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“The Defense Rests” • 5.2.21 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- As we enter into chapter 29, understand that Job has been speaking uninterrupted since chapter 26. His dialogue with his initial three friends is over. He has finally, effectively, silenced them.
- The three chapters in front of us contain Job's final argument in one continuous self-portrait. In chapter 29, we will begin by seeing things as they were in the past. Verse 1.
Text
• Job 29:1-6 : "Job further continued his discourse, and said: 'Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me; When His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness; Just as I was in the days of my prime, when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent; When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were around me; When my steps were bathed with cream, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!" : Job is thinking back on the "good ol' days" and for Job, they were very good and only months removed.
- Those days were marked by God's oversight and guidance. God set a hedge about him. He protected him and shone the light of His wisdom before his eyes.
- Long before the Psalmist wrote of God's word being a lamp unto his feet, (Psalm 119:105) Job experienced the intimacy of a walk with God, whose friendly counsel stood guard over his life.
- From his youth, Job knew the Lord's counseling well. They spoke together with familiarity and great regularity, which is what has made this period that much more difficult!
- Job had walked through darkness before and God had been there! It has been a while since he felt that from the Lord.
- As Job looks around at that old scene in his mind, he sees his children around him and the road in front of him smoothly paved and well provided for. Cream and oil were luxury items.
- He associates all of this with God's favor. This was when God was "yet with me." Job is soon to learn that God was still with him, even though he didn't feel like it at the moment.
- He will soon learn that God has been listening very carefully to all that has been said! Job has described his private life in verses 1-6. He begins to share about his public life in verse 7.
• Job 29:7-11 : "When I went out to the gate by the city, when I took my seat in the open square, the young men saw me and hid, and the aged arose and stood; The princes refrained from talking, and put their hand on their mouth; The voice of nobles was hushed, and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth. When the ear heard, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw, then it approved me;" : Job was a respected civic leader. The "gate" of an ancient city was a series of booths.
- Legal proceedings, land acquisition, and business transactions were handled there. It was the central hub for any ancient city. Job had a seat there and was respected among the "who's who!"
- Look at the response that Job received on the way to his seat: The young servants hid themselves away in intimadation and the old stood up in respect, a rarity in the Ancient Near East.
- Princes and noblemen kept their mouth shut and held their tongue in Job's presence. People did not come to talk to Job. It appears that they came to listen to him!
- Whatever came out of Job's mouth was met with blessing. His approval ratings among the people was off the charts! Why? Because of what he did with his position! Verse 12.
• Job 29:12-17 : "Because I delivered the poor who cried out, the fatherless and the one who had no helper. The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know. I broke the fangs of the wicked, and plucked the victim from his teeth." : Job's friends had accused him of building his fortune on the backs of the poor. It turns out that he was an able advocate for the ones with the least amount of resource!
- The poor, the orphan, the man who was about to lose everything and the widow, all found a reliable and willing helper in Job.
- He eased their burdens and found ways to relieve their pressures. Job wore the garments of rightetousness and they fit him well! He wore these clothes as often as he wore his regular clothes!
- Job saw for those who couldn't see for themselves. He walked when others couldn't. He was a Father to the poor, meaning that he would often assume responsibility for them.
- If there was anything that Job didn't know or understand, he searched out the nuances and found ways to deliver the poor from those who sought to exploit them!
- He was bold and brave enough to gather the poor right out from between their teeth! V. 18.
• Job 29:18-25 : "Then I said, ‘I shall die in my nest, and multiply my days as the sand. My root is spread out to the waters, and the dew lies all night on my branch. My glory is fresh within me, and my bow is renewed in my hand.' Men listened to me and waited, and kept silence for my counsel. After my words they did not speak again, and my speech settled on them as dew. They waited for me as for the rain, and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain. If I mocked at them, they did not believe it, and the light of my countenance they did not cast down. I chose the way for them, and sat as chief; So I dwelt as a king in the army, as one who comforts mourners." : Job was set for life! His nest was comfortable and his future was bright! He was like a tree that was directly fed by the waters below and above!
- Listen to verse 20 in the NLT: "New honors are constantly bestowed on me,
and my strength is continually renewed." Job's life was marked by God's blessing!
