◄ Job 31:14 ►
what will I do when God rises to judge? How will I answer when called to account?
Study Bible
what will I do
This phrase reflects a deep introspection and self-examination. In the Hebrew context, the word "do" (עָשָׂה, asah) implies action or response. Job is contemplating his actions in light of divine scrutiny. This introspection is a hallmark of wisdom literature, urging believers to consider their deeds and motivations. It challenges us to live with integrity, knowing that our actions are ultimately accountable to God.

when God rises
The imagery of God "rising" (קוּם, qum) is powerful, suggesting a divine intervention or a moment of judgment. In ancient Near Eastern culture, a king rising from his throne was a significant event, often signaling a decision or action. Here, it underscores the authority and sovereignty of God as the ultimate judge. It serves as a reminder of God's active role in the world and His readiness to uphold justice.

to judge
The term "judge" (שָׁפַט, shaphat) is central to understanding God's character as just and righteous. In the biblical context, judgment is not merely punitive but also restorative, aiming to bring about righteousness and order. This reflects the biblical theme that God’s judgments are true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:9). It encourages believers to trust in God's perfect justice, even when human understanding is limited.

How will I answer
This phrase indicates a personal accountability before God. The Hebrew root (עָנָה, anah) for "answer" suggests a response or defense. Job is aware that he must give an account of his life and actions. This is a call for personal responsibility and integrity, urging believers to live in a way that they can confidently stand before God, knowing they have lived according to His statutes.

when called to account
The concept of being "called to account" (פָּקַד, paqad) involves a divine audit of one's life. In the ancient world, this term was often used in administrative contexts, where an overseer would review the work of a steward. Spiritually, it signifies God's thorough and fair examination of our lives. This serves as a sobering reminder of the reality of divine judgment and the importance of living a life that honors God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Job
A man described as blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil. He is the central figure in the Book of Job, known for his immense suffering and unwavering faith.

2. God
The Almighty, who is the ultimate judge of all humanity. In the context of Job, God is the one who allows Job's trials and is the one Job ultimately seeks to understand and please.

3. Judgment
The event or process where God evaluates the actions and hearts of individuals. In Job 31:14, Job is contemplating his accountability before God.
Teaching Points
Accountability Before God
Every believer must recognize their accountability to God. Job's introspection serves as a model for self-examination in light of God's holiness and justice.

The Fear of the Lord
Job's question reflects a healthy fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. This reverence should guide our actions and decisions.

Integrity in Conduct
Job's life exemplifies integrity. Believers are called to live blamelessly, knowing that God sees all and will judge righteously.

Preparation for Judgment
Just as Job considers how he will answer God, Christians should live in a way that prepares them for the day they stand before Him.

Trust in God's Justice
Despite his suffering, Job trusts in God's ultimate justice. Believers can find comfort in knowing that God is just and will make all things right.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Job's reflection on judgment challenge you to examine your own life and actions?

2. In what ways can the fear of the Lord influence your daily decisions and interactions with others?

3. How can you cultivate integrity in your personal and professional life, following Job's example?

4. What steps can you take to prepare yourself for the day you will stand before God and give an account?

5. How does trusting in God's justice help you cope with the injustices and sufferings you face in life?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Ecclesiastes 12:14
This verse speaks about God bringing every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil, which aligns with Job's concern about being accountable to God.

Romans 14:12
This New Testament passage emphasizes that each person will give an account of themselves to God, echoing Job's reflection on personal accountability.

2 Corinthians 5:10
This verse discusses the judgment seat of Christ, where everyone will receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad, reinforcing the theme of divine judgment.
Sermons
The Day of VisitationF. Close, A. M.Job 31:14
The Final Judgment and Ground of AcquittalAdam Gun, A. M.Job 31:14
The Great AccountJohn W. Reeve, M. A.Job 31:14
The Great QuestionGeorge Fish, LL. B.Job 31:14
Guard the SensesGurnall, WilliamJob 31:1-32
Methods of Moral LifeJoseph Parker, D. D.Job 31:1-32
Solemn Assurances of InnocenceE. Johnson Job 31:1-40
The Consciousness of IntegrityR. Green Job 31:1-40
People
Abaddon, Adam, Job
Places
Uz
Topics
Account, Arises, Ariseth, Calls, Inquiry, Inspect, Judge, Makes, Questions, Remembereth, Rises, Riseth, Visited, Visiteth, Visits
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Job 31:14

     5814   confrontation

Job 31:13-14

     5348   injustice, nature and source
     8242   ethics, personal

Job 31:13-15

     5308   equality
     5404   masters

Library
Thou Shalt not Steal.
This Commandment also has a work, which embraces very many good works, and is opposed to many vices, and is called in German Mildigkeit, "benevolence;" which is a work ready to help and serve every one with one's goods. And it fights not only against theft and robbery, but against all stinting in temporal goods which men may practise toward one another: such as greed, usury, overcharging and plating wares that sell as solid, counterfeit wares, short measures and weights, and who could tell all the …
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

