WWUTT 879 Job 31?

Today we consider Job's last words at the end of his discourse, Job chapter 31, and what he shares here, though he is speaking in lament, is a great guide for Christian living when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily study of God's word, that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Well, as you can probably tell, my voice is getting better.

I'm now waking up in the morning without a deeply sore throat, so I know things are improving. Still a little bit congested, though, so I hope you'll bear with me as we do today's lesson.

In our Old Testament study, we are in Job chapter 31. This is the last chapter of Job's discourse before Elihu speaks up in chapter 32, and then

God speaks, starting in chapter 38. Now what I'm going to do today is read through all of chapter 31, and then we'll go back through it and look at it piece by piece.

But before getting into this, I want to present it to you in this way. Job chapter 31 is for men.

What Proverbs 31 is for women. Some of you will understand what

I mean by that. Let's begin. Job chapter 31, starting in verse 1. I have made a covenant with my eyes.

How then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above, and my heritage from the

Almighty on high? Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

Does not he see my ways, and number all my steps? If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hastened to deceit, let me be weighed in a just balance, and let

God know my integrity. If my step has turned aside from the way, and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, then let me sow and another eat, and let what grows for me be rooted out.

If my heart has been enticed toward a woman, and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door, then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down on her, for that would be a heinous crime, that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for that would be a fire that consumes as far as a badden, and it would burn to the root all my increase.

If I have rejected the cause of my manservant, or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me, what then shall

I do when God rises up, when he makes inquiry, what shall

I answer him? Did not he who made me in the womb make him, and did not one fashion us in the womb?

If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it, for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother's womb

I guided the widow. If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless because I saw my help in the gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket, for I was in terror of calamity from God, and I could not have faced his majesty.

If I have made gold my trust, or called fine gold my confidence, if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant, or because my hand had found much, if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.

If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exalted when evil overtook him,

I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse. If the men of my tent have not said,

Who is there that has not been filled with his meat? The sojourner has not lodged in the street,

I have opened my doors to the traveler. If I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my heart, because I stood in great fear of the multitude, and the contempt of families terrified me, so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors, oh, that I had one to hear me, here is my signature, let the almighty answer me, oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary, surely

I would carry it on my shoulder, I would bind it on me as a crown, I would give him an account of all my steps, like a prince

I would approach him. If my land has cried out against me, and its furrows have wept together, if I have eaten its yield without payment, and made its owners breed their last, let thorns grow instead of wheat, and foul weeds instead of barley, the words of Job are ended.

Now I'm reading this out of the English Standard Bible, of course you know

I follow the English Standard Translation, and specifically I'm reading out of the Study Bible, I'm actually rather disappointed at the limited notes that I have at the bottom of my

Bible related to what we just read in Job 31, because this is a rich chapter.

Now I will say that probably the most beneficial thing for reading Job 31 would not be to have study notes at the bottom, but rather cross references, because there are numerous things that are said here in this chapter that you will find all over the wisdom books, whether it be

Psalms, Proverbs, or Ecclesiastes, even Song of Solomon. We have multiple places where these words in Job 31 are even found in the other wisdom books.

I have had a desire to want to take this chapter, Job 31, and all 40 verses and make a men's

Bible study out of it. Some of you who've read a couple of my books, you probably know I like 40,

I like doing things in increments of 40. So doing a 40 -day study, men's study, with Job 31 and using each one verse, each singular verse as kind of a different, you know, a different day, a different lesson to be studied in that particular men's study.

Anyway, so we come back to Job 31, starting in verse 1, Job says, I have made a covenant with my eyes, how then could

I gaze at a virgin? Let's understand what Job means when he says he makes a covenant with his eyes, means he makes an agreement or a pact.

He has committed that he will not look lustfully upon another woman.

That's simply what he has said. That's the context of this in particular. But we must always have a guard over our eyes, that even with our eyes, the things that we look at or the things that we gaze at, what we would look longingly at would not be anything of this world, whether it be the lust of the flesh or the desire of the eyes and other things, even riches and bounty, which

Job talks about later on in this chapter. Psalm 103 says, I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me.

May we make that same commitment with our heart, that our eyes would look for the things of God and not to the things of this world that may lead our flesh astray.

Jesus said that the eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness?

