“…a covenant with my eyes…” Job 31:1
/As Job continued with the presentation of his innocence, he offered another ‘proof’ of his integrity: making a covenant with his eyes not to look lustfully at a girl (v.1). He realized that God’s eyes were continually upon him, counting his every step… and misstep (v.4). Job then re-articulated the common worldview of his day through two rhetorical questions:
“For what is man’s lot from God above, his heritage from the Almighty on high? Is it not ruin for the wicked, disaster for those who do wrong?” (vv. 2-3)
The covenant Job described was a bold statement before the men of his culture, where women were deemed as second-class citizens and human trafficking was the norm. Job was declaring that he lived as a counter-culture influencer. As we will see in the last chapter, he kept true to the practice to his dying day.
Beginning, yet, another diatribe, Job provided ten other proofs of his authentic walk of faith. We will discover them over the next three days. They each begin with a conjecture starting with the word, “if”:
“If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has hurried after deceit…” (v. 5). Job was willing to allow God to prove his innocence, convinced he would be found blameless (v.6).
“If my steps have turned from the path; if my heart has been led by my eyes, or if my hands have been defiled…” (v.7). Job declared if such was found to be true that he would allow his crops to be uprooted, giving others the right to eat what he had sown (v.8).
“If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door…” (v.9). Job stated emphatically that such behavior would be shameful, being a fire that burns within, leading to destruction – ruining any harvest of souls pointed to God’s faithfulness (vv. 11 – 12). He even declared that if he were found guilty of such behavior, he would submit his wife to another man, to become that man’s wife and grind his
grain (v.10).“If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants…” (v.13). In Job’s day, indentured servants (and
slaves) had no real recourse for mistreatment. Their livelihoods rose and fell by the goodness of the landowners for whom they worked. Job admitted that if he were found guilty of such, he had no words for how he would answer when brought to account (because to his knowledge, he had never denied justice to anyone; v.14). Job clarified his position with another two rhetorical questions (which may very well have been the inspiration for our country’s Declaration of Independence):
“Did not He Who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One form us both within our mothers?” (v.15)
Job recognized how everyone is equal before the throne of God, even those considered as having inferior rank in society. Job’s statement reflects God’s intention to recognize life from the womb. It was God’s design to establish the family as the axle turning the wheel of society.
The first three proofs are related to Job’s covenant with his eyes: recognizing just how easy one can be enticed by the lusts of one’s own mind. O God, save us from ourselves. One of the best ways to walk in holiness is by denying one’s own leaning and turning the eyes to those in need. The fourth proof is the first revelation Job provided of such. We will discover some more tomorrow, Lord willing. Until then -
Have a blessed day…