But true wisdom and power are with God; counsel and understanding are his.14 What he destroys cannot be rebuilt. When he closes in on someone, there is no escape. 15If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert. If he releases the waters, they flood the earth.
16"Yes, strength and wisdom are with him; deceivers and deceived are both in his power. 17He leads counselors away stripped of good judgment; he drives judges to madness. 18He removes the royal robe of kings. With ropes around their waist, they are led away. 19He leads priests away stripped of status; he overthrows the mighty. 20He silences the trusted adviser, and he removes the insight of the elders. 21 He pours disgrace upon princes and confiscates weapons from the strong.
22"He floods the darkness with light; he brings light to the deepest gloom. 23He
raises up nations, and he destroys them. He makes nations expand, and he abandons them. 24He takes away the understanding of kings, and he leaves them wandering in a wasteland without a path. 25They grope in the darkness without a light. He makes them stagger like drunkards.
[JOB IS AMPLIFYING THE FACXT THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING; HE IS THE ULTIMATE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE; HE CAN DO WHAT HE LIKES, WHEN HE LIKES, HOW HE LIKES, WITH WHOM HE LIKES. JOB IS SAYING, “GOD HAS CHOSEN TO DO WHAT HE LIKES WITH ME, AND I CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT; GOD HAS CHOSEN TO BRING SORROW, PAIN, BRIEF, ON ME; IT IS ALL IN HIS HANDS, AND I AM INNOCENT OF SOME TERRIBLE SINS THAT YOU MY FRIENDS HAVE SAID I HAVE DONE AND CLEVERLY COVERED UP” - Keith Hunt]
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Job Wants to Argue His Case with God
"Look, I have seen many instances such as you describe. I understand what you are saying. 2 I know as much as you do. You are no better than I am. 3Oh, how I long to speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself. 4For you are smearing me with lies. As doctors, you are worthless quacks. 5 Please be quiet! That's the smartest thing you could do. 6Listen to my charge; pay attention to my arguments.
7"Are you defending God by means of lies and dishonest arguments? 8You should be impartial witnesses, but will you slant your testimony in his favor? Will you argue God's case for him? 9Be careful that he doesn't find out what you are doing! Or do you think you can fool him as easily as you fool people? 10No, you will be in serious trouble with him if even in your hearts you slant your testimony in his favor. 11Doesn't his majesty strike terror into your heart? Does not your fear of him seize you? 12Your statements have about as much value as ashes. Your defense is as fragile as a clay pot.
[THEY CLAIMED JOB WAS HIDING SOME GREAT SINS THAT NO ONE KNEW ABOUT, ONLY GOD, AND SO GOD WAS NOW PUNISHING HIM FOR THOSE SINS THAT HE WOULD NOT ADMIT EXISTED. THEY WERE LIKE THEY WERE ACTING FOR GOD, KNOWING HOW GOD KNEW THESE THINGS. JOB SAYS THEY SHOULD HAVE MORE FEAR OF THE LORD THAN THINKING THEY COULD ACT FOR HIM, AS IF THEY WERE GOD’S REPRESENTATIVES IN JUDGING JOB ABOUT SECRET SINS HE WOULD NOT ADMIT EXISTED - Keith Hunt]
13"Be silent now and leave me alone. Let me speak—and I will face the consequences. 14Yes, I will take my life in my hands and say what I really think. 15God might kill me, but I cannot wait. I am going to argue my case with him. 16But this is what will save me: that I am not godless. If I were, I would be thrown from his presence.
17"Listen closely to what I am about to say. Hear me out. 18 I have prepared my case; I will be proved innocent. 19Who can argue with me over this? If you could prove me wrong, I would remain silent until I die.
[JOB IS ADAMANTLY SAYING HE IS UPRIGHT, RIGHTEOUS, AND IS NOT WHAT HIS FRIENDS ARE TRYING TO MAKE OUT THAT HE IS - Keith Hunt]
Job Asks How He Has Sinned
20 “O God, there are two things I beg of you, and I will be able to face you. 21 Remove your hand from me, and don't terrify me with your awesome presence. 22Now summon me, and I will answer! Or let me speak to you, and you reply. 23Tell me, what have I done wrong? Show me my rebellion and my sin. 24Why do you turn away from me? Why do you consider me your enemy? 25Would you terrify a leaf that is blown by the wind? Would you chase a dry stalk of grass?
