Job 13:20 Commentary and Bible Study

Job pleads to be allowed to come before God and present his case, only he knows that there are two things that would prevent him. What he is asking for is something extraordinary, something denied man in his normal experience, for ordinarily it is impossible for mortal man to come into God’s presence without being consumed. He therefore asks God to make special arrangements for him. Only given these two conditions would Job be able to converse with God, otherwise he would have to hide himself from the presence of God. The Lord later answers this prayer and appears before him in a vision but without overwhelming him, but, even so, Job does not understand what he is asking. He imagines that if these two conditions were met, he would still wish to proceed with his defence, but as is made evident later the presence of God is sufficient to change his mind about all this, and in spite of being given the opportunity he never actually presents his case to God. There is so much that we think we understand that we do not understand, and the presence of God and the revelation of God are the corrective to all our false notions.