- Before Job's crisis, he was accustomed to the respect warranted by a trusted sage. People would hang on his words and would be satisfied with what he shared.
- People came to Job ready to take in everything that he was to advise. Those that came to him found him compassionate and genuine. He was an impressive counselor.
• Job 29:24 (NLT) : "I smiled on them when they did not believe, and the light of my face they did not cast down." : People came to Job in a state of distress. Job's smile assured them that they would be alright and his counsel directed them in their way.
- The irony of this statement is thick: "I dwelt as a king in the army, as one who comforts mourners!" He looked upon the people that came to him as his own people.
- He loved to counsel and console them which underscores the irony. Who counsels the counselor? Who cares for the caretaker? Sadly, there weren't many men like Job!
- He has been sitting here craving the kind of attention that he gave out to as many as would receive it! When the time came for him to receive the same care, he got Eliphaz and company!
- What a slap in the face! What an indignity! But that wasn't the most insulting blow. Chapter 29 speaks about the past. Chapter 30 presents the present. Verse 1.
• Job 30:1-9 : "But now they mock at me, men younger than I, whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock. Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished. They are gaunt from want and famine, fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste, who pluck mallow by the bushes, and broom tree roots for their food. They were driven out from among men, they shouted at them as at a thief. They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, in caves of the earth and the rocks. Among the bushes they brayed, under the nettles they nestled. They were sons of fools, yes, sons of vile men; They were scourged from the land. And now I am their taunting song; Yes, I am their byword." : "Take a look at me now!" "The young men who used to revere me, mock me!"
- Men that were not qualified to watch over his sheep dogs were making jokes at Job's expense! What sort of men were these? His portrayal of them is far from flattering.
- They look as though they are about to die! They are as thin as rails, living off the roots of wild bushes. In other words, these are men that refused to work! They live off the grid on their own!
- Job is existing in such a low estate that these outcasts are the ones who are using Job as an example of lowliness! "Hey, at least we don't have it as bad as Job does!" He continues in verse 10.
• Job 30:10-15 : "They abhor me, they keep far from me; They do not hesitate to spit in my face. Because He has loosed my bowstring and afflicted me, they have cast off restraint before me. At my right hand the rabble arises; They push away my feet, and they raise against me their ways of destruction. They break up my path, they promote my calamity; They have no helper. They come as broad breakers; Under the ruinous storm they roll along. Terrors are turned upon me; They pursue my honor as the wind, and my prosperity has passed like a cloud." : These same men would have once sought Job's attention when he could help them. Now, they hate him and can't get away from him fast enough! When they do see him, they spit in his face.
- Even today, this is regarded as the most disrespectful action a person can take against another in the Middle East! Why did they feel free to do this?
- These men perceive that God has taken His good hand off of Job! A taut bowstring meant that a person could defend himself. A loosened bowstring is no threat to anyone.
- When God afflicted him, men assumed that they had an open opportunity to attack him. These outcasts used every means at their disposal to trap Job. I like verse 13 in the NLT.
• Job 30:13 (NLT) : "They block my road and do everything they can to destroy me. They know I have no one to help me." : These people see Job as an open city waiting to be conquered. Consequently, Job has become acquainted with terror.
- Everything that he once was has passed away like a cloud that dissipates before your eyes. The person that he once was is nearly forgotten! He is helpless and vulnerable. Verse 16.
• Job 30:16,17 : "And now my soul is poured out because of my plight; The days of affliction take hold of me. My bones are pierced in me at night, and my gnawing pains take no rest." : Job's soul is poured out in depression! Each day is a struggle!
- Depression isn't just for the weak or the carnal. It is a difficulty that even the most godly must fight against. Couple that with his physical pains that worked against him constantly.
- "My gnawing pains take no rest." Could you imagine trying to sleep with a boil infested body? Could imagine the unnatural positions you would have to assume, just to be able to sleep?
- If he didn't awake from the pain of the boil, his body would be screaming at him for other reasons. Job's life was miserable, but it's cause, in his mind, made it much worse. Verse 18.
• Job 30:18-23 : "By great force my garment is disfigured; It binds me about as the collar of my coat. He has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. I cry out to You, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You regard me. But You have become cruel to me; With the strength of Your hand You oppose me. You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it; You spoil my success. For I know that You will bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living." : Job could handle all of this if he had broken what he knew to be the law. The problem he has is that God has just decided to pick on him!