26You write bitter accusations against me and bring up all the sins of my youth. 27You put my feet in stocks. You watch all my paths. You trace all my footprints. 28 I waste away like rotting wood, like a moth-eaten coat.
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"How frail is humanity! How short is life, and how full of trouble! 2Like a flower, we blossom for a moment and then wither. Like the shadow of a passing cloud, we quickly disappear. 3Must you keep an eye on such a frail creature and demand an accounting from me? 4Who can create purity in one born impure? No one! 5You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer. 6So give us a little rest, won't you? Turn away your angry stare. We are like hired hands, so let us finish the task you have given us.
7"If a tree is cut down, there is hope that it will sprout again and grow new branches. 8Though its roots have grown old in the earth and its stump decays, 9at the scent of water it may bud and sprout again like a new seedling.
10"But when people die, they lose all strength. They breathe their last, and then where are they? 11As water evaporates from a lake and as a river disappears in drought, people lie down and do not rise again. 12Until the heavens are no more, they will not wake up nor be roused from their sleep.
[THE TRUTH OF DEATH WAS THEN KNOWN BY JOB; WHEN PEOPLE DIE THEY LIE DOWN AND THEY GO INTO SLEEP! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT JESUS TAUGHT IN JOHN 11 AND THE DEATH OF LAZARUS. FOR A FULL IN-DEPTH STUDY OF DEATH SEE THE STUDY CALLED “DEATH - THEN WHAT?” Keith Hunt]
13"I wish you would hide me with the dead and forget me there until your anger has passed. But mark your calendar to think of me again! 14If mortals die, can they live again? This thought would give me hope, and through my struggle I would eagerly wait for release. 15You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork. 16For then you would count my steps, instead of watching for my sins. 17My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover over my iniquity.
[WE NOTE JOB’S QUESTION, IF MAN DIES CAN HE LIVE AGAIN? YES, OH YES, GOD WILL CALL AND THE DEAD WITH ANSWER; THE LORD WILL YEARN FOR HIS HANDIWORK TO COME FORTH AND BE FINISHED….. THE RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS -
1 COR. 15. YOU WILL FIND MANY STUDIES ON THIS WEBSITE CONCERNING DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION/S - Keith Hunt]
18"But as mountains fall and crumble and as rocks fall from a cliff, 19as water wears away the stones and floods wash away the soil, so you destroy people's hope. 20You always overpower them, and then they pass from the scene. You disfigure them in death and send them away. 21 They never know if their sons grow up in honor or sink to insignificance. 22They are absorbed in their own pain and grief."
[AH YES THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING; THEY ARE NOT LOOKING DOWN ON THEIR LOVE ONES SEEING HOW THEY ARE GOING FORWARD IN LIFE…..GOODLY OR BADLY - Keith Hunt]
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Eliphaz's Second Response to Job
Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2"You are supposed to be a wise man, and yet you give us all this foolish talk. You are nothing but a windbag. 3It isn't right to speak so foolishly. What good do such words do? 4Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him? 5Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception. 6But why should I condemn you? Your own mouth does!
7"Were you the first person ever born? Were you born before the hills were made? 8Were you listening at God's secret council? Do you have a monopoly on wisdom? 9What do you know that we don't? What do you understand that we don't? 10On our side are aged, gray-haired men much older than your father!
11"Is God's comfort too little for you? Is his gentle word not enough? 12What has captured your reason? What has weakened your vision, 13that you turn against God and say all these evil things? 14Can a mortal be pure? Can a human be just? 15Why, God doesn't even trust the angels*! (Hebrew is "holy ones" - this is Job's friend speaking; By now in history I'm pretty sure God does trust the angels that did not rebel when the "covering cherub" became the Devil, and took one third of the angels with him - Keith Hunt). Even the heavens cannot be absolutely pure in his sight.16How much less pure is a corrupt and sinful person with a thirst for wickedness!
