Job Chapter 13
Although poetic in structure, the Book of Job is a book of wisdom (Job is variously classified as both), based on God's Wisdom,
which is the only true wisdom that exists i.e. anything that
contradicts God's wisdom is not wise. Despite the humanity of the words,
and at the same time because of it, the book of Job is filled with
knowledge of Christianity and Prophecy
e.g "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last He will stand upon
the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then from my flesh
I shall see God" (Job 19:25-26 RSV).
"Lo, my eye has seen all this, my ear has heard and understood it. What
you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. But I would speak to
the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God [see also What Almighty God Can't Do].
As for you, you whitewash with lies; worthless physicians are you all.
Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom! Hear now my
reasoning, and listen to the pleadings of my lips. Will you speak
falsely for God, and speak deceitfully for Him? Will you show partiality
toward Him, will you plead the case for God? Will it be well with you
when he searches you out? [see When Will You Be Judged?]
Or can you deceive Him, as one deceives a man? He will surely rebuke
you if in secret you show partiality. Will not His majesty terrify you,
and the dread of Him fall upon you?
Your maxims are proverbs of Ashes, your defenses are defenses of Clay.
Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may. I
will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand. Behold, he
will slay me; I have no hope; yet I will defend my ways to his face.
This will be my salvation [see The Way To Salvation],
that a godless man shall not come before him. Listen carefully to my
words, and let my declaration be in your ears. Behold, I have prepared
my case; I know that I shall be vindicated. Who is there that will
contend with me? For then I would be silent and die.
Only grant two things to me, then I will not hide myself from Thy face:
withdraw Thy hand far from me, and let not dread of Thee terrify me.
Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and do Thou reply to me.
How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression
and my sin. Why dost Thou hide Thy face, and count me as thy enemy? Wilt
Thou frighten a driven leaf and pursue dry chaff? [see also Baptism Of Fire] For Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me inherit the iniquities of my youth. Thou puttest my feet in the Stocks,
and watchest all my paths; Thou settest a bound to the soles of my
feet. Man wastes away like a rotten thing, like a garment that is
moth-eaten." (Job 13:1-28 RSV)
Job Chapter 14
Job understood that temporary mortal life is merely the means of
opportunity to accept or reject The Lord's free offer of eternal life,
"If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would
wait, till my release should come."
"Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He
comes forth like a flower, and withers; he flees like a shadow, and
continues not. And dost Thou open Thy eyes upon such a one and bring him
into judgment with Thee? [see also Judgment Unto The Son]
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. Since
his days are determined, and the number of his months is with thee, and
thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass, look away from him,
and desist, that he may enjoy, like a hireling, his day.
For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout
again, and that its shoots will not cease. Though its root grow old in
the earth, and its stump die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it
will bud and put forth branches like a young plant. But man dies, and
is laid low; man breathes his last [see Giving Up The Ghost], and where is he? [see What Happens When You Die?]
As waters fail from a lake, and a river wastes away and dries up, so
man lies down and rises not again; till the heavens are no more he will
not awake, or be roused out of his sleep.
Oh that Thou wouldest hide me in Sheol [see Sheol and Hades],
that Thou wouldest conceal me until thy wrath be past, that Thou
wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he
live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my release
should come. Thou wouldest call, and I would answer Thee; thou wouldest
long for the work of Thy hands. For then Thou wouldest number my steps,
thou wouldest not keep watch over my sin; my transgression would be
sealed up in a bag, and thou wouldest cover over my iniquity.
But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place; the waters [see also Hydrogen]
wear away the stones; the torrents wash away the soil of the earth; so
Thou destroyest the hope of man. Thou prevailest for ever against him,
and he passes; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His
sons come to honor, and he does not know it; they are brought low, and
he perceives it not. He feels only the pain of his own body, and he
mourns only for himself." (Job 14:1-22 RSV)
Job Chapter 15
Job's three visiting friends were "preaching to the converted," while at
times ignoring that Job was a man who was suffering tremendously. When
all was done, it was Job who was commended by God, while his three
friends were told to learn from him i.e. "After The Lord had spoken
these words to Job, The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "My wrath is
kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not
spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has." (Job 42:7 RSV)
"Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered: "Should a wise man answer with
windy knowledge, and fill himself with the east wind? Should he argue in
unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? But you
are doing away with the fear of God, and hindering meditation before
God. For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of
the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; your own lips
testify against you [see also "By Your Words"].
