Job 38:1-17

The LORD Answers Job (Cp Gen 1.1-10)

38:1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Gird up your loins like a man,

I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements--surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone

7 when the morning stars sang together

and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors

when it burst out from the womb?--

9 when I made the clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 and prescribed bounds for it,

and set bars and doors,

11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

and caused the dawn to know its place,

13 so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,

and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clay under the seal,

and it is dyed like a garment.

15 Light is withheld from the wicked,

and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,

or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? (Job 38:1-17, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here from September 16, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two):

Finally, God speaks, addressing Job “out of the whirlwind (hr!f!s4, s ^e‘ārāh)” (Job 38:1; 40:6). “In the biblical worldview,” says Leong Seow, “storms typically accompanied a theophany (cf. Ps. 18:7-15; 50:3; 58:3; Ezek. 1:4; Nah. 1:3; Zech 9:14; Hab. 3)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Job 38:1). Job has credited the whirlwind (hp!Us, sûfâh) with carrying off the wicked (Job 27:20)–unless, as, according to Seow, some suppose, that verse should be reassigned to a “lost third discourse of Zophar,” or Job is “mimicking their [i.e. his friends’] pat answers” (ibid., on 27:7-23). Elihu includes the whirlwind (37:9, hp!Us, sûfâh) among the powers of nature, particularly winter (37:1-13, cf. Seow on 36:24-37:24), which are under God’s control “whether for correction . . . or for love” (37:13). Compare also Isaiah’s statement that Jerusalem (Ariel) “will be visited by the LORD of hosts / with thunder and earthquake and great noise, / with whirlwind (hr!f!s4, s ^e‘ārāh) and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire” (Isa. 29:6). The same term is used for the whirlwind in which Elijah ascended to heaven (2 Kgs. 2:1, 11).

Through much of the dialogue, Job has been questioning God. But when the LORD speaks, he turns the table, so to speak. “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” he asks (Job 38:2; cf. Job’s repetition of this in 42:3). “Gird up your loins like a man,” says the LORD; “I will question you, and you shall declare to me” (v. 3; cf. Job’s quotation of this in 42:4). In response to the LORD, Job submits, but says very little (cf. 40:3-5; 42:2-6). But the LORD, when he speaks, does not answer any of the questions that Job has raised. Rather, he emphasizes his power as the creator and controller of the world by a series of rhetorical questions which imply Job’s insignificance in comparison. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” the LORD asks (38:4a). “Tell me,” he says to Job, “if you have understanding (v. 4b), clearly implying that Job was nowhere then. Other wisdom texts say that personified Wisdom was with God at the creation (Prov. 8:22, 27), but the LORD here refers to the limits on Job’s wisdom. Further questions refer to the process of creating the world. “Who determined its [the earth’s] measurements–surely you know!” (v. 5). The LORD asks about the earth’s “bases” (pilings?) and “who laid its cornerstone” (v. 6) at a time of rejoicing “when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings [‘Heb. Sons of God, NRSV text note b] shouted for joy” (v. 7). Seow sees the “stars” that sang as “members of the divine council” and refers to 25:5 and Judg. 5:20). The next stanza asks about the limits God “set for the primeval waters of chaos” (Seow on vv. 8-11, with ref to 26:10; Ps. 104:9; 148:6). And another stanza (vv. 12-15) points out that Job cannot control the coming of the dawn of morning (v. 12), but the light of dawn shakes out the wicked (v. 13), from whom “light is withheld” (v. 15). Today’s reading concludes with the LORD’s questions as to whether Job has “entered into the springs of the sea, / or walked in the recesses of the deep” (v. 16), has he seen “the gates of death,” or, by another expression, “the gates of deep darkness” (v. 17).

John C. L. Gibson says,

Within a very short time Job must have wondered–as we as readers still wonder today–what the long-awaited reply could have to do with his plea. Not once are the troubles of Job, which are what this book . . . is supposed to be about, as much as mentioned. Instead, we are regaled in a first speech in chapters 38 and 39, in the form of a long series of ironic questions directed at Job, with a survey of God’s work in creation, his control of various natural phenomena [and so forth]. (Job, The Daily Study Bible Series, 1985, pp 220-221 on Job 38:1-3).

