MYSTERIES

Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me” – Job 38: 2-3

When God asks Questions, it is to trigger our thoughts and to unveil MYSTERIES! The longest list of questions found in the Bible – seventy-seven – consists of questions from God! In chapters 38 and 39 of Job, God posed query after query to His servant Job, who had daily asked for answers to some tough, heart-wrenching questions of his own. After being silent throughout the dialogues between Job and his friends, God finally spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. He did not answer the questions about Job's guilt or innocence, but rather spoke about the created order and contrasted what God can do with what humans are able to do. Instead of offering Job simple answers, He delivered a string of rapid-fire, thought-provoking, mystery-unveiling riddles, using words like “Who? Where? When? Have you? Can you? Do you know?” He described the thrills of the animal kingdom, the wonders of the weather, the spectacles of the solar system and other mysteries of nature.

God talked to Job as a parent would to a child: “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the belt of Orion? Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?” (Job 38: 31-32). His questions manifest an understanding of the universe so far above the knowledge and wisdom of the day. They covered the mystery, power, and beneficence of the universe. They showed how very little man knows about the things of God’s world. It is amazing how scientifically precise the language is, comparing modern knowledge with the scriptural information. Although human knowledge has increased tremendously since the days of Job, we are still far from fathoming the great mysteries posed by the Almighty.

Job had been longing for answers directly from the Almighty. The explanations from his friends connected his suffering with sins. Job wanted God to straighten this out. If he was innocent, God should acquit him. If guilty, God should reveal his offense so that he could confess, change, and maybe end the suffering. God didn’t declare Job innocent or guilty. He began to talk about the wonders of His created world: how He formed the earth, set its structure, put bounds to keep the sea under control, created all the heavenly bodies, and controls the weather. All through this speech, God reminded Job that mere humans could never accomplish all of this. Yet, Job remained in the dark about why he, or any human, should suffer. As often happens, we form questions for God, and when the answers come, they may not deal directly with the questions that we raised. Perhaps the questions were unanswerable.

Job and his friends were trying to answer questions that they could never solve; mysteries beyond human comprehension. Job was advised to recognize human limits and trust that God will take care of what he and others couldn’t know or do. We can see signs of God's work in the created world. The order of seasons, the power of waves and storms, the beauty of trees, flowers, and lakes, and the majesty of mountains – all point to a benevolent Creator who made and sustains the universe. We can trust Him by looking at the world that He has made.

God asked Job questions in order to remind him that His ways are beyond human understanding. Some people foolishly try to melt God down and put Him in a test tube so they can define and comprehend Him. He says: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways” (Isa. 55:9). When we humans ask questions, it's usually because we lack information. God is omniscient. He knows everything; nothing is a mystery for Him. He doesn’t ask questions to know. He asks us deep, penetrating questions because He wants us to think. Rather than merely giving us answers to particular problems, He asks us questions that force us to think through situations and find the answers “in Him”!