Job 23:8

_BEHOLD, I GO FORWARD, BUT HE IS NOT THERE; AND BACKWARD, BUT I CANNOT PERCEIVE HIM:_ But I wish in vain. For "behold," etc. FORWARD ... BACKWARD - rather, 'to the east, to the west.' The Hebrew geographers faced the east - i:e., sunrise: not the north, as we do. So 'before' means east: 'behind,' west (so the Hindus). 'Para,' before-east: 'Apara,' behind-west: 'Daschina,' the right hand-south: 'Bama,' left-north. A similar reference to sunrise appears in the name Asia, sunrise: Europe, sunset: pure Babylonian names, as Rawlinson shows....

8-12 Job knew that the Lord was every where present; but his mind was in such confusion, that he could get no fixed view of God's merciful presence, so as to find comfort by spreading his case before him. His views were all gloomy. God seemed to stand at a distance, and frown upon him. Yet Job expressed his assurance that he should be brought forth, tried, and approved, for he had obeyed the precepts of God. He had relished and delighted in the truths and commandments of God. Here we should notice that Job justified himself rather than God, or in opposition to him, ch. Job 32:2. Job might feel that he was clear from the charges of his friends, but boldly to assert that, though visited by the hand of God, it was not a chastisement of sin, was his error. And he is guilty of a second, when he denies that there are dealings of Providence with men in this present life, wherein the injured fi...

Verse Job 23:8. _BEHOLD, I GO FORWARD_] These two verses paint in vivid colours the distress and anxiety of a soul in search of the favour of God. No _means_ are left _untried_, no _place unexplored_, in order to find the object of his research. This is a true description of the conduct of a genuine penitent....

BEHOLD, I GO FORWARD - The meaning of these verses is, I go in all directions, but I cannot find God. I am excluded from the trial which I seek, and I cannot bring my cause to his throne. Job expresses his earnest desire to see some visible manifestation of the Deity, and to be permitted to argue his cause in his presence. But he says he sought this in vain. He looked to all points of the compass where he might rationally expect to find God, but all in vain. The terms here used refer to the points of the compass, and should have been so rendered. The Oriental geographers considered themselves as facing the East, instead of the North, as we do. Of course, the West was behind them, the South on the right hand, and on the left the North. This was a more natural position than ours, as day begins in the East, and it is natural to turn the face in that direction. There is no reason why our map...

EXPOSITION VERSES 1-24:25 Job replies to Eliphaz in a speech of no great length, which, though it occupies two chapters, runs to only forty-two verses. He begins by justifying the vehemence of his complaints, first, on the ground of the severity of his sufferings (verse 2), and secondly, on the ground of his conviction that, if God would bring him to an open trial before his tribunal, he would acquit him (verses 3-12). By the way, he complains that God hides himself, and cannot be found (verses 3, 8, 9). He then further complains that God is not to be bent from his purpose, which is set against Job (verses 13-17). In Job 24:1. he goes over ground already trodden, maintaining the general prosperity of the wicked, and their exemption from any special earthly punishment (Job 24:2). H

BEHOLD, I GO FORWARD, BUT HE [IS] NOT [THERE],.... Job here returns to what he had said before, Job 23:3; as Jarchi observes, where he expresses his earnest desire after God, that he might know where he was, and come up to his seat; here he relates the various ways he took to find him, and his fruitless search of him. Cocceius thinks, by these phrases "forward" and "backward", are meant times future and past; and that the sense is, that Job looked into the future times of the Messiah, and the grace promised him, his living Redeemer, that should stand on the earth in the latter day; and that he looked back to the ages before him, and to the first promise made to Adam; but could not understand by either the reason why good men were afflicted; and by the "right" hand and "left", the different dispensations of God to men, granting protection with his right hand, and distributing the blessing...

Always remember, dear friends, that one of the great lessons of the Book of Job is this, that we may never judge a man's character by his condition. The best of men may have the most of suffering and of poverty, while the worst of men may prosper in everything. Do not imagine, because a man suddenly becomes very poor or a great sufferer, that therefore he must be a great sinner; otherwise, you will often condemn the innocent, and you will, at the same time, be guilty of flattering the wicked. Job's friends had cruelly told him that he must be a hypocrite, or else he would not have lost his property, and have been smitten with such a remarkable sickness; so he appeals to God against their unrighteous judgment. Job 23:1. _Then Job answered and said, Even today is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning._ «Although my groaning is heavy, yet it is not so burde

CHAPTER S 23-24 JOB'S REPLY _ 1. O that I knew where I may find Him (Job 23:1)_ 2. Trusting yet doubting (Job 23:10) 3. Hath God failed? (Job 24:1) 4. Job's further testimony as to the wicked (Job 24:13) Job 23:1. Job here does not disprove at once the false charges of Eliphaz. He can afford to wait till later, till their mouths are completely silenced. Then he speaks the final word. He acknowledgeth that he is still rebellious. His hand which is upon him is heavier than all his groanings. Then that outburst which reveals the longing of his t

Job still rebels, though he does his best to repress his complaints (Job 23:2). Translate as _mg._ Job 23:6 f. shows the gain Job has got. Job 23:8. He is still in quest of God, but now is convinced that if he could find Him, God would treat him reasonably (contrast Job 9:14). God's inscrutableness (Job 23:8 f.) now causes him no fear (Job 23:10). Trial will but be the touchstone that will reveal his innocence (Job 23:10)

Job's Reply to the Third Speech of Eliphaz. Job continues to miss any Moral Government of the World by God As before, in the two preceding cycles of debate, Job's mind is too much absorbed in contemplation of the painful mystery of God's providence, which he had set before his view in ch. 21, to be able yet to turn away from it and give attention to the direct charges of wickedness which Eliphaz made against him (ch. Job 22:1-10). The riddle of the painful earth still fascinates him, the injustice and cruel wrong that goes unpunished, the misery of the poor and innocent, and the peaceful end of flagrant transgressors, who are "of those who rebel against the light" (ch. Job 24:13). What he misses in the world is any true retributive rule of God (ch....