JOB LESSON 6
We will begin this lesson in 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!"
In this, Job gave his answer to the accusations of Eliphaz. Job
felt that he was being unjustly judged by his friends. They had not
suffered the great loss that he had, and there was no way for them to
understand his grief. The amount of his grief was understandable, if
you weighed it against the calamities that had happened.
Job 6:3 "For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea:
therefore my words are swallowed up."
Job said that some of his statements might have been a little
rash. His troubles were more than the weight of all the sand of the
sea, however. His words were but nothing covered by the calamities.
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."
His greatest wound in all of this was in his heart. He felt that
the Almighty had taken his spirit. He was fully aware that all of this
had to be allowed by the Almighty. His heart was broken, because he
had loved the Almighty with everything he was.
Job 6:5 "Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or loweth the
ox over his fodder?"
Now, this was an explanation of his complaining. He had never
complained before, because he had nothing to complain about. The
answer to the question above is no. The wild ass brays when he is
hungry, and there is no food. The ox lows when their is no fodder to
eat. Now, that everything is taken away from Job, he cried out in pain
for what used to be.
Job 6:6 "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is
there [any] taste in the white of an egg?"
The flavor of food is enhanced by the salt on it. The whites of
eggs do not have any flavor. His life had lost its pleasantness, as
well. The loss of his children had taken the joy out of his life. This
disease had caused his life to be a dread, and nothing pleasant.
Job 6:7 "The things [that] my soul refused to touch [are] as my
sorrowful meat."
We see that Job was explaining his terrible life now, but was,
also, answering Eliphaz who had no right to judge him.
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!"
Eliphaz had spoken of God granting long life to those who loved
God. That was the very thing that Job did not want. It would be no
life at all, without his health, and his children to share it.
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 knew that he would be in heaven with his LORD, if he died,
because he had not denied Him. It appears, that Job had spread the
good news of God. He had never hidden his belief in God. Notice, the
change of the name that Job called God, here. The Holy One means that
he recognized the holiness of God. He knew there was a reason for
everything that was happening, and that as bad as it was, it was the
right thing for Job.
Job 6:11 "What [is] my strength, that I should hope? and what
[is] mine end, that I should prolong my life?"
Job realized that he was very ill. He knew that all of his
strength was gone. Why would he want to live in a body filled with
sickness?
Job 6:12 "[Is] my strength the strength of stones? or [is] my
flesh of brass?"
Job could not pretend that his body would be as strong as a rock,
or his flesh as brass. He was sick, and his flesh was weak.
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."
He had received no help from his friends. They wanted him to help
himself. True friends should be comforters, not an accusers. True
friends would have known Job well enough, to know that he was not
involved in sin. They should have believed in Job. They did not. They
brought railing accusations against him. We say they, because Eliphaz
was speaking for all three of them. Job had not forsaken the fear of
the Almighty, but if he had, they still could have shown him some
trust and love, instead of joining the crowd who criticized him.
Job 6:15 "My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, [and] as
the stream of brooks they pass away;"
Their friendship for him had left like the water in a brook flows
to a lower place. It was not stable, but went 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."
This was another way of expressing their transient loyalty to
him. When the ice is frozen it stays right there. When trouble comes
{it waxes warm}, it melts and runs off. Their friendship could not
stand the heat of this time.
Job 6:18 "The paths of their way are turned aside; they go to
nothing, and perish."
Job was calling them good-time friends. Their friendship
dissolved at the very first sign of trouble.
Job 6:19 "The troops of Tema looked, the companies of Sheba
waited for them."
The troops of Tema were speaking of Arabs, descended from
Ishmael. They were nomads. They were here today, and gone tomorrow.
The troops did not all go in at once. Sheba waited behind.
Job 6:20 "They were confounded because they had hoped; they came
thither, and were ashamed."
Job had looked for friends who loved him, and would stand beside
him. He was ashamed of his friends, when they did not stand beside him
in his sorrow. These caravans came to sell, and were disappointed when
their benefactor was no more.
Job 6:21 "For now ye are nothing; ye see [my] casting down, and
are afraid."
As far as Job was concerned these so-called friends were nothing
in his eyes. They stood against Job for fear they might be
incriminated.
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?"
The answer to all of this was no. He had not asked for any help
at all from them, even though everything had been taken from him. He
did not even ask for them to intervene with the Almighty for him. They
had come of their own freewill with no comfort for Job in the
physical, or in the spiritual sense.
Job 6:24 "Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to
understand wherein I have erred."
Now, Job told them, if he was wrong about them, he would say no
more. He could not understand what he had done to cause their
friendship to not mean more to them.
Job 6:25 "How forcible are right words! but what doth your
arguing reprove?"
Had they spoken truth, he would have gladly listened. They had
done nothing to help. They had just given him less hope, than he had
before they came.
Job 6:26 "Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one
that is desperate, [which are] as wind?"
He wanted to know just exactly what he had done, that they knew
of, that would have given the impression he was a sinner man? It
seems, they were not blaming him for his actions, but for his words.
Job 6:27 "Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig [a pit]
for your friend."
This was a way Job had of expressing their lack of feeling for
those in need. They had given him no way out. They had already dug his
grave in their thoughts.
Job 6:28 "Now therefore be content, look upon me; for [it is]
evident unto you if I lie."
Job was saying they should know in their own hearts, that he was
telling them the truth.
Job 6:29 "Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return
again, my righteousness [is] in it."
It is as if Job was telling them to start all over again, and
examine this. They would find that this was not because of any
iniquity in Job's life. Job reminded them that he had lived righteous
before the LORD. If they had taken the time to check all of this out,
before they started their criticism, they would have known he had done
nothing to deserve this.
Job 6 Questions
1. Oh that my grief were ___________ weighed?
2. What was Job doing in this chapter?
3. Why could his friends not understand his grief?
4. How could you understand his great grief?
5. He compared the weight of his grief with what?
6. The arrows of the __________ were within him.
7. What was his greatest wound?
8. Doth the wild ass ________ when he hath grass?
9. What is verse 5 explaining?
10. The flavor of food is enhanced by ________.
11. What had taken the joy of Job's life away?
12. What was the desire of Job, in verse 9?
13. It would be no life for Job without what two things?
14. When did Job feel he would have comfort?
15. What question did he ask in verse 11?
16. What strong things did he compare his strength to in verse 12?
17. Where did his friends expect him to get help from?
18. True friends should be _________.
19. Eliphaz was speaking for whom?
20. What did Job compare the friends deceit with in verse 15?
21. What were verses 16 and 17 describing?
22. What was Job calling his friends in verse 18?
23. Who were the troops of Tema?
24. What did he call them in verse 21?
25. What questions did he ask them in verses 22 and 23?
26. What was the answer to those questions?
27. What did Job say he would do, if he was wrong about them?
28. Had they spoken truth, he would have gladly _________.
29. What specific sin could they accuse him of?
30. What should these friends have done, before they started their
criticism?
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