Job 9:13-24 Click here for Bible Verses

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Job 9:13-24.  Let’s go!

On verses 13-24: Job feels helpless before God. In his great pain, Job sees God not as a loving Father but as an angry beast fiercer than monsters of the deep like Rahab (not Rahab the prostitute in the book of Joshua but Rahab, being the name for the Egyptian crocodile) (v13).  In Job’s eyes, God is a merciless powerhouse with whom you cannot reason or argue (v15-16).  He is like a UFC opponent who beats Job into submission and multiplies his wounds for no reason (v17), a God who is relentless in making life miserable for Job (v18). His strength cannot be matched (v19), His justice cannot be questioned (v19) and He is so sovereign and holy that even to try to speak to Him about your innocence would be a foolish and self-condemning act (v20).

Hating life (v21), Job questions what good it is to try to live blamelessly, especially when “He destroys both the blameless and the wicked” (v22). Job also questions how good God really is.  He describes God as one who laughs at the suffering of the innocent (v23) and who gets in the way of the administration of justice, One who “blindfolds judges”.

What can we learn from this? When you are going through tremendous pain and cannot understand why, when the world around you is full of unexplained suffering and injustice, you will sometimes be tempted to question God’s goodness. But the one thing we can hang onto, the one most conclusive proof that God is good, is Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to show us what God is truly like (John 14:9).  During his life on earth, Jesus showed that God is not just powerful, but incomparably good.  Jesus showed that God is compassionate and merciful like no other, that He does not laugh at us but weeps with us when we suffer.  At the cross, Jesus endured suffering and injustice in far greater measure than we will ever have to endure.  He did it all to save us, even if it meant sacrificing his own life.  If ever you question the goodness of God, you’ll find your answer when you look at Jesus, His life on earth, and His death on the cross.

Job did not have the benefit of knowing Jesus personally.  Job died many centuries before Jesus was born. Later on in this chapter, however, we will hear Job longing for the very kind of mediator Jesus would become.  Today, even in our suffering, we are so blessed that we get to know Jesus personally and have Him as our hope, our example, and our peace.  No matter what suffering we may go through, because of Jesus we can always say the Lord is good and His love endures forever.

Heavenly Father, no matter how much pain, injustice or suffering I witness or go through myself, thank You for proving once and for all that You are good when You sent Your Son Jesus Christ for us. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!