As we progress through Job’s story, we see Job move from “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (1:21), to charging God with wrongdoing “He crushes me with a storm and multiplies my wounds without cause…He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.” “When disaster brings sudden death, he mocks the despair of the innocent“(9:17, 22, 23), to questioning God’s intentions “Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?” “You bring new witnesses against me and increase your anger toward me; your forces come against me wave upon wave.” “Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy “ (10:3, 17, 20), to calling God a monster “God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me” (16:9), “His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies” (19:11), to questioning the value of prayer and worship “Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him “(21:15), to demanding to argue his case before God who is nowhere to be found.

This Sunday we consider the question, “What happens when God finally speaks?” It’s important to note that Job never doubted God’s power, but Job did despair of God’s love. Job expected God to answer his questions, but he didn’t expect God to answer them while he was still alive. Yet this is what God does, and God does it in dramatic fashion.