No 47 Job Chapter 6―There’s a Whole Lot of “Jecting” Going On

 

 

A Description of www.jobandthejobianway.com 

I am going to make a statement about www.jobandthejobianway.com. This website makes no claim to be a critical or exegetical commentary on the Book of Job. I am not skilled in languages for such an undertaking. And, as I observe, even those who are so skilled are not necessarily in agreement with the text, and certainly not with each other. The original 1611 KJV translators struggled with the meaning of many words found in the book. Those scholars who provided the very helpful center margin references suggest marginal readings vastly different than the readings given in the KJV translation. I use those center references considerably, and, like many other Bible students, I rely on the use of several Bible dictionaries.

 

What then is www.jobandthejobianway.com? What service does it seek to provide? I describe this website as a devotional commentary. My training as a Registered Nurse and subsequent years working in the field of mental health does lend a hand in hearing Job’s pain and grief. My experience as a pastor draws me to translate Job’s story into the stories of our own lives. Hence, my website is devotional. I seek to draw enough from Job to be inspirational. Whereas a critical or exegetical commentary appeals to one’s brain (and then heart), a devotional commentary, in my definition, appeals to one’s heart (and then brain).

 

"Jecting" (There's a Whole Lot of It Going On in the Book of Job) 

ject                  = to cast, to hurl, to throw

abject              = to cast away

deject              = to cast down

eject                = to cast out

inject               = to cast in (ie hypodermic injection)

object              = to cast before (something brought to someone’s attention)

object              = to cast against   (to hurl against what we dislike)

project             = to cast forward

reject               = to cast back

subject            = to cast under

interject           = to cast between or among (an interjection of words)

adjective          = to cast to (as an adjective casts explanation or description to a noun)

 

I am fascinated by the English language. Notice. Where we place the emphasis on a syllable gives us a different meaning. Emphasis on a certain syllable can change a word from a noun to a verb or vice versa.

 

OB’-ject       Object―noun    

1. A material thing that can be seen and touched.

2. A person or thing to which a specified action or feeling is directed.

3. An object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action done by the subject in a sentence. 

 

ob-JECT’    Object―verb

1. To register one's disapproval of something.

2. To express disagreement.

 

PRO’-ject    Project―noun

1. An enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.\

2. A government-subsidized housing development with relatively low rents.

 

pro-JECT’   Project―verb             

1. To estimate or forecast (something) on the basis of present trends or data.

2. To extend outward beyond something else.

3. To protrude.

 

Job Chapter 6---The Introduction to Job's Ladder

We have briefly reviewed the speeches made by Job's three friends. Eliphaz---Posts 34-42. Bildad---Post 43. Zophar---Post 44. With this Post we begin considering Job's response to his plight. We will look at Job's response to the things his friends said to him as well. Here is the most intriguing plot of the Book of Job: While Job reacted violently to the things they said to him, and at times he lashed back at them, it was, in fact, the conversations with them that began to hone his own thinking into a very sharp point. As the conversations continued, Job began to climb out of his pit of despair, pull his thoughts together, and face the future with more than the wish to die. This process of climbing up and out of the pit I call Job's Ladder. It has several rungs. The more I continue to study the book the clearer the picture of his climb up becomes (the more rungs are added, as it were).

 

The Significance of Job's Ladder

The use of his ladder may be helpful to us as we also climb up and out of the messes we find ourselves in. There will be differences, of course. Job did not create his mess. We generally do. We are responsible for most of ours. The similarities will be helpful.

 

Here are the 30 Verses of Job 6

Job 6:1  But Job answered and said, 

Job 6:2  Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances  together! 

Job 6:3  For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea: therefore my words are swallowed up. 

Job 6:4  For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. 

Job 6:5  Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the ox over his fodder? 

Job 6:6  Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg? 

Job 6:7  The things that my soul refused to touch are as my sorrowful meat. 

Job 6:8  Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! 

Job 6:9  Even that it would please God to destroy me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off! 

Job 6:10  Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One. 

Job 6:11  What is my strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I should prolong my life? 

Job 6:12  Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass? 

Job 6:13  Is not my help in me? and is wisdom driven quite from me? 

