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Job Chapter 31
Job's Final Appeal
Here is one man that did not cheat on
his wife. He made a covenant to not do that. Since he is using this
as his defense against his accusers, it must be that even though
this is a weakness of mankind, it is not something that is pleasing
to God. God originally made one man and one woman. The lust of
another man besides her husband from a woman or a man desiring women
other than his wife, has been the cause of so much divorce, sadness,
heartache and trouble since the beginning of the earth.
Solomon was a man full of wisdom given
to him from God but his desire for women caused him to allow
idolatry and even built houses of worship for his wives for idols.
It caused David greatly when he allowed himself to lust after
Bathsheba. Thankfully in David's case he genuinely repented and his
walk with God was restored.
- Job 31:2 For what
portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the
Almighty from on high?
- 3 Is not
destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the
workers of iniquity?
- 4 Doth not he
see my ways, and count all my steps?
- 5 If I have
walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
- 6 Let me be
weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.
Job wonders why God is now turned
against him. He is willing to be corrected and longs for God to show
him where he sinned.
- Job 31:7 If my step
hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine
eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;
- 8 Then let me sow,
and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.
- 9 If mine heart have
been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my
neighbour's door;
- 10 Then let my wife
grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.
- 11 For this is an
heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the
judges.
He believes cheating on one's wife is a
grevious sin punished by the judges of society. If he had of done
that he would deserve to lose his wife and not be able to eat what
he grew from farming.
Job knows right from wrong and has tried
to live right before God, trusting in him faithfully which is why he
is so confused and bewildered at this time. His only fault is
thinking this is sent from God and that God has forsaken him. I
guess most of us would think that way too. Even his visitors assume
that he has sinned in some manner.
- Job 31:12 For it is
a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all
mine increase.
- 13 If I did despise
the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they
contended with me;
- 14 What then shall I
do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer
him?
- 15 Did not he that
made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the
womb?
- 16 If I have
withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of
the widow to fail;
- 17 Or have eaten my
morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof;
- 18 (For from my
youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have
guided her from my mother's womb;)
- 19 If I have seen
any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
- 20 If his loins have
not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my
sheep;
- 21 If I have lifted
up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the
gate:
- 22 Then let mine arm
fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the
bone.
Job admits that if he did not help the
orphans, did not help when someone was hurting for lack of clothing,
or if he allowed the poor to starve when he had it to give then he
would deserve all this that happened to him. He just couldn't
remember doing any of that.
- Job 31:23 For
destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his
highness I could not endure.
- 24 If I have made
gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my
confidence;
- 25 If I rejoiced
because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten
much;
- 26 If I beheld the
sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
- 27 And my heart hath
been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:
- 28 This also were an
iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied
the God that is above.
Here he claims that if he made gold
his wealth as something he trusted in and had hope in, and if he was
lifted up in pride in himself, he would deserve to be punished by
any judge. It would be a type of idolatry and it would show he was
in denial of God but trusted in himself alone for his prosperity.
- Job 31:29 If I
rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up
myself when evil found him:
- 30 Neither have I
suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul.
- 31 If the men of my
tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be
satisfied.
- 32 The stranger did
not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the
traveller.
Again and again he defends himself from
the accusations of his visitors and perhaps by now trying to
convince himself. Sometimes when we are baggered by those accusing
us of evil even if their accusations are false, eventually some of
us may start to question ourselves and start to doubt our salvation
thinking perhaps they are right in their thinking. Our human flesh
can only take so much unless God's spirit is there to comfort us and
bring assurance of our salvation. There is a time to correct, a time
to reprove but there is also a time to comfort and give sincere
godly assurance.
We can read about this in Genesis
3:1-19. Where Adam tries hide from God and then to shift the blame
of his sin upon his wife.
- Job 31:34 Did I fear
a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me,
that I kept silence, and went not out of the door?
- 35 Oh that one would
hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer
me, and that mine adversary had written a book.
- 36 Surely I would
take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me.
- 37 I would declare
unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near
unto him.
- 38 If my land cry
against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
- 39 If I have eaten
the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners
thereof to lose their life:
- 40 Let thistles grow
instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job
are ended.
Job is willing to bear the
responsibility if he has done all the things he lists above. He
cries out to be heard by his neighbors, friends and family but
mostly, he cries out to be heard by God. DC
Job Chapter 32
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