Job 31 - Job's Accountability Questions Part 2 - 090712AM@TBC

Introduction:

Segway—

A. Ask congregation about Bible reading.

How are you doing on your Bible reading?

Do you still have a "Bible reading buddy?"

· It is a good habit to meet with another believer on a regular basis to discuss spiritual things.

· You can help each other with Bible reading or other issues you agree on.

· Often there agreed upon list of “accountability questions” about their Christian walk they talk about.

· These lists reflect what they consider important in their Christian walk.

· Job 31 gives the list that Job used to give an account for himself.

Background—

A. For the book of Job

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I. Prologue (narrative) ch. 1-2

A. HIS PROSPERITY (1:1-5)

B. HIS ADVERSITY (1:6-2:13)

C. HIS PERPLEXITY (3)

II. Dialogue (poetry)  ch. 3-42

A. Three rounds of “debate”

1^st Round (4-14)

1. Eliphaz (4-5) Job's reply (6-7)

2. Bildad (8)_Job's reply (9-10)

3. Zophar (11)_Job's reply (12-14)

2^nd Round (15-21)

1. Eliphaz (15)_Job's reply (16-17)

2. Bildad (18)_Job's reply (19)

3. Zophar (20)_Job's reply (21)

3^rd Round (22-37)

1. Eliphaz (22)_Job's reply (23-24)

2. Bildad (25)_Job's reply (26-31)

3. No Zophar

B. Elihu’s speech

1. Contradicting Job's friends (32)

2. Contradicting Job himself (33)

3. Proclaiming God's justice, goodness, and majesty (34-37)

C. God’s responses

GOD HUMBLES JOB (38:1-42:6)

1. Through questions too great to answer (38:1-41:34)

2. Job acknowledges his inability to understand (42:1-6)

III. Epilogue (narrative) ch. 42

GOD HONORS JOB (42:7-17)

 1. God rebukes his critics (42:7-10)

 2. God restores his wealth (42:11-17)

 

B. For Job chapter 31

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Context  of Job 31

 29: Job remembers his happy past

30: Job describes his present humiliation

31: Job defends his innocence &  looks ahead to God's vindication.

32–37: Elihu speaks

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· It is clear that Job knows that one is accountable not only for overt acts of sin but also for contemplating immoral behavior and cherishing cruel, vengeful thoughts against others.  —John E Hartley in NICOT

· ...sin lies in the inward intentions of the heart, and not just in the outward act.  —D. A Carson in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition

1. Lust/looking (1-4)

2. Integrity/honesty (4-8)

3. Seduction/adultery (9-12)

4. Respect/fairness (13-15)

5. Charity/generosity (16-24)

6. Coveting/idolatry (25-28)

7. Malice/"ill will" (29-32)

8. Secret sins/hypocrisy (33-37)

9. Injustice/oppression (38-40)

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1. Lust/looking (1-4)

 ¹ “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
      Why then should I look upon a young woman?

 ² For what is the allotment of God from above,
      And the inheritance of the Almighty from on high?

 ³ Is it not destruction for the wicked,
      And disaster for the workers of iniquity?

 ⁴ Does He not see my ways,
      And count all my steps?

A. I have made a covenant with my eyes…

APPLICATION: "...if a man wishes to maintain purity of life, he must make just such a covenant as this with himself" —Albert Barnes in Notes on the Old Testament

look

בין  Strong's H995 - biyn  bene  (Hithpolel) to show oneself discerning or attentive, consider diligently

ylt—attend to; kjv—think upon; nkjv—look upon; esv, nasb—gaze at; niv—look lustfully; nlt—look with lust

· I like the King James Versions emphasis on the thought process here.  It is even more a matter of  what you think or how you look—than it is how long you look, though all play a part.

B. Sin has consequences.

 destruction איד Strong's H343 - 'eyd   ād  —prop. a burden, load, by which one is oppressed, or crushed

C. God sees all.

 Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

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APPLICATION:

God is omniscient and just.

Proverbs 24:12

If you say, “Surely we did not know this,

Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?

He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?

And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?

“The fear of the Lord is the awareness that God is

 watching, weighing, and rewarding

all that I do, say, or think.”

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2. Integrity/honesty (4-8)

 ⁵ “If I have walked with falsehood,
      Or if my foot has hastened to deceit,

 ⁶ Let me be weighed on honest scales,
      That God may know my integrity.

 ⁷ If my step has turned from the way,
      Or my heart walked after my eyes,
      Or if any spot adheres to my hands,

 ⁸ Then let me sow, and another eat;
      Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.

A.  The nature of falsehood.

falsehood שוא  Strong's H7723 - shav'  shäv   

1) wickedness, 2) falsehood  3) emptiness

ylt, kjv—vanity; nasb, nkjv, esv, niv—falsehood

ylt, kjv!  empty vanity / nasb, nkjv, esv, niv!  empty vanity 

· This word is used in the third command.

Ex 20:7   

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;

for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Some commentators understand it in that sense  (vanity),

but the synthetic parallelism in this verse clarifies it for us.

· Cheating and deception are empty. 

· Dishonesty is a strong sin and very difficult to master.  Keep your foot on the way.

B.  The Lord weighs the heart.

 ⁶ Let me be weighed on honest scales,
   That God may know my integrity.

weighed שקל   Strong's H8254 - shaqal  shä·kal'  

(Qal)   1) to weigh   2) to weigh out (a price)   3) of grief (fig)

· Two things here:

1. Job knew that God would be true and just in his measurement.

2. He wanted to be judged by God's standard.

· There are many places in God's Word that speak of God testing our hearts.

· The picture here of weighing highlights the emptiness of dishonesty.  Dishonest words and ways have no weight.  They ar vanity and will come up light.

