Reading 21 - Bildad and Zophar Have Their Say
Summary
Bildad suggests “Maybe your family sinned!” (Job 8:1-22)
Job’s response to Bildad (Job 9:1-35)
“Who can resist God?” (9:1-13)
“Who can face Him in court?” (9:14-21)
“This is all on God, not me.” (9:22-24)
“I can’t just let this go, but I can’t win.” (9:25-35)
Job’s response to God (10:1-22)
“God tell me why are you doing this?” (Job 10:1-3)
“God don’t you know my heart?” (Job 10:4-7)
“God why are you being contradictory?” (10:8-17)
“God, what’s the point of existence?” (10:18-22)
Zophar severely charges “You’ve definitely sinned!” (Job 11:1-20)
“If God were here He’d prove it!” (11:1-6)
“God curses sinners. You’re cursed therefore you must be a sinner.” (11:7-20)
Text
Bildad suggests “Maybe your family sinned!” (Job 8:1-22)
Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:
8:2 “How long will you speak these things,
seeing that the words of your mouth
are like a great wind?
8:3 Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?
8:4 If your children sinned against him,
he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
8:5 But if you will look to God,
and make your supplication to the Almighty,
8:6 if you become pure and upright,even now he will rouse himself for you,
and will restore your righteous abode.
8:7 Your beginning will seem so small,
since your future will flourish.
8:8 “For inquire now of the former generation,
and pay attention to the findings
of their ancestors;
8:9 For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge,
since our days on earth are but a shadow.
8:10 Will they not instruct you and speak to you,
and bring forth words
from their understanding?
Can reeds flourish without water?
8:12 While they are still beginning to flower
and not ripe for cutting,
they can wither away
faster than any grass!
8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless perishes,
8:14 whose trust is in something futile,
whose security is a spider’s web.
8:15 He leans against his house but it does not hold up,
he takes hold of it but it does not stand.
8:16 He is a well-watered plant in the sun,
its shoots spread over its garden.
8:17 It wraps its roots around a heap of stones
and it looks for a place among stones.
8:18 If he is uprooted from his place,
then that place will disown him, saying,
‘I have never seen you!’
8:19 Indeed, this is the joy of his way,
and out of the earth others spring up.
8:20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man,
nor does he grasp the hand
of the evildoers.
8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
and your lips with gladness.
8:22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
Job’s response to Bildad (Job 9:1-35)
“Who can resist God?” (9:1-13)
Then Job answered:
9:2 “Truly, I know that this is so.
But how can a human be just before God?
9:3 If someone wishes to contend with him,
he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
9:4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength –
who has resisted him and remained safe?
9:5 He who removes mountains suddenly,
who overturns them in his anger;
9:6 he who shakes the earth out of its place
9:7 he who commands the sun and it does not shine
and seals up the stars;
9:8 he alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea;
and the constellations of the southern sky;
9:10 he does great and unsearchable things, and wonderful things without number.
9:11 If he passes by me, I cannot see him,
if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
9:12 If he snatches away, who can turn him back?
Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
9:13 God does not restrain his anger;
under him the helpers of Rahab lie crushed.
9:14 “How much less, then, can I answer him
and choose my words to argue with him!
9:15 Although I am innocent,
I could not answer him;
I could only plead with my judge for mercy.
9:16 If I summoned him, and he answered me,
I would not believe
that he would be listening to my voice –
9:17 he who crushes me with a tempest,
and multiplies my wounds for no reason.
9:18 He does not allow me to recover my breath,
for he fills me with bitterness.
9:19 If it is a matter of strength,
most certainly he is the strong one!
And if it is a matter of justice,
he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’
9:20 Although I am innocent,
my mouth would condemn me;
although I am blameless,
it would declare me perverse.
9:21 I am blameless. I do not know myself.
I despise my life.
“This is all on God, not me.” (9:22-24)
9:22 “It is all one! That is why I say,
‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’
9:23 If a scourge brings sudden death,
he mocks at the despair of the innocent.
9:24 If a land has been given
into the hand of a wicked man,
he covers the faces of its judges;
if it is not he, then who is it?
“I can’t just let this go, but I can’t win.” (9:25-35)
9:25 “My days are swifter than a runner,
they speed by without seeing happiness.
9:26 They glide by like reed boats,
like an eagle that swoops down on its prey.
