Deeper Commentary
Job 23:1 Then Job answered- Job's reply over Job 23 and Job 24 slips into self justification and fails to engage specifically with what Eliphaz has said in his last speech. Job 24 is largely a repeat of the general observation that the wicked prosper, and the suffering of anyone is therefore no sign they are sinning. This all indicates the overall decline of the dialogue. And it is a path followed by so many failed personal interactions.
Job 23:2 Even today- As if to say that yes, I am still going to keep complaining about my situation.
My complaint is grievous. His hand is heavy in spite of
my groaning- AV "My stroke is heavier than my groaning”. Job fell into the trap of thinking that his terrible situation somehow
allowed him to speak whatever words came into his head. Job felt he hadn’t been ‘fed’ and so he was entitled to
“bray” and “low” over his misfortune (Job 6:5).
Job understood God to be in control in Heaven; he
rejects the idea of a cosmic conflict going on ‘up there’ which the
friends seem to allude to. More specifically, Job speaks of how God’s hand
forms and can pierce the “crooked serpent” and smite any monster (Job
26:11–14). It’s as if Job is mocking the idea that God has let him go into
the hands of the cosmic monsters which the friends believed in. For Job so
often stresses that it is the “hand of God” which has brought His
affliction (Job 19:21; 23:2). That Divine hand was far greater than any
mythical ‘Satan’ figure. The theme of his speech in Job 28 is that Yahweh
alone is to be feared throughout the entire cosmos. Nobody else – such as
the ‘Satan’ figures alluded to by the friends – needed to be feared.
Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find Him! That I might come even to
His seat!- Job sought to "probe" (AV "find out") the Almighty (Job 23:3; 28:12),
whereas Elihu appears to agree with Zophar that "the Almighty" cannot be
'found out' (Job 11:7; 37:23). God's own appearance at the end is perhaps
an answer to this. He cannot be 'found out' by intellectual argument or
personal righteousness, but He still responds to the spirit of Job's
request by appearing. Instead, He 'finds out' people and saves them by
grace. Paul expresses the same idea when he writes that it is not so much
a case of man 'knowing God', but rather of being "known of God" by grace
(Gal. 4:9).
Job 23:3 perhaps epitomizes this desire of Job for judgment day: “Oh, that today I might find him, that I might come to his judgment seat!” (NAB). He wanted the judgment seat to come that very day! The invisible hand of God is working in every life that suffers from ones’ brethren ‘playing God’ in false judgment of us… to lead us to this wonderful and blessed attitude.
The use of the word "order" in Job's words in 23:3-6 repays examination: " Oh that I knew where I might find (God)! that I might come even to His seat!. I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments... Will He plead against me with his great power? No".
See on :10.
Job 23:4 I would set my cause in order before Him, and fill my mouth with
arguments- Earlier, Job had judged himself, setting in order his
legal case, but declaring himself righteous (Job 13:8). By Job 23:4, Job
is realizing that he needs to set his case in order before God; but he
can't find God, or get God to engage in this game of judgment. He needed
the final appearance of God at the end of the book to review his case, and
declare that he is in fact wrong and condemned. But by grace, God will
count him as right. He was prepared for this by Elihu's speech in Job
37:19: "Teach us what we shall tell Him, for we can’t make our case by
reason of darkness". "Make our case" is s.w. "set my cause in order".
Job appeals for ‘witnesses’ (Job 9:33–35; 16:18–22; 19:20–27), an advocate in Heaven (Job 9:33), denies his guilt and demands a legal list of his sins (Job 13:19), he wishes for God to come to trial (Job 9:3), and thus Job is described as a man who has taken out a ‘case’ with God (Job 23:4; 40:2). Job 29–31 is effectively Job’s declaration of legal innocence and an appeal to God to hear his case more sympathetically (Job 31:35). And of course God pronounces a final legal verdict at the very end (Job 42:7), in response to Job’s earlier plea: “Sleeplessly I wait for His reply” (Job 16:22). It’s as if the whole experience of Job was [at least partly] in order to test out the Canaanite theories of ‘Satan’, suffering and evil in the court of Heaven; and also the various theories which arose to explain Judah's captivity in Babylon. The friends represent the traditional views of evil, and often make reference to the myths of their day about ‘Satan’ figures. They speak as if they are the final court – Eliphaz speaks of how the judges and elders of their day, the “holy ones”, had concluded Job was guilty, and that they, the friends, were right: “To which of the holy ones will you appeal [legal language]?... we have [legally] examined this, and it [Job’s guilt] is true” (Job 5:1,27). This is of great comfort to those who feel misjudged by man – above them in Heaven the ultimate Heavenly court is considering our case, and that is all that matters.
Job 23:5 I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand
what He would tell me- Job promises to be obedient and acceptant of
whatever outcome there was from his meeting with God. And when God does
finally appear and in a way condemn him, he does accept this. Or perhaps
the sense is simply as in GNB "I want to know what he would say and how he
would answer me".
Job 23:6 Would He contend with me in the greatness of His power? No, but
He would listen to me- AV "Would he plead against me...?". God, and Elihu
on His behalf, did plead against Job by recounting God's power.
