JOB LESSON 29


     We will begin this lesson in Job 30:1 "But now [they that are]
younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have
disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock."

     In the last lesson, we saw a description of the life of Job
before Satan attacked him. Now in this lesson, we see the depths to
which he had fallen. Job was disgraced in front of the young people
and the people of low character.

     Job 30:2 "Yea, whereto [might] the strength of their hands
[profit] me, in whom old age was perished?"

     The people, who had come to help Job, were no help at all. They
needed help themselves. It appears, his help was from feeble people.
Perhaps, they were not just feeble in age, but in ability to help.

     Job 30:3 "For want and famine [they were] solitary; fleeing into
the wilderness in former time desolate and waste."

     People who were starving to death did not have the energy to
speak. They sat alone, until they were gone. They had gone into the
wilderness to eat roots, or any berries they might find there. Job had
helped the desolate people before, but was now desolate himself.

     Job 30:4 "Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots
[for] their meat."

     These mallows show the extremity of their need. These plants were
bitter to the taste, but had some nourishment in them. They had no
choice but to eat them, if they wanted to live.

     Job 30:5 "They were driven forth from among [men], (they cried
after them as [after] a thief;)"

     This shows the complete helplessness of a tribe of people, who
must listen to the people who own the land. They were desolate with no
where to go. They were driven from place to place, as a thief would
be.

     Job 30:6 "To dwell in the cliffs of the valleys, [in] caves of
the earth, and [in] the rocks."

     When I read of this, my mind goes to David who dwelled in the
cliffs and caves, when he was running from Saul. He dwelt in these
secret places to keep Saul from killing him, but he dwelt there, also,
to keep his men from killing Saul. The places mentioned were hiding
places for those on the run.

     Job 30:7 "Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they
were gathered together."

     They huddled together for safety. Their speech was so
unintelligible, that they sounded like asses braying.

     Job 30:8  "[They were] children of fools, yea, children of base
men: they were viler than the earth."

     These were some of the people with the very worst character of
anyone that Job had ever known. They were not only evil themselves,
but their fathers before them had been evil, as well.

     Job 30:9 "And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword."
Job 30:10 "They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit
in my face."

     Even these people, who were of the vilest in the earth, had begun
to ridicule Job. They had no respect at all for him, and even spit in
his face to show their disgust of him. They thought of Job as someone
even more vile than they were themselves. There are many types and
shadows of Job as Christ here. They spit on Jesus. They reviled Him
and hated Him, as well. Job was in very good company.

     Job 30:11 "Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they
have also let loose the bridle before me."

     He, in the verse above, is speaking of God. Job still believed
that this terrible attack upon him had come from God. I guess, in a
sense, it did. He allowed Satan to do this to Job as a test to see if
Job would remain loyal to God through it all. The enemies of Job had
freedom to attack Job, too.

     Job 30:12 "Upon [my] right [hand] rise the youth; they push away
my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction."

     This was speaking of a group of youth who had gathered like a
gang, and taunted Job. They tried to trip him when he walked by them,
and they put obstacles in his path that took great pain to go around.
They showed no respect at all for Job. He was the laughing stock of
the town.

     Job 30:13 "They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they
have no helper."

     These gangs of young men, who were no more than delinquents
themselves, tried to stop Job in every step he took. They had no
authority to do this. They were just trouble makers.

     Job 30:14 "They came [upon me] as a wide breaking in [of waters]:
in the desolation they rolled themselves [upon me]."

     This was speaking of a mighty force of water, as when a dam
breaks. It appears, when no one was looking, they actually attacked
Job physically.

     Job 30:15 "Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the
wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud."

     All of this terrible treatment by these gangs of young boys,
coupled with the shame and disgrace that Job was feeling, had him
terrified. It seems, that no one was interested in the welfare of Job.

     Job 30:16 "And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of
affliction have taken hold upon me."

     This was just saying that the afflictions of Job had been so
great, that he had lost his will to live. His affliction was so great,
that he could think of nothing else.

     Job 30:17 "My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my
sinews take no rest."

     In the particular disease that many believed that Job had here,
the pain in the joints and in the bones was almost unbearable at
night. This was not just a skin disease.

     Job 30:18 "By the great force [of my disease] is my garment
changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat."

     His garments were changed, because of the discharge these sores
gave off. He had  changed often. Even at that, the clothes clung to
these sores. The mention of the collar of a coat being tight meant
that these disease soaked clothes clung to his body very tightly.

