How God Speaks
"Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you and you will answer
Me." — God
When we suffer and ask "Why?" nothing is settled until God speaks. Otherwise, the question "Why?" hangs over our heads like the sword of Damocles. Our human nature demands an answer but unless God speaks, we will choose the answer of a blasphemer, an atheist, or a fatalist. A blasphemer curses God at the risk of death. An atheist denies God at the expense of meaning. A fatalist gives up on God at the price of freedom.
Job refuses to curse, deny, or give up on his God. As impatient as his suffering has made him, he still awaits God's Word. As arrogant as his righteousness has made him, he remains open to the voice of God. Patience is a virtue tested and nurtured in suffering. With our current emphasis upon the instant remedy and the quick fix, we do not learn patience. We pray on the run and demand an immediate answer. In his Epistle, James reminds us of what we lose. Using Job as his example, he writes about the blessing of perseverance:
Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
(James 5:11)
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Job's perseverance is blessed by God's compassion and mercy. The connection is not coincidental. God may answer our impatient prayers and arrogant demands, but if He does, we never learn the meaning of the fullness of His compassion and mercy.
Sometimes it takes suffering to slow us down. At least for a period of time, even the behavior pattern of a Type "A" personality is altered. According to Friedman and Rosenman in their book Type "A" Behavior and Your Heart, the Type "A" person is ". . . aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time, and it required to do so, against the opposing efforts of other things and persons."1 When I looked up this book in my personal library to find the definition of Type "A" behavior, I realized that my lifestyle is becoming more and more dictated by the "hurry sickness." Then, when I turned to the front page to get the bibliographical data on the book, I was greeted by a note from the friend who had sent it to me. He is the highly successful and socially prominent chairman of the board of an international corporation whose energy level suddenly faded. He ended up in the hospital for triple-bypass surgery on the cholesterol-clogged arteries of his heart. From his bed during convalescence, he sent the book to me with this note on the flyleaf:
To: my good friend, David McKenna
— easy reading, yet something to think about for future good health and vitality.
Your Friend in Christ,
Chuck
Another Type "A"
His veiled warning scared me, but his recommendation of the book as ". . . something to think about . . ." showed me how suffering had slowed him down to thoughtful reflection. I had known Chuck only as a man in a hurry, but then I remembered that the next time I met him after his
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recovery, he was full of gratitude and praise to God. The patience of suffering is far more than gritty endurance; it can be the opportunity to reflect upon the fullness of God's compassion and mercy.
Job still must learn that he cannot dictate the way in which God speaks. He demanded a courtroom setting with a legal contest over his innocence. Instead he gets a whirlwind in the desert with God asking the questions:
Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
(Job 38:2-3)
God finally grants Job his request for an audience. He meets him where he is and speaks to him on the level of his understanding. He even accepts Job's challenge for a contest of questions and answers. But to Job's surprise, He gives no answers; He only asks questions.
God Speaks to Our Dignity
God is a master teacher. At the same time that He accepts Job's challenge for a battle of wits, He uses the question as His teaching tool. What a compliment to the intelligence of Job! God might have crushed him under the power of His omniscience, but instead He honors his intellectual capacity by stretching Job's mind to think about questions that he had failed to consider in his rantings about his innocence and God's injustice. What an insight into the character of God! He will never violate the freedom and the dignity of His human creation. As always, He comes to us first with a question, not an answer. Like a master teacher, God knows that the spiritual insights we gain for ourselves are the elements of wisdom and redemption.
Job demands an immediate audience with God; he learns to wait. He insists upon a definitive answer from God; Job gets only another question. He poses a legal and ethical
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question to God; he faces a spiritual and moral issue. At this point we find ourselves at the very heart of the message of the Book of Job. Job demands and answer to his questions, "Why me? Why this? Why now?" God ignores these questions. Instead, he asks Job, "Who am I?" and "Who are you?" The fundamental truth is this: When we ask, "Why must I suffer?" God answers, "Who am I?"
God Speaks to Our Doubt
God has good reason for not responding directly to Job's question, "Why do I suffer?" It appears as if Job is asking about the justice of God. But God knows what is in Job's heart. Out of the depths of his suffering, he has doubts about the greatness of God. Anyone who suffers knows what Job's hidden question is: Does God really know what He is doing? Those of us who have had to live with the suffering of an innocent person have asked the same question.