Are you the first man that was born? Or were you brought forth before
the hills? Have you listened in the council of God? And do you limit
wisdom to yourself? What do you know that we do not know? What do you
understand that is not clear to us? Both the gray-haired and the aged
are among us, older than your father [see The Senate].
Are the consolations of God too small for you, or the word that deals
gently with you? Why does your heart carry you away, and why do your
eyes flash, that you turn your spirit against God, and let such words go
out of your mouth?
What is man, that he can be clean? Or he that is born of a woman, that
he can be righteous? Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones, and the
heavens [see Heavens Below, Heavens Above] are not clean in His sight; how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!
I will show you, hear me; and what I have seen I will declare what wise
men have told, and their fathers have not hidden, to whom alone the land
was given, and no stranger passed among them. The wicked man writhes in
pain all his days, through all the years that are laid up for the
ruthless. Terrifying sounds are in his ears; in prosperity the destroyer
will come upon him. He does not believe that he will return out of
darkness, and he is destined for the sword. He wanders abroad for bread,
saying, 'Where is it?' He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his
hand; distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a
king prepared for battle. Because he has stretched forth his hand
against God, and bids defiance to the Almighty, running stubbornly
against him with a thick-bossed shield; because he has covered his face
with his fat, and gathered fat upon his loins, and has lived in desolate
cities, in houses which no man should inhabit, which were destined to
become heaps of ruins; he will not be rich, and his wealth will not
endure, nor will he strike root in the earth; he will not escape from
darkness; the flame will dry up his shoots [see They Shall Be Ashes], and his blossom will be swept away by the wind.
Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself; for emptiness will be
his recompense. It will be paid in full before his time, and his branch
will not be green. He will shake off his unripe grape, like the vine,
and cast off his blossom, like the olive tree [see also Good Fruit].
For the company of the godless is barren, and fire consumes the tents
of bribery. They conceive mischief and bring forth evil and their heart
prepares deceit." (Job 15:1-35 RSV)
Job Chapter 16
Job's "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all"
response to his friends was not inappropriate. Even amidst his
suffering, he then gave a lesson to them in how to help someone during
their time of tribulation, "I could strengthen you with my mouth, and
the solace of my lips would assuage your pain."
"Then Job answered: "I have heard many such things; miserable comforters
are you all. Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that
you answer?
I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join
words together against you, and shake my head at you. I could strengthen
you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain.
If I speak, my pain is not assuaged, and if I forbear, how much of it
leaves me? Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my
company. And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me; and
my leanness has risen up against me, it testifies to my face. He has
torn me in his wrath, and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my
adversary sharpens his eyes against me.
Men have gaped at me with their mouth, they have struck me insolently
upon the cheek, they mass themselves together against me. God gives me
up to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked. I was at
ease, and he broke me asunder; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to
pieces; he set me up as his Target,
his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys, and does not
spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with breach upon
breach; he runs upon me like a warrior.
I have sewed Sackcloth
upon my skin, and have laid my strength in the dust. My face is red
with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness; although there is no
violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure. O earth, cover not my
blood, and let my cry find no resting place. Even now, behold, my
witness is in heaven, and He that vouches for me is on high [see also What Is Jesus Christ Doing Right Now?].
My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would
maintain the right of a man with God, like that of a man with his
neighbor. For when a few years have come I shall go the way whence I
shall not return." (Job 16:1-22 RSV)
Job Chapter 17
Job then resumed his lament in a world full of people suffering the same labor (see The Beginning Of The Birth Pangs).
"My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me.
Surely there are mockers about me, and my eye dwells on their
provocation. Lay down a pledge for me with thyself; who is there that
will give surety for me? Since thou hast closed their minds to
understanding, therefore thou wilt not let them triumph. He who informs
against his friends to get a share of their property, the eyes of his
children will fail.
He has made me a byword of the peoples, and I am one before whom men
spit. My eye has grown dim from grief, and all my members are like a
shadow. Upright men are appalled at this, and the innocent stirs himself
up against the godless. Yet the righteous holds to his way, and he that
has clean hands grows stronger and stronger.
But you, come on again, all of you, and I shall not find a wise man
among you. My days are past, my plans are broken off, the desires of my
heart. They make night into day; 'The light,' they say, 'is near to the
darkness.' If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch in
darkness, if I say to the pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'My
mother,' or 'My sister,' where then is my hope? Who will see my hope?
Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the
dust?" (Job 17:1-16 RSV)
Job Chapter 10
Amidst the pain and sorrow of his losses and injustice, Job in effect
lived an entire life of pain and sorrow in a short time. That's why it
seemed overwhelming to him. Almost any human would suffer as horribly as
Job did (as many humans have and do when faced with catastrophic loss
or illness) if everything happened in such a short time. But physical
life, even if it lasts a century, is a short time compared to the
eternity that awaits the righteous (see the Fact Finder question below).
Job's "I loathe my life" (see below) was in principle quoted by Jesus Christ
in His teaching "For whoever would save his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit
a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall
a man give in return for his life?" (Matthew 16:25-26 RSV)
"I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul [see Where Is Your Soul?].
I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why Thou dost contend
against me. Does it seem good to thee to oppress, to despise the work
of Thy hands [see Christ The Creator]
and favor the designs of the wicked? Hast Thou eyes of flesh? Dost Thou
see as man sees? Are Thy days as the days of man, or Thy years as man's
years, that Thou dost seek out my iniquity and search for my sin [see What Is Sin?], although Thou knowest that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of Thy hand?
Thy hands fashioned and made me; and now Thou dost turn about and destroy me. Remember that Thou hast made me of Clay; and wilt Thou turn me to dust again? [see Dust To Dust]
Didst Thou not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? Thou
didst clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and
sinews. Thou hast granted me life and steadfast love; and Thy care has
preserved my spirit [see Ghost and Spirit: What's The Difference?].
Yet these things Thou didst hide in thy heart [see Conscience];
I know that this was Thy purpose. If I sin, Thou dost mark me, and dost
not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me! If I am
righteous, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and
look upon my affliction. And if I lift myself up, thou dost hunt me like
a lion, and again work wonders against me; Thou dost renew Thy
witnesses against me, and increase thy vexation toward me; thou dost
bring fresh hosts against me.
Why didst thou bring me forth from the womb? [see Born Again, How and When?]
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me, and were as though I
had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. Are not the days of my
life few? Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort before I go
whence I shall not return, to the land of gloom and deep darkness, the
land of gloom and chaos, where light is as darkness." (Job 10:1-22 RSV)
Job Chapter 11
Job's friend Zophar then took his turn to console Job by reminding him
of the greatness of God and the lowliness of man. Despite their "Old"
Testament perspective (see The Older Testament and The God Of The Old Testament), they knew "that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves" (see Why Blood?).
"Then Zophar the Naamathite answered: "Should a multitude of words go
unanswered, and a man full of talk be vindicated? Should your Babble
silence men, and when you mock, shall no one shame you? For you say,
'My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in God's eyes.' But oh, that God
would speak, and open His lips to you, and that He would tell you the
secrets of wisdom! [see The First Scientist] For He is manifold in understanding. Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves.
Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven [see How High Is Heaven?] - what can you do? Deeper than Sheol [see Sheol and Hades] - what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea [see The Lord's Plumb Line].
If He passes through, and imprisons, and calls to judgment, who can
hinder Him? For He knows worthless men; when He sees iniquity, will he
not consider it? But a stupid man will get understanding, when a wild
ass's colt is born a man.
If you set your heart aright [see The Process Of Conversion],
you will stretch out your hands toward Him. If iniquity is in your
hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in your tents.
Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be
secure, and will not fear. You will forget your misery; you will
remember it as waters that have passed away. And your life will be
brighter than the noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. And
you will have confidence, because there is hope; you will be protected
and take your rest in safety. You will lie down, and none will make you
afraid; many will entreat your favor. But the eyes of the wicked will
fail; all way of escape will be lost to them, and their hope is to
breathe their last." (Job 11:1-20 RSV)
Job Chapter 12
Job understood the truth, "I have understanding as well as you," but it
was he that was suffering, not his friends. Job felt the same temporary
abandonment that The Messiah would later (see Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani?). But through it all, The Lord is the pathfinder to life for the repentant, but to those who refuse His Way, He "makes them wander in a pathless waste."
"Then Job answered: "No doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die
with you. But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to
you. Who does not know such things as these?
I am a laughingstock to my friends; I, who called upon God and he
answered me, a just and blameless man, am a laughingstock. In the
thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune; it is
ready for those whose feet slip. The tents of robbers are at peace, and
those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand. But
ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they
will tell you; or the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and
the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not
know that the hand of The Lord has done this? In His hand is the life of
every living thing and the breath [see Giving Up The Ghost]
of all mankind. Does not the ear try words as the palate tastes food?
Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.
With God are wisdom [see God's Wisdom] and might [see Might Makes Right and The Coming World Dictator];
He has counsel and understanding. If He tears down, none can rebuild;
if He shuts a man in, none can open. If He withholds the waters, they
dry up; if He sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With Him are
strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are His. He leads
counselors away stripped, and judges He makes fools. He looses the bonds
of kings, and binds a waistcloth on their loins. He leads priests away
stripped, and overthrows the mighty. He deprives of speech those who are
trusted, and takes away the discernment of the elders. He pours
contempt on princes, and looses the belt of the strong. He uncovers the
deeps out of darkness, and brings deep darkness to light. He makes
nations great, and he destroys them: He enlarges nations, and leads them
away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the
earth, and makes them wander in a pathless waste. They grope in the dark
without light; and he makes them stagger like a drunken man." (Job
12:1-25 RSV)
Job Chapter 7
Job's complaint that he was not personally responsible for what was allowed to happen to him continued. Jesus Christ would well understand the same sort of undeserved Trials and Tribulations of a righteous man (see the Fact Finder question below).
"Has not man a hard service upon earth, and are not his days like the days of a hireling? Like a slave [see Christianos]
who longs for the shadow, and like a hireling who looks for his wages,
so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are
apportioned to me. When I lie down I say, 'When shall I arise?' But the
night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. My flesh is
clothed with worms and dirt; my skin hardens, then breaks out afresh.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end without hope. "Remember that my life is a breath [see Giving Up The Ghost];
my eye will never again see good. The eye of him who sees me will
behold me no more; while thy eyes are upon me, I shall be gone. As the
cloud fades and vanishes, so he who goes down to Sheol [see Sheol and Hades] does not come up; he returns no more to his house, nor does his place know him any more.
Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of
my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I the sea,
or a sea monster [see Dragons],
that thou settest a guard over me? When I say, 'My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,' then thou dost scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions, so that I would choose strangling and death
rather than my bones.
I loathe my life; I would not live for ever. Let me alone, for my days
are a breath. What is man, that thou dost make so much of him, and that
thou dost set thy mind upon him, dost visit him every morning, and test
him every moment? How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me
alone till I swallow my spittle? If I sin [see What Is Sin?],
what do I do to thee, thou watcher of men? Why hast thou made me thy
mark? Why have I become a burden to thee? Why dost thou not pardon my
transgression and take away my iniquity? For now I shall lie in the
earth; thou wilt seek me, but I shall not be." (Job 7:1-21 RSV)
Job Chapter 8
The second of Job's three visiting friends, Bildad, then spoke. Bildad
is referred to as "the Shuhite," which most probably refers to the
region of Arabia (see also Why Did Paul Say That Sinai Was In Arabia?) known as Shuah, named after one of Abraham's sons born by Keturah (Genesis 25:2; see also Abraham Wasn't A Jew).
"Then Bildad the Shuhite answered: "How long will you say these things,
and the words of your mouth be a great wind? Does God pervert justice?
Or does the Almighty pervert the right? If your children have sinned
against him, he has delivered them into the power of their
transgression. If you will seek God and make supplication to the
Almighty [see Names Of God],
if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you
and reward you with a rightful habitation. And though your beginning was
small, your latter days will be very great.
For inquire, I pray you, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers
have found; for we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, for our days
on earth are a shadow. Will they not teach you, and tell you, and utter
words out of their understanding? Can papyrus [see Byblos
to understand how the term "Bible" originated from a plant] grow where
there is no marsh? Can reeds flourish where there is no water? While yet
in flower and not cut down, they wither before any other plant. Such
are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless man shall
perish. His confidence breaks in sunder, and his trust is a spider's
web. He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of
it, but it does not endure. He thrives before the sun, and his shoots
spread over his garden. His roots twine about the stoneheap; he lives
among the rocks. If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny
him, saying, 'I have never seen you.' Behold, this is the joy of his
way; and out of the earth others will spring.
Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers [see Evil Means Fool].
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.
Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the
wicked will be no more." (Job 8:1-22 RSV)
Job Chapter 9
Job replied with a continuation of his lament for all of suffering humanity who need a mediator between God and man. The Hebrew word pronounced yah-kuh, meaning to argue for what is right, although variously translated e.g. "There is no umpire between us, who might lay his hand upon us both" (Job 9:33 RSV) or "Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both (Job 9:33 KJV) was and is fulfilled by The Messiah (see What Is Jesus Christ Doing Right Now?).
