“Does the rain have a father?Who sires the drops of dew?From whose womb comes the ice?” (38:28-29)Much of the Lord’s first discourse to Job concerns the weather or, to use an earthier term, the elemen...  Read More

“Have you ever given orders to the morning,or shown the dawn its place?” (38:12)The Lord’s answer to Job assumes something of the form of a three-ring circus. “And now, for My next act . . .” he annou...  Read More

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? . . .Who laid its cornerstone,while the morning stars sang togetherand all the angels shouted for joy?” (38:4, 6-7)The Lord begins His cross-examina...  Read More

“[God] unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heavenand sends it to the ends of the earth.After that comes the sound of his roar. . . .God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;he does great things be...  Read More

“No one can look at the sun,bright as it is in the skiesafter the wind has swept them clean.Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;God comes in awesome majesty.” (37:21-22)While it is easy to se...  Read More

The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.” (37:23)In Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot, two absurd little men in bowler ...  Read More

“Who is this who darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” (38:2)The Lord’s first words to Job contain a message that all theologians and priests, all pastors and Christian counselors, all tea...  Read More

Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. (38:1)As sensational as the ending of this book is, many readers have found the Lord’s answer to Job oddly unsatisfying. In the first place, it does not se...  Read More

“Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?” (19:22)People are fond of posing the dual questions, “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” and, “Why doesn’t God do ...  Read More

“Have pity on me, my friends, have pity,  for the hand of God has struck me.” (19:21) Who is the most important person in a church? Is it the head of the denomination? Is it the local pastor? Is it th...  Read More

“God has stripped me of my honor  and removed the crown from my head.” (19:9) Job’s language in Chapter 19 is full of haunting premonitions of Christ’s crucifixion: “[God’s] anger burns against me; he...  Read More

“[God] has blocked my way so I cannot pass;  he has shrouded my paths in darkness.” (19:8) In the book of Numbers there is a well-known scene in which the prophet Balaam tries to make his way along a ...  Read More