Job 10:9

Job 10:9 says, Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?  Having said that God created him, Job asks God to remember that.  Job also asks if God is going to return him to dust, to utterly destroy him.  We do not have to ask if God remembers if He created us, nor should we be overly concerned about when this life will end. God will be with us forever if we put our faith in Christ, or as in Job's case, if he just continued to put his faith in God.  Verse ten adds, Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?  Job was again asking why God, Who had created him, was now punishing him.  Job knew that he could think of nothing that he had done to deserve the punishment that he felt God was placing on Him.  Job was really stating that he believed that even the bad things in life came from God, but we know this is not true.   Verse eleven continues, Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.  Job was still reminding God that He was the Creator of life.  Verse twelve states, Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.  Job knew what it was like to be in the favor of God, but he still evidently felt that when he was suffering that he was out of God's favor.  He knew that God still preserved his spirit, but he no longer felt the presence of God in his life. If we do not feel God's presence in our lives today, we can be certain that He has not left us, but that we have left Him.  Verse thirteen adds, And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.  I believe that Job was saying that God knew what kind of person he had been.  We do not need to fear that God will ever forget His people.  Even in the worst of suffering, God is with us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.   Verse fourteen continues, If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.  Sin does indeed leave its mark on us, but through Christ we are acquitted of that sin and all the marks of sin are washed away.  Verse fifteen says, If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;  Job really didn't think he had done anything to deserve what he felt was punishment from God.  He said if he was wicked, he deserved to be punished, but even if he were righteous, he would not lift his head in defiance is what I believe he was saying.  He just wanted to understand why this was happening to him. Even if we feel unjustly treated today, we cannot stand in defiance and blame God.  Verse sixteen adds, For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.  Job felt that there was no place to escape the suffering he was enduring.  He felt God was hunting him like a lion and was showing Job how marvelously powerful God was.  God does not have to seek us, because He always knows exactly where we are, physically and spiritually, and the universe proclaims how powerful He is.  Verse seventeen continues, Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.  Job still believed that God was the direct cause of all his troubles.  We cannot attribute everything that happens in life to the direct hand of God.  The evil in the world is the result of the free will of people in opposition to God's will.  Verse eighteen states, Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!  I believe this is similar to a child today saying that they never asked to be born when things are not going the way they want them to in life.  Verse nineteen adds, I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.  Job continues with this thought about being better off if he had never been born.  We, as followers of Christ, must acknowledge that God is the giver of life, and that we should never question the wisdom of our birth.  Verse twenty continues, Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,  I believe that Job was saying that since his life seemed to be basically over, he just wanted it to end.  Verse twenty-one says, Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; Job recognized that when life was over that there was no returning.  Verse twenty-two adds, A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.  As followers of Christ, we know that when we die, we do not go away into a place of darkness, but into the presence of the light of Christ Himself.

