The Bible Says
Job 23:1-7 Meaning

In Job 23:1-7, Job begins his reply to Eliphaz’s rebuke of him in Chapter 22, and requests a tribunal before God to plead his case, expressing confidence that if only God would hear his perspective, He would relieve Job’s suffering and restore his prosperity. Job begins: Then Job replied, "Even today my complaint is rebellion; His hand is heavy despite my groaning. "Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! (vv. 1-3).

The word rendered rebellion can also be translated “bitter” as it is rendered in most translations. This better fits the context, in that Job is not expressing rebellion to either God or his friends. From his perspective he is seeking what is just and right. Job fully respects God’s authority and bows to His judgement, wishing that I might come to His seat of judgement and see that justice is done.

Job has resolutely maintained that he has done nothing wrong. Examples of this assertion, and of the scripture’s affirmation that his position was true, follow:

• In Job 1:9, when Job’s wife chided Job for holding to his integrity and urged him to “curse God and die,” Job replied: “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” Job 1:10 asserts “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
• In Job 6:10, Job says “I rejoice in unsparing pain, That I have not denied the words of the Holy One.”
• In Job 6:30, Job asserts “Is there injustice on my tongue? Cannot my palate discern calamities?” In addition to Job 1:9 affirming that Job did not sin with his lips, God affirms in Job 42:7-8 that Job spoke rightly of God, unlike Eliphaz and his two friends.
• In Job 9:20-22, Job says he is guiltless, but is still found guilty along with those who have sinned. In this, Job may have unwittingly been speaking prophetically, as all have sinned and are guilty before God (Romans 3:10, 23). The events of Job likely occurred prior to any other parts of scripture being written, so much of the biblical knowledge we take for granted might not have been known.

Job complains that God’s hand is heavy against him despite his groaning. God does not dispute this. He noted to Satan that he had incited Him to “ruin” Job “without cause” in Job 2:3. Although Job acknowledges God’s sovereignty and right to judge and rule by saying Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat, Job indicates a perspective toward God that He is far off. Part of what will transpire later is that Job will come to understand God in an entirely different way, likely including that He is near to us, constantly watching over us (Job 42:5-6, James 4:8).

The phrase even today tells us the hurt is ongoing. Job does not rationalize or pretend. The Bible never demands that we fake strength. Jesus Himself groaned and wept (John 11:33-35). God can handle our groans; He invites them. In fact, the New Testament instructs believers to “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). God wants to take care of us, so pretending to be all right when we are actually struggling does us no good, nor does God desire us to be dishonest about our pain.

After longing to be able to locate God and stand before His seat of judgment, Job continues, “I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments.” (v.4)

He pictures himself laying out a careful brief, as a defense lawyer before a judge. He would lay out facts, demonstrating that he is without guilt. Job would show his innocence before He who judges the world, using arguments he would expect would both inform and persuade God, such that He would lift His hand and restore Job. God will give Job this opportunity, after “putting Job on the stand,” so to speak. But when He gets his chance, he will say:

“I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
“Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
(Job 42:2-3)

Then Job says I would learn the words which He would answer, And perceive what He would say to me (v. 5).

Job’s plan is to present to God but also to listen. In saying I would learn the words which He would answer, Job would be open to hearing and learning. This is what will occur in Job 38:1-42:6. God will engage with Job and he will listen and learn. However, Job also says he would perceive what He would say to me, indicating that Job will have comprehension of what God tells him. This is something Job anticipates that will not come to pass as he expects.

That Job would understand what God says is somewhat true of what is to come, as Job will realize that God is much, much greater than anything he had conceived (and he spoke rightly about God, as we see in Job 42:7-8). We see that Job will repent because he comes to know God in a greater way (Job 42:6).

But what is not true about Job saying he would perceive what He would say to him is that God has some missing perspective that will persuade Him. Job realizes that God knows all and that His ways are above his own. God will walk Job through the wonders of His creation to demonstrate to him how little he actually understands about it.

What is also true about Job’s experience in engaging with God is what he will say later in this chapter, in Job 23:15. Job will “be dismayed at His presence.” He will also not only listen to God but see Him in a new way. After Job considers what the Lord says, he will yield, “I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). Just as Job’s intended arguments fell flat, so will any such arguments ultimately bow to God’s presence.

Paul captures this thought pattern in 2 Corinthians, where he says:

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 10:5)

What Job called arguments Paul calls “speculations.” Any human knowledge that attempts to stand apart from being tethered to the knowledge of God is mere speculation. We do not have an infinite perspective, as God does. God will drive this point home to Job (and therefore to us) in Chapters 38-40. The “obedience of Christ” is what brings true knowledge.

