Justice questions

Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering due to wars in Gaza, Sudan and the Ukraine. Some of these events are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice.

Job 1-37 describes the intense suffering of Job, which causes him to question God. Then God asks lots of questions to show the huge gap in understanding between God and humanity. We have looked at God’s first speech (38:1 – 40:2) and Job’s answer (40:3-5). Now we address God’s second speech (40:6 – 41:34).

God continues to question Job.

⁶ Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:
⁷ “Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.

⁸ “Will you discredit my justice
and condemn me just to prove you are right?
⁹ Are you as strong as God?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?
¹⁰ All right, put on your glory and splendor,
your honor and majesty.
¹¹ Give vent to your anger.
Let it overflow against the proud.
¹² Humiliate the proud with a glance;
walk on the wicked where they stand.
¹³ Bury them in the dust.
Imprison them in the world of the dead.
¹⁴ Then even I would praise you,
for your own strength would save you.
Job (40:6-14NLT).

Discussion

Job had questioned God’s justice in order to justify himself (v.8). He complained that the wicked flourished and God withheld judgment (Job 21, 24). He wanted to take God to court (Job 9:13-20). In all of his self-justifying, Job was acing as if God was being unjust or ignorant of Job’s situation. By criticizing God, He had acted as though he was equal with God. He didn’t realize the huge difference between humanity and God. So, God asked Job if he had the strength and authority of God (v.9). Of course the answer is “No”!

Then God says that if Job had the power of God, then he could save himself (v.10-14). He challenges Job to act like God and administer justice against the proud and the wicked. If Job is so great, God asks why doesn’t he act like God and glorify himself (v.10), and demonstrate his great power (v.11-13). But Job can’t do these things and neither can we. God is different to us. He has more power and more authority and more justice than we could ever have.

God challenged Job to do things that only God can do. Those who condemn God about their circumstances are saying that they are powerful enough to save themselves from their circumstances. But they are deluded. They are just human and not divine. No human can accomplish what God alone can do.

Today we know much more about God’s justice than Job because we know what God did in Old Testament times. For example, the kingdom of Israel went into exile following invasion by the Assyrians (Amos 5:18-21). This was God’s judgment of their continual sinfulness. And with regard to the sins of Ninevah, “The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished” (Nah. 1:3). And we know what Jesus did in dying to take the judgment for the sins of humanity. And we have the teaching of the New Testament about Christ delivering Christians and judging the wicked at the end of the age.

Lessons for us

The lesson for Job and for us is that because God will administer justice in His own time, we can trust Him for the future. We need to trust God’s wisdom. But we need to trust Him even when things are hard – when God’s ways don’t make sense to us.

So, when you are suffering or questioning God’s goodness or His justice, read Job 38:1 – 42:6.

And if you are tempted to doubt or question God, remember what happened to Job in 38:1 – 42:6.

Written, September 2024

Also see: God’s answer to suffering