March 20, 2024

Can I simultaneously trust God and complain?

Job 13

Manuela Acosta
Wednesday's Devo

March 20, 2024

Wednesday's Devo

March 20, 2024

Wednesday's Devo

March 20, 2024

Wednesday's Devo

March 20, 2024

Big Book Idea

God is at work even when we can't see it.

Key Verse | Job 13:15-16

Though he slay me, I will hope in him;
yet I will argue my ways to his face.
This will be my salvation,
that the godless shall not come before him.

Job 13

Job Continues: Still I Will Hope in God

1  Behold, my eye has seen all this,
    my ear has heard and understood it.
2  What you know, I also know;
    I am not inferior to you.
3  But I would speak to the Almighty,
    and I desire to argue my case with God.
4  As for you, you whitewash with lies;
    worthless physicians are you all.
5  Oh that you would keep silent,
    and it would be your wisdom!
6  Hear now my argument
    and listen to the pleadings of my lips.
7  Will you speak falsely for God
    and speak deceitfully for him?
8  Will you show partiality toward him?
    Will you plead the case for God?
9  Will it be well with you when he searches you out?
    Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man?
10  He will surely rebuke you
    if in secret you show partiality.
11  Will not his majesty terrify you,
    and the dread of him fall upon you?
12  Your maxims are proverbs of ashes;
    your defenses are defenses of clay.

13  Let me have silence, and I will speak,
    and let come on me what may.
14  Why should I take my flesh in my teeth
    and put my life in my hand?
15  Though he slay me, I will hope in him; 1 13:15 Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope
    yet I will argue my ways to his face.
16  This will be my salvation,
    that the godless shall not come before him.
17  Keep listening to my words,
    and let my declaration be in your ears.
18  Behold, I have prepared my case;
    I know that I shall be in the right.
19  Who is there who will contend with me?
    For then I would be silent and die.
20  Only grant me two things,
    then I will not hide myself from your face:
21  withdraw your hand far from me,
    and let not dread of you terrify me.
22  Then call, and I will answer;
    or let me speak, and you reply to me.
23  How many are my iniquities and my sins?
    Make me know my transgression and my sin.
24  Why do you hide your face
    and count me as your enemy?
25  Will you frighten a driven leaf
    and pursue dry chaff?
26  For you write bitter things against me
    and make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
27  You put my feet in the stocks
    and watch all my paths;
    you set a limit for 2 13:27 Or you marked the soles of my feet.
28  Man 3 13:28 Hebrew He wastes away like a rotten thing,
    like a garment that is moth-eaten.

Footnotes

[1] 13:15 Or Behold, he will slay me; I have no hope
[2] 13:27 Or you marked
[3] 13:28 Hebrew He
Table of Contents
Introduction to Job

Introduction to Job

Timeline

Author and Date

The unknown Israelite author of this book presents Job as a person living in Uz (see note on 1:1). Job’s godliness (1:1) matches the ideals of Israelite wisdom literature. He clearly knows Yahweh (1:21). The events of the book seem to be set in the times of the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

Theological Themes

The book of Job concerns itself with the question of faith in a sovereign God. Can God be trusted? Is he good and just in his rule of the world? The book shows that the reasons for human suffering often remain a secret to human beings.

In the book of Job, God seems both too close and too far away. On the one hand, Job complains that God is watching him every moment so that he cannot even swallow his spit (7:19). On the other hand, Job finds God elusive (9:11). Though God is greatly concerned about humans, he does not always answer their most agonizing questions.

At the same time, Job’s friends offer no real help. They come to “comfort” him (2:11), but Job ends up declaring them “miserable comforters” who would console him “with empty nothings” (21:34). These friends represent an oversimplified view of faith. They think that all human troubles are divine punishments for wrongdoing. Their “comfort” consists largely of urging Job to identify his sin and repent of it. These friends are negative examples of how to comfort those who are suffering.

