Only do not two things unto me; then will I not hide myself from thee.
Job has told his friends to be quiet. He turns to God with his case, but first he asks for two things — and those two requests expose the deepest problem of the book: how can a man come near God when God's presence is exactly what terrifies him?
One commentator reads the request with the lines that follow, where Job names the two things and promises he will not hide once they are granted:
All he wanted was to be put right if he was wrong. He now says, "Only grant me two things, then I will not hide myself from your face. Withdraw your hand far from me" — the outward thing — "and let not dread of you terrify me" — the inward — "then call, and I will answer" — and so he did — "or let me speak, and you reply to me. How many are my iniquities and my sins?"
Job has just finished his long answer to Zophar, one of his three friends. He now turns to the only other party left:
In this answer he turns, in effect, from his friends to God; but sadly, he finds no answer to his awful terror of doubt and darkness.
One writer hears in Job's two requests a cry for someone to stand between him and God:
But how dare he speak before the One from whose presence he would instinctively flee? Let Him at least remove the awful dread that chills Job's heart, and relieve him of his pain, and he will answer Him or address Him. How these words, beautiful in their very anguish, cry aloud for the blessed Daysman, the Mediator! Thanks be to God, we can "with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Job could only grope in darkness.
"Daysman" is an old word for an umpire — someone who stands between two sides and settles the matter.
Another writer ties Job's two requests straight to Christ. Job had no one to stand between himself and God:
You see, Job could not answer God, and he is struggling under this. What does he say he wants? "There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both." Oh, I have no arbiter! "Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not dread of Him terrify me." What Job says he did not have is exactly what we have now in Christ. Was Christ a terror in this world? The law was exactly that; there were thunderings and lightnings. Even Moses said, "I tremble with fear," and the people said, "Do not let God speak to us." The law struck with terror, but it produced no real change in man, and no confidence in God.
God answered, though not the way Job expected. A new speaker, Elihu, opens by meeting both of Job's conditions. The older translation has Elihu say, "I am according to thy wish in God's stead":
"Behold, I am toward God as you are; I too was pinched off from a piece of clay." This is exactly what Job had desired, and now beyond his expectation. When his friends had completely disappointed him, God supplies the help that was needed: patient consideration of the terribly trying circumstances, with jealousy for God's glory at the right moment. And it comes from the last quarter Job would have looked to for it. "Behold, no fear of me need terrify you." He had complained that God acted this way on his soul and body… "my pressure will not be heavy on you." It was God's hand that Job had so strongly pleaded against.
Job's request was honest, but one writer points out what Job still could not see:
He asked only for a reprieve from suffering, and that His dread should not overwhelm him. He wanted to find out everything that was wrong in himself, and begged to know why he was driven back and forth like a leaf or dry stubble. He did not yet know the grace that was giving him self-judgment.
- Two conditions. Job asks God to lift the hand that afflicts him and to take away the dread — one outward, one inward.
- One direction. Done with his friends, he turns to God alone — and still hears no reply.
- One gap. He longs to speak with God and dreads Him at once. What he lacks is a mediator to lay a hand on both sides.
- One answer. Elihu arrives saying what Job had asked for — no terror, no heavy hand — help from the quarter Job least expected.
- One gift. What Job lacked, believers have in Christ: God near without terror, and confidence to come to the throne of grace.
Withdraw thy hand far from me; and let not thy terror make me afraid
Job turns from his three friends and speaks straight to God. He asks for a hearing on two conditions, and those conditions show what he cannot bear: the pain, and the terror of facing God while it lasts.
Job names what he needs before he can face God without hiding. One writer takes his request in two halves:
He asks, "Only two things do not do to me" (v.20). If so, then Job would not try to hide from God. First, "Withdraw your hand far from me." That is, do not keep up this trying affliction, which Job felt he could not stand. Second, "let not the dread of You make me afraid" (v.21). He did not want to be terrified by the contemplation of the glory of God.
The two requests are not one trouble said twice:
He says now, "Only do not two things to me; then I will not hide myself from You. Withdraw your hand far from me" — the outward thing — "and let not dread of You" — the inward — "terrify me: then call, and I will answer" — and so he did — "or let me speak, and You answer me. How many are my iniquities and sins?"
Job's physical pain was real. One writer says the inner terror cut deeper — and rested on a mistake:
Here we reach the part of his sufferings that was probably more intense than the physical side. One thing gave a sharpness to his grief: the sense that God's wrath was upon him, that the dreadful poison of His anger was consuming him. We know this was a mistake. God was chastening His poor servant in this way, and that was only another proof of His love. But he did not know it, and we should not be harsh with one who felt that the Lord was dealing bitterly with him.
The plea does bring Job to the right question — but he does not stay with it:
Relieve me from the sufferings, withdraw your hand far from me, which rests upon me; and let not your terror make me afraid. Then call, and I will answer; or let me speak, and answer me (verses 20-22). Then once more the right note, the note he must sound to the full in his wretched misery — "How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sins." But it lasted only a moment. He breaks out in fresh charges against God.
