Can we hope to be declared innocent? – Job 31:1-40

Good morning everyone! Hope you’re doing well this morning. If you’ve been tracking with us, you’re probably aware that as a church we’ve been going through a series titled God’s blessing in suffering from the book of Job. Interestingly, we’ve been journeying through this book for the last 6-7 months. Before I start, here’s a quick question for all of us this morning. If you could use one word to describe the series so far, what would you say? And let’s try to be as honest & candid as we can be. 

One of the feelings that we might be experiencing through this book is “frustration” – frustration in the manner in which Job is having this debate with his friends and with God.

What’s frustrating is that even now neither party is willing to budge, neither party is willing to give way. Job’s friends continue to say that his terrible suffering is caused by some secret, hidden sin in his life. Job continues to deny any hidden sin & instead protests against God, saying that He’s being a bully.

So we’ve reached this point in Chapter 31 where Job is frustrated with his friends, his friends are frustrated with Job, Job is frustrated with God and as we read, we too are frustrated with Job and his friends.

But apparently we’re supposed to feel this frustration – that’s how the book was written – so that we can appreciate God’s response in the later chapters. God is not a “miserable comforter” like Job’s friends and neither is God “unjust” as Job portrays him out to be. So I’d ask us all to be patient as the story unfolds over the next few weeks.

But you may ask “God will reply later, but what about today’s passage?” What we’ll see today is Job’s final, last, concluding appeal before God. Even at the end of chapter we see this – “the words of Job are ended”. He is not going to say anything more after this. This is his last, final attempt to prove his innocence.

This is like a tense courtroom scene where the defendant makes his concluding remarks. And what does Job do to prove His innocence?

He takes an oath of clearance. What was it? In the OT, once the accused exhausts all the usual means of showing proof to clear his name, then he turns to “an oath of clearance”. That’s his last resort.

Here the accused will need to list out all the things they have not committed and swear before God. Which means that if the accused is found guilty of having done all the things they said they didn’t do, then God’s curse would come upon them.

But if indeed they didn’t do the things that they said they didn’t commit, then they would be spared by God.

So the oath of clearance was a risky, dangerous thing to do, because it would bring God into the equation. And that’s precisely what Job wanted! By taking the oath of clearance and listing all the things that he has not committed, he is asking God to either bring the curses of the oath if he’s guilty or to spare him and declare him innocent. So the stakes are really high!

Let’s look at Job’s oath of clearance. These are the list of things that Job says he didn’t commit:

1. Lust (V1-4)

1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
    how then could I gaze at a virgin?

The NIV puts it in this way: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman. I find it interesting that Job doesn’t say “I’ve avoided looking at young women lustfully”. He says that he’s made a covenant with his eyes to not look lustfully.

Covenant meant a serious commitment. It was a binding agreement, a contract that parties would make with each other in ancient times. Breaking a covenant would result in serious repercussions.

And it’s interesting that that’s the kind of resolve – a covenant type of resolve – that Job made when it came to the subject of lust. He didn’t take lust lightly. He didn’t downplay lust by saying “Oh, I’m just an admirer of beauty”. He didn’t just say to himself “Technically I’m not doing anything wrong to anyone. I’m just entertaining certain thoughts about the person. It’s not affecting that person, it’s just in my mind”.  He didn’t have that kind of casual approach toward lust. He understood the seriousness of it & made a covenant with his eyes to not look lustfully at a woman.

And the reason he made that covenant with his eyes is because of V2-4.

2 What would be my portion from God above
    and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
    and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 Does not he see my ways
    and number all my steps?

There was a fear and an awareness of God watching Him and knowing his most private thoughts and intentions. He knew that there is no hiding before this God. There is no denying before this God. There is no downplaying before this God. There is no justifying before this God. This God knows everything. He knows his most private thoughts. Job had a fear and an awareness of God.

And fear doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing all the time. It can sometimes be a healthy thing. Sometimes fear protects us from getting ourselves into dangerous situations. If we’re in a jungle and we see a bear approaching, fear would make us run toward safety. Similarly, it was a healthy healthy fear of God & an awareness of God that made Job make this covenant with his eyes.

And that should instruct us to long for this kind of healthy fear and awareness of God. Our prayer should be “God, would you please give me a real awareness of Who You Are? God, would you please give me this healthy fear which will guard me from lusting after others?”

