Job 13:18-22 | KingComments | STEP | If the friends keep their mouths shut, he will speak ( ). He will not hold back. He will speak out before God everything that bothers him. He doesn’t care about the consequences. Let it come, what may. When he says “I take my flesh in my teeth” ( ), he means he is taking a risk, for you will not be able to keep it for long. He puts his life in his hands, that is, he puts it at risk (cf. ; ), to get his right with God. He will speak, though there is a great risk that he will be devoured by his own words and perish. In Job pronounces a brilliant paradox, an apparent contradiction, which can only be understood by faith. God smashes his life to pieces, yet he insists that God is good. It radiates hope and confidence in God. He does not understand why he must suffer so much. Let God tell him, even if it means killing him. But his death doesn’t change his hope in God. He will defend himself before God. God is his Prosecutor, that’s how he feels, but also his Lawyer, Someone Who stands up for him. Job expects his redemption from Him ( ). He dares to come into the presence of God, something that is not possible for a hypocrite. Job is therefore not a hypocrite, as the friends say of him in a veiled way that he is. In he again urges his friends to listen to him ( ). He has clearly stated his case. If only they would listen to what he has said. Job imagines himself in a courtroom where he as the accused has set out his case ( ). He has no doubt whatsoever about the outcome: he “will be vindicated”, that is to say, he sees himself as acquitted of any charge. There is no evidence that he has sinned. Everything the friends have said, of which they have accused him, is based on nothing more than suppositions. His defense is convincing, he himself judges. Job’s question as to whether there is anyone else who dares to contend with him sounds almost defiant ( ). Let them come, the accusers. He is certain that there is no objection against his defense. There is no fear whatsoever that God will prove his accusers right, so much he trusts in the right outcome. He has had to speak, he has been unable to restrain himself. If he had remained silent, it would have meant his death. He could not go on living without answering so many unjustified accusations. His defense made him worth his life.

‏ Job 13:18-22

Job Will Plead His Own Case With God

If the friends keep their mouths shut, he will speak (Job 13:13). He will not hold back. He will speak out before God everything that bothers him. He doesn’t care about the consequences. Let it come, what may. When he says “I take my flesh in my teeth” (Job 13:14), he means he is taking a risk, for you will not be able to keep it for long. He puts his life in his hands, that is, he puts it at risk (cf. Jdg 12:3; 1Sam 19:5 ; 1Sam 28:21), to get his right with God. He will speak, though there is a great risk that he will be devoured by his own words and perish.

In Job 13:15 Job pronounces a brilliant paradox, an apparent contradiction, which can only be understood by faith. God smashes his life to pieces, yet he insists that God is good. It radiates hope and confidence in God. He does not understand why he must suffer so much. Let God tell him, even if it means killing him. But his death doesn’t change his hope in God. He will defend himself before God. God is his Prosecutor, that’s how he feels, but also his Lawyer, Someone Who stands up for him. Job expects his redemption from Him (Job 13:16). He dares to come into the presence of God, something that is not possible for a hypocrite. Job is therefore not a hypocrite, as the friends say of him in a veiled way that he is.

In Job 13:17 he again urges his friends to listen to him (Job 13:6 ; 13). He has clearly stated his case. If only they would listen to what he has said. Job imagines himself in a courtroom where he as the accused has set out his case (Job 13:18). He has no doubt whatsoever about the outcome: he “will be vindicated”, that is to say, he sees himself as acquitted of any charge. There is no evidence that he has sinned. Everything the friends have said, of which they have accused him, is based on nothing more than suppositions. His defense is convincing, he himself judges.

Job’s question as to whether there is anyone else who dares to contend with him sounds almost defiant (Job 13:19). Let them come, the accusers. He is certain that there is no objection against his defense. There is no fear whatsoever that God will prove his accusers right, so much he trusts in the right outcome. He has had to speak, he has been unable to restrain himself. If he had remained silent, it would have meant his death. He could not go on living without answering so many unjustified accusations. His defense made him worth his life.

Job Asks God to Change His Attitude

Job now addresses a question to God. All he wants is that God will not do two things to him (Job 13:20). If God does, Job will no longer deal with God in an attitude of fear. He will then no longer feel an obstacle to go to God and can then speak to Him on an equal footing. Then he will no longer be overwhelmed by God’s greatness and highness. He wishes to be free to plead his case with God without the obstacles resulting from a deeply weary and painful illness. He now feels weakened by sickness and unable to devote himself to defending his cause as he did in the days of his prosperity.

Job asks two things (Job 13:21). The first is that God removes his oppressive hand from him, and the second is that the dread of God no longer terrifies him. Job feels the misery and suffering as the oppressive hand of God – not of satan. If only God would remove that hand far away, he would be able to take an enlightened breath and prepare to speak to God as a worthy party. But Job also wants to free himself from the dread that emanates from God for him. He sees God as his unapproachable adversary, Who, if he does the slightest wrong, will plunge him back into misery. If God does not change this, he cannot yet calmly present his case to Him. Then the dread will remain in the background that he will always have to lose out to God, Who is so much greater and higher than he is. Elihu later elaborates on these arguments in his argument (Job 33:7).

In Job 13:22 he proposes God compellingly to call him to account so that he can answer. Now he does not see God as a Judge, but as a Party at issue. If God does not respond to his demand, let him speak, and then let God answer him. In Job’s imagination, it is a lawsuit. But God will not participate in it. That is why Job resumes his complaint in Job 13:24. Job does not know it here yet, but God will certainly speak to him one day, but then Job will not know how to answer (Job 40:1-5). God speaks, but in His time and not in the time that Job determines.

In Job 13:23 Job opens the lawsuit. He challenges God to list his iniquities and sins. With this Job demands of God that He justifies Himself for the great disasters He has brought upon him. If these disasters are really the result of his iniquities and sins – as the friends claim – then God must be able to list a whole list. Let Him come forward with it. What Job is saying here is not the question of a conscience that wants to be convinced and come to confession. Job challenges God from an attitude that he can’t be accused of anything.