God Speaks

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?  Gird up now thy loins like a man: for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me.”  Job 38:1-3

Job finally got what he had wanted–a meeting with the LORD.  Would he lay all of his complaints out in the open for God to consider?  Would he provide a plausible defense for his words, thoughts, and actions?  Or would he be so mortified at the appearance of the great God of all creation that he would remain silent or even faint?  The whirlwind in which God appeared was symbolic of God’s power and His justice.  He was about to show Job how weak and ignorant he was compared to the omniscience and omnipotence of Himself.

I imagine that God’s voice was not like He spoke to Elijah in a “still, small voice” (I Kings 19:12), but commanding, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the whirlwind.  I can imagine that Job was feeling sheer terror at God’s voice.  Perhaps all the accusations and grievances he had made toward God were flooding his mind.  If there is a stronger word for regret, Job was likely experiencing it.  He had basically judged the Judge of all the earth.  Any boldness Job had here-to-fore was eviscerated.  He likely felt lower than a snake’s belly, and God was just getting started, demanding that Job pull himself together because there were going to be some difficult questions that he would be demanded to answer.  Job must have thought about now, “What have I done?”

God began His interrogation by asking where Job was when He made the world.  God didn’t even make man until the sixth day of creation.  God continued by asking other questions pertaining to the physical creation of the world.  Did Job have any part in making the stars or the seas?  How about the rising of the sun?  What about light and darkness?  Snow and hail?  Rain, dew, and frost?  Did Job design the constellations by which men at sea guide their ships?  Did Job know the laws of the heavens?  Could he change the stars and planets into different arrangements?  Did he control them?  Did he know enough to call down rain when it was needed to water the earth or send lightning to strike at his beck and call?  If man can’t do any of these things, then why would he try to tell God how to rule the world?

God asked Job about wisdom and understanding.  Where did men get it if it wasn’t from God?  Could Job teach animals how to care for their young or hunt for food?  Did Job give animals the ability to reproduce.  Can Job tame wild animals?  Why does the ostrich not care about her young?  Is it because God deprived her of wisdom and understanding?  Who made horses strong and brave?  Did Job give wisdom to the hawks and the eagles?  Did he teach them to fly?  From the heights of the eagle’s home, she can scan below for prey.  With her exceptional eyesight, she can spot a tasty morsel with which to feed her young.  Did Job give her that “eagle eye”?  No, of course not.

Ending His questioning as to the wonders of nature, God began to question Job about the things that Job had said about Him, including his accusations of injustice directed toward God for punishing him so severely.  God asked Job if Job thought he had the right to instruct God.  If so, let’s hear it.  Job had now become about as humble as one can be.  He described himself as a vile man, who had come to realize that, in comparison to the Almighty, he was evil, sinful, depraved, disgusting, and worthless, quite a change from how he presented himself to his friends.  Before the righteous and holy God, Job saw himself in a true light, so inferior to the One whom he had earlier criticized.  What could he say?  All he could do was to slap his hand over his mouth.  He had already said too much.  Job had earlier planned out what he would say when given the opportunity, but now, face to face with the LORD God, things looked and felt a lot different.  He had demanded of God, and now God demanded of him.

Again, God told Job to pull himself together because God wasn’t finished.  Did Job think that God’s judgment was wrong?  Did Job condemn God to make himself look righteous?  Does Job think that he is as powerful or more so than God?  Can he deck himself with majesty or punish those who are prideful?  Can he destroy the wicked?  If so, then God said He would confess to Job that Job could save himself.  What about the behemoth, a huge mammal that God created on the same day that He made man.  It is extremely strong.  God made the behemoth to illustrate power, yet at the same time, to illustrate God’s power over something that He made powerful.  Whatever kind of beast that it is, God has shown Job and us that it was the work of His hands and not that of man.  God mentioned the leviathan, a whale or crocodile.  Could Job catch one of these fierce creatures with a simple fishing pole and hook?  If man can’t manage what God created, how could he possibly believe he could manage God?  What can man do for God to cause God to be indebted to Him?

What could Job possibly say now?  He had to and did admit that he had said things that he had no clue about, things that were so far above his intellect.  Job knew in his mind, in earlier days, that God can do everything and anything that He desires, but now Job knows that in his heart.  Job’s faith had never really been tested before, hence, the reason that God chose him for Satan’s challenge.  Job had been judging God without knowing anything at all about how God works, how He plans, and the reasons He does what He does.  Folks do that all the time.  They don’t understand how limited and inferior they are to the sovereign God of the universe.  Job admitted that before, his knowledge of God was rather superficial.

After the conversation between God and Job, God rebuked Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar because they had not spoken of Him the thing that was right.  He told them to take bullocks and rams to Job to offer up a burnt offering.  When they did that, Job would pray for them, and God would accept Job’s prayers.  They obeyed, and God accepted them and accepted Job.  God gave Job more than he had before, and ten children.  Job lived another 140 years and saw four generations of his family.  He died after living a fulfilling life for those 140 years.