Though Gibson notes that “It is, of course, patently obvious that Job is being put in his place” (p. 221). No answers are given. “Yet,” he says, the author “knows that it is incumbent upon him to give some answers to the issues which he himself has raised in our minds . . . The way the author solves his dilemma is quite brilliant. He refuses to spell out his ‘solution’ and so puts the onus on us to infer it for ourselves” (Ibid.).

Acts 15:22-35

The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers

22 Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among their members and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, 25 we have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

30 So they were sent off and went down to Antioch. When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. 32 Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them. 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, and there, with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord. (Acts 15:22-35, NRSV)

On July 28, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 20, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from September 16, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closed to September 7, Year Two), comments were repeated from July 23, 2005 (Saturday of the week of the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Year One). The edited comments are repeated here:

After the issue is decided at the Jerusalem Conference (yesterday’s reading), it is agreed that men from Jerusalem will accompany Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, “Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers” (Acts 15:22). They carry a letter that disclaims the charges of the unnamed “certain individuals” (v. 1, cf. v. 5) and explains the decision (vv. 23-29). The senders of the letter are identified as “"the brothers, both the apostles and the elders,” and the recipients are addressed as “the believers of Gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia” (v. 23). The letter was probably written (or dictated) by James, so it is interesting to note that this letter uses the standard greeting, “greetings” (chairein), customary for letters in the Greco-Roman world (v. 23), as does the Epistle of James (James 1:1; cf. “Claudius Lysias to his Excellency the governor Felix, greetings [caivrein, chairein],” Acts 23:26). Paul and others use a Christian adaptation of this standard greeting form, for example, “Grace (cavriV, charis, a noun related to caivrein, chairein) to you and peace (MOlw!, shālôm) from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:7b), and “May grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Pet. 1:2b).

The apostles and elders have heard, says the letter, “that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds” (v 24). The troublemakers were not authorized by the leaders of the Christian community in Jerusalem. The letter does authorize its bearers to convey the decision of the Council, for the apostles and elders “have decided unanimously to choose representatives and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul . . . Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth” (vv. 25, 27). The letter commends Barnabas and Paul, “who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 26). The decision of the Council is stated as follows:

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. (Acts 15:28-29, NRSV)

The letter closes as it opens with a standard Greek letter closing, “Farewell” (  [Errwsqe, Errōsthe). So the representatives are sent to Antioch, where they deliver the letter (v. 30).

The news of the decision brings rejoicing to the church at Antioch (v. 31). Judas and Silas, called “prophets,” ministered there for a while, saying “much to encourage and strengthen the believers” (v. 32) before being “sent off in peace by the believers,” apparently back to Jerusalem (v. 33), but Silas must have returned to Antioch again soon, for he joins Paul for the next missionary journey (v. 40). Verse 34, probably not original but added later in some manuscripts, keeps Silas in Antioch, ready for Paul’s next journey: “But it seemed good to Silas to remain there” (v. 34 ms D and several Latin mss.). Silas is usually considered to be the same person as Silvanus (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:19; 1 Pet. 5:12). Allan J. McNichol says:

Certainly Silas was an important figure in the churches in Macedonia (Acts 18:18 suggests that he may have remained in Macedonia when Paul left) and may have been regarded as an apostle (1 Thess. :6; cf. 2 Cor. 1:19). His early connections with the church in Jerusalem were no doubt helpful in giving added theological legitimacy to the Pauline mission. Silas’s Roman citizenship, reported in Acts 16:37-38, would also have been of considerable personal help to Paul on his travels. (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Silas, Silvanus”)

The ministry of Paul and Barnabas continues for a while at Antioch where, “with many others, they taught and proclaimed the word of the Lord” (v. 35).

