Job 9:12
Job continues with his reply to Bildad
and Job says in Job 9:12-21, Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who
will say unto him, What doest thou?[13] If God
will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.[14]
How much less shall I answer him, and choose out my words to reason with him?[15]
Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make
supplication to my judge.[16] If I had called, and he had answered me;
yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.[17] For he breaketh me with a tempest,
and multiplieth my wounds without cause.[18]
He will not suffer me to take my breath, but filleth
me with bitterness.[19] If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong: and if
of judgment, who shall set me a time to plead?[20] If I justify myself,
mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me
perverse.[21] Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I
would despise my life. What Job is saying in verses twelve through fifteen is
that God does what He wants to do. No human being can keep God from doing what
the Lord has chosen to do. God decided to bring these judgments into Jobs
life. Job had nothing to do with it. It was Gods decision absolutely
independent of anything that Job said or did. That is true with all of us. That
is the point that Job is making here. As Job said in verse 12, Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say
unto him, What doest thou?
In verses 16 and 17 Job is saying that
even if it could be absolutely proved that Job got through to God, it sure did
not seem like it because of all the bad things that happened to Job. That is
why Job said in verse 16, If I had called, and he had answered me; yet
would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice. When things
go badly for us, there will always be a temptation to think the way Job did
that God did not hear or answer our prayer, but we have the advantage of
knowing all the promises of God in the New Testament. For example, Romans 8:28,
For
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. And Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
What Job said in Job 9:20 is very true
for everyone: If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say,
I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. Even if Job was to say that
he knows he did not deserve what happened to him because Job never did anything
wrong, no one can say that. We are all sinners, and no one has arrived at
sinless perfection. Job is correct: it would not take much to determine that
Job was not perfect, just like none of us are perfect. All that it will take is
to listen to someone talk for just a little while, and their own words will
condemn them. You do not have to see what they actually do in secrecy, just
listen to them talk. As it says in James 3:6, The tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity...
Job makes an interesting statement in
Job 9:21, Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would
despise my life. Even if Job did not commit any sins, he still would not know
everything. And that was the real situation. Job did not know and neither did
his friends know why God allowed all these sufferings in Jobs life. We know
because we have the first few chapters of the book of Job. The same is true of
each of our lives. We do not know why God allows what He allows, but we know He
has a good reason for it. God knows best and we must trust Him.
Job is also correct in what he says in
Job 9:22-23, This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth
the perfect and the wicked.[23] If the scourge slay suddenly, he will
laugh at the trial of the innocent. In verse 22 Job said,
He destroyeth the
perfect and the wicked. God also blesses
believers and unbelievers. When it is a beautiful day, it is a beautiful day
for the just and the unjust. When God brings rain, it rains on both. Life has
its ups and downs for the saved and the unsaved. That is the nature of life: we
are all going to experience the things that life brings. There is a time to
win, but also a time to lose. We all live, but we also all die. God is in
charge of all these great events, and if God decides it is time to bring
sorrows into my life, who am I to question God?
Job says in Job 9:24-29, 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?[25] Now my
days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.[26] They
are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth
to the prey.[27] If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off
my heaviness, and comfort myself:[28] I am afraid of all my sorrows, I
know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.[29] If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? The statement that
Job made in verse 24 is true: The earth is
given into the hand of the wicked
Most
people on the earth do not know the Lord. Most of the rich and powerful do not
know the Lord. The devil is called the god of this world because of the
control and authority that the devil has been given in this world. When the
devil tempted Christ, the Bible says in Matthew 4:8-9, Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high
mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world,
and the glory of them;[9] And saith unto him, All these things will I
give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. That was not an idle boast made by the devil of what he could have
given to Christ. Of course, what the devil gives is only temporary. It will all
be taken away at the coming of Christ. But until that day comes, many of the
people who are rich and powerful in this world have sold themselves with
deceit, and dishonesty, and cruelty, and violence to get riches and power. And
so Job is saying that the fact that he lost everything is proof that he is not
one of the wicked. Even though the devil has certain authority to give out such
wealth and power, the devil is still under the authority of God. Ultimately God
uses the devil to glorify the name of Christ. That is how powerful God is. No
matter what the devil does, God changes it and somehow uses it to lead into the
will of God. The greatest example of this is the death of Jesus on the cross.
