Job 16

In Job 16, Job answers the rather stinging accusations from Eliphaz.  This is one of those chapters where it is very clear what is being stated.  What may not be so clear is the tone and justification.  Depending upon an individual’s assessment of the situation, one would believe that either Job is justified or he is just whining.  Either way it is clear that Job is not the least bit happy with his friends.  It would be a curse to have friends like these.  Rather than comfort Job, they have denounced, humiliated and defamed him.  Unfortunately, many of us have similar friends.  Job then speaks of the heavy chastisement of God and the subsequent result.

Job 16:1-2

¹Then Job answered and said, ²I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.

Job is not even holding back at this point.  He is clear on his opinion of Eliphaz and his friends, miserable comforters.  However, these three are not much different than most people.  Many people, when they try to comfort someone will turn on them if the individual does not take their advice.  The comforter interprets the lack of acceptance as an offense.  We should learn to comfort people in their time of need without giving advice or trying to solve their problems.  When people are in pain, the last thing they need is advice.  Providing advice on what to do or espousing some profound doctrine, does little to ease their pain.  People need a grieving period without others trying to fix them.

Further, Job stated:

^2AI have heard many such things

The things that Job’s friends told him were nothing new.  Although they package their comments as some great wisdom, it is the same old bad advice.  This happens even today, someone is always writing a new book; however, nothing is new.  Solomon stated a couple of things, first in Ecclesiastes 1:9.

⁹The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

One may believe that they have made a new discovery, but it has all been said or done before.  Enough is enough already.  Mankind needs a breather from all that is out there.  A time when they can reflect on what they have already learned or heard or else they will be on sensory overload.  Further Ecclesiastes 12:12.

¹²And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Solomon warned believers long ago to be more discriminating in the books they study.  Too often believers refer to books about the Bible over the Bible.  There is nothing wrong with using books as a resource.  But, no book or author should supersede what one has in the Bible.

The Bible is the one book that will breath life into the believer.  It is the only book that is a living breathing book, because it is the living word of God.  It should be the main diet of the believer.  Yes other books can help, but these are always subject to man’s frailty.  The Bible came direct from God, there are no errors, just misunderstandings on the part of the reader.  Believers should learn to have a love affair with the Bible.

Having made that statement, this book is just another book.  There is nothing new or great within the pages of this book.  I realize someday, it too will be put on a shelf and collect dust.  Hopefully when that happens, I will be even further in my studies and the missing details of this study will be replaced with new knowledge.  And those that have read this book will be reading their Bible with a new found interest and perspective.

Job 16:3

³Shall vain words have an end? or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest?

Job is accusing his friends of vain words; words that are expelled like a wind with no real substance.  Job asks Eliphaz what has caused him to speak with such force.  The Hebrew brings out that Job considers Eliphaz’s word to be sickening.

In the last chapter, Eliphaz accused Job of the same thing, Job 15:2.

²Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind?

Job and his friends are at odds with each other.  At this point the emotions are running high.  Job’s friends seem to have an agenda and it is not primarily to comfort Job.  Job on the other hand would like the pain to end.  Unfortunately for Job, his friends are only compounding the pain.  How much they are really hearing each other is unknown to the reader.  When one finds themselves in a similar situation; it may be best to stop.  When emotions are raging, no one really hears each other.  Unlike Job and his friends, it is highly unlikely that many others will participate in a conversation that is worthy of print.  One that would be used as an object lesson by God.

Job continues in Job 16:4-5; however, he has something quite different to say.

⁴I also could speak as ye do: if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you. ⁵But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

Job claims that he could be just as cruel as Eliphaz and his friends have been.  He could show just as little compassion as they have.  However, Job asserts that he would not do that.  Job claims he would strengthen those in need, rather than compound their pain and suffering.  Micah stated in Micah 6:8.

⁸He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Job would show mercy and walk humbly with his friends, if they were in a similar situation.

Job 16:6

⁶Though I speak, my grief is not asswaged: and though I forbear, what am I eased?

When one appreciates the dynamics of the situation, one should be questioning the motives of Job’s friends.  They may be trying to promote their own self-interests and doctrine.

