Be Still and Know That I am God – Part 12

12.1 God’s First Speech: Controlling the World

Read Job 38:2-39:30.

God has spoken! But how shall we hear this speech? What is He telling us?

It’s important to be honest. This speech always used to seem incredibly unsatisfactory to me, although that was not a problem for my faith. I was confidently prepared to trust that God is loving and compassionate and attending Job’s needs as He attends all things, because my faith had been firmly established by other means. But I wasn’t capable of understanding how this speech was consistent with that: it just looked like boasting. God seemed to be saying: “Look at all the things I can do! Can you do them? No, you can’t.” That didn’t appear to be very compassionate or constructive. And how was that supposed to answer Job’s question of why he was suffering? Ultimately, it was the subject of justice Job was broaching, but God seemed to be replying on the subject of power. Were we to relate the two? Was God trying to teach that “Might is Right”? Surely not!

So what’s going on?

If we look to expositors of God’s speeches throughout the extensive breadth of literature, we find very little that is helpful. The vast majority have thrown in the towel completely and concluded that God never does answer Job. Atkinson typifies with: “God gives no answer to Job’s questions,” and Susman likewise openly states God does not give Job “any kind of intelligible answer” but merely poses him a counter-question. Ragaz honorably tries to justify what he sees as God’s failure to answer Job by stating that God is the answer, rather than having to be the source of an answer which, while not wholly without merit, does have the flavor of an excuse. Glatzer takes a more negative view and claims Job has essentially been beaten down to a position of “resigned acceptance” from God’s speeches as God addresses none of his concerns and He “remains distant” from man, while Murray goes further, condemning the response of God as: “On moral grounds… pretty miserable.”

I have no hesitation in distancing myself from these interpretations. God answers. The question is: did we listen closely enough to hear what He said?

Ultimately, I hope to share an explanation of the speeches of God which had me baffled for so many years, and which proves both relevant to Job’s cries and, perhaps more importantly, commensurate with the broader scriptural presentation of a Loving Father, not merely a Supreme One. As was said earlier, this is a principal result of offering this exposition of Job: to break ground in presenting the work of the Father with Job and his three friends as evidence for His loving nature, not merely His lofty omnipotence. I hope to show that God’s comments are in fact on topic, addressing the exact concerns Job has raised, yet also broaching overriding themes which Job has missed. That said, I don’t want to dismiss, or try to hide, that even the subject matter of the first speech appears to be very odd. We are essentially given a guided tour of the physical creation, and that does seem more than a little strange, given Job’s explicit call for justice.

Observations and Interpretations from God’s First Speech

By the end of these observations, we still won’t have a finished explanation of what the speech means. This will only be unlocked by adding components from God’s second speech, considered in the next article. But these observations are important in working towards what that answer will be. They will also identify intermediate, independent sources of comfort and support which highlight the richness of God’s answer amid the tensions that exist on the ground.

