If man dies, will he live again? (Job 4:1-14:22)
John Parker, 10th May 2015Part of the Study of Job series, preached at a Fordham Sunday Service service
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4:2 "If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
4:3 Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4:4 Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
4:5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
4:6 Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
4:7 "Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
4:8 As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
4:9 At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of his anger they perish.
4:10 The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
4:11 The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
4:12 "A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.
4:13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men,
4:14 fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
4:15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
4:16 It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:
4:17 'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
4:18 If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
4:19 how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
4:20 Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.
4:21 Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?'
5:1 "Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
5:2 Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
5:3 I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
5:4 His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
5:5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
5:6 For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
5:7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
5:8 "But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
5:9 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
5:10 He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside.
5:11 The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
5:12 He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
5:13 He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
5:14 Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
5:15 He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
5:16 So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
5:17 "Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
5:18 For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
5:19 From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will befall you.
5:20 In famine he will ransom you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
5:21 You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.
5:22 You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the beasts of the earth.
5:23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
5:24 You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
5:25 You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
5:26 You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.
5:27 "We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself."
6:1 Then Job replied:
6:2 "If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!
6:3 It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas- no wonder my words have been impetuous.
6:4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God's terrors are marshaled against me.
6:5 Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
6:6 Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg ?
6:7 I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.
6:8 "Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,
6:9 that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!
6:10 Then I would still have this consolation- my joy in unrelenting pain- that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.
6:11 "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?
6:12 Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?
6:13 Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?
6:14 "A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
6:15 But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow
6:16 when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,
6:17 but that cease to flow in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels.
6:18 Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go up into the wasteland and perish.
6:19 The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope.
6:20 They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed.
6:21 Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid.
6:22 Have I ever said, 'Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth,
6:23 deliver me from the hand of the enemy, ransom me from the clutches of the ruthless'?
6:24 "Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong.
6:25 How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove?
6:26 Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat the words of a despairing man as wind?
6:27 You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.
6:28 "But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face?
6:29 Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake.
6:30 Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?
7:1 "Does not man have hard service on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired man?
7:2 Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages,
7:3 so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me.
7:4 When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?' The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.
7:5 My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.
7:6 "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.
7:7 Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again.
7:8 The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more.
7:9 As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return.
7:10 He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.
7:11 "Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
7:12 Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard?
7:13 When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint,
7:14 even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions,
7:15 so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine.
7:16 I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.
7:17 "What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention,
7:18 that you examine him every morning and test him every moment?
7:19 Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant?
7:20 If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you?
7:21 Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more."
8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
8:2 "How long will you say such things? Your words are a blustering wind.
8:3 Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?
8:4 When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.
8:5 But if you will look to God and plead with the Almighty,
8:6 if you are pure and upright, even now he will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place.
8:7 Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be.
8:8 "Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned,
8:9 for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow.
8:10 Will they not instruct you and tell you? Will they not bring forth words from their understanding?
8:11 Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? Can reeds thrive without water?
8:12 While still growing and uncut, they wither more quickly than grass.
8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
8:14 What he trusts in is fragile ; what he relies on is a spider's web.
8:15 He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.
8:16 He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden;
8:17 it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones.
8:18 But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, 'I never saw you.'
8:19 Surely its life withers away, and from the soil other plants grow.
8:20 "Surely God does not reject a blameless man or strengthen the hands of evildoers.
8:21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.
8:22 Your enemies will be clothed in shame, and the tents of the wicked will be no more."
9:1 Then Job replied:
9:2 "Indeed, I know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before God?
9:3 Though one wished to dispute with him, he could not answer him one time out of a thousand.
9:4 His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?
9:5 He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger.
9:6 He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.
9:7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars.
9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
9:9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.
9:10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
9:11 When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him.
9:12 If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'
9:13 God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.
9:14 "How then can I dispute with him? How can I find words to argue with him?
9:15 Though I were innocent, I could not answer him; I could only plead with my Judge for mercy.
9:16 Even if I summoned him and he responded, I do not believe he would give me a hearing.
9:17 He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.
9:18 He would not let me regain my breath but would overwhelm me with misery.
9:19 If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who will summon him ?
9:20 Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty.
9:21 "Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.
