Job 12-14 I Know This Too
Job is crying out in anguish and his friends confront him with their ‘wisdom’ regarding his situation. “I know this too” replies Job.
Being in the ‘crosshairs’ of trouble is never easy, especially when it is not of your own making. Job’s friends are seeing his trouble as a ‘just reward’ for whatever sin he has committed. Job is trying to tell them that this isn’t so. He agrees that it is coming from God, but he has no explanation as to why.
The most remarkable thing in all this is Job’s absolute refusal to turn away from God. “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15a). Let’s rejoin Job as he defends himself to his friends. Holy Spirit, PLEASE lead me where You want me to go. Help me understand and paraphrase Job’s heart’s cry.
♥ ♦ ♥
The last of Job’s friends has just laid into him. He too is telling Job to repent. “No one faces this much trouble without committing some awful sin” they all agree. But Job knows that he is innocent. It’s time Zophar got an ear full too!
In a voice dripping with sarcasm, Job begins his reply.
“No doubt you are the wisest men of all. When you die, everyone will be lost without your great guidance.”
Job shakes his head in disgust.
“I have wisdom too. I’m not some idiot compared to you. Most men know these same things.”
Job drops his head.
“I am a laughing stock to my friends. I, who used to pray to God and He would answer, and now, this just and blameless man is a laughing stock.”
Job looks at his three friends and shakes his head again.
“It’s easy for you to judge when your life is going perfect. You are ready to jump on anyone who has trouble and label him sinful. Right now, the worst of the worst are secure in their ways, even those whose gods are made by their own hands. I DIDN’T DO THIS!” cries Job.
“Just ask the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, even the brush and grasses. GOD holds all of life. It is by His hand that all things live, and by His hand that all things die. With God are wisdom and might. He gives understanding and knowledge. He knows His plans. When He tears something down, no one can rebuild it. When He shuts the door, no one can open it. If He withholds the rain, the earth dries up. If He sends people out, they overwhelm those who oppose them. With Him are strength and sound wisdom.”
Job pauses and drops his eyes.
“The deceived and the deceiver are His.”
Job shakes his head with regret.
“He brings about disaster. He brings rulers to disgrace, He makes fools of kings, leads counselors to disastrous conclusions, He deprives those who are trusted of speech and pours contempt on princes. He makes nations great and then He destroys them, He takes away wisdom from those who lead and causes them to wander. They grope in the dark and stagger like drunken men. I have seen such as this with my own eyes and understand its source.”
Job looks his friends in their faces. His eyes dark.
“I know the same things that you know. I’m not inferior to you, or lacking in understanding. But I want to speak to God. To argue my case with Him. If you are here to ‘help’ me or to ‘heal’ me, you are doing a lousy job of it. If you would just be quiet, that would be the BEST help you have given me so far. And while you are being silent, listen to the case I would present to the Lord. If I do though, will you put words in His mouth that are deceitful? Will you favor Him above me in answering the truth of my suffering? Will you plead His case to me? And when calamity comes on YOU, what will you say then? Surely He will rebuke you if you do. And the dread of Him will fall on you, as it has on me. Right now, your proverbs and advice are useless.”
Job is becoming agitated as he gathers his thoughts for his ‘case’ against the Lord.
“Be quiet and let me speak. Let whatever is going to happen to me, for speaking my case, happen. I can deal with it. I cannot keep quiet any longer. Even if He kills me, I will still hope in Him. I will hold onto hope that He will actually listen as I present my case, face to face. And if He hears me, that will prove my case; that I have not sinned. For He does not allow the godless to come before Him. Keep listening, because I have prepared my case; and I know it will be right.”
Job looks towards heaven as if he is even now pleading his case before the Lord.
“Who is there to fight against me? Who accuses me? If You tell me, I can lay down and die. If You will only do two things for me. First, take You hand away from me and let me have a little peace and stop making me terrified that I have somehow angered You. Second, tell me what it is that I have done that merits this punishment. Tell me where I sinned so I can repent of it.”
Job pleads with all his might to the Lord.
“WHY are You doing this to me? Why do You treat me like Your enemy? It’s as though You are punishing me for EVERY sin I have ever committed all at once; from my youth onward. I cannot get away from Your heavy hand. I’m trapped here and am wasting away without understanding why.”
Job admits to the Lord that he is not perfect, but…
“What are men born unclean. There is not a single man who has been born of a woman who is clean, compared to You. He has only a short time on this earth to bless You. And, since You know the number of those days, let him be. Look away from him and allow him some peace. Let him have some joy in life.”
Job looks over to the olive tree growing in his yard.
“Even the tree has more hope than I do. If the tree is cut down, it can regrow. It can sprout again from the stump. Even a dried-up tree, let the scent of water come to it and it will revive. Not so with man. When he is laid in the earth, there is no rising up again. His life is ended. He will not rise again until the heavens are ended. How I wish that You would let me die and wait in peace until Your anger with me has ended. And then You could call me back again and I would gladly answer. I would long to do Your works again, and You wouldn’t look for sin within me any longer. It would be bound up and done away with; forever.”
Job’s head drops and pain pours from his lips.
“But mountains fall and crumble. Water wears away the stones and the torrents of rain wash away the soil; just like the hope of man… You stand against him. He has no chance. He cannot measure up and his heart knows it. He isn’t even given enough time to see the honors of his children. He feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.”
(to be continued)
It is painful writing Job’s words. This story is the hardest for me. He is not cursing God, but he is certainly blaming Him for his suffering. To some degree, he is right, because God took His hand away from protecting him. And He held him up for Satan to ‘drool over’.
Job was certain that his life’s actions deserved God’s good blessings. I wish with all my heart that he could have know Jesus and all that He brought to us. I know that Job knew the goodness of God, but all he can see now is God’s hand of judgment. And that pains me greatly.
Father God, my heart is crying for Job. He is in a place totally alien to him. It goes against EVERYTHING he has ever believed. He holds fast to You but is lost. Father God, I have had time when I felt lost too. I can understand his pain, for I have known it, at least emotionally. But I never thought it was You doing it to me. I trusted You to bring about a good result, no matter what. And You have, ALL the time.
I’m glad that Job will find You again, in time. I’m praying with ALL my might that I translated what he was feeling accurately.