Job 16:7

⁷But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company.

Job is no longer addressing his friends and has turned to God.  As stated in an earlier chapter, Job attributes his pain and suffering to God.  Job, as a faithful and upright servant of God, would not consider otherwise.  When an individual walks with God and has a hedge of protection, Satan cannot touch them.  John stated this in 1 John 5:18.

¹⁸We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

The first part of 1 John 5:18 does not apply to Job.  He was not born of the spirit.  It is referring to an individual that is born-again, because only those who are born-again have a living spirit that communes with God.  If one is not born-again their spirit is dormant.  As for the born-again individual, their spirit does not sin, because their spirit has been perfected by God.  However, our soul life is not perfected, this includes all individuals.  It is our soul life that can either minimize or cause our problems in this life.  One needs to learn, as John stated, to keep themselves.  When one does that, they will not be subject to the wicked one through the flesh.  If one keeps themselves, they would avoid many of the random occurrences of life.  One would be safe from the devil as Job had been.  Satan had to have permission to touch Job.  Job did not know that God had given Satan permission.  Job’s only alternative is to believe that God was chastising him.

Job had kept himself; therefore, he would not immediately assume that it was the devil who is having his way with him.  Job believed that it was God’s chastisement that was wearing him out.  Further, because of Job’s chastisement, people were avoiding him.  Job was looked down upon and thought of as unworthy by others.  This was a significant change in people’s attitude towards him.

Job 16:8-10

⁸And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face. ⁹He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me. ¹⁰They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

God may have chastised Job, but it did not end there.  Others took it upon themselves, to further the chastisement.  The words that were spoken by others against him were painful beyond just hurt feelings.  They took opportunity to displace and punish Job.  It was as if they had joined together in a alliance to further Job’s pain and sorrow.

Rather than take the opportunity to show mercy and compassion, others did the opposite.  It is not our responsibility to chastise and berate one another.  Neither is it our responsibility to quickly point out sin.  To do it repeatedly, as Job ‘s friends had done, is callous beyond any man’s standard.  It is our responsibility, our duty, to truly help one another in their time of sorrow.  Forgiveness and repentance are from God.  The Holy Spirit is to convict an individual of sin, we are not to convict each other.  We are to show compassion, as Job stated earlier in Job 16:5.

⁵But I would strengthen you with my mouth, and the moving of my lips should asswage your grief.

We are to help ease each other’s pain and suffering.

Job 16:11

¹¹God hath delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked.

This statement is a declaration of Job’s faith.  Unlike most believers today, Job does not credit the devil with what is happening to him.  Job’s statement above exemplifies Romans 8:37.

³⁷Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

To state that one is more than a conqueror, is to declare that they have victory not because of anything they have accomplished.  It is because, God does the conquering and they are to rest in His work.  Those who state that the devil is causing their problems are exalting the devil to a position equivalent to God.  As a believer, God has placed us into a position where the devil cannot touch us.  The only way that the devil can touch a believer, is if God allows it.  If that occurs, it is usually a result of disobedience, because the individual is in the flesh as opposed to in the spirit.

Further, Job is not claiming that these people do not believe in God, it is that these people act in a way contrary to God’s ways.  This is not much different than many believers today.  Many assume that what they do is right.  Yet they do not consider what the Bible states concerning an issue.

This may seem to many to be quite a flagrant statement.  However, consider this, many own a Bible, but very few read their Bibles on a daily basis.  And very few have read the Bible cover to cover continuously.  For many, their understanding of the Bible comes from what they have heard or from some other book.  The Bible is a book that requires years of continuous study.  The Bible is like an onion, it is layered with wisdom, knowledge and truth.  One must study to remove the layers to get to the deep understandings.  As the layers are peeled away, one starts to understand how insignificant their former understandings were.  If continued there will be nothing left of their former self and the truth of the Bible will fully open up.  Then one can appreciate the immensity of God and His ways.  When this point is reached, one realizes that so much of their former thinking was small.  And what has been taught by others pales in comparison to the truth and compassion that God has to offer us through His word.