9:22 It is all the same; that is why I say, 'He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.'
9:23 When a scourge brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent.
9:24 When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?
9:25 "My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.
9:26 They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey.
9:27 If I say, 'I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile,'
9:28 I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.
9:29 Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?
9:30 Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with washing soda,
9:31 you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.
9:32 "He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.
9:33 If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both,
9:34 someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.
9:35 Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
10:1 "I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.
10:2 I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me.
10:3 Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?
10:4 Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees?
10:5 Are your days like those of a mortal or your years like those of a man,
10:6 that you must search out my faults and probe after my sin-
10:7 though you know that I am not guilty and that no one can rescue me from your hand?
10:8 "Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me?
10:9 Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?
10:10 Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese,
10:11 clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?
10:12 You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit.
10:13 "But this is what you concealed in your heart, and I know that this was in your mind:
10:14 If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished.
10:15 If I am guilty-woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in my affliction.
10:16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me.
10:17 You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me; your forces come against me wave upon wave.
10:18 "Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me.
10:19 If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!
10:20 Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment's joy
10:21 before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow,
10:22 to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness."
11:1 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:
11:2 "Are all these words to go unanswered? Is this talker to be vindicated?
11:3 Will your idle talk reduce men to silence? Will no one rebuke you when you mock?
11:4 You say to God, 'My beliefs are flawless and I am pure in your sight.'
11:5 Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you
11:6 and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.
11:7 "Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
11:8 They are higher than the heavens-what can you do? They are deeper than the depths of the grave -what can you know?
11:9 Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.
11:10 "If he comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can oppose him?
11:11 Surely he recognizes deceitful men; and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
11:12 But a witless man can no more become wise than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man.
11:13 "Yet if you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him,
11:14 if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
11:15 then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.
11:16 You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by.
11:17 Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.
11:18 You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
11:19 You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.
11:20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and escape will elude them; their hope will become a dying gasp."
12:1 Then Job replied:
12:2 "Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!
12:3 But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things?
12:4 "I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called upon God and he answered- a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!
12:5 Men at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
12:6 The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure- those who carry their god in their hands.
12:7 "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
12:8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.
12:9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
12:10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
12:11 Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food?
12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
12:13 "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
12:14 What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man he imprisons cannot be released.
12:15 If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
12:16 To him belong strength and victory; both deceived and deceiver are his.
12:17 He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges.
12:18 He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth around their waist.
12:19 He leads priests away stripped and overthrows men long established.
12:20 He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.
12:21 He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty.
12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.
12:23 He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason; he sends them wandering through a trackless waste.
12:25 They grope in darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.
13:1 "My eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.
13:2 What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you.
13:3 But I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.
13:4 You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!
13:5 If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.
13:6 Hear now my argument; listen to the plea of my lips.
13:7 Will you speak wickedly on God's behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him?
13:8 Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God?
13:9 Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive men?
13:10 He would surely rebuke you if you secretly showed partiality.
13:11 Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you?
13:12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
13:13 "Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may.
13:14 Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands?
13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.
13:16 Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless man would dare come before him!
13:17 Listen carefully to my words; let your ears take in what I say.
13:18 Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated.
13:19 Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die.
13:20 "Only grant me these two things, O God, and then I will not hide from you:
13:21 Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors.
13:22 Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply.
13:23 How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.
13:24 Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?
13:25 Will you torment a windblown leaf? Will you chase after dry chaff?
13:26 For you write down bitter things against me and make me inherit the sins of my youth.
13:27 You fasten my feet in shackles; you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.
13:28 "So man wastes away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.
14:1 "Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.
14:2 He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
14:3 Do you fix your eye on such a one? Will you bring him before you for judgment?
14:4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
14:5 Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
14:6 So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired man.
14:7 "At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
14:8 Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
14:9 yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
14:10 But man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
14:11 As water disappears from the sea or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
14:12 so man lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, men will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
14:13 "If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
14:15 You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
14:16 Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
14:17 My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
14:18 "But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
14:19 as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man's hope.
14:20 You overpower him once for all, and he is gone; you change his countenance and send him away.
14:21 If his sons are honored, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he does not see it.
14:22 He feels but the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself."
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