That's Matthew 6, verses 22 and 23. And so we must commit ourselves, even our eyes, to look upon things that are pleasing unto

God. And here in Job 31, Job is saying that he lives in fear of the

Almighty so that even the things that he looks at or commits his mind to or does with his hands, as he will go on through the rest of the chapter, he does in the fear of God, knowing that he has a judge in heaven who is watching all of his actions and has numbered all of his steps and he will have to give an account before the

Lord someday. Job is recognizing that in this chapter. I have made a covenant with my eyes.

How then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the

Almighty on high? Is not calamity for the unrighteous and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

Again, Job is recognizing judgment comes upon those who do evil and to lust after another that is not his wife is to do evil before God.

Does not he God see my ways and number all my steps?

Now when we read a phrase like that, that God numbers my steps, there are some that will say, well, God just knows the number of our steps will know.

Back in Job 14, Job said that God has determined every day of man and a and he has set a man's limits that he cannot pass.

God has determined these things. Psalm 139 16 in your book were written every one of my days when as yet there was none of them before even one of our days came to be before we were born.

God had already determined every single one of our days. God has numbered our steps and his eyes see all.

So let not our eyes gaze upon things that would incur the wrath of God.

Verse five, if I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit, let me be weighed in a just balance and let

God know my integrity. If my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot is stuck to my hands, then let me so and another eat.

Let what grows for me be rooted out. In other words, let me have nothing. Let me be the possessor of nothing.

If I have been chasing after things that are not of God, that are not godly, the start of this particular paragraph,

Job 31 five, if I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit,

I am reminded of Psalm one, the way the Psalms begin. Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the

Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. And surely, you know,

Psalm 119 105, a very popular verse that kids learn in Sunday school.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And surely you also know

Proverbs three, five and six trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding in all your ways.

Acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes.

Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

That's verses seven and eight. I threw in there as a bonus. All right, Job 31 nine. If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

Job comes back to to warning about lust here again. If my heart has been enticed toward a woman and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door, another man's wife, then let my wife grind for another and let others bow down on her.

So all the wonderful things that are about my wife, may I not get the pleasure of them.

May someone else be pleased with what my wife does. And we read about the godly woman in Proverbs 31.

So remember, I started off with what Proverbs 31 is for a woman.

Job 31 is for a man. Verse 11, for that would be a heinous crime.

That would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges. Adultery. Adultery is a heinous crime.

To be punished by the judges? Worse than that. To be punished by God Almighty. You know that the adulterous will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Jesus said so in the Sermon on the Mount. First Corinthians 6, 9 and 10 says the same thing.

We have it repeated again in the book of Revelation. That outside the kingdom of God are the adulterous.

So do not perish in this sin. Repent and follow God. Make a covenant with your eyes.

Do only that which is pleasing unto the Lord. Proverbs chapter 7. I don't have time to go all the way through Proverbs 7 in this particular lesson, but read that.

That is the warning against the adulterous men. You must know Proverbs 7 and take it to heart.

And then read Proverbs 8 where you get the blessings of wisdom. The wisdom that comes from God and his word.

It would be a heinous crime to fall into adultery. To chase after the passions of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

For that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon and it would burn to the root of all my increase.

Job knows there is great judgment that comes upon the one who revels in sexual immorality.

Verse 13. If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant, when they brought a complaint against me, what then shall

I do when God rises up? When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

Job is talking about having humility to be corrected, to receive correction.

It's really a brilliant question that he asks here. Job is a recognized figure.

People look at him, but his manservants and his maidservants aren't as recognized. They've got a lot to lose to come to Job and correct him in some behavior.

Who's to say Job won't get mad and fire them on the spot, or maybe even punish them somehow, physically beat them.

So they've got a lot to lose here, and it takes a lot of courage and consideration for Job for one of these manservants or maidservants to come to him and say, hey, you have sinned and you must correct this.

This is admonishing, correcting with goodwill. And Job is saying, if I won't even consider their cause when they bring a complaint against me, what shall

I do when God rises up? This is Proverbs 12, 1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns.

Did not he who made me in the womb, Job goes on in verse 15, did not he who made me in the womb make him and did not one fashion us in the womb?

In other words, my manservant and my maidservant, they are as much image bearers of God as I am.

And I come back also to Psalm 139, which I quoted earlier. Verse 13, for you formed my inward parts.

You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. So even though the status of Job and the status of his servants may be on two different levels, at least as far as the judgment of man is concerned, like when other people are looking at them, yet the servant was made in the image of God, just as Job was made in the image of God.

