Mar. 25, 2026

“TRIED AND TESTED”

“GOD MY ENEMY?”

JOB 15:1-17:16

1.  THE CRITICISMS OF JOB (JOB 15:1-16)

*His Words Are Empty (Job 15:1-3)

Job 15:1-3 “Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: 2“Should a wise man answer with empty knowledge, And fill himself with the east wind? 3Should he reason with unprofitable talk, Or by speeches with which he can do no good?”

*His Ways Are Evil (Job 15:4-6)

Even greater accusations are leveled at Job in verses 4-6:

Job 15:4-6 “Yes, you cast off fear, And restrain prayer before God.
5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, And you choose the tongue of the crafty. 6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Yes, your own lips testify against you.”

*His Wisdom Is Elementary (Job 15:7-13)

Eliphaz then asks Job a series of rhetorical questions in verses 7-9:

Job 15:7-9 “Are you the first man who was born? Or were you made before the hills? 8Have you heard the counsel of God? Do you limit wisdom to yourself? 9What do you know that we do not know?”

Psalm 119:99-100 “I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. 100I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts.”

Job 15:10-13 “Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us,
Much older than your father. 11Are the consolations of God too small for you, And the word spoken gently with you? 12Why does your heart carry you away, And what do your eyes wink at, 13That you turn your spirit against God, And let such words go out of your mouth?”

*His Wickedness Is Evident (Job 15:14-16)

Job 15:14-16 “What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous? 15If God puts no trust in His saints, And the heavens are not pure in His sight, 16How much less man, who is abominable and filthy, Who drinks iniquity like water!”

What a discouraging thought this must have been for Job. Eliphaz is one mean guy!

*His Wretchedness Is Earned (Job 15:17-35)

Job 15:17-35 “17“I will tell you, hear me; What I have seen I will declare, 18What wise men have told, Not hiding anything received from their fathers, 19To whom alone the land was given, And no alien passed among them: 20The wicked man writhes with pain all his days, And the number of years is hidden from the oppressor.

21Dreadful sounds are in his ears; In prosperity the destroyer comes upon him. 22He does not believe that he will return from darkness, For a sword is waiting for him. 23He wanders about for bread, saying, ‘Where is it?’ He knows that a day of darkness is ready at his hand. 24Trouble and anguish make him afraid; They overpower him, like a king ready for battle. 25For he stretches out his hand against God, And acts defiantly against the Almighty, 26Running stubbornly against Him With his strong, embossed shield. 27“Though he has covered his face with his fatness,  And made his waist heavy with fat, 28He dwells in desolate cities, In houses which no one inhabits, Which are destined to become ruins. 29He will not be rich, Nor will his wealth continue, Nor will his possessions overspread the earth. 30He will not depart from darkness; The flame will dry out his branches, And by the breath of His mouth he will go away. 31Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, For futility will be his reward. 32It will be accomplished before his time, And his branch will not be green.
33He will shake off his unripe grape like a vine, And cast off his blossom like an olive tree. 34For the company of hypocrites will be barren, And fire will consume the tents of bribery. 35They conceive trouble and bring forth futility; Their womb prepares deceit.”

It is the same old "blame-the-victim" theology. If you are suffering, then you must be sinning. It was wrong in Job's day and it is still wrong today!

2.  THE COMPLAINTS OF JOB (Job 16-17)

*He Feels Frustrated (Job 16:1-5)

Job 16:1-5 “Then Job answered and said: 2“I have heard many such things; Miserable comforters are you all! 3Shall words of wind have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? 4I also could speak as you do, If your soul were in my soul’s place.
I could heap up words against you, And shake my head at you; 5But I would strengthen you with my mouth, And the comfort of my lips would relieve your grief.”

*He Feels Forsaken (Job 16:6-17)

Job 16:6-11 “Though I speak, my grief is not relieved; And if I remain silent, how am I eased? 7But now He has worn me out;
You have made desolate all my company. 8You have shriveled me up, And it is a witness against me; My leanness rises up against me And bears witness to my face. 9He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; My adversary sharpens His gaze on me. 10They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me. 11God has delivered me to the ungodly, And turned me over to the hands of the wicked.”

Job 16:12-17 “I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target,13His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground.14He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior. 15“I have sewn sackcloth over my skin, And laid my head in the dust. 16My face is flushed from weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death; 17Although no violence is in my hands, And my prayer is pure.”

*He Feels Forgotten (Job 16:18-22)

Job 16:18-22 “O earth, do not cover my blood, And let my cry have no resting place! 19Surely even now my witness is in heaven, And my evidence is on high. 20My friends scorn me; My eyes pour out tears to God. 21Oh, that one might plead for a man with God, As a man pleads for his neighbor! 22For when a few years are finished, I shall go the way of no return.”

1 John 2:1-2

So when we feel frustrated and forsaken like Job, we can go to our Advocate in heaven and know that He cares.

He Feels Finished (Job 17:1-16)

Job 17:1-16 “My spirit is broken, My days are extinguished, The grave is ready for me. 2Are not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation? 3“Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself. Who is he who will shake hands with me? 4For You have hidden their heart from understanding; Therefore You will not exalt them. 5He who speaks flattery to his friends,Even the eyes of his children will fail. 6“But He has made me a byword of the people, And I have become one in whose face men spit. 7My eye has also grown dim because of sorrow, And all my members are like shadows. 8Upright men are astonished at this, And the innocent stirs himself up against the hypocrite. 9Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger. 10“But please, come back again, all of you, For I shall not find one wise man among you. 11My days are past, My purposes are broken off, Even the thoughts of my heart. 12They change the night into day; ‘The light is near,’ they say, in the face of darkness. 13If I wait for the grave as my house, If I make my bed in the darkness, 14If I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’
And to the worm, ‘You are my mother and my sister,’ 15Where then is my hope? As for my hope, who can see it? 16Will they go down to the gates of Sheol? Shall we have rest together in the dust?” 

Job 13:15