Not long ago, a friend of mine died. His two-year-old daughter had preceded him in death by forty-five years. A beautiful, blonde child, she was stricken overnight by acute leukemia and died within hours. When her father died forty-five years later, his son opened the lock box that contained his private papers. Everything was in order — his will, his insurance, his bonds, and his bank accounts. No paper was out of place. Therefore, the newspaper clipping that rested on top of all his other precious papers told its own story. It was the obituary of his first and only daughter who had died at the age of two! To the day of his death he apparently kept asking, "Does God really know what He is doing?"
Honesty requires each of us to confess that we have asked the same question about God. Few of us would dare speak it openly. But all of us have had its edge of doubt penetrate our faith. From a human standpoint, my greatest moment of glory came when I became a finalist for the position as Secretary of Education in President Reagan's Cabinet, as I've already mentioned. At the last moment, however, political winds shifted and another person got the appointment. My wife and I were stunned because we thought we had
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prayed through to the assurance that the position would be ours. Although openly we accepted the disappointment as God's will, secretly we asked, "Does God know what He is doing?" Why would He lead us to the brink of glory and then let our hopes be smashed to the ground?
The good theology of a Peanuts cartoon rescued me. Woodstock, the wee yellow bird, is shown flying blissfully toward what appears to be an open window. Instead of flying into the house, he crashes at breakneck speed into a clear pane of glass and flutters to the ground. Shaking his head and staggering to his feet, Woodstock begins kicking at the corner of the house. Linus, who has witnessed the whole scene, comes along and offers this advice, "Don't blame the house just because you tried to fly through a closed window."
Hindsight tells me that my aspirations for a national position blinded me to the fact that I too was trying to fly through a closed window. Out of my own frustrated ambition, I blamed God for my disappointment. Although the event is now history, I must confess there are still times when I reflect upon that lost moment and wonder, "Did God really know what He was doing?"
Whatever the motivation behind Job's implied question of doubt, God answers him with a fusillade of questions which Job cannot answer. First, God asks, "Do you know how I created the universe?" Using architectural terms that Job can understand, God begins at the beginning:
Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
(Job 38:4-7)
God might have rested His case on creation ex nihilo. Instead, He presses on to ask Job if he understands the elements He used to build the universe:
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. . . who shut in the sea with doors . . .? (38:8)
. . . Have you commanded the morning since your days began . . . (38:12)
. . . Have you entered the springs of the sea? (38:16)
. . . Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And darkness, where is its place? (38:19)
No doubt remains. To create the world out of nothing is a mystery that will forever confound the human mind. Scientists have been able to put a giant telescope the size of a schoolbus into outer space with the hope of seeing to the edge of the universe and perhaps explaining its origin. They will continue to be confounded because human intelligence cannot comprehend eternity. One honest scientist put it wisely when asked to describe in 150 words or less his research into the nature of the universe. He wrote "I don't know" fifty times.
God poses another question for Job, "Do you know how I control My creation?" From the basic elements required for the creation and construction of the earth, God turns to questions about environmental control — snow, hail, wind, floodtide, thunderbolt, wilderness, rain, dew, ice, and frost. Again, despite all our scientific advancements in environmental control, the weather remains unmanageable and unpredictable. A panel of economic experts spent an hour discussing the future of our world economy. At the close of the discussion, the moderator asked them if they know of one element on which the world economy turned. With one voice, they answered, "The weather."
In further response to His own question, "Do you know how I control My creation?" God goes on to challenge Job on the mysteries of outer space:
Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
Or loose the belt of Orion?
Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season?
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Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you set their dominion over the earth?
(Job 38:31-33)
Returning once again to His control of the weather, God adds the dimension of wisdom to the questions of power and understanding. He reminds Job that it is one thing to have power over all creation and understanding of its mysteries, but it is quite another thing to have the wisdom to run it:
Who can number the clouds by wisdom?
Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
When the dust hardens in clumps,
And the clods cling together?
(Job 38:37-38)
God has proven His point again. His power, understanding, and wisdom for the creation and control of the universe are proof that He knows what He is doing. But there is more. God's creation includes living beings as well as energy, matter, time, and space. Thus, He also asks Job, "Do you know how I care for My creation?"
Like the processional leading into Noah's ark, God parades the animals of His creation before the mind's eye of Job — lions, ravens, mountain goats, deer, donkeys, onagers, oxen, ostriches, horses, hawks, and eagles (Job 38:39-39:30). The images are filled with meaning. Each animal is unique: each has its strength; each has its weakness. God cares for each of them, especially in their weakness. The ostrich, for example, is a proud and foolish bird who lacks a maternal instinct. Unlike other birds:
. . . she leaves her eggs on the ground,
And warms them in the dust;
She forgets that a foot may crush them,
Or that a wild beast may break them.
She treats her young harshly, as though they were not hers . . .
