12:1 Then Job answered: 12:2 “Without a doubt you are the people, and wisdom will die with you.
Job answers. These guys thought that Job was a simpleton. They thought that they had all of the answers.
12:3 I also have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know such things as these?
These guys were not teaching Job anything that he did not already know.
12:4 I am a laughingstock to my friends, I, who called on God and whom he answered— a righteous and blameless man
is a laughingstock!
Job was a very sick man, but he was also one of the most righteous men who has ever lived. Instead of receiving prayers and encouragement from his friends, he was being mocked and labeled as a terrible sinner.
12:5 For calamity, there is derision (according to the ideas of the fortunate)— a fate for those whose feet slip!
Job had fallen, but no one would help him up. Instead, they mocked and derided him for falling.
12:6 But the tents of robbers are peaceful, and those who provoke God are confident— who carry their god in their hands.
Job was a man of God who was suffering. However, the thieves and idol worshipers were profiting.
12:7 “But now, ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.
Job commented that the animals were smarter than Zophar.
12:8 Or speak to the earth and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea declare to you.
The lifeless dirt of the earth and the dumb fish in the sea were smarter than Zophar.
12:9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this,
These three friends kept telling Job over and over that God had inflicted him with this punishment. Job already knew this, but he did not know why, and neither did his friends.
12:10 in whose hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all the human race.
God holds the life of all creatures in His hands. No one can breathe another breath of life, unless God allows it. Many people breathe God’s air, eat His food, and drink the water that He supplies, without even thanking God.
12:11 Does not the ear test words, as the tongue tastes food?
Just as the ears hear words and the tongue tastes food, then Job knows that the judgment is from God. He does not need to keep hearing this accusation over and over.
12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
Wisdom accumulates as one grows older. Those who do not study the Word of God accumulate wisdom from the satanic world system. Those who study the entire counsel of the Word of God accumulate divine wisdom from the Word of God. People can only apply what they know.
All elderly people are not more biblically wise than a younger person, unless they have taken in more of the Word of God. A 20-year old who has studied the entire counsel of the Word of God by a gifted pastor-teacher is much wiser than a 60-year old who only has fragmented bible doctrine. The 60-year old should be ashamed of himself for wasting all of his years and not mastering bible doctrine. The 20-year old needs to spend his life mastering bible doctrine and learning from mature bible believers who have walked this path.
12:13 “With God are wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.
God is omniscient and omnipotent. He is the one who should give counsel. These men have nothing to say.
12:14 If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt; if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.
God is omnipotent. He can tear down cities or people. These men have no power except which God has given them.
12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up; if he releases them, they destroy the land.
God is omnipotent. He controls drought and floods.
12:16 With him are strength and prudence; both the one who goes astray and the one who misleads are his.
God is omnipotent. God controls even His enemies who fight against Him.
12:17 He leads counselors away stripped and makes judges into fools.
God is omniscient. His wisdom makes the best of human counselors look foolish.
12:18 He loosens the bonds of kings and binds a loincloth around their waist.
God is omnipotent. He controls who sits upon all of the thrones of the nations. God allows a biblically-ignorant electorate to place a biblically-ignorant man upon the throne.
12:19 He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the potentates.
God humbles priests and overthrows government leaders.
12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers of speech and takes away the discernment of elders.
God is omnipotent and omniscient; He controls who receives wisdom and who receives spiritual discernment.
12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen and disarms the powerful.
God is omnipotent. He judges noblemen and disarms those who think they are too powerful.
12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness, and brings deep shadows into the light.
God is omnipresent and omniscient; He reveals the things of darkness to those that He chooses.
12:23 He makes nations great, and destroys them; he extends the boundaries of nations and disperses them.
God is omnipotent; He decides the fates and boundaries of nations.
12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth of their understanding; he makes them wander in a trackless desert waste.
God is omnipotent; He deprives leaders of understanding, He causes them to follow unwise paths.
12:25 They grope about in darkness without light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.
God is omnipotent. Unless God reveals light, then leaders are walking in darkness. They are staggering in the dark like drunkards. Drunkards are mean and stupid. Job’s advisors were older than Job, but they were not wise. Many elders with little or no bible doctrine are mistaken when they think that they are wiser than a younger person with strong bible doctrine. Wisdom is not measured by age, but by the intake of bible doctrine.
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13:1 “Indeed, my eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.
Job has seen and heard everything that his friends have offered him.
13:2 What you know, I know also; I am not inferior to you!
