JOB 38-39
GOD ANSWERS JOB
Who is this
that questions My wisdom
with such ignorant words?
—Job 38:2
The old man flipped the page forward again. “Remember how I mentioned the interlude was a calm before the storm? Well, here God is introduced as answering Job ‘from the whirlwind,’ which I’ll talk more about shortly,” said the man, looking down to read:
Who is this that questions My wisdom with such ignorant words?456
Brace yourself like a man.
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.457
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know so much.458
Who marked off its dimensions?
Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?459
What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?460
Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
I said, “This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!”461
Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?462
The earth takes shape like clay under a seal,
its features stand out like those of a garment.463
The light disturbs the wicked
and stops the arm that is raised in violence.464
Have you traveled to the sources of the sea
or walked in the depths of the oceans?465
Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?466
Have you understood the expanse of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.467
Where does light come from,
and where does darkness go?
Can you take each to its home?
Do you know how to get there?
Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!468
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?469
Where is the path to the source of light?
Where is the home of the east wind?470
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?471
Does the rain have a father?
Who gives birth to the dew?472
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?473
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?474
Can you direct the sequence of the seasons
or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
Do you know the laws of the universe?
Can you use them to regulate the earth?475
Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?476
Can you make lightning appear
and cause it to strike as you direct?477
Who gives intuition to the heart
and instinct to the mind?478
Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?479
The man looked up and said, “Well? What do you think so far?”
The boy let out a long sigh. “Maybe I don’t understand it yet, but quite honestly, I find it a bit disappointing. Seems like this is just a sympathy play. Like all day long, millions of people are crying out, ‘Why am I suffering, God?’ and finally, God just snaps and says, ‘Look how complicated this shit is! Why don’t you give it a shot, Mr. Smarty-pants.’”
The man stroked his beard as he thought about it. “Let’s break it down from my perspective and see how you feel. Is that fair?”
“Take it away,” said the boy, offering his palm toward the man.
The man cleared his throat and began. “For many chapters, Job and his friends have been going back and forth on theoretical contemplation of the nature of God, but it seems the wisdom of the ancients has been spent, and the mystery remains. But then, from the whirlwind, these men get to experience the presence of God Himself. I suppose it’s a bit like arguing over what the photo of some juice might taste like and then sipping down a glass of the nectar for yourself.”
“Mhm,” said the boy. “And what’s with the whirlwind? Was a hurricane supposed to scare Job back in line or something?”
“Good question,” said the man. “We see other Old Testament examples of God appearing in storm-like conditions when the time comes for battle against a foe, to drive back chaos and restore order for His chosen people. I’m glad you brought it up, though, because there’s an important connection between the storm and God’s salvation of those who trust in Him that’s easy to miss without context. You might think of this here as God appearing dressed in armor, ready to go to war against Satan on Job’s behalf.”
The boy squinted his eyes. “Are you sure God’s not preparing for battle with Job, seeing as how Job was the one opposing Him for the last thirty chapters? I think if God was going to battle Satan, He would have done so in Heaven before this whole thing started. You make it sound like God is going to war for Job when He was the one who allowed Satan to attack Job in the first place.”
The old man chuckled. “No, no, no, my dear boy. Contrary to Job’s complaints about God, God’s appearance here is to show He’s ready to go to battle for Job, as his Savior against the divine forces He’ll describe shortly. This is a very hopeful sign for a servant who’s been dominated by darkness as of late. Just be patient, and you’ll see how things unfold.”
The boy squinted his eyes even more. “I’d argue that this is going exactly how Job said it would. Didn’t he say that God attacks him like a warrior, and now here comes God, dressed in armor, screaming, ‘Booga, booga!’”
The man raised an eyebrow. “These are the most valuable words in the book, my boy. Let’s treat them with care, shall we?”
“In the book of Job or the Bible?”
“Exactly,” said the man. “Besides, that’s not the tone in which God addresses Job at all. He—”
“So God arranged an attack on Job so He could swoop down and appear as his savior? That’s like if you threw a kitten down a well when no one was looking so you could rescue it with a witness. Or if you hired someone to kidnap your friend so you could ‘save’ them later as the hero. If what you’re saying is true, it’s strange to say the least.”
The old man sighed. “Let’s examine what God says to give us a better insight into what’s going on here.” With that, the man looked down and read the beginning again:
Who is this that questions My wisdom with such ignorant words?
Brace yourself like a man.
