Once Revered - Now Jeered - Job 29-30

Once Revered - Now Jeered 

Job 29:21 - 30:1 (ESV)
21 “Men listened to me and waited
and kept silence for my counsel.
22 After I spoke they did not speak again,
and my word dropped upon them.
23 They waited for me as for the rain,
and they opened their mouths as for the spring rain.
24 I smiled on them when they had no confidence,
and the light of my face they did not cast down.
25 I chose their way and sat as chief,
and I lived like a king among his troops,
like one who comforts mourners.
1 “But now they laugh at me,
men who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock.

The only way we can understand the above passage is to remember the very beginning of the book of Job and what God said about Job to start the story:

Job 1:1 (ESV)
Job's Character and Wealth
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.

Job was a man of character and integrity.  God said so.  This is why we can read the above passage and not disdain Job for his boasting.   We need to rejoice in God’s understanding of Job.  Job, however, feels like the victim at this point. He feels as though God has forsaken him. He remembers the days that he was full of success and was revered by others.   Until he wasn’t.   When God allowed Satan to touch Job and his family and his wealth, Job’s status in the community was remarkably changed.  Once revered, he was now jeered.  God had allowed Job to experience a complete turn around in his life.  This was truly a test of his character, but more importantly, his faith.   Note what else he says about his plight:

Job 30:9-10 (ESV)
9 “And now I have become their song;
I am a byword to them.
10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.

God can allow tragedy to touch any over our lives.  He can allow us to be brought from riches to rags and back again (as He does with Job).   Our responsibility is to walk in faith no matter what.  Let us be as resolved as Solomon:

Proverbs 30:7-9 (ESV)
7 Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
8 Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9 lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.