490. While preparing to return to Greece and get As you study the book of Esther, you will discover
Esther 1 revenge, Darius had died (486 BC), and now his son felt compelled to avenge his father and expand his empire at the same time. Herodotus claims that Ahasuerus planned to invade all of Europe and "reduce the whole earth into one empire."
CHAPTER ONE Esther 1 THE QUEEN SAYS "NO!"
According to Herodotus, the king's words were these: "My intent is to throw a bridge over the Hellespont and march an army through Europe against Greece, that thereby I may obtain vengeance from the Athenians for the wrongs committed by them against the Persians and against my father."1
(In which a family disagreement grows into a national crisis) L et's begin by getting acquainted with the king. His Persian name was Khshayarshan, which in Hebrew becomes Ahasuerus and in the Greek language, Xerxes. His father was Darius I, and his grandfather was Cyrus the Great; so he came from an illustrious family. Ahasuerus ruled over the Persian Empire from 486 to 465 BC. The empire was divided into twenty "satrapies," which in turn were subdivided into "provinces;" and the king was in absolute control.
The king's uncle, Artabanus, strongly opposed the plan, but the king persisted and succeeded in convincing the princes and officers to follow him.
It was important that Ahasuerus impress his nobles and military leaders with his wealth and power. When they saw the marble pillars, the gorgeous drapes hung from silver rings, the gold and silver couches on beautiful marble mosaic pavements, and the golden table service, what else could they do but submit to the king? Like the salesperson who takes you out to an exclusive restaurant for an expensive dinner, the king broke down their resistance. A proud man himself, he knew how to appeal to the pride in others.
Like most monarchs of that day, Ahasuerus was a proud man, and in this chapter, we see three evidences of his pride.
His boastfulness (1:1–9) Eastern rulers enjoyed hosting lavish banquets because each occasion gave them opportunity to impress their guests with their royal power and wealth. Three banquets are mentioned in this chapter: one for the key military and political officers of the empire (vv. 1–4); one for the men of Shushan (Susa in Greek), site of the king's winter palace (vv. 5–8); and one for the women of Shushan (v. 9), presided over by Queen Vashti.
Unfortunately, this ostentatious display of wealth couldn't guarantee the Persians a military victory. In 480 BC, the Persian navy was destroyed at Salamis, while the king sat on a throne watching the battle, and in 479 BC, the Persian army was defeated at Plataea. Thus ended Ahasuerus' dream of a world empire. If ever a man should have learned the truth of Proverbs 16:18, it was Ahasuerus: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (nkjv).
I. Esther's coronation (1—2) A.The dethroning of Vashti—1
The king probably didn't assemble all his provincial leaders at one time; that would have kept them away from their duties for six months and weakened the empire. It's more likely that, over a period of six months, Ahasuerus brought the officers to Shushan on a rotating schedule. Then, having consulted with them, the king would bring them all together for the seven-day feast so they could confer collectively. In Esther 1:11, the writer indicates that the princes were also at this week-long festivity.
People in authority need to remember that all authority comes from God (Rom. 13:1) and that He alone is in complete control. Pharaoh had to learn that lesson in Egypt (Ex. 7:3–5); Nebuchadnezzar had to learn it in Babylon (Dan. 3—4); Belshazzar learned it at his blasphemous banquet (Dan. 5); Sennacherib learned it at the gates of Jerusalem (Isa. 36—37); and Herod Agrippa I learned it as he died, being eaten by worms (Acts 12:20–23). Every man or woman in a place of authority is second in command, for Jesus Christ is Lord of all.
Along with these three banquets, at least six other feasts are recorded in this book: Esther's coronation banquet (2:18); Haman's celebration feast with the king (3:15); Esther's two banquets for Haman and the king (chaps. 5 and 7); the Jews' banquets when they heard the new decree (8:17); and the Feast of Purim (9:17–19). It's wonderful how God can accomplish His eternal purposes through such a familiar activity as people eating and drinking! (See 1 Cor. 10:31.)
His drunkenness (1:10–12) Scripture ignores these military matters because the writer's purpose was to explain how Esther became queen. It was at the conclusion of the seven-day banquet that Ahasuerus, "in high spirits from wine" (Est. 1:10 niv), ordered his queen to display her beauty to the assembled guests, but she refused to obey. Her response, of course, was a triple offense on her part. Here was a woman challenging the authority of a man, a wife disobeying the orders of her husband, and a subject defying the command of the king. As a result, "the king became furious and burned with anger" (v. 12 niv).
What was the purpose behind the banquet for the nobles and officials of the empire? Scripture doesn't tell us, but secular history does. The Greek historian Herodotus (485–425 BC) may refer to these banquets in his History, where he states that Ahasuerus was conferring with his leaders about a possible invasion of Greece. Ahasuerus' father, Darius I, had invaded Greece and been shamefully defeated at Marathon in 490. While preparing to return to Greece and get
As you study the book of Esther, you will discover
Esther 1 takes the man." And King Lemuel's mother taught him, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink" (Prov. 31:4 kjv).
that this mighty monarch could control everything but himself. His advisers easily influenced him; he made impetuous decisions that he later regretted; and when he didn't get his own way, he became angry. Susceptible to flattery, he was master of a mighty empire but not master of himself. "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city" (Prov. 16:32). Ahasuerus built a great citadel at Shushan, but he couldn't build his own character. "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls" (25:28 nkjv). The king could control neither his temper nor his thirst.
As for the anger that King Ahasuerus expressed toward his lovely queen, it was ignorant, childish, and completely uncalled for. Had the king been sober, he would never have asked his wife to display her beauties before his drunken leaders. His pride got the best of him, for if he couldn't command his own wife, how could he ever command the Persian armies? Since Vashti had embarrassed the king before his own leaders, the king had to do something to save both his ego and his reputation.
This is a good place to stop and consider alcohol and anger—two powerful forces that have brought more destruction to our society than even the statistics reveal.
Vashti was right, and Ahasuerus was wrong, and his anger was only further proof that he was wrong. Anger has a way of blinding our eyes and deadening our hearts to that which is good and noble. The Italian poet Pietro Aletino (1492–1557) wrote to a friend, "Angry men are blind and foolish, for reason at such a time takes flight and, in her absence, wrath plunders all the riches of the intellect, while the judgment remains the prisoner of its own pride." If anybody was a prisoner of pride, it was the exalted king of the Persian Empire!
While we appreciate the king's wisdom in not forcing his guests to drink (Est. 1:8), we can hardly compliment him on the bad example he set by his own drinking habits. The Bible doesn't command total abstinence, but it does emphasize it. The nation of Israel didn't drink strong drink during their wilderness pilgrimage (Deut. 29:5–6), and the priests were instructed not to drink wine or strong drink while serving in the tabernacle (Lev. 10:8–11). The Nazirites were forbidden not only to drink wine but even to eat the skin or seeds of the grape (Lev. 6:1–3). Though our Lord Jesus drank wine while here on earth, He is today a "total abstainer." People who claim Jesus as their example in social drinking, and even point out that He turned water into wine, should take Luke 22:18 into consideration: "For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come" (kjv). I wonder whether these people "follow His example" in any other areas of life, such as praying, serving, and sacrificing. (Probably not.)
To be sure, there's a holy anger against sin that ought to burn in the heart of every godly person (Rom. 12:9). Even our Lord manifested anger at sin (Mark 3:5), but we must be careful that our anger at sin doesn't become sinful anger (Eph. 4:26). Sometimes what we call "righteous indignation" is only unrighteous temper masquerading in religious garments. Jesus equated anger with murder (Matt. 5:21–26), and Paul warns us that anger can hinder our praying (1 Tim. 2:8). Pride feeds anger, and as it grows, anger reinforces pride. "A quick-tempered man acts foolishly," warned the writer of Proverbs 14:17, a text perfectly illustrated by King Ahasuerus. Instead of being angry at Vashti, the king should have been angry at himself for acting so foolishly.
Most of the advertisements that promote the sale of alcoholic beverages depict fashionable people in gracious settings, giving the subtle impression that "social drinking" and success are synonymous. But pastors, social workers, physicians, and dedicated members of Alcoholics Anonymous would paint a different picture. They've seen firsthand the wrecked marriages, ruined bodies and minds, abused families, and shattered careers that often accompany what people call "social drinking."
Before leaving this part of our story, I want to point out that the gospel of Jesus Christ has helped to liberate and elevate women in society wherever it has been preached and obeyed throughout the world. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). We still have a long way to go in our recognition of the importance of women in the church, but thanks partly to the influence of the gospel, society has made progress in setting women free from cruel bondage and giving them wonderful opportunities for life and service.2
Longtime baseball coach and manager Connie Mack said that alcohol had no more place in the human body than sand had in the gas tank of an automobile. Alcohol is a narcotic, not a food; it destroys, not nourishes. The Bible warns against drunkenness (Prov. 20:1; 21:17; 23:20–21, 29–35; Isa. 5:11; Luke 21:34; Rom. 13:13–14; 1 Cor. 5:11; Eph. 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3–5), and even the Koran says, "There is a devil in every berry of the grape."
His vindictiveness (1:13–22) When the ego is pricked, it releases a powerful poison that makes people do all sorts of things they'd never do if they were humble and submitted to the Lord. Francis Bacon wrote in his Essays, "A man that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would
The best way to avoid drunkenness is not to drink at all. A Japanese proverb warns, "First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink
Esther 1—2
What a contrast to Paul's counsel to husbands and wives in Ephesians 5:18–33!
heal and do well." Had Ahasuerus sobered up and thought the matter through, he would never have deposed his wife. After all, she showed more character than he did.
Still motivated by anger and revenge, and seeking to heal his wounded pride, the king agreed to their advice and had Vashti deposed (Est. 1:19–21). He sent his couriers throughout the empire to declare the royal edict—an edict that was unnecessary, unenforceable, and unchangeable. King Ahasuerus was given to issuing edicts, and he didn't always stop to think about what he was doing (3:9–12). It was another evidence of his pride.
The Persian king had seven counselors who advised him in matters of state and had the right to approach his throne. They also knew well how to flatter the king to secure their positions and get from him what they wanted. The phrase "understood the times" (v. 13) suggests that they were astrologers who consulted the stars and used other forms of divination. Eastern monarchs in that day depended on such men to give them instructions in matters personal, governmental, and military. (See Dan. 1:20; 2:2, 10, 17; 4:7; 5:7, 11, 17.)
The king didn't immediately replace Vashti. Instead, he went off to invade Greece, where he met with humiliating defeat, and when he returned home, he sought solace in satisfying his sensual appetite by searching for a new queen and filling his harem with candidates. The women in his empire were not only to be subservient to the men, but they were also to be "sex objects" to give them pleasure. The more you know about Ahasuerus and his philosophy of life, the more you detest him.
Concerned about the repercussions of Vashti's disobedience, the king asked his seven counselors what he should do. The first thing they did was exaggerate the importance of the event: Vashti had done wrong not only to the king but also to the entire empire! Therefore, when the guests returned home, they would tell everybody that the queen was disobedient to her husband, and the consequences would be disastrous. The women in the empire would hold the men in contempt, and a general rebellion of wives against husbands and women against men would follow. (Commentators point out that the word "women" in Est. 1:17 means "women in general," while "ladies" in v. 18 refers to the women of the aristocratic class.) These counselors were playing it smart, for by exaggerating the problem, they also inflated their own importance and made the king more dependant on them.
The Bible doesn't tell us what happened to Vashti. Many biblical scholars believe she was Amestris, the mother of Artaxerxes who ruled from 464 to 425 BC. It's likely that Esther was either out of favor or dead; for Amestris exercised great influence as the queen mother during her son's reign.
Artaxerxes was born in 483, the year of the great banquet described in Esther 1. It's possible that Vashti was pregnant with her son at that time and therefore unwilling to appear before the men. It was her son Artaxerxes who ruled during the times of Ezra (7:1, 7, 11–12, 21; 8:1) and Nehemiah (2:1; 5:14; 13:6). In any case the stage was now set for the entrance of the two key persons in the drama: Haman, the man who hated the Jews, and Esther, the woman who delivered her people.
But was the situation really that serious? When Vashti refused to obey, I wonder how many princes and nobles at the banquet said among themselves, "Well, the king's marriage is just like our marriages! His wife has a mind of her own, and it's a good thing she does!" It's doubtful that the king would have lost authority or stature throughout the empire had he shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and admitted that he'd done a foolish thing. "A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult" (Prov. 12:16 niv).
Notes
1 See Herodotus, The History, Book VII, section 8. 2 One of the best presentations on this subject is Daughters of the Church, by Ruth A. Tucker and Walter Liefeld (Zondervan, 1987). See also A Dictionary of Women in Church History, by Mary L. Hammack (Moody Press, 1984).
The seven wise men advised the king to depose Vashti and replace her with another queen. They promised that such an act would put fear in the hearts of all the women in the empire and generate more respect for their husbands. But would it? Are hearts changed because kings issue decrees or congresses and parliaments pass laws? How would the punishment of Vashti make the Persian women love their husbands more? Are love and respect qualities that can be generated in hearts by human fiat?
B.The crowning of Esther—2
CHAPTER TWO Esther 2 THE NEW QUEEN
(In which Esther becomes the king's wife, and Mordecai gets no reward for saving the king's life) G
How could seven supposedly wise men be so calloused in their treatment of Vashti and so foolish in their evaluation of the women of the empire? How could they be so brutal as to use the authority of the law to destroy one woman and threaten the peace of every home in the empire? They were encouraging every husband to act like King Ahasuerus and manage the home on the basis of executive fiat (Est. 1:22).
od is preparing His heroes," said A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, "and when the opportunity comes, He can fit them into their places in a moment, and the world will wonder where they came from."
Esther 2
Dr. Simpson might have added that God also prepares His heroines, for certainly Esther was divinely prepared for her role as the new queen. God is never surprised by circumstances or at a loss for prepared servants. He had Joseph ready in Egypt (Ps. 105:17), Ezekiel and Daniel in Babylon, and Nehemiah in Susa, and He had Esther ready for her ministry to the Jews in the Persian Empire.
Ahasuerus to accept the plan, or that God approved of the king's harems or of his sensual abuse of women. It simply means that, without being the author of their sin, God so directed the people in this situation that decisions were made that accomplished God's purposes.
The decisions made today in the high places of government and finance seem remote from the everyday lives of God's people, but they affect us and God's work in many ways. It's good to know that God is on His throne and that no decision is made that can thwart His purposes. "He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: 'What have you done?'" (Dan. 4:35 niv).
As you read this chapter, you will see at least three evidences of the hand of God at work in the affairs of the people.
The agreement of the king (2:1–4) Nearly four years have passed since Vashti was deposed. During that time, Ahasuerus directed his ill-fated Greek campaign and came home in humiliation instead of honor. As he considered his rash actions toward his wife, his affection for Vashti rekindled, and though he had a harem full of concubines, he missed his queen. There is a difference between love and sex. The passing excitement of the moment is not the same as the lasting enrichment of a lifetime relationship.
"There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty," said Charles Haddon Spurgeon. While we confess that many things involved in this doctrine are shrouded in mystery, it's unthinkable that almighty God should not be Master of His own universe. Even in the affairs of a pagan empire, God is in control.
The choice of Esther (2:5–18) We are now introduced to Mordecai and his cousin Esther, who, along with Haman, are the principal players in this drama. Once again, we see the hand of God at work in the life of this lovely Jewess. Consider the factors involved.
The king's advisers were concerned that Vashti not be restored to royal favor, for if she regained her throne, their own lives would be in danger. After all, it was they who had told the king to remove her! But more was involved than the lives of the king's counselors, for the survival of the Jewish nation was also at stake. Queen Vashti would certainly not intercede on behalf of the Jews. She probably would have cooperated with Haman.
The influence of Mordecai (vv. 5–7). Mordecai is named fifty-eight times in this book, and seven times he is identified as "a Jew" (2:5; 5:13; 6:10; 8:7; 9:29, 31; 10:3). His ancestor, Kish, was among the Jews taken to Babylon from Jerusalem in the second deportation in 597 BC (2 Kings 24). Cyrus, King of Persia, entered Babylon in 539 and the next year gave the Jews permission to return to their land. About 50,000 responded (Ezra 1—2). In subsequent years, other Jews returned to Israel, but Mordecai chose to remain in the Persian capital.
Knowing the king's strong sensual appetite, the counselors suggested that he assemble a new harem composed of the most beautiful young virgins in the empire. This was not a "beauty contest" where the winners were rewarded by having a chance for the throne. These young women were conscripted against their will and made a part of the royal harem. Every night, the king had a new partner, and the next morning, she joined the rest of the concubines. The one that pleased the king the most would become his new queen. It sounds like something out of The Arabian Nights, except that, in those tales, Emperor Shahriar married a new wife each day and had her slain the next morning. That way he could be sure she wouldn't be unfaithful to him!
While the Babylonians made life difficult for the Jews, the Persians were more lenient to aliens, and many Jews prospered in the land of their captors. Mordecai eventually held an official position in the government and sat at the king's gate (Est. 2:21). It's likely that he was given this position after Esther's coronation, because he had to walk back and forth in front of the house of the women in order to find out how his adopted daughter was doing (v. 11). If he were an officer of the king, he would have had access to inside information.
I wonder how many beautiful girls hid when the king's officers showed up to abduct them? Heartbroken mothers and fathers no doubt lied to the officers and denied that they had any virgin daughters. Perhaps some of the girls married any available man rather than spend a hopeless life shut up in the king's harem. Once they had been with the king, they belonged to him and could not marry. If the king ignored them, they were destined for a life of loneliness, shut up in a royal harem. Honor? Perhaps. Happiness? No!
Esther was Mordecai's cousin and adopted daughter (v. 15). Her Persian name Esther means "star," and her Hebrew name Hadassah means "myrtle." (It's interesting that the myrtle tree bears a flower that looks like a star.) A beautiful woman, she was one of those taken into the king's harem. An English proverb says, "Beauty may have fair leaves, yet bitter fruit." We wonder how many young ladies in the empire regretted that they had been born beautiful!
"The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes" (Prov. 21:1 nkjv). This doesn't mean that God forced
Esther 2 happened to her since these circumstances were, for the most part, out of her control, and God did not overrule them for the good of her people.
One of the key elements in this story is the fact that the people in Shushan didn't know that Mordecai and Esther were Jews. The palace personnel found out about Mordecai when he told them (3:4), and the king learned about Esther at the second banquet she hosted for him and Haman (chap. 7).
When you consider the backslidden state of the Jewish nation at that time, the disobedience of the Jewish remnant in the Persian Empire, and the unspiritual lifestyle of Mordecai and Esther, is it any wonder that the name of God is absent from this book? Would you want to identify your holy name with such an unholy people?
This fact presents us with some problems. For one thing, if Mordecai and Esther were passing themselves off as Persians, they certainly weren't keeping a kosher home and obeying the laws of Moses. Had they been following even the dietary laws, let alone the rules for separation and worship, their true nationality would have quickly been discovered. Had Esther practiced her Jewish faith during her year of preparation (2:12), or during the four years she had been queen (2:16 with 3:7), the disguise would have come off. Anyone has the right to conceal his or her true nationality, and this is not a sin. As long as nobody asked them, Mordecai and Esther had every right to conceal their racial origin. If people thought that the two cousins were Gentiles, well, that was their own conclusion. Nobody lied to them. "All truths are not to be spoken at all times," wrote Matthew Henry, "though an untruth is not to be spoken at any time." Nevertheless, that Esther and Mordecai did not acknowledge the God of Israel in the midst of that pagan society is unfortunate.
The encouragement of Hegai (vv. 8–9). Just as Joseph found favor in Egypt (Gen. 39:21) and Daniel in Babylon (Dan. 1:9), so Esther found favor in Shushan. God is so great that He can work even in the heart and mind of the keeper of a harem! Hegai was a Gentile. His job was to provide pleasure for the king, and he didn't know the true God of Israel. Nevertheless, he played an important role in the plan that God was working out for His people. Even today, God is working in places where you and I might think He is absent.
Hegai had a year-long "beauty treatment" to prepare each woman for the king. It included a prescribed diet, the application of special perfumes and cosmetics, and probably a course on court etiquette. They were being trained to do one thing—satisfy the desires of the king. The one who pleased him the most would become his wife. Because of the providence of God, Hegai gave Esther "special treatment" and the best place in the house for her and her maids.
So much for their subterfuge. What about their nonkosher lifestyle? Even though the law of Moses was temporary, and it would be ended with the death of Christ on the cross, that law was still in effect, and the Jews were expected to obey it. Daniel and his friends were careful to obey the law while they lived in Babylon, and the Lord blessed them for their faithfulness (Dan. 1). Why would He overlook the unfaithfulness of Mordecai and Esther and still use them to accomplish His purposes?
The nationality of Esther (vv. 10–11). Had Esther not been born into the Jewish race, she could never have saved the nation from slaughter. It would appear that the two cousins' silence about their nationality was directed by God because He had a special work for them to accomplish. There was plenty of anti-Semitism in the Gentile world, and Mordecai's motive was probably their own personal safety, but God had something greater in mind. Mordecai and Esther wanted to live in peace, but God used them to keep the Jewish people alive.
But even more serious than their lifestyle is the problem of a Jewess in a harem and ultimately marrying a Gentile. The law of Moses prohibited all kinds of illicit sex as well as mixed marriages (Ex. 20:14; 34:16; Lev. 18; Deut. 7:1–4), and both Ezra and Nehemiah had to deal with the problem of Jews marrying Gentiles (Ezra 9—10; Neh. 10:30; 13:23–27). Yet, God allowed a pure Jewish girl to become the wife of a lustful Gentile pagan king, a worshipper of Zoroaster!
The approval of the king (vv. 12–18). Each night, a new maiden was brought to the king, and in the morning, she was sent to the house of the concubines, never again to be with the king unless he remembered her and called for her. Such unbridled sensuality eventually would have so bored Ahasuerus that he was probably unable to distinguish one maiden from another. This was not love. It was faceless, anonymous lust that craved more and more, and the more the king indulged, the less he was satisfied.
Some Bible students see this whole enterprise as an empire-wide "beauty contest" and Esther as a contestant who probably shouldn't have entered. They also assert that Mordecai encouraged her because he wanted to have a Jew in a place of influence in the empire in case there was trouble. Perhaps that interpretation is true. However, other students feel that the women were not volunteers but were selected and assembled by the king's special officers. The girls were not kidnapped, but everybody knew that the will of an Eastern monarch could not successfully be opposed. In this case I don't think we should condemn Esther for what
Esther had won the favor of everybody who saw her, and when the king saw her, he responded to her with greater enthusiasm than he had to any of the other women. At last he had found someone to replace Vashti! The phrase "the king loved Esther" (kjv) must not be interpreted to mean that Ahasuerus had suddenly fallen in love with Esther with pure and devoted affection. The NIV rendering is best: "Now the king was attracted to Esther more
Esther 2—3 get bribes from people who needed the king's help. (This is why Daniel's fellow officers didn't like him; he was too honest. See Dan. 6.)
than to any of the other women" (v. 17). This response was from the Lord who wanted Esther in the royal palace where she could intercede for her people. "Known to God from eternity are all His works" (Acts 15:18 nkjv).
It's possible that this assassination attempt was connected with the crowning of the new queen and that Vashti's supporters in the palace resented what Ahasuerus had done. Or perhaps these two men hated Esther because she was an outsider. Although it wasn't consistently obeyed, tradition said that Persian kings should select their wives from women within the seven noble families of the land. These conspirators may have been traditionalists who didn't want a "commoner" on the throne.
It's worth noting that Esther put herself into the hands of Hegai and did what she was told to do. Hegai knew what the king liked, and, being partial to Esther, he attired her accordingly. Because she possessed such great beauty "in form and features" (Est. 2:7 niv), Esther didn't require the "extras" that the other women needed. (See 1 Peter 3:1–6.)
The king personally crowned Esther and named her the new queen of the empire. Then he summoned his officials and hosted a great banquet. (This is the fourth banquet in the book. The Persian kings used every opportunity to celebrate!) But the king's generosity even touched the common people, for he proclaimed a national holiday throughout his realm and distributed gifts to the people. This holiday may have been similar to the Hebrew "Year of Jubilee." It's likely that taxes were canceled, servants set free, and workers given a vacation from their jobs. Ahasuerus wanted everybody to feel good about his new queen.
Ahasuerus enjoyed almost unlimited authority, wealth, and pleasure. He was insulated from the everyday problems of life (Est. 4:1–4), but this didn't guarantee his personal safety. It was still possible for people to plot against the king and threaten his life. In fact, fourteen years later, Ahasuerus was assassinated!
God in His providence enabled Mordecai to hear about the plot and notify Queen Esther. When Esther told the king, she gave Mordecai the credit for uncovering the conspiracy, and this meant that his name was written into the official chronicle. This fact will play an important part in the drama four years later (6:1ff.).
The intervention of Mordecai (2:19–23) The second "gathering of the virgins" mentioned in verse 19 probably means that the king's officers continued to gather beautiful girls for his harem, for Ahasuerus wasn't likely to become a monogamist and spend the rest of his life with Esther alone. Those who hold that this entire occasion was a "beauty contest" see this second gathering as a farewell to the "candidates" who never got to see the king. They were thanked and sent home. I prefer the first interpretation. Queen or no queen, a man like Ahasuerus wasn't about to release a group of beautiful virgins from his palace!
The phrase "hanged on a tree" (Est. 2:23 kjv) probably means "impaled on a stake," one of the usual forms of capital punishment used by the Persians, who were not known for their leniency to prisoners. The usual form of capital punishment among the Jews was stoning, but if they really wanted to humiliate the victim, they would hang the corpse on a tree until sundown (Deut. 21:22–23).
Mordecai received neither recognition nor reward for saving the king's life. No matter; God saw to it that the facts were permanently recorded, and He would make good use of them at the right time. Our good works are like seeds that are planted by faith, and their fruits don't always appear immediately. "Evil pursues sinners, but to the righteous, good shall be repaid" (Prov. 13:21 nkjv). Joseph befriended a fellow prisoner, and the man completely forgot his kindness for two years (Gen. 40:23; 41:1). But God's timing is always perfect, and He sees to it that no good deed is ever wasted.
But most importantly, in verse 19 we now see Mordecai in a position of honor and authority, sitting at the king's gate (4:2; 5:13). In the East, the gate was the ancient equivalent of our modern law courts, the place where important official business was transacted (Ruth 4:1; Dan. 2:48–49). It's possible that Queen Esther used her influence to get her cousin this job.
Once again, we marvel at the providence of God in the life of a man who was not honoring the God of Israel. Neither Mordecai nor Esther had revealed their true nationality. Perhaps we should classify them with Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea who were "secret disciples" and yet were used of God to protect and bury the body of Jesus (John 19:38–42). Like these two men, Mordecai and Esther were "hidden" in the Persian capital because God had a very special work for them to do. Mordecai was able to use his position for the good of both the king and the Jews.
The plot that Mordecai successfully exposed, however, was nothing compared to the plot he would uncover four years later, planned and perpetrated by Haman, the enemy of the Jews.
II. Haman's condemnation (3—7) A.Haman's intrigue—3
CHAPTER THREE Esther 3 AN OLD ENEMY WITH A NEW NAME
In Eastern courts, palace intrigue was a normal thing. Only a few officers had free access to the king (Est. 1:10, 14), and they often used their privileges to
(In which an evil man challenges the throne of Almighty God)
Esther 3 everything about Haman, God hated! "These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren" (Prov. 6:16–19 nkjv). Keep these seven evil characteristics in mind as you read the book of Esther, for you will see them depicted in this depraved man.
or four years, things have been peaceful in Shushan. Esther has reigned as queen, and Mordecai has tended to the king's business at the gate. Then everything changed, and all the Jews in the empire found themselves in danger of being killed— just to satisfy the hatred of a man named Haman.
The book of Esther is one of five Old Testament books that the Jews call "The Writings" or "The Five Megilloth." (The word megilloth means "scrolls" in Hebrew.) The other books are Ruth, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon, and Lamentations. Each year on the Feast of Purim, the book of Esther is read publicly in the synagogue, and whenever the reader mentions Haman's name, the people stamp their feet and exclaim, "May his name be blotted out!" To Jews everywhere, Haman personifies everybody who has tried to exterminate the people of Israel. This chapter explains to us why Haman was such a dangerous man.
His authority (lb) At some time between the seventh and twelfth years of the reign of Ahasuerus (v. 7; 2:16), the king decided to make Haman chief officer in the empire. Think of it: Mordecai had saved the king's life and didn't receive a word of thanks, let alone a reward, but wicked Haman did nothing and was promoted! There are many seeming injustices in this life, yet God knows what He's doing and will never forsake the righteous or leave their deeds unrewarded. (See Ps. 37.)
His ancestry (la) Haman was an "Agagite," which could mean he came from a district in the empire known as Agag. But it could also mean that he was descended from Agag, king of the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15:8). If the latter is the case, then we can easily understand why Haman hated the Jews: God had declared war on the Amalekites and wanted their name and memory blotted off the face of the earth.
Haman probably fawned and flattered his way into this powerful new position because that's the kind of man he was. He was a proud man, and his purpose was to achieve authority and recognition. As we have seen, Ahasuerus was a weak and gullible man, susceptible to flattery and anxious to please people, so Haman's task wasn't a difficult one.
Some Bible students have seen in Haman an illustration of the "man of sin" who will one day appear and ruthlessly rule over humanity (2 Thess. 2; Rev. 13). Haman was given great authority from the king, and Satan will give great power to this wicked world ruler we call the Antichrist (Rev. 13:2, 4). As Haman hated the Jews and tried to destroy them, so the Antichrist will usher in a wave of worldwide anti-Semitism (12:13–17). At first, he will pretend to be friendly to Israel and will even make a covenant to protect them, but then he will break the covenant and oppose the very people he agreed to help (Dan. 9:24–27). As Haman was ultimately defeated and judged, so the Antichrist will be conquered by Jesus Christ and confined to the lake of fire (Rev. 19:11–20). God permitted Haman to be appointed to this high office because He had purposes to fulfill through him. (See Rom. 9:17.) God takes His promises seriously and will not break His covenant with His people. My friend J. Vernon McGee used to say, "The Jew has attended the funeral of every one of the nations that tried to exterminate him," and Haman was not to be an exception.
The story goes back to the time of Israel's exodus from Egypt (Ex. 17:8–15), when the Amalekites attacked God's weary people in the rear ranks of the marching nation (Deut. 25:18). After Moses commanded Joshua to fight against Amalek, he interceded on the mountain, and Joshua won a great victory. God told Moses to write in a book that He had declared war on the Amalekites and would one day utterly destroy them because of what they had done to His people. Moses reminded the Israelites of the Amalekites' treacherous attack before they entered the Promised Land (Deut. 25:17–19).
It was Saul, the first king of Israel, whom God commanded to destroy the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15), and he failed in his commission and lost his own crown. (It was an Amalekite who claimed he put Saul to death on the battlefield. See 2 Sam. 1:1–10.) Because Saul didn't fully obey the Lord, some Amalekites lived, and one of their descendants, Haman, determined to annihilate his people's ancient enemy, the Jews. It's worth noting that King Saul, a Benjamite, failed to destroy the Amalekites, but Mordecai, also a Benjamite (Est. 2:5), took up the battle and defeated Haman. It's also worth noting that the founder of the Amalekites was a descendant of Esau (Gen. 36:12), and Esau was the enemy of his brother Jacob. This was another stage in the age-old conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, Satan and the Lord, the way of faith and the way of the world.
What people do with authority is a test of character. Do they use their authority to promote themselves or to help others? Do they glorify themselves or glorify God? Daniel was given a high position similar to Haman's, but he used his authority to honor God and help others (Dan. 6). Of course, the difference between Daniel and Haman is that Daniel was a humble man of God while Haman was a proud man of the world.
Everything about Haman is hateful; you can't find one thing about this man worth praising. In fact,
Esther 3
His vanity (3:2–6) Not content with merely having a high office and using it, Haman wanted all the public recognition and honor that he could secure. Although the ancient people of the Near East were accustomed to giving public displays of homage, the king had to issue a special edict concerning Haman, or the people would not have bowed down to him. Haman was a small man in a big office, and the other nobles, more worthy than he, would not willingly recognize him. This fact is another hint that Haman got the office not by earning it but by stealing it. If he were a worthy officer, the other leaders would have gladly recognized him.
What was there about being a Jew that prohibited him from doing what everybody else was doing? Even if Mordecai couldn't respect the man, he could at least respect the office and therefore the king who gave Haman the office.
I think the answer is that Haman was an Amalekite, and the Amalekites were the avowed enemies of the Jews. The Lord swore and put in writing that He had declared war on the Amalekites and would fight them from generation to generation (Ex. 17:16). How could Mordecai show homage to the enemy of the Jews and the enemy of the Lord? He didn't want to be guilty of what Joab said about King David, "You love your enemies and hate your friends" (2 Sam. 19:6 nkjv).
Pride blinds people to what they really are and makes them insist on having what they really don't deserve. The British essayist Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) wrote, "When little men cast long shadows, it is a sign that the sun is setting." Haman was a little man, indeed, but his vanity compelled him to make himself look and sound bigger than he really was.
Mordecai's controversy with Haman was not a personal quarrel with a proud and difficult man. It was Mordecai's declaration that he was on God's side in the national struggle between the Jews and the Amalekites. Mordecai didn't want to make the same mistake his ancestor King Saul had made in being too lenient with God's enemies (1 Sam. 15). Because Saul compromised with the Amalekites, he lost his crown, but because Mordecai opposed them, he eventually gained a crown (Est. 8:15).
"Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office," wrote Aesop in his fable "The Jackass in Office," and it applies perfectly to Haman. He was recognized, not because of his character or his ability, but because of the office he filled and because of the edict of the king. "Try not to become a man of success," said Albert Einstein, "but try to become a man of value." Men and women of value earn the recognition they deserve.
Keep in mind that the extermination of the Jews would mean the end of the messianic promise for the world. The reason God promised to protect His people was that they might become the channel through whom He might give the Word of God and the Son of God to the world. Israel was to bring the blessing of salvation to all nations (Gen. 12:1–3; Gal. 3:7–18). Mordecai wasn't nurturing a personal grudge against Haman so much as enlisting in the perpetual battle God has with those who work for the devil and try to hinder His will in this world (Gen. 3:15). Mordecai is not the only person in the Bible who for conscience' sake practiced "civil disobedience." The Hebrew midwives disobeyed Pharaoh's orders and refused to kill the Jewish babies (Ex. 1:15–22). Daniel and his three friends refused to eat the king's food (Dan. 1), and the three friends also refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's image (Dan. 3). The apostles refused to stop witnessing in Jerusalem and affirmed, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). That statement can be a wonderful declaration of faith or a cowardly evasion of responsibility, depending on the heart of the person saying it.
Haman's promotion may have brought out the worst in Haman, but it brought out the best in Mordecai, for Mordecai refused to pay homage to Haman. It must be remembered, however, that the Jews didn't violate the second commandment (Ex. 20:4–6) when they bowed down before people in authority any more than Christians do today when they show respect to leaders. For instance, Abraham bowed down to the sons of Heth when he negotiated with them for Sarah's grave (Gen. 23:7). Also Joseph's brothers bowed down before Joseph, thinking he was an Egyptian official (42:6). David even bowed down to Saul (1 Sam. 24:8), and Jacob and his family bowed before Esau (Gen. 33:3, 6–7). The Jews even bowed to one another. (See 2 Sam. 14:4 and 18:28.)
There were crowds of people at the gate, and some of them would be pleading for Haman to intercede for them. Consequently, Haman didn't notice that Mordecai was standing up while everybody else was bowing down. The other officials at the gate questioned Mordecai about his behavior, and it was then that Mordecai openly announced that he was a Jew (Est. 3:3–4). For several days, the royal officials discussed the matter with Mordecai, probably trying to change his mind, and then they reported his behavior to Haman. From that time on, Haman watched Mordecai and nursed his anger, not only toward the man at the gate, but also toward all the Jews in the empire.
But please note that, in each of these instances, the people had a direct word from God that gave them assurance they were doing His will. And further note that, in every instance, the believers were kind and respectful. They didn't start riots or burn down buildings "for conscience' sake." Because civil authority is ordained of God (Rom. 13), it's a serious thing for Christians to disobey the law, and if we're going to do it, we must know the difference between personal prejudices and biblical convictions.
Something else is involved: By confessing that he was a Jew, Mordecai was asking for trouble for both
Why did Mordecai refuse to bow down to Haman?
Esther 3
Was Haman disappointed with this choice? He may have wanted to act immediately, catch the Jews off guard, and satisfy his hatred much sooner. On the other hand, he would have nearly a year in which to nurse his grudge and anticipate revenge, and that would be enjoyable. He could watch the Jews panic, knowing that he was in control. Even if the Jews took advantage of this delay and moved out of the empire, he would still get rid of them and be able to claim whatever goods and property they would have left behind. The plan seemed a good one.
himself and the other Jews in the empire. Obedience to conscience and the will of God in defiance of civil law is not a casual thing to be taken lightly. Some of the "conscience protesters" we've seen on television, however, have seemed more like clowns going to a party than soldiers going to a battle. They could never stand with people like Martin Luther who challenged prelates and potentates with: "My conscience is captive to the Word of God. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise!"
Mordecai may have had shortcomings with reference to his religious practices, but we must admire him for his courageous stand. Certainly God had put him and Esther into their official positions so that they might save their people from annihilation. Their neglect of the Jewish law is incidental when you consider their courage in risking their lives.
He requested the king's permission (vv. 8–11). Like Satan, the great enemy of the Jews, Haman was both a murderer and a liar (John 8:44). To begin with, he didn't even give the king the name of the people who were supposed to be subverting the kingdom. His vague description of the situation made the danger seem even worse. The fact that these dangerous people were scattered throughout the whole empire made it even more necessary that the king do something about them.
Like a cancerous tumor, Haman's hatred for Mordecai soon developed into hatred for the whole Jewish race. Haman could have reported Mordecai's crime to the king, and the king would have imprisoned Mordecai or perhaps had him executed, but that would not have satisfied Haman's lust for revenge. No, his hatred had to be nourished by something bigger, like the destruction of a whole nation. As with Judas in the Upper Room, so with Haman in the palace: he became a murderer. Mark Twain called anti-Semitism "the swollen envy of pygmy minds." And he was right.
Haman was correct when he described the Jews as a people whose "laws are different from those of all other people" (Est. 3:8). Their laws were different because they were God's chosen people who alone received God's holy law from His own hand. Moses asked, "And what great nation is there that has such statues and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?" (Deut. 4:8 nkjv) and the answer is: "None!"
His subtlety (3:7–15a) Follow the steps that wicked Haman took as he executed his plan to destroy the Jewish people.
The fact that one man, Mordecai, disobeyed one law was exaggerated by Haman into the false accusation that all the Jews disobeyed all the laws of the land. The prophet Jeremiah had instructed the Jews of the exile to behave as good citizens and cooperate with their captors (Jer. 29:4–7), and the evidence seems to be that they obeyed. If the Jews in the Persian Empire had been repeatedly guilty of sedition or treason, Ahasuerus would have known about it by now. And even if some Jews in a few towns did disobey the king's laws, why should the whole nation of Israel be destroyed for the crimes of a few?
He selected the day (v. 7). Haman and some of the court astrologers cast lots to determine the day for the Jews' destruction. This was done privately before Haman approached the king with his plan. Haman wanted to be sure that his gods were with him and that his plan would succeed.
The Eastern peoples in that day took few important steps without consulting the stars and the omens. A century before, when King Nebuchadnezzar and his generals couldn't agree on a campaign strategy, they paused to consult their gods. "For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver" (Ezek. 21:21 nkjv).1 The Babylonian word puru means "lot," and from it the Jews get the name of their feast, Purim (Est. 9:26). It's interesting that Haman began this procedure in the month of Nisan, the very month in which the Jews celebrated their deliverance from Egypt. As the astrologers cast lots over the calendar, month by month and day by day, they arrived at the most propitious date: the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (v. 13). This decision was certainly of the Lord, because it gave the Jews a whole year to get ready, and because it would also give Mordecai and Esther time to act. "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Prov. 16:33 kjv).
Haman's coup de grace came at the end of his speech when he offered to pay the king 10,000 talents of silver for the privilege of ridding the empire of these dangerous people. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (Book III, Section 95), the annual income of the entire Persian Empire was 15,000 talents of silver. In effect, Haman was offering the king an amount equivalent to two thirds of that huge amount. Haman must have been a fabulously wealthy man. Of course, he hoped to recoup some of this amount from the spoils taken from the Jews.
In Esther 3:11, the king's response ("The silver is given to thee") gives the impression that Ahasuerus rejected the money and offered to pay the expenses himself. In typical Oriental fashion, the king politely rejected the offer ("Keep the money" niv), fully expecting Haman to insist that he accept it. (See Abraham's
Esther 3 bargaining with the sons of Heth, Gen. 23.) Haman knew that the Greek wars had impoverished the king's treasuries, and he would never have offered so much money to so mighty a ruler if he didn't really intend to pay it. (See Est. 4:7.)
Religion, 162). Jesus vividly illustrated that apathy in the parable of the good samaritan (Luke 10:25–37). He pointed out that two religious men, a priest and a Levite, ignored the needs of the dying man, while the Samaritan, a hated outsider, sacrificed to take care of him. Jesus also made it clear that loving the Lord ought to make us love our neighbor, and our neighbor is anyone who needs us.
Without asking any questions, the king gave Haman his royal signet ring (see 8:2, 8), which granted him the authority to act in the king's name. He could write any document he pleased and put the king's seal on it, and the document had to be accepted as law and obeyed. It was a foolish thing for Ahasuerus to do, but true to character, he acted first and regretted it afterward. "He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him" (Prov. 18:13 nkjv).
Therefore, before we condemn wicked Haman, let's examine our own hearts. Billions of lost sinners in today's world are under a sentence of eternal death, and most Christians do very little about it. We can sit at our church banquets and Sunday dinners without even thinking about helping to get the message out that "the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14).
He immediately spread the word (Est. 3:12–14). Unknown to the Jews who were getting ready to celebrate Passover, Haman was busy with the king's secretaries, writing out the new law and translating it into the various languages of the peoples within the empire. In verse 13, the words of the law are similar to the instructions Samuel gave to King Saul when he sent him to destroy the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15:1–3). The one important difference was that Saul was not permitted to take any of the spoil, while Haman and his helpers hoped to plunder the Jews and accumulate great wealth. The official document was given to the royal couriers, who quickly carried it to every part of the empire.
In June 1865, missionary to China, J. Hudson Taylor, had gone to stay with friends at Brighton, a popular British resort city by the sea. He was weary and ill and seeking the will of God for the future of his ministry. On Sunday, June 25, "unable to bear the sight of rejoicing multitudes in the house of God," he went for a walk on the sands and wrestled with God in agony of soul. God met him in a fresh way, and he trusted God to provide twenty-four workers to labor with him in China. Two days later, he went to the London & County Bank and opened an account in the name of the China Inland Mission! It was the beginning of a miracle ministry that continues today.2
If, in an ancient kingdom, a message of bad news could be so quickly prepared, translated, and distributed, why does it take the church so long to disseminate the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? To be sure, we have more people in our modern world than Ahasuerus had in his empire, but we also have better means of communication and transportation. The problem must be with the couriers. The message is ready to go, but we don't have enough people to carry it and enough money to send them.
The phrase in the account that tugs at my heart is "unable to bear the sight of rejoicing multitudes in the house of God." Certainly it's good to rejoice in the Lord and to do it in His house, but rejoicing must never be a substitute for responsibility. As a popular gospel song expresses it: "God's tables are full but His fields are empty." We all want to enjoy the feast, but we don't want to share the message. We don't have to be hardened unbelievers like Haman to be apathetic and unconcerned about the plight of the world's billions of lost souls.
The work was done quickly because Haman didn't want Ahasuerus to change his mind. Once the law was written and sealed, the doom of the Jews was also sealed, for the laws of the Medes and Persians could not be altered (Est. 1:19; 8:8; Dan. 6:8). Haman's subtle plan had worked.
In contrast to the happiness of the king and his prime minister were the heaviness and bewilderment of the people in Shushan, Gentiles and Jews alike. What had caused this sudden change in policy? Why were the Jews suddenly targeted as enemies of the empire? Was there any way of escape?
His apathy (3:15b) Haman could send out the death warrants for thousands of innocent people and then sit down to a banquet with the king! What a calloused heart he had! He was like the people the prophet Amos described: "that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph" (Amos 6:6). However, in the end, it was his own death warrant that Haman had sealed, for within less than three months, Haman would be a dead man (Est. 8:9).
The situation was not hopeless, however, for God had two people prepared and in place—Mordecai and Queen Esther—and He was ready to act.
Notes
1 "Shaking the arrows" was something like our modern "drawing straws," with the arrows marked with the possible choices of action. "Consulting images" had to do with seeking help from the images of the gods they carried with them. "Looking at the liver" involved offering an animal sacrifice and getting directions from the shape and marks on the liver. 2 See Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission: The Growth of a Work of God, 31–32.
Helen Keller said, "Science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all—the apathy of human beings" (My
Esther 4 there were no voices calling them" (The Afterglow of God, 72). How opposite from our Priest-King in heaven who welcomes us to bring our burdens and sorrows to Him!
B.Mordecai's insight—4 CHAPTER FOUR Esther 4 A DAY OF DECISION
What could Mordecai hope to accomplish at the gate with his sackcloth and his wailing? Well, perhaps somebody from the palace would take notice of him and get a message to Queen Esther. The queen's ladies-in-waiting knew Mordecai (Est. 2:11), although they didn't know the relationship between him and the queen, and Mordecai had already transmitted information to the queen through some of her retainers (2:22). Since Mordecai couldn't enter the house of the women, this was his only hope.
(In which the queen goes into her counting house and counts the cost) T here were perhaps 15 million Jews scattered throughout the Persian Empire. Because of Haman's enmity and the king's stupidity, all of them were now appointed to die, unless they pulled up stakes and left the kingdom. But if they did that, where would they go? Even their own land of Israel wasn't safe because it was under the rule of Ahasuerus. Since the Persians ruled "from India to Ethiopia" (1:1), there were very few accessible places to which the Jews might flee.
Esther received the report that Mordecai was dressed in sackcloth and ashes, mourning at the king's gate. Since she wasn't told the reason for her cousin's strange conduct, she did the logical thing and sent him fine clothes to put on lest his sackcloth arouse the concern of the king's officers and guards. What if the king should come out to the gate for an audience with the people? Mordecai would then be in trouble.
In the empire, the responses to Haman's decree were varied. Haman and the king completely ignored the plight of the Jews and sat down to a royal feast. Meanwhile, the people of the capital city were perplexed and didn't know what to do (3:15). Secluded in the royal harem, Queen Esther knew nothing about the danger that she and her people faced. While the Jews in the various provinces began to fast and mourn (4:3), only one man, Mordecai, was able to do anything about the peril, and he immediately began to act.
The queen's motives were fine, but her method was faulty. Before sending the new clothes to Mordecai, she should have found out what the problem really was. If Ahasuerus did appear at the gate, Mordecai's courtly garments might save him temporarily from the wrath of the king, but they couldn't rescue the Jews from the penalty of death that Haman had issued for them. Mordecai's mourning, however, finally got the attention of the queen, and that's what he wanted.
He expressed his concern (4:1–3) Mordecai's appearance and actions (v. 1) were those of a person showing great grief (2 Sam. 1:11–12; 13:19) or deep repentance (Jonah 3; Neh. 9:1–2). Mordecai was neither afraid nor ashamed to let people know where he stood. He had already told the officers at the gate that he was a Jew; now he was telling the whole city that he was not only a Jew but also that he opposed the murderous edict. Although it can't be documented from his writings, a statement usually attributed to the British politician Edmund Burke certainly applies here: "All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
He explained their peril (4:4–9) Mordecai's refusal of the new clothes gave him opportunity to get his vital message to the queen, for she sent one of her eunuchs to the gate to ask Mordecai what was wrong. I doubt that Hathach realized what an important part he was playing in God's plan to defeat Haman and save the Jews. So often in the work of the Lord, He uses obscure people to accomplish important tasks. What was the name of the lad who gave Jesus his loaves and fishes? Who were the men who rescued Paul by lifting him over that Damascus wall in a basket? What was the name of the little servant girl who told Naaman to go see the prophet? We don't know, but God used these people to accomplish His purposes. As great doors can swing upon small hinges, so great events can turn upon the deeds of "small" and sometimes anonymous people.
"Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, 'Surely we did not know this,' does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?" These solemn words from Proverbs 24:11–12 (nkjv) make it clear that we can't be neutral when human lives are at stake.
Mordecai ended his mournful pilgrimage at the king's gate, which was the commercial and legal hub of the city, a combination of marketplace and courtroom. That was as far as he could go because Oriental kings lived in an artificial paradise that sheltered them from the realities of life. "No sackcloth must come within their gates," said Scottish preacher George H. Morrison. "They must have a good time at any cost. They must live their easy and comfortable lives, as if
Mordecai not only knew all the facts about the decree, but he also had a copy of it for Esther to read for herself. This proves that he held a high position in the government, a position God had given him for the very purpose of saving the Jewish nation. But Mordecai did much more than inform the queen. He urged her to reveal her true nationality and go to the royal throne and intercede for her people.
When Mordecai told Hathach to tell the queen to
Esther 4 protected from annihilation. However, he warned her that even if deliverance did come, some of the Jews might still be slain, and Esther might be among them.
ask for mercy "for her people," he divulged to him the fact that Esther was a Jewess. Did it shock Hathach, or was he perhaps a Jew himself, and that's why Mordecai entrusted him with this secret? Like Daniel and his three friends in Babylon, Jewish exiles in the Persian Empire were often pressed into royal service.
Why would God send "relief and deliverance" (niv) to the Jewish people but allow Esther and her relatives to be slain? Perhaps Mordecai saw this as a punishment for her unwillingness to intercede for the people. To know to do good and not do it is sin (James 4:17). Therefore, instead of protecting herself by her silence, Esther would be putting herself into greater jeopardy. Haman and his agents would have little trouble finding her in the palace and taking her life.
Now, the big question was: how would Queen Esther respond to this crisis?
He exhorted the queen (4:10–14) Keep in mind that Mordecai couldn't speak directly to Esther but had to send his messages to her via Hathach. Esther had no way of sensing personally how Mordecai felt, nor could Mordecai fully understand how Esther was expressing herself. What a difference it makes when we can see the faces and hear the voices of the people we communicate with! Hathach certainly had a great responsibility placed on him as the living link between two distressed people who held in their hands the salvation of the Jewish nation.
Mordecai emphasized a third fact: Her being in the palace was not an accident, for she had "come to royal position for such a time as this" (Est. 4:14 niv). He didn't say that God had put her there, but that's what his statement amounted to. If Esther would just take the time to review her life, she couldn't help but see that there had been divine leading all the way. Now, if God brought her to the throne, then He had a purpose in mind, and that purpose was now evident: She was there to intercede for her people. The statement of Joseph to his brothers comes to mind: "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive" (Gen. 50:20 nkjv).
In verses 10–11, Esther's reply was not an evasion but an explanation. She reminded Mordecai of what he already knew, that nobody, not even the queen, could rush into the throne room and ask for an immediate audience with the king. If she were to do so, she would take her life in her hands. Not only was the king of Persia sheltered from seeing sorrow and hearing bad news, but he was also protected from interruptions that might interfere with his schedule.
As you ponder Mordecai's words, you will learn some basic truths about the providence of God that are important for Christians today. The first is that God has divine purposes to accomplish in this world. God's purposes involve the Jewish nation as well as the Gentile nations of the world. They also involve the church. God deals with individuals as well as with nations. His purposes touch the lives of kings and queens and common people, godly people and wicked people. There is nothing in this world that is outside the influence of the purposes of God.
Again, I don't think this was an excuse on Esther's part, but rather a plea that Mordecai give her some guidance. He knew palace protocol, he was a man, and he was in touch with what was going on. She was isolated in the harem and incapable of devising the kind of strategy needed to solve the problem. Besides all this, she hadn't seen the king for a month, and it was possible that she had somehow fallen out of favor. Ahasuerus was unpredictable, and Esther didn't want to make matters worse.
Mordecai made it clear that God accomplishes His purposes through people. For reasons we don't fully understand, God permits wicked people to do evil things in this world, but He can work in and through unbelievers and His own people to accomplish His purposes. While He was not the author of his sins, God permitted the king's drunkenness and his foolishness in deposing Vashti. He used the king's loneliness to place Esther on the throne, and, in chapter 6, he will use the king's sleeplessness to reward Mordecai and start to overthrow the power of Haman. In great things and little things, God is sovereign.
I get the impression that Mordecai misinterpreted Esther's message. It sounded to him like she was trying to hide her nationality and avoid the responsibility of presenting herself to the king. Had he seen and heard her in person, he probably would have judged her differently.
In his reply, Mordecai reminded Esther of three solemn facts. First, he told her that her being a palace resident was no guarantee that she would be delivered from death. The royal edict said "all the Jews" (3:13), and Haman would see to it that every last Jew was discovered and slain, even those in the palace. For that matter, there were probably palace personnel who were still loyal to Vashti and would be happy to see Queen Esther removed.
The third truth that Mordecai emphasized was that God will accomplish His purposes even if His servants refuse to obey His will. If Esther rejected the will of God for her life, God could still save His people, but Esther would be the loser. When ministers and missionaries appeal to the church for volunteers for Christian service, they sometimes give the impression that God's work is at the mercy of God's workers, but this isn't true.
Second, Mordecai reminded her that her silence wouldn't prevent deliverance from coming from some other source. The reference here is to the providence of God even though the name of God isn't mentioned. Knowing the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12:1–3), Mordecai had faith that the people of Israel would be
If you and I refuse to obey God, He can either abandon us and get somebody else to do the job, and we will lose the reward and blessing, or He can disci-
Esther 4—5
Even though the name of God is not mentioned in the text, this act of humiliation was obviously directed to the Lord and was certainly accompanied by prayer. Fasting and prayer are frequently found together in Scripture, for fasting is a preparation for concentrated and humble prayer. (See Ezra 8:2123; Ps. 35:13; Dan. 9:3; Acts 13:3.) Of itself, fasting is no guarantee that God will bless, for fasting must be accompanied by sincere humility and brokenness before the Lord (Isa. 58:1–10; Joel 2:12–13; Matt. 6:16–18). If fasting is only a formal religious ritual, it accomplishes no spiritual purpose.
pline us until we surrender to His will. Two examples come to mind. Since John Mark left the mission field and returned home (Acts 13:13; 15:36–41), God raised up Timothy to take his place (16:1–3). When Jonah ran from God, the Lord kept after him until he obeyed, even though he didn't obey from his heart. When God isn't permitted to rule, He overrules, and He always accomplishes His purposes.
The fourth lesson from Mordecai's speech is that God isn't in a hurry but will fulfill His plans in due time. God waited until the third year of the king's reign before taking Vashti off the throne. Then he waited another four years (Est. 2:16) before putting Esther on the throne. It was not until the king's twelfth year (3:7) that God allowed Haman to hatch his evil plot, and He decreed that the "crisis day" for the Jews would be almost a year away.
Since Jews throughout the empire were already "fasting, weeping, and wailing" (Est. 4:3), it wasn't difficult for Mordecai to unite the Jews in Shushan to pray for Esther as she prepared to intercede before the king. This was a matter of life and death both for her and her people, and God used the crisis that Haman had created to bring a spiritual revival to His people scattered among the Gentiles. It's often the case that God's people have to experience trouble before they will humble themselves and cry out to God.
If you were reading the book of Esther for the first time, you might become impatient with God and conclude that He was doing nothing. In chapters 1 and 2, a drunken king and his flattering advisers seem to be in charge. From chapter 3 to chapter 6, it looks as though wicked Haman is in control. Even after Haman is off the scene, it's the king's unalterable decree that keeps everybody busy. But where is God?
How should we interpret Esther's words, "And if I perish, I perish"? Do these words suggest unbelieving resignation ("Well, you forced me into it, so I'll do what you say, even if it kills me!") or trusting submission to the will of God ("I'll do God's will, whatever the cost!")? I vote for the second interpretation. To me, Esther echoes the same surrender and confidence that Paul expressed to the Ephesian elders: "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24).
God is never in a hurry. He knows the end from the beginning, and His decrees are always right and always on time. Dr. A. W. Tozer compared God's sovereign purposes to an ocean liner, leaving New York City, bound for Liverpool, England. The people on board the ship are free to do as they please, but they aren't free to change the course of the ship.
"The mighty liner of God's sovereign design keeps its steady course over the sea of history," wrote Dr. Tozer. "God moves undisturbed and unhindered toward the fulfillment of those eternal purposes which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the world began" (The Knowledge of the Holy, 118).
From the human point of view, everything was against Esther and the success of her mission. The law was against her, because nobody was allowed to interrupt the king. The government was against her, for the decree said that she was to be slain. Her sex was against her, because the king's attitude toward women was worse than chauvinistic. The officers were against her, because they did only those things that ingratiated themselves with Haman. In one sense, even the fast could be against her; for going three days without food and drink would not necessarily improve her appearance or physical strength. But "if God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31)
The sovereignty of God doesn't suggest fatalism or blind determinism, both of which would make life a prison. Only a sovereign God is great enough to decree freedom of choice for men and women, and only a sovereign God could fulfill His wise and loving purposes in this world and even make evil cooperate in producing good (Gen. 50:20). The question is not, "Is God in control of this world?" but, "Is God in control of my life?" Are we cooperating with Him so that we are a part of the answer and not a part of the problem?
The answer of faith is—"Nobody!"
To quote Dr. Tozer again: "In the moral conflict now raging around us whoever is on God's side is on the winning side and cannot lose; whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and cannot win" (119).
CHAPTER FIVE Esther 5 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE PRIME MINISTER
C.Esther's intercession—5—7
He expedited the plan. (4:15–17) When we first met Esther and Mordecai, they were hiding their identity as Jews. Now Mordecai is enlisting other Jews in the struggle against Haman, and Esther is commanding her Gentile ladies-in-waiting to participate in the fast!
(In which an evil man gathers enough rope to hang himself)
Esther 5 perish and their work stop. Unlike Esther, when we come to the throne of grace, we don't have to wonder what our Father thinks about us, because He always loves His people and welcomes them into His presence. One of the greatest needs in the church today is for intercessors who will pray faithfully for a lost world and for a church that desperately needs revival. "And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor" (Isa. 59:16). When the needs are so great and the privilege of prayer is so wonderful, well might the Lord wonder that His people neglect the throne of grace. As John Newton wrote: n recent years, the news media have had a heyday reporting the questionable (and usually illegal) behavior of well known people, including professional athletes, politicians, preachers, presidents of financial institutions, and even royalty. From "Watergate" to "Iran Gate" to "Pearly Gate," the investigative reporters have been kept busy digging up news to satisfy the public's insatiable appetite for scandal.
If all this journalistic activity accomplished nothing else, it certainly underscored the significance of the biblical warning, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num. 32:23 nkjv). People may succeed for a time in covering up disgraceful activities, but eventually the truth surfaces, and everybody knows what's going on. And the culprit discovers that the wrong we do to others, we do to ourselves.
Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring; For His grace and power are such None can ever ask too much.
The words of Psalm 7:14–16 make me think of Haman: "He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head" (niv).
Let's note that Esther prepared herself to meet the king. (You'll recall that Ruth prepared herself to meet Boaz. See chap. 3.) If you knew you were going to meet the president of the United States at the White House, or royalty at Buckingham Palace, you would prepare for the meeting. Like Peter sinking into the sea, there are times when we have to rush into God's presence and cry out for help. But the power of those "emergency prayers" depends on our day-by-day fellowship with God, and that fellowship demands preparation. Preparing to pray is as important as the praying itself.
There is a law of retribution in this world declaring that the person who maliciously seeks to destroy others ends up destroying himself. The French existentialist Albert Camus wrote in his novel The Fall: "There's no need to hang about waiting for the last judgment—it takes place every day."
Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.
The king officially recognized his queen and invited her to share her petition. "There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand" (Prov. 19:21). "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Prov. 21:1; see Ezra 6:22). The sovereign God was in control.
Friedrich von Logau
Haman didn't realize it, but four forces had already begun to work together to destroy him.
Why didn't Esther immediately inform the king about Haman's evil plot? For at least four reasons. For one thing, it wasn't the right time. The king was unprepared to receive the shocking news that his number one officer was a scoundrel. In the midst of kingdom business, Ahasuerus might have considered her accusation an act of treason if not just a piece of palace gossip.
Divine sovereignty (5:1–5) Esther was concerned whether the king would acknowledge her presence and grant her an audience. If he didn't, it could mean her immediate execution; and she knew how unpredictable were his moods. The Jews had been fasting and praying for three days, asking God to intervene and save them from annihilation, and now Esther had to act.
But neither was it the right place for her to intercede. There were no doubt retainers serving the king in the throne room, and it would have been a breach of palace etiquette for the queen to make her plea publicly. The sight of a weeping, pleading woman before the throne might have annoyed the king and made matters worse. Better she should speak to the king in the privacy of her own apartment than in the throne room.
What Esther did ranks among the great deeds of faith in Scripture and could have been recorded in Hebrews 11. It wasn't enough for the Jews to pray and have faith that God would work. Somebody had to act, for "faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). But Esther wasn't operating on the basis of "blind faith." She knew that God had covenanted with the Jews to deal with their enemies (Gen. 12:1–3). She also knew that the God of Israel was a forgiving God who would hear His people when they humbled themselves and prayed (2 Chron. 7:14). Furthermore, God had allowed a remnant of Jews to return to their land and rebuild the temple. Surely it wasn't God's will that they
The third reason was that Esther wanted Haman, and only Haman, present when she told the king about his prime minister's evil plot. With womanly intuition, Esther was confident that Haman, caught off guard, would in some way admit his guilt and do something foolish that would anger the king. It turned out that she was right on both counts.
Esther 5 banquet only increased this evil man's confidence (Est. 5:12), and that's exactly the response the queen wanted. As long as her enemy was overconfident, she knew it would lead to a fall. "He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe" (Prov. 28:26 niv). Like the rich fool in our Lord's parable (Luke 12:16–21), Haman was confident that he was set for life, when in reality he was just a few hours away from death.
But there was a fourth reason—one that Esther herself was unaware of at that time. One more event had to intervene before she could share her burden with the king, and it would take place that very night. The king would discover that he had never rewarded Mordecai for saving his life five years before, and he would rectify that mistake immediately. He would honor Mordecai, but at the same time humiliate Haman, and this experience would help prepare the king to hear Esther's petition.
Two other men come to mind whose false confidence led to their death: King Belshazzar and Judas Iscariot. King Belshazzar held a great feast during which he blasphemed the God of Israel, and by sending handwriting on the wall, God announced his doom. That very night Babylon was conquered and Belshazzar was slain (Dan. 5).
Esther's banquet was already prepared. Thus, Haman and the king had to hurry to attend. In answer to prayer, God so worked in the king's heart that he not only cooperated willingly with his queen but he also made Haman cooperate. Such is the wonder of the providence of God.
Judas, an apostle of the Lord, was not a true believer (John 6:70–71) but a traitor and a thief (12:6). In the Upper Room, he sat in the place of honor at the table, and none of the other disciples knew what was in his heart. But Jesus knew what Judas was and what Judas would do, and He hid this knowledge from the disciples. In fact, Jesus even washed Judas' feet! Confident that he had everything under control, Judas betrayed Jesus to the enemy and ended up committing suicide (Matt. 27:1–10). The only safe place to put your confidence is in the Lord.
False confidence (5:6–9a) What an honor for Haman to attend a special banquet with the king and queen alone and in the queen's private apartment at that! It's unlikely that any official in the empire had ever been so honored. As Haman ate and drank with Ahasuerus and Esther, his confidence grew. He was indeed an important man in the kingdom, and his future was secure.
When the king asked Esther to state her petition, it gave the prime minister even more confidence, for here were the king and queen discussing a personal matter in his presence! Haman was not only the king's confidant, but now he was sharing in the intimate concerns of the queen as well. Since the queen had invited him to the banquet, she must certainly value his counsel.
Pride (5:10–12) The famous actor John Barrymore said, "One of my chief regrets during my years in the theater is that I couldn't sit in the audience and watch me."
At the banquet, we see three more evidences of the sovereignty of God. First, the Lord restrained Esther from telling Ahasuerus the truth about Haman. While there may have been fear in her heart, I don't think that's what held her back. The Lord was working in her life and directing what she said, even though she wasn't aware of it. God was delaying the great exposure until after the king had honored Mordecai.
It was with that kind of an attitude that Haman left the palace and returned home with a joyful heart. Fresh from an intimate dinner with the king and queen, and anticipating a second banquet the next evening, Haman launched himself on an ego trip that disgusts me each time I read it. Note the number of masculine personal pronouns here: his friends, his wife, his riches, his sons. (He had ten; 9:7–10.) The king had promoted him above everybody else. I'm reminded of that rich farmer in Luke 12:16–21 whose favorite word was I.
We also see the sovereign hand of God at work in the way the king accepted the delay and agreed to come to the second banquet. Monarchs like Ahasuerus aren't accustomed to being told to wait. "To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue" (Prov. 16:1 niv). "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" (19:21 niv). Whatever plans Ahasuerus had made for the next evening were canceled to make time for the queen's second feast.
Didn't Haman know that "pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:18 nkjv)? Or that "a man's pride will bring him low" (29:23 nkjv)? Anybody who boasts about position, wealth, family, or anything else ought to heed the words of John the Baptist: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven" (John 3:27). "For who makes you differ from another?" asked Paul. "And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7 nkjv)
A third evidence of God's sovereignty is that none of Esther's attendants who knew that she was a Jewess tried to convey this important information to Haman. Had Haman known the queen's nationality, he would have immediately devised some plan to prevent her from interfering. Palace intrigue is a dangerous game, and any of the attendants could have profited by telling Haman what they knew.
Many theologians are of the conviction that pride is the very essence of sin. (Perhaps that's why pride is number one on God's "hate list." See Prov. 6:16–19.) It was pride that turned Lucifer into Satan: "I will be like the Most High" (Isa. 14:14 nkjv). Satan used pride to
The fact that Esther invited Haman to the second
Esther 5—6 tempt Eve: "You will be like God" (Gen. 3:5 niv). British Bible scholar William Barclay wrote, "Pride is the ground in which all the other sins grow, and the parent from which all the other sins come."
that Mordecai had saved his life! Now we can better understand Esther's delay in offering her petition to the king. After the events in chapter 6, it would be impossible for Haman to get permission to execute Mordecai.