- He sees God as forcefully grabbing ahold of his collar and throwing him into the muck! He has become one with the dust and the ashes!
- It's difficult to fall so precipitously. What is more difficult is to fall without any seeming support from the Lord! Job was desperately crying for help, but there wasn't an answer.
- Job stationed himself where one could see him, but God paid no attention to him. He sees this as the act of a cruel enemy. Job believes that God is setting him up for death! Verse 24.
• Job 30:24-31 : "Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins, if they cry out when He destroys it. Have I not wept for him who was in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor? But when I looked for good, evil came to me; And when I waited for light, then came darkness. My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest; Days of affliction confront me. I go about mourning, but not in the sun; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help. I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches. My skin grows black and falls from me; My bones burn with fever. My harp is turned to mourning, and my flute to the voice of those who weep." : God wouldn't destroy a ruined city if they cried out to Him!
- The NLT translates it, "Surely no one would turn against the needy when they cry for help in their trouble." Job has been a faithful advocate to the troubled and the poor.
- He has watched God answer them but when he looked for God to do good for him, evil came. When he sought for light, darkness came! Is it any wonder that he was in this state of turmoil?
- There is nobody to help Job! He walks out in the noon day and seeks for someone to attend to him. Nobody turns toward him. He's an outcast!
- He sounds more like a wounded animal than he does a man! Jackals and ostriches have mournful cries. Nobody is able to discern the difference between them!
- If his life were music, it'd all be written in a minor key! We have looked at Job's past, his present and now, Job presumes to fix his future. Chapter 31.
• Job 31:1-12 : "I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? For what is the allotment of God from above, and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is it not destruction for the wicked, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps? If I have walked with falsehood, or if my foot has hastened to deceit, let me be weighed on honest scales, that God may know my integrity. If my step has turned from the way, or my heart walked after my eyes, or if any spot adheres to my hands, then let me sow, and another eat; Yes, let my harvest be rooted out. If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down over her. For that would be wickedness; Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment. For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction, and would root out all my increase." - Job presents us with a portrait of what a righteous person looks like, but this is far more. Other documents have been unearthed that are similar to this. This is essentially, a legal challenge!
- It is complete with assertions, as well as acceptance of punishment if there has been infraction. Look for the language that is marked by the phrases, "If I, then let."
- Where does Job begin? He begins with purity. He begins with lust. Job has cut a covenant with his own eyes. He is in partnership with them, agreeing together not to consider a young maiden.
- He's agreed not to use them to sin by spending time considering a young maiden. The word reflects expending a period of thought. Naturally, a few other translations do some interpreting for us.
- The NASB translates the word "gaze," the NIV, "to look lustfully," and the NET to "entertain thoughts." There is no room for a lust filled fantasy life in the heart of the believer!
- Jesus will later tell us that looking at a woman this way was equal to the sin of adultery! (Matthew 5:28) In an ancient world, when women were 95% covered, Job made this agreement!
- How much more are we susceptible to this kind of temptation? Job's example is a fine one to follow on this point and may God give us the grace to take it as seriously as he did!
- Why would Job not act this way? Because he knows what the price is for those that act this way! Destruction and disaster are prepared for those that violate this ordinance.
- Job knows that the Lord sees his ways and accounts for all of his steps. It's wise for us to take that into account. Job has lived with purity and integrity.
- He challenges anyone to charge him with falsehood or deceit. If there were honest scales for human innocence, Job feels confident that he would be weighed equal to the claim.
- If anybody could find anything in him, then let the judgment of God fall upon him! This is NOT the way that a guilty man speaks! Job returns to the subject of women in verse 9.
- What is the difference between a look and being enticed? The first seems to refer to an active interest. This second phrase refers to being deceived.
- The word "gullible" is used to enlarge upon the meaning. The NLT uses the word "seduced."
- Earlier, the look was the fault of the man. Here, it's the women's planning that is brought to the forefront. There is still accountability though, as men love to hang around if there is a chance!
- Job knows that he hasn't done this, otherwise, let someone take advantage of his wife! Scholars are divided upon the actual meaning of his words.
