JOBLeon L. Combs, M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

Chapter Twenty Six

We have noticed before that Job’s friends are consistent in upholding their theology regardless of any facts that go against it. It reminds me of people holding onto post-millennialism and using it in their study of Scripture when evidence is against it. However Job is not consistent but we see his understanding of reality shifting as he better understands God and how He works in that reality. He allows himself to be inconsistent and thus develops a wisdom lacking by his friends. One important development is that Job’s understanding of a mediator becomes clearer:

Job 9:33-35 "There is no umpire between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both. (34) "Let Him remove His rod from me, And let not dread of Him terrify me. (35) "Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself.

Job 16:18-19 "O earth, do not cover my blood, And let there be no resting place for my cry. (19) "Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, And my advocate is on high.

Job 19:25-27 "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. (26) "Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; (27) Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!

This is Job’s final answer to Bildad and we see that he now becomes a corrector and a teacher.

Job 26:1-4 Then Job responded, (2) "What a help you are to the weak! How you have saved the arm without strength! (3) "What counsel you have given to one without wisdom! What helpful insight you have abundantly provided! (4) "To whom have you uttered words? And whose spirit was expressed through you?

Job begins with severe sarcasm that he has already stated: Job 12:2 "Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die! Job 17:10 "But come again all of you now, For I do not find a wise man among you.

He has listened to eight speeches and none of them have been any help to him. He sarcastically states how wonderful they have helped such a weak person as I am and how you saved a person whose arms have no strength. What wonderful counsel you gave to me who has no wisdom. You have provided such great insight to me! He then asked them who told them all these wonderful words they have spoken and what was the supernatural spirit that was expressed through them.

Job 26:5-6"The departed spirits tremble Under the waters and their inhabitants. (6) "Naked is Sheol before Him, And Abaddon has no covering.

After mounting such a sarcastic criticism against his friends he now begins a wonderful hymn of praise for God. When interpreting the Bible it is important to remember that the ancients all thought that the sea was a frightening place where underneath its surface lurked fierce beasts. This is the reason that John tells us in the new heavens and earth there will be no sea: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is

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no longer any sea. (Rev 21:1) John is not telling us that there will be no bodies of water but that there will no longer be any fear of the sea. Job starts his praise of God by starting at the lowest point of his understanding. The dead tremble at God who is even under the waters where Sheol exists under His control. Literally the “departed spirits” is “the Raphaim” referring to human beings who are supernaturally strong:

Gen 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

Gen 15:18-20 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: (19) the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite (20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim

Abaddon means “destruction” and was translated later in the Greek as “Apollyon”, the angel of the bottomless pit: They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. (Rev 9:11) Saying that Sheol is naked and Abaddon has no covering means that both are under the control of God. The sovereignty of God extends over everything even the supernatural being in charge of Sheol. Job is then saying that there is no supernatural being who is not under the control of God. He is getting the truth! Now if he could extend this understanding to the possibility that there is a supernatural being causing his suffering under the control of God, he would have his answer!

Job 26:7-10"He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing. (8) "He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them. (9) "He obscures the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it. (10) "He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness.

Job now moves from under the sea to over the ground where he continues to praise God in hymn. The Hebrew word for north is “zaphon” and the reference is probably to Mount Zaphon as later used by Greek mythology where gods dwelt. Job is then saying that God rules from zaphon which He makes infinitely large to suit His needs. Isaiah will later speak of the pride of the King of Babylon in these terms: "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north (zaphon). (Isa 14:13) Job then says that God hangs the earth over nothing reminding us of The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Gen 1:2) He says that God holds a vast amount of water above the clouds that do not collapse under that weight. The picture is the same as in Genesis when God keeps the order of His universe intact until sin entered and before the flood. Remembering that Hebrew words can have different meanings with different vocalization, the “full moon” can be translated “His throne” and then the obscuring of its face would mean that God’s throne is hidden by a cloud over it, perhaps meaning His glory cloud. In verse 10 a circle means the region that is limited so that God limits where the waters flow. This was later spoken of in: "When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, (Pro 8:27)They are designed to separate light (the source of order and reason) from darkness ( the place of chaos and danger). Please read my article on light from my web site.

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Job 26:11-14"The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke. (12) "He quieted the sea with His power, And by His understanding He shattered Rahab. (13) "By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent. (14) "Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?"

