I don't watch violent movies. And yet, reading the Bible can feel like that sometimes. The way Job describes being violently attacked by God is horrifying. But we need to hear it if we are to understand the sufferings of Christ and the trials of believers.

In Job 16:2-5, Job says two remarkable things. First, he calls his friends ″miserable comforters″ (v. 2) –they come to bring comfort but actually make him more miserable! Job's friends have no gospel of grace. Second, and very surprisingly, he says that if they were suffering, he would actually comfort and encourage these same friends (v. 5). When someone is a real believer, they not only long for God's comfort, but also yearn to bring that comfort to others (see 2 Corinthians 1:4).

In Job 16:7-14, Job tells us what it feels like to be under the wrath of God. As we read these words, we should meditate on their ultimate fulfilment in the sufferings of Jesus Christ.

Job's deepest suffering is not his bankruptcy, nor the loss of his children, nor even the disintegration of his own health, but the hostility of God. For Job cares more about God than anything else. What hurts most is not just that he is worn out, that his household has been devastated, and that he himself is now all shrivelled up and gaunt, but it is also that God has done all these things (vv. 7-8). God has attacked him in a deeply personal and desperately violent way (v. 9). Socially, this means that Job has been handed over to wicked people who jeer and scorn him (vv. 10-11). God is like a cruel army general leading His troops against Job in wave after wave of violent attack (vv. 12-14).

Job is sure he is innocent (v. 17). In verses 18-21, he voices an extraordinary cry of faith. Echoing the blood of righteous Abel crying out from the ground for justice (Genesis 4:10), he cries to God for a ″witness″ in heaven who will intercede for him, who will mediate (see Job 9:33). This witness must be God (for no other witness would have sufficient authority) and must intercede with God. The fulfilment of Job's longing must wait until Jesus Christ comes as that Mediator.