This is Eliphaz’s third and last speech. He bears down harder and harder on Job’s wickedness, claiming especially that Job has mistreated the poor.
Eliphaz’s speech can be divided into three parts.
Job wanted his friends ears more than their mouth. [Listen carefully to my words; let this be the consolation you give me] (v2). The friends motivated is to comfort Job and ended up attacking Job with their mouth. Often time, when our friend is in distress, he does not need us to give them lectures. What they need is us listening to them. That is why God gives men two ears and one month. We need to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James 1:19).
Job agrees that the wicked suffer in the end, but in the meantime they seem to be doing rather well. They grow old and increase in power, and their homes are safe and free from fear (v7-9). The prosperity of the wicked undermines the friends’ argument, there seems to be no necessary connection between suffering and wickedness (v34). Suffering seems to be a tool that Satan uses to deceive the righteous. The wicked area already lost souls, why would Satan waste anytime on them? Their self-centered lifestyle will likely keep them in Satan’s camp without any extra effort on his part.
Zophar is offended by Job’s words. He said :”[I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply] (v3). Assuming Job’s wickedness, he sets out to portray the deplorable fate in store for the wicked. This is the second and last time Zophar spoke.
Zophar makes three affirmations to prove that the fate of the wicked in indeed terrible:
After Bildad described the terrors of death, Job described he is already experiencing them (terrors of death) right now.
Job described how he felt inside:
Then he described how all his family and friends have forsaken him:
Then, suddenly, out of the depths of despair, as the sunlights breaks through a rift in the clouds, Job bursts forth into one of the most sublime expressions of faith ever uttered: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes. I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (v25-27).
When we are in the most despair situation, God frequently reveal new lights to us. We would often experience revelation about the characters of God in the midst of our suffering. Job suddenly received the light that he has a Redeemer, who will stand for him to the end, who he will meet after he died. Lord Jesus Christ is our Kindsman Redeemer. He will often reveal himself to us, when we are at the edge of our tolerance of suffering, the Lord would often show up and let us experience Him in a way we could not experience when everything in our life is in good shape.
Bildad opened his second speech with similar tone of his first speech (8:2 [How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind]?. Comparing to 18:2 [When will you end these speeches?].
The friends were growing impatient with Job because their conversation seemed to be getting nowhere.
It never dawned on Bildad that he and his two friends were playing the same tunes over and over again: 1) God is just; 2) God punishes the wicked and blesses the righteous; 3) since Job is suffering, he mush be wicked; 4) if he turns from his sins, God will again bless him. They were going around in circles.
Bildad, like his friends, ruthlessly attacked Job in his second speech, by telling Job to stop complaining and to become sensible (v2). Bildad said Job was treating them like dumb cattle instead of like the wise men (v3). Job was also being irritable and displaying anger instead of humility (v4).
Bildad said in sarcasm that should the earth to be abandoned and rocks be moved just because of Job? (v4)
In a fit of anger, he cries to Job, why do you “tear yourself to pieces in your anger?” (v4). And assuming Job’s wickedness, he tries to frighten Job into repentance by depicting the awful doom of the wicked. Since they could not successfully reason with Job, or shame Job into repenting, perhaps they could frighten Job by describing what happens when wicked people die.
Fear is a part of human emotion. It is a useful emotion to keep us from trouble. For example we use the fear of sickness, injury, or death to teach children to wash their hands, stay away from power lines, and look carefully before crossing the street.
Adults fear of financial loss and buy insurance. Our fear of sickness and death drives us to have annual physical checkup.
Fear of death and judgement after death is a legitimate motive for trusting Jesus Christ and being saved. ” Jesus said [.. and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell] (Matt 10:28).
Paul wrote [knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men”] (2 Cor. 5:11).
Jonathan Edwards famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” turned many sinners to Christ.
However Bildad made two mistakes when he gave this speech about the horrors of death. 1) He preached to the wrong man, Job was already a believer (1:1). 2) he preached it without love.
Dr. R.W. Dale, the British preacher, once asked evangelist D.L. Moody if he ever used “the element of terror” in his preaching. Moody replied that he usually preached one sermon on heaven and one on hell in each of his campaigns, but that a “man’s heart ought to be very tender” when preaching about the doom of the lost.
v5-6: [..lamp..flame.. light..lamp..] Light is associated with life and darkness is associated with death. The picture here is that of a lamp hanging in a tent and a fire smoldering in a fire pot. Suddenly, the lamp goes out, and the last spark of the fire vanishes, and the tent is in total darkness.
v7-10: [..his step.. his feet.. a net…a snare.. noose..a trap..] The picture is the man is frightened by the lights out in his tent, he leaved his tent and started down the road, looking for a place of safety. But the road turns out to be the most dangerous place of all, for it is punctuated with traps.
