Job 31--Job's Final Appeal

Job's Final Appeal​
31 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
    how then could I gaze at a virgin?
2 What would be my portion from God above
    and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
    and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 Does not he see my ways
    and number all my steps?

5 “If I have walked with falsehood
    and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way
    and my heart has gone after my eyes,
    and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and another eat,
    and let what grows for me be rooted out.

9 “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
    and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
10 then let my wife grind for another,
    and let others bow down on her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
12 for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
    and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13 “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
    when they brought a complaint against me,
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
    When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
    And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
    and the fatherless has not eaten of it
18 (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
    and from my mother's womb I guided the widow),
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
    or the needy without covering,
20 if his body has not blessed me,
    and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
    because I saw my help in the gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.

24 “If I have made gold my trust
    or called fine gold my confidence,
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
    or because my hand had found much,
26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
    or the moon moving in splendor,
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I would have been false to God above.

29 “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
    or exulted when evil overtook him
30 (I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for his life with a curse),
31 if the men of my tent have not said,
    ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’
32 (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the traveler),
33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
    by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors--
35 Oh, that I had one to hear me!
    (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)
    Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!
36 Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;
    I would bind it on me as a crown;
37 I would give him an account of all my steps;
    like a prince I would approach him.

38 “If my land has cried out against me
    and its furrows have wept together,
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and made its owners breathe their last,
40 let thorns grow instead of wheat,
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

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Job seems to write out his defense of his integrity and sign it as he would a legal document and calls for his accuser (God) to show him the indictment--the charges brought against him--so that he can respond the them.  He says that if he is guilty, he will gladly accept the punishment for his guilt and lays out what he thinks would be fair punishment for many of the things his friends have falsely accused him of and swears that he has done none of those things--lusted after a woman that was not his wife, committed adultery, laid in wait to shed someone's blood, taken advantage of his male or female servants by being unjust to them, not taking care of the poor, or abusing his power as a village elder to execute unrighteous judgment.

Job says that if he's guilty, he would gladly wear the indictment for all to see on his shoulder or even as a crown.  Sometimes we believe someone protests too much, and while I don't believe that Job is sinless, I do believe that his sin has been forgiven and atoned for, and, in that sense that Job is 100% correct here that there is nothing to be held to his account--he is blameless in the sight of God, even if not so in the sight of his friends.  Also, please see that something about Job's nature is different than even the nature of his friends because Job would not do the things that are common for a "natural" man to do, and the things that his friends naturally assumed he was guilty of because they and everyone else they knew were guilty of such things.  We are completely changed by the gospel and become new creations that no longer have the same desires and we love to be obedient to God's Law since we love the God who made the Law.  Job delights in the Lord and in obeying His commandments.  This is why he cannot understand what charges could be brought against him and what he could have done to deserve such punishment that seems like it should be reserved for the wicked and unrighteous--those that need driven to repentance.

Even in all this, God has a reason and purpose to teach Job and us a little more about Himself and to refine Job's understanding of God a little bit more--as there are some things that Job has said in the book that were in error, but it it is God and not Job's friends that will issue the correction to Job.  That's coming very soon after we hear one last friend of Job speak--the only one that seems to stand up for him (at least a little).​