Saturday 04 October 2008

Background

The story of Job climaxes with the intervention of God. God'sspeech (chapter 38) uses irony to diffuse the bitterness of Job'scomplaint, asking Job, in a series of rhetorical questions, whetherhe has accomplished anything like the awesome creativity of God. Itaddresses Job's two main concerns - lament and lawsuit. God answersin person ("out of the whirlwind") and wins the argument bysilencing Job and his questions.

The author of the book deliberately has God ask such rhetoricalquestions to counter Job's charges of 'dark purposes' and God'sseeming indifference to justice. They seem to fall into threesections:

• Who are you?
• Where were you?
• Are you able?

The narrator, in portraying Job as faithful and humble tothe end, gives him three overall answers:

• I am nothing.
• I was not there.
• I am not able.

But even at the end of the book, many questions are notanswered and many problems are not solved. The narrator wants toinform the reader that the suffering of the innocent cannot beexplained, except by looking through the lens of God.

This story can be subversive in terms of its focus on thepower of doubt about human understanding of God's involvement indisasters. But by challenging without blaming God, Job shows signsof a level of maturity that is almost godly, even in times of greatsuffering. The book tries to show that in spite of humanlimitations in understanding the universe, and our powerlessness indisasters and death, human beings like Job can assert the exemplarycharacteristics of God in their words and lives.

In the final scenes, God 'comes down' to the human level toclarify his point and restores the true cosmic order by directlycommunicating with Job. Through this, God shows he takes humanbeings seriously in his engagement in the world. God can stand tobe questioned and will communicate with humanity by appreciatinghumankind's level of understanding.

In a time when religious fundamentalists try to 'fix' theidea of God to suit their own purposes, the concept that God allowshimself to be questioned and challenged provides a challenge fortoday's witnesses. But God is a dynamic god who is ready totranscend narratives and misconceptions, and as we see with Job,connects with human beings at their level.

To Ponder

How often do you communicate to God yourdifficulties as well as your praises and petitions?

How far is it possible to live like Job in thismodern world?

Can we share or bear faithful witness to the goodnews while listening to others, without fixing God into ourcultural, doctrinal and ideological boxes? How might we go aboutthis?