Job knows everything that his friends have told him. He is not inferior to them. They have not taught him anything new.
13:3 But I wish to speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
Out of desperation, Job’s arrogance comes to his lips. He thinks that he has a case against God. Most skeptics think that they when they die, they can stand up to God and make an answer for themselves. This is arrogant thinking and a foolish mistake.
13:4 But you, however, are inventors of lies; all of you are worthless physicians!
Job’s friends cannot help him by telling him lies. They are like physicians who want to heal a cut on the foot by cutting off the head.
13:5 If only you would keep completely silent! For you, that would be wisdom.
Instead of offering worthless dialogue, it would be better if they just remained quiet.
13:6 “Listen now to my argument, and be attentive to my lips’ contentions.
Job offers up his counter argument.
13:7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him?
God did not ask these three friends to become His spokesmen. These men were attempting to speak for God, but they were speaking deceitfully. They were giving out human viewpoint instead of divine viewpoint.
13:8 Will you show him partiality? Will you argue the case for God?
These men are not qualified to argue for God.
13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine you? Or as one deceives a man would you deceive him?
If God examined these men, he would find them guilty of misrepresenting Him.
13:10 He would certainly rebuke you if you secretly showed partiality!
If God was present, He would rebuke these men for misrepresenting God. God actually does rebuke them at the end of this book.
13:11 Would not his splendor terrify you and the fear he inspires fall on you?
If God was present, then God would terrify them for their false testimony about Him.
13:12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay.
The proverbs of these three men were not wise at all. Their defenses were weak, made of clay.
13:13 “Refrain from talking with me so that I may speak; then let come to me what may.
Job told these three men that they needed to be quiet and allow Job to speak more on this issue. Then, God can do to Job what He wants.
13:14 Why do I put myself in peril, and take my life in my hands?
Job’s words were putting him in peril against God.
13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face!
Even if God slays Job, then Job will still place his hope in God. He completely trusts God in what He is doing. This is a strong statement of faith.
If God did appear, then Job thinks that he can defend himself against God. This is Job’s biggest mistake. When anyone stands in front of God, then no slick lawyer or soft-hearted judge can help him out. He is standing in front of the God of the universes who knows all things. The best thing to do is to plead guilty and rest upon the mercy of the court. God has lots of love, mercy, and compassion.
13:16 Moreover, this will become my deliverance, for no godless person would come before him.
Before the Law of Moses, Job recognized that no godless man can stand before God. Job needs a mediator. He needs to come before a being who can judge like God but has the experience of a human.
Job is looking for someone to become his deliverer. The Hebrew word for “deliverance” is יְשׁוּעָה (Yeshua), meaning salvation. This is also the Hebrew name for Jesus.
13:17 Listen carefully to my words; let your ears be attentive to my explanation.
Job has an important message for his three friends.
13:18 See now, I have prepared my case; I know that I am right.
Job thinks that he has a case against God. This is similar to many who reject Christ, but they think that when they die, they will have a case against God. This is foolish thinking. They are already condemned. Only Jesus can stand in their place.
13:19 Who will contend with me? If anyone can, I will be silent and die.
If anyone can prove Job to be wrong, then he will be silent and die.
13:20 Only in two things spare me, O God, and then I will not hide from your face:
Job asked God to spare him of two things.
13:21 Remove your hand far from me and stop making me afraid with your terror.
Job was scared of God. Job wanted God to quit intimidating him.
13:22 Then call, and I will answer, or I will speak, and you respond to me.
Job is telling God what to do. Many Christians prayers often offer commands to God. They expect God to be their delivery boy. God does not answer these kinds of prayers.
Many refuse to pray, because they do not think that they can change God’s mind. It is important to remember that the purpose of prayer is to change the one who is praying.
13:23 How many are my iniquities and sins? Show me my transgression and my sin.
Job challenged God to show him his sins. This is arrogant thinking.
13:24 Why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy?
Job accused God of hiding. He accused God of becoming his enemy.
13:25 Do you wish to torment a windblown leaf and chase after dry chaff?
Job accused God of torturing a leaf and chasing after dry chaff. Job was telling God that He should not torture Job, because he was not worth it.
13:26 For you write down bitter things against me and cause me to inherit the sins of my youth.
Job accused God of writing down negative things against him.
13:27 And you put my feet in the stocks and you watch all my movements; you put marks on the soles of my feet.
Job accused God of placing him in stocks and then marking the soles of his feet so that He could watch his every move.
13:28 So I waste away like something rotten, like a garment eaten by moths.