     Job 30:19 "He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like
dust and ashes."

     Job believed that God had discarded him. He sat in ashes and
prayed.

     Job 30:20 "I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand
up, and thou regardest me [not]."

     Job said that whether he was sitting in the ashes or standing up,
God did not hear his prayer. Job knew that his only help was through
the LORD. He cried to God, but seemed to get no answers.

     Job 30:21 "Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou
opposest thyself against me."

     What was happening to Job was a cruel thing. What made it even
more cruel was that he believed God was doing this. He could not
understand why this was happening. It was as if the hand of God was
against him.

     Job 30:22 "Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to
ride [upon it], and dissolvest my substance."

     The very thing that Job had said would happen to the wicked man
had happened to him. Job knew that he was not wicked. He felt that God
had tossed him into the air as a fallen leaf would be, and blown who
knows where. All of the wonderful things that God had given him had
vanished away.

     Job 30:23 "For I know [that] thou wilt bring me [to] death, and
[to] the house appointed for all living."

     Job was aware that it was God who controlled how long a person
lived and where they went after death of the body. He was making the
statement that all men, good and evil, die. The body of flesh was not
made to live forever.

     Job 30:24 "Howbeit he will not stretch out [his] hand to the
grave, though they cry in his destruction."

     This is an unusual Scripture. I believe that even though they
cried over the destruction of the body, God would not stop death from
coming.

     Job 30:25 "Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was [not]
my soul grieved for the poor?"

     Job had wept for the poor, and God had heard. Job had been a
compassionate man.

     Job 30:26 "When I looked for good, then evil came [unto me]: and
when I waited for light, there came darkness."

     Job thought he knew God. He looked for nothing but good from God.
He was not expecting calamity. He daily walked in the Light of God
that the Word of God teaches, and darkness came to him unexpectedly.
He was not aware of the conversation that had gone on in heaven
between God and Satan. Job was having difficulty understanding why all
of this had happened.

     Job 30:27 "My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of
affliction prevented me."

     Job had been living in divine health, and this terrible disease
came upon him. He got no sleep or rest day or night. The pain from the
disease made him feel as if there was a fire within him that would not
be quenched.

     Job 30:28 "I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, [and] I
cried in the congregation."

     Job put on the clothes of mourning, he fasted, he sat in ashes
and threw them upon his head. He even cried aloud in the congregation,
without any answer from God.

     Job 30:29 "I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls."

     Dragons are associated with the evil ones. Owls are settled in
desolate places. His cry was loud and shrill. Perhaps, it was speaking
of the crying out of Job.

     Job 30:30 "My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with
heat."

     At the very beginning of his sorrows, he sat for seven days out
in the heat in a bed of ashes. That was enough to turn him black from
the sun. This burning in the bones was, possibly, pain wracking him
from within. He, probably, was running a pretty high temperature, as
well.

     Job 30:31 "My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my organ
into the voice of them that weep."

     Job had rejoiced greatly in the LORD, before this calamity came
upon him. He had played his harp and sang songs of praise and worship,
before this attack upon him. Now, he had lain the harp down, and began
moaning instead. His moaning was accompanied with weeping. The voice
that had sung such high praises to God, now could do nothing, but moan
and cry.


































                           Job 29 Questions


1.  Job said he was disgraced in front of whom?
2.  What was the condition of the people in verse 3?
3.  What were mallows?
4.  They were driven from place to place, as a ________ would be.
5.  Where did they dwell for safety?
6.  They huddled together for __________.
7.  Who did Job call them in verse 8?
8.  Even these people, who were the vilest in the earth, had begun to
    ___________ Job.
9.  What had they done to Job to show their utter disgust?
10. Job, in this instance, was a type and shadow of _________.
11. Who is "He" in verse 11?
12. Job believed this terrible attack upon him had come from ______.
13. Verse 12 was speaking of whom?
14. What did they try to do to Job?
15. What did the author call the young men in the gangs?
16. What caused the terror of Job?
17. Where was a great deal of Job's pain from this disease?
18. Why did Job's garments have to be changed often?
19. What was the worst of the cruelty mentioned in verse 21?
20. Who had Job said would have the very problems that he was having?
21. _______ controls how long a person lives.
22. Job had been a ___________ man.
23. Job's disease made him feel as if what was happening to him?
24. What had Job done to show his deep sorrow about what was happening
    to him?
25. Why was Job's skin black?