JOB LESSON 7


     We will begin this lesson in Job 7:1  "[Is there] not an
appointed time to man upon earth? [are not] his days also like the
days of an hireling?"

     We know that it is God who determines how long each of us lives.
He allots the amount of time He gives us to accomplish the things we
have been assigned to do, as well.  A hireling is someone who is hired
to do a specific job.

     Job 7:2 "As a servant earnestly desireth the shadow, and as an
hireling looketh for [the reward of] his work:"

     The servant was waiting until nightfall to rest. The hireling was
waiting until payday. He was waiting to be paid for the Job that was
finished.

     Job 7:3 "So am I made to possess months of vanity, and wearisome
nights are appointed to me."

     The months of vanity were speaking of months that accomplished
nothing. The wearisome nights were speaking of pain and suffering that
seems to be magnified at night.

     Job 7:4 "When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, and the
night be gone? and I am full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning
of the day."

     Job was speaking of the nights that seemed never to end. He
tossed all night long.

     Job 7:5 "My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; my
skin is broken, and become loathsome."

     His skin was so infected, that worms were in the sores. This was
speaking of the disease being so bad that the sores ran with puss. His
sores were so terrible, that he had begun to hate his own flesh.

     Job 7:6 "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are
spent without hope."

     The weaver,s shuttle spins rapidly. This was saying, that looking
back over his life seemed like it passed in a hurry. In comparison to
his long weary nights, his days were long. One day brought no more
hope of a cure for his disease than the day before.

     Job 7:7 "O remember that my life [is] wind: mine eye shall no
more see good."

     The wind comes and goes no one knows where. His days were like
that, also. He did not know when this would all end. He did not know
where this was leading. He was full of despair and believed that all
of his good times were over.

     Job 7:8 "The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no [more]:
thine eyes [are] upon me, and I [am] not."

     Job felt that he was near death. When death came, and they put
him in the grave, he would not be seen again on the earth.

     Job 7:9  "[As] the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he
that goeth down to the grave shall come up no [more]."

     Clouds appear for a moment in time, and then suddenly vanish
away. Job believed his life was the same way. He had no hope of living
again upon this earth.

     Job 7:10 "He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his
place know him any more."

     This is true of all who die upon the earth. The house you lived
in, will be inhabited by the next generation. You will have no need
for it anymore.

     Job 7:11 "Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; I will speak in
the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my
soul."

     Job had decided that since his life seemed to be so hopeless, he
would complain. He had not previously revealed his bitter feelings.
Now, he would open up, and reveal the hurt that he felt.

     Job 7:12  "[Am] I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch
over me?"

     Job was not an animal, or a sea that had no control over their
lives. He was a man with feelings. He was restrained as if he had no
thoughts, or feelings. He felt as if God had forgotten him.

     Job 7:13 "When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall
ease my complaint;" Job 7:14 "Then thou scarest me with dreams, and
terrifiest me through visions:"

     In the past, he had lain down at night and found peace and rest
in his own bed. The sickness in his body would not even allow him to
rest, when he lay down for the night. He had bad dreams that tormented
him, even in his sleep. His visions were even of evil things.

     Job 7:15 "So that my soul chooseth strangling, [and] death rather
than my life."

     He did not desire to live in this tormented state. Strangling was
thought of as a disgraceful way of dying, but he would have even
preferred that to living in this torment.

     Job 7:16 "I loathe [it]; I would not live alway: let me alone;
for my days [are] vanity."

     Man does not live in this body forever. Job wanted to know why he
could not just die now, and cut the time short.

     Job 7:17 "What [is] man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and
that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?"

     At this point, Job did not have much regard for his own self. He
could not imagine why God would love so wretched a creature as
himself. Job was saying that man was so useless that he could not
imagine why God would elevate him to be made in the image of God.

     Job 7:18 "And [that] thou shouldest visit him every morning,
[and] try him every moment?"

     Job was feeling that he had fallen short of the expectations of
God. Job was saying that man was under the eye of God every moment of
every day. It seems that any weakness in man is tried. It is as if man
is under inspection constantly. I think the problem is, that Job had
examined his past actions, and could not find what he had done wrong.
He actually thought that he had forgotten some sin he had committed,
and that God was holding him responsible for that sin.

     Job 7:19 "How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone
till I swallow down my spittle?"

     Job was asking God not to examine him every moment of every day.
He did not want God to leave him. He just wanted God to not examine
him quite as closely.

     Job 7:20 "I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou
preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that
I am a burden to myself?"

     Job realized that he had been singled out to mark. God had not
revealed to him the challenge Satan had put before Him pertaining to
Job. Notice, Job did not say what his sin was, because he did not know
what the sin was. It is as if he was saying, "If I have sinned, I am
sorry". I cannot go back and change the past. He was a burden to
himself.

     Job 7:21 "And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take
away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt
seek me in the morning, but I [shall] not [be]."

     Job was sure death was near. He wanted God to forgive him, so
that he could rest in peace when he died. Job knew that if he did sin,
which he was not sure he did, God is a forgiving God. Job was saying,
that God would stop this chastisement sometime, but he would,
probably, already be dead, when He did stop it. This was a man in
great despair.


                            Job 7 Questions


1.  The days of man on earth are ___________.
2.  His days are like the days of a _________.
3.  What is a hireling?
4.  What does a hireling look for?
5.  What were the months of vanity speaking of?
6.  Why were the nights wearisome for Job?
7.  In verse 5, we see that his flesh was clothed with _________.
8.  His disease had become so terrible, that he hated his ______
    ______.
9.  When Job looked back over his life, it seemed to have passed in a
    ________.
10. Why was his life compared to the wind?
11. In verse 8, Job felts as if he was near ________.
12. How is he compared to a cloud?
13. In verse 10, we see that the house he used to live in, would now
    be inhabited by the ______ __________.
14. How had Job found peace in his past life?
15. Why had Job decided to complain?
16. Job did not desire to live in this ____________ state.
17. Why was strangling mentioned?
18. What questions did Job ask God in verse 17?
19. Job felt that he had fallen short of the __________ of God.
20. What was Job asking for in verse 19?
21. What had God not revealed to Job?
22. Why did Job not say what his sin was?
23. Why did Job want God to pardon his transgressions?
24. If Job had sinned, Job knew God is a ________ God.
25. Job knew God would stop the chastisement sometime, but believe he
    would be _________ by that time.