[Brother V]

Job 10-12

Today we get:

• Job complains to Bildad more
• Zophar accuses Job
• Job complains to Zophar

Job 10

Job is still complaining to Bildad that he wishes he was never born.

1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Job's whining could be the inspiration for Morrissey.

7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

Job complains without accusing. This is something that people today need to learn. Most people today when their team wins something, cannot be happy unless they belittle their opponent. "Bears rule; Packers suck". When the Packers lost to Chicago, many Green Bay fans felt like Job. "Oh, woe is me" "My team is horrible". You may have seen some fans even saying how much they hated the bears for beating the packers. "Man, I hate the bears!!!" even people saying "the Bears SUCK!!!" Job wouldn't have insulted the bears, just as he didn't insult (or accuse) the LORD. Job as a football fan that day would have just cried about the loss all the way home, without faulting the bears for being better that day.

(Of course, Job still doesn't understand how the packers lost 35-7, when cold, windy wintry conditions are supposedly the thing Bret Favre thrives on; he doesn't understand how Rex Grossman looked like the hall of fame quarterback, and Favre looked like the guy who would be lucky to be on a team the next year. But then, Job wouldn't have complained about the bears causing the packers to suck that day, he would have just complained about the packers not executing... even though they should have).

10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

Job starts to get a little accusatory towards the LORD here, but he never directly blames God. He just sort of shakes a fist at something there, it might or might not be the LORD.

12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

This is somewhat thanks, and somewhat sarcasm.

14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

Deep down, Job doesn't really know what the sin was, but he's starting to think there might be something.

18 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!

We aren't told exactly how long Job suffered for. But it must be a whole lot because he seems to have forgotten all the good times.

21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

I'm coming elizabeth...

Job 11

Zophar's turn to accuse Job of some secret sin.

3 Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed?

Zophar is sitting there, free of disease; telling Job that there must be a sin.

5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

Zophar tells Job he might as well confess, because God knows what it is.

13 If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

Zophar is pointing the way to salvation. He knows that one has to submit to the will of the LORD, to achieve it. He doesn't fully realize that (at this point) Job has actually done nothing wrong.

20 But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.

Part of the reason Job begs for death, but doesn't actively DO anything to promote his death, is a nagging hidden suspicion that just maybe he might have done something wrong. He doesn't want to die in his sin.

Job 12

Job replies...

3 But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?

Job is probably the one who taught these guys about the nature of the LORD. He's not a student to his friends, he's the wise old sage. He doesn't go to people for advice, he GIVES the advice!

9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?

Job finally admits that maybe, the LORD might do something bad to people, and people just don't understand it.

Job starts explaining some of the nature of the LORD to his friends. His friends are like modern christians, who think that God is love and that's it.

How can they explain away these statements by Job, with their modern dogma?

14 Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening.

When God breaks humpty dumpty, all the kings men won't put him back together again!

15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.

God makes the tsunami! Not mother nature!

17 He leadeth counsellors away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools.

The counsellors mentioned would be both defense attorneys and District Attorneys, saying they both would be bribed. He also allows idiots to hold positions of authority, like when bill clinton was president.

20 He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.

Alzheimer's comes from above!

25 They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.

The LORD makes people stupid, for no apparent reason.

So what have we learned today?

1. Job was able to accept defeat without accusing his opponent of wrongdoing.

2. Zophar is no wiser than the two guys before him.

3. The LORD does bad things to people, and that's ok, because after all, he is the LORD!

YIC
V

[Pastor Billy-Reuben]

Originally Posted by Brother V

Job complains without accusing.

He certainly is walking very close to the line, but deftly avoids actually crossing it.

Job 10:2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

Job knows God is just, but he wants an explanation from God. He can't think of anything he's done wrong, and wants God to tell him.

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?

If You don't explain it to me, God, I might begin to think You are oppressing me unjustly because you are listening to wicked counsel.

4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?

Or I might start to think that You aren't so knowledgeable after all, and You are punishing me out of ignorance.

5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,
6 That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?

Or I might start to think that You are so shortsighted that You comb through everything I've done just looking for the slightest foible that You can magnify into something important.

Originally Posted by Brother V

Job 11:5 But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;

Zophar tells Job he might as well confess, because God knows what it is.

It's likely that Job also wished that God would speak and open His lips against him. Then at least he would know what he has done wrong.

Job 11:6 Know therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth.

That is one mighty fine pearl of wisdom from Zophar. It is something that is true for all of us. No matter what misfortune befalls us in life, it pales in comparison with the eternity of torture in Hell that every single one of us, including Job, deserve.

Pastor Billy-Reuben