Job 16

“How rarely we weigh our neighbor in the same balance in which we weigh ourselves.” —T A K

During this second round of speeches, the fire becomes hotter as the three friends focus more on proving Job wrong than on giving Job help. After all, their own peace of mind was at stake; and they were not about to surrender. If Job was not a sinner being punished by God, then the three friends’ understanding of God was all wrong. But that meant they had no protection against personal suffering themselves! If obedience is not a guarantee of health and wealth, then what happened to Job might happen to them. God forbid!

An anonymous wit once described a theologian as “a blind man in a dark room searching for a black cat that isn’t there—and finding it!” But a true theologian walks in the light of God’s revelation in His Word, in history, and in creation; and he humbly accepts the truth, no matter what the cost.

Job’s three friends were not true theologians because they saw only one side of the picture, the side they wanted to see. The longshoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote, “We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about.” And also the things we are most fearful about!

Eliphaz: Two Warnings (Job 15) In his first speech (Job 4—5), Eliphaz had displayed some kindness toward Job; but you find neither patience nor kindness in this second address. Nor do you find any new ideas: Eliphaz merely repeats his former thesis that man is a sinner and God must punish sinners (5:17–19). He issued two warnings to Job.

Job lacks wisdom (Job 15:1–16). How did Eliphaz know this? For one thing, he had listened to Job’s words (vv. 1–6) and found them to be nothing but wind. Job’s ideas were only “empty notions” and “useless words” (vv. 2–3 niv). Job’s words came from a belly filled with the hot desert wind (Jonah 4:8) and not from a heart filled with true wisdom. Eliphaz was using one of the oldest tactics in debate—if you can’t refute your opponent’s arguments, attack his words and make them sound like a lot of “hot air.”

Samuel Johnson was the “literary czar” of eighteenth-century England, a man who loved to sit by the hour with his friends and discuss any and all topics. But Johnson always had to win the argument, whether he was right or not. The poet and playwright Oliver Goldsmith said, “There is no arguing with Johnson; for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it!” Eliphaz was like that.

Eliphaz not only heard Job’s words, but he saw where those words led (Job 15:4). “But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God” (v. 4 niv). If everybody believed as Job believed—that God does not always punish the wicked and reward the godly—then what motive would people have for obeying God? Religion would not be worth it! But this is the devil’s theology, the very thing that God was using Job to refute! If people serve God only for what they get out of it, then they are not serving God at all; they are only serving themselves by making God their servant. Their “religion” is only a pious system for promoting selfishness and not for glorifying God.

When God called Israel and established His covenant with her, the people’s motive for obedience was fear of punishment. If they obeyed the law, God would bless them; if they disobeyed, He would punish them. But this was during the infancy of the nation, when God dealt with them as with children. Children understand rewards and punishments far better than they do ethics and morality. But when the new generation was about to enter Canaan, Moses gave them a higher motive for obedience: their love for God (Deut. 6:4–5; 7:7; 10:12–16; 11:1, 13, 22; 19:9). They were no longer children, and God didn’t need to frighten them (or “bribe” them) into obeying Him. Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:8–10) and the highest motive for obedience (John 14:15).

Job’s words told Eliphaz that Job had a wicked heart (Job 15:5–6). “Your sins are telling your mouth what to say!” (v. 5 tlb; see Matt. 12:34–37). Job was affirming his innocence, but Eliphaz interpreted his words as proving Job’s guilt! What hope was there for Job when his friends would not even believe what he was saying?

Job lacked wisdom because he lacked experience (Job 15:7–10). At this point, Eliphaz turned on the sarcasm, another proof that he had run out of something intelligent to say. This is another debater’s trick: when you can’t refute the speech, ridicule the speaker. Job never claimed that he was the first man God created, that he was God’s confidant, or that God had given him a monopoly on wisdom. Job knew that his friends were older than he was, but age is no guarantee of wisdom (32:9; Ps. 119:97–104).

According to Eliphaz, Job’s attitude was wrong because he refused God’s help (Job 15:11–16). Eliphaz saw himself and his friends as God’s messengers, sent to bring Job the consolation he needed. Their words were “spoken gently” (v. 11 niv), but Job’s words were spoken in anger. The three friends were serving God, but Job was resisting God.

