Hello dear readers! How are you doing today? Today’s bible study is on the chapter of Job 7 – Job’s Suffering Is Comfortless. According to Bible scholars, the events of the book of Job took place approximately before 2100 B.C.
I encourage you to turn to Job 7 in your Bible. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read and study Job 7 with me. I mention this in all the Bible Studies because it is through the Holy Spirit that we get fresh revelations. Without Him, it is quite difficult to do a bible study especially on complex books such as Job. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you want to know. All the scriptures that you find highlighted in purple in this post are from the NKJV.
In the Bible Study on Job 6, we read about how Job justified his complaint to his friends. Well, in this Bible study on Job 7, we will read about Job’s discourse on how he finds no comfort in his suffering. Job lets all his frustration out in this chapter and he laments his situation.
Without any further delay, let us begin the Bible Study on Job 7.
How Long Should Man Suffer?
1 “Is there not a time of hard service for man on earth?
Are not his days also like the days of a hired man?
2 Like a servant who earnestly desires the shade,
And like a hired man who eagerly looks for his wages,
In Verses 1-2 of Job 7, Job questions the length of man’s service – especially hard labour. He likens the days of man’s life to that of a hired man at work. A servant who works so hard in the field desires to rest in the shade of trees at the end of his workday. And a hired man eagerly looks for his wages at the end of the day (day wages). And Job likens himself to the servant and the hired man. Now that he is facing the toughest trial (which Job likens to hard service) of his life, he is looking for shade and his wages. In short, Job is looking for some relief and rest from his situation.
Job’s Troublesome Nights
3 So I have been allotted months of futility,
And wearisome nights have been appointed to me.
4 When I lie down, I say, ‘When shall I arise,
And the night be ended?’
For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn.
5 My flesh is caked with worms and dust,
My skin is cracked and breaks out afresh.
In Verses 3-5 of Job 7, Job laments that he has been allotted futile months and troublesome nights. Job is so covered with boils that lying down is useless for he cannot get a moment’s sleep nor rest because his flesh is caked with worms and dust. And, his skin continued to break out afresh with boils and worms began to creep in them. Hence, rightfully, as a human, Job is in utter torment and he neither finds rest during the day nor night. No human can handle what he is going through (except God in the flesh – Jesus). Anyone in his place would like to be done with the trial.
Job Talks About The Shortness Of His Life
6 “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
And are spent without hope.
7 Oh, remember that my life is a breath!
My eye will never again see good.
8 The eye of him who sees me will see me no more;
While your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be.
9 As the cloud disappears and vanishes away,
So he who goes down to the grave does not come up.
10 He shall never return to his house,
Nor shall his place know him anymore.
In Verses 6-8 of Job 7, Job talks about the swiftness of his days because they are hopeless. He compares his life to a breath which has no guarantee and is short lived and declares that he will never see any good again.
He also tells that the eyes of those who see him will never see him again. Morever, while their eyes are upon him, he will die. In Verses 9-10 of Job 7, Job compares the clouds in the sky that disappears to the dead man and the grave. A dead man shall never return to his house and his place shall not know the dead man anymore. Here the sky is the metaphor for the house and the cloud is the dead man. The cloud in the sky is never permanent in one place. Once, it changes form or moves, the sky does not remember the cloud which was once present in that particular location. In one moment, we can see the cloud and the next moment it is not there. It is fleeting and man’s life is a passing cloud.
Through these verses we see Job’s utter distress. He has totally given up on life and hope. According to Job, all was lost.
Job Unrestrains His Words
11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
In Verse 11 of Job 7, Job declares that he will not restrain his mouth anymore and he will speak in the anguish of his spirit and he will continue to complain because his soul was bitter.
Job Loathes His Life
12 Am I a sea, or a sea serpent,
That You set a guard over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
My couch will ease my complaint,’
14 Then You scare me with dreams
And terrify me with visions,
15 So that my soul chooses strangling
And death rather than my body.
16 I loathe my life;
I would not live forever.
Let me alone,
For my days are but a breath.
