Job 42:16-17 - A New Beginning

After this Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.

Job 42:16-17

The book of Job ends on a note of contentment and peace. Job was probably about seventy when the book opens, so he is an old man. What a picture of peace, a contented man. God had greatly blessed him.

Each day is a new beginning. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 The old is past, put away forever. God invites us always to forget about all the distrust and fears, all the anxieties of the past, all the resentments we have been holding against others, all the grudges, all the criticisms--to put them away and begin again.

The question that hovers over us as we close this book (and I feel it deeply in my own heart) is, "On what basis am I going to live each day? Will it be on the old basis of it-all-depends-on-me, do-it-yourself goodness before God, trying my best to be pleasing to God and meaning it with all my heart but never realizing the depths of evil with which I have to deal?" Or will I accept the gift of God that is waiting for me every day, fresh from His hand, a gift of forgiveness, of righteousness already mine, of a relationship in which He is my dear Father and I am his cherished, beloved child, and in which I therefore have provided for me all I need, all day long, so that I may say no to evil and yes to truth and right?

Will it be on that basis? If it is, then each day in my life, in your life, can be characterized by peace, fragrance, and beauty. Or, if we insist on living it on the same old basis, we will find ourselves like these friends of Job, arousing the anger and the wrath of God. Though He is patient and merciful, our only escape will be to repent of our evil and rest upon the righteousness of our perfect substitute and return to God for the blessing that He is waiting to give. That is the choice before us, every one of us. How are we going to live out each day?

Prayer: Lord, thank You for this new day that lies before me. I choose You. I choose to depend on You, trust You, and accept from Your hand all that You would give me. In the name of Your Son and my example, Amen. 

Life Application: Before us stretches a new day, a new beginning. The old is past, put away forever. On which one of the two bases are we going to live in this new day?

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Job 42:12-13 - God's Compassion and Mercy

The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters.

Job 42:12-13

This is what James calls in the Revised Standard Version "the purpose of the Lord" (James 5:11), revealing God to be compassionate and merciful. God did not suddenly become compassionate and merciful to Job; He had been that way all along. God's character, unchanging, is compassion and mercy. He is love. Though He puts us through times of trials and pressures and hardships, it is not because He is angry and upset; it is because He is compassionate and merciful. If we wait, He will bring us to the place where we will see that as plainly and clearly as Job did. So the purpose of the Lord is to reveal His own heart of compassion and mercy to this dear old man.

There is a beautiful passage in Jeremiah's Lamentations that I think we must always remember when we are going through trials and afflictions. I would urge you to memorize it as you face a new year: "For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men" (Lamentations 3:31-33).

Isn't that encouraging? He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men. He will bring grief because He loves us and we need it, but He does not do it lightly. He feels our pain with us. As a good parent with His children, He hurts worse than we do at times. He does not willingly do it. I think we need to recall that when we are put through times of pressure and danger.

God moves Job's relatives and friends to bring him gifts of silver and gold. But perhaps these gifts of silver and gold that friends and relatives brought were God's way of providing a foundation of the wealth that He will bring Job. At any rate, Job ended up with double everything that he had before.

"Well," you say, "God doubled everything but his sons and daughters. He ended up with seven sons and three daughters, just like he had at the beginning." No. You forget he has seven sons and three daughters in heaven, and seven sons and three daughters more on earth, so God indeed gave Job double everything that he had to start with. That is the mercy of God. He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men but longs to give them blessing when they come to the place where they can handle the blessing that He wants to give.

Prayer: Help us to accept Your tender mercies, Lord, and to see behind them Your loving, compassionate heart. Help us, out of our understanding, to bring praise to the glory of our great God. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: Trials are graduate courses where we can learn to trust the immutable purpose of our Father. Do we see him as our kind Father whose desire is always to bless his child?

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Job 42:1-2 - A God of Purpose

Then Job replied to the LORD: "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted".

Job 42:1-2

The greatest theme in this book of Job is that it reveals to us the character of God Himself. To some, God can appear as a cold, impersonal Being, distant from them, uncaring, even ruthless and vindictive, demanding many things from them--a powerful Being but without compassion. This God is commonly called the "Old Testament God," as though God were two kinds of beings, one in the Old Testament and one in the New.

But what the book of Job shows is that behind that appearance (and even Job saw Him that way for a while), God is always exactly what He is, not ruthless and cold, but actually deeply aware of our problems. He is concerned about us, carefully controlling everything that touches us, limiting the power of Satan and allowing certain experiences, according to His knowledge of how much we can bear. He is patient, forgiving, and ultimately responsible for all that happens.

In the beginning of this book, the reader's attention is focused on three beings: God, Satan, and Job. By the end of the book, Satan has completely disappeared. All you have left is God standing before Job, saying to him, "All right, Job, I'm responsible. Any questions?" When Job begins to see what God is working out in His vast, cosmic purposes and what He is making possible by means of Job's sufferings, he has no questions to ask whatsoever. The final view of God in this book is of a Being of incredible wisdom who puts things together far beyond human dreams and imaginations, who is working out incredible plans of infinite delight and joy that He will give to us if we wait for His purposes to be fully resolved.

The Lord mentions a time when "all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7 RSV) at the creation of the world, but other Scriptures tell us about a future time when the sons of God will be revealed (Romans 8:19), when all creation will shout in a greater glory than was ever hailed at the first creation in the new creation that God has brought into being by means of the sufferings, the trials, and the tribulations of this present scene. That is why Scripture speaks in numerous passages about "our light and momentary troubles that are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Corinthians 4:17). When that day breaks, the one thing for which we will be infinitely thankful, the one thing above all others that will thrill us and cheer us and cause us to glory, is the fact that out of all the created universe, we were chosen to be the ones who bore the name of God in the hour of danger and affliction, problem and trial. There is no higher honor than that.

Prayer: Our Father, I do count it indeed a mighty privilege to bear reproach for Your name's sake. I know that the day is coming when that will be my chief joy. Help me to trust in Your hand molding my life and rest in Your unfailing love for me. I love you so very much! In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: Pain is often God's megaphone to re-focus our attention on our gracious Lord. Are we so caught up in worldly minutia that we miss seeing the vast plan of God's love?

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Job 42:9 - Forgiveness and Prayer

So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

Job 42:9

Notice God's insistence on intercessory prayer here. What an interesting thing this is. God tells these friends, "There will be no pardon for you without Job's petition on your behalf. If you want to be received and forgiven, you must not only bring the sacrifices but also my servant Job must pray for you." What an instructive lesson this is on prayer. The significance of prayer is underscored in this passage, and it is so important that God says that unless Job prays, He will deal with the three friends "according to their folly" (Job 42:8). How impoverished our lives and the lives of our friends and loved ones are simply because we think prayer is unimportant, and we do not bother to pray for one another. God emphasizes this here: "Your friends will not be accepted, Job, unless you pray for them." When Job prayed, they were indeed forgiven and pardoned.

