Job 29-30, Buckle Up for Job 31

Anyone else find this sign a little too serious?

Okay gang, I need you to buckle up, because we've got some serious learning to do. I'm going to breeze through the next two chapters in order to set up a more extended review of Job 31. Job is ending his statements, thus coming to a decisive point in the book. Normally I HATE to skip large portions of verses, but chapter 31 is so significant and marvelous that I'm bending my own rules a bit. So in my efforts to summarize 29-30, I would encourage you to read it for yourselves to make sure I'm not making stuff up. Let's roll.

Job 29: 1-25- "I have been blessed by God and I blessed men."
 Job is starting to close down his speeches in these last three chapters. First he recalls and longs for the days when God had blessed him and Job was respected and honored by those in the community, (1-10). "How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me...When I went to the gate of the city...the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet," (1, 7-8). I don't get the sense here that Job was looking back in pride at his greatness. It seems to me just a longing for the good ole days, just as anyone would look back with longing if we had experienced Job's circumstances.

Do it for the Stick People family.

(11-25) - Job was a blessing to others and thought he would die happy and prosperous. Job was good to the poor (12), the orphan (12), the sick (13, 15), the needy (15), the stranger (16), and the victim (17). He fully expected to grow old and die in this blessed state, (18-20). "I thought, 'I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand," (18). BUT NOW...

Job 30:1-31 - "I have been cursed by men and cursed by God."
Instead of being honored and respected by the pillars of the community, Job is mocked and cursed by even the most worthless of men, (1-15). "But now they mock me, men younger than I, whose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs," (1). Ouch. These men have turned on Job, just as God, (in Job's mind), has turned on him, (16-23). "I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; You turn on me ruthlessly; with the might of your hand you attack me...you toss me about in the storm. I know you will bring me down to death, to the place appointed for all the living," (20-23). Job ends this chapter with his broken heart wailing aloud at his current condition and pain, (24-31). "My harp is tuned to mourning, and my flute the sound of wailing," (31).

...Or ET will touch you with his glowing finger. 

So Job mourns that he was at one time blessed by God, he was blessed by men, and he was a blessing to others. Now he finds himself cursed by men, seemingly cursed by God, and mourning. His only expectation is death. He has received no answers from God or his friends to justifiably explain his suffering and pain. There has been no answer to his questions of "why?" and "where?" to God. Like I said, this is a depressing book. Then again, life can sometimes be that way. The Bible does not gloss over the pain and brokenness of life. Job is about to make his final stand, his closing argument before God. Buckle up, we're about to turn the corner with Mr. Job.

P.S. I hope to have Job 31 up shortly.