Be careful what you ask for. . . .

Toward the end of his story, Job gets his wish: "Then the Lore answered Job out of the storm."

What do you think that moment was like?

One of the most striking features of God's rebuttal in the book is that when he appears, he doesn't seem to get around to answering Job's question of why! He doesn't tell Job what the writer tells us — about the upper stage scenes of chapters 1-2.

God just asks him a bunch of questions Job can't answer. Why does God do this? At first glance it almost looks mean. And certainly part of what's happening is that God is pointing out Job has a finite mind and a limited point of view.

But there's something more. Ellen Davis writes that God's questions are indicating something about the kind of person he is. They are filled with references to God's extravagant goodness and provision even though there is no "strategic gain" in it at all.

"Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain . . .

to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,

to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?"

These lines would jump out at the reader in Job's day. Life in Israel depended on rainfall. They would never waste water. So why would God water "a land where no one lives"?

Because God is a God of gratuitous goodness. And he is uncontrollably generous. He is irrationally loving. He is good for no reason at all. He is good just because he loves to give. He sends streams of living water flowing out of sheer exuberant generosity. There is a wilderness where no one lives, yet it is full of beauty and grace because God makes a river run through it.

God delights in animals that are of no apparent use at all. The ostrich looks goofy and flaps her wings "joyfully" as if they could get her somewhere. She lays eggs and can't even remember where she left the babies. She doesn't seem to be worth much of an investment. But when she runs — oh my! "She laughs at horse and rider." Why would God waste such talent?

"I made the behemoth," God says — probably the hippopotamus. The creature is of no particular use: "Can anyone capture him when he is on the watch, With barbs can anyone pierce his nose?" The ancient world considered the hippo a chaotic monster that had to be destroyed — but not God. "He ranks first among the works of God." It's as if God is saying, "Best thing I ever did. I had my 'A' game going the day I made the behemoth."

God takes pleasure in wild oxen that will never plow; the wild donkey that will never be tamed; mountain goats that give birth in secret places man will never see; the leviathan that no one can catch. "Nothing on earth is his equal."

God creates, cares for, gives to, and delights in animals that don't appear to be good for anything. Why should God love a world like that? Anne Dillard writes, "Because the creator loves pizzazz." He revels in the beauty of the least strategic creature. What God is really telling Job is, "I'm worth it. Life, following me-it's all worth it. Don't give up. This pain is not going to last forever. I am the kind of God who is worth getting close to."

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