Bible in one year 7/30/2022 Job Chapter 18- 21 Job’s second debate to his friends’ speech
By Rev. Katherine
Liu Bruce
Christian Arts
Ministries : Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry &
Counseling
Chapter 18 Bildad’s Second Speech
Bildad paints the
fate of “wicked” Job as being consumed by death’s firstborn (v.13;i.e., deadly
disease), as going into oblivion (vv.16-19) and as being cursed by God (burning
sulfur, v.15, was a symbol of this; Gen.19:24;Deut.29:23). He concludes in surely such is the dwelling
of an evil man, such is the place of one who knows not God.” He said,
“ When will you end these speeches? Be
sensible, and then we can talk. Why are we regarded as cattle and considered
stupid in your sight? You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the
earth to be abandoned for your sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their
place?”(vv.2-4).
The vigor of his step is
weakened; his own schemes throw him down. His feet thrust him into a net and he
wanders into its mesh. A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies in
his path. Terrors startle him on
every side and dog his every step. Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is
ready for him when he falls.(vv.7-12).
It eats away parts of his
skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs. He is torn from the security of his
tent and marched off to the king of terrors. Fire resides in his tent buring
sulfur is scattered over his dwelling. (vv.13-15)
His roots dry up below and
his branches wither above. The memory of him perishes from the earth; he has no
name in the land.(vv.16-17).
He is driven from light
into darkness and is banished from the world. He has no offspring or
descendants among his people, no survivor where once he lived. Men of the west
are appalled at his fate; men of the east are seized with horror. Surely such
is the dwelling of an evil man, such is the place of one who knows not
God.”(vv.18-21).
Job’s
second reply to Bildad
Job, isolated from those
dearest to him, longs for affection.(vv.13-22). Job, despairing of justice in
his lifetime, wishes that his case could be written on a scroll. Then,
realizing that ordinary writing is perishable, he desires that it be cut on a
leaden tablet or on a rock.(vv.23-24). Job believed in a living God who would
vindicate his case even after his death. In the end. In the future. Upon the
earth. Lit., upon dust, referring to the dust on the earth or to the dust of
Job’s grave. In my flesh. Although the Hebrew preposition, min, sometimes means
“without” (in which case Job expected vindication in a disembodied state), when
it is used with the verb “ to see” it may indicate the vantage point from which
a person sees (in which case Job expected to be in a body when he was received
in the resurrection). The last phrase of verse 27 is an exclamation something
like, “ I’m overwhelmed at the thought.” This great expression of hope marks
the turning point in Job’s attitude. He has seen his suffering in the
perspective of certain future vindication of his case. He replied,
“How long will you torment me and crush me with words? Ten times now
you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me. If it is true that I have
gone astray, my error remains my concern alone. If indeed you would exalt
yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me, then know that God has
wronged me and drawn his net around me. (vv.1-6).
Though I cry, ‘ I’ve been wronged! I get no response;
though I call for help, there is no justice. He has blocked my way so I cannot
pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness. He has stripped me of my honor and
removed the crown from my head. He tears me down on every side till I am gone;
he uproots my hope like a tree. His anger burns against me; he counts me among
his enemies. His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me
and encamp around my tent. (vv.7-12).
He has alienated my brothers from me; my acquaintances
are completely estranged from me. My kinsmen have gone away; my friends have
forgotten me. My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger; they look upon
me as an alien. I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him
with my own mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own
brothers. Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me. All
my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am
nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of
my teeth.(vv.13-20).
If you say, “ How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble
lies in him, you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment
by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment. (vv.28-29).
Chapter 20 Third friend Zophar’s
Second Speech
Zophar, see thing with anger because
of Job’s warnings (19:28-29), tells Job that a wicked man’s prosperity is brief
(v.5). He attempts to make suffering Job appear to be sinning Job. In verse 19
apparently Job’s friends could not produce any proof of Job’s guilt, so the
best Zophar can do is accuse him of land-grabbing and oppressing the poor.
