Enter God

             Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy.” (Job 38:1-7)

                After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” (Job 42:7-8)

 

                At long last, after Job whined and raged about wanting God to show up so he could plead his case, God shows up. He never tells Job why He allowed what He allowed. Instead, He insists that Job explain to Him how the universe works. He asks about the general creation and who chained the Pleiades (before anyone supposedly knew they were chained). He goes on to mention the mountain goats, wild donkeys, wild oxen, ostriches, horses, hawks, behemoths, and leviathan.

                Two things impress me about God’s examination of Job. The first is God’s intimate knowledge and awareness of them. I want to say that He’s an artist discussing His creation, but He does a much better job than I do of telling others about my stories. I must admit, though, if I start talking about my garden, I can get a little long-winded and detailed. That’s because I’m not trying to sell my harvest.

The second thing is that God gives Job the dressing down that we likely expected Him to give to Satan in chapter one. While He asks Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (1:8) He spends three chapters asking questions that show that Job doesn’t have a clue. The thing we may need to consider is God’s tone of voice. I tend to imagine Him being conversational rather than accusatory with Satan, but accusatory rather than conversational with Job. What if He’s not taking on the role of a prosecuting attorney with Job, but is holding what amounts to the same conversation? Satan attacked and challenged. Job humbly surrenders the ground.                

                Then God turns to Job’s friends. While Satan predicted that Job would sin if God didn’t keep protecting him, they assumed he had sinned because God wasn’t protecting him. God announced that Job was right!  He hadn’t done something to deserve what had happened to him. He also commanded that they present sacrifices through Job.