Job Sees The Light - Twenty-fourth in a series

Hover over the Scripture references to read the verses under discussion

Job 23:1-7 NIV Job earnestly desires to be brought to God's court because he knows he will be vindicated! Is this not prideful? But he is also expressing his heart's desire to again be at peace with God as he formerly had been.

The children of God walk a straight and narrow road. If we wander to the left, we may stray into presumption, but if to the right, we may lose the courage and confidence of our convictions. So, how can we stay in the straight way? Prayer is a good start.

Job 23:8-10 NIV There is a comforting certainty in the heart of the one who knows God. Even in times of darkness and seeming abandonment, he trusts that God is at work to bring about a good change in his character. Although this certainty may be fleeting, we need those positive thoughts to lift us above the waves as we are driven relentlessly by the storms of life. (Don't forget to keep your mouth closed when the waves wash over your head.)

Job 23:11-12 NIV If Job lived before the time of Moses and the written law on the tablets of stone, what commandments had the Lord spoken prior to the generation of Abraham?

First, there was the commandment to Adam and Eve, then to Noah and his sons, to "be fruitful and multiply." (Gen 1:22; 9:1) Job had obeyed this, as we know he had 10 children.

There was evidently a commandment to revere and fear the Lord, since Job had a practice of offering burnt sacrifices for his children after their feasting days (birthday celebrations?) in case they had sinned and cursed God in their hearts. (Job 1:5)

No doubt it was generally known to keep the Sabbath holy, since God had sanctified it from the beginning. (Gen 2:3)

We know God had shown anger and judgment over murder, (Gen 4:10-12) and commanded that murderers receive capital punishment. (Gen 9:6). And we know God had insisted on obedience to his spoken commandments. (Gen 2:16-17; 3:17)

Though we don't know all the sins indulged in by the people of Noah's day, we know they were in part related to sexual misconduct (Gen 6:2-4), and the man who thought to perpetrate or mock such deviancies was relegated to the status of underling to his brothers (Gen 9:22-26).

We also know God did not approve of congregations of people where the few controlled the many, such as in the city with the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:6-7), and we know Job lived as a rancher, not in a city, as Lot did.

So, Job knew many commandments of God, and ESTEEMED them, more than food.

Job 23:13-17 NIV Job seems confident that the Lord will accomplish what He has set out to do; that the trial he has been assigned will end well. His thoughts here are echoed in other Books of the Bible, in 1 Peter (1 Pet 5:10), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:26), Isaiah (Isa 28:24-29), the Psalms (Ps 138:8) and others.

Yet he is very afraid and is losing heart, as shown in his words, "Because I was not cut off before the darkness." Life has become a burden. A great conflict is crowding his very breath. It is a contest between good and evil, trust and despair, waiting on God and insisting on explanations, recalling God's ways and questioning his methods, protesting his innocence and wondering how far God will yet go. Anxiety, discouragement, frustration and self-focus are Satan's marks on our minds.