(Job 39:14-16)
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Yet, despite her lack of wisdom and understanding, God has endowed her with speed of foot that makes her the fastest bird on earth.
When she lifts herself on high,
She scorns the horse and its rider.
(Job 39:18)
Job gets God's message. Before the mystery and the wonder of God's creative power, control, and care, he no longer doubts that God knows what He is doing. So, when God invites him to correct, rebuke, or answer Him, Job can only mumble:
Behold, I am vile:
What shall I answer You?
I lay my hand over my mouth.
Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.
(Job 40:4-5)
Contrary to some interpretations of Job's submission, he is not beaten down like a whipped dog. Rather, he bows in reverential awe before the mystery and the majesty of Almighty God. No longer is he a self-righteous "know-it-all." With repentance, humility, and wisdom he says, "I shut my mouth."
God Speaks to Our Fears
In spite of Job's repentance and humility, another unspoken question lurks behind his complaint. Deep within his being is the fear, "Does God really have control over all the circumstances of life?" At one time or another, everyone who suffers asks the same question. We wonder if there is some small segment of the universe where God's power is limited. Otherwise, if He really cared, He would not let the innocent suffer. We simply cannot reconcile the suffering of the innocent with the goodness of God. Without an answer, we live with the fear that God lacks either the control or the care to handle all the circumstances which we face as human beings.
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In response to Job's implied question, God again speaks out of the whirlwind:
Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me
(Job 40:7)
Although still using questions for His inquiry, God adds an ingenious teaching tactic to His speaking. Further complimenting Job's intelligence, He asks his servant to role-play His decision-making in the moral dilemmas with which God must deal. "What would you do if you were God?" is a question worthy of being asked each time we face the fear that our suffering might be out of His control or care. Specifically, God asks Job:
Would you indeed annul My judgment?
Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?
Have you an arm like God?
Or can you thunder with a voice like His?
Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor,
And array yourself with glory and beauty.
(Job 40:8-10)
Three test questions follow. First, God asks Job, "Would you crush the wicked if you were God?" If you would:
Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you.
(Job 40:14)
Job is caught in his own trap of logic. If he were to play God and bring immediate judgment to the wicked, how would he escape? The truth comes home to him. Job has called for the justice of God to be exercised on his behalf with the hope of justification, but the fact is that he would be subject to God's wrath because he shares the sin of humanity.
A larger truth looms before us. Wherever and whenever
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we human beings assume the role of God in passing judgment and meting out punishment against the wicked, we invite the wrath of God upon our heads as well. It is sad but true that the greatest atrocities in human history have been carried out in the name of God. Across the world at the present time, most of the wars being fought between and within nations are religious in nature. Hatred fueled by a righteous cause is the most vicious of all. If God allowed us to have our way with those whom we identify as the wicked of the earth, there would be no patience with those who do not measure up to our standard. And there would be no forgiveness for those who sinned! Job can draw his own conclusion: Except for God's patience with the wicked, there would be no hope of forgiveness for anyone, including himself!
God's second question for Job seems far-fetched at first. Showing Job a monstrous animal called a "behemoth" or hippopotamus, He implies the question, "If you were God, would you create the ugly and the useless?" In a picturesque description of the hippopotamus, its anatomy, its habitat, and its behavior, God recreates the image of a lovable, ugly monster who is content to eat, play, sleep, and swim without a care in the world.
Indeed the river may rage, yet he is not disturbed;
He is confident, thought the Jordan gushes into his mouth,
Though he takes it in his eyes
Or one pierces his nose with a snare.
(Job 40:23-24)
In its own ludicrous way, the hippopotamus is a perfect example of trust in God even though it may be considered useless and ugly.
On a recent trip to Africa, I traipsed up and down the jungle path next to a waterhole trying to find the hippopotamus who lived there. I wanted to see for myself if God's description was accurate. Finally, a boisterous snort came from an island of reeds in the middle of the waterhole and a clumsy hippo belly-flopped into the water creating waves that upset the birds feeding on the pond and even the crocodile sunning on the shore. What a laughable, awkward
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monstrosity! Then and there I decided that God had a sense of humor because He created the hippopotamus. With Job, I expect that I would have canceled the creation of the hippo for aesthetic and utilitarian reasons. But wait. God tells Job that the hippo is ". . . the first of the ways of God" — first of His creation, first of His care, and first of His love (Job 40:19). In other words, we need the hippo to show how God loves the seemingly ugly and the useless.
The lesson of the hippopotamus has contemporary application. As medical science saves more and more babies who are hopelessly deformed or retarded, there is the question of whether or not the same life-saving measures should be used for them as would be used for a healthy child whose life is at stake. How will we treat the ugly and the useless?
