13

Will you speak falsely for God and speak deceitfully for him? Will you show partiality toward him? Will you plead the case for God? Will it be well with you when he searches you out? Or can you deceive him, as one deceives a man? He will surely rebuke you if in secret you show partiality. Will not his majesty terrify you, and the dread of him fall upon you? Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. Job 13:7-12

The problem Job has with Zophar isn’t that he’s taking God’s side but that he’s doing it without integrity, without honesty. God doesn’t want or need cheats, liars and frauds to support him. Job judges well that God will surely rebuke those who act like this.

To me the key passage in this chapter is when Job says in v15

Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.

It’s like Job trusts God’s severity towards him like a child trusts their father who after punishment still relies on their father for protection, food and shelter. Job knows he has nowhere else to turn and even in his sorrow and anger he hasn’t lost his hope in God. He doesn’t know what to expect from him but the hope is still there.

Job also trusts in God to the extent that he expects God to listen to his complaint and he trusts in him to be patient with him when he does. In some passages it is almost like Job is describing God like an arbitrary tyrant but Job’s tirades are punctuated by declarations that he believes God to be just and good and merciful.