Day 147: Job 19-21

(The previous post covered Bildad's Second Round response. Bildad believed Job was unrighteous and did not know God and Bildad would only answer Job's questions once Job became smarter. Here was Job's Second Round response to Bildad.)

Job 19
¹ Then Job answered and said,
² How long will ye vex my soul, And break me in pieces with words?

(Job stated that his "friends" were breaking him in pieces with their words! Words can create and words can destroy.)

³ These ten times have ye reproached me: Ye are not ashamed that ye deal hardly with me.
⁴ And be it indeed that I have erred, Mine error remaineth with myself.
⁵ If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, And plead against me my reproach;
⁶ Know now that God hath subverted me in my cause, And hath compassed me with his net.

(Job accepted that this could be his fault and that he was alone.)

⁷ Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry for help, but there is no justice.

(KEY POINT: Job did not know that Justice would eventually be equaled out.)

⁸ He hath walled up my way that I cannot pass, And hath set darkness in my paths.
⁹ He hath stripped me of my glory, And taken the crown from my head.
¹⁰ He hath broken me down on every side, and I am gone; And my hope hath he plucked up like a tree.
¹¹ He hath also kindled his wrath against me, And he counteth me unto him as one of his adversaries.

(Job stated that God counted him as an enemy.)

¹² His troops come on together, And cast up their way against me, And encamp round about my tent.
¹³ He hath put my brethren far from me, And mine acquaintance are wholly estranged from me.
¹⁴ My kinsfolk have failed, And my familiar friends have forgotten me.
¹⁵ They that dwell in my house, and my maids, count me for a stranger; I am an alien in their sight.
¹⁶ I call unto my servant, and he giveth me no answer, Though I entreat him with my mouth.
¹⁷ My breath is strange to my wife, And my supplication to the children of mine own mother.
¹⁸ Even young children despise me; If I arise, they speak against me.
¹⁹ All my familiar friends abhor me, And they whom I loved are turned against me.

(Job was alone in his suffering.)

²⁰ My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
²¹ Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; For the hand of God hath touched me.

(Job thought that the least his friends could do was to have pity on him. This would have been better than his "friends" breaking him with their words.)

²² Why do ye persecute me as God, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
²³ Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

(Job wanted these words in a book. He was still thinking and he still wanted to help others.)

²⁴ That with an iron pen and lead They were graven in the rock for ever!
²⁵ But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, And at last he will stand up upon the earth:
²⁶ And after my skin, even this body, is destroyed, Then without my flesh shall I see God;
²⁷ Whom I, even I, shall see, on my side, And mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.
²⁸ If ye say, How we will persecute him! And that the root of the matter is found in me;
²⁹ Be ye afraid of the sword: For wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, That ye may know there is a judgment.

(Job stated that he would eventually meet God. Job believed God would justify him and punish his friends. (This was a warning to his friends.) Job's Second Round response to Bildad, was not to Bildad. It was to all three friends and essentially stated that they would be judged for not showing Job compassion. It appeared Job did not even recognize Bildad's words. It was now time for Zophar's Second Round perspective.)




Job 20
¹ Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said,
² Therefore do my thoughts give answer to me, Even by reason of my haste that is in me.
³ I have heard the reproof which putteth me to shame; And the spirit of my understanding answereth me.
⁴ Knowest thou not this of old time, Since man was placed upon earth,
⁵ That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless but for a moment?

(Zophar wanted to ignore everything that had happened by saying that this all did not matter in the big picture.)

⁶ Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach unto the clouds;
⁷ Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?
⁸ He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
⁹ The eye which saw him shall see him no more; Neither shall his place any more behold him.
¹⁰ His children shall seek the favor of the poor, And his hands shall give back his wealth.
¹¹ His bones are full of his youth, But it shall lie down with him in the dust.
¹² Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,
¹³ Though he spare it, and will not let it go, But keep it still within his mouth;
¹⁴ Yet his food in his bowels is turned, It is the gall of asps within him.
¹⁵ He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his belly.

