Tuesday, October 22, 2024 | Trey Comstock
By Rev. Emily Larsen
Previous to this passage of scripture, Job has cried out to God objecting to the predicaments that he has found himself in. Understandably so. Job questions the suffering that he is enduring. He’s had enough and he throws a temper tantrum to God, asking “why me!?”
Instead of answering Job with a justification, God answers Job with this argument that there is so much more happening here than Job could know. This conversation between God and Job confronts Job with his own limitations in knowledge and capacity, while simultaneously contrasting them with the resourcefulness and wisdom of God. In short, God comes back at Job with, I am God and you are not.
God says, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Are you able to make it rain? Do you control the lightning bolts? Are you able to care for all of the animals on the Earth and provide them with their food? Huh?!”
Who are we, mere mortals, to contemplate and comprehend the inner workings of an infinite and omnipotent God? God’s ways are not our ways.
During this discourse, God basically tells Job sardonically, “surely you must already know!” The Hebrew translation for this phrase “to know” is yada. As in the phrase “yada yada yada” that we use today to mean glossing over details, implying that the rest of the story is already known to the listener. God tells Job, “yada yada yada” like Job must already know about where the foundations of the Earth are set and how to control lightning bolts! Obviously, Job doesn’t.
In scripture, the word yada is often used to describe this limited human understanding compared to God’s infinite wisdom and omniscience. While we might be tempted to skip over the complexities of life with a "yada yada yada," the book of Job reminds us that true yada—intimate knowledge—requires humility and reverence for the mysteries of God's ways, which are far beyond our comprehension. This is the point that God was actually making to Job.
This argument leads to a newfound humility in Job. Job, in his final response to God, says, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:3). Job’s encounter with God leads him not to an answer, but to an acceptance of his own limitations in the face of divine mystery. Sometimes in the Christian faith we call this divine mystery “fear of the Lord”—a deep reverence and awe for God’s greatness. It’s this humility that then gives us a glimpse into the nature of God. As God’s created beings, our posture before God should not be one of demanding explanations, but of trust and submission, knowing that God is infinitely wise and just, even when we cannot understand the ways in which God is working.
Sort of like being a single thread in an intricate tapestry; only the master weaver can comprehend the grand design that is at work. Just as that single thread appears meaningless on its own, so too can the events of our lives feel random, unfair, or chaotic. Yet in God’s grand design, every moment—every thread—has a purpose. When we are caught in the midst of the chaos of life, we can trust that God, the master weaver, sees the whole picture and knows how every thread fits together for our good. We need only to pause and look around us to realize that God is in control. Everywhere we look, from the stars in the heavens to the cells in our bodies, we encounter complexity and order that baffles the human mind. Even with all our advancements in science and technology, we still just scratch the surface of understanding God’s creation. If creation itself is this intricate, how much more mysterious and unfathomable is the Creator?
I had a friend try to describe it to me with this analogy once.
When we try to contemplate the mysteries of God, think of God as a Rubix Cube and think of yourself as a two-dimensional stick figure. We aren’t capable of imagining or comprehending beyond our two-dimensions. So if we see a Rubix cube from one side, we simply see “red square” or “blue square” etc. When in actuality, there are so many more dimensions to God. We can’t comprehend the 3D nature of a Rubix Cube while we still think in 2 dimensions. Just like, we can’t begin to fathom the depths and facets of God’s nature as we are still finite creatures. In the end, when it comes down to it….we just can’t fit God in a box of our own making! God is, for us, truly unfathomable!