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Review and Intro

What happens when someone’s only identity is taken from them?

What are some sources of identity? Career, parenthood, marriage, money, influence, …

These are the lenses through which we often view ourselves and gain self-worth. And if they are taken away from us, we struggle with purpose and value.

Job’s identity is that of a worshipper of God. Now that, in his view, God has rejected him, he has nothing left.

His lament so far is not filled with grief over the loss of his family and livelihood, although we can be certain these losses are a source of tremendous pain.

Job’s primary source of pain is that his devotion to God is not reciprocated; the God he worships seems indifferent or even hostile toward him.

He has devoted his life to the worship of God, yet this God has turned his back on him.

And because this is a God who is above all other gods, Job has nowhere to turn. Death is the best option, although that too has no hope.

For Job, the issue at hand is not a matter of whether he believes in and is devoted to God, but of whether God believes in and is devoted to him.¹

This is a somewhat self-centred but very real issue for Job and for many of us. This is because at the very core of our sinful nature is the belief that the world revolves around me.

We may not say it in so many words, but this nature shows itself when you experience doubt about whether or not God hears your prayers.

You might intellectually accept that there is a God, but perhaps you don’t think he really cares all that much about you. This is how Job was feeling and it speaks to the common experience of humanity.

But it is simply not true. God does care about us. But, just as a child might think their parents hate them when they say no to a second cookie, or the latest video game console, we so often think God is against us when his care looks more like rejection.

In this way, although Job helps us express with words our common experience, he is not a good example to follow. He thinks he deserves God’s attention. And while desiring God’s attention is a good thing, we are misled when we think we deserve it.

This raises an important question about the book of Job. What is the nature of its helpfulness for us?

A common misapplication of the Bible is that we read about these amazing people like Abraham, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, and Job, and we think that those stories are there so we have an example to follow.

But, that is not what the stories are there for.

The Bible exists to tell us mainly about who God is and how he expresses his love. And the way we learn about this is through the history of his interactions with creation.

So, it is important to understand that the book of Job, as is the case with all of the stories of people in the Bible, is not sanctioning the ideas or behaviours of the people. Instead, the stories expose distortions, limitations, and errors.

In a very helpful book by John Walton called Wisdom for Faithful Reading, he writes:

It is not uncommon for readers to think that Job is being presented as a role model for when we encounter suffering, but that is decidedly not the case. God offers severe criticism about Job’s response to his suffering (Job 40:8), and Job repents of his response. The character Job does not convey the message of the book. It is not a book about Job, and it is not a book to explain why people suffer. It is a wisdom book that is intended to steer people away from a simplistic view of how God works in the world and guide them to healthy ways of thinking about God when life goes wrong.²

The book of Job is not demonstrating that Job is thinking rightly about God. This is why it’s important to take the entire book as a whole into consideration before drawing any conclusions about its purpose.

What John Walton is saying, and what I’ve been trying to demonstrate, is that the book of Job is really not about Job at all. It is about how God governs creation, particularly how he handles evil and suffering in the world.

It helps us shift from a black and white, rigid retribution justice system and toward an understanding that it is God’s wisdom that governs creation.

And his wisdom is impossible for our human minds to comprehend fully, although we can increase in our understanding of it.

I am bringing this up today because we are entering deeper into Job’s accusations against God. We will face some statements that will not sit well with us if we believe that Job’s views about God are all correct.

But, if we understand that the point of Job is for us to gain understanding about God, then the difficult passages will lead us to curiosity and engagement with God.

This is God’s desire, for us to engage with him, to talk to him, and to seek him above all else.

With that said, let’s look first very briefly at Zophar’s speech in which he rebukes Job, then we will look at the source of Job’s pain, followed by Job’s true desire, which is to be seen and believed.

Zophar’s Rebuke (11:2-6; 13-15)

I won’t spend much time here because Zophar is basically repeating the same sort of things the other two friends have already said, only with greater harshness.

Zophar makes some accusations: Job doesn’t have good enough knowledge. His ego is too big. He is full of talk, babbling about nothing, mocking God’s righteousness. He’s accusing Job of being self-righteous and lacking wisdom.

He rebukes Job and tells him to be more devoted to God and then God will forgive and restore him.