[THE LAST VERSE SURELY SHOWS HOW MUCH JOB'S FRIENDS WERE REALLY THINKING, WE HAVE HERE A MAN WITH GRIEVOUS SINS HE IS HIDING - Keith Hunt]
17"If you will listen, I will answer you from my own experience. 18And it is confirmed by the experience of wise men who have heard the same thing from their fathers, 19 those to whom the land was given long before any foreigners arrived.
20"Wicked people are in pain throughout their lives. 21They are surrounded by terrors, and even on good days they fear the attack of the destroyer. 22They dare not go out into the darkness for fear they will be murdered. 23They wander abroad for bread, saying, 'Where is it?'* They know their ruin is certain. 24That dark day terrifies them. They live in distress and anguish, like a king preparing for an attack. 25For they have clenched their fists against God, defying the Almighty. 26Holding their strong shields, they defiantly charge against him.
27"These wicked people are fat and rich, 28but their cities will be ruined. They will live in abandoned houses that are ready to tumble down. 29They will not continue to be rich. Their wealth will not endure, and their possessions will no longer spread across the horizon.
[WELLLL....YES THAT IS THE ULTIMATE FATE OF THE WICKED RICH, WHO WILL NOT REPENT; FOR NOW SOME DO NOT HAVE THEIR WEALTH AND RICHES TAKEN AWAY; THEY ARE NOT ALL IN PAIN, MANY DO NOT THINK THERIR RUIN IS CERTAIN; MANY DO NOT LIVE IN STRESS AND ANGUISH; ONLY SOME ARE IN THE THROWS OF WHAT VERSES 20 - 29 TELL US - Keith Hunt]
30"They will not escape the darkness. The flame will burn them up, and the breath of God will destroy everything they have.31 Let them no longer trust in empty riches. They are only fooling themselves, for emptiness will be their only reward. 32They will be cut down in the prime of life, and all they counted on will disappear. 33They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested before they are ripe, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms so the fruit cannot form. 34For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will be consumed by fire. 35They conceive trouble and evil, and their hearts give birth only to deceit."
[ONLY SOME ARE CUT DOWN IN THEIR PRIME OF LIFE; YES IN THE END, IF THEY DO NOT REPENT, THE FLAME OF THE SECOND DEATH WILL BURN THEM UP - Keith Hunt]
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15:23 Greek version reads "He is appointed to be food for a vulture."
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Job's Fifth Speech: A Response to Eliphaz
Then Job spoke again:
2"I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are! 3 Won't you ever stop your flow of foolish words? What have I said that makes you speak so endlessly? 4 I could say the same things if you were in my place. I could spout off my criticisms against you and shake my head at you.5 But that's not what I would do. I would speak in a way that helps you. I would try to take away your grief. 6But as it is, my grief remains no matter how I defend myself. And it does not help if I refuse to speak.
[JOB RIGHTLY ANSWERS THAT HIS FRIENDS ARE NO HELP TO HIM, AND SPEAK WORDS THAT ARE NOT CORRECT MUCH OF THE TIME - Keith Hunt]
7"O God, you have ground me down and devastated my family. 8You have reduced me to skin and bones—as proof, they say, of my sins. 9God hates me and tears angrily at my flesh. He gnashes his teeth at me and pierces me with his eyes. 10People jeer and laugh at me. They slap my cheek in contempt. A mob gathers against me. God has handed me over to sinners. He has tossed me into the hands of the wicked.
[ONCE MORE JOB SAYS HE IS INNOCENT AND HAS NO CAUSE FOR GOD TO DEAL WITH HIM THIS WAY - Keith Hunt]
12"I was living quietly until he broke me apart. He took me by the neck and dashed me to pieces. Then he set me up as his target. 13His archers surrounded me, and his arrows pierced me without mercy. The ground is wet with my blood.* 14Again and again he smashed me, charging at me like a warrior. 15Here I sit in sackcloth. I have surrendered, and I sit in the dust. 16 My eyes are red with weeping; darkness covers my eyes. 17Yet I am innocent, and my prayer is pure.
