Day 19, January 19 Bible Reading

Day 19,  January 19

Job 22-24   Eliphaz and Job debate III

In today’s reading, we will see interestingly, how we as human beings, are quick to bring up people’s faults and charge everyone with wrongdoing, while it appears that God does the exact opposite. It is obvious that people get away everyday without being caught.  

Job 22 - “You dirty scumbag”

• So what happens when you tell someone they have been bad and they stubbornly deny it? Well you disparage their ridiculous claims that they did nothing wrong, then you most definitely bring up every example of their faults and detail exactly where they are wrong. This is exactly the tactic that Eliphaz did.
  
  

• 22:1-4  First, since Job insisted that he was righteous, Eliphaz completely discounted it, with some passive aggressive behavior.  Let’s pretend you are right Job, we agree, you are indeed righteous. Hooray.  Guess what, it makes no difference.  Is God impressed that you are righteous?  Does He gain anything, or find pleasure that you are?  I don’t think so.
  
  

• 22:5-11  Let’s see how righteous you really are.  Let’s bring up your past and all its gory details. Eliphaz begins to accuse Job of a bunch of stuff ranging from not feeding the hungry, to stripping the naked of their clothing, to being a miser and sending widows away empty, to demanding security from others.
  
  “Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless? 6 You demanded security from your brothers for no reason; you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked. 7 You gave no water to the weary and you withheld food from the hungry, 8 though you were a powerful man, owning land- an honored man, living on it. 9 And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless. 10 That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you, 11 why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you…”
  
  

• Do you recognize this tactic?  Have you been in an argument or debate with someone, and they decide to bring up every single detail of your past to prove that you are wrong and that you are the scum of the earth?
  
  

• Once the accusations have been piled on, Eliphaz did what any pious person does, when they have thrown the book of accusations at someone: 1.) First you remind them that God is watching them and will judge them with fire and 2.) you then issue a call for repentance.

Job 23

• Job responded by stating if he knew where to find God, he will go to His dwelling and state his case.  Even though my friends have press charges, God will not press charges against the righteous. [Job 23:3-7] “If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! 4 I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say. 6 Would he oppose me with great power? No, he would not press charges against me. 7 There an upright man could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge.“ 
  
  

• Where is God? I look for Him forward, backward, left, right, I cannot see Him. “But He knows the way I take, When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.  My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside” [vs 10, 11].  This is a great principle.  If we cannot find God or we feel that He is not near us in a situation, we make sure that we are in a place where He can find us, and we are found keeping His ways. 
  
  This is Job’s response to the false accusations by Eliphaz.  “I will be found keeping His ways, and I will come forth as gold”
  
  

• Even if I am completely clueless as to His ways.  God is unique. He does whatever His soul desires and He performs whatever it is appointed for me. 
  
  
  

Job 24

• It is obvious that people get away everyday without being caught.  Job does have a question for God.  God, why don’t you do something right now against the thieves, con men, the kidnappers, the oppressors, the murderers, the adulterers, rapists, the sex traffickers?   Why must those who are victims search for relief and justice in vain?  
  
  

• Interestingly, as we indicated, there are times when we are quick to bring up people’s faults and charge everyone with wrongdoing, while it appears that God does the exact opposite.  God not always acting upon every instance of wickedness seems to give the impression that many people easily get away  every time with wrongdoing and that God is not charging anyone. 
  
  [Job 24:1] “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? “;
  
  [Job 24:12] “The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no one with wrongdoing.”
  
  

• Once again, we do know that even if it seems that justice is not done now, that the wicked continue to rebel against the light without fear, thinking there is no one to catch him, God is watching.
  
  [Job 24: 23] “He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways.“  
  
  

• Job states that for sure, we must never forget that while God seems to be absent, there is indeed a day of reckoning:
  
  [Job 24:19] “As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave [Sheol/ Hell: there is that word again] snatches away those who have sinned. 20 The womb forgets them, the worm feasts on them; evil men are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree. “
  
  

• In the final analysis, though the wicked have become established, and it seems that the system on this earth is stacked against us, and the con men prevail, they have no assurance of life.
  
  [Job 24:22-25] “But God drags away the mighty by his power; though they become established, they have no assurance of life…24 For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain.”