Job 31

Sin is an uncomfortable topic. It should be. We should squirm a little at least when sin is part of the conversation. Preachers stand at the front of the room, sometimes elevated on a platform, Bible on the stand in front of them. They preach (hopefully) what the Bible says about everything, including sin. There’s generally a hushed, sorrowful feeling in the room as the listeners nod in agreement and thank God they aren’t like those kind of people…sinners. But we are all like those kind of people. We are THOSE people. We are all sinners. We commit sin every day, multiple times a day.

In chapter thirty one, Job makes his list of sins that he did NOT commit. All the Sins I Never Did, a commentary, by Job. Forty verses where Job declares his innocence. He forgot the part where he fills the whole world with the list of sins he DID commit. We will leave that for later posts when God addresses Job’s sin perfectly. For now, let’s take a walk through Job’s hall of innocence. The mirrors are wonky, and the floor tilts a bit.

“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high? Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?”

Job 31:1-4

Whoa. Job jumps right in to discuss a big pile of smelly sin right at the start. Job declares he is innocent from looking and lusting after virgins. In our current culture, he would be a man who has never looked at pornography. Job says he hasn’t looked, and he won’t look. He knows God sees everything he does; God knows each step he takes. Nothing escapes God’s attention. If you have any concept of the world-wide, sticky spider web we call the internet, then you know it is so easy to find and view what our eyes should not see. Many have fallen into this trap; and many have not. Those who haven’t can praise God with the psalmist, “This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts” (Psalm 119:56). Those who have fallen for this cheap trick can pray in agreement with the same psalmist, “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways” (Psalm 119:37).

If we believe that God is always with us, that he knows all things, that he knows our thoughts even before we think them…if we truly believe this, then looking and lusting should feel impossible to us – should be impossible to us. How can we sin so rebelliously in front of our gracious God Who gave His only Son to redeem us from sin? Yet we do, we have, we will again, in countless ways. The sorrow of this should fill our eyes with tears (Psalm 119:136). Job has made a covenant with his own eyes that he will not look and lust. A worthy commitment. In our current age, this might look like robust computer filters, focused accountability software, compassionate counseling, bold brothers and sisters who ask us about the struggle against looking and lusting and stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the fray. Next, Job addresses deceitful living, a life of duplicity. This sin goes along with the sin of lust, because lusting and looking often lead to hiding it, living a double-life.

“If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened to deceit; (Let me be weighed in a just balance, and let God know my integrity!) if my step has turned aside from the way and my heart has gone after my eyes, and if any spot has stuck to my hands, then let me sow, and another eat, and let what grows for me be rooted out.”

Job 31:5-8

“Out, damned spot! Out, I say!”

“Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”

“Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”

Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1

“Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the LORD GOD.”

Jeremiah 2:22

“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Isaiah 1:18

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”

Psalm 51:1-2

“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Robert Lowry (1826-1899)

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I John 1:8-9

Job moves the conversation from the eyes (our gaze) to the walk (our way of life) and then to the heart (our inner person). This is so often the path sin takes in our lives. We look, we desire, we act on that desire, we hide. On this sin progression, consider Achan (Joshua 7:20-21), and Eve ( Genesis 3). Also, consider James’ good words of warning on this topic: James 1:12-15. Job expands on this thought by describing the heavy toll adultery and infidelity have in verses 9-12. He calls adultery a “heinous crime” that should be brought before the judges. He calls it a “fire that consumes as far as Abaddon.”

Job lays out his innocence in the areas of equity and justice (v. 13-15), caring for the poor and needy, the fatherless, and the widows (v. 16-23), not idolizing wealth, not worshiping himself (v. 24-28). He explains how hospitable he has been, how he has not wished for those who hate him to die, and how he has not hidden any transgression – he has lived an honest life (v. 29-37). Finally, he claims innocence in his treatment of the land he farmed (v. 38-40). And then he ends his case: “The words of Job are ended.” Really?

Dearest Job, You were not finished speaking. Your words were not actually ended. You had millions more to say about your guilt before the Holy God. You forgot to finish your story. But no worries, friend – God will show up for you to set things right. He will make everything right – even you, Job. He will set you right. Praise God for that mercy.

“You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good; teach me your statutes…”

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.”

Psalm 119:65-68, 71