JOB LESSON 10


     We will begin this lesson in Job 10:1 "My soul is weary of my
life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the
bitterness of my soul."

     Job begins this by saying, that he really did not want to live in
the pain and suffering. His worst pain was that of his heart feeling
that he might have displeased God. He was sick in his soul with
bitterness toward his hopeless life.

     Job 10:2 "I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me
wherefore thou contendest with me."

     Job wanted to know what God had condemned him for, that he might
repent. He loved God so much that he wanted to be back in fellowship
with God. I do not believe that Job even cared about all of the
wealth. His hurt was that he might have unknowingly offended God.

     Job 10:3  "[Is it] good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress,
that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon
the counsel of the wicked?"

     Job believed that God was oppressing him, who had spent his time
doing the will of God, and had let the wicked go free. Job had no idea
what was going on.

     Job 10:4 "Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?"

     Job was expressing the superiority of God to man, here. His eyes
were not as those of man. God sees into the heart of man. Man can only
see the physical. God sees into the heart and soul, as well as the
physical.  He is above man, and His judgements are above man's.

     Job 10:5  "[Are] thy days as the days of man? [are] thy years as
man's days,"

     Of course, the answer to this is no. God is eternal. Man's days
are numbered. Most of mankind can expect to live about 70 years on the
earth. God is forever. He is the Beginning and the Ending.

     Job 10:6 "That thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest
after my sin?" Job 10:7 "Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and [there
is] none that can deliver out of thine hand."

     In the very same statement that Job said God inquirest of Job's
iniquity, he said God knew that he was not wicked. The heart of Job
was pure. Job, also, knew that not anyone could deliver him out of the
hands of God.

     Job 10:8 "Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together
round about; yet thou dost destroy me." Job 10:9 "Remember, I beseech
thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into
dust again?"

     Job was aware that he was no more than putty in the hands of the
LORD. The LORD made him, and the LORD could destroy that clay, and
start again. Job was saying in this, "I am in your hands to do with as
you wish". The Creator can do with His creation as He wishes.

     Job 10:10 "Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me
like cheese?" Job 10:11 "Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and
hast fenced me with bones and sinews."

     Job was fully aware that God started with a shapeless form and
made him. His skin and flesh were brought on to the bones that God had
formed. He was but a clay doll, until God breathed the breath of life
into him. His body, spirit, and soul were all from God.

     Job 10:12 "Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy
visitation hath preserved my spirit."

     Job using words like "granted" showed that he knew his very
existence was of God. He looked back with appreciation to the
wonderful life he had before, and realized it was by the grace of God.

     Job 10:13 "And these [things] hast thou hid in thine heart: I
know that this [is] with thee."

     This is speaking of the foreknowledge of God, who knows
everything even before it happens. Job was not complaining to God
about his troubles, but was saying that God knew about them.

     Job 10:14 "If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not
acquit me from mine iniquity."

     Job had been fully aware that the wages of sin was death. He was
careful to sacrifice for his children in the chance that they might
have sinned. He was fully aware of the penalty for sin. He tried to
live a righteous life.

     Job 10:15 "If I be wicked, woe unto me; and [if] I be righteous,
[yet] will I not lift up my head. [I am] full of confusion; therefore
see thou mine affliction;"

     Job was confused, because he knew he was not a wicked man. He was
willing to accept punishment for sins that he committed. He did not
quite understand, if God said he was righteous, why he must pay for
sins he did not commit. In this, again, he was a type of Christ who
paid the price for sin, on the cross, for everyone of us, when He had
not sinned.

     Job 10:16 "For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion:
and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me."

     Job's disease did not get any better, it just seemed to get worse
every day. The sufferings of Job were not just ordinary diseases of
their day. They were marvellous in that they were unknown.

     Job 10:17 "Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest
thine indignation upon me; changes and war [are] against me."

     It seemed to Job that everything was happening to him at once.
His animals and servants were lost in a war of sorts. His own friends
had witnessed against him. The indignation of God seemed to be upon
him, because his plight was worse and worse.

     Job 10:18 "Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the
womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!"
Job 10:19 "I should have been as though I had not been; I should have
been carried from the womb to the grave."

     This was just another way of saying, "Why was I ever born"?

     Job 10:20  "[Are] not my days few? cease [then, and] let me
alone, that I may take comfort a little,"

     Job felt that he was near death and he wished that God would let
him die now, and stop some of this suffering. He was asking God to
shorten his life.

     Job 10:21 "Before I go [whence] I shall not return, [even] to the
land of darkness and the shadow of death;"

     Job was not speaking of heaven, here, but of the darkness of the
grave. He was even thinking that God might have found wrong in him so
great, that he would go to hell, when he died.

     Job 10:22 "A land of darkness, as darkness [itself; and] of the
shadow of death, without any order, and [where] the light [is] as
darkness."

     It was almost as if Job was saying, if I am going to hell where
there is no light and all is total confusion, why delay it? Just let
me go on, and get this over with.
















                           Job 10 Questions


1.  How did Job begin this chapter?
2.  What was his worst pain?
3.  Job wanted to know what God had _________ him for.
4.  What did Job really care about, if it was not the loss of his
    wealth?
5.  Who did Job believe was oppressing him?
6.  What did Job call himself in verse 3?
7.  Quote Job chapter 10 verse 4.
8.  What is the answer to those questions?
9.  What can God see, that man cannot see?
10. God is ________.
11. What is the approximate life span of mankind?
12. In verse 7, Job said, "Thou knowest I am not _________".
13. Job was aware that he was no more than ______ in the hands of the
    LORD.
14. The Creator can do with His __________ as He wishes.
15. What did Job say that God started with, when he made him?
16. What does "granted", in verse 12, show?
17. Verse 13 is speaking of the _________ of God.
18. If I sin, then thou __________ me.
19. The wages of sin is _________.
20. If I be wicked, ______ unto me.
21. Job was confused because he knew he was not a _________ man.
22. How was he a type of Christ, here?
23. Thou huntest me as a fierce _________.
24. It seemed that Job felt that everything was happening to him ___
    ________.
25. In verse 21 and 22, what is this place of darkness?