[JOB SEES NO CAUSE FOR ALL THIS TERRIBLE HAPPENINGS THAT HAVE BEFALLEN HIM - Keith Hunt]
18"O earth, do not conceal my blood. Let it cry out on my behalf. 19Even now my witness is in heaven. My advocate is there on high. 20My friends scorn me, but I pour out my tears to God. 21Oh, that someone would mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends. 22For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.
[ALL JOB CAN SEE IS DEATH BEFORE HIM; HE LONGS FOR SOME PERSON TO MEDIATE FOR HIM - Keith Hunt]
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16:13 Hebrew my gall.
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Job Continues to Defend His Innocence
"My spirit is crushed, and I am near death. The grave is ready to receive me. 2 I am surrounded by mockers. I watch how bitterly they taunt me.
3"You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me. 4You have closed their minds to understanding, but do not let them triumph. 5They denounce their companions for their own advantage, so let their children faint with hunger.
6"God has made a mockery of me among the people; they spit in my face. 7My eyes are dim with weeping, and I am but a shadow of my former self. 8The upright are astonished when they see me. The innocent are aroused against the ungodly.
9The righteous will move onward and forward, and those with pure hearts will become stronger and stronger.
[JOB SEES HIS SITUATION AMONG THE PEOPLE; HE SEES THEY ARE BLIND TO THE REAL FACTS; HE CRIES FOR GOD TO DEFEND HIS INNOCENCE; HE KNOWS THAT GOD KNOWS THE TRUTH; HE THINKS SOME WORDS THAT GIVE HIM SOME PEACE, "The righteous will move onward and forward, and those with pure hearts will become stronger and stronger" - Keith Hunt]
10"As for all of you, come back and try again! But I will not find a wise man among you.11My days are over. My hopes have disappeared. My heart's desires are broken. 12They say that night is day and day is night; how they pervert the truth, I might go to the grave and make my bed in darkness. 14And I might call the grave my father, and the worm my mother and my sister. 15But where then is my hope? Can anyone find it? 16No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!"
[JOB, LOOKING AT WHATEVER IS PHYSICAL - PERSON, FINDS NO HOPE IN THEM; THEY ARE SAYING THINGS BACKWARDS AND UP-SIDE-DOWN; THEY PERVERT THE TRUTH; HE SEES ONLY DEATH BEFORE HIM AND NO WISE MAN TO HELP HIS PLIGHT - Keith Hunt]
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Bildad's Second Response to Job
Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2"How long before you stop talking? Speak sense if you want us to answer! 3 Do you think we are cattle? Do you think we have no intelligence? 4You may tear your hair out in anger, but will that cause the earth to be abandoned? Will it make rocks fall from a cliff?
5"The truth remains that the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. The sparks of their fire will not glow. 6The light in their tent will grow dark. The lamp hanging above them will be quenched. 7The confident stride of the wicked will be shortened. Their own schemes will be their downfall.
8"The wicked walk into a net. They fall into a pit that's been dug in the path. 9A trap grabs them by the heel. A noose tightens around them. 10A snare lies hidden in the ground. A rope lies coiled on their path.
11"Terrors surround the wicked and trouble them at every step.12Their vigor is depleted by hunger, and calamity waits for them to stumble.13 Disease eats their skin; death devours their limbs. 14They are torn from the security of their tent, and they are brought down to the king of terrors. 15The home of the wicked will disappear beneath a fiery barrage of burning sulfur. 16Their roots will dry up, and their branches will wither.17A11 memory of their existence will perish from the earth. No one will remember them. 18They will be thrust from light into darkness, driven from the world. 19They will have neither children nor grandchildren, nor any survivor in their home country. 20People in the west are appalled at their fate; people in the east are horrified. 21They will say, 'This was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God.'"
