But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
Job has just told his three friends that he knows all they know. Their arguments have not touched his case. So he turns from the debate and asks for a hearing with God Himself. That wish raises two questions: was Job right to want it, and how could a suffering man reach God at all?
Turning from the friends to God
Job does not claim to know more than his friends. What baffles him is God, not their arguments. So he asks for a different conversation partner.
F. B. HoleHe did not claim to be better than his friends, but he was certainly not beneath them. Still, he admitted that God's dealings mystified him. They were far above him and out of his sight. So, as verse 3 shows, he wanted to speak to the Almighty and reason with God. He did not want to spend his time reasoning with his friends.
The name "the Almighty"
The title Job reaches for has a history. It is the name by which God made Himself known to earlier generations.
William KellyNotice how "the Almighty" appears freely in the speeches of Job and his friends, alongside "God" itself. That name is how God revealed Himself to the fathers. As a rule, the writer uses the name Jehovah only when he is describing events himself, or introducing God as the speaker.
A right desire with no road to God
Job wants to argue his case with God. But wanting a hearing and knowing how to get one are two different things.
William Kelly"But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God." That is just what he was doing. But how? He did not know. The New Testament did not exist yet. There was no One to stand between God and man, like Christ. So he did not know how to reach Him. If only he could find Him! If only he could stand before Him! He knew very well what he would find there — a faithful God. But somehow there were difficulties and riddles between God and his soul that he could not understand.
Why the friends were no help
Job asks to speak with God right after he gives up on his friends. Their fault was not bad information, but bad use of it.
Samuel RidoutJob charges his friends with being false witnesses for God. They took well-known truths that everyone accepted and used them to prove that Job was wicked. What kind of doctors were they, to treat a case like this? They have decided what his disease is, and they twist his symptoms to fit their diagnosis! … Job turns from them in disgust (Job 13:1-5). … Poor Job, he is a victim of the same false theory. He is in danger of blaspheming by charging God with injustice.
Even doubts belong in God's presence
Job's speech is not calm. He argues and accuses. Yet where he takes his complaint is worth copying.
Samuel RidoutHe doubts God's ways and accuses Him. Yet he is sure that if he could only see Him, everything would be cleared up. … It is all a strange contradiction. Still, this longing to come before God is far better than pride. Pride says to Him, "Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways." It is always better to bring even our doubts about God to Himself, if we have nothing else to bring.
The gap Job could not close
Later in the chapter Job asks God to lift His hand and His terror, so that he can bear to speak. That plea shows what Job lacked — and what God has since given.
Samuel RidoutBut how dare he speak before the One he would flee from by instinct? Let God at least remove the awful dread that chills Job's heart and relieve his pain. Then he will answer Him or speak to Him. These words are beautiful even in their anguish. They cry out for the blessed Mediator, the One who stands between God and man! 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." Job could only grope in the dark.
God answered him
Job got what he asked for. God did speak with him, and the meeting left Job a changed man.
William Kelly"Now my eye sees you." This was nothing outward now; no distant rumour. … He was dealing with God Himself, who used it all for that very purpose, and so turned Job from everything to Himself.
Summary
- Speak past men. Job's friends could not explain his suffering. So he turned from them and asked to speak with God.
- Speak to the Almighty. The title he uses is the name by which God made Himself known to earlier generations, and it runs through the whole book.
- Speak honestly. Bringing doubts and complaints to God is better than the pride that tells Him to keep His ways to Himself.
- Speak through a Mediator. Job had no one to stand between God and man. That gap is now filled, and we can draw near to God's throne with confidence.
- Speak, and God answers. God did meet Job, and the meeting turned him away from himself and his arguments to God.