9:27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will change my expression and be cheerful,’
9:28 I dread all my sufferings,
for I know that you do not hold me blameless.
9:29 If I am guilty,
why then weary myself in vain?
9:30 If I wash myself with snow water,
and make my hands clean with lye,
9:31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit
and my own clothes abhor me.
9:32 For he is not a human being like I am,
that I might answer him,
that we might come together in judgment.
9:33 Nor is there an arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both,
9:34 who would take his rod away from me
so that his terror would not make me afraid.
9:35 Then would I speak and not fear him,
but it is not so with me.
Job’s response to God (10:1-22)
“God tell me why are you doing this?” (Job 10:1-3)
10:1 “I am weary of my life;
I will complain without restraint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
tell me why you are contending with me.’
10:3 Is it good for you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands,
while you smile
on the schemes of the wicked?
“God don’t you know my heart?” (Job 10:4-7)
10:4 “Do you have eyes of flesh,
or do you see as a human being sees?
10:5 Are your days like the days of a mortal,
or your years like the years of a mortal,
10:6 that you must search out my iniquity,
and inquire about my sin,
10:7 although you know that I am not guilty,
and that there is no one who can deliver
out of your hand?
“God why are you being contradictory?” (10:8-17)
10:8 “Your hands have shaped me and made me,
but now you destroy me completely.
will you return me to dust?
10:10 Did you not pour me out like milk,
and curdle me like cheese?
10:11 You clothed me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
10:12 You gave me life and favor,
and your intervention watched over my spirit.
10:13 “But these things you have concealed in your heart;
I know that this is with you:
10:14 If I sinned, then you would watch me
and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.
10:15 If I am guilty, woe to me,
and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head;
I am full of shame,
and satiated with my affliction.
10:16 If I lift myself up,
you hunt me as a fierce lion,
and again you display your power against me.
10:17 You bring new witnesses against me,
and increase your anger against me;
relief troops come against me.
“God, what’s the point of existence?” (10:18-22)
10:18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?
I should have died
and no eye would have seen me!
10:19 I should have been as though I had never existed;
I should have been carried
right from the womb to the grave!
10:20 Are not my days few?
Cease, then, and leave me alone,
that I may find a little comfort,
10:21 before I depart, never to return,
and the deepest shadow,
10:22 to the land of utter darkness,
like the deepest darkness,
and the deepest shadow and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”
Zophar severely charges “You’ve definitely sinned!” (Job 11:1-20)
“If God were here He’d prove it!” (11:1-6)
Then Zophar the Naamathite spoke up and said:
11:2 “Should not this abundance of words be answered,
or should this talkative man
be vindicated?
11:3 Will your idle talk reduce people to silence,
and will no one rebuke you when you mock?
11:4 For you have said, ‘My teaching is flawless,
and I am pure in your sight.’
11:5 But if only God would speak,
if only he would open his lips against you,
11:6 and reveal to you the secrets of wisdom –
for true wisdom has two sides –
so that you would know
that God has forgiven some of your sins.
“God curses sinners. You’re cursed therefore you must be a sinner.” (11:7-20)
11:7 “Can you discover the essence of God?
Can you find out
the perfection of the Almighty?
11:8 It is higher than the heavens – what can you do?
11:9 Its measure is longer than the earth,
and broader than the sea.
11:10 If he comes by and confines you
and convenes a court,
then who can prevent him?
11:11 For he knows deceitful men;
when he sees evil, will he not consider it?
11:12 But an empty man will become wise,
when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being.
11:13 “As for you, if you prove faithful,
and if you stretch out your hands toward him,
11:14 if iniquity is in your hand – put it far away,
and do not let evil reside in your tents.
11:15 For then you will lift up your face
without blemish;
you will be securely established
and will not fear.
11:16 For you will forget your trouble;
you will remember it
like water that has flowed away.
11:17 And life will be brighter than the noonday;
though there be darkness,
it will be like the morning.
11:18 And you will be secure, because there is hope;
you will be protected
and will take your rest in safety.
11:19 You will lie down with no one to make you afraid,
and many will seek your favor.
11:20 But the eyes of the wicked fail,
and escape eludes them;
their one hope is to breathe their last.”
posted by Pastor Pauley @ 7:27 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
Great post...
Thank you for sharin this post..
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