Bildad had made it clear that since God is holy, no man can stand righteous in His sight (Job 25:4–6). The corollary to this proposition is that God is obligated to punish people for their sins; otherwise, He would not be a righteous God. If Job is suffering, it must be that Job is sinning.
Job takes an oath (Job 27:1–6). Once again, Job stood fast in affirming his integrity (10:1–7; 13:13–19; 19:23–27; 23:2–7); but this time, he gave an oath: “As God lives” (27:2). Among Eastern people in that day, taking an oath was a serious matter. It was like inviting God to kill you if what you said was not true. Job was so sure of himself that he was willing to take that chance.
Job also repeated his charge that God was not treating him fairly (“[He] has denied me justice,” v. 2 niv). Job had asked God to declare the charges against him, but the heavens had been silent. Job had called for an umpire to bring him and God together, but no umpire had been provided.
So, Job declared that, as long as he lived, he would defend himself and maintain his integrity. He would not lie just to please his friends or to “bribe” God into restoring his fortunes. (Satan would have rejoiced at that!) Job had to live with his conscience (“heart,” v. 6) no matter what his friends said or his God did to him.
Job utters a curse (Job 27:7–10). In the East, it was not enough for accused people simply to affirm their innocence; they also felt compelled to call down the wrath of God on those who said they were guilty. Job’s words remind us of the “imprecatory psalms” (Ps. 58, 69, 137, etc.) in that they are a prayer for God’s judgment on his enemies.
Who were Job’s enemies? Anybody who agreed with Job’s three friends that he was guilty of sin and deserved to be punished by God. While this conversation had been going on, many people had likely gathered around the ash heap and listened to the debate; and most of them probably sided with Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz. Job could see the spectators nod their heads in agreement with his friends, and he knew that he was outnumbered.
Job’s words sound cruel to us, especially in light of what we are taught about forgiving our enemies by both Jesus (Matt. 5:38–48) and Paul (Rom. 12:17–21). But Job lived even before the Mosaic law was given, let alone the Sermon on the Mount; and we must not expect him to manifest the kind of spirit that was seen in Jesus (Luke 23:34) and Stephen (Acts 7:60).
However, in the sight of God, Job was right. God had twice declared before the court of heaven that Job was “a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8; 2: nkjv). Therefore, Job’s enemies were wrong; and Job had the right to ask God to vindicate him. In fact, God was the only one who could prove Job right and his enemies wrong. Where else could Job turn for help?
The three friends had repeatedly warned Job about the terrible destiny of the wicked, so Job threw their words right back at them. “May my enemies be like the wicked, my adversaries like the unjust” (27: niv). Job saw his enemies experiencing great distress, calling out to God for help but getting no answer, and then being suddenly cut off by death. But isn’t that the very judgment Job’s friends predicted for him and probably hoped would come?
Bildad had affirmed that God is just and punishes those who disobey Him. But this does not mean that everybody who suffers is being punished for his or her sins. Sometimes we suffer because of the sins of others (e.g., Joseph) or because God is keeping us from sin (e.g., Paul in 2 Cor. 12). Jesus suffered, not for His own sins, for He had none, but for the sins of the world (1 Peter 2:22–24; 3:18); and because of His suffering and death, sinners can believe and receive eternal life.
Job teaches a lesson (Job 27:11–23). “I will teach you about the power of God” (27: niv), says Job; and he describes God’s judgment of the wicked. On the day when God vindicates Job, this is what will happen to his enemies.
They will die, and their widows will not mourn for them, a terrible insult in the Eastern world. Their children will be slain by the sword or the plague; and if any survive, they will spend the rest of their lives begging for something to eat. The wicked will lie down rich and wake up poor. Their silver and expensive clothing will be gone. Their houses will be destroyed like cocoons (or spiders’ webs), or like the temporary shacks of the watchmen in the fields. The death of the wicked will not be peaceful. Terrors will come in at night like a flood and carry them away. Even if the wicked try to flee, the storm will follow them and destroy them.
You can recognize in this description many of the images that Job’s friends used in their “judgment” speeches against him. Job did this deliberately to remind them that they had better be careful what they say lest they declare their own punishment. “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Matt. 7:1–2 nkjv).
Scripture records several instances where the judgment planned by an enemy was brought home to that enemy by the Lord. Pharaoh ordered the newborn Jewish boys to be drowned, and his own army was drowned in the Red Sea (Ex. 1:15–22; 14:23–31). Haman built a gallows on which to hang Mordecai, but Haman and his sons were hanged there instead (Est. 7:10; 9:25). Daniel’s enemies tried to have him destroyed, but they and their families ended up in the lions’ den in the place of Daniel (Dan. 6:24). (See Prov. 11:8.)
Scholars do not agree on the interpretation of Job 27:23. The NASB reads, “Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him from his place,” and most translations agree with that; but the word men is not in the original text. It simply reads, “He claps his hands against him.” Who is “he”? Elmer B. Smick in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary suggests that it might be God, and that verse 23 should be connected with verse 13 where “God” is the subject of the sentence (vol. 4, 972). He translates verse 23, “He claps his hands against them and hisses at them from his dwelling [heaven].” Whether God or men, there is rejoicing at the destruction of the wicked.