Job 31

Job 31:1

JOB CONCLUDES HIS SELF-DEFENSENow chapter 31 concludes Job’s lengthy defense. It has been quite a slugging match! The three friends of Job, lined up against him, have attempted to beat him down into admitting that he had committed a great sin. Their logic, as we have seen, is that God would not have permitted him to suffer so if he had not committed some terrible sin. After going three rounds with him, they gave up, which is evident by the fact that the last man, Zophar, did not answer Job. When he did not step forward to make his rebuttal, Job continued to speak. Believe me, they had teed him off, and he came out of his corner fighting. In defending himself, he must accuse Godit boils itself down to that. He is implying that God is wrong in punishing him. Probably the most foolish thing any person can do is to justify himself, inasmuch as God must impute sin. The minute you begin to justify yourself, God immediately will have to point the finger at you and say what you are. Real wisdom, and the correct position, is to condemn ourselves utterly and to cast ourselves upon God. When we do that, God becomes our justifier. There is nothing but wrath for the self-righteous. And there is nothing but grace for the self-judged. This is very important for us to remember in our own lives. Humility is a quality that we admire and look for in others. A clipping from the New York Times regarding a contemporary boxing match underscores this fact: “… Ability to wear the trappings of humility is an occupational requirement in certain lines of work, particularly in politics and championship boxing. He who scorns them invites the vengeance of an outraged public…. We like our champions humble. After they have flattened some poor gaffer for our amusement, we want them to come to the microphone like Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano and say, ‘He put up a good fight.’ Muhammad Ali outrages us by coming to the microphone and calling a bum a bum.” May I say to you, it is a characteristic of human nature to be proud. Boxers are not the only ones guilty of pride. It just may be that they are a bit more brazen about it, but pride characterizes the human family. The Book of Job is teaching us that when we come before God, He wants us to be real before Him. We can’t put up a defense for ourselves. There is no possible use in trying to build ourselves up as if we were some great person or had done some great thing. Nothing is more sure than that God will break down every such type of arrogance. The Day of the Lord will be against everything high and lifted up. So it is wisdom for us to take the low and broken place today, for it is the low place that gives us our best view of God and His salvation. There is a great deal of this “coming forward” in response to an altar call which does not lead to real salvation, because of the fact that some folk come in pride. I wonder if you have ever noted in the Word of God the references to this matter of being contrite and how God approves of it. “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psa_34:18). You see, real repentance involves taking that position. We need to recognize that just as David did. Listen to him in that great penitential psalm when he made his confession: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psa_51:17). My friend, when you come to God to do business with Him, you do not come to God to trade with Him on equal terms and turn in your little goodness to Him. We need to recognize that we approach God through contrition. This is taught all through the Bible. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isa_57:15). This matter of being humble and contrite is not a problem for the politicians and the boxers alone; it is a problem for all believers today, especially those who are in the Lord’s service. I think that we can say that egotism and self-conceit are more detestable when they show themselves in the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who “… made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant …” (Php_2:7). How unlike Him is pride in the lives of those who name His name and say they are believers. To reveal a hateful, unsubdued, self-displaying Christian profession and Christian service is atrocious. And in this final section Job is not very attractive. Job has been doing a good job of patting himself on the back. He has told what an outstanding, influential, good man he was and then makes a play for sympathy for his present condition. As he concludes his discourse in this chapter, he is still claiming that he is a very good fellow. Job makes it very clear that he had lived a clean life. He didn’t run around and chase women. He wants them to know he has not been guilty of ordinary sensual sins.

Job 31:2

He is still pointing his finger at others who commit such things, and he says they are to be judged. He cannot see why he should be judged so severely when he is such a wonderful fellow. He is about to break his arm patting himself on the back.

Job 31:4

He is boasting of his integrity. Well, he is going to come into the presence of God before long, and he is going to really see himselfthen he won’t see much integrity.

Job 31:7

He says that if he has been unfaithful or untrue, let his wife be taken from him. He hasn’t lived in sin as some other folks do. And I believe that all these things Job is saying are completely accurate. He was really a good man. But he has this terrible blind spot: pride. His friends have led him into a defense of himself and he just can’t let up. He must boast about his goodness. We see this same sort of thing today among Christians. For a child of God to boast and to live in pride is just as bad as getting a gun and murdering someone. Pride among Christians is one of the things that causes our churches to be so cold today. People sit in the pews and think that they are just all right. My friend, if you are in Christ Jesus, you are saved, but regardless of who you are, your life is not measuring up to God’s standardand neither is mine.

Job 31:13

Job was an employer, and he says that he was good to his employees. He was a capitalist who was good to labor. There should be more who could say that today. Of course, in our time the shoe is on the other foot, and labor is not too nice to the consumer today. Anyway, the point is that Job could say that he had been considerate of others.

Job 31:16

Job had certainly helped the poor. He had a poverty program long before anyone else ever had one. He took care of the orphans. He goes over all this ground again. He is boasting of all the things that he has done. I believe he really did them, too, but he is lifted up with pride about it. That is where he is in trouble. He is constantly saying, in effect, “I have been so good that God is unjust in treating me as He is. God is wrong.” My friend, we need to get to the place where we can praise His name above everything and can see ourselves down in the dust before Him.

Job 31:29

Job says that he didn’t rejoice when his enemy stubbed his toe and had trouble. He was not spiteful.

Job 31:33

He says he has not done anything in secret. He wishes his enemies would write out what they think of him, and he would be glad to wear it like a necktie or like a crown on his head so everyone could see it. He would walk up and down the streets and say, “Look, this is what my enemy says about me, and it is all praise for me.” How Job is boasting! He has discussed everything about his life, but he has not made a confession of his pride. Job is righteous in his own eyes, but Job is not righteous before God.