July 11, 2010 7th Sunday
after Pentecost
Job 12:1-25 Rev.
David C. Naumann
Job 12:1-25 Then Job replied: “Doubtless you are the people, and wisdom will die
with you! But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not
know all these things? I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called
upon God and he answered—a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless! Men
at ease have contempt for misfortune as the fate of those whose feet are slipping.
The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure—those
who carry their god in their hands. But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will
teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food?
Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? To God
belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. What he tears down cannot
be rebuilt; the man he imprisons cannot be released. If he holds back the waters,
there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land. To him belong strength
and victory; both deceived and deceiver are his. He leads counselors away stripped
and makes fools of judges. He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth
around their waist. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows men long established.
He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.
He pours contempt on nobles and disarms the mighty. He reveals the deep things of
darkness and brings deep shadows into the light. He makes nations great, and destroys
them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them. He deprives the leaders of the earth
of their reason; he sends them wandering through a trackless waste. They grope in
darkness with no light; he makes them stagger like drunkards.”
Job’s three friends were completely worthless. They would have been better off continuing
what they had started the seven days before—remaining silent. Instead, they opened
their mouths and aided Job in his tailspin downward into utter despair. Everything
they said contributed to a false theology. Their answer for what happened to Job
was simple enough: God repays sin with punishment.
What a horrible conclusion must be drawn from their words! Either Job must have committed
something terrible to deserve this kind of treatment from God, or God must be treating
Job unfairly, and he should now bring his case before God. One alternative leads
to pride and finding fault with God! The other leads to utter despair. Job expressed
both at many times and in numerous ways in the chapters that followed.