Job 10:1

Job 10:1 says, My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.  Even though he was weary to his soul, Job said that he would not complain that God was unjust but that he would place his complaint and bitterness on himself.  He had just stated that he could not stand justified before God without a Mediator, but he could make his complaint known at least to those around him and to himself.  If we complain that God is treating us unfairly, we can really only complain to those around us looking for their understanding and maybe our own.  We cannot truthfully blame God for treating us unjustly.  Verse two adds, I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.  Job said when he spoke to God, he would ask God to not condemn him and to show him what he had done to cause all this suffering.  If we are suffering, we may feel the need to question God if we feel that He is the source of our suffering, and we don't know why He is punishing us.  Even so, we must realize that God is not the source of evil in the world, and if we are suffering, we do not need to blame God.  Just as God allowed Job's faith to be tested, He will allow our faith to be tested today.  We can be certain that God will not just arbitrarily bring suffering into our lives. Verse three continues, Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?  I believe that Job was basically asking if it was a good thing for God to despise someone that He had created.  Job may have despised his life and even have wished that he had never been born, but he was asking God how He could despise His creation.  We know that in the Garden, when God created man, He pronounced him very good.  Job was asking how God could now despise His creation.  We know that it is sin that God despises and not mankind.  We also know that suffering comes from the evil in the world and not from an arbitrary act of God. Verse four asks, Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?  Job recognized that God was much more than just another man.  God is not limited by physical constraints as are people.  Verse five adds, Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man’s days,  Job was still asking rhetorical questions.  He knew that God was eternal, just as he knew God was not limited in understanding the true nature of a person.  We may fool the world today by either our words or actions, but we will never fool God.  Verse six continues, That thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?  Job was basically asking God, Who sees all and knows all, if He was searching for some sin Job had committed.  We know that God does not really have to search us to find out if we have sinned.  I believe that sin in the life of anyone, especially a Christian, stands out like a beacon before God.  We do not have to basically challenge God to find sin in our lives.  Verse seven declares, Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.  I believe that in effect Job was saying that God was punishing him without him doing anything to deserve punishment.  Job may have been held up by God for his righteousness, but Job failed to remain in a right relationship with God when he began to question God.  We are called to put our faith in God, no matter what happens in life and should never question His love for us.  Job said that there was none to deliver him out of the suffering that he felt was coming from God, but we know today that we have a Mediator in Christ, just as Job did.  We must remember that Christ died for all sins for all time.  Verse eight adds, Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.  Job was telling God that He had created him but was now destroying him.  In effect, I believe that Job was saying that God was to blame if he sinned.  God created Job, so Job's sins should ultimately be God's fault.  We know that we cannot blame God for the sin in the world.  Sin is the fault of man's rebellion against God, and if we attempt to blame God for sin in our lives, then we truly are guilty of sin.

Job 9;23

Job 9:23 says, If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.  I do not believe that Job was saying that if trouble comes to the innocent, those who put their faith in God, that He laughs, or is unconcerned about their suffering.  We know that when God's people suffer, He suffers with them.  We might think that God doesn't suffer, but if that were true, how do we think He felt when Christ was on the cross.  This was a truly innocent man dying for all the sins of all the people for all time.  Verse twenty-four adds, The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?  Job said that the earth was given to the wicked and there was no justice in the world.  The eyes of the judges were covered.  We might feel the same way today, when it seems that evil man prosper and God's people suffer, but we must remember that this life is only temporary.  Verse twenty-five continues, Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.  Job once more speaks of how fast his days are slipping away.  I do not believe that Job was speaking of the hours of the day passing away quickly necessarily but was likely saying that the end of his days was fast approaching.  Job felt that his good days, days of prosperity, were past and would never come again.  He could see no good in his life, so prayed for his death to come quickly.  Verse twenty-six states, They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.  Again, I believe that Job was speaking more of life in general coming to a rapid end, just as his days when he was prosperous came to a rapid end.  It was more than each day passing quickly away.  When we are suffering, the days seem to drag by more than they seem to fly by.  Verse twenty-seven adds, If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:  I believe that Job was saying that he knew he should quit complaining to or about God, but in his suffering, he found that he couldn't.  We often know that we are viewing God unjustly, but that may not keep us from crying out against Him.  Verse twenty-eight continues, I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.  I believe that Job was saying that God would not hold him innocent because of all his complaining about his sorrows, or suffering.  We today can likewise never justify complaining against God.  We have to know that our physical condition can never determine our spiritual condition.  In verse twenty-nine Job asks, If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain?  Job said that if he was wicked, if he was indeed condemned for his sins that he could not correct, then why should he even try.  We cannot find restoration with God through our own efforts, so if we are attempting to do that, then we are indeed working in vain.  Verse thirty adds, If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;  I believe Job was saying that if he made himself physically clean that it would do no good.  Verse thirty-one continues, Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.  Job said if he cleaned himself up physically that he would still be thrown back in the ditch.  People in Job's day put a lot of stock in physical purity being a sign of spiritual purity, and even if Job were clean, he would still be filled with sores and viewed as unclean.  Job was asking with this understanding by those around him why he should even bother.  Verse thirty-two says, For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.  Job recognized that God was not just another person, or even just one of many gods, but that He was the one true God.  Since God was so much superior to Job, Job asked how God and he could come together in judgment.  There is really no need to plead our case before God, because He already knows not only all our actions, but our thoughts as well.  Verse thirty-three adds, Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.  In Job's day, people were looking ahead for the Mediator between God and them, but Job recognized the need for One to stand before God in his place.  We today have that Mediator in Christ.  No outward cleansing nor self-justification will ever make us right with God.  We are only made right through the Mediator, Jesus Christ.  Verse thirty-four continues, Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:  We know that through Christ the rod of punishment has been removed, though the rod of correction may remain, but Job was still looking for that assurance.  Verse thirty-five concludes, Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.  I believe that Job was saying that if he had this Mediator, then he would feel free to speak to God without fear of his own unworthiness.  We today have that Mediator and can speak freely to God without fear of our own unworthiness.