(Was Zophar measuring the cause of Job's suffering by Job's possessions?...Job's HAVE?)

¹⁶ He shall suck the poison of asps: The viper's tongue shall slay him.
¹⁷ He shall not look upon the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.
¹⁸ That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down; According to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.
¹⁹ For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; He hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up.
²⁰ Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth.
²¹ There was nothing left that he devoured not; Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

(Remember, the author and God stated that Job was perfect (maximum profitability - Job 1:1-8). Zophar is contradicting God to say that Job was unprofitable and destructive.)

²² In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.
²³ When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, And will rain it upon him while he is eating.
²⁴ He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through.
²⁵ He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him.
²⁶ All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown by man shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent.
²⁷ The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him.
²⁸ The increase of his house shall depart; His goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.
²⁹ This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the heritage appointed unto him by God.

(Zophar finished by saying Job must be wrong and wicked because he lost all his goods. Zophar did measure the spiritual by the physical.)

(Zophar's response can be summed up by the following statement: "Even if things appear to be just, it won't last for long." It was time for Job to begin the Third, and final, Round.)




Job 21
¹ Then Job answered and said,
² Hear diligently my speech; And let this be your consolations.
³ Suffer me, and I also will speak; And after that I have spoken, mock on.

(Job expected them to continue to mock him, but not until after he spoke.)

⁴ As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should I not be impatient?
⁵ Mark me, and be astonished, And lay your hand upon your mouth.
⁶ Even when I remember I am troubled, And horror taketh hold on my flesh.
⁷ Wherefore do the wicked live, Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
⁸ Their seed is established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes.
⁹ Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God upon them.
¹⁰ Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.
¹¹ They send forth their little ones like a flock, And their children dance.
¹² They sing to the timbrel and harp, And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
¹³ They spend their days in prosperity, And in a moment they go down to Sheol.

(Job stated that the wicked did prosper. Job was using a contrastive method to what he was experiencing. He was considering where he could be wrong.)

¹⁴ And they say unto God, Depart from us; For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
¹⁵ What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

(Job also made the point the wicked did not desire God, did not want to serve God, and did not believe there was a profit in praying to God.)

¹⁶ Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand: The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
¹⁷ How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity cometh upon them? That God distributeth sorrows in his anger?
¹⁸ That they are as stubble before the wind, And as chaff that the storm carrieth away?
¹⁹ Ye say, God layeth up his iniquity for his children. Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it:
²⁰ Let his own eyes see his destruction, And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
²¹ For what careth he for his house after him, When the number of his months is cut off?
²² Shall any teach God knowledge, Seeing he judgeth those that are high?
²³ One dieth in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and quiet:
²⁴ His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
²⁵ And another dieth in bitterness of soul, And never tasteth of good.
²⁶ They lie down alike in the dust, And the worm covereth them.

(Job was showing his three friends their answers were contradictory. If Job suffered loss because he sinned, then why didn't the wicked always suffer loss? Job asked his three friends why some men were good and died young and some men were wicked and died old.)

²⁷ Behold, I know your thoughts, And the devices wherewith ye would wrong me.
²⁸ For ye say, Where is the house of the prince? And where is the tent wherein the wicked dwelt?

(Here, Job implied that one of the reasons his "friends" accused him of wickedness is because they could not find anyone else to blame. Had they considered all the options?)

²⁹ Have ye not asked wayfaring men? And do ye not know their evidences,
³⁰ That the evil man is reserved to the day of calamity? That they are led forth to the day of wrath?
³¹ Who shall declare his way to his face? And who shall repay him what he hath done?
³² Yet shall he be borne to the grave, And men shall keep watch over the tomb.
³³ The clods of the valley shall be sweet unto him, And all men shall draw after him, As there were innumerable before him.
³⁴ How then comfort ye me in vain, Seeing in your answers there remaineth only falsehood?

(This post covered Zophar's Second Round perspective and Job's response. Job summarized his position and then proved his three "friends" had been unprofitable in their comfort towards him. Job proved his three friends had been false/contradictory in their answers to him.)

Day 148