What does a sinful person have to be proud of? We certainly can't be proud of our ancestry. The Puritan preacher William Jenkyn said, "Our father was Adam, our grandfather dust, and our great-grandfather-nothing." So much for the family tree! The only thing the Bible says is great about humanity is its sin: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth" (Gen. 6:5). So much for our achievements!
Not one to waste time, Haman ordered that the gallows be made. We're not sure whether the gallows itself was seventy-five feet high or whether it was put in a prominent place that lifted it to that height, such as the city wall or the roof of a building. But Haman's plan was obvious: He wanted to use Mordecai's execution to frighten the Jews and convince them that the king meant business when he approved the edict. The execution of a prominent Jew such as Mordecai would paralyze the wills of the Jewish people in the empire, and Haman would have them at his mercy.
Someone has said that pride is the only known disease that makes everybody sick except the person who has it. Unless cured, pride is a sickness unto death.
There's another thing about this gallows that we're not sure of: Was it like the Western gallows, a device for hanging a person by the neck until dead? Or was it a stake on which a human body was impaled? The Persians were known for their cruel punishments, one of which was impaling live prisoners on sharp posts and leaving them there to suffer an agonizing death.
Malice (5:9b, 13–14) When Haman left the queen's palace, he was walking on air, but the sight of Mordecai immediately brought him down to earth again. On previous occasions, Mordecai had refused to bow down to Haman (3:4–5), but now the courageous Jew even refused to stand up and acknowledge the presence of the illustrious prime minister. I once attended a press briefing at the White House, and when President Reagan entered the room, we all stood to our feet. When a presiding judge enters a courtroom, everyone rises and remains standing until the judge is seated. Whether we like the president or the judge personally is not the issue. We all show respect to the offices that they hold.
Whatever this gallows was, it turned out to be the instrument of Haman's own execution. God was standing in the shadows, keeping watch over His own.
"For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths. His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, and he is caught in the cords of his sin. He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray" (Prov. 5:21–23 nkjv).
Haman was "filled with rage against Mordecai" (5:9 niv). His hatred of the Jews in general and Mordecai in particular had so poisoned his system that he couldn't even enjoy talking about his greatness! "But all this gives me no satisfaction," he admitted, "as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate" (v. 13 niv).
CHAPTER SIX Esther 6 WARNING SIGNALS
Malice is that deep-seated hatred that brings delight if our enemy suffers and pain if our enemy succeeds. Malice can never forgive; it must always take revenge. Malice has a good memory for hurts and a bad memory for kindnesses. In 1 Corinthians 5:8, Paul compared malice to yeast, because, like yeast, malice begins very small but gradually grows and finally permeates the whole of life. Malice in the Christian's heart grieves the Holy Spirit and must be put out of our lives (Eph. 4:30–32; Col. 3:8).
(In which God sounds an alarm, but Haman won't listen) Y ou've probably seen the popular poster that reads: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."
If anybody had said that to Haman as he left home early in the morning and hurried to the palace, they would have been wrong. They should have said, "Haman, today is the last day of your life!"
The insidious thing about malice is that it has to act; eventually it must express itself. But when you shoot at your enemy, beware! For the ammunition usually ricochets off the target and comes back to wound the shooter! If a person wants to self-destruct, the fastest way to do it is to be like Haman and cultivate a malicious spirit.
"As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live" (Ezek. 33:11).
"The Lord … is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9 nkjv).
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matt. 23:37 nkjv).
Haman had infected his wife and friends with his sinful hatred of the Jews, and they suggested that he ask the king for permission to hang Mordecai. A man with Haman's authority could always trump up some charge, and the king wasn't about to take time to investigate. Of course, this was before Ahasuerus discovered
On the basis of these three verses, we're safe in concluding that God's desire for sinners is not that they
Esther 6 led to my changing schools and meeting the girl who became my wife. Never underestimate the extraordinary things God can do through an ordinary event like a birthday party.
die but that they turn from their sins and be saved. There is joy in heaven when a sinner repents (Luke 15:7, 10), but the Lord won't force people to turn from their sins and trust His Son. "I wanted to … but you were not willing."
The servant's choice of books (v. lc). God directed Ahasuerus to ask for the kingdom chronicles to be read to him. (That would put anybody to sleep!) But God also directed that the servant take from the shelf the very book that recorded Mordecai's service to the king five years before. Certainly there were other volumes available, but that's the one the servant selected.
As much as we detest Haman and his foul deeds, we must keep in mind that God loves sinners and wants to save them. God is longsuffering and brings various influences to bear upon people's hearts as He seeks to turn them from their evil ways. We will see some of these influences at work in the events of this chapter.
A night of discovery (6:1–5) Once again, we see the sovereign hand of God invisibly at work in the life of King Ahasuerus. God was working out His purposes whether the king knew it or not, and you can see in this paragraph at least five evidences of God's providence.
Can God direct in the books that people pick up and read? Yes, He can. Late in February 1916, a British student bought a book at a used-book stall in a railway station. He had looked at that book and rejected it at least a dozen times before, but that day he purchased it. It was Phantastes by George MacDonald, and the reading of that book eventually led to that young man's conversion. Who was he? C. S. Lewis, perhaps the greatest and most popular apologist for the Christian faith of the middle-twentieth century. He wrote to a friend that he had picked up the book "by hazard," but I believe God had directed his choice.
The king's insomnia (v. la). "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," wrote Shakespeare. Solomon agreed: "The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep" (Eccl. 5:12). Was it the cares of state that kept the king awake? Was he worried about his finances? Did he eat and drink immoderately at the queen's feast? Or, was he puzzled about the queen's mysterious request?
God can even direct what we read in a book. A young man in North Africa sought peace, first in sensual pleasures and then in philosophy, but only became more miserable. One day he heard a neighbor child playing a game and saying, "Take it and read! Take it and read!" The young man immediately picked up the Scriptures and "happened" to open to Romans 13:13–14, and those verses brought him to faith in Christ. We know that young man today as Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, and author of numerous Christian classics.
Some or all of these worries may have played a part in the king's wakefulness, but behind them was the sovereign hand of the living God who watches over His people and never slumbers or sleeps (Ps. 121:3–4). God wanted the king to stay awake because He had something to tell him.
While visiting the zoo, I became fascinated with the "nocturnal exhibit." Here were animals that most of us never see because they sleep in the daytime and do their active living at night. "While you are resting," said one of the posters, "Nature is busily at work helping to keep the balance of life stable." I thought to myself, "While I'm asleep, my Heavenly Father is busily at work making sure the new day will be just what He wants it to be." God's compassions never fail but are "new every morning" (Lam. 3:22–23) because God never sleeps and never stops working all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28). The king's choice of entertainment (v. lb). Ahasuerus wasn't at a loss for sources of entertainment! He could have called a concubine from the harem, or he might have brought in the court musicians to play for him. He and his guards could have played a game together, or he might have asked for a troubadour to entertain him with a ballad. His decision to have a book read to him was certainly of God.
The king's servant picked out the very book that told about Mordecai's good deed and read that section to Ahasuerus. How marvelous is the providence of God!
The king's delay in rewarding Mordecai (vv. 2–3). This is a key matter, for had Mordecai been honored five years before, the events of this critical day could not have occurred. Rewards and punishments were basic to the Persian system of maintaining loyalty, and it was unusual for meritorious service not to be rewarded. Then why was Mordecai's good deed written down but forgotten? Did some junior clerk in the bureaucracy have a grudge against Mordecai? Did an office memo go astray? We don't know, but this we do know, that God was in charge and already had the day selected for Mordecai to be honored.
Is God in charge of schedules? He certainly is! After befriending Pharaoh's butler, Joseph thought it would lead to his being released from prison, but Joseph had to wait two more years until the time God had chosen for him to become second ruler in Egypt (Gen. 40:23—41:1). God had a specific day selected for the Jews to leave Egypt (Ex. 12:40–42; see Gen. 15:13–16), and even the birth of Jesus Christ in
Can God direct us even in such minor matters as our recreations? He certainly can. When I was a young Christian, my attendance at a friend's birthday party turned out to be one of the most important events in my life. Because of that evening, I made a decision about my educational plans. That decision eventually
Esther 6 was speaking about him. After all, what other man in the empire deserved such honor from the king? After the way Mordecai had insulted him, Haman would now get double revenge: First Mordecai would see Haman honored by the king, and then Mordecai would be hanged on the gallows. Haman would then climax the day by feasting "merrily" (5:14) with the king and queen.
Bethlehem occurred "when the fullness of the time was come" (Gal. 4:4). In the midst of a confused and troubled world, the dedicated believer is able to say, "My times are in Thy hand" (Ps. 31:15) and find peace in God's will.
It has often been said that "God's delays are not God's denials." We sometimes get impatient and wonder why the wicked are prospering while the righteous are suffering, but God is never in a hurry. He is longsuffering toward the wicked because He wants them to repent, and He is patient with His people because He wants them to receive the right reward at the right time for the right purpose. If Mordecai was ever puzzled because the king promoted Haman but ignored him, he would soon find out that God had not made a mistake.
Little did proud Haman realize that, before the day would end, the situation would be completely reversed: Haman would be forced to honor Mordecai before all the people of the city; Esther's feast would turn out to be an exposé of the traitor; and Haman, not Mordecai, would end up on the gallows. "The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead" (Prov. 11:8 nkjv).
The timely arrival of Haman (v. 4). It's possible that Haman had been up all night, enjoying the supervision of the construction of the gallows on which he planned to hang (or impale) Mordecai. It was very early in the morning, but Haman wanted to see the king as soon as possible and get permission for the execution (Prov. 6:18). From Haman's point of view, the earlier the hanging, the better. Mordecai's body would be on exhibition all day, and this would delight Haman and also put fear into the hearts of the Jews in the city. After executing Mordecai, Haman could be certain that everybody would obey the king's command and bow down to him.
"Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility" (18:12 nkjv). The first half of that verse applies to Haman and the last half to Mordecai. What a difference a little comma makes! Proverbs 29:23 gives the same message: "A man's pride shall bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor" (nkjv). On which side of the comma do you live?
Thinking that the king was describing the honors he himself would receive, Haman asked for the very best: The man to be honored should be dressed in the king's own apparel; he should ride on the king's horse with the royal crest on its head; and one of the noble princes should lead the horse through the city and command the people to honor him. Such an event would almost be like a coronation!
Suppose Haman had arrived two hours later? The king would have consulted with other advisers, and Haman would have been left out of the celebration for Mordecai. God wanted Haman to spend the day honoring Mordecai and not gloating over Mordecai's corpse on the gallows. God was actually warning Haman that he'd better change course or he would end up being destroyed.
The more I ponder the character of Haman, the more convinced I am that he wanted the throne for himself. As second man in the empire, if anything happened to Ahasuerus, Haman was certainly in the best position to capture the throne for himself. A proud man with selfish ambitions isn't content to take second place if there's any possible way to secure first place. If what is described in Esther 6:8–9 had actually been done for Haman, it would have given the people of Shushan the impression that Ahasuerus had chosen Haman to be his successor.
When you review these evidences of the providence of God, you can't help but want to praise and thank Him for the great God that He is. "The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations" (Ps. 33:10–11 nkjv). "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord" (Prov. 21:30 niv). "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31)
Note that King Ahasuerus called Mordecai "the Jew" (v. 10). You get the impression that the king completely forgot that he had permitted Haman to issue an edict to destroy the Jews. One day the king is an enemy of the Jews, and a few weeks later he honors one of the leading Jewish citizens! But Ahasuerus had a debt to pay, for Mordecai had saved his life. And perhaps in honoring Mordecai publicly, the king might help calm the troubled citizens of the city (3:15).
A morning of decision (6:6–10) It's one thing to enter the king's throne room, but now Haman was invited into the king's bedchamber. This new honor only increased Haman's pride and false confidence; he thought that he was in control of events and that Mordecai's doom was sealed. And when the king asked for Haman's advice on a personal matter, it inflated Haman's ego even more.
It was a morning of decision. The king had decided to reward Mordecai, and Haman had decided what the reward should be. What were the results?
A day of disgrace (6:11–14) We wonder what Haman's response was when the king told him to do all those things for Mordecai. Was he
In verse 6, the king's question was vague and didn't identify "the man whom the king delights to honor" (nkjv). In his pride, Haman concluded that the king
Esther 6—7
The Persians were a very superstitious people, and the advisers saw in the events of the day a "bad omen" for Haman's future. Perhaps they were also familiar with God's covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3), or maybe they just knew Jewish history. At any rate, they saw Haman falling from his place of prominence, and this dire prediction should have brought him to the place of humility and repentance.
shocked? Did he show his astonishment openly? Probably not, because you didn't express yourself that freely before an Eastern monarch. With the practiced duplicity that got him where he was, Haman bowed to the king's commandment and obeyed.
First, he had to go out to the king's gate, get Mordecai, and bring him into the palace. Then he had to dress Mordecai in the king's robes. After putting Mordecai on the king's horse, Haman had to lead the horse throughout the city and proclaim, "This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!" (v. 9 niv). After he had visited all the city streets, Haman had to lead the horse back to the palace, remove the royal garments from Mordecai,1 and send him back to his place at the city gate. What irony! For almost a whole day Haman was the servant of Mordecai, commanding the people to bow down and honor him! The thing Mordecai wouldn't do for Haman—bow down—Haman had to tell others to do for Mordecai!
While Haman was discussing his misfortunes with his wife and advisers, the king's eunuchs arrived at the door to escort Haman to the queen's banquet. He had planned to go "merrily" to the feast, with Mordecai safely out of the way (5:14), but now everything had changed.
What would happen next? And what was the mysterious petition that Queen Esther would reveal at the banquet?
Off Haman went with the eunuchs to his last meal. When God sounds the alarm, it pays to stop, look, and listen—and obey.
How did this pageantry and prominence affect Mordecai? When it was over, he simply returned to his place at the gate and continued to serve the king. Applause doesn't change truly humble people, for their values are far deeper. God can trust His blessings with the humble because they seek to honor only the Lord.
Note
1 It's likely that Mordecai got to keep the garments since they had been worn by someone other than the king.
Haman's reaction was quite different, for he was humiliated. He went home as soon as possible, his head covered as though he were grieving for the dead. This had been the way Mordecai had responded to the king's edict concerning the Jews (4:1–2). Again, the tables were turned.
CHAPTER SEVEN Esther 7 THE MASK COMES OFF
(In which Haman comes to the end of his rope) W
Even if they did bow down to him, Haman had no desire to see the public, because he had been humiliated before them and he knew that they were laughing at him behind his back. Such is the difference between reputation and character. Haman was a famous man, a man of reputation, only because the king had made him so, but he was not a man of character. His reputation depended on his office, his wealth, and his authority, all of which could easily be taken from him.
hen they arrived at Esther's palace apartment, neither the king nor Haman knew that Esther was a Jewess. Haman was probably still distressed because of the events of the day, but he composed himself and hoped to enjoy the banquet. This is the seventh banquet recorded in the book of Esther.
What a contrast between Haman's family gathering in 6:13 and the one recorded in 5:10–12! Whereas before, Haman had boasted of his greatness, now he had to confess how he had been humiliated. If there had been any other official on the horse but Mordecai the Jew, Haman might have been able to handle the situation, but having to give honor to a Jew demoralized Haman completely.
Had he known the nationality of the queen, Haman either would have run for his life or fallen on his face and begged the king for mercy. God had warned Haman through circumstances, through his advisers, and through his wife, but the prime minister would not heed the warnings. "The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished" (Prov. 16:5 niv).
At this point, his wife and counselors made an interesting statement: "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him" (6:13 nkjv). His humiliation in the streets and these words in his house should have alarmed Haman and moved him to change his course of action. God was warning Haman, but the proud prime minister wouldn't heed the warning. Had he sincerely repented and asked for mercy, it's likely that he could have saved his own life and the lives of his ten sons.
God's longsuffering led Haman into thinking he was safe. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Eccl. 8:11 nkjv). God's longsuffering today is an opportunity for people to repent (2 Peter 3:9), but our sinful world thinks it means God won't judge sinners at all. "For when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape" (1 Thess. 5:3 nkjv).
Esther 7
The queen's request (7:1–4) Ever since the previous evening's banquet, Ahasuerus had been waiting to hear the queen's petition; so when the wine was served, he broached the subject. Of course, the statement "even to half of the kingdom" was a royal promise that wasn't to be taken literally (see 5:3; Dan. 5:16; Mark 6:23). It simply meant that the king would be generous. Therefore, tell him what you want.
him, Esther has implicated the king in a horrible crime, and he was bound to feel guilty. The king knew that he had impetuously approved the decree. But he didn't realize that the decree was part of a conspiracy. He had signed the death warrant for his own wife! The king had to find a way to save his wife and save face at the same time.
In an absolute monarchy, the king is looked upon as a god and can do no wrong. This is why ancient monarchs always had a stable of scapegoats available— people who could take the blame for the ignorance or inefficiency of the throne. (Modern politicians often do the same thing.) Therefore, the king's question in verse 5 implied much more than, "Who is guilty?" The king was also looking for somebody to punish.
During the previous twenty-four hours, Esther had probably rehearsed this speech many times, and now God gave her the strength to deliver it. Remember, she was taking her life in her hands, for if the king rejected her plea, that was the end.
She made it clear from the beginning that she depended on the favor of the king and wasn't trying to tell him what to do. She also said that her desire wasn't to please herself but to please the king. This was good psychology, especially when dealing with a chauvinistic monarch like Ahasuerus.
Ahasuerus had already received one surprise when he learned the nationality of his queen, and now he would be hit with another: His favorite officer was the adversary and enemy who had plotted the whole thing. Esther didn't reveal that Haman, like the king, had just learned from her own lips that she was a Jewess. Perhaps Ahasuerus concluded that Haman's crime was wanting to slay the queen and that he had decided to accomplish it by killing all the Jews. For that matter, maybe Haman was part of the Bigthan-Teresh conspiracy that Mordecai had exposed, a conspiracy to murder the king! (See 2:21–23.) And like Esther, Mordecai was a Jew!
It was also wise on her part not to say, "There's a man in your kingdom who plans to destroy all of the Jews!" She focused her petition on the fact that the queen's life was in danger and the king had to do something about it. We have reason to believe Ahasuerus still loved his queen and didn't want any harm to come to her. As he sat there in her presence and beheld her beauty, her words moved him. What monster would want to kill the queen?
Now we can better understand why God directed Esther to delay her pleas: He wanted to give Ahasuerus opportunity to learn what Mordecai had done, that Mordecai was a Jew and that he deserved to be honored. If a Jew had saved the king's life, why should the king exterminate the Jews?
Not only was the queen's life in danger, but her people were also in danger of being slain. My guess is that this statement perplexed the king. Who were her people? Wasn't she a Persian? Has she been keeping a secret from me?
"The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden" (7:7 niv). We've already noted that Ahasuerus was a man with a short temper (1:12), but on this occasion, his anger must have been volcanic. His masculine pride was hurt because he had misjudged the character of Haman. He had made a fool of himself by promoting Haman and by giving him so much influence. The king had also erred in approving the decree without first weighing all the facts (Prov. 18:13). As a result, he had endangered the lives of two very special Jews—Mordecai, who had saved his life, and Esther, his beloved wife.
It was then that Esther reminded the king of the decree he had approved to wipe out the Jewish nation. In fact, her words are almost verbatim from the decree (Est. 3:13). Ahasuerus was smart enough to put two and two together and understand that Queen Esther was a Jewess, and he had unwittingly consented to her murder!
Esther continued by pointing out that the king had been paid to issue this decree (vv. 9–11). If he had sold the Jews as slaves, such a payment might have been just. But to sell them into death and total destruction was something for which nobody had enough money. "If it were only a matter of going into bondage," said Esther, "I would have kept quiet. Why bother the king with that? But wholesale murder is something I can't ignore."
No doubt the king walked to and fro in the garden, doing his best to control the anger that welled up within him. "The wrath of a king is as messengers of death" (Prov. 16:14). "The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion" (19:12). No wonder Haman was afraid! He had been near enough to the king to recognize and interpret his every mood. He knew the king was about to become judge and jury and pass a sentence from which there was no escape.
Queen Esther bravely interceded for her people. How will the king respond? "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. The Lord works out everything for his own ends—even the wicked for a day of disaster" (Prov. 16:3–4 niv).
But for Haman, there was one remote possibility: the mercy of the queen. Perhaps he could arouse her pity and get her to intercede for him. Esther knew Haman was a tool of the devil determined to destroy
The king's rage (7:5–8) At this point, try to imagine what was going through the mind of King Ahasuerus. Without openly accusing
Esther 7
"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked," warned Paul. "A man reaps what he sows" (Gal. 6:7 niv). Haman sowed anger against Mordecai, and he reaped anger from the king. Haman wanted to kill Mordecai and the Jews, and the king killed Haman. "Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same" (Job 4:8). "He who sows wickedness reaps trouble" (Prov. 22:8 niv).
the Jewish people. Had he known originally that Esther was a Jewess, Haman might have cleverly worded the decree so that her life would be preserved, but he would still have had authority to annihilate all of her people. It was Haman's hatred for the queen's cousin Mordecai that started the whole conspiracy (Est. 3:5–6), and Esther wasn't about to abandon the one man who had meant so much to her.
In the Soncino Jewish commentary on Esther, Dr. S. Goldman makes this telling statement about 7:8: "The arrogant bully became, as usually in the face of disaster, a whining coward" (The Five Megilloth, 228). When the authority of the king had been behind him, Haman could courageously strut about, demand respect, and give orders. But now that the anger of the king was against him, Haman's true character was revealed. He was not a giant; he was only a midget full of pride and hot air! And all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Haman's life back together again.
This unchanging principle of sowing and reaping is illustrated throughout the Bible, and it applies to both believers and unbelievers. Jacob killed an animal and lied to his father, pretending to be Esau (Gen. 27:1–29), and years later Jacob's sons killed an animal and lied to him, pretending that Joseph was dead (37:31–35). Pharaoh gave orders to drown the Jewish baby boys (Ex. 1), and one day his army was drowned in the Red Sea (Ex. 14—15).
David secretly took his neighbor's wife and committed adultery (2 Sam. 11), and David's own son Absalom took his father's concubines and openly committed adultery with them (16:20–23). Furthermore, David's daughter Tamar was raped by her half brother Amnon (2 Sam. 13). David killed Bathsheba's husband (11:14–25), and three of David's own sons were slain: Absalom (2 Sam. 18), Amnon (13:23–36), and Adonijah (1 Kings 2:13–25). Saul of Tarsus encouraged the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1), and when he became Paul the missionary, he was stoned at Lystra (14:19–20).
What a paradox! Haman had been furious because a Jewish man wouldn't bow down to him, and now Haman was prostrate before a Jewish woman, begging for his life! When the king entered the room and saw the scene, he accused Haman of trying to molest the queen. In his anger, the king would have exaggerated anything Haman did, and besides that, molesting the queen was a capital crime. Forget about the conspiracy; everybody could see for themselves that Haman was guilty of attacking the queen. For that crime alone, he deserved to die.
But let's keep in mind that this law of sowing and reaping also applies to doing what is good and right. If we sow to the flesh, we reap corruption, but if we sow to the Spirit, we reap life everlasting (Gal. 6:8). No good deed done for the glory of Jesus Christ will ever be forgotten before God. No loving word spoken in Jesus' name will ever be wasted. If we don't see the harvest in this life, we'll see it when we stand before the Lord. Even a cup of cold water given in the name of Christ will have its just reward (Matt. 10:42; 25:31–46). Haman was hanged, or impaled, on his own gallows, and his body taken down and buried. All of Haman's wealth and glory couldn't rescue him from death nor could he take any of it with him. "Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him—for the redemption of their souls is costly.… Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased; for when he dies he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him" (Ps. 49:6–8, 16–17 nkjv). In 1 Peter 1:18–19, Peter tells us how costly our redemption is: the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
After escorting Mordecai around the city, Haman had covered his head in humiliation (6:12), but now the king's guards covered Haman's face in preparation for his execution. Had Haman covered his head in true humility and repentance, things would have been different, but he refused to listen to the warnings of the Lord. He was so controlled by pride and malice that he was blind to the dangers that lay ahead.
Haman's reward (7:9–10) "The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead" (Prov. 11:8 nkjv). The conspicuous gallows that Haman had constructed for Mordecai was convenient for the execution of Haman. Therefore, the king used it. Apparently Haman had let it be known in the palace that he planned to kill Mordecai, for the king's servant knew the purpose of the gallows. In his pride, Haman had boasted too much, and his words came back not only to haunt him but also to help slay him.
The day before, Haman had led Mordecai through the streets dressed in royal splendor, but now Haman was led through the streets with a covering over his face and a gallows at the end of the journey. Certainly Haman's wife Zeresh and their ten sons witnessed the execution, as did many of the Jews in the city. It must have given courage to the Jews to know that their enemy Haman was no longer on the scene.
Not only is there a personal lesson here, but there is also a lesson about the nation of Israel: Every enemy that has ever tried to destroy Israel has been destroyed. "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you" is God's promise to Israel (Gen. 12:3 nkjv),
Esther 7—8 wealth with the Jews so they could prepare themselves for the coming crisis.
and He has always kept it. God takes His promises seriously even if the nations of the world ignore them or challenge them.
Ahasuerus knew that both Esther and Mordecai were Jews, but now he was to learn that they were also cousins. Ahasuerus and Mordecai were relatives by marriage! When Haman was deposed, the king took back his royal ring (3:10), the insignia of the authority of the throne (8:8, 10; 3:12), and he gave the ring to Mordecai, making him prime minister. With a Jewish queen and a Jewish prime minister in the palace, the Jews in the empire were in a better political position than ever before.
This doesn't mean that God necessarily approves everything Israel has done or will do, but it does mean that God doesn't approve of those who try to destroy His chosen people. Whether it's Pharaoh in Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, Haman in Persia, or Hitler in Germany, the enemy of the Jews is the enemy of almighty God and will not succeed.
"Then was the king's wrath pacified" (Est. 7:10). The Hebrew word translated "pacified" is used in Genesis 8:1 to describe the receding waters of the flood. The king's anger had welled up within him and reached its peak when he executed Haman. Now it subsided, and the king was himself again. But though the adversary was out of the way, the problem was not completely solved, for the king's decree was still in effect and could not be changed. It was now the third month (Est. 8:9), and there were nine months to go before the fateful day when the Jews could legally be slain (3:13).
Esther gave the management of Haman's vast estate into the hands of Mordecai, who had first opposed Haman and refused to bow down. Were it not for Mordecai's courage and encouragement of Esther, Haman would still be in control. "Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more" (Ps. 37:34–36 nkjv).
The king made sure that Mordecai had a uniform worthy of his office, and it's described in Esther 8:15. No longer did Mordecai wear old, borrowed robes (6:7–11) but new robes prepared especially for him. The official royal colors were blue and white (see 1:6). The golden "crown" was probably a large turban which, along with the robe of white and purple, identified Mordecai as an important man of great authority.
How would Esther and Mordecai solve this problem? That is the topic of the next chapter.
III. Israel's celebration (8—10) A.A new decree—8
CHAPTER EIGHT Esther 8 FROM VICTIMS TO VICTORS
Everything that Haman had acquired from the king by his scheming, Mordecai received as gifts, because Mordecai was a deserving man. At the beginning of this story, Esther and Mordecai were hardly exemplary in the way they practiced their religious faith, but now we get the impression that things have changed. Both of them have affirmed their Jewish nationality and both were the means of calling all the Jews in the empire to prayer and fasting. In one sense, they spearheaded a Jewish "revival" and made being Jewish a more honorable thing in the empire.
(In which the good news of a new law brings hope and joy) H aman was dead, but his murderous edict was still very much alive. Long after wicked people are gone, the consequences of their evil words and deeds live on. Even today, innocent people are suffering because of guilty people who lie in their graves.
Unless something intervened, within nine months the Persians would attack the Jews and wipe them off the face of the earth. There were about 15 million Jews among the estimated 100 million people in the empire. Therefore, the odds were definitely against God's people. Of course, God's people have always been a minority, and "one with God is a majority." The Lord had brought Esther and Mordecai to the kingdom "for such a time as this," and they were prepared to act.
God doesn't always give this kind of a "happy ending" to everybody's story. Today, not all faithful Christians are promoted and given special honors. Some of them get fired because of their stand for Christ! God hasn't promised that we'll be promoted and made rich, but He has assured us that He's in control of all circumstances and that He will write the last chapter of the story. If God doesn't promote us here on earth, He certainly will when we get to glory.
The promotion of Mordecai (8:1–2, 15) According to the ancient historians, whenever a traitor was executed, the throne appropriated his property. Had Ahasuerus confiscated Haman's property for himself, he would have acquired a great deal of wealth, but he chose to give Haman's estate to Esther. More than an act of generosity, this gift was probably the king's way of atoning for his foolish decisions that had brought so much pain to Esther and her people. It's possible that Esther later shared some of this great
Esther's petition (8:3–6) Wealth, prestige, and personal security could never satisfy Esther so long as her people were still in danger. To her, the most important thing in life was not her comfort but their deliverance, and she couldn't rest until the matter was settled. How unlike some believers today who ignore the needs of a lost world while they search for new ways to spend money and have fun!
Esther 8
They think that attending church and bringing their offerings fulfills their Christian responsibilities and gives them the freedom to do whatever they please with the rest of their time and money. We need more people like Esther whose burden for condemned people was greater than any other thing in her life.
throne and intercede on behalf of others, especially the nations of the world where lost souls need to be delivered from death. One concerned person devoted to prayer can make a great difference in this world, for prayer is the key that releases the power of God. "Yet you do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2 nkjv).
Years ago, in a Youth for Christ late-night prayer meeting, I heard attorney Jacob Stam pray, "Lord, the only thing most of us know about sacrifice is how to spell the word." I never forgot that statement, and I confess that it sometimes still haunts me. I recall another YFC staff meeting at which the late Bill Carle sang "So Send I You," and the Spirit of God brought all of us to our knees in prayer with a new dedication to help reach the world for Christ.
The king's proclamation (8:7–17) The problem Esther and Mordecai faced was that the king, simply by executive fiat, couldn't cancel the first edict since the laws of the Medes and Persians were unalterable. In modern democratic nations, legislatures can reverse decisions and revoke laws, and the supreme court of the land can even declare laws unconstitutional, but not so in the ancient despotic Persian Empire. The voice of the king was the law of the land, and the king could do no wrong.
Esther couldn't do everything, but she could do something, and what she could do, she did. She approached the throne of the king and asked him to reverse the edict that Haman had devised. It was her interceding at the throne that saved the people of Israel from slaughter. She was asking nothing for herself, except that the king save her people and deliver her from the heavy burden on her heart.
The king couldn't legally revoke his edict, but he could issue a new decree that would favor the Jews. The new decree would let everybody in the empire know that the king wanted his people to have a different attitude toward the Jews and look favorably upon them. The citizens didn't have to hire a lawyer to explain the new edict to them. You can be sure they got the message: Don't attack the Jews on March 7.
As I've studied the Scriptures, I've been impressed with the many people who have prayed for the Jews. When Israel sinned, Moses met God on the mountain and interceded for them (Ex. 32). He was even willing for God to blot him out of the Book of Life if that's what it took to rescue the nation. Centuries later, the apostle Paul said he was willing to be "accursed from Christ" if it would help save unbelieving Israel (Rom. 9:1–3). On Mount Carmel, Elijah prayed for disobedient Israel (1 Kings 18), and in the palace, Nehemiah prayed for the Jews in Jerusalem (Neh. 1). Like Nehemiah, Ezra wept and prayed and asked God to help His sinful people (Ezra 9), and Daniel humbled himself and fasted and prayed that he might understand what God's plan was for Israel (Dan. 9). "I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth" (Isa. 62:67 nkjv).
Since Mordecai was now prime minister, it was his job to draft the new decree. What he did was give the Jews permission to defend themselves against anybody who tried to kill them and take their property. There were many people in the empire like Haman, who hated the Jews, wanted to destroy them, and get their hands on their wealth. The new decree allowed the Jews to assemble and defend themselves, but they were not allowed to be the aggressors.
Scholars don't agree on the translation of verse 11. The Authorized Version gives the impression that the edict allowed the Jews to destroy the wives and children of their attackers and plunder their spoil, and the NASB seems to agree with this interpretation. The NIV connects "women and children" with the Jews being attacked and doesn't suggest that the Jews killed the women and children of their attackers. I prefer the NIV translation.
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper who love thee" (Ps. 122:6). There can be no peace in this world until there is peace in Jerusalem, and there can be no peace in Jerusalem unless God's people obey this command and pray, "Thy kingdom come."
If you read 3:11–13, you will see the similarity of the wording of the two decrees. Mordecai used the "official language" of the government, because legal statements must be expressed in legal language. This language may seem strange to outsiders, but without it we would have confusion and misinterpretation. You can't write the law the way you write a poem or a recipe.
"It was a master stroke of the Devil when he got the church and the ministry so generally to lay aside the mighty weapon of prayer," wrote evangelist R.A. Torrey in How to Obtain Fullness of Power in Christian Life and Service. "The Devil is perfectly willing that the church should multiply its organizations and its deftly-contrived machinery for the conquest of the world for Christ, if it will only give up praying" (Sword of the Lord reprint, 59).
According to 8:9, the new edict was written on the twenty-third day of the third month, which on our calendar would be June 25, 474 BC. (Remember, the Jewish calendar begins with the month of April.) The first decree was issued on April 17 (3:12). Thus, about seventy days had passed since Haman had declared war on the Jews. "D Day" for the Jews was March 7 (3:13).
