Teaching Notes

TH1086: JOB

As we move into Job chapter 31, Job is continuing to declare his innocence before his three friends; Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. They felt all the calamity that has come upon the life of Job was the direct result of some hidden sin in his life. And even though they could not find any, they still traveled down that path, even resorting to listening and repeating some of the rumors that were being spread around about the various things that Job had done.

Now these three friends have run out of things to accuse Job of, as their words finally ended and they ran out of gas. Now Job is going to let them have it for 6 chapters, finishing up in chapter 31, where we will pick up our story as Job continues to maintain his innocence before them.

JOB 31

VERSE 1

1. Job is saying that he has not looked with lust or looked intently upon another woman. Now this was not just by accident, but Job made a covenant with his eyes or he purposed in his heart not to do these things. And this is not only for lustful desires, but this covenant, this conscious decision effected all areas of his life.

2. As Christians we know that our righteousness is like filthy rags and we can only stand in the righteousness that has been imputed to us by Jesus Christ. That is positional righteousness and many times that is as far as Christians go. But Peter said "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" I Peter 1:13-16. That is practical righteousness where we purpose in our heart not to let lust enter our eyes and our minds, causing us to stumble in our relationship with God. We should have that desire to walk in righteousness. We need to make a conscious decision on our part to live as God wants us to live.

VERSES 2-4

1. God not only knows everything we do, but everything we think. Hebrews 4:13 says that "...there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Many feel that because they can do evil, God either is not aware or can't do anything about it. They will not get away with anything!

VERSES 5-8

1. Job is willing to have his life actions be placed in the balances of God, a just balance, and if it comes up short, he is willing to be judged accordingly. But Job feels that he has tried to do good and his life reflected that.

2. Today people feel if our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds then we will be accepted by God. Even Orthodox Jewish people today feel this way. As the day of Atonement approaches they try to do many good deeds to outweigh they bad they have done throughout the year so that they will be accepted by God. But that is not God's standard. In Leviticus 17:11 we read "'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'" And that has not changed, it only has been completed in the work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Hebrews 9:13-15 says "For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."

VERSES 9-10

1. Job is denying that he has been involved in a adulterous relationship, and if he has, he is willing to be judged for it.

VERSES 11-12

1. Sin has a way of destroying peoples lives. Solomon said in Proverbs 6:27-28 "Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?" You can't play with fire without getting burned. Many of you remember Ted Bundy who was that serial killer who raped women. In an interview before his execution he said that pornographic material began to consume his life till he needed more and more of it and finally he needed to act out these desires to satisfy his lusts. Now not everyone who reads pornographic material will become a serial killer, but it will effect your life in a negative way, for God even warns us not to play with fire, but will we listen?

VERSES 13-15

1. I wish people would listen to what Job is saying. He is telling us that he doesn't treat people differently because of their social status, the color of their skin, their nationality, because God has created us all, from kings to servants. We should treat people with fairness and kindness for we all have been fashioned by the hand of God.

VERSES 16-23

1. Job says that he has never walked away from anyone in need, but has come to their aid and given to them what they needed to live, be it food, clothing, even help against their enemies. Job was doing what James 1:22 admonishes us to do. He said "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."

2. Why did Job do this? Because of his fear of the Lord. Not that God was some monster ready to pounce on Job, but a fear that speaks of reverence, respect. It is out of that kind of relationship that causes us to strive after holiness. Can it be that the church has lost its fear of the Lord and because of that we have also lost our hatred for sin, for evil?

VERSES 24-28

1. Job did not worship his wealth, or placed his confidence in it. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, 24 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

2. The worship of the heavens - the sun, moon and constellations was very popular and, of course, very pagan. The whole idea behind the tower of Babel was not to build a tower to reach up into heaven but an observatory to worship and communicate with the heavens. And Job did not do this.

3. To kiss your hand speaks of loving yourself, self gratification, which again Job has not done. Paul warned Timothy that in the last days men will be lovers of self and that is what we see today. Self has become a virtue in the church today and it is to be built up, but Jesus said "...'If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?'"

VERSE 29

1. How many times are we ready to rejoice when others fail? How many times are we ready to say "I told you so!" when others stumble. That is not the heart of Jesus and it should not be what flows from our heart either!

VERSE 30

1. Sometimes we are like James and John, ready to call fire down from heaven to destroy the wicked. But Job is saying that he has not cursed his enemies - maybe because he was praying for them!

VERSES 31-34

1. Job lived his life in the open for all to see. He did not try to hide his sin as Adam did. After Adam and Eve sinned they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves and as they heard the sound of God walking in the garden, they hid themselves. And God called to them, not because He didn't know where they were, but because He wanted Adam to confess his sin, what he had done. You see, their fellowship was broken and God was trying to restore it. He does the same with us. He wants us to bring our sins before Him, to confess them so we are aware of what we did and will not grow accustom to it.