After painting a vivid picture of God being in charge of a universe of order, he now says that God can shake down this order if He so chooses. The pillars of heaven are what hold up Heaven and the firmament that protects the earth from being flooded as described in: God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. (8) God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. (Gen 1:7-8) The pillars are depicted as having feelings so they do not expect to be moved and so tremble at such a thought. The picture Job is painting here is that there was a very ordered existence initially but God was sovereign over it and could shake it into chaos in His judgment. The theology of his friends is then not complete for God does have order but He can change it whenever He desires.

Job now describes why God acts in such a way. As mentioned earlier, the sea represents all that is evil and threatens the order of creation with chaos. God then holds back this evil influence by quieting the sea. He also shattered the hold of Rahab, a fictional sea monster that embodies all the anti-God forces of the universe. Another name for Rahab is Leviathan: In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, With His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted serpent; And He will kill the dragon who lives in the sea. (Isa 27:1) This monster will be discussed later in chapter 41. Verse 13 states that God blows to control the waters of the heavens and destroys the fleeing Rahab.

Job has then developed a very mature understanding of how God functions in His creation. He not only can provide order, and this is all that his friends admit, but He also controls the evil influences that are present in the world so that they can function only as He allows. This is very close to the Christian view of God’s governance we earlier discussed as He controls the actions of Satan. The shaking of God has allowed Job’s sufferings in an otherwise orderly world and will foreshadow the sufferings of Jesus Christ when there will be darkness at noon: Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. (Matt 27:45) He concludes in verse 14 by admitting that he has just touched the fringes of the actions of God for that is as far as he can ascertain those truths. He says that the word we can hear of God is only a whisper and hard to determine its meaning. God’s thunder goes forth over the land but few can understand it.

This hymn started describing God’s control of the dead below to His upholding the firmament of heaven and then to His subjection of universal evil. Job has far surpassed the simplistic theology of his friends and is an excellent rebuttal of their accusations against him. Their theory cannot save anyone for it has no place for God to subjugate evil. It will not be until the Cross that we can fully understand God’s plan for saving His people.

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JOBLeon L. Combs, M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

Chapter Twenty Seven

It is a terrible action to accuse a person of being a sinner when God has set him free from sin such as has been done by the acts of Jesus: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor 5:21) Job’s friends accused him of being a sinner who needs to repent when Job knew such was not true. Job now addresses all of them as the “you” in verse 11 and 12 is plural. Job now tells us how to respond to some accuser.

Job 27:1-6 Then Job continued his discourse and said, (2) "As God lives, who has taken away my right, And the Almighty, who has embittered my soul, (3) For as long as life is in me, And the breath of God is in my nostrils, (4) My lips certainly will not speak unjustly, Nor will my tongue mutter deceit. (5) "Far be it from me that I should declare you right; Till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. (6) "I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go. My heart does not reproach any of my days.

Job continues but with the introductory words of verse 2 we know this is an oath by God the author of his sufferings. He states that as long as God gives him the breath of life (Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.) he will make this oath. He then states the sincerity of his oath as his lips will not speak in an unjust manner and his tongue will not state any known deceit. He then begins his oath in verse 5 with words that mean “may God strike me dead if I am wrong”. A negative portion of the oath is that he will never declare his friends to be correct in their accusations against him. He then states a positive aspect in that as long as he lives he will always keep his integrity and righteousness. In the last sentence heart means conscience in context so he is stating that he has a clear conscience. Job is stating that what he appears to be on the outside is exactly what he is on the inside:

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

Job 1:8 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."

Job 2:3 The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause."

Would that all of us could say the same!

Job 27:7-12"May my enemy be as the wicked And my opponent as the unjust. (8) "For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, When God requires his life? (9) "Will God hear his cry When distress comes upon him? (10) "Will he take delight in the Almighty? Will he

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call on God at all times? (11) "I will instruct you in the power of God; What is with the Almighty I will not conceal. (12) "Behold, all of you have seen it; Why then do you act foolishly?

Now Job begins to pray for judgment on his enemies if they continue to accuse him of being a sinner. He prays that they will have no hope in life because God will require their lives and He will not hear their prayers. They will then have no delight in the Lord and even quit calling for His help in their judgment. We can read ahead and know that the friends will be forgiven as they repent and stop being his enemies: So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job. (Job 42:9)

It is doubtful that his friends view Job’s next statements kindly but he does offer to teach them not only the power of God but how He acts with that power. He says that he will reveal all that he knows of the wisdom of God. He then states that they have all seen him and should know of his innocence so he asks why they act foolishly against what they know.

