Job
chapter 9 illustrates the pointlessness of wrestling against God.
Job honestly vents of his frustrations with his friends and with God.
The chapter begins with Job accepting the truths his friend
presented in the previous chapter, “I
know that this is true. But how can a mortal be righteous before
God?“.
Job knows he is not sinless, but like most people, he also thinks he
is not the worst person on the planet. He believes God is being
unfair. In his irritation with his friends, Job wants to present his
defense. “Though
one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him… His wisdom
is profound, His power is vast. Who has resisted Him and come out
unscathed?”
God has perfect and complete knowledge and we can only see with the
experience of a few decades. With reluctant acceptance, Job then
points out the obvious, “He
shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble… He
speaks to the sun… He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on
the waves of the sea… He is the Maker“.
Job acknowledges the significant difference between The Creator and
His creation, but he really does not like it at the moment. It is
amazing how many people in attempt to either minimize the authority
of God, or inflate their own majesty to try to discredit God’s
standards. Isaiah 55:9 accurately explains God’s superiority. “As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than
your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts“.
As
the chapter continues, we get a sense that Job completely comprehends
that God is Lord of All, but really wants some explanations. “He
performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be
counted. When He passes me… I cannot perceive Him. If
He snatches away, who can stop Him?”
Job then proceeds to make the case that God has not given him
justice. “God
does not restrain his anger… How then can I dispute with him? How
can I find words to argue with him?”
Job pictures a courtroom with no jury and no witnesses. “Though
I were innocent, I could not answer Him; I could only plead with my
Judge for mercy. Even if I summoned Him and He responded, I do not
believe He would give me a hearing“.
Finally Job airs his grievance. “He
would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason.
He… would overwhelm me with misery.”
Job is asking God to judge him on his own merits. That is a scary
thought! I remember reading that because of the sin of Adam, all of
mankind was born with a sin nature. That did not sound fair to me.
Until my pastor asked, how long do you think you could go without
sinning? I knew, like Job, that my mind, or my mouth, or my actions
would convict me very quickly. “Even
if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless,
it would pronounce me guilty“.
Let
me suggest to you, we do not need justice from God, we need mercy!
The
chapter ends with Job coming to an interesting place. He is not
without sin and therefore God is within His rights to condemn him,
but Job wants another option. “Although
I am blameless… I
despise my own life…
My days… fly away without a glimpse of joy“.
The idea of resisting God is no more appealing than the idea of
ultimate judgment. “I
still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me
innocent.
Since
I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain?”
Once again Job points to the gulf that exists between God and man,
“He
is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront
each other in court“.
And Jobs conclusion is one that I myself came to when I realized I
could not stand before God on my own merits. “If
only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon
us both,
someone
to remove God’s rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no
more.”
If you have come to that place, please listen to this, “There
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men”
(1 Tim 2:5). On the cross, Jesus took all of my sins and paid my
debt in full. By His willing sacrifice, He bridged the gap
separating God and man. And now He sits at the right hand of the
Father declaring my innocence. According to Hebrews 7:25, “Therefore
He
is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through
Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them“.
Don’t stand before God on your own.