Beloved, I am pleased to share with you today the above theme from Job 38:1 onwards. Indeed, “Let the Almighty answer me,” Job cried (Jb 31:35-37; compare what Eliphaz had told him in Jb 5:1). Well, this God whom he thought was deaf and unattainable fulfills his desire, but not in the way Job would have thought! For instead of answering his questions, Jehovah will in turn ask him a whole series of questions. We often see the Lord Jesus doing the same with His interlocutors (e.g., Luke 10:25-28; Lc 20.1-8 and Lc 20.20-26). Because of his high self-esteem (Job 31:35-37), Job needed to be humiliated; and this is what God will produce by his questions: to make him measure his smallness and his profound ignorance. The science of observation, when it is objective, leads to this result, which is why the greatest scientists are often the most modest.
“When man listens, God speaks…” someone said. And God is patient; he gave Job and his friends plenty of time to express their misconceptions; he then instructed Elihu to refute them. Finally silence has been made, God can speak, and he will obviously have the last word. Let us also be silent sometimes, to impose silence on our restless minds, so that God can make us hear his voice.
“And the Lord answered Job from the midst of the whirlwind, and said, Who is he who obscures the council by speeches without knowledge? Gird your loins like a man, and I will question you and you will instruct me.” He had asked to be in the presence of God, summoning him to surrender to his desire, so to speak, and God replied, “Girdle your loins like a man.” The word “man” used here is not the same as in the passages where Job says, “What is mortal man?” and, “What is the man that you make of him?” (Job 7 :17). In these last passages, the word implies weakness and mortality. But God uses a very different term, and one could translate: “Gird your loins like a hero”, meaning that this word can have. It means a strong man. Job had asked for this encounter with God for a judicial examination of his ways in His presence and God had answered him: “Where were you when I founded the earth? Declare it to me, if you have intelligence.” Nowhere. “Who established his measure for him, – if you know? Or who stretched the cord over her?” Job is always silent. He didn’t have a word to say.
Furthermore, let us consider the fact that the revelation given to us here dates from the beginning of the history of the world, not very long after the flood and after men began to multiply again on earth. Since man glorifies himself abundantly in his progress and skill, as well as in the enlightenment, science, and civilization he has acquired since then, why can’t he now answer God’s questions to Job? The wisest are those who are most willing to confess their incompetence and ignorance. At least one thing they know, and that is that they are not able to respond to God. I have no doubt that there are men pretentious enough to imagine otherwise. This is precisely where ignorance is betrayed. An uneducated man may not be able to flatter himself that it is possible for him to do so, but not knowing the limits of human power and knowledge, he imagines that there are others at his side who are educated enough to answer everything. Many have no doubt that it must be an easy task, in the face of the present progress of intelligence and above all of the natural sciences, for those who are more advanced than they are in this field, to answer questions relating to creation posed three or four thousand years ago.
In truth, God appears here on the scene for the specific purpose of nullifying man’s claims. In the most magnificent language that I know of has ever been used to describe such subjects, a language worthy of the One from whom we are told to emanate, the Lord manifests himself to put Job in his true place, in dust and ashes, that is, in death morally, so that the self may be annihilated before Him. Who was Job and what was he to speak and whisper against God? Jehovah only touches the edges of his power and the outer realm of his glory, and yet what can man say about it? What could Job say? Not a word. That seems to be the strength or substance of this presentation. But was he who could not explain the smallest manifestations of God’s power able to judge the deepest parts of his ways and purposes? Is there anything more unfathomable than His counsel, affections, and ways of the Saints He loves, despite their weakness and the enmity of a powerful and cunning adversary?
Naturally, we do not find here, even by the furthest anticipation, what was to be developed in the New Testament. God alludes, as we have said, to the outward manifestations of His power and glory. “Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have intelligence… On what foundation are its foundations, or who placed its cornerstone, when the morning stars were singing together, and all the sons of God were bursting with joy? And who enclosed the sea in doors, when it broke the boundaries and came out of the matrix?” It did not matter whether God directed Job’s gaze to the heavens or to the depths of the sea: in all parts of creation, man’s ignorance and helplessness are evident. No answer could be given to a single question of Jehovah. “When I made of the cloud his garment, and of the darkness his swaddling clothes; when I cut out his limits and put bars and doors on him, and I said, Thou shalt come here and go no further, and here shall cease the pride of thy waves?” (vv. 4-11).