Question of the Active Life
I. Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? II. Does Prudence pertain to the Active Life? III. Does Teaching belong to the Active or to the Contemplative Life? IV. Does the Active Life continue after this Life? I Do all Acts of the Moral Virtues come under the Active Life? S. Isidore says[407]: "In the active life all the vices are first of all to be removed by the practice of good works, so that in the contemplative life a man may, with now purified mental gaze, pass to the …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Whether virtue is in us by Nature?
Objection 1: It would seem that virtue is in us by nature. For Damascene says (De Fide Orth. iii, 14): "Virtues are natural to us and are equally in all of us." And Antony says in his sermon to the monks: "If the will contradicts nature it is perverse, if it follow nature it is virtuous." Moreover, a gloss on Mat. 4:23, "Jesus went about," etc., says: "He taught them natural virtues, i.e. chastity, justice, humility, which man possesses naturally." Objection 2: Further, the virtuous good consists …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether after Christ, it was Proper to the Blessed virgin to be Sanctified in the Womb?
Objection 1: It would seem that it was proper for the Blessed Virgin, after Christ, to be sanctified in the womb. For it has been said [4131](A[4]) that the Blessed Virgin was sanctified in the womb, in order that she might be worthy to be the mother of God. But this is proper to her. Therefore she alone was sanctified in the womb. Objection 2: Further, some men seem to have been more closely connected with Christ than Jeremias and John the Baptist, who are said to have been sanctified in the womb. …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Corporal Alms are of More Account than Spiritual Alms?
Objection 1: It would seem that corporal alms are of more account than spiritual alms. For it is more praiseworthy to give an alms to one who is in greater want, since an almsdeed is to be praised because it relieves one who is in need. Now the body which is relieved by corporal alms, is by nature more needy than the spirit which is relieved by spiritual alms. Therefore corporal alms are of more account. Objection 2: Further, an alms is less praiseworthy and meritorious if the kindness is compensated, …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether Confession is According to the Natural Law?
Objection 1: It would seem that confession is according to the natural law. For Adam and Cain were bound to none but the precepts of the natural law, and yet they are reproached for not confessing their sin. Therefore confession of sin is according to the natural law. Objection 2: Further, those precepts which are common to the Old and New Law are according to the natural law. But confession was prescribed in the Old Law, as may be gathered from Is. 43:26: "Tell, if thou hast anything to justify …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether one Can, Without a Mortal Sin, Deny the Truth which Would Lead to One's Condemnation?
Objection 1: It would seem one can, without a mortal sin, deny the truth which would lead to one's condemnation. For Chrysostom says (Hom. xxxi super Ep. ad Heb.): "I do not say that you should lay bare your guilt publicly, nor accuse yourself before others." Now if the accused were to confess the truth in court, he would lay bare his guilt and be his own accuser. Therefore he is not bound to tell the truth: and so he does not sin mortally if he tell a lie in court. Objection 2: Further, just as …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Advanced Christian Reminded of the Mercies of God, and Exhorted to the Exercise of Habitual Love to Him, and Joy in Him.
1. A holy joy in God, our privilege as well as our duty.--2. The Christian invited to the exercise of it.--3. By the consideration of temporal mercies.--4. And of spiritual favors.--5. By the views of eternal happiness.--6. And of the mercies of God to others, the living and the dead.--7. The chapter closes with an exhortation to this heavenly exercise. And with an example of the genuine workings of this grateful joy in God. 1. I WOULD now suppose my reader to find, on an examination of his spiritual …
Philip Doddridge—The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul

Trials of the Christian
AFFLICTION--ITS NATURE AND BENEFITS. The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark afflictions comes a spiritual light. In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God. The end of affliction is the discovery of sin; and of that, to bring us to a Saviour. Doth not God ofttimes even take occasion, by the hardest of things that come upon us, to visit …
John Bunyan—The Riches of Bunyan

The Christian Business World
Scripture references: Proverbs 22:29; Romans 12:11; Psalms 24:1; 50:10-12; Haggai 2:8; Psalm 49:6,10,16,17; 62:10; Matthew 13:22; Mark 10:23,24; Job 31:24-26; Proverbs 3:9; Matthew 25:14-30; 24:45-51; 6:19-21; Luke 12:16-21. THE IDEAL IN THE BUSINESS WORLD There is often a wide difference between the methods actually employed in doing business and when they should be. Good men who are in the thick of the battle of competition and rivalry with other firms in the same line of trade, are the quickest …
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

The Seventh Commandment
Thou shalt not commit adultery.' Exod 20: 14. God is a pure, holy spirit, and has an infinite antipathy against all uncleanness. In this commandment he has entered his caution against it; non moechaberis, Thou shalt not commit adultery.' The sum of this commandment is, The preservations of corporal purity. We must take heed of running on the rock of uncleanness, and so making shipwreck of our chastity. In this commandment there is something tacitly implied, and something expressly forbidden. 1. The …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Tit. 2:06 Thoughts for Young Men
WHEN St. Paul wrote his Epistle to Titus about his duty as a minister, he mentioned young men as a class requiring peculiar attention. After speaking of aged men and aged women, and young women, he adds this pithy advice, "Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded" (Tit. 2:6). I am going to follow the Apostle's advice. I propose to offer a few words of friendly exhortation to young men. I am growing old myself, but there are few things I remember so well as the days of my youth. I have a most …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

Thoughts Upon Worldly-Riches. Sect. Ii.
TIMOTHY after his Conversion to the Christian Faith, being found to be a Man of great Parts, Learning, and Piety, and so every way qualified for the work of the Ministry, St. Paul who had planted a Church at Ephesus the Metropolis or chief City of all Asia, left him to dress and propagate it, after his departure from it, giving him Power to ordain Elders or Priests, and to visit and exercise Jurisdiction over them, to see they did not teach false Doctrines, 1 Tim. i. 3. That they be unblameable in …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

Job
The book of Job is one of the great masterpieces of the world's literature, if not indeed the greatest. The author was a man of superb literary genius, and of rich, daring, and original mind. The problem with which he deals is one of inexhaustible interest, and his treatment of it is everywhere characterized by a psychological insight, an intellectual courage, and a fertility and brilliance of resource which are nothing less than astonishing. Opinion has been divided as to how the book should be …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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