m the barren lands? Does he know why the ostrich is such a strange and unusual animal? Does he control the actions of the hawk and the eagle? God asks Job if the thinks that he knows so much that he is able to instruct Him. Job is humbled and silenced by the greatness of God, yet does not renounce his former position. God tells Job that if he is going to question the way He does things, he had better have the wisdom and might to do better than He can. Since he is not God's equal, he had no right to speak in such a manner. Job now realizes that it was not a good idea to challenge God. The only legitimate option was to submit to Him and trust Him to do what is right. Now, Job is ready to withdraw his challenge and repents. God lets Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar know that he is very angry for having spoken falsely of Him. He is upset that they had filled Job's mind with false thoughts, making him resent God. The fact that they were all speaking as if they knew exactly what God was doing might have also upset him. Therefore, to rectify having spoken of God in this manner, they each must take a certain amount of sacrifices to Job, and Job would offer their sacrifices to God and pray for them. In the end, Job was made twice as prosperous as before. His wealth doubled, he had ten more children, and lived 140 more years of his life. The basic theme of this reading is to establish an understanding of the relationship between God and His people. God's wisdom and power are visible everywhere in creation. A willingness to look and accept what is obvious results in awe for the Creator. Even if we do not accept it, it still reveals His glory. Elevating yourself over God makes no sense for the fact that he is immeasurably more powerful and fully able to accomplish what He knows is most wise....