Esther's example encourages us to come to God's
Esther 8 to carry the good news to the people in the various provinces of the empire. The couriers "hastened" because they were "pressed on by the king's commandment" (Est. 8:14 kjv). The NIV translates it "spurred on by the king's command."
Therefore, the people had about eight months to get ready.
We must pause and consider whether it was really ethical for Mordecai to give the Jews the authority to kill and loot. People who deny the divine inspiration of the Bible like to point to the various "massacres" in Scripture as evidence that the God of the Bible is "a bully." Imagine worshipping a god that commanded the slaughter of whole populations!
If only the church today were like those secretaries and couriers! How we need to tell the peoples of the world in their own languages the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ! The King has commanded us, and we must go, but for some reason we linger. If a group of pagan scribes and messengers, without modern means of transportation and communication, could take Mordecai's decree to an entire empire, how much more should Christian workers be able to take Christ's gospel to a lost world!
First, let's consider the edict that Ahasuerus issued, for that's where all the trouble started. If it was wicked for Mordecai to tell the Jews to defend themselves, then it was even more wicked for Haman and Ahasuerus to tell the Persians to attack the Jews in the first place! Self-defense isn't a crime, but genocide definitely is. Do these critics approve of the king's edict? I certainly hope not! Well, if they don't approve of the king's decree, which permitted murder, then how can they disapprove of Mordecai's decree, which allowed the Jews the right to defend themselves? Better that Haman's decree had never been issued, but since it was published, better that Mordecai disarmed it by issuing his decree.
Ever since the fall of Adam, "the law of sin and of death" has been in force in this world (Rom. 8:2; 5:12–21), and God will not rescind that law. The wages of sin is still death (Rom. 6:23). Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God put another law into effect, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (8:2). God obeyed the law of sin and death when He gave His Son, Jesus, to bear our sins and die on the cross. But then God raised Him from the dead and put a new decree into effect that makes it possible for sinners to be saved. Now He wants us to put that good news into every tongue and take that good news to every nation.
Now, let's look at the record in chapter 9, where you discover three important facts: The Jews killed only those who attacked them; they killed only the men (9:6, 12, 15); and they didn't lay hands on the loot, although they had the right to do so (vv. 10, 15–16). The fact that the Jews killed 800 men in the city of Shushan alone (vv. 6, 15) proves that there were many Persians just waiting for the opportunity to attack God's people. (It's estimated that there were probably half a million people in the capital city.)
This chapter begins with Queen Esther in tears (Est. 8:3), but it ends with the Jews rejoicing and feasting (vv. 15–17). Happiness of one kind or another is mentioned in this paragraph at least seven times. (This is the eighth feast mentioned in the book of Esther.) The Jews had been mourning and fasting, but now they were ecstatic with joy.
The total number of the slain was 75,000 (v. 16) out of a population of perhaps 100 million people. But the fact that more than 75,000 people were prepared to slaughter defenseless Jews shows how many of the king's people hated God's people. And the fact that these people were even willing to attack when they knew the Jews would protect themselves is proof that anti-Semitism was very strong throughout the empire. The critics say it was wrong for the Jews to kill 75,000 would-be murderers. Would it have been better if the 75,000 Persians had killed ten times as many Jews?
The thing that made the difference was not the writing of the decree or even its distribution in the various provinces. The thing that made the difference was the fact that the Jews believed the decree. It was their faith in Mordecai's word that changed their lives. They had hope, joy, and peace because they had faith in what the prime minister said. "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 15:13 nkjv).
Mordecai's decree was in complete harmony with God's covenant with Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you" (Gen. 12:3 nkjv). Isaac also would have agreed with Mordecai, for when Isaac blessed Jacob, he said, "Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you" (27:29 nkjv). In addition, God promised Moses, "I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries" (Ex. 23:22 nkjv). And don't forget that quotation from Dr. J. Vernon McGee: "The Jew has attended the funeral of every one of the nations that tried to exterminate him."
The statement that "many of the people of the land became Jews" (Est. 8:17) is variously interpreted. The obvious meaning is that many Gentiles in the empire forsook their pagan religions and became Jewish proselytes. But since the Jews were far from Jerusalem and the ministry of the priests, these "converts" couldn't be initiated fully into the Jewish faith. They became what were known later as "Godfearers" or "worshippers of God" (Acts 10:2; 16:14; 18:7).
I think the phrase means that many of the Gentiles in the empire sided with the Jews and acted as though they were Jews. They weren't ashamed to be identified with the Jews even though the Jews had enemies.
It's one thing to write a liberating new edict and quite another thing to get the message out to the people. Mordecai put the secretaries to work translating and copying the decree, and then he sent the couriers
After President Reagan was shot, when he was
Esther 8—9 sons of Jacob" (Gen. 35:5). It was this same fear that went before Israel as they entered the Promised Land. "This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you" (Deut. 2:25 nkjv, and see 11:25). Rahab told the two Jewish spies that the fear of Israel had paralyzed the nations in Canaan (Josh. 2:8–11; 5:1; 9:24), and that fear helped give Israel the victory.
being prepared for surgery, he jokingly said to the medical team, "I hope all of you are Republicans." One of the doctors replied, "Mr. President, today all of us are Republicans." That was the attitude of many of the people in the Persian Empire when Mordecai's edict was published: "Today, all of us are Jews."
The book of Esther opens with the Jews keeping a very low profile, so much so that Esther and Mordecai wouldn't even confess their nationality. But now the Jews are proud of their race and so happy with what God had done that they were attracting others to their faith! Even the pagan Gentiles could see that God was caring for His people in a remarkable way.
One of the problems with our world today is that "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom. 3:18). Like Pharaoh, people are saying, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?" (Ex. 5:2). But have they seen anything in the people of God that would make them want to fear the Lord? Is there such devotion to God among God's people that an outsider attending one of our meetings would fall down on his face, worship God, and "report that God is truly among you," (1 Cor. 14:25 nkjv)?
Evangelist Billy Sunday said, "If you have no joy in your religion, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere." If Christian believers today manifested more of the joy of the Lord, perhaps those outside the faith would be attracted to the church and be willing to consider the message of the gospel.
It's worth trying.
The fear of God protects those who fear God and believe His promises. Because the Jews believed Mordecai's decree, they had new courage and were not afraid of the enemy, and their courage put fear into the hearts of the enemy. (See Phil. 1:28.) Before King Jehoshaphat went out to battle, God's message to him was: "Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper" (2 Chron. 20:20). That is still wise counsel.
CHAPTER NINE Esther 9 and 10 GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES
B.A sure defense—9
(In which the tables are turned, and then the tables are spread) S
But there was another aspect to this fear that helped give the Jews their victory, and that was the people's fear of Mordecai (Est. 9:3). The princes, deputies, governors, and officers of the king throughout the empire were in such awe of Mordecai that they even helped the Jews defend themselves against the Persians. God had given Mordecai his high position and his great reputation, and Mordecai used his authority to do the will of God.
eek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive." That was God's counsel to the Jews through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 29:7 nkjv), and for the most part, they obeyed it. It wasn't the Jews who had declared war on the Gentiles, but the Gentiles who had declared war on the Jews!
"D Day" arrived for the Jews, the day appointed by Haman's decree for the slaughter of God's chosen people in the empire. But Mordecai's decree had changed that "D" from "destruction" to "deliverance." The Jews had permission to resist their enemies and had been given nine months to prepare for the encounter. The people in the empire who hated the Jews were hoping for victory, but "the tables were turned and the Jews got the upper hand over those who hated them" (Est. 9:1 niv).
Christians today who live in a democratic pluralistic society can't get into political office in order to use that office to promote their own religious faith and destroy those who disagree with them. Mordecai was prime minister in a government where his word was law. Christians today, however, can so live their faith that the power of God is seen in their lives, and the enemy will think twice before attacking. And yet, instead of the godless world being afraid of the church, the church is afraid of the world and so imitates the world that it's difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Vindication: the fear of the Jews (9:1–16) The Jewish men were organized and armed, ready to meet any enemy who would attack them and their families and try to take their possessions. But the Lord had given them a greater weapon than their swords, because "the fear of the Jews fell upon them" (8:17; 9:2). This was a fear that God had sent into the hearts of the Gentiles to keep them from fighting His people.
The church today is no longer "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners" (Song 6:10). Rather, we are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17), which is the description of prisoners of war. Instead of being the conquerors, we're the prisoners! No wonder the world has no fear of the Lord.
This reminds us of the experience of Jacob as he traveled from Shechem to Bethel. "And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are
Esther 9
They wanted only to protect themselves and vindicate their right to live safely in the empire. And remember, the Jews killed only those who first attacked them; the Jews were not the aggressors.
not the weapons of the world" (2 Cor. 10:3–4 niv). Whenever the church has tried to use the weapons of this world to fight its battles, the consequences have been embarrassing if not disastrous. Wearing the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:l0ff.), however, and depending on prayer and the Word of God (Acts 6:4), the Christian soldier can march forward with courage and faith.
Celebration: the feast of the Jews (9:17–32) It's sad when a nation (or a church) forgets its heroes and the providential events that have kept it alive. How easy it is for a new generation to come along and take for granted the blessings that previous generations struggled and sacrificed to attain! The Jews didn't make that mistake but established the Feast of Purim to remind their children year after year that God had saved Israel from destruction.
The Persians who attacked the Jews were actually cooperating with Haman, an Amalekite; and this made them the enemies of God (Est. 9:5). In slaying those who attacked them, the Jews were only doing to the enemy what King Saul had refused to do (1 Sam. 15).
In Esther 9:5–15, we're given the report from Shushan, and, in verses 16–17, additional news is given about what happened in the other parts of the empire. During two days of conflict, the Jews killed 800 of their enemies in Susa alone (vv. 6, 15). It's remarkable that so many Persians would have dared to attack the Jews right in the king's own city where both Esther and Mordecai lived. Perhaps these people had been loyal to Haman and dependant on his bounty. Now they were angry because their hero had fallen and his wealth was gone.
While Purim is not a Christian festival, Christians certainly ought to rejoice with their Jewish friends because every spiritual blessing we have has come through the Jews. The Jews gave to the world the knowledge of the true and living God, the Scriptures, and the Savior. The first Christians were Jewish believers, and so were the first missionaries. Jesus was a Jew who died on Passover, a Jewish feast day, and rose again from the dead on another Jewish holy day, the Feast of Firstfruits. The Holy Spirit came from heaven upon a group of Jewish believers on a Jewish holiday, Pentecost. "Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22). If there had been no Jews, there would be no church.
Since the Jews were not the aggressors, it means that the ten sons of Haman had taken up arms and attacked the Jews, and all ten of them were slain. The bodies of the ten sons were hanged on Haman's gallows as a warning to the enemy. (In the text of the Hebrew Scriptures, the ten names are arranged on the page to look like a gallows. On the Feast of Purim, the synagogue reader reads these ten names all in one breath because the sons of Haman all died together.) The sight of ten corpses on Haman's gallows would certainly deter the Persians from attacking the Jews and would result in the saving of lives.
There's nothing wrong with meaningful tradition. The church is always one generation short of extinction, and if we don't pass on to our children and grandchildren what God has done for us and our fathers, the church will die of apathy and ignorance. "Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord" (Ps. 34:11 niv). It's when tradition gradually becomes traditionalism that we get into trouble. Theologian Jaroslav Pelikan said, "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living."
Some commentators have seen Esther's request in verses 12–13 as evidence of a vindictive spirit on her part, but this was not the case. Haman's strongest support was in the capital city where people had bowed down to him and benefited from his favors. Since it would be easy for them to get together and plan their strategy, Esther wanted to be sure that none of them would survive to cause further trouble. Perhaps she had received private intelligence that Haman's supporters had planned to attack again the next day, prompting her to ask Ahasuerus for permission to extend the Jews' right to defend themselves.
The Jews in the provinces finished their fighting on the thirteenth day of Adar (March) and spent the next day celebrating. But since the Jews in Shushan were still defending themselves on the fourteenth day, they didn't get to celebrate until the fifteenth. In the beginning, the Jews were united in their victory but divided in their celebration. It all depended on whether you lived in the city or the country. Mordecai, however, later issued a letter that instructed all the Jews to celebrate on both the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month (Est. 9:20–22).
The Jews in the other parts of the empire killed 75,000 in one day, which shows how many people hated the Jews and wanted to destroy them. It averages out to about 600 per province. Since the Jews were greatly outnumbered in the empire, their victory was certainly a tribute to their faith and courage.
Today, the Jews begin their celebration with a fast on the thirteenth day of the month (v. 31), commemorating the date on which Haman's evil decree was issued (3:12). They go to the synagogue and hear the book of Esther publicly read, and whenever the name of Haman is mentioned, they cry out, "May he be accursed!" or "May his name perish!" Children bring a special Purim rattle called a "gregar" and use it to make noise every time they hear Haman's name read.
Three times in the record it's stated that the Jews didn't take any of the spoil (vv. 10, 15–16). It was in taking spoil from the enemy that King Saul lost his kingdom (1 Sam. 15:12–23), and the Jews didn't repeat his mistake. They were not out after wealth.
On the morning of the fourteenth day of the month, the Jews again go to the synagogue, where the
Esther 9—10
Santayana was right when he said, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it."
Esther story is read again and the congregation engages in prayer. The story about Moses and the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8–16) is also read. Then the celebrants go home to a festive holiday meal with gifts and special foods, and the celebrating continues on the next day. They also send gifts and food to the poor and needy so that everybody can rejoice together.
Exaltation: the fame of Mordecai (10:1–3) This brief chapter tells us that Mordecai, unlike his predecessor Haman, used his office to serve the king and help the Jews. Sometimes when people are elevated to high office, they forget their roots and ignore the needs of the common people. Mordecai wasn't that kind of man. Even though his political deeds are recorded in the official annals of the empire, what he did for his people has been recorded by the Lord and will be rewarded.
C.A great distinction—10
The name "Purim" is the plural of the Babylonian word pur which means "lot." It originates from Haman's casting of lots to determine the day when the Jews would be destroyed (Est. 9:24; 3:7). Even though there was no divine sanction given to this new feast, the Jews determined that it would be celebrated from generation to generation (9:26–28). Note the emphasis on teaching the children the meaning of Purim so that the message of the feast would not be lost in future generations.
Why did the author mention the new tax program of King Ahasuerus? What does this have to do with Mordecai and the Jews? Some Bible students think that it was Mordecai who engineered this new system of tribute as a substitute for war and plunder as a source of kingdom wealth. Now that there was peace in the kingdom, the Jews were free to work, earn money, and prosper; and the prosperity of the Jews increased the prosperity of the empire in general. Mordecai reminded the king that the throne deserved a share in that prosperity. After all, it was the king who had chosen Esther, a Jewess, and promoted Mordecai, a Jew, and all three of them had worked together to save the Jews from destruction. Didn't the people of the empire, Jews and Gentiles alike, have an obligation to their monarch?
There is a godly patriotism that goes beyond mere nationalism and civic pride and gives glory to God for what He has done. To see the hand of God in history and praise God for His goodness and mercy, and to ask God to forgive us for our sins, is perhaps the best way for the Christian patriot to celebrate a national holiday. But dedication must follow celebration. The American political leader Adlai Stevenson said, "Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."
Not only did Mordecai the prime minister send a letter of instruction to the Jews in the empire, but Esther the queen also joined Mordecai in sending a second letter (vv. 29–32). Perhaps some of the Jews in the provinces didn't want to change from their original day of celebration (v. 19), and it was necessary for both the queen and prime minister to issue this second letter to keep peace in the nation. Too often God's people defeat the enemy and then celebrate the victory by fighting among themselves!
But the important message in this chapter is that God continued to use Mordecai to help the Jewish people. The Jews were aliens in a foreign land and subject to all kinds of harassment and abuse. Mordecai saw to it that they were treated with fairness. The last words of the book are variously translated. The Authorized Version says "and speaking peace to all his seed," suggesting that he encouraged the Jews and kept them at peace with one another. The NIV reads "and spoke up for the welfare of all the Jews." This implies that there were still forces at work in the empire opposing and threatening the Jews, but Mordecai represented them at court and protected them. "He did his best for his people, and was a friend at court for all of them" (tlb).
This second letter is described as "words of peace and truth" (v. 30), which suggests that there was a division among the Jewish people that needed to be healed. Not only did Esther and Mordecai send letters, but they also had the matter written into the book (diary?) that Mordecai used as his personal record (vv. 20, 32). It's possible that this book became a part of the official records of the empire.
The exciting drama of Esther is over, but the blessings go right on. God preserved the Jewish nation so that we today can have a Bible and a Savior. Now it's our job to tell the whole world about this Savior and seek to win as many as we can to the Lord. We are the King's couriers, and we dare not fail.
The story of the victory of the Jews over their enemies was celebrated in an annual feast, recorded in two official letters, written in a journal, and ultimately included in the Old Testament Scriptures! What a rebuke to our modern "throw-away society" that has forgotten history and, like the Athenians of old, spends its time "in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing" (Acts 17:21). Philosopher George
Esther reaches across the centuries to join hands with believers today, and to say to the church: Be Committed!
G e n e s i s E x o d u s L e v i t i c u s N u m b e r s D e u t e r o n o m y J o s h u a J u d g e s R u t h
J e r e m i a h L a m e n t a t i o n s E z e k i e l D a n i e l H o s e a J o e l A m o s O b a d i a h
1 S a m u e l 2 S a m u e l 1 K i n g s 2 K i n g s 1 C h r o n i c l e s 2 C h r o n i c l e s E z r a N e h e m i a h
J o n a h M i c a h N a h u m H a b a k k u k Z e p h a n i a h H a g g a i Z e c h a r i a h M a l a c h i
E s t h e r J o b P s a l m s P r o v e r b s E c c l e s i a s t e s S o n g o f
CONTENTS
Job 1—3 824 THE DRAMA BEGINS
Job 4—7 828 DISCUSSION BEGINS
Job 8—10 830 THE DISCUSSION CONTINUES
Job 11—14 833 AN ANGRY "YOUNGER" MAN
Job 15—17 837 DISCUSSION TURNS INTO DISPUTE
Job 18—19 840 WILL THE REAL ENEMY PLEASE STAND UP?
Job 20—21 843 IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW
Job 22—24 846 ORDER IN THE COURT!
Job 25—28 850 HOW FAINT A WHISPER!
Job 29—31 853 I REST MY CASE!
Job 32—33 856 ELIHU HAS THE ANSWERS
Job 34—37 859 ELIHU EXPLAINS AND DEFENDS GOD
Job 38—42 863 THE FINAL EXAMINATION
Job 1 in character and "straight" in conduct. The word translated "perfect" is related to "integrity," another important word in Job (2:3, 9; 27:5; 31:6). People with integrity are whole persons, without hypocrisy or duplicity. In the face of his friends' accusations and God's silence, Job maintained his integrity, and the Lord ultimately vindicated him.
CHAPTER ONE Job 1—3 THE DRAMA BEGINS
"You have heard of the patience [endurance] of Job" (James 5:11). Y
The foundation for Job's character was the fact that he "feared God and shunned evil." "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding" (28:28). To fear the Lord means to respect who He is, what He says, and what He does. It is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master but the loving reverence of a child before a father, a respect that leads to obedience. "The remarkable thing about fearing God," said Oswald Chambers, "is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else."
es, many people have heard about Job and his trials; but not many people understand what those trials were all about and what God was trying to accomplish. Nor do they realize that Job suffered as he did so that God's people today might learn from his experiences how to be patient in suffering and endure to the end.
When I decided to write about Job, I said to my wife, "I wonder how much suffering we'll have to go through so I can write this book." (I don't want to write or preach in an impersonal and academic way. The Word has to become real to me, or I can't make it real to others.) Little did we realize the trials that God would permit us to experience! But we can testify that God is faithful, He answers prayer, and He always has a wonderful purpose in mind (Jer. 29:11).
His family (Job 1:2). Job was prosperous in his family. The events in Job took place during the Patriarchal Age, when a large family was seen as a blessing from God (Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 30:1). The children must have enjoyed each other's company since they met frequently to celebrate their birthdays. This speaks well of the way Job and his wife raised them. The fact that their father offered special sacrifices after each birthday feast does not prove their celebration was wicked. It only shows that Job was a pious man and wanted to be sure his family was right with God.
You, too, may have to go through the furnace in order to study the book of Job and really grasp its message. If so, don't be afraid! By faith, just say with Job, "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10 niv). Gold fears no fire. Whatever we have that is burned up and left behind in the furnace wasn't worth having anyway.
His material possessions (Job 1:3). In those days, wealth was measured primarily in terms of land, animals, and servants; and Job had all three in abundance. But being rich did not turn him away from God. He acknowledged that the Lord gave this wealth to him (Job 1:21), and he used his wealth generously for the good of others (4:1–4; 29:12–17; 31:16–32). Job would have had no problem obeying what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:6–19.
As we study the book of Job together, I trust that two things will be accomplished in your life: you will learn to be patient in your own trials, and you will learn how to help others in their trials. Your world is filled with people who need encouragement, and God may be preparing you for just that ministry. Either way, I hope this book helps you.
His friends (Job 2:11). While it is true that his three friends hurt Job deeply and wronged him greatly, they were still his friends. When they heard about Job's calamities, they traveled a long distance to visit him, and they sat in silence as they sympathized with him. Their mistake was in thinking they had to explain Job's situation and tell him how to change it.
Lord Byron was on target when he wrote: "Truth is always strange; stranger than fiction."
The book of Job is not religious fiction. Job was a real person, not an imaginary character; both Ezekiel (14:14, 20) and James (5:11) attest to that. Because he was a real man who had real experiences, he can tell us what we need to know about life and its problems in this real world.
"My best friend," said Henry Ford, "is the one who brings out the best in me"; but Job's friends brought out the worst in him. However, in the end Job and his friends were reconciled (42:7–10), and I like to think that their relationship was deeper than before. To have true friends is to be wealthy indeed.
These first three chapters introduce us to the man Job and reveal four important facts about him.
Job's Prosperity (1:1–5) The land of Uz was probably in or near Edom (Lam. 4:21). Eliphaz, one of Job's friends, came from Teman, which is associated with the Edomites (Job 2:11; Gen. 36:11). His character (Job 1:1). Job was "perfect and upright" (Job 1:1). He was not sinless, for nobody can claim that distinction, but he was complete and mature
Job's Adversity (1:6–19) In one day, Job was stripped of his wealth. One after another, four frightened messengers reported that 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and 3,000 camels were stolen in enemy raids; 7,000 sheep were struck by lightning and killed; and all 10 of his children were killed by a windstorm. King Solomon was right:
Job 1 were engaged in a spiritual struggle to decide the question, "Is Jehovah God worthy of man's worship?"
"Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them" (Eccl. 9:12 niv).
Now we can better understand why Job was so unyielding as he resisted the advice of his friends. They wanted him to repent of his sins so that God would remove the suffering and make him prosperous again. Job was not going to "invent" sin in his life just so he could repent and "earn" the blessing of God. To do that would be to play right into the hands of the accuser! Instead, Job held fast to his integrity and blessed God even though he did not understand what God was doing. What a defeat for the prince of darkness!
Job knew what had happened, but he did not know why it had happened; and that is the crux of the matter. Because the author allows us to visit the throne room of heaven and hear God and Satan speak, we know who caused the destruction and why he was allowed to cause it. But if we did not have this insight, we would probably take the same approach as Job's friends and blame Job for the tragedy.
A fourth truth emerges: Satan can touch God's people only with God's permission, and God uses it for their good and His glory. Phillips Brooks said, "The purpose of life is the building of character through truth." God is at work in our lives to make us more like Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29), and He can use even the attacks of the devil to perfect us. When you are in the path of obedience and you find yourself in a severe trial, remind yourself that nothing can come to your life that is outside His will.
Several important truths emerge from this scene, not the least of which is that God is sovereign in all things. He is on the throne of heaven, the angels do His will and report to Him, and even Satan can do nothing to God's people without God's permission. "The Almighty" is one of the key names for God in Job; it is used thirty-one times. From the outset, the writer reminds us that, no matter what happens in this world and in our lives, God is on the throne and has everything under control.
A second truth—and it may surprise you—is that Satan has access to God's throne in heaven. Thanks to John Milton's Paradise Lost, many people have the mistaken idea that Satan is ruling this world from hell ("Better to reign in hell, than serve in heav'n"). But Satan will not be cast into the lake of fire until before the final judgment (Rev. 20:10ff.). Today, he is free to go about on the earth (Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8) and can even go into God's presence in heaven.
Some of the so-called tragedies in the lives of God's people have really been weapons of God to "still the enemy and the avenger" (Ps. 8:2). The angels watch the church and learn from God's dealings with His people (1 Cor. 4:9; Eph. 3:10). We may not know until we get to heaven why God allowed certain things to happen. Meanwhile, we walk by faith and say with Job, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
This third truth is most important: God found no fault with Job, but Satan did. God's statement in Job 1:8 echoes the description of Job in verse 1, but Satan questioned it. The word "Satan" means "adversary, one who opposes the law." This is a courtroom scene, and God and Satan each deliver different verdicts about Job. As you study this book, keep in mind that God said, "Not guilty!" (1:8; 2:3; 42:7). There was nothing in Job's life that compelled God to cause him to suffer. But Satan said "Guilty!" because he is the accuser of God's people and finds nothing good in them (Zech. 3; Rev. 12:10).
Job's Fidelity (1:20–22) The hosts of heaven and of hell watched to see how Job would respond to the loss of his wealth and his children. He expressed his grief in a manner normal for that day, for God expects us to be human (1 Thess. 4:13). After all, even Jesus wept (John 11:35). But then Job worshipped God and uttered a profound statement of faith (Job 1:21).
First, he looked back to his birth: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb." Everything Job owned was given to him by God, and the same God who gave it had the right to take it away. Job simply acknowledged that he was a steward.
Then Job looked ahead to his death: "and naked shall I return." He would not return to his mother's womb, because that would be impossible. He would go to "Mother Earth," be buried, and turn to dust. (The connection between "birth" and "Mother Earth" is seen also in Ps. 139:13–15.) Nothing that he acquired between his birth and death would go with him into the next world. Paul wrote, "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out" (1 Tim. 6:7).
Satan's accusation against Job was really an attack on God. We might paraphrase it like this: "The only reason Job fears You is because You pay him to do it. You two have made a contract: You protect him and prosper him as long as he obeys You and worships You. You are not a God worthy of worship! You have to pay people to honor You."
Job's three friends said Job was suffering because he had sinned, and that was not true. Elihu said that God was chastening Job to make him a better man, and that was partly true. But the fundamental reason for Job's suffering was to silence the blasphemous accusations of Satan and prove that a man would honor God even though he had lost everything. It was a battle "in the heavenlies" (Eph. 6:12), but Job did not know it. Job's life was a battlefield where the forces of God and Satan
Finally, Job looked up and uttered a magnificent statement of faith: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). Instead of cursing God, as Satan said Job would do, Job blessed the Lord! Anybody can say, "The Lord
Job 1—3 consider her situation. She had lost ten children in one day, and that would be enough to devastate any mother. The family wealth was gone, and she was no longer the "leading lady" in the land. Her husband, once the greatest man in the East (Job 1:3), was now sitting at the city garbage dump, suffering from a terrible disease. What did she have left? Rather than watch her husband waste away in pain and shame, she would prefer that God strike him dead and get it over with immediately. Perhaps if Job cursed God, God would do it.
gave" or "The Lord hath taken away"; but it takes real faith to say in the midst of sorrow and suffering, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
"In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God with folly" (v. 22).
Job's Misery (2:1—3:26) In this section, you hear four different voices.
The voice of the accuser (Job 2:1–8). Satan does not give up easily, for he returned to God's throne to accuse Job again. As in the first meeting (1:8), it is God who brings up the subject of His servant Job; and Satan accepts the challenge. We get the impression that God is confident His servant will not fail the test.
In times of severe testing, our first question must not be, "How can I get out of this?" but "What can I get out of this?" Job's wife thought she had the problem solved; but if Job had followed her counsel, it would have only made things worse. Faith is living without scheming. It is obeying God in spite of feelings, circumstances, or consequences, knowing that He is working out His perfect plan in His way and in His time.
"Every man has his price," said Satan. "Job can raise another family and start another business because he still has health and strength. Let me touch his body and take away his health, and You will soon hear him curse You to Your face."
The two things Job would not give up were his faith in God and his integrity, and that's what his wife wanted him to do. Even if God did permit evil to come into his life, Job would not rebel against God by taking matters into his own hands. Job had never read The Letters of Samuel Rutherford, but he was following the counsel of that godly Scottish pastor who suffered greatly: "It is faith's work to claim and challenge lovingkindness out of all the roughest strokes of God." Job was going to trust God—and even argue with God!— and not waste his sufferings or his opportunity to receive what God had for him.
With God's permission (1 Cor. 10:13), Satan afflicted Job with a disease we cannot identify. Whatever it was, the symptoms were terrible: severe itching (Job 2:8), insomnia (v. 4), running sores and scabs (v. 5), nightmares (vv. 13–14), bad breath (19:17), weight loss (v. 20), chills and fever (21:6), diarrhea (30:27), and blackened skin (v. 30). When his three friends first saw Job, they did not recognize him! (2:12)
Not all physical affliction comes directly from the evil one, though Satan's demons can cause (among other things) blindness (Matt. 12:22), dumbness (9:32–33), physical deformities (Luke 13:11–17), incessant pain (2 Cor. 12:7), and insanity (Matt. 8:28–34). Sometimes physical affliction is the natural result of carelessness on our part, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. But even then, Satan knows how to use our folly to further his cause.
When life is difficult, it's easy to give up; but giving up is the worst thing we can do. A professor of history said, "If Columbus had turned back, nobody would have blamed him—but nobody would have remembered him either." If you want to be memorable, sometimes you have to be miserable.
In the end, Job's wife was reconciled to her husband and to the Lord, and God gave her another family (42:13). We don't know how much she learned from her sufferings, but we can assume it was a growing experience for her.
So abhorrent was Job's appearance that he fled society (Job 19:13–20) and went outside the city and sat on the ash heap. There the city garbage was deposited and burned, and there the city's rejects lived, begging alms from whoever passed by. At the ash heap, dogs fought over something to eat, and the city's dung was brought and burned. The city's leading citizen was now living in abject poverty and shame.
The voice of the mourners (Job 2:11–13). The term "Job's comforters" is a familiar phrase for describing people whose help only makes you feel worse. But these three men had some admirable qualities in spite of the way they persecuted Job.
The voice of the quitter (Job 2:9–10). If ever a believer in Old Testament days shared in the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, it was Job. All that he humanly had left was his wife and his three friends, and even they turned against him. No wonder Job felt that God had deserted him!
For one thing, they cared enough for Job to travel a long distance to visit him. And when they commiserated with him, they didn't sit in a comfortable home or hospital room: they sat with him on the ash heap, surrounded by refuse. Because their grief was so great, they couldn't speak for seven days. (Of course, they made up for their silence afterward.) In fact, their expression of grief was like mourning for the death of a great person (Gen. 50:10).
"Curse God and die!" was exactly what Satan wanted Job to do, and Job's wife put the temptation before her husband. Yes, Satan can work through people who are dear to us (Matt. 16:22–23; Acts 21:10–14); and the temptation is stronger because we love them so much. Adam listened to Eve (Gen. 3:6, 12), and Abraham listened to Sarah (Gen. 16); but Job did not listen to the advice of his wife.
The best way to help people who are hurting is just to be with them, saying little or nothing, and letting them know you care. Don't try to explain everything; explanations never heal a broken heart. If his friends
She was wrong, of course; but in all fairness, we must
Job 3 the burdens and sufferings of life on earth. Job would rather be dead and have rest than be alive and bear the misery that had come to him. After all, he was in the dark as far as his future was concerned (Job 3:23), so he might as well be in the darkness of sheol.
had listened to him, accepted his feelings, and not argued with him, they would have helped him greatly; but they chose to be prosecuting attorneys instead of witnesses. In the end, the Lord rebuked them; and they had to ask Job's forgiveness (Job 42:7–10).
Job shares a secret at the close of his lament (vv. 25–26): before all his troubles started, he had a feeling—and a fear—that something terrible was going to happen. Was it an intuition from the Lord? Sometimes God's people have these intuitions, and it motivates them to seek God's face and pray for His help. Is that what Job did? We don't know, but we do know that he was a broken man whose worst fears had now been realized.
The voice of the sufferer (Job 3:1–26). After seven days of silent suffering, Job spoke, not to curse God but to curse the day of his birth. "Why was I ever born?" has been sobbed by more than one hurting child of God, including the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 20:14–18). This is not quite the same as saying, "I wish I were dead"; though Job did express that desire more than once (Job 6:9; 7:15–16; 14:13). At no time did Job speak of ending his own life. Job's "birthday lament" is not a defense of suicide or so-called "mercy killing." It is the declaration of a man whose suffering was so intense that he wished he had never been born.
It is unfortunate that the three friends laid hold of Job's lament instead of his statement of faith (1:21; 2:10). After hearing him curse his birthday, they felt it necessary to rebuke him and come to God's defense.
When you are hurting, you may say and do a lot of things that you later regret. Job's suffering was so great that he forgot the blessings that he and his family had enjoyed for so many years. Had he never been born, he would never have been the greatest man in the East! But pain makes us forget the joys of the past; instead, we concentrate on the hopelessness of the future. Job's friends heard his words but did not feel the anguish of his heart, and they took the wrong approach to helping him handle his trials. They argued with his words instead of ministering to his feelings.