There are two things going on in this passage that I want to highlight. First, just as was the case with the other two friends, Zophar is doing a really poor job of comforting Job. In fact, he does much worse. He is actually insulting him. He can’t believe that a man so full of words could think he is righteous.

Zophar has determined that Job needs to be put in his place, yet God has withheld his hand. Although everything has been taken away from him, God has spared his life, showing that he has overlooked some of Job’s sin.

His tactic for comforting Job takes the form of telling Job that God has shown him compassion for not taking his life. It goes without saying, this is an unhelpful way of comforting someone.

In the Hope Heroes training that we do here, which helps people know how to comfort those who are grieving, we learn what not to say to someone. One of the things to not say is, “Well, at least you still have…” fill in the blank.

This is what Zophar is saying. Well, at least God didn’t kill you. See, it’s not so bad. Not helpful.

The second thing going on is that he is saying things that are technically true but they are unhelpful because they do not apply to this situation.

Once again, just as was the case with the other friends, Zophar is convinced that the principle of divine retribution applies in all situations.

Job’s friends saw that Job was experiencing suffering and because of their view of how the world works, they applied the solution of repentance and increased devotion to God.

Perhaps there are things that Job needs to repent of in his life. But, that is not what’s going on here.

The friends have made a quick judgment and offered the only remedy they are willing to consider as a solution.

In our own lives, it is important we learn from their mistake. When we or others encounter suffering, begin with sympathetic presence. Take time to understand and be close to the suffering.

Remind yourself of the faithfulness and love of God. Allow time to direct your next steps. Sometimes the suffering will continue or pass with no explanation. We need to be okay with that. There is no place for quick and easy solutions.

Let’s turn now to Job’s speech. First, we will look at the source of Job’s pain, and then what he truly desires. We will jump around the speech a bit, so I encourage you to have a Bible open to follow along.

Job’s Pain (12:1-4; 13:2-19; 14:7-12)

Job 12:1–4 “Then Job replied: “Doubtless you are the only people who matter, and wisdom will die with you! But I have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know all these things? “I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God and he answered— a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!”

Job responds by highlighting his experience of being misunderstood and ridiculed. He says that even fools mock him. He contrasts his friends’ false sense of security and certainty about how to get right with God with his own honest suffering.

He knows the retribution principle as well as they do. He knows the way God is supposed to be acting, that he blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked. He agrees with this principle.

But this is not his current experience. He has behaved righteously, yet received what he has experienced as punishment.

And because of his situation, he is now suffering even more because people are laughing at him, accusing him of things he hasn’t done.

His pain is not just the loss of his family and livelihood, but the isolation of being rejected by everyone, including his closest friends and God.

In 13:2-19, he defends himself with the strongest words against his friends so far. We can see that his patience is wearing thin.

Basically, he is saying they should stop talking because he knows more than them. Then, he proceeds to tell them his plan.

Job 13:13–19 “Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. Why do I put myself in jeopardy and take my life in my hands? Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face. Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance, for no godless person would dare come before him! Listen carefully to what I say; let my words ring in your ears. Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated. Can anyone bring charges against me? If so, I will be silent and die.”

Job’s plan is to confront God with his accusations directly, whatever the cost or consequence.

There is a challenging statement in the middle of this passage that I want to highlight briefly. I wrote in more depth about this in my weekly letter on Tuesday if you want to dig deeper.

In verse 15, in the NIV it says, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”

This is the translation common in many English Bibles, but it there is actually not agreement among all Biblical scholars on the translation.

The problem is with a particular word in the Hebrew that can be translated either as “in him”, as is used in the NIV, or as “not” as is used in the NRSV.

Just a brief lesson in Bible translation… feel free to have a 60 second power nap.

In the original Hebrew manuscripts, there were no vowels. For example, the word for “king” (melek) was written as MLK, without vowels.

Then, many years later, Jewish scribes added vowel markings to preserve pronunciation and meaning. These were small dots and dashes placed above, below, or inside the consonants.

In the case of our passage at hand, the problematic Hebrew word is pronounced either lō, which means “not” or lô, which means “to him.”

In the NIV and most other translation, where it says, “I will hope in him,” they use the lō pronunciation.

