In the previous chapter, Eliphaz argued that Job wasn’t righteous and because he was suffering, this meant that Job must be wicked, Job 15:5-6. Job, here is going to argue that he is righteous and God can do whatever He wants. Job begins by telling his friends that he is very disappointed in them, they are miserable comforters, Job 16:1-2.
He tells them, he could speak like them with their long winded speeches and arguments, if he were in their place but he won’t and wouldn’t do that, Job 16:3-4. Job says his mouth would encourage them, comfort from his lips would bring them relief, Job 16:5.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Job would have acted very differently, Job 4:3-4 / Job 29, giving no mere lip-comfort.’
He says when he speaks to them, his pain is not relieved and when he remains silent, his pain does not go away, Job 16:6. In other words, Job is telling us they simply don’t understand, they simply aren’t capable of empathy. Instead of bringing comfort to Job in his time of affliction, they added to Job’s affliction with their harsh words.
Notice that Job acknowledges that it is God who has struck him down, Job 16:7-8. The problem Job has is that he feels like God is treating him like His enemy. We must note that time and time again, Job appears to be missing his relationship with God more than any other thing he has already lost.
Notice the different metaphors which Job uses to describe how he feels God is treating him.
1. A wild beast, Job 16:9.
2. An adversary, Job 16:9-10.
3. A traitor, Job 16:11.
4. A wrestler, Job 16:12.
5. An archer, Job 16:12-13.
6. A warrior, Job 16:13-14.
Also notice Job’s response to the way God has treated him, he has become a mourner, Job 16:15-16, and given himself over to the mercy of God. In other words, he refused to curse God.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘There are magnificent overtones of Calvary itself in this remarkable chapter. Job 16:4 reveals that Job’s friends ‘did shake their heads’ at him. Job said that God had ‘delivered him to the ungodly’, Job 16:11. ‘They gaped upon me with their mouth,’ Job 16:10, ‘They gather themselves together against me’, Job 16:10. ‘They have smitten (my) cheek reproachfully’, Job 16:10, ‘And have laid my horn in the dust’, Job 16:15. Now observe that all of these things were prophesied as events connected with the crucifixion of Christ in Psalm 22. He will be forsaken by God Delivered to the ungodly, Psalm 22:1. They shake their head at him, Psalm 22:7. They gape upon him, Psalm 22:13. They place him in the dust, Psalm 22:15. The evil men surround him, Psalm 22:16.’
He knows his hands haven’t committed any violent acts, Job 16:17, and he prays with a pure heart, Job 16:17. Amidst all the agony of his dilemma, Job still maintained his innocence.
Job now repeats his earlier argument. He wants to address God and he doesn’t want to die without the truth being known. If blood was spilt, vengeance was to be carried out on the person who spilt the blood, Job 16:18 / Genesis 4:10-11 / Ezekiel 24:7-8, Job here, felt he was being unjustifiably killed.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Conscious of his innocence and yet of his impending death, which seems a token that he is condemned as guilty, Job invokes the earth not to conceal his blood, but to let it cry aloud for justice. The idea that the earth would not absorb innocent blood occurs also in Genesis 4:10 / Ezekiel 24:7 / Ezekiel 24:8.’
He appeals to the earth and the heaven to be witnesses of his innocence, Job 16:19, and he is pretty confident that he does have a witness, Job 16:20 / Job 19:25-27. Job knew at this point he couldn’t turn to his friends to defend him and so, in faith, he ends by focusing on God knowing that He would be the final judge of his righteousness, Job 16:21-22 / Job 17:1-2 / 1 Peter 1:10-12.