Job 27:13-17"This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the inheritance which tyrants receive from the Almighty. (14) "Though his sons are many, they are destined for the sword; And his descendants will not be satisfied with bread. (15) "His survivors will be buried because of the plague, And their widows will not be able to weep. (16) "Though he piles up silver like dust And prepares garments as plentiful as the clay, (17) He may prepare it, but the just will wear it And the innocent will divide the silver.

He is about to describe what God will do to those who are wicked for they will receive an inheritance from Him but it will not be pleasurable. Job then describes this fate in five measures. The first is that their families will be destroyed. The wicked may have many sons and so think that his future is established safely but many will die in battle, some will die because of starvation, and some will die because of sickness. He further states that there will be no weeping by the widows perhaps because they understand the necessity of the judgments. The second step of God’s judgment will be that the wealth of the wicked will be inherited by the righteous. He states that even if they accumulate a great pile of “stuff” all of it will go to those who are innocent. The wicked work hard to obtain the precious metals and to prepare the clothes but those who are innocent will wear the clothes and the silver will be divided among the innocent. We similarly read about this situation in: A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous. (Prov 13:22)

Job 27:18-19"He has built his house like the spider's web, Or as a hut which the watchman has made. (19) "He lies down rich, but never again; He opens his eyes, and it is no longer.

The third aspect to the judgment of Job on the wicked is that their houses that seem so secure will cease to exist for them. Just as a spider’s web is temporary and easily destroyed, their houses will also be taken away from them. The “hut” of verse 18 is the Hebrew word “sukka” and means a temporary shelter built by those who watch over a field and is easily taken away once the season is over. This reminds us of the event told by Jesus:

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Matt 7:26-27 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

Verse 19 addresses a situation where the wicked have built up a great portfolio so he lies down to rest but when he awakens it is all gone like:

Pro 23:4-5 Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. (5) When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

Job 27:21-23"Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night. (21) "The east wind carries him away, and he is gone, For it whirls him away from his place. (22) "For it will hurl at him without sparing; He will surely try to flee from its power. (23) "Men will clap their hands at him And will hiss him from his place.

The fourth stage is meeting the terrors of death. The flood comes upon people without warning and takes them away. The tempest is often translated whirlwind and is used often is such a manner:

Hos 8:7 For they sow the wind And they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; It yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up.

Pro 10:25 When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

The east wind is the wind coming from the desert that is fierce and dry and can take people away quickly as it whirls people from their homes. They will try to flee from it but will not succeed. Hosea also mentions this as a judgment from God:

Hos 13:15 Though he flourishes among the reeds, An east wind will come, The wind of the LORD coming up from the wilderness; And his fountain will become dry And his spring will be dried up; It will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

The fifth and final stage occurs as the wicked people are mocked and made victims of peoples’ derogatory comments and actions. Job has painted a terrifying picture of the judgment upon people who make accusations against people whom God has justified. This same fate waits all who make derogatory remarks about Jesus Christ who was the most righteous man who ever lived and yet was crucified by wicked people making false accusations against Him.

JOBLeon L. Combs, M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Chapter 27 was Job’s final writing to his friends and in chapter 29 he will make his final defense before God. Chapter 28 is an unusual chapter although many of you may have thought this about other chapters! It is not clear who is speaking but, as we read it, it will be clear that it is a very

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important chapter that teaches us wisdom. It is unique to the entire book and many scholars think it was added by the person who compiled the total book. Some also think this is a continuation of the previous chapter. It is a prophetic poem about the wisdom and ultimate authority of God.

Job 28:1-4 "Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold. (2) "Iron is taken from the dust, And copper is smelted from rock. (3) "Man puts an end to darkness, And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow. (4) "He sinks a shaft far from habitation, Forgotten by the foot; They hang and swing to and fro far from men.

The first part of the poem addresses our attention to precious items that are hidden under ground. He speaks of how hidden they are and the extreme efforts miners have to take to find them. A mine was a deep and dangerous place to these ancients. From this place people would find gold, iron, and copper that had to be smelted from the rock. They designate the rock as the thing from which they would obtain these precious metals. Of course the underground was a dark and mysterious place and they had no knowledge of how the minerals were formed. They thought of the miners taking away the darkness of the underground as they dug down to find the rocks. Since they found these rocks underneath the surface it seems like they were placed there by someone so they could be found. The mines extend far from the surface upon which the feet walked and they extend far beneath where people lived. A shaft mine has a deep vertical access to a base or perhaps to several horizontal shafts where people would access them by swinging from ropes probably similar to:

From this picture you can get an idea of what Job means by the people swinging to and fro as they descend in the mine.