Now the discussion begins. Soon it will become a debate, then a dispute; and the Lord will have to intervene to bring matters to a head.
INTERLUDE You will be spending a good deal of time with Job's three friends, so you had better get acquainted with them.
All three of the men were old (Job 32:6), older than Job (15:10), but we assume that Eliphaz was the oldest. He is named first (2:11), he spoke first, and the Lord seems to have accepted him as the elder member of the trio (42:7). He was associated with Teman, a place known for its wisdom (Jer. 49:7). Eliphaz based his speeches on two things: his own observations of life ("I have seen"—Job 4:8; 5:3, 27 nasb) and a frightening personal experience he had one night (4:12–21). Eliphaz put great faith in tradition (15:18–19), and the God he worshipped was an inflexible Lawgiver. "Who ever perished being innocent?" he asked (4:7); and a host of martyrs could have answered, "We have!" (And what about our Lord Jesus Christ?) Eliphaz had a rigid theology that left little or no room for the grace of God.
Job cursed two nights: the night of his conception and the night of his birth (3:1–13). Conception is a blessing that comes from God (Gen. 30:1–2; Ps. 139:13–16); so when we curse a blessing, we are questioning the goodness of God. (Note that Job said a child was conceived, not "a mass of protoplasm" or "a thing." He was a person from conception.)
The key word here is darkness. When a baby is born, it comes out of darkness into the light; but Job wanted to stay in the darkness. In fact, he thought it would have been better if he had been born dead! Then he would have gone to the world of the dead (sheol) and not had to face all this misery.
He closed his curse with four "why" questions that nobody but God could answer. It is easy to ask why but difficult to get the right answer. There is nothing wrong with asking why, as long as we don't get the idea that God owes us an answer. Even our Lord asked, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46). But if the Lord did tell us why things happen as they do, would that ease our pain or heal our broken hearts? Does reading the X-ray take away the pain of a broken leg? We live on promises, not explanations; so we shouldn't spend too much time asking God why.
Bildad must have been the second oldest of the three since he is named second and spoke after Eliphaz. In a word, Bildad was a legalist. His life-text was, "Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he help the evildoers" (8:20). He could quote ancient proverbs, and like Eliphaz, he had great respect for tradition. For some reason, Bildad was sure that Job's children died because they also were sinners (v. 4). The man seemed to have no feeling for his hurting friend.
The last half of the lament is a description of the world of the dead, the place the Jews called sheol (Job 3:13–26). That's where Job wanted to be! The Old Testament does not give a complete and final revelation of life after death; that had to await the coming of the Savior (2 Tim. 1:10). Job saw Sheol as a shadowy place where the small and great rested together, away from
Zophar was the youngest of the three and surely the most dogmatic. He speaks like a schoolmaster addressing a group of ignorant freshmen. "Know this!" is his unfeeling approach (11:6; 20:4). He is merciless and tells Job that God was giving him far less than he deserved for his sins (11:6)! His key text is, "Knowest thou not this of old … that the triumphing of wicked
Job 3—4 him, that he soon did with the debating approaches and the controversial assaults of Eliphaz, and Zophar, and Bildad, and Elihu. Oh, the unmitigable curse of controversy!"
is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?" (20:4–5). Interestingly enough, Zophar speaks to Job only twice. Either he decided he was unable to answer Job's arguments or felt that it was a waste of time trying to help Job.
—ALEXANDER WHYTE T
All three men said some good and true things, as well as some foolish things; but they were of no help to Job because their viewpoint was too narrow. Their theology was not vital and vibrant but dead and rigid, and the God they tried to defend was small enough to be understood and explained. These men perfectly illustrate Dorothy Sayers' statement, "There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited."
he three friends were silent for seven days (Job 2:13), and Job later wished they had stayed that way (13:5). "Then Eliphaz, the Temanite, answered [Job]." But what did he answer? The pain in Job's heart? No, he answered the words from Job's lips; and this was a mistake. A wise counselor and comforter must listen with the heart and respond to feelings as well as to words. You do not heal a broken heart with logic; you heal a broken heart with love. Yes, you must speak the truth; but be sure to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15).
Why would three men speak to their friend as these men spoke to Job? Why were they so angry? There is a hint of an answer in Job's words: "Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid" (6:21 niv). The three men were afraid that the same calamities would come to them! Therefore, they had to defend their basic premise that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. As long as they were "righteous," nothing evil could happen to them in this life.
Eliphaz's Rebuke (4—5) His approach (Job 4:1–4). Eliphaz's approach seems to start out positive enough, even gentle; but it was only honey to prepare Job for the bitterness that would follow. "If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient?" he asked (v. 2 niv).
Fear and anger often go together. By maintaining his integrity and refusing to say he had sinned, Job undermined the theology of his friends and robbed them of their peace and confidence; and this made them angry. God used Job to destroy their shallow theology and challenge them to go deeper into the heart and mind of God. Alas, they preferred the superficial and safe to the profound and mysterious.
"Don't get upset, Job!" is what he was saying. "In the past, your words have been a help to many people; and we want our words to be a help to you."
Never underestimate the power of words to encourage people in the battles of life. James Moffatt translates Job 4:4, "Your words have kept men on their feet." The right words, spoken at the right time, and with the right motive, can make a tremendous difference in the lives of others. Your words can nourish those who are weak and encourage those who are defeated. But your words can also hurt those who are broken and only add to their burdens, so be careful what you say and how you say it.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar have many disciples today. Whenever you meet a person who feels compelled to explain everything, who has a pat answer for every question and a fixed formula for solving every problem, you are back at the ash heap with Job's three friends. When that happens, remember the words of the Swiss psychologist Paul Tournier:
We are nearly always longing for an easy religion, easy to understand and easy to follow; a religion with no mystery, no insoluble problems, no snags; a religion that would allow us to escape from our miserable human condition; a religion in which contact with God spares us all strife, all uncertainty, all suffering and all doubt; in short, a religion without the cross. (Reflections [New York: Harper & Row, 1976], 142)
His accusation (Job 4:5–11). Eliphaz then moved into his accusation. Job could give it, but he couldn't take it! He could tell others how to handle their trials; but when trials came to his life, he didn't practice what he preached. "Is not your reverence your confidence?" asked Eliphaz. "And the integrity of your ways your hope?" (v. 6 nkjv). If Job is living a godly life, Eliphaz argues, then he has nothing to fear; because God always blesses the righteous and judges the wicked.
We wonder how Job's three friends would have explained the cross to the two Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:13ff.)! Let's listen in on the first round of speeches.
This is the basic premise of all three friends: Do what is right and things will go well for you; do what is wrong and God will send judgment. That judgment may sometimes be gradual, like the growing of a crop for harvest (v. 8); or it may be sudden, like the coming of a storm or the attack of a lion (vv. 9–11). But you can be sure that judgment will come; for God is a righteous Judge.
CHAPTER TWO Job 4—7 DISCUSSION BEGINS
Most people will agree that ultimately God blesses the righteous, His own people, and judges the wicked; but that is not the question discussed in Job. It is not the ultimate but the immediate about which Job and his
"But what Satan could not do with all his Sabeans, and all his Chaldeans, and all his winds from the wilderness to help
Job 4—6
His appeal (Job 5:8–17). This led to an appeal from Eliphaz that Job seek God and commit himself to Him. The God who does wonders and cares for His creation will surely help Job if he humbles himself and confesses his sins. Job should see his trials as discipline from God to make him a better man (vv. 17–18), a theme that will later be taken up by Elihu. Job must have been in bad shape for God to have to take away his wealth, his family, and his health in order to straighten him out! And isn't discipline a tool of God's love (Prov. 3:11–12; Heb. 12:1–11)?
three friends are concerned, and not only they but also David (Ps. 37), Asaph (Ps. 73), and even the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 12:1–6).
His arguments (Job 4:12—5:7). Eliphaz presented two arguments to prove his point: experience (4:12–21) and observation (5:1–7). The first argument is based on an eerie experience he had one night when he saw a "vision" and heard a voice. Two questions must be answered: What was the content of the message, and was the message a direct revelation from God?
His assurance (Job 5:17–27). Eliphaz closes his speech with words of assurance. The same God who wounds will also heal (Deut. 32:39; Hos. 6:1–2). He will deliver you from trouble, save you from your enemies, and give you a long and happy life and a peaceful death. "We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself" (Job 5:27 niv).
Since there are no punctuation marks in the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament, we are not always certain where quotations begin and end. Most English translations make 4:17–21 the complete statement of the "spirit"; but some students feel the statement is limited to verse 17, and the rest is commentary by Eliphaz. Either way, it's the same message: man's life is brief and frail, and he can never be righteous enough in himself to please God.
But this is Satan's philosophy said in different words! "Does Job fear God for nothing? … Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life" (1:9; 2:4 nkjv). Eliphaz was asking Job to make a bargain with God: Confess your sins, and God will restore all that you have lost. If Job had done that, it would have disgraced Jehovah and vindicated Satan; and Job was not about to do it.
But was this statement a direct revelation from God? Probably not; the whole experience doesn't seem to fit God's pattern for revealing truth. For one thing, it lacks the authority of "The word of the Lord came to me saying" or "Thus says the Lord." And God doesn't usually sneak up on people and scare them. We don't know for sure, but it's possible that Eliphaz had a dream, meditated on it, and gradually transformed it into a vision.
Job's Response (6—7) Job responded with two passionate appeals. First, he appealed to his three friends that they might show more understanding and sympathy (Job 6). Then he appealed to God, that He would consider his plight and lighten his sufferings before he died (Job 7).
One thing is sure: Eliphaz was not telling the whole story about God and man. Yes, man lives in a house of clay that eventually turns to dust; and man's life can be snuffed out like swatting a moth or pulling down a tent. But man is also made in the image of God, and the God who made him is a God of grace and mercy as well as a God of justice.
Job's appeal to his friends (Job 6). Only Eliphaz had spoken so far, but Job could tell that Bildad and Zophar agreed with him. Not one of his friends identified with what Job was going through physically and emotionally. It was one thing for them to sit where he sat and quite something else for them to feel what he felt (Ezek. 3:15). The child who defined "sympathy" as "your pain in my heart" knew more about giving comfort than did these three.
Eliphaz's second argument is based on his own personal observations of life (5:1–7). He has seen sinners prosper and take root, only to be destroyed and lose everything. This was a not-so-subtle description of Job's situation. It must have hurt Job deeply to hear that it was his sin that killed his children. But in Psalm 73, Asaph takes a wholly different view. He concludes that God allows the wicked to prosper in this life because it's the only "heaven" they will know. God will adjust things in the next life and see to it that His people are rewarded and the wicked are punished.
To begin with, they didn't feel the heaviness of his suffering (Job 6:1–3). No wonder Job had spoken so impetuously! His friends would have done the same thing if they carried the load that he carried. Job didn't have the full revelation of heaven that believers have today, so his future was dim. We can read 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 and take heart.
The problem with arguing from observation is that our observations are severely limited. Furthermore, we can't see the human heart as God can and determine who is righteous in His sight. Some sinners suffer judgment almost immediately, while others spend their lives in prosperity and die in peace (Eccl. 8:10–14).
Nor did his friends understand the bitterness of his suffering (Job 6:4–7). Job felt like a target at which God was shooting poisoned arrows, and the poison was making Job's spirit bitter. God had His army in array, shooting at one weak man; and Job's friends were adding to the poison. What Job needed were words of encouragement that would feed his spirit and give him strength, but all his friends fed him were words that were useless and tasteless. If his complaint sounded like the braying of a donkey or the lowing of an ox, it was
Trouble doesn't grow out of the ground, like weeds; it's a part of man's birth, because man is born a sinner (Job 5:6–7). If Job is in trouble, concludes Eliphaz, he caused it himself because he sinned against God. Therefore, Job must repent of his sins and ask for God's forgiveness.
Job 6—8 passing swiftly; so, if God were going to do anything, He had better hurry! Job's life was like the weaver's shuttle (Job 7:6), moving swiftly with the thread running out. (The phrase "cut me off" in 6:9 means "to cut a weaving from the loom." See Isa. 38:12.) Life is like a weaving, and only God can see the total pattern and when the work is finished.
because, like a starving animal, he was hungry for love and understanding.
Job tried to get them to feel the hopelessness of his situation (vv. 8–13). Prolonged and intense suffering can make a person feel powerless to handle life, and this can lead to hopelessness. If you can't control some of the elements that make up life, how can you plan for the future? Job asked, "What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?" (v. 11 niv). In other words, "What am I waiting for? Life is only getting worse!"
Job also saw his life as a breath or a cloud, here for a brief time and then gone forever, never to return (Job 7:7–10; James 4:14). God was treating him like a dangerous monster that had to be watched every minute (Job 7:11–12). No wonder Job was bitter against God for guarding him constantly. The fact that Job referred to Yam ("the sea") and Tammin ("a whale"), two mythological characters, didn't mean he was giving his approval to the teachings of Eastern myths. He used these well-known characters only to illustrate his point.
Hopelessness can lead to a feeling of uselessness; and when you feel useless, you don't want to live. This explains why Job wanted God to take his life (3:20–23; 6:8–9; 7:15–16; 10:18–19; 14:13). Job didn't attempt this himself, for he knew that suicide was wrong; but he prayed that God might take him out of his misery. Job's friends were healthy and comfortable and didn't know the burden of waking up each morning to another day of suffering. Job's strength was gone, and he felt useless (6:12–13).
There was no way Job could escape God, the "watcher of men" (v. 20 niv, nkjv). If Job went to sleep, God frightened him in his dreams. If he was awake, he knew God's eye was upon him (10:14; 13:27; 31:4). He couldn't even swallow his spittle without God knowing about it! Why would God pay so much attention to one man (7:17–18; Ps. 8:4)?
Courageously, Job pointed out the ineffectiveness of their ministry to him (vv. 14–30). They didn't pity him or try to meet his needs. They were like a dry brook in the desert that disappoints thirsty travelers. They were his "friends" as long as he was prosperous; but when trouble came, they turned against him.
Job closed his appeal with a request for forgiveness (Job 7:20–21). "If I have sinned, then forgive me. Why should I be a burden to You and to myself? Time is flying by swiftly, so let's settle things as soon as possible!" It was not a confession of sin, for Job still maintained his integrity; but it was an opportunity for God to deal with areas in Job's life that he knew nothing about (Ps. 19:12–14). Then Job was silent. He had vented his pain and frustration and appealed to his friends for understanding and encouragement. Would he receive it?
Job made two requests of his friends: "Teach me" (v. 24) and "Look upon me" (v. 28). He didn't need accusation; he needed illumination! But they wouldn't even look him in the face and behold his plight. Physically, the three men were sitting with Job on the ash heap; but emotionally, they were like the priest and Levite, passing by "on the other side" (Luke 10:30–37).
In my pastoral ministry, I can recall visiting hospital patients who were difficult to look at because of disease, accident, or surgery; and sometimes they were difficult to listen to because they had become bitter. From my eye contact and my responses to their words, they could detect whether or not I really cared. It did little good for me to quote Scripture and pray unless we had first built a bridge between our hearts. Then we could minister to each other.
Let's listen next to Bildad the Shuhite who gives a brief theological lecture on the justice of God.
CHAPTER THREE Job 8—10 THE DISCUSSION CONTINUES
Job closed his address to his friends with a passionate appeal for them to reconsider his situation and take a more loving approach. "Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake" (Job 6:29 niv). The three men were so intent on defending themselves that they forgot to comfort their friend!
"You may be as orthodox as the devil, and as wicked."
—JOHN WESLEY A s the discussion continues, Bildad presents three logical arguments to prove Job is guilty; and Job counters with three painful questions to help his friends understand how perplexed and tormented he really is.
Job's appeal to the Lord (Job 7). Job used several vivid pictures to describe the futility of life. He felt like a man who had been conscripted into the army against his will (v. 1a, "appointed time" in kjv), and like a laborer (v. 1b) or a hired man waiting for sunset and his daily wages (v. 2). At least these men had something to look forward to, but Job's future was hopeless. His nights were sleepless, his days were futile (Deut. 28:67), and the Lord didn't seem to care. He then focused on the brevity of life. Time was
Three Logical Arguments (8:1–22) "Your words are a blustering wind!" (Job 8:2 niv). Can you imagine a counselor saying that to a suffering individual who wanted to die? Bildad did; in fact, he used the same approach in his next speech (18:2). Job had
Job 8 prosperity better than pain?" Little did Bildad realize that his words would come true and Job's latter end would be greater than his beginning. However, in the end Job's prayer would be for Bildad and the others because they were the ones not right with God (42:7–13).
poured out his grief and was waiting to hear a sympathetic word, but his friend said that Job's speech was just so much hot air.
There is a reason for Bildad's approach: he was so concerned about defending the justice of God that he forgot the needs of his friend. "Does God subvert judgment? Or does the Almighty pervert justice?" (8:3 nkjv). Bildad preached a sermon on God's justice, and his text was taken from the "vision" of Eliphaz: "Shall mortal man be more just than God?" (4:17). In defending God's justice, Bildad presented three logical arguments.
The wisdom of the past (Job 8:8–10). Eliphaz based his thinking on observation and experience, but Bildad was a traditionalist who looked for wisdom in the past. "What do the ancients say about it?" was his key question. To be sure, we today can learn from the past. "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it," wrote George Santayana. But the past must be a rudder to guide us and not an anchor to hold us back. "How the past perishes is how the future becomes," said philosopher Alfred North Whitehead.
The character of God (Job 8:1–7). It angered Bildad that Job even thought that God would do anything wrong. Had Job forgotten what God did to sinners at the flood, or what He did to Sodom and Gomorrah? Isn't He the holy God, and doesn't His very nature demand that He do what is right? Job was blaspheming God by questioning Him and accusing Him of wrongdoing.
The fact that something was said or written years ago is no guarantee it is right. As one who enjoys reading the classics, I am impressed with the fact that they contain as much folly as wisdom; and they often contradict each other. Dr. Robert Hutchins, editor of The Great Books of the Western World, wrote in his preface: "In a conversation that has gone on for twenty-five centuries, all dogmas and points of view appear. Here are the great errors as well as the great truths."
While Bildad's theology was correct—God is just— his application of that theology was wrong. Bildad was looking at only one aspect of God's nature—His holiness and justice—and had forgotten His love, mercy, and goodness. Yes, "God is light" (1 John 1:5); but don't forget that "God is love" (4:8, 16). His love is a holy love, and His holiness is exercised in love, even when He judges sin.
"Tradition" and "traditionalism" are two different things. Historian Jeroslav Pelikan expresses this difference accurately when he says, "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." To Bildad, the past was a parking lot; but God wants the past to be a launching pad. We stand with the ancients so that we can walk with them and move toward the goals that they were seeking. This includes our knowledge of God as well as our knowledge of man and the world. As John Robinson said to the Pilgrim Fathers when they left for the New World, "The Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His Holy Word."
How are these two attributes of God reconciled? At the cross. When Jesus died for the sins of the world, the righteousness of God was vindicated, for sin was judged; but the love of God was demonstrated, for a Savior was provided. At Calvary, God is both "just and the justifier" (Rom. 3:24–26). God's law said, "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4, 20 nkjv); and God obeyed His own law in the sacrificing of His Son. In Christ's resurrection, the grace of God triumphed over sin and death; and all who repent and trust Jesus Christ will be saved.
Bildad did not quote from the ancients; he knew that Job was as familiar with the past as he was. But Bildad made it clear that he respected the wisdom of the ancients more than the teachings of his contemporaries. The accumulated wisdom of the ages was bound to be worth more than the words of people who were "born only yesterday." Life is too brief for us to learn all they can teach us. We are fleeting shadows, so we had better learn wisdom while we have opportunity.
In Old Testament times, believers looked forward to the cross and were saved by faith in a Savior yet to come (John 8:56; Rom. 3:25; Heb. 11). Job was a believer; therefore, his sins had been dealt with by God. Even if Job had sinned against God in some great way, God would deal with His child on the basis of grace and mercy and not justice. When we confess our sins, God forgives us because He is faithful to His promise and just toward His Son who died for those sins (1 John 1:9).
The evidence in nature (Job 8:11–22). In this "wisdom poem," Bildad may have summarized some of the sayings of the ancients as he argued from the law of cause and effect. If this law applies in nature, why not in human life as well?
It must have pained Job deeply when Bildad said that Job's children had died because they had sinned (Job 8:4). Bildad probably thought he was encouraging Job: "Perhaps they were not killed because of your sins but because of their own sins. They can't change anything now, but you can; so don't wait too long!"
Take the papyrus plant as an example: If it doesn't have water, it withers and dies (vv. 11–13). Job was withering and dying, so there had to be a cause: He was a hypocrite, and his hope was perishing.
Bildad's appeal in verses 5–7 is another echo of Satan's philosophy. "You say you have not sinned. Then plead with God to restore your prosperity. If you were right before God, He would do great things for you. Isn't
Bildad then moved from plants to spiders (vv. 14–15). Can you lean on a spider's web and be held up securely? Of course not! No matter how confident you
Job 8—10
But God is not only invincible, He is also invisible. Job couldn't see Him or stop Him to give Him a summons to court. God can do whatever He pleases, and nobody can question Him! Even the monster Rahab (Job 9:13 niv, another mythological creature like Yam and Tannin, 7:12) has to bow before God's power.
may be, the web will break. Job's confidence was like that: In due time, it would break, and he would fall.
The third example came from the garden: If you pull up a plant, no matter how luxuriant it may be, it will eventually die (vv. 16–22). Something had happened to Job's "root system," and he was fading away; thus, sin was the cause. Nobody pulls up a good plant and destroys it, so there had to be something wrong with Job for God to so uproot him. God doesn't cultivate weeds and cast away the good plants! Bildad reaffirmed his earlier promise that God would restore Job's fortunes if he would only admit his sins and get right with God. It was the devil's invitation all over again!
"How can I meet God in court?" (Job 9:14–35). In order to prove himself righteous, Job had to take God to court. But suppose God accepted the summons? What would Job say or do? He discusses this by imagining several situations.
(1) "If God came, what would I say?" (vv. 14–19). How could Job answer God's cross-examination? How does one reason with God or present one's case before God? If God should answer, Job would not believe it was really His voice; and if Job should say the wrong thing, God would only afflict him more. When Job finally did meet God (Job 38–41), the Lord asked him seventy-seven questions! And Job couldn't answer one of them! His only response was to admit his ignorance and shut his mouth in silence.
Three Painful Questions (9:1—10:22) From this point on, the emphasis in the discussion is on the justice of God; and the image that is uppermost in Job's mind is that of a legal trial. He wants to take God to court and have opportunity to prove his own integrity. A glance at some of the vocabulary indicates this:
(2) "If I could declare my innocence, what then?" (vv. 20–24). This is no assurance that God will set Job free. Both Eliphaz and Bildad claimed that God rewards the righteous and judges the wicked, but Job said that sometimes God destroys both the righteous and the wicked. Wicked judges condemn the righteous and help the ungodly, and God apparently does nothing about it. Job is accusing God of injustice, not only toward Job and his family but also toward other innocent people in the land.
contend (Job 9:3; 10:2) = enter into litigation answer (9:3, 16) = testify in court judge (v. 15) = an opponent at law, accuser set a time (v. 19) = summon to court daysman (v. 33) = an umpire, an arbitrator reason (13:3) = argue a case order my cause (v. 18) = prepare my case plead (v. 19; 23:6) = dispute in court hear me (31:35) = give me a legal hearing adversary (v. 35) = accuser in court
(3) "If I try to be happy, what good will it do?" (vv. 25–31). Time was running out for Job, like the king's messengers who hasten to their destinations, and the papyrus boats in Egypt that skim swiftly down the river, and the eagle that swoops down from the sky. Perhaps Job should take a more positive attitude toward his afflictions, forget his pain, and smile (v. 27). But would that change anything? No! He would still be guilty before God, rejected by his friends, and sitting on an ash heap in sickness and pain. Even if he took a bath and changed clothes as an act of public contrition and cleansing, he would still fear what God might do. Job is convinced that God is against him and that any steps he takes on earth will be nullified by heaven. The defendant can smile and put on a brave front in court, but that doesn't keep the judge from saying, "Guilty!"
In Job 9 and 10, Job asks three questions: [1] "How can I be righteous before God?" (9:1–13) [2] "How can I meet God in court?" (vv. 14–35) and [3] "Why was I born?" (10:1–22; see v. 18). You can see how these questions connect. Job is righteous, but he has to prove it. How can a mortal man prove himself righteous before God? Can he take God to court? But if God doesn't step in and testify on Job's behalf, what is the purpose of all this suffering? Why was Job even born?
"How can I be righteous before God?" (Job 9:1–13). This is not a question about salvation ("How may I be justified?") but about vindication ("How can I be declared innocent?"). If a man tried to take God to court, he would not be able to answer God's questions one time in a thousand! Yet Job doesn't know any other way to clear himself before his friends.
(4) "If only I had a mediator!" (vv. 32–35). If God were a man, then Job could approach him and plead his case. Or if there were a "daysman" (mediator) between God and Job, he could take away the rod of judgment and bring Job and God together. But God is not man, and there is no mediator! This is where Jesus Christ enters the picture! Jesus is God and became man to reveal the Father (John 14:7–11) and to bring sinners to God (1 Tim. 2:5–6; 1 Peter 3:18). He is the "daysman" that Job was pleading for centuries ago (Job 16:21). "Why was I born?" (Job 10:1–22). Job's argu-
Most of this section is a declaration focusing on the attributes of God, especially His invincible wisdom and power that control the earth and the heavens. Would anybody dare go to court with an opponent powerful enough to shake the earth, make the stars, and walk on the waves? (See Isa. 44:24 and Amos 4:13.)
Job 10—11 event a "tragic waste of manpower." But God thought differently, and the story of these five heroes of faith has been ministering to the church ever since.
ment here is that God made him and gave him life (vv. 3, 8–12, 18–19), but God was not treating him like one of His own creations. After putting time and effort into making Job, God was destroying him! Furthermore, God was judging Job without even telling him what the charges were against him (v. 2). No wonder Job was weary, bitter, and confused (vv. 1, 15). Note that in this chapter Job speaks directly to God and not to his friends.
Job asked, "Why was I born?" In the light of his losses and his personal suffering, it all seemed such a waste! But God knew what He was doing then, and He knows what He is doing now.
"You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about," wrote James. "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" (James 5:11 niv). If you had told that to Job, he might not have believed it; but it was still true.
God is not a man that He has to investigate things and fight against time (vv. 4–6). God is eternal and can take all the time He needs, and God is all-knowing and doesn't have to investigate like a private detective. Job had previously yearned for an umpire (9:33), but now he asks for a deliverer (10:7) so he can escape judgment. God was an ever-present Guard, watching Job's every move (v. 14). He was stalking Job like a lion (v. 16) and attacking him with His army (v. 17). Job was hemmed in, and there was no way out.
It was true for him, and it is true for us today. Believe it!
INTERLUDE The Hebrew word translated "daysman" in Job 9:33 means "to act as umpire." The "daysman" is the one with authority to set the day when competing parties come together to settle their dispute. In the East, the "daysman" put his hands on the heads of the two disputing parties to remind them that he was the one with the authority to settle the question. Job longed for somebody who could do this for him and God.
So Job's question seems reasonable: "Why then did you bring me out of the womb?" (v. 18 niv) Job's existence on the earth seemed so purposeless he begged God to give him a few moments of peace and happiness before his life ended. He could see his life going by swiftly (7:6–7; 9:25–26), and there was not a moment to waste. "Let me alone," he prays, "so that I can have a little comfort before I go to the world of darkness."
Job was serious about wanting to face God in court, even though he had nobody to represent him. "I desire to reason [argue my case] with God" (13:3). "I will defend mine own ways before him" (v. 15). "Behold now, I have ordered my cause [prepared my case]; I know that I shall be justified" (v. 18). He felt that God was not treating him justly. "I cry aloud, but there is no justice" (19:7). God had "taken away" his "right" (27:2), and Job demanded an opportunity to be heard before the throne of God. But when the opportunity came, Job had nothing to say.
Job could not understand what God was doing, and it was important that he not understand. Had Job known that God was using him as a weapon to defeat Satan, he could have simply sat back and waited trustfully for the battle to end. But as Job surveyed himself and his situation, he asked the same question the disciples asked when Mary anointed the Lord Jesus: "Why this waste?" (Mark 14:4). Before we criticize Job too severely, let's recall how many times we have asked that question ourselves when a baby has died or a promising young person was killed in an accident.
CHAPTER FOUR Job 11—14 AN ANGRY "YOUNGER" MAN
Nothing that is given to Christ in faith and love is ever wasted. The fragrance of Mary's ointment faded from the scene centuries ago, but the significance of her worship has blessed Christians in every age and continues to do so. Job was bankrupt and sick, and all he could give to the Lord was his suffering by faith; but that is just what God wanted in order to silence the devil.
"It is not why I suffer that I wish to know, but only whether I suffer for Your sake."
When William Whiting Borden died in Egypt in 1913 while on his way to the mission field, some people may have asked, "Why this waste?" But God is still using the story of his brief life to challenge people to give Christ their all.
—LEVI YITZHAK OF BERDITCHER J ob's three friends were old men, so Zophar must have been the youngest since he spoke last. His first speech is not long; but what it lacks in length, it makes up for in animosity, for it reveals that Zophar was angry. There is a proper time and place for the display of righteous anger (Eph. 4:26), but Job's ash heap was not the place, and that was not the right time. "The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20 nkjv). What Job needed was a helping hand, not a slap in the face.
When John and Betty Stam were martyred in China in 1934, there were some who asked, "Why this waste?" But The Triumph of John and Betty Stam by Mrs. Howard Taylor has been a life-changing book since it was published in 1935. My girlfriend (now my wife) gave me a copy on my twenty-first birthday, and its message still grips my heart.
When the five missionaries were martyred in Ecuador at the hands of Auca Indians, some called the
Zophar makes three accusations against Job: Job is
Job 11 be worse!" is certainly no comfort to a man who has lost his family, his wealth, and his health, and is barely hanging on to life. You don't measure suffering in a quantitative way the way you measure produce at the supermarket. The flippant way in which Job's friends were speaking about his situation shows they lacked understanding. "The deeper the sorrow," says the Jewish Talmud, "the less tongue it has."
guilty of sin (Job 11:1–4); Job is ignorant of God (vv. 5–12); and Job is stubborn in his refusal to repent (vv. 13–20). In his reply, Job answers all three accusations: He affirms God's greatness (Job 12) and his own innocence (Job 13), but he has no hope, so why should he repent (Job 14)?
Zophar's Three Accusations (11:1–20) After listening to Eliphaz and Bildad accuse Job, Zophar should have had enough sense and compassion to take a new approach. Job would hold fast to his integrity no matter what God did or his friends said, so why continue that discussion? How sad it is when people who should share ministry end up creating misery. "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep" (Rom. 12:15) is good counsel to follow.
The two questions in verse 7 expect a negative answer. Nobody can "fathom the mysteries of God" or "probe the limits of the Almighty" (niv). Of course, Job never claimed to know everything about God; but what he did know encouraged him to hold fast to his integrity and not give up.
God is not accountable to us. He can arrest and imprison anybody He chooses, convene the court and pronounce the sentence; and nobody can say a word in protest (v. 10; see 9:12). God knows who is wise and who is foolish, who is pure and who is sinful. Since God has passed judgment on Job, Job must be guilty.
Job is guilty (Job 11:1–4). Like Bildad (8:2), Zophar opened his address by calling Job a "windbag." How tragic that these three friends focused on Job's words instead of the feelings behind those words. A Chinese proverb says, "Though conversing face to face, their hearts have a thousand miles between them." How true that was at the ash heap! After all, information is not the same as communication. Sidney J. Harris reminds us, "Information is giving out; communication is getting through."
Zophar closed this accusation by quoting a proverb (11:12). It's not easy to ascertain its meaning. The proverb may be saying that no matter how stupid a man is when he is born, even as dumb as a wild donkey, there is still hope for him to become intelligent. Or, the proverb might be saying just the opposite, as in the NIV: "But a witless man can no more become wise than a wild donkey's colt can be born a man." The NASB agrees: "And an idiot will become intelligent when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man." In view of Zophar's anger and insulting language, it is likely that the NIV and NASB translations are correct.
Not only was Job's speech a lot of wind, but it was also chatter ("lies") and mockery (11:3). What Job said about God was not true and could only be compared to the idle chatter of people who speak without thinking. And what Job said about himself was an outright lie, for he was not pure before God. In maintaining his integrity, Job gave the impression that he was sinless, which, of course, was not true. (See 6:30; 9:20–21; 10:7.) Job is ignorant of God (Job 11:5–12). Zophar's request in verse 5 was answered when God appeared (38:1); but it was Zophar and his two friends who were later rebuked by God, and not Job! Job was commended by the Lord for telling the truth. Beware of asking God to tell others what they need to know, unless you are willing for Him to show you what you need to know.
Job is stubborn and should repent (Job 11:13–20). "There is hope!" is Zophar's encouraging word to Job (v. 18), and he described what Job could experience. God would bless him abundantly, and his troubles would be over. Job could lift up his head again, and his fears would be gone (v. 15; 10:15). He would forget his misery like water gone over the dam (11:16). God would give him a long life, and it would be the dawning of a new day for him (v. 17). He would dwell in the light, not in the darkness of Sheol (10:20–22); and God's security would put an end to all his fears (11:19–20).