So if his servant is going to bring a cause to Job that he must consider, then he is receiving it from his fellow man, not from somebody who is less than he.

May we consider one another without partiality, especially when it comes to how we relate to one another in the church.

So we go on here. Verse 16, if I have withheld anything that the poor desired or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail or have eaten my morsel alone and the fatherless has not eaten of it.

For from my youth, the fatherless grew up with me as with a father and from my mother's womb,

I guided the widow. If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing or the needy without covering, if his body has not blessed me and he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder and let my arm be broken from its socket.

For I was in terror of calamity from God and I could not have faced his majesty.

This is Job simply saying that God has given me much and and so I must be charitable with that which

God has given to me. May I give to others who do not have as much? This is not socialism, by the way.

It's not the government taking from and then distributing to others. This is Job by his own free will deciding that he would help someone else that he would would be of benefit to others who do not have as much

Galatians 6 10. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

In 1 John 3 17, we read if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him.

How does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us love in let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

We go on verse 24, Job 31 24. If I have made gold, my trust or called fine gold, my confidence, if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much, if I have looked at the sun when it shone or the moon moving in splendor and my heart has been secretly enticed and my mouth has kissed my hand.

This also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.

And I think you understand simply what Job is saying here. May we not be enticed by the goods of this world so that it draws us away from God and into a snare, which

Paul told Timothy about in 1 Timothy chapter six. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

And by the way, that doesn't mean just rich people are evil. There are rich people who are actually very righteous, and there are poor people who are very evil because they desire money, though they don't have yet.

Even the poor can have a love of money, which becomes the root of all kinds of evil. Jesus said in Matthew 6, 24,

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God and money. And Job understands the weakness of the flesh here, the tendency that people have to love the world's goods rather than knowing that God is good.

Verse 29, If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me or exalted when evil overtook him,

I have not let my mouth sin by asking for his life with a curse. We read in Romans 12, 19,

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written,

Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. In Matthew 5, 44,

I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse. Verse 31, If the men of my tent have not said,

Who is there that has not been filled with his meat? The sojourner has not lodged in the street.

I have opened my doors to the traveler. So even those who are traveling or looking for a place to stay,

Job has been hospitable. If I have concealed my transgressions as others do, by hiding my iniquity in my heart, because I stood in great fear of the multitude and the contempt of families terrified me so that I kept silence and did not go out of doors.

Psalm 66, 18 says, David prays, If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the

Lord would not have listened. So when we try to conceal our sins, when we won't confess our sins, then we fear man and not

God. But yet we are told in James chapter 5, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

Job continues verse 35, Oh, that I had one to hear me. Here is my signature.

Let the almighty answer me. Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary.

So it's like Job is saying, if only Satan in this case, because Satan is his adversary,

Job chapters one and two. If only this indictment had been written down that I may take it to the

Lord and find out what it is that I need to do. May the Lord almighty answer me.

Surely I would carry it on my shoulder. I would bind it on me as a crown. I would give him an account of all my steps like a prince.

I would approach him. This is Job. We're kind of bringing things all together, bringing things to a close here because Job is about to be silent.

This is the end of his discourse. And he's saying, if only I knew what I had done for all of this calamity to come upon me the way that it has, then

I would surely do something about it. But I don't know what it is. If my land is cried out against me and its furrows have wept together, if I have eaten its yield without payment and made its owners breed their last, let thorns grow instead of wheat and foul weeds instead of barley.

And again, as Job brings this to a close, he is attempting to vindicate himself, which has its pluses and its minuses.

There are things that we can certainly glean from this that have wisdom to them, but then there are other ways in which

Job is kind of exalting himself. And we must be careful about that regarding ourselves before the

Lord, that we would be humble before God. We would confess our sins to him.

And we know that he would cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We must not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.

But with sober judgment, Romans 12, 3, the words of Job are ended.

And now with his discourse having come to a close, Elihu is going to speak up.

And that's where we're going to pick up in our study of Job next week. Job chapter 32. Let's conclude with prayer.

Oh, Lord, our God, I pray that we would consider these words that we've read here in Job 31 and that we would make a covenant with our eyes that we would not be led astray by any of the riches or temptations of this world, that we would consider one another's needs and be humble, that we would not have secret or hidden sins, but we would confess these things before you and be forgiven.

Lord, guide and direct our steps. And may all the glory be to your great name.