Thus, it’s obvious that God destroys all of Job’s proud speeches. But He does not content Himself with demonstrating the smallness of man by speaking of what is great. It also envisions things that we might consider comparatively small. After crossing the immense heavens and the untamed sea and probing the treasures of snow and hail, lightning and water, He examines in detail various celestial bodies, and then, towards the end of the chapter, He pauses, in closing, before the little things of nature, in the presence of which man is also silenced. Thus: whether we consider the greatest or the smallest of God’s works, everywhere we encounter that which is beyond the intelligence of man. “Who counted the clouds in his wisdom? and who pours the skins of heaven, when the dust flows like molten metal and the clods weld together? Is it you who hunt prey for the lioness, and satiate the appetite of lion cubs, when they lie in their dens and stand on the lookout in their thicket? Who prepares the raven for his pasture when his little ones cry out to God and wander without food?” What could be better than such words to demonstrate the foolishness of the man who wants to bring God to the stand of his tribunal? Job had even pretended to judge God’s moral depths, while he could not even fathom what He is in any part of his universe, nor could he get a somewhat complete picture of it.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped for your better understanding.
God evokes His work of creation and His providence:
- Storm (Whirlwind), general references
2 Kings 2:1 When the Lord sent Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah left Gilgal with Elisha. Job 37:9 The hurricane comes from the noon, and the cold from the north winds. Job 38:1 And the Lord answered Job from the midst of the storm and said, Ez 1:4 And behold, from the north came a rushing wind, a great cloud, and a sheaf of fire, which spread on all sides a bright light, in the center of which shone like polished brass, coming out of the midst of the fire.
- Useless words condemned
Job 11:2 Will this multitude of words find no answer, And will it be enough to be a discoureur to be right? Prov 29:11 The fool sets aside all his passion, but the wise man contains it. Ez 36:3 Prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord the Lord: Yes, because they wanted on all sides to devastate and engulf you, That you might be the property of other nations, Because you have been the object of the speeches and words of the peoples, Tt 1:10 There are, indeed, especially among the circumcised, many rebellious people, vain speechers and deceivers,
- Bravery
2 Sam. 10:12 Be firm, and show courage for our people and for the cities of our God, and let the Lord do what seems good to him! Job 40:7 With one look humiliates the haughty, Crushes the wicked on the spot, Isaiah 46:8 Remember these things, and be men! Sinners, go back into yourselves! Ez 22:30 I seek among them a man who raises a wall, who stands in breach before me in favor of the country, that I may not destroy it; but I find none.
- Great joy, opportunities to
-Laying the foundation of the temple Ezr 3:12 But many of the priests and Levites, and elderly heads of families, who had seen the first house, wept loudly as the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes. Many others burst their joy with shouts,
-Creation Job 38:7 As the morning stars burst forth in songs of joy, and all the sons of God cried out for joy?
-The coming of Christ Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they were seized with great joy.
-The resurrection of Christ Matthew 28:8 They promptly departed from the tomb, with fear and great joy, and ran to bring the news to the disciples.
-The conversion of the Gentiles Acts 15:3 After being accompanied by the Church, they continued their journey through Phoenicia and Samaria, telling of the conversion of the pagans, and they caused great joy to all the brothers.
From all of the above, we note that this is how Job was reduced to nothing before God and brought to this humiliation as to himself, with complete trust in the Lord. The crushing of man alone would almost lead to despair, unless the heart could turn to God and rest on Him. This is a point of great importance in our practical walk. Take, for example, the principle of separation, without which there is no true holiness. But, brethren, what is its value if it does not flow from communion with God? Let us be assured that there is a great danger in the habit of some people of insisting on separation, without clinging to what makes it the only divine power; for, separated from this spring and motive which grace gives, it becomes not only meaningless, but really repulsive. Those who are formed by a lifeless principle are mere Pharisees, instead of bearing witness to Christ, the Holy One and the True (Rev. 3). It is therefore of great importance that we not only have the outward manifestation of the setting apart for God, but that we possess the foundation of it which alone gives him the divine sap and marrow. Thus, in the case of Job, we have the realization of these two truths: on the one hand his own unworthiness, on the other his trust in God, and it is the latter, we can be sure, that made him feel and confess that he was a vile man. Grace is the necessary power. The last thing a man gets is thinking badly about himself. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS PERSONAL LORD AND SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in truth to pray with me:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my personal Lord and Savior. I acknowledge that you died at the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and my faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom by walking according to your ways.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to be baptized by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all worship, power and glory, now and for ever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “Lord’s first response to Job (2) God takes care of animals.” (Jb 39)
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.