The book illustrates that one does not need to fully understand God’s will in order to be faithful while suffering. Those who suffer need not be afraid to express to God their confusion and questions.

Purpose

The book of Job was written to those who struggle with the question of how God can be good when the world is filled with suffering.

The author does not provide a formal defense of God’s justice. Rather, as Job’s friends offer their inadequate answers, the author shows how their reasoning fails. Then, in chs. 38–41, the Lord speaks in his own defense, bringing Job to fuller understanding (ch. 42).

Even during his suffering and confusion, before God finally speaks, Job can triumphantly declare, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25).

Outline

  1. Prologue: Job’s Character and the Circumstances of His Test (1:1–2:13)
  2. Dialogue: Job, His Suffering, and His Standing before God (3:1–42:6)
    1. Job: despair for the day of his birth (3:1–26)
    2. The friends and Job: can Job be right before God? (4:1–25:6)
      1. First cycle (4:1–14:22)
      2. Second cycle (15:1–21:34)
      3. Third cycle (22:1–25:6)
    3. Job: the power of God, place of wisdom, and path of integrity (26:1–31:40)
    4. Elihu: suffering as a discipline (32:1–37:24)
    5. Challenge: the Lord answers Job (38:1–42:6)
  3. Epilogue: The Vindication, Intercession, and Restoration of Job (42:7–17)
The Global Message of Job

The Global Message of Job

Universal Questions

With its story of one man’s life and suffering, the book of Job raises universal questions. Why do people suffer, especially godly people? Where is God in suffering? Can God be trusted amid suffering? Job’s friends try to answer such questions with superficial and simplistic solutions, eventually earning God’s rebuke (Job 42:7–9).

Ultimately we learn from Job that we can hope steadfastly in our sovereign God. Instead of providing easy answers to hard questions, this incomparably glorious, all-knowing, and almighty God presents to people in all places and in all times the simplest, most powerful, and most universal answer to these questions. God’s answer to human suffering has everything to do with his own infinite goodness and care for his creation.

Suffering in a Fallen World

In the life of Job we see the breadth and depth of human suffering. We see suffering in health (Job 2:7), suffering in the loss of property (1:14–17), and suffering in the tragic death of family members (1:18–19). In Job we also listen in on a discussion in the heavenly courtroom between God and Satan (1:6–12; 2:1–7), in which God delights in the upright life of Job. There we are given a window into the normally invisible reasons for our trials and suffering.

Sin and suffering. Suffering is universal, though the kind of suffering differs from circumstance to circumstance. Sometimes we suffer because of our own sin. There is no such thing as sin without consequences. Sometimes God himself directly chastises his people for their sins. However, Job’s friends are wrong to assume that his suffering is a direct result of disobedience (Job 8:4), and it would likewise be wrong to conclude that all or even most suffering in the world today is divine punishment for specific sins. The speeches of Eliphaz (chs. 4; 5; 15; 22), Bildad (chs. 8; 18; 25), and Zophar (chs. 11; 20) reflect such wrong assumptions.

Common suffering. Another type of suffering is what we might call “common suffering.” This is suffering that affects all people without distinction. It is simply the result of living in a fallen world. It includes health problems from colds to cancer. It includes bad weather, earthquakes, and typhoons. It includes financial struggles, and even death itself. Each tragic incident in Job’s life includes an element of this common suffering.

Godliness and suffering. Not only are godly people afflicted with suffering just as others are, but the godly experience some kinds of suffering due specifically to their godliness (Matt. 10:24–33; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim. 3:12). Faithfulness to Christ will bring insult and at times persecution—suffering that could be avoided if we were not disciples of Christ. We see this principle in Job, for it was precisely Job’s uprightness that prompted God to single him out to Satan and then led Satan to seek to afflict him (Job 1:8–12).