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
“These words are not meant to be cruel but rather to stop Job in his tracks. Job seems to need a refresher on who’s in charge here, so God’s first words are, ‘I’ll be the one asking questions, Job.’ Job has become a tad arrogant in defending himself for so long among friends, so the Lord first makes it clear He won’t be submitting to whatever cross-examination Job had in mind. He puts Job back on his heels and prepares him for an inquiry into whether Job even has the qualifications to question God.
“Overall, though, I’d say this is a fairly mild opening considering the accusations Job was throwing around. And while it’s difficult to read tone in written text, one might even argue there’s a hint of pride in this righteous servant who’s persevered in his relationship with God, despite the degree of challenges he’s faced.”
“Okay, you’re coming out of left field with that one,” said the boy. “I’m stickin’ with the booga-booga theory here, considering the thunder and lightning bolts or whatever.”
“Let’s keep in mind the position Job has put the Lord in first,” said the man. “If He allows Job the chance to lead an interrogation, He disparages Himself as the sovereign Lord by having to explain Himself to a mortal. What’s worse is that if God were unable to explain Himself for whatever reason, then Job would have created a scenario in which the Creator becomes less worthy of worship in the eyes of His creation. A lose-lose for everyone.
“But let’s also remember that God’s power was never in debate here. Job has spoken about being intimidated by God already, long before God appeared in the storm. If God were coming down to scare a man that already fears him, well, there’s no real point to His speech because it wouldn’t differ from the ones in the previous dialogue. God’s sternness in His challenge implies no hostility or condescension, but rather tells Job to brace himself as a worthy participant in the coming speech. His response also acknowledges no sin on Job’s part that would explain the suffering of the early chapters, so whatever the reason might have been for suffering, the ordeal was no punishment by God. In doing this, God relieves Job of his friend’s accusations while also sparing Himself the potentially awkward situation I described. A win-win for both, you might say.”
“Well,” said the boy, “as much of a win-win as there can be when your entire family gets killed. It’s kind of ironic how God comes down within the same force of nature that wiped out all his kids. Lot of whirlwinds touching down in Uz these days. But to me, there’s an underlying message like, ‘Hey, pal. I just killed your whole family by blowing your son’s house down. Keep talkin’ smack and see what happens to you.’ I don’t get how you’re reading into a nice and gentle God comforting Job when it seems like God is almost exactly how Job described throughout the whole debate.
“And what’s the point of all this anyway, taking Job on a tour of the sun and stars and stuff? Job questions whether or not God is fair, and God says, ‘Look over there! Something shiny!’ This feels like the Wizard of Oz pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-curtain scene. If God didn’t allow Satan to kill all the animals, we’d probably have had a little Toto pulling back the curtain right now.”
The man shook his head. “If that were true, the book of Job would be far less comforting than readers would hope for. When God allows suffering, honest questions would seem to provoke only defensiveness or evasive maneuvers on His part. And while I can see why things like, ‘Surely you know, for you were already born,’ might be read as sarcasm, the vast majority of God’s dialogue consists of questions that soften the tone. Straightforward statements would have made the speech much harsher if that’s what was intended.”
“What are you, stupid?” said the boy. “How could you read it that way? And you consider yourself smart?”
The man’s eyes widened with disbelief, but the boy returned his expression with a smile.
“So you agree asking questions can be harsh?” said the boy.
The man’s expression fell flat again. “Very funny, punk.”
“You see what I mean, though? ‘Who the hell is this questioning Me? Can you make it rain? Can you make lightning appear? Can you guide the Bear across the sky? Surely you can, as you’ve lived so many years and all, punk!’ That’s how I’m reading into it. Something more like, ‘I don’t need the advice of ignorant mortals on how to run the world any more than I needed their help creating it.’”
The man shook his head again. “No, no, no. I believe the questions here are meant to draw Job in, to participate in the knowledge the questions are meant to provoke, to help the student grow, to pass on the wisdom of the Master. Verbiage inclined to embarrassed Job would be more effective in rubbing his nose in it, if that’s what God really wanted. ‘So what are the dimensions of the earth, Mr. Smarty-pants?’ is different than ‘Who marked off its dimensions, Job? Surely you know.’ The latter intentionally points toward the Creator, to evoke his awe, not prove his ignorance.
“If God’s intention was to win an argument in front of Job’s friends, He would have done so. But by asking questions that remind Job of something he already knew, they’re far from humiliating Job with sarcasm. These questions draw him closer to God, as opposed to pushing him away. In other words, God is the answer Job’s looking for.”
