Job’s Reply to Zophar (12:1 – 14:22)

12:1-6
After listening to the criticism of his friends, Job concluded that they were off target with their comments. Job answered his accusers with a bold, rather sarcastic, statement: “You guys are it! You’ve got all the wisdom in the world. Too bad that when you die there won’t be any wisdom left in the world!” (12:1-2).

Job reminded his friends that he was just as intelligent as them and that they had not shared anything with him that he did not already know (12:3). In fact, Job told his friends that he disagreed with their assessment that the wicked always suffer and never get ahead and the righteous always prosper.

He used himself as Exhibit A. He said, “Even though I am blameless and call upon God, I have become a joke to my friends (12:4). If you will just look around you too, will see that the wicked prosper while the righteous suffer (12:5-6).”

12:7-15
Job told his friends that they needed to review the basics that all creation itself knows (12:7-8). The basic truth his friends were missing is that God is sovereign (12:9-15). No man can undo what God does. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).

12:16-25
Job illustrated his point concerning God’s sovereignty by pointing out that “He makes counselors walk barefoot” (12:17a). Counselors were wise men. Job said that even their own intelligence could not keep them from being taken captive in bare feet if God sends an invading army. Job said, “He loosens the bond of kings, And binds their loins with a girdle” (12:18). In other words, God can remove a king from power. One day a king is on the throne and the next day he is not. God can bring trials even upon those who seem the most secure in this world. He can do the same with nations (12:22-25).

Note: It seems that Job was beginning to understand that he was being tested. He was beginning to understand that what he was experiencing was a part of God’s plan for his life.

The First Speech of Zophar   (11:1-20)

11:1-6
Zophar was the last of Job’s friends to speak. He offered his words in a negative, abrasive, obnoxious, and angry tone. Zophar said, “Job, I’m tired of sitting here listening to you run off at the mouth (11:2). It’s time somebody answered you concerning your claims of innocence (11:3-4). You think you’re innocent Job? You are wrong. If God were to speak He would put you in your place by showing you that you are not as innocent as you claim to be and understand that you have only received half the punishment you deserve” (11:5-6).

11:7-12
After his opening critical remarks, Zophar began to bully and intimidate Job. He began to beat him with a God-club. Zophar asked Job, “Can you discover the depths of God?” (11:7). The answer is no. . .but neither can Zophar discover those depths. Zophar then told Job that God sees and knows everything that man does (11:11), insinuating that Job might as well confess his sin. Zophar then turned to insulting Job (11:12). He called Job an idiot and said Job would become intelligent when a donkey is born a man (or in our terms, “when hell freezes over”).

11:13-20
Finally, like his companions, Zophar assumed Job was guilty until proven innocent. He told Job that the best course of action would be for him to just confess his sin. Then, and only then, would things get better for him (11:13-19). Failure to confess sin, however, would result in a dismal future filled with troubles (11:20). With friends like Zophar, who needs enemies?

Job’s Answer to Bildad   (9:1 – 10:22) — continued

10:1-22
Fourth, Job mistakenly thought: “God does not love me.” Because Job was looking at God through his terrible circumstances, he lost sight of God’s love for him. He began to feel that God really did not love him at all (which is easy to do when your life is struck by repeated blows of misfortune).

Job became disoriented through his circumstances. He began to believe what he felt about God rather than what he knew about God. Job could not understand why God was allowing him to be tormented and why the attacks on him seemed to grow in intensity (10:17b).

Feeling that he had nothing more to lose, Job gave full vent to his frustration (10:1), Job asked God to let him know why He was contending with him (10:2), His own child (10:3). Was God having problems seeing clearly (10:4) like a mere mortal (10:5)?

Perhaps God had gotten him mixed up with somebody else. Job asked God why he seemed to be looking for some dirt to hold against him (10:6-7). Job asked God if He fashioned him only for the purpose of carrying out a secret plan to destroy him (10:8-17).

