Lenten Study Job Ch 30
Job is just having a tough time of life right now. He had energy and passion in previous chapters, as he disputed with his friends. However, his words relate to how he has run out of that energy. He is down and sees no relief in sight.
"There was a man in the land of Uz" by andrevanb is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.Caption
1 “But now those younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.
Job 30:1 (NASB)
Job refers to Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. He also says he holds their fathers in high regard when he says he wouldn’t put them with the dogs but would rather keep them close to hand with himself.
2 “Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them.
3 “From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation,
Job 30:2-3 (NASB)
The parents of his younger friends are old to the point of no longer being able to provide any assistance in day-to-day activities. Job venerates them to still keeping them and helping them, taking care of them, feeding them, and sheltering them even though they no longer add anything but only consume things. This is respect for elders in Job’s day. Treat them with kindness and meet their needs even though you do not benefit from them.
4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub.
Job 30:4 (NASB)
Mallow is a plant from the family Malva. Various translations have this as bitter herbs, juniper roots, or tree bark. Gathering this meant the person was in dire need meaning they had no other food source. Broom shrub has small yellow flowers on thin, wispy branches tied to make brushes and brooms. The flowers smell of vanilla while the roots are bitter.
5 “They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief,
6 So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 “Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together.
Job 30:5-7 (NASB)
Job is transitioning from his friends’ parents and how he viewed them to himself. Those people had no use for anyone, but Job took them in. Now, Job is of no use to anyone, but no one is found who will take him in. He is now in the open, scrounging for food, searching for shelter.
8 “Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land.
9 “And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them.
Job 30:8-9 (NASB)
In Job’s day, people who could not or would not pursue valuable work were called fools. They ended up bouncing from one hand out to another until they exhausted all the goodwill in the community and were driven from the region. Job says he has become someone even those foolish people drive from their presence because he is so beset by misfortune even though they don’t want him around.
10 “They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.
11 “Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me.
Job 30:10-11 (NASB)
Even these foolish people who cannot recognize they need a skill of value or need to adhere to God’s ways see Job as beset by God. They want nothing to do with him for this reason.
12 “On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction.
13 “They break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them.
14 “As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on.
15 “Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.
Job 30:12-15 (NASB)
No one is looking out for Job now. The foolish set upon him and abuse him. No one stands up for Job and asserts God’s ways over the fools. Rather, they stand by and let all the misfortune happen to Job as though they are powerless to do anything about it. On this side of the Book of Job, we know they cannot do anything to oppose Satan’s desire to harm Job. However, at the time it was occurring, those people did not know they couldn’t help. The question becomes, should they have tried? Why didn’t they try? What held them back?
Contemplate those three questions for a moment in relation to Job and those people around him who saw what he was going through.
Those people didn’t know Job at all, but some did. In either case, familiar or unfamiliar with Job, should they have done something to help? Should they have tried regardless of the challenges before them?
Having answered those questions concerning Job and his situation, contemplate this. What will you do the next time you see someone in a difficult position, whether you know them or not?
16 “And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me.
17 “At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest.
Job 30:16-17 (NASB)
If you are reading this at its publishing online, that means you have a computer or device. That device requires power. That power comes from somewhere, likely a wall outlet in a building. That building is a place you call home. At the end of your day, you have a place to go, a bed on which to lie down. When you go to sleep, what are the biggest worries you have? As we advance in age, the aches and pains may become more constant, more regular. The income may not be what it once was, or even a very tight budget. But likely, there is a consistency to life that keeps things fairly stable. Job had no such consistency in his life. He did not know where he would sleep, what he would eat, or have any relief from the weather. We have much we don’t see as comfort until it is no longer there.
18 “By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat.
Job 30:18 (NASB)
Recall, Satan went out and set upon Job with all manner of afflictions. One such was the affliction of boils, sores, and swelling of his flesh. Even Job’s own body now causes him discomfort as the very touch of his clothing is uncomfortable for him.
