TREASURING GOD’S WORDS

Job 23:1-17 / Keywords 23:12

I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

 

Job

23:1 Then Job replied:

2 “Even today my complaint is bitter;

    his hand[a] is heavy in spite of[b] my groaning.

3 If only I knew where to find him;

    if only I could go to his dwelling!

4 I would state my case before him

    and fill my mouth with arguments.

5 I would find out what he would answer me,

    and consider what he would say to me.

6 Would he vigorously oppose me?

    No, he would not press charges against me.

7 There the upright can establish their innocence before him,

    and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;

    if I go to the west, I do not find him.

9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;

    when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

10 But he knows the way that I take;

    when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

11 My feet have closely followed his steps;

    I have kept to his way without turning aside.

12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?

    He does whatever he pleases.

14 He carries out his decree against me,

    and many such plans he still has in store.

15 That is why I am terrified before him;

    when I think of all this, I fear him.

16 God has made my heart faint;

    the Almighty has terrified me.

17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness,

    by the thick darkness that covers my face.

Footnotes

a. Job 23:2 Septuagint and Syriac; Hebrew / the hand on me

b. Job 23:2 Or heavy on me in

 

1. Job responded to Eliphaz by pouring out his heart. Though his complaint was bitter, Job sought God. Job longed to meet God, to plead his case. Job wanted to know the mind of God. Job trusted that God would not condemn him. He saw God as both deliverer and judge.

 

2. Job sought God, but God was not to be found—not even a glimpse. Still, Job depended on God who knew him. He followed God’s steps and kept his commands. Job treasured the word of God above all else. This is how he entrusted himself to God.

 

3. Job confessed it is God who is ruling all things. So, Job knew that whatever distress he encountered, it was a part of God’s plan. God was carrying out his will. God is the one who made Job’s heart faint. In his misery, Job entrusted himself again to God.

 

Prayer Lord, help me to love your word and cling to it in troublesome times. Help me to seek you and trust you always.

One Word Do not depart from God’s commands

ELIPHAZ REBUKES JOB

Job 22:1-30 / Keywords 22:21

Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.

 

Eliphaz

22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

2 “Can a man be of benefit to God?

    Can even a wise person benefit him?

3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?

    What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

4 “Is it for your piety that he rebukes you

    and brings charges against you?

5 Is not your wickedness great?

    Are not your sins endless?

6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;

    you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.

7 You gave no water to the weary

    and you withheld food from the hungry,

8 though you were a powerful man, owning land—

    an honored man, living on it.

9 And you sent widows away empty-handed

    and broke the strength of the fatherless.

10 That is why snares are all around you,

    why sudden peril terrifies you,

11 why it is so dark you cannot see,

    and why a flood of water covers you.

12 “Is not God in the heights of heaven?

    And see how lofty are the highest stars!

13 Yet you say, ‘What does God know?

    Does he judge through such darkness?

14 Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us

    as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’

15 Will you keep to the old path

    that the wicked have trod?

16 They were carried off before their time,

    their foundations washed away by a flood.

17 They said to God, ‘Leave us alone!

    What can the Almighty do to us?’

18 Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,

    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

19 The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;

    the innocent mock them, saying,

20 ‘Surely our foes are destroyed,

    and fire devours their wealth.’

21 “Submit to God and be at peace with him;

    in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 Accept instruction from his mouth

    and lay up his words in your heart.

23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:

    If you remove wickedness far from your tent

24 and assign your nuggets to the dust,

    your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,

25 then the Almighty will be your gold,

    the choicest silver for you.

26 Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty

    and will lift up your face to God.

27 You will pray to him, and he will hear you,

    and you will fulfill your vows.

28 What you decide on will be done,

    and light will shine on your ways.

29 When people are brought low and you say, ‘Lift them up!’

    then he will save the downcast.

30 He will deliver even one who is not innocent,

    who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”

1. Eliphaz had spoken to Job previously. At that time, he was patient. This time his words are harsh. He asks Job, “Is it for piety that he rebukes you?” Eliphaz accuses Job of wrongdoing. He assumed that Job had used his position and wealth to trample on the needs of the poor. He assumed that Job’s current suffering was the result of God’s judgment on his transgressions. Eliphaz looked at Job as if Job had lived assuming God does not see or will not judge. He saw Job’s misery and inferred that God was punishing Job for his unrighteousness.

 

2. Eliphaz then instructed Job to submit to God in repentance and accept his word. He encouraged Job to depend on God for his restoration and blessing. His words were meant to inspire Job to come to God who delivers. Eliphaz spoke truthfully, but he also spoke from ignorance. He had no idea who God was in the matter of Job, or what God was doing at this time. Eliphaz also needed to submit to God. Otherwise, his words are empty.

 

Prayer Lord, help me not to speak empty words, but submit to you in every aspect of my life. Help me to know the depth of your work. Make me useful for revealing you to others.