What a beautiful picture of forgiveness here! I love to picture this scene in my imagination. Here is Job's chance, if he ever wanted it, to get even with these friends. When God sent them to him with their hats in their hands asking for pardon and asking for his prayers, how easy it would have been for him to have said, "Aha! I thought you'd come around! You were the ones who gave me all that trouble. You ran me down, you falsely accused me, you said all those evil things about me, and now I've got you where I want you. I'll let you sweat a little bit. I'm going to get even with you!" That is what many of us would have said, but it is obvious that Job does not do that.

I wish we could have heard his prayer. I am sure it would have been something like this: "O Lord, here are these three friends of mine. They've been stubborn, hardheaded, foolish, ignorant men, just as I was, Lord. You forgave me, and now I ask you to forgive them as well." What a beautiful spirit of forgiveness is exercised here. Job might have said, "I called them miserable comforters, and that's what they were. I suggested that they were proud and cocky, and wisdom would die with them. But Lord, I was just as proud and just as ignorant. You forgave me, and so, Lord, I ask you to forgive them as well." The Lord heard Job's prayer and accepted it, and his friends were forgiven.

I do not think there is anything more contrary to the Christian spirit than having an unforgiving heart, holding a grudge, refusing to speak to another Christian, or behaving coldly in relationships with each other. Nothing is more removed from the spirit of Christian forgiveness than that. What a beautiful thing to see Job praying for his friends without a vestige of resentment or an attempt to get even on his part, but holding them up before God. God honors that prayer, forgives these men, and restores them to His grace.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that in inviting me to pray for others, You are inviting me to participate in Your forgiveness. Thank you Jesus that you set the example for all of us when you prayed from the cross, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. May we have hearts of forgiveness like Yours. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

Life Application: By having an unforgiving, bitter attitude toward others, have we short-circuited God's forgiveness toward us? Forgiving others enables both parties to realize God's grace.

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Job 42:7-8 - Speaking What is Right

7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”

Job 42:7-8

Perhaps we are surprised that in this account God affirms that Job was right in what he said about Him. We have never seen any recognition up to this time that Job had said right things. In fact, much of the book is aimed at pointing out that Job was wrong in his attitude about God. Although both Job and his friends say some wonderfully true things about God, and there are great passages of brilliance and glory that depict something of His power, beauty, and wisdom, Job himself admitted that he spoke in ignorance and folly, and he repents of this and puts his hand on his mouth. So it is rather surprising that God twice admits that Job has said that which is right about Him.

In what way did he say what was right? First, when Job could not see the sin in himself, he did indeed charge God with unfairness, but the moment God shows him the sin that is still deeply embedded in his heart, he immediately repents. There is no hesitation, no argument, and no self-defense. He admits immediately that the problem is with him and not with God.

Second, Job is always true to the facts as he sees them. He did not see them very clearly, and there are things about himself and about God's rule in the universe that he did not understand, but to the point where he did see things, he was always honest. There was no distorting or twisting of the facts to fit an inadequate theology.

Third, he took his problem to God, even though God was his problem. That is an admirable thing in Job. You remember how all through the account he is breaking into prayer constantly. Out of the torment and anguish that he feels, he always ends up laying his complaint before God. The friends never pray for Job. They never ask God to relieve his suffering; they never ask for help or wisdom or understanding on their part. They simply ignore all contact with the living God themselves, but Job is forever crying out before God and bringing his problems, his bewilderment, and his bafflement to the Lord Himself and asking for wisdom and help.

Finally, when Job does repent, he declares without restraint and reservation that God is God, that He is holy and wise and just and good, even when He seems to be otherwise. Ultimately, that is the highest expression of faith--that we do not trust our human observations of what is happening. We understand the limitations of our humanity, and we do not assume that we have all the facts so that we can condemn and judge a holy God. That is what Job does. He pronounces God as just and holy in all that He does.

Prayer: Lord, even when I cannot understand what You are doing, help me speak what is right concerning You and bring my burden to You as the only One who can sustain me. Thank you Jesus for crossing that great divide and reconciling me with God. In Your precious name I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: God can use pain to deepen our shallow understanding of who God really is. Do we recognize the difference between merely knowing about God and truly knowing Him?

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Job 42:1-6 - When We Repent

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:

2 “I know that you can do all things;

    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’

    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

    things too wonderful for me to know.

4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.’

5 My ears had heard of you

    but now my eyes have seen you.

6 Therefore I despise myself

    and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job 42:1-6

Notice the difference: "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you." The inner eye of the heart sees the nature of God. And the result? Job says, "I despise myself."

That is repentance. What Job is really doing is agreeing with what God says about him. He says, in effect, "You are right, Lord. I have perceived things wrongly. I do not know enough to begin to challenge the wisdom of the Almighty. I am an ignorant, limited man who speaks without even knowing what he is talking about. You are quite right, Lord, it is I."

Then he quotes God again: "Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me." He is saying, "Lord, you are right about that, too. I have been an arrogant man. I have been thinking I could answer your questions and that I would even ask you questions that you could not answer. Lord, I have been an arrogant man. I see it now. Something within me has been proud, lifted up, self-righteous, and confident that I was right. I have been wrong all along." So he says, "Lord, I despise myself."

Job has never been in this place before. He is learning at last the hardest lesson of life, what God seeks to teach us all: the problem is never in others or in God; the problem is in us. And it is a problem that only God can handle. We are unequipped to handle it ourselves. All we can do is put it back in His gracious hands.

It looks as though God has humiliated Job and brought this poor, broken-hearted man down into the dust almost cruelly. Yet it is not cruelty, it is love—because, at this point, when Job has finally given up trying to defend and justify himself, God begins to heal and pour into this man's life blessings he never dreamed of.

This is the story of the whole of Scripture, isn't it? Everywhere the Scriptures seek to tell us this. Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, the men and women who are bankrupt in themselves, who stop counting on what they have to make it. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

God will begin to heal a life that repents before Him, and He will fill it with blessing and honor and glory and power. None of the prideful things to which we cling will be worth the smallest portion of the glory and joy we have discovered in coming into a relationship with God Himself.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for this penetrating look at my own heart. How proud I have been, how filled with self-justification with complaints before You. Teach me to put my hand upon my mouth and admit to You that the problem lies so often with me so that You will heal and restore me. Please forgive me I pray, Lord Jesus. Amen. 

Life Application: The astounding humility of Christ's incarnation gave birth to the spiritual family of God. In repentance do we humbly realize God's daily astounding grace and mercy?