VERSES 35-36

1. God does keep a record for the righteous and the unrighteous. For the righteous they will receive their rewards for their good works at the Bema seat of Christ. For the unrighteous, their evil deeds will be given back to them in the form of punishment as they are cast into the lake of fire for eternity.

VERSES 37-40

1. Job concludes by saying if he did do any of these things, then let the judgment of God come upon his life by allowing thistles and weeds to destroy his crops.

JOB 32

VERSE 1

1. These guys saw the futility of arguing with Job anymore. Because Job would not admit that he was wrong, that he had sinned, they saw him as self-righteous. For Job, he was not self-righteous but he was righteous because of his faith in God which produced fruit in his life, or good works.

VERSE 2

1. I said before that by now a large crowd could have gathered to hear these encounters between Job and his friends, and within that crowd was Elihu. Now according to Genesis 22:21, Abraham's brother, Nahor, had two sons, Huz and Buz. Thus, Elihu is a descendant of the family of Buz, making him a Buzite.

2. Elihu sees Job building himself up, making himself self-righteous, and putting God down.

VERSES 3-4

1. Elihu was upset because Job's friend could not find sin in Job's life and yet they condemned him. He saw their reasoning as faulty.

2. Also, in our society today the elderly are looked down upon, they are seen as a burden, while in Job's time they were highly respected. We should learn from that example.

VERSE 5

1. These guys ran out of gas and had nothing left to say, but Elihu wants them to continue, not to stop.

VERSES 6-9

1. That is very true, age does not always equal wisdom. In fact wisdom is given to us by God. It is applying the truths of God, found in the Word of God, in our life. Proverbs 2:6-9 says "For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path."

VERSE 10

1. That is one of the big problems today, everyone wants to declare their own opinion, which is worthless. The only important opinion, if you want to call it that, is what God has to say in His Word.

VERSES 11-14

1. Elihu is saying that he has listened very patiently to the words of these three guys and they have come up short and not convinced Job of his error. And because Job has not spoken harshly to Elihu, like he has to these other guys, Elihu is not going to come out defending himself but will speak new words to Job to try and get him to see his error.

VERSES 15-19

1. Elihu can't hold his words back any longer, he is ready to burst!

VERSES 20-22

1. Elihu does not want to show partiality, he does not want to be a respector of persons. And that is a good thing, for God is not a respector of persons. In James chapter 2, James is telling us not to respect people because of their wealth or influence on society by placing them up front and the poor in the back of the church. We should treat all people with the same love that Christ has shown us!

JOB 33

VERSES 1-6

1. Remember back in Job 9:33, Job said "Nor is there any mediator between us, Who may lay his hand on us both." Well here comes Elihu saying that he is that man who can stand in the gap and bring Job and God together. Job doesn't have to fear, because Elihu is here! I think Elihu is thinking a little to highly of himself here.

VERSE 7

1. Job has said that he feared God, but Elihu is saying not to worry for he will not come down hard on Job.

VERSES 8-9

1. Job was not perfect and he knew that. When he did fail he offered the appropriate sacrifices to atone for his sin. And yet, Elihu is misrepresenting what Job said. May we be careful in how we speak of others, and how we represent them to other people.

VERSES 10-11

1. Job felt that God was punishing him, although he did not know why.

VERSES 12-13

1. Elihu is right, God does not have to answer to man. Isaiah 64:8 says "But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand." We, being lumpy clay in the hands of the master potter, how can we argue or dispute with what He is doing, which is forming us into a vessel of honor for His use.

VERSES 14-18

1. God speaks to us in many ways, even when we are asleep He puts thoughts in our mind. Why? To keep us on track. To keep us from destruction. To keep us from doing things that will only bring pain and hurt into our lives because He loves us.

VERSES 19-22

1. Job's three friends maintained that the things happening to Job were a direct result of sin in his life. Elihu is saying that God has brought this upon Job because He is chastening Job to get him to confess his sin and get back on track. Closer to the truth but again, Job has not sinned.

VERSES 23-28

1. Elihu is calling for Job to get back on track and God will restore him, he will have that abundant life once again.

VERSES 29-30

1. God gives us many chances to get right with Him. If He only gave us 2 or 3 chances we all would be in trouble.

VERSES 31-32

1. Elihu is trying to be a friend to Job, telling him that he is only looking out for Job's best interests.

VERSE 33

1. Seems like a very proud statement by Elihu, especially knowing the wisdom that Job had. Not that we all can't learn from others, but it seems very bold on Elihu's part to say these things.