One Word Submit to God

GOD JUDGES EVEN THE HIGHEST

Job 21:1-34 / Keywords 21:22

Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since he judges even the highest?

Job

21:1 Then Job replied:

2 “Listen carefully to my words;

    let this be the consolation you give me.

3 Bear with me while I speak,

    and after I have spoken, mock on.

4 “Is my complaint directed to a human being?

    Why should I not be impatient?

5 Look at me and be appalled;

    clap your hand over your mouth.

6 When I think about this, I am terrified;

    trembling seizes my body.

7 Why do the wicked live on,

    growing old and increasing in power?

8 They see their children established around them,

    their offspring before their eyes.

9 Their homes are safe and free from fear;

    the rod of God is not on them.

10 Their bulls never fail to breed;

    their cows calve and do not miscarry.

11 They send forth their children as a flock;

    their little ones dance about.

12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;

    they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

13 They spend their years in prosperity

    and go down to the grave in peace.[a]

14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone!

    We have no desire to know your ways.

15 Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?

    What would we gain by praying to him?’

16 But their prosperity is not in their own hands,

    so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

17 “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?

    How often does calamity come upon them,

    the fate God allots in his anger?

18 How often are they like straw before the wind,

    like chaff swept away by a gale?

19 It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’

    Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!

20 Let their own eyes see their destruction;

    let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.

21 For what do they care about the families they leave behind

    when their allotted months come to an end?

22 “Can anyone teach knowledge to God,

    since he judges even the highest?

23 One person dies in full vigor,

    completely secure and at ease,

24 well nourished in body,[b]

    bones rich with marrow.

25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,

    never having enjoyed anything good.

26 Side by side they lie in the dust,

    and worms cover them both.

27 “I know full well what you are thinking,

    the schemes by which you would wrong me.

28 You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,

    the tents where the wicked lived?’

29 Have you never questioned those who travel?

    Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

30 that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,

    that they are delivered from[c] the day of wrath?

31 Who denounces their conduct to their face?

    Who repays them for what they have done?

32 They are carried to the grave,

    and watch is kept over their tombs.

33 The soil in the valley is sweet to them;

    everyone follows after them,

    and a countless throng goes[d] before them.

34 “So how can you console me with your nonsense?

    Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

Footnotes

a. Job 21:13 Or in an instant

b. Job 21:24 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

c. Job 21:30 Or wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to

d. Job 21:33 Or them, / as a countless throng went

 

1. Job listened to his friend Zophar the Naamathite describe the fate of those who forsake God and seek earthly pleasure alone. A day of God’s wrath awaited them (20:28). Now Job replied in the midst of his intense suffering. He saw that the wicked often prospered. They experienced the joys of this life. Their families grew, their homes were protected, and the work of their hands bore fruit—even though they neither sought nor served God. Job saw that their prosperity was in God’s hands.

 

2. There are also times when God punishes the wicked, according to his judgment and at his right time. He is the sovereign judge. He knows all people and all things. He judges sin completely. He judges even the highest among men. Job didn’t have an easy answer as to why the wicked often prospered, but he knew that any easy answer was nonsense. Even in his suffering he left judgment to God himself.

 

Prayer Lord, you are the Judge of all things and all people. Help me to be wise and entrust all judgment to you.

One Word God is the Judge of all

SUCH IS THE FATE GOD ALLOTS THE WICKED

Job 20:1-29 / Keywords 20:29

Such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage appointed for them by God.

Zophar

20:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer

    because I am greatly disturbed.

3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,

    and my understanding inspires me to reply.

4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old,

    ever since mankind[a] was placed on the earth,

5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief,

    the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

6 Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens

    and his head touches the clouds,

7 he will perish forever, like his own dung;

    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,

    banished like a vision of the night.

9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;

    his place will look on him no more.

10 His children must make amends to the poor;

    his own hands must give back his wealth.

11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones

    will lie with him in the dust.

12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth

    and he hides it under his tongue,

13 though he cannot bear to let it go

    and lets it linger in his mouth,

14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;

    it will become the venom of serpents within him.

15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed;

    God will make his stomach vomit them up.

16 He will suck the poison of serpents;

    the fangs of an adder will kill him.

17 He will not enjoy the streams,

    the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;

    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;

    he has seized houses he did not build.

20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;

    he cannot save himself by his treasure.

21 Nothing is left for him to devour;

    his prosperity will not endure.

22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;

    the full force of misery will come upon him.

23 When he has filled his belly,

    God will vent his burning anger against him

    and rain down his blows on him.

24 Though he flees from an iron weapon,

    a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

25 He pulls it out of his back,

    the gleaming point out of his liver.

Terrors will come over him;

26     total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.

A fire unfanned will consume him

    and devour what is left in his tent.

27 The heavens will expose his guilt;

    the earth will rise up against him.

28 A flood will carry off his house,

    rushing waters[b] on the day of God’s wrath.

29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,

    the heritage appointed for them by God.”