Job 6:14  To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. 

Job 6:15  My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away; 

Job 6:16  Which are blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hid: 

Job 6:17  What time they wax warm, they vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of their place. 

Job 6:18  The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to nothing, and perish. 

Job 6:19  The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba waited for them. 

Job 6:20  They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.

Job 6:21  For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid. 

Job 6:22  Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance? 

Job 6:23  Or, Deliver me from the enemy's hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty? 

Job 6:24  Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred. 

Job 6:25  How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove? 

Job 6:26  Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind? 

Job 6:27  Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend. 

Job 6:28  Now therefore be content, look upon me; for it is evident unto you if I lie. 

Job 6:29  Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it. 

Job 6:30  Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

JOB BEGINS WITH AN INTERJECTION

Job’s experiences have plunged him into abject misery. This left him feeling very dejected. He was cast down. His grief was great. He was despairing greatly. Job’s first word in response to what his friends have said is ”But.” When someone says “but” they’re objecting. It usually means someone is going to inject or add in an opposite (or at least different) view. Having done so, they have offered or made an interjection.

 

Job’s interjection is this: “If only my grief, my misery and my anguish could be weighed on scales. If only they could be weighed on accurate balances, it would be clearly seen that my grief would surely outweigh the sand of the seas. It is no wonder I speak so rashly―so impetuously. I’m hurting.”

 

GOD IS AGAINST ME 

“With His bow and His perfect aim, God has shot His arrows into me. Their poisoned tips are killing my spirit and my will to live. God is lining up His terrors―one right after another against me. They come non-stop to do me in. I am the object of His wrath."

 

“Does a donkey bray when it has plenty of grass to eat? No. It eats. Does an ox moo loudly when it has plenty of fodder to eat? No. It eats. Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt? No. We add salt. Is there any taste in the white of an egg? No. We refuse to eat it by itself. Such food is repulsive. We turn away. And I have been dealt a whole meal―a complete repast―of tasteless food. I refuse to accept it. So much bad stuff has happened to me, and I refuse to just lay down and let it run right over me. I object. I reject the things that have happened to me.”

 

"I have just one single request! I have one single wish I want fulfilled. There is one thing I ask for. And, oh, that God would grant my one request―just this one!"

 

“I know that God is going to crush me out like a worthless moth. With one swoop, He is going to cut the line―the cord―of my life. But before He finally does it―before the end it all comes to me―I want Him to do one thing for me. I want to hear Him say to me that I have done nothing wrong. I have done nothing to deserve what He has done to me. It would be my comfort, it would be my consolation, and it would be my joy just to hear Him say with His own mouth―’Job, you did nothing to deserve what has happened to you. You have never gone back on My words. You have never taken one step out of the way. You never denied Me even once!’”

 

“What right do I have to ask this one thing of God? I know there is nothing I can do to prolong my life―that’s a given. I have only one thing left that I can do―I can hope He will answer me. I can wait patiently for Him to get His answer together for me. That why I still hang on with hope. That is why I can be patient.”

 

“I know I cannot last long. Am I made out of rock? No. Is my flesh as strong as brass? No. Do I have any power to help myself? No. Have I gone mad? No. I’m just waiting on Him to make His next move.”

 

JOB CHANGES FROM TALKING TO GOD TO HIS THREE FRIENDS

“In the meantime, I have a gripe with you guys. Common decency says that friends should be kind to their friends. Anyone who withholds such decency should fear the Almighty. You, my brothers, have come to me like a stream in the desert―you came promising water to a thirsty friend. Yet when you got here, you had no water for me to drink. You have acted deceitfully toward me. You promised a flood, yet you had nothing, not one single drop. Thawing ice promises water. Melting snow promises water. You guys had none. Just promises. No action. Just words. No result. You guys are so hot with anger that you have evaporated the water you carried into steam. Poof, it’s gone.”