Job’s descent into the depths of despair is seen in his words expressing that it would have been better for him to go from the womb to the tomb (10:18-19). Job asked God to back off and give him a few days of peace before his death (10:20-22).

Job’s Answer to Bildad   (9:1 – 10:22)

9:1-16
It is very easy, when things are not going well, to have a distorted view of God. We often tend to see God through our circumstances rather than seeing our circumstances through God. The result is that we don’t see God as clearly or in a right light. Satan’s attack on Job was now being fought on a new front, his mind. Job’s friends helped Satan to vandalize Job’s view of God. As a result, Job made four mistakes in his thinking.

First, Job mistakenly thought: “God is so big and so busy that He will not listen to me.” Job had been crying to God for relief from his suffering and God had not yet answered him. Job concluded that God wouldn’t listen to him. Job felt that God was too big and powerful to listen to him (9:1-3). And even if Job could present his case before God and plead his innocence, he would not be able to stand God’s cross-examination. He would be unable to answer even one question God might ask him (9:3). Job felt insignificant trying to argue his case before the God who created the universe (9:4-9) and who was incomprehensible (9:10-12).

Job made the mistake of thinking that God is unapproachable and not desirous of a personal relationship with man. Job felt that even if he poured out his heart to God in prayer God would not listen (after all, his circumstances were not changing). Job felt that the only way to get God to hear him was by throwing himself on the mercy of God’s court (9:13-16). Job made the mistake of thinking that because nothing was happening God was not hearing his prayers.

9:17-24
Second, Job mistakenly thought: “God is not fair.” He felt God had given him a punishment that did not fit the crime. Job felt he had not done anything to deserve the things that had come upon him. He did not feel that he could win his case in court before God. He just felt that he had not been fairly treated.

9:25-35
Third, Job mistakenly thought: “God won’t forgive me.” Job felt his life was quickly passing him by without any sign of coming relief from God. He felt that no matter what he did, God was not going to forgive him and that he would eventually die paying for his sin. While Job was not aware of any sin he had committed that could have resulted in the tormenting calamities he had experienced, he felt unclean. Job longed for a mediator, someone who could help him settle his case before God.

The First Speech of Bildad   (8:1-22)

8:1-7
Bildad proved to be even more brutal than Eliphaz in his words to Job. Like Eliphaz, he was more interested in pointing an accusing finger in Job’s face than putting a gentle arm around his shoulder. Bildad told Job that he was getting what he deserved (compare to Job 4:8). He told Job that his complaints were nothing short of blasphemous (8:1-3). And then, without an ounce of sympathy in his voice, he told Job that his children sinned against the Lord and therefore received exactly what they deserved (8:4). “Ouch! That was a low blow, Bildad!” Bildad argued that, because God can do no wrong, if Job was suffering it was because he obviously had done something wrong. Bildad then offered his simplistic advice to Job: “If you are as pure and upright as you claim to be, then implore God’s compassion and He will deliver you from your trials and make your end bright and successful.”

8:8-10
Bildad appealed to the accumulated wisdom of the ages to support his argument. He told Job that there was plenty of evidence to support the argument of why people’s lives are touched by success and calamity. Biblical scholar Warren Wiersbe wisely cautions, “To be sure, we can today learn from the past, but the past must be a rudder to guide us into the future and not an anchor to hold us back. The fact that something was said years ago is no guarantee that it is right. The past contains as much folly as wisdom.”

8:11-20
Bildad argued on the basis of cause and effect in these verses. He argued that by observing an effect one could deduce what its cause must have been. Bildad said that the self-confident man who trusts in himself or his possessions will quickly wither like a plant that is not deeply rooted (8:11-14). A man whose trust is in material possessions may prosper, but will quickly perish and leave no mark of achievement (8:15-18). Once again (8:19-20), without an ounce of sympathy in his voice, Bildad told Job that “God will not reject a man of integrity” (as He has apparently done with you, Job), nor will He support the evildoers” who may at first seem to thrive (like you, Job). Bildad, in essence, told Job, “You had it all. Now you have nothing. If that’s not a sign that your faith was shallow and superficial, I don’t know what is!” If only Job’s friends had heard God’s estimation of Job (recorded in Job 1:8 and 2:3) they might have kept their judgmental swords in their sheaths.

