Job16and17: JOB REPLIES TO ELIPHAZ'S SECOND SPEECH

Introduction. Read Job16and17

Job's reply to Eliphaz is hard hitting. He doesn't pull his punches. Indeed some of the accusations he levels at God are audacious in the extreme. His response can be divided into four sections: (1) A cry for comfort, (2) A litany of woe, (3) A desire for justification and (4) An abject condition.

(1) A cry for comfort. See 16v1to6.

Job describes Eliphaz and his friends as miserable comforters. They talk too much and take Job to task for his opinions. They blame him for his condition and offer no encouragement or relief.

If I was visiting a man terminally ill with pancreatic cancer - bloated, frail and frightened - I would in no circumstances say to him, "Well brother you must be to blame for your cancer; you must have done something to deserve it - we are all sinners after all." I think I might be banned from visiting him again if these were my sentiments. Better by far to sit by the dying man's bedside, holding his hand and praying silently.

Some might say, "What good does that do?" We should remember what Jesus needed when he was agonising with God in Gethsemane over his impending death by crucifixion. The Saviour needed his disciples to watch and pray with him. Christ's words to Peter, James and John, "Could you men not keep watch with me one hour?" was the inspiration for the hospice movement. Many men do not like to sit helplessly by the chronically ill.

Many years ago I visited my friend and colleague Helen who was recovering in hospital from an hysterectomy. As I left I spotted a man from my village who was lying on his bed with no visitors. So I stopped and chatted with him for fifteen minutes. I told him how much I enjoyed watching him bowl when I was a lad. He was something of a hero. Harry had a fluid, upright action and bowled at a very brisk pace. I could see my reminiscenses did him a power of good. Harry brightened visibly as I enthused about cricket with him. He never came out of hospital - within a day or two he was dead. I am glad I spent those few minutes with him. I did more good recalling his prowess as a cricketer than I could ever have done giving him an explanation of his suffering.

(2) A litany of woe. See16v7to14.

Job really gives vent to his feelings in these verses. He is worn out, trapped and gaunt. He then appears to level two accusations against God. Firstly, God is like a wild animal, a lion, that savages its prey. He has been brought down like a lion hauls down an antelope by the neck. Secondly, God is like a king who sets his archers on a fugitive. Job is the fugitive and the taunts and jeers of wicked men are like arrows, piercing his vital organs and fatally wounding him.

Job paints a terrible picture of his predicament. We don't like to hear anyone talk about God like Job does here. No wonder his intense outbursts disturb his friends. But there is little doubt that some people feel just like Job. They have been attacked and brought down by a savage illness. One organ after another fails. The victim has struggled to be free from his condition but the foe is too strong.

As death claims one member of our congregation after another and our church gradually dwindles away it is easy to think of God as the heavenly sniper - picking us off one by one. We may not put it quite like this! I was talking to a devout old lady only this week. She said, "Death is picking us off one by one."

Job tells it as it is! Listening to someone inveighing against their affliction and the God who allows it makes far from pleasant hearing. But a comforter must listen and sympathise. That means watching and praying. The very worst thing is to try and explain away suffering and thereby absolve God from all responsibility.

(3) Desiring justification. See16v15to22.

This is a very difficult passage to interpret and equally hard to understand. I will follow the Living Bible version of these verses as at least in that version they make some sense. Job makes four points:

(a) He mourns his own death. He puts on sackcloth, abases himself and weeps. At least Job is not like a lot of people who will not face up to imminent death. I think it is good to make provision for one's death. Earlier in the year I attended the funeral of my neighbour. It was conducted by the local hospice chaplain. At the wake the widow came and sat beside me and said, "John, I have some bad news. I have terminal cancer." She went on to tell me that she had already booked the chaplain to conduct her own funeral. One of her daughters who overheard our conversation intervened and told her mother not to be so morbid. My neighbour was just being realistic.

(b) He remains convinced of his righteousness. "Yet I am innocent and my prayer is pure." v17.

(c) He hopes for vindication after his death. He hopes the earth itself will cry out for justice just as the blood of Abel cried out from the ground on his behalf. See Gen4v10.

(d) In the end he expects God himself to be his witness and advocate. His friends might scoff but God will ultimately listen to him as a man listens to his friend.

Many do not get justice in this life. There is a very strong desire on the part of the misjudged for vindication. This is a theme of many of the Psalms. Job's fear was that his essential righteousness would never be recognised.

Several of Jesus' parables indicate that the effort men and women make on behalf of the Kingdom will one day be recognised. Those who use the opportunities for service God gives them will hear, "Well done good and faithful servant."

The apostle Paul did not enjoy being misjudged by the Corinthians. He actually spends a lot of time defending himself in his second letter to that church. But his words in his first letter should be our guide: I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ..... It is the Lord who judges me. 1Cor4v1to5.

(4) An abject condition. See16v22to17v16.

After a brief hopeful interlude Job once more plunges into gloom. I will divide his complaint into four parts:

(a) Death is near. See16v22to17v2.

Job realises that the time for his death is hastening on. "Only a few years will pass before I go on the journey of no return." 16v22. It is his great regret that he will end his days in ignominy and disgrace.