"Then Job answered: "Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be
just before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer
him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart, and mighty in
strength - who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded? - he who
removes mountains, and they know it not, when he overturns them in his
anger; who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble;
who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who
alone stretched out the heavens [see The First Scientist], and trampled the waves of the sea; who made the Bear and Orion [see Your Very Own Time Machine],
the Pleiades [the photograph shows the actual Pleiades star cluster
that Job spoke of] and the chambers of the south; who does great things
beyond understanding, and marvelous things without number. Lo, he passes
by me, and I see him not; he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him? Who will say to him, 'What
doest thou'? "God will not turn back his anger; beneath him bowed the
helpers of Rahab.
How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? Though I am
innocent, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. If
I summoned him and he answered me, I would not believe that he was
listening to my voice. For he crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies
my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me
with bitterness [see also Vinegar].
If it is a contest of strength, behold him! If it is a matter of
justice, who can summon him? Though I am innocent, my own mouth would
condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life. It is all one;
therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. When
disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the faces of
its judges - if it is not he, who then is it?
My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good.
They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey. If I
say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad countenance,
and be of good cheer,' I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know
thou wilt not hold me innocent. I shall be condemned; why then do I
labor in vain? If I wash myself with snow, and cleanse my hands with
lye, yet thou wilt plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor
me.
For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should
come to trial together. There is no umpire between us, who might lay his
hand upon us both. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not dread
of him terrify me. Then I would speak without fear of him, for I am not
so in myself." (Job 9:1-35 RSV)
Job Chapter 4
Eliphaz, in Hebrew pronounced ale-ee-phawz, meaning God is gold (the El in his name is one of the Names Of God) was from Idumea (see the Fact Finder question below) in Edom (one of the sons of Esau/Edom,
long before the time of Job, was also named Eliphaz i.e. Genesis 36:4).
He was the first of Job's three visiting friends to offer Godly
encouragement.
"Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered: "If one ventures a word with you,
will you be offended? Yet who can keep from speaking? Behold, you have
instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words
have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble
knees [see Trials and Tribulations].
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and
you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the
integrity of your ways your hope? Think now, who that was innocent ever
perished? Or where were the upright cut off?" (Job 4:1-7 RSV)
Eliphaz's "Can mortal man be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?" is a Timeless truth.
"Can mortal man be righteous before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? [see Christ The Creator] Even in his servants He puts no trust, and His angels He charges with error; how much more those who dwell in houses of Clay,
whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth.
Between morning and evening they are destroyed; they perish for ever
without any regarding it. If their tent-cord is plucked up within them,
do they not die, and that without wisdom?'" (Job 4:17-21 RSV)
Job Chapter 5
The principles of Eliphaz's Godly wisdom can also be found in Proverbs and Psalms (see The Harp String Verses).
"Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple." (Job 5:2 RSV)
"For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout
from the ground; but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward."
(Job 5:6-7 RSV)
"As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause; Who
does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number: He
gives rain upon the earth and sends waters upon the fields [see also The First Scientist]; He sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety [see The Two Kinds Of Pride].
He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no
success. He takes the wise in their own craftiness; and the schemes of
the wily are brought to a quick end." (Job 5:8-13 RSV)
"Behold, happy is the man whom God reproves; therefore despise not the
chastening of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He binds up; He smites,
but His hands heal." (Job 5:17-18 RSV)
"He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven there shall no evil touch you [see also Where Is Your Place Of Safety?].
In famine He will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of
the sword. You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue, and shall
not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall
laugh, and shall not fear the beasts of the earth. For you shall be in
league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall
be at peace with you. You shall know that your tent is safe, and you
shall inspect your fold and miss nothing. You shall know also that your
descendants shall be many, and your offspring as the grass of the earth.
You shall come to your grave in ripe old age, as a shock of grain comes
up to the threshing floor in its season. Lo, this we have searched out;
it is true. Hear, and know it for your good." (Job 5:19-27 RSV)
Job Chapter 6
Job, in his grief and pain, responded with a continuation of his lament.
