Bible in one year 7/29/2022 Job Chapter 15- 18 Job’s second reply to his friends’ speech
By Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce Christian Arts Ministries : Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry & Counseling
“ Would
a wise man answer with empty notions or fill his belly with the hot east wind?
Would he argue with useless words, with speeches that have no value? But you
even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God. Your sin prompts your mouth;
you adopt the tongue of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, not mine; your
own lips testify against you.” (vv.1-6).
“ Are you the first man ever born? Were you brought forth before the hills? Do you listen in on God’s council? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? What do you know that we do not know? What insights do you have that we do not have? The gray-haired and the aged are on our side, men even older than your father. Are God’s consolations not enough for you, words spoken gently to you? Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, so that you vent your rage against God and pour out such words from your mouth?”(vv.7-13).
“What is man, that he
could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous? If God places
no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes. How
much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like
water!”(vv.14-16).
Listen to me and I will
explain to you; let me tell you what I have seen, what wise men have declared,
hiding nothing received from their fathers (to whom alone the land was given
when no alien passed among them): All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the
ruthless through all the years stored up for him. Terrifying sounds fill his
ears; when all seems well, marauders attack him. He despairs of escaping the
darkness; he is marked for the sword. He
wanders about food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
Distress and anguish fill him with terror; they overwhelm him, like a king
poised to attack, king poised to attach, because he shakes his fist at God and
vaunts himself against the Almighty, defiantly charging against him with a
thick, strong shield.” (vv.17-26).
“Through his face is
covered with fat and his waist bulges with flesh, he will inhabit ruined towns
and houses where no one lives, houses crumbling to rubble. He will no longer be
rich and his wealth will not endure, nor will his possessions spread over the
land. He will not escape the darkness; a flame with wither his shoots, and the
breath of God’s mouth will carry him away. Let
him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing
in return. Before his time he will be paid in full, and his branches will not
flourish. He will be like a vine stripped of its unripe grapes, like an olive
tree shedding its blossoms. For the company of the godless will be barren, and fire will consume
the tents of those who love bribes. They conceive trouble and give birth to
evil; their womb fashions deceit.”(vv.27-35).
Chapter 16 Job’s second reply to
Eliphaz
Job spurns the comfort of his
friends (vv.1-5) and again Job describes his desperate situation (vv.6-17) And
his innocence cries for vindication(v.18), he longs for a divine helper (v.21). Job replied,
“
I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! Will
your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing? I
also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches
against you and shake my head at you.
But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you
relief.(vv.1-5)
“Yet
if I speak, my pain is not relieved; and if I refrain, it does not go away. Surely, O God, you
have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household. You have bound me and it has become a
witness; my gauntness rises up and testifies against me.. God assails me and
tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me; my opponent fastens on me
his piercing eyes. Men open their mouths to jeer at me; they strike my cheek in
scorn and unite together against me. God has turned me over to evil men and
thrown me into the clutches of the wicked. All was well with me, but he
shattered me; he seized me by the neck
and crushed me. He has made me his target; his archers surround me. Without
pity, he pierces my kidneys and spills my gall on the ground. Again and again
he bursts upon me; he rushes at me like a warrior.”(vv.6-14).
Chapter
17 Job’s second reply to Eliphaz
Job
asks God to be the pledge with Himself of Job’s innocence (vv.3-5). And again
Job expresses his longing for death (vv.13-14). He replied,
“ My
spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me. Surely mockers
surround me; my eyes must dwell on their hostility. Give me, O God, the pledge
you demand. Who else will put up security for me? You have closed their minds
to understanding; Therefore you will not let them triumph. If a man denounces
his friends for reward, the eyes of his
children will fall.” (vv.1-5).
But
come on, all of you, try again! I will not find a wise man among you. My days
have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart. These
men turn night into day; in the face of darkness they say, ‘Light is near.’ If
the only home I hope for is the grave, if I spread out my bed in darkness, if
I say to corruption, ‘ You are my father’ and to the worm, ‘ My mother’ or ‘ My
sister,’ where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me? Will it go down to
the gates of death? Will we descend together into the dust?(vv.10-16).
Bibliography,
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986
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