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Job 23:1 Then Job answered and said,

Job 23:2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

Job 23:6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

Job 23:7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Job 23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

Job 23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

Job 23:14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Job 23:15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

Job 23:16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

Job 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

Introduction

Eliphaz has just finished his third and final attempt to convince a man he had come to comfort inhis trial, that he is ‘a sinner above all men’.

In his final attempt to do so, he pulled out all the stops and made completely unfounded accusations against the character of the man he called his ‘friend’. Job was his honored ‘friend’ only while Job was prosperous.

What a commentary of the experience of our Lord Himself. He was quite popular as long as the free fish and bread kept coming, and as long as He continued to “heal their sick”.

Mat 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

Mat 14:15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

Mat 14:16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

Mat 14:17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

Mat 14:18 He said, Bring them hither to me.

Mat 14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

Mat 14:20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelvebaskets full.

When Christ told the multitudes that there would be no more free meals, and when He told them that “The flesh profits nothing”, many of His disciples “went back and walked no more with Him”.

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

When the multitudes came to realize that following Christ was not a physically prosperous endeavor, they left Him in droves. In the same manner, Job was very popular while he had something physical to offer his friends. But when Job became destitute, and was “stricken of God” he was no longer worthy of the “inward friend” status he had before his trial. It was Job’s judgment by God, which separated him from his so- called friends. This is all a treatise on what we all do to our Lord while we are those in Babylon who want only the gifts and the things of the letter and of the flesh. We don’t want to hear of judgment or dying to the flesh at this part of our walk. Yet like those Jews who believed on Christ and at the same time wanted Him dead, these are very religious friends who considered Job’s judgment to be proof of a life of hidden sins, sins which Eliphaz now feels are so certain that he can name them.

Job 22:5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?

Job 22:6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.

Job 22:7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.

Job 22:8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.

Job 22:9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.

Job 22:10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

There was not one word from one witness on record to back up any of these false accusations. When Eliphaz’s friend’s fortunes turned sour and his friend lost all his earthly possessions, and even all his children all in the matter of just a few hours, Eliphaz, as the Old Testament type of our own self- righteous Babylonian Pharisee, concluded that if God Himself was obviously displeased with Job, then it must be because Job was much more a sinner than himself. This is how we all naturally think of our brothers and sisters when we see them under severe trials.

This is so true that we have this New Testament example of Christ’s own disciples to show us that we all just naturally think in the same pattern of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar:

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Just like Job’s accusers, Christ’s disciples thought that the most obvious thing in the world was that this man, or his parents, was a sinner above all men to be born blind.

Christ warns us against this inevitable human reaction at seeing tragedy befall our brothers:

Luk 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

Luk 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

Luk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

We all do this, and in doing so, all the things that happened to Job are just a type of what we have done to Christ and to His Christ:

Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

When we look down upon our brother who is being judged, we are doing that to Christ Himself as He was stricken by God:

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

While Eliphaz is the Old Testament type of who we are as our brother’s self- righteous accusers, Job is the Old Testament type of who we are as God’s elect who are the first to be judged for our own self- righteousness. The more Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar accuse Job, the more certain and convinced Job becomes of his own righteousness.

As the Old Testament type of us, in defending Himself against the accusations of his accusers, Job is also contending with and condemning his Creator (Job 40:1-8):

Job 23:1 Then Job answered and said,

Job 23:2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

“My complaint [ is] bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.” Job is saying that his complaint and his groaning are less that the pain which the wrath that God is pouring out upon him warrants. In other words, Job actually thinks that his complaint is not equal to the affliction he is suffering at God’s hand.

The fact is that the Hebrew word translated ‘bitterness’ appears in the Old Testament 23 times, and in every instance but this one it is translated in the King James as rebellious, rebellion and once as rebels.

H4805

mer y

Total KJV Occurrences: 23

rebellious, 17

Isa_30:9, Eze_3:5-9 (6), Eze_3:26-27 (2), Eze_12:2-3 (3), Eze_12:9, Eze_12:25, Eze_17:12, Eze_24:3, Eze_44:6

rebellion, 4

Deu_31:27, 1Sa_15:23, Neh_9:17, Pro_17:11

bitter, 1

Job_23:2

rebels, 1

Num_17:10

Many of the various translations have caught this. Here is how Rotherham’s translates this verse:

(Rotherham) Even to- day, is my complaint rebellion? His hand, is heavier than my groaning.