Pr 16:2 -

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

But the Lord  weighs the spirits.

Pr 21:2 -

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,

But the Lord weighs the hearts.

· The picture here of weighing highlights the emptiness of dishonesty.  Dishonest words and ways have no weight.  They will come up light.

Proverbs 14

       ⁸ The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.

       ⁹ Fools mock at sin,
But among the upright there is favor.

C. The way of the eyes.

 ⁷ If my step has turned from the way,
      Or my heart walked after my eyes,
      Or if any spot adheres to my hands,

1)

· Mingo Valley—Steve Saint—Waorani Indian's testimony

2)

· ...his mind has not been controlled by his lusts. —John E Hartley in NICOT

· 1 Timothy 6

⁶ Now godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. ⁸ And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.     ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Proverbs 14:8

       The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.

· We see in this verse that the prudent is a person who thinks and is not enamored by every thing that shimmers and shines.

· In verse one he made a covenant with his eyes and here we see again the importance of controlling our eyes and thoughts..

3) Clean hands speak of our actions as shown in Psalm 24.  Unblemished deeds are necessary to ascend to the Lord.

Psalm 24

³ Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Or who may stand in His holy place?

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,

Nor sworn deceitfully.

⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord,

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

D. The curse of  falsehood.

 ⁸ Then let me sow, and another eat;
      Yes, let my harvest be rooted out.

A declaration of innocence was a common element in legal proceedings that were being appealed to a judge for a public hearing. Since it was often impossible to gather sufficient evidence in this type of court case, the swearing of an oath took on great significance.   —IVP Bible Background Commentary

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APPLICATION:

God is holy and true.

Think about and focus on what lasts.  

And the world is passing away,

and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.    John 2:17

&   1 John 2

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

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3. Seduction/adultery (9-12)

 ⁹ “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
      Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

 ¹⁰ Then let my wife grind for another,
      And let others bow down over her.

 ¹¹ For that would be wickedness;
      Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.

 ¹² For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,
      And would root out all my increase.

&   Proverbs 6 Turn to the classic passage in Proverbs on this subject and we will look back and forth.

 

A.  The foolishness of this sin. (9)   Pr 6.25, 32

 ⁹ “If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
      Or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door,

enticed  פתה  Strong's H6601 - pathah  pä·thä'  (Niphal) to be deceived, be gullible — to let oneself be persuaded or enticed

The basic verb idea is “be open, spacious, wide,” and might relate to the immature or simple one who is open to all kinds of enticement, not having developed a discriminating judgment as to what is right or wrong.  —TWOT

ylt, nasb, nkjv, esv, niv—enticed; nlt—seduced;

kjv—deceived

lurked at my neighbor’s door

These words picture Job's observing a neighbor's house stealthily, watching for an opportune moment when, undetected, he would make intimate contact with the lady of the house.   —John E Hartley in NICOT

B.  The offence of this sin. (10-11)   Pr 6.30,33-35

  ¹⁰ Then let my wife grind for another,
      And let others bow down over her.

 ¹¹ For that would be wickedness;
      Yes, it would be iniquity deserving of judgment.

· It is a crime against the husband.

Leviticus 18:16

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness.

speaks of the concept of  a woman's nakedness belonging to her husband.  The Law viewed adultery as a crime against the husband.

let my wife grind
Though this curse is strange to a modern audience, in the ancient world it would be viewed as an acrid curse against her husband, for a wife is so closely identified  with her husband that his disgrace is as great as hers for letting this grave injustice happen to her.   —John E Hartley in NICOT

Ex. 11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.

· It is a wickedness against God.

wickedness  זמה  Strong's H2154 - zimmah  zim·mä' —with a focus on behavior that is lewd, shameless in relation to sexual behavior  —Logos DBL Hebrew  

also has the thoughts of scheming or planning —Genenius's Lexicon

ylt—wicked thing; jkv, esv—heinous; nasb—lustful crime; nkjv—wickedness; niv, nlt—shameful

Genesis 39:9b

⁷ And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me." ⁸ But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. ⁹ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

C. The danger of this sin.  (12)   Pr 6.27-28, 32

 ¹² For that would be a fire that consumes to destruction,
      And would root out all my increase.

· Fire represents two things about lust and adultery.

1) It cannot be satisfied.  When you throw wood on a fire, it makes it hotter and wanting more.

Proverbs 30:15-17

¹⁵ The leech has two daughters-- Give and Give!

There are three things that are never satisfied,

Four never say, "Enough!":

¹⁶ The grave,

The barren womb,

The earth that is not satisfied with water--

And the fire never says, "Enough!"

2) Fire destroys.  Adultery destroys lives.

· Wealth  Prov. 5.10

· Health  Prov. 5.11

· Regrets  Prov. 5.12-13

Proverbs 5   

⁸ Remove your way far from her,

And do not go near the door of her house,

⁹ Lest you give your honor to others,

And your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰ Lest aliens be filled with your wealth,

And your labors go to the house of a foreigner;

¹¹ And you mourn at last,

When your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹² And say: "How I have hated instruction,

And my heart despised correction!

¹³ I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,

Nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴ I was on the verge of total ruin,

In the midst of the assembly and congregation."

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,

And running water from your own well.

Abaddon/destruction. Along with Sheol, Abaddon is a name for the abode of the dead (see comment on 26:6), and is paralleled with the grave. The term literally means destruction. The term appears as Apollyon in Revelation 9:11, where it refers to the angel of the bottomless pit. —Bible Background Commentary

ylt, kjv, nkjv, niv—destruction;

nasb, esv—Abaddon; nlt—hell

I want to be very careful

to not overstate the application here.

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APPLICATION:

God is faithful and pure.

Don’t be a fool!

Drink water from your own cistern,

And running water from your own well.

 Proverbs 5:15 

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