7 ¶
Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the
unrighteous. 8 For what is the hope of
the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? 9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh
upon him? 10 Will he delight himself in
the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
Job uses a
proverbial statement here in the beginning of verse 7 similar to the following;
1Samuel 25:26 Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to
shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
2Samuel 18:32 And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young
man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The
enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be
as that young man is.
David 4:19 ¶
Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and
his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the
dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and
said, My lord, the dream be to them that
hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.
Job says to let
those who oppose him suffer the fate of the unrighteous and the wicked. Let
those hypocrites, and we can presume this is a backhanded stab at his friends,
realize that they have gained nothing when God has taken their souls, which is quite
a threat.
As Jesus said;
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul?
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but
are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
Verse 9 is a
warning.
Psalm 18:41
They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he
answered them not.
Speaking of
verse 10, remember how King Saul disobeyed God and then could not get God’s
blessing on what he did because of his disobedience and how paranoid and
miserable he became. In this context the modern Christian must be aware that
every time he or she gives in to the sin that so easily besets them, whether it
is based in pride or even lust, they have a hard time experiencing the
closeness they feel to Christ at other times. Each time the hypocrite falls to
their own weakness for sin while pointing their fingers at others they feel
more and more separated from grace and mercy. It is inevitable. They may still
talk a good game, come to meet with the church, and give liberally of their
money and time but they become more and more wrapped up in their own self-righteousness
and their own convictions as the standard for how they judge other people’s
behavior. You might even find them harping on a particular sin like
homosexuality repeatedly and vehemently. If you turn over THAT rock you may
find what THEY are being consumed by.
11 ¶ I will teach you by the hand
of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. 12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why
then are ye thus altogether vain? 13 This
is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which
they shall receive of the Almighty. 14
If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring
shall not be satisfied with bread. 15
Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall
not weep. 16 Though he heap up silver as
the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; 17
He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall
divide the silver. 18 He buildeth his
house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh. 19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not
be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not. 20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest
stealeth him away in the night. 21 The
east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out
of his place. 22 For God shall cast upon
him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. 23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall
hiss him out of his place.
Job’s going to
teach his friends a lesson, he promises. He’s not going to hold anything back
from them. Remember what Paul told the elders of the church of Ephesus when he
told them of how he instructed them going from house church to house church in
that city teaching.
Acts 20:20
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have
shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the
Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
You yourselves
have seen this and you have no excuse for not knowing what I am going to tell you,
he says. What a wicked man has to look forward to, his heritage, is the death
of his children by war or famine. When they die their widows won’t even mourn
for them they will have been so wicked. The wicked man, and in Job wickedness
is often referred to regarding those who have gained wealth at the expense of
their poorer brethren, can heap up wealth for his children but others will
benefit from it. God’s judgment will destroy him in this life and other men
will mock his sorrow. So, here Job is agreeing with his friends on the fate of
the wicked while all the time insisting he is not in that number.
Job and his
friends both agree to what they consider to be fair and just treatment of the
wicked in this life. Although, Job has stated that often the wicked seem to
prosper, as did other Bible writers, he and his friends state with certainty
that, in the end, the bad will lose and the good will win. Job’s struggle is
with his own appraisal of his goodness and how what has happened to him causes
him a crisis of faith. How many times would Christians say in their heart of
hearts when a child dies, they lose their job and their home and their credit
standing, or when a horrible disease comes knocking, “oh, Lord, this is too
much to bear. Why have you done this to me?” or perhaps, “how can there really
be a God if this is allowed to happen to me, as faithful as I’ve been?”
The issue at
hand is the sovereignty of God and His right to all facets of your life,
whether it be your worship, your submission, your loved ones, your wealth, or
your health. We have a problem with a sovereign, absolute God, whenever we see
an Islamist radical beheading, a riot in the streets of an American city, or a
court ruling we don’t like just as much as we have a problem with that same
sovereignty when someone we love dies young, we are scammed in an internet
sting, or our doctor tells us we have cancer.
The problem
lies with us, not with God.
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