Devastating suffering. Job’s suffering is uniquely profound and painful. Some suffering, we learn, defies any category. We discover in Job that Satan has a hand in some of the suffering of God’s people (Job 1:6–12; 2:1–7; compare 2 Cor. 12:1–10). But even such demonically instigated suffering is not outside of God’s sovereignty. Nor should our focus be on Satan when we suffer but rather on persisting in steadfast faith amid such God-ordained pain. At the very least a lesson to be learned from Job is that our vision and insight into suffering is severely limited. What is not limited, however, is God’s perfect understanding and sovereign control over every event in our lives. In the “Yahweh speeches” of Job (chs. 38–41), God does not engage Job in the details of his questions and complaints. Rather, God reminds Job that God is God and Job is not. God laid the foundation of the earth (38:4); he is God over the seas (38:8, 16), over the stars (38:31–33), and over every creature (39:1–30; 40:15–41:34).

A Global Message of Comfort and Hope

The almighty, all-good God. Despite its focus on challenges and sufferings, the book of Job speaks a message of great hope to the world. We live in a world longing for comfort and hope, and such hope is found in the sovereign God who sees, who is good, and who is faithful. We are not victims of random fate or uncontrolled circumstances. We are loved faithfully and passionately by a sovereign God who works all things for our good (Rom. 8:28). The suffering global church can take comfort amid suffering, knowing that God is pleased with our faithfulness to him, even as God expressed delight in “my servant Job” (Job 1:6–8; 2:3). James 5:11 reminds us that God will fulfill his good purposes and is indeed compassionate and merciful toward his people.

No neat formulas. Living an upright life of faith in God does not exempt us from suffering. This was the fundamental misunderstanding of Job’s friends (Job 8:6) and the reason that their “comfort” was so “miserable” (16:2). Indeed, in Job and in all of Scripture we see that suffering is a part of the experience of godly people, and that suffering is also a means for our sanctification. Suffering is a blessing as through it we learn that God’s ways and purposes are much greater than we can know (chs. 40–41). His purposes and faithfulness are much greater than the achievement of ease and a comfortable life; the global church must not make an idol out of worldly comfort and earthly abundance.

The sufferings of the Savior. Job confessed faith in the living Redeemer (Job 19:25). That Redeemer would one day come and suffer for us on a cross. Here we have yet another kind of suffering, the atoning sufferings of Christ. He suffered for our salvation, bearing the penalty for our sin. It is also our great privilege to share in his suffering (2 Cor. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:8; 2:3; 1 Pet. 4:13). These are not the sufferings of health problems or bad weather or the consequences of our own folly. These are sufferings that flow from our union with and loyalty to Christ. There is a global attack on the righteous, but God will continue to provide sufficient grace to his people (2 Cor. 12:9).He will grow both his people and his kingdom through such suffering as it is endured in faith.

Our Intercession and Mission of Hope

Though God’s righteous anger burned against the three friends of Job, their folly was forgiven in response to the righteous intervention of Job’s prayers (Job 42:7–9). What then is the Christian response to those who suffer—and to those who cause suffering?

We are to intercede for the world, both in prayer and in life. We are to “comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor. 1:4). This comfort must find expression in our ministry and service to those in need both where we live as well as around the world—to orphans, widows, and all those who suffer.

This comfort is most gloriously and eternally known as the church ministers the gospel of new hope in Christ to the world—to the lost, to the downtrodden, and even to our enemies (Matt. 5:44). For the greatest suffering in this world is not the loss of property or even family; it is to be lost in sin, without the living Redeemer.

Proverbs Fact #1: Wisdom

Fact: Wisdom

Wisdom is a key term in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. The word can mean “skilled at making sound decisions in life.” Proverbs 9:10 states that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”

Job Fact #1: Comfort

Fact: Comfort

Comfort is a key word in the book of Job. When faced with personal tragedies, Job receives no comfort from his friends (16:2). But when God answers him (see chs. 38–41), he finds the comfort he needs.

Job Fact #7: Three cycles of conversations

Fact: Three cycles of conversations

The book of Job includes three cycles of conversations in which the friends of Job offer their comfort and advice, and then listen as Job responds. The first cycle covers chs. 4–14.

