Job 25-27

Job 25


1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: 2 “Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven. 3 Can his forces be numbered? On whom does his light not rise? How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? 5 If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, 6 how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot— a human being, who is only a worm!”


Job 26

1 Then Job replied: 2 “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble! 3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!  4 Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?


5 “The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them. 6 The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered. 7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. 8 He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. 9 He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. 10 He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.


11 The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.12 By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.

13 By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. 14 And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”


Job 27

1 And Job continued his discourse: 2 “As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made my life bitter, 3 as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, 4 my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.


5 I will never admit you are in the right; till I die, I will not deny my integrity.6 I will maintain my innocence and never let go of it; my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live. 7 “May my enemy be like the wicked, my adversary like the unjust!


8 For what hope have the godless when they are cut off, when God takes away their life? 9 Does God listen to their cry when distress comes upon them? 10 Will they find delight in the Almighty? Will they call on God at all times?11 “I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal. 12 You have all seen this yourselves. Why then this meaningless talk?

13 “Here is the fate God allots to the wicked, the heritage a ruthless man receives from the Almighty: 14 However many his children, their fate is the sword; his offspring will never have enough to eat. 15 The plague will bury those who survive him, and their widows will not weep for them. 16 Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,17 what he lays up the righteous will wear, and the innocent will divide his silver.


18 The house he builds is like a moth's cocoon, like a hut made by a watchman. 19 He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone. 20 Terrors overtake him like a flood; a tempest snatches him away in the night. 21 The east wind carries him off, and he is gone; it sweeps him out of his place. 22 It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power. 23 It claps its hands in derision and hisses him out of his place.”






SS 25 Star Maker, Monster Breaker

Job 25-27


Job 25

Bildad jumps in again.  He starts with completely true statements:  God is in control and His power is unlimited.  Can a person be pure before Him?  Even creation is not pure compared with God.  All of these things are perfectly true.  But his implication is this: you cannot be pure before a pure God and therefore you deserve what is happening to you.  In a way, this is also true.  But it is equally true of any human.  It does nothing to explain the situation regarding Job and also does not help Job recover.  They are useless words.  


Job 26


Job has had it and is now getting sarcastic. He sharply questions where his friends are getting their insight:


2 “How you have helped the powerless!

How you have saved the arm that is feeble!

3 What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!

And what great insight you have displayed!

4 Who has helped you utter these words?

And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?


That last line is a butt-kicker -are you demon-possessed?  This is where I think Job really stops listening to his friends. He also starts to ease away from trying to defend himself. He focuses instead on God's power. He tells his friends that humans cannot completely understand God.  The language is very poetic and powerful.  Job is defending God's power in the face of weak platitudes.  Look at some of the poetic language he uses:


God wraps up the waters in His clouds.

He covers the face of the full moon, spreading His clouds over it.

By His breath the skies became fair; His hand pierced the gliding serpent.

How faint the whisper we hear of Him!


It is a beautiful description of the power of God.  


I wonder what piercing the gliding serpent means.  Looked it up.  The better translation is “fleeing serpent.”  It was the name of a constellation.  So, this means that God made the stars.  I also looked up Rahab to see why it was cut to pieces.  It references a mythical sea monster and represents the mystery of the ocean.  


Job is frustrated with God, but he never doubts God's power or His beauty.  There is a true worship in Job's description of God's work.  I do not see Job as particularly patient, but I do see him as a role model of worship and honestly seeking God in times of suffering.  



Job 27


Job is still responding to his friends.  His friends blame him for the suffering.  Job straight up blames God.  You are wrong.  I have integrity and God has denied me justice.  Job has something the godless lack: hope.  First, nobody is blameless, so Job is overstating his case to make a point.  He did not deserve the suffering he is receiving.  


If this is Job talking all chapter (I hear a second voice starting in 7, but it could be Job's self-talk since no other speaker is identified) Job agrees with his friends that ultimately the godless will suffer.  Job thinks that God is just, but that God has not been just with him specifically.  Job may also be asking God to judge his friends like they are judging him, though I doubt Job really sees his friends as enemies.  


Job is going back and forth on whether evil people prosper.  They do and they don't.  Ever feel that way?  Confused about what God is doing.  Your heart playing tug-a-war with emotions and beliefs?  Confused about God's methods?  Job is in that place.  He knows God is good, but God does not feel good to him at that moment.  I get that.  Job keeps hoping in the face of suffering.