Main news for 1 February 2025

No one, Job least of all, doubts that God is stronger than man. But the issue is not power, but truth. If God is only power and nothing more, then He is no longer God, but a tyrant on a cosmic scale. Job cannot believe in such a thing. And he asks God a direct question: what am I guilty of before You? Job is sure that if the trial were honest, he would win it, because he is a righteous man.

Job does not doubt his righteousness. For him, righteousness is still limited by traditional religious boundaries, and within those boundaries he really has nothing with which to reproach himself. For that reason he is ready to go to court even with God, if such a thing were possible, because the truth is on his side. This is precisely what Job demands from God: if not a trial, then at least an explanation. Up to now God has only silently struck him blow after blow, explaining nothing and bringing no charges. But that is how a tyrant may act; a just king does not punish his subjects without guilt and without trial.

So Job demands from God exactly a trial, not punishment without judgment. He says to God: if You are truly a just Judge, then let us examine my case. I am not running away from You like the wicked. I am ready to stand before You. Incidentally, Job says the same thing in his own defense to his friends: if I were a sinner, would I seek God's judgment? Job is truly confident in his righteousness. And he wants God to confirm that righteousness.

It is not so important to him how long he lives on earth. What matters to him is that his righteousness not be lost before God. And if he is not righteous after all, but a sinner, and his friends are right, then let God confirm that too. Human words alone are not enough for Job. Then let God Himself show Job where he is wrong and how he has sinned. Then everything will fall into place, and Job will know what to do next. He wants only one thing: clarity and certainty. And not human clarity, but God's.