[WE SEE HERE IN NO UNCERTAIN WORDS WHAT HIS FRIENDS WERE THINKING..... JOB IS A TERRIBLE SINNER, FOR ONLY SUCH DEVASTATION AS HE HAS AND IS EXPERIENCING COME ON THE WICKED. WHAT THEY FAIL TO SEE IS MANY OF THE TRULY WICKED DO NOT HAVE ALL THESE THINGS COME UPON THEM SOME OF THE WICKED DO LIVE IN RELATIVE PEACE, SAFETY, AND WEALTH UNTIL THEY DIE - Keith Hunt]
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Job's Sixth Speech: A Response to Bildad
Then Job spoke again:
2"How long will you torture me? How long will you try to break me with your words? 3Ten times now you have meant to insult me. You should be ashamed of dealing with me so harshly. 4And even if I have sinned, that is my concern, not yours. 5You are trying to overcome me, using my humiliation as evidence of my sin, 6but it is God who has wronged me. I cannot defend myself, for I am like a city under siege.
[JOB AGAIN PLEADS HIS INNOCENCE AND DECLARES GOD HAS NO CAUSE TO DEAL WITH HIM THIS WAY - Keith Hunt]
7"I cry out for help, but no one hears me. I protest, but there is no justice. 8God has blocked my way and plunged my path into darkness. 9He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head. 10He has demolished me on every side, and I am finished. He has destroyed my hope. 11His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy. 12His troops advance. They build up roads to attack me. They camp all around my tent.
[JOB IS CONTINUING TO PLEAD HIS INNOCENCE; HE SEES GOD IS AGAINST HIM BY ALL THAT HAS COME UPON HIM - Keith Hunt]
13"My relatives stay far away, and my friends have turned against me.14My neighbors and my close friends are all gone.15The members of my household have forgotten me. The servant girls consider me a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them. 16 I call my servant, but he doesn't come; I even plead with him! 17My breath is repulsive to my wife. I am loathsome to my own family. 18Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they turn their backs on me. 19My close friends abhor me. Those I loved have turned against me. 20 I have been reduced to skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.
[TRY TO PUT YOURSELF IN THE SHOES OF JOB; TRULY IT SEEMS ALL PEOPLE HAD FORSAKEN HIM, AND HE HAS SO FAR ONLY ESCAPED DEATH BY "THE SKIN OF MY TEETH" - Keith Hunt]
21"Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy, for the hand of God has struck me. 22Why must you persecute me as God does? Why aren't you satisfied with my anguish?
[AGAIN JOB SAYS HE IS INNOCENT; THERE IS NO CAUSE TO HAVE HIM SUFFER SO MUCH; HE CRIES OUT THAT THEY SHOULD CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS HIS ANGUISH - Keith Hunt]
23"Oh, that my words could be written. Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument, 24 carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead, engraved forever in the rock.
[JOB DID NOT REALIZE AT THIS POINT THAT INDEED HIS WORDS AND HIS SITUATION, WOULD BE WRITTEN DOWN FOR ALL GENERATIONS TO COME - Keith Hunt]
25"But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. 26And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God*! 27 I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!
[JOB BRINGS TO HIS MIND A BASIC TRUTH OF THE WHOLE WORD OF THE LORD.... HIS REDEEMER LIVES, YES HE KNEW AS OTHER CHILDREN OF GOD FROM CREATION KNEW.... A REDEEMER FROM THE GODHEAD WOULD COME TO EARTH TO REDEEM PEOPLE FOR SALVATION; AND HE KNEW THAT REDEEMER WOULD COME AGAIN TO EARTH IN THE LAST DAYS, TO STAND ON EARTH.... A THEME TAUGHT OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN THE GOD'S WORD.... WHAT TODAY WE CALL, "THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST." JOB ALSO KNEW HE AND OTHERS LIKE HIM, WOULD BE RESURRECTED FROM THE GRAVE TO ETERNAL LIFE. AND TWO TRUTHS ARE GIVEN HERE; THOUGH JOB'S BODY WOULD DECAY YET IN HIS BODY HE WOULD SEE GOD. AT THE RESURRECTION ALL SAINTS WILL BE LIKE JESUS WAS AFTER HIS RESURRECTION - HE COULD BE FLESH AND BONE, PEOPLE COULD TOUCH HIM. DISCIPLES OF JESUS COULD SEE AND TOUCH HIM WITH THEIR EYES AND HANDS. JOB SAYS ONE DAY HE WILL BE ABLE TO DO JUST THAT ALSO.