In the NRSV, where it says, “I have no hope,” they use the lô pronunciation. The literal translations could be, “In him, I hope,” or “not, I hope.”

So which one is it?

NIV “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.”

NRSV “See, he will kill me; I have no hope; but I will defend my ways to his face.”

This is a big difference. It represents a common issue in Bible translation when a single word which can be interpreted using different English words creates a signficant shift in meaning.

While I am not going to insist on either translation as the right one, I actually find the NRSV translation more aligned with the current experience and attitude of Job.

Job expresses his determination to make his case before God even though he thinks his chances are slim or even non-existent. He figures that God will kill him regardless, so if he just gets it over with, it is better than staying alive and suffering.

Yet, as it says in verses 16-18, he has a degree of confidence that he will be delivered because he is innocent.

Let’s jump briefly to Job 14:7–12, where he once again expresses his hopelessness:

“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more. As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.”

This image symbolizes mortality and the fragile nature of human life. It also reveals his and the common view of the afterlife at the time, which is simply that death is final. They did not believe in a resurrection. Just permanent death.

For Job, this would be better than his life at it currently stands, which is why he is willing to face God and make his case.

For him, it is greater pain to live with the rejection of God than to die and cease to exist. At least in death, even though it is the end, he is no longer aware of God’s rejection.

Job’s Desire (12:13-16; 13:3; 20-24; 14:13-17)

Job’s greatest desire is to be seen and heard, and acknowledged most of all by God, but also by his friends. His expressions of lament have been tied mainly to losing the approval of God.

In Job 12:13–16, he says, “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; those he imprisons cannot be released. If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land. To him belong strength and insight; both deceived and deceiver are his.”

He acknowledges God’s sovereign wisdom and power, showing his commitment to worship him and him alone. There is no other hope. Getting into right standing with God is his greatest desire.

As I mentioned previously, he states his intentions to stand before God. In Job 13:3 he says, “I desire to speak to the Almighty and to argue my case with God.”

He doesn’t have a mediator, so he is determined to just go straight to the judge himself. This is risky, but it’s worth the risk.

Then in Job 13:20–24 he summarizes his wishes to God:

“Withdraw your hand far from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply to me. How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy?”

And in Job 14:13–17 he provides a possible solution to his misery:

“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.”

Though he does not believe in resurrection, he wishes it were the case. He is basically asking God to hide him away until is anger against him has subsided.

Put another way, he is asking God to take a time out. To cool off and come back when he calms down.

If that’s not brazen enough, he believes that if God were to do so, he would eventually miss Job and bring him back! And Job promises that if God calls on him, he will answer.

Job is desperate for reconciliation, so he is resorting to propositions that are not within even his own logic. This is not wisdom speaking, but desperation.

Yet, if we look ahead to the end, in Job 42:7 we read, “After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”

The lesson from Job is not his words of wisdom or his faith in God, but his relentless desperation for reconciliation with God. He laments the rejection of God and cries out to be given a chance to prove himself innocent.

Conclusion

The question today is, do we have that same desperation? Going back to the start of the message, ask yourself what is the centre of your identity?

If it is your work, family, political party, or ideology, I have bad news. These identities will fail you at some point. They are fragile.

If it is that of a worshipper of God, like Job, then I have good news.

Job’s greatest struggle was that he could not reconcile himself to God because he had no one to stand with him before God.

But, unlike Job, we have a mediator. We have one who represents us before God.

This mediator doesn’t make a case for our innocence on the basis of our righteousness. Intead, his case is based on the fact that he has restored the relationship between God and all of humanity.

1 Timothy 2:5 says “there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”

If Job lived today, I imagine his words would be very different. Instead of pleading his case on the basis of his own righteousness, he would point to Jesus and say, “On the basis of the righteousness of Christ, I plead innocence and ask for our relationship to be restored.”

And God would have accepted that argument. This is our hope and our permanent identity.

When we have failed God or others, we can look at Jesus and know that he has made a way to God’s love, acceptance, and ultimately eternal life free from suffering.

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1. See David Cline’s commentary on this passage for more detail on this idea. Job vol. 1, Word Biblical Commentary. ↩︎
2. John H. Walton, Wisdom for Faithful Reading: Principles and Practices for Old Testament Interpretation (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2023), 145–146. ↩︎