#6 Job 3:1-10:22

 

Summary:

Job breaks the silence with his first speech. He wishes he had never been born or that he had died in childbirth. Eliphaz responds to this by laying out the basic argument that he and his friends will employ throughout the book. In 4:7 he asks, “who, being innocent has ever perished?” The idea that an innocent man could be destroyed like Job was being destroyed was inconceivable to these men. The argument can be laid out in the form of a syllogism:
                                   
Major Premise: Only great sinners suffer calamity.
Minor Premise: Job has suffered calamity.
Conclusion: Job is a great sinner.

Job denies that he has committed any great evil and reproves his friends for their accusation. He also asks that God would take his life from him before he should be so overwhelmed by his suffering that he deny the Holy One (6:8-10). Why should he continue living, when all prospects for recovery and success are gone.

Bildad is next to speak. He chastises Job for falsely accusing God of perverting justice. His words must have cut deeply. He tells Job that his children were killed, because of their sin and that if only Job would see that his life can be recovered if only he will confess his great transgression and repent.

Job’s response includes a plea for a mediator to stand between himself and God. He longs for someone who could relate to both and stand up for him in the court of heaven. How blessed we are to live in the age when that great mediator between God and man has come. The God-Man, Jesus, our great High Priest who ever lives to intercede in our behalf.

Thought Questions:

• Is there any truth to the arguments of Job’s friends?  Would God allow such suffering to come upon the perfectly innocent?
• To what extent is the argument that God is doing this to Job, which seems to be the view of Job and his friends, correct? Are there any other agents involved?
• Though the arguments that are being made are inaccurate, are they stupid or illogical?