Zophar wanted Job to grasp the height, depth, breadth, and length of God's divine wisdom (11:8–9). In saying this, Zophar was hinting that he himself already knew the vast dimensions of God's wisdom and could teach Job if he would listen. It's too bad Zophar didn't know the vast dimensions of God's love (Eph. 3:17–19) and share some of that love with Job.
But if Job wanted these blessings, he had to get them on Zophar's terms. Yes, there was hope, but it was hope with a condition attached to it: Job must repent and confess his sins (vv. 13–14). Zophar is tempting Job to bargain with God so he can get out of his troubles. This is exactly what Satan wanted Job to do! "Doth Job fear God for nothing?" Satan asked (1:9). Satan accused Job of having a "commercial faith" that promised prosperity in return for obedience. If Job had followed Zophar's advice, he would have played right into the hands of the enemy.
When Zophar said that the secrets of God's wisdom were "double" (Job 11:6), what did he mean? It could mean that God's wisdom is full and complete (Isa. 40:2), or that God has twice as much wisdom as Job thinks He has. The NIV says that "true wisdom has two sides" (Job 11:6). There is the small side that we see and the huge side that only God can see.
Job did not have a "commercial faith" that made bargains with God. He had a confident faith that said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (13:15). That doesn't sound like a man looking for an easy way
Since God knows everything, He knows all about Job and could punish him more than He has. "It could
Job 11—13
For example, if it is God's will, king's counselors will lose their authority and wealth, and judges will become confused and mad. In fact, kings themselves will lose their girdles (an insignia of authority), and priests ("princes," v. 19 kjv) will be stripped and become captives. Wise people like counselors and elders will be silenced (v. 20), and princes (nobles) and the mighty (v. 21) will lose their respect and strength.
out of difficulties. "Job did not understand the Lord's reasons," said C. H. Spurgeon, "but he continued to confide in His goodness." That is faith!
Job's Three Affirmations (12—14) Zophar's speech was a brief one, but Job took a long time to answer each of Zophar's accusations. Job began with Zophar's second accusation that Job had no knowledge of God (Job 11:5–12). Job affirmed that he had wisdom and understanding just as they did (Job 12). Then he replied to Zophar's first accusation that Job was a guilty sinner (11:1–4). Job once again affirmed his integrity (Job 13). Job then closed his speech by challenging Zophar's third point, that there was still hope (11:13–20). In Job 14, Job admits that his hope is almost gone.
But God is sovereign over nations as well as individuals (vv. 23–25; Dan. 2:20–22; Acts 17:24–28). He can enlarge a nation or destroy it, or give it freedom or bondage. All He has to do is take wisdom away from the leaders, and the nation's destruction is sure. Proud people don't like to hear this message. Ever since the city of Enoch (Gen. 4:16–18) and the Tower of Babel (11:1–9), mankind has been trying to build and manage things without God; and the end has always been failure and judgment.
The greatness of God (Job 12). First, Job challenged his friends' declaration that they had more wisdom than he did. True, they were older than Job; but age is no guarantee of wisdom. There are old fools as well as young fools.
The integrity of Job (Job 13). In this part of his defense, Job first expressed his disappointment in his three friends (vv. 1–12), then his declaration of faith in the Lord (vv. 13–17), and finally his desire that God come to him and get the issue settled once and for all (vv. 18–28).
Then, Job rebuked them for being so unfeeling toward him and turning him into a laughingstock. He felt he was just and upright, which is the way God described him (1:1, 8; 2:3). "You who are at ease have no concern for people who are slipping. You say God is punishing me for my sins. Then why doesn't He punish robbers and other people who provoke God?" (12:5–6). Zophar claimed that wisdom was not accessible to man (11:7–9), but Job said that God's creatures could teach them what they needed to know (12:7–11; see Gen. 1:26–28). Even "dumb" creatures know that God's hand made everything and keeps everything going. In fact, the very breath they were using to accuse Job was God's gift to them; and He could remove it without their permission. God gave men and women the ability to taste and judge food. Would He not give them the even more important ability to evaluate words and assess truth (Job 12:11)?
(1) Disappointment (vv. 1–12). Job's friends had not been an encouragement to him. They had taken a superior attitude as judges, assuming that they knew God better than Job did. They did not identify with him in his grief and pain. Job called them "forgers of lies," "physicians of no value," and "deceitful defenders of God."
The word forgers (v. 4) also means "whitewashers." They smeared the whitewash of their lies over the discussion so that they avoided the difficult problems while maintaining their traditional ideas (Ps. 119:69). They stayed on the surface of things and never went deep into God's truth or Job's feelings. Counseling that stays on the surface will accomplish very little. If we are going to help people, we must go much deeper; but this demands love, courage, and patience.
As physicians, their diagnosis was wrong so their remedy was useless (Jer. 6:14; 8:11). And as "defenders of God," they would be better off silent; for they did not know what they were talking about. They had such a rigid and narrow view of God, and such a prejudiced view of Job, that their whole "case" was a fabrication of lies. What would they do when God turned the tables and examined them? (See Rom. 14:1–13.) "Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay" (Job 13:12 niv). What the three friends thought were profound statements of truth were only warmedover ashes from ancient fires, clay pots that would fall apart. A good counselor needs much more than a good memory. He or she also needs wisdom to know how to apply the truth to the needs of people today.
In verses 12–25, Job describes the wisdom and power of God. Verse 12 likely refers to God, "the Ancient One" and "the One who lives long." These divine names are a rebuke to Job's aged friends who thought that their years of experience had taught them so much!
Job pointed out that God is completely sovereign in what He does with nature (vv. 14–15) and with people (vv. 16–25). What He destroys cannot be rebuilt, and what He locks up cannot be released (Rev. 3:6–8). He can send drought or flood, and nobody can stop Him (Job 12:15). He has the wisdom to know what to do, and He has the power to accomplish it (vv. 13, 16).
In His sovereignty over people, no matter what their status, God is in control. Job's argument is that all kinds of people experience difficulties in life because God can do what He pleases. He is no respecter of persons and is not impressed by a person's rank, wealth, or social status.
(2) Declaration (vv. 13–17). This is one of the greatest declarations of faith found anywhere in Scripture, but it must be understood in its context. Job is saying, "I will take my case directly to God and prove my integrity. I know I am taking my life in my hands in
Job 13—14
Early believers like Job did not have the revelation of future life as we now have it in Christ (2 Tim. 1:10). Passages in the Old Testament hint at future resurrection (Ps. 16:9–11; 17:15; Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2), but Job did not have any of these books to read and ponder. "If a man dies, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). Job asked this important question but did not answer it. Later on, Job will make a great statement about future resurrection (19:25–26); but at this point he is vacillating between despair and hope.
approaching God, because He is able to slay me. But if He doesn't slay me, it is proof that I am not the hypocrite you say I am." Later, Job will take an oath and challenge God to pass judgment (Job 27). To approach God personally was a great act of faith (Ex. 33:20; Judg. 13:22–23), but Job was so sure of his integrity that he would take his chances. After all, if he did nothing, he would die; and if he was rejected by God, he would die; but there was always the possibility that God would prove him right.
In 14:13, Job asked God to give Himself a reminder to bring Job back from Sheol, the realm of the dead. Job was probably not thinking of resurrection, but of a brief return to earth so God could vindicate him before his accusers. Of course, a believer today is sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13–14); and God will not forget one of His children at the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:50–58).
(3) Desire (vv. 18–28). These words are addressed to God. Job has "prepared his case" (v. 18 niv) and is sure that he will win. Job has two desires: that God would remove His chastening hand and give Job relief, and that God would come to Job in such a way that He would not frighten him. Job is asking God to meet him in court so they can talk over God's "case" against Job and Job's "case" against God. In verse 22, Job gives God the option of speaking first!
Job reminded the Lord that he was the work of God's hands (Job 14:15), an argument he had used before (10:3). It seemed to Job that, instead of caring for His creature, God was doing nothing but keeping a record of his sins. What hope could Job have as long as God was investigating him and building a case against him? Instead of cleansing Job's sins, God was covering them and would not even tell Job what they were!
Why does Job want to meet God in court? So that God can once and for all state His "case" against Job and let Job know the sins in his life that have caused him to suffer so much. "Why should God pay so much attention to me?" asks Job. "He treats me like an enemy, but I'm just a weak leaf in the wind, a piece of chaff that is worth nothing. I'm a piece of rotting wood and a moth-eaten garment, yet God treats me like a prisoner of war and watches me every minute." Job felt the time had come to settle the matter, even if it meant losing his own life in the process.
"Thou destroyest the hope of man," Job complained (14:19), and he used two illustrations to make his point. Man seems like a sturdy mountain, but the water gradually erodes the rock, and it eventually crumbles. Or an earthquake might suddenly move the rocks from one place to another and change the mountain. Death may come gradually or suddenly, but it will come; and man will go to a world where he knows nothing about what his family is doing. Job longed for that release from sorrow and pain.
The hopelessness of Job (Job 14). Zophar had assured Job that there was hope for him if only he would acknowledge his sins and repent (Job 11:13–20). But Zophar was not in Job's situation! From Job's point of view, his future was bleak. In verses 1–12, Job used several images to illustrate the hopeless condition of man in this world. He is like a flower that is soon cut down, a shadow that slowly disappears, a hired man that puts in his time and then is replaced. God knows the limits of our days (7:1; 14:5; Ps. 139:16). A suicide may foolishly hasten the day of death, but nobody will go beyond the limits that God has set for his or her life.
When people are experiencing intense grief and pain, it is easy for them to feel that the future is hopeless and that God has forsaken them. The eminent American psychiatrist Karl Menninger called hope "the major weapon against the suicide impulse." Hopeless people feel that life is not worth living since they have nothing to look forward to but suffering and failure. They conclude that it is better for them to die than to live and be a burden to themselves and to others.
Since man is only a flower, a shadow, and a servant, why should God pay any attention to him? Since life is so short, why should God fill man's few days with grief and pain? "So look away from him and let him alone," prays Job (Job 14:6 niv). "Let me have some peace before my brief life ends!" (paraphrase)
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called hope "the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of man." But an individual who believes in Jesus Christ shares in a "living hope" that grows more wonderful every day (1 Peter 1:3ff.).
Job's strongest image is that of the tree (vv. 7–12). Chop it down, and its stump remains, and there is always a possibility that the tree might sprout again. The tree has hope, but man has no hope. When he dies, he leaves no stump behind. Man is more like water that evaporates or soaks into the ground; it can never be recovered again (v. 11; 2 Sam. 14:14). Man may lie down at night and awaken in the morning; but when he lies down in death, there is no assurance that he will be awakened again.
Dead hopes fade away because they have no roots, but our "living hope" gets better because it is rooted in the living Christ and His living Word. The assurance of resurrection and life in glory with Christ is a strong motivation for us to keep going even when the going is tough (1 Cor. 15:58).
Charles L. Allen has written, "When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God." Job had not yet slammed the
Job 14—15 hour with his friends and discuss any and all topics. But Johnson always had to win the argument, whether he was right or not. The poet and playwright Oliver Goldsmith said, "There is no arguing with Johnson; for if his pistol misses fire, he knocks you down with the butt end of it!" Eliphaz was like that.
door, but he was getting close to doing it; and his friends were not helping him at all.
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 15:13 nasb).
Eliphaz not only heard Job's words, but he saw where those words led (Job 15:4). "But you even undermine piety and hinder devotion to God" (v. 4 niv). If everybody believed as Job believed—that God does not always punish the wicked and reward the godly—then what motive would people have for obeying God? Religion would not be worth it! But this is the devil's theology, the very thing that God was using Job to refute! If people serve God only for what they get out of it, then they are not serving God at all; they are only serving themselves by making God their servant. Their "religion" is only a pious system for promoting selfishness and not for glorifying God.
CHAPTER FIVE Job 15—17
DISCUSSION TURNS INTO DISPUTE
"How rarely we weigh our neighbor in the same balance in which we weigh ourselves."
—THOMAS A KEMPIS D uring this second round of speeches, the fire becomes hotter as the three friends focus more on proving Job wrong than on giving Job help. After all, their own peace of mind was at stake; and they were not about to surrender. If Job was not a sinner being punished by God, then the three friends' understanding of God was all wrong. But that meant they had no protection against personal suffering themselves! If obedience is not a guarantee of health and wealth, then what happened to Job might happen to them. God forbid!
When God called Israel and established His covenant with her, the people's motive for obedience was fear of punishment. If they obeyed the law, God would bless them; if they disobeyed, He would punish them. But this was during the infancy of the nation, when God dealt with them as with children. Children understand rewards and punishments far better than they do ethics and morality. But when the new generation was about to enter Canaan, Moses gave them a higher motive for obedience: their love for God (Deut. 6:4–5; 7:7; 10:12–16; 11:1, 13, 22; 19:9). They were no longer children, and God didn't need to frighten them (or "bribe" them) into obeying Him. Love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:8–10) and the highest motive for obedience (John 14:15).
An anonymous wit once described a theologian as "a blind man in a dark room searching for a black cat that isn't there—and finding it!" But a true theologian walks in the light of God's revelation in His Word, in history, and in creation; and he humbly accepts the truth, no matter what the cost.
Job's three friends were not true theologians because they saw only one side of the picture, the side they wanted to see. The longshoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote, "We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about." And also the things we are most fearful about!
Job's words told Eliphaz that Job had a wicked heart (Job 15:5–6). "Your sins are telling your mouth what to say!" (v. 5 tlb; see Matt. 12:34–37). Job was affirming his innocence, but Eliphaz interpreted his words as proving Job's guilt! What hope was there for Job when his friends would not even believe what he was saying?
Eliphaz: Two Warnings (Job 15) In his first speech (Job 4—5), Eliphaz had displayed some kindness toward Job; but you find neither patience nor kindness in this second address. Nor do you find any new ideas: Eliphaz merely repeats his former thesis that man is a sinner and God must punish sinners (5:17–19). He issued two warnings to Job.
Job lacked wisdom because he lacked experience (Job 15:7–10). At this point, Eliphaz turned on the sarcasm, another proof that he had run out of something intelligent to say. This is another debater's trick: when you can't refute the speech, ridicule the speaker. Job never claimed that he was the first man God created, that he was God's confidant, or that God had given him a monopoly on wisdom. Job knew that his friends were older than he was, but age is no guarantee of wisdom (32:9; Ps. 119:97–104).
Job lacks wisdom (Job 15:1–16). How did Eliphaz know this? For one thing, he had listened to Job's words (vv. 1–6) and found them to be nothing but wind. Job's ideas were only "empty notions" and "useless words" (vv. 2–3 niv). Job's words came from a belly filled with the hot desert wind (Jonah 4:8) and not from a heart filled with true wisdom. Eliphaz was using one of the oldest tactics in debate—if you can't refute your opponent's arguments, attack his words and make them sound like a lot of "hot air."
According to Eliphaz, Job's attitude was wrong because he refused God's help (Job 15:11–16). Eliphaz saw himself and his friends as God's messengers, sent to bring Job the consolation he needed. Their words were "spoken gently" (v. 11 niv), but Job's words were spoken in anger. The three friends were serving God, but Job was resisting God.
Samuel Johnson was the "literary czar" of eighteenth-century England, a man who loved to sit by the
Then Eliphaz repeated the message he had given in his first speech (vv. 14–16; 4:17–19). Job had refused
Job 15—16 to accept it the first time, but perhaps he would accept it now that he had suffered more. If heaven is not pure before God, nor the angels that inhabit heaven, how can a mere man claim to be innocent? Man is born with a sinful nature and has a thirst for sin, and Job was no exception. All of this prepared the way for Eliphaz's second warning.
way. "They have their reward" (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16). The only heaven the godless will know is the enjoyment they have on earth in this life, and God is willing for them to have it. The only suffering the godly will experience is in this life, for in heaven there will be no pain or tears. Furthermore, the suffering that God's people experience now is working for them and will one day lead to glory (1 Peter 1:6–8; 5:10; 2 Cor. 4:16–18; Rom. 8:18). Eliphaz and his friends had the situation all confused.
God judges the wicked (Job 15:17–35). In his first speech, Eliphaz had described the blessings of the godly man (5:17–26); but now he describes the sufferings of the ungodly man. Eliphaz was careful to remind Job that these were not his ideas alone, but that the ancients all agreed with him. If Job rejected what Eliphaz said, he was turning his back on the wisdom of their fathers. Eliphaz was a man who found great strength in tradition, forgetting that "tradition is a guide and not a jailer" (W. Somerset Maugham).
Job: Three Requests (16—17) Job's response is to utter three heartfelt requests: first, a plea to his friends for sympathy (Job 16:1–14); then, a plea to God for justice (vv. 15–22); and finally, a plea to God to end his life and relieve him of suffering (17:1–16).
When you read this description of a wicked man, you realize that Eliphaz is talking about Job. Job was in pain, darkness, trouble, anguish, and fear. He was defying God and challenging God to meet him and prove him guilty. The fire had destroyed Job's sheep (1:16; 15:30, 34); invaders had stolen his camels (1:17; 15:21); he had lost all his wealth (v. 29); and his eldest son's house had been destroyed by wind and all Job's children with it (1:19; 15:28). Eliphaz was not at all subtle in his approach; everybody knew he was talking about Job.
A plea for sympathy (Job 16:1–14). Job's friends still had not identified with his situation; they did not feel his agony or understand his perplexity. Job had already called them deceitful brooks (see 6:15) and "worthless physicians" (13:4 niv), but now he calls them "miserable comforters" (16:2). All of their attempts to comfort him only made him more miserable! As the saying goes, "With friends like you, who needs enemies?"
Job assured them that, if they were in his shoes, he would treat them with more understanding than they were showing him. Instead of making long speeches, he would give them words of encouragement. He would listen with his heart and try to help them bear their burdens. Sometimes we have to experience misunderstanding from unsympathetic friends in order to learn how to minister to others. This was a new experience for Job, and he was trying to make the most of it. However, whether Job spoke or kept quiet, he was still a suffering man (v. 6).
But in his closing words (vv. 34–35), Eliphaz gave the hardest blow of all: He called Job a hypocrite and a godless man, and he blamed him for the tragedies that had befallen him and his family. Job had secretly "conceived" sin, and now sin had given birth to suffering and death (James 1:14–15; Isa. 59:4; Ps. 7:14). "Their womb fashions deceit" is the NIV rendering of Job 15:35, and the word translated "womb" is the same as "belly" in verse 1. According to Eliphaz, if you X-rayed Job, all you would find would be hot air and sin! "Hypocrite" is a key word in the vocabulary of Job's three friends. Bildad suggested that Job was a hypocrite (8:13), and both Zophar and Elihu will take up the theme (20:5; 34:30; 36:13). Of course, Job denied the accusation (13:16; 17:8; 27:8) and argued that neither God nor his friends could prove it true.
In his appeal for loving sympathy, Job told his friends what he was receiving from the hand of God (vv. 7–14). Job is worn out; his family is gone; he is gaunt and weak. Both men and God attack him. Job feels like God has painted a target on his back and handed everybody bows and arrows! There is no relief—God keeps assaulting him like a relentless warrior. "I didn't attack God—He attacked me!" God was his enemy (16:9; 13:24), and nothing Job could do would bring about a truce. If Job looked up, God was against him. If he looked around, his friends were against him. Where could he turn?
The problem with Eliphaz's statement about the judgment of the wicked is that it is not always true in this life. Many wicked people go through life apparently happy and successful, while many godly people experience suffering and seeming failure. It is true that ultimately the wicked suffer and the godly are blessed; but, meanwhile, it often looks like the situation is reversed (Ps. 73; Jer. 12:1–4). Furthermore, God gives sunshine to the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). He is longsuffering toward sinners (2 Peter 3:9) and waits for His goodness to lead them to repentance (Rom. 2:4; Luke 15:17–19). The greatest judgment God could send to the wicked in this life would be to let them have their own
A plea for justice (Job 16:15–22). How had Job responded to God's attacks? He put on sackcloth, wept in humiliation and contrition, and buried his face in the dust. In spite of the accusations of Eliphaz (15:4–6), Job knew he was right before God and that God would hear his prayers (16:17).
Job was caught on the horns of a dilemma. His suffering was so great that he longed to die, but he didn't want to die before he could vindicate himself or see God vindicate him. This explains his cry in verse 18:
Job 16—17
Job pictured Sheol as his home, where he would lie down in the darkness and be at rest (v. 13). Since he had no family, he would adopt the pit (or "corruption") as his father and the devouring worm as his mother or sister. They would give him more comfort than his friends!
"O earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry have no resting place!" (nkjv) The ancients believed that the blood of innocent victims cried out to God for justice (Gen. 4:8–15) and that the spirits of the dead were restless until the corpses were properly buried (Isa. 26:21). Even if Job died, he would be restless until he had been proved righteous by the Lord.
But would there be any hope in the grave? Could Job take his hope with him to Sheol? Paul answers the question: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Cor. 15:19–20 nkjv). Our hope does not die, nor is it buried and left to decay; for our hope is a "living hope" because Christ has won the victory over death and the grave! Christians sorrow, but they must not sorrow "as others who have no hope" (1 Thess. 4:13).
Job's repeated cry has been for a fair trial before the Lord (Job 9:1–4, 14–16, 19–20, 28–35; 10:2; 13:6–8, 19). He has lamented the fact that he had no advocate to represent him before God's throne (9:33). None of his friends would defend him, so his only hope was that God in heaven would defend him and bear witness to his integrity (16:19). But Job yearned for someone to plead with God on his behalf (v. 21).
The Christian believer has this heavenly Advocate in Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1–2). As our interceding High Priest, Christ gives us the conquering grace we need when we are tempted and tested (Heb. 2:17–18; 4:14–16). If we fail, then He is our Advocate to forgive us and restore us when we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:5—2:2).
God did not answer Job's plea for death because He had something far better planned for him. God looked beyond Job's depression and bitterness and saw that he still had faith. When I was a young pastor, I heard an experienced saint say, "I have lived long enough to be thankful for unanswered prayer." At the time, I was shocked by the statement; but now that I have lived a few more years myself, I know what she was talking about. In the darkness of despair and the prison of pain, we often say things that we later regret; but God understands all about it and lovingly turns a deaf ear to our words but a tender eye to our wounds.
Of course, Job wanted a "lawyer" to plead his case before God and convince Him that he was innocent. Once Job had won his case, then God would vindicate him before his critical friends and restore Job's honor. God's people don't need that kind of intercession because the Father and the Son are in perfect agreement in their love for us and their plan for our lives. The Lord Jesus ever lives to make intercession for His people (Rom. 8:31–39; Heb. 7:25) and to perfect them in the will of God (13:20–21). We come to a throne of grace, not a throne of judgment; and we have confidence that our loving Father will do that which is best for us.
If only the next speaker would have expressed compassion to this hurting man! But Bildad is all primed to frighten Job out of his wits with the most vivid pictures of death found anywhere in Scripture.
A plea for death (Job 17:1–16). One reason Job wanted his heavenly Advocate to act quickly was because he sensed that death was very near, "the journey of no return" (Job 16:22 niv). When people suffer so much that their "spirit is broken" (17:1 niv, nasb), then they lose their "fight" and want life to end.
INTERLUDE The best way to help discouraged and hurting people is to listen with your heart and not just with your ears. It's not what they say but why they say it that is important. Let them know that you understand their pain by reflecting back to them in different words just what they say to you. Don't argue or try to convince them with logical reasoning. There will be time for that later; meanwhile, patiently accept their feelings—even their bitter words against God—and build bridges, not walls.
Job's friends were against him and would not go to court and "post bond" for him (vv. 3–5). People treated Job as if he were the scum of the earth (v. 6). His body was only the shadow of what it had been (v. 7), and all of his plans had been shattered (v. 11). His friends would not change their minds and come to his defense (v. 10). In fact, they would not face his situation honestly, but they kept telling him that the light would soon dawn for him (v. 12). Is it any wonder that Job saw in death the only way of escape?
In his book about his wife's death, A Grief Observed, C. S. Lewis wrote from his own painful experience: "Talk to me about the truth of religion, and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion, and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolation of religion, or I shall suspect you don't understand" (23).
However, at no time did Job ever consider taking his own life or asking someone else to do it for him. Life is a sacred gift from God, and only God can give it and take it away. On the one hand, Job wanted to live long enough to see himself vindicated; but on the other hand, he didn't know how much more he could endure. Once he was in Sheol, the realm of the dead, he could not be vindicated on earth unless God brought him back.
There is true consolation in our faith, but it is not dispensed in convenient doses like cough medicine. It can be shared only by those who know what it's like to be so far down in the pit that they feel as though God has abandoned them. If you want to be a true comforter, there is a price to pay; and not everybody is
Job 17—18 death encourages them to have an annual physical checkup.
willing to pay it. Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians 1:3–11.
Fear of death (and the judgment that follows) is a legitimate motive for trusting Jesus Christ and being saved. "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul," said Jesus. "But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28 nkjv). Jesus preached a gracious message of love, but He also preached a stern message of judgment. Paul wrote, "Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. 5:11). When Jonathan Edwards preached his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," he did not violate any psychological or biblical principles. The emotions of nonbelievers must be stirred before their minds can be instructed and their wills challenged.
John Henry Jowett said, "God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters." God's comfort is never given; it is always loaned. God expects us to share it with others.
CHAPTER SIX Job 18—19 WILL THE REAL ENEMY PLEASE STAND UP?
"Death is the great adventure, beside which moon landings and space trips pale into insignificance."
However, Bildad made two mistakes when he gave this speech about the horrors of death. To begin with, he preached it to the wrong man; for Job was already a believer (Job 1:1, 8). Second, he preached it with the wrong motive, for there was no love in his heart. Dr. R. W. Dale, the British preacher, once asked evangelist D. L. Moody if he ever used "the element of terror" in his preaching. Moody replied that he usually preached one sermon on heaven and one on hell in each of his campaigns, but that a "man's heart ought to be very tender" when preaching about the doom of the lost. Bildad did not have a tender heart.
—JOSEPH BAYLY B ildad opened his second speech with the same words he used in his first speech: "How long?" (Job 18:2; 8:2), and Job said the same thing when he replied (19:2). The friends were growing impatient with each other because their conversation seemed to be getting nowhere. George Bernard Shaw compared the average conversation to "a phonograph with half-adozen records—you soon get tired of them all."
Bildad blamed Job for the stalemate and admonished him, "Be sensible, and then we can talk" (18:2 niv). It never dawned on Bildad that he and his two friends were playing the same tunes over and over again: (1) God is just; (2) God punishes the wicked and blesses the righteous; (3) since Job is suffering, he must be wicked; (4) if he turns from his sins, God will again bless him. They were going around in circles.
The Terrors of Death (18:5–21) In this address, Bildad painted four vivid pictures of the death of the wicked.
A light put out (Job 18:5–6). Light is associated with life just as darkness is associated with death. Since God is the author of life, He alone can "light our lamp"; for "He gives to all life, breath, and all things," and "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:25, 28 nkjv). The picture here is that of a lamp hanging in a tent and a fire smoldering in a fire pot. Suddenly, the lamp goes out, and the last spark of the fire vanishes, and the tent is in total darkness (Prov. 13:9; 24:20). Like the flame of the lamp or the spark in the coals, life is a precious but delicate thing. It doesn't take a very strong wind to blow it out. "There is but a step between me and death" (1 Sam. 20:3).
Bildad said that Job was not being sensible, nor was he being respectful. He was treating his friends like dumb cattle instead of like the wise men they really were (v. 3). Job was also being irritable and displaying anger instead of humility (v. 4). "Is God supposed to rearrange the whole world just for you?" Bildad asks. "Should He ravage the land with war or even send an earthquake just because of you?" Eliphaz wasn't the only one who knew how to use sarcasm!
The American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst would never permit anybody to mention death in his presence. Yet on August 14, 1951, the flame of his life went out, and he died. "The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord" (Prov. 20:27), and God can blow out that lamp whenever He pleases.
However, Bildad planned to use a stronger weapon than sarcasm. His weapon was fear. If the three friends could not reason with Job, or shame Job into repenting, perhaps they could frighten Job by describing what happens when wicked people die.
Before we study Bildad's terrifying speech, we should note that fear is a normal human emotion and there is nothing wrong with it. We use the fear of sickness, injury, or death to teach children to wash their hands, stay away from power lines, and look carefully before crossing the street. Fear of financial loss motivates people to buy insurance, and fear of
A traveler trapped (Job 18:7–10). Frightened, the man leaves his tent and starts down the road, looking for a place of safety. But the road turns out to be the most dangerous place of all, for it is punctuated by traps. Bildad used six different words to describe the dangers people face when they try to run away from death:
Job 18—19
Bildad used should be applied to those who have trusted the Lord for salvation.
a net—spread across the path to catch him a snare—branches covering a deep pit a trap—a "gin" (snare) with a noose that
The Trials of Life (19:1–29) When Bildad finished describing the terrors of death, Job replied by describing the trials of life, his own life. "I don't have to die to experience trials," he said to his friends. "I'm experiencing them right now, and you don't seem to care!"
springs when touched; he is caught by the heel a robber—another pitfall a snare—a noose hidden on the ground a trap—any device that catches prey
These devices were used to catch birds and animals, not people; but the wicked person is like a beast because he has left God out of his life.
Insults (Job 19:1–4). Our words either hurt others or heal them; we either add to their burdens or help them bear their burdens with courage. Job's friends crushed him with their words; they made him feel worthless and helpless in the face of all his suffering. How sensitive we should be to the needs and struggles of others! Even if people do need rebuke, we should do it in love; and our words should hearten them and not weaken them.
No matter what schemes the traveler invents, he cannot escape the traps; and the more he tries, the weaker he becomes (Job 18:7). Darkness and danger surround him, and there is no hope.
A criminal pursued (Job 18:11–15). Death is "the king of terrors" (v. 14), determined to arrest the culprit no matter where he is. If the escaped criminal runs on the path and escapes the traps, then death will send some of his helpers to chase him. Terror frightens him, calamity eats away at his strength, and disaster waits for him to fall (vv. 11–12 niv).
"Even if I have sinned," Job said in 19:4, "it's my sin and not yours. God and I can work things out, so leave me alone." The word Job used ("erred") means "an unintentional sin." Job still defended his integrity and claimed that he had committed no sins worthy of all the suffering he had endured.
The frightened criminal gets weaker and weaker but still tries to keep going. If he goes back to his tent to hide, the pursuers find him, arrest him, drag him out, and take him to the king of terrors. They take everything out of his tent, burn the tent, and then scatter sulfur over the ashes. The end of that man is fire and brimstone!
Illustrations (Job 19:5–12). Bildad had given four frightening pictures of the terrors of death, so Job countered with seven vivid pictures of the trials of his life, what he was experiencing right then and there!
He felt like an animal trapped (v. 6). Job saw himself caught in God's net, not because of his sins but because God had trapped him. Bildad described six different kinds of traps that would catch a fleeing criminal (18:7–10), but Job did not put himself into that picture. He was not running away from God, nor was he guilty of sin. It was God who had suddenly caught him for reasons Job did not understand.
A tree rooted up (Job 18:16–21). Sometimes death is not as dramatic and sudden as the arresting of a criminal. Death may be gradual, like the dying of a tree. The roots dry up, the branches start to wither, and the dead branches are cut off one by one. Soon the tree is completely dead, and men chop it down. The death of a tree illustrates the extinction of a family, a "family tree." Not only is the wicked man himself cut down, but all the branches are cut down too; and he leaves no descendants to carry on his name. (Remember, all of Job's children had been killed by the great wind.) In the East, the extinction of a family was viewed as a great tragedy.
He also felt like a criminal in court (19:7). God had wronged him by arresting him and bringing him into judgment. What had he done? Why were the charges not read to him? Why was he not permitted a defense? "Though I call for help, there is no justice" (v. 7 niv). Throughout the book, Job pleads for justice and cries out for an advocate to defend him before God. What Job did not realize was that he was the advocate defending God! It was Job's faith and endurance that proved Satan wrong and brought glory to the Lord.
Job had used a tree as an illustration of the hope of resurrection (14:7–11), but Bildad did not agree with him. According to Bildad, once the tree is down, that is the end; the wicked man has no future hope.
Job saw himself as a traveler fenced in (v. 8). Satan had complained that God had "walled in" Job and his family so that they were protected from trouble (1:9–12). Now Job is complaining because God has blocked his path, and he cannot move. Job could not see what lay ahead because God had shrouded the way with darkness.
Though Bildad was talking to the wrong man and with the wrong motive, what he said about death should be taken seriously. Death is an enemy to be feared by all who are not prepared to die (1 Cor. 15:26), and the only way to be prepared is to trust Jesus Christ (John 5:24).
At times God permits His children to experience darkness on a dead-end street where they don't know which way to turn. When this happens, wait for the Lord to give you light in His own time. Don't try to manufacture your own light or to borrow light from others. Follow the wise counsel of Isaiah: "Who among you fears
For the Christian believer, death means going home to the Father in heaven (John 14:1–6), falling asleep on earth and waking up in heaven (Acts 7:60; Phil. 1:21–23), entering into rest (Rev. 14:13), and moving into greater light (Prov. 4:18). None of the pictures
Job 19 guilty sinner suffering the judgment of God; so why be his friend? His appearance was repulsive, and people avoided looking at him. He was being treated like a leper, an outcast who was not wanted by family or friends.
the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God" (Isa. 50:10 nkjv).
Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, "Never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light." In fact, what God teaches us in the light will become even more meaningful in the darkness.
