Job 27:11

In the next chapter (Job 27) it would have been Zophar's turn; but although Bildad had very little to say, Zophar had nothing. He is out of the debate, and we shall find that Eliphaz does not return. Job now has it all to himself... They began with great vigour, confident that their judgment was sound. But Job had completely answered all their foolish talk, and there they sat silent. They were not yet convinced that they were wrong. They do what many people do — they shut up, say nothing, and still hold the same opinion. But God would not allow it to rest there. He brought them out of their hiding place and passed judgment on them. Later in the book it is through Job that they are saved from a terrible judgment, or even from death.

Job therefore realised that his friends needed teaching about the hand of God, so he would teach them (v.11). It was true that they needed such teaching. But Job himself needed teaching of a different kind than he thought his friends needed, for "the hand of God" is a tremendous subject. What Job knew about God's hand he would not conceal. But there was much indeed that he did not know, as we all must admit in our ignorance.

Some interpret the name as "Almighty in sustaining resources" (like a mother's breasts for her baby). It occurs 48 times in the Old Testament, and the book of Job accounts for no fewer than 31 of them. In that book the thought stands out above all others that the Lord is Almighty. That seems to fit the book well. In it we have the story of God's controversy with Job. He got no relief or blessing until he came to a right estimate of himself in the presence of God.

Here we reach the explanation of the apparent change in Job's attitude. Until now he had resisted the friends' arguments about the wicked. He did so because they kept linking him with their descriptions. He will now take up the same language himself. That shows how impossible it was to confuse a man like himself with the wicked they identified him with. It becomes in this way a most powerful reply to their charges.

"Will he take delight in the Almighty?" That is what Job did. "Will he call upon God at all times?" He called upon God even in that terrible distress... "You know very well that I have been clinging to God; you have heard my confession, so why do you charge me with hypocrisy?"

Job must know himself, as he never could have imagined otherwise. To know oneself is a very different thing from being converted to God, and it is necessary if we are to be fully blessed. Further, the friends had to learn as well as Job, being objects of a similar grace, though far below Job. They were godly men; but a man may be godly and yet never have really stood in the presence of God for himself.