The Lord Speaks:
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said: 2 “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-- 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? 8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, 11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? 12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, 13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? 14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. 15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken. 16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? 18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. 19 “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? 20 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? 21 Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! 22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? 24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? 25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, 26 to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, 27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? 28 Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? 29 From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens 30 when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? 31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? 32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons[c] or lead out the Bear with its cubs? 33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? 34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? 35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? 36 Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding? 37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens 38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? 39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? 41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? |
In the sacred text, Job
38 from the Old Testament God is represented as the voice and as the creator. It
is evident that God is represented as the voice, whether it’s the one inside
our heads or the one from above. This is evident as throughout this whole
sacred text as God is speaking to Job in the sense of asking questions. The
reason God is speaking to Job is to bring him back to a proper state of mind
again. This is because when God asked Job a series of questions about creation
and good and evil he attempting at making a simple point. The point being that
you can never understand me, as I’m big and you’re small. The author seems to
be expressing that if you have God all figured out, think again because you’re
wrong. Since God is a mystery – powerful and much beyond one’s control and
imagination. “Then the Lord spoke
to Job out of the storm.” God
is often represented as speaking to people in the manner of a storm as he spoke
among lighting which is linked to why he frequently appears whilst the thunder
and lightning are of a tempest, as it is a symbol of his majesty. Because of
this God is also represented as a storm, lightning or thunder as it is linked
as being one of his own creations. As God is the creator this sacred text
demonstrates God’s representation through all that he’s created. Evidence from
the text shows many things that God has created and it also gives them a
purpose and reason for why he created them. God is represented through the
endless things he has created and some include; the waters, the clouds, the
voice, the rain, the angels, the darkness and the earth.
The inspired authors of the sacred texts of Job are unknown but were written during the sixth or fifth centuries BCE (Before the Common Era.) Job is a story within a story as there are a variety of different stages and themes throughout the text of Job’s life. At the time it was written, most Israelites believed that obeying God’s commandments would mean that God would bless and protect them in this life. But on the other hand they also believed that those who were poor, going through rough patches or suffering meant that God was punishing them for a sin/sins they or even their parents had committed. Even if the sole who was being punished didn’t know what it was for they still believed God was punishing them for some un-answered reason. The Israelites thoughts were logical as God is all-powerful and just, they knew that God didn’t allow people or communities to suffer unless of course they had sinned in some way. The book of Job challenges the way of thinking, as its open to one’s interpretation. The questions God asks Job in Job 38 are about the development of the cosmos which give us an indication about how the ancient Israelites thought the universe was put together. The Israelites believed that God create universe in three levels; the heavens (a giant volt above the earth), the earth itself (a disk that rested on water of abyss) and the abyss (the underworld). The earth became known as the place that humans inhabit, the heavens as the place where God dwells. Even later, the abyss became known as the place of death. In this image God has his hands out to show that he is in control of the storm as he is the creator of it. This image represents the sacred text, Job 38 as it demonstrates God talking through the storm he is creator that is extremely powerful and in control. |