Context:
Because
the final speech of Job covers six chapters, we provide the following
structure to help the reader follow it:
26.
Job (9) Part 1: Attack - Rebuke of the ‘friends' for only God
knows the truth'
27.
Job (9) Part 2: Defence -
Job's Personal Integrity
& the fate of his enemies
28.
Job (9) Part 3: Interlude:
Where Wisdom is Found
29.
Job
(9) Part 4: The Past - Job
looks back almost nostalgically
30.
Job (9) Part 5: The
Present - Roles Reversed & a Resultant Wreck
31.
Job (9) Part 6: Final Defence
- Job's Final Words of Self-Vindication
FRAMEWORKS:
Job 29:
Job looks back almost nostalgically
[Preliminary
Comments: Job picks up the thread of the point he had
been making in chapter 27 about the presence of enemies or those
who demean him now. He isn't coming to them until chapter 30 but
to contrast what is now happening with them, He starts by remembering
how it had once been before all this came about [v.1-6] and how
he had had such a good reputation [v.7-17, 21-25] and how he had
had such an optimistic outlook on life [v.18-20]. All that had
now changed as we'll see in the next chapter.]
v.1-6
Job looks back to the days of blessing before all this happened
v.1
Job
continued his discourse:
v.2
“How
I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over
me,
v.3
when his lamp
shone on my head and by his light I walked through darkness!
v.4
Oh, for the
days when I was in my prime, when God's intimate friendship blessed
my house,
v.5
when the Almighty
was still with me and my children were around me,
v.6
when my path
was drenched with cream and the rock poured out for me streams
of olive oil.
v.7-17
He remembers the reputation he had had and things he did
v.7
“When
I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public
square,
v.8
the young
men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
v.9
the
chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with
their hands;
v.10
the voices
of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof
of their mouths.
v.11
Whoever
heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
v.12
because I
rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had
none to assist them.
v.13
The
one who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
v.14
I put on righteousness
as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
v.15
I
was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
v.16
I was a father
to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
v.17
I broke
the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
v.18-20
He had only had an optimistic outlook
v.18
“I thought,
‘I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains
of sand.
v.19
My roots
will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my
branches.
v.20
My glory
will not fade; the bow will be ever new in my hand.'
v.21-25
People almost revered him with the reputation & standing he
had
v.21
“People listened
to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
v.22
After I had
spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
v.23
They waited
for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
v.24
When I smiled
at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious
to them.
v.25
I
chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king
among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.
[Concluding
Comments: The lesson perhaps should be that we should
never take for granted the good that we have today for we can
never know what might happen tomorrow.
To
summarise, what
are the things Job has been saying in this chapter? He
•
reflects back
to ‘the good old days' [v.1-6],
•
remembers how
he had been known, his good reputation [v.7-17],
•
remembers how
he used to have such a positive outlook on life [v.18-20],
•
and how people
has almost revered him [v.21-25].
It
is a nostalgic chapter that thinks back to very different days,
days when he had not dreamt such suffering could come on him.]