The Gloves are Off (Job 10:1-14)
Bill Long 1/22/05
Job never tells us precisely what he means when he utters his third wish near the end of chapter 9 ("If he would take his rod away..." 9:34). I assume that it means that Job wants God to take away the physical torment he is facing so that he might have some space to speak to God. Thus, after chapter 9 ends, I like to envision a kind of silence for a while, with the implicit message of the silence being, "Well, God, are you going to remove your 'rod' from me?" Time passes. Nothing happens. Job gives it a few more minutes. Still nothing. Job thinks to himself, "Well, I guess not..."
Then Job launches into chapter 10 and utters his complaint upon realizing that God is not going to swoop into his life and alleviate his suffering at this point. Job then returns to language t we have seen him before: "I loathe my life (10:1; see 7:16; 9:21)," even though that language will be placed in service to the more searching and plaintive speech in Job 10.
10:1-3
"I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. 3 Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked?"
A. Job's language in these three verses, and especially v. 1, contributes to Job's growing vocabulary of disaster and complaint. What are words composing this vocabulary for Job? Some of us become very proficient at expressing various thoughts--i.e., we have our own "vocabulary" of love, or self-pity, or disaster, or ways to describe sporting events, etc. What "language" are you proficient in? What language have others whom you know mastered?
B. What is Job's "tone" as he speaks 10:1-3? How do you explain this tone?
C. Verse 3 states Job's updated dilemma (his first dilemma was how to approach God in 9:14ff.). Say it in your own words. How do the fears Job utters here differ from or confirm the fears of 7:11-21?
10:8-14
[Space does not permit a consideration of the intervening verses, though I encourage you to read them in preparing for this section.]
"8 Your hands fashioned and made me; and now you turn and destroy me. 9 Remember that you fashioned me like clay; and will you turn me to dust again? 10 Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? 11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. 12 You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. 13 Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose. 14 If I sin, you watch me, and do not acquit me of my iniquity."
This is an incredibly rich and pungent picture of Job's pain. Almost each verse evokes an arresting picture. We can further divide this section into four sub-parts: 8-9, 10, 11-12, and 13-14. The questions below go one subsection at a time.
A. (8-9) What is picture created in your mind in vv. 8-9? Whenever I read these verses, I I can't help but think of Mr. Bill in the old Saturday Night Live programs. Ah, Mr. Bill, a hapless and innocent person, manipulated by a cruel and sadistic power that always destroys him. Is this the picture you get? Note the contrast between God's careful shaping of Job and the result.
B. (10) Verse 10 has erotic overtones. Can you pick up on them? You may want to read my essay on the subject.
C. (11-12) Here is another "Scripture reference" in Job. That is, I see this text as shaped by Job's "reading" of Psalm 139 or the ideas behind 139:13-18. Read those latter verses. What are the similarites between the Psalm and Job? What is the difference in tone, however, between Ps. 139 and Job 10:11-12?
D. (13-14) Why did God hide all these things in God's heart? What exactly did God hide in heart? And, what was God's purpose in so doing?
E. What is Job's mental state after 10:14?
Copyright © 2004-2007 William R. Long
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