Judgment before God was not quite as Job had imagined. When Elihu was
established in Job's mind as God's true representative, he found that he
had nothing to say, as he thought he would have. Elihu seems to refer back
to this speech when he challenges the dumfounded Job: "If thou hast anything to say, answer me... if thou canst answer me, set thy words in order before me" (Job 33:32,5
AV). Elihu has in mind Job 23:4 "I would set my cause in order before
Him". Job several times spoke of how he would fully explain himself to God, if he found Him. Yet in the presence of God and Elihu, he finds that all the words dry up. Words became irrelevant. All he can do is behold the majesty of God's righteousness, and declare his own unrighteousness. That spiritual pinnacle of Job still lies ahead for the majority of us. The desire to speak is a desire to express our own thoughts. Words are a construct which can trap us. Only God's words can liberate. There is a wordless element in being truly humbled before the Almighty.
Job 23:7 There the upright might reason with Him, so I should be delivered
forever from my judge- Job's imagination of judgment day was that
there would be some upright person present who would be as his advocate,
and deliver him from God as his judge. Elihu appears according to Job's
wish (Job 33:6); but he condemns Job. And God then appears in person to
judge Job. Elihu couldn't save Job from that.
Job 23:8 If I go east, He is not there; if west, I can’t find Him- We
note there was no God to be found to the east, whereas He is apparently
present at the other compass points, although invisible to Job. Perhaps
this would be a reference to the spiritual bankruptcy of the children of
the east, from where the friends had come from. It would also be a
statement from Job, as one of the greatest of the children of the east,
that there was no God in his surrounding society.
Job 23:9 He works to the north, but I can’t see Him. He turns south, but I
can’t catch a glimpse of Him- "The north" in Hebrew is 'the hidden
place'. There appears to be the idea that God is indeed at work to the
north and south, but Job can't glimpse God there.
Job 23:10 But He knows the way that I take- Job cannot discern the
way God takes, not even the compass point He is working on; but the point
is that God knows the way Job takes. Paul expresses the same idea when he
writes that it is not so much a case of man 'knowing God', but rather of
being "known of God" by grace (Gal. 4:9). See on :3.
When He has tried me, I shall come forth like gold- This appears to be an allusion to Job 22:25 LXX "and he shall bring thee forth pure as silver that has been tried by fire". This is the image used of the intended effect of Judah's sufferings in Babylon (Is. 48:18; Ez. 22:18-22). If the LXX is correct, then Job quotes this back to Eliphaz here in Job 23:10. Job is arguing back that he does not love gold over God, and that he will himself come forth as gold after the trials have finished. Unlike the friends, who generally refuse to engage with Job's words in their speeches, Job specifically engages with their words.
Job 23:11 My foot has held fast to His steps. I have kept His way, and not
turned aside- Job says this in the context of having lamented that he
senses God's activity in various places, but cannot see God there (:9,10).
But he has planted his feet in the footsteps left by the invisible God and
not turned aside from that path. Job "held fast" to God's footprints, even
though He didn't see Him, and yet he later realized that the afflictions
God sent had taken hold [s.w. "held fast"] to him (Job 30:16). We see here
the mutuality between God and man, achieved through the experience of
suffering brought by Him.
Job 23:12 I haven’t gone back from the commandment of His lips. I have
treasured up the words of His mouth more than my necessary food- Job
had had no fresh revelation from God since God gave the satan power over
him. Perhaps he had been party to the discussion between God, satan and
the other "sons of God" (the friends) recorded in the prologue. He would
have hung on to God's statement that He considered Job to be His righteous
servant. And that the afflictions were somehow for the benefit of the
friends / satan / "sons of God". See on :14. But there is a wider
principle here.
The Word of God should be our daily food - indeed, our
dependence upon it, and natural desire for it, should be even greater than
our instinctive appetite for physical food: “... I have treasured the
words of his mouth more than my necessary food” was Job’s feeling
(Job 23:12). Jeremiah likewise: “Your words were found, and I ate them,
and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jer. 15:16).
Making time during each day for regular Bible reading is therefore a vital
thing to build into our pattern of daily life. An uninterrupted 30 minutes
of Bible study first thing in the morning is bound to start us off each
day in the right spiritual gear. Such faith-forming habits are vital.
Job 23:13 But He stands alone- The idea may be that God remained
"alone" from Job's perspective, refusing to allow Job to come to Him and
enter into dialogue.
And who can oppose Him? What His soul
desires, even that He does-
Job 23:14 For He performs that which is appointed for me. Many such things
are with Him- Again Job demonstrates his understanding that all his
afflictions were from God, not any cosmic satan being. And those
afflictions were those "appointed"- perhaps referring to God's words in
the prologue, which Job had continually meditated upon (see on :12; Job
24:1).
Job 23:15 Therefore I am terrified at His presence. When I consider, I am
afraid of Him- Job has lamented that he senses God but cannot see Him
(:8,9). But clearly he felt His presence in a very real manner. So we
conclude that the presence of God can be felt in His very absence. We like
Job can sense His hand working through His very silence and apparent lack
of direct engagement with us.
Job 23:16 For God has made my heart faint. The Almighty has terrified me-
See on :17. We can read this 'terror' as a reference to the panic attacks
which were apparently part of Job's sickness (s.w. Job 22:10).
Job 23:17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither did He
cover my face with the thick darkness- The Hebrew in :16,17 is
difficult, and GNB offers "Almighty God has destroyed my courage. It is
God, not the dark, that makes me afraid—even though the darkness has made
me blind". The darkness was typically associated with cosmic forces of
evil. Job sees through that and perceives it is God behind the darkness.
The exiles had to learn the same (Is. 45:5-7).
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