Heritage Reformed Baptist Mission
Job
Chapter 9
Job 9:1-35
I. I. JOB ACKNOWLEDGES THAT GOD IS JUST - vv. 1-12
9:2a - "it is so" = Job agrees with the last thing Bildad spoke - cf. Job 8:20-22
9:2b - "how . . ." = a question which states an impossibility, but may also state a desire
QUESTION: can it be stated as an impossibility without the desire to be justified?
9:3 - When God charges a man with sin, it is impossible for that man to justify himself of even one no matter how many there are. It is vain/sinful to argue with God; or to question Him in an accusing or doubting manner.
The only right answer man can give to God's charge of sin against him is, "Guilty as charged."
9:4 - "wise" - knowing all, which no man does, not even about himself - cf. Jer 17:9
"mighty" = able to carry out His purposes without fear of defeat, something man cannot do, no, not with a mighty army - cf. Pro 21:31; Psa 33:16-17; Num 14:41-45
"hardened . . . prospered" = resist, withstand without being ultimately overcome - cf. Pro 29:1
9:5 - "removeth . . ." = cf. Zec 14:4 - e.g., the Flood; Mount St. Helens
God's power to remove mountains may also be applied to things the Lord does which are impossible with men (cf. Mat 19:26), as well as kings, rulers and governments (cf. Dan 2:21)
"know not" = suddenly, without warning
9:6 - "shaketh . . ." = perhaps the immediate observation of the effect of earthquakes; to be done literally in the end - cf. Isa 24:19-20
"pillars" = poetic reference, not reality - cf. Job 26:7
9:7 - "sun . . . riseth not" = most likely refers to God's power over the sun to do with it as He wills - cf. Josh 10:13; 2 Ki 20:11; Isa 38:8; Amos 8:9; Mar 15:33
"sealeth . . . stars" = covers them with clouds at night and by the brightness of the sun in the daytime
9:8 - "spreadeth"; "treadeth" = A description of the power of God, and God alone, who not only created the heavens and the earth, but continuously sustains and controls them - cf. Col 1:16-17; Mat 14:25; Mar 4:39
9:9 - Job adds some specifics to what he spoke in v. 8
"Arcturus" = the 4th brightest star in the sky, the brightest in the constellation Bootes
"Orion" = a constellation in the southern hemisphere containing 78 stars, seven of which are visible to the naked eye during the late Fall and Winter in the northern hemisphere
"Pleiades" = an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, containing several hundred stars, of which 6 are visible to the naked eye
"chambers . . . south" = stars that are hidden from view in the northern hemisphere.
9:10 - Job shows his agreement with Eliphaz by repeating what the latter had said in Job 5:9
9:11 - "goeth by me" - God is omnipresent, i.e., everywhere, and cannot be said to move from place to place; but His creation, His providences do move in and out of man's vision and presence; and though God's eternal power and godhead can be seen in the creation (cf. Rom 1:20; Psa 19:1-3), He Himself is invisible.
"see"; "perceive" = understand
Job acknowledges the work of God in his life and all around him, but doesn't understand what God is doing
QUESTION: Could there be a hint here that the desire for understanding all that God does, in effect asking God, "Why?", in essence to be on an equal footing with God, is the basic problem for which Job is rebuked by God in the last 5 chapters of the book?
9:12 - "taketh away" = i.e., temporal possessions, all of which belong to Him and with which He has the right to do as He pleases without being questioned - cf. Job 1:21
"hinder" = may also be translated "restore"; who can prevent God from taking what is His and who can recover what God has taken without His agreement
"What doest thou?" - cf. Dan 4:35; Ecc 8:4
II. JOB ADMITS HE IS NOT ABLE TO CONTEND AGAINST GOD - vv. 13-21
9:13 - "If" = an addition by the translators. Without "If", Job says, "God will not withdraw his anger" and points to proud people and those who encourage them.
Those who aid and abet wicked people in their pride, approving of and encouraging wickedness, are themselves proud and all will ultimately fall under the mighty hand of God's punishment. - cf. Rom 1:32-2:1-3
9:14 - Since God controls the universe, does the impossible and brings down the mighty, the proud of the earth, what can Job say to reason with Him about his affliction.
9:15 - Job seems to say that, though he was not aware of anything amiss in his life, if God accused him, he would not question Him, but would pray for pardon. cf. 1 Co 4:4; see also Psa 19:12
9:16 - Job seems to say he hadn't prayed to God about his affliction, and that, even if he had and God had answered, he would have doubted the answer since he really didn't expect it would have brought him any relief from his affliction. In the following verses, he tells us why.
