Job 17

Job 17:1

Job knew about halitosisbad breathand he didn’t have the mouthwashes we have today! What it really means is that he is very sick. The grave is ready for him. It is as if he were saying that he has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. He thinks he is dying.

Job 17:2

Here Job is dying, and his friends stand around and mock him. What a picture this is! These men who had come to comfort him are actually debating with him and condemning him. My friend, it is possible to be a hard-boiled Christian and not be very helpful to the poor sinners in this world. We need to recognize that there are times for harsh words. God will be very harsh with Job, but He also is going to comfort him. God is going to help him and God is going to restore him. Oh, that you and I might see that God is a God of judgment, but that He is also the God of mercy and the God of grace.

Job 17:3

Job says that at least they could shake hands with him.

Job 17:4

And he pleads that he does not want to be flattered. He doesn’t want them to “butter him up.” He continues in this vein and then concludes that he is on his deathbed.

Job 17:13

He never expects to leave that dump heap outside the cityhe thinks it is his deathbed.

Job 17:14

He says that corruption and decay are closer to him than his father or mother. His parents had brought him into the world, but now he is closer to death than he is to them. His body, which is so weary and so sick, is ready to return to the dust.