Defending God

Job continues to respond to his friends in chapter 13. Job's friends have reacted with empty words and common idioms to define Job's situation. We accumulate much pithy wisdom over the years; and we are free to dispense of this wisdom to maintain our own comfort and to defend the ideal of God that we wish to hold. Job accuses his friends of "defending" God, as if he needs the words of men for his defense. If Job is correct, the world view of his friends cannot be. Job's experience leads him to a new understanding, but his friends continue to hold fast to "tried and true" idioms that make life more comfortable and understandable if nothing else. In turn, they end up mocking a great and mysterious God in the name of defense.