Job 9:14

Job 9:14 says, How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?  After speaking about the power and majesty of God, Job now begins to speak of his own inability to talk to God with any words that could justify himself before God.  If we attempt to claim that we are perfect and God has treated us unfairly, our very words show our hypocrisy.  Job had been accused of being a hypocrite by Bildad, but Job acknowledged his unworthiness to even answer God.  Job was not claiming to be perfect and therefore able to stand before God by his own righteousness, but asked how he could hope to choose the right words to reason with God.  We can never question the wisdom of God because we feel that we are righteous in all that we do.  Verse fifteen adds, Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.  Job said that even if he could claim righteousness, he could still not make demands on God.  He could only come to God in supplication, asking God to hear Him.  We can never make demands on God but must come to Him as humble servants.  Verse sixteen continues, If I had called, and he had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.  Job felt that his prayers were so ineffective that even if God did what he was asking it wouldn't be due to his prayers.  I believe Job felt at this point that God was just going to do what He wanted to do when He wanted to do it.  This made God an impersonal God, but we know that is not the case.  God always hears and answers the prayers of His people.  We may not like the answer, nor even the timing of the answer, but we can never believe that God does not hear us.  If we believe that everything is preordained, then we must say as Job did that our prayers do not matter.  Verse seventeen states, For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.  Job stated his reason for believing that God did not hear Him.  Job said God was causing him unbearable suffering without cause.  No matter how much we suffer, we can never blame God nor claim that we are without any guilt in our lives.  Job was now basically saying aloud that God was being unjust with Him.  Verse eighteen adds, He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth me with bitterness.  I believe that Job was basically saying that God was responsible for his bitterness.  If we become bitter in our attitude toward God today, we cannot blame it on God.  We cannot even blame it on the devil, because we alone are responsible for our attitude toward God.  Events in this world should never determine our attitude toward God, but we must remain faithful to Him no matter what.  Verse nineteen continues, If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?  Job acknowledged the power of God.  He felt powerless in God's sight. Our strength and wisdom are indeed powerless in God's sight, but through faith in Him, we are made strong.  Verse twenty says, If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.  Job said he could not justify himself with his words, and that if he said he was perfect that even his speech would be perverse.  If a person claims to be able to stand before God today innocent by their own ability, then what they are saying is perverse.  We cannot make ourselves right with God by our own actions but can only do so by faith in God's redeeming act.  Through acknowledgement of our own sins and faith in Christ alone can we be restored to a right relationship with God.  Verse twenty-one adds, Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.  Job said that even if he had been perfect, in his present condition he would despise his soul.  In his suffering, Job could see no reason for even his soul, the animating force of life, to live on.  Verse twenty-two continues, This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.  Those that are perfect, though there really is but One, and those that are wicked do all meet the same fate in this life, and that is they all die.  I believe Job was stating this as an indictment against God though.  He was blaming God for evil coming to good people, but we must remember that God is not responsible for the evil in the world.

