Lenten Study Job Ch 19
More certain assertations from Job about both his innocence and the righteousness of his position. He is sure God will be just in the final analysis even if it doesn’t come to fruition on this earth.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Caption
1 Then Job responded,
Job 19:1 (NASB)
Bildad was a little rough on Job in chapter seventeen. He felt a little insulted at Job’s previous response. He may not like Job’s response this time either.
2 “How long will you torment me And crush me with words?
3 “These ten times you have insulted me; You are not ashamed to wrong me.
Job 19:2-3 (NASB)
Job still doesn’t see his friend’s presence as conciliatory or helpful. He also maintains his innocence despite the accusations his friends are throwing his way.
4 “Even if I have truly erred, My error lodges with me.
Job 19:4 (NASB)
He is open to the idea that there is some fault he has committed that he is unaware of, and he is taking ownership of it.
5 “If indeed you vaunt yourselves against me And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that God has wronged me And has closed His net around me.
Job 19:5-6 (NASB)
It is God’s place to punish, though Job does not agree. He asserts to his friends he will never be convinced their accusations are accurate.
7 “Behold, I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer; I shout for help, but there is no justice.
Job 19:7 (NASB)
Once again, Job explains to his friends that he’s being unjustly persecuted, and he is right. What Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar do not know is that Satan is the reason Job has problems, not Job’s actions. The friends have misidentified the source of trouble as Job rather than Satan. For us as observers several thousand years later, we can take away from this that the source of someone’s difficulties doesn’t necessarily lie with some fault of that person. Evil exists. Evil can cause this just for the sheer fact that it is evil. Sometimes bad things happen to good people because evil hates to see good people prosper. That can be a valid reason when things happen that we cannot explain.
8 “He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, And He has put darkness on my paths.
9 “He has stripped my honor from me And removed the crown from my head.
10 “He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone; And He has uprooted my hope like a tree.
Job 19:8-10 (NASB)
Satan caused all these things to happen though God gave Satan approval to do them. This is also an explanation of how far Job has fallen. He states in verse ten that he has no more hope, having tried everything he can think of to get back on a path approved of by God.
11 “He has also kindled His anger against me And considered me as His enemy.
Job 19:11 (NASB)
This is where Job demonstrates he does not understand what is going on. Yes, Job is wrongly accused. However, Job does not understand that God is not doing this to him because God wants to punish Job. Satan is doing it because Satan believes that any of God’s followers will renounce God if they suffer enough.
12 “His troops come together, And build up their way against me And camp around my tent.
13 “He has removed my brothers far from me, And my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
Job 19:12-13 (NASB)
Job’s friends who are supposed to support him in his time of difficulties have come upon him with nothing but accusations that it is his fault. Job was looking for quiet support and solidarity from his friends. Instead, he found more opposition. This, too, can be seen as Satan putting Job to the test, shifting the minds of his friends to accuse him rather than support him, but we are not told that is what has happened.
14 “My relatives have failed, And my intimate friends have forgotten me.
15 “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 “I call to my servant, but he does not answer; I have to implore him with my mouth.
Job 19:14-16 (NASB)
Job was a good leader and master of men. People worked for Job without being told to do things. It is how outstanding leaders inspire their followers to go the distance seeking to please them because they love them and respect them rather than fear them. Job inspired people before but not now.
17 “My breath is offensive to my wife, And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
Job 19:17 (NASB)
Even the woman who is supposed to be there for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, turns away from him. His own blood-family doesn’t like him, those who remain anyway.
18 “Even young children despise me; I rise up and they speak against me.
19 “All my associates abhor me, And those I love have turned against me.
20 “My bone clings to my skin and my flesh, And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, For the hand of God has struck me.
22 “Why do you persecute me as God does, And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job 19:18-22 (NASB)
Job complains that his friends attack him without cause, just like God does. Job is correct. He has done nothing, and everyone is attacking him for no good reason. That is because Satan is trying to drive him away from God.
23 “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Job 19:23 (NASB)
We have to assume Job actually said this, but we know all these years later that his words were written in a book. We are reading them now. I have to assume Job didn’t actually say that because when this was originally told as an oral tradition, I don’t think they had the written word or books yet.
24 “That with an iron stylus and lead They were engraved in the rock forever!
Job 19:24 (NASB)
Written in the Bible, we do have them forever. God promised us His Word endures forever. Job’s tale is part of His Word. Ergo, Job’s words now endure forever. We have his story as a watchword for us to take as a cautionary tale on dealing with trials and tribulations in life and much, much more.
25 “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
Job 19:25 (NASB)
This is Job’s faith in the coming of Messiah and his faith in God as being true to His word. The prophecies of the Old Testament are God giving His promises to His followers. Those promises take the form of a coming Messiah, which we know as Jesus, the Christ. Job knew these prophecies and believed in them. All Satan’s efforts are failing to separate Job from God.
26 “Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
27 Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!
28 “If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’ And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
29 “Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves, For wrath brings the punishment of the sword, So that you may know there is judgment.”
Job 19:26-29 (NASB)
Job stands firm in his faith. He also stands firm in his belief he has done nothing wrong. That is embodied in his final words in this chapter. Those words warn his friends of the coming punishment they shall receive for falsely accusing him and persecuting him when he has done nothing wrong. He is certain God will stand up for him in the final analysis.