“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt1?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?2
Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?” -Job 38:31-33
Every year begins with past problems unresolved, enduring issues unanswered, and new problems, barely perceived, on our horizon. Though we set goals for the next twelve months of life, we face a recurring sense that things are beyond our control. This is as true in the time of Job, the earliest book of the Bible, as it is in our time.
The Book of Job begins with a trifecta of human fears. In the first chapter, Job loses his posterity, possessions, and physical health. Life is so bad that his wife tells him to give up his integrity, curse God, and die.3 But the book isn’t a dystopic litany of disaster. Rather than leaving us with hope, this worst-case scenario leads us to a deeper trust in God.
The Book of Job makes it clear from the beginning that the catastrophes were not due to any failure on the part of Job. Yet most of the book, (chapters 2-37), consists of Job fending off philosophical and religious speculation from his sincerely misguided friends. They all argue, in one way or another, that the disasters were due to Job’s shortcomings. They assume Job was in control of his fate. Job, for his part, proclaims his innocence and questions God’s actions.
Finally, in the 38th chapter, God speaks truth to the situation. His truth runs deeper than we might expect:
“Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
‘Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone –
while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?’” Job 38:1-7
It turned out that Job and his friends were all wrong. Their short-sighted views were based on their limited understanding.
Of course, we now know much more than they did then. We have much more to say about the Pleiades and Orion, about Ursa Major and Minor, than Job and his friends could have possibly understood. Here are just a few examples of our increased knowledge:
There is a supermassive black hole in our Universe. Saggitarius A-Star (Sgr A*) is at the center of the Milky Way and is the consistent source of thriving, fiery baby stars.
4.5 billion years ago, the infant earth was moonless, lifeless, and lacking what was needed for life.
Another cooling planet, which scientists have named Theia, collided with Earth, having just the right force to reshape the Earth for the creation of life.
The iron cores of Earth and Theia fused. Together they were the right size to produce Earth’s magnetic field which shields the planet. Without the magnetic field, there would be no life on planet Earth.
The collision between Earth and Theia could have been too powerful and destroyed both worlds. It could have been too weak, causing them to bounce off each other. Instead, they hit with just enough power to produce the moon. The moon slowed and stabilized the post-collision Earth. In time it also created the tides on our planet.4
The essentials for life on our planet, like oxygen, water, and carbon weren’t present on infant Earth. These “volatiles,” as they are called, arrived, we believe, by two explosions expelling, in one second, the same amount of energy that the sun will burn through in its lifetime. These two supernovas sent meteors flying through the universe. The size and gravitational pull of the planet Jupiter pushed many of these meteors in our direction. They collided with the earth with just enough force to break through the Earth’s crust, introducing volatiles, and producing steam vents from which life was created.
Though these theories may change with future insights into the Milky Way, we have more scientific knowledge about our Universe than Job and his friends had. And yet the more we understand our Universe the less we know. For example:
We know dark matter, exists and that it constitutes 85% of our universe. We have enough evidence to prove it exists, yet we have no idea what it is. With all of our learning, we don’t know what 85% of the matter in our Universe is.
Our knowledge only deepens our sense that we don’t control our destiny. God’s question to Job is just as valid for us as it was for him. God says, with a touch of professorial sarcasm:
“What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!” -Job 38:19-21
Our knowledge or lack thereof can lead us, as it did Job, to a deeper trust in the One who controls things beyond us. The testimony of the Bible is that God is ultimately in control, that Job’s God is good, and that his God is a God who makesgoodhappen in our lives, even through the unexpected challenges of life.5 God’s questions to Job and the answers that must follow, can calm our fears of the future and instill in us a sense of security in a very uncertain world.
There is a concrete application of this point for paid subscribers below:
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