Job 10:14  If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.
15  If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;
16  For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.
17  Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
18  Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19  I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20  Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21  Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22  A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

Job continued his confusion with regard to Who God is. He knew that God knows it if he would sin. He knew that God does not overlook sin. God is willing to forgive sin when his child confesses it to Him.
In verse 15 Job stated that he knew that it was not a wise thing to sin. He knew that he deserved God’s judgment if he sinned. If he was righteous, he would not lift up his head in pride. Yet he was full of confusion because he did not understand what God was doing. He pleaded with God to look on his troubles.
Job did not understand that God knew all about what was going on. Nothing was happening here that God was not aware of. God was protecting Job’s life in the midst of the attack of the devil. Job did not understand this at this time, and he was having trouble trusting God. His friends gave him bad counsel. He thought he knew God and he thought he knew how God acted, but under his current situation, he was not sure he knew God very well at all.
Normal people do not like to suffer. They also do not like to see others suffer. We can try to protect ourselves and others from suffering. However, life is much bigger than we are. Things happen that we cannot control. It is important to know the true God and to have our hope in Him. In order to know God we need a personal relationship with Him. Jesus said: “ye must be born again.” Those who are truly saved, begin a life-long journey with the Lord after they are saved. There will be ups and downs, depending on our willingness to follow what God says.
In verse 16 Job accused God of hunting him down like a fierce lion. He was accusing God of lacking in mercy. This was not true, but this is what Job assumed. Job was astonished by what he assumed to be God’s actions.
In verse 18 Job again refers back to his birth. He could not understand why God allowed him to be born. Job seemed to forget about all the good influence he had been to many people in the past. He forgot about all the blessings he had received from God as well. It is important for us to note how quickly we can forget the good things that God gives us and how we let the troubles become so big that we forget all about the blessings of God.
Again we are reminded of how important a good church family is. When one member suffers there are others who can come alongside and help that suffering member through their difficult time. We need discernment so that we do not approach others as Job’s friends did. God wants Christians to be a blessing to one another.
God would eventually stop Job’s suffering. He gives us this account so that we can know that the devil is evil and wants to inflict as much pain as he possibly can. We can also know that the devil is limited in his actions. The suffering we face can seem overwhelming while we are in the midst of it. We need to be reminded that the suffering we face is short lived compared to eternity, if we know the Lord. Those who are lost may seem to do quite well now, but they will face an eternity of torment. Job’s sufferings were for a short time. He would come to see that. His suffering came to an end, and he received blessings after that.
The Bible tells us that every true child of God will suffer persecution on this earth. However, eternity is a long time. Without the Lord it is disastrous. Those who know the Lord have a glorious future ahead of them.
In verse 19 Job continued to assume it would have been better if he had not been born. We do not have a choice in this. No person chooses to be born. God blesses some parents with children. Children are a blessing from the Lord. It is sad that so many children are brought into this world without godly parents. They are raised in a vacuum. They learn the ways of the world, but their souls are starved. Those children will eventually die. Without knowing the Lord, they will suffer for all eternity. Adults should think about this. A person can reject God all they want. They will not remove God from reality. He is real. He is all powerful and He is also a God of love. He provides us with the truth.
We can study books like the book of Job and we can learn how to avoid the despair that Job was in. We can also stay away from false theology like that of his three friends. We can find hope and comfort in knowing the Lord and having godly friends who can encourage us in times of trouble. Real encouragement comes from the Word of God. It does not come from spin doctors.
In verse 20 Job reminded God that his days were few. He pleaded with God to leave him alone. He wrongly assumed he would find comfort apart from God. He was speaking as a foolish person would speak. No one is better off without God. As we look at all the trouble in our world, all of it is due to sin. Adam and Eve knew no trouble prior to Genesis 3. Adam chose to sin and since that time, there has been much trouble. God reached out to Adam to give him the opportunity to confess his sin. Adam chose to blame God, rather than confess his sin. He made a very foolish choice, that is the result of sin. We do not think very smart unless we let God direct our thoughts.
In our text, Job was not willing to let God direct his thoughts. He thought he needed to inform God of what was going on.
In verses 21-22 Job knew he was going to die one day. He assumed that at death and beyond, he would be in a land of darkness. He assumed that land was a land of chaos. He was so discouraged at this point that he forgot about things that he actually knew. We will see this later on. Job allowed his pain to overwhelm him. He was driving himself into a deeper hole because he was not remembering who God truly is.
As we have noted and will continue to see in the following chapters, his three friends were of no help. His wife was of no help. Job was in a difficult place. It was not so difficult that he could not have hope, but he chose to make it very difficult for himself.
Joshua challenged the nation of Israel with these words:

Joshua 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

We can look back at the book of Job and we can learn some important lessons. Or we can look back at the book of Job and take his present attitude. If we do that, we too will see God as unjust and cruel. If we take the entirety of the book and if we know the true God personally, we can learn that God is never unjust. He is never cruel. He is merciful and He is loving. We do ourselves no favours when we choose to believe the lies that the devil wants us to believe. We need to know the true God and walk humbly with Him and ask Him to guide our hearts and minds so that we live in the bounds of His love. There is hope when you know the God of hope.
He is not dead. He is not asleep. He is not too busy for you. If we choose Him now, and feed on His Word daily, we can be blessed in every situation we find ourselves in. In the end, we will have a home in heaven and be free from suffering.

II Corinthians 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Pastor Bartel