Congratulations. You made it to Job’s final speech. It’s a doozy at five chapters long. Here’s an outline so we can get a 20,000 ft view of things.

Chapter 27 – I’m not backing down. I am innocent. But the truly wicked have a bad future ahead of them.

Chapter 28 – People are smart, but where do you get wisdom? I’ll tell you.

Chapter 29 – Those were the good old days.

Chapter 30 – These are the bad new days. And, God, it’s your fault. I blame you.

Chapter 31 – I am innocent! If I have sinned, curses upon me! God, show yourself and answer me!

Let’s take them one at a time. This is lengthy. Get your coffee and maybe some army surplus MRE’s with a 25 year shelf life.

Chapter 27 – I’m not backing down. I am innocent. But the truly wicked have a bad future ahead of them.

Here is the opening statement for Job’s final speech:

“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul— As long as I live, while I have breath from God, my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies. I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die. I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭27‬:‭2‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This is where Job stands. After all the back & forth as he launches into his big closing argument, this is where he’s coming from. I am innocent! Notice how his relationship with God is rather conflicted. God is the Almighty Living One and his breath-giver, but Job also sees Him as the One Who has taken away his rights and embittered his soul.

If you are someone serious about following Christ and you have absolutely surrendered to Him, you probably know this dichotomy. I love the LORD. He is my God. YHWH is the most high. There is no other Savior. But He’s no genie in a lamp. He doesn’t always give us what we ask for, even if we have served Him and poured out our very lives for Him. He may allow bitter experiences. But what cha gonna do? The disciples faced this. Jesus had been teaching some really hard things- “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” It turned a lot of people off.

“At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭66‬-‭69‬ ‭NLT‬‬

When I encounter these times in my life and I’m not too overjoyed to follow where He is leading, I usually tell the Lord, “What else can I do? You got me over a barrel.”

Job takes his stand and tells his friends once and for all- I will not concede. We will have to agree to disagree.

The rest of Job’s speech is a laundry list of all the bad things that he believes (hopes?) will happen to the wicked:

• They have no access to God
• Their children will die
• The riches they stockpiled will be enjoyed by others (the righteous)
• They will lose their wealth overnight
• Winds will blow them away
• They will be scorned and mocked

Now, let me ask you, does the list above look suspiciously like all the things Job has experienced? Isn’t that interesting.

Chapter 28 – People are smart, but where do you get wisdom? I’ll tell you.

Mining. ⛏️

Job talks about mining for 11 verses. Gold, silver, iron, copper, gems- it’s all there. Smelting ore and making tools, jewelry, and weaponry from metal is the advanced technology of his age. Humans have figured out how to delve into mine shafts and find the buried treasures, but have they found wisdom?

Wisdom is more valuable than all the treasures man can mine and more rare. Only God knows where it is. As evidence, Job brings up the weather. Remember how I said to keep an eye on the weather? What’s the one thing mankind would love to control? The weather. God can control it because He is both wise and powerful. It’s like a spirited stallion that only He can handle. Job mentions wind, rain, and lightning. That’s storm language. As we continue through the OT, this God-rides-on-the-storm-clouds language will recur.

Oh, and as this chapter ended, I found out that both Solomon and whoever wrote Psalm 111 were quoting Job. Check this out:

“And this is what He says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’”
‭‭Job‬ ‭28‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Proverbs‬ ‭9‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!” Psalm‬ ‭111‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In the mouth of two or three witnesses…

Chapter 29 – Those were the good old days.

Not much to say on this. Job fondly remembers what it was like before the day everything came apart. We do that don’t we? When life is hard, we get nostalgic.

Chapter 30 – These are the bad new days. And, God, it’s your fault. I blame you.

After all that lovely reminiscing, there’s a big “but.” But now… the bratty kids of the riffraff laugh at Job. They make up ditties about him:

There once was a Job who had money

For lunch every day, milk and honey

But he lost the whole lot

And his health went to pot

And now Job thinks it’s not very funny

😏 (Ok, that’s not in the Bible or any ancient text. I just made it up but you get the idea.)

After ticking off a list of the offenses that society now feels free to heap upon him, Job turns heavenward and addresses God.

“I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭30‬:‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Job claims God is cruel, indifferent, capricious, and finally the One who brings death.

And Job laments all the good deeds he did. Was it all for nothing?

Y’all, I have been there. And for far less suffering than Job. I confess (confession is good for the soul right?) that I have whined to the Lord over something as insignificant as a car not starting. “Is this what I get for serving You in ministry? A little help here would be appreciated!” (I know. 🙄😞) It was by no means an isolated event. I have, by God’s grace, grown since then. Nowadays I’d just probably roll my eyes and call a tow truck instead of turning it into an existential crisis. So- yay growth.

But I think if we’re honest, we kind of expect God to reward us in the here and now for our faithfulness to him. Where is that written? I believe Jesus said “in this world you will have trouble.” We’re so used to transactional relationships. “God, I did this for You, now shouldn’t You do some favors for me?” But that’s not how we’re supposed to be. I think we’re supposed to “love our enemies” and “do good to them who despitefully use you.” And we may not receive one fleck of reward for that in this world. No such arrangement was promised. Now, the Lord may choose to bless us in this life with the things we want. (And if that’s you, I hope you realize how fortunate you are.) But He may have very good reasons for withholding what we want and instead bless us with circumstances that do not feel like a blessing but will eventually prove to have been the best path for our lives.

