“Truly then you are the people with whom wisdom itself will die!”
‭‭Job‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭BSB‬‬

Look at Job gettin’ all sassy. 😆

He starts off his speech by finding a bit of common ground with his friends frenemies. Job acknowledges, “my disaster has come from the hand of the Lord” 12:9. I can see E, B, & Z nodding in agreement. Next, Job does his own version of what they have each done in their turns- let’s talk about how powerful God is. There are lots of geopolitical references here to God doing as He wishes among the nations. Then, Job says,

“Look, I have seen all this with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and now I understand. I know as much as you do. You are no better than I am.” Job‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Tuck this verse away. Job is going to revisit these sentiments. Have you ever had to “eat your words?” Job is eventually going to eat these words like so much humble pie.

Next, he goes completely prosecutorial attorney and asks to argue his case before God. That’s chutzpah. (Mazel tov) And he tells Larry, Daryl, and Daryl that God doesn’t need their law firm to defend Him. Job knows that this move could get him killed. (Yay. Death. Finally.) ☠️🎉

… shoot… now I have that scene from Fiddler on the Roof in my head of all the dead people in the grave yard singing, 🎶 “mazel tov, mazel tov…” 🙄🧟🪦🧟‍♀️🪦🧟‍♂️

Rerouting… (cue internet dialup sounds) 💬🌐↪️⤴️🔄🔀➡️

Job… Yes…. Job then addresses God:

“O God, grant me these two things, and then I will be able to face you. Remove your heavy hand from me, and don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.” 13‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

First- whose hand is heavy on Job? YHWH or The Satan? Something to consider. Remember that Job is punching in the dark. He is unaware of those heavenly negotiations we are privy to.

Second, “Don’t terrify me with your awesome presence.” That’s not how we think of the Lords presence is it? I’m a worship leader. We sing songs all the time about how wonderful the presence of the Lord is. We request His presence. We don’t tremble in terror.

I think that’s because we don’t experience God as a mountain on fire like Moses or… wait. Wait a minute. What has Job seen? Anything? Or has he only heard stories? Perhaps exaggerated? Think about it. What displays of terrifying Divine presence have there been in the first 11 chapters of Genesis?

🤔🧐

I got nothin’. The cherubim at the entrance of Eden were probably pretty scary but that’s not God. God made Enoch disappear. That’s pretty wild. There was the Flood…

I’m not sure where Job got his idea. I’m not saying it’s wrong. We’re going to see the presence of the Lord terrify a lot of people before the OT is over. I just find Job’s assumption interesting. Perhaps we who are under the covenant of Grace can’t truly appreciate just how insanely privileged we are to approach The Presence so boldly (as we are invited to do).

Well, now I’ve wandered rather far afield.

Job continues to address God. He talks about the brevity of life and the permanence of death. Then, listen to this! (The NLT is so readable for Job. Love it.)

“I wish you would hide me in the grave and forget me there until your anger has passed. But mark your calendar to think of me again! Can the dead live again? If so, this would give me hope through all my years of struggle, and I would eagerly await the release of death. You would call and I would answer, and you would yearn for me, your handiwork. For then you would guard my steps, instead of watching for my sins. My sins would be sealed in a pouch, and you would cover my guilt.” Job‬ ‭14‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here it is again! This inadvertent hint of the Gospel. Sins removed. Guilt covered. A friendly relationship with YHWH as Shepherd rather than Judge. Bodily resurrection. It’s all there. Bookmark this because, Spoiler Alert, before this is all over, Job is going to be convinced that there will indeed be a resurrection of the dead and that he will be part of it.

Now, compare Job 14:13 to this:

“But those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead! Go home, my people, and lock your doors! Hide yourselves for a little while until the Lord’s anger has passed. Look! The Lord is coming from heaven to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will no longer hide those who have been killed. They will be brought out for all to see.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭26‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬.

I don’t think this passage is necessarily about hiding out in a doomsday bunker with buckets of freeze-dried food. I mean, it could be. It certainly has a strong link to the resurrection. I’ve heard different ideas about what the locked doors might mean- one proposal is that “home” is heaven and these are the saints hiding out in glory during the wrath of God. I guess we’ll find out sooner rather than later.

Job’s consideration of a possible resurrection is like the sun peeking briefly through the clouds. Then it’s shrouded in grey again. He continues, “But instead, as mountains fall and crumble and as rocks fall from a cliff, as water wears away the stones and floods wash away the soil, so you destroy people’s hope.” Job‬ ‭14‬:‭18‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Job! You were so close! But it feels too good to be true so he sinks back into the gloom.

In the next section, we will get Eliphaz, the sequel. And more of Job defending himself. The whole debate drops about an octave into a morass of mud-slinging and finger-pointing. Hang in there friends. It’s the dark night of the soul.