20240709

implied charges

Job 31:1-40 (JDV)

Job 31:1 I have cut a covenant with my eyes. How then could I investigate a young woman?
Job 31:2 For what portion would I have from God above, or what inheritance from the Almighty on high?
Job 31:3 Doesn’t disaster come to the unjust and misfortune to evildoers?
Job 31:4 Does he not see my ways and number all my steps?
Job 31:5 If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit,
Job 31:6 let God weigh me on accurate scales, and he will recognize my integrity.
Job 31:7 If my step has turned from the way, my heart has followed my eyes, or impurity has stained my hands,
Job 31:8 let someone else eat what I have sown, and let my crops be uprooted.
Job 31:9 If my heart has gone astray over a woman or I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
Job 31:10 let my own wife grind grain for another man, and let other men sleep with her.
Job 31:11 For that would be a disgrace; it would be an iniquity deserving punishment.
Job 31:12 For it is a fire that consumes down to Abaddon; it would destroy my entire harvest.
Job 31:13 If I have dismissed the case of my male or female servants when they made a complaint against me,
Job 31:14 what could I do when God stands up to judge? How should I answer him when he calls me to account?
Job 31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb also make them? Did not the same God form us both in the womb?
Job 31:16 If I have refused the wishes of the poor or let the widow’s eyes go blind,
Job 31:17 if I have eaten my few crumbs alone without letting the fatherless eat any of it —
Job 31:18 for from my youth, I raised him as his father, and since the day I was born I guided the widow —
Job 31:19 if I have seen anyone dying for lack of clothing or a needy person without a cloak,
Job 31:20 if he did not bless me while warming himself with the fleece from my sheep,
Job 31:21 if I ever cast my vote against a fatherless child when I saw that I had support in the city gate,
Job 31:22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my back, and my arm be pulled from its socket.
Job 31:23 Because disaster from God terrifies me, and because of his majesty I could not do these things.
Job 31:24 If I placed my confidence in gold or called fine gold my trust,
Job 31:25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth is great or because my own hand has acquired so much,
Job 31:26 if I have gazed at the sun when it was shining or at the moon moving in splendor,
Job 31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed, and I threw them a kiss,
Job 31:28 this would also be an iniquity deserving punishment, because I would have denied God above.
Job 31:29 Have I rejoiced over my enemy’s distress, or become excited when trouble came his way?
Job 31:30 I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his throat with a curse.
Job 31:31 Haven’t the members of my household said, “Who is there who has not had enough to eat at Job’s table?”
Job 31:32 No stranger had to spend the night on the street, for I opened my door to the traveler.
Job 31:33 Have I covered my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart
Job 31:34 because I greatly feared the crowds and because the contempt of the clans terrified me, so I grew silent and would not go outside?
Job 31:35 If only I had someone to hear my case! Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me. Let my Opponent compose his indictment.
Job 31:36 I would surely carry it on my shoulder and wear it like a crown.
Job 31:37 I would give him an account of all my steps; I would approach him like a prince.
Job 31:38 If my land cries out against me and its furrows join in weeping,
Job 31:39 if I have consumed its produce without payment or caused its owners’ throat to expire,
Job 31:40 then let thorns grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley. The words of Job are concluded.

implied charges

Job’s therapists had not brought formal charges against him, but he fully understood their implications. In his final appeal, Job answers those implied charges:

marital unfaithfulness – not guilty (1-4)
theft of conspiracy to steal – not guilty (5-12)
criminal negligence – not guilty (13-23, 31-32)
idolatry – not guilty (24-28)
secret sin – not guilty (29-30, 33-34)
abuse of power – not guilty (38-40)

Job asked for the indictment. He wanted to prove himself guiltless. But the adversary would rather accuse by implication rather than face the overthrow of his lies.

LORD, when people we know face trial by implication, help us to stand by our friends instead of joining the crowd against them.