JOB 23-24 - Job’s reply

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

CHAPTER 23

** Job desired to take his case to God and find justice

• Despite the anguish and doubts, Job wanted to find God and not run from Him!

• Job was convinced God had been unfair to him, for Job had ‘closely followed His steps’

• Perhaps this is the greatest evidence of Job’s godliness; despite everything, Job wanted to draw close to God

• Job trusted God enough to want to know Him better  <R1795>

Job 23:2-7 NIV

[2] “Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. [3] If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! [4] I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. [5] I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me. [6] Would he vigorously oppose me? No, he would not press charges against me. [7] There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge.

** Job confessed his lack of understanding and need of divine judgment

Job 23:8-9 NIV

[8] “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. [9] When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

** Though Job was presently in as hot a furnace as he could possibly endure, he believed he was put into it by a skillful Refiner for the purifying of his soul from dross  <S179>

Job 23:10 NIV

[10] But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

• Those who are truly godly learn to view the hand of God both in their comforts and in their troubles

• They know that affliction does not come by chance but from the hand of Him who directs everything with consummate wisdom

Isaiah 48:10 NIV

[10] See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Zechariah 13:9 NIV

[9] This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God. ' ”

Revelation 3:19 NIV

[19] Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

Job 5:17 NIV

[17] “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

Hebrews 12:10-11 NIV

[10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

** Afflictions tend to purify us. Before some of the vessels of the temple could be used for sacred purposes, they had to be put into the fire.

Just so, before we are prepared for the Master's use, it is necessary that we pass through the furnace of affliction.

The human heart, like the soil of the earth, has to be torn up by the plowshare of tribulation, before it will produce much fruit of holiness.  <T204>

Job 23:10 NIV

[10] But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

Isaiah 48:10 NIV

[10] See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

** Spiritual growth is always marked by a craving for and delight in God’s word with the intensity with which a baby craves milk  <M130>

1 Peter 2:2 NIV

[2] Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation

Job 23:12 NIV

[12] I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

Psalm 19:7-11 NIV

[7] The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. [8] The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. [9] The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. [10] They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. [11] By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Jeremiah 15:16 NIV

[16] When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.

** We cannot KNOW God if we don't know His Word and His revelation

• Every passage unfolds truth about Him and can help us grow

• We can know ABOUT God through other means, such as Christian books, but we cannot know God apart from His word!

• Do we love God's Word more than anything as described by Job?

Job 23:12 NIV

[12] I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.

** How blessed that elementary truth: the Lord reigns!

To know that there is no chance or accident with God, for He decrees the fall of a sparrow, destruction of an atom and annihilation of a world! The Almighty is not like Baal, asleep. He who keeps Israel can never for a moment slumber.

Man proposes, but God disposes. 'You, Lord have done it' is the history of every event: past, present and to come. His purposes none can change. His counsels none can resist.

Believer, how cheering to know that all that befalls you is thus ordered in the eternal purpose of a Covenant God! Every minute circumstance of your lot; appointing the bounds of your habitation; meting out every drop in the cup of life; arranging what by you is called its "vicissitudes;" decreeing all its trials; and at last, as the great Proprietor of life, revoking the lease of existence when its allotted term has expired!

How it should keep the mind from its guilty proneness to brood and fret over second causes, were this grand but simple truth ever realized--that all that befalls us are integral parts in a stupendous plan of wisdom; that there is no crossing or thwarting the designs and dealings of God.  <M129>

Psalm 135:6 NIV

[6] The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.

Psalm 33:11 NIV

[11] But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Job 23:13 NIV

[13] “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases.

Isaiah 46:10 NIV

[10] I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'

Psalm 115:3 NIV

[3] Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

Revelation 19:6 NIV

[6] Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

** Job had a righteous fear of God because of His power and sovereignty

Job 23:13-16 NIV

[13] “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases. [14] He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store. [15] That is why I am terrified before him; when I think of all this, I fear him. [16] God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.

CHAPTER 24

** Job continues to describe the evil of men and ask where God's justice is in this

• Job observed that the wicked often prosper, accumulating wealth through unjust means like seizing land from the poor or exploiting the vulnerable

• He questioned why God seems to allow this apparent injustice to continue

Job 24:1,14 NIV

[1] “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? [14] When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up, kills the poor and needy, and in the night steals forth like a thief.