Look to God for Wisdom - Job 22-29

The scope of this lesson covers seven chapters in Job and requires you to read carefully through the material and search for the highlights; that is, the parts that are of most interest to you. In these chapters, the dialogue between Job and his three friends continue into the third and final cycle and actually there is little difference in their argument from that made in the first two cycles. Their criticism of Job becomes more severe and when they fail to get a confession of sin from him they seem to become more frustrated. The speeches this time actually deliberately and openly accuse him with specific crimes. In line with the subject of this lesson today, Job has become more rational and indicates that he has learned his lesson the hard way—and that is, he must look only to God for his wisdom.

Let us digress for just a moment and think about the “total wisdom” of our OMNISCIENT GOD. Some who were in my presence have wondered out loud about this book of Job. To any that have wondered; just remember that God has at least ten awesome attributes, three of which are OMINISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT, and OMNIPRESENT. The word Omniscience means that God knows everything there is to know about everything. He always has, does now, and always will know all of everything. Man is limited by time, but not God—He was when time began and he sees all that will happen in endless time to come. Job understood this when he said, “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from the” 42:2.

God has all power and he is all power and there are no limitations to the power of God. Genesis 18:14 says there is not anything that is too hard for the Lord to handle. His power is innate. It was there in the beginning to create all the worlds and all things therein and set them in motion and keep them moving throughout all the time there is. He is omnipotent and that simply means there are no limitations in him. Finally, He is omnipresent—and this characteristic alone is mind-boggling. He has been present with each and every person that has ever lived or that will live in the future—and he is never absent from any of his creation for even one moment throughout the eons of time. Since God is present with all knowledge and all power, there is nothing transpiring at any moment that is outside of his ability to control. God is our pilot and we will land safely—when we trust and obey.

You may not have a problem with some of the things that Job said about God but it gets close to the edge sometimes—and slightly indicates that Job’s faith has grown weak. My question is—can it be that his strong faith has weakened, but has never left him or failed him completely? Because of this uneasy feeling, I have gone to B. H. Carroll’s Interpretation of the English Bible to obtain a better insight into the time and place in history and have found some interesting thoughts that may help us understand this book of Job.

Carroll thinks that Moses wrote the book of Job, who was from Uz which was the same territory as Edom. That is probably why the Jews accepted it and it was never questioned by them when it was made a part of the inspired word of God. It deals with the same period of time as the patriarchals, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore there was no Bible or authoritative written standard clearly defining men’s relations and duties toward God and no written word regarding divine government. Job prayed for a revelation in 31-35. This book was written before God set apart a nation that he called “My people.” In every nation descended from Noah—God was worshiped according to tradition or revelations. Two incidents place Job in the patriarchal days. The form of idolatry cited in 31:26 was the worship of the heavenly bodies and he lived to be more than 200 years old as did the people in Moses’ day.

Moses lived in Midian for forty years and this was close by Job’s country. The problem of the book of Job is the undeserved afflictions of the righteous, which was the same problem suffered by Moses’ people. This was the first book of the bible to be written, and God had several specific reasons for it to be made a part of his Holy Word. 1. Before this time there was no written word. In 31:35 Job states a need for a written word when he calls for someone to put in writing the things that show his guilt. 2. Job was written to establish the necessity of a mediator or redeemer—in 9:33 he states a need for the intercessor. There was no bible at the time but Job shows that there was a desire to study about God and his plan for man.

When we realize that Job had no written word about God and that God had not established a program of worship it is even more amazing that Job had such strong faith. So far as I can see, Job obtained his knowledge and developed his faith because of his inherited desire for a God and through his observations of God’s creation. Since this was the first book written that became canonized, it presents an even greater need for faith in our lives. You ask why I think so; and I say that it is not by chance that God presented us with the first written word and made it to cover the importance of a man’s faith throughout all stages of life—when he is up and when he is down.

As you read this lesson you will note that the friends are talking less and Job is doing more of the talking. Zophar seems to be the angriest of the three and he abstains from speaking altogether. The charges remain about the same thing—Job has sinned. This time they actually name some of his specific sins and this makes it appear that they are even more vindictive than before.

In 22, Eliphaz accuses Job of specific sins against the needy and the poor, and he charges Job with thinking that God does not see his sins or even care about his sins. In verses 23 and 24 he concludes his final discourse by suggesting that Job should repent of his sins and submit to God. He did imply that Job had once been a Godly man—by suggesting that when he returns to the Almighty he will be restored. The assumption is that he must have been a good man in God’s presence at one time…for one can not return to a place they have not been.

It is obvious that the three counselors [friends] are trying to convict Job of his sins and get him to repent. They may not have realized it, but they were trying to take the place of the Holy Spirit—in trying to convict Job, they were usurping the position and power that belongs solely to the Spirit…for He alone can convict any man of his sins. There have been several noted Baptist preachers in our convention that were and are able to hold an audience spellbound but their influence ends at the ear drum—if the word travels on from the ear to the heart—only the Holy Spirit can make it happen.

These men made a second mistake that we should never make as we attempt to counsel our friends—they were Judging Job on his outward appearance. We know that the Bible has already warned us that man looks on the outward appearance while God looks on the heart. In the 4th chapter of first Corinthians Paul said that he cared very little about people [even a court] judging him—he said “I do not even judge myself.”

In the commentary by Matthew Henry he said, “The injuries men do to us should drive us to God, for to him we may commit our cause.” The question that arises in Job 23 is—where is God? Everyone in this story including Job had begun to wonder if God had forsaken him. Well, the answer to this question is one of the bibles most basic truths—because God is everywhere—He is omnipresent. Even though Job has some doubts and questions the presence of God in his life—He still affirms his obedience to God, whom he believes is testing him to purify his life.

In chapter 24 Job has a real problem trying to understand why God allows the unrighteous to go unpunished; then he actually reaffirms that God will eventually bring judgment on everyone. In the first verse he wonders why god does not set special times or dates for the judgments. This reminds us of a famous sermon given by the pastor of Belleview Baptist in Memphis; there will be a “Pay-day Some-day.” There was a farmer who was an unbeliever, who worked his crops in the field adjoining church property. He plowed while Christians were in church. When their crops were gathered his yield was greater than those of the church attendants. The farmer made note of this while talking to his banker who he thought would agree that work is worth more than prayer. He was stunned when the banker reminded him that God does not settle all of his accounts in October.

Bildad, in chapter twenty-five let his tongue become caustic when he called Job a “maggot” which the scripture always uses to describe a scavenger of decaying flesh. Thomas Manton said that “A tongue that is set on fire from hell shall be set on fire in hell.” The bible says a tongue renders poison as a serpent. Truth is, man is made in the image of God—just a little lower than the angels of heaven and we do not have to crawl like a worm to our God.

Job retaliates in chapter twenty-six telling Bildad that his God is incomprehensible. He rebukes Bildad and his friends by asking whom they have helped by their counsel and inferring the answer to be no-one. Just as here in this chapter, there are other implications throughout the bible that confirms that if we [man] could fully understand God—we could not worship him.

The next two chapters deal with Job’s reaffirmation of innocence and his call for God’s wrath against his enemies. Then Job returns to the subject of God’s wisdom which only comes when we fear Him.