Job 10 Reminds me that Satan’s goal is to turn our mind and heart away from God. It is interesting to see that the more distant Job feels from God, the less reverence he has toward God. Job is now a man whose suffering and sorrow has brought him to full-blown depression. The chapter begins, “I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. His lack of reverence leads to a very small and petty perception of God.”I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me“. He is even openly questioning God’s motives. “Does it please You to oppress me, to spurn the work of Your hands, while You smile on the schemes of the wicked?” And Job continues his questioning with the insinuation that God has made a mistake. “Do You see as a mortal sees? Are Your days like those of a mortal or Your years like those of a man?” Finally his questions become filled with sarcasm, “Your hands shaped me and made me. Will You now turn and destroy me? Remember that You molded me like clay. Will You now turn me to dust again?” I have heard people say, “We must never question God”. I don’t think that is true, but the important thing is, where you go for answers. Through the years I have had many people pose questions to me about God. I find that there are two kinds of questioners; those that are sincerely looking for answers, and those that desire to belittle my faith. Oddly enough, the best answer to both is not found in my brilliance, but pointing them back to God’s Word.
Job’s biggest problem is that he knows God has perfect knowledge, but he cannot reconcile that to his dilemma. “You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit… If I sinned, you would be watching me and would not let my offense go unpunished. If I am guilty woe to me! And again heknows that he is not sinless. It seems clear that he comprehends that though he may not be guilty of a single big thing, is also not innocent enough to stand on his own. “Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head, for I am full of shame and drowned in my affliction“. And this is the same problem faced by everyone with the over-simplified belief that good people are blessed and bad people are punished by God. Job feels like he has become an undeserving target of God’s wrath. “If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion and again display your awesome power against me. You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me; your forces come against me wave upon wave“. Please remember that Satan was attacking Job. True, God allowed it, but God’s purpose is much bigger than one man. In my hour of conversion, God used a number of events from my past to show me that I was in need of Salvation. I was humbled and brought to my knees and that is where we are closest to God.
The chapter ends with another important point; there is always a danger in trusting in our feelings rather than God’s written Word. Feelings are susceptible to rapid changes. “Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me”. Are not my few days almost over? Job has lost all hope and now all of the imagery he uses involve darkness. “Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow, to the land of deepest night, of deep shadow and disorder, where even the light is like darkness.” I believe there is a solution to this type of darkness; the written Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path“. During creation God spoke light into existence, “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good” (Genesis 1:3). And in John 8:12 Jesus said to those lost in the darkness of their own sin, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life“. Even the most buoyant of believers today can only see a hint of the glory that awaits us. “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We worship a big God, but He loves each of us as if there were only one to love.