In Verses 12-14 of Job 7, Job questions God as to why He has set a guard over Job as if he were as powerful as the sea or the sea serpent (Leviathan). He also tells that God scared him with dreams and terrifying visions when he went to lie down in his bed or his couch. Because of all these terrifying dreams and visions coupled with his hopeless situation and suffering, Job says that his soul has chosen strangling and death rather than the will to continue to live. He chose death rather than life.
In Verse 16, Job openly declares that he loathes his life and he would not live forever. In fact, he wants his suffering to end right then, at that very moment. He asks God to leave him alone as his days are as short as a breath.
Observation
Job is like any other human being. When humans face trials, they automatically question God. However, Job was undergoing an extreme trial, (the toughest trial of his life and probably even the toughest that any human in his time had faced). And in his human nature he questions God. He speaks about his frailty as a human (he points out that he is not as powerful as the sea nor the sea serpent). He asks why something as frail as a human life, which is short as a breath, should endure this much suffering.
Job Questions God
17 “What is man, that You should exalt him,
That You should set Your heart on him,
18 That You should visit him every morning,
And test him every moment?
19 How long?
Will You not look away from me,
And let me alone till I swallow my saliva?
20 Have I sinned?
What have I done to You, O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target,
So that I am a burden to myself?
21 Why then do You not pardon my transgression,
And take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust,
And You will seek me diligently,
But I will no longer be.”
In Verses 17-21 of Job 7, Job questions God. He asks God what is man, that God exalts man and sets His heart on man. Why should He visit man every morning and test him every moment. The man in this case, refers to Job himself. Man is precious to God because he is created in His image. No other creation is created in God’s image except man. That is why man is so important to God. And creation didn’t just happen like that. He chose to create man in His image. And why did God create man in His image? To be one big family and also to have dominion over the earth that He created.
How Long, God?
In Verse 19, Job asks How long to God. This particular sentence “How long (God)?” resonates with me and I am sure with most of us. We might have found ourselves asking this when we saw evil triumph over good or even during dry seasons of our lives.
He yearns for God to look away from him and let him in peace. In Verse 20 of Job 7, Job questions if he has sinned and what is his sin. He asks what has he done to God. He refers to God as the watcher of men here.
In Verse 20 Job continues to ask why has He set Job as a target and now he has become a burden to himself.
In Verse 21 of Job 7, he continues to ask God why doesn’t He pardon his iniquities and take it away from him. And finally Job says, he will lie in the dust and God will not find him even if He seeks him diligently.
Observation – Verse 20
When Job asks why has God set him as a target, little does he know that he is Satan’s target, not God’s. God has his eyes on the righteous and boasts about the righteous in front of Satan. One might ask, why should God boast about the righteous to Satan? Because man is a created being and God is the Creator. He is pleased with man that he is righteous and obeys Him. On the other hand, Satan is also a created being but rebellious and broke all rules and set himself against God.
Hence, God boasts about the righteous man in His eyes (not righteous according to what the world says) to prove to Satan that not all created beings are rebellious against God like satan. Whereas, satan goes to the courts of God to bring legal cases against man. He does this to prove to God that man is not as righteous as God thinks. In short, satan wants to prove to God that even a righteous man sins against God and is rebellious and not very different from satan himself. And that is why he goes to the courts of God. It was during one of the court events that God boasted about Job to satan.
Comments On Job Questioning God
Some of us might feel the urge to judge Job for questioning God (how dare He questions God) or we might complain that he is lamenting too much about his condition instead of trusting in God. Most of the chapters of the book of Job are about Job’s lamentation and questioning. However, no one can truly understand his trial and suffering except himself. Job’s questioning is between Job and God. And the way he questions God shows that he must have had a deeper relationship with God in order to have the right and courage to go to Him and ask Him such questions.
Afterall, it is human nature during trials, to question God for answers. Because only God has all the answers.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of Job 7. I must admit that this was a difficult chapter to do a bible study on as most of it is self-explanatory and also it is intense. We can literally feel the depth of Job’s distress and desperation for his suffering to end in this chapter.
I hope you enjoyed this Bible study on Job 7 and found it useful. As usual, if you have any comments or even any fresh revelations on this chapter as the Holy Spirit guides you, feel free to write them in comments section below.
Until Next Time!