Job 31 Job’s Final Protest of Innocence
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman. For what has God above chosen for us? What is our inheritance from the Almighty on high? Isn’t it calamity for the wicked and misfortune for those who do evil? Doesn’t he see everything I do and every step I take?”
Job is fully conscious of a fact many people choose to ignore: God is omniscient; He knows everything we do and everything we think. So many people think that they can hide wrong-doing from God; yet, such a belief is ridiculous. Job knows that he has not willingly sinned, and he knows that God also knows.
“Have I lied to anyone or deceived anyone? Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity. If I have strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin, then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted.”
Again, Job knows that he has not deliberately lied or deceived, nor has he envied anyone their wealth. Considering Job’s statements, we must continue to wonder how well the men who have come to grieve with Job actually know him. These men have spent days and weeks accusing Job of every kind of sin imaginable, including envy and lust.
“If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife, then let my wife serve another man; let other men sleep with her. For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished. It is a fire that burns all the way to hell. It would wipe out everything I own.” We have no idea where Job lives or if he has ever heard of the Ten Commandments, but Job certainly believes that sexual sins are crimes against God.
“If I have been unfair to my male or female servants when they brought their complaints to me, how could I face God? What could I say when he questioned me? For God created both me and my servants. He created us both in the womb.” Again, Job’s treatment of his servants follows God’s commandments very closely. Repeatedly, God warns the Israelites against poor treatment or abuse of servants and grants servants certain rights.
“Have I refused to help the poor, or crushed the hopes of widows? Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans? No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father, and all my life I have cared for widows. Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes and the needy with nothing to wear, did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm?” Job’s comforters have accused him of crushing the poor and widows; yet, all his life, Job has been doing his best to care for them, as well as clothing the poor and needy with decent garments. One must wonder if Job’s critics have ever lifted a finger to help anybody
“If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side, then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket! For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?” God cares for orphans, even if corrupt judges do not. Again, Job knows that God is watching everything he does. The last thing Job wants to do is to grieve God.
“Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold? Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own?” Even though Job has previously enjoyed wealth, he has never trusted in it nor worshiped it; neither has Job lorded it over others on account of his wealth. Many others in Job’s previous situation would have followed the dictum “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!”
“Have I looked at the sun shining in the skies, or the moon walking down its silver pathway, and been secretly enticed in my heart to throw kisses at them in worship? If so, I should be punished by the judges, for it would mean I had denied the God of heaven.” God knows that Job has always worshiped Him and not the sun or the moon or any other created thing. This sets Job apart from many of his contemporaries, who follow cults based on sun or moon-worship.
“Have I ever rejoiced when disaster struck my enemies, or become excited when harm came their way? No, I have never sinned by cursing anyone or by asking for revenge.” Job has not been vengeful, even when that would have been the most normal response. In Job’s day, powerful men were willing to annihilate enemies, wiping out entire families over imagined slights.
“My servants have never said, ‘He let others go hungry.’ I have never turned away a stranger
but have opened my doors to everyone.” Servants know everything, including whether or not a master or mistress is kind or miserly, begrudging anyone in need.
“Have I tried to hide my sins like other people do, concealing my guilt in my heart? Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses, so that I kept quiet and stayed indoors?” As a leader in society, Job knows that everyone in town has watched him, and he has nothing to hide. For those prominent in society, there are no secrets. Why then, have Job’s alleged friends accused him of all kinds of evil, rather than checking things out with the local inhabitants?
“If only someone would listen to me! Look, I will sign my name to my defense. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write out the charges against me. I would face the accusation proudly. I would wear it like a crown. For I would tell him exactly what I have done. I would come before him like a prince.” Job is fed up with withering criticism. Let these men record their accusations, and then Job will happily present them to God. What Job doesn’t know is that his accusers’ words have been recorded for eternity and that God is about to settle those accusers forever.
“If my land accuses me and all its furrows cry out together, or if I have stolen its crops or murdered its owners, then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.” Job’s words are ended.
The land knows and remembers. Land that is farmed lovingly and righteously bears far more than land that is farmed badly. In George Otis Junior’s “Transformations Series” videos, repeatedly, land in places as far apart as Fiji and Guatemala suddenly becomes fertile when its inhabitants repent, seek forgiveness from those whom they have wronged, and then get right with God. (You can check out those videos at sentinelgroup.org or https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjdky5a5ULAMAnuEO1fbBb3Nj7zTMQB1V )
What can you do when you have been accused of horrible things you would never dream of doing? Here Job is not making fantastic claims about his righteousness but simply describing his way of life until now. Job has lived in this community his entire life; surely neighbors can testify as to the truth of these claims. Why then have Job’s self-styled comforters repeatedly accused him of crimes he has never dreamt of, let alone committed?
Unfortunately, in any disastrous situation, there are always those who choose to feel morally superior to the wounded and hurting. We suffered a great deal during our first missionary term, mostly because the fledgling organization that had sent us failed to make proper provision for our living situation. We found ourselves virtual prisoners in a household where key members were heavily involved in the occult. When we truthfully reported problems, the mission group blamed us. After we returned to the United States, we went for healing prayer at a large church. Sadly, the woman leading much of the prayer began her instructions by informing us that we must have been responsible for everything that went wrong, even though she had never spoken with us previously. We later learned that her late husband had been one of the founders of that mission group and that she had received misinformation from nameless sources. That experience was shattering and opened new wounds, rather than healing the ones we had already suffered.
When we read the Book of Job, most of us identify with Job; however, it’s wise to ask ourselves if we might truly be as insensitive as Zophar, Eliphaz, or Bildad. May God help us sot that we comfort the afflicted rather than afflicting them further!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to refrain from judging but to comfort instead. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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