"Then Job answered: O that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity
laid in the balances! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the
sea; therefore my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty
are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed
against me. Does the wild ass bray when he has grass, or the ox low
over his fodder? Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt, or
is there any taste in the slime of the purslane? My appetite refuses to
touch them; they are as food that is loathsome to me.
O that I might have my request, and that God would grant my desire; that
it would please God to crush me, that He would let loose His hand and
cut me off! This would be my consolation; I would even exult in pain
unsparing; for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I
should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh
bronze? In truth I have no help in me, and any resource is driven from
me.
He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the
Almighty. My brethren are treacherous as a torrent-bed, as freshets that
pass away, which are dark with ice, and where the snow hides itself. In
time of heat they disappear; when it is hot, they vanish from their
place. The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the
waste, and perish. The caravans of Tema look, the travelers of Sheba
hope. They are disappointed because they were confident; they come
thither and are confounded. Such you have now become to me; you see my
calamity, and are afraid. Have I said, 'Make me a gift'? Or, 'From your
wealth offer a bribe for me'? Or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's
hand'? Or, 'Ransom me from the hand of oppressors'?
Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have erred. How
forceful are honest words! But what does reproof from you reprove? Do
you think that you can reprove words, when the speech of a despairing
man is wind? You would even cast lots over the fatherless, and bargain
over your friend. But now, be pleased to look at me; for I will not lie
to your face. Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done. Turn now, my
vindication is at stake. Is there any wrong on my tongue? Cannot my
taste discern calamity?" (Job 6:1-30 RSV)
Job Chapter 1
The Book of Job has been recognized and used as part of Holy Scripture from early times. Ezekiel The Prophet
wrote of him, as spoken by The Lord i.e. "even if these three men,
Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own
lives by their righteousness, says The Lord God" (Ezekiel 14;14 RSV);
Jesus Christ would have therefore taught about Job (see the Fact Finder
question below). Job is mentioned in the New Testament also e.g. "You
have heard of the steadfastness of Job" (James 5:11 RSV).
"There was a man in The Land Of Uz,
whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who
feared God, and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons
and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand Camels,
five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and very many
servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the
east." (Job 1:1-3 RSV)
Ironically, righteous Job's name, in Hebrew pronounced ee-yobe, means hated, or persecuted - not by The Lord, not by other humans, but by Satan because Job was a good and honest man.
"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before The Lord [see YHVH, Adonai, Jehovah, LORD and "The God Of The Old Testament"], and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, "Whence have you come?"
Satan [see also What Does Satan Look Like?] answered The Lord, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it."
And The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that
there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who
fears God and turns away from evil?"
Then Satan answered The Lord, "Does Job fear God for nought? Hast Thou
not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every
side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have
increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, and touch all that he
has, and he will curse thee to thy face." (Job 1:6-11 RSV)
The Lord permitted the test of Job (the loss of his children and
property, Job 1:13-19), not to allow Satan to do evil, but to enable Job
to become more righteous (see Trials and Tribulations).
"Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon
the ground, and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return; The Lord gave, and The Lord has taken
away; blessed be the name of The Lord." In all this Job did not sin or
charge God with wrong." (Job 1:20-22 RSV)
Job Chapter 2
Satan was then allowed to afflict Job himself, not to weaken him, but to make him stronger.
"And The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that
there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who
fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity,
although you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause."
Then Satan answered The Lord, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will
give for his life. But put forth Thy hand now, and touch his bone and
his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face."
And The Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power; only spare his life."
So Satan went forth from the presence of The Lord, and afflicted Job
with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
And he took a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and sat among the
ashes [see also Sackcloth and Ashes].
Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God, and die."
But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women would speak.
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive
evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips." (Job 2:3-10 RSV)
Upon hearing of their friend's troubles, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad
the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite arrived "to condole with him and
comfort him."
"Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon
him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the
Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together
to come to condole with him and comfort him. And when they saw him from
afar, they did not recognize him; and they raised their voices and wept;
and they rent their robes and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward
heaven [see Heavens Below, Heavens Above].
And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no
one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very
great." (Job 2:11-13 RSV)
Job Chapter 3
In his pain and sorrow, Job's lament began.
"After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said:
"Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night which said, 'A
man-child is conceived.' Let that day be darkness! May God above not
seek it, nor light shine upon it. Let gloom and deep darkness claim it.
Let clouds dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. That
night - let thick darkness seize it! let it not rejoice among the days
of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. Yea, let
that night be barren; let no joyful cry be heard in it. Let those curse
it who curse the day, who are skilled to rouse up Leviathan [see also Dragons].
