Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
Job's words are a plea for God to remove the rod of affliction from him and to stop terrifying him with fear. That plea stands within Job's answer to his friends, in which he maintains that afflictions are not proof of sin. It belongs to the poetic debate with his friends over the cause and purpose of human suffering.
That debate takes up the great problems that have perplexed humanity through all ages, of an overruling providence, and of sin and suffering. The book presents Job as a real man undergoing trial. At the time he speaks these words God is disciplining him and bringing him through the fire of affliction.
In that setting his three friends charge him with sin and declare that his sufferings are because of sin. Their general claims about suffering are misapplied to his case. His plea therefore shows that affliction is not proof of sin, and illustrates how humanity misjudges its fellows.
Job's words are a plea for God to remove the rod of affliction from him and to stop terrifying him with fear. That plea stands within Job's answer to his friends, in which he maintains that afflictions are not proof of sin. It belongs to the poetic debate with his friends over the cause and purpose of human suffering.
That debate takes up the great problems that have perplexed humanity through all ages, of an overruling providence, and of sin and suffering. The book presents Job as a real man undergoing trial. At the time he speaks these words God is disciplining him and bringing him through the fire of affliction.
In that setting his three friends charge him with sin and declare that his sufferings are because of sin. Their general claims about suffering are misapplied to his case. His plea therefore shows that affliction is not proof of sin, and illustrates how humanity misjudges its fellows.