Page 56 - Reading Job to Know God

fail; His cow calves and does not abort. They send forth their little
ones like the flock, and their children skip about. They sing to the
timbrel and harp and rejoice at the sound of the flute. They spend
their days in prosperity, and suddenly they go down to Sheol. They
say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of
Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, And
what would we gain if we entreat Him? ’Behold, their prosperity is
not in their hand; The counsel of the wicked is far from me.”

And so Job says “I am not blind”. You say, “The wicked suffer”. I look
out my window and I see a lot of wicked men, and they are not suffering.
How come? If your philosophy is true, if God sent suffering to the
wicked, then how come I see so many drunkards? How come I see so
many wicked men and wicked women and they are prosperous? They
have good jobs, and they have good health, and they have children, and
their gardens grow and everything goes right for them. And so he says I
cannot accept your philosophy, because from my own experience, from
my own observation, it is not true. The very first chapter of the Bible
refutes their silly lie. Who was righteous? Cain or Abel? Who died? The
righteous one did! Who lived on in prosperity? The wicked.
Then he says there is a second reason I don’t agree. He says not only do I
observe that the wicked do not necessarily suffer but also I don’t believe
that I have not done anything wrong! All the way through the book, Job
insists upon his own righteousness. He insists that he has not done
anything to deserve what is coming down on him. Chapter 6: 1 and 2 is an
illustration of that.
Chapters 29-32 have been called by Bible expositors the most “self-
righteous” chapters in the entire Bible. You read Job chapter 29, 30, 31,
32, and you will see it. We read in chapter 29, Job’s testimony of how he
behaved when everything was going well. So you can pat him on the back
for that. Chapter 30, he tells how he behaved when everything went
wrong. He says I did not deny God. I continued to hold onto my faith.
Chapter 31- 32 is sort of a general boast of his greatness. Chapter 31:5-30
Notice all these “ifs.”
5: “If I walk with falsehood.” 7: “If my step has turned from the
way”
9: “If my heart has been enticed by a woman.” (But it has not)
13: “If I have despised the claim of my male or female slaves.”
16: “If I have kept the poor from their desire.”
19: “If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing.”
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