Words fall short

06/23/24 • 15 min

Intertwined - faith • community • ecology

Why does God permit pain and suffering? Why do bad things happen to good people? What happened to Job? Does the book of Job tell us why evil exists?
"Words fall short" is a reflection based on Job 38:1-11.
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone
when the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
“Or who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb,
when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come and no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stopped’?
Works Referenced

Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2019, Kindle edition.

Greenstein, Edward L. “Job.” In The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition, edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Newsom, Carol A. “Job.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume III. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.

O’Brien, Julia. “Wisdom/Poetic literature.” OT100: Introduction to the Old Testament (class lecture, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA, April 13, 2019).

Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, June 13, 2024, https://openai.com/chatgpt/

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at [email protected].

Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2019, Kindle edition.

Greenstein, Edward L. “Job.” In The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition, edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Newsom, Carol A. “Job.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume III. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.

O’Brien, Julia. “Wisdom/Poetic literature.” OT100: Introduction to the Old Testament (class lecture, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, PA, April 13, 2019).

Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, June 13, 2024, https://openai.com/chatgpt/

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at [email protected].

Previous Episode

Jesus the Plunderer

Why was Jesus accused of conspiring with the ruler of the demons? What was his response to those accusations? What "strong man" did he plunder? Who are the strong men in our midst? Who was part of Jesus' family?
"Jesus the Plunderer" is based on Mark 3:20-35.
Then he went home, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” And he called them to him and spoke to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.
“Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Works Referenced
Carter, Warren. Mark (Wisdom Commentary Series Book 42). Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2019. Kindle Edition.
Gorman, Amanda and Christian Robinson. Something, Someday. New York City: Viking, 2023.
Lettsome, Raquel S. "Mark." In Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha, edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., Matthew J. M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014. Kindle edition.
Pennsylvania Policy Center. “People’s Budget 101 Presentation.” Accessed June 6, 2024. https://pennpolicy.org/budget-101/
Placher, William C. Mark (BELIEF: A Theological Commentary on the Bible). Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at [email protected].

Next Episode

Thorny reminders

What was Paul's thorn? How did Paul find strength in weakness? Are there super apostles today? Is Christian Nationalism Christian?
"Thorny reminders" is based on 2 Corinthians 12:2-10.
I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— was caught up into paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
Works Referenced
Brown, Alexandra R. “The Second Letter of Paul to the Colossians.” In The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, 5th ed., edited by Michael D. Coogan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Faithful America. “A Preacher’s Toolkit for Confronting Christian Nationalism.” Accessed July 6, 2024. https://act.faithfulamerica.org/signup/preachers-toolkit-christian-nationalism/.
Fredrickson, David E. “2 Corinthians.” In Fortress Commentary on the Bible: The Old Testament and Apocrypha, edited by Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page, Jr., Matthew J. M. Coomber. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014. Kindle edition.
Moss, Candida R. “Christly Possession and Weekend Bodies: Reconsideration of the Function of Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh (2 Cor. 12:7-10.” Journal of Religion, Disability & Health 16 (2012): 319-333.
Powery, Luke A. “Between Text and Sermon: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10.” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology Vol. 77, No. 2 (2023): 184-186.
Sampley, J. Paul. “The Second Letter to the Corinthians.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
Stone, Matt and Trey Parker, writers. South Park. Season 2, episode 4, “You Will Respect My Authoritah!” Aired May 20, 1998.
Thomas, Johnn Christopher. “‘An Angel from Satan’: Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh (2 Corinthians 12.7-10).” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 9 (1996): 39-52.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Twitter, or Tik Tok. Questions? Write us at [email protected].