September 27
Reading: Job 6
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Oh that my grief were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass,
or the ox low over his fodder?
6 Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any taste in the juice of the mallow?
7 My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are as food that is loathsome to me.
8 “Oh that I might have my request,
and that God would fulfill my hope,
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my comfort;
I would even exult in pain unsparing,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
13 Have I any help in me,
when resource is driven from me?
14 “He who withholds kindness from a friend
forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
15 My brothers are treacherous as a torrent-bed,
as torrential streams that pass away,
16 which are dark with ice,
and where the snow hides itself.
17 When they melt, they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18 The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste and perish.
19 The caravans of Tema look,
the travelers of Sheba hope.
20 They are ashamed because they were confident;
they come there and are disappointed.
21 For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?
24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray.
25 How forceful are upright words!
But what does reproof from you reprove?
26 Do you think that you can reprove words,
when the speech of a despairing man is wind?
27 You would even cast lots over the fatherless,
and bargain over your friend.
28 “But now, be pleased to look at me,
for I will not lie to your face.
29 Please turn; let no injustice be done.
Turn now; my vindication is at stake.
30 Is there any injustice on my tongue?
Cannot my palate discern the cause of calamity?
Beginning in Job 3 we have been reading poetic discourse. In this sense Job is like much of the prophetic writing in the Bible. But this conversation is between Job and his friends in the presence of God, though we really do not know that God is listening until chapter 38.
In chapter 6 Job is not teaching theological truth. He should not be read that way. Job is responding to Eliphaz. Eliphaz was trying to teach theological truth, but badly. Job is now speaking to that attempt.
Hebrew poetry expresses the heart, truly, honestly. It uses the juxtaposition of ideas and thoughts, the balancing of one thought against another. It uses startling contrasts and imaginative comparisons. We find repetition that reveals emphasis. Often in poetry many lines are employed to express one simple thought so that we will remember it.
So it is in Job 6, the first half of Job’s response to the first speech of Eliphaz. What is Job saying?
In the first seven verses Job is telling Eliphaz simply this, “I am hurting so badly. God has hurt me, and I cannot get past it.” He is asking for a little empathy.
Then in verse 8 Job says that he just wants God to give him what he has asked for. What is that? Well, remember chapter 3? Job wished then that he had never been born. God has just about destroyed him and now he would like God to finish the job (Job?). But then Job goes on to say that he’ll not let go of God. Even though he is so weak and has nothing left, he will not give up on God. This is a glimmer of faith in Job’s despair. It is the essential quality that Job displays throughout the whole book. Remember this. Job will not give up on God.
Then, in verses 14-23, Job turns his attention to the words that Eliphaz has just spoken. He explains that his friend has been unkind, cold, unrefreshing. He tells Eliphaz that the words are to him like a guy dying in the desert who comes to a spring and finds it dried up. “Have I even asked you for help?” Job says to Eliphaz.
He tells Eliphaz in verses 24-30, “Show me my error and I will listen.” Job is able to listen to even hurtful truth, but Eliphaz is offering only disappointing advice disconnected from grace and unrelated to what Job’s struggle really is.
There is an important lesson in these verses. When someone is in pain and struggling, they need to be listened to. Sometimes listening takes a long time and involves asking many questions. Eliphaz asked Job not one real question. He just assumed he knew what Job needed to hear. He was wrong.