He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools.
Job is answering Zophar. He turns from his friends' theories to a long description of what God does with the great men of the earth. It names the two groups the world leans on most: those who advise and those who decide. God empties both. What does Job mean by this, and has he told the whole truth?
The men in view
The people named here were not nobodies. They held the posts a society trusts for a wise answer or a fair one.
William KellyWithout doubt those counsellors and judges were known for their knowledge, and people took them to be wise as well. But there is always a limit in this world, and disappointment often comes at the point where you rest most.
What the stripping does
What God takes from them is not their office. It is the thing that made the office worth anything.
Leslie M. Grant"He leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes fools" — that is, He takes from counsellors the value of their counsel. So man's wisdom comes to nothing, and the judges become foolish. Man's authority becomes as useless as his wisdom.
The argument against his friends
Job's friends worked from a fixed rule of God's government: He blesses the good and strikes down the wicked. So, they said, Job's ruin proved his guilt.
William KellyJob meets the theory that God repays everyone in this present life with a clear denial and disproof. … God is sovereign; but for that very reason their law of government is a false argument, and to apply it to Him is unjust. God does as He pleases, and among men above all He reverses all calculation.
Job does not deny God's wisdom. What baffles him is the way God uses it.
F. B. HoleFrom verse 13 to the end of this chapter Job reviewed the ways of God in His dealings with men. He agreed that "wisdom and strength" belong to God, and "counsel and understanding" too. Yet he felt that the way God uses these wonderful qualities was full of mystery.
True, but only half the picture
The problem is not that Job's picture is false. It is what he leaves out.
Samuel RidoutAll — judges, kings, princes and priests — are held up to contempt by this Almighty One. Truly this is right, if they deserve it, but Job omits that side.
The result is a portrait of God drawn entirely in shadow, which matches the state Job was in.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIt is a dreadful picture Job has drawn of God by the one-sided description of His greatness. Not a word of His love and mercy. It is in full keeping with his despairing heart.
The lesson Job missed in his own case
Job could see the facts and still not turn them on himself. What God does to others, He could do for him.
Leslie M. GrantIf Job had stopped to weigh what these things mean, he might not have sunk so low in his misery. He sees the facts, but fails to apply their lessons in his own case. He says of God, "He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings the shadow of death to light" (v.22). Job himself was going through the pain of darkness. He could not uncover deep things from the darkness, or bring light from the shadow of death. But he realised God can do this. Could He not do it in Job's case? Yes indeed, and He did so before long.
Where Job's words grow bleak, faith has other language for the same almighty God.
Samuel RidoutHow different is the language of faith: "God is our refuge and strength … therefore we will not fear … Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46).
Summary
- Stripped — God takes from trusted advisers the worth of their advice. Their wisdom comes to nothing, and their authority becomes just as useless.
- Limited — this world always has a limit. Disappointment often comes at the very point where you rest most.
- Unpredictable — God reverses all human calculation. That breaks the friends' rule that suffering always proves guilt.
- Half-told — Job's words are true, but he leaves out the other side. Not a word of God's love and mercy — a picture that matches his despairing heart.
- Unapplied — Job saw the facts and missed the lesson. The God who brings deep things out of darkness could do it for him, and soon did.