God Speaks – Rev. Leo Douma

 

Text: Job 38-39

 

It has been said that that you need to be careful what you pray for, because God may grant you what you ask. Too often we have little idea of the ramifications of what it is that we request from God. Job certainly found that to be the case.

As we know by now, Job suffered enormously even though he was a righteous man. Even God had acknowledged that Job was righteous in the first chapters of the book. And so Job has been demanding to know why he has been suffering. His three friends say it’s because he has sinned very badly and he needs to repent. But Job keeps on insisting on his innocence and demands an audience with God; sure that he can prove his case. And now his desire is fulfilled. Here the book of Job reaches its climax as God Himself speaks to Job.

What an act of grace that God condescends to Job’s level to personally deal with his suffering. Now we must not get the idea that Job cried out for an answer and God quickly responded like a genie in the bottle. Job has been struggling for months. The interlude with Elihu is an indicator that God can use any one as his instrument to bring his message. And it’s also an indicator that God will come in his own time. He is not at our beck and call. He comes when he determines in his sovereign will.

Sometimes it can take years for us to understand why we had to go through a certain suffering. We notice also that God (38:1) “answered Job out of a storm.” We see that on other occasions in the Old Testament; for example, when God showed up with Moses and Israel. The storm both reveals and hides God. A thunder storm invokes in us a sense of awe and fear. That’s what Elihu makes clear in 37:1-5. The storm reveals the awesome majesty of God. But it also hides God, because no one can see God and survive, again as Moses found out. If a huge storm, a hurricane scares us, we haven’t seen anything yet till we are face to face with the living God!

So here we are now at the most exciting moment in this drama with Job. Here is God in all his wonder and we wait expectantly to hear what he has to say about why Job suffered. We want to know for Job’s sake, but also for ours. What profound insight are we about to receive?

At first sight, it seems like a big disappointment. In chapters 38&39 the writer takes us on a tour of the heavens, the sea, the stars, and various animals. Then in chapters 40&41 the writer focuses on the ‘Behemoth’, which some think is a hippopotamus, and also on the ‘Leviathan’, which some think is a crocodile. But it all seems so inadequate. Here is a man who has lost everything, including ten children, his health, he is desperate to know why, and God comes along and says: ‘Look at the hippo.’ It’s all rather surprising!

What we see when we read these chapters is that God gives no answer to Job’s questions, no apology for having been silent for so long, no hint about God’s wager with Satan, no apparent acknowledgment of how much Job has struggled and suffered. At first glance it doesn’t seem to make sense; it just doesn’t deal with Job’s suffering and his questions.

Or does it? Let’s explore what we have. In 38:1 it says that “The LORD answered Job…” When we see the word “LORD” in capital letters we know the Hebrew is “JAHWEH”, which is the covenant name for God. It’s how God revealed himself to Moses. The name means “I am that I am”. God is the ever present, unchanging God. He is faithful to all his promises. When he makes a covenant with his people he sticks with it, always, forever. The name JAHWEH implies God’s personal presence, his personal care, his steadfast love, his utter faithfulness to the people of his covenant.

This God speaks to Job. Job’s worst fears were that God had abandoned him. In the silence and isolation as he suffered, he had assumed that God had let him down and let him go. But in reality God had been present all along. God could not do otherwise, because he is always faithful to his covenant people. He can not abandon them because his own covenant faithfulness keeps him there. God was always there. Now, that presence is made known.

This is the first and greatest reassurance for Job. The Lord comes. God makes himself known. That is the most important thing these chapters have to say. It’s like the well known meditation “Footprints”. When we see one set of prints in the sand we assume God has left us, only to have him make clear, that’s when he carried us. God never will and never can leave us. Oswald Chambers once wrote: “A man up against things feels that he has lost God, while in reality, he has come face to face with Him.”

Now, let’s see what God says to Job. See 38:2-3. God invites Job to wrestle him. God is giving Job what he asked for. He wanted to argue the toss with God, for God to show Job where he was wrong or declare him innocent. Job wanted to have it out with God, so to speak. Well, now he has his chance. God is saying ‘let’s go step outside!’

But Job needs to be aware of who he is dealing with, who he is going to spar with. And God says Job hasn’t really got a clue “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge”. Now God is not threatening Job, he is not going to overpower and humiliate Job with his awesome might. There is a gentle irony to God’s tone. His questions are not threatening, but educative; the sort of questions a teacher might ask a child to have them get understanding. It is as though God is taking a walk through his creation and inviting Job to accompany him. “Do you see this…Do you recognize that? What does it imply, Job? Job, if this and that…then what does it mean?”

We will summarize what God says in chapters 38&39. It’s not what you would expect in reply to Job’s struggles. In 38:4-7 God focuses on the earth: (4) “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand?” You weren’t there and you don’t know how I did it.

In 38:8-11 God focuses on the sea. (8) “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from its womb?” It was I, Job, I set its limits, not you. You weren’t there and you don’t know how I did it.

In 38:12-15 the Lord focuses on the dawn: (12) “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place…?” Job you never did it. You can’t do it. You don’t know how. I have always done it. I always will.

In 38:16-18 God focuses on the depth and breadth of the sea and land. Job, you have never been to the bottom of the ocean or around the world. And you think you know enough to argue with God.

Then in the second half of the chapter God changes focus from the world below to that above. 38:19-21 God queries Job about the origin of light and dark: (19) “What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?” You don’t know, do you Job, but I do, I made the light.

Then in verses 22-30 God asks him about snow and hail and rain and frost: Do you know anything about how to store up hail for the day of battle? Would you know how to cut a channel in the sky to make it rain in the desert where no man is?

