08 June

Bible In 365 Days

Job 24-28

Job 24

Passing from the personal aspect of his problem, Job considered it in its wider application. He asked the reason of God's noninterference, and then proceeded to describe the evidences of it. Men still existed whose whole activity was oppression. In other words, Job declared that the things which Eliphaz attributed to him are present in the world, and described them far more graphically than Eliphaz had, ending with the declaration:

"Yet God imputeth it not for folly".

Continuing, he declared that the murderer, the adulterer, 'and the robber, all continued their evil courses with impunity. It was he that they pass and die, and yet, for the time being, they were in security. He ended all by challenging anyone to deny the truth of what he had said. Thus Job admitted, in some sense, the accuracy of Eliphaz' declaration concerning his view of God as absent from the affairs of men, but in his method he treated with silent scorn the imputation cast on him of acting on that view in the way of evil described by his friends. His final challenge was for anyone to prove him wrong in his contention that God does not interfere with the ways of wickedness.

Job 25

The answer of Bildad is characterized by its brevity, and by the fact that he did not set himself to argue the matter with Job. It is a manifest weakening in the controversy on the side of the friends. Bildad was not prepared to discuss the general truth of what had been said, but he made it perfectly evident that he had no sympathy with the personal application which Job suggested. He contented himself with a general statement, first, of the greatness and government of God; and, second, of the consequent absurdity of man's attempt to defend himself, or claim to be just or clean before God.

As to the first, he briefly affirmed the fact of God's enthronement, and of His administration of all affairs. In the presence of this greatness, before which the moon lacks brightness and the stars are impure, how can man, who is but a worm, be just or dean? The force of the speech is identical with that of Eliphaz. Without argument, Bildad made it perfectly clear that, in his mind, the guilt of Job was established.

Job 26

We come next to Job's answer. The reply to Bildad occupies but one chapter, which is characterized from beginning to end by scorn for the man who had no more to say. In a series of fierce exclamations Job revealed the impotence of all that his friend had said to help him. Then, to show the poverty of Bildad's argument, he spoke of the greatness of God to prove that he knew it, and even more perfectly than his friends. God's power is exercised in the underworld. The "shades tremble," the grave "is naked," destruction has "no covering." The whole material fabric is upheld simply by His power. The mysteries of controlled waters, and light and darkness are in the sphere of His government. The sweeping storm and its disappearance are alike by His power and spirit. Having thus, in almost overwhelming poetic beauty, suggested his consciousness of the greatness and government of God, Job declared that all these things are but the "outskirts of His ways," that, after all, everything that man is conscious of is but "a whisper" of God. The "thunder of His power" evidently is beyond human comprehension.

Job 27

There would seem to have been a pause after Job's answer to Bildad. The suggestion is that he waited for Zophar, and seeing that Zophar was silent, he took the initiative, and made general reply.

This reply opens with a protestation of innocence (verses 1-6). This was his direct answer to the charge made by Eliphaz. Its terms are to be carefully noted. He swore by God, while yet repeating his complaint, that God had taken away his right and vexed his soul. He refused to move from the position he had occupied throughout. He would not justify his opponents in the debate. He had been righteous, and he reaffirmed it. From this protestation his answer proceeded in terms of anger. In this imprecation, in which he expressed the desire that his enemy might be as the wicked, the deepest conviction of his soul seems to rise, in spite of himself, and it is in direct contradiction of the complaints he had made of the withdrawal of God from interference in the affairs of men. Summoning all the strength of his faith, he declared that he would teach his opponents "concerning the hand of God," and he now practically took hold of all that they had said about God's visitation on the wicked, and hurled it back on them as an anathema. He splendidly admitted the truth of their philosophy, but denied its application to himself. He thus left the whole problem full of mystery. All the things they had said were true, but they were not true to him. There must be some other way to account for his suffering. These arguments as here stated are not declared, but they are of plain inference from this angry retort on Job's foes.

Job 28

In a fine passage Job now discussed the question of wisdom. What was supremely lacking in his friends' dealing with him was wisdom to understand. As an introduction to the main statement of his argument, he described man's ability to obtain possession of the precious things of the earth. Silver, gold, and iron are mined, and the description of how man does it is full of beauty. Man opens a shaft. In the midst of his operation he is forgotten by men who pass by. In a path that no bird knows the precious things are found. The beasts are unacquainted with it, but man, overturning the roots of the mountains, cuts out channels, and sees the precious things.

Having thus described man's marvelous ability to do the most difficult things, he then asks: But where shall wisdom be found?

The value of wisdom is beyond the power of computation; neither can man discover it. The precious things he can find are of no value in comparison with this precious thing he cannot discover. It must be admitted that wisdom is hid from life and from death. This admission prepares the way for the great declaration, "God understandeth." The evidences of the truth of this are to be found in the observation of the impossible things which God does. He "looketh to the ends of the earth; He makes a weight for the wind; He measures the water; He makes a decree for the rain."

Finally, Job announced that wisdom in the case of man is "the fear of the Lord" and departure from evil. It is impossible to read this without being conscious that a self-satisfied interpretation of God may be less reverent than an honest expression of inability to explain the mystery of His government.