8:21-22
Bildad told Job that the outcome of his current sufferings and trials will either vindicate him and shame his detractors or prove that Job was not as innocent as he claimed to be. For Bildad, Job’s exoneration was to be measured by material success. Bildad, at this points, seems to argue Satan’s point that man serves God and lives a virtuous life only because of self-interest.

Note: Steven J. Lawson offers the following suggestions on how to be a friend to the hurting:

First, be there for them. Job’s friends stood before him but not with him.

Second, feel their pain and hurt. Job’s friends did not bear his burden (see Galatians 6:2). Instead, they sat across the room and criticized. “It takes no size to criticize,” writes Lawson. In the words of T. Miles Bennett, they tried to “patch grief with proverbs.”

Third, be on their team. Job’s friends spent more time trying to pin him down than to lift him up.

Fourth, listen more than you talk. Lawson points out, “Job didn’t need a lecture, he needed love. He didn’t need a sermon, he needed sympathy. He didn’t need criticism, he needed comfort. He didn’t need a treatise, he needed tenderness.”

Fifth, don’t try to explain everything. Eliphaz and Bildad thought they knew why everything was going wrong in Job’s life. They didn’t have a clue.

Sixth, help instill hope. Job’s friends did not try to rekindle the flame of his hope.

Seventh, look beyond your friend’s faults to his or her needs. Job’s friends attacked his shortcomings and lost sight of his need.

Eighth, emphasize God’s love and compassion. Job’s friends emphasized only the justice and discipline of God to the exclusion of His love, mercy, and tenderness.

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz   (6:1 – 7:21) — continued

7:1-10
We are given insight into Job’s frustrating condition in these verses. Job likened himself to a man who works hard for a meager stipend (7:1-2), longing for the night that will bring him rest from his drudgery (7:3). The night however, offered no rest and left him longing for the dawn (7:4). There was no rest at night or by day. The days seemed to alternately pass like a weaver’s shuttle at the loom (7:6). There was no rest or escape from the chronic pain of the awful disease (7:5) he suffered. Brutally aware of the brevity of his existence, Job appealed to his friends to be mindful of the fact that he was dying and would not be around much longer (7:7-10). Surely they could show a little more consideration to a dying man.

7:11-21
Job appealed to God to give him a respite from his sufferings, even if only for a moment. Job spoke honestly to God about his situation (7:11). He asked God why He guarded him like an animal in his cage of affliction (7:12). Job asked why he was constantly afflicted by nightmares that robbed him of much needed sleep (7:14). Death was better than this (7:15-18). Job asked for a break from his suffering that would at least give him the opportunity to swallow his saliva (7:19). Job desperately wanted for God to reveal to him what he had done that might have caused such calamities to come upon him (7:20-21). Job promised to confess anything that the Lord might show him was amiss in his life (7:21).

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz   (6:1 – 7:21)

6:1-7
Job responded to Eliphaz’s sanctimonious moralizing in a pointed and direct way. Gleason L. Archer, Jr. captures the essence of Job’s response:

“Under the terrible pressure of my afflictions — much beyond anything you, Eliphaz, have ever known or could even imagine, I have been driven to express myself in rash and extreme language. But you must understand my ill-considered words in the light of the terrible stress to which I have been subjected. I have become virtually demoralized by the poisoned arrows that the Almighty (Shaddai) has shot into my soul, and the frightful losses and pain that He has inflicted upon me. The patronizing advice, with its unfair insinuation that I have been hiding some secret, unconfessed sin, is as loathsome and tasteless as unsalted albumen of an egg.”

