Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:... (Job 8:1) Then Job answered and said:... (Job 9:1) “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself; I despise my life. It is all one thing; Therefore I say, ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’ If the scourge slays suddenly, He laughs at the plight of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, who else could it be? (Job 9:21-24)
Joe continued his "pity party", and in his attempt to try and understand why God was allowing him to endure such suffering and sorrow, He came to the realization that ‘He destroys the blameless and the wicked.’ Indeed there is no partiality with God. (Romans 2:11) "...for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45) Job says what many of us feel, that life doesn't seem fair sometimes, that the wicked prosper while the just suffers.
Jeremiah, the prophet, would explain it this way, Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; they grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their mind. (Jeremiah 12:1-2) And a psalmist would write this, For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; they have more than heart could wish. (Psalm 73:3-7)
What we have to understand is that God is not as concerned with our temporary condition as He is with our eternal one. Remember what Jesus said to the disciples when they they thought a man was born blind because of sin, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." (John 9:3) And also when Lazarus was sick to death, Jesus said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)
God allows us to go through various trials and tribulations to better reveal Himself to us and others. "When we get to the end ourselves, then we see God!" As Christ Jesus said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) Therefore, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:2-5)
How are we able to handle suffering in this way, to count it all joy? Because we have something that Job didn't have, the Holy Spirit of God living on the inside of us, if we have accepted God's free gift of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. And in spite of our circumstances, we too can say as the Apostle Paul, ...for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:... (Philippians 4:11) Because, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering [patience], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22)
Job continued his lament, “Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its prey. If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,’ I am afraid of all my sufferings; I know that You will not hold me innocent. If I am condemned, why then do I labor in vain? If I wash myself with snow water, and cleanse my hands with soap, yet You will plunge me into the pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. “For He is not a man, as I am, that I may answer Him, and that we should go to court together. Nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both. Let Him take His rod away from me, and do not let dread of Him terrify me. Then I would speak and not fear Him, but it is not so with me. (Job 9:25-35)
No matter how good we think we are, and Job was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. (Job 1:1) ...we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;... (Isaiah 64:6) We on our own CAN NOT make ourselves good enough to have a relationship with a Holy God. Job said, nor is there any mediator between us, who may lay his hand on us both. Well, thanks be to God that was not and is not true. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,... (I Timothy 2:5) And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
Because of Christ Jesus dying for our sins and then God raising Him from the dead, This Jesus God has raised up,... Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. (Acts 2:32-33) He poured out His Holy Spirit on all of us who believe, and regardless of our temporary condition here, we rest in the knowledge that one day we will be delivered from all we suffer or even enjoy hear, because God has something so much better for us in eternity, exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,... (Ephesians 3:20)
Job didn't have that wisdom yet, so he still continued, “My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; show me why You contend with me. Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise the work of Your hands, and smile on the counsel of the wicked? Do You have eyes of flesh? Or do You see as man sees? Are Your days like the days of a mortal man? Are Your years like the days of a mighty man, that You should seek for my iniquity and search out my sin, although You know that I am not wicked, and there is no one who can deliver from Your hand? (Job 10:1-7)
‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity; yet You would destroy me. Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. and will You turn me into dust again? Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews? You have granted me life and favor, and Your care has preserved my spirit. (Job 10:8-12)
‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart; I know that this was with You: If I sin, then You mark me, and will not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am wicked, woe to me; even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head. I am full of disgrace; see my misery! If my head is exalted, You hunt me like a fierce lion, and again You show Yourself awesome against me. You renew Your witnesses against me, and increase Your indignation toward me; changes and war are ever with me. (Job 10:13-17)
Job was wondering why would God take so much care in creating us, and then allow us to suffer, even destroy us? The Apostle Paul explained it this way, You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (Romans 9:19-21)
However, we can be sure what kind of vessel we are. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. (II Timothy 2:20-21) How do we cleanse ourselves? Through the power of God's Holy Spirit in us, Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. (II Timothy 2:22-26)
Yet again, Job didn't have this wisdom yet, so all he was able to do was lament, ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb? Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me! I would have been as though I had not been. I would have been carried from the womb to the grave. Are not my days few? Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort, before I go to the place from which I shall not return, to the land of darkness and the shadow of death, a land as dark as darkness itself, as the shadow of death, without any order, where even the light is like darkness.’” (Job 10:18-22) His third friend, Zophar the Naamathite will speak next, and then we'll see how Job responds...
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