The boy nodded quietly.
“We haven’t seen all of God’s speech yet,” said the man. “He won’t reveal the answer to the great mystery in the beginning here, but I don’t think you’re grasping the significance this foundation lays for the rest of the dialogue. Here, the Creator of Heaven and Earth paints a poetic image of the complexities behind the scenes of creation. Only superhuman intellect could fathom the intricate scope and power that went into His design. More of your questions will be answered as we break down the speech in its entirety, but for now, there are a few important things to note about God’s early words.
“First is His mention of the sea, a symbol of chaos and a source of flood-like destruction for people of the ancient world. It’s not hard to imagine that they looked upon it with awe and wondered if there was an end to its depths or bounds. God assures Job that He’s locked its power behind bars, that its proud waves will impede no further upon land to swallow up creation. Something humanity couldn’t do for themselves. This, of course, is God pointing out the order that He set within an otherwise chaotic nature. His self-portrayal appears in stark contrast to the cosmic destroyer Job accused Him of being, as the protector of order who retrains chaos behind bars and limitations.”
The boy nodded slowly. “That’s a fair point. It’s easy to read things from today’s point of view, with images of the earth from space and the ocean from submarines or whatever, but from the point of view of an ancient guy in the sand looking out into the abyss, he’s wondering what kinds of creatures live out there after a giant squid or dead whale washes up to shore. I can see how the sea might have been a terrifying mystery.”
“Exactly, my boy. Exactly. We must put ourselves in Job’s shoes to understand what he would have learned from God. Like when God goes on to describe daylight spreading across the earth to bring an end to night’s wickedness. This is another example of what the world would have represented to Job in a time without streetlights and lanterns. Night was a time when humans wandering from campfires were susceptible to predators, like big cats, or any other sharp-fanged creature that goes prowling through the night.”
The boy gave a nod. “Literal monsters that could eat you. I see what you’re saying.”
“Chaos,” said the man. “Until God restored order every morning when He commanded the dawn to rise. This was God pointing out to Job that although He created a world that includes chaos, He also brings order. Order which anyone can see for themselves. Order which Job seems to have forgotten about when accusing God of being a tyrant in a dark and sinister world.”
The boy went on nodding, so the man continued talking.
“This wasn’t some mystery God revealed in His early speech, but more of a reminder for Job to look at the world as a whole, outside of his limited perspective. In this same vein is God’s reminder of how He waters uninhabited land to make grass sprout in a desolate wasteland. To me, this shows how Job is not the center of God’s universe. God explains that He has a whole world to care for, even desolate corners that Job has never seen or considered.”
“On that note,” said the boy, “I noticed there isn’t a single line that even implies humanity is the center of God’s universe. Are you sure this isn’t a form of God shooting down Job’s complaint about a lack of justice by saying human ideals aren’t even a concern for God? That He’s too busy watering the grass of a wasteland to bother with fair treatment of people?”
The man stared at the boy. “You really are a glass-half-empty kind of guy, aren’t you?”
“Well, maybe if the author was a little less vague in their writing, we might actually have a clear message. We don’t know if God’s angry or gentle, scolding Job or sharing wisdom. It’s not my fault these people couldn’t put together a compelling story.”
The man shook his head with a smile. “Maybe it’s a little of both. And maybe this style is by design.” The boy rolled his eyes. “And maybe God sharing how He makes the desert habitable isn’t a show of indifference towards humanity, but rather a display of His greater goodness, to counter the sweeping generalizations Job made about Him being an immoral dictator who allows the wicked to overrun the earth. What we have here is God making the point to show Job that both chaos and order exist in His world, and that sometimes there’s darkness in the light, and other times there’s rain in the desert.”
“I suppose so,” said the boy. “But this doesn’t exactly comfort Job about his situation.”
“No,” said the man, “but it does humble Job into seeing that God cares for all of His world equally, and that the world is not a perfect paradise but rather a place that contains disorder, and Job is no exception to receiving special treatment in this world God created. If God were to explicitly address his care for Job alone, it would be something like a parent trying to pacify a child throwing a tantrum. And God could not declare a reward system for his faithful servants because doing so would align His speech uncomfortably close to that of the friends.
