Job 6 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Job 6 Short Summary:

In the sixth chapter of Job, Job talks about the weight of his suffering being heavier than all the sand of the sea. He longs for death because at least there is relief in death. In the second half of the chapter, he rebuked his 3 friends. Instead of offering him comfort and friendship they arrived ready to rebuke him for a sin they weren’t even sure he committed.

Job 6 Bible Study

SHORT OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF JOB

• Job 1-2 – Job is Persecuted by Satan

• Job 3-37 – Job and His Friends Discuss the Reason He is Experiencing Persecution

• Job 38-41 – God Speaks with Job and Reveals His Greatness to Him.

• Job 42 – God Restores What Job Lost

WHEN:

• The date of the writing of Job is unknown and still debated. Some believe it was written during the time of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) or even earlier, while others suspect it was written during the time of Judah’s Babylonian captivity (607-537 B.C.).

• I take the earlier date. The description of Job as the “greatest of all the people of the east” (1:3) and an absence of references to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple suggests to me that this book was written early.

KEY CHARACTERS:

• Job – A blameless and upright man who Satan persecuted in an attempt to turn his heart away from God.

• Eliphaz – One of Job’s 3 friends. In chapter 6, Job was responding to some of Eliphaz’s comments in chapters 4 and 5. 

WHERE:

• Job lived in the land of Uz. Most scholars surmise the land of Uz was in northern Saudi Arabia, either immediately south of the Dead Sea, I the land that would become known as Edom, or immediately east of the Dead Sea, which is today the country of Jordan.

OUTLINE:

• JOB LONGED FOR THE PEACE OF DEATH (6:1-14):

  • At the beginning of Job 6, Job seems to concede that some of his words in chapter 3 were a bit rash and maybe even foolish, but that was because his suffering was so great.

  • He said that if his sufferings were put on one side of a scale and all the sand of the sea put on the other, his sufferings would be heavier.

  • “For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me” (6:4).

  • Job longed for God to let him die, he preferred death to sitting in his misery.

  • Job reflected on his helplessness and frailness. He didn’t have metal skin (skin of bronze) and strength like stone to endure this kind of trouble (6:12). 

  • But even in his suffering, he still maintained his innocence, saying, “I have not denied the words of the Holy One” (6:10).

• JOB REBUKES HIS FRIENDS (6:15-30):

  • Job rebuked Eliphaz for not showing him kindness, and addressed his other 2 friends in a similar way, probably assuming they shared his opinion.

  • He compared his friends to an unreliable stream of water. They promised refreshment but they didn’t deliver. They came with the promise of comforting him, but they ended up causing him even more heartache.

  • Job only wanted friendship and comfort from them, he hadn’t asked them for money or charity, but even what they could have given him freely they withheld, choosing to accuse him of wrongdoing instead.

  • Job invited them to enlighten him on his sins. They wanted to reprove him but had no proof he had done anything wrong. 

  • Job insisted he was innocent.

APPLICATION

• Be quick to repent and apologize when you speak rashly or recklessly.

• Job still maintained his overall innocence, but he did admit that his suffering caused him to say some impulsive things that maybe he shouldn’t have said (6:3).

• Sometimes when we are being treated in a way we feel is unfair, we let words fly that aren’t becoming of a Christian, we speak overly harshly, we vent our frustration in an ungodly way from a soul that has been overtaken by anger or resentment or rage.

• While it may be true that we don’t deserve the treatment we are getting, that is no reason to fly off the handle and start a wildfire with an unbridled tongue (see James 3:5).

• We can’t always control how others treat us, but we can control whether we respond to that mistreatment like Jesus or like a person who doesn’t know Jesus.

• Don’t let other people’s sins cause your tongue to let loose and produce more sins.

• When that happens, be quick to recognize it and repent. We still need to repent of poor speech even when the situation that led to it isn’t our fault. Other people’s sins don’t give us a pass to stop acting like our Savior.