Job’s Lament

“For He is not a man, as I am, that I should answer Him, and we should come together in judgment.  Neither is there any daysman betwixst us, that might lay his hand upon us both.  Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not His fear terrify me.  Then would I speak, and not fear Him; but it is not so with me.”  Job 9:32-35

Bildad, Job’s friend, if one could call him that, had just finished his first turn at rebuking, criticizing, and judging Job which included an attempt to justify all that he had said to him by stating that a righteous man God would not cast away or treat with such hardship.  God would not help an evildoer, thus implying that Job must be an evil man because of all the tragedies that had come upon him.  Bildad insisted that if Job would only admit his sin, repent, and turn to the LORD, then all would be forgiven, and he would be restored, able to laugh and rejoice again.

Job began to speak and agreed with Bildad concerning the words he spoke about God.  Job knew that God required righteousness of His creation.  Bildad had been truthful even though his tone may have been critical, but the truth is the truth no matter who says it or in what manner they say it.  We know that God cares for His own but punishes the wicked.  However, Job and his friends had been so dogmatic that they had attempted to put God in a box apart from grace.  They expected God to follow their ideas of righteousness and justice rather than yielding to the sovereign purposes of God. They thought they knew God nearly as much as He knew Himself.  They would soon find out how little they really knew about the LORD God.

Job reasoned that if God saw him as a guilty man, then what was the use in trying to prove his innocence?  Why go to all the trouble of trying to stuff his real feelings and complaints within his soul in an effort to smooth things over with the LORD when it would do nothing but eat at his insides and make him even more depressed.  Besides, no one can hide what he or she really feels within his or her heart from the LORD who sees all and knows all.  Job realized that it was futile to attempt to clean himself up, to wash himself with melted snow, the purest water, and scrub his hands raw with harsh soap.  After all the trouble of rigorous bathing, Job felt that God would just push him down into a dirty ditch, a sewer of filth, which would make his own clothes hate him.

Job saw himself as a man who was attempting to justify himself before One who was not a man but rather a Supreme Being who was so much higher than the greatest human king.  What could Job say about himself that would cause God to hear him?  They were not equals.  There was no possibility of a “meeting of the minds” for God’s ways and thoughts are so far above that of man (Isaiah 55:8) that there was no possibility for them to come to an agreement.  What Job desired was a mediator, a “days-man”, to represent him before God, to adjudicate his case fairly and justly, especially in his favor, but while he might find a days-man to represent him, this human would have no more favor with God that he had, thus, Job must face God alone.

While we understand that Old Testament saints like Abraham, Moses, and David believed that God would one day send a Savior to represent them before Almighty God, there is no record at this point that Job speaks of a Redeemer who would stand before God’s judgment seat to represent him, but he would later speak of the Redeemer in his conversation with his friends.  But for now, Job felt completely isolated from everyone except God.  Jesus is the only One qualified to reach out and touch the repentant sinner and connect him or her to God, the Father.  Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).  Prior to Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, God spoke to His people through priests and prophets, but the priesthood had not yet been initiated in Job’s day, at least there is no mention of a formal priest or a prophet in the book of Job.  Job would get his opportunity to speak or rather listen to God directly later.

Without this “days-man”, the ancient type of an attorney, Job felt completely helpless to be able to approach God.  He wanted God to lift His rod of punishment from him and give him relief from the fear and anguish.  His real desire was for God’s mercy.  Had God taken away His mercy from Job?  No wonder Job was so fearful.  Imagine living without the mercy of God.  Where could one turn to for relief and help?  If only God would let up on His wrath and give Job some breathing room, then Job believed that he would be able to calmly and earnestly speak to God, but Job felt that would never happen.  Matthew Henry wrote, “…stand in awe of God and fear the power of His wrath.  If good men have been put into such consternation (terror, dismay) by it, ‘where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear’? (I Peter 4:18).

Next week: Are You Listening LORD?