Job Fact #15: Elihu

Fact: Elihu

Elihu is the only character in the book of Job with a Hebrew name.

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar

After the Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job, three of his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, came to comfort him. However, all three wrongly assumed that Job’s suffering was the result of some hidden sin. Each man urged Job to repent so that God would have mercy on him. But Job insisted that he was innocent. Although it is true that some suffering is a result of sin, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar oversimplified this truth. They believed that all troubles are punishments for wrongdoing, which was not the case for Job. The wrong actions of Job’s three friends should remind believers today to be wise and sensitive when dealing with people in distress. The Lord rebuked Job’s three friends and instructed Job to pray for them. (Job 42:7–9)

Study Notes

Job 13:4 you whitewash with lies. Job’s friends have tried to patch over his situation with statements they ought to know are not true about either Job or God.

Study Notes

Job 13:6–10 Using legal terminology, Job says his friends are showing favoritism to his divine opponent in making his case for him (v. 8).

Study Notes

Job 13:11 Will not his majesty terrify you? Job questions whether his friends have considered seriously the glory and power of God, as they speak so casually on his behalf.

Study Notes

Job 13:16 The salvation Job hopes for is that he will be able to make his case before God, and that God will be his redeemer (see 19:25).

Study Notes

Job 13:3–19 Before he turns to address his lament directly to God (13:20–14:22), Job argues that his friends have misdiagnosed him (worthless physicians; 13:4) and misrepresented God (vv. 7–10).

Study Notes

Job 13:20 Only grant me two things. Job abruptly shifts from warning his friends to pleading his case with God.

Study Notes

Job 13:27 you set a limit for the soles of my feet. The symbolic language refers either to confinement (“set a limit for”) or to the tracking of movement (“marked”; see ESV footnote). Both ideas express God’s vigilant pursuit of Job: the Lord restrains Job’s feet, and watches (marks) everywhere he goes.

S3:058 Job 13

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Dive Deeper | Job 13

Up until this point, Job's life has been tested in many ways. His afflictions, from a human perspective, could be considered enough for him to walk away from God. Not only has he lost everything, but his friends have also failed to counsel him wisely. They assumed his suffering had been caused by unconfessed sin or the consequences of his actions, and they called him to repent. Nonetheless, because Job was confident of his innocence and knew the goodness of God, he continued to stand firm in his faith and did not turn against God.

It is encouraging and challenging to see Job trusting the Lord even in the midst of his suffering. He never takes his eyes off God. He wrestles with not knowing the reasons why God is allowing such affliction, verbalizing to God his pain and confusion; but Job is confident in God's goodness, love, and trustworthiness. Job's response to his situation reminds me that we have a God who is bigger than any circumstance that comes to overturn our lives. He is the God who calls us to comfort one another; He gives us the One comforter that never fails us and always reminds us of the Truth—Jesus.

In my walk with Jesus, I've had moments in which God has allowed me to experience suffering and loss in my life. Just like any other human being, I have complained, desiring to know the reasons for my trials. But God, as we see Him throughout the book of Job, is all present and aware of our tribulations. He allows it, so our trust in Him is perfected. God knows that, in our imperfections, we struggle to fix our eyes on Him while navigating through difficult times. He knows that our hearts wander away from Him at times, but He hears our complaints. God is the God who listens. We must learn to unwaveringly trust in Him, the One who holds the universe in His palm and who is at work because His plans are bigger and better than ours (Jeremiah 29:11).  

This month's memory verse

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

– Romans 5:8

Discussion Questions

1. At this point in your reading of the book of Job, what are your thoughts on God's role in your suffering? Has your view changed? Are you challenged?

2. Understanding that God is the God who listens and loves you and doesn't want to harm you, what does today's key verse mean to you?

3. If you are currently suffering or in the midst of a difficult season, I encourage you to write a short prayer recognizing God's goodness over you and affirming your trust in Him.

