Job 30:1-31
Q.1. How was Job being treated by wayward people? Why had his life been turned around? Who cared for his welfare and name? – (Job 30:1-15)
There are always people around, who are involved for what they may gain … people who are preoccupied with surface matters. Job had an abundance of such people, who mocked him and his circumstances. By contrast, he had cared for them, though it had been no advantage to him (Job 30:1-2). To others, they were – Fools, even those without a name, they were scourged from the land (Job 30:8). With Messianic overtones, Job recorded – 9 now I have become their taunt, I have even become a byword to them. 10 “They abhor me and stand aloof from me, and they do not refrain from spitting at my face (Job 30:9-10). These people were unaware of why Job’s life had turned out for the worse. Job knew the reason why – “Because He has loosed His bowstring and afflicted me … (Job 30:11). Not only had these people profited from his destruction, but they had shown no pity for the suffering saint.
Q.2. Where had Job looked for an answer? What was his hope for the future? Why was he wounded by the lack of concern from others? – (Job 30:15-31)
Job had not forgotten God but was bitter because He had not given an explanation for his plight – 20 “I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. 21 “You have become cruel to me; With the might of Your hand You persecute me (Job 30:20-21). He had lost all hope, and really believed he would soon die – When I expected good, then evil came; When I waited for light, then darkness came (Job 30:26 c.f. Job 30:22-23). He was distressed that no one seemed to care about him, when he himself had not been indifferent to the plight of sufferers – I go about mourning without comfort; I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help (Job 30:28).