But now he is desperately struggling with the “goodness of God” concept.
If I can back up to three verses from last week, notice again what Job says (from the New Living Translation):
6:11 But I don’t have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for.
6:12 Do I have the strength of a stone? Is my body made of bronze?
6:13 No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success.
I have nothing to live for…I don’t have any chance of success. Eliphaz had used the same word “success” in 5:12 in perhaps an envious sideswipe at Job’s great wealth and success: "He frustrates the plotting of the shrewd, so that their hands cannot attain success.”
His friends had promised so much, but had become woeful wadis. I will explain that in a moment.
The rest of the passage from verses 15-30 will be from the New Living Translation (NLT). But I grabbed verse 14 from 3 other versions: The New American Standard reads, “For the despairing man there should be kindness from his friend: lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty.” The New International Version goes like this, “A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the almighty.” And The Message reads, “When desperate people give up on God Almighty, their friends, at least, should stick with them.”
Take a minute or two to read through this definition of “despair” and its synonyms (from www.dictionary.com): A sense of gloom, despondency, hopelessness; a state of mind caused by circumstances that seem too much to cope with; despair suggests total loss of hope, the abandonment of hope; it is a state of deep gloom and disheartenment; the loss of courage, hope, and ambition because of frustrations; hopelessness is a loss of hope so complete as to result in a more or less permanent state of passive despair.
Read that last line again…”hopelessness is a loss of hope so complete as to result in a more or less permanent state of passive despair!”
Job’s despair is hard to articulate. Words fail to grasp the depth of his gloom. But notice a little twist on what Job might be saying. Verse 14 is either saying that for a despairing man there should be a tenacious love and loyalty and kindness from his friends or HE WILL FORSAKE the Almighty. Or Job could be saying…for a despairing man there should be kindness from his friends even though he HAS ALREADY FORSAKEN God! If a friend gives up on God, his friends shouldn’t give up on him! Even though he isn’t devoted, they should be!
6:15 My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook (Wadis) that overflows its banks in the spring 16 when it is swollen with ice and melting snow. 17 But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears. The brook vanishes in the heat. 18 The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing to drink, so they die. 19 The caravans from Tema search for this water; the travelers from Sheba hope to find it. 20 They count on it but are disappointed. When they arrive, their hopes are dashed. 21 You, too, have given no help. You have seen my calamity, and you are afraid.
Wadis are defined as dry channels lying in desert or semi-arid lands that are subject to flash flooding during seasonal or irregular rainstorms. They are transitory and fleeting streams. Hartley writes, “No doubt there is a double image here: both friends and wadis overflow and then run dry…During the hottest days of summer when the traveler desperately needs water, these streams have completely vanished. This analogy claims that the friends overflow with loyal kindness during the good times, but when the heat of trials comes, they dry up; they turn out to be undependable.” Entire caravans have been known to perish when wadis proved undependable. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were three such undependable wadis.
6:22 But why? Have I ever asked you for a gift? Have I begged for anything of yours for myself? 23 Have I asked you to rescue me from my enemies, or to save me from ruthless people? 24 Teach me, and I will keep quiet. Show me what I have done wrong.
In verse 24 there seems to be a dramatic change in mood. Job appears to be pleading for some gentle and sympathetic guidance from his friends instead of the lawyerlike language of a prosecutor!
6:25 Honest words can be painful, but what do your criticisms amount to? 26 Do you think your words are convincing when you disregard my cry of desperation? 27 You would even send an orphan into slavery or sell a friend.
The King James puts the second half of verse 27, “…and ye dig a pit for your friend.” Job is in the pit (and can’t see bottom), and the words of Eliphaz (and the other two) only served to dig a deeper pit!
6:28 Look at me! Would I lie to your face? 29 Stop assuming my guilt, for I have done no wrong. 30 Do you think I am lying? Don’t I know the difference between right and wrong?
Our parents probably taught us that when we have an argument or intense discussion with someone, it’s a good idea to look them in the eye. In Job’s culture, for a person to turn their face away was a rather rude and offensive gesture. It signaled (as per Hartley) that not only were the words being rejected, but that the individual was being rejected as well. It seemed (to Job) that God wasn’t looking him in the eye anymore, so he sure didn’t want his friends to turn their faces away from him!
Spiritual Application: Perhaps you know someone who seems to be despairing and whose outlook appears to match the gloom that Job must have experienced. Perhaps its you.
I have always been intrigued by this haunting photograph by Dorothea Lange. Take a moment to read this paragraph from www.circleofblue.org/blog/category/poverty:
The photograph that has become known as “Migrant Mother” is one of a series of photographs that Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California. Lange was concluding a month’s trip photographing migratory farm labor around the state for what was then the Resettlement Administration. In 1960, Lange gave this account of the experience: I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tires from her car to buy food. There she sat in that lean-to tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it. (From: Popular Photography, Feb. 1960)
I saw an interview of this lady (Florence Owens Thompson) that was done I believe sometime in the 1960’s or 70’s. Ms Thompson had survived her pit and despair and gloom and apparently had led a pretty happy life. But I am sure there were many desperate times where she wondered if brighter days would ever shine upon her.
They did. And they can for you also.
God loves you.
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