The following extract is taken from Robert Sutherland’s new book “Putting God on Trial: The Biblical Book of Job” (Trafford, Victoria, 2004) It is reproduced with his permission and he retains the copyright. Mr.Sutherland is a Christian Canadian criminal defense lawyer instrumental in changing the Canadian law on aggravated assault and solicitor-client privilege. He is a Senior Fellow at the Mortimer J. Adler Centre for the Study of the Great Ideas. And he is a member of St.Stephen’s Anglican, Thunder Bay. The book has received high praise from Job scholars: David Clines, Norman Habel and Gerald Janzen. Several chapters and order information are online at http://www.bookofjob.org

3: THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD NO ONE WANTED TO HEAR

Act 2 in The Book of Job might be entitled The Truth about God No One Wanted to Hear for, within a canonical perspective, it presents a dark Gospel. The bad news is God is the author of evil in the world. So says God’s chief evangelist Job.

A Wasteland

The story continues here on earth. It is next day, Day 3 of the Days of Awe. Eden is now a Wasteland. Job’s life has been reduced to ashes and Job himself is sitting on an ash heap that is a garbage dump outside the city. The gates of Hell have opened and our thinker Job is meditating on the meaning of life. He has not yet abandoned all hope.

Job’s Three Friends

Into this world come Job’s three friends: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. They may have lived in the general area. It was close enough that they “heard of all these troubles that had come upon him” and each of them set out from his own home.” The terms Temanite, Shuhite and Naamathite suggest their ethnic background, not the lands from which they journeyed. It is extremely unlikely that they journeyed from different foreign lands, because it would be impossible to “meet together to go and console and comfort” Job. It is more likely they lived near Job. They heard of the all his troubles on Day 2 of the Days of Awe and arrived on Day 3 of the Days of Awe.

They come to offer the consolation and comfort of religious orthodoxy. (Job 2:11) Job is so disfigured by the tragedy that his friends barely recognize him. (Job 2:12) They attempt to share in his pain. “They raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was great.” (Job 2:12-13) Theirs was a death watch.

A Whirlwind of Righteous Indignation

But Job will not go quietly into the night. Job sits with his friends seven days and seven nights. It is now the morning of the Day of Atonement, Day 10 of the Days of Awe. [1] Job’s time of reflection is over. It is now the time for a final judgment.

And so, Job “opens his mouth” to “curse” the evil of it all. (Job 3:1-3) It is a moral challenge his three friends are quick to pick up. The word “curse” here is perhaps too strong. The Hebrew root actually means to “threat lightly” or with “contempt”. [2] In any event, Job’s friends regard it as a curse. Their comfort and consolation turns to confrontation. And the trial of Job by his three friends begins. Three cycles of six poetic speeches follow. An angry and opinionated youth joins the discussion at the very end. Job speaks 9 times; Eliphaz, 3; Bildad, 3; Zophar, 2 and Elihu, 1.

First Cycle of Speeches (Job 3:1-11:20)

(1) Job (Job 3:1-3:26)

(2) Eliphaz (Job 4:1-5:27)

(3) Job (Job 6:1-7:21)

(4) Bildad (Job 8:1-8:22)

(5) Job (Job 9:1-10:22)

(6) Zophar (Job 11:1-11:20)

Second Cycle of Speeches (Job 12:1-20:29)

(1) Job (Job 12:1-14:22)

(2) Eliphaz (Job 15:1-15:35)

(3) Job (Job 16:1-17:16)

(4) Bildad (Job 18:1-18:21)

(5) Job (Job 19:1-19:29)

(6) Zophar (Job 20:1-20:29)

Third Cycle of Speeches (Job 21:1-37:24)

(1) Job (Job 21:1-21:34)

(2) Eliphaz (Job 22:1-22:30)

(3) Job (Job 23:1-24:25)

(4) Bildad (Job 25:1-25:6)

(5) Job (Job 26:1-31:40)

(6) Elihu (Job 32:1-37:24)

All the speeches of Job and his friends are highly stylized poetry suggesting that book itself is parable or myth. Real persons do not speak in poetry, certainly not for 35 chapters. The participants rarely make extended arguments. In fact, they rarely respond directly to each other. Many of Job’s speeches seem directed more to God than to his three friends. The three friends speak about God. Job speaks directly to God.

