Scripture: Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Then Job answered:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter,
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 lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn what he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; he would give heed to me.
7 There an upright man could reason with him,
and I should be acquitted for ever by my judge.
8 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there;
and backward, but I cannot perceive him;
9 on the left hand I seek him, but I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right hand, but I cannot see him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 for I am hemmed in by darkness,
and thick darkness covers my face
Questions
- What do I do when I feel lost and abandoned by God the way Job does?
- What is the difference between contending in power and heeding someone as Job describes in verse 6?
- What does it look like to be an upright person who can reason with God?
- What does Job mean that God has terrified him, is this God’s fault or his reaction to his circumstances and how should good friends handle this?
- How do I respond to the idea that God has made Job’s heart faint, is this accurate or simply the complaint of a desperate man?
Background
Related Scriptures: Psalm 22; Hebrews 4:12-16
There is some question about the translation of verse 2, it is unclear whether Job is speaking about his own hand being heavy—he is weary—or if it is God’s hand is heavy against him.
Job’s speech seems to say that if God would come out of hiding and hear Job’s claim then God would be forced to side with Job’s complaint.
The complaints Job provides in this speech are meant to be universal complaints, representing how all people feel in their moments of grief and pain.
Reflection
Job can be a difficult book to read at times, because it is both dealing with dark themes and the grief and pain is repeated in ways that make it feel like it will never end. Reading through Job I often feel like I am sitting with the group of friends simply spinning my wheels wondering when all the madness will end. In this Job 23 Job is bitter because he feels like God is hiding from him and that if he simply could stand in God’s presence God would be compelled to give him justice. Job is living in the darkness of life and it seems like he is even accusing God of causing his problems and running away.
Job’s situation is a major problem, it is a frequent accusation from internet atheists who will ask, “Why doesn’t God just appear to everyone?” And even more problematic for me it is the cry of many Christians at some point in their lives as they experience the pain, grief, and suffering of this life. John of the Cross called it the “dark night of the soul” that time when you feel like you are desperately searching for God and God is nowhere to be found. Whether you are on a spiritual journey of your own choosing or you are simply battered by the storms of life there is a very real chance you will experience this darkness at some point in your life. Reading through Job’s story helps us to wrestle with and prepare for the times of darkness we might encounter in our lives or with our friends.
How did Job prepare for this time of darkness, frequent regular and intense worship and prayer. The first chapters describe Job as committed to connecting to God and interceding on behalf of those around him. He was dedicated to becoming God’s image bearer on this earth, connecting to God and knowing what God’s presence was like. And it seems that even while he was afflicted he continued to pray and worship, he continually tried to meet God, even when he felt blocked. Such a mindset is imperative since it bolsters Job during his darkest times, he is grounded in the reality that he knows to be true—that God promotes justice and grace and is at hand—Job’s present is the anomaly not the reality. His mindset is grounded on the years he cultivated his faith, not by deluding himself, but by connecting to the God he knows.
In the end we see that God justifies Job, this man who has questioned God’s absence and felt bullied by God, and commends him for his righteousness and upright speech. Rather it is Job’s friends who God judges harshly and asks Job to intercede for. Job’s years of connecting with God allow him to speak rightly even when his complaints might sound harsh to our ears. Job’s complaints sound harsh and hostile because we like Job’s friends do not want to properly empathize with Job in his misery and only cling to simple platitudes about God without trying to understand God’s depths. This is what God spends two chapters telling Job at the end of the book, you have not fully considered all of the difficult issues that I deal with in the world, and if that is true of Job who spoke righteously, how much truer was it of his friends?
Throughout the story Job is seeking to see God and the whole time his friends are standing there claiming to represent God to him. Job is lost and alone, in the darkness of life, relying on his past encounters with God because his friends are telling him they speak for God when all they are doing is trying to justify their own small opinions about God. I believe God was expecting Job’s friends to embody God to Job, to listen to him and to bolster his faith in his time of darkness, God was expecting them to be with Job when it hurt and to lead him from darkness to light. And all Job’s friends did was heap guilt on him and call him a sinner without listening. They did not know God well enough to help and so they caused harm. In the darkness of Job’s suffering we see that God was present, and wanted to be more present in Job’s friends. But they were disconnected from both Job and God and so led Job away from God and toward destruction. In the end I think God was closer to Job than he realized and it was the behavior of his friends that helped to keep Job in the darkness for so long. And it was partially the failure of Job’s friends to reveal God to Job that necessitated the wirlwind. We today can learn that in times of grief God is near even when it does not feel like it and we can be God’s representative in the lives of those who are grieving.
Squinting in the Light 
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