Justification In Job, pt. 1

When someone thinks of Job, the book of Job from the Old Testament of the Bible, maybe he doesn't think of "justification."  I've taught through the whole book twice, once fast and the second fairly slowly.  Recently I was reading through it the second time this year, moving through the Bible twice in this year, and the word, "justify," stuck out this time to me.

When I taught slowly through Job, I taught the theme was the security of God.  God kept Job.  Job passed the test because of God.  I taught that Job was about God and what He did, not about the person, Job.  When we look at the names of the books of the Bible, we can think about the men of the Bible.  However, the whole Bible is about God.

The Hebrew word, tsadek, that is translated, "just" or the forms of it, "justify," "justified," etc. is found at least twenty-eight times in Job.  In this post or maybe a series of two of them, I want to look at all of those usages and how they fit into the book of Job.  The word refers to something that is according to a standard that is of the nature and the will of God, so it is just, right, or righteous.  It doesn't fall short of the glory of God.  The word applies to God.  The standard for right or righteousness is God.  Whether someone is righteous or just compares to God, not a human standard.

A big part of Job is whether Job is right with God.  You could ask, Is he saved?  To be saved, you have to stand before God as righteous.  Apparently, Job was righteous, but not according to everyone.  How righteous did he need to be?  Whatever trials he went through, was it because he was not righteous or because he was?  These are important questions.  Everyone needs to think about them still.  Here's a last one.  If God is the standard, His righteousness, how is Job or anyone else to be justified before God?  This brings in the doctrine of justification.  How is someone justified?  Churches and religions differ as to the answers to these questions, and there is only one right answer.

I'm going to assume that you know, that in the story of Job (chapters 1-2), he is put through one of the most difficult trials ever for any human being in all history, losing all his children, his wealth, and his health.  God allows Satan to put Job through this test to prove whether he's really a righteous man.  Satan says, no.  God says, yes.  While going through these severe circumstances, certain so-called friends of Job give him speeches, also casting doubt on his righteousness.

In Job 4, one of the friends, talks to Job and argues essentially that people go through things like Job out of judgment for their sin.  It had to be his sin.  As further evidence, Eliphaz recounts in verses 12-16 that a spirit had given him (we know none did, that was sent by God) the following message (verse 17), which is also the first usage of tsadek in the book of Job:

Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

It's the word, "just."  Through the use of these questions, the message to Job is that he shouldn't be justifying himself before God.  Even though no angelic spirit communicated or even would communicate those questions to Eliphaz -- you can't be more just than God -- it introduces the subject matter.

Job speaks in Job 6 and says in verse 29:

Return, I pray you, let it not be iniquity; yea, return again, my righteousness is in it.

Job is saying to the friend, back away from this conclusion you're making that iniquity is the cause of my suffering, and come back to righteousness as the reason.  Job isn't saying that he is justified as righteous before God, but righteous in particular as related to the reason behind these trials.  Between iniquity and righteousness, these circumstances for Job are not due to iniquity.

In chapter 8, Bildad confronts Job with an accusation common to the book.  In verse 3, he uses tsadek in application to God, asking, "Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?"  "Justice" translates the form of the word.  He continues in verse 6:

If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

Bildad concludes that God would have made the habitation of Job prosperous if he were righteous.  It does sound like Bildad may have believed in justification by works too.  God "would awake," respond to Job with tangible rewards, if he were "pure and upright."  It's actually the opposite, we don't wake God up.  He wakes us up.

Job answers Bildad in the next two chapters (9-10), and deals with this theme of justification in four of the verses.  Verse 2 is classic:

I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?

What Job knows is a truth is that God is just, so God couldn't be unjust to him or anyone else.  Job's rhetorical question says that through anything that a man could do on his own or by himself, he could not be just with God.  Any man on his own or according to his own merits, could not stand before God as just.

Job says in verse 15:

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

Even if Job were righteous, he would not argue with God about it.  When God accused him of some sin, he wouldn't answer.  Instead, he would make supplication, which is to ask for grace or mercy.  Job knows he's not worthy before God.  His justification can't be by works, but by grace, depending on God for justification.

Job continues in verse 20:

If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

If he used his mouth to justify himself, his mouth would be condemning him.  He would by lying.  A mouth justifying self is a sinful one.  Saying you are perfect just proves you to be perverse.  He would be saying that in him is no sin, which is false.  Even if he were righteous, Job says in 10:15:

If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction.

He would not lift up his head, that is, be proud about it.  Abraham could not glory in his righteousness, because it was not by works (Romans 4:1-5).  The Apostle Paul, as a genuine believer, would glory or boast in Christ Jesus, putting no confidence in the flesh (Philip 3:3). Job would know that whatever righteousness he had, it wasn't because of him.  It was nothing to be proud of.  He wouldn't want to take credit for it.

The word "confusion" is the reproach or shame that Job feels, especially at the accusations of his friends.  Rather than continuing to lay on him more pummeling, he's asking that they see his affliction.  Show some sympathy.  He's going through enough without their further hurtful words about him.

(To Be Continued)