- He is either saying that his wife would become another person's slave or the member of another person's harem! Either way, that action deserves God's recompense, so let Him act! V. 13.
• Job 31:13-23 : "If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant when they complained against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb? If I have kept the poor from their desire, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or eaten my morsel by myself, so that the fatherless could not eat of it (But from my youth I reared him as a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow); If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or any poor man without covering; If his heart has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, when I saw I had help in the gate; Then let my arm fall from my shoulder, let my arm be torn from the socket. For destruction from God is a terror to me, and because of His magnificence I cannot endure." : Job is not afraid to have God look into his purity, integrity or charity!
- He didn't know of a servant that could raise a complaint against him. Job lived with the awareness that these people who worked for him were just as special to God as he was!
- God made them. He fashioned them in the womb! Job knows where life begins and he knows that it is equally valued regardless of a person's status in life!
- He had never turned a poor or disadvantaged person away. Orphans ate from his very table!
- Job had fed and clothed the poor from his own flocks and all of them had blessed him for doing so! If he had raised his hand in a legal vote against the orphan, he would accept punishment!
- "Let my arm fall from my shoulder, my arm torn from its socket! He could not act this way because he feared the Lord and could not stand to offend Him in these ways! Verse 24.
• Job 31:24-34 : "If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much; If I have observed the sun when it shines, or the moon moving in brightness, so that my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand; This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above. If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted myself up when evil found him (Indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for a curse on his soul); If the men of my tent have not said, 'Who is there that has not been satisfied with his meat? (But no sojourner had to lodge in the street, for I have opened my doors to the traveler); If I have covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, because I feared the great multitude, and dreaded the contempt of families, so that I kept silence and did not go out of the door—" : Job closes his defense with his comments upon his fidelity! Job was not guilty of idolatry!
- He was willing to have God investigate his heart toward his money! Had he misplaced his confidence, trusting in his gold over his God?
- If Job had ever looked at the celestial bodies and transferred his worship toward them, in even the smallest way, he would have considered it a denial of God and he would be right!
- His faithfulness toward God doesn't end with his response toward God. It also speaks toward his response toward men! Had he ever rejoiced at another's destruction?
- Had Job ever turned away a stranger? Job makes sure that we know about his open door policy! Had he ever covered up his own sin because of the fear of men?
- Notice that Job knows about Adam and what he had done against the Lord, hiding his sin.
- These would have all invited the displeasure of the Lord. Job has one thing left to say. V. 35.
• Job 31:35-40 : "Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, that my Prosecutor had written a book! Surely I would carry it on my shoulder, and bind it on me like a crown; I would declare to Him the number of my steps; Like a prince I would approach Him. If my land cries out against me, and its furrows weep together; If I have eaten its fruit without money, or caused its owners to lose their lives; Then let thistles grow instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley. The words of Job are ended." : Job has laid out his case and has signed his name to it! He is calling his Prosecutor to answer him!
- Job has no idea that God is actually his Advocate! Everything Job had been to the helpless, God was soon to be to him! At this moment, Job speaks in complete ignorance!
- He speaks of proudly walking into the courtroom, standing like a prince before God. He has no idea that he'll be groveling before him soon! Job's confidence is sky high.
- He's silenced his critics, who are sitting here wondering what is going to happen now that Job is calling on God to deal with him. He has acknowledged God's silence as well.
- Job is actually using that against the Lord. He's set up a challenge that essentially calls upon God to speak or be found to be the guilty party!
- God can call all the witnesses that he would like, including his land. "If the land cries out against me." Where have you heard that language before? Remember what God said to Cain?
- God could call humans, cattle and the land and if he's done anything, he'll accept the consequences of his actions. With this Job ends his defence.
Conclusion
- We have the benefit of knowing that Job was right in claiming his own innocence,
but how many of us would have the ability to take the same stand?
- The truth is that none of us is righteous, no, not even one! We stand guilty of lust and adultery. We've turned our eyes from other's needs and we've often put our trust in idols.
- We stand guilty before God and justified because our righteousness isn't found in our record. It is found in His! Jesus Christ is our righteousness and only in Him can we stand with confidence.
- Job is about to find out that His righteousness isn't enough. I'm grateful that we have learned the exact same lesson!
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