A Cry of Anguish

Introduction

We continue to consider the book of Job, remembering of course that there is a structure to this book. I’ll touch on that briefly, just to remind us of the context and where we find ourselves through this discourse.

The first three chapters essentially introduced the context of Job’s situation. We saw how God and the Challenger had a discussion in heaven, and Job was considered. Satan (the Accuser) essentially

What we find following that through the book of Job is a series of words of exhortation directed at Job from each of the three friends. From chapters 4-37, there are three rounds of exhortation from each of the three friends. So we have Eliphaz, the Bildad and the Zophar offering counsel, one at a time. This happens three times over, with Job giving a defense / response each time. The last round of exhortation has another friend coming in, named Elihu. He speaks in chapters 32-37.

This evening, we are in the first round of exhortations. We’ve considered the words of Eliphaz in chapters 4-5. This evening, we will be looking at the response of Job to Eliphaz (and his friends).

Before we delve into that, I want to just present to you a theological term or consideration that was present in the minds of the Jewish people. That is the “Retribution Principle”

The Retribution Principle is the conviction that the righteous will prosper and the wicked will suffer, both in proportion to their respective righteousness and wickedness. In Israelite theology the principle was integral to the belief in God’s justice. Since God is just, the Israelites believed it was incumbent on him to uphold the Retribution Principle. Having a worldview in which God was absolutely just and compelled to maintain the Retribution Principle, they developed the inevitable converse corollary, which affirmed that those who prospered must be righteous (i.e., favored by God) and those who suffered must be wicked (i.e., experiencing the judgment of God).

The Retribution Principle was thus an attempt to understand, articulate, justify, and systematize the logic of God’s interaction in the world.

Now, there is a sense in which this Retribution Principle is right and correct. We need only look to the blessings and curses that were pronounced by God to the Israelites as they were called to live in obedience to His covenant stipulations. Certainly, the general principle of blessings for obedience, and curses for disobedience, is there. Even in the wisdom literature like the book of Proverbs, there is the general rule that if walk in the ways of God, good will come to you. If you walk in foolishness, expect harm, or negative consequences.

However, that is not the full story. That’s not the life always works.

Now, this is a really important point to remember as we approach the book of Job. What we find in these pages is the wrestling of these men to come to terms with what is happening in Job’s life. We know that Job is innocent. While the three friends are busy questioning Job, and Job is giving a defense of his own innocence in life, the real question that surfaces through the book is, how does God work? Is God just in the way that he treats people?

I appreciate the summary of one commentator:

Job Purpose of the Book

In summary, then, the purpose of this book is to explore God’s policies with regard to suffering in the world, especially by the righteous or the innocent. In the process it seeks to revolutionize our thinking about God and the way that he runs the world. Most importantly, the book shifts our attention from the idea that God’s justice (represented in the RP) is foundational to the operation of the world to the alternative that God’s wisdom is the more appropriate foundation. It does not offer a reason for suffering and does not try to defend God’s justice. It does not answer the “why” question that we are so prone to ask when things go wrong. Instead, we are to trust God’s wisdom and, in the process, to conclude by faith that he is also just.

One further comment that I’d like to make as we come to our study this evening is that we can all identify with the experience of Job, to some extent or another. Even if we don’t quite have the same extent of the sufferings of Job, we can nonetheless identify with how the plagues and hardships of this world impact us in our lives. We certainly would be very hesitant to claim that we have the same righteousness that Job had. Nonetheless, that doesn’t detract from the way in which we can oftentimes identify with Job when we believe that we are in Christ, and seeking to live a life that pleases and honours Him.

With that in mind, let us consider Job’s response here to Eliphaz. There are two parts to his response. The first part consists of an appeal to his friends (Job 6) and the second part consists of an appeal to God (Job 7).

1 An Appeal to His Friends (Job 6)

This chapter presents us with an appeal that Job made to his friends in light of what Eliphaz has just communicated to him. While only Eliphaz has spoken thus far, it is clear that all three friends are taking the same view. And so Job responds to them in chapter 6. We’ll look at some of the aspects of his response, just as we continue to build an overall picture of the book what is being conveyed through this book.

