Lecture 3 — Job cannot struggle against God

^9:11^ Should he come near me, I will not see; if he withdraws, I will not know him.

^9:12^ If he suddenly interrogates someone, who will answer him? Who can say to him, ‘Why are you doing this?’

^9:13^ He is God, whose anger no one can resist. Those who carry the earth bow down before him.

^9:14^ Am I great enough to answer him? And to address him in my own words?

^9:15^ Even if I were somewhat just, I will not answer him at all, but will rather ward off my judge by earnest prayer.

^9:16^ If I appeal to him and he hears my call, I do not believe he will listen to my voice.

^9:17^ For in the storm he will wear me away and even multiply my wounds without cause.

^9:18^ He does not permit my spirit to rest, and he will fill me with bitterness.

^9:19^ If it be a question of strength, he is the strongest; if correctness of judgment, no one dares to bear witness on my behalf.

^9:20^ If I want to justify myself, my own mouth will condemn me. If I show myself innocent, he will prove me wicked.

^9:21^ Even if I am simple, my soul will not know this and I will be weary of life.

161. Should he come near me, I will not see. Because blessed Job wished to affirm that he does not desire to argue with God, he showed the depth of the wisdom of God in natural things using many examples. Now, however, he wishes to show the profundity of the divine wisdom in human affairs.

Note here that three things pertain to the governor of human affairs.

The first is that he should dispense the precepts of justice and other benefits to those subject to him;

The second is that he should examine the acts of his subjects;

and the third is that he should subject those whom he finds guilty to punishments. In these three things he shows the immense profundity of divine power.

First, because he provides his benefits so deeply and with such finesse for his subjects that it cannot be grasped even by those who receive them. He addresses this theme when he continues, should he come near me, I will not see; if he withdraws, I will not know him. Note that in the Scriptures, God is said to come near to man when he bestows his benefits on him, either by illuminating his intelligence, exciting his love, or bestowing any kind of good on him. So Isaiah says, our God himself will come and save us (Isa 35:4).

On the other hand, God is said to withdraw from man when he withdraws his gifts or his protection from him. The Psalm says, why, O Lord, do you stand afar off? Why do you despise me in opportunities, in trial? (Ps 9:22). Now it happens that God sometimes permits trials or even some spiritual defects to happen to some, to obtain their salvation, as Romans says, all things work together for the good of those who love God (Rom 8:28). In this way, God comes to man to obtain his salvation, and yet man does not see him because he cannot perceive his kindness. On the contrary, God does not take away his manifest gifts from many men, and yet they turn them to their own destruction. So God is said to go away from man in the sense that man does not understand that he withdraws from him. Therefore, the depth of the divine wisdom appears in the dispensation of his gifts.

162. Second, the depth of divine wisdom is shown in the examination of human acts, because he so acutely and efficaciously scrutinizes them that no one can escape his examination through any sort of craftiness. He says this next, if he suddenly interrogates someone, who will answer him? God interrogates man when he leads him to examine his conscience, either by inspiring him interiorly or provoking him exteriorly, with rewards and punishments. As the Psalm says, God interrogates the just and the unjust (Ps 10:6). But man would sufficiently answer God when nothing was found in him which could justly be censured by God. This happens to no man in this life, as Proverbs says, who can say: my heart is clean; I am pure from sin! (Prov 20:9). He says clearly, if he suddenly interrogates someone, because if a space of time is given to man to respond, he can wash his sins away by repentance. For at times, it happens that someone is found remiss when he is examining the excesses of others, and is afraid that his own excesses will be examined by others in the same way. But God does not fear this so that he becomes easy‑going in the examination. For he has no superior who can judge his deeds, and so the question is added, who can say to him: why are you doing this, to chastise him.

163. Third, the depth of the divine wisdom is shown in the punishment of the guilty, because no cunning tactics or power can avoid the vengeance of God, wherever a man turns; as the Psalm says, where can I flee from your spirit, or where can I hide from your face? (Ps 138:7) He addresses this theme, saying, he is God, whose anger no one can resist. For anger, as attributed to God in the Scriptures, does not mean a movement of the soul, but vengeance. Consequently, he proves this, saying, those who carry the earth bow down before him. Those who carry the earth mean the celestial spirits, through whose ministry God divinely procures the good of the whole material universe, according to Augustine in De Trinitate (III, 4). These celestial spirits bow down before God because they obey him in everything, as the Psalm says, bless the Lord, all you his angels, his ministers who do his will (Ps 102:20). Since the angels obey God, it is clear that the whole course of corporeal things, administered by the angels, is subject to the divine will. So no creature can aid man fleeing from the divine vengeance; as the Psalm says, if I climb the heavens, you are there; if I descend to hell, you are there (Ps 138:8), and even more clearly, in Wisdom, the whole universe will fight with him against the foolish (Wis 5:21). The kings and princes of the earth who bow down before God can also be understood to be those who carry the world, according to Proverbs, kings rule through me (Prov 8:15), or, because even kings themselves cannot resist divine anger, from this he could conclude the same from the major about other things.