Footnotes

a. Job 20:4 Or Adam

b. Job 20:28 Or The possessions in his house will be carried off, / washed away

 

1. Like Bildad, Zophar also begins his second discourse by expressing his displeasure with Job’s answers. Rather than trying to understand Job, Zophar is concerned about being properly honored. He is more interested in his own understanding, and getting Job to submit to it, than to counseling, comforting, or simply supporting his friend. What a contrast with Jesus, who, in his incarnation, chose dishonor, humiliation, all to serve the lost.

 

2. What is this great understanding that Zophar is convinced is so important for Job to understand? He begins with the reiteration of simple justice, much like that presented in the Proverbs, whereby the wicked perish and are removed from the earth. Their evil is turned back on them, their judgment swift and complete, and all this ensured by the hand of God, who will carry out this judgment (15, 23, 29). No one can escape God’s judgment.

 

3. But applying this to Job misses the mark: Job is NOT wicked; so why is God pursuing him? Zophar’s comments, wise as they are, have no relevance to Job, nor do they reflect the true mind and heart of God, who does not delight in destroying the wicked. He would rather redeem them, offering a very different fate (Col 1:13).

 

Prayer Father, thank you for redeeming me into a heritage in your holy family through Jesus. Help me share this story with someone today.

One Word Our heritage is to be in God’s family

I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES

Job 19:1-29 / Keywords 19:25

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

 

Job

19:1 Then Job replied:

2 “How long will you torment me

    and crush me with words?

3 Ten times now you have reproached me;

    shamelessly you attack me.

4 If it is true that I have gone astray,

    my error remains my concern alone.

5 If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me

    and use my humiliation against me,

6 then know that God has wronged me

    and drawn his net around me.

7 “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response;

    though I call for help, there is no justice.

8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass;

    he has shrouded my paths in darkness.

9 He has stripped me of my honor

    and removed the crown from my head.

10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone;

    he uproots my hope like a tree.

11 His anger burns against me;

    he counts me among his enemies.

12 His troops advance in force;

    they build a siege ramp against me

    and encamp around my tent.

13 “He has alienated my family from me;

    my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.

14 My relatives have gone away;

    my closest friends have forgotten me.

15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;

    they look on me as on a stranger.

16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,

    though I beg him with my own mouth.

17 My breath is offensive to my wife;

    I am loathsome to my own family.

18 Even the little boys scorn me;

    when I appear, they ridicule me.

19 All my intimate friends detest me;

    those I love have turned against me.

20 I am nothing but skin and bones;

    I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.[a]

21 “Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,

    for the hand of God has struck me.

22 Why do you pursue me as God does?

    Will you never get enough of my flesh?

23 “Oh, that my words were recorded,

    that they were written on a scroll,

24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on[b] lead,

    or engraved in rock forever!

25 I know that my redeemer[c] lives,

    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.[d]

26 And after my skin has been destroyed,

    yet[e] in[f] my flesh I will see God;

27 I myself will see him

    with my own eyes—I, and not another.

    How my heart yearns within me!

28 “If you say, ‘How we will hound him,

    since the root of the trouble lies in him,[g]’

29 you should fear the sword yourselves;

    for wrath will bring punishment by the sword,

    and then you will know that there is judgment.[h]”

Footnotes

a. Job 19:20 Or only by my gums

b. Job 19:24 Or and

c. Job 19:25 Or vindicator

d. Job 19:25 Or on my grave

e. Job 19:26 Or And after I awake, / though this body has been destroyed, / then

f. Job 19:26 Or destroyed, / apart from

g. Job 19:28 Many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate; most Hebrew manuscripts me

h. Job 19:29 Or sword, / that you may come to know the Almighty

1. Job calls out Bildad for his shameless attacks, pointing out that Bildad is not trying to help Job, but rather to exalt himself (5). Job wants his friends to see how “God has wronged” Job by not responding to his cry for justice. It seems that God is personally angry with him as an enemy (11). As a result, all of Job’s family and friends have abandoned him. He only escaped his own death by the skin of his teeth!

 

2. Job appeals again to his friends: “Have pity on me!” (21), but they continue to act as enemies, pursuing him. Job longs that his story be written down, both on a scroll to be shared and inscribed on rock, so generations of the public could read it. Stories are powerful. We do well to take time to listen to each other’s stories, rather than give simple answers to the suffering of our friends.

 

3. But Job had another reason to have his story written: he had faith that there is one who will indeed advocate for him: “my redeemer lives” Job states. Who is this redeemer? The Hebrew word refers to a kinsman-redeemer, like Boaz who took in Ruth (Ruth 4:1-6). But Job had already stated that all his family rejected him (13- 19). Job has faith in God in spite of his impending death. Job’s heart yearns to see God, even though God treats him as an enemy! Why? The redeemer who will intercede.

 

Prayer Father, thank you for redeeming us through your Son Jesus. Help me put my faith in him today.

One Word I know that my Redeemer lives