Or, Job, what if you lift your eyes even higher (38:31-33) and look at the stars, the constellations: Pleiades, Orion, Mazzaroth, the Bear”. Do you know “the laws of the heavens Job, can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?” If not, come back down then and we will talk about the rain again (38:34-38) Can you make it rain? Do you know how to whistle for the lightning so it comes and says “Here we are!”? Can you count the clouds with your wisdom? Or do my earthly pastimes stretch your mind a bit far?

It doesn’t matter what we are talking about its clear Job is ignorant and impotent. He doesn’t know where any of these things came from. He doesn’t know how to make them. He is utterly surrounded, above and below, by mysteries. And so are we. Despite all our scientific advancements in the last 200 years it’s all like a bucket in the ocean. Any one who is well read begins to know how much he doesn’t know. We should be overwhelmed by our ignorance not impressed with our science.

But God hasn’t finished with Job yet. He comes down to his level a bit more to talk about the world of animals. In 38:39-41 God asks who Job thinks provides the lions and birds with their food. (41) “Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?” I do Job- all over the world. Can you do that?

Or consider the birth of the young (39:1-4): “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?” I do Job. I am on top of all these things, caring, knowing, providing. Think of it Job! When a man sees a work of God, like your suffering, can he see its connection to ten thousand other realities in the world like I can? If not, how will he dare to judge its wisdom?

Consider the wild donkey. (39:5-8) Who let him go free? Guess what? Me, I did. I created the wild and unpredictable animals. I gave them a wilderness for running in. They are the work of my hands. Things are quite in order. And you had nothing to do with it. And so it goes. The wild ox (39:9-12). The stupid ostrich, God’s little joke (13-18). A bird who flaps useless wings. She walks away from her eggs; she treats her young cruelly. Who made her forget wisdom? I did, Job. Even the foolish things are by design. She may be a joke in the animal world, but see her run, she even outruns the horse and rider.

Of course, not all animals are foolish. Take the war horse (39:19-25) for example. (19) “Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?” You don’t know how do it Job, only I do.

Finally Job, (39:26-30) “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings towards south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?” No! Whether we consider the prey of the lions, the birth of the mountain goats, the freedom of the wild donkey, the insubordination of the wild ox, the stupidity of the ostrich, the might of the war horse, or the flight of the hawk or eagle, the upshot is the same: Job is ignorant and impotent. He did not make them. He does not know how to control them. He cannot see what they are doing. And yet this ignorant Job presumed to question the ways of God! If God knows so much about the animals, and cares for each and all of them, wouldn’t God be doing that even more for human beings, those creatures made in his own image, those for whom God’s own son would suffer and bleed and die.

God in 40:1-2 gives Job a chance to reply: “The Lord said to Job: ‘Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” Job in the midst of your suffering you implied I had done wrong, and you wanted an opportunity to have it out with me. You wanted to set a few things straight. Well, what do you say now? Note 40:3-5: “Then Job answered the Lord: ‘I am unworthy-how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer-twice, but I will say no more.”

Job is saying, God I can see that I am not in the same league as you are! Job has come down quite a few pegs. In his frustration and pain Job has pushed the limits in his struggle with God. In Job 31:35-37 as he made his final plea he said “Oh, that I had some one to hear me! I sign now my defense- let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing. Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown. I would give an account of my every step; like a prince I would approach him”.

Oh Job, mate, your sufferings have stirred up the dregs of pride in your life. Approach God as a prince?! In our pain and suffering we can get so upset we become arrogant. But now after God says ‘So let’s wrestle then’, Job puts his hand over his mouth in silenced awe. He is not up to it.

This in itself is a tremendous result of Job’s suffering. To grow spiritually we need to grow downwards. To grow in Christ we need to grow down in humility. I know that’s strange in our culture of wealth and success. J.I Packer once wrote: “Christians grow greater by getting smaller”. Job’s encounter with God is a shrinking process.

John the Baptist too, said of Jesus, he must increase while I must decrease. This is so, so important. If we shrink before God, we come to a much better understanding of who he is. We see more clearly how great he is, how much we are dependent on him, how he is so almighty he sees and knows and controls all things. That is how we develop trust, to let God be God and to trust him in what he does. That is the first step in getting relief in suffering, to step aside from ourselves, our self pity, our self absorption, and see God and what he is doing. He is in control, he is with us.

When we speak of getting smaller before God, we are not talking about losing self esteem, that we are worms, worthless, useless, nothing. For despite our smallness in relation to God, Jesus, Philippians 2 reminds us, became just like us. He humbled himself and became our servant, all the way to the cross. And Paul tells us that we are to be just like Jesus: your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

So in a sense, Job is getting his rough edges knocked off so he becomes more like Jesus. The more we complain against God in our suffering and suggest he isn’t doing his job right, implying a small view of God, the more we strip ourselves of our hope and security. What can a weak capricious God really do for us? But if in our suffering, God reduces our pride, makes us small, the more we are in awe of his majesty, his power, his might. Then we get more hope and comfort, for such a God, who loves us so much in Jesus, can do all and everything for his suffering ones. In such an awesome God we can trust, we can give it all over to him.

There is a practical pastoral application we see in God’s actions with Job. Job is focused on his misery and complains. God takes him outside for a look at creation and the sheer grandeur and majesty of the world, the universe, the animals, and changes how Job sees things.

We can most help depressed people by helping them draw nearer to God. Not with doctrine or a sermon, but walking them around the garden, taking them to see a waterfall or sunset, getting them to see a rich panorama of God’s creation. Let them see the handiwork of God. Let them see the majesty of the God who has created all and looks after all of it. Then again they can see the wonder of the God who loves them. We are so small in comparison, but he is so majestic, so awesome, so all controlling. That God loves me. He cannot, not care, for he is Yahweh, the faithful God whose own Son died for us.

Amen