“‘Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16).
In seeking after God, Job will later observe, we can only discover “the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him!” (Job 26:14). So if he can’t understand God, then he’ll try turning inward (9:21-31). Surely he can know himself. But wait! Here’s his confession: “I am blameless, yet I do not know myself” (v 21). This underlines the whole problem in the discussion between Job and his friends, in fact, with all our discussions about God and His ways. We’re seeking to draw conclusions without having all the facts. We’ve just read, “He does great things past finding out” (v 10). And the apostle Paul agrees. For him, though, it doesn’t cause consternation, but adoration: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!…For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:33, 36). Job is frustrated that God’s thoughts are so different from ours; Paul is delighted that His thoughts are so superior to ours—we never would have come up with such a wonderful plan as God has! But here’s Job’s faulty assessment. His friends say God is right and Job is wrong. He says, No, “I am blameless” (Job 9:21), so the only conclusion he can draw? God “destroys the blameless and the wicked” (v 22). Wrong, Job. Listen to the man who may be your contemporary: “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked…Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen 18:25). Amen, Abraham! If only Job had someone who could at the same time understand Job’s needs and explain God’s ways. If only there were a Mediator!