Job is describing his pain, torment and consequence of his situation. The verses in Job 29 from last evening described his respected status before his fellow man; but these verses describe his humiliation.
“Having drawn the portrait of himself as he was, rich, honoured, blessed with children, flourishing, in favour with both God and man, Job now presents himself to us as he is, despised of men (vers. 1–10), afflicted of God (ver. 11), a prey to vague terrors (ver. 15), tortured with bodily pains (vers. 17, 18), cast off by God (vers. 19, 20), with nothing but death to look for (vers. 23–31). The chapter is the most touching in the whole book.” [1]
You gain an insight into Christ and His transition from the exalted Lord of glory and even to the respected and followed Rabbi during His earthly days to His humiliation of His death. Jesus cries out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” [Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34].
You can also notice the process of becoming dead to the world but alive to God in their transition. Likewise our level of humiliation in our conversion from the world to the Lord varies but there is a change in people’s view of us as well.
Let’s look at some of Job’s descriptive words:
- They thrust aside my feet and build up against me their ways of destruction.
- “They break up my path, They profit from my destruction;
- And now my soul is poured out within me;
- Days of affliction have seized me.
- “At night it pierces my bones within me
- And my gnawing pains take no rest.
- I have become like dust and ashes.
- “I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
- I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
- “You have become cruel to me;
- With the might of Your hand You persecute me.
- For I know that You will bring me to death
- Days of affliction confront me.
Of course, as Job cries out to the Lord you have to read to the end of the Book to know what His message is to Job and his friends. In other words in the midst of our humiliation the Lord has a message for us.
Acts 17:1-16
Paul is preaching in Thessalonica. You might expect since he is working for the Lord that he would have an easy task; however, in similar fashion, Paul learns that the reality of serving the Lord includes severe opposition to the point of beating and imprisonment like in Philippi and attacks from local mobs like in Thessalonica.
In Thessalonia and Berea Paul went first to the synagogues to preach Christ. There he taught from the Scriptures that: explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” Many Jews and Greeks believed.
Paul’s goal was for them to believe Jesus was the Christ and therefore be reconciled to God. He lays out his message in Romans 1 and elaborate on it in Romans 2-10.
Finally, as we saw in Philippi, the Lord ‘s wisdom used the opposition to move Paul from Thessalonica to Berea and then to Athens. From Athens Paul would travel to Corinth. In each location Paul would preach that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ leading to converts from the Jews and Greeks.
[1] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Job, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 484.
Views from an Evangelist 