Then Eliphaz repeated the message he had given in his first speech (vv. 14–16; 4:17–19). Job had refused to accept it the first time, but perhaps he would accept it now that he had suffered more. If heaven is not pure before God, nor the angels that inhabit heaven, how can a mere man claim to be innocent? Man is born with a sinful nature and has a thirst for sin, and Job was no exception. All of this prepared the way for Eliphaz’s second warning.

God judges the wicked (Job 15:17–35). In his first speech, Eliphaz had described the blessings of the godly man (5:17–26); but now he describes the sufferings of the ungodly man. Eliphaz was careful to remind Job that these were not his ideas alone, but that the ancients all agreed with him. If Job rejected what Eliphaz said, he was turning his back on the wisdom of their fathers. Eliphaz was a man who found great strength in tradition, forgetting that “tradition is a guide and not a jailer” (W. Somerset Maugham).

When you read this description of a wicked man, you realize that Eliphaz is talking about Job. Job was in pain, darkness, trouble, anguish, and fear. He was defying God and challenging God to meet him and prove him guilty. The fire had destroyed Job’s sheep (1:16; 15:30, 34); invaders had stolen his camels (1:17; 15:21); he had lost all his wealth (v. 29); and his eldest son’s house had been destroyed by wind and all Job’s children with it (1:19; 15:28). Eliphaz was not at all subtle in his approach; everybody knew he was talking about Job.

But in his closing words (vv. 34–35), Eliphaz gave the hardest blow of all: He called Job a hypocrite and a godless man, and he blamed him for the tragedies that had befallen him and his family. Job had secretly “conceived” sin, and now sin had given birth to suffering and death (James 1:14–15; Isa. 59:4; Ps. 7:14). “Their womb fashions deceit” is the NIV rendering of Job 15:35, and the word translated “womb” is the same as “belly” in verse 1. According to Eliphaz, if you X-rayed Job, all you would find would be hot air and sin! “Hypocrite” is a key word in the vocabulary of Job’s three friends. Bildad suggested that Job was a hypocrite (8:13), and both Zophar and Elihu will take up the theme (20:5; 34:30; 36:13). Of course, Job denied the accusation (13:16; 17:8; 27:8) and argued that neither God nor his friends could prove it true.

The problem with Eliphaz’s statement about the judgment of the wicked is that it is not always true in this life. Many wicked people go through life apparently happy and successful, while many godly people experience suffering and seeming failure. It is true that ultimately the wicked suffer and the godly are blessed; but, meanwhile, it often looks like the situation is reversed (Ps. 73; Jer. 12:1–4). Furthermore, God gives sunshine to the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). He is longsuffering toward sinners (2 Peter 3:9) and waits for His goodness to lead them to repentance (Rom. 2:4; Luke 15:17–19).

The greatest judgment God could send to the wicked in this life would be to let them have their own way. “They have their reward” (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). The only heaven the godless will know is the enjoyment they have on earth in this life, and God is willing for them to have it. The only suffering the godly will experience is in this life, for in heaven there will be no pain or tears. Furthermore, the suffering that God’s people experience now is working for them and will one day lead to glory (1 Peter 1:6–8; 5:10; 2 Cor. 4:16–18; Rom. 8:18). Eliphaz and his friends had the situation all confused.

Job’s response is to utter three heartfelt requests: first, a plea to his friends for sympathy (Job 16:1–14); then, a plea to God for justice (vv. 15–22); and finally, a plea to God to end his life and relieve him of suffering (17:1–16).

A plea for sympathy (Job 16:1–14). Job’s friends still had not identified with his situation; they did not feel his agony or understand his perplexity. Job had already called them deceitful brooks (see 6:15) and “worthless physicians” (13: niv), but now he calls them “miserable comforters” (16:2). All of their attempts to comfort him only made him more miserable! As the saying goes, “With friends like you, who needs enemies?”

Job assured them that, if they were in his shoes, he would treat them with more understanding than they were showing him. Instead of making long speeches, he would give them words of encouragement. He would listen with his heart and try to help them bear their burdens. Sometimes we have to experience misunderstanding from unsympathetic friends in order to learn how to minister to others. This was a new experience for Job, and he was trying to make the most of it. However, whether Job spoke or kept quiet, he was still a suffering man (v. 6).

In his appeal for loving sympathy, Job told his friends what he was receiving from the hand of God (vv. 7–14). Job is worn out; his family is gone; he is gaunt and weak. Both men and God attack him. Job feels like God has painted a target on his back and handed everybody bows and arrows! There is no relief—God keeps assaulting him like a relentless warrior. “I didn’t attack God—He attacked me!” God was his enemy (16:9; 13:24), and nothing Job could do would bring about a truce. If Job looked up, God was against him. If he looked around, his friends were against him. Where could he turn?

