His Friends Are Miserable Comforters – Job 14-16

Joy: You’re listening to Season 2 of the Lifting Her Voice podcast.  This is Episode #156 and today we’ll read Job chapters 14-16 together.   And, spoiler Alert:  Job actually says his friends are miserable comforters.  Ouch!  

Welcome

Welcome to the Lifting Her Voice podcast, Season 2!  I’m your host, Joy Miller, and I invite you to grab your Bible and join me – from the beginning – simply reading God’s word together.  We built some spiritual muscles in 2020 with just the New Testament.  But this year we’re going all out, cover-to-cover, Old Testament and New.  So, whether with your first cup in the morning, your commute to work, or as the last thing on your mind before sleep, God’s Word will equip you for every good work.  I’m really glad you’re here!

Job Chapter 14

Anyone born of woman

is short of days and full of trouble.

He blossoms like a flower, then withers;

he flees like a shadow and does not last.

Do you really take notice of one like this?

Will you bring me into judgment against you?

Who can produce something pure from what is impure?

No one!

Since a person’s days are determined

and the number of his months depends on you,

and since you have set limits he cannot pass,

look away from him and let him rest

so that he can enjoy his day like a hired worker.

There is hope for a tree:

If it is cut down, it will sprout again,

and its shoots will not die.

If its roots grow old in the ground

and its stump starts to die in the soil,

the scent of water makes it thrive

and produce twigs like a sapling.

But a person dies and fades away;

he breathes his last — where is he?

As water disappears from a lake

and a river becomes parched and dry,

so people lie down never to rise again.

They will not wake up until the heavens are no more;

they will not stir from their sleep.

If only you would hide me in Sheol

and conceal me until your anger passes.

If only you would appoint a time for me

and then remember me.

When a person dies, will he come back to life?

If so, I would wait all the days of my struggle

until my relief comes.

You would call, and I would answer you.

You would long for the work of your hands.

For then you would count my steps

but would not take note of my sin.

Job’s Rebellion

My rebellion would be sealed up in a bag,

and you would cover over my iniquity.

But as a mountain collapses and crumbles

and a rock is dislodged from its place,

as water wears away stones

and torrents wash away the soil from the land,

so you destroy a man’s hope.

You completely overpower him, and he passes on;

you change his appearance and send him away.

If his sons receive honor, he does not know it;

if they become insignificant, he is unaware of it.

He feels only the pain of his own body

and mourns only for himself.

Second Series of Speeches

Job Chapter 15

Eliphaz Speaks

Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:

Does a wise man answer with empty counsel

or fill himself with the hot east wind?

Should he argue with useless talk

or with words that serve no good purpose?

But you even undermine the fear of God

and hinder meditation before him.

Your iniquity teaches you what to say,

and you choose the language of the crafty.

Your own mouth condemns you, not I;

your own lips testify against you.

Were you the first human ever born,

or were you brought forth before the hills?

Do you listen in on the council of God,

or have a monopoly on wisdom?

What do you know that we don’t?

What do you understand that is not clear to us?

Both the gray-haired and the elderly are with us—

older than your father.

Are God’s consolations not enough for you,

even the words that deal gently with you?

Why has your heart misled you,

and why do your eyes flash

as you turn your anger against God

and allow such words to leave your mouth?

What is a mere human, that he should be pure,

or one born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

If God puts no trust in his holy ones

and the heavens are not pure in his sight,

how much less one who is revolting and corrupt,

who drinks injustice like water?

Listen to me and I will inform you.

I will describe what I have seen,

what the wise have declared and not concealed,

that came from their ancestors,

to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigner passed among them.

Wealth Will Not Endure

A wicked person writhes in pain all his days,

throughout the number of years reserved for the ruthless.

Dreadful sounds fill his ears;

when he is at peace, a robber attacks him.

He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;

he is destined for the sword.

He wanders about for food, asking, “Where is it?”

He knows the day of darkness is at hand.

Trouble and distress terrify him,

overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.

For he has stretched out his hand against God

and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.

He rushes headlong at him

with his thick, studded shields.

Though his face is covered with fat

and his waistline bulges with it,

he will dwell in ruined cities,

in abandoned houses destined to become piles of rubble.

He will no longer be rich; his wealth will not endure.

His possessions will not increase in the land.

He will not escape from the darkness;

flames will wither his shoots,

and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.

Let him not put trust in worthless things, being led astray,

for what he gets in exchange will prove worthless.

It will be accomplished before his time,

and his branch will not flourish.

He will be like a vine that drops its unripe grapes

and like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms.

For the company of the godless will have no children,

and fire will consume the tents of those who offer bribes.

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil;

their womb prepares deception.

Job Chapter 16

Job’s Reply to Eliphaz

Then Job answered:

I have heard many things like these.

You are all miserable comforters.

Is there no end to your empty words?

What provokes you that you continue testifying?

If you were in my place I could also talk like you.

I could string words together against you

and shake my head at you.

Instead, I would encourage you with my mouth,

and the consolation from my lips would bring relief.

If I speak, my suffering is not relieved,

and if I hold back, does any of it leave me?

Surely he has now exhausted me.

You have devastated my entire family.

You have shriveled me up — it has become a witness;

my frailty rises up against me and testifies to my face.

His anger tears at me, and he harasses me.

He gnashes his teeth at me.

My enemy pierces me with his eyes.

They open their mouths against me

and strike my cheeks with contempt;

they join themselves together against me.

God hands me over to the unjust;

he throws me to the wicked.

I was at ease, but he shattered me;

he seized me by the scruff of the neck

and smashed me to pieces.

He set me up as his target;

his archers surround me.

He pierces my kidneys without mercy

and pours my bile on the ground.

He breaks through my defenses again and again;

he charges at me like a warrior.

I have sewn sackcloth over my skin;

I have buried my strength in the dust.

My face has grown red with weeping,

and darkness covers my eyes,

although my hands are free from violence

and my prayer is pure.

The Way of No Return

Earth, do not cover my blood;

may my cry for help find no resting place.

Even now my witness is in heaven,

and my advocate is in the heights!

My friends scoff at me

as I weep before God.

I wish that someone might argue for a man with God

just as anyone would for a friend.

For only a few years will pass

before I go the way of no return.

Close

Oh, here we go.  One round of “wisdom” wasn’t enough.  All three of Job’s friends are going to take a second turn.  Did you notice that much of what Eliphaz said was actually true?  But his timing stinks.  It also struck me that Job was prophesying in verse 16:11. God did hand him over to the unjust.  Does that make you uncomfortable?  

Finally, did chapter 14 remind you of anyone you know?  It did me.  I have friends who are in real emotional pain.  I bet you do too.  I think they need to know that there are those who have gone before – Job in this case – who have entrusted their pain to God and ultimately not been disappointed. 

Life hurts sometimes.  It’s messy.  It’s nice to know there is a comfort in times of trouble – the word of God.  What do you think?  Share your thoughts with me at Lifting Her Voice.com, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Thank you for joining me here today.  I pray that by spending time in His Word every day, you will by changed.  Visit me at Lifting Her Voice.com with your comments and questions.  And don’t forget to visit the Blog page while you’re there.  If you like the podcast, it would be great if you’d give it a five-star review and share it with everyone you know.  Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.  See you tomorrow!

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible(r), Copyright (c) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(r) and CSB(r) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.