Text: Job 9:1-35
Then Job answered and said:
2 “Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
3 If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength
—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
6 who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
7 who comma...
Text: Job 9:1-35
Then Job answered and said:
2 “Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
3 If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength
—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—
5 he who removes mountains, and they know it not,
when he overturns them in his anger,
6 who shakes the earth out of its place,
and its pillars tremble;
7 who commands the sun, and it does not rise;
who seals up the stars;
8 who alone stretched out the heavens
and trampled the waves of the sea;
9 who made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;
10 who does great things beyond searching out,
and marvelous things beyond number.
11 Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
-Job 9:1-11 ESV
THERE IS NO ARBITER BETWEEN US
Job did notlose his belief in God. He recognized the sovereignty of God. Thus, he said,
“Truly I know that it is so:
But how can a man be in the right before God?
If one wished to contend with him,
one could not answer him once in a thousand times.
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength
—who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?” [v.2-4]
Job and his friends assumed that God punishes evil. Knowing this, Job asked, “But how can a
man be in the right before God? The same question Eliphaz asked in Job 4:17,
Can a man be pure before His maker?
This a dilemma, that only God could answer. He who is the creator of the universe -
mountains, seas, stars, and constellations, etc.. Why is He is distant, aloof,
and unfathomable, Job exclaimed,
‘Behold, he passes by me, and I see him not;
he moves on, but I do not perceive him.
Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back?
Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’[v10-12]
He was blameless but not perfect. Thus he said, “ Though I am in the right, my own
mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse.”[v.20]
He settled his sins before God yet God appeared indifferent. He said, ‘He
crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.’[v.16]
How could Job present his case against such an unfathomable God? His only hope is to throw
himself at the mercy of the judge. Thus he said,
“How then can I answer him,
choosing my words with him?
Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him;
I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.”[v.14,15]
His efforts to live a blameless life seemed useless, as he said;
“ I become afraid of all my suffering,
for I know you will not hold me innocent.
I shall be condemned;
why then do I labor in vain?
If I wash myself with snow
and cleanse my hands with lye,
yet you will plunge me into a pit,
and my own clothes will abhor me.[v.28-31]
He has resigned to say,
“For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
that we should come to trial together.
There is no arbiter between us,
who might lay his hand on us both.”[v.32-33]
An ‘arbiter’ has allusion to his cry for the Messiah. Even today, no matter how we try to
live godly. Our goodness is far unsatisfactory before God. How can we plead our
case before the Father without Jesus, our mediator. [1 Tim 2:5]
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