“I have heard of thee with the hearing of the ear,
but now mine eye seeth thee, Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
We have come to the end of the matter. In the approach to the problem of this book, we have said some very severe things about Job himself, and many readers have been grieved at the interpretation ; but nothing said could be as severe as Job’s self-condemnation. All the conventional formal instruction of his life —the traditional and human conceptions of what constitutes “good moral behavior”, and the philosophy of man —all are stripped away. At last he discerns, with spiritual discernment, the true nature of God and His purpose. Seeing himself in that perspective, he is utterly and completely humiliated. The phrase translated, “I abhor myself” 42:6 (A.V.) and “I despise myself” (R.S.V.) is difficult to carry over into English with the force of the original Hebrew. One or two commentators suggest that it conveys the thought of a “melting away to nothing”—certainly, Job used the strongest form of expression to reveal his inner sense of self-abasement.
It is significant that the few men who have been granted more than ordinary revelations of the Eternal and His purpose, have been overwhelmed by their own unworthiness. Isaiah in particular : granted the wonderful vision at the time of his being commissioned to go to Israel, expresses himself (Is. 6:5), “Woe is me, for I am lost ; for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips ; for my eyes have seen the King.”
At what point did Job finally achieve the spiritual discernment required of him ? It is difficult to answer this. Elihu has been thorough and comprehensive in his examination of the whole problem ; his handling of the Divine solution to the need for a mediator between God and man is one of the most beautiful passages in the book.
But given an opportunity to answer and Job remains silent.
After God’s first speech emphasizing the Divine greatness and supremacy in time and creation and man’s insignificance, there is a reluctant admission from Job of his smallness and a recognition that he has said too much, but there is no complete surrender as yet.
It seems that the penetrating ironical handling of the problem of pride, and its relationship to the animal in human nature, is the final straw : there is at last a complete collapse of human defenses.
It is similar to the change of heart of the Psalmist, guilty, at one time, of questioning the Divine justice:
“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee.”
Job’s answer to God is three-fold : First, there is clear recognition of Omnipotence, “I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted.” He then appears to quote God’s comment, 38:2, and we note the similarity of Elihu’s in 34:35. (The accusation, of course, has been that Job has lacked true knowledge, or spiritual discernment.) In reply he says, “Therefore I have uttered, what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
This is a passage that must be taken into account when assessing the value of things said by Job. There is a tendency on our part, which we deplore, to take out of context the things that suit our arguments and ignore other factors.
It is to be remembered that there are no exceptions to Elihu’s and God’s blanket condemnation of Job ; and Job himself says in effect—I didn’t know what I was talking about. Finally, Job repeats what God has said (38:3) “I will question you and you shall declare to me” and answers completely and briefly in the words with which we began this article.
We could quite easily leave our story at this point: God has accomplished what He set out to do, Job has been brought to realize that righteousness based on works is valueless, that Divine favour cannot be earned, his pride has been swept away, and his spiritual perceptions awakened.
It is a wonderful example of Divine patience and compassion. James’ comment is sufficient to sum up the issues, in his epistle, chapter 5:11, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” But there is a significant lesson still remaining, and a moving comment by the writer of the book.
There appears to be a pause in the narrative following God’s speeches to permit Job and the friends opportunity to answer, but the friends remain silent. They evidently have failed to realize that their approach to the problem has been dishonest and unrealistic.
That they were moved by envy and jealousy is clear, and there is an element of gloating in their attitude, and God is angry with them. There now occurs a striking incident of the appointment of Job as the intermediary for them : it was a tremendous test for both parties. It would be difficult for us to measure the humiliation involved on the part of the friends — the man whose integrity had been savagely attacked by them stood between them and God.
Sacrifice was a necessity as always in approaching the Almighty, but sacrifice acceptable only if accompanied by Job’s prayer on their behalf. And looking at Job, how challenging a final test—to plead the favor of God for those who had assailed his integrity, accused him of wickedness, and gloated over his sufferings ! And Job would realize, too, that God who knows the heart would be aware of the sincerity, or otherwise, of his plea.
The 10th verse of chapter 42 is the writer’s moving comment on Job’s reaction to the Divine requirement, “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends.” The insistent demand for self-justification forgotten, the righteousness of God acknowledged, the concern of others instead of self — these are the true characteristics of God’s High Priest, and this is the role now played by Job. How completely he had changed !
There are aspects of the final few verses that present a difficulty, if dealt with from the purely historical point of view. Some commentators treat the whole matter as legendary, regarding the restoration of Job’s family to precisely the same numbers as before, and the exact doubling of livestock as unlikely.
But if we treat the record as allegorical, with a literal incident involving a man called Job being used to convey illustrations of the Divine purpose, then it is more reasonable. Allegory is, of course, freqently used throughout Scripture: a familiar one being that of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael. The Exodus of the Israelites is also a wonderful allegory of the Divine scheme of redemption.
In these examples, as well as in Job, the historical is made the foil for a much more profound and important lesson.
There are several points in the final seven verses of Job, that appear to confirm the possibility that this is an allegory of Israel. We know, for example, that it has been the destiny of Israel to become a “kingdom of priests” to bring the manifestation of the Divine Name into the earth, and draw the nations to God. (Note Zechariah 8:23).
The phrase in Job 42:10, is also suggestive, and is precisely the same as that used in Psalm 126:1, and Ezek. 16:53. Also in the same verse, “and the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before,” this is a phrase similar to one used in connection with the restoration of Israel to favor. (Note Isaiah 61:7, Zech. 9:12).
A final point : considering the emphasis placed on Job’s daughters—there were again seven sons, but they are incidental to the narrative, while the daughters take the spotlight, being outstanding in grace, beauty and favor. We know, of course, that the Scripture uses the term “son” in reference to Israel, but in restoring Israel to favor after persecution, the term used is frequently “daughter.” We sing a familiar hymn, “Daughter of Zion awake from thy sadness.” The names are intriguing, and a combination of the meanings might be considered as significant : “Beautiful as a dove, fragrant as cassia, born of beauty.”
But we do not wish to labor this possibility. It is a phase of the Book worthy of quiet thought, and it may be that as an allegory of Israel it has more lessons to give us.
In Conclusion :
We wish to thank those who have patiently followed this radical approach to the Book of Job. It is realized that it has been disturbing, as the writer with others, has had to abandon cherished traditions. But the result has not been to weaken faith, but rather to strengthen it, and to enhance the awe and respect with which we regard the wisdom of God as it is revealed to us in the Scriptures of Truth.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One