“After considering Job’s presumptions about how the universe should be run according to his own theory of justice, God humbles Job with questions like, ‘Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the Earth?’ His point is to make Job reconsider the assumption that his perspective is wide enough to question God at all, and reassure Job that God has His eye on every complex corner of the universe. Job’s perspective of an unjust rule needs to be seen from an infinitely larger context, which I think we should all keep in mind when questioning the Almighty.”
“Mhm. Like the context of gambling with the Devil,” said the boy. “But I noticed God left that part out of His tour.”
“We’ll get to Satan soon enough,” said the man. “For now, let’s finish up the first half of God’s speech here.” And with that he looked down to read:
Can you hunt prey for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of young lions480
when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?481
Who provides food for the ravens
when their young cry out to God
and wander about in hunger?482
Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?483
They crouch down to give birth to their young
and deliver their offspring.
Their young grow up in the open fields,
then leave home and never return.484
Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?485
I made the desert its home,
and the salty wasteland its dwelling.
It scoffs at the noise of the village
and never hears the shouts of a driver.
It roams the mountains for its pastureland,
searching for anything green.486
Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?487
Can you hitch a wild ox to a plow?
Will it plow a field for you?488
Can you depend on it because its strength is great?
Would you leave it to do your hard work?489
Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?490
The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
but are they the pinions and plumage of love?491
She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.492
She treats her young harshly,
as if they were not her own,
with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.493
For God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.494
But whenever she jumps up to run,
she passes the swiftest horse with its rider.495
Do you give the horse his might?
Do you clothe his neck with a mane?496
Do you make him leap like a locust?
His proud snorting fills one with terror.
He paws in the valley and rejoices in his strength.
He charges into battle.497
He laughs at fear and is not dismayed.
He does not turn back from the sword.498
A quiver rattles at his side,
along with a flashing spear and a javelin.499
He charges ahead with trembling rage.
He cannot stand still at the sound of the ram’s horn.
When the ram’s horn blasts, he snorts defiantly.
He smells the battle from a distance,
he hears the officers’ shouts and the battle cry.500
Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar
and spread its wings toward the south?
Is it at your command that the eagle rises
to the heights to make its nest?501
It lives on a cliff where it spends the night;
its stronghold is on a rocky crag.502
From there it hunts its prey,
keeping watch with piercing eyes.
Its young gulp down blood.
Where there’s a carcass, there you’ll find it.503
Then the Lord said to Job,504
Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?
You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?505
Then Job answered the Lord and said,506
I am nothing. How could I ever find the answers?
I will cover my mouth with my hand.
I have said too much already.
I have nothing more to say.507
The man looked up at the boy and said, “Any initial thoughts?”
The boy sighed. “I don’t understand Job’s reaction. It doesn’t seem like God has answered any of his concerns. It’s more like He keeps saying, ‘Look over there! Now there’s a squirrel!’ I just don’t get what a zoo tour has to do with unjust suffering?”
“Well, for starters, let’s not discount how Job has likely been a man of God most of his life, but even for men as righteous and upright as Job, there are days of doubt that God even exists. There are times when you’re sitting on a heap of ashes and the only impression your prayers seem to make is an echo in the silence. Let’s not belittle the fact that our mysterious and often seemingly absent God has now just blessed Job with His actual presence. I’d like to think shock and awe play a role in the response we’ve seen from Job.”
The boy gave a quiet nod.
“There are some who believe that God is taking Job on a stroll through nature to see things from God’s perspective, and that this begins Job’s healing. But I think—”
“That’s a load of rubbish,” said the boy.
“Well, I was going to say I think it goes deeper than that, but I agree, we should avoid making extravagant claims for the healing power of nature alone.”
“‘Look over there, Job! A bird! You don’t miss your children anymore, do you? And over there, a cat! Those oozing boils aren’t so bad anymore, are they, Job?’ What a bunch of baloney.”
“Perhaps this tour begins the healing process,” said the man, “because it takes Job out of himself for a moment, broadening his horizons long enough to walk with God, deepening his relationships with the Creator, who is the answer to all the questions being asked. Surely in the presence of God, those boils don’t seem as bothersome, and those dogmatic debates with his friends are fading into the background. Job’s protest about suffering isn’t being addressed, but the underlying mysteries of creation are being revealed. But still, this part of the speech only builds on upon the prior and leads us to the next. Let’s break down what we’ve heard so far because it’s an important bridge for what’s coming.”
“I’m all ears,” said the boy.
“Now, while at first, this may seem like a random selection of wildlife, they, in fact, represent a full spectrum of order and chaos that live in God’s world.”