THEN, IF WE TAKE THE ALTERNATE READING GIVEN BELOW "Without my body I will see God" WE HAVE ANOTHER TRUTH BEFORE US. WE SHALL IN THE RESURRECTED FORM, IN GLORY FORM, AS SPIRIT FORM, BE ABLE TO SEE GOD AS IN HIS SPIRIT GLORY FORM; THIS TRUTH GIVEN TO US IN PLACES LIKE 1 JOHN 3:1-3. MOSES WANTED TO SEE GOD IN GLORY FORM, BUT HE WAS TOLD A FLESH AND BLOOD HUMAN COULD NOT SEE THE FACE OF GOD AND LIVE; GOD WOULD ALLOW MOSES TO SEE HIM FROM THE BACK. WHEN THE SAINTS ARE IN RESURRECTED GLORY FORM THEY SHALL BE ABLE TO SEE GOD FACE TO FACE (REV. 22: 1-5).
28"How dare you go on persecuting me, saying, 'It's his own fault ? 29 I warn you, you yourselves are in danger of punishment for your attitude. Then you will know that there is judgment."
[JOB ASSERTS HE IS CORRECT AND THEY ARE WRONG - Keith Hunt]
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19:26 Or "without my body I will see God."
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Zophar's Second Response to Job
Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
2"I must reply because I am greatly disturbed. 3 I have had to endure your insults, but now my spirit prompts me to reply.
4"Don't you realize that ever since people were first placed on the earth, 5the triumph of the wicked has been shortlived and the joy of the godless has been only temporary? 6Though the godless man's pride reaches to the heavens and though his head touches the clouds, 7yet he will perish forever, thrown away like his own dung. Those who knew him will ask, 'Where is he?' 8He will fade like a dream and not be found. He will vanish like a vision in the night. 9 Neither his friends nor his family will ever see him again.
10His children will beg from the poor, for he must give back his ill-gotten wealth. 11He was just a young man, but his bones will lie in the dust.
12“He enjoyed the taste of his wickedness, letting it melt under his tongue.13 He savored it, holding it long in his mouth. 14But suddenly, the food he has eaten turns sour within him, a poisonous venom in his stomach.15He will vomit the wealth he swallowed. God won't let him keep it down. 16He will suck the poison of snakes. The viper will kill him. 17He will never again enjoy abundant streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey. 18His labors will not be rewarded. His wealth will bring him no joy. 19For he oppressed the poor and left them destitute. He foreclosed on their homes. 20He was always greedy but never satisfied. Of all the things he dreamed about, nothing remains. 21Nothing is left after he finishes gorging himself; therefore, his prosperity will not endure.
22"In the midst of plenty, he will run into trouble, and disasters will destroy him. 23May God give him a bellyful of trouble. May God rain down his anger upon him. 24He will try to escape, but God's arrow will pierce him. 25The arrow is pulled from his body, and the arrowhead glistens with blood.* The terrors of death are upon him.
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20:25 Hebrew with gall.
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26"His treasures will be lost in deepest darkness. A wildfire will devour his goods, consuming all he has left. 27The heavens will reveal his guilt, and the earth will give testimony against him. 28A flood will sweep away his house. God's anger will descend on him in torrents. 29This is the fate that awaits the wicked. It is the inheritance decreed by God."
[WELLLLL….. YES THE WICKED WILL EVENTUALLY BE DESTOYED, THE UNREPENTANT WILL BE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE - THE SECOND DEATH; BUT NOT ALL (SOMETIMES NONE) THE THINGS SPOKEN ABOVE BY ZOPHAR COME ON THE WICKED IN THIS LIFE - JOB WILL NOW BEGIN TO SAY A TRUTH TO THEM THAT THEY HAVE IGNORED - Keith Hunt]
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Job's Seventh Speech: A Response to Zophar
Then Job spoke again:
2"Listen closely to what I am saying. You can console me by listening to me. 3Bear with me, and let me speak. After I have spoken, you may mock me.