There is no evidence that Job did these thing.(v.19). He said,
“
My trouble thoughts prompt me to answer because I am greatly disturbed. I hear
a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to
reply.”(vv.2-3). Surely you know how it has been from of old, even since man
was placed on the earth, that the mirth of
the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment. (vv.4-5).Though his pride reaches to the heavens
and his head touches the clouds, he will perish forever, like his own dung;
those who have seen him
will say, ‘Where is he?’ Like a dream he
flies away, no more to be found, banished like a vision of the night. The eye that saw him will not see him
again; his place will look on him no more. His children must make amends to the
poor; his own hands must give back his wealth.(vv.6-10).
The
youthful vigor that fills his bones will lie with him in the dust. Though evil
is sweet in his mouth and he hides it under his tongue, though he cannot bear
to let it go and keeps it in his mouth, yet his food will turn sour in his
stomach; it will become the venom of serpents within him. He will spit out the
riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up. He will such the
poison of serpents; the fangs of an adder will kill him. He will not enjoy the
streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream. What he toiled for he must
give back uneaten; he will not enjoy the profit from his trading. For he has
oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not
build.(vv.11-19).
Surely
he will have no respite from his craving; he cannot save himself by his
treasure. Nothing is left for him to devour; his prosperity will not endure. In
the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him; the full force of misery
will come upon him. When he has filled his belly, God will vent his burning
anger against him and rain down his blows upon him. Though he flees from an
iron weapon, a bronze tipped arrow pierces him. He pulls it out of his back, the
gleaming point out of his liver. Terrors will come over him; total darkness
lies in wait for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour
what is left in his tent. The heaven will expose his guilt; the earth
will rise up against him. A flood will carry off his house, rushing waters on
the day of God’s wrath. such is the fate God allots the wicked, the heritage
appointed for them by God. (vv.20-29).
Chapter
21 Job’s second reply to Zophar
Job takes the initiative,
demands the attention of his accusers. Contrary to Zophar’s thesis, the wicked
often prosper. Verse 13means, prosperous to the end, the wicked sometimes die
without a struggle. In verse 16 Job acknowledges that even the prosperity of
the wicked comes from the Lord who governs all men. Verse 17 is a skeptical
question. How often, Job asks, does this really happen? The punishment of a
man’s iniquity is often borne by his children. Verses 32-33 Even the
repulsiveness of death is softened for the prosperous wicked man. He replied,
“
Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation your give me. Bear
with me while I speak, and after I have spoken, mock on. Is my complaint
directed to man? Why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be astonished;
clap your hand over your mouth. When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body. (vv.1-6).
Why
do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They see their
children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. Their homes
are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them. Their bulls never
fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. They send forth their
children as a flock; their little ones dance about. They sing to the music of tambourine and harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute. They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in
peace. Yet they say to God, ‘ Leave us alone!’ we have no desire to know your
ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? But their prosperity is
not in their own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked.
(vv.7-16).
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? (v.17).
How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?
It is said, ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his sons.’ Let him repay the
man himself, so that he will know it! Let his own eyes see his destruction; let
him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. For what does he care about the family
he leaves behind when his allotted months come to an end? (vv.17-21).
Can anyone teach knowledge
to God, since he judge even the highest? One man dies in full vigor, completely
secure and at ease, his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness
of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both. (vv.22-26).
I
know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.
You say, ‘ Where now is the great man’s house, the tents where wicked men
lived? Have
you never questioned those who travel? Have you paid no regard to their
accounts- that the evil man is spared
from the day of calamity, that he is delivered from the day of wrath? Who
denounces his conduct to his face? Who repays him for what he has done? He is
carried to the grave, and watch is kept over this tomb. The soil in the valley
is sweet to him; all men follow after him, and a countless throng goes before
him. So how can you console me with
you nonsense? Nothing is lift of your answers but falsehood!(vv.27-34).
Bibliography,
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago,
IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986
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