seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Job 10:1 “I loathe my very life;
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I say to God: Do not declare me guilty,
but tell me what charges you have against me.
3 Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the plans of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?
5 Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a strong man,
6 that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin—
7 though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
therefore I will give free rein to my complaint
and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I say to God: Do not declare me guilty,
but tell me what charges you have against me.
3 Does it please you to oppress me,
to spurn the work of your hands,
while you smile on the plans of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see as a mortal sees?
5 Are your days like those of a mortal
or your years like those of a strong man,
6 that you must search out my faults
and probe after my sin—
7 though you know that I am not guilty
and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
8 “Your hands shaped me and made me.
Will you now turn and destroy me?
9 Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,
11 clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.
Will you now turn and destroy me?
9 Remember that you molded me like clay.
Will you now turn me to dust again?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese,
11 clothe me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 You gave me life and showed me kindness,
and in your providence watched over my spirit.
13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,
and I know that this was in your mind:
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.
15 If I am guilty—woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in[a] my affliction.
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.
17 You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.
and I know that this was in your mind:
14 If I sinned, you would be watching me
and would not let my offense go unpunished.
15 If I am guilty—woe to me!
Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,
for I am full of shame
and drowned in[a] my affliction.
16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me.
17 You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger toward me;
your forces come against me wave upon wave.
18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
19 If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
20 Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy
21 before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and utter darkness,
22 to the land of deepest night,
of utter darkness and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”
I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
19 If only I had never come into being,
or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
20 Are not my few days almost over?
Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy
21 before I go to the place of no return,
to the land of gloom and utter darkness,
22 to the land of deepest night,
of utter darkness and disorder,
where even the light is like darkness.”
a. Job 10:15 Or and aware of
I wouldn't want to stand too close to Job. He's giving God "what for". Job figures he's got nothing left but his life and if his life is this bad.... well,,,, God can take that too..... but Job refuses to say he did something wrong. Job doesn't want to be punished for something he didn't think he did. There's a sacrifice for that..... a sacrifice "just in case". That's the kind of sacrifice Job gave for his children.
Leviticus 5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated (although he did not know it at the time, but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity 18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his error which he committed (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven. 19 It is a guilt offering; he was surely guilty before the Lord.”
So Job had covered all his bases..... and in Job's eyes..... God found him guilty of something else. Job says.... don't just punish me.... tell me what I did wrong!
This is from Bibletrack.org.
This chapter is a continuation of Job's third speech which began in Job 9 (see notes), a response to Bildad's speech. For an outline of the Book of Job, click here. Job's at it again - expressing unbearable grief. Job's speech shifts gears in verse 2 as he appears to be addressing God himself with his thoughts. As he cries out to God, it is interesting that he's not asking for healing or restoration; he just wants to know "why!" Maybe it's just me, but if I was covered with oozing sores, I'd be asking for a little physical healing, but Job is just intent on knowing - "...shew me wherefore thou contendest with me." The remainder of chapter 10 is Job addressing God in the presence of his friends. So, let's go over the dilemma again: Job's theology (and that of his friends) consists of the doctrine that when bad things happen, it's because of sin; God is punishing.
This concept of trial, without the presence of sin, is a completely foreign doctrine to all of them. Job's problem? He was a man who was meticulous about shunning sin and serving God. In his mind, his theology of God has crash landed. Now, from his friends' perspectives, he must be a closet sinner - a theory that even seems a little amusing to them; they seem to take a little pleasure in believing that goody-goody Job was, in reality, not as righteous as they thought. From Job's perspective, he's more interested in understanding his circumstances than physical restoration.
Nowhere in the whole book does Job ask God for healing or restoration - just answers.In this chapter he presents himself as a marked man without hope. He doesn't feel he has a chance as we see in verse 16, "Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me." Then in verse 19 he does his death-wish routine again, "I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. "
I'd like to say "been there". There have been a lot of times in my life when I couldn't figure out what I had done to make God so angry with me. My story is a lot different than Job's though..... God was still entertaining satan every now and then back in Job's day. Jesus has been here since then.... and now when I do something wrong... Jesus is there as my defense lawyer.... so to speak.....
Job does bring up a pretty clever thought tho.... check out verse 4. God created man..... God created man's ability to feel emotional pain. It's one of those things that He gave us that a lot of animals don't have...... He created emotions....
God had created humans with emotions..... but God understands emotions.... He created emotions before He gave them to humans..... but one thing God hadn't experienced..... God hadn't been a human dealing with emotions..... God didn't know how Job felt...... He could see all the appropriate responses.... and He understood why Job was behaving that way.... But God hadn't been a human dealing with emotions. God had no firsthand experience..... until Jesus..... Jesus felt emotions as a human..... and that way God could know what it's like to go through emotions as a human.
We're all closet sinners..... there are some sins we just don't share.... [Well maybe not Job]