It is very sad when a person who has known success and acclaim ends life badly. Anyone who reads the obituaries in the newspaper knows that this can happen. Someone who shone briefly as a film star ends up impoverished in a one bedroom flat. George Best, such a truly great footballer, died prematurely a hopeless and pitiful alcoholic.

I regret that I never fulfilled my early promise as a preacher. My ministry has fizzled out after a bright start. Now, my powers are beginning to wane. My voice is going and my back aches when I stand up to speak. My best years are gone - without achieving very much. I dread having to close the church I have attended almost all my life.

We all have to face the fact that a day is coming when we will be robbed of all our powers. That is why we should heed the words of Jesus: "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no-one can work. Jn9v4.

Happy is the man who can say with Paul: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award me on that day - and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2Tim4v7and8.

(b) Support is lacking. See17v3to5.

This is a difficult passage to understand. It seems as if Job is asking God to show confidence in him because no one else will. His friends seem unable to understand his predicament and are readier to condemn Job than sympathise with him.

Some people are contemptuous of failures and despise the sick and suffering. It is easy to kick a man when he is down. There is no more terrible instance of this unappealing human tendency than the way Pilate's soldiers treated Jesus. They put a crown of thorns upon him, robed him in purple and struck him repeatedly in the face. Pilate adopted the worst possible strategy when he presented Jesus to the crowd robed in purple and crowned with thorns and said, "Here is the man!" Jn19v5. This did not arouse sympathy in the crowd, only contempt, and the cry went up: "Crucify! Crucify!"

Jesus told a story to illustrate how to behave toward those who suffer misfortune. The man who fell foul of thieves on the Jericho to Jerusalem road was a loser. The Good Samaritan did not pass by on the other side; he didn't despise the man for his fallen condition; he didn't mutter, "He's only himself to blame." No, the Good Samaritan went where the stricken Jew was and poured in oil and wine, putting him on his donkey and taking him to the nearest inn.

(c) Vindication is far off. See17v6to10

Job believed God had made him a byword - something akin to a well known saying - such as: 'The bigger they are the harder they fall.' He was an abject object of utter contempt - "A man in whose face people spit."

When the Roman soldiers humiliated Jesus they spat in his face.

We must guard against acting in a contemptuous way toward failures and losers: the unsuccessful business man, the teacher who cannot control his pupils, the nervous organist or the stumbling preacher.

Job was not without spirit. He attacks his opponents with irony and sarcasm. He says sarcastically: "Upright men are appalled at my condition." Job knows that the only reason they are appalled is because his suffering undermines their Theology. It conflicts with their belief about God. So they turn against Job. They either have to modify their Theology or accept that Job deserves his afflictions. They choose the latter.

The patriarch says with irony: "Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways." 17v9. The righteous will never change. If anything their views harden. Job goads them: "Come on, try again to convince me! Perhaps eventually I will find a wise man among you."

This is how some Christians are! They will not face the facts and are totally inflexible. I know Christians who will never change their minds about anything. Creationists will not accept the huge body of Geological evidence that the earth is old. Adherents of the prosperity gospel blatantly and persistently ignore what Jesus taught about the danger of wealth and possessions. Proponents of 'faith healing' seem unable to appreciate that the vast majority of terminally ill Christians die whether they have faith in divine healing or not.

(d) Hope evaporates. See 17v11to16.

Job ends on a deeply depressing note: "Where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?" 17v15. He is coming to the end of his life. His plans are frustrated and the desires of his heart are unfulfilled. Yet there are those who try and buoy him up with false optimism. In the midst of his darkness and woe they say: Light is near." 17v12.

Today there are Christians who try and cheer those facing grim, chilling and unrelenting loss with pious platitudes. Expressions like: 'God means it for your good.' 'God has lessons for you to learn.' 'You can be a blessing to others.' 'You can still pray.' 'All things work together for good to those who love God.' are no help to those descending into depression, paralysed by a stroke, declining with multiple sclerosis or struggling with Alzheimer's disease.

G.H. Wilson writes in his excellent commentary on Job: Our cheerful words of faith can be like rubbing salt into the wounds or slapping the face of one who is crying. Our words at such times may have more to do with shoring up our faith than with showing solidarity to our suffering friend. .... Those in deep pain and sorrow often need our love and compassion; our strong arms and anguished silence; our admission of the mystery of suffering and pain; our acknowledgement that others have travelled this road before.

Sadly Job had no hope. He would go to the grave there to be laid out in darkness with only bacteria and maggots as his friends. Many are in the same predicament as Job. Mark Twain, became morose and weary of life. Shortly before his death, he wrote, "A myriad of men are born; they labour and sweat and struggle;...they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; ...those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. It (the release) comes at last - the only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them - and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence - a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever."

How thankful we should be for Christ's assurance that those who believe in him will be resurrected from the dead - to see him, to be like him and to be with him for ever and ever. How I love the old hymn by James Montgomery:

            For ever with the Lord!
            Amen, so let it be!
            Lfe from the dead is in that word,
            'Tis immortality.
            Here in the body pent,
            Absent from him I roam,
            Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
            A day's march nearer home.

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