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Job 40-41 - God's Great Victory

15 “Look at Behemoth,

    which I made along with you

    and which feeds on grass like an ox.

16 What strength it has in its loins,

    what power in the muscles of its belly!

17 Its tail sways like a cedar;

    the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.

18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,

    its limbs like rods of iron.

19 It ranks first among the works of God,

    yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.

20 The hills bring it their produce,

    and all the wild animals play nearby.

21 Under the lotus plants it lies,

    hidden among the reeds in the marsh.

22 The lotuses conceal it in their shadow;

    the poplars by the stream surround it.

23 A raging river does not alarm it;

    it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth.

24 Can anyone capture it by the eyes,

    or trap it and pierce its nose?

41 (1) “Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook

    or tie down its tongue with a rope?

2 Can you put a cord through its nose

    or pierce its jaw with a hook?

3 Will it keep begging you for mercy?

    Will it speak to you with gentle words?

4 Will it make an agreement with you

    for you to take it as your slave for life?

5 Can you make a pet of it like a bird

    or put it on a leash for the young women in your house?

6 Will traders barter for it?

    Will they divide it up among the merchants?

7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons

    or its head with fishing spears?

8 If you lay a hand on it,

    you will remember the struggle and never do it again!

9 Any hope of subduing it is false;

    the mere sight of it is overpowering.

10 No one is fierce enough to rouse it.

    Who then is able to stand against me?

11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay?

    Everything under heaven belongs to me.

12 “I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs,

    its strength and its graceful form.

13 Who can strip off its outer coat?

    Who can penetrate its double coat of armor?

14 Who dares open the doors of its mouth,

    ringed about with fearsome teeth?

15 Its back has rows of shields

    tightly sealed together;

16 each is so close to the next

    that no air can pass between.

17 They are joined fast to one another;

    they cling together and cannot be parted.

18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;

    its eyes are like the rays of dawn.

19 Flames stream from its mouth;

    sparks of fire shoot out.

20 Smoke pours from its nostrils

    as from a boiling pot over burning reeds.

21 Its breath sets coals ablaze,

    and flames dart from its mouth.

22 Strength resides in its neck;

    dismay goes before it.

23 The folds of its flesh are tightly joined;

    they are firm and immovable.

24 Its chest is hard as rock,

    hard as a lower millstone.

25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified;

    they retreat before its thrashing.

26 The sword that reaches it has no effect,

    nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.

27 Iron it treats like straw

    and bronze like rotten wood.

28 Arrows do not make it flee;

    slingstones are like chaff to it.

29 A club seems to it but a piece of straw;

    it laughs at the rattling of the lance.

30 Its undersides are jagged potsherds,

    leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge.

31 It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron

    and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment.

32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;

    one would think the deep had white hair.

33 Nothing on earth is its equal—

    a creature without fear.

34 It looks down on all that are haughty;

    it is king over all that are proud.”

Job 40:15 - 41

God gave Job a remarkable survey of the wonders of creation in Job 38-39, including a look at many remarkable animals and their ways. Now lastly, God gives Job a look at two remarkable creatures: Behemoth (Job 40:15-24) and Leviathan (Job 41).

The precise identity of this animal named behemoth is debated. Some say the hippopotamus while others think it refers to a dinosaur type creature that is now extinct. God seems to rejoice in His own creation as He describes the wonder of this remarkable animal noting its strength, size, appetite, and habits.

The picture is clear. If Job cannot contend with this fellow creature, how could he ever contend with the God who created the Behemoth?

After the discussion of Behemoth in Job 40:15-24, now God called Job to consider another fearful monster, Leviathan. This creature was first mentioned in Job 3:8; Job in that context considered how sailors and fishermen would curse the threatening Leviathan, and with the same passion he cursed the day of his birth.

Some believe that Leviathan describes some ancient dragon-like dinosaur that either survived to Job’s day, or survived in the collective memory of mankind, so that God could refer to it as an example. Others consider that in this context, Leviathan is nothing more than a mighty crocodile.

The name Leviathan means “twisting one” and is also used in other interesting places in Scripture.

· Psalm 74:12-14 refers to Leviathan as a sea serpent, and that God broke the head of the Leviathan long ago, perhaps at the creation.

· Psalm 104:26 also refers to Leviathan as a sea creature.

· Isaiah 27:1 speaks of the future defeat of Leviathan, also associating it with a twisted serpent that lives in the sea.

· Isaiah 51:9 and Psalm 89-8-10 also speak of a serpent associated with the sea that God defeated as a demonstration of His great strength, and identifies this serpent with the name Rahab, meaning proud one.

· Job 26:12-13 also refers to God’s piercing defeat of a fleeing serpent associated with the sea.

God’s point with this description of Leviathan is to show Job just how powerless he is against this creature. There is nothing that Job can do against this mighty monster.

i. This makes the association between Leviathan – obviously, some dragon-type creature, even if it were in this context only a mighty crocodile – and Satan even more interesting. Satan is often represented as a dragon or a serpent (Genesis 3; Revelation 12 and 13). Therefore, Leviathan may be another serpent-like manifestation of Satan.

Even as Job was powerless against Leviathan (as all men are), so he was also powerless against an unleashed Satan set against him. Only God could defeat Leviathan and Satan. Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false: Job could not hope to defeat Leviathan; it was simply beyond his power to do so.

Who then is able to stand against Me: The logical point is made. If Job cannot contend with Leviathan (or even with Satan, whom Leviathan represents), how could he ever hope to stand against the God who made and masters Leviathan? This was another effective way of setting Job in his proper place before God.

There is a second, also important point: that God Himself was master over Leviathan (everything under heaven is Mine). “By telling of his dominion over Behemoth and Leviathan, the Lord is illustrating what he has said in 40:8-14. He is celebrating his moral triumph over the forces of evil. Satan, the Accuser, has been proved wrong though Job does not know it. The author and the reader see the entire picture that Job and his friends never knew.” (Smick)

He is king over all the children of pride: This description of Leviathan – especially at this point – is so like that of Satan, that we may fairly suppose that God here was indicating to Job not only His great might and Job’s vulnerability before Satan, but also alluding to Satan’s role in Job’s great crisis.

God called Job to consider these unconquerable beasts, who each in their own way were examples of Satan and his power. In this, God allowed Job to consider the fact that he could not stand before the power of Satan without God empowering him. Job thought that he was all alone through his ordeal; indeed he felt he was alone. Yet this was God’s way of saying that he was not alone, because if he were, then he surely would have crumbled before the power of Leviathan and Behemoth.

