Job 16-20 Tensions

Summary 16-20: Job is locked in this battle with his three friends, himself, and God. The friends are consistently blaming Job a sin that he has not committed and Job is shocked by the audacity of his friends to come with such claims. The two times that Job speaks he starts by wondering when their accusations and torments will stop. (16:3 Will your long-winded speeches ever end? 19:2 How long will you torment me and crush me with words?) At this point the battle seems hopeless for Job as he cries out for comfort from them, only to receive calls to be sensible from his "friends".

1. If you were in Jobs situation with three "friends" sitting with you, how long would you let them go on with the accusations?

2. In chapter 16 verses 6 through 14 Job goes off on how he feels God has treated him. Is this right of him to call out God, is it good for our spiritual being, or should he have just endured the trials with unwavering patience and faithfulness?

3. How often do you lament to God? So often are my prayers of thankfulness, and asking him to help in times of need, and praying for others, but how often do you cry out and weep toward God with your complaints and frustrations?

Interesting Points:

There is a second reference, I think, to Jesus in Job's words. CH 16 19-21.


I may be wrong but in chapter 20 when Zophar is speaking he says that he "hears a rebuke that dishonors" him. It seems as if he being hypocritical.

Job Eleven - Fifteen: "Personal"

Summary of 6-10:

It's getting personal.  Zophar the Naamathite claims that Job is too proud and defying God by not admitting his sin.  He also describes how much more powerful and good God is than man.  He insists that if only Job will turn to God, his "life will be brighter than noonday."  Job slams back with his best sarcastic statement in the whole book: "Doubtless you are the people and wisdom will die with you."  He goes on to say: "Duh! I know all this that you're telling me!"  He lists God's powers and goodness and then begs more and more to meet with God and put his case before him.  He becomes pessimistic and cynical about God's treatment of men, saying that He "erodes" their hope.  Eliphaz then callously describes the fate of the evil man in ever more terrifying terms, implying that it is Job's fate.  This is not the kind of thing you want to hear from a "friend" after you've lost your family, wealth, and health.

Questions:

1. Is wisdom simple or complex (11:6)?  What makes it simple or complex?  

2. Why does Job want so badly to meet with God in person to argue his case in chapter 13?  

3. Do 14:18-22 bother you at all?  Can you be faithful or a role model, as Job is held up to be, and still think the depressing, hopeless thoughts that he does here? 

4. Why is Eliphaz the Temanite convinced that evil men suffer constantly on earth?

5. Are Job's friends motivated by concern for him or love for him in the things they say?  If not, what motivates them?

Cool Things:

"True wisdom has two sides." (11:6)  Everything takes patience because it takes time to understand.

"Men at ease have contempt for misfortune." (12:5)  This is a great challenge to anyone because we all fight for security and wealth in this world and despise those who want to take it from us, or so we think when we see someone in need and feel that urge to give to them.  It is especially good for us in America to meditate on what this means as we bask in the highest level of wealth in human history.  A good question would be: should we seek not to be at ease or should we simply strive to pierce the illusion of ease?

15:27 describes a fat face and a bulging belly and the fact that even with those things, an evil, rich man will fail.  Back then, those were signs of prosperity.  Now we honor thin, strong bodies so much because we all have relatively equal access to good nutrition in America (compared to ancient times that is; there is still great disparity), but thinness is a signal of self-control and will power which we idolize.