Job Chapter 37
Fear G-d. Also Hurricanes
When I was a young Lutheran, the notion of fearing G-d was untenable. G-d is love, sent his only son, eternal life, yada yada yada. Why should we fear G-d? I was afraid of bullies, mom's moods, car accidents and dying alone, but G-d? Half the time I didn't even know if I believed in G-d. When I did believe, I treated G-d like an imaginary friend. Maybe OT G-d was mean, but NT G-d is nice.
Only the Bible is not so simple. Depending on the book, G-d can be a redeemer, an avenger, a distant force in the universe, a unreliable guardian, a cretin, a cosmic comedian or a force of nature. If human beings contradict themselves and contain multitudes, obviously the G-d that they worship is full of ambiguity. Monotheism gives us a unified whole beyond all the chaos and perplexity.
Fearing G-d is the mature and brave response to a world out of control. What do you fear? I fear a diabetic coma, fascism, genocide, antisemitism, random violence, dying alone, eviction, fire, etc. I'm sure you can add a few items to the list. As Americans, it's our duty and privilege to assume that every other administration is going to lead us down the slippery slope to dictatorship. Oh, how the Left laughed at Orson Scott Card when he wrote how Obama could become dictator for life, only to repeat the same talking points when Trump won the election.
Fear G-d because G-d is the arbiter of all joy and pain. Fear G-d because there's so much more out there. Just watch any true crime documentary and you can have nightmares for the rest of the week. If you can fear G-d, maybe you can stop fearing everything else. At least for a few moments. At very least, you can avoid the paralysis.
That's ultimately Elihu's last message. He's still a douchebag, working under the assumption that Job is ignorant, but at least he's waxing poetic about thunder and lightning. The natural world is full of wonders. Thunder shakes the sky. Lightning lights up the night. Lightning also hits people and sometimes they survive. Cold and snow and winds hit us. Who makes you warm? Who dries out your shirt when the rains stop?
Then there's climate change. We really cannot underestimate the effects of climate change. Climate change most likely led to collapse of the Bronze Age, a massive systemic collapse that inspired the Bible, even in books as late as Job. Volcanoes set off miniature Ice Ages in the 6th and 14th centuries, ushering in the Dark Ages and Black Death respectively.
Gold comes out of the North with G-d in Horrifying Glory. - 37:22
We are fragile beings, easily destroyed by hurricanes and tornadoes. The natural world can kill us. We can kill each other. A Nazi motherfucker like Elias Rodriguez can just come up to people and murder them for being Jewish. Hamas still wages a propaganda war as it kills children. Iran is still under the thumb of a theocratic dictatorship that dazzles western leftists.
G-d is still in charge. Is that comforting or scary?
Yes.
A Nazi named Elias Rodriguez just murdered two people in front of the Jewish Museum of Washington DC. Support them and become a member.
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