1. First, I notice God’s style. God does not engage in debate, rather He makes pronouncements and revelations. He addresses Job with some sarcasm; yet clearly Job is highly favored by God to receive such lengthy discourse. In both cases, this underscores the pure supremacy of the Maker. Many expositors see nothing more than the subject of supremacy in the speeches of God, but I believe there is much more. This is the appropriate framework in which God’s answers are couched: His inviolable, unapproachable, supremacy above His work. The entire creation we enjoy is a free gift and our own existence is nothing more than a constant interaction within it. We did not earn the privilege of feeling the texture of the newly fallen snow as it crunches squeakily beneath our boots. Nor did we work to produce the crimson vista of sunset playing across the gently curved ripples of the lake. The booming of the ocean pounding watery fists against craggy cliffs was not contracted by our efforts, any more than was the chirruping cacophony of cicadas on a languid Caribbean evening. It was not our investment that produced the intoxicating smell of a campfire on a foggy autumn day, as grey smoke, accented with bright orange sparks, coils gently skywards and friends huddle around the fire for warmth and companionship. Myriad blessings attend us daily and from this alone it is clear God cares for His creation and that, as Creator, He is not answerable to any part of it. This teaches us that God does not owe us anything, not because we are inferior to Him (although we are), but because we’re already massively overpaid.
2. Extending from this point, the “tour of creation” helps us negate our anthropocentric view: the view that everything in the Universe must have meaning to us before its existence is justified. God corrects this breathtaking arrogance, perhaps most directly when He reveals that He waters the flowers in the desert places that bloom where His Eyes are the only ones that see them (Job 38:25-27). The ostrich (Job 39:13-18), so foolish that she destroys the young in her own nest, can offend us, since we are mortal creatures fixated with mortal survival. But she is part of God’s creation and no part is complete by itself. She lacks sense, but God takes pleasure in her anyway for the role she plays as one element in the intricate ecosystems He formed. In fact the age old riddle: “If a tree falls in the forest when there’s no-one (i.e. no human) to hear it, does it make a sound?” is now exposed as nothing more than an extension of this same anthropocentric arrogance. Imagine another species postulating the same question. Imagine a squirrel says to his friend: “What if a tree fell in the forest, and there were only birds, insects and a few pointless humans standing around to hear it. Would it make a sound, do you think?” The question becomes easier to answer when viewed this way.
   God references the astronomical bodies, meteorological elements and physical beasts, to underscore that we are a small part of something far larger, far greater than we imagine, that operates together to form the beauty with which God intends to abide. It’s not all about us. Creation performs its various functions to glorify (and thereby speak well of?) the LORD who made them. We have a place, and that place is not issuing subpoenas to the Almighty demanding more provisions that satisfy our preconceived notions of justice and desert. Ultimately, even this revelation of God’s truth is for our benefit, for while any disciple is cursed with the prideful misconception that the universe is anthropocentric, he won’t be able to draw close to God or find true harmony in the world around him.

3. There are progressions in the speech too. The earlier verses reveal God as Creator (Job 38:1-21), the latter present Him as caregiver. God is first shown as the Master Builder: laying the Universe’s footings; demarcating the dimensions, directing the light and, interestingly, containing the sea. This segues into scenes of God’s caregiver role. He is shepherd to the stars (Job 38:32), chef to the lions and ravens (Job 38:39-41) and midwife to the mountain goats (Job 39:1-3). God’s custodial activities directly impact Job’s cry. God shows Job not only that He created everything but, more importantly, that He takes care of it. “When have I ever failed to do what is needed?” is the implied message. Although this is not yet a complete answer to Job’s angry protestations of maltreatment, it is an observation of significance. If Job is able to find mental peace — no easy task in his condition — this could be strengthening. He might hear the message, as we might today: if God takes care of the needs of the lions, ravens and mountain goats, will He not attend my need also?
4. God reveals the stars are led out “in their seasons”; that snow and hail are reserved for “times of trouble” and “days of battle.” God “counts the months” until the mountain goats are ready to produce offspring. These subtle mentions of days, months and seasons are pregnant with meaning. God shows Job there is a right time for His care to arrive. A time He knows, which others may not. Again, if Job is able to hear it — and in his position I myself almost certainly could not, so these comments are not designed to criticize Job — the beginnings of solace can be located. I believe God is hinting to Job that restoration is close at hand.
5. A curious detail which will later prove important concerns God’s description of the sea. Even in the blameless physical creation, God chooses to identify the sea as a metaphorical representation of an evil characteristic. He names the sea “proud”: something which His power needs to constrain “behind doors” and keep “shut up” (Job 38:8-11). Interestingly, even Job refers to the sea as an evil thing (Job 7:12). Pride is the only personality trait mentioned in God’s first speech and even then it is only subtly referenced. But it proves vital to the message.

