What I Noticed Today (Job 6-8)
Job 6-7
Job’s first response to Eliphaz.
Job 6
In verses 1-7, Job begins saying that his suffering was what was driving his complaint and that his complaining should be excused because of the anguish he was enduring.
In verses 8-13, Job says he hoped God would grant his request for death because there was no relief from his suffering that would come from man. He took solace in knowing that he remained innocent before God.
In verses 14-23, Job expressed disappointment in his friends. He felt that his friends should be loyal, and they should support a man in despair. He had expected help (comfort), but they were afraid to give it.
In verses 24-30, Job then pleaded with his friends to explain to him what he had done wrong. How had he sinned?
Job 7
In Job 7, Job suggests that his life has no hope.
In verses 1-5, Job describes God as a hard taskmaster, and mankind like a soldier, a hired hand, a slave, or a worker waiting to be paid.
In verses 6-21, Job prays to God:
- Job refers to the brevity and hopelessness of life (vv. 6-10).
- Job speaks of the anguish of his spirit and the bitterness of his soul (vv. 11-12).
- Job accuses God of frightening him with dreams and visions (vv. 13-15).
- Job recognizes he will not live forever and asks God to leave him alone and stop testing him (vv. 16-19).
- Job closes, asking God what sin he had committed and why God had not forgiven him since he is about to die.
Job 8
Job 8 begins Bildad’s first response to Job.
Note: Bildad speaks as an apologist, defending God and challenging Job to repent. While Eliphaz suggested that Job resented God’s justice, Bildad suggested Job did not respect God’s justice. In both cases, their suggestion to Job was to repent, and God would restore him. Their belief was that God would have only punished Job if he had done something wrong, so this great calamity that befell him was evidence that Job needed to repent.
In verses 1-7, Bildad defends God’s justice
- Bildad accuses Job of being a blustery wind.
- Bildad suggests Job should not complain because God never perverts justice, so God was not punishing Job without reason; he must have done something to deserve punishment.
- Bildad says Job’s children died because they had sinned against God.
- Bildad says if Job was pure and upright, God would restore him.
In verses 8-10, Bildad says his proof of Job’s sin leading to God’s immediate judgment was that was what previous generations of wise men believed.
In verses 11-19, Bildad provides three cause and effect examples of plants and insects. His point is men wither and die when separated from God, and if Job were righteous, God would sustain him.
In verses 20-22, as Bildad closes, he restates the premise that God only punishes the sinner and does not build up the wicked.
Some thoughts for additional consideration:
- With friends like these who needs enemies!
- The prevailing view at that time was that God blessed the righteous and punished the wicked. Both the blessing and the punishment were immediate, so whenever they saw a successful person, the assumption was that they were righteous. Anyone who was poor or suffered tragedy was simply a result of having sinned and not repented of their sin before God.
- I’m not sure how they explained away the powerful, wealthy people who were wicked or the seemingly impoverished people who were righteous.
What did you notice in your study today? Feel free to visit the website and leave a question or a comment.