He begins by speaking to his friends about the weightiness of his struggles.

Job 6:1–3 NIV84

1 Then Job replied: 2 “If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! 3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas— no wonder my words have been impetuous.

Job’s argument here is that his struggle has been intense. All that has happened against him, with everything taken away, has weighed down heavily on him.

This is an experience that we can clearly all identify with. When the burdens of our struggles weigh us down - whether or not they are as severe as Job’s, this is the experience that we face.

Further to this, Job outlines his experience of bitterness.

Job 6:4–7 NIV84

4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me. 5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? 6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? 7 I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.

Job speaks as if the Lord has his arrows arrayed against him. He gets the sense that God is bringing punishment upon his life. Again, if you’ve ever faced afflictions and trials, especially of the more severe kind, do you not sometimes get the sense that perhaps God is displeased with you?

In a sense, the friends of Job were adding to the poison of the arrows. They were not bringing words of encouragement and comfort, but rather were bringing words that suggested that Job was guilty in some manner. This obviously would have burdened him even further.

As Job continues, he conveys a sense of hopelessness that he’s experiencing.

Job 6:8–13 NIV84

8 “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, 9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off! 10 Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy One. 11 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? 12 Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? 13 Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

I want to focus our attention briefly on verses 8-10. Job is essentially saying that he wishes that God would simply crush him, and snuff out his life. In Job’s mind, it would be better for him to rather be taken to the grave, than to have to endure such intense suffering.

Verse 10 is a particularly interesting verse in terms of interpretation. It would seem that the meaning of the last line there from Job is that he takes consolation in the fact that he has not softened the blow of holy words, but skirting around the way that he is feeling.

We know that people can soften their words, tone down what they’re saying. The don’t want to come across to harshly. On the other hand, you have those who tell it as it is, call a spade a spade, don’t beat around the bush etc. That’s essentially what Job is saying. He’s saying that he has spoken forthrightly concerning the way that he feels. The fact that he desires even to be crushed by God, and expressed it just like that is what to Job is important.

At this point, Job really starts to respond very directly to his friends because of their counsel thus far. He challenges them that their ministry to him has been utterly ineffective. Listen to what he says:

Job 6:14–17 NIV84

14 “A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. 15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow 16 when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, 17 but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.

Later on in verse 21 he says...

Job 6:21 NIV84

21 Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.

Very importantly, notice verse 24 of the passage, where Job now issues a challenge to his friends to point out any actual sin in his life, or place where he has done wrong.

Job 6:24 NIV84

24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.

Job is challenging them on their ill-conceived advice to point out any actual wrongdoing on his part. It’s one thing to work from the perspective of the retributive principle, and so to assume that there is unrighteousness in Job’s life. It’s quite another to actually be aware of sin in the life of the person, and to confront the person where their sin lies. Job uses language here that implies that he is confident that no such wrongdoing exists; at the very least, he’s unaware of any such wrongdoing.

A further concern of Job is that of his integrity.

Job 6:28–29 NIV84

28 “But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? 29 Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.

Job’s demand of his friends is a bit stronger than what the NIV conveys here when it says that they should “relent.” The meaning of the word that Job uses there is that they must “take back” their malicious words because his “integrity is at stake”.

Job claims here to be righteous (that’s what the word integrity means). This is his first claim of righteousness, and it is one that he will maintain until the end of the dialogue.

What he’s saying then is that his friends are slandering him. He is concerned that they are undermining his integrity in his own actions and life, and wants them to take back the words that they’ve leveled against him.

Clearly Job is not happy with their counsel.

Practically speaking, it’s essential that in our engagements with people, we first build the bridge between hearts. We need to come to understand a person’s situation, and almost identify with them as best we can before we start offering them counsel. We minister well to one another when there is a relationship, and when there is a deep appreciation of where the person is emotionally and spiritually. Without that relationship, without our understanding them carefully, we will miss the opportunity to minister!

