Those Who Carry God In Their Hand (Job 12:1-25)

Up to this point Job has been restrained in his response to his friends. But in this speech Job is so upset that he begins his reply with an unmistakable tone of sarcasm.

12:1 Then Job responded, 2 “Truly then you are the people, And with you wisdom will die! 3 “But I have intelligence as well as you; I am not inferior to you. And who does not know such things as these?

The Message puts verse 2 this way, "I’m sure you speak for all the experts, and when you die there’ll be no one left to tell us how to live.” Hartley writes, “They think themselves to be the only people with whom wisdom resides, so much so that when they die the world’s storehouse of wisdom will be depleted.”

12:4 “I am a joke to my friends, the one who called on God and He answered him; the just and blameless man is a joke. 5 “He who is at ease holds calamity in contempt, as prepared for those whose feet slip. 6 The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.”

In Job’s day the worst possible disgrace was to become an object of public scorn, ridicule or mockery. Again notice how Eugene Price paraphrases this verse in the Message, "I’m ridiculed by my friends: ‘So that’s the man who had conversations with God!’ Ridiculed without mercy: ‘Look at the man who never did wrong!’” The “just and blameless man…” seems to allude back to chapter one – “There was a man in the land of Uz who was blameless…” Perhaps as people gathered ‘round the cappuccino machine at work in the land of Uz, they would derisively say, “Hey, you wanna go down to the Ash Heap tomorrow and see how “Mr. Integrity” is doing?”

Verse 5 is interesting. The King James has it this way, “He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.” What does it mean, “…is as a lamp despised?” I will summarize what Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (JFB) say on this point: Travelers and wanderers would use a torch to guide their uncertain footsteps through the darkness. But once the torch burned out and they came to their place of rest, they would contemptuously cast aside the torchlight. And so with Job. His torchlight wisdom was such that it provided many with guidance through the darkness of life. But because his light has burned dim (no doubt smothered by maggots), Job’s counsel is contemptuously cast aside. Barnes writes, “When the torch was blazing, it was regarded as of value; when nearly extinguished, it would be regarded as worthless, and would be cast away. So when a man was in prosperity, he would be looked up to as a guide and example. In adversity, his counsels would be rejected, and he would be looked upon with contempt.”

We will look at verse 6 in just a moment.

12:7 “But now ask the beasts, and let them teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. 8 Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; and let the fish of the sea declare to you. 9 Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this, 10 In whose hand is the life of every living thing, And the breath of all mankind? 11 Does not the ear test words, as the palate tastes its food? 12 Wisdom is with aged men, with long life is understanding. 13 With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding.

In a Dr. Doolittle fashion, Job recommends that Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar talk to the animals! Ask Beast, Bird and Fish what they think about Ash Heap Man and why he is in such an awful state. The conclusions of BB&F Inc might be more profound then the conclusions of EB&Z Inc!

In verses 14-25 (which I have placed at the end of the article) notice these phrases about the immensity of GOD (mostly in His dealings with the “strong” or the “wise” or the “secure” or the “mighty”):

He tears down
He imprisons
He restrains
He sends out
He makes them walk barefoot
He makes fools of judges
He loosens and binds kings
He overthrows
He deprives
He takes away
He pours contempt
He reveals mysteries
He brings deep darkness into light
He makes great
He destroys
He enlarges
He leads
He deprives
He makes them wander
He makes them stagger

FI Anderson writes, “Here Job shows himself to be a more honest observer, a more exuberant thinker, than the friends. The mind reels at the immensity of his conception of God. The little deity in the theology of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar is easily thought and easily believed. But a faith like Job’s puts the human spirit to strenuous work.” The question is then, “What is our conception of God in the midst of our problems and peril?”

Which brings us back to verse 6. And notice particularly the last part of the verse, “The tents of marauders are undisturbed, and those who provoke God are secure—those who carry their god in their hands.” The end of the verse can be interpreted a couple of different ways but I like how the New International Version puts it, “…those who carry god in their hands.” Ancient travelers (the marauders and provokers in verse 6) would carry with them a pocket sized idol. I imagine that before they backed the camel out of the garage they would double check their list of stuff to bring. “Let’s see, I got my credit cards, I got my sword, I got my cell phone, I got my camel food. And I….hey honey! I forgot my god! Would you mind getting him for me? He’s sitting on the top shelf in my closet.”

We can chuckle at that, but though we may sing the chorus, “God is an Awesome God,” in actuality we can sometimes just be “carrying god in our hand.” We want Him around for weddings and funerals, but otherwise…well, let’s just keep Him in the closet. And we have flow-charted and figured out and shrunk down El-Shaddai to such a degree that rarely is there a Sunday in our churches where God shows up in Awesome Majesty! There should be a clause in our bulletins (right after the order of service) that reads, “In the event that God shows up today, we will immediately dispense with our liturgy...and fall on our faces in fear and trembling."

In actuality, the “I’ve Got God All Figured Out” theology” of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar is a result of the shrinkage of their God in their heart and mind (the "little deity" syndrome mentioned by FI Anderson above).

The book of Job is moving inexorably toward chapter 37 and verse 22, "Out of the north comes golden splendor; around God is awesome majesty.” When that happens the little deities in the minds of the Comforters will vanish. We should pray that the little deities set up in our hearts and minds should vanish also.

12:14 “Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release. 15 Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; and He sends them out, and they inundate the earth. 16 With Him are strength and sound wisdom, the misled and the misleader belong to Him. 17 He makes counselors walk barefoot and makes fools of judges. 18 He loosens the bond of kings and binds their loins with a girdle. 19 He makes priests walk barefoot and overthrows the secure ones. 20 He deprives the trusted ones of speech and takes away the discernment of the elders. 21 He pours contempt on nobles and loosens the belt of the strong. 22 He reveals mysteries from the darkness and brings the deep darkness into light. 23 He makes the nations great, and then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away. 24 He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people and makes them wander in a pathless waste. 25 They grope in darkness with no light; And He makes them stagger like a drunken man.”