Wicked men arrested Jesus and crucified Him, but God used it to purchase
salvation so that anyone could be saved and go to heaven.
In Job chapter 9 and verses 25, 26,
27, and 28 Job is recounting once again how much he is suffering. And then what
Job states in verse 29 is a reference to what was said in verse 24. If Job was
wicked, then he probably would be prospering and not suffering. If I be
wicked, why then labour I in vain?
In this life the wicked usually prosper temporarily anyway. Jobs sufferings
were so great that it helped prove that Job was not being punished for his
sins.
Job said in Job 9:30-35, If I wash
myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;[31] Yet shalt
thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me.[32]
For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come
together in judgment.[33] Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that
might lay his hand upon us both.[34] Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not his fear terrify me:[35] Then would I speak, and not fear
him; but it is not so with me. If you are guilty before God,
there is nothing that you can do to fix that problem. That is what Job meant
when he said in verses 30-31, If I wash
myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;[31] Yet shalt
thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. That is true from a human standpoint, and is why you need
a Savior. Jesus can do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Jesus can take
away all your sins and make you whiter than snow. In verse 32 Job is saying
that he cannot justify himself before God: For
he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together
in judgment. In verse 33 Job is recognizing
that he has no mediator on the earth that could possibly speak to God in his
favor either. Job said, Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand
upon us both. Thankfully, we have Jesus.
Jesus forever stands in the gap for us to declare that He is our Savior and He
has forgiven us of all of our sins. It says in First Timothy 2:5, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus;[6] Who gave himself a ransom for all, to
be testified in due time.
In verses 34 and 35 of Job chapter 9
Job is saying that he realizes that it is all up to God. There is nothing that
Job can do to fix all the sufferings that came upon him. Job knew that it is
all in Gods hands. Every believer needs to know that. We all have things that
we can do nothing about, and it is in Gods hands. That is all. And so we have
to wait and see what God will do.
Job said in Job 10:1-10, My soul is
weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the
bitterness of my soul.[2] I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew
me wherefore thou contendest with me.[3] 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?[4] Hast
thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?[5] Are thy days as the days of man? are thy
years as man's days,[6] That thou inquirest
after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?[7]
Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of
thine hand.[8] Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round
about; yet thou dost destroy me.[9] Remember, I beseech thee, that thou
hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?[10]
Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
Job continues to try and reason why God has allowed such sufferings to come
into Jobs life. Job is weary. He is speaking in the bitterness of his soul.
And Job says to God, Do not condemn me. One thing that every Christian can be sure of: the Lord
will never condemn us. Once you are saved through faith in Christ, you have
passed from condemnation unto life. It says in Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus
In verse 3 Job says that it is as
though God is despising Job and God is oppressing Job. But Job knows that he
has not done anything to deserve the sufferings that have come his way. The
human friends of Job have concluded that Job must deserve what has happened
to him, but Job says to God in verses 4, 5, and 6 that Job realizes that God is
not like man. Man looks at the appearance, but God knows what is really going
on. If God knows what is the real truth about Job,
then God knows what Job knows: Job has done nothing to deserve the sufferings.
Job said to God in verse 7, Thou knowest that I am not wicked.
In verses 8, 9, 10 Job is stating that
he knows that God made him and gave him life. And now it appears as though God
is destroying him, and Job wonders why his life has become like this. We know
the answer because we know what was said in chapters one and two. As Job said
in his first response to what had happened to him in Job 1:21, Naked came I
out of my mothers womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and
the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. God knows
what He is doing, even when we do not. At least we can always say, The Lord
knows. God is good, and holy, and true. He knows what He is doing, and why He
is doing it. And another benefit of being a Christian: Romans 8:28. There will
be a good result when all is said and done. As we will see at the end of the
book of Job, that it was true with his life also. And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2018 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved