If God has already declared the ungodly righteous, if He has already clothed sinners in the obedience of Christ, if He has already moved toward us in mercy when we had nothing to offer, then suffering cannot be interpreted as divine rejection. It cannot be a sign that God has stepped back. It cannot be punishment in the judicial sense. The Judge has already rendered His verdict.

This chapter of David Simundson’s commentary brings the long dialog section of the book of Job to a decisive close. After three full cycles of debate between Job and his three friends have reached a complete impasse, the friends fall silent.

I thought I understood You, Lord. I had built a tidy picture in my mind, a God who moved in predictable ways, who answered prayers the way I expected, who shielded those who loved Him from the worst of the world.

Captain Ahab is a man obsessed with the thing, the White Whale, that changed his life.  The White Whale is his nemesis, an uncontrollable element of life that has left him lame and threatened his reality.  Now Ahab is intent on destroying the thing that has broken him.  Ahab's life was that of a whaler, sea captain and successful merchant.  Now he is uprooted, physically changed, and the dominance he felt over his life’s direction is torn and changed by the will and force of an outside entity with a mind of its own.  The White Whale intends to destroy Ahab and has the power to do so. (Job 41:10)