The essence of the gospel is that the love of God is greater than any evil.” (Mason)

God ends His words to Job without ever telling him the story behind the story. Job was left ignorant about the contest between God and Satan that prompted his whole crisis (though perhaps God later told him). Though Job did not know the whole story, God did tell him of His great victory over Leviathan/Satan, giving Job assurance for the past, the present, and for the future.

It was important that God did not tell Job the reasons why; then Job can be a continuing comfort and inspiration and example to those who suffer without an explanation. “Once again we emphasize that if the specific and ultimate reason for his suffering had been revealed to Job – even at this point – the value of the account as a comfort to others who must suffer in ignorance would have been diminished if not cancelled.” (Smick)

Taken from Bible commentary by Pastor David Guzik  https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/job-40/

Job 40 - God's Holy and Purposeful Might

40 The Lord said to Job:

2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?

    Let him who accuses God answer him!”

3 Then Job answered the Lord:

4 “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?

    I put my hand over my mouth.

5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—

    twice, but I will say no more.”

6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:

7 “Brace yourself like a man;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.

8 “Would you discredit my justice?

    Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

9 Do you have an arm like God’s,

    and can your voice thunder like his?

10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,

    and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

11 Unleash the fury of your wrath,

    look at all who are proud and bring them low,

12 look at all who are proud and humble them,

    crush the wicked where they stand.

13 Bury them all in the dust together;

    shroud their faces in the grave.

14 Then I myself will admit to you

    that your own right hand can save you.

Job 40:1-14

At the beginning of chapter 40, God pauses in his interrogation to give Job a chance to respond.

And the Lord said to Job, "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it." Then Job answered the Lord: "Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer thee? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further."

Job is getting the point: a finite creature who has no wisdom to run this world and is utterly ignorant of 99.999% of its processes has no business instructing his Maker and Ruler how to run the world, even condemning God for the way he runs it.

God presses his case further against Job in 40:6–9 as he speaks again out of the whirlwind.

Gird up your loins like a man; I will question you, and you declare to me. Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his? 

So we then ask the question: Are God's ways right simply because He is Almighty God? 

This is disturbing argument. Does God mean that we are to submit to the justice of his ways simply because he has a powerful arm? Are we supposed to acknowledge his right simply because he has might? Is something right and good just because God does it?

I think the answer to that question is yes and no. On the one hand, there is no greater reality than God with which we can judge God's actions. He would not be God if he submitted to something outside himself.

But on the other hand, when we say the sentence, "God is good," or, "God always does what is right," God wants us to mean more than simply, "God is God." He wants us to see that his might does not make right in the sense that it could be capricious and arbitrary and irrational and nevertheless right. Instead he wants us to see that his might is purposeful.

So in 40:10–14 he challenges Job to join him in this holy and purposeful might.

Deck yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor. Pour forth the overflowings of your anger, and look on every one that is proud, and abase him. Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked where they stand. Hide them all in the dust together; bind their faces in the world below. Then will I also acknowledge to you, that your own right hand can give you victory.

This is very different from saying, "Acknowledge that my might is right no matter what I do." Instead, God says, "I employ my might to clothe myself with splendor and to abase the proud and (by implication) to exalt the humble." In other words the rightness of God's might is not merely that it is God's, but also that its purposes are consistence with his excellence.

The goodness of God is just this: that he upholds his glory by abasing the proud and giving the humble delight in his excellence.

So in bringing Job to submission, God did not simply say, "Might makes right. So stop condemning my ways." He said, in the first place, there are ten million things about running the world of which you don't know the first thing, but I know perfectly. So it is presumptuous to assume you can counsel me about how to run a more just world. You can't begin to know all that has to be taken into account in making decisions about how to run the world for my glory and for the joy of my people!

And in the second place, God showed that his might is not arbitrary but purposeful. And the purpose is to uphold his glory by abasing the proud and blessing the humble. Therefore Job should not presume to accuse God of being arbitrary or capricious or irrational. He should submit to the wisdom and goodness of God's dealings and hold fast to the promise that "God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

Taken from John Piper sermons https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/job-the-revelation-of-god-in-suffering

Job 38-39 - The God of the Animal World

39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness

    and satisfy the hunger of the lions

40 when they crouch in their dens

    or lie in wait in a thicket?

41 Who provides food for the raven

    when its young cry out to God

    and wander about for lack of food?

39 (1) “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?

    Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

2 Do you count the months till they bear?

    Do you know the time they give birth?

3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;

    their labor pains are ended.

4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;

    they leave and do not return.

5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?

    Who untied its ropes?

6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,

    the salt flats as its habitat.

7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;

    it does not hear a driver’s shout.

8 It ranges the hills for its pasture

    and searches for any green thing.

9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?

    Will it stay by your manger at night?

10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?

    Will it till the valleys behind you?

11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?

    Will you leave your heavy work to it?

12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain

    and bring it to your threshing floor?

13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,

    though they cannot compare

    with the wings and feathers of the stork.

14 She lays her eggs on the ground

    and lets them warm in the sand,

15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,

    that some wild animal may trample them.

16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;

    she cares not that her labor was in vain,

17 for God did not endow her with wisdom

    or give her a share of good sense.

18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,

    she laughs at horse and rider.

19 “Do you give the horse its strength

    or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?

20 Do you make it leap like a locust,

    striking terror with its proud snorting?

21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,

    and charges into the fray.

22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;

    it does not shy away from the sword.

23 The quiver rattles against its side,

    along with the flashing spear and lance.

24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;

    it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’

    It catches the scent of battle from afar,

    the shout of commanders and the battle cry.

26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom

    and spread its wings toward the south?

27 Does the eagle soar at your command

    and build its nest on high?

28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;

    a rocky crag is its stronghold.

29 From there it looks for food;

    its eyes detect it from afar.

30 Its young ones feast on blood,

    and where the slain are, there it is.”

Job 38:39 - 39

In 38:39–41 God asks who Job thinks provides lions and birds with their food? "Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry 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 bring forth? Do you observe the calving of the hinds?" Think of it, Job! I am on top of all these things. Every wild deer in northern Minnesota that gives birth—I am there. Every mountain goat in Switzerland and Nepal—when they bring forth, I am there; I know their months. I care for the young.

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 has let the wild donkey go free?" Do you think there are wild and unpredictable creatures in the world, Job? Guess what? I set them loose. I give them a wilderness for running and the mountain for pasture. They are the work of my hands. Things are quite in order! And you have nothing to do with it.

And so it goes. The wild ox (39:9–12): you don't know how to bind him or use him. He is mine.

The stupid ostrich (39:13–18): 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. Ostriches and Minnesota mosquitoes and black flies. I govern them all by perfect design.

Of course not all animals are foolish and useless. Take the war horse (39:19–25), for example. "Do you give him his might? Do you clothe his neck with strength?" You don't know how to do it, Job. I am the only one who does.

