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Job Sitting in Judgment of God
Job Sitting in Judgment of God
In the first round of testing Job responded by neither sinning OR charge God with wrong. As he and his three friends try to figure out what is going on, they all start with the premise that God has brought this upon Job. Job KNOWS he has been a man who is "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil" (Job 1.1). This was confirmed by God's own statement of Job's character.
So, if God is punishing Job for doing evil, and Job didn't do it, the logical conclusion is that God is punishing Job 'wrongly'. The three friends caught this immediately and accused Job of denying the justice of God. Job accused them of showing 'favoritism to God'.
The problem with starting with a wrong premise is that if you reason logically from there you will always draw wrong conclusions. Job did just that. God appears at the end of this exchange and challenges Job. God could have explained what was going on but didn't. Instead, God challenges Job for thinking that he could sit in judgment upon God!
God's approach is quite simple and very profound. He proved convincingly that Job doesn't know enough to sit in judgment upon God. No one does. There are no peers to sit in judgment upon God. Who has been His counselor? Who has given Him advice? Who has been His teacher? So God challenges Job saying: "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it" (Job. 40:2).
Job's response was repentance for such arrogance against God. Note Job's confession. "Then Job answered the Lord and said:
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (42:1-6).
I don't know how I would compare with Job in knowledge. Even though we live in the age where we have learned so much about our world and how it works, there is so much that I don't know. There of course are all the things that others who have worked in specific fields of research know that I am ignorant of. Then there is all the stuff that we as humans don't even know we don't know! We don't know enough to sit in judgment upon God.
In dealing with people and judgments this is crucial. We don't even know all the facts involved in making judgments about each other. Especially we are ignorant of the hearts and motives of each other. We must make judgments and discernments about people and their actions, but let us strive to be just, fair, and honest in such judgments. On the other hand, God knows everything. God will judge fairly.
When we don't understand what is going on we need to guard our hearts and mouths and not sin or charge God with wrong. Many people need to learn this lesson.
Hugh DeLong
