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Of all the characters in the Book of Job, God is the most problematic. This may sound strange to those who have been nurtured in a belief in which God is the omnipotent, omniscient and benevolent Creator and Redeemer, but it is meant to suggest that the literary presentation of God in the Book of Job poses conundrums not easily solved. Four come to mind.

1) Why does God listen to The Satan's advice and permit this creature to wreak untold havoc in Job's life in Job 1-2? One might say in response, 'It is just a story,' but stories often point to the truth or reality of things beyond the story. One might say that God knew all along that Job would eventually make it through the tremendous time of suffering and indeed be deepened and strengthened through it, but this seems particularly hollow, especially when one considers that Job lost ten children in the disasters of Job 1. The question gnaws.

2) Why does God remain silent so long as Job's suffering unfolds? The silence of God was probably the most significant theological issue of the twentieth century. Where was God when God's people suffered incredible atrocities in the European cauldrons? So, why does God wait so long to speak to Job? Job suspects that something is amiss with God. Job also fears that if God speaks to him, God will blow him away, figuratively, by speaking harshly or by just pulling rank, and that God will not really listen to his concerns. That is why Job asks God to speak to him but to do so in a way that respects Job's weakness and limitations. But God is silent.

3) Why, when God actually speaks, does He speak in the way He does? God is not the comforting God, the forgiving God, the understanding God when He speaks in Job 38-41. Instead he speaks just as Job had feared all along. Job's questions are not answered or even addressed. Indeed, Job is berated for his limited knowledge and consequent effrontery in approaching God when he is so limited.

4) Finally, does God admit he made a mistake in Job 42: 7? Usually readers of Job focus on the words of Job 42: 5-6 ''I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes," and then ignore 42: 7. But what does it mean that Job has spoken "right" of God? Right in everything Job has said about God throughout the book? That seems most logical, but can be a little frightening.

Unless the Book of Job first unsettles us deeply, it cannot open its riches to us.