One evidence of our Lord's compassion is the way He identified with outcasts. He ate with "publicans and sinners" (Matt. 9:9–13), touched the lepers (Matt. 8:1–4), accepted gifts from prostitutes (Luke 7:36–50), and even died between two criminals (23:32–33). Jesus knew what it was like to be "despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isa. 53:3). How important it is that we, His disciples, have this same kind of compassion. It's easy to identify with people we know and like when they are going through trials, but we tend to overlook the helpless, the poor, and the neglected in their sufferings.
"Oh, the unspeakable benediction of the 'treasures of darkness'!" wrote Oswald Chambers. "It is not the days of sunshine and splendor and liberty and light that leave their lasting and indelible effect upon the soul, but those nights of the Spirit in which, shadowed by God's hand, hidden in the dark cleft of some rock in a weary land, He lets the splendors of the outskirts of Himself pass before our gaze."
Job's suffering left him feeling like a king dethroned (Job 19:9). Before his calamities came, Job had been the leading man in Uz and the greatest man in the East (1:3; 29:1–25); but now all that honor and authority were gone. God had taken from him his royal robes and crown, and now he was the lowest instead of the highest. What humiliation!
Job's statement in Job 19:20 has become a familiar but misunderstood proverb: "I am escaped with the skin of my teeth." This is usually quoted, "I escaped by the skin of my teeth," that is, "I just barely escaped!" (If there were skin on our teeth, how thick would it be?) But the Hebrew text says "with" and not "by," and interpreters don't agree on the meaning.
His fifth picture is that of a structure destroyed (19:10). It could be a wall or a building that God's "troops" swooped down on and left in ruins. Job may have been looking back at his business affairs or his household; or perhaps he was contemplating his emaciated body. In any event, what was once strong and useful was now useless and destroyed. Bildad had spoken about a tent being destroyed (18:15), and Job knew what this meant.
Some suggest that Job meant "I'm so far gone that only my gums are left!" But the gums are not usually referred to as "the skin of the teeth." Others say that he meant, "If there were skin on my teeth, that's how close I am to death!" Or, "My body is so emaciated that all I have left is the skin of my teeth!" (He was exaggerating, of course.) Whatever Job had in mind, the image clearly shows one thing: it was a miracle that Job was alive.
In the sixth picture, Job borrowed the image of a tree uprooted (19:10; see 18:16). Job had used the tree as a picture of hope (14:7), but now he sees it as a symbol of lost hope. But in Job 14, Job was speaking about a tree that was chopped down, while here the tree is uprooted. Without a root system, the tree cannot live.
Job closed this part of his defense by appealing to his friends for pity (vv. 21–22; 6:14). God was against him, his family and friends had deserted him, and all he had left were his three intimate friends who were now pursuing him like wild beasts after their prey. Couldn't they stop and try to help him? Why must they have such hard hearts?
Job's final picture is that of a besieged city (19:11–12). God has declared war on Job (13:24) and is treating him like an enemy. His troops have attacked him and settled down for a long, hard siege. Imagine a large army building a ramp just to attack a tent! Once again, Job cannot understand why God has sent so much suffering. Why use an atomic bomb just to destroy a tent?
Insight (Job 19:23–29). Why did Job want his words to be recorded permanently? He thought he was going to die before God would vindicate him, and he wanted people to remember how he suffered and what he said. Bildad warned him, "The remembrance of him [a wicked man] shall perish from the earth" (18:17), and Job wanted his record to remain.
Isolation (Job 19:13–22). Job went on to explain how his suffering affected his relationship with people. We must recognize that extreme and prolonged pain often isolates sufferers from people and circumstances around them. When people really hurt, they may tend to withdraw and give the impression that others don't really understand what they are going through. Job felt alienated from those left in his family, from his friends, and even from his servants.
At this point, Job uttered another of his statements of faith that in this book punctuate his many expressions of grief and pain. It is significant that Job would go from the depths of despair to the heights of faith, and then back into the depths again. This is often the normal experience of people experiencing great suffering. The skies will be dark and stormy, a ray of light will suddenly shine through, and then the storm will come again.
But there was more to this alienation than Job's pain. He was now bankrupt and ill, living at the city dump; and nobody wanted to be identified with him. Furthermore, people were convinced that Job was a
In spite of what some preachers say, very few people can maintain a constant high level of faith and
Job 19—20 courage in times of severe pain and trial. John Henry Jowett, at one time known as "the greatest preacher in the English-speaking world," wrote to a friend: "I wish you wouldn't think I am such a saint. You seem to imagine that I have no ups and downs, but just a level and lofty stretch of spiritual attainment with unbroken joy and equanimity. By no means! I am often perfectly wretched, and everything appears most murky" (John Henry Jowett, by Arthur Porrit, 290).
CHAPTER SEVEN Job 20—21 IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW
"The truest help we can render an afflicted man is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best strength that he may be able to bear it."
In 19:25–27, Job expressed confidence that, even if he died, he would still have a Redeemer who one day would exercise judgment on the earth. Furthermore, Job affirmed that he himself expected to live again and see his Redeemer! "And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God" (v. 26 niv). It was an affirmation of faith in the resurrection of the human body.
—PHILLIPS BROOKS ophar is next in line to speak, but he has nothing new to say. It's the same old story: God punishes the wicked, so Job had better get right with God. His key text is Job 20:5: "The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment." This theme has already been discussed by Bildad (8:11–19; 18) and Eliphaz (15:20–35), but Zophar is so disturbed by Job's last speech that he feels he must speak. "I hear a rebuke that dishonors me, and my understanding inspires me to reply" (20:3 niv). Zophar felt insulted by Job and decided to defend himself.
The Hebrew word translated "redeemer" in verse 25 refers to the kinsman redeemer, the near relative who could avenge his brother's blood (Deut. 19:6–12), reclaim and restore his brother's property (Lev. 25:23–24, 39–55), and set his brother free from slavery (25:25). The kinsman redeemer could also go to court on behalf of a wronged relative (Prov. 23:10–11). In the book of Ruth, Boaz is the kinsman redeemer who was willing and able to rescue Ruth and give her a new life in a new land.
The Awful Fate of the Wicked (20:4–29) Zophar makes three affirmations to prove that the fate of the wicked is indeed terrible: their life is brief (Job 20:4–11), their pleasure is temporary (vv. 12–19), and their death is painful (vv. 20–29).
Previously, Job had talked about his need for an umpire (Job 9:33–34) and an Advocate in heaven (16:19). Now he takes it a step further: his Redeemer will one day vindicate him, and Job will be there to witness it! When you consider how little God had revealed in Job's day about the future life, these words become a remarkable testimony of faith. And when you add to this the discouragement expressed by Job's friends and his own intense suffering, Job's witness becomes even more wonderful.
Their life is brief (Job 20:4–11). Zophar declares that from the beginning of human history the triumphing ("mirth") of the wicked has been short. We wonder where he got his information, for the Lord waited 120 years before sending the flood (Gen. 6:3), and God gave the wicked Canaanites at least four centuries before He judged them (15:13–16).
Of course, this kinsman redeemer is Jesus Christ. He took upon Himself a human nature so that He might reveal God to us, experience all that we experience, die for our sins, and then return to heaven to represent us before the Father. He is willing to save and able to save. One day He shall stand upon the earth and exercise judgment; and He will vindicate His own people.
Most of the people in Scripture who pondered the problem of evil in the world started from a different premise—the wicked enjoy long life and freedom from trouble, while the righteous suffer much and die young (Ps. 37; 73; Jer. 12:1–4). Zophar was deliberately blocking out a lot of data to prove his point.
According to Zophar, the higher the wicked man climbs in his success, the farther down he will fall when his judgment comes. When he falls, he will go down the drain like his own dung; and people will ask, "Where is he?" (Job 20:6–7). He will vanish like a forgotten dream or like a night vision that cannot be called back (v. 8).
Job closed his speech with a word of warning to his three critical friends (19:28–29): They too will stand at God's judgment throne, so they had better be ready. They accused Job of being a sinner, but were they not also sinners? They said that God was judging Job for his sins, but will He not judge them as well? One day they will have to answer to God for the way they have spoken to and about Job, so they had better beware. Job's words remind us of Paul's counsel in Romans 14:10–13 and our Lord's warning in Matthew 7:1–5.
Not only will the wicked man's person and name vanish, but so will his wealth. After his death, the truth about his crimes will become known; and his children will have to use their inheritance to pay back the people their father has robbed. Their father was still in "youthful vigor" when he died (v. 11 niv), but now he lies lifeless in the grave. According to Zophar, the wicked die young, when they least expect it.
Abraham Lincoln once said, "He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help."
Do you qualify?
Job 20—21 some of the things he labored for. Because he acquired his wealth through sinning, that wealth will not satisfy him.
When you survey both sacred and secular history, you discover that there are no ironclad rules that govern when either the wicked or the righteous will die. Generally speaking, people who ignore God's laws are more vulnerable to problems that could lead to an early death. Sexual promiscuity, the use of narcotics (including alcohol and tobacco), and a reckless lifestyle can all help shorten a person's life; but there is no guarantee that this will happen. It's amazing how some godless people live to an old age. Perhaps this is the grace of God in giving them time to repent.
This certainly has been reflected in the lives of many people who have rejected Christ and devoted themselves to the pleasures of sin. The more they indulge, the more they crave; and the more they satisfy that craving, the less they enjoy. The less they enjoy, the more they have to sin in order to recapture the old thrills; and the more they sin, the more they destroy their ability to enjoy anything. To change the image, they have "blown all their fuses"; and the machinery of life no longer functions as it once did.
Zophar was not talking about the natural consequences of a wicked life, but the judgment of God on sinners. Zophar and his two friends were certain that Job was a hypocrite, that his pious life was only a veneer to cover his secret sins. In his second speech, Eliphaz will even name some of the sins that Job committed (22:5–9)! But God does not always judge hypocrites and other sinners immediately, and the death of a young person is no evidence that he or she was a hypocrite.
Their death is painful (Job 20:20–29). Not even his riches will be able to prevent death from coming to the wicked man (Job 20:20; see Ps. 49). While he is enjoying his prosperity, the wicked man will experience distress, misery, and God's burning anger. God will "rain down his blows upon him" (Job 20:23 niv). The evil man will try to run away, but God will come at him with a sword and shoot at him with a bronzetipped arrow that will pierce him.
The godly Scottish Presbyterian minister Robert Murray McCheyne died when he was only twenty-nine years old, and missionary William Whiting Borden ("Borden of Yale") was only twenty-five years old when he died in Egypt. David Brainerd, saintly missionary to the Native Americans, was twenty-nine when he died. According to Zophar, these men must have been guilty of secret sin, and God took them at an early age.
At this point in his speech, Zophar starts to sound like Bildad (Job 18). He describes the wicked man trying to escape God's judgment. The arrows come at him as he runs through the darkness, and the fire falls around him. Then a flood catches up with him and destroys everything. But that's not the end: The wicked man is finally dragged into court, where heaven and earth testify against him and find him guilty (20:27).
Their pleasure is temporary (Job 20:12–19). Zophar uses eating as his basic image here. The wicked man enjoys sin the way people enjoy food, keeping it in his mouth where he can "taste it" before swallowing it. In fact, he enjoys sin so much, he can't make himself swallow it! But eventually that delicious food in his mouth becomes poison in his system, and he becomes ill and vomits everything up. While enjoying his sin, he hasn't noticed that he's been bitten by a poisonous viper and is destined for death. In other words, sin carries with it both enjoyment and punishment; and if you want the one, you must also accept the other. The pleasures of sin are only for a season (Heb. 11:25).
The Actual End of the Wicked Man (21:1–34) After appealing once more for their understanding and sympathy (Job 21:1–6), Job replied to Zophar's statements and refuted each of them. Job stated that, from his point of view, it appears that the wicked have long lives (vv. 7–16), they are not often sent calamity (vv. 17–21), and the death of the wicked is no different from the death of other men (vv. 22–34). Point by point, Job took Zophar's speech and shredded it into bits.
But first, listen to Job's appeal to his friends that they try to understand how he feels. "If you really want to console me, just keep quiet and listen" (v. 2, paraphrase). The Greek philosopher Zeno said, "The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen the more and talk the less." The friends thought their words would encourage Job, but he said that their silence would encourage him even more (13:3).
But God's judgment involves much more: the wicked man not only gets sick from his sin, but he does not enjoy the everyday blessings of life (Job 20:17). "He will not see the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream" (nkjv). The land of Canaan was a land "flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. 3:8; Lev. 20:24). Milk and honey were staples, not luxuries; and a land "flowing with milk and honey" would be productive and able to support the people. But the wicked man has lost his taste for basic foods, and nothing satisfies him anymore. His taste for sin has ruined his enjoyment of the fundamental blessings of life.
Job pointed out that his complaint was not against men but against God. Men had not caused his afflictions, and men could not take them away. If he was impatient, it was because God had not answered him (v. 3). The longer God waited, the worse Job's situation became. "Look at me and be astonished; clap your hand over your mouth" (21:5 niv).
Using the image of eating, Zophar has made two points: what the wicked man swallows will make him sick and will take away his desire for the good things of life. He makes a third point in Job 20:18–19: the wicked man will not be able to enjoy (swallow down)
As Job contemplated what he was about to say, it stirred him to the depths (v. 6). This was no speech from off the top of his head, for it had to do with the
Job 21 basic facts of life and death. If Job's friends were in his situation, they would see things differently and say things differently.
often does that happen?" How often do you actually see God's anger displayed against the godless people of the world? "How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?" (21:18 niv) The wicked seem to be secure in this world, while the righteous suffer (but see Ps. 73).
The life of the wicked may be long (Job 21:7–16). In contrast to Zophar's text (20:5), Job said, "Why do the wicked still live, continue on, also become very powerful?" (21:7 nasb) They have security on every side: their children and homes are safe (vv. 8–9, 11–12), their business prospers (v. 10), and they have long lives in which to enjoy their prosperity (v. 13). They also have many descendants who share the family wealth and enjoy it. The death of the wicked is sudden; they don't linger in agony and long for deliverance. Of course, Job's situation was just the opposite: His family had been destroyed, his wealth was gone, and he was suffering greatly as he waited for death to come.
But if God doesn't judge the wicked, He will judge their children (Job 21:19). Zophar had argued that point (20:10), and so had Eliphaz (5:4). Of course, both of them were aiming at Job, who had lost all of his children. "But what kind of judgment is that?" asked Job. "If a man lives in sin, let him suffer for his sin. After he dies, why should he care about what happens to his family? In Sheol, he will never know what is happening on earth."
Scripture makes it clear that the fathers are not punished for the sins of the children or the children for the sins of the fathers (Jer. 31:29–30; Ezek. 18:1ff.). Certainly parents may be deeply hurt by the sins of their children, and children may suffer from the consequences of their parents' sins, but the judgment of God is always just (Deut. 24:16). It was cruel for the three friends to suggest that Job's sins had caused the death of his children.
But the saddest thing about the wicked is the way they leave God out of their lives and still prosper (vv. 14–15). They want nothing to do with the Lord; in fact, they say to Him, "Get away from us! Leave us alone!" They refuse to pray to the Lord, obey Him, or give Him credit for their success. This is the philosophy of most unsaved people today; you might call it "practical atheism" (see Ps. 10). God is not in their thoughts, let alone in their plans (James 4:13–17). They are selfsufficient as they do what they want to do, and they do it "their way." Jesus described such a person in Luke 12:13–21. Job hastened to say that this was not his philosophy of life. "But I refuse even to deal with people like that" (Job 21:16 tlb). The wicked take credit for their wealth, but Job acknowledged that everything comes from God (1:21). How, then, can Job's three friends classify him with the wicked?
Zophar had said that the life of a wicked man was brief, but Job refuted him by affirming that wicked people often live a long time. Zophar claimed that the pleasures of the wicked were temporary because God's judgment suddenly fell upon them, but Job asked, "How often have you seen that happen?" Now Job answers Zophar's third argument that the death of the wicked is painful.
The wicked die just like other people (Job 21:22–34). Life and death are in the hands of God, so what is mere man that he should teach God or claim to be able to explain God's ways (v. 22)? God will ask Job a similar question when He finally appears and gives Job his long-awaited opportunity to defend himself. Instead of Job questioning God, it will be God who questions Job and humbles Job with His questions!
Before considering Job's second point, we must face the disturbing fact that too many professed Christians actually admire and envy the lifestyle of the rich and famous. In one of his books, Dr. Kenneth Chafin tells about a pastor and deacon who were visiting prospects and stopped at a beautiful suburban home. The lawn looked like it was manicured, and two expensive cars sat in the driveway. Furthermore, the pastor and deacon could see the man of the house comfortably seated in his spacious living room, watching television. Everything about the place reeked of affluence. The deacon turned to his pastor and asked, "What kind of good news do we have for this fellow?"
Observation tells Job that some people die when they are in the fullness of life and apparently in excellent health, while others die after long and painful illnesses. Some people enjoy a long and happy life, while others spend their days in misery, but death is the same for all of them. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as "infant death" or "tragic death" or "unexpected death" because death is death no matter when or how it comes. The rich man dies, the poor man dies; the believer dies, the unbeliever dies; and "side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both" (v. 26 niv). Of course, Job is talking about the physical side of death and not the spiritual. When death comes, it obviously makes a great deal of difference in the next life whether or not the person had faith in Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:27).
In over forty years of ministry, I have performed many weddings and watched many young Christian couples get started in their homes. What a joy it has been to see homes where couples set the right priorities and resist the temptation to follow the crowd and live for material possessions. Unfortunately, some have lost their spiritual vision and succeeded in this world— without acknowledging the Lord. Alas, they have their reward.
The wicked do not often experience calamity (Job 21:17–21). "Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out," Bildad affirmed (18:5); but Job asked, "How
Many people—including some Christian believers—hesitate to speak about death in general or their own death in particular. They have hospitalization and
Job 21—22 fast to their dogmatic assumptions and refused to budge. In a letter to some people who disagreed with him, Oliver Cromwell wrote, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken."
life insurance, but they prefer to avoid the subject and act as though death were not coming. "The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else," wrote sociologist Ernest Becker. "It is a mainspring of human activity—activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man" (The Denial of Death, Free Press ix)
Someone has defined fanatics as "people who can't change their minds and won't change the subject." Samuel Johnson once said of a man, "That man has only one idea, and it is wrong."
"Behold, I know your thoughts," Job told his friends (Job 21:27). He could tell that his speech had not convinced them, and he knew just what they were going to say when he finished speaking—exactly what they had said before! In verse 28 he quoted two of their statements that he had already refuted (see 18:13–21 and 20:20–29), but he expected to hear similar statements again.
There is always something new to learn about God, the Bible, people, and life. Let's be good learners—and good listeners!
CHAPTER EIGHT Job 22—24 ORDER IN THE COURT!
Job asked his friends if they had ever investigated the situation in places other than their own homeland. As Dorothy Sayers wrote, "There's nothing you can't prove if your outlook is only sufficiently limited." He asked them, "Have you never questioned those who travel?" (21:29 niv) People who travel are usually not provincial in their outlook but have wide experience in the things of the world. With all of their wisdom, Job's three friends might still be narrow in their outlook because they haven't seen what life is like in other places. If Job's friends inquired of well-traveled people, they would learn that in every part of the world, wicked people seem to escape the calamities that fall on the righteous.
"The God of Israel, the Savior, is sometimes a God that hides Himself, but never a God that absents Himself; sometimes in the dark, but never at a distance."
—MATTHEW HENRY W hat should have been an encouraging discussion among friends had become an angry and painful debate. Instead of trying to calm things down, Eliphaz assumed the office of prosecuting attorney and turned the debate into a trial. It was three against one as Job sat on the ash heap and listened to his friends lie about him. According to the Jewish Talmud, "The slanderous tongue kills three: the slandered, the slanderer, and him who listens to the slander." At the ash heap in Uz, it was death all around!
Then Job became very personal and asked his friends, "If you really believe that the wicked are destined for an early death, have you ever warned them? Have you ever denounced them to their face?" (v. 31, paraphrase). If his friends had replied, "No, we have never talked to the wicked about their future," then Job could have said, "Then why are you warning a righteous man about his future?" How inconsistent can you get?
Three False Accusations (22:1–30) Like any effective attorney, Eliphaz had the case well in hand and his brief all prepared. He made three serious accusations against Job: he is a sinner (Job 22:1–11), he is hiding his sins (vv. 12–20), and he must confess his sins and repent before God can help him (vv. 21–30).
Job's closing words in 21:34 let the three friends know that he had no confidence in what they said. Their comfort was in vain ("nonsense," niv), and their answers were nothing but falsehood. The Hebrew word translated "falsehood" means "a deliberate violation of God's law, an act of treachery." It is often translated "trespass." When the three friends attacked Job, they were breaking faith and trespassing against God. Instead of helping Job, they were leading him astray.
Job is a sinner (Job 22:1–11). Eliphaz can't resist shooting a sarcastic barb at Job. "Is it for your piety that he [God] rebukes you and brings charges against you?" (v. 4 niv) Courts don't try people for their righteousness but for their lawlessness! Therefore, since God has sent terrible judgments upon Job, he must be guilty of sin. "Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?" (v. 5 niv) But Eliphaz missed the point that Job had been making: "Why does God send the punishment before He arrests me, reads the indictment, and conducts the trial?" It all seemed unfair.
I have a friend who prays daily, "Lord, help me today not to add to anybody's burdens."
It's too bad Bildad and Zophar and Eliphaz didn't pray that prayer!
Perhaps all of us should start praying it!
Eliphaz first accused Job of the sin of pride (vv. 1–3). Job was acting as though his character and conduct were important to God and beneficial to Him in some way. Eliphaz's theology centered around a distant God who was the Judge of the world but not the Friend of sinners.
INTERLUDE If you want to be an encouragement to hurting people, try to see things through their eyes. Be humble enough to admit that there might be other points of view. Job's three friends had a narrow experience of life. They held
Job 22
But Job's character and conduct were important to God, for God was using Job to silence the devil. Neither Job nor his three friends knew God's hidden plan, but Job had faith to believe that God was achieving some purpose in his life and would one day vindicate him. Furthermore, the character and behavior of God's people are important to the Lord because His people bring Him either joy or sorrow (1 Thess. 4:1; Heb. 11:5; Gen. 6:5–6; Ps. 37:23). He is not a passive, distant God who does not identify with His people but the God who delights in them as they delight in Him (Ps. 18:19; Isa. 63:9; Heb. 4:14–16). As God's children, we should follow the example of Jesus, who said, "I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29). Then the Father will be able to say of us as He said of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17).
were the consequences of his many sins (Job 22:10–11). Why else would he be in darkness, danger, and the depths of suffering? This was the hand of God indicating that Job was a godless man.
The people who were standing around and listening to the discussion must have been shocked when they heard these accusations against their neighbor Job. They must have looked at each other and asked, "How can this be? Why didn't we know about Job's wickedness?" Eliphaz's next point answered their question.
Job is hiding his sins (Job 22:12–20). In other words, Job was a hypocrite, a statement that was made—or hinted at—more than once since the discussion began. "The hypocrite's hope shall perish," said Bildad (8:13). "For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate," said Eliphaz (15:34). And Zophar said, "The joy of the hypocrite [is] but for a moment" (20:5).
Along with pride, Eliphaz accused Job of covetousness (Job 22:6). He was a greedy man who abused people to acquire more wealth. He used his power and reputation (v. 8) to intimidate people and rob them. In the Mosaic law, a creditor could take security from a debtor but not anything that would jeopardize his work, his health, or his dignity as a human being (Ex. 22:25–27; Deut. 24:10–13). Eliphaz accused Job of taking security from his brothers when none was needed, and he left people naked because he took their clothing from them until they paid their debts!
A hypocrite is not a person who fails to reach his desired spiritual goals, because all of us fail in one way or another. A hypocrite is a person who doesn't even try to reach any goals, but he makes people think that he has. His profession and his practice never meet. The Puritan preacher Stephen Charnock said, "It is a sad thing to be Christians at a supper, heathens in our shops, and devils in our closets."
Eliphaz advised Job to look up (22:12–14) and realize that nobody can hide anything from God. A hypocrite encourages himself in his sin by saying, "The Lord doesn't know and doesn't care" (see Ps. 10). But God sees and knows all things, and the hypocrite can't hide his sins from the Lord. God may not judge immediately, but eventually judgment will fall.
Eliphaz didn't even live in Job's territory, so how would he know how Job had treated people in his business dealings? Had some of Job's enemies passed these stories to Eliphaz? If so, he should have investigated the charges before announcing them publicly. The whole thing was pure fabrication, a feeble attempt to discredit a godly man who had helped many people (Job 29:11–17). Job's third great sin was lack of mercy and compassion (22:7–9), which was a sin of omission. No wonder the Lord was not answering Job's prayers! "Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be heard" (Prov. 21:13). Job had turned away the weary, the hungry, the widows, and the orphans, instead of sharing with them out of his rich resources. Since showing hospitality is one of the first laws of the East, Job's sin was especially heinous.
Then Eliphaz advised Job to look back (vv. 15–18) and remember what has happened to sinners in the past. Job had made it clear that he had nothing to do with "the counsel of the wicked" (21:16), but Eliphaz accused him of walking on that very path (22:15). History shows that hypocrites can hide their sins for only so long, and then their sins find them out. God is not only patient with them, but He is good to them and fills their houses with good things (v. 18). The fact that Job was a very wealthy man was evidence of God's kindness and not Job's righteousness.
Poor Job! No matter which way he turned or how he tried to reason with his accusers, he was wasting his time and energy. First they said that God blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked, and now Eliphaz claims that God blesses the hypocrite and fills his house with good things!
Throughout Scripture, God shows a great concern for the poor, especially widows and orphans, and expresses anger at those who oppress the poor and exploit them (Ex. 22:22; Deut. 24:17, 26:12). The prophets scathingly denounced leaders, both political and religious, who oppressed the needy and robbed the poor (Isa. 1:17; Jer. 7:6; 22:1–4; Amos 4:1; 5:11; 8:4–10). Jesus had a special concern for the poor (Luke 4:16–19; Matt. 11:5), and the early church followed His example (Gal. 2:10; James 1:27; 2:1–9; Acts 6:1; 1 Tim. 5:1–16). The church today needs to follow that example.
The tragedy of hypocrisy is not only that God sends judgment, but that hypocrisy brings its own judgment. It destroys character; and when character is gone, when the salt has lost its flavor (see Matt. 5:13), what does a person have left?
It has well been said that the highest reward for a faithful life is not what you get for it but what you become by it. Bishop Brooke Westcott said, "Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil
Eliphaz clinched his first point with evidence anybody could see: Job was suffering great trials, which
Job 22—23 was prepared to state his case, present his arguments, and let God give the verdict. Job was confident that, despite God's great power as a Lawgiver, he would win his case, for he was an upright man, and God could not condemn the upright in heart. "There an upright man could present his case before him, and I would be delivered forever from my judge" (v. 7 niv).
them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or we grow weak, and at last some crisis shows what we have become."
Job must repent of his sins (Job 22:21–30). Eliphaz was sincere in his appeal to Job, just as Zophar was sincere when he asked Job to return to God (11:13–20). "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you" (22:21 niv). The word translated "prosperity" means "good of every kind." Of course, a hypocrite should return to God, not just to get out of trouble and restore his or her fortunes, but to please and glorify God in the rebuilding of character and service.
But how does a mere man go about finding God? If Job went forward or backward (east or west), to the left or to the right (north or south), he could not see God or even catch a quick glimpse of Him. Of course, God is present everywhere (Ps. 139:7–12); but Job wanted a personal meeting with God. He had questions to ask and arguments to presaent!
What does it mean to "submit to God"? It means to stop fighting God and accept His terms of peace (James 4:1–10). It also means to listen to His Word and obey what God says (Job 22:22). A sinner must put away sin (v. 23) and make God his greatest treasure (v. 25); he must pray and seek God's face (v. 27).
God knew where Job was—in the furnace (Job 23:10)! But it was a furnace of God's appointment, not because of Job's sin; and God would use Job's affliction to purify him and make him a better man. This is not the only answer to the question "Why do the righteous suffer?" but it is one of the best, and it can bring the sufferer great encouragement.
What does God promise to those who repent and return to Him? God will restore them (v. 23) and make Himself precious to them (v. 25) so that all their delight will be in the Lord and not in earthly wealth or pleasure (v. 26). God will answer their prayers and enable them to do His will (v. 27) as He gives direction and light (v. 28). Because they are restored to fellowship with God, they can help others who have fallen (vv. 29–30).
Scripture often uses the image of a furnace to describe God's purifying ministry through suffering. "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction" (Isa. 48:10 niv). Israel's suffering in Egypt was like that of iron in a smelting furnace (Deut. 4:20), and her later disciplines were also a "furnace experience." "For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver" (Ps. 66:10 niv). This image is used in 1 Peter 1:6–7 and 4:12 of believers going through persecution.
Eliphaz says some excellent things in this appeal, but he says them to the wrong man. When we get to the end of the book, we will discover that it is Eliphaz and his two friends who are out of fellowship with God. They will need Job to intercede for them so they can be restored (42:7–10).
When God puts His own people into the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. He knows how long and how much. We may question why He does it to begin with or why He doesn't turn down the heat or even turn it off; but our questions are only evidences of unbelief. Job 23:10 is the answer: "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" (nkjv). Gold does not fear the fire. The furnace can only make the gold purer and brighter.
If you were Job, how would you respond to this appeal?
Three Bitter Complaints (23–24) Instead of arguing with his friends, or compromising his integrity by giving in to Eliphaz's appeal, Job ignores them completely and speaks to and about the Lord. Job has already made it clear that his dispute was not with men but with God, and he emphasizes this fact in his speech.
It's important to note that Job's life was pleasing to God before he went into the furnace (vv. 11–12). Eliphaz had warned Job to receive God's words and obey them (22:22), but Job had already been doing that. God's Word was his guide as he walked the path of life, and he was careful not to go on any detours. But even more, God's Word was his nourishment that was more important to him than his daily meals. Like Jeremiah (Jer. 15:16) and Jesus (Matt. 4:4; John 4:31–34), Job found in God's Word the only food that satisfied his inner person. (See Ps. 1:2; 119:103; 1 Peter 2:1–3.)
We may paraphrase Job 23:2, "My complaint today is bitter, and I have to keep a heavy hand on myself to keep from doing nothing but groaning." Job's three friends did not understand how much discipline Job needed just to be able to talk with them. Instead of giving in to his pain and doing nothing but groan, Job sought to master his pain and not give in to self-pity. The next time you visit somebody in pain, keep in mind that suffering drains a person's energy and makes great demands on his strength and patience.
Some people go into the furnace of affliction, and it burns them; others go in, and the experience purifies them. What makes the difference? Their attitude toward the Word of God and the will of God. If we are nourished by the Word and submit to His will, the furnace experience, painful as it may be, will refine us and
Job said that he had three complaints against the Lord.
"God is hiding from me" (Job 23:1–12). "Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat [throne]!" (v. 3). This was another appeal to meet God in court and have a fair trial. Job
Job 23—24 make us better. But if we resist God's will and fail to feed on His truth, the furnace experience will only burn us and make us bitter.
landmarks and stole property (Deut. 27:17), but wicked men did it just the same.
But they didn't stop there. They not only claimed the land, but also the animals that grazed on the land! They took flocks and donkeys and oxen from widows and orphans and left them in poverty. Job 24:5–11 gives one of the most graphic pictures of the plight of the poor found anywhere in the Bible. See them foraging for food like wild animals in the desert (vv. 5–6), freezing because they have no clothing (v. 7), drenched by the rain because they have no houses to live in (v. 8), weeping because their children have been snatched from their arms until they pay their debts (v. 9), and forced to work for the rich and yet not allowed to eat any of the food that they harvest (vv. 10–11). Even the oxen are permitted to eat the grain that they thresh (Deut. 25:4)!
Job had a second complaint. "God is frightening me" (Job 23:13–17). "But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases" (v. 13 niv). Job had no other gods to turn to for help, and no way to oppose God or change His mind. God runs the universe by decree, not by consensus or democratic vote. His thoughts and ways are far above ours, but He knows what is best, and we must accept His will and rejoice in it (Isa. 55:8–11). Those who resist or deny the sovereignty of God rob themselves of peace and courage. "There is no attribute of God more comforting to His children than the doctrine of divine sovereignty," said Charles Haddon Spurgeon. "On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings." Why? Because the human heart is proud and does not want to submit to Almighty God. People want to do their own thing and do it their way, rather than find delight in doing the will of God.
"Now," says Job to his friends, "if God judges the wicked, why hasn't He judged those who have treated the poor so unjustly and inhumanely?"
(2) Crimes in the city (vv. 12–17). Job begins with murders (vv. 12–14); he hears the groans of the wounded and sees the death of the innocent. On the average, sixty Americans are murdered every day, a total of nearly 22,000 people annually. That's like wiping out an entire city about the size of Fairbanks, Alaska; or El Cerrito, California; or Augusta, Maine. Some of these murderers are never identified, arrested, or convicted; and Job says, "But God charges no one with wrongdoing" (v. 12 niv). Job had never murdered anybody, yet his friends said he was under the judgment of God!
If this doctrine is such a source of strength, then why was Job so frightened when he thought about the sovereignty of God? It was because he suffered so much and wondered what Almighty God would send to him next. It's one thing to submit to God when you can see His face and hear His voice in His Word. But when, like Job, you are in darkness and pain, it is easy to fall apart and become frightened. "He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store" (Job 23:14 niv). What will happen next?