6. The speech draws more and more towards animals. Light, darkness and the Earth itself have a couple of distinct mentions, as do the weather and constellations. But when God speaks of animals, His discourse expands: no fewer than nine different species warrant inclusion in His speech. Some expositors have laboriously attempted to find distinct interpretations for each animal, which I feel strains the text. I suggest that God is highlighting one thing particularly: the multiplicity of wildness. All animals mentioned are necessarily wild: beyond the control of man. Some are naturally wild, such as lion and eagle, but even where God names domesticated species, such as goat, ox and donkey, He deliberately specifies the untamed variety: “Who let the wild donkey go free?” (Job 39:5). “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?” (Job 39:9). This also underscores God’s Supremacy (although I believe He is leading Job’s thoughts this way for a more important reason), by implying: “If you can’t even control the physical things I made,” says God, “do you think your theology can control Me?”
7. There is a curiously asymmetric distribution of the genera of beasts presented. Five are mammals and four birds; but there are no sea beasts. That’s surprising! Clearly God could have chosen three land creatures, three sea creatures and three birds, in perfect symmetric expression of His Lordship of Heaven, Earth and Sea, which is so commonly lauded in scripture (e.g. Exod 20:11; Neh 9:6; Psa 146:6), but He didn’t.

The striking omission is deliberate. God has defined the sea as the source of pride (38:11) and He does not, in this speech, wish to address its content. This subtle omission allows us to anticipate that the sea, metaphorically the source of pride, and the Beast that arises therefrom, is the direction for the finale. Though we have not yet seen the reason for this speech, we have seen sources of potential comfort for Job. Partly, God is saying: “The world that is wild to you is tame to Me.” Considering Job’s life has run wild and he has lost everything, there is subtle comfort available. “If there’s something you can’t control, Job,” says God, “bring it to Me. I can.”

12.2 Interlude: Job’s Unsatisfactory Answer

Pressed by God to respond, Job refuses to provide an answer to God’s first speech (Job 40:4-5). God seems displeased and presses Job further:

“Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
…Unleash the fury of your wrath,
look at every proud man and bring him low,
look at every proud man and humble him,
crush the wicked where they stand.
Bury them all in the dust together;
shroud their faces in the grave.
Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you”
(Job 40:7-14).

(I take these words as an interlude separate from either of the two speeches, though this does not affect my interpretations.)

Following a first speech that was hard to understand, things have become further clouded. Job gives a response which seems a humble acknowledgement of God’s superiority, yet God is clearly dissatisfied! I can only conclude, unfortunately, that Job’s comment must have been a little petulant. I suggest Job has not understood the meaning of God’s first speech (nor have we, yet, because we need the second speech to see where it was headed) and he has perhaps collapsed, understandably, in dejected self-sympathy. He has cried to God in his affliction and originally heard nothing. He has subpoenaed God in his anger and merely been straightened out by Elihu the Buzite. And now the Lord he was seeking has finally come and perhaps all Job has heard (as so many commentators wrongly conclude) is that his inferiority means he has no right to question Him. Perhaps Job has simply thrown in the towel and said: “Whatever. I can’t get any justice, or even help, so I quit.”

But God knows His most excellent servant can produce a better answer, and so prompts him to pick up his cross and walk on. And He provides a vital clue in this interlude to what His speeches are actually centered on: controlling human pride.

God’s Focus on Human Pride

The focus of the drama is narrowing ever more acutely onto human pride, and its fatal toxicity. Consider how this focus has inexorably developed:

1. Elihu the Buzite referred solely to pride as the threat to a man’s eternal salvation (Job 33:16-18).
2. God’s first speech included pride (the only human vice specified) in a metaphorical personification of the sea whose proud waves needed to be jailed (Job 38:8,10-11).
3. Now here in the interlude, God’s focus sharpens yet further onto pride. The “proud man” is explicitly referenced twice and, as Elihu had prophetically anticipated, the context is salvation. God says if Job could overcome the proud man he can achieve his own salvation and He is unnecessary. Clearly this is sarcastic hyperbole, but the message is important and sincere. Pride is a killer and only God can control it.