These traps are used to catch animals. But the wicked person is like a beast because he has left God out of his life.
v11-15: v13: [First firstborn of death]… A poetical expression meaning the most deadly disease death ever produced. v14: [the king of terrors]… this is death, with all its terrors to the ungodly, personified. Death is the king of terrors determined to arrest the culprit no matter where he is. If the escaped criminal runs on the path and escapes the traps, then death will send some of his helpers to chase him. Terror frightens him, calamity eats away at his strength, and disaster waits for him to fall.
The frightened criminal gets weaker and weaker but still tries to keep going. If he goes back to his tent to hide, the pursuers find him, arrest him, drag him out, and take him to the king of terrors. They take everything out of his tent, burn the tent, and then scatter sulfer over the ashes. The end of that man is fire and brimstone.
v16-21: Sometimes death is not as dramatic and sudden as the arresting of a criminal. Death may be gradual, like that dying of a tree. The roots dry up, the branches start to wither, and the dead branches are cut off one by one. Soon the tree is completely dead, and men chop it down. The death of a tree illustrates the extinction of a family tree. Not only is the wicked man himself cut down, but all the branches are cut down too. and he leaves no descendants to carry on his name.
Job had used a tree as an illustration of the hope of resurrection (14:7-11), but Bildad did not agree with him. According to Bildad, one the tree is down, that is the end; the wicked man has no future hope.
Death is real and should be taken seriously. The only way to prepare is to trust in Jesus Christ. [I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believers him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.] (John 5:24).
For christians, death means going home to the Father in heaven (John 14:1-6), falling asleep on earth and waking up in heaven, entering into rest, and moving into greater light. [Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (Rev 14:13).
Ch 16 – 17 is Job’s response to Eliphaz’s second speech.
Job said he could have make fine speeches if they switch places. The difference is Job would encourage and comfort to bring them relief instead of accusation (16:4-5).
6-14: Unlike some of us, Job did not hide his feeling to God in front of his friends. He was making statements of how God has turn his life upside down, how God has worn him out, how God has devastated his entire household (v6-7). It is interesting that Job did not seem to know although God allowed the tragedy in his life, Satan was actually the one who caused the suffering in his life.
v19: Job some how knew there is an advocate between him and God. On behalf of Job, this advocate pleaded with God as a man pleads for his friend. Jesus is our advocate before God.
v22: Job felt like dying. He felt his days are short, the grave was awaiting for him (17:1). When we are in extreme pain and suffering, he wanted our life to end sooner.
This is the start of the second round of the debate (15:1-21:34).
Job’s resistance to their viewpoint and his appeals energized them to greater intensity in their confrontation.
In Eliphaz first speech, he had displayed some kindness toward Job; but you find neither patience nor kindness in this second address. Nor do you find any new ideas: Eliphaz merely repeats his former thesis that man is a sinner and God must punish sinners.
v1-6: Eliphaz accused Job for sinning with his mouth against God. [your own lips testify against you].
v7-13: Eliphaz condemned Job for rejecting the conventional wisdom, as if he had more insight than other people (v7-9), and could reject the wisdom of the aged (v10) and the kindness of God (v11).
v14-16: Eliphaz said all men are sinners. However Job did not suffer because of his sins.
v17-35: Eliphaz tells a story of a wicked man (v20) whom received punishment from God. He was using this story to tell Job he is like the man in the story, a sinner who deserved to be punished by God.
Ch 12 -14 is Job response to Zophar’s three accusations:
Zophar spoke last, so he could be the youngest among the three. Zophar only spoke twice, the second time is in Job 20.
Zophar accused Job of:
Zophar assured that if Job to repent (v13-14) he will receive blessings from God again. (v15-20)
Chapter 9 was talking to his friends, in chapter 10 Job is talking to God directly.
The entire chapter 9 and 10 is a court scene. Job knew he could never win against God in a court, so he asked for a mediator to arbitrate between him and God (9:32). Lord Jesus is our mediator between us and God.
Job acknowledged God is the creator of heavens (9:5 – 10) and earth, as well as God’s sovereignty is on His creations. God is the one who makes the earth quake (v6), God could darken the sky, day or night (9:7).
Job still believe he is innocent and blameless (9:15,20,21;10:7). He concluded that God destroys both the blameless and the wicked (9:22).
Job believed his suffering is from God, that is why he is in fear of God (9:35;10:8).
Job also acknowledged that God created him (10:8-12). But now God’s rod is upon him, he wished he was never born (10:18).
Job acknowledged God’s power and wisdom in His creation. But due to his suffering, Job now think God treat all people the same way, God destroys both the blamsless and the wicked (9:22). When wicked sinned on earth, God covers the eyes of the judges (v24).
“Are not my few days almost over”? Job pleads to God to turn away from him so that he can have a moment of joy before death. (10:20)