Finally, Job, (39:26–30) "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high?"

No! Whether we consider the prey of lions, the birth of 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 and 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!

From Pastor John Piper at https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/job-the-revelation-of-god-in-suffering

Job 38 - Job on Trial Before God

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans

    with words without knowledge?

3 Brace yourself like a man;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

    Tell me, if you understand.

5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

    Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6 On what were its footings set,

    or who laid its cornerstone—

7 while the morning stars sang together

    and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors

    when it burst forth from the womb,

9 when I made the clouds its garment

    and wrapped it in thick darkness,

10 when I fixed limits for it

    and set its doors and bars in place,

11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;

    here is where your proud waves halt’?

12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,

    or shown the dawn its place,

13 that it might take the earth by the edges

    and shake the wicked out of it?

14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;

    its features stand out like those of a garment.

15 The wicked are denied their light,

    and their upraised arm is broken.

16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea

    or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?

    Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?

    Tell me, if you know all this.

19 “What is the way to the abode of light?

    And where does darkness reside?

20 Can you take them to their places?

    Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

21 Surely you know, for you were already born!

    You have lived so many years!

22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow

    or seen the storehouses of the hail,

23 which I reserve for times of trouble,

    for days of war and battle?

24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,

    or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,

    and a path for the thunderstorm,

26 to water a land where no one lives,

    an uninhabited desert,

27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland

    and make it sprout with grass?

28 Does the rain have a father?

    Who fathers the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb comes the ice?

    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

30 when the waters become hard as stone,

    when the surface of the deep is frozen?

31 “Can you bind the chains[b] of the Pleiades?

    Can you loosen Orion’s belt?

32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons[c]

    or lead out the Bear[d] with its cubs?

33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?

    Can you set up God’s[e] dominion over the earth?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds

    and cover yourself with a flood of water?

35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?

    Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[f]

    or gives the rooster understanding?[g]

37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

    Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

38 when the dust becomes hard

    and the clods of earth stick together?

39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness

    and satisfy the hunger of the lions

40 when they crouch in their dens

    or lie in wait in a thicket?

41 Who provides food for the raven

    when its young cry out to God

    and wander about for lack of food?

Job 38:3, "Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me." God has been questioned by Job long enough. Now it is time for Job to be put on trial. It's time for God to be the questioning attorney.

Let's try to summarize the interrogation.

Questions About the World Below

In 38:4–7 God focuses on the earth: "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding." You weren't there, Job, and you don't know how I did it.

In 38:8–11 God focuses on the sea: "Who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the 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: "Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place?" You never did it. You can't do it. You don't know how to do it. 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 even been to the bottom of the ocean or around the world. And you think you know enough to argue with God.

Questions About the World Above

Then in the last half of chapter 38 God takes his focus off the world below and turns it to the world above.

First, in verses 19–21 he queries Job about the origin of light and dark: "Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness?" You don't know where it is or how to get there. But I do, Job. 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 on a land where no man is?

Or lift your eyes even higher, Job, (verses 31–33) and look at the constellations: Pleiades, Orion, Mazzaroth, the Bear! "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?"

If not, come back down then and we will just talk about the rain again (verses 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 too far?

So whether we focus on the earth or the sea or the dawn or the snow or hail or constellations or rain, the upshot is that Job is ignorant and impotent. He doesn't know where they came from. He doesn't know how to make them work. He is utterly surrounded, above and below, by mysteries. And so are we, because the scientific advancements of the last two hundred years are like sand-pails of saltwater hauled from the ocean of God's wisdom and dumped in a hole on the beach while the tide is rising. God is not impressed. And we should be overwhelmed with our ignorance, not impressed with science.

Taken from a message by Pastor John Piper 

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/job-the-revelation-of-god-in-suffering

Job 38:1-7 - Where Were You Job?

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2 “Who is this that obscures my plans

    with words without knowledge?

3 Brace yourself like a man;

    I will question you,

    and you shall answer me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

    Tell me, if you understand.

5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

    Who stretched a measuring line across it?

6 On what were its footings set,

    or who laid its cornerstone—

7 while the morning stars sang together

    and all the angels shouted for joy?

Job 38:1-7

Surely chapters 38-41 are the climax of this great book of Job. Here the voice of Jehovah Himself is heard, speaking out of the whirlwind.

Jehovah challenges Job, "Gird up your loins like a man and let me ask you some questions. You have claimed that you want a trial before me. Let me examine your competence to see if you can answer some simple questions first." In the account that follows, Jehovah's voice subjects Job to a series of very penetrating questions.

First: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations?" Where were humans? They were not even in existence yet. That is why in all the centuries since this question was asked of Job, humans have never been able to settle the question of origin. Where did the universe come from? How did it originate? Who brought it into being? What process was followed? The whole world is debating that question today, but humans have never been able to answer the question of the origin of the earth because they were not there to observe it.

Then 38:6 addresses the question of procedure. How did God hang the earth upon nothing, as Job himself asked earlier in this account? Back in the days when the Scriptures were written down, the scientific world believed that the earth was flat. There were strange, legendary accounts of how the earth came into being, that it floated on elephants' backs or rested on turtles swimming in the sea. But in the book of Job is the clear statement that God has hung the earth upon nothing.

Now God asks Job, "How did that happen?" The only answer that science can give today is gravity, but nobody knows what gravity is. It is just a word we use, but it does not tell us what it is. Here again is a question that we still cannot answer today. How is the earth suspended between the various heavenly bodies in such a way that it moves in orderly procession through the illimitable reaches of space? How can it be? We still do not know. Finally, God says, "Were you there when it happened?" and He links it with a tremendous event when the whole creation seemed to break into harmony and melody, when "the morning stars sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy" (Job 38:7).

Prayer: Like Job, Father, I bow in silence before You. Who am I to accuse the Almighty? Who am I to complain about my lot in life and say it is wrong? Lord, I have been silenced but I pray that You will take me deeper and in graciousness show me more of how great You really are. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Life Application: Do we waste valuable time and energy arguing with God, when surrender to His sovereignty opens His treasures of forgiveness, cleansing, and loving fellowship?

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Job 36-37 - Your God is Too Small

Elihu continued:

2 “Bear with me a little longer and I will show you

    that there is more to be said in God’s behalf.

3 I get my knowledge from afar;

    I will ascribe justice to my Maker.

4 Be assured that my words are not false;

    one who has perfect knowledge is with you.

5 “God is mighty, but despises no one;

    he is mighty, and firm in his purpose.

6 He does not keep the wicked alive

    but gives the afflicted their rights.

7 He does not take his eyes off the righteous;

    he enthrones them with kings

    and exalts them forever.