In verse 15, Job mentions sexual sins, which are certainly rampant in some parts of our cities. The adulterer and the rapist wait for the darkness before they sneak out to satisfy their desires. Also waiting for the darkness is the thief, who breaks into houses (vv. 16–17). "There is crime in the city," said Job, "and God seems to be doing nothing about it."
But Job 23:14 must be contrasted with Jeremiah 29:11: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'" (niv). The future is your friend when Jesus Christ is your Lord, and you need not be afraid. Psychologist Rollo May writes, "The most effective way to ensure the value of the future is to confront the present courageously and constructively." And the best way to do that is to submit to the Lord and realize that He is in control. "Alleluia! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Rev. 19:6).
(3) A curse on the wicked (vv. 18–25). This passage may be seen as a description, telling what will happen to the wicked (kjv, niv, nasb); or it may be interpreted as a denunciation, a curse on the wicked (nkjv). I think it refers to Job's personal curse on the wicked, who seem to escape judgment.
"God perplexes me" (Job 24:1–25). This entire chapter focuses on the seeming injustices that God permits in this world. Job opens his speech by asking in effect, "Why doesn't God have specific days to hold court? Then I could attend and tell Him what I think of the way He is running the world!"
Job's malediction can be summarized like this: "May the wicked vanish like foam on the water or snow that melts in the heat of the sun (vv. 18–19). May they be forgotten by everyone, even their own mothers, as they rot in the grave (v. 20). May their wives be barren and give them no heirs (v. 21). May their sense of security and success vanish quickly as they are brought low, mowed down like wheat in the harvest" (vv. 22–24).
Job starts with injustices in the country (vv. 1–11), and then moves to crimes in the city (vv. 12–17). He closes his speech with a curse on the wicked (vv. 18–25). If God won't judge them, Job will!
"Now," says Job to his three critics, "if what I've said is not true, prove me wrong!" (v. 25) But they never did.
(1) Injustices in the country (vv. 1–11). For the most part, no walls or fences separated the farmlands; each family had its plot, and people respected the landmarks ("boundary stones," niv; see Deut. 19:14; Prov. 22:28; 23:10). God promised to curse those who moved the
Job is to be commended for seeing somebody else's troubles besides his own and for expressing a holy anger against sin and injustice. Too often, personal suf-
Job 24—27
Job Acknowledges God's Power (Job 26) Before magnifying God's great power in the universe, Job first rebuked Bildad for giving him no help (Job 26:1–4). Job had no power, but Bildad didn't make him stronger. According to his friends, Job lacked wisdom; yet Bildad didn't share one piece of wisdom or insight. "Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?" (v. 4 niv). If Bildad's words had come from God, then they would have done Job good; for Job had been crying out for God to speak to him. The conclusion is that Bildad's words came from Bildad, and that's why they did Job no good.
fering can make us selfish and even blind us to the needs of others, but Job was concerned that God help others who were hurting. His three friends were treating the problem of suffering in far too abstract a fashion, and Job tried to get them to see hurting people and not just philosophical problems. Jesus had the same problem with the Jewish lawyer who wanted to discuss "neighborliness," but not discover who his neighbor was and then try to help him (Luke 10:25–37). Injustices in society cause a good deal of pain in people's lives, and we should certainly do all we can to uphold the law and promote justice. But those who make the laws and those who enforce them are only human and can't deal with everything perfectly. One of these days, the Lord Jesus Christ will return, judge the wicked, and establish His righteous kingdom. Till He comes, we will have to accept the reality of evil in this world and keep praying, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20).
Then Job extolled the greatness of God (vv. 5–13). God sees everything, even the realm of the dead (vv. 5–6). Job used three different names for the place of the dead: the waters, Sheol, and "destruction" ("Abaddon," Rev. 9:11). If God sees what's going on in the world of the dead, then surely He knows what is happening in the world of the living!
God not only sees everything, but He made everything and controls it (Job 26:7–13). Job began his hymn of praise with a statement about God's power in the heavens (vv. 7–9), and he described the earth with remarkable scientific accuracy (v. 7). God also controls the clouds and the rain.
CHAPTER NINE Job 25—28 HOW FAINT A WHISPER!
Job then moved his attention to the earth (vv. 10–11) and praised God for marking out the horizon where the sun rises and sets. He is the God who controls day and night, land and water. The "pillars of heaven" is a poetic phrase for the mountains; they rest on earth, but they seem to hold up the heavens. All God has to do is speak, and the mountains tremble (9:6).
"Every year makes me tremble at the daring with which people speak of spiritual things."
—BISHOP BROOKE F. WESTCOTT ildad's speech in Job 25 is the shortest in the book and focuses on God's power (vv. 1–3) and justice (vv. 4–6). It is disturbing to see how Job's friends speak so knowingly about God when, in the end, God revealed that they really didn't know what they were talking about. Too often, those who say the most about God know the least about God.
The last stanza of Job's hymn centers on God's power in the waters (26:12–13). God can stir up the sea or still it as He desires, and He has power over sea creatures ("Rahab" and "the gliding serpent," niv). He can blow the storm clouds away and clear the sky after the storm.
God's power is inherent in His nature (vv. 1–3): He has all dominion and fear ("awe") and reigns sovereignly in the heavens. He has everything under control and sees what is going on in all places. His army of angels is at His command and ready to obey His will. Who can resist Him?
The three friends must have listened impatiently because they already knew the things Job was talking about; but they hadn't drawn the right conclusion from them. Because they saw God's handiwork in nature, they thought they knew all about God; therefore, they could explain God to Job.
God's justice is the outworking of His holy nature (vv. 4–6), for "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Since God is holy and just, how can mere man claim to be righteous before Him? (Remember, Job was holding fast to his integrity and refusing to confess that his sins had brought God's judgment on him.) Since man is born of woman, he is born with a sinful nature (Ps. 51:5). In the East, the moon and stars shine with great brilliance; but even they are not pure in God's sight. How can a mere man claim to be righteous before God, man who is nothing but a maggot and a worm? (See Job 4:17–18; 8:20; 9:2.) Now, we listen to Job's reply.
Job said that just the opposite was true. "Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; and how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?" (v. 14 nasb). What we see of God in creation is but the fringes of His ways, and what we hear is but a whisper of His power! You may read The Book of Nature carefully and still have a great deal more to learn about God. Knowing a few facts about the creation of God is not the same as knowing truths about the God of creation.
The fourteenth-century British spiritual writer Richard Rolle said, "He truly knows God perfectly that finds Him incomprehensible and unable to be known."
Job 27
The more we learn about God, the more we discover how much more there is to know! Beware of people who claim to know all about God, for their claim is proof they know neither God nor themselves.
enemies were wrong; and Job had the right to ask God to vindicate him. In fact, God was the only one who could prove Job right and his enemies wrong. Where else could Job turn for help?
The three friends had repeatedly warned Job about the terrible destiny of the wicked, so Job threw their words right back at them. "May my enemies be like the wicked, my adversaries like the unjust" (27:7 niv). Job saw his enemies experiencing great distress, calling out to God for help but getting no answer, and then being suddenly cut off by death. But isn't that the very judgment Job's friends predicted for him and probably hoped would come?
Job Questions God's Justice (Job 27) Bildad had made it clear that since God is holy, no man can stand righteous in His sight (Job 25:4–6). The corollary to this proposition is that God is obligated to punish people for their sins; otherwise, He would not be a righteous God. If Job is suffering, it must be that Job is sinning.
Job takes an oath (Job 27:1–6). Once again, Job stood fast in affirming his integrity (10:1–7; 13:13–19; 19:23–27; 23:2–7); but this time, he gave an oath: "As God lives" (27:2). Among Eastern people in that day, taking an oath was a serious matter. It was like inviting God to kill you if what you said was not true. Job was so sure of himself that he was willing to take that chance.
Bildad had affirmed that God is just and punishes those who disobey Him. But this does not mean that everybody who suffers is being punished for his or her sins. Sometimes we suffer because of the sins of others (e.g., Joseph) or because God is keeping us from sin (e.g., Paul in 2 Cor. 12). Jesus suffered, not for His own sins, for He had none, but for the sins of the world (1 Peter 2:22–24; 3:18); and because of His suffering and death, sinners can believe and receive eternal life.
Job also repeated his charge that God was not treating him fairly ("[He] has denied me justice," v. 2 niv). Job had asked God to declare the charges against him, but the heavens had been silent. Job had called for an umpire to bring him and God together, but no umpire had been provided.
Job teaches a lesson (Job 27:11–23). "I will teach you about the power of God" (27:11 niv), says Job; and he describes God's judgment of the wicked. On the day when God vindicates Job, this is what will happen to his enemies.
So, Job declared that, as long as he lived, he would defend himself and maintain his integrity. He would not lie just to please his friends or to "bribe" God into restoring his fortunes. (Satan would have rejoiced at that!) Job had to live with his conscience ("heart," v. 6) no matter what his friends said or his God did to him.
They will die, and their widows will not mourn for them, a terrible insult in the Eastern world. Their children will be slain by the sword or the plague; and if any survive, they will spend the rest of their lives begging for something to eat. The wicked will lie down rich and wake up poor. Their silver and expensive clothing will be gone. Their houses will be destroyed like cocoons (or spiders' webs), or like the temporary shacks of the watchmen in the fields. The death of the wicked will not be peaceful. Terrors will come in at night like a flood and carry them away. Even if the wicked try to flee, the storm will follow them and destroy them.
Job utters a curse (Job 27:7–10). In the East, it was not enough for accused people simply to affirm their innocence; they also felt compelled to call down the wrath of God on those who said they were guilty. Job's words remind us of the "imprecatory psalms" (Ps. 58, 69, 137, etc.) in that they are a prayer for God's judgment on his enemies.
You can recognize in this description many of the images that Job's friends used in their "judgment" speeches against him. Job did this deliberately to remind them that they had better be careful what they say lest they declare their own punishment. "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you" (Matt. 7:1–2 nkjv).
Who were Job's enemies? Anybody who agreed with Job's three friends that he was guilty of sin and deserved to be punished by God. While this conversation had been going on, many people had likely gathered around the ash heap and listened to the debate; and most of them probably sided with Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz. Job could see the spectators nod their heads in agreement with his friends, and he knew that he was outnumbered.
Scripture records several instances where the judgment planned by an enemy was brought home to that enemy by the Lord. Pharaoh ordered the newborn Jewish boys to be drowned, and his own army was drowned in the Red Sea (Ex. 1:15–22; 14:23–31). Haman built a gallows on which to hang Mordecai, but Haman and his sons were hanged there instead (Est. 7:10; 9:25). Daniel's enemies tried to have him destroyed, but they and their families ended up in the lions' den in the place of Daniel (Dan. 6:24). (See Prov. 11:8.)
Job's words sound cruel to us, especially in light of what we are taught about forgiving our enemies by both Jesus (Matt. 5:38–48) and Paul (Rom. 12:17–21). But Job lived even before the Mosaic law was given, let alone the Sermon on the Mount; and we must not expect him to manifest the kind of spirit that was seen in Jesus (Luke 23:34) and Stephen (Acts 7:60). However, in the sight of God, Job was right. God had twice declared before the court of heaven that Job was "a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil" (Job 1:8; 2:3 nkjv). Therefore, Job's
Job 27—28
Scholars do not agree on the interpretation of Job 27:23. The NASB reads, "Men will clap their hands at him, and will hiss him from his place," and most translations agree with that; but the word men is not in the original text. It simply reads, "He claps his hands against him." Who is "he"? Elmer B. Smick in The Expositor's Bible Commentary suggests that it might be God, and that verse 23 should be connected with verse 13 where "God" is the subject of the sentence (vol. 4, 972). He translates verse 23, "He claps his hands against them and hisses at them from his dwelling [heaven]." Whether God or men, there is rejoicing at the destruction of the wicked.
God's wisdom by mere human efforts. It takes more than courage and native intelligence; it demands humility and spiritual perception.
The fact that a person succeeds admirably in one area of life doesn't mean he or she is qualified to speak about other areas of life. Advertisers use athletes to sell razors and automobiles, or actors and actresses to sell medicine. When famous scientists (who have never studied the Bible) speak authoritatively about spiritual things, their opinion is as valuable as that of any other untrained amateur theologian.
You cannot buy wisdom (Job 28:12–19). Modern society thinks that anything can be obtained or accomplished if only you have enough money. Government agencies ask for a bigger slice of the annual budget so they can do a better job of fighting crime, ending pollution, providing jobs, and building a better environment. While a certain amount of money is necessary to survive in modern society, money is not the do-all and be-all that the world says it is. It's good to enjoy the things money can buy (1 Tim. 6:17) if you don't lose the things that money can't buy.
Job Seeks God's Wisdom (Job 28) "But where shall wisdom be found?" (Job 28:12). "Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell?" (v. 20 niv). Job asked these questions because he was weary of the cliches and platitudes that his three friends were giving him in the name of "wisdom." His friends were sure that their words were pure gold, but Job concluded they were tinsel and trash. The three men had knowledge, but they lacked wisdom.
In these verses, Job mentions gold five times, silver once, and names seven different precious stones; yet none of these treasures individually, nor all of them collectively, can purchase the wisdom of God. The real problem is that man doesn't comprehend the price of wisdom and thinks he can get it cheaply (Job 28:13). "[Wisdom] is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her" (Prov. 3:15 nkjv). True wisdom is expensive. It is not received automatically just because you listen to a recording, attend a seminar, or listen to a dynamic speaker.
"Wisdom is the right use of knowledge," said Charles Spurgeon. "To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as the knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."
In this poem about wisdom, Job gives three answers to his question, "Where shall wisdom be found?"
You cannot mine wisdom (Job 28:1–11). Job takes us deep into the earth where brave men are mining gold, iron, copper, and precious stones. Precious metals and precious stones are often used in Scripture as symbols of wisdom (Prov. 2:1–10; 3:13–15; 8:10–21; 1 Cor. 3:12–23). Once you have found it, you must "refine" it in the furnace and "mint" it for practical use. Paul said that the opposite of God's wisdom is man's wisdom—"wood, hay, and stubble"—materials that are not beautiful, durable, or valuable (1 Cor. 3:12). You can find wood, hay, and stubble on the surface of the earth; but if you want real treasures, you must dig deep.
Wisdom comes only from God (Job 28:20–28). Go as high as the birds can fly, and you won't find wisdom there. Go as deep as Abaddon and death, and wisdom is not there. Only God knows where to find wisdom, for God sees everything. (He doesn't have to dig into the earth to see what's there!) God has the wisdom to adjust the pressure of the wind and measure the amount of water in the atmosphere. If these proportions were changed, what disturbances in nature might result! God knows how to control the rain and guide the storm as it moves across the earth. Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder may seem arbitrary to us, but God controls even the lightning and thunder.
Job describes how men work hard and face great danger to find material wealth. They tunnel through hard rock and risk their lives to get rich. Why will men and women not put that much effort into gaining God's wisdom? The Word of God is like a deep mine filled with precious treasures; but the believer must put forth effort to discover its riches. It takes careful reading and study, prayer, meditation, and obedience to mine the treasures of the Word of God; and the Holy Spirit of God is willing to assist us. Why are we so negligent when this great wealth lies so near at hand?
Job answers his where-is-wisdom question in Job 28:28: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding" (see Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10). This was God's description of Job (Job 1:8; 2:3); so, in spite of what his friends said about him, Job was a man of wisdom.
What is "the fear of the Lord"? It is loving reverence for God, who He is, what He says, and what He does (Mal. 2:5–6). It is not a fear that paralyzes, but one that energizes. When you fear the Lord, you obey His commandments (Eccl. 12:13), walk in His ways (Deut. 8:6), and serve Him (Josh. 24:14). You are loyal to Him and give Him wholehearted service (2 Chron.
Though man can dig deep into the earth and find great wealth, though he can go places where birds and beasts would not dare to go, though he can even find the hidden sources of the great rivers, man cannot find
Job 28—29
In these three chapters, Job recalled the blessings of the past (Job 29), lamented the sufferings of the present (Job 30), and challenged God to vindicate him in the future (Job 31). He climaxed his speech with sixteen "if I have …" statements and put himself under oath, challenging God either to condemn him or vindicate him. It was as though Job were saying, "We've talked long enough! I really don't care what you three men think, because God is my Judge; and I rest my case with Him. Now, let Him settle the matter one way or another, once and for all."
19:9). Like Job, when you fear the Lord, you depart from evil (Prov. 3:7–8). The "fear of the Lord" is the fear that conquers fear (Ps. 112); for if you fear God, you need not fear anyone else (Matt. 10:26–31).
So, the first step toward true wisdom is a reverent and respectful attitude toward God, which also involves a humble attitude toward ourselves. Personal pride is the greatest barrier to spiritual wisdom. "When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom" (Prov. 11:2 nkjv).
The next step is to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5) and make diligent use of the means He gives us for securing His wisdom, especially knowing and doing the Word of God (Matt. 7:21–29). It is not enough merely to study; we must also obey what God tells us to do (John 7:17). As we walk by faith, we discover the wisdom of God in the everyday things of life. Spiritual wisdom is not abstract; it is very personal and very practical.
Job Looks Back at Life's Joys (Job 29) Job had opened his defense by saying that he wished he had never been born (Job 3). Now he closed his defense by remembering the blessings he and his family had enjoyed prior to his crisis. This is a good reminder that we should try to see life in a balanced way. Yes, God permits us to experience difficulties and sorrows, but God also sends victories and joys. "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (2:10). C. H. Spurgeon said that too many people write their blessings in the sand but engrave their sorrows in marble.
As we fellowship with other believers in the church and share with one another, we can learn wisdom. Reading the best books can also help us grow in wisdom and understanding. The important thing is that we focus on Christ, for He is our wisdom (1 Cor. 1:24), and in Him is hidden "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). The better we know Christ and the more we become like Him, the more we will walk in wisdom and understand the will of the Lord. We must allow the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our heart so we can see God in His Word and understand more of the riches we have in Christ (Eph. 1:15–23). Job's speech is not yet finished. In the next three chapters, Job will review his life and then challenge God to either vindicate him or judge him. That will end the debate and usher in two new participants— Elihu and the Lord.
"Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me" (29:2)! When we are experiencing trials, it's natural for us to long for "the good old days"; but our longing will not change our situation. Someone has defined "the good old days" as "a combination of a bad memory and a good imagination." In Job's case, however, his memory was accurate, and "the good old days" really were good.
There is a ministry in memory if we use it properly. Moses admonished Israel to remember the way God had led them and cared for them (Deut. 8:2). In fact, the word remember is found fourteen times in Deuteronomy and the word forget nine times. In days of disappointment, it's good to "remember the years of the right hand of the Most High" (Ps. 77:10–11; see 42:6). But the past must be a rudder to guide us and not an anchor to hold us back. If we try to duplicate today what we experienced yesterday, we may find ourselves in a rut that robs us of maturity.
CHAPTER TEN Job 29—31 I REST MY CASE!
It is significant that Job mentioned as his numberone joy the presence of God in his home (Job 29:2–6). God watched over him and shared His "intimate friendship" with him (v. 4 niv). The light of God was upon Job, and God's presence was with him and his children. God was the source of all of Job's wealth and success, when his "path was drenched with cream and the rock poured out … streams of olive oil" (v. 6 niv). (Zophar promised Job "honey and cream" if he would repent. See 20:17, and note Deut. 32:13–14; 33:24.)
"As long as we want to be different from what God wants us to be at the time, we are only tormenting ourselves to no purpose."
—GERHART TERSTEEGEN ob and his friends had shared three rounds of speeches, and now Job felt it was time for him to sum up his defense. The phrase "Moreover, Job continued his parable [discourse]" (Job 29:1) suggests that Job may have paused and waited for Zophar to take his turn to speak, but Zophar was silent. Perhaps Zophar felt it was a waste of time to argue with Job anymore.
There is one especially poignant note in this opening statement: Job wished he were back in the prime of life (Job 29:4). While this is a natural desire, it is also a dangerous one. If we focus so much on the glories of the past that we ignore the opportunities of the present, we may end up unprepared to meet the future.
Job 29—30 perplexed make wise decisions and gave the mourners fresh comfort and hope.
That future will come whether we like it or not. Few people eagerly anticipate old age and the special problems that it brings, but we can't avoid it. It's a proven fact that those who have the most birthdays live the longest, and those who live the longest become the oldest; and old people eventually die.
Yes, Job had enjoyed a rich and rewarding life; but now all of that was gone.
Job Looks Around at God's Judgment (Job 30) From the delightful past, Job is suddenly thrust back into the dismal and disappointing present. You can almost hear him groan his first words, "But now" (Job 30:1; see vv. 9, 16). Job was wise enough to know that he had to face the reality of the present and not escape into the memory of the past. People who refuse to come to grips with life are in danger of losing touch with reality, and soon they lose touch with themselves.
Remember the "never die" jokes? Old skiers never die: they just go downhill. Old bakers never die: they just fail to rise. Old football players never die: they just fumble away. Old golfers never die: they just lose their drive. We may think we will never die, but we will, unless the Lord returns to take us to heaven; and this means that we must prepare for old age and death. It is futile to look back with regret; it is faith to look ahead with rejoicing.
"In their unsuccessful effort to fulfill their needs, no matter what behavior they choose," writes psychiatrist William Glasser, "all patients have a common characteristic: They all deny the reality of the world around them" (Reality Therapy, 6). By refusing to live in the past and by honestly facing reality, Job took a giant step in maturity and integrity. In his lament, Job contrasted his present situation with the past and showed how everything had been changed by the judgment of God. His five "complaints" parallel the joys that he named in chapter 29:
"To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom," wrote Henri Amiel, "and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living."
Job next listed the joy of respect from others (vv. 7–11). When he walked through the city, the young men stepped aside to let him pass. He had his seat at the city gate with the leading men of the city, and even they ceased their speaking when he arrived. Wherever he went, he was treated with respect. "Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me" (v. 11 niv).
His third source of joy was ministry to others (vv. 12–17). What God gave to him, Job shared with others. Eliphaz had accused Job of exploiting the poor and needy (22:5–9), but Job denied it. These verses describe the ministry of a compassionate man who brought help and happiness to many. Job strengthened righteousness and justice in the city (29:14; Isa. 59:17) as he helped the handicapped, provided for the needy, and even defended the strangers. But Job did not stop with assisting the needy; he also confronted the wicked and broke their power (Job 29:17). Job compared the wicked to fierce animals that were ready to devour the weak, but he came and snatched the victims from their very jaws.
"I have no respect" (30:1–15, see 29:7–11) "I have no blessing" (30:16–23, see 29:2–6) "I have no help" (30:24–25, see 29:12–17) "I have no future" (30:26–28, see 29:18–20) "I have no ministry" (30:29–31, see 29:21–25)
"I have no respect" (Job 30:1–15). Young men who once stepped aside for Job (Job 29:8) now mocked him and even spit in his face (30:1, 9–10). But the worst part of this experience was that these young men were the sons of men so despicable that Job compared their fathers to donkeys wandering in the desert. He called them "children of fools, yea, children of base men" (v. 8). They were outcasts from society who had to forage in the wilderness to find food and fuel for their fires. At one time, Job had been the greatest man in the East; and now he was the song of the rabble (v. 9).
Confidence in the future (vv. 18–20) was another source of joy to Job before his calamities came upon him. God was blessing Job, and Job was sharing those blessings with others; so he had every reason to believe that life would continue that way for many years. He was confident that he would stay fresh and vigorous, live to an old age, and die in peace and glory. He saw himself as a deeply rooted tree that would go on bearing fruit (v. 19; Ps. 92:12–14). Since children are sometimes pictured as arrows (127:3–5), Job 29:20 suggests that Job expected to maintain his physical vigor and beget many children.
These men were unworthy to carry Job's sandals, and now they were openly ridiculing him. What made the difference? Job was now an outcast like them. When Job's bow was "renewed in [his] hand"—a symbol of vigor and success (29:20)—these men respected him. But God had "loosed" his cord and afflicted him, so these rebels set aside their restraint and despised him (30:11). When formerly they had honored Job, it was not because they respected his character and integrity. It was because they respected his position and wealth
His final source of joy was the privilege of speaking words of encouragement and help (vv. 21–25). He was indeed a Barnabas, "a son of encouragement" (Acts 4:36 nkjv), whose words were respected and appreciated. When he spoke, it was as gentle and refreshing as the rain. When he smiled, it lit up the whole situation and gave people hope. Job's approval was like the dawning of a new day! He was a leader who helped the
Job 30—31 and hoped to benefit from his favor. Their friendship was fickle, and their respect was hypocritical.
and comfortable life and a peaceful death (29:18–20); but now that was all changed. He looked for good, but God sent evil; he looked for light, but God sent darkness. Instead of comfort and peace, he experienced constant turmoil within. "The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me" (30:27 niv).
Because this rabble had "thrown off restraint" (v. 11 niv), they made life miserable for Job. Job pictured them as a ruthless army, building siege ramps, laying traps for his feet, breaking down his defenses, and attacking him (vv. 12–14). They were also like a storm that frightened Job, blew away all his dignity, and destroyed his safety like the wind blows a passing cloud (v. 15).
The British essayist William Hazlitt wrote, "Hope is the best possession. None are completely wretched but those who are without hope, and few are reduced so low as that." Job was, and even the Lord seemed not to care. Job's body was weak and feverish, and his skin was black from disease.
Job experienced sufferings similar to those of our Lord Jesus Christ. The basest of people falsely accused Him (Matt. 26:59–64), spat upon Him (v. 67), and ridiculed Him while He was suffering (Luke 23:35–39); and He became "the song of the drunkards" (Ps. 69:12). Job didn't know it, but he was being honored by God to share in "the fellowship of his [Christ's] sufferings" (Phil. 3:10). Though sitting in an ash heap, Job had been promoted in the highest possible way!
"I have no ministry" (Job 30:29–31). In the past, Job's words had brought encouragement and hope to many (29:21–25); but now his words were like the howling of the jackals and the moaning of the owls and ostriches (Mic. 1:8). Because his hope was dead, Job's song was a funeral dirge. His harp and flute were tuned to a minor key. How could he speak encouraging words to others when he himself was in the pit of discouragement? "And where is now my hope?" he had asked earlier in the debate. "As for my hope, who shall see it?" (Job 17:15).
"I have no blessing" (Job 30:16–23). "And now … the days of affliction have taken hold upon me," groaned Job (v. 16). What a contrast to the days of cream and oil (29:6)! Instead of enriching him with blessing, God was robbing him of even the basic enjoyments of life. In the daytime, Job endured unbearable suffering; and at night, God wrestled with him, made his clothing like a straitjacket, and threw him in the mud (30:16–19 niv). Every night, God wrestled with Job; and Job lost.
Job Looks Ahead for God's Justice (Job 31) This chapter records Job's final defense. It is like a legal document in which Job puts himself under oath before God and asks for judgment to fall if God can prove him wrong (Job 31:35–37). Job's only hope was that God would hear his cry and vindicate his name. He could die in peace if he knew that his enemies had been silenced and his reputation restored. In sixteen "if I have …" statements, Job reviews his life and relationships and asks God to pass judgment. "I sign now my defense" (v. 35 niv), said Job as he made the oath official and signed the document. "I rest my case!"
Job prayed to God. He even stood up and cried out for deliverance; but his prayers were unanswered (v. 20). Instead of God's hand bringing help, it only attacked Job ruthlessly and tossed him about like a feather in a storm (vv. 21–22). Job begged for his life, but death seemed inevitable (1:23).
"I have no help" (Job 30:24–25). Job had faithfully helped others in their need (29:12–17), but now nobody would help him. They wouldn't weep with him or even touch him. He was treated like a leper who might contaminate them, or like a condemned man whom God might destroy at any time. It just wasn't wise to get too close.
In verses 33–37, Job asked God ("my adversary" = judge) to give him three things: a hearing, an answer to his charges, and a document to prove his innocence. If God couldn't do these things, then Job was willing that God send the curses included in Job's oath. Job was prepared to give God an accounting of his every step if that's what it would take to bring the case to an end. Job had nothing to hide; he was not a hypocrite, cringing for fear of the people (vv. 33–34).
Where were the people whom Job had helped? Surely some of them would have wanted to show their appreciation by encouraging their benefactor in his time of need. But nobody came to his aid. Mark Twain wrote, "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."
Job the man (Job 31:1–12). Job mentions three specific sins that could trip up any man: lust (vv. 1–4), deceit (vv. 5–8), and adultery (vv. 9–12).
Our motive for serving others is certainly not to obligate them to serve us (Luke 14:12–14). We help others because we love Christ and want to glorify Him (Matt. 5:16) and because we sympathize with their needs and want to help them (Rom. 12:15; Luke 10:25–37). Missionary doctor Wilfred Grenfell said, "The service we render for others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth."
(1) Lust is the first step toward sin, and sin is the first step toward death (James 1:13–16). It is one thing to see and admire an attractive person, but it is quite something else to look for the purpose of lusting in the heart. Jesus said, "Everyone who is looking at a woman in order to indulge his sexual passion for her, already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matt. 5:28 wuest). While sin in the heart is not as destructive as sin actually committed, it is the first step toward the act; and you never know where a polluted imagination
"I have no future" (Job 30:26–28). During the days of his prosperity, Job had expected to enjoy a long
Job 31—32 selfish (Job 31:31 niv). His home was open to all, and he was generous with his gifts.
will lead you. Furthermore, God above looks down and sees both our actions and "the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12–13); and He will judge both. "Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?" (Job 31:3 niv)
Job the worshipper (Job 31:24–28). Job worshipped God with a sincere heart. He didn't worship his wealth or trust it for his security, nor did he take credit for earning it (Deut. 8:17–18). Eliphaz had accused Job of making gold his god (Job 22:24–25), but Job denied it. He did not worship gold, nor did he worship the heavenly bodies and secretly "throw them a kiss of homage" (1 Kings 19:18 niv). If Job committed such a sin, men might not see it; but God would see it and would judge Job for being unfaithful to Him.
(2) Deceit is the second sin that Job denies (vv. 5–8). He never used deception in his business dealings in order to make more money. In fact, he wouldn't even walk with those who did such things. His scales were honest (Lev. 19:35–37; Prov. 11:1), and he was not afraid for God to weigh him (Dan. 5:27)! His heart had not been covetous, nor were his hands defiled because he had not taken what was not his. If he were guilty of covetousness and deception, then Job was willing for his next season's crops to be taken by others.
Job the steward (Job 31:38–40). In verses 35–37, Job had completed his "official demand" for a hearing and signed the document. Then he remembered one more area that needed to be covered: his stewardship of the land God had given him. Job treated the land as though it were a person. If he had abused the land, it would have cried out against him and wept in pain (v. 38). If Job's field hands had been overworked and underpaid, then God would have had every reason to give Job a harvest of weeds instead of wheat and barley.
(3) Adultery (Job 31:9–12) begins with lust in the heart (v. 1) that leads to furtive attempts to satisfy sinful desires. Job had never lurked about to see when his neighbor's wife would be alone. If he was guilty, then he was willing for his own wife to become another man's slave and mistress! Adultery is a heinous crime that brings shameful and painful consequences in this life and judgment in the next (Prov. 6:27–29; Eph. 5:3–7; Heb. 13:4). Job the employer (Job 31:13–15). So careful was Job in his self-examination that he even included his treatment of his servants. Most masters in that day would have ignored this aspect of life. Job treated his servants generously and settled their grievances fairly because he knew that one day he would have to give an account to God (v. 14; Eph. 6:9). He also knew that he was created by the same God who created them and that he was born in the same way.
Review Job's oath and you will discover that he has asked God to send some terrible judgments if he is guilty of any of these sins: others will eat his harvest and uproot his crops (v. 8); his wife will become another man's servant and mistress (v. 10); his arm will fall from his shoulder (v. 22); his harvest will be weeds and thistles (v. 40). He made it clear that he was willing to face the righteous judgment of God (vv. 14, 23, 28) along with these other judgments. When the words of Job were ended, everybody sat in silence, wondering what would happen next. Would God send immediate judgment and prove Job guilty? Or would He accept Job's challenge, appear to him, and give Job opportunity to defend himself? Perhaps God would speak from heaven and answer Job's questions.
Job the neighbor (Job 31:16–23, 29–32). In reply to the false accusations of Eliphaz (22:6–9), Job had already told how he had cared for the poor and needy (29:12–17); but now he repeated it as a part of his oath. He was not boasting; he was defending himself before men and seeking vindication from God. If he had lifted his hand in court against any man, Job hoped that God would rip that arm from its socket.
Job had challenged God because he was sure God would vindicate him. Job's three friends were sure that God would condemn him.
What will God do? The answer may surprise you!
Job was concerned for the needs of widows, orphans, and the poor. He provided them with food and clothing and came to their defense in court. He even treated them like members of his own family and cared for them until they could care for themselves. God had given Job his wealth, and God could take it away from him if he didn't share it with others (31:23). But Job was also a good neighbor to his enemies (vv. 29–31) and to strangers passing through town (v. 32). Because Job was a wealthy and powerful sheik, no doubt there were many people who envied him and hated him; yet Job was kind to them. He didn't gloat over their misfortunes (Ex. 23:4–5; Prov. 24:17–18; Matt. 5:43–47) or ask God to curse them (Rom. 12:17–21). Job was also generous to strangers, giving them food to eat and a place to spend the night. None of Job's servants could ever accuse their master of being
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Job 32—33 ELIHU HAS THE ANSWERS
"A vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance."
—BENEDICT SPINOZA ob was silent. He had ended his defense and given oath that he was not guilty of the sins he had been accused of by his friends. Job had challenged God either to vindicate him or pass sentence on him. The