Of course, Job is right here about not being answered if he had prayed. Why? cf. Jam 1:5-7
9:17-18 - Job sees no cause in himself for the horrible afflictions he is suffering and so ascribes the afflictions to the sovereign will of God about which, he supposed, there was no use praying. In that supposition, he was partly right and partly wrong - partly right if he expected only to be delivered from the afflictions; partly wrong in not submitting himself to God without complaining.
9:19 - Job could hope for relief from neither his own strength nor a judicial proceeding. God is the strong one and there is no one to present Job's case, either as a witness or as an advocate, neither is there an appeal to a higher court.
9:20 - The very attempt to argue against God is itself sin and proof of guilt in other matters as well.
"own mouth" = any words spoken in defense of self against God
"I am perfect . . . perverse" = cf. 1 John 1:8
Job, being the God-fearing hater of evil he was, knew he was not sinless, but he also knew he wasn't a hypocrite and didn't know of any other sin in his life that would bring such affliction as he was suffering.
9:21 - "Though . . . perfect" = absolutely unaware of any sin in his life
Job here says what is true of everyone who claims sinless perfection; i.e., they do not know themselves and what is in them.
III. JOB STATES HIS BELIEF THAT GOD DEALS WITH ALL ALIKE - vv. 22-24
9:22 - "one thing" = the thing in which Job is opposed to his friends, viz., both the righteous and the wicked alike are subject to affliction and distress - cf. Ecc 9:2
9:23 - "laugh . . ." = seemingly inattentive to their suffering by allowing it to continue, as it was in Job's case.
9:24 - "earth . . . wicked" = generally speaking, those who have been and are in power in this world were not and are not godly people; even those who professed and profess to be were and are often influenced by political considerations rather than by the Word of God; yet all are not out of the control of the Almighty, but are placed by Him where they are to accomplish His purpose - cf. Rom 13:1
"covereth . . . judges" = good and righteous judges are placed in obscurity by wicked rulers in favor of judges who are also wicked - cf. Isa 29:10; see also Pro 29:12
"if not . . ." = if this doesn't describe God as the doer of these things, who does it describe?
IV. JOB CONTINUES HIS COMPLAINING - vv. 25-35
9:25 - "post" = courier riding a fast horse or camel
"no good" = in the present circumstances
9:26 - "swift ships" = probably lightly constructed canoe-type boats that could be propelled quite fast
"eagle " = which flies most swiftly when attacking its food
This is how Job sees his life passing away from him.
9:27-28a - "comfort" = stop grieving; cheer up
Job's sorrowful affliction overwhelmed any desire he might have had to cheer up and stop complaining
9:28b - "wilt not . . . innocent" = Job had no hope that God was going to deliver him from the condition which, to his friends, proved he was guilty of some sin, specifically, as they thought, hypocrisy; so how could he even think about cheering up
9:29 - "If" = addition by the translators. Without "If", Job simply states, "I am wicked", and being thus charged by God he acknowledges the futility of contending with God; but his submission is more, if not altogether, because God is powerful and he is weak, rather than God has a purpose for the affliction.
9:30 - "snow water" = thought to be the purest water of all
"hands" = symbolic of outward cleansing; self-righteous works
9:31 - Job recognizes any outward righteousness, which would perhaps be accepted by his friends as evidence of innocence, would not be accepted by God - cf. Isa 64:6
This is something hypocrites do not recognize. Their purpose is to be praised by men. cf. Mat 23:5
9:32 - Job, recognizing God's sovereignty and superiority, continues to state the futility of contending with Him, either by himself or in the presence of a superior judge, if there was one.
9:33 - "daysman" = umpire, arbiter, judge; one who decides a case between two contending parties making the final decision
Job understands there is no one like that before whom he and God can appear for there is none superior to God - 1 Sam 2:25
"lay his hand . . . both" = intervene between the contending parties to keep them from harming one another
This verse is often applied to the Lord Jesus as the Mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Tim 2:5), but Job isn't speaking of a mediator ("one that reconciles differences between disputants"), but of one who makes a decision by which the contending parties will abide.
No one can judge God. Jesus, as the Son of man, received the judgment of God for sin in order that those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4) could be justified and, therefore, personally reconciled to God. cf. Col 1:21-22
9:34 - "rod" = of chastening, affliction
"fear" = as Judge
9:35 - Job says if the affliction and his fear of God as Judge were removed, he could then speak to God on equal footing; but laments that is not the case