Commentators read Job's state here with sympathy but not approval. One notes that Job asked only for a break from the pain, and did not yet see what the pain was doing in him:
He asked only for a reprieve from suffering, and that His dread should not overwhelm him; he wished to find out all that was wrong in himself, and begged to know why he was driven to and fro like a leaf or dry stubble. He did not yet know the grace that was giving him self-judgment.
Earlier Job had wished for a "daysman" — a go-between who could lay a hand on God and on him at once. One writer sets that wish beside Job's plea here:
You see Job could not answer God, and he is struggling under this: what does he say he wants? "Neither is there any daysman between us that might lay his hand upon both." Oh, I have no daysman! "Let him take his rod away from me and let not his fear terrify me." What Job said he did not have is exactly what we have now in Christ. Was Christ a terror in this world?
Later in the book a fourth speaker, Elihu, arrives after the three friends fall silent. He opens by granting Job the very terms he had asked for:
He reminds Job of his own desire for such a person: "Oh that someone would plead for a man with God, as a man pleads for his neighbour" (Job 16:21). To this desire Elihu now replies: "I am here in God's place, just as you wished; I also am formed out of clay. My terror will not make you afraid, and my hand will not be heavy on you" (Job 33:6-7).
But the answer came with a correction Job had not asked for:
It was quite true that Job hid no such wickedness as his friends hinted at. But it was completely false to think God had no reason. He had the wisest reasons for withering self in Job's eyes.
- Two things. Job asks God for two things: lift the hand that is crushing him, and take away the dread that terrifies him. One is outward, the other inward.
- The dread is worse. The sense that God's anger was against him hurt worse than the physical pain. That sense was wrong: God was chastening him in love.
- The wish behind the wish. What Job lacks is a go-between who can touch God and touch him at once — a hand that is not heavy.
- Right for a moment. In the same breath he asks God to show him his sins. That is the right note. But he drops it and turns to fresh charges against God.
- Granted, and more. Elihu answers on Job's own terms: no terror, no heavy hand. What Job said he did not have, commentators say, we now have in Christ.
Then call, and I will answer; or I will speak, and answer thou me.
Job's friends keep treating his suffering as proof of hidden guilt, so he turns from them and speaks to God. He asks for a hearing on his own terms — but may a man set conditions before his Maker?
Verse 22 does not stand alone. It is the second half of what Job asks. The first half names two things that must go before any talk can start.
He asks, "Only do not do two things to me" (v.20). If so, then Job would not try to hide from God. First, "Withdraw your hand far from me." That is, do not go on with this affliction, which Job felt he could not bear. Second, "let not the dread of You make me afraid" (v.21). He did not want the thought of God's glory to terrify him.
The two conditions deal with different troubles. Only when they go does Job make his offer.
"Withdraw your hand far from me" — that is the outward thing. "And let not your dread" — the inward — "make me afraid." "Then call, and I will answer" — and so he did — "or let me speak, and answer me."
Job is not only defending himself. He is reaching for contact with God.
Was there not a possibility of some communication with God? Either let God call him and let Job answer, or let Job speak and God respond to him (v.22).
Job does not hold that tone for long.
Relieve me from the sufferings. Withdraw Your hand, which rests on me, and keep it far away. And let not Your terror make me afraid. Then call, and I will answer (verses 20-22). Or let me speak, he says, and answer me. Then the right note sounds once more. In the end he must sound that note in full in his wretched misery — "How many are my iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sins." But it lasted only a moment. He breaks out in fresh charges against God.
The condition attached to the invitation exposes Job's real problem. He wants to speak, and he cannot bear to.
But how dare he speak before that One from whose presence he would instinctively flee? Let Him at least remove the awful dread that chills Job's heart. Let Him relieve his pain, and Job will answer or speak to Him. How these words, beautiful in their very anguish, cry aloud for the blessed Daysman, the Mediator! Blessed be God, we can "with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Earlier Job had named what he lacked.
You see Job could not answer God, and he is struggling under this: what does he say he wants? "There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both." Oh, I have no arbiter! "Let Him take His rod away from me, and let not dread of Him terrify me." What Job said he did not have is exactly what we have now in Christ. Was Christ a terror in this world?
Two things are at work in Job at once, and they pull against each other.
On the one hand, there was a remarkable spirit of faith... He had wanted to die. If God granted that wish and killed him, he would not lose confidence but would still trust Him. This was excellent. But Job also showed his weak spot. He was determined to "maintain," or "defend" his own ways before Him. So we see that a true saint may have very real faith in God, and yet a determined streak of self-esteem can spoil it.
Job got his hearing. It did not run the way he had drafted it.
Look back at the beginning of Job 23. There Job had expressed his wish to get into contact with God, in a self-confident way. He felt sure he could set out his case before Him... Now the moment had come for his wish to come true. Jehovah tells him to dress for action like a man, and to be ready to answer the voice of God. The questionings now should come from God.
- Terms — Job will speak only if two things go: the hand pressing on his body, and the dread pressing on his heart.
- Turning — He drops the argument with his friends and asks God for a hearing. He will speak first or second; he only wants a reply.
- Lack — His conditions expose what he does not have: no mediator, and so no way to come near without terror.
- Supply — What Job lacked, we now have in Christ, who was no terror in this world.
- Reversal — The call came, but the questions came from God's side. The hearing Job had planned as his own defence left him with nothing to say.