SUMMARY
Job finally blurts out what he has been thinking. He is direct in his accusation that God is unjust and does not protect the innocent person from the hands of the wicked.
ANALYSIS
As the book of Job proceeds, Job becomes more and more daring in his defiance toward God. Job’s personal trials have led him away from trust in a god who is actively at work in the world to reward good people and to punish the wicked. In this passage, Job says that God actually seems to enjoy mocking the plight of the innocent victim. It is bad enough to believe that God is inactive, passive, unwilling or unable to intervene on behalf of those who are being hurt by wicked people. It is even worse to begin to suspect that God has even taken the side of the wicked against the innocent. God has given the victim into the hand of the victimizer. And God has blinded the eyes of the judges so that they cannot judge equitably.
These are terrible accusations to make about God. Job’s cozy relationship with his Creator has been shattered. Job sums up this passage by saying, “If it is not God who is doing this, then who is it?” God is in charge, he thinks. “The buck stops here.” God has the power to act and does nothing.
This passage provides quite a contrast to the popular theology that pictures Job as the patient one who never complains or seriously questions what God is doing to him.
