Job 23:1 Then Job answered,
2 “Even today my complaint is rebellious.
His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning.
3 Oh that I knew where I might find him!
That I might come even to his seat!
4 I would set my cause in order before him,
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which he would answer me,
and understand what he would tell me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No, but he would listen to me.
7 There the upright might reason with him,
so I should be delivered forever from my judge.
8 “If I go east, he is not there;
if west, I can’t find him;
9 He works to the north, but I can’t see him.
He turns south, but I can’t catch a glimpse of him.
10 But he knows the way that I take.
When he has tried me, I will come out like gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps.
I have kept his way, and not turned away.
12 I haven’t gone back from the commandment of his lips.
I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
13 But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?
What his soul desires, even that he does.
14 For he performs that which is appointed for me.
Many such things are with him.
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence.
When I consider, I am afraid of him.
16 For God has made my heart faint.
The Almighty has terrified me.
17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness,
neither did he cover the thick darkness from my face.
In answering Eliphaz Job concedes saying: “You know Eliphaz, you are right about one thing: God is in the heights of heaven, and I wish I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!” v.3
Job wants to ask God why he has been subjected to unrelenting suffering. He wants God to explain it to him so that he would understand.
I would set my cause in order before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would tell me. v.4-5
Job admits his inability to find God in all of this.
If I go east, he is not there; if west, I can’t find him;
He works to the north, but I can’t see him.
He turns south, but I can’t catch a glimpse of him. v.8-9
But even in despair Job has confidence that whatever God is doing it will produce the results that God is seeking because God knows the way that I take. When he has tried me, I will come out like gold. v.10
When we are tested, we need to understand that God has allowed the test, so that we can be sure:
Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. 1 Peter 1:7
Job understands that all of his trials are happening for a reason. He may not understand the reason for his intense suffering but he can be sure that the outcome is to strengthen and purify him. Though it is terrifying God performs that which is appointed for me. v.14
For he performs that which is appointed for me.
Many such things are with him.
Therefore I am terrified at his presence.
When I consider, I am afraid of him.
For God has made my heart faint.
The Almighty has terrified me. v.14-16
As Paul would teach the Romans:
And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
Such a thought is both comforting and terrifying. God loves his children and will never abandon them, yes, but his hand may, at times, also rest heavy upon them.
Job 24:1 “Why aren’t times laid up by the Almighty?
Why don’t those who know him see his days?
2 There are people who remove the landmarks.
They violently take away flocks, and feed them.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless,
and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.
4 They turn the needy out of the way.
The poor of the earth all hide themselves.
5 Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert,
they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food.
The wilderness yields them bread for their children.
6 They cut their food in the field.
They glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They lie all night naked without clothing,
and have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains,
and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.
9 There are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast,
and take a pledge of the poor,
10 So that they go around naked without clothing.
Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.
11 They make oil within the walls of these men.
They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.
12 From out of the populous city, men groan.
The soul of the wounded cries out,
yet God doesn’t regard the folly.
13 “These are of those who rebel against the light.
They don’t know its ways,
nor stay in its paths.
14 The murderer rises with the light.
He kills the poor and needy.
In the night he is like a thief.
15 The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’
He disguises his face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses.
They shut themselves up in the daytime.
They don’t know the light.
17 For the morning is to all of them like thick darkness,
for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
18 “They are foam on the surface of the waters.
Their portion is cursed in the earth.
They don’t turn into the way of the vineyards.
19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters,
so does Sheol those who have sinned.
20 The womb will forget him.
The worm will feed sweetly on him.
He will be no more remembered.
Unrighteousness will be broken as a tree.
21 He devours the barren who don’t bear.
He shows no kindness to the widow.
22 Yet God preserves the mighty by his power.
He rises up who has no assurance of life.
23 God gives them security, and they rest in it.
His eyes are on their ways.
24 They are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone.
Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others,
and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.
25 If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar,
and make my speech worth nothing?”
In chapter 22 Eliphaz reprimanded Job by describing the behaviors that God must be punishing Job for: corrupt business practices, taking pledges…for nothing, exploiting the poor, stripping …their clothes, greed, withholding bread…water v.7, neglecting widows…fatherless.
Here Job answered those charges by explaining the conduct of those that actually are wicked: they remove the landmarks … violently take away flocks … turn the needy out of the way … pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor, so that they go around naked without clothing … murderer … kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief. The eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye will see me. v.2-17
We may not know when or how God will bring judgment to the wicked. Job asks: Why don’t those who know him see his days? v.1 While his days of judgment are concealed from us, we do know that those who rebel against the light v.13, will be remembered no more. v.20 They will be brought low…and cut off. v.24
As Jesus Christ, the Redeemer warned: All who reject me and my message will be judged at the Day of Judgment by the truths I have spoken. John 12:48
And what is the essence of the truth that Christ spoke? The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Job’s Redeemer, our Redeemer, offering us a free gift, eternal life, is never far from us. Job then again challenges Eliphaz: Prove me a liar. v.25
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