Chapter 7
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The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more:
thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
Job 7:8
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Job continues his reply to Eliphaz
Job wants to diev1 But in this world, men must work so hard. We are like the workers that other people employ for the day. v2 And I am like a slave who waits for the evening. Or, I am like a worker who must wait for his pay. v3 So, I have been sad for months. And I am miserable every night. v4 At night, I lie down. I think, ‘My nights are so long.’ Then, I wait until dawn. But my body is not still. v5 My body is painful. And my skin is sore.
Verses 1-2
A worker waits to receive his wages for his day’s work. But Job thought that he would receive no reward for his good deeds.
Like the worker and the slave, Job waited. But Job was waiting to die. Job’s death was the only reward that Job expected. Then, at last, Job would not suffer.
Verses 3-5
Job could not sleep by night, because of his pain. Instead, he waited for the dawn. This is very sad. But perhaps Job was starting to have some hope.
Daylight begins to shine at dawn. And light has a special meaning in the Book of Job. Job said that the grave would be dark (Job 10:21). And God described how he creates the light each morning (Job 38:12-15).
So, in the book of Job, ‘light’ means good things.
And ‘darkness’ means bad things.
Job’s sad prayer
v6 But my days are short. And they will soon end, because I will die soon. v7 God, remember my weakness! My life lasts only while I am able to breathe. I shall never be happy again. v8 You can see me now. But (when I die), you will not see me again. You will look for me. But you cannot find me then. v9 A cloud disappears; and a dead man does not live again. v10 He will never return to his house. The people who knew him will forget him.
Verses 6-7
Job was very ill. He did not know when he would breathe for the last time.
Verses 8-10
Job thought that a man was like a cloud.
A cloud simply disappears.
Job complains because of his troubles
v11 These facts upset me; and I cannot remain silent. So, I shall speak. My spirit is angry. So, I will complain.
v12 Perhaps God must control the sea, so that it does not flood the land. Perhaps God must guard the great animals in the sea. But God, you do not need to control me.
v13 I think that I should sleep. Perhaps some rest will bring me relief. v14 But if I sleep, I see terrible dreams! So, I am afraid. v15 I would prefer to die. v16 I hate my life. I do not want to live always. God, let me be alone! My life means nothing.
v17 God, I do not see why a man is special to you. You watch that man. v18 You test him daily. In fact, you are always testing him. v19 I wish that you would look away from me. But you do not even leave me for a second. v20 If my actions were evil, they could not hurt you. You watch all men. So, I do not see why you chose me to suffer.
Surely, I do not cause trouble for you, like a workman’s heavy load.
v21 You could excuse my evil deeds. And you could forgive my errors. But soon I will die. You will look for me. But you will not find me when I am dead.
Verse 11
Job loved God (Job 1:21). Job wanted to meet God (Job 13:22).
Job did not think that these things could happen. He just wanted to die so that he would not insult God (Job 6:10).
Verse 12
Job was right. God controls the sea. See Job 38:8-11. And God controls great animals.
Verse 13
Job could not sleep because of his pain – see verse 4.
Verse 14
Job was referring to Eliphaz’s dream. See Job 4:13-21. Eliphaz thought that this dream would help Job. But really, the dream only frightened Job. Job had enough troubles already! He did not want to think about Eliphaz’s terrible dream!
Verses 15-16
Job did not want to suffer always.
So, he did not want to live always.
Verse 17
Job was special to God (Job 1:8). Job knew this. But Job did not know why.
Verse 18
God allows our troubles so that we will learn to trust God more (Hebrews 12:7-11).
Verse 19
God watches us, because he cares about us. But Job wanted to die (verse 15).
Verse 20
Job supposed that God chose Job to be God’s enemy. But in fact, God was Job’s friend.
Verse 21
Job supposed that God would never excuse Job’s errors. Job thought that, perhaps, God was punishing Job for some evil deed.
Keith Simons
