Before we begin the examination of Job’s speeches and try to follow the development of his thought, as he wrestled with his tremendous problem, there is an important principle to consider. It has become a well established tradition, both in the world and the brotherhood, that we can see spiritual progress in Job’s speeches. That while he began with doubting the justice of God, and in an emotional frenzy, upbraiding Him, that he nevertheless eventually became relatively calm and tranquil, affirming his confidence in God, and realised, in a measure the Divine purpose. Chapter 31 :27, being regarded as a supreme example of faith.
This is a subtle and attractive philosophy ; indeed, it is the philosophy of the world’s wise men who teach that man has within himself the potential power to raise himself above the evils of his environment—that he is evolving spiritually as well as physically. In the context of this teaching, Job is a representative of man, struggling to solve and rise above the problems of suffering and death. It is a philosophy without foundation, however. The Bible, and human history, reveal quite clearly that man is incapable of arriving at an understanding of the Divine purpose without Divine revelation. The brevity of his existence, and therefore his inability to see the end from the beginning, the Divine perspective of the ages in relation to purpose, the limitations of intellect and physical resources—he is circumscribed by himself, so to speak,—these things make it impossible for man to gain an understanding of the Divine perspective of time and purpose. Job could not possibly achieve an understanding of his own problem, because he could not see it from God’s point of view.
There is a further point to remember : Scripture and profane history demonstrate that men, attempting to reason out the problems of human behaviour—of suffering of life and death—do not arrive at truth, but rather, at error, and Job was no exception. He was to admit this in his final words : “Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know”. (Chap. 42:3).
Job’s first talk really might be called a soliloquy. He reveals his utter despair and the hopelessness of his outlook. See the first part in Chapter 3:1-10 where he curses the very moment of conception—the language is eloquent and vivid in its expressiveness. Verse 9, “let the stars of the dawn be dark, let it hope for the light but have none, nor see the eyelids of the morning.” In the second part, Job begins to ask questions and it is in that melancholy mood of inquiry that he becomes most revealing. Here he wonders why he had been born and wishes that he had never been. It is here, as he considers death and the grave as friends, rather than enemies, that the words occur, which he quotes occasionally: verses 17-19, “There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together, they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and the great are there ; and the servant is free from his master.” Finally, in the last part of his poem, Job comes to questioning light, reason, consciousness—concluding with that most revealing comment in verses 25-26 which has already been quoted, illustrating the uneasiness of his mind even in the days of prosperity.
Job does not seem to answer the approach Eliphaz makes to the problem until the third speech. There is this element of delay throughout the whole series of talks, as though the man required time to consider the points raised by the friends.
In his second talk (chap. 6 and 7) the mood of despair does not change: he feels that there is no hope, and excuses the outburst of despair in the first speech, by asking that they weigh his words against the weight of his calamity —for this is the intent of chapter 6:1-2. Verse 9 reveals his wish that God would crush him, that his life would abruptly end. It is as he considers the failure of his friends to console and reassure him, that his bitterness sharpens. Chapter 6:14-21 gives a vivid illustration of the effect of their condemnation. He likens them to a torrent of fresh flowing water, in the wilderness, which the weary and thirsty travellers had hoped to find, but when they came to it, the heat had dried it up and they perished in the wilderness. “Such have you now become to me”. Again, there is sharpness in his rejoinder in 6:25, “How forceful are honest words, but what does reproof from you reprove ?”
The second part of this speech vividly describes his misery, his sleepless nights, and endless days, and two verses underline his lack of hope in the future: Chapter 7:7-8, “Remember that my life is a breath ; my eye will never see good again. The eye of him who sees me will behold me no more.” and 7:21, “For now I shall be in the earth ; thou wilt seek me, but I shall not be”.
It is in the third speech that he begins to consider the implications of the statements made by Eliphaz. Eliphaz has said, (4:47) “Can mortal man be righteous before God, can a man be pure before his maser ?” In 9:2, Job appears to agree with this, “Truly I know that it is so : but how can a man be just before God ?” but not from the viewpoint of Divine justice or righteousness, but that f arbitrary power. Verse 3, “If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times”. His sense of isolation and helplessness, sharpened by the words of Eliphaz (5:1) “Call now, is there anyone who will answer thee?” —is reflected in 9:10, “Lo he passeth by me, and I see him not : he moves on but I do not perceive him.” “Behold, he snatches away; who can hinder him”. Kissane notes a development of thought in the translation which has Job saying, in answer to Eliphaz who had stated that even angels were immure in His sight, “men and angels, and even Gods (ie. the helpers of Rahab) are powerless before him.
