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Biblical Story - The Book of Job

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The Book of Job is, indeed, an intriguing story. It contains many dramatic elements such as a portrait of a privileged family, a dramatic conversation between God and Satan, followed by tragic loss, profound sickness, copious speechmaking and lastly a restoration of prosperity. Because of the wide variety of theological viewpoints, an endless variety of interpretations and conclusions have been made about the Book of Job. For this exercise, we are tasked to offer our own interpretation of a portion of the story. The focus for this task is to interpret God's whirlwind speech to Job. I believe any textual interpretation is subject to and informed by an individual's theological viewpoint as well as their political leanings and socio-economic location. Therefore, as you will see, my interpretation is informed from my theological viewpoint, as a moderate to conservative Christian who also embraces Calvinist Reformed Theology. The speech itself occurs near the end of the text after Job, his wife and his friends all offer their opinions, suggestions and commentary on Job's situation. At this point, God responds to Job, and possibly everyone else, in the midst of a whirlwind and characterized in the form of a confrontation. My observation starts with Chapter 38, verse 2: "Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?" (NIV Translation) I believe this is a powerful line that sets the tone of atmosphere for God's response to Job's speech. First, the overall sentence admonishes Job about his many complaints, questions and pleas, by saying: "Who is this?"  I would interpret this part as a challenge to Job to account for his long and drawn out soliloquys. One could even go so far as to paraphrase God's opening words as: "Who do you think you are?" There may be some, especially those who are adherents to Process Theology that would disagree with that sentiment. Nonetheless, I view's God's word placement and word choice to be an indicator of how God views God's relationship between God-self and humankind. Second, God clearly indicates that God has a plan. Obviously, the Book of Job demonstrates that God's plan, whatever it is, does not prevent human tragedy and suffering. Often, in class and in ministry, we have discussed the phrase, "God has a plan. More specifically, we have discussed how that phrase has been used (and misused) to justify wrongdoing and also deliver poor pastoral care following personal tragedy. I would agree that humankind, especially those in ministry, should be cautioned to never utilize such language to counsel the bereaved or distressed. Nonetheless, as part of my interpretation, I would state that this sentiment of caution does not remove the words from the text nor does it erase the concept of God having a divine plan, regardless of whether or not that plan is communi

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