Job 13-18
Day 8 & 9: Job 13-18 Notes & Takeaways
Notes on chapter 15 & 16 of my Bible, @myrenewedfaith
In these chapters we see that Job continues to go back and forth with both Eliphaz and Bildad. In chapter 13 we see that Job is getting tired of his friends accusing him of sin that he does not have. He knows that he is innocent and tells his so called friends that they are “worthless physicians” (Job 13:4)
Instead of being a comfort to him in his time of grief, they continue to inflict more pain with their words. But, Job knows that he has no sin and in verse 3 we must take note of the confidence he has to want to argue his case before the Lord himself. What confidence we have that with humble boldness we can appear before him and appeal to him when we are innocent!
As he tells his friends that if only they would be silent in verse 5, it reminds me of Proverbs 17:28, “even a fool is thought to be wise if he keeps silent.” He also tells them that God can defend himself (Judges 6:31), they don’t need to argue the case for God (Job 13:8)
Note Job 14:5 reminded me of Psalm 139:15-16. Our frame was not hidden from the Lord when he made us, when his eyes looked upon our unformed bodies and all the days were ordained for us, yes, a person’s days are numbered.
In Job 14:13 Job mentions the grave and we note that “the grave is not only a resting place but a hiding place to the people of God. God has the key to let in now and let out at resurrection” when we all rise back up! (Matthew Henry Commentary)
He asks in verse 14, “if someone dies, will they live again? Which made me think of Romans 6:23 and John 11:25. Because we believe in Jesus, we know that one day we will live, even though we have died. We will have eternal life with our savior. “You will call and I will answer you” (Job 14:15) namely at resurrection (Psalms 17:15, John 5:28).
Verse 16, “surely then you will count my steps” reminded me of 1 Samuel 2:9, “He will guard the feet of his saints” and Psalm 37:23, “if the LORD delights in man’s way, he makes his steps firm. We can count on God to direct our steps, guard them, and make them firm in whatever he calls us to do.
Job 14:17 “sealed up in a bag” like purses of money in the east which are usually sealed up. But not only does God seal up his offenses, he casts them into the depths of the sea never to be remembered again. See Micah 7:19.
As we move onto the next chapter we see Eliphaz come at Job with much anger at the fact that Job won’t listen and thinks he is wiser than them even though they may one or all older than him (Job 15:10). But they are arrogant and overbearing in their ways and we see that even thought they are older (Job 32:6), they may not be the wisest.
He says his words have been spoken gently (Job 15:11), but it has been the opposite. He thinks his friends and him are great comforts but instead they continue to make him feel worse. He brings up the word righteous in verse 14, which reminds us that righteousness is cleanness and we can only be righteous through the Lord and it makes us acceptable to God because of it. See Romans 5:1
He lists all the wicked deeds and we can only assume he is speaking of Job as he believes Job is sinful and that God is punishing him for it (see Job 22:9-10).
Chapter 16 brings us back to Job’s reply. Not only has he called his friends “worthless physicians” but now he calls them “miserable comforters,” and he goes on to say in verse 5 that if he ws on the other side he would encourage them and bring them comfort and relief. You see, Job understands now more than ever what suffering truly feels like and he has a newfound empathy and compassion. He understands that people can go through trials and not have sinned against God.
He continues to lament his friend’s rejection and even makes a comparison that might be easy to miss with verse 18, “Earth do not cover my blood.” This reminds us of Genesis 4:10-11 which says, “your brother’s blood calls out to me from the ground.” Job compares himself to the innocent Abel.
As we move on to chapter 17 we see a lot of mentions that would remind us of everything that Jesus went through. Yes, Job’s felt the mockers surrounding him (Job 17:2), and has had people spit in his face (Job 17:6), but Jesus himself went through that and more. Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
We end the reading for day 9 with Bildad’s response. He continue’s to state that Job is wicked and that this is exactly why God is treating him the way he is. He uses words that signify trapping in Job 18:8-10 as if Job has been caught and trapped in his sin and is now paying the price for it. The words he uses are: net, mesh, trap, snare, noose.
He is even so cruel as to bring up that “he has no offspring or descendants among his people, no survivor where once he lived” and that “such is the place of one who does not know God”.
I don’t know about you, but I felt really bad for Job as I read these chapters. Imagine being in the pain that he is both physical and emotional, and then having to put up with “friends” like these? It reminds me of the old saying, “with friends like these, who needs enemies?”
Questions to ponder:
What kind of friend am I? Am I like Job or his friends?
Am I compassionate in the way God wants me to be or am I quick to judge?
Would I have the faith of Job to continue steadfast in my belief that God is good, even when all is bad?
I wonder how God is feeling as He watches all this happen? (I’m sure we’ll find out soon)
Does satan think he’s winning? Would my faith make him think he is? Or would my faith make him tremble?