At the other end of the life spectrum is the reality that medical science is prolonging life so that persons who live to be 100 years old represent one of the fastest-growing age groups in the nation. Some think these aging people can no longer contribute to the goals of our utilitarian society. Should they be treated as choice persons of God's creation — or as candidates for merciful death? Will we ask Dr. Kivorkian to make a house call? How will we treat the "ugly" and the "useless"?
Still another current example comes from our local scene. As developers are renovating the old downtown section of our community, they propose that "street people" be barred from the area because they are bad for business. A parallel proposal is that the Salvation Army move to the suburbs and take the "street people" with them. Without a doubt, these people are the dregs of society — ugly and useless in the eyes of man. But, in the eyes of God, are they the "hippos" of humanity — created by Him and loved by Him? If so, God's question is also asked of us, "Will you eliminate the ugly and the useless?" Job knows the answer and so do we. If we eliminate the ugly and the useless, whether in the animal world or among people, we do not know God's love. For Job especially, this lesson had meaning. Due to his suffering, he had taken his place among the ugly and the useless.
God's third question is the most penetrating of all. He shifts His image-making from the hippopotamus to the crocodile. The two animals are opposites. Whereas the hippo looks lovable and innocent, even though ugly and
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useless, the crocodile is the personification of evil. No animal is more vicious, unpredictable, or incorrigible. In fact, when I asked a native of Florida to define the difference between an alligator and a crocodile, he told me that an alligator will attack a human being only if provoked while a crocodile will attack at any time. Perhaps this is why God goes to great lengths and minute details in His description of the crocodile as a creature about which nothing good can be said:
On earth there is nothing like him,
Which is made without fear.
He beholds every high thing;
He is king over all the children of pride.
(Job 41:33-34)
From the Satanic likeness of the crocodile comes God's third and final question to Job, "If you were God, would you eliminate evil from the face of the earth?" Undoubtedly, God could do it, but what would be lost? For one thing, we all have the root of evil in our nature, so God would have to destroy His whole creation — including us. For another thing, our minds comprehend what is good because we also know what is evil. Most of all, if God wiped out evil from the earth, we would never understand the meaning of His grace — God's unmerited favor. To preserve our freedom, show His love, and offer His grace, God permits evil to exist, but never to conquer us. As powerful as the crocodile may be, God reminds Job: "Everything under heaven is Mine" (Job 41:11).
Job's nimble mind is quick to get the point. At the same time that he is humbled by God's greatness, he sees hope in His goodness. Job does not get the answer he wants, but he does get the answer he needs. By deep and searching questions, then, God leads Job to understand Who He is — The God of All Creation and The God of Every Contingency!
God is all-wise. If He had contested with Job over the question "Why?" their conversation would have been deadlocked. The pros and cons of a logical argument cannot account for the mystery of the universe or the paradox of truth. God, therefore, chooses to lead Job one question at a time to see the transcending vision of His wisdom and His love. Not
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that the question "Why?" is unimportant, but for people of faith, the question "Who?" is most important. Nietzsche said, "If we know 'Why?" we can bear any 'What?' " His philosophy spawned the Holocaust. For this reason, God leads Job toward the faith position, "If we know 'Who?' we can bear any 'What?' "
Current management theory has come full circle to make visionary leadership the key to empowering people and transforming organizations. For years, effective leadership was identified as process more than purpose. Traits of leaders were analyzed by computerized statistics and summarized in mathematical models. Something was missing. Finally, the students of organizations realized that an intuitive eye to the future coupled with a commitment to people and values represented the mysterious stuff out of which legendary leaders were made. Their vision for the future is more often a story than a statistic and more frequently a dream than a plan, but people are motivated to follow and energies are mobilized for action. The questions "Why? What? How?" and "When?" must still be asked by effective leaders, but the question "Who?" must precede them all.
Jesus could not have survived without the transcending vision of His Father. Even though He had the advantage of knowing why He suffered, Jesus' final test in the Garden of Gethesemane is the test of trust. Out of soul-rending trauma, He prayed, "Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36).
Hidden in these words are the same questions of doubt and fear that plagued Job and all who suffer. Does God really know what He is doing? Is God really in control of all life's circumstances? Or to put the question into God's vivid image of evil, "Will the crocodile win?" Because no one had tested the power of death and hell before, Jesus had no assurance that He would rise as conqueror except for His trust in God the Father. For Him, for Job, and for us, if we know "Who" God is, we can bear the suffering of "What?" and the mystery of "Why?"
At long last, Job is ready to answer God.
