Job 14:1-6 — Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such a one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as a hireling, his day.
Job does something I don’t think I’m brave enough to do! He’s prepare to challenge God’s fairness. But he does it in a passage which, to me, is wonderfully beautiful.
“Man that is born of a woman”. Actually, “Adam that is born of a woman”. What a beautiful idea — the only Adam not born of a woman was the first Adam — who lived long. But every other Adam, tainted by original sin, has a limited lifespan.
Man that is born of a woman is frail, ephemeral, and insubstantial. He makes a brave show in the flower of his youth, but soon withers or is cut down. Like a shadow he is changeable and dies as soon as the light of God’s support is removed from him.
“I am so limited,” says Job, “why would you ever even bother to look at me? Why would you bother to prosecute me? Surely I’m not worth the effort, no Adam is”. It seems to me that this is a key moment in Job’s tale. It will be a long time before the story comes to resolution and Job comes to redemption … but this moment when the realization of his littleness and God’s greatness strikes Job feels like a turning point. And Job goes on — “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” It’s a mysterious little question, but it seems a reinforcement of Job’s recognition of his own unworthiness — “Look, knowing me as You do, how could You expect me to be anything but what I am?”
Job is so aware of his limitations. He is not alone amongst the patriarchs in knowing that His days are foreshortened. It’s the base of his proposal that God leave him to live them out in peace.
There’s a sort of Justice, to me, in Job’s plea. There is an imbalance in the forces — God is so great, and we are so small. But the realization has yet to dawn on Job that God has a perfect right to deal with us as He sees fit. This beautiful passage is, as it were, the plains before the higher grounds that Job will realize when He sees that God has a Justice much higher than man’s mere “fairness”.