Job 19:7 | KingComments | STEP | Job cries that the law is violated in his case ( ). He says it is God Who does this. Yet Job turns to God for help. His cry for help, however, is not heard by Him. He does not get his right. There is no one who stands up for him, no one who says that the suffering he suffers is unjust and must be taken away from him. From onward he directly accuses God of making life impossible for him. His life path is blocked by God and is therefore impassable ( ). And the paths he has gone have been shrouded by God in darkness, so that he has lost all orientation. He cannot go in any direction. We would say: He sees no light at the end of the tunnel. There is nowhere to find a way out. Job accuses God of robbing him of his honor and taking the crown from his head ( ). There is nothing left of the prestige he used to have and the wealth he possessed as a crown and gave him dignity ( ). His good name and fame are gone. Job describes the ruin of his life in pictures. Like a building, he is demolished by God, so that nothing but a mess remains ( ). He has perished because God has broken him down on all sides: materially, in his family, in his health, in his social contacts and in his friendships. He also compares himself to a tree that has been “uprooted” by a hurricane. As a result, he is now without hope of life. He considers himself to be the target of God’s anger that has been kindled against him in all fierceness ( ). This gives him the feeling that God is treating him as if he were His enemy. His desire is for God, yet God brings all this misery upon him. He doesn’t understand anything about this ‘war situation’, why God is so opposed to him. He hasn’t given God any reason to do so, has he? Job sees the disasters that have come upon him as “His troops” ( ). It is as if in the disasters God is sending His armies against him. Those armies have built up their way against him, suggesting that they have been stopped by nothing. They have done their utmost to reach the tent, the abode, of Job in order to lay siege to it. It is as if his small, tiny tent is a mighty and hostile fortress with thick walls. What is God doing? It is not a question for Job that God has done this. The question of why God has done this remains a tormenting one for him. In fact, Job is reasoning exactly like his friends. He also believes that God brings calamity to a man when he sins. The friends conclude from the calamity that struck him that he must have sinned. Job knows that this is not so. This brings him into great conflict with his thinking about God. He knows that he has done nothing to justify this suffering, yet God punishes him. The problem isn’t with him, so … God must be wrong. God endures Job’s accusations until His time has come to bring him into His holy presence. Anyone who is in endless suffering can wrestle for some time with the question of why God let this happen. As long as we have not been in such suffering, we would do well to suspend our judgment of Job’s accusations until we have heard God speak. What we should know is that God does not consider us His enemies when suffering enters our lives. We may not always understand God’s way with us, but we may know that to those who love God, He “causes all things to work together for good” ( ). In addition, when He disciplines us, He shows His love for us, and proves that He sees us as His sons ( ). There is no enmity against us.

‏ Job 19:7

Rejected and Abandoned by God

Job cries that the law is violated in his case (Job 19:7). He says it is God Who does this. Yet Job turns to God for help. His cry for help, however, is not heard by Him. He does not get his right. There is no one who stands up for him, no one who says that the suffering he suffers is unjust and must be taken away from him.

From Job 19:8 onward he directly accuses God of making life impossible for him. His life path is blocked by God and is therefore impassable (Job 19:8). And the paths he has gone have been shrouded by God in darkness, so that he has lost all orientation. He cannot go in any direction. We would say: He sees no light at the end of the tunnel. There is nowhere to find a way out.

Job accuses God of robbing him of his honor and taking the crown from his head (Job 19:9). There is nothing left of the prestige he used to have and the wealth he possessed as a crown and gave him dignity (Pro 14:24). His good name and fame are gone.

Job describes the ruin of his life in pictures. Like a building, he is demolished by God, so that nothing but a mess remains (Job 19:10). He has perished because God has broken him down on all sides: materially, in his family, in his health, in his social contacts and in his friendships. He also compares himself to a tree that has been “uprooted” by a hurricane. As a result, he is now without hope of life.

He considers himself to be the target of God’s anger that has been kindled against him in all fierceness (Job 19:11). This gives him the feeling that God is treating him as if he were His enemy. His desire is for God, yet God brings all this misery upon him. He doesn’t understand anything about this ‘war situation’, why God is so opposed to him. He hasn’t given God any reason to do so, has he?

Job sees the disasters that have come upon him as “His troops” (Job 19:12). It is as if in the disasters God is sending His armies against him. Those armies have built up their way against him, suggesting that they have been stopped by nothing. They have done their utmost to reach the tent, the abode, of Job in order to lay siege to it. It is as if his small, tiny tent is a mighty and hostile fortress with thick walls. What is God doing? It is not a question for Job that God has done this. The question of why God has done this remains a tormenting one for him.

In fact, Job is reasoning exactly like his friends. He also believes that God brings calamity to a man when he sins. The friends conclude from the calamity that struck him that he must have sinned. Job knows that this is not so. This brings him into great conflict with his thinking about God. He knows that he has done nothing to justify this suffering, yet God punishes him. The problem isn’t with him, so … God must be wrong.

God endures Job’s accusations until His time has come to bring him into His holy presence. Anyone who is in endless suffering can wrestle for some time with the question of why God let this happen. As long as we have not been in such suffering, we would do well to suspend our judgment of Job’s accusations until we have heard God speak.

What we should know is that God does not consider us His enemies when suffering enters our lives. We may not always understand God’s way with us, but we may know that to those who love God, He “causes all things to work together for good” (Rom 8:28). In addition, when He disciplines us, He shows His love for us, and proves that He sees us as His sons (Heb 12:6). There is no enmity against us.