Job 13:15 (NASBStr)
“ Though He slay me,
I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
To many, this famous verse is one of comfort and resolve. It is often quoted in the midst of difficulty and tragedy as an example of ultimate rest in God, despite life's circumstances. And, although just thoughts are noble and taught in many passages of God's Word, this is not the state of Job in the above context. When one studies deeper into the text and the actual phrase Job states we see that his words are not actually utterances of praise and resolve but rather self reliance and, perhaps, defiance. Job is not where most think he is as this stage in the argument. In the later chapters of the book we will see that Job comes around with resolve and deep faith. But not here; not yet. In the above passage (and those that follow this great verse) Job is indicating that he will defend himself before God ... proving his innocence and unfair treatment. This is more of a claim of a student stating that even if the teacher want to continue to fail him in the class he will maintain to the end he did the work and didn't deserve it. The "hope" he offers does't seem to be expressed in God's salvation but in the fact that God will listen to Job's defense of his innocence. Most commentators are perplexed by the language and the use of the terms. If job were only to say the first two lines of the verse and it were in the context of hope and seeking God's salvation, one could believe that these are words that bear both repeating and words of encouragement. But, they are not left alone. Job maintains in the second line that his hope is not in God but in his own ways. When Isaiah was in God's presence he thought he was "undone" and a man of "unclean lips." Isaiah no longer had a defense of his "ways" before God. Job hasn't reached that point. His hope, at this point, was that he would trust God to hear his case. Again, this isn't to say that Job had that thought in other passages of this book or that that thought is not taught in other portions of the Bible. But, here, we have a pain in great pain wanting to justify himself before his three friends and before God. Before his friends, Job might have been innocent. In human terms he may have passed that test. But, before God he has nothing to argue. We all need to come to that point. We often use this same argument for ourselves. We often say, "God will hear my case, I trust Him to listen, because I am innocent of these charges." But, later in the book we will Job come to his senses and he and his friends will realize that no man is just before God and innocent. Our arguments before Him are useless since we are all guilty before God. Job had failed to remember that even though he couldn't recollect sining before God he was still a sinner. For we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. Quit arguing your innocence with God. That's where real hope comes from.
No comments:
Post a Comment