Instead of answers and explanations, God grants a revelation of himself in his pure being. Job, in the inevitable self-centeredness that comes with misery,...is raised above his troubles to the self-forgetful contemplation of God’s majesty. –FLEMING RUTLEDGE
I firmly believe that all of our theological quandaries would vanish if we could get a glimpse of the greatness of God. Our questions and doubts would cease when confronted with His majesty and holiness. Like Job, we think we need answers when what we really need is a theophany. Nothing will lessen the misery of our pain and suffering more than the realization of the awesomeness of God.
As the whirlwind departs that day, Job has learned enough about the greatness of God to quiet the storm within. He has viewed God since his childhood as the Creator, but never has this attribute been so appreciated. He has always thought of God as powerful, but now he better understands the scope of His power. The vast knowledge of God he has never doubted, but now Job is aware just how vast it must be. Divine sovereignty has never been an issue with Job, who finds himself worshiping a God more sovereign than he expected. That God is righteous Job has always assumed to be true, but now—repenting in “dust and ashes” before Him—he is doubly conscious of the absolute moral purity of God. All these attributes of God, the ones we gleaned from the Argument from Design and the Argument from Fairness, are raised to new heights in Job’s mind.
As for the Argument from Supernatural Belief, Job surely knew before the whirlwind of God’s relationship with human beings. Like all Hebrew children, the story of the Exodus, replete with references to God revealing and relating to Moses and the Israelites, was “written on his forehead” years before. But never had he experienced this firsthand. Now, post-whirlwind, Job perceives that revelation and relationship in a whole new light. He sees them as gifts from God, examples of His grace, and holds them in his heart as reminders that this transcendent God has chosen to deal personally and immanently with him.
Even the love and justice of God, while not verified in full, are elevated in Job’s mind. The picture from the whirlwind of a God who cares for His creation, from the lowliest of creatures to the highest of them, is easy for Job to grasp. The portrait of a God who is concerned about one lonely sufferer is as plain as day. And, in God’s final address to Job, a snapshot of the Defender of good and the Conqueror of evil cannot go unnoticed. Here God asserts His ultimate control over the forces of evil, giving the implication that fairness is a part of His nature and the hope that justice will someday come. When tomorrow we proceed to the Argument from Human Characteristics, this divine love and justice will be examined in fuller light. But even now, I think you can begin to see them, albeit dimly, in God’s response from the center of that storm to His servant Job, himself encompassed by the storms of life.
What, then, is the summation of God’s speech to Job? Throughout the centuries, many people have tried to come to grips with the problem of pain in the world. They have tried to mesh the reality of suffering with the reality of God. All too often the explanations given have tended to limit at least one of God’s attributes. Some, like Rabbi Kushner, have said that God lacks the power to prevent suffering. Others have claimed that He does not love us enough to remove it. A few have placed limits on His righteousness and justice, asserting that God is not concerned enough about right/wrong and justice/injustice to deal with them. Still others have tended to diminish His sovereignty, at least in the present, saying in essence that God is not now in control. And then there are those who would seek to excuse God by limiting His knowledge, claiming He could not possibly have known when He made us that we would choose to forsake Him.
All of these explanations, however, leave me unfulfilled. The one that does not is the view of God that I find in the book of Job. There I see a God greater, not lesser, than previously thought. Not one of His attributes is limited; rather, all are expanded. At the close of the book, the Creator God seems more powerful, knowledgeable, sovereign, righteous, loving, and just than at the start. God has not changed, of course, but Job’s perception of Him certainly has. And this elevation of God in Job’s mind to unprecedented heights is what transforms his attitude from bitterness to reverence. So should we, in the midst of sufferings great and small, strive to raise our perception of God.
But how, you may ask, is this to be accomplished? Most likely we will never witness anything like Job did. We will never hear an audible voice from above that will elevate God in our minds and lower us to our knees. Still, I think, we are not without means to that end. If any of you are plagued or perplexed by suffering and find God cold and distant, my advice to you is to commit to do one or more of the following:
1. Read about the sufferings of others whose faith, like that of Job, has risen in the face of adversity.
2. Better yet, interview individuals in your own community or family who have weathered disproportionate pain and grief (almost all of us know one or two such people) and listen to their stories of enduring faith.
3. Get away one day from the mechanistic city, journey into the wilds of nature, and there contemplate at length the “how” and “why” of the universe around you.
4. Or, while driving to work or play one morning, try to imagine the vast distance between the greatness of God and you (even at your greatest). This and the first three simple exercises will serve to elevate God to new heights and to put suffering in a different light.
5. Lastly, and not the least important, try spending some time
on your knees in prayer, for He is the same God to you now as
He was to Job, ready to reveal and to relate. Ask Him to speak
directly to you (whether loudly from a whirlwind or softly
within your heart, it matters not). Pray for two things:
awareness of His Infinity and recognition of your finitude. Of
the two, the first is by far the more important. In fact, once it is
granted, the other will naturally follow. You will find yourself
crouched before this great God in silent reverence and awe,
fully cognizant of your limitations and shortcomings. You
will, indeed, experience the holiness of God, and—just ask
Moses, Isaiah, and Job—your life will never be the same.
-Dear God, You Sure Don't Act Like You're Alive (Day 38)
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