JOB LESSON 26


     We will begin this lesson in Job 27:1 "Moreover Job continued his
parable, and said," Job 27:2  "[As] God liveth, [who] hath taken away
my judgment; and the Almighty, [who] hath vexed my soul;"

     The parable, in the verse above, was speaking of a deliberate
statement by Job of the things he had observed. We see, in verse 2
above, a recognition of God as the One who exists. "As God liveth" was
a statement that many of the men of God had used. It was an expression
of the truthfulness of what they were about to say. Job had questioned
his own judgement. The Almighty was the One that Job believed had
brought these calamities upon him. He had no bitterness toward God,
but against his own self. He had stated previously that though God
slay him, he would still trust Him. He called Him his Redeemer. Job
did not understand what was happening to him, but he trusted that God
had it under control.

     Job 27:3 "All the while my breath [is] in me, and the spirit of
God [is] in my nostrils;" Job 27:4 "My lips shall not speak
wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit."

     "While breath was in him", meant that he was alive. God breathed
the breath of life in man, and he became a living soul. The breath
that is within us is our life. He was saying, that as long as he
lived, he would not speak wickedness. Job was saying that his tongue
would speak truth.

     Job 27:5 "God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will
not remove mine integrity from me."

     Job did not want to find out that his friends had been right
about him. He did not know how he could have sinned. The sin was more
of a secret to Job, than it was to the others around him. The reason
it was so secret, was because it did not exist.

     Job 27:6 "My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go:
my heart shall not reproach [me] so long as I live."

     Job would not cease to believe, and said that he was innocent of
the charges his friends had brought against him. He knew that his
righteousness was in God. Job said he did not have a guilty
conscience.

     Job 27:7 "Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up
against me as the unrighteous."

     Now, Job was asking God to punish those who were against him.
Job's friends were in this group. They would not accept Job's
explanation that he had not sinned. In a sense, they were the worst
enemies that he had. They had come to comfort him, they said. They cut
him to pieces with accusations of wrong doing, which were not true.

     Job 27:8 "For what [is] the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath
gained, when God taketh away his soul?"

     The hypocrite may pretend to be something he is not in this life.
He may even get people to believe him, He has nothing to look forward
to, because God will judge him for what he really is. That is what
happens to those we read of in the book of Matthew who proclaim to be
Christians and Jesus tells them to get away that He never knew them.

     Job 27:9 "Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?"

     God will not hear the hypocrite in his time of trouble. He cannot
depend on God, as God could not depend on him.

     Job 27:10 "Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he
always call upon God?"

     This was still speaking of the hypocrite. God will not be
in fellowship with the hypocrite. The hypocrite is not in fellowship
with God either. A hypocrite sometimes goes to church, pretending to
be a believer, but is really there for another reason. They do not
call on God in prayer, because they do not really believe in prayer.

     Job 27:11 "I will teach you by the hand of God: [that] which [is]
with the Almighty will I not conceal."

     Beginning with this verse, we see a different Job than in the
earlier Scriptures. This was really the way that Job felt about the
LORD all along. The earlier statements that he made, were because he
was suffering so greatly, and he had no encouragement from anyone. He
had been looking with disappointment. The following statements he
made were his true feelings, however. Job was saying that he would
teach them of the LORD and His true ways.

     Job 27:12 "Behold, all ye yourselves have seen [it]; why then are
ye thus altogether vain?"

     Job could not understand why anyone would not know the hand of
God was in everything and everyone.

     Job 27:13 "This [is] the portion of a wicked man with God, and
the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the
Almighty." Job 27:14 "If his children be multiplied, [it is] for the
sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread."

     Job was about to tell the true way of the oppressor. He had said
earlier, that it appeared they prospered in this earth. That might
have even been true, but their prosperity was short lived. It may
appear that they were blessed with many children and with wealth, but
all of that disappeared. Those who do not know God can never find
peace in this life. They go through life unsatisfied. The thing they
are seeking is God, and they are not aware of it.

     Job 27:15 "Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and
his widows shall not weep."

     An evil man is evil at home as well as in public. His widow will
not miss him, or weep for him, because she will be free of his
oppression.

     Job 27:16 "Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare
raiment as the clay;" Job 27:17 "He may prepare [it], but the just
shall put [it] on, and the innocent shall divide the silver."

     Silver, or any other wealth, that is acquired through deceit does
not last very long.  He might be very rich in things of this world,
but he would die and leave it all.  Job was saying, the just shall
wind up with the riches of the evil man.

     Job 27:18 "He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth [that]
the keeper maketh."

     A moth destroys. It is fragile itself and lasts but for a moment
in time. The booth, spoken of here, was a temporary shelter that was
erected at harvest time. It would be torn down after harvest. This was
saying, the house of the evil man, was temporary.

     Job 27:19 "The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be
gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he [is] not."

     This could be a crop that the rich man had that he was too lazy
to harvest. It might even mean, that while he slept, his crop died
from locusts, or such. He had lain down a rich man, and when he got up
all of his wealth was gone for some reason.

     Job 27:20 "Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth
him away in the night."

     Many times the man that is wealthy cannot sleep at night for fear
someone will come and take his money. He fears robbers and a thousand
other things that could cause him to lose his wealth. He will,
probably, die from a heart attack worrying about his money.

     Job 27:21 "The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth: and
as a storm hurleth him out of his place."

     This could be a real storm coming out of the east that God sent
to destroy him, or it could be speaking of a storm of problems that
overwhelms him.

     Job 27:22 "For [God] shall cast upon him, and not spare: he would
fain flee out of his hand."

     This evil man might find safety from other men, but this was
speaking of a judgement of God that came and did not spare him.

     Job 27:23  "[Men] shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss
him out of his place."
     When the really bad troubles came on the evil man, those he had
treated poorly would rejoice at his misfortune. "They would clap their
hands in joy, that God had punished him for his evil."



















































                           Job 26 Questions


1.  The parable, in verse 1, was speaking of what?
2.  God is recognized as the One who _________ in verse 2.
3.  What was "As God liveth" an expression of?
4.  Job had said "Though God slay me, yet will I ________ him".
5.  What did "While breath is in him" mean?
6.  As long as he lived he would not speak _____________.
7.  What was Job saying in verse 5?
8.  Why was Job's sin a secret to himself?
9.  Job did not have a guilty ____________.
10. What was Job asking for in verse 7?
11. Why were Job's friends his worst enemies?
12. What is a hypocrite?
13. God will judge him for what he really ______.
14. God will not be in ___________ with the hypocrite
15. Why does the hypocrite not call on God in prayer?
16. Beginning in verse 11, what was different?
17. If the wicked man's family be multiplied, it is for what?
18. What is strange about the death of the evil man?
19. What happened to the silver of the evil man?
20. What was his house compared to in verse 18?
21. What happened to him in the night?
22. When he dieds what would men do?