Job’s answer to the first speech of Zophar, the third of his friends, is found in chapters 12–14. This speech has two main parts. In the first part (12:6–13:19) Job describes for the benefit of his friends some of the destructive and mysterious ways of God. His point is that the wisdom of God (12:13f) is beyond the comprehension of men. Therefore, the attempts of his friends to explain God’s ways are inadequate.
Exactly because his friends cannot help him (13:12), Job decides to take his life in his hands (13:14) and bring his case to God. He will trust God to give him an answer even if God should slay him (v.15). He recognizes that he is undertaking a perilous thing, but he will perish if he keeps silent (v.19). He cannot hold his peace any longer.
In 13:20, he begins to present his defense to God.
This speech of Job differs from the one preceding it in this, that in chapter 10 he had planned what he would say to God; he said (10:2): “I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me.’” And he went on from there to describe what it was that he wanted to say. But here in chapter 12 he actually says it, and what he says is very bold.
He begins in verses 20 and 21 by asking that God do two things for him: “Withdraw Your hand far from me, And let not the dread of You make me afraid.” He had asked these same things in 9:34–35. He was concerned that the terror of God would so overwhelm him that he could not present his case coherently. If God will do these things for him, then they can begin. Either let God call and he will answer, or he will speak and God may respond (13:22).
13:23 to 14:12 make three main points. The first is a request that God will show him his sin, if he has sinned (13:23). The second is a question: why do you regard me as your enemy? He is too insignificant for God to take notice of him, just a leaf tumbled about by the wind or dry stubble. Nevertheless, God writes bitter things against him, puts his feet in the stocks, watches him closely, and limits his steps (vv. 25–27). 13:28 to 14:12 continues this same thought but extends it from himself to mankind. Man is as frail as a moth-eaten garment. Why then should God open his eyes on him, and bring Job (note the switch back to first person) to judgment (v. 3)? Nothing worthy can be made of him (v.4). Yet God determines his days and appoints his limits. God is wasting his time by paying attention to such a worthless creature as man.
He concludes this section by asking God to look away so that he may rest (v.6). There is hope for a tree when it is cut down that it will grow again; something may sprout from the stump (vv. 7–9), but man is like a stream that disappears under the hot sun and does not return. He dies, is laid away in the grave, and does not appear again (vv. 10–12).
The question about 14:13–17 is whether they are hopeful or despairing. Bible Commentary, edited by F.F. Bruce, says of these verses:
“Job’s thought trembles on the edge of a hope for resurrection: if only Sheol could be, not a final resting place from which there is no exit, but a hiding place from God’s scrutiny and consequent wrath (13), a place of hard service which would one day come to an end (14), a place from which God would be glad to reclaim a man, having given up scrutiny of any sins he might have committed, and having sealed up his transgressions in a bag (16f). But the hope is a vain one, as far as Job is concerned: if a man dies, will he live again (14a)? No!”
Underlying this is the notion that in the earlier years of the Old Testament the people of God had no understanding of the resurrection of the body. That is belied by Job’s words in chapter 19:25–27, and the assurance of Hebrews 11:19 that Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead. Other commentators take it as a straightforward and joyful confession of the bodily resurrection, but it is better understood in this context as a hope deferred. Job believed in the resurrection of the body but knew that the way to it was death and Sheol. Therefore, he longs for the grave. It will conceal him from the wrath of God, until that wrath has passed. There he will wait for the time appointed by God, the time that God will remember him and raise him from the dead into a life free from trouble. There he will be patient all the days of his hard service until his change to glory comes. In the end God will call and he will answer, knowing that God desires the work of his own hands. There his transgression will be sealed up in bag and his iniquity will be covered. The answer to the question of verse 14, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” is “Yes,” but it is a hope deferred because God will not yet release him from his miserable life.
And so Job returns to his grief. God grinds away his hope as slowly, but yet as surely, as water wears away the mountains (v.18–19). Other commentators have pointed out the striking reversal here. Usually a tree, as a living thing, would be considered fragile and a symbol of the brevity of life, but in Job’s speech it is a symbol of hope; it may be cut down, but it can grow again. And the mountains are symbols of endurance. They are everlasting (Gen 49:26, Deut 33:15, Hab 3:6). But here they represent the hope of man being slowly ground down by the hostility of God. In this life there is nothing for man except sorrow and pain.
Job’s theology is much more profound and much closer to the truth than that of his friends. He understands the unpredictable and often calamitous nature of God’s providences (12:13–25) even for the righteous. He takes his trouble to God and deals directly with him, as we all need to do in our troubles. And, covered by the blood of atonement, he is very bold, like Jacob at Peniel saying, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” He knows that the grave is the vestibule of life; he has not given up his faith. But death is denied him, his trouble continues, and his question remains: why has God become my enemy? He is still deeply troubled and will remain so until God himself answers him.