Job is innocent, he is blameless, and has not deserved this kind of treatment he has received.

Job is done. His three friends are done. Elihu shows up at talks without substance.

The popular interpretation that God is essentially putting Job in his place, has some problems.
1) Job is holy and always acts with integrity that is never undermined in the text
2) God, as we’ll explore next week, actually says that Job has spoken rightly at the end of the book.

God’s first speech isn’t a bullying of Job
He’s seeking to expand Job’s perspective

Job (and many of us) have this idea of karma baked into our belief system
But the world is much bigger, and more complex, than just a simplistic karma perspective.

God is seeking to de-center Job. He does this because Job’s picture of the world isn’t complete.

God wants Job to see that the world is much bigger, wilder, and even more wonderous than we often think.

God reveals (contrary to Job's thinking) that God actually delights and is intimately involved in creation

God makes it clear that God does not micromanage the cosmos or creation. God delights in giving freedom, agency, power, and strength to the world

God’s seeking to crack open Job’s perspective for a deeper and ongoing conversation and even argument

Think through, what is God speaking and saying to Job and to you?

Challenge:
Listen to, hear, engage, and wrestle with God's first speech. (Job 38 & 39)