8 But if people are bound in chains,

    held fast by cords of affliction,

9 he tells them what they have done—

    that they have sinned arrogantly.

10 He makes them listen to correction

    and commands them to repent of their evil.

11 If they obey and serve him,

    they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity

    and their years in contentment.

12 But if they do not listen,

    they will perish by the sword

    and die without knowledge...

16 “He is wooing you from the jaws of distress

    to a spacious place free from restriction,

    to the comfort of your table laden with choice food.

17 But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked;

    judgment and justice have taken hold of you...

21 Beware of turning to evil,

    which you seem to prefer to affliction.

22 “God is exalted in his power.

    Who is a teacher like him?

23 Who has prescribed his ways for him,

    or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’?

24 Remember to extol his work,

    which people have praised in song.

25 All humanity has seen it;

    mortals gaze on it from afar.

26 How great is God—beyond our understanding!

    The number of his years is past finding out.

27 “He draws up the drops of water,

    which distill as rain to the streams;

28 the clouds pour down their moisture

    and abundant showers fall on mankind.

29 Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,

    how he thunders from his pavilion?

30 See how he scatters his lightning about him,

    bathing the depths of the sea.

31 This is the way he governs the nations

    and provides food in abundance.

32 He fills his hands with lightning

    and commands it to strike its mark.

33 His thunder announces the coming storm;

    even the cattle make known its approach.

37  (1) “At this my heart pounds

    and leaps from its place...

5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;

    he does great things beyond our understanding.

6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’

    and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

7 So that everyone he has made may know his work,

    he stops all people from their labor...

11 He loads the clouds with moisture;

    he scatters his lightning through them.

12 At his direction they swirl around

    over the face of the whole earth

    to do whatever he commands them.

13 He brings the clouds to punish people,

    or to water his earth and show his love.

14 “Listen to this, Job;

    stop and consider God’s wonders.

15 Do you know how God controls the clouds

    and makes his lightning flash?

16 Do you know how the clouds hang poised,

    those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?

17 You who swelter in your clothes

    when the land lies hushed under the south wind,

18 can you join him in spreading out the skies,

    hard as a mirror of cast bronze?

19 “Tell us what we should say to him;

    we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness.

20 Should he be told that I want to speak?..

22 Out of the north he comes in golden splendor;

    God comes in awesome majesty.

23 The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;

    in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.

24 Therefore, people revere him,

    for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?”

Job 36-37

Elihu's final word to Job is a great and beautiful passage in which he sets forth in marvelous language the glory of God. It runs from chapter 35:22 through chapter 37. First, God is beyond human instruction. Notice how he begins: "God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?" Then, he reveals another important fact in chapter 36:26: God is beyond human understanding: "How great is God beyond our understanding!" Finally, Elihu reveals in 36:30-31 that God acts beyond the rigid categories and reasons of humans: "See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance." God uses His natural powers for both blessing and judgment alike.

And then, beginning with chapter 37, we have such a marvelous description of a great electric storm that many of the commentators feel that this was an actual occurrence, that a storm began to break out at this moment, and Elihu used it as a vivid example of what he had been saying about God. If any of you have ever been out on the prairies and seen an electric storm break out, you will know what a terrifying and awe-inspiring experience it is--with the lightning crackling and splitting the sky and the roaring of the thunder. It is a magnificent experience, and this is what Elihu begins to describe in verses 2-4: "Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back."

Then he speaks of how God sends the snow and the rain; he sends tornadoes, the whirlwinds, and the frost; he controls the cycles of the weather. Next time you are watching a weather report on television, and the broadcast shows a satellite picture, notice how it appears in spirals. This is what Elihu refers to in verse 12: "At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them."

Then he tells us why: "He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love"(Job 37:13). God has many reasons for doing things; we are not always certain what they are. God's wisdom is inscrutable. He goes on, "Can you join him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?" (Job 37:18) Job can do none of these things.

All the way through the Bible, from beginning to end, the only man or woman who ever receives anything from God is the one who comes with a humble and contrite heart. If you think you have something to offer Him or that you have achievements that nobody else can equal, you cut yourself off from the wisdom and knowledge of God. But those who come humbly, contrite, waiting upon God, asking Him to teach them, will find that God will pick them up in grace and power and glory and restore them.

Prayer: Lord, thank You that in Your majesty and power You are also a God of grace and mercy. May I come to You with a contrite and humble heart waiting up You and asking You to teach me. In the name of Your Son Jesus, Amen. 

Life Application: Do we try to reduce God to manageable size, and compete with him for control? Or do we humbly receive him as our Father-provider and our Savior and Lord in Jesus?

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Job 34-35 - Tried to the End

Then Elihu said:...

4 Let us discern for ourselves what is right;

    let us learn together what is good.

5 “Job says, ‘I am innocent,

    but God denies me justice.

6 Although I am right,

    I am considered a liar;

although I am guiltless,

    his arrow inflicts an incurable wound.’

7 Is there anyone like Job,...

9 For he says, ‘There is no profit

    in trying to please God.’

10 “So listen to me, you men of understanding.

    Far be it from God to do evil,

    from the Almighty to do wrong.

11 He repays everyone for what they have done;

    he brings on them what their conduct deserves.

12 It is unthinkable that God would do wrong,

    that the Almighty would pervert justice.

13 Who appointed him over the earth?

    Who put him in charge of the whole world?

14 If it were his intention

    and he withdrew his spirit and breath,

15 all humanity would perish together

    and mankind would return to the dust.

16 “If you have understanding, hear this;

    listen to what I say.

17 Can someone who hates justice govern?

    Will you condemn the just and mighty One?

18 Is he not the One who says to kings, ‘You are worthless,’

    and to nobles, ‘You are wicked,’

19 who shows no partiality to princes

    and does not favor the rich over the poor,

    for they are all the work of his hands?...

26 He punishes them for their wickedness

    where everyone can see them,

27 because they turned from following him

    and had no regard for any of his ways...

29 But if he remains silent, who can condemn him?

    If he hides his face, who can see him?

Yet he is over individual and nation alike,

30     to keep the godless from ruling,

    from laying snares for the people...

34 “Men of understanding declare,

    wise men who hear me say to me,

35 ‘Job speaks without knowledge;

    his words lack insight.’

36 Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost

    for answering like a wicked man!

37 To his sin he adds rebellion;

    scornfully he claps his hands among us

    and multiplies his words against God.”

35 (1) Then Elihu said:

2 “Do you think this is just?

    You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’

3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,

    and what do I gain by not sinning?’

4 “I would like to reply to you

    and to your friends with you.

5 Look up at the heavens and see;

    gaze at the clouds so high above you.

6 If you sin, how does that affect him?

    If your sins are many, what does that do to him?

