Jim Gallagher

Job 40:8

“Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?”

When Job’s counselors accused him of wrong, he began to justify himself before them. They claimed he was a sinner, so he declared his righteousness. As this argument continued to develop, Job’s justification began to cast blame upon God. If Job was innocent, then God must be wrong for allowing these things to happen to him. Perhaps this was the earliest development of the accusation we offer hear today, “how could God allow bad things to happen to good people.”

God responds to this by pointing out that Job’s defense is really a form of accusation against the nature of God. This is not uncommon. The children of Israel did it in the wilderness when they accused Moses of leading them out of Egypt to die in the wild. The apostles did…