These three cycles of speeches constitute a whirlwind of righteous indignation. Bildad describes Job’s speeches as “a great wind.” (Job 8:2). Eliphaz describes them as “windy knowledge”. (Job 15:2) And Job describes the speeches of all his friends as “windy words”. (Job 16:3) They go round and round the issue of evil in the world. And they wear each other out. The only peace to be had is at the centre of the whirlwind. That peace is the answer that only God can give. Not surprisingly, when God appears to give an answer, he appears in a whirlwind.

Job’s Complaint

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? (Job 3:11-12,16,20,23) With this fivefold plaintive cry, Job opens this section of The Book of Job.

Job pleads for answers from God. As a religious man, he “knows” God must have a “purpose” in sending that evil, but he cannot understand why God has “hidden” that purpose in his “heart” and not revealed it to his servants. (Job 10:13) As a rational being, Job needs those answers. “My days are past, my plans broken off, the desires of my heart.where then is my hope? Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?” (Job 17:11, 15-16) Without those answers, life is meaningless.

God has seemingly abandoned the righteous. The lives of good men and women are “hard service” here on earth. (Job 7:1) They are tested with evil morning, noon and night. (Job 7:17-18). The test is more than most can bear. In and through it all, God shows no partiality. “It is all one; therefore I say he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges- if it is not he, who then is it” (Job 9:22-24) God “despises the work of his hands”. (Job 10:3)

“Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?” (Job 12:9) God treats his most beloved son Job as an “enemy” (Job 13:24) and an adversary. (Job 19:11)

And God seemingly favours the wicked.

“Why do the wicked live on, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Their children are established in their presence, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them. Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and never miscarries. They send out their little ones like a flock, and their children dance around. They sing to the tambourine and the lyre, and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol. They say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We do not desire to know your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement? The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me. How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does calamity come upon them? How often does God distribute pains in his anger? How often are they like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away? You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it. Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty. For what do they care for their household after them, when the number of their months is cut off?” (Job 21:7-21)

The “wicked are spared in the day of calamity and are rescued in the day of wrath.” (Job 21:30)

God has created this Hell on earth. So Job describes God as the Lord of the Underworld through a number of Ugaritic images and words. [3] The “arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.” (Job 6:4)

“He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me. They have gaped at me with their mouths; they have struck me insolently on the cheek; they mass themselves together against me. God gives me up to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, and he broke me in two; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces; he set me up as his target; his archers surround me. He slashes open my kidneys, and shows no mercy; he pours out my gall on the ground. He bursts upon me again and again; he rushes at me like a warrior. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my strength in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and deep darkness is on my eyelids, though there is no violence in my hands, and my prayer is pure.” (Job 16:9-17)

God is portrayed as Resheph, the Canaanite Lord of the Underworld, the Lord of the arrow. Resheph is the god of pestilence, destruction, death and war. [4] He is the hungry one that is death itself. (Deuteronomy 32:23) The terrors he arrays are the minions of Hell itself. In and through such imagery, Job is goading God, much as Moses goaded God about how his destruction of the Israelites in Sinai would look to the Egyptians. (Exodus 32:12)

These three sets of declarations illustrate the so-called excessive words of Job. They are powerful expressions of God’s authorship of evil. The ancient rabbis were inclined to excuse Job’s inflammatory rhetoric. “A man is not held responsible for what he says when in distress.” [5] Job is a man in distress, still mourning the children he has lost at God’s hand. Modern conservative scholars are less inclined to be as charitable as the ancients. In any event, these so-called excessive words are fair comment on a world of undeserved and unremitted suffering and the creator of such a world.

Job agonizes that he is somehow being punished for a sin he has not committed. “Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone wrong.” (Job 6:24) “I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? Are your days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty.” (Job 10:6-7) Job has become the “laughingstock” of all the peoples for in and through it all, he continues to worship God. (Job 12:4)

Job’s Road to an Oath of Innocence

Bewildered and tortured, Job turns to God time and time again for answers but none are forthcoming. In and through five speeches, Job turns his complaint into a demand. Five speeches map out that road to an Oath of Innocence. The Oath of Innocence is a formal lawsuit against God for crimes against humanity. Two of those speeches relate to the integrity of Job’s ways. In one, Job reaches the height of Old Testament piety: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” In another, Job becomes a Kierkegaardian “knight of faith”. Three speeches speculate about persons who might help Job settle his issue with God. In one, it is a mediator, who might bring the parties together. In another, it is a witness in heaven, who might testify to Job’s righteousness. In another, it is a redeemer, a deliverer, who might free Job from the evil he endures. Together, these five speeches constitute an appeal to God, through God and against God

1. A mediator

The idea of a mediator surfaces in Job’s third speech in the first cycle. Job’s central problem is summoning God to answer.

“How can a mortal be just before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength –who has resisted him, and succeeded?– he who removes mountains, and they do not know it, when he overturns them in his anger; who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble; who commands the sun, and it does not rise; who seals up the stars; who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea; who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south; who does great things beyond understanding, and marvelous things without number. Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him; he moves on, but I do not perceive him. He snatches away; who can stop him? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ “God will not turn back his anger; the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him. How then can I answer him, choosing my words with him? Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser. If I summoned him and he answered me, I do not believe that he would listen to my voice. For he crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness. If it is a contest of strength, he is the strong one! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him? Though I am innocent, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. I am blameless; I do not know myself; I loathe my life. It is all one; therefore I say, he destroys both the blameless and the wicked. When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks at the calamity of the innocent. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges– if it is not he, who then is it? “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey. If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint; I will put off my sad countenance and be of good cheer,’ 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 soap and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me into filth, and my own clothes will abhor me. For he is not a mortal, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. There is no umpire between us, who might lay his hand on us both. If he would take his rod away from me, and not let dread of him terrify me, then I would speak without fear of him, for I know I am not what I am thought to be. “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as humans see? Are your days like the days of mortals, or your years like human years, that you seek out my iniquity and search for my sin, although you know that I am not guilty, and there is no one to deliver out of your hand?” (Job 9:14-10:7 Italics added for emphasis.)

The NRSV poorly translates “mediator” as “umpire”. (Job 9:33) The Hebrew “yakah” is more properly translated “mediator” or “arbitrator”. It is a legal word describing someone who can bring the parties together and negotiate a settlement. That person attempts to “convince”, “convict”, “rebuke” or “correct” one of the parties by “exposing their wrongdoing and calling them to repentance”. [6] It can describe a judge acting outside his normal role, but it need not. It is often used in covenantal lawsuits where God seeks to resolve a complaint against his people without resorting to a full and formal legal condemnation. The emphasis here is on moral persuasion.

At this point in time, Job is not contemplating a formal lawsuit against God. He prefers an out of court settlement, an arbitration or mediation. But he soon dismisses this avenue as a dead end. There is no mediator between God and man to persuade God to answer him.

Yet this passage is remarkable for the sudden explosion of legal terminology that will frame Job’s moral complaint against God. Job speaks of “sdq”, winning a suit and being proven right (Job 9:2), being in the right and innocent. (Job 9:15,20:10:15) He speaks of “rs”, being guilty (Job 9:22,29, 10:7,15), being declared or proven guilty. (Job 9:20; 10:2) He speaks of a “rib”, a trial or lawsuit. (Job 9:19,32) He speaks of “mispat”, litigation or justice. (Job 9:15) He speaks of a “mesopet”, a legal adversary. (Job 9:15) He speaks of a “siah”, a legal complaint or plea. (Job 9:27;10:1) He speaks of “dbr”, stating one’s case, charges or claims. (Job 9:14,35;10:1) He speaks of “ny”, answering a complaint or charge (Job 9:3,14,15,32), or answering a summons. (Job 9:6) He speaks of “mokiah”, a legal arbitrator. (Job 9:33) He speaks of “qr”, summoning a person. (Job 9:16) He speaks of “y’d”, arraigning a person. (Job 9:19) He speaks of the “tam”, the blameless or guiltless. (Job 9:20,21,22) [7] This passage prepares the reader for the equally explosive Oath of Innocence to come. The Oath of Innocence is a formal indictment of God for crimes against humanity.

2. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

The idea of a formalized trial starts to take shape in Job’s first speech in the second cycle.

“But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God. As for you, you whitewash with lies; all of you are worthless physicians. If you would only keep silent, that would be your wisdom! Hear now my reasoning, and listen to the pleadings of my lips. Will you speak falsely for God, and speak deceitfully for him? Will you show partiality toward him, will you plead the case for God? Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one person deceives another? He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality. Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you? Your maxims are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are defenses of clay. “Let me have silence, and I will speak, and let come on me what may. I will take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in my hand. See, he will kill me; I have no hope; but I will defend my ways to his face. This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him. Listen carefully to my words, and let my declaration be in your ears. I have indeed prepared my case; I know that I shall be vindicated. Who is there that will contend with me? For then I would be silent and die. Only grant two things to me, then I will not hide myself from your face: withdraw your hand far from me, and do not let dread of you terrify me. Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and you reply to me. How many are my iniquities and my sins? Make me know my transgression and my sin. Why do you hide your face, and count me as your enemy?” (Job 13:3-24 Italics added for emphasis)

As a righteous man, Job knows God as a judge may be receptive to his pleadings, his reasoning and his case. Job is a righteous man. And a righteous man he will pursue righteousness, even if it means confronting God himself.

Yet the very idea of putting God on trial is fraught with peril. God might destroy Job for the sin of presumption. Still Job is determined to push ahead. Again, the NRSV poorly translates the key phrase: “he will kill me; I have no hope”. (Job 13:15 NRSV) The older KJV captures the sense more accurately: “though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” (Job 13:15 KJV) Job understands that God may kill him for the sin of presumption, but he trusts that God will do otherwise. Job will continue to do the right thing, even if it means death in this life or the next. This is the height of Old Testament righteousness.

The KJV translation is to be preferred for three reasons.

First, the immediate context calls for a positive affirmation of faith. “I will defend my ways to his face. This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him.I know I shall be vindicated.” (Job 13:15b-16,18) Job anticipates a positive response to his formalized plea and that can only result in hope, not the absence of hope. Thus the NRSV translation “I have no hope” makes no sense contextually.

Second, the language of the Hebrew text is somewhat confused and can easily be translated the way KJV does it. The confusion goes back to the language of the 10th century Hebrew Masoretic text. The choice is between two Hebrew words: “lo'” and “lo”. The difference between the two words is a single (‘). In Hebrew, “lo'”, that is “lo” with the (‘), means “no”. This is the textual reading that the 10th century Masoretic scribes used. This is what NRSV uses when it translates the line “he will kill me, I have no hope”. However in Hebrew, “lo”, that is “lo” without the (‘), means “in him”. The very same Masoretic scribes indicated in a margin note that they had real difficulty discerning the original text. It could either be “lo'” or “lo”. They wanted to make it clear that “lo” represented an alternate reading and alternate tradition and could be the correct reading, even though they were choosing not to follow it. In fact, many other Hebrew manuscripts, some ancient, and the Hebrew oral tradition follow that alternate tradition. [8] This is what KJV uses when it translates the line: “though he slay me, yet will I trust” (Job 13:15 KJV) It seems the original text cannot be known with certainty. The only way to decide the textual question is contextually. And there the KJV translation is distinctively better. A brilliant compromise was once offered to this textual problem by the Protestant theologian John Calvin and it is worth repeating. He would read the phrase as a rhetorical question “shall I not hope? [9] expressing Job’s great trust that God will ultimately answer his plea.

Third, there exist two impressive Old Testament precedents for challenging God. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham challenges God seeking answers. “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25) And Abraham is successful in his challenge. After some discussion, God agrees to spare the lives of a righteous remnant. In story of the Israel’s sin over the golden calf, Moses challenges God seeking answers.

“Why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this is the land that I have promised to give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'” And the Lord changed his mind.” (Exodus 32:11-14)

He even cajoles God in the process. And Moses is successful in his challenge. God changes his mind and spares his people. Like Abraham and Moses, Job realizes God may slay him for the sin of presumption, but Job hopes and trusts that God will do otherwise. The man of God must speak the truth at all costs, even if it means challenging God. This is the highest expression of Old Testament piety, the piety of protest.

3. A witness or judge

The idea of a witness or a judge surfaces in Job’s second speech in the second cycle. His lawsuit is taking shape. There may be no moral mediator between God and man but God has witnessed all the events that have happened. God could be a witness or a judge. As a witness, God could testify to Job’s blamelessness. As a judge, God could uphold the right of a mortal to know the reason why there is evil in the world.

.

“O earth, do not cover my blood; let my outcry find no resting place. Even now, in fact, my witness is in heaven, and he that vouches for me is on high. My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, that he would maintain the right of a mortal with God, as one does for a neighbor. For when a few years have come, I shall go the way from which I shall not return.” (Job 16:18-22 Italics added for emphasis)

This witness or judge could maintain Job’s right to know the reason for evil. His right is a solid one. In natural law ethics, a right is a justified moral claim. The justification lies in the connection between duties, needs and rights. Every person has a basic moral duty to God and to oneself to lead a good human life. By nature, they need certain things to fulfill that duty. Job needs the answer to why there is evil in the world in order to fulfill his duty to God. Job has a right to that knowledge, because there is no such thing as a wrong natural need. That is what turns his moral claim into a moral right. [10]

4. A redeemer or advocate

The idea of a redeemer or advocate is added with Job’s third speech in the second cycle. Again, that redeemer or advocate is God himself.

“Then Job answered: “How long will you torment me, and break me in pieces with words? These ten times you have cast reproach upon me; are you not ashamed to wrong me? And even if it is true that I have erred, my error remains with me. If indeed you magnify yourselves against me, and make my humiliation an argument against me, know then that God has put me in the wrong, and closed his net around me. Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!’ I am not answered; I call aloud, but there is no justice. He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. He has stripped my glory from me, and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, he has uprooted my hope like a tree. He has kindled his wrath against me, and counts me as his adversary. His troops come on together; they have thrown up siegeworks against me, and encamp around my tent. “He has put my family far from me, and my acquaintances are wholly estranged from me. My relatives and my close friends have failed me; the guests in my house have forgotten me; my serving girls count me as a stranger; I have become an alien in their eyes. I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer; I must myself plead with him. My breath is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family. Even young children despise me; when I rise, they talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! Why do you, like God, pursue me, never satisfied with my flesh? “O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! If you say, ‘How we will persecute him!’ and, ‘The root of the matter is found in him’; be afraid of the sword, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, so that you may know there is a judgment.” (Job 19:1-29 Italics added for emphasis)

A redeemer might assist Job as a prosecuting attorney. The Hebrew word “goel” here means “advocate”, “vindicator”, “redeemer” or “deliverer.” [11] It is an individual who is under a moral and legal obligation to protect the rights of another and to restore that individual to their former status. It was usually a relative, a “kinsman-redeemer”. Historically, this redeemer would buy a person out of debt (Leviticus 19:25,29) or slavery (Leviticus 19:47-48). He would avenge wrongful killings. (Number 35:12, 2 Samuel 14:11) But he need not be a blood relative. Over time, God was understood to be the ultimate redeemer. It was God who redeemed his people from their bondage in Egypt. (Exodus 6:6; 15:13, Psalms 74:2) It was God who considered a person’s affliction and delivered him from it. (Psalms 119:154) Unlike a mediator, a redeemer is under a moral and legal obligation to see justice done.

Job has been denied justice. “Know then that God has put me in the wrong.” (Job 19:6) The Hebrew word “iwwet” here means “to bend” or “make crooked”. In this legal context, it means “the denial of what is rightfully due.” [12] Justice is rendering unto a person that which is their due or right. Job is rightfully due the reason for evil in the world.

Job “knows” he will get his answer no later than the Day of the Final Judgment. “I know my Redeemer lives, and that at the last, he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.” (Job 19: 25-26) The Day of Judgment is contemporaneous with the universal resurrection of the dead. It is the “last” day of human history. The dead shall be raised and stand before Almighty God in judgment. “After my skin has been.destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:26) The Hebrew “min mibbesari” here can mean either “from without” of my flesh, implying a disembodied state for Job, or as “from within” my flesh, implying an embodying state for Job, but the context requires an embodied state. Job will physically see God at his side and no other. The NRSV recognizes this with its translation “in my flesh”. At that time, Job’s redeemer will “stand” by his side. (Job 19:27) The Hebrew “gum” here is a legal term meaning to “stand up in court” as an “advocate”. [13] Job’s redeemer God will fulfill his own moral and legal obligations to Job and press Job’s moral and legal claims against God in the High Court of Heaven. It is at that time that Job will be vindicated. He will “see God”. (Job 19:26) He will be raised up from the ash heap to the right hand of God.

Job is building here on his earlier comments: “If mortals die, will they live again? All the days of my service I would wait until release should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. For then you would not number my steps, you would not keep watch over my sin; my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.” (Job 14:14-17) He had vacillated on the possibility of an afterlife and a post-mortem vindication. But things have now changed and he lays a firm foundation in this passage. What was once the matter of a dream is now presented as a matter of fact: “I know my Redeemer lives.” (Job 19:25)

Knowledge has replaced opinion. In Job’s eyes, the physical resurrection of the dead and the Final Judgment are morally required as a matter of justice. The latter entails the former. The resurrection of the dead and the Final Judgment are the guarantee that all the moral questions of life will be settled.

With that conviction in mind, Job warns his friends and the reader about the dangers of prematurely acquitting God: “be afraid of the word, so that you may know there is a judgment.” (Job 19:29) That judgment is the Final Judgment [14] that will clarify the issue for all to see. That judgment will be a judgment in Job’s favour. It is a powerful testimony that Job is contemplating more than his own personal resurrection. He envisions the resurrection of all the dead, including his friends.

At this point, a trial date has been set: the Day of the Final Judgment. And the main participants other than Job have been revealed. Those parties form a legal trinity: three persons, one lawsuit. The three persons are God the judge, God the advocate and God the defendant. These three persons are one in the mystery of evil and vindication. Job’s complaint has become an appeal to God, through God and against God.

5. I should be acquitted forever by my judge.

The actual institution of a formal lawsuit is the subject of Job’s second speech in the third cycle. While Job contemplates his ultimate vindication on the Day of Judgment, he wants his answer here and now.

“Then Job answered: “Today also my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge. “If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come out like gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured in my bosom the words of his mouth. But he stands alone and who can dissuade him? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me; and many such things are in his mind. Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me; If only I could vanish in darkness, and thick darkness would cover my face!” (Job 23:1-17 Italics added for emphasis)

And he believes he can get it with a formal lawsuit. “Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge.” (Job 23:6-7) His confidence is high and rightfully so. Job has previously been declared “upright”, once by the author (Job 1:1) and twice by God (Job 1:8; 2:3) though he himself does not know that.

In spite of his fear and trembling, Job will push on his Oath of Innocence. “What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me; and many such things are in his mind. Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him. God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.” (Job 23:13-16) In this moment, Job has become a Kierkegaardian knight of faith. He will formally indict God for crimes against humanity. He will defy conventional thinking to do what he knows in his heart God requires, though none of his friends will understand him. He walks in “fear and trembling” at the enormity of the task before him. As a righteous man, Job knows God would want him to raise the Oath of Innocence. And he knows it with all the integrity of his being.

_____

[1] The Jewish day begins with evening and ends the following afternoon.

[2] Alden, R.L., The New American Commentary: Job (Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1993) p. 72.

