October 22
Reading: Job 31
1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
2 What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
10 then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
12 for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
13 “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
18 (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow),
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
20 if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.
24 “If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
or because my hand had found much,
26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
or the moon moving in splendor,
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.
29 “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
or exulted when evil overtook him
30 (I have not let my mouth sin
by asking for his life with a curse),
31 if the men of my tent have not said,
‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
32 (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
I have opened my doors to the traveler),
33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—
35 Oh, that I had one to hear me!
(Here is my signature!
Let the Almighty answer me!)
Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
I would bind it on me as a crown;
37 I would give him an account of all my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
38 “If my land has cried out against me
and its furrows have wept together,
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment
and made its owners breathe their last,
40 let thorns grow instead of wheat,
and foul weeds instead of barley.”
The words of Job are ended.
Job 31 is the last of Job’s final lament. After this chapter he has nothing more to say until God speaks. In chapter 29 Job laments the loss of what he used to have. In chapter 30 Job laments his present misery. In chapter 31 Job proclaims his own righteousness.
You might think, at first, that there is something wrong in what Job is saying, that he is showing his own arrogance. This is what his three friends might have thought. It is what Elihu will think. But God nowhere condemns him for this speech. Moreover, as you read these verses it is not so much a boast of his own goodness, but rather a proclamation of a life of faith and a right spirit before God.
In ancient jurisprudence a man could declare himself innocent of a crime by calling down a curse on himself if he had committed it. Job is now doing this before God, in all honesty.
Charges have been made against Job (Job 5:2, 11:11, 15:4-6, 20:12, 22:5-11) but no supporting eyewitnesses have come forward. So now Job is attempting to be his own defense attorney, listing his supposed crimes in detail, and refuting each one before God with an invitation of judgment if it is true. Really, all of this serves to illustrate the impossibility of such an endeavor. The reader cannot help but feel pity for Job. His task is impossible. In almost any courtroom, and certainly in God’s, a person cannot act as his own counsel. Job needs an advocate. He needs someone with heavenly authority to represent him and declare him innocent. He knows this already. In Job 9:33 he said, “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.”
But Job tries. In verses 1-8 he lays the groundwork for his innocence. He has made a promise to God to live uprightly, and God sees all. Specifically, he has not broken this covenant:
vss. 9-12 He has not committed adultery.
vss. 13-15 He has not neglected his servants.
vss. 16-18 He has not ignored the poor.
vss. 19-23 He has not turned his back upon the needy.
vss. 24-28 He has not trusted in riches.
vss. 24-28 He has been generous with everyone.
Job closes by crying out to heaven that the Almighty would answer him, that he could see the charges brought against him. But there are no charges, and none will be brought, and Job has nothing else to say. Lament has brought him to the point of exhaustion. Now he is almost ready to hear from God.