September 30
Reading: Job 9
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
3 If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
4 “He is wise in heart and mighty in strength—
who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
6 who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
8 who alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
9 who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
10 who does great things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
11 Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
12 Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 “God will not turn back his anger;
beneath him bowed the helpers of Rahab.
14 How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
15 Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
16 If I summoned him and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
17 For he crushes me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause;
18 he will not let me get my breath,
but fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a contest of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
20 Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.
21 I am blameless;
I regard not myself;
I loathe my life.
22 It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
23 When disaster brings sudden death,
he mocks at the calamity of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;
he covers the faces of its judges—
if it is not he, who then is it?
25 “My days are swifter than a runner;
they flee away; they see no good.
26 They go by like skiffs of reed,
like an eagle swooping on the prey.
27 If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will put off my sad face, and be of good cheer,’
28 I become afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
29 I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
30 If I wash myself with snow
and cleanse my hands with lye,
31 yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will abhor me.
32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.
33 There is no arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.
34 Let him take his rod away from me,
and let not dread of him terrify me.
35 Then I would speak without fear of him,
for I am not so in myself.
It is essential to remember that what we are reading is poetic discourse. This is a conversation. You cannot understand what Job is saying in this chapter unless you understand what Bildad has just said. This is Job’s response. The poetry helps us to grasp the emotional depth of Job’s response.
Job begins chapter 9 by agreeing with Bildad, “In truth I know that this is so.” What is so? It is that the Lord blesses the righteous and judges the wicked. This is true. But Job next raises a series of challenges to this truth that indicate what his struggle really is.
The first challenge: “But how can a man be right before God?” At first, we might think that Job is arguing that no one is righteous. Verses 3 and 4 show us that his concern is otherwise. His point is that if God is just, what good does that do any man if we have no ability to appear before Him? It would be like you saying to me that there is justice in the U.S. because the Supreme Court makes just decisions. Yes, maybe. But I have no ability to appear before the court. If I cannot argue my case what good is such justice?
The second challenge: Who can question God? He has all wisdom and power, moving mountains, commanding the sun, walking upon the sea. He is invisible. (vs. 11) He is beyond me. No one can restrain Him or question Him. You see the problem? I just don’t know enough, not even close. If I went to court against the best lawyer in the land, he would eat my lunch no matter how good my case might be, and God is thousands of times better than the best lawyer.
The third challenge: Who can face His anger? Even if I could argue my case and am guiltless, he could still declare me guilty for suggesting that He is wrong. Look at how the world works, “He destroys the blameless and the wicked.” (vs. 22)
The fourth challenge: How can I do anything other than give up my case? “For He is not a man that I might answer Him that we should come to trial together.” (vs. 32)
And then we find in verse 33 one of the epic moments of the entire book. Job is here expressing his deepest need and desire, “There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.” What Job sees that he needs is a mediator, one who can appear before God as his own defense attorney and speak with God face to face on his behalf.
I do not know God, nor can I face Him. How can I ever find someone who is on God’s level who can speak on my behalf? The whole Bible aims us toward the answer to this question. John writes in 1 John 2:1, “If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”