Lord Answers Job Out of the Whirlwind
Blake, William, 1757-1827. Lord Answers Job Out of the Whirlwind, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57724 [retrieved October 14, 2021]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blake_Job_13.jpg.
The Job Suite by Michael Card
Exploring the Text: God answers Job
After all of Job's loss, pain, frustration, complaining, discussion, and more frustration, God finally comes and speaks to him. Job had asked for answers. He wanted to know why these things had happened to him. He has his friends and discussed, analyzed, and dissected everything that they could, but there were still no answers. Job had no idea of what had been happening in heaven. All he knew what what had happened to him on earth. He knew of nothing that he had done to deserve all of this. He wanted answers, he needed answers, he demanded answers. Yet when God showed up, he didn't offer answers.
In Job 38-40 God shows up and addresses Job, but he doesn't offer answers, he offers a renewed vision of himself. Job thought he needed answers, he thought he needed understanding, but what he really needed was a deeper revelation of God. Sometimes we get caught up in the same trap Job was in. We think we need answers, we think we need clarity, we think we need understanding. Yet those things often leave us unsatisfied and longing for more. The new vision and revelation of God did not answer Job's questions, it transcended them. When face to face with God, his questions, his concerns, his doubts faded into insignificance. It is the same with us. When we have questions, confusion, and doubts, what we really need is a renewed vison of God.
After all of Job's loss, pain, frustration, complaining, discussion, and more frustration, God finally comes and speaks to him. Job had asked for answers. He wanted to know why these things had happened to him. He has his friends and discussed, analyzed, and dissected everything that they could, but there were still no answers. Job had no idea of what had been happening in heaven. All he knew what what had happened to him on earth. He knew of nothing that he had done to deserve all of this. He wanted answers, he needed answers, he demanded answers. Yet when God showed up, he didn't offer answers.
In Job 38-40 God shows up and addresses Job, but he doesn't offer answers, he offers a renewed vision of himself. Job thought he needed answers, he thought he needed understanding, but what he really needed was a deeper revelation of God. Sometimes we get caught up in the same trap Job was in. We think we need answers, we think we need clarity, we think we need understanding. Yet those things often leave us unsatisfied and longing for more. The new vision and revelation of God did not answer Job's questions, it transcended them. When face to face with God, his questions, his concerns, his doubts faded into insignificance. It is the same with us. When we have questions, confusion, and doubts, what we really need is a renewed vison of God.