I know whereof I speak.

Chapter 31 – I am innocent! If I have sinned, curses upon me! God, show yourself and answer me!

It may help to review what a biblical curse is. A curse, in the biblical sense, does not involve eye of newt or toe of frog, cauldrons, potions, or hexes of any kind. In the Bible’s context, a curse is either a pronouncement of negative consequences or insulting accusations. For the latter kind see 2 Samuel 16:5-13. The curses in Job 31 are the first kind- a pronouncement of negative consequences. They usually appear as if-then statements. Like this: “If abc is so, then may xyz (negative consequence) be so.”

This isn’t “so” as the generic qualitative adverb of English. “He’s so handsome.” “That salsa is so hot!” “I’m so cold!” “The book of Job is so long.” Not that kind of so.

I’m using it like Ronald Regan:

“The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”

There are things that are so. (2 + 2 = 4) There are things that are not so. (The earth is flat.) And there are things that are a matter of opinion. (Lacy’s blog is interesting.) I suppose you could say it is so-so.

What on earth does this have to do with curses? I thought we were talking about curses?

Hold on. I’m getting there. Some concepts require a foundation.

When God said “Let there be light”, there was light. Then God made the sky and “it was so.” Then God said, let the waters be gathered and “it was so.” This phrase appears on nearly every day of creation. God said, “Let there be” and “it was so.” When God pronounced something “be”, it was. When something is so, it has become reality.

Curses are kinda like that. Only negative. Instead of “Let there be light” a curse might say, “let him dwell in darkness.” But there’s usually a condition. “If he forsakes mercy, let him dwell in darkness.” (And it was so.) Curses are not unlike a warning from parents. “If you hit your brother one more time then we are pulling this car over and no one is going to be happy!” And if you do indeed hit your brother one more time, then the negative consequence becomes so. The car is pulled over. No one is happy.

I’m trying really hard to not go any further off on this tangent but I just want to add 2 more things then I promise, we’ll get back to Job.

1. These kinds of curses are going to show up elsewhere in the OT. Be prepared for them. They’ll even show up in some special types of Psalms that scholars call “The Imprecatory Psalms.” When we get to them I’m going to share a link to a wonderful lecture about why they are in the Bible and how they help us.
2. I think blessings and curses (the Biblical kind) are valid forms of prayer but should be handled like nuclear weapons. I’ve seen them have impact. Huge impact. 🍄☁️ My first experience was a few years ago. (And I’m going to be intentionally vague here) I became aware of something evil. I got so riled up in prayer about it that I began to curse the evil. It sounded a bit like- “Let this be exposed. Let them fail utterly in their attempts to hide it. May the people involved turn on one another. May there be confusion and division among them. Let everything they touch fail and be utterly ruined.” Y’all. I was hearing the answer to those prayers within a week all over the media. And I was like… ummm… did I do that? 😳 This has not been an isolated event. The negative consequences that I pronounced became so. And let’s just say that usually these are big prayers with big answers that make the evening news. Use with extreme caution. You better know that the Holy Spirit has called you on the red telephone ☎️ and is directing those kind of prayers or you’ll be like the mad man in Proverbs wildly slinging arrows and death.

Ok, now that we have a better picture of what a biblical curse is, here is Job using it.

“If I have strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin, then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted.”

“If my heart has been seduced by a woman, or if I have lusted for my neighbor’s wife, then let my wife serve another man; let other men sleep with her.”

“If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side, then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket!”

“If my land accuses me and all its furrows cry out together, or if I have stolen its crops or murdered its owners, then let thistles grow on that land instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.”

Job knows he has never done any of the things in the IF part of the curses, so he is bold and confident that the THEN parts will not come to pass. It’s kind of like what kids used to say, “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” It’s a way of adding weight to a claim or promise. Job’s friends haven’t believed his claims of innocence so he adds weight to them. Reminds me of…

Inigo Montoya: I could give you my word as a Spaniard.

Man in Black: No good. I’ve known too many Spaniards.

Inigo Montoya: Isn’t there any way you trust me?

Man in Black: Nothing comes to mind.

Inigo Montoya: I swear on the soul of my father Domingo Montoya, you will reach the top alive.

Man in black: Throw me the rope.

⚔️ such a quotable movie…

Amongst these curses that Job brazenly calls down upon himself, he defends his character that his neighbors have been dragging through the mud.

But then he gets a little too brazen.

“If only someone would listen to me! Look, I will sign my name to my defense. Let the Almighty answer me. Let my accuser write out the charges against me. I would face the accusation proudly. I would wear it like a crown. For I would tell him exactly what I have done. I would come before him like a prince.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭31‬:‭35‬-‭37‬ ‭NLT‬‬

That opening line feels like sarcasm to me. “Gee, if only there was a God in heaven who listened to mortal men.”

Job, you’re about to get your wish. And it’s gonna scare the spit outa you.

But first the quiet guy is gonna speak up.

Wait. What? There’s a quiet guy? Where?