As we gear up to release even more features for Join The Journey in 2025, our staff team, unfortunately, no longer has the margin to continue to support the comment functionality. We have big things in store for Join The Journey 2025. Stay tuned!

MS

Michael Scaman

Job continues boldly undetered and says his friends 'are whitewashing with lies" Time for a song. If anything Job has picked up steam and his friends will start to fizzle out, getting shorter and more repetative until the last guy doesn't even talk. Title: You Whitewash with lies! as if by Bruce Springsteen (Verse 1) In shadows cast by doubt, I stand firm Your words like ashes, your defenses squirm Maxims of clay, built on shifting sand Your falsehoods crumble at my command (Chorus) Whitewashing with lies, your deceit prevails But truth's flame ignites, it never fails In the silence, my voice will soar Your hollow words, I'll refute once more (Bridge) I'll face the darkness, with courage anew For in my heart, faith's flame burns true Though you may deceive, and falsehoods may fly In God's truth, I'll never die (Verse 2) Let my words pierce through your veil of deceit For justice awaits, it cannot be beat Maxims of ashes, defenses of clay Your lies dissolve in the light of day (Chorus) Whitewashing with lies, your deceit prevails But truth's flame ignites, it never fails In the silence, my voice will soar Your hollow words, I'll refute once more (Outro) So hear me now, and hear me clear Your lies will crumble, your falsehoods disappear For in the end, truth will stand tall And your whitewashed lies will surely fall
GJ

greg jones

Good morning Manuela. I really enjoyed your deeper dive. I think Q2 is a great question. “Understanding that God is the God who listens and loves you and doesn't want to harm you, what does today's key verse mean to you?” In an intellectual sense it means to me that the Bible has many perspectives concerning the nature and character of God. When I read Exodus 19 with Job 13:15-16 I see man’s view of God shifting rather than God’s view of man shifting. And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. Exodus 19:21 Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face. This will be my salvation, that the godless shall not come before him. Job 13:15-16 Wow. Though he slay he slay me, I’m going to go face to face with God with my complaint. This will be my salvation, the godless, will hang back and not go with me. Wow. Just wow. That’s quite a statement in my mind. That’s encouraging to me. That’s what the key verse means to me. Great question thank you for the encouragement to seek God’s presence.
SB

Sue Bohlin

Thank you so much, Manuela. In Job's heart-wrenching discourse, he changes direction from responding to Zophar to pouring out his misery to God Himself. I am reminded of a short video I saw yesterday of a little girl writing (and mailing) letters to God asking some of the big questions of life: Why do bad things happen? Why do people suffer? Why do we lose people we love? In her final letter, she says, "Even if You don't answer me, I know You're good and You love us, so I will trust You." God's goodness has been a solid rock to stand on when life is hard and painful. I think He is pleased and honored when we insist on trusting His goodness, especially when we don't have the answers that we, like Job, deeply long for.
PG

Praveen Raj G

Yes I am in difficult season and it's been more than 5 months now, my daily prayer is to give me and my wife an opportunity to pass it. It is difficult to continue in faith but we do not have other ways except our Lord. Dear God, you have done great things in our lives but in this peak situation we trust you and help us to depend on you even more than ever before because we need to have faith and hope which keeps us alive.
AL

Amy Lowther

1. God is important. God helps me consider the whole picture of any situation which faces me. Reading Job has helped increase my value of God because Job gives me new ways to consider how I view God. God challenges me everyday, always presenting something new and good. 2. Today’s key verse shows God’s love for us and our love for Him. 3. Prayer: God thank you for all you do. You are good and consistent. You are supportive and encouraging no matter if I am doing good or I am doing not so good. Thank you for all you have done and all the beautiful things you will do in the days to come. Amen. Manuela - Thank you for sharing your ideas. You make a good point in saying, “He knows that our hearts wander away from Him at times, but He hears our complaints. God is the God who listens”. This is a good reminder. This is a confidence booster. We should use these ideas wisely.