Lust was the first, the other thing that Job said he didn’t commit was

2. Dishonesty (V5-8)

5 “If I have walked with falsehood
    and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
    and let God know my integrity!)
7 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,
8 then let me sow, and another eat,
    and let what grows for me be rooted out.

In these verses, Job is saying that he steered clear of dishonesty both in his words and actions. V5 uses two words to describe dishonesty – falsehood and deceit. Falsehood is the practice of telling something that is not true – telling lies. “Oh, it’s just a white lie – it’s not harming anyone”. “Lies are okay as long as it’s helping someone”. No, that’s still falsehood.

Deceit goes a little further – it is a deliberate act of distorting the truth with the purpose of misleading; it’s being cunning; it’s being manipulative; it’s changing facts to suit your convenience.

Then we see the oath of clearance displayed here. Job is saying that if he is found guilty of being dishonest in his words and actions, then let God take whatever he’s worked hard for & hand it to someone else. If he’s in the wrong, then someone else should enjoy the fruit of his hard work.

The next thing that Job said he didn’t do was

3. Adultery (V9-12)

9 “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
    and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
10 then let my wife grind for another,
    and let others bow down on her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
    that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
12 for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
    and it would burn to the root all my increase.

Job is saying that he didn’t entertain thoughts of adultery. He didn’t entertain thoughts of cheating on his wife. And if he was found guilty for doing that, then (oath of clearance) let his wife be taken away and given to other men!! Let everything that Job has burn up in flames.

V11 and 12 shows how he viewed adultery – as a heinous crime (very wicked thing, something that’s twisted). Something that needed severe punishment and something that deserves fiery destruction – ancient times they had named the place of destruction “Abaddon”! In other words adultery is destructive! 

And yet when we look at the world around us, adultery isn’t often pictured as a heinous crime. In fact some movies glorify adultery.

At most it’s something that people are embarrassed by, and people will explain it away by saying things like “because they experience neglect in their marriage relationship, hence they were forced to confide in someone outside marriage”.  But no, it should be called as it is : a heinous crime! Something that is wicked. Something that is so destructive.

But not just that, he also didn’t commit

4. Oppression (V13-15)

13 “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
    when they brought a complaint against me,
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
    When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
    And did not one fashion us in the womb?

Job said that he never rejected any grievance brought to him by his servants. He gave his servants and subordinates freedom to approach him with their complaints even if it was against him.

Though he had the power and influence to suppress their complaints, he never did because he recognized that there is a superboss in heaven whom everyone reports to. What will Job do when his servants escalate to the superboss? And this superboss in heaven doesn’t show any partiality.

When we become powerful, when we have the power to hire someone else, when we become bosses (it could be at work where you’re a manager or at home where you’ve got house help) , there’s often a tendency to be abusive because we feel that our authority allows them to get away with abuse. And yet passages like this and others in the NT tell us a different story:

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. (Col 4:1)

Another thing Job said that he didn’t do was:

5. Ungenerous (V16-23)

16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
    or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
    and the fatherless has not eaten of it
18 (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
    and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow),
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
    or the needy without covering,
20 if his body has not blessed me,
    and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
    because I saw my help in the gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
    and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
    and I could not have faced his majesty.

The most vulnerable of people which Job’s friends accused him of abusing: the poor, the widow and the orphan, Job is saying that this same vulnerable group of people was given special attention and shown extreme generosity by him. He looked after the poor, the widows and the orphan with the wealth that he had.

The reason he did that was not as a CSR activity, it was not to get a tax deduction like many people do today, but because of V23 – out of a real fear of God. He knew that he would face judgment if he took advantage of this vulnerable section of people. After all they have a special place in God’s heart.

But not just that, Job also said that he didn’t commit:

6. Idolatry (V24-28)

24 “If I have made gold my trust
    or called fine gold my confidence,
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant
    or because my hand had found much,
26 if I have looked at the sun when it shone,
    or the moon moving in splendor,
27 and my heart has been secretly enticed,
    and my mouth has kissed my hand,
28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
    for I would have been false to God above.

Don’t you find it interesting that the man who was known as the greatest in the East is saying that he didn’t look at his gold, his treasure, his bank balance to find his confidence and security in them? (His sense of security didn’t come from his gold and bank balance)

The richest man of the East says that he didn’t look at his great wealth and say “I’m happy and joyful because I have all this great wealth”.