6:8-13
Job repeated his desire to have his request to die granted (6:8-9). He felt that death would be a welcome relief to the awful pain that had touched his life. Job knew that he could die with the satisfaction that he had never once denied or spurned God through his sufferings (6:10). He saw no point in continuing to live (6:12-13).

6:14-23
Job expressed his disappointment in his (professed) friends. As Steven J. Lawson points out, Job needed them on his team, not on his back. Job said that the counsel of friends should help a person keep their grip on God. Instead, the counsel of Eliphaz, however well-intentioned, served to do the opposite (6:14). His friends were a disappointment to him. Job likened his friends to a wadi (seasonal desert stream) which promises refreshment to the thirsty traveler but proves to be just a dusty and dry stream bed (6:15-20). A wadi is full of water and ice in the winter but dry in the summer when it is most needed. Job’s friends were full of kindness when none was needed and of no help when kindness was called for. Job reminded his friends that he had asked no favors, counsel or financial or otherwise, from his friends. They turned out to be worse than useless to him.

6:24-30
Job directly addressed Eliphaz in reference to his counsel. Job asked Eliphaz to bring up specific charges, instead of his thoughtless inferences, to prove his case against Job (6:24). Eliphaz assumed that Job was guilty until proven innocent, but failed to offer any specifics on Job’s guilt. Job told Eliphaz that he could handle specifics, however painful (6:25). He also told Eliphaz that he needed to take into consideration that the language of one in pain is often exaggerated. “Who,” asked Job, “can fault a person in pain for expressing himself in language of anguish and hurt?” (6:26). Anyone calloused enough to not make allowances for the words of one in pain would likewise deal legalistically with a poor orphan (6:27). Job asked Eliphaz to look him in the eye and give him an honest appraisal. “If there is injustice in my life,” said Job, “then specifically point it out. Otherwise, stop trying to pressure me into thinking that I have sinned against God and have thus brought this calamity on myself” (6:28-30).

The First Speech of Eliphaz   (4:1 – 5:27) — continued

5:1-7
Eliphaz continued his demoralizing discourse by reminding Job that the foolish man who flouts God’s law will be destroyed (5:2). Even though a fool may at first succeed (5:3), calamity will soon fall upon both him and his family (5:4-5). Once again the implication is clear that Job has lost his family and fortune because of some moral failure in his life. In the eyes of his friends, Job was guilty until he could prove his innocence.

5:8-16
Eliphaz told Job to turn to God. “If I were in your place,” said Eliphaz, “I would seek God and place my cause before Him.” He seems to imply, “Job, if you will just confess your sin before God, He will shower you with blessings and restore your hope. Until then, you’ll continue to grope around in the dark.”

5:17-27
Eliphaz’s cold and judgmental spirit comes through as he continued by telling to Job to cheer up because God was disciplining him through his trials (5:17). God can be counted on to heal the wounds He inflicts (5:18) and to protect his children from various troubles (5:19-25). God will see to it that His humble servants stay healthy to the grave (5:26). Eliphaz suggested that he had learned these things from experience and observation (5:27). The insinuation of Eliphaz’s argument is that Job must be suffering the consequences of his own misdeeds.

The Three Friends’ Solution to Job’s Problem   (4:1 – 31:40)
The First Cycle of Speeches   (4:1 – 14:22)

The First Speech of Eliphaz   (4:1 – 5:27)

4:1-6
Eliphaz the Temanite (from Teman, an Edomite town noted for wisdom), was the first of Job’s friends to speak. Eliphaz began by reminding Job of how God had used him to be a blessing and an encourager to others. He told Job it was now time for him (Job) to apply the lessons he had taught others. It should be noted that Job’s friends seemed to have the best of intentions. They seemed truly concerned about Job and desired to help him.

