在一切的灾难之中，上帝仍然掌权。

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Job 40:2

强辩的岂可与全能者争论吗？-约伯记40章2节

We can find nearly every argument in the book of Job about why there is pain in the world, but the arguing never seems to help Job much. His is a crisis of relationship more than a crisis of doubt. Can he trust God? Job wants one thing above all else: an appearance by the one Person who can explain his miserable fate. He wants to meet God Himself, face to face.

在约伯记这卷书中，几乎每一场争辩都是关于世上为何有苦难，但这些辩论似乎对约伯并无助益。因为约伯面对的不单是信心的危机，他与上帝的关系更出现了问题。约伯还能信靠上帝吗？约伯最想得到的是上帝的显现，因唯有上帝能解释他悲惨的人生境遇。他渴望能当面向上帝提问。

Eventually Job gets his wish. God shows up in person (see Job 38:1). He times His entrance with perfect irony, just as Job’s friend Elihu is expounding on why Job has no right to expect a visit from God.

约伯终于如愿以偿，上帝亲自向他显现（参见约伯记38章1节）。上帝出现的时间极具讽刺性，因为在当时，约伯的朋友以利户正滔滔不绝地述说约伯不配上帝的造访。

No one—not Job, nor any of his friends—is prepared for what God has to say. Job has saved up a long list of questions, but it is God, not Job, who asks the questions. “Brace yourself like a man,” He begins; “I will question you, and you shall answer me” (v. 3). Brushing aside thirty-five chapters’ worth of debates on the problem of pain, God plunges into a majestic poem on the wonders of the natural world.

那时，无论是约伯或是他的朋友，没有人想到上帝会这么说。约伯有满腹的疑问，但提问的却是上帝，而不是约伯。上帝一开始就说：“现在你要如勇士束腰，我要问你，你要告诉我”（3节，新译本）。接下来，对于他们在前面35章有关苦难的辩论，上帝直接越过，谱了一首自然奇观的宏伟篇章。

God’s speech defines the vast difference between the God of all creation and one puny man like Job. His presence spectacularly answers Job’s biggest question: Is anybody out there? Job can only respond, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (42:3).

上帝的话阐释了创造主与像约伯这样渺小的人之间极大的差异。上帝荣耀地显现，回答了约伯最大的问题：宇宙中真的有一位上帝吗？约伯只能说：“我所说的是我不明白的；这些事太奇妙是我不知道的。”（42章3节）

主啊，关于人生和一切看似不公平的事，我们总抱持许多疑问。但祢已向我们显明祢的美善。虽有许多事难以明了，但求主帮助我们能全然信靠祢。

Job 38:2-11    NIV

38  “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? 8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, 11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?

约伯记 38:2-11 

38  “谁用无知的言语，使我的旨意暗昧不明？ 3 你要如勇士束腰，我问你，你可以指示我。 4 我立大地根基的时候，你在哪里呢？你若有聪明，只管说吧。 5 你若晓得就说，是谁定地的尺度？是谁把准绳拉在其上？ 6 地的根基安置在何处？地的角石是谁安放的？ 7 那时晨星一同歌唱，神的众子也都欢呼。 8 “海水冲出，如出胎胞，那时谁将它关闭呢？ 9 是我用云彩当海的衣服，用幽暗当包裹它的布， 10 为它定界限，又安门和闩， 11 说：‘你只可到这里，不可越过，你狂傲的浪要到此止住。’

INSIGHT

灵粮透视

After all Job had endured, how could the Lord of heaven respond to his honest, agonizing questions with more questions?

约伯经历了各样的患难之后，上帝在面对约伯那坦诚而痛苦的问题时，怎么能用更多的问题来回应他呢？

Job forgot the case he wanted to argue in the court of heaven (Job 23:1–10). The presence and questions of God suddenly reawakened the trust he’d expressed in those first moments of the worst days of his life (1:21; 2:10).

最后在上帝的台前，约伯忘记了他想要争辩的事（约伯记23章1-10节）。上帝的同在和提问，瞬间重新唤起约伯在最初面对悲惨人生时的信心（1章21节，2章10节）。

We, on the other hand, have an advantage that Job lacked. In the prologue of Job’s story, we are taken behind the scenes to see how God viewed Job (1:1–2:10).

我们这些人则拥有约伯所没有的优势，因为在约伯故事的序幕中，我们能从幕后看到上帝如何看待约伯（1章1节-2章10节）。

What if our lives had such a prologue? Would it help to know that more is going on than we can see and that it’s better than we imagine? Even if we aren’t an exemplary example as Job was, can we take heart in being one of the dearly loved sinners for whom Christ died?

如果我们的人生有这样的序幕，该如何面对呢？这是否能帮助我们明白，有很多我们看不到的事正在发生，而且比我们想像的更好？即使我们不像约伯那样堪为楷模，基督仍然爱我们，并愿为我们这些有罪的人受死，想到这一点，我们就深受鼓舞，心得安慰。

整理：于姊妹