This is obviously a much better translation in the light of the fact that Job complains repeatedly of how God is dealing with him. For example:

Job 34:5 For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

Job 34:6 Should I lie against my right? my wound is incurable without transgression.

The fact is that the word translated ‘stroke’ is the Hebrew word ‘yad’, which appears in the Old Testament 1536 times. Of those appearances, 1088 times it is translated as ‘hand’, and another 275 times it is translated in the plural ‘hands’, for a total of 1363 times. The only time it is ever translated as ‘stroke’ is here in this verse.

H3027

ya d

Total KJV Occurrences: 1536

hand, 1088

hands, 275

That Job is complaining of God’s chastening wrath is clear from this verse where we see the only other place where this word ‘stroke’ appears in the book of Job. However this is time the word ‘stroke’ is translated from an entirely different Hebrew word, and in this case the English word ‘stroke’ is more appropriate for describing God’s chastening wrath upon Job’s self- righteousness. In this instance the speaker is Elihu who is speaking for God Himself and makes this revealing statement concerning God’s wrath upon Job:

Job 36:18 Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.

Here is the Hebrew word translated ‘stroke’ in this verse:

H5607

se pheq s epheq

say’- fek, seh’- fek

From H5606; chastisement; also satiety: – stroke, sufficiency.

Moses and King David reveal that God’s wrath can and indeed does destroy our old man.

Exo 32:10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

Psa 78:38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.

Job has no doubt that he is suffering God’s wrath. He just cannot understand why.

Job 19:11 He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.

There are those who know God and His Son. They know exactly where God and Christ dwell. On the other hand, there are those who do not know God and His Son, and they do not know where They are. But even those who do know God and His Son and who know where they are, did not at first know Him or where He is. We all start out just as Job:

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

We have no idea who or what we are dealing with when we have such thoughts, and we all have just such thoughts when we come “to [ our] wits end” (Psa 107: 27). Here is a verse that gives us an idea “of Him with whom we have to do”:

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Not knowing where God is does not keep Job, the type of us, from ‘filling his mouth with arguments and ordering his cause before God’.

Job 23:5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

Job 23:6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

Job 23:7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Oh, yes, we will indeed “know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.” Here are just a few of those “Living… powerful… sharp… piercing” words:

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,

Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,

Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Job 40:7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

Job 40:9 Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

The answer to Job’s question is, yes, God does indeed “plead against” our old man “with His great power”. But as that old man is weakened and destroyed, God does strengthen our new man. Job knows nothing of an “old man” who needs to die, nor does he know anything about a “new man” who must be strengthened and increased within us all:

Joh 3:30 He must increase [ the new heavenly man], but I [ the old earthly man] must decrease.

Joh 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

But Job and all of the Old Testament prophets knew nothing of the spiritual salvation that was to be given to us. Here is an incredible statement inspired by the holy spirit through the pen of the apostle Peter. These verses reveal just how cut off from God we are before we are “given… eyes that see and ears that hear”:

1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

So Job’s entire trial and all his suffering and the rewards he reaped following his great trial did not minister to himself or to his friends, “but unto us”. It will in time minister to them, “every man in his order”, but their order is to simply “testify beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow”. In the meantime, it is revealed to them that “not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister”. So Job tells us of the frustration we all feel when we do not know God or His Son, and we have no idea where they are:

Job 23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

Job 23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

This is exactly what Christ reveals God does to all of us while we think we know God, and while we think we believe on Christ, but we do not even hear what he says, much less do what He says. This is exactly what Christ reveals He is doing at this very moment to the masses who are to this day coming to him, calling Him ‘Lord, Lord’ but not able to hear His words and do His Father’s expressed will:

Mat 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

These are not words about others. These are words which describe you and me for many long years. We hear but we hear not, we see, but we perceive not, until we are given by our heavenly Father eyes to see and ears to hear.