4"My complaint is with God, not with people. No wonder I’m so impatient. 5Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock. 6When I think about what I am saying, I shudder. My body trembles.
7"The truth is that the wicked live to a good old age. They grow old and wealthy. 8They live to see their children grow to maturity, and they enjoy their grandchildren. 9 Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. 10Their bulls never fail to breed. Their cows bear calves without miscarriage.
11Their children skip about like lambs in a flock of sheep. 12They sing with tambourine and harp. They make merry to the sound of the flute.13They spend their days in prosperity; then they go down to the grave in peace. 14A11 this, even though they say to God, 'Go away. We want no part of you and your ways.15 Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us if we pray?' 16But their prosperity is not of their own doing, so I will have nothing to do with that kind of thinking.
17"Yet the wicked get away with it time and time again. They rarely have trouble, and God skips them when he distributes sorrows in his anger. 18Are they driven before the wind like straw? Are they carried away by the storm? Not at all!
19"'Well,' you say, 'at least God will punish their children!' But I say that God should punish the ones who sin, not their children! Let them feel their own penalty. 20Let their own eyes see their destruction. Let them drink deeply of the anger of the Almighty. 21For when they are dead, they will not care what happens to their family.
22"But who can teach a lesson to God, the supreme Judge? 23One person dies in prosperity and security, 24the very picture of good health.25Another person dies in bitter poverty, never having tasted the good life. 26Both alike are buried in the same dust, both eaten by the same worms.
27"Look, I know your thoughts. I know the schemes you plot against me. 28You will tell me of rich and wicked people who came to disaster because of their sins.
29But I tell you to ask those who have been around, and they can tell you the truth. 30Evil people are spared in times of calamity and are allowed to escape. 31No one rebukes them openly. No one repays them for what they have done. 32When they are carried to the grave, an honor guard keeps watch at their tomb. 33A great funeral procession goes to the cemetery. Many pay their respects as the body is laid to rest and the earth gives sweet repose. 34 "How can you comfort me? All your explanations are wrong!"
[AND SO INDEED JOB IS CORRECT ; MANY OF THE WICKED ARE NOT PUNISHED IN THIS LIFE TIME; TIME AND CHANCE (AS KING SOLOMON SAID) HAPPENS TO THEM AS WELL AS THE RIGHTEOUS. AS JESUS SAID IN THE GOSPELS, THE FATHER SENDS RAIN AND SUNSHINE ON THE JUST AND UNJUST. THIS LIFE CAN BE A MIXED BAG FOR PEOPLE. FEW HAVE WHAT WE CALL “A CHARMED LIFE” - MY FATHER, WILLIAM JAMES HUNT, DID HAVE A CHARMED LIFE. IN HIS OLD AGE, DURING HIS 80s HE WOULD TELL ME ABOUT HIS LIFE, THEN SAY, “I REALLY DID HAVE A CHARMED LIFE.” CHRISTIANS ARE NOT PROMISED A COMPLETE CHARMED LIFE; YES JESUS DID SOME, “I AM COME THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY.” BUT THAT WAS NOT MEANT TO SAY WE WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEMS, NO TRIALS, NO TESTS. SOME CHRISTIANS HAVE MORE THAN OTHERS….. READ THE BOOK OF ACTS AND PAUL’S LETTERS; PAUL CERTAINLY DID NOT HAVE A CHARMED LIFE PER SE. BUT HE SAID HE HAD LEARNT TO BE CONTENT IN WHATEVER LIFE GAVE HIM. WE CAN ALSO READ HEBREWS 11 AND MANY OF THE SAINTS OF THE PAST.
SO JOB WAS VERY CORRECT TO TELL HIS FRIENDS THEY WERE SPEAKING MANY INCORRECT THINGS, THEIR IDEAS WERE NOT FOUNDED ON LIFE REALITIES AS YOU LOOK OVER CENTURIES OF LIFE IN THE LIVES OF THE GOOD AND BAD, THE WICKED AND THE RIGHTEOUS.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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