Job Sees The Light - Eighteenth in a series

Hover over the Scripture references to read the verses under discussion

In stark acknowledgement of his condition, Job cries out to God for deliverance. Whatever it takes to get me out of this death I am in— please do it! He asks that God would completely resolve things by putting up whatever ransom is required to gain his freedom. No one else could or would do that for him. Job did not know he was crying out for Christ, but we know Jesus, the Son of Man who did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45 et al)

Job 17:1-3 NIV God creates the longings we need if we are to cry out and receive the gifts he would give us. Through the terrible trial Job is under, God is creating in him an ache that only He can heal.

Job 17:4-5 NIV Job believes his friends lack discernment because God has blinded them. They cannot succeed in their concerted assaults on his character or God would severely punish them.

Job 17:6-9 NIV Yet, though Job does not believe that God is on the side of his friends, he realizes that God is not his side either. Nevertheless the one who is righteous will prevail.

When we are not able to discern God’s whereabouts or purposes, it is time to stop babbling and instead pray. The righteous man shall live by faith (Heb 10:38), not by striving to do good or by insulting other men.

Job 17:10-12 NIV Job has considered that he may grow stronger because he is a righteous man, but that notion dies. He angrily mocks his friends who believe he has only to repent to see a new day.

Job 17:13-16 NIV It is dangerous to embrace hopelessness. Hope, by definition, is the expectation of good things for our lives, and it is a confident expectation. To turn away from hope colors our faith with dark stains of despair. We believe there is a God but he has nothing in store for us but misery. How to put away despair and have hope? Remember that God is love and he has plans for our future.