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The Book of Job

Chapter Twenty-three: I Shall Emerge as Gold

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Job Replies to Eliphaz

Job: chapter 23
1 Then Job answered and said,

2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
7 There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.
8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.
12 Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
13 But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
14 For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.
15 Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.
16 For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:
17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

This is not really a lament so much as Job capturing the refrain of his lament (23:2) and his call for a face to face meeting with God (23:3-4).

The word translated‘bitter’ in verse 2 is ‘merîy’, which can also mean ‘rebellion’ (Strong, H4805). The NAS Bible favors: “Even today my complaint is rebellion” (23:2, NASB, see Clarke, note on 23:2). I suggest that Job is not committing himself to rebellion, but is stating something more than bitterness. He is protesting his affliction or ‘complaint’. Perhaps the verse could read: ‘Today my complaint is my argument.’

I Shall Emerge as Gold

Job is certain that if he could come before God, he would be able to present his arguments (23:3-4). Job questions, “Will He plead against me with His great power? No; but He would put strength in me” (23:6). Job is confident: “so should I be delivered forever from my judge” (23:7). The sense is that of exoneration in court (Clarke, note on 23:7). One significat point: “It is the chief distinction between Job and his friends that he desires to meet God and they do not” (Vicchio 2020, loc. 5891; quoting Stevenson in H.H. Rowley, Job, 1970. 200).

‘While as hard as I search, I cannot find God’ (23:8-9). Job is frustrated. “He knoweth the way that I take” (23:10). Grabbing Eliphaz's mention of gold and jewels, Job creates an allegory: the gold that God is digging for is not in the ground: “When He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (23:10). Job appears to assert that there is no dross to be removed. The Job who goes into the fire, so he believes, will be the one who emerges. The spirit of it is that he is willing to enter the fire to be exonerated. Job is the one most surprised to find there is reason for the refiner's fire. I don't imagine his friends ever understand.

Job reasserts his steadfastness in God (23:11), and the value he places on God's word, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (23:12). “I am afraid of Him” (23:15), admits Job, ‘because I know God cannot be turned and He may well have more troubles yet in store for me’ (23:13-14). Deeper down, though he won't admit it to himself, Job knows that the refiner's fire has the purpose of burning away the dross. If he remains in the fire, there is a reason. “The curse causeless shall not come” (Prov. 26:2). Again, let me remind you, Job is not under this curse because he has done something wrong. God is trying to change the condition of Job's heart. A condition by which Satan is hoping to exploit Job and bring him to ruin.

A Heart Made Soft

“For God maketh my heart soft” (23:16). Perhaps Job is sensing what God is after. Job, not being ready to surrender, knows that God will continue to press until he does. In my own life, I have resisted the pressure of God only to see the pressure increase until I did surrender. Job appears to know this. Is Job beginning to see what God is after? Perhaps, but he is resisting.

“As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you.” (Ezek. 22:20). There is a hardness in Job that is melting before the refiner's fire. As we are seeing, despite his own resistance, Job is hearing the Spirit speak to him more and more. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, Job is being driven to where he has no choice but to listen. Job is still frustrating God's purpose. God will finally declair “thine own right hand can save thee” (40:14) as Christ will ask, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 26:14). I suppose it is reassuring to know that even the greatest of saints do not always come willingly to God's call.

Job is bold before God. At first his boldness is in the confidence of his own righteousness (23:7). “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God” (I John 3:21). His insight has revealed something more: “Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face” (23:17). Job now understands that this suffering has a purpose, even if Job doesn't fully understand it. This gives him a boldness that is not surface, but is deep down and internal. A boldness of faith.


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*All Bible quotes are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated.



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