7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,

    or what does he receive from your hand?

8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,

    and your righteousness only other people.

9 “People cry out under a load of oppression;

    they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.

10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,

    who gives songs in the night,

11 who teaches us more than he teaches the beasts of the earth

    and makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’

12 He does not answer when people cry out

    because of the arrogance of the wicked.

13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;

    the Almighty pays no attention to it.

14 How much less, then, will he listen

    when you say that you do not see him,

that your case is before him

    and you must wait for him,

15 and further, that his anger never punishes

    and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.

16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;

    without knowledge he multiplies words.”

Job 34-35

The unique thing about Elihu's presentation is that he does not attempt to speak out of his experience. He is not an old man who has been taught certain lessons by life. His claim is that he is speaking out of what God has taught him by the Spirit, and, therefore, he is sharing the insights and wisdom of God. And as Elihu's speech unfolds, we can see that is true. It is in accord with the revelation of God elsewhere in scripture, so God is speaking and answering some of the cries of Job's tormented heart through this young man.

What Elihu is saying here is that Job is obviously speaking out of ignorance of the nature and true character of God, and therefore he needs further treatment. "Oh, that Job might be tested to the utmost" he says. He doesn't desire this because he wants to increase Job's agony but because only that will bring Job to the truth, so he asks that Job's trials go on until he sees what he is doing.

Job is a righteous man. His heart is right, and he wants to serve God, but he thinks that he can do it by his own just efforts. The toughest lesson God has to teach human beings is the lesson of seeing the evil in what we think is nothing but good. We always think that our efforts to behave ourselves by obeying the truth, as we understand it, are acceptable to God. The hardest lesson of life is to learn that our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6). It is only dependence upon His gift of righteousness that will ever be acceptable in His sight. That is what Job is finally learning. It is the struggle of Romans 7 here in the Old Testament. Paul, whose heart was right, wanted to do what God wanted and was trying his best to do it, but instead it all fell apart, and he cried out, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me" (Romans 7:24)? And the word of faith comes in: "It is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). You are righteous, not by trying, but by accepting what God has said by His gift of righteousness.

Job is learning that his righteousness does not come about by his own efforts here. Remember that God initiated this contest, not Satan. God said to Satan, "Notice my friend Job? See what you can do with him." God had something to teach this man, and maybe that is what God is saying to many of us. When we think our heart is absolutely right before Him, we have failed to grasp the one basis upon which we can be right before Him, and that is why trouble often comes.

Prayer: Father, my heart is humble as I see how mighty are Your ways. What a marvelous Being You are, Lord. Help me to take the place of the learner and be taught out of humility and weakness that I might be strong because of Your loving grace. Thank you for the righteousness given to me through Jesus Christ. In His name I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: Have we grasped the tough lesson from our loving Father that our best good deeds, if done in our own strength apart from the Spirit, are an abomination to the Lord?

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© 2006, 2018 Ray Stedman Ministries. Used with permission by Global Media Outreach. All rights reserved.

Job 32-33 - Youth Answers Age

1 So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 3 He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. 5 But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.

6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said:

“I am young in years,

    and you are old;

that is why I was fearful,

    not daring to tell you what I know.

7 I thought, ‘Age should speak;

    advanced years should teach wisdom.’

8 But it is the spirit in a person,

    the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.

9 It is not only the old who are wise,

    not only the aged who understand what is right...

12     I gave you my full attention.

But not one of you has proved Job wrong;

    none of you has answered his arguments...

17 I too will have my say;

    I too will tell what I know.

18 For I am full of words,

    and the spirit within me compels me;...

33 “But now, Job, listen to my words;

    pay attention to everything I say...

4 The Spirit of God has made me;

    the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

5 Answer me then, if you can;

    stand up and argue your case before me...

8 “But you have said in my hearing—

    I heard the very words—

9 ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong;

    I am clean and free from sin.

10 Yet God has found fault with me;

    he considers me his enemy.

11 He fastens my feet in shackles;

    he keeps close watch on all my paths.’

12 “But I tell you, in this you are not right,

    for God is greater than any mortal.

13 Why do you complain to him

    that he responds to no one’s words?

14 For God does speak—now one way, now another—

    though no one perceives it.

15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,

    when deep sleep falls on people

    as they slumber in their beds,

16 he may speak in their ears

    and terrify them with warnings,

17 to turn them from wrongdoing

    and keep them from pride,

18 to preserve them from the pit,

    their lives from perishing by the sword.

19 “Or someone may be chastened on a bed of pain

    with constant distress in their bones,...

23 Yet if there is an angel at their side,

    a messenger, one out of a thousand,

    sent to tell them how to be upright,

24 and he is gracious to that person and says to God,

    ‘Spare them from going down to the pit;

    I have found a ransom for them—

25 let their flesh be renewed like a child’s;

    let them be restored as in the days of their youth’—

26 then that person can pray to God and find favor with him,

    they will see God’s face and shout for joy;

    he will restore them to full well-being.

27 And they will go to others and say,

    ‘I have sinned, I have perverted what is right,

    but I did not get what I deserved.

28 God has delivered me from going down to the pit,

    and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.’

29 “God does all these things to a person—

    twice, even three times—

30 to turn them back from the pit,

    that the light of life may shine on them.

31 “Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;

    be silent, and I will speak.

32 If you have anything to say, answer me;

    speak up, for I want to vindicate you.

33 But if not, then listen to me;

    be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 32-33

Commentators seem to differ widely as to what to do with Elihu. Some regard him as a rather brash young man with the cocksure arrogance of youth who speaks up to tell the older men what they were doing that was wrong, while others seem to see him as merely repeating in other words the arguments of these friends, without adding much.

But I would like to differ with these latter commentators and agree with those who see Elihu as having a very important part in this book. Let me point out certain things about this young man as we are introduced to him: First, when you come to the end of the book and you read the rebuke that God gives to the three friends of Job, you will note that Elihu is not included. He is not rebuked for what he says, and he does not have to ask Job to pray for him, as they do. The second thing is that he is given an obvious, prominent part in this drama. His message occupies the next five chapters, and he is allowed to give one of the major discourses of this book. And third, he always speaks with courtesy and sensitivity to Job, despite the strong feelings that he admits he has. The other friends were caustic and sarcastic in their approach to Job, but this young man is very courteous when he addresses him. He recognizes the depth of Job's suffering, and he always speaks with understanding.

The fourth, and probably most important, thing is that Elihu claims to speak not as the other men did from their experience, but he claims to speak from revelation. That is what we read in verses 8-9. Elihu says, "It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding."