Scripture asserts that real knowledge begins with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). To fear something is to alter our actions out of concern for consequences we expect from the thing we fear. When it comes to knowledge, we should fear living in ignorant speculation, which is all we have when we simply rely on our own faculties. As we learn in Ecclesiastes, living apart from being tethered to faith in God leads to madness and folly (Ecclesiastes 1:16-17, 12:13-14).

Jesus models this listening heart. He says, “I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me” (John 8:28). If the Son listened, how much more should we? Job’s desire to “perceive” is a step toward the worship he will enter at the end of the book.

Job next wonders, “Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? No, surely He would pay attention to me” (v. 6).

Job wonders aloud whether God would overwhelm him with the greatness of His power, demonstrating that Job did not have a perspective issue with understanding God’s sovereignty and power. We see throughout this book that Job has great respect for God and fully honors Him as God. God says this about Job in Job 1:8, boasting to Satan that Job is “a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” That Job feared God shows that Job understood God’s power and that He is the judge of all things.

Job also expresses confidence in God’s nature that He is merciful, concluding surely He would pay attention to me. This is accurate. God pays attention to all the details in the earth, even the number of hairs on our heads and the death of every sparrow (Matthew 10:29-30). Job asserts, “There the upright would reason with Him; And I would be delivered forever from my Judge” (v. 7).

Job’s expectation is that he would reason with God, and as a result of the exchange his suffering would end. Job thinks that when he shows God the perspective He is missing, Job would then be delivered forever from my Judge. This is the perspective about God that is off and that God will remedy in Job 38:1-42:6. We can note that God does not consider ignorance sin. But God does take care to fill in Job’s knowledge of Him in a manner that is custom fitted for Job.

It seems apparent that the reason God does this is for Job’s benefit. Job is God’s favorite. He says of Job that “there is no one like him on the earth” because of his righteousness (Job 1:8). What does God desire for the man He seeks to honor? To give him the greatest gift that can be given, to grant him the greatest experience and expanse of life. Jesus tells us how this is gained:

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
(John 17:3)

The phrase “eternal life” in this context refers to the greatest possible experience of life. Jesus is speaking here of those who are His, those who have received the gift of eternal life. Now He speaks of the experience and reward of eternal life. And the greatest possible reward comes from knowing God and Jesus whom He sent. Through this experience, an experience no one would choose, God will not only silence Satan, but He will also give this measure of eternal life to Job, as Job will come to know Him in a deeper way (Job 42:5-6).

Job expresses a desire to be delivered forever from my Judge. Job appropriately considers God the Judge of all. In saying my Judge, Job appropriately recognizes that God is both personal as well as unique. He is not “a” judge, He is “the” Judge.

But instead of gaining deliverance, Job will find that God was never punishing or neglecting Job. He was testing Job, but did so in order to demonstrate his faith and give him a great reward of knowing Him. We see in the New Testament that believers should adopt an attitude that trials are for our benefit. James asserts:

“Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.”
(James 1:2)

Job did not and we do not naturally consider “trials” as something to bring us “joy.” And emotionally, this is certainly the case. This verse does not address feelings. Instead it addresses a chosen perspective. We are to “consider it all joy” meaning we are to make a decision based on a chosen perspective about what is true. The reasoning for considering trials to lead to our benefit is because it perfects our walk of faith (James 1:3-4). It is through the walk of faith that we can win the “crown of life” as a great reward (James 1:12).

Every believer will have their deeds judged, to receive rewards for what they have done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10). God is, in fact, the Judge for each of us. We will all stand before Him and no one else. Whatever condemnation we have incurred from others in this life will be of no effect when we stand before Jesus. It is there His refining fire will determine the nature and quality of our deeds, whether or not they endure (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). Those who are determined to be overcomers, having overcome as Jesus overcame, will receive immense rewards, even to the point of sharing Christ’s reign with Him (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26, 3:5, 12, 21).

We can consider that this biblical presentation of Job is allowing us to watch from an angelic perch and see him win his “crown of life.” We will get to see him come to know God in a new way through his great trial. We might pause here and note that all believers are subjects of angelic wonder. As Ephesians 3:10 asserts:

“so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”
(Ephesians 3:10)We see in this verse from Ephesians that the “authorities in the heavenly places” are coming to know the many-faceted (“manifold”) “wisdom of God” through observing “the church” which is the assembly of those who have believed in Jesus. The “authorities in the heavenly places” include God and Satan, who are the primary characters in the opening scenes of Job, in the midst of the other angelic beings referred to as the “sons of God” (Job 1:6-7).

So, just as we are watching Job as an observer in a theater watching a grand drama, the angels are watching us. The experience of Job provides a source of inspiration, that by faith we might make our life’s journey count for eternity. Job was the most important man of the east (Job 1:3). But it was after he lost all his possessions and position that his true greatness was manifest.