11/25/2011 8:41:15 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Job looks around at God’s judgment
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Job 30
Message of the verses: We have to give credit to Job for not wanting to stay in the past, but looking at the reality of what is going on right now in his life. This is a sign of maturity for Job.
Dr. Wiersbe points out that there are five complaints that Job will bring up in chapter thirty that will parallel the joys that he had named in chapter twenty-nine, and we want to look at those five complaints in this SD. I will make a list of the complaints and give the parallel verses from chapter twenty-nine at the beginning of this SD, and then we will look at them.
1. “I have no respect” (30:1-15) (see 29:7-11)
2. “I have no blessing” (30:16-23) (see 29:2-6)
3. “I have no help)” (30:24-25) (see 29:12-17)
4. “I have no future” (30:26-28) (see 29:18-20)
5. “I have no ministry” (20:29-31) (see 29:21-25)
“I have no respect” (Job 30:1-15): “1 ¶ "But now those younger than I mock me, Whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock. 2 "Indeed, what good was the strength of their hands to me? Vigor had perished from them. 3 "From want and famine they are gaunt Who gnaw the dry ground by night in waste and desolation, 4 Who pluck mallow by the bushes, And whose food is the root of the broom shrub. 5 "They are driven from the community; They shout against them as against a thief, 6 So that they dwell in dreadful valleys, In holes of the earth and of the rocks. 7 "Among the bushes they cry out; Under the nettles they are gathered together. 8 "Fools, even those without a name, They were scourged from the land. 9 "And now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them. 10 "They abhor me and stand aloof from me, And they do not refrain from spitting at my face. 11 "Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me, They have cast off the bridle before me. 12 "On the right hand their brood arises; They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction. 13 "They break up my path, They profit from my destruction; No one restrains them. 14 "As through a wide breach they come, Amid the tempest they roll on. 15 Terrors are turned against me; They pursue my honor as the wind, And my prosperity has passed away like a cloud.”
Job begins chapter thirty by saying “But now” which means that he is going to talk about something that is different and something that is not good.
What we seen in this section is actually a good picture of what the Lord Jesus Christ would go through when vial men would do similar things to Him as these vial men were doing to Job. Job did not realize that even though he was sitting on an ash heap in the eyes of the Lord Job had been promoted in the highest possible way. We look at Philippians 3:10 and this will help us understand that Job was actually sharing in the sufferings of Christ: “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
“I have no blessing” (Job 30:26-23): “16 "And now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction have seized me. 17 "At night it pierces my bones within me, And my gnawing pains take no rest. 18 "By a great force my garment is distorted; It binds me about as the collar of my coat. 19 "He has cast me into the mire, And I have become like dust and ashes. 20 "I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. 21 "You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me. 22 "You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride; And You dissolve me in a storm. 23 "For I know that You will bring me to death And to the house of meeting for all living.”
In this section Job is surely making his complaints to God and he goes through some of the torments that he was facing every day and every night. He prays for relief, but no relief comes from God and then he surely believes that he is about to die (v-23). Job is in such intense pain that he does not believe that his life will last much longer, but it won’t be too long before he will change his mind.
“I have no hope” (Job 30 24-25): “24 "Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, Or in his disaster therefore cry out for help? 25 "Have I not wept for the one whose life is hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy?”
Job remembers all of the people that he had helped when he was able to help them, but now no one seems to want to help Job. I think that there were probably some people who was glad to see bad things happen to Job because of the fact that he was so rich and there were some who would be jealous over Job’s riches.
I also believe that Job has helped countless people who have read the book of Job and found themselves in similar positions and draw great comfort from his suffering and pain knowing that God saw him through this difficult time and believe that He will do the same for them.
Dr. Wiersbe give a quote from Mark Twain that goes along with this section: “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bit you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.”
What should our motives be when we help others, are we doing it so that they will someday help us in return? I believe that the answer to this should be no, but it is not always no. We help others who are in need because of the love of Christ that is in our hearts, knowing what Christ did for us on the cross was something we could never do for ourselves, and Christ’s motivation was His great love for us, and in the same way we should show love to others.
“I have not future” (Job 30:26-28): “26 "When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came. 27 "I am seething within and cannot relax; Days of affliction confront me. 28 "I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.”
We remember that in the last SD which covered chapter 29 Job though that he would live a long and prosperous life, but now he has changed his mind and it is because of what God is doing to him that he changes his mind. He says that he expected good and God sent evil, and he expected light and God sent darkness.
Hope is something that is very hard to live without, and yet Job had gotten to the point where he had lost his hope, and this was not a good thing.
“I have not ministry” (Job 30:29-31): “29 "I have become a brother to jackals And a companion of ostriches. 30 "My skin turns black on me, And my bones burn with fever. 31 "Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.”
Job in the past had many people who would listen to him, and he helped many people, but now he feels that that is over and he has become “a brother to jackals and a companion to ostriches.” The songs that are playing for Job now were songs of a funeral dirge, as Job has lost all hope.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I can truly say that I am happy to study the book of Job, for God has showed me things from this book that I may not have learned from any other book. I have a great deal of sympathy for Job and what he went through, and hopefully this will help me in helping others who are going through difficult times in their lives.
As I stated earlier that even through Job felt that his life was worthless at the time of his suffering, it was not for God was using it for His glory and for Job’s good, and also for those who would read and study the book of Job and learn things from it that would help them in times of trouble.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Trust the Lord even though times are difficult at this time, remembering Job’s experiences.
2. Continue to have a desire to learn contentment.
3. Give myself to the Lord for worship and for service today.
11/25/2011 9:49:49 AM
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