Job 9:1

Job 9:1 says, Then Job answered and said,  Job again waited until Bildad was finished speaking before responding, just as he had with Eliphaz..  It is too bad that we often do not seem to have that same ability.  Verse two adds, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?  He acknowledged that God could not enter into a relationship with evil people, but asked how anyone of their own ability could make themselves just with God.  We know that the answer is that we cannot.  If people were able to justify themselves before God, then the death of Jesus would have been unnecessary.  Verse three continues, If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.  Job said that if God were to ask us a thousand questions, we wouldn't be able to answer even one.  I don't believe that he meant asking us something trivial but asking us questions that show we know anything that would make us on par with God.  As Paul would say, we see through a glass darkly.  If we begin to define God by our understanding, we will always fail.  Verse four states, He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?  True wisdom comes only from God.  His wisdom comes from His heart, His very being.  Since God is all wise and all powerful, Job asks who can stand against God and prosper.  It might look temporarily like the evil prosper, but God sees things from an eternal perspective.  Our limited strength and knowledge will never stand against God.  Verse five adds, Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.  Job continued to speak of the power of God, Who not only created the mountains, but could remove them as well.  Even the mountains could not stand against God's anger, so what hope did man have of doing so.  Verse six continues, Which shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble.  We need to remember that God sustains not just the earth but the universe in the proper orbit.  It is not from some freak accident, but by the will of God that there is order in the universe.  In the next three verses, Job continues to speak of the power of God.  Verse seven states, Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.  Verse eight adds, Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.  Verse nine continue, Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.  As I had just stated, God not only sustains the earth, but also the sun, stars, and all the heavenly bodies.  We either believe that God is Who He says He is and has this power, or we deny Him.  God cannot be less than He says He is.  Job acknowledged God to be Who He said He was, and so must we.  Verse ten says, Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.  Job said that we can never know all the great things and wonders that God does.  What we can know is that God loves all people enough to send His Son to die to redeem everyone who will believe in Jesus Christ.  Verse eleven adds, Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not: he passeth on also, but I perceive him not.  Job said that when God passed by him at this point that he was unable to feel God's presence.  We know as followers of Christ that if we ever feel that somehow God has forsaken us, we only need to look to the Holy Spirit for assurance that God is with us, no matter what.  Verse twelve continues, Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?  I believe that Job was asking who had the power to stand against God or the wisdom to question Him.  Even if our life seems to be overwhelming us and we cannot understand why, we need to simply continue living by faith.  We do not have to understand everything in life, only that God redeems us forever through Christ.  Verse thirteen concludes, If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.  Though God has a right to be angry with those who sin against Him, through Christ His anger is withdrawn.  The only way we can stand before God and not face His anger is through faith in Christ as Savior and Lord.  For Job, this was faith in the coming Messiah, or Redeemer.

Job 8:8

Job 8:8 says, For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:  Bildad asked Job to not just take Eliphaz and his word for the fact that what they were saying was true, but to look to what those who had come before them had to say.  This is what we do when we look to the Bible, but we must never look to the Bible simply to prove our point.  Gilead was looking to the believers who had come before to prove his point and not simply to prove the nature of God.  Verse nine adds, (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)  Bildad confessed that his friends and he had not lived long enough to know all the truth of God, but that they could look to those who had come before them to verify that truth.  We should never use the Bible and its record of those who came before us as a tool to support our beliefs.  We must align our beliefs with the teachings of the Bible instead.  Verse ten continues, Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart?  Bildad was asking Job if he could not learn from what his ancestors had taught.  We may indeed learn from our ancestors, but they are not the ultimate truth.  Only through the gospel can we truly begin to understand God.  Verse eleven states, Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?  Bildad was now turning to nature to prove his point.  I believe that he was comparing the mire that the rush grew out of with hypocrisy.  Verse twelve adds, Whilst it is yet in his greenness, and not cut down, it withereth before any other herb.  Gilead said the rush, or reed, might look great, but it would wither away before those herbs that were rooted in good soil.  Verse thirteen continues, So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: I believe that Bildad was telling Job that Job had been a hypocrite and had forgotten the path of God, and like a reed growing in the mire he had been cut down.  Verse fourteen says, Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.  A spider web is almost invisible but can easily trap its victims.  Bildad said the lies of the hypocrite was the same way, trapping the unsuspecting, but unable to stand in the strength of God's truth.  Verse fifteen adds, He shall lean upon his house, but it shall not stand: he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure.  I believe Bildad was saying that the hypocrite may attempt to find rest, or peace, in the things he has acquired, but he will not be able to.  If we are not living by the truth of God, there is no place we can go to find real peace.  Verses sixteen continues, He is green before the sun, and his branch shooteth forth in his garden.   Verse seventeen concludes, His roots are wrapped about the heap, and seeth the place of stones.  I believe that Bildad was comparing a hypocrite to a plant rooted in stones.  They might grow up pretty and green, but they would wilt in a strong sun, just as the hypocrite would wilt when adversity comes.  Though this may be true, it does not mean that every time adversity comes to a follower of God that it means they are a hypocrite.  Verse eighteen states, If he destroy him from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, I have not seen thee.  Bildad said that if the hypocrite is destroyed, it is like God saying He had never even seen him, much less having had a relationship with him.  Verse nineteen adds, Behold, this is the joy of his way, and out of the earth shall others grow.  I believe that Bildad was saying that Job's descendants would be cut off, but plenty of other people were there to serve God faithfully.  God does find joy in the fact there are many people who can choose to serve Him, but that does not mean that He cuts off entire families because of the sin of one, as Bildad seemed to imply about Job.  Verse twenty continues, Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evil doers:  Bildad was again saying that prosperity was a sign of being in a right relationship with God and that suffering was a sign of God's punishment of evil people.  We know that God indeed does nor cast away a perfect man, but there are none except Christ.  God will allow His followers to be tested in their faith, but will never cast anyone away because of anything but their own rejection of Christ as Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty-one says, Till he fill thy mouth with laughing, and thy lips with rejoicing.   Bildad was telling Job that when he repented and made things right with God that Job would once more rejoice in life.  Verse twenty-two adds, They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.  Bildad was again stating that those who are faithful to God will prosper materially, but we know that this is not what God's word teaches us.

