Monday, March 2, 2015

Job 17: Faithful To The Very End

Job has not only lost his possessions, his family, his friends, and his health - he has also lost his hope.  Yet even in the depths of his darkest depression, he is firmly resolute about clinging to his righteousness.  He will not yield!
The end of chapter 16 and the first few verses of chapter 17 reveal that Job believes his death is coming very soon.  This is not surprising, given the spiritual toll and physical sickness he has had to endure.  While his friends insist that his repentance will quickly lead to renewal and that all he has to do is admit to his wrongdoing to be healed, Job feels sure that he has passed the point of no return.

The only One he can turn to, Job realizes, is God.  That is why he appeals to Him in verse 3 and says, "Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.  Who else will put up security for me?"  When searching for help, Job knows that the place to look is God.  (Interestingly enough, when Jesus arrives in the New Testament, he announces that he comes to give his life as a ransom for many.)

In spite of becoming a byword and a pitiful example to others, Job makes this bold claim: "Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger" (vs. 9).  He is not giving up or giving in to peer pressure.  He will not trade his integrity away for the approval of his friends.  Job knows that he is in the right, and he refuses to lie or confess to untruths about himself.  He will cling to his righteousness.

He mockingly says to his friends: "Come on, all of you, try again!" (vs. 10)  They have been unable to break his spirit; he has maintained his innocence and preserved his relationship with God.  Though his friends have intimated that there is a light at the end of his tunnel (vs. 12), Job is convinced that his tunnel will actually dead-end in the darkness of death (vs. 13-16).  He is sure that he is about to die; there is no hope for him.  

Job's resolve does not come out of a hope for reward or rehabilitation; it comes out of a fierce reliance on his integrity and his trust in the Lord.  In spite of the wounds he believes God has inflicted on him, Job also knows that God is somehow on his side.  That is why he is determined to be faithful to the very end.

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