Job28:5-11"The earth, from it comes food, And underneath it is turned up as fire. (6) "Its rocks are the source of sapphires, And its dust contains gold. (7) "The path no bird of prey knows, Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it. (8) "The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. (9) "He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the base. (10) "He hews out channels through the rocks, And his eye sees

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anything precious. (11) "He dams up the streams from flowing, And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

He mentions that agriculture is relatively easy as the mining efforts are very difficult similar to dealing with fire. However the efforts are worthwhile as men find sapphires and gold from the rocks and the dust. The mine shafts are far below the surface where no other animals dare go. In these mines the birds and lions have never dared venture. Only man in search of fine metals dares search in these dangerous areas. We get the reason why he has drawn us into this mental picture in verse 12 below. He is searching for God as he tries to understand why God acts as He does. This reminds me of the parable of the valuable pearl: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, (46) and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Matt 13:45-46) Never let anyone tell you this is about people giving up all they own to buy the kingdom of heaven for it is not for sale. The parable is about Jesus giving up all that He had to come to earth to establish the church as a pearl of great value.

Job is comparing the search for fine metals to the cosmic search for wisdom. He states some of the tedious methods used by men to search for these metals as much earth is moved and trees are burned by flint to gain access to the area for the mine shaft. Man makes channels to run water so as to search through the dust for the gold as their eyes are trained to find it. They set up dams to keep the water from flowing away and taking away the gold and sapphires. By all of this activity man brings the precious metals to the light from the darkness of the underground.

Job 28:12-20"But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? (13) "Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. (14) "The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' (15) "Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price. (16) "It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire. (17) "Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. (18) "Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. (19) "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. (20) "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding?

Now that he has described the ways in which man finds these precious metals he now asks where wisdom can be found. He states some places in which it cannot be found as as in the land of the living or in the deep sea. He also states that it cannot be bought by pure gold or silver or even in the precious gold of Ophir. There is no precious metal or pearls that can be used to obtain it. Someone could try unsuccessfully to buy it with the topaz of Ethiopia or pure gold. He asks then again where can one find this wisdom and source of understanding.

He desperately wants to understand God’s ways so that he can understand why God has created the universe. As a scientist I spent many years trying to understand the structure and function of molecules and how they affect the environment in which they function. But the entire universe is also built upon the wisdom of the Creator. In studying this book we need to fight against the tendency to just be philosophers and seek the same desire of Job to understand some of this

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wisdom of God. We look at the heavens and see so much structure such as contained in the vastness of space:

It is not only the physical structure of the universe that Job is seeking but also the moral fiber of its existence. He is a suffering believer who is desperately seeking this wisdom of God so as to give him a deeper meaning for his existence. He thinks of his existence and function in the world as being established by God before creation in much the same way as the writer of:

Pro 8:22-31 "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. (23) "From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. (24) "When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water. (25) "Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth; (26) While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world. (27) "When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, (28) When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, (29) When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; (30) Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, (31) Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of men.

So where can he find this wisdom?

Job 28:21-23"Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky. (22) "Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' (23) "God understands its way, And He knows its place.

He states that this wisdom is hidden from all those living beings and from the birds. He thinks that perhaps the guardians of the desperate extremes such as Abaddon and Death might admit to having heard of it with their ears without understanding but that only God understands it and knows its origin. Since Creation men have been searching for it so that they might become like

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God (Gen 2, 3), build a tower to the heavens (Gen 11) or have the hidden things revealed: "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. (Deut 29:29) The poet’s search is clearly outlined but it is also clearly stated that it will not be successful for such is only understood by Him.

Job 28:24-28"For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. (25) "When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure, (26) When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt, (27) Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. (28) "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

God is indeed uniquely qualified to know this wisdom for only He can look at the ends of the earth and can see everything in the heavens. God directed the wind to do His will and place all the waters on earth in their proper positions. He even set limits on the amount of the rain so that it did not always bring destruction and placed directions for lightning strikes. He used His wisdom to establish all that is and even look over it all with His understanding. God then told man that wisdom is the fear of the Lord and departing from evil is understanding. So God told man to not just seek wisdom but to seek Him much like Paul did later: If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; (3) but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. (1 Cor 8:2-3) The important point is to be known by God. We are not called to search creation for wisdom but to seek a deeper understanding of God. In our timeline that means to know Jesus for He is wisdom:

Col 2:1-3 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, (2) that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, (3) in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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