 

Job is illustrating their deceitfulness in pretending to be friends when in reality they were not. In the summer, the path of a desert streambed is usually just dry dirt. That’s the time when water is needed most. In the spring, when the streambed if filled with cold, icy water (mountain run-off from the snow), water is not so much needed. And Job needed water now

 

Job continues, “Caravans have been lost looking for water where they thought it might be located. They turned off their regular route looking for what they hoped they might soon find. They didn’t find it. They perished. Everybody coming and going are looking for a little water. The troops of Tema from this direction. The companies from Sheba from that direction. Everybody’s looking. They were confident. Now they’re confounded. Now they are distressed. They arrived at the spot where they thought they would find water only to be disappointed. They came. Now they are ashamed. You guys are just like that. You have proven to me you have no water. You have proven to be of no help.”

 

“You see that I am cast down. I’m miserable. I am full of anguish. I am full of grief. I am weary. What you guys see when you look at me makes you afraid. My situation makes you feel dreadful.”

 

Job accuses them of being afraid of him. Were they fearful of being contaminated by his disease? Did they realize they had no answer to his pleas? Did the truth hurt them?

 

Job reminds them that they came on their own choice and free-will. They did not come at his beck and call.

#1 “Did I ask you to come? No.

#2 Did I ask you to bring me something? No.

#3 Did I ask you to spend your means to travel to visit me? No.

#4 Did I ask you come because I was in trouble and needed your help? No.

#5 Did I ask you to come because I was in trouble with God and He was punishing me, and I knew you could intervene and spare me from Him? No.”

 

Why Did You Come? 

“So, guys, tell me―why did you come? Give me one good answer and I will keep my mouth shut ever after. I will be quiet. Show me the error in my thinking. Show me where my reasoning is wrong. Help me to understand. I think you are afraid to hear what I am saying. Are my words too painful for you to hear? Are you having trouble dealing with my honesty and openness? What have all your arguments proven? Do you mean to correct what I say? Are you wanting to put my words back inside my mouth, so that I can spew forth what you want me to say? You consider my words to be just hot air blowing in the hot wind, don’t you?”

 

They should still be his friends. They had failed to prove one instance in which he had erred. They were not loving. They were cruel. They were the kinds of guys that would have even cast lots over an orphan and would bargain over a friend. You are the kind of guys that would dig a pit and push a friend into it. He accused them of being heartless.  

 

“Now would you guys be so kind as to look at me straight in the eye? You guys know me. You know me so well you can tell if I was lying to you―trying to pull the wool over your eyes. It would immediately be evident to you.”

 

“Just give me the benefit of a doubt. Be friendly toward me just this once. I pray for this. Reconsider all your evil words toward me. My integrity is at stake here. Is what I am saying―is what I am asking―fair and honest words to you? Am I being disrespectful to you? Are my words evil to you? Am I being deceitful?”

 

“You guys are being unfair to me, your friend.

You guys are being disrespectful to me, your friend.

You guys are being dishonest with me, your friend.

You guys have ejected me from your circle of love and compassion.

You guys have subjected me yourselves to intense misery.

You guys are acting wickedly toward me, your friend…supposedly.

Yeah, supposedly.”  

 

A Friend Should Be Friendly

To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty (Job 6:14). Some say Job, in this statement, was close to or on the verge of forsaking his faith. Is Job saying he is about to forsake God? I don’t think so. What I hear Job saying is: It is reasonable that one would show pity to his afflicted friend. Right? Yes. If that is true, then isn’t it more reasonable that one would show mercy to a friend who was about to forsake his fear of God? I would think yes. I am afflicted, yes, but I am not about to forsake my fear of God in any degree. In any manner. In any way. Some understand this verse to say that a friend should show kindness to a despairing man to keep him from losing his religion or fear of the Almighty. Without the touch of human kindness, gentleness and concern, one might be pushed to forsake the fear of the Almighty. Even if that sufferer has given up his faith, a friend should still stick closer than brother.

 

Job is accusing his friends of being “fair-weather” friends. When they thought he had given up his faith, they stopped being his friend. They came on like bitter enemies. Someone has said, “that a failure to show kindness to a friend nullifies all of a man’s claims to be religious.”

 

I seek to be kind, truthful and helpful in all my relationships. Don't you as well?

Please send questions or comments to Will Hardin at P O Box 24 Owenton KY 40359 or use the comments via Google section below. (You must be signed in to Google to do so).