Job 38-39

Job 38

God Confronts Job

Have You Gotten to the Bottom of Things?

 ¹ And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said:

 ^2-11 "Why do you confuse the issue?
   Why do you talk without knowing what you're talking about?
Pull yourself together, Job!
   Up on your feet! Stand tall!
I have some questions for you,
   and I want some straight answers.
Where were you when I created the earth?
   Tell me, since you know so much!
Who decided on its size? Certainly you'll know that!
   Who came up with the blueprints and measurements?
How was its foundation poured,
   and who set the cornerstone,
While the morning stars sang in chorus
   and all the angels shouted praise?
And who took charge of the ocean
   when it gushed forth like a baby from the womb?
That was me! I wrapped it in soft clouds,
   and tucked it in safely at night.
Then I made a playpen for it,
   a strong playpen so it couldn't run loose,
And said, 'Stay here, this is your place.
   Your wild tantrums are confined to this place.'

 ^12-15 "And have you ever ordered Morning, 'Get up!'
   told Dawn, 'Get to work!'
So you could seize Earth like a blanket
   and shake out the wicked like cockroaches?
As the sun brings everything to light,
   brings out all the colors and shapes,
The cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked—
   they're caught in the very act!

 ^16-18 "Have you ever gotten to the true bottom of things,
   explored the labyrinthine caves of deep ocean?
Do you know the first thing about death?
   Do you have one clue regarding death's dark mysteries?
And do you have any idea how large this earth is?
   Speak up if you have even the beginning of an answer.

 ^19-21 "Do you know where Light comes from
   and where Darkness lives
So you can take them by the hand
   and lead them home when they get lost?
Why, of course you know that.
   You've known them all your life,
   grown up in the same neighborhood with them!

 ^22-30 "Have you ever traveled to where snow is made,
   seen the vault where hail is stockpiled,
The arsenals of hail and snow that I keep in readiness
   for times of trouble and battle and war?
Can you find your way to where lightning is launched,
   or to the place from which the wind blows?
Who do you suppose carves canyons
   for the downpours of rain, and charts
   the route of thunderstorms
That bring water to unvisited fields,
   deserts no one ever lays eyes on,
Drenching the useless wastelands
   so they're carpeted with wildflowers and grass?
And who do you think is the father of rain and dew,
   the mother of ice and frost?
You don't for a minute imagine
   these marvels of weather just happen, do you?

 ^31-33 "Can you catch the eye of the beautiful Pleiades sisters,
   or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way,
   or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out and play?
Do you know the first thing about the sky's constellations
   and how they affect things on Earth?

 ^34-35 "Can you get the attention of the clouds,
   and commission a shower of rain?
Can you take charge of the lightning bolts
   and have them report to you for orders?

What Do You Have to Say for Yourself?

 ^36-38 "Who do you think gave weather-wisdom to the ibis,
   and storm-savvy to the rooster?
Does anyone know enough to number all the clouds
   or tip over the rain barrels of heaven
When the earth is cracked and dry,
   the ground baked hard as a brick?

 ^39-41 "Can you teach the lioness to stalk her prey
   and satisfy the appetite of her cubs
As they crouch in their den,
   waiting hungrily in their cave?
And who sets out food for the ravens
   when their young cry to God,
   fluttering about because they have no food?"

Job 39

    "Do you know the month when mountain goats give birth? Have you ever watched a doe bear her fawn?
Do you know how many months she is pregnant?
   Do you know the season of her delivery,
   when she crouches down and drops her offspring?
Her young ones flourish and are soon on their own;
   they leave and don't come back.

 ^5-8 "Who do you think set the wild donkey free,
   opened the corral gates and let him go?
I gave him the whole wilderness to roam in,
   the rolling plains and wide-open places.
He laughs at his city cousins, who are harnessed and harried.
   He's oblivious to the cries of teamsters.
He grazes freely through the hills,
   nibbling anything that's green.

 ^9-12 "Will the wild buffalo condescend to serve you,
   volunteer to spend the night in your barn?
Can you imagine hitching your plow to a buffalo
   and getting him to till your fields?
He's hugely strong, yes, but could you trust him,
   would you dare turn the job over to him?
You wouldn't for a minute depend on him, would you,
   to do what you said when you said it?

 ^13-18 "The ostrich flaps her wings futilely—
   all those beautiful feathers, but useless!
She lays her eggs on the hard ground,
   leaves them there in the dirt, exposed to the weather,
Not caring that they might get stepped on and cracked
   or trampled by some wild animal.
She's negligent with her young, as if they weren't even hers.
   She cares nothing about anything.
She wasn't created very smart, that's for sure,
   wasn't given her share of good sense.
But when she runs, oh, how she runs,
   laughing, leaving horse and rider in the dust.

 ^19-25 "Are you the one who gave the horse his prowess
   and adorned him with a shimmering mane?
Did you create him to prance proudly
   and strike terror with his royal snorts?
He paws the ground fiercely, eager and spirited,
   then charges into the fray.
He laughs at danger, fearless,
   doesn't shy away from the sword.
The banging and clanging
   of quiver and lance don't faze him.
He quivers with excitement, and at the trumpet blast
   races off at a gallop.
At the sound of the trumpet he neighs mightily,
   smelling the excitement of battle from a long way off,
   catching the rolling thunder of the war cries.

 ^26-30 "Was it through your know-how that the hawk learned to fly,
   soaring effortlessly on thermal updrafts?
Did you command the eagle's flight,
   and teach her to build her nest in the heights,
Perfectly at home on the high cliff face,
   invulnerable on pinnacle and crag?
From her perch she searches for prey,
   spies it at a great distance.
Her young gorge themselves on carrion;
   wherever there's a roadkill, you'll see her circling."

Job 38-39, The Message

When I first read this passage, looking at it through my dysfunctional grid of reality, I thought God was bullying Job, letting loose with a litany of what are truths, but stated with a boatload of snark. But then I read it again, and I noticed 38:3, where He sets the tone for all that follows by saying, "Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall!" Young's Literal Translation of 38:3a reads, "Gird, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins…"; the Hebrew word translated "man" is geber, which Strong's Concordance explains as "man, strong man, warrior (emphasizing strength or ability to fight)."

Hardly the sort of language and imagery to demean or humiliate someone, is it?

I think God was urging Job to embrace the man He created him to be and, at the same time, to rest in how infinitely more omnipotent, omnipresent, creative, and limitlessly intelligent  He is. In essence, He said, "Man up, Job; grow a pair; steel your spine. Then listen to who I am and remember that I want to live through you."

God wasn't out to humiliate Job for crying out about his suffering, but was rather inviting him to trust Him more fully. I suspect Job's reaction was something like mine is when I go to the beach and lose myself in the roar of the waves, the feel of the wind, and the salty smell of the air. Something in me relaxes as I am reminded of God's power, and I am able to worship.