19 “He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes.
Job 30:19 (NASB)
Those who mourned tore their clothing and covered themselves in dust and ashes to symbolize their wretched state. This is how Job lives now.
20 “I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 “You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me.
Job 30:20-21 (NASB)
As with the foolish, even his friends now drive him out, turn their backs on his need, and avoid him. It is easier for them at this stage because they have tried everything to alleviate Job’s situation, and nothing is working. It is a testament to his three friends that they have come at all. However, while their desire to help their friend is laudable, their approach is not, as they have accused him of some secret sin with no evidence that sin exists other than the persecution Job is currently suffering. This explains the extent of the difficulties Job experienced. No one had ever seen someone so persecuted as Job had been. The assumption of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar can be forgiven from that perspective. A secret sin is the only explanation that fits all the criteria, save one. It is that one they never considered, persecution by Satan, that is true.
22 “You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm.
Job 30:22 (NASB)
If a wind blows and lets a small piece of paper go, it is blown away from you quickly by that wind. It rides the wind and is taken away from you. Job is likening how his friends are treating him to trying to get rid of a piece of garbage in the high winds of a storm.
23 “For I know that You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living.
24 “Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help?
Job 30:23-24 (NASB)
Everyone dies. Everyone living eventually perishes and goes up to God for judgment. While we as Christians understand our end means being with Jesus, for some reason, we also do not want to let go of this life on earth. It is the ultimate contrast of our faith, that of our life, and how we head toward the end of that life.
25 “Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?
Job 30:25 (NASB)
Job did things to help those who had a hard life and were needy. He is bringing these actions in remembrance of his friends. He hopes to remind them that is what he did, hoping they will change their approach toward him. What Job needs are people to walk with him in the difficulties when they realize they cannot alleviate them.
26 “When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came.
27 “I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me.
Job 30:26-27 (NASB)
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar know this. Job is venting his frustration. Everyone who sees him knows he is in difficulty, and verse twenty-seven is why many people avoid him. Job is not a pleasant person to be around because he allows his difficulties to manifest in his attitude and behavior. Is there a lesson in this for us to take away?
16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
17 “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face
18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18 (NASB)
Jesus is speaking to His disciples in this passage. While fasting is something we take on voluntarily most times, it is a hardship. That’s the point of fasting, to endure hardship for a reason. However, let’s evaluate why Jesus says not to show our discomfort around us when we fast and expand on that. Instead of just putting on a strong face and a pleasant demeanor during a voluntary discomfort, let’s expand that to the idea that Jesus meant we are to do this when we suffer any hardship. Why? Do you find it easier to approach someone who is smiling or angry?
When it is someone we know and their appearance is out of the ordinary, we might ask them if something is wrong. Or, we might not. Why might we not ask even a close friend if something is wrong? I’m tired and don’t have any energy for a long discussion. I am short on time and can’t get caught up in something. I have no patience for getting entangled in someone else’s troubles, or even I have enough trouble of my own, and no one is helping me, so why should I help someone else?
How would Job’s situation have changed if he weren’t outwardly angry “…seething within and cannot relax…?” Likely, with Satan as the author of his afflictions, none of the troubles would have lessened, but he would have had company. Someone to talk to, someone to help carry the burden. He would not have been alone.
28 “I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.
29 “I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches.
Job 30:28-29 (NASB)
Jackals prey on weak animals, the sick, and the outcast. They descend on the helpless, killing them and devouring them as their food. Universally, the jackal is derided as an honorless animal. The only reason I can think Job includes an ostrich here is that they are out in the wild. I don’t think Job puts his head in the sand on his troubles. On the contrary, I think he’s absolutely trying to get to the root of his problems.
30 “My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever.
31 “Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.
Job 30:30-31 (NASB)
Job is suffering through having no shelter and only eating the bitter herbs and roots he can find. He has no companionship and physical discomforts from diseases. There is nothing in his life that provides joy, and he sees no reason to go on living.