2 An Appeal to the Lord (Job 7)

Job now turns his attention from his friends in chapter 6 to make an appeal to God in chapter 7.

Job starts out in the chapter with a lament. It is a cry of anguish again given his circumstances.

Job 7:1–6 NIV84

1 “Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man? 2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages, 3 so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. 4 When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss till dawn. 5 My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering. 6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.

This is the lament that he cries out. It ties in well with what he said at the start of chapter 6, where the heaviness of the situation was afflicting him.

But having spoken this lament, he turns his attention directly to God, and addresses God based on what is happening in his own life. He begins here by addressing the transience of life.

Job 7:7–10 NIV84

7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. 8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more. 9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return. 10 He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.

I wonder if you can identify similarities in the words of Job here to another book in the Bible? There are certainly similarities to the book of Ecclesiastes, and how the writer there speaks about the vanity of life under the sun.

Job is laying his case out before God here. He’s crying out to God, telling God that this life is extremely short. It’s a mere vapour. And he’s absolutely right in that sense.

James 4:14 NIV84

14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

This is indeed what our lives are like. But how much more don’t we feel it when things in life are not going well, or when the trials of life are upon us. Life is going to be over so quickly… is this how the rest of my days are going to be spent? In misery and hardship?

That’s an honest question, and I think one that many people will ask when they’ve been going through a season of prolonged trials or suffering. It’s one thing to endure a trial of a week. It’s quite another when that trial spans a number of years, and never seems to want to end. The sense of despair and hopelessness in the world plagues a person in such a circumstance.

Let me perhaps just comment on that for a moment. We need to recognise that God’s perspective on this life is perfect. We are limited and sorely lacking in critical information to make perfect sense of a world that is filled with evil. We simply don’t have the knowledge or the ability to even understand and make sense of this world (at least not in neat boxes). There is a sense in which we need to look to God at all times and glorify His name. In other words, it’s not always about making sense of what is happening, so much as it is about remembering that God’s glory is our primary goal.

As we look further at our text, we find that Job gets this sense in his life that God is paying far too much attention to him.

Job 7:11–16 NIV84

11 “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard? 13 When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, 14 even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, 15 so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. 16 I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.

Notice the concern of Job here. He believes that God is being overattentive and unrealistic in his expectations. He’s essentially got the idea that God has taken a microscope, and is busy looking intently at every detail of his life, and getting involved in every facet of his life.

In verse 12, he speaks about the sea, or the monster of the deep. The word “sea” there speaks of the tumultuous seas that was a source of chaos and disorder in the Jewish mind. The same can be said of the monster of the deep. Job is saying to God… look, I’m not not the chaotic sea, I’m not some disorderly sea monster that you need to pay so much attention to my life.

At the end of verse 16, he’s going so far as to ask God to leave him alone… to create some distance. While some would argue that God doesn’t pay enough attention, and therefore there is pain and hardship, Job’s argument is that God is paying too close attention, and thus there is this pain and affliction being brought on him by God. And so he says, please relent… leave me alone.

Notice how he goes on in verse 17...

Job 7:17–18 NIV84

17 “What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention, 18 that you examine him every morning and test him every moment?

That almost reminds us of Psalm 8.... what is man that you are mindful of him. The difference is that in Psalm 8, the Psalmist is speaking about God giving consideration to frail humanity; Job is speaking about God considering man to be significant in the sense that God is singling out humanity, and perhaps individuals, to scrutinize them.

Job goes on to say…

Job 7:19–21 NIV84

19 Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? 20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? 21 Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”

In verse 20, Job calls God a watcher of men. The implication here is once again that God is paying far too close attention to what man is doing, and particularly to him in his own life at this point. The term that he users would often be used with a positive connotation - referring to those who would watch over men to care for and protect them. But here Job turns that upside down, and he speaks of God watching in a negative sense.

Something interesting that flows out of this passage is the way that Job speaks about sin, and even seems to be confessing sin. It he’s maintained his integrity and innocence, as indeed we’ve already considered that he has, then why is he speaking about sin in the manner that he does?

