Job 9 - Introduction

TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION

Job

1-2 Yes, I-'ve heard all that before.
But how can a man win his case against God?

3 How can anyone argue with him?

He can ask a thousand questions
that no one could ever answer.

4 God is so wise and powerful

no man can stand up against him.

5 Without warning he moves mountains

and destroys them in anger.

6 God sends earthquakes and shakes the ground;

he rocks the pillars the earth stands on.

7 God can keep the sun from rising,

and the stars from shining at night.

8 No one helped God stretch out the heavens

or trample the sea monster back.

9 God hung the stars in the skythe Dipper,

Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars of the south.

10 We cannot understand the great things he does,

and there is no end to his miracles.

11 God passes by, but I cannot see him.
12 He takes what he wants, and no one can stop him;

no one can ask him, What are you doing?

13 God's anger is constant. He crushed his enemies

who helped Rahab, the sea monster, oppose him.

14 So how can I find words to answer God?
15 Though I am innocent, all I can do

is beg for mercy from God my judge.

16 Yet even then, if he lets me speak,

I can-'t believe he would listen to me.

17 He sends storms to batter and bruise me,

without any reason at all.

18 He won-'t let me get my breath;

all he has done to me makes me bitter.

19 Should I try force? Try force on God?

Should I take him to court? Who would make him so?

20 I am innocent and faithful, but my words sound guilty,

and everything I say seems to condemn me.

21-22 I am innocent, but I no longer care.

I am sick of living. Nothing matters;
innocent or guilty, God will destroy us.

23 When an innocent man suddenly dies, God laughs.
24 God gave the world to the wicked.

He made all the judges blind.
And if God didn-'t do it, who did?

25 My days race by, not one of them good.
26 My life passes like the swiftest boat,

as fast as an eagle swooping down on a rabbit.

27-28 If I smile and try to forget my pain,

all my suffering comes back to haunt me;
I know that God holds me guilty.

29 Since God holds me guilty, why should I bother?
30 No soap can wash away my sins.
31 God throws me into a pit of filth,

and even my clothes are ashamed of me.

32 If God were human I could answer him back;

we could go to court to decide our quarrel.

33 But there is no one to step between us

no one to judge both God and me.

34 Stop punishing me, God! Keep your terrors away!
35 I am not afraid. I am going to talk,

because I know my own heart.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 9:1-35

170.

How does this second response of Job compare with his first response?

171.

Job responds more to one friend than he does the other. Who? Why?

172.

God's justice is identical to what?

173.

When man goes to court with God what is the result?

174.

Do we really believe that no one can harden himself against God and prosper? Discuss.

175.

What is the point of verse five?

176.

Why would the earth tremble? What would be the result?

177.

Job agrees with his friends in Job 9:8. Show how.

178.

Why discuss the constellations of the stars?

179.

Job repeats the words of Eliphaz (Cf. Job 5:9) but for a purpose. What was it?

180.

Job says we can not see God, but we can see something concerning God. What is it?

181.

What is the meaning of Job 9:12?

182.

Job's gratitude is now poisoned. By what?

183.

What is meant by the term Rahab in Job 9:13?

184.

Job is discouraged with the power of God. Why?

185.

Even if he was innocent, Job cannot expect justice, so he says in Job 9:15. Why does he say this?

186.

Does God hear the cries of Job? Discuss.

187.

God is charged with crushing Job. Why would God do this?

188.

Somehow the root of bitterness has flourished in Job. Is this always the response to suffering? Discuss.

189.

Show how Job's own speech condemns him.

190.

Job has many who agree with him, i.e., that wickedness and injustice triumph and there is no moral order in the universe. Who are they?

191.

Show how contradictory it is for humanists to accuse non-humanists with immoral behavior.

192.

What is meant by the word scourge in Job 9:23?

193.

Job answers Eliphaz (Job 5:22) with Job 9:23. Show how.

194.

Job charges God with all the troubles of the world. He is not alone in this attitude. There is another answer. What is it?

195.

The brevity of life is compared to what in Job 9:25.

196.

Of what were the swift ships made?

197.

Who is the bird and who is the prey in the figure cf. Job 9:26?

198.

What does Job use to wash himself clean of his guilt?