III. BLAMING HIS FRIENDS
FOR NOT SHOWING KINDNESS TO HIM
Job blamed his friends for not showing kindness to him, who was fainting under the striking of God (vv. 14-23). Job said to them, "To him who is fainting there should be kindness from his friend,/Else he will forsake the fear of the Almighty. / My brothers have dealt as treacherously as a desert brook,/As the rivulets of the desert brooks that pass away,/Which are turbid because of the ice,/And into which the snow hides itself./When they are scorched, they are completely consumed;/When it is hot, they are dried up from their place" (vv. 14-17). Here Job compared his friends to water brooks that did not have much water. He also compared them to brooks that were turbid, dark, because of ice and snow and that were eventually scorched by the sun and became dry. Job was saying that his friends did not have any "water" with which to supply him as he was fainting.
IV. JUSTIFYING HIMSELF
BY SAYING THAT
HE WAS NOT WRONG IN ANYTHING
Job justified himself by saying that he was not wrong in anything (vv. 24-30). "Teach me and I will be silent;/Cause me to understand how I have erred./How forceful are upright words!/But what does this reproving from you reprove?/Do you think you can reprove words?/But the words of a desperate man are for the wind" (vv. 24-26). Here Job was saying that Eliphaz’s words were not upright but crooked and biased. If they had been upright, Job would have been helped by them.
In verse 27 Job went on to say, "You would even cast lots over the orphan/And bargain over your friend." Job told his friends that they treated him not as a friend but as merchandise over which people bargain regarding the price.
In verses 28 through 30 Job continued, "Now then be pleased to look upon me,/For surely I will not lie to your face./Turn now; let there be no injustice./Indeed turn; my righteousness is still here./Is there any injustice on my tongue?/Can my palate not discern calamities?" Here Job strongly declared that his righteousness was still there (v. 29b). He vindicated himself by insisting that he was not wrong in anything.
V. EXPRESSING THAT HE HAD
THE COMMON KNOWLEDGE OF THE STRUGGLE,
THE VANITY, THE TROUBLE, THE SUFFERING,
AND THE END OF HUMAN LIFE
In his vindication of himself, Job expressed that he had the common knowledge of the struggle, the vanity, the trouble, the suffering, and the end of human life (7:1-10). Although Job knew these things, he did not know God in reality, and he did not know anything concerning God’s economy.
VI. LOATHING LIFE AND COMPLAINING
Job loathed life and complained by asking why God would not forgive him and let him die (vv. 11-21). He said that he would speak in the distress of his spirit and complain in the bitterness of his soul (v. 11b). He loathed life and would not live forever (v. 16a). He concluded by saying to God, "If I have sinned, what have I done to You,/O Watcher of man? /Why have You made me Your target so that I have become a burden to myself?/And why do You not forgive my transgression/And take away my iniquity?/For now I may lie down in the dust;/And You will seek me out, and I will not be" (vv. 20-21). This was Job’s complaint as he vindicated himself to God.
(Life-Study of Job, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