John 11:45-54

The Plot to Kill Jesus (Mt 26.1-5; Mk 14.1-2; Lk 22.1-2)

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 53 So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

54 Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples. (John 11:45-54, NRSV)

On September 16, 2007 (the Sunday closest to September 14, Year One), comments were based on comments from September 11, 2005 (the Sunday closest to September 14, Year One), when comments from March 18, 2005 (Friday of the week of the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Year One) and from February 22, 2006 (Wednesday of the week of the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), that were repeated on September 16, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 7, Year 2). The comments of September 16, 2007 are repeated here:

As the narrative of John’s Gospel continually notes the response of different people to Jesus, some positive and accepting, others negative and rejecting, with an occasional few who are uncertain, we come to a key sign and decisive test in the responses to the raising of Lazarus (Jn. 11:38-44). Many believed (Jn. 11:45), but some “went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done” (v. 46). Due to this miracle at the very gates of Jerusalem, as it were, for leading Pharisees and the chief priests, this was the “last straw” that “broke the camel’s back”: They “called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs’ ” (v. 47). “If we let him go on like this,” they said, “everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation” (v. 48). This comment, attributed generally to council members, seems to anticipate the destruction of the city and the temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 (cf. Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Jn. 11:48). Perhaps John (or his editors), writing later interprets their concern in the light of events with which he was familiar. The high priest, Caiaphas brings their discussion to focus. “But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed” (vv. 49-50). According to Harold Attridge, Caiaphas was high priest “for eighteen years (18-36/7 C.E.)” (Harold W. Attridge, HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Jn. 11:49). Attridge adds that “The high priest was a political as well as a religious leader and thus headed the Sanhedrin” (ibid.).

John emphasizes the ironic fact that Caiaphas, Jesus’ leading opponent, by his words, “it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed” (v. 50), fulfilled his function as high priest; for “he did not do this on his own, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation” (v. 51). John fills out the meaning, saying that Jesus’ death was “not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God” (v. 52). But the Council, understanding the implied threat that Caiaphas describes–to their own power as well as to the nation–“from that day on . . . planned to put him to death” (v. 53).

With this turn of events, Jesus “no longer walked about openly among the Jews,” but withdraws “to a town called Ephraim” (v. 54), while the chief priests and Pharisees search for him in vain (vv. 56-57), in spite of, or perhaps due to, the crowded city with many people “up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves” (v. 55).

As a reminder of the larger context, the following is repeated from yesterday’s comments, Sept. 12, 2008).

Raymond E. Brown offers a fascinating perspective on the way the raising of Lazarus fits into John’s presentation of the Gospel story (John I-XII, Anchor Bible, 29, 429):

From the contents of the Johannine account, then, there is no conclusive reason for assuming that the skeleton of the story does not stem from early tradition about Jesus. What causes doubt is the importance that John gives to the raising of Lazarus as the cause for Jesus’ death. We suggest that here we have another instance of the pedagogical genius of the Fourth Gospel. The Synoptic Gospels present Jesus’ condemnation as a reaction to his whole career and to the many things that he had said and done. In the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we are told in Luke xix 37 that, much to the discontent of the Pharisees, the people were praising Jesus because “of all the mighty miracles they had seen.” The Fourth Gospel is not satisfied with such a generalization. It is neither sufficiently dramatic nor clear-cut to say that all Jesus’ miracles led to enthusiasm on the part of some and hate on the part of others. And so the writer has chosen to take one miracle and to make this the primary representative of all the mighty miracles of which Luke speaks. With a superb sense of development he has chosen a miracle in which Jesus raises a dead man. All Jesus’ miracles are signs of what he is and what he has come to give man, but in none of them does the sign more closely approach the reality than in the gift of life. The physical life that Jesus gives to Lazarus is still not in the realm of the life from above, but it is so close to that realm that it may be said to conclude the ministry of signs and inaugurate the ministry of glory. Thus, the raising of Lazarus provides an ideal transition, the last sign in the Book of Signs [1:19-12:50] leading into the Book of Glory [13:1-20:31]. Moreover, the suggestion that the supreme miracle of giving life to man leads to the death of Jesus offers a dramatic paradox worthy of summing up Jesus’ career.

I take it that Brown does not mean that John is “rewriting” history, but that, given his reference to “early tradition about Jesus” as the source of “the skeleton of the story,” he sees John as doing what all historians do, presenting interpreted facts. We have learned from our own experience that Jesus does give life, and in that there is reason for hope. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 Jn. 3:2-3).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net