Let the stars of its dawn be dark; let it hope for light, but have
none, nor see the eyelids of the morning; because it did not shut the
doors of my mother's womb, nor hide trouble from my eyes.
Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? Why did
the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should suck? For then I
should have lain down and been quiet; I should have slept; then I
should have been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth who
rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled
their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden untimely birth,
as infants that never see the light? There the wicked cease from
troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at
ease together; they hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and
the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to the bitter in
soul, who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for
hid treasures; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they find
the grave [see Sheol and Hades]?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged in?
For my sighing comes as my bread, and my groanings are poured out like
water. For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls
me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest; but trouble
comes." (Job 3:1-26 RSV)
Esther Chapter 8
Upon the execution of Haman (see Mordecai and Haman), two Jews became the second and third most powerful people in The Persian Empire
- Esther was the queen, and Mordecai replaced Haman as prime minister.
Only King Ahasuerus had more political power in the Persian empire (see
also Emperor), which at that time included the land of Israel (see map below).
"On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the
enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had
told what he was to her; and the king took off his signet ring [see Signets], which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman." (Esther 8:1-2 RSV)
The earlier proclamation of the king "to destroy, to slay, and to
annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children" (Esther 3:13
RSV) still remained however. Such royal proclamations could not be
simply revoked because it would give the (true) impression that kings
could make mistakes, so Queen Esther and Prime Minister Mordecai offered
a solution - another royal proclamation that would enable (with lawful
authority and the hardware) the Jews to defend themselves.
"The king's secretaries were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan [see Bible Calendar and
Bible Months], on the twenty-third day; and an edict was written according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews to the Satraps and the governors and the princes of the Provinces
from India to Ethiopia, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, to every
province in its own script and to every people in its own language, and
also to the Jews in their script and their language [see Languages].
The writing was in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the
king's ring, and letters were sent by mounted couriers riding on swift Horses that were used in the king's service, bred from the royal stud.
By these the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and
defend their lives, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate any armed
force of any people or province that might attack them, with their
children and women, and to plunder their goods, upon one day throughout
all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the
twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. A copy of what was written
was to be issued as a decree in every province, and by proclamation to
all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to avenge
themselves upon their enemies." (Esther 8:9-13 RSV)
"Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of
blue and white, with a great golden crown and a mantle of fine Linen and Purple,
while the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light and
gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city,
wherever the king's command and his edict came, there was gladness and
joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of
the country declared themselves Jews, for the fear of the Jews had
fallen upon them." (Esther 8:15-17 RSV)
Esther Chapter 9
What was to have been a bloodbath of the Jews in Persia became instead a
bloodbath by the Jews in Persia, "So the Jews smote all their enemies
with the sword, slaughtering, and destroying them, and did as they
pleased to those who hated them" (Esther 9:5 RSV)
"Now in the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth
day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be
executed, on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to get the
mastery over them, but which had been changed to a day when the Jews
should get the mastery over their foes, the Jews gathered in their
cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on
such as sought their hurt. And no one could make a stand against them,
for the fear of them had fallen upon all peoples." (Esther 9:1-2 RSV)
"So the Jews smote all their enemies with the sword, slaughtering, and
destroying them, and did as they pleased to those who hated them. In
Susa [see Bible Places]
the capital itself the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men, and
also slew Parshandatha and Dalphon and Aspatha and Poratha and Adalia
and Aridatha and Parmashta and Arisai and Aridai and Vaizatha, the ten
sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews" (Esther
9:5-10 RSV)
"Now the other Jews who were in the king's provinces also gathered to
defend their lives, and got relief from their enemies, and slew
seventy-five thousand of those who hated them; but they laid no hands on
the plunder. This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and
on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and
gladness." (Esther 9:16-17 RSV)
The Jews' "days Purim" (i.e. an observance created by Jews, for Jews) originated at that time.
"But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the
fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of
feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in
the open towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day
for gladness and feasting and holiday-making, and a day on which they
send choice portions to one another. And Mordecai recorded these things,
and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King
Ahasuerus, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the
fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same,
year by year, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their
enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into
gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them
days of feasting and gladness, days for sending choice portions to one
another and gifts to the poor." (Esther 9:18-19 RSV)
"Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. And
therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what
they had faced in this matter, and of what had befallen them, the Jews
ordained and took it upon themselves and their descendants and all who
joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according
to what was written and at the time appointed every year, that these
days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every
family, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never
fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these
days cease among their descendants." (Esther 9:26-28 RSV)
Esther Chapter 10
The Book of Esther ends with the proclamation that "Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus."
