Listen to the question God asked Job: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much” (Job 38:4). One question would have been enough for Job, but it isn’t enough for God. Questions rush forth. They splatter in the chambers of Job’s heart with a wildness and a beauty and a terror that leaves every Job who has ever lived drenched and speechless, watching the Master redefine who’s who in the universe.
God’s questions to Job aren’t intended to teach; they are intended to stun. They aren’t intended to stir the mind; they are intended to bend his knees. “I owe no one anything,” God declares in the crescendo of the wind. “Everything under the heaven is mine” (Job 41:11). Job couldn’t argue. God owed no one anything. No explanations, no excuses. Which makes the fact that he gave us everything even more astounding.
