Job 9:32

For God is not a man like me,

   Whom I could answer,

      That we might go to court together.

 

I grew up with dogs. Jeffer’s Boy was the official name of my dog Butch. One of the worst days/moments of my life was seeing him die. I never wanted another pet, and until my mom died, I held fast. Now we have two cats. I secretly told myself I would only ever get another poodle like Butch, so this switch to cats has been drastically different from my expectations. As my wife says, “Cats are not dogs.”

One source had “mortal” in place of “man”, but the gap is much less about the fact we can die that we simply are not like God. “A man like me” was also “a man, as I am”. This is probably a more fundamentally correct translation, but the meaning seemed the same, and the flow felt better.

“Whom I could answer” was also “that I might answer Him” with variations on “might” that included “may”, “should”, “can”, and “could”. One source had “challenge” rather than answer. I prefer the concept of challenge, but answer felt the better reverential option.

“Court” was “trial”, “law”, and “judgement”. “Together” was also “confront”. There were also many differences in “might go” that all meant about the same thing. The difference between a man and God led me to use together, and I just preferred court.

God is not a man. This phrase is fundamental to understanding that our minds cannot fathom who God truly is. We were simply made in His image, but only to be a man. As I read a commentary about a verse in Job, there was backlash on translating a word based on the fact that a man could not have milk in his breasts like a woman. I could see the outcome in several of my sources and laughed. The milk was not milk and the breasts were not breasts, but the topic was definitely parts that only men have and a white fluid they produce. It was almost comical that “biblical scholars” could so miss the point. This age of trying to not offend anyone is the fulfillment of Ray Bradberry’s Fahrenheit 451 and causing even those who should know better to miss the point of God’s Word.

I read in a daily devotional a line that made me think. It said that people would not drive past a dead body, but that they would drive past a dead animal. My first thought was that if the body was dead, why would you stop? A dead body is an empty shell and no different a part of nature than an animal carcass. A human body on the side of the road is different. You cannot know they are dead (mostly), and the drive to stop is to help them and to help your fellow man. But the story of the good Samaritan confirms that people pass by others on the side of the road all the time. Some people get out of their cars to try, and help injured animals.

The basis for this statement was wrong, but the intent to show that we should treat others better than animals is correct. But the difference is huge. What we should do and how we sin are the difference in all we do. Man sins. God does not. There is no common ground on this issue. Only the work of God can allow us to come together, and it is not to challenge or stand beside God, but to worship God. I love the song “I can only imagine” because it confirms this reality that we are so minor when compared to the awesomeness of God. I do not want to be “like” God, I only want to worship Him.

(Witten 10/1, Posted 10/25, Job 204)