Jonah 4 provides a striking picture. God appoints a plant to give Jonah shade, and Jonah greatly enjoys its comfort. But the next day, God appoints a worm to destroy the plant. Deprived of its shade, Jonah becomes furious and cries out, “It is better for me to die than to live” (Jon. 4:8). Jonah’s […]

“It sort of seems like God is gaslighting Job?” A friend of mine raised this concern after I preached on Job 38–41. I hadn’t considered the question in my sermon prep, but especially in our therapized and therapeutic culture, it’s worth considering.  I’d like to look at the question in three phases. First, we’ll broadly […]