Job 16:12-16

¹²I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark. ¹³His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground. ¹⁴He breaketh me with breach upon breach, he runneth upon me like a giant. ¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust. ¹⁶My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

The above statement from Job is extremely telling.  Not only for Job, but there is a tremendous lesson to be learned here.  Job speaks of the chastisement that is occurring in his life.  It is the first four words that need to be focused on, “I was at ease”.  These four words describe so many in Christianity today.

Yeshua speaks of this in Luke 12:16-21.

¹⁶And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: ¹⁷And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? ¹⁸And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. ²⁰But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? ²¹So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

This is an individual who had done well and is at ease.  Now it is not so much that one takes ease as resting to relax or rejuvenate; it refers to our spiritual condition.  It does not seem bad until one realizes the implication.  To be at ease in one’s spirit mean that their spirit has ceased from any movement or labor.  It means that their spirit is no longer pursuing His spirit.  In other words, one is not communing with God’s Spirit as much as they should.

In Job’s case, this did not result in his situation.  It is just a comment, that what has happened has caught him unaware.  One should never be unaware, Paul told his spiritual son Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:3-4.

³Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Yeshua Messiah. ⁴No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Believers are to endure hardness.  Our spiritual life is not to be one of ease, it is to be one of constant growth.  Many times growth does not come without a struggle.  Paul stated in Acts 14:22.

²²Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

It is through much tribulation, strife and distress that one enters into the kingdom of God.

It was not so much that Job was bad; however, Job does admit that he was at ease.  Do not take this as an indication of sin in Job’s life, remember what God said twice once in the first chapter and then in Job 2:3

³And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

Job is merely stating he was at ease and then the chastisement came.  Notice that Job never attributes his suffering to Satan.  Job would not do that.  Job knew his standing with God.  And as long as Job was walking with God, Satan could not touch him.  Job knew he had a hedge around him.  What Job did not know was, why he was suffering.  And it was not as simple as, God allowed a hedge to come down.  God had a much greater purpose.  God intended for Job to set an example for us, to teach us a lesson that is better learned than experienced.  This is because few of us are worthy to live the lesson as Job did.  We merely need to learn from Job’s example.  Thank God he was worthy.

At the end of this passage Job stated, “on my eyelids is the shadow of death”.  This expresses how far Satan has driven Job.  God had told Satan in Job 2:6.

⁶And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

God allowed Satan to do whatever he desired up to but not including death.  As such, Satan mounted an attack that brought Job to the brink of death.  It was more painful than an average human could endure, because for anyone else it would have resulted in death thereby easing the suffering.  For Job, it just kept going on.  When one thinks about the suffering and pain of Job, one must keep this in mind.  In all this Job did not sin.  Not only were Job’s comforters callous, so are many of us today in our opinions of Job.  The commentaries through the years represent a sad reflection of human nature and the rebelliousness of God’s people.  God is trying to teach us a lesson and many can only condemn Job.

Job 16:17

¹⁷Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

Job is abiding by what he previously stated, he had not committed a sin worthy of his present punishment.  Although he believes that God is chastising him, Job maintains his purity.  Job will not stray from his present path.  Just because he cannot make sense of what is happening, he will not walk away from God.  He trusts that God has an answer for what is happening and one that fulfills God’s purposes.

Job 16:18-19

¹⁸O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place. ¹⁹Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

Job is still looking for an answer to why this is happening to him.  He is looking to God for an answer.

Job 16:20-22

²⁰My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God. ²¹O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour! ²²When a few years are come, then I shall go the way whence I shall not return.

Job claims that his answer is in heaven with God.  Job disputes the record of his friends.  Job’s case will come to light in the heavens.  Job brings justice to the statement of Yeshua in 1 Peter 2:23.

²³Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Job has committed his case to God.  God is his judge, not those that want to profit from his suffering.

Job has lived an exemplary life, his so-called friends accuse him of a heinous sin.  However, they are yet to answer the question, what is the sin?  Job expects that his condition is to remain until death.  Life has taken a path and Job does not see an end to it.  It appears to indicate that Job’s suffering has been going on for an extend period of time.  However, one cannot say for sure.

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