[3] The reader would profitably benefit from an in-depth reading of W.L. Michel’s The Ugaritic Texts and the Mythological Expressions in the Book of Job (UMI Dissertation Service, Ann Arbor, 1970) for all the Canaanite images and words in the Book of Job.

[4] ibid, p. 108-109.

[5] Baba Bathra 16b. B. in The Babylonian Talmud: Volume 19 Edit. I.Epstein (Soncino, New York, 1949)

p. 32.

[6] Harris, R.L., Archer, G.L. and Waltke, B.K, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: Volume 1 (The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, 1980) p. 376-377.

Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament: Volume 2, Edit. E. Jenni and C. Westermann; Trans. M.E. Biddle (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, 1997) pp. 542-544.;

New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis: Volume 2, Edit. W.A. Van Gemeren (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1997) pp. 441-445.;

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Volume 6, Edit. G.J.Botterweck, H.Ringgren; Trans. J.T.Willis (Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1974) pp. 64-71.

[7] Habel, N.C., The Old Testament Library: The Book of Job (Westminister Press, Philadelphia, 1985)

p.188-189.

[8] Gaebelein, F.E., Job in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Volume 4 (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1988) p.925.

[9] Cited in Alden, R.L., The New American Commentary: Job (Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1993) p.160.

[10]Adler, M.J., The Time of Our Lives: The Ethics of Common Sense (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1970) pp. 137-154.

[11] Harris, R.L., Archer, G.L. and Waltke, B.K, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: Volume 1 (The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, 1980) p. 144-145.

Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament: Volume 1, Edit. E. Jenni and C. Westermann; Trans. M.E. Biddle (Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, 1997) pp. 288-296.

New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis: Volume 1, Edit. W.A. Van Gemeren (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1997) pp. 789-794.

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament: Volume 2, Edit. G.J.Botterweck, H.Ringgren; Trans. J.T.Willis (Wm.B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1974) pp. 350-355.

[12] Hartley, J.E., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Job (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1988) p.284.

Harris, R.L., Archer, G.L. and Waltke, B.K, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament: Volume 2 (The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, 1980) p. 657.

New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis: Volume 3, Edit. W.A. Van Gemeren (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, 1997) pp. 361-362.

[13] Hartley, J.E., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Job (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1988) p. 294.

[14] I think my reading of a final judgment from Job’s words to his friends (Job 19:28-29) is a fair reading of the passage, especially in light of the preceding reference to resurrection (Job 19:25-27). I acknowledge that my reading of a resurrection there may not be the majority reading (if there is one there), but it is not an unnatural one.

If I am right that the final redaction of The Book of Job post-dates 1 Isaiah, then I would note the concept of a universal final judgment found in I Isaiah.

(a) Isaiah 2:11-17 may begin with an oracle against Israel, but it is quickly universalized to include “everyone” and everything, “all that is proud and lofty”, so that “the pride of everyone shall be brought low”.

(b) Isaiah 13:6-13 may begin with an oracle against Babylon, but it is quickly universalized to include the “punishment” of the whole “world” for its evil and iniquity. That evil and iniquity is expressed in terms of pride. “I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant and lay low the insolence of tyrants. I will make mortals more rare than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:11-13)

(c) The Isaian apocalypse, so important to my reading of Job, is merely an extension of that final punishment to all the kings of the earth, the cosmic powers (Isaiah 24:21-22) and chaos monsters (Isaiah 27:1). That punishment will include confinement to a pit. (Isaiah 24:22)

The Book of Job’s description of Leviathan as “the king over all that are proud” (Job 41:34) picks up all that Isaian imagery of a final judgment on all that is proud and lofty.

The reigning view of scholars is that the concept of a final judgment surfaces very late in the Old Testament, perhaps as late as 164 B.C. This represents one opinion on the historical development of biblical eschatology, albeit the majority view. I adopt the minority view that the concept is not nearly as late. I would note that there is a certain circularity to the reigning viewpoint. It is only a “very” late development if evidence of an earlier existing belief in a final judgment is either removed or reinterpreted. Many such deletions and reinterpretations seem forced in their attempts to conclusively exclude such earlier possibilities of a perception of a final judgment.