"King Ahasuerus laid tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the
sea. And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of
the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not
written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
For Mordecai the Jew was next in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was
great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brethren, for
he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people."
(Esther 10:1-3 RSV)
Esther Chapter 5
Esther found herself as the only Jew in Persia (the Persian Empire existed between the Babylonian Empire and the Greek Empire; see also Nebuchadnezzar's Dream)
who had any possibility of altering the king's decree "to destroy, to
slay, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in
one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of
Adar, and to plunder their goods" (Esther 3:13 RSV).
"On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner
court of the king's palace, opposite the king's hall. The king was
sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to
the palace; and when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court,
she found favor in his sight and he held out to Esther the golden
scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top
of the scepter.
And the king said to her, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your
request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom." (Esther
5:1-3 RSV)
The Persian king obviously regarded Esther very highly, so Esther
devised to make her request to save her people while the man who was
personally responsible for the annihilation decree, Haman, would be
present.
"But Esther said, "My petition and my request is: If I have found favor
in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition
and fulfil my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the
dinner which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king
has said." (Esther 5:7-8 RSV)
Mordecai was a man who was loyal to the king of Persia, rather than the corrupt prime minister, Haman.
For that, Haman sought not only to have Mordecai executed, but also every Jew in Persia.
"And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman
saw Mordecai in the king's gate, that he neither rose nor trembled
before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai." (Esther 5:9 RSV)
"Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Let a gallows
fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have
Mordecai hanged upon it; then go merrily with the king to the dinner."
This counsel pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made." (Esther 5:14
RSV)
Esther Chapter 6
That night, the king, who was obviously ignorant of his own country's
history, was given to read "the book of memorable deeds" of his nation.
In it, he found the record of how loyal Mordecai had prevented the
assassination (see also Assassins) of a previous Persian king.
"On that night the king could not sleep; and he gave orders to bring the
book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the
king. And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and
Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who
had sought to lay hands upon King Ahasuerus. And the king said, "What
honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" The king's
servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him." (Esther
6:1-3 RSV)
The king proclaimed that Mordecai should receive his long overdue
recognition for his heroic act. Ironically, it was conceited Haman who
was chosen to honor the man who Haman was intending to execute.
"And the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered
the outer court of the king's palace to speak to the king about having
Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
So the king's servants told him, "Haman is there, standing in the court."
And the king said, "Let him come in."
So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What shall be done to the
man whom the king delights to honor?" And Haman said to himself, "Whom
would the king delight to honor more than me?" and Haman said to the
king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal robes be
brought, which the king has worn, and the horse which the king has
ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set; and let the robes and
the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble princes; let
him array the man whom the king delights to honor, and let him conduct
the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming
before him: 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to
honor.'" (Esther 6:4-9 RSV)
"Then the king said to Haman, "Make haste, take the robes and the horse,
as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king's
gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned." So Haman took the
robes and the horse, and he arrayed Mordecai and made him ride through
the open square of the city, proclaiming, "Thus shall it be done to the
man whom the king delights to honor." (Esther 6:10-11 RSV)
Esther Chapter 7
Honoring Mordecai did not change the king's previous decree about the
destruction of the people of Judah however. That would be accomplished
at the banquet that Esther had requested of the king, where Haman would
be brought to answer for his deceptive advice to the king.
"So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. And on the
second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther,
"What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what
is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled."
Then Queen Esther answered, "If I have found favor in your sight, O
king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition,
and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be
destroyed, to be slain, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold
merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; for our
affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king." (Esther
7:1-4 RSV)
With the loyalty of Esther and Mordecai proven, it was now plain who the real enemy of the king was - Haman.
"Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, that would presume to do this?"
And Esther said, "A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!"
Then Haman was in terror before the king and the queen. And the king
rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden; but Haman
stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that evil was
determined against him by the king.
And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they
were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was;
and the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my
own house?" As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered
Haman's face.
Then said Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king,
"Moreover, the gallows which Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word
saved the king, is standing in Haman's house, fifty cubits high." And
the king said, "Hang him on that." So they hanged Haman on the gallows
which he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated."
(Esther 7:5-10 RSV)
