Page 98 - Job
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Bildad had said, God is discriminately righteous. Job says, no, he is not.
Look at verse 17,
“For He bruises me with a tempest. And multiplies my wounds
without cause. He will not allow me to get my breath, but saturates
me with bitterness. If it is a matter of power, behold, He is the strong
one!”
Is He trying to prove who is the strongest? He wins. I admit that.
“And if it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him? Though I
am righteous, my mouth will condemn me; though I am guiltless, He
will declare me guilty. I am guiltless; I do not take notice of myself; I
despise my life.”
Now watch. Here is where he refutes Bildad.
“It is all one; therefore I say, He destroys the guiltless and the
wicked. If the scourge kills suddenly, He mocks the despair 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, then who is it?”
It gets a lot hotter than this, but Job never strikes out more vehemently
against Got than he does right here. He looks at God and declares, Bildad,
you say He is righteous? You say He is discriminately righteous and just?
Not as I see it. Job says, in verse 24,
“The earth is given into the hand of the wicked.”
As I see it, the earth is just one scene of injustice. The wicked, rule the
earth. Rather than rewarding the innocent, I think He punishes the
innocent and rewards the wicked. Then Job says, if there is a bias at all, I
see it to be against the righteous and for the wicked. Strong language
indeed.
When we read the book of Job it is almost impossible to see how God
looks at things. The New Testament says, “You have heard of the
patience of Job.” Isn’t that amazing? The New Testament uses Job as an
illustration of patience. If it were not for the New Testament, you would
never know he was patient. You sure do not find it in the book of Job.
After this pathetic and desperate outburst, Job sort of sinks in exhaustion.
There is a literary pause. He cools down, and he begins to speak in 9:25,
“Now my days are swifter than a runner; They flee away, they see no
good. They slip by like reed boats, like an eagle that swoops on its
prey.”
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