“On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him”. What takes place on God’s left hand? Here is what we are told:

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Only because we have been steeped in the lies of Babylon does this all sound so final for these poor “goats on his left hand”. The scriptures reveal that we are all first on God’s left hand as goats, and we all “go away into aionian punishment” and “suffer loss” in “the fire” before we are transformed into “the sheep” who enter into the city and drink freely of the water of life.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

It is true that the goats do not reign with Christ during the thousand years, and it is true that the goats are not called overcomers of the wicked one. But even the goats are, “in [ their] own order” (1Co 15:23), redeemed and given the white robes which are “made white in the blood of the lamb” (Rev 7:9-17).

So it is on God’s left hand that all of this work is done. Here it all is in the prophet Micah:

Mic 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Mic 4:9 Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

Mic 4:10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

“… Go even to Babylon; there shalt you be delivered”. It is in Babylon that we find all these goats. It is “on His left hand” that He does all this work. ” On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:”

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

God knows our ways because He had every day of that ‘way’ written in His book, before any of those days came to be.

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

Before any of our predestined days came to be, God had already written into “His book” all the trials of those days. Job’s trials “happened to him and they are written” as the Old Testament type and shadow of the trials which “when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold”. Gold is purified by fire as the type of how every vestige of rebellion against His ways is to be burnt out of us as His firstfruit harvest.

Job 23:11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

Job 23:12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job’s opinion of himself is as a spotless lamb of God who has feared God and has put God’s words above his need for physical nourishment. He has not the least hint of the insidious sin of self- righteousness and how it robs God of His sovereignty. Job actually believes that he has “kept… God’s ways” in every way possible. At the same time he knows that a sovereign God is working everything after the counsel of His own will, including the trials he is enduring which seem so unjust to a man as righteous as he is.

So he confesses:

Job 23:13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

“What His soul desires, even that He does” has us to know for certain that if God “will [ is to] have all men to be saved and to come a knowledge of the Truth… even that He [ will do]”.

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us- ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Here are two other versions of 1Ti 2:4 which present the concept of salvation for all in Adam as a vain wish on God’s part:

(ASV) who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth.

(BBE) Whose desire is that all men may have salvation and come to the knowledge of what is true.

The second book of Chronicles agrees with the rest of scripture:

2Ch 20:5 And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,

2Ch 20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

God’s will is not dependent upon the will of mankind. “What His soul desires, even that he does”, makes it clear that God really is “working all things after the counsel of His own will and that our salvation is not of him that wills but of God who shows mercy.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

“His own will”, not ours, is how God is working “all things” – not just some things. He repeats this truth in Rom 9:

Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Job may be confused about why God is doing what He is doing in his life, but he has absolutely no doubt that it is God who is doing it:

Job 23:14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Do we dare to doubt that Job is a type of us, and that it is God who “performs the thing that is appointed for me… [ and that] it is not of him that wills but of God that shows mercy”? How can we doubt that our own afflictions are also “appointed [ for us, and is being] performed” by God?

Job 23:15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

Job 23:16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

Job 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

Job knows that his trouble is all the work of God in his life. “When [ he] considers [ this he] is afraid of [ God]”. “God makes my heart soft” is not to be understood as Job having a repentant and pliant heart. The Hebrew words for “heart soft” is “rakak labe”, the same phrase rendered “fainthearted” in this verse in Isaiah.

Isa 7:4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted [ Hebrew, rakak labab] for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Job is nowhere near repentance. He is just getting started at ‘ordering his cause before God and filling his mouth with arguments’.

Job 23:4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

“For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me” should be translated ‘God make my heart faint, and the Almighty troubles me’.

“Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither has he covered the darkness from my face”, is just a repetition of Job’s complaint that God had not let him die.

Job 3:11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

Job may want this trial to be over, but he is not yet at his “wits’ end”, and until that appointed time he will, as the type of each of us, continue to reprove, contend with and condemn his Creator.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will continue to hear how Job compares his own righteousness to some evil publican, who is apparently so inferior to Job that he must be “a sinner above all men’. Job cannot understand God’s ways in dealing with him, and he wants God to know exactly how he feels about that.

Here is Job’s continued complaint:

Job 24:1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days?

Job 24:2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.

Job 24:3 They drive away the ass of the fatherless, they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

Job 24:4 They turn the needy out of the way: the poor of the earth hide themselves together.

Job 24:5 Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

Job 24:6 They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.

Job 24:7 They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.

Job 24:8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.

Job 24:9 They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor.

Job 24:10 They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;

Job 24:11 Which make oil within their walls, and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.

Job 24:12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.

Job 24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.