Job accused God of leaving him in stocks and allowing him to rot away, just as a moth eats garments.
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14:1 “Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.
During the days of Job, men were still living to about two hundred years of age. Man is born of a woman, meaning that he is born with a sin nature. Man’s life is just a millisecond of eternity. During man’s life on earth, his life is filled with רֹ֫גֶז (regez), meaning turmoil or anxiety.
14:2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain.
Man grows up like a flower and then dies. The life of man comes out like a shadow in the morning and then disappears by night.
14:3 Do you fix your eye on such a one? And do you bring me before you for judgment?
Man is constantly underneath God’s scrutiny. When man does something wrong, then God is ready to zap him with judgment.
14:4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!
Clean water does not make dirty water clean. It is the other way around. If a mother and father are both sinners, then they cannot produce a sinless child. Basically, man is impure and unclean. He is a dirty, rotten sinner. If he went to heaven in his present form, then he would stink up heaven.
14:5 Since man’s days are determined, the number of his months is under your control; you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.
God controls when a man dies. Man can do nothing to change these lengths of days that God has given him.
14:6 Look away from him and let him desist, until he fulfills his time like a hired man.
Since God controls man’s length of days, then he should just leave man alone and let him die in peace.
14:7 “But there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
Job claims that it is better to become a tree than a man, because the tree can sprout again.
14:8 Although its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump begins to die in the soil, 14:9 at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth shoots like a new plant.
Job uses a powerful metaphor to convey a literal concept about his view of life. The scent of water will cause an old tree to sprout new branches. Man cannot do this. Therefore, it is better to become a tree than a man.
14:10 But man dies and is powerless; he expires—and where is he?
When a man dies, his physical body decays. His physical body goes to the grave. In the Old Testament dispensation, man’s spiritual body went to either Paradise or heaven. In the New Testament dispensation, the soul of the believer goes to be with Christ.
14:11 As water disappears from the sea, or a river drains away and dries up,
Job lived a few hundred years after the flood. At that time, Arabia and the Transjordan were fertile and well-watered, but they were rapidly drying up.
14:12 so man lies down and does not rise; until the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor arise from their sleep.
This verse does not teach annihilation as many cults and isms falsely claim. It teaches that a man cannot come back to life in the same physical body in which he died. The dead in Christ will receive a new resurrected body at the Rapture. In Job 19:25, Job expressed certain assurance that he would be raised from the dead to see God.
14:13 “O that you would hide me in Sheol, and conceal me till your anger has passed! O that you would set me a time and then remember me!
If Job died, then at least he could hide from God in his grave. Then, after God’s anger passed, God could remember Job and raise him from the dead. Job is one of the most righteous men in the world, but Satan has him so frustrated and angry that he is speaking out of depression.
14:14 If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait until my release comes.
Job is frustrated. He is speaking from his depression. Job will express later that God will raise him from the dead.
14:15 You will call and I—I will answer you; you will long for the creature you have made.
When Job is dead, then God will call him and resurrect him. God created Job, so God will long for Job.
14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; then you would not mark my sin.
If Job was dead, then God would not be watching his every step. God would not be counting all of his sins. Job’s fatalistic belief system is that it is better to be dead than alive, because God no longer watches your every move and records your every sin.
14:17 My offenses would be sealed up in a bag; you would cover over my sin.
If Job was dead, the his sins would be sealed up in a bag. God could no longer watch over him and count his every sin.
14:18 But as a mountain falls away and crumbles, and as a rock will be removed from its place, 14:19 as water wears away stones, and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy man’s hope.
Just as a mountain will eventually crumble, death will eventually destroy a man’s hope. Just as a rock will eventually be removed from its place, death will destroy man’s hope. Just as water wears away stone, death will destroy man’s hopes. Just as water washes away the soil, death will destroy man’s hopes. In his depression, Job failed to see that death for a believer is an eternal existence with God.
14:20 You overpower him once for all, and he departs; you change his appearance and send him away.
Death will overpower every man once and for all. Death will change the appearance of man and send him to his grave.
14:21 If his sons are honored, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he does not see it.
After death brings man to his grave, then the dead do not know the outcome of their sons. They do not know if the sons live an honorable or dishonorable life.
14:22 Only his flesh has pain for himself, and he mourns for himself.”
The man in the grave has his flesh devoured by worms. The man in the grave is alone and lonely. Job was the most righteous man alive, but Satan had brought him into a fit of depression. Since God would not speak to Job (yet), then Job saw death as his only hope.