A plea for justice (Job 16:15–22). How had Job responded to God’s attacks? He put on sackcloth, wept in humiliation and contrition, and buried his face in the dust. In spite of the accusations of Eliphaz (15:4–6), Job knew he was right before God and that God would hear his prayers (16:17).

Job was caught on the horns of a dilemma. His suffering was so great that he longed to die, but he didn’t want to die before he could vindicate himself or see God vindicate him. This explains his cry in verse 18: “O earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no resting place!” (nkjv) The ancients believed that the blood of innocent victims cried out to God for justice (Gen. 4:8–15) and that the spirits of the dead were restless until the corpses were properly buried (Isa. 26:21). Even if Job died, he would be restless until he had been proved righteous by the Lord.

Job’s repeated cry has been for a fair trial before the Lord (Job 9:1–4, 14–16, 19–20, 28–35; 10:2; 13:6–8, 19). He has lamented the fact that he had no advocate to represent him before God’s throne (9:33). None of his friends would defend him, so his only hope was that God in heaven would defend him and bear witness to his integrity (16:19). But Job yearned for someone to plead with God on his behalf (v. 21).

The Christian believer has this heavenly Advocate in Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1–2). As our interceding High Priest, Christ gives us the conquering grace we need when we are tempted and tested (Heb. 2:17–18; 4:14–16). If we fail, then He is our Advocate to forgive us and restore us when we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:5—2:2).

Of course, Job wanted a “lawyer” to plead his case before God and convince Him that he was innocent. Once Job had won his case, then God would vindicate him before his critical friends and restore Job’s honor. God’s people don’t need that kind of intercession because the Father and the Son are in perfect agreement in their love for us and their plan for our lives. The Lord Jesus ever lives to make intercession for His people (Rom. 8:31–39; Heb. 7:25) and to perfect them in the will of God (13:20–21). We come to a throne of grace, not a throne of judgment; and we have confidence that our loving Father will do that which is best for us.

A plea for death (Job 17:1–16). One reason Job wanted his heavenly Advocate to act quickly was because he sensed that death was very near, “the journey of no return” (Job 16: niv). When people suffer so much that their “spirit is broken” (17: niv, nasb), then they lose their “fight” and want life to end.

Job’s friends were against him and would not go to court and “post bond” for him (vv. 3–5). People treated Job as if he were the scum of the earth (v. 6). His body was only the shadow of what it had been (v. 7), and all of his plans had been shattered (v. 11). His friends would not change their minds and come to his defense (v. 10). In fact, they would not face his situation honestly, but they kept telling him that the light would soon dawn for him (v. 12). Is it any wonder that Job saw in death the only way of escape?

However, at no time did Job ever consider taking his own life or asking someone else to do it for him. Life is a sacred gift from God, and only God can give it and take it away. On the one hand, Job wanted to live long enough to see himself vindicated; but on the other hand, he didn’t know how much more he could endure. Once he was in Sheol, the realm of the dead, he could not be vindicated on earth unless God brought him back.

Job pictured Sheol as his home, where he would lie down in the darkness and be at rest (v. 13). Since he had no family, he would adopt the pit (or “corruption”) as his father and the devouring worm as his mother or sister. They would give him more comfort than his friends!

But would there be any hope in the grave? Could Job take his hope with him to Sheol? Paul answers the question: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:19–20 nkjv). Our hope does not die, nor is it buried and left to decay; for our hope is a “living hope” because Christ has won the victory over death and the grave! Christians sorrow, but they must not sorrow “as others who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13).

God did not answer Job’s plea for death because He had something far better planned for him. God looked beyond Job’s depression and bitterness and saw that he still had faith. When I was a young pastor, I heard an experienced saint say, “I have lived long enough to be thankful for unanswered prayer.” At the time, I was shocked by the statement; but now that I have lived a few more years myself, I know what she was talking about. In the darkness of despair and the prison of pain, we often say things that we later regret; but God understands all about it and lovingly turns a deaf ear to our words but a tender eye to our wounds.

If only the next speaker would have expressed compassion to this hurting man! But Bildad is all primed to frighten Job out of his wits with the most vivid pictures of death found anywhere in Scripture.