In Job 7:20, Job says to God (in the NIV) “If I have sinned...” The word “IF” is not found in the original language. The NASB translates it as “Have I sinned?” posed as a question.

Job is not agreeing here that he has sinned in any way. We also know from the opening of the book that what is unfolding really has nothing to do with sin in Job’s life. So this is not a confession of Job, and neither is it really a question of what his sin is.

What Job is doing is, he’s considering his context to be one of a trial in which he’s already been found guilty, and is even enduring punishment. When he thus speaks to God here, he is asking God to stop this trial, to put an end to his actions in which he has presumably been found guilty.

One commentator says it like this:

The thrust of 7:20 is then, “I have sinned (= have somehow fallen out of favor), whatever I might have done to you.” Then 7:21 follows up with, “Why won’t you pardon whatever I have done that you have judged as indictable and forgive whatever sin you have imputed to me, for which you are punishing me?” Job uses somewhat patronizing language toward this overattentive God.

Now, I wonder if you can identify with Job, at least to some extent?

Application / Conclusion

At this point, I want to give some consideration to how we should process all that’s been said. How do we brings this to a place of practical application in our own lives.

One of the things that we must recognise is that we live in a fallen world, and that much that takes place in this world is a natural consequence of the fall of man. God has certainly allowed the world to continue in this fallen state, and that’s according to his wisdom.

While it is true that there are also certain natural consequences to sin, we must not necessarily jump to the conclusion that every struggle or trial is God’s means of punishing us for a particular sin.

In other words, where there is clear link to our sin and the consequences of that sin, we make the connection, and we respond appropriately through repentance and seeking God in faith. But very often, there is not such direct link to a specific sin, and we must be careful not to try too hard make connections where they don’t exist.

One commentator writes:

Those who speculatively link behavior to suffering often conclude that God is petty. Such thinking may constitute a motivation for legalism. While some adopt legalism in order to earn salvation or grace, others see it as a means of maintaining God’s favor, believing that God requires minute observance of obscure demands.

The same commentator writes elsewhere:

Job Viewing God as Petty (7:17–21; 14:3–6)

Job is left to conclude that the standards of God’s justice are too exacting. God has apparently lost all sense of proportion and forgotten how frail is the humanity that he himself created (cf. 10:4–8). Like the policeman who gives a ticket to the driver going 56 mph in a 55 mph zone, God appears to have too much time on his hands—maybe he should consider a hobby?

That’s the kind of wrong thinking that we can be tempted to entertain in our minds.

In this sense, we must remember that as Christians, our lives are united together with Christ. In other words, His righteousness has been imputed to us. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and God views us as righteous, on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. God will use the circumstances of this world to shape us and mould us. But we must not think that God is vindictively punishing or seeking to micro-manage our weaknesses away.

Yes, we are called to forsake sin!!

Yes, we must be careful to live holy lives, as our heavenly Father is holy, and has called us to holiness.

But we remember that in a sin-cursed world, where a spiritual battle is being waged, pain and hardship are going to be a natural part of that world.

We need to be encouraged to keep a proper and full view of the character and nature of God in our minds as we consider our circumstances.

We must also keep in our minds that all of God’s ways and works are infused with his grace. That does not mean that it is God’s grace being shown when we have affliction. What it does mean is that even in the midst of trials and hardships, God’s grace is sufficient for us. God’s grace is provided to us.

As Christians, we must keep in mind the benefit that we have of gaining perspective through the sufferings of Christ. Job didn’t have that. Job didn’t see a suffering Saviour that didn’t deserve any of what came upon Him.

But the suffering Saviour gives us hope and perspective, even as we see the sufferings that He endured.

In closing, let me ask the question: As you endure sufferings and hardships, are you turning your eyes towards your Saviour, entrusting yourself to His perfect wisdom and grace despite the trials that you face.

Are you reminding yourself that the light and momentary afflictions in this world are producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all?