The banter between Job and his 'friends' continues, but the tenor is beginning to change. Zophar maintains that the fate awaiting the wicked is calamity, while Job points out how the wicked seem to survive without any visible distress. It doesn't make sense, Job says.
One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease,
his body well nourished, his bones rich with marrow.
Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good.
Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both. - Job 20:23-26 NIV
'So what if you were perfect." Job's friend Eliphaz retorts. Can a man be of benefit to God, Can even a wise man benefit him? - Job 22:2-3 NIV 'If you return to God, he will restore you.'
This does not cheer Job up. All he feels is utter abandonment...there is no light at the end of the tunnel. He can no longer see God.
"But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.
When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;
when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold." - Job 23:8-10 NIV
God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face. - Job 23:16-17
Job is mystified by the calamity that has come upon him. He cannot understand it's source. He has always followed God, obeyed his commands, and now this. Job knows that God is sovereign, even if he doesn't understand His ways. He is confused, but he is not bitter.
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