Job Simplified- Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Let thistles grow instead of wheat,... Job 31:40

Job finishes his last speech

Job’s attitude with regard to attractive women
v1 I promised that I would not think about young women in a sexy manner. v2 God has decided what men deserve. He would not reward me for such behaviour. v3 So God will punish wicked men. And people who do evil deeds will suffer. v4 God sees my behavior. God knows all my actions.

Verse 1

Job was careful about his deeds. And he was also careful about his thoughts. Jesus warned about such thoughts in Matthew 5:28.

Verses 2-4

Job knew that God was his judge. So Job was careful about his behavior. A man might hide his evil deeds from other people. But nobody can hide from God (Psalm 139:1-10).

Job’s attitude with regard to lies
v5 I have not told lies. I have not cheated other people. v6 God should test me fairly. Then, he will know that I am innocent. v7 My actions are right. I have not allowed evil things to tempt me. I have not carried out wicked deeds. v8 If I were guilty, I would deserve to suffer. Other people should take the things that I have earned. And I would deserve to lose my crops.

Verses 5-6

Job was careful not to lie.

Verse 7

Job was careful about

·     his actions,

·     his thoughts,

·     and his behavior.

Verse 8

An evil person does not deserve success.

Job’s attitude with regard to sex
v9 I have not decided to have sex with another man’s wife. And I have not tried to have sex with my neighbour’s wife. v10 A man who does such things deserves to lose his own wife. He cannot complain if other men have sex with her. v11 That is a shameful matter. It is an evil deed, and that man deserves punishment. v12 Such actions cause terrible troubles, like the fire in hell. If I were guilty, I would deserve to lose everything.

Verses 9-12

A husband and wife should only have sex with each other. And unmarried people should not have sex. This is God’s command (Deuteronomy 5:18). Jesus also taught this (Matthew 5:27-28).  Job was explaining that he was innocent. So he wanted to show that he knew the serious nature of such behavior.

 

Job’s attitude with regard to his servants

v13 When my servants complained, I was fair to them. And when my maids complained, I was fair to them too. v14 I realised that I myself must explain my actions to God. I must be ready to answer God.

v15 My servants are as important as I am. That is because God made everybody. God made me, and God also made my servants.

 

Verses 13-15

Often a wealthy man does not respect his servants. James warned that such attitudes are very evil (James 5:1-5).

Job was fair to his servants. If they complained, he listened.

Job’s attitude with regard to poor people

v16 I was not cruel to poor people. I did not make widows cry. v17 I shared my food. I fed the child who had no father. v18 In fact, I brought up that child, as if I were his father. And I have always looked after widows.

v19 Sometimes I saw a poor man who was very cold, without enough clothing. v20 So, I gave a coat to that man. The coat was wool, and the wool came from my own sheep. And the man blessed me.

v21 I did not oppose the child who had no father. Instead, I helped him in court. v22 Anyone who opposes that child should suffer. If a man uses his hand to cause trouble for that child, then that man should lose his arm. v23 I knew that God punishes an evil man. So I respected God and I did not do evil things.

Verses 16-23

Many people today do not think that they should help poor people. And many people are only generous to their own friends and family. But the Bible teaches that we should be generous to other people also (Matthew 25:34-36).

Job helped many poor people. He helped widows. He helped children who had nobody to look after them. He gave gifts to the poorest people.

Sometimes we can use our money to help people. But sometimes they do not need our money. So Job chose carefully how to help each person.

·     Job was kind to the widows in verse 16.

·     The child in verse 17 needed someone to look after him. Job acted as if he was that child’s father.

·     The poor man in verse 19 was cold. Job gave him a good, warm coat.

·     The child in verse 21 needed help in court. Job acted as his lawyer.

Job did all these things because he respected God. God had made Job rich. So Job shared his wealth with these other people.

Job’s attitude with regard to wealth
v24 I did not trust my wealth. I did not imagine that gold provided my security. v25 I was not proud because I was rich. I was not proud because of my success.

Verses 24-25

Money becomes like a false god for many people. They think that money can rescue them from any trouble. And they would do anything to get more money.  But Job trusted God. Job did not trust his money.

Job’s attitude with regard to false gods

v26-27 I saw the sunlight. But I did not pray to the sun. I saw the bright moon. But the moon was not my god. Even in secret, I did not give honour to either the sun or the moon. v28 Such actions would also be evil. God is the only real God. I knew that I must always be loyal to God in heaven.

 

Verses 26-28

Many people chose the sun and the moon as their gods. But Job did not pray to the sun or the moon. Job only prayed to the real God who is in heaven.

Job’s attitude with regard to enemies
v29 When my enemy suffered, I was not happy. I was not pleased to hear about his troubles. v30 I did not desire his death. I never prayed that I might kill him. Such words would be wicked.

Verses 29-30

Many people want revenge. In other words, they want their enemies to suffer. But the Bible teaches that such attitudes are wrong (Romans 12:19).

Job’s attitude with regard to strangers
v31 I was always generous. My servants used to say, ‘Everybody eats Job’s meat!’ v32 I did not allow strangers to sleep in the street. I invited every traveller into my home.

Verses 31-32

Like Job, we should be kind to strangers.

 

Job’s attitude with regard to his own evil deeds
v33 I am not pretending that I am totally innocent. I do not hide my evil deeds, like Adam. v34 You can see that I am not afraid of gossip. I allow the people to laugh at me. I am not silent. I do not hide. I go outside, where everybody can accuse me.

Verses 33-34

Job did not hide. He allowed his friends to accuse him. In fact, he was outside (Job 2:13). So anybody could speak to him. The youths laughed at Job. But nobody could come with evidence of Job’s evil deeds.

But Job does not know who accuses him

v35 But I wish that someone would hear me. I record this evidence for my judge.

God, please answer me! If you are my accuser, write your words in a book. v36 That book would be more important to me than anything else. I would want everybody to see it. v37 And I would explain

all my actions to God. I would be like a prince, and God would be my king. So, I could meet God.

v38 Surely the ground does not accuse me. I did not cause my farm workers to cry because their work was too hard. v39 I paid the people who harvested my crops. I was not cruel to the farmers who worked on my land. v40 But if I did these evil things, I deserve to suffer. If I did these things, I deserve to harvest weeds instead of wheat. If I did such things, then I deserve nothing good.

Job’s speeches finish here.

Verse 35

Job allowed anyone to accuse him (verse 34). And his friends did accuse him (Job 22:4-9). Job did not really want his friends to accuse him.

Verse 36

Job respected God greatly. So Job believed that God’s words would be wonderful. Even if God accused Job, God’s words would still be wonderful. Through all his troubles, Job hoped that God would speak to him.

God’s words were very precious to Job (Job 23:12).

Verse 37

Job would be like a prince or a ruler when he met God. Job had always been loyal to God.

Verses 38-40

Job finished his speech with words about the ground.

The Bible says that God created man from earth (Genesis 2:7).

And when a person dies, he returns to a grave in the soil (Genesis 3:19).

Of course, the ground is not a person. So it cannot really accuse anyone. But it seemed to Job as if the ground was trying to reclaim his body.

Job thought that he would soon die. Then his friends would return his body to the ground. Nobody would cultivate the soil of Job’s farm. And weeds would grow instead of wheat.

Job finished his speech with these sad words.

 

Keith Simons