Job 29-31     Listen

Job: Back then I was somebody! (Job 29)

1 Job further continued his discourse, and said:
2 “Oh, that I were as in months past,
As in the days when God watched over me;
3 When His lamp shone upon my head,
And when by His light I walked through darkness;
4 Just as I was in the days of my prime,
When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me,
When my children were around me;
6 When my steps were bathed with cream,
And the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!
7 “When I went out to the gate by the city,
When I took my seat in the open square,
8 The young men saw me and hid,
And the aged arose and stood;
9 The princes refrained from talking,
And put their hand on their mouth;
10 The voice of nobles was hushed,
And their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard, then it blessed me,
And when the eye saw, then it approved me;
12 Because I delivered the poor who cried out,
The fatherless and the one who had no helper.
13 The blessing of a perishing man came upon me,
And I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
14 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,
And they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain.
24 If I mocked at them, they did not believe it,
And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.
25 I chose the way for them, and sat as chief;
So I dwelt as a king in the army,
As one who comforts mourners.

Job began this monologue back in Job 26 (see notes); in these verses, he longs for those days when he was somebody - verse 8, "The young men saw me and hid, And the aged arose and stood." When he talked, the influential leaders just shut their mouths out of respect. He was responsible for helping many folks with their problems, and whatever he said about anything settled the issue - verse 22, "After my words they did not speak again, And my speech settled on them as dew." He comments that everyone back then wanted to be in his presence. And finally - verse 25, "I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, As one who comforts mourners." Now, Job does seem quite proud of his previous community standing; he was THE MAN! Well, he is certainly humbled now!

I'm compelled to make an observation here: while Job was righteous acting and looking in all the correct ways, I think this chapter gives us an insight into some of Job's motivations. He was obviously a very proud man! I don't think you can read this chapter and dispute that. When this ordeal is over, we'll see in Job 42 (see notes) that Job is no longer a proud man. Trial does that! It matures our thinking as Believers to make us more usable as humble vessels of God. Trial helps us adjust our expectations and tempers our self sufficiency.

Job: But now I can't get any respect! (Job 30)

1 “But now they mock at me, men younger than I,
Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me?
Their vigor has perished.
3 They are gaunt from want and famine,
Fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste,
4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes,
And broom tree roots for their food.
5 They were driven out from among men,
They shouted at them as at a thief.
6 They had to live in the clefts of the valleys,
In caves of the earth and the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they brayed,
Under the nettles they nestled.
8 They were sons of fools,
Yes, sons of vile men;
They were scourged from the land.
9 “And now I am their taunting song;
Yes, I am their byword.
10 They abhor me, they keep far from me;
They do not hesitate to spit in my face.
11 Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me,
They have cast off restraint before me.
12 At my right hand the rabble arises;
They push away my feet,
And they raise against me their ways of destruction.
13 They break up my path,
They promote my calamity;
They have no helper.
14 They come as broad breakers;
Under the ruinous storm they roll along.
15 Terrors are turned upon me;
They pursue my honor as the wind,
And my prosperity has passed like a cloud.
16 “And now my soul is poured out because of my plight;
The days of affliction take hold of me.
17 My bones are pierced in me at night,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.
18 By great force my garment is disfigured;
It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
19 He has cast me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You regard me.
21 But You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You spoil my success.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house appointed for all living.
24 “Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins,
If they cry out when He destroys it.
25 Have I not wept for him who was in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?
26 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 continues (from chapter 29) to say that even the young men have no respect for him now - men whose fathers were not even close to being his equals (verse 1), which, I might add, he states in a very disparaging way. But now, they treat him with great reproach (verse 10). They openly criticize and publicly humiliate him in his condition. His honor and prosperity are gone (verse 15). Then he comments on his dire physical condition: His bones and joints ache (verses 17, 30), his clothing is yucky from his disease (verse 18), got some internal stuff happening (verse 27), his skin has turned black (verse 30). Whoa! This must be one hideous-looking man! No one respects him now - at least not that he can see! Who is responsible for all of this? Job is rather pointed in verse 19, "He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes." Job thinks God has done this to him. However, let's do keep a distinction in mind regarding trial: While God permits trial, Satan is the one who brings it on...then and now. Job's trial was a character-building ordeal. It's the same process by which Believers are made strong and capable today. Read these two articles to grasp this concept:

• Trial, Testing and Temptation
• Trial versus Chastisement

Job wraps up this monologue with a list of sins he hasn't committed (Job 31)

1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
Why then should I look upon a young woman?
2 For what is the allotment of God from above,
And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?
3 Is it not destruction for the wicked,
And disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 Does He not see my ways,
And count all my steps?
5 “If I have walked with falsehood,
Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,
6 Let me be weighed on honest scales,
That God may know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned from the way,
Or my heart walked after my eyes,
Or if any spot adheres to my hands,
8 Then let me sow, and another eat;
Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,
10 Then let my wife grind for another,
And let others bow down over her.
11 For that would be wickedness;
Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.
12 For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,
And would root out all my increase.
13 “If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant
When they complained against me,
14 What then shall I do when God rises up?
When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?
15 Did not He who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
16 “If I have kept the poor from their desire,
Or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 Or eaten my morsel by myself,
So that the fatherless could not eat of it
18 (But from my youth I reared him as a father,
And from my mother’s womb I guided the widow);
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
Or any poor man without covering;
20 If his heart has not blessed me,
And if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;
21 If I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
When I saw I had help in the gate;
22 Then let my arm fall from my shoulder,
Let my arm be torn from the socket.
23 For destruction from God is a terror to me,
And because of His magnificence I cannot endure.
24 “If I have made gold my hope,
Or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’;
25 If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
And because my hand had gained much;
26 If I have observed the sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness,
27 So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
28 This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.
29 “If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me,
Or lifted myself up when evil found him
30 (Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin
By asking for a curse on his soul);
31 If the men of my tent have not said,
“Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat?’
32 (But no sojourner had to lodge in the street,
For I have opened my doors to the traveler);
33 If I have covered my transgressions as Adam,
By hiding my iniquity in my bosom,
34 Because I feared the great multitude,
And dreaded the contempt of families,
So that I kept silence
And did not go out of the door—
35 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.

We're still reading the speech that Job began back in Job 26 (see notes). Just when you think Job has expressed his innocence in every conceivable way, he thinks of another way. This time he thinks of all the ways one might be guilty before God that would merit the kind of punishment he's receiving, and then he proclaims that he is guilty of none of these acts. Verses 21-22 are amusing here. He invites chastisement if he is guilty of abusing orphans and proclaims that if he's guilty of such, may his arm fall off. That's about the only physical ailment that hasn't happened to him so far. Personally, I'd be afraid to give Satan any ideas.

NOTE: Trial builds character. While Job is not being chastised by God for wrongdoing, this monologue shows us that Job may very well have been a little...you know...snooty. I mean...you certainly can't maintain from this monologue that humility was one of Job's strengths. You'll see; when this ordeal is over, in Job 42 (see notes), Job is a humble man before God. As I said: trial builds character.

Incidentally, Job's wife gets one of her three mentions in this chapter (2:9, 19:17, 31:10). While it was common for the wealthy Old Testament men to maintain a household with multiple wives, it appears that Job had just one. She was an interesting gal - told her husband to "curse God and die" in Job 2:9 (see notes), exactly what Satan was trying to get Job to do (Job 1:11, see notes). In Job 19:17 (see notes) we see that she was something less than pleased with Job's very presence. She seemed to have no tolerance for a man who had festering sores over his body (7:5), nightmares (7:14), scabs that peeled and turned black (30:28, 30), disfigurement (2:12), bad breath (19:17), excessive weight loss (17:7, 19:20), a fever (30:30) and continual pain (30:17). As Job is listing sins he has not committed, he offers his wife here in verse 10 if he is guilty of any kind of sexual compromise. I'd like to have seen the look on her face if she heard him say that. However, my guess is...she didn't bother to stick around for these meetings.