Where Is God? – Job 23&24

There is a fascinating remark at the end of Genesis 4: “At that time people began to call upon the name of Yahweh.” Early in the chapter we see God meeting with Cain and challenging him about the sin in his life. But something has shifted since then and now people do not have this immediate experience of God’s presence but rather must call upon the name of Yahweh. Have you never been frustrated that you cannot see God or hear His audible voice? Job has!

Then Job answered and said:

“Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know 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; he would pay attention to me. There an upright man could argue with him, and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as 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 the words of his mouth more than my portion of food. But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? 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; yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.

“Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty, and why do those who know him never see his days? Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. Behold, like wild donkeys in the desert the poor go out to their toil, seeking game; the wasteland yields food for their children. They gather their fodder in the field, and they glean the vineyard of the wicked man. They lie all night naked, without clothing, and have no covering in the cold. They are wet with the rain of the mountains and cling to the rock for lack of shelter. (There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.) They go about naked, without clothing; hungry, they carry the sheaves; among the olive rows of the wicked they make oil; they tread the winepresses, but suffer thirst. From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong.

“There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he veils his face. In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. For deep darkness is morning to all of them; for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.

“You say, ‘Swift are they on the face of the waters; their portion is cursed in the land; no treader turns toward their vineyards. Drought and heat snatch away the snow waters; so does Sheol those who have sinned. The womb forgets them; the worm finds them sweet; they are no longer remembered, so wickedness is broken like a tree.’

“They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow. Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. He gives them security, and they are supported, and his eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted a little while, and then are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like the heads of grain. If it is not so, who will prove me a liar and show that there is nothing in what I say?” (Job 23&24, ESV)

Job feels his friends have made him feel leaden and despairing, and so he longs to see God and lay his case before Him.  He believes that God would vindicate him.  But he cannot find God.  Yet he believes that God knows his way and after this trial of his innocence he will come out judged to be pure.  He protests his innocence, his loyalty to God’s commandments. On the other hand he knows he cannot dictate God’s actions and anticipates that the unchanging God will finish His purpose in Job’s life, as terrifying as that is.

Job struggles with the belief that God often does not bring judgment on the wicked and the righteous never end up seeing God’s glory. The poor work to make the wicked rich yet the wicked ignore their plight and suffering and God seems to ignore it and the judgment the wicked deserve, also.

The wicked seek out the darkness to accomplish their evil deeds.  God claims to be ready to punish them, yet instead seems to empower them in their doing of evil.  Job challenges anyone to dispute what he says.

Discussion Questions

1. What injustices are you aware of that have gone unrequited, that have not been corrected?
2. Has seeing injustice not judged caused you to question God’s justice? Why or why not?
3. How would you categorize the sins and injustices Job has witnessed?
4. Do you see any change of heart in Job and his desire to see God and make his case for his innocence?
5. Have you asked God for things you felt He should have done for you and He did not?
6. How would you counsel Job?