Have You Considered My Servant Job? Lesson 7 Job 18-21 : Bildad, Zophar, and Job
Job 18-21 - Outline Chapter 18 - Bildad Job rebuked (18:1-4) The terrible lot of the wicked (18:5-21) Chapter 19 - Job Complaint regarding treatment by the friends (19:1-6) Complaint: hostile treatment from God (19:7-12) Appeal for sympathy; his lowest point (19:13-22) Hope lies in the future (19:23-27) Closing threat to the friends (19:28-29)
Job 18-21 - Outline Chapter 20 - Zophar The brevity of the wicked man s triumph (20:1-11) Wickedness: The sweet and the bitter (20:12-19) A bleak picture of the sinner s end (20:20-29) Chapter 21 - Job Job s request to be heard (21:1-6) The prosperity and tranquil end of the wicked (21:7-16) Claims of the friends challenged (21:17-26) Job s final answer to the friends charges (21:27-34)
Lessons You re never completely alone God is always with you Our Redeemer lives! What a blessing to know this When all seems hopeless and confusing, think about Job
Chapters 18 & 20 Bildad & Zophar on the Wicked Steps of strength shortened His own counsel casts him down Terrors frighten him Strength starved Destruction is ready Devours patches of his skin Devours his limbs Memory of him perishes; has no name among the renowned Chased out of the world Neither son nor posterity; none remain in his dwellings People astonished at him and frightened of him
Chapter 18 Bildad s 2 nd Speech Job rebuked (18:1-4): Job has done: Has bored them with his speech Has considered them beasts and unclean Has destroyed himself Job has failed to do: Gain understanding - he is not listening
Chapter 18 Bildad s 2 nd Speech The terrible lot of the wicked (18:5-21): Images to describe the lot of the wicked: Light going out, vv. 5-6 Being trapped, vv. 8-10 A fugitive, vv. 11, 14 A tree that dies, v. 16 Basic point: Wicked man s doom is certain; he cannot escape it Will meet an early and terrible end V. 21 - Bildad s implication Job is wicked and doesn t know God He has no fellowship with God
Chapter 19 Job Responds Complaint regarding treatment by the friends (19:1-6): How long? Impact of his friends words: Torment Break Reproached Wronged
Chapter 19 Job Responds Complaint: hostile treatment from God (19:7-12) Believes God has caused his suffering Imagery used: One crying for justice Fenced in Path darkened Crown removed from a king A tree uprooted Treated like an enemy
Chapter 19 Job Responds Appeal for sympathy; his lowest point (19:13-22) Highlighting - references to Job s friends, family, servants, etc:
Chapter 19 Job Responds Appeal for sympathy; his lowest point (19:13-22) How his family and friends treat him: Removed from me Estranged from me Failed me Forgotten me Count as a stranger An alien in their sight Give no answer Breath offensive to them Repulsive to them Despise me Speak against me Abhor me Turned against me
Chapter 19 Job Responds Appeal for sympathy; his lowest point (19:13-22) In a word: alone Outcast Repulsive Forgotten WithoutAFriendInTheWorld Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends Their help - void of what Job really needs
The deepest need of man is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness. (Erich Fromm)
Chapter 19 Job Responds Hope lies in the future (19:23-27) From the depths of anguish and despair to which he had sunk, Job began his rise to the greatest heights of faith reached in the book. (Homer Hailey) Wants his words written in a book A record made of his defense Some day - claim to innocence might be vindicated For I know that my Redeemer lives Closing threat to the friends (19:28-29) If they continue persecuting him and charging him, beware!
Chapter 20 Zophar s 2 nd Speech The brevity of the wicked man s triumph (20:1-11) Basic theme: Wicked man will meet an untimely end Will die young because of his evil deeds Wickedness: The sweet and the bitter (20:12-19) Savor then, would turn sour in his stomach and vomit up prosperity will be gone Some truths here, a fitting word picture of the nature of evil and its consequences
Chapter 20 Zophar s 2 nd Speech A bleak picture of the sinner s end (20:20-29) According to Zophar, who would cause the downfall of the wicked and what is the portion of the wicked? God Pictured as pursuing him and thrusting him through The possessions of his house will be carried away, dragged off in the day of God's wrath. (v. 28)
Chapter 21 Job Responds Job s request to be heard (21:1-6) Job s request Listen to him; bear with him But, knows they will go back to mocking him The prosperity and tranquil end of the wicked (21:7-16) Prosperity of the wicked described Grow old; become mighty in power Have many descendants; houses are safe Have plenty of livestock Sing, dance, rejoice; spend days in wealth Then die quickly not with a protracted illness All directly contradict various arguments friends made
Chapter 21 Job Responds The prosperity and tranquil end of the wicked (21:7-16) Wicked say about God: Don t desire the knowledge of God s ways Why should they serve Him or pray to Him? Fail to recognize that everything is from God Claims of the friends challenged (21:17-26) Often live long lives How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? (v. 17) Vv. 23-26 form a unit Some die in prosperity and some in bitterness, but all come to the same end
Chapter 21 Job Responds Job s final answer to the friends charges (21:27-34) Wicked man laid to rest; many pay their respects Does not match with what they have said How then can you comfort me with empty words, Since falsehood remains in your answers? (v. 34) Note: Job directly refutes the friends arguments, but perhaps paints too rosy a picture There will be no rest in the grave for the wicked Eternal punishment awaits
Lessons You re never completely alone God is always with you Our Redeemer lives! What a blessing to know this When all seems hopeless and confusing, think about Job Thanks be to God that Job s words were written that they were inscribed in a book!