It is not the accumulation of years of experience that makes people wise; it is what God has taught them through the years. And this is a very important point. God can teach a young man or woman as much as an older man or woman. And when we speak from the wisdom of God, then we can truly be wise, regardless of what our calendar age may be. I know we who have lived a long time tend to think it is the years that have made us wise! If we are wise at all, it is not only because we are older.

I am reminded of a schoolteacher who applied for a job and was turned down for another younger teacher who only had three years of experience. The first teacher protested to the principal, "I've had twenty-five years' experience, so why was I passed over in favor of this younger one?" And the principal said, "Well, I have to disagree with you. You haven't had twenty-five years' experience. You've had one year's experience twenty-five times." It is quite possible to go through life repeating the same way of thinking and never learn wisdom. So Elihu is right here. It is not simply the elderly who are wise, because God gives wisdom.

Prayer: Lord, grant me the wisdom not simply of age, but of revelation that comes from You. In this time of uncertainty, when voices are crying out so many different messages, may I look to You alone and trust Your Holy Spirit within me, pointing me toward the path I should take. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

Life Application: God's deep wisdom is timeless, and available to us at any age or stage of life. Do we perhaps settle for empty conventional wisdom, or do we hunger to hear from God?

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Job 29-31 - The Wrong of Self-Defense

Job continued his discourse:

2 “How I long for the months gone by,

    for the days when God watched over me,

3 when his lamp shone on my head

    and by his light I walked through darkness!

4 Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,

    when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,

5 when the Almighty was still with me

    and my children were around me,...

11 Whoever heard me spoke well of me,

    and those who saw me commended me,

12 because I rescued the poor who cried for help,

    and the fatherless who had none to assist them.

13 The one who was dying blessed me;

    I made the widow’s heart sing.

14 I put on righteousness as my clothing;

    justice was my robe and my turban...

18 “I thought, ‘I will die in my own house,

    my days as numerous as the grains of sand...

21 “People listened to me expectantly,

    waiting in silence for my counsel.

22 After I had spoken, they spoke no more;

    my words fell gently on their ears...

30 “But now they mock me,

    men younger than I,...

29 (2) Of what use was the strength of their hands to me,

    since their vigor had gone from them?...

8 A base and nameless brood,

    they were driven out of the land.

9 “And now those young men mock me in song;

    I have become a byword among them.

10 They detest me and keep their distance;

    they do not hesitate to spit in my face.

11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me,

    they throw off restraint in my presence...

15 Terrors overwhelm me;

    my dignity is driven away as by the wind,

    my safety vanishes like a cloud...

20 “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer;

    I stand up, but you merely look at me.

21 You turn on me ruthlessly;

    with the might of your hand you attack me...

25 Have I not wept for those in trouble?

    Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

26 Yet when I hoped for good, evil came;

    when I looked for light, then came darkness...

30 My skin grows black and peels;

    my body burns with fever.

31 (2) For what is our lot from God above,

    our heritage from the Almighty on high?

3 Is it not ruin for the wicked,

    disaster for those who do wrong?

4 Does he not see my ways

    and count my every step?

5 “If I have walked with falsehood

    or my foot has hurried after deceit—

6 let God weigh me in honest scales

    and he will know that I am blameless—...

13 “If I have denied justice to any of my servants,

    whether male or female,

    when they had a grievance against me,

14 what will I do when God confronts me?

    What will I answer when called to account?

15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?...

21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

    knowing that I had influence in court,

22 then let my arm fall from the shoulder,

    let it be broken off at the joint.

23 For I dreaded destruction from God,

    and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

24 “If I have put my trust in gold

    or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’

25 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth,

    the fortune my hands had gained,

26 if I have regarded the sun in its radiance

    or the moon moving in splendor,

27 so that my heart was secretly enticed

    and my hand offered them a kiss of homage,

28 then these also would be sins to be judged,

    for I would have been unfaithful to God on high...

32 but no stranger had to spend the night in the street,

    for my door was always open to the traveler—

33 if I have concealed my sin as people do,

    by hiding my guilt in my heart

34 because I so feared the crowd

    and so dreaded the contempt of the clans

    that I kept silent and would not go outside—

35 (“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!

    I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;

    let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

36 Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,

    I would put it on like a crown.

37 I would give him an account of my every step;

    I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—

38 “if my land cries out against me

    and all its furrows are wet with tears,

39 if I have devoured its yield without payment

    or broken the spirit of its tenants,

40 then let briers come up instead of wheat

    and stinkweed instead of barley.”

The words of Job are ended.

Job 29-31

With this, the words of Job are ended; he has nothing more to say. Baffled, questioning, tormented, yet unwilling to forsake God, he falls silent. What can we say about the trials, the pressures, and the riddles of our own life? Remember that Job at this point has learned that his theology is too small for his God. That is true for many of us. We think we know the Bible, we think we have God boxed in, and we understand how He is going to act. And just as surely as we do, God is going to do something that will not fit our theology. He is greater than any human study of Him. He is not going to be inconsistent with Himself; He never is. He is not capricious, acting out of anger and malice. He is a loving God, but His love will take forms of expression that we do not understand. Up to this point Job has had his faith in the rule of God, but now at last he has begun to reach out tremblingly to exercise faith in the God who rules. That is a transfer that many of us need to come to.

The second thing that we can see at this point in the book is that Job's view of himself is woefully inadequate. He has been defending himself, and he has been remembering all his good deeds. We all do this, don't we? When trouble strikes we all tend to think to ourselves, "Why should this happen to me?" By that we mean, "I haven't done anything wrong. I've been perfectly well behaved. Why should I be subjected to this kind of torment?" All this makes us realize that he and we also have little understanding of the depths of sin's attack upon us and the depravity of our hearts. Jeremiah says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it" (Jeremiah 17:9)? The one thing God teaches us by these pressures and problems of life is to understand that there are depths of sin within us of which we are not yet aware.

The third thing that we need to see is that his self-vindication explains the silence of God. Why does God not help this man? The answer is because he has not yet come to the place where he is willing to listen. As long as people are defending themselves, God will not defend them. There is a theme that runs all through the Bible: "As long as you justify yourself, God will never justify you." And as long as Job thinks he has some righteous ground on which to stand, God's silence remains. This is true in our lives as well. That is why Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3), those who are bankrupt in themselves, who have come to the end. When we shut up and stop defending and justifying ourselves, God will rise to take up our cause. That is what we will see in the book of Job at the end; God will begin to speak on Job's behalf.

Prayer: Lord, help me to lay aside all my flaunting schemes for self-improvement and self-defense and stand naked before You, trusting Your loving grace to give me all I need. In Jesus name, Amen.

Life Application: We inevitably whitewash our conduct in self-defense. Are we willing to stand naked before God who knows us intimately yet defends us as we stand complete in Christ?

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