“They do?” said the boy.
“They do,” said the man. “We begin with the lion, who must kill to feed her young. We see the mountain goat and her cycle of birth and life. We circle back to the eagle, a bringer of death so her young can gulp down blood. In between, we witness the wild donkey and the untamable ox, the ignorantly careless and chaotic ostrich, and the horse, a lover of battle. In God’s animal kingdom, all the elements of chaos and order, wild and tame, death and life exist. A world that He oversees, feeding the hungry raven, watching over does bearing fawns. But ruling this world is not as simple as the theology of a just rule. Instead, it is an intricate balance of order and chaos that exists in God’s care. Let’s not miss how this addresses Job’s critique of God ruling the world in an amoral way. It’s not that God is indifferent or hostile toward human ideals of justice, but that God cares for all chaos and order just the same.”
“Hm,” said the boy. “Okay, maybe I can see why he covered his mouth then.”
“Precisely,” said the man. “Much like the first half of this speech, the point here is the same in directing us toward God. Job recognizes that he cannot care for these animals, but God very much can and does. Divine sovereignty is emphasized, yes, but also the goodness of God’s sovereignty in a very complex world.
“Also noteworthy is the opposition of Job’s standards for an ideal world. God’s world has pockets of disorder that exist within a larger order, not some utopia without any aspect of danger or threat of death. The lion, the raven, the wild donkey, and others are not figures with a home inside the orderly human culture but are more like the ocean, symbols of a more threatening aspect of creation kept within a certain boundary. And the Lord’s care and goodness are not confined to creatures of only human concern. They overflow onto every aspect and region of the wild.”
The boy gave a nod before he said, “Just to play Satan’s advocate, again, couldn’t you read into this as God making a mockery of Job?”
The man looked puzzled. “How so?”
“I mean, God is listening to the cry of the raven while Job’s cries are ignored, and God allows the donkey to roam free while Job is trapped under God’s thumb. Even if God is making the point that He cares for donkeys the same as He cares for humans, doesn’t this bring us back to the point I made about Mrs. Job? What’s the purpose of all this worship and sacrifice if God is going to care for the people who robbed Job the same as He cares for people who get robbed? Does this mean that fair treatment of good people was never part of God’s plan?”
The man paused for a moment as he thought it over. Then he shook his head. “Remember, there’s a second half of this speech as well, but for now, the only conclusion I’d draw here is that the charges brought against God by Job are proven wrong. Job was challenging a source of power and wisdom infinitely superior to his own, which I suppose brings us to God’s final question about this complex world. ‘You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?’”
The boy remained silent.
“Like Job,” said the man, “I think you’re wondering how you could ever find these answers yourself. Ironically, Job was worried earlier that he’d be so overwhelmed by God that he would not be able to argue his case, but when the time came to speak, he didn’t have much to say at all. What is said by Job, I see in three stages. First is a response of humility, the second an expression of relief, and the third a movement toward surrender. And that’s all God wanted to hear. God wasn’t looking for answers to His own questions. He already knew the answers. He just wanted Job to acknowledge that he never fully understood the mysteries of God’s universe and to turn to God as the answer. The Lord knows that when we are broken and at our ends, the best thing we can do is not seek logical answers to difficult questions but instead to embrace God and understand that His plans and reasons are deeper and broader than we’ll comprehend.”
“Okay,” said the boy, “I get all that. The world has chaos, and God showed He has to care for chaos. Job took back what he said about God being strictly an evil tyrant. But I have to imagine part of Job is still unsatisfied. I mean his children are dead. It’s nice to know that the sea is contained and all, but this is a bit of an anticlimax in the resolution department.”
“I agree,” said the man. “So we have to keep in mind three things when considering God’s first speech, and how those three things carry us into His second speech. It’s foolish to imagine Job being healed by the beauty of nature alone as some kind of antidote for dead children. And a focus on God saying, ‘I know more than you, Job, so stop questioning me,’ or boiling the world’s beauty down to, ‘Things go well most of the time, but I guess this wasn’t one of them,’ collapses the meaning of the speech and leaves no reason for Job to retract his charge of injustice. But the combination of Job’s ignorance of the intricate workings of the world, the fact that God allows some chaos to exist in His universe, and God’s overarching goodness set the stage for what we’re about to hear next. So let’s move on there, shall we?”
The boy gave a nod and offered his palm toward the Bible.