This has to be the ultimate interview, with God asking the questions. Is Job interested in running the universe?
“Then the Lord answered Job” (Job 38:1). Here the word “Lord” is His name Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God. Although the wait may sometimes seem long, the Lord has obligated Himself to answering His people. “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it, the Lord is His name: Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jer 33:2-3, BSB). But how did He answer him? Listen! “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). He agrees with Elihu, doesn’t He! Job needs to be corrected for his false assumptions, both about his life’s problems and his Lord’s purposes. He’s been wrong on both counts. So is the Lord prepared to enlighten Job? Here’s what He intends to do: “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me” (v 3). The Lord is going to answer him— with questions? In fact, there are close to 80 questions posed by the Lord, none answered by Job. The Lord’s words are in two sections (Job 38:1–40:2 and 40:6–41:34) on either side of Job’s brief response (40:3-5). The Lord will first consider the inanimate world (38:4-38), and then the animate (38:39–39:30). Following this, He selects the most astonishing land and sea creatures to feature His creative powers. His first series of inquiries, not surprisingly, address the laying of the world’s underpinnings. First question: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4). Here are the humbling words of Puritan William Jenkyn: “Our father was Adam, our grandfather dust, our great-grandfather nothing.” How’s that for a reality check? Job’s eventual appropriate response? Hand over mouth (40:4)!