164. Therefore, after he has shown in many ways the immensity of the divine power, and the depth of the divine wisdom, he draws the conclusion to the proposition, namely that his intention is not to argue with God. He explains this when he says, am I great enough, as powerful and wise as possible, to answer him, that is, to answer the most powerful and most wise God when he interrogates me, and to address him in my own words. This means by examining his deeds and saying, why do you do this? (Job 9:12) as if to say, “I am not sufficient to argue with God, for argument consists in answering and making objections.” Sometimes, although one is not powerful or wise, he is still not afraid to argue with a judge, because of the security of his conscience. But Job excludes this reason for disputing with God from his case when he says, even if I were somewhat just, I could not answer him at all, with God examining me in defense of my own justice, but will rather ward off my judge by earnest prayer, not asking for justice, but for mercy. He says clearly, even if I were somewhat just, to show the uncertainly of human justice by using the words, even if I were. As St. Paul says, I have nothing on my conscience, but I am not justified in this (1 Cor 4:4). To show that the justice of man is insignificant and imperfect when related to the divine testing of it, he says, somewhat, following Isaiah, all our just deeds, in his sight, are like polluted cloth (Isa 64:6).

165. He shows the consequence of his prayer for pardon when he says, if I appeal to him and he hears my call, I do not believe that he would hear my words. For God sometimes does not hear someone’s prayer according to what he wishes, but according to what actually succeeds. Just like a doctor does not hear the plea of the sick man who asks him to take the bitter medicine away (if the doctor does not remove the remedy he knows to be health inducing, he nevertheless hears the actual advantage of the plea of the patient, because he induces the health, which the sick person greatly desires), God does not take away trials from a man set down in the midst of trial even though he prays for mercy, because he knows that trials are useful to final salvation. Thus, although God truly heeds him, nevertheless the man who set down in the midst of miseries does not believe that he is heard. He shows why he does not believe he is heard when he says, for in the storm, he will wear me away.

As is his custom, he now explains what he has said metaphorically, saying, and even multiply wounds without cause. To wear away is to multiply wounds, that is, trials. This wearing away is in the storm, in terrifying darkness, which he has said is without cause, namely, which is not clear and understood by the man who is afflicted. For if an afflicted man should understand the reason why God afflicts him, and that the afflictions are useful to his salvation, clearly he would believe that his prayer had been heard. But because he does not understand this, he does not believe that his prayer has been heard. So he not only suffers exteriorly but also interiorly, like an invalid, who does not know that he will achieve health from a bitter cure, would not only suffer from the bad taste, but also in his spirit. He continues, he will not permit my spirit to rest, for a spirit rests, although the flesh is afflicted, because of the hope of an end to the affliction, according to what the Lord teaches in Matthew, blessed are you when they utter evil against you, and later rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven (Matt 5:11–12). So when I am struck down exteriorly and I do not rest interiorly, he fills me with bitterness, interiorly and exteriorly.

166. Note that in the text, if I appealed to him and he hears my call (Job 9:16), he evidently has explained what he had said above in a more metaphorical way, should he come near me, I will not see (Job 9:11). For one should observe nearly always in the statements of Job, that things said in metaphor are clarified in subsequent texts. What he had said above in brief and summary fashion, am I great enough to answer him (Job 9:14), he explains in the next text in a more extended way, where he also assigns the reason why he does not answer, but rather, entreats his judge for mercy. Someone may answer a judge boldly for two reasons.

First, if the judge is a weak one, who cannot coerce the subject. He shows this is not the case here, saying, if it be a question of strength, namely, in God to coerce his subjects, he is the strongest, because he exceeds all strength.

Second, someone boldly responds to a judge because he has confidence in his case. This happens sometimes because he has many witnesses to testify on his behalf. But he shows that this is also not the case here when he says, if correctness of judgment, is required that someone is absolved by having many witnesses in his favor, no one dares to bear witness on my behalf. In fact, the intellect of man does not conceive that the justice of man could be greater than the truth of God which contradicts him.

Sometimes, however, although a man has no other witnesses to speak on his behalf, he is still confident in his case because he trusts in the testimony of his own conscience. Yet even the witness of conscience cannot prevail for men against the contrary accusation of God. He shows this in several degrees.

The testimony of conscience has three levels, the highest of which is when one’s conscience wants to render testimony that he is just, as Romans says: the spirit himself renders testimony to our spirit that we are sons of God (Rom 8:16). But this witness cannot stand fast against divine censure. He therefore says, if I should want to justify myself, that is, if I want to say that I am just, when God instead is objecting that I am unjust, my own mouth will condemn me, for it will render me worthy of condemnation for blasphemy.

The second level is when someone, although he does not presume that he is just, still does not find fault with himself in his conscience for some sin, as Corinthians says, my conscience convicts me of nothing (1 Cor 4:4).

But this witness cannot stand against God either, and so he says, if I show myself innocent, that is, if I want to show that I am without sin, he will prove me wicked, in that he will show sins, of which I am not conscious, to myself and others. For the Psalm says, who understands his crimes? (Ps 18:13).

The third degree is when someone, although he might be interiorly conscious of sin, still takes for granted either that he had no evil intention or that he did not do it from malice and deceit, but from ignorance and weakness. But this testimony also does not stand for man against God. So he says, if I am simple, without the deceit and duplicity of a depraved intention, my soul will not know this. For man is unable to discern the fluid motion of his affection, both because of its variation and the mingling and impulse of many passions. Because of this, Jeremiah says, the heart of man is wicked and inscrutable. Who will understand it? (Jer 27:9). It is because of the ignorance of these sorts of things that man knows neither himself nor his state, and life is rendered wearisome, even to the just. So he says, and I will be weary of life.