Neither did he look at the created things of the world like the sun, moon, animals, the gadgets, the clothes, the shoes, the house, the holiday destination, a position of prominence, or certain people and worshiped them instead. We see that in his response since tragedy hit him. Don’t you find it interesting that not even once does he ask God to return back what he lost? Oftentimes we become aware of our idols only when we end up losing them. Job is saying that he kept any form of idolatry far away from him.

Why? V28 – Because that would be false to God above. In other words, that would be being unfaithful to God. And he wasn’t okay with that. He saw everything in relation to God. Isn’t that amazing? The reason why Job didn’t end up worshipping his wealth or anything else in creation was because he didn’t want to be unfaithful to God. “How can I do this against my God?” – that was the question he constantly asked himself.

Not just that, he also said that he wasn’t:

7. Revengeful (V29-30)

29 “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,
    or exulted when evil overtook him
30 (I have not let my mouth sin
    by asking for his life with a curse),

Even as Job’s enemies (those who hated him) were facing misfortune, Job didn’t see that as an opportunity to gloat and enjoy seeing their misery. He didn’t see that as an opportunity to curse them because of how terribly they’ve treated him.

And then Job also said that he wasn’t

8. Unwelcoming (V31-32)

31 if the men of my tent have not said,
    ‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’

32 (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;
    I have opened my doors to the traveler),

In ancient times, there weren’t that many inns and hotels available & so travellers would often be at the mercy of kind hearted people who would open up their homes to them. And Job is saying that his servants went out welcoming travellers so that they would have adequate food & shelter. In other words, he’s going out of his way to be hospitable and welcoming.

Not just that, Job said that he wasn’t also:

9. Hypocritical (V33-34)

33 if I have concealed my transgressions as others do
    by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
34 because I stood in great fear of the multitude,
    and the contempt of families terrified me,
    so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

In these 2 verses Job exposes the sin of hypocrisy which is to behave a certain way on the outside but be totally different on the inside.

On the outside there’s a very holy exterior, but on the inside there’s a very unholy interior. And he exposes it to say that the reason why people are hypocritical is (v34) because they fear man. It is because they want to please people all the time. It is because they are enslaved to people’s affirmations. It’s because in their hearts – People are Big but God is small.

And the final thing Job says he didn’t do is:

10. Exploitation (V38-40)

38 “If my land has cried out against me
    and its furrows have wept together,
39 if I have eaten its yield without payment
    and made its owners breathe their last,
40 let thorns grow instead of wheat,
    and foul weeds instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

With the kind of wealth that Job had in those days, he would have been buying and investing in land day in and day out. And yet, Job is saying that he never did that by exploiting anyone. He never achieved success at the expense of other people. And then in V40 again – oath of clearance – if he’s guilty, then let all of his land be destroyed immediately.

And so Job has made his final attempt to prove his innocence. He’s invoked the oath of clearance telling God – “Now you decide. If I’m guilty of any of these things that I said I’ve not committed, then you curse me and destroy me. But if not, then clear my name and declare me as innocent”. That’s what he desires.

And in the coming chapters we will come to God’s response to him but what I wanted us to think about is this: what if we had the chance to make an oath of clearance for the same 10 things that Job said he didn’t commit? What would the result be? Would we be found guilty or innocent? Let me list out the 10 once more:

Lust, Dishonesty, Adultery, Oppression, Ungenerous, Idolatry, Revengeful, Unwelcoming, Hypocritical, Exploitation

Some of us may say “I’m guilty for some things in this list, but for others I think I’m okay. Don’t I get passing marks?”

James 2:10: For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

So what’s our hope? We have someone better than Job who came for us. Someone had come 2000 years ago who was more righteous than Job. Even with Job’s integrity, he was still a broken sinner who needed redemption which is why he himself says in Job 19 “I know that my redeemer lives”.  He knew he needed a redeemer himself.

This redeemer was none other than God’s own Son Jesus Christ. Every place where we failed, Jesus succeeded. Have you failed the fight with <>? Jesus has succeeded. And then Jesus went up on the cross to pay the penalty for all our failures. He paid the price for our guilt. He died on the cross for us, was buried and rose again on the Third Day so that whoever repents of their sins and puts their faith in Jesus would miraculously be declared innocent and not guilty! How come? How did this come about? It’s because Jesus has transferred His successes to us.

So let the list not lead us to despondency, but drive us to be more aware of our desperate helplessness & our great help which has been provided in Christ Jesus. He only can remove our guilt, He only can make us innocent & He only can transform us into children who live like innocent children in this broken world.