Job 8:1

Job 8:1 says, Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,  Another of Job's friends who had come to comfort him, Bildad the Shuhite, now begins to tell Job what he believes to be Job's problem.  There was not a shouting match between Job and his friends, but they spoke in order and allowed Job an opportunity to respond.  I believe that today we have too often lost this ability to reason together.  We want to shout down the other person's point of view without listening and responding respectfully.  Verse two adds, How long wilt thou speak these things? and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind?  Bildad had not been convinced by Job's reply to Eliphaz.  He had listened, but now he was saying that Job was just speaking empty words.  We today might say that in our opinion, Job was just blowing hot air.  Bildad was convinced that he knew that Job was being punished because of some great sin in Job's life, but like Eliphaz, he was wrong.  Just because more than one person attempts to judge our relationship to God, it doesn't mean that they are right.  Verse three continues, Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?  Bildad was asking if God would punish the innocent, which would be a perversion of justice.  We must remember that God was not punishing Job but was holding him up as a truly righteous man.  Being a follower of Christ does not exempt us from suffering in life, and actually may lead to just the opposite.  We are called to follow God, and we can be certain that when we do, that suffering does not come from God.  Verse four states, If thy children have sinned against him, and he have cast them away for their transgression;  Bildad said that Job's children had died due to transgression on their part.  Though they were guilty of transgression, or sin, as we all are, this was not what caused their death.  We can also be certain that they did not die without an opportunity to make things right between themselves and God. Verse five adds, If thou wouldest seek unto God betimes, and make thy supplication to the Almighty; Bildad, though starting his statements with an if, I believe really meant them as statements of fact.  He believed that Job wasn't really seeking God and asking Him for forgiveness or restoration.  We must never assume that we know another person's relationship with God, especially based on material factors.  Verse six continues, If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.  Bildad was equating serving God with being blessed materially.  He believed that Job was suffering because of some unconfessed sin and that if he would confess and ask God for restoration that he would be blessed materially once more.  We can never allow the idea that if we serve God we are going to be made rich to become a part of the gospel.  Verse seven concludes, Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. I believe that Bildad was telling Job that when Job confessed and made things right with God that he would be even richer than he was before.  I believe that if we only repent in the hope of being blessed materially that it isn't really repenting.  Repentance can have no conditions attached.  We simply place our lives in God's hands and commit to being faithful to Him no matter what happens in life.