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The Book of Job

Chapter Twenty-seven: Job Holds Fast

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Job Holds Fast

Job: chapter 27
1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.
8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

11 I will teach you by the hand of God: that which is with the Almighty will I not conceal.
12 Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; why then are ye thus altogether vain?
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, which they shall receive of the Almighty.
14 If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.
16 Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
17 He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.
18 He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh.
19 The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he is not.
20 Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
21 The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place.
22 For God shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand.
23 Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.

Having answered Bildad's interruption, Job returns to his discourse on God's season for punishment of the wicked of chapter twenty-four. He is becoming steadily more intense, “while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; my lips shall not speak wickedness” (27:2-4). With all that Satan has thrown against him, Job remains resolute in his respect for God. Satan is trying to drive him away from God. For a time, Job was becoming despondent and self-focused. But the harder the devil drives at him, the more Job looks to God.

Job is getting stronger, his vision getting clearer rather than weaker. "God forbid that I should justify you" (27:5), Job points his argument at his accusers, “My righteousness I hold fast” (27:6). His friends are challenging Job to confess to sins he has not committed. To satisfy you, Job implies, I would have to create a sin. I won't do that. He rightly refuses to budge in spite of the disdain of his friends. If God is righteous, He will not condemn without cause.

Job is in an odd bind, he is under the heavy hand of God, but he knows of no sin for which he should be condemned. In chapter 31 he will make an ‘oath of clearing’, in essence challenging God to look upon his righteousness. God will rebuke him for his rashness. The fact that Job's ways are perfect does not make him perfect heart and soul, but he can't see that as yet. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). Job is being called to see the condition of his heart. The hand of God is maturing Job.

God Has Taken His Soul

Job pronounces a curse on his accusers: “Let mine enemy be as the wicked” (27:7). Earlier he refrained from reciprocating when Zophar cursed him (11:5). Job has had enough. There can be no mistaking that Job is speaking of his friends. The word translated here as ‘hypocrite’ means “soiled (that is, with sin), impious” (Strong, H2611). “For what is the hope of the hypocrite... when God taketh away his soul” (27:8)? Be it here or there, there is judgment for the wicked.

When the hypocrite is suffering as I am suffering, Job points his argument directly at his friends, “Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God” (27:10)? This question implies a self-righteous gloating, which Job will condemn: “If I rejoice at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him...” (31:29). Job is very real. He has his good moments and his not so good moments. For the most part, Job displays the patience of a saint.

“I will teach you by the hand of God” (27:11), Job goes on, “ye yourselves have seen it, why then are ye thus altogether vain?” (27:12). “The original is very emphatical: hebel tehbalu, and well expressed by Mr. Good: ‘Why then should ye thus babble babblings!’ If our language would allow it, we might say vanitize vanity” (Clarke, note on 27:12). “The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered” (27:19). Gold and silver are not indicators of righteousness (27:16-19), Job penetrates Bildad's self-righteousness defense. “For God shall cast upon him, and not spare” (27:22), and then those who looked up to the rich man will turn on him: “Men shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place” (27:23). Job's theology on judgment beyond the grave is continuing to develop. Here he suggests that the evil man, though he be rich, will not be ‘gathered’ [unto God], but the ‘east wind’, the hot desert storms will hurl him out and God will ‘cast’ or hurl Himself upon the wretched soul. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matt. 16:26).

The contention is becoming intense. One of the friends lists the punishment of the wicked, while staring at Job, and now Job is listing the punishment of the wicked, while staring at them. Far from comfort, the two drawn sides are ratcheting up judgment against the other. Some scholars contend that 27:7-23 is a fragment of a lost speech (Zophar's third presumably). “It is virtually impossible to ascribe 27:7-23 to Job” (New Concise Bible Dictionary, 276). I suppose that the thought is that Job would never condemn his friends as they have condemned him. As we have no way to know for sure, outside of the unearthing of a new manuscript, this must remain an interesting supposition. I have no difficulty assigning the speech to Job. And I rather like the contrast of viewpoints concerning the place of gold.


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*All Bible quotes are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated.



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