4:7-11
Even well-intentioned friends can cause greater harm in their efforts to help. Eliphaz eloquently, but coldly, argued that the righteous do not suffer affliction (4:7). “It is those who sow trouble that harvest it and suffer. God rewards the righteous and virtuous and punishes the wicked,” argued Eliphaz (4:8-9). He implied that Job must have sinned against God in some way, even if unbeknownst to Job.

Note: Perhaps Job’s friends were really concerned about themselves. In other words, if Job’s suffering was not the result of some sin against God, then the same disasters might befall them regardless of how godly they lived their lives. That must have been a very disturbing thought for Job’s friends. And, such reasoning calls into question every great hero of the faith (as in Hebrews 11:36-38) who experienced undeserved suffering. Perhaps the sufferings of these, according to Eliphaz’s argument, was really retribution for some secret sin. God would later condemn the misguided counsel of Eliphaz in Job 42:7.

4:12-21
Eliphaz explained to Job that the word he had shared with him came to him through a supernatural revelation. He claimed that a spirit had imparted the message to him in a hair-raising vision in the night. Eliphaz said that there is little hope for men who sin when God charges even His angels with error. He implied that it would be best for Job to humbly confess the sin and guilt that brought such terrible calamity upon him and his family

Introduction: Job Longs for Death   (3:1-26)

Job Curses the Day of His Birth   (3:1-10)

3:1-3
Job’s life had been thoroughly steeped in devastation, grief, pain, suffering, and misery. He experienced wave after wave of unbelievable misfortune and tragedy. Each wave worked in concert with the previous to wear him down financially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Finally, after many days of unbearable pain and unbroken silence, Job spoke in the presence of his friends. His bottled up anguish found expression in lamentation. His words betrayed the dark misery of his heart. They reveal that even God’s finest can become discouraged and lose perspective on life. Job did not attempt to mask his feelings or to impress his friends with a stoic piety. He spoke honestly. Elmer B. Smick comments, “God prefers that we speak with him honestly, even in our moments of deepest gloom, than that we mouth innocuous clichés far removed from reality.” While Job openly “cursed the day of his birth,” he never cursed God as Satan had hoped. He wished that the day of his birth had never been on the calendar.

3:4-10
Job wished that the day of his birth had never existed. If he had never been born he would never have experienced the awful events of the previous weeks and months. Job wished that the day of his birth had been barren (3:7). He wished that a curse would be pronounced upon it and that it would not exist on the calendar or that it would be swallowed by Leviathan (3:8). He wished that the sun had never come up on the day of his birth (3:9). Job cursed the day of his birth because it did not shut his mother’s womb (3:10).

Job Wishes He Had Died At Birth   (3:11-19)

3:11-19
Since the day of his birth however, had occurred, Job then asked why he had not died at birth (3:11-12). It would have been better, said Job, to die at birth than to live only to experience the tragedies that had befallen him. Death would have meant rest (3:13). It would have given Job the opportunity to go to glory along with kings, counselors, and princes (3:14-15). Death would have meant relief (3:16-19), like that experienced by prisoners freed from having to hear the voice of their taskmaster or slaves from their masters.

Job Questions Why His Life Is Continued   (3:20-26)

3:20-26
Since Job had been born and had not died at birth, he next wished that he could die in the midst of his present sufferings. Notice the four levels of Job’s suffering.

First, Job suffered intellectually. Job asked why light is given “to him who suffers” (3:20). He wondered why a suffering person was given extended life. Job longed for the relief of death more than a man searching for treasure longed for the discovery of that treasure (3:21-22).

Second, Job suffered spiritually. Job felt trapped (or hedged in) in a maze (3:23). He felt that God had hedged him in and rendered him incapable of escaping from his trials.

Third, Job suffered physically. He completely lost his appetite (3:24).

Fourth, Job suffered emotionally. The nightmare he was living was no dream, it was real (3:25-26). . .his family, fortune, and health were gone.