Job 7 Commentary
Human life is a struggle. It is a life sentence to hard labor. Life is lived in anticipation of a better existence. Nighttime should be a moment of rest, but it never is. You cannot wait for it to be all over.
This is Job’s observation of life in the first section of this chapter. We really don’t know if Job would write the same during his days of feasting and abundance!
Well, feasting and abundance sit atop pain and suffering. It’s a mask! Psalm 90 confirms it!
All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.
Romans 8 comments on the purpose of this sad state of affairs: “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”
Mortals must hate this kind of existence. Mortals must seek relief from the Creator God Himself!
And that’s exactly what Job does here. He turns his attention to the LORD God. Now he must address the LORD God in view of the observations he has just made.
What is humanity that the LORD makes so much of them? Job knows humanity is important to God. What they do or don’t do becomes important in the eyes of the LORD. So, what has Job done to deserve this kind of attention from the Almighty? If he has sinned, as the case may be, why hasn’t the generous God forgiven Job?
It’s at this point that the reader is tempted to jump into the story and tell Job that his suffering has nothing to do with righteousness, or the lack of it. Therefore, the issue of forgiveness, or the absence of forgiveness, doesn’t arise.
Nevertheless, the reader remains content with the lessons drawn from the chapter. If suffering brings you to this point, then it has already served a significant portion of its purpose. Romans 8:20-21puts it this way: the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice,… in the hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay. Suffering serves a higher purpose.
Within the context of this story, confusion still reigns. Job isn’t exactly the ungodly man whose life needs suffering as an encouragement to seek the LORD. But in the context of the storyline of the entire Bible, this confusion completely disappears!
The contest between the LORD and satan becomes an all-important, history-long battle that started in the Garden of peace and tranquility.
The LORD has confronted satan over the fake ‘life and essence’ that satan introduced to mankind. The LORD enters the ring with a winner – a man who rejects satan’s definition of life. Job is not real; the LORD Jesus Christ is. He is the man who said no to this fake life so that those who accept the gift of the LORD can also begin to live like Him. We don’t want to lose this thought.
Isaiah 53:10 sums it up well: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.” See the outcome of the suffering Servant and that of Job. “My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly…” Job 42:8b
This book isn’t about Job but about God’s son – the Son. We must keep this tab open!
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