Page 97 - Job
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Job’s idea was that all his sufferings are proof that God says I am guilty. I
have not done anything, but I am guilty. And the proof is that God has
given me all these trials, all these sicknesses and all these hardships.
In chapter 9, verses 4-10, Job illustrates his point from the material world.
His point is that God is irresistible. His wisdom. His might. Who would
ever dare to resist God and hope to succeed? Verse 5, Job does not have a
little picture of God. He is the One who “Moves mountains”. Verse 6,
“Shakes the earth”. Verse 7, “Dictates to the sun”. Verse 8, “Controls
the surging seas”. Verses 7-9, “Controls the mighty constellations in
the sky”. Verse 10, “His workings are beyond any human mind to
understand, to grasp”.
Then he says, “How can a man prove himself right and come against an
opponent like that? Anybody here want to disagree with God? Raise your
hand”. That is Job’s position. He does not know why all these things have
happened to him. He disagrees with his friends. He looks around and he
says the wicked prosper. You tell me the wicked suffer; but I see them
doing well! And the righteous suffer. I have not done anything, and this is
happening. And Job is confused. He honestly believes that he is right and
God is wrong. He looks around, and he says God is the one that makes the
oceans, and He makes the mountains, and He controls the universe and
the stars and the galaxies, and I disagree with Him. Do you want to go up
against Him? Let’s take Him to court. Are you going to be a witness
against Him? All right, that is Job’s problem.
In Chapter 9 verse 2, he says God will overpower me in every attempt I
make to substantiate my innocence. Then he pictures a face to face
confrontation with God. Verse 11 and 12,
“Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move past
me, I would not perceive Him. Were He to snatch away, who could
restrain Him? Who could say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’ ”
Verse 11, He is invisible. He is imperceptible. He is beyond human
understanding. In verse 12, He is irresistible. Look at verse 14,
“How then can I answer Him, and choose my words before Him? For
though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the
mercy of my judge. If I called and He answered me, I could not believe
that He was listening to my voice.”
He would not listen to me! I would not have anything to say to Him! He
pictures divine omnipotence, and he sees human paralysis. He was just
as weak as water, and there was no way he could go up against God.
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