"Then Job answered:
Very well I know that it is so.
But how can a mortal be just before GOD?
If one were to contend with HIM,
not once in a thousand times would HE answer.
HIS power is vast, HIS wisdom profound.
Who has resisted HIM and come out unharmed?
HE moves mountains before they are aware;
HE overturns them in HIS rage.
HE makes the earth tremble
and its pillars quake.
HE commands the sun, and it does not shine;
HE seals off the light of the stars.
HE alone stretches out the skies
and treads on the waves of the seas.
HE made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and every constellation.
HIS wonders are past all reckoning,
HIS miracles beyond all counting.
HE passes by, but I do not see HIM;
HE moves on, but I do not notice HIM.
If HE snatches away, who can stop HIM?
Who can say to HIM, 'What are YOU doing?'
GOD does not turn back when angered;
before HIM Rahab's cohorts cowered.
How then can I answer HIM
and find words to argue with HIM?
If HE does not answer when I am right,
shall I plead with my judge for mercy?
Even if I appealed and HE answered,
I do not believe that HE would have heard."
- Job 9:1-16
(Job is upset before an inaccessible GOD. The Creator's greatness does not console the one who suffers without being heard. The misfortune of a single just one distorts creation.
Again, Job not only questions evil, but the very situation created by human existence with its freedom. The GOD who made us free persons must also be a Person, and as long as HE does not speak to us, HIS silence may be interpreted as a refusal to dialogue and a proof of indifference toward us.
Can a mortal be just before GOD? The same question is found in 4:17 and 22:2. This guilt feeling and the opposite feeling of hostility towards GOD are two sides of the same truth: the human condition is unacceptable as long as GOD makes people who cannot find HIM.)
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