Three times in a few sentences, he emphasizes his personal perfection—verse 15, “Though I am innocent”; Verse 21, “Though I am innocent, yet this avails him nothing;” verse 20, “Though I am blameless he would prove me perverse”; working up to the blasphemous statement of verses 22-24; “It is all one ; therefore, I say, he destroys the blameless and the wicked. When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. The earth is given unto the hand of the wicked, he covers the faces of its judges -if it is not he then who is it ?” It is in this same chapter that he makes the statement that reflects his wish to somehow reach God’s presence. 9 :32, “He is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. “There is no umpire between us who might lay his hand upon both”. R.S.V. “Neither is there any days man betwixt us.” A.V. A third alternative is as follows: “Would that there were an umpire between us”. Much has been built on this idea that appears to enter Job’s mind for the first time, and is to appear again in more positive form in later talks. Some feel that he was beginning to sense the need for a mediator between God and man, but it is in the context of Job’s absolute confidence in his own integrity, the bitter injustice of all that is happening to him, his sense of complete isolation and of the gulf exicting between God, and man, that we should consider Job’s words.
There is absolutely no sense of the Divine provision of a mediator in Job’s thought. He is still solely concerned with his own righteousness. The original Hebrew suggests a judicial figure in the word ‘umpire”, such as a village elder who would, on terms of equality, lay his hands on the shoulders of the two disputants and reconcile their differences. This we must remember is Job’s conception of what was necessary, from the point of view of his “innocence”. It had no relationship to God’s provision of a mediator.
In the final part of this talk, as he questions God’s reasons for creating him, he falls again into utter despair and melancholy—chapter 10:20-21, “Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort before I go, whence I shall not return, to the land of gloom and deep darkness.”
In Job’s fourth talk, he deals with that argument used by all three friends, the retributive justice of God, and makes a contrast —emphasizing again his own righteousness – 12:4, “I am a laughing stock to my friends ; I who called upon God and he answered me, a just and a blameless man, am a laughing stock”, with 12:6, “The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure”. Verses 13-25 are, in reality a restatement of his thought in chapter 9; that of absolute power of God. Commenting upon this as reflective of the friends’ arguments in 12:1, he says, “Lo, mine eye hath seen all this”. “What you know, I also know”. He is obviously moved very deeply, and into great anger by the friends arguments against him, and their obvious implications ; working up to a statement in 13:13-16 – sharply different in the R.S.V. from that in the A.V. The A.V., if it is accurate, is certainly an example of sublime faith (13:15) “Thou he slay me yet will I trust in him”; yet even without alternative translations one is caused to wonder that a man about to make a statement of so profound a faith should proceed it with words showing that he believed he risked his life in doing so. 13:14, “I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand”. This translation in the A.V. of verse 15, is freely regarded by experts as a “sublime mistranslation”, and out of harmony with the context. The R.S.V. appears the most likely rendering of what is regarded as a difficult passage. (v.15) “Behold, he will slay me ; I have no hope ; yet will I defend my ways before his face.” There is a third alternative with a strong argument in its favour, for it emphasizes the hopelessness of the situation from Job’s point of view, and the imminence of death . . he slays me, I have no hope! Nevertheless I will defend my behaviour in his presence. There is an arrogance in the latter part of this verse that is in perfect harmony with his final statement in chapter 31 :32-37. Readers will note the increasing evidence of Job’s preoccupation with his own righteousness : “Listen carefully to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears. Behold I have prepared my case: I know that I shall be vindicated.”
Like his previous talks, after an emotional passage he falls again into melancholy, and chapter 14 is gloomy in its major theme—the finality of death. Once again we have a sharp difference in translations, and a difficult decision to make. The A.V. has been used, of course, as evidence of Resurrection (14:14) “if a man die shall he live again ?” “All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come” is a wonderful statement if we can accept it as accurate—yet, even the A.V. is out of harmony with the context. Job has been contrasting man with a tree, v. 7, “There is hope of a tree . . . that it will sprout again”. Verse 10, “But man dieth and asteth away, and where is he ? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down, and riseth not.” The suggestion in the R.S.V. that verses 13-17 were simply an earnest wish, and not a positive affirmation ties together the theme of this part of his talk.
This is the end of the first group of talks. Job commenced the discussion, each of the friends has given his point of view in turn, and Job has replied. What progress has been made in resolving the problem? The friends have made no contribution of any value, because they depended solely on their own point of view of age, experience and tradition, without honestly facing the difficulties raised by Job’s experiences.
Of Job’s talks, three points are worth noting before we go on. First, there is no sound evidence that the belief in a resurrection entered into Job’s philosophy at all. His point of view was like that of the Sadducees–rewards an I punishments were all related to this life. Secondly he had come to the point of realizing that an intermediary was necessary between God and man, without at the moment expressing any confidence that there was one. Thirdly, this one apparent element of progress that Job had made is cancelled out by his increasing insistence on his own righteousness. This tragic feature of Job’s out-look blinded him completely to the nature of the mediator to be provided by God and the human need involved. “He going about to establish his own righteousness, was unable to submit to God’s righteousness”, As the reader will note this is a slight paraphrase of Romans 10:3.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One