Smoodock's Blog

Job continues in his defense against the accusations of the friends. They had accused him of trusting in his own wealth and power instead of the Lord (Job 4:5-6; 15:13). They claimed he had secretly accumulated his wealth at the expense of the poor and those too weak to oppose him (Job 4:8, 11; 20:5-10, 18-19; 22:6-9). The mere mention of such charges implies such behavior was, indeed, the course many wealthy men of Job’s day had taken to enrich themselves. Certainly, this is a common characteristic of those who amass wealth in own time, and it seems to have been a common method to accumulate wealth throughout history.

Accusations of poor wages and unbearable working conditions had undoubtedly contributed to the rise of labor unions and the initiation of child labor laws. Thus, if known history is any indication of what life was like in Job’s age, the friends’ accusations against Job reveal a common understanding of how wealth was gained by men with no scruples. Therefore, they assumed Job’s calamity was an indication of the Lord’s sentence upon him for his presumed wicked behavior. Nevertheless, Job objected to their charges, saying he had not made gold his hope nor rejoiced in his wealth for its own sake (Job 31:24-25).

Concerning the wealthy, if their gold isn’t their servant, it is their master, and this is behind the friends’ accusation of Job’s heart. It was an assault against his character. They believed the desire for wealth had so characterized Job’s heart and attitude toward life, that he embraced his gold as his best and only hope (cp. Luke 12:16-21). Trusting in riches is opposed to trusting God. In fact, one cannot walk with God and be guided by one’s wealth at the same time, vis-à-vis what’s good for the bottom line (cp. Matthew 19:3; Mark 10:24; Deuteronomy 4:19; 8:12-17). Therefore, Job denied their charge that prosperity had corrupted him (Job 31:26), or making the work of his hands his god and master (Job 31:27; cp. 1Kings 19:18; Hosea 13:2). The fact is, Job considered such behavior moral depravity, and he judged such conduct as denying the Lord above (Job 31:28).

Not only had Job not abused others who were weaker than himself, but he didn’t rejoice in the calamities of those, his enemies, who were his equal in power and wealth (cp. Proverbs 24:17-18). In other words, he didn’t consider powerful, unscrupulous men a threat to his wealth, whether they were his competitors or folks who simply sought to destroy him (cp. Job 1:13-20). The attitude toward the wicked, who saw him as a threat, simply didn’t affect Job’s behavior as a magistrate (Job 31:29-30). The righteousness of the righteous simply is not governed by the wickedness of the wicked. The one is opposed to the other, in that neither is inspired or driven by the other.

The fact is, even when Job’s own servants saw opportunity to destroy Job’s enemies, Job neither encouraged their attitude nor permitted them to take advantage of such an opportunity, when it presented itself (Job 31:31; cp. 1Samuel 24:4; 26:8; 2Samuel 16:9).

So, Job not only treated those weaker than himself with kindness and mercy, but he also extended that same kindness and mercy even to his enemies who were powerful and wealthy enough to hurt him. If this wasn’t enough, Job was also kind and merciful to strangers or traveling merchants, offering them the hospitality of food and shelter, as they journeyed from their cities and countries to where he lived (Job 31:32). Truly, neither Job’s righteousness nor the accumulation of his wealth was